To achieve a better understanding of predation pattern recorded in the fossil record it is essential to study predator-prey interactions in the modern seas. It includes the data collected from the field observations as well as from the experiments in captivity. Such an approach allows recognition of the bioeroders, its description and also provides quantification of these interactions. This work offers a case study of the traces of predation resulting from the predator-prey interactions between three mussels: Mytilus chilensis, Brachidontes purpuratus, and Aulacomya atra; and their five natural enemies: the gastropods Trophon geversianus, Xymenopsis muriciformis, and Acanthina monodon, and the asteroids Cosmasterias lurida and Anasterias antarctica living along the intertidal and/or subtidal rocky shores in Tierra del Fuego. The predatory damage to mussel shells varies according to the predator and prey species and techniques for attacking prey are highly specialized. A. monodon drills a hole in B. purpuratus but uses the outer lip of its shell as a wedge to open the valves of M. chilensis and A. atra. T. geversianus always makes holes, but while it drills the valve walls of M. chilensis, it prefers to drill the valve edges of A. atra and B. purpuratus, with different characteristic patterns. Usually the shells of mussels killed by C. lurida do not suffer from any mechanical damage, but some other shells were crushed or fractured along the margins. Comparatively, time required to successfully attack a prey was shorter in C. lurida (24 hours), followed by A. monodon (36 hours), and longer in T. geversianus (9 to 10 days). Traces of predation are not randomly distributed across size classes of mussel prey, reflecting selectivity for a particular size class. Also, drill holes are usually placed at specific sectors of the shell, indicating site selectivity. These observations offer some paleontological implications for investigating the pattern of predation in fossil record. They show that different patterns of shell damage can be due to different predator species (e.g., wall vs. edge drillings), although the same predator species can leave different marks when consuming different prey (e.g., T. geversianus). Most disconcerting for paleontologists are cases of predation which do not leave any marks on the prey shell detectable in the fossil record (e.g., predation by asteroids), or leave ambiguous marks (A. monodon when preying with the spine). In conclusion, besides the opportunity to identify some traces of predation by drilling gastropods in fossil mussels, this work gives criteria to address predation in some particular paleontological cases that would otherwise be dismissed by researchers.


A theory of resonant conversion of fast magnetosonic (FMS) waves into slow magnetosonic (SMS) oscillations in a magnetosphere with dipole-like magnetic field has been constructed. Monochromatic FMS waves are shown to drive standing (along magnetic field lines) SMS oscillations, narrowly localized across magnetic shells. The longitudinal and transverse structures, as well as spectrum of resonant SMS waves are determined. Frequencies of fundamental harmonics of standing SMS waves lie in the range of 0.1– 1 mHz, and are about two orders of magnitude lower than frequencies of similar Alfv́ en field line resonance harmonics. This difference makes an effective interaction between these MHD modes impossible. The amplitude of SMS oscillations rapidly decreases along the field lines from the magnetospheric equator towards the ionosphere. In this context, magnetospheric SMS oscillations cannot be observed on the ground, and the ionosphere does not play any role either in their generation or dissipation. The theory developed can be used to interpret the occurrence of compressional Pc5 waves in a quiet magnetosphere with a weak ring current.


AIMS AND BACKGROUND
The social cost of management of patients suffering from colorectal cancer has been growing dramatically in the last decade due to the high number of active antitumor agents and to the increased incidence of the tumor in western countries. The aim of the study was to explore from a pharmacoeconomic point of view a different way to administer the two most common regimens in this patient setting.

STUDY DESIGN
This was a cost-minimization study. Data were extracted from hospital registries and dedicated offices. The traditional setting (day hospital inpatient setting) and a fully ambulatory setting (CIP pump) were considered and compared.

RESULTS
The CIP system resulted in higher direct costs than the day hospital setting (444.70 versus 159.00 euro/cycle). However, traditional infusion resulted in longer nursing care, with an increase in nursing costs of more than 100.00 euro/cycle. Moreover, the inpatient setting obliged patients to stay in the hospital as much as ten times longer than with the CIP system. This meant that with the same time span and the same resources, the CIP pump permitted treatment of at least five times more patients than the traditional setting. Thus, a threshold of 52.00 euro per patient for general hospital costs (ordinary and extraordinary maintenance of buildings, power supply, and housekeeping) was identified to discriminate whether the CIP pump is cost-saving or not.

CONCLUSIONS
Administration of the FOLFIRI or FOLFOX regimen in a traditional day hospital setting was less costly when considering the direct costs. However, a fully ambulatory pump permitted to better employ hospital resources and could permit cost-saving in those units in which more than five patients per day are treated and global costs are higher than 52.00 euro per patient.


Both religion and mass media are politically important in the United States. However, little is known about the political role of religious media. Religious media might be politically influential because they help translate religion into political thinking and because their consumers are likely to internalize the political cues these media provide. We find that almost a quarter of the public claims to have relied on religious media when making voting decisions in 2000. Religious media users felt significantly closer to George W. Bush and Pat Buchanan and farther away from Al Gore and were more likely to vote for Bush and Republican House candidates than nonusers, even after controlling for a host of religious and political variables. These findings reflect more than self-selection effects and suggest that religious media have a polarizing effect on the candidate evaluations and voting behavior of their core audience of political conservatives.


ABSTRACT Purpose: Speech-language pathologists' (SLPs) ability to measure stuttering reliably has been of interest over time. However, speech samples used in stuttering measurement research have varied in duration. This study was undertaken to examine whether the duration of speech samples influences the reliability of measurement of severity of stuttering by SLPs. Methods: Ten specialist SLPs rated 27 audio, English speech samples of three different durations (9 × 1-minute, 9 × 3-minutes, 9 × 5-minutes) of adults who stutter, using a 9-point severity rating (SR) scale. Results: The speech sample durations produced similar results when using the SR scale to measure severity of stuttering. Thus, samples of 1, 3 and 5-minute durations were found to be equally appropriate for reliability research and training purposes. Variability was found to be larger in the moderate severity range than the mild and severe ranges. Conclusions: Data trends suggest that SLPs and researchers should focus more attention on practice and training in the middle ranges of the SR scale, due to increased variability in this range.


The green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag-np) using leaves extract from Calotropis Porocera has been investigated. Extract of Calotropis procera was used as both reducing and stabilizing agent instead of the general convention of the use of sodium borohydride solution. Ag-np was characterized using a combination of spectroscopic techniques: Ultraviolet-Visible (UV-VIS) Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopy (SEM and TEM), and Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX). The spectrum from UV-VIS depicted the wavelength for the formation of Ag-np at 420 nm. Both SEM and TEM depicted the morphology and size of the nanoparticles while the elemental analysis and the relative abundance of each element in the nanoparticles were revealed through the EDX. This research gives a clear efficacy and reality of the use of low cost and environmentally benign extract a main precursor in the synthesis of Ag nanoparticles. Dada et al.; JACSI, 8(4): 137-143, 2017 138


Background: The Department of Health in Western Australia identified access to, and daily consumption of recommended amounts of fruit and vegetables, as priority health determinants. The numerous factors that influence supply and consumption of fruit and vegetables indicated that a comprehensive approach would be required.


Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a cross-functional planning tool, which is used to ensure that the voice of the customer is deployed throughout the product planning and design stages. The QFD process involves various inputs in the form of linguistic data, e.g., human perception, judgment, and evaluation on importance or relationship strength. Such data are usually ambiguous and uncertain. This paper aims to implement of QFD under a fuzzy environment. In addition, the analytic network process (ANP), the general form of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is used, to prioritize design requirements by taking into account the degree of the interdependence between the customer needs and design requirements and the inner dependence among them. The developed approach is used to study the basic product planning stage of a car design.


The aim of the paper is to evaluate the effect of firm size to the economic performance of firm belonging to the raising of swine sector (CZ-NACE 01.460). The economic performance is assessed using multiple- criteria evaluation of alternatives methods where the selected coefficients of the profitability ratios, labour productivity and operating ratio are used as the indicator of economic performance. To assess the relationship between firm size and firm performance, the linear regression model is used. The study uses data collected from the database Albertina CZ Gold Edition for the year 2013 that are provided by Bisnode company and from Business Register. The results showed that the larger firms reached higher economic performance compared with smaller ones. These finding indicates that economies of scale are likely to play an important role in sector of raising swine.


SUMMARY Descriptions and interpretations of two previously unrecorded slope-foot debris accumulations in the Skiddaw upland of the northern Lake District are presented. Debris ridges below Ling Thrang Crags in the River Caldew valley are considered to be part of a terminal moraine constructed by a Loch Lomond Stadial (LLS) (11-10 k 14 C years BP) glacier. Acceptance of a glacial origin increases the number of identified glaciers and area covered by LLS ice in this part of the Lake District. Immediately west of the glacier site there are periglacial boulder accumulations, regarded as contemporary with the glacier. A debris bench in Grainsgill valley is interpreted as a composite feature consisting of alluvial valley-fill sediments and debris supplied from the flanking hillside. Later, fluvial incision also helped to shape the bench. Construction of the bench followed removal of Dimlington Stadial ice (by 14.5-13.5 k 14 C years BP) and probably continued throughout the Windermere Interstadial (14-11 k 14 C years BP) and LLS. The bench is regarded as a paraglacial phenomenon. Similar composite forms have yet to be reported from elsewhere in the uplands of the British Isles, although the bench is unlikely to be unique.


ABSTRACT Young people's relationship with politics is routinely deemed problematic by a range of influential actors. Amidst concerns over disengagement and the potential for radicalisation, the political participation of Muslim young people is often particularly scrutinised. In contrast to such 'crisis narratives', this paper reports on qualitative research with young Muslims in a northern English city. Consistent with research on young people in general, the findings reveal widespread disillusionment with electoral politics amongst this group. Despite this, most respondents were politically engaged and voiced claims for a substantive representation which addressed mainstream and often national political issues. These claims were articulated in contrast to an older generation who were seen as prioritising local issues and representation much more closely tied to kinship and ethnic identity. These Muslim young people were asserting claims for a more mainstream citizenship marked against the political and cultural orientations of an older migrant generation and a wider social context of ongoing racism, Islamophobia and marginalisation.


Summary

1. Comparative studies of distinct, but not ecologically isolated, systems such as lakes and streams may improve our understanding of the importance of ecological linkages in aquatic ecosystems.

2. In this study we compared the macroinvertebrate benthos of stony habitats in Swedish lakes and streams. Community composition was used to evaluate zoogeographic patterns and functional feeding guilds were used to identify mechanisms potentially affecting such patterns.

3. Stream communities were generally more diverse and species-rich and had a higher proportion of grazers, shredders and passive-filter feeders than lakes. Lake communities had a higher proportion of predators and collector-gatherers. Of the 10 most common taxa, only Leptophlebia mayflies, clams (Sphaeriidae) and the isopod Asellus aquaticus were recorded in both lakes and streams.

4. Among-site variance in macroinvertebrate communities accounted for by regional-scale variables was low (6.4% for lakes and 10.1% for streams), compared with that by local-scale variables (21% for lakes and 37.6% for streams). For lakes, the among-site variance in macroinvertebrate communities was best explained by habitat-scale characteristics followed by ecosystem, riparian, catchment, geographic position and ecoregion. For streams, the variance in macroinvertebrate communities was best explained by ecosystem characteristics followed by habitat, catchment, riparian, ecoregion and geographic position.

5. Conspicuous differences in spatial pattern were revealed between lakes and streams. For lakes, the most unequivocal differences in community composition and function occurred at the transition zone between the mixed forests in the south and the boreal coniferous forests in the north. Surprisingly, streams did not respond as strongly to profound landscape-level differences in climate and vegetation cover.

6. The spatial differences noted between macroinvertebrate communities of lakes and streams may be because of differences in retention of detrital matter. Our findings imply that detrital inputs are qualitatively similar, but that the retention and processing of coarse particulate organic matter was presumably higher in lake littoral regions than in stream riffle habitats.

7. Although our findings support the conjecture that species distribution is determined fundamentally by conditions prevailing at the local-scale, regional factors such as land use/type and the role of history were important and seemingly act as strong determinants of large-scale patterns in biodiversity.


As an increasing number of organizations migrate to the cloud, the main challenge before an operations team is how to effectively use an overwhelming amount of information derivable from multiple data sources like logs, metrics, and traces to help maintain the robustness and availability of cloud services. Site Reliability Engineers (SRE) depend on periodic log data to understand the state of an application and to diagnose the potential root cause of a problem. Despite best practices, service outages happen and result in the loss of billions of dollars in revenue. Many a times, indicators of these outages are buried in the flood of alerts which an SRE receives. Therefore, it is important to reduce noisy alerts so that an SRE can focus on what is critical. Log Anomaly Detection detects anomalous system behaviours and finds patterns (anomalies) in data that do not conform to expected behaviour. Different anomaly detection techniques have been incorporated into various AIOps platforms, but they all suffer from a large number of false positives. Also, some anomalies are transient and resolve on their own. In this paper, we propose an unsupervised model-agnostic persistent anomaly detector based on golden signal based signatures, as a post-processing filtering step on detected anomalies, so we don't have to interfere with the existing deployed anomaly detector in a system.


CONTEXT
Individuals following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) demonstrate altered postural stability and functional movement patterns. It is hypothesized that individuals following ACLR may compensate with sensory adaptations with greater reliance on visual mechanisms during activities. It is unknown if visual compensatory strategies are implemented to maintain postural stability during functional tasks.

OBJECTIVE
To examine visual gaze accuracy during a single-leg balance task in individuals following ACLR compared with healthy, active controls.

DESIGN
Case control.

SETTING
Controlled laboratory.

PARTICIPANTS
A total of 20 individuals (10 ACLR and 10 healthy controls) participated in the study.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Visual gaze patterns were obtained during 20-second single-leg balance trials while participants were instructed to look at presented targets. During the Stationary Target Task, the visual target was presented in a central location for the duration of the trial. The Moving Target Task included a visual target that randomly moved to 1 of 9 target locations for a period of 2 seconds. Targets were stratified into superior, middle, and inferior levels for the Moving Target Task.

RESULTS
The Stationary Target Task demonstrated no differences in visual error between groups (P = .89). The Moving Target Task demonstrated a significant interaction between group and target level (F2,36 = 3.76, P = .033). Individuals following ACLR demonstrated greater visual error for the superior targets (ACLR = .70 [.44] m, healthy = .41 [.21] m, Cohen d = 0.83 [0.06 to 1.60]) and inferior targets (ACLR = .68 [.25] m, healthy = .33 [.16] m, Cohen d = 1.67 [0.81 to 2.52]).

CONCLUSION
Individuals following ACLR demonstrate greater visual error during settings of high or low visual stimuli compared with healthy individuals to maintain single-limb postural stability. This population may rely on visual input to compensate for the somatosensory changes following injury.


: Pneumocystis carinii is a ubiquitous, atypical unicellular fungus. P. carinii pneumonia (PCP) is responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality in acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients, and is the leading complication in advanced human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Many different host (mammal)-specific species of Pneumocystis exist, but the life-cycle is not understood fully. Human strains are designated as P. carinii f. sp. (special form) hominis (at least 59 different types). P. carinii is spread via the airborne route. Disease is most frequently caused by fresh exposure to a source of P. carinii, rather than by reactivation of latent infection. Asymptomatic carriage among healthy persons may occur. PCP occurs in HIV-infected patients when the CD4+ count falls below a certain threshold; organisms multiply and gradually fill the alveoli. Symptoms, which include a mildly productive cough, progressive dyspnoea and fever, may persist for months prior to diagnosis. Without treatment, progressive respiratory insufficiency invariably ends in death. Pulmonary specimens may be obtained by procedures of varying sensitivity and risk. Diagnosis is usually confirmed by detection of stained organisms; however, staining procedures vary in sensitivity and ease of use. Robust polymerase chain reaction (PCR) protocols with good predictive results may be useful in the future. Therapy falls into two categories: for acute primary infections and for prophylaxis. A confirmed diagnosis ensures that patients do not receive potentially toxic medication (adverse drug reactions can occur). Prophylaxis can dramatically reduce the frequency of PCP in HIV patients, and its more widespread use should lead to a decline in the incidence of PCP in the future.


The migration of individual special [ ] 0 1 10 tilt grain boundary (GB) with Σ =15 and misorientation angle 29° in Zn bicrystal have been investigated. The stationary shape of migrating GB has been studied and the migration rate has been measured by optical microscopy in situ between 558 and 683 K using polarized light. In certain experimental runs the migrating GB is faceted and moves thermally activated. Its kinetics follows the Arrhenius type dependence despite the fact that shape of moving GB depends on temperature. After detachment from impurity cloud the [ ] 0 1 10 tilt GB migrates activationless in the temperature interval 618÷683 K. The detachment temperature is 618 K. The non-physically high value of the apparent migration activation enthalpy can appear due to the change of GB shape from faceted to smooth and back.


Background. It is essential for dietitians to have a program or software that they can connect to, and easily access data for proper assessment of nutritional status and food composition. Aims. Our objective was to design a digital platform for nutritional intervention (named "Nutrition ARTS") to facilitate the nutritional care process and pinpoint the benefits it may bring to dietitians. Methods. The platform has been made available on both desktop or phone, and a total of 58 undergraduate and graduate students from the university of Targu Mures (GEP UMPhST) were granted access to use all its features. As a research method, an online survey was distributed to the users through email (also made directly available from the platform). Results. The platform's features mentioned in the questionnaire were considered helpful. All the respondents stated that they intend to use Nutrition ARTS in their professional practice and would be likely to suggest it to other colleagues. Conclusions. Romanian dietitians have shown a significant level of interest in digital practice, and it is vital that they have access to a platform with as many facilities as possible to help them with their work and improve professional performance.


This is the first chapter of Are Judges Political? An Empirical Analysis of the Federal Judiciary. The book reports the results of a large-scale empirical study of judicial behavior on the federal appellate courts. There are three key findings. First, the political party of the president who appointed the judge matters - judges appointed by Republican presidents vote differently from Democratic appointees across a range of important cases. These are party effects. Second, even in hard cases, the law constrains judicial behavior - Republican and Democratic appointees tend to agree more often than they disagree. So although party effects exist, they do not fully determine judicial behavior. Finally, group dynamics are critical - a Democratic appointee sitting with two Republicans votes differently from a Democratic appointee sitting with two Democrats, and similar patterns hold for Republican appointees. We identify several group dynamics that affect the voting behavior of judges sitting on panels, including the collegial concurrence, group polarization, and the whistleblower effect. Moreover, panel effects are frequently as large as party effects. In other words, the party that appointed a judge is often no more predictive of that judge's vote in a given case than the party that appointed the two other judges sitting on the same panel in that case. While this study cannot provide conclusive answers to contested questions regarding judicial behavior and the design of the federal courts, we hope that the data reported here can inform the resolution of those questions.


Objective To date, there is no universal consensus on which is the optimal ultrastaging protocol for sentinel lymph node (SLN) evaluation in gynecologic malignancies. To estimate the impact of different ultrastaging methods of SLNs on the detection of patients with nodal metastases in early-stage cervical and endometrial cancers and to describe the incidence of low-volume metastases between two ultrastaging protocols. Methods We retrospectively compared two ultrastaging protocols (ultrastaging-A vs ultrastaging-B) in patients with clinical stage I endometrial cancer or FIGO stage IA-IB1 cervical cancer who underwent primary surgery including SLN biopsy from October 2010 to December 2017 in our institution. The histologic subtypes and grades of the tumors were evaluated according to WHO criteria. Only SLNs underwent ultrastaging, while other lymph nodes were sectioned and examined by routine hematoxylin and eosin (H&E). Results Overall 224 patients were reviewed (159 endometrial cancer and 65 cervical cancer). Lymph node involvement was noted in 15% of patients with endometrial cancer (24/159): 24% of patients (9/38) with the ultrastaging protocol A and 12% (15/121) with the ultrastaging protocol B (p=0.08); while for cervical cancer, SLN metastasis was detected in 14% of patients (9/65): 22% (4/18) in ultrastaging-A and 11% (5/47) in ultrastaging-B (p=0.20). Overall, macrometastasis and low-volume metastases were 50% and 50% for endometrial cancer and 78% and 22% for cervical cancer. Median size of nodal metastasis was 2 (range 0.9–8.5) mm for the ultrastaging-A and 1.2 (range 0.4–2.6) mm for the ultrastaging-B protocol in endometrial cancer (p=0.25); 4 (range 2.5–9.8) mm for ultrastaging-A and 4.4 (range 0.3–7.8) mm for ultrastaging-B protocol in cervical cancer (p=0.64). Conclusion In endometrial or cervical cancer patients, the incidence of SLN metastasis was not different between the two different types of ultrastaging protocol.


In this paper, the idea of diversification is applied to box-and-match technique and a multi-basis-multi-box decoding algorithm is developed for soft-decision decoding of binary linear block codes. New preprocessing techniques are also employed to improve computational efficiency. These new techniques allow to achieve near maximum likelihood decoding of the (256,131) extended BCH code, which has not been reported so far.


Since the beginning of 1990s international journalism in the world is faced with new challenges due to a variety of factors, i.e. technology, globalization and economic crisis in media (Sambrook, 2010). In Russia transformation of international journalism is complicated by the existence of the strong Soviet legacy in the field of foreign reporting and the co-existence of different journalism cultures within one media system. In this paper the authors aim to provide an analysis of the current state of the international journalism in Russia, based on the results of a survey among editors of the leading media outlets as well as among foreign reporters of Russian media and teachers of international journalism at the Russian universities. The results of the study show the existence of cleavage in understanding of functions of foreign reporting between journalists of pro-state and liberal media outlets as well as the overall concern of professionals about the sustainability of international journalism in Russia and abroad. Keywords: international journalism, Russia, global journalism, media crisis, foreign reporting JEL Classifications: D83; I29; Z00; Z13


The effect on the electrolyte balance of a dopaminergic agonist (bromocriptine) and an antagonist (metoclopramide) and their effect on renal aldosterone and kallikrein excretion were investigated. Ten normotensive Wistar rats and ten spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR-Wistar Kioto) were treated with BCR (4 mg/Kg weight b.i.d.) for 4 days; after a week of pharmacological wash-out they received MCP (0,5 mg/Kg weight b.i.d.) for 4 days. Before and after treatment and at the 2nd and 4th day of each treatment diuresis, urinary excretion of aldosterone, kallikrein, sodium, potassium and proteins were measured. During the 24-hour urine collections the rats were kept in separate metabolic cages with free access to food and water. Kallikrein urinary excretion was lower in SHR than in normotensive rats under basal conditions (p 0.05); urinary sodium, potassium, proteins and sodium/potassium rate were also reduced in SHR. After treatment with bromocriptine a further reduction in urinary kallikrein excretion was observed in SHR. After MCP all the parameters were unchanged both in normotensive rats and in SHR, but SHR showed a significant correlation between aldosterone and kallikrein excretion (p less than 0,001); in this condition it seems that in SHR the control exerted by aldosterone on kallikrein excretion is greater than the one exerted by dopamine. It may indicate a defect of the natriuretic and vasodilator dopaminergic system in spontaneously hypertensive rats.


The aim of this work was to evaluate the viabilitity of Tritrichomonas foetus cryopreservated with glycerol and dimethilsulphosyde (DMSO) at -196 degrees C. Samples of the protozoa were thaw two days and 6, 12, 18, and 26 months after freezing to be evaluated. In the time analyzed, the freezing was viable in 60% and 90% of freeze samples with glycerol at 10% and DMSO at 12%, respectively.


Free radicals play an important role in cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. Accumulations of toxic free radicals such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) not only increase the susceptibility of brain tissue to ischemic damage but also trigger numerous molecular cascades, leading to increased blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability, brain edema, hemorrhage and inflammation, and brain death. Activating matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) is a key step in BBB disruption. MMPs are proteolytic zinc-containing enzymes responsible for degradation of the extracellular matrix around cerebral blood vessels and neurons. Free radicals can activate MMPs and subsequently induce the degradations of tight junctions (TJs), leading to BBB breakdown in cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. Recent studies revealed that caveolin-1, a membrane integral protein located at caveolae, can prevent the degradation of TJ proteins and protect the BBB integrity by inhibiting RNS production and MMPs activity. The interaction of caveolin-1 and RNS forms a positive feedback loop which provides amplified impacts on BBB dysfunction during cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. Here, we reviewed the recent progress in the interactions of RNS, caveolin-1 and MMPs. Current evidence indicates that the interactions of RNS, caveolin-1 and MMPs are critical signal pathways in BBB disruption and infarction enlargement during cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury.


Fick's laws were used to model the hydrogen diffusion in notched high-strength steel wires loaded in tension under elastic-plastic conditions. The plastic deformation at the notch tip has an effect on the peak distribution of the hydrostatic stress ( h σ ). So, in stress-assisted diffusion analysis, elastic-plastic material behavior should be considered. Coupled diffusion elastic-plastic finite element analysis was implemented in the finite element program ABAQUS using the user element subroutine (UEL) and the coupled temperature-displacement solver routine to solve the variational form of the diffusion equation in order to obtain the hydrogen concentration distribution ahead of the notch tip in high-strength steel wires under plane strain conditions. The analysis results are compared with those obtained from elastic analysis, which shows that, if a critical hydrogen concentration is regarded as a local fracture criterion, the elastic-plastic analysis results can be used to evaluate the hydrogen embrittlement of high-strength steel wires.


MIMO gives high data rates and increase spectral efficiency through spatial diversity and multiplexing using STBC (space time block code) technique. STBC improve the reliability of wireless link. The main goal is to maximize the average spectral efficiency ( ASE ) under the constraints that the A-BER should be lower. In Optimal method, A-BER approach, the objective is to boost the ASE under the requirement that the A-BER ought to be lower. In Sub optimal method, the SNR range appointed to a high request regulation builds, the ASE increments while the BER additionally increments in the same time. Better ASE (Area spectral efficiency) performance than the static MIMO mode switching scheme with adaptive modulation. In the traditional static mode, the   MIMO mode change depending upon the normal SNR rather than the prompt channel condition. A rate-versatile modulation plan combined with mode exchanging between spatial multiplexing and orthogonal space-time piece coding. Initially discover which regulation level and mode amplify the phantom productivity with a given target bit blunder proportion (BER). In the event that the rates of the two MIMO modes are the same, select one mode that gives lower BER than the other. MIMO technology can be used in non-wireless communications systems. One example is the home networking standard ITU-T G.9963 , which defines a power line communications system that uses MIMO techniques to transmit multiple signals over multiple AC wires.


Nutritional recovery of early malnutrition with a soybean diet reduces liver glycogen stores in the fed state and produces liver insulin resistance. We investigated whether nutritional recovery on a soybean flour diet alters hepatic gluconeogenesis in the adult offspring of rats deprived of protein during pregnancy and lactation. Male rats from mothers that were fed either 17% (C) or 6% (L) protein during pregnancy and lactation were maintained on a 17% casein (CC, n = 16 and LC, n = 17), 17% soybean flour (CS, n = 10 and LS, n = 10), or 6% casein (LL, n = 10) diet after weaning. The soybean diet reduced basal serum glucose (soybean diet, 5.6 ± 0.6 mmol/L vs. casein diet, 6.2 ± 0.6 mmol/L; p < 0.05) but increased alanine aminotransferase mRNA/GAPDH (soybean diet, 0.062 ± 0.038 vs. casein diet, 0.024 ± 0.011; p < 0.01), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase mRNA/GAPDH (soybean diet, 1.53 ± 0.52 vs. casein diet, 0.95 ± 0.43; p < 0.05), and glycerokinase protein content (soybean diet, 0.86 ± 0.08 vs. casein diet, 0.75 ± 0.11; p < 0.05). The serum glucose concentration (recovered groups, 5.6 ± 0.5 mmol/L vs. control groups, 6.2 ± 0.7 mmol/L; p < 0.05) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase activity (recovered groups, 2.8 ± 0.6 μU/mg vs. control groups, 3.6 ± 0.6 μU/mg; p < 0.05) were decreased in rats subjected to protein restriction in early life. The glucose area under the curve during the pyruvate tolerance test did not differ among groups, whereas glucose area under the curve after glucagon infusion was reduced by early malnutrition (recovered groups, 4210 ± 572 mg/dL·40 min vs. control groups, 4493 ± 688 mg/dL·40 min; p < 0.001) and by the soybean diet (soybean diet, 3995 ± 500 mg/dL·40 min vs. casein diet, 4686 ± 576 mg/dL·40 min; p < 0.05). Thus, the soybean diet impaired the response to glucagon but did not alter gluconeogenesis.


Livers from fed rats were perfused with whole rat blood and infused with oleate to maintain constant concentrations of serum non-esterified fatty acids over a wide physiological range. Infusion of insulin opposed the antilipogenic effects of increasing concentrations of serum non-esterified fatty acids. Secretion of very-low-density-lipoprotein triacylglycerols was directly proportional to the concentration of serum non-esterified fatty acids and was increased by insulin. The secretion of newly-synthesized fatty acids in very-low-density-lipoprotein triacylglycerols decreased with increasing concentrations of serum non-esterified fatty acid. Insulin opposed this change. Cholesterol biosynthesis was unaffected by alterations in concentration of serum non-esterified fatty acid but was increased by insulin. Equilibrium concentrations of perfusate lactate and glucose were increased by serum non-esterified fatty acids but steady-state rates of hepatic glucose output and lactate uptake were unchanged. Insulin decreased perfusate glucose concentrations and abolished the increase in its concentration that resulted from increases in non-esterified fatty acid concentrations.


The ability to produce s-lactamase enzymes is the major cause of the resistance of bacteria to s-lactam antibiotics. These enzymes catalyze hydrolysis of four-membered s-lactam rings, converting them into s-amino acids that, unlike active members within this class of antibiotics, no longer interfere with bacterial cell synthesis and growth. The s-lactamase enzymes are divided mechanistically into two groups, with those in classes A and C using serine as an active site residue, and those in class B using a metal ion, which is invariably zinc.

The class B metallo s-lactamases were discovered more that 40 years ago by E. P. Abraham at the University of Oxford in a strain of Bacillus cereus that also produces two serine s-lactamases. By 1985 researchers knew of two metallo s-lactamases, whereas currently about 20 different strains, most of them human pathogens, are recognized as carrying such s-lactamases. The genes encoding these enzymes generally are chromosomal but some are on plasmids, which enables them to spread among microorganisms more readily and thus makes them a greater cause of public health concern.

The metallo s-lactamases are broad-spectrum enzymes that very effectively catalyze the hydrolysis of not only penicillins and cephalosporins but also other s-lactam antibiotics, making pathogens that carry these enzymes a real problem in the clinic. In particular, they catalyze the hydrolysis of carbapenems, such as imipenem, that are generally resistant to serine s-lactamases. Indeed, when these antibiotics were introduced, no known s-lactamases catalyzed their hydrolysis. Currently, although several compounds effectively inhibit these metallo enzymes in vitro, none is clinically useful.


The propose of this study was to assess the feasibility of using support vector machines in analysing myoelectric signals acquired using an off the shelf device, the Myo armband from Thalmic Lab, when performing hand grasp gestures. Participants (n = 26) took part in the study wearing the armband and producing a series of required gestures. Support vector machines were used to train a model using participant training values, and to classify gestures produced by the same participants. Different Kernel functions and electrode combinations were studied. Also we contrasted different lengths of training values versus different lengths for the classification samples. The overall accuracy was 94.9% with data from 8 electrodes, and 72% where only four of the electrodes were used. The linear kernel outperformed the polynomial, and radial basis function. Exploring the number of training samples versus the achieved classification accuracy, results identified acceptable accuracies (> 90%) for training around 2.5s, and recognising grasp with 0.2s of acquired data. The best recognised grasp was the hand closed (97.6%), followed by cylindrical grasp (96.8%), the lateral grasp (93.2%) and tripod (92%). These results allows us to progress to the next stage of work where the Myo armband is used in the context of robot-mediated stroke rehabilitation and also involves more dynamic interactions as well as gross upper arm movements.


The isotopic composition of sulfur is a vital tracer used in the Earth and planetary sciences. In this study, the laser- and ICP-induced isotopic fractionation in S-rich minerals (sulfides and elemental S) with different matrices was investigated by using 257 nm femtosecond (fs) and 193 nm ArF excimer nanosecond (ns) laser ablation systems coupled to a Neptune Plus MC-ICP-MS. Compared to ns-LA-MC-ICP-MS, higher sensitivity (1.4–2.4 times) under similar instrumental conditions and better precision (∼1.6-fold) under the same signal intensity condition were achieved by fs-LA-MC-ICP-MS. In addition, a fs-laser provides less fluence and matrix dependent S isotopic fractionation, and more stable transient isotopic ratios compared to a ns-laser. Better results acquired by fs-LA-MC-ICP-MS were attributed to the smaller size of particles and less thermal effect produced by using the fs-laser, which were evidenced by the morphologies of the ablation craters and ejected aerosol particles of P-S-1 (the pressed powder pellet of IAEA-S-1) and PPP-1 (a pyrite single crystal from the Sukhoi Log deposit). The ICP-induced isotopic fractionation (matrix effect) was still found in fs-LA-MC-ICP-MS under the maximum sensitivity conditions. However, a significant reduction of the matrix effect was obtained under robust plasma conditions at a lower makeup gas flow rate (0.52–0.54 l min−1) relative to the maximum sensitivity condition (0.6 l min−1) for S isotope analysis. This could be ascribed to the particles that not only pass into the higher temperature ICP for a longer residence time at a lower makeup gas flow rate that resulted in more efficient vaporization of the particles, but also experience a more robust plasma induced by adding 4–6 ml min−1 N2 into the plasma. Furthermore, under the robust conditions, the results of six reference materials with different matrices obtained by fs-LA-MC-ICP-MS with non-matrix matched calibration with a spot size of 20–44 μm showed excellent agreement with the reference values (the accuracy of 0.01–0.15‰ for δ34S and 0.11–0.45‰ for δ33S and the precision of 0.16–0.40‰ (2 s) for δ34S and 0.35–0.78‰ (2 s) for δ33S) and the mass-dependent fractionation line, validating the applicability of the proposed approach for providing high-quality in situ isotope data (δ33S and δ34S) of sulfides and elemental sulfur at high spatial resolution using non-matrix matched analysis.


Permafrost soils have accumulated vast stores of organic carbon recently estimated to be ~1600 Pg C (Tarnocai et al., 2009). During the next century, near-surface permafrost across the circumpolar Arctic is expected to degrade significantly due to global warming. Large amounts of organic matter, particulate (POM) and dissolved (DOM), will be released, transported to the oceans and either mineralized or convected down to the deep Arctic Ocean. Another severe impact of global warming on the Siberian coasts is the coastal erosion in the permafrost regions. The sediment discharge from the coast is as high or even higher than the riverine one transporting huge amounts of organic carbon into the coastal regions. The coastline in the Lena delta, for example, retreated at a mean rate of 0.5 m per year during the last decades (Lantuit et al., 2011). All involved processes are characterized by high spatial and temporal variability but in their entirety they are likely to have critical implications for primary production and carbon cycling on the Arctic shelves and in the Arctic Ocean.
 The discharge of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is clearly higher than that of the particulate fraction (POC). DOC in the Lena River has quite similar concentrations over long distances with a high carbon to nitrogen ratio. The classical relation between DOC and salinity in the coastal regions implies a conservative mixing, however, a strong modification of DOM must occur during the transition from freshwater to seawater as, for example, the carbon to nitrogen ratio strongly decreases in the estuarine and near shore regions. Samples from the Lena delta have very different characteristics and highly variable DOC concentrations that are in the range from 450 to 650 µM for river water, 800 to 10,800 µM for ice complex meltwater and of about 800 µM for the ice of ice complexes. Ultra high resolution mass spectrometry is used to identify markers to trace the fate of organic matter from the rivers and coasts into the deep Arctic Ocean.

References
Tarnocai, C., Canadell, J.G., Schuur, E.A.G., Kuhry, P., Mazhitova, G., and Zimov, S. 2009. Soil organic carbon pools in the northern circumpolar permafrost region. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 23, GB2023.
Lantuit, H., Atkinson, D., Overduin, P.P., Grigoriev, M., Rachold, V., Grosse, G., and Hubberten, H.-W. 2011. Coastal erosion dynamics on the permafrost-dominated Bykovsky Peninsula, north Siberia, 1951-2006. Polar Research 30:7341.


Corporations play a major role in artificial intelligence (AI) research, development, and deployment, with profound consequences for society. This paper surveys opportunities to improve how corporations govern their AI activities so as to better advance the public interest. The paper focuses on the roles of and opportunities for a wide range of actors inside the corporation—managers, workers, and investors—and outside the corporation—corporate partners and competitors, industry consortia, nonprofit organizations, the public, the media, and governments. Whereas prior work on multistakeholder AI governance has proposed dedicated institutions to bring together diverse actors and stakeholders, this paper explores the opportunities they have even in the absence of dedicated multistakeholder institutions. The paper illustrates these opportunities with many cases, including the participation of Google in the U.S. Department of Defense Project Maven; the publication of potentially harmful AI research by OpenAI, with input from the Partnership on AI; and the sale of facial recognition technology to law enforcement by corporations including Amazon, IBM, and Microsoft. These and other cases demonstrate the wide range of mechanisms to advance AI corporate governance in the public interest, especially when diverse actors work together.


Objective. To measure self-reported physical and mental functioning and associated clinical features at study entry in 3 ethnic groups with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Methods. Sixty Hispanic, 39 African American, and 104 Caucasian patients with recent-onset SSc (< 5 yrs) were assessed for perceived physical and mental functioning, using the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36) and Scleroderma-Health Assessment Questionnaire (Scleroderma-HAQ). Socioeconomic, demographic, clinical, immunologic, immunogenetic, behavioral, and psychological variables (Interpersonal Support Evaluation List, ISEL; Illness Behavior Questionnaire, IBQ; and Arthritis Helplessness Index, AHI) were analyzed by linear regression models for associations with SF-36 and mHAQ scores as dependent variables. Results. Perceived physical functioning scores had ethnic-specific associations with AHI > fatigue scores > IBQ > clinical variables (hypertension, skin score, and percentage predicted DLCO). Scleroderma-HAQ scores had ethnic-specific associations with IBQ > AHI scores > most clinical and laboratory variables. Decreased mental component summary (MCS) scores associated with AHI > ISEL. Ethnic-specific immunogenetic variables HLA-DQB1*0202 (Caucasian) and HLA-DRB 1*11 (African American), and HLA-DQA1*0501 (Hispanic) also associated with MCS. Antinuclear autoantibodies, anti-topoisomerase I, and RNA polymerases I and III also demonstrated associations with functioning in African American and Hispanic groups. Conclusion. Clinical, psychosocial, and immunogenetic variables had ethnic-specific associations with perceived physical and mental functioning. Consideration of ethnic-specific psychological and behavioral support in designing more personalized, relevant therapeutic interventions for the patient may improve therapeutic efficacy in SSc.


We describe a new approach to manage the testing of document analysis and understanding applications. We propose and present a collection of document images, a set of techniques to prepare the test cases interactively and means to control the testing process. The systems architecture is designed to be distributed, scalable and platform independent utilizing Java, C++ and object-oriented databases. The main features of this system are a basic document categorization and ground truth, degradation models, custom test case creation facilities, a test management module (pipelining, test history), the ability to embed document analysis algorithms into the system, remote usage facilities and robust graphical user interfaces.


The article analyses deconstructions of the European construct from the vantage point of how skin colour, physical appearance and religion have been used for drawing boundaries between white, Christian Europe and the black, Muslim world. The analysis is based on literary texts by the Afro-Swedish author Johannes Anyuru. The article proposes that his first collection of poems from 2003, the first novel from 2010 and a multifaceted text from 2011, which is a kind of diary on the surface level, contribute to the shaping of new notions of belonging, home and identity that challenge ideas of cultural purity and homogeneity. On the level of aesthetics the texts exemplify a diaspora aesthetic characterized by hybridization. This involves a mixture of elements from various stylistic registers and locations from within and outside Europe.


The effects of prostaglandin (PG) E1, PGE2, the thromboxane A2 analogue U-44069, and the prostacyclin derivative iloprost were studied on isometric contractions induced by norepinephrine (NE) and by electrical field stimulation of nerves in isolated preparations of the human vas deferens. The effects of these agents on the electrically induced release of 3H from preparations preincubated with [3H]NE were also investigated. PGE1 and PGE2 inhibited the electrically induced contractions concentration dependently. U-44069 augmented the contractions without affecting baseline tension, and in preparations where the contractions had been inhibited by PGE1 or PGE2, U-44069 restored the contractions almost to starting levels. The thromboxane A2-receptor antagonist BM 13505, having no effect or inhibitory effects on electrically induced contractions, abolished the stimulatory effect of U-44069. Contractions induced by exogenous NE were augmented by U-44069, whereas PGE1 and BM 13505 were without effects. The electrically induced release of 3H was inhibited by PGE1 and PGE2 in a concentration-dependent manner, whereas U-44069 and BM 13505 increased the release of 3H. Furthermore, the inhibitory effect of PGE1 on 3H release was partly counteracted by U-44069. Iloprost had no significant effect on electrically induced contractions or on 3H release. These results suggest that, in the human vas deferens, thromboxane A2 augments contractions predominantly through a postjunctional site of action, whereas PGs of the E type have a prejunctional inhibitory effect. In addition, the pre- and post-junctional effect profiles of U-44069 and BM 13505 suggest that there may be more than one thromboxane receptor.


RUARK, SARAH JOHNSON. Evaluation of Biological and Other Novel Seed and Soil Treatments for Organic Peanut Production. (Under the direction of Barbara Shew). Poor stands are a constraint on organic peanut production because stand losses of 50% or more are possible with untreated seed. Biological, other novel seed treatments, and soil amendments were tested for efficacy against preand post-emergence damping-off in greenhouse, microplot, and field plot trials. Seed of the lines Perry, GP-NC 343, and N03081T were utilized in all trials. Nine treatments were tested in natural soil in the greenhouse. Treatments included Bacillus subtilis (Kodiak), B. pumilus (Yield Shield), Trichoderma harzianum (T-22 PB and Plantshield HC), Muscodor albus, Coniothyrium minitans (Contans), activated charcoal, two separate soil amendments of dried herbage of Monarda didyma cultivars, a commercial fungicide check (Vitavax PC), and an untreated control. Vitavax PC and Kodiak were the only seed treatments with higher percentage emergence and survival than untreated seed. A separate greenhouse experiment was conducted for seed treatments using natural soil or soil infested with field isolates of Aspergillus niger. Seed were treated with Kodiak, copper hydroxide (Champion), Plantshield HC, Kodiak and Plantshield HC combined, Streptomyces griseoviridis (Mycostop), hot water, Vitavax PC, or were left untreated. Seedling emergence and survival was much lower in inoculated versus uninoculated plots. In all plots, treatment with Kodiak increased percentage emergence and survival compared to untreated seed, but was not as effective as Vitavax PC. In uninfested plots, treatment with Champion also increased emergence and survival compared to the untreated check. Field microplot studies in Clayton, NC evaluated seed treated with Kodiak, T. harzianum, activated charcoal, Vitavax PC, or untreated seed on the three peanut lines following wheat, oat, or triticale cover crops, soil amendment with M. albus, or no cover as a control. In both years, the percentage emergence and survival was highest for Perry seeds treated with Vitavax PC. Cover crops did not affect emergence, but M. albus treatment suppressed emergence. In field studies at Lewiston, NC, the three peanut lines were treated with M. albus, Kodiak, T. harzianum, or were untreated. In the 2007 trial, none of the treatments improved stands compared to the untreated check. In 2008, the highest stand counts were produced by seed treated with Kodiak. In both years, the largest stands were N03081T. The most commonly observed pathogen was A. niger. Confounding effects of seed line and seed source prevent assessment of performance from individual cultivars. However, regardless of seed line, in most trials Kodiak seed treatment consistently increased emergence and survival over untreated seed. Evaluation of Biological and Other Novel Seed Treatments for Organic Peanut Production by Sarah Johnson Ruark A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University In partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Science


of the original article: Consciousness is a mongrel concept: there are a number of very different "consciousnesses." Phenomenal consciousness is experience; the phenomenally conscious aspect of a state is what it is like to be in that state. The mark of access-consciousness, by contrast, is availability for use in reasoning and rationally guiding speech and action. These concepts are often partly or totally conflated, with bad results. This target article uses as an example a form of reasoning about a function of "consciousness" based on the phenomenon of blindsight. Some information about stimuli in the blind field is represented in the brains of blindsight patients, as shown by their correct "guesses." They cannot harness this information in the service of action, however, and this is said to show that a function of phenomenal consciousness is somehow to enable information represented in the brain to guide action. But stimuli in the blind field are both access-unconscious and phenomenally unconscious. The fallacy is: an obvious function of the machinery of access-consciousness is illicitly transferred to phenomenal consciousness. An example of access-consciousness without phenomenal consciousness?


Since the advent of laser-Doppler anemometry (L.D.A.) as a new tool in experimental fluid mechanics much effort has been devoted to developing practical instrumentation for engineering applications. A non-interfering velocity measurement technique which provides high spatial resolution, directional sensitivity and time resolved information can provide measurements in ship hydrodynamics which hitherto were unobtainable. This paper describes an L.D.A., constructed at Southampton University to take axial velocity measurements in a ship-model towing tank. The optical geometry used is versatile and is readily applicable to cavitation tunnel work. An appendix is included which describes the extension of the instrument to measure three orthogonal components of velocity simultaneously. Results from the wake of a ship model showing mean wake fraction and wake spectra are presented. Three dimensional presentation of the wake power as a function of frequency is also included. Measurements taken in the wake of a circular cylinder towed along the tank verify the periodic vortex shedding at a Strouhal number of 0.2 and demonstrate the real-time measurement capability of the instrument. It is hoped that this paper will promote the use of L.D.A. in ship science research. If further progress in the problems of propeller-hull interactions, wake scaling, bilge vortex convection, cavitation and propeller induced vibration is to be made then time resolved velocity information provided by this instrument is required.


This paper proposes an adaptive randomization procedure for two-stage randomized controlled trials. The method uses data from a first-wave experiment in order to determine how to stratify in a second wave of the experiment, where the objective is to minimize the variance of an estimator for the average treatment effect (ATE). We consider selection from a class of stratified randomization procedures which we call stratification trees: these are procedures whose strata can be represented as decision trees, with differing treatment assignment probabilities across strata. By using the first wave to estimate a stratification tree, we simultaneously select which covariates to use for stratification, how to stratify over these covariates, and the assignment probabilities within these strata. Our main result shows that using this randomization procedure with an appropriate estimator results in an asymptotic variance which is minimal in the class of stratification trees. Moreover, our results are able to accommodate a large class of assignment mechanisms within strata, including stratified block randomization. In a simulation study, we find that our method, paired with an appropriate cross-validation procedure, can improve on ad-hoc choices of stratification. We conclude by applying our method to the study in Karlan and Wood (2017), where we estimate stratification trees using the first wave of their experiment.


Purpose. To evaluate the effect of negatively powered soft contact lenses on ocular higher-order aberrations (HOAs). Methods. HOA measurements were performed with fixed optical zones of 4.0 and 6.0 mm on 20 eyes of 10 participants before and minutes after wearing extended-wear Focus NIGHT & DAY contact lenses. For each eye, three contact lens powers were used: −2.00 diopters (D), –4.00 D, and a power equal to the spherical equivalent of each eye. Results. The change in spherical aberration was highly correlated with the change in negative power of the contact lens at an optical zone of 4 and 6 mm (Pearson correlation coefficient = 0.914 and 0.743, respectively, P<0.0001). Total HOAs had a weaker but important correlation at an optical zone of 6 mm (Pearson correlation coefficient = 0.470, P=0.037) and insignificant correlation at an optical zone of 4 mm. Coma and trefoil were poorly correlated with contact lens power in either optical zone. Compared to the control using both optical zones, the –2.00 D contact lens resulted in a significant increase in total HOAs and spherical aberration, whereas the –6.00 D lens yielded a marked decrease in spherical aberration and a mild, statistically insignificant increase in total HOAs. Both contact lens powers yielded larger ocular coma and unchanged trefoil levels. The change from induction to reduction of spherical aberration occurred at –4.00 D. Conclusions. The Focus NIGHT & DAY lens vehicle harbors positive spherical aberration and coma, independently of the lens power. The negative power of contact lenses induces negative spherical aberration, which, at large values, compensates for the lens vehicle positive spherical aberration to produce a net negative spherical aberration.


Short-term, prospective placebo-controlled simple blind randomized study of the effects of alpha-lipoic acid and mexidol on the dynamics of affective status disorders, cognitive functions, and quality of life in parallel with changes in carbohydrate metabolism and lipidemia has been conducted in diabetic patients. It is established that two-week administration of alpha-lipoic acid (600 mg once a day, i.v.) and mexidol (300 mg once a day, i.v.) reduced hyperglycemia by 13.00 with simultaneous decrease of depressive "feelings of guilt". In case of mexidol, these effects were accompanied by positive "vitality" dynamics established with SF-36 questionnaire and reflecting improvement in patients' quality of life. Additionally, course administration of alpha-lipoic acid increased attention as studied with Schulte tables. Favorable psychotropic effects of alpha-lipoic acid and mexidol were unrelated to changes in lipidemia and "lipid peroxidation - antioxidant protection" system indicators.


The hot dip-coating process is numerically studied on the bases of a 3D strongly coupled thermomechanical model. At the macroscopic scale, the process is described as a solidification of a hot Newtonian polymer solution on the surface of a cold mould moving in/out of the bath. The evolution of the temperature of the liquid around the mould and of the thickness of solid phase is governed by equations resulting from thermomechanics. The prediction of the solidified phase thickness is ensured by using a characteristic function which reflects the state of the solution (liquid or solid). A mixed finite element method with multidomain approach is developed in order to simulate the average growth rate of solidified layer during the dip-coating process and to characterize the influence of the velocity of the mould motion on its the thickness.


After formation of a primordial crust, early impacts influenced when habitable conditions may have occurred on Mars. Martian meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 7034 is a regolith breccia that contains remnants of the earliest Martian crust. The paucity of shock deformation in NWA 7034 was previously cited as recording a decline in giant impacts by 4.48 billion years and evidence for habitable Mars by 4.2 billion years ago. We present new evidence of high-pressure shock effects in a 4.45–billion year–old zircon from the matrix of NWA 7034. The zircon contains {112} shock twins formed in the central uplift of a complex impact structure after 4.45 billion years and records impact pressures of 20 to 30 gigapascals. The zircon represents the highest shock level reported in NWA 7034 and paired rocks and provides direct physical evidence of large impacts, some potentially life-affecting, that persisted on Mars after 4.48 billion years.


In May 2020, the world witnessed Derek Chauvin, a serving White police officer, murder George Floyd, a Black American male. A video of the murder, shot by Darnella Frazier, documented Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck for a little under eight minutes. The video served as a call to action with protests erupting throughout the summer of 2020 across the USA. Activists took to the streets demanding an end to police brutality and systemic racism. The act of kneeling became a recurrent symbol of these protests. This article specifically focuses on instances where police officers have taken the knee opposite protesters. The author argues that, within this context, kneeling is a memetic performance; it is a unit of cultural information passed on through repetition and mutation. Through mutation (repetition with difference), the symbolic meaning of the act changes. In the case of police officers kneeling opposite protesters, the act purportedly symbolizes moments of solidarity and understanding between the two sides. Much like the video that inspired the protests, instances of officers kneeling opposite protesters were captured, disseminated via social media and went viral. The stillness of these moments promised hope for movement towards a more equitable and humane future. But these images serve as a form of dirty data as they document a future yet to materialize. To this end, the act of kneeling is a haunted gesture, serving as a form of counter-activism. The act of kneeling by police officers, irrespective of the intentions of the individuals involved, does not solicit an encounter with the ghosts of police brutality and systemic racism. Rather the act, as a mutated form of activism, simultaneously disrupts the atmosphere of protests and reclaims narratives about police conduct, without enacting meaningful change.


SGLT2 inhibitors are molecules able to reduce blood glucose levels and body weight, and to lower systolic blood pressure. They also exert important diuretic and modulatory effects of renal hemodynamics, as well as a series of anti-inflammatory actions, thus contributing to reduce the cardiovascular burden in subjects with and without type 2 diabetes. Such benefit mainly translates into reduced risk for hospitalization due to heart failure, and reduced decline of glomerular filtration, associated with a powerful anti-albuminuric effect. For this reason, they constitute an indispensable treatment in a modern approach to cardiorenal prevention. This review recapitulates the clinical evidence supporting the use of SGLT2 inhibitors in these patients, and the main mechanisms of cardiorenal protection.


In-plane heterojunction tunnel field effect transistors based on monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides are studied by means of self-consistent non-equilibrium Green's functions simulations and an atomistic tight-binding Hamiltonian. We start by comparing several heterojunctions before focusing on the most promising ones, i.e. WTe2-MoS2 and MoTe2-MoS2. The scalability of those devices as a function of channel length is studied, and the influence of backgate voltages on device performance is analyzed. Our results indicate that, by fine-tuning the design parameters, those devices can yield extremely low subthreshold swings (<5 mV/decade) and ION/IOFF ratios higher than 108 at a supply voltage of 0.3 V, making them ideal for ultra-low power consumption.


In this paper, we report the catalytic cracking of soybean oil for biofuel over γ-Al2O3/CaO composite catalysts. The influence of catalysts, cracking temperature and weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) on the products distribution were investigated. The maximum yield (70.0 wt.%) of biofuel with low acid value (6.7 mg KOH g) and oxygen content (5.6%), as well as high calorific value (44.2 MJ kg) was achieved over 35 wt.% γ-Al2O3/CaO at 480 °C and 3.72 h. The paper focused on the variation of biofuel composition and cracking pathway caused by γ-Al2O3/CaO composite catalysts via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and thermogravimetric (TG) analysis. Calcium oxide would react with fatty acid to yield calcium carboxylates at 300-350 °C, which were subsequently decomposed into hydrocarbons (57.9 wt.%) and ketones (22.6 wt.%) at 415-510 °C. As for 35 wt.% γ-Al2O3/CaO, the addition of γ-Al2O3 was beneficial to generate alkenes (38.2 wt.%), arenes (10.6 wt.%) and alcohols (12.3 wt.%) with ketones decreasing (16.5 wt.%) via γ-hydrogen transfer reaction and disproportination.


Transition from wakefulness to drowsiness was used as a model of a gradual decrease in the consciousness level. Subjects' self-reported changes in the contents of consciousness, namely: the intensity and quality of involuntary mental processes, served as an indicator of the consciousness level. Each observed level of consciousness was shown to be characterised by a certain EEG profile. It was also shown that the state in which the subject signals of a slowdown of the "internal speech" or the "lapse of thoughts" corresponds to the lowest level of activation. In this case, the interhemisphere connections involving the main mechanism of cognitive information transmission, i.e. the EEG high-frequency rhythms, becomes suppressed.


This paper takes leaning-type arch ribs system as research subject. And based on the Ritz method, the analytic solution of the lateral buckling critical load of leaning-type arch ribs system under the arch springing hinged boundary condition is derived. Compared with the result obtained from FEM, it is verified that the lateral buckling critical load analytic solution presented in this paper is accurate enough. On that basis, the effect of boundary condition on the lateral bucking critical load of leaning-type arch rib system is analyzed. It is shown that the lateral stability of the leaning-type arch rib system under arch springing clamped boundary condition is much better than the one under hinged boundary condition. And the former's lateral bucking critical load is 2.13~2.49 times as large as the latter's. Stable arch inclined angle growing, the leaning-type arch rib system's lateral bucking critical load increases effectively. But its amplitude under hinged boundary condition increase larger.


We present a holistic approach to building a robust and useful natural language classification system for real-world content moderation. The success of such a system relies on a chain of carefully designed and executed steps, including the design of content taxonomies and labeling instructions, data quality control, an active learning pipeline to capture rare events, and a variety of methods to make the model robust and to avoid overfitting. Our moderation system is trained to detect a broad set of categories of undesired content, including sexual content, hateful content, violence, self-harm, and harassment. This approach generalizes to a wide range of different content taxonomies and can be used to create high-quality content classifiers that outperform off-the-shelf models.


This article seeks to move the adequacy issue forward by demonstrating that under a certain set of assumptions, it is possible to provide a set of programmatic offerings that corresponds well with what we consider to be an emerging, research-based consensus about what constitutes best practices. We do this by showing what could be purchased with the national average expenditure per pupil if it were to be applied to one adequacy approach, the evidence-based approach, and how these resources have been linked to increases in student performance.


Nigeria has envisioned that by the year 2020 the country will become one of the 20 top economies of the world. This goal was buttressed in a government policy termed vision 20-20-20 . These researchers examined the complimentary role libraries and librarians in Nigerian universities could play in the realization of that vision. They sampled the opinions of librarians in universities in Enugu State to synthesize their opinions concerning the roles they play in knowledge management. The researchers found that vision 20-20-20 can be realized through the collaborative roles of academia and manpower trainers for whom libraries and librarians are invaluable assets; therefore their roles cannot be over looked. The findings showed that the realization of vision 20-20-20 is knowledge driven, and librarians are active players in identifying maintaining and making available knowledge assets. Since only a reputable and reliable knowledge base can bring about efficient manpower production and capacity building for economic management and governance, librarians and knowledge workers roles are vital. They help to leverage knowledge assets through the provision of world class information, manpower training, and capacity building, all of which can impact on Nigeria's vision 20-20-20. The paper calls for advocacy that would help put the role of librarians in perspective to the appropriate authority. This advocacy role will bring librarians into full focus and optimize the utilization of their skills and abilities.

 Key words: Capacity building, knowledge management, librarians, manpower production, vision 20:2020 (Nigeria), millennium development goals.


BACKGROUND
The increasing popularity of the use of complementary and alternative interventions or treatments appears to be particularly evident amongst people with chronic disease. In the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, one therapy that has been identified as having potential benefit, is herbal medicine (phytotherapy).

OBJECTIVES
To assess the effectiveness of herbal therapies in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

SEARCH STRATEGY
We developed a search strategy using terms to include all forms of arthritis combined with herbal medicine. We searched the following electronic databases from 1966 to 2000: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CISCOM, AMED, CINAHL, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (CCTR), Cochrane Musculoskeletal specialized register, Dissertation Abstracts, BIDS ISI and the Cochrane Complementary Medicine Fields Specialized Register. This was supplemented by searching the reference lists from retrieved trials.

SELECTION CRITERIA
All randomized trials of herbal interventions in rheumatoid arthritis, compared to placebo. Two reviewers independently read and selected each potential study according to the criteria published in an a priori protocol. Papers of any language were included.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Data were extracted independently by the same two reviewers and an assessment of methodological quality was conducted.

MAIN RESULTS
Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria. Seven of the studies compared gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) to placebo although three of these were not suitable for data pooling. The remaining studies considered four different herbal interventions and were assessed individually. All of the GLA studies found some improvement in clinical outcomes but methodology and study quality was variable, making it difficult to draw conclusive results. However, the better quality studies suggest potential relief of pain, morning stiffness and joint tenderness. With the exception of one intervention (Tripterygium wilfordii hook F), no serious side effects were reported.

REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS
There appears to be some potential benefit for the use of GLA in rheumatoid arthritis although further studies are required to establish optimum dosage and duration of treatment. The single studies are inconclusive.


In 66 months, a general hospital's outpatient Anticoagulation Service (ACS) monitored 263 patients who received 280 courses of warfarin sodium totalling 254 patient treatment years. Major hemorrhagic morbidity was 4% of courses and there was no mortality attributable to warfarin therapy. Major hemorrhage occurred in patients with increased anatomic risk of bleeding (diverticulosis, hemorrhoids, cystitis), and was not a function of patient age, sex, anticoagulation control, or medications administered concurrently with warfarin. Control of anticoagulation was not correlated with age or other medications, but was worsened significantly by the presence of congestive heart failure. We attribute a favorable experience with outpatient ACS to careful patient selection, patient education and monitoring, attention to duration of anticoagulation, and continuing communication with primary physicians who retained responsibility for medical care. An ACS offers safety, consistency, efficiency, and a unified approach to outpatient anticoagulation in the general hospital setting.


BACKGROUND
Longitudinal studies of activities of daily living (ADL) in older adults have identified numerous factors associated with declining ability. Analyses based on population averages may not observe distinct subgroups whose ADL trajectories differ.

METHODS
We used latent class models to identify subgroups of trajectories in a sample from the Hispanic Established Populations for Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly, a population-based study of noninstitutionalized Mexican Americans aged 65 and older from five Southwestern states (n = 2584).

RESULTS
Three distinct trajectories of ADL limitations were identified and characterized as stable, delayed, and rapid ADL increase. Sex (female), diabetes, and arthritis were associated with increased odds of membership in the delayed and rapid groups compared with the stable group. Stroke had a differential magnitude of effect on ADL limitations across the stable (β = 1.11, p < .001), delayed (β = 0.52, p < .001), and rapid groups (β = 0.12, p < .05). Hip fracture was associated with increased limitations in the stable group (β = 1.27, p < .001) but not in the rapid group. Church attendance was associated with fewer limitations in all groups with a larger effect in the stable group (β = -0.87, p < .001) compared with the rapid group (β = -0.10, p < .05).

CONCLUSIONS
Substantial heterogeneity exists in changes in ADL disability over time among older Mexican Americans. Attempts at maintaining function may benefit from targeting reductions in comorbidities and acute health events associated with disability.


A group of healthy control subjects and patients with Parkinson's disease were investigated using positron emission tomography and two tracers as indicators of different specific properties of the presynaptic dopaminergic system in caudate nucleus and putamen. The first tracer, 6-L-(18F)-fluorodopa, was used as an analog of levodopa to assess its regional brain uptake, conversion into, and retention as dopamine and further metabolites. The second tracer, (11C)-nomifensine was employed as an indicator of striatal monaminergic reuptake sites that are principally dopaminergic. We have used this tracer to assess dopaminergic nerve terminal density. In patients with Parkinson's disease, striatal uptake of both tracers was decreased, putamen being significantly more affected than caudate. Side-to-side differences of uptake in putamen, but not caudate, correlated with corresponding left-right differences of scored clinical motor performance. Both 6-L(18F)-fluorodopa and (11C)-nomifensine tracer uptake in putamen was decreased on average to 40% of normal values, suggesting that a substantial part of the cellular elements of the dopaminergic nigrostriatal system is still intact in living parkinsonian patients. This is in contrast to the generally extreme depletion of endogenous dopamine in the putamen of patients found at postmortem. Our results lend support to the search for drug treatments that protect against further nigrostriatal cell loss and that could be exhibited as soon as the disease manifests clinically. If successful, a sufficient striatal nerve terminal pool would remain so that the effectiveness of levodopa as a dopamine repletor could persist.


BACKGROUND
Individuals from South Asia have high diabetes prevalence despite low body weight. We compared the prevalence of diabetes among South Asian Indians with other U.S. ethnic groups and explored correlates of diabetes.

METHODS
This was a cross-sectional study of 150 South Asian Indians (ages 45-79) in California, using similar methods to the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). Type 2 diabetes was classified by fasting plasma glucose (FPG) >or=126 mg/dL, 2-h postchallenge glucose >or=200 mg/dL, or use of hypoglycemic medication.

RESULTS
A total of 29% of Asian Indians had diabetes, 37% had prediabetes, and 34% had normal glucose tolerance. After full adjustment for covariates, Indians still had significantly higher odds of diabetes compared to whites and Latinos, but not significantly different from African Americans and Chinese Americans in MESA: Indians [odds ratio (OR), 1.0], whites [OR, 0.29; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.17-0.49], Latinos (OR, 0.59; CI, 0.34-1.00) African Americans (OR, 0.77; CI 0.45-1.32), Chinese Americans (OR, 0.78, CI, 0.45-1.32). Variables associated with prediabetes or diabetes among Indians included hypertension, fatty liver, visceral adiposity, microalbuminuria, carotid intima media thickness, and stronger traditional Indian beliefs.

CONCLUSIONS
Indian immigrants may be more likely to have diabetes than other U.S. ethnic groups, and cultural factors may play a role, suggesting that this is a promising area of research.


For the 9th time, the International College for Person-Centered Medicine (ICPCM) held its annual conference on Person-Centered Medicine in Geneva, Switzerland. Like previous years, the conference was formally co-sponsored by the World Health Organization, the World Medical Association, the World Organization of Family Doctors, the International Council of Nurses, the International Alliance of Patients' Organizations and thirty other global health professional and academic institutions. The organizing committee was composed of the ICPCM Board members, Ruth Wilson as program director and Islene Araujo de Carvalho, Jim Campbell and Nuria Toro Polanco from WHO. Material support  was provided by the World Medical Association, the World Health Organization, the Geneva University Hospital, and the Paul Tournier Association.


We argue that the social construction of target populations is an important, albeit overlooked, political phenomenon that should take its place in the study of public policy by political scientists. The theory contends that social constructions influence the policy agenda and the selection of policy tools, as well as the rationales that legitimate policy choices. Constructions become embedded in policy as messages that are absorbed by citizens and affect their orientations and participation. The theory is important because it helps explain why some groups are advantaged more than others independently of traditional notions of political power and how policy designs reinforce or alter such advantages. An understanding of social constructions of target populations augments conventional hypotheses about the dynamics of policy change, the determination of beneficiaries and losers, the reasons for differing levels and types of participation among target groups, and the role of policy in democracy.


The aim of the work is the examination of concepts and programs for student-centered physical education students. The experiment included 20 experts. It is shown that the existing approach to training in "Physical Education" in higher educational establishments of sports profile do not solve the problems of improving the quality of training of future specialists. It is proved that the model of personality-oriented physical education has obvious advantages. Substantiated scientific and methodical conditions improving the training of future specialists of physical education for a healthy way of life. The level of the developed concepts and programs individually oriented physical education has allowed experts to make a competent judgment on the benefits of this approach.


A 2330 nucleotide sequence spanning the 1B (NS2), IC (NS1) and N genes and intergenic regions of human respiratory syncytial virus strain 18537, representing antigenic subgroup B, was determined by sequencing cloned cDNAs of intracellular mRNAs. Comparison with the previously reported sequences for strain A2 of subgroup A showed that 1B, 1C and N were highly conserved at the nucleotide level (78, 78 and 86% identity, respectively) and at the amino acid level (92, 87 and 96% identity, respectively). The gene-start signals were exactly conserved between subgroups, and the gene-end signals contained only a single nucleotide substitution each in 1B and N. In most cases intergenic and non-coding gene sequences that were not part of presumed transcriptive signals were much less well conserved (generally 50 to 71%) than sequences that were part of translational open reading frames (82 to 86%). The nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of the N gene and protein of the Long strain of subgroup A were determined by sequencing cDNA clones of intracellular mRNA; the nucleotide sequence (representing all but the first 10 nucleotides of the gene) contained 15 differences from that of the A2 strain, but the deduced amino acid sequences were identical.


Different methods of urban sewage sludge energy recovery such as burning, gasification, pyrolysis and digestion based on the net energy production efficiency, advantages and disadvantages and complexity of these processes have been investigated in this article. The best method for energy production from sludge was selected among different methods according to energy and the amount of the greenhouse gas production. The capacity of the constructed power plant was calculated and investigated economically for each scenario. Quantitative and qualitative information on sludge was required to carry out this research so Ekbatan wastewater treatment sludge was analyzed. The results showed that the sludge of this treatment plant has 5.7% solids, containing 65.7% volatiles and the dry heat value is about 15100 kJ/kg. It was found that the best scenario for sludge energy production in this treatment plant is a digestion process with pure net energy production of 73.2 × 107 kJ/d. The energy recovery in an anaerobic digester can prevent the emission of 16,680 tons of CO2 annually and release about 1,460 tons of CO2 per year. The chemical analysis shows that the selected sludge has a potential production of 25m3 of CH4 for each m3 of sludge. The annual amount of biogas that can be recovered from municipal treatment plant is 836543 m3. On the other hand, the biogas can be used to generate electricity. The power of the plant is about 216.8 kW that with the construction of this power plant, an annual saving of 1.5 million dollars will occur.


We present a statistical approach to recognize three-dimensional (3D) objects with a small number of photons captured by using integral imaging (II). For 3D recognition of the events, the photon-limited elemental image set of a 3D object is obtained using the II technique. A computational geometrical ray propagation algorithm and the parametric maximum likelihood estimator are applied to the photon-limited elemental image set to reconstruct the irradiance of the original 3D scene voxels. The sampling distributions for the statistical parameters of the reconstructed image are determined. Finally, hypothesis testing for the equality of the statistical parameters between reference and input data sets is performed for statistical classification of populations on the basis of sampling distribution information. It is shown that large data sets of photon-limited 3D images can be converted into sampling distributions with their own statistical parameters, resulting in a substantial data dimensionality reduction for processing.


Indicators of market expectations based on option prices are gaining popularity among central banks. The Reserve Bank recently began to use these indicators in financial stability and monetary policy analysis. This article provides a non-technical overview of these techniques and highlights how they might be used, through examples.


As customer requirements are continuously growing in connection with up-to-date castings, it is essential for firms interested in the international market to use modern fittings and instruments, which serve for high quality controls, even for manufacture control within each manufacturing process. For example, the thermo camera is such a measuring instrument we can use for measuring the thermo loss of the furnace, concluding to the inadequately insulating parts, or can even make the thermo profile of the surface of the die. In our work, we were analysing the temperature distribution of the die surface by using a thermo camera, during the manufacture of aluminium casting of automotive industry made by high pressure die casting technology. In pressure die casting, spraying the surface of the casting die with detaching material is a really important technological step, and spraying time – as a part of cycle time influencing productivity – is a very significant parameter. The main functions of spraying include cooling the hot surfaces of die halves, lubrication of the moving parts and helping the ejection of the casting. During our analyses we changed the spraying time of the die, and we took temperature distribution photographs of the stationary die plate by a thermo camera. The only function of the analytical method using a thermo camera is to make the differences in temperature, caused by the changes of the spraying time in the die, comparable in a moment in time. The temperatures taken by us are exact, real temperature values of the die, but these are strongly time-dependent and refer to a certain period of cycle time. It makes possible to compare the temperatures of the die surface in different places in a certain moment in time. We elaborated an analytical method, by which it can be decided if the analysis of the thermo photos is a suitable method for examining the effect – on the casting structure – of spraying time of the die.


An inquiry into the relation between exposure to silica dust, the presence of silicosis, and progressive systemic sclerosis was conducted in white South African gold miners by means of a case-control study. Seventy nine cases of progressive systemic sclerosis were matched by year of birth with an equal number of control miners selected randomly but bearing in mind the administrative channel through which the case had come to be identified. Analysis showed no association between silicosis and PSS but did show that the cumulative life time silica exposure was significantly higher in the cases compared with controls. This difference was due to a difference in the intensity of exposure to silica during mining service rather than a difference in duration of service. The results are discussed in the context of current thought on the aetiology of progressive systemic sclerosis, particularly in relation to autoimmune and genetic factors.


This article addresses the issue of capital taxation relying on three levels of analysis. The first level deals with the multiple ways to tax capital (income or value, proportional or progressive taxation, and the temporality of the taxation) and presents some of France's particular features within a heterogeneous European context. The second area of investigation focuses on the main dynamic properties generated by capital taxation: the principle of equivalence with a tax on consumption; the issue of double taxation if it targets taxation of nominal income; neutrality of the uniform tax on the capital value; lastly, the risk of confiscatory taxation if there is a disjunction between taxation of the value and the income. The final level of analysis consists in assessing the debate on the optimal level of capital taxation drawing on the lessons in the literature. These discussions are organized into eight themes: (1) double taxation, (2) optimal growth, (3) property, (4) tax competition, (5) supervisory arguments, (6) measuring capital gains, (7) complexity and (8) fiscal stability


Herein, the pivotal role of secondary nucleation in a crystallization-enhanced deracemization process is reported. During this process, complete and rapid deracemization of chiral conglomerate crystals of an isoindolinone is attained through fast microwave-assisted temperature cycling. A parametric study of the main factors that affect the occurrence of secondary nucleation in this process, namely agitation rate, suspension density and solute supersaturation, confirms that an enhanced stereoselective secondary nucleation rate maximizes the deracemization rate. Analysis of the system during a single temperature cycle shows that while stereoselective particle production during the crystallization stage leads to enantiomeric enrichment, undesired kinetic dissolution of smaller particles of the preferred enantiomer occurs during the dissolution step. Therefore, secondary nucleation is crucial for the enhancement of deracemization through temperature cycles and as such should be considered in further design and optimization of this process, as well as in other temperature cycling processes commonly applied in particle engineering.


Concentrated solar power generation in Northern African and Middle Eastern deserts could potentially supply up to 20% of European power demand. This column evaluates the technological, economic, and political feasibility of this idea. Although concentrated solar power is a proven technology that can work at scale, it is currently four or five times more expensive than fossil fuels. Concentrated solar power could play an important role in Europe's energy mix after 2050, but only if geo-political challenges can be overcome.


Mcm4/6/7 forms a complex possessing DNA helicase activity, suggesting that Mcm may be a central component for the replicative helicase. Although Cdt1 is known to be essential for loading of Mcm onto the chromatin, its precise role in pre-RC formation and replication initiation is unknown. Using purified proteins, we show that Cdt1 forms a complex with Mcm4/6/7, Mcm2/3/4/5/6/7 and Mcm2/4/6/7 in glycerol gradient fractionation through interacting with Mcm2 and Mcm4/6. In the glycerol gradient fractionation, Mcm4/6/7-Cdt1 forms a complex (speculated to be a (Mcm4/6/7)2-Cdt13 assembly) in the presence of ATP which is significantly larger than the Mcm4/6/7-Cdt1 complex generated in its absence. Furthermore, the DNA binding and helicase activities of Mcm4/6/7 are significantly stimulated by Cdt1 protein in vitro. We generated a Cdt1 mutant which fails to stimulate DNA binding and helicase activities of Mcm4/6/7. This mutant Cdt1 showed reduced interaction with Mcm and deficient in formation of the high molecular weight complex with Mcm. Thus, a productive interaction between Cdt1 and MCM appears to be essential for efficient loading of MCM onto template DNA as well as for efficient unwinding reaction.


This study looked to investigate a new quantitative metric, R2 − R1ρ (1/T2 − 1/T1ρ), using magnetic resonance (MR) images and voxel‐based relaxometry (VBR) for detecting early cartilage degeneration and explore the association with patient‐reported outcomes measures (PROMs) in patients 6 months after ACL reconstruction. Sixty‐four patients from three sites were bilaterally scanned on a 3T MR with a combined T1ρ/T2 protocol to calculate R1ρ (1/T1ρ) and R2 (1/T2) values at baseline and 6 months after reconstructive surgery. Non‐rigid registration was applied to align images onto a template, allowing VBR to determine VBR rate differences and explore cross‐sectional and longitudinal differences between injured and uninjured knees, generating Statistical Parametric Maps (SPMs). Baseline R2 − R1ρ differences were further correlated with change in PROMs from the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) from baseline to 6 months. Cross‐sectional results demonstrated low relaxation rate differences in the injured patella (baseline: 21%, p = 0.01; 6‐months: 18%, p = 0.02), lateral tibia (baseline: 25%, p = 0.01; 6‐months: 24%, p = 0.01), and weight‐bearing regions of the tibia and femur. The uninjured patella showed significant longitudinal changes (17%, p = 0.02). R2 − R1ρ differences showed significant correlations with KOOS PROMs, particularly in the lateral tibia, patella, and trochlea. R2 − R1ρ difference VBR analyses provide new and highly sensitive parameters for assessing early cartilage degeneration in patients after ACL injury by integrating findings from both T1ρ and T2, commonly used relaxation time parameters, into a single metric. © 2016 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 35:718–729, 2017.


The importance of antiretroviral therapy adherence for patients living with HIV/AIDS has been well documented. Despite this critical need, many do not follow prescribed regimens. To examine the barriers that lead to non-adherence, we used cross-sectional survey data from a randomized controlled intervention trial in northern and north-eastern Thailand. Of the 507 patients that were enrolled in the trial, we analyzed 386 patients on antiretroviral therapy in order to examine the barriers to adherence. In addition to demographic characteristics, depressive symptoms, physical health, access to care, social support, and internalized shame, HIV disclosure and family communication were examined. The correlation analysis revealed that adherence is significantly associated with internalized shame, access to care, depressive symptoms, and family communication. Based on the multiple logistic regression analysis, depressive symptoms, access to care, HIV disclosure, and family communication were significant predictors of adherence. Having depressive symptoms remains a significant barrier to adherence, while access to care, HIV disclosure, and family communication play important positive roles. Our findings underscore the critical importance of addressing these various challenges that can influence adherence to antiretroviral therapy.


How was migration multilevel governance implemented at the regional level in Italy during the refugee crisis? The chapter analyses the case study of the Tuscany Region in 2017-2018. The first part focuses on the migration reception model adopted. The second part describes the distribution of asylum seekers in the provinces of Florence, Siena and Arezzo. The last part deals with a comparative analysis of the tendering procedures for CAS (Centri di accoglienza straordinari- extraordinary centers of reception) published between 2015 and 2018 by the Prefectures of Florence, Siena and Arezzo