Anticipating media coverage is now a key element in the development of Indigenous policy, report Kerry McCallum and Lisa Waller in Inside Story • FIVE years ago, on 21 June 2007, Australian armed forces descended on remote Indigenous communities with the national news media forming a rearguard. The media's role in defining the Indigenous policy "crisis" that triggered the Northern Territory Emergency Response – the NTER or the Intervention – is well recognised, and the media continues to play its part as a policy trigger. But the news media shapes Indigenous affairs in this country in many other ways too. In a three-year project, we are currently investigating the ways in which "media logic" has permeated the practices of Indigenous affairs policy professionals at every level, from minister to junior bureaucrat, and its consequences for the lived experience of Indigenous Australians. The Australian News Media and Indigenous Policymaking 1988–2008 project examines the role that Australia's news media has played in the shifting and uncertain twenty-year policy history of Indigenous affairs between the bicentenary celebrations of 1988 and the national apology to the Stolen Generations in 2008. It has a strong focus on the Howard years, 1996–2007. We have investigated the media-related experience of those deepest inside the policy-making processes – the public servants responsible for developing, implementing and promoting Indigenous affairs policies. We have found that they are equipped with "media logic" involving a range of skills and tools to monitor, pre-empt and react to news media representation of their policy field. Many are also expert in critiquing the practices of journalism and politics and their consequences for policy. Read the full article Photo: davidfntau/ Flickr


Uganda's public expenditure is growing at a fast rate due to the need to finance her National Development Plan (NDP) with the goal of attaining high middle income country status as envisioned in the Vision 2040. Consequently, Uganda's stock of public debt, both domestic and external, to finance the NDP has increased significantly. This has been exacerbated by significant reduction in aid due to austerity measure taken to contain the impact of the 2009 international financial crisis that constrained fiscal space significantly. In this regard, Uganda has made commitments to step up its efforts to mobilise domestic resources to finance the NDP. Owing to its efficiency and effectiveness, the Value Added Tax (VAT) has been identified as one of the key tax head that could boost domestic resource mobilisation. However, the revenue productivity of Uganda's VAT, as measured by its "C-efficiency", is low when compared with other Sub-Saharan African countries. It is on this backdrop that this paper provides a comprehensive quantitative analysis of the gap between potential revenues and actual VAT collections, known as the compliance gap. This analysis generates evidence for Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to monitor and identify what is contributing to its VAT gap. In addition, this paper estimates the policy gap. The policy gap refers to the impact on the potential yield of the tax due to exemptions, zero ratings, and other reductions to the potential tax base.


ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 7 Number 08 (2018) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com Use of antibiotics as a therapeutic measure is the most used method for the treatment of infectious diseases including in fisheries and aquaculture. The successful use of any antibiotic in aquaculture is compromised due to the emergence of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria. Bacteria may be intrinsically resistant to different antimicrobial agents or they may acquire resistance through horizontal gene transfer. A number of biochemical and physiological mechanisms are responsible for the development of this resistance. Antimicrobial resistance developed in one ecological niche can spread to another ecological niche and finally can reach the human resulting in a number of treatment failures and high life threatening diseases. The unregulated use of antimicrobial agents has led to the development of antimicrobial resistant fish pathogens as well as other aquatic bacteria. The resistance has been observed in a number of bacterial species including Aeromonas hydrophila, A. salmonicida, Yersinia ruckeri, Edwardsiella tarda, E. ictaluri, Vibrio anguillarum, V. salmonicida, Photobacterium damselae. Multidrug-resistant strains of A. salmonicida and Vibrio harveyi have been reported from different parts of the country. The residues of antimicrobial agents also possess a threat to human health causing allergy, toxicity, alterations of the intestinal flora etc. Antibiotic residues represents potential health hazard and also affects the trade prospects. In this critical scenario different alternative approach can play a crucial role, such as Probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics, immunostimulants, bacteriophage therapy, vaccine, RNA interference, quorum sensing inhibition etc. All this alternative measures can be used as prophylactic or control measure for fish disease management without hampering the environment. Vaccination is one of the most promising alternatives for the disease management which is being already in use in so many countries. There is every day increasing research in this field of antimicrobial alternatives measures and there are many success stories in the lab as well as in the field also. So days are coming when we can proudly say no to antibiotic use in aquaculture. K e y w o r d s Alternative approach, Antimicrobial resistance, Bacteriophage therapy,


No one can or has doubted that the brain "lights up" in the context of normal and abnormal experience and behavior. The anatomy of the brain ensures that its regions, circuits, distributed pathways, and cell assemblies have to provide the "electricity" for the lights. Some of the relevant structures light up preferentially for some neurocognitive functions (e.g., language, attention and working memory, spatial orientation). However, many domains of experience and behavior relevant to mental health problems (e.g., motivation, attachment residuals, emotional responses) appear to have a different neural representation than traditional neurocognitive functions. At any rate, the preceding describes the territory that Strumwasser emphasizes should be taken into consideration in context of mental health problems. The territory he wants to connect with involves disturbances of experience and behavior, social inefficiency, behavioral breakdowns, and disordered thought, all of which demarcate the clinical domain. Strumwasser believes that a relevant and clinically useful bridge can be devised to cross and link together these territories in an effective way. He proposes and urges that attention be given to developing a frame of reference by means of which a solid correspondence can be established between the two territories. He provides a stimulating and provocative image of a future clinical cognitive neuroscience. His vision, however, raises many questions. Furthermore, whether future developments in the neural sciences will or can accommodate Strumwasser's wishes remains to be seen.


Adipose tissue plays a critical role in metabolism, storage, and release of fatty acids in mammals. Construction of a full-length cDNA library is an effective way to understand the functional expression of genes in adipose tissue, and in addition, novel genes for further research can be found in the library. In this study, adipose tissue RNA was extracted from three 18-mo-old Lee-Sung pigs. The mRNA was isolated, reverse transcribed, and used to construct a cDNA library. After transformation, 2,880 clones were selected and sequenced. Cluster analysis was performed, and the assembled contig of each cluster was subjected to search against DNA sequences in the nucleotide databases (NCBINR/TIGRGI). These sequences were clustered into 1,527 unique sequences; 80% of the sequences were categorized as known genes, and 20% of the sequences were categorized as unknown genes. In this adipose tissue cDNA library, approximately 16% of the genes contained full-length sequences with start and stop codons. Gene ontology analysis was performed to indicate the possible functions of these genes. Genes associated with mitochondrial function were abundant and represented 10% of the total. Several fatty acid transport genes and stearoyl coenzyme A desaturase were among the most abundant genes expressed. Tissue distribution of several abundant genes was analyzed by northern analysis, and many of these genes were transcribed in porcine adipose tissue in high copy number. Our full-length sequence data and tissue distribution data can be used to decipher the functional roles exhibited by the adipocyte under various perturbations via endocrine, environmental, genetic, nutritional, pharmacological, or physiological manipulations.


The Farewell terrane of western Alaska is one of the more remote and understudied crustal fragments in the North American Cordillera. Although it is generally accepted that the oldest, Precambrian parts of the Farewell terrane originated along the Arctic margin (i.e., Siberia), the paleogeographic history of the Farewell terrane during much of the middle and late Paleozoic remains unknown. Here, we present new sedimentologic and provenance data from upper Paleozoic clastic strata of the Mystic subterrane, which represents the youngest part of the Farewell terrane. Sedimentary facies consist of high- and low-density sediment-gravity-flow deposits and are interpreted to represent a submarine fan depositional system. Sandstone modal composition trends show a relative abundance of lithic volcanic fragments (∼65%) and subordinate occurrences of lithic sedimentary fragments (∼15%) and chert (∼13%). Laser-ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry analyses of detrital zircons reveal a bulk U-Pb age distribution of Precambrian–Paleozoic grains. U-Pb detrital zircon age spectra from Mississippian strata have a primary peak age between 400 and 325 Ma and secondary peak ages between 480 and 415 Ma and 2000 and 1800 Ma. Devonian–Mississippian zircons exhibit enriched e Hf, isotopic values (–3 to –35), whereas Ordovician–Silurian zircons have both enriched (–5 to –25) and depleted (+5 to +14) e Hf, values. Age spectra from Permian strata show primary peaks between 320 and 275 Ma and 460 and 415 Ma, with isolated occurrences of Precambrian-age zircons. Pennsylvanian–Permian zircons exhibit depleted e Hf, values (+2 to +14). Youngest peak ages support a Mississippian–Early Permian maximum depositional age for this part of the Mystic subterrane. Overall, provenance trends reflect primary detrital contributions from arc and recycled orogen source areas, which included both enriched and primitive magmatic sources. New U-Pb and Hf isotope analyses from the Mystic assemblage match most closely with magmatic source areas of the Alexander and Wrangellia terranes. Findings are consistent with a model where the Farewell terrane was proximal to both the Alexander and Wrangellia terranes by Mississippian–Permian time.


Ethmocephaly is a rare phenotypic variant of holoprosencephaly, characterized by the failure of embryonic prosencephalon to properly divide the orbits of the eye into two cavities with grossly incomplete morphogenesis of fore brain. The severity has a marked variability and ranges from hypotelorism to cyclopia with craniofacial dysmorphism, such as microcephaly with a single central incisor. Reports of this anomaly are few and because of the rarity even among Holoprosencephaly. We report a case of ethmocephay with inferior probocis from 32-year-old lady G2P1L1 with previous history of normal vaginal delivery who presented to us 40 weeks of pregnancy with no fetal movements. She delivered stillbirth: a female fetus with multiple defects and diagnosed as a case of holoprosencephaly with ethmocephaly. Normally the ethamocephaly with superior probocis is usual presentation. But this stillborn fetus cyclop has inferior proboscis, ill-developed face, amelia and foot abnormalities. This case is presented because of atypical presentation of ethmocephaly like, amelia, absent of both ears, mouth opening which are not mentioned in any previous literatures. Keywords: Ethmocephaly, holoprosencephaly, inferior proboscis, amelia Cite this Article Adil Asghar, Vinod Kumar, Monika Srivastava et al . A Rare Variant of Holoprosencephaly: Ethmocephaly with Inferior Proboscis and Amelia. Research & Reviews: Journal of Medical Science and Technology. 2016; 5(3): 1–4p.


The study and development of ADR missions in LEO have become an issue of topical interest to the attention of the space community since the future space flight activities could be threatened by coll isional cascade events. This paper presents the analysis of an ADR mission scenario where modular remover kits are employed to de-orbit some selected debris in SSO, while a distinct space tug performs the orbital transfers and rendezvous manoeuvres, and installs the remover kits on the client debris. Electro-dynamic tether and electric propulsion are considered as de-orbiting alternatives, while chemical propulsion is employed for the space tug. The total remover mass and de-orbiting time are identified as key parameters to compare the performances of the two de-orbiting options, while an optimization of the ûV required to move between five selected objects is performed for a preliminary design at system level of the space tug. Final controlled reentry is also considered and performed by means of a hybrid engine.


OBJECTIVE
To explore the effects of psoralen (PSO) plus long-wave ultraviolet-A (PUVA) on apoptosis and expression of Fas ligand (FasL) in HL-60 leukemia cells.

METHODS
The HL-60 cells were taken as the study objects and their apoptosis rates, ultrastructure changes and the expression of FasL were detected in order to observe the effects of PSO and ultraviolet-A (UVA) of wave length 360 nm. The factorial design and analysis of variance were used to analyze the interaction among the factors.

RESULTS
PSO, UVA and PUVA all induced the apoptosis and the effects of PUVA were stronger than those of the other two. After HL-60 cells had been treated with PUVA, they all showed obvious ultrastructure changes due to apoptosis observed under the electron microscope. PSO, UVA and PUVA all decreased the expressions of FasL gene and protein. The effects of PUVA were stronger than those of the other two.

CONCLUSIONS
PUVA can induce the apoptosis of HL-60 cells and the effects are stronger than those of PSO or UVA alone. The expression of FasL gene in HL-60 cells is down-regulated during the apoptosis induced by PUVA.


A study of the Flat Creek Embayment of Lake Sidney Lanier near Gainesville, Georgia revealed three genera of algae, Chlorococcum, Fragillaria and Nostoc, to be prominent in this eutrophic region of the lake. The algae was grown in phosphate-rich media and subsequently labelled with P-32. All species incorporated luxury amounts of phosphorus as determined by the uptake of P-32. The results indicate that the P-32 uptake is proportional to the surface-per-volume ratio. The higher surface-per-volume ratio resulted in greater uptake of P-32.


Collapsible soils are subjected to rapid changes in their volume when inundated with water. Collapse of such a soil deposit during construction of a cement plant in north Azerbaijan resulted in significant settlement and tilting of structures causing  a 2 years delay in the construction. The investor had to bear the huge costs of delay and remediation works. The collapse susceptibility of the soil could not be identified during initial site investigations. After first indications of the collapse problem (tilting, cracking of structures) the settlements were measured at different locations for a long time and a new site investigation was executed. The results of these studies were utilized to determine the collapse potential of the soil. Interestingly, some of the indirect methods were not capable of determining the collapse potential. It was seen that, indirect methods may mislead the engineers in such soils and it is more reliable to perform direct tests to determine collapse potential in similar soil deposits. In this study, it is aimed to discuss the experience gained in this project about determining the collapse potential and apprise the professionals as well as academicians about possible problems which may be faced during such studies in similar soils.


Background: Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is a treatment mainly approved as an adjuvant toantiepileptic drugs for therapy-resistant focal epilepsy. Currently, its use is expanded to include patients with generalized epilepsy. The current study reports the outcomes of VNS for patients with drug resistant generalized epilepsy in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A retrospective research design was employed with a sample of 18 patients with generalized epilepsy who were treated with VNS at King Fahad Medical City. The reported outcomes included seizure frequency reduction, seizure types that were most responsive and side effects of VNS therapy. Results and Findings: The mean seizure onset age was 4.11 years (SD= 2.85), ranging from 1-9. The mean age of VNS implantation was 17.76 years (SD= 7.46), ranging from 5-30 years. Three years after the implantation, one of the patients was seizure-free, and 13 patients (72.22%) had at least a 50% reduction in the frequency of seizures compared to baseline. The overall reduction in seizure frequency showed a significant reduction of 54%, t (17)=2.07, (P=0.05). Most patients (n= 14, 77.8%) reported no side effects after VNS implantation. More specifically, seizure types that were most responsive to VNS treatment included tonic (100% > 50% reduction), myoclonic (80% > 50% reduction), and GTC (76.4% > 50% reduction), whereas the astatic and atonic seizure types were least responsive (50% > 50% reduction). The usually reported side effects were wound infection, cough, choking, and hoarseness. The study was conducted in one tertiary epilepsy center. Hence, our sample size was relatively small. Conclusion: The outcomes of VNS confirm its safety and effectiveness as adjunctive therapy for patients with drug-resistant generalized epilepsy in Saudi Arabia. More research with large samples is still needed to specify the characteristics of patients who respond well to VNS.


The function of avian ultraviolet (UV) vision is only just beginning to be understood. One plausible hypothesis is that UV vision enhances the foraging ability of birds. To test this, we carried out behavioural experiments using wild–caught blue tits foraging for cabbage moth and winter moth caterpillars on natural and artificial backgrounds. The light environment in our experiments was manipulated using either UV–blocking or UV–transmitting filters. We found that the blue tits tended to find the first prey item (out of four) more quickly when UV cues were present. This suggests that UV vision offers benefits to birds when searching for cryptic prey, despite the prey and backgrounds reflecting relatively little UV. Although there was no direct effect of UV on the time taken to find all four prey items in a trial, search performance in the absence of UV wavelengths tended to increase over the course of an experiment. This may reflect changes in the search tactics of the birds. To our knowledge, these are the first data to suggest that birds use UV cues to detect cryptic insect prey, and have implications for our understanding of protective coloration.


An entrapment of the posterior interosseous nerve (PIN) associated with congenital hemihypertrophy has not been reported previously. A 63-year-old man noted that since birth his right arm had been considerably larger than his left. Fifteen years before our initial examination, however, he first noted weakness of his right wrist and finger extensors without sensory loss. Physical examination revealed atrophy and weakness of the musculature innervated by the PIN distal to the supinator and the first dorsal interosseous (FDI). Sensation was intact throughout the entire right arm. Electromyographic examination demonstrated membrane instability and decreased activation of voluntary motor units in the radial nerve musculature distal to the supinator and in the FDI. Electrophysiologic evidence suggested an anomalous innervation of the FDI by the PIN. Surgical exploration revealed hypertrophy of the brachioradialis, extensor carpi radialis longus and brevis, and supinator muscles, with atrophy of all muscles distal to the supinator. The supinator muscle appeared to be constricting the PIN and was sectioned. Clinical and electrodiagnostic follow-up at six months and again at four years revealed no further deterioration.


AbstractThe Muslim Circassian community in Israel represents a unique ethnic community that has never been genetically and medically studied. One hundred and fifty-three randomly selected individuals (91 men and 62 women, ages 35 and older), both healthy or with a history of cardiovascular disease (14 men and 7 women), were studied in a cross-sectional descriptive study for mutations in three genes known to be associated with hypercoagulation. Their medical records were reviewed for risk factors and history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and thromboembolic events. The mutation FV 1691G-> A in the gene for factor V (FV 1691G -> A), the mutation MTHFR 677C ->T in the gene 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, and the allele G20210A in the gene for prothrombin (PT 20210G -> A) were studied. The mutation FV 1691G -> A was observed in a heterozygous form in 1.3% of 153 studied individuals, while the PT 20210G -> A allele was identified in a heterozygous form in 6.5%. No individual was found homozygous for either of these two mutations. The MTHFR C677T mutation was present in 42.8% of the studied population in a heterozygous form and in 8.6% in a homozygous form. Serum homocysteine, folate, and B12 levels were studied among individuals heterozygous and homozygous for the MTHFR C677T mutation. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of all three mutations between individuals affected with CVD or other forms of thromboembolic disease and healthy individuals. This is the first report of a medical condition and its genetic background among Circassians. The high prevalence of CVD among Circassians was found to be etiologically unrelated to the three mutations studied in the genes for factor V, MTHFR, and prothrombin.


In innovation networks based on information exchange, an orchestrating actor, or hub, captures information from peripheral actors, promotes innovation and then distributes it to the network in the form of added value. This paper identifies the pricing options proposed by the orchestrating hub that would result in the network's stability and efficiency. Since all the companies in this ecosystem can be seen as rational agents, game theory is an appropriate framework for studying pricing as a mechanism to promote network stability. We analyze the equilibrium conditions in this context and conclude that the Nash equilibrium entails the network's stability. Our findings indicate that, in order to maximize the innovation power of the network, the agents should be charged a price proportional to the financial benefit obtained by the net innovation. This study fills relevant gaps in the literature on monopolistic orchestrated innovation and the pricing structures of network connections.


Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common adult non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and is highly invasive, with a poor prognosis. The main clinical treatment for DLBCL involves chemotherapy or a combination of chemotherapy and targeted drugs. CD56 expression is considered as an indicator of poor prognosis in patients with acute myeloid leukemia and anaplastic large cell lymphoma; however, its role in DLBCL remains unclear. We report on a patient with CD56-positive DLBCL/leukemia with BCL6/MYC double-hit, and DDX3X, LRP1B, SIN3A, and GNA13 gene mutations (stage IVA, prognostic index aaIPI = 2 points). The patient was treated with cyclophosphamide and prednisone pre-chemotherapy plus R-Hyper-CVAD AB and DA-EPOCH regimens. Lumbar puncture combined with intrathecal injection was performed to prevent central nervous system infiltration during hospitalization, and complete remission was confirmed. We also reviewed the literature to clarify the relevance of the unique clinical features associated with this case.


Abstract Associations between serious mental disorder and violence are well-documented, but there is little epidemiological evidence linking these disorders and homicide risk. The reported study compares socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of people diagnosed with schizophrenia who committed homicide vs. those who died by suicide. The study is a national case series of male patients in England & Wales diagnosed with schizophrenia and convicted of homicide during 1997–2012 (n = 168), and a randomly selected comparison group of male patients with schizophrenia who died by suicide and who were matched to the homicide case series by age (n = 777). There are different patterns of behaviour in people with schizophrenia preceding homicide and suicide. Homicide perpetrators have frequently disengaged with services whilst patients who die by suicide are often in recent contact. This is important knowledge for clinical services as it indicates a different preventive emphasis despite the existence of other shared characteristics.


To thermalize, or not to thermalize? Intuition tells us that an isolated physical system subjected to a sudden change (i.e., quenching) will evolve in a way that maximizes its entropy. If the system is in a pure, zero-entropy quantum state, it is expected to remain so even after quenching. How do we then reconcile statistical mechanics with quantum laws? To address this question, Kaufman et al. used their quantum microscope to study strings of six rubidium atoms confined in the wells of an optical lattice (see the Perspective by Polkovnikov and Sels). When tunneling along the strings was suddenly switched on, the strings as a whole remained in a pure state, but smaller subsets of two or three atoms conformed to a thermal distribution. The force driving the thermalization was quantum entanglement. Science, this issue p. 794; see also p. 752 Single-site microscopy of strings of rubidium atoms in an optical lattice shows thermalization on a local scale. Statistical mechanics relies on the maximization of entropy in a system at thermal equilibrium. However, an isolated quantum many-body system initialized in a pure state remains pure during Schrödinger evolution, and in this sense it has static, zero entropy. We experimentally studied the emergence of statistical mechanics in a quantum state and observed the fundamental role of quantum entanglement in facilitating this emergence. Microscopy of an evolving quantum system indicates that the full quantum state remains pure, whereas thermalization occurs on a local scale. We directly measured entanglement entropy, which assumes the role of the thermal entropy in thermalization. The entanglement creates local entropy that validates the use of statistical physics for local observables. Our measurements are consistent with the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis.


Hyperhidrosis is excessive sweating beyond what is expected for thermoregulatory needs. Nearly 3 % of the population has hyperhidrosis. It may be primary or secondary to medications or general medical conditions, including diabetes mellitus, hyperthyroidism, Parkinson disease, etc. History taking and clinical examination are essential to differentiate primary from secondary origins. Blood tests and a consultation with a specialist (endocrinologist, neurologist) is sometimes necessary to establish the diagnosis. The management of secondary hyperhidrosis involves the treatment of the underlying cause. For primary hyperhidrosis, it depends on its severity and the sites affected. This article will review the treatments for primary hyperhidrosis. MENZINGER, Sébastien, QUENAN, Sandrine. Evaluation et prise en charge de l'hyperhidrose. Revue médicale suisse, 2017, vol. 13, no. 556, p. 710-714


In Ingress spatial index (Hilbert R-link tree) algorithms, a search operation (window query or exact-match query) and an update operation (insert or delete) S-lock one page at a time during index traversal. Then the target leaf pages are locked in S mode for fetching and locked in X mode for updating. If a page split is needed, then it is propagated bottom-up using lock-coupling protocol. To adjust minimum bounding rectangles another pass over the index is needed. In this paper, we present improvements to Ingress spatial index algorithms that would enhance concurrency and recovery in Ingres database. In our algorithms, a search operation traverses the tree by latching one node at time while an update operation (insert or delete) traverses the tree using latch-coupling with U latches. Update operations and tree-structure-modifications (such as page split, merge, link, or adjusting minimum-bounding-rectangle) are executed together in one pass over the Hilbert R-link tree from the root page down to the leaf-page level. To simplify recovery, each tree-structure-modification latches two pages on a single level of the tree, executed as an atomic action, and logged using a single redo-only log record. Thus, interrupted tree-structure-modifications (TSM) is never rolled back when transaction that triggered such TSM aborts or system fails. The algorithms keep the Hilbert R-link tree balanced during normal processing and after transaction aborts (or system failure) to guarantee logarithmic search path.


Abstract Education systems are the engine rooms of sustainable economic development, generating the essential skills on which wider social progress rests. However, in many countries, and increasingly in developing economies, educational standards are detrimentally low. This is rarely considered a humanitarian crisis, even though it is a root cause of youth unemployment and the multiplicity of destructive social and economic forces that stem from it. The world over, governments are responsible for schools and universities, and it is a truism to say that education is in the interest of all stakeholders. The right to learn and deploy our brains to the greater good is a powerful human motivator.


Sound event detection is an important facet of audio tagging that aims to identify sounds of interest and define both the sound category and time boundaries for each sound event in a continuous recording. With advances in deep neural networks, there has been tremendous improvement in the performance of sound event detection systems, although at the expense of costly data collection and labeling efforts. In fact, current state-of-the-art methods employ supervised training methods that leverage large amounts of data samples and corresponding labels in order to facilitate identification of sound category and time stamps of events. As an alternative, the current study proposes a semi-supervised method for generating pseudo-labels from unsupervised data using a student-teacher scheme that balances self-training and cross-training. Additionally, this paper explores post-processing which extracts sound intervals from network prediction, for further improvement in sound event detection performance. The proposed approach is evaluated on sound event detection task for the DCASE2020 challenge. The results of these methods on both "validation" and "public evaluation" sets of DESED database show significant improvement compared to the state-of-the art systems in semi-supervised learning.


In today's world of business, employees are perceived to be the greatest assets an organization can have in order to sustain a competitive edge and remain relevant in the business world. For an employee to be beneficial in terms of greater production and attainability of the organizational goals, they must be well taken care of by the employer. Staff in Public Universities in Kenya is faced with a lot of challenges both at their place of work and in their homes, which in turn affects their performance. Implementation of non-directive counselling strategy is therefore an intervention for better staff performance, which when done correctly and objectively, will achieve better results. The purpose of this study was therefore to establish the effect of non-directive counselling strategy on staff performance in selected Public Universities in Kenya. The study used descriptive survey research design. The study population comprised of both academic and non-academic staff drawn from three universities namely Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, Maseno University and Kibabii University. Target population of 4, 300 respondents was used for the study. The study utilized Yamane formula to come up with a sample size of 366 respondents out of which 250 questionnaires were returned and completely filled by the respondents, giving a response rate of 68.31%. To test the reliability of research instruments, Cronbach's Alpha of coefficient of 0.891 was obtained which is higher that the accepted 0.7 in social sciences, this imply that the tools for data collection were reliable. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Inferential statistic was aided by the use of Spearman's rank-order correlation and regression model. Data was presented in form of tables and figures using frequencies and percentages. The study found out that non-directive counselling strategy is positively and significantly related to staff performance. The study recommends that public universities need to use non-directive counselling strategy in order to address their work related problems, this may lead to increase in staff performance. This can be effected through establishing an operational counselling department packed with professional counselors to ensure that staff in Public Universities have easy access to counselling services.


Background Adalimumab (ADA) significantly improved clinical response at wk 12 vs placebo in patients (pts) with non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA) in the ABILITY-1 study. The subsequent, ongoing ABILITY-3 study is assessing continuation vs withdrawal of ADA in nr-axSpA pts who respond to ADA. Objectives Evaluate the efficacy and safety of ADA during the open-label lead-in period of ABILITY-3. Methods ABILITY-3 has a 28-wk lead-in open-label ADA (40 mg every other wk) period; pts who achieve sustained remission (Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score inactive disease [ASDAS ID] at wks 16, 20, 24 and 28) are randomized to double-blind placebo (withdrawal) or ADA (continuation) for 40 wks (ongoing). From wk 20–28, pts who did not achieve ASDAS ID were discontinued. Adult pts with nr-axSpA (fulfilling Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society [ASAS] criteria but not modified New York criteria) with objective evidence of inflammation in the sacroiliac joints or spine on MRI or elevated hs-CRP at screening; active disease at baseline (defined by ASDAS ≥2.1, BASDAI ≥4, and total back pain score ≥4); and inadequate response to ≥2 NSAIDs were eligible. Results Of 673 pts enrolled, 51% were women and mean BASDAI was 7.0±1.4 (Table). At wk 28, 305 (45%) pts were randomized (ASDAS ID: 33% at wk 12, 44% sustained at wk 28; nonresponder imputation) and 368 (55%) pts discontinued (not achieving sustained remission, n=300 [45%]; other reasons, n=68 [10%]). In observed analysis, 59%, 35%, and 22% of pts achieved ASAS40, ASDAS ID, and ASAS partial remission, respectively, at wk 12, similar to wk 12 data from ABILITY-1 pts with objective inflammation at baseline. The proportions of pts achieving ASAS20, ASAS40, ASDAS ID, ASDAS CII, and ASDAS MI increased, and mean BASDAI and back pain scores decreased over time (observed analysis; Figure). Adverse events (AEs) were reported by 468 pts (70%), most commonly nasopharyngitis (n=121 [18%]), upper respiratory tract infection (n=81 [12%]), and headache (n=56 [8%]); serious AEs occurred in 19 (3%) pts.Table 1. Baseline Characteristics Mean ± SD (n=673) Age 37.3±11.1 White, n (%) 651 (97) Female, n (%) 343 (51) Symptom duration, y 7.7±7.7 HLA-B27 positive, n (%) 515 (77) TJC 6.5±10.4 SJC 1.9±4.0 MASES 3.4±3.5 PGA-disease activity 6.5±1.5 n=671 Patient-pain 7.4±1.7 BASDAI 7.0±1.4 ASDAS 3.6±0.8 hs-CRP 9.6±15.0 BASFI 5.3±2.2 HAQ-S 2.1±0.6 BASFI, Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index; HAQ-S, Health Assessment Questionnaire for the Spondyloarthropathies; hs-CRP, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; MASES, Maastricht Ankylosing Spondylitis Enthesitis Score; PGA, physician global assessment; SJC, swollen joint count; TJC, tender joint count. Conclusions Baseline disease activity was higher in ABILITY-3 pts than reported in prior trials. After 28 wks of open-label ADA therapy, disease activity improved and sustained remission was achieved in 44% of pts. Efficacy and safety in this nr-axSpA population were consistent with findings from ABILITY-1. Acknowledgements AbbVie funded the study and approved the abstract for submission. Medical writing support was provided by Maria Hovenden, PhD, of Complete Publication Solutions, LLC (North Wales, PA) and was funded by AbbVie. Disclosure of Interest R. Landewé Grant/research support from: Abbott, Amgen, Centocor, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Schering-Plough, UCB, and Wyeth, Consultant for: Abbott/AbbVie, Ablynx, Amgen, Astra-Zeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Janssen (formerly Centocor), Galapagos, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Novo-Nordisk, Merck, Pfizer, Roche, Schering-Plough, TiGenix, UCB, and Wyeth, Speakers bureau: Abbott/AbbVie, Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen (formerly Centocor), Merck, Pfizer, Roche, Schering-Plough, UCB, and Wyeth, J. Sieper Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Merck, Pfizer, and UCB, Consultant for: AbbVie, Merck, Pfizer, and UCB, Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Merck, Pfizer, and UCB, R. Inman Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Amgen, Janssen, Lilly, and Novartis, A. Pangan Employee of: AbbVie, X. Wang Employee of: AbbVie, J. Anderson Employee of: AbbVie


The involvement of neurosurgeons in the past 25 years has been enormous. For example, in the year before the Copenhagen Conference referred to (actually 1965 not 1955 as stated) the 4-day Annual Meeting of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons held in Miami, Florida was devoted to head injury. Its proceedings include a bibliography which shows that in the preceding 5-year period no less than 735 papers and 37 books and monographs on trauma and head injury had been published in the English language alone.


Abstract. Recent population increases in urban areas of Asian countries have extended artificial land cover, increased energy consumption, and caused various problems. Higher air temperatures over urban areas (heat islands) degrade residential environments and affect human health. In Jakarta, the largest city in Indonesia and the second largest city in Asia, previous studies have relied on only a few observation points and physically-based models. To study the thermal environment in Jakarta in more detail, we performed seven fixed-point temperature and humidity observations from the dry to the pre-monsoon season (from 16 September to 18 October) in 2012. Over densely urbanized areas, higher temperatures and lower humidity were observed around noon compared with the sparsely urbanized areas. The maximum differences in temperature and specific humidity were found to be around 3 °C and 0.005 kg/kg, respectively. The differences in temperature and humidity became smaller in the afternoon because of the penetration of sea breezes. At night, the differences became larger again because the sea breeze weakened. Then, a difference of around 3°C was observed, except in the early morning. Although the difference in daytime temperature was smaller between densely urbanized areas and suburban areas, similar tendency was also confirmed in the daily time series averaged for sunny days in dry season.


This thesis deals with the problem of how to estimate values of meteorological parameters that correspond to return periods that are considerably longer than the length of the observational data sets.
The problem is approached by considering the output of weather-and climate models as pseudo-observations.These pseudo-observationalrecords, which are one to two orders of magnitude longer than the observational records, open the possibilityto reduce the large statisticaluncertainty in the 104-year estimate from observations, as well as to examine the assumption that all extremes (up to 104-year return periods) are part from the same population.
We quantify the statistical uncertainty in the 104-year surge level if es¬timated from hundred-year records (as the observational records are). This is done by dividing the 5336-year long outputs of the climate model EcBilt-Clio into subsets of hundred year.We found thatannualmaxima of hundred¬year surge records can generally, within the uncertainty, be described by a Gumbel distribution. However, the total 5336-year record can clearly not be described by a single Gumbel distribution, but requires a GEV distribu¬tion instead. This implies that uncertainty ranges calculated from Gumbel distributions will produce numbers that are misleadinglylow.
A statistical criterion is developed to determine whether all annual ex¬tremes can be described bya single GEV distribution or not.We foundthat for speci?c geographical locations in EcBilt-Clio, the extreme winds can not be described with a single GEV distribution, but requires a Generalized Two-Component Extreme Value (GTCEV) distribution. The meteorology resulting in the second component of the GTCEV distribution (so-called 'su¬perstorms') has the following characteristics: the extreme winds are related to situations in which two vortices merge into a single one. In addition, the cyclones are embedded in a strong jet stream, and extreme precipitation accompanies the development of the cyclone.
It is found that the area for which a second population is detected shifts due to the greenhouse e?ect from the North-Atlantic ocean to the European continent. We explored the suitability of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) seasonal forecast archive for extreme value analysis of surges. The combined seasonal forecasts of the ECMWF cumu¬late to 1600 years. The high resolution in time and space and the more complete physics make these data highly appropriate to be analyzed with extreme value statistics. The long model record reduces the statistical un¬certaintyin the 104-year surge estimate with a factor four.
We demonstrate that the archived ECMWF seasonal forecasts can also be used for extreme value estimates of other variables than wind and surge only. Four examples are presented, i.e., the Rhine discharge at Lobith, the sluicing of Lake IJssel water into the sea, the closure-frequency of the 'Maeslant'-barrier, and the (wave and sea level dependent) load on the Pet¬temer sea wall. The examples illustrate that the ECMWF data set o?ers unforeseen possibilities in modeling (hydrological) extremes. Especially, the simultaneous modeling of multiple extremes opens new perspectives.
Preliminary results obtained with the so-called Challenge data are pre¬sented. The 'superstorm' that we analyzed in the Challenge data has similar characteristics as the events in the EcBilt-Clio model. This result supports the idea that the earlier detected 'superstorms' are not a model-artifact, but rather seems to be indeed a phenomenon belonging to the real world.


Background:Slight changes in the lipid profile can be observed over the acute phase of infectious diseases. Moreover, some anti-infective drugs can modify serum lipid concentrations, although antibiotics do not seem to have a relevant, direct, or acute effect on the lipid profile. Methods:A 75-day-old breastfed Caucasian female, born at term after a regular pregnancy, was hospitalized for osteomyelitis. She was immediately treated with intravenous meropenem and vancomycin. Therapy was effective, but after 22 days of treatment, her blood was found to be viscous with a purple shade. Results:A fasting blood sample showed serum triglycerides of 966 mg/dL, total cholesterol of 258 mg/dL, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol of 15 mg/dL. Secondary causes of hyperlipidemia and primary hereditary disorders were ruled out. Thereafter, the possibility that antibiotics may have had a role in the hypertriglyceridemia was considered, and meropenem was discontinued. After 72 hours of meropenem discontinuation, a sharp modification of lipid variables was observed, and further testing showed a complete normalization of the lipid profile. Conclusion:In this child with osteomyelitis, the increase in serum triglycerides appeared suddenly after 3 weeks of meropenem treatment and resolved quickly after meropenem discontinuation, thus highlighting the possible association between meropenem and lipid profile alterations. Monitoring the lipid profile should be considered in cases of long-term treatment with meropenem, and further studies on meropenem safety should include evaluation of the lipid profile.


ATP activates P2X receptors in the apical surface of kidney epithelial cells. However, tubular fluid is unusual - with low sodium levels, high calcium levels and acidic in nature. This study investigated how P2X receptors operate in extreme ionic environments. Xenopus oocytes easily tolerated extreme ionic environments. Their membrane properties and pharmacological profile were examined under normal and extreme ionic conditions. It was confirmed that oocytes lack endogenous P2X receptors, and were unaffected by P2X receptor antagonists and allosteric modulators. Also, oocytes lacked muscarinic receptors. The pharmacological profile of P2X2 and P2X4 receptors expressed in oocytes were examined under normal and extreme ionic conditions. Each P2X subtype was activated by ATP and CTP and this activity was affected by extracellular ions. At rat P2X2, reduced extracellular sodium had an inhibitory effect on ATP signalling, which was reversed by acidifying of the medium or intensified by adding calcium to the medium. At rat P2X4, reduced extracellular sodium had a biphasic action (potentiation, then inhibition) on ATP signalling, which was insensitive to acidification but was intensified by adding calcium. A unique electrophysiological property of P2X2-expressing oocytes was used to investigate an ATP-releasing mechanism. An inward current (Ix) was identified and this current was blocked by the P2 receptor antagonist, suramin, and inhibited by the ATP-degrading enzyme, apyrase. The amplitude of IX was affected by the flow rate of the superfusate, confirming that ATP was released by a mechanosensory process. The present results show that ATP may activate P2X receptors present in the kidney, even in the extreme ionic environment of the distal nephron. Salt and water reclamation in the kidney may depend on flow rate, since a common mechanosensory mechanism can release enough ATP to activate those P2X receptors regulating ENaC and AQP2 channel function in the distal nephron.


Further examination of the Hb F in beta thalassemia has substantiated earlier conclusions that the Hb F of heterozygotes has a bimodal distribution of the G gamma to A gamma ratio whereas that of homozygotes does not. Although the T gamma chain is present in the Hb F of beta thalassemia and delta beta thalassemia, it occurs also in cord blood Hb F without thalassemia and it, therefore, is not a special feature of the thalassemia condition. The T gamma chain has not been detected in the Hb F from HPFH. Because studies of genomic DNA have detected single G gamma and A gamma genes instead of pairs of both, some explanations of the observed heterogeneity and control of Hb F production must be reconsidered. On the other hand, experiments with DNA agree with the suggestion that a different extent of deletion leads to HPFH or to delta beta thalassemia. As further studies of genomic DNA are made, a search should be made for the means by which the G gamma to A gamma ratio is controlled at the newborn or adult level, for the manner in which the quantity of Hb F is regulated, and for the determinants that may influence the production of Hb F in trans.


This study was designed to determine the specificity and physiological nature of short-term satiety effects of cholecystokinin (CCK) in rats with intact and transected vagal nerves. Rats with-the gastric fistulas, closed or open, were used for normal feeding or sham feeding of liquid meal offered for 30 min. CCK-8 (0.5-10 nmol/kg) injected intraperitoneally (ip) 15 min before feeding inhibited food intake dose dependently in both normal-fed and sham-fed rats at a minimal inhibitory dose of 1 nmol/kg. CCK-8 at the same doses caused a potent stimulation of pancreatic protein secretion, reaching maximum at a dose of approximately 0.5 nmol/kg. Pretreatment with a potent CCK receptor antagonist, L-364,718 (2.5 mg/kg ip), increased food intake during normal feeding (but not sham feeding) and almost completely blocked the satiety and pancreatic stimulatory effects of CCK. When feeding was preceded by intragastric administration of proteinase inhibitor (Foy-305, 200 mg/kg), food preload, or diversion of bile-pancreatic secretion to the exterior, there was a significant increase in the plasma level of CCK and an inhibition of food intake by about 36, 78, and 25%, respectively. Pretreatment with L-364,718 completely abolished this inhibition by Foy-305 and bile-pancreatic diversion and reduced that caused by food preload. Among other gut peptides given ip (10 nmol/kg) only bombesin reduced food intake, whereas gastrin, secretin, gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP), pancreatic polypeptide (PP), and peptide YY (PYY) were ineffective.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Does the brain activity underlying the production of deception differ depending on whether or not one believes their deception can be detected? To address this question, we had participants commit a mock theft in a laboratory setting, and then interrogated them while they underwent functional MRI (fMRI) scanning. Crucially, during some parts of the interrogation participants believed a lie-detector was activated, whereas in other parts they were told it was switched-off. We were thus able to examine the neural activity associated with the contrast between producing true vs. false claims, as well as the independent contrast between believing that deception could and could not be detected. We found increased activation in the right amygdala and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), as well as the left posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), during the production of false (compared to true) claims. Importantly, there was a significant interaction between the effects of deception and belief in the left temporal pole and right hippocampus/parahippocampal gyrus, where activity increased during the production of deception when participants believed their false claims could be detected, but not when they believed the lie-detector was switched-off. As these regions are associated with binding socially complex perceptual input and memory retrieval, we conclude that producing deceptive behavior in a context in which one believes this deception can be detected is associated with a cognitively taxing effort to reconcile contradictions between one's actions and recollections.


In this paper, I present a flipped classroom approach for teaching a master's course on artificial intelligence. Traditional lectures in the classroom are outsourced to an open online course to free up valuable time for active, in-class learning activities. In addition, students design and implement intelligent algorithms for solving a variety of relevant problems cherrypicked from online game-like code development platforms. Learning activities are carefully chosen to align with intended learning outcomes, course curriculum, and assessment to allow for learning to be constructed by the students themselves under guidance by the teacher, much in accord with the theory of constructive alignment. Thus, the teacher acts as a facilitator for learning, much similar to that of a personal trainer or a coach. I present an overview of relevant literature, the course content and teaching methods, and a recent course evaluation, before I discuss some limiting frame factors and challenges with the approach and point to future work.


The voltage-gated Na+ channel Nav1.7 controls the balance of pain-promoting and pain-relieving receptor input. Channeling pain through GPCRs Identification of Nav1.7 as responsible for the absence of pain sensitivity in humans has prompted the investigation of drugs targeting this channel as pain relievers. However, this has so far not been effective. Isensee et al. found that the absence of this channel altered the signaling efficiency of G protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs) in the peripheral pain-sensing neurons of the dorsal root ganglia. The balance of pronociceptive (pain-promoting) serotonin signaling mediated by the 5-HT4 receptor and antinociceptive (pain-relieving) opioid signaling mediated by the mu opioid receptor (MOR) was altered. Mice lacking Nav1.7 had much more efficient signaling by the opioid arm, shifting the balance such that the neurons were much less responsive to pronociceptive signals and much more responsive to antinociceptive signals. Genetic loss of the voltage-gated sodium channel Nav1.7 (Nav1.7−/−) results in lifelong insensitivity to pain in mice and humans. One underlying cause is an increase in the production of endogenous opioids in sensory neurons. We analyzed whether Nav1.7 deficiency altered nociceptive heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide–binding protein–coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling, such as initiated by GPCRs that respond to serotonin (pronociceptive) or opioids (antinociceptive), in sensory neurons. We found that the nociceptive neurons of Nav1.7 knockout (Nav1.7−/−) mice, but not those of Nav1.8 knockout (Nav1.8−/−) mice, exhibited decreased pronociceptive serotonergic signaling through the 5-HT4 receptors, which are Gαs-coupled GPCRs that stimulate the production of cyclic adenosine monophosphate resulting in protein kinase A (PKA) activity, as well as reduced abundance of the RIIβ regulatory subunit of PKA. Simultaneously, the efficacy of antinociceptive opioid signaling mediated by the Gαi-coupled mu opioid receptors was increased. Consequently, opioids inhibited more efficiently tetrodotoxin-resistant sodium currents, which are important for pain-initiating neuronal activity in nociceptive neurons. Thus, Nav1.7 controls the efficacy and balance of GPCR-mediated pro- and antinociceptive intracellular signaling, such that without Nav1.7, the balance is shifted toward antinociception, resulting in lifelong endogenous analgesia.


Background: The SPRINT (Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial) demonstrated reductions in major cardiovascular disease events and mortality with an intensive systolic blood pressure (SBP) goal intervention. However, a detailed description of the blood pressure intervention, antihypertensive medication usage, blood pressure levels, and rates and predictors of blood pressure control has not been reported previously. Methods: Hypertensive participants (n=9361) 50 years and older with elevated cardiovascular disease risk were randomized 1:1 to SBP goal <120 mm Hg or SBP goal <140 mm Hg. Guideline-recommended antihypertensive medications and dosing were provided at no cost. Intensive group participants were started on at least 2 medications, and medications were adjusted monthly until SBP goal was achieved, if feasible. Standard group participants were treated to achieve SBP 135 to 139 mm Hg. Results: Baseline blood pressure (median±interquartile range) was 138±19/78±16 mm Hg. For intensive group participants, percent at goal rose from 8.9% at baseline to 52.4% at 6 months and average antihypertensive medications rose from 2.2 to 2.7; SBP was <120 mm Hg in 61.6% and <130 mm Hg in 80.0% at their final visit. For the standard group participants, percent at goal rose from 53.0% at baseline to 68.6% at 6 months, while antihypertensive medications fell from 1.9 to 1.8. From 6 to 36 months, median SBP was stable at 119±14 mm Hg for intensive and 136±15 mm Hg for standard participants, with stable numbers of medications. Few predictors of SBP control were found in multiple regression models. Conclusions: These results may inform and help replicate the benefits of SPRINT in clinical practice. Registration: URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT01206062.


Gastrointestinal lymphoma accounts for approximately 7 per cent of all canine lymphomas. It is typically associated with a poor prognosis when localised to the gastrointestinal tract. This case report describes a four-year 10-month-old, male intact German shepherd dog that experienced complications relating to the presence of colonic lymphoma lesion with colo-colonic intussusception and chronic gastrointestinal obstruction, leading to severe distention and enlargement of the proximal small intestine. Surgery was performed and this dog recovered well from surgery. The colonic mass was completely excised along with a grossly abnormal appearing colonic lymph node. Postoperatively, a multidrug chemotherapy protocol was administered with success. This case demonstrates a good outcome with surgery to remove a colonic lymphoma lesion that was causing obstruction followed by adjuvant multidrug chemotherapy.


The first approach utilises a thin film of acrylic that is moulded onto the outside of a polycarbonate substrate. It was found that the gate of the injection mould cavity must be of uniform cross section otherwise local shear heating can occur and melt the acrylic film. The injection gate must also be located entirely on one side of the mould cavity otherwise the film is punctured by the molten polycarbonate and free to float within the cavity. Any mixing of the two materials will lead to opaque components due the difference in the refractive indices. The film was found to improve the UV resistance of any component, acting as a protective buffer for the polycarbonate.

A new variety of hardcoat was applied to film-backed samples to impart abrasion resistance and samples were found to outperform commercially available alternatives under recognised laboratory conditions. The film-backed samples also exhibited excellent impact resistance when impacted upon the film-face. However, similar components failed at extremely low energy levels when impacted from the non-film face because flaws in the acrylic film caused cracks to be initiated when the film was placed into tension. The level of adhesion between the film and the polycarbonate has been found to be critical and if the failure mechanism could be guaranteed, then intruder resistant glazing that could be broken from the inside in an emergency becomes a possibility. Such a product would address the identified consumer concern of being trapped in a vehicle.

The second approach utilises simultaneous dual injection moulding (2K), which has previously only been used to manufacture coloured components. A successful feasibility study was undertaken to demonstrate the concept of producing transparent components via such a process. This showed that much greater control is required for transparent applications otherwise the skin and core materials mix and opaque components are produced. The generally accepted academic principles associated with the process have been shown to be too simplistic and cannot be relied upon to guarantee good results. The ratio of viscosities of the skin and core materials appear to be more dominant than previously thought and the relative injection speeds of the two materials has a direct influence upon interfacial mixing and haze generation. It was also found that haze could be avoided if the refractive indices of the skin and core material were matched to within ±0.002, but this is impractical.

A third area of research examined the feasibility of introducing structured glass fibres weaves into transparent components to improve rigidity. The study resulted in the construction of a transparent glass fibre pre-preg that could be moulded onto the outer surface of polycarbonate components. Flexural tests revealed that a single layer of glass fibre increased the flexural modulus of test samples by a factor of 3, whilst transparency and clarity were retained. Two patents have been filed as a direct result of this work.


The evolution that is occurring in flood estimation is providing new tools that allow us to better understand the variability of real floods and how to robustly plan large scale evacuations. The Monte Carlo approach allows design flood estimation inputs to be characterised probabilistically or using an ensemble instead of a single input. While these changes are being used to better estimate design flood levels they have significant benefit in understanding real flood behaviour by producing thousands of plausible synthetic events. The spatial and temporal variability in rainfall and the timing difference between the key tributaries is modelled. This approach allows impact of management measures to be assessed for all the variability seen in observed events and to properly understand what a mitigation strategy does to average and individual events. This paper discusses the use of Monte Carlo modelling in assessing complex options that are very sensitive to flood characteristics other than the peak flow and compares the results to observed variability of events that cause flood damages. A case study of the Hawkesbury Nepean is discussed.


ABSTRACT This study is an analysis of senior high school students' responses to an essay question that asked about the positive impact of their school counselors and importance in their academic, career, and personal/social development. Using thematic analysis, we analyzed 259 student college scholarship essays submitted to the School Counseling Association of a Midwestern state. The resulting six themes were personal attributes of the school counselor, professional attributes of the school counselor, process of engagement, school counseling services provided, challenging student circumstances, and personal impact of the school counselor.


Heat stress may contribute to decreased match performance when football is played in extreme heat. This study evaluated activity patterns and thermal responses of players during soccer matches played in different environmental conditions. Non‐acclimatized soccer players (n=11, 20±2 years) played two matches in conditions of moderate heat (MH) and high heat (HH) index. Core temperature (Tc) and physical performance were measured using a telemetric sensor and a global positioning system, respectively. The average ambient temperature and relative humidity were MH 34±1 °C and 38±2%; HH 36±0 °C and 61±1%. Peak Tc in the MH match was 39.1±0.4 °C and in the HH match it was 39.6±0.3 °C. The total distance covered in the first and second halves was 4386±367 and 4227±292 m for the MH match and 4301±487 and 3761±358 m for the HH match. Players covered more distance (P<0.001) in the first half of the HH match than in the second half. In football matches played at high environmental temperature and humidity, the physical performance of the players may decrease due to high thermal stress.


: Acoustic reflex thresholds, latencies and magnitudes were recorded binaurally in decerebrate chinchillas suffering monaural, temporary noise trauma. Simultaneous recordings of cochlear microphonics from both cochleae during monaural reflex stimulation served as an index for acoustic reflex dynamics. Baseline values of threshold, latency and magnitude were recorded from ipsilateral and contralateral ears prior to a monaural 2-hour exposure to a 0.5-kHz octave-band noise at 100 dB SPL. Reflex dynamics were measured immediately after exposure and again following 1 h of recovery. Cochlear microphonic input-output functions for the exposed ear were completed prior to and after cessation of the noise and after 1 h of recovery. Acoustic reflex threshold and magnitude increased and latency decreased following exposure to noise for both the ipsilateral and contralateral recording conditions. Reflex activity in the nonexposed ear was unaffected. Reflex properties returned to pre-exposure values following recovery. These responses followed the same time course as changes in cochlear sensitivity. Alterations in reflex response following noise exposure is caused by changes at purely peripheral sites.


More than a century ago, American swamps and river lowlands were considered wasteland of no value and a hindrance to land development. The Swamp Land Acts of 1849, 1850, and 1860 granted states the right to reclaim 26 million ha (64.9 million ac) of swamps through the construction of levees and open channels (ditches) to control flooding; to encourage settlement, land cultivation, and commerce; and to eliminate widespread mosquito breeding (USGS 2014). Southeast Missouri, once one of the world's largest tracts of forested bottomlands, was a vast wilderness of bald cypress (Taxodium distichum L.), tupelo (gum; Nyssa L.), hardwoods, and water (figure 1), barely accessible to settlers migrating west. In the early 1890s, these historic river floodplains and their tributaries were drained and transformed into fertile agricultural lands in an ambitious engineering feat comparable to the construction of the Panama Canal (Pracht and Banks 2002; Pierce et al. 2012). Today this vast network of ditches (figure 2), channels, and levees in southeast Missouri bottomlands makes possible an intensive system of agriculture, which produces almost a third of Missouri's agricultural economic output and has changed the hydrology, nutrient cycling, biodiversity, and structure of the entire ecosystem (Pierce et al. 2012). Unified…


In this paper, we for the first time show the ability of the mesophilic fungus Fusarium oxysporum in the bioleaching of waste material such as Fly-ash for the extracellular production of highly crystalline and highly stable, protein capped, fluorescent and water soluble silica nanoparticles at ambient conditions. When the fungus Fusarium oxysporum is exposed to Fly-ash, it is capable of selectively leaching out silica nanoparticles of quasi-spherical morphology within 24 h of reaction. These silica nanoparticles have been completely characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy, Photoluminescence (PL), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Energy dispersive analysis of X-rays (EDAX).


Most oak gallwasps (Hymenoptera; Cynipidae, Cynipini) have lifecycles involving obligate alternation between a sexual and an asexual generation. Many species are currently known from only one of these generations, with the alternate generation either unknown or separately described with a different name. Here we describe previously unknown generations for 12 Nearctic oak cynipids. We describe the sexual generation for ten species previously known only from an asexual generation: Acraspis quercushirta (Bassett, 1864), Acraspis villosa Gillette, 1888, Amphibolips spinosa Ashmead, 1887, Andricus balanaspis (Weld, 1922), comb. nov., Antron quercusnubila (Bassett, 1881), Bassettia pallida Ashmead, 1896, Neuroterus floccosus (Bassett, 1881), comb. rev., Philonix fulvicollis Fitch, 1859, Phylloteras poculum (Osten Sacken, 1862) and Sphaeroteras carolina (Ashmead, 1887), comb. rev.. We describe the asexual generation of Bassettia flavipes (Gillette, 1889), comb. nov. and Melikaiella tumifica (Osten Sacken, 1865), both previously known only from a sexual generation. Three described taxa (Neuroterus vernus Gillette, 1889, syn. nov., Neuroterus papillosus Beutenmueller, 1910, syn. nov. and Neuroterus perminimus Bassett, 1900, syn. nov.) are all identified as the sexual generation of Neuroterus niger Gillette, 1888. We also comment on the presence of previously unknown non-functional males reared from galls of the asexual generation of Neuroterus niger. We identify two further synonyms: Acraspis macrocarpae Bassett, 1890 is syn. nov. of A. quercushirta (Bassett, 1864), and Bassettia archboldi Melika Abrahamson, 2007 is syn. nov. of Bassettia pallida Ashmead, 1896. In addition, we formally synonymise multiple varieties described by Kinsey within his Acraspis quercushirta, A. villosa, Antron quercusnubila, Neuroterus niger and Philonix fulvicollis species complexes. We provide descriptions and diagnoses for these taxa, and summarise what is known of their biology, including host associations. All taxa and relationships between alternate generations are supported by morphological and molecular data.


In the face of low-resource reaction training samples, we construct a chemical platform for addressing small-scale reaction prediction problem. By using a self-supervised molecular pretraining strategy, the chemical information from 1 billion molecules can be delivered to small-scale reaction prediction. To demonstrate the broad applicability of our approach, we apply our model to three different name reaction prediction tasks. In the Baeyer-Villiger, Heck and Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation reactions, the accuracies increase by 5.7%, 10.8%, 4.8% on average, respectively.


Environmental stress (nutritive, chemical, electromagnetic and thermal) has been shown to disrupt central nervous system (CNS) development in every model system studied to date. However, empirical linkages between stress, specific targets in the brain, and consequences for behavior have rarely been established. The present study experimentally demonstrates one such linkage by examining the effects of ecologically-relevant thermal stress on development of the Drosophila melanogaster mushroom body (MB), a conserved sensory integration and associative center in the insect brain. We show that a daily hyperthermic episode throughout larval and pupal development (1) severely disrupts MB anatomy by reducing intrinsic Kenyon cell (KC) neuron numbers but has little effect on other brain structures or general anatomy, and (2) greatly impairs associative odor learning in adults, despite having little effect on memory or sensory acuity. Hence, heat stress of ecologically relevant duration and intensity can impair brain development and learning potential.


Mathematical models have been used to study and understand many biological and physical systems. However, for mathematical models to be useful, one needs to carefully assess the assumptions that go into the derivation of the mathematical model. For example, the heat equation, which is fundamental to the study of heat transfer, was derived based on an empirical rate formulation known as Fourier's law of conduction and perfect insulation. Since perfect insulation is very difficult to implement in laboratory conditions, we hypothesized that the heat equation would produce a time course temperature solution that overestimates real temperature data as a consequence of heat loss to the surrounding air, which is not accounted for in the heat equation. To test this hypothesis, we derived two mathematical models for the rate of change of heat under two laboratory conditions: one that considers heat loss and one that does not. The experiment consists of a squared metal bar that was heated at one end by a soldering iron and the temperatures along its length were measured by thermocouples. Our results, when compared to experimental data, clearly demonstrated that the mathematical model obtained by taking into consideration the heat loss yielded a better fit to the experimental data than the model without the heat loss assumption. Specifically, the mathematical model with the assumption of perfect insulation overestimated the temperature data. The research findings showed that when using a mathematical model, it is important to examine carefully the assumptions made in deriving the mathematical model.


A new AC-DC single-stage, buck-boost, full-bridge converter is proposed in the paper. The outstanding features of the converter are that it can operate with an excellent input power factor with and a dc bus voltage that is less than 450 V. In the paper, the operation of the converter is discussed in detail, its steady-state characteristics are examined, and a design procedure is developed. The feasibility of the converter is confirmed with experimental results obtained from a prototype converter.


This paper presents the efforts to organize photographic plate libraries at European astronomical observatories and institutions. The Wide-Field Plate Database project, launched in 1991, has been collecting data about the plates, including plate archives, plate index catalogue data extracted from the logbooks, and digitized plate images. Developing further the WFPDB project, we intend to complete the high-resolution digitization of the plates (in standardized FITS file format) and a suitable digitalization of the catalogues and logbooks (in JPEG and TIFF), with flatbed scanners, and also to organize links to the relevant scientific research papers. At present about 250000 plates have been digitized and await implementation of online access. The main idea is to build an Astro-Multimedia Library, based on the latest methods of Computer Science, in particular on Multiresolution Analysis techniques, which allow for efficient representation of image scans at different resolutions.


NF-êB is a pleiotropic transcription factor with key functions in the intestinal immune system. NF-êB family members control transcriptional activity of various promoters of proinflammatory cytokines, cell surface receptors, transcription factors, and adhesion molecules that are involved in intestinal inflammation. The perpetuated activation of NF-êB in patients with active inflammatory bowel disease suggests that regulation of NF-êB activity is a very attractive target for therapeutic intervention. Such strategies include antioxidants, proteasome inhibitors, inhibition of NF-êB by adenoviral IêBá expression vectors, and antisense DNA targeting of NF-êB. These approaches will hopefully permit the design of new treatment strategies for chronic intestinal inflammation.


This paper seeks to explore urban hospital policy, its history, and, in particular, the contradictions, challenges, and opportunities that it poses for community development in U.S. cities. Are urban hospitals a largely overlooked resource for urban economic development that can provide a ladder of long-term upward mobility for impoverished inner-city communities? Or are urban hospitals an anchor that has been dropped into sand, and that may be swept away by the winds of the healthcare crisis that has begun to storm across the United States?


Native LDL (nLDL) increases expression of adhesion molecules on endothelial cells through induction of Ca(2+) mobilization. Ca(2+) mobilization is also involved in the induction of proinflammatory cytokines, important mediators involved in atherogenesis. The aim of the study was to evaluate the capacity of nLDL to affect spontaneous and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated cytokine production. Preincubation of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) with nLDL for 24 h did not influence spontaneous production of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) or interleukin-8 (IL-8), but significantly potentiated LPS-induced production of these cytokines. nLDL preincubation of PBMC did not increase the expression of the LPS receptors Toll-like receptor-4, CD14, or CD11c/CD18. Potentiation of cytokine production by nLDL was mediated through induction of Ca(2+) mobilization, because: a) nLDL induced a sustained pattern of repetitive Ca(2+) transients in human PBMC; b) the Ca(2+) chelator fura 2-acetoxymethyl ester, 1,2-bis(2-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid, an intracellular Ca(2+) chelator, inhibited the potentiating effect of nLDL on LPS-induced cytokine synthesis; c) induction of Ca(2+) mobilization by thapsigargin potentiated LPS-induced cytokine production. nLDL are able to potentiate LPS-induced production of cytokines by human PBMC, and this effect is probably mediated through induction of Ca(2+) mobilization. This may represent an important pathogenetic mechanism in atherogenesis induced by hyperlipoproteinemia.


ABSTRACT Background. Radiotherapy based on MRI only (MRI-only RT) shows a promising potential for the brain. Much research focuses on creating a pseudo computed tomography (pCT) from MRI for treatment planning while little attention is often paid to the treatment delivery. Here, we investigate if cone beam CT (CBCT) can be used for MRI-only image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) and for verifying the correctness of the corresponding pCT. Material and methods. Six patients receiving palliative cranial RT were included in the study. Each patient had three-dimensional (3D) T1W MRI, a CBCT and a CT for reference. Further, a pCT was generated using a patch-based approach. MRI, pCT and CT were placed in the same frame of reference, matched to CBCT and the differences noted. Paired pCT-CT and pCT-CBCT data were created in bins of 10 HU and the absolute difference calculated. The data were converted to relative electron densities (RED) using the CT or a CBCT calibration curve. The latter was either based on a CBCT phantom (phan) or a paired CT-CBCT population (pop) of the five other patients. Results. Non-significant (NS) differences in the pooled CT-CBCT, MRI-CBCT and pCT-CBCT transformations were noted. The largest deviations from the CT-CBCT reference were < 1 mm and 1°. The average median absolute error (MeAE) in HU was 184 ± 34 and 299 ± 34 on average for pCT-CT and pCT-CBCT, respectively, and was significantly different (p < 0.01) in each patient. The average MeAE in RED was 0.108 ± 0.025, 0.104 ± 0.011 and 0.099 ± 0.017 for pCT-CT, pCT-CBCT phan (p < 0.01 on 2 patients) and pCT-CBCT pop (NS), respectively. Conclusions. CBCT can be used for patient setup with either MRI or pCT as reference. The correctness of pCT can be verified from CBCT using a population-based calibration curve in the treatment geometry.


Bulk icosahedral-quasicrystalline aluminum-palladium-rhenium alloys of high structural quality and thermal stability are found to exhibit low-temperature electrical resistivities that are four orders of magnitude larger than those found in disordered metals and metallic glasses. Experiments suggest that these quasiperiodic alloys, which have a semimetallic electron density, are insulators at low temperature. The findings are discussed in light of theories on electron localization and band-gap formation in ordered metallic systems.


Background: Un-ruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs) are common and prevalence is about 2 to 8%. Several studies have shown that the decision to treat un-ruptured aneurysms should not be based on aneurysm size alone. A study suggest that treatment of UIAs smaller than 7 mm in hypertensive patients and smokers may be beneûcial.
Aim and objective: The goal of this study is analysis of correlation of age, gender, location of the aneurysm, history of hypertension and cigarette smoking, previous history of SAH with the size of ruptured aneurysms.
Materials and Methods: This hospital based observational cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery, Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), Dhaka. Total 44 patients with SAH were taken by inclusion & exclusion criteria. The aneurysms size, site of location and aneurysm multiplicity was assessed by three-dimensional rotational digital subtraction angiography (DSA).
Results:The mean age of the study population was 49.24 ±11.5. About half of the population were within 51-60 years. The male female ratio was 1:1.2. Out of 44 population, 93.2% were presented with headache, 90.9% with vomiting. In this study aneurysms mean size was 5.72±4.010 mm. 93.2% of aneurysms were below 10 mm, 75.0% were below 7 mm and 50.0% below 5 mm. Size of ruptured aneurysm is small in hypertensive population and is significant (p-value 0.037). Aneurysm size was significantly (p- value 0.013) smaller in case of smoker. Mean aneurysm size in hypertensive smoker population was significantly (p-value-0.004) smaller than hypertensive non-smoker. Population with one risk factor had mean aneurysm size was 8.32±6.84 mm, two risk factors had 5.26±1.86mm, three risk factors had 4.79±2.05 mm and more than three risk factors had 2.85±1.43.
Conclusion: This study shows that more the risk factors, smaller the size of aneurysms. Therefore, history of hypertension, cigarette smoking, female sex, age and positive family history should be considered in the assessment of treatment of un-ruptured intracranial aneurysms.
Bangladesh Journal of Neuroscience 2019; Vol. 35 (2): 86-94


Purpose: Stress is taking toll of the health of the people in this present competitive and challenging world. Ayurvedic acharayas have realized the role of mind on the body thousands of years ago. While mentioning the etiology of almost every disease our acharyas have mentioned the psychological factors like bhaya, shoka, kroda etc along with the physiological causes. It shows the effect of mind in causation of a disease. These psychological factors like bhaya, shoka etc when become excessive and uncontrollable they lead to manasika rogas. These manasika rogas are called as psychosomatic disorders. In Ayurveda a number of herbs have been mentioned as medhya rasayanas. The herbs like brahmi, mandookaparni, shankapuspi, aswagandha, yestimadhu, guduchi etc, have been mentioned at various contexts which work in different ways to help restore the health in psychosomatic disorders. Hence the present topic the "ROLE OF HERBS IN PSYCHOSOMATIC DISORDERS" was taken up to study the mode of action of herbs mentioned in manasika rogas. Method: The drugs mentioned by the brihatrayees under the treatment of manasika rogas like unmada and apasmara are enumerated and later the properties of most frequently mentioned herbs are studied. Result: The herbs like Brahmi, Shankapuspi act by their nootropic activity and the herbs like Lashuna, Vaca etc act by their high antioxidant property. Conclusion: The drugs by our acharyas act by their rasa, guna virya and vipaka help in the elimination of aggravated dosas their by helps the body to regain the homeostasis of tridoshas.


Two-level voltage-source converters and half-bridge modular multilevel converters are among the most popular types of HVDC converters. One of their serious drawbacks is their vulnerable nature to dc-side faults, since the freewheeling diodes act as a rectifier bridge and feed the dc faults. The severity of dc-side faults can be limited by connecting double thyristor switches across the semiconductor devices. By turning them on, the ac current contribution into the dc side is eliminated and the dc-link current will freely decay to zero. The main disadvantages of this method are: high dv/dt stresses across thyristors during normal conditions, and the absence of bypassing for the freewheeling diodes during dc faults since they are sharing the fault current with thyristors. This paper proposes combining and connecting the double thyristor switches across the ac output terminals of the HVDC converter. The proposed protection scheme provides advantages, such as lower dv/dt stresses and lower voltage rating of thyristor switches in addition to providing full segregation between the converter semiconductor devices and ac grid during dc-side faults. A simulation case study has been carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.


Climate change is becoming a common threat to the world and has been studied by scholars in various fields. In the field of finance, many papers have discussed financial market efficiency toward climate change in order to better manage related risks. Our work focuses on the topic of climate change risk in the stock market. We use long-term trends of a newly released climate index, Actuaries Climate Index (ACI), as proxies for climate change risk. As a type of production risk, ACI trends have an adverse impact on the agricultural production and corporate profitability of agriculture-related companies. We find significant predictability of climate change risk on corporate profits. This motivates us to further test the predictability of the ACI on stock returns. We construct a risk-adjusted stock trading strategy that adjusts to climate change risk. With a one-year holding period, our nonoverlapping strategy earns positive returns with zero cost at the beginning over a 26-year test period. The outperformance suggests the predictive ability of the ACI and creates potential arbitrage opportunities in the stock market. Thus, the stock market is believed to be inefficient toward climate change risk. We get similar results and conclusions for different versions and extensions of the non-overlapping strategy. However, these conclusions are no longer attainable when we look at strategy returns in shorter periods. From subsample tests, we find that our strategy performs considerably well in terms of abnormally positive returns before 2015. But the predictability on stock returns degenerates quickly over a short period of time in 2017. This "overturn" of market inefficiency highlights the importance of follow-up studies and we suggest that future research could be devoted more toward discovering evidence about market efficiency and the impact of climate events on investors' attention toward climate change risk.


When Simultaneous Localization and Map Building is carried out in complex environments, reduction of computational complexity is a key problem. With a view to the high computational complexity of particle filter, a SLAM solution named 'Fast Kalman SLAM' is introduced. Adopting the 'decomposition' idea in the FastSLAM algorithm, Fast Kalman SLAM factors the joint SLAM state into a path component and a conditional map component. The robot pose is estimated recursively with Mean Extended Kalman Filter (MEKF) or Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF), while the map with Extended Kalman Filter (EKF). Simulative experiments are carried out to evaluate the performance of the presented algorithm. And Simulation analysis is made for the presented algorithm. The experimental results indicate that the new algorithm reduces computational complexity greatly and ensures estimation accuracy at the same time.


ABSTRACT While PCR is a method of choice for the detection of African trypanosomes in both humans and animals, the expense of this method negates its use as a diagnostic method for the detection of endemic trypanosomiasis in African countries. The loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) reaction is a method that amplifies DNA with high specificity, efficiency, and rapidity under isothermal conditions with only simple incubators. An added advantage of LAMP over PCR-based methods is that DNA amplification can be monitored spectrophotometrically and/or with the naked eye without the use of dyes. Here we report our conditions for a highly sensitive, specific, and easy diagnostic assay based on LAMP technology for the detection of parasites in the Trypanosoma brucei group (including T. brucei brucei, T. brucei gambiense, T. brucei rhodesiense, and T. evansi) and T. congolense. We show that the sensitivity of the LAMP-based method for detection of trypanosomes in vitro is up to 100 times higher than that of PCR-based methods. In vivo studies in mice infected with human-infective T. brucei gambiense further highlight the potential clinical importance of LAMP as a diagnostic tool for the identification of African trypanosomiasis.


Background & Objective: Epilepsy is one of the common neurological diseases and carbamazepine is an antiepileptic drug that causes oxidative stress, endocrine and the reproductive system long term disorders. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of wheat germ oil, as a rich source of antioxidants on sex hormones and uterine tissue in epileptic mice treated with carbamazepine. Materials & Methods: In this study 48 adult female mice were randomly divided into 6 groups (n=8). Including: 1-control. 2 - received pentylenetetrazol at dose of 40 (seizure control). 3- received pentylenetetrazol + carbamazepine at dose of 30. 4- received pentylenetetrazol + carbamazepine at dose of 180. 5- received pentylenetetrazol + carbamazepineat dose of 30 + wheat germ oil receiver at dose of 500. 6- received pentylenetetrazol + carbamazepine at dose of 180 + wheat germ oil at dose of 500 . (units of doses are as grams/kilogram of body weight). At the end of the treatment period, ELISA method was used to measure estrogen, progesterone and testosterone levels. In addition, histological studies were performed on the uterus. Data were analyzed using ANOVA and Tukey's test in SPSS20 software. Results: Carbamazepine levels of estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and except of myometrium, the uterine thickness and average uterine glands decreased significantly. In the group with wheat germ oil + carbamazepine (30, 180), levels of mentioned factors changed near-normal significantly. Conclusion: Results showed that the wheat germ oil improves reproductive system performance and reduces the complication of carbamazepine.


The key to optimizing alcohol production from cereals is a full understanding of the physiology and processing characteristics of different cereals. This study examined the maximum alcohol yields that can be obtained from wheat and maize using different processing technologies. Lower processing temperatures (85°C) resulted in high alcohol yields from wheat (a temperate crop), whereas higher processing temperatures (142°C) gave maximum alcohol yields from maize (a tropical crop). Similar trends were also observed when the spent grains from these cereals were processed using commercial enzymes. Mill settings were additional factors in influencing alcohol production. Wheat has the potential to produce higher alcohol yields when compared with maize, when residual biomass (i.e. spent grains) saccharification using selected commercial enzymes is taken into account. While this approach is not applicable for the Scotch whisky industry owing to strict legislation forbidding the use of exogenous enzymes, this is pertinent for bioethanol production to increase the alcohol yield obtained from both starch and lignocellulosic components of whole cereal grains. Wheat and maize processing temperatures and the use of processing aids are of potential economic benefit to bioethanol producers and to beverage alcohol producers seeking to understand the factors influencing the processing properties of different cereals. Copyright © 2015 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling


This study is an extension of earlier research on the effect of perceived justice and perceived loss on customer satisfaction during service recovery after service failure. Variables that are likely to impact customer behaviour in the future (trust and (non) intention to switch), once a customer is satisfied with the remedy are identified. Data was obtained from 242 respondents who had experienced service failure, from among customers of a prepaid card of the cellular company, PT.X. The approach used are convenience sampling and snowball sampling. Quantitative data analysis was performed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was and results showed that all variables had a positive effect; the coefficient of determination was shown in the distributive justice, meaning that distributive justice was the biggest variable with a positive and significant effect compared with other variables in this study. Although the 'perceived loss' variable had a positive value, its weightage was lesser than other variables. The SEM test results showed that the combined variables in this research, distributive justice, procedural justice, interactional justice, and the perceived loss, have a positive and significant impact on customer satisfaction in service recovery. The variables also have an impact on trust and switching intention. Therefore, in order to increase trust and reduce switching intention, it is important to consider the strongest variables that influence customer satisfaction.


In an attempt to understand the applicability of various animal models to dyslipidemia in humans and to identify improved preclinical models for target discovery and validation for dyslipidemia, we measured comprehensive plasma lipid profiles in 24 models. These included five mouse strains, six other nonprimate species, and four nonhuman primate (NHP) species, and both healthy animals and animals with metabolic disorders. Dyslipidemic humans were assessed by the same measures. Plasma lipoprotein profiles, eight major plasma lipid fractions, and FA compositions within these lipid fractions were compared both qualitatively and quantitatively across the species. Given the importance of statins in decreasing plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol for treatment of dyslipidemia in humans, the responses of these measures to simvastatin treatment were also assessed for each species and compared with dyslipidemic humans. NHPs, followed by dog, were the models that demonstrated closest overall match to dyslipidemic humans. For the subset of the dyslipidemic population with high plasma triglyceride levels, the data also pointed to hamster and db/db mouse as representative models for practical use in target validation. Most traditional models, including rabbit, Zucker diabetic fatty rat, and the majority of mouse models, did not demonstrate overall similarity to dyslipidemic humans in this study.


Influenza C virus (strain C/Johannesburg/1/66) was grown, harvested, purified and used as source for the enzyme O-acetylesterase (N-acyl-O-acetylneuraminate O-acetylhydrolase; EC 126.96.36.199). This activity was studied and characterized with regard to some new substrates. The pH optimum of the enzyme is around 7.6, its stability at different pH values shows a result similar to that of the pH optimum, and its activity is well maintained in the pH range from 7.0 to 8.5 (all these tests were performed with 4-nitrophenyl acetate as substrate). Remarkable differences were found in the values of both Km and Vmax, with the synthetic substrates 4-nitrophenyl acetate, 2-nitrophenyl acetate, 4-methylumbelliferyl acetate, 1-naphthyl acetate and fluorescein diacetate. The use of 4-nitrophenyl acetate, 4-methylumbelliferyl acetate or 1-naphthyl acetate as substrate seems to be convenient for routine work, but it is better to carry out the measurements in parallel with those on bovine submandibular gland mucin (the latter is a natural and commercially available substrate). It was found that 4-acetoxybenzoic acid, as well as the methyl ester of 2-acetoxybenzoic acid, but not 2-acetoxybenzoic acid itself, are cleaved by this enzyme. Triacetin, di-O-acetyladenosine, tri-O-acetyladenosine, and di-O-acetyl-N-acetyladenosine phosphate, hitherto unreported as substrates for this viral esterase, are hydrolysed at different rates by this enzyme. We conclude that the O-acetylesterase from influenza C virus has a broad specificity towards both synthetic and natural non-sialic acid-containing substrates. Zn2+, Mn2+ and Pb2+ (as their chloride salts), N-acetylneuraminic acid, 4-methyl-umbelliferone and 2-acetoxybenzoic acid (acetylsalicylic acid) did not act as inhibitors.