Insects show unique adaptations to cope with oxidative challenges during larval development, metamorphosis and adulthood. Our previous findings suggested that bioluminescence may act as an auxiliary oxygen‐detoxifying mechanism in larvae of Pyrearinus termitilluminans (Elateridae: Coleoptera). We now study the antioxidant status in larval P. termitilluminans, evaluated in terms of levels of chemical and enzymatic antioxidant defenses, as compared to luciferase activity in the prothorax (intensely bright) and abdomen (dim) of the larvae, during natural‐ and 20‐hydroxyecdysone (20‐HE)‐induced development. In the prothorax, relative total SOD activities in small (<1 cm), medium (1–2 cm) and large (>2 cm) larvae were 1.00:0.53:0.32. Catalase activity also decreased with development (1.00:0.69:0.55). In contrast, prothorax luciferase activities and urate content increased with ratios of 1.0:2.2:2.5 and 1:15:97, respectively. No increases were found in the level of prothorax lipid and protein oxidation. In the abdomen, luciferase activity decreased markedly with development (1.00:0.33:0.17), as did other antioxidant enzymes, including dehydroascorbate reductase (1.00:0.59:0.17) and levels of lipid peroxidation products and protein carbonyls. Similar variations were observed in antioxidant enzyme activities when the larvae were treated with 20‐HE, except for prothorax catalase. As observed in natural larval growth, luciferase activity was augmented (two‐fold in prothorax) upon steroid treatment, and the levels of thiobarbituric acid‐reactive substances were magnified in both segments. The increase of luciferase activity and a higher urate content in the prothorax during larval development may reflect metabolic adaptations to keep levels of oxyradicals low in order to compensate for decreased antioxidant enzyme activities.


SUMMARY: Twenty-three sugars and sugar derivatives prevent the spread of colonies of the gliding bacterium Cytophaga johnsonae on 1–5% agar gels. Concentrations of sugars that inhibit colony spread have no inhibitory effect on motility or growth of cells. Observations of patterns of colony spread on plates with pre-established concentration gradients of sugars indicate that cells of C. johnsonae do not exhibit a chemotactic response to compounds that inhibit their spread. Inhibitory compounds were placed into three groups based on their relative effectiveness as inhibitors. Both metabolizable and non-metabolizable sugars served as inhibitors, it was not necessary for a sugar to be transported into the cell to inhibit, and the effectiveness of a sugar as an inhibitor did not correlate with its ability to support growth. The inorganic ions Mg2 °, Ca2 + and SO|∼ also inhibit colony spread on 1–5% agar gels. All the evidence taken together suggests that inhibitors of spread produce their effects by modifying the properties of a surface slime. The observations reported here help to give an experimental definition to two components of the gliding motility system of C. johnsonae: the motility 'machinery* that is responsible for an actively moving cell surface and is not affected by the presence of sugars, and an extracellular component which is sensitive to sugars and which is required for translocation of cells with moving surfaces.


Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) acquisition is an inherently slow process whose acceleration has been the subject of much investigation. In recent years, the explosive advance of deep learning techniques for computer vision and image reconstruction has led to the investigation of deep neural networks for the reconstruction of MRI with under-sampled k-space. In this work, we propose a new image domain architecture that directly produces a sum-of-squares image from under-sampled multi-coil MRI acquisition. This model, called BarbellNet, is a fully convolutional neural network architecture that utilizes the channel attention mechanism using the residual channel attention block (RCAB). Through extensive experiments with the fastMRI data set, we confirm the efficacy of BarbellNet.


We explore the supply chain problem of a downstream durable goods monopolist, who chooses one of the following trading modes: an exclusive supply chain with an incumbent supplier or an open supply chain, allowing the monopolist to trade with a new efficient entrant in the future. The expected retail price reduction in the future dampens the profitability of the original firms. An efficient entrant's entry magnifies such a price reduction, causing a further reduction of original firms' joint profits. In equilibrium, the downstream monopolist chooses the exclusive supply chain to escape further price reductions, although it expects efficient entry.


This paper presents results from an investigation of maintenance and service market of Swedish wind power industry. Although the average number of disruptions per wind turbine only increased slightly from 2007 to 2009 in Sweden, the average downtime, the average electricity production loss and accordingly economic loss to the wind power operators increased 3 times during the same period. Equipped with strong production power, technology skills and expertize, Chinese wind turbine manufacturers have opportunity to enter the Swedish wind power maintenance and service market, and bring benefit to Swedish wind power industry and to themselves" internationalization process and sustainable development.


This paper is concerned with the design of robust active queue management (AQM) controllers for a class of TCP networks. In TCP/IP networks, the packet-dropping probability function is limited between 0 and 1. Therefore, a TCP network with AQM controller was modeled as a rate-based non-linear system with a saturated input. The nonlinear output feedback AQM controller is proposed for achieving the desired queue size and guaranteeing asymptotic stability of the operating point. The performance and effectiveness of the proposed control laws are validated for serial network scenarios through numerical simulations by Network Simulator-2 (NS-2). Simulation results confirm that the proposed scheme outperforms other AQM schemes.


Individuals with limb loss or other physical impairments are subject to devalued 'disability' identities. There is an increasing amount of research to show that negative experiences of 'disability' can be attributed to stigmatising societal attitudes. The first aim of the thesis was to complete a meta-synthesis exploring the identity-related experiences of elite athletes with physical impairments. This review demonstrated that sport facilitated valued identities, whereby individuals could adopt 'athlete' as a dominant identity, move from 'incompetence' to 'competence', and use sport as a path to agency. However, the findings also captured the challenges to valued identities, which included the experience of social stigma, challenging the social meanings of 'disability', and the simultaneous marginalisation of gender. The review concluded that the development of valued identities within sport may help to challenge the common social views attached to a 'disability' identity. The second aim of the thesis was to examine whether perceived social stigma mediated the relationship between physical activity and athletic identity for individuals with amputations. There is an established direct relationship between increased physical activity and stronger athletic identity within the general population, however it is indicated that this relationship is somewhat disrupted for people with limb loss. The findings confirmed that the relationship between increased physical activity and stronger athletic identity operated through a reduction in perceived social stigma for the sample. The findings demonstrate the positive psychological effects associated with physical activity for individuals with amputation. Theoretical, clinical and research implications are discussed regarding the implementation of physical activity as an effective element of physical rehabilitation following limb loss. Finally, the critical appraisal aimed to capture the author's reflections on the subject topic within clinical psychology, strengths and limitations of the project and recommendations for future research.


ABSTRACT A comparison of 1,096 professional journalists in China and the United States on attitudes toward attribution and plagiarism reveals Chinese journalists were more likely to see attribution as a practice to be embraced regardless of career longevity and culture, suggesting journalistic norms are more important than a collectivist orientation. Attribution was more likely to be embraced by those who see principles as more important than expediency, affirming research that plagiarism is hardly a monolithic concept. Overall, journalists in the two nations did not vary significantly in their attitudes toward plagiarism, despite vast differences in culture and politics as well as evidence that in some other fields China is more accepting of reusing material without attribution. The data show that among journalists, attitudes toward plagiarism are shared across national boundaries, reinforcing related research showing that a journalism culture exists and is shared at least in part across national boundaries.


The Astrand-Ryhming est was modified to overcome problems of predicting V̇O2max in children. V̇O2max was measured directly during a maximal treadmill test and estimated by means of a submaximal protocol in a test group of 51 subjects ages 10-18 years. A multiple regression equation was developed with directly measured V̇O2max as the dependent variable and age, body weight, and V̇O2max estimated from the Astrand nomogram as independent variables. The validity and reliability of this equation to predict V̇O2max in children and adolescents was cross-validated. No significant difference was found between the measured V̇O2max and that estimated from the equation. The correlation coefficient between measured and estimated V̇O2max for the cross-validation group was 0.89, with a standard error of estimate of 12%. Test-retest reliability was 0.95. It was concluded that this modification of the Astrand nomogram provides a valid and reliable prediction of V̇O2max in children and adolescents.


Background : This article examines Implementing New Knowledge Environments' (INKE) experiences as a mature, large-scale collaboration working with academic and non-academic partners and provides some insight into best practices. It looks at the sixth year of funded research. Analysis: The study uses semi-structured interviews with questions focused on the nature of collaboration with selected members of the INKE research team. Data analysis employs a grounded theory approach. Conclusion and implication: The interviewees found the experience of collaborating within INKE to be positive with some ongoing challenges. The team is winding down as it moves into the final year of funded research. This suggests an arc of collaboration, with intensity of collaboration building from the first year to the most intensive time in the middle years and then winding down in the last years of grant funding. This article contributes to those lessons about collaboration by exploring the lived experience of a long-term, large-scale research project.


This study investigated the relationship between faith, life purpose, and well-being, and the potential mediational effects of life purpose between faith and well-being. One hundred and three male and female college students completed a life purpose measure designed for the current study, the General Life Purpose Scale, as well as the Perceived Wellness Scale (Adams, T.B. (1995). The conceptualization and measurement of wellness (Doctoral dissertation, University of Texas at Austin, 1995). Dissertation Abstracts International, 56(6–B), 3111) and the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire (Plante, T.G., & Boccaccini, M.T. (1997). The Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire. Pastoral Psychology, 45, 375–387). Results indicated that life purpose significantly mediated the relationship between faith and well-being. The importance of these findings for clinicians and educators is discussed.


Introduction
Persistent postsurgical iatrogenic hypoparathyroidism is a significant problem after thyroid surgery for 0.5 to 4 % of patients. Despite adequate therapy with calcium and vitamin D well-being is not easily achieved in these patients. This might be due to the unphysiological substitution of parathyroid hormone (PTH) by active vitamin D with altered calcium and phosphate metabolism, or alternatively due to thyroid surgery. Our aim was to investigate well-being, mood and general symptoms in patients with iatrogenic hypoparathyroidism.
Material and Methods
In a retrospective study 58 patients with hypoparathyroidism (mean age 50±12.44, female/male= 50/6) were compared with 53 patients after thyroid surgery with intact parathyroid function (mean age 55.7±11.29, female/male= 47/6). The routine questionnaire from the first visit to the endocrine clinic was used for evaluation. Hence symptoms and diseases were reported, including gastrointestinal, cardiological, neurological and psychological disorders. In addition, serum and urinary calcium/phosphor as well as vitamin D, PTH and thyroid hormones were measured. Results were analyzed for influence of age, sex, body mass index and duration of disease by logistic regression. For statistical analysis Statistica 9.0 was used, groups were compared by t-test and kendall's tau analysis for non parametric data.
Results
As expected in pts. with hypoparathyroidism PTH was significantly lower compared to those with thyroid surgery only (p<0.001). In addition, serum calcium was lower, 25-OH-vitamin D and serum phosphate levels were higher in this group (p<0.001, p<0.05, p<0.05 respectively). There was no difference in 24 h urine for calcium and phosphate, bone markers or serum TSH levels between groups. Thyroid medication was given to 81% of those with thyroid surgery only versus 88% to those with additional hypoparathyroidism. Calcium was also given to 7.5% to pts. without hypoparathyroidism. Patients with hypoparathyroidism revealed significantly more gastrointestinal symptoms than controls (p<0.001). Gastrointestinal symptoms are correlated with low serum calcium and supplementation of calcium and calcitriol. Surprisingly, pts. after thyroid surgery without hypoparathyroidism declared more psychopathological symptoms (p<0.001).
Discussion
By routine questionnaire during initial clinical presentation significantly more patients with hypoparathyroidism suffered from gastrointestinal symptoms. No increase in psychological symptoms or depression was detectable in this group. Possibly the questionnaire is not sensitive enough for detection of a differentiated mental status. The increase in cardiopulmonary disease in patients with thyroid operation is explained by the higher age of pts.. Increased psychopathological symptoms in pts. after thyroid surgery without hypoparathyroidism might be explained by decreased vitamin-D-levels. Supplementation of calcium should not exceed the daily dose of 1000 mg. Furthermore pts. with gastrointestinal symptoms should not be treated with calcitriol.


Background: The outcome for arthroscopic treatment of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) can worsen with increasing arthritis. However, there remains a subset of hips with relatively maintained joint space but with acetabular subchondral edema and cystic change with unknown outcome on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Purpose: (1) To correlate MRI findings of subchondral acetabular edema/cystic change with arthroscopy grading of articular cartilage and (2) to determine whether postoperative outcome was worse for patients with subchondral edema/cystic change compared with a matched control group. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: The records of all patients who underwent arthroscopic hip surgery for FAI at a single institution between 2007 and 2013 were reviewed for subchondral edema/cyst on preoperative MRI. Lesions were characterized by grade using an established classification system and were correlated with arthroscopic articular cartilage changes. A matched cohort of patients without evidence of subchondral edema or cyst was identified. Minimum 2-year outcomes were compared using prospectively collected Hip Outcome Score (HOS) activities of daily living and sport subscales as well as the modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS). Results: Overall, 104 patients were included. Thirty-six patients (18 men, 18 women) with a mean age of 41 years (range, 19-67 years) had subchondral edema, with or without the presence of cystic acetabular changes, at minimum 2-year follow-up (range, 24-60 months). Two patients who underwent total hip replacement were excluded in the outcome score comparison. Thirty-one of 34 patients (91%) had a grade 4 full-thickness cartilage lesion at the time of diagnostic arthroscopy. The mean mHHS was inferior for all patients with subchondral edema/cystic change (79.9 ± 18.7 vs 86.6 ± 12.5; P = .03), and the HOS was also lower (69.1 ± 27.0 vs 79.5 ± 21.4; P = .02). The overall success rate was 67% for all patients with subchondral edema/cystic change compared with 85% in the control group (P = .04). Conclusion: The presence of a subchondral edema with an acetabular cyst on MRI is indicative of a full-thickness cartilage lesion at the time of arthroscopy. These patients have inferior outcomes for arthroscopic treatment of FAI compared with patients with similar age and activity level without MRI subchondral cystic changes.


Our objective was to characterize the variations of tofu textural profiles as affected by physical parameters and to correlate the data with that of the sensory method. The textural profiles of 13 selected tofu types were characterized using various crosshead speeds and 2 degrees of penetration using an Instron universal textural machine. Hardness (firmness) and springiness (elasticity) were also analyzed by a descriptive sensory analysis. The results showed that the degree of plunger penetration had a significant impact on textural properties. Hardness values obtained by both levels of penetration correlated significantly (r= 0.94 to 0.95) with the sensory hardness. Springiness obtained by the 50% penetration method did not correlate significantly with the sensory data, whereas 75% penetration had a significant correlation (r= 0.98). Hardness values obtained using tofu specimens without skin correlated better with sensory data than that obtained with skin, which typically results from a pressing step in traditional tofu-making process. The findings were the first in the literature to show linear correlations between instrumental and sensory tofu textural characteristics, and provided a basis for the selection of physical parameters for determining tofu textural properties using an Instron machine.


A multi-tip scanning tunneling microscope (STM) specifically designed for charge transport measurements at the nanoscale is described. This versatile tool gives insight into fundamental transport properties at the nanoscale. We exploit the capabilities of the instrument by measuring resistance profiles along freestanding GaAs nanowires, by the acquisition of nanoscale potential maps, and by the identification of an anisotropy in the surface conductivity at a silicon surface.


in uncomplicated patients with COPD. Patients and characteristics: We carried out a retrospective cohort study using health care databases from six Canadian provinces in subjects visiting their physician for uncomplicated COPD. Subjects dispensed either a quinolone or other antibiotics were compared using inverse probability of treatment weights with high dimensional propensity scores on 30-day outcomes, including repeat visits, hospitalisation for AECOPD and subsequent antibiotic prescription. Results from each province were combined by random effects meta-analysis. Results: We identi fi ed 286,866 AECOPD events among 203,642 unique individuals. The frequency of fl uoroquinolone use, mostly levo fl oxacin and moxi fl oxacin, varied by province and ranged from 8% to 32% of AECOPD antibiotic prescriptions. The risk of a repeat ambulatory care visit was increased among patients who were dispensed a fl uoroquinolone compared with other antibiotics (OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.27 – 1.36). The risk of a hospitalisation for AECOPD was also higher with fl uoroquinolones (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.33 – 1.74). There was no difference in subsequent antibiotic prescriptions (OR 1.00, 95% CI 0.94 – 1.07). Conclusion: There is no apparent bene fi t in short-term outcomes with fl uoroquinolones as compared to other antibiotics for the ambulatory treatment of AECOPD in uncomplicated patients. These fi ndings support current recommendations that fl uoroquinolones be reserved for AECOPD in patients with recurrent exacerbations, signi fi cant co-morbidity or requiring hospitalisation.


The 3.5 billion US dollar Great Belt fixed link will join the eastern and western parts of Denmark presently connected by ferry services. The link is the largest per capita investment in a civil engineering project in any country today. It consists of 8 km long twin bored rail tunnels, a 6.6 km long combined rail and road bridge, and a 6.8 km long high level road bridge with a world record suspension span. The fixed link is going to cross the main channel for exchange of waters between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea and therefore the Public Works Act requires compensation measures ensuring a zero environmental influence on the Baltic waters. The requirements to safe passage of the important international navigation between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea gave decisive input to the design of the crossing structures.


: Preventive effects of artificial beta-carotene on the development of rat mammary gland adenocarcinomas induced by DMBA were studied in rats maintained on a diet containing beta-carotene at a dose of 2.5 mg per animal within 10 weeks, which was initiated after the carcinogen administration. The carotenoid treatment course caused the following effects: manifestation of adenocarcinomas induced by DMBA was decreased, latent period of neoplasm development as well as the rate of tumor differentiation were increased and metastatic spreading into the regional lymph nodes was inhibited.


Web mapping is the process of using geo-spatial information through the cyberspace. It consists both a service activities and end-user activities. Web GIS emphasises geo-data distribution aspects more involved with design aspects such as data accruing, storage, processing with server software architecture such as data storage and algorithms. Web based system is more advanced than stand-alone system because its provide pathway to overcome geographical boundaries. As a result of this one, any user who has internet facility will be able to access the system. This paper aims to address the role of Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) as a framework for the development of a web-based system as a tool for facilitating forestry management by resolving current problems with spatial data. Centralise web GIS tool facilitates to visualisation and update geo-spatial data for forestry management sector in Sri Lanka. This research is a one of node to open the gate to access the cyberspace which consists of SDI. Collected forest data were cross checked with existing GIS data sources and Google Earth before incorporate to the system. Web system was created using HTML5 and PHP language. Google Map class library and Java script library were used to render the Google Map to the web GIS system and Arc GIS cloud database is used as a geo-database for storing forestry data. in addition to that, several software packages have been used such as Adobe Dreamweaver, Adobe Photoshop, PHP editor, MySQL database, Java, Ajax, Arc GIS, Arc server etc. Web administrator will be able to maintain and update the system using the given authentication facility and to maintain and change query function of the geo-database. End user will be able to read the map and gather information using attribute data. In addition to that, the system facilities to get the print out of the selected area with all map components such as legend, map title, scale etc. Keywords: Web GIS, Cloud GIS, Forest management, SDI, GIS modelling


Objective: Although 5 to 10% of the world's population is estimated to consist of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and individuals with other minority sexual orientations (LGBTI+), they still face significant challenges accessing health care. With this web-based study, we aim to present data on their health status and shed light on the difficulties that LGBTI+ populations living in Turkey face in accessing healthcare services. Method: This descriptive study was prepared as a web-based questionnaire to collect information on demographic attributes and healthcare specific challenges LGBTI+ communities experience. The questionnaire was disseminated via different social media networks. 278 LGBTI+ individuals met the eligibility criteria and were included in the study. The data was analysed using the SPSS software package. Results: The prevalence of chronic diseases, mental disorders, alcohol use, smoking and substance abuse in the survey was found to be higher than average in the LGBT+ community. Of the respondents, 67.3% stated that they did not disclose their sexual orientation and gender identity to health professionals. 25.2% of the respondents had experienced discrimination or similar unpleasant attitudes within institutions, a majority of which were state hospitals, when they disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identities. Of these attitudes, 20,9% reported direct discrimination from physicians and 92.8% of the respondents indicated the need for LGBTI-friendly health institutions. Conclusions: The findings of this research highlight the need for LGBTI+-friendly health institutions to fight against discrimination and serve as a tool for health promotion. Intensified involvement of public health professionals in these issues is needed.


A standard quarter-wavelength multilayer optical coating will produce the highest reflectivity for a given number of coating layers, but in general it will not yield the lowest thermal noise for a prescribed reflectivity. Coatings with the layer thicknesses optimized to minimize thermal noise could be useful in future generation interferometric gravitational wave detectors where coating thermal noise is expected to limit the sensitivity of the instrument. We present the results of direct measurements of the thermal noise of a standard quarter-wavelength coating and a low noise optimized coating. The measurements indicate a reduction in thermal noise in line with modeling predictions.


These proceedings collect the papers presented at the Eighth International Conference on Synchrotron Radiation Instrumentation, held in San Francisco, August 25th to 29th 2003. This conference takes place every three years, hosted by synchrotron research centers around the world. It is the principal meeting for developers of synchrotron radiation techniques. This particular meeting hosted 650 delegates and there are about 350 published papers in the proceedings. This proceedings series is an essential reference work for practitioners of the field. It documents the evolution and development of techniques. Many of the ideas that become standard practice in synchrotron radiation research appear first in these volumes, often with the definitive explanation and rationale for the technique in question.


Using plated CBN hard honing wheels with standard involute tooth profiles, there will be the middle concave error around pitch circle on the machined gear tooth surfaces. Therefore, standard involute tooth profiles of honing wheels have to be modified properly before electroplating CBN. In the paper, aiming at the tooth profile modification of honing wheels, the standard involute curve was converted into a spline curve, and control points of the spline curve were parameterized in solid modeling of honing wheels. By the Pro/E and ANSYS Workbench software, the engaging situation between honing wheel and gear was analyzed. Based on the analysis results, assuming the control points around pitch circle were set as variable parameter, and basically equal contact pressures were set as response variable parameter, the tooth surfaces of hard honing wheels were properly corrected, it was proved useful to reduce or eliminate middle concave error in practice.


This paper presents a low power, low voltage and low frequency bandpass filter implementation of a Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) for use with physiological signals in the Electroencephalogram (EEG) range (1–150 μV, 1–70 Hz bandwidth). Experimental results are presented for a 1 V, 7 order gmC filter based CWT with filter centre frequencies ranging from 1–64 Hz. Low power and low frequency operation is achieved by biasing the transconductor transistors at low current levels in the deep weak inversion region. The resulting increased mismatch and reduced bandwidth are compensated for at the topology level. The filter has a 43 dB dynamic range and a 60 pW power consumption. This power consumption is three orders of magnitude lower than existing CWT implementations and assessed via a suitable figure of merit the performance is better than all considered bandpass filters. The improvement in the state-of-the-art originates from the close integration of the application requirements, CWT theory, bandpass filter design theory, and low transconductance transconductor design. These topics are described in detail.


Predictive Learning Analytics (PLA) aim to improve learning by identifying students at risk of failing their studies. Yet, little is known about how best to integrate and scaffold PLA initiatives into higher education institutions. Towards this end, it becomes essential to capture and analyze the perceptions of relevant educational stakeholders (i.e., managers, teachers, students) about PLA. This paper presents an "at scale" implementation of PLA at a distance learning higher education institution and details, in particular, the perspectives of 20 educational managers involved in the implementation. It concludes with a set of recommendations about how best to adopt and apply large-scale PLA initiatives in higher education. paper)


Cis presentation of neuropilin 1 with the vascular growth factor receptor promotes angiogenesis, whereas trans presentation inhibits angiogenesis. Neuropilin-1 (NRP1) is a transmembrane protein that functions as a promiscuous ligand-binding coreceptor. When present on endothelial cells, NRP1 binds vascular growth factor (VEGF) to form a complex with the VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR2). However, NRP1 is also present on other cell types, including some tumor cells. Thus, NRP1 may function both in cis (on the same cell as that with VEGFR2) and in trans (on a cell adjacent to the one with VEGFR2). Koch et al. examined the differences in cis and trans signaling and responses of cultured vascular endothelial cells, tumor models, and the mouse retina. VEGFR2 and NRP1 were introduced into porcine aortic endothelial cells, which lack endogenous NRP1 and VEGFR2, such that either a single cell expressed both proteins (cis) or cells expressing one or the other protein were cultured together (trans). Coimmunoprecipitation and proximity ligation assay (PLA) experiments of VEGF-stimulated cells revealed that cis presentation resulted in a rapid and transient formation of VEGFR2-NRP1 complexes, whereas the kinetics of complex formation was slower and complexes persisted over a longer period when the proteins were in trans. When presented in cis, ligand-receptor complexes (VEGF-VEGFR2-NRP1) were rapidly internalized and colocalized with endosomal markers, whereas in trans, VEGF localized in patches at the surface of cells expressing either protein, consistent with the ligand-binding ability of both VEGFR2 and NRP1. Evaluation of downstream signaling events showed that, when stimulated with VEGF, both cis and trans presentations activated phospholipase Cγ (PLCγ) with kinetics that were similar to those of complex formation. The cis presentation produced a rapid and transient PLCγ activation, followed by a rapid and transient increase in the abundance of phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1 and 2 (ERK1/2). Trans presentation produced a rapid and prolonged PLCγ activation, followed by a prolonged increase in ERK2 phosphorylation and less ERK1 phosphorylation than was observed in the cis presentation. NRP1 with a C-terminal deletion favored a low-affinity VEGF binding conformation and, when introduced in cis or trans in the porcine aortic endothelial cells, resulted in similar kinetics of NRP1-VEGFR2 complex formation and downstream ERK signaling, and VEGF was efficiently endocytosed in both cis and trans settings. Examination of NRP1 in cis and trans in tumor models was achieved by creating melanoma or fibrosarcoma xenografts in host mice with an endothelial cell–specfic tamoxifen-inducible knockdown of NRP1. In the mice lacking NRP1 or in which NRP1 was presented only in trans, the tumors that formed were smaller, and a larger proportion of mice failed to develop palpable tumors, suggesting a delay in the initiation of tumor growth. Implantation of matrigel-embedded tumor cells showed that tumors with NRP1 to produce trans signaling showed less vascularization than tumors lacking NRP1 or tumors with the NRP1 C-terminal deletion mutant. To evaluate the effect of cis and trans NRP1 on vessels in vivo, mosaic expression of NRP1 was induced by exposure to a low dose of tamoxifen. Analysis of retinal vessel growth in this model showed that sprouting occurred at sites where only one of the two adjacent cells had NRP1 and was suppressed both in areas completely lacking NRP1 and where the two adjacent cells both had NRP1. Thus, trans NRP1 suppresses angiogenesis and cis NRP1 promotes angiogenesis. S. Koch, L. A. van Meeteren, E. Morin, C. Testini, S. Weström, H. Björkelund, S. Le Jan, J. Adler, P. Berger, L. Claesson-Welsh, NRP1 presented in trans to the endothelium arrests VEGFR2 endocytosis, preventing angiogenic signaling and tumor initiation. Dev. Cell 28, 633–646 (2014). [PubMed]


The digital transformation of the scientific publishing industry has led to
dramatic improvements in content discoverability and information analytics.
Unfortunately, these improvements have not been uniform across research areas.
The scientific literature in the arts, humanities and social sciences (AHSS)
still lags behind, in part due to the scale of analog backlogs, the persisting
importance of national languages, and a publisher ecosystem made of many, small
or medium enterprises. We propose a bottom-up approach to support publishers in
creating and maintaining their own publication knowledge graphs in the open
domain. We do so by releasing a pipeline able to extract structured information
from the bibliographies and indexes of AHSS publications, disambiguate,
normalize and export it as linked data. We test the proposed pipeline on
Brill's Classics collection, and release an implementation in open source for
further use and improvement.


Screening for critical congenital heart defects in newborn babies can aid in early recognition, with the prospect of improved outcome. However, as this universal newborn screening is implemented, there will be an increasing number of false-positive results. In order to avoid multiple investigations and uncertainty, an haemoglobin (Hb) variant must be included in the differential diagnosis in otherwise well newborns with low oxygen saturation by pulse oximetry. We describe a novel fetal Hb variant (heterozygous γ-globin gene (HBG1) mutation in exon 2 c.202G>A (p.Val68Met)) identified in a newborn with positive pulse oximetry screening for congenital heart disease.


A family of collective variables is proposed to perform exact dynamical coarse-graining even in systems without time scale separation. More precisely, it is shown that these variables are not slow in general, yet satisfy an overdamped Langevin equation that statistically preserves the sequence in which any regions in collective variable space are visited and permits to calculate exactly the mean first passage times from any such region to another. The role of the free energy and diffusion coefficient in this overdamped Langevin equation is discussed, along with the way they transform under any change of variable in collective variable space. These results apply both to systems with and without inertia, and they can be generalized to using several collective variables simultaneously. The view they offer on what makes collective variables and reaction coordinates optimal breaks from the standard notion that good collective variable must be slow variable, and it suggests new ways to interpret data from molecular dynamics simulations and experiments.


OBJECTIVE
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic musculoskeletal disease characterized by progressive destruction of articular cartilage, OA lead to chronic pain and functional restrictions in affected joints. The present study was to investigate the role of osteopontin (OPN) in the athogenesis of OA through studying the effect of OPN on expression of IL-6 and IL-8 inflammatory factors in human OA chondrocytes.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
One-step type II collagenase digestive method was used to isolate OA chondrocytes from sectional cartilage specimens of 16 primary knee OA patients received total knee replacement surgery. Synchronized first-generation chondrocytes were then treated with OPN (100 ng/ml or 1 µg/mL). The changes in cell morphology of OA chondrocytes were analyzed before and after treated with OPN; and the expression levels of IL-6 and IL-8 were evaluated by real-time q-PCR.

RESULTS
Chondrocytes were successfully isolated from human OA knee cartilage, and the viability of isolated chondrocytes was 92.11±3.13%. Adherent chondrocytes formed clusters of irregular polygonal shape with intercellular pseudopodia extension. After OPN treatment, cells became fusiform or irregularly shaped, and the number of intercellular pseudopodia decreased significantly. The mRNA expression of IL-6 increased to 1.83 times at 0.1 µg/ml of OPN and 3.1 times at the dose of 1 µg/ml; the expression of IL-8 increased to 1.57 and 3.27 times at the dose of 0.1 µg/ml and 1 µg/ml respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
OPN could up-regulate expression of IL-6 and IL-8 cytokines in human OA chondrocytes, and the expression increased with the increasing concentration of OPN, which might be one of the potential mechanisms of OPN in the development of OA.


The author analyzes the configuration of the 555 timer from the pulsewidth and frequency modulation viewpoint, derives the governing expression, and provides practical nomograms for the design and analysis of pulsewidth and frequency modulators. Suitable examples are included. The limitations of the commercially available 555 timer can easily be overcome by using discrete components in the implementation along with high-speed voltage comparators and gates.


The title compound was synthesized in the form of a powder, and was studied by elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetry and mass spectroscopy. Its crystal structure was then determined by X-ray powder diffractometry, using X-ray diffraction data collected in the reflection Bragg-Brentano geometry. The methodology followed in the present study to resolve the crystal structure consisted of peak indexing, then the use of the Monte-Carlo/parallel tempering search algorithm, and finally Rietveld refinement coupled with difference-Fourier synthesis. We found that the crystals are composed of monoclinic unit cells, with 1.5 molecules in the asymmetric unit and therefore six molecules per unit cell. In addition, we concluded that the complexes adopt a planar conformation, forming trimers created by groups of parallel molecules.


Physical properties such as displacement obtained by experimental methods in civil engineering structures and modal parameters contain important information about the current state of the structure. The determination of these parameters is usually done by the time history analysis of the data collected by acceleration, velocity and displacement. In order to determine the structure behavior under dynamic effects, a finite element analysis is often preferred. In this study, the effects of earthquake acceleration records applied in different ratios in the 3D steel frame system with semi-rigid joint are investigated. The analysis results reveal that the effect of semi-rigid connections on structural systems is significant. In the 3 storey steel frame with semi-rigid assembly, the effect of these connections on the system is presented numerically and visually. Comparison of the dynamic displacement of finite element model with experimental data has %99 achieved in good relation with visual inspection.


Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is a helpful tool to understand how a battery is behaving and how it degrades. One of the disadvantages is that it is typically an "off-line" process. This paper investigates an alternative method of looking at impedance spectroscopy of a battery system while it is on-line and operational by manipulating the switching pattern of the dc-dc converter to generate low frequency harmonics in conjunction with the normal high frequency switching pattern to determine impedance in real time. However, this adds extra ripple on the inductor which needs to be included in the design calculations. The paper describes the methodology and presents some experimental results in conjunction with EIS results to illustrate the concept.


Lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV), the invasive infection of the sexually transmissible infection (STI) Chlamydia trachomatis, is caused by strains from the LGV biovar, most commonly represented by ompA-genotypes L2b and L2. We investigated the diversity in LGV samples across an international collection over seven years using typing and genome sequencing. LGV-positive samples (n=321) from eight countries collected between 2011 and 2017 (Spain n=97, Netherlands n=67, Switzerland n=64, Australia n=53, Sweden n=37, Hungary n=31, Czechia n=30, Slovenia n=10) were genotyped for pmpH and ompA variants. All were found to contain the 9 bp insertion in the pmpH gene, previously associated with ompA-genotype L2b. However, analysis of the ompA gene shows ompA-genotype L2b (n=83), ompA-genotype L2 (n=180) and several variants of these (n=52; 12 variant types), as well as other/mixed ompA-genotypes (n=6). To elucidate the genomic diversity, whole genome sequencing (WGS) was performed from selected samples using SureSelect target enrichment, resulting in 42 genomes, covering a diversity of ompA-genotypes and representing most of the countries sampled. A phylogeny of these data clearly shows that these ompA-genotypes derive from an ompA-genotype L2b ancestor, carrying up to eight SNPs per isolate. SNPs within ompA are overrepresented among genomic changes in these samples, each of which results in an amino acid change in the variable domains of OmpA (major outer membrane protein, MOMP). A reversion to ompA-genotype L2 with the L2b genomic backbone is commonly seen. The wide diversity of ompA-genotypes found in these recent LGV samples indicates that this gene is under immunological selection. Our results suggest that the ompA-genotype L2b genomic backbone is the dominant strain circulating and evolving particularly in men who have sex with men (MSM) populations.


The percentage of older adults increases globally with an increased need for medical care. To support the idea of successful active aging, e-health seems to be an interesting concept. This study was conducted as a systematic literature study, with the aim to identify and discuss determinant factors in the Human computer interaction of eHealth for older adults. The important main research question to answer was: What are the critical challenges to address for an improved human computer interaction in technology enhanced health care systems for older adults? Findings show that there are several critical factors to consider, with trust, personal integrity, technological acceptance, e-health literacy and accessibility of ICT as the most determinant. If the found challenges are addressed, it might be possible to achieve the identified aim of independent living. The recommendation is a human computer interaction that is elderly centred, and involves the elderly users in the design process. However, no ICT enhanced system will be user-friendly enough to take away the need for social and technological support.


Objectives: To investigate symptoms of autonomic dysfunction in patients with migraine with aura and without aura. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted for 36 migraine patients who presented to our hospital and autonomic nervous system symptoms were assessed using the COMPASS-31 questionnaire in comparison to a control group of 18 subjects. Results: A total of 54 patients, including 36 migraine patients and 18 control groups, were included in the study. Twenty-six of the migraine patients (72.2%) were female and others were male. The average age is 35.5 It was observed that autonomic nervous system symptoms were more frequently observed in patients with aura migraine. Conclusion: We believe that it is important to recognize and watch out for symptoms of autonomic dysfunction particularly in patients with migraine with aura to develop specific treatment strategies and to reduce associated functional disability.


Segregated in the hills of Rio de Janeiro, favelas are socially and economically marginalized slums, with pervasive drug crime. As a result of limited government intervention, drug lords assume the mandate in these sectors, reinforcing poverty and social exclusion. Traditional approaches to poverty analyze this context with capital scarcity as a point of reference.  Moreover, the concept of capital has been used to denounce structural inequalities that are reproduced in social classes. By the same token, it is argued that the accumulation of capital may lead to social mobility. Low-income neighborhoods have their own resources and forms of mobilization.  Conditions of precariousness can be explored without focusing on the absence of resources, but rather on the ways in which local capital gets mobilized and converted.  In the favelas, drug gangs have their own capital dynamics that make them acquire and retain control over the territory.   In this paper, I examine how capital conversion and mobilization among members of organized crime in these districts of Rio de Janeiro reinforce structural inequalities by perpetuating social exclusion.


Probably not many physicians are familiar with the excellent series of books published by the United States Department of Agriculture in their Yearbook Series. I first came to know these books in the early years of World War II when the 1941 Yearbook of Agriculture, entitled Climate and Man , proved a fertile source of information and a very helpful reference book with its many tables of environmental temperatures throughout the world and a condensation of much of the information then available about this aspect of man's ecology. Others I have used for reference from time to time include Soils and Men, Food and Life, Farmers in a Changing World , and Science in Farming . The whole collection is one of real distinction. In many respects it shows that practical and applied scientific information may be combined effectively. The 1959 issue of the Yearbook of Agriculture entitled Food was distributed at the


Amelioration of neuropathic spinal cord injury (SCI) pain is a clinical challenge. Increasing the endocannabinoid anandamide and other fatty acid amides (FAA) by blocking fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) has been shown to be antinociceptive in a number of animal models of chronic pain. However, an antinociceptive effect of blocking FAAH has yet to be demonstrated in a rat model of neuropathic SCI pain. Four weeks following a SCI, rats developed significantly decreased hind paw withdrawal thresholds, indicative of below-level cutaneous hypersensitivity. A group of SCI rats were systemically treated (i.p.) with either the selective FAAH inhibitor URB597 or vehicle twice daily for seven days. A separate group of SCI rats received a single dose (p.o.) of either the selective FAAH inhibitor PF-3845 or vehicle. Following behavioral testing, levels of the FAA N-arachidonoylethanolamide, N-oleoyl ethanolamide and N-palmitoyl ethanolamide were quantified in brain and spinal cord from SCI rats. Four weeks following SCI, FAA levels were markedly reduced in spinal cord tissue. Although systemic treatment with URB597 significantly increased CNS FAA levels, no antinociceptive effect was observed. A significant elevation of CNS FAA levels was also observed following oral PF-3845 treatment, but only a modest antinociceptive effect was observed. Increasing CNS FAA levels alone does not lead to robust amelioration of below-level neuropathic SCI pain. Perhaps utilizing FAAH inhibition in conjunction with other analgesic mechanisms could be an effective analgesic therapy.


In the field of geophysics, several electromagnetic processes using waveforms, such as the full waveform inversion technique or the migration procedure, have been applied to visualize the subsurface structure. While this process is very powerful and effective to interpret the subsurface structure, there are some difficulties in this process when the phase velocity takes complex value, i.e., the propagation of waves includes diffusive process. One method to avoid the instability due to the divergence of energy in the back propagation is to use the reciprocity to propagate from the locations of receivers to every imaging point. However, although this method to exploit the reciprocity theorem is a powerful scheme, amplitude attenuation and phase delay affects could be doubled due to the application of two-way forward propagation procedure in the imaging. In the conventional waveform inversion analysis, the result involves phase delay concomitantly during the back propagate process. Our novel electromagnetic migration process could overcome this problem. Unlike conventional back propagate process, we invert the time of the residual waveform using forward propagation of this waveform. Then, we summed the resulting waveform without phase delay. Although the amplitude would takes place, it is pretty important to recover the phase delay caused by the forward propagation from imaging points to receivers. We applied this migration process for the improvement of the eddy current testing method that is one of the non-destructive inspection techniques and confirmed this migration works well.


We study nonzero-sum hypothesis testing games that arise in the context of adversarial classification, in both the Bayesian as well as the Neyman-Pearson frameworks. We first show that these games admit mixed strategy Nash equilibria, and then we examine some interesting concentration phenomena of these equilibria. Our main results are on the exponential rates of convergence of classification errors at equilibrium, which are analogous to the well-known Chernoff-Stein lemma and Chernoff information that describe the error exponents in the classical binary hypothesis testing problem, but with parameters derived from the adversarial model. The results are validated through numerical experiments.


In the present study, the effect of cooling condition on hot tearing tendency and hot tearing fracture surface morphology were investigated. Results show that, the hot tear fracture surface characteristics are nearly similar under different cooling conditions. The hot tear surface exhibits two main features; the brittle region and the ductile region. The results also indicate that cooling condition has multifaceted effects on hot tearing phenomenon. Increasing cooling rate increases the thermal gradient, which raises the hot tearing tendency; concomitantly it decreases the grain size and dendrite arm spacing which increases the strength of the material. The occurrence of hot tearing phenomenon under different cooling conditions is discussed and evaluated based on the competition between these opposing factors during the solidification process.


Construction firms in regional areas face considerable challenges to their competitiveness. Logistics, availability of suitable personnel, unfamiliarity with trading partners, and the tyranny of distance conspire to obstruct profitable engagement beyond their local area. Electronic information and communication technology (ICT) such as web-based project management applications and other forms of collaborative data sharing have the potential to mitigate many of these obstacles, but have yet to gain widespread acceptance, particularly by smaller regional firms who question their cost effectiveness. The attitudes of decision-makers and the impact of their decisions on intra- and inter-firm culture lie at the heart of ICT-mediated innovation. This paper presents a case study of a specialist subcontractor located in regional New South Wales and its involvement in a New Zealand project, whose competitiveness arose from using ICT to integrate its own supply chain. It also provided additional value by triggering collaboration and integration in the broader project team. The case reveals that these outcomes were symptomatic of the organisational culture of the subcontractor, and were achieved through a combination of leadership, collaboration, flexibility and pragmatism, redolent of dynamic capabilities.


Purpose: Transnationalism—maintenance of transborder activities—has important implications for the health status of contemporary immigrants. Yet little is known about how such interconnectivity interacts with health. Design: In this critical ethnography study, 31 Haitian immigrants discussed the influences of transnationalism on their hypertension management. Transcripts of the semistructured individual interviews were analyzed and coded with the assistance of the Atlas.ti 6 software. Findings: Two major themes emerged: social support and financial obligation, both framed within the obligation to send monetary remittances. A duality emerged where social support facilitated hypertension self-management but consequently represented a financial burden. Discussion and implications: The study evidenced that transnationalism, although positively influencing immigrants' psychosocial well-being can negatively affect their experience with disease management. Health providers are urged to account for this transnationalism–disease management interaction when caring for this immigrant group. Future studies are needed to explore this phenomenon among other immigrant populations.


This paper considers three rationales for the use of automatic gain control (AGC) in hearing aids, and particularly multi-channel AGC. One rationale is to restore loudness relations among the acoustical elements of speech to what they would be for a normal ear. At present, there seems to be little evidence to support the idea that such loudness relations are critical for speech intelligibility. A second rationale is to reduce the effects of narrowband interfering sounds. This may be applicable in some restricted situations, but not in many others. The third rationale, the one considered here to be most important, is to ensure that all of the important elements in speech are comfortably audible. This can be achieved using two forms of AGC: slow-acting AGC operating on the whole speech signal, to compensate for variations in overall sound level from one situation to another; and fast-acting (syllabic) compression acting independently in a number of bands, to compensate for differences in level of acoustical elements within speech. To reduce spectral and temporal distortions introduced by the syllabic compression, the number of bands should be small (probably two or three) and the amount of compression should be the minimum required to ensure that all of the important elements in speech are audible. It is concluded that gain control can be useful for increasing user comfort and for ensuring the audibility of speech sounds. It is not likely to restore impaired hearing to normal for most patients, but may usefully be employed in conjunction with other forms of signal processing.


Objective: This research was aimed to find the influencing factors and preventive methods of lower extremity varicose veins in female nurse's population working in 3A grade hospitals in east china.
Methods: A questionnaire survey was carried out in 1198 nurses randomly selected from three 3A grade hospitals through multiple stages sampling in east china. Descriptive statistically analysis was performed to describe the current situation of lower extremity varicose veins in nurses. Univariate and multivariate logistic analysis were used to explore the main risk factors of lower extremity varicose veins in female nurses.
Results: Logistic regression analysis showed that age (OR=1.317, 95%CI: 1.196-1.450), standing time (OR=1.712, 95%CI: -2.423 1.209) and family medical history (OR=2.706, 95%CI: 1.444-5.073) were main risk factors. Elastic stockings (OR= 0.052, 95%CI: 0.025-0.107), legs-raising (OR=0.201, 95%CI: 0.095-0.425) and physical exercise (OR=0.141, 95%CI: 0.072-0.274) were main protective factors. What's more, age (r=0.47, P < 0.01) and working years (r=0.51, P<0.01) were linearly related to lower extremity varicose veins in nurses population respectively.
Conclusion: Age, standing time and family medical history are risk factors of varicose veins among female nurses in east china hospitals. Protective factors include stretch socks, legs-raising, physical exercise, no cross-legged sitting, legs massage, eating few high-fat foods, wearing flat shoes and knowing the risk factors of varicose veins.


Estimating feature point correspondence is a common technique in computer vision. A line of recent data-driven approaches utilizing the graph neural networks improved the matching accuracy by a large margin. However, these learning-based methods require a lot of labeled training data, which are expensive to collect. Moreover, we find most methods are sensitive to global transforms, for example, a random rotation. On the contrary, classical geometric approaches are immune to rotational transformation though their performance is generally inferior. To tackle these issues, we propose a new learning-based matching framework, which is designed to be rotationally invariant. The model only takes geometric information as input. It consists of three parts: a graph neural network to generate a high-level local feature, an attention-based module to normalize the rotational transform, and a global feature matching module based on proximal optimization. To justify our approach, we provide a convergence guarantee for the proximal method for graph matching. The overall performance is validated by numerical experiments. In particular, our approach is trained on the synthetic random graphs and then applied to several real-world datasets. The experimental results demonstrate that our method is robust to rotational transform and highlights its strong performance of matching accuracy.


The PIN domain plays a central role in cellular RNA biology and is involved in processes as diverse as rRNA maturation, mRNA decay and telomerase function. Here, we solve the crystal structure of the Rae1 (YacP) protein of Bacillus subtilis, a founding member of the NYN (Nedd4‐BP1/YacP nuclease) subfamily of PIN domain proteins, and identify potential substrates in vivo. Unexpectedly, degradation of a characterised target mRNA was completely dependent on both its translation and reading frame. We provide evidence that Rae1 associates with the B. subtilis ribosome and cleaves between specific codons of this mRNA in vivo. Critically, we also demonstrate translation‐dependent Rae1 cleavage of this substrate in a purified translation assay in vitro. Multiple lines of evidence converge to suggest that Rae1 is an A‐site endoribonuclease. We present a docking model of Rae1 bound to the B. subtilis ribosomal A‐site that is consistent with this hypothesis and show that Rae1 cleaves optimally immediately upstream of a lysine codon (AAA or AAG) in vivo.


The involvement of tau phosphorylation in apoptosis resembling Alzheimer's disease (AD) was investigated using a cell model of P19 cells stably expressing human tau441 (tau/P19 cells). Apoptotic cell death was observed specifically in tau/P19 cells during neural differentiation with retinoic acid (RA) treatment. A CaM kinase II inhibitor, KN-93, protected tau/P19 cells from apoptosis, although it stimulated the cell death of wild-type P19 cells (wt/P19 cells). W-7 and calmidazolium, calmodulin antagonists, also specifically inhibited the apoptosis of tau/P19 cells. LiCl, an inhibitor of glycogen synthase 3, a tau kinase, was effective in protecting tau/P19 cells from apoptosis, but the protective effect was less than that of CaM kinase II inhibitor and calmodulin antagonists. Tau in the nuclei of tau/P19 cells was phosphorylated at the sites for CaM kinase II detected by an antibody recognizing a phosphorylated form of tau. These results indicated that CaM kinase II was involved in the apoptosis of tau/P19 cells induced by RA treatment.


Antenatal care (ANC) service in Puskesmas (Primary Health Center) Lamepayung district of Kuningan was not successfully performed due to low re-visit of pregnant women to Puskesmas (K4). Service quality of ANC could be viewed from 5 dimensions of quality: reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangible. This quality achievement could be measured by satisfaction level. The objective of this study was to analyze the influence of perception on ANC service quality to pregnant women satisfaction.

This is an analytical observational study using cross sectional approach. The number of respondents included in this study was 106 pregnant women who visited Puskesmas Lamepayung for the first time.

Results of the study showed that most of respondents were 20-35 years of age (87.7%), having high school level of education (61.3%), unemployed (76.4%) and having family social status of 'sejahtera 1' (90.6%). More than half of respondents (52.38%) had good level of satisfaction. Perception on the ANC service quality in the dimension of reliability was good (55.66%), good on responsiveness (44.34%), good on assurance (49.06%), good on empathy (45.28%) and good on tangible (52.83%). There was an association between level of satisfaction and reliability (p: 0.001), responsiveness (p: 0.005), assurance (p: 0.010), empathy (p: 0.022) and tangible (p: 0.007). It was found that there were 4 variables of quality dimension which influenced satisfaction level. Those variables were reliability (p: 0.009), assurance (p: 0.008), empathy (p: 0.016) and tangible (p: 0.006).

 It was suggested to Puskesmas to increase the quality of the reliability dimension. Blood sample taking by midwife for blood examination had to be consistent with the guidelines and it had to be done to every pregnant woman. In the dimension of responsiveness, health officers should provide service promptly to shorten the waiting time by pregnant women.


Purpose: Branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) can boost anabolism through an increase in the internal concentration of BCAA, which leads to facilitating anabolic hormone release to stimulate the power of the muscles. Studies on administration of BCAA to minimize fatigue substances during long periods of high intensity exercise have been conducted. However, there are disagreements concerning the results of these studies.Method: A comprehensive search was performed on electronic databases up to November 2019 for trials evaluating the effects of BCAA on recovery following exercise. Mean ± standard deviation of follow-up cortisol, insulin, ammonia, and lactate concentrations were extracted to calculate the effect size for meta-analysis.Results: A total of 146 participants for cortisol and 279 participants for lactate were found from the 7 and 15 studies, respectively. The results revealed a significant effect of BCAA supplementation on cortisol concentration during 120≤ min post exercise follow-up. Moreover, without considering follow-up times, an overall analysis showed that BCAA was effective in reducing blood lactate in aerobic exercise and the trained status of athletes.Conclusions: The advantages of BCAA administration relate to a reduction in cortisol concentration after 2h and ameliorated muscle function because of a probable attenuation of fatigue substances immediately after exercise.


It is common practice to assess the passivity properties of rational macromodels via the eigenvalues of a particular Hamiltonian matrix that is established from the model's state-space representation. The size of the test matrix is equal to twice the number of states, which can make the eigenvalue computation time consuming in the case of large models. In this paper we explore the application of a half-size test matrix that was recently introduced for use with scattering (S-) parameter models. The new test matrix is shown to reduce the computation time by a factor of about eight, and it avoids the need for thresholding when processing the eigenvalues.


Previously developed models of reproductive skew have overlooked one of the main reasons why subordinates might remain in a group despite restricted opportunities to breed: the possibility of social queuing, i.e. acquiring dominant status in the future. Here, we present a dynamic ESS model of skew in animal societies that incorporates both immediate and future fitness consequences of the decisions taken by group members, based on their probability of surviving from one season to the next (when post–breeding survival probabilities drop to zero, our analysis reduces to the model produced by Reeve and Ratnieks in 1993, which considered only a single breeding season). This allows us to compare the delayed benefits of philopatry and the immediate opportunities for independent breeding. We show that delayed benefits greatly reduce the need for dominants to offer reproductive concessions to retain subordinates peacefully in the group. Moreover, this effect is strong enough that differences in survival have a much greater impact on the group structure than differences in other parameters, such as relatedness. When the possibility of acceding to dominant status is taken into account, groups where the dominant completely monopolizes reproduction can be stable, even if they consist of unrelated individuals, and even if subordinates have a reasonably high probability of winning a fight for dominance. Finally, we show that stable groups are possible even if association leads to a decrease in current productivity. Subordinates may still stand to gain from group membership under these circumstances, as acquiring breeding positions by queuing may be more efficient than the attempt to establish a new territory. At the same time, the dominant may be unable to exclude unwelcome subordinates, may enjoy increased survival when they are present, or may gain indirect benefits from allowing relatives to stay and queue for dominance. We conclude that reproductive skew in animal groups, ranging from eusocial insect colonies to mating aggregations (leks), will be strongly influenced by the future prospects of group members.


Abstract Predator diets represent a potential interaction between local prey availability, prey antipredator defenses, and predator foraging behavior. Female spider-specialist mud-dauber wasps (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) collect spiders and provision them intact, but paralyzed, to their developing larvae, providing a unique means of quantifying the diversity and abundance of prey that they capture. Mud-dauber wasps are hypothesized to be a major source of selection on antipredator defenses in web-building spiders, and the spiny and thickened abdomens of female spiny orb-weaving spiders (Araneae: Araneidae) are hypothesized to function as antiwasp defenses. We inventoried spider prey from nests of the mud-dauber wasps Sceliphron caementarium (Drury) and Chalybion californicum (Saussure), and surveyed for spider fauna in areas surrounding nest collection sites, to specifically investigate if the spiny orb-weaver Micrathena gracilis (Walckenaer) was collected as prey by these wasps. We collected nests from six sites in southeastern Nebraska from two regions that we classify based on habitat—a forest corridor and agricultural land. We collected 761 intact spider prey from 87 nests and identified them to the family level. None of these spiders were M. gracilis. Micrathena gracilis were rare in faunal surveys on agricultural land and, surprisingly, absent in forest corridor surveys. Mud-dauber wasps were more common; we collected more spiders on agricultural land than in the forest corridor. We propose that in agricultural landscapes, the lack of certain spiders in mud-dauber wasp nests is driven by habitat use differences between predators and prey rather than physical antipredator defenses.


S ir, number of siblings per family was 2.2. Among the siblings of the 200 patients with AD, 32 (16%) had AD. In the group of A recent hypothesis proposed that atopic dermatitis (AD) may result from a faulty selection of T-lymphocytes in the thymus 18 patients with severe AD, 28% had siblings with AD. AD was mild in 93 (46.5%), moderate in 89 (44.5%) and with ''dysmatured'' T-cells leaving the thymus and continuing growth in the skin, where they eventually are eradicated by severe in 18 (9%). The Ž ndings in the 3 groups were, respectively, mean paternal age 28.1, 29 and 25 years; mean maternal the patient's immune system. The aberrant T-cells are suggested to be responsible for a cytokine imbalance and the age 28.9, 26 and 29 years; gestationally mature 2%, 0% and 0%; premature 5%, 8% and 0%; Ž rst-born 46%, 49% and 44%; development of type I allergies (1). Recent epidemiological data from several European countries may indirectly support second-born 39%, 26% and 33%; third-born 12%, 13% and 11%; fourth-born 2%, 10% and 11%; and Ž fth-born 1.8%, 0% this hypothesis: an increasing prevalence of AD in most countries around the world (2), the older age of Ž rst-time and 0%. mothers, a positive relation between the increased prevalence of AD and increased parity, increased gestational age and AD DISCUSSION (3, 4) and the sibling eŒect (5, 6). The purpose of the present study was to investigate the At the NIP in Mexico City a 4% increase of AD has taken historical prevalence of AD at the National Institute of place since the mid-1980s. The same diagnostic criteria were Pediatrics (NIP) of Mexico City since 1971. In addition, we used by the same paediatric dermatologists. However, it cannot studied a cohort of 200 children with AD and 200 healthy be excluded that a change in referral pattern contributed to children under the following parameters: parental age, gestathis increase. tional age, birthweight, distribution of children in the family, The sample, comprising a cohort of 200 non-atopic children and severity of AD. and 200 children with AD, was large enough to detect any signiŽ cant diŒerences. The general characteristics of both MATERIAL AND METHODS groups were similar. All children were of middle to low socioeconomic status, living in urban or suburban areas of From 1971 to 1998 all charts of paediatric patients aged from birth Mexico City. Among the patients with AD, 26.5% were single to 17 years, and with a clinical diagnosis of AD were reviewed. The children and 20% were Ž rst-born among their siblings. These diagnosis of AD was made by the same experienced paediatric dermatologists, and was based on criteria similar to those used by 2 groups accounted for 46.5% of all cases of AD; therefore, HaniŽ n & Rajka (7). In total, 200 mothers of children with AD from taken together, the highest proportion of AD was observed in the outpatient clinic at the NIP, and 200 mothers of healthy children Ž rst-born children. If only patients with siblings were taken without a persona l or family history of atopy from the clinic for into consideration, second-born children had the highest prohealthy children were interviewed . The following data were recorded: sex, age, socioeconomic status, dwelling place, birthweight of the index portion of AD. This is in accordance with the ''old mother'' child, maternal and paternal ages at the time the child was born, hypothesis and against the sibling eŒect. The inverse associnumber and birth order of siblings, and written consent to participate ation between the number of older siblings and the in the study. Gestational age was based on the date of the last menses. risk of atopy has been explained by the fact that the risk of Prenatal care was provided in all cases by a gynaecologist –obstetrician. early infections increases with sibship size. In children with Mature newborns were those of 37–40 weeks' gestation, preterm those of < 37 weeks' gestation, and post-term those of > 40 weeks' gestation. older siblings infections may stimulate the development The severity of AD was rated at the moment of the interview of Th1-lymphocytes and inhibit the proliferation of Th2according to the extension of cutaneous involvemen t based on the lymphocytes (5, 6). In a recent report it was found that rule of nines (8), as follows: mild, < 30% involvement ; moderate, having older siblings within a family is negatively associated 30–50% involvement ; and severe, > 50% involvement . The sample size of 200 children in each group was calculated to be with a history of paternal atopy (6). In our patients the family su cient for statistical analysis. history of atopy was only investigated in siblings. Prematurity has proven not to be related to AD (9). Postmaturity, however, has been found to have a signiŽ cant RESULTS correlation with the risk of developing AD (10). In the present study there were more postmature cases in the control group The prevalence of AD among 10,000 patients consulting for the Ž rst time at our Department was 12.9% from 1971 to (n = 6) than in the AD group (n = 2). There were also more preterm cases in the control group (n = 16) than in the AD 1981. Between 1982 and 1998 the prevalence was 16.9% among 32,460 Ž rst-time patients (p< 0.03). group (n = 12). It has been suggested that higher birthweight is a ''dysmaturation'' manifestation in patients with AD (4). There were no signiŽ cant diŒerences between the 200 nonatopic, healthy children and the 200 children with AD on any In our study the control group had even slightly higher birthweights than the AD group. In relation to the severity of of the parameters studied. Among children with AD 53 (26.5%) were single children AD there were no signiŽ cant diŒerences between mild, moderate and severe cases in relation to the total number of cases. and 147 (73.5%) had siblings. In the latter group 40 (20% of total AD cases) were the Ž rst-born child in the family. Thus, In conclusion, the immune dysmaturation hypothesis, which is in part supported by the ''old mother'' hypothesis, cannot of the patients with siblings, signiŽ cantly more children with AD were second-born compared with Ž rst-born (p< 0.05). fully explain the increased prevalence of AD in our group of patients, but cannot be excluded as a factor in AD. The patients with AD had a total of 437 siblings. The mean


This paper aims to evaluate the suitability of current deep learning methods for clinical workflow especially by focusing on dermatology. Although deep learning methods have been attempted to get dermatologist level accuracy in several individual conditions, it has not been rigorously tested for common clinical complaints. Most projects involve data acquired in well-controlled laboratory conditions. This may not reflect regular clinical evaluation where corresponding image quality is not always ideal. We test the robustness of deep learning methods by simulating non-ideal characteristics on user submitted images of ten classes of diseases. Assessing via imitated conditions, we have found the overall accuracy to drop and individual predictions change significantly in many cases despite of robust training.


This introductory chapter describes the general principles of photosynthetic solar energy exploitation as the unique Gibbs energy source of living matter. The overall process can be subdivided into two sequences: (a) light-driven reactions, referred to as "Primary Processes of Photosynthesis", which lead to the formation of "energy rich" bound hydrogen (TH2) and ATP, and (b) fixation of primordial carbon, nitrogen and sulfur compounds (where CO2 transformation into carbohydrates is by far the most abundant process) with TH2 as reductant and ATP as driving force for the endergonic reactions.This chapter focuses on the functional and structural organization of the "Primary Processes of Photosynthesis". After a brief discussion of the underlying principles of harvesting of light and its transformation into electrochemical Gibbs energy by radical pair formation in pigment–protein complexes, the two types of reaction centers (type I and type II) and the two different modes of photosynthesis in anoxygenic (non-oxygen evolving) and oxygenic (oxygen evolving) organisms are outlined. It is emphasized that anoxygenic (bacterial) photosynthesis is energetically driven by only one type of reaction center (RC)(either RC I or RC II) while in oxygenic photosynthesis both types of RCs act in series, leading to electron transport from water to NADP+.Anisotropic incorporation of the functional complexes into membranes leads to vectorial electron transfer and spatial separation of oxidant- and reductant-induced reactions concomitant with the formation of a transmembrane electrochemical potential difference for protons, providing the driving force for ATP synthesis.The general architecture of the photosynthetic apparatus and its structural organization within different membrane systems of anoxygenic and oxygenic organisms are described. Finally principles and strategies for construction of biometric systems are briefly discussed.


This guide is intended to serve as a supplemental resource for participants in the UNLV University Libraries workshop, "Presidential Power: Understanding the Issues from a Social Justice Perspective."


In India, financial literacy could now be only for the disadvantaged needy / underprivileged / poor but this is a continuous process where all citizens of the country should be periodically educated, which would become a certain tool to pave for the economic growth and the strength of the country. Recently our Prime Minister has announced series of ambitious social security schemes, relating to the pension and insurance sector and intended at widening the process of financial inclusion. The schemes like Jan Suraksha Yojana under the Jan-Dhan Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana (APY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (accident insurance), Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana (life insurance), launch of MUDRA Bank will only be successful if the people are clearly aware about the importance of insurance, formal banking transactions, old age pensions etc. These initiatives provide policy push to encourage savings and insurance through PMJDY and social security schemes as well as push credit for businesses through MUDRA. On the other side, RBI's policy push towards setting up of differentiated banks (Small Finance Banks (SFBs) and Payment Banks (PBs)) will provide avenues for creating last mile institutional infrastructure for financial inclusion in the next 15–18 months. While these are tremendous efforts that can have significant outcomes in terms of making financial services accessible to all, especially to low-income households, these outcomes cannot be achieved if potential customers are not aware of the programmes and how to benefit from them. Hence, first and the foremost there is an urgent need to educate the financially excluded sections about these schemes. In this context financial literacy is comes first and financial inclusion later.


Camera-based lane detection and vehicle tracking algorithms are one of the keystones for many autonomous systems. The navigational process of those systems is mainly focused on the output of detection algorithms. However, detection algorithms for lane detection need more pre-processing time and computational effort. They are also affected by environmental conditions and must regularly be improved. In this paper machine learning techniques and computer vision algorithms are utilized for the tasks of the lane and vehicle tracking of an autonomous vehicle control scenario. With the nature of used learning algorithm, the proposed system can handle complex image problems. The vehicle, on which we implement our algorithms, can manage to carry out the following tasks autonomously; tracking the lanes, following another vehicle, and stopping in necessary conditions. For that, one of the primary purposes is image-based lane tracking methodology by using learning algorithms. Data augmentation is applied to create diversity for the dataset. Application in this methodology has been discussed. For lane tracking Convolutional Neural Network architecture which is based on NVIDIA's PilotNet is preferred. For detecting objects and vehicles, the system is trained on the faster region-based convolutional neural network (Faster R-CNN) to identify traffic light and stop sign are by Haar Cascade Classifier. All these learning models are trained on NVIDIA GTX 1070 Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) to reduce training time. Experimental results showed that the proposed system gives a favorable result to autonomously control vehicles for lane and vehicle tracking purposes by vision.


Amrithadi Churnam – a compound ayurvedic preparation made up of Tinospora cordifolia, Salacia prenoides, Curcuma longa, Tribulus terrestris and Emblica Officinalis was screened for its antidiabetic activity. From the studies it could be established that Amrithadi churnam at a dose level of 100mg/kg b.w. was the optimum dose in alloxan diabetic rats. No toxic effects were observed as evidenced by the study of liver enzymes and blood haematoerit. An extra pancreatic role of the drug cannot be rulled out, since it (100 mg/kg b.w) produced significant decrease in blood sugar level in alloxan diabetic rats.


Plant tissue organization is maintained at all formative steps during root growth by the same set of transcription factors. The growing plant root undergoes a variety of developmental steps that determine thickness and branching as the roots elaborate. Moreno-Risueno et al. identify a suite of transcription factors, some of which mobilize between cells, that regulate shifting fates during root growth. The same set of transcription factors governs identity and proliferation of the stem cells as well as the fates of daughter cells. M. A. Moreno-Risueno, R. Sozzani, G. G. Yardımcı, J. J. Petricka, T. Vernoux, I. Blilou, J. Alonso, C. M. Winter, U. Ohler, B. Scheres, P. N. Benfey, Transcriptional control of tissue formation throughout root development. Science 350, 426–430 (2015). [Abstract] [Full Text]


The variations in the microstructure and tensile properties of dual-matrix ductile irons have been investigated non-destructively by Magnetic Barkhausen Noise (MBN) method. Specimens have been intercritically austenitised at 795°C and 815°C for 20 minutes, and then oil-quenched to obtain different martensite volume fractions. Two specimens, namely as-cast and oil-quenched from 900°C, were prepared for comparison purpose. To investigate the effect of tempering, some specimens were tempered at 500°C for 1 h and 3 h. The results showed that there is a good correlation between MBN response and variations in microstructure and mechanical properties. The volume fraction of martensite can be controlled to modify the mechanical properties, and all changes in the microstructure can be nondestructively monitored by MBN.


Originally published in French, written by a Belgian radiologist, Dr. Marcel Brombart, in 1954, Clinical Radiology of the Oesophagus was translated into English by an Irish radiologist, Dr. Sheila Kenny, in 1961. The international aspects of this book are matched by the broad audience to which it is addressed: radiologists, gastroenterologists, otorhinologists, thoracic surgeons, and physicians. The radiographs are excellent technically as well as for the purpose of illustrating the various diseases. Also contained are extensive instructions as to radiographic techniques for examining the anatomic and neuromuscular disorders of the pharynx and esophagus. Many diagrammatic sketches are included which enhance and clarify the x-rays, the anatomy of the pharynx and esophagus, and the relationship of the adjacent structures to the esophagus. Since the writing of this monograph in 1954, a good deal of progress, however, has been made as to the physiology of the esophagus as well as the pathophysiology


We report herein the establishment of a single-cell compression method based on force measurements in atomic force microscopy (AFM). The high-resolution bright-field or confocal laser scanning microscopy guides the location of the AFM probe and then monitors the deformation of cell shape, while microsphere-modified AFM probes compress the cell and measure the force. Force and deformation profiles of living cells reveal a cubic relationship at small deformation (<30%), multiple peaks at 30-70% compression, and a rapid increase at over 80% deformation. The initial compression may be described qualitatively and quantitatively using a simple model of a nonpermeable balloon filled with incompressible fluid. Stress peaks reflect cell membrane rupture, followed by the deformation and rupture of intracellular components, beyond which the cell responses become irreversible. The Young's modulus and bending constant of living cell membranes are extracted from the balloon models, with 10-30 MPa and 17-52 kT, respectively. The initial compression of dead and fixed cells is modeled using Hertzian contact theory, assuming that the cell is a homogeneous sphere. Dead cells exhibit a cytoskeleton elasticity of 4-7.5 kPa, while fixation treatment leads to a dramatic increase in the cytoskeletal Young's modulus (150-230 kPa) due to protein cross-linking by imine bonds. These results demonstrate the high sensitivity of the single-cell compression method to the molecular-level structural changes of cells, which suggests a new generic platform for investigating cell mechanics in tissue engineering and cancer research.


The adaptor protein TSAd helps endothelial cells disconnect so that they can migrate and form new blood vessels. Disconnecting endothelial cells for new blood vessels The endothelial cells lining blood vessels are linked together by adherens junctions, where VE-cadherin protein complexes must come apart so that endothelial cells can migrate and proliferate to form new blood vessels. This process is triggered by activation of the receptor VEGFR2, which stimulates the kinase c-Src. Gordon et al. showed that the adaptor protein TSAd linked these two signaling molecules in the developing trachea. TSAd recruited active c-Src to adherens junctions, which resulted in the breakdown of VE-cadherin complexes and enabled the rearrangement of endothelial cells to form a new blood vessel sprout. Because TSAd was required for blood vessel formation in developing trachea, but not in the developing retina, TSAd could be targeted to prevent abnormal vascular growth in a tissue-specific manner. Activation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor 2 (VEGFR2) by VEGF binding is critical for vascular morphogenesis. In addition, VEGF disrupts the endothelial barrier by triggering the phosphorylation and turnover of the junctional molecule VE-cadherin, a process mediated by the VEGFR2 downstream effectors T cell–specific adaptor (TSAd) and the tyrosine kinase c-Src. We investigated whether the VEGFR2-TSAd–c-Src pathway was required for angiogenic sprouting. Indeed, Tsad-deficient embryoid bodies failed to sprout in response to VEGF. Tsad-deficient mice displayed impaired angiogenesis specifically during tracheal vessel development, but not during retinal vasculogenesis, and in VEGF-loaded Matrigel plugs, but not in those loaded with FGF. The SH2 and proline-rich domains of TSAd bridged VEGFR2 and c-Src, and this bridging was critical for the localization of activated c-Src to endothelial junctions and elongation of the growing sprout, but not for selection of the tip cell. These results revealed that vascular sprouting and permeability are both controlled through the VEGFR2-TSAd–c-Src signaling pathway in a subset of tissues, which may be useful in developing strategies to control tissue-specific pathological angiogenesis.


OBJECTIVE
Rosiglitazone, a thiazolidinedione compound with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-gamma)-binding affinity, is able to suppress adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) secretion in treated mice and in AtT20 pituitary tumor cells. These observations suggested that thiazolidinediones may be effective as therapy for Cushing's disease (CD).

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Rosiglitazone (8 mg/day) was administered to 14 patients with active CD (13 women, one man, 18-68 years). Plasma ACTH, serum cortisol (F) and urinary free cortisol (UFC) levels were measured before and then monthly during rosiglitazone administration.

RESULTS
In six patients a reduction of ACTH and F levels and a normalization of UFC were observed 30-60 days after the beginning of rosiglitazone administration: there was a significant difference between basal and post-treatment values for UFC (1238+/-211 vs 154+/-40 nmol/24 h, P<0.03), but not for ACTH (15.9+/-3.7 vs 7.9+/-0.9 pmol/l) and F levels (531+/-73 vs 344+/-58 nmol/l). Two of six cases, followed up for 7 months, showed a mild clinical improvement. Eight patients were nonresponders after 30-60 days of rosiglitazone treatment: their ACTH, F and UFC levels did not differ before and during drug administration. Immunohistochemical analysis of pituitary tumors removed from two responder and two nonresponder patients showed a similar intense immunoreactivity for PPAR-gamma in about 50% of cells.

CONCLUSIONS
The administration of rosiglitazone seems able to normalize cortisol secretion in some patients with CD, at least for short periods. Whether the activation of PPAR-gamma by rosiglitazone might be effective as chronic pharmacologic treatment of CD needs a more extensive investigation through a randomized and controlled study.


We conduct a panel analysis quantifying the degree to which the mixture of low-, middle-and high-income males in the neighbourhood affect the subsequent labour income of individuals, and test the degree to which these effects vary by timing (lagging up to three years) duration (one to four years), and cumulative amount of exposure and to what extent these effects are persistent. We employ a fixed effects model to reduce the potential bias arising from unmeasured individual characteristics leading to neighbourhood selection. The empirical study applies individual-level data for the working-age population of the three largest cities in Sweden covering the period 1991-2006. The analyses suggest that there are important temporal dimensions in the statistical effect of neighbourhood income mix: recent, continued or cumulative exposure yields stronger associations than lagged, temporary ones, and there is distinct time decay (though some persistence) in the potential effects after exposure ceases, though with some gender differences.


The tyrosine kinase domain of the insulin receptor is subject to autoinhibition in the unphosphorylated basal state via steric interactions involving the activation loop. A mutation in the activation loop designed to relieve autoinhibition, Asp-1161 → Ala, substantially increases the ability of the unphosphorylated kinase to bind ATP. The crystal structure of this mutant in complex with an ATP analog has been determined at 2.4-Å resolution. The structure shows that the active site is unobstructed, but the end of the activation loop is disordered and therefore the binding site for peptide substrates is not fully formed. In addition, Phe-1151 of the protein kinase-conserved DFG motif, at the beginning of the activation loop, hinders closure of the catalytic cleft and proper positioning of α-helix C for catalysis. These results, together with viscometric kinetic measurements, suggest that peptide substrate binding induces a reconfiguration of the unphosphorylated activation loop prior to the catalytic step. The crystallographic and solution studies provide new insights into the mechanism by which the activation loop controls phosphoryl transfer as catalyzed by the insulin receptor.


Multi-instance learning deals with tasks where each example is a bag of instances, and the bag labels of training data are known whereas instance labels are unknown. Most previous studies on multi-instance learning assumed that the training and testing data are from the same distribution; however, this assumption is often violated in real tasks. In this paper, we present possibly the first study on multi-instance learning with distribution change. We propose the MICS approach by considering both bag-level and instance-level distribution change. Experiments show that MICS is almost always significantly better than many state-of-the-art multi-instance learning algorithms when distribution change occurs; and even when there is no distribution change, their performances are still comparable.


This report presents the results of a survey of Delaware agricultural landowners about their characteristics, opinions, and behavior regarding participation in the Delaware Agricultural Lands Preservation Program, specifically the PACE and Ag Dist programs. The results demonstrate that participants tend to: - Own larger farms - Be more likely to raise corn, soybeans, and vegetables - Have more decision makers - Be much more likely to be full-time operators - Be more likely to value working outdoors - Be more likely to value ownership to pass land onto children. The results also show that word of mouth is the most common way Delaware landowners learn about the DALP program. Owners' views about the DALP program were investigated. Key findings include: - Participants and nonparticipants identified preserving land for family as the most attractive aspect of the Ag Dist program - Both groups valued the Ag Dist program for its protection against agricultural nuisance suits and taxes - A majority of PACE participants found that program attractive to relieve pressure from debt, to provide retirement security, and to reinvest in their operations - A minority of Ag Dist participants and nonparticipants were interested in PACE to relieve pressure from debt. Participants had positive experiences with the DALP process. - Large majorities were satisfied with the DALP staff - Large majorities of PACE participants were satisfied with the DALP procedures and outcomes - A large majority of Ag Dist participants were satisfied with DALP procedures - A majority of Ag Dist participants were satisfied with the outcome - A large majority of participants would participate in Ag Dist if they had the chance to do it again - Most PACE participants are using PACE money for investments - Some PACE participants are using PACE money to pay debts.


The paper presents the detailed quantitative study of predatory scars in the shells of an inarticulate brachiopod: the lingulid Glottidia palmeri Dall, 1870. The scars include four morphological types: u-shaped, pocket, crack, and miscellaneous scars. They concentrate and open up toward the anterior shell edge. They commonly consist of a pair of scars on the opposite valves. The analysis of 820 specimens live-collected from two intertidal localities inthe northern Gulf of Californiaindicates that (1) 23. Vo specimens bearrepair scars; (2) the scars vary in size from 1.5 to 24 mrrt (mean = 2.5 mr#) and all scar types have similar size-frequency distributions; (3) the spatial distribution of scars on the shell is non-random; (4) the anterior-posterior distribution of scars is strongly multimodal and suggests seasonal predation in the late fall and winter months; and (5) the frequency of scarred specimens increases with brachiopod size and differs between the two sampled localities, but does not vary among brachiopod patches from the same locality. The repair scars record unsuccessful attacks by epifaunal intertidal predators with a scissors-type weapon (birds or crabs). The high frequency of attacks, seasonal winter predation, and previous ecological research suggest that scars were made by wintenng shorebirds (willets or/and curlews). However, crabs cannot be entirely excluded as a possible predator. Because repair scars represent unsuccessful predation, many of the quantitative interpretations are ambiguous. Nevertheless, the study suggests the existence of strong seasonal interactions between inarticulate brachiopods and their predators. Because shorebirds, crabs, and lingulids may have co-existed in intertidal ecosystems since the late Mesozoic, predatory scars in lingulid shells may have potentially a 100 million year long fossil record.


The transmission of price changes to markets has attracted renewed interest since the international food price spikes of 2007 to 2011. In response to this, this paper investigates the long-run behaviour of Nigerian cowpeas and yam tuber retail prices across space and time from 2000 to 2015. We employed the augmented Dickey-Fuller unit root test, the Johansen co-integration test, the Granger causality test, the vector error-correction model (VECM) and variance decomposition analysis. The Johansen co-integration test confirmed the presence of a long-run relationship across the markets, while the VECM revealed that the speed of adjustment to equilibrium after price shocks in the yam and cowpea markets varied across space (market) and period (time), with the food crisis in the period pre-2007 to 2011 fastest and the food crisis in the period 2007 to 2011 slowest. We are of the opinion that the presence of a long-run relationship in Nigerian cowpea and yam markets is a call for participants to explore opportunities for gainful trade.