Stem cells are cells that have a unique ability to divide for an indefinite period. Additionally, they can give rise to a plethora of specialized cell types. The advent of high-throughput technologies made it possible to investigate gene expression on a large scale. This enabled scientists to perform comprehensive gene profiling studies of stem cells. Several authors have suggested that there might be a common set of genes that control the stemness of stem cells. In this study, we suggest that "stemness" genes that are related to "stemness" characteristics show a statistically significant down-regulation between undifferentiated and differentiated cells. For this we have analyzed microarray data from five different cell lines and compared their global expression profiles. Common down-regulated transcripts among those data sets were de- rived by using a well-established gene expression analysis procedure called Significance Analysis of Microarrays. Since all three data sets were provided by Cellartis AB, the derived list of common transcripts was subsequently compared with an external study. Moreover, we also performed a comparison with down-regulated genes derived from mouse embryonic stem cells. This was done to determine if there is a common set of stemness genes even across distinct species. Re- sults were further evaluated using a comprehensive data-set from a study by Skottman et al. (2005). All results where compared uti- lizing using a range of false discovery rate threshold values and the results were subsequently used for gene ontology term enrichment. GO terms where utilized to functionally annotate and classify those embryonic stem cell transcripts, that were found to be common in all data-sets and identify over-represented biological processes related to those genes.


Violence against women is a severe violation of human rights and ranging from domestic and intimate partner violence to sexual harassment and assault. It is widely recognized as a serious human rights abuse. Violence has substantial consequences on women's health. To evaluate the effects of domestic abuse and violence on the physical and mental health of women a study was conducted in district Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan. Data were drawn from 222 women. Sampling was carried out using the multi-stage process of random sampling. Survey method was used for data collection and Statistical methods such as chi-square, correlation, linear and multiple regressions were used to analyze the data in this study. The findings showed a significant relationship between the physical and mental health of women due to domestic violence. This study emphasizes the need for justified women empowerment and a multidisciplinary approach to develop health measures, which will effectively address the problem of domestic violence.


We introduce the minimum description length (MDL) principle, a general principle for inductive inference based on the idea that regularities (laws) underlying data can always be used to compress data. We introduce the fundamental concept of MDL, called the stochastic complexity, and we show how it can be used for model selection. We briefly compare MDL-based model selection to other approaches and we informally explain why we may expect MDL to give good results in practical applications. 2000 Academic Press


: The levellised cost of energy of wave energy converters (WECs) is not competitive with fossil fuel-powered stations yet. To improve the feasibility of wave energy, it is necessary to develop effective control strategies that maximise energy absorption in mild sea states, whilst limiting motions in high waves. Due to their model-based nature, state-of-the-art control schemes struggle to deal with model uncertainties, adapt to changes in the system dynamics with time, and provide real-time centralised control for large arrays of WECs. Here, an alternative solution is introduced to address these challenges, applying deep reinforcement learning (DRL) to the control of WECs for the first time. A DRL agent is initialised from data collected in multiple sea states under linear model predictive control in a linear simulation environment. The agent outperforms model predictive control for high wave heights and periods, but suffers close to the resonant period of the WEC. The computational cost at deployment time of DRL is also much lower by diverting the computational effort from deployment time to training. This provides confidence in the application of DRL to large arrays of WECs, enabling economies of scale. Additionally, model-free reinforcement learning can autonomously adapt to changes in the system dynamics, enabling fault-tolerant control.


Surface plasmon coupled emission (SPCE) is a process by which isotropic fluorescent emission, from a fluorescent dye or biological agent labeled with a fluorescent dye, is channeled into highly directional emission. This process relies on the interaction between fluorescent dye molecules and thin silver films in close proximity to each other. Recent studies have shown that SPCE greatly increases the sensitivity of spectroscopic methods by increasing the amount of light that can be collected from a fluorescent molecule. The work described in this thesis encompasses the study of new materials for SPCE sample manufacture as well as the design and construction of a compact, automated apparatus for SPCE measurement. Novel material sets have been explored to improve the adhesion of silver films to glass slides and to protect them against corrosion from the fluorescent dye coating. These sets are made with reactive gas sputtering of materials. Examples of the SPCE signals from these materials will be shown. The apparatus built to measure the angular distribution of SPCE signals measures 18"x12"x12". Measurements of SPCE with angular resolutions as low as 0.5° are demonstrated with accurate, repeatable scans. With a 1.0° step size, a full angular scan through 180° can be completed in less than 5 minutes.


New exact solutions in terms of the Jacobi elliptic functions are obtained to the(2+1)-dimensional breaking soliton equation by means of the modified mapping method.Limit cases are studied,and new solitary wave solutions and triangular periodic wave solutions are obtained.


Diabetes has become a major threat to the life and it is getting common day by day and is having a fast increasing trend .Unhealthy practices in consumption of food have on a major side contributed to the rise of type 2 diabetes. In this paper we have tried to develop a method for the prediction of type 2 diabetes using adaptive neuro-fuzzy interface system (ANFIS) with genetic algorithms (GA). A comparative study has also been done with the result of our previous work in which General Regression Neural Network (GRNN) is applied.


Background: The determination of the nature of mesenteric nodules and the possible identification of the primary site of metastatic neoplasm is imperative as this defines both prognosis and future management of the patients. Aims: This study is aimed at evaluating the pattern of mesenteric nodules in the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria. Setting: The University of Benin Teaching Hospital, between January 2005 and December 2011. Design: A descriptive retrospective study. Materials and Methods: The appropriate data were obtained from the surgical day book of the department of histopathology. The data were analyzed to reflect age, sex, pathological diagnosis, and site of the lesions. Statistical analysis used: Statistical analysis was done using the SPSS version 16 statistical package. Results: A total of 65 cases of mesenteric nodule biopsies were reported during the 7-year period. There were 34 males and 31 females with a male:female ratio of 1.1:1. The age ranged from 4 to 78 years with a mean age of 52.1 ± 13.8 years. The highest incidence was in the 6th decade. Seventy-one percent of the cases were metastatic lesions and 29% were infectious and inflammatory lesions. Of the metastatic lesions, 87% were carcinomas [adenocarcinomas constituted 97.5%], 4.3% were sarcomas, and 8.7% were lymphomas. Of the infectious and inflammatory lesions, 89.5% were nonspecific reactive lymph node hyperplasia and 10.5% were tuberculosis. Thirty-three percent of the metastatic lesions were of gastrointestinal origin, 20% of ovarian origin and 9.2% of unknown primary site. Conclusion: The preponderance of adenocarcinomas in metastatic nodules is similar to those already established in the literature with the gastrointestinal tract and the ovary been the most common sites of origin. Specialized ancillary technique like immunuhistochemistry is highly coveted to confirm the characterization and identification of the site of origin of metastatic mesenteric neoplasms.


This paper presents an effective way to develop an android application that gives user the ability to identify plant species based on photographs of the plant's leaf taken with mobile phone. The algorithm acquires a color image of the leaf using mobile phone's camera and perform the classification by comparing the acquired image with the stored database image. The method proposed in the paper performs preprocessing to obtain the binary contour of the leaf, then morphological features of the leaf are obtained to generate feature vector of the leaf, then classifies the species based on the combination of computed feature vector. The system is first trained against several known species and then used to classify unknown species. The paper also presents a way to improve current system by providing classification based on shape and color of the plant's leaf. To classify the leaf based on shape, the binary contour of the plant's leaf is obtained using Otsu's method and sobel operator. The classification based on color is achieved using the dominant color method. To compare the morphological features, Euclidean distance method is used. Keywords— android; photographs; morphological feature; classification; preprocessing; shape; dominant; color; Euclidean distance, Otsu's, sobel.


Following approval by an Institutional Review Board and a pilot study with adults, children aged 24 months to 71 months were encouraged to drink from a 28 fl oz flexible, plastic bottle with either a small diameter orifice (7 mm) or large diameter orifice (28 mm). The bottles contained either a low viscosity, an intermediate viscosity, or a higher viscosity liquid. Approximately 24 children evaluated each orifice/viscosity combination. The results, expressed as ml/swallow/kg body weight, showed that reducing orifice diameter reduced the volume of a swallow for the low viscosity liquid but did not appear to affect swallow volume for the intermediate or higher viscosity liquids. Additionally, swallow volume was found to be inversely related to viscosity of the test liquid.


ABSTRACT The aspirations and the decisions of young Afghan men at the south-eastern borders of the EU are structured by a moral economy of migration that has a twofold dimension. On the one hand, migration implies a social system of exchange and redistribution between young migrants and their relatives who stayed behind. It is underpinned by a code of conduct implying mutual obligations and collective responsibilities, by a system of values and solidarity, norms and social obligations that defines what it means for them to be successful migrants and therefore 'good men'. On the other hand, migration is characterised by the high pressure to succeed. Prompted by their quest for autonomy and recognition, becoming increasingly aware during their journey that only a few of them will be able to settle down in Europe, the relationships among young migrants are imbued by competition and jealousy. Migration becomes a rite of passage to adulthood and obtaining protection in socially valued destinations in Europe amounts to accomplishing their mission. The hardship of the illegal journey emphasises the initiation dimension of migration while at the same time making success an extremely demanding task.


The Rio Jemez Watershed can logically be divided into an upper watershed and a lower watershed based on terrain, climate, and river characteristics. Water in the upper watershed is plentiful and more than adequate to meet the water rights claims located there. However, water in the lower watershed is not adequate to meet claims throughout the growing season of April through October. Irrigation diversions use all of the available water in the river during the months of July, August, and September, often leaving the Rio Jemez a dry channel below the community of San Ysidro. This practice has negative impacts on the ecosystem by denying life-sustaining water to many lower watershed users during the hottest part of the year. The inequities in water availability in the lower watershed are not so much an issue of not enough water as they are an issue of not enough water storage. A volume of water adequate to meet all water rights claims in the lower watershed flows down the river channel during the months of April and May. However, for the remainder of the growing season, river flow is much reduced. This paper uses the concepts of sustainable development and ecosystem management to propose a solution to the water-related problems in the Rio Jemez Watershed. A strategically placed reservoir would help solve the problems in the lower watershed by evening out the flow throughout the growing season. A reservoir is proposed and three scenarios are evaluated to determine how much water is available for three equally important uses: irrigation, instream flow, and recreation. The three scenarios considered are: a maximum use scenario where all irrigators receive 100% of their water rights claims, a medium use scenario (75% of claims), and a minimum use scenario (50% of claims). After a water budget evaluation for the three scenarios, the minimum use scenario emerges as the most viable. This scenario provides irrigators with approximately double the water they are currently receiving, maintains instream flows throughout the growing season, and allows for recreational activities on the newly created reservoir through summer and early fall.


An electronically controlled sample warper having a plurality of yarn introduction means each rotatably mounted on a side surface of the warper drum; a plurality of yarn; yarn introduction member is mounted at one end of each of the yarn introduction means line selection guides, which are mounted at one end of a base for pivotal movement, a projecting yarn exchange to the yarn exchange position when a yarn is registered, the pivotally retracted to a stop position, so that you can pass between the yarn selection guide means and the yarn from the yarn introduction means. The electronically controlled sample warper has a fixed creel, around which different kinds of yarns are wound, a rotary creel yarn selection guides corresponding to a plurality of mounting means, which is wound on a bobbin different kinds and / or same kind of yarns.


Strain distributions around a Ge quantum dot (QD) buried in a Si spacer layer are investigated theoretically by means of classical molecular dynamics simulations using the Tersoff potential. Applying periodic boundary conditions laterally, two-dimensional superlattices of QDs are obtained. Strain distributions in systems of different sizes and lattice misorientations are computed in order to explain possible vertical correlations in self-organized three-dimensional QD superstructures. Generally, the strain of relaxed systems displays an oscillatory behaviour as a function of the distance from the QD. For QD systems with growth direction [001], a simple fitting function is used to describe the strain along a vertical path above the QD by an oscillation and a decay according to a power law. For QDs with the shape of a truncated pyramid, the planar strain decays by a power of approximately −3. The period of the oscillation is nearly proportional to the QD superlattice constant and decreases with increasing coordination number of the QD superlattice. In misoriented systems with a small tilt angle about the [110] axis, the region of tensile planar strain above the QD is bent in the direction opposite to the misorientation causing a vertical correlation with lateral shift. For a tilt angle ≈55°, no strain oscillation is found which implies a perfect vertical correlation.


Author(s): Chen, Q; Zhu, H; He, R; Dahlgren, RA; Zhang, M; Mei, K | Abstract: ©, 2015, Science Press. All right reserved. Most traditional linear regression models ignore local variations of spatial data. In this study, a new technique called geographically weighted regression model (GWR) was introduced to evaluate the impacts of land use on surface water. The reason for the spatial variations of relationships between land use and water quality were explored. Meanwhile, the adjusted R2, Akaike information criterion (AICc) and spatial autocorrelation index (Moran's I) of residuals were compared with ordinary least squares model (OLS) to verify if the GWR model is better than OLS in the prediction accuracy and the capacity of conducting spatial autocorrelation. The results showed that impact of the same types of land use on water quality changes in direction or size along with the variation of spatial position. For example, the relationships between TN and agricultural land in Wen-Rui Tang River showed a positive correlation in countryside and negative correlation in urban area in GWR models. The absolute values of regression coefficients in old downtown area were higher than other places. In the GWR model of dissolved oxygen (DO) and population density, the relationships were negative in the whole study area, which was consistent with the OLS results, and the effect of population density on DO is greater in suburban and rural areas. The reason for these spatial changes over different sub-watersheds indicated that the changes of land use percentage and the varied main pollution sources are fundamental factors. Furthermore, the adjusted R2 and AICc values from the 80 established models confirmed that as a local statistical model, GWR had better prediction accuracy than OLS model and could better reflected the actual spatial characteristics.


Polymer film capacitors are attractive as promising candidates for potential applications in compact and efficient electric power systems. The development of a method for producing a polymer nanocomposite with enhanced dielectric property and a high energy density is a fundamental solution for electric storage in a film capacitor. In this work, a hyperbranched polyethylene-graft-poly(trifluoroethyl methacrylate) (HBPE-g-PTFEMA) copolymer was synthesized to exfoliate and functionalize graphene from natural graphite in chloroform on the basis of the CH–π non-covalent stacking between the HBPE-g-PTFEMA stabilizer and graphene. Examination of the morphologies by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) confirmed that the resulting graphene had a lateral size of 0.2–0.6 μm and a thickness of around 4 layers. The presence of peaks due to F in the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra of graphene indicates that the fluorinated copolymer was attached to the surface of nanosheets. Few-layer graphene was introduced into a poly(vinylidene fluoride-chlorotrifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-CTFE)) matrix via simple solution casting. The relative content of the electroactive phase in the nanocomposite film increased because the phase transition from the α- to the β-phase was induced by the addition of graphene. The dielectric constant increased to 24.8 with a low dielectric loss of 0.06 at 100 Hz for a 0.8 vol% nanocomposite, and a released energy density of 4.6 J cm−3 with a charge–discharge efficiency of 62% at 250 MV m−1 was achieved with a 0.1 vol% nanocomposite, which was attributed to the combination of the large content of the electroactive phase and interfacial polarization. This strategy based on a nanocomposite with graphene exfoliated by a fluoropolymer sheds light on the mechanism of interfacial polarization and exhibits commendable prospects for applications in flexible film capacitors.


This paper describes the design and development of the modeling and simulation environment for the robotic manipulators named ROBOMOSP (Robotics Modeling and Simulation Platform), which addresses important limitations of existing software for this purpose, under a highly parametric interface ideal for academics and research. The ROBOMOSP software platform adds novel characteristics and functions that are not found in other commercial and noncommercial robot modeling and simulation packages available today, including solution to the multibody dynamics problem using automatic calculation of the mass properties of robot multibodies, offline programming using a standard language, an API interface to allow experimentation with new algorithms, and support for remote/distributed use of the platform via socket communications. ROBOMOSP is ideal for training robotic operators, as a research aid, and for studying the mathematical and physical foundations of robotic manipulators, thanks to its ability to permit the expression of models that closely simulate the behavior of real systems within a feature-packed user-friendly interface


ABSTRACT. Little is known about the role of oral prostaglandins and maintenance of intestinal epithelial cell membrane integrity in suckling animals. The presence of prostaglandins in milk suggests that they may have potential cytoprotective effects. Thus, experiments were performed to determine whether indomethacin causes inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract of suckling animals. Rats were treated with daily intraperitoneal injections of indomethacin (10 mg/kg) starting on the 1st day of life. Unlike adult animals which develop intestinal lesions within 72 h, these rats did not develop intestinal ulcerations until weaning started on days 15 to 16. Indomethacin-treated suckling animals prevented from weaning did not develop intestinal lesions until they had access to solid food on day 23. Indomethacin-treated rats had large reductions in jejunal prostaglandin E2 content. In addition, prostaglandin E2 was present in rat milk in relatively large concentration as determined by radioimmunoassay. These studies suggest that exogenous prostaglandins present in milk may protect the intestine of suckling rats from indomethacin-induced inflammation; however, once weaning commences, prostaglandin insufficiency may develop leading to intestinal lesions. We speculate that suckling rats treated with indomethacin did not develop ulcerative lesions, despite a marked reduction in intestinal prostaglandin content, possibly due to prostaglandins present in milk.


Monospecific antibodies were produced in vitro by fusing mouse myeloma cells with spleen cells from a BALB/c mouse immunized with rat skeletal myofibrils. After cloning 3 times on agarose, two stable clones were obtained and chosen for further characterization. The first clone, JLB1, produced an an- tibody that recognizing an antigen distributed in the M-line region and on either side of the Z line of myofibrils. The second clone, JLB7, produced an antibody reacting only with an antigen located at the M-line region of myofibrils. Both JLB1 and JLB7 antibodies decorate the typical intermediate filaments of a variety of cultured cells. Colcemid treatment of cells before reaction with both an- tibodies resulted in the coiling or capping (or both) of the fibers around the nucleus. Brief treatment of cells with cytochalasin B did not affect the integrity of the fibers stained by both antibodies whereas, under the same conditions, microfilament bundles vis- ualized by another monoclonal antibody (JLA20) against actin were disassembled into many aggregates in-the cytoplasm. Iden- tical staining patterns of the intermediate filaments are obtained by double-label immunofluorescence microscopy of the same cell stained with these monoclonal antibodies and rabbit autoimmune serum (which has been shown to react with the components of the intermediate filaments). By using immunoprecipitation, protein bands at 210,000 and 95,000 daltons from chicken embryo fibro- blasts were identified as the potential antigens recognized by JLB1 and JLB7 monoclonal antibodies, respectively. The widespread occurrence of these antigenic determinants in different cultured cells suggests the highly conservative property of these interme- diate-filament components.


An adequate supply of blood flow to the brain is critically important to maintain long-term brain function. However, many issues surrounding the regulatory mechanism of the blood flow supply to the brain remain unclear, such as i) the appropriate range of capillary flow velocity to keep neurons healthy, ii) the size of the vascular module to support a functioning neural unit, iii) the sensing mechanism for capillary flow control, and iv) the role of flow regulation in promoting neural plasticity. A fluorescence technique allows for visualization of the dynamic changes between cerebral microcirculation and neural activity concurrently and thus is capable of addressing these questions. Here, we briefly review the methodological aspects of measuring blood flow using fluorescence imaging in rodent brains and introduce a novel approach for mapping the flow velocity in multiple vessels with laser scanning fluorescence microscopy. The flow velocity was imaged by calculating the traveling distance and time of the instantaneously injected fluorescent tags through the vascular networks. Using the present method, we observed that the average flow velocity in the pial artery and vein was 3.0 ± 1.4 mm/s and 1.6 ± 0.5 mm/s, respectively (N = 6 mice). A limitation of the method presented is that the quantification is only applicable to the vascular networks laid in two-dimensional planes, such as pial vascular networks. Further technical improvement is needed to quantify three-dimensional flow through parenchymal microcirculation. Furthermore, it is also needed to fill a gap between the microscopically measured flow parameters and the macroscopic feature of the brain blood flow for clinical interpretation.


This paper presents a novelty approach to estimate the impulse response function (IRF) in lightly damped structures by using classical covariance method. The contribution of the present paper is to employ a Kautz filter to reduce the number of terms in the identification process of a finite impulse response (FIR) model. The Kautz filter is an orthogonal function that includes complex pole pair. So, the method incorporates a priori knowledge into the process that is essential to reach better results and to minimize the number of coefficients in the FIR model. For this reason, the present approach can be classified as a kind of "grey-box" methodology. The numerical and experimental applications of the method confirmed that by considering a priori parametric information the problem can be determined more easily. Moreover, the procedure proposed increased the convergence speed, and, as a consequence the consuming computational cost is lower.


Projects planning and scheduling in the construction industry, and also in other industries, is reflected by many different types of research and empirical to be critical to project success. Traditional project planning methods, for instance, CPM, are used and still uses as managerial assistance in different industries of construction, IT, defence and oil and gas projects. However, many projects developed by these methods are failed to predict and deliver the final duration of projects at completion point. The results are deterministic and unreliable to deliver the project objectives. This is originated from ignorance of understanding the cause and effects relationships of different internal and external elements. Increased complexity is one of the fundamental issues causing project failure. Planning systems must deal with increased complexity, which traditional systems were never designed for. Projects can be technically complex, organisationally complex, and environmentally complex. This research uses a bottom-up approach and designed to understand and develop a conceptual framework to map complexity and improve the flow of information in the project planning stage of construction projects in Iran. The expectation is to understand the realistic view of project scheduling considering projects complexity and uncertainties and project factors interactions as a result. This is based on project scheduling with simulations using system dynamics, documents and feedback of questionnaires from the construction sector of Iran. The questionnaires are used to justify the proposed conceptual framework. The proposed framework provides an enhanced sympathetic of project behavior. The contribution is to understand the causes of complexity in construction projects to overcome the shortcoming of tradition project planning and scheduling methods.


Presently, the cells' electrical activity is measured either by extracellular microelectrode array (MEA) or by microscopic fluorescence imaging methods. The MEA is a non-invasive in vitro technique which allows long-term recording at multicellular level while fluorescence imaging technique enables to record the cells' action potential from subcellular to the organ level either in vivo or in vitro. These techniques have a number of limitations due to the fact that they require complex electro-optical recording equipment. As a matter of fact, because these systems are expensive, require skilled operators, suffer from problems of keeping the preparations under physiological conditions and permit to conduct only one experiment at a time, they are not suited for long-term and massively parallel measurements. In order to overcome these limitations, it would be highly desirable to obtain a hybrid sensor which combines simultaneous electrical and optical recording capabilities with sufficient spatiotemporal resolution to resolve distributed electrical activity and associated changes in intracellular ion concentrations, both at the single cell level and at the level of entire networks of excitable cells. The objective of this thesis is to design and to fabricate a novel type of hybrid sensor array which allows measuring simultaneously dynamic changes in the extracellular electrical potential and intracellular ion concentrations at a high spatiotemporal resolution. This is realised by a novel approach using a microfabricated glass interface, hereafter called bio-interface, between the electronic readout circuit and the cell network. This bio-interface features an array of 4096 implemented sensing elements, i.e., electrodes and photodiodes, on an area of 3.7 mm2. It is flip-chip bonded to an integrated circuit (IC) by means of high-density indium bumps forming a multi-mode sensor array (MMSA). The IC provides a selectable local amplification of the electrical signals sensed by the microelectrodes, photodetectors, and the processing capabilities to read out all pixels sequentially. The final goal of this work consists of the implementation of a fully operational and validated MMSA measurement platform, which can be used as core instrument for biological research projects. Since the fabricated MMSA essentially represents a microscope-less fluorescence imager with microscopic resolution and embedded electrical signal recording capabilities, it has the potential to turn into a new key measurement technique for both basic and applied biological research in fields as diverse as developmental biology, cardiac electrophysiology, neurophysiology, drug screening, and toxicological studies. This thesis demonstrates the design and fabrication process of the biointerface and the post-processing in connection with the IC and packaging issues. The bio-interface was successfully fabricated and flip-chip bonded to the readout electronics by means of high density indium bumps. These bumps feature a diameter of 15 µm at a 30 µm pitch. Tests show a bump yield of 100 %. The photodiode array was optically characterized and the device biocompatibility was validated by culturing a monolayer of cardiomyocytes on top of the bio-interface.


It is often argued that asset prices exhibit patterns incompatible with the behaviour of rational, optimizing agents. This paper proposes a rational framework which generates asset prices which appear irrational. This is accomplished by studying rational expectations equilibria in the presence of two realistic market frictions: immediacy risk (agents have to submit their demand functions before they know the equilibrium price) and asset-specific orders (investors have to submit one seperate demand for each asset, which may not be contingent upon the prices of the other assets). We study some of the properties of such equilibria, in particular the prevalence of arbitrage and of informational inefficiencies.


Abstract In 2019, the Goldey-Beacom College library served its first 100% blind student. To become more familiar with accessibility efforts at other colleges and universities, the authors compiled a brief literature review that discusses state statutes for accessibility, university policies on accessibility, and librarians' audits on web accessibility and vendor supplied databases. To determine the accessibility of the library's subscribed tools and services, the director of the office of institutional research & training and the director of the library, archives, and learning center used the WAVE online accessibility checker to audit the main library electronic resources: Gale Power Search, ProQuest, Yewno, EBSCO, LibGuides, SpringShare A–Z Database List, JSTOR, Adam Matthew, SAGE Research Methods, and Encyclopedia Britannica. WAVE results indicate that there are errors with 9 out of 10 electronic resources reviewed and alerts with 10 out of 10 of the audited electronic resources.


Objective: The nature of somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) studies of normal subjects is obviously much different from the patients. In this study our aim was to find out the effects of the change of stimulus frequencies on absolute latencies, amplitudes and central conduction time in median SEPs of normal subjects. Methods: Normal values of somatosensory evoked potentials were obtained from 30 healthy subjects (14 women and 16 men). Nerve conduction studies of each of the subjects were performed before the SEP study in order to eliminate the subclinical peripheral nerve pathologies. Results: We found that the values of N11 peak, N13 peak, N20 peak, N11-13 complex onset and N20 onset latencies and N11-13 complex amplitudes of normal subjects were affected by changes of stimulus frequencies. As the stimulation frequency increased, the latencies showed statistically significant increases while the amplitude of N11-13 complex showed a statistically very significant decrease. On the other hand, the values of peak and onset central conduction times and the amplitude of N20 did not show any statistically significant changes from each other as the stimulation frequencies increased. Conclusion: It is our belief that the studies on stimulus frequency changes in SEPs may play a role as a guide for SEP studies with different patient groups and have an impact in the physiological dynamics of SEPs.


Amyloid fibrillogenesis of proteins is known to be the root cause of a large number of diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and Huntington's disease, spongiform encephalopathy, amyloid polyneuropathy, type-II diabetes, etc. In the present work, the impact of Sunset Yellow (SY) and Ponceau 4R (P4R) food colorants on amyloid fibrillation of lysozyme (Lyz) under acidic pH and high temperature was studied using Thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescence, Congo Red (CR) assay, circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The results illustrated that SY and P4R inhibited the formation of amyloid fibrils. In addition, the binding between food colorants (SY and P4R) and Lyz was investigated using various spectroscopic methods such as fluorescence, absorption and CD spectroscopy along with theoretical approaches (such as docking and simulation). The binding results suggested that P4R has a remarkably higher binding affinity for Lyz in comparison to SY. In summary, we hope the in vitro fibrillation and interaction studies in the presence of food colorants (SY and P4R) are helpful to gain a better understanding about the mechanism of amyloid fibril formation and interaction at the molecular level.


Author(s): Poon, Martha A. | Abstract: In the United States, a person's credit standing is determined by private enterprise through a numerical assessment of risk called a FICO® score. The basic technology behind this scoring system is a device called a `scorecard' which was designed by the operations research firm Fair Isaac a Company Incorporated (Fair Isaac) in the late-1950s. The scorecard is a prime illustration of how military-inspired practices were adapted to manage civilian enterprise in the post-war period. Drawing upon insights from social studies of science, technology and finance as well as from business history, this dissertation chronicles Fair Isaac's efforts to introduce computer-assisted statistical techniques for screening credit applications to department stores and finance companies. Instead of treating risk assessment as a set of universal technical standards, the research examines how Fair Isaac labored to build a commercially viable technology that would work in everyday business conditions. The research finds that Fair Isaac has repeatedly shifted its development criteria to respect socially, commercially, and politically imposed mandates. The empirical chapters cross-reference the recollections of former Fair Isaac employees with documentary evidence, and recapture four moments in a long-term process of problem solving and reengineering. In its first twenty years, Fair Isaac set up a process for manufacturing scorecards from paper records (Chapter 1); redesigned the technology so buyers did not bear the costs of implementation (Chapter 2); prepared customized products that reflected the unique policy structures of financial institutions (Chapter 3); and battled regulators over political definitions of discrimination (Chapter 4). Together, these stories demonstrate that risk assessment is not a simple substitute for assessing individual creditworthiness. The original scorecard was a piece of office equipment whose purpose was to mechanically reproduce a previous pattern of performance outcomes. The tool provided creditors with customized `operating information' that projected rates of default given the way each firm processed its credit cases. The dissertation concludes by discussing the relationship between privately -engineered systems of control, internal operating consistency, and the rise of financial predictability. It challenges the claim that FICO® scores evaluate the quality of individual consumers and offers an organizational understanding of consumer credit risk


Many camera sensors suffer from limited dynamic range. The result is that there is a lack of clear details in displayed images and videos. This paper describes our approach to generate high dynamic range (HDR) from an image sequence while modifying exposure times for each new frame. For this purpose, we propose an FPGA-based architecture that can produce a real-time high dynamic range video from successive image acquisition. Our hardware platform is build around a standard low dynamic range CMOS sensor and a Virtex 5 FPGA board. The CMOS sensor is a EV76C560 provided by e2v. This 1.3 Megapixel device offers novel pixel integration/readout modes and embedded image pre-processing capabilities including multiframe acquisition with various exposure times, approach consists of a pipeline of different algorithmic phases: automatic exposure control during image capture, alignment of successive images in order to minimize camera and objects movements, building of an HDR image by combining the multiple frames, and final tonemapping for viewing on a LCD display. Our aim is to achieve a realtime video rate of 25 frames per second for a full sensor resolution of 1, 280 × 1, 024 pixels.


This chapter examines the history of the United Kingdom's relationship with the European integration process. The chapter dissects the long-term trends in public opinion and the more contingent, short-term factors that led to the referendum vote to leave the European Union. The UK was a late joiner and therefore unable to shape the early institutional development of the EEC. British political parties and public opinion were always ambiguous about membership and increasingly Eurosceptic from the early 1990s. Yet the UK had a significant impact on the EU's development, in the development of the single market programme and eastward enlargement. If Brexit goes through, Britain will nevertheless maintain relations with the EU in all policy areas from agriculture to energy and foreign policy. Europeanization will remain a useful theoretical tool to analyse EU–UK relations even if the UK leaves the Union.


We analyze the life cycle consumption choice model for multiple goods, focusing on the distinction between durables and perishables. As an approximation of the fact that rather high transaction costs and market imperfections prevail in markets for used durables, we assume that investment in durables is irreversible. In contrast to the additive model with one perishable good, the optimal consumption plan is not myopic. Instead, it depends on past as well as on (expected) future prices. The optimal stock level of the durable good is obtained by tracking a certain \emph{shadow level}: The household purchases just enough durables to keep the stock always above this shadow level. It is shown that this shadow level is given by a backward integral equation that replaces the Euler equation. For the perishable good, the `usual' Euler equation determines the optimal choice in terms of the optimal stock of durables. Since the optimal stock level aggregates past as well as future prices, the consumption of perishables ceases to be myopic as well. The solutions show that durables play an important part in intertemporal consumption decisions. In fact, major purchases of durables are being made early in life, whereas no durables are bought in the retirement years. Through substitution and complementarity effects, this has a significant impact on the consumption of perishable goods. On the technical side, the paper provides a new approach to singular control problems that might be widely applicable in other contexts like irreversible investment, price rigidities etc. We present a numerical algorithm that allows one to calculate the shadow level for arbitrary period utility functions and time horizons. Explicit solutions are given for the case of a homogeneous Markov setup with infinite time horizon and Cobb--Douglas type period utilities. This setup includes prices driven by Brownian motion and/or Poisson processes.


The article is devoted to the history of origin of the factory libraries created by means of manufacturers of the Upper Volga region (on the example of Vladimir and Kostroma provinces). The author considers the main statistical indicators of the reading rooms work and analyzes their necessity and influence on a local urban and rural population. The role of wives of the manufacturers in education of workers is shown.


We define Recurrent Gaussian Processes (RGP) models, a general family of Bayesian nonparametric models with recurrent GP priors which are able to learn dynamical patterns from sequential data. Similar to Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs), RGPs can have different formulations for their internal states, distinct inference methods and be extended with deep structures. In such context, we propose a novel deep RGP model whose autoregressive states are latent, thereby performing representation and dynamical learning simultaneously. To fully exploit the Bayesian nature of the RGP model we develop the Recurrent Variational Bayes (REVARB) framework, which enables efficient inference and strong regularization through coherent propagation of uncertainty across the RGP layers and states. We also introduce a RGP extension where variational parameters are greatly reduced by being reparametrized through RNN-based sequential recognition models. We apply our model to the tasks of nonlinear system identification and human motion modeling. The promising obtained results indicate that our RGP model maintains its highly flexibility while being able to avoid overfitting and being applicable even when larger datasets are not available.


The prevalence of congenital uterine anomalies has been estimated at between 0.0001 and 10%. Many uterine abnormalities will not require intervention as they have no impact on the patient. Factors to consider when planning surgery include the patient's age, fertility status and symptoms such as pelvic pain. Mild abnormalities such as uterine septae are amenable to hysteroscopic surgery whilst an obstructed uterine horn will require excision. Where there is a significant uterine abnormality, the minimum pre-operative work-up should include an ultrasound, IVU and hysteroscopy. The incidence of renal tract abnormalities ranges from 31–100%. Hysteroscopy enables determination of whether the uterine horn communicates with the other uterus or vagina. Where the uterine horn is to be removed, it is important to consider whether the remaining uterus is of adequate size to contain a pregnancy otherwise a metroplasty may be more appropriate. Transvaginal ultrasound is valuable in the diagnosis of anomalies in the older woman but is contraindicated in the child or adolescent who is not sexually active. In these cases, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the investigation of choice. MRI correlates well with findings at laparotomy and is important in planning the appropriate surgical approach. Where the uterine horn communicates with the main uterine body but is not adequate for pregnancy then removal of the fallopian tube alone can be considered to prevent pregnancy within the horn. If the horn is non-communicating, surgery would normally entail removal of the horn due to haematometra, pain and endometriosis Laparoscopic removal of an accessory uterine horn was first reported in 1994. The technique results in minimal scarring and quick patient recovery. It is advisable to remove the fallopian tube on the ipsi-lateral side to remove the chance of an ectopic pregnancy on that side. GnRh analogues can be given pre-operatively to reduce vascularity and make surgery easier especially if associated with severe endometriosis. Most patients with uterine abnormalities will be young and require future fertility. The cosmetic results will also be important to this age group.


The Euglena precursor to the small subunit of ribulose-15-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (pSSU) is a polyprotein. To determine the transport route from cytoplasm to chloroplast, Euglena was pulse labeled with 35S-sulfate and the organelles were separated on sucrose gradients. After a pulse, pSSU was found in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and Golgi apparatus. During a chase, ER-and Golgi-localized pSSU decreased concomitant with the appearance of SSU in chloroplasts. SSU was not found in pSSU-containing ER and Golgi fractions. Na2CO3 did not remove pSSU from ER or Golgi membranes, indicating that it was an integral membrane protein. pSSU was inserted in vitro into canine microsomes, and Na2CO3 did not remove pSSU from the microsomal membrane. The in vivo and in vitro experiments show that Euglena pSSU is inserted into the ER membrane and transported as an integral membrane protein to the Golgi apparatus before chloroplast import and polyprotein processing.


Noise is one of the major issues for the expansion of railway traffic. Within a relatively wide speed range, rolling noise is the predominant railway noise source. In recent years, rail and wheel absorbers have been developed by different manufacturers that show to be effective devices for the reduction of rolling noise. STARDAMP (Standardization of damping technologies for the reduction of railway noise) is a Franco-German research project within the DEUFRAKO framework that unites end users, manufacturers and research institutes. The target of STARDAMP is to support the transfer from R&D of wheel and rail dampers to their regular application. A key factor in this context is the development of new testing methods for the assessment of damper performances. Today, such tests are usually performed as field tests that are costly and time consuming. These shall be replaced by standardized laboratory measurement and calculation techniques. The present contribution deals with a proposition for a wheel absorber testing protocol, combining finite element calculations, experimental modal analysis and analytical calculations using TWINS software. Results for different wheels and absorbers are presented.


Annexin V belongs to a family of eukaryotic calcium-dependent membrane-binding proteins. The calcium-binding sites at the annexin-membrane interface have been investigated in some detail; however, little is known about the functional roles of highly conserved interfacial residues that do not coordinate calcium themselves. In the present study, the importance of tryptophan 185, and threonine or serine at positions 72, 144, 228, and 303, in rat annexin V is investigated by site-directed mutagenesis, X-ray crystallography, and functional assays. The high-resolution crystal structures of the mutants show that the mutations do not cause structural perturbations of the annexin molecule itself or disappearance of bound calcium ions from calcium-binding sites. The assays indicate that relative to wild-type annexin V, loss of the methyl substituent at position 72 (Thr72-->Ser) has no effect while loss of the hydroxyl group (Thr72-->Ala or Thr72-->Lys) causes reduction of membrane binding. Multiple lysine substitutions (e.g., Thr72,Ser144,Ser228,Ser303-->Lys) have a greater adverse effect than the single lysine mutation, suggesting that in annexin V the introduction of potentially favorable electrostatic interactions between the lysine side chains and the net negatively charged membrane surface is not sufficient to overcome the loss of the hydroxyl side chains. Replacement of the unique tryptophan, Trp185, by alanine similarly decreases membrane binding affinity. Taken together, the data suggest that the side chains mutated in this study contribute to phospholipid binding and participate directly in intermolecular contacts with phospholipid membrane components.


Knowing the internal states of others is essential to predicting behavior in social interactions and requires that the general characteristic of "having a mind" is granted to our interaction partners. Mind perception is a highly automatic process and can potentially cause a cognitive conflict when interacting with agents whose mind status is ambiguous, such as artificial agents. We investigate whether mind perception negatively impacts performance on tasks involving artificial agents because of cognitive conflict processing caused by a potentially increased difficulty to categorize them as human versus nonhuman. Experiment 1 shows that an ambiguous humanoid stimulus negatively impacts performance on a vigilance task that is known to be sensitive to the drainage of cognitive resources. This negative effect on performance vanishes when participants are preexposed to the stimulus before the vigilance task (Experiment 2 and 3). The effect of preexposure on performance recovery is independent of whether participants explicitly resolve the cognitive conflict by answering mind-related questions (Experiment 2) or implicitly by judging the stimuli on a set of physical features (Experiment 3). Together, the findings suggest that mind perception is so automatic that it cannot be suppressed even if it has negative effects on cognitive performance.


A study of the relationships between electronic structure and dopamine D3 receptor binding affinity was carried out for a series of [4-(4-carboxamidobutyl)]-1-arylpiperazines. Local atomic reactivity indices were obtained at the B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) level after full geometry optimization. A statistically significant equation relating structure with activity was obtained allowing suggesting at least two atoms as targets for substitution. Also we carried out a docking analysis of these molecules to a D3 receptor structure obtained from the Protein Data Bank. We analyzed the possibility of finding equivalences between some elements appearing in the QSAR equation and others from the docking results. We concluded that docking studies, as carried out here, are not equivalent to the QSAR ones. It is suggested that QSAR and docking study of series of molecules with low or very low conformational freedom can begin to solve these discrepancies.


: Activation parameters of fibril formation of evolutionary differing collagens were investigated. It has been shown that in a heated solution formation of collagen fibrils of different origin proceeds in different temperature regions related with the environmental temperature of species range. Enthalpy and free energy of the activation of fibril formation were measured. The data obtained show that fibril formation is preceded by the conformation of the molecules. Biological significance of the correspondence between the temperature of denaturation and that of the species range is discussed. The above correspondence is the limiting expression of functional dependence of conformational flexibility on temperature. Directed selection realized in the course of evolution is required for maintaining the velocity of collagen synthesis at the constant level.


Background/Aims: The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) has an established history of assessing clinical competence for medical and allied healthcare professionals. No research has investigated the use of the OSCE within speech and language therapy undergraduate education. This study aimed to evaluate undergraduate speech and language therapy students' perceptions of the OSCE and to determine if perceptions differed depending on stage of undergraduate education. Methods: An online survey was distributed to second- and final-year students in a 4-year undergraduate speech and language therapy university programme after completing an OSCE. Quantitative survey data were analysed descriptively and statistically using Fisher's exact tests. Thematic analysis was used to analyse narrative survey comments. Results: The response rate was 80%. The students perceived the OSCE to be a fair (95%) and meaningful way (97%) of assessing clinical competencies, which provided them with greater confidence for practice (91%). The OSCE was deemed to be less stressful than a written exam (65%). No significant differences were observed between second- and fourth-year students' perceptions. Five major themes included clarity of expectations, time allocated, consistency between examiners, influence on student learning, and personal impact. Discussion: The survey findings suggest that undergraduate speech and language therapy students across different stages of education and different clinical contexts perceive the OSCE as a fair and meaningful assessment approach. This study provides initial evidence that the OSCE is suitable for assessing clinical competencies specific to the profession of speech and language therapist.


Current study provides an efficient screening system for transformed plant of Citrullus lanatus cv. Round Dragon harboring bar gene. The untransformed 5-day-old cotyledon explants were cultured on the shoot-inducing media supplemented with Basta® (0.2, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 mg L-1) and without Basta® for 3 weeks and subcultured on fresh shoot-inducing media with the same media composition for another 3 weeks. The shoot growth on the cotyledon decreased, as the Basta® concentration increased. A complete inhibition of shoot growth was observed on growth medium supplemented with 2.0 and 3.0 mg L-1 of Basta®, respectively. For ex vitro condition, untransformed healthy plant leaves (derived from acclimatized in vitro plantlets) were leaf painted with an aqueous solution of Basta® at the concentration of 0.001, 0.01 and 0.1% (v/v) using writing brush. The sensitivity of untransformed plant tissues were evaluated based on tissue browning and necrosis due to herbicidal damage. Healthy plant leaves subjected to leaf painting assay showed serious necrotic within 3 days at the concentration of 0.1% (v/v) of Basta®. An efficient herbicide Basta® selection mode has been established via in vitro and ex vitro conditions of untransformed Citrullus lanatus cv. Round Dragon.


Language policy forms an integral part of constructing, upholding, and contesting the status and social space of languages. Such policies may perpetuate social inequalities between speakers of different languages in multilingual societies (Tollefson, 1991; Van Dijk, 1993; Escobar Almeciga, 2013; Ready, 2018). Policies that typically address society as a whole may also reference language use of migrant populations. The current study analyzes integration policies in Spain at the federal and regional levels in the autonomous communities of Madrid and Catalonia, and examines how these policies shape and characterize the role of language practices as they relate to immigrants' participation in Spanish society. Drawing on Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 1989), this study relies on intratextual and intertextual analyses to examine how discourse is produced and reproduced throughout national policy in comparison to policies of two of Spain's most populated autonomous communities with large immigrant populations. Findings indicate that – for both communities – integration through language education is considered a crucial aspect for active citizenship and maintaining social cohesion. However, while language education in Madrid refers to developing proficiency in Spanish, Catalan is central to Catalonia's language policies. In both cases, however, lack of competence in these languages is considered a major obstacle to integration and thus, social cohesion. Additionally, while migrant languages and cultures are emphasized as being important to interculturality and are referenced as having a role in integration, policies often fall short in their support for immigrant languages. Cite as: Ali & Ready , JLL 10 (2021), 24–47, DOI: 10.14762/jll.2021.024


1. Senior Lecturer, Department of English, GIFT University, Gujranwala, Punjab, Pakistan 2. Associate Professor, Department of English, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia PAPER INFO ABSTRACT Received: February 11, 2017 Accepted: June 24, 2017 Online: June 30, 2017 Transcultural theatrical adaptation has become an increasingly significant domain of inquiry for scholars of language and literature and also a key issue due to its collaborative creative mode as process and continuing popularity as a product. As the foremost representative of Brecht's radical dramaturgy in Pakistan since 1983, Ajoka theatre utilized these adaptations as socio-political spaces to challenge dominant discourse on the rise of dictatorship and capitalism in Pakistan. Detailed literature review result showed that in Pakistan's context, there is dearth of comprehensive research regarding the historical intentionality in indigenizing of Brecht's work by Ajoka Theatre. This study outlines and examines relevant literature regarding the adaptation of Brecht's selected work in Pakistan by Ajoka Theatre. It also asserts that Brecht's "canonical" literary works, controversial indigenization in Pakistan, offers a striking account of valuable and interesting transcultural adaptation study because it was performed through a 'radical' theatre with a distinct dramaturgy and political philosophy in two different cultural contexts and also in distant historical frame of reference


Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV6) is a beta‐herpesvirus capable of infecting several cell types from different origins. HHV6 is the etiological agent of exantem subitum and has been associated with several diseases, all characterized by an inflammatory response triggered by chemokines. We show that strain U1102 of HHV6 is able to infect persistently human endothelial cells obtained from umbilical veins, adult aorta and adult heart microvessels, without apparent cytopathic effect. Analysis by in situ PCR showed that HHV6 sequences were present in 20% of HUVEC, 10% of aortic, and 1% of heart microvascular endothelial cells. Regardless of endothelial cell origin, HHV6 infection induced de novo synthesis of the RANTES CC‐chemokine. It was found, however, that microvascular endothelial cells, despite their lower susceptibility to HHV6 infection, showed the highest RANTES expression. Chemokine production occurred also in the absence of viral DNA synthesis. Furthermore, RANTES synthesis required an active viral genome, as UV‐inactivated HHV6 infection of endothelial cells did not lead to chemokine production. We investigated the expression of HHV6 U51 gene, which encodes a chemokine receptor that is already known to sequester and down modulate RANTES in epithelial cells. HHV6‐infected endothelial cells co‐expressed RANTES and U51 mRNAs starting from 12 hr up to 48 hr post‐infection. Then, RANTES transcripts disappeared whereas U51 messages continued to be expressed. In conclusion, this study highlights the major role of HHV6 in endothelial cell biology and the development of inflammatory processes. J. Med. Virol. 70:451–458, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


OBJECTIVES
To examine the association between caregiver (CG) depression and increase in elder mistreatment and to investigate whether change in care recipient (CR) neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) and change in CG perceived burden influence this association.

METHODS
Using two-year longitudinal data, we analyzed a consecutive sample of 800 Chinese primary family CGs and their CRs with mild cognitive impairment or mild-to-moderate dementia recruited from the geriatric and neurological departments of three Grade-A hospitals in the People's Republic of China. Participatory dyads were assessed between September 2015 and February 2016 and followed for two years.

RESULTS
CG depression at baseline was associated with a sharper increase in psychological abuse and neglect. For CRs with increased NPS, having a depressed CG predicted a higher level of psychological abuse than for those CRs without NPS. For CGs with decreased burden, the level of depression was associated with a slower increase in neglect than for CGs who remained low burden.

DISCUSSION
This study showed the differential impact of CG depression on the increase in elder mistreatment depending on the change in CR NPS and CG perceived burden. The present findings provide valuable insights into the design of a systematic and integrative intervention protocol for elder mistreatment that simultaneously focuses on treating CG depression and perceived burden and CR NPS.


The functional test-driven development (FTDD) cycle moves functional test specification to the earliest part of the software development life cycle. Functional tests no longer merely assess quality; their purpose now is to drive quality. For some agile processes such as extreme programming, functional tests are the primary requirements specification artifact. When functional tests serve as both the system specification and the automated regression test safety net, they must remain viable for the production code's lifetime. A successful functional test-driven development strategy relies on effective fools across the application life cycle. This article reflects on FTDD teams' core tasks performed over the full application life cycle. It then envisions a conceptual functional testing framework and a concrete list of capabilities that satisfy these needs


Summary A central question in reproductive immunology concerns the mechanisms whereby embryos and fetuses customarily escape adverse consequences of maternal-fetal antigen in compatibilities, with respect to both paternally derived histoincompatibility (//) and embryonic differentiation anti gens. The question has most often been focused upon the immunogenically potent antigens of major systems, such as H-2 in mice and HL-A in humans, and has become more critical as increasingly sensitive serological assays have provided evidence for initial H antigen expression in preimplantation embryos. Data from breeding experiments with rats, in which a comparable and most probably homologous H system (Ag-B) occurs, have suggested that the consequences of maternal-fetal antigen interactions may vary, i.e., be ad verse or beneficial, depending upon which H antigens are involved. In segregating populations from a number of inbred strain crosses, Ag-B incompatibility appears to protect the embryo from the adverse consequences of maternal immune reactivity toward other genetically de fined antigens. Segregating backcross progeny that are Ag-B compatible with maternal tissues (but that differ for unknown numbers of other H antigens) exhibited preweaning runting and abnormal lymphoid tissue development and, under stressful environmental conditions, frequently suc cumbed prior to 30 days of age. A higher incidence and earlier time of preweaning deaths occurred with increasing parity. Similar patterns of mortality were not seen among bacjccross progeny of reciprocal matings, i.e., F[ hybrid females mated to inbred males. These and other factors suggest an immune basis for the phenomenon. More extreme samples involve matings in which the parental strains are Ag-B compatible but differ for other antigens. either in failed


Sustainable development has become the dominant concept in the study of interactions between the economy and the biophysical environment, as well as a generally accepted goal of environmental policy. So far, economists have predominantly applied standard or neo-classical theory to environmental economic problems. In this article it will be argued that to fully understand a transformation of the economic system towards sustainability, standard environmental economics needs to be complemented by an evolutionary approach, that focuses the attention on irreversible, path-dependent change and long-run mutual selection of environmental and economic processes and systems. The article provides an overview of the main existing evolutionary contributions to environmental economics. Furthermore, a number of research directions of an evolutionary approach in environmental economics are discussed. It is suggested that such an approach should go beyond evolutionary theories of technical change, which dominate evolutionary economics so far, by including co-evolution of economy and environment, sustainable consumption, endogenous preference change, and climate change modeling.


This paper discusses and highlights the potential of Web 2.0 in the context of libraries. Internet in general and Web in particular are playing a vital role in computer-mediated scholarly communication. The objective of this study is to identify the purpose, characteristics, support system in research and changing environment as a result of using Web 2.0 technologies and tools. The findings of the study acknowledge the strength of Web 2.0 tools in improving library services for users. Really Simple Syndication (RSS), Instant Messaging (IM) and Blogs are popular in webbased libraries. The paper concludes by offering best practices for implementing Web 2.0 tools for new web-based libraries. Thus, these emerging web-based features (Web 2.0) are opening up new avenues and giving libraries the ability to offer the improved, customer-driven services to the user communities.


We present an $\tilde{O}(m+n^{1.5})$-time randomized algorithm for maximum cardinality bipartite matching and related problems (e.g. transshipment, negative-weight shortest paths, and optimal transport) on m-edge, n-node graphs. For maximum cardinality bipartite matching on moderately dense graphs, i.e. $m=\Omega(n^{1.5})$, our algorithm runs in time nearly linear in the input size and constitutes the first improvement over the classic $O(m\sqrt{n})$-time [Dinic 1970; Hopcroft-Karp 1971; Karzanov 1973] and $\widetilde{O}(n^{\omega})$-time algorithms [Ibarra-Moran 1981] (where currently $\omega\approx 2.373$). On sparser graphs, i.e. when $m=n^{9/8+\delta}$ for any constant $\delta > 0$, our result improves upon the recent advances of [Madry 2013] and [Liu-Sidford 2020b, 2020a] which achieve an $\widetilde{O}(m^{4/3+o(1)})$ runtime. We obtain these results by combining and advancing recent lines of research in interior point methods (IPMs) and dynamic graph algorithms. First, we simplify and improve the IPM of [v.d.Brand-Lee-Sidford-Song 2020], providing a general primal-dual IPM framework and new sampling-based techniques for handling infeasibility induced by approximate linear system solvers. Second, we provide a simple sublinear-time algorithm for detecting and sampling high-energy edges in electric flows on expanders and show that when combined with recent advances in dynamic expander decompositions, this yields efficient data structures for maintaining the iterates of both [v.d.Brand et al.] and our new IPMs. Combining this general machinery yields a simpler $\widetilde{O}(n\sqrt{m})$ time algorithm for matching based on the logarithmic barrier function, and our state-of-the-art $\widetilde{O}(m+n^{1.5})$ time algorithm for matching based on the [Lee-Sidford 2014] barrier (as regularized in [v.d.Brand et al.]).


We investigated whether or not liars, as compared to truth tellers, would have an attentional bias for concealed information. To identify attentional avoidant patterns in liars, we measured their eye movements with an eye tracker. The participants were 54 students who had made their own choice about which of 2 groups they would join: the guilty group ( n = 27), who were presented with a theft-crime mission to perform, or the nonguilty group ( n = 27), who were presented with a legal mission. During the deception detection process, the eye tracker was used to measure participants' attentional bias according to their eye movements while they were presented with pairs of crime-relevant, crime-irrelevant, and neutral stimuli. Results showed that both the guilty and nonguilty groups speedily detected crime-relevant stimuli, but the guilty group became avoidant toward these stimuli, whereas the nonguilty group did not display an avoidant pattern.


Data collected from the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) in 1994/95 and 1996/97 were used to measure longitudinal health outcomes among children with asthma. Over 10 000 children aged 1 to 11 years with complete data on asthma status in both years were included. Outcomes included hospitalizations and health services use (HSU). Current asthma was defined as children diagnosed with asthma by a physician and who took prescribed inhalants regularly, had wheezing or an attack in the previous year, or had their activities limited by asthma. Children having asthma significantly increased their odds of hospitalization (OR = 2.52; 95% CI: 1.71, 3.70) and health services use (OR = 3.80; 95% CI: 2.69, 5.37). Low-income adequacy (LIA) in 1994/ 95 significantly predicts hospitalization and HSU in 1996/97 (OR = 2.68; 95% CI: 1.29, 5.59 and OR = 0.67; 95% CI: 0.45, 0.99, respectively). Our results confirmed that both having current asthma and living in low-income families had a significant impact on the health status of children in Canada. Programs seeking to decrease the economic burden of pediatric hospitalizations need to focus on asthma and low-income populations.


We investigated relationships between four dimensions of work–family conflict (time- and strain-based work interference with family, time- and strain-based family interference with work) and three key national paid leave policies (paid parental leave, paid sick leave, paid annual leave) among a sample of 643 working married parents with children under the age of 5 across 12 industrialised nations. Results provided some evidence that paid sick leave has a small but significant negative relationship with work–family conflict. Little evidence was revealed of a link between paid parental leave or of a link between paid annual leave and work–family conflict. Family-supportive organisational perceptions and family-supportive supervision were tested as moderators with some evidence to suggest that paid leave policies are most beneficial when employees' perceptions of support are higher than when they are lower. Family-supportive organisational perceptions and family-supportive supervision were both associated with less work–family conflict, providing evidence of their potential benefit across national contexts.


In a previous starch-gel electrophoresis study of erythrocyte phosphoglucomutase-1 (PGM1) in 23,095 Japanese from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we detected 14 types of rare variant alleles. To determine sequence differences in these rare alleles, cell lines were established from peripheral B-lymphocytes from 24 unrelated individuals in whom nine types of rare variants are presumed to exist on the basis of earlier electrophoresis studies. cDNAs reverse transcribed from mRNAs extracted from these cell lines were amplified by polymerase chain reaction and sequences determined. Amino acid substitution types were deduced from each cDNA sequence. Although two individuals were reported to have an identical electromorph (PGM1 4HR3), sequence analysis revealed that alleles encoding these electromorphs possessed different base substitutions, and one was renamed PGM1 4HR4. As the amino acid substitution of ten different variants could be deduced by cDNA sequence in this study, the effect of each amino acid substitution on enzyme activity could be precisely simulated. The secondary structure of each variant predicted by computer simulations revealed that very decreased activity observed on PGM1 4HR2 protein was caused by significant secondary structure change introduced by the amino acid substitution. On the basis of the crystal structure, the amino acid substitutions of the ten types of rare variants seem to be outside the active center of this enzyme.


In this paper, several UV curable polyurethane acrylates were synthesized by using isophorone diisocyanate(IPDI), polyethylene glycol(PEG) , Dipropylene Glycol Diacrylate (DPGDA), trimethylolpropane triacrylate (TMPTA), and hydroxyethyl acrylate(HEA) as the raw materials and dibutyltin dilaurate(DBTDL) as the catalyst. The structure was confirmed by the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The characterization showed the coatings have a good property.


Abstract We discuss a bi-objective two-stage assignment problem (BiTSAP) that aims at minimizing two objective functions: one comprising a nonlinear cost function defined explicitly in terms of assignment variables and the other a total completion time. A two-stage assignment problem deals with the optimal allocation of n jobs to n agents in two stages, where
$n_1$
 out of n jobs are primary jobs which constitute Stage-1 and the rest of the jobs are secondary jobs constituting Stage-2. The paper proposes an algorithm that seeks an optimal solution for a BiTSAP in terms of various efficient time-cost pairs. An algorithm for ranking all feasible assignments of a two-stage assignment problem in order of increasing total completion time is also presented. Theoretical justification and numerical illustrations are included to support the proposed algorithms.


Objectives Naesohwangryeon-tang (NHT) is a type of traditional herbal formula, however, little is known about its antitumor activity. In this study, the antitumor properties of NHT was evaluated in human lung adenocarcinoma cells. Methods To check the inhibitory effect of NHT, MTT assay was performed. Cell cycle analysis and detection of ROS production were conducted by flow cytometry. To evaluate the signaling pathway, Western blotting was conducted. Results Our results showed that the decrease of cell proliferation by NHT stimulation occurred more significantly in A549 cells than in NCI-H460 cells. In addition, NHT-induced apoptosis was associated with the activation of caspases and production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). NHT-induced apoptosis was attenuated after pretreatments with z-VAD-fmk or N-acetylcysteine, suggesting that NHT-induced apoptosis was caspase- and ROS-dependent. Interestingly, NHT treatment led to the development of autophagic vesicular organelles and upregulation of several autophagy-related genes. The pretreatment of bafilomycin A1 decreased apoptosis slightly but increased cell viability in the presence of NHT. Conclusion These findings indicated that NHT induces both apoptosis and cell-protective autophagy in human lung cancer cells. This data suggests that NHT might be a novel herbal drug for lung cancer.


Scholars of American religious history have used the term "New Thought" to refer either to individuals and churches that officially joined the International New Thought Alliance (INTA) or to American metaphysical religions affiliated with Phineas Quimby, Mary Baker Eddy, and Emma Curtis Hopkins. New Thought writers shared the idea that God is Mind. While many New Thought writers focused on healing, in this article I concentrate on those who wrote about prosperity and claimed that if one shifted one's thinking toward abundance, God could manifest that reality. I argue that New Thought prosperity theology became popular in America in the late 1800s and early 1900s because its authors avoided the "New Thought" label in favor of traditional Christian terms, allowing New Thought prosperity theology to influence mainstream American culture, including the business community.


Spinal arteriovenous malformations are united by the existence of arteriovenous shunting but are quite heterogeneous in terms of pathology. Until recently, the pathological confusion has been such that management has been poorly understood and this is magnified by the rarity of the lesions. Type 1 AVMs, where the fistula is located in the dura, usually present with a venous hypertensive myelopathy and are relatively easily dealt with surgically. Type 2 AVMs, most closely mimicking the parenchymal AVMs of the brain, usually present with haemorrhage and may be surgically remediable but with much greater risk than the type 1 lesions. Type 3 AVMs, with a diffuse location through both the cord and extra-CNS tissue, usually present early in life with a myelopathy and are often untreatable. Type 4 AVMs, with a fistula located on the pial surface of the cord, usually present with a venous hypertensive myelopathy or subarachnoid haemorrhage, can be treated relatively easily by surgery when small but may be better treated endovascularly when the fistula is large. The purpose of this review is to summarise the current pathological, clinical and management literature with illustrative cases underscoring the important features of this heterogeneous disorder.


Author(s): Prasad, Priya April | Advisor(s): Gonzales, Ralph | Abstract: As innovations in healthcare delivery systems and electronic medical records (EMR) data capture develop, the methods employed to evaluate interventions disseminated to improve the quality and efficiency of patient care should evolve as well. Through my dissertation work I have explored methods and strategies to employ when developing a responsible healthcare quality improvement (QI) evaluation in three separate domains. The first chapter of my dissertation focuses on assessing the effect of an intervention to identify and manage sepsis through a retrospective cohort study at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center. The analysis revealed that the UCSF sepsis bundle was associated with a 31% decreased risk of in-hospital mortality across hospital units (adjusted incidence rate ratio 0.69, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.53, 0.91) and the adjusted number needed to treat was 15 (CI 8,69). In the second chapter of my dissertation, I present a review of the causal inference framework in the setting of interrupted time-series analysis and apply it to the formation of an analysis plan for a multidisciplinary intervention implemented at UCSF Medical Center to decrease the use of packed red blood cell transfusions. The third chapter of this work focuses on developing a metric to measure timely access to ambulatory specialty care in a cohort of nearly 60,000 UCSF primary care patients. I explored associations between population-level weekly ambulatory specialty care access defined three ways and the rate of population-level weekly poor health outcomes. Based on unadjusted Poisson analysis, there were correlations identified between poor outcomes and timely access to care in some specialties and the results provide a springboard for future exploration of metric performance and adjustment.As a body of work, my dissertation illustrates the breadth of the field of healthcare QI, providing evidence to support the continued evolution of robust methods for evaluation of interventions that will improve the quality, safety, and value of healthcare delivered nationally and globally.


This manuscript discusses the implementation of information technology tools; specifically, computerized Knowledge Based Systems KBS, in managing the energy flows, conversions, and expenditures within manufacturing environments; including renewable energy sources (namely, landfill gas). The study presents actual KBS embodiments in energy auditing, modeling, and optimization. Additionally, the text presents how IT tools can be used at a system level to integrate sustainability planning within manufacturing planning. The developed tool also addresses the question "how energy-efficient are renewable energy sources" using a novel simulation platform based on hybrid scheme.


ABSTRACT Few vertebrates capture prey in both the aquatic and the terrestrial environment due to the conflicting biophysical demands of feeding in water versus air. The Atlantic mudskipper (Periophthalmus barbarus) is known to be proficient at feeding in the terrestrial environment and feeds predominately in this environment. Given the considerable forward flow of water observed during the mouth-opening phase to assist with feeding on land, the mudskipper must alter the function of its feeding system to feed successfully in water. Here, we quantify the aquatic prey-capture kinematics of the mudskipper and compare this with the previously described pattern of terrestrial feeding. Prior to feeding in the aquatic environment, the gill slits open, allowing water to be expelled through the gill slits. The opposite happens in terrestrial feeding during which the gill slits remain closed at this point. In water, the expansive movements of the head are larger, amounting to a larger volume increase and are initiated slightly later than in the terrestrial environment. This implies the generation of strong suction flows when feeding in water. Consequently, the kinematic patterns of the hydrodynamic tongue during terrestrial feeding and aquatic suction feeding are similar, except for the amplitude of the volume increase and the active closing of the gill slits early during the terrestrial feeding strike. The mudskipper thus exhibits the capacity to change the kinematics of its feeding apparatus to enable successful prey capture in two disparate environments. Summary: A comparison of the kinematics of aquatic and terrestrial feeding in the mudskipper shows how the ancestral kinematic pattern of aquatic feeding is modified to enable the terrestrial capture of prey.


Abstract Pain is a natural response to soft tissue injury but when it is unresolved, neurophysiological changes can occur to establish chronic pain. Acute pain is usually linked with a specific incident, though in repetitive or overuse injuries this is not obvious. With chronic pain there is a prolonged period of pain, frequent and unsatisfactory healthcare use and, often, negative psychosocial factors. The cause of soft tissue pain is identified by history, palpation and selective stressing of structures. The overriding aim of acute and subacute pain management should be the prevention of chronicity, and careful questioning is indicated to identify psychosocial predictors of chronicity. Confirmation of chronic pain is primarily a case of elimination and history, and failure or reluctance to diagnose chronic pain impedes rehabilitation. Physical therapy for the acute pain of soft tissue injury aims to manage healing and restore function by early rehabilitation. Various physical, electrical and thermal methods are used, though the evidence for these is questionable. The traditional biomedical approach of physical therapy is inappropriate for someone with chronic pain. A wider biopsychosocial approach is advocated to optimize activity and participation while living with pain. The therapist should encourage education, exercise, pacing of activity, and planning for flare up. Where possible, there should be close liaison with other colleagues. Acute pain should resolve in a few weeks with restoration of function. Chronic pain is unlikely to resolve, but with appropriate management and support the person can regain high levels of activity and participation.


This paper is an enhanced version of the paper presented at the SEEDS Conference (Olaoluwa, et. al, 2015). The increasing rate of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emission resulting from the use of IT and other human activities to the atmosphere has become a major source of concern. It is imperative for the IT sector to ensure that its products are effective and energy efficient accompanied by mitigated negative impact on the environment. Reducing energy consumption of IT products is a key to contributing towards a greener environment. Another alternative is to produce energy efficient codes for software applications. In programming or scripting languages, an end result can be achieved in more than one way. For example, in PHP, a print command can be executed using a single quote and can also be achieved using a double quote. They have similar functions with similar quality of the intended outcomes. The aim of this research is conduct an investigation on the energy consumption of selected PHP scripts that perform similar functions: print single and double quote, echo single and double quote, etc The Joulemeter energy measuring tool is used to measure the amount of energy consumed when run the various PHP scripts.


While business self-regulation is often invoked as an alternative to government regulation, it has never lived up to its promise. This article contends that the "undersupply" of business self-regulation is due to the fact that its benefits typically take the form of public goods. It is notorious that public goods, because they are vulnerable to free-rider problems, are inefficiently supplied by the market. Ironically, then the principal means that we rely on to regulate business—the market—undercuts business9s capacity for self-regulation in cases of market failure. Moreover, the extreme fragmentation of business in the U.S. and the barriers we have placed in the way of inter-firm collective action have left us heavily dependent on government to regulate market failures. In other societies, collective action by business, typically administered by a peak organization, has provided an alternative to increased government control.


River response to large magnitude floods can vary significantly and a range of factors can influence this variation. Catchment and riparian vegetation represents a significant control over sediment supply and bank stability and yet is the control most vulnerable to human disturbance. Extensive vegetation clearing from the channel and floodplain in the period following European settlement has altered the hydrology and sediment regime of many Australian rivers, likely altering the geomorphic effectiveness of floods. Two major floods occurred in the Lockyer Valley, Queensland in January of 1974 and 2011. This study assessed the role of woody riparian vegetation in enhancing or inhibiting geomorphic change during these large floods. Woody vegetation coverage in 1971, 1974, 2009 and 2011 was measured by classifying orthophotos. Changes in the spatial extent of woody vegetation between the two time periods were identified using a post classification change detection method. A combination of GIS methods and statistical analysis were used to assess the effect of this vegetation change on erosion and deposition occurring during the floods for three study reaches in contrasting valley settings. Analysis of geomorphic change occurring during the 1974 flood demonstrates the change occurring in lower reaches was much more significant in relation to the upper catchment. This study suggests that unvegetated banks in the 1974 flood were more susceptible to rapid geomorphic change. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that along the banks of two of the three reaches; woody vegetation was associated with more significant deposition and less erosion during the January 2011 flood. This was not consistent in the third reach, where significant erosion and deposition occurred in areas that were unvegetated or where vegetation was removed in the 2011 flood. This highlights that vegetation alone was not the only control on channel response to the large 2011 flood.


By employing high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS), temperature-programmed desorption (TPD), and low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), we have studied the adsorption and thermal decomposition of crotonaldehyde (2-butenal) on Pt(111) as well as Pt3Sn/Pt(111) and Pt2Sn/Pt(111) surface alloys. In order to understand the adsorption structures and the vibrational properties, an extensive theoretical study of the possible adsorption geometries and vibrational spectra on the three considered surfaces has been carried out using density functional theory (DFT). A careful analysis of the variety of possible adsorption configurations of crotonaldehyde allowed structural identification by correlating their vibrational fingerprints with the measured HREELS peaks. The mixed phases of crotonaldehyde formed on the model catalysts turned out to be even more complex than those we found in previous studies for prenal. The set of stable configurations identified by combination of HREELS with DFT consists of η2, η3, and η4 flat adsorption structures, which exhibit adsorption energies from −69 to −80 kJ/mol. Nonetheless, the thermal decomposition measured with TPD and the general adsorption behavior show similarities to prenal and acrolein. Starting from a strongly adsorbed state on Pt(111) at low temperatures, crotonaldehyde decomposes at temperatures close to 300 K. On the surface alloys, a high-coverage phase with structures of low hapticity such as η2-diσ(CC) is measured at low temperatures (∼160 K), and a low-coverage situation of high hapticity η2, η3, and η4 configurations is formed at higher temperatures (∼200 K). On Pt3Sn/Pt(111), two energetically competitive η1-top-E-(s)-trans-OSn forms cannot be excluded at low temperatures.


Characteristics of the Egyptian African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) strain introduced to Indonesia has not been extensively explored yet, especially the red strain. Previous studies suggested that at the same body length, body weight of the red strain was higher and it was more rotund than that of the normal (black) ones. These differences need to be further investigated to find out which parts of the body mainly contributed to shape the differences. The present study was carried out to explore morphological differences of the red strain of Egyptian African catfish compared to the black strain through morphometric and meristic characterizations. Meristic and morphometric characterizations in the present study were carried out following standard method for morphological characterization of Clarias catfish. The fish samples consisted of each 35 red and black table-sized fish samples resulted from inbred and outbred spawnings. Results of the morphometric and meristic analysis in the present study revealed that the red strain of Egyptian African catfish resulted from inbred spawning of red strain brooders was morphologically different from that of either parental fishes or the black strains. At the same body length, head of the red strain was bigger (wider and longer) than other strains, and its body was stumpy (more rotund and shorter than other strains), deviated from those normal characteristics of the Egyptian African catfish. Its meristic characters were also differed from those of other strains, assigned by reduced dorsal and anal fin rays number.


AIM: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a progressive and fatal disease with many different causes one of which is COPD. We aimed to investigate the association of pulmonary arterial systolic pressure (PASP) and FEV1, FVC and FEV1/FVC in the general population.

METHODS: This study was part of the Rotterdam Study, a prospective population-based cohort study among subjects aged 45 years and over. Spirometry was performed according to ATS/ERS-guidelines. Echocardiographic PASP was estimated following the American Society of Echocardiography guidelines; PASP = 4 x tricuspid regurgitation peak velocity ^2 + right atrial pressure (RAP, based on inferior vena cava diameter and inspiratory collapse). All analyses were adjusted for age, sex, smoking, left ventricular function, BMI, and cardiovascular medication use.

RESULTS: From the most recent cross-sectional examination of the Rotterdam Study, a total of 2,903 individuals had complete assessment of both spirometry and echocardiography (44% males, mean age 75 years). Using a 40 mmHg cut-off, 56 (1.9%) participants had an echocardiographic suspicion PH.

Using linear regression per 10% decrease, FEV1 % predicted was associated with a PASP increase of 0.5 mmHg (CI: 0.4; 0.7), similar to FVC % pred (0.5 mmHg, CI: 0.3; 0.7). Lastly, FEV1/FVC showed an association of 1.0 mmHg (CI: 0.6; 1.4) increase. After excluding participants with spirometry defined COPD, the associations persisted.

When analysed dichotomously, FEV1 % pred, FVC% pred and FEV1/FVC were associated with an increased risk of PASP over 40 mmHg.

CONCLUSION: In the general population, pulmonary function shows a clear association with PASP, even in persons free of COPD.


Settlements originate from the inhabitancy of people in a region. The formation of its spatial form is caused by the natural conditions of the environment where the people are situated, and results from the mutual influence among the factors of community relationship, cultural concepts, construction technology, and so on of the inhabiting people. Settlement always varies with the change of these factors in their development process. This paper studies the case of a settlement in the form of a fishing village in Hongmao Harbour, which is located at the western side of Kaohsiung City with a history of development of over three centuries, and is formed by several single-last-name villages. By collecting the historical information, comparing the ancient maps with the current situation, and referring the ownership of land with the kinship, this paper clarifies the development and change of the settlements in Hongmao Harbour through the 100 years and more since the end of the Ching Dynasty, and analyzes the main factors affecting the formation of the existing style and features of the settlements, including the erosion of sea tides, cultural concepts, pressure of population growth, community relationship and land inheritance system. Moreover, through the distribution of ethnic groups in each single-last-name village and the overlapping of worshipping circles of temples, the paper induces the characteristics of the worshipping circles of Hongmao Harbour that takes kinship as the main axis.


Aim: To evaluate the indications for, and outcome, of appendicostomy for patients with Hirschsprungs disease (HD) who underwent transanal endorectal pull-through (TERPT). Method: Children with HD > 4 years old who received an appendicostomy between 2005 and 2011 at a tertiary pediatric surgery center were included. Pre- and post-appendicostomy bowel function was evaluated by a bowel function score. HD-patients not receiving an appendicostomy were the controls. The study was approved by an institutional ethics committee (2010/49). Results: Seven of 37 HD-patients received an appendicostomy. Syndromes were present in 43% of the appendicostomy and 6% of the controls (controls reported absence of fecal accidents (p=0.297). Three (60%) with appendicostomy and 14 (47%) controls, respectively, reported absence of soiling or soiling RPT. (Less)


BACKGROUND
Raised serum amylase and lipase levels are observed in several abdominal diseases.

AIM
Assessing the validity of serum amylase and lipase for the differential diagnosis between acute pancreatitis/acutized chronic pancreatitis, biliary tract disease, perforated gastroduodenal ulcer and acute appendicitis. PATIENTS E METHODS: Prospective study including 134 individuals: 38 with acute pancreatitis/acutized chronic pancreatitis, 35 with biliary tract disease, 17 with perforated gastroduodenal ulcer and 44 with acute appendicitis, mean age (standard deviation) of 42.4 +/- 17.7, 46.7 +/- 18.3, 47.8 +/- 12 and 33.7 +/- 17.8 years, respectively. Serum amylase and lipase were determined at admission to the emergency department.

RESULTS
For the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis/acutized chronic pancreatitis, when the cutt-off levels of serum amylase were set at the upper normal range level or up to 5-fold as high, the sensitivity decreased from 92% to 74%, the specificity increased from 85% to 99%, the positive predictive value increased from 71% to 97%, and the negative predictive value decreased from 96% to 91%. For serum lipase levels similar figures were obtained for sensitivity and negative predictive value, but the specificity and positive predictive value were lower. When the combination of raised serum amylase or lipase were analyzed, a minor increase was observed in sensitivity and negative predictive value.

CONCLUSIONS
For the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis/acutized chronic pancreatitis: 1) the best cut-off level for both tests was 2-times the upper normal range; 2) the sensitivities of serum amylase and lipase were similar; 3) the specificity and positive predictive value of serum amylase were slightly higher than observed for serum lipase; 4) the sensitivity but not the specificity increased when at least one between amylase or lipase was raised.