The effects of methoxamine, a selective α1-adrenergic receptor agonist, and the autoantibody directed against the second extracellular loop of α1-adrenoceptors were studied on intracellular free Ca 2+ levels using confocal micros- copy and ionic currents using the whole-cell patch clamp technique in single cells of 10-day-old embryonic chick and 20-week-old fetal human hearts. We observed that like methoxamine, the autoantibody directed against the second extracellular loop of α1-adrenoreceptors significantly increased the L-type calcium current ( ICa(L)) but had no effect on the T-type calcium current (ICa(T)), the delayed outward potassium current, or the fast sodium current. This effect of the autoantibody was prevented by a prestimulation of the receptors with methoxamine and vice versa. Moreover, treating the cells with prazosin, a selective α1-adrenergic receptor antagonist blocked the methoxamine and the autoantibody- induced increase in ICa(L), respectively. In absence of prazosin, both methoxamine and the autoantibody showed a sub- stantial enhancement in the frequency of cell contraction and that of the concomitant cytosolic and nuclear free Ca 2+ variations. The subsequent addition of nifedipine, a specific L-type Ca 2+ channel blocker, reversed not only the methoxamine or the autoantibody-induced effect but also completely abolished cell contraction. These results demon- strated that functional α1-adrenoceptors exist in both 10-day-old embryonic chick and 20-week-old human fetal hearts and that the autoantibody directed against the second extracellular loop of this type of receptors plays an important role in stimulating their activity via activation of L-type calcium channels. This loop seems to have a functional signifi- cance by being the target of α1-receptor agonists like methoxamine.


In the last two decades, the trend in healthcare information technology has been towards digital and multimedia concepts. The next generation of healthcare information systems will consist of a vast network of heterogeneous, autonomous and distributed imaging scanners, Hospital Information Systems (HIS), medical information from clinical departments such as Radiology Information Systems (RIS), and large quantities of multimedia medical data held on a range of Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS). Providing an organizational framework that can integrate this varied collection of resources is a key challenge system researchers and developers face. In order to increase the availability of global or previously non-accessible information and to address the demanding new information processing requirements for diverse image-assisted medical applications, there is a need to integrate HIS/RIS data and medical image data of Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS). This paper gives a description of the general requirements for HIS/RIS/PACS integration with reference to prefetching, network and image archives. The main purpose of this paper is to present an architecture to allow not just structured text, such as patient records to be accessed in a distributed environment, but also multimedia data such as PACS images. The system architecture consists of modules that provide kernel functionality (kernel functionality provides distributed access) and modules that are needed to fulfill the requirements of data handling within HIS/PACS. The system architecture will, thus, provide a facility for requesting, decomposing and processing a global query, which allows a clinician to request patient records along with the image associated with patient examinations.


Amniocentesis was performed, and we confirmed the presence of meconium in 3 of them. The fetus with the amniotic fluid clear amniocentesis showed intestinal obstruction with reflux of stomach contents due to the narrow opening of the abdominal wall defect. There was no rupture of the bowel. There were no cases of bowel perforation in the other 24 fetuses. Conclusions: The presence of debris in the amniotic fluid and in the gastric contents, associated with the classic signs of bowel distress, may be an important tool to detect the presence of bowel perforation.


This article examines first impressions through a discursive and interactional lens. Until now, social psychologists have studied first impressions in laboratory conditions, in isolation from their natural environment, thus overseeing their discursive roles as devices for managing situated interactional concerns. I examine fragments of text and talk in which individuals spontaneously invoke first impressions of other persons as part of assessment activities in settings where the authenticity of speakers' stances might be threatened: (1) in activities with inbuilt evaluative components and (2) in sequential contexts where recipients have been withholding affiliation to speakers' actions. I discuss the relationship between authenticity, as a type of credibility issue related to intersubjective trouble, and the characteristics of first impression assessments, which render them useful for dealing with this specific credibility concern. I identify four features of first impression assessments which make them effective in enhancing authenticity: witness positioning (Potter, 1996, Representing reality: Discourse, rhetoric and social construction, Sage, London), (dis)location in time and space, automaticity, and extreme formulations (Edwards, 2003, Analyzing race talk: Multidisciplinary perspectives on the research interview, Cambridge University Press, New York).


The World Flora Online initiative (www.worldfloraonline.org) is a global consortium of many of the world's leading botanical institutions with the aim to offer a worldwide information resource for plant information (Miller 2019). It aggregates information provided by the botanical community, either through specialized information systems or published taxonomic treatments and floras. WFO distinguishes contributions to the Taxonomic Backbone (i.e. the community-curated consensus system of scientific names, taxa, synonyms and their classification) from Content contributions (i.e. descriptive data, images, distribution, etc.). In the course of writing the guidelines for contributors, a format for the electronic submission of these data had to be developed. The expectation was that this would be a comparatively simple task, drawing on existing TDWG standards and using established formats and tools, i.e. Darwin Core Archive, the Integrated Publishing Toolkit and the DwC-A Validator tool. Actually, it was not that simple, as several problems had to be solved. First of all it was somewhat difficult to find authoritative sources on the web for existing data definitions. That solved, the actual definitions were, in some cases not really adequate for use by the botanical community, or a narrower description had to be given, or our portal software (based on the eMonocot portal system developed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew) required a different controlled vocabulary. A decision was taken to follow the DwC naming conventions for data elements, although in some cases the designations - or at least the applications in a checklist context - were patently wrong (e.g. "taxonID" as the identifier for names, including synonyms). For Content contributions, the DwC-A standard star schema was useful, but it was not appropriate for backbone contributions with their multiple relationships e.g., to literature references. This experience underlines the necessity for a coherent documentation of standards (see Blum et al. (2019)), including user-friendly access to definitions, data validation tools and clear guidelines for extensions/subtyping also at the element-level.


OPSOMMING iv ABSTRACT Childhood micronutrient deficiencies have negative effects on cognition. Little is known about the effects of combined consumption of micronutrients and sugar on growth and cognitive function. The aim of this thesis was to 1) investigate the effects of micronutrients and sugar, alone and in combination, in a beverage, on growth and cognition in South African children and 2) review recent evidence on iron status and anaemia prevalence in South African children since the National Food Consumption Survey-Fortification Baseline-2005 (NFCS-FB-2005). Children (n = 408, 6−11 years) were randomly allocated to a beverage containing 1) micronutrients with sugar, 2) micronutrients with non-nutritive sweetener, 3) no micronutrients with sugar, or 4) no micronutrients with non-nutritive sweetener for 8.5 months. Cognition was assessed using sub-tests from the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children-II. Growth was assessed as weight-for-age (WAZ), height-for-age and body-mass-index-for-age z-scores. Relevant internet search engines identified studies reporting iron status of South African children after 2005. Secondary analysis was conducted on NFCS-FB-2005 provincial data for children 7−9 years old. Positive intervention effects were observed for micronutrients (0.76; 95% CI: 0.10, 1.42) and sugar (0.71; 95% CI: 0.05, 1.37) on Atlantis (measure learning ability), and sugar on Rover (measure simultaneous processing) (0.72; 96% CI: 0.08, 1.35) test scores. Attenuating micronutrient x sugar interactions were observed on Atlantis, Number Recall (measure sequential processing) and Rover test performance. Micronutrients or sugar alone lowered WAZ. In combination, this effect was attenuated (significant micronutrient x sugar interaction). Four studies from four different provinces were identified. All reported lower anaemia prevalence than the NFCS-FB-2005 (KwaZulu-Natal (11.5% vs 14.4%), North West (6.9% vs 27%) Western Cape (17.2% vs 18.8%) and Northern Cape (5.4% vs 22.2%). A beverage fortified with micronutrients or added sugar had beneficial effects on cognition, but a lowering effect on WAZ in the children. Unexpectedly, the combination of micronutrients and sugar attenuated these effects. In the identified studies, anaemia prevalence in school-aged children was lower than reported in the NFCS-FB-2005.


Introduction. The development of different ways of identifying hazard of substances, polluting the environment, that are alternative to routine methods for assessing health of different professional groups of people, as well as to tests on laboratory animals, has been assessed and summarized in a number of papers, and there is a growing volume of actual data on this issue. The analyzing pathogenic properties of microflora, isolated from polluted habitats or changed under the effect of pollutants, allows both assessing the risk of diseases with microbial etiology and identifying the influence of modifying factors on this process. Materials and methods. The research was performed on 150 cultures of Klebsiella pneumoniae, exposed to diethanolamine, phenol, sulfuric and nitric acids, taken at the level of their threshold limit value. The same cultures incubated without pollutants were used as a control group. Pathogenic factors were determined with the use of traditional methods, our modified methods (RNAase activity) and standard agents, kits and media. Results. The contact with all the pollutants resulted in a fair increase in adhesive, anti-Ig, lysozyme, anti-lysozyme and RNAase activities of microorganisms, their resistance to antibacterial action of blood serum, as well as to damaging action of lactoferrin. The bacteria increased their ability to synthesize a substance, immunologically similar to human lactoferrin. At the same time, there was a decrease in lipase activity, primarily referred to factors determining the bacterial ability to survive in the environment. Discussion. Therefore, the paper results can be presented as follows: being an independent and holistic section of modern microbiology, bacterial biochemistry unites the issues appeared to be far from each other - changes in factors of pathogenicity and persistence of microorganisms and technogenic changeability of the environment. Being quite urgent today, this problem may become aggravated in the course of further technological progress.


Mobility of users and services and its impact on data replication and migration will be one of the main technical problems to be resolved. In fact, the authors view mobility as probably the most challenging new issue facing distributed systems of the future. The distinct new element which mobility brings into the issues of data replication is system's uncertainty about its own state (meaning primarily location). Thus the cost of communication between two mobile users is dependent not only on the distance between them but also on the cost of search necessary to determine the exact value of location. The authors address some of the questions, by proposing an adaptive replication scheme for mobile data.<<ETX>>


The lexicon plays a crucial role in a speech recognition system. It defines the mapping between the words that the system can recognize and the different ways these words can be pronounced. In this thesis we address various shortcomings of the lexicon with the aim to increase lexical robustness of the speech recognizer. We focus on three aspects of lexical robustness: first we address how words that are not in the lexicon can be recognized, which is also known as the out-ofvocabulary problem. We then investigate how pronunciation variation, especially of non-native speakers, can be handled in the lexicon. Finally, we develop approaches that learn lexical entries from data in a semi-supervised fashion. Like most machine learning techniques, many of our proposed approaches depend on training data to work well. Due to data sparsity we exploit appealing properties inherent to subword modeling to adapt the lexicon in various setups, or use subwords directly as the recognition unit when decoding the speech signal. We evaluate our novel methods in the context of transcription as well as Spoken Term Detection, since both tasks rely significantly on the robustness of the lexicon.


Prayer is central to the Christian life, and therefore to the ecumenical movement. Jesus himself prayed that we 'all may be one' (John 17:21), offering the basis and goal of our search for common confession, witness, service -- and prayer. 'In Gods Hands' offers valuable aids for 'intercessory prayer', prayer on behalf of and in solidarity with others. This book includes prayers and other worship materials from many Christian traditions and communities, enabling the reader to journey in prayer through each week of the year and through all the regions and countries of the world. Descriptions of these nations and peoples help us to pray for others in an informed way, knowing something of their local situations, possibilities and challenges. This book is the long-awaited, complete revision of the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle last issued in 1989. The worship material has been gathered anew, and the country descriptions take into account the momentous religious, cultural and political changes of recent years. Produced under the auspices of the WCCs Faith and Order team, and drawing on all the WCCs worship and editorial resources, this is a rich resource for all who want to be linked in prayer with other Christians, in all their diverse needs and in every land.


The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possibility of producing circulatory arrest by occlusion of the pulmonary trunk as an alternative to the venous inflow occlusion through the left hemithorax. Eight healthy mongrel dogs were divided in two groups. Group I underwent 4 minutes of outflow occlusion and Group II was submitted to 8 minutes of circulatory arrest. Outflow occlusion was performed through left thoracotomy and pericardiotomy by passing a Rumel tourniquet around the pulmonary trunk. Physical examination, electrocardiography, echocardiography, blood gas analyses, hemodynamic, and oxygen transport variables were obtained before and after the procedure. The dogs from Group I did not have any clinical, electrocardiographic, echocardiographic, or hemo-dynamic abnormalities after anesthetic recover. In the Group II, only one dog survived, which had no clinical, electrocardiographic, or echocardiographic abnormalities. In this last dog, just after releasing the occlusion, it was detected increases in the following parameters: heart rate (HR), systolic, diastolic and mean arterial blood pressure (SAP; DAP; MAP), pulmonary artery pressure (PAP), pulmonary wedge pressure (PWP), central venous pressure (CVP), cardiac output (CO), systolic index (SI), cardiac index (CI), left and right ventricular stroke work (LVSW; RVSW), oxygen delivery index (DO2), oxygen consumption index (VO2), and oxygen extraction (O2 ext). Moreover, the oxygen content of arterial and mixed venous blood (CaO2; CvO2), and the arterial and mixed venous partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2; PvO2) were decreased 5 minutes after circulatory arrest. Outflow occlusion is a feasible surgical procedure for period of 4 minutes of circulatory arrest.


In celebration of the World Health Organization's 50th anniversary, this article features WHO's contribution to the world by examining its current activities in the areas of health, human rights, and development. It briefly summarizes events leading to its establishment over the period from 1851 to 1948, which marks the year when WHO assumed its role as a specialized body of the United Nations. Quoting from various articles in WHO's Constitution, it illustrates the principles that prompt its actions and that have led nations to become aware of their potential goals, thus steering them toward a brighter future. A brief overview of the last 20 years ends with the introduction of WHO's new Director General, Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland.


The operating principle of cartridge valve controlled by high-speed on/off valve is expounded, the mathematical models are established on the basis of the principle. The simulation model of system is created in AMEsim. By analyzing the curve charts of spool's displacement and outlet flow rate of cartridge valve, the PWM signal frequency and duty cycle have influences on the control performance of cartridge valve controlled by high-speed on/off valve are concluded. The results show that the cartridge valve can be got good linear control when the input signal is low- frequency and moderate duty cycle.


This article explores the economic issues related to financial crises at insurance companies, using an example from the Great Depression, the National Surety Company. National Surety was a large and diverse American insurance company that experienced a major crisis in 1933 due to losses from its guarantees of mortgage-backed securities. I find that policyholders were able to stage a massive run on the company by demanding the return of their unearned premiums. A key dynamic of the crisis was that policyholders at an insurance company have a dual role as holders of liabilities and as providers of income. In addition, I establish that government officials believed National Surety to be systemically important, due to the size of its insurance business and because many of its counterparties were societal actors that these officials sought to protect. As a result, the New York State Insurance Commissioner used emergency powers to reorganize the company, with the goal of providing continuity to its business lines outside mortgage-backed security insurance.


2',3'-Dideoxyuridine (ddUrd) exhibits poor if any anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) activity in ATH8 and MT-4 cells. This is in agreement with the failure of ddUrd to be efficiently anabolized intracellularly to its 5'-triphosphate metabolite. However, 2',3'-dideoxyuridine-5'-triphosphate (ddUTP) proved to be a potent and selective inhibitor of the reverse transcriptase of HIV (Ki, 0.05 microM) and avian myeloblastosis virus (Ki, 1.0 microM). Bacterial DNA polymerase I, mammalian DNA polymerase alpha, terminal deoxyribonucleotidyl transferase, and Moloney murine leukemia virus reverse transcriptase were resistant to ddUTP. ddUTP is incorporated into the growing DNA chain principally at dTTP sites and inhibits further elongation. The potential of ddUTP as an anti-HIV therapeutic agent merits further investigation. However, to achieve this goal, it will be necessary to resort to techniques capable of delivering preformed phosphorylated ddUrd to the susceptible cells.


Abstract: 'Land', 'Nature', 'Wilderness' and 'the pastoral' all figure largely in conceptions of the American imaginary. They are also key terms in the conception of an ecopoetics. After a brief examination of the history of ecopoetry in America (from Emerson, Thoreau and Whitman through Frost, Berry and Merwin etc), and discussion of why an American poetics might be especially concerned with ecopoetry, this paper will examine in closer detail examples from the work of Gary Snyder, A. R. Ammons, Lorine Niedecker and Lisa Jarnot. It will argue that to read poetry in a post-pastoral age (as Terry Gifford has called it) requires a delicately poised ethics of close-reading, of response and responsibility to the local conditions of the poem. The paper's impulse is therefore to read against, or beyond, the overly romanticising impulse of much contemporary ecocriticism (whilst recognising, as many ecocritics do, the imperatives of asking how ecopoetry might constitute some sort of ecological praxis). If ecopoetry in America has a particular poetic and ethical force then this is because of its ability to draw upon a poetic tradition in which questions of pastoral vs urban space, of open field composition, of ideas vs things, of suspicion about the role of metaphor within a culture that privileges metaphors of space, identity and settlement, haunt the Emersonian proposition that America's very nature is poetic, that 'America is a poem in our eyes'. Ecopoetries in America, then, expose us to the precarious nature of our engagements with the world as both text and real space. They remind us that poetry, like America, involves human uses and transformations of nature, that to read poetry is to act, and that to act is always culturally and ideologically determined.


This paper presents the development of a quasi-homogeneous isenthalpic cavitation flow model, suitably modified to account for thermal cavitation, and its application to the study of plane journal bearings with constant eccentricity. The proposed model treats the cavitating and noncavitating portions of the fluid in a unified manner with the aim of avoiding the use of matching conditions at the phase interface, whose accuracy is questionable in the presence of significant inertial and/or unsteady effects. A non-linear analysis which accounts for the inertia of the lubricant is used to determine the reaction forces caused by the shaft eccentricity both in the viscosity-dominated regime and at intermediate values of the Reynolds number, where the inertia of the lubricant is no longer negligible. The classical iteration method for the Reynolds lubrication equation (Muster and Sternlicht, 1965; Mori and Mori, 1991; Reinhardt and Lund, 1975) has been extended to the two-phase flow case in order to account for flow acceleration effects in the presence of cavitation. Comparison with available experimental data are shown in a number of representative cases, in order to illustrate the validity and the capabilities of the proposed model for the analysis of cavitating flows in journal bearings, in view of its extension to the case of whirling loads and eccentricities


This paper proposes the algorithm of a naturally moving tree animation based on a variety of tree skinning model according to changing realistic wind flows. A variety of tree models are designed on changing branch creation iteration, deviation angle, creation probability, mesh resolution, and bone resolution based on skinning models provided by Game Institute game engine. In order to reflect the change of wind flows, the curve animation is applied to the strength of the wind in the proposed algorithm. The noise wave function is also applied instead of a regular triangular wave function depending on the physical characteristics when the curve animation is stacked from the bottom up to the top branch. Experimental results verify the performance and the operation of the proposed animation according to changing wind flows based on various tree models.


Welcome to the new era of transparency. In 1982 Australia led the world in introducing Freedom of Information laws, but FOI never quite delivered on its promise. Now the laws have been revamped and reformed in a bid to inject a stronger "pro-disclosure" philosophy. It should make it cheaper and easier to get information out of federal bureaucrats, with fewer documents exempt from FOI, and a default position for departments will be to release material when asked to do so. In theory, Australian government will be more transparent and more accountable than ever before. But getting cultural change to match the legal change may prove trickier. For public servants, discretion has long been the name of the game - so, will they embrace the new regime? The man to champion the new era of openness as Information Commissioner is former Commonwealth Ombudsman, Professor John McMillan.


Dielectric response and space charge behaviour of oil-paper insulation sample with different moisture contents were investigated using the frequency dielectric spectroscopy (FDS) and the pulsed electroacoustic (PEA) technique, respectively. The influence of moisture on the dielectric response and space charge behaviour of oil impregnated paper insulation was analysed. Results show that the moisture has great effect on the FDS and space charge behaviour of oil impregnated paper insulation. In the frequency range of 10−2∼106Hz, the conductivity and the capacitance of oil impregnated paper increases with its moisture content. The space charge distribution of oil-paper sample with lower and higher moisture contents is very different from each other. The higher the moisture concentration of the oil impregnated paper, the easier the negative charge penetration into the insulation paper. There is a significant amount of positive charge accumulated at the paper-paper interface near to the cathode for oilpaper sample with lower moisture content. However, the positive charge appears in the middle layer paper for oil-paper sample with higher moisture content. Due to the high conductivity, the charge trapped in the oil-paper sample with higher moisture content disappears much faster than that in the oil-paper sample with lower moisture content after removing the voltage.


The Arab States of the Gulf region have vast reserves of petroleum. The reduction in oil prices since the summer of 2014, and their volatility pose strong challenges to the six economies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). In the present contribution, we argue that, in the long-run, diversified economies perform better than mono-sector economies. Also, innovation and entrepreneurship are key drivers for the diversification and growth of GCC economies. More specifically, in this article we analyze the innovation performance of the GCC economies and we consider their innovation strategies. In addition, we provide an overview of entrepreneurship in the GCC countries to grasp its current state, aiming at identifying the conditions to foster entrepreneurship in order to develop the non-oil private sector. Finally, we discuss the policies that would be required to boost innovation and stimulate entrepreneurship in the Arab States of the Gulf with the aim of diversifying their economies and enhancing their growth.


The applications of carbon nanotubes benefit to a wide range of engineering, applied physics and biomaterials areas for their superior mechanical and electrical properties. Recently, coiled carbon nanotube (CCNT) has opened a new alternative to reinforce traditional advanced composites. Their coiled shapes are considered to induce mechanical interlocking between the nanotubes and matrix which result in the enhancement of fracture toughness and mechanical strength of the composites. In this study, nanomechanical properties of CCNT reinforced epoxy composites with varying weight percentages (0, 1, 3, and 5 wt %) of nanotubes were measured by the nanoindentation technique. Hardness and elastic modulus measurement of the composites were conducted.


This report describes work done during Phase 1 of the subject subcontract. The subcontract was designed to study innovative deposition techniques, such as the rotating cylindrical magnetron sputtering system and electrodeposition for large-area, low-cost copper indium diselenide (CIS) and cadmium telluride (CdTe) devices. A key issue for photovoltaics (PV) in terrestrial and future space applications is producibility, particularly for applications using a large quantity of PV. Among the concerns for fabrication of polycrystalline thin-film PV, such as CIS and CdTe, are production volume, cost, and minimization of waste. Both rotating cylindrical magnetron (C-Mag{trademark}) sputtering and electrodeposition have tremendous potential for the fabrication of polycrystalline thin-film PV due to scaleability, efficient utilization of source materials, and inherently higher deposition rates. In the case of sputtering, the unique geometry of the C-Mae facilitates innovative cosputtering and reactive sputtering that could lead to greater throughput reduced health and safety risks, and, ultimately, lower fabrication cost. Electrodeposited films appear to be adherent and comparable with low-cost fabrication techniques. Phase I involved the initial film and device fabrication using the two techniques mentioned herein. Devices were tested by both internal facilities, as well as NREL and ISET.


Single energy spectrum quantitative CT (SES-QCT) was applied for the assessment of the trabecular bone mineral status in patients under long-term corticosteroid treatment. Seventeen renal graft recipients (RGR) and 12 patients receiving corticosteroid treatment for collagen disease were studied. A reduction of about 40% in the spinal trabecular bone density relative to matched controls was found, associated with the corticosteroid administration. Repeated measurements showed significant reduction in density 4 months after transplantation, and an increase in density after graft rejection. Radiologic or clinical evidence of osteopenia in the spine was not found. Other non-invasive techniques, applied in the upper extremities of the RGR, showed only minor bone reduction compared to controls. The findings of the present study suggest that adipose tissue deposition in the spinal trabeculae can introduce errors in the measurements. Therefore, SES-QCT should not be applied during corticosteroid therapy.


Date Presented 04/06/19
 This study explored a 10-week, equine-facilitated program for cancer survivors living in the community. Unmounted horsemanship activities were followed by guided processing of emotions within a support group. Overall quality of life increased; however quantitative analysis was limited by small sample. Qualitative analysis revealed five themes of human-equine journey, human bond through shared experience, reclaiming positive emotions, nurturing resilience, and evolution of a new identity.
 Primary Author and Speaker: Lynne Murphy
 Additional Authors and Speakers: Brittany Goehmann, Heather Panczykowski


We present the first large dataset of dissolved silicon isotopes signatures (δ30Si) in different tropical rivers, including the Amazon and the Congo, the two largest silicon suppliers to the world ocean. A two-years long monthly series was obtained in the Congo River, upstream of the Kinshasa/Brazzaville urban zone. Spatial and temporal variations in the Amazon River and its main tributaries were studied for one year. Both the Congo and Amazon rivers convey similar mean δ30Si signatures to the ocean (close to +0.8 ), in the range of the few previously published data for those rivers. The Congo River exhibits limited seasonal variations, with the exception of some large δ30Si variations that seem related to the presence of high biogenic silicon content. This could be due to assimilation by diatoms in Pool Malebo, a lake-like widening in the lower reaches of the Congo River upstream of Brazzaville. In contrast, other rivers such as the Mekong (Vietnam) and the Tana (Kenya) can exhibit much heavier δ30Si values of up to +2 . The lightest δ30Si (close to 0 ) are observed in the Congo tributaries characterized by high organic content (black rivers).When comparing data across these different tropical rivers, we observe a strong correlation between δ30Si and pH that could reflect the link between Si isotopic fractionation and different processes including rock weathering and clays formation and dissolution.


Social studies of engineering have dedicated little attention to the question of epistemology. Although considerable attention has been paid to the growth of knowledge in science, surprisingly few authors have considered the development of engineering knowledge, and while much is made of emerging technologies, emerging knowledge is still associated with science, not engineering. This disparity is justified to the extent that science aims at the development of knowledge and understanding, while engineering aims at the making of things. Nonetheless, much is missed by engineering studies devoid of epistemic concerns. This essay develops an epistemological analysis of an emerging field of engineering: synthetic biology. Drawing lessons from Walter Vincenti's historical epistemology of aeronautics, I discuss contemporary knowledge practices in synthetic biology. My argument focuses on: the relationship between theory-based knowledge and empirical experience, the setting of requirements and parameters to guide design and fabrication, and the relationship between engineering knowledge and technological artifacts. Having thoroughly examined each topic, I discuss what this epistemological study teaches us about synthetic biology. Importantly, I consider the role that knowledge-making plays in the emergence of engineering disciplines. Finally, I note implications for broader work in engineering studies and posit directions for future research.


The spatial impacts of the post-Mao development strategy are examined at the local level from various perspectives using the Zhujiang Delta, southern China as a case. The findings of this article suggest that the overall growth performance during the period from 1978 to 1992 has been extremely strong, in spite of fluctuating and uneven development between industrial and agricultural sectors. As a result of economic reform and the open door policy, particularly of free market forces, the spatial economic pattern changed from one in which Guangzhou monopolized the development to one that became dominated by two core areas after 1985. Moreover, the spatial relationship between the industrial and agricultural sectors has evolved into a new, balanced sectoral development pattern from place to place. Finally, in keeping with Chinese classical socialist development objectives, regional disparity in the delta since 1978 has shown a tendency to decline. Copyright Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishers Ltd 1998.


An MCU based programmable frequency detector was developed and relative tests were carried out. The detector used few elements which are very common and cheap, one MCU which has only 8 pins and with small dimension, one Schimidt trigger, one D type flip-flop and several resistors and capacitors. Cost for the detector is very low. Besides hardware work, software program has played very important role in the detector. By adjusting program parameters, different frequency can be detected and detecting band width can also be adjusted. Program flow chart is given in this thesis. Test shows that the detector is stable and sensitive and is suitable for different applications, e.g. over power line data transmission, etc. This paper introduces theory of the detector, hardware design and the software programming.


To facilitate the study of the molecular events underlying the development of optic-nerve-derived oligodendrocytes and their growth-factor-related signal transduction events, we immortalized perinatal rat optic nerve cells with a temperature-sensitive simian virus 40 large T-antigen, carrying the tsA58 and U19 mutations, via a retrovirus vector. The line, tsU19-9, was selected on the basis of the expression of the neural precursor marker nestin. At the permissive temperature, 33 degreesC, tsU19-9 cells had a flat epithelial morphology. In contrast, following exposure to platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), a factor important in the lineage progression of oligodendrocytes, or in the presence of dibutyryl cyclic AMP at 39 degreesC (the non-permissive temperature), the cells underwent morphological and antigenic differentiation to cells characteristic of the oligodendrocyte lineage. We used this cell line to investigate the binding characteristics of PDGF and related signalling cascades. Competition binding, phosphoinositide hydrolysis and intracellular Ca2+ mobilization assays all demonstrated that the three different isoforms of PDGF (AA, AB and BB) bound to and acted on the cell line. Overnight exposure to forskolin, a treatment that initiated morphological and phenotypic progression into an oligodendrocyte lineage, decreased PDGF-BB-induced intracellular Ca2+ mobilization and inhibited basal and PDGF-stimulated [3H]thymidine incorporation. Our results demonstrate that tsU19-9 may serve as a resource to study early optic-nerve oligodendrocyte development.


In this chapter it will be discussed how data from Field Operational Tests of Intelligent Transport Systems can be managed and shared. The Field Operational Tests, where hundreds of users get to experience the latest systems, aim to assess the impacts that would result from a wide-scale implementation. Evaluation principles of Field Operational Tests will be explained, and a closer look will be taken at the data that is collected for carrying out the assessments. The widely used FESTA methodology for designing and conducting Field Operational Tests and Naturalistic Driving Studies already provides several recommendations for managing data. This methodology will be discussed and illustrated by examples of its use in European projects. As field test projects set out to collect a huge set of data, the projects themselves do not usually have the scope or the resources to analyze the data from every perspective. Therefore re-use of the collected data also by other projects with different research questions has the potential to generate a wealth of new knowledge about what is happening in the interactions between drivers, vehicles and the infrastructure. Data sharing is the focus of a European support action, FOT-Net Data. The support action is working, with international collaboration, to form a data sharing framework, a data catalogue, and provide detailed recommendations for *Corresponding author: firstname.lastname@example.com 60 Intelligent Transportation Systems: From Good Practices to Standards sharing and re-use. Outcomes from this activity will be discussed. Ways of sharing different types of data will be described, including the necessary steps to be taken to open up the data.


In this work we study open-ended evolution through the analysis of a new model, HetCA, for "heterogeneous cellular automata". Striving for simplicity, HetCA is based on classical two-dimensional CA, but differs from them in several key ways: cells include properties of "age", "decay", and "quiescence"; cells utilize a heterogeneous transition function, one inspired by genetic programming; and there exists a notion of genetic transfer between adjacent cells. The cumulative effect of these changes is the creation of an evolving ecosystem of competing cell colonies. To evaluate the results of our new model, we define a measure of phenotypic diversity on the space of cellular automata. Via this measure, we contrast HetCA to several controls known for their emergent behaviours---homogeneous CA and the Game of Life---and several variants of our model. This analysis demonstrates that HetCA has a capacity for long-term phenotypic dynamics not readily achieved in other models. Runs exceeding one million time steps do not exhibit stagnation or even cyclic behaviour. Further, we show that the design choices are well motivated, as the exclusion of any one of them disrupts the long-term dynamics.


The purpose of this research study was to investigate the success of Online Access Centres in attracting micro business operators in their local communities to adopt online technologies. To answer the research question, a quantitative research approach was adopted, which involved the utilisation of a self-administered web-based questionnaire.

Due to the many barriers to the uptake of e-commerce small businesses are facing, small businesses in rural Tasmania (especially micro-sized) can benefit from the services of Online Access Centres (OACs). Online Access Centres run general awareness and educational programs and affordable web development and hosting services to address the common barriers to the uptake of e-commerce facing small businesses such as lack of awareness and fear of setup and management fees.

Different industry sectors' usage of Online Centres and facilities reflects certain characteristics of industries that have heavier reliance on information than other industry sectors and are more likely to benefit from online technologies. The extent to which centres are able to encourage small businesses to adopt online technologies depends on the adequacy of OACs resources and facilities and the marketing approach (strategies) of OACs.


A new and versatile approach for the stereospecific iodination of alkynes using cheap, air stable and non-toxic reagents in aqueous media has been developed. This protocol is tolerant of various functional groups, and provides a broad range of vicinal diiodoalkenes with exceptional E-selectivity under mild conditions. Scale-up reactions (up to 5 g) established the proficiency of this protocol and highlight the feasibility of large scale reactions.


In the hybrid micro grid, processes of multiple dc-ac dc or ac-dc-ac conversions are reduced in an individual ac or dc grid. The hybrid grid consists of both ac and dc networks connected together by multi directional converters. In this micro grid network, it is especially difficult to support the critical load without incessant power supply. The generated power can be extracted under varying temperature, solar irradiation level and can be stored in batteries at low power demands. In this paper, a fuzzy logic control based hybrid AC-DC micro grid with solar energy, energy storage, and a pulse load is proposed. This micro grid can be viewed as a PEV parking garage power system or a ship's power system that utilizes sustainable energy and is influenced by a pulse load. The battery banks inject or absorb energy on the DC bus to regulate the DC side voltage. The frequency and voltage of the AC side are regulated by a bidirectional AC-DC inverter. The power flow control of these devices serves to increase the system's stability and robustness. The system is simulated in MATLAB/SIMULINK.


In this study, I identify the determinants and dynamics of cross border bank loans in Turkey. The used dataset includes the cross border loans of all banks in Turkey between December 2002 and December 2014. Firstly, I determine the dynamics of cross border bank loans on the basis of bank-speci c, national and global liquidity indicators. According to results, banks that have large size, high return on asset ratio, more credit in their portfolio and low deposit ratio are borrowing more. Non-performing loan ratio and capital structure of banks do not have significant effects on cross border bank loans. Only BIST repo o/n interest rate among national variables has signi cant effect on cross border bank loans. Real credit growth of banks in US and Euro Area, money supply growth rate of four financial centers(US, EA, UK, Japan), and the balance sheet size of Fed are the global determinants of cross border bank loans in Turkey. Secondly, the lender banks' characteristics are important with regards to vulnerability and a liated loans have less vulnerable structure than non-a liated loans. Thirdly, I show that the sensitivity of cross border bank loans to some global factors decreased after the last quarter of 2010 and hence macro-prudential policies in Turkey have been successful to increase the resilience of Turkish economy to cross-border bank ows. Lastly, I analyze the effects of Fed's balance sheet, which is the indicator for quantitative easing or expansionary monetary policies, on cross border bank loans in Turkey. Cross border bank loans have increased signi cantly as a result of Fed's quantitative easing policies. These policies also have significant effect on each cross-border bank loan types. The types of credit, repo, deposits, syndicated and securitization are a ected more by quantitative easing policies, respectively. Moreover, banks that have relatively small asset size, weak capital structure, low return on asset ratio and liquid asset ratio have been affected more positively by the Fed's quantitative easing policies. I conclude that they could not borrow at the desired level during illiquid period due to their underwhelming ratios, however they started to search for yield and borrow more easily during liquid period due to the Fed's quantitative easing policies.


This essay is an ethnographic analysis of the violent world of translation in Kabul, Afghanistan, and the provinces referred to in the general idiom of "the countryside" by Afghan translators who encounter rural subjects as part of an international military campaign. It begins with the tragedy of translation as an elegiac matter of the heart closing, and it attempts to understand the metaphor of closure alongside that of strangeness and (un)translatability in a series of encounters that take us into the heart of death-dealing and wartime representation as the encounter between foreign languages.


This paper describes an object-oriented simulation approach for the design of a production system that is primarily focused on data exchange between system models of one manufacturer. Article deals with Plant Simulation software utilization for production systems modelling. The paper emphasizes the option of production process optimization and data exchange between models. Also the model can be utilized to predict the production sequence in a short period of time. There is also emphasized the global point of view to optimization of a system. The simulation issue is solved by fundamental construction of system models, which require data exchange. Furthermore the model functions for data exchange in Plant Simulation are programmed. The contribution that we described in this article is the introduction of the possibilities of simulation programs for production optimization.


The purpose of this project is to develop a parking system that can solve the
problem regarding the availability of parking space with high efficiency through
application of microprocessor. The objective of this project is to develop a prototype
which is fully functional, usable and can sufficiently accurate follow the available
number of free space. This parking system will be able to detect and count the incoming
and outgoing vehicles (cars/vans) at a parking space and at the same time each of the
parking lot will provide some indicators to indicate the availability of the parking area.
In addition, this research also includes the mechanism on how the FULL indicator will
be triggered by a chosen metal detector. As an early indication for available parking
space, a screen will be posted in front of the ticket machine as a way to visualize and
information medium to drivers. This screen will be used Visual Basic software to design
the required output that should be display on the screen and the display will be updated
time to time depend on the availability of parking space. Furthermore, the drivers
therefore can decide which parking lot area that he will be able to park. Once the vehicle
is parked, a sensor that placed over the parking lot will mark the parking lot is occupied
and activate the suitable indicator.


This paper presents a simulation model to determine the impact of increased truck traffic entering and exiting the container terminal at the Alabama State Docks in Mobile, AL. Of special interest was the number of truck locations required to process the truck traffic and the possible use of trains to reduce the truck traffic entering and exiting the container terminal. Truck locations are used in the ProcessModel to control the maximum number of trucks in the container terminal. As a result, the number of truck locations is an important measure of the amount of space needed within the terminal. The Baseline Run1 had fifty trucks, or resources. Runs2-6 continually reduced the number of truck locations available. It appears that with the existing entity arrival rates only ten truck locations are necessary. The results with ten truck locations were identical to the results with fifty truck locations. The number of locations will probably have to increase if there is an increase in container traffic. The simulation results indicated that the container terminal would have a significant impact of truck traffic in and out of Mobile. A ship arriving every four days (or about seven ships a month) with an average of 450 containers for import and 350 containers for export will require about 350 trucks to bring in containers for export and another 450 trucks to move the incoming containers inland. This traffic volume will occur every four days, which is the time between arrivals of ships. Run3 estimated 4,400 trucks a month (or 220 per day) will be added to the interstate traffic in Mobile with the arrival of a container ship every four days. The addition of train service to the container terminal will reduce the truck traffic servicing the terminal. The simulation results for Run7 indicated at 18% reduction in truck traffic with a train arriving every five days. The arrival of a train every three days in Run8 had a 31% reduction in truck traffic. For every container that arrives on a train a truck is removed from delivering a container to the terminal. Also for every container that arrives on a ship and leaves the terminal on train a truck is removed from the Mobile road network. Included in this paper are a description of the simulation model, the experiment and an analysis of the simulation results.


This paper reports facile and cost effective methods for fabricating MoS2 nanosheets and for assembling layered MoS2-graphene nanocomposites. The MoS2 nanosheets were obtained by ultrasonicating commercial MoS2 powder in N-methyl-pyrrolidinone (NMP). The MoS2-graphene nanocomposites were assembled by the vacuum assisted filtration of a mixture of the MoS2 nanosheets and graphene nanosheets suspended in NMP and water, respectively. In the nanocomposites, the MoS2 nanosheets are dispersed between the graphene nanosheets, and vice versa. When used as anodes for LIBs, the MoS2 nanosheets greatly outperform the MoS2 powder; however, they still suffer severe capacity deterioration due to the poor electric conductivity and the obvious structural failure. Excellent performances were observed in the MoS2-graphene nanocomposites. For the 60Mo-80GN sample, the reversible capacities are held stably at ∼650, ∼550 and ∼500 mAh g−1 at 500, 1000 and 20000 mA g−1, respectively. It is concluded that for the MoS2-graphene nanocomposites, MoS2 is the key component accommodating Li ions, and graphene improves the electric conductivity and maintains the structural stability for the MoS2 nanosheets. These findings prove that ultrasonication combined with the vacuum assisted filtration is a scale-up approach to fabricate MoS2-graphene based layered nanocomposites with excellent Li storage capacity.


Two fossil representatives of the extant genus Ankothrips are described from French amber, namely, the Late Cretaceous Ankothrips dupeae sp. nov., from Vendean amber, and the earliest Eocene Ankothrips deploegi sp. nov., from Oise amber. We discuss the differences between the middle Eocene Baltic amber genus Archankothrips and Ankothrips, concluding that the two genera are extremely similar with only one significant difference in male specimens. The disjunctive distribution of the extant species along with the presence of one Late Cretaceous species strongly suggest an Early Cretaceous origin for Ankothrips. The genus is therefore very ancient and has had a remarkable morphological stability for the last 94 million years. This situation is unique among the Cretaceous thrips, and rare among insects (only c. 3% of the genera in the well‐documented mid‐Cretaceous Burmese amber are still extant). We propose some hypotheses that could explain the stability of Ankothrips through time.


The capital market is one alternative that can be utilized to meet the needs ofcorporate funds. Stock players or investor needs to have some information relating to thedynamics of stock prices in order to make decisions on the worth of company stock that ischosen. In this research, the researcher took several factors that could influence stock prices. Inthis research, researcher took LQ45 because they were most active from many other companies.This research used a correlation research type with the characteristics of the problem that wascorrelational relationship or influence of two or more variables. This type of research was acorrelation study. In this case it was an analysis of the influence of the Net Profit Margin(NPM), Return On Assets (ROA) and Return On Equity (ROE) of the Stock Price. From the testresults that was made in 2008-2010, LQ45 got results that simultaneously Profit Net Margin(NPM) (X1), Return On Assets (ROA) (X2) and Return On Equity (ROE) (X3) had a significantinfluence on Stock Price (Y) of 5.636, while partially it got a result that the variables thatinfluence the stock price were Return On Assets (ROA) (X2) and Return On Equity (ROE) (X3)and NPM variable (X1) had no influence. Keywords : Net Profit Margin (NPM), Return On Assets (ROA), Return On Equity (ROE), StockPrice


A six-legged vehicle with a simple leg mechanism and eight degrees of freedom is presented in this article. Dynamic simulations are carried out. The results from the simulations indicate that it has an advantage over others


The ethical dilemmas and predominant frameworks surrounding decision making for critically ill newborns have evolved substantially over the last 40 years. A shared decision-making approach is now favored, involving an exchange of information between parents and clinicians that emphasizes parental values and preferences, resulting in a personalized approach to decision making. In this review, we summarize the history of clinical decision making with a focus on the NICU, highlight different models of decision making, describe the advantages and current limitations of shared decision making, and discuss the ongoing and future challenges of decision making in the NICU amidst medical innovations and emerging technologies.


A data stream is a continuous and high-speed flow of data items. High speed refers to the phenomenon that the data rate is high relative to the computational power. The increasing focus of applications that generate and receive data streams stimulates the need for online data stream analysis tools. Mining data streams is a real time process of extracting interesting patterns from high-speed data streams. Mining data streams raises new problems for the data mining community in terms of how to mine continuous high-speed data items that you can only have one look at. In this paper, we propose algorithm output granularity as a solution for mining data streams. Algorithm output granularity is the amount of mining results that fits in main memory before any incremental integration. We show the application of the proposed strategy to build efficient clustering, frequent items and classification techniques. The empirical results for our clustering algorithm are presented and discussed which demonstrate acceptable accuracy coupled with efficiency in running time.


Field experiments were conducted at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore to study the weed and crop phytotoxicity and soil weed seed bank of transgenic stacked maize hybrids named Hishell and 900 M Gold and the treatments were, glyphosate as early post emergence application (POE) at 900, 1800 and 3600 g a.e ha-1 compared with non-transgenic counterpart maize hybrids applied with pre-emergence (PE) atrazine at 0.5 kg ha-1 followed by one hand weeding (HW) on 40 DAS and with and without insect management. The results revealed that the rate of phytotoxicity development and time to destruction of weeds was increased over the increase of glyphosate doses from 900 g a.e ha-1 to 3600 g a.e ha-1 without affecting the crop growth. Post emergence application of glyphosate at 900 and 1800 g a.e ha-1 in herbicide tolerant transgenic maize resulted in more number of bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes. Whereas, in higher dose (3600 g a.e ha-1) initial reduction of microbial population was observed and it recovered within 45 days after glyphosate spraying. PE application of atrazine exerted a significant detrimental effect on soil bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes and reduced the microbial count in herbicide treated plots upto 30 DAHS. Thereafter, microbial population started to recover slowly.


Abstract: Current approaches to ovarian stimulation for in vitro fertilization (IVF) are aimed at optimizing the number of oocytes retrieved in a treatment cycle. This approach is not without risks. Moreover, as the true costs of multiple pregnancy become clearer, the need to produce multiple embryos for transfer is increasingly questioned. Increasing knowledge of the physiological mechanisms involved in follicular development and dominance has led to new strategies in ovarian stimulation for IVF. The clinical availability of GnRH antagonists allows the normal cycle to be harnessed and manipulated by mild interventions to produce sufficient oocytes for successful IVF treatment. Recent evidence suggests that oocyte quality after mild stimulation may be superior to that after conventional stimulation regimens.


The continuing growth of managed care and payers' growing preference for working with integrated systems require medical groups of all sizes to examine their options. A Cincinnati multispecialty group developed a network--in partnership with community physicians--that may serve as a model for other evolving managed care markets. To provide geographic coverage and cost effectiveness, the group created a network of more than 350 primary care and specialty physicians to serve as the delivery system for three capitated payers. The system is based on subcapitation and aligned incentives. These enable the multispecialty group to deliver a wide array of specialty services cost effectively and allows subspecialty and primary care groups to benefit from this tie to a multispecialty provider. The groups approached to participate in the subcapitated network were selected carefully and chosen according to objective criteria. The system provides incentives for physicians to increase their efficiency and to work cooperatively to improve patient care processes. The subcapitated network physicians are represented on many of the system's quality improvement committees and have generally found the arrangement to be favorable.


Moringa oleifera Lam. or munga is one of the most important plant widely cultivated in India. It belongs to family Moringaceae. This plant is widely used as nutritional herb and contains valuable pharmacological action like anti-asthmatic, anti-diabetic, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, anti- fertility, anti-cancer, anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, cardiovascular, anti-ulcer, CNS activity, anti-allergic, wound healing, analgesic, and antipyretic activity, Moringa oleifera Lam. The plant is also known as Horse - radish tree, Drumstick tree. Every part of this plant contains a valuable medicinal feature. It contain rich source of the vitamin A, vitamin C and milk protein. Different types of active phytoconstituents like alkaloids, protein, quinine, saponins, flavonoids, tannin, steroids, glycosides, fixed oil and fats are present. This plant is also found in the tropical regions. Some other constituents are niazinin A, niazinin B and niazimicin A, niaziminin B. The present review discusses the phytochemical composition, medicinal uses & pharmacological activity of this plant.


In March 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted education nationwide. To safely deliver in-person classes, Purdue University contracted One-to-One Health, creating the Protect Purdue Health Center (PPHC). The PPHC was a central location for information, testing, and case management for Purdue students, staff, faculty and their dependents. Contact tracing is a proven public health measure that has been utilized to control the spread of infectious diseases by identifying and isolating potential active cases. The communicative nature of contact tracing, along with its need for clinical decision-making skills makes the student pharmacist an ideal candidate for aiding in this pandemic response. In an effort to support the PPHC in navigating the necessary protocols to keep Purdue open, operating, and safe, the College of Pharmacy formed Experiences in Public Health, a service-learning course which enrolled ten student pharmacists. The students served as contact tracers, participated in group discussions surrounding emerging COVID-19 health information, and reflected on their experiences as members of the community. As contact tracers, they aimed to decrease secondary spread of COVID-19 by identifying and following-up with close contacts of lab-confirmed cases, educating on quarantine/isolation protocols, and scheduling tests for those with symptoms or exposure history. Active participation in a pandemic response is a meaningful opportunity for professional growth in patient-centered care and communication. Students actively improved upon skills taught in the Doctor of Pharmacy program such as motivational interviewing, active listening, and open communication to fulfill their role as contact tracers. Additionally, the students gained proficiency in patient education and clinical decision-making, and through class discussions, enhanced their abilities to answer COVID-19-related questions with scientific resources. Through volunteering at the PPHC and engagement in peer-led topic discussions, the Experiences In Public Health service-learning course allowed student pharmacists to apply professional skills to become an active force in mitigating the spread of COVID-19. This service-learning opportunity provided several key takeaways. Student pharmacists who participated in this initiative attest that they are more comfortable providing patient care, better able to handle a rapidly developing clinical situation, and further prepared for their future careers in various fields of pharmacy practice.


The small-scale CMB temperature we observe on the sky is modulated by perturbations that were super-horizon at recombination, giving differential focussing and lensing that generate a non-zero bispectrum even for single-field inflation where local physics is identical. Understanding this signal is important for primordial non-Gaussianity studies and also parameter constraints from the CMB lensing bispectrum signal. Because of cancellations individual effects can appear larger or smaller than they are in total, so a full analysis may be required to avoid biases. I relate angular scales on the sky to physical scales at recombination using the optical equations, and give full-sky results for the large-scale adiabatic temperature bispectrum from Ricci focussing (expansion of the ray bundle), Weyl lensing (convergence and shear), and temperature redshift modulations of small-scale power. The delta N expansion of the beam is described by the constant temperature 3-curvature, and gives a nearly-observable version of the consistency relation prediction from single-field inflation. I give approximate arguments to quantify the likely importance of dynamical effects, and argue that they can be neglected for modulation scales l <~ 100, which is sufficient for lensing studies and also allows robust tests of local primordial non-Gaussianity using only the large-scale modulation modes. For accurate numerical results early and late-time ISW effects must be accounted for, though I confirm that the late-time non-linear Rees-Sciama contribution is negligible compared to other more important complications. The total corresponds to f_NL ~ 7 for Planck-like temperature constraints and f_NL ~ 11 for cosmic-variance limited data to lmax=2000. Temperature lensing bispectrum estimates are affected at the 0.2 sigma level by Ricci focussing, and up to 0.5 sigma with polarization.


Background: β-catenin, depending on subcellular localization, plays a dual role in carcinogenesis: as a signaling factor (in the nucleus) and as an adhesion molecule (in cell membrane). In this study, we sought to determine the role of β-catenin in head and neck carcinogenesis. Methods: First, we studied the incidence of mutations of β-catenin in a cohort of 60 head and neck squamous cell cancers (HNSCC). We subsequently evaluated the protein expression levels of β-catenin in a cohort of oropharyngeal squamous cell cancer tissue microarray using a novel in situ method of quantitative protein analysis and correlated those with cyclin D1 levels and clinical and pathologic data. Results: The mean follow-up time for survivors was 45 months and for all patients was 35 months. We found no mutations in the cohort of 60 HNSCC. β-catenin displayed primarily membranous expression pattern. Patients with high tumor-node-metastasis stage were more likely to have high expression of β-catenin (P = 0.040). Patients with low β-catenin expression had a local recurrence rate of 79% compared with 29% for patients with high β-catenin tumors (P = 0.0021). Univariate Cox regression revealed a hazard ratio for low β-catenin tumors of 3.6 (P = 0.004). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that patients with low β-catenin expressing tumors trended toward worse 5-year disease-free survival (P = 0.06). In multivariate analysis, only β-catenin expression status was an independent prognostic factor (P = 0.044) for local recurrence. Tumors with high β-catenin had low cyclin D1 and vice versa (P = 0.007). Conclusions: The absence of activating β-catenin mutations combined with the inverse correlation between β-catenin levels with cyclin D1 levels and outcome suggest that β-catenin mainly functions as an adhesion and not signaling molecule in HNSCC.


The Tearfund report Silent No More (2011) challenges the worldwide church to respond to sexual violence in conflicts. This article argues that a church response should have pastoral, biblical and theological dimensions. Starting with the Silent No More report it examines the prevalence of sexual violence in conflict and the silence of the churches on this subject. Building on feminist readings of sexual violence in biblical narratives it then explores sexual violence referenced in the death of Saul (I Samuel 31) alongside news reports of the death of Muammar Gaddafi in October 2011. It also suggests that sexual violence is a key to understanding the scandal of the cross and the death of Jesus of Nazareth. It concludes that if biblical scholars and theologians give more attention to sexual violence within the bible they can offer positive help towards a more constructive response to sexual violence by the churches.


We revisit foundational questions in agency theory while assuming that the agent can fine-tune the joint distribution of all contractible and non-contractible performance measures. Under this assumption, optimal contracts behave as if the principal were making inferences about the outcome she values rather than about the agent's action. This has significant implications for what measures are included in contracts and how those measures are used. Most importantly, Holmström's (1979) informativeness principle changes. A performance measure is valuable if it improves inferences not about the agent's action, but about the outcome the principal values; and if that outcome is contractible, additional measures have no value. Our model predicts that contracts should be written only on outcomes that firm owners value, consistent with real-world contracts that tie executive pay to only a handful of accounting, market, or nonfinancial measures.


We are living in an electronic age, where everything that we want to know or are curious about is increasingly facilitated by the internet and search engines. Now, much of the world's knowledge is at our fingertips. Students have unlimited access to information in the form of e-books, journals and other open sources. The value of a physical repository of knowledge is diminishing and the printing of material is becoming less compelling. It has been noted that college students spend as much time on the internet as they do while studying (Jones, 2002). The most pertinent question is whether the library is still considered an important source of information to students? Can we imagine a university without a library with just computers and a server room? The information highway is posing new challenges that the librarians have to deal with (Dunn, 2002; Rockman & Smith, 2002). In the past, gatekeepers like the librarian decided what a student should read, depending on their level of study and their comprehension power. The picture has altered and now students decide what exactly they should read with the click of their computers. Leaders in higher 4 ENAKSHI SENGUPTA ET AL. education institutions are skeptical as to how much they should actually invest in buying books, how many shelves to create to stack them and whether the collection of books is going to be an indicator of the academic quality of that institution. This book talks about a vital subject as to how much and in what ways a library can engage a student to create information literacy. Various interventions have been discussed as case studies in colleges and universities from Canada to India. Student-centered workshops have been designed along with university partnerships with a writing center as well as the role of a library as a source of socio-economic transformation in Africa. The experiences shared by the authors in this book will be a valuable resource for librarians across the world as they increase their collaborative efforts to promote the value of information literacy for students.


The thesis of this article is that a small country with a below-average per capita income is in a disadvantaged macroeconomic position inside the euro area. Small middle-income countries expected an acceleration of growth by joining the EMU. They were hoping to catch up in the convergence process within the euro area. Yet things turned out differently. The crisis in 2009–2012 has led to excessive instability due to exogenous macroeconomic prices and the lack of a lender of last resort for sovereign debtors. Small MICs are more vulnerable to asymmetric shocks from abroad due to the 'one-size-fits-all' economic policy at the EMU level. This is reflected in the excessive volatility of real economic variables (such as GDP and unemployment), and excessive financial instability (such as indebtedness) and sovereign debt. The crisis also revealed weak price competitiveness of exports due to overvalued exchange rate of the euro and overall under-average productivity of the MICs. MICs had to respond with deflationary internal (surrogate) devaluations and depressed aggregate demand. Measures of internal surrogate devaluations may partially improve situation in the medium term, yet they may worsen the competitive growth situation in the long run. A macroeconomic environment of macroeconomic instability and weak competitiveness may trigger a slowdown in growth.


Background The COVID-19 pandemic is commonly believed to have increased common mental disorders (CMD, i.e., depression and anxiety), either directly due to COVID-19 contractions (death of near ones or residual conditions), or indirectly by increasing stress, economic uncertainty, and disruptions in daily life resulting from containment measure. Whereas studies reporting on initial changes in self-reported data frequently have reported increases in CMD, pandemic related changes in CMD related to primary care utilization are less well known. Analyzing time series of routinely and continuously sampled primary healthcare data from Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, and Latvia, we aimed to characterize the impact of the pandemic on CMD recorded prevalence in primary care. Furthermore, by relating these changes to country specific time-trajectories of two classes of containment measures, we evaluated the differential impact of containment strategies on CMD rates. Specifically, we wanted to test whether school restrictions would preferentially affect age groups corresponding to those of school children or their parents. Methods For the four investigated countries, we collected time-series of monthly counts of unique CMD patients in primary healthcare from the year 2015 (or 2017) until 2021. Using pre-pandemic timepoints to train seasonal Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) models, we predicted healthcare utilization during the pandemic. Discrepancies between observed and expected time series were quantified to infer pandemic related changes. To evaluate the effects of COVID-19 measures on CMD related primary care utilization, the predicted time series were related to country specific time series of levels of social distancing and school restrictions. Results In all countries except Latvia there was an initial (April 2020) decrease in CMD care prevalence, where largest drops were found in Sweden (Prevalence Ratio, PR = 0.85; 95% CI 0.81–0.90), followed by Netherlands (0.86; 95% CI 0.76–1.02) and Norway (0.90; 95% CI 0.83–0.98). Latvia on the other hand experienced increased rates (1.25; 95% CI 1.08–1.49). Whereas PRs in Norway and Netherlands normalized during the latter half of 2020, PRs stayed low in Sweden and elevated in Latvia. The overall changes in PR during the pandemic year 2020 was significantly changed only for Sweden (0.91; 95% CI 0.90–0.93) and Latvia (1.20; 95% CI 1.14–1.26). Overall, the relationship between containment measures and CMD care prevalence were weak and non-significant. In particular, we could not observe any relationship of school restriction to CMD care prevalence for the age groups best corresponding to school children or their parents. Conclusion Common mental disorders prevalence in primary care decreased during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in all countries except from Latvia, but normalized in Norway and Netherlands by the latter half of 2020. The onset of the pandemic and the containment strategies were highly correlated within each country, limiting strong conclusions on whether restriction policy had any effects on mental health. Specifically, we found no evidence of associations between school restrictions and CMD care prevalence. Overall, current results lend no support to the common belief that the pandemic severely impacted the mental health of the general population as indicated by healthcare utilization, apart from in Latvia. However, since healthcare utilization is affected by multiple factors in addition to actual need, future studies should combine complementary types of data to better understand the mental health impacts of the pandemic.


This study analyses digital inclusion in secondary education in the Tarija School District in the Plurinational State of Bolivia for the 2012-2013 school year, using the indicators in the Plan of Action for the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean (Plan of Action elac). This is an exploratory and descriptive analysis based on a sample of 311 students, 108 teachers and 15 school principals. According to the findings, teenagers use the Internet to look for information and entertainment; the expansion of mobile technology among them offers numerous educational opportunities; and insufficient training for teachers on how to integrate information and communications technologies (icts) into the learning process is a top challenge. The existence of icts in schools has been confirmed, but not their use. Local and national efforts are helping to reduce the digital divide and promote equality of opportunity for young people.


We present here a new stochastic modelling approach in the constitution of fluid flow reduced-order models. This framework introduces a spatially inhomogeneous random field to represent the unresolved small-scale velocity component. Such a decomposition of the velocity in terms of a smooth large-scale velocity component and a rough, highly oscillating component gives rise, without any supplementary assumption, to a large-scale flow dynamics that includes a modified advection term together with an inhomogeneous diffusion term. Both of those terms, related respectively to turbophoresis and mixing effects, depend on the variance of the unresolved small-scale velocity component. They bring an explicit subgrid term to the reduced system which enables us to take into account the action of the truncated modes. Besides, a decomposition of the variance tensor in terms of diffusion modes provides a meaningful statistical representation of the stationary or non-stationary structuration of the small-scale velocity and of its action on the resolved modes. This supplies a useful tool for turbulent fluid flow data analysis. We apply this methodology to circular cylinder wake flow at Reynolds numbers $Re=100$ and $Re=3900$ . The finite-dimensional models of the wake flows reveal the energy and the anisotropy distributions of the small-scale diffusion modes. These distributions identify critical regions where corrective advection effects, as well as structured energy dissipation effects, take place. In providing rigorously derived subgrid terms, the proposed approach yields accurate and robust temporal reconstruction of the low-dimensional models.


The main objective of this dissertation is to introduce a framework for two-stage adaptive procedures in which the blind is broken at the end of Stage I. Using our framework, it is possible to control many aspects of an experiment including the Type I error rate, power and maximum total sample size. Our framework also enables us to compare different procedures under the same formulation. We conduct an ANOVA type study to learn the effects of different components of the design specification on the performance characteristics of the resulting design. In addition, we consider conditions for the monotonicity of the power function of a two-stage adaptive procedure.To foster the practicality of our framework, two extensions are considered. The first one is an application of our framework to the settings with unequal sample sizes. We show how to design a two-stage adaptive procedure having unequal sample sizes for the treatment and control groups. Also we illustrate how to modify an ongoing two-stage adaptive trial when some observations are missing in Stage I and/or in Stage II. Second, we extend the framework to unknown population variance. Our framework can construct a design that incorporates updating the variance estimate at the end of Stage I and modifies the design of Stage II accordingly. All the procedures we present protect the Type I error rate and allow specification of the power and the maximum sample size.We also consider the problem of switching design objectives between testing noninferiority and testing superiority. Our framework can be used to design a two-stage adaptive procedure that simultaneously tests both noninferiority and superiority hypotheses with controlled error probabilities. The sample size for Stage I is chosen for the main study objective, but that objective may be switched for Stage II based on the unblinded observations from Stage I. Our framework offers a technique to specify certain design criteria such as the various Type I error rates, power and maximum sample sizes.


Early mobilization is the gold standard for achieving functional mobility after arthroplasty. The value of additional interventions to improve range of motion during the immediate inpatient period is not proven. Home is the preferred discharge destination and yields similar outcomes compared with inpatient rehabilitation. It is possible to improve outcomes related to physical activity by implementing exercise programs carried out at home or in groups. Knee arthroplasty possibly requires more rehabilitation than hip arthroplasty to achieve optimal outcomes. To enable firm conclusions on the effectiveness of rehabilitation after joint replacement, future studies have to consider methodological issues such as outcomes evaluated and number of patients included to ensure sufficient power.


Thiosquaramides are the thio analogues of squaramides that are widely applicable in the fields of asymmetric catalysis, pharmaceutical research, and chemical biology. Having four-membered ring system derived from squaric acid, thiosquaramides are feasible hydrogen bond donors and acceptors. A high affinity for hydrogen bonding is driven through a concomitant increase in aromaticity of the ring. In this review the structural properties, acidity, and lipophilicity of thiosquaramides and squaramides are compared. Different synthetic procedures starting from squarates, half-squaramides or squaramides are shown, and the main derivatization methods are outlined. Finally, the yet only few applications of this interesting family are reviewed. Considering their hydrogen bonding and aromatic switching, in combination with structural rigidity, they bear the possibility of becoming robust and tunable bifunctional organocatalysts for a range of synthetically useful transformations in the future.


Linux kernel is pervasive in the cloud, on mobile platforms, and on supercomputers. To support these diverse computing environments, the Linux kernel provides extensibility and modularity through Loadable Kernel Modules (LKM), while featuring a monolithic architecture for execution efficiency. This architecture design brings a major challenge to the security of Linux kernel. Having LKMs run in the same memory space as the base kernel on Ring 0, a single flaw from LKMs may compromise the entire system, e.g., gaining root access. However, validation and debugging of LKMs are inherently challenging, because of its special interface buried deeply in the kernel, and non-determinism from interrupts. Also, LKMs are shipped by various vendors and the public may not have access to their source code, making the validation even harder. In this paper, we propose a framework for efficient bug detection and replay of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) Linux kernel modules based on concolic execution. Our framework automatically generates compact sets of test cases for COTS LKMs, proactively checks for common kernel bugs, and allows to reproduce reported bugs repeatedly with actionable test cases. We evaluate our approach on over 20 LKMs covering major modules from the network and sound subsystems of Linux kernel. The results show that our approach can effectively detect various kernel bugs, and reports 5 new vulnerabilities including an unknown flaw that allows non-privileged users to trigger a kernel panic. By leveraging the replay capability of our framework, we patched all the reported bugs in the Linux kernel upstream, including 3 patches that were selected to the stable release of Linux kernel and back-ported to numerous production kernel versions. We also compare our prototype with kAFL, the state-of-the-art kernel fuzzer, and demonstrate the effectiveness of concolic execution over fuzzing on the kernel level.


In the course of a chronic infection with the hepatitis C virus, the fibrosis progression rate varies among individuals, and depends on the existence of certain co-factors. In this context, a growing interest has emerged and has focused on insulin resistance. In fact, the hepatitis C virus is now recognized as being responsible for a direct interference with the insulin signalling pathway. This insulin resistance of viral origin, in combination with an eventual insulin resistance associated with an existing metabolic syndrome, can therefore accelerate its evolution to a type II diabetes. Independently of its pathogenesis, insulin resistance occurring in chronic hepatitis C causes a fatty liver, contributes to the progression towards cirrhosis, and narrows the chances of a successful antiviral therapy. It is therefore crucial to recognize it in order to correct it.


The aim of this research was the characterization of the porous system and pore size distribution by both
polarisation optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy using digital image processing. The
three stones studies belong to the Miocene age and are found in the Ebro basin: Ayerbe, Uncastillo and
Alcaniz sandstones. These sandstones have an historical importance in the architectural heritage of Aragon.
The results obtained from digital image analysis have been crosschecked with the results obtain by hydric
tests. The results have demonstrated that image analysis is an important and objective tool for textural
studies of natural stone. In addition, pore spectra can be used to estimate physical parameters.
Porosity governs strength physical-mechanical characteristics, chemical behaviour and hydraulic conductivity.
Therefore, the study of both geometr y and pore size distribution are indispensable for understanding the
future behaviour of natural stone.


The Constitutional Court in Maccsand (Pty) Ltd v City of Cape Town (CCT 103/11) 2012 ZACC 7 decided that the granting of mining rights or mining permits by the Minister of Mineral Resources in terms of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act 28 of 2002 does not obviate the obligation on an applicant to obtain authorisations in terms of other legislation that deals with functional domains other than minerals, mining and prospecting. This applies to all other legislation, irrespective of whether the responsible administrator of such other legislation is in the national, provincial or local sphere of government. The effect of the decision is that planning and other authorities which derive their statutory mandate and powers from other legislation retain all their powers as regards planning and rezoning, for instance. In addition, the Minister of Mineral Resources cannot make a decision on behalf of, or for, such functionaries. The judgement also clarified the question of whether or not a national Act can supersede provincial legislation dealing with a distinctly different functional domain. In principle, the decision also indicates that the fact that a range of authorisations are required in terms of separate statutory instruments (each with its own functional domain and administered by its own functionary) does not necessarily amount to conflicts between these instruments. An owner of land may now insist that his land may not be used for mining purposes if it is not zoned for such purposes. It is submitted that, in order to provide certainty to land owners, developers and government functionaries, and to promote investor confidence (especially in the mining sector), an intergovernmental system for the consideration of applications by the functionaries responsible for the separate statutory instruments needs to be developed as a high priority.


A side-polished fiber with embedded zinc oxide nanorods (ZnO-NRs) is proposed, fabricated, and tested to generate four-wave-mixing (FWM). The side-polished fiber is manufactured by polishing a conventional single mode fiber to completely remove 2 mm of its cladding and its core partially, after which the fiber is simply immersed into a solution consisting of ZnO-NRs and allowing it to dry. A pump and a signal wavelength of 1550 and 1551 nm are injected into the fiber and generate idlers at 1549 and 1552 nm which agree well with theoretical values. Our experimental results show that the optimum FWM range is determined to be a 6 nm shifted away from the pump wavelength and occurs in the pump and wavelength spacing as narrow as 0.1 nm. The proposed system allows for the easy integration of optically active materials into a fiber.


Collecting observations from all international news coverage and using TABARI software to code events, the Global Database of Event, Language, and Tone (GDELT) is the only global political georeferenced event dataset with 250+ million observations covering all countries in the world from January 1, 1979 to the present with daily updates. The purpose of this widely used dataset is to help understand and uncover spatial, temporal and perceptual trends and behaviors of the social and international system. To query such big geospatial data, traditional RDBMS can no longer be used and the need for parallel distributed solutions has become a necessity. MapReduce paradigm has proved to be a scalable platform to process and analyze Big Data in the cloud. Hadoop as an implementation of MapReduce is an open source application that has been widely used and accepted in academia and industry. However, when dealing with Spatial Data, Hadoop is not equipped well and falls short as it doesn't perform efficiently in terms of running time. SpatialHadoop is an extension of Hadoop with the support of spatial data. In this paper, we present Geographic Information System Querying Framework (GISQF) to process Massive Spatial Data. This framework has been built on top of the open source SpatialHadoop system which exploits two-layer spatial indexing techniques to speed up query processing. We show how this solution outperforms Hadoop query processing by orders of magnitude when applying queries on GDELT dataset with a size of 60 GB. We show the results for three types of queries, Longitude-Latitude Point queries, Circle-Area queries, and Aggregation queries.


Sacred sites are important in the ceremonial life of the Zuni Indians of the American Southwest. To protect these sites, both on and off the Zuni Indian Reservation, the Zuni Tribe has used two research and management strategies: (1) historic preservation, and (2) legislation and litigation. In this article, the Zuni Tribe's use of historic preservation to manage sacred sites is analyzed using the report series of the Zuni Archaeology Program. While sacred sites were only a small fraction of the total number of sites recorded, the treatment of these sites as cultural resources resulted in their protection. The Zuni Tribe has also successfully managed sacred sites through special Federal legislation and litigation of land claims. In two instances, sacred places have been added to the Zuni Reservation. Although the strategies employed by the Zuni Tribe have generally been successful, our analysis identifies two as yet unresolved issues: (1) the limited ability of archaeologists to recognize sacred sites, and (2) the unknown impact that may result from the reduction of a dynamic oral tradition to the literate scholarly and legal forms of the dominant society.


The parallax and astrometric orbit of Procyon have been redetermined from PDS measurements of over 250 photographic plates spanning 83 years, with roughly 600 exposures used in the solution. These data are combined with two modern measurements of the primary–white dwarf separation, one utilizing a ground-based coronagraph, the other, the Planetary Camera (PC) of the Hubble Space Telescope. Together with the redetermined astrometric orbit and parallax, these yield new estimates of the component masses. The derived masses are 1.497 ± 0.037 M⊙ for the primary and 0.602 ± 0.015M⊙ for the white dwarf secondary. These mass values are heavily weighted by the PC separation measurement, which, while being somewhat discordant with the ground-based measures, we argue is more precise and more accurate and thus deserving of its greater weight. This stated, the long-standing discrepancy between previous determinations of the observed mass of Procyon A (1.75 M⊙) and the value supported by stellar evolution models (1.50 M⊙) appears to be reconciled.


In this paper we analyse the effect that naive agents (those who take behaviour at "face value") have on the nature of social norms. After reviewing the use of signalling models to model conformity, we argue in favour of modelling naive inferences in tandem with standard Bayes rational inferences. Naive agents weaken the existence of social norms and reduce the range of actions that can become social norms.


This paper combines the knowledge and experience accumulated in IRIS over past years from several case studies involving Tjelbergodden CO2 value chain, Ekofisk and Gullfaks CO2 injection compositional simulations. The paper discuss importance of representing physical effects in modelling miscible and immiscible CO2 injection in sandstone and carbonate reservoirs. The following effects are evaluated: • Transfer of CO2 from fracture into the matrix involving diffusion and gravity segregation; • Viscous effects and formation of low and high concentration hydrocarbon phases; • Compositional effects and oil swelling; The sensitivity and importance of these effects are studied on several simplified mechanistic models and later applied to actual field cases. The detailed overview of viscous fingering effect will be presented. Results from the mechanistic study of the CO2 matrix-fracture transfer will be presented. The paper also discusses aspects of Equation-Of-State (EOS) modelling and PVT studies necessary. Case studies of the CO2 and CO2-WAG IOR methods for the reservoirs on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) will be presented. Oil recovery potential of these IOR processes will be discussed.


This essay examines the public life of the South African film Mapantsula (1988), an overtly antiapartheid engagé film about a petty gangster in the context of the 1980s political unrest in South African townships, from the moment of the film's inception to the history of its circulation. The essay puts emphasis on critical public engagements of the film across a long range of time and varying contexts. It tracks the manner in which the film, produced in an antiapartheid context, continues to invite different kinds of engagement in a postrepressive regime era and proposes that only by considering film as a text that circulates over time can we fully appreciate its nature and status in the public sphere. Accumulating events in the past public life of the film add to the critical potency of the film in its later public life. The essay seeks to provide new ways in thinking about film and the public sphere in Africa in particular and the world in general.


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Onjisaponin B (OB) is the main active ingredient of the traditional Chinese medicinal herb polygala, which is effective against neurodegenerative disorders. However, the target of OB is currently unknown. Neuroinflammation and oxidative stress are both risk factors for the pathogenesis and progression of Parkinson's disease (PD). Here, we used a 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced subacute mouse model of PD to explore the efficacy and neuroprotective mechanism of OB in PD. Immunohistochemistry was used to mark dopaminergic (DA) neurons and microglia in the substantia nigra pars compact. Administration of OB (20 and 40 mg/kg) prevented the degeneration of DA neurons and improved motor impairment in the rotarod test. Furthermore, OB attenuated microglia over-activation and reduced the secretion of inflammatory factors including tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), as determined by ELISA. Meanwhile, the activities of superoxide dismutase and malondialdehyde were used to measure the level of oxidative stress in brain homogenates and suppression of excessive lipid epoxidation and increased antioxidant enzyme activity were found in OB-treated PD mice. Finally, OB inhibits the expression of the p65 subunit of NF-κB in the nucleus and attenuated expression of the RhoA and ROCK2 proteins in PD mice. Consequently, our results show that OB ameliorates DA neurodegeneration in a MPTP-induced mouse model of PD through anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities mediated via the RhoA/ROCK2 signaling pathway. This finding demonstrates that OB may be a promising drug for DA neuron degeneration, which may provide a new therapeutic agent for future discovery of drugs for PD. See video abstract: http://links.lww.com/WNR/A580


DNA methylation is one of the most important heritable epigenetic modifications of the genome and is involved in the regulation of many cellular processes. Aberrant DNA methylation has been frequently reported to influence gene expression and subsequently cause various human diseases, including cancer. Recent rapid advances in next-generation sequencing technologies have enabled investigators to profile genome methylation patterns at single-base resolution. Remarkably, more than 20 eukaryotic methylomes have been generated thus far, with a majority published since November 2009. Analysis of this vast amount of data has dramatically enriched our knowledge of biological function, conservation and divergence of DNA methylation in eukaryotes. Even so, many specific functions of DNA methylation and their underlying regulatory systems still remain unknown to us. Here, we briefly introduce current approaches for DNA methylation profiling and then systematically review the features of whole genome DNA methylation patterns in eight animals, six plants and five fungi. Our systematic comparison provides new insights into the conservation and divergence of DNA methylation in eukaryotes and their regulation of gene expression. This work aims to summarize the current state of available methylome data and features informatively.