Plantar Warts SIR,-It was with interest that I read the article on the treatment of plantar warts in children by Dr. C. F. H. Vickers (September 16, p. 743). This encourages me to describe the treatment I have employed for plantar warts and found to be both quicker and less troublesome to patient and doctor. The affected feet are immersed in a foot-bath of hot water to which one to two teaspoonfuls of soft soap are added. The soap solution has a keratolytic action, softening not only the thicker epidermis around the warts but also their fibrotic structure. After a 10 to 15 minutes' immersion, the foot is thoroughly dried and one to three drops of the following solution applied to each wart, depending on size. The solution is a mixture of one part eaLch of salicylic and lactic acid to three parts collodion. The volatile ingredients of the collodion evaporate, leaving a film covering and adhering to the wart. The mildly corrosive and liquefying action so derived penetrates the softened fibrotic tissue deeply, gradually destroying the structure of the wart. Application before bedtime, repeated on four to six consecutive nights, is all tha.t is necessary. The wart is then painlessly separated from the surrounding dermis, leaving a hole which slowly fiils without a scar. An " elastoplast " dressing should be applied after extraction of the wart, and care should be taken to prevent the solution touching the surrounding healthy dermis, otherwise a mild inflammation may result. A quicker method is to apply concentrated nitric acid with a glass rod; one to two drops are usually enough to destroy all of the wart. In a few patients it may be necessary to repeat the applications.-I am, etc.,


Multiple forms of neuropeptides and their receptors have evolved through the processes of genome duplication, gene duplication and point mutation. Some vertebrate peptide lineages have traceable origins in invertebrates, and linkage to homeobox genes may be useful in determining the lineage.

Keywords:

neuropeptides;
evolution of neuropeptides;
evolution of G-protein coupled receptors;
G-protein coupled receptors;
Hox genes


Left ventricular hypertrabeculation/non-compaction (LVHT) is a cardiac abnormality, characterised by >3 trabeculations apically to the papillary muscles and intertrabecular spaces. LVHT may occur with other cardiac abnormalities, heart failure, electrocardiographic abnormalities and neuromuscular disorders. This study gives an overview about (1) patients with LVHT in whom LVHT was initially overlooked and (2) cardiac conditions that may lead to falsely diagnosed LVHT. In 50 reported cases, LVHT has been overlooked and misdiagnosed as dilated (n = 20), hypertrophic (n = 14) or restrictive cardiomyopathy (n = 2), endocardial fibroelastosis (n = 5), endomyocardial fibrosis (n = 1), myocarditis (n = 3), thrombus (n = 2), localised left ventricular hypertrophy (n = 1), left ventricular mass (n = 1) or myocardial/pericardial disease (n = 1). In 14 patients, LVHT was diagnosed only by transoesophageal echocardiography (n = 1), computed tomography (n = 2) ventriculography (n = 2), magnetic resonance imaging (n = 3) or pathoanatomic findings (n = 6). Falsely diagnosed LVHT comprises false tendons, aberrant bands, thrombi, apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, fibroma, obliterative processes, intramyocardial haematoma, cardiac metastases and intramyocardial abscesses. Echocardiographers should be more aware of LVHT and consider its differential diagnoses.


Abstract Reflectance data were subjected to a variety of analysis methods to determine the utility of hyperspectral reflectance for differentiating soybean, soil, and six weed species commonly found in Mississippi agricultural fields. Weed species evaluated were hemp sesbania, palmleaf morningglory, pitted morningglory, prickly sida, sicklepod, and smallflower morningglory. Hyperspectral reflectance data were collected from mature plant leaves three times in 2002 and two times in 2003. Vegetation indices were calculated and subjected to principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA). The PCA, using vegetation indices, produced the poorest classification accuracies for the plant species studied, generally less than 50%, whereas LDA resulted in classification accuracies greater than those from PCA. Best spectral band combination (BSBC) provided the greatest classification accuracies, with all better than 80% for all data sets. The BSBC indicated three wavelength bands of interest for species discrimination in the short wavelength infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, which are not commonly used in current vegetation indices for species differentiation. These areas of interest were located from 1,445 to 1,475 nm, 2,030 to 2,090 nm, and 2,115 to 2,135 nm. The top 10 wavelengths determined by BSBC were then added to the vegetation indices and reanalyzed using PCA and LDA. Classification accuracies increased for all species when these wavelengths were added rather than using vegetation indices alone, suggesting greater crop and weed species differentiation can be obtained when using sensors that include these wavelength regions of the short wavelength infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Nomenclature: Hemp sesbania, Sesbania exaltata (Raf.) Rydb. ex. A.W. Hill; palmleaf morningglory, Ipomoea wrightii Gray; pitted morningglory, Ipomoea lacunosa L.; prickly sida, Sida spinosa L.; sicklepod, Senna obtusifolia (L.) H.S. Irwin & Barnaby; smallflower morningglory, Jacquemontia tamnifolia (L.) Griseb.; soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr. 'Asgrow 4403'


The social movement known as the Arab Spring brings together various groups, including educated women, demanding the overthrow of decades-old dictatorial regimes. It begins in Tunisia and then extends to neighboring Arabspeaking countries of North Africa, Egypt and Libya. Similar social, cultural, and economic conditions are conducive to the unfolding of a single social movement across national borders. After the successful overthrow of dictatorships, groups that collaborated in it, clash against each other. Despite the fact that the movement was initiated by middle-class youth advocating a Western-style model of democracy, Muslims succeed in gaining control of ―democratic,‖ majority-rule governments in Egypt and Tunisia. Military force is needed to put down the rise of militant Islam. The goals, including women's rights, advocated by secularmodernistic-democratic sectors of the population are not attained and Islam surges with renewed vigor in a continued but muted post Arab Spring period of unrest. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page


Introduction Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy has been shown to reduce local recurrence following radical surgery for rectal cancer with contemporary studies reporting a complete pathological response of up to 30%. Radical surgery is associated with significant morbidity that may be avoided by local excision in selected cases. This systematic review aimed to determine the oncological outcomes of local excision following neoadjuvant therapy. Method A systematic search of the Medline, EMBASE and Cochrane Library databases was conducted to identify suitable articles. The search strategy captured terms for rectal cancer, neoadjuvant therapy and local excision. Outcomes are presented as weighted pooled proportions where appropriate. Results A total of 21 unique studies were included (one randomised controlled trial, four comparative cohort studies and 16 cohort studies) that described 1070 patients. The pre-treatment T-stage was cT1 in 2.4%, cT2 in 38.1%, borderline cT2/T3 in 2.7%, cT3 in 37.6%, cT4 in 0.1% and not specified in 19.6% of cases. Long course chemoradiotherapy was administered to 94.0% of patients and short course radiotherapy to 6.0%. Local excision techniques included transanal endoscopic microsurgery (53.7%), transanal excision (34.9%) and other approaches (11.4%). The pooled complete clinical response was 59.4% (95% confidence interval, 43.4% to 74.5%) and the pooled complete mural pathological response (ypT0) was 40.7% (95% CI, 33.6% to 47.9%). The median range of follow up was 38.2 months (range, 12 to 81 months). ypT0 tumours had a pooled local recurrence (LR) of 5.4% (95% CI, 2.8% to 8.7%) and a median disease free survival (DFS) of 90% (70% to 100%). The pooled LR and median DFS for ≥ypT1 tumours was 21.5% (95% CI, 14.8% to 29.0%) and 68.5% (58.3% to 100%), respectively. Conclusion Patients undergoing local excision with a complete mural pathological response had favourable oncological outcomes compared to those achieved with radical surgery. Given the unacceptably high rate of local recurrence among incomplete responders, future studies should focus on predicting those patients who will achieve a complete response. Disclosure of interest None Declared.


Immuno-based sample preparation techniques are based upon molecular recognition. Thanks to the high affinity and high selectivity of the antigen-antibody interaction, they have been shown to be a unique tool in the sampling area. Immuno-based sample preparation methods include the widely encountered immunoaffinity extraction sorbents, so-called immunosorbents, as well as membrane-based or ultrafiltration techniques. This review describes the new developments and applications that have occurred in recent years with emphasis on (i) the antigen-antibody interactions, (ii) and their importance for the properties and use of immunosorbents, (iii) multiresidue extractions, (iv) the on-line coupling to chromatographic or electrophoretic separations, and (v) the high potential for improving MS detection. The recent use of artificial antibodies for sample pretreatment, so-called molecularly imprinted polymers, is also described.  2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.


The Australian construction industry is highly reliant on the local labour force and those employed within it undertake a wide variety of roles ranging from labouring to management. In the past 20 years construction has seen record levels of employment; however lack of skilled labour is becoming problematic. Australia, like most industrialised countries, has an ageing population due to falling birth rates, increased life expectancy and the ageing of the large post-World War II 'baby boom' generation. Deciding on a career is one of the most fundamental activities in a young person's life and the role of the school career counsellor is crucial in this process. This research examined secondary school career counsellor's knowledge of construction, their perceptions of it as a good career choice and how often they directed male and female students to investigate construction as a career. Comparisons using paired t-tests found career counsellors perceived construction to be a better career option for young men, and directed them more frequently than women, to explore construction careers. The findings also indicate that an educative model, where students and counsellors gain firsthand knowledge from people working in the industry, may counter negative gender stereotypes associated with this area of work and encourage more young people, both male and female, to consider a career in the construction industry.


Objective To evaluate the impact of fetal diagnosis of life-threatening congenital heart disease (CHD) on mode of delivery and early neonatal outcomes. Study Design 1-year retrospective cohort study of life-threatening CHD cases at a regional fetal cardiology unit (born June 2013–June 2014). Delivery outcomes were compared with 7630 deliveries over the same period in the tertiary obstetric unit. Results Forty-eight cases were diagnosed prenatally. There were ten terminations of pregnancy (21%) and three intrauterine deaths (6%). One of IUDs was unexpected following CVS biopsy. There were 35 livebirths; with 33 born at the intended location and 2 born elsewhere. Of the 33 babies, the mean gestation 37.6 weeks, mean birth-weight 3180g and male-to-female ratio 3:1. In CHD group (N=33), only six (18%) had spontaneous onset of labour (3 were not documented). Four (12%) had elective C-section (CS). Twenty inductions of labour (IOL) were carried out. IOL was significantly commoner in the CHD group than controls (77% vs 31% p < 0.05). Out of nine non-elective C-sections, two were semi-elective due to failed inductions; six were emergencies with one case not clearly documented. Overall CS rate was not significantly higher in the CHD group than controls (39% vs 32% p = 0.46). 20% (4/20) of vaginal deliveries were instrumental. At birth, 3 babies (9%) required some airway support (IPPV) with no significance difference in spontaneous delivery or CS groups (p = 0.8). The majority (26/33, 78.8%) were transferred to cardiac surgical unit within the first 72 h of life. Of these 26 babies, two (8%) required surgery and five (19%) required emergency balloon atrial septostomy within the first 72 h. Survival of the CHD cohort was 97% at 30-days and survival to discharge was 94%. There was no difference (p = 0.75) in survival-at-hospital-discharge comparing vaginal delivery (12/13) with CS (19/20). Conclusion The rate of IOL in CHD is higher than those found in another study.1 Despite higher induction rate, the rate of CS was no different compared to controls. Mode of delivery does not seem to impact on early outcomes. In comparison to other studies,2,3 survival for this group of antenatally-diagnosed CHD patients appears acceptable. REFERENCES Walsh CA, MacTiernan A, Farrell S, Mulcahy C, McMahon CJ, Franklin O, Coleman D, Mahony R, Higgins S, Carroll S, McParland P, McAuliffe FM. Mode of delivery in pregnancies complicated by major fetal congenital heart disease: a retrospective cohort study. J Perinatol. 2014 29. doi: 10.1038/jp.2014.104 Trento L, Pruetz JD, Ruey K, et al. Prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease: impact of mode of delivery on neonatal outcome. Prenatal Diagnosis 2012;32: 1250–1255 Levey A, Glickstein JS, Kleinman CS, et al. The impact of prenatal diagnosis of complex congenital heart disease on neonatal outcomes. Pediatr Cardiol 2010;31:587–97


Much has been written on judicial activism. Importantly, Andrew Leigh's 1999 article in the Australian Law Journal raised the concept of the "activist Attorney-General" (ie the Attorney-General emphasising the political goals of the government), whilst also acknowledging the complex position Attorneys-General find themselves in – they are politicians, yet part of their role is traditionally to defend the judiciary. The need for an Attorney-General to defend the judiciary has been championed by retired Justice Kirby. French CJ and Young J have acknowledged the need for respect by Parliament for the institution of the Bench whilst also acknowledging the complexity of the separation of powers. Against that background, this article examines the recent dispute between the Queensland Government (especially its Attorney-General, Jarrod Bleijie) and the courts (especially Hon Justice MA McMurdo AC, President of the Court of Appeal). That dispute reached the low point of the Attorney-General repeating to the Brisbane newspaper, The Courier Mail, details of his version of a confidential conversation he claimed to have had with the President about judicial appointments. That in turn led to the newspaper likening the dispute to a pantomime – which it called Punch and Jarrod. This article relies on previous scholarship and the latter-day non-academic writings of former Queensland Solicitor-General Walter Sofronoff QC to argue that Queensland has an activist Attorney-General who exhibits disregard for the traditional roles of Parliament and the courts. When judges have sought to criticise this Queensland Government, they have not been activist judges, but are rather defending the court (as it is their role to do). As Sofronoff observes, those same judges are often fighting with one hand metaphorically behind their backs; if they actually seek to honour the dignity of their office and confidences that the law (through privilege, for example) seeks to protect, they will never be able to defend themselves with the same public force as someone outside the judiciary can attack them. This article argues the Attorney-General should apologise to President McMurdo and that the government should introduce a Code of Conduct through which Attorneys-General are held accountable to the legal profession as well as their political peers.


Vision modules running on mobility platforms, such as robots and cars, often face challenging situations such as a domain shift where the distributions of training (source) data and test (target) data are different. The domain shift is caused by several variation factors, such as style, camera viewpoint, object appearance, object size, backgrounds, and scene layout. In this work, we propose an object detection training framework for unsupervised domain-style adaptation. The proposed training framework transfers target-style information to source samples and simultaneously trains the detection network with these target-stylized source samples in an end-to-end manner. The detection network can learn the target domain from the target-stylized source samples. The style is extracted from object areas obtained by using pseudo-labels to reflect the style of the object areas more than that of the irrelevant backgrounds. We empirically verified that the proposed methods improve detection accuracy in diverse domain shift scenarios using the Cityscapes, FoggyCityscapes, Sim10k, BDD100k, PASCAL, and Watercolor datasets.


A motorcycle transmission gear of chromium-molybdenum steel with 0.2%C was carburized in carrier gas. Carburizing process including heating, carburizing, diffusing and quenching was simulated using elastoplastic finite element method. The carbon content, hardness, residual strain and residual stress fields of gear were analyzed. The unstressed lattice plane spacing and residual strains of the interior near the internal spline of gear were experimentally measured by synchrotron x-ray and neutron diffraction methods. As a result, the analyzed carbon content and hardness gradients of gear accorded with the experimental results. The radial, hoop and axial directions of cylindrical gear were found to be not always principal axes of residual stress field. On the other hand, the analyzed residual strains in the radial, hoop and axial directions of gear slightly discorded with the experimental results. Although correlation between the measured three strains was similar to that of the weighted average of analyzed strains, residual strain and stress fields of motorcycle transmission gear could not be accurately predicted at the present finite element analysis. It was concluded that carbon diffusion phenomenon and resultant hardening could be analyzed by the finite element method, and the actual interior residual strain and stress fields should be nondestructively measured by neutron diffraction method.


This paper presents a model of quantitative easing (QE) at the zero lower bound (ZLB) on the short-term nominal interest rate. QE, which reduces the maturity of government debt, is effective at the ZLB because it generates expectations of future monetary expansion in a time-consistent equilibrium. Numerical experiments show that this effect can be substantial.


The prize system for innovation has been criticized as impractical due to the lack of a workable formula or algorithm to determine the size of prizes. In this paper, a decentralized market mechanism via the intertemporal bounty (IB) system can function to duplicate Pareto optimality. Under this system, any bountiable innovation is placed in the public domain, and the prize of innovation is dynamically amortized in an infinitely time domain as periodic bounties paid to holders of bounty claims. Periodic bounties are calculated using a government-determined bounty rate times observed market sales. Two formulas are derived to calculate "long-run Pareto optimal bounty rate" and "long-run suboptimal bounty rate." The former can correct monopoly distortions and externalities, while the latter can only address monopoly distortions. They are empirically computable and can serve as an upper bound and the lower bound of the bounty rate. This paper provides a dynamic general-equilibrium analysis of replacing finitely-lived patents with the IB system using either of these two bounty rates. Based on a non-scale growth model calibrated to the US economy, transition paths are worked out to compute welfare gains. [JEL Classification: C63, O31, O34]


Steel slag is a byproduct of iron and steel production by the metallurgical industries. Annually, 21 million tons of steel slags are produced in the United States, and most of this slag is landfilled. Landfilling represents significant economic loss and uses valuable land space. Although steel slag has great potential for use in highway applications, especially as a granular highway base or subbase material, it has not been used extensively because of its high swelling potential and alkalinity. Swelling potential deteriorates the structural stability of highways, and high alkalinity poses an environmental challenge. This study seeks a methodology that promotes the use of steel slags in highway base and subbase layers by minimizing these two main disadvantages. Two treatment methods were used. In the first method, steel slag material was coated with bituminous material. In the second method, the slag was mixed with water treatment residuals at various percentages by weight. The mixtures prepared in this study were subjected to accelerated swelling tests and batch water leach tests. Results of the swelling tests indicated that the addition of both water treatment residuals and bituminous material into steel slag decreased the swelling rate significantly. Furthermore, bituminous-coated mixtures did not exhibit any swelling. These two methods also decreased the effluent pH of steel slag from 12.3 to 11.65 (bitumen-coated slag) and 9.8 (slag mixed with water treatment residuals). The batch test results did not satisfy the pH 8.5 limit regulated by the Maryland Department of Environment for placement of industrial byproducts in highways.


Space Weather nowcasting and forecasting require solar observations because geoeffective disturbances can arise from three types of solar phenomena: coronal mass ejections (CMEs), flares and coronal holes. For each, we discuss their definition and review their precursors in terms of remote sensing and in-situ observations. The objectives of Space Weather require some specific instrumental features, which we list using the experience gained from the daily operations of the Solar Influences Data analysis Centre (SIDC) at the Royal Observatory of Belgium. Nowcasting requires real-time monitoring to assess quickly and reliably the severity of any potentially geoeffective solar event. Both research and forecasting could incorporate more observations in order to feed case studies and data assimilation respectively. Numerical models will result in better predictions of geomagnetic storms and solar energetic particle (SEP) events. We review the data types available to monitor solar activity and interplanetary conditions. They come from space missions and ground observatories and range from sequences of dopplergrams, magnetograms, white-light, chromospheric, coronal, coronagraphic and radio images, to irradiance and in-situ time-series. Their role is summarized together with indications about current and future solar monitoring instruments.


Objectives
We aimed to identify the prevalence of circadian phase and phase angle abnormalities in patients with insomnia.

Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional, multicenter study at three sleep laboratories in the United States and Australia. Patients with insomnia and healthy control participants completed a sleep log for 7 days. Circadian phase was assessed from salivary dim light melatonin onset (DLMO) time during a 12-hour laboratory visit.

Results
Seventy-nine patients meeting the Research Diagnostic Criteria for Primary, Psychophysiological, Paradoxical, and/or Idiopathic Childhood Insomnia (46 females, 35.5 ± 12.3 years [M ± SD]) and 21 controls (14 females, 34.4 ± 11.8 years). As compared to controls, patients with insomnia tried to initiate sleep on average at the same clock time (24:17 ± 1:17 hours vs. 24:13 ± 1:30 hours, respectively; p = .84) but had a later average DLMO times (20:56 ± 1:55 hours, 18:17-01:21 vs. 22:02 ± 2:02 hours, 17:11-04:52, respectively; p = .04). Consequently, patients with insomnia slept at an earlier circadian phase than controls (phase angle, bedtime-DLMO 2:13 hours (± 1:43) vs. 3:10 hours (± 1:08), respectively; p = .008), of whom 10% tried to sleep at or before DLMO (compared to 0 controls), and 22% tried to sleep before or within 1 hour after DLMO (compared to 6% of controls).

Conclusions
A substantial proportion (10%-22%) of patients with insomnia initiate sleep at too early a circadian phase, implicating a circadian etiology for their insomnia. Outpatient circadian phase assessments should be considered to improve differential diagnoses in insomnia and to inform the development of appropriately timed circadian-based treatments.


Reviews the information visualization and interaction techniques needed to add another dimension to surfing the World Wide Web. Information visualization can be used to explore relationships by "drilling down" and retrieving more data within a region of interest in the visualized data, combining data mining, direct manipulation and data visualization with 3D Web tools. It is now possible to create desktop visualization applications that let users interact with databases with larger datasets over the network using both 2D and 3D interaction metaphors. The VRML standard allows users to view and navigate through 3D information data worlds and hyperlink to new worlds. Information drilling based on HTML's image map, VRML's anchor node and multiple predefined viewpoints is explained and demonstrated. The image map in 2D and 3D graphics objects (glyphs, etc.) represents the visual user interface to the information stored in the database. Over the next couple of years, we shall see 3D visualization evolve in giant steps into interactive data drilling on the Web, providing visualization technology closely integrated with the data warehouse and multidimensional abstract and geospatial data models.


Under the assumption that markets are complete, the simultaneous production and consumption decisions made by farm households are substantially simplified into a recursive system with production choices preceding consumption decisions. This is a powerful assumption that lies at the heart of many empirical models of farm behavior in the literature. The majority of studies that have assessed the validity of the recursion assumption determine whether there is a link between labor demand on the farm and the demographic structure of the farm household. If markets are complete, there should be no links. Empirical implementation of these tests is complicated by endogenous behavioral responses of farm households and complex measurement challenges. Using extremely rich data that were designed for this research, we develop and implement a new test for market completeness that exploits the fact that, under recursion, farm profits only affect consumption through an income effect. Exploiting plausibly exogenous variation in the local market prices of farm inputs, we test the implication using longitudinal survey data collected over six years from a large sample of farm households in rural Java, Indonesia, by estimating a flexible demand system and taking into account time invariant farmhousehold heterogeneity. Overall, the assumption that markets are complete is rejected but there is an important sub-group of better off households who behave as if markets are complete. † This paper has benefited from discussions with Peter Arcidiacono, Dwayne Benjamin, Amar Hamoudi, Joe Hotz, Marcos Rangel, John Strauss and Alessandro Tarozzi. Daniel LaFave, Dept Economics, Colby College, Waterville, ME 04901. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com Evan Peet, RAND Corporation, Pittsburgh, PA. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com Duncan Thomas, Dept Economics, Duke University, Durham, NC 27705. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


The eastern water skink (Eulamprus quoyii) has lecithotrophic embryos and was previously described as having a simple Type I chorioallantoic placenta. Indeed, it was the species upon which the definition of a Type I placenta was thought to be based, although we had cause to question that assumption. Hence we have described the morphology of the uterus of E. quoyii and found it to be more complex than previously supposed. The mesometrial pole of the uterus in E. quoyii displays a vessel‐dense elliptical structure (the VDE) with columnar uterine epithelial cells. As pregnancy proceeds, the uterine epithelium near the mesometrial pole becomes folded and glands become hypertrophied, so that the morphology of VDE resembles that of a placentome, characteristic of Type III placentae. Unlike species with a Type III placenta, the apposing chorioallantoic membrane of E. quoyii is lined with squamous cells and interdigitates with the folded uterine epithelium. The remainder of the uterus is thin with a squamous uterine epithelium throughout pregnancy. Immunohistochemical localisation of blood vessels reveals a dense network of small capillaries directly beneath the folded epithelium of the VDE, while blood vessels are larger and sparser at the abembryonic pole of the uterus. Alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity is present in the uterine epithelium and sub‐epithelial blood vessels in newly ovulated females. AP activity disappears from the epithelium between stages 27 and 29 of embryonic development and from the blood vessels after stage 34, but appears in the uterine glands at stage 35, where it remains until the end of pregnancy. Although the VDE is structurally similar to the placentomes found in other viviparous lizards, different distributions of AP activity in the uterus of E. quoyii and Pseudemoia spenceri suggest that the VDE may be functionally different from the placentome of the latter species. Our description of uterine morphology in E. quoyii provides evidence that, at least in some lineages, the evolution of a placentome may not occur in concert with the evolution of microlecithal eggs and obligate placentotrophy.


This paper discusses the development of a multivariate-based regression model for estimating the critical attributes to establish a design-space for poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles formulated by a double emulsion–solvent evaporation method. A three-level, full factorial experimental design is used to assess the impact of three different manufacturing conditions (polymer viscosity, surfactant concentration and amount of model antigen ovalbumin) on five critical particle attributes (zeta potential, polydispersity index, hydrodynamic diameter, loading capacity and entrapment efficiency). The optimized formulation was achieved with a viscosity of 0.6 dl g−1, a surfactant concentration of 11% (w/v) in the internal phase and 2.5% (w/w) of ovalbumin. The design-space that is satisfied for nanoparticles with the targeted attributes was obtained with a polymer viscosity between 0.4 and 0.9 dl g−1, a surfactant concentration ranging from 8 to 15% (w/v) and 2.5% (w/w) of ovalbumin. The nanoparticles were spherical and homogenous and were extensively taken up by JAWS II murine immature dendritic cells without affecting the viability of these phagocytic cells. Better understanding was achieved by multivariate regression to control process manufacturing to optimize PLGA nanoparticle formulation. Utilization of multivariate regression with a defined control space is a good tool to meet product specifications, particularly over a narrow variation range.


Over the last few decades the English School (ES) has not only emerged, but has been acknowledged as a distinctive approach to the study of International Relations (IR). It is routinely listed in textbooks and disciplinary surveys as one of IR's primary modes of inquiry, attracting interest and adherents in many parts of the world. This state of affairs is attributable to the work of a number of people, but especially to that of Barry Buzan. More than 'reconvening' the school, a metaphor misleading in some ways, Buzan has led, pushed and challenged his colleagues to better clarify and define their ideas, concepts and theories, as well as to put the ES on a much sounder organizational footing. Buzan's (2014) latest book builds on his previous volume (Buzan, 2004a) to provide an introduction for readers new to the school. However, it does much more than this, providing a 'state of the debate' on such demanding matters as the expansion of international society, and the pluralist–solidarist divide. It also links present research efforts to the classics, putting into perspective and defining the school's current research agenda for the next phase of its development. It has the potential to become a landmark work on a par with the classic work of the early ES, Hedley Bull's The Anarchical Society. But how does Buzan's research agenda respond to the requirements of an increasingly diverse and fragmenting discipline? Are his preferred analytical concepts and categories sound? Of what pitfalls should newcomers to the school be aware? In this symposium five established scholars, closely associated with the ES, seek to answer these questions, and in dialogue with Buzan, further advance our understanding of the school's 'societal' approach and its potential for deepening our understanding of what at times appears a highly unsocial world. The approach of the section is 'internal' as opposed to 'external' critique. External critiques of the ES are well known (see, e.g., Finnemore, 2001). The section proceeds on the assumption that at this stage of its development the school's approach can be most effectively advanced by vigorous debate between those who share the same broad research agenda with little purpose being served by reiterating the already well-known 'external' objections. The section is based on a roundtable discussion held at the EISA conference, Warsaw, September 2013, in which Zhang, Wilson, Navari and Buzan took part. I am 610595 CAC0010.1177/0010836715610595Cooperation and ConflictWilson review-article2015


Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) originating from natural sources, and potentially from the Athabasca Oil Sands development, are of concern for the Athabasca River and Lake Athabasca delta ecosystems. In order to model the transport of fine sediments (and associated PAHs), it is important to describe the sediment dynamics within the river system. Flocs possess different settling characteristics compared to individual particles. A key aspect in modelling floc settling behaviour is the mathematical linkage of the floc density to floc size. In this paper, a rotating annular flume is used to determine the settling characteristics of Muskeg River (a tributary of the Athabasca River) sediments under different shear conditions. Simulations of the settling and flocculation behaviour of these sediments were used to calibrate a density vs. floc size model. A relationship of the parameters relating floc size and density with the fractal dimension F shows that as diameter increases flocs become weaker. Recommendations for the practical application of the model are further formulated in this paper. The deposition tests offer a quantitative measure of the relative amount of sediment that is likely to be transported through the river for given flow conditions.


The in-service life of ASTM A36 welded steel pipes in power plants is often shortened by ash corrosion. During the heating condition, the ash deposition on the welded steel pipes gradually reduces the thickness of the pipes, thus, reducing the lifetime. Instead of replacing the pipes with new ones, the cost could be significantly reduced if the lifetime could be further extended. Weld cladding was the method selected in this study to temporarily extend the service life of welded pipes. This paper performed the mechanical investigations of A36—A36 welded steel plates after coating the surfaces with 309L stainless steel with a cladding method. The residual stress was also tested to observe the internal stresses developed during the welding processes of A36—A36 specimens. The comparison between the coated and non-coated surfaces of welded steels was performed by using the tensile tests (at room and elevated temperatures), corrosion (pitting corrosion, intergranular corrosion, and weight-loss corrosion) tests, and wear (shot blasting) tests. The life-extension of both coatings was evaluated based on the tensile tests and the corrosion and wear tests provided the qualitative evaluations of the coating performance. The results showed that surfaces coated by cladding could be used to temporarily extend the life of ASTM A36 welded steel under the studied conditions.


ABSTRACT PHD1 (also known as EGLN2) belongs to a family of prolyl hydroxylases (PHDs) that are involved in the control of the cellular response to hypoxia. PHD1 is also able to regulate mitotic progression through the regulation of the crucial centrosomal protein Cep192, establishing a link between the oxygen-sensing and the cell cycle machinery. Here, we demonstrate that PHD1 is phosphorylated by CDK2, CDK4 and CDK6 at S130. This phosphorylation fluctuates with the cell cycle and can be induced through oncogenic activation. Functionally, PHD1 phosphorylation leads to increased induction of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) protein levels and activity during hypoxia. PHD1 phosphorylation does not alter its intrinsic enzymatic activity, but instead decreases the interaction between PHD1 and HIF1α. Interestingly, although phosphorylation of PHD1 at S130 lowers its activity towards HIF1α, this modification increases the activity of PHD1 towards Cep192. These results establish a mechanism by which cell cycle mediators, such as CDKs, temporally control the activity of PHD1, directly altering the regulation of HIF1α and Cep192. Summary: CDK-mediated phosphorylation of PHD1 at serine 130 controls target specificity and confers cell cycle regulation of PHD1.


Habitat degradation has reduced the complexity of the Mediterranean streams in Spain and contributed to decreasing the historical range of the endangered Júcar nase, Parachondrostoma arrigonis. This species is endemic to the Júcar River Basin (Spain), and most of its populations live in the Cabriel River, which is divided into two segments by the large Contreras Dam. The main objective of this study was to develop a multivariate habitat suitability model (HSM) for this species that can be used to evaluate environmental flows and water management scenarios for the Cabriel River. We first assessed the fish densities (from 2006 to 2008) and compared the habitat characteristics and variability among eight study sites based on the physical characteristics of hydromorphological units (HMUs) or mesohabitats. The abundance of the Júcar nase then was related to the HMU type, and generalized additive models of fish abundance were developed for the sites for both small and large fish. Both models showed acceptable or good performance (adjusted R2 of 69.4 for small fish and 72.4 for large fish), and fish abundance was used as an indicator of potential habitat quality ['potential nase habitat' (PNH)] for the Júcar nase. The final step was to apply the HSM to evaluate environmentally friendly flow regimens. Hydraulic simulations were used to estimate the PNH under two flow regimen scenarios and in the actual flow regimen for the regulated study site located below the large dam. This article supports the need for new management actions in the Cabriel River, such as implementation of an environmental flow regimen, and illustrates a procedure for the practical application of habitat selection models at the mesohabitat scale. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


ii Preliminary Characterisation of FAM129C, a Novel Protein Identified From Proteomic Screening of CLL Samples Renata Walewska, MRC Toxicology Unit, University of Leicester, LE1 9HN The principal aim of this thesis was to begin to determine the possible functions of a novel and B-cell specific protein, FAM129C, identified from proteomic screening of purified CLL plasma membrane fractions. Bioinformatic analysis showed that FAM129C contained a pleckstrin homology domain that probably causes the protein to be associated with the plasma membrane but lacked any other obvious domains. Using quantitative RT-PCR, I showed that FAM129C was expressed from early stages of B-cell differentiation. It was expressed at high levels in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and in the activated subtype of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, where it may be a useful diagnostic marker. FAM129C was also expressed at high levels in normal B-cell populations including both naïve pre-germinal centre and memory cell populations but interestingly was rapidly down-regulated following stimulation to proliferation. Similar down-regulation was also observed in CLL cells stimulated to proliferation in vitro. Similar down-regulation was also observed in CLL cells stimulated to proliferate in vitro. Subcellular fraction studies of FAM129C showed wide expression in many different cell fractions, but mainly in the cytoplasm. The pattern of FAM129C expression was similar to that of CXCR4 and, therefore I have speculated that there is a potential association between these two proteins in B cell development and in B cell maturation during germinal centre reaction.


Several approaches have been applied to develop procedures for genetic improvement of Western Australian sandalwood (Santa/um spicatum) and Indian sandalwood (S. album): conventional crossing, protoplast fusion and Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer.

In the conventional approach, the possibility of producing inter-specific and intra-specific hybrids of these species was investigated. The reproductive biology of the species ie. flower morphology, stigma and ovular receptivity and sexual compatibility between genotypes and species, was studied. The results showed that both sandalwood species are obligate out-crossing species with pre- and postfertilisation barriers preventing self and inter-specific pollination. For both intra- and inter-specific crosses, initial fruit set was low with 70-100% fruit abscission. Reasons for failure of fruit set included lack of fertilisation, lack of an embryo sac in some S. album flowers, delayed endosperm development and necrosis of placenta tissue. An ovary culture technique was developed and which could be used to rescue embryos of intra-specific crosses 4-7 months after pollination, but not putative inter-specific hybrid fruit, which abscised at 1-3 months old. Putrescine spray increased fruit set and delayed fruit abscission for both intra-specific and inter-specific crosses. However, only a few putative hybrid fruits were retained until 4 months after pollination; they were not harvested for ovary culture but allowed to develop to maturity. These mature putative hybrid seeds did not germinate but their endosperms were confirmed to be hybrid by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. RAPD results indicated the wide genetic distance between S. spicatum and S. album.

A tissue culture approach was conducted in parallel with conventional crossing. Direct somatic embryogenesis of S. album and S. spicatum was obtained by including thidiazuron in the culture medium. The published protocol of S. album regeneration through protoplasts could not be reproduced due to necrosis of the microcalli. An improved method of protoplast culture was developed by including thidiazuron and 2,4-D in the protoplast culture medium to induce direct somatic embryo formation in S. album. Reproducible protoplast fusion for S. album and S. 5picatum was accomplished and a high proportion of binary heterokaryons obtained. The heterokaryons grew to non-morphogenic microcalli while homokaryons of S. album developed to somatic embryos.

The efficient in vitro regeneration of S. album via direct somatic embryos was combined with an Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer procedure. Putative transgenic somatic embryos and plantlets were obtained and confirmed to be transgenic by the gus histochemical assay.


The aim of this work was to determine the mechanisms involved in several adsorption systems from a consideration of the isotherms obtained. The problem of atmospheric pollution is first considered Sulphur dioxide and smoke (which can, be considered as being similar to a low temperature industrial carbon black) are two, of the most common pollutants occurring in city atmospheres. They are shown to act together in producing pollution problem the carbon acting as a carrier for adsorbed sulphur dioxide. In winter smoke adsorbs more sulphur dioxide than in summer due to the lower average temperature. Adsorption of the sulphur dioxide on the carbon accentuates the corrosion of metals and building stones containing calcium carbonate probably after catalytic oxidation of the sulphur dioxide to sulphuric acid. The corrosion of iron can be considered an electrolytic action, the metal acting as the anode, the sulphuric acid as the electrolyte and the carbon as carrier, bridge and cathode. Stones containing calcium or magnesium carbonate are attacked by sulphuric acid. When calcium and magnesium carbonates are converted to their respective sulphates the volume Increases are 1.7 and 4 times, causing exfoliation of the stone. Plants are affected physically by the blockage of their stomata by cartoon or chemically by destruction of their essential nutrients in the soil toy sulphuric acid. Section II deals with adsorption of solutes from solution. In Part I the adsorption of a range of basic dyes on alkaline alumina powder is considered. By comparing the surface area of the powder with the amount of dyes adsorbed, the latter are seen to be adsorbed as cationic micelles with the exception of Rhodamine B and 6GB, which, because of their molecular geometry favour adsorption as monomeric ions with a vertical edge on orientation. This is confirmed by the shape of the isotherm: "L" and types for micellar adsorption and "S" type for end-on orientation. Dyes adsorbed as micelles by ion-exchange can be desorbed completely with water or a similarly charged solute, whereas potential hydrogen bonding dyes such as Rhodamine 6GB are only partially removed by rinsing. All the basic dyes which are apparently adsorbed as large cationic micelles exhibit an anomalous (endothermic) adsorption attributable to the breakdown of micelles in solution to reform into larger micelles at the surface, probably with a different structure. An energy diagram is given to explain endothermic adsorption. Safranine T appears to favour edge-on orientation to give a monolayer at high temperature, and the disaggregation of this dye with increased temperature is studied spectroscopically. The relationship between the ratio of the . two (x, y hand) peaks and the logarithin of the temperature is linear. The plot of log, coverage factor (apparent surface area for each dye / "true" surface area) against the log, cationic weight of the dyes is linear and the line obtained is coincident with similar lines for the same dyes on graphite and formalin fixed yeast cells. Other adsorption systems: examined include phenol on chitin and also on varieties of rubber, p-nitrophenol on silica, and a mordant dye on alumina; the results are discussed in the light of the general principles of solution adsorption.


This article explores how a focus on the movement of people, especially between countries, might provide new perspectives on music scenes. After a brief case study of a rap song and summary of the origins of Turkish hip-hop, the article presents a series of vignettes from ethnographic fieldwork with Turkish hip-hoppers and their contacts in Istanbul and Stockholm, in which the theme of movement, and the enduring transnational connections it creates, are highlighted. The article then turns to a discussion of recent theorizing on music scenes, addressing the ways in which the local, translocal and virtual levels of the Turkish hip-hop scene complexly interact with each other. Finally, it suggests that Turkish hip-hop may be best understood as a transnational community of affect in which not only attachment to specific places, but also movement itself between them, are crucial to a sense of belonging for those who are able to participate in these movements.


The shifted Laplacian multigrid method is a well known approach for preconditioning the indefinite linear system arising from the discretization of the acoustic Helmholtz equation. This equation is used to model wave propagation in the frequency domain. However, in some cases the acoustic equation is not sufficient for modeling the physics of the wave propagation, and one has to consider the elastic Helmholtz equation. Such a case arises in geophysical seismic imaging applications, where the earth's subsurface is the elastic medium. The elastic Helmholtz equation is much harder to solve than its acoustic counterpart, partially because it is three times larger, and partially because it models more complicated physics. Despite this, there are very few solvers available for the elastic equation compared to the array of solvers that are available for the acoustic one. In this work we extend the shifted Laplacian approach to the elastic Helmholtz equation, by combining the complex shift idea with approaches for linear elasticity. We demonstrate the efficiency and properties of our solver using numerical experiments for problems with heterogeneous media in two and three dimensions.


The synthesis of polyvalent functionalized polyisobutylene (PIB) oligomers containing multiple polar groups via radical polymerization is described. Polymerizations from PIB macroinitiators via alkylborane intermediates can form block copolymers but the polar block is consistently larger than the PIB block and unless a hydrophobic monomer is used, the products are insoluble in alkanes. Block copolymer products from ATRP macroinitiators are formed with more control over the degree of polymerization of a polar block from a 1000 Da PIB starting material but are still alkane insoluble because the degree of polymerization of the polar block was consistently equal to or greater than the degree of polymerization of the PIB block. RAFT polymerization using 5 mol % of azoisobutyronitrile relative to a PIB macroinitiator however was successful in producing acceptable yields of alkane soluble block copolymers using a 1000 Da PIB starting material and monomers like methyl methacrylacrylate, ethyl methacrylate, N,N‐dimethylacrylamide, and N‐isopropylacrylamide. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2018, 56, 1860–1867


Maize and Arabidopsis thaliana class 1 reversibly glycosylated polypeptides (C1RGPs) are plasmodesmata-associated proteins. Previously, overexpression of Arabidopsis C1RGP AtRGP2 in Nicotiana tabacum was shown to reduce intercellular transport of photoassimilate, resulting in stunted, chlorotic plants, and inhibition of local cell-to-cell spread of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). Here, we used virus induced gene silencing to examine the effects of reduced levels of C1RGPs in Nicotiana benthamiana. Silenced plants show wild-type growth and development. Intercellular transport in silenced plants was probed using fluorescently labeled TMV and its movement protein, P30. P30 shows increased cell-to-cell movement and TMV exhibited accelerated systemic spread compared with control plants. These results support the hypothesis that C1RGPs act to regulate intercellular transport via plasmodesmata.


According to Carl Schmitt, in his late work The Nomos of the Earth, published in 1950, the long evolution in the relation between humans and the earth has been decisive for the nature of traditional legal order. The historical links to European international jurisprudence (ius publicum Europaeum) have decayed with the old world order that supported them. Territoriality, once the foundation of the nation-state has evolved, causing a parallel change in the nation-state paradigm of sovereignty and the fabric of international law which has its basis in that paradigm. If Schmitt is correct in his prognoses about the end of a global era and the rise of a new yet uncharted world order in the mid-1940s, then the architects of the nascent European Coal and Steel Community face the same conditions, and must carry out their work with the same cultural, social and juridical raw materials, against the backdrop of the same concrete historical experience. This article will attempt to continue the trajectory of Schmitt's historical analysis of the ius publicum Europeaum, suggesting how its central concepts and theses map onto the grand geopolitical and civilisational project of European construction from 1950 to 2004 and beyond. It will explore the applicability of the concept of nomos for the nature of EU evolution, and interpret general elements of the European legal system in terms of the concept of nomos.


The Preisach approach is applied to model ferroelectric pinched (or constricted) loops. Starting from the existence of distributed switchable dipolar defects in the material and a corresponding distribution function, an analytical expression for the resulting ferroelectric loop is obtained. The corresponding hysteresis shape is indeed showing a clear pinching. Considerations about defect distribution expression and ways to characterize it from the loop are also made. It is finally suggested that such a description can be applied to any system exhibiting a pinched loop.


Abstract. Interferometric SAR is sensitive to earth surface undulation. The accuracy of interferometric parameters plays a significant role in precise digital elevation model (DEM). The interferometric calibration is to obtain high-precision global DEM by calculating the interferometric parameters using ground control points (GCPs). However, interferometric parameters are always calculated jointly, making them difficult to decompose precisely. In this paper, we propose an interferometric calibration method based on independent parameter decomposition (IPD). Firstly, the parameters related to the interferometric SAR measurement are determined based on the three-dimensional reconstruction model. Secondly, the sensitivity of interferometric parameters is quantitatively analyzed after the geometric parameters are completely decomposed. Finally, each interferometric parameter is calculated based on IPD and interferometric calibration model is established. We take Weinan of Shanxi province as an example and choose 4 TerraDEM-X image pairs to carry out interferometric calibration experiment. The results show that the elevation accuracy of all SAR images is better than 2.54 m after interferometric calibration. Furthermore, the proposed method can obtain the accuracy of DEM products better than 2.43 m in the flat area and 6.97 m in the mountainous area, which can prove the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed IPD based interferometric calibration method. The results provide a technical basis for topographic mapping of 1 : 50000 and even larger scale in the flat area and mountainous area.


Aims
To evaluate the prognostic value of apical four-chamber (A4-C) longitudinal strain (LS) in patients with aortic stenosis (AS).

Methods and results
In a multicentre cohort, 582 patients (74.3 ± 10.9 years) with moderate or severe AS and preserved left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (≥50%) were included in this retrospective study. Patients with severe AS were classified in four subgroups according to flow and gradient: low flow (LF) was defined as a stroke volume index <35 mL/m2 compared with normal flow (NF); low-gradient (LG) as a mean gradient <40 mmHg compared with high gradient (HG). The end point was all-cause of mortality. A4-C LS was measured by two-dimensional speckle tracking and was feasible in all patients. The degree of A4-C LV longitudinal dysfunction increased according to the severity and subgroups of severe AS: from the least to the most impaired: moderate AS, NF/HG, NF/LG, LF/HG, and LF/LG AS (P < 0.001). During a mean follow-up of 2.6 ± 0.2 years, 58(10%) patients died. The 2-year survival was 76.8% in patients with LF/LG vs. 89.3% in patients with other groups. The best threshold of A4-C LS associated with overall mortality was an absolute cut-off value of |13.75%|. According to this cut-off, the 2-year survival was higher both in patients with moderate AS (96.3 vs. 70%, P = 0.02) and those with severe AS (92.9 vs. 80.9%, P = 0.005). However when dichotomized according to flow/gradient patterns, the association was only statistically significant in the subgroup of patients with NF/HG. By multivariable cox regression analysis, A4-C LS <|13.75| remained independently associated with overall mortality (hazard ratio: 1.8; P = 0.045).

Conclusion
A4-C LS is independently associated with death in patients with AS and preserved LVEF, however the flow/gradient pattern should also be considered as an important parameter. The management of these patients may use A4-C LS as a new parameter of evaluation of LV function and prognosis.


PURPOSE
To quantify the effect of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the spine and sacroiliac joints on clinical diagnostic confidence and to determine if MR imaging affects treatment of patients with axial spondyloarthritis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
This prospective observational study was approved by the research ethics board and included 55 consecutive patients referred by three rheumatologists for MR imaging of the spine and sacroiliac joints. Measures of diagnostic confidence for clinical features (inflammatory back pain, mechanical back pain, muscular back pain, radicular back pain, spondylitis, sacroiliitis, and other) and overall diagnoses were made by using a Likert scale both before and after MR imaging. Proposed treatment was similarly recorded before and after MR imaging interpretation. The McNemar test was performed to determine the change in diagnostic confidence and consequent effect on patient treatment.

RESULTS
Diagnostic confidence for specific clinical features improved significantly after MR imaging for inflammatory back pain (14% vs 76%, before vs after; P < .001), mechanical back pain (4% vs 49%, P < .001), spondylitis (7% vs 76%, P < .001) and sacroiliitis (9% vs 87%, P < .001). Confidence for overall diagnoses also improved significantly after MR imaging for ankylosing spondylitis (29% vs 80%, P < .001), undifferentiated spondyloarthritis (58% vs 93%, P < .001) and osteoarthritis (29% vs 64%, P < .001). Of the 23 patients for whom tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitor (TNFi) therapy was recommended before MR imaging, 12 (52%) were prescribed TNFi therapy after MR imaging. Of the 32 patients for whom TNFi therapy was not recommended before MR imaging, 10 (31%) patients were prescribed TNFi therapy after MR imaging. Overall, 22 (40%) patients had a change in treatment recommendation regarding TNFi therapy after MR imaging.

CONCLUSION
MR imaging of the spine and sacroiliac joints significantly influences the diagnostic confidence of rheumatologists regarding clinical features and overall diagnoses of axial spondyloarthritis, and consequently significantly affects treatment plans.


LiDAR and camera are two modalities available for 3D semantic segmentation in autonomous driving. The popular LiDAR-only methods severely suffer from inferior segmentation on small and distant objects due to insufficient laser points, while the robust multi-modal solution is under-explored, where we investigate three crucial inherent difficulties: modality heterogeneity, limited sensor field of view intersection, and multi-modal data augmentation. We propose a multi-modal 3D semantic segmentation model (MSeg3D) with joint intra-modal feature extraction and inter-modal feature fusion to mitigate the modality heterogeneity. The multi-modal fusion in MSeg3D consists of geometry-based feature fusion GF-Phase, cross-modal feature completion, and semantic-based feature fusion SF-Phase on all visible points. The multi-modal data augmentation is reinvigorated by applying asymmetric transformations on LiDAR point cloud and multi-camera images individually, which benefits the model training with diversified augmentation transformations. MSeg3D achieves state-of-the-art results on nuScenes, Waymo, and SemanticKITTI datasets. Under the malfunctioning multi-camera input and the multi-frame point clouds input, MSeg3D still shows robustness and improves the LiDAR-only baseline. Our code is publicly available at https://github.com/jialeli1/lidarseg3d.


Xiang Ai 1 Xin Liao Junyan Li Peng Tang Jun Jiang 1Breast Disease Center, Southwest Hospital, The Army Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, People's Republic of China; 2Department of Breast Surgery, People's Hospital of DeYang City, Deyang 618000, People's Republic of China Background: Although stage IIIC (any TN3M0) breast cancer is known to have a dismal prognosis, the clinical outcome of current standard management and the prognostic differences between N3a, N3b and N3c remain to be further investigated. Material and Methods: Data from our center on pathologic N3 (pN3) (n=284) breast cancer and the US Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database on clinical N3 (cN3) (n=15,291) and M1 (n=23,623) breast cancer between January 2004 and December 2015 were systematically analyzed for clinicopathological characteristics and survival outcomes. Results: In our institution, patients with pN3c had the worst survival, with 5-year OS and DFS rates of 52.4% and 41.5%, respectively. Patients with pN3b had a relatively good prognosis, with a 5-year OS rate of 75.3% vs 63.9% for the pN3a group (p=0.045). For DFS, the 5-year survival rate was 63.1% in the pN3b group compared with 40.3% in the pN3a group (p=0.030). In the US SEER database, patients with cN3c had the worst survival in the cN3 group, but the prognosis of cN3c was much better than that of M1. Similarly, patients with cN3b had a better prognosis compared with patients in other groups, with a 5-year OS rate of 68.9% vs 61.9% for the cN3a group (p<0.001) and a 5-year BCSS rate of 73.4% vs 67.1% for the cN3a group (p<0.001). Conclusion: Breast cancer patients with N3c had the worst clinical outcomes, while the prognosis of N3b patients was better than that of N3a patients.


The metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) crystallizing in a perovskite-like architecture became extremely interesting for scientists due to a variety of applications including memory devices, energy conversion and drug delivery. These compounds are constructed from a metal–oxygen or metal–nitrogen octahedral coordinated by organic ligands. They exhibit various interesting properties due to their hybrid organic–inorganic nature. However, ferroelectric MOFs still remain scarce and the topic of ferroelectricity raises a lot of controversies. In this article, we will discuss the actual state of knowledge of these specific compounds with a focus on ferroelectric properties. We will try to create an order out of the current confusion that followed attributing ferroelectric properties to metal–formate frameworks without a direct proof.


Government policy and institutional initiatives have influenced increases in enrolment of non-traditional students to Australian universities. For these students, university culture is often incongruent with their own, making it difficult to understand the tacit requirements for participation and success. Academic teaching staff are important in creating socially inclusive learning experiences, particularly in first year subjects. This paper presents an institution-wide approach to enhancing socially inclusive teaching at one Australian university. Underpinned by a framework of "bridging social-incongruity" the initiative was guided by six principles of socially inclusive teaching to support practice as proposed in the 2012 "Effective support of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds in higher education" report commissioned by the Australian Office of Learning and Teaching. Feedback from 150 academic teaching staff from various disciplines and campus locations, suggests this initiative was effective in increasing understanding of socially inclusive teaching practices with many participants indicating the teaching enhancements were applicable for their teaching context.


Shimada Seamount is an isolated volcanic feature located between the Clipperton and Clarion Fracture Zones ∼1,150 km west of the East Pacific Rise and ∼600 km west of the inactive spreading center represented by the Mathematician Seamounts. It rises ∼3,900 m above the surrounding sea floor to within 50 m of present-day sea level. The area of Shimada Seamount should be volcanically dormant, because it is far from an active spreading center and is located on oceanic crust of early Miocene age. Nevertheless, evidence was found that Shimada Seamount has formed geologically recently. For example, seismic-reflection profiles-indicate that virtually no sediment has accumulated on the summit or flanks of the seamount; television, still-camera, and dredge-haul data indicate that a platform near the summit at a water depth of ∼180 m is a carbonate build-up formed by coralline red algae attached to fresh pillow basalt. Glassy pillow basalt too young to date by the K/Ar method and showing little or no devitrification and lacking manganese encrustations was dredged from the seamount below the algal reefs (500–750 m). Several cores taken from the adjacent basin (∼3,900 m deep) contain fresh glassy basalt detritus, and one core sampled a thin flow of unaltered basaltic glass at the sediment surface. The origin and history of Shimada Seamount differ importantly from volcanoes generally thought to form at spreading centers, along transform faults, or at hot spots. The existence of Shimada Seamount, therefore, has implications about tectonic processes that occur in interplate regions.


Juvenile male zebra finches develop their song by imitation. Females do not sing but are attracted to males' songs. With functional magnetic resonance imaging and event‐related potentials we tested how early auditory experience shapes responses in the auditory forebrain of the adult bird. Adult male birds kept in isolation over the sensitive period for song learning showed no consistency in auditory responses to conspecific songs, calls, and syllables. Thirty seconds of song playback each day over development, which is sufficient to induce song imitation, was also sufficient to shape stimulus‐specific responses. Strikingly, adult females kept in isolation over development showed responses similar to those of males that were exposed to songs. We suggest that early auditory experience with songs may be required to tune perception toward conspecific songs in males, whereas in females song selectivity develops even without prior exposure to song. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 2010


SIGNIFICANCE
The positive association between intraocular pressure (IOP) and relative maximum force may have relevance for exercise recommendations when IOP is a concern.

PURPOSE
The relationship between exercise and IOP has been approached in several studies. However, the influence of muscle function on IOP remains underexplored. This study aimed to determine the relationship between the maximal mechanical capabilities of muscles to generate force, velocity, and power with IOP.

METHODS
Sixty-five physically active males participated in this cross-sectional study. Baseline IOP measures were obtained by rebound tonometry, and participants performed an incremental loading test in the ballistic bench press.

RESULTS
Baseline IOP showed a strong positive correlation with relative maximum force (r65 = 0.85, P < .001) relative maximum power (r65 = 0.85, P < .001), and relative one-repetition maximum (r65 = 0.91, P < .001). Also, a moderate positive association was obtained between baseline IOP and maximum force (r65 = 0.74, P < .001), maximum power (r65 = 0.72, P < .001), and maximum dynamic strength (r65 = 0.80, P < .001). No significant correlations between IOP and maximal velocity were obtained (all P > .05).

CONCLUSIONS
There is a positive association between greater upper-body power and strength with higher baseline IOP, which might have important implications in the management of ocular health and especially in individuals constantly involved in resistance training programs (e.g., military personnel, weightlifters). The possible protective effect of high fitness level on the acute IOP response to strength exercise needs to be addressed in future studies.


A fully automatic system for embedding visually recognizable watermark patterns to video objects is proposed. The architecture consists of 3 main modules. In the first module, unsupervised video object extraction is performed, by analyzing stereoscopic pairs of frames. Then each video object is decomposed into three levels with ten subbands, using the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) and three pairs of subbands are formed (HL/sub 3/, HL/sub 2/), (LH/sub 3/, LH/sub 2/) and (HH/sub 3/, HH/sub 2/). Next qualified significant wavelet trees (QSWTs) are estimated for the specific pair of subbands that contains the highest energy content compared to the other two pairs. QSWTs are derived from the embedded zerotree wavelet (EZW) algorithm and they are high-energy coefficient paths within the selected pair of subbands. Finally, in the third module, visually recognizable watermark patterns are redundantly embedded to the coefficients of the highest energy QSWTs and the inverse DWT is applied to provide the watermarked video object. The performance of the proposed video object watermarking system is tested under various signal distortions such as JPEG lossy compression, sharpening, blurring and adding different types of noise. Experimental results on real life stereoscopic images are presented to indicate the efficiency and robustness of the proposed scheme.


Pulsed UV laser beams, which are widely used in the processing of polymers, offer many advantages in the field of polymer production, primarily because their photon energy is higher than the binding energy of the polymer. In particular, the fabrication of polymers with an excimer laser process is faster and more convenient than with other processes. Nevertheless, some problems occur in the precision microprocessing of polymers, including the formation and deposition of surface debris, which is produced from the breakdown of either polymer chains or radical bonds. In the present work, a process for eliminating carbonized surface debris contamination generated by the laser ablation of a polymer was developed. The proposed approach for removing surface debris utilizes an erasable ink pasted on the polymer. The surface debris ejected from the polymer is then combined with the ink layer on the polymer. Finally, both the surface debris and the ink layer can be removed using adhesive tape.


ITER is a joint international fusion facility which is being built in France to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion power. ITER will pave the way for the commercial exploitation of nuclear fusion to meet the ever increasing energy needs of mankind. Fusion power at ITER is generated using a Tokamak machine in which burning plasma inside the vacuum vessel at temperatures in excess of 150 million °C is confined by magnetic fields. The heat energy generated from the Tokamak and the auxiliary systems is removed by the Cooling Water System (CWS). The cooling water system is designed to remove the total peak heat load of about 1100 MW to the atmosphere by circulating approximately 25,000 m3 of water of diverse chemical specifications in multiple loops. The design of the cooling water systems considers occupational health and safety, nuclear safety, radiation protection, and environmental protection requirements. Minimizing environmental impact is a major factor in demonstrating the viability of fusion energy as a future energy source. This paper presents the features in the design of CWS for making it environmentally friendly.


ABSTRACT Modular integrated construction (MiC) is an innovative construction approach which transforms the fragmented linear site-based construction of buildings into an integrated production and assembly of value-added prefabricated prefinished modules. As MiC has gained attention in the construction industry, more in-depth knowledge of the critical success factors (CSFs) for implementing MiC projects is imperative. This research reviewed studies on the CSFs for implementing MiC projects during the period 1993–2019. Analysis showed that the US, UK, Malaysia, Australia, and Hong Kong are the largest contributors to the MiC CSFs studies. Further analysis generated 35 CSFs for implementing MiC projects. Of these, the six most cited CSFs shared between countries and MiC projects include good working collaboration and effective communication among project participants; effective supply chain management; accurate design and early design freeze; involvement of key project participants throughout the project; suitable procurement strategy and contracting; and standardization & benchmarking of best practices. These shared CSFs can be used to develop decision support systems, enabling the prediction of project success. The developed checklists and conceptual model of the CSFs could help to guide and improve the successful implementation of MiC projects and may form a useful basis for future empirical studies.


Digital watermarking is used to hide the information inside a signal, which cannot be easily extracted by the third party. Its widely used application is copyright protection of digital information. It is different from the encryption in the sense that it allows the user to access, view and interpret the signal but protect the ownership of the content. One of the current research areas is to protect digital watermark inside the information so that ownership of the information cannot be claimed by third party. With a lot of information available on various search engines, to protect the ownership of information is a crucial area of research. In recent year, several digital watermarking techniques are presented based on discrete cosine transform (DCT), discrete wavelets transform (DWT) and discrete fourier transforms (DFT). In this paper, we proposed an algorithm for digital image watermarking technique based on singular value decomposition; both of the L and U components are explored for watermarking algorithm. This technique refers to the watermark embedding procedure and watermark extracting procedure. Digital image watermarking techniques for copyright protection is robust. The experimental results prove that the quality of the watermarked image is good and that there is strong resistant against many attacks. The image watermarking techniques help to achieve artificial intelligence. Digital image watermarking is the most effective solution in this area and its use to protect the information is increasingly exponentially day by day.


Intraperitoneal 3-methylcholanthrene induces hepatic aryl hydrocarbon (benzo[ a ]pyrene) hydroxylase (EC 126.96.36.199) in the C57BL/6N mouse about 5-7-fold; a dose of 8O mg/ kg of body weight maintains maximal levels on the second through the seventh day after a single injection. The same dose of β-naphthoflavone induces the hydroxylase about 4-fold, the maximal level occurring 40 hr, and the activity returning to basal levels 72 hr, following a single injection. Dose-response studies, time-response studies, simultaneous treatment with maximal and submaximal amounts of both inducers, and multiple-injection experiments all suggested that β-naphthoflavone is absorbed from the peritoneal cavity much more rapidly than 3-methylcholanthrene. With radiolabeled inducers, it was confirmed that β-naphthoflavone is absorbed from the peritoneal cavity into the liver and blood and is excreted (presumably as metabolites) in the feces and urine about 10 times more rapidly than 3-methylcholanthrene during the first 12-18 hr after a single injection of 80 mg/kg of body weight. Concomitant with the rise and fall, respectively, in β-naphthoflavone- or 3-methylcholanthrene-induced aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activity are (a) increases and decreases in microsomal total cytochrome P-450 content; (b) a spectral shift to the blue, and then back toward the red, in the Soret peak of the reduced cytochrome-CO complex; and (c) and decreases in two bands (having molecular weights of about 55,500 and 54,500) on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Which of the two bands is associated with the induced hydroxylase activity remains to be determined (or perhaps both bands are). Similar results were found with β-naphthoflavone- and 3-methylcholanthrene-treated sexually immature male Sprague-Dawley rats. These data indicate a common mechanism of induction of hepatic cytochrome(s) P-448 by β-naphthoflavone and 3-methylcholanthrene.


Objectives: The aim of this meta-analysis was to estimate the association between the FCGR2A rs1801274 polymorphism and the susceptibility to autoimmune diseases more precisely. Methods: A meta-analysis was conducted on the association between the FCGR2A gene variants and ADs by allelic contrast, homozygote contrast, the recessive model, and the dominant model. Results: A total of 17 studies with 30 comparisons in different populations and genotype-methods were available for this meta-analysis, including 10 Kawasaki disease (KD), 7 Ulcerative colitis (UC), 6 Crohn's disease (CD), 3 Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 2 Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 1 Autoimmune thyroid disease (ATD) and 1 diabetes mellitus type 1 (T1D). A significant association between FCGR2A rs1801274 polymorphism were found in KD (OR = 1.409, P < 0.001) and UC (OR = 1.237, P < 0.001). A overall metaanalysis increased risk of AD significant association between FCGR2A rs1801274 gene polymorphism and ADs under allelic (OR = 1.378, P=0.000), homozygous (OR: 1.866, P=0.001), dominant (OR = 1.667, P = 0.000) and recessive (OR = 1.434, P=0.000) in Asian population. Meanwhile, a decreased risk of AD was detected in the allelic (OR= 0.882, P = 0.011), homozygous (OR = 0.777, P = 0.013), dominant (OR = 0.850, P = 0.032) and recessive (OR = 0.840, P = 0.048) in African-American population. Conclusions: This meta-analysis demonstrates that the FCGR2A rs1801274 G-allele confers susceptibility to KD and UC. Data also suggests that the FCGR2A rs1801274 polymorphism may be associated with the susceptibility of multiple ADs in Asian and African-American populations.


Mucoepidermoid tumors of salivary glands are relative rare and it has often been difficult to correlate the patologic features and clinical aspects. The literature recommends long term follow‐up studies. The object of the present study was therefore to follow this recommendation. The clinico‐pathological features of 39 mucoepidermoid tumors are presented. The material was retrieved from the files of the pathological institute, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, during the period 1941–75. All patients, 24 males, 15 females, were followed for a minimum of 5 years. The lesions were classified into low grade (13 cases), intermediate grade (14 cases) and high grade (12 cases). The corresponding 5, 10 and 15 years cumulative survival rates were 92%, 92%, 92% for low grade, 47.4%, 47.4%, 35.5% for intermediate grade and 0%, 0%, 0% for high grade tumors. Thus we found a close correlation between pathology and clinical course. Furthermore, a 5 year observation period appeared an acceptable approach, because 17 of the 18 patients who succumbed of the disease, did so within 4 years following surgery. We consider all grades of mucoepidermoid tumors to be potential malignant. In our study one patient with a low grade tumor died of the disease.


Chiller start control is to schedule chillers start-up operation, including how many chillers to be put into operation and when to start these chillers, for cooling down building internal temperature to a desired level before occupying. Chiller optimal start aims to find the most efficient way to schedule the chiller start operation for energy savings. Previous studies on chiller optimal start mainly focus on determining the pre-cooling lead time based only on initial outdoor and indoor temperatures without considering the impact of the recovery ability, i.e. the ability of the chillers to return the indoor air temperature to its set-point value. Different from previous studies, a new optimal start strategy is proposed in this article, which considers both the recovery ability and the cooling load condition as the optimizing variables. The new strategy is model-based and realized in two steps. The first step is to predict the building cooling load using a simplified building model, and identify a feasible set for the operating chiller number. The second step is to estimate the pre-cooling lead time using the simplified building model for each number inside the feasible range identified in the first step, and calculate the corresponding energy consumption. The number and its corresponding pre-cooling lead time which yields the least energy consumption constitute the optimal start operation. Practical application: The proposed strategy, validated through case studies, can be used in practical applications to select the optimal number of operating chillers and determine the associated pre-cooling lead time in order to achieve minimum energy consumption in the pre-cooling period.


This paper briefly describes the contribution of mathematical science in the development of rice growth model and outlines the potential uses of this kind of model for sustainable agricultural development. The model is a mechanistic model that simulates rice growth based on the interactions amongst rice characteristics and the various underlying environmental conditions. The model is very useful to researchers, extension workers and policy makers in their works. In research, it enables researchers to integrate knowledge with various disciplines in a quantitative manner thereby helping in understanding the complex behavior of agricultural systems on the basis of underlying processes. In field, it may be used to support problem-solving and decision-making processes. To policy maker, the model helps to predict the future outcomes based on the proposed current set of scenarios.


Importance Enasidenib mesylate, a mutant isocitrate dehydrogenase 2 (IDH2) protein inhibitor that promotes differentiation of leukemic myeloblasts, was recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for use in relapsed/refractory (R/R) mutant IDH2 acute myeloid leukemia (AML). During the first study of enasidenib in humans, a minority of patients with advanced myeloid neoplasms experienced unexpected signs/symptoms of a differentiation syndrome (DS), a potentially lethal entity. Objective To characterize IDH-inhibitor–associated DS (IDH-DS) and its effective management. Design, Setting, and Participants Using data obtained from a multicenter, open-label, pivotal phase 1/2 study of enasidenib, a differentiation syndrome review committee retrospectively evaluated potential cases of IDH-DS in enasidenib-treated patients with R/R AML. Data were collected between August 27, 2013, and October 14, 2016. The committee identified and agreed on signs and symptoms characteristic of IDH-DS and developed an algorithm for identification and treatment. Among 281 patients with R/R AML enrolled in the trial, the committee identified 72 patients for review based on investigator-reported cases of DS (n = 33) or reported adverse events or signs and symptoms characteristic of IDH-DS. Interventions Treatment with enasidenib at a dosage of 50 to 650 mg/d was evaluated during the dose-escalation phase, and a dosage of 100 mg/d was used in the phase 1 expansion and phase 2, all in continual 28-day cycles. Main Outcomes and Measures Unexpected adverse events of IDH-DS during the phase 1/2 study. Results Thirty-three of the 281 patients (11.7%) were identified as having possible or probable IDH-DS. Median age of those 33 patients was 70 years (range, 38-80 years); 20 (60.6%) were male. The most frequent manifestations were dyspnea, fever, pulmonary infiltrates, and hypoxia. Median time to onset was 30 days (range, 7-129 days). Patients who experienced IDH-DS were less likely to have less than 20% bone marrow blasts (6% vs 22%, P = .04) and more likely to have undergone fewer previous anticancer regimens (median, 1.0 [range, 1-4] vs 2.0 [range, 1-14], P = .05) at study entry than those who did not. Thirteen patients (39.4%) had concomitant leukocytosis. Isocitrate dehydrogenase differentiation syndrome was effectively managed with systemic corticosteroids. The enasidenib regimen was interrupted for 15 patients (45.5%), but permanent discontinuation of treatment was not required. Conclusions and Relevance Isocitrate dehydrogenase differentiation syndrome is a recognizable and potentially lethal clinical entity, occurring in approximately 12% of enasidenib-treated patients with mutant-IDH2 R/R AML. It requires prompt recognition and management. As use of mutant IDH inhibitors increases, these findings and recommendations are increasingly germane to care of patients with mutant-IDH neoplasms. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01915498


Metastasis is the most deadly aspect of cancer and results from acquired gene regulation abnormalities in tumor cells. Transcriptional regulation is an essential component of controlling of gene function and its failure could contribute to tumor progression and metastasis. During cancer progression, deregulation of oncogenic or tumor suppressive transcription factors, as well as master cell fate regulators, collectively influences multiple steps of the metastasis cascade, including local invasion and dissemination of the tumor to distant organs. Transcription factor PAX3/Pax3, which contributes to diverse cell lineages during embryonic development, plays a major role in tumorigenesis. Mutations in this gene can cause neurodevelopmental disease and the existing literature supports that there is a potential link between aberrant expression of PAX3 genes in adult tissues and a wide variety of cancers. PAX3 function is tissue-specific and could contribute to tumorigenesis either directly as oncogene or as a tumor suppressor by losing its function. In this review, we discuss comprehensively the differential role played by PAX3 in various tissues and how its aberrant expression is implicated in disease development. This review particularly highlights the oncogenic and tumor suppressor role played by PAX3 in different cancers and underlines the importance of precisely identifying tissue-specific role of PAX3 in order to determine its exact role in development of cancer.


The secretin receptor is prototypic of the class II family of G protein-coupled receptors, with a long extracellular amino-terminal domain containing six highly conserved Cys residues and one Cys residue (Cys(11)) that is present only in the most closely related family members. This domain is critical for function, with some component Cys residues believed to be involved in key disulfide bonds, although these have never been directly demonstrated. Here, we examine the functional importance of each of these residues and determine their involvement in disulfide bonds. Secretin binding was markedly diminished after treating cells with cell-impermeant reducing reagents, supporting the presence of important extracellular disulfide bonds. To determine whether the amino-terminal domain was covalently attached to the receptor body by disulfide linkage, a strategy was implemented that involved introduction of an acid-labile Asp-Pro sequence to enable specific cleavage at the boundary of these domains. Under nonreducing conditions, the amino terminus was released from the receptor body, supporting the absence of covalent association between these domains. Quantitative [(14)C]iodoacetamide incorporation into the isolated amino-terminal domain of the receptor in the absence and presence of chemical reduction established the ratio of free to total Cys residues as 1:7, consistent with three disulfide bonds. Mutagenesis of each of the amino-terminal Cys residues to Ala was tolerated only for Cys(11), suggesting that these bonds linked the conserved Cys residues. This was further supported by treatment of intact cells expressing wild-type or C11A mutant secretin receptor with a cell-impermeant sulfhydryl-reactive reagent. Thus, the functionally important amino terminus of the secretin receptor represents a structurally independent, highly folded, and disulfide-bonded domain, with a pattern that is likely critical and conserved throughout this receptor family.


The aim of the paper is to evaluate the role of universities in the innovation process. Against the background of theoretical considerations about the interrelation of innovation and the adaptation of external resources, the effects of university-based (knowledge) resources – together with other exogenous variables – on the innovation input and output of firms in the German manufacturing industry are empirically investigated and evaluated. The estimation results on the innovation input side can be summarized as follows: High assessments to university-based resources and joint R&D with universities increase the probability that firms are engaged in the development of new products and technologies. Further, the estimations point out stimulating effects of science-related resources on the level of in-house R&D. In general, resources stemming from universities are used as complements in the German manufacturing industry. In-house capacities can be expanded with positive impacts on the probability and the level of R&D activities. The estimation results for the innovation output side are ambiguous: On the one hand, empirical evidence of enhancing impacts of resources stemming from universities on the realization of process innovations has been found. This strengthens the assumption that science-related resources are used to optimize production processes and to save production costs. On the other hand, external resources from the academic sphere have no stimulating effects on the probability of realizing product innovations. University-based resources stimulate the development of new products more indirectly by increasing in-house capacities and enhancing R&D efficiency. But finally, the empirical analysis point out positive impacts of joint R&D with universities on the realization of product innovations. Obviously, collaboration in R&D with universities offer possibilities of efficient knowledge transfer, resource exchange and organizational learning.


In reality, thermocouples are extremely versatile and rugged. They are primarily simple devices and can be made to very small dimensions to convert heat into electricity. They are capable of operating over a wide range of temperatures. In addition, they are low in cost and are readily interchanged or replaced. However they do need to be tacit, so that they will measure the quantity that is desired with the precision that is required. In this context, the article presents an explanation about the thermocouple.The Himalayan Physics Vol. 6 & 7, April 2017 (10-14)


When the new curriculum for Swedish compulsory school (Lpo 94) and a new grading system were introduced, criteria for assessment were given only for the final marks. For the term marks schools were supposed to set up their own criteria. Originally the school authorities gave no reasons why teachers should do this, but gradually some reasons appeared in various school documents. One reason was that if the criteria were created locally it would give opportunities for teachers and learners to discuss the learning goals in the classroom, and there would also be discussions between colleagues about teaching, learning and assessment. Another reason was that this way the system would be clear to the learners so they would know what was required of them. In my research I study how teachers from 93 different schools interpreted the new ideas in the curriculum in their local plans and criteria for assessment for three different subjects: English, Chemistry and Physical Education. The first part of the study shows that when local criteria were first set up, the learners had not been involved, and the system was not presented clear enough for them to understand the contents. Neither had there been any in-depth discussions in the staff rooms about assessment. In many cases the language of the documents is such that both pupils and parents must find it very difficult to understand what is required in order to achieve a certain mark. One reason for this is, in my opinion, that teachers never quite understood why they should draw up local school plans and criteria, nor did they realize the difference between national and local criteria. In part two of the study the focus is on one subject, English. What research and what new ideas had made their way into the English syllabus and how were they interpreted in the local documents? It turns out, however, that only few schools had integrated the most significant new ideas, like learner influence and intercultural competence in their goals and criteria. The most characteristic feature was rather that many schools created new goals for English. Most frequent were criteria that had to do with grammar. More than half of the schools presented a number of criteria for grammar skills, while in the syllabus grammar is only mentioned once. The reason why grammar is so heavily emphasised is probably not that most English teachers in Sweden find grammar the most important aspect of English teaching. I would rather suspect that quite a few teachers did not have any strategies when they were given the task to formulate criteria, something they had never done before. Instead of starting by asking the obvious question "What are the most important aspects of my subject?" it seems likely that many teachers started out with the question "What can easily be tested in my subject?" The answer as regards English is of course "grammar", and so the criteria are full of grammar objectives. Obviously the teachers were not properly informed about why they should formulate assessment criteria. They had had very little in-service training about the new syllabus and no training at all to make them better prepared for this task. Consequently they were not prepared to interpret the new ideas that were presented in Lpo 94.


Aims Gp91-containing NADPH oxidases (NOX2) are a significant source of myocardial superoxide production. An increase in NOX2 activity accompanies atrial fibrillation (AF) induction and electrical remodelling in animal models and predicts incident AF in humans; however, a direct causal role for NOX2 in AF has not been demonstrated. Accordingly, we investigated whether myocardial NOX2 overexpression in mice (NOX2-Tg) is sufficient to generate a favourable substrate for AF and further assessed the effects of atorvastatin, an inhibitor of NOX2, on atrial superoxide production and AF susceptibility. .................................................................................................................................................................................................... Methods and results NOX2-Tg mice showed a 2to 2.5-fold higher atrial protein content of NOX2 compared with wild-type (WT) controls, which was associated with a significant (twofold) increase in NADPH-stimulated superoxide production (2-hydroxyethidium by HPLC) in left and right atrial tissue homogenates (P = 0.004 and P = 0.019, respectively). AF susceptibility assessed in vivo by transoesophageal atrial burst stimulation was modestly increased in NOX2-Tg compared with WT (probability of AF induction: 88% vs. 69%, respectively; P = 0.037), in the absence of significant alterations in AF duration, surface ECG parameters, and LV mass or function. Mechanistic studies did not support a role for NOX2 in promoting electrical or structural remodelling, as high-resolution optical mapping of atrial tissues showed no differences in action potential duration and conduction velocity between genotypes. In addition, we did not observe any genotype difference in markers of fibrosis and inflammation, including atrial collagen content and Col1a1, Il-1b, Il-6, and Mcp-1 mRNA. Similarly, NOX2 overexpression did not have consistent effects on RyR2 Ca2þ leak nor did it affect PKA or CaMKII-mediated RyR2 phosphorylation. Finally, treatment with atorvastatin significantly inhibited atrial superoxide production in NOX2-Tg but had no effect on AF induction in either genotype. .................................................................................................................................................................................................... Conclusion Together, these data indicate that while atrial NOX2 overexpression may contribute to atrial arrhythmogenesis, NOX2-derived superoxide production does not affect the electrical and structural properties of the atrial myocardium.


This paper proposes the design and development of a scheduler for the GLORIA telescope network. This network, which main objective is to make astronomy closer to citizens in general, is formed by 18 telescopes spread over four continents and both hemispheres. Part of the management of this network is made by the network scheduler. It receives the observation requests made by the GLORIA users and then sends it to the most suitable telescope. A key module of the network scheduler is the telescope decision algorithm that makes possible to choose the best telescope, and thus avoiding offering an observation to a telescope that cannot execute it. This paper shows two different telescope decision algorithms: the first one is only based on weather forecast, meanwhile the second one uses fuzzy logic and information from each network telescope. Both algorithms were deployed in the GLORIA network. The achieved results coupled with a comparative of their
performance is shown. Moreover, the network scheduler architecture, based on a hybrid distributed-centralized schema, is detailed.