In this study, stable gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are fabricated for the first time on commercial ultrafine glass coverslips coated with gold thin layers (2 nm, 4 nm, 6 nm, and 8 nm) at 25 °C and annealed at high temperatures (350 °C, 450 °C, and 550 °C) on a hot plate for different periods of time. Such gold nanostructured coverslips were systematically tested via surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) to identify their spectral performances in the presence of different concentrations of a model molecule, namely 1,2-bis-(4-pyridyl)-ethene (BPE). By using these SERS platforms, it is possible to detect BPE traces (10−12 M) in aqueous solutions in 120 s. The stability of SERS spectra over five weeks of thiol-DNA probe (2 µL) deposited on gold nano-structured coverslip is also reported.


From Seattle to New Jersey, crossing through the South and Midwest, the drum of the powwow calls dancers of many stripes. By day they may be construction workers, computer operators, students, or blackjack dealers, but on weekends the ageless rhythms bring them together to celebrate a culture both ancient and modern. Travelling to over 30 cities every year, the photographer Ben Marra sets up a makeshift studio at each powwow and invites participants to be photographed in full costume. Their pictures and accompanying commentary tell a story of a new generation of Native Americans, determined and honor-bound to keep the dancing tradition alive.


Whereas the Western world views dolls as children's toys - apart from a few adults with a passion for collecting them - in South Africa dolls are part of a tribe's cultural heritage. They are not toys but objects that are laden with associations and the ritual and religious beliefs of a community. African dolls are seen as mediators between the natural and the supernatural; they were created in a great variety of materials and used for ritual, spiritual and healing purposes. All dolls in this collection come from a Zulu household in Msinga, a tribal region in the former province of Natal, today KwaZulu-Natal, on the eastern coast of South Africa. Made by women of the tribe between 1987 and 1994, they document the end of an agrarian-oriented population and the development towards a modern industrial society in South Africa. In numerous interviews with the women of this tribe, the author captured the meaning and the content of this collection, which has been passed on over many generations from mothers to daughters.


The 3D Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) is a technique used to solve problems in disparate fields. Nowadays, the commonly adopted implementation of the 3D-DFT is derived from the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm. However, evidence indicates that the distributed memory 3D-FFT algorithm does not scale well due to its use of all-to-all communication. Here, building on the work of Sedukhin \textit{et al}. [Proceedings of the 30th International Conference on Computers and Their Applications, CATA 2015 pp. 193-200 (01 2015)], we revisit the possibility of improving the scaling of the 3D-DFT by using an alternative approach that uses point-to-point communication, albeit at a higher arithmetic complexity. The new algorithm exploits tensor-matrix multiplications on a volumetrically decomposed domain via three specially adapted variants of Cannon's algorithm. It has here been implemented as a C++ library called S3DFT and tested on the JUWELS Cluster at the J\"ulich Supercomputing Center. Our implementation of the shared memory tensor-matrix multiplication attained 88\% of the theoretical single node peak performance. One variant of the distributed memory tensor-matrix multiplication shows excellent scaling, while the other two show poorer performance, which can be attributed to their intrinsic communication patterns. A comparison of S3DFT with the Intel MKL and FFTW3 libraries indicates that currently iMKL performs best overall, followed in order by FFTW3 and S3DFT. This picture might change with further improvements of the algorithm and/or when running on clusters that use network connections with higher latency, e.g. on cloud platforms.


Much has been written about the widespread abusive practice of e-mail and Internet surveillance by employers in the American workplace. At present, U.S. employees in the private workplace have no constitutional, common law or statutory protection against abusive e-mail monitoring practices. In effect, American workers wave goodbye to their right to privacy as soon as they log onto their workplace computer because U.S. courts have formalistically applied a property rights regime to electronic surveillance of e-mail and Internet usage. This article uses the device of a hypothetical multi-national company to compare the diametrically opposed U.S. property-rights approach with the human rights approach to the European law of monitoring employees' e-mail and Internet usage. Part I of this article reviews the case law and statutory developments for e-mail eavesdropping in the U.S. workplace. At present, American employers can lawfully intercept, search, and read any messages stored in workplace computers because courts have ruled that employees have no expectation of privacy in workplace electronic communications. Part II examines the European human rights tradition that accords workers a privacy expectation in the workplace. We explain the evolution of the human rights approach as a function of a wider social movement of worker's co-determination in Europe. This part of the article next examines statutory and caselaw development from the Council of Europe and the European Union, as well as case studies of e-mail privacy rights in the United Kingdom and France, representing the common law and civil law traditions. In Part III, we propose that Congress enact the Electronic Monitoring Act of 2005, which is a proposed statute that will harmonize U.S. workplace monitoring law with European law. The model statute will provide U.S. workers with one-time written (?) supplemented by electronic notice of employer monitoring each time an employee boots up her computer. In addition, we propose civil remedies for non-compliance with the statute. The long-term impact of this model statute will be to appropriately balance the employers' need to monitor with employee privacy. The long-term impact of the statute in the global economy will be to give American companies a competitive edge in cross-border transactions and reduce their liability costs. Our proposed Federal Electronic Monitoring Act is only the first step to harmonizing U.S. employment law with the rights that European employees have in an increasingly borderless global economy.


This article first provides an overview of the philosophicla basis of the allocation (or non-allocation) of moral status to nonhuman animals considering historical and modern views of animals. Second, it analyzes the legal status of animals under the current system and discusses the idea of extending legal personhood to such animals. Next it considers the common law and statutory basis for the current valuation of companion animals. Finally, this article supports and promotes the idea that there is a rational basis for changing the way that companion animals should be valued by the legal system and recommends the adoption of statutory provisions to promote consistency and certainty in these cases.


Direct Torque Control (DTC) is one of the excellent control strategies of torque and flux control in induction machine. The hysteresis comparators are used to compensate the error between estimated and reference torque and flux. The major problems aroused in DTC drives are steady state torque and flux pulsations. This paper presents a new strategy to direct torque control of induction motor drive based on new space vector modulation. It can reduce steady state torque, flux, current, and speed pulsations. In the proposed approach, the error between the estimated and reference torque and flux will be compensated by generated space voltage vector. Complexity in time duration is minimised by measuring sector local angle. The performance of the proposed control method is simulated using MATLAB/SIMULINK. It is concluded that the proposed method produces less torque and flux ripple in steadystate operation than the classical DTC


As processed of globalisation are seen to undermine traditional understandings of political democracy, much analysis and hope in academia currently rests on ideas of deliberation and post-national democratic practices - the roots of a 'global civil society' - that has taken force as not just an analysis of social and political change, but as a normative project. I argue that counter to much academic discussion, the very notion of a civil society needs to be subjected to rigorous critique given that so much of the discussion is based on an implicit, but problematic; account of changing conditions, not least within the media. In this thesis, I argue that advocates of 'global civil society' rest in an understanding of the media, especially the news, as playing a central role in three different, but overlapping, way: firstly, to transform political communities and provide the basis for 'global citizenship'; secondly, to provide the resources necessary for public deliberation in a 'global public sphere'; and thirdly, to facilitate the influence of non-elites by representing 'global public opinion'. This thesis interrogates this understanding of media developments by presenting original empirical research of different kinds of news organisations that all play a key role in the discussion on global civil society - global satellite news networks, traditional national/local news outlets, as well as 'alternative' online news sites - and argues that developments in news media do not sustain such an understanding. These assumed functions of the media are undermined by evidence that news practices are shaped by not only economic and strategic considerations rooted in specific cultural contexts, but also by a continuous nation-state defined world-view that rests on dominant political rhetoric and the activities of a narrow group of political and social elites. What is more, it argues that new 'alternative' media does not necessarily challenge these practices and may indeed exacerbate the individualisation and privatisation of public deliberation, fragmenting any unifying 'global moral order'. I present the argument that this misapprehension of developments in news practices highlights the difficulties the concept of global civil society has with taking account of the power relations of actually existing democracy and I also challenge the broader appeal to a global 'space' of politics in such circumstances.


CNS non‐cerebellar primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET) represent <5% of all childhood brain tumors. Despite similar therapies, these patients have had significantly worse outcomes compared to patients with medulloblastoma. Although these tumors have historically been considered analogous to medulloblastoma, there is growing evidence that they are biologically distinct. Since these tumors are relatively rare, there are few large series in the literature. Here we present the international experience treating these patients with a variety of therapies, including marrow ablative chemotherapy followed by autologous hematopoietic cell rescue. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2010;54:638–640. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


STUDY QUESTION
What is the recommended diagnostic work-up of female genital anomalies according to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE)/European Society for Gynaecological Endoscopy (ESGE) system?

SUMMARY ANSWER
The ESHRE/ESGE consensus for the diagnosis of female genital anomalies is presented.

WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY
Accurate diagnosis of congenital anomalies still remains a clinical challenge because of the drawbacks of the previous classification systems and the non-systematic use of diagnostic methods with varying accuracy, some of them quite inaccurate. Currently, a wide range of non-invasive diagnostic procedures are available enriching the opportunity to accurately detect the anatomical status of the female genital tract, as well as a new objective and comprehensive classification system with well-described classes and sub-classes.

STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION
The ESHRE/ESGE CONgenital UTerine Anomalies (CONUTA) Working Group established an initiative with the goal of developing a consensus for the diagnosis of female genital anomalies. The CONUTA working group and imaging experts in the field have been appointed to run the project.

PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS
The consensus is developed based on: (i) evaluation of the currently available diagnostic methods and, more specifically, of their characteristics with the use of the experts panel consensus method and of their diagnostic accuracy by performing a systematic review of evidence and (ii) consensus for the definition of where and how to measure uterine wall thickness and the recommendations for the diagnostic work-up of female genital anomalies, based on the results of the previous evaluation procedure, with the use of the experts panel consensus method.

MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE
Uterine wall thickness is defined as the distance between the interostial line and external uterine profile at the midcoronal plane of the uterus; alternatively, if a coronal plane is not available, the mean anterior and posterior uterine wall thickness at the longitudinal plane could be used. Gynecological examination and two-dimensional ultrasound (2D US) are recommended for the evaluation of asymptomatic women. Three-dimensional (3D) US is recommended for the diagnosis of female genital anomalies in 'symptomatic' patients belonging to high risk groups for the presence of a female genital anomaly and in any asymptomatic woman suspected to have an anomaly from routine evaluation. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and endoscopic evaluation are recommended for the subgroup of patients with suspected complex anomalies or in diagnostic dilemmas. Adolescents with symptoms suggestive for the presence of a female genital anomaly should be thoroughly evaluated with 2D US, 3D US, MRI and endoscopically.

LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION
The various diagnostic methods should always be used in the proper way and evaluated by experts to avoid mis-, over- and underdiagnosis.

WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS
The role of a combined US examination and outpatient hysteroscopy should be prospectively evaluated. It is a challenge for further research, based on diagnosis, to objectively evaluate the clinical consequences related to various degrees of uterine deformity.

STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTERESTS
None.


Unions throughout the world are faced with new threatening and challenging environmental circumstances such as structural changes in the economy and labour markets, employer opposition either through direct suppression of unions or substitution of the traditionally performed functions of unions and government policies. Research undertaken in various countries has showed that each of these factors accounts for causes of the decline. Unions have considered and applied a variety of structural reforms in their attempts to adjust to the rapidly changing environment. However, these efforts have not solved the general crisis of the union movement.


It has recently been shown that conventionally treated IDDMs are insulin resistant. Using the insulin clamp technique, we studied the influence of metabolic status on the in vivo insulin effect in these patients. Eleven IDDMs, treated conventionally with diet and insulin for 10.7 ± 5.6 yr, were studied before and after continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) treatment (with a portable pump) for 6 mo. We found that conventionally treated diabetic subjects were extremely insulin resistant with regard to peripheral glucose uptake. Glucose uptake, at an insulin concentration of about 80 μU/ml, was 4.3 ± 2.0 mg/kg · min before treatment compared with 11.5 ± 4.0 mg/kg · min in normals (P < 0.01). After pump treatment for 6 mo, metabolic control improved significantly (HbA1c decreased from 8.9 ± 1.9% to 7.4 ± 1.2%, P < 0.01) and, parallel to that, glucose uptake increased about 80% to 7.5 ± 3.5 mg/kg · min (P < 0.01). The mean daily plasma FFA level decreased from 0.32 ± 0.10 mmol/L to 0.21 ± 0.07 mmol/L (P < 0.01); this variable was negatively correlated to the glucose clearance rate (r = –0.62, P < 0.01). There was no statistically significant change in mean daily plasma insulin and plasma growth hormone levels or in 24-h cortisol excretion in the urine (P > 0.1). The insulin binding capacity of serum IgG was also unchanged, and there was no significant relationship between this quantity and glucose clearance rates (r = 0.18, P > 0.1). We conclude that conventionally treated IDDMs are insulin resistant with regard to peripheral glucose uptake. The insulin resistance may, at least in part, be secondary to the abnormal metabolic Status Of these patients.


Levels of histamine, chymase, and tryptase were assessed in preparations of dispersed human TC (tryptase+, chymase+) mast cells obtained from foreskin and of dispersed human T (tryptase+, chymase-) mast cells obtained from lung. Consistent with previous immunohistochemical results, extracts of T mast cells, the predominant mast cell type in lung (93% T and 7% TC mast cells), were deficient in human chymase (less than 0.3 microgram and 0.04 U/10(6) mast cells) but not tryptase (10.8 micrograms and 0.3 U/10(6) mast cells) by corresponding immunologic and enzymatic (suc-L-ala-ala-pro-phe-p-nitroanilide in the presence of aprotinin and tosyl-L-gly-pro-lys-p-nitroanilide in the presence of soybean trypsin inhibitor, respectively) assays. The minor presence of chymase activity in lung could be accounted for by the minor presence of lung TC mast cells. Extracts of TC mast cells, the predominant mast cell type (1% T and 99% TC mast cells) in foreskin, contained both proteases. However, TC mast cells from adult foreskin contained eightfold to 10-fold higher levels of chymase (4.5 micrograms and 1.01 U/10(6) mast cells) and twofold to threefold higher levels of tryptase (11.5 micrograms and 0.27 U/10(6) mast cells) than did TC mast cells from newborn foreskin (less than 0.6 microgram and 0.09 U of chymase and 35 micrograms and 0.62 U of tryptase/10(6) mast cells). In contrast, histamine levels were not significantly different in adult foreskin TC (1.9 microgram/10(6) mast cells), newborn foreskin TC (1.6 microgram/10(6) mast cells), and adult lung T (1.5 microgram/10(6) mast cells) mast cells. The relative ratio of each mediator in newborn foreskin mast cells to that in adult foreskin mast cells is highest for histamine, followed by tryptase and then chymase. Tryptase from TC and T mast cells had identical subunit compositions by Western blot analysis and similar apparent specific activities. This study extends the previously reported immunohistochemical distinction between human T and TC mast cells in tissue sections by direct quantitation of chymase and tryptase in dispersed preparations of T and TC mast cells.


Data distribution is the basic behavior of P2P applications ( le sharing and stream- ing service) and it is a key element a ecting the performance of P2P systems. However, there are few research works that focus on data distribution of P2P applications from the view of whole system. In this paper we study the data distribution in P2P applications in terms of de- creasing the system distribution load. We de ne the distribution load of P2P systems formally and analyze how to decrease the system load quickly by means of mathematical analysis. More- over, we give a feasible fast distribution algorithm according to our theoretic conclusion. The experimental results show that our algorithm has signi cant improvement on data distribution speed and load balance.


Transferability captures the ability of an attack against a machine-learning model to be effective against a different, potentially unknown, model. Empirical evidence for transferability has been shown in previous work, but the underlying reasons why an attack transfers or not are not yet well understood. In this paper, we present a comprehensive analysis aimed to investigate the transferability of both test-time evasion and training-time poisoning attacks. We provide a unifying optimization framework for evasion and poisoning attacks, and a formal definition of transferability of such attacks. We highlight two main factors contributing to attack transferability: the intrinsic adversarial vulnerability of the target model, and the complexity of the surrogate model used to optimize the attack. Based on these insights, we define three metrics that impact an attack's transferability. Interestingly, our results derived from theoretical analysis hold for both evasion and poisoning attacks, and are confirmed experimentally using a wide range of linear and non-linear classifiers and datasets.


Novel therapies are urgently needed to prevent and treat tyrosine kinase inhibitor resistance in chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). MLN8237 is a novel Aurora A kinase inhibitor under investigation in multiple phase I and II studies. Here we report that MLN8237 possessed equipotent activity against Ba/F3 cells and primary CML cells expressing unmutated and mutated forms of BCR-ABL. Notably, this agent retained high activity against the T315I and E255K BCR-ABL mutations, which confer the greatest degree of resistance to standard therapy. MLN8237 treatment disrupted cell cycle kinetics, induced apoptosis, caused a dose-dependent reduction in the expression of the large inhibitor of apoptosis protein Apollon, and produced a morphological phenotype consistent with Aurora A kinase inhibition. In contrast to other Aurora kinase inhibitors, MLN8237 did not significantly affect BCR-ABL activity. Moreover, inhibition of Aurora A with MLN8237 significantly increased the in vitro and in vivo efficacy of nilotinib. Targeted knockdown of Apollon sensitized CML cells to nilotinib-induced apoptosis, indicating that this is an important factor underlying MLN8237's ability to increase the efficacy of nilotinib. Our collective data demonstrate that this combination strategy represents a novel therapeutic approach for refractory CML that has the potential to suppress the emergence of T315I mutated CML clones.


Heterogeneity of ventricular repolarization has been assessed using the QT dispersion in Down syndrome (DS) patients with congenitally normal hearts. Novel repolarization indexes, that is, T‐wave peak–end (Tp‐e) interval and Tp‐e/QT ratio, however, have not previously been evaluated in these patients. The aim of this study was therefore to evaluate the Tp‐e interval and Tp‐e/QT ratio in DS patients without congenital heart defects.


Field trips are a reliable method for attracting students into geoscience, yet for many high-enrollment college introductory courses, field trips are often impractical. Furthermore, introductory courses are often taught with a traditional lecture style that is poor at engaging students. This study examines the impact of augmented reality (AR) field trip exercises on the interest levels of students using readily accessible mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) as a means to provide simulated field trip experiences to a larger number of learners. The results of this study, involving 874 students from five different institutions, show that students who completed three geospatially oriented Grand Canyon field trip game modules were significantly more interested in learning the geosciences than control students and participants who completed only one module. More comprehensively, results from hierarchical linear modeling indicate three strong predictors of student interest in learning the geosciences: (1) the student's initial interest, (2) being a STEM major, and (3) the number of AR field trip modules students complete. Notably, the race and gender of participants are not factors. Augmented reality field trips for mobile devices have potential to be an accessible and financially viable means to bring field trips to a diversity of students who would otherwise experience none. Results indicate these AR field trips increase student motivation to pursue geoscience learning.


Pratyaksha (direct perception), Anumana (inference), Aptopadesha (testimony), and Yukti (reasoning) are the tools that helps for the diagnosis of the disease.  To fulfill this purpose Atura-Pariksha (examination of patients), Dravya Pariksha (examination of medicinal drug and preparations), and Roga-Rogi Pariksha (examination of the patient and disease), etc. are a very important tool. The concept of Sara is described under Dashavidha Atura Pariksha (tenfold examination), and it is an important concept in both Swastha-rakshana (maintenance of health) and Aturasya Vikara Prashamana (treatment of disease). The concept of Sara is explained by different Acharyas elaborately in their own way. In spite of tremendous success in modern medical science, the incidence of diseases are increasing enormously. A sedentary lifestyle and improper dietary habits has led to the emergence of several health problems, including Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM), and it is emerging as a major disease affecting mankind with many complications.  Hence present study has been undertaken to understand Sara because all persons vary from one another in many ways, and a personalized approach to patient care should be adopted to plan appropriate therapeutics. Dietary factors, lifestyle, and psychological factors are involved in the aetiology of Madhumeha (T2DM). The Twak Sara, Shukra Sara, Asthi Sara, and Majja Sara persons are more prone to develop Madhumeha (T2DM). The Meda Sara and Mamsa Sara are less prone to develop Madhumeha (T2DM). We don't find the Rakta Sara individuals in our study.


Abstract At the University of Lincoln, the student as producer agenda is seeking to disrupt consumer-based learning relationships by reinventing the undergraduate curriculum along the lines of research-engaged teaching. The open education movement, with its emphasis on creative commons and collaborative working practices, also disrupts traditional and formal campus-based education. This paper looks at the linkages between the Student as Producer project and the processes of embedding open educational practice at Lincoln. Both reinforce the need for digital scholarship and the prerequisite digital literacies that are essential for learning in a digital age.


This essay explores The Hurt Locker in three contexts: as a war movie, particularly an Iraq war movie; in relation to themes of masculinity, male heroism and male intimacy; and as a Kathryn Bigelow film, taking account of the director's association with action genres and The Hurt Locker's critical and award success. These three critical frames overlap and inform each other. The article provides and analysis of the film's visual style as well as the various reviews and commentaries that accompanied the film, both on its initial release and following its success in securing awards. While reviews and Bigelow herself may have foregrounded a war movie with a documentary aesthetic, The Hurt Locker is intensely melodramatic in its presentation of masculinity.


Policy makers and the government rely heavily on survey data when making policy-related decisions. Survey data is labour intensive, costly and time consuming, hence it cannot be frequently or extensively collected. The main aim of this research is to demonstrate how deep learning in computer vision coupled with statistical regression modelling can be used to estimate poverty on aerial images supplemented with national household survey data. This is executed in two phases; aerial classification and detection phase and poverty modelling phase. The aerial classification and detection phase use convolutional neural networks (CNN) to perform settlement typology classification of the aerial images into three broad geo-type classes namely; urban,  rural  and farm. This is then followed by object detection to detect three broad dwelling type classes in the aerial images namely; brick house, traditional house, and informal settlement. Mask Region-based CNN (Mask R-CNN) model with a resnet101 backbone model is used to perform this task. The second phase, poverty modelling phase, involves using National Income Dynamics Survey (NIDS) data to compute the poverty measure Sen-Shorrocks-Thon index (SST). This is followed by using ridge regression to model the poverty measure using aggregated results from the aerial classification and detection phase. The study area for this research is eThekwini district in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. However, this approach can be extended to other districts in South Africa.


A nerve conduit is designed to improve peripheral nerve regeneration by providing guidance to the nerve cells. Conductivity of such guides is reported to enhance this process. In the current study, a nerve guide was constructed from poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA), which was loaded with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (mwCNT) to introduce conductivity. PHEMA hydrogels were designed to have a porous structure to facilitate the transportation of the compounds needed for cell nutrition and growth and also for waste removal. We showed that when loaded with relatively high concentrations of mwCNTs (6%, w/w in hydrogels), the pHEMA guide was more conductive and more hydrophobic than pristine pHEMA hydrogel. The mechanical properties of the composites were better when they carried mwCNT. Elastic modulus of 6% mwCNT loaded pHEMA was twofold higher (0.32 ± 0.06 MPa) and similar to that of the soft tissues. Electrical conductivity was significantly improved (11.4-fold) from 7 × 10(-3) Ω(-1).cm(-1) (pHEMA) to 8.0 × 10(-2) Ω(-1).cm(-1) (6% mwCNT loaded pHEMA). On application of electrical potential, the SHSY5Y neuroblastoma cells seeded on mwCNTs carrying pHEMA maintained their viability, whereas those on pure pHEMA could not, indicating that mwCNT helped conduct electricity and make them more suitable as nerve conduits.


Communication networks of present-days are growing in complexity to follow a never-ending demand for fast, smooth, energy efficient and cheap connection. This demand is a driving force of new technologies. Two of them – cloud network concept and Wireless Physical Layer Network Coding (WPLNC) – are in the focus of this thesis. Both together represent a paradigm shift that can bring benefits to the networks of the future. With WPLNC the communicating nodes are no more separated in orthogonal resources, such as time, frequency or code space. Instead, they are allowed to overlap directly at the level of electromagnetic waves. Overlapping signals are no more considered as nuisance, rather, they form new super-signals that are processed as one. With slightly more complicated signal processing some big advantages in throughput, reliability and/or efficiency can be achieved by this technique. Cloud network concept introduces an intelligent network, that is able to react on changing conditions. The network is formed by self-aware relay nodes that cooperate to provide communication service to the terminals. The network is assumed distributed and decentralised to be able to react fast and adapt to local variations. WPLNC technique seems to be a favourable scheme for such a network. In this thesis I focus on distributed algorithms for implementation of WPLNC in the context of cloud network. The algorithms equip the relay nodes with ability to self-adapt and self-organise their WPLNC processing, such that it is aligned optimally across the whole network. Particularly, as an example an algorithm that assigns WPLNC mappings to individual relays is provided. This algorithm is transformed into a form of suitable communication protocol. Some other versions of the algorithm are proposed that focus on more complex situations – when the relays do not perform fair and try to harm the network or when some form of behaviour is dependent on relay node state, such as battery level. Whenever it is possible not only a mathematical solution of studied issues is provided but also software simulation is shown and more importantly a verification by hardware testing in real conditions is done and presented.


In the family of a woman who has von Willebrand's disease and who is a hemophilia carrier, two daughters have hemophilic sons. One of her sons, two daughters, and one granddaughter have von Willebrand's disease. None is known to have inherited both diseases. The coexistence in one individual of the hemophilic carrier state and von Willebrand's disease does not appear to accentuate the bleeding tendency. Hemophilia was diagnosed by the prolonged clotting time and the defective prothrombin consumption time, with both the basic and the modified (with added hemolysate and aged serum) methods. Von Willebrand's disease was diagnosed by the type of bleeding, the hereditary pattern of an autosomal dominant, a prolonged bleeding time, and a positive tourniquet test. In both diseases, good therapeutic results were obtained by transfusions of fresh frozen plasma.


The loss of cultural information transmission, inaccurate of translation or misunderstanding of the whole sentence in acupuncture translation are illustrated in this article. It suggests that these mistakes should be paid attention to and avoided; simultaneously, the solutions are stated so as to insure the accurate transmission of acupuncture.


City Prosperity Initiative (CPI) as a comprehensive multidimensional index agreed globally, is a broad and flexible conceptual framework for measuring and monitoring the urbanization and urbanism as a consequence of this process. This initiative is a fundamental approach for defining an integrative and incremental vision and subsequently multi-sectorial and spatial analysis based direction for its fulfilment towards the sustainability path and sustainable urban development in different hierarchical levels and scales of global, national, regional, and local. The CPI is accompanied by a conceptual matrix, the Wheel of Urban Prosperity, in terms of six key components or dimensions associated with the city and urban settlement, including Productivity, Infrastructure Development, Quality of Life, Equity and Social Inclusion, Environmental Sustainability, and Urban Governance and Legislation. Each of these aspects includes 3 to 5 sub- dimensions defined and measured by a group of variables or indicators. Thus, the City Prosperity Initiative Index is essential basis to found and promote a new pattern or model of urbanization in the global scale which is adaptive to the contextual conditions and dynamics. Therefore, one of the most key issues in relation to the CPI Index is the weights of the dimensions and sub-dimensions in terms of the conceptualizations of a prosperous city based on the local priorities. Accordingly, this paper has been focused on the City Prosperity Initiative Index and subsequently recalculating the weights of its dimensions and sub-dimensions using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method according to the contextual situation of Tehran Metropolis in Iran. Keywords: City Prosperity Initiative (CPI) Index, Sustainability, Urban Prosperity, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) Method, Tehran Metropolis


The Camelot local fauna, a new fossil locality in southeastern South Carolina, has yielded a spectacularly abundant and well-preserved late Irvingtonian (ca. 400 ka) megafauna, including saber-toothed cat ( Smilodon fatalis ), wolf ( Canis armbrusteri ), cheetah ( Miracinonyx inexpectatus ), "camels" ( Hemiauchenia macrocephala and Paleolama mirifica ), tapir ( Tapirus veroensis ), deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ), sloth ( Megalonyx jeffersoni ), and horse ( Equus sp.). Of particular interest is the number of well-preserved fossil teeth and the ability to decipher paleoecologies and paleodiets, especially for carnivores, by using carbon isotope compositions (δ 13 C) of these teeth. P. mirifica , M. jeffersoni , O. virginianus , and T. veroensis have the lowest δ 13 C values (−16‰ to −13‰, Vienna Peedee belemnite standard); C. armbrusteri , S. fatalis , and H. macrocephala have intermediate values (−13‰ to −8‰); and Equus sp. has the highest values (−7‰ to −1‰). High (>−5‰) vs. low (≤−9‰) δ 13 C values for herbivores indicate local habitats dominated by warm-climate grasses vs. trees and shrubs. The high δ 13 C values for Equus sp. indicate the presence of grasslands, whereas the low δ 13 C values for the other herbivores generally indicate the presence of forests. Although few data are available for carnivores, moderate δ 13 C values for C. armbrusteri indicate that it preyed mainly upon forest herbivores. S. fatalis appears to have preferred marginal woodland-grassland areas.


Piezoelectric ceramics are widely used as actuator, resonator, and spark igniter. Recently, much attention has been paid to prepare BZT-BCT piezoelectric ceramics because of its good dielectric, piezoelectric properties and environment friendly nature. However, piezoelectric ceramics based on BaTiO3 suffer from low reliability and poor mechanical properties such as strength and toughness. A novel method has been used to improve the mechanical properties of ceramics by reinforcement of matrix with stronger oxide (Al2O3, MgO, ZrO2, Stabilized-ZrO2) or nonoxide (SiC) particles. It is well known that electrical properties of ferroelectric ceramics generally degrade with non-ferrolecric additives and decrease in sinterability usually encountered with these refractory oxide additives. Use of nano-oxide additives may drastically reduce the amount of additive and in effect electrical property may not degrade much.
The aim of this work is to study the densification, microstructure, electrical and mechanical properties of BZT–BCT with nano oxide additives (Al2O3, MgO, and stabilized-ZrO2). BZT-BCT powders were prepared successfully by a conventional mixed-oxide method via planetary-milling technique. BZT–BCT composites were prepared by mixing high purity BZT–BCT powder and small amount (0.5-2.0 vol%) of oxides, i.e. Al2O3, MgO and ZrO2(3Y) separately. The flexural strength and hardness of BZT–BCT composites were increased significantly for all the three nano-oxide addition. It was found that nano-oxides addition improves densification and significantly modifies the microstructure. Though the relative permittivity and piezoelectric constant of the composites were decreased with the addition of nano-oxide, the decrement was sharp for MgO whereas it was least for Al2O3. Change in grain size, distribution of oxide particle and formation of secondary phases were used to explain the properties. 1 vol% Al2O3 added BZT-BCT will be useful for devices like low power transducers, where extremely high dielectric constant and high "d" constant required.


Since the seventeenth century, writers about music have discussed what were considered to be the intrinsic differences in affect between the various keys. These were continuations of late-Renaissance discussions of the expressive properties of the different church modes, and those distantly reflected discussions of the Greek modes in Plato's Republic. By the turn of the twentieth century, a large (and evolving) literature on the subject had accumulated, and despite more than a half-century of piano temperaments that were loosely referred to as 'equal' (or in Albert Lavignac's phrase, 'the uniformity inherent in the system of temperament'), the entire concept of key characteristics—that is, an accounting of the expressive differences between supposedly equally tempered keys—was well established. No two accounts of key associations were alike, but there were general patterns, especially for the more diatonic keys: C major was considered innocent, C minor for funereal and serious pieces, F major gently pastoral, D major warlike and triumphant, and so on.For us, unfortunately, late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century tuning instructions are incomplete. In treatise after treatise, these temperaments — generally described as 'equal' even when they clearly are not — are to be produced by tuning certain fifths 'a little weak,' other fifths 'strong,' and finally (at the end of the process) expecting the requisite correspondences between enharmonic equivalents to result from these vaguest of instructions. Despite the claims that such instructions were complete, self-standing, and intended for autodidacts, further preparation, such as working with an accomplished technician, would have been necessary. To proceed directly from these treatises, then, is impractical, so the problem of an unequal temperament appropriate to Chopin's music requires a different approach.The composer's personal preferences regarding temperament and key associations had much in common with typical practice of the time. Even clearer is Chopin's statement, from his unfinished piano method: 'Intonation being the tuner's task, the pianist is free of one of the greatest difficulties involved in the study of an instrument', which demonstrates that despite his exacting requirements, he was happy to turn the task over to professionals. The search for such a temperament today requires experimentation, which enables us to discover how narrower and wider thirds and fifths produce the mood and affect of each key. Such experimentation can produce a temperament generally compatible with the majority of instructions for contemporary temperaments — thus completely usable for the piano repertoire of the time — but frankly revelatory when Chopin's music is played in it. And although vanishingly little that can be heard remains of such temperaments, Vladimir de Pachmann's 1927 recording of Chopin's Nocturne in E minor, Op. 72 No. 1 testifies to a temperament in which different triads have different qualities, timbres differ depending on the different relationships between overtones, Chopin seems to be intentionally milking these differences, and the subtleties of his music seem to multiply a thousandfold.


Variable Length Codes (VLC) are used to transfer same amount of digital information in relatively short period of time. In variable length coding, the characters with higher probability of occurrence are assigned shorter bits sequence and the characters with less probability of occurrence are assigned relatively longer bits sequence. However, due to variable length nature of codes, the decoding circuitry at the receiving end loses the synchronization due to single or multiple bit inversions. This typically happens when data is transmitted through a Binary Symmetric Channel (BSC). This paper investigates synchronizing scheme to control the error propagation due to single or multiple bit inversions through BSC. The hardware implementation of the proposed algorithm has been presented using a hardware description language. The functional level simulation of the implementation is discussed to test the proposed algorithm.


As the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) becomes ever more widespread there is a growing need to develop traffic management and flight rules, in particular for autonomous UAVs or where the predicted traffic densities far exceed those of traditional manned aviation. Inspired by the current rules of the air and multi-agent systems (e.g., pedestrians and swarm robotics) we outline a set of flight rules for autonomous UAVs that consist of waypoint following and conflict avoidance schemes. These flight rules are then explored in small,pairwise simulations and thus refined to allow a UAV to choose from three potential avoidance behaviors based on it and its neighbors velocities and positions. Finally we compare the original and modified flight rules in larger scale simulations modelling two streams of UAV traffic crossing at a point. We show that the modified rules significantly reduce the mean transit time by reducing the impact of UAVs avoiding other UAVs from the same stream.


We previously reported that female mice exhibit protection against chemically induced pulmonary fibrosis and suggested a potential role of estrogen. Phytoestrogens act, at least in part, via stimulation of estrogen receptors; furthermore, compared to residents of Western countries, residents of East Asian countries consume higher amounts of phytoestrogens and exhibit lower rates of pulmonary fibrosis. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that dietary phytoestrogens ameliorate the severity of experimentally induced pulmonary fibrosis. Male mice placed on either regular soybean diet or phytoestrogen-free diet were instilled with 0.1 N HCl to provoke pulmonary fibrosis. Thirty days later, lung mechanics were measured as indices of lung function and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and lung tissue were analyzed for biomarkers of fibrosis. Mice on phytoestrogen-free diet demonstrated increased mortality and stronger signs of chronic lung injury and pulmonary fibrosis, as reflected in the expression of collagen, extracellular matrix deposition, histology, and lung mechanics, compared to mice on regular diet. We conclude that dietary phytoestrogens play an important role in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis and suggest that phytoestrogens (e.g., genistein) may be useful as part of a therapeutic regimen against hydrochloric acid-induced lung fibrosis and chronic lung dysfunction.


We are developing a helper robot that carries out tasks ordered by users through speech. The robot needs a vision system to recognize the objects appearing in the orders. However, conventional vision systems cannot recognize objects in complex scenes. They may find many objects and cannot determine which is the target. This paper proposes a method of using a conversation with the user to solve this problem. The robot asks a question to which the user can easily answer and whose answer can efficiently reduce the number of candidate objects. It considers the characteristics of features used for object identification such as the ease for humans to specify them by word, generating a user-friendly and efficient sequence of questions. Experimental results show that the robot can detect target objects by asking the questions generated by the method.


One of the main challenges in seismic imaging is the estimation of sufficiently accurate background velocity models in the presence of complex geology. In this paper we show the use of a differential semblance in angle or DSA (Symes and Carazzone, 1991; Brandsberg-Dahl et al., 2003) misfit function to perform ray-based angle tomography on PP and its extension to PS reflection events. This measure is optimal as it is the only measure that depends smoothly on the velocity model.


Background Youth handball players are vulnerable to injuries. Because there is no available injury prevention training specifically developed for youth handball players targeting both upper and lower limbs or incorporating psychological aspects of injury, we undertook the 'Implementing injury Prevention training ROutines in TEams and Clubs in youth Team handball (I-PROTECT)' project. We used an ecological participatory design incorporating the perspectives of multiple stakeholders (health beneficiaries, programme deliverers and policy makers). The aim of this paper was to describe the process of developing the I-PROTECT model, featuring injury prevention training and an accompanying implementation strategy. Design We used the generalisable six-step intervention development process, outlined to guide researchers when developing implementable, evidence-based sports injury prevention interventions, to develop the I-PROTECT model. The six-step process involves establishing a research–stakeholder collaborative partnership to (1) identify and synthesise research evidence and clinical experience; (2) consult with relevant experts; (3) engage end users to ensure their needs, capacity and values are considered; (4) test the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention; (5) evaluate the intervention against theory; and (6) obtain feedback from early implementers. Two community handball clubs in southern Sweden, offering organised training for youth male and female players, and the district handball federation, participate in the intervention development. Drafts of the I-PROTECT model will be developed and revised with key stakeholder advice and input throughout all six steps. Conclusion The I-PROTECT model described will be an end user-driven intervention, including evidence-based, theory-informed and context-specific injury prevention training for youth handball, and an associated implementation strategy.


Tanzania in the 1970s was at the forefront of policy innovation. Near-universal primary education, access to health services and supplies of clean water subsequently became mainstream ambitions in Africa and elsewhere. But its policies towards agricultural and industrial production failed and left the country in a particularly weak position when it faced the demands of structural adjustment in the 1980s. This book, originally published in 1982, has been reissued with a new introduction which brings its themes up to the present, when income from gold mining and natural gas is making Tanzania one of the most dynamic economies in Africa today. The author, first an economic civil servant in Tanzania, later an academic at the University of Dar es Salaam, was in a unique position to write it, drawing on his own experiences as well as the plethora of ideas and debates in Dar es Salaam in the 1970s. The book has stood the test of time not only because of the range of material it covers but more profoundly because of the approach it takes to the work of Tanzania's founding president, Julius Nyerere - sympathetic to his ideas, deeply critical of failures in implementation. 25 short easily-read chapters take the story of Tanzania from pre-colonial times to the present, and show how Nyerere was hemmed in by what he inherited from the German and British colonialists who ran the country up to Independence in 1961. It provides an invaluable introduction to anyone coming to the country for the first time, and offers a profound assessment of the theoretical debates that have made Tanzania of such interest to students of development.


The diseases and causes of mortality reported in this study were encountered, throughout one year (July 2001 – June 2002), in a dairy camel farm in Al-Qassim region, central Saudi Arabia. The farm was specialized in the production and marketing of pasteurized camel milk. The camel population in the farm at the study period was composed of 2316 adult and weaned calves besides 126 suckling calves. As camels are usually raised under extensive range conditions, the purpose of this study was to describe and discuss the diseases and causes of mortality that were encountered in intensively kept dromedary camels. Throughout the period of study, 942 camels were affected with one or more disease condition giving a crude morbidity rate of 38.6%. The ten most common diseases encountered among the camels of the farm were mange (22.6%), mastitis (20.9%), camel dermatophilosis (18.7%), "Heyam" syndrome (Trypanosomiasis??) (14.5%), skin wounds and abscesses (4.2%), calf diarrhoea (4.1%), Diazinon toxicity (3.5%), snake bites (1.9%), respiratory complaints (1.8%) and papilloma virus infection (1.7%). Other diseases encountered included eye affections (1.2%), metritis (1%), uterine prolapse (1%), retained placenta (0.7%), bone fractures (0.6%), urea intoxication (0.5%), abortions (0.5%) and dystochia (0.4%). During the period of study, 180 camels died giving a crude mortality rate of 7.4%. The most common causes of mortality recorded in the camel farm were "Heyam" syndrome (53.3%), Diazinon toxicity (15%), snake bites (10%), calf diarrhea (8.9%), undiagnosed cases (5%), bone fractures (3.3%), urea intoxication (2.8%), uterine prolapse (1.1%) and dystochias (0.6%).


AACR Annual Meeting-- Apr 14-18, 2007; Los Angeles, CA

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Background: Breast cancer incidence in the United States varies among ethnic groups. Overall incidence is highest among Caucasian women (CW); however, when stratified by age, the highest incidence of breast cancer occurs among African American women (AAW) under the age of 40. Mortality rates are also highest among AAW. The poor outcomes observed in AAW are frequently attributed to disparities in socioeconomic status, healthcare access, and cultural beliefs. However, tumor biology also differs among AAW and CW. Tumors from AAW share many characteristics with tumors from women with hereditary BRCA1 mutations including large size, aggressiveness, poor differentiation, high-grade nuclear atypia, frequent lymph node involvement, and estrogen receptor negativity. Therefore, biological and molecular factors may also contribute to the poor prognosis of AAW with breast cancer. In the present study, we have identified gene expression differences in normal breast tissue from disease-free AAW and CW that may predispose AAW to aggressive tumors and poor clinical prognoses.

Methods: Normal breast tissue (reductive mammoplasty and/or disease-free biopsy specimens) was obtained from AAW (n=26) and CW (n=22) enrolled in the Clinical Breast Care Project (CBCP). RNA was isolated using the Qiagen RNeasy Lipid Tissue Midi kit, amplified using the MessageAmp II aRNA Amplification kit (Ambion) and hybridized to the Affymetrix GeneChip Human Genome U133A 2.0 expression array. Differentially expressed genes were identified using Mann-Whitney testing ( p ≤ 0.001).

Results: Eighty-nine genes were found to be differentially expressed in normal breast tissue from AAW and CW. Eighty-seven genes had lower expression in AAW compared to CW while two genes, PSPH and ACSM1, were more highly expressed in breast tissue from AAW. PSPH, encoding phoshoserine phosphatase, catalyzes the last step in L-serine biosynthesis. ACSM1, acyl-CoA synthetase medium chain family member 1, is involved in fatty acid oxidation.

Discussion: The CBCP provides us with a unique resource to study breast cancer in AAW. Because all women enrolled in the CBCP receive standardized treatment and care regardless of ethnicity, differences observed in gene expression are not confounded by differences in the quality of healthcare received. The increased expression of PSPH could potentially increase the amount of serine synthesized in the cell. As serine is used as an intermediate in the synthesis of other amino acids, phospholipids, and purines, this could have a profound impact on protein, lipid, and DNA metabolism. Likewise, increased expression of ACSM1 could increase the rate of fatty acid oxidation in the cell, resulting in a large increase in the amount of energy or ATP produced. Both conditions could promote cell growth and proliferation that would confer a growth advantage to breast cells in AAW that may increase their potential towards malignant transformation.


A series of experiments was conducted to determine the effects of various factors on Warner-Bratzler shear force measurement of cooked beef. As the extent of thawing of frozen steaks before cooking for shear force evaluation increases (-2 vs 12 degrees C), shear force decreases (P < .05; 7.34 vs 5.99 kg). Location within the longissimus thoracis et lumborum from which steaks were obtained (caudal, medial, or cranial) did not affect (P > .05) shear force (5.21, 5.15, or 5.26 kg, respectively) or any sensory trait. Mean shear force of longissimus steaks cooked to either a constant temperature of 70 degrees C (6.97 kg) or for a constant time of 30 min (6.38 kg) was not different (P = .06), but shear force repeatability was higher for steaks cooked to constant temperature (.79 vs .53). Mean shear force (6.20 vs 6.33 kg) and shear force repeatability (.74 vs .68) of longissimus steaks cooked by either electric broiler or convection oven broiler, respectively, were not different (P > .05). Meat cores obtained perpendicular to the steak surface, from one location within the muscle, had lower (P < .05) mean shear force (3.41 vs 4.17 kg) and much less repeatable shear force (.12 vs .66) than cores obtained parallel to muscle fiber orientation. Use of more than five cores per animal did not significantly increase repeatability of mean shear force. Numerous factors must be carefully controlled to ensure measurement of shear force is as accurate and repeatable as possible.


In Xunzi's philosophy, ritual propriety (禮義 liyi) is not merely an instrument for making people moral. It also constitutes the ontology for true human existence. In this comparative study of Xunzi's ritual propriety and Heidegger's understanding of language, I argue that ritual propriety for Xunzi is an ontological medium fused with the presence of the human being. Analogous to Heidegger's language as the house of being, ritual propriety is the house of human being for Xunzi. The house metaphor here does not refer to something static. Ritual propriety and language are the venue in which the process of humanization and the process of Dasein's opening unfold respectively. This study also reveals important cultural differences between Xunzi and Heidegger.


Background and Aim: The presence of long anterior zonules [LAZ] in the eye was first described in 1907. They have been reported to be associated with potentially blinding ocular diseases like retinal degeneration and glaucoma. Despite this it is understudied and little is known about their pathophysiology and natural history. This review discusses the different aspects of the long anterior zonule phenotype and suggests areas for further research. Methods: We reviewed the available literature on eyes with LAZ and describe their characteristics and associations under different clinical subheadings. Conclusion: Current evidence suggests that patients with long anterior zonules need to be investigated carefully for associated retinal disease and glaucoma. Asymptomatic cases need to be followed up closely for the development of these potentially blinding ocular diseases. Prospective studies are required to shed more light on the inheritance ,pathogenesis and natural history of long anterior zonules. Keywords: long anterior zonules, glaucoma, late onset retinal macular degeneration, pigment dispersion, pigmented lens striae


In 1973, the ABA Section on Patent, Trademark and Copyright faced a dilemma. For more than six years it had worked to develop a uniform law to govern trade secrets. At the time, it was thought that states could regulate in the area of trade secrets without interfering with federal patent policies. With the decision of the Sixth Circuit in the case of Kewanee Oil v. Bicron, this conclusion was called into question and further consideration of a uniform act was suspended pending clarification from the U.S. Supreme Court or an act of Congress. In 1974, the Supreme Court provided the needed clarification when it rendered its decision in Kewanee. However, while Kewanee is often cited for the proposition that state trade secret law is not preempted, this broad statement belies five aspects of the decision. First, Kewanee is based upon Ohio's trade secret law. Thus, it is not an endorsement of the trade secret laws of all states. Second, because Kewanee was decided before the enactment of the UTSA, the U.S. Supreme Court has not ruled on the question whether the UTSA is preempted by federal law. Third, Kewanee was decided based upon the Supreme Court's understanding of U.S. patent law in 1974 and does not reflect significant changes in U.S. patent law since that time. Fourth, because the Kewanee decision was rendered before the adoption of the 1976 Copyright Act, the Court did not consider whether trade secret law interferes with federal copyright policies. Lastly, the Court failed to appreciate the possibility that an inventor would assert multiple forms of intellectual property protection for the same invention. This article revisits the issues raised in Kewanee in light of the current state of patent, copyright and trade secret law. Although, like the U.S. Supreme Court in Kewanee, it concludes that state trade secret law is not preempted, it criticizes the reasoning of Kewanee and suggests a substitute analysis that is based upon principles of free competition.


In the Western Pacific (Papua New Guinea [PNG], Solomon Islands, Indonesian Papua), sweetpotato is the most important staple food crop, and production is increasing faster than the population. There has been a significant amount of research on sweetpotato in PNG, and the main recent publications are highlighted here. In PNG, sweetpotato has become more widely grown since 1940, and spatial and production data are presented to illustrate that. For example, it contributed 45% of food energy from staple food crops in 1961, and had increased to 66% by 2000. In Solomon Islands, it accounts for an estimated 65% of the production of staple food crops. The main research in PNG over the past 20 years has covered cultivar evaluation; description of agricultural systems; studies of agronomy and crop physiology; identification of the main pest and disease problems; identification of the causes of variation in supply of roots over time; description of commercialisation in the highlands; impact of its adoption over the past 300 years; and a comprehensive electronic bibliography. There have been a number of crop science studies on sweetpotato in Papua. The priorities for future research on sweetpotato in PNG arising from a 2004 workshop are summarised. Cassava is a relatively minor crop in the Western Pacific, but it is growing rapidly in importance. Its contribution has increased from 2 to 6% of staple food crop production in PNG over the past 40 years, and accounts for 12% of staple food production in the Solomon Islands. The limited research conducted on cassava in PNG has been published in a technical paper.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the psychological contracts (PCs) of international volunteers (IVs) in international aid and development organizations (IADS). Specifically, it explores four questions: how IVs form PCs; what the content of these PCs is; how IVs' PCs are maintained; and how they are fulfilled or breached.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used an inductive analysis of qualitative data: interviews with 27 IVs from a range of IADS.

Findings

The findings take the form of research propositions: RP1: IVs' PCs, like those of domestic volunteers, include relational, transactional and, especially, values-based elements, but the balance of these is influenced by their values-based PC; the self-directed way IVs join their organizations; and reliance on peers rather than the organization's management hierarchy. RP2: the PCs of IVs working for faith-based organizations have an additional element: spiritual support. RP3: the values-based PC means many transactional elements can be "adjusted away", making it difficult to breach these PCs. RP4: experienced volunteers have very minimal PCs, but are more likely than inexperienced volunteers to expect basic safety and adequately skilled colleagues.

Research limitations/implications

The authors suggest areas of new inquiry and specific ways each research proposition could be tested empirically.

Practical implications

To alleviate IVs' expatriation and repatriation adjustment problems, international aid organizations could facilitate the ways IVs already help each other. This would also help fulfill IVs' PCs.

Originality/value

IVs are a growing but underexplored group and aspects of their PCs may be unique.


The history of colonization in Canada has a traumatic intergenerational impact on young Aboriginal people's health, which is evidenced by the wide health disparities (Adelson, 2005; Health Council of Canada, 2012). However, extant research shows that, through resilience, many Aboriginal adolescents overcome adverse situations and develop into healthy adults (Andersson & Ledogar, 2008). Knowledge of the ways and extent to which Aboriginal youth seek support to cope with stressful events may be improved by examining the distribution of attachment styles and their relationship with resilience. The data (n = 136) used for this study were obtained from the British Columbia Adolescent Substance Use Survey. Findings indicate resiliency was significantly associated with attachment style (p < .01). The study findings provide support for tailoring resilience mental health promotion and intervention resources according to attachment style to foster long-term engagement in programming that helps Aboriginal youth live a healthy and holistically balanced life.


The insulin nanoparticles has been developed as an alternative to oral insulin delivery. Nanoparticle drug delivery system could be prepared by a cross-linked polymer, which was composed of xanthan gum and acacia gum, and cross-linked by sodium trimetaphosphate. The aim of the present study was to produce insulin nanoparticles using the cross-linked polymer of xanthan gum and acacia gum for oral delivery. In this study, insulin nanoparticles was prepared by mixing xanthan gum and acacia gum colloid with the ratio 1:1 and using sodium trimetaphosphate as a cross-linking agent in bases condition. Afterwards, insulin solution in HCl was added into the colloid, and then dried to produce the insulin nanoparticles. Insulin nanoparticle powders were characterized in terms of degree of substitution (DS), entrapment efficiency, Dv90, swelling ability, in vitro release study, and stability test. The results showed that the substitution degree of the insulin nanoparticles was 0.08 – 0.10 and the entrapment efficiency was 26.11% 48.73%. Moreover, the insulin nanoparticles had Dv90 value 547 nm 726 nm and swelling index of 1.1 2.9 in HCl pH 1.2 and 2.5 3.4 in phosphate buffer pH 6.8, respectively. According to the dissolution study, the insulin nanoparticles provided the insulin release of 78.42% 85.67% within 3 hours. Furthermore, stability testing showed insulin content after 9 weeks incubation at 4oC was 74.46% 85.09%. Therefore, this work demonstrated that a cross-linked polymer of xanthan gum and acasia gum nanoparticle could be potential for could be potential for oral insulin delivery system.


Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) breeding has a long tradition in Hungary. However, recent economic changes in Eastern Europe and new developments in aquaculture necessitated the need for ensuring quality of the brood stock used in hatcheries and the legal and institutional frameworks needed to implement the program. In addition to good research and development programs and gene banking, it became essential to establish an appropriate legal framework, organize, coordinate and control breeding activities, and provide financial support. It was a major breakthrough for carp breeding when C.carpio was recognized as one of the cultivated animals in the Animal Breeding Act in 1993. The Carp Breeding Section of the Hungarian Fish Producers Association plays an important role in carp breeding programs. Thirteen breeding farms of the Carp Breeding Section have 24 certified C.carpio varieties. In Hungary, about 80 % of the seed used as stocking for commercial production are from high quality certified breeders.


. Successful collaborative product development depends on the ability to effectively manage and share engineering knowledge and experience throughout the entire development process. This paper presents a distributed heterogeneous engineering knowledge management approach for the practice of collaborative product design. Firstly, a XTM based heterogeneous knowledge integration model in collaborative product design is proposed; Then, a knowledge management framework in collaborative design process is developed; Finally, a knowledge management system in collaborative design is constructed.


Nutraceutical:A food or part of a food that allegedly provides medicinal or health benefits, including the prevention and treatment of disease. A nutraceutical may be a naturally nutrient-rich or medicinally active food, such as garlic or soybeans, or it may be a specific component of a food, such as the omega-3 fish oil that can be derived from salmon and other cold-water fish. The word "nutraceutical" is a portmanteau of the words "nutrition" and "pharmaceutical", coined in 1989 by Stephen L. DeFelice, founder and chairman of the Foundation of Innovation Medicine. Indians, Egyptians, Chinese, and Sumerians are just a few civilizations that have used food as medicine. Recent studies have shown promising results for these compounds in various complications. In the present review much effort has been devoted to present new concepts about nutraceuticals based on their diseases modifying indications. Emphasis has been made to present herbal nutraceuticals effective on hard curative disorders related to oxidative stress including allergy, alzheimer, cardiovascular, cancer, diabetes, eye, immune, inflammatory and Parkinson's diseases as well as obesity. It is this specific ability to help combat cardiovascular disease and viruses in general that have made them a topic of interest in the fight against COVID-19. The recently published papers about different aspects of nutraceuticals as alternative for pharmaceuticals were searched using scientific sites such as Medline, PubMed, and Google Scholar. The used terms included nutraceutical and allergy, alzheimer, cardiovascular, cancer, diabetes, eye, immune, inflammatory or Parkinson. The food sources used as nutraceuticals are all natural and can be categorized as (Kalia 2005; Kokate et al. 2002):Dietary Fibre,Probiotics,Prebiotics,Polyunsaturated fatty acids,Antioxidant vitamins,Polyphenols,Spices


Depression is a common comorbidity of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) which leads to deterioration of the state of disease. The physician needs to know which psychiatric and temperamental characteristics have to be met in order to adapt his treatment to depressive patients. Therefore we compared patients with elevated depressive scores to those with normal scores.

 291 IBD patients in 3 specialized IBD clinics in Germany (Ulm, Blaubeuren, Biberach) answered an anonymous questionnaire on their disease itself, on socio-demographic parameters and 6 psychological tests (HADS, STAI-S, STAI-T, FSozU, Neo-FFI, BL-R).

 The questionnaire was completed by 139 (47,3%) male and 155 (52,7%) female patients, 185 (63,4%) with Crohn's disease and 107 (36,6%) with ulcerative colitis. 229 patients (79,0%) had a normal depression score (=NormD) (HADS-D), 59 (21,0%) had a borderline to very severe elevated score (elevated depression score = ElevD).
 We characterized ElevD patients with the aid of a personality test (Neo-FFI) as more neurotic (p<0.001), but less extroverted (p<0.001), open for experience (p=0.042), agreeable (p=0.004) and conscientious (p=0.001) than patients with NormD. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-D) revealed them as more anxious (p<0.001). This was confirmed by the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S/-T) which showed ElevD patients to be more anxious as a state (p<0.001) and as a trait (p<0.001).
 Moreover patients with ElevD percieve their social support as little as seen in the FSozU (p<0.001). In addition there are lower scores in the Short Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (SIBDQ) (p<0.001), the Complaints List (B-LR) (p<0.001) and the fact that most of the patients with ElevD had an active disease (43 (75,4%)) of the group.

 IBD patients with an elevated depression score are more neurotic and less extroverted, open for experience, agreeable and conscientious than other patients. They are anxious and have little social support combined with many complaints and low quality of life. To improve their situation or to prevent it, the treating physician needs to be more sensitive to the patient's state of mind and inquire more about their general complaints and especially their social support system so he is able to intervene and optimize the quality of life.


As corruption is a serious problem in many Asian countries their governments have introduced many anti-corruption measures since the 1950s. This book analyzes and evaluates the anti-corruption strategies employed in Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mongolia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. These countries are selected because they represent the three major patterns of corruption control with Japan adopting Pattern 1 (anti-corruption laws without any anti-corruption agency [ACA]); India, the Philippines and Taiwan employing Pattern 2 (anti-corruption laws with multiple ACAs); and, Singapore, Hong Kong SAR, Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, and Mongolia belonging to Pattern 3 (anti-corruption laws with a single ACA). Among the ten countries only Singapore and Hong Kong SAR have succeeded in minimizing corruption because of the commitment of their political leaders in curbing corruption, their favorable policy contexts, and the impartial implementation of effective anti-corruption measures. On the other hand, the other eight Asian countries have failed to curb corruption because of the lack of political will, their unfavorable policy contexts, and their reliance on ineffective anti-corruption measures.


CpG methylation of the human papillomavirus upstream regulatory region has previously been shown to reduce virus promoter activity. Here, we demonstrate that methylation of the CpG dinucleotides contained within the binding site of the human papillomavirus type 16 E2 protein has a direct effect on the interaction of this protein with DNA. Methylation of both CpG dinucleotides within the E2 site abolishes the binding of E2.


Telemedicine in pediatric physiotherapy simply refers to physical therapy services that are provided over a technology platform, rather than by in-person means. Telemedicine can in particular aid underprivileged communities dwelling in remote or underdeveloped areas with scarcely any health services and medical resources. With "social distancing" becoming the norm, we are facing difficulty following up with patients. Therapists are on a lookout for more innovative ways to reach out to their patients and make sure the child's progress is not hampered. Telemedicine is one such opportunity to stay connected with the patients and monitor patient progress. The purpose of this article is to compile and summarize all the scarce and scattered information on telemedicine and its application in pediatric physiotherapy so that researchers can conduct studies on the same and take the work forward from here. Search engines such as Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Google Scholar were explored with specific keywords like telemedicine, pediatric physiotherapy, India. Articles were then skimmed for relevance in the Indian scenario and used for reference. There is a big void in data available for telemedicine in pediatric physiotherapy. Providing telemedicine facilities and services to the huge population can be a daunting task as it involves technical, ethical, and legal issues. It can save the time of the patient and the therapist, provide instant care and assistance to the pediatric population as well as stay available to the increasing number of patients.


This paper presents an expert evaluation of a collaborative annotation system named DiLAS (Digital
Library Annotation Service). It can be globally accessed by individuals as well as different user
communities, and knowledge is created and shared within English-speaking communities. It contains
a collection of textual documents on information science and software science, and it gives access to
all kinds of related material such as authors' home pages, photos, articles, and so on. An analytical
evaluation was conducted as a participatory group evaluation, which involved presentation beyond
the objectives and rationale papers and development of the prototype. The empirical evaluation of
DiLAS consisted of two experiments. The first evaluation was a bottom up evaluation that began at
the elementary level with an evaluation of the usability of the interface. A Cognitive Walkthrough
approach was chosen using a qualitative approach. The next evaluation moved towards the broader
work context with a user- and work-centred evaluation involving an entire collaborative task
situation, which required knowledge sharing on a common real life work task. This evaluation
resulted in a large number of user requirements for the next prototype.


Mycobacterium bovis, the causative agent of tuberculosis in animals, has a broad host range, including humans. Historically, public health concerns prompted programs to eradicate tuberculosis from cattle in many nations. Eradication efforts decreased the prevalence of bovine tuberculosis; nevertheless, some countries encountered significant obstacles, not least of which was a wildlife reservoir of M. bovis. Efforts to decrease the size of the affected wildlife populations have neither eliminated disease nor eliminated transmission to cattle. Consequently, the use of a vaccine for wildlife is being explored. The vaccine most studied is M. bovis BCG, an attenuated live vaccine, first developed 100 years ago. The most efficient and effective means of vaccinating wildlife will be an oral vaccine. White-tailed deer in Michigan, USA, constitute a reservoir of M. bovis. White-tailed deer are a popular game species, and as such, represent a food animal to many hunters. BCG persistence in deer tissues could result in human exposure to BCG. Although non-pathogenic, BCG exposure could induce false-positive skin test results, confounding the central component of public health surveillance for TB. The objective of the present study in white-tailed deer was to evaluate persistence of lipid-encapsulated BCG and a liquid suspension of BCG after oral administration at two different dosages. Vaccine was not recovered at any time after oral consumption of a bait containing a single dose (1 × 10(8) CFU) of lipid-encapsulated BCG. However, persistence was consistent in deer consuming 10 lipid-encapsulated baits (1 × 10(9) CFU), with BCG recovered from at least one deer at 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after consumption. Persistence of up to 9 months was seen in deer vaccinated with orally with a liquid suspension. Persistence of BCG was limited to lymphoid tissue and never found in samples of muscle collected at each time point. Although the risk of exposure to hunters is low, BCG persistence should be considered prior to field use in white-tailed deer.


For most transition countries who want to transfer to a market-oriented system from the planned-economy, one of the most important features is to shrink the state-owned enterprises (SOE) and expand the private-owned enterprises(POE), such as had been experienced by the former Soviet Union and the socialist countries in Eastern Europe. The same thing is happening in China. Since China started reform and opening to the outside world in 1979, Private-Owned Enterprises (POE) have grown dramatically and become a significant contributor to China's economic growth. This paper describes firstly this great economic achievement, and then emphasizes its political consequences. The main conclusions are as follows: the prolonged prosperity of POE in China over two decades proved again that private property rights always generate higher efficiency than the public ownership system in which owners are ambiguous or unspecified. The great improvement of POE's political status comes from both the state's rational compromise and the POE's positive participation due to the pressure of economic development on the government side and the security needs for property and human rights on the POE side. Overall, the political participation by POE is helpful to improve the democratic process of governmental decision making, which has been demonstrated both at local governmental levels and with budgetary issues. However, the risks of collusion between money and power call for formal institutional mechanisms which let all people express and protect their interests transparently and legally.


The editors of SGJ ask me to share with SGJ readers this article appeared in PSTJ V2(7) and I happily accept. I don't think there has ever been a moment quite like this in physics before. Within the next few months, weeks or even days we will learn something new about the universe that will change our thinking forever. I don't mean something like a little CP asymmetry or a new observation of neutrino physics. These things are great but they just pose questions that we cannot answer yet. What we are about to learn is going to generate so many new ideas in physics that the arXiv will run out of four digit numbers so that people have to start posting their papers in viXra. Am I exaggerating? Let us see take a look.


Innate immunity is the first line of defense against microbial insult. The transcription factor, IRF3, is needed by mammalian cells to mount innate immune responses against many microbes, especially viruses. IRF3 remains inactive in the cytoplasm of uninfected cells; upon virus infection, it gets phosphorylated and then translocates to the nucleus, where it binds to the promoters of antiviral genes and induces their expression. Such genes include type I interferons (IFNs) as well as Interferon Stimulated Genes (ISGs). IRF3-/- cells support enhanced replication of many viruses and therefore, the corresponding mice are highly susceptible to viral pathogenesis. Here, we provide evidence for an unexpected pro-microbial role of IRF3: the replication of the protozoan parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, was significantly impaired in IRF3-/- cells. In exploring whether the transcriptional activity of IRF3 was important for its pro-parasitic function, we found that ISGs induced by parasite-activated IRF3 were indeed essential, whereas type I interferons were not important. To delineate the signaling pathway that activates IRF3 in response to parasite infection, we used genetically modified human and mouse cells. The pro-parasitic signaling pathway, which we termed PISA (Parasite-IRF3 Signaling Activation), activated IRF3 without any involvement of the Toll-like receptor or RIG-I-like receptor pathways, thereby ruling out a role of parasite-derived RNA species in activating PISA. Instead, PISA needed the presence of cGAS, STING, TBK1 and IRF3, indicating the necessity of DNA-triggered signaling. To evaluate the physiological significance of our in vitro findings, IRF3-/- mice were challenged with parasite infection and their morbidity and mortality were measured. Unlike WT mice, the IRF3-/- mice did not support replication of the parasite and were resistant to pathogenesis caused by it. Our results revealed a new paradigm in which the antiviral host factor, IRF3, plays a cell-intrinsic pro-parasitic role.


One of the most important parameters in a lightning flash that is of interest to researchers is the lightning return-stroke current as it causes most of the destructions and disturbances in electrical and telecommunication networks. In most cases, the lightning return-stroke current can not be directly measured and current characteristics are determined from measured electric and magnetic fields through the use of lightning return-stroke models. The main objective of this work is the development of a lightning return-stroke model for an elevated object. Also, an important objective is the correlation of the wavefront parameters (peak, maximum rate of rise and risetime) of the return-stroke current with the wavefront parameters of its associated lightning electromagnetic pulse (LEMP), measured 2 km north of the tower. The developed field-current parameter relationships for CN Tower lightning return strokes are compared with those obtained from measurements conducted at the Peissenberg Tower in Germany.

A 3-section transmission line (TL) model of the CN Tower, along with the derivative of the modified Heidler function, is used to simulate the measured current derivative signal. Then, the spatial-temporal distribution of the lightning current along the CN Tower and the lightning channel, during the lightning return-stroke phase, is determined. The presented model simulates the measured current derivative signal instead of the current as has been used by other researchers. The use of the derivative of the modified Heidler function to simulate the lightning current derivative proved to be superior than simulating the lightning current.

For the quantitative assessment of the proposed model, a comparison between the simulated field, obtained through the usage of Maxwell's equations and the simulated current, and the measured field is performed. The developed 3-section TL model based on the measured current derivative and the derivative of the modified Heidler function produced a simulated magnetic field that is much closer to the measured field in comparison with previous models.

The developed field-current parameter relationships as well as the experimentally verified lightning return-stroke model can contribute to solving the inverse-source problem, one of the most challenging problems in lightning research, where the lightning current characteristics are estimated based on the characteristics of the measured LEMP.


In recent years, wireless sensor networks have gained extensive attentions due to their bright future in military and civil fields. Innovative routing techniques that can prolong the network lifetime are highly demanded. Clustering is an effective technique in applications of periodical data gathering. Most clustering schemes make the common assumption that sensors are uniformly dispersed within an area. In this paper, we propose an adaptive and distributed clustering scheme (ADCS) for wireless sensor networks, which can work very well in both uniform and non-uniform scenes. Our approach elects nodes with comparatively more residual energy and more neighbors as the cluster heads. In the cluster formation phase, the plain nodes choose to join in cluster considering both distance and load balance. ADCS can generate an even distribution of the clusters, which helps to prolong the network lifetime. Simulation results show that ADCS outperforms LEACH significantly by prolonging the network lifetime over 40% in uniform scenes and 75% in non-uniform scenes respectively.


Chlorine ion localization in the parietal cells of the mouse and rat gastric mucosa was studied with the aid of electron microscopic histochemical and autoradiographic methods and also with the direct method of radioactive isotopes revealing in the tissue. On the grounds of the results received a diagram of chlorine ion specific transport is suggested; this transport is connected with the cell membrane transposition, basal plasmalemma double folds, tubulovesicles and intracellular conaliculi. This intertransformation takes place in the process of cell secretory cycle and depends directly upon it. It is suggested that the ways of general chloride transport along the intercellular spaces are nonspecific.


Economic growth is the major indicator of government's performances; hence, economists always trying to help policy-makers in this field through accurate recognizing of dynamisms and factor affecting this indicator. On the other hand, financial and monetary markets play a vital role in directing existing funds in economy toward producing and industrial sectors to improve economic growth. In this regard, some economists believe that expanded financial markets are driving force of economic growth is countries. This research has investigated the causal relationship between economic growth, banking sector development, and stock market development (SMD) in selected Middle-East and North African (MENA) countries during 1988-2012. To measure development of banking and stock market sectors, 4 indexes are introduced that are converting to two general indexes for each sector using decomposition method for principle components. To test causal relationship between economic growths, banking sector and SMD, granger causality test based on vector auto regression of error correction has been applied. According to the results of this study, there is a one-way causal relationship from banking sector development toward economic growth, a mutual causal relationship between SMD and economic growth, and a one-way causal relationship from banking sector development toward stock market. SMD has a long-run positive effect on economic growth.


Abstract The list of variables included in wage models has been extended substantially since 1974 when Mincer published his model containing years of schooling and quadratic function of potential experience. This paper provides an overview of the variables most often employed in wage equations, including results from their estimations. Education, experience, particular skills, psychological traits, beauty and health, social capital, characteristics potentially connected with discrimination, individual's household characteristics and social, cultural and economic background the individual was exposed to during childhood and adolescence, all these are aggregated fields of interest which are discussed in detail. The paper is concluded by the outline of the probable development of research on wage determinants.


Flow boiling in micro- and mini-channels has attracted much attention in recent years. But the phenomena is such confined channels have not been fully understood and explained. Some conclusions reached by different authors are even contradictory. The present research is trying to study some aspects of flow boiling in mini- and micro-channels. In the present paper boiling heat transfer and two-phase flow patterns in rectangular narrow channels were studied. The gap size of the channel was varied as 2, 1, 0.5 and 0.2 mm with the channel width and length being kept at 20 mm and 100 mm, respectively. In the present mini- and micro-channels, four flow patterns were identified; bubbly, intermittent, wavy and annular flow. They can be also divided into several sub-flow patterns. Flow patterns showed strong channel gap size dependence. Smaller gap size deleted bubbly flow, thus induced simpler flow patterns to shift the annular flow at lower vapor quality. The channels can be divided into two groups depending on the gap size; the larger gap group of 2 and 1 mm, and the smaller gap group of 0.5 and 0.2 mm. The larger gap group showed similar heat transfer behavior as conventional size of tubes. The smaller gap group indicated some peculiar phenomena. Heat transfer coefficient in the smaller gap group was relatively high in the low quality region. Then heat transfer coefficient decreased monotonously with increasing vapor quality. This behavior was considered attributable to the micro-bubble generation in the channel corners and an early partial dryout of thin liquid film. Thus the relationship between heat transfer coefficient and flow pattern should be carefully pursued in micro- and mini-channels to develop heat transfer correlations based on flow patterns.© 2004 ASME


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
Adiponectin is produced by adipose cells and is considered an anti-inflammatory molecule. In contrast, C-reactive protein (CRP) has been identified as a hallmark of systemic inflammation and used as a risk marker of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Of interest was the relationship of these two biomarkers to oral health and CVD risk.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
This investigation examined these two molecules in serum and unstimulated whole saliva of patients within 48 h of an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) compared to control subjects. We hypothesized a differential response in these biomolecules resulting from the heart attack that would be affected by both the body mass index and oral health characteristics of the individuals.

RESULTS
Significantly lower adiponectin levels were observed in the serum of patients with AMI. Serum adiponectin in both groups and salivary adiponectin in patients with AMI decreased with increasing body mass index. Oral health was significantly worse in patients with AMI, and both serum and salivary adiponectin were elevated with better oral health in control subjects. Serum CRP levels were increased in patients with AMI regardless of their oral health, and both serum and salivary CRP were significantly elevated in S-T wave elevated patients with MI.

CONCLUSIONS
These initial data provide evidence relating obesity and oral health to salivary and serum analyte levels that occur in association with cardiac events. Relationships have been described between CVD risk and periodontal disease. Additionally, various systemic inflammatory biomarkers appear to reflect both the CVD risk and the extent/severity of periodontitis. Our findings indicated that oral health and obesity contribute to altering levels of these salivary and serum analytes in association with cardiac events. The potential that serum and/or salivary biomarkers could aid in evaluating CVD risk requires knowledge regarding how the oral health of the individual would impact the effectiveness of these biological measures.


RNA N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most common and intensively studied RNA modification that critically regulates RNA metabolism, cell signaling, cell survival, and differentiation. However, the overall role of multiple m6A regulators in the tumor microenvironment (TME) has not yet been fully elucidated in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In our study, we explored the genetic and transcriptional alterations of 23 m6A regulators in AML patients. Three distinct molecular subtypes were identified and associated with prognosis, patient clinicopathological features, as well as TME characteristics. The TME characterization revealed that m6A patterns were highly connected with metabolic pathways such as biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, cysteine and methionine metabolism, and citrate cycle TCA cycle. Then, based on the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to m6A molecular subtypes, our study categorized the entire cohort into three m6A gene clusters. Furthermore, we constructed the m6Ascore for quantification of the m6A modification pattern of individual AML patients. It was found that the tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte cells (TILs) closely correlated with the three m6A clusters, three m6A gene clusters, and m6Ascore. And many biological processes were involved, including glycogen degradation, drug metabolism by cytochrome P450, pyruvate metabolism, and so on. Our comprehensive analysis of m6A regulators in AML demonstrated their potential roles in the clinicopathological features, prognosis, tumor microenvironment, and particularly metabolic pathways. These findings may improve our understanding of m6A regulators in AML and offer new perspectives on the assessment of prognosis and the development of anticancer strategy.


The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to characterize the age-related change in bone metabolism during the pre- and postmenopausal periods, and to define the standard levels of three serum markers of bone metabolism, pyridinoline cross-linked carboxyterminal telopeptide of type I collagen (ICTP), carboxyterminal propeptide of type I procollagen (PICP), and bone gla protein (BGP), in Japanese adult women. The bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar spine (L2-L4) and the serum levels of ICTP, PICP and BGP were determined in a total of 207 healthy Japanese women (108 premenopausal and 99 postmenopausal). The lumbar BMD decreased significantly with increasing age not only in postmenopausal women (P<0.001) but also in premenopausal women (P=0.014). There was a clear gap in the serum levels of ICTP, PICP and BGP between the premenopausal and postmenopausal group (P<0.001), but those were absolutely the same within each group except for ICTP in the postmenopausal women. These findings and the values of serum ICTP, PICP and BGP in pre- and postmenopausal women obtained in this study are expected to be very useful for treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis.


Although substantial consideration has been given to analyzing the relationship between land use diversity and travel behavior, the selection of the most suitable geographic scale for operationalizing these measures has received considerably less attention in the research. General consensus favors an examination of the complex relationship between travel behavior and such built environment measures explained at a finer spatial scale. The reasons for supporting a more disaggregate neighborhood scale include statistical advantages, such as a minimization of the modifiable areal unit problem, and more applied intentions, such as a preference for site-specific design measures seen as responsive to urban policy. Complementing this decision about how best to define the geographic extent of the built environment is the determination of which built environment measures are significantly related to travel mode choice. Of these measures, an increased diversity of land uses has often been linked with an individual's heightened likelihood for using transit, bicycling, and walking. This research advances the knowledge of which land use diversity measures best predict mode choice and explores the proper geographic scale for operationalizing these indicators. Seven diversity indexes represented at four geographic scales encompassing the origins and destinations of discretionary trips in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan region were examined with a series of multinomial logit models. This study, which introduced several indexes previously unrecognized in transportation research, suggests common diversity measures, and the most disaggregate spatial scale may not always best represent the link between land use diversity and nonautomotive travel.


As an important part of high speed trains, any fault or failure of the bogie may cause fatal disaster and/or expensive lost. Considering on-train condition monitoring system is still restricted by many limits, bogie condition monitoring via rail vibration may be very valuable. For the rail vibration signals exited by bogies are short termed, non-periodic, non-stationary, not pre-separated corresponding to wheels, and with time-shifting of phases, they must be separated corresponding to each wheel for fault location. In this paper, to separate and reconstruct the vibration signals from two bogie wheels, a measurement mixing model is established and some assumptions about bogie speed, measure accordance, etc. are given. Based on envelope correlation analysis of signals from multi-sensors, the bogie speed and measurement windows are estimated so that the rail vibration signals can be separated corresponding to each bogie wheel, which allows the contact dynamics of the wheel-track to be characterized accurately for the purpose of diagnostics. A simulation and an experiment have been applied to verify this method. Some result as well as discussion will be given.