Treatment of methoxyribosyltriazinone 4 with hydrazine in methanol afforded crude 4-hydrazino-1-β-D-ribofuranosyl-1,3,5-triazin-2( 1H )-one ( N 4 -amino-5-azacytidine) ( 2 ), which rearranged rapidly to isomeric 5-ribosylureidotriazole 6 . The rearrangement proceeds easily also in water solutions of 2 . Alkaline hydrolysis of 6 gave a mixture of 5-ureidotriazole 7 and 5-aminotriazole 8 . Acid hydrolysis of 6 afforded only 7 . This compound was also prepared by thermal rearrangement of 5-amino-1-carbamoyltriazole 9 or on reaction of cyano(formyl)guanidine 10 with hydrazine hydrochloride. Treatment of benzoylated methoxyribosyltriazinone 4a with hydrazine in methanol gave only the rearranged product 6a . Reaction of tribenzoylribosyl isocyanate 12 with aminotriazole 8 gave 1-triazolecarboxamidotribenzoylribose 13 , which afforded by methanolysis oxazoloribofuranose 14 and aminotriazole 8 . Compound 14 was also obtained by methanolysis of blocked ribosylcarbamate 16 . Reaction of methoxyribosyltriazinone 4 with hydroxylamine in methanol afforded 4-hydroxylamino-1-β-D-ribofuranosyl-1,3,5-triazin-2( 1H) -one ( N 4 -hydroxy-5-azacytidine) ( 3 ), which on the action of excess hydroxylamine yielded 1-cyano-1-hydroxy-5-β-D-ribofuranosylisobiuret ( 19 ). Treatment of methoxy-1,3,5-triazinone 18 with a solution of hydroxylamine in methanol gave 4-hydroxylamino-1-methyl-1,3,5-triazin-2(1 H )-one ( N 4 -hydroxy-1-methyl-5-azacytosine) ( 17 ). Heating of cyano(formyl)guanidine 10 with hydroxylamine hydrochloride in water lead to the formation of triuret ( 21 ). The mechanisms of the reactions of methoxyribosyltriazinone 4 with hydrazine and hydroxylamine are discussed. Compounds 2 , 6 and 19 exhibited no significant antibacterial or cytostatic activity.


Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI) can be effective for supporting skills acquisition among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Few studies have followed children with ASD who received EIBI into schools. The purpose of this study was to investigate educational outcomes specific to instructional placement, standardized test proficiency, and special education eligibility under the ASD category for children who received EIBI. Medicaid records were utilized to create a cross-systems data set of 3- to 5-year-old children with ASD (n = 667). Most students were placed in general education, and males and White students were more likely to receive special education services for ASD. Only half of the students participated in standardized testing and met proficiency standards. Implications for future research and advocacy for early intervention are discussed.


This thesis describes the investigation of the dynamics of turbulent shear flows over non-smooth surfaces. The research was conducted in two parts, related to the experimental facility used in combination with the applied functional surface. The first part describes the experiments of a turbulent Taylor-Couette flow over a riblet surface. The Taylor-Couette facility proves to be an accurate measurement device to determine the frictional drag of surfaces under turbulent flow conditions. Sawtooth riblets are applied on the inner cylinder surface and have the ability to reduce the total measured drag by 5.3% at Res=4.7x104.  Under these conditions, a small shift is observed in the azimuthal velocity profile that indicates the change in the net system rotation, which on its turn affects the quantity of drag change, the so-called rotation effect. A model based on the angular momentum balance is proposed and quantifies the drag change due to the rotation effect. Using the total measured drag change, the model accurately predicts the velocity shift in the azimuthal direction. In addition to the steady operational conditions, periodically driven Taylor-Couette flows were investigated by modulating the velocity between the two cylinders as a sinusoidal function, while maintaining RΩ = 0. The main scaling parameters are the shear Reynolds number Res, the oscillation Reynolds number Reosc and the Womersley number Wo, such that the required power to overcome the frictional drag becomes equal to = f(Res,Reosc, Wo). Large velocity amplitudes A = Reosc/Res > 0.10 induce the growth of frictional drag due to the additional turbulent fluctuations. The required power to overcome the frictional drag is given by = (f(A)+ K*Wo4A2). The first term represents the analytical quasi-steady state solution with the accompanying velocity modulation, while the second term involves the magnitude of the boundary acceleration with the associated velocity fluctuation, where K* is the conditional scaling-factor between the additional drag and the dimensionless acceleration. Riblets are still able to reduce the frictional drag under small accelerations of the periodically driven boundaries, but the effect declines drastically or even enhances the frictional drag when the boundary acceleration becomes more significant.   The second part of this thesis describes the assessment of the applied water tunnel and the interactional behavior between a compliant coating and a turbulent boundary layer flow in the tunnel. In the assessment of the water tunnel, the Clauser chart method showed to be a suitable procedure to quantify the local wall shear stress τw. The interaction between a compliant wall and the near-wall turbulent flow was examined by applying in-house produced visco-elastic coatings with three different stiffnesses.  Two typical flow-surface interaction regimes were identified; the one-way coupled regime and the two-way coupled regime. The one-way coupled regime is valid when the turbulent flow initiates moderate coating surface deformation, while the fluid flow remains undisturbed. All of the three coatings exhibited the one-way coupled interactional behavior, where the surface modulations ζ were smaller than the viscous sublayer thickness δv and scale with the turbulent pressure fluctuations over the coating shear modulus, i.e. ζrms ~ prms/|G*|. In this regime, the surface waves have the propagation velocity in the order of cw = 0.70-0.80 Ub, indicating a strong correlation with the high-intensity pressure fluctuations in the turbulent boundary layer away from the wall. The two-way coupled regime has only been observed for the coating with the lowest shear modulus when Ub > 4.5 m/s, indicating significant surface deformation accompanied by additional fluid motions (u',v') and an increase in the local Reynolds stresses. The velocity profile shifts downwards Δu+ in the log region, which verifies the drag increase due to the significant surface undulations. The visualizations of the surface deformation showed the formation of wave-trains with high amplitudes originating from the initial surface undulations caused by the pressure fluctuations in the turbulent boundary layer (i.e. one-way coupling). When these early surface undulations start to protrude the viscous sublayer, the turbulent flow is capable of transfering more energy towards the coating and initiates the wave-train with high amplitudes. The wave-trains dominate the coating surface incrementally with increasing bulk velocity and propagate with a wave velocity of cw = 0.17-0.18 Ub. The 1-way/2-way regime transition is estimated to occur around ζrms > δv/2. The turbulent flow along the slow-moving wave-trains resembles the classical phenomenon of a turbulent flow over a rigid wavy surface, with a local acceleration and deceleration of the fluid. When the wave-trains start to dominate the coating surface, a linear correlation determines the abovementioned downward shift Δu+, based on the wall-normal velocity component dζ/dt. No frictional drag reduction under turbulent flow conditions was found in this study with this type of visco-elastic compliant coatings.


Islamic life style is not a modern subject but society agents and social and behavioral domain thinkers pay special attention to it considering quick changes of society and creating modern methods of life, modification of attitudes and norms of life, emergence of social-moral affairs. In this case, some organizations such as family and media are focused on considering their excellent position in forming social and personal identities. In Islam point of view, social society in which family is a part is the first and the most important organization and social group human find himself in it and take effect. Furthermore, nowadays in communication world and advertising period, media has a very important position and widespread channels of world have unrivaled function in forming public thoughts. Perspicuous religion of Islam has considered Islamic life style and has presented guidelines for different aspects of human life through which human can be put in correct path of progress. Thus present research with strategic approach and purpose of determining Quran function and custom on people`s social life style in media, has found that provincial media has a function more than producing because of having effect on different life aspects. Moreover, fidelity to religion, internalizing Islamic values and deleting anti-religion programs form media are very important.


Combined elaboration of the first and second parts of papers prepared for presentation at the IAMO FORUM 2007 Halle, Germany 24-29 June 2007 and the IAAE-EAAE 104th seminar Budapest, Hungary 6-8 September 2007. In 2003 a research study looked at the position of smallholders; the survey was carried out using questionnaires and interviews. The farms included in the survey were situated in 3 counties in the Southern Great Plain of Hungary and in 3 counties of the western part of the country (Transdanubia). The results of the survey showed that there was a firm tendency of concentration among the Hungarian individual farms. Though their average size is about 3 ha, the number and area of farms over 50 ha size are rapidly growing and taking a significant part of the total individual agricultural area. The number of small farms is great but their total farming area is relatively small. The concentration takes place primarily due to renting. The land market is sluggish mainly owing to the land-buying restrictions and the small intention to sell of those owners who are waiting for higher prices. Land prices are low but rising, especially on the Western border of the country, near to Austria. The dominance of arable production and within that cereal production, especially on the larger individual farms, points to a prevalence of extensive farming The present support and subsidy system fortifies this tendency. When comparing the Southern Plain with western Transdanubia, it can be said that agricultural production is greater in the former region and more people are involved in agriculture. There is a higher share of under-cover production of vegetables and ornamental plants and animal husbandry. However, it seems that in western Transdanubia the spirit of enterprise is stronger than in the Southern Plain: more farmers enter into contractual agreements, more farmers make use of credits and subsidies, and the farms operate with greater profitability. Nevertheless, the proximity of western Transdanubia to industrial and service centers and, furthermore, its closeness to Austria tend to suppress agricultural activities. The regression analyses with respect to efficiency and profitability and the cluster analyses supported the assessments of the descriptive analyses and produced the following main conclusions: the larger farms, farmed by younger and better-educated individuals, are more efficient and profitable than the others. Furthermore, farmers with significant conceptions for development seem to achieve greater profitability.


Concerns have been raised about the potential of natural and man-made chemicals to interfere with the endocrine system of humans and wildlife adversely. This issue has been addressed by intensive research over the past years. Most studies focused on interactions with sex hormone receptors. An estrogenic or (anti)androgenic potential was demonstrated for a number of natural and anthropogenic compounds. This work focused on the detection of compounds with affinity to the androgen receptor (AR). An AR binding assay based on a recombinant rat AR (fusion protein to thioredoxin) properly ranked strong and weak (anti)androgens and other compounds with affinity to the AR. The data correlated excellently with that obtained in binding studies employing a cytosolic AR preparation from rat prostate. Studies with detergents indicated that these are confounders of the assay. They most likely disturb ligand receptor interactions and/or modification of the receptor protein. A transactivation assay based on the androgen-sensitive PALM cell line detected strong and weak androgens, and was able to detect antiandrogenicity when cells had been stimulated with an androgen. These findings indicate that in vitro methods can contribute successfully to the characterisation of compounds with affinity to sex hormone receptors. Whereas binding assays provide the basic information on affinity to the receptors, transactivation assays can discriminate agonists and antagonists and also provide information on cytotoxicity. These in vitro assays could also reduce animal use in endocrine toxicity testing (a) by using recombinant sex hormone receptors instead of cytosolic receptor preparations, (b) by applying intelligent screening strategies that include (potential) metabolites, as these assays probably have only little or no metabolic capacity and by combining several in vitro systems should equivocal results be obtained in one system, and (c) by using in vitro methods to identify mechanisms of action of effects observed in animal studies. In order to support the acceptance of these methods, a thorough validation and the characterisation of confounders is desirable. Whether receptor binding and transactivation assays can predict the outcome of in vivo screening assays reliably remains to be established.


PURPOSE OF REVIEW
The current review summarizes the latest evidence of the effects of exercise training for pulmonary hypertension patients demonstrated by six randomized controlled trails and 20 further studies. As the availability of exercise training is still limited it is important to raise awareness of the body of evidence showing the benefit for the patients and the limitations.

RECENT FINDINGS
The effects of exercise training on exercise capacity, hemodynamics as well as quality of life are described as well as different settings and components of exercise training. Associated adverse events are critically reviewed and strategies for avoidance of these events discussed. Lastly, the most important issues of availability and reimbursement of a specialized exercise training program are examined and the future path is outlined to improve patient access.

SUMMARY
The latest publications on this topic strengthen the call for international multicenter randomized controlled trials to establish the feasibility of exercise training in different healthcare systems and to enhance patient access to these programs.


Balogh; J. M. and A. Jámbor, 2018. On the duration of comparative advantages: the case of European cheese industry. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 24 (1): 1-7 The EU produces and exports various types of cheese to all over the world. French, Dutch and Italian cheeses are very special and famous worldwide. By contrast, to date, the analysis of the competitiveness of EU cheese trade is understudied in the literature. Therefore, our paper is focusing on the evaluation of trade competitiveness in European cheese sector. First, our study analyses the revealed comparative advantages among the major European cheese producers by Balassa indices between 1990 and 2013. Second, we aim to explore the duration and stability of indices by the help of lagged indices and calculating Kaplan-Meier survival functions. Our results suggest that European cheese export is mainly internal in nature and highly concentrated. Regarding comparative advantages, indicators suggest that the Netherlands, Denmark, and Cyprus were the most competitive cheese traders in the EU. However, the survivor analysis revealed that the comparative advantages were very stable for the countries selected the overall stability of EU cheese trade had a declining tendency.


Background: Integrin alpha 8 (ITGA8) encodes the alpha 8 subunit of the integrin alpha8beta1 protein and has recently been suggested as a new candidate gene for Parkinson's disease, an age related neurodegenerative disease with unknown etiology. ITGA8 is a transmembrane protein involved in several cellular processes, such as cell adhesion, migration and cytoskeletal rearrangement. Objective: Screen a Swedish case control material for rs7077361, a genetic variant in ITGA8, in order to investigate its possible implication in Parkinson's disease in Sweden. Method: Rs7077361 was genotyped using TaqMan quantitative Real-time PCR and tested for association using appropriate statistical methods. Results: We have screened 502 Swedish Parkinson patients and 599 healthy control individuals for rs7077361 in ITGA8. This genetic variant was in Hardy Weinberg equilibrium in the Swedish population. Allele and genotype frequencies were highly similar between the patients and controls and statistical testing showed that this genetic maker did not associate with Parkinson's disease (p=0.67). Conclusion: Our results do not support the hypothesis of ITGA8 as a candidate gene for Parkinson's disease in Sweden.


Lindsay Shepherd Claire Lehmann Dr Tiffany Jenkins Have We All Gone Mad? The Snowflake Epidemic University campuses throughout the West are in the grip of a troubling social phenomenon, now in danger of spreading beyond the ivy walls. Once bastions of intellectual rigour and freedom of thought, universities have become closed-minded and self-censoring, pandering to what appear from the outside to be ridiculously heightened sensitivities and undeserved entitlement. Safe spaces, trigger warnings and counselling on demand have become commonplace. Teaching staff who speak out are being intimidated, silenced and vilified. Students who choose to think against the mainstream are harassed and ostracised. Has normal teenage angst been institutionally mollycoddled and even pathologised?


This book offers an examination of the functions or ambitions – stated and otherwise – of the counter-terrorism policies of key Western states. The chapters in this volume engage with a wide menu of counter-terrorism activities that exist in exploring this theme, including: proscription powers, counter-radicalisation and community-cohesion programmes, counter-radicalisation and peace-process mechanisms, and powers of preventative detention. The case studies explored include those of the UK, Spain, and international collaborations. The volume also engages with the consequences or impacts of counter-terrorism powers. Here, the chapters explore the differential effects of contemporary measures on specific individuals and communities. The consequences of recent powers on the body politic itself, and political processes more broadly are also investigated, as are their implications for the relations between executives, legislatures, judiciaries and civil societies. Under this theme, the book also includes an explicit exploration of the methodological issues involved in attempting to measure the efficacy (and indeed legitimacy) of counter-terrorism policies, with chapters exploring the potential contributions of quantitative and qualitative research methods in this area. Finally, this book also reflects on the temporalities of counter-terrorism measures. Here it asks, for example, whether these signal permanent developments within the political and judicial systems of western states; and how and why changes occur within counter-terrorism apparatuses. Moreover, the book also explores how time is invoked or employed in the legitimisation of counter-terrorism powers, for example in claims to national emergency, exceptionality or the use of historical analogies. This book will be of much interest to students of counter-terrorism, critical terrorism studies, criminology, security studies and IR in general.


Proteins are an important class of therapeutics. The have many advantages over small-molecule drugs including high target specificity, low cytotoxicity and low immunogenicity. However, due to their inherent instability during storage, transport and delivery in vitro and in vivo, their therapeutic usefulness has not been maximized. One approach is to conjugate poly(ethylene glycol) to proteins to enhance pharmacokinetics in vivo, and there are eleven FDA approved therapeutic PEG conjugates. However, efforts to stabilize proteins against environmental stressors are still limited. In this dissertation, the development of biomimetic polymers, specifically heparin-mimicking polymers, to stabilize an important unstable therapeutic protein, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), is described. Chapter 1 reviews the biomedical applications of heparin-based hydrogels and heparin-mimicking polymers. Heparin is a naturally occurring polysaccharide that was first exploited for its antithrombotic activity. It was later realized that heparin-mediated biological functions were wide-ranging and included cell differentiation, angiogenesis, inflammation, host defense and viral infection mechanisms, lipid transport and clearance, and cell adhesion and interaction. Thus, researchers have shifted to investigate other properties of heparin-mimicking polymers besides its use as an anticoagulant. This chapter focuses on the development of heparin-based hydrogels and heparin-mimicking polymers for treatments of skin wounds specifically.Chapter 2 describes the stabilization of bFGF by covalent conjugation of a heparin-mimicking polymer, a copolymer consisting of styrene sulfonate units and methyl methacrylate units bearing poly(ethylene glycol) side chains. bFGF plays a crucial role in diverse cellular functions from wound healing to bone regeneration. However, a major obstacle in the widespread application of bFGF is its inherent instability during storage and delivery. The bFGF conjugate of this polymer, bFGF-p(SS-co-PEGMA), retained bioactivity after synthesis and was stable to a variety of environmentally and therapeutically relevant stressors, such as heat, mild and harsh acidic conditions, storage, and proteolytic degradation, compared to native bFGF. After applied stress, the conjugate was also significantly more active than the control conjugate system where the styrene sulfonate units were omitted from the polymer structure. This research has important implications for the clinical use of bFGF and for stabilization of heparin-binding growth factors in general. Chapter 3 describes a study of the preclinical value of the bFGF-p(SS-co-PEGMA) conjugate as a potential therapy for active wound healing. The cellular uptake and trafficking of the bFGF-heparin-mimcking polymer conjugate, bFGF-p(SS-co-PEGMA), was studied to better understand the cellular fate of the conjugate. The long-term storage stability of the conjugate was examined at 4 i?½C and 23 i?½C to evaluate the usefulness of the conjugate as a widely available therapeutic to patients, including at-home patients and patients in the remote areas. In addition, we report for the first time the superagonist characteristic of the heparin-mimicking polymer conjugate when used in the presence of exogenous heparin. Chapter 4 describes the development of a 2nd-generation and a 3rd-generation heparin-mimicking polymer. Since the 1st-generation heparin-mimicking polymer described in Chapters 2 and 3, p(SS-co-PEGMA), stabilizes bFGF but is unable to activate FGF receptors (FGFRs) as is heparin, we looked for other heparin-mimicking polymers that could do both. Activation of FGFRs by two bFGF molecules and a heparin molecule leads to the dimerization and phosphorylation of the receptors, and subsequently results in cell responses such as proliferation or migration. Thus, 2nd and 3rd-generation sulfonated polymers were prepared. The 2nd-generation polymer was found to be a strong activator of FGFRs but its conjugate to bFGF had reduced bioactivity. The 3rd-generation polymer was a block copolymer of the 1st- and the 2nd-generation polymers. Although it was not as strong an activator as the 2nd-generation polymer, its conjugate to bFGF exhibited enhanced mitogenic activity compared to other conjugates and native bFGF in heparan sulfate-deficient cells and in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The 3rd-generation conjugate also stimulated HUVEC migration better than the native protein. Taken together, the 3rd-genration conjugate is promising for applications where promoting angiogenesis is desired, such as in tissue engineering.


Objectives - To develop and pilot a community-based family programme,
'Families for Health', for intervention with overweight and obese children aged
7-11 years.
Intervention – 'Families for Health' is a 12-week programme, with parallel
groups for parents and children, combining support for parenting, lifestyle
change, as well as social & emotional development.
Design of the Evaluation – Pilot study using mixed-methods comprising:
process evaluation; outcome evaluation involving a 'before and after' evaluation
and triangulation with interview data; economic evaluation (cost-outcome
description); users and providers perspectives.
Setting – Leisure Centre, Coventry, England
Participants – 27 overweight or obese children aged 7-13 years (18 girls, 9
boys) and their parents, from 21 families.
Process Evaluation – Two groups were run, and were delivered as planned.
Recruitment was difficult, although most effective via the media. Attendance
rate was 62%, with 18(67%) children completing the programme.
Outcome Evaluation – Primary outcome was change in the BMI z-score from
baseline. For 22 children with follow-up data, BMI z-score was significantly
reduced by -0.18 (95% CI -0.30 to -0.05, p=0.008) at the end of the programme,
and was sustained to 9-months (-0.21) and 2-years (-0.23). There were also
significant improvements in the children's quality-of-life, eating and activity
environment, child-parent relationships and parent's mental health. Fruit and
vegetable consumption, participation in moderate/vigorous exercise, and
children's self-esteem did not change significantly. Interview data illustrated the
changes made by the families, particularly to their eating environment.
User and Provider Perspectives – The group-based parenting approach was
received well, providing the 'tools' for parents to become 'agents of change' in
the family. Suggested changes to the programme include providing follow-up
sessions and a greater focus on physical activity.
Economic Evaluation - Costs to run 'Families for Health' were £517 per family
or £402 per child, in-line with other group-based obesity management or
parenting interventions.
Conclusion - 'Families for Health' is a promising new intervention for the
management of childhood obesity.


Vehicular exhaust fume has been greatly implicated as one of the major environmental pollutants all over the world, especially in developing nations. A study was carried out to investigate heavy metals distribution and effect on the soft tissues of Albino rats placed in close proximity to busy roads in Abeokuta. A total of 45 rats were randomly allotted to 3 groups of fifteen rats each. Two groups were placed in close proximity to busy roads while the third group (Control) was kept in Forestry Nursery of the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta Ogun State for 8 weeks respectively. The various organs were removed, digested by standard procedures and analyzed for heavy metals (Fe, Cr, Mn, Zn, Pd and Co) with Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. The result show a significantly higher concentration of heavy metals (Fe, Mn, Zn, Pd and Co) (p<0.05) in the lung, heart and liver tissues of the rats at busy roads compared to control. Histopathological examination of internal organs (heart, lung, kidney and liver) of rats at busy roads revealed histopathological damage as compared to the control. The results above indicated that vehicular exhaust fumes may have adverse physiological effects on the rats and hence humans living in close proximity to busy roads will be predisposed to automobile pollution.


Author(s): Heroux, Katie Jeanne | Abstract: Polynuclear manganese clusters exhibiting interesting magnetic and quantum properties have been an area of intense research since the discovery of the first single- molecule magnet (SMM) in 1993. These molecules, below their blocking temperature, function as single-domain magnetic particles which exhibit classical macroscale magnetic properties as well as quantum mechanical phenomena such as quantum tunnelling of magnetization (QTM) and quantum phase interference. The union of classical and quantum behavior in these nanomaterials makes SMMs ideal candidates for high-density information storage and quantum computing. However, environmental coupling factors (nuclear spins, phonons, neighboring molecules) must be minimized if such applications are ever to be fully realized. The focus of this work is making small structural changes in well-known manganese SMMs in order to drastically enhance the overall magnetic and quantum properties of the system. Well-isolated molecules of high crystalline quality should lead to well-defined energetic and spectral properties as well. An advantage of SMMs over bulk magnetic materials is that they can be chemically altered from a "bottom-up" approach providing a synthetic tool for tuning magnetic properties. This systematic approach is utilized in the work presented herein by incorporating bulky ligands and/or counterions to "isolate" the magnetic core of [Mn4] dicubane SMMs. Reducing intermolecular interactions in the crystal lattice (neighboring molecules, solvate molecules, dipolar interactions) is an important step toward developing viable quantum computing devices. Detailed bulk magnetic studies as well as single crystal magnetization hysteresis and high-frequency EPR studies on these sterically- isolated complexes show enhanced, and sometimes even unexpected, quantum dynamics. The importance of intra- and intermolecular interactions remains a common theme throughout this work, extending to other SMMs of various topology including large wheel-shaped complexes, hexanuclear rods, and even small dinuclear species


Objective: This research examined gender differences in self-rated health (SRH) using the differential exposure and differential vulnerability explanations of gender differences in health. Method: Trajectories of SRH were estimated using data that spanned 12 years (1992-2004) from the Health and Retirement Study. Results: There was no gender difference in SRH at baseline, but SRH declined faster for males over time. Factors that mediated the gender difference included changes in employment status, smoking behavior, and the onset of health conditions. Moreover, were it not for gender differences in various structural and health status factors, females would have better SRH at baseline and over time. Discussion: Our results differ from previous research, which often shows a female disadvantage that is reduced or disappears at older ages. Furthermore, gender differences in the predictors of SRH (exposure) contribute more to understanding gender differences in SRH than different responses to the predictors (vulnerability).


OBJECTIVES
Optimization of outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) requires interdisciplinarity and an operational algorithm. This report retrospectively assesses the impact of a multimodal quality-enhancement intervention bundle on the implementation rate, efficacy, and safety of a home OPAT program in a Belgian large community-based hospital.

METHODS
OPAT recipients between 1 March 2019 and 30 June 2022 were included. The OPAT trajectories were divided into pre-intervention (from 1 March 2019 to 31 October 2020) and post-intervention (from 1 November 2020 to 30 June 2022) groups. The quality-enhancement intervention bundle consisted of the involvement of an infectious disease specialist, revision and implementation of a state-of-the-art prosthetic joint infection diagnosis and treatment protocol, weekly multidisciplinary discussion of all prosthetic joint infections, revision of the OPAT algorithm, and the introduction of teicoplanin as an OPAT-convenient antimicrobial.

RESULTS
Eighty-five patients were included in a total of 96 OPAT trajectories (n = 33 pre-intervention; n = 63 post-intervention). After the intervention, the number of OPAT trajectories nearly doubled. The number of patients with a recurrent infection within 6 months after OPAT completion decreased 15%. The overall 6-month mortality and readmission rates during OPAT treatment decreased 8% and 10%, respectively. Mortality during OPAT treatment did not change. These differences between pre- and post-intervention did not achieve statistical significance, despite the higher risk for complications in the post-intervention group because of increased infection complexity and required treatment duration.

CONCLUSION
Within a Belgian, single, large community-based hospital, a multimodal intervention bundle resulted in increases in OPAT implementation, infection complexity, and required treatment durations without statistically significant differences in outcomes.


The acetylation states of histones present on the upstream, promoter, coding or intronic regions of 88 tobacco genes were examined with chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) experiments using antibodies that recognised acetylated histone H4. The DNA sequences enriched in the immunoprecipitates were amplified by ligation-mediated PCR, labelled with Cy-dUTP and hybridised to DNA microarrays. In green tobacco shoots, histone H4 acetylation was localised to 300-600-bp sequences in the promoters or coding regions of 31 genes, or occurred extensively over several kilobase-pair regions containing the upstream, promoter and/or coding regions of 25 genes. Genes associated with high histone H4 acetylation levels at promoters were actively expressed, whereas genes depleted in acetylated histone H4 were non-transcribed or expressed at very low levels, suggesting a correlation between histone H4 acetylation and gene activity. Trichostatin A (TA), an inhibitor of histone deacetylases (HDAs), did not alter histone H4 acetylation states globally but increased acetylation levels at specific tobacco sequences, suggesting that HDAs are targeted to particular nucleosomes. Genes that were upregulated by TA were associated with increased histone H4 acetylation at promoter or coding regions, indicating that acetylation of histones on coding regions may activate transcription. Increased histone H4 acetylation leading to elevated expression was observed on genes with diverse functions, suggesting that histone H4 acetylation is involved in regulation of many plant processes.


Short-day onion bulbs (cv. TG 1015Y) were stored in 1% O(2,) 99% N(2) air at 5 °C (controlled atmosphere [CA]), or in ambient air at 5, 24, or 30 °C, for 5 mo. Changes in flavor precursors, pungency, and sugar content were investigated. After 5 mo of storage, 1-propenyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide concentrations increased continuously at 5 °C, gradually decreased in CA, slightly increased for 3 mo, and returned to initial levels at 24 °C and decreased below initial levels at 34 °C. Methyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide concentrations remained unchanged in all storage conditions. Onion pungency levels significantly increased at 5 °C, and decreased at 30 °C. Storage in CA and at 24 °C resulted in some fluctuations in pungency but the levels remained similar to initial levels. The calculated pyruvic acid concentrations were approximately 1.0 μmole/mL higher than the measured concentrations, and showed an increase at 5 °C and a slight reduction at 30 °C, consistent with the pungency results. Storage at 5 °C and in CA resulted in slight increases in fructose and glucose concentrations for 3 to 4 mo with subsequent rapid decreases, while sucrose concentrations remained unchanged. However, at 24 and 30 °C, fructose and glucose concentrations continuously decreased, accompanied by a continuous increase in sucrose concentrations. Storage in CA maintained the quality of onions best, as evidenced by the smallest changes in flavor precursors, pungency, and sugar concentrations, while storage at 5 °C resulted in increased pungency. Storage at 24 and 30 °C was tested for the purpose of comparison only; these temperatures are not recommended for commercial storage.


A VFA mixture solution containing acetate, propionate and butyrate (the molar ratio of acetate, propionate and n-butyrate = 61.7:24.3:14.0) was infused into the rumen at various rates (53.5, 107 and 214 mumol kg-1 min-1) over 6 h to examine the effects on basal and growth hormone-releasing factor (GRF, 0.25 micrograms kg-1)-induced increase in secretion of GH, insulin, glucagon and somatostatin (SRIF) in five castrated male sheep. Intraruminal infusion of the VFA mixture into the 18-h-fasted animals at the rates of 53.5, 107 and 214 mumol kg-1 min-1 finally raised the total intraruminal VFA concentration from 91.4 to 100.2 (P > 0.05), 175.9 (P < 0.05) and 234.5 (P < 0.05) mmol l-1, respectively. A preliminary experiment showed that an infusion rate of 107 mumol kg-1 min-1 mimics the postprandial increase in ruminal VFA. The basal plasma GH concentrations (2 to 4 h after the start of VFA infusion) and the area under the profiles for GH release in response to the intravenous GRF injection, which was done 4 h after the start of VFA infusion, were significantly decreased by the VFA infusion rates of 107 and 214 mumol kg-1 min-1. Furthermore, the VFA infusion noticeably increased basal plasma concentrations of insulin, but it scarcely changed the basal levels of glucagon, SRIF and glucose. From these results we conclude that an increase in the ruminal VFA concentration, even within the physiological range, would suppress GH secretion from the ovine anterior pituitary, and that the postprandial rise in the ruminal VFA concentration may be one of the factors normally suppressing GH secretion in sheep.


Introduction
Ocular infection with herpes simplex virus (HSV) is usually acquired early in life, with 50% of people from higher and 80% from lower socioeconomic groups in the USA having antibodies by the age of 30 years. Attacks usually resolve spontaneously within 1−2 weeks, but 50% of people will experience a recurrence within 10 years.


The levels of yeasts and lactic acid bacteria that naturally developed during the vinification of two red and two white Bordeaux wines were quantitatively examined. Yeasts of the genera Rhodotorula, Pichia, Candida, and Metschnikowia occurred at low levels in freshly extracted grape musts but died off as soon as fermentation commenced. Kloeckera apiculata (Hanseniaspora uvarum), Torulopsis stellata, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the dominant yeasts in musts, proliferated to conduct alcoholic fermentation. K. apiculata and eventually T. stellata died off as fermentation progressed, leaving S. cerevisiae as the dominant yeast until the termination of fermentation by the addition of sulfur dioxide. At least two different strains of S. cerevisiae were involved in the fermentation of one of the red wines. Low levels of lactic acid bacteria (Pediococcus cerevisiae, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, and Lactobacillus spp.) were present in grape musts but died off during alcoholic fermentation. The malolactic fermentation developed in both red wines soon after alcoholic fermentation and correlated with the vigorous growth of at least three different strains of Leuconostoc oenos.


The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of changes to the autonomic nervous system in mice during the acute phase of Chagas disease, which is an infection caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. The following types of mice were inoculated with T. cruzi (CHG): wild‐type (WT) and vesicular acetylcholine transporter knockdown (KDVAChT) C57BL/6j mice; wild‐type non‐treated (NT) FVB mice; FVB mice treated with pyridostigmine bromide (PYR) or salbutamol (SALB); and β2‐adrenergic receptor knockout (KOβ2) FVB mice. During infection and at 18–21 days after infection (acute phase), the survival curves, parasitaemia, electrocardiograms, heart rate variability, autonomic tonus and histopathology of the animals were evaluated. Negative control groups were matched for age, genetic background and treatment. The KDVAChT‐CHG mice exhibited a significant shift in the electrocardiographic, autonomic and histopathological profiles towards a greater inflammatory immune response that was associated with a reduction in blood and tissue parasitism. In contrast, the CHG‐PYR mice manifested reduced myocardial inflammation and lower blood and tissue parasitism. Similar results were observed in CHG‐SALB animals. Unexpectedly, the KOβ2‐CHG mice exhibited less myocardial inflammation and higher blood and tissue parasitism, which were associated with reduced mortality. These findings could have been due to the increase in vagal tone observed in the KOβ2 mice, which rendered them more similar to the CHG‐PYR animals. In conclusion, our results indicate a marked immunomodulatory role for the parasympathetic and sympathetic autonomic nervous systems, which inhibit both the inflammatory immune response and parasite clearance during the acute phase of experimental Chagas heart disease in mice.


Varistors are voltage dependent, nonlinear devices which have an electrical behavior similar to back-to-back zener diodes. The symmetrical, sharp breakdown characteristics shown in Figure 1 enable the varistor to provide excellent transient suppression performance. When exposed to high voltage transients the varistor impedance changes many orders of magnitude from a near open circuit to a highly conductive level, thus clamping the transient voltage to a safe level. The potentially destructive energy of the incoming transient pulse is absorbed by the varistor, thereby protecting vulnerable circuit components.


The transfer of high-performance computing and visualization technologies to state environmental protection agencies is an integral part of the US Environmental Protection Agency's High-Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) Program. One aspect of this process involves collaborative modeling for air quality efforts associated with the 1990 Clean Air Act. Another is the use of visualization as a diagnostic tool to depict modeling scenarios for various pollution control strategies. A fundamental step in this process involves using the existing Internet and the Nationwide Information Infrastructure (NII) for sharing data and electronic communication. Another step includes the development of visualization tools and user-friendly interfaces for collaborative exploration of environmental data sets.<<ETX>>


The cotton crop has notable importance for Brazilian and worldwide economy. Relationships knowledge among characters allows developing alternatives that increase the genetic progress with simultaneous selection of several traits. The use of correlation estimates for use in indirect selection helps the breeder in the selection of characters and facilitates progress in the selection. This work evaluates the phenotypic correlation and unfolding of the direct and indirect effects of morphological and technological fiber traits as criterion of indirect selection in cotton genotypes. The experiment was carried out at Fazenda Capim Branco, a research station of Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, 2014/2015 season. 21 genotypes were evaluated, 19 commercial genotypes F3 proceeding from the Programa de Melhoramento Genetico Algodoeiro (PROMALG) and two commercial control: FM 966 and DP 555. The experimental design was the randomized complete block with four replications. The experimental parcel was made of four rows of 5 meters cotton plants length, spaced of 0.9 meters. The morphological and agronomic traits evaluated were: a) chlorophyll content (TCA and TCB); b) number of fruiting branches (NFB); c) 1st fruit node height (NH); d) first, second and third-position bolls percentage (FPB, SPB, TPB); e) leaf Area Index (LAI); f) cotton seed yield (CSP); g) lint yield (LP); and h) Lint yield (LY). The fiber quality traits evaluated with HVI (High Instrument Volume): i) Fiber Length average (UHML); ii) Uniformity of length (UI); iii) Short fiber Index (SFI); iv) Fiber Strengh (STR); v) Elongation (ELG); vi) Micronaire (MIC), and vii) Fiber Maturity (MR). Statistical analyses and multicollinearity diagnosis were carried out with the software GENES. The intrinsic traits of fiber quality, according to correlations, influenced cotton seed yield and also morphological traits. Based on phenotypic correlations and according to path analysis, the higher micronaire index of favorable effect on cotton seed yield was identified due to a positive correlation and direct effect. Thus, micronaire index can be an indirect selection criterion of cotton genotypes.


Human pancreatic alpha-amylase has been isolated using a glycogen affinity precipitation procedure and crystallized in a form suitable for high resolution three-dimensional X-ray crystallographic analyses. Crystals are of the orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit cell dimensions of a = 53.04 A, b = 74.80 A and c = 137.34 A, and contain only one protein molecule per asymmetric unit. Diffraction data have been collected and found to extend to 1.6 A resolution. These studies form the basis for elucidating the full atomic structure of human pancreatic alpha-amylase and thereby providing insight into the catalytic mechanism of this enzyme.


This study aims to determine which rapid static observation durations would have acceptable accuracy for engineering surveys in urban environments (i.e. Metro Manila) in the time of COVID-19. Due to health concerns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Metro Manila has experienced various restrictions in mobility and time spent in public spaces in recent months. This has affected not only the lives and ways of work of the so-called front liners like nurses, doctors, and primary health care workers, but also the public at large which includes Land Surveyors. It is for this reason that this study was conducted, since a balance must be struck between the aim to get accurate engineering survey results and the health and safety of those who are conducting the measurements. Hence, the shortest possible time to conduct rapid static GNSS observation durations with acceptable results must be determined while ensuring that the conduct of the field survey would still be in compliance to the minimum health protocols (i.e. no mass gathering, maintenance of physical distancing, short time of interaction, etc.) set by the national government. For this study, rapid static observations were made at varying time intervals (i.e. 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minuntes, 1 hour, and 2 hours) at locations (i.e. open, with minimal obstructions, with significant obstructions) that would simulate archetypal situations when conducting engineering surveys in urban environments. Results were computed using fully constrained least square adjustment and results show that if all GNSS satellites are used in the computations, all time intervals would yield acceptable RMSE values, both for the horizontal (5 mm to 2 cm) and vertical (1 cm to 4 cm), for engineering surveys. However, if not all GNSS signals are available, it is best to use at least two GNSS satellite constellations (i.e. GPS-BeiDou, GPS-Glonass, Glonass-BeiDou) so that rapid static observations with acceptable accuracy can be made for as short as 5 minutes. For the "classical" accuracy standards, all rapid static observation durations yielded Order B relative precisions for the horizontal while most, except for the 30-minute duration, which yielded Third Order level results for the vertical.


The nutritional status of 121 psychiatric patients over the age of 60 years was examined on admission in a general psychiatric hospital. Before admission all patients were living independently. They were admitted directly from their homes. We found that the older psychiatric patient is evidently at risk for malnutrition. A quarter of the males had, according to the Quetelet's index, a low weight. Half of the males and one third of the females had a thiamin-deficiency, whereas half of all patients showed a deficiency of folic acid. Furthermore, in half of the males and one tenth of the females anaemia was diagnosed. Widowers and to a lesser extent also patients with an organic brain disease or psychotic disturbance ran a greater risk of malnutrition in comparison to their fellow patients. A relation between behaviour, measured by the Nosie (Nursing Observation Scale for Inpatient Evaluation) and the nutritional status was not found.


The enzyme vitamin K1 2,3 epoxide reductase is responsible for converting vitamin K1 2,3 epoxide to vitamin K1 quinone thus completing the vitamin K cycle. The enzyme is also the target of inhibition by the oral anticoagulant, R,S-warfarin. Purification of this protein would enable the interaction of the inhibitor with its target to be elucidated. To date a single protein possessing vitamin K1 2,3 epoxide reductase activity and binding R,S-warfarin has yet to be purified to homogeneity, but recent studies have indicated that the enzyme is in fact at least two interacting proteins. We report on the attempted purification of the vitamin K1 2,3 epoxide reductase complex from rat liver microsomes by ion exchange and size exclusion chromatography techniques. The intact system consisted of a warfarin-binding factor, which possessed no vitamin K1 2,3 epoxide reductase activity and a catalytic protein. This catalytic protein was purified 327-fold and was insensitive to R,S-warfarin inhibition at concentrations up to 5 mM. The addition of the S-200 size exclusion chromatography fraction containing the inhibitor-binding factor resulted in the return of R,S-warfarin inhibition. Thus, to function normally, the rat liver endoplasmic reticulum vitamin K1 2,3 epoxide reductase system requires the association of two components, one with catalytic activity for the conversion of the epoxide to the quinone and the second, the inhibitor binding factor. This latter enzyme forms the thiol-disulphide redox centre that in the oxidized form binds R,S-warfarin.


This article investigates the consequences of the production of table grapes for export to corporate supermarkets in the global North on labor in a region of the Brazilian North-east. This production is destined to meet the growing demand for year-round food marketed as quality food. Quality food is required by supermarket chains to increase competitiveness and is guaranteed through third-party certification programs. Despite claims that certification not only maintains product quality but also safeguards the use of labor, the study demonstrates that the global production of quality grapes engenders negative consequences for workers. Laborers work longer for less pay, perform more sophisticated tasks, are employed mostly through temporary contracts, and experience new and more advanced forms of control. Additionally, the article illustrates the ways in which other salient actors, such as global food retailers, brokers and firms, operate in regard to labor and quality grape production. It is concluded that, despite various claims about the objectives of certification programs, the actual use of the certification processes at the local level does not translate immediately into better labor relations in the global South.


Whole-cell voltage clamp recordings were made from photoreceptors of dissociated Drosophila ommatidia under conditions when the light- sensitive channels activate spontaneously, generating a "rundown current" (RDC). The Ca2+ and voltage dependence of the RDC was investigated by applying voltage steps (+80 to -100 mV) at a variety of extracellular Ca2+ concentrations (0-10 mM). In Ca(2+)-free Ringer large currents are maintained tonically throughout 50-ms-long voltage steps. In the presence of external Ca2+, hyperpolarizing steps elicit transient currents which inactivate increasingly rapidly as Ca2+ is raised. On depolarization inactivation is removed with a time constant of approximately 10 ms at +80 mV. The Ca(2+)-dependent inactivation is suppressed by 10 mM internal BAPTA, suggesting it requires Ca2+ influx. The inactivation is absent in the trp mutant, which lacks one class of Ca(2+)-selective, light-sensitive channel, but appears unaffected by the inaC mutant which lacks an eye-specific protein kinase C. Hyperpolarizing voltage steps applied during light responses in wild- type (WT) flies before rundown induce a rapid transient facilitation followed by slower inhibition. Both processes accelerate as Ca2+ is raised, but the time constant of inhibition (12 ms with 1.5 mM external Ca2+ at -60 mV) is approximately 10 times slower than that of the RDC inactivation. The Ca(2+)-mediated inhibition of the light response recovers in approximately 50-100 ms on depolarization, recovery being accelerated with higher external Ca2+. The Ca2+ and voltage dependence of the light-induced current is virtually eliminated in the trp mutant. In inaC, hyperpolarizing voltage steps induced transient currents which appeared similar to those in WT during early phases of the light response. However, 200 ms after the onset of light, the currents induced by voltage steps inactivated more rapidly with time constants similar to those of the RDC. It is suggested that the Ca(2+)-dependent inactivation of the light-sensitive channels first occurs at some concentration of Ca2+ not normally reached during the moderate illumination regimes used, but that the defect in inaC allows this level to be reached.


At present, the most effective means of releasing the "water blocking damage" in the near-well zone is to change the wettability of the rock surface from liquid wetting to gas wetting. In this study, a novel nano wetting fluid was used to change the sandstone surface wettability aqueous phase from wetting phase to non-wetting phase. The adaptability of 0.5 wt% nano wetting fluid at different aging times, pH, salinity type, salinity and temperature was evaluated. The results show that 0.5 wt% nano wetting fluid has better adaptability under different conditions. The aqueous phase of the core surface can be changed from wetting phase to non-wetting phase; after adding nano wetting fluid, the drainage rate increased by 19.09%; at the same time, SEM characterization experiments showed that nano wetting fluid could achieve hydrophobic effect by changing the surface roughness of illite and chlorite.


The article discusses the issues of values and social responsibility of universities. On the one hand, the foundations of functioning of universities, which are created by research and education and the role of universities in formation, are recalled.  On the other hand, it was reminded that the heart of universities, their DNA, are academic values, defined primarily in the Magna Charta Universitatum, but also in many other documents, such as the Code of Values of the Jagiellonian University. Hence, universities are increasingly often referred to not only as universities of knowledge, but also as universities of wisdom. Together, they are the basis for the social responsibility of universities.  However, they alone are not enough for this social responsibility to materialise.  Appropriate behaviour and actions are essential.  Because knowledge alone is not everything.  Such actions are always necessary, but especially when we find ourselves, as a country, humanity and a planet, in a crisis situation related to the climate disaster, which we are already partially experiencing. After the presentation of the most important current facts related to the climate and environmental crisis, the tasks to be undertaken urgently in this context by universities were presented, from broadly understood education, through convincing politicians to ambitious and quick actions, to intensive work on innovative solutions that can contribute to reducing threats brought by the climate and environmental crisis, pointing out, among others, the initiatives proposed by the newly created network of universities U7.


A geometric approach is presented to solve data fusion problems. The approach uses bounded-error data parameter estimation rather than the usual statistical approach. Updating the location (orientation and position) of a mobile robot in a known polygonal environment is shown as example. The obtained recursive algorithms are similar to those of the Kalman filter with the advantage that only measures improving the estimates are considered.<<ETX>>


This paper challenges the operational approach of the new policy paradigm of "good governance" thatdischarges the concept of governance from political substance and reduces it to the level of an efficientpublic service authority. The paper therefore develops an alternative analytical framework tounderstand and assess good governance based on institutional perspectives. Accordingly, governanceand good governance notions are re-defined. Using the case of urban water reform policies in Ghanathe validity of the analytical framework is tested. The analysis shows that the framework is useful andhas meaningful contribution to understand governance processes. The assessment of the reform policyreveals into different and entangled institutional constraints at multilevel and in different spheres thatcontinue to hinder the performance of the water utility. To design appropriate public policies toenhance water governance aspects of the water utility require addressing all of these constraints.


Abstract The aim of this study is to analyse high schoolers' attitudes towards math and their academic self-concepts in relation to (a) income level, (b) financial source for the child's education, (c) educational place, and (d) family's living place. The sample includes a total of 345 Ankara Science High School students. The data were collected through the use of an attitude scale with 24 items, an academic self-concepts scale with eight items and a demographic information form. The attitude scale is found to have 0.95 alpha reliability while the academic self-concept scale is found to be 0 .83. In comparing two groups, t tests were used. ANOVA and Scheffe test were used for comparing more than two groups. The findings indicate that neither attitudes towards maths course nor academic self-concepts are influenced by the family characteristics. Keywords: Science High School, Math Course, Attitude, Academic Self-Concept.


During the last 20 years, both the United Kingdom and the Russian Federation have seen changes to clinical services for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) health systems and other mechanisms through which STDs are controlled. In the UK these changes followed the description of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); its causal agent. In Russia, the breakdown of the Soviet Union following glasnost and perestroika, and its associated political, social and economic changes generated substantial developments to the ideological and legislative framework within which STD control is achieved as well as a revolution in the ® nancial base upon which clinical STD services operate. The purpose of this paper is to sketch these developments in STD services within the 2 countries to provide a context for the series of papers presented in this edition.


The well known column buckling formulas of Euler and these of Engesser / Haringx / Timoshenko (which correct for transverse shear) were derived for isotropic materials, and are routinely used in composite structural applications. The accuracy of these formulas, when orthotropic composite material and moderate thickness are involved, is investigated in the present study by comparing the critical loads from these formulas with the predictions of a three-dimensional orthotropic elasticity solution. The column is assumed to be in the form of a hollow circular cylinder and the Euler or Timoshenko loads are based on the axial modulus. As an example, the cases of an orthotropic material with stiffness constants typical of glass/epoxy or graphite/epoxy and the reinforcing direction along the periphery or along the cylinder axis are considered. First, it is found that the elasticity approach predicts in all cases a lower than the Euler value critical load. Moreover, the degree of non-conservatism of the Euler formula is strongly dependent on the reinforcing direction; the axially reinforced columns show the highest deviation from the elasticity value. Second, the Engesser or first Timoshenko shear correction formula is conservative in all cases examined, i.e. it predicts a lower critical load than the elasticity solution. The Haringx or second Timoshenko shear correction formula is in most cases (but not always) conservative. However, in all cases considered, the second estimate is always closer to the elasticity solution than the first one. For the isotropic case both Timoshenko formulas are conservative estimates.


A detecting, monitoring and reporting system includes a sensor device which generates data indicative of at least one of activity, GSR and heat flow of an individual and data derived therefrom when placed in proximity with the body. A remote central monitoring unit generates analytical status data from this data and analytical status data that has previously been generated. A data storage device stores the data received and generated by the central monitoring unit. The system includes means for establishing electronic communication between the sensor device and the central monitoring unit, and means for transmitting the data to a recipient. The sensor device may also generate data indicative of contextual parameters of the individual, which may then be used when generating the analytical status data. The system may be used for monitoring and providing feedback relating to the degree to which an individual has followed a suggested routine.


We reconstructed phylogenies of populations of three closely related species of Spigelia (Loganiaceae sensu la to) to test hypotheses about relationships and taxonomic boundaries. The species studied occur in the southeastern U.S. with a disjunction in their distribution along the Gulf Coastal plain between Florida and Texas. Two sets of data, restriction sites of cpDNA and ITS sequences, were analyzed. We found three well-supported clades of cpDNA types that correspond to previous species delimitations, and the cpDNA clades representing the two Texas species were most closely related. This pattern of relationships was unexpected based on strong morphological similarities between the coastal plain Texas taxon, S. texana, and the Florida taxon, S. loganioides. Phylogenetic hypotheses based on ITS sequences were not strongly supported because there were few informative changes among the sequences, and therefore a combined analysis recovered similar topologies as with the cpDNA data alone. The distributional pattern in this group of Spigelia was compared to that of other groups of organisms in the Gulf Coast region in an effort to find similarities that may indicate a shared geological history.


Background. Programming is a challenging and highly important topic for introducing learners to our digital world. Research has shown that motivation plays a key role in programming performance. Gamification using digital badges has the potential to influence motivation, provide social recognition and encourage learner participation. More research is recommended to evaluate its motivational impact in different contexts. Intervention. This research explores the effects of badges on the intrinsic motivation levels of introductory programming students within a higher education institution. The course is offered during the first year of the programme. We report the results of a baseline study without badges and four subsequent badge experiments of different designs over a four-year period. Methods. This quasi-experimental study followed a pre-test/post-test design to measure the effects of badges on the intrinsic motivation levels of university-level introductory programming students. Badges were designed and implemented. Feedback via focus groups and a post-badge survey was collected. Results. Findings are inconclusive as the quantitative results suggest that badges did not increase intrinsic motivation scores. Contrastingly, badge survey and qualitative data indicate that badges were received more positively on average. Discussion. We analyse and discuss the results within the context of motivation and the programming discipline, and discuss external factors that may impact the relationship between gamification and motivation. Conclusion. Further research is necessary to investigate whether gamification, through the use of digital badges, can foster positive intrinsic motivational results, particularly in the well-known challenging domain of introductory programming.


Abstract We present an optical interference system nanoprofiler MNP-1 designed for high-precision noncontact measurement of surface relief with subnanometer resolution (root mean square of measured values), based on partial scanning of interference signal. The paper describes the construction of the measurement system with Linnik interferometer and the algorithm for nanorelief surface reconstruction. Experimental measurement results of silicon sample with profile height of surface structure of one interatomic distance obtained by MNP-1 are shown. It was proposed to use an atomically smooth surface as the reference mirror in the interferometer MNP-1 that allowed us to measure monatomic steps of the presented silicon sample. Monatomic steps of 0.31 nm in height on silicon (111) surface were measured with resolution up to 5 pm.


The objective of the study was to investigate the genetic contribution to the clinical expression of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by comparison of disease features in RA-concordant monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs. Fourteen RA-concordant MZ twin pairs recruited from a nation-wide study were examined to determine the degree of similarity in: (a) age of disease onset; (b) pattern of joint involvement; (c) pattern of extra-articular disease; (d) toxic reactions to drugs; (e) disease course; and (f) serology for rheumatoid factor (RF) and antinuclear antibody. There was considerable within-pair diversity in the variables studied. Some similarity within twin pairs was observed for the ages at disease onset (R = 0.63), presence of erosive changes (kappa = 0.61) and the presence of IgM RF (R = 0.87). No important similarity was seen, however, in the pattern of joint involvement, the occurrence of extra-articular disease, adverse drugs reactions, clinical disease course and reported disability level. There is heterogeneity in the genetic contribution to the clinical expression of RA. The overall lack of similarity for the majority of clinical variables indicates the importance of non-genetic factors on the expression of disease.


The polypeptide chain that assembles into the unusual dodecameric shell of Listeria innocua apoferritin lacks the ferroxidase centre characteristic of H-type mammalian chains, but is able to catalyse both Fe(II) oxidation and nucleation of the iron core. A cluster of five carboxylate residues, which correspond in part to the site of iron core nucleation typical of L-type mammalian ferritins, has been proposed to be involved in both functions. The features of the iron uptake kinetics and of Fe(II) autoxidation in the presence of citrate followed spectrophotometrically confirm this assignment. In Listeria the kinetics of iron uptake is hyperbolic at low Fe(II)-to-dodecamer ratios and becomes sigmoidal when iron exceeds 150 Fe(II) atoms per dodecamer, namely when a fast crystal growth phase follows a slow initial nucleation step. Iron autoxidation in the presence of citrate displays a similar behaviour. Thus the time course is sigmoidal at low citrate-to-Fe ratios at which Fe(III) polymerization is predominant, but is hyperbolic at ligand concentrations high enough to prevent polymerization. The marked inhibitory effect of Tb(III) on the kinetics of iron incorporation confirms that carboxylates provide the iron ligands in L. innocua apoferritin. Iron uptake followed in steady-state fluorescence experiments allows one to distinguish Fe(II) binding and oxidation from the subsequent movement of Fe(III) into the apoferritin cavity as in mammalian ferritins despite the different localization of the tryptophan residues.


Objectives: To identify predictors of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) after adenotonsillectomy (T&A) in children under 3 years of age and to describe the characteristics of children with OSA under 3 years of age undergoing T&A in an ethnically diverse population. Methods: We examined 87 children under 3 years with T&A and pre- and post-operative polysomnography (PSG) between 8/2012 and 3/2020 at a large tertiary care hospital. Differences were compared for covariates including demographics, comorbidities, and respiratory parameters. Regression was used to identify predictors of persistent severe OSA. Significance was set at P < .05. Results: Of the 87 children in the study, 64 (74%) were male, 26 (30%) were obese, 34 (39%) were Hispanic, and 35 (40%) were Black. Most children (94%) had improvements in OSA severity as measured by the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) after T&A, but 78% had persistent OSA (AHI ≥1) after surgery. Children with persistent mild, compared to moderate-severe OSA, were more likely to have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) (50% versus 24%, P = .025), a craniofacial disorder (30% versus 10%, P = .025), Down syndrome (20% versus 5%, P = .031), or pre-operative severe OSA. Conclusions: This study of an ethnically diverse population found that T&A is an effective procedure at improving, but not resolving, OSA in children under 3 years. Children with Down syndrome, craniofacial abnormalities, GERD, or pre-operative severe OSA who are under 3 years old are at high risk for persistent OSA and may benefit from post-operative PSG. Future study should examine complications and long-term outcomes of T&A in this age group.


Introduction: The National Family Planning Program was started way back in 1952 and despite of political commitment, has yet to make the desired impact. National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-3 data shows that among contraceptive methods, 37.3% contribute for tubectomy. India is a country of great diversities of religion, culture, socioeconomic status and literacy. These factors influence the acceptance of family planning methods to a great extent. Objectives: To study the socio-demographic and cultural factors influencing women undergoing laparoscopic tubectomy in Laparoscopic tubectomy camp at UHTC, Raichur. Methodology: Women coming for tubectomy operation from April 2016 to June 2016 in tubectomy camps conducted at a UHTC, Raichur. All the 223 women who came for tubectomy during study period were enrolled. Results: Mean age of undergoing tubectomy was 27 years. 56.95% of females were illiterate, where as 45.73% of their husbands were illiterate and average family size was 3.17. In 55.60% cases, FHW was the motivator. Conclusion: At least one male child was present in all the families except four. In most of the cases decision was taken by husband. Son preference is seen to be an important factor on decision making on tubectomy.


The conformationally congested species 1-(adamantane-1-carbonyl)-3-(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)thiourea has been prepared and fully characterized by elemental analyses, FTIR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and mass spectrometry. Its crystal structure was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The dihedral angle between the plane of the 2,4,6-trimethylphenyl group and the plane of the thiourea fragment was optimized by theoretical calculations applying the B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level for the purpose of investigating the conformational effects on the stabilization of the crystal packing. A detailed analysis of the intermolecular interactions in a series of six closely related phenylthiourea species bearing the 1-(adamantane-1-carbonyl) group has been performed based on the Hirshfeld surfaces and their associated two-dimensional fingerprint plots. The relative contributions of the main intermolecular contacts as well as the enrichment ratios derived from the Hirshfeld surface analysis establish the 1-acyl thiourea synthon to be a widespread contributor.


A set of strategies for exhaustively finding low-energy conformers of cyclic, acyclic or alicyclic molecules is presented. Starting from any conformation, local perturbation is systematically applied t o all the flexible portions of the molecule in question t o produce candidates of new conformation. The perturbations consist of flapping and/or f l ipping for endocyclic bonds and stepwise rotation for acyclic bonds. The conformations they produced are believed t o lie close to the initial geometry in the conformational space. The global energy minimum (GEM) structure of the starting domain of conformational space can be quickly reached by always choosing the most stable of the conformers produced in the last perturbation cycle as the next initial structure. Once GEM of the domain is reached, the local perturbations direct the search gradually t o higher and higher energy regions whi le exhaustively finding all the low-energy conformers therein. The variable search-limit strategy allows one to use unstable conformers as the initial structure for perturbation to ensure the exhaustiveness of the search in the low-energy region. By further increasing the search-limit, new domains of conformational space may be found. A program CON FLEX3 containing several additional strategies for improved performance has been tested for n-alkanes u p to decane and cycloalkanes u p to cyclododecane.


Hierarchical B-splines have been widely used for shape modeling since their discovery by Forsey and Bartels. We present an application of this concept, in the form of free-form deformation, to image registration by matching two images at increasing levels of detail. Results using MRI brain data are presented that demonstrate high degrees of matching while unnecessary distortions are avoided. We compare our results with the nonlinear ICP (iterative closest point) algorithm (used for landmark-based registration) and optical flow (used for intensity-based registration).


The water resources carrying capacity is an important component of natural resource carrying capacity in a country or region sustained development process. It is the key being related to using the water resources reasonably, which means vital to the sustained growth of the water resources, the social economy and the ecological environment concordant development.Taking the case of river basin in arid zone of the Manasi River Basin,The author evaluated water resources supporting capacity condition basin in different year of the Manasi River by establishing fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model. The results indicated that because of saving water technological progress and industry restructure advancement, the water resources carrying capacity of Manasi River will be improved in the future twenty years. The water resources supply and demand contradictory will be obtained certain alleviation, but the uneven of water resources space and time distribution is still the main restrictive factor of the development of society and economic and the ecological environment construction.


This paper presents a new approach to fault classification for high speed protective relaying and show its effectiveness in computer simulations on parallel transmission lines. The scheme is based on the use of neural network architecture and implementation of digital signal processing concepts. We begin by classifying several fault types like 1-phase-to-ground, 2-phase-to-ground and 3-phase-to-ground faults. We proceed with classification of arcing and nonarcing faults in order to obtain a successful automatic reclosing. Encouraging results are shown and indicate that this approach can be used for supporting a new generation of very high speed protective relaying systems. >


The report by Crick et al. presents new information, in the form of sulfur isotope composition (33S and 34S) of volcanic eruption-sourced sulfate, on a number of volcanic events dated at about 74,000 years BP in two Antarctica ice cores. The sulfur isotope data show unambiguously that most of these events are explosive eruptions in the low latitudes that injected substantial amounts of sulfurous gases into the stratosphere (above the ozone layer). This is based on the findings in the early 2000s (e.g., Savarino et al. 2003; Baroni et al. 2007) that sulfate formed in the stratosphere from oxidation of certain sulfur species (mainly SO2) possesses nonzero sulfur mass-independent fractionation (S-MIF) signatures. The experimental procedures used in this study, including ice core sampling (multiple samples in an event), sulfur isotope ratio measurement, and correction of isotope contribution from non-volcanic sulfate background in the calculation of S-MIF in ice core samples containing both background and volcanic sulfate, follow previously tested and verified methodology and, therefore, the data appear to be robust and of high quality.


Many developed and developing countries are experiencing large and growing levels of international migration of labor. However, the large majority of research on the economic impact of inflows of migrant workers on host economies focuses exclusively on developed countries. In this paper, we address this gap in the literature by examining migrant†induced productivity effects in the emerging economy of Malaysia. Importantly, the Malaysian case is typical for many Asian economies where, next to high skilled foreign workers, large numbers of migrants consist of low skilled workers that are employed in host economies on a temporary basis. Using detailed industry level data for the period 2005 to 2009, we find that both high skilled and low skilled foreign workers generate positive productivity effects in Malaysian manufacturing industries. Furthermore, our results identify a strong presence of industry heterogeneity, as the effects of foreign workers, in general, and low skilled foreign workers, in particular, are pronounced in labor and assembly intensive modern industries with a strong export focus. This indicates the importance of foreign workers for the contemporary international competitiveness of the Malaysian manufacturing sector. As such, our findings provide important new input to the debate on the role of low skilled foreign workers in processes of development of the Malaysian economy.


Training Nursing Students in Evidence-based Nonpharmacological Pain Management Techniques Jill E. MacLaren Pain is a common and potentially debilitating condition. Whereas there is vast literature on developmentally appropriate behavioral techniques for pain management, results of curriculum evaluations and knowledge surveys reveal a dearth of awareness of these strategies in healthcare professionals. This study evaluated the effects of a brief didactic training program for student nurses in developmentally appropriate behavioral pain management strategies for children. Results indicated that students who received the training program had significantly more knowledge of behavioral strategies following the training program than they had evidenced before the program. Further, these participants evidenced higher knowledge following the training program than did participants in the control group. There was a non-significant effect of the training on attitude toward behavioral strategies. Comparisons of students' ability to implement behavioral pain management were also conducted. Results revealed that students who received training used a higher ratio of behavioral to non-behavioral strategies and implemented these strategies in a higher quality manner than students who did not receive training. Taken together, these results suggest that a brief training program in behavioral pain management can improve knowledge of behavioral pain management strategies and can improve nursing students' ability to implement these strategies.


The use of cationic biopolymer surfaces for high protein binding affinity matrices is described. As model proteins, fluorescently labeled bovine serum albumins (FITC-BSA, TRITC-BSA) have been employed. The amount of proteins on such cationically rendered surfaces was quantified by QCM-D. In addition, flexible, transparent, patterned COP slides have been prepared and loaded with proteins ranging from 15 pM to 15 μM TRITC-BSA.


The role of putrescine, spermidine and spermine in phorbol 12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA)-induced macrophage differentiation was examined in human HL-60 and U-937 myeloid leukemia cells. Unlike other polyamines, spermine affected this differentiation by acting as a negative regulator. This negative regulation was established by showing that the PMA-induced macrophage phenotype, but not PMA-associated replication arrest, was abrogated (a) by replenishing the PMA-evoked decrease in cellular spermine levels with this polyamine from an exogenous source and (b) by blocking PMA-induced expression of the polyamine catabolic enzyme N-spermidine/spermine acetyltransferase (SSAT) with antisense oligonucleotides in the presence of low substrate level. The PMA-evoked reduction in cellular spermine appears to result from an increase in the activity of SSAT and a decrease in the activity of ornithine decarboxylase, the polyamine biosynthetic enzyme. To a degree, these changes are due to corresponding changes in the expression of the genes that code for these enzymes. When cell differentiation is initiated, SSAT expression is increased after PMA-evoked activation of protein kinase C. The present studies raise the possibility that agents able to reduce spermine levels in patients' myeloid leukemia cells may enhance the activity of differentiation therapy drugs for this type of leukemia.


Ectopic spiral wave sources--reverberators--were produced in pieces of rabbit atrium and ventricle by an induction of a single properly timed premature impulse. It was found that the cycle length (T) of the ectopic source gradually increased immediately after its appearance in atrial and changed a little bit after its appearance in ventricular tissue. Relationship between changes of T and refractorines of the heart tissues was investigated. The model is proposed which explains these changes of T by the cycle length dependence on the value of fast inward sodium current.


This paper introduces a simple yet effective method to improve visual word based image retrieval. Our method is based on an analysis of the k-reciprocal nearest neighbor structure in the image space. At query time the information obtained from this process is used to treat different parts of the ranked retrieval list with different distance measures. This leads effectively to a re-ranking of retrieved images. As we will show, this has two benefits: first, using different similarity measures for different parts of the ranked list allows for compensation of the "curse of dimensionality". Second, it allows for dealing with the uneven distribution of images in the data space. Dealing with both challenges has very beneficial effect on retrieval accuracy. Furthermore, a major part of the process happens offline, so it does not affect speed at retrieval time. Finally, the method operates on the bag-of-words level only, thus it could be combined with any additional measures on e.g. either descriptor level or feature geometry making room for further improvement. We evaluate our approach on common object retrieval benchmarks and demonstrate a significant improvement over standard bag-of-words retrieval.


Titanium alloys, due to their exceptional mechanical properties and biocompatibility, are commonly used to produce medical implants nowadays. However, the presence of such elements as aluminium and vanadium can be harmful to human health. One of the possible solutions could be replacing the titanium alloys with ultrafine-grained commercially pure titanium (cpTi). The yield and also the ultimate strength of cpTi can exceed 1000 MPa. One of the most promising methods in manufacturing medical implants with improved biological fixation is laser cladding in which bioactive glass coatings are imposed on metallic substrates. The aim of this work is development of a 3D numerical model of the above mentioned additive manufacturing process. The obtained model is able to predict the stress-strain and temperature distributions during the processing. A sequentially coupled finite element (FE) model of laser cladding has been developed by applying element birth and death technique to calculate the transient temperature fields used in the stress analysis. The concentrated volumetric heat source from the laser beam moving along the metal surface has been represented by the Gaussian distribution in the radial and exponential decay in the depth direction. The developed FE based numerical model is capable to support the optimal design of such advanced multi-layered structural materials using the laser cladding technique.


In May 2012, the World Health Assembly endorsed the World Health Organization (WHO) evaluation policy, emphasizing the fact that evaluation is an essential part of the work of the Organization. The evaluation policy intended to bring to fore a few important principles of WHO's work: further accountability, systematic provision of oversight of performance, and ensuring that the Organization continues to learn from its experiences. The endorsement of the policy was followed by important and immediate actions, most notably the publication of the WHO Evaluation Practice Handbook and the establishment of the WHO Evaluation Office.


Present conceptions of the control of the general blood-pressure are based on the view that the sympathetic nerves are only constrictor in action and the circulating hormones, adrenaline and vasopressin, only pressor in effect. Surgical treatment of high blood-pressure and allied conditions has been directed accordingly to the removal of portions of the sympathetic system and to the removal of the suprarenal glands or tumours connected with them. Removal of portions of the sympathetic has been successful in relieving attacks of angina pectoris and removal of suprarenal tumours has relieved paroxysmal hypertension. Neither removal of portions of the sympathetic systems nor removal of the suprarenal glands has been successful in reducing continuous hypertension. It is suggested that our conceptions of the control of the blood-pressure need revision. The normal variation in blood-pressure is not sufficiently realized. It may be as low as 85 mm. or as high as 190 mm. About one in every 40 men has a blood-pressure higher than 160 mm. It is suggested that the diagnosis of essential hypertension should never be made unless it is known that the blood-pressure has been rising. A single observation of a high pressure is not enough for the diagnosis. Evidence is described that adrenaline and vasopressin may lower the blood-pressure as well as cause it to rise; similarly there is evidence that the sympathetic nerve supply to the skeletal muscles is dilator rather than constrictor in effect. Hence, all three mechanisms commonly thought of as pressor may also be depressor, and it seems more accurate to think of them as controlling the blood-pressure by raising or lowering it than simply as factors which raise it.


1. Weanling male and female rats were undernourished for 4 weeks and then rehabilitated by allowing ad libitum feeding. 2. During rehabilitation polyamine-biosynthetic enzymes were examined in the liver, spleen and quadriceps and gastrocnemius muscles. 3. During the first few hours of rehabilitiation there was a marked increase in liver weight, accompanied by a very marked increase in ornithine decarboxylase activity. Increases in the activity of this enzyme in other tissues did not occur until between 2 and 7 days of rehabilitation, at which time there were further increases in enzyme activity in the liver. 4. S-Adenosylmethionine decarboxylase activity also showed marked fluctuations in activity in all the tissues examined. 5. Hepatic putrescine and spermidine concentrations also varied during rehabilitation, but permine concentration remained relatively constant. Both spermine and spermidine were at normal concentrations in the liver from the 10th days of rehabilitation onwards. 6. In all of the tissues examined there were marked sex differences in the parameters studied, particularly in splenic and muscular ornithine decarboxylase activity. 7. In the tissues of the male rats, changes in polyamine synthesis paralled changes in nucleic acid and protein synthesis.


The work presented in this thesis is a study of homogenisation problems in electromagnetics
and elasticity with potential applications to the development of metamaterials.
In Chapter 1, I study the leading order frequency approximations of the quasi-static
Maxwell equations on the torus. A higher-order asymptotic regime is used to derive a
higher-order homogenised equation for the solution of an elliptic second-order partial differential
equation. The equivalent variational approach to this problem is studied which leads
to an equivalent higher-order homogenised equation. Finally, the derivation of higher-order
constitutive laws relating the fields to their inductions is presented.
In Chapter 2, I study the governing equations of linearised elasticity where the periodic
composite material of interest is made up of a "critically" scaled "stiff" rod framework
with the voids in between filled in with a "soft" material which is in high-contrast with the
stiff material. Using results from two-scale convergence theory, a well posed homogenised
model is presented with features reminiscent of both high-contrast and thin structure
homogenised models with the additional feature of a linking relation of Wentzell type. The
spectrum of the limiting operator is investigated and the establishment of the convergence
of spectra from the initial problem is derived.
In the final chapter, I investigate brie
y three additional homogenisation problems.
In the first problem, I study a periodic dielectric composite and show that there exists
a critical scaling between the material parameter of the soft inclusion and the period of
the composite. In the second problem, I use of two-scale convergence theory to derive a
homogenised model for Maxwell's equations on thin rod structures and in the final problem
I study Maxwell's equations in R^3 under a chiral transformation of the coordinates and
derive a homogenised model in this special geometry.


Grinding is the machining process which improves dimensional accuracy and improves surface quality. Cylindrical grinding is process of final finishing operation. During this review work input process parameters are cutting speed, feed rate, depth of cut, material hardness, grinding wheel speed, grain size, conditions used and to achieve optimize process parameters Taguchi optimization technique with L9,L18 array used for design of experiment. This study provides a review on optimization of machine parameters by different techniques.


Several scientific disciplines are focused in the irrational behaviour of individuals. This predictably or systematic irrationality though violates the assumption of "maximising the expected utility", creates a new promising field of research and policy improvement. In this paper five dimensions in the distortion of preferences and decisions are reviewed, and some examples of policy initiatives for redressing and influencing the misled behaviour are provided. The "asymmetric policies for merit goods" have good foundations for future development of public health policy and practice.


The sweet orange, Citrus sinensis L. is an important fruit crop in Nigeria and its production is seriously constrained at maturity by attack of the fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata which results in severe yield loss. Effects of attack by C. capitata on fruit morphology and nutritional characteristics of C. sinensis from selected sites in southwest Nigeria were investigated. Twenty five mother citrus trees with >45 cm diameter at breast height (DBH) were randomly selected at two plantation sites: Ede (Osun state) and Olodo (Ogun state) in southwestern Nigeria. Ten mature fruits, plucked randomly from four cardinal sections of each tree were classified based on levels of infestation. Effects of attack on fruit morphometrics were assessed by standard measurements while the effects on fruit quality were determined by proximate and mineral analyses. Results indicated that attack by C. capitata was characterized by oviposition punctures which predisposed the fruit to secondary infection by Penicillium notatum. Fruits were attacked at any point on the surface but significantly more at about 2 cm from the fruit stalk scar. Multiple attacks did not follow a regular pattern. Fruit attack by C. capitata significantly decreased moisture content of fruit by 79% and mineral content; calcium, phosphorous, copper, zinc and iron  while percentage dry matter, crude protein and crude fiber decreased significantly (P<0.50) with increased infestation. Fruit infestation also caused significant decrease in the vitamin C content by about 50% but increased saccharose, maltose and glucose content of attacked fruits by about 10%.

 Key words: Citrus sinensis, multiple infestations, Ceratitis capitata, fruit morphometrics, Penicillium notatum


In this study, we considered a building, which had a volume of 336 m3 and a floor area of 120 m2, with indoor and outdoor air temperatures of 20 oC and 0 oC, respectively. For heating this building, we selected two options, namely (i) a ground-source (geothermal) heat pump system (Case 1), and (ii) a solar collector heating system (Case 2). We employed both energy and exergy analysis methods to assess their performances and compare them through energy and exergy efficiencies and sustainability index. We also investigated energy and exergy flows for this building and illustrated from the primary energy transformation through the heat production system and a distribution system to a heating system, and from there, via the indoor air, across the building envelope to the surrounding air. We calculated that the total exergy efficiencies for Cases 1 and 2 were 4.7%, and 26.1% while sustainability index values for both cases were 1.049 and 1.353 at a reference (dead) state temperature of 0 oC, respectively.


As an acronym for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, SCADA is a concept that is used to refer to the management and procurement of data that can be used in developing process management criteria. The use of the term SCADA varies, depending on location. Conventionally, SCADA is connected only in a limited private network. In current times, there are also demands of connecting SCADA through the internet. The internet SCADA facility has brought a lot of advantages in terms of control, data generation and viewing. With these advantages, comes the security issues regarding web SCADA. In this paper, we discuss web SCADA and its connectivity along with the issues regarding security. And suggests a web SCADA security solution using asymmetric-key encryption. This paper is the modified and extended version of the paper, asymmetric-key encryption for internet SCADA security, presented at KIIT(Korean Institute of Information Technology) summer conference in 2009 and selected as a best paper.


The proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is known to be upregulated in patients suffering from metabolic syndrome. IL-1β contributes to insulin resistance in obesity and type 2 diabetes, yet its influence on the intestinal microbiome is incompletely understood. The data presented here demonstrate that mice genetically deficient in IL-1β show a specific alteration of intestinal colonisation of a small group of bacteria. Especially Akkermansia muciniphila, a bacterium reported to be inversely associated with obesity, diabetes, cardiometabolic diseases and low-grade inflammation, showed increased colonisation in IL-1β knockout mice. In comparative microarray analysis from mucus scrapings of the colon mucosa of IL-1β knockout and wildtype mice, angiogenin 4 mRNA was strongly reduced in IL-1β knockout animals. Since the presence of angiogenin 4 in the culture medium showed a significant growth inhibition on A. muciniphila which was not detectable for other bacteria tested, IL-1β induced expression of angiogenin 4 is a strong candidate to be responsible for the IL-1β induced suppression of A. muciniphila colonisation. Thus, the data presented here indicate that IL-1β might be the lacking link between inflammation and suppression of A. muciniphila abundance as observed in a variety of chronic inflammatory disorders.


A stochastic approach, using the Ising model combined with the Monte Carlo simulation, is employed to study the phenomenon of tongue tear failure in coated fabrics. The complicated mechanisms involved can be realistically simulated with a relatively simple algorithm. The important factors, especially the effects of the interphase between the coating and the fabric, and the stretched part of the material at the crack front (the del-zone) can be represented by corresponding coefficients in the Hamiltonian expression of the system. The minimization of the system Hamiltonian yields the most likely new steps for crack propagation, while the Monte Carlo method is used to select the one that will actually occur, reflecting the stochastic nature in the behaviour of real systems, indicating the usefulness of this approach in studies of similar interfacial phenomena. However, this model like many others needs to be calibrated based on data from a real system for quantitative and accurate predictions.