In addition to forming gap-junction channels, a subset of connexins (Cxs) also form functional hemichannels. Most hemichannels are activated by depolarization, and opening depends critically on the external Ca2+ concentration. Here we describe the mechanisms of action and the structural determinants underlying the Ca2+ regulation of Cx32 hemichannels. At millimolar calcium concentrations, hemichannel voltage gating to the full open state of ≈90 pS is inhibited, and ion conduction at negative voltages of the partially open hemichannels (≈18 pS) is blocked. Thus, divalent cation blockage should be considered as a physiological mechanism to protect the cell from the potentially adverse effects of leaky hemichannels. A ring of 12 Asp residues within the external vestibule of the pore is responsible for the binding of Ca2+ that accounts for both pore occlusion and blockage of gating. The residue Asp-169 of one subunit and the Asp-178 of an adjacent subunit must be arranged precisely to allow interactions with Ca2+ to occur. Interestingly, a naturally occurring mutation (D178Y) that causes an inherited peripheral neuropathy induces a complete Ca2+ deregulation of Cx32 hemichannel activity, suggesting that this dysfunction may be involved in the pathogenesis of the neuropathy.


The article looks at three instances of grammatical variation in present-day standard English: the use of bare and to-infinitives with the verb help, the presence or absence of the preposition/complementizer from before -ing-complements depending on prevent, and the choice between -ing- and infinitival complements after the verbs begin and start. In all three instances, current British and American usage will be shown to differ, and these differences need to be interpreted against diachronic changes affecting Late Modern English grammar as a whole. The description of twentieth-century developments is mainly based on data obtained from matching corpora of British and American standard English. Since in all three cases studied developments did not originate in the twentieth century, additional data from the quotation base of the OED were used to outline the long-term evolution of the relevant portions of the grammar since ca. 1600. In general/methodological terms, the article aims to show that an utterance-based model of language change, in combination with the exceptionally well-developed corpus-linguistic working environment available to the student of standard English, can lead to new discoveries even in a well-studied area such as the grammar of standard English.


Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1999. Pp. ix, 322.Originating from a session at the 1994 Southern Historical Association, Antislavery Violence addresses the use of violence by slaves and abolitionists during the antebellum period. Inspired by earlier studies such as Herbert Aptheker's 1943 American Negro Slave Revolts, the book asserts that antislavery violence united black and white enemies of the system, and lay deep in American History and culture (2). Divided into two parts, the first five essays address slave revolts, and self defense by fugitive slaves and free blacks. The remaining five essays discuss antislavery violence and rhetoric by white abolitionists. The result is a book that presents a picture of an antislavery movement that was fought on various fronts and emphasized interracial cooperation, self-defense, and necessary violence to defeat slavery.Antislavery Violence dispels any myths about slave passivity by shrewdly beginning with the discussion of slave rebellions. Douglas R. Egerton's essay affirms that the 1791 Slave Rebellion in Saint Domingue inspired a series of rebellions in Virginia, culminating in the infamous slave rebellion in 1800 led by the slave Gabriel. "For black Virginians, determined to fulfill the egalitarian promise of the American Revolution," states Egerton, "the news from the Caribbean reminded them that if they dared, the death of slavery might be within their reach (41). Edgerton vividly recalls details of Gabriel's rebellion from its plot to kidnap then Governor James Monroe and the Virginia state legislature to his capture, trial, and execution.Junius Rodriguez examines the dramatic but rarely mentioned 1811 Louisiana Slave Rebellion. Led by mulatto slave driver Charles Deslondes, a group of slaves numbering 180 to 500 rebelled and destroyed several plantations along the Mississippi River 40 miles below New Orleans. Fearing an attack of the city, U.S. troops were dispatched and brutally suppressed the rebellion. Two whites and a slave were killed in the rebellion, whereupon U.S. troops and executions resulted in 150 rebels dead. Once again, the 1791 Saint Domingue revolt is mentioned as a motivating factor for the rebellion: "Ideas of rebellion, imported from Santo Domingo, inspired slaves who rose in rebellion (82)."Carol Wilson's essay discusses the assertive role Northern free blacks and fugitive slaves took to protect themselves from slaveholders emboldened by the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law. Free blacks in Philadelphia, New York, and Boston formed vigilance committees that used the law and, if necessary, violence to prevent kidnappings. Fugitive slaves confronted by pursuing masters and the law used violence to prevent their return to slavery. One example mentioned is the 1851 Christiana (Pa.) Riot, where a group of fugitive slaves and their defenders violently clashed and killed their former master. …


The number of abandoned children nationally in Indonesia in 2011 reached 5.4 million people. Data in the same year in the province of West Nusa Tenggara, abandoned children reached 201 699 inhabitants. The high number of abandoned children, became a separate issue for the Government of West Nusa Tenggara Province, one of them in the field of education. Education is a social right of all citizens, but the empirical facts show that most neglected children in NTB has not gained access to education.
This study aims to reveal, to explain, to construct, to search for meaning, and describes about the social reality that the phenomenon of abandoned children with regard to their social rights as citizens namely the right to receive education services. The study was conducted by using a qualitative method with a phenomenological approach. Data collection using in-depth interviews, observation participation, and the study of documents.
This study came to the conclusion that, the main cause of child neglect in NTB is poverty. While the lack of access to education for those related to the absence of a specific policy of the provincial government in relation education for neglected children. Educational services for neglected children done through orphanage at level of province, with a limited budget. Yet all parties claim that, education for abandoned children has significance meaning as a liberation from ignorance, oppression, and poverty.


In this research study, we deal with remote sensing data analysis over high dimensional space formed by hyperspectral images. This task is generally complex due to the large spectral, spatial richness, and mixed pixels. Thus, several spectral un-mixing methods have been proposed to discriminate mixing spectra by estimating the classes and their presence rates. However, information related to mixed pixel composition is very interesting for some applications, but it is insufficient for many others. Thus, it is necessary to have much more data about the spatial localization of the classes detected during the spectral un-mixing process. To solve the above-mentioned problem and specify the spatial location of the different land cover classes in the mixed pixel, sub-pixel mapping techniques were introduced. This manuscript presents a novel sub-pixel mapping process relying on K-SVD (K-singular value decomposition) learning and total variation as a spatial regularization parameter (SMKSVD-TV: Sub-pixel Mapping based on K-SVD dictionary learning and Total Variation). The proposed approach adopts total variation as a spatial regularization parameter, to make edges smooth, and a pre-constructed spatial dictionary with the K-SVD dictionary training algorithm to have more spatial configurations at the sub-pixel level. It was tested and validated with three real hyperspectral data. The experimental results reveal that the attributes obtained by utilizing a learned spatial dictionary with isotropic total variation allowed improving the classes sub-pixel spatial localization, while taking into account pre-learned spatial patterns. It is also clear that the K-SVD dictionary learning algorithm can be applied to construct a spatial dictionary, particularly for each data set.


The macrosegregation is one of the most recurrent phenomena in continuous steel casting of slabs. It often impedes the further processing and has detrimental effect on the quality of rolled strip. The macrosegregation can be explained by the interpretation of unit steps of solidification in continuous casting slabs as well as on the basis of the interaction of the inclusions at the interface of solid and liquid phases. Development of solid shell and interaction between growing dendrites and MnS segregation has been presented. Only the pushing effect could be the real cause of MnS segregation among the three possible interactive mechanisms. The sulphur print could give misleading information on sulphur segregation.


South African abalone Haliotis midae farms utilise large volumes of seawater (c. 500–1 500 l s–1) and produce relatively dilute effluents that are potentially suitable for the integrated culture of other species. To test this hypothesis, a marine finfish, silver kob Argyrosomus inodorus, and a detritivorous polychaete, bloodworm Arenicola loveni loveni, were cultured in abalone farm effluent and the results compared to controls reared in unused seawater. The silver kob were fed a nutritionally complete pelleted diet whereas the bloodworm were placed in shallow tanks with a low water velocity that allowed suspended organic solids to settle for the detritivorous worms to feed on. Silver kob growth rate (0.48% body weight d–1; SE = 0.01%), mortality (1.8 ± 0.5%), feed conversion ratio (3.0 ± 0.2) and protein efficiency ratio (1.0 ± 0.1) did not differ significantly between the effluent and control treatments. Bloodworm reared in abalone effluent grew well on the particulate organic waste matter in the effluent (0.39% body weight gain d–1; SE = 0.07%), whereas those in the seawater control lost weight at 0.19 ± 0.04% body weight d–1 over the experimental period. Bloodworm mortality did not differ significantly between effluent (6 ± 3%) and unused seawater (11 ± 8%) treatments. The faster growth of bloodworm in the abalone farm effluent was ascribed to the higher deposition rate of enriched organic solids (182 ± 56 g m–2 d–1) compared with those grown in the seawater control (46 ± 13 g m–2 d–1). It was concluded that abalone farm effluent is potentially suitable for the culture of both bloodworm and silver kob.


There is clear evidence of rapid, nongenomic responses to estrogen in a variety of neuronal model systems. To address the question of whether some of these rapid estrogen signals might be transduced by the classical estrogen receptor (ER) α or a closely related protein in nontransformed neurons, we undertook the present study using isolated fetal rat hippocampal neurons. Several antibodies developed to detect ERα were tested in this system and showed positive membrane staining in nonpermeabilized neurons. MC-20, an affinity purified anti-ERα, rabbit polyclonal IgG antibody which does not recognize ERβ was selected to carry out the majority of the experiments. When permeabilized, the hippocampal neurons exhibited low levels of nuclear staining for ERα, but abundant labeling for ERα throughout the entire cell including the neurites. In addition to traditional immunocytochemistry controls, incubation of neurons for 24 h in the presence of 10 µM antisense oligonucleotide directed against the translation start site of ERα reduced ERα immunoreactivity throughout the neurons providing further evidence that the immunostaining was specific for ERα. Confocal and conventional microscopy demonstrated that the antigen was predominately extranuclear and localization of ERα in the neurites suggests that the receptor is in close proximity to the plasma membrane. This localization is consistent with a role for ERα as a transducer of rapid, nongenomic estrogen responses in hippocampal neurons.


Communication using speech is often an audio-visual experience. Listeners hear what is
being uttered by speakers and also see the corresponding facial movements and other gestures.
This thesis is an attempt to exploit this bimodal (audio-visual) nature of speech for
speaker separation. In addition to the audio speech features, visual speech features are used
to achieve the task of speaker separation. An analysis of the correlation between audio and
visual speech features is carried out first. This correlation between audio and visual features
is then used in the estimation of clean audio features from visual features using Gaussian
MixtureModels (GMMs) andMaximum a Posteriori (MAP) estimation.
For speaker separation three methods are proposed that use the estimated clean audio features.
Firstly, the estimated clean audio features are used to construct aWiener filter to separate
the mixed speech at various signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) into target and competing
speakers. TheWiener filter gains are modified in several ways in search for improvements in
quality and intelligibility of the extracted speech. Secondly, the estimated clean audio features
are used in developing visually-derived binary masking method for speaker separation.
The estimated audio features are used to compute time-frequency binary masks that identify
the regions where the target speaker dominates. These regions are retained and formthe
estimate of the target speaker's speech. Experimental results compare the visually-derived
binary masks with ideal binary masks which shows a useful level of accuracy. The effectiveness
of the visually-derived binary mask for speaker separation is then evaluated through
estimates of speech quality and speech intelligibility and shows substantial gains over the
original mixture. Thirdly, the estimated clean audio features and the visually-derivedWiener
filtering are used to modify the operation of an effective audio-only method of speaker separation,
namely the soft mask method, to allow visual speech information to improve the
separation task. Experimental results are presented that compare the proposed audio-visual
speaker separation with the audio-only method using both speech quality and intelligibility
metrics. Finally, a detailed comparison is made of the proposed and existing methods of
speaker separation using objective and subjective measures.


Current molecular biology laboratories rely heavily on the purification and manipulation of nucleic acids. Yet, commonly used centrifuge-and column-based protocols require specialised equipment, often use toxic reagents and are not economically scalable or practical to use in a high-throughput manner. Although it has been known for some time that magnetic beads can provide an elegant answer to these issues, the development of open-source protocols based on beads has been limited. In this article, we provide step-by-step instructions for an easy synthesis of functionalised magnetic beads, and detailed protocols for their use in the high-throughput purification of plasmids, genomic DNA and total RNA from different sources, as well as environmental TNA and PCR amplicons. We also provide a bead-based protocol for bisulfite conversion, and size selection of DNA and RNA fragments. Comparison to other methods highlights the capability, versatility and extreme cost-effectiveness of using magnetic beads. These open source protocols and the associated webpage (https://bomb.bio) can serve as a platform for further protocol customisation and community engagement.


Abstract Cadence is one of the only variables cyclists can adjust to manage their performance and fatigue during an event. Not surprisingly, cadence has received a great deal of attention from the scientific community in an effort to identify the cadence that optimizes power output while minimizing the fatigue that is incurred. The literature appears to present conflicting results with little consensus as regards the optimal pedalling cadence. This is in large part due to the inconsistent definition of the term "optimal" cadence, which has been used to describe energetic cost, muscular stress, and perception of effort. The issue is further confounded by the workload-dependent nature of the "optimal" cadence – that is, at higher power outputs, the optimized cadence is different from that at lower power outputs. Although the optimal cadence is different for energetic, muscular, and perceptual definitions, the curves that describe the effect of changes in cadence on these variables consistently exhibit a J-shaped response. This suggests that there is an underlying principle that is common to each of the definitions. Indeed, it would appear that the response of both the cardio-respiratory system (energetic cost) and the muscular system (muscular stress) is determined by the types of muscle motor units that are recruited during the exercise. Furthermore, although part of the response may be due to the inherent differences in the characteristics between the different motor units, the absolute contraction velocity relative to fibre type optimum may be of greater significance. Even when the power output is increased, the shape of the response curves to changes in cadence remains constant, although the nadir of the curve does shift to the right for increasing power outputs. We propose that the point at which the energetic vs. power and the muscular stress vs. power curves intercept is defined by the cadence at which the perceived effort is minimized (i.e. the preferred cadence). However, cadence fluctuations occur under field conditions that are unrelated to physiological factors and, therefore, the ability to identify an "optimal" cadence is limited to the laboratory environment and specific field conditions.


Abstract The objective of this study was to determine the effects of a single pre-exercise dose of watermelon juice on submaximal post-exercise heart rate (HR) recovery, blood lactate (BL), blood pressure (BP), blood glucose (BG), and muscle soreness in healthy adults. In a randomised crossover design, 27 healthy non-athletic participants (13 males/14 females) consumed 355 mL of watermelon juice, Gatorade, sugar water, or water. HR and BL were significantly higher post-exercise, and both watermelon juice and sugar water increased postprandial BG. However, there were no significant differences among the supplements in HR recovery, BL, or post-exercise muscle soreness. Watermelon juice prevented increased post-exercise systolic and diastolic BP in females, but not in males. More research is warranted to examine the effect of sex on the efficacy of watermelon consumption for controlling BP.


OBJECTIVEThe release of results of International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial in 2003 caused a shift in the paradigm of management of ruptured intracranial aneurysms. The cases selected for microsurgical clipping nowadays are usually those patients with aneurysms that are not suitable for embolization, and are often complex and difficult. We devised an innovative application of operative planning and training for craniotomy and microsurgical clipping of intracranial aneurysms in a stereoscopic virtual reality environment. METHODSPatient-specific Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine data from computed tomographic angiography of the intracranial circulation and cranium were transferred to the workstation (Dextroscope; Volume Interactions Pte. Ltd., Singapore, Singapore). An aneurysm clip database was loaded into the patient data set. Three-dimensional volume rendering was followed by data coregistration and fusion. RESULTSVirtual head positioning and craniotomy were carried out to simulate the microscopic visualization. Clip selection could be carried out with reference to the angle of application. This allows one to see the exposure and degree of obliteration of an aneurysm with the various angles of approach. CONCLUSIONThe virtual craniotomy and microsurgical clipping application simulated the operative environment. Its role in neurosurgical training is encouraging and should be further developed.


Abstract The construct of cognitive errors is clinically relevant for cognitive therapy of mood disorders. Beck's universality hypothesis postulates the relevance of negative cognitions in all subtypes of mood disorders, as well as positive cognitions for manic states. This hypothesis has rarely been empirically addressed for patients presenting bipolar affective disorder (BD). In-patients (n = 30) presenting with BD were interviewed, as were 30 participants of a matched control group. Valid and reliable observer-rater methodology for cognitive errors was applied to the session transcripts. Overall, patients make more cognitive errors than controls. When manic and depressive patients were compared, parts of the universality hypothesis were confirmed. Manic symptoms are related to positive and negative cognitive errors. These results are discussed with regard to the main assumptions of the cognitive model for depression; thus adding an argument for extending it to the BD diagnostic group, taking into consideration specificities in terms of cognitive errors. Clinical implications for cognitive therapy of BD are suggested.


Today we are primarily using computers for communication. We communicate via computers as professionals and at our spare time. One growing context of computer use is when we as citizens communicating with authorities. This paper suggests communication criteria for evaluation of public e- services. The suggested criteria are derived from a communication perspective and applied in a case study for evaluation of an e-service. Communication between authorities and citizens are often communication intensive and consequently conditions and consequences of communication should be evaluated. The aim of the suggested communication criteria is to be a complement to established traditional usability criteria.


New calculations of radiative rates and electron impact excitation cross sections for Fe XI are used to derive emission-line intensity ratios involving 3s23p4-3s23p33d transitions in the 180-223 Å wavelength range. These ratios are subsequently compared with observations of a solar active region obtained during the 1995 flight of the Solar Extreme Ultraviolet Research Telescope and Spectrograph (SERTS). The version of SERTS flown in 1995 incorporated a multilayer grating that enhanced the instrumental sensitivity for features in the ~170-225 Å wavelength range, observed in second order between 340 and 450 Å. This enhancement led to the detection of many emission lines not seen on previous SERTS flights, which were measured with the highest spectral resolution (0.03 Å) ever achieved for spatially resolved active region spectra in this wavelength range. However, even at this high spectral resolution, several of the Fe XI lines are found to be blended, although the sources of the blends are identified in the majority of cases. The most useful Fe XI electron density diagnostic line intensity ratio is I(184.80 Å)/I(188.21 Å). This ratio involves lines close in wavelength and free from blends, and it varies by a factor of 11.7 between Ne = 109 and 1011 cm-3 yet shows little temperature sensitivity. An unknown line in the SERTS spectrum at 189.00 Å is found to be due to Fe XI, the first time (to our knowledge) this feature has been identified in the solar spectrum. Similarly, there are new identifications of the Fe XI 192.88, 198.56, and 202.42 Å features, although the latter two are blended with S VIII/Fe XII and Fe XIII, respectively.


We use a tractable model to show that emerging markets can protect themselves from the global financial cycle by expanding (rather than restricting) capital flows. This involves accumulating reserves when global liquidity is high to buy back domestic assets at a discount when global financial conditions tighten. Since the private sector does not internalize how this buffering mechanism reduces international borrowing costs, a social planner increases the size of capital flows beyond the laissez-faire equilibrium. The model also provides a role for foreign exchange intervention in less financially developed countries. The main predictions of the model are consistent with the data.


Increasingly, educators are becoming aware of the need to adapt their pedagogical strategies to students' learning preferences in order to foster an equitable learning environment. Decades of research vividly demonstrate that students learn in different ways. For example, research suggests that some students find learning easier if they have a visual representation or can touch and manipulate objects; others like to be given information verbally. While some students focus on details, others attend to more global characteristics (Ramirez, 1989). How individuals perceive, organize, and remember such information is a function of their cognitive style. Extant research indicates that cognitive styles influence how students learn, how teachers teach, and how teachers and students interact in the classroom (Witkin, Moore, Goodenough, & Cox, 1977). Recently, scholars have begun to utilize cognitive style research to assess pedagogical practices in the communication discipline. In particular, researchers have questioned whether courses in the discipline favor some cognitive styles at the expense of others (Nance & Foeman, 1993). This is an especially salient issue in the context of argumentation pedagogy. The practice of debate requires critical, logical, and linear thought (Hunt, 1995, 1997; Hunt & Simerly, 1999). It seems reasonable that emphasis on logical and analytical cognition in argumentation and debate courses privileges ways of processing, relating to, retaining, and communicating information (Hunt & Meyer, 2004). As a result, students whose cognitive styles mismatch those privileged in such courses may find themselves at risk of academic failure. Argumentation and critical thinking training also has become a significant focus in both general education (Halpern, 2001) and basic communication courses (Morreale, Hanna, Berko, & Gibson, 1999). Communication educators should become better informed about teaching strategies that may facilitate the academic success of students whose ways of learning may mismatch traditional argumentation pedagogy. To that end, this essay explores the communicative manifestations of students' cognitive styles as well as the match and mismatch of instructional strategies and students' cognitive styles in the argumentation and debate course. COGNITIVE STYLES Cognitive styles represent the characteristic ways in which individuals conceptually organize their environment (Goldstein & Blackman, 1978). Shade (1982) claims that cognitive styles account for individual preferences in various cognitive, perceptual, and personality dimensions that influence differences in information processing. Cognitive styles also are related to personality. Jonassen and Grabowski (1993) argue that the "ways in which we interact with information is reflective of the ways in which we interact with each other through our personality" (p. 173). In sum, cognitive styles are characteristic modes that can be observed in an individual's perceptual or intellectual activities; they constitute stable, self-consistent forms of adaptation, and they develop a relationship between cognitive and personal/affective spheres (Tinajero & Paramo, 1998). Although many approaches to the study of cognitive style exist (e.g., authoritarianism, dogmatism, cognitive complexity, integrative complexity), this essay is grounded in the work of Herman Witkin. Witkin (1978) examines cognitive style in relation to an individual's tendency toward more or less differentiated psychological functioning. Thought based on increased differentiation is field independent (FI), while field dependent (FD) thought is based on lower levels of differentiation (Pithers, 2002). Field independence, therefore, involves differentiated and analytical thinking, rather than diffuse and global thinking (Gudykunst, Ting-Toomey, & Chua, 1988). In the classroom, both the instructor's and students' cognitive styles contribute to the learning environment and affect learning outcomes. …


H-fields are fields with an ordering and a derivation subject to some compatibilities. (Hardy fields extending R and fields of transseries over R are H-fields.) We prove basic facts about the location of zeros of differential polynomials in Liouville closed H-fields, and study various constructions in the category of H-fields: closure under powers, constant field extension, completion, and building H-fields with prescribed constant field and H-couple. We indicate difficulties in obtaining a good model theory of H-fields, including an undecidability result. We finish with open questions that motivate our work.


BACKGROUND
Group B beta-hemolytic streptococcus colonizes 20 percent of pregnant women. Intrapartum fetal colonization leads to invasive disease in 1 to 2 infants of every 1000 births in the United States, and has a mortality of approximately 6 percent. Several protocols using intrapartum chemoprophylaxis have been devised to improve management of the disease, but confusion continues about details and implementation. This review examined the clinical issues, current management protocols, and advantages and disadvantages of these protocols for group B streptococcus.

METHODS
We reviewed the literature and described the epidemiology, detection methods, risk factors, neonatal disease potential of group B streptococcus, and the historical development of management protocols. Two current alternatives, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' risk-based protocol and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's screening-based protocol, are described and compared.

RESULTS
The risk-based protocol does not entail antepartum screening, but treats women with certain risk factors during labor. The screening-based protocol includes cultures at 35 to 37 weeks' gestation, and offers intrapartum prophylaxis to all women with positive cultures. Uncultured women with risk factors are treated. Both protocols involve high rates of intrapartum antibiotic use and both may significantly lower rates of neonatal group B streptococcus sepsis (screening-based more than risk-based for both). The risk-based approach is simpler than the screening-based approach.

CONCLUSIONS
Practitioners should select one of the two protocols and use it consistently. The differences in efficacy are small; a practitioner may not see a difference in outcomes over the course of his or her career, although more antibiotics will be administered using the screening-based approach.


1 - Studying the expressed proteome in mussel tissues is important to understand many different biological, physiological and ecological aspects that may be of advantage in shellfish rearing, encompassing growth cycle, food safety and traceability as well as understanding the biological effects of environmental pollution and climate change. 2 - The present work attempted to accomplish a systematic characterization of the foot muscle proteome of M. galloprovincialis, to gather data about its variability in physiological conditions occurring in different environments of mussel rearing and to identify a putative set of protein biomarkers that may be significantly correlated to environmental factors. 3 - A total of 360 mussels were sampled from three different lagoons of Sardinia, each one characterized by its different environmental and ecological system. According to a double latin square design, a smaller subgroup of 54 mussels that was representative of the original population was submitted to proteomics analysis and trace metals quantification. Classical and multivariate statistics was performed to correlate protein expression data to trace metal content and to environmental parameters recorded in situ. 4 - A protein expression pattern of 79 protein was identified as related to the response to environmental stressors like dissolved oxygen, water acidity, temperature and trace metals. 5 - The identified proteins are cytoskeletal proteins (α-tubulin, β-tubulin, myosin light chains and tropomyosin) or are involved in metabolic pathways (fructose bisphosphate aldolase), in energy pathways (cytosolic malate dehydrogenase and arginine kinase), in antioxidant defense (protein disulfide isomerase) and in protein turnover (different isoforms of the heat shock proteins Hsp70 and Hsc71); also the histone protein H2B is reported. 6 - Our preliminary results show that there is correlation between the expressed protein pattern and the environmental conditions, confirming the findings of other proteomics works carried out on different mussel tissues and other marine invertebrates. Further validation procedures of the identified correlations must be accomplished in order to regard the identified proteins as biomarkers for environmental pollution and climate change


Introduction:
 Incidence of hemorrhage linked to treatment of ischemic stroke with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) has led to interest in combination therapies such as plasminogen (Plg), with the goal of decreasing the administered volume of tPA. In-vitro studies using Plg have shown enhancement of lysis. However, due to rapid deactivation of Plg-derived plasmin in-vivo, local delivery of Plg via encapsulation by liposomes and release by ultrasound (US) may be necessary. This study examined the enhancement of tPA-induced lysis using encapsulated Plg (EPlg), in an in-vitro clot model.

 Methods:
 Blood was drawn from 26 subjects after local Institutional Review Board approval. Clots were made in 20-µL pipettes and placed in a water tank for microscopic visualization during treatment. Sample clots were exposed to tPA in human fresh-frozen plasma (hFFP) at a concentration of 3.15 µg/ml and EPlg at a concentration of 167 µg Plg/ml. Clots were exposed to no tPA (Control), tPA alone (+tPA), tPA and EPlg (+EPlg), tPA and 120-kHz US (+US), or tPA, EPlg, and 120-kHz US (+EPlg-US) for 30 minutes. The extent of thrombolysis was determined by assessing clot width as a function of time, using a time-lapse microscopic imaging technique; the fractional clot loss (FCL) at 30 minutes was used to determine thrombolytic efficacy.

 Results:
 Each treatment group had a minimum of 6 clots (range: 6-158) from 2 different donors (range: 2-24). FCL for +tPA was 38% (95% Confidence Interval: 36-40%); FCL for +EPlg was 39% (30-46%) (p=0.48 vs. +tPA). FCL for +EPlg-US was 49% (43-54%) (p<0.01 vs. +tPA). However, it did not exceed FCL for +US at at 70% (64-76%) (p<0.01 vs. +EPlg-US).

 Conclusions:
 Lysis with EPlg with tPA and US is more effective than tPA alone. This improvement of lytic efficacy using EPlg is dependent on concomitant use of US. Interaction between liposomes, Plg, and US is complex and merits further study.


Celestite in the Weathering Crust on Limestone Exposed to an Urban Atmosphere in Cracow (Poland) Celestite containing very low amounts of barium occurs in weathering reaction zones developed on the Pińczów limestone exposed to the polluted atmosphere of Cracow. The mineral occurs both in limestone pore spaces filled with gypsum and in black gypsum crust. The Pińczów limestone contains ca 500 ppm strontium which was released during the reaction with atmospheric pollutants. The nucleation and growth of celestite, requiring significant concentration of components in evaporating solutions, is associated with gypsum crystallization.


During sedimentation, buried rocks are subjected to an increase in vertical stress. This increase leads to a decrease of porosity that is commonly called mechanical compaction. Indeed, the mechanical compaction depending on its rate and on the permeability of the burden rocks can induce significant overpressures. Thus, a competition is initiated between the dissipation of fluid overpressure and sedimentation rate and may result in fracture initiation. The present study deals with the initiation and propagation of natural fracture in sealing formations. A particular emphasis is put on mode I fracture propagation. An analytical solution of the pressure and stresses in a sealing formation is proposed under sedimentation by superposing two problems of poroelasticity. This analytical solution and a damage criterion are used to predict the initiation and propagation of the fracture. The damage parameter affects both the mechanical and hydraulic openings of the fracture, and the flow in the fracture is described by Poseuille's law. The fracture propagation and growth are studied by numerical simulations based on a finite element code dedicated to fractured porous media called Porofis. Interactions between hydraulic and mechanical processes are also studied, and a sensitivity study is carried out in order to find the most important parameters involved in natural fracturing under sedimentation.


Throughout 2020 and 2021, bells have rung in a variety of COVID-related rituals in the West, ranging from large-scale religious and civic rites, to ad hoc neighborhood and hospital initiatives, to anti-racist memorials that simultaneously spoke to the health crisis at hand. Taking stock of how these COVID bell-ringing rituals were formalized, their structures and actions, and the historical precedents from which they drew their meanings, this article investigates what the sounds of bells and the rituals of bell-ringing communicated about COVID, how they shaped our personal and collective experiences of the crisis, and what functions they were expected to serve during this liminal period. It reveals how, owing to the historical polysemy of bells on the one hand and the social uncertainties of living with COVID on the other, those rituals generated vivid symbolisms and mobilized powerful emotions that sometimes brought about unintended consequences.


The Nankai trough region, where the Philippine Sea Plate (PHS) subducts beneath SW Japan arc, is a well-known seismogenic zone of interplate earthquakes. In recent years, various types of slow earthquake have been recognized in neighboring regions of the seismogenic zone Obara, Obara, A narrow zone of nonvolcanic tremor has been found in SW Japan fore-arc, along strike of the arc (Obara, 2002). The spatial distribution of the tremor is not homogeneous in a narrow belt but concentrated forming clusters. Obara (2002) suggested a dominating factor of tremor is fluids dehydrated from the subducted plate. Seismic reflection characteristics and seismic velocity variations can provide important information on the heterogamous structure around plate interface probably affected by fluid behavior. Seismic structural images in and around the active tremor zone beneath the eastern part of Kii Peninsula have been reported Kurashimo Tsumura However, little is known about the seismic structure where tremors are inacitive. To investigate the detailed structure in and around the inactive tremor zone, we conducted active and passive seismic experiments in the western part of Kii Peninsula, SW Japan. Ninety portable seismographs were installed on a 90-km-long line nearly parallel to the direction of the subduction of the PHS with approximately 1 km spacing. Each seismograph consisted of a 1.0-Hz 3-component seismometer and an offline recorder, recording at 200 Hz or 250 Hz. Waveforms were continuously recorded during the period from June 20, 2017 to December 20, 2017. During the seismic array observation, the Japan Meteorological Agency located 4,428 earthquakes in a latitude range of 33.4-34.4 N and a longitude range of 135.0-136.0 E. In September of 2017, we also conducted a deep seismic profiling to reveal the geometry of the subducting PHS and the overriding island arc crustal structure. 302 seismometers were deployed on a 60-km-long line in the northwest-southeast direction with about 200 m spacing, on which four explosives shots with charge size of 200 kg were fired as controlled seismic sources. Each recording system consisted of a 4.5-Hz, 3-component seismometer and an offline recorder, recording at 500 Hz. We obtained high signal-to-noise ratio explosion data along the entire length of the profile. The most remarkable feature of the record sections is that high amplitude reflections, probably from the top of the subducting PHS, are recognized. To obtain the detailed structure image, we applied the seismic reflection technique to explosion data. The stacked image shows several features of the deeper part of the crust and the northward dipping plate boundary at 7-12 sec in two way travel time, the latter of which shows the lateral reflectivity variation.


Danaea tuomistoana A. Rojas (Marattiaceae) is described and illustrated as a new species endemic to Costa Rica; it differs from D. crispa Endres et Richb. by a truncate blade, and by the pinnae, which are 2/5-1/2 incised, cuneated at the base and with a flat margin. The range of D. erecta H. Tuomisto & R.C. Moran in Costa Rica is expanded with a new locality in Puntarenas (8 degrees 57'15" N-82 degrees 50'1" W, 1,500-1,580 masl).


cases have been demonstrated or described bv Graham-Little, Dore, Beattv and Speares, and mvself. On the glabrous skin the eruption is usuallyr of the lichen pilaris or plano-p)ilaris type. On the scall), and sometimes in the axille and on the pubic region, follicular, horn! p)ap)ules are seen, and these are followed by atrophy Qf the follicles with consequent alopecia. There may be typical lichen planus of the bu.ccal mucosa. Forman and I have observed cases of this type occurring after inijection of metallic salts, such as bismuth and gold.


In this paper, several critical issues related to Chinese high-speed rails (CHSR) are analyzed, investigated and discussed, including development background, reasons for high ticket fare, some typical factors that influence the environmental life-cycle assessment, time and cost comparison of typical door-to-door travel routes between different transport modes and complementary strategies among different transport modes. First, the results show that the expanding high-speed rail network increased the pressure on the country's roads in the 2010 spring festival rush period due to the high ticket fare of CHSR. Second, due to lower than expected ridership because of the high ticket price and limited demand in less developed areas, some Chinese CHSR projects have become economically unsustainable. Third, without sufficient ridership and service life, the utilization of HSR was unable to show any advantages in the environmental impact compared with the other transport modes. In addition, the impact of shock from CHSR on Chinese domestic civil airlines is evident when the travel distance is below 1050 km. The key objective of the investigation is to enhance our understanding of the development and operation of Chinese high-speed rail. One of the key contributions of the current paper is the presented suggestions for complementary strategies between different transport modes to make full use of Chinese transportation resources to promote low carbon economy.


We derive a formula of Chern-Gauss-Bonnet type for the Euler characteristic of a four dimensional manifold-with-boundary in terms of the geometry of the Loewner-Nirenberg singular Yamabe metric in a prescribed conformal class. The formula involves the renormalized volume and a boundary integral. It is shown that if the boundary is umbilic, then the sum of the renormalized volume and the boundary integral is a conformal invariant. Analogous results are proved for asymptotically hyperbolic metrics in dimension four for which the second elementary symmetric function of the eigenvalues of the Schouten tensor is constant. Extensions and generalizations of these results are discussed. Finally, a general result is proved identifying the infinitesimal anomaly of the renormalized volume of an asymptotically hyperbolic metric in terms of its renormalized volume coefficients, and used to outline alternate proofs of the conformal invariance of the renormalized volume plus boundary integral.


As algorithms are given responsibility to make decisions that impact our lives, there is increasing awareness of the need to ensure the fairness of these decisions. One of the first challenges then is to decide what fairness means in a particular context. We consider here fairness in deciding how to match organs donated by deceased donors to patients. Due to the increasing age of patients on the waiting list, and of organs being donated, the current "first come, first served'' mechanism used in Australia is under review to take account of age of patients and of organs. We consider how to revise the mechanism to take account of age fairly. We identify a number of different types of fairness, such as to patients, to regions and to blood types and consider how they can be achieved.


The calculation of net dietary energy is in great triumph on the helm of designing an apt dieting for both the therapeutic and normal diet. There are some procedures in this connection in nutritional science which is relatively time consuming, laboratory tests induced and often the misleading data contributors in view of assuring balanced dieting. The dietician is often at bay to approve an exact dieting to sustain health and nutritional soundness adhering to the existing dietary energy measuring methods because the frequently using methods are not informing the net dietary energy level required at all in correct amount for the sample at a population in a community. The aim of the current study is to make a dot over these ongoing panics exploring an easy and accurate way in prescribing a confounding free diet. The study can divulge an open secret in measuring net dietary energy which is mandatory for dieting practices worldwide to resist the possible health horrors in nutritional epidemiology. The study finding is the Modified Mass Energy Equivalence [equation (xi)] can be an outstanding biophysical model in measuring net dietary energy as a dieting tool in health pedagogy of health science.


Bismuth layered Aurivillius oxides have attracted longstanding research interest due to their unique structural characteristics and outstanding performance in ferroelectric dielectrics. The complex phase evolution process as a function of temperature and pressure in this family also provides fascinating platforms for understanding the chemical origin of their versatility. Herein, high-quality single crystals of a bismuth layered Aurivillius oxide, Bi2W2O9, with dimensions up to 29 × 23 × 11 mm3 were successfully grown via the top-seeded solution growth (TSSG) method using a mixture of WO3 and Li2B4O7 as a flux. The material crystallizes in an unexpected centrosymmetric orthorhombic Pbcn (no. 60) space group with unit cell parameters a = 23.705(2), b = 5.4148(6), and c = 5.4345(6) A. A complete survey of the anisotropic and variable-temperature thermal and dielectric properties was carried out with the aim of gaining detailed insights into their polymorphism evolution process. The results demonstrate that, with increasing temperature, the compound undergoes complicated phase transitions and, by analogy, signatures of the transitions are summarized and compared with those in Bi2WO6 and Bi2MoO6. The phase sequences and transition mechanisms of Bi2W2O9 are proposed by careful inspection and estimation.


The effects of natural rubber (NR) on the mechanical, thermal, and morphological properties of multiwalled carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced poly(lactic acid) (PLA) nanocomposites prepared by melt blending were investigated. A PLA/NR blend and PLA/CNT nanocomposites were also produced for comparison. The tensile strength and Young's modulus of PLA/CNT nanocomposites improved significantly, whereas the impact strength decreased compared to neat PLA. The incorporation of NR into PLA/CNT significantly improved the impact strength and elongation at break of the nanocomposites, which showed approximately 200% and 850% increases at 20 wt % NR, respectively. However, the tensile strength and Young's modulus of PLA/NR/CNT nanocomposites decreased compared to PLA/CNT nanocomposites. The morphology analysis showed the homogeneous dispersion of NR particles in PLA/NR/CNT nanocomposites, while CNTs preferentially reside in the NR phase rather than the PLA matrix. In addition, the incorporation of NR into PLA/CNT lowered the thermal stability and glass-transition temperature of the nanocomposites. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 44344.


This paper presents experimental results demonstrating a > 100 Mb/s visible light communications (VLC) system using linear adaptive equalizers for the first time. In order to achieve high transmission speeds, generally the research community has adopted spectrally efficient modulation formats such as discrete multi-tone and equalizers are overlooked. The reason for this is unclear as equalizers offer a substantial capacity for removing inter-symbol interference. As a result, in this paper we implement a line-of-sight VLC link with an ~8 MHz bandwidth and a linear feedforward equalizer; the number of taps is varied in order to gain insight into the system performance using varying complexity. The 120 Mb/s transmission speed ultimately achieved offers a bit-rate to bandwidth gain of ~15 times.


An embedding from a Cartesian product of two spaces into the Cartesian product of two spaces is said to be factorwise rigid provided that it is the product of embeddings on the individual factors composed with a permutation of the coordinates. We prove that each embedding of a product of two pseudo-arcs into itself is factorwise rigid. As a consequence, if X and Y are metric continua with the property that each of their nondegenerate proper subcontinua is homeomorphic to the pseudo-arc, then X × Y is factorwise rigid. This extends results of D. P. Bellamy and J. M. Lysko (for the case that X and Y are pseudo-arcs) and of K. B. Gammon (for the case that X is a pseudo-arc and Y is either a pseudo-circle or a pseudo-solenoid).


This thesis applied transformational leadership to the context of higher
education, with a focus on lecturing behaviours and student outcomes such as
psychological need satisfaction, internalisation, effort, engagement, efficacy, satisfaction
and performance.
Chapter 1 reviewed the literature on transformational leadership and education
and centered on the conceptualisation and measurement of transformational leadership,
the theoretical approaches to transformational leadership (i.e., global versus
differentiated approaches to leadership behaviours), and the contextual nature of
leadership, with specific reference to higher education. Taken together, the literature
reveals that little is known about what constitutes transformational leadership in higher
education lecturing and how to measure transformational leadership in this context.
Moreover, it remains unclear whether developing lecturers' transformational leadership
can positively impact on lecturing and student outcomes.
Chapter 2 detailed a two-phase examination of student and lecturer perceptions
of lecturing behaviours in higher education. In Phase 1, a purposive sample of 29
students participated in focus groups examining their perceptions of transformational
higher education lecturing. In Phase 2, semi-structured interviews were conducted with
6 lecturers nominated by students in Phase 1 as being 'transformational'. Results
indicated that six behaviours from the differentiated model of transformational
leadership (Hardy et al., 2010) can be employed to conceptualise lecturing behaviours
(i.e., inspirational motivation, individual consideration, intellectual stimulation, high performance expectations, appropriate role modelling, and contingent reward). The
behaviour of fostering acceptance of group goals did not emerge as a contextually
relevant transformational behaviour. Furthermore, 'sense of humour' and 'self-belief'
emerged as contextually relevant behaviours that have not been previously
conceptualised as transformational leadership behaviours in the literature.
Chapter 3 described three studies detailing the development and validation of a
differentiated transformational leadership inventory for higher education (DTLI-E).
Developing questionnaire items from the qualitative results in Chapter 2, Study 1
(n=349) used confirmatory factor analysis to assess the structure of the inventory,
resulting in a 30-item, eight factor model. In Study 2, with a different sample, (n=241)
the factor structure of the inventory was re-confirmed. Finally, Study 3 employed a
longitudinal design with the participants from Study 1 and examined the concurrent and
predictive validity of the inventory. Results revealed that the eight factors were
correlated with established measures of learning climate and transformational teaching.
In addition, the leadership behaviours predicted psychological need satisfaction,
behavioural regulation, student engagement, leader inspired extra effort, academic
efficacy, student satisfaction, and academic performance.
In Chapter 4, an experimental design was employed to examine the effectiveness
of a transformational leadership intervention. A total of 5 lecturers and 127 students
participated in this study. A mixed method approach combining qualitative and
quantitative methods was employed to evaluate the intervention. After controlling for
baseline variables, students of lecturers in the intervention group rated their lecturers as
displaying significantly higher levels of transformational leadership that the control group. In addition, students of lecturers in the intervention group reported significantly
greater levels of psychological need satisfaction, intrinsic motivation, academic
engagement, academic efficacy and student satisfaction than the control group.
Chapter 5 discusses the findings emanating from this thesis, the strengths and
limitations of the thesis and provides suggestions for future research.


This paper studied a new technology for producing copper cladding aluminium robs. The Horizontal Core-filling Casting equipments for producing copper clad aluminium rod were designed, and the interfacial compounds and the primary phase were analysized by backscattered electron image and electron probe micro-analyzer, and X-ray diffraction unit. The results showed that middle seam region was white eutectic microstructure and a-Al structure, where the eutectic takes on chrysanthemum distribution and the sharp or the edge of chrysanthemum was CuAl2. The dark region in the middle seam region was a-Al.


The design, fabrication, and performance of producible, high-performance K-, and Ka-band pHEMT low-noise MMIC amplifiers using the embedded transmission line (ETL) circuit concept with top-side grounding are reported. A state-of-the-art noise figure of 1.2 dB with 25 dB gain is achieved at 31 GHz. These amplifiers can be implemented in low-cost, ultra compact receiver modules for emerging spaceborne phased-array communication applications.


The chronic serous otitis media is a well known cause of fluctuant moderated conduction deafness in childhood but not well studied in Castillian speaking areas, as a cause of alterations in the acquisition of language. In the present study we evaluate the chronic serous otitis media as a cause of alterations in the development of the language in childhood. We studied the semantic development level in a group of 18 four years old children affected of chronic serous otitis media of more than one year evolution. The incidence of alterations was of 27.7%. We discuss the results obtained and we propose a management for this pathology.


A zero-dimensional (0D)/two-dimensional (2D) heterojunction has an excellent advantage of boosting the photo-generated carrier separation and obtaining enhanced photocatalytic activities. Here, a ZnIn2S4 nanoparticle/MoS2-RGO nanosheet 0D/2D heterojunction was prepared by a rapid and low temperature hydrothermal method. TEM characterization results reveal that ZnIn2S4 nanoparticles are uniformly dispersed on the surface of MoS2-RGO nanosheets, which can provide abundant active sites and shorten the charge-migration distance, while the MoS2-RGO nanosheet acts as a support to avoid the aggregation of 0D ZnIn2S4 nanoparticles and also serves as a low-cost cocatalyst for effective hydrogen evolution. Through optimizing the MoS2-RGO composition and content, the highest hydrogen evolution rate of 425.1 μmol g-1 h-1 was obtained over the ZnIn2S4/MoS2-RGO 0D/2D heterojunction photocatalyst under visible light irradiation (λ > 420 nm), which is about 34.6 times higher than that of pure ZnIn2S4. Efficient charge separation can be attributed to the significantly enhanced photocatalytic performance, which originates from the favorable properties of the ZnIn2S4/MoS2-RGO 0D/2D heterojunction. This study provides an effective method to improve the photocatalytic performance of the ZnIn2S4 photocatalyst based on the 0D/2D heterojunction.

publisher-specific, author manuscript: http://rsc.li/journals-terms-of-use


There has been considerable interest in the radiation characteristics of self-scalable and self-similar planar arrays. For instance, array configurations based on Sierpinski carpets have been considered. The properties of self-scalable concentric circular Weierstrass arrays and self-similar concentric circular Cantor arrays have also been investigated. We present an alternative design methodology for the mathematical construction of self-scalable and self-similar planar arrays. The technique is very general and consequently provides much more flexibility in the design of fractal and related arrays when compared to other approaches previously considered in the literature. This is primarily due to the fact that the generator in this case is based on a concentric circular ring array.


The blood group B substance-degrading activity of Streptomyces 9917S2 is induced by galactosides as α-galactosidase activity is. Purification of the α-galactosidase was attempted by chromatography on DEAE-Sephadex and Sephadex. The purified preparation was shown to be free from α- and β-glucosidases, β-galactosidase, α- and β-glucosaminidases, and α- and β-galactosaminidases activities. The blood group B substance-degrading activity was present only in this fraction. This enzyme preparation cleaves α-(1→3)- and α-(1→6)-galactosidic linkages. The activity is inhibited by d-galactose, melibiose, and raffinose and also by l-arabinose and d-xylose.


Introduction: Rhizoctonia solani is one of the major pathogens causing root rot in the main bean-growing regions in Zanjan province. Under favorable conditions, yield losses in commercial bean fields due to Rhizoctonia root rot have exceeded 50 percent reduction in pod and seed numbers per plants. In 2012 most isolates of the pathogen from severely infected bean fields in Zanjan were assessed to AG-4. R. solani AG-4 can attack other commercial crops such as potato, alfalfa, barley, tomato, cabbage, etc. which are grown in rotation with bean in the area. Thus, the disease is unlikely to be controlled by crop rotation. Moreover, there is no registered resistant bean cultivar against the disease in Iran. Although soil treatment with fungicides is the only effective control method in the region, according to environmental and side effects of fungicides, alternative approaches such as biocontrol method using Trichoderma species is considered.
Materials and Methods: The study was conducted using five isolates of Trichoderma (T12-0, T12-N, T19, T6, T95) received from the Department of Plant Pathology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (Dr. H. Rouhani) and six isolates of Trichoderma (T36,T125, T131, T93, T89, T25) collected in 2011 from rhizosphere of bean plants in the commercial bean fields of Zanjan province (Table 1). Trichoderma isolates were evaluated for their potential to antagonize in vitro the plant pathogenic fungus R. solani using three different tests. In the first test, each isolate of Trichoderma was grown in a dual culture with R. solani AG-4 strain Rh7 on PDA and incubated at 25˚C. Radii of colony of R. solani were measured after 72 h. In the second test the ability of Trichoderma isolates to produce volatile inhibitors was measured. This experiment was conducted in two conditions involving the same time culturing of Trichoderma and Rhizoctonia and isolating 72 h early growing Trichoderma. For both tests the percentage of inhibition was measured by dividing the difference between the radial growth of control and antagonized cultures of the pathogen by the radial growth of the control and multiplied by 100. All experiments were replicated three times. The third test was conducted with growing of Trichoderma and Rhizoctonia on microscopic slides covered with PDA and the interaction of hypha was studied using a microscope. For assessment of in vivo antagonistic activity, a greenhouse experiment was designed in 11 treatments with 3 replicates. Inoculum of R. solani AG-4 was prepared by inoculation of sterilized wheat grains with the fungus and the soil was inoculated with infected wheat grains. Bean seeds (red bean, cultivar Naz) were treated with conidial suspension of Trichoderma (107 ml-1 conidia) and planted in pots. Disease severity was recorded using a scale (1 to 5) according to Nelson and coworkers (1996) 30 days after sowing. Shoot length, root length, shoot weight and root weight also were measured. For all data the analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed using SPSS Version 18.

Table 1- Trichoderma isolates used for their antagonistic activity against Rhizoctonia solani

isolates species
T36 T.viride
T125 T.viride
T131 T.viride
T93 T.virens
T89 T.parseomosum
T25 T.harzianum
T12-0 T.virens
T12-N T.harzianum
T19 T.sp.
T6 T.sp.
T95 T.harzianum

Results and Discussion: The results indicated that the mycoparasitism was the main mechanism accounting for antagonistic activity of Trichoderma isolates. In a competitive saprophytic ability test in a dual culture on PDA, T25, T93, T12-N and T12-0 performed more effective than the other isolates, as T25 covered the whole colony surface of R. solani, grew and sproulated on the pathogen mycelia after five days. Volatile metabolites of all Trichoderma isolates inhibited mycelial growth, whereas T12-N with % 32/73 at the same time culture and T6 with %56/08 at 72 h early culture of Trichoderma isolates had the highest effect on mycelial growth of R. solani. Microscopic studies also showed that Trichoderma isolates could inhibit hyphal growth of R. solani and parasitize the pathogen by hyphal contact, penetration, hyphal coiling around the pathogen hypha which finally resulted in hyphal fragmentation and caused death in the pathogen. These effects were typically caused by all successful Trichoderma isolates specifically T12-0 and T93. Although all Trichoderma isolates used in this study, had significant reduction in disease severity of bean root rot, caused by R. solani under greenhouse conditions (P = 0.01), but the most effective disease control occurred when the seeds treated with one of the following Trichoderma isolates: T12-0, T131، T95، T12-N and T93, among them T12-0 belonging to T. virens, was the most effective isolate and the plants treated with this isolate, showed no disease symptoms. T93 also is belonged to T. virens. Two other species of Trichoderma were also observed among the successful isolates: T. harzianum (T12-N, T95) and T. viride (T131). There are several publications on the biocontrol of R. solani by these species. Out of five successful isolates in greenhouse experiment, two isolates (T131, T93) were collected from the rhizosphere of bean in the studied area (indigenous isolates), thus could have priority for usage in future field assays. Seed treatment with T6, T36, T93, T12-N and T12-0 resulted in significantly increasing of root length, shoot weight and shoot length (P =0.01). Significant increasing of plant growth parameters caused by Trichoderma isolates has been reported by many other researchers on bean and other plants.
Conclusion: According to our results, several Trichoderma isolates not only antagonize in vitro the pathogen, but also controlled the disease under greenhouse conditions, thus they possibly use the same biocontrol mechanisms in the soil as in vitro conditions. Although field conditions are more complex and the many biotic and abiotic environmental factors will have an influence on the biocontrol potential of Trichoderma species, but it is essential to use successful indigenous and non-indigenous isolates under field conditions in the studied area to assess their biocontrol potential against the disease in fields for future commercial usages.


Objective: To determine the long-term clinical problems in adult survivors of coronavirus (CoV) infection [Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)] after hospitalisation or Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature. Data sources: Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL Plus and PsycINFO were searched using the strategy: (Coronavirus OR Coronavirus Infections OR COVID OR SARS virus OR Severe acute respiratory syndrome OR MERS OR Middle east respiratory syndrome) AND (Follow-up OR Follow-up studies OR Prevalence). Original studies reporting the clinical outcomes of adult survivors of coronavirus outbreaks two months after discharge or three months after admission were included. The quality of the studies was assessed using the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (OCEBM) 2009 Level of Evidence Tool. Meta-analysis was conducted to derive pooled estimates of prevalence and severity for different outcomes at time points up to 6 months follow-up and beyond 6 months follow-up. Results: The search yielded 1169 studies of which 28 were included in this review. There were 15 Level 1b, 8 Level 2b, 2 Level 3b and 3 Level 4 studies by OCEBM grading. Pooled analysis of studies revealed that complications commonly observed were impaired diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) [prevalence of 27.26%, 95% CI 14.87 to 44.57] and reduced exercise capacity [(6-minute walking distance (6MWD) mean 461m, 95% CI 449.66 to 472.71] at 6 months with limited improvement beyond 6 months. Coronavirus survivors had considerable prevalence of psychological disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) [38.80%, CI 30.93 to 47.31], depression [33.20%, CI 19.80 to 50.02] and anxiety [30.04%, CI 10.44 to 61.26) beyond 6 months. These complications were accompanied by low Short Form 36 (SF-36) scores at 6 months and beyond indicating reduced quality of life which is present long-term. Conclusions: The long term clinical problems in survivors of CoV infections (SARS and MERS) after hospitalisation or Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission include respiratory dysfunction, reduced exercise capacity, psychological problems such as PTSD, depression and anxiety, and reduced quality of life. Critical care, rehabilitation and mental health services should anticipate a high prevalence of these problems following COVID-19 and ensure their adequate and timely management with the aim of restoring premorbid quality of life.


We address the uniqueness of the minimal couplings between higher-spin fields and gravity. These couplings are cubic vertices built from gauge non-invariant connections that induce non-abelian deformations of the gauge algebra. We show that Fradkin-Vasiliev's cubic 2?s?s vertex, which contains up to 2s?2 derivatives dressed by a cosmological constant ?, has a limit where: (i) ????0; (ii) the spin-2 Weyl tensor scales non-uniformly with s; and (iii) all lower-derivative couplings are scaled away. For s = 3 the limit yields the unique non-abelian spin 2?3?3 vertex found recently by two of the authors, thereby proving the uniqueness of the corresponding FV vertex. We extend the analysis to s = 4 and a class of spin 1?s?s vertices. The non-universality of the flat limit high-lightens not only the problematic aspects of higher-spin interactions with ? = 0 but also the strongly coupled nature of the derivative expansion of the fully nonlinear higher-spin field equations with ??0, wherein the standard minimal couplings mediated via the Lorentz connection are subleading at energy scales (|?|)1/2??E??Mp. Finally, combining our results with those obtained by Metsaev, we give the complete list of all the manifestly covariant cubic couplings of the form 1?s?s? and 2?s?s?, in Minkowski background.


Introduction Barefoot locomotion is widely believed to be beneficial for motor development and biomechanics but are implied to be responsible for foot pathologies and running-related injuries. Although most of available studies focused on acute effects of barefoot running and walking little is known regarding the effects of long-term barefoot versus shod locomotion. The purpose of this study was to systematically review the literature to evaluate current evidence of habitual barefoot (HB) versus habitual shod locomotion on foot anthropometrics, biomechanics, motor performance, and pathologies. Methods Four electronic databases were searched using terms related to habitually barefoot locomotion. Relevant studies were identified based on title, abstract, and full text, and a forward (citation tracking) and backward (references) search was performed. Risk of bias was assessed, data pooling, and meta-analysis (random effects model) performed and finally levels of evidence determined. Results Fifteen studies with 8399 participants were included. Limited evidence was found for a reduced ankle dorsiflexion at footstrike (pooled effect size, −3.47; 95% confidence interval [CI], −5.18 to −1.76) and a lower pedobarographically measured hallux angle (−1.16; 95% CI, −1.64 to −0.68). HB populations had wider (0.55; 95% CI, 0.06–1.05) but no shorter (−0.22; 95% CI, −0.51 to 0.08) feet compared with habitual shod populations. No differences in relative injury rates were found, with limited evidence for a different body part distribution of musculoskeletal injuries and more foot pathologies and less foot deformities and defects in HB runners. Conclusions Only limited or very limited evidence is found for long-term effects of HB locomotion regarding biomechanics or health-related outcomes. Moreover, no evidence exists for motor performance. Future research should include prospective study designs.


Activities that aim to increase knowledge and experience that affect a person's attitude can be categorized as learning. Islam motivates people to continue learning throughout their lives, including employees. The implementation of Islamic recommendations for learning can be seen in career training in the Islamic State. Career training is a crucial subject in diplomatic institutions such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, especially if strategic training is added. Therefore it is essential to review the training strategies of diplomatic institutions and their impact on improving employee performance. This study describes the effects of career training strategies in enhancing employee performance related to achieving the organization's mission, setting goals and decision-making processes, external environment, competition, and complementary components to the general strategy of the organization. The research methodology used is the quantitative descriptive approach. The research subject consisted of 485 employees of the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a random sample of 192 employees. Research results: 1. training strategies in the organizational mission component can improve employee performance, 2. training strategies for setting goals and decision-making components can improve employee performance, 3. training strategies affect the external environment, competition, and parts complement each other with general strategies organization


With the recent developments in multimedia and telecommunication technologies, content-based information is becoming increasingly important for various areas such as digital libraries, interactive video and multimedia publishing. Multimedia data refers to simple structured data (such as numbers and short strings), large unstructured data (such as text documents, images, audio and video data) and complex structured data (such as maps, graphs, charts and tables). In this article, we briefly address content-based retrieval and the issues of representation, storage and retrieval of multimedia objects in digital libraries. We then very briefly identify some open areas of research.


Blue catfish Ictalurus furcatus electrofishing samples were collected on nine Oklahoma reservoirs and age and growth estimates were made on seven of these reservoirs. Catch rates of blue catfish were high (up to 700/h) on all reservoirs sampled but catch rates of preferred-sized (>762 mm total length) catfish were low (<5/h). Growth rates varied widely both within and among reservoirs but were generally slow with blue catfish not reaching preferred size until ages 13-16. A negative relation between catch rates and growth was identified. Total annual mortality rates averaged 26% for the seven populations sampled. Given growth and mortality rates estimated in this study, only 2%-3% of age-1 blue catfish reach preferred size in Oklahoma reservoirs. A management initiative stressing angler harvest of small individuals while restricting harvest of preferred-sized blue catfish is suggested.


Advances in pharmacogenetic research have improved our understanding of adverse drug responses and have led to the development of pharmacogenetic tests and targeted drugs. However, the extent of the communication process and provision of information to patients about pharmacogenetics is unclear. Pharmacogenetic information may be included in sections of a drug's package insert intended for patients, which is provided directly to patients or communicated via the health provider. To determine what pharmacogenetic information, if any, is included in patient-targeted sections of the drug label, we reviewed the labels listed in the US Food and Drug Administration's Table of Pharmacogenomic Biomarkers in Drug Labels. To date, 140 drugs include pharmacogenetic-related information in the approved label. Our analysis revealed that pharmacogenetic information is included in patient-targeted sections for a minority (n=29; 21%) of drug labels, with no obvious pattern associated with the inclusion of pharmacogenetic information. Therefore, patients are unlikely to learn about pharmacogenetics through written materials dispensed with the drug. Given that there are also inconsistencies with regard to inclusion of pharmacogenetic information in the patient counseling information section, it is also unlikely that patients are receiving adequate pharmacogenetic information from their provider. The inconsistent presence of pharmacogenetic information in patient-targeted sections of drug labels suggests a need to review the criteria for inclusion of information in patient-targeted sections in order to increase consistency and patient knowledge of pharmacogenetic information.


This paper addresses the problem of frequency synchronization in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) systems with periodic preambles. Two Maximum Likelihood Estimators (MLEs) and four low complexity Best Linear Unbiased Estimators (BLUEs) are proposed. When cyclic shift delay is applied to periodic preambles, MLEs can adopt a unique structure which employs diversity and correlation calculation in the estimator. We first propose a multiple-antenna estimator named as MLE-MA, which has an estimation range of the entire signal bandwidth. MLE-MAS is a simplified version of MLE-MA, which reduces the computational load at the cost of a narrower estimation range. Moreover, phases or differential phases obtained from the autocorrelation of periodic sequences with different delays can be used to estimate carrier frequency offset (CFO). The weighting coefficients of all BLUEs are derived in closed form and shown to be independent from the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). BLUEs have asymptotically consistent variances. Theoretical and simulation results demonstrate that all estimators can asymptotically approach the theoretical Cramer Rao Lower bound (CRLB) at different SNRs.


Diffusion NMR is a potentially routine tool in the analysis of mixtures, from industrial and synthetic outputs to natural products. However, the technique struggles to resolve species of similar size. Matrix-assisted DOSY offers a flexible approach to resolving such ambiguities on the basis of the chemical structures involved and on their interactions with a larger co-solute or matrix. The use of chromatographic supports, surfactants and polymers, in particular, is illustrated. The resolution of a wide range of different analyte mixtures, on the basis of differences in chemical structure and in stereochemistry, is demonstrated.


In chromatin, nucleosomes are composed of ∼146 bp of DNA wrapped around a histone octamer, and are highly dynamic structures subject to remodeling and exchange. Histone turnover has previously been implicated in various processes including the regulation of chromatin accessibility, segregation of chromatin domains, and dilution of histone marks. Histones in different chromatin environments may turnover at different rates, possibly with functional consequences. Neurospora crassa sports a chromatin environment that is more similar to that of higher eukaryotes than yeasts, which have been utilized in the past to explore histone exchange. We constructed a simple light-inducible system to profile histone exchange in N. crassa on a 3xFLAG-tagged histone H3 under the control of the rapidly inducible vvd promoter. After induction with blue light, incorporation of tagged H3 into chromatin occurred within 20 min. Previous studies of histone turnover involved considerably longer incubation periods and relied on a potentially disruptive change of medium for induction. We used this reporter to explore replication-independent histone turnover at genes and examine changes in histone turnover at heterochromatin domains in different heterochromatin mutant strains. In euchromatin, H3-3xFLAG patterns were almost indistinguishable from that observed in wild-type in all mutant backgrounds tested, suggesting that loss of heterochromatin machinery has little effect on histone turnover in euchromatin. However, turnover at heterochromatin domains increased with loss of trimethylation of lysine 9 of histone H3 or HP1, but did not depend on DNA methylation. Our reporter strain provides a simple yet powerful tool to assess histone exchange across multiple chromatin contexts.


Objective Cervical excision procedures are essential to the care of cervical dysplasia and malignancy. We sought to determine whether learner involvement in cervical excision procedures affects the quality of excision specimen. Materials and Methods A retrospective cohort study of cervical cancer patients diagnosed from July 1, 2000, to July 1, 2015, was performed. We included patients who had (1) a cervical excision procedure, either loop electrosurgical excision procedure or cold knife cone, and (2) pathologic information available. Primary outcome was the margin status of the specimen; secondary outcome was the size of the excision specimen including both width and depth. The exposure of interest was trainee participation, defined as resident physicians under the supervision of either a gynecologist or gynecologic oncologist. Descriptive statistics and general linear models were used for analysis. Results Ninety-four patients were identified. Overall, 58% (n = 54) of procedures were performed with trainee involvement. There was no difference in age, body mass index, or specimen width between trainee-performed and nontrainee-performed excisions. There was no significant difference in the status of margins with or without a trainee [44/57 (77%) and 29/37 (78%), respectively, p = .89]. There was a statistically significant difference in median specimen depth between trainee-performed and nontrainee-performed cases (15.4 mm vs 12 mm, p < .02). When adjusting for age, body mass index, excision type, indication, presence of trainee, and type of supervising physician, only the indication and type of excision were associated with greater depth of excision, (p < .01). Conclusions Trainee involvement in cervical excision procedures does not alter the quality of excision specimen.


Learning and memory is a prerequisite for the survival and the appropriate adaptation of behavioral responses in an ever-changing environment. Memories are formed, stored, and retrieved in the brains of animals. The formation of memories leaves traces in the brain, which are formed due to anatomic, physiological, and synaptic alterations in neuronal substrates. Forming and memorizing associations with different stimuli will allow the animal to predict rewarding or punishing conditions in the future. For the detection of environmental stimuli, such as food sources, mates, or harmful substances, olfaction is a commonly used sense. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster performs well in olfactory associative learning, assigning valances to former neutral stimuli. This learning performance was attributed to the mushroom bodies, a specialized higher association center in the fly's brain, and also of other arthropods. The mushroom bodies receive heavy olfactory, as well as dopaminergic input, of which the latter conveys mainly aversive and appetitive valence, respectively. The coincidence of odor-induced activation in the mushroom body intrinsic Kenyon cells and the reward- or punishment-induced dopamine release onto these Kenyon cells, is believed to change synaptic plasticity in the mushroom body circuit, leading to the association of both. As higher order brain centers often encode sensory inputs as sparse ensembles of active neurons, which further have a multitude of synapses, it is very challenging to detect memory traces in the brain. Some memory traces were detected in the mushroom body related circuit. However, the synaptic plasticity underlying associative olfactory learning was so far not described for Kenyon cells. Kenyon cells can be subdivided into three main types, which were shown to have certain roles in associative learning and memory. The γ-type Kenyon cells are mainly involved in short term memory and important for memory acquisition in general.
In the present study, calcium imaging was employed in single γ-Kenyon cells, to measure odor-evoked calcium transients in single synapses, before and shortly after an olfactory aversive associative conditioning. Calcium imaging at the single cell level was accomplished by using mosaic analysis with a repressible cell marker. Single axonal boutons could be identified and monitored in a compartment-specific manner, to analyze synaptic plasticity. The aversive associative conditioning was performed under a 2-photon microscope. After the calcium imaging procedure, flies were subjected to an immunohistochemical protocol to reconstruct single γ-Kenyon cells and assign the axonal boutons to their γ-lobe compartment.
In this study it was found, first, that γ-Kenyon cells show compartment-specific odor responses, indicating an expansion of the odor coding space, which is greater than earlier believed. Second, γ-Kenyon cell synapses de-synchronized in the course of aversive olfactory associative learning, for the odor that was paired with an electric shock. Although the net output of γ-Kenyon cells remained unchanged, synaptic de-synchronization within and across γ-Kenyon cells tagged stimulus relevant information to those cells. Furthermore, bouton response classes were found across all γ-lobe compartments, which were rearranged in the course of aversive olfactory associative learning. This rearrangement led to a reduced information output, potentially reducing input to downstream mushroom body output neurons. This form of synaptic de-synchronization was now described for the first time in invertebrate mushroom body neurons, showing an essential component of the memory trace left in the brain. Further studies have to show which molecular processes are underlying such a plasticity mechanism and if other Kenyon cell types exhibit similar mechanisms.


A theory of wave propagation in isotropic poroelastic media saturated by two immiscible Newtonian fluids is presented. The macroscopic constitutive relations, and mass and momentum balance equations are obtained by volume averaging the microscale balance and constitutive equations and assuming small deformations. Momentum transfer terms are expressed in terms of intrinsic and relative permeabilities assuming the validity of Darcy's law. The coefficients of macroscopic constitutive relations are expressed in terms of measurable quantities in a novel way. The theory demonstrates the existence of three compressional and one rotational wave. The third compressional wave is associated with the pressure difference between the fluid phase and dependent on the slope of the capillary pressure-saturation relation.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand what dimensions consumers prefer to track using wearable technology to achieve a healthier lifestyle and how these tracking dimensions are related.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey was conducted with potential consumers in the USA, and a series of Pearson's correlation and regression analysis and multiple regressions was conducted.

Findings

The most preferred self-tracking dimensions, tracking dimensions on others, most private tracking dimensions, most variable dimensions, and the dimensions that need to be improved were identified. The results of this study showed positive relationships overall among similar types of tracking dimensions, such as among dimensions of physical health condition (disease and disorder symptoms and general vital signs), mental health condition (stress level and mood/feeling), healthy lifestyle (fitness, and pose and posture), and productivity and task management (work productivity, location, and time management).

Originality/value

Designers are encouraged to make wearable technology products that are durable, easy to care for, attractive in design, comfortable to wear and use, able to track preferred dimensions, appropriate for various consumers, unobtrusive, portable, and small. This research will guide wearable technology and fashion industry professionals in the development process of wearable technology to benefit consumers by helping them be more self-aware, empowering them to develop a healthier lifestyle, and ultimately increasing their quality of life and well-being.


Urea cycle disorder (UCD) is a group of inherited metabolic diseases with high disability or fatality rate, which need long-term drug treatment and diet management. Except for those with Citrin deficiency or liver transplantation, all pediatric patients require lifelong low protein diet with safe levels of protein intake and adequate energy and lipids supply for their corresponding age; if necessary supplementing essential amino acids and protein-free milk are also needed. The drugs for long-term use include nitrogen scavengers (sodium benzoate, sodium phenylbutyrate, glycerol phenylbutyrate), urea cycle activation/substrate supplementation agents (N-carbamylglutamate, arginine, citrulline), etc. Liver transplantation is recommended for pediatric patients not responding to standard diet and drug treatment, and those with severe progressive liver disease and/or recurrent metabolic decompensations. Gene therapy, stem cell therapy, enzyme therapy and other novel technologies may offer options for treatment in UCD patients. The regular biochemical assessments like blood ammonia, liver function and plasma amino acid profile are needed, and physical growth, intellectual development, nutritional intake should be also evaluated for adjusting treatment in time.


Conformance checking methods diagnose to which extent a real system, whose behavior is recorded in an event log, complies with its specification model, e.g., a Petri net. Nonetheless, the majority of these methods focus on checking isolated process instances, neglecting interaction between instances in a system. Addressing this limitation, a series of object-centric approaches have been proposed in the field of process mining. These approaches are based on the holistic analysis of the multiple process instances interacting in a system, where each instance is centered on the handling of an object. Inspired by the object-centric paradigm, this paper presents a replay-based conformance checking method which uses a class of colored Petri nets (CPNs) -- a Petri net extension where tokens in the model carry values of some types (colors). Particularly, we consider conservative workflow CPNs which allow to describe the expected behavior of a system whose components are centered on the end-to-end processing of distinguishable objects. For describing a system's real behavior, we consider event logs whose events have sets of objects involved in the execution of activities. For replay, we consider a jump strategy where tokens absent from input places of a transition to fire move from their current place of the model to the requested places. Token jumps allow to identify desire lines, i.e., object paths unforeseen in the specification. Also, we introduce local diagnostics based on the proportion of jumps in specific model components. The metrics allow to inform the severity of deviations in precise system parts. Finally, we report experiments supported by a prototype of our method. To show the practical value of our method, we employ a case study on trading systems, where orders from users are matched to trade.


Background: This media content analysis explored the Canadian newspapers reporting on men's health, and their contribution to public understanding of the social determinants of men's health and lifestyles. Methods: A media content analysis of 44 news articles on boys', youth's and men's health,published from 2010 to 2014 by three national newspapers (The Globe and Mail, National Post,and Metro News). Results: Data indicated that the predominant discourse consists of informative and awareness messages, mostly about men's prostate and sexual health. Very little health news content referred to working conditions, education and income, all of which are significant social determinants of health (SDH). This may reflect the current state of health research, which does not adequately incorporate the effects of these determinants. It may also indicate a reproduction of dominant health knowledge and understanding of masculinity. Little content was found on policy solutions to other publicized health issues, such as limited access to health services or inter-sectoral collaborations; this reflects a lack of government action and a lack of citizen engagement toward the creation of a concerted men's health policy. Conclusion: Despite the acknowledged importance of the media in promoting access to health information and indirectly contributing to improve the general public's level of health literacy, it is also necessary to remember that there must be a greater attention to the structural constraints imposed by socioeconomic inequalities. Future studies should explore media discourses about men's unequal access to health care services and citizens' awareness of ways to overcome those inequalities shortcomings.


Serodiagnostic assays for onchocerciasis based on native antigens are hampered by the scarcity of antigen, and they suffer from poor specificity. The present study was designed to evaluate the diagnostic utility of recently described recombinant Onchocerca volvulus antigens OC 3.6 and OC 9.3 in enzyme immunoassays. The recombinant proteins were expressed as glutathione S-transferase fusions and were tested in several enzyme immunoassay formats to measure immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgG4 antibodies with sera from patients with onchocerciasis in Nigeria and with various types of control sera. The best results were obtained by measuring IgG4 antibodies to the fusion proteins. Forty of 42 (95%) serum specimens from patients with onchocerciasis were reactive with OC 3.6; the reactivity with OC 9.3 was 81%. Results obtained with sera from experimentally infected chimpanzees suggest that OC 3.6 might be especially useful for detecting prepatent infections in humans, while OC 9.3 mainly detects mature, patent infections. Sera from individuals in Nigeria and the United States residing in areas nonendemic for onchocerciasis were uniformly nonreactive with these antigens in IgG and IgG4 assays, as were sera from patients with bancroftian filariasis, brugian filariasis, loiasis, ascariasis, schistomiasis, and dracunculiasis. These results suggest that enzyme immunoassays based on the recombinant antigens OC 3.6 and OC 9.3 are useful for the diagnosis of onchocerciasis.


Microbial communities from harsh environments hold great promise as sources of biotechnologically-relevant strains. In the present work, we have deeply characterized the microorganisms from three different rocky locations of the Mediterranean coast, an environment characterised by being subjected to harsh conditions such as high levels of irradiation and large temperature and salinity fluctuations. Through culture-dependent and culture-independent techniques, we have retrieved a complete view of the ecology and functional aspects of these communities and assessed the biotechnological potential of the cultivable microorganisms. A culture-independent approach through high-throughput 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing revealed that all three locations display very similar microbial communities, suggesting that there is a stable community associated to the sampled region, with Stanieria cyanosphaera, Rubrobacter sp. and the families Flammeovirgaceae, Phyllobacteriaceae, Rhodobacteraceae and Trueperaceae being the most abundant taxa. Furthermore, shotgun metagenomic sequencing results were in concordance with the high-thoughput 16S rRNA, and allowed a description of the eukaryotic and archaeal members of the community, which were abundant in Ascomycota and halotolerant archaea, respectively. The culture-dependent approach yielded a collection of 100 isolates (mainly pigmented), out of which 12 displayed high antioxidant activities, as proved with two in vitro (hydrogen peroxide and DPPH) and an in vivo (model organism C. elegans) assays.


Laboratory-scale two-dimensional aquifer physical model studies were conducted to qualitatively assess how changes in air injection rate, air injection pulsing, and chemical type affect the rate and extent of removal by in situ air sparging. In this work, the treatment of immiscible-phase source zones in coarse media has been simulated. To provide a basis for comparison, equivalent unsaturated-soil soil vapor extraction-like simulation experiments were also conducted. Results suggest that, (1) initially, removal occurs from within saturated zone air flow channels at rates similar to those observed for soil vapor extraction, (2) during this initial period, removal rates are proportional to air flow rate and equilibrium chemical vapor concentrations, (3) while increased air injection rates improve volatilization rates in the short-term, the long-term cumulative removal efficiency may not be affected unless the saturated zone air flow distribution changes significantly with flow rate, (4) pulsing the air injection can improve the long-term cumulative removal efficiency, and (5) while short-term removal efficiency improves with increasing flow rate and vapor pressure, the long-term removal efficiency appears to improve with increasing solubility.


Recently, as a result of the tremendous increases in large-scale multi-hop wireless network communication applications, network capacity has decreases as the number of nodes increase. The existing routing protocols have significant limitations, such as long delays, network infrastructure requirements, limited traffic pattern, or high technical complexity, and efficient spectrum utilization, in terms of the bandwidth efficiency, cannot solve this capacity problem. For this reason, wireless network capacity scaling is a fundamental issue. In this paper, a novel scalable opportunistic routing scheme for a large-scale multi-hop wireless network, is introduced. This proposal presents novelties with respect to both the candidate selection and coordination mechanisms, which will facilitate the improvement of network scalability as well as supporting multimedia traffic. In this routing scheme, we consider a hybrid network, that consists of directed energy (DE) links and omni-directional (OD) antenna links. To quantitatively select the best potential candidate nodes, the forwarder node relies on a proposed metric termed scalable opportunistic objective function (SOOF) which considers DE link presence, one-hop throughput, node mobility, and expected distance progress toward destination. We compare the performance of the proposed routing scheme with three other relevant protocols: DSDV, AODV, and GOR. For precise analysis, the performance of the routing protocols is evaluated by considering various network metrics. Our simulation result validates our analysis and demonstrates that the proposed routing scheme significantly outperforms the relevant routing protocols.


Bicyclus dorothea dorothea (Cramer, 1779) is a widely distributed butterfly inhabiting much of the northern part of the tropical African rainforest. The biology of the species has not been well studied despite it being relatively common throughout its distribution. In this study, we report on the life history of B. d. dorothea following three years of research on the species in Cameroon. We describe the life cycle of the species and report on key life history aspects such as distribution, habitat, reproduction, and host plant relationships.