The recent outbreak of novel coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) calls for and welcomes possible treatment strategies using drugs on the market. It is very efficient to apply computer-aided drug design techniques to quickly identify promising drug repurposing candidates, especially after the detailed 3D structures of key viral proteins are resolved. The virus causing COVID-19 is SARS-CoV-2. Taking advantage of a recently released crystal structure of SARS-CoV-2 main protease in complex with a covalently bonded inhibitor, N3 (Liu et al., 10.2210/pdb6LU7/pdb), I conducted virtual docking screening of approved drugs and drug candidates in clinical trials. For the top docking hits, I then performed molecular dynamics simulations followed by binding free energy calculations using an end point method called MM-PBSA-WSAS (molecular mechanics/Poisson–Boltzmann surface area/weighted solvent-accessible surface area; Wang, Chem. Rev.2019, 119, 947831244000; Wang, Curr. Comput.-Aided Drug Des.2006, 2, 287; Wang; HouJ. Chem. Inf. Model., 2012, 52, 119922497310). Several promising known drugs stand out as potential inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 main protease, including carfilzomib, eravacycline, valrubicin, lopinavir, and elbasvir. Carfilzomib, an approved anticancer drug acting as a proteasome inhibitor, has the best MM-PBSA-WSAS binding free energy, −13.8 kcal/mol. The second-best repurposing drug candidate, eravacycline, is synthetic halogenated tetracycline class antibiotic. Streptomycin, another antibiotic and a charged molecule, also demonstrates some inhibitory effect, even though the predicted binding free energy of the charged form (−3.8 kcal/mol) is not nearly as low as that of the neutral form (−7.9 kcal/mol). One bioactive, PubChem 23727975, has a binding free energy of −12.9 kcal/mol. Detailed receptor–ligand interactions were analyzed and hot spots for the receptor–ligand binding were identified. I found that one hot spot residue, His41, is a conserved residue across many viruses including SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV, and hepatitis C virus (HCV). The findings of this study can facilitate rational drug design targeting the SARS-CoV-2 main protease.


Social skills and preferences are thought to emerge from greater exposure to and hence familiarity with some social signals rather than others. The ability to differentiate and categorize familiar and unfamiliar individuals and to build a multisensory representation of known individuals emerges from successive social interactions, in particular with adult, experienced models. In different species, adults have been shown to shape the social behavior of young by promoting selective attention to multisensory cues. The question of what representation of known conspecifics adult-deprived animals may build therefore arises. Here we show that starlings raised with no experience with adults fail to develop a multisensory representation of familiar starlings. Electrophysiological recordings of neuronal activity throughout the primary auditory area of these birds, while they were exposed to audio-only or audiovisual familiar and unfamiliar cues, showed that visual stimuli did, as in wild-caught starlings, modulate auditory responses but that, unlike what was observed in wild-caught birds, this modulation was not influenced by familiarity. Thus, adult-deprived starlings seem to fail to discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar individuals. This suggests that adults may shape multisensory representation of known individuals in the brain, possibly by focusing the young's attention on relevant, multisensory cues.


THm? particulars of the following case are submitted to the society for the purpose of showing that spontaneous evolution of the fratus, as desciibed by Denman, does occasionally occur, and consequently that the doctrine of spontaneous expulsion, as maintained by Douglas and generally accepted by the profession, must be received with some degree of qualification. CASE. A lady, about five months advanced in her third pregnancy, was taken ill on the evening of the 11th of November with symptoms of uterine uneasiness, but not such as to lead her to suspect that any danger of a miscarriaae was imminent. On visiting her I found that she had experienced little or no pain, and had sustained little or no hemorrhage; but on a vaginal examination I found the membranes engaged in the os uteri, which was dilated to about the size of a shilling, and protruding into the vagina. Within half an hour the bag of membranes presented externally, and shortly afterwards broke. The liquor armnii, however, alone escaped, and nothing could be felt within the vagina, the fcetns being as yet wholly in utero. After giving a few doses of ergot with cinnamon and bark, and waiting a short time, a spongy mass presented at the os uteri, which, after a few pains, was expelled, and found to be the placenta. No heemorrhage followed upon its expulsion, and shortly afterwards, one of the superior extremities descended into the vagina, which, upon slight traction, broke away at the shoulder-joint. Convinced that manual assistance could be of little avail in the present state of the case, I left the patient for about two hours, and on then making an examination, found what proved to be the breech engaged in the os uteri. I followed it digitally downwards, and in due course the lower extremities descended; the case having assumed all the chaxracters of an original breech-presentation. With a little manipulation the head was brought through the os uteri, and the entire birth completed without any difficulty. The patient made a good recovery, and throughout had scarcely any hemorrhage. REMARKS. A brief reference to the views of Denman and Douglas respectively on the subject of "spontaneous evolution", will best indicate the relations of the present case to the main question at issue between them. By Denman it was maintained that " spontaneous evolution" consisted in a complete change in the position or evolution of the child in utero, whereby some other part was substituted for that originally presenting; as for instance, the breech for the arm and shoulder. By Douglas, on the other hand, it was contended, that no such evolution or change in the position of the child could or did take place, and consequently that there could be no such substitution of one part of the child for another. He maintained that, in all the presumed cases of " evolution", in which the arm and shoulder originally presented and had de. scended into the pelvis, they remained unchanged in that position, whilst the body of the child was simultaneously doubled upon itself, and so forced by them through the pelvis. Now, there can be no doubt that this view is correct in regard to the greater number of instances which come under the designation of spontaneous evolution; but there are yet cases alleged to have occurred in which the evolution of the child, as described by Denman, has veritably taken place, and although perhaps rarely met with, are not on that account to be ignored. Dr. Murphy has met with such, and the present is one strictly to the point. Evolution of the fcotus, in the most rigid accepta. tion of the word, occurred; the breech was substituted for the arm, and from being originaUy an arm, it became eventually a breech-presentation. Undoubtedly, the early period of pregnancy modifies very much the importance of the case in relation to the question at issue; but it has, nevertheless, appeared to me worthy of record, as showing how, under certain circumstances, spontaneous evolution may take place as described by Denman, and that his views, therefore, upon the subject, are not so wholly unsound as has been generally supposed. It is at least important, as showing that an argumernt which has been alleged against them is fallacious; viz., that it is incon. sistent with the nature of uterine contraction that such substitution of the presentation of one part of the child for another should take place.


Recent political events raise an issue that usually remains dormant until a President is about to leave office, namely pardons. Many political watchers fear President Trump's pardon authority, perhaps for good reason. However, their analysis of the pardon power is normative. They argue that there are proper uses for the pardon power and Trump's usage and potential usage are not it. Reasonable people can disagree about the wisdom of pardons and the circumstances when they should be granted. Critiques of the pardon power have become commonplace when Presidents inevitably pardon people in the waning days of their Administration for apparent political reasons. This article unearths the origins of Presidential pardons. It asks and answers why President George Washington pardoned the people he pardoned. The article begins by examining recent scholarship on pardons and their use. Then it turns to Washington's Administration by sketching the origins of federal courts in the United States. The paper's heart is its detailed look at whom Washington pardoned and whom he did not. Washington's first pardons had symbolic value and he attempted to choose carefully but circumstances necessitated the first pardon. Most of Washington's pardons went to merchants who evaded the customs laws in some manner thus advancing Washington's goal to promote commerce. Another significant number went to people involved in the Whiskey Rebellion. By pardoning so many participants, Washington hoped to end the resistance and reunite the nation. Yet his Whiskey Rebellion pardons also were necessary for practical reasons. Finally, Washington used pardons as part of his foreign policy, especially when dealing with the war between France and Great Britain so that the United States remained neutral. Although mercy may have factored into the decision-making, the article concludes that Washington used his pardon power when it benefited the government.


Abstract The combination of sedimentological and diagenetic data is important for the characterization of carbonate pore systems. This is particularly true for carbonates that were affected by meteoric diagenesis during sub-aerial exposure, for instance at sea-level lowstands. This diagenetic environment is commonly believed to be associated with increases in porosity, permeability and pore-throat diameters. Using data from three localities, improvement or deterioration of reservoir parameters below karst unconformities were analysed with a three-fold approach. In the first step, meteoric dissolution was characterized and early to late diagenetic products were described. In the second step, sedimentological and diagenetic data were converted to petrophysical data. In the third step, modelled climate data, in particular the occurrence of monsoon cells, in conjunction with other control mechanisms, were considered to understand the processes that controlled meteoric dissolution and later pore infill. Three case studies were analysed: (1) Lower Triassic oolites (sedimentary rocks dominated by ooids) and microbialites of the Calvörde Formation (Buntsandstein Group, Germany); (2) stacked shallowing-upward cycles of carbonate platform deposits in the Middle–Upper Triassic Mahil Formation (Arabian plate, Oman), capped by palaeosols; and (3) an Upper Triassic coral patch reef and overlying strata (Adnet, Salzburg region, Austria). Data integration allowed the establishment of three scenarios of significantly different processes related to meteoric diagenesis below unconformities: (1) increase of porosity and permeability and their preservation through time; (2) increase of porosity and permeability and subsequent pore system occlusion; and (3) decrease of porosity and permeability and creation of a barrier for pore fluids. Knowledge of the time span involved in meteoric diagenesis and the nature of the climatic regime helped to explain the origins and control mechanisms of the meteoric pore systems. The study provided evidence that a well-connected, large karst system, typical of a humid climate, is likely to be sealed subsequently by sediment and cement. Under arid climatic conditions, tight palaeosols developed at the unconformity and small karst pore systems developed which had the potential to remain open during basin evolution. Depending on the aforementioned parameters, carbonates affected by meteoric diagenesis may either become tight rocks or reservoirs.


The effect of six different homeopathic remedies on cress (Lepidium sativum L.) has been examined by CuCl2-biocrystallization. The method was based on the protocols of [1] and a follow up study (not yet published). Cress seeds germinated and grew for four days in vitro in a 30x potentization of Stannum metallicum, Arsenic Album, Mercurius metallicum, Sulphur, Silicea or Lactose (control) in a blinded and fully randomized assignment. Each remedy was prepared sterile and divided into 20 bottles used in 10 experiments. CuCl2-biocrystallization of seedlings extracted in the homeopathic preparations was performed on circular glass plates. Resulting biocrystallograms were analysed by digital textural image analysis. Texture analysis variables analysed yielded significant results between the control and some of the homeopathic treatments, as well as between a number of the different treatments. As the texture of the biocrystallograms of homeopathically treated cress exhibited effects depending on the remedies, the CuCl2-biocrystallization method will be further applied to a larger study investigating specific effects of different homeopathic preparations.


Agricultural education teacher preparation programs across the United States are implementing highstakes teacher performance assessments to better prepare pre-service teachers for the rigors of classroom teaching. During pilot implementation of edTPA, a standardized teacher performance-based assessment, University of Georgia (UGA) teacher preparation unit implemented a technology mediated observation (TMO) protocol to replace one of three face-to-face observations conducted by university supervisors. The instrumental case study reported here explores the outcomes of the TMO experience from the emic perspective of the pre-service teachers, their cooperating teachers, and university supervisors. Findings indicate that TMO overall was a positive experience for pre-service teachers because they engaged in self-monitoring, reflexive teaching practices, and it created opportunities for participants to collaborate with other professionals in their placement sites. We conclude that the use of TMO was overall beneficial to the pre-service teaching experience by enhancing reflective behavior among participants to improve teaching practice. To improve the practice of using TMO, teacher educators should provide wellplanned processes for the pre-service teaching cohort. Future research should focus on how TMO can be used to improve quality instruction in the student teaching experience.


ABSTRACT We argue that the conclusions drawn from the paper "The potential effect of climate change on the geographical distribution of insect pest species in the Swedish boreal forest", published in the Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research were not erroneous as stated by a letter published in the same journal by Björklund et al. (2015. Erroneous conclusions about current geographical distribution and future expansion of forest insects in Northern Sweden: Comments on Hof and Svahlin (2015). Scand. J. Forest Res)", but cautious. We regret possible underestimations caused by lack of occurrence records for some species for some areas. However, basing predictions of the impact of future climate change on the distribution of species on current range maps likely leads to grave overestimations of future range predictions since current range maps assume species are homogenously distributed throughout the landscape, which is often not the case. We argue that underestimating the distribution range of pest species rather than overestimating their distribution pinpoints areas that may need extra attention in future better, and therefore chose to be cautious rather than bold. We further like to stress that one should always be aware of possible insect outbreaks throughout the region, not only because predictions may underestimate the future distribution of species but also since the location and likelihood of insect pest outbreaks is not only determined by climatic factors.


— This paper unifies power optimization approaches in various energy converters, such as: thermal, solar, chemical, and electrochemical engines, in particular fuel cells. Thermodynamics leads to converter's efficiency and limiting power. Efficiency equations serve to solve problems of upgrading and downgrading of resources. While optimization of steady systems applies the differential calculus and Lagrange multipliers, dynamic optimization involves variational calculus and dynamic programming. In reacting systems chemical affinity constitutes a prevailing component of an overall efficiency, thus the power is analyzed in terms of an active part of chemical affinity. The main novelty of the present paper in the energy yield context consists in showing that the generalized heat flux Q (involving the traditional heat flux q plus the product of temperature and the sum products of partial entropies and fluxes of species) plays in complex cases (solar, chemical and electrochemical) the same role as the traditional heat q in pure heat engines. The presented methodology is also applied to power limits in fuel cells as to systems which are electrochemical flow engines propelled by chemical reactions. The performance of fuel cells is determined by magnitudes and directions of participating streams and mechanism of electric current generation. Voltage lowering below the reversible voltage is a proper measure of cells imperfection. The voltage losses, called polarization, include the contributions of three main sources: activation, ohmic and concentration. Examples show power maxima in fuel cells and prove the relevance of the extension of the thermal machine theory to chemical and electrochemical systems. The main novelty of the present paper in the FC context consists in introducing an effective or reduced Gibbs free energy change between products p and reactants s which take into account the decrease of voltage and power caused by the incomplete conversion of the overall reaction.


Abstract The use of laser in oral surgery and periodontology is a matter of debate, mainly because of the lack of consensual therapeutic protocols. The aim of this study was to evaluate the surgical advantages of diode laser versus traditional surgery with a cold blade for the surgical excision of pyogenic granuloma (PG). Twenty-one patients (10 males, 11 females, aged 19–66 years; mean age: 46.5 years), requiring PG excision, were enrolled in the study. Through a randomized clinical trial design, all patients were randomly subjected to PG surgical excision with either diode laser or cold blade. Parameters analyzed were the speed of incision, time of intervention, intraoperative bleeding, number of stitches, and patient compliance. Histologic examination was performed before and after surgical excision of the lesions. Patients compiled a subjective evaluation questionnaire. Both treatments were successful in surgical excision of PG. However, the mean speed of incision was significantly reduced in diode laser group (0.61 ± 0.29 mm/s) compared with cold blade group (1.47 ± 1.23 mm/s) (P < 0.05). The mean lengths of time for the whole surgical intervention were significantly lower in diode laser group (221.15 ± 220.89 s) compared with cold blade group (316.10 ± 248.69 s) (P < 0.05). Moreover, diode laser induced a reduced intrasurgical bleeding, and a better gingival healing compared with cold blade surgical treatment. This study demonstrated that the use of diode laser showed additional advantages compared with cold blade in terms of less postoperative discomfort and pain for surgical removal of PG.


Direct-sequence (DS) code-division multiple access (CDMA) is considered for future wideband mobile underwater acoustic networks, where a typical configuration may include several autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) operating within a few kilometers of a central receiver. Two receivers that utilize multichannel (array) processing of asynchronous multiuser signals are proposed: the symbol decision feedback (SDF) receiver and the chip hypothesis feedback (CHF) receiver. Both receivers use a chip-resolution adaptive front end consisting of a many-to-few combiner and a bank of fractionally-spaced feedforward equalizers. In the SDF receiver, feedback equalization is implemented at symbol resolution, and receiver filters, including a decision-directed phase-locked loop, are adapted at the symbol rate. This limits its applicability to the channels whose time variation is slow compared to the symbol rate. In a wideband acoustic system, which transmits at maximal chip rate, the symbol rate is down-scaled by the spreading factor, and an inverse effect may occur by which increasing the spreading factor results in performance degradation. To eliminate this effect, feedback equalization, which is necessary for the majority of acoustic channels, is performed in the CHF receiver at chip resolution and receiver parameters are adjusted at the chip rate. At the price of increased computational complexity (there are as many adaptive filters as there are symbol values), this receiver provides improved performance for systems where time variation cannot be neglected with respect to the symbol rate [e.g., low probability of detection (LPD) acoustic systems]. Performance of the two receivers was demonstrated in a four-user scenario, using experimental data obtained over a 2-km shallow-water channel. At the chip rate of 19.2 kilochips per second (kc/s) with quaternary phase-shift keying (QPSK) modulation, excellent results were achieved at an aggregate data rate of up to 10 kb/s


This thesis examined whether individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders are sensitive to traits. The ability of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders to infer traits from descriptions of behaviour was investigated by asking participants to read trait implying sentences and then to chose one of two words that best related to the sentence. In experiment 1, individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders performed similarly to matched controls in being faster at choosing the trait in comparison to the semantic associate of one of the words in the sentence. The results from experiments 1 and 2 provided converging evidence in suggesting that inferring traits from textual descriptions of behaviour occurs with relatively little effort. The results of experiment 3 suggested that making trait inferences took priority over inferring actions or making semantic connections between words. Experiment 4 investigated whether individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders associated the inferred trait with the person carrying out the behaviour (actor). Participants were presented with a pair of faces and sentences followed by the same pair of faces being presented with a single word. Participants had to choose which actor is best described by the word. The results provided evidence that participants with Autism Spectrum Disorders were able to associate inferred traits with the actor easily, even when the actor was represented by his face. The experiments described in this thesis provide evidence for the possibility of trait inference as relating to behaviour being a spared socio-cognitive function in autism.


ABSTRACT Party defections have increasingly become a major trend of Ugandan multiparty politics, not only for individual elites at the national level and in the parties' leadership but at the grassroots level by local party members too. These shifts of allegiance are now systematically part of the staging and imagery of President Museveni's electoral campaigns. A common explanation of this phenomenon points at the inconsistency of partisan loyalties and ideologies. It is often taken for granted that defections are expressions of clientelism, political opportunism and above all democratic immaturity and a misunderstanding of multipartyism. This paper argues on the contrary that mass defections reflect the social technology of the National Resistance Movement hegemonic rule at the local level, and the constraints for opposition parties whose structures it co-opts. They are part of the monopolisation of organisational initiatives at the grassroots level by the regime. Defections are not simply a symbol of electoral opportunism but part of a routine economic posture in a context of straddling lines between the economic and political spheres. Following up the trajectories of two specific groups of defectors from Teso over several years, this paper seeks to give precise insights on the local presence and rooting of political parties, their modes of mobilisation, recruitment, their repertoires of action, and more generally on the transformation of identities, partisan practices and political activism but also on the hegemonic ruling party's mode of governance at the local level. This micro-sociologic approach opens windows on how hegemony is built in a dialogic way with local political entrepreneurs and vote brokers. Hegemonic rule therefore also contains its own limits as it requires a permanent renegotiation with individual actors embedded in a set of local power relationships.


A phylogenetic analysis was performed based on ITS DNA sequences of fourteen samples from different sources of six species of Salicornia, the three allied genera Arthrocnemum, Sarcocornia and Halocnemum of the same tribe Salicornieae, and other genera of the subfamily Salicornioideae used in previous studies. Bassia hirsuta, Camphorosma monspeliaca (subfamily Chenopodioideae) and four species of Suaeda (subf. Suaedoideae) were chosen as outgroups. Results show that the annual genus Salicornia is a sister group to the perennial genera Sarcocornia, Arthrocnemum and Halocnemum. Moreover, the phylogenetic analysis based on ITS results distinguished two groups of Salicornia species which fitted with ploidy level: one group consisted of diploid species, and the second of tetraploid ones. Sarcocornia and Arthrocnemum are shown to be closely related, even though the species investigated here exhibited an evident distance between their ITS sequences. On the basis of our results, these two genera should be united. Bienertia (already separated as Bienertieae) was confirmed as probable outgroup to the subf. Salicornioideae, while Kalidium (subf. Salicornioideae, tribe Halopeplideae) was an outgroup to the rest of the Salicornioideae (tribe Salicornieae). The group Allenrolfea plus Halocnemum was the most basal of the tribe Salicornieae amongst those investigated in this study. The two samples of Halocnemum strobilaceum used in this work displayed numerous changes (transitions and transversions) in their respective sequences, probably related to their morphological and chorological differentiation. On the basis of our analysis, the most probable basal chromosome number for Salicornieae appears to be 2n = 18. The same number would also be the base number for the annual genus Salicornia and the perennial Arthrocnemum ( + Sarcocornia), with polyploidy arising independently in the two groups.


Classical Conditioning is a fundamental learning mechanism where the Ventral Striatum is generally thought to be the source of inhibition to Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) Dopamine neurons when a reward is expected. However, recent evidences point to a new candidate in VTA GABA encoding expectation for computing the reward prediction error in the VTA. In this system-level computational model, the VTA GABA signal is hypothesised to be a combination of magnitude and timing computed in the Peduncolopontine and Ventral Striatum respectively. This dissociation enables the model to explain recent results wherein Ventral Striatum lesions affected the temporal expectation of the reward but the magnitude of the reward was intact. This model also exhibits other features in classical conditioning namely, progressively decreasing firing for early rewards closer to the actual reward, twin peaks of VTA dopamine during training and cancellation of US dopamine after training.


Incomplete multi-view clustering has attracted various attentions from diverse fields. Most existing methods factorize data to learn a unified representation linearly. Their performance may degrade when the relations between the unified representation and data of different views are nonlinear. Moreover, they need post-processing on the unified representations to extract the clustering indicators, which separates the consensus learning and subsequent clustering. To address these issues, in this paper, we propose a Simultaneous Representation Learning and Clustering (SRLC) method. Concretely, SRLC constructs similarity matrices to measure the relations between pair of instances, and learns low-dimensional representations of present instances on each view and a common probability label matrix simultaneously. Thus, the nonlinear information can be reflected by these representations and the clustering results can obtained from label matrix directly. An efficient iterative algorithm with guaranteed convergence is presented for optimization. Experiments on several datasets demonstrate the advantages of the proposed approach.


Introduction: MicroRNAs are short RNA molecules that control ~50% of genes by binding to the mRNA 3' UTR and repressing translation. Recently, they have been detected within exosomes; small vesicles secreted by most cells and abundant in body fluids. Exosomes are highly enriched for specific microRNAs and have been proposed as the starting point for circulating biomarker studies. To increase the accuracy of microRNA assessment by qRT-PCR, endogenous controls are required to correct for variability factors. Exosomal microRNA studies can be problematic, as endogenous controls previously used in cellular samples may not be present. This study compared exosome isolation and RNA extraction methods from urine and serum samples and identified suitable endogenous controls for incorporation into qRT-PCR analysis. Methods and Results: For serum exosomes, specialist isolation reagents from System Biosciences (SBI) (ExoQuick Serum Exosome Precipitation Solution) and Life Technologies (Total Exosome Isolation Reagent) were compared, followed by RNA extraction (Norgen Biotek Total RNA Purification kit) and qRT-PCR assessment of 3 endogenous controls (HY3, RNU48 & U6). Superior exosomal RNA recovery was achieved using Life Technologies reagent, demonstrated by higher RNA concentration (Life Technologies ng/ul 4.4, 7.5 & 6.9 vs. SBI ng/ul 3.8, 5.0 & 2.7) and lower endogenous control Ct values (HY3: Life Technologies 25.56, 28.54 & 26.69 vs. SBI 27.48, 30.48 & 35.36. RNU48: Life Technologies 30.95, undetected & 34.45 vs. SBI 30.95, undetected & undetected. U6: Life Technologies 21.83, 24.72 & 22.59 vs. SBI 21.59, 27.55 & 32.71, respectively). Recovery of exosomes (30-150 nm) was verified by electron microscopy. Serum exosomal RNA recovery was further assessed by isolating exosomes then comparing three commercially available RNA extraction kits (SBI SeraMir Exosome RNA Purification Column kit, Norgen Biotek Total RNA Purification kit & Qiagen RNeasy Micro kit). The Norgen Biotek kit gave the highest RNA yield (SBI ng/ul 13.0, 10.9 & 6.7 vs. Norgen ng/ul 23.2, 22.6 & 33.2 vs. Qiagen ng/ul 0.3, 0.6 & 0.4) and expression of two endogenous controls (HY3 & U6) (HY3: Norgen 26.76, 29.37 & 27.66 vs. SBI 31.45, 29.43 & 33.38 vs. Qiagen 35.00, 35.12 & 33.99. U6: Norgen 21.38, 24.96 & 21.31 vs. SBI 25.95, 24.91 & 30.17 vs. Qiagen 26.48, 27.14 & 27.39). In each case, exosomal isolation was confirmed by electron microscopy. To validate the methodology to isolate urine exosomal RNA, a commercially available kit was compared to ultracentrifugation. The Urine Exosome RNA Isolation kit (Norgen Biotek) gave superior results compared to ultracentrifugation followed by RNA extraction using the Norgen Biotek Total RNA Purification kit. This was demonstrated by higher RNA quantity (Norgen ng/ul 6.6, 6.4 & 11.5 vs. ultracentrifugation ng/ul 3.3, 4.5 & 2.9) and endogenous control (HY3 & U6) expression (HY3: Norgen 25.31, 26.33 & 26.85 vs. ultracentrifugation 31.54, 29.21 & 29.36. U6: Norgen 31.66, 30.83 & 33.47 vs. ultracentrifugation 32.49, 33.46 & 33.30). Exosomes isolated by the Norgen kit were also visualised by electron microscopy for further validation. The stability of 8 endogenous controls (RNU6B, RNU19, RNU38B, RNU43, RNU48, HY3, U6 & miR-320) was assessed by qRT-PCR in a test serum (n=10) and urine (n=15) exosome cohort from healthy controls and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) patients. HY3 and U6 were selected as the optimal controls for serum exosome miRNA expression analysis, with the highest level of stability across the panel (HY3: S.D 1.77 & CoV 6.2%, U6: S.D 2.14 & CoV 8.6%). HY3 and RNU48 were selected as the optimal controls for urine exosome miRNA expression analysis panel (HY3: S.D 1.67 & CoV 6.4%, RNU48: S.D 1.85 & CoV 5.3%). Selected optimal controls were analysed in a clinical HSCT serum (n=55) and urine (n=50) cohort. Expression stability was acceptable for all controls (serum U6: S.D 2.93 & CoV 11.8%. HY3: S.D 2.22 & CoV 7.4%. Urine RNU48: S.D 2.26 & CoV 6.9%, HY3: S.D 2.42 & CoV 8.8%), indicating constitutive expression in clinical samples. Conclusions: Exosomal microRNA studies are in their infancy and the number of commercially available exosome and RNA isolation kits are increasing. This study identifies the optimal methods to isolate serum and urine exosomal RNA as well as suitable endogenous controls for incorporation into qRT-PCR studies. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


The concerted proton tunneling frequency for the propiolic acid-formic acid dimer was calculated using a relaxed ab initio double-well potential in the imaginary-frequency mode of the saddle point, and new measurements were made for the deuterated propiolic acid-formic acid (ProOD-FAOD) isotopologue. It is important to have consistent calculated tunneling frequency values between normal and deuterated isotopologues since parameters can be readily adjusted to get good agreement with one isotopologue. High-resolution rotational spectra of deuterated (ProOD-FAOD) dimer were measured using a newly constructed Fourier Transform microwave spectrometer. The new spectrometer has mirror size: 30 cm in diameter with a radius of curvature of 59 cm and is equipped with multiple-FID data collection (5-10 FID's for each gas pulse). For the deuterated (ProOD-FAOD) isotopologue, 45 rotational lines (a type: 34; b type: 11) were measured in the lowest tunneling states range between 6.5 GHz and 15.5 GHz. With the new high-resolution measurements of the tunneling doublets (b-dipole transitions), the double potential well responsible for the deuterium tunneling was depicted much more precisely. The two tunneling states are separated by 3.48 MHz. The rotational constants obtained in this work are quite helpful for further structure analysis as well.


CO2 conversion into value-added fuels has been considered as a promising solution to solve environmental problems and energy crises. However, the efficiency of photocatalytic CO2 conversion is low. In addition, infrared light in the solar spectrum is not utilized properly in most traditional photocatalytic reactions. Thus, the search for photocatalysts that exploit the wide solar spectrum to achieve an efficient water-based CO2 conversion performance is still highly challenging. Herein, we construct a WN–WO3 Z-scheme heterostructure to exploit the wide solar spectrum for efficient CO2–H2O conversion into fuels (H2, CO, and CH4) without any sacrificial agents. After 5 h irradiation, the yields of H2, CO, and CH4 are 3.0, 1.4, and 1.9 times higher than that of WN, respectively. The activity improvement is ascribed to the direct Z-scheme mechanism of the WN–WO3 heterostructure under ultraviolet-visible illumination. In addition, the infrared light in sunlight is also utilized by the WN–WO3 heterostructure to generate heat via photo-to-thermal conversion, which further accelerates such a conversion reaction. This work offers a unique perspective for designing transition metal nitride/oxide heterostructures and paves a new way to boost the CO2-to-fuel conversion performance.


We obtain current densities from the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment (AMPERE), alongside By and Bz from the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) for March 2010. For each AMPERE spatial coordinate, we cross‐correlate current density with By and Bz, finding the maximum correlation for lags up to 360 min. The patterns of maximum correlation contain large‐scale structures consistent with the literature. For the correlation with By, the lags on the dayside are 10 min at high latitudes but up to 240 min at lower latitudes. Lags on the nightside are 90–150 min. For Bz, the shortest lags on the dayside are 10–20 min; on the equatorward edge of the current oval, 60–90 min; and on the nightside, predominantly 90–150 min. This novel approach enables us to see statistically the timescales on which information is electrodynamically communicated to the ionosphere after magnetic field lines reconnect on the dayside and nightside.


Forget about Napster, p2p is for everybody and is about collaboration Peer-to-peer technology first generated real ink when the music-sharing website, Napster, forced the big labels into the courtroom to defend their products. Why should banks care about something that affected record companies? Because Napster's notorious profile, and the peer-to-peer hype that ensued, tended to obscure the technology's uses as a collaborative tool for financial services companies. To the extent that peer technology means anything to bankers, many probably equate it with file sharing and "cycle stealing"--a scheme that lets one computer's idle time be co-opted for use by another. But the technology can also extend the power and reach of web applications, that is, business logic that's already been converted for use and distribution over the internet. Putting business uses aside for a moment, peer-enablement itself is created by use of common messaging formats (which we'll get into later) and common net-friendly languages, most notably XML. This allows two peers to exchange files, programs, or computational power -- depending on how the technology is deployed. At its root, this technology's greatest boon is its ability to facilitate the comparatively easy retrieval of data--at least that's how one analyst sees it. "What's great about the technology is its ability to make any digital 'information' located in a peer member easier to get to for the support transactions and other work," says Robert Hegarty, director of investment management at TowerGroup, Needham, Mass. "While a member will, of course, have to be proactive about getting peer-enabled, they won't have to be proactive about searching out data once they are set up to operate in a peer environment," Hegarty adds. In the case of the Wall Street-oriented vendor, Worldstreet, the transaction in question includes locating two peer "members" so they can transmit research. Another financial services player, Liquid-Net, lets users identify each other and signal their interest in deal making in a virtual market. The potential of peer computing seems "nearly limitless and would have a profound impact on buy-side trading and the analyst portfolio management community," says Hegarty. Having recently issued a report on the technology's impact on Wall Street, he sees numerous potential uses for fund managers and traders who live--and die--by data. Today, under client-server, this data resides in a database and can only be accessed by reaching a server. Simplified data retrieval is one of peer-to-peer's gifts, but web collaboration is another potential benefit, and one that could bring Wall Street and Main Street institutions the biggest bang for the buck. What makes it p2p? Peer technology vendors that support business process sharing tend to be categorized as "extranet" or "infrastructural" providers by analysts. Providing web services, as they are called, these vendors use their wares to re-format and facilitate joint use of computer code (and subsequent workflows) between business partners. "Peer technology as we make use of it, uses 'light,' easy-to-evoke code that makes it simpler for business partners to establish links between them over TCP/IP using common data protocols," says Daniel Seltzer, chief technology officer and co-founder of Interbind, New York City. "With this easy connection work gets done between two devices -- say a personal digital assistant and a server -- that typically have different operating systems, different applications, or different capacities." Interbind, as with some other vendors in this class, makes use of Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), which is one basic messaging format that, in its purest form, lets devices from different operating system environments, using different languages, communicate. "A SOAP message wraps around a proprietary chunk of code and defines that code for the recipient device," Seltzer says. …


[[125I]Tyr8]Bradykinin is degraded by angiotensin-converting enzyme to [125I]Tyr-Arg. The reaction product can be separated completely and recovered nearly quantitatively from unchanged substrate by cation-exchange chromatography. Thus it is possible to use [[125I]Tyr8]bradykinin at high specific radioactivity (about 400Ci/mmol) to measure the small quantities of angiotensin-converting enzyme encountered in small-scale cultures of pulmonary endothelial cells.


Tape label reads: "All-Master 2-t[rac]k Clone. Raw (1 + 2), Mastered/EQ/Compressed (3 + 4), Mastered + Assembled, cassettes for friends (7 + 8). Tape contains eight tracks (migrated from ADAT to an 8-track WAV file) recorded by Team Fat on ADAT tape for the game "Welcome to Bear Country."


Light scattering from small particles in liquids and transparent solids may lead to a loss in optical clarity. If the scattering particles are in the micron size range, the scattering is confined to small angles with respect to the direction of the incident light. The resulting phenomenon does not correlate with integrating sphere haze. Examples of this type of optical defect are occasionally observed in plastic sheet or film samples.A photometer is described for the quantitative measurement of this type of light scattering. It measures scattered light photoelectrically at a 10° angle with an angular resolution of 1°. It is suitable for plant control applications as well as research and development. Visual estimates of optical clarity correlate well with instrumental low-angle light scattering.


Brittle mesostructures have been studied in the detached Mesozoic and Lower Tertiary cover rocks of the south-central Pyrenees (Huesca province, Spain), in order to reconstruct the state of stress within the thrust sheets during Tertiary compression. The structure of the area studied consists of NW–SE- to E–W-striking, south-verging thrust-sheets, located west of the South-Pyrenean Central Unit. The palaeostresses obtained show dominant N–S to ENE–WSW compression directions for stress tensors with horizontal σ1 axes, and E–W to NW–SE extension directions for stress tensors with vertical σl axes. The values of the stress ellipsoid ratios for stress tensors with horizontal σ1 are predominantly between 0 and 0.5 (indicating uniaxial compression to wrench regime). Regarding their relationship with macro-structures, the palaeostresses show transport-parallel compression in most sites, although thrust-parallel compression is also found. There are no differences between palaeostresses found in the hanging walls and the footwalls of thrusts. Stress tensors with vertical σ1 do not show systematic relations with macro-structures, but transport-parallel extension and thrust-parallel extension are found in some sites. The analysis of palaeostresses in areas of fold-and-thrust belts shows a high degree of complexity and the results are not easy to interpret. The continuous variation from N–S to ENE–WSW in the orientation of the compression axes is here interpreted in two ways: (1) as the result of the clockwise rotation of the Mesozoic and Tertiary cover, which was pushed in the east by the South-Pyrenean Central Unit with a constant N to NNE regional compression, and (2) due to NE–SW compression resulting from a SW-directed local transport of minor thrusts. Palaeostress analysis can, therefore, reveal important information about thrust kinematics, at high structural levels where ductile deformation is absent.


29–32, 33–36 and 37–40 weeks of pregnancy, respectively. AFI in normal growth fetuses were 101.03 ± 15.19, 82.28 ± 12.03 and 71.14 ± 14.37 mm at the same periods, respectively. Fetuses with oligohydroamnion revealed Vmax value more than mean − 1.5 S.D and showed normal renal function after birth. Conclusions: Even in fetuses with oligohydroamnion, good prognosis are expected, if Vmax for the renal artery is more than mean − 1.5 S.D of the normal fetus. To predict the prognosis, Vmax for the renal artery might be a better index than AFI.


We show that the weather premium, an anecdotal phenomenon in the U.S. corn futures market, can arise from a convex demand function. We further show that the magnitude of the weather premium depends on the carryout and expected yield at harvest. We use data from 1968 to 2015 to evaluate the accuracy of the December futures price as a forecast of the harvest price. A predictable component in the forecast error is consistent with the existence of a time†varying weather premium. We demonstrate that a passive strategy of routinely shorting the corn December futures does not provide an attractive risk†adjusted return.


This article discusses the growing presence of police officers in British schools, under a resurgent police–school partnerships policy agenda in the 'war on gangs' and serious youth violence. It argues that while efforts to coordinate law enforcement and education implicate schools in general, evidence on race and policing raises concerns about the disproportionate impact of such strategies on black students. Police–school partnerships enhance existing and escalating forms of multi-agency police surveillance and profiling, while also giving officers a greater role in everyday schooling matters. Thus, grassroots anti-racist movements face a developing and dynamic challenge to resist not only the militarised policing of black youth, but also the corresponding weaponization of schools and the wider welfare state.


Ulceration is a complication that may occur after an ileocolonic anastomosis. Most of the etiologies remain speculative. The case of a 33-year-old woman with eosinophilic colitis is reported, in whom a colectomy with an ileocolonic anastomosis was performed. After four months, the patient presented with a stenosis in the ileocolonic anastomosis, necessitating surgical restoration. Four weeks later, the patient presented with rectal bleeding, and a colonoscopy showed an ulcer in the anastomosis. Collagen-polyvinylpyrrolidone was applied into and on the surface of the ulcer, and five days later the procedure was repeated. Follow-up endoscopies at seven days and three months showed complete healing of the ulcer and the patient remained without bleeding throughout a further four weeks of follow-up tests. It was concluded that this biological product could be an excellent treatment for these lesions.


Diffuse plane normolipemic xanthomatosis (DPNX) is a rare, non-inherited disease that is often associated with systemic diseases, mainly malignant hematological (especially multiple myeloma) or lymph proliferative disorders. The DPNX can precede the appearance of such conditions by several years, so careful follow-up and periodic laboratory examinations are recommended even for patients that seemed to have no underlying disease. We describe a case associated with monoclonal gammopathy. This case shows that dermatological lesions can be the first manifestation of important hematological diseases and so physicians should be familiarized with this entity.


We consider the following query answering problem: Given a Boolean conjunctive query and a theory in the Horn loosely guarded fragment, the aim is to determine whether the query is entailed by the theory. In this paper, we present a resolution decision procedure for the loosely guarded fragment, and use such a procedure to answer Boolean conjunctive queries against the Horn loosely guarded fragment. The Horn loosely guarded fragment subsumes classes of rules that are prevalent in ontology-based query answering, such as Horn ALCHOI and guarded existential rules. Additionally, we identify star queries and cloud queries, which using our procedure, can be answered against the loosely guarded fragment.


groups, only KYN correlated with SERT in the midbrain in HC ( ρ =-0.544, p=0.001). A further analysis showed that, at TBI > 0.06, midbrain SERT correlated with TRP ( ρ =-0.900, p=0.037), KYN ( ρ =-0.900, p=0.037), and TBI ( ρ =0.900, p=0.037) in HC. However, this could not be replicated in MDD. Conclusion: Our results are the first to demonstrate complicated interactions between TRP metabolism and SERT in different brain regions. The significance of the association between TRP metabolism and SERT in HC, in particular at different levels of TBI, is warrant for further study. Abstract There is an unmet need to improve the diagnosis of treat-ment-resistant depression (TRD). Current diagnostic metrics fail to accurately identify patients who will not respond to first-line and subsequent therapeutic strategies. However, there is increasing evidence to support the concept of biomarkers as a means to improve diagnostic precision and refine treatment options for TRD. MicroRNAs are small nucle-otide sequences that regulate gene expression and accumu-lating evidence has linked their presence in the periphery to the pathophysiology of depression. Thus, we hypothesised that microRNAs could serve as biomarkers for TRD. We further proposed that baseline microRNA expression could predict remission with ketamine infusions (KET) or electro-convulsive therapy (ECT). To test these hypotheses, we studied the peripheral microRNA expression profiles of healthy controls (n=17) and patients (n=30) with TRD who received treatment with infusions of KET (0.5mg/kg IV over 40 min) or ECT (average of 8.9 sessions per patient). Remission following treatments was defined as at least a 50% reduction in the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores. RNA was isolated from blood samples collected at baseline and after treatments. To determine differences in microRNA expression, microarray (Exiqon) and qPCR analyses were performed on samples. The baseline expression of let-7b was significantly reduced by 40% in TRD patients. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that let-7b regulates the expression of 25 genes in the PI3k-Akt-mTOR signaling pathway which has previously been reported to be dysfunctional in depression. KET and ECT both had positive effects in attenuating depression symptomatology and 72% of patients achieved remission. However, we found no microRNAs altered by treatment and remission could not be predicted from baseline microRNA expression profiles. Our data suggests that let-7b is a putative peripheral trait-biomarker for TRD. Experiments are on-going to study the functional effects of let-7b and how they relate to the pathophysiology of depression. Abstract Objective: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a systemic and multifactorial disorder involving complex interactions between genetic predisposition and disturbances of various molecular pathways. Its underlying molecular pathophysiology remains unclear, and no valid and objective diagnostic tools for the con-dition are available. Methods: We performed large-scale proteomic profiling to identify novel peripheral biomarkers implicated in the pathophysiology of MDD in 25 drug-free female MDD patients and 25 healthy controls. First, quantitative serum proteome profiles were obtained and analyzed by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry using serum samples from 10 MDD patients and 10 healthy controls. Next, candidate biomarker sets, includ-ing differentially expressed proteins from the profiling experi-ment and those identified in the literature, were verified using multiple-reaction monitoring in 25 patients and 25 healthy controls. The final panel of potential biomarkers was selected using multiparametric statistical analysis. Results: We identified a serum biomarker panel consisting of six proteins: apolipoprotein D, apolipoprotein B, vitamin D3-binding protein, ceruloplasmin, hornerin, and profilin 1, which could be used to distinguish MDD patients from controls with 68% diagnostic accuracy. Our results suggest that modulation of the immune and inflammatory systems and lipid metabolism are involved in the pathophysiology of MDD. Conclusions: Our findings of functional proteomic changes in the peripheral blood of patients with MDD further clarify the molecular biological pathway underlying depression. Further studies using larger, independent cohorts are needed to ver-ify the role of these candidate biomarkers for the diagnosis of MDD. Abstract Amino acids play key roles in the function of the central nervous system, and their alterations are implicated in psy-chiatric disorders. In the search for a biomarker for major depressive disorder (MDD), we used high-performance liquid chromatography to measure amino acids and related molecules in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 52 patients https://academic.oup.com/ijnp/article-abstract/19/Suppl_1/71/2946528


This paper aimed at studying provisions in TRIPs Agreement and Law Number 14 of 2001 regarding Patent, particularly provisions reflecting criteria of public interest.  The approach used is statutory and conceptual approaches by analyzing TRIPs Agreement and Law Number 14 of 2001. It is concluded that public interest has been stipulated generally in TRIPs Agreement and Law Number 14 of 2001 in their provisions regarding kind and scope of the use of limitation and exception of patent holder's exclusive rights.  Law Number 14 of 2001 basically has implemented limitation and exception provisions stipulated in TRIPs Agreement. However, unfortunately it does not provide further and clearer elaborations on some provisions that need to be elaborated further. In addition, both TRIPs Agreement and Law Number 14 of 2001 do not provide criteria as to public interest. Keywords: Public Interest, Criteria, Exception, Limitation, Patent.


We present updated/new thermal model fits for 478 Jovian Trojan asteroids observed with the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Using the fact that the two shortest bands used by WISE, centered on 3.4 and 4.6 μm, are dominated by reflected light, we derive albedos of a significant fraction of these objects in these bands. While the visible albedos of both the C-, P-, and D-type asteroids are strikingly similar, the WISE data reveal that the albedo at 3.4 μm is different between C-/P- and D-types. The albedo at 3.4 μm can thus be used to classify the objects, with C-/P-types having values less than 10% and D-types have values larger than 10%. Classifying all objects larger than 50 km shows that the D-type objects dominate both the leading cloud (L4), with a fraction of 84%, and trailing cloud (L5), with a fraction of 71%–80%. The two clouds thus have very similar taxonomic distribution for these large objects, but the leading cloud has a larger number of these large objects, L4/L5 = 1.34. The taxonomic distribution of the Jovian Trojans is found to be different from that of the large Hildas, which is dominated by C- and P-type objects. At smaller sizes, the fraction of D-type Hildas starts increasing, showing more similarities with the Jovian Trojans. If this similarity is confirmed through deeper surveys, it could hold important clues to the formation and evolution of the two populations. The Jovian Trojans does have similar taxonomic distribution to that of the Jovian irregular satellites, but lacks the ultra red surfaces found among the Saturnian irregular satellites and Centaur population.


Background: In the absence of the experimentally determined structure, computer aided protein structure prediction, evaluation and their energetically stable structure identification is the only way out of the problem. The main objective of the study was to perform the structure prediction of Aquaporin 9 (APQ9) the most targeted protein for rheumatoid arthritis, using in-silico methodology and validate the generated models. Methods: Secondary structure prediction of AQP9 was performed using GOR4, SOPMA and CFSSP algorithm. This was followed by the three-dimensional structure identification from MODELLER, LOMETS and MUSTER server. Many models were built and the best amongst them was identified on the basis of their DOPE score. RAMPAGE was used to validate these models and finally the selected model was energetically stabilized. Results: Amongst the 4 predicted models, model predicted using MODELLER software with 1FX8 PDB template (MODELER MODEL 2) was selected as the best. This model showed the best results in Ramachandran plot validation. In the Ramachandran Plot, 223 residues (95.7%) were found to be in the favored region, 9 residues (3.9%) in the Allowed region and the rest 1 residue (0.4%) in the Outlier region. Energy minimization calculations were also done for the four models using SPBDV software and Modeler Model 2 model showed the least energy (E= 3484.038 KJ/mol). Conclusion: The accurate three-dimensional structure prediction of proteins is a grand challenge now. Massive amount of sequence and structural data is available now with low cost. The choice of one or other method depends solely on the type of protein sequence and the quality of the predicted structure. The accurate structure prediction, fold recognition, energy calculation, side chain modeling and target template identification are the crucial edges of the molecular modeling process which need to be scrutinized for the best predicted model.


: Nasal secretions of 103 Holstein cows from a tuberculosis-infected herd in Argentina were bacteriologically cultured for mycobacteria. Mycobacterium bovis was isolated in 8.7% of the cultures. This method was useful for the detection of active tuberculosis with open lesions. Other mycobacteria, most of which grew rapidly on culture media, were isolated in 32% of the cultures and were of little importance as sensitizing agents to mammalian tuberculin in experimental studies in guinea pigs.


The article regards the phenomenon of political communication from the perspective of the particularities of constructing masculinity and femininity by politicians. According to the theory of the social construction of gender an individual's gender identity is shaped in the process of constructing gender relations in communicative interaction. The academic novelty of the article consists in applying the theses of this theory to the sphere of political communication and analyzing some devices of creating the images of masculinity and femininity by famous English and American politicians in their discourse. As structural components of gender identity, masculinity and femininity turn out to be modifiable parameters depending on the pragmatic attitudes of communicators. Traditional androcentrism of political discourse may account for modifying the female speech style towards masculinity to achieve certain communicative aims.


Forty-nine patients, including 38 with documented bradysystolic sick-sinus syndrome (type I) and 11 with bradytachycardiac sick-sinus syndrome (type II) were studied. Follow-up of 24 patients with VVI stimulation (34 +/- 4 months) and 7 patients with AAI stimulation (23 +/- 1.2 months) demonstrated that VVI stimulation was associated with retrograde ventriculo-atrial conduction in 71% of patients, causing paroxysms of atrial fibrillation (5 patients, 4 of those having type I sick-sinus syndrome). Six patients developed permanent atrial fibrillation (including 5 with type I sick-sinus syndrome). Retrograde conduction slowed down the pulse rate because of ineffective ventricular response in 6 patients. Nine patients with retrograde conduction developed circulatory insufficiency.


The article analyzes methodological and theoretical reasons for construction of multidimensional model of socialization of young people. The author assumes that the methodological treatment of the categories of activity, communication and self-awareness allow for adequate measurement of the process of becoming a social individual. On this basis he identifies theoretical resources of social, political, synergistic and cybernetic models of young people socialization, proving the acceptability of the process of their synthesis in the multivariate model.


Distance education systems based on new technologies can provide learning process for individualistic Learning or Cooperative Learning. With Networked systems (providing by communication channels among the different agents of the learning process), we can use the appropriate tools to turn computer networks into a real virtual classroom. In the study of engineering education, presently a change of learning and teaching happens through the use of new media. The reason for this is the implementation of tele-laboratories into the curricula of automatic control engineering and mechatronics education. Real existing laboratories can get controlled remotely over the Internet with a web browser by the student. An accompanying usage of these lab experiments during the lectures as well as an independent use is considered with theoretical teaching units and tutorials.


Background: Cannabis legalization for medical and recreational purposes has been suggested as an effective strategy to reduce opioid and benzodiazepine use and deaths. We examined the county-level association between medical and recreational cannabis laws and poisoning deaths involving opioids and benzodiazepines in the US from 2002 to 2020. Methods: Our ecologic county-level, spatiotemporal study comprised 49 states. Exposures were state-level implementation of medical and recreational cannabis laws and state-level initiation of cannabis dispensary sales. Our main outcomes were poisoning deaths involving any opioid, any benzodiazepine, and opioids with benzodiazepines. Secondary analyses included overdoses involving natural and semi-synthetic opioids, synthetic opioids, and heroin. Results: Implementation of medical cannabis laws was associated with increased deaths involving opioids (rate ratio [RR] = 1.14; 95% credible interval [CrI] = 1.11, 1.18), benzodiazepines (RR = 1.19; 95% CrI = 1.12, 1.26), and opioids+benzodiazepines (RR = 1.22; 95% CrI = 1.15, 1.30). Medical cannabis legalizations allowing dispensaries was associated with fewer deaths involving opioids (RR = 0.88; 95% CrI = 0.85, 0.91) but not benzodiazepine deaths; results for recreational cannabis implementation and opioid deaths were similar (RR = 0.81; 95% CrI = 0.75, 0.88). Recreational cannabis laws allowing dispensary sales was associated with consistent reductions in opioid- (RR = 0.83; 95% CrI = 0.76, 0.91), benzodiazepine- (RR = 0.79; 95% CrI = 0.68, 0.92), and opioid+benzodiazepine-related poisonings (RR = 0.83; 95% CrI = 0.70, 0.98). Conclusions: Implementation of medical cannabis laws was associated with higher rates of opioid- and benzodiazepine-related deaths, whereas laws permitting broader cannabis access, including implementation of recreational cannabis laws and medical and recreational dispensaries, were associated with lower rates. The estimated effects of the expanded availability of cannabis seem dependent on the type of law implemented and its provisions.


In LSI mass production lines, it is very important to improve the detection accuracy of fatal excursions in defect trend charts in order to ramp up quickly and maintain good yield. It is for this reason that killer defects which could cause device faults should be monitored. We have developed an automatic killer defect selection (AKIDS) method to assist and improve the accuracy of this process. This method judges defects as killer or nonkiller by comparing defect sizes against killer defect judgement criteria. We applied AKIDS in the defect QC and sampling review processes, and found it to be effective in both detecting fatal excursions and selecting good review points for identifying the source of device faults.


Margaret Somerville has suggested that a new methodology of postmodern emergence might allow researchers to disrupt the taken-for-granted and provide fresh insight into familiar problems. One such familiar problem is the doubt and disillusion many early-career teachers experience, both during their teacher education and in their first years. Attrition rates are high. This paper, co-authored by two teacher educators and two early-career secondary teachers, draws on Somerville's ideas by creating multiple modes of creative expression in order to allow fresh insight to emerge from the relationship between the multiple parts of the paper. Different readers will draw their own conclusions from the rich material presented, but for the authors the research reminds us of the regenerative potency of relationships and conversations in which doubts and disillusion can be expressed and heard. The implications for teacher education, at a time when direct face-to-face time with students is being eroded, are explored.


Design flow, RTL-verification, simulation-based techniques, basic concepts of equivalence checking, combinational equivalence checking, ATPG-based techniques, compare point matching, mitering, don't cares, solver overview (structural verification, BDD-based solvers, SAT-based solvers), decision diagrams (BDDs, zBDDs, word-level DDs). Also covered are concepts in SAT solvers (backtrack-search algorithm, effective techniques, including nonchronological backtracking & Boolean constraint propagation), new EDA-related techniques (covering immediate implications, partial-clauses, local decisions & partial clauses). Finally, the tutorial gives an overview of various commercially available tools, & their applicability. Also discussed are future challenges, such as design for verifiability & potential new directions.


A questionnaire about their approach to keeping office records was completed by 82 randomly selected family physicians in southern Alberta. The results suggest that although there were few manifestly inadequate recordkeepers, there were many areas for legitimate concern, especially the following:1. Extremely brief notes2. Limited attention to psychosocial data3. Underutilization of the more efficient filing techniques4. Poorly organized charts5. Failure to exploit fully innovations which had been introduced into the records system6. Inadequate protection of the records.There is reason to believe that the standard of record-keeping in family practice is improving. A few small, simple changes in our record-keeping habits could effect a considerable acceleration of this process.


Human NPAS2 is a basic-helix-loop-helix (BHLH) transcription factor with two N-terminal PAS domains that forms a hetero-dimeric complex with BMAL1/ARNTL to regulate the transcription of key circadian clock genes like Period and Cryptochrome. NPAS2 is unique in higher eukaryotic cells as both PAS domains contain one heme group each, which bind carbon monoxide. Although NPAS2 has been linked to cancer and neurological disorders, very little is known about its cellular roles. The results obtained in this study support a model in which NPAS2 responds to oxidative and heat stress in distinct manners. While oxidative stress results in the post-translational modification of NPAS2 and the formation of high molecular weight complexes, heat stress reduces the protein levels of NPAS2. These differences are also reflected in the changes to the NPAS2 mRNA levels. While oxidative stress increases expression
of NPAS2, heat stress causes a drop in mRNA levels. The responses are cell line specific as, for example,
the drop in NPAS2 protein levels after a heat shock was observed in MCF-7 breast cancer cells and HeLa cervical cancer cells, but not in non-malignant HEK-293 cells which may be of neuronal origin. Since both stress types are known to affect the peripheral clocks in human tissues in a manner which may be regulated by the MAP kinase p38β, it is proposed that NPAS2 is a novel target of this kinase. Why
NPAS2 is regulated differently depending on the type of stress, could be linked with the different ways the p38 MAP kinase pathway responds to heat and oxidative stress. While heat activation is dependent on upstream kinases, heat activation may be dependent on the heat-induced increase in carbon monoxide in human cells.
The works shows also that NPAS2 mRNA levels drop in the response to serum starvation and that the neuroblastoma KELLY cell line does not, or only at a very reduced level, express NPAS2 although an analysis of a large panel of human tissues shows high NPAS2 expression in the brain. A bioinformatical analysis of missense single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located the N-terminal domain of NPAS2
identifies two SNPs (S204P, rs750277651 and T252N, rs555063320) which may affect a p38 (S202) and EYRK1A (T252) kinase modification site, respectively. This is of interest as p38β may regulate NPAS2 and the dual-specific DYRK1A kinase is known to regulate the protein turnover of Cryptochrome.
In summary, the work makes a strong case for NPAS2 as a novel target of the p38β MAP kinase pathway in the cellular response to oxidative and heat stress.


Offshore activities and shipping in Arctic regions increased significantly in the past decade due to fossil resources. These areas hold about 15% of the worlds oil and gas. Exploration or transportation in such harsh Arctic environments possesses additional risks for the crew, the material and the environment. Hence, ships need to be able to handle low temperatures and ice impacts. Ice class certificates issued by classification societies reflect the ships level of ice capability. They are further required to be admitted to ice covered waters or particular regions in seasons with a certain probability of ice occurrence. In most cases, offshore operations are not continued in ice and ships need to transit through ice after abandoning a site upon ice arrival. However, the daily costs of such specialized vessels are high with up to 0.5M$ day that are not reimbursed in downtimes or transit. Therefore, in Northern Arctic regions a higher ice class can significantly enhance the ships workability and therewith its economic value.The lower Polar ice classes, respectively Baltic ice classes, can only be determined analytically with empirically validated formulae for common cargo ships. Other ship types and ships with low L/B ratios are typically required to prove their ice capability through ice model tests. Nevertheless, ice model tests determine only the ice class of the propulsion system, whereas the ice class of the hull structure is determined by calculations. Furthermore, ice model tests are typically conducted towards the end of the design phase where eventual modifications are expensive and potentially threaten the construction schedule of the vessel. Often steel and equipment have already been procured and the manufacturing has begun. This paper presents an iterative procedure of ice model testing and design updates in order to enhance the performance of a particular offshore vessel to meet the requirements for a particular ice class. Thereby, it will be shown how an increase in investment costs for the design changes is compensated by the increasing value of the ships capabilities due to the higher ice class. Furthermore, the drop in value of the ship for the next lower ice class will be indicated as well as the economic consequences should the ship fail to reach the targeted ice class.Copyright © 2012 by ASME


Houston's experience with the Educational Value-Added Assessment System (R) (EVAAS) raises questions that other districts should consider before buying the software and using it for high-stakes decisions. Researchers found that teachers in Houston, all of whom were under the EVAAS gun, but who taught relatively more racial minority students, higher proportions of English language learners, higher proportions of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches, and higher proportions of special education students, had significantly lower EVAAS scores than colleagues teaching elsewhere in the Houston district. Hence, results suggest that the EVAAS does not, at least in Houston and perhaps elsewhere, offer states, districts, and schools the precise, reliable, and unbiased results that go far beyond what other simplistic [value-added] models found in the market today can provide, as the software owner, SAS Institute Inc., claims. Rather, evidence shows that EVAAS estimates in Houston, and likely elsewhere, may be biased against teachers who teach disproportionate percentages of certain type of students in their classrooms.


We examine the capabilities and foundations of three landmark rate theories: harmonic transition state theory, classical nucleation theory, and the Marcus theory of electron transfer. Each of the three classic rate theories is widely used to predict rates and trends. They are also used "in reverse" to interpret experimental data with no computation at all. Their common foundations include a quasi-equilibrium assumption and dimensionality reduction to a physically meaningful, one-dimensional, and broadly applicable reaction coordinate. Many applications lie beyond the scope of the classic theories, so rare events research has pursued trajectory-based methods that efficiently predict accurate rate constants even when the reaction coordinate and mechanistic details are unknown. Trajectory based rare events methods achieved these ambitious goals, but (by construction) they provide rates rather than mechanistic understanding. We briefly discuss recent efforts to identify reaction coordinates, including methods which provide abstract statistically defined coordinates and those which identify physical collective variables. Finally, we note some natural synergies between existing simulation methods which might help discover simple and powerful quasi-equilibrium theories for the many applications that fall beyond the scope of the classic rate theories.


BACKGROUND
Although experts estimate that 30% of breast cancer deaths could be prevented if women were screened according to published guidelines, fewer than 50% of physicians follow screening mammography guidelines, and fewer than 30% of women are screened with mammography.

METHODS
Physician recommendations for screening mammography were examined in a questionnaire mailed to 300 randomly selected physicians of the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians. Physicians responded with their likelihood of recommending screening mammography to 24 clinical vignettes that high-lighted patient, mammographic, and encounter characteristics.

RESULTS
Seventy-one percent responded. Ninety-one percent reported almost always recommending screening mammography to a 55-year-old woman at her yearly examination. They were significantly less likely to recommend mammography to women who were young (40 years old), were old (70 years old), were poor, had small breasts, had painful mammograms, did not want the doctor to look for cancer, lived in a nursing home, or were retarded. Physicians recommended mammography less often when the mammography unit was far away or produced poor quality films or ambiguous interpretations. When physicians ran behind schedule, perceived a more urgent medical problem during the encounter, or saw a woman for an acute visit, they recommended mammography significantly less often.

CONCLUSIONS
Patient, mammographic, and encounter characteristics significantly limit physician recommendations for screening mammography as assessed by clinical vignettes. These characteristics must be addressed if breast cancer mortality is to be reduced with early screening.


STUDY QUESTION
Are the kinase feedback loops that regulate activation and centromeric targeting of the chromosomal passenger complex (CPC), functional during mitosis in human embryos?

SUMMARY ANSWER
Investigation of the regulatory kinase pathways involved in centromeric CPC targeting revealed normal phosphorylation dynamics of histone H2A at T120 (H2ApT120) by Bub1 kinase and subsequent recruitment of Shugoshin, but phosphorylation of histone H3 at threonine 3 (H3pT3) by Haspin failed to show the expected centromeric enrichment on metaphase chromosomes in the zygote.

WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY
Human cleavage stage embryos show high levels of chromosomal instability. What causes this high error rate is unknown, as mechanisms used to ensure proper chromosome segregation in mammalian embryos are poorly described.

STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION
In this study, we investigated the pathways regulating CPC targeting to the inner centromere in human embryos. We characterized the distribution of the CPC in relation to activity of its two main centromeric targeting pathways: the Bub1-H2ApT120-Sgo-CPC and Haspin-H3pT3-CPC pathways.

PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS
The study was conducted between May 2012 and March 2014 on human surplus embryos resulting from in vitro fertilization treatment and donated for research. In zygotes, nuclear envelope breakdown was monitored by time-lapse imaging to allow timed incubations with specific inhibitors to arrest at prometaphase and metaphase, and to interfere with Haspin and Aurora B/C kinase activity. Functionality of the targeting pathways was assessed through characterization of histone phosphorylation dynamics by immunofluorescent analysis, combined with gene expression by RT-qPCR and immunofluorescent localization of key pathway proteins.

MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE
Immunofluorescent analysis of the CPC subunit Inner Centromere Protein revealed the pool of stably bound CPC proteins was not strictly confined to the inner centromere of prometaphase chromosomes in human zygotes, as observed in later stages of preimplantation development and somatic cells. Investigation of the regulatory kinase pathways involved in centromeric CPC targeting revealed normal phosphorylation dynamics of histone H2A at T120 (H2ApT120) by Bub1 kinase and subsequent recruitment of Shugoshin. However, phosphorylation of histone H3 at threonine 3 (H3pT3) by Haspin kinase failed to show the expected centromeric enrichment on metaphase chromosomes in the zygote, but not at later stages. Inhibition of Haspin revealed this activity to be essential for proper mitotic checkpoint complex activation in human zygotes, thus demonstrating an active mitotic checkpoint under normal conditions. Abolishment of H3pT3 during zygotic prometaphase further shows that centromeric H2ApT120 alone is not sufficient for proper shugoshin and CPC localization. As the removal of H3pT3 from the chromosome arms during prometaphase normally contributes to further centromeric enrichment of the CPC in somatic cells, CPC targeting may be less accurate in human zygotes.

LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION
Owing to ethical limitations, tripronuclear zygotes were used in functional experiments. Although these represent the best available models, it is unknown if they are completely representative for dipronuclear zygotes. In addition, further research is needed to determine to what extent the differences we observed in H3T3 phosphorylation dynamics and CPC localization affect chromosome attachment.

WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS
In the zygote, paternal and maternal chromosomes coming from two separate pronuclei, and with contrasting epigenetic signatures, need to be aligned on a single metaphase plate. Our results suggest that adaptations in mechanisms regulating CPC targeting exist in the human zygote, to ensure symmetric recruitment despite the epigenetic asymmetry between maternal and paternal chromosomes. This adaptation may come at a price regarding chromosome segregation fidelity.

STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTERESTS
This study was funded by the Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.


INTRODUCTION
Patient-related factors impact the long-term survival of hip arthroplasty. This study evaluated whether there were differences in outcome measures between men and women undergoing total hip arthroplasty.

METHODS
A retrospective study of prospectively collected data on 75 primary total hip arthroplasties in 72 patients was conducted. Medical history, physical examination, Harris Hip scores, and Quality of Life forms (SF-36) were obtained for each patient preoperatively and postoperatively. Preoperative radiographs were assessed using the Kellgren and Lawrence scoring system. Only patients with a minimum follow-up of 2 years were included.

RESULTS
Preoperatively, women and men had comparable Kellgren and Lawrence scores and Harris Hip scores. Of the 8 subscores for the SF-36, only the Physical Functioning subscore was significantly different preoperatively. Similar results were noted postoperatively; again, only the Physical Functioning subscores were significantly different between men and women.

CONCLUSIONS
Physician assessments were not significantly different preoperatively and postoperatively for men or women. The results for the SF-36 were similar except for a significant difference in the Physical Functioning subscore preoperatively and postoperatively. According to the Medical Outcomes Trust, the SF-36 Physical Functioning score has been shown to be the best all-around measure of physical health.


Today, there is a steadily growing interest in the use of proton beams for tumor therapy, as they permit to tightly shape the dose delivered to the target reducing the exposure of the surrounding healthy tissues. Nonetheless, accuracy in the determination of the dose distribution in proton-therapy is up to now limited by the uncertainty in stopping powers, which are presently calculated from the photon attenuation coefficients measured by X-ray tomography. Proton computed tomography apparatus (pCT) has been proposed to directly measure the stopping power and reduce this uncertainty. Main problem with proton imaging is the blurring effect introduced by multiple Coulomb scattering: single proton tracking is a promising technique to face this difficulty. As a first step towards a pCT system, we designed a proton radiography (pCR) prototype based on a silicon microstrip tracker (to characterize particle trajectories) and a segmented YAG:Ce calorimeter (to measure their residual energy). Aim of the system is to detect protons with a ~1 MHz particle rate of and with kinetic energy in the range 250-270 MeV, high enough to pass through human body. Design and development of the pCR prototype, as well as the characterization of its single components, are described in this paper.


A new technique enables fast Fourier transform (FFT) software to more efficiently use memory and processing time. The technique is used to design address pair generators for mapping an array in bit-reversed order. For exemplary digital signal processing (DSP) processors, in-place bit-reversed mappings based on the new technique were found to often have better computational efficiency than an out-of-place mapping.


The building sector has revealed a need for process optimization, mirrored by the ongoing discussion around industry 4.0 and increasing automation in building design and construction. Within this context, the prefabrication and standardization of building elements provide interesting opportunities for optimizing the construction process. Off-site fabrication of building envelope and systems can provide significant advantages in terms of process, quality and safety management. This paper presents an outline of state-of-the-art building opaque envelope prefabrication, with particular focus on timber building skins, through a collection of best practices both in the field of building retrofit and new construction. This research is a result of shared research interests and synergies among the Institute for Renewable Energy at Eurac Research and the Innovation in Applied Design (IAD) Lab at the University of Sydney. Results highlight current limitations of envelope prefabrication and outline development opportunities both at technical and production process level. These findings and the conclusions we draw from them will set the foundations for expanding the adoption of an industrialized fabrication approach in the construction environment.


In 2008, the United Nations Security Council passed a series of resolutions that authorized states to take "any means necessary" to combat piracy and armed robbery at sea in the area off the coast of Somalia. Such language, commonly understood to be an authorization for the use of military force, raises the question of whether, or under what circumstances, the international law of armed conflict can or should apply to the international effort to suppress piracy, as well as how the potential implication of this body of law might affect how states choose to address the problem of piracy in the Gulf of Aden area. Put another way, do these resolutions and subsequent state practice suggest that the global effort to combat piracy is legally tantamount to a "global war on piracy," akin to the "global war on terror"? This chapter will argue that despite the authorizations of force adopted by the UN Security Council, the law of armed conflict does not currently apply to the global effort to suppress piracy, is not intended by states to apply, and would only do so under a very limited set of empirical circumstances. The chapter proceeds in three parts: Part I summarizes the evolution of the law of piracy from the classic law of nations to the contemporary regime centered on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), wherein I observe that the use of military force against pirates has effectively been outlawed under the current regime. Part II examines whether the Security Council resolutions that purport to authorize the use of force against pirates were intended by the Council to implicate the law of armed conflict, as well as whether this body of law would prima facie apply to the anti-piracy activities off the coast of Somalia. Part III examines whether recent anti-piracy operations by states of off the coast of Somalia rise to the level of armed conflict and suggests that it would not be in states' interests to escalate counter-piracy operations to this level.


Signal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs) are a family of transcription factors involved in the regulation of early embryonic development, immune response, cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Particularly, STAT3 regulates lobuloalveolar apoptosis during involution in mammary gland development, and its activation is required for the growth of CD44+CD24- stem cell-like breast cancer cells and the development of multiple cancers including breast cancer. Increased STAT3 transcriptional activity was found to correlate with ER-negative phenotype in breast cancer cell lines and in primary human invasive ductal breast carcinomas. Thus, STAT3 represents a promising target for therapeutic and preventive intervention of breast cancer. Yet current strategies of inhibiting STAT3 activity did not sufficiently block STAT3 activation in cancer cells due to their limited potency, poor solubility or bioavailability. Despite several STAT3 inhibitors have been advanced into early clinical trials, there is an urgent need to develop a more successful strategy targeting STAT3 for cancer therapies, and preventive use in particular. We attempted to identify potent and orally active STAT3 inhibitors for such purposes and have designed, synthesized and screened a series of novel STAT3 inhibitors utilizing fragment-based drug design strategy. A number of small molecules with new scaffolds have been discovered with low-micromolar to nanomolar potency in inhibiting the proliferation of various human breast cancer and pancreatic cancer cells. The identified compound HJC0152 significantly suppresses basal and IL-6-stimulated STAT3 promoter activity and STAT3 phosphorylation, reduces total STAT3 protein expression, induces G2/M cell cycle arrest, and induces early apoptosis. HJC0152 has demonstrated a better potency in suppressing the growth of MDA-MB-231 breast xenograft tumors via intraperitoneal and oral administrative routes, with remarkably improved aqueous solubility (3,300 fold improvement) and less toxicity than the lead compounds. In conclusion, we have developed a new class of orally active STAT3 inhibitors with superior drug-like properties for further preclinical therapeutic and preventive evaluation. Citation Format: Zhengduo Yang, Haijun Chen, Lili Chu, Yusong Zhang, Chunyong Ding, Kristin Terry, Jia Zhou, Qiang Shen. Developing novel STAT3 inhibitors for the treatment and prevention of cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research; 2012 Oct 16-19; Anaheim, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Prev Res 2012;5(11 Suppl):Abstract nr B63.


Background Breast cancer patients with skin ulcerations, satellite nodules or Peau d'orange at presentation are classified with stage 4 breast cancer (T4b). Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT), followed by mastectomy, is the commonly accepted treatment in such patients for fear of adverse outcomes with breast conservation surgery (BCS) and uncertainty over sparing initially involved skin irrespective of the response to chemotherapy. Identifying patients with skin resolution post-NACT can help surgeons in decision-making. Aim To assess skin response in T4b breast cancer patients post-NACT and find the correlation between various clinical and pathological factors associated with no skin involvement on final histology. Methodology Records of breast cancer patients managed at the Tata Medical Center, Kolkata, with NACT for T4b breast carcinoma patients who underwent mastectomy were reviewed between January 2014 and December 2018. Final histology was checked for dermal involvement with the tumour. The Mann–Whitney U test was used for continuous variables for descriptive data, and Pearson's chi-squared and Fischer's exact tests were applied for categorical data. p-value < 0.05 was taken as significant. Results A total of 285 records mentioning skin involvement were reviewed, out of which 111 patients fulfilled the AJCC criterion. The median age at diagnosis of T4b breast cancer was 50 years. The median clinical size pre-chemotherapy was 7 cm. Residual median tumour size on final histology was reported as 1 cm. 78/111 patients showed a post-NACT response of 50% or more, and 43/111 showed a response of more than 90%. 57 (51.4%) patients showed skin involvement on final histopathology, while 54 (48.6%) patients did not. ER negative tumours were more likely to show no dermal involvement (p = 0.006). Residual tumour size of less than 1 cm on final histology (p < 0.05) and nodal stage were significant predictors of dermal response. Conclusion Approximately half of the T4b breast cancer patients showed resolution of dermal skin involvement post-NACT. ER negative and those with residual tumour size less than 1 cm post-NACT are more likely to show dermal resolution. This can help surgeons plan a BCS or skin sparing mastectomy for such patients who usually end up having a mastectomy.


The fretting wear performance of surface wear-resistant Cr3C2/Ni3Al composite deposited onto IC6SX alloy by manual argon tungsten-arc welding was investigated in this study. The results showed that the welded substrate exhibits a very good performance in comparison to the unwelded substrate at 500°C and 800°C, with 51.5% and 57.8% decrease of the fretting sectional area respectively. However, the fretting sectional area of the welded substrate is larger than that of the unwelded substrate at RT indicating poor fretting resistance as the reinforce phases of the welding layer is harder and more harmful to the sample surface. Examination of the fretting surfaces indicated that both the welded and unwelded samples undergo gross slip at RT and 500°C, and partial slip at 800°C. Coefficient of friction (COF) results were given by the SRV-4 tester which shows that as the temperature goes up, the COF of samples became lower and more stable. The results showed that the COF of welded substrate is lower than that of the unwelded substrate most of the time.


In this paper, it is introduced a hand gesture recognition system to recognize the characters in the real time. The system consists of three modules: real time hand tracking, training gesture and gesture recognition using Convolutional Neural Networks. Camshift algorithm and hand blobs analysis for hand tracking are being used to obtain motion descriptors and hand region. It is fairy robust to background cluster and uses skin color for hand gesture tracking and recognition. Furthermore, the techniques have been proposed to improve the performance of the recognition and the accuracy using the approaches like selection of the training images and the adaptive threshold gesture to remove non-gesture pattern that helps to qualify an input pattern as a gesture. In the experiments, it has been tested to the vocabulary of 36 gestures including the alphabets and digits, and results effectiveness of the approach.


The conceptual design of the large gap spectrometer dipole for the LHC-b experiment is presented here. The required acceptance implies a gap height of 3.6 m and a width of 4.3 m. Although the magnetic induction of the 1.92 m long magnet is only 1.1 T, it turns out that a superconducting (SC) coil is the most economic solution. The design considerations for the yoke and the SC-coil are explained, the parameters of the conductor, coil, cooling system are presented and the quench behavior is estimated.


A rare open fire event in Hong Kong between police officers resulted in the death of two constables and sparked intense media interest about what caused the incident. At the request of the Hong Kong Police the author helped review the investigation of this intra-police homicide. After a coronial inquest two earlier homicides were also linked to the shooting and subsequently resolved. Through this unusual case this paper explores how efforts to reduce uncertainty help clarify the limits of forensic and behavioural analysis. Uncertainty over motivations and the mental health of the suspect led to different psychiatric, psychological, behavioural profiling and criminological explanations of this complex event. This case study compares the different approaches to uncertainty in the expert opinion offered by these disciplines. The paper concludes by advocating the explicit recognition of uncertainty as a means of advancing an investigation.


The authors generalize their experience in the treatment of 41 patients with posttraumatic pancreatitis. This complication predominated in the early postoperative period in patients with various degree of injury to the pancreas. The main etiopathogenic factors of the development of posttraumatic pancreatitis are indicated. The therapeutic tactics was mainly nonoperative. The effect was positive in 24 cases. Seventeen (41.5%) patients had the pyodestructive form. The mortality rate was 29.3%. The leading principle of management was the initial attitude towards all patients with injury to the pancreas as if they were potential patients with posttraumatic pancreatitis, and the prescription of preventive treatment.


In CMOS technology, performance degradation of power is one of the foremost questions at daily vitality. In this circuit, power dissipation is increasing exponentially constantly with technology scaling down. The analog to digital converters (ADCs) are the vital branch of signal processing and communication system. In digital region power consumption and low voltage develop into wide component is difficult for conniving high speed devices and converters. In this paper we have presented a complete investigation of 3 bits flash ADC circuit by using low leakage stacked power gating technique and diode based stacked power gating technique. These techniques are reduces the leakage current and average power in standby mode effectively. In this circuit, with the stacked power gating technique, leakage current and average power is reduced is by up to 77% and 99% respectively. Diode based stacked power gating technique can be identified as the most effective technique. With this technique, leakage current is 1.241 nA at 0.7 V and average power is 3.49 nW at 0.7 V. To evaluate of power gating techniques, the simulation has been performed using cadence virtuoso tool at assorted power supply by 45nm technology.


Polyploidy is an important variable in assessing the genetics of endangered plant species. Species consisting of populations with diAerent chromosome numbers pose questions as to the mode of inheritance, relative variability status, population divergence and gene flow. The self-incompatible species Rutidosis leptorrhynchoides (Asteraceae) in south-eastern Australia is a good example. The remnant populations in the northern sector of the species range are diploid, whereas southern ones are either diploid or tetraploid. Allozyme analysis of the tetraploid populations showed tetrasomic inheritance confirming an autopolyploid genetic system, a modest increase in their allelic richness over diploid populations in the same region and a lack of genetic divergence. Conservation and replenishment strategies should take account of these genetic features of mixed ploidy.