The DEAD-box RNA-helicase Dbp5/Rat8 is well-known for its function in nuclear mRNA export. By using its Gle1 and IP6-stimulated ATPase activity, Dbp5 displaces export factors such as Mex67 from the mRNAs at the cytoplasmic sides of the nuclear pore complexes. This Dbp5-mediated remodeling of the emerging mRNPs is anticipated to enable their directional transport from the nucleus into the cytoplasm. The present study shows that Dbp5 is also required for the nuclear export of other large ribonucleoprotein complexes, the pre-ribosomal subunits. GFP-microscopy and fluorescence in situ hybridization experiments in Saccharomyces cerevisiae reveal that both, pre-40S and pre-60S particles accumulate in the nuclei of different dbp5 mutants. Like in mRNA export, Dbp5 acts also in ribosomal transport at the cytoplasmic sides of the nuclear pore complexes, where it shortly contacts the emerging ribosomal particles. However, Dbp5 utilizes for the export of pre-ribosomal subunits a mechanism that is distinct from its role in mRNA transport. Dbp5 does not displace the export receptor Mex67 from the pre-ribosomal subunits and does not require its Gle1-stimulated ATPase cycle for ribosomal transport. Thus, the ATPase-dependent remodeling activity of Dbp5 in general is dispensable for the nuclear export of pre-ribosomal subunits. These findings uncover differences in the transport mechanisms of Dbp5 for different large ribonucleoprotein particles.
In addition to the roles in nuclear export events, Dbp5 and its co-factor Gle1 are also involved in efficient translation termination in the cytoplasm. Translation termination takes place upon arrival of the translating ribosomes at the stop codon and requires the canonical release factors eRF1 and eRF3 to mediate stop codon recognition and peptide release. Furthermore, the ATP-binding cassette protein Rli1 was described as an additional termination factor. However, the chronological order of all factors acting during translation termination is still unknown. Co-immunoprecipitation and sucrose-density gradient studies reveal a novel interaction between Dbp5 and Rli1 during translation termination and an early entry of Dbp5 into the termination complex that might depend on eRF1. Dbp5 is recruited to the ribosomes after Rli1, which already associates with ribosomes prior to translation termination. Thus, a ribosome-mediated contact between Rli1 and Dbp5 is possible either before or during the eRF1-mediated stop codon recognition. These findings present important insights into the temporal coordination of all termination factors during translation termination.


We have studied the expression of insulin-like growth factor type II (IGF-II) and its autocrine role during the proliferation and differentiation of the CaCo-2 colon carcinoma cell line. IGF-II RNA levels were high in proliferating cells and decreased by more than 10-fold when cells ceased to proliferate and differentiated. Immunoreactive IGF-II protein was high in the conditioned media of proliferating cells and decreased 20-fold in the media of differentiated cells. Reduced IGF-II expression was associated with a decrease in IGF-I receptor number that was high in proliferating cells (approximately 80,000 binding sites/cell) and reduced by 4-fold in differentiated cells. Exogenously added IGF-II was able to stimulate proliferation of serum-deprived cells in a dose-dependent fashion. IGF-II acted through the IGF-I receptor, since both basal and IGF-II-stimulated cell proliferation was inhibited by the monoclonal antibody alpha-IR3, which blocks the binding sites of the IGF-I receptor. The inhibition of CaCo-2 basal cell growth by the alpha-IR3 antibody suggests that IGF-II may act as an autocrine growth factor for these cells.


(analytical): Curricular guidelines have become progressively relevant for educating future active citizens. In such a context, it becomes crucial to explore the relationship between the curricular guidelines and how citizenship education is currently acquired by students in Latin American countries. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to comparatively evaluate the institutional view of citizenship expressed in each curriculum and students' attitudes on civic issues. The exploratory factor analysis and curricular descriptive statistical analysis are based in two valuable and complementary sources, respectively: The Latin American module of the International Civic and Citizenship Study (ICCS) and the Regional System of Citizenship Skills (Sredecc). By making a systematic comparison of both sources, this study reveals that several curricular aspects are consistent with students' citizenship attitudes and beliefs, and suggests some guidelines for improving and expanding citizenship education in Latin America, considering the importance of education for the formation of an active citizenship.


Objective:The objective of this study was to evaluate, in an international multicenter phase III trial, the accuracy, use, and morbidity of intraoperative lymphatic mapping and sentinel node biopsy (LM/SNB) for staging the regional nodal basin of patients with early-stage melanoma. Summary Background Data:Since our introduction of LM/SNB in 1990, this technique has been widely adopted and has become part of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system. Eleven years ago, the authors began the international Multicenter Selective Lymphadenectomy Trial (MSLT-I) to compare 2 treatment approaches: wide excision (WE) plus LM/SNB with immediate complete lymphadenectomy (CLND) for sentinel node (SN) metastases, and WE plus postoperative observation with CLND delayed until the subsequent development of clinically evident nodal metastases. Methods:After each center achieved 85% accuracy of SN identification during a 30-case learning phase, patients with primary cutaneous melanoma (≥1 mm with Clark level ≥III, or any thickness with Clark level ≥IV) were randomly assigned in a 4:6 ratio to WE plus observation (WEO) with delayed CLND for nodal recurrence, or to WE plus LM/SNB with immediate CLND for SN metastasis. The accuracy of LM/SNB was determined by comparing the rates of SN identification and the incidence of SN metastases in the LM/SNB group versus the subsequent development of nodal metastases in the regional nodal basin of those patients with tumor-negative SNs. Early morbidity of LM/SNB was evaluated by comparing complication rates between the 2 treatment groups. Trial accrual was completed on March 31, 2002, after enrollment of 2001 patients. Results:Initial SN identification rate was 95.3% overall: 99.3% for the groin, 95.3% for the axilla, and 84.5% for the neck basins. The rate of false-negative LM/SNB during the trial phase, as measured by nodal recurrence in a tumor-negative dissected SN basin, decreased with increasing case volume at each center: 10.3% for the first 25 cases versus 5.2% after 25 cases. There were no operative mortalities. The low (10.1%) complication rate after LM/SNB increased to 37.2% with the addition of CLND; CLND also increased the severity of complications. Conclusions:LM/SNB is a safe, low-morbidity procedure for staging the regional nodal basin in early melanoma. Even after a 30-case learning phase and 25 additional LM/SNB cases, the accuracy of LM/SNB continues to increase with a center's experience. LM/SNB should become standard care for staging the regional lymph nodes of patients with primary cutaneous melanoma.


Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) filters provide precise frequency filtering in RF and IF range with a tiny footprint. Metallic thin films are the essence of such modern SAW filter technology. However, SAW filters realized using NiCr/Al thin films are limited to power levels of ~5 dBm at RF frequencies. This limitation on power level is due to the acousto-migration phenomenon in thin films at higher power levels. In order to enhance the power durability of SAW filters, the preferred oriented growth of Al along (111) crystallographic direction is one of the methods to reduce acousto-migration. This paper explores the growth and characterization of different metallization schemes (NiCr/Al & Ti/Al) on different piezoelectric wafers to achieve oriented Al (111) film growth. Metallic thin films were deposited using electron beam evaporation technique. High Resolution X-Ray Diffraction (HR-XRD) and Four Point Probe Method were used for crystallographic characterization and Sheet Resistance (SR) measurement, respectively. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and surface profiler were used to characterize the surface morphology of the deposited films. FWHM of 4.12 degree of rocking curve on Al (111) peak has been achieved for Ti/Al metal film deposited on ST-X Quartz piezoelectric wafer along with low sheet resistance of 124 mΩ/sq. A deposition rate of 1 Å/s for Ti and 7 Å/s for Al at a deposition temperature of 100 °C gave the best FWHM value for Al (111) orientation on ST-X Quartz wafer. Space qualification tests were also successfully performed on Ti/Al metalized wafers under extreme environmental conditions. The results obtained in this work demonstrate the suitability of Ti as an under layer to grow preferred oriented Al film along (111) orientation and thus to be used in the fabrication of high-power SAW devices for space applications.


Some typical examples of large magnetoresistance effects observed in intermetallic compounds are reviewed and briefly compared with the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) of magnetic multilayers. Basically, the large magnetoresistance changes are observed at metamagnetic transitions in two classes of intermetallics, antiferromagnetics and spin fluctuators. In the former case, a metamagnetic-transition is connected with the suppression of the antiferromagnetic coupling between magnetic moments as discussed with several examples of f-electron materials (NdGa/sub 2/, UNiGa and other UTX antiferromagnets). The latter class is represented by the RCo/sub 2/ compounds in which a large resistivity drop is connected with the formation and ferromagnetic ordering of Co magnetic moments, which leads to the suppression of the spin fluctuation scattering of conduction electrons. In FeRh based alloys we observe combination of both phenomena, the suppression of antiferromagnetic coupling in the Fe sublattice and the formation of Rh moments. The possibilities of tuning the material parameters desired for applications are discussed with several examples of SmMn/sub 2/Ge/sub 2/, Ce(Fe,T)/sub 2/, Ce(Fe,X)/sub 2/, (Mn,T)/sub 2/Sb and MnPtAl.


This chapter argues that the representational basis of GIS largely avoids even the most rudimentary distortions of Euclidean space as reflected, for example, in the notion of the network. Processes acting on networks which involve both short and longer term dynamics are often absent from GI science. However a sea change is taking place in the way we view the geography of natural and man-made systems. This is emphasising their dynamics and the way they evolve from the bottom up, with networks an essential constituent of this decentralized paradigm. Here we will sketch these developments, showing how ideas about graphs in terms of the way they evolve as connected, self-organised structures reflected in their scaling, are generating new and important views of geographical space. We argue that GI science must respond to such developments and needs to find new forms of representation which enable both theory and applications through software to be extended to embrace this new science of networks.


At an extremely low temperature of 20 mK, we measured the loop current in a tunable rf superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) with a dc-SQUID. By adjusting the magnetic flux applied to the rf-SQUID loop (Φf) and the small dc-SQUID (Φfcjj), respectively, the potential shape of the system can be fully controlled in situ. Variation in the transition step and overlap size in the switching current with a barrier flux bias are analyzed, from which we can obtain some relevant device parameters and build a model to explain the experimental phenomenon.


Many claims have been made about the potential benefits, and the potential costs, of adopting a system of universal banking in the United States. The authors evaluate these claims using a model where there is a moral hazard problem between banks and 'borrowers,' a moral hazard problem between banks and a deposit insurer, and a costly state verification problem. Under conditions the authors describe, allowing banks to take equity positions in firms strengthens their ability to extract surplus, and exacerbates problems of moral hazard. The incentives of universal banks to take equity positions will often be strongest when these problems are most severe.


In Reply —Dr Weil's erudite letter demonstrates a clear understanding of the intellectual causes and ultimate consequences of a surgeon's lack of interest in the history of his or her profession. Although it was never my intent to expound on the root causes of what many regard as an "antihistorical and anti-intellectual" attitude in surgery, Dr Weil has adequately summed some of my beliefs. I surmise from his comments that we both believe a deficiency of humanism in medicine to be among the overriding reasons why society looks ever askance at the physician. In turn, the physician's inability to appreciate his or her avocation in the context of a constantly changing society leads to increasing professional frustations. In the final analysis, we must be always diligent in searching for our glorious past because only this will allow medicine to continue as the most scientific of the humanities and remain the


Background: A novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has spread widely and led to high disease burden around the world. This study aimed to explore key parameters of SARS-CoV-2 infection and to assess the effectiveness of interventions to control the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: A susceptible – exposed – infectious – asymptomatic – recovered (SEIAR) model was developed for the assessment. Data of symptomatic and asymptomatic infection of SARS-CoV-2 were collected to calculate the key parameters of the model in Ningbo City, China. Results: A total of 157 confirmed COVID-19 cases (including 51 imported cases and 106 secondary cases) and 30 asymptomatic infections were reported in Ningbo City. The proportion of asymptomatic has an increasing trend. The proportion of asymptomatic of elder people was lower than younger people, and the difference was statistical significant (Fisher's Exact Test, P = 0.034). There were 22 clusters associated with 167 SARS-CoV-2 infections, among which 29 cases were asymptomatic, with a proportion of 17.37%. We found that the secondary attack rate of asymptomatic was almost the same as that of symptomatic cases, and no significance was observed ( χ 2 = 1.350, P = 0.245) by Kruskal-Wallis test. The effective reproduction number ( R eff ) was 1.43 which revealed that the transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 was moderate. If the interventions were not strengthened, the duration of the outbreak would last about 16 months with a simulated attack rate of 44.15%. The total attack rate and duration of the outbreak would increase along with the increasing delay of intervention. Conclusions: SARS-CoV-2 had moderate transmissibility in Ningbo City, China. Asymptomatic infection has the same transmissibility as symptomatic. The integrated interventions were implemented at different stages during the outbreak, which found to be exceedingly effective in China.


This thesis contributes to the theory and methodology of robust estimation for two time series models: the generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) model and the vector autoregressive moving-average (VARMA) model. More specifically, the first part (Chapter 3) of this thesis considers a class of M-estimators of the parameters of the GARCH models which are asymptotically normal under mild assumptions on the moments of the underlying error distribution. Since heavy-tailed error distributions without higher order moments are common in the GARCH modeling of many real financial data, it becomes worthwhile to use such estimators for the time series inference instead of the quasi maximum likelihood estimator. We discuss the weighted bootstrap approximations of the distributions of M-estimators. Through extensive simulations and data analysis, we demonstrate the robustness of the M-estimators under heavy-tailed error distributions and the accuracy of the bootstrap approximation. In addition to the GARCH(1, 1) model, we obtain extensive computation and simulation results which are useful in the context of higher order models such as GARCH(2, 1) and GARCH(1, 2) but have not yet received sufficient attention in the literature. We use M-estimators for the analysis of three real financial time series fitted with GARCH(1, 1) or GARCH(2, 1) models. In the second part (Chapter 4) of this thesis, we propose a novel class of estimators of the GARCH parameters based on ranks, called R-estimators, with the property that they are asymptotic normal under the existence of a more than second moment of the errors and are highly efficient. We also consider the weighted bootstrap approximation of the finite sample distributions of the R-estimators. We propose fast algorithms for computing the R-estimators and their bootstrap replicates. Both real data analysis and simulations show the superior performance of the proposed estimators under the normal and heavy-tailed distributions. Our extensive simulations also reveal excellent coverage rates of the weighted bootstrap approximations. In addition, we discuss empirical and simulation results of the R-estimators for the higher order GARCH models such as the GARCH($2, 1$) and asymmetric models such as the GJR model. In the third part (Chapter 5 and Chapter 6) of this thesis, we propose a new class of R-estimators for semiparametric VARMA models in which the innovation density plays the role of the nuisance parameter. Our estimators are based on the novel concepts of multivariate center-outward ranks and signs. We show that these concepts, combined with Le Cam's asymptotic theory of statistical experiments, yield a class of semiparametric estimation procedures, which are efficient (at a given reference density), root-$n$ consistent, and asymptotically normal under a broad class of (possibly non elliptical) actual innovation densities. No kernel density estimation is required to implement our procedures. A Monte Carlo comparative study of our R-estimators and other routinely-applied competitors demonstrates the benefits of the novel methodology, in large and small sample.


The Chugwater Anorthosite is one of several 1.43 Ga intrusions that make up the Laramie Anorthosite Complex in the Laramie Mountains, Wyoming, USA. The southwestern portion of the Chugwater Anorthosite has a mappable magmatic stratigraphy totaling at least 8000 meters, and probably 10,000 m or more. It consists of three major units, each of which comprises a lower, dominantly anorthosite portion (>90 vol.% plagioclase) and an upper, dominantly gabbroic anorthosite section (80–90 vol.% plagioclase). Each anorthosite portion contains layers of gabbroic anorthosite and vice versa , on a variety of scales ranging down to centimeters. Plagioclase is dominantly An 50–55 , although higher and lower values are also found. This "main series" of the Chugwater Anorthosite mainly lacks modal and normative olivine. Oxygen fugacity ranged from FMQ to FMQ + 0.5. We interpret that the "main series" was produced by at least three major injections of mildly hyperfeldspathic magma containing approximately 40% entrained plagioclase megacrysts (tabular crystals at least 5 cm across). The Ti contents of the megacrysts (0.3–0.4 wt% TiO 2 ) suggest that these had crystallized at pressures near 10 kbar, consistent with initial formation in a magma chamber at or near the base of the crust. Emplacement pressure is poorly constrained, but appears to have been near 3.5–4 kbar. However, before the main series had completely solidified, it was repeatedly intruded by at least two (and probably more) leucotroctolitic magmas. Contacts of leucotroctolite are sharp against anorthosite, but commonly are diffuse against gabbroic anorthosite, suggesting that sufficient residual melt remained in the latter to permit local mixing with leucotroctolite. We estimate that 80–85% of the Chugwater Anorthosite is main-series, 10–15% is mixed rock, and 5% is leucotroctolite. Prior to final solidification, the entire Chugwater Anorthosite was domed, probably as a result of gravitational instability of the relatively buoyant plagioclase-rich material. The emplacement of the Chugwater Anorthosite as a series of crystal-rich magmas, followed by continued fractionation in a magma chamber at a mid-crustal level and subsequent doming, are characteristics that make the Chugwater Anorthosite intermediate between the Poe Mountain Anorthosite to the north ( in situ fractionation in a magma chamber) and the classic diapiric emplacement of a crystal-rich mush.


In 2013, the Metropolitan Museum hosted an exhibition of punk-inspired fashion entitled Punk: Chaos to Couture. The exhibition emphasized the 'spectacular' elements of the subculture, reflecting a narrative that dominates accounts of punk dress, whereby it is presented as a site of art school creativity and disjuncture with the past. This is an important aspect of punk dress, but photos of bands and audiences reveal that there was much more to British punk style in the 1970s than what was being sold on London's King's Road. Heeding calls to trouble the boundary between the spectacular and the ordinary in subculture studies, this article looks at the ordinariness of 1970s British punk dress, arguing that we should understand punk dress in terms of mass-market commodities, not just customization and designer fashion. Many of these commodities were worn by the skinheads who preceded punk, and this article explores this subcultural continuity by focusing on the role of the Dr.Marten boot and the Harrington jacket in first- and second-wave British punk dress. It does so through discussion of the Cockney Rejects, the 1979 BBC television dramatization of the Sham 69 album That's Life, and the Undertones.


An increasingly diverse set of applications, such as Internet games, streaming videos, e-commerce, online banking, and even mission-critical emergency call services, all relies on IP networks. In such an environment, best-effort service is no longer acceptable. This requires a transformation in network management from detecting and replacing individual faulty network elements to managing the end-to-end service quality as a whole. In this paper, we describe the design and development of a Generic Root Cause Analysis platform (G-RCA) for service quality management (SQM) in large IP networks. G-RCA contains a comprehensive service dependency model that incorporates topological and cross-layer relationships, protocol interactions, and control plane dependencies. G-RCA abstracts the root cause analysis process into signature identification for symptom and diagnostic events, temporal and spatial event correlation, and reasoning and inference logic. G-RCA provides a flexible rule specification language that allows operators to quickly customize G-RCA and provide different root cause analysis tools as new problems need to be investigated. G-RCA is also integrated with data trending, manual data exploration, and statistical correlation mining capabilities. G-RCA has proven to be a highly effective SQM platform in several different applications, and we present results regarding BGP flaps, PIM flaps in Multicast VPN service, and end-to-end throughput degradation in content delivery network (CDN) service.


Nonpolar materials like polyolefins are notoriously challenging substrates for surface modification. However, this challenge is not observed in nature. Barnacle shells and mussels, for example, utilize catechol-based chemistry to fasten themselves onto all kinds of materials, such as boat hulls or plastic waste. Here, a design is proposed, synthesized, and demonstrated for a class of catechol-containing copolymers (terpolymers) for surface functionalization of polyolefins. Dopamine methacrylamide (DOMA), a catechol-containing monomer, is incorporated into a polymer chain together with methyl methacrylate (MMA) and 2-(2-bromoisobutyryloxy)ethyl methacrylate (BIEM). DOMA serves as adhesion points, BIEM provides functional sites for subsequent "grafting from" reactions, and MMA provides the possibility for concentration and conformation adjustment. First, the adhesive capabilities of DOMA are demonstrated by varying its content in the copolymer. Then, terpolymers are spin-coated on model Si substrates. Subsequently, the atom transfer initiator (ATRP) initiating group is used to graft a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) layer from the copolymers, with 40% DOMA content providing a coherent PMMA film. To demonstrate functionalization on a polyolefin substrate, the copolymer is spin-coated on high-density polyethylene (HDPE) substrates. A POEGMA layer is grafted from the ATRP initiator sites on the terpolymer chain on the HDPE films to provide antifouling characteristics. Static contact angle values and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra confirm the presence of POEGMA on the HDPE substrate. Finally, the anticipated antifouling functionality of grafted POEGMA is demonstrated by observing the inhibition of nonspecific adsorption of the fluorescein-modified bovine serum albumin (BSA) protein. The poly(oligoethylene glycol methacrylate) POEGMA layers grafted on 30% DOMA-containing copolymers on HDPE show optimal antifouling performance exhibiting a 95% reduction of BSA fluorescence compared to nonfunctionalized and surface-fouled polyethylene. These results demonstrate the successful utilization of catechol-based materials for functionalizing polyolefin surfaces.


Background: Diabetes is the chronic disorder resulting from a number of factors in which an absolute or relative defi ciency of insulin or its function occurs. It has emerged as a major public health problem in India. The risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) among Indian diabetic population is 2-4 times higher than that of non-diabetic subjects. The infl ammatory markers such as C-reactive proteins (CRPs), fi brinogen, interleukin-4, homocysteine have been recognized as an independent risk factor for CAD. Aim: The aim was to evaluate the infl ammatory markers for early detection of CAD in diabetics. Materials and Methods: In the present study, 50 diabetic patients (both sexes) with raised glycosylated hemoglobin in the age range of 50-65 years and equal number of age and gender matched normal healthy subjects (control) were recruited. The levels of plasma CRP, fi brinogen, homocysteine along with various lipoproteins were evaluated in uncontrolled diabetic patients. Results: The levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, very-low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol signifi cantly increased while high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels were signifi cantly decreased in serum of diabetic patients in comparison to normal healthy control subjects. A signifi cant increase in the CRP (P Conclusion: This study therefore suggests the importance of assessing infl ammatory markers along with other routine investigations in diabetic patients in addition to primary and secondary preventives measures to migrate the devastating consequences of diabetes leading to CAD. This strategy may help to identify and monitor high-risk diabetic for any cardiovascular event thereby reducing the economic burden and improving the quality of life. Key words: Cardiovascular diseases, C-reactive proteins, fi brinogen, glycosylated hemoglobin, homocysteine, lipoproteins, Type-2 diabetes.


Allergic asthma is characterized by Th2 type inflammation, leading to airway hyperresponsivenes, mucus hypersecretion and tissue remodeling. S-Nitrosoglutathione reductase (GSNOR) is an alcohol dehydrogenase involved in the regulation of intracellular levels of S-nitrosothiols. GSNOR activity has been shown to be elevated in human asthmatic lungs, resulting in diminished S-nitrosothiols and thus contributing to increased airway hyperreactivity. Using a mouse model of allergic airway inflammation, we report that intranasal administration of a new selective inhibitor of GSNOR, SPL-334, caused a marked reduction in airway hyperreactivity, allergen-specific T cells and eosinophil accumulation, and mucus production in the lungs in response to allergen inhalation. Moreover, SPL-334 treatment resulted in a significant decrease in the production of the Th2 cytokines IL-5 and IL-13 and the level of the chemokine CCL11 (eotaxin-1) in the airways. Collectively, these observations reveal that GSNOR inhibitors are effective not only in reducing airway hyperresponsiveness but also in limiting lung inflammatory responses mediated by CD4+ Th2 cells. These findings suggest that the inhibition of GSNOR may provide a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of allergic airway inflammation.


Introduction In the era of lung cancer screening, tissue acquisition of peripheral lung lesions remains a challenge. We have developed a 3D electromagnetic navigation platform with airway segmentation and virtual bronchoscopy using a open source 3D slicer environment. Methods The open source visualisation software (3D Slicer www.slicer.org) created a detailed airway segmentation and virtual bronchoscopy model from acquired CT images. A magnetic field emitter board provides tracking of a semiautomatic locatable sensor probe (SALP) in the working channel of the bronchoscopewith always-on tip tracked sensor and can be steered both manually and automaticaly with joy stick, for accurate localization of peripheral lung lesion. An extensive ex-vivo evaluation was performed in a breathing lung model that was developed using inflatable plasticized pig lungs in a negative-pressure Following this, in-vivo real time navigation in a live porcine model using a selection of novel radioopaque fiducials placed endobronchially into distal airways. Results After completion of a selection of experiments using the breathing pig lung model, fiducials were placed endobronchially in our live porcine model. Thereafter, CT images were used to create a virtual airway 3D segmentation model. After multiplaner re-construction, land mark based registration was performed to align the CT and anaesthetised porcine. Manual and automatic navigation with the bronchoscope containing the SALP was performed. The average navigation distance covered was 85.3 mm. The navigational system accurately determined 84% of the navigation points within the airways. Conclusion Our navigational platform is inexpensive and open source and is the first to utilise SALP. In our model, there is good agreement between the position of the sensor probe during bronchoscopic navigation and as visualised in virtual bronchoscopy. Further work is being carried out to improve registration and accuracy of the navigational system before a pilot study in patients with peripheral lung nodules.


Today's consumers can select functional foods from a wide variety of these products with components such as proteins, carotenes, dietary fiber or microorganisms known as "probiotics", among which are those belonging to the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium genera. This work evaluates the effect of the addition of ascorbic acid and L-cysteine as redox potential reducing agents (Eh) on the propagation of a probiotic microorganism, lactobacillus casei, in milk. The reducing agents are added to the milk individually or combined in concentrations of 0, 100 and 200 ppm, in order to obtain the combination that would allow the maximum growth of the probiotic culture. The different combinations of ascorbic acid and L-cysteine were evaluated on the number of colony forming units of L. casei before and after 5 days of incubation in milk. The propagation of the microorganism was analyzed by the count method on MRS agar plates incubated anaerobically at 35 ± 1°C for 72 hours. The combination of the higher concentrations of ascorbic acid (200 ppm) and L-cysteine (100 or 200 ppm) gave the maximum count of L. casei, with a population higher than 1010 CFU/mL. These additives proved to be effective in the multiplication of probiotic microorganisms to generate new healthy products in the food industry.


Plasma exchange and immunoadsorption are second-line apheresis therapies for steroid-unresponsive multiple sclerosis relapses with a variable response rate. The mechanism of action of these therapies is assumed to be the removal of disease-causing agents such as antibodies, immune complexes and cytokines. A retrospective analysis of different demographical, clinical and histological parameters, which potentially could predict responses to apheresis therapies, was performed in 69 patients with multiple sclerosis lesions classified into pathological patterns I-III. The primary therapy outcome parameter was a functionally relevant improvement of the relapse-related neurological deficit. Radiological and expanded disability status scale changes were secondary outcome parameters.
We found that immunopathological patterns I and II, as well as application of immunoadsorption and involvement of the cognitive function with the relapse were positive predictive factors for a functional therapy response. In contrast, immunopathological pattern III and brainstem involvement with the relapse were negative predictive factors. A functional therapy response was observed in 31% (5/16) of pattern I and 55% (22/40) of pattern II patients, whereas no improvement was found in pattern III patients (0/13, p<0.001 pattern II versus III). Radiological findings supported the primary outcome. Lesion improvements were found in 25%, 56% and 11% of patterns I, II and III, respectively. The expanded disability status scale response rates again showed highest success rates in pattern II patients (40%) and were 25% and 0% for patients with patterns I and III.
Our results show that the response to apheresis treatment could be predicted by immunopathological patterns as well as involvement of the cognitive and brainstem systems. Potentially, IA is more effective than PLEX, but this has to be clarified in further studies. Different pathological subtypes of early active multiple sclerosis lesions suggests different pathophysiological mechanism of lesion development and thus may explain the varying therapy responses. Pattern I and II lesions show sharp lesion edges and an infiltration with T-cells and macrophages. Additionally, an antibody and complement-mediated mechanism of demyelination is suggested in pattern II. These patients also showed the most success from the apheresis treatment. In contrast, in pattern III lesions a primary oligodendrocytic damage may play an important role in lesion pathogenesis; patients showing this pattern are not amenable to apheresis treatments.


The stochastic Hodgkin-Huxley neurons considered in this paper replace time-constant deterministic input $a dt$ of the classical deterministic model by increments $\vartheta dt + dX_t$ of a stochastic process: $X$ is Ornstein-Uhlenbeck with volatility $\sigma>0$ and backdriving force $\tau>0$, and we call $\vartheta>0$ the signal. We have ergodicity and strong laws of large numbers for various functionals of the process, and characterize 'quiet behaviour' and 'regular spiking' as events whose probability depends on the parameters $(\tau,\sigma)$ and on the signal $\vartheta$. The notions of quiet behaviour and regular spiking allow for a construction of circuits of interacting stochastic Hodgkin-Huxley neurons, combining excitation with inhibition according to a bloc structure along the circuit, on which self-organized rhythmic oscillations can be observed.


Fatty acid composition is a critical aspect of pork because it affects sensorial and technological aspects of meat quality and it is relevant for human health. Previous studies identified significant QTLs in porcine chromosome 12 for fatty acid profile of back fat (BF) and intramuscular fat (IMF). In the present study, 374 SNPs mapped in SSC12 from the 60K Porcine SNP Beadchip were used. We have combined linkage and association analyses with expression data analysis in order to identify regions of SSC12 that could affect fatty acid composition of IMF in longissimus muscle. The QTL scan showed a region around the 60-cM position that significantly affects palmitic fatty acid and two related fatty acid indexes. The Iberian QTL allele increased the palmitic content (+2.6% of mean trait). This QTL does not match any of those reported in the previous study on fatty acid composition of BF, suggesting different genetic control acting at both tissues. The SNP association analyses showed significant associations with linolenic and palmitic acids besides several indexes. Among the polymorphisms that affect palmitic fatty acid and match the QTL region at 60 cM, there were three that mapped in the Phosphatidylcholine transfer protein (PCTP) gene and one in the Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase ∝ gene (ACACA). Interestingly one of the PCTP SNPs also affected significantly unsaturated and double bound indexes and the ratio between polyunsaturated/monounsaturated fatty acids. Differential expression was assessed on longissimus muscle conditional on the genotype of the QTL and on the most significant SNPs, according to the results obtained in the former analyses. Results from the microarray expression analyses, validated by RT-qPCR, showed that PCTP expression levels significantly vary depending on the QTL as well as on the own PCTP genotype. The results obtained with the different approaches point out the PCTP gene as a powerful candidate underlying the QTL for palmitic content.


We demonstrate that spatial nonlocal response provides an effective physical mechanism for stabilization of recently introduced azimuthally modulated self-trapped rotating singular optical beams or azimuthons [see A. S. Desyatnikov, A. A. Sukhorukov, and Yu. S. Kivshar, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 203904 (2005)]. We find that stable azimuthons become possible when the nonlocality parameter exceeds a certain threshold value and, in a sharp contrast to local media, the azimuthons with N peaks can also exist for N < 2m, where m is the azimuthon topological charge.


This paper analyzes the drivers of international waves in capital flows. We build on the literature on "sudden stops" and "bonanzas" to develop a new methodology for identifying episodes of extreme capital flow movements using quarterly data on gross inflows and gross outflows, differentiating activity by foreigners and domestics. We identify episodes of "surge", "stop", "flight", and "retrenchment" and show how our approach yields fundamentally different results than the previous literature that used measures of net flows. Global factors, especially global risk, are the most important determinants of these episodes. Contagion, especially through trade and the bilateral exposure of banking systems, is important in determining stop and retrenchment episodes. Domestic macroeconomic characteristics are generally less important, although changes in domestic economic growth influence episodes caused by foreigners. We find little role for capital controls in reducing capital flow waves. The results help provide insights for different theoretical approaches explaining crises and capital flow volatility.


A fully planar dual polarized radiating element with internal embedded coupled dipoles is presented in this paper. The inclusion of these elements allows achieving three different goals: firstly, an extension of the bandwidth towards lower frequencies (from 1.69 GHz to 1.427 GHz) as required in new 5G standards; secondly, a reduction of the antenna size in comparison with other topologies for bandwidth extension and, finally, a reduction of the secondary lobes. The proposed dual polarized broadband antenna is based on two sets of dual polarized dipoles, with a fully planar structure. The objective of this paper is the design of an antenna working in the extended 5G band in order to fulfil the future 5G requirement in the microwave region, in which the new frequency bandwidth goes from 1.427 up to 2.69 GHz with the return losses lower than −14 dB and the crosspolar isolation larger than 28 dB.


Aspects of phase transitions in crystals that are of interest to crystallographers are described in this chapter. The chapter starts with a brief introduction aimed at defining the field of structural transitions and the terminology used. The theory of structural phase transitions is then described. This theory relates the symmetry characteristics of the transitions to their physical characteristics. The application of the symmetry principles that derive from this theory is illustrated by the results contained in Tables 188.8.131.52 and 18.104.22.168. The first of these two tables concerns the simple but experimentally widespread situation in which a structural transition is not accompanied by a change in the number of atoms per primitive crystal cell. The second table concerns the general case, in which the number of atoms changes, and which corresponds to the onset of superlattice reflections at the phase transition. This table provides, for a set of hypothetical transformations, the various symmetry-based predictions of the theory. The important topic of soft modes, which is related to the microscopic mechanism of a structural transition, is then discussed. The final section of the chapter is an introduction to the accompanying software package Group Informatics.

Keywords:

Curie temperature;
Landau theory;
Landau–Devonshire theory;
domain states;
enantiomorphism;
equitranslational phase transitions;
equitranslational subgroups;
ferroelastic materials;
ferroelastic phases;
ferroelastic transitions;
ferroelectric materials;
ferroelectric phases;
ferroelectric transitions;
ferroic classes;
ferroic domain states;
ferroic phases;
ferroic single-domain states;
ferroic symmetry;
ferroic transitions;
free energy;
high-symmetry phases;
high-temperature superconductors;
irreducible representations;
low-symmetry phases;
non-equitranslational phase transitions;
order parameter;
parent phases;
parent symmetry;
phase transitions;
physical property tensors;
prototype phases;
soft modes;
superconductors;
tensor parameter


Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common disorder that affects millions of people around the world. People with fatty liver disease alone are usually asymptomatic until a second insult to the liver, such as oxidative stress, triggers more severe steatosis, inflammation and fibrosis resulting in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The additional stress and damage to the hepatocytes results in the release of signals, such as hedgehog (Hh), to induce the wound-healing response. Data from animal models and human NASH have demonstrated Hh pathway activation correlates with the severity of liver disease. (1). In addition, the transcriptional coactivator, Taz/Wwtr1, was shown to be increased in hepatocytes from human and mouse NASH livers. (2). Based on these findings we performed DGE and qRT-PCR analysis on mice fed a high fat, fructose, and cholesterol (AMLN) diet for 24 weeks and found elevated mRNA expression of Taz in the livers compared to the lean mice. We treated C57B/6 mice fed the AMLN diet for 24 weeks with ASOs targeting Taz RNA. After 12 weeks of Taz ASO treatment, we observed a 95% knockdown in Taz mRNA expression in the liver compared to the control ASO group. This was accompanied by a 38% loss in whole-body fat mass (EchoMRI) and a 69% decrease in epidydimal white adipose tissue weight. Plasma analysis demonstrated a significant decrease in glucose and cholesterol compared to the control ASO levels. In addition, we observed reductions in liver triglyceride content resulting in levels similar to a lean mouse. No improvements in liver fibrosis were observed with Taz ASO treatment. These positive effects on obesity, plasma cholesterol, and liver steatosis suggest that Taz is a potential therapeutic target for preventing the progression of NASH into a more dangerous and irreversible liver disease. Disclosure R. Peralta: None. A.K. Low: Employee; Self; Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.. Other Relationship; Spouse/Partner; Abbott. J. Schmidt: Employee; Self; Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.. Employee; Spouse/Partner; Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.. A. Ferng: None. S. Murray: Employee; Self; Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. S. Guo: Employee; Self; Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc..


Given that private tutoring has received increasing attention in research as a global educational phenomenon with significant implications for educational practices, it has become necessary for TESOL researchers and practitioners to become aware of its impact on language learning and pedagogy. This study investigated the learning experience and reflections of 14 Chinese learners who had received English private tutoring (EPT) during their secondary education in Hong Kong. Each participant completed a background questionnaire and participated in a one-to-one semistructured interview. The analysis revealed participants' ambivalent and paradoxical attitudes toward EPT. Although they considered EPT indispensable for secondary education, they did not regard it as an effective way to increase their English proficiency because of its excessive focus on examination skills instead of the use of English as a language of global communication. The findings were interpreted with reference to contextual conditions where learning for assessment and competitions prevail. This study sheds light on the world of shadow education that exists beyond the boundaries of mainstream classroom settings. Further research on shadow TESOL practices is needed to help researchers and practitioners in TESOL appreciate the unintended consequences of educational changes and their profound impact on learning as mediated by sociocultural conditions.


Understanding the structure and composition of native forests is a prerequisite in developing an adaptive forest management plan for Himalayan forest ecosystems where climate change is rapid. However, basic information on forest structure and composition are still limited in many places of the Eastern Himalayas. In this study, we aimed to understand the diversity, structure, and composition of forests and their variations along an altitudinal gradient in Himalayan forests. The study was conducted in the Indian federal state of Sikkim, Eastern Himalayas. We carried out a comprehensive and comparative evaluation of species diversity, stand basal area, and stem density along the altitudinal gradient from 900m a.s.l.to 3200m a.s.l. We used stratified random sampling to survey eighty-three plots each 0.1 ha in forest communities that occurred along the altitudinal gradient: (a) lower (900–1700 m) altitude forest (N = 24), (b) mid (1700–2500 m) altitude forests (N = 37), and (c) higher (2500–3200 m)altitude forests (N = 22). We measured and identified all living trees with a >3 cm diameter at breast height in each plot. We counted 10,344 individual plants, representing 114 woody species belonging to 42 families and 75 genera. The family Fagaceae and its species Lithocarpus pachyphyllus (Kurz) Rehder. were reported as the most dominant forest trees with the highest Importance Value Index. The Shannon diversity index was recorded as being the highest for the low-altitude forests, whereas measures of structural diversity varied among forests along with altitude: the mid-altitude forests recorded the highest stem density and the high-altitude forests showed the highest mean stem DBH (diameter at 1.3 m height). One significant finding of our study was the disparity of the size class distribution among forests along the altitudinal gradient. Overall, we found a reverse J-shape distribution of tree diameter signifying the uneven-agedness. However, we showed, for the first time, a complete lack of large trees (>93 cm DBH) in the lower altitude forests. Our study highlights conservation concerns for the low-altitude forests that record high species diversity, although lacked large-diameter trees. We anticipate that our study will provide a comprehensive understanding of forest diversity, composition, and structure along the altitudinal gradient to design conservation and sustainable management strategies


Public transit, specially the bus, are usually considered unreliable as arrival times do not often match with the scheduled times. Current journey planners do not take this uncertainty into account, for example do not account for the risk of missing a transfer and of delays due to traffic conditions. This paper deals with analytics for building a multi modal journey planner, by estimating arrival and travel times for a certain trip involving transfers, and taking into account the delay of buses and risk of missing connections. We develop a system to compute probability distributions of end-to-end travel times, taking into account uncertain departure, travel and transfer times. We tested the system using real historical data for the whole bus system in Dublin, and showed the uncertainty of scheduled travel times with respect to the stochasticity of real traffic conditions. This is a first step towards building an uncertainty-aware multi-modal journey planner.


Green infrastructure plays a vital role in urban ecosystems. This includes sustaining biodiversity and human health. Despite a large number of studies investigating greenspace disparities in suburban areas, no known studies have compared the green attributes (e.g., trees, greenness, and greenspaces) of urban centres. Consequently, there may be uncharacterised socioecological disparities between the cores of urban areas (e.g., city centres). This is important because people spend considerable time in urban centres due to employment, retail and leisure opportunities. Therefore, the availability of––and disparities in––green infrastructure in urban centres can affect many lives and potentially underscore a socio-ecological justice issue. To facilitate comparisons between urban centres in Great Britain, we analysed open data of urban centre boundaries with a central business district and population of ≥100,000 (n = 68). Given the various elements that contribute to 'greenness', we combine a range of different measurements (trees, greenness, and accessible greenspaces) into a single indicator. We applied the normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) to estimate the mean greenness of urban centres and the wider urban area (using a 1 km buffer) and determined the proportion of publicly accessible greenspace within each urban centre with Ordnance Survey Open Greenspace data. Finally, we applied a land cover classification algorithm using i-Tree Canopy to estimate tree coverage. This is the first study to define and rank urban centres based on multiple green attributes. The results suggest important differences in the proportion of green attributes between urban centres. For instance, Exeter scored the highest with a mean NDVI of 0.15, a tree coverage of 11.67%, and an OS Greenspace coverage of 0.05%, and Glasgow the lowest with a mean NDVI of 0.02, a tree cover of 1.95% and an OS Greenspace coverage of 0.00%. We also demonstrated that population size negatively associated with greenness and tree coverage, but not greenspaces, and that green attributes negatively associated with deprivation. This is important because it suggests that health-promoting and biodiversity-supporting resources diminish as population and deprivation increase. Disparities in green infrastructure across the country, along with the population and deprivation-associated trends, are important in terms of socioecological and equity justice. This study provides a baseline and stimulus to help local authorities and urban planners create and monitor equitable greening interventions in urban/city centres.


This doctoral study aims to build on extant theory within the area of knowledge management. Specifically, the need to gain value from knowledge consumed from outside of the typical organisational boundary, consider the internal value of knowledge as an independent asset and continuous enrichment via a cyclic process. By focussing on specific elements of knowledge management processes, extant literature has not addressed gaps within the knowledge domain that bring together key capabilities to introduce an effective cyclic enrichment framework. Gaps in previous research fail to address issues on the value of knowledge as an independent asset and as part of a cyclic framework of enrichment. Extant literature has investigated knowledge as a directional flow supporting key organisational processes such as supply chain or value chain capabilities. Such approaches limit opportunity for growth in both the value and richness of knowledge. This is due to focus being moved away from enriching the knowledge asset itself and moving it onto the success of the processes it supports, thus missing opportunities to gain a richer knowledge environment. Furthermore, a lack of empirical evidence to address how external knowledge resources are consumed as knowledge assets internally and the impact on knowledge processes.

This study uses a qualitative methodology to address the research environment and get a deeper insight into the research problem. The research environment limits scope to operations within the UK, consisting of 450 locations. Data was gathered using semi-structured interviews with 19 participants throughout the UK. Participants who agreed to be involved were selected based on their role as knowledge workers. The questions posed focused on issues faced by the organisation relating to issues impacting knowledge processes. It was determined that this approach would give a more in-depth view of underlying issues allowing the researcher to probe deeper into knowledge workers experiences. Findings extend the work of extant research by addressing key issues of knowledge management from a different approach than those considered previously. An inductive approach during the data analysis identified five key contributions, including a) a theoretical framework called the KSC (knowledge supply chain), b) de-coupling of knowledge from other organisational capabilities, c) capability to consume knowledge from a large number of sources, d) knowledge relationship types for the consumption of knowledge e) a consumer knowledge provider type to address issues in making the approach cyclic in nature.

Rather than focusing on organisational determinants or technological capabilities, this research highlights the importance of types of knowledge providers and their associated relationships.


The bacterial enzyme carboxypeptidase G2 (CPDG2) rapidly hydrolyzes methotrexate to inactive metabolites. We administered recombinant CPDG2 (2000 U) intrathecally to seven cancer patients 3 to 9 hours after they had received an accidental overdose of intrathecal methotrexate (median dose = 364 mg; range = 155-600 mg). Four of the seven patients had cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) exchange to remove methotrexate before CPDG2 administration. Immediate symptoms of the methotrexate overdoses included seizures (n = 5), coma (n = 2), and cardiopulmonary compromise (n = 2). Before CPDG2 administration, the median concentrations of methotrexate in CSF were 264 microM (range = 97-510 microM) among patients who had CSF exchange and 8050 microM (range = 2439-16 500 microM) among patients who did not. After intrathecal CPDG2 administration, methotrexate concentrations in CSF declined by more than 98%. All patients recovered completely from the intrathecal methotrexate overdose except for two patients who had memory impairments. Antibodies to CPDG2 were not detected in plasma after treatment with intrathecal CPDG2. Intrathecal CPDG2 is well tolerated, rapidly decreases CSF methotrexate concentrations, and appears to be efficacious for treating accidental intrathecal methotrexate overdoses.


Use your smartphone to scan this QR code and download this article ABSTRACT The post-genomic era consists of experimental and computational efforts to meet the challenge of clarifying and understanding the function of genes and their products. Proteomic studies play a key role in this endeavour by complementing other functional genomics approaches, encompasses the large-scale analysis of complex mixtures, including the identification and quantification of proteins expressed under different conditions, the determination of their properties, modifications and functions. Understanding how biological processes are regulated at the protein level is crucial to understanding the molecular basis of diseases and often highlights the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases. High-throughput technologies are widely used in proteomics to perform the analysis of thousands of proteins. Specifically, mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique for characterizing biological samples and is increasingly used in protein studies because of its targeted, nontargeted, and high performance abilities. However, as large data sets are created, computational methods such as data mining techniques are required to analyze and interpret the relevant data. More specifically, the application of data mining techniques in large proteomic data sets can assist in many interpretations of data; it can reveal protein-protein interactions, improve protein identification, evaluate the experimental methods used and facilitate the diagnosis and biomarker discovery. With the rapid advances in mass spectrometry devices and experimental methodologies, MS-based proteomics has become a reliable and necessary tool for elucidating biological processes at the protein level. Over the past decade, we have witnessed a great expansion of our knowledge of human diseases with the adoption of proteomic technologies based on MS, which leads to many interesting discoveries. Here, we review recent advances of data mining in MS-based proteomics in biomedical research. Recent research in many fields shows that proteomics goes beyond the simple classification of proteins in biological systems and finally reaches its initial potential – as an essential tool to aid related disciplines, notably biomedical research. From here, there is great potential for data mining in MS-based proteomics to move beyond basic research, into clinical research and diagnostics.


Design and development of efficient and accurate feature descriptors is critical for the success of many computer vision applications. This paper proposes a new feature descriptor, referred to as DoN, for the 2D palmprint matching. The descriptor is extracted for each point on the palmprint. It is based on the ordinal measure which partially describes the difference of the neighboring points' normal vectors. DoN has at least two advantages: 1) it describes the 3D information, which is expected to be highly stable under commonly occurring illumination variations during contactless imaging; 2) the size of DoN for each point is only one bit, which is computationally simple to extract, easy to match, and efficient to storage. We show that such 3D information can be extracted from a single 2D palmprint image. The analysis for the effectiveness of ordinal measure for palmprint matching is also provided. Four publicly available 2D palmprint databases are used to evaluate the effectiveness of DoN, both for identification and the verification. Our method on all these databases achieves the state-of-the-art performance.


Wastewater from numerous cassava processing industries contains cyanide which is toxic to several forms of life. This effluent constitutes serious hazards to the environment and aquatic life in receiving water bodies. Enzymatic remediation of polluted environment presents advantages over traditional technologies and also over microbial remediation. Extracellular rhodanese of strains of Pseudomonas aerugionosa and Bacillus brevis isolated from soil of cassava processing site were studied. Biochemical characteristics of the purified enzymes, including pH and temperature profiles were also determined. Production of rhodanese correlated with the rate of bacterial growth at the exponential phase for both strains. Optimum incubation time for maximum enzyme production was 20 h in both cases. The enzyme was purified 9.72-fold with a yield of 37.8% and specific activity of 6.32 mg-1protein in the case of P. aeruginosa. The enzyme from B. brevis was purified 7.44-fold with a yield of 22.6% and specific activity of 5.21 mg-1 protein.  The enzyme generally demonstrated a broad pH range but optimum pH was 6.0 and 7.0 for P. aeruginosaand B. brevis rhodanese activity respectively. Optimum temperatures for P. aeruginosa and B. brevis rhodanese were 50 and 40°C, respectively, with both enzymes retaining activity up to 70°C. The Km values for KCN and Na2S2O3 as substrates for P. aeruginosa rhodanese were 12.5 and 0.0066 mM, respectively, while the Km values for the same substrates for B. brevis rhodanese were 3.12 and 11.1 mM, respectively. Cations, Hg2+, Ba2+, and Co2+ all inhibited the enzyme activities of both bacteria. The bacteria rhodaneses have potential for effective remediation of cyanide-polluted environments, ultimately leading to improvement of fish and other aquatic organisms in receiving water bodies.

 Key words: Cyanide, cyanogenic glycosides, cassava mill wastewater, rhodanese,Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus brevis.


Poor oral presentation skills amongst ESL speakers are frequently linked to weakness in general English proficiency. However, the literature has also identified the lack of a systematic and effective pedagogical method to develop students' multimodal oral presentation skills to meet 21 st century communication realities. This paper elucidates the application of a pedagogical initiative for multimodal oral presentations skills, informed by the Sociocultural Theory of Learning created by Vygotsky (1978), and the Pedagogy of Multiliteracies introduced by the New London Group (1996) and further developed by Cope and Kalantzis (2009). This initiative was experienced by 20 students through the action-reflection cycle methodology and was implemented for 13 weeks in a tertiary ESL classroom. Preliminary findings based on focus group interviews indicated that the initiative left a clear positive impact on student abilities in various multimodal components of oral presentation skills. Furthermore, the initiative positively affected students' learning experience and raised their self-awareness of themselves as presenters. The findings also suggested that techniques employed in the initiative such as videos, feedback, collaborative learning and Web 2.0 could scaffold the students' development of multimodal oral presentation skills. Based on these findings, significant implications for teaching oral presentation skills systematically are offered to be referred by ESL practitioners and researchers; in particular, the proposed multimodal oral presentations skills model as a multiliteracies pedagogy and the potential use of web 2.0 tools in promoting collaborative learning and creation of creative content by the learners. Keywords: ESL pedagogy; oral presentation skills; collaborative learning; multimodal literacy; action research


When a classical digital controller is applied to parallel inverters, there is a tradeoff with respect to the stability, dynamic response, and control accuracy. In a practical design, the stability of the system should be considered first. To ensure sufficient margin in stability in a digitally controlled system, the proportional gains in the feedback path are limited. To solve these problems, a linear voltage-control scheme with duty-ratio feedforward is proposed. The control parameters are chosen according to the stable operating condition derived in the z-domain. In this paper, the closed-loop transfer function and output impedance for both the classical controller and the proposed controller are derived theoretically. A comparison reveals the advantages of the proposed control scheme, i.e., a unity closed-loop gain, no phase shift, good current sharing, and low total harmonic distortion of the output voltage. The theoretical results are verified by the experimental setup of a system with two digitally controlled inverters connected in parallel.


The triple-differential cross section (TDCS) for the (e, 2e) ionization of a hydrogen molecule is calculated using the molecule distorted-wave Born approximation (MDWBA). Distorted waves are obtained by solving momentum-space coupled-channel Lippmann—Schwinger equations, including the ground state and the lowest-lying electronic state of b3Σu. TDCSs at the incident energy 100 eV in coplanar asymmetric geometry are reported. The present calculations are compared with the available experimental measurements and the theoretical results.


Background Human papillomaviruses (HPV), the causative agents of anogenital warts, are the most prevalent sexually transmitted infectious agents, and wart treatment poses a persistent challenge. We assessed the safety and efficacy of treating HPV with ranpirnase, an endoribonuclease from the northern leopard frog that has been used extensively in Phase III oncology trials. Methods As initial verification of ranpirnase antiviral activity, we assessed its ability to eliminate papilloma-viruses in cultured cells. To further assess its feasibility for treating anogenital warts in humans, we performed a Phase I study. Forty-two male volunteers with genital/ perianal warts were treated topically with three different formulations of 1 mg/ml ranpirnase. Patients were monitored for 8 weeks or until healing. Four patients with HIV were treated in accordance with the compassionate programme but were not evaluated. Results In cultured cells, ranpirnase showed specific activity against HPV-11 with low toxicity (selectivity index >88). The broad applicability of ranpirnase for treating papillomaviruses was verified using the cottontail rabbit papillomavirus. In the clinical study, eight participants were lost-to-follow-up or discontinued due to protocol violation or non-compliance. Among 30 evaluable participants, topical ranpirnase was moderately well-tolerated, with discontinuation by 5 (16.7%) due to adverse reactions. Clinical healing was achieved by 25 participants (83.3%) and 50% improvement by the 5 discontinued participants (16.7%). The median time to clinical healing was 30 days. Conclusions This study provides the first in vitro and clinical evidence of the antiviral efficacy of ranpirnase against HPV and supports assessment of ranpirnase in expanded clinical studies.


Mango fruit can not be stored for longer time at ambient temperature due to its highly perishable nature. Conversely, low temperature storage may also lead to chilling injury. Therefore, the storage performance of mango cv. 'Langra' fruit at different temperatures was investigated to optimize the temperature for its storage. Mango fruits were stored at 5, 10 and 15 ± 1 oC for 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 days and evaluated for weight loss (%), fruit juice pH, ascorbic acid, chilling injury score and ion leakage (%) after completion of the respective storage period. Weight loss and pH increased with the increase in temperature and storage duration. The ascorbic acid exhibited an inverse relation with storage temperature and duration. Chilling injury score increased with the extension in storage duration but was lower at higher temperatures. Ion leakage (%) was the highest in fruits exposed to 15 ± 1 oC followed by 5 ± 1 oC whereas, it was the least at 10 ± 1 oC and increased when storage duration was prolonged. It was concluded that chilling injury occurs after 10 days in mango cv. 'Langra' fruit at 5 ± 1 oC and if no technology is available for alleviation of chilling injury, it may be stored at 10 ± 1 oC instead of 5 ± 1 oC.


Background: Snacking behaviour varies across the different regions in the world. As there is a rapid change in the lifestyles of adolescents and young adults, eating habits have changed. The objective of this study is to assess the pattern of snacking behavior among professional students in a medical college and to find out the association with obesity.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 217 first-year undergraduate students in a selected medical college.Results: Among the students, 19.3% had poor snacking behavior. 17.1% had obesity/overweight. Eighteen (26.1%) males had overweight/obesity, compared to 19 (12.8 %) in females (OR=2.39, 95% CI. 1.2-4.9, p=0.016). There was no significant association between frequent snacking and overweight/obesity.


Three essentially different approaches to the constructive part of the channel coding theorem have been proposed by Shannon, Feinstein and Gallager, respectively, leading to upper bounds on the minimal error probability achievable with a given rate and blocklength. Here, new upper bounds are given on both average and maximal error probability, which are tighter than existing bounds for many ranges of blocklength and channel parameters of interest. Along with converse bounds, the new achievability bounds allow to approximate tightly the maximum rate achievable for a given blocklength and error probability for blocklengths as short as n = 200 for both the BSC and the BEC.


Carbonaceous cherts of the Tarahumara Formation, exposed near Huepac, Sonora, Mexico, contain abundant diatom frustules occurring as benthic filamentous colonies. Stratigraphic and paleontological observations indicate that Tarahumara sediments accumulated in a nonmarine setting; radiometric ages on encompassing volcanic rocks delimit their depositional age to ca. 70 Ma. Tarahumara fossils therefore extend the paleontological record of nonmarine diatoms from middle Eocene to Late Cretaceous. Preserved populations include forms similar to species of the extant genera Amphora and Melosira , as well as filament-forming araphid pennates comparable to species of Fragilaria and Tabellaria . Tarahumara fossils indicate that by 70 Ma, nonmarine diatoms had achieved considerable environmental as well as taxonomic diversity.


Abstract We documented the foraging activities of woodpeckers on selected trees in an established conservation-oriented management study in five oak-dominated forests in Hungary. We examined the tree species preference of woodpeckers as a group and the impact of specific tree characteristics on the habitat use of woodpeckers. We estimated the percentage of visible foraging signs on the trunks and upper limbs of selected trees through the winter and early spring of 2019–2020. Based on the Jacobs' index, woodpeckers preferred oak species for foraging and most foraging signs were on limbs rather than trunks. Foraging signs on trunks were more frequent on those of larger diameters and greater heights. It was also found that the lower the tree, the greater the effect of its diameter on the occurrence of signs.


We examine provider and patient behavior in a dynamic model where effort is noncontractible, competition between providers is modeled in an explicit way and where patients' outside options are solved for in equilibrium. Physicians are characterized by an individual-specific ethical constraint which allows for unobserved heterogeneity. This introduces uncertainty in the patient's expected treatment if he were to leave his current physician to seek care elsewhere. We also introduce switching costs and uncertainty in the treatment–outcome relationship. Our model generates equilibria with treatment heterogeneity, unstable physician–patient relationships, and overtreatment (a form of defensive medicine).


In 2-mo-old Lewis rats immunized with bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS) precomplexed to guinea pig myelin basic protein (BP), the clinical and histologic manifestations of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) were diminished compared with BP-treated controls. Similarly, in animals immunized with BP and challenged with BP-LPS at the same time or as long as 5 days after, the immunization with BP also inhibited the disease. That this capacity to reduce the incidence of BP-induced EAE is a unique property of LPS was suggested by the fact that other negatively charged molecules, such as DNA, RNA, and dextran sulphate, were not effective in inhibiting the clinical signs of EAE. After recovery from EAE induced by BP, some animals develop a recurrence of the disease if challenged with BP at appropriate intervals. However, after recovery from mild EAE induced by BP-LPS and after challenges with EAE-initiating BP antigens, secondary EAE was inhibited significantly.


This thesis explores the development of a multi-stakeholder partnership model using a multiple case study research design. Specifically this study examines the rationale for the launch of the Rajasthan Education initiative, its development and its impact on educational development and reaches conclusions about the scalability and sustainability of multistakeholder partnerships (MSPs) in the context of Rajasthan.

The literature review shows that there is insufficient independent research evidence to support the widespread claims that public private partnerships (PPPs), of which MSP is a new 'avatar', are able to deliver results in terms of developmental gains and added value. This paucity of evidence and profusion of claims is partly explained by the fact, that the research that has been commissioned is not independent and its conclusions have been shaped by vested interests of those promoting the organisations they claim to evaluate. In particular organisations associated with the World Economic Forum (WEF) have been
projecting PPPs and programmes of corporate responsibility as a way to engage for-profit organisations and enhance the effectiveness of external support for the delivery of services to basic education. Alongside this not-for-profit PPPs are seldom scrutinised in terms of public accountability, value for money, scalability, or sustainability partly due to the voluntary nature of such inputs to the public system. I believe my research makes a new and unique contribution to the independent evaluation of state enabled, not-for-profit MSPs in action.

The research selected eight formal partnerships for case study which were selected using a
matrix of organisational characteristics, scale and scope of interventions. The case studies
are organised into four thematic groups i.e, School adoption, ICT based interventions,
teachers' training and universalisation of elementary education in underserved urban
localities. Each case study is examined using a framework which highlights three
dimensions. These are i) the design of the partnership, ii) stakeholder involvement and intra
agent dynamics and iii) the Governance of the partnership.

A cross case analysis of the eight partnerships is used to arrive at conclusions about MSPs in Rajasthan. This uses the concept of double contingency of power (Sayer 2004), and specifically the concept of causal power and causal susceptibilities and Stake's (2006) multiple case analysis, to discuss the commonalities and differences across partnerships and emerging themes while cross analysing the partnerships.

I have engaged in interpretivist inquiry and sought to understand the workings of an MSP
which involves businesses and CSR groups alongside NGOs and government agencies with an aim to place Rajasthan on a fast development track. Rather than looking for an ideal
type MSP, I problematise the MSPs in Rajasthan as I explain the workings of an MSP
model in action. Given this methodological perspective, I have used semi structured
interviews, observations of the partnership programmes in action, and document analysis as methods to collect and corroborate data for this study.

The study concludes that the exiting MSP arrangements in REI are not scalable,
unsustainable and have very limited impact. Moreover, the MSPs are unstable and reflect
fluid inter-organisational evolution, as well as ambiguous public accountability. There was
no purposeful financial management at the REI management level. In addition the exit
routes for partners supporting interventions were not planned, resulting in the fading away
of even those interventions that showed promise in accruing learning gains for children, and
by schools and teachers. Non-scalability and lack of sustainability can be inferred from the
fact that the partners do not have a long term view of interventions, lack sustained
commitment for resource input and the interventions are implemented with temporary work
force. The instability of the partnerships can be explained through the absence of
involvement of government teachers and communities. Also economic and political power
dominated the fate of the programmes. In this MSP it was clear that corporate social
responsibility (CSR) was a driving force for establishing the MSP but was not backed by
continued and meaningful engagement. The 'win-win' situation of greater resources,
efficiency and effectiveness, which formed the basic premise for launching the REI was not
evident in reality.

MSPs are gaining currency globally. This research points to the fact that much more
intentional action needs to be taken to ensure that partnerships such as these have a
sustained impact on development. The problems and issues of education are historically,
politically and socially embedded. Any action that does not take this into account and
which is blind to the interests of different stakeholders in MSPs, will surely fall short of
achieving what it set out to do. Further independent research examining the ambitions and
realities of other MSPs is needed to inform policy development and implementation. This is
essential for achieving the goals of education for all before investing further in what
appears to be a flawed modality to improve access, equity and outcomes in education.


The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) defines new demands on data analysis efforts in its all-sky gravitational wave survey, recording simultaneously thousands of galactic compact object binary foreground sources and tens to hundreds of background sources like binary black hole mergers and extreme-mass ratio inspirals. We approach this problem with an adaptive and fully automatic Reversible Jump Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampler, able to sample from the joint posterior density function (as established by Bayes theorem) for a given mixture of signals ''out of the box'', handling the total number of signals as an additional unknown parameter beside the unknown parameters of each individual source and the noise floor. We show in examples from the LISA Mock Data Challenge implementing the full response of LISA in its TDI description that this sampler is able to extract monochromatic Double White Dwarf signals out of colored instrumental noise and additional foreground and background noise successfully in a global fitting approach. We introduce 2 examples with fixed number of signals (MCMC sampling), and 1 example with unknown number of signals (RJ-MCMC), the latter further promoting the idea behind an experimental adaptation of the model indicator proposal densities in the main sampling stage. Wemore » note that the experienced runtimes and degeneracies in parameter extraction limit the shown examples to the extraction of a low but realistic number of signals.« less


Background and purpose: Silver nanoparticles have different biological effects and are used in treatment of burn infections, open and choronic wounds. Materials and methods: In this study, the bacterial strains of Paenibacillus genus were isolated from soil samples in Damghan, Iran and identified using molecular method. After preparing the condition for silver nanoparticles production, the biological production was proved through spectrophotometry, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Xray diffraction analysis (XRD). Then, wound induction was done on rats' skin and the healing effect of nanoparticles was investigated in three groups of rats (treatment, control and phenytoin, n=8 per group). At days 3, 7, 14, and 21 after treatments, the wound area was measured in all groups. Afterwards, wound sampling was carried out for histological evaluations. Results: Silver nanoparticles were produced in spherical shapes (40nm) by Paenibacillus genus. The rate of wound healing was faster in treatment group (the coverage texture was completely formed on day 14) compared to that in other groups. Conclusion: The silver nanoparticles produced had healing property effects which could accelerate wound healing.


Managing Chronic Pain through Advancements in Transcranial Brain Stimulation Technology Currently Used for Depression Ashley N Skinner Director: Debra Norris, Ed. D The purpose of this thesis is to bring attention to alternatives to using analgesics or painkillers and potentially addictive opioid analgesics. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) has been proven successful in treating medication-resistant depression. This literature review will look at the links between pain and depression and examine adaptations to TMS coils in hopes of being able to stimulate the regions of the brain that interpret pain. By looking at current advancements in TMS, we can work towards adapting TMS to stimulate deeper regions. The final section of this thesis will examine how making these alternatives more popular will impact pain management. The hope is that by bringing these non-surgical, non-medication alternatives to pain management into mainstream medical use rather than alternative medicine, we can work towards holistic care and move highly addictive opioid analgesics only available to those in critical care.


Low-income countries (LIDCs) are typically characterized by intermittent and very modest access to private external funding sources. Motivated by recent developments in private flows to LIDCs this paper makes two contributions: First, it constructs a new comprehensive dataset on gross private capital flows with special focus on non-FDI flows in LIDCs. Concentrating on LIDCs and more specifically on gross non-FDI private flows is intentionally aimed at closing a gap in existing datasets where country coverage of developing economies is limited mainly to emerging markets (EMs). Second, using the new data, it identifies several shifting patterns of gross non-FDI private inflows to LIDCs. A surprising fact emerges: since the mid 2000's periods of surges in gross non-FDI private inflows in LIDCs are broadly comparable to those of EMs. Moreover, while gross non-FDI inflows to LIDCs are on average much lower than those to EMs, we show that the LIDC top quartile gross non-FDI inflow is comparable to the EM median inflow and converging to the EM top quartile inflow.


Whenever the subject being reproduced has a regular pattern, the conventional type of halftone screen, because of its regular structure, may produce an objectionable beat pattern, called moire. In multicolor printing, the regular patterns of the several structured images produce complex beat patterns whose effects are minimized, but not eliminated, through proper choice of screen angles. This paper describes a procedure in which a continuous-tone image is scanned; and the resulting photo-tube signal is used to actuate a light valve in such a manner as to produce a structured image containing dots that are, in effect, distributed at random. It is shown that this procedure avoids both the distortions in tone reproduction and the moire patterns associated with the conventional use of halftone screens.


Using micro-wave heating method, the previous disadvantages of heating slowly and non-uniform are broken through. And plain concrete high temperature loading experiment system is composed of the method and material experiment machine. Many experiments of self-made concrete are carried out from room temperature to 600°C by this system. The strength and critical strain of concrete with temperature are obtained, and through analysis of the compressive stress-strain curves under different temperature, the constitutive relationship is established. The result shows that this constitutive relationship is greatly agrees with experiment. Meanwhile, the phenomenon is analyzed and explained in the progress of experiment.


Diffusion probabilistic models have quickly become a major approach for generative modeling of images, 3D geometry, video and other domains. However, to adapt diffusion generative modeling to these domains the denoising network needs to be carefully designed for each domain independently, oftentimes under the assumption that data lives in a Euclidean grid. In this paper we introduce Diffusion Probabilistic Fields (DPF), a diffusion model that can learn distributions over continuous functions defined over metric spaces, commonly known as fields. We extend the formulation of diffusion probabilistic models to deal with this field parametrization in an explicit way, enabling us to define an end-to-end learning algorithm that side-steps the requirement of representing fields with latent vectors as in previous approaches (Dupont et al., 2022a; Du et al., 2021). We empirically show that, while using the same denoising network, DPF effectively deals with different modalities like 2D images and 3D geometry, in addition to modeling distributions over fields defined on non-Euclidean metric spaces.


One of the most debated parts of the IDB-9 Agreement was the requirement that the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB or Bank) enhance its macroeconomic analysis and link it to its country programming to avoid lending in unsustainable macroeconomic situations. The IDB-9 Agreement mandated that the Chief Economist prepare annual Macroeconomic Sustainability Assessments for each borrowing country and that a positive judgment on sustainability is one of the prerequisites, among others, for maintaining the Bank's aggregate exposure with the country including both sovereign and non-sovereign operations. OVE finds that the MSA requirement has been substantially implemented but faces many difficulties that seriously impede its likely effectiveness. The quality of the MSAs, though reasonable given the resources allocated, lacks depth in many areas, particularly financial sustainability and inflation. More generally, there is no methodology that could reliably do what is expected: predict macroeconomic crises in the near term. There are few checks and balances in the system, and none relating to the Chief Economist's conclusion and determination of sustainability. The MSA process entails significant costs for the Bank, including in country relations and IDB Board cohesion and collaboration. Though the MSA process has the potential to further the underlying IDB-9 goal of preventing lending in unsustainable macroeconomic situations, the process will not achieve the broader objective of stopping increases in Bank exposure for the foreseeable future: existing IDB disbursement and repayment schedules will lead to increasing exposure in almost all borrowing countries in the coming 5-10 years. OVE suggests that the Governors, the Board, and Management reconsider the design of the MSA process to align benefits and costs more closely. A useful way to think about changes is to "unbundle" the two rationales for MSAs -limiting IDB's credit risk and promoting development effectiveness. The credit risk rationale argues for the type of short-term focus and yes-no decision-making used in the MSAs, and Management may wish to strengthen the ability of its risk management group to perform independent credit risk assessment of the sovereign portfolio. The development rationale argues for a more medium-term instrument with a broader focus, as macroeconomic policies are not the only ones that matter for development. One option would be to strengthen the Bank's Independent Macroeconomic Assessments for policy-based lending, with clear guidelines to ensure their effective coverage and implementation. IDB could also strengthen its macroeconomic and policy analysis through its regular program of economic and sector work. It is clearly feasible for the IDB to have a stronger role than it now has in policy analysis and advice to its borrowing countries.


ObjectivesDespite the growing number of ambulatory operations knowledge of predictive factors of postoperative pain after ambulatory surgery is limited. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify predictive factors of postoperative pain after ambulatory surgery. MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, 648 patients were included. A wide variety of elective ambulatory operations were performed. Pain assessments were made before the operation and during a 4-day period postoperatively, using a 100 mm visual analog scale. Patient characteristics, type of surgery, and type of anesthesia were recorded. In addition, preoperative expectations of postoperative pain by physician and patient were assessed. Finally, several scores about psychologic parameters were measured: pain catastrophizing, surgical anxiety, and optimism. Stepwise logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors that independently predict the risk of having postoperative pain (defined by a visual analog scale >40 mm) on days 0 to 4. ResultsThe most important predictor of postoperative pain was the presence of preoperative pain. Other predictors were anticipated postoperative pain by the clinician, preoperative high expectations of postoperative pain by the patient, younger age, and fear of short-term consequences of the operation. Regional anesthetic technique compared with general anesthesia decreased the risk of acute postoperative pain only on the day of the operation. DiscussionSeveral predictive factors of postoperative pain after ambulatory surgery were identified in this study. These factors should be taken into account when planning postoperative analgesia for ambulatory surgery.


The Brazilian economy was severely hit by the 2008 crisis. In the beginning of the crisis, the vast majorities of the economic agents and authorities thought that Brazil could face some sort of decoupling since some macroeconomic fundamentals were very good. What we saw, however, was that the Brazilian economy was not decoupled, and expectations faced a huge deterioration soon after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in September 15th. Two aspects regarding the impact of crisis in Brazil, however, deserve a great deal of attention: (a) although deep, the impact did not last for a long time. Actually, the GDP growth experienced a good recovery in the second quarter of 2009, showing that the health of the Brazilian economy was good; (b) the Brazilian banking system performed very well during the crisis, although we cannot say the system was not in danger in the worst time of the crisis. In spite of the confidence crisis faced by the banking system 1, it showed a great deal of resilience. In this aspect, we argue that the restructure faced by the banking system in the aftermath of the Real Plan, as well as the development of a solid supervision regulation helped a lot the system to avoid the systemic crisis that was an open possibility to the Brazilian banking system in the end of 2008. These notes, thus, discusse why the Brazilian banking system performed pretty well in the 2008 financial crisis and how the Brazilian banking (and prudential) regulation can be taken as responsible for this good performance. More specifically, the paper back to the middle of the 1990s, when the Real Plan was implemented, in order to understand the role played by the restructuring of the Brazilian financial system in helping to pave the way to the great resilience experienced by the Brazilian banking system during the 2008 crisis. More specifically, the prudential regulation that was implemented in Brazil in the aftermath of the Real Plan seems to play a decisive role


Vegetable oil is a renewable starting material as it is derived from growing plants, rather than irreplaceable material like the earth's petroleum and natural gas supplies. We have performed experiments, for the synthesis of biodiesel from different vegetable oils such as soybean oil, groundnut oil, mustard oil, sesame oil, coconut oil and jawas oil. Biodiesel is methyl or ethyl ester of vegetable oil. Confirmation of the biodiesel was done on FT-IR spectrometer. The IR value ranges from 1741 to 1743 cm -1 , which clearly indicates carbonyl group of ester in biodiesel. Boiling point of biodiesel was determined in open capillary. The byproduct glycerol i.e. (propane 1, 2, 3 triol) was also confirmed by special tests. The reaction is catalyzed by NaOH making this process economically viable for the industrial scale production of biodiesel. Biodiesel is an excellent product as it is environmentally friendly. These experiments demonstrate the key principles of green chemistry.


A simple, rapid, precise and accurate isocratic reversed phase HPLC method was developed and validated for the determination of lercanidipine hydrochloride in pharmaceutical tablets and spiked human breast milk. The chromatographic separation was achieved on C18 (250×4.6 mm×5μm) column using a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile and phospate buffer (pH=4) (55:45, v/v) at a flow rate of 1.1 mL/min and UV detection at 237 nm. The linearity of the proposed method was investigated in the range of 1.0-40 μg/mL (r=0.9990). The method was validated in terms of accuracy, precision, reproducibility, specificity, robustness, and detection and quantification limits, in accordance with ICH guidelines. The proposed method is found as suitable for routine quantification of lercanidipine in human breast milk.


Micropatterning techniques provide direct control over the spatial organization of cells at the sub-mm scale. Regulation of these spatial parameters is important for controlling cell fate and cell function. While micropatterning has proved a powerful technique for understanding the impact of cell organization on cell behaviour, current methods for micropatterning cells require complex, specialized equipment that is not readily accessible in most biological and bioengineering laboratories. In addition, currently available methods require significant protocol optimization to ensure reliable and reproducible patterning. The inaccessibility of current methods has severely limited the widespread use of micropatterning as a tool in both biology and tissue engineering laboratories. Here we present a simple, cheap, and fast method to micropattern mammalian cells into stripes and circular patterns using Parafilm™, a common material found in most biology and bioengineering laboratories. Our method does not require any specialized equipment and does not require significant method optimization to ensure reproducible patterning. Although our method is limited to simple patterns, these geometries are sufficient for addressing a wide range of biological problems. Specifically, we demonstrate i) that using our Parafilm™ insert method we can pattern and co-pattern ARPE-19 and MDCK epithelial cells into circular and stripe micropatterns in tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS) wells and on glass slides, ii) that we can contain cells in the desired patterns for more than one month and iii) that upon removal of the Parafilm™ insert we can release the cells from the containment pattern and allow cell migration outward from the original pattern. We also demonstrate that we can exploit this confinement release feature to conduct an epithelial cell wound healing assay. This novel micropatterning method provides a reliable and accessible tool with the flexibility to address a wide range of biological and engineering problems that require control over the spatial and temporal organization of cells.


Recently, the semiclassical theory of the anomalous Hall effect induced by the Berry curvature in Bloch bands has been introduced. The theory operates only with gauge invariant concepts that have a simple semiclassical interpretation and provides a clear distinction among various contributions to the Hall current. While the construction of such an approach to the anomalous Hall effect problem has been long sought, only the new semiclassical theory demonstrated the agreement with quantitative results of rigorous approaches based on the Green function techniques. The purpose of this work is to review the semiclassical approach including the early ideas and the recent achievements.


The stereography which used to hide certain information using a host file is a science and an art. Such practice is usually done to keep away any thought in the presence of a hidden message in the host. Hiding is often done using sound, image or video files. The problem is that such hiding may cause some detectable changes in the host file .This study focuses on hiding in WAVE type sound file. Sound files are either one-byte sample or twobyte sample .The hiding idea involves the replacement of the original data by another data from a text file. The first four bits from each byte are used in wave file as a hiding domain. Accordingly, a hiding system was designed for the reduction of the accompanying noise. In this research, it was depended on the human herring for group of people to calculate the reduction in the noise of the host file .It was also shown that hiding in 8-bit sample (1 byte) results in a clearly detectable noise. This jumping 10 bytes in each replacement process led to eliminate the noise .It was also concluded, that when using first and second bit from each byte the noise was completely eliminated by jumping 30 byte. On the other hand, hiding in 16-bit sample (2byte) has led to complete disappearance of the noise when jumping 10 byte at each data replacement process.


Use of predators, parasitoids and entomopathogens as biocontrol agents in pome fruit production can lead to more efficient and sustainable pest management programs. The European earwig (Forficula auricularia Linnaeus [Dermaptera: Forficulidae]) is a major predator of key pests in pome fruit orchards, and entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) of the families Steinernematidae and Heterorhabditidae are obligate parasites of a large number of insect species. Therefore, the interaction between earwigs and EPNs can play an important role in pest management programs. Susceptibility of the European earwig to Steinernema carpocapsae, Steinernema feltiae (Steinernematidae) and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (Heterorhabditidae) was evaluated. S. carpocapsae was the only tested EPN capable of killing the European earwig. An earwig deterrent activity in EPN-killed codling moth larvae that reduces the foraging of European earwig on insect cadavers containing nematodes and allows nematodes to complete their life cycle was also assessed with the three species of nematodes. These findings suggest a positive compatibility between the European earwig and EPNs.