UNLABELLED
Role of the funding source: Funding from the NIH was used for support of the participating clinical centers and the coordinating center. The funding source did not participate in the collection or the analysis of the data.

BACKGROUND
The β cell killing that characterizes type 1 diabetes (T1D) is thought to begin years before patients present clinically with metabolic decompensation; however, this primary pathologic process of the disease has not been measured.

METHODS
Here, we measured β cell death with an assay that detects β cell-derived unmethylated insulin (INS) DNA. Using this assay, we performed an observational study of 50 participants from 2 cohorts at risk for developing T1D from the TrialNet Pathway to Prevention study and of 4 subjects who received islet autotransplants.

RESULTS
In at-risk subjects, those who progressed to T1D had average levels of unmethylated INS DNA that were elevated modestly compared with those of healthy control subjects. In at-risk individuals that progressed to T1D, the observed increases in unmethylated INS DNA were associated with decreases in insulin secretion, indicating that the changes in unmethylated INS DNA are indicative of β cell killing. Subjects at high risk for T1D had levels of unmethylated INS DNA that were higher than those of healthy controls and higher than the levels of unmethylated INS DNA in the at-risk progressor and at-risk nonprogressor groups followed for 4 years. Evaluation of insulin secretory kinetics also distinguished high-risk subjects who progressed to overt disease from those who did not.

CONCLUSION
We conclude that a blood test that measures unmethylated INS DNA serves as a marker of active β cell killing as the result of T1D-associated autoimmunity. Together, the data support the concept that β cell killing occurs sporadically during the years prior to diagnosis of T1D and is more intense in the peridiagnosis period.

TRIAL REGISTRATION
Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00097292.

FUNDING
Funding was from the NIH, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and the American Diabetes Association.


This paper proposes a new robot needle insertion trajectory planning method based on learning expert's skill. Through reforcement learning, the system can imitate the expert's behavior in planning optimal needle insertion policy. After learning two experts' skill and experience, the needle insertion optimal policy shows that each one can catch the main characters of the expert's own behavior. Through experimental verification, this paper also presents an approach on improving system learning speed. This makes it possible for robot needle trajectory real time enforcement learning and target insertion in complicate surgical operating conditions.


The article is an attempt to examine the results of the amendments, which have been introduced to civil procedure and to mediation law since the 1 st January 2016. Mediation corresponds with the nature of private law and in many other Western countries it has become a significant part of justice in civil, commercial and family matters. The examined updating was meant to: raise the social knowledge and recognition of mediation; increase the number of mediations conducted; motivate lawyers to apply it as a solution for legal disputes; raise the standards of professional court mediators and – last but not least – shorten the length of the civil proceedings. Most of the changes have been inspired by the EU directives on commercial disputes.


In this study, the researcher examined self-perceived school leadership styles of school administrators within the virtual school setting. Through this study, the researcher identified virtual school leaders and the leadership styles associated with their work. Participants in this study were employed at K12, Inc. representing virtual schools that were operating with a full-time state sponsored staff at that time. The 26 participants in this study represented a 35% response rate, which was the main limitation in this study. The research instrument used in the study was the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) with an added demographic survey. The dependent variable was the administrators' leadership style identified on the MLQ. The independent variables were the demographic factors including years of experience, school type, size of school, administrator gender, administrator age, race, highest degree obtained, years in education, grade level, number of teachers in school, and previous role in brick and mortar setting.
The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and Chi square to address the two main research questions. The second research question consisted of six sub-questions. The results showed a significant relationship between administrators' leadership style and the school type. District school administrators were more transformational, and state charter school administrators were more transactional. The results also showed a significant relationship between administrators' leadership style and gender. Male administrators perceived themselves as more transformational, and female administrators perceived themselves as more transactional. The remaining variables did not have enough data to determine a relationship between those variables and leadership style.
The findings of the study may have implications on leadership practice and development. Professional development could be provided for current virtual school leaders on topics of transformational and transactional leadership. Identifying the leadership styles of virtual school leaders as they relate to demographic factors could ultimately impact both teaching and learning outcomes.


: Effective domestic revenue mobilization has gained renewed urgency, especially in the light of the need to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. In taxation debates, the 'informal sectors' have hitherto been assumed to be a part of the problem and implicitly mistaken for lucrative tax bases. First, I critically interrogate current conceptualizations of informality to highlight how the informality that materially affects revenue mobilization goes beyond the hitherto narrow focus on the visible informal sectors. I then demonstrate that informality is only one among many factors negatively associated with tax revenue mobilization in sub-Saharan Africa. I also maintain that better scores on government quality and technology adoption in government systems can play a role in mitigating informality, but a limited one because deeper structural factors sustain informality. I argue for a re-articulation of the concept of informality when it is included in revenue mobilization research, including frank discussions on perennial measurement and data quality issues. Simultaneity in policy strategies is necessary, given that informality is multifaceted. It seems more appropriate to prioritize the securing of livelihoods and the building of local fiscal contracts, including on a quid-pro-quo basis, than tax surveillance, especially given that those who operate in shadow economies tend to be outside national safety nets.


This book is intended as a useful handbook for professionals and researchers in the areas of Physical Oceanography, Marine Geology, Coastal Geomorphology and Coastal Engineering and as a text for graduate students in these fields. With its emphasis on boundary layer flow and basic sediment transport modelling, it is meant to help fill the gap between general hydrodynamic texts and descriptive texts on marine and coastal sedimentary processes. The book commences with a review of coastal bottom boundary layer flows including the boundary layer interaction between waves and steady currents. The concept of eddy viscosity for these flows is discussed in depth because of its relation to sediment diffusivity. The quasi-steady processes of sediment transport over flat beds are discussed. Small scale coastal bedforms and the corresponding hydraulic roughness are described. The motion of suspended sand particles is studied in detail with emphasis on the possible suspension maintaining mechanisms in coastal flows. Sediment pickup functions are provided for unsteady flows. A new combined convection-diffusion model is provided for suspended sediment distributions. Different methods of sediment transport model building are presented together with some classical models.


Plutonism of the Karakorum, north of the India-Eurasia suture zone, comprises two major intrusive stages: the oldest, mid-Cretaceous, predates the collision; the youngest, Miocene, is post-suturing. In between, Lower Cenozoic plutonism, roughly syn-suturing and represented by the Batura complex, is made up of a few small and usually undeformed plutons. The complex has a subalkaline (i.e. intermediate between alkaline and calc-alkaline) and ferriferous association, dominated by light-coloured metaluminous and slightly peraluminous granites and adamellites with biotite ± amphibole ± titanite. Whole rock Rb-Sr isochron ages of 63 Ma (this study) and 43 Ma (Debon et al. 1987b) have been obtained for two plutons, with rather low initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.7050, 0.7056). A comparison with granitoids of similar age from Kohistan suggests that the complex relates to the subduction of the Tethys ocean, and originates from a mantle source with but small crustal contribution, through a two-stage melting process. The apparently limited extent of Lower Cenozoic plutonism in the Karakorum contrasts with its wider development in the Transhimalaya and Kohistan. This contrast could be partly accounted for by changes in tectonic and magmatic suduction-related processes after the initial contact between India and Eurasia was established, in the NW Himalaya.


In this paper we study how an incumbent supermarket reacts when
entry by a new operator is announced but does not know the product variety that
the entrant will offer. We use a database obtained from a special survey for supermarkets
in Gran Canaria to estimate how incumbents reacted to entry in the
products sold and not sold by the new entrant (LIDL). We show that there is evidence
that prices for all goods prior to entry were initially lower in supermarkets
close to the future entrant compared to supermarkets further away. However, after
entry incumbents' prices for products not sold by the entrant actually rose near the
entrant's new stores, compared to a suitable control group of supermarkets farther
away


E-commerce contracts have recently become one of the means in terms of following the new developments in the commercial acts through the electronic means. This led to the necessity to look at the legal means that could achieve practising such commercial acts without any obstacles. Consequently, many different countries have taken into consideration this issue and passed legislation for organizing transactions in the digital environment. Since the documentation in e-contracts in the internet environment is not less important than the documentation in the traditional environment, the core aim of this article is to examine the legal solutions that have been used within comparative legislations, including Jordanian law, in order to assess the legislative efforts that protect such transactions.


The following has been excerpted from a very popular Worthington publication which was originally published in 1972 as the Manual of Clinical Enzyme Measurements. While some of the presentation may seem somewhat dated, the basic concepts are still helpful for researchers who must use enzymes but who have little background in enzymology.


The Grumman Flxible 870, a lightweight advanced design urban bus, entered service in Atlanta, GA in 1978, and some 2,800 of these buses were in service nationwide by 1980. In the autumn of 1980, several transit authorities reported discovery of cracks in the undercarriage structure, and some undercarriage structures had failed in service. The New York City Transit Authority (then the largest operator) removed its entire Flxible fleet from service pending structural modifications. The manufacturer had earlier agreed that the original undercarriage was inadequate, had designed and tested the needed modifications, and had accepted financial responsibility for the retrofit. This paper presents the case history as an example of the government role when the structural integrity of a civil transportation fleet or fixed structure is at issue.


We propose a novel approach for removing multiple reflections noise based on an adaptive randomized-order empirical mode decomposition framework. We first flatten the primary reflections in common midpoint (CMP) gather using the automatically picked NMO velocities that correspond to the primary reflections and then randomly permutate all the traces. Next, we removed the spatially distributed random spikes that correspond to the multiple reflections using the EMD based smoothing approach that is implemented in the f − x domain. The trace randomization approach can make the spatially coherent multiple reflections random along the space direction and can decrease the coherency of near-offset multiple reflections. The EMD based smoothing method is superior to median filter and prediction error filter in that it can help preserve the flattened signals better, without the need of exact flattening, and can preserve the amplitude variation much better. In addition, EMD is a fully adaptive algorithm and the parameterization for EMD based smoothing can be very convenient.


In the ever-changing business environment of today, organisations have found themselves managing people from various generations (Saba, 2013). There are many factors such as advancements in technology and an aging workforce, which challenge the workplace to support all participating generations (Saba, 2013). This study explores the factors that need to be considered in managing different generations in a financial services company in Ireland. Differences in job satisfaction and motivation across age cohorts were explored by investigating each generation's work values and beliefs and their impact on the workplace. A quantitate research approach was adopted in order to identify the values and behaviours of each employee. A survey of 130 employees was conducted with a 76% response rate. The results were analyzed using SPSS Software. The findings suggest that communication and communication styles are the most prevalent differences between generations with 63% of respondents stating so. In the findings, younger generations indicated a preference for informal approaches to communication versus older employees indicating preference for structured feedback and direction. Although there were no inherent differences in work values identified between generation X and Y, from the survey conducted, it was demonstrated that the generations show differences in relation to attitudes to work and behaviours in the workplace. This research suggests that organisations need to take a balanced approach to the notion of generational differences and its impact. It has identified a need for different approaches to training, development of employees and communication styles. A number of recommendations for future research are identified including the need to identify preferred training and coaching methods for all generations, as well as expanding the research approach for a longitudinal style to cross a larger and more diverse generation sample which could provide deeper insights into changing behaviours of generational cohorts over a longer period.


A fifty six years old man presented with post prandial upper abdominal discomfort that gradually worsened over the last three months. There was history of anorexia and vomiting associated with early satiety and weight loss. On physical examination, the patient had normal physical examination except that he was pale. Patient's upper gastrointestinal endoscopy showed poorly distensible stomach with diffuse nodular growth involving distal part of body of stomach. The biopsy showed poorly differentiated large cell lymphoma of stomach. Less than 15% gastric malignancies account for lymphomas. The majority of these tumors are Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas of B-cell origin. Patient received chemotherapy (CHOP + Rituximab). Follow up endoscopic biopsies and PET scan at six was normal with no residual tumor activity.


The safety of timber structure design based on the predicted Modulus of Rupture (MOR) of poplar lumber with nondestructive methods is presented in this paper. Dynamic(MOE) of poplar lumber was measured with three different nondestructive methods, and static MOE and MOR were obtained by a static bending test. The regression relationship between various MOE and MOR was evaluated to predict MOR with various MOE. Then timber construction design was conducted on poplar lumber based on measured and predicted MOR. Furthermore, reliability of timber structure design was analyzed with advanced first-order second-moment method. Results indicated that mean values of predicted MOR were slightly greater than those of measured MOR, but Coefficient of Variation (COV) of them were less than those of measured MOR. The reliability index of timber structure design based on predicted MOR, varying from 2.404 to 2.574, was less than that on measured MOR as 2.831.


Introduction: The Medipix-2 Quad MXR detector is a recent version of the Medipix hybrid silicon pixel detector, which was developed at CERN. It combines four Medipix-2 chips with one common sensor chip. The photon processing x-ray detector will be incorporated into the Medipix All Resolution System (MARS) scanner, a 3D spectroscopic imaging system being developed by a collaboration of researchers from the University of Canterbury and the Canterbury District Health Board. This paper reports on a method developed to carry out an energy calibration for the Quad MXR detector.


Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a valuable resource for mediating global climate change and securing food production. Despite an alarming rate of global plant diversity loss, uncertainties concerning the effects of plant diversity on SOC remain, because plant diversity not only stimulates litter inputs via increased productivity, thus enhancing SOC, but also stimulates microbial respiration, thus reducing SOC. By analysing 1001 paired observations of plant mixtures and corresponding monocultures from 121 publications, we show that both SOC content and stock are on average 5 and 8% higher in species mixtures than in monocultures. These positive mixture effects increase over time and are more pronounced in deeper soils. Microbial biomass carbon, an indicator of SOC release and formation, also increases, but the proportion of microbial biomass carbon in SOC is lower in mixtures. Moreover, these species‐mixture effects are consistent across forest, grassland, and cropland systems and are independent of background climates. Our results indicate that converting 50% of global forests from mixtures to monocultures would release an average of 2.70 Pg C from soil annually over a period of 20 years: about 30% of global annual fossil‐fuel emissions. Our study highlights the importance of plant diversity preservation for the maintenance of soil carbon sequestration in discussions of global climate change policy.


Motivated by some results in classical differential geometry, we give a constructive procedure for building up a connection over a (twisted) tensor product of two algebras, starting from connections defined on the factors. The curvature for the product connection is explicitly calculated, and shown to be independent of the choice of the twisting map and the module twisting map used to define the product connection. As a consequence, we obtain that a product of two flat connections is again a flat connection. We show that our constructions also behaves well with respect to bimodule structures, namely being the product of two bimodule connections again a bimodule connection. As an application of our theory, all the product connections on the quantum plane are computed.


Hydrogen and its energy carriers, such as liquid hydrogen (LH2), methylcyclohexane (MCH), and ammonia (NH3), are essential components of low-carbon energy systems. To utilize hydrogen energy, the complete environmental merits of its supply chain should be evaluated. To understand the expected environmental benefit under the uncertainty of hydrogen technology development, we conducted life-cycle inventory analysis and calculated CO2 emissions and their uncertainties attributed to the entire supply chain of hydrogen and NH3 power generation (co-firing and mono-firing) in Japan. Hydrogen was assumed to be produced from overseas renewable energy sources with LH2/MCH as the carrier, and NH3 from natural gas or renewable energy sources. The Japanese life-cycle inventory database was used to calculate emissions. Monte Carlo simulations were performed to evaluate emission uncertainty and mitigation factors using hydrogen energy. For LH2, CO2 emission uncertainty during hydrogen liquefaction can be reduced by using low-carbon fuel. For MCH, CO2 emissions were not significantly affected by power consumption of overseas processes; however, it can be reduced by implementing low-carbon fuel and waste-heat utilization during MCH dehydrogenation. Low-carbon NH3 production processes significantly affected power generation, whereas carbon capture and storage during NH3 production showed the greatest reduction in CO2 emission. In conclusion, reducing CO2 emissions during the production of hydrogen and NH3 is key to realize low-carbon hydrogen energy systems.


We have used scanning tunneling microscopy to study the faceting of oriented steps on Si(001) and Ge(001) surfaces. The oriented steps on Si(001) tend to facet into local SA and SB step segments, whereas oriented steps on Ge(001) meander along the mean direction. We show that the step faceting behavior of the Si and Ge(001) surfaces is fully governed by the next-nearest-neighbor (NNN) interaction between the substrate dimers. Only in the case of a repulsive NNN interaction, as for Si(001), faceting occurs.


In this study, a sliding mode control system is designed for a multi-degree-of-freedom structure having an Active Tuned Mass Damper (ATMD) to suppress earthquake or wind induced vibration. Since the model might have uncertainties and/or parameter changes, sliding mode control is preferred because of its robust character and superior performance. In addition this control method can easily be applied to non-linear systems. The simulated system has five degrees of freedom. In this study, a linear motor is used as the control device. At the end of the study, the time history of the floor displacements, control voltage and frequency response of the both uncontrolled and sliding mode controlled structures are presented and the results are discussed.


The efficiency and affordability of transportation, particularly in the road freight sector, is a key enabler in achieving broader industrial policy, trade and regional integration goals in the SADC region. Competition, market structure and arrangements between firms in the road freight sector – as well as the relationship between road freight operators and large importers – play an important role in determining the price and trade of commodities between countries. The paper focuses on the transportation of fertilizer in Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia in seeking to understand the role that different actors including regional economic communities, policymakers, large importers and large exporters play in influencing market outcomes in road transportation. The paper also considers the structure of markets, main players, and prices and costs in each country. The main findings are that competitive outcomes in road freight in the context of fertilizer trading are driven by the inter-relationships between large transporters and users of transport, cross-border rivalry, and both small and large regulatory interventions to enhance outcomes in road transport. A reduction in relative prices in Zambia has been driven, among others, by a combination of increased competition in road transport and the prosecution of a cartel in fertilizer trading; whereas the benefits of entry in the Tanzanian fertilizer market may have been undermined by arrangements in transport and the entrenched position of incumbent multinational importers. In Malawi, a lack of rivalry at various levels of the value chain and regulatory barriers meant prices of fertilizer have been well above those in the comparator countries.


Heterogenized antigens similar to the antigens of sheep and guinea pig red blood cells were revealed by indirect immunofluorescence in tissue cultures infected with parotitis virus. Participation of these antigens in cross immunofluorescence reactions observed in tissue cultures infected with various paramyxoviruses and in a suspension of erythrocytes loaded with these viruses was established. It was shown that immunization of children with parotitis virus was accompanied by a specific anamnestic reaction for heterogenized antigens. It is supposed that the corresponding antibodies can take part in cross serological tests with parainfluenza viruses.


BackgroundAutosomal recessive bestrophinopathy (ARB) is a retinal degenerative disorder caused by BEST1 mutations with autosomal recessive inheritance. We aim to map a comprehensive genomic and metabolic pro�le of a consanguineous Chinese family with ARB.MethodsOphthalmic examinations were performed on affected patients with ARB. Target capture sequencing was performed to screen causative mutations in 256 known retinal disease genes and Sanger sequencing were used for veri�cation. A UHPLC-MS/MS metabolomic analysis was performed to explore the disease-associated metabolic feature.ResultsAffected patients from this family were characterized by low vision, the presence of subretinal �uid, macular edema, and hyperopia with coincidental angle closure. DNA sequencing identi�ed a novel missense mutation in BEST1 gene (chr11:61725867G>A) of the proband. Sanger sequencing further con�rmed the mutation. The blood metabolic pro�les were highly similar among all family members probably due to the same life style, habitats and genomic background. However, ARB patients presented signi�cant deregulation of metabolites such as Citric acid, L-Threonic acid, Eicosapentaenoic acid.Conclusions We identi�ed a novel disease-associated variant in BEST1 gene as well as a disease-speci�c metabolic feature in familial ARB. The �ndings improved the understanding of mechanisms of ARB and provided a potential therapeutic strategy with application of metabolomics.


As a new kind of material for peripheral osteosynthesis we have developed the single crystal alumina ceramics screws (artificial sapphire screws) taking under consideration of the properties of alumina ceramics, and we have tested them experimentally in animals, and used them clinically too. The results of the mechanical tests and animal experiments were excellent. In the clinical follow-up studies the perfect bone unions has been recognized roentgenologically. The sapphire screws have, sofar, proved to be harmless also as anchor for bone cement. Our experience with our sapphire screws has opened the way for the clinical application of this material instead of metal screws.


This study presents a new approach to the optimal hedging decision. In some empirical studies, the standard hedge using the mean-variance hedge ratio provides results which are inconsistent with downside risk management. The new approach taken here relates the optimal hedge ratio to semivariance rather than variance. An algorithm to solve for the minimum semivariance hedge is presented, and applied to hedging Kansas City wheat and Texas steers.


Land subsidence which is defined as gradual settling or sudden collapse of Earth's surface, is a geohazard phenomenon that occurs worldwide. Land subsidence occurs in time mainly due to excessive groundwater abstraction. This problem occurs usually in semi-arid regions where the groundwater is the sole source of water. Eliminating the adverse effects of land subsidence requires careful observations on the temporal change of elevation coupled with groundwater flow modeling. In this study, numerical groundwater flow modeling technique is applied to a confined aquifer system in the Konya Subbasin of Konya Closed Basin (KCB), central Anatolia, Turkey. Groundwater head in the KCB has been declining with a rate of about 1m/year since early 1980s. Recent GPS observations reveal subsidence rates of 22 mm/year over the southern part of KCB. MODFLOW numerical groundwater flow model coupled with subsidence (SUB) package is used to simulate the effect of long term groundwater abstraction on the spatial variation of subsidence rates. Using Groundwater Flow Modelling for Investigation of Land Subsidence in the Konya Closed Basin (Turkey)


Abstract Field studies at three sites and growth chamber experiments were conducted to determine the reproductive potential, flower phenology, seed viability and germination, and overall seedbank longevity of yellow starthistle in the Central Valley of California. At the three study sites, seedheads contained an average of between 65 and 83 achenes. Overall, 85% of the achenes were the interior pappus-bearing type, and the remaining 15% were the outer nonpappus-bearing type. Germinable seed did not initially develop until the late corolla senescence stage 8 d after flower initiation. Seed germination and viability 1 wk after dispersal were similar (86 and 91%, respectively). Comparison in flower phenology in 1996 and 1997 indicated that development from initial anthesis to achene dispersal more closely corresponded to days, rather than thermal units. In the field, germinable seed was produced when more than 2% of the total seedheads had initiated anthesis. To minimize seed production with late-season control methods, such as prescribed burning, mowing, or herbicide treatment, management strategies should be timed before the plant population has advanced beyond the 2% flower initiation stage. Over 84% of the seed germinated under growth chamber conditions 1 wk after seedheads reached the dispersal stage. This indicates that most yellow starthistle seed had little or no after-ripening requirements. In a field experiment, yellow starthistle seed germination corresponded to seasonal rainfall. A total of 44 and 39% of the pappus-bearing and nonpappus-bearing seed, respectively, germinated after one growing season. Of seed recovered from the soil after the first growing season, 88 and 81% of the pappus-bearing and nonpappus-bearing seed, respectively, was either damaged or degraded. From projected values based on recovered and germinated seed, it was estimated that over 97% of the total seed was removed from the soil seedbank after two growing seasons. These findings should assist land managers in developing long-term yellow starthistle management strategies. Nomenclature: Yellow starthistle, Centaurea solstitialis L. CENSO.


In this study, based on a larger research project, the ambition is to problematize the first appointment between persons with intellectual disabilities and Swedish Higher Music Education. The aim of the study is to investigate subject positions that are constructed in eurhythmics related to the appointment between a group of students with intellectual disabilities and a group of student teachers, and to study how identity is constructed in interaction between the actors. Also, the aim is to describe the knowledge formation that is materialized. The theoretical framework is built on post-structuralist and social constructionist theory. Discursive psychology has been useful in the micro analysis of the situations in the classroom. A Foucault inspired analysis has contributed with an overarching view on the concept of discourse as well as a point of departure to reveal the silent discourse. Finally, Discourse theory as it is formulated by Laclau and Mouffe is suitable for discussing different available subject positions and a so called overdetermined identity. Inspired by an ethnografic approach, video observations were made for an extended period of one term in order to develop an understanding of the culture constructed in the practice. The results show that the silenced discourse, the unspeakable, is constructed from the fact that the students with intellectual disabilities both are insufficiently skilled for the task as leaders in eurhythmics, and less skilled than the student teachers. When the teachers feel awkwardness spreading among the visiting students, they use verbal and bodily strategies trying to cover up the fact that the disabled students do not possess adequate skills. Finally, the silenced discourse is discussed in addition to a hegemonic discourse in the Swedish politics of education.


Background Opioids are safe and effective drugs that improve the quality of life of patients with chronic pain. However, they require close monitoring and appropriate training. Pain specialists consider that pain often has a mixed origin that requires prescription aids for the treatment of neuropathic pain. Purpose To analyse the adequacy of the recommendations for the treatment of chronic pain with opioid drugs in a tertiary care hospital. Material and methods This was a prospective study identifying prescriptions of opioid drugs (transdermal fentanyl, delayed release morphine and delayed release oxycodone) in patients hospitalised for 2 months using the electronic health record. We collected requirements for adjuvant drugs for the treatment of neuropathic pain, laxatives and rescue analgesia, and being following or not by the unit pain (UP). Results 79 patients were prescribed any of the opioids studied, 38 men, with a mean age of 67.7 years, and 41 women, with a mean of 64.4 years. Distribution of patients by services was: oncology and haematology (25), internal medicine (13), general and digestive surgery (15), palliative care unit (6), geriatrics (4), pneumology (4) and other services (12). 47% patients were treated with transdermal fentanyl, 34% with oral morphine and 19% with oxycodone tablets. 23% of patients were monitored by UP. Prescription of transdermal fentanyl in patients followed by UP was only 21.6%. The most frequently prescribed drug for rescue was morphine (56%). 100% of patients followed by the UP had rescue analgesia, compared with 69% in the group without monitoring. 29% had prescribed treatment for neuropathic pain, 52% with pregabalin. In those followed by UP, prescription of an adjuvant for neuropathic pain occurred in 67%. It should be noted that 57% of patients treated with gabapentin needed the an adjuvant, versus 33% with pregabalin. 70% had a laxative prescribed, with little difference whether or not patients were followed-up by UP (72% vs 69%). Conclusion Pharmaceutical validation should be undertaken with these types of high risk drugs, so that prescription of analgesia rescue as well as prescribing laxatives can be recommended. Likewise, prescription of transdermal fentanyl should follow a protocol when favoured over oral and lower cost opioids. References and/or acknowledgements Dtsch Arztebl Int2016;113:616–25. Med J Aust 2016;205:334. No conflict of interest


The literature on legal origin argues that legal institutions mold what firms do: within common law systems, shareholder rights are much stronger, reducing agency issues. We explore whether publicly-listed companies are more likely to have corporate social responsibility (CSR) codes than privately-held companies, and whether the association between a public listing and the existence of a CSR code is affected by the company's location within a specific institutional and cultural setting. We conclude that proposals to introduce more ethical dimensions to the behavior of firms need to be thought through: what works in one location may be inappropriate in another.


Despite evidence that adult attachment insecurity has been linked to the perpetration of physical intimate violence, the mechanisms underlying this link need further exploration. The goal of this study was to evaluate the mediating role of emotion regulation difficulties in the association between romantic attachment and the use of physical intimate partner violence. To this end, 611 students recruited from Chilean universities completed the Experiences in Close Relationships questionnaire, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, and the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses revealed that emotion regulation difficulties mediated the relationship between dimensions of romantic attachment (anxiety over abandonment and avoidance of intimacy) and physical violence perpetration among both male and female participants. Implications for future research and clinical practice are presented herein.


Eukaryotic DNA replication is initiated from multiple sites on the chromosome, but little is known about the global and local regulation of replication. We present a mathematical model for the spatial dynamics of DNA replication, which offers insight into the kinetics of replication in different types of organisms. Most biological experiments involve average quantities over large cell populations (typically >10(7) cells) and therefore can mask the cell-to-cell variability present in the system. Although the model is formulated in terms of a population of cells, using mathematical analysis we show that one can obtain signatures of stochasticity in individual cells from averaged quantities. This work generalizes the result by Retkute et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 068103 (2011)] to a broader set of parameter regimes.


Introduction : The purpose of this study was to determine the quality of life (QOL) of breast cancer survivors based on socio-demographic and clinical characteristics.
Methods : A cross-sectional study was performed on 125 breast cancer survivors from the outpatient clinics. FACT-B (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast) questionnaire was used to assess survivors' QOL.
Results : Survivors with low body mass index (BMI) (underweight) were found to have the lowest overall QOL. Those who were overweight had a higher overall QOL, and those who were normal-weight had the highest QOL. Low educational level, being underweight and low monthly household income were significantly associated with lower overall QOL Tamoxifen use and employment status were significantly associated with QOL in some domains. Time since diagnosis to QOL interview was significantly associated with greater scores in emotional well-being (EWB). Multiple linear regression indicated that age, marital status, monthly household income, surgery and histological grade were indicative of the patients QOL.
Conclusion : The four primary factors related to better QOL were high educational level, high income, normal body weight and greater duration from the time of diagnosis to the time of interview. Age, marital status, income, lumpectomy and histological grade were indicative of the patient QOL.


This paper proposes an initial draft of guidelines to fit design methods based on lean construction principles. It results into innovative design procedures that can illustrate the application of "lean thinking design" for production efficiency improvement in building construction companies. The main concepts related to lean construction are discussed under design and production points of view as well as the optimal managerial relations among building design procedures and production activities. An experience of using innovative design methods is described as a practical reference. The proposed design methodology results in changes to the traditional design team arrangement and also to the design development and co-ordination. The difficulties for the implementation of the proposal in building construction companies are briefly examined.


A comprehensive DNA-DNA hybridization study was performed by using 183 strains of the genus Xanthomonas. This genus was shown to comprise 20 DNA homology groups which are considered genomic species. Four groups corresponded to the previously described species Xanthomonas albilineans, Xanthomonas fragariae, Xanthomonas oryzae, and Xanthomonas populi. The previously described species Xanthomonas campestris was heterogeneous and was divided into 16 DNA homology groups. One of these groups exhibited a high level of DNA homology with Xanthomonas axonopodis. The 62 pathovars represented in this study were allocated to appropriate species. Our results, together with previous taxonomic data, supported a comprehensive revision of the classification of the genus Xanthomonas. The species X. albilineans, X. fragariae, X. oryzae, and X. populi are not affected. The type species of the genus, X. campestris (Pammel 1895) Dowson 1939, is emended to include only the pathovars obtained from crucifers (i.e., X. campestris pv. aberrans, X. campestris pv. armoraciae, X. campestris pv. barbareae, X. campestris pv. campestris, X. campestris pv. incanae, and X. campestris pv. raphani). X. axonopodis Starr and Garces 1950 is emended to include 34 former X. campestris pathovars. The following species names are proposed: Xanthomonas arboricola sp. nov., including X. arboricola pv. corylina, X. arboricola pv. juglandis, X. arboricola pv. poinsettiicola (type C strains of the former X. campestris pathovar), X. arboricola pv. populi, and X. arboricola pv. pruni; Xanthomonas bromi sp. nov. for strains isolated from bromegrass; Xanthomonas cassavae (ex Wiehe and Dowson 1953) sp. nov., nom. rev.; Xanthomonas codiaei sp. nov., including type B strains of the former taxon X. campestris pv. poinsettiicola; Xanthomonas cucurbitae (ex Bryan 1926) sp. nov., nom. rev.; Xanthomonas hortorum sp. nov., including X. hortorum pv. hederae, X. hortorum pv. pelargonii, and X. hortorum pv. vitians; Xanthomonas hyacinthi (ex Wakker 1883) sp. nov., nom. rev.; Xanthomonas melonis sp. nov.; Xanthomonas pisi (ex Goto and Okabe 1958) sp. nov., nom. rev.; Xanthomonas sacchari sp. nov. for strains isolated from diseased sugarcane in Guadeloupe; Xanthomonas theicola sp. nov.; Xanthomonas translucens (ex Jones, Johnson, and Reddy 1917) sp. nov., nom. rev., including X. translucens pv. arrhenatheri, X. translucens pv. cerealis, X. translucens pv. graminis, X. translucens pv. hordei, X. translucens pv. phlei, X. translucens pv. phleipratensis, X. translucens pv. poae, X. translucens pv. secalis, X. translucens pv. translucens, and X. translucens pv. undulosa; Xanthomonas vasicola sp. nov., including X. vasicola pv. holcicola and X. vasicola pv. vasculorum (type B strains of the former taxon X. campestris pv. vasculorum); and Xanthomonas vesicatoria (ex Doidge 1920) sp. nov., nom. rev., which includes the type B strains of the former taxon X. campestris pv. vesicatoria. Differentiating characteristics were determined for the new species on the basis of metabolic activity on a range of carbon substrates by using the Biolog GN microplate system.


This study analyses the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth for 119 countries during the period of 1970-2015, classified into four groups regarding to the World Bank income ranking. The main motivation of this study is to analyze whether the causal relationship differs between different income groups of countries. For this purpose, panel auto regressive distributed lag boundary approach and Granger causality test were used. The results of the study indicate that the causal relationship between energy use and economic growth differs depending on which income group country belongs to. We conclude that the feedback hypothesis is supported for upper-middle income group in the long run and high-income group, while conservation hypothesis is supported for upper-middle income group in the short run and lower-middle income group in the long run. Finally, neutrality hypothesis is supported for low and lower middle-income groups in the short run.


Temporal relationships are investigated among fabricated cut prices, carcass value, and fed cattle prices. Also, linkages between fed cattle and wholesale beef prices are examined using vector autoregressive (VAR) techniques. Results, using daily prices over the 1980-85 period, suggested that fabricated cut prices and cattle prices are related to the imputed carcass value, carcass quote, and fed cattle prices. In addition, three fabricated cuts dominate as leading indicators of fed cattle prices of most fabricated cut prices. They are strip loin and bottom and top round prices. VAR models outperform the univariate and random-walk models of forecasting ability.


The National Collegiate Athletic Association is, at essence, a compliance organization. This is evidenced by the NCAA's stated and functional mission—one supported by a considerable and growing administrative apparatus—that is aimed at ensuring its member-schools abide by the association's rules. While a significant body of academic literature analyzes the NCAA and its bylaws, surprisingly none of these prior works evaluate the effectiveness of the NCAA as a compliance organization. This omission is glaring considering the past decade has seen a rich body of work emerge regarding the field of corporate governance and organizational compliance. And it is all the more surprising given the sustained and withering critiques of the NCAA centered on the association's inability to adequately and fairly police the integrity of college athletics.

This article seeks to fill this conspicuous gap in the literature by analyzing the NCAA through the lens of corporate compliance. What it finds, after applying theories based in behavioral ethics, criminology, and procedural justice, is that the association's legislative and enforcement apparatus has become so overwrought, so "overcriminalized," that it is eroding the legitimacy of the NCAA as a whole. Critically, this delegitimization not only decreases compliance effectiveness, but actually fosters future wrongdoing by allowing players, coaches, staff, and third-parties to rationalize rule-breaking behavior. In its misguided attempts to increase the integrity of college sports, the NCAA has damaged its own legitimacy, thereby creating conditions ripe for further rule violations. The origins, operation, and examples of this phenomenon are detailed, but so too are the implications for the NCAA, which must learn from corporate compliance if it is ever to effectuate its laudable, yet increasingly embattled, mission.


This work concentrated on part of the field of occupational information ion schools, the area of printed occupational literature, the most widely used of which is in booklet form. An attempt is made to evaluate a selection of such booklets by the use of a constructed Check List and accompanying Notes for Teachers. Consideration is given to factors influencing the composition of the Check List: the school setting within which it will be used, the user himself (the pupil), and the nature and significance of work to the pupil. Moving from a macro to a micro approach, the role of occupational information in school guidance is explored and criteria of evaluation for the content, appearance and readability of occupational booklets are determined. The construction of the Check List and accompanying Notes is then undertaken. An account of the selection of occupational booklets to be rated and the administration of the Check List to 30 experienced teachers follows. Results are described, analysed and discussed. As a corollary, an account is given of the administration of Close tests on the booklets selected to groups of G.C.E. and C.S.E. pupils. Problems revealed by the results, such as the inconsistency of codifiers, poor readability scores and the lack of psychosocial information, are considered. Finally, conclusions are drawn and suggestions put forward for the future.


An impedance boundary method of moments (IBMOM) is proposed to accurately and efficiently compute the propagation characteristics including the number of guided modes of general graded-index dielectric slab waveguide structures. The method is based on Galerkin's procedure in the method of moments and employs the exact impedance boundary condition at the interfaces between the graded-index region and constant-index cladding. Legendre polynomials are utilized in the field expansion. Computational results are shown for waveguides with various inhomogeneous refractive index profiles. The results indicate that typically five Legendre polynomials are sufficient for accurate solutions of the dominant TE and TM modes in optical waveguides having a finite region of inhomogeneous refractive index. Diffused optical waveguides with untruncated index profiles as well as coupled dielectric waveguides can be accurately analyzed using ten Legendre polynomials. >


Tsetse flies from the subspecies Glossina morsitans morsitans and Glossina palpalis gambiensis, respectively, transmit Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense and Trypanosoma brucei gambiense. The former causes the acute form of sleeping sickness, and the latter provokes the chronic form. Although several articles have reported G. m. morsitans gene expression following trypanosome infection, no comparable investigation has been performed for G. p. gambiensis. This report presents results on the differential expression of immune-related genes in G. p. gambiensis challenged with T. b. gambiense. The aim was to characterize transcriptomic events occurring in the tsetse gut during the parasite establishment step, which is the crucial first step in the parasite development cycle within its vector. The selected genes were chosen from those previously shown to be highly expressed in G. m. morsitans, to allow further comparison of gene expression in both Glossina species. Using quantitative PCR, genes were amplified from the dissected midguts of trypanosome-stimulated, infected, non-infected, and self-cleared flies at three sampling timepoints (3, 10, and 20 days) after a bloodmeal. At the 3-day sampling point, transferrin transcripts were significantly up-regulated in trypanosome-challenged flies versus flies fed on non-infected mice. In self-cleared flies, serpin-2 and thioredoxin peroxidase-3 transcripts were significantly up-regulated 10 days after trypanosome challenge, whereas nitric oxide synthase and chitin-binding protein transcripts were up-regulated after 20 days. Although the expression levels of the other genes were highly variable, the expression of immune-related genes in G. p. gambiensis appears to be a time-dependent process. The possible biological significance of these findings is discussed, and the results are compared with previous reports for G. m. morsitans.


The ethyl acetate fraction of the culture fluid of Pvrenophora teres showed a phytotoxic activity on an excised leaf of a susceptible cultivar of barley. The purification of the active metabolites involved three chromatographic methods, namely sieve size chromatography, thin layer chromatography, and high performance liquid chromatography. Three active compounds were purified. The two less active metabolites were crystallized and their structures were determined using x-ray crystallography. Both compounds are related and differ by a methoxy group on carbon #7. Pyrenoline A and Pyrenoline B are the trivial names given to these two metabolites. The third and most active compound was chemically characterized using conventional spectroscopy and was found to have the same chemical properties as Pyrenolide A, a compound that was identified by Nukina in 1980. This thesis describes the purification steps of the three compounds and their biological activities on the host plant (Hordeum vulgare sp) as well as non-host plant species. Attention was paid to Pyrenolide A. This included its production in different isolates of P. teres, its quantification, and the effect of different leaf extracts on its production. Pyrenolide A is active on a wide range of plant species including weeds. Leaf extracts from host and nonhost plants were effective in increasing toxin production in culture. Four isolates including net and spot forms, were tested for toxin production. Pyrenolide A was produced in the liquid culture of all four fungal isolates. BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION. OF ACTIVE METABOLITES PRODUCED BY Pvrenophora teres


The fabrication of epitaxially grown superlattices and ultrathin films made from high temperature superconductors has allowed a systematic study of certain properties of this class of materials. It is, for instance, possible to modify the anisotropy in a controlled manner and thus investigate the role of the reduced dimensionality of the high temperature superconductors on the superconducting properties. In particular, we have investigated the thermally activated flux flow as observed in the resistive tails of the superconducting transition. We find in YBa2Cu3O7/PrBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO/PrBCO) superlattices that the activation energy varies proportional to the thickness of the individual YBCO layers when the PrBCO thickness is large enough to decouple the superconducting layers (d-PrBCO > 36 Å). We thus find that the pancake vortices in the individual CuO2 layers in YBCO are strongly coupled and that the flux line lattice is 2D in the thin individual YBCO layers up to layer thicknesses of more than 200 Å. An analysis of the zero field resistive transition in terms of Coulomb gas scaling confirms this result.


ABSTRACT This paper analyses the associations between computer use in schools and at home and test scores by using TIMSS data covering over 900,000 children in fourth grade. When controlling for school fixed effects, pupils who use computers at school, especially those who use them frequently are found to achieve less than students who never use computers. Daily computer use at home is negatively associated with test scores, although monthly, and sometimes weekly, use is positively associated with pupil performance. There is no significant difference between subjects and only small gender and country differences are observed. Moreover, the result suggests that the negative association of computer use at school is larger among low-performing pupils than for high-performing pupils. The findings suggest a negative association of computer use at school and test scores but do not reject the possibility that computers have a positive impact on test scores if computers are used optimally.


Background: It has been suggested that noise exposure increases the risk of hypertension. Road traffic is the dominant source of community noise exposure. Objective: To study the association between exposure to residential road traffic noise and hypertension in an urban municipality. Methods: The study population comprised randomly selected subjects aged 19–80 years. A postal questionnaire provided information on individual characteristics, including diagnosis of hypertension. The response rate was 77%, resulting in a study population of 667 subjects. The outdoor equivalent traffic noise level (Leq 24 h) at the residence of each individual was determined using noise-dispersion models and manual noise assessments. The individual noise exposure was classified in units of 5 dB(A), from <45 dB(A) to >65 dB(A). Results: The odds ratio (OR) for hypertension adjusted for age, smoking, occupational status and house type was 1.38 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06 to 1.80) per 5 dB(A) increase in noise exposure. The association seemed stronger among women (OR 1.71; 95% CI 1.17 to 2.50) and among those who had lived at the address for >10 years (OR 1.93; 95% CI 1.29 to 2.83). Analyses of categorical exposure variables suggested an exposure–response relationship. The strongest association between exposure to traffic noise and hypertension was found among those with the least expected misclassification of true individual exposure, as indicated by not having triple-glazed windows, living in an old house and having the bedroom window facing a street (OR 2.47; 95% CI 1.38 to 4.43). Conclusion: The results of our study suggest an association between exposure to residential road traffic noise and hypertension.


As participant recruitment and data collection over the Internet have become more common, numerous observers have expressed concern regarding the validity of research conducted in this fashion. One growing method of conducting research over the Internet involves recruiting participants and administering questionnaires over Facebook, the world's largest social networking service. If Facebook is to be considered a viable platform for social research, it is necessary to demonstrate that Facebook users are sufficiently heterogeneous and that research conducted through Facebook is likely to produce results that can be generalized to a larger population. The present study examines these questions by comparing demographic and personality data collected over Facebook with data collected through a standalone website, and data collected from college undergraduates at two universities. Results indicate that statistically significant differences exist between Facebook data and the comparison data-sets, but since 80% of analyses exhibited partial η2 < .05, such differences are small or practically nonsignificant in magnitude. We conclude that Facebook is a viable research platform, and that recruiting Facebook users for research purposes is a promising avenue that offers numerous advantages over traditional samples.


Peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) is commonly indexed by total body weight (TBW) to determine cardiopulmonary fitness (CPF). This approach may lead to misinterpretation, particularly in obese subjects. We investigated the normalization of VO2peak by different body composition markers. We analyzed combined data of 3848 subjects (1914 women; 49.7%), aged 20‐90, from two independent cohorts of the population‐based Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP‐2 and SHIP‐TREND). VO2peak was assessed by cardiopulmonary exercise testing. Body cell mass (BCM), fat‐free mass (FFM), and fat mass (FM) were determined by bioelectrical impedance analysis. The suitability of the different markers as a normalization variable was evaluated by taking into account correlation coefficients (r) and intercept (α‐coefficient) values from linear regression models. A combination of high r and low α values was considered as preferable for normalization purposes. BCM was the best normalization variable for VO2peak (r = .72; P ≤ .001; α‐coefficient = 63.3 mL/min; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.48‐123) followed by FFM (r = .63; P ≤ .001; α‐coefficient = 19.6 mL/min; 95% CI: −57.9‐97.0). On the other hand, a much weaker correlation and a markedly higher intercept were found for TBW (r = .42; P ≤ .001; α‐coefficient = 579 mL/min; 95% CI: 483 to 675). Likewise, FM was also identified as a poor normalization variable (r = .10; P ≤ .001; α‐coefficient = 2133; 95% CI: 2074‐2191). Sex‐stratified analyses confirmed the above order for the different normalization variables. Our results suggest that BCM, followed by FFM, might be the most appropriate marker for the normalization of VO2peak when comparing CPF between subjects with different body shape.


The concept of corporate social responsibility is not new in the banking sector, but nowadays, it becomes highly topical since the crisis has significantly highlighted the need for integration of moral principles in the banking business. Knowledge of business practice indicates the fact that the acceptance of moral principles in business is not integrated into management decisions of companies. It also cannot be accepted that self-regulatory instruments of companies such as CSR will be effective. The existing experience with the implementation of CSR and ethical principles in the banking sector leads to the opinion that the social responsibility of banks and ethics in banking sector are perceived as an appropriate marketing tool for public communication and are not integrated into policies of individual commercial banks. Experience with the crisis demonstrated that there is a lack of moral principles of managers' decisions. The aim of this article is to introduce theoretical aspects of CSR in commercial banking and measure the level of CSR in selected Czech commercial banks. In the article, the CSR index was calculated for Ceska spořitelna, Ceskoslovenska obchodni banka, Komercni banka and GE Money Bank. Results of our research confirmed that the CSR index of selected Czech commercial banks achieves only an average level. There is a significant lack of transparent information in the context of CSR areas.


This paper uses the transdisciplinary dynamic logic of contradictory in order to find out what happens with the energy of the body naturally allotted for the act of knowing, creating compelling needs for the human organism: the contact with information, the transmission of information, the assimilation of information with or without included middle, the evolution. Outwardly, as according to Godel's theory any understanding must remain open and with a certain degree of incompleteness and uncertainty, this allows and fuels within the social systems the important contradiction between true and false, between objective knowledge and charlatanry. Therefore, the form of the information becomes an important included middle which supports the coexistence of different levels of Reality for knowledge and understanding. In the end, if we apply the Pareto principle to the matter in question, we easily understand why objective knowledge has to be a burden for its carriers.


CONTEXT
Current and former smokers are currently being screened for lung cancer with computed tomography (CT), although there are limited data on the effect screening has on lung cancer outcomes. Randomized controlled trials assessing CT screening are currently under way.

OBJECTIVE
To assess whether screening may increase the frequency of lung cancer diagnosis and lung cancer resection or may reduce the risk of a diagnosis of advanced lung cancer or death from lung cancer.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
Longitudinal analysis of 3246 asymptomatic current or former smokers screened for lung cancer beginning in 1998 either at 1 of 2 academic medical centers in the United States or an academic medical center in Italy with follow-up for a median of 3.9 years.

INTERVENTION
Annual CT scans with comprehensive evaluation and treatment of detected nodules.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Comparison of predicted with observed number of new lung cancer cases, lung cancer resections, advanced lung cancer cases, and deaths from lung cancer.

RESULTS
There were 144 individuals diagnosed with lung cancer compared with 44.5 expected cases (relative risk [RR], 3.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.7-3.8; P<.001). There were 109 individuals who had a lung resection compared with 10.9 expected cases (RR, 10.0; 95% CI, 8.2-11.9; P<.001). There was no evidence of a decline in the number of diagnoses of advanced lung cancers (42 individuals compared with 33.4 expected cases) or deaths from lung cancer (38 deaths due to lung cancer observed and 38.8 expected; RR, 1.0; 95% CI, 0.7-1.3; P = .90).

CONCLUSIONS
Screening for lung cancer with low-dose CT may increase the rate of lung cancer diagnosis and treatment, but may not meaningfully reduce the risk of advanced lung cancer or death from lung cancer. Until more conclusive data are available, asymptomatic individuals should not be screened outside of clinical research studies that have a reasonable likelihood of further clarifying the potential benefits and risks.


ABSTRACT A pot experiment was carried out for the biological control of charcoal rot on mung bean (Vigna radiata), caused by Macrophomina phaseolina. Pot soil was made sick with an inoculum of M. phaseolina. Dried powdered leaves of Sisymbrium irio, a weed from the Brassicaceae family, were mixed in soil at 1, 2 and 3% (w/w) with and without the application of Trichoderma harzianm, a fungal biological control agent. The highest grain yield (3.62 g pot-1) was recorded in a combined application of T. harzianum and 1% S. irio leaf amendment, which was 62% and 805% higher than negative and positive control treatments, respectively. The application of S. irio leaf amendment and T. harzianum generally enhanced leaf protein, sugar and chlorophyll contents, and catalase activity. This study concludes that T. harzianum in combination with 1% dry leaves of S. irio as a soil amendment can be used to achieve the best grain yield under biotic stress of M. phaseolina.


SUMMARY The first paper entitled intrauterine insemination (IUI) was published in 1962. By time, several methods involving the technique and the ovulation induction schedules have evolved in order to improve the success rates. Although gonadotrophin releasing hormone antagonists (GnRHa) is a crucial part of assisted reproductive treatments now, concerns also arouse regarding the need for the use of it in IUI cycles. These drugs may be considered in IUI programs basically in order to prevent premature LH surges and related cycle cancellations. Although administration of a GnRH antagonist almost completely abolishes premature luteinization, it does not substantially improve the pregnancy rate. The decision of using GnRH antagonists in IUI cycles should be based primarily on the local cost/benefit analysis of individual centers. It will be prudent to limit the involvement of the antagonists in ovulation induction protocols to: patients who frequently exhibit premature LH discharges and therefore either fail to complete treatment or result in unsuccessful outcome; initiated cycles intented for IUI but converted to ART; if it is not possible for logistic reasons (weekend) to perform the insemination or for medical centers in which a gynecologist on call is not available and in order to decrease clinical task burden resulting from strict cycle monitoring such as serial transvaginal sonography and/or frequent urine tests.


This paper uses detailed weekly data on sales of hardcover fiction books to evaluate the impact of the New York Times bestseller list on sales and product variety. In order to circumvent the obvious problem of simultaneity of sales and bestseller status, the analysis exploits time lags and accidental omissions in the construction of the list. The empirical results indicate that appearing on the list leads to a modest increase in sales for the average book, and that the effect is more dramatic for bestsellers by debut authors. The paper discusses how the additional concentration of demand on top-selling books could lead to a reduction in the privately optimal number of books to publish. However, the data suggest the opposite is true: the market expansion effect of bestseller lists appears to dominate any business stealing from non-bestselling titles.


Crown ethers and their supramolecular derivatives are well-known chelators and scavengers for a variety of cations, most notably heavier alkali and alkaline-earth ions. Although they are widely used in synthetic chemistry, available crystal structures of uncoordinated and solvent-free crown ethers regularly suffer from disorder. In this study, we present the X-ray crystal structure analysis of well-ordered solvent-free crystals of dibenzo-21-crown-7 (systematic name: dibenzo[b,k]-1,4,7,10,13,16,19-heptaoxacycloheneicosa-2,11-diene, C22H28O7). Because of the quality of the crystal and diffraction data, we have chosen invarioms, in addition to standard independent spherical atoms, for modelling and briefly discuss the different refinement results. The electrostatic potential, which is directly deducible from the invariom model, and the Hirshfeld surface are analysed and complemented with interaction-energy computations to characterize intermolecular contacts. The boat-like molecules stack along the a axis and are arranged as dimers of chains, which assemble as rows to form a three-dimensional structure. Dispersive C-H...H-C and C-H...π interactions dominate, but nonclassical hydrogen bonds are present and reflect the overall rather weak electrostatic influence. A fingerprint plot of the Hirshfeld surface summarizes and visualizes the intermolecular interactions. The insight gained into the crystal structure of dibenzo-21-crown-7 not only demonstrates the power of invariom refinement, Hirshfeld surface analysis and interaction-energy computation, but also hints at favourable conditions for crystallizing solvent-free crown ethers.


Extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) technology is one of the leading candidates for enabling the next generation devices, for 7nm node and beyond. As the technology matures, further improvement is required in the area of blanket film defectivity, pattern defectivity, CD uniformity, and LWR/LER. As EUV pitch scaling approaches sub 20 nm, new techniques and methods must be developed to reduce the overall defectivity, mitigate pattern collapse and eliminate film related defect. IBM Corporation and Tokyo Electron Limited (TELTM) are continuously collaborating to develop manufacturing quality processes for EUVL. In this paper, we review key defectivity learning required to enable 7nm node and beyond technology. We will describe ongoing progress in addressing these challenges through track-based processes (coating, developer, baking), highlighting the limitations of common defect detection strategies and outlining methodologies necessary for accurate characterization and mitigation of blanket defectivity in EUV patterning stacks. We will further discuss defects related to pattern collapse and thinning of underlayer films.


This thesis examines the impact of Europeanization on the foreign policy of the new member states of the European Union, using as case studies Hungary, Slovakia and Romania. It asks what the extent of Europeanization of foreign policy is and whether and to what extent there has been divergence in the way in which the new member states have responded to the similar constraints and opportunities of the European integration. Insofar as divergence can be identified, a third research question asks why there is policy divergence. It argues that the governmental politics and the politics of national identity play a key role as mediating factors for the Europeanization of the system of policy making, the process of elite socialization and the conduct of foreign policy itself. Three critical international events are used as sub-case studies in order to assess the extent of Europeanization of foreign policy of the CEE counties: the US-led war in Iraq in 2003, the NATO airstrikes against Yugoslavia in 1999 and the Kosovo declaration of independence in 2008. The study's findings suggest that the pressures of Europeanization leads to convergence in some policy areas, but domestic factors such as governmental and national identity politics offer a more convincing explanation of divergence. Overall, Europeanization is uneven not only across issue-areas, but also across countries. The limits of convergence as an outcome of Europeanization and the persistence of diversity are therefore best accounted for by the diversity of domestic factors.


New x-ray free electron laser (XFEL) and high harmonic generation (HHG) light sources are capable of generating short and intense pulses that make x-ray nonlinear spectroscopy possible. Multidimensional spectroscopic techniques, which have long been used in the nuclear magnetic resonance, infrared, and optical regimes to probe the electronic structure and nuclear dynamics of molecules by sequences of short pulses with variable delays, can thus be extended to the attosecond x-ray regime. This opens up the possibility of probing core-electronic structure and couplings, the real-time tracking of impulsively created valence-electronic wavepackets and electronic coherences, and monitoring ultrafast processes such as nonadiabatic electron-nuclear dynamics near conical-intersection crossings. We survey various possible types of multidimensional x-ray spectroscopy techniques and demonstrate the novel information they can provide about molecules.


According to the times of economic confusion, this leads most organizations to implement IT and advanced technologies to support their businesses by concerning them as the building blocks of organizational development and competitiveness to achieve competitive advantage. In this way, the roles of information systems (IS) and information technology (IT) are more focused attentively. On the other hand, the IT resource allocation is limited, which most organizations expect to save IT budgets with low IT investment. The point of this study is to focus on IT development with bricolage by using and renovating existing IT systems and applications, which turn out to become resourceful solutions. However, bricolage must be investigated closely by responsible people to ensure that they are aligned with business-IT strategies. In this case, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is the main facilitator to measure the acceptance of bricolage. Pointedly, this paper examines how stakeholders and top management build a long-term vision in the use of bricolage, which is considered as IT development tools to deliver business value-added and meet IT budgets with its requirements by using TAM to examine the alignment between bricolage and IT governance and its domains.


The Saltville Waste Disposal Site is a National Priority List site used during the 77- year operation (1895–1972) of an electrolytic chlorine and caustic soda plant. A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine disease prevalence among Saltville Medical Center (SMC) patients. Diseases associated with chronic exposures to mercury, arsenic, and lead were reviewed in patient records and these data were analyzed. Ratios of illness observed at the SMC were compared to health studies of similar environmental exposures and disease prevalence among residents of neighboring communities. Prevalence ratios were calculated for residents and non-residents of Saltville who were SMC patients. Saltville residence accounted for a higher risk of developing the targeted diseases (odds ratio=1.68, 95% confidence interval (1.54, 1.82)). Increased risk was among patients aged 31-45 years; with a history of smoking; and family history of the same disease.


Abstract Aims: We investigated risk factors and neonatal outcomes of preeclampsia. Methods: We analyzed data of the German Perinatal Quality Registry 2006 that contains the complete national birth cohort of 668,085 newborn infants and 647,392 mothers from 917 German obstetric clinics. Results: The prevalence of preeclampsia in 2006 was at 2.31%. Higher maternal age, gestational diabetes, no previous as well as multiple births, pre-pregnancy obesity and above-average weight gain during pregnancy were significantly associated with preeclampsia. A positive relationship between social burden (e.g., low social status, psychosocial stress) and the risk of preeclampsia appeared. Smoking appeared to be negatively correlated. Neonatal complications associated with preeclampsia in the study were small babies, acute respiratory distress syndrome, postpartum neonatal hypoglycemia and low Apgar scores. We did not observe an increased rate of stillbirths with preeclampsia pregnancies. Conclusions: Further studies and interventions regarding prenatal care should not focus only on how better diagnostic and treatment procedures can be implemented but also on how these diagnostic and treatment procedures can reach high-risk groups.


Steel is the most important alloy for engineering applications. The mechanical properties of steels depend sensitively on their microstructures. These microstructures are usually tailored through a series of thermal and/or mechanical treatments and invariably involve one or more solid-state phase transformations. Control of microstructural evolution requires a detailed understanding of thermodynamics and kinetics of phase transformations. The kinetics is particularly important since it can be strongly affected by small additions of alloying elements and this effect is often qualitatively interpreted in terms of the 'solute-drag' effect, well known in the field of grain growth and recrystallization where the migrating interface is a grain boundary. The current understanding of the 'solute-drag' effects of alloying elements on phase boundaries is not yet sufficient to quantitatively describe phase transformation kinetics.

This thesis uses controlled decarburization to monitor the phase interface migration between α growing into γ in a range of specially designed high purity steels. The reason for using steels is that the thermodynamics of the ferrite (α) and austenite (γ) phases, as a function of composition and temperature have already been well characterized and can be routinely calculated using computational thermodynamics. Moreover, among different solid-state phase transformations in steels, the γ to α transformation is usually the first solid-state phase change encountered during processing of steels and an understanding of this transformation is central to controlling microstructure development of steels. The controlled decarburization approach allows the kinetics of planar interface migration to be followed with high accuracy (avoiding stereological problems associated with traditional approaches) as a function of treatment temperature and alloy composition. The experimental results obtained on Fe-C-Si and Fe-C-Co systems are used to quantitatively test the temperature and composition dependence of the newly developed Zurob et al. model for interface migration that includes dissipation of Gibbs free energy due to 'solute-drag'. Following this evaluation, this new α growth model is extended to quaternary (Fe-C-X-Y) systems to take into account the possibility of the interaction between solutes in the migrating boundary (Coupled Solute Drag Effect) and is tested with growth kinetic data obtained for the Fe-C-Mn-Si system.


Even as telephone based spoken language dialogue systems (SLDS) are becoming commercially available, developers can benefit from guidelines designed to help remove dialogue problems as early as possible in the design life cycle. SLDS designers generally rely on a Wizard of Oz (WOZ) simulation technique to ensure that the system's dialogue facilitates user interaction as much as possible. In a WOZ simulation, users are made to believe they are interacting with a real system, when in fact they are interacting with a hidden researcher. These researchers record, transcribe, and analyze the dialogues, and then use the results to improve the dialogue in the SLDS being developed. Using current methods, dialogue designers must be both very careful and very lucky, or interaction problems will remain during the implementation and testing stages. We have found that a sound, comprehensive set of dialogue design guidelines is an effective tool to support systematic development and evaluation during early SLDS design. We believe guidelines could significantly reduce development time by reducing the need for lengthy WOZ experimentation, controlled user testing, and field trial cycles.


The stress-release boot is always used in the fore and rear of SRM grain to relief stress-strain concentration under thermal loading. Since the debonded crack in the stress-release boot may be propagation unstable when the internal pressure entered the debonded crack cavity, the SRM with debonded cracks is very dangerous when it is lunched. So the stability analysis of the debonded cracks is very important to evaluate the defect grain structure integrity. In order to investigate the stability of debonded cracks in the stress-release boot of SRM grain during ignition pressurization, three-dimension (3-D) viscoelastic finite element models of the SRM grain with debonded cracks are established. The 3-D singular crack elements at the tips of cracks are developed to simulate the stress-release boot debonded crack propagation. And all the singular crack elements are included in the 3-D J-integral loop surface to improve the calculation precision. Along with the debonded crack propagation, the 3-D J-integrals of the debonded crack tips are respectively calculated to prejudge its expanding trend. The results show that the most dangerous situation will occur in the fore stress-release boot debonded cracks during the rocket being launched.


We show some results about local homology modules and local cohomology modules concerning to being in a serre sub category of the category of R-modules. Also for an ideal I of R we define the concept of CI condition on a serre category, which seems dual to CI condition of Melkerson [1]. As a main result we show that for any minimax R-module M of any serre category S that satisifies CI (CI) condition the local homology module HiI(M) (local cohomology module HIi(M) 2 S) for all i ≥ 0.


A pulsatile pediatric ventricular assist device with a dynamic stroke volume of 12 ml is currently under development at the Pennsylvania State University. A monoleaflet valve (Björk-Shiley Monostrut) and a bileaflet valve (CPHV, CarboMedics Prosthetic Heart Valve) were examined in this study. A high-speed video and data acquisition system was used to simultaneously record video images, pressure waveforms, and flow waveforms for an array of in vitro test conditions that varied heart rate and systolic duration. The CPHV in both the horizontal and vertical orientations have larger regurgitant volumes than the Monostrut valves at all operating conditions in both the inlet and outlet positions. However, the CPHV has higher stroke volumes and cardiac outputs than the Monostrut valve at higher heart rates and longer systolic durations. In addition, the hydrodynamic performance of the Monostrut valve is more sensitive to changes in operating conditions for the pulsatile pediatric ventricular assist device than the CPHV in both orientations. Additional testing is under way to identify the optimal operating conditions for each type of valve.


Background Infant weight gain is associated with lower lung function and a higher risk of childhood asthma. Detailed individual childhood growth patterns might be better predictors of childhood respiratory morbidity than the difference between two weight and height measurements. We assessed the associations of early childhood growth patterns with lung function and asthma at the age of 10 years and whether the child's current body mass index (BMI) influenced any association. Methods We derived peak height and weight growth velocity, BMI at adiposity peak, and age at adiposity peak from longitudinally measured weight and height data in the first 3 years of life of 4435 children enrolled in a population-based prospective cohort study. At 10 years of age, spirometry was performed and current asthma was assessed by questionnaire. Spirometry outcomes included forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), FEV1/FVC ratio, and forced expiratory flow after exhaling 75% of vital capacity (FEF75). Results Greater peak weight velocity was associated with higher FVC but lower FEV1/FVC and FEF75. Greater BMI at adiposity peak was associated with higher FVC and FEV1 but lower FEV1/FVC and FEF75. Greater age at adiposity peak was associated with higher FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC and FEF75, particularly in children with a small size at birth, and lower odds of current asthma in boys. The child's current BMI only explained the associations of peak weight velocity and BMI at adiposity peak with FVC and FEV1. Peak height velocity was not consistently associated with impaired lung function or asthma. Conclusion Peak weight velocity and BMI at adiposity peak were associated with reduced airway patency in relation to lung volume, whereas age at adiposity peak was associated with higher lung function parameters and lower risk of asthma at 10 years, particularly in boys.


Research coordinator: meuthia rosfadhila core research team: meuthia rosfadhila, nina toyamah, bambang sulaksono, silvia devina, robert justin sodo, muhammad syukri, nur aini talib, upik sabainingrum, dedi ali ahmad, sinta satriana, eduwin pakpahan regional researchers: basyri nasution (tapanuli tengah), pitriati solihah (cianjur), fathur rohman (demak), syahbudin hadid (bima), salha marasaoly (ternate) research advisor: sudarno sumarto abstract this report is the result of a rapid appraisal of the implementation of the 2008 direct cash transfer (blt) program and community perceptions of the stigma which emerged during the implementation of the blt 2005 program. early observations and assessment of the implementation of the program are essential in understanding the achievement level and problems associated with the program. this information can be used as a learning tool to improve the implementation and planning of the program in the future. this study used qualitative methods including in-depth interviews and focus group discussions (fgd) as well as quantitative methods. although there were some weaknesses, generally the results of this study show that the implementation of the 2008 direct cash transfer was a great improvement from that of the 2005 direct cash transfer, particularly in regard to the socialization process, distribution of cards, and disbursement of funds. weaknesses were generally related to institutional issues, accuracy of targeting, and the handling of problems/complaints. based on community perceptions, blt can, in a limited way, help satisfy living needs in the short term. this study uncovers cases of blt being deducted in some areas. although there was mistargeting to a limited extent, blt did not discourage participation in the work force. conflict occurred in some cases but did not lead to anarchic behavior. keywords: direct cash transfer, evaluation, program implementation


In this paper, we survey the energy-efficient resource share problem in a single-cell OFDMA system to achieve the energy competence tradeoff among users. Our main objective of the proposed system is to increase the energy efficiency each and every individual user. The spectral-energy competence trade-off is of primary consequence to determine how much energy per bit is required in a wireless communication system to attain exact spectral effectiveness. To discover its solution, we first change it into two different single-objective optimization troubles using proposed approaches such as weighted-sum and the maximumminimum approach. The single-objective optimization troubles are non-convex due to the combinatorial channel allotment variables. Consequently, for both problems, we first give an upper bound algorithm through soothing the combinatorial variables and then expand a proposed method of suboptimal heuristic algorithm. The sum-of-ratios optimization method and comprehensive fractional programming are utilized for the weighted sum problem and the maximum-minimum problem, respectively. The Mathematical results demonstrate that the both weighted-sum and the maximum-minimum approaches can effectively resolve the EE maximization problem. Hence the proposed suboptimal heuristic algorithms can achieve a close performance to the matching upper bound algorithm. Simulation result shows that the impact of user's excellence of service is small on the energy efficiency when a enormous spectral efficiency is required.


Micromachined sensors are a new generation of sensor technology combining existing integrated circuit fabrication technology with novel deposition and etching processing. In the viewpoint of low-power operation, high sensitivity and fast response speed of thermoelectric hydrogen sensor (THS), we prepared the micromachined thermoelectric hydrogen sensor (micro-THS) with the combination of the thermoelectric effect of SiGe thin film and the Pt-catalyzed exothermic reaction of hydrogen oxidation. The power consumption of the micro-THS was greatly reduced to be 50 mW for 100 °C operating, by the Pt-micro-heater on single membrane. The micro-THS with 40 wt.% Pt/alumina catalyst showed voltage signal of 10 mV for 1 % H2 in air.


This subject guide covers urban planning resources available at the Johnston Memorial Library, including full-text journals, magazine, and newspaper articles, urban planning websites, and printed materials in the Reference Collection.


Emphasizing communication, collaborative work, and community, the authors envision a cloud-based platform that inverts the traditional application-content relationship by placing content rather than applications at the center, enabling users to rapidly build customized solutions around their content items. The future of collaboration will focus on building and sustaining communities around content, tasks, and ideas. Hosted entities known as content spaces will support ecosystems of users and developers around this content. To make their case, the authors review the dominant trends in computing that motivate the exploration of new approaches for content-centered collaboration and discuss ways to address certain core problems for users and organizations.


The passengers' flow and station dwell time estimation are important tasks for mass transit planning. However, classical methods are difficult to apply into some practical achievements. This paper presents a new approach that models passengers' flow and its effect on passenger alighting and boarding time in mass transportation systems in the presence of uncertainties. The applied technique combines origin destination matrices approach with the application of artificial intelligence. This new approach allows the inclusion of some intuitive knowledge provided by a fuzzy logic inference motor to predict the flow demand of passengers' trips, alighting and boarding time passenger cars in explicit


We present a simple model for describing intrinsic correlations for galaxy sizes based on the halo model. Studying these correlations is important both to improve our understanding of galaxy properties and because it is an important potential systematic for weak lensing size magnification measurements. Our model assumes that the density field drives these intrinsic correlations and we also model the distribution of satellite galaxies. We calculate the possible contamination to measurements of lensing convergence power spectrum from galaxy sizes, and show that the cross-correlation of intrinsic sizes with convergence is potentially an important systematic. We also explore how these intrinsic size correlations may affect surveys with different redshift depth. We find that, in this simple approach, intrinsic size correlations cannot be neglected in order to estimate lensing convergence power spectrum for constraining cosmological parameters.


Stellar orbits at the Galactic Center provide a very clean probe of the gravitational potential of the supermassive black hole. They can be studied with unique precision, beyond the confusion limit of a single telescope, with the near-infrared interferometer GRAVITY. Imaging is essential to search the field for faint, unknown stars on short orbits which potentially could constrain the black hole spin. Furthermore, it provides the starting point for astrometric fitting to derive highly accurate stellar positions. Here, we present GR, a new imaging tool specifically designed for Galactic Center observations with GRAVITY. The algorithm is based on a Bayesian interpretation of the imaging problem, formulated in the framework of information field theory and building upon existing works in radio-interferometric imaging. Its application to GRAVITY observations from 2021 yields the deepest images to date of the Galactic Center on scales of a few milliarcseconds. The images reveal the complicated source structure within the central 100 mas around Sgr A*, where we detected the stars S29 and S55 and confirm S62 on its trajectory, slowly approaching Sgr A*. Furthermore, we were able to detect S38, S42, S60, and S63 in a series of exposures for which we offset the fiber from Sgr A*. We provide an update on the orbits of all aforementioned stars. In addition to these known sources, the images also reveal a faint star moving to the west at a high angular velocity. We cannot find any coincidence with any known source and, thus, we refer to the new star as S300. From the flux ratio with S29, we estimate its K-band magnitude as mK (S300) ' 19.0−19.3. Images obtained with CLEAN confirm the detection. To assess the sensitivity of our images, we note that fiber damping reduces the apparent magnitude of S300 and the effect increases throughout the year as the star moves away from the field center. Furthermore, we performed a series of source injection tests. Under favorable circumstances, sources well below a magnitude of 20 can be recovered, while 19.7 is considered the more universal limit for a good data set.


Finite element method with experimental data was used to calculate and analysis the temperature field and machine assembly of a 150 engine cylinder liner. Using a series of evaluation criteria such as maximum, minimum radius, light leakage rate to analyze the influence of the main structural parameters on the cylinder liner deformation in the coupling effect of Thermal stress and mechanical stress. Comparative results show that: increasing the wall thickness of cylinder liner can reduce the radial deformation of the cylinder liner effectively, the diameter of the cylinder liner shroud has little effect on the cylinder liner radial deformation, but it can reduce the local stress concentration of the cylinder liner, cylinder shroud thickness increases can lead to the radial deformation of the cylinder liner increasing.


In this study, forewing teratology in 42 species of solitary wasps belonging to the family Sphecidae (Hymenoptera) collected from various provinces of Turkey were investigated for the first time. In total, 20 cases of wing venation anomalies, classified as: a) irregular vein course, b) supernumerary veins, c) defective veins and d) supernumerary cells, were observed in 112 of 1682 specimens. The most encountered wing venation anomalies were: a spur protruding from 1 m-cu to 1st discoidal cell (n = 42, 37.50%), an incomplete 1r-m cross-vein (n = 21, 18.75%), and completely reduced 1r-m cross-vein (n = 10, 8.92%). The anomalies were rather common in the species Podalonia fera (n = 19, 36.53%), P. luffi (n = 11, 33.33%), P. hirsuta (n = 18, 33.33%) and Chalybion walteri (n = 1, 33.33%). In general, anomalies were more frequently observed in male wasps (n = 65, 58.03%). Teratology could be caused by genetic, environmental or pathogenic factors.


Background: Diabetes is a chronic disease characterized by metabolic disorders of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Long-term use of the blood glucose lowering drugs can cause side effects. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the alcoholic extract of E. cyparissias on the level of brain antioxidant enzymes in streptozotocin-induced diabetic male rats. Materials and Methods: In this study, 40 adult male Wistar rats (250±20 gr) were divided randomly into 4 groups: 1) control; 2) streptozotocin-induced diabetic; 3) treatment1: received 500 mg/kg of the extract and 4) treatment 2: received 250 mg/kg of the extract. The two treatment groups received the alcoholic extract through gastric gavages for 21 days. At the end of the treatment, the blood glucose and levels of brain antioxidant enzymes (TAC, MDA, SOD and GPX) were determined. Results: Results showed that the MDA level was significantly increased in brain tissue in the diabetic group compared to the control group (P=0.001). Furthermore, the levels of TAC, SOD and GPX were significantly decreased in brain tissues in the diabetic group compared to the control group (P=0.001). Similar results were obtained for the blood glucose level. Conclusion: It can be concluded that oral administration of E. cyparissias alcoholic extract has the antidiabetic and antioxidant activities in the streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.


ABSTRACT PmxaF is a strong methanol-inducible promoter in Methylobacterium extorquens. When this promoter is cloned in expression vectors and used to drive heterologous gene expression, methanol inducibility is either greatly reduced or entirely lost. In order to bestow inducibility upon the cloned PmxaF promoter in expression vectors, we adopted combinational methods (regulatory elements of the Pseudomonas putida F1 cym and cmt operons and Tn7 transposon system) to control reporter gene expression at the transcriptional level in M. extorquens. An operator fragment (26 nucleotides) of the cmt operon was inserted downstream of the cloned PmxaF promoter in the broad-host-range expression vector (pCHOI3). The repressor gene (cymR) located upstream of the cym operon in P. putida F1 was amplified by PCR. To avoid cellular toxicity for M. extorquens caused by the overexpression of CymR, single and/or double copies of cymR were integrated into the chromosome of M. extorquens using the mini-Tn7 transposon system. Cultures containing the chromosomally integrated cymR gene were subsequently transformed with pCHOI3 containing modified PmxaF (i.e., PmxaF plus operator). In this construct, inducibility is afforded by cumate (p-isopropylbenzoate). In this report, we describe the inducible and tightly regulated expression of heterologous genes (bgl [for β-galactosidase], est [for esterase], and gfp [for green fluorescent protein]) in M. extorquens. This is the first documented example of an inducible/regulated heterologous gene expression system in M. extorquens.