The action of estrogen on target organs has been actively studied with the discovery of estrogen receptor (ER) beta. This study was carried out to examine the expression of ERalpha and ERbeta in the uterus and the vagina of immature Sprague-Dawley rats treated with 17-ethinyl estradiol (EE). Twenty days old rats were subcutaneously treated with EE at the doses of 0 (vehicle control), 0.03, 0.3, 1.0, 3.0, and 10.0 microg/kg/day for three consecutive days. The treatment of EE at the doses of 0.3, 1.0, 3.0 and 10.0 microg/kg/day significantly increased the weights of the uterus and vagina of rats (p<0.01) and retained fluid in the uterus of rats. At the high doses of 3.0 and 10.0 microg/kg/day, the treatment of EE caused an increase in the uterine height, hypertrophy, and a decrease in the expression of ERalpha and ERbeta in the uterine luminal and glandular epithelium. The treatment of EE at the doses of 3.0 and 10.0 microg/kg/day also caused cornification and a decrease in the expression of ERalpha and ERbeta in the vaginal epithelium. These results suggest that the EE treatment decrease the expression of ERalpha and ERbeta in the uterus and vagina of immature rats and that may be associated with the morphological changes such as increase in the uterine height, hypertrophy of the uterine epithelium, and cornification of the vagina.


Detailed and exact collision detection for large amounts of objects has for a long time been a non real-time affair because of the immense amount of computations necessary. This was however not only because of the complexity of the algorithms but also because discussed of the computations would not have had to be done in the first place. This paper has through literature research and empirical testing examined two different broad phase approaches to object culling in a three dimensional environment. The aim of such a broad phase algorithm is to decrease the amount of computation heavy narrow phase collision detection checks and thus enhancing application performance. Potential weaknesses of these approaches were addressed and possible solutions discussed. Performance comparisons were made to give a better overview of what kind of performance enhancements can be expected and to give a theoretical base for further research.


The major focus of this report is the description and critical analysis of the main wastewater treatment processes used in Brazil. Special emphasis is given to small to medium size communities with populations lower than 100,000 inhabitants, which represent approximately 95% of the 5,570 Brazilian municipalities. In terms of coverage, around 40% of the sewage generated in Brazil is treated, with an estimated number of treatment plants in the order of 2,800. Based on a survey of 2,187 treatment plants, the configurations most widely adopted are: anaerobic pond followed by facultative pond; UASB (upflow anaerobic sludge blanket) reactor; activated sludge; ponds followed by maturation ponds; septic tank followed by anaerobic filter. An assessment of the actual performance of 166 treatment plants showed a great variability in the effluent concentrations and in the removal efficiencies, with performances that were usually inferior to those reported in the technical literature. Data on capital cost expenditures
indicated values ranging from R$60/inhabitant to R$650/inhabitant, depending on the treatment process employed. Due to the favorable climatic conditions in Brazil, there are no technical limitations for the adoption of biological sewage treatment. Traditional options incorporate stabilization ponds and activated sludge, but the more recent trend involves the adoption of UASB reactors followed by some form of post-treatment.


. Software security is a critical consideration for software development companies that want to provide their customers with high-quality and dependable software. The automated detection of software vulnerabilities is a critical aspect in software security. Vulnerability prediction is a mechanism that enables the detection and mitigation of software vulnerabilities early enough in the development cycle. Recently the scientific community has dedicated a lot of effort on the design of Deep learning models based on text mining techniques. Initially, Bag-of-Words was the most promising method but recently more complex models have been proposed focusing on the sequences of instructions in the source code. Recent research endeavors have started utilizing word embedding vectors, which are widely used in text classification tasks like semantic analysis, for representing the words (i.e., code instructions) in vector format. These vectors could be trained either jointly with the other layers of the neural network, or they can be pre-trained using popular algorithms like word2vec and fast-text. In this paper, we empirically examine whether the utilization of word embedding vectors that are pre-trained separately from the vulnerability predictor could lead to more accurate vulnerability prediction models. For the purposes of the present study, a popular vulnerability dataset maintained by NIST was utilized. The results of the analysis suggest that pre-training the embedding vectors separately from the neural network leads to better vulnerability predic-tors with respect to their effectiveness and performance.


: Oestradiol-17 beta oxidoreductase activity, which catalyzes the interconversion of oestrone and oestradiol, was investigated in preparations of human ovaries. The enzyme activities were localized primarily in the 105,000 X g supernatant fraction; dialyzed supernatant preparations were used in subsequent studies. The pH optima were 6.9 for reduction and 8.1 for 17 beta-dehydrogenation. The apparent Michaelis constants for oestrone and oestradiol were 1 X 10(-7) M and 5 X 10(-7) M, respectively. The enzyme activity was present with either NADP(H) or NAD(H), though (NADP(H) were the preferred cofactors. Non-aromatic steroids androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone, testosterone and 5-androstene-3beta,17beta-diol were poor substrates for the enzyme preparation. Methylation of the phenolic hydroxyl of oestrone and oestradiol resulted in slightly enhanced activities. The sulfhydryl reagent, N-ethylmaleimide, inhibited the reduction of oestrone. A dialyzed supernatant preparation retained approximately 79% of the original enzyme activity when stored at -20 degrees C for 6 weeks.


Taking an historical perspective, this unique book highlights the evolution of the many diverse forms of business enterprise, and discusses the contribution of these different types of firm to the economic growth of Italy.


The study has been performed in 210 women with cesarean section: in 160 patients analgesia was performed with transcutaneous electrical neurostimulation and in 50 patients narcotic analgesics were used. It has been established that both techniques ensure adequate analgetic effect. At the same time transcutaneous electrical neurostimulation, ensuring good to excellent analgesia in 77.5% of women, has no negative effect on hemodynamics and respiratory function and accelerates rehabilitation processes.


The liquid viscosity of immiscible Al-In alloys was measured using an oscillating-cup viscometer. It has been found that the viscosity of Al-In melts changes abruptly at the critical temperature of liquid-liquid phase separation during the cooling process. The experimental data above the temperature of phase separation are fitted to the Arrhenius equation. The fitted results show that the temperature dependence of the viscosity obeys the Arrhenius relationship.


This study was conducted to investigate the freshwater migration patterns of Black Sea trout (Salmo trutta labrax ), which distribute in the North-eastern coastal region of Black Sea, between June 1998-July 2001. Physical and chemical features of streams, which are mostly favourable for entrance of intensive Black Sea Trout, were determined and environmental effect on fish stocks and lifecycles were observed. During spring and winter periods Black Sea Trout inhabit near to sea. During summer, under the effect of water temperature, adult fish move to upstreams and branches for reproduction and other fish for nutrition. In autumn especially adults show a migration pattern by the aim of reproduction. Intense nutritional activities in coastal regions are finalized by the smoltification and migration to the sea by the effect of different (debated) factors. Length and weight of fario ecotype exhibited significant differences, seasonal distribution amoung stations (P<0,05), downstream and upstream regions (P<0,01).


The present invention relates to the in situ hydroxyl end group functionalization of polymer chains which have been prepared by means of atom transfer radical polymerization, and to the simultaneous removal of transition metals from polymer solutions.


A survey was performed of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in 21 patients with congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD) with cerebral abnormalities to evaluate the contribution of MRI to the classification of CMD patients. In 5 patients with Walker‐Warburg syndrome (WWS), MRI showed hydrocephalus due to aqueduct stenosis, generalized cerebral cortical agyric or pachygyric polymicrogyria, diffuse cerebral hemispheric white matter abnormalities, and malformations of posterior fossa structures. In 4 patients with muscle–eye–brain disease, MRI showed cortical dysplasia, but less severe than in WWS. The cerebral white matter either was normal or contained multiple focal abnormalities. Malformations of posterior fossa structures were present. Eight patients, classified as having classic merosin‐deficient CMD (MD‐CMD), had diffuse cerebral hemispheric white matter abnormalities, no other abnormalities. One patient with MD‐CMD had only a few, focal white matter abnormalities. Three CMD patients had occipital agyria, otherwise normal gyration, multifocal or more diffuse cerebral white matter changes, and variable hypoplasia of pons and vermis. Two of the 3 patients had negative muscle merosin staining. The conclusion of the study is that MRI is an important adjunct in the classification of CMD patients. CMD with occipital agyria can be regarded as a newly recognized, separate CMD subtype.


This paper deals with a synthesis of pulsed para-neural networks (PPNN) in a 3D cellular automata space. In its essence, PPNN is a set of simple processing units that change their states only in certain discrete moments of time. A given unit may send a pulse to and only to its nearest neighbors. There are three kinds of processing units: red cells, yellow cells, and blue cells. A red cell cumulates excitation/inhibition in both time and space. It emits a pulse if and only if the value of its counter at t+1 gets equal to or greater than 2, where the state of the counter for t+1 is the state for t plus the weighted sum of pulses incoming in t. Each weight is associated with one and only one inlet to the cell and may be equal to 1, 0 or -1. The counter is zeroed after every pulse emission. A yellow cell represents a formal neuron whose inputs provide a pre-synaptic inhibition to all other inputs. A string of adjacent blue cells constitutes an axon. A number of useful devices has been created in its framework. We present: (1) an associative memory to be filled via reinforcement learning (what is remembered is a set of phases of pulses circulating in closed loops made of cells), (2) a spiking neuron that non-linearly cumulates excitation and responds with a changeable frequency of produced pulses, (3) an adjustable timer, and (4) an object location recognizer. We also present tools and methods used for PPNN synthesis.


The estimated number of blind people over the world is between 40 to 45 million, special services should be provided to them in order to give them the right to live as others do. Unlike people with normal vision, it is difficult for the visually challenged persons to locate the bus stations, read the information displayed at the bus stations and also to identify the destination of the buses that arrive at the bus stations. In order to assist them to overcome all the above difficulty a solution based on RFID technology has been proposed in this present work. The proposed system consists of two important modules viz. the bus sub system and the bus station subsystem and makes use of a PIC Microcontroller for its functioning. Three different RFID tags are needed one for each bus, one for each bus station and one for each blind person. The proposed system has been developed and tested. Its performance is satisfactory and could help users to successfully board their desired buses, using the interactive communication modules. This idea also incidentally provides a potential and viable assistance even to the people with hearing impairment, by way of including suitable low cost displays in the various modules. Key words: RFID, Bus detection, Blind, Microcontroller, Travel information


Structural analysis has many merits. It enables us to agitate effectively, to make
the links between the immediate problems people experience and the broader
power relations which cause them. It can give us intellectual – and, these days,
academic – credibility. It can even, when linked as in David Harvey's work to
uncovering elite strategies, convince readers or students that the current
situation is not written in the stars, and so by implication that it can be changed.
Yet I find myself wishing more and more – as an Irish activist and as one
involved willy-nilly in global politics – that somewhat fewer of our comrades
had invested so much of their time and energy in structural analysis, and (in
particular) that fewer of them had invested their professional or political
identity in it to the point where they believe it is possible to read off the
movement situation from a "bird's eye" view of reality.


The paper tackles the issue of forming a basis of intercultural competence for young learners. Considering the fact that we live in the globalized world and in the era of communication technologies this issue is becoming more and more acute. It is getting incredibly easy to explore other nations and cultures either by travelling or by using social media. This fact has greatly influenced foreign language teaching. The goals of this paper are to develop the theoretical construct of intercultural competence for young learners, to analyze the current English textbooks – both Russian and authentic ones – on the matter of knowledge, skills ,and abilities that are represented and formed in them, and to compare the theoretical and practical results of the research: What is lacking? What can be added? As a research method, a theoretical analysis of the academic literature is used. Analyzing the educational documents, the theory of socio-cultural competence developed by Doctor Victoria Safonova and M. Byram's theory of intercultural communication, I found out that it needs to be specified for young learners. As a result, the construct of intercultural competence for young learners is developed. The construct includes a set of knowledge, skills, acquired practices, abilities and attitudes. Furthermore, this construct might be useful for creating a set of tasks for developing young learners' intercultural competence. Second, the current English textbooks, both Russian and English ones, were analyzed according to the knowledge, skills, abilities and attitudes represented in them. Then the author of the paper compared the practical construct from the English textbooks with the theoretical one by searching for the areas where intercultural competence might be developed more fully. As one of the possibilities to teach intercultural communication to young learners the author suggests organizing cultural – exchange between Russian and English-speaking students trough project work. Such work will allow students to deepen their intercultural knowledge and practice their cultural observation by comparing different cultures.


It is well-known that eigenvalues of graphs can be used to describe structural properties and parameters of graphs. A theorem of Nosal and Nikiforov states that if $G$ is a triangle-free graph with $m$ edges, then $\lambda (G)\le \sqrt{m}$, equality holds if and only if $G$ is a complete bipartite graph. Recently, Lin, Ning and Wu [Combin. Probab. Comput. 30 (2021)] proved a generalization for non-bipartite triangle-free graphs. Moreover, Zhai and Shu [Discrete Math. 345 (2022)] presented a further improvement. In this paper, we present an alternative method for proving the improvement by Zhai and Shu. Furthermore, the method can allow us to give a refinement on the result of Zhai and Shu for non-bipartite graphs without short odd cycles.


The use of the microscope is a subject of general interest in courses on medicine and life sciences. White light illumination, phase-contrast and even interference microscopy are techniques currently used in such courses. An experimental demonstration of the working principles of a phase-contrast microscope for individual students and also for small groups is described, with particular emphasis on the importance of the phase-contrast method in making visible almost totally transparent objects.


Introduction: Blood components are commonly used during surgical operations; however, limited sources are globally available in this regard. The present study aimed to assess blood product usage and wastage in Amir-Almomenin hospital, Zabol, Iran. Methods: A total of3883 ordered blood components were retrospectively analyzed in AmirAlmomenin hospital, Zabol, Iran (January) 2017-(July)2018. The data were analyzed using the SPSS software, version 18. Results: The results demonstrated that the most frequent ordered blood products included packed red blood cells (PRBCs, 2097 units, 54%), followed by fresh frozen plasma (823 units, 21.2%), platelet concentrates (757 units, 19.5%), and cryoprecipitate (206 units, 5.2%), respectively. Intensive care unit department had the highest records of orders (34.2%) and the ratio of crossmatched blood to transfused blood (C/T) was 1.73. In addition, based on the results, the total amount of component wastage was 2.03% with the highest and lowest percentage for PRBCs (59.6%) and cryoprecipitate (4.35%), respectively. The highest rate of wastage was related to the delivery ward (8.23%). There was no return from pediatrics, dialysis, pediatric critical care unit, critical care unit, and gastroenterology wards. Further, a significant difference was observed between the returned rates of D-positive and D-negative blood components with higher rates belonging to D-negative products (P=0.001). Conclusion: In general, due to the 2.03% wastage rate, there is an indispensable need regarding implementing sufficient supervision and assigning vigilant policies on the hospital-based transfusion policies in order to optimize the blood product management.


Volcanism along the South Aegean volcanic arc began about 4.7 Ma and has lasted until the present day, with eruptions at Methana, Milos, Santorini, Kolumbo and Nisyros volcanoes in historical times. These volcanoes can be grouped into five volcanic fields: three western fields of small, mostly monogenetic edifices, and two central/eastern fields with composite cones and calderas that have produced large explosive eruptions. Crustal tectonics exerts a strong control over the locations of edifices and vents at all five volcanic fields. Tephra and cryptotephra layers in deep-marine sediments preserve a continuous record of arc volcanism in the Aegean as far back as 200,000 years. Hazards from the volcanoes include high ash plumes, pyroclastic flows and tsunamis. Monitoring networks should be improved and expanded.


The paper is organized into six major sections. Background and trends in agricultural production and trade are presented in Section II. The extent of government intervention in food grain production and trade is described in Section III. This provides a foundation for Section IV where the behavioral equations for defining government intervention in food grain markets are specified. These equations, along with the retail demand and farm level supply equations, yield six equations in six endogenous variables for each of the food grain crops, maize, wheat and rice. It is shown in Section V that the model provides a good fit to the data. In the concluding sections, simulations are performed to obtain insights into the effect on and motivation for government intervention in food grain markets.


With the advent of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy, treatment strategies for late-stage cancers have seen a radical advancement. In this issue of the JCI, Wang et al. characterize the functional role of miR-155 in breast cancer and its potential in harnessing the efficacy of immunotherapy. The study reports that high expression levels of miR-155 in breast cancer cells downregulated suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (SOCS1), increased the phosphorylated STAT1 (pSTAT1)/pSTAT3 ratio, and thereby stimulated chemoattractants for tumor infiltration of effector T cells. Moreover, miR-155 overexpression set the stage for ICB therapy via increased programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression on cancer cells and enhanced immunological memory response via the release of miR-155–containing extracellular vesicles. Collectively, these data suggest that miR-155 is a strong candidate as a prognostic biomarker for ICB therapy.


Social communication could be considered the most comprehensive form of communication. Whether face-to-face or virtual, communication processes are a reality of the contemporary world. This article draws upon the fact that the manifestations of social communication in the virtual environment have aroused numerous controversies in the academic field. The reason behind this state of affairs is the fact that the theoretical foundations are being laid simultaneously with the evolution of social practices. As a result, people's perceptions are influenced by their direct involvement in the phenomena under investigation. In the present paper we shall approach the main academic views on the relationship between social media and mass communication in order to explore the extent to which the contemporary scientific discourse legitimizes the existence of a new form of communication in the virtual environment, namely, social media communication. We shall analyze how the undifferentiated treatment of communication and technological aspects with respect to online communication has complicated the efforts to define social media. Additionally, we intend to survey the pros and cons put forward in the academic debates over social communication. Some of the issues we intend to address are the following: Is social media a variation of mass communication or a distinct form of communication? Is interactivity a critical feature that makes social media a new stage in the evolution of social communication? Is there a clear distinction between mass communication and online communication? Or are we just facing a technocentric reductionism that cannot give grounds for the emergence of a new paradigm in communication studies?


The ADH2 gene codes for the Arabidopsis glutathione-dependent formaldehyde dehydrogenase (FALDH), an enzyme involved in formaldehyde metabolism in eukaryotes. In the present work, we have investigated the potential role of FALDH in detoxification of exogenous formaldehyde. We have generated a yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) mutant strain (sfa1Δ) by in vivo deletion of the SFA1 gene that codes for the endogenous FALDH. Overexpression of Arabidopsis FALDH in this mutant confers high resistance to formaldehyde added exogenously, which demonstrates the functional conservation of the enzyme through evolution and supports its essential role in formaldehyde metabolism. To investigate the role of the enzyme in plants, we have generated Arabidopsis transgenic lines with modified levels of FALDH. Plants overexpressing the enzyme show a 25% increase in their efficiency to take up exogenous formaldehyde, whereas plants with reduced levels of FALDH (due to either a cosuppression phenotype or to the expression of an antisense construct) show a marked slower rate and reduced ability for formaldehyde detoxification as compared with the wild-type Arabidopsis. These results show that the capacity to take up and detoxify high concentrations of formaldehyde is proportionally related to the FALDH activity in the plant, revealing the essential role of this enzyme in formaldehyde detoxification.


Recovery of energy from biomass and various waste–derived fuels by combustion has become important due to reduction of detrimental CO2 emissions. Biomass does, however, release significant amounts of chlorine and alkali metals, as e.g. HCl(g), KCl(g), KOH(g) and NaCl(g), into the gas phase during combustion. The alkali chlorides may cause deposits on superheater tubes, which interfere with operation and can lead to corrosion and/or blockage of the gas path. To prevent and diminish the problems mentioned above, better and more detailed knowledge of the reactions between potassium chloride and the tube materials during combustion is needed. These materials commonly contain, among other metals, chromium, which is thought to protect the rest of the material since it forms a very dense but thin oxide layer on the surface of the tube material. It has been suggested that the reaction between solid or partly molten KCl and chromium oxide is the one responsible for starting the complex series of corrosion reactions. In this work, the overall reaction between potassium chloride and chromium was studied through partial reactions with compounds known to participate to the overall reaction or to be formed during it. The reactions were studied in synthetic air by heating sample mixtures in a DTA/TGA (Differential Thermal Analysis/ Thermogravimetric Analysis) apparatus. Selected samples were also studied and analyzed with a scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive x-ray analyzer (SEM/EDXA). Under the used conditions both potassium chloride and potassium chromate reacted with pure chromium and chromium oxide. In the case of chromium, chromium oxide was formed via the formation of potassium chromate. In reactions including chromium oxide as reactant also potassium dichromate was detected.


Kaiser redshift-space distortion formula describes well the clustering of galaxies in redshift surveys on small scales, but there are numerous additional terms that arise on large scales. Some of these terms can be described using Newtonian dynamics and have been discussed in the literature, while the others require proper general relativistic description that was only recently developed. Accounting for these terms in galaxy clustering is the first step toward tests of general relativity on horizon scales. The effects can be classified as two terms that represent the velocity and the gravitational potential contributions. Their amplitude is determined by effects such as the volume and luminosity distance fluctuation effects and the time evolution of galaxy number density and Hubble parameter. We compare the Newtonian approximation often used in the redshift-space distortion literature to the fully general relativistic equation, and show that Newtonian approximation accounts for most of the terms contributing to velocity effect. We perform a Fisher matrix analysis of detectability of these terms and show that in a single tracer survey they are completely undetectable. To detect these terms one must resort to the recently developed methods to reduce sampling variance and shot noise. We show that in an all-sky galaxy redshift survey at low redshift the velocity term can be measured at a few sigma if one can utilize halos of mass M≥1012h-1Msun (this can increase to 10-σ or more in some more optimistic scenarios), while the gravitational potential term itself can only be marginally detected. We also demonstrate that the general relativistic effect is not degenerate with the primordial non-Gaussian signature in galaxy bias, and the ability to detect primordial non-Gaussianity is little compromised.


In addition to articles on Iran, Bali, India, and Japan, this issue includes a number of pieces on theatre in Malaysia. Nancy Nanney has graciously helped with the work as a reviewer with expertise in the area. She also contributed a bibliography on Malaysian theatre, something that was first suggested to her by my predecessor, Samuel Leiter, and that Nancy presented at an AAP meeting a number of years ago. I am delighted that we are able to publish her "roadmap" to resources in English. I hope it can serve as launchpad for scholars or students who might want to explore the issues of contemporary Malaysia and its theatre. Faculty associated with the Cultural Centre at the University of Malaya contributed a number of pieces: Dr. Zainal Abdul Latiff, who was at University of Hawai'i when ATJ was still a gleam in James Brandon's eye, helped make the connection between the journal and these scholars. Dr. Mohd. Nasir Bin Hashim, who is director of the Cultural Centre, supported development of the articles in hopes of bringing contemporary Malaysian scholars more expansively into dialogue with the ATJ community. We hope this attempt will inspire you as researchers to delve into the diverse, dynamic, and dramatic debates that are ongoing. Terms that I as an American thought I knew—"multiculturalism," "national identity," "heritage arts," "diasporic performance"—morphed when seen though the different lens which Malaysia's history, ethnic diversity, and fraught cultural politics provide. I learned much as I put the Malaysian materials in this issue together. I hope you will as well.


This paper explores the impact of a staff development course on medical teachers' thinking and practice. Data have been gathered through 19 semi‐structured interviews with participants on the course one year after their participation. The analysis of the data shows that the course seems to have contributed to changes in the participants' approaches to teaching and learning, as well as their practice. The changes reported range from using new teaching techniques or tools, to fundamentally transformed views on learning and, thereby, on being a teacher. The findings are compared to previous studies in the field, and the strategic function of staff development courses as a means to support educational development is discussed.


The Sino-Russian border, once the world's longest land border, has received scant attention in histories about the margins of empires. This book rectifies this by exploring the demarcation's remarkable transformation—from a vaguely marked frontier in the seventeenth century to its twentieth-century incarnation as a tightly patrolled barrier girded by watchtowers, barbed wire, and border guards. The book explores the daily life of communities and their entanglements with transnational and global flows of people, commodities, and ideas. It challenges top-down interpretations by stressing the significance of the local population in supporting, and undermining, border making. Because Russian, Chinese, and native worlds are intricately interwoven, national separations largely remained invisible at the border between the two largest Eurasian empires. This overlapping and mingling came to an end only when the border gained geopolitical significance during the twentieth century. The book demonstrates how states succeeded in suppressing traditional borderland cultures by cutting kin, cultural, economic, and religious connections across the state perimeter, through laws, physical force, deportation, reeducation, forced assimilation, and propaganda. It sheds critical new light on a pivotal geographical periphery and expands our understanding of how borders are determined.


Omicron variants of SARS-CoV-2 acquired escape ability from host immunity and authorized antibody therapeutics and thereby have been spreading worldwide. We reported that patients infected with an early SARS-CoV-2 variant, D614G, and who received subsequent two-dose mRNA vaccination have high neutralizing antibody titer against Omicron lineages. ABSTRACT We identified neutralizing monoclonal antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants (including Omicron variants BA.5 and BA.2.75) from individuals who received two doses of mRNA vaccination after they had been infected with the D614G virus. We named them MO1, MO2, and MO3. Among them, MO1 showed particularly high neutralizing activity against authentic variants: D614G, Delta, BA.1, BA.1.1, BA.2, BA.2.75, and BA.5. Furthermore, MO1 suppressed BA.5 infection in hamsters. A structural analysis revealed that MO1 binds to the conserved epitope of seven variants, including Omicron variants BA.5 and BA.2.75, in the receptor-binding domain of the spike protein. MO1 targets an epitope conserved among Omicron variants BA.1, BA.2, and BA.5 in a unique binding mode. Our findings confirm that D614G-derived vaccination can induce neutralizing antibodies that recognize the epitopes conserved among the SARS-CoV-2 variants. IMPORTANCE Omicron variants of SARS-CoV-2 acquired escape ability from host immunity and authorized antibody therapeutics and thereby have been spreading worldwide. We reported that patients infected with an early SARS-CoV-2 variant, D614G, and who received subsequent two-dose mRNA vaccination have high neutralizing antibody titer against Omicron lineages. It was speculated that the patients have neutralizing antibodies broadly effective against SARS-CoV-2 variants by targeting common epitopes. Here, we explored human monoclonal antibodies from B cells of the patients. One of the monoclonal antibodies, named MO1, showed high potency against broad SARS-CoV-2 variants including BA.2.75 and BA.5 variants. The results prove that monoclonal antibodies that have common neutralizing epitopes among several Omicrons were produced in patients infected with D614G and who received mRNA vaccination.


This study aimed at assessing the effect of ' Aloe soap value chain initiative ' on pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in supplementing their livelihood diversification strategy to overcome impacts of recurrent shocks in the Didayabello, Fulduwa and Dambala Badana Pastoral Associations (PA) in Yabello, Arero and Dire districts, respectively, of Borana Zone. Wild Aloe plant is one of the abundant plant species found in the area and most neglected/underutilized as means of livelihoods except for few traditional medicines and ritual purposes. The research employed qualitative and quantitative research methods using both primary and secondary data. Purposive sampling method was used by which three sample PA administrations with potential aloe soap processing sub-centers were selected for data collection. A total of 120 sample households (60 participants and 60 nonparticipants) were selected by using probability proportional to size for the survey. Data analysis was made by descriptive statistics and econometrics using propensity score matching method. The study, therefore, had evaluated the effect of aloe soap value chain initiatives interventions in the target PAs. It has used cross-sectional survey data of 2012-2013 to see the effect of the intervention in supplementing the participants livelihood diversification strategy. The intervention has resulted in an increased amount of income to participants earning an average total income of Birr 2688.70 per month from the aloe soap production. . Besides being a productive plant species with best economic value, the Aloe plant species are found to be environmental friendly, drought tolerant and best for soil and water conservation, in addition to its magnificent medicinal uses. Based on the results obtained, such innovative product of market development interventions has a paramount importance for the enhancement of alternative livelihood diversification strategies of the pastoralists and agro-pastoralists.


The  paper reports   on  the  results   of  the  pollen, plant macrofossil   and geochemical  analyses and the AMS 14C-based  chronology  of the «Rudersdorf»  outcrop situated  east of Berlin  in Brandenburg  (Germany).  The postglacial  landscape  changed from an open one to generally forested by ca. 14 cal.  kyr BP. Woody  plants  (mainly  birch and pine) contributed up to 85% to the pollen assemblages ca. 13.4–12.5 cal. kyr BP. The subsequent Younger Dryas ( YD) interval is characterized by a decrease in arboreal pollen (AP) to 75% but led neither to substantial deforestation nor spread of tundra vegetation. This supports the concept  that the YD cooling was mainly limited to the winter months, while summers  remained  comparably  warm and allowed  much broader  (than initially believed) spread of cold-tolerant boreal trees. Further support for this theory comes  from the fact that the relatively low AP values persisted until ca. 10.6 cal. kyr BP, when  the «hazel phase» of the regional  vegetation  succession   began. The postglacial  hunter-gatherer occupation is archaeologically confirmed in Brandenburg since ca. 13 cal. kyr BP, i.e. much later than in the western part of Germany and ca. 1000 years after the major amelioration in the Rudersdorf environmental record.


We compared the utility of five nuclear gene segments amplified with type I sequence-tagged site (STS) primers versus the complete mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt b) gene in resolving phylogenetic relationships within the Mustelidae, a large and ecomorphologically diverse family of mammalian carnivores. Maximum parsimony and likelihood analyses of separate and combined data sets were used to address questions regarding the levels of homoplasy, incongruence, and information content within and among loci. All loci showed limited resolution in the separate analyses because of either a low amount of informative variation (nuclear genes) or high levels of homoplasy (cyt b). Individually or combined, the nuclear gene sequences had less homoplasy, retained more signal, and were more decisive, even though cyt b contained more potentially informative variation than all the nuclear sequences combined. We obtained a well-resolved and supported phylogeny when the nuclear sequences were combined. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of the total combined data (nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences) were able to better accommodate the high levels of homoplasy in the cyt b data than was an equally weighted maximum parsimony analysis. Furthermore, partition Bremer support analyses of the total combined tree showed that the relative support of the nuclear and mitochondrial genes differed according to whether or not the homoplasy in the cyt b gene was downweighted. Although the cyt b gene contributed phylogenetic signal for most major groupings, the nuclear gene sequences were more effective in reconstructing the deeper nodes of the combined tree in the equally weighted parsimony analysis, as judged by the variable-length bootstrap method. The total combined data supported the monophyly of the Lutrinae (otters), whereas the Melinae (badgers) and Mustelinae (weasels, martens) were both paraphyletic. The American badger, Taxidea taxus (Taxidiinae), was the most basal taxon. Because hundreds of type I STS primer sets spanning the complete genomes of the human and mouse have been published and thus represent many independently segregating loci, the potential utility of these markers for molecular systematics of mammals and other groups is enormous.


Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) share common culprit foods and potential pathophysiological factors. However, how diet may contribute to disease course and whether this differs between both entities is unclear. We therefore investigated the association of dietary indices with intestinal inflammation and gastrointestinal symptoms in both IBD and IBS patients. Food frequency questionnaires from 238 IBD, 261 IBS and 195 healthy controls (HC) were available to calculate the overall diet quality by the Dutch Healthy Diet-Index 2015 (DHD-2015) and its inflammatory potential by the Adapted Dietary Inflammatory Index (ADII). Intestinal inflammation and symptoms were evaluated by faecal calprotectin and the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale, respectively. The DHD-2015 was lower in IBD and IBS versus HC (p < 0.001), being associated with calprotectin levels in IBD (b = −4.009, p = 0.006), and with abdominal pain (b = −0.012, p = 0.023) and reflux syndrome (b = −0.016, p = 0.004) in IBS. ADII scores were comparable between groups and were only associated with abdominal pain in IBD (b = 0.194, p = 0.004). In this side-by-side comparison, we found a lower diet quality that was differentially associated with disease characteristics in IBD versus IBS patients. Longitudinal studies are needed to further investigate the role of dietary factors in the development of flares and predominant symptoms.


PURPOSE
A retrospective analysis of the treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in second remission (CR2) was undertaken at our institution to compare the outcome and prognostic factors of patients treated with chemotherapy or allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT).

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Seventy-five children who suffered a medullary relapse and achieved a second remission were treated with either an unmodified allogeneic HLA-matched sibling BMT after hyperfractionated total body irradiation (TBI) and cyclophosphamide (n = 38) or chemotherapy according to institutional chemotherapy protocols (n = 37). To avoid the bias of survival from the attainment of second remission in favor of BMT, the final comparative statistical analysis used the landmark approach and comprised 37 and 29 patients from the BMT and chemotherapy groups, respectively

RESULTS
The disease-free survival (DFS) rate was 62% and 26% at 5 years, respectively, for the BMT and the chemotherapy groups (P = .03), with relapse rates of 19% and 67%, respectively, for these two groups (P = .01). There was an overall advantage for the BMT therapeutic approach, as compared with chemotherapy, for patients with ALL in CR2 (1) for patients with a WBC count (at diagnosis) of 20 x 10(9)/L or higher (DFS, 40% v 0%) and those with a WBC count of less than 20 x 10(9)/L (DFS, 73% v35%), (2) for patients whose duration of CR1 was less than 24 months (DFS 48% v 9%) and for patients whose duration of CR1 was 24 months or longer (DFS, 81% v 37%) and (3) for patients who were initially treated with intensive regimens incorporating more than five chemotherapy agents (DFS, 57% v 20%) and for patients treated with five agents or fewer (DFS, 72% v 32%).

CONCLUSION
In our single-institution series, unmodified HLA-matched allogeneic sibling transplants using hyperfractionated TBI and cyclophosphamide for patients with ALL in CR2 have resulted in superior outcome with a significantly improved probability of DFS and a lower relapse rate, as compared with those for patients treated with chemotherapy, regardless of the duration of first remission, the disease characteristics at diagnosis, or the intensity of prior treatment during first remission.


Web-based learning systems have become more and more popular for universities to support their teaching and learning activities. Such a system normally requires progressive development under extreme time constraint in relation to the academic calendar and in the presence of some dissatisfaction known prior to the development. At any stage of the development, new service that was not included in the current phase of development but with urgent demand by users may be required to be added into the system. Developing such a system needs a dynamic design model, instead of any existing 'static' approaches. In this paper we propose a dynamic model based on prioritisation of characterisation of distributed systems for the design of Web-based systems. Application of this model in development of the Information Retrieval Learning System Online (IRLSO) at Jilin University in China shows that this model is useful in not only dynamically guiding the development of a Web-based system, but also prioritising tasks for the successive development. Key-Words: Web-based learning systems, Dynamic design model, Characterisation of distributed systems, Information Retrieval Learning System Online (IRLSO)


Abstract. The leaves and wood from vegetation surrounding headwater streams constitute a major food source for aquatic invertebrates, providing they are retained upon the streambed and not transported downstream. This study investigated the response of aquatic invertebrates to artificially increased detritus retention, in an effort to reproduce the naturally occurring build up of dead organic matter associated with streams in old-growth forest. The background detrital standing stock in streams in Kielder Forest (Northumberland, UK) was low, approximately 32 gm-2. Two streams flowing through dense conifer plantation and one in open broadleaved woodland were manipulated by the addition of logs over a 10 m stream reach. After several months, log addition significantly enhanced detrital standing stocks in both conifer and broadleaved streams. Total invertebrate abundance, taxon richness and the numbers of certain numerically dominant families were significantly higher in experimental than reference reaches in both conifer and broadleaved streams. This response was most marked for detritivores, whilst non-detritivore groups often showed no response to the manipulation. Whilst in the short term the responses to enhanced retention may reflect a redistribution of the local fauna, it is argued that over a longer time-scale, a genuine increase in invertebrate density and diversity could occur. Allowing old-growth forest to develop in planted valley bottoms may be a viable management option for conservation. If established alongside streams, it would ensure continuous input of woody material and the fauna may benefit from the resulting increase in detritus retention. Keywords: forestry, detritivores, old-growth conifers, river management, woody debris


18F-Fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (18F-FDG) PET/CT acquisition is generally performed 60 min after injection. The normal biodistribution pattern of 18F-FDG includes activity in the aortic territory due to blood pool activity, which could interfere in the diagnosis of aortic diseases by overlapping the wall uptake. The aim of the study was to evaluate the change over time of 18F-FDG uptake by the aortic wall and the activity in the lumen in a control population and to establish normal reference values. This prospective study included 15 control patients (mean age: 58.2 years). PET/CT was acquired 60 min (early scan) and 180 min (delayed scan) after an 18F-FDG injection at a dose of 7 MBq/kg. A visual and semiquantitative analysis of the 18F-FDG aortic wall uptake was carried out, and lumen activity and the aortic wall to lumen ratio [target-to-background ratio (TBR)] were determined. In the visual analysis all patients showed 18F-FDG activity at the aortic territory at 60 and 180 min. The pattern of uptake at 60 min was diffuse in all 15 patients (100%), without delineation of the aortic wall uptake; however, at 180 min the uptake pattern of the aortic wall changed to lineal in 14 patients (93.3%). The aortic wall maximum standardized uptake value decreased from 2.07±0.34 to 1.7±0.46 during the delayed acquisition (P=0.0279) and the lumen maximum standardized uptake value decreased highly significantly (1.99±0.35 vs. 1.36±0.32, P=0.0001). Therefore, TBR also increased highly significantly from 1.04±0.06 to 1.25±0.16 (P<0.0001). The high decrease in blood pool activity from 60 to 180 min provides a better delineation of the aortic wall uptake, which corresponds to the normal pattern at that time. The TBR increased significantly at 180 min, and 1.25±0.16 is suggested as the threshold for diagnostic purposes, especially for the diagnosis of vasculitis.


For selection of aromatic rice lines, twenty six (26) rice genotypes were evaluated for agronomic characteristics and aroma detection through sensory test and genotypic analysis using SSR markers. Grain quality and yield attributes were analyzed after harvesting the grain. Aroma was detected by 1.7% KOH as a sensory test. Based on sensory test, six genotypes were detected for having strong aroma; 7 for moderate aroma; 10 for slight aroma and 3 for no aroma. Aroma had significant and positive association with grain length-width ratio; significant and negative association with grain width, significant and negative association with gelatinization temperature, and no significant association with grain length. Three SSR primers viz; RM223, RM515 and RM342 were used for identifying fgr gene locus in 26 rice genotypes. The primer RM223 identified the fgr locus as homozygous condition for 6 as strong aromatic, 7 moderate aromatic, 10 slight aromatic and the rest 3 as non aromatic. The primer RM515 detected 4 as strong aromatic, 6 as moderate aromatic, and 16 as slight to non aromatic. The primer RM342 detected 3 as strong aromatic and four as moderate aromatic, 19 as slight to non aromatic. Compared among the three markers, RM223 detected the highest number of fgr locus in aromatic rice genotypes. Among the three primers, RM223 responded best in all the 26 rice genotypes, because RM223 primer could be able to identify aromatic and nonaromatic genes having higher yield with good agronomic performance and other grain quality traits. These elite lines could be readily used in breeding programme for release aromatic rice variety with considerable yield. Keywords: Microsatellite markers; aromatic rice DOI:  http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/agric.v9i1-2.9482 The Agriculturists 2011; 9(1&2): 82-88


Inspired by the thoughts of Zoë Strother, in this short piece I rethink my previous work on iconoclasm in West Africa, saluting her invitation to consider iconoclasm as part and parcel of African culture and her methodological combination of history, aesthetics and semiotics. Her approach and ideas have made me particularly aware of the relevance of iconoclasm (and its connection to debates around restitution) for a wider anthropology of place making, temporalities, and connections, as well as for the anthropology of creativity and imagination.


Alcoholic drinks are involved in a variety of hypersensitivity reactions. These include flushing syndrome, anaphylactoid reactions (urticaria/angioedema and even shock), as well as the triggering of asthma, food allergy or exercise‐induced anaphylaxis in susceptible subjects. In addition, there is increasing evidence that alcohol intake may play a role as a promoter of the development of immunoglobulin‐E (IgE)‐mediated hypersensitivity to different allergens. It seems clear that alcohol intake (alcohol abuse and even moderate alcohol consumption) is associated with increased total serum IgE levels. Similarly, alcohol intake may be associated with allergic (IgE‐mediated) sensitization to environmental allergens. The clinical significance of these facts is probably moderate. The mechanisms by which alcohol can influence IgE responses are not entirely known, but further developments in this area could increase the understanding of both allergic diseases and alcohol‐induced alterations in the immune system.


In an attempt to explore the synthetic utility of a ternary asymmetric catalyst comprising La(NO(3))(3)·6H(2)O, amide-based ligand (R)-L1, and D-valine tert-butyl ester H-D-Val-OtBu, we investigated a catalytic, asymmetric amination of functionalized N-nonsubstituted α-alkoxycarbonyl amides using di-tert-butyl azodicarboxylate as an electrophilic aminating reagent. A highly functionalized, cyclic N-nonsubstituted α-alkoxycarbonyl amide delivered the desired amination product in up to 96% enantiometric excess, with the requisite functionalities of the polar heads of sphingosines with the appropriate stereochemical arrangement. The rapid asymmetric assembly of these functional groups allowed a concise enantioselective synthetic route to sphingosines to be established with a broad flexibility towards derivative synthesis. These studies have culminated in an efficient catalytic enantioselective total synthesis of immunosuppressive fungal metabolites mycestericin F (3a) and G (3b).


Background and aims Anti cholinergic and sympathomimetic eye drops are widely used to achieve mydriasis. Normally systemic effects of these eye drops are ignorable but adverse events in preterm infants are reported. In this study during routine screening for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), preterm infants were searched for the systemic effects of eye drops. Methods The standard protocol was to instil 3 drops per eye which is a mixture of short acting tropicamide 0.5% with long acting cyclopentolate 1% and phenylephrine 2.5% ophtalmic solution in equal volumes. Each drop instilled at a 15 min interval before examination. Body temperature, heart rate, respiration, blood pressure, spO2, presence of flashing were recorded three times; before the instillation of eye drops, just before the examination and after an hour. Parents were informed about the adverse side effects and presence of complaints were asked after 24 h with the telephone interview. Data were analysed by 2 two-way ANOVA and independent samples t-test. Results Forty eight (27 male+21 female) infants with birth weight 1498 ± 432(720–2500)g and gestational age 31,7 ± 3.3(25–37)weeks were examined at postmentruel age of 41.95 ± 4.74(34–58) weeks. Body temperature rised subsequently with each eye drop (p = 0.023). The change in other physiologic parameters were not statistically significant. Apnea over10 seconds were developed in 9 infants. Within 24 h gastrointestinal symptoms developed in 8, discomfort/sleeplessness in 22, hyperemia/discharge from the eye in 20 infants. Conclusion It was concluded that doctors must be aware of the the systemic effects of mydriatic eye drops used in screening examination for ROP and parents have to be informed about these effects.


Young people, teenagers and children are members of various communities. These communities include their families, society, their schools and their churches or, more appropriately, their parents' church. These various communities impact their lives in significant ways: they provide the frameworks which determine who they are and what they are going to become. Through their interaction within these communities, life is given meaning. All of these communities operate according to a "liturgy" i.e. an order or style that allows each individual to discover his or her purpose in life. Parents, as the primary community, should provide a healthy and positive environment in which the young life is shaped. However, this is not the only community in which the young person interacts. The church is another and has an enormous influence and vital responsibility in helping to facilitate this shaping process. If, however, the church does not identify fully with young people and their needs, it will become irrelevant and their young lives will be shaped by other communities of influence that are not necessarily positive. A new liturgy i.e. "New Wine" is required to be effective with today's postmodern generation. The institutionalized church faces a very real danger of being complacent and apathetic in terms of "doing church" in a way that is relevant and attractive. The purpose of this dissertation is to propose a different form of faith community i.e. a "New Wineskin", a wineskin that is elastic and flexible. Along with the positive nurturing and influence of the family, the church as a new faith community must become creative and authentic if it is to reach postmodern youth. Central to this new liturgy is relationships: relationship with God, with parents, with family, with friends and others. As the Godhead is made up of three "Beings" in relationship with each other, so we have been created to be in relationship firstly with God and then with each other. Thus in a postmodern society, relationships within the family and the church are essential in order to lead young people into a real, authentic and healthy relationship with God.


Oritavancin is a semisynthetic lipoglycopeptide with in vitro activity against a variety of aerobic Gram-positive pathogens (including drug-resistant forms of staphylococci, streptococci, and enterococci) and select anaerobic organisms. Available published clinical efficacy and safety studies in humans to date focus primarily in the treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections. While oritavancin doses in these studies varied, single daily doses of 200 mg (300 mg in patients >100 kg) for 3–7 days have demonstrated efficacy similar to comparators (such as vancomycin followed by cephalexin). The most frequent adverse events reported to date include gastrointestinal complaints, insomnia, dizziness, itching, and rash. Further safety and efficacy data are needed to better define its potential place in therapy.


Participation has become a widely used concept and covers a great range of political and social practices. This article describes and analyzes some aspects of the Participatory Budget in the State of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) in the period 1999–2002, representing the first attempt to implement this process on a larger geographical scale. The paper is developed around three foci. First, the experience of direct popular participation is situated in the context of the grassroots social movement that has developed over recent decades in Brazil. Then there is a presentation of the basic contours of the discussion and preparation of the state budget in Rio Grande do Sul. Finally, some of its effects are pointed out in terms of the political structure, regional development and pedagogical construction.


Since the early nineteenth century, cacao has been an important export earner for Ecuador. Today the importance of this sector remains, as Ecuador is the main producer and exporter of Fine and Flavor cacao worldwide. Motivated by the main transformations of the global food systems and the increasing demand for multidimensional credence attributes, this study examines the present state of Ecuador's cacao industry, identifies areas of opportunity, and discusses how the private and public sectors can work together to meet existing and emerging challenges. Findings are supported by interviews conducted with the principal actors in the Ecuadorian cacao industry and two case studies. The first case study focuses on how associativity can help cacao farmers producing high-quality beans to differentiate themselves and succeed in modern agri-food markets. The second case study explores the success of a local chocolate firm and its links with local cacao farmers. Findings suggest that market trends have created new business opportunities for cacao producers and chocolate processors. These opportunities are most open to firms who can personalize and differentiate their products, for example, through the use of quality certifications such as organic, fair trade, reduced carbon load, etc. More importantly, market developments are driving exporters to enhance the performance of cacao value chains in the country, but the sector requires coordination to capture reputation and credence-based demands for the local cacao.


Reliability prediction of monolithic structural ceramics involves stress analysis through Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and a probability of failure prediction code such as CARES that considers the strength of ceramics as a statistical (Weibull) distribution. Though the strength is considered as a statistical distribution, stress in a given volume or surface element is discrete in current practice. However, uncertainties in FEA input such as material properties or boundary conditions make the predicted stress uncertain, thereby resulting in predicted reliability being uncertain as well. A probabilistic framework has been developed for reliability prediction to estimate component reliability by treating the uncertainties in loading, boundary conditions, and material properties as random variables. The framework consists of an automated, closed loop process integrating algorithms for assessing failure probability due to general randomness. Efficient and accurate computational methods for reliability analysis have been implemented in the framework for significant savings in computation time. The methodology is demonstrated on a gas turbine component. The analysis shows that reliability is compromised significantly by a design based on mean values of the random parameters, while an overly conservative design based on a worst case scenario will result in rejection of too many components at unnecessarily high proof test loads. This method ultimately leads to the determination of an optimum proof test level to assure component reliability amidst several sources of uncertainties in reliability prediction.© 2007 ASME


We recently reported trophic response of transplantable mouse colon cancer cells (MC-26) to pentagastrin, in vivo, and demonstrated gastrin receptors on MC-26 cells, in vitro. In the present study, growth of MC-26 cells in mice, in response to pentagastrin, was studied in relation to binding kinetics and capacity of gastrin receptor. Gastrin receptor levels on mouse fundic and colonic membranes and on MC-26 cellular membranes were determined before MC-26 cell inoculation and designated as Day 0 levels. Four groups of mice were next inoculated with MC-26 cells and given injections of either pentagastrin (treated) or normal saline (control) for 10 or 15 days. At the end of the treatment periods, body, tumor, fundic, and colon weights were noted and gastrin receptor measured. tumor and fundic weights increased significantly within 15 days of pentagastrin treatment, compared to control values. In control (non-pentagastrin treated) mice, the binding affinity of gastrin receptor on tumor membranes was significantly decreased and associated with the complete loss of high-affinity gastrin receptor (Kd = less than 0.5 nM) by Day 15 of tumor growth. On the other hand, both the binding affinity and gastrin receptor levels of tumor membranes were maintained at Day 0 values by pentagastrin treatment. Endogenous gastrin was therefore ineffective in maintaining high-affinity gastrin receptor on control tumors. A significant number of low-affinity gastrin-binding sites (Kd = less than 2 nM) appeared in control tumors by Day 15, which could reflect rapid dedifferentiation or conformational changes of gastrin receptor in the absence of high levels of normal regulatory hormones. These studies demonstrate that the trophic effects of gastrin on MC-26 cells are probably mediated by its regulation and maintenance of the binding affinity and capacity of gastrin receptor on the cancer cells, in vivo.


The cognitive radio (CR) is known as a radio that can reconfigure its transceiver parameters based on the environmental awareness. The opportunistic radio (OR) is considered in this work, with a narrower definition where the awareness is limited to the spectrum knowledge. The decision making framework is employed as a crucial entity to control the behaviour of the OR. The main purpose is to enable an efficient spectrum usage while avoiding the interference to other users. This study describes the proposed OR decision making framework including the flow of context information as an input process to the decision making engine, the context filtering and the reasoning mechanisms in which the decision optimisation is achieved using a genetic algorithm (GA)-based approach. The system stability of the GA-based reasoning engine is tested through simulations. Then, the experimental study is performed on a test platform for a practical proof of the concept. The test platform is based on the Ettus USRP (Universal Software Radio Peripheral) hardware and the GNU Radio open source software. Several tests were carried out to observe the OR capabilities of the proposed decision making framework. Test environment settings together with the observation results are provided in this study, covering the spectrum sensing and opportunistic channel allocation in the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) band of 2.4 GHz.


OCP Ecuador S.A. was designed for transporting heavy crude oil from the Ecuadorian Amazonian forest to the Pacific Ocean, crossing the Andes (highest point @ 4060 masl). OCP have four pumping stations PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4 located across the first 182km.Main pumps were designed with an inherent product circulation from pressure connection via orifice to mechanical seal (API Plan 11) for lubricating and cooling. In order to achieve required viscosity, crude oil from the main line must be heated. Low sulfur crude oil (LSCO) is burned for this purpose.In order to optimize fuel consumption, some efforts were conducted since 2006. The first aim was to increase feed rate of lubricating oil, in order to extend the viscosity within seals up to 700cP. This modification resulted in considerable heat exchange depletion, representing about 50% of costs reduction related to reduce heating of crude oil in the main line.Since 2009, there were some adverse scenarios, which forced the company to seek more and better ways to optimize the fuel oil consumption. These scenarios were:• The continued decline in the quality of crude oil delivered by the shippers quality from shippers. Reduced quality was seen as a threat to the integrity of mechanical seals.• Unavailability of LSCO in the country,• The under-utilization of transport capacity due to low volumes of oil (30% of its capacity).Facing this situation, OCP decided to analyze the technical and economic feasibility of operating without heating oil, in an intermediate pump station (PS3: KP 148 @ 1800 masl). This pump station, at the time of the study, was operated heating crude oil.The greatest difficulty in achieving the goal of reducing heating oil was the maximum viscosity that mechanical seals could withstand, without affecting its integrity. To mitigate this threat, an API plan 32 was designed and implemented in PS3.Simultaneously, the organization was evaluating the possibility of installing a similar system in PS4, where climatic conditions are more adverse than PS3. Based on thermal models and after risk evaluation and cost benefit analysis, OCP decided to run operations accepting the risk of potential damage to the seals in PS4.At the moment, OCP Ecuador S.A. is operated without heating crude oil and API plan 32 was placed on standby, reducing considerably the operating costs.This paper is intended to share the learned lessons, some actions taken; obstacles faced up as well as achieved results in this cost reduction effort.Copyright © 2012 by ASME


The reunion of a man with God is the subject of a medieval text which aggregates excerpts from the Bible and Arabic alchemical texts that had recently become available in Europe. The Aurora Consurgens personifies God as Wisdom, a spiritual being who not only formed the world in the beginning but is also a guide to men to return to God subsequent to their separation at the Fall. The union of feminine Wisdom and a man is aligned with pairs of opposites such as spirit and soul, and is also conflated with the union of a man and a woman. While the text is perhaps falsely ascribed to St. Thomas, it is consistent with his ideas so that it may be explicated using his writings on the Trinity, psychology, angels, and Greek philosophy. From there, correspondence is established with C. G. Jung's concept of archetypes, and the text is subsequently interpreted from the perspective of analytical psychology. It is identified how interaction of archetypes associated with the union of a man and a woman provide an explanation for the process of redemption given in the Aurora. A similar process of redemption is identified in other writings from the beginning of the Christian era up to the modern teachings of the Catholic Church.


A common visual technique for assessing goodness of fit and estimating location and scale is the qq-plot. We apply this technique to data from a Pareto distribution and more generally to data generated by a distribution with a heavy tail. A procedure for assessing the presence of heavy tails and for estimating the parameter of regular variation is discussed which can supplement other standard techniques such as the Hill plot. Some examples are given using telecommunications data


Background Reference change values provide objective tools to assess the significance of a change in two consecutive results for a biomarker from an individual. The reference change value calculation is based on the assumption that within-subject biological variation has random fluctuation around a homeostatic set point that follows a normal (Gaussian) distribution. This set point (or baseline in steady-state) should be estimated from a set of previous samples, but, in practice, decisions based on reference change value are often based on only two consecutive results. The original reference change value was based on standard deviations according to the assumption of normality, but was soon changed to coefficients of variation (CV) in the formula (reference change value = ± Z ċ 2½ ċ CV). Z is being dependent on the desired probability of significance, which also defines the percentages of false-positive results. The aim of this study was to investigate false-positive results using five different published methods for calculation of reference change value. Methods The five reference change value methods were examined using normally and ln-normally distributed simulated data. Results One method performed best in approaching the theoretical false-positive percentages on normally distributed data and another method performed best on ln-normally distributed data. The commonly used reference change value method based on two results (without use of estimated set point) performed worst both on normally distributed and ln-normally distributed data. Conclusions The optimal choice of method to calculate reference change value limits requires knowledge of the distribution of data (normal or ln-normal) and, if possible, knowledge of the homeostatic set point.


This paper compares and contrasts recent nonlinear behavioral modeling techniques designed for microwave and RFIC application which arise in radio and communication systems, and in the design of broad-band nonlinear components used for microwave instrumentation. These techniques include dynamic neural networks and nonlinear time series models in the time-domain, nonlinear describing functions in the frequency domain, and envelope-based methods in mixed time and frequency domains. Approaches to generating these models from both simulation and nonlinear microwave measurements are reviewed.


We report on the structural and electrical properties of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) produced by the oxidative unzipping of carbon nanotubes. GNRs were reduced by hydrazine at 95 °C and further annealed in Ar/H2 at 900 °C; monolayer ribbons were selected for the fabrication of electronic devices. GNR devices on Si/SiO2 substrates exhibit an ambipolar electric field effect typical for graphene. The conductivity of monolayer GNRs (∼35 S/cm) and mobility of charge carriers (0.5–3 cm2/V s) are less than the conductivity and mobility of pristine graphene, which could be explained by oxidative damage caused by the harsh H2SO4/KMnO4 used to make GNRs. The resistance of GNR devices increases by about three orders of magnitude upon cooling from 300 to 20 K. The resistance/temperature data is consistent with the variable range hopping mechanism, which, along with the microscopy data, suggests that the GNRs have a nonuniform structure.


In this thesis we develop algorithms for estimating broadband source signals from a mixture using only two sensors. This is motivated by what is known in the literature as cocktail party effect, the ability of human beings to listen to the desired source from a mixture of sources with at most two ears. Such a study lets us, achieve a better understanding of the auditory pathway in the brain and confirmation of the results from physiology and psychoacoustics, have a clue to search for an equivalent structure in the brain which corresponds to the modification which improves the algorithm, come up with a benchmark system to automate the evaluation of the systems like 'surround sound', perform speech recognition in noisy environments. Moreover, it is possible that, what we learn about the replication of the functional units in the brain may help us in replacing those using signal processing units for patients suffering due to the defects in these units. There are two parts to the thesis. In the first part we assume the source signals to be broadband and having strong spectral overlap. Channel is assumed to have a few strong multipaths. We propose an algorithm to estimate all the strong multi-paths from each source to the sensors for more than two sources with measurement from two sensors. Because the channel matrix is not invertible when the number of sources is more than the number of sensors, we make use of the estimates of the multi-path delays for each source to improve the SIR of the sources. In the second part we look at a specific scenario of colored signals and channel being one with a prominent direct path. Speech signals as the sources in a weakly reverberant room and a pair of microphones as the sensors satisfy these conditions. We consider the case with and without a head like structure between the microphones. The head like structure we used was a cubical block of wood. We propose an algorithm for separating sources under such a scenario. We identify the features of speech and the channel which makes it possible for the human auditory system to solve the cocktail party problem. These properties are the same as that satisfied by our model. The algorithm works well in a partly acoustically treated room, (with three persons speaking and two microphones and data acquired using standard PC setup) and not so well in a heavily reverberant scenario. We see that there are similarities in the processing steps involved in the algorithm and what we know of the way our auditory system works, especially so in the regions before the auditory cortex in the auditory pathway. Based on the above experiments we give reasons to support the hypothesis about why all the known organisms need to have only two ears and not more but may have more than two eyes to their advantage. Our results also indicate that part of pitch estimation for individual sources might be occurring in the brain after separating the individual source components. This might solve the dilemma of having to do multi-pitch estimation. Recent works suggest that there are parallel pathways in the brain up to the primary auditory cortex which deal with temporal cue based processing and spatial cue based processing. Our model seem to mimic the pathway which makes use of the spatial cues.


To develop a ready-to-drink (RTD) milk coffee that retains the original coffee flavor, the effects of manufacturing processing conditions on retronasal-aroma (RA) odorants were investigated by gas chromatography-olfactometry (CharmAnalysis™) using an RA simulator (RAS). Twenty-nine of 33 odorants detected in the RAS effluent (RAS odorants) were identified. The detected odorants were classified into 19 odor-description groups. The total odor intensity (charm value, CMV) of all coffee RAS odorants decreased approximately 68% following pH adjustment, whereas the total CMV increased 6% to 7% following ultra-high-temperature sterilization. The total CMV ratio (about 83%) of the milk coffee produced using a new blending-after-sterilization (BAS) process without pH adjustment of the coffee was greater than that (approximately 56%) prepared using a conventional blending-before-sterilization (BBS) process with pH adjustment. In BAS-processed milk coffees, the total CMV ratio (91%) with infusion (INF)-sterilized reconstituted milk (r-milk) was greater than that (83%) of plate (PLT)-sterilized r-milk. Principal component analysis of odor-description CMVs indicated that the effect of coffee pH adjustment on odor characteristics was greater than that of sterilization, that BAS and BBS samples differed, and that BAS milk coffee prepared using INF sterilization was more similar to homemade milk coffee (blending unsterilized coffee without pH adjustment with PLT-sterilized milk) than milk coffee prepared using PLT sterilization. In conclusion, the BAS process using INF sterilization is superior for manufacturing RTD milk coffee that retains odor characteristics similar to targeted homemade milk coffee. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Ready-to-drink milk coffee beverages produced using conventional blending-before-sterilization methods do not retain their original coffee flavor following adjustment of the pH of the coffee during manufacturing. The use of newly developed blending-after-sterilization methods, by contrast, produces ready-to-drink milk coffee with an aroma more similar to that of homemade milk coffee, as demonstrated using an analytical system for characterizing food product aromas. The blending-after-sterilization process is now being used in Japan to produce ready-to-drink milk coffee beverages.


OBJECTIVE
Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have recently shown capabilities as gene regulators in mammals. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effects and mechanism of circ_0009910 in gastric cancer (GC).

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Circ_0009910 expression was quantified by Real-time PCR in human GC cell lines and tissues. Association between circ_0009910 levels and clinicopathological factors and patient's prognosis was analyzed. The roles of circ_0009910 in regulating GC cell proliferation, colony formation, migration, and invasion were evaluated in vitro. Western blot analysis was conducted to detect the expressions of molecular markers of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT).

RESULTS
Circ_0009910 expression level was elevated in GC tissues and cell lines and associated with clinical stage (p = 0.032), distant metastasis (p = 0.028) and differentiation (p = 0.007). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis indicated that circ_0009910 expression in positive group has a worse overall survival compared to the negative group (p = 0.0013). Multivariate analysis showed that circ_0009910 was an independent risk factor for GC (HR = 2.346, 95% CI: 1.673-3.775, p = 0.006). Knockdown of circ_0009910 expression can suppress BGC823 and AGS cells proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro experiments. The results of Western blot indicated that knockdown of circ_0009910 increased expression of E-cadherin and decreased expression of the mesenchymal markers, snail and N-cadherin.

CONCLUSIONS
Altogether, we demonstrate that circ_0009910 acts as a prognostic biomarker and promote cell proliferation, migration, invasion and EMT in GC, indicating that circ_0009910 may be a novel potential biomarker and therapeutic target of GC.


In its simplest terms neuropathic pain arises as a consequence of hyperexcitability within the somatosensory nervous system. It is not surprising therefore that voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs), with their key role in regulating neuronal excitability, have come to the fore as pathophysiological factors in human neuropathic pain states. Not only can mutations in these ion channels lead to altered impulse generation/conduction in sensory neurons but they may also lead to degeneration of axon terminals. The VGSC family of proteins has nine members, of which Nav1.7, Nav1.8 and Nav1.9 (encoded by the genes SCN9A , SCN 10A and SCN 11A , respectively) are preferentially expressed in peripheral neurons (Eijkelkamp et al. , 2012). While gain of function variants of Nav1.7 and Nav1.8 have previously been reported in patients with painful peripheral neuropathy, in this issue of Brain , Huang et al. (2014) present the first evidence for a causative role of missense mutations in Nav1.9 in painful neuropathy.

The biophysical properties and distribution of Nav1.7, Nav1.8 and Nav1.9 regulate key aspects of nociceptor function. Nav1.7 is likely to be an important determinant of threshold for excitation in nociceptor terminals and may also regulate neurotransmitter release at the central terminals of nociceptors. Homozygous, loss of function mutations in Nav1.7 result in congenital inability to experience pain and anosmia in man, whereas heterozygous gain of function mutations have been linked to the distinct clinical pain syndromes of inherited erythromelalgia (IEM: pain and erythema exacerbated by warming), paroxysmal extreme pain disorder (PEPD: proximal pain and autonomic features in ocular/mandibular and sacral regions), and small fibre neuropathy [SFN: degeneration of small diameter sensory and autonomic axons usually presenting with severe burning pain in …


The days of accessing patient health records via a clipboard and keeping drugs stored under simple lock and key are unceremoniously coming to a close. As healthcare IT paves the way toward a future run on data and interoperable systems, "smart" workstations are popping up in practices all over the world, streamlining workflow and creating a safer environment for clinician and patient alike. Health Management Technology talks with two of the leading manufacturers of automated systems and mobile workstations to discuss how they are changing the way providers and patients experience healthcare services.


In a ΛCDM Universe, galaxies grow in mass both through star formation and through addition of already-formed stars in galaxy mergers. Because of this partial decoupling of these two modes of galaxy growth, I discuss each separately in this biased and incomplete review of galaxy assembly; first giving an overview of the cosmic-averaged star formation history, and then moving on to discuss the importance of major mergers in shaping the properties of present-day massive galaxies. The cosmic-averaged star formation rate, when integrated, is in reasonable agreement with the build-up of stellar mass density. Roughly 2/3 of all stellar mass is formed during an epoch of rapid star formation prior to z ∼ 1, with the remaining 1/3 formed in the subsequent 9 Gyr during a period of rapidly-declining star formation rate. The epoch of important star formation in massive galaxies is essentially over. In contrast, a significant fraction of massive galaxies undergo a major merger at z < ∼ 1, as evidenced by close pair statistics, morphologicallydisturbed galaxy counts, and the build-up of stellar mass in morphologically early-type galaxies. Each of these methods is highly uncertain; yet, taken together, it is not implausible that the massive galaxy population is strongly affected by late galaxy mergers, in excellent qualitative agreement with our understanding of galaxy evolution in a ΛCDM Universe.


General anesthesia is a standard and safe medical procedure performed in thousands of patients every day; therefore, it may come to many as a surprise that the ultimate neurobiological mechanisms responsible of the anesthetics' beneficial effect—that they suppress the patient's conscious awareness, is far from understood. One reason for this lack of understanding is that complex interactions of neurons occur on different spatial and temporal scales and the action of anesthetics on neural populations is poorly understood. Consequently, there is a need to bridge the knowledge of how anesthetic agents act on synaptic receptors on a microscopic scale to macroscopic changes in neuronal population activity as well as to higher order integrative processes that are more directly linked to the state of consciousness. The 10 contributions compiled in this research topic (ebook) intend to help solving this problem by exploring and adding to the current state of knowledge at various levels of brain complexity.

The first chapter by Mashour (2014) presents an authoritative review of the currently most influential theory of how chemically diverse general anesthetics on higher order processes may disrupt consciousness. The formerly favored "bottom-up" mechanisms of anesthetic action focusing on subcortical arousal centers and ascending thalamocortical information transfer are contrasted with the more recent cortical "top-down" explanations that are inherent to conscious perception and appear to be the preferential target of anesthetic modulation. Substantial electrophysiological and neuroimaging evidence from animal and human investigations supports the top-down mechanisms as a causally sufficient explanation for anesthetic-induced unconsciousness.

Raz et al. (2014) provides new support to this idea from their study of the effect of isoflurane on top-down vs. bottom-up neuronal pathways in rat auditory cortex during sensory and thalamic stimulation. By laminar recordings of local field potentials in the auditory cortex in vivo, they show that at hypnotic dose of isoflurane, bottom-up responses to auditory tone stimuli are enhanced, whereas top-down responses to visual flash stimuli are reduced. Consistent results were obtained in rodent brain slices, where cross-modal cortico-cortical descending pathways were suppressed far greater than specific thalamo-cortical afferents, supporting the preferential disruption of top-down connectivity at an anesthetic concentration associated with unconsciousness.

In the next chapter, Blain-Moraes et al. (2014) moves this idea to humans by demonstrating in surgical patients that anesthetic-invariant electroencephalographic effects occur in cortical top-down connectivity. Specifically, ketamine, a primarily non-GABAergic anesthetic drug, is found to suppress fronto-parietal functional and directional connectivity (measured by coherence and phase lag index), similar to that produced by propofol, a primarily GABAergic drug. Unlike propofol however, ketamine fails to augment frontal alpha power and coherence. The measured connectivity changes in the alpha band are therefore consistent markers of unconsciousness induced by both GABAergic and non-GABAergic anesthetics.

Moving on to deeper anesthetic levels, Kenny et al. (2014) explore anesthetic agent-dependent effects on burst-suppression patterns in rats. Burst suppression is a stereotypic pattern of alternating periods of electroencephalographic activity and inactivity that occurs in pathological states and in deep anesthesia, well beyond the threshold for loss of consciousness. After reviewing the presumed mechanism of generation, methods of quantification, and clinical application of burst-suppression, the authors demonstrate significant differences in the duration, amplitude, and power of burst-suppression patterns induced by two common general anesthetics, sevoflurane, and propofol suggesting that the neuronal circuits involved in burst-suppression generation may differ among different anesthetics.

By virtue of the similarity of anesthetic-induced loss of consciousness to the one experienced in sleep, anesthetic, and sleep research typically borrow analysis methods and neural processing concepts from each other. MacIver and Bland (2014) have compared frontal cortical and hippocampal micro-EEG signals under isoflurane anesthesia and during sleep by a chaos analysis. The shape of chaotic attractors of cortical frontal micro-EEG flattens in the anesthetic state compared to the awake state. In addition, delta-activity under isoflurane anesthesia exhibits a different chaotic attractor shape than NREM-sleep frontal EEG. The chaotic analysis demonstrates the power of nonlinear analysis methods revealing signal features beyond the frequency content.

In addition to the analysis of experimental data, theoretical models might provide deeper insight into the underlying neural mechanisms during general anesthesia. Hight et al. (2014) have modeled experimental EEG data obtained in individual human subjects during emergence from anesthesia to wakefulness by a neurophysiological model. This projection allows one to visualize the signal evolution in time and indicates differences between subjects. The study reveals an archetypical emergence pattern and non-archetypical evolution patterns which are all different from the archetypical emergence patterns. In addition to this classification, for all patients, a general neuronal hyperpolarization (increased resting membrane conductivity and reduced excitatory connection strength) appears to precede the return to consciousness.

The work by Hudetz et al. (2014) focuses on large-scale mechanisms combining human fMRI data and computer simulation to explore the diversity of brain connectivity patterns as a determinant of the state of consciousness. Implementing a spin-glass model with site interactions probabilistically defined by long-range functional connectivity, they predict the formation of metastable brain states whose repertoire is a function of cortical activation. The state repertoire is maximal at an optimal activation level corresponding to the conscious state. It is diminished in anesthesia (low activation) and seizure (high activation) suggesting a common mechanism for unconsciousness through a reduction of the brain's state repertoire.

To understand brain network interactions before and after loss of consciousness, the study of phase coherence provides valuable insights. Wang et al. (2014) have combined a detailed phase coherence study of experimental scalp EEG in the sub-delta frequency range with a theoretical model study. They have revealed a drop of phase coherence between electrode pairs in frontal, occipital, and fronto-occipital pairs. Conversely, the authors have revealed increased phase coherence between temporal and frontal, temporal, and occipital regions and temporal regions on left and right side. Theoretical model results confirm these findings and indicate a compensatory mechanism of sub-delta activity between a fronto-occipital and temporal region subsystem.

Anesthetic agents are known to affect various neural receptor types. They modify neural functions and inter-neuron interactions on the microscopic scale, consequently neural populations and eventually macroscopic electromagnetic activity, such as EEG/MEG/fMRI, and the behavior of subjects. To understand this bridge over multiple scales, Hashemi et al. (2014) have worked out a theoretical thalamo-cortical model demonstrating how GABAergic extra-synaptic receptors on a microscopic scale affect EEG on the macroscopic scale under propofol anesthesia. It turns out that cortical and thalamic anesthetic action on GABAergic extra-synaptic receptors contribute to the generation of delta-activity pointing out their importance.

In addition to action on extra-synaptic receptors, some anesthetics are known to desensitize synaptic receptors and may deplete synaptic vesicles. Bojak et al. (2014) hypothesize that these anesthetic actions contribute primarily to burst suppression. In a theoretical spatially extended cortical model assuming isoflurane action, they reveal spatially heterogeneous burst suppression patterns propagating in the cortex. This work provides an additional possible mechanism for burst suppression.


The effect of colchicine and boric acid on the substrate mycelium of Trichothecium roseum was studied in the course of trichothecin biosynthesis. Addition of boric aicd (0.01%) and colchicine (0.1%) to the medium for biosynthesis increased the antibiotic activity of the fungus, this being due to the specific effect of polyploidogenous factors on growth of the mycelium and the proportion of nuclei in it. The number of nuclei increased in cells of the substrate mycelium correlating with a higher antibiotic activity.


Football clubs listed on Istanbul Stock Exchange suggests an interesting way of testing stock price behaviors to different types of news about both sportive success related and non-sports related events. Strong football club stock price reactions to surprising game results and the lack of reaction to betting odds is related with the dominated structure of Turkish Football League by the big four; Galatasaray (GS), Fenerbahce (FB), Besiktas (BJK) and Trabzonspor (TS). Coherent with this idea we conclude that GS and FB stocks react strongly to unexpected game results and derby matches. Other local league match wins do not have such an impact on stock prices. Moreover especially for FB related news rather than game results such as match-fixing case explain most of the price volatilities of the sport stocks. There is also some limited support for the notion that GS and FB stock prices are more affected by the bad news compared to good news.


A quantitative life prediction method has been proposed to evaluate fatigue life during morphological evolution of precipitates in Ni-based superalloys. The method is essentially based on Eshelby's equivalent inclusion theory and Mori-Tanaka's mean field method. The shape stability and life prediction are discussed when the external stress and matrix plastic strain are applied. The calculated results show that the fatigue life is closely related with microstructures evolution of precipitates. The magnitude and sign of the external stress and matrix plastic strain have an important effect on fatigue life of Ni-based superalloys during the morphological evolution of precipitates.


The GCA (Global Cellular Automata) model consists of a collection of cells which change their states synchronously depending on the states of their neighbors like in the classical CA (Cellular Automata) model. In contrast to the CA model the neighbors can be freely and dynamically selected at runtime. The GCA model is applicable to a wide range of parallel algorithms. We present a mapping of the the well known Nagel-Schreckenberg algorithm for traffic simulation onto the GCA model using agents. The vehicles are considered as agents that are modeled as GCA cells with a certain state. The proposed GCA algorithm uses multiple data and link fields per cell to interconnect the relevant cells. An agent is connected to its agent in front, and an empty cell is connected to its agent behind. In the current generation t the position of an agent is already computed for the generation t+2 (one generation in advance). Thereby the agents movements and all cell updates can directly be calculated as defined by the cell rule. No searching of specific cells during the computation is necessary. The complexity is of O(N) when simulating the N cells of an GCA sequentially. Compared to an optimized CA algorithm (with searching for agents) the GCA algorithm executes significantly faster, especially for low traffic densities and high vehicle speeds. Simulating 2048 cells and 204 agents on a multiprocessor system resulted in a speed-up (measured in clock ticks) of 14.75 for a system with 16 NIOS II processors configured on an FPGA.


This paper aims at identifying profiles of students that are homogenous with regard to their ability to solve Complex Problem Solving (CPS) tasks, as assessed by the MicroDYN approach, a computer test made of 9 independent tasks, and administered to a sample of 6th and 9th grade Finnish students. For this aim, we estimate a discrete two-tier Item Response Theory (IRT) model. Results indicate that: (1) the conceptualisation of CPS as a three-dimensional variable is reasonable and (2) there are seven latent classes of students characterised by a specific profile with regard to the adopted CPS strategies, with students clustered in the higher la- tent classes having generally a higher CPS ability than the others, across the three CPS dimensions.


BACKGROUND
Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty is a well established treatment method for aorto iliac stenoses. However its success is limited in arterial occlusions and vascular stent placement can improve the results.

AIM
To assess the effectiveness of percutaneous revascularization with stent placement in patients with chronic iliac artery occlusions.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Twenty six patients (18 male) aged 47 to 82 years, with iliac artery occlusions lasting six or more weeks were treated. Fourteen had involvement of common iliac artery, five had involvement of external iliac artery and seven of both. The occluded segment length ranged from 3.5 to 12 cm. According to the Society of Cardiovascular Surgery/International Society for Cardiovascular Surgery classification, 22 patients had category 1 claudication, 10 were in category 2, 12 in category 3 and two in category 4.

RESULTS
A technical success was obtained in 23 patients and clinical success in 21. After the intervention, the anklearm index improved from 0.49 +/- 0.12 to 0.88 +/- 0.18 (p < 0.001). Permeability after 12 months of follow up was 81% and after 36 months, 65%. Four patients had complications; one had a vascular perforation, two had an acute occlusion and one had an asymptomatic distal embolization. All these were solved using endovascular techniques.

CONCLUSIONS
Percutaneous revascularization with stent placement is a valid alternative to surgery in selected patients with chronic iliac artery occlusion.


A novel experimental micromechanics technique SIEM (Speckle Interferometry with Electron Microscopy) is employed to examine the plastic deformation field at crack tip during fatigue process. A fatigue cracked specimen made of AISI-SAE 1035 carbon steel was tested under a three-point bend load. Both displacement and strain fields were mapped over an area of 50μm by 40μm at the crack tip. Accumulation of the local damage due to fatigue was revealed by showing the evolution of the plastic zone at the crack tip. Crack growth was found in mixed mode at small scale. The variation of plastic crack opening displacement with the number of fatigue cycles in both mode I and mode II were determined. Two mechanism of crack propagation, crack branching and crack-wake ligament bridging, were observed and clearly demonstrated on the deformation map.


Ten young Florentines take refuge in the countryside from the Black Death and tell stories to pass the time. From the unfaithful wife who unwittingly eats her lover's heart to the sly peasant plotting to seduce a whole nunnery, these are tales of lust, adventure and unexpected twists of fate. United by the theme of love, the writings in the "Great Loves" series span over two thousand years and vastly different worlds. Readers will be introduced to love's endlessly fascinating possibilities and extremities: romantic love, platonic love, erotic love, gay love, virginal love, adulterous love, parental love, filial love, nostalgic love, unrequited love, illicit love, not to mention lost love, twisted and obsessional love...