Carbon nanotubes combine low density with exceptional mechanical, electrical and optical properties. Unfortunately, these nanoscale properties have not been retained in bulk structures. I will describe surface modification assisted self-assembly of single wall carbon nanotube into macroscopic nanotube networks hydrogels and aerogels. The nanotube networks are ultra-lightweight, electrically conducting and thermally insulating. The shapes and sizes of these nanotube networks are readily tunable and is a tremendous strength of our fabrication method. The interesting properties and structure of these nanotube networks make them suitable for diverse applications. For example, we have used these networks as scaffolds to enhance elastic modulus of polymers by 36,000%. The porous nanotube networks also show high capacitance, and can be impregnated with catalysts nanoparticles at high loading, which can then be simultaneously used as electrodes and catalysts supports in electrochemical cells. A weakness of the nanotube networks is their fragility – but we have recently developed a method to transform these inelastic networks into superelastic materials by coating them with between one and five layers of graphene nanoplates.


Background: Limiting close physical contact is key to helping reduce the spread of the coronavirus by using the portable eye examination kit (Peek Acuity), which has been recognized as a reliable and valid tool to measure visual acuity. This study is aimed to compare the effectiveness of the Peek Acuity and ETDRS (Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study) chart as the gold standard for screening in school-age students.
Methods: This study used an observational research design with cross-sectional data collection methods to compare the effectiveness of the Peek Acuity application diagnostic test and ETDRS chart for screening in school-age students. Sample collection was done by total sampling technique on students aged 6-12 from one of the elementary schools in Surabaya. The study was conducted from October 2019 to November 2019. OpenEpi analyzed the validity and reliability of the results to compare the effectiveness of Peek Acuity and the ETDRS chart.
Results: There were 231 students with details aged 6-9 years, as many as 150 students and aged 10-12 years, as many as 81 students. On examination of visual acuity using peek acuity and ETDRS chart, it indicated that the number of subjects with refractive errors was more than normal eyes. Peek acuity has been shown to have low sensitivity and high specificity. Higher specificity was found in children aged 10-12 years compared to 6-9 years.
Conclusion: The Peek Acuity application has higher effectiveness in screening than the ETDRS chart. It is practical, fast, and easy to use. The Peek Acuity application is considered effective for screening school-age students due to its high rate of specificity


Interest in the economics of plant breeding first emerged during the late 1960s and early 1970s following the well-known green revolutions in wheat and rice. Since that time, few branches of agricultural research have been subjected to as much scrutiny as plant breeding. Impacts assessment studies consistently conclude that the economic benefits generated by successful plant breeding programs are large, positive, and widely distributed. Case studies repeatedly find that investment in crop genetic improvement generates attractive rates of return compared to alternative investment opportunities. Similarly, case studies consistently show that the welfare benefits resulting from the adoption of modern varieties (MVs) are broadly shared by producers and consumers in both favored and marginal environments. Swayed by the large body of empirical evidence that supports these findings, governments, lending agencies, philanthropic organizations, and private corporations have invested millions in plant breeding research. But how reliable are the results of studies that estimate the benefits of plant breeding research? Are the methods used to conduct such studies theoretically sound? And are the data sufficiently complete and accurate? This paper reviews methods used to estimate the benefits of plant breeding research and discusses methodological issues and practical challenges that often receive inadequate attention in applied impacts work. Our goal is not to question the validity of the broad conceptual frameworks used to estimate the benefits of plant breeding research (e.g., economic surplus approach, production function approach). Nor is it our intention to examine theoretical issues that complicate research evaluation in general. Rather, the objectives of the paper are to examine problems that may arise during empirical evaluation of plant breeding research, to discuss what can happen if those problems are ignored or overlooked, and to propose workable solutions. The problems that affect the empirical evaluation of plant breeding research can be grouped into three general categories: measuring the adoption of MVs; estimating the benefits associated with adoption of MVs; and assigning credit for plant breeding research. In principle, estimating the area planted to MVs should be relatively easy. In practice, it is often very difficult. Important issues in estimating the benefits associated with MV adoption include the relationship between experimental and farm level yields; the relative effects of improved germplasm and improved crop management practices; maintenance research; non-yield benefits; and constructing counterfactual scenarios. The existence of spillovers in plant breeding research increases the overall benefits generated by the global plant breeding system, but it also complicates the task of assigning credit among individual breeding programs. CIMMYT researchers, working in collaboration with colleagues from national agricultural research organizations, have conducted a series of studies designed to document and quantify the impacts of international maize and wheat breeding research. Drawing on lessons learned from the CIMMYT studies, each of these three sets of problems that can affect the empirical evaluation of plant breeding research are discussed in detail, and practical guidelines are presented to help those interested in conducting applied impacts studies avoid common pitfalls that if ignored may lead to incorrect empirical results.


In this letter, a low complexity decoding algorithm for binary linear block codes is applied to low-density paritycheck (LDPC) codes and improvements are described, namely an extension to soft-decision decoding and a loop detection mechanism. For soft decoding, only one real-valued addition per code symbol is needed, while the remaining operations are only binary as in the hard decision case. The decoding performance is considerably increased by the loop detection. Simulation results are used to compare the performance with other known decoding strategies for LDPC codes, with the result that the presented algorithms offer excellent performances at smaller complexity.


With rapid increase of number of vehicles on roads it is necessary to maintain close monitoring of traffic. For this purpose many surveillance cameras are placed along roads and on crossroads, creating a huge communication load between the cameras and the monitoring center. Therefore, the data needs to be processed on site and transferred to the monitoring centers in form of metadata or as a set of selected images. For this purpose it is necessary to detect events of interest already on the camera side, which implies using smart cameras as visual sensors. In this paper we propose a method for tracking of vehicles and analysis of vehicle trajectories to detect different traffic events. Kalman filtering is used for tracking, combining foreground and optical flow measurements. Obtained vehicle trajectories are used to detect different traffic events. Every new trajectory is compared with collection of normal routes and clustered accordingly. If the observed trajectory differs from all normal routes more than a predefined threshold, it is marked as abnormal and the alarm is raised. The system was developed and tested on Texas Instruments OMAP platform. Testing was done on four different locations, two locations in the city and two locations on the open road.


CONTEXT
Limited data suggest that testosterone is decreased during space flight, which could contribute to bone and muscle loss.

OBJECTIVE
The main objective was to assess testosterone and hormone status in long- and short-duration space flight and bed rest environments and to determine relationships with other physiological systems, including bone and muscle.

DESIGN
Blood and urine samples were collected before, during, and after long-duration space flight. Samples were also collected before and after 12- to 14-d missions and from participants in 30- to 90-d bed rest studies.

SETTING
Space flight studies were conducted on the International Space Station and before and after Space Shuttle missions. Bed rest studies were conducted in a clinical research center setting. Data from Skylab missions are also presented.

PARTICIPANTS
All of the participants were male, and they included 15 long-duration and nine short-duration mission crew members and 30 bed rest subjects.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Serum total, free, and bioavailable testosterone were measured along with serum and urinary cortisol, serum dehydroepiandrosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, and SHBG.

RESULTS
Total, free, and bioavailable testosterone was not changed during long-duration space flight but were decreased (P < 0.01) on landing day after these flights and after short-duration space flight. There were no changes in other hormones measured. Testosterone concentrations dropped before and soon after bed rest, but bed rest itself had no effect on testosterone.

CONCLUSIONS
There was no evidence for decrements in testosterone during long-duration space flight or bed rest.


This paper identifies the efficiency-oriented critical drivers for e-market using a two-stage approach. The efficiency of twenty-six e-markets is investigated first with respect to their respective overall efficiency, technical efficiency and scale efficiency, leading to the identification of the fully efficient emarkets and the underlying source of inefficiency in the existing e-markets. The efficiency-oriented critical drivers for e-market are then investigated using Tobit regression analysis based on the outcome of the analysis in the first stage, resulted in the identification of five critical efficiency-based drivers including head office location, coverage, revenue model, mechanism and language. The study shows that the source of inefficiency in the e-market is due to the scale of production. It further reveals that an e-market is more efficient if it (a) is US based, (b) focuses on offering the products or services internationally, (c) adopts a single type of revenue model, (d) focuses on an auction transaction mechanism and (e) provides a single language service. The findings of this study help existing e-markets improve their efficiency by focusing on the efficiency-based critical drivers and provide new players in e-market with guideline for developing efficient e-markets.


Abstract. The results from an application of MAGIC (Model of Acidification of Groundwater In Catchments) to 733 Scottish catchments are presented. The availability of representative, good quality soil data is frequently limiting factor for biogeochemical modelling, particularly those involving modelling at various spatial scales. This study tests the sensitivity of MAGIC to soil input data derived from two different methodologies; the "nearest neighbour method" considers the closest representative soil profile to a catchment, and the "spatial weighting method" of all soil types identified in a catchment, based on a soil physico-chemical classification of Scotland. Soil data (soil depth, density, cation exchange capacity and base saturation) calculated using the "nearest neighbour method" and the "spatial weighting method" were highly variable, although the range of upper and lower limits were greater for soil data produced using the nearest neighbour method. In contrast to the predominantly organic soil data calculated by the nearest neighbour method, the spatially weighted soil parameters included a greater proportion of mineral soils. With regard to simulated surface water Acid Neutralising Capacity (ANC) for 1851, 1997 and 2050, MAGIC predictions were similar irrespective of the methodology used to determine soil input parameters. However, soil input data derived from both methods resulted in variable base saturation predictions. It is concluded that the "nearest neighbour" methodology is most appropriate if the objective is to determine the predicted response of the most acid- sensitive sites within a region in line with the approach used in Critical Laod mapping. On the other hand, "spatial weighting" integrates catchment soils and represents a more robust methodology by which to determine changes in median soil and water response in a regional context. The anticipated reductions in S emissions associated with the Second S Protocol are predicted to have a marginal beneficial effect on the recovery of soils and surface waters of Scotland.


Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a well-known cause of severe and potentially life-threatening infections including bacteremia, skin and wound infections, pulmonary disease, especially among individuals with cycstic fibrosis, nosocomial urinary tract infections, endocarditis and meningitis. The mechanism of resistance to broad-spectrum beta-lactams in P.aeruginosa are overexpression of cephalosporinases and/or class A, B and D beta-lactamases. Recently PER-1 type beta-lactamase has been reported from Turkey, France, Italy, Romania, Hungary, Belgium, Russia, South Korea and India. OXA beta-lactamases have increasingly been reported in clinical strains of P.aeruginosa from various geographical origins. This study was aimed to investigate the antibiotic susceptibility of various P.aeruginosa clinical strains and to define the beta-lactamase enzymes leading to resistance. In this study, a total of 100 P.aeruginosa strains isolated from various clinical specimens (37 urine, 21 blood, 10 sputum, 5 bronchoalveolar lavage, 5 abscess, 5 wound swabs, 4 endotracheal aspirate, 3 throat swabs, 2 catheter tips, one of each pleural and peritoneal fluid) were included. According to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) recommendations, susceptibilities of isolates to various antibiotics were investigated by disk diffusion and agar dilution method, and beta-lactamase enzymes were detected by isoelectric focusing (IEF) method. PSE, PER-1, OXA-10-like beta-lactamase genes and MEX-R genes of isolates were investigated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). According to MIC90 values, the most effective antibiotics were found to be imipenem (8 µg/ml). The MIC90 values of amikacin, ciprofloxacin, cefepime, cefpirome, piperacillin + tazobactam, piperacillin, ceftazidime, ticarcilin, aztreonam and ticarcilin + clavulanic acid were 32, 64, 64, 64, 128/4, 512, 512, 512, 512 and 512/2 µg/ml, respectively. Seven of the isolates were found to be ESBL positive by double-disk synergy method. It was detected that 10% of the isolates were imipenem-susceptible and 9% were intermediate susceptible. Phenotypical investigation of metallo-beta-lactamase enzyme in these strains by MBL E-test method did not reveal a positive result. PER-1 and OXA-10 like beta-lactamases were detected each in 11% of the isolates, and co-presence of PER-like and OXA-10 like enzymes were shown in 4% of the isolates. PSE gene was not found in any of the strains. The MEXR gene was identified in 52% of the isolates. Antibiotic resistance mechanisms in P.aeruginosa strains seems to be complex. Determination of the resistance mechanisms and antibiotic susceptibility rates in P.aeruginosa will guide the proper antimicrobial therapy, reducing the emergence of resistant strains.


Freelance workers present a special challenge in terms of collective labour organisation. As an individualistic and highly dispersed workforce, they are both difficult to recruit and represent. This paper explores the operational and legal difficulties that freelancers pose for trade unions in terms of collective representation. It is argued that freelancers have a range of distinctive needs and interests, that are accessible to trade union intermediation and that unions must adapt their traditional strategies if these needs are to be met. We conclude with an outline of particular methods and structures used by freelance unions in the UK and Europe. The paper indicates some of the constraints and opportunities for trade unions in organising the self-employed.


The formation of continental Europe in the Neogene was due to the regression of the Tethys Ocean and of the Paratethys Sea. The dynamic geology of the area and repetitious transitions between marine and freshwater conditions presented opportunities for the colonization of newly emerging hydrological networks and diversification of aquatic biota. Implementing mitochondrial and nuclear markers in conjunction with a large‐scale sampling strategy, we investigated the impact of this spatiotemporal framework on the evolutionary history of a freshwater crustacean morphospecies. The Gammarus balcanicus species complex is widely distributed in the area previously occupied by the Paratethys Sea. Our results revealed its high diversification and polyphyly in relation to a number of other morphospecies. The distribution of the studied amphipod is generally characterized by very high local endemism and divergence. The Bayesian time‐calibrated reconstruction of phylogeny and geographical distribution of ancestral nodes indicates that this species complex started to diversify in the Early Miocene in the central Balkans, partially in the shallow epicontinental sea. It is possible that there were several episodes of inland water colonization by local brackish water lineages. Subsequent diversification within clades and spread to new areas could have been induced by Alpine orogeny in the Miocene/Pliocene and, finally, by Pleistocene glaciations. The present distribution of clades, in many cases, still reflects Miocene palaeogeography of the area. Our results point out that investigations of the historical aspect of cryptic diversity in other taxa may help in a general understanding of the origins of freshwater invertebrate fauna of Europe.


beta-galactosidase from fungus Curvularia inaequalis was modified by a chlortriazin dye active bright-orange KH. The modified enzyme contained two molecules of dye per one molecule of protein. The incorporation of six sulfuric groups with remains of the dye resulted in a slight decrease of the acid protein isoelectric point. The catalytic activity of the modified protein remains practically unchanged. The coloured protein is firmly absorbed on anionites. Preparations of immobilized beta-galactosidase were obtained by adsorption on anionites.


Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) represents a significant public health problem with estimated prevalence of 10-15% in adult population in Croatia. COPD is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by significant systemic disorders that can lead to poorer quality of life and increased morbidity and mortality. Protein- -energy malnutrition can be found in 25-40% of patients with COPD, with higher prevalence as disease progresses. Thus, COPD is defined as a multicomponent disease and treatment should be based on correction of all systemic disorders. Cachexia and muscle wasting is a frequent complication in COPD patients, an independent predictor of morbidity and mortality, and can accelerate frequency and severity of exacerbation. The aim of the Croatian Thoracic Society with these recommendations is to emphasize the importance of timely determination of the nutritional status of COPD patients by using a validated tool and defining a specific phenotype of patients. Adequate nutritional care needs to be provided in malnourished patients and those at risk of developing malnutrition.


Morphine has been considered as an important medicine to treat acute heart failure (AHF) for a long time. This study was designed to explore the usage rate of morphine in emergency department and its influence on the prognosis of the elderly patients with AHF in china. A prospective investigation of elderly patients with AHF, who were treated and admitted from emergency room of the General Hospital of the People's Liberation Army (GHPLA) in China, were performed. The patients were divided into two groups: control group and morphine treatment group. The relationships between the usage of morphine and clinical factors such as demographic characters of patients and past history were analyzed. The effect of morphine on mechanical ventilation, hospitalization stay and the mortality of patients were also evaluated. The usage rate of morphine was 50% in the emergency room. The patients on the morphine treatment group were more likely to have past history of coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and stroke than those of the control group (p < 0.05). The patients on morphine treatment group had higher troponin-T values compared with those of the control group (p < 0.05). Morphine usage was not an independent risk factor of mortality (OR: 2.172, p: 0.187, 95% CI: 0.686 to 6.879). The Odd ratio of morphine usage for mechanical ventilation incidence was 3.01 (95%CI, 1.22 to 7.41). High prevalence of morphine usage was found in the elderly AHF patients from emergency room of GHPLA in China. Morphine is still a safe medicine in early treatment on the elderly patients with AHF with mechanical ventilation in China.

 Key words: Morphine, acute heart failure, mechanical ventilation, mortality.


Music self-concept integrates perceptions, beliefs, and self-schemas about a person's musical abilities and potential. Like other self-concept dimensions, it is multifaceted, hierarchically organized and has implications for motivation toward musical practice. The Music Self-Perception Inventory (MUSPI) is a theoretically-based instrument assessing six specific music self-concept dimensions, as well as global music self-concept. Nonetheless, its applicability is limited by its length (84 items) and by the fact that it does not provide a way to control for consistency biases in the context of repeated measurement. In this study, we developed and validated two parallel versions (A and B) of the MUSPI, and showed that both yielded equivalent psychometric properties to the original, and were fully equivalent to one another. We also tested whether the MUSPI-A and MUSPI-B psychometric properties generalized (were invariant) across gender and grade-differentiated subgroups. Finally, we examined the convergent validity of the MUSPI-A and MUSPI-B. Results highlighted the psychometric soundness, and equivalence, of the various MUSPI versions on all criteria, and showed that they presented patterns of associations with other constructs equivalent to that observed with the original MUSPI.


Abstract The main drawback to North Sea exploration is the uncertain price situation. There has been talk of leveling-out of North Sea gas prices at about 3 pence per therm (30 cents per thousand cubic feet). However, this is an undesirable situation because Dutch onshore gas brings about 3.6 pence, and the selling price of gas to British householders is about 25 pence. It is believed that the operators are working on a cost-plus basis without allowance for oil they don't find. North Sea drilling is expensive and this method does not appear to be the proper way to handle sales. While only small quantities of oil have been produced in offshore exploration to date, this does not rule out the possibility of subsequent significant discoveries. Several reasons are cited why the North Sea had not previously produced oil. These are: (1) the geology of the North Sea area has been known for many years and the rocks looked good, but. onshore work yielded only small oil fields; the increased costs of offshore work just didn't look economical, (2) there has been, and still is, trouble over just who owns the minerals in the sea, and (3) the offshore production business came into being within the last twenty years, mostly through American work in the Gulf of Mexico. However, unlike the Gulf, the North Sea is a real nasty place to work. Winter lasts almost eight months and is very unpredictable. Also, big rises and falls in waves make diving operations almost impossible, and can raze the seabed from under stationary-type drilling rigs. Despite all the minuses in North Sea exploration, the fact still remains that large quantities of gas have been located and others still remain to be found.


Abstract We investigate how different motives shape the initial accounting for goodwill in a setting dominated by controlling owners, using data from 1112 acquisition analyses reported by Swedish listed acquiring firms. In contrast to prior studies, we find no evidence that earnings-based compensation affects the proportion of the purchased price accounted for as goodwill. Instead, we find that when a family-owned firm is the acquirer, a larger proportion of the purchase price is accounted for as goodwill than as specific assets and liabilities. These two findings indicate that controlling owners may curb managerial motives, while controlling family owners apply the discretion of IFRS 3 according to their motives. We also find in this setting that acquisition-related motives have a significant impact on the proportion of the purchased price accounted for as goodwill. Overall, our analyses indicate that the motives shaping goodwill accounting choices depend on the institutional setting.


&NA; Background Clinical practice guidelines recommend enteral nutrition for most patients receiving mechanical ventilation. However, recently published evidence on the effect of enteral nutrition on mortality, particularly for patients who are well nourished, is conflicting. Objectives To examine the association between enteral feeding and hospital mortality in critically ill patients receiving mechanical ventilation and to determine if body mass index mediates this relationship. Methods A retrospective cohort study of patients receiving mechanical ventilation admitted to a medical intensive care unit in 2013. Demographic and clinical variables were collected. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to examine the relationship between an enteral feeding order and hospital mortality and to determine if the relationship was mediated by body mass index. Results Of 777 patients who had 811 hospitalizations requiring mechanical ventilation, 182 (23.4%) died in the hospital. A total of 478 patients (61.5%) received an order for enteral tube feeding, which was associated with a lower risk of death (hazard ratio, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.29‐0.59). Body mass index did not mediate the relationship between mortality and receipt of an order for enteral feeding. Median stay in the unit was 3.6 days. Most deaths (72.0%) occurred more than 48 hours after admission. Conclusion The finding of a positive association between an order for enteral feeding and survival supports enteral feeding of patients in medical intensive care units. Furthermore, the beneficial effect of enteral feeding appears to apply to patients regardless of body mass index.


In this paper we propose an integrated framework for the analysis of earnings inequality and mobility, which enables the analysis of the distributional dimension of inequality reduction from mobility, an assessment of the economic drivers of mobility and a sense of which drivers are equalising and dis-equalising. In particular we are able to capture the extent to which life-cycle characteristics, key life events, job related characteristics, and changes in working time affect overall mobility and inequality. The framework also offers a bounded approach to isolating the underlying inequality reduction resulting from mobility from measurement error which can otherwise lead to a substantial upward bias. Using data from the Australian HILDA survey we find evidence of a sizable degree of earnings mobility in Australia over the years 2001/2 to 2008/9. The raw inequality reduction resulting from economic mobility was 0.148 Gini points from an initial estimate of 0.368, however, the bounded range based on two alternative versions of two stage estimation lies between 0.072 and 0.102 or between 1/4 and 1/3 of original inequality. We show how the inequality reduction from mobility is primarily driven in the bottom part of the initial distribution, with the upper tail being particularly prone to measurement issues. A sizeable part of the identified mobility is simply driven by age-earnings growth that sees more rapid wage increases for younger workers and wage progression among women in notably stronger in reducing inequality because they start lower in distribution. Yet this rather smooth picture of earnings rising with age is shown to be substantially driven by a series of less frequent step changes associated with job-to-job moves, promotions and taking on more responsibility. There are also shocks which run against this equalising process, most notably job loss, which has substantial negative effects on earnings and disproportionately falls on lower waged workers.


It is well recognized that sodium/glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) are associated with weight loss in people with type 2 diabetes. However, the time-dependent associations of weight loss with the anthropometric and body fluid measurements and serum parameters during SGLT2i intervention remain unclear. Thus, we aimed to clarify weight loss-related factors, carefully focusing on the clinical process during the long-term intervention with a SGLT2i, tofogliflozin in people with type 2 diabetes. We analyzed data from 775 people with type 2 diabetes that participated in tofogliflozin phase 3 trials. Participants received tofogliflozin (20, or 40 mg; n = 235, and 540, respectively) orally once daily for 52 weeks. The correlation analysis was performed at week 4, 24 and 52. Baseline characteristics showed men (66 %), age (mean: 58 years), HbA1c (8.0 %), BMI (26 kg/m2) and eGFR (84 mL/min/1.73m2). Tofogliflozin significantly reduced body weight at week 4, 24 and 52 (mean: -1.4, -3.0 and -3.0 kg, respectively). At week 4, weight loss was negatively correlated with both the change in body fluid measures (hematocrit, RBC count, serum creatinine level, and uric acid level) and beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB). At week 24, weight loss was positively correlated with anthropometric measurements (waist and hip circumferences) and hepatic enzymes levels, and negatively correlated with adiponectin, HDL-C, and BHB levels, but not with body fluid measures. Although the values at week 52 were in concert with the results at week 24, there was a modest but significant correlation between weight loss and BHB level. Our results clarified that tofogliflozin reduces weight, especially that of visceral fat in people with type 2 diabetes, at least due to fluid loss initially and to lipolysis in late. Weight loss might contribute to decrease in the hepatic enzymes, whereas it also accompanies an increase in beta-hydroxybutyrate, the safety issue of which to be investigated in future. Disclosure A. Yoshida: Employee; Self; Kowa Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. H. Kusakabe: Employee; Self; Kowa Pharmaceutical Co.Ltd. T. Takamura: None. K. Kaku: Speaker9s Bureau; Self; AstraZeneca. Advisory Panel; Self; Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH. Speaker9s Bureau; Self; Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, MSD K.K.. Advisory Panel; Self; Novo Nordisk A/S. Speaker9s Bureau; Self; Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.. Advisory Panel; Self; Sanwa Kagaku Kenkyusho Co., Ltd.. Speaker9s Bureau; Self; Taisho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd., Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Japan Inc., Kowa Pharmaceuticals, Japan Inc.. Advisory Panel; Self; Astellas, Japan Inc. H. Suganami: Employee; Self; Kowa Company, Ltd..


Generation of genetic diversity is necessary in improving on the
potential of cassava when faced with various biotic and abiotic challenges.
Presently, cassava breeders are breeding for a number of traits, such as
drought tolerance, early root bulking, yield, starch, beta-carotene, protein,
dry matter, pest and disease resistance, by relying on genetic diversity that
exists in manihot esculenta germplasm.
Controlled pollination is one of the main methods used to generate genetic
diversity in cassava. However, the process of controlled pollination especially
in an open field is prone to contamination by illegitimate pollen right from
the time of pollination, seed collection, nursery bed establishment to planting
of the trials. Therefore, authentication of the progeny obtained from cassava
crosses is very important for genetic studies. Twelve informative
microsatellite markers were used to verify the authenticity of 364 F1 progeny thought to come from four controlled parental crosses. The transmission
of each allele at nine microsatellite loci was tracked from parents to progeny
in each of the four Namikonga-derived F1 cassava families. Out of
the 364 F1 progeny, 317 (87.1%) were true-to-type, 44 (12.1%) were a
product of self-pollination and 3 (0.8%) were a product of open pollination.
The consistency of the results obtained using microsatellite markers makes this
technique a reliable tool for assessing the purity of progeny generated from
cassava crosses.


This article suggests that the Supreme Court's 1995 decision in Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena constitutes a starting point for a renewed dialogue on the intersection of race, noncitizens' rights, and immigration law.Part I of this Article examines the historical foundations of the plenary power doctrine up to the current dichotomy between judicial review of state and federal alienage classifications under equal protection. Part II reviews the Adarand decision, arguing that Justice O'Connor's congruence principle provides the bulwark for a revision of judicial review of federal legislation, especially in light of the historical and continuing perception of Asian- and Latino-Americans as noncitizens. The Article briefly concludes that underlying the proposed model is the well-established tenet that the equal protection guarantee stands as the vanguard of minority rights against systematic government discrimination.


Thirty-five day old weanling rabbits from two New Zealand White genetic lines, Mexican (MX) and Oregonian (OR) and their reciprocal crosses, paternal Mexican (MO) and paternal Oregonian (OM), were used to evaluate growth performance based on high forage, alfalfa-orchard grass (AO) or commercial diet (CO). One hundred and twenty eight rabbits were used in a 4x2 factorial (genotypes x diets) repeated measurement (week) experiment. Response variables were: body weight (BW), average daily gain (ADG), feed intake (Fl), feed conversion (FC), dressing weight percentage (DW) and postweaning mortalily (MT). The diet effect was important for BW (P<0.01), ADG (P<0.01) and FC (P<0.05), wilh a superior performance by rabbils on the CO diet. Means for final 10 week BW (g), ADG (g) and FC were, 1983±45, 1722±44; 32±2, 28±2; and 3.8±6, 4.4±4, for the CO and AO diet, respectively. The genotype was not important for growth variables and showed no heterotic effect. The FI ranged from 105±5 to 112±5 g/d for genotypes, and from 107±4 to 109±4 for AO and CO diets. For DW differences were observad among genotypes, wilh the OR showing the poorest performance (P<0.05). Means were 49.2±1.5, 48.4±2.0, 45.6±2.2 and 43.9±2.9 for MX, OM, MO and OR. No signfficant differences were observad for MT, but cumulative mortality by week 10 by genotype was 12.5, 9.4, 9.4 and 6.3% for MX, OR, MO and OM. The OR and crossbreds tended to have better survival. For CO and AO diets, mortality means were not different (10.9 and 7.8%).


Delayed auditory feedback (DAF) has been assessed as a rate reduction and intelligibility enhancing tool in patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD) for some time. However, there are contradictory results in the literature regarding the success of this device. Also, little is known about the effects of DAF on speech other than influences on speech rate and intelligibility. Frequency shifted feedback (FSF) is known to produce more natural sounding speech than DAF and to improve the fluency of persons who stutter. However, there are currently no studies reporting how PD speakers perform under FSF.The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of both types of altered feedback on the speech of PD and control participants on a broad range of measures. The performance of 16 PD speakers and 11 control speakers in a reading task under DAF, FSF and no altered feedback (NAF) are reported in this paper.The results showed that all groups responded to altered feedback in a similar way and showed a prominent reduction of speech rate. The conditions evoked changes in pause frequency (increases), loudness levels (increases), pitch variation (increases) and intelligibility and naturalness (decreases) for all or some of the groups. Few effects could be observed on articulation/pause time ratio, pause duration, pitch range, and speech rhythm. Previous reports on differences in susceptibility of PD speaker to altered feedback were confirmed and some speakers benefited from the system despite the negative group results for intelligibility and naturalness. In general, FSF resulted in performance closer to the NAF state than DAF on all variables, and for those PD speakers who benefited from altered feedback, the FSF condition evoked the greatest improvement.


Carbon dioxide based oligo(carbonate–ether) diols (CO2-polyols) with both carbonate units and ether units in one polymer chain were prepared by copolymerization of CO2 and propylene oxide (PO) using a zinc–cobalt double metal complex as the catalyst, and used to prepare CO2 based waterborne polyurethanes (CO2-WPUs). The carbonate units in CO2-polyols improved the mechanical and oxidation resistance properties of CO2-WPUs, while the ether units in CO2-polyols enhanced the hydrolysis resistance of CO2-WPUs. The tensile strength of CO2-WPUs didn't show any obvious drop during immersion in a 0.25% sodium hydroxide solution, whereas that of oligoesterol based WPUs dropped over 50% after 300 min, and lost their mechanical properties after 520 min of immersion. Meanwhile, the retention of the tensile strength of the CO2-WPUs was ca. 72% even after 46 h of immersion in a 6 wt% H2O2 solution, while it was only ca. 32% for the oligoetherol based WPUs. Moreover, the thermal–mechanical performance of CO2-WPU films can be conveniently improved by adjusting the carbonate unit content (CU%) in CO2-polyols, i.e. when CU% in CO2-polyol increased from 30% to 66%, the glass transition temperature (Tg) increased from −7.8 °C to 18.8 °C, accompanied by an increase of tensile strength from 35.6 MPa to 52.2 MPa, and a decrease of elongation at break from 630% to 410%. This work suggests that the CO2-WPU may be a promising alternative to conventional WPU whose oligoetherol and oligoesterol were from fossil resources, and its comprehensive hydrolysis/oxidation resistance may be a bonus unavailable from common oligomerol based WPUs.


With the concept of trend inflation now widely understood as to be important as a measure of the public's perception of the inflation goal of the central bank and important to the accuracy of longer-term inflation forecasts, this paper uses Bayesian methods to assess alternative models of trend inflation. Reflecting models common in reduced-form inflation modeling and forecasting, we specify a range of models of inflation, including: AR with constant trend; AR with trend equal to last period's inflation rate; local level model; AR with random walk trend; AR with trend equal to the long-run expectation from the Survey of Professional Forecasters; and AR with time-varying parameters. We consider versions of the models with constant shock variances and with stochastic volatility. We first use Bayesian metrics to compare the fits of the alternative models. We then use Bayesian methods of model averaging to account for uncertainty surrounding the model of trend inflation, to obtain an alternative estimate of trend inflation in the U.S. and to generate medium-term, model-average forecasts of inflation. Our analysis yields two broad results. First, in model fit and density forecast accuracy, models with stochastic volatility consistently dominate those with constant volatility. Second, for the specification of trend inflation, it is difficult to say that one model of trend inflation is the best. Among alternative models of the trend in core PCE inflation, the local level specification of Stock and Watson (2007) and the survey-based trend specification are about equally good. Among competing models of trend GDP inflation, several trend specifications seem to be about equally good.


In real-world applications, data do not reflect the ones commonly used for neural networks training, since they are usually few, unbalanced, unlabeled and can be available as a stream. Hence many existing deep learning solutions suffer from a limited range of applications, in particular in the case of online streaming data that evolve over time. To narrow this gap, in this work we introduce a novel and complex setting involving unsupervised meta-continual learning with unbalanced tasks. These tasks are built through a clustering procedure applied to a fitted embedding space. We exploit a meta-learning scheme that simultaneously alleviates catastrophic forgetting and favors the generalization to new tasks, even Out-of-Distribution ones. Moreover, to encourage feature reuse during the meta-optimization, we exploit a single inner loop taking advantage of an aggregated representation achieved through the use of a self-attention mechanism. Experimental results on few-shot learning benchmarks show competitive performance even compared to the supervised case. Additionally, we empirically observe that in an unsupervised scenario, the small tasks and the variability in the clusters pooling play a crucial role in the generalization capability of the network. Further, on complex datasets, the exploitation of more clusters than the true number of classes leads to higher results, even compared to the ones obtained with full supervision, suggesting that a predefined partitioning into classes can miss relevant structural information.


Promotion-related conflict in the Universities presents a continuous challenge to administrators and affects faculty productivity in terms of the achievement of institutional goals and mandate. This study sought to investigate the impact of promotion-related conflicts and their resolution on faculty productivity in the Universities. As such, quantitative method of research was used for data collection and analysis. The target population of the study was all public universities in Ghana, specifically, their faculty and senior administrators. Descriptive and inferential analysis including One-Way ANOVA, Kruskal Wallis Test and Multiple regression were conducted on quantitative data using SPSS version 21. The major finding from the study was that promotion-related conflict in Higher Education Institutions has negative effects on both faculty and institutional performance depending on the nature of the conflict and how it is resolved. The study recommends that robust orientation pertaining to promotions should be given to both faculty members and senior administrators to minimize the occurrence of such conflicts.


OBJECTIVE
To review the response of 11 adolescents with childhood-onset schizophrenia to a 6-week open clozapine trial.

METHOD
Eleven children meeting DSM-III-R criteria for schizophrenia had a 6-week open trial of clozapine (mean sixth week daily dose 370 mg). Behavioral ratings included the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale and Children's Global Assessment Scale.

RESULTS
More than half showed marked improvement in Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale ratings by 6 weeks of clozapine therapy compared to admission drug rating and compared to a systematic 6-week trial of haloperidol.

CONCLUSIONS
This open trial indicates that clozapine may be a promising treatment for children and adolescents with schizophrenia who do not respond well to typical neuroleptics. A double-blind placebo-controlled study is ongoing.


While cloud computing is the current standard for outsourcing computation, it can be prohibitively expensive for cities and infrastructure operators to deploy services. At the same time, there are underutilized computing resources within cities and local edge-computing deployments. Using these slack resources may enable significantly lower pricing than comparable cloud computing; such resources would incur minimal marginal expenditure since their deployment and operation are mostly sunk costs. However, there are challenges associated with using these resources. First, they are not effectively aggregated or provisioned. Second, there is a lack of trust between customers and suppliers of computing resources, given that they are distinct stakeholders and behave according to their own interests. Third, delays in processing inputs may diminish the value of the applications. To resolve these chal-lenges, we introduce an architecture combining a distributed trusted computing mechanism, such as a blockchain, with an efficient messaging system like Apache Pulsar. Using this architecture, we design a decentralized computation market where customers and suppliers make offers to deploy and host applications. The proposed architecture can be realized using any trusted computing mechanism that supports smart contracts, and any messaging framework with the necessary features. This combination ensures that the market is robust without incurring the input processing delays that limit other blockchain based solutions. We evaluate the market protocol using game-theoretic analysis to show that deviation from the protocol is discouraged. Finally, we assess the performance of a prototype implementation based on experiments with a streaming computer-vision application.


In 1970 the prestigious A.N .Z.A.A.S. Conference was held in Port Moresby. To mark this occasion each delegate was given a publication put out by Collins, Longman and prepared, in the main, by staff of the University of Papua New Guinea. Perhaps because it abounds in maps, the editors called it an atlas. It is crammed with fascinating statistics about the then emerging nation. By the date of publication over 750 distinct languages had been identified, which implies over 750 different cultural groups. Superimposed on these culture groups were the spiritual and material expatriate cultures of eight major christian missions and an uncountable number of minor sects. At one stage these mission groups claimed the adherence of something like 92% ofthe population. What kind of adherents and what were their purposes was not questioned. Peter Lawrence in Road Belong Cargo develops the well documented theme that imported christianity simply reinforced and modemised existing local religions with disastrous results in the case of the Rai coast indigenes who form the subject of his book. We can hardly view christianity as a unifying cultural force through cargo cultism, though the cult of cargo is still a major area of concern to govemment and missions alike.


Vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs) of a flexible cylinder subjected to multi-directional flows have been studied based on a wake oscillator model. The multi-directional flow comprises two slabs of flows in different directions, with each slab having a uniform uni-directional profile. The dynamics of the flexible cylinder is described based on the linear Euler–Bernoulli beam theory, and a wake oscillator model is uniformly distributed along the cylinder to model the hydrodynamic force acting on it. The dynamics of the coupled system has been solved numerically using the finite element method, and simulations have been conducted with the cylinder subjected to multi-directional flows with different angles between the two slabs. A large number of different initial conditions have been applied, and more than one steady-state response has been captured. The steady-state responses exhibit two different patterns: one is characterized by two waves traveling in opposite directions, while the other is dominated by a single traveling wave. The cross-flow VIV primarily occurs in the local cross-flow direction, and a transition of its vibrating direction happens at the interface of the two flows. Such transition is not observed in the inline VIV, and significant vibrations at the double frequency appear in both local cross-flow and inline directions. Energy analysis shows that this transition is boosted by a specific energy transfer pattern between the structure and the flow, which excites the vibration of the cylinder in some directions while damps it in others.


Abstract This paper proposes a mathematical model of Sustainable Closed-Loop Supply Chain Networks (SCLSCNs). When an outbreak occurs, environmental, economic, and social aspects can be traded off. A novelty aspect of this paper is its emphasis on hygiene costs. As well as healthcare education, prevention, and control of COVID-19, this model offers job opportunities related to COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 damages lead to lost days each year, which is one of the negative social aspects of this model. COVID-19 was associated with two environmental novelties in this study. positive and negative effects of COVID-19 can be observed in the environmental context. As a result, there has been an increase in medical waste disposal and plastic waste disposal. Multi-objective mathematical modeling whit Weighted Tchebycheff method scalarization. In this process, the software Lingo is used. The COVID-19 pandemic still has a lot of research gaps because it's a new disease. An SC model that is sustainable and hygienic will be developed to fill this gap in the COVID-19 condition disaster. Our new indicator of sustainability is demonstrated using a mixed-integer programming model with COVID-19-related issues in a Closed-Loop Supply Chain (CLSC) overview.


Real-time safety-critical systems should provide hard bounds on an applications' performance. SDRAM controllers used in this domain should therefore have a bounded worst-case bandwidth, response time, and power consumption. Existing works on real-time SDRAM controllers only consider a narrow range of memory devices, and do not evaluate how their schedulers' performance varies across memory generations, nor how the scheduling algorithm influences power usage. The extent to which the number of banks used in parallel to serve a request impacts performance is also unexplored, and hence there are gaps in the tool set of a memory subsystem designer, in terms of both performance analysis, and configuration options. This article introduces a generalized close-page memory command scheduling algorithm that uses a variable number of banks in parallel to serve a request. To reduce the schedule length for DDR4 memories, we exploit bank grouping through a pairwise bank-group interleaving scheme. The algorithm is evaluated using an ILP formulation, and provides schedules of optimal length for most of the considered LPDDR, DDR2, DDR3, LPDDR2, LPDDR3 and DDR4 devices. We derive the worst-case bandwidth, power and execution time for the same set of devices, and discuss the observed trade-offs and trends in the scheduler-configuration design space based on these metrics, across memory generations.


Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) have recently been extensively deployed and researched. They are composed of a high number of small and simple nodes where most of them have to function as a router in an ad hoc manner. Because of limited energy sources in sensor network node, routing protocols should save the energy as much as possible. Energy consumption has a direct influence on network lifetime. From the Quality of Service (QoS) point of view, in many applications such as real time one, it is necessary to consider application QoS requirements. In this paper we propose an energy aware routing protocol for real time traffic in wireless sensor networks. The proposed protocol considers both energy and delay metric to find an optimal path with minimum energy consumption and minimum end to end delay. Simulation results show that the proposed protocol is successful in low energy consumption and satisfying low end to end delay which makes it suitable for real time applications.


Establishing a hydraulic seal that prevents flow is the primary objective of any cement job, as it is essential throughout the life of a well. Evaluation of the cement in the annulus must be done to verify its quality. Tools based on acoustics are market leaders, although having limitations that may cause erroneous conclusions. It is of interest to find tools based on other principles that either replaces or supplements acoustic logs. The thesis covers briefly barrier establishment, acoustic and fiber optic principles. A preliminary investigation into x-ray viability for cement evaluation has been done. Photon interactions, generation, detection and their subsequent challenges were also discussed. Heavy emphasis was placed on Compton scattering, as this is the basis for allowing both the transmitter and detector to be placed on the same side. To determine the viability of x-rays downhole several scenarios were created. We considered a single photon traveling through casing and a selection of materials before it is reflected at an angle. Initial results based scenarios with concentric and eccentric cemented 9 5 8 casing showed that investigation of the cement-formation interface is too demanding of x-rays as it failed to provide sufficient penetration of the casing on its return. The attenuation due to Compton scattering is significant, dependent on energy level and angle of the beam it can reach 80% attenuation. The angle of reflection or transmission will provide additional attenuation due to added length of travel path for the beam. Material density must be taken into consideration, as it influences the attenuation rate of the x-rays beam. The beam experienced high degree of attenuation when passing through casing, the attenuation contrast between casing and cement was discernable. Materials such as foamed cement, seawater and gas were also investigated. All of the latter materials allowed for increased transmission compared to casing and cement. The contrast between foamed cement and seawater was low and of concern for applicability of x-rays for foamed cement evaluations. Gas channels in cement are easily detected if the size of channel is sufficient. Investigation of the cement-formation interface did not provide satisfactory results due to the inability of the beam to return to the detector before complete attenuation. Reduction of the depth of investigation may provide satisfactory results and should be investigated.


This paper is intended to encourage members of the IS community to participate in Information Systems conferences. For lecturers and research students participation includes such academic roles of presenter, discussant, panel member, and PhD Consortium student or faculty member. For people further along in their careers, participation includes the leading roles of program chair, track chair, and associate editor. Key administrative roles such as organizing chair, publicity chair, and secretary are also described. Without these roles being fulfilled enthusiastically and effectively, conferences cannot be successful and the discipline is thereby impoverished.


The heat transported by the lower limb of the Southern Ocean meridional overturning circulation is commonly held to be negligible in comparison with that transported by eddies higher in the water column. We use output from one of the first global high resolution models to have a reasonably realistic export of Antarctic Bottom Water, the OCCAM one twelfth degree model. The heat fluxed southward by the deep overturning cell using the annual mean field for 1994 at 56S is 0.033 PW, but the 5‐day mean fields give a larger heat flux (0.048 and 0.061 PW depending on calculation method). This is more than 30% of previous estimates of the total heat flux. Eddies and other transients add considerably to the heat flux. These results imply that this component of meridional heat flux may not be negligible as has been supposed.


The Council of Europe saw 9/11 as a call to awaken religious education with regard to social and cultural issues and since 2002 has made a significant contribution to the creation of a new understanding of religious teaching by conducting a series of studies on religious instruction. Within the Council, a view of intercultural education has emerged, concerned with developing competences and attitudes enabling individuals to respect the right of others, developing skills of critical empathy and fostering dialogue with others from different backgrounds.  As a result, it was aimed to establish a culture of coexistence based on tolerance and dialogue among citizens belonging to different religions in European countries, and started to implement the models of intercultural religious education. However, the governments are making explanations and practices that fuel Islamophobia while intercultural education is being widespread. This situation creates a dilemma and seriously hurts the co-existence culture taught in schools and negatively affects the public's view of Muslims. In this paper, the social and educational problems of this dilemma in European countries will be discussed.


Gripper with two claws of automatic placing and removing manipulator is designed in this paper, and structure characteristics, working theory and positional error analysis are introduced. This gripper has the function of automatic center aligning and size control. The chucking size of gripper can be modified automatically in order to be adaptable when clamping different work pieces and this gripper, which could shorten the time and improve the efficiency, is designed to place and remove workpiece at one time beat. The gripper has a virtue of better ability to locate and move, improving the precision of automatic feeding manipulator and lathe cutting. The grippers have the advantages of simple structure, small volume and weight, which can solve the problems of complicated structure and massive volume for typical translational gripper. They also could simplify the control system of manipulator; meet the demand of placing and removing workpiece instead of complicated and heavy manual work.


Abstract Adding to the literature on post-divorce parent-adolescent relationships and applying the symbolic interactionist notion of reflective appraisal, we hypothesized that being called on by one's mother for emotional assistance and being exposed to maternal concerns/worries (sensitive maternal disclosures) would be related to adolescents' feeling older than their same-aged peers (high subjective age) and engaging in greater socializing/dating. We also examined whether those associations would be moderated by age. Questionnaire data were collected from 81 adolescents whose parents were divorced. Findings offer some support for our hypothesis. Mother-to-adolescent disclosures about financial and job concerns were associated with adolescents' high subjective age; and disclosure regarding personal concerns (e.g., things that make the mother sad) was associated with adolescents' greater social involvement/dating. For younger adolescents, maternal negative disclosure about the ex-husband was associated with greater social involvement/dating. Further research is needed to determine why exposure to sensitive maternal disclosures seems to act as a catalyst for adolescents feeling older and being more socially active. Possible reasons are offered.


An important tool for the evaluation and documentation of a successful environmental management system is the environmental performance evaluation (EPE). EPE is generally defined as a continuous internal process and management tool that, using indicators, evaluates the environmental management system of an organisation and compares past and present performance. Relevant international standards such as ISO 14031-14032 describe the categories of performance indicators; however, they do not determine a specific framework for the development, measurement and evaluation of these indicators. The main aim of this study is to present an EPE methodology based on the fuzzy UTASTAR method. Fuzzy UTASTAR is an extension of the well-known UTASTAR method capable to handle both ordinary (crisp) and fuzzy evaluation data. To demonstrate the application of the methodology, a case study is presented, where fuzzy UTASTAR is used in the frame of the EPE of a mills industry.


In this article, the influence of immigrant occupational composition on the earnings of immigrants and natives in Germany is examined. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study and the German Microcensus, several relevant concepts are tested. The notion of quality sorting states that the differences in wages that are associated with the immigrant share within occupations are due only to differences in qualification requirements. Cultural devaluation assumes a negative influence over and above that of quality sorting. The findings indicate that both processes are at work. Additional analyses reveal that the impact of immigrant occupational composition is largely restricted to white-collar occupations, which underlines the importance of considering historical differences between occupation types in classic migration destinations such as Germany.


A novel, simple and highly sensitive sensor for the simultaneous determination of isopropamide iodide (ISP) and trifluoperazine hydrochloride (TFP) was developed. A carbon paste electrode was modified with m-cresol purple (MCP) and carboxylated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Different techniques were used to characterize the nanostructure and performance of the sensor. Under the optimized experimental conditions, ISP and TFP showed linear responses over the ranges of 5.50 × 10−6–1.70 × 10−4 and 5.00 × 10−7–1.34 × 10−3 mol L−1, respectively. The detection limits for ISP and TFP were found to be 9.91 × 10−7 mol L−1 and 1.10 × 10−7 mol L−1, respectively. Satisfactory recoveries of analytes from these samples were demonstrated, indicating that the suggested sensor is highly suitable for clinical analysis, quality control and routine determination of ISP and TFP in pharmaceutical formulations and human fluids.


The construction and management of haul roads remains a critical element in the efficient operation of all mines. Significant effort has been applied to design practices, extending the use of design charts and computer programs. Attention has been paid to the pavement materials and material properties, based on decades of geotechnical data and experience. Opportunities still exist for improvements to be realised in compaction protocols, particularly in the use of rolling dynamic compaction (RDC). RDC involves the delivery of a dynamic compactive effort using non-circular towed compactors, which are designed to deliver a combination of potential energy of a falling weight and kinetic energy mobilised due to the relatively high towing speed. The objectives include the proof-rolling and preparation of subgrade areas, exposing soft spots and weak zones and often establishing a sufficiently competent raft layer, as well as deep lift compaction offering cost-efficient construction of ramps and haul road pavements with programming benefits. The ability to compact deeper lifts allows fill particles to be larger without inhibiting the compaction process, which increases the sustainability of the process through reducing the constraints on the fill materials by allowing a larger maximum particle size. Case studies are cited where RDC has been trialled on several mine sites and many mines have benefited from the use of the technology. The continued attention to improving haul road construction will result in less road maintenance, less vehicle damage and improved truck tyre life, and RDC offers a method of contributing to these improvements. The compaction energy of RDC offers more leniency in moisture conditioning where adequate compaction densities can be achieved with much lower water addition than conventional laboratory optimum moisture content. When applied to coarse surface layer materials RDC will generate sufficient fines to provide a high-friction tyre-friendly lowmaintenance finish on haul road surfaces.


Detailed mapping, structural and metamorphic studies were carried out in the area of the Lukmanier Pass with the intent to determine the kinematic and metamorphic evolution in one crucial part of the northern margin of the Lepontine Dome (e.g. Ring [1992]). The studied area covers from north to south three tectonic units: the Gotthard Massif, the parautochthonous Mesozoic cover of the Gotthard Massif and the Lucomagno Massif. Generally, the structures strike NE-SW and dip steeply to the north. Structural relationships suggest a single deformation event overall the area, corresponding to a top-to-the-southmovement. This shear movement took place in the basement in two major backthrusts that developed folding and faulting in the Mesozoic cover.
The Chiera and the Scopi synforms result from the movement of the southern and of the northern backthrust, respectively.
EBSD analysis from a marble lens near the backthrust reveals a shear direction contrary to the top-to-thesouth
movement; this opposite movement direction is attributed to flexural flow/slip. The metamorphic conditions were computed with PerpleX [Connolly, 2005], avPT [Powell and Holland,
1988] and GASP-barometry [Caddick and Thompson, 2008]. The rock bulk composition measured with XRF analysis computes the pseudosectionswith PerpleX, the mineral compositions used by avPT and GASP barometry were obtained with the electron microprobe. The metamorphic conditions computed are a temperature of 650◦C and a pressure of 8 kbar for a rock sample of Frodalera-Bronich. The high temperature compared to the regional background [Todd and Engi, 1997] suggests shear heat production generated during the backthrusting.
Comparison with the Nufenen Pass area (Master Thesis of Claudio [2008]) allowed to distinguish two different shortening systems with a N-S compression during the Lepontine metamorphism. Shortening in the west occurred through a leading imbricate fan, where the structures have been ramped up in a sub-vertical position by the development of listric thrusts in the frontal part of the imbricate zone. In the east, the shortening took place through a synchronous system of conjugate thrusts, of which the backthrust at the Lucomagno Pass area represents the antithetic fault, responsible, together with the frontal thrust movement, for the vertical position of the units. Both backthrusts should branch on a basal detachment.


This study was designed to enhance the nutritional quality, antioxidant properties and product utilization potentials of locally produced 'Igbemo' rice flour by adding Kersting's groundnut and lemon pomace. Kersting's groundnut is an underutilized legume while lemon pomace is a byproduct of lemon utilization; both meant to enhance the protein quality, antioxidant potential and fibre contents of the composite flour. The dependent variables were minerals composition, amino acid profile, antioxidants and antinutrients properties, in-vitro protein digestibility and in-vitro carbohydrate digestibility. The result showed that blends with higher lemon pomace of 10.00 g had the best calcium, iron, potassium and magnesium contents and antioxidant contents, while blends with highest Kersting's groundnut (20.00 g) had the best zinc content. The anti-nutrients in the blends were generally low and safe for consumption.


Combined or heterotopic pregnancy has been regarded as extremely rare in the past three decades. If it continues without diagnosis, a life-threatening situation may occur. A case of eight-week gestation is presented in which there was threatened abortion. The patient underwent exploratory laparotomy for internal bleeding. Upon operation, combined pregnancy, with a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, was diagnosed. Left salpingectomy was performed uneventfully. Neither chronic salpingitis nor administration of ovulation-induction agents was part of past history. A viable ongoing intrauterine pregnancy continued after operation, and a normal male was delivered by cesarean section after a 39-week gestation where labor progressed too slowly for normal delivery.


Abstract We have investigated the adsorption of D- and L-alanine, and their respective dimers, by three allophanes with different Al/Si ratios. The Kanuma (Al/Si = 1.2) and Kitakami (Al/ Si = 1.5) allophanes were from Japan whereas the Te Kuiti (Al/Si = 1.6) sample came from New Zealand. The three allophanes differed in their capacity for adsorbing alanine but none of the samples showed a clear preference for either the D- or the L-form. In the case of alanyl-alanine both Kanuma and Kitakami allophanes gave a hint of preferring the L- to the D-enantiomer. On the other hand, the allophane sample from Te Kuiti showed a clear preference for L-alanyl-L-alanine. In keeping with this observation, circular dichroic spectrometry indicated that solutions of a racemic mixture of alanyl-alanine, after equilibration with Te Kuiti allophane, became relatively enriched in the Denantiomer. The size, intra-molecular charge separation, and surface orientation, of L-alanyl-Lalanine zwitterions apparently combine to confer 'structural chirality' to the complex (adduct) with Te Kuiti allophane. As a result, the mineral-organic complex develops a preference for the L-form of alanyl-alanine. This finding points to a possible role of certain allophanes in the origin of biochirality.


This paper describes the design, experimental evaluation and performance results of a tunable optical filter based on hybrid microoptoelectromechanical systems (MOEMS) technology. The tunable filter can meet the demodulation requirements for Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors. The hybrid system is built using an off-the-shelf 200-GHz dense wavelength-division multiplexing filter and a movable MEMS platform actuated by a thermal microactuator array fabricated with silicon-on-insulator multiuser MEMS processes. Results show a repeatable tuning range of over 400 pm, which satisfies the demodulation requirements for FBG sensors.


Image-based process monitoring has recently attracted increasing attention due to the advancement of the sensing technologies. However, existing process monitoring methods fail to fully utilize the spatial information of images due to their complex characteristics including the high-dimensionality and complex spatial structures. Recent advancements in unsupervised deep models such as generative adversarial networks (GAN) and adversarial autoencoders (AAE) has enabled to learn the complex spatial structures automatically. Inspired by this advancement, we propose an anomaly detection framework based on the AAE for unsupervised anomaly detection for images. AAE combines the power of GAN with the variational autoencoder, which serves as a nonlinear dimension reduction technique. Based on this, we propose a monitoring statistic efficiently capturing the change of the data. The performance of the proposed AAE-based anomaly detection algorithm is validated through a simulation study and real case study for rolling defect detection.


We introduce a model of the optimal education policy at the macro level, allowing for heterogeneity of the workforce with respect to its age and qualification skills. Within this framework we study the optimal education rate in the context of changes in labor demand (as represented by the elasticity of substitution across ages and qualification) and labor supply (as represented by a change in the population growth rates). Applying an age-structured optimal-control model, we derive features of the optimal age-specific education rate. Our results show that the relation between the elasticities of substitution of labor across ages plays a crucial role in the way the demographic changes affect (both in the short and in the long run) the optimal educational policy. We also show that under imperfect substitutability across age and qualification groups, the optimal educational policy is adjusted in advance to any change in the labor supply.


Recently several groups have used the reaction-diffusion (R-D) model with H2 diffusion in interpreting negative bias temperature Instability (NBTI) degradation. While the classical "H2 R-D" model can interpret long-term NBTI behavior, it is inconsistent with short-term stress data obtained by recently developed ultrafast measurements and widely used on-the-fly measurements. Moreover, experimental data from various techniques are not consistent with each other. Here, the authors show that the H2 R-D model must be generalized to consistently interpret NBTI at all time scales. The generalized model highlights the previously unappreciated role of time-zero delay in reconciling differences among the so-called delay-free on-the-fly measurements.


The Human Leukocyte Antigen HLA-B27 is strongly associated with development of a group of inflammatory arthritides including Ankylosing Spondylitis and Reactive Arthritis (ReA). The link between HLA-B27 and Ankylosing Spondylitis was first discovered independently by groups in Britain and the USA in 1973 [1–3]. We still do not know for sure why B27 causes AS, but we do know that the natural function of HLA-B27 is to bind and present intracellular antigenic peptides for cell surface presentation to Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). HLA-B27 may cause AS by presenting "arthritogenic" peptides to pathogenic T cells. Alternatively HLA-B27 may cause AS because it has an abnormal cell biology. Thus B27 can form homodimers (B272) both intracellularly and on the cell surface [4]. Cell surface B272 may have a pathogenic role in AS by binding Natural Killer family receptors, including KIRs (killer Ig-like receptors) and/or LILRs (leukocyte Ig-like receptors). KIRs are expressed on both Natural Killer Cells and T cells, whilst LILRs are found on monocytes, B lymphocytes and dendritic cells. We have shown that, in SpA, an increased number of peripheral blood NK and CD4 T cells express the KIR3DL2 receptor compared to healthy controls and RA patients. These cells are enriched for IL17 production. Recent GWAS studies have implicated the Th17 pathway (and confirmed the role of HLA-B27). The mysterious and ever changing role of B27 from 1973 to 2014 will be discussed in this presentation. References Caffrey M & James DCO Human Lymphocyte Antigen Association in Ankylosing Spondylitis Nature 242, 121 (09 March 1973). Schlosstein L, Terasaki PI, Bluestone R, Pearson CM. High association of an HL-A antigen, W27, with ankylosing spondylitis. N Engl J Med. 1973 Apr 5;288(14):704-6. Brewerton DA, Hart FD, Nicholls A, Caffrey M, James DC, Sturrock RD. Ankylosing spondylitis and HL-A 27. Lancet. 1973 Apr 28;1(7809):904-7. Allen, RL, O' Callaghan C, McMichael AJ and Bowness P. Cutting edge: HLA B27 can form a novel beta 2-microglobulin-free heavy chain homodimer structure J. Immunol. 1999. 162, 5045-5048. Disclosure of Interest None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.6104


The rapid rise and widespread integration of digital technologies (e.g., smartphones, personal computers) into the fabric of our society has birthed a modern means of delivering healthcare, known as digital health. Through leveraging the accessibility and ubiquity of digital technologies, digital health represents an unprecedented level of reach, impact, and scalability for healthcare interventions, known as digital behaviour change interventions (DBCIs). The potential benefits associated with employing DBCIs are of particular interest for populations that are disadvantaged to receiving traditional healthcare, such as rural populations. However, several factors should be considered before implementing a DBCI into a rural environment, notably, digital health literacy. Digital health literacy describes the skills necessary to successful navigate and utilize a digital health solution (e.g., DBCI). Given their limited access to high-speed internet, higher cost associated for similar services, and poorer development of information and communication technologies (ICTs), most rural populations likely report lower digital health literacy – specifically, computer literacy, the ability to utilize and leverage digital technologies to solve problems. Hence, DBCIs should address this 'digital divide' between urban and rural populations before implementation. Practical solutions could include evaluating rural communities' access to ICTs, needs assessments with rural community members, as well as integrating rural community stakeholders into the design of digital literacy education and interventions.


The article analyzes the works by academician Ivan Zyazyun in the framework of the teacher's good doing. It is proved that the prominent scientist of Ukraine considered this problem on the humanistic principles of human creation and the existential nature of human existence. I. Zyazyun states that human is the only living being that does not belong to its lineage group from the moment of birth. Its human essence is acquired throughout whole life. I. Zyazyun as the philosopher and the teacher substantiated the opinion, according to which the worldview of a personality becomes determinant in the process of good going. The humanistic worldview of the personality of a teacher allows creating of his/her own activity aimed at mental, spiritual and intellectual development of students, and to treat them as active and equal subjects of the educational process. Good doing of a teacher forms the spiritual elite of the nation. The spiritual elite is distinguished by the fact that it forms the ideals of good, unites the best forces of the nation to make new cultural achievements. The scholar paid considerable attention to the issues of forming common and collective good doing. It allows all the members of the team to act responsibly, actively and productively for the approval of not only individual but also the common good and welfare


Temperature induced change, and stress induced change as well, in intrinsic timescale were investigated by nonlinear creep tests on poly(methyl methacrylate). With four different experimental temperatures, from 14 to 26 degrees centigrade, time-dependent axial elongations of the specimen were measured at seven different stress levels, from 14 MPa to 30 MPa, and modeled according to the concept of time-temperature-stress equivalence. The test duration was only 4000 seconds. The corresponding temperature shift factors, stress shift factors and temperature-stress shift factors were obtained according to the time-temperature superposition principle (TTSP), the time-stress superposition principle (TSSP) and the time-temperature-stress superposition principle (TTSSP). The master creep compliance curve up to about two-year at a reference temperature 14 degrees centigrade and a reference stress 14 MPa was constructed by shifting the creep curves horizontally along the logarithmic time axis using shift factors. It is shown that TTSSP provides an effective accelerated test technique in the laboratory, the results obtained from a short-term creep test of PMMA specimen at high temperature and stress level can be used to construct the master creep compliance curve for prediction of the long-term mechanical properties at relatively lower temperature and stress level.


The heat requirement for flower bud growth of container-gro wn peach trees (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch. CVS. Redhaven and Springold) in the greenhouse varied inversely and linearly with the length of the cold-storage period (SC) provided to break bud dormancy. Ethephon reduced the rest-breaking effectiveness of the 5C treatment. Buds from ethephon-treated trees grew more slowly than buds from untreated trees upon exposure to 20 to 25C, resulting in later bloom dates. The effect of ethephon on flower bud hardiness in field-grown trees of 'Jerseydawn' and 'Jerseyglo' was studied using exotherm analysis after deacclimation treatments. Bud deacclimation varied with reacclimating temperature (7 or 21 C), cultivar, ethephon treatment, and sampling date. All buds were more suscep- tible to injury in March than in January or February. Buds reacclimated more rapidly at 21C than at 7C. 'Jerseyglo' reacclimated more rapidly than 'Jerseydawn'. Untreated buds were less hardy and also reacclimated more rapidly than treated buds. Ethephon enhanced flower bud hardiness in three distinct ways: 1) it decreased the mean low- temperature exotherm of pistils, 2) it increased the number of buds that supercooled after exposure to reacclimating temperatures, and 3) it decreased the rate of deacclimation, especially at 21C. Ethephon prolongs flower bud dormancy by increasing the chilling requirement. The rate at which flower buds become increasingly sensitive to moderate temperatures in late winter and spring is thus reduced by ethephon. Thus, ethephon delays deacclimation during winter and delays bloom in the spring. Chemical name used: (2-chloroethyl) phosphoric acid (ethephon).


The effect of pH‐induced electrostatic conditions on the molecular interaction force of a single lysozyme molecule with TiO2 is investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The force between the charged or neutral lysozyme molecule and the TiO2 surface is measured at different pH from 3.6 to 10.8. It is found to be directly proportional to the contact area, given by an effective diameter of the lysozyme molecule, and is further qualitatively verified by the AFM‐measured friction coefficients. The results of the Derjaguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek theory show that the pH can change the surface charge densities of both lysozyme and TiO2, but the molecular interaction force at different pH is only dependent on the pH‐induced effective diameter of lysozyme. The molecular interaction forces, quantified at the nanoscale, can be directly used to design high‐performance liquid chromatography measurements at macroscale by tuning the retention time of a protein under varied pH conditions. They can also be applied to develop a model for predicting and controlling the chromatographic separations of proteins.


Cochlear implants (CI) provide a sense of hearing to people who are severely or profoundly deaf. A single CI (unilateral) has been shown to improve quality of life (QoL) substantially and clinical practice is evolving towards two per patient (bilateral), although the incremental benefit for QoL has not yet been established definitively. There is a need for self-report measures designed specifically to quantify benefits for QoL in patients who receive a second CI, in order to evaluate the relative benefits of unilateral and bilateral implantation. The aim of the present study was to develop and validate such a measure that is suitable for adults. The sample consisted of patients from the United Kingdom National Health Service who have received two CI sequentially. The study was based on the 'Rolls Royce' approach. A retrospective open-ended questionnaire and face to face interviews were carried out in the first stage. Categories from the qualitative data obtained from the responses were identified and these were the foundations on which a close-ended questionnaire was developed. In the second stage, face validity, test-retest reliability and correlations of each item were investigated and amendments were made to the questionnaire items to reflect these results. In the last stage participants were asked to fill in the amended questionnaire together with another three existing QoL questionnaires (generic and disease-specific ones). These results showed that the questionnaire under development is valid and reliable. Responses from the participants also gave an insight into the changes that they experienced as a result of receiving a second CI. The main reports were related to experiences of increased confidence and independence levels as a result of having bilateral CI. Improvement in listening in group situations and localisation ability were also noted. Changes in participant experience were evident when they filled in the questionnaire under development and also the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing questionnaire. Better understanding of changes in QoL after receiving a second CI will help professionals to understand the benefits of bilateral implantation in adults from the users' perspectives. This is considered to be important when deciding whether patients should be advised to opt for unilateral or bilateral CI in the future. This knowledge will also help prospective patients understand the practical benefits and limitations of one or two cochlear implants.


A broad based approach has been used to assess the impact of discharges to rivers from surface water sewers, with the primary objective of determining whether such discharges have a measurable impact on water quality. Three parameters, each reflecting the effects of intermittent pollution, were included in a field work programme of biological and chemical sampling and analysis which covered 47 sewer outfall sites. These parameters were the numbers and types of benthic macroinvertebrates upstream and downstream of the outfalls, the concentrations of metals in sediments, and the concentrations of metals in algae upstream and downstream of the outfalls. Information on the sewered catchments was collected from Local Authorities and by observation of the time of sampling, and includes catchment areas, land uses, evidence of connection to the foul system, and receiving water quality classification. The methods used for site selection, sampling, laboratory analysis and data analysis are fully described, and the survey results presented. Statistical and graphical analysis of the biological data, with the aid of BMWP scores, showed that there was a small but persistent fall in water quality downstream of the studied outfalls. Further analysis including the catchment information indicated that initial water quality, sewered catchment size, receiving stream size, and catchment land use were important factors in determining the impact. Finally, the survey results were used to produce guidelines for the estimation of surface water sewer discharge impacts from knowledge of the catchment characteristics, so that planning authorities can consider water quality when new drainage systems are designed.


We study the properties of the existence and uniqueness of solu-tions of a class of evolution quantum stochastic differential equations(QSDEs) dened on a locally convex space whose topology is gen-erated by a family of seminorms dened via the norm of the rangespace of the operator processes. These solutions are called strong solutions in comparison with the solutions of similar equations denedon the space of operator processes where the topology is generated bythe family of seminorms dened via the inner product of the rangespace. The evolution operator generates a bounded semigroup. Weshow that under some more general conditions, the unique solutionis stable. These results extend some existing results in the literatureconcerning strong solutions of quantum stochastic differential equa-tions.


The purpose of this study is to present the effect of religion on the illustrations and images of Arab children that can be grounded in art teaching. The method used in this study is visual ethnography. The researcher attended art classes in one of the private primary schools in Al Ain, UAE (United Arab Emirates), where the data composed using the narrative transcriptions, interviews with the children to gather insightful information and interpretation of the meaning projected by the children. Also an actual drawings and photos of the artwork where collected along with the observation of the art production for two months. There were 400 illustrations collected. An analysis of the art works of children from grade1 and 2 resulted in the notion of three types of illustrations of religious understanding: 1) Realistic, practical and typical religious practices subjects. 2) Imaginative and inspired illustrations. 3) Personalized and customized illustrations. This study is interpretative.


With the start of the age of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) two challenges face theoreticians and computational physicists. The first is about understanding theories beyond the Standard Model and producing verifiable predictions that can be tested against what the LHC and subsequent machines would produce. The second is to improve computational methods so that the new experimental precision is matched by a theoretical one. But this improvement is also crucial for the detection of potential deviations from Standard Model predictions and possibly also finding the elusive Higgs. This work tries to address problems in both areas. In the first part we study the effects of adding tension in considering a black-hole on a brane. Such black-holes are predicted by some models as potential phenomena at the LHC. We calculate the effects of adding tension on observable quantities of black-holes, namely, quasinormal mode frequencies and Hawking radiation, and we show how this improves predictions. In the second part we investigate the computational problem of extending the Britto-Cachazo-Feng-Witten (BCFW) method to 1-loop level. The BCFW has been successfully used in recent years to compute scattering amplitudes at tree-level by suitably complex-shifting external momenta and reducing diagrams to simpler ones. In our investigation we establish that the BCFW can be extended to 1-loop, which means that 1-loop integrands can be treated as trees and can be broken down further into even simpler trees using the BCFW. We explicitly look at the effects of the shift for the lowest three n-point cases, but also demonstrate how the result extends to arbitrary n.


OBJECTIVE: To implement a 6-month quality improvement project in 15 primary care pediatric practices to improve short-term newborn screening (NBS) follow-up. METHODS: At the start of the project, each practice completed a survey to evaluate office systems related to NBS and completed a chart audit. Practice teams were provided information about NBS and trained in quality-improvement methods, and then implemented changes to improve care. Monthly chart audits over a 6-month period were completed to assess change. RESULTS: At baseline, almost half of practices completed assessment of infants for NBS; after 6 months, 80% of practices completed assessment of all infants. Only 2 practices documented all in-range results and shared them with parents at baseline; by completion, 10 of 15 practices documented and shared in-range results for ≥70% of infants. Use of the American College of Medical Genetics ACTion sheets, a decision support tool, increased from 1 of 15 practices at baseline to 7 of 15 at completion. CONCLUSIONS: Practices were successful in improving NBS processes, including assessment, documentation, and communication with families. Providers perceived no increase in provider time at first visit, 2- to 4-week visit, or during first contact with the family of an infant with an out-of-range result after implementation of improved processes. Primary care practices increased their use of decision support tools after the project.


Seminalplasmin, an antibacterial protein present in bovine seminal plasma, is shown to be a potent inhibitor of reverse transcriptases (RNA-dependent DNA nucleotidyltransferases). Seminalplasmin inhibits RNA-directed, hybrid-directed, and DNA-directed DNA-polymerizing activities of purified reverse transcriptase from avian myeloblastosis virus and from crude viral lysates of several retroviruses by binding to the enzyme, at least in the case of avian myeloblastosis virus. Seminalplasmin does not inhibit significantly DNA synthesis either by Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I, or a mammalian alpha-DNA polymerase. The presence of seminalplasmin in the seminal fluid could provide protection to the male and/or the female reproductive tract against retroviruses.


The present study is about the enzymatic modification of thermomechanical pulp (TMP) fibers for reduction of water uptake and their use in bio-based filaments for 3D printing. Additionally, TMP was used as a fiber reinforcing material and poly(lactic acid) (PLA) as the polymer matrix. The hydrophilic TMP fibers were treated via laccase-assisted grafting of octyl gallate (OG) or lauryl gallate (LG) onto the fiber surface. The modified TMP fibers showed remarkable hydrophobic properties, as demonstrated by water contact angle measurements. Filaments reinforced with OG-treated fibers exhibited the lowest water absorption and the best interfacial adhesion with the PLA matrix. Such higher chemical compatibility between the OG-treated fibers and the PLA enabled better stress transfer from the matrix to the fibers during mechanical testing, which led to the manufacture of strong filaments for 3D printing. All of the manufactured filaments were 3D-printable, although the filaments containing OG-treated fibers yie...


The article gives attention to the process as a set of activities for the functioning of municipal organisation. The analysis of the process is essential for its successful management. Communication tool of the management are process maps that combine various processes. The article makes for into the evaluation process analysis and recommendations. At the end ultimately create a graph according to the maturity of process management in selfgovernment.


Background
Researches showed that ADP-ribosylation factor (ARF) promotes intracorneal secretion of multiple angiogenesis-related factors, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and nitricoxide synthase (NOS) etc., and therefore results in corneal neovascularization.However, whether ARF affects the tube formation of human retinal endothelial cells(HRECs) is unelucidated.Understanding the effect of ARF tube formation of HRECs is important for the target treatment of retinal vascular diseases.

Objective
The aim of this study was to explore the effect and mechanism of ARF inhibitor on tube formation of HRECs in vitro.

Methods
HRECs (HREC line) were cultured and passaged.The growth-well cells were harvested and divided into two groups.The cells were regularly cultured in the control group, and ARF antagonist (1ml) was added in the culture medium in the ARF antagonist group.The expression levels of ARFmRNA and protein in the cells were examined by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR and Western blot.The morphology and number of HREC tube formation were detected by using three-dimensional Matrigel assay.The relative expression levels of VEGF, NOS, focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) at gene level and protein level were examined by RT-PCR and Western blot in vitro.

Results
The relative expression levels of ARFmRNA in the cells were 0.65±0.14 and 0.32±0.10, and those of ARF protein were 0.85±0.15 and 0.24±0.17 in the control group and ARF antagonist group, showing significant differnces between the two groups (t=7.32, P=0.00; t=5.15, P=0.00). The number of HREC tube formation was (34.66±8.57)/field in the ARF antagonist group, which was significantly lower than (51.46±7.12)/field in the control group (t=2.99, P=0.04). The relative expression levels of VEGF mRNA, NOSmRNA and their proteins in the cells were significantly lower than those of the control group (t=3.02, P=0.04; t=3.68, P=0.02; t=3.33, P=0.03; t=2.89, P=0.04). The relative expression levels of FAKmRNA and HSP90mRNA in the ARF antagonist group were 0.65±0.18 and 0.28±0.05, which were significantly lower than 0.76±0.25 and 0.46±0.09 in the control group (all at P<0.05).

Conclusions
ARF antagonist appears to have an inhibitory effect on the tube formation ability of HRECs propably by down-regulating the expressions of VEGF, NOS and the downstream signal transduction factors FAK and HSP90 in HRECs in vitro.

Key words:
ADP-ribosylation factor 1/antagonists i Endothelial cells/drug effects; Retina; Gene expression/drug effects; Vascular endothelial growth factor; Humans


The role of genetic mutations in cancer is indisputable: they are a key source of tumor heterogeneity and drive its evolution to malignancy. But the success of these new mutant cells relies on their ability to disrupt the homeostasis that characterizes healthy tissues. Mutated clones unable to break free from intrinsic and extrinsic homeostatic controls will fail to establish a tumor. Here we will discuss, through the lens of mathematical and computational modeling, why an evolutionary view of cancer needs to be complemented by an ecological perspective in order to understand why cancer cells invade and subsequently transform their environment during progression. Importantly, this ecological perspective needs to account for tissue homeostasis in the organs that tumors invade, since they perturb the normal regulatory dynamics of these tissues, often co-opting them for its own gain. Furthermore, given our current lack of success in treating advanced metastatic cancers through tumor centric therapeutic strategies, we propose that treatments that aim to restore homeostasis could become a promising venue of clinical research. This eco-evolutionary view of cancer requires mechanistic mathematical models in order to both integrate clinical with biological data from different scales but also to detangle the dynamic feedback between the tumor and its environment. Importantly, for these models to be useful, they need to embrace a higher degree of complexity than many mathematical modelers are traditionally comfortable with.