To understand the activity and cross reactivity of ligands and G protein-coupled receptors, we take stock of relevant existing receptor mutation, sequence, and structural data to develop a statistically robust and transparent scoring system. Our method evaluates the viability of binding of any ligand for any GPCR sequence of amino acids. This enabled us to explore the binding repertoire of both receptors and ligands, relying solely on correlations between carefully identified receptor features and without requiring any chemical information about ligands. This study suggests that sequence similarity at specific binding pockets can predict relative affinity of ligands; enabling recovery of over 80% of known ligands for a withheld receptor and almost 80% of known receptors for a ligand. The method enables qualitative prediction of ligand binding for all nonredundant human G protein-coupled receptors.


Large concentrations of Mn, 238 U, and 226 Ra are present in U mine waste waters in comparison with those in surrounding natural waters. Excess mine waste water is being disposed by irrigation of bushland near Ranger Uranium Mine, Northern Territory, Australia. We report the sorption properties of highly weathered and sandy soils (Utric Acruustox, Grossameric Kandiustalf, and Typic Fragiumbrept), near the mine for Mn, U, and 226 Ra as determined by batch sorption experiments, and competitive sorption between U and Mn. Manganese sorption was small in comparison with loads expected to be applied to the soils, and Mn was expected to be mobile within the soils. In contrast with Mn, U sorption by the soils was very much greater than the amount that may be applied. Simultaneous additions of U and Mn reduced sorption of both, but the effect of U on Mn sorption was far greater than that of Mn on U. Uranium also caused the displacement of Mn from the soil in the absence of added Mn. The U additions favored the mobility of Mn. Radium-226 at trace levels was strongly sorbed by the soil and <1% of the sorbed 226 Ra was displaced during the desorption step. Uranium and 226 Ra applied as mine waste water will be retained in surface soil, but Mn was expected to be relatively mobile, particularly in the sandiest soils and when applied in waters that also contain U.


BACKGROUND
The Dietary Intervention Study in Children (DISC) is a multicenter, randomized, controlled clinical trial designed to examine the efficacy and safety of a dietary intervention to reduce serum LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) in children with elevated LDL-C.

METHODS AND RESULTS
The effects of dietary intake of fat and cholesterol and of sexual maturation and body mass index (BMI) on LDL-C were examined in a 3-year longitudinal study of 663 boys and girls (age 8 to 10 years at baseline) with elevated LDL-C levels. Multiple linear regression was used to predict LDL-C at 3 years. For boys, LDL-C decreased by 0.018 mmol/L for each 10 mg/4.2 MJ decrease in dietary cholesterol (P<.05). For girls, no single nutrient was significant in the model, but a treatment group effect was evident (P<.05). In both sexes, BMI at 3 years and LDL-C at baseline were significant and positive predictors of LDL-C levels. In boys, the average LDL-C level was 0.603 mmol/L lower at Tanner stage 4+ than at Tanner stage 1 (P<.01). In girls, the average LDL-C level was 0.274 mmol/L lower at Tanner stage 4+ than at Tanner stage 1 (P<.05).

CONCLUSIONS
In pubertal children, sexual maturation, BMI, dietary intervention (in girls), and dietary cholesterol (in boys) were significant in determining LDL-C. Sexual maturation was the factor associated with the greatest difference in LDL-C. Clinicians screening for dyslipidemia or following dyslipidemic children should be aware of the powerful effects of pubertal change on measurements of lipoproteins.


A multi-disciplinary team consisting of an engineer, a political scientist, an historian, and a professor of religion and physics view the question of energy and values from each other's perspective. The result is a synthesis of the team's views on all aspects of energy technology and how it affects human life in general as well as the lives of different classes and specific groups in our society. It begins with an historic overview of the way an abundance of energy has shaped America's use of it. It continues by considering the energy debate as a conflict between Jeffersonians who believe in decentralized, appropriate technology and the centralized, efficient technology of Hamiltonians. The authors wrestle with regional and geographical differences in energy resources, environmental impacts, and ethical problems. 384 references.


Background: Recent research has identified the nucleotide polymorphisms of KIdney and BRAin expressed protein (KIBRA) to be associated with cognitive performance, suggesting its vital role in Alzheimer's disease (AD); however, the underlying molecular mechanism of KIBRA in AD remains obscure. Methods: The AD animal model (APP/PS1 transgenic mice) and KIBRA knockout (KIBRA KO) mice were used to investigate pathophysiological changes of KIBRA in vivo. Mouse hippocampal cell line (HT22) was used to explore its molecular mechanism through KIBRA CRISPR/Cas9-sgRNA system and KIBRA overexpression lentivirus in vitro. Results: Aged APP/PS1 mice displayed increased neuronal apoptosis in the hippocampus, as did KIBRA KO mice. KIBRA deficiency was closely related to neuronal loss in the brain. In addition, knockdown of KIBRA in neuronal cell lines suppressed its growth and elevated apoptosis-associated protein levels under the stress of Aβ1–42 oligomers. On the contrary, overexpression of KIBRA significantly promoted cell proliferation and reduced its apoptosis. Moreover, through screening several survival-related signaling pathways, we found that KIBRA inhibited apoptosis by activating the Akt pathway other than ERK or PKC pathways, which was further confirmed by Akt-specific inhibitor MK2206. Conclusion: Our data indicate that KIBRA may function as a neuroprotective gene in promoting neuron survival and inhibiting Aβ-induced neuronal apoptosis.


This paper gives a brief overview of our experimental work using groups of robots using simple forms of communication to perform cooperative tasks. We describe three sets of robot experiments using simple cmnmunication strategies to augment fimited sensing and effectors. Ill the first set, a group of robots used connnunication to learn social rules. In the second set, communication was used to compensate for limited sensing on individual robots in order to cooperate on pushing a large box. Finally, in the third set, of experiments, the same two robots learned a simple communication protocol that enables them to push the box. In all three cases the communication strategies are implemented as simple behaviors easily incorporated into the robots' behavior-based controllers.


Methods for the robust and automatic estimation of scene structure and camera motion from image sequences acquired by a catadioptric camera are described. A first estimate of the complete geometry is obtained robustly from a rough knowledge of the two angles which defines the field of view. This approach is in contrast to previous work, which required mirror parameterization and only calculated (until now) the geometry of image pairs. Second, the additional knowledge of the mirror shape is enforced in the estimation. Both steps have become tractable thanks to the introduction of bundle adjustments for central and non-central cameras. Finally, the system is presented as a whole, and many long image sequences are automatically reconstructed to show the qualities of the approach.


As magnesium is an essential element for the human body, magnesium alloys are expected to be promising implant materials despite their lower corrosion resistance. The most potential advantages of magnesium lie on both excellent biocompatibility and good mechanical properties. A TiO2 coating had been successfully deposited on the surface of AM60 samples by using a thermal spray technique and was then sealed with sodium silicate. The corrosion behavior was investigated by using the potentiodynamic electrochemical technique. The experimental results demonstrated that the TiO2 coating had a porous ceramic structure. The thickness and micro hardness of the layer reached 40 μm and 886 HV, respectively. After additional sealing with sodium silicate, TiO2 coating on magnesium alloy improved corrosion resistance in Hank's solution.


AIMS: The object W Aql is an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star with a faint companion. By determining more carefully the properties of the companion, we hope to better constrain the properties of the AGB star. METHODS: We present new spectral observations of the binary star W Aql at minimum and maximum brightness and new photometric observations of W Aql at minimum brightness. RESULTS: The composite spectrum near minimum light is predominantly from the companion at wavelengths $\lambda$ < 6000 $\AA$. This spectrum can be classified as F8 to G0, and the brightness of the companion is that of a dwarf star. Therefore, it can be concluded that the companion is a main sequence star. From this, we are able to constrain the mass of the AGB component to 1.04 - 3 $M_\odot$ and the mass of the W Aql system to 2.1 - 4.1 $M_\odot$ . Our photometric results are broadly consistent with this classification and suggest that the main sequence component suffers from approximately 2 mag of extinction in the V band primarily due to the dust surrounding the AGB component.


The electrocaloric (EC) effect is promising in realizing solid state refrigeration, which requires EC materials possessing pronounced pyroelectric effect over a broad temperature range. Pauli's master equation is adopted to investigate the recently observed phenomenon of enhanced EC effect above Curie temperature in relaxor ferroelectrics. The proposed approach allows the EC coefficient to be determined within the framework of classic Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire thermodynamics and Maxwell relation, taking into accounts both depolarization and dielectric permittivity dispersion based on the concept of superparaelectricity and nanopolar region. We analyze three contributions of the EC effect: temperature-dependent dielectric dispersion, intrinsic pyroelectric effect and enhanced dielectric stiffness. The maximum EC coefficient is determined through the derivatives of the three components with respect to temperature. The proposed approach, in which the evolution of polarization correlation length is accounted for, not only can provide a microscopic explanation for the thermal-driven enhancement of EC responses, it also improves upon the existing models for estimating the EC effect in paraelectric phase of relaxors. Finally, some potential approaches for engineering the enhancement of EC coefficient are also suggested.


To effectively deter current large scale copyright infringement, deterrence theory teaches us that to be effective, enforcement should make sure it can target as many infringements at the same time, or increase its sanctions. Rights holders, sometimes together with governments, have used a variety of strategies to massively increase the scale of enforcement. This paper summarizes the results from case studies on eight enforcement strategies in six countries (US, UK, France, Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands). It presents evidence that the costs of enforcement are pushed onto other players than the rights holders and that higher scale corresponds inevitably with a reduction in legal safeguards compared to existing civil and criminal law procedures. It also discusses the evidence that enforcement has been ineffective. Method: As a theoretical framework, this study makes a cost benefit analysis of copyright enforcement and takes into account social costs. Deterrence theory as articulated by Bentham and later put into economic terms by Becker, teaches us that rational agents make an economic cost benefit analysis before they break the law, on the risks involved. The greater they perceive the likelihood they get caught and the greater the punishment, the less likely they are to commit the crime. This means copyright enforcement should make sure it can target as many infringements at the same time to be effective, or increase its sanctions. Empirical research shows that increasing the likelihood of capture is more effective. However, this creates costs as well. In order to lower the costs of enforcement, Harris says, procedural safeguards (like standards of evidence) can be removed as a policy choice. This study looks at 8 procedures that scale up enforcement (target as many infringements at once): mass litigation in the UK, US, notice and takedown in the Netherlands and as applied by Google, Graduated response in France and Ireland, and targeting infringement supply in Spain and the US. Through literature study and 29 interviews with different players relevant to the specific procedures, a step-by-step analysis has been made on how those procedures work in practice, and their influence on specific safeguards and copyright infringement. Preliminary Findings: Increasing the scale of enforcement has only limited effects on infringement when focused on users. When focused on the supply side of infringement, effects are even less. Those different procedures only scale up when safeguards are diminished. When enforcement scales up, the severity of sanctions decreases. Meanwhile, enforcement costs are massive and have shifted to new players (non-rightsholders): ISPs, and new agencies that handle enforcement. Interestingly, the market for content appears to be functioning quite well. The results imply that enforcement might not work as a deterrent because the scale and severity of sanctions is too low. Policy makers thus have a choice: to make enforcement more effective this would require even more scale and especially higher severity. This would however be disproportional, and one wonders whether this would be accepted from a human rights or a democratic perspective. Especially when safeguards are further lowered. Looking at new business models, maybe a better way to move forward would be to accept the status quo, and from an legal economics perspective, accept infringement as an input cost.


This paper presents a suboptimal boundary estimation algorithm for noisy images which is based upon an optimal maximum likelihood problem formulation. Both the maximum likelihood formulation and the resulting algorithm are described in detail, and computational results are given. In addition, the potential power of the likelihood formulation is demonstrated through the presentation of three simple but insightful analyses of algorithm performance. These analyses are based on a technique we have developed for comparing the accuracies of different boundary finding algorithms. This technique also helps in understanding the interplay of object shape and data models in the relative performances of boundary finders. Some of the algorithm design considerations resulting from the use of our analysis technique are new and, at first, surprising. Our technique appears to be the only one developed for comparing the accuracies of different boundary finding algorithms.


Price setting by firms and search by customers is analyzed, relaxing two basic attributes of most search models: price precommitment and agent heterogeneity. Customers are characterized by individual demand functions for a homogeneous good and can choose to employ a threat to search. Firms noncooperatively make pricing decisions by using the individual demand curves under conditions of constant marginal cost. Firms adopt pricing rules that optimally respond to customer search histories. Bargaining power is endogenously assigned. Firms know their common marginal cost; customers, the cost distribution. The unique separating equilibrium is characterized by a lumpy distribution of prices and by heterogeneous shopping behavior by customers giving rise to "shoppers" and "nonshoppers"


Non-hematopoietic CD45(superscript +) precursor cells are not known to differentiate into cardiomyocytes. We found that CD45(superscript +)/CD34(superscript -)/lin(superscript -) stromal cells isolated from mouse bone marrow (BMSCs) potentially differentiated into cardiomyocyte-like cells in vitro. Therefore, we hypothesized that the CD45(superscript +)/CD34(superscript -)/lin(superscript -) BMSCs might protect rat hearts against ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury following xeno-transplantation. In the present study, BMSCs were isolated by immunoselection and their cellular phenotype and biochemical properties were characterized. The immunological inertness of BMSCs was examined by the allogeneic and xenogeneic mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR). The potential role of BMSCs for cardioprotection was evaluated by intravenous introduction of 1×10^6 cells into rat IR hearts, induced by left coronary ligation for 45 min and released for 72 h. Changes in cardiac contractility and the degree of myocardial injury were assessed. Our findings indicated that BMSCs expressed the muscle-cell marker-actinin after 5-azacytidine treatment. CD45(superscript +)/CD34(superscript -)/lin(superscript -) stromal cells were characterized as mesenchymal progenitor cells based on the expression of Sca-1 and Rex-1. The MLR assay revealed an immunosuppression of BMSCs on mouse and rat lymphocytes. After xeno-transplantation, the BMSCs engrafted into the infarct area and attenuated IR injury. However, increases in intracardial TGF-βand IFN-γ contents of IR hearts were not affected by BMSC treatment. Interestingly, ex vivo evidence indicated that CXCR4, SDF-1 and TGFβ-1 receptors were up-regulated after the cells were exposed to tissue extracts prepared from rat post-IR hearts. In addition, IFN-γ treatment also markedly increased Sca-1 expression in BMSCs. Mechanistically, these results indicated that CXCR4/SDF-1 and TGF-β signals potentially enhanced the interaction of BMSCs with the damaged myocardium, and increased IFN-γ in post-ischemic hearts might cause BMSC to behave more like stem cells in cardioprotection. These data show that CD45(superscript +)/CD34(superscript -)/lin(superscript -) BMSCs possess cardioprotective capacity. Evidently, the accurate production of soluble factors TGF-β and IFN-γ in parallel with increased expression of both TGF-β and Sca-1 receptors may favor BMSCs to achieve a more efficient protective capacity.


AIMS: To analyze the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with adult polycystic kidney disease admitted to hemodialysis services in Northwestern Parana state, Brazil.
METHODS: This was an observational, descriptive and retrospective longitudinal study. Medical records of patients with polycystic kidneys who initiated hemodialysis between 1995 and 2012, in four centers that treat patients of the coverage area of the 15th Regional Health Region of Parana state where analyzed.
RESULTS: We found that 10.3% of hemodialysis patients had polycystic kidney disease as a leading cause of stage 5 of chronic kidney disease. The mean age of patients was 54.9±9.4 years (ranging between 27 and 74 years), with equal gender distribution and Caucasian predominance (72.9%). The average age of dialysis initiation was 50±10.2 years. The most common comorbidity was systemic hypertension (66.7%). Liver cyst was the main extra-renal manifestation (10.4%). Twenty-five percent of the patients required renal transplantation, and (22.9%) undergone nephrectomy. The most widely used classes of antihypertensive drugs were β-blockers (41.7%) and drugs that act on the renin-angiotensin system (31.3%), while 56.3% of patients were treated with recombinant human erythropoietin.
CONCLUSIONS: This is a pioneering epidemiological study in Northwestern Parana state. We found in this population a sociodemographic and clinical profile of adult polycystic kidney disease similar to that of North America and Europe, probably because the ethnic constitution of the sample was predominantly of Euro-descendants.


Benthic suspension feeders repackage particulate matter into organic-rich biodeposits (feces and pseudofeces) that are released into near-bottom flows. Where suspension feeders are found in dense assemblages, they physically alter the near-bottom flow field and thus may affect the local pattern of particle deposition. This dispersal pattern will control the spatial flux of biodeposits, and potential effects on sediment properties and surrounding benthic fauna. We quantified the downstream dispersal of biodeposits produced by an array of horse mussels Atrina zelandica fed either cultured phytoplankton (P) or a mixture of phytoplankton and silt (PS), a diet range that mim- ics the natural variation in near-bed seston quality. Experiments were run in a laboratory flume at a free-stream velocity of 4.5 cm s -1 , a value typical of field conditions. Diet had a significant effect on A. zelandica feeding activity and the dispersal of biodeposits. Compared to the P biodeposits, a greater fraction of the PS biodeposits was ejected well above the horse mussel array into the acceler- ated overlying flow layer (62% compared with 35%). However, more of the PS biodeposits settled either within the A. zelandica array or in the 120 cm working section downstream of the array (43 vs 17% of P biodeposits). Despite overall similarity in size, PS biodeposits had a settling velocity twice that of the P biodeposits. Of biodeposits settling downstream of the array, more than 70% settled within 20 cm of the trailing edge, regardless of diet. The density of biodeposits decreased exponen- tially with distance from the array at a rate that was similar for both diets. Monte Carlo simulations with a simple boundary layer model generally reproduced this pattern, but also highlighted the importance of initial height above bottom as well as flow complexities in the downstream wake region. Thus, the quality and quantity of A. zelandica biodeposits reaching the bed depends on the interaction among behavioral responses to available diet, settling velocity and boundary layer flows. Such interactions should have strong but localized effects on the incorporation of pelagic productiv- ity into the sediments and their consequent impacts on benthic community structure.


We have assessed the population trends for the 255 bird species breeding in Sweden (including distinct subspecies), based on data for the last 30 and 10 years, respectively. Over the past 30 years more species have decreased (38%) than increased (32%) in numbers. In particular, formerly common farmland species have fared poorly but this is also true for some forest species. Over the past 10 years there are more species with increasing trends (29%) than there are species with decreasing trends (19%). Trends for several species in long-term decline have levelled off and have in some cases even started to increase. It is not known whether this recent change is a result of conservation efforts or simply that population numbers have stabilised at lower levels now permitted by the environment. It is therefore essential to initiate research devoted to finding factors directly linked to ongoing population changes, particularly for species in long-term decline. To cover population trends for all Swedish species additional monitoring programmes are needed, in particular on owls and in mountain habitats.


Most visceral organs are under the control of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Information on the state and function of these organs is constantly relayed to the central nervous system (CNS) by sensory afferent fibers. The CNS integrates the sensory inputs and sends neural commands back to the organ through the ANS. The autonomic ganglia are the final site for the integration of the message traveling from the CNS. Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are the main mediators of fast synaptic transmission in ganglia, and therefore, are key molecules for the processing of neural information in the ANS. This review focuses on the role of nAChRs in the control of organ systems such as heart, gut, and bladder. The autonomic control of these organ systems is discussed in the light of the results obtained from the analysis of mice carrying mutations targeted to nAChR subunits expressed in the ANS.


The State of Alaska has an aging workforce. There is a paucity of workers in the 25 to 45 year age group. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (AKDOT&PF) has almost one third of its workforce eligible to retire within five years. In earlier research the authors examined this problem with respect to recruitment, retention, and succession planning. This project will focus on issues related to knowledge transfer, the passing of knowledge from more experienced employees to newer employees, especially in the engineering and technical areas. Both the state and the AKDOT&PF are well aware of the employment demographics and knowledge transfer issues. These are indeed nationwide problems and in developed countries worldwide. Here the authors propose to review the knowledge transfer needs of the AKDOT&PF, the current practices with respect to the many tools available, and meet with AKDOT&PF managers and professionals in focus groups to determine which tools are likely to be effective in enhancing knowledge transfer. The authors plan to identify barriers to knowledge transfer, such as managers' reluctance, corporate culture, and history. Following reviews, this project will present recommendations to the AKDOT&PF with tools that can be implemented to enhance knowledge transfer.


In order to collect information of terror site or fire area where persons are open to danger, a robot system is demanding for use in such hazardous environment. In this study, we introduce small and multiple robot system for team work in hazardous environment. This system is composed of one the mother ship and four small-sized search robots. The mother ship and three small-sized robots are equipped with CMOS-camera to collect visual information and one other small-sized robot has infrared camera for inspecting dark area. Not only mother ship but also small-sized robots are controlled by Bluetooth. The information being collected is provided to the user through wireless communication. The so called SECUBOT was developed and its performance was shown through experiment at real environment with slope and obstacles


Spatial variability of seasonal snow depth poses a challenge when estimating snow water equivalent (SWE) from in-situ measurements in mountainous areas. Poor accessibility, complex topographic effects and localized microclimates make extrapolation of in-situ SWE measurements to a basin scale difficult. Remotely-sensed passive microwave SWE products are also inaccurate in complex terrain and/or at the forest-alpine tundra transition zone. To address these caveats, we investigated the relative importance of landscape qualities (altitude, slope, aspect, vegetation) and climate (winter temperatures, precipitation) on SWE distribution in two sub-Arctic mountainous catchments in Hemavan, Sweden, and Wolf Creek, Yukon, Canada. The two catchments are comparable, but have contrasted climate regimes. In-situ SWE measurements were made in March-April 2014 across the forest-tundra ecotone in both catchments. These were supplemented with historical snow-survey data since 2012 in Hemavan, and 1993 in Wolf Creek. Pairwise linear regressions of SWE against different landscape factors indicate that overall, altitude exerts the largest control on SWE at both Hemavan and Wolf Creek, but its effect is lesser within individual vegetation zones. In other respects, the two sites differ. SWE is inversely correlated to surface slope at forested sites in Hemavan (R^2 = 0.57, p = 0.25), but not in Wolf Creek. Slope aspect is positively correlated with SWE at forest-tundra transition sites (R^2 = 0.49, p = 0.12) in Wolf Creek, but not in Hemavan. For alpine tundra sites, slope angle strongly influences SWE in Hemavan (R^2 = 0.58, p = 0.24), but only weakly in Wolf Creek (R^2 = 0.05, p = 0.71). We discuss possible causes of these inter-catchment differences, and also evaluate the effect of inter-annual climate variations on SWE distribution at Wolf Creek using the long-term snow-survey record. Finally, we compare and discuss SWE estimates obtained by three different field measurement methods.


The article reveals the main features of network Internet technologies as a significant management tool for information and network economy. The author depicts the most promising areas of network Internet technologies application, provides examples of successful implementation of projects based on network technologies, and underlines the most significant social effects of management practices in the area. Building of knowledge in expert networks, and transformation of the very actor of management are among these effects. Based on the author's empirical research conducted in 2016 among 100 leaders and administrators of big Russian Internet-communities, the main managerial advantages and possibilities of applying network technologies have been revealed. The forecast of their further development has been provided.


Safavid Iran's foreign trade is usually described as the highly profitable export of silk to Europe. That is at best an incomplete description. One problem is that it focuses on only one side of the trade (exports) rather than looking at both sides. Taken to its extreme, the usual story could make Iranians look like mad mercantilists determined to export without thinking much about what they got in return, while Europeans could look like crazed consumers so eager for Iranian silk that they would buy without thinking about the bill. At the very least, an account of trade should examine what is going in each direction, not just at what one side exports and the other side imports. That is one major lacuna of the usual story. Another is that it concentrates on Iranian–European trade without as much attention to Iranian trade with other areas. Safavid Iran's trade with Europe can be understood only in the context of its overall trade, for only in that context can we know whether Europe was an important market or an incidental one.


Learning with Rejection (LWR) allows development of machine learning systems with the ability to discard low confidence decisions generated by a prediction model. That is, just like human experts, LWR allows machine models to abstain from generating a prediction when reliability of the prediction is expected to be low. Several frameworks for learning with rejection have been proposed in the literature. However, most of them work for classification problems only and regression with rejection has not been studied in much detail. In this work, we present a neural framework for LWR based on a generalized meta-loss function that involves simultaneous training of two neural network models: a predictor model for generating predictions and a rejecter model for deciding whether the prediction should be accepted or rejected. The proposed framework can be used for classification as well as regression and other related machine learning tasks. We have demonstrated the applicability and effectiveness of the method on synthetically generated data as well as benchmark datasets from UCI machine learning repository for both classification and regression problems. Despite being simpler in implementation, the proposed scheme for learning with rejection has shown to perform at par or better than previously proposed methods. Furthermore, we have applied the method to the problem of hurricane intensity prediction from satellite imagery. Significant improvement in performance as compared to conventional supervised methods shows the effectiveness of the proposed scheme in real-world regression problems. Python code files for the experiments can be found at: https://github.com/amina01/LWR.


A guiding thought for me, as a legal ethics teacher in a tertiary institution in the 21st century, is that ethics is like a slow release fertiliser; it must be introduced slowly. Too much too fast can be harmful. If introduced slowly and consistently, however, its nourishing benefits can be lasting and visible.

In 2006, at the James Cook University Vice Chancellor's Teaching and Learning Symposium on Assessment and Feedback, keynote speaker Richard James from the Centre for Studies in Higher ducation at the University of Melbourne and principal author of the influential book Assessing Learning in Universities spoke of the disempowerment of students in assessment in university courses. The message was clear. While assessment is a highly influential force on students' choice in terms of which subjects to undertake as part
of their university learning experience, student input in terms of setting and developing assessment is generally excluded. This paper offers a case study of a trial, in a professional legal ethics subject, to use assessment as a vehicle for student empowerment in order to enhance and promote reflexive professionalism. The response by students was surprising. The experience stimulated some observations about changes in higher education within present-day modernity.


We show that any $q$-query locally decodable code (LDC) gives a copy of $\ell_1^k$ with small distortion in the Banach space of $q$-linear forms on $\ell_{p_1}^N\times\cdots\times\ell_{p_q}^N$, provided $1/p_1 + \cdots + 1/p_q \leq 1$ and where $k$, $N$, and the distortion are simple functions of the code parameters. We exhibit the copy of $\ell_1^k$ by constructing a basis for it directly from "smooth" LDC decoders. Based on this, we give alternative proofs for known lower bounds on the length of 2-query LDCs. Using similar techniques, we reprove known lower bounds for larger $q$. We also discuss the relation with an alternative proof, due to Pisier, of a result of Naor, Regev, and the author on cotype properties of projective tensor products of $\ell_p$ spaces.


This thesis focuses on investigating searching algorithms which can solve the Ants Nearby Treasure Search (ANTS) Problem in the presence of obstacles. In the ANTS problem, there are k ants initially located at the origin in a two-dimensional grid. Pheromones are used as physical markers to allow the ants to perform a collaborative search. The target treasure is located at an unknown location at distance D from the origin. A simple deterministic foraging algorithm is provided first, which is improved later by using an additional marker to achieve a global termination. The Zig-Zag foraging algorithms and the Up-Down foraging algorithms solve the searching problem using one ant in a bounded environment with large obstacles. The spiral searching algorithms work with k ants in a wrap-around environment having randomly placed single cell obstacles. All algorithms are implemented in NetLogo and the corresponding simulations and explanations are presented by using examples.


The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the ratio of cracking fruit stalk, fruitage, fruit size, maturity and taste of Gold diamond pineapple (Agricultural NO.17; TN17) using different covered materials. The most common causes of fruit stalk cracking for TN17 pineapple are at the inflorescence development stage in spring and autumn, seasonal effects, being in fields rather than indoors, and high relative humidity close to 30. We found using 50% shading net in winter resulted in fruitage decrease. Use of polyethylene fibers and 50% shading net in spring decreased fruit stalk cracking, fruitlet weight and fruit length. However, use of PE film caused fruit stalk cracking to increase. Fruit covered in autumn and winter had ineffective total soluble solid content and titratable acidity. The pineapple plants covered with polyethylene fibers and 50% shading net in spring result had decreased taste quality. Polyethylene fiber was found to be the best material in spring because of its effectiveness in preventing fruit stalk cracking and the minimum damage to the quality of the pineapples. PE film was found to be the best material in summer because of its effectiveness in preventing fruit stalk cracking and lack of damage to the quality of the pineapples.


In this work, we propose a design flow for automatic generation of hardware sandboxes purposed for IP security in trusted system-on-chips (SoCs). Our tool CAPSL, the Component Authentication Process for Sandboxed Layouts, is capable of detecting trojan activation and nullifying possible damage to a system at run-time, avoiding complex pre-fabrication and pre-deployment testing for trojans. Our approach captures the behavioral properties of non-trusted IPs, typically from a third-party or components off the shelf (COTS), with the formalism of interface automata and the Property Specification Language's sequential extended regular expressions (SERE). Using the concept of hardware sandboxing, we translate the property specifications to checker automata and partition an untrusted sector of the system, with included virtualized resources and controllers, to isolate sandbox-system interactions upon deviation from the behavioral checkers. Our design flow is verified with benchmarks from Trust-Hub.org, which show 100% trojan detection with reduced checker overhead compared to other run-time verification techniques.


The formation of dextran deposits in sugared Brazilian cachaça was studied as a function of the time considering the effects of temperature, molecular weight (M(w)), visible light, pH, and the presence of Ca, Mg, Cu, and Fe ions in the concentrations at which they are usually present in this beverage. At 25 °C and pH 4.4, the experimental half-lives (t(1/2)) for precipitation are 73 and 124 days for dextrans with M(w) 5.9 × 10(6) and 2.1 × 10(6) Da, respectively. For dextrans with M(w) 5.0 × 10(5) and 4.0 × 10(4) Da, the experimental t(1/2) values are >180 days. For a dextran with M(w) 2.1 × 10(6) Da a change in pH from 4.4 to 5.5 at 25 °C resulted in a t(1/2) decrease from 124 to 25 days. At pH 4.4 the visible light and the presence of metal ions in average concentrations usually found in cachaças do not exhibit noticeable influence on the rate of dextran precipitation.


ABSTRACT In this study we evaluated the importance of the relativistic effects (scalar and spin-orbit) on the description of the electronic structure, bonding and the energetic of the [ReF 8 ] - and [UF 8 ] 2- ions. We described the bonding interaction between ligands and metal center using the energy decomposition analysis (EDA) proposed by Morokuma and Ziegler, in which it can be appreciated a strong ionic behavior for both ions since the electrostatic interaction energy (∆E Elestat ) is greater than the orbitalic interaction energy (∆E Orb ). Furthermore, a qualitative analysis using the mapping of the electrostatic potential over the total electronic density evidence an increase of the ionic character, as well as, the polarization of the electronic density as U > Re . T he electron localization function (ELF) corroborates the bonding analysis because of the lack of di-synaptic basins on the metal-ligand bonding region. Keywords: Hight, coordination, complexes, relativistic, effects.


Objectives: We tested the hypothesis that modifiable lifestyle factors alter the genetic susceptibility associated with a common coding variant in the complement factor H (CFH) gene, Y402H, for the leading cause of blindness among the elderly, age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods: In this case-control association analysis, Caucasian participants in the multicenter Age-Related Eye Disease Study with advanced AMD (n = 574 cases) or no AMD (n = 280 controls) were evaluated. AMD status was determined by grading of fundus photographs. Risk factors including cigarette smoking and body mass index (BMI) were assessed and DNA specimens were genotyped for the variant in the CFH gene. Unconditional logistic regression analyses were performed. Attributable risks and multivariable AMD risk scores were calculated. Results: The number of risk alleles for Y402H was associated with advanced AMD, with odds ratios (OR) of 2.7 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.8–3.8) for the CT heterozygous genotype and OR 7.4 (4.7–11.8) for the homozygous CC risk genotype, after controlling for demographic and behavioral risk factors. Current cigarette smoking (OR 5.1) and high BMI ≧30 (OR 2.1) were independently related to AMD, controlling for genotype. The association between AMD and BMI varied dependent on genotype (P interaction = 0.006 for the CT vs. TT genotype). The CC genotype plus higher BMI (OR 5.9) or smoking (OR 10.2) conferred the greatest risks. Gene plus environment risk scores provided an area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.70–0.75. Conclusions: Genetic and environmental factors are independently related to advanced AMD, and modifiable factors alter genetic susceptibility. The AMD risk score identifies a highly susceptible population.


Pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma occurs as two biologically distinct histological variants, embryonal (ERMS) and alveolar (ARMS). To identify genomic changes that drive ERMS pathogenesis, we used a new array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) platform to examine a specific subset of ERMS tumors, those occurring in children with clinically defined intermediate‐risk disease. The aCGH platform used has an average probe spacing ∼1 kb, and can identify genomic changes with single gene resolution. Our data suggest that these tumors share a common genomic program that includes inactivation of a master regulator of the p53 and Rb pathways, CDKN2A/B, and activation of FGFR4, Ras, and Hedgehog (Hh) signaling. The CDKN2A/B tumor suppressor is deleted in most patient samples. FGFR4, which encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase, is activated in 20% of tumors, predominantly by amplification of mutant, activating FGFR4 alleles. Over 50% of patients had low‐level gains of a region containing the Hh‐pathway transcription factor GLI1, and a gene expression pattern consistent with Hh‐pathway activation. We also identified intragenic deletions affecting NF1, a tumor suppressor and inhibitor of Ras, in 15% of tumor samples. Deletion of NF1 and the presence of activating Ras mutations (in 42% of patients) were mutually exclusive, suggesting NF1 loss is an alternative and potentially common mechanism of Ras activation in ERMS. Our data suggest that intermediate‐risk ERMS is driven by a common set of genomic defects, a finding that has important implications for the application of targeted therapies to improve the treatment of children diagnosed with this disease. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


The groundwater arsenic contamination in Bangladesh is a phenomenon of surface ero- sion, transportation and deposition in the form of Delta and ∼lood Plain. While dealing with such geomorphological units like Tableland, Flood Plain, Delta and Hill Tract in Bangladesh, we have found the possibility of having huge arsenic contaminattion free groundwater reservoir in selected areas in Bangladesh. The results presented are the outcome of our last 5 years, field survey analysing for arsenic of water of twentyfive thousand eight hundred ninetyseven hand tubewells in sixtyfour districts of Bangladesh comprising four existing geomorphological regions (a) Deltaic region (including coastal region), (b) Flood Plain, (c) Tableland and (d) Hill Tract. In this report, we will highlight (1) the area in Bangladesh where groundwater is not arsenic contaminated and the' possibility to use shallow hand tubewells as potential groundwater resource for drinking purpose and (2) arsenic contaminations scenario of deep tubewells (above 100 meters) all over Bangladesh and suitable depth in arsenic contaminated area to get safe water.


While sustainable forestry in Europe is characterized by the provision of a multitude of forest ecosystem services, there exists no comprehensive study that scrutinizes their sensitivity to forest management on a pan-European scale, so far. We compile scenario runs from regionally tailored forest growth models and Decision Support Systems (DSS) from 20 case studies throughout Europe and analyze whether the ecosystem service provision depends on management intensity and other co-variables, comprising regional affiliation, social environment, and tree species composition. The simulation runs provide information about the case-specifically most important ecosystem services in terms of appropriate indicators. We found a strong positive correlation between management intensity and wood production, but only weak correlation with protective and socioeconomic forest functions. Interestingly, depending on the forest region, we found that biodiversity can react in both ways, positively and negatively, to increased management intensity. Thus, it may be in tradeoff or in synergy with wood production and forest resource maintenance. The covariables species composition and social environment are of punctual interest only, while the affiliation to a certain region often makes an important difference in terms of an ecosystem service's treatment sensitivity.


BACKGROUND
Surgical revision to repair stenosis is necessary in about 20% of lower extremity vein grafts (LEVGs). Alternate conduit, especially arm vein, is often necessary to achieve a policy of all-autogenous revisions. Although basilic vein harvest necessitates deep exposure in proximity to major nerves, it typically uses a large vein unaffected by prior intravenous lines and as such appears ideally suited for revisions in which a segmental interposition conduit is needed for revision within the graft or for extension to a more proximal inflow or distal outflow site. In this report, we describe our experience with the use of the basilic vein for LEVG revisions compared with other sources of autogenous conduit.

METHODS
All patients who underwent LEVG were placed in a duplex scan surveillance program. LEVGs that developed a focal area of increased velocity or uniformly low velocities throughout the graft with appropriate lesions confirmed with angiography were candidates for revision. All patients who underwent graft revision with basilic vein segments from January 1, 1990, to September 1, 2001, were identified, and their courses were reviewed for subsequent adverse events (further revision or occlusion) and complications of harvest. These revisions were compared with revisions in which cephalic and saphenous vein were used.

RESULTS
One hundred thirty basilic veins were used to revise 122 LEVGs. The mean follow-up period after revision was 28 +/- 27 months. Ninety-three grafts (71%) remained patent with no further revision, and 37 grafts (29%) either needed additional revisions (22 grafts) or were occluded (15 grafts). Only four of these adverse events (11%) were directly attributed to the basilic vein segment. Ten of 43 grafts revised with cephalic vein (23%) were either revised or occluded, of which three were related to the cephalic vein segment (P = not significant, compared with basilic vein). Twenty-four of 81 grafts revised with saphenous vein (30%) were either revised or occluded, of which 11 were attributed to the saphenous vein segment (P <.01, compared with basilic vein). Two patients (1.5%) had complications from basilic vein harvest (one hematoma, one arterial injury). No neurologic injuries resulted from basilic vein harvest.

CONCLUSION
The basilic vein is a reliable and durable conduit when used to segmentally revise LEVGs. Stenoses rarely occur within interposed basilic vein segments, and excellent freedom from subsequent revision or occlusion is possible. We conclude the basilic vein can be safely harvested with minimal complications and is ideally suited for use as a short segment interposition graft for LEVG revision.


Cloud computing has brought new changes and opportunities to IT industry. It is the result of the evolution of a variety of techniques. And the railway department will use the cloud computing technology to achieve the sharing of the railway information resources and to improve the capacity of information processing. But with the development of the cloud computing, it also faced with many difficulties, cloud computing security has become the leading cause of impeding its development. Cloud computing security has become a hot topic in industry and academic research. This paper will explore the status of the development of cloud computing security, analyze the data privacy, security auditing, data monitoring and other challenges that the cloud computing security faced with. We will describe the solutions which the industry and academia proposed for some key issues of cloud computing security, such as virtualization security and traffic monitoring between virtual machines and so on. And we analyzed the security of cloud computing in railway environment. We proposed a cloud computing security reference framework. The purpose of this paper is attempted to bring greater clarity landscape about cloud computing security.


Background Performance of cognitively complex "instrumental activities of daily living" (IADL) has previously been related to amyloid deposition in preclinical Alzheimer's disease. Objectives We aimed to investigate the relationship between IADL performance and cerebral tau accumulation in cognitively normal older adults. Design Cross-sectional. Setting Data was collected in the Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer's (A4) and Longitudinal Evaluation of Amyloid Risk and Neurodegeneration (LEARN) studies. Participants Participants (n = 447, age 71.9+4.9 years, 57.5% female) who underwent tau positron emission tomography were selected from the A4 and LEARN studies. Measurements IADL performance was measured using the self- and study partner-reported versions of the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study Activities of Daily Living — Prevention Instrument (ADCS ADL-PI). We also investigated discordance between participants and their study partners. Cross-sectional associations between entorhinal and inferior temporal tau (independent variables) and ADCS ADL-PI total scores, item-level scores and discordance (dependent variables) were investigated in linear and logistic regressions. Analyses were adjusted for age, sex and education and a tau by amyloid interaction was also included. Results Participants and their study partners reported high levels of IADL performance. Entorhinal and inferior temporal tau were related to study partner but not to self-reported total ADCS ADL-PI scores. The association was not retained after adjustment for global cerebral amyloid burden. At the item level, greater entorhinal tau was associated with study partner-reported difficulties remembering important dates (odds ratio (OR) = 1.24, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) = [1.06, 1.45], p = 0.008) and difficulties remembering the details of TV programs and movies (OR = 1.32, 95%CI = [1.08, 1.61], p = 0.007). Greater inferior temporal tau was associated with self-reported difficulties managing to find personal belongings (OR = 1.23, 95%CI = [1.04, 1.46], p = 0.018) and study partner-reported difficulties remembering the details of TV programs and movies (OR = 1.39, 95%CI = [1.11, 1.75], p = 0.005). Discordance between participant and study partner-report was more likely with greater entorhinal (OR = 1.18, 95%CI = [1.05, 1.33], p = 0.005) and inferior temporal tau burden (OR = 1.29, 95%CI = [1.10, 1.51], p = 0.002). Discussion We found a cross-sectional relationship between study partner-reported everyday functioning and tau in cognitively normal older adults. Participants were more likely to self-report difficulties differently from their study partners when tau burden was higher. This may hint at an altered early-disease awareness of functional changes and underscores the importance of self-report of IADL functioning in addition to collateral report by a study partner.


The restoration of Massafra' Castle (TA)Massafra Castle's restoration project aims to preserve and enhance the monument, redeeming it from the current state of partial abandonment, with the scope to return it to the community. First, an in-depth study of an historical research was carried out together with the analysis of the monument' superficial and structural degradation to identify the adequate remedies. It was clear that "restoring only the stones" would have not been efficient and therefore finding a new purpose was necessary and essential. Finding a new scope for those kinds of architectures is a matter of great interest, because more than any other type of monuments, those are completely out of their historical context that gave them political, military and economic reason to be built. Therefore, following a sociological investigation, it emerged that the best solution would be create a connection between Massafra and cinematography: there are many cultural organizations in this area and most of them need more dedicated space. Massafra has already been chosen several times as a movie set by famous authors: Il Vangelo secondo Matteo by Pier Paolo Pasolini, Il Paese delle spose infelici by Pippo Mezzapesa and Amiche da morire by Giorgia Farina. This is how the MOVIE (Massafra Omni Vision between Innovation and Cultural Heritage) idea was born, a 360° cinema setting which is unique at a national level and that it would become part of larger cinematographic circuit already flourishing in the Apulia region. The project's feasibility was then evaluated from a logistic-economic point of view. Furthermore, given the Castle's location, the project proposes the reopening of ancient paths that connect the monument to the historical town centre and to the Ravine. The project also supports the restoration of rock settlements with its cave houses (currently completely collapsed) that surround the castle's foundation to divulge hospitality.


Posttranslational modifications (PTMs) play a crucial role in a wide range of biological processes. Lysine crotonylation (Kcr) is a newly discovered histone PTM that is enriched at active gene promoters and potential enhancers in mammalian cell genomes. However, the cellular enzymes that regulate the addition and removal of Kcr are unknown, which has hindered further investigation of its cellular functions. Here we used a chemical proteomics approach to comprehensively profile 'eraser' enzymes that recognize a lysine-4 crotonylated histone H3 (H3K4Cr) mark. We found that Sirt1, Sirt2, and Sirt3 can catalyze the hydrolysis of lysine crotonylated histone peptides and proteins. More importantly, Sirt3 functions as a decrotonylase to regulate histone Kcr dynamics and gene transcription in living cells. This discovery not only opens opportunities for examining the physiological significance of histone Kcr, but also helps to unravel the unknown cellular mechanisms controlled by Sirt3, that have previously been considered solely as a deacetylase. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.02999.001


A set D of vertices of a simple graph G, that is a graph without loops and multiple edges, is called a dominating set if every vertex u ∈ V (G) − D is adja-cent to some vertex v ∈ D. The domination number of a graph G, denoted by γ(G), is the order of a smallest dominating set of G. A dominating set D with |D| = γ(G) is called a minimum dominating set. This research aims to char-acterize the domination number of some graph operations, namely joint graphs, coronation of graphs, graph compositions, tensor product of two graphs, and graph amalgamation. The results shows that most of the resulting domination numbers attain the given lower bound of γ(G). Keywords: Dominating set, domination number,


Parking management is a strategy that has been extensively employed by authorities and organizations world-wide in an attempt to address traffic-related congestion and associated environmental impacts. Airports are no exception. Here, parking control and pricing regimes are used to raise additional revenue and manage traffic demand. However, within the last five years a new trend in unregulated off-site, predominately residential, car parking provision around UK airports has emerged and rapidly grown in popularity. The aim of this paper is to investigate this new development. Through an in-depth analysis of three self-styled 'parking marketplace' websites, this paper provides an empirical examination of the growing phenomenon of off-site residential car parking provision in the vicinity of the 25 busiest passenger airports in the UK. Data is provided on the supply and demand for these alternative spaces, insights into the physical location, attributes, and price of these spaces is provided, and the potential implications for airport revenue, parking control, passenger safety/security, and airport-community relations are discussed. The empirical findings indicate that, while it is still at a relatively early stage, this parking phenomenon is experiencing rapid growth. The paper concludes by contending that airport operators and local authorities need to be cognizant of the existence of, and the challenges and opportunities associated with, alternative parking provision in order to be able to better plan for, and respond to, its complex revenue, planning, environmental, and consumer implications.


Comprehensive speech examinations of 10 equally affected subjects with moderate, treated Parkinson's disease were performed before and 4 weeks following initiation of treatment with selegiline (deprenyl), with other drug therapies unchanged. Forty different measures relating to the speech processes of respiration, phonation, resonation, articulation and prosody were examined to measure changes in performance due to selegiline. Significant improvements were noted for 8 of the 40 measures, with these improvements relating to the speech processes of articulation and respiration. The potential interactive effects of comedication are discussed. In addition, previously undescribed comprehensive speech characteristics of moderate Parkinson's disease are presented and discussed.


Cross-linking of the inhibitory immunoreceptor LAIR-1 (CD305) on the cell surface phosphorylates LAIR-1 inhibitory motifs (ITIM) and restricts the growth of monocyte-derived dendritic cells (mono-DCs). Despite the suggestion that LAIR-1's ability to prevent unwarranted immunity is compromised in autoimmunity, much remains to be learned about the control of LAIR-1 expression.
 Here, we compared the ability of various myeloid cytokines to control LAIR-1 expression on the surface of monocytes/macrophages (mϕs) and mono-DCs. Treatment of freshly isolated blood monocytes from healthy donors with mono-DC growth factors (GM-CSF+IL-4/GM-CSF+IL-13) led to reduced levels of LAIR-1 at the critical monocyte-to-mono-DC juncture. In contrast, M-CSF (a steady state/M2 cytokine) sustained LAIR-1+CD14+CD33m/M+CD16+ mono-mϕs. M-CSF effects on LAIR-1 occurred under serum-supplemented and serum-free conditions.
 Addition of M-CSF to mono-DCs previously cultured in GM-CSF+IL-4 promptly reversed the down-regulatory effects of GM-CSF+IL-4 producing increases in LAIR-1+CD14+ cells. Conversely, addition of GM-CSF+IL-4 to M-CSF exposed cultures lowered levels of LAIR-1 and CD14. M-CSF treatment of SLE blood myeloid cells (featuring activated monocytes/mono-DCs lacking LAIR-1, CD14) produced high levels of LAIR-1 and CD14 vs GM-CSF/IL-4. Thus: 1. The expression of LAIR-1 on monocytes/mϕs and mono-DCs is distinctly and reversibly controlled by myeloid cytokines. 2. LAIR-1 expression on circulating myeloid cells in SLE may be regulated by M-CSF.


Background and Objectives The rate of blood use in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery is high, though having decreased remarkably in recent years. The aim of this study was to determine this rate as well as demographic and clinical factors affecting blood transfusion during CABG. Factors associated with increased risk of transfusion can help us decrease the rate of blood use. Materials and Methods In a prospective manner, data were collected from patients having undergone CABG surgery in Emam Reza teaching hospital of Mashhad for about 14 months. The correlation of variables including age, sex, height, weight, body mass index, body surface, estimated blood volume, preoperative hemoglobin concentration, and surgeon with the independent variable of "need for blood transfusion" was evaluated. Finally, predicting variables were determined by the use of logistic regression methods. Results The rate of blood use was 77.6%. The use of whole blood was more frequent than packed red blood cells. In almost 70% of patients, the number of blood units administered ranged from 1 to 2. The predicting variables were determined to be surgeon and height of patients. Conclusions This study and other credible transfusion guidelines help us change individual physician practice and restrict indications such as hemoglobine level for blood transfusion in CABG. These changes might result in major rate reduction in blood use.


Purpose In dementia care, the complexity of psychosocial needs and contextual variables often demands nonpharmacological interventions of a complex nature. The purpose of this scoping review was to investigate (1) how manuals published in refereed journals explaining procedures of complex interventions in dementia care are structured and their content disseminated and (2) to provide recommendations for future manuals. Methods A systematic search was conducted using four databases (Embase, PsychInfo, CINAHL and Scopus) following PRISMA-ScR and PICo method. The results were analysed using template analysis aiming to describe the possibility of tailoring the intervention, degree of flexibility of the manual and dissemination elements used in the manual. Results A total of 882 records were identified, and 86 full-text articles were assessed. Nine articles containing manuals met the inclusion criteria. All of the included manuals allowed the user to tailor actions in the intervention to specific situations. Two-thirds of the manuals showed a medium degree of flexibility. The types of dissemination elements varied. All used written text, and some used various graphical organisers such as headlines and lists. None used illustrations or audio/video material. Conclusion Currently, only few manuals for complex interventions in the field of dementia are published in refereed journals, all disseminated as written text. For future manuals, we suggest considering the inclusion of illustrations and/or audio/video material to describe actions, to allow for tailoring of the intervention, and to maintain a medium or low degree of flexibility by structuring the content hierarchically in phases while providing the user with detailed description of what to do, and how to decide what to.


A survey of maize-growing areas of Surkhet and Chitwan, Nepal (April to May 2017) was conducted to know about the incidence, relationship and loss in stored maize due to Maize weevil (Sitophilus zeamais Motsch) and (Aspergillus flavus Link). Sixty households from each district were surveyed and the data was analyzed using SPSS and Microsoft Excel. Result revealed that there is severe infestation of maize weevil and green fungus in stored maize. 97.5% of stored samples had incidence of Aspergillus, whereas 96.7 % samples had maize weevils. 15.7% of the farmers apply sun drying and removal of the A. falvus infested seed while remaining 84.3% of the farmers use no any measure of control. Results from Chi- Square test indicated significant relation (χ2 = 122.10, P<0.01) between incidence of weevil infestation and occurrence of green fungus in the study area. The Phi coefficient value (1.00) shows the perfect relationship exist between weevil and green fungus occurrence in the study areas. The overall annual damage by the A. flavus was 6.39%. Therefore, it can be said that maize weevil is the major insect while A. flavus is major pathogen of maize grains at storage. The relationship between the occurrences of both pests was highly significant which indicated the positive relationship, i.e. the weevil plays an essential role in growth and spread of fungus.


Meyerson nevus is a rare benign entity described by Meyerson et al in 1971 as a melanocytic nevus surrounded by inflammatory, eczematous eruption that resolves spontaneously or by topical steriod therapy (fluticasone propionate, Abdi İbrahim İlaç San. ve Tic. A.Ş., İstanbul), but the nevus persists. This entity is not well known and there is limited information in the literature. Since the lesion may develop suspicion for malignancy, it is important to keep this entity in mind. In this article we present three Meyerson nevi, two of which belong to one patient.


In Benin, maize plays a key role, both in production systems and in commercial transactions and population feeding. Smallholders are facing a decline in productivity due, among other things, to difficulties in accessing agricultural inputs such as improved seeds and fertilizers (NPK and Urea). The project "Sustainable intensification of maize production among small producers in the departments of Alibori and Borgou in Benin" attempted to solve these problems in its intervention areas. The objective of this research is to analyze the technical efficiency of the maize producers of the Municipality of Bembèrèkè who benefited from the project's support. The sample of the study consists of the 95 farmers benefiting from the project interventions in the Municipality of Bembèrèkè. Data on quantities and prices of inputs used as well as quantities and labour costs were collected. We used the stochastic production frontier to calculate the beneficiaries' technical efficiency scores. The results of the analysis show that the average yield obtained on the experimental plot is 1422 kg/ha compared to 1005 kg/ha for the control plot. In addition, the average value of the technical efficiency scores of all the farms studied is 65.2%, varying from 8.8 to 100%. This means that the current production level can be further increased by an average of 34.8% using the same quantities of inputs. The technical efficiency obtained by producers on the experimental plots is higher than that obtained on the control plots. It is 68.5 and 62% respectively. The comparison test performed on the mean difference between the two groups shows that this difference is significant (probability = 0.004). This shows that the technological packages disseminated as part of the project activities have a clear impact on the technical efficiency of producers. The Government must then encourage farmers to make greater use of certified maize seed and specific fertilizers at subsidized prices.


This article describes our investigation of the influence of an axisymmetric partially insulated mixed-mode crack on the coupled response of a functionally graded magneto-electro-elastic material (FGMEEM) subjected to thermal loading. The crack is embedded at the center of an infinite medium, and the material is graded in the direction orthogonal to the crack plane and is modeled as a nonhomogeneous medium with anisotropic constitutive laws. The heat conduction equation is first solved using the Hankel transform to yield the temperature field in the medium. Using the same integral transform, the magneto-electro-elasticity equations are converted analytically into a system of four singular integral equations that are solved numerically to yield the crack-tip mode I and II stress intensity factors, the electric displacement intensity factor and the magnetic induction intensity factor. The main objective of this research is to study the influence of material nonhomogeneity on the fields' intensity factors for the purpose of gaining better understanding on the behavior of graded pyro magneto-electro-elastic materials.


The rodent superfamily Geomyoidea is an old, undoubtedly monophyletic lineage having only obscure affinities with other rodent groups. Geomyoid rodents, autochthonous in North America, experienced major evolutionary diversification in the Mio-Pliocene coincident with the development of the Madro-Tertiary Geoflora and the climatic trend toward increasing aridity and coolness. Extant geomyoids are divisible into two groups: (1) the Geomyidae, all members of which are fossorial, and (2) the Heteromyidae, whose members display an adaptive continuum from bipedal, xeric-adapted forms to scansorial, mesic-adapted forms. These moieties, although recognizable on biochemical criteria, become particularly difficult to distinguish when paleontological data are considered. Nevertheless, most lines of evidence indicate that the families Heteromyidae and Geomyidae are distinct, monophyletic lineages. The extant heteromyids comprise three main lineages (including six genera) that diverged during the Eocene: (1) subfamily Perognathinae ( Chaetodipus and Perognathus ); (2) subfamily Dipodomyinae ( Dipodomys and Microdipodops ); and (3) subfamily Heteromyinae ( Liomys and Heteromys ). Protein differentiation has occured at heterogeneous rates among these major lineages. Based on available karyotypic data, the main direction of chromosomal evolution in the Heteromyuidae appears to be toward increasing chromosome number. Cladistic analysis of morphological characters used in previous studies aupports biochemical evidence allying Microdipodops with Dipodomys . A model is introduced to describe how heterochronic changes in ontogeny may explain the great breadth of morphological diversification within the superfamily. Taxonomic recommendations at the subfamilial, generic, and sub-generic levels are provided.


Software design is a knowledge intensive task that constitutes a critical part of the software development process. Using a controlled experiment involving software practitioners, this research examines two potentially useful mechanisms for improving the software design process. Specifically, this study examines the impact of structural distribution of cognition through design patterns and social distribution of cognition through collaborating pairs on design outcomes. The results indicate that the use of design patterns as external cognitive artifacts improves design quality, reduces time taken to solve a design problem, and leads to higher participant satisfaction. Collaborating pairs of software designers were compared to participants working alone but whose efforts were conjointly considered as the best and second-best members of nominal pairs. It was found that paired designers produced higher quality designs compared with the second-best members of nominal pairs, did not differ from the best member of a nominal pair, but took more time to complete a design task than either member of a nominal pair. The results also indicate that the availability of design patterns raises the performance level of the second-best member of a nominal pair, in terms of quality, and reduces task completion time when compared with a pair not using design patterns. Finally, paired designers were found to experience higher levels of task satisfaction when compared with individuals. Implications for research and practice are discussed.


The writer of this article tried to clear up urban transport problems using social psychology approach. The first major problem is about traffic jam, which is analyzed by the concept of Tragedy of the Commons (Hardin, 1968). The second major difficulty is the traffic accidents which are analyzed by the risk theories of Wilde (1982, 1998), Summala (1974, 1997), and Fuller (2000). The writer also delivers the influence of illusion of control, optimism bias, and locus of control on risk taking decision. Moreover, the writer offers three solutions for each of the problems and the solutions are intended for individual level, cultural level and structural level. It is expected that this writing will give a theoretical contributions in the subject of transportation psychology in Indonesia. Transportation psychology is a relatively new field of applied psychology in Indonesia, and there is not much yet attention and development given to this particular subject. It is also expected that this writing gives ideas for transportation policies made by the governmental officers, especially in Indonesia's big cities.


The lube oil system in the SGT 600 has to supply oil of the correct pressure and temperature to the gas turbine bearings, the gear and the compressor bearings for lubrication and cooling. The lubrication oil used in the system is mineral based turbine oil ISO VG 46. The oil in the system goes through multiple components before the bearings and gear are reached. Two centrifugal pumps, which are driven by electric motors, pump the oil through a cooler, bypass line, 3 way temperature valve and a filter before the oil enters the bearings. All these components have a pressure loss (resistance) which depends on the flow that goes through the component. On the other side, the flow that is present in the system depends on the resistance of the total system.
To show this dynamic behaviour of the system, a simplified mathematical simulation model is required for the start-up of the lube oil system of the SGT 600. This model must calculate the flow and pressure in each part of the lube oil system. Furthermore, the bypass line over the cooler has an orifice plate which must take care of a pressure loss that is equal to the pressure drop of the cooler. The simulation model must provide a suitable selection tool for the orifice bore diameter of the bypass line.
The simulation tool used for this model is Matlab Simulink. To simulate the total lube oil system, the model is split into an iterative part and an integration part. For the total model, these two parts are coupled after both models are tested. The iterative part finds the flow in the total lube oil system and the integration part takes care of the coupling between the electric motors and the centrifugal pumps. This way, the start-up behaviour can be described.
From available datasheets it can be seen that the desired pressure upstream the bearings in the system does not correspond to the design flow and speed of the centrifugal pumps. So the centrifugal pumps do not operate at their best efficiency point. The simulation tool described in this report will predict the flow and the pressure at every component in the system.
The final model described in this report is capable of finding the pressure and flow at each component in the system. However, the final model contains a lot of assumptions which cannot be validated due to a lack of data. Also, the model is capable of showing the physical behaviour. This physical behaviour contains the distribution of the flow over parallel components, where the components with the lowest resistance gets the most flow. It also contains the dynamic behaviour where the resistance determines the flow in the system and the flow on its turn determines the resistance.
The final model is also capable of predicting the mentioned orifice diameter in the bypass line over the cooler. The model runs a script which calculates the desired diameter to get the same pressure loss over the bypass line as over the cooler.


The current study examined the effect of supervisor's neuroticism on employee's job burnout, and the moderating effects of neuroticism of the supervisor and the employee on the relationships between surface acting toward supervisor and employee burnout. Data were collected from 448 full-time workers who had a supervisor. Regression analyses showed that supervisor's neuroticism was positively related to employee burnout in the cynicism facet; however, additional polynomial regressions revealed that supervisor's neuroticism was related to all three facets of employee burnout when the level of supervisor's neuroticism was consistent with that of employee's. Contrary to the hypothesis, employee's neuroticism had a buffering effect on the relationship between employee's surface acting and professional inefficacy. Finally, the three-way interaction among surface acting, supervisor's neuroticism, and employee's neuroticism was significant for exhaustion. Specifically, when supervisor's neuroticism was high and employee's neuroticism was low, surface acting on exhaustion increased the most. Based on these findings, implications of this study and directions for future research were discussed.


Transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta) can be tumor suppressive, but it can also enhance tumor progression by stimulating the complex process of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transdifferentiaion (EMT). The signaling pathway(s) that regulate EMT in response to TGF-beta are not well understood. We demonstrate the acquisition of a fibroblastoid morphology, increased N-cadherin expression, loss of junctional E-cadherin localization, and increased cellular motility as markers for TGF-beta-induced EMT. The expression of a dominant-negative Smad3 or the expression of Smad7 to levels that block growth inhibition and transcriptional responses to TGF-beta do not inhibit mesenchymal differentiation of mammary epithelial cells. In contrast, we show that TGF-beta rapidly activates RhoA in epithelial cells, and that blocking RhoA or its downstream target p160(ROCK), by the expression of dominant-negative mutants, inhibited TGF-beta-mediated EMT. The data suggest that TGF-beta rapidly activates RhoA-dependent signaling pathways to induce stress fiber formation and mesenchymal characteristics.


Purpose The current study was designed to assess interrater and intrarater validity of cervical range of motion measurements performed with a CROM goniometer. Material and Methods. The study involved 95 healthy university students (31 males and 64 females) aged 20-24 years. Two examiners performed measurements of cervical range of motion using a CROM goniometer. The same subjects were examined again after two weeks, in the same conditions. The results acquired by one rater during the first and the second examination were compared for reproducibility, while the results obtained by the two examiners were compared to assess validity and reliability of the tool. Cronbach's alpha was applied to determine intrarater reliability, and the values of correlations were used to assess the interrater agreement. Results Analysis of the results showed both intrarater and interrater agreement in all the measures of cervical range of motion. The highest intrarater and interrater concordance was observed in the measure of extension. Intrarater agreement for Examiner 1 was reflected by Cronbach's alpha = 0.85, and for Examiner 2 by Cronbach's alpha = 0.89. As for the interrater agreement in the measure of extension, the value of correlation in both the first and the second measurement amounted to r = 0.89. Conclusions Measurements performed with the CROM goniometer show interrater and intrarater agreement in assessments of cervical range of motion. The CROM goniometer can be recommended for use in daily clinical practice.


summary
A survey of 100 species and 122 observations has shown an average reduction in stomatal density of 14.3% (SE ±2.2 %) with CO2 enrichment, with 74% of the cases exhibiting a reduction in stomatal density. A sign test demonstrated that stomatal density decreases, in response to CO2, significantly more often than expected by chance. Repeated observations on the same species indicated a significant repeatability in the direction of the stomatal response. Analyses which removed the potential effect of taxonomy on this data set showed no significant patterns in the dependency of the degree of stomatal change on growth form (woodiness vs. non-woodiness; trees vs. shrubs), habitat (cool vs. warm) or stomatal distribution on the leaf (amphi- vs. hypostomatous).

Forty-three of the observations had been made in controlled environments and under a typical range in CO., enrichment of 350–700 μmol mol−1. For these cases the average stomatal density declined by 9% (SE ± 3.3%) and 60% of the cases showed reductions in stomatal density. When analyses were restricted to these 43 observations, amphistomatous samples more frequently had greater changes in stomatal density than did hypostomatous samples.

The degree of reduction in stomatal density with increasing CO2 increases with initial stomatal density, after the influence of taxonomy is removed using analyses of independent contrasts. When the data were examined for patterns that might be due explicitly to the effects of relatedness, the subclasses of the Hamamelidae and the Rosidae showed highly significant reductions in stomatal density with CO2 (87% of the species studied in the Hamamelidae and 80% of the species in the Rosidae showed reduction with CO2 enrichment) and correlations between initial stomatal density and degree of reduction in stomatal density. The species sampled in the Hamamelidae were dominantly trees, whereas herbs dominated the species in the Rosidae. There were insufficient species studied at lower taxonomic levels to warrant further statistical analyses. This problem results from experimental and observational data being most often restricted to one species per taxonomic level, typically up to the level of order, a feature which can severely limit the extraction of taxonomically-related and ecologically-related plant responses.


Urban planning and public-health research has long been interested in the connection between land-use mix and travel. Interest from urban planners stems from the potential of transportation ef- ficiency gains achieved by an increased land-use mix and subsequent shortening of trip lengths; whereas, public-health research advocates an increased land-use mix as an effective policy for facilitating greater physical activity. Yet, despite the transportation, land-use, and health benefits related to improving land-use mix and the extent of topical attention given by researchers, no consensus has been reached regard- ing the magnitude of its effect on travel. This absence of agreement may largely be attributed to the theoretical and methodological failings persistent in present attempts to accurately reflect land-use interaction and operationalize its quantification within a defined spatial extent. To better evaluate the impact of land-use mix on travel behavior and as- sess more temporal policies, a robust mix measure accounting for these two elements of land-use interaction and geographic scale as well as a temporal element of land-use mixing—missing from present specifica- tions—must be introduced. This paper establishes the research agenda for a spatial-temporal land-use mix measure by (1) identifying the con- ceptual and methodological faults inherent to current land-use interac- tion and geographic-scale representations and (2) describing strategies and practical benefits of representing the temporal availability of land- use mixing in guiding innovative transportation/land-use policies.


Long before, people from across diverse cultures, viewed disobedience as an awful thing. Today, there is a deal of putting rationality when someone disobeys some of the rules. This paper looked into the different disobedient acts of the respondents and the how they were influenced by the agents of socialization. A validated researcher made questionnaire was used in gathering the data. Improper wearing of uniform is the most disobeyed rule and that the family, peers, school and the media has the same level of influence to the occurrence of student's disobedience.


Human plasma contains various high molecular and low molecular proteins like Albumin, Globulin, Lipoproteins, Glycoproteins etc. To get a pure protein of interest , the organic solvents are very useful in the plasma protein purification steps. To achieve a low cost and reliable purification, the organic solvents are best useful in laboratory practice. Tri-choloroacetic acid and Acetone removes the Albumin and Globulin while Chloroform, methanol, isopropanol removes the Glycoproteins and Lipoproteins and would give the protein of interest in HIV-1 infected human plasma.


Numerical modelling was used to investigate the results from a downhole transient electromagnetic (DHTEM) test survey, which was performed over the Cadjebut lead-zinc ore body in 1987. Unexpectedly, the response due to the inductively well-coupled near-loop contained no signature of the known ore-body, whilst the response due to the offset loop contained a prominent negative intersection anomaly. A dual-slab block model representing the known mineralisation was constructed using a 3D integral equation program MARCO. This algorithm was used because it permitted modelling of both inductive and galvanic effects. The response generated from this model for both the near and far loops contained a weak and strong single-signed galvanic anomaly, respectively. Current channelling was recognised as the primary excitation mechanism after consideration of the anomaly sign and verification with decay analysis. Specifically, decay analysis of the anomaly within the offset loop data yielded decay indices a= -3.27 and a= -3.47 for the field and model data, respectively. These results are in agreement with the decay index identifiable with current channelling, namely a = -7/2. The modelling has demonstrated the importance of offset loops in the production of detectable current channelling effects, which in turn enables the detection of weakly conducting targets which may otherwise be invisible to traditional inductive exploration methods.


Shishkov, T. (2019). Bulgarian soil classifi cation issues of correlation and harmonization with the international soil classifi cation systems. Bulgarian Journal of Agricultural Science, 25(4), 795–803 The paper presents the establishment of the Bulgarian soil classifi cation and the outcomes of large scale mapping services for arable land in the country at scale 1:10 000 and to outline the correlation and harmonization issues with the international soil classifi cation systems. The latest WRB edition (IUSS Working Group WRB, 2015) aiming at the guidance of the newest issue with the diagnostic assessment in broader aspect covers not only Europe. In this paper, we present the drafting of the soil classifi cation issues including objectives towards the national implementation of the international soil classifi cation systems, outlining the correlation and harmonization including WRB (2006), WRB (2015), Soil Taxonomy (Soil Survey Staff, 2014) and FAO-UNESCO (Revised Legend of the World Soils, 1990) as well as basic steps to be taken, to achieve decision making on the basis of soil quality maintenance and enhancement. It will also serve as a call for action to encourage more EC assessments at the national level, but also as a primer for the inclusion of new suggestions.


1. This paper reports an investigation of whether the dipeptides glycylsarcosine and l-glutamyl-l-glutamic acid share a single mediated transport mechanism into hamster jejunum, or whether one of these peptides is transported in part by a transport mechanism unavailable to the other. It describes the kinetics of influx of glycylsarcosine and of l-glutamyl-l-glutamic acid into rings of everted hamster jejunum in vitro , incubations being carried out at pH 5 in order to minimize brush-border and intra-medium hydrolysis of l-glutamyl-l-glutamic acid, so that peptide transport rather than a mixture of peptide transport and transport of free glutamic acid was studied. With glycylsarcosine, brush-border and intra-medium hydrolysis are negligibly small. 2. Estimates of the simple diffusion component in transport of each peptide were made by treating each of the substrates as a competitive inhibitor of its own mediated transport (assuming that mediated transport conforms to simple Michaelis-Menten kinetics), extrapolating the observed inhibitory effect over a range of concentrations to an infinitely high concentration of inhibitor, and estimating the transport component remaining at such a concentration. This component in transport would be expected to represent transport by simple diffusion, and this assumption was supported by the observation that for glycylsarcosine the uninhibitable component in transport was linearly proportional to substrate concentration; with l-glutamyl-l-glutamic acid the observations were too few to provide this demonstration. Estimates of apparent K t and V max. for mediated transport of both peptides are given. Before correction for simple diffusion, linearizing plots were clearly biphasic for both peptides; after correction for simple diffusion, they became linear, providing no evidence for transport of either peptide by more than one mediated transport system, though not excluding the possibility of multiple systems. 3. Measurement of influx of [ 14 C]Gly-Sar over a range of concentrations both alone and in the presence of a constant concentration of Glu-Glu showed that after correction for the non-mediated component in influx of Gly-Sar (simple diffusion), influx of this peptide conformed to Michaelis-Menten kinetics and the inhibitory effect of Glu-Glu on influx of Gly-Sar appeared to be competitive. The extent of inhibition corresponded well with that predicted from the K t values of the two peptides. 4. Measurement of influx of [ 14 C]Gly-Sar (1 mmol/l) in the presence of a range of concentrations of Glu-Glu, with extrapolation of the inhibitory effect of Glu-Glu to an infinitely high concentration of this peptide, showed that at such a concentration mediated influx of Gly-Sar was completely abolished, influx being reduced to the simple diffusion component in total influx of [ 14 C]Gly-Sar. Measurement of influx of [ 14 C]Glu-Glu (1 mmol/l) in the presence of a range of concentrations of Gly-Sar, with extrapolation of the inhibitory effect of Gly-Sar to an infinitely high concentration of this peptide, showed that at such a concentration mediated influx of Glu-Glu was completely abolished, influx being reduced to the simple diffusion component in total influx of [ 14 C]Glu-Glu. 5. The results are compatible with the conclusion that Gly-Sar and Glu-Glu are taken up by the absorptive cells by a single mediated mechanism. They do not exclude the possibility that these peptides are taken up by multiple common mechanisms, but they do appear to exclude the possibility that at the substrate concentration used (1 mmol/l) there is appreciable uptake of one of the peptides by a system unavailable to the other.


Athletic and sporting interests of students in the physical education classes. The aim is to study the structure of sports and sporting interests and motivation for physical activities first year students. An anonymous questionnaire was attended by 209 students (116 girls, 93 boys). The presence of additional independent study of organized physical activity, lack of missed classes. High self-esteem health of boys and girls due to the high level of interest in physical training. The main condition for the formation of interest in physical culture is the introduction of innovative technologies in physical education and attracting students to sports events. The highest level of interest in girls revealed their studies shaping, the young men martial arts. Found that the high level of interest indicated 44.19% of the boys, the average 51.16%, low 4.65%. Found that the high level of interest indicated 15.15% of the girls, the average 77.27%, low 7.58%.


Martensitic phase transformation can greatly affect the mechanical behaviors and the stress-strain response of shape memory alloys (SMAs). In this study, the effect of martensitic phase transformation on the deformation of a single-crystal TiNi SMA specimen with a triangle crack was investigated experimentally by means of moiré interferometry method. A typical displacement field and the corresponding strain field in areas both around and far from the tip of the crack were measured in a certain time during the loading process in which the tensile load is coupled with the stress-induced martensitic phase transformation. Some characteristics of the deformation and the martensitic phase transformation of the specimen are revealed. These results may provide a reliable support for revealing the fracture mechanism of single crystal TiNi SMAs, and may enable further development in putting forward the failure criterion of SMAs.


Abstract Critical limb ischemia (CLI) is the most severe form of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) that may result in limb loss and even death; thus, the fast and proper treatment should be employed as earlier as possible to prevent these catastrophic consequences. Arterial revascularization is almost always an indispensable treatment option for CLI. Although both endovascular and surgical revascularization procedures have an important role, nowadays, the hybrid revascularization as a combination of these revascularization procedures has also gained increasing popularity in the treatment of patients with CLI. This review provides an update on the arterial revascularization strategies for the treatment of CLI.


The purpose of this toolkit is to assist public health professionals, provide valid, reliable and standardized input that supports active community design when reviewing development plans submitted to a municipality. Moreover, the Ontario Public Health Standards require public health staff to work with municipalities to support healthy public policies that enhance the built environment in order to create communities that are safe and promote physical activity. The toolkit was developed primarily for public health professionals to use; however, other professionals such as planning, design, transportation, transit, engineers, parks and recreation and developers may be interested in utilizing this toolkit to ensure and/or advocate for the design of active communities. Moreover, federal, provincial and municipal government representatives and staff may be interested in the types of elements and criteria included in the toolkit in order to develop overarching policies (e.g. legislation, Official Plan policies) that support the development of active communities across Canada. The overall goal of the Active Community Toolkit is to increase opportunities for active living including active transportation within the built and natural environments. This will be accomplished by increasing the number and type of active community design elements contained within development plans.


The Erasmus Plus project "Matrix of knowledge for innovation and competitiveness in textile enterprises", TEX Matrix, aims at spreading creative and innovative organizational culture inside textile enterprises, by transferring and implementing methodologies, tools and concepts for improved training. Within this paper, an overview of the contents, goals and objectives of this project is given. The project has achieved at this stage two important intellectual outputs: the design of Knowledge Matrix of Innovation (KMI) and the benchmarking study. The KMI developed in the framework of the project, aims to create a comprehensive image of the intangible assets of an enterprise, such as: innovation strategy and culture, informational resources, training methodology, relationships portfolio, IP rights. The benchmarking study comprehended the following goals: elaboration of a database with textile enterprises, adaptation of the benchmarking matrix, and organization of the process for benchmarking. The benchmarking report is analyzed through SWOT and gap analysis and solutions will be provided by the project's partners for improving the innovation and training capacity of the enterprises. The project partners support the enterprises by means of their latest research results and training methods. They are able to identify gaps in the innovation capacity of enterprises based on the benchmarking study and to enrich it with new solutions. The impact of the work results is expected to increase the quality of training, by combining innovative contents with attractive methods.


The authors present a case of delayed peroneal neuropathy following a lateral gastrocnemius rotational flap reconstruction. The patient presented 1.5 years after surgery with a new partial foot drop, which progressed over 3 years. At operation, a fascial band on the deep side of the gastrocnemius flap was compressing the common peroneal nerve proximal to the fibular head, correlating with preoperative imaging. Release of this fascial band and selective muscle resection led to immediate improvement in symptoms postoperatively.


Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are well known as one of the most massive eruptions which potentially create major disturbances in the interplanetary medium and initiate severe magnetic storms when they collide with the Earth"s magnetosphere. As indicated with radio signatures so-called type II and III burst it also divided by sub-type of burst depending on the physical characteristics and different mechanisms. For empirical case studies, the statistical properties of both solar bursts by using the Compound Astronomical Low-cost Low-frequency Instrument for Spectroscopy in Transportable Observatories (CALLISTO) network data has been analyzed. The aim of the present study is to reveal dynamical properties of solar burst type II and III due to several mechanisms. Such mechanisms are based on statistical properties of type II and III burst itself, physical parameters and other factors that might affect the dynamical and instabilities of the explosion of the Sun activities. From the analysis (2006 2011) data, it is found that the tendencies of type III bursts form a type II burst is only 9.0579%. The statistical data also shown that out of 16 events, 13 events on the evolution of SRBT II are formed after a group of SRBT III and intermittently. It can be construed that almost 61.5% solar radio burst type III is dominant in the range of 300 MHz till 499 MHz. This represents a distribution of 1.2407 x 10-6 eV to 2.0637 x 10-6 eV. Most of the cases of both solar radio bursts can be found in the range less that 400 MHz. Based on solar flare monitoring within 24 hours, the CMEs that has the potential to explode will dominantly be a class of M1 solar flare. Overall, the tendencies of SRBT III burst form the SRBT II burst at 187 MHz to 449 MHz. In conclusion, this range is a current regime of solar radio bursts during CMEs events.


Scrapbook detailing art events in Abilene, Texas, especially the activities of the Art Unit of the Abilene Women's Forum from its inception in 1922 to 1933. Accomplishments of the various Abilene art organizations are included by year but not necessarily in chronological order. Emphasized are clippings and exhibits by the Texas Fine Arts Forum, the Abilene Art League, art at the West Texas Fair, activities at the Abilene High School, and special events at the three universities (Hardin-Simmons University, McMurry University and Abilene Christian University).