This study was designed to explore the functional role of histamine H2-receptors agonist and antagonist in the development of hepatic function impairment in immunized rabbits. The study comprised six groups containing 18 rabbits each. Groups III-VI received histamine (100 µg/kg, s.c.), H2R-agonist (amthamine, 10 µg/kg, s.c.), H2R-antagonist (ranitidine, 10 mg/kg, i.m.), and histamine (100 µg/kg, s.c.) plus H2R-antagonist (ranitidine, 10 mg/kg, i.m.), respectively, b.i.d. for 10 days. Group I (negative control) and Group II (positive control) received sterile distilled water intramuscularly b.i.d. for 10 days. Groups II-VI were immunized on day 3 with intravenous injection of sheep red blood cells (1 ◊ 10 9 cells/ml). Blood samples were collected prior to immunization day 0, as well as on days 7, 14, 21, 28, and 58 post-immunization. Biochemical parameters ALT, AST, ALP, and bilirubin were determined. On each experimental day, the mean values of serum enzymes (AST, ALT, and ALP) and bilirubin (TB, DB, and IB) in negative and positive controls showed no significant changes while in Group III (histamine), IV (amthamine), V (ranitidine), and VI (ranitidine+histamine), these enzymes and bilirubin levels showed significant changes (p < 0.05), when compared with their values within group. The levels of serum enzymes and bilirubin showed significant difference (p < 0.05) in the group of histamine, amthamine, ranitidine, and ranitidine+histamine on each experimental day, when compared with the corresponding values of each other, and also compared with the corresponding values of negative and positive controls. Histamine, amthamine, ranitidine, and combination of ranitidine+histamine cause liver function impairment in terms of altered serum enzymes and bilirubin levels.


This article examines the relationship between ethnic diversity and out-group trust in contemporary Russia, while distinguishing between long-standing ethnic diversity and recent immigration. In contrast to previous research that tested whether past regional experience with diversity is related to people's attitudes toward out-group members, we focus on long-standing ethnic diversity, defined as diversity resulting from the long-term coexistence of ethnic groups in a region, not recent immigration. We hypothesize that while the presence of out-groups may initially be threatening to the members of an ethnic group, long-standing diversity has positive consequences for intergroup relations. Using 2015 survey data combined with census and official registration data from Russian regions, we found that inhabitants of regions with higher levels of long-standing ethnic diversity tended to show higher out-group trust, while accounting for socio-economic characteristics of the regions and of individuals. In contrast, inhabitants of regions with higher recent immigration tended to have lower out-group trust, all else held constant. While these associations were weak, they speak in favor of a dynamic model of intergroup trust, which involves learning about others through mutual coexistence. We also acknowledge that the autochthonous status of ethnic minorities and existing institutional arrangements regarding different ethnic groups in Russia may additionally contribute to the development of trust.


s International Conference & Exhibition on Asian Emergency Care & Defence Medicine S115 Evaluation of the Emergency Management in Developing Countries Prof. Gilbert Burnham The Center for International Emergency, Disaster & Refugee Studies, The Johns Hopkins University Schools of Medicine and Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland USA The careful evaluation of the management of emergencies needs wider attention. As the population exposed to hazards increases world wide, and as risks multiply, there is more that we need to know in order to manage them. Furthermore, as conflict-related emergencies increasingly are becoming chronic, evaluation methods need to demonstrate not only that assistance is maintaining health, but also that it is not prolonging the conflict. Although some tools have been used for many years in developed countries, new approaches are needed for developing countries. Characteristics of many developing countries are a weak central planning and management capacity, a lack of strong decentralized emergency response capacity, and dependence on the international organizations for a response. Robust tools that will work in this environment are needed. A variety of evaluation tools exist that can be adapted and applied as program indicators, particularly in public health activities. Key benchmarks have been developed and published as the SPHERE standards. These cover not only the traditional outputs and outcomes, but also the process used to establish assistance. Despite traditional planning tools, we, also, have increasing problems preparing for emergencies, which have no organizations able to play a leadership role. Even within the UN system, the Consolidated Appeal Process has many duplicate and uncertain steps. A community-based approach is needed for developing countries; yet, traditionally, vulnerability assessment is addressed from a central-based approach. There is now the need to more aggressively address the economic indicators of emergencies, moving beyond the usual assessment of dollar value of property loss. What was the number of Disability-Adjusted Life Years lost in an earthquake? How has an event affected the productivity of a population? Can we compare—in terms of human existence—earthquakes, road traffic accidents, and childhood diseases in a way that will help countries effectively allocate meager resources? Beyond these, questions about the consequence of emergency aid remain. What are the effects of assistance on market prices or employment patterns? More importantly, what effects may international assistance have on the nature of conflicts? Does it extend the life of conflict by fueling it? Does it raise the stakes and make the individual and/or communities more vulnerable? Does it impede the post-conflict rehabilitation of infrastructure? There is much we need to know to be effective managers. Some instruments are on hand, others need to be developed. Perhaps the most critical element is guaranteeing that learnt information is used properly in the decision-making process.


The affinities of nine structurally different beta-lactam antibiotics for the three major gonococcal penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) were determined by using a competition assay with tritium-labeled penicillin and live, growing bacteria. Each determination was carried out in parallel in isogenic pairs of penicillin-susceptible (minimal inhibitory concentration of penicillin, 0.0075 microgram/ml) and intrinsically penicillin-resistant (minimal inhibitory concentration of penicillin, 0.5 microgram/ml) cells. Evidence is presented indicating that (i) PBP 3 may be a dispensable function; (ii) acquisition of resistance is accompanied by change in the beta-lactam antibiotic affinities of PBP 2 but not of PBP 1; (iii) PBP 2 appears to be the most important physiological target in the penicillin-susceptible strain; in the penicillin-resistant strain, PBP 1 seems to assume this role. The relative affinities of various beta-lactam antibiotics for the individual PBPs showed substantial variation with the antibiotic structure.


We propose what we believe is a novel method to design waveguide bends for metallic waveguides with arbitrary bending angles. The proposed method is based on a new theoretical branch from transformation optics that is referred as to optic surface transformation. Compared with waveguide bends designed by traditional transformation optics, the design process of our method can be made in a graphical way that is very simple and convenient. To realize any waveguide bend designed by the method proposed in this study, one needs only one homogeneous material, i.e., an optic-null medium (even if the bending angles are different for various cases). After some reductions, we find that the optic-null media here can be approximately realized by some anisotropic zero refractive index materials. 2D numerical simulations verify the performance of the designed waveguide bends. The design principle can be extended to the 3D case.


Wildland firefighting is arduous work with extreme physical and nutritional demands that often exceeds those of athletes competing in sports. The intensity and duration of job demands, impacts the amount of calories burned, which can influence body composition. The purpose of this study was to determine if the body composition of nine wildland firefighters working as smokejumpers changed throughout the 2017 fire season. Subjects (n = 9) for the study ranged in age from 24–49 (age 30.1 ± 8.3 y). Height (177 ± 18.8 cm) and weight (81.32 ± 6.39 kg) was recorded during initial body composition testing and body fat percentage was determined pre and post-season using Lange skinfold calipers. Outcomes were evaluated using a paired t-test. Body fat percentage was significantly different between pre and post-season (average body fat percentage increase = 1.31%; t = 2.31, p = 0.04, alpha = 0.05). Body weight increased slightly from pre to post-season (average increase in body weight: 0.17 kg), although the differences were not significant (t = 2.31, p = 0.78). Change in body fat percentage without change in body weight suggest that monitoring of WLFF body composition and fitness may be needed help inform dietary and fitness interventions to insure that nutritional demands of this population are sufficient to support physical work on the fireline.


Serum gamma(glutamyl) transpeptidase (GGTP) levels were measured in fifty patients with malignant melanoma to determine whether the enzyme was a sensitive indicator of disease status. Patients were divided into three groups based on clinical stage. Eighteen patients, following complete surgical resection of their primary disease, had a mean GGTP value of 10.97 International Units/Liter, which was not significantly different from the mean of healthy controls (10.2 +/- 2.5; range, 5.56--15.2). Likewise, eight patients who had undergone resection of regional disease or solitary metastasis had values near the upper range for controls. Serial testing in 15 of the above patients revealed no significant fluctuations on a daily or monthly basis. In contrast, individuals with metastatic disease had significantly elevated GGTP levels and demonstrated stepwise increases with disease progression. In seven patients enzyme levels were predictive of either recurrent disease or response to therapy. We conclude that serum GGTP levels are a useful test in monitoring clinical status of melanoma patients.


Abstract:
Rasagiline mesylate is an irreversible inhibitor of monoamine oxidase (MAO) used for the treatment of the signs and symptoms of idiopathic Parkinson's disease as initial monotherapy and as adjunct therapy to levodopa.  It is a water soluble molecule that undergoes extensive hepatic first pass metabolism resulting to poor bioavailability. The aim of the present study is to formulate and evaluate transdermal delivery system of Rasagiline mesylate.  Patches of transdermal delivery systems were formulated by solvent casting technique using different amount of Eudragit L100 as a matrixing material and PEG400 as plasticizer. During preparation of transdermal patches achieving a good tackiness is a most challenging so different formulations were prepared and optimized for finding good tackiness. Among these formulations F12 and F 21 shows optimum results, these formulations are subjected to diffusion studies by using porcine ear skin (80-90um thick) for 24 hrs As the concentration of polymer (Eudragit) increases the permeation was found to decrease. The average amount of drug diffused from F12 and F21 formulation was found to be 25.09µmoles/sq.cm and 21.45µmols/sq.cm respectively.


The Sulfonated poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) / poly(2,6-diphenyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (S-PPO) was prepared by oxidative coupling polymerization with 2,6-dimethyl phenol, 2,6-diphenyl phenol, CuCl(І) and pyridine, and followed sulfonation with chlorosulfonic acid. Copolymer was consisted of 2,6-diphenyl phenol 30 mol% and 2,6-dimethyl phenol 70 mol%. Organic-inorganic nano composite membranes were prepared with copolymer and a series of SiO2 nanoparticles (20 nm, 4, 7 and 10 wt%). The composite membranes were cast from dimethylsulfoxide solution. The membranes were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Sorption experiments were conducted to observe the interaction of sulfonated polymers with water and methanol. S-PPO copolymer and nano composite membranes exhibited proton conductivities from 0.79×10-3 to 0.98×10-3 S/cm, water uptake from 21.70 to 24.77 %, IEC from 0.720 to 0.955 meq/g and methanol diffusion coefficients from 2.97×10-7 to 3.70×10-7 cm2/S.


Background : Efforts to promote better health of sickle cell anaemia (SCA) patients in low-income countries through the use of cheap and available alternatives are desirable. Objective : We investigated whether a locally designed incentive spirometry will improve peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) of teenage SCA patients. Methods : Forty-nine SCA teenagers were randomized into either the SCA spirometry or the SCA control groups, which had 24 and 25 patients respectively. They were initially compared with 25 matched non-SCA teenagers. The SCA spirometry group went through a six-week, thrice-daily local incentive spirometry while the control did not go through the exercise. Results : The PEFR of the SCA spirometry group improved significantly (p=0.001) between the third and sixth week (211.04±55.67 to 292.08±40.86 litres/min) unlike that of the SCA control group (p=0.605). At six weeks, PEFR of the SCA spirometry group improved significantly (t=0.624, p=0.003) over that of the SCA control group. However, the improved PEFR of the SCA spirometry group did not match that of their non-SCA counterparts. Conclusions : Locally designed incentive spirometry improved PEFR of the SCA teenagers significantly in six weeks of spirometry exercise. Routine improvement in PEFR of SCA patients with the aid of incentive spirometry should be encouraged to improve lung function. Keywords : Sickle cell anaemia, Exercises, Lung function parameters, Spirometry African Health Sciences 2011; 11(3): 303 - 308


I use the monthly release of the Employment Situation by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to examine the impact of macroeconomic uncertainty on the pricing of firm-level earnings news. Uncertainty about employment conditions is high the day before the employment report is released and is resolved just after the release of the report. I find a muted initial response to earnings announcements made the day before the employment report. This effect is stronger when ex-ante uncertainty about the contents of the employment report is high. The muted initial response is followed by a stronger-than-usual earnings-return relation measured two days after the earnings announcement, or the day after the release of the employment report. These results are consistent with investors applying less weight to earnings signals when there is high uncertainty about macroeconomic conditions, and increasing the weight applied to these signals after the resolution of macroeconomic uncertainty. Additional results show that earnings announcements made on employment-report Fridays have a muted initial market response followed by greater-than-usual post-earnings-announcement drift, and that the proportion of bad news earnings announcements (negative unexpected earnings) is significantly higher on employment-report Fridays than on other days, including other Fridays.


Sarcoidosis is a systemic disorder of uncertain etiology characterized by noncaseating granulomatous inflammation. The disease often involves the heart on autopsy, but the antemortem diagnosis of cardiac sarcoidosis is frequently missed. Cardiac involvement usually includes granulomatous inflammation or fibrosis of the myocardium, conduction system, or pericardium. We now describe a case of epicardial coronary involvement by sarcoidosis, where the diagnosis was made by surgical biopsy of the coronary artery in an African American man presenting with acute coronary syndrome and recurrent symptomatic restenosis following coronary intervention. The case extends the spectrum of common cardiac syndromes that cardiac sarcoidosis can masquerade as and highlights the importance of maintaining a high index of suspicion for early recognition and instituting specific treatment that might improve prognosis. A review of the literature also suggests the need for improvement in diagnostic approaches and prospective clinical trials to establish the best management strategy for this disease. Copyright © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


The creativity of Antonius Wahyudi Sutrisno (Dedek) in creating the composition be an interesting thing for the author to be further investigated. This research was focused on the factors behind Dedek in finding creative ideas. Dedek works based on tradition reiterates that he uses the idiom of tradition in his works. The idioms used a series of structures, motifs or patterns, and techniques. From the idiom invention, the author observed the tradition one, of such pathet space, instruments (gamelan), and a model of the work, which all is associated with the science of Javanese gamelan. Through pathet space, the author assume that Dedek has a unique in terms of the selection range of tones, although, that is uncommonly performed in tradition karawitan. The exploration of the instruments and methods in use in Dedek works, gamelan instruments perceived authors have character and distinctive characteristics. While on the model of Dedek composition is not far from the tradition of serving space and schema structure that resembles a traditional convention. This research reviewed the more clearly about the characters of the existing tradition in Dedek works that came from the tradition idioms.

Keywords: creativity, karawitan composition, tradition idioms


Abstract Evolutionary rates and selection intensities in eight cladistically defined species-level evolutionary sequences of the Middle and Upper Ordovician bryozoan genus Peronopora were calculated for comparison with values published for fossil and living taxa. Calculations were restricted to statistically significant unidirectional segments of anagenetic series to minimize the mixing of different modes, directions, and rates of evolutionary change. Rates and selection intensities ranged from 10−7 to 10−6 darwins and from 10−6 to 10−5 haldanes. Across characters, the weighted mean evolutionary rate equaled 5.86 × 10−7 darwins and the mean selection intensity was 6.44 × 10−7. Mean rates of 2.15 × 10−6, 4.31 × 10−6, and 8.61 × 10−6 haldanes, and corresponding mean selection intensities equaling 2.39 × 10−6, 4.78 × 10−6, and 9.56 × 10−6, were calculated for generation lengths of 0.5, 1, and 2 years, respectively. The magnitudes of positive and negative evolutionary rates and selection intensities do not differ statistically, individual characters display no consistent pattern of positive or negative values, and no character complexes were detectable. A mosaic pattern of change occurs across characters in evolutionary sequences. Eighty percent of analyzed evolutionary series were multispecies lineages. Both individual and mean values provide direct estimates of the rates of evolution within those lineages at the moment of speciation. Rates of anagenetic evolution in Peronopora were low and similar to published rates for a variety of fossil protists, invertebrates, and vertebrates. However, earlier rate calculations did not isolate the effect of unidirectional anagenesis from that of stasis, random walks, trend reversals, or rate variations. Eight percent of characters in Peronopora produced anagenetic series that were statistically significant, a percentage similar to the 5% calculated in a study of 251 sequences of evolving traits in 53 fossil lineages (Hunt 2007). Stasis and mutation-drift are the most common patterns detectable in the fossil record, although anagenesis remains a potentially important force in shaping the course of both micro- and macroevolution.


Joint time-frequency representations offer a rich representation of event related potentials (ERPs) that cannot be obtained through individual time or frequency domain analysis. This representation, however, comes at the expense of increased data volume and the difficulty of interpreting the resulting representations. Therefore, methods that can reduce the large amount of time-frequency data to experimentally relevant components are essential. In this paper, we present a method that reduces the large volume of ERP time-frequency data into a few significant time-frequency parameters. The proposed method is based on applying the widely used matching pursuit (MP) approach, with a Gabor dictionary, to principal components extracted from the time-frequency domain. The proposed PCA-Gabor decomposition is compared with other time-frequency data reduction methods such as the time-frequency PCA approach alone and standard matching pursuit methods using a Gabor dictionary for both simulated and biological data. The results show that the proposed PCA-Gabor approach performs better than either the PCA alone or the standard MP data reduction methods, by using the smallest amount of ERP data variance to produce the strongest statistical separation between experimental conditions.


Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading causes of death worldwide. They are responsible for approximately 68% of global mortality each year, with cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases being the four main NCD killers. It is estimated that annually, 16 million people die prematurely (before the age of 70) as a result of NCD. The majority of NCD deaths (74%) occur in low- and middle-income countries, where this public health crisis is especially challenging due to severe social and economic conditions already faced.


The efficacy of phosphite to control the production of zoospores of Phytophthora cinnamomi on infected trees grown in a glasshouse and in a revegetated mined area was examined. Banksia grandis and Eucalyptus marginata seedlings in the glasshouse and E. marginata seedlings in the minepit were sprayed with 0, 5 and 10 g phosphite L−1. In both trials, zoospores were produced from infected tissue of plants treated with all concentrations of phosphite. In the glasshouse, spray application of 5 and 10 g phosphite L−1 significantly reduced the production of zoospores from both B. grandis and E. marginata seedlings. In the mined area there was a similar, though nonsignificant, reduction in the number of zoospores produced from phosphite-treated and nontreated E. marginata seedlings. However, the average number of zoospores produced was greater in plants not treated with phosphite (1·75 zoospores mL−1) than from plants treated with 5 or 10 g phosphite L−1 (0·04 and 0·09 zoospores mL−1, respectively). Pimelea ferruginea leaves were used to bait the water surrounding the plants in the mined area to determine if zoospores produced from phosphite-treated plants were able to infect plant material. Significantly more baits were infected by zoospores from plants not treated with phosphite compared with plants treated with 5 or 10 g phosphite L−1. These results suggest that phosphite reduces, but does not prevent, the production of viable zoospores on infected trees. Thus phosphite application may not remove the risk of P. cinnamomi spreading from infested, sprayed areas.


Despite regulatory efforts to promote gender diversity on boards, women are still severely underrepresented in board leadership in the UK, beyond FTSE 100 companies. Evidence suggests that women, when poorly represented in the workplace, are more likely to suffer discrimination. In this study, we report the first ‐ hand experiences of gender discrimination suffered by female directors and present the process of how they build resilience through developing coping strategies. Such resilience ‐ building processes seem to vary with the length of board experience of female directors. At the outset of their board journey, they adopt avoidant coping strategies of denial and disengagement. However, with experience in boards, they gain the confidence to pursue the active coping strategy of seeking and extending support. This qualitative study is based on 42 elite interviews of board directors and is guided by the resilience theory, in the context of top FTSE boards. The article also discusses the contribution of the study to theory, praxis, and policy.


This article provides a political explanation for the unexpectedly high levels of income inequality found in the African region today. Traditional explanations for inequality are reviewed and found not to be compelling. Instead, it is argued that natural endowments in the region shaped the nature of colonial institutions, which in turn created the conditions for the high levels of inequality found today. The surprisingly high levels of inequality in Africa can be understood as resulting from a process of class formation linked to dynamics of state building that have their origins in the economic institutions of the early colonial state. Insofar as political power has often been used to gain economic advantages during the postcolonial era, inequality has changed little over the past 40 years, despite the official focus on development and poverty alleviation by donors and governments alike.


Monoclonal antibodies (mAb) are a major focus of the pharmaceutical industry, and polyclonal immunoglobulin G (IgG) therapy is used to treat a wide variety of health conditions. As some individuals require mAb/IgG therapy their entire life, there is currently a great desire to formulate antibodies for bolus injection rather than infusion. However, to achieve the required doses, very concentrated antibody solutions may be required. Unfortunately, mAb/IgG self-assembly at high concentration can produce an unacceptably high viscosity for injection. To address this challenge, this study expands the concept of 'dynamic covalent chemistry' to 'dynamic bioconjugation' in order to reduce viscosity by interfering with antibody-antibody interactions. Ultra-sub-stoichiometric amounts dynamic PEGylation agents (down to the nanomolar) significantly reduced the viscosity of concentrated antibody solutions by interfering with oligomerization.


Abstract. In Ohl's Precursor Method (Ohl, 1966, 1976), the geomagnetic activity during the declining phase of a sunspot cycle is shown to be well correlated with the size (maximum sunspot number Rz(max)) of the next cycle. For solar cycle 24, Kane (2007a) used aa(min)=15.5 (12-month running mean), which occurred during March–May of 2006 and made a preliminary estimate Rz(max)=124±26 (12-month running mean). However, in the next few months, the aa index first increased and then decreased to a new low value of 14.8 in July 2007. With this new low value, the prediction was Rz(max)=117±26 (12-month running mean). However, even this proved a false signal. Since then, the aa values have decreased considerably and the last 12-monthly value is 8.7, centered at May 2009. For solar cycle 24, using aa(min)=8.7, the latest prediction is, Rz(max)=58.0±25.0.


Dr. Daniel Lackland from the Medical University of South Carolina moderated the topic "Practice Guidelines in Cardiovascular Disease: How Defining the Evidence Can Impact the Guidelines" with Drs. William Cushman from the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, and Stanley S. Franklin from the University of California, Irvine, participating. The discussion focused primarily on: (1) global risk assessment for cardiovascular disease, (2) limitations on global risk assessment (3) the role of observational data in extrapolating from clinical trials and treatment decisions, (4) the role of clinical trial evidence and application to specific patient populations, (5) evidence and clinical feelings that may justify treating prehypertensive patients, (6) risk assessment data for initiating aspirin therapy, and (7) shortcomings of randomized controlled trials. (Med Roundtable Cardiovasc Ed. 2010;1(1):86-94) ©2010 FoxP2 Media, LLC


Purpose: The B-cell receptor (BCR) pathway plays a central role in signal transduction pathways that regulate survival, activation, proliferation, and differentiation of B-lineage lymphoid cells. Btk is a key regulator of the BCR signaling pathway and abberant BCR signaling has been implicated in the survival of malignant B-cells. Recent studies indicate that targeting Btk may be effective in the treatment of B-cell malignancies. ONO-4059 is a highly potent and selective oral Btk inhibitor with an IC50 in the sub-nmol/L range. Previous studies with ONO-4059 (formerly known as ONO-WG-307; AACR 2012) demonstrated that Btk-mediated signaling through Akt and PKD is a critical role for the survival of activated B-cell-like (ABC) sub-type of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) cell lines [TMD-8]. It was also of interest to determine the extent of gene expression changes induced in TMD-8 cells after treatment with ONO-4059. To understand the effects of ONO-4059 on gene transcription, we analyzed the gene expression patterns of ONO-4059 in the TMD-8 xenograft model. Methods: TMD-8 cells were implanted subcutaneously into SCID mice and ONO-4059 was administered orally, twice a day (BID) in two groups of animals, at doses of 3 and 10 mg/kg. When the mean tumour volumes reached 100-200mm3, treatment was initiated daily for 14 days. After the final treatment of ONO-4059, the total RNAs were extracted from frozen re-sected tumour tissue specimens, which comprised of 10 samples at each dose, along with 10 vehicle tissue samples. Microarray analysis was conducted by Agilent technology. Results: The inhibitory level of P-Btk achieved indicates profound anti-proliferative activity of ONO-4059 in the TMD-8 model. Gene expression studies demonstrated that ONO-4059 affects a core set of genes which contains 9 down-regulated and 8 up-regulated genes in a dose-dependent manner. CXCL-10 is the prominent regulated gene that is down-regulated after ONO-4059 treatment and CXCL-10 has been shown to be involved in the pathological processes of human disorders, such as, infectious diseases, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases as well as cancer. From a publicly available microarray database, CXCL-10 expression has been shown to be up-regulated in lymphoma patients, suggesting that CXCL-10 may be a potential biomarker for ONO-4059 in the treatment of B-cell malignancies. Conclusion: Our data show that ONO-4059 has potent anti-tumour activity in a ABC-DLBCL xenograft model and that ONO-4059 achieves active tumor exposures as measured by P-Btk in vivo. ONO-4059 is currently being developed in a Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of B-cell malignancies. Additional work is now underway to determine whether the combining ONO-4059 with other targeted agents affects CXCL-10 expression. Citation Format: Tomoko Yasuhiro, Toshio Yoshizawa, Shingo Hotta, Yuko Ariza, Yoshiko Ueda, Ryohei Kozaki, Joseph Birkett. ONO-4059, a novel oral Bruton9s tyrosine kinase (Btk) inhibitor that demonstrates potent pharmacodynamic activity through Phosphorylated Btk (P-Btk) inhibition, in addition to effective anti-tumour activity in a TMD-8 (DLBCL) xenograft model. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2452. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-2452


In this thesis the overall efficacy of the Dutch vitamin K prophylaxis regimen in protecting infants against Vitamin K Deficiency Bleeding (VKDB) was investigated by focusing on two major risk factors: cholestatic jaundice and feeding type. We first compared the risk of VKDB under different prophylactic regimens in infants with biliary atresia the largest cause of cholestatic jaundice in infancy . The relative risk of a bleeding in breastfed compared with formula-fed infants was 77.5 for the Dutch prophylaxis (consisting of 25 mcg of daily oral prophylaxis), 7.2 for 1 mg of weekly oral prophylaxis, and 9.3 for 2 mg of intramuscular prophylaxis at birth. The risk of VKDB in infants presenting with cholestasis due to A1ATD on the Dutch prophylaxis was similar (~80 percent), despite marked variations in the degree of cholestasis. It was concluded that the Dutch regimen fails to prevent bleedings in apparently healthy infants with unrecognized cholestasis - irrespective of underlying etiology. Discrepant data from Dutch surveillance studies led us to assess changes in breastfeeding rate and the risk of VKDB over time in infants with BA or A1ATD. While the overall incidence of breastfeeding in Dutch newborns changed only marginally, the breastfeeding rate in infants presenting with BA/A1ATD increased from 6/45 (13%) infants in 1991-1994 to 21/44 (47%) in 2003-2006. This increase was paralleled by a quadrupling of the incidence of VKDB in this cohort from 11 to 41%.Thus, the lack of efficacy of the Dutch regimen, previously masked by the high degree of protection offered by formula feeding, was unveiled by a rising breastfeeding rate in infants with (cholestatic) jaundice. Analysis of formula-fed infants with BA or A1ATD suggests that- in contrast with infants on regular formula - the risk of VKD is substantial in infants fed by hydrolysed formula. The high risk of VKDB in cholestatic infants is thought to be due to the poor absorption of vitamin K in the absence of bile. Due to its hydrophobicity, trafficking of Vitamin K to the enterocytes critically depends on micellar incorporation. Therefore, the efficacy of interventions to improve the absorption of vitamin K in the absence of bile was investigated. First we assessed the ability of polymeric micelles to enable gastrointestinal absorption of vitamin K. To that end, vitamin K was encapsulated in micelles composed of mPEG5000-b-p(HPMAm-lac2), a thermosensitive block copolymer. Vitamin K plasma levels rose significantly upon gastric administration of 1 mg vitamin K encapsulated in polymeric micelles in sham operated rats, but not after bile duct ligation (AUC 4543 and 1.64 ng/mL/h respectively, p


Speculative multithreading is a promising technique for automatic parallelization. H wever, our experience with a software implementation indicates that there is significant overhead involv ed in managing the heap memory internal to the speculative system and significant complexity in correc tly managing the call stack memory used by speculative tasks. We first describe a specialized heap ma n gement system that allows the data structures necessary to support speculation to be quickly recycled . We take advantage of constraints imposed by our speculation model to reduce the complexity of this otherwise gen eral producer/consumer memory problem. We next provide a call stack abstraction that allows the local vari ble requirements of in-order and out-of-order nested method level speculation to be expres sed and hence implemented in a relatively simple fashion. We believe that heap and stack memory management is sues are important to efficient speculative system design. We also believe that abstractions su ch a ours help provide a framework for understanding the requirements of different speculation models.


Peptide deformylase (PDF) is a metalloenzyme that removes the N-terminal formyl groups from newly synthesized proteins. It is essential for bacterial survival, and is therefore-considered as a potential target for antimicrobial chemotherapy. However, some bacteria including medically relevant pathogens possess two or more def-like genes. Here we have examined two PDFs from Bacillus cereus. The two share only 32% sequence identity and the crystal structures show overall similarity with PDF2 having a longer C-terminus. However, there are differences at the two active sites, and these differences appear to contribute to the activity difference seen between the two. BcPDF2 is found as a dimer in the crystal form with two additional actinonin bound at that interface.


An inexpensive methodology is proposed to identify and locate a single defect within a wooden beam using free a flexural vibration technique. A similar approach has been introduced in the literature based on free longitudinal vibration, which was selected to be a leading frontier for the present research. The flexural vibration technique was tested for five groups of the absolutely clear specimens while holding a manually drilled hole at 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5 of their total span. The beams were tested in free flexural vibration with both ends in a free condition before and after drilling, and relative shifts of modal frequencies due to the presence of the defects were measured and compared to their mathematically calculated values in a sinusoidal equation. Using the method of least squares, a coincidence factor was developed based on the differences of the measured and calculated shifts of the four initial resonance frequencies where the minimum district of the coincidence factor curves successfully indicated the defected area. Though the longitudinal vibration approach was promising enough to estimate the position of the defect, its combination with the flexural vibration might increase the degree of confidence in the identifications.


On April 09, 2005 at approximately 16.00 Hrs, the aircraft force landed in a cultivatable field following the detachment of the propeller during flight. The failed components were examined in the laboratory to establish the cause of failure. Examination showed that out of the six attachment bolts, which held the propeller with the propeller extension flange, four had fractured and the other two had fallen off in the propeller spinner. These two bolts were found in tact without any noticeable damages to the threads. The corresponding bush- nuts of these bolts were found missing. Fractographic examination revealed that out of the four fractured bolts, two had failed by fatigue while the other two had failed by overload. Out of the six bush nuts, four were found with the propeller extension flange. All these bush nuts were either loose or could be taken out of the propeller flange by finger push and/or slight tapping. From the available evidences and the failure patterns, it appears that the bush-nuts were not interference fitted on to the propeller extension flange. Analysis showed that in such a situation, the bush nuts are unlocked and could work their way out due to vibration. Evidences suggest that at least three bush-nuts got loosened in service, which resulted in excessive load on the other three bolts leading to fatigue failure. Hence the most probable reason for the detachment of the propeller appears to be the improper assembly of the bush-nuts on to the propeller extension flange


The university course timetabling problem is a difficult optimisation problem due to its highly-constrained nature. Finding an optimal, or even a high quality, timetable is a challenging task, especially when resources (e.g., rooms and time slots) are limited. In the literature, many approaches have been studied to solve this problem. In this thesis, we investigate genetic algorithms to solve the problem because they have been successfully used for a wide range of real-world problems. However, for university course timetabling problems, traditional genetic algorithms are not usually considered as efficient solvers. In this thesis, we investigate genetic algorithms to acquire good solutions for university course timetabling problems. Several ideas are introduced to increase the general performance of genetic algorithms on these problems. Local search strategies are introduced into the traditional genetic algorithm to enhance its performance for the university course timetabling problem. This differs from many works in the literature because it works on time slots of the timetable rather than events directly. A guided search approach is also introduced into genetic algorithms to produce high quality individuals into the population. In the guided search technique, the best parts of selected individuals from the current population are stored in an extra memory (or data structure) and are re-used to guide the generation of new individuals for subsequent populations. In addition to solving university course timetabling problems as a single-objective optimisation problem, we also tackle the multi-objective university course timetabling problem. We integrate the above proposed approaches into multi-objective evolutionary algorithms and propose a framework of multi-objective evolutionary algorithms based on local search and guided search strategies for the multi-objective university course timetabling problem. This framework is then instantiated into a set of multi-objective evolutionary algorithms for the multi-objective university course timetabling problem based on a set of multi-objective evolutionary algorithms that are typically used for general multi-objective optimisation problems. Computational results based on a set of well-known university course timetabling benchmark instances, show the effectiveness of the proposed approaches for both singleand multi-objective university course timetabling problems.


Tm3+-doped 0.1Tm2O3-1Al2O3-98.9SiO2 (mol%) silica glass with good uniformity was prepared by sol-gel method combining with high temperature sintering. The core glass sized Φ3.2 × 50 mm with Δn of 5 × 10−4 was obtained after gelation, heat treatment, melting and polishing. Its spectroscopic properties were evaluated according to the detected absorption and fluorescence spectra. The maximum emission cross-section of Tm3+ ion in this glass is 6.2 × 10−21 cm2 and tested fluorescence lifetime is 836 μs at 1806 nm. Large core double cladding fiber with core NA of 0.102 was prepared by rod-in-tube and high temperature drawing. Its tested optical loss is 1.1 dB/m at 1333 nm. 1.11 W fiber laser output centered at 1969 nm with M2 factor of 1.99 was obtained from a 140 cm length double-cladding fiber with core diameter of 38 μm. The quasi-single mode laser with M2 factor of 1.33 was achieved in the fiber with core diameter of 19 μm.


After In re the Termination of Parental Rights of Christian J.W., the legal community in Wisconsin is now more aware that same-sex, unmarried partners face more restrictive burdens when seeking to adopt one partner's biological child than do heterosexual couples seeking to do the same. These burdens may raise Equal Protection concerns. These burdens also demonstrate that Wisconsin adoption laws simultaneously promote conflicting public policies. Finally, these burdens are unnecessarily wasting Wisconsinites' resources. Christian J.W. reveals an opportunity for the Wisconsin Legislature. Namely, the lawmaking body should act to eliminate this inequality in the state's adoption laws. Such action will not only protect the state from potential discrimination lawsuits, but it will also promote public policy, save money, and protect Wisconsin's children from the inequalities that result from the unequal treatment of their same-sex parents. TABLE OF CONTENTS


Abstract The sleep-wake and circadian cycles are influenced by light, particularly in the short-wavelength portion of the visible spectrum. Most personal light-emitting electronic devices are enriched in this so-called "blue" light. Exposure to these devices in the evening can disturb sleep. Interventions to reduce short-wavelength light exposure before bedtime may reduce adverse effects on sleep. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the effect of wearing color-tinted lenses (e.g. orange or amber) in frames to filter short-wavelength light exposure to the eye before nocturnal sleep. Outcomes were self-reported or objective measures of nocturnal sleep. Relatively few (k = 12) studies have been done. Study findings were inconsistent, with some showing benefit and others showing no effect of intervention. Meta-analyses yielded a small-to-medium magnitude combined effect size for sleep efficiency (Hedge's g = 0.31; 95% CI: −0.05, 0.66; I2 = 38.16%; k = 7), and a small-to-medium combined effect size for total sleep time (Hedge's g = 0.32; 95% CI: 0.01, 0.63; I2 = 12.07%; k = 6). For self-report measures, meta-analysis yielded a large magnitude combined effects size for Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index ratings (Hedge's g = −1.25; 95% CI: −2.39, −0.11; I2 = 36.35%; k = 3) and a medium combined effect size for total sleep time (Hedge's g = 0.51; 95% CI: 0.18, 0.84; I2 = 0%; k = 3), Overall, there is some, albeit mixed, evidence that this approach can improve sleep, particularly in individuals with insomnia, bipolar disorder, delayed sleep phase syndrome, or attention-deficit hyperactive disorder. Considering the ubiquitousness of short-wavelength-enriched light sources, future controlled studies to examine the efficacy of this approach to improve sleep are warranted. Systematic review registration: PROSPERO 2018 CRD42018105854.


Maintaining the postharvest quality of whole and fresh-cut fruit during storage and distribution is the major challenge facing fruit industry. For this purpose, industry adopt a wide range of technologies to enable extended shelf-life. Many factors can lead to loss of quality in fresh product, hence the common description of these products as 'perishable'. As a consequence normal factors such as transpiration and respiration lead ultimately to water loss and senescence of the product. Fruits and vegetables are living commodities and their rate of respiration is of key importance to maintenance of quality. It has been commonly observed that the greater the respiration rate of a product, the shorter the shelf-life.
The principal problem for fresh-cut fruit industries is the relative shorter shelf-life of minimally processed fruit (MPF) compared to intact product. This fact is strictly connected with the higher ethylene production of fruit tissue stimulated during fresh-cut processing (peeling, cutting, dipping). 1-Methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) is an inhibitor of ethylene action and several researches have shown its effectiveness on the inhibition of ripening and senescence incidence for intact fruit and consequently on their shelf-life extension. More recently 1-MCP treatment has been tested also for shelf-life extension of MPF but discordant results have been obtained. Considering that in some countries 1-MCP is already a commercial product registered for the use on a number of horticultural products, the main aim of this actual study was to enhance our understanding on the effects of 1-MCP treatment on the quality maintenance of whole and fresh-cut climacteric and non-climacteric fruit (apple, kiwifruit and pineapple).
Concerning the effects of 1-MCP on whole fruit, was investigated the effects of a semi-commercial postharvest treatment with 1-MCP on the quality of Pink Lady apples as functions of fruit ripening stage, 1-MCP dose, storage time and also in combination with controlled atmospheres storage in order to better understand what is the relationship among these parameters and if is possible to maximize the 1-MCP treatment to meet the market/consumer needs and then in order to put in the market excellent fruit. To achieve this purpose an incomplete three-level three-factor design was adopted. During the storage were monitored several quality parameters: firmness, ripening index, ethylene and carbon dioxide production and were also performed a sensory evaluations after 6 month of storage. In this study the higher retention of firmness (at the end of storage) was achieved by applying the greatest 1-MCP concentration to fruits with the lowest maturity stage. This finding means that in these semi-commercial conditions we may considerate completely blocked the fruit softening. 1-MCP was able to delay also the ethylene and CO2 production and the maturity
parameters (soluble solids content and total acidity). Only in some cases 1-MCP generate a synergistic effect with the CA storage. The results of sensory analyses indicated that, the 1-MCP treatment did not affect the sweetness and whole fruit flavour while had a little effect on the decreasing cut fruit flavour. On the contrary the treated apple was more sour, crisp, firm and juicy.
The effects of some treatment (dipping and MAP) on the nutrient stability were also investigated showing that in this case study the adopted treatments did not have drastic effects on the antioxidant compounds on the contrary the dipping may enhance the total antioxidant activity by the accumulation of ascorbic acid on the apple cut surface.
Results concerning the effects of 1-MCP in combination with MAP on the quality parameters behaviour of the kiwifruit were not always consistent and clear: in terms of colour maintenance, it seemed to have a synergistic effect with N2O MAP; as far as ripening index is concerned, 1-MCP had a preservative effect, but just for sample packed in air.


This study has focused on the relation between aesthetics and usability within a user interface based on a design metaphor. Three designs with a tree metaphor and one design as a simple list has been used for evaluation. These designs have been evaluated by six usability experts with a heuristic inspection and by user testing. The heuristic inspection consisted of twelve specialized heuristics for smartphones. The user testing was done with a field-study and a think-aloud protocol. The results from both the heuristic evaluation and the user testing showed that the simple list design had the highest usability but one of the tree metaphor designs was the most aesthetically pleasing. However, the user did prefer the aesthetically pleasing design. This suggest that there is a relation between perceived aesthetics and perceived usability similar to the halo effect.


1. Assistant Professor/In-Charge, Department of Political Science and International Relations Government College University Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan 2. Ph. D Scholar Department of Political Science and International Relations Government College University Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan 3. Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology Government College University Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan PAPER INFO ABSTRACT Received: November 01, 2019 Accepted: December 30, 2019 Online: December 31, 2019 This article argues that Rohingya as "illegal citizens" in Myanmar and as refugees in other states of South East Asia are a marginalized community of the world and also increase challenges for receiving states. Myanmar has been deliberately declared them illegal citizens and demolished their villages after the latest genocide and build military barracks along the Bangladesh border. So, now almost two million Rohingya are living in refugee camps in different countries. For this article qualitative method and secondary data such as newspapers and articles are used. For ethnic cleansing of Rohingya from Myanmar, government and Buddist monks used the religion and ethnic cards; they introduced many policies such as citizenship bill of 1982, the Rohingya exodus and 969 movement. As a result, many people fled to neighboring states and become a challenge for the economy and society of receiving states such as Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.


We employ a microfluidic chip with three culture chambers to investigate the interactions among lung cancer cells, macrophages and myofibroblasts. By mixing the conditioned media of macrophages and myofibroblasts in this chip, we confirm that these two stromal cells have synergistic effects in accelerating the migration of cancer cells. However, as the myofibroblasts are pretreated with the conditioned medium of macrophages, the myofibroblasts' ability to enhance the migration of cancer cells is lowered. The tumour necrosis factor-α produced by macrophages reduces the expression of α-smooth muscle actin and the secretion of transforming growth factor-β1 in myofibroblasts. Once the tumour necrosis factor-α in the macrophage conditioned medium is neutralized, the macrophage medium-pretreated myofibroblasts can still accelerate the migration of cancer cells.


Current WHO guidelines set prevalence thresholds below which a neglected tropical disease can be considered to have been eliminated as a public health problem, and specify how surveys to assess whether elimination has been achieved should be designed and analysed, based on classical survey sampling methods. In this paper, we describe an alternative approach based on geospatial statistical modelling. We first show the gains in efficiency that can be obtained by exploiting any spatial correlation in the underlying prevalence. We then suggest that the current guidelines' implicit use of a significance testing argument is not appropriate; instead, we argue for a predictive inferential framework, leading to design criteria based on controlling the rates at which areas whose true prevalence lies above and below the elimination threshold are incorrectly classified. We describe how this approach naturally accommodates context-specific information in the form of georeferenced covariates that have been shown to be predictive of disease prevalence. Finally, we give a progress report of an ongoing collaboration with the Guyana Ministry of Health Neglected Tropical Disease programme on the design of an IDA (ivermectin, diethylcarbamazine and albendazole) Impact Survey of lymphatic filariasis to be conducted in Guyana in early 2023. This article is part of the theme issue 'Challenges and opportunities in the fight against neglected tropical diseases: a decade from the London Declaration on NTDs'.


Recent publication of several consensus by well-known international experts in the field of high blood pressure gives us the opportunity to update the definition of hypertension. For the first time, systolic blood pressure is taken into account to define hypertensives. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring has been recently developed for the evaluation and treatment of hypertensive patients. Due to the absence of world-wide recognized normative data and the lack of prospective studies assessing the superiority of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring over casual blood pressure measurement for the prediction of cardiovascular events, the use of this new technique is to be restricted to a limited number of hypertensive patients.


This study uses 1971-2013 panel data to explore the implications of growth, wealth disparities and energy consumption on carbon emissions in a sample of Next-Eleven (N-11) countries. It uses modern econometric techniques to highlight a long-run interplay between selected variables in the carbon emissions function for all the N-11 nations and long-run interactions among the series analyzed. Contrastingly, it also shows that economic growth, income inequalities and energy consumption accelerate CO2 emissions.In addition to examining the effects of the wealth disparities square, the study also uses the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis in the context of the N-11 states. Its findings suggest that policymakers should curb rising income inequalities through effective redistributive measures such as tax transfers (cash transfers) and taking up other expenditure programs for the poor. Moreover, the Indian government should emphasize on an energy-reducing strategy policy to reduce income inequalities and achieve sustainable development.


IN the course of stressing certain front cross members of an engine mounting it was found necessary to determine the shear'stress on various sections of the cross members as accurately as possible. These cross members were by no means of uniform cross‐section, so that it was considered desirable to investigate, a formula which would give shear stress in a tapered beam. The "classical" methods evolved by Messrs. Coker and Filon in their Treatise on Photo‐elasticity and by Mr. Atkin in AIRCRAFT ENGINEERING, Vol. X, November and December, 1938, pp. 347–351 and 371–374 were found to be too elaborate. In September, 1942, Messrs. Pugsley and Weatherhead contributed an article entitled "The Shear Stresses in Tapered Beams", to the Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society. These authors start with a standard expression for shear stress based on the equilibrium of a portion of a beam and apply it to the solution of some examples. In the course of my investigations, it has been found possible to extend the "engineering" analysis of shear stress in beams of uniform section to beams of variable cross‐section. The expression for the determination of shear stress thus arrived at is very convenient and quite suitable for graphical methods. However, in the case of symmetrically tapering beams, an approximate formula has been developed for the shear stress in terms of shear force, bending moment, taper angle and section inertia and this formula is much more convenient and simple to apply than the standard expression used by Messrs. Pugsley and Weatherhead.


In this paper we estimate consumer demand for food taking into account some socio-demographic characteristics of consumers. To tackle the issue of unobserved heterogeneity among consumers we used the, recent developed, Exact Affine Stone Index (EASI) demand system. Data used come from matching two datasets: the National Expenditure and the National Health Surveys for Spain. The main objective of our paper is to examine the effect of different price intervention policies that aim to improve diet quality. These policies include taxing unhealthy foods (e.g. sweets; fat), subsidizing healthy foods (e.g. Fruit and vegetable) and a mixture policy that include taxing unhealthy and subsidizing healthy foods at the same time. Our results consistent with the literature suggesting that taxes (subsidies) have a significant but small effect on diet quality. However, taxes can increase public budget significantly which can be used to finance other policies as educational campaigns or complementary health policies.


Abstract In our laboratory we generated one synthetic cyclic peptide (Pep4) and tested it in human mitogen stimulation assays (MSA) and mixed lymphocytes reactions (MLR) generating dose-response curves showing a dose-dependent inhibition of MSA up to 80 % and MLR up to 98 %. MSA and MLR were repeated after pre incubation of the Pep4 with each separate responder cell subset and subsequent reconstitution: these experiments showed inhibition only when the peptide was present in culture. Pep4 showed species specificity since it was ineffective in inhibiting rat MLR. Combination effect analysis with Pep4 and cyclosporine showed a combination index > 1. This rationally designed peptide (Pep4) shows powerful inhibition of human T cell activation and, although the exact mechanism is still undefined, it seems to exert its major action on the T cell surface, interfering with co receptor interaction and disrupting the same activation signal pathway inhibited by cyclosporine A.


BACKGROUND: Unprecedented demand for N95 respirators during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a global shortage of these masks. We validated a rapidly applicable, low-cost decontamination protocol in compliance with regulatory standards to enable the safe reuse of N95 respirators. METHODS: We inoculated 4 common models of N95 respirators with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and evaluated viral inactivation after disinfection for 60 minutes at 70°C and 0% relative humidity. Similarly, we evaluated thermal disinfection at 0% to 70% relative humidity for masks inoculated with Escherichia coli. We assessed masks subjected to multiple cycles of thermal disinfection for structural integrity using scanning electron microscopy and for protective functions using standards of the United States National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health for particle filtration efficiency, breathing resistance and respirator fit. RESULTS: A single heat treatment rendered SARS-CoV-2 undetectable in all mask samples. Compared with untreated inoculated control masks, E. coli cultures at 24 hours were virtually undetectable from masks treated at 70°C and 50% relative humidity (optical density at 600 nm wavelength, 0.02 ± 0.02 v. 2.77 ± 0.09, p < 0.001), but contamination persisted for masks treated at lower relative humidity. After 10 disinfection cycles, masks maintained fibre diameters similar to untreated masks and continued to meet standards for fit, filtration efficiency and breathing resistance. INTERPRETATION: Thermal disinfection successfully decontaminated N95 respirators without impairing structural integrity or function. This process could be used in hospitals and long-term care facilities with commonly available equipment to mitigate the depletion of N95 masks.


Graphene aerogels (GAs) are widely studied in the oil contamination field in recent years. Among the preparation approaches, hydrothermal treatment employing a certain reducing agent has attracted much attention owing to the environmentally friendly and facile synthesis process. In this work, we systematically investigate the effects of various reducing agents including ammonia, ethanediamine (EDA) and vitamin C (VC) at different hydrothermal temperatures (80, 100, 120, 140, 160 and 180 °C) and reaction times (4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 h) on the density, specific surface area (SSA), strength, morphology and adsorption performance of GAs. The results reveal that GAs reduced by VC possess the most outstanding performance for mechanical strength and re-utilization but have poor adsorption capacity (Qwt), whereas the sample obtained with ammonia exhibits the highest Qwt for both lube (160 g g−1) and n-hexane (105 g g−1). However, this sample not only reveals the worst mechanical strength which leads to a sharp decrease of the Qwt during the adsorption–squeezing experiments, but GA reduced by ammonia is also very sensitive to the reaction time and temperature. Therefore, EDA is a very promising reducing agent for the hydrothermal process as the resulting GA can maintain a high Qwt and reveals a wide hydrothermal preparation window.


Two glider transects in the Gulf of Mexico reveal fine-vertical-scale thermohaline structures within a Loop Current eddy (LCE). Partially compensating temperature and salinity anomalies are shown to organize as thin layers below the eddy and near its edges. The anomalies have vertical scales ranging from 2 to 60 m and extend laterally over distances up to 120 km. These structures are evident in synthetic acoustic reflectivity derived from the glider data and are reminiscent of the intense layering observed in seismic imagery around meddies, Agulhas rings, and warm-core Kuroshio rings. The observed layers are aligned with the geostrophic streamfunction rather than isopycnals and develop preferentially in zones of intense vertical shear. These observations suggest that tracer stirring by the eddy's vertically sheared azimuthal flow might be an important process for their generation. In an attempt to rationalize this process, high-resolution quasigeostrophic simulations were performed using an idealized anticyclonic ring for the initial conditions. As the vortex destabilizes, layering rapidly develops in the model, resulting in structures similar to those found in the observation data. Passive tracer experiments also suggest that the layers form through differential advection of the tracer field by the vertically sheared flow associated with the LCE.


Visual characteristics of terrain affect the properties of pigeon trajectories in medium-distance flights. Pigeon flight often provides a solution to the task of searching for food (foraging), returning home (homing), or exploring territory (surveying). In this work, we considered the flights of single pigeons and pigeon flocks, calculated flight characteristics such as direction, altitude and its deviations, and analyzed reactions to the boundaries between different areas. Based on remote sensing datasets, we identified visual characteristics of terrain, such as the density of surface fill and its distribution over the study terrain, boundaries of single objects, and boundaries between homogeneous areas. Applying spatial analysis, we compared the characteristics of pigeon GPS tracks and features of object distributions on terrain over which birds fly. Our analysis revealed which flight parameters are stable and which, on the contrary, are very sensitive to visually perceived terrain characteristics. We found that the properties of flight over an urbanized area often differ from the properties of flight over a natural landscape. Spatial data-pigeon GPS track records and open-access remote sensing datasets-were processed using the geographical information system QGIS. Our results show that adaptive visual perception can help solve navigation tasks when pigeons fly over mixed terrain. Knowledge of the characteristic features of bird flights can be used both for a better understanding of the spatial behavior of living creatures (humans and animals) and for optimization of artificial intelligence algorithms.


Image segmentation is considered to be one of the foremost image analysis techniques for high-level real-world applications in computer vision. Its task is to change or simplify the representation of an image in order to make it easier to understand or analyze. Although image segmentation has been studied for many years, evolving technology and transformation of demands make image segmentation a continuing challenge.  Noise as a side effect of imaging devices is an inevitable part of images in many computer vision applications. Therefore, an important topic in image segmentation is noisy image segmentation which requires extra effort to deal with image segmentation in the presence of noise. Generally, different strategies are needed for different noisy images with different levels/types of noise. Therefore, many approaches in the literature are domain-dependent and applicable only to specific images.  A well-recognized approach in noisy image segmentation uses clustering algorithms, among which Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) is one of the most popular. FCM is unsupervised, efficient, and can deal with uncertainty and complexity of information in an image. Dealing with uncertainties is easier with the fuzzy characteristic of FCM, and complexity of information is being taken care of by utilizing different features in FCM, and also combining FCM with other techniques.  Many modifications have been introduced to FCM to deal with noisy image segmentation more effectively. Common approaches include, adding spatial information into the FCM process, addressing the FCM initialization problem, and enhancing features used for segmentation. However, existing FCM-based noisy image segmentation approaches in the literature generally suffer from three drawbacks. First, they are applicable to specific domains and images, and impotent in others. Second, they don't perform well on severely noisy image segmentation. Third, they are effective on specific type and level of noise, and they don't explore the effect of noise level variation.  Recently, evolutionary computation techniques due to their global search abilities have been used in hybridization with FCM, mostly to address FCM stagnation in local optima. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is particularly of interest because of its lower computational costs, easy implementation, and fast convergence, but its potential in this area has not been fully investigated.  This thesis develops new domain-independent PSO-based algorithms for an automatic non-supervised FCM-based segmentation of severely noisy images which are capable of extracting the main coherent/homogeneous regions while preserving details and being robust to noise variation. The key approach taken in the thesis is to explore the use of PSO to manipulate and enhance local spatial and spatial-frequency information. This thesis introduces a new PSO feature enhancement approach in wavelet domain for noisy image segmentation. This approach applies adaptive wavelet shrinkage using evaluation based on FCM clustering performance. The results show great accuracy in the case of severe noise because of the enhanced features. Also, due to adaptivity, no parameter-tuning is required according to the type or volume of noise, and the performance is consistent under noise level variation.  This thesis presents a scheme under which a fusion of two different denoising algorithms for more effective segmentation is possible. This fusion retains the advantages of each algorithm while leaving out their drawbacks. The fusion scheme uses the noisy image segmentation system introduced above and anisotropic diffusion, the edge-preserving denoising algorithm. Results show greater accuracy and stability in comparison to the individual algorithms on a variety of noisy images.  This thesis introduces another PSO-based edge-preserving adaptive wavelet shrinkage system using wavelet packets, bilateral filtering, and a detail-respecting shrinkage scheme. The analysis of the results provide a comparison between the two feature enhancement systems. The first system uses wavelets and the second uses wavelet packets as a domain to enhance features for an FCM-based noisy image segmentation. Also, the highest segmentation accuracy among all the algorithms introduced in this thesis on some benchmarks belong to this system.


The inverse scattering problem for the Schrodinger operator on the half-axis is studied. It is shown that this problem can be solved for the scattering matrices with arbitrary finite phase shift on the real axis if one admits potentials with long-range oscillating tails at infinity. The solution of the problem is constructed with the help of the Gelfand-Levitan-Marchenko procedure. The inverse problem has no unique solution for the standard set of scattering data which includes the scattering matrix, energies of the bound states and corresponding normalizing constants. This fact is related to zeros of the spectral density on the real axis. It is proven that the inverse problem has a unique solution in the defined class of potentials if the zeros of the spectral density are added to the set of scattering data. (Less)


Healthcare expenditures only increased over the past decade. The Dutch healthcare expenditures has
risen from 12.3% in 2005 until 13.8% in 2015 of the gross domestic product. A major proportion of it
goes to medical and long-term care(1). Reasons for this growth are the increasing demand for care and
the rapid development of healthcare technology. Hence, the way patients are treated and the
organisation of healthcare institutions are changed. Institutions have to deliver medical care in a more
efficient and effective way, to keep up with the demand. Therefore, hospitals have therefore, an
increasing attention for efficiency and management.
This phenomenon led to the application of logistical concepts from industry. Just-in-Time, Focussed
Factory, Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma and Manufacturing Resource Planning are examples of
Operational Management (OM) concepts that are used in the health care institutions (2). The basic
idea of OM is making processes valuable and efficient. Continues improvement of efficiency, flexibility
and quality are keywords of OM and ensure organisation to keep their processes valuable. Industry is
familiar with this OM concept for decades due to a fearsome competition within the sector.
The use of OM in healthcare knows two main pitfalls: the lack of dialog and cooperation between all
stakeholders and mismatching the concepts characteristics and the needs of the hospital system (2-4).
So, the several concepts that are already being used by healthcare institutions do not always result in
the expected effect. This raises the question what lessons the healthcare sector should learn from OM.
Unfortunately, most knowledge about the use of OM is from industry. Research into the use of OM in
healthcare is, to our knowledge, limited to case studies or specific interventions. There is little known
about generalizable instruments to assess the effects of OM in healthcare.
To evaluate OM, it is important to narrow it down. OM can be dissected into four operations: resource
capacity planning (RCP), medical planning, financial planning and material planning(2). In previous
research a questionnaire was developed to evaluate the presences and use of RCP on departmental
level of hospitals(5). In this questionnaire, RCP describes the dimensioning, planning, scheduling,
monitoring and control of renewable resources.
As far as we know, the RCP questionnaire is the only questionnaire for measuring RCP on tactical and
operational offline level in hospital departments. It examines the presence of RCP elements in different
phases of the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle (PDCA) (6). A previous pilot study pointed out that the
questionnaire provides a clear representation of RCP performance of hospital departments. However,
a correlation of only the Plan phase elements and the efficiency was found. In contrast to the pilot
study, the aim of this research is to determine which of the elements from all phases influences the
performance of the hospital departments. Hence, the research question is: What are RCP success
factors for the performance of hospital departments.


The best way to obtain significant results in science is to combine sophisticated experimental techniques and innovative samples. The aim of this thesis is to report an operative method to be used for the characterization of charge transfer phenomena in photo-active samples. This kind of analysis is extremely important for the doped TiO2 samples analyzed. These doped systems are promising photo-catalysts for hydrogen production from water splitting and pollutants degradation. Doping is an efficient method to decrease the energy needed to trigger the excitation of the photo-catalyst, otherwise possible only in the UV range. Identifying the role of dopants when the sample is excited is a mandatory step to understand the effects of dopants on the photo-catalytic properties of the systems. Both X-ray and optical techniques were used to characterize the samples and to follow those charge transfer phenomena induced by a visible excitation. Exploiting the unique characteristics of X Ray Absorption Fine Structure (XAFS) it was possible to determine the local structure of dopants inside the TiO2 matrix. With a differential illumination High Resolution Fluorescence Detected (HERFD) XAFS experiment an atomistic description of the light-induced charge transfer phenomena in V-doped TiO2 systems was obtained. The same physical process was also indirectly highlighted using optical ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy. With this technique the inter-band transitions triggered by a visible light excitation were followed in real time. The combination of the two kinds of techniques made possible a complete description of the role of V dopants that, injecting charge carriers, lower the energy needed to trigger the photo-generation and surface trapping of charge carriers fundamental for the photo-catalytic processes.


OBJECTIVE
To amplify and express the gene encoding murine single-chain fragment variable (scFv) antibody against human cervical cancer and predict the secondary structure and three-dimensional structure of the antibody.

METHODS
The gene fragments coding for the variable region of the heavy and light chains of scFv antibody against human cervical cancer were amplified respectively using recombinant DNA techniques from CsA125 hybridoma cells, and spliced together using a flexible linker to the antibody. The scFv genes were then cloned into the expression vector pCANTAB 5E and expressed in E.coli HB2151 and TG1, respectively. The scFv antibody obtained was assayed using SDS-PAGE, Western blotting, and immunohistochemical analysis, with its secondary structure and three-dimensional structure predicted with Swiss-model and 3dpssm. The physicochemical properties of the antibody were analyzed with Antheprot software.

RESULTS
The expressed scFv antibody was soluble and phage-displayed. The specific binding capacity of the soluble and phage-displayed scFv antibody to the surface-associated antigen of human cervical cancer cell line were further confirmed. The scFv antibody had a relative molecular mass of 32,000 as was consistent to theoretical prediction, with pI of 7.215 and characterized to belong to alpha+beta protein. The antibody contained many protein kinase C phosphorylation sites and casein kinase II phosphorylation sites in both the VH and VL domains. Computer graphic modeling indicated that the linker was isolated from the VH and VL domains, which formed a hydrophobic pocket in the molecule to facilitate antigen binding.

CONCLUSIONS
The soluble and phage displayed scFv antibody expressed in E. coli against human cervical cancer shows high and specific affinity to the cervical cancer cell line surface-associated antigen. The construction and analysis of the molecular model of the antibody may facilitate further studies in engineering of the antibody and exploration of the mechanism of the antigen-antibody interaction.


They have come to intersect with an entire range of domestic issues, from welfare policy to suburban zoning practices. In an explosive chain reaction, a new conservative voting majority has replaced the once-dominant Democratic presidential coalition, and a new polarization has pitted major segments of society against one another. How did this massive power shift occur? Thomas Byrne Edsall of The Washington Post and Mary D. Edsall provide answers in this compelling analysis, cited by Newsweek as "one of the book[s] that shape[d] the debate" in the 1992 presidential campaign.


field amplitudes up to 300 mV m � 1 and associated magnetic field variations between 0.5 and 5 nT. Previous analysis has shown that the larger-scale Alfven waves have periods of � 20-60 s and carry enough Poynting flux to explain the generation of the most intense auroral structures observed in the Polar Ultraviolet Imager data set. In this paper it is shown that the smaller-scale waves have durations in the spacecraft frame of 250 ms to 1 s (but may have shorter time durations since the Nyquist frequency of the magnetic field experiment is � 4 Hz.). The characteristic ratio of the amplitudes of the electric to magnetic field fluctuations is strong evidence that the waves are kinetic Alfven waves with scale sizes perpendicular to the magnetic field on the order of 20- 120 km (with an electron inertial length c/wpe� 10 km and an ion gyroradius � 20 km). Theoretical analysis of the observed spikes suggests that these waves should be very efficient at accelerating electrons parallel to the magnetic field. Simultaneously measured electron velocity space distribution functions from the Polar Hydra instrument include parallel electron heating features and earthward electron beams, indicating strong parallel energization. The characteristic parallel energy is on the order of � 1 keV, consistent with estimates of the parallel R Edl associated with small-scale kinetic Alfven wave structures. The energy flux in the electron ''beams'' is � 0.7 ergs cm � 2 s � 1 . These observations suggest that the small-scale kinetic Alfven waves are generated from the larger-scale Alfven waves through one or more of a variety of mechanisms that have been proposed to result in the filamentation of large-amplitude Alfven waves. The observations presented herein provide strong evidence that in addition to the auroral particle energization processes known to occur at altitudes between 0.5 and 2 RE, there are important heating and acceleration mechanisms operating at these higher altitudes in the plasma sheet. INDEX TERMS: 2712 Magnetospheric Physics: Electric fields (2411); 2748 Magnetospheric Physics: Magnetotail boundary layers; 2752 Magnetospheric Physics: MHD waves and instabilities; 2704 Magnetospheric Physics: Auroral phenomena (2407)


The neuro-physiological mechanisms involved in postural stabilization are not well understood. Human body mechanically resembles an inverted pendulum that is inherently unstable. Active and passive mechanisms at muscle level, as well as other visual and vestibular processes, are attributed to stability. The available evidence suggests that muscle stiffness alone is insufficient to stabilize body sway, and must rely on active mechanisms of stabilization that are unlikely to have a reflex nature due to the intrinsic delays in the reflex pathways and the low-pass characteristics of the muscle response. The role played by the central nervous system in active control of stance thus remains an open and intriguing question. In this study we present simulation results to support an active-passive model of postural stabilization. Besides expanding our understanding of the postural stabilization process, the insight gained would be useful to promote intervention techniques for therapists and clinicians working with fall-prone individuals.


PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore and compare emotions perceived while coding and presenting for software students, comparing three different countries and performing also a gender analysis.Design/methodology/approachEmpirical data are gathered by means of the discrete emotions questionnaire, which was distributed to a group of students (n = 174) in three different countries: Norway, Spain and Turkey. All emotions are self-assessed by means of a Likert scale.FindingsThe results show that both tasks are emotionally different for the subjects of all countries: presentation is described as a task that produces mainly fear and anxiety; whereas coding tasks produce anger and rage, but also happiness and satisfaction. With regards to gender differences, men feel less scared in presentation tasks, whereas women report more desire in coding activities. It is concluded that it is important to be aware and take into account the different emotions perceived by students in their activities. Moreover, it is also important to note the different intensities in these emotions present in different cultures and genders.Originality/valueThis study is among the few to study emotions perceived in software work by means of a multicultural approach using quantitative research methods. The research results enrich computing literacy theory in human factors.


We introduce an interacting random process related to Ulam's problem, or finding the limit of the normalized longest increasing subsequence of a random permutation. The process describes the evolution of a configuration of sticks on the sites of the one-dimensional integer lattice. Our main result is a hydrodynamic scaling limit: The empirical stick profile converges to a weak solution of the inviscid Burgers equation under a scaling of lattice space and time. The stick process is also an alternative view of Hammersley's particle system that Aldous and Diaconis used to give a new solution to Ulam's problem. Along the way to the scaling limit we produce another independent solution to this question. The heart of the proof is that individual paths of the stochastic process evolve under a semigroup action which under the scaling turns into the corresponding action for the Burgers equation, known as the Lax formula. In a separate appendix we use the Lax formula to give an existence and uniqueness proof for scalar conservation laws with initial data given by a Radon measure.


We describe the setup to create a large Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) containing more than 120 million atoms. In the experiment a thermal beam is slowed by a Zeeman slower and captured in a dark-spot magneto-optical trap (MOT). The sample is subsequently spin polarized in a high magnetic field, before the atoms are loaded in the magnetic trap. Spin polarizing in a high magnetic field results in an increase in the transfer efficiency by a factor of 2 compared to experiments without spin polarizing. In the magnetic trap the cloud is cooled to degeneracy in 50 s by evaporative cooling. This large atom number BEC yields the possibility to enter the hydrodynamic regime by evaporative cooling at a relative low density suppressing the effect of avalanches. The collisional opacity can be tuned from the collisionless regime to a collisional opacity of more than 3 by compressing the trap after condensation. In the collisional opaque regime a significant heating of the cloud at time scales shorter than half of the radial trap period is measured. This is direct proof that the BEC is hydrodynamic. Furthermore a detailed study is presented of superradiant scattering from a BEC. The relation between the depletion of the BEC and the onset of the different side modes as well as the transition from the weak to the strong pulse regime is studied yielding a good insight in the coupling processes between the BEC and the side modes. Finally, a simplified model to describe the time evolution of the process is presented. The model gives a good quantitative description of the fraction of atoms coupled to different side modes, showing that the approximations made in the modeling are valid. Also the atom pair production by superradiant backward-scattering from a Bose-Einstein condensate is investigated. In our experiment the energy in the process is conserved by using a pulse with two frequencies. This makes the process resonant, which gives full control over the number of atoms in the different recoil modes. It is shown that resonant backward-scattering produces strongly correlated side modes in which number squeezing and phase correlation are likely. This makes resonant superradiant backward-scattering a promising candidate for many-particle entanglement.


The paper aims to find out an economic and effective treatment for the silicon steel wastewater. According to the Fenton reaction principle, chemical adsorption and chemical flocculation, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and Cr6+ in the wastewater were reduced. The appropriate parameters were as follows: the mol ratio of Fe2+ to H2O2 was 1:2, the mol ratio of Fe2+ (dosage into the wastewater) to Cr6+ (content of the wastewater) was 5.2:1, pH 3-4, temperature 15-35°C. Under these conditions, the removal rate of Cr6+ and CODCr was 99.99% and 98.11% respectively, the Cr6+ and CODCr of the influent reduced from 2959mg/L and 1351mg/L to 0.421mg/L and 25.6mg/L respectively, and the effluent concentration achieved 1-class in "Steel Industrial Water Pollutant Discharge Standard(GB 13456-92)".


The purpose of present study was to develop once a day sustained release enteric coated tablet of Fluoxetine HCl by direct compression method. Design was prepared for nine batch using fenugreek mucilage at 40%, 50% and 60% concentration ; HPMC at 10%, 15% and 20%; Compritol ATO 888 at 10%, 15% and 20% and ethyl cellulose at 2%, 3% and 4% concentration. Fenugreek mucilage was extracted from dried ripe seeds of Trigonella foenum-graecum (Fabaceae). Cellulose acetate phthalate was used as enteric coating agent. The tablets were characterized for weight variation, crushing strength, friability, drug content and in vitro drug release study. All the formulations were complied with standard specifications. The Drug excipients compatibility study was performed by DSC and IR Spectroscopy and no incompatibility was found. The results of in vitro dissolution studies indicated that formulations X2, X5 and X8 released 7.03%, 7.03%, 4.75% of Fluoxetine respectively at the end of 2 hour and 98.17%, 78.12%, 65.45% of Fluoxetine respectively at the end of 24 hour. Increased release rate was observed in polymer in the order HPMC K 100M > ethyl cellulose > Compritol ATO 888. Formulation X2 (50% fenugreek mucilage and 15% HPMC K 100M) could extend drug release up to 24 hour and it exhibited satisfactory drug release within first 2 hours and total release pattern was very close to marketed product. The 0 mechanism of drug release was found to be diffusion coupled with erosion. Optimized formulation was found to be stable when exposed to 40 C/ 75 % of relative humidity for 3 month.


Recent research on model interpretability in natural language processing extensively uses feature scoring methods for identifying which parts of the input are the most important for a model to make a prediction (i.e. explanation or rationale). However, previous research has shown that there is no clear best scoring method across various text classification tasks while practitioners typically have to make several other ad-hoc choices regarding the length and the type of the rationale (e.g. short or long, contiguous or not). Inspired by this, we propose a simple yet effective and flexible method that allows selecting optimally for each data instance: (1) a feature scoring method; (2) the length; and (3) the type of the rationale. Our method is inspired by input erasure approaches to interpretability which assume that the most faithful rationale for a prediction should be the one with the highest difference between the model's output distribution using the full text and the text after removing the rationale as input respectively. Evaluation on four standard text classification datasets shows that our proposed method provides more faithful, comprehensive and highly sufficient explanations compared to using a fixed feature scoring method, rationale length and type. More importantly, we demonstrate that a practitioner is not required to make any ad-hoc choices in order to extract faithful rationales using our approach.


The study's focus is on cognising the methods of formation of New Man, a new reasoning, a new worldview, and an ERA of PEACE and LOVE by in-depth research into the content of ethical- moral rules, regulations, principles, and canons based on the Great Cosmic Laws of Development, and the Harmony Laws of the CREATOR and GOD. This is the strategy of holistic sustained development of Man and Humanity in the Epoch of Aquarius. The authors' research is built around the following axioms: - Energy is the unique essence of All Being; - EVERYTHING is reduced to energy – the energy of inner and external interaction. Keywords: holistic principles, energy of inner and external interaction, harmony, spirituality, ethics


Epigenetic modification can mediate environmental influences on gene expression and can modulate the disease risk associated with genetic variation. Epigenetic analysis therefore holds substantial promise for identifying mechanisms through which genetic and environmental factors jointly contribute to disease risk. The spatial and temporal variance in epigenetic profile is of particular relevance for developmental epidemiology and the study of aging, including the variable age at onset for many common diseases. This review serves as a general introduction to the topic by describing epigenetic mechanisms, with a focus on DNA methylation; genetic and environmental factors that influence DNA methylation; epigenetic influences on development, aging, and disease; and current methodology for measuring epigenetic profile. Methodological considerations for epidemiologic studies that seek to include epigenetic analysis are also discussed.


The 26 S proteasome is a large protease complex that catalyzes the degradation of both native and misfolded proteins. These proteins are known to interact with PA700, the regulatory subcomplex of the 26 S proteasome, via a covalently attached polyubiquitin chain. Here we provide evidence for an additional ubiquitin-independent mode of substrate recognition by PA700. PA700 prevents the aggregation of three incompletely folded, nonubiquitinated substrates: the ΔF-508 mutant form of cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator, nucleotide binding domain 1, insulin B chain, and citrate synthase. This function does not require ATP hydrolysis. The stoichiometry required for this function, the effect of PA700 on the lag phase of aggregation, and the temporal specificity of PA700 in this process all indicate that PA700 interacts with a subpopulation of non-native conformations that is either particularly aggregation-prone or nucleates misassociation reactions. The inhibition of off-pathway self-association reactions is also reflected in the ability of PA700 to promote refolding of citrate synthase. These results provide evidence that, in addition to binding polyubiquitin chains, PA700 contains a site(s) that recognizes and interacts with misfolded or partially denatured polypeptides. This feature supplies an additional level of substrate specificity to the 26 S proteasome and a means by which substrates are maintained in a soluble state until refolding or degradation is complete.


Ethics in communication approaches by the Indian electronic media, particularly television about its content on air are a heated debate in the country today. Why do channels adopt "devious" ways to lure the viewers? How fair are channels conducting media trials? Is judiciary in India unable to address that TV channels should take up head-on? Does political ownership of Channels affect ethical practices? Do artistes on programs pass-off comments that affect social order? Do channels air programs without prior permissions or copyrights from the artistes or organizers? What is the degree of professionalism and credibility among viewers? The theoretical framework of the study is based on the macroscopic theory of Political Economy. This critical study examines case studies of program content drawn from different pan-India channels, satellite or cable. This study focuses on media ethics and effects on society. © 2013, Global Media Journal - Canadian Edition.


Over the past decade, emoji have emerged as a new and widespread form of digital communication, spanning diverse social networks and spoken languages. We propose treating these ideograms as a new modality in their own right, distinct in their semantic structure from both the text in which they are often embedded as well as the images which they resemble. As a new modality, emoji present rich novel possibilities for representation and interaction. In this paper, we explore the challenges that arise naturally from considering the emoji modality through the lens of multimedia research, specifically the ways in which emoji can be related to other common modalities such as text and images. To do so, we first present a large-scale data set of real-world emoji usage collected from Twitter. This data set contains examples of both text-emoji and image-emoji relationships within tweets. We present baseline results on the challenge of predicting emoji from both text and images, using state-of-the-art neural networks. Further, we offer a first consideration into the problem of how to account for new, unseen emoji—a relevant issue as the emoji vocabulary continues to expand on a yearly basis. Finally, we present results for multimedia retrieval using emoji as queries.


Abstract The nuclear non-proliferation regime, despite being frequently criticised for an alleged lack of effectiveness, is in fact an amazing success story. The number of states which had conducted nuclear weapons activities in various stages but which have terminated them at one point surpasses the number of Nuclear-Weapon States (NWSs) by far. At the apex of its success, however, the regime is threatened by erosion from three different directions. A small number of rule-breakers and outsiders undermine its central objective: to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. The refusal of the official NWSs to fulfil their undertaking of nuclear disarmament violates the principle of justice enshrined in the treaty and thereby destroys its legitimacy, as does the perceived readiness by nuclear suppliers to impede the development of nuclear technology in developing countries. The Gordian Knot can presumably only be cut by a u-turn towards a world without nuclear weapons. This insight has meanwhile reached the mainstream security establishment of the United States, the president included. Whether this road will really be taken will determine the future of the regime—with far-reaching consequences for global security.


Abstract Objective: To investigate the relationship between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and risk of incident diabetes in Hong Kong Chinese, after accounting for the effect of multiple bone- and mineral-related markers. Design: We conducted a retrospective study on the Hong Kong Osteoporosis Study cohort. Incident diabetes was ascertained using electronic medical records. Serum 25(OH)D was measured at baseline and its association with incident diabetes was evaluated using multivariable Cox proportional-hazard regression. Participants: Individuals (n 4342) aged 20 years or above (1395 men, 2947 women; mean age 54·3 (sd 16·5) years) from the Hong Kong Osteoporosis Study, who were free of diabetes at baseline, were included. Results: During 40 124·7 person-years of follow-up (a median of 9·2 years), 443 participants developed diabetes. Mean 25(OH)D was 63·34 (sd 13·07) nmol/l. Age-, sex- and BMI-adjusted Cox proportional-hazard regression showed no significant difference in the risk of incident diabetes between the lowest and the highest quintiles of 25(OH)D. In the analysis of the interaction effect between 25(OH)D and serum Ca, the interaction term did not affect the risk of incident diabetes significantly (P = 0·694). Similarly, there was no significant interaction of different subgroups (age, sex, BMI, femoral-neck T-score, serum Ca levels) with serum 25(OH)D. Conclusions: The present study finds that serum vitamin D level is not associated with the risk of incident diabetes in Hong Kong Chinese and this relationship is not modified by serum Ca level.