Over the last three decades, U.S. imports of fresh fruits have been constantly increasing at an annual average growth rate of 7% (USITC, 2016). Fresh fruits make up 9% of the total U.S. food imports (UN Database, 2016) with the top seven fruits accounting for 82% of the value of the U.S. fresh fruit imports and Canada and Mexico (NAFTA countries) as the most important trade partners (USITC, 2016). This study analyzes the main U.S. markets and supply sources of the top imported fresh fruits and estimates a Source-Differentiated Almost Ideal Demand System model (SDAIDS) using time-series data, with North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) countries and the rest of the world (ROW) as import sources. Our results suggest that source of origin is an intrinsic quality attribute for most of the fresh fruits analyzed. More specifically, the study found that most uncompensated own-price elasticities are inelastic, most cross-price elasticities are positives indicating that the fruits imported from given sources are net substitutes, and that statistically significant expenditure elasticities are positive implying that the quantity imported of all the fresh fruit analyzed increases as real expenditure for those fruits rises. The results of this study will be useful to policy-makers in regulating the international market of fresh fruits, setting optimal import taxes and price floors, and predicting likely scenarios of imports from Canada and Mexico.


Abstract Aquatic pathogens are a major concern for fish hatchery production, fisheries management, and conservation, and disease control needs to be addressed. Two important salmonid pathogens are Myxobolus cerebralis and Flavobacterium psychrophilum that cause whirling disease and bacterial coldwater disease (BCWD), respectively. Innate disease resistance is a potential option for reducing disease‐related mortality in hatchery‐reared rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss, Walbaum). Two experiments were conducted to assess pathogen resistance of first‐generation (F1) rainbow trout created by crossing M. cerebralis‐ and F. psychrophilum‐resistant strains. In the first experiment, we exposed two rainbow trout strains and one F1 cross to six treatments: control (no exposure), mock injection, F. psychrophilum only, M. cerebralis only, F. psychrophilum then M. cerebralis, and M. cerebralis then F. psychrophilum. Results indicated that the F1 cross was not resistant to either pathogen. In the second experiment, we exposed five rainbow trout strains and four rainbow trout crosses to F. psychrophilum. The second experiment indicated that at least one rainbow trout cross was F. psychrophilum‐resistant. Achieving dual resistance may be possible using selective breeding but only some multigenerational strains are suitable candidates for further evaluation.


In order to calculate confidence intervals and hypothesis tests, it is assumed that the errors are independent and normally distributed with mean zero and variance 2 σ . Given a sample of N observations on X and Y, the method of least squares estimates β0 and β1 as well as various other quantities that describe the precision of the estimates and the goodness-of-fit of the straight line to the data. Since the estimated line will seldom fit the data exactly, a term for the discrepancy between the actual and fitted data values must be added. The equation then becomes y b b x e y e j j j


We have known for many years that mucosal responses to antigens are regulated by immune cells and their molecular signals. More recently, it has become clear that epithelial cells also synthesize and secrete chemokines and cytokines. A sophisticated system of bidirectional cytokine signals is responsible for immune activation in the case of enteropathogens vs. immune suppression to food and commensal microbial antigens. A key factor in determining antigen handling is the route taken by antigens across the epithelial barrier. Cytokines and other mucosal messenger molecules play a critical role in the regulation of transepithelial antigen transport.


Abstract. In this paper, the mixing state of light absorbing carbonaceous (LAC) was investigated with a two-parameter aerosol optical model and in situ aerosol measurements at a regional site in the North China Plain (NCP). A closure study between the hemispheric backscattering fraction (HBF) measured by an integrating nephelometer and that calculated with a modified Mie model was conducted. A new method was proposed to retrieve the ratio of the externally mixed LAC mass to the total mass of LAC ( r ext-LAC ) based on the assumption that the ambient aerosol particles were externally mixed and consisted of a pure LAC material and a core-shell morphology in which the core is LAC and the shell is a less absorbing material. A Monte Carlo simulation was applied to estimate the overall influences of input parameters of the algorithm to the retrieved r ext-LAC . The diurnal variation of r ext-LAC was analyzed and the PartMC-MOSAIC model was used to simulate the variation of the aerosol mixing state. Results show that, for internally mixed particles, the assumption of core-shell mixture is more appropriate than that of homogenous mixture which has been widely used in aerosol optical calculations. A significant diurnal pattern of the retrieved r ext-LAC was found, with high values during the daytime and low values at night. The consistency between the retrieved r ext-LAC and the model results indicates that the diurnal variation of LAC mixing state is mainly caused by the diurnal evolution of the mixing layer.


Why do people succeed? Is it because they're smart? Or are they just lucky? Neither. Analyst Richard St. John condenses years of interviews into an unmissable 3-minute slideshow on the real secrets of success. A self-described average guy who found success doing what he loved, Richard St. John spent more than a decade researching the lessons of success — and distilling them into 8 words, 3 minutes


University libraries strive to provide information resources in both print and non-print formats. Library managers and administrators need to strike a balance between access and security of the resources. This paper examines a number of published literatures on library security, in particular, the different incidences of theft and mutilation as they relate to print collections in university libraries. Major forms of theft and mutilation identified from the literature includes theft by patrons and insider theft, tearing of book pages, writing on the pages of the books and marking of books content, all of which could temper with the actual subject matter of the book materials. The strategic and managerial measures for effective collection protection of library collections are also identified, evaluated and reported. The paper recommends the implementation of collection security management plan as a viable way of protection against theft and mutilation of materials in university libraries. The plan should include policy formulation and implementation, user awareness campaign, education and training of staff on the protection of collections. The paper concludes by proposing 'a framework for action which could serve as a guide for university librarians and stakeholders to ensure the protection of their library collection. In addition, it is hoped that it will serve as means of reawakening and reinforcing the awareness of university management aboutcollection security breaches.


Osteoporosis is a common chronic disease characterized by a decrease in bone mineral density, impaired bone strength, and an increased risk of fragility fractures. Fragility fractures are associated with significant morbidity, mortality and disability and are a major public health problem worldwide. The influence of nutritional factors on the development and progression of this disease can be significant and is not yet well established. Calcium intake and vitamin D status are considered to be essential for bone metabolism homeostasis. However, some recent studies have questioned the usefulness of calcium and vitamin D supplements in decreasing the risk of fractures. The adequate intake of protein, vegetables and other nutrients is also of interest, and recommendations have been established by expert consensus and clinical practice guidelines. It is important to understand the influence of nutrients not only in isolation but also in the context of a dietary pattern, which is a complex mixture of nutrients. In this review, we evaluate the available scientific evidence for the effects of the main dietary patterns on bone health. Although some dietary patterns seem to have beneficial effects, more studies are needed to fully elucidate the true influence of diet on bone fragility.


: Kinetic parameters of the inhibitory effect of vincristine on Mg2+ATPase activity containing in the actomyosin-like protein from rat sarcoma 45 and in actomyosin from rat skeletal muscle was studied. The alkaloid decreased the VM value for the reaction catalyzed by ATPase in presence of Mg2+ and EGTA and did not alter Km value for both contractile proteins. Inhibitory constants, calculated for the actomyosin from skeletal muscles and for the actomyosin-like protein from sarcoma 45, constituted 520 mcM and 250 mcM, respectively. Vincristine appears to inhibit Mg2+-ATPase containing in these contractile proteins studied by the non-competitive type, simultaneously with lowering of the activating effect of actin on the myosin-derived ATPase.


There has been quite a bit of fanfare about the government's Climate Action Plan (CAP) with some environmental groups even welcoming it. Friends of the Earth called it the "biggest innovation in Irish climate policy in 20 years".1 While it might contain a couple of good ideas, the CAP can be seen as a response to the growing pressure on the government from the movement on the streets and its concerns about losing votes to the Greens. It followed on from the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Climate Change Report which was hailed by many as a significant breakthrough in that it was seen to generate a consensus across the political spectrum that serious action was needed. It also contained a proposal for an enhanced carbon tax leading to the left and Sinn Fein not signing up to the Report. CAP is a catalogue of past failures and a completely inadequate response to the Climate Emergency. Three main problems with it are that: It lacks ambition; It lets big corporate players and big farmers off the hook; It does not challenge the profit-driven system which has created the climate crisis and relies, in the main, on the private sector, to deliver; It is not the state-lead Marshall Plan which many have been calling for to deal with climate change.


Effects of quarry dust and polypropylene fiber on compaction properties, shear strength parameters, and California bearing ratio (CBR) of a fly ash have been discussed in this paper. Quarry dust was added to a fly ash from 0 to 60% at an increment of 10%, compaction and soaked CBR tests were conducted on fly ash-quarry dust mixes and the optimum percentage of quarry dust was found out to be 40%. Polypropylene fiber was added to fly ash stabilized with optimum percentage of quarry dust, from 0 to 1.5% at an increment of 0.25%. Compaction, shear strength and soaked CBR tests were conducted on fly ash-quarry dust-polypropylene fiber mixes. From the test results the optimum percentage of polypropylene fiber was found out to be 1%.At the optimum percentage addition of quarry dust and polypropylene fiber there is slight decrease in maximum dry density and optimum moisture content, 28% increase in cohesion, 45% increase in angle of internal friction, and 597% increase in soaked CBR of the fly ash. Key word: Quarry dust, polypropylene fiber, shear strength parameters, soaked California bearing ratio, fly ash.


Decentralisation reforms in Ethiopia aimed to empower both formal and informal actors involved in different socioeconomic development efforts. However, an investigation of solid waste management in Addis Ababa shows that informal actors that play a significant role in solid waste collection – and especially in recycling, in which the city government has no capacity of its own – are not recognised by the city government and excluded from the management of the system. Using social network analysis, this article argues that the integration of informal waste collectors and recyclers within the city's waste management system will improve the state of services offered to Addis Ababa's residents.


ABSTRACT Schools often provide structure and safety to students but particularly for vulnerable children and young people. The Covid 19 pandemic has caused unprecedented upheaval across society as a whole but it is clear that the effects are uneven and that some groups have been more directly and negatively impacted, both in the UK and globally. While there are now much helpful quantitative data on the effects of Covid 19 on education, there has been little in-depth qualitative study which examines the experiences and attitudes of young people as students and specifically the effect of school closures and exam cancellations on their mental health and wellbeing. This paper discusses findings from online group interviews with a total of 45 young people and aims to understand the impact on mental health and wellbeing and what young people, themselves, suggest would help mitigate the effects of the global pandemic on their mental health and wellbeing in school.


A large kinship is reported with dominantly inherited spastic paraplegia starting in the first decade of life; its clinical evolution was indistinguishable from that of "pure" hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP). However, all patients studied had electrophysiological evidence of a predominantly sensory polyneuropathy, which was confirmed on nerve biopsy in three. The histological findings indicated virtually complete loss of large diameter fibres with relative preservation of small myelinated and non-myelinated fibres. The neuropathy was largely asymptomatic and there were no trophic ulcers. This family represents a distinct entity which differs from other reported cases of HSP with neuropathy by virtue of the clinical predominance of the pyramidal syndrome, the greater impairment of large fibre sensory modalities than of pain or temperature modalities, and the consequent absence of mutilation.


A majority of research on ionic polymer transducers has used Nafion™ as the base material. Varying the physical and chemical properties of Nafion is difficult, which limits the understanding and development of ionic transducers. In this study we investigate a novel class of polymers called BPSH (sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone)s). The polymers are synthesized by the direct polymerization of sulfonated monomers. This synthetic scheme affords precise control of the amount and the location of ionic groups along the polymar backbone. These polymers differ from Nafion™ in two major ways. First, the concentration of ionic groups on a mass basis is almost double that of standard Nafion™, 1.51 meq/g for BPSH-30 versus 0.91 meq/g for Nafion™ 1100. Also, the backbone of the BPSH copolymers is much stiffer than Nafion, which affords a higher modulus material. Both of these factors, ion content and modulus, are expected to affect the performance of polymer-based actuators. Another ionomer characterized is the PATS (poly(arylene thiother sulfone)s) which is similar to BPSH. For both polymers we are varying the ionic concentration, stiffness, and water content. Those variations are fostering the understanding of operating concepts of ionic transducers, especially the correlation between ionic transducers, especially the correlation between ionic concentration and performance. Experiments on BPSH-35 demonstrate improved performance as compared to Nafion™ They provide larger strain per unit volt, larger force generated, and larger bandwidth. The novel polymers are characterized as sensors and actuators.Copyright © 2003 by ASME


Bediuzzaman Said Nursi is one of the thinkers and reformers from Turkey who emerged as a figure of Sufism, the savior of faith and Islam in the 19th century. This research found a formulation of the self-actualization process that was different from the concepts of other scientists. According to Said Nursi, humans' self-concept consists of several natures: the rabbani nature, the nafsani nature, the spiritual nature, the physical nature, the tafakkur nature, and the tadhabbur nature. Some of these natures depend on the characteristics of the human soul journey, which cannot be separated from the fulfillment of worldly and spiritual needs and the ultimate need in the form of spirituality. Said Nursi's self-actualization positions as one of the alternative thinking frameworks based on the Koran, which goes through a four-step self-actualization process: through devotion to Allah by burying arrogance (abdun wa al-faqr), through the light of faith in God, through manifesting Asma-ul-Husna (Names of Allah) reflected in oneself, and by following the path of the Qur'an as the path of nature. Even Said Nursi repeatedly emphasized that every human being actually has the potential in the form of intrinsic faculties residing in his heart, soul, and intellect. Those popularly known as Al-Tafakkur, Tadhabbur, Al-'Ajz, Al-Fāqr, and Al-Shāfaqah are called spiritual innovations that lead to the development of tauhid to shape character and behavior towards perfect humans (Inshan Al-Kamil).


This article studies the performance of two metaheuristics, the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and the Genetic Algorithm (GA), in the manufacturing cell formation problem of a factory that needs to organize three production cases in an efficient way for four, five and six manufacturing cells to produce 30, 40 and 50 different products to be processed in 10, 10 and 20 type machines, respectively. The procedure for adjusting the particular parameters of each algorithm is implemented through a Design of Experiments which includes their own analysis of variance. Both algorithms are implemented in Matlab®. The results obtained by each meta heuristic are compared in terms of the cost of the best solution found and the execution time used to find that solution, so that it is possible to establish which methodology is the most appropriate when solving this optimization problem.


The objective of this paper is to provide a political economy explanation of the empirically observed negative correlation between employment protection and insurance. We study an economy composed of four groups of agents (capitalists, unemployed people, low- and high-skilled workers), each one represented by a politician. Politicians first form political parties and then compete in a winner-takes-all election by simultaneously proposing policy bundles composed of an employment protection level and an unemployment benefit. We first show that, in the absence of parties (i.e., in a citizen-candidate model), low-skilled workers are decisive and support a maximum employment protection level together with some unemployment benefit. We then obtain that, under some conditions, allowing for party formation results in all policy equilibria being in the Pareto set of the coalition formed by high-skilled workers together with unemployed people. Policies in this Pareto set exhibit a negative correlation between employment protection and unemployment benefit.


Patients with subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (SCLE) have recurrent annular and/or psoriasiphorm skin lesions, with or without systemic disease. Objective: To analyse the clinical expression and the Ro/SS-A response associated with SCLE in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods: 128 consecutive patients with SLE were studied. Anti-Ro/SS-A antibodies were detected by ELISA, (anti-60 kD Ro/SSA antibodies), immunoblotting (anti-60 kD and anti-52 kD Ro/SS-A antibodies) and counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIE). Results: Seventeen patients (13.2%) showed SCLE lesions. Photosensitivity was more frequent in patients with SCLE (82%) than in patients without these cutaneous lesions (45%) (OR: 5.6). Arthritis (OR: 6.3), Raynaud's phenomenon (OR: 4.9), pleuritis (OR: 7.6), central nervous system disorder (OR: 6.4), renal disease (OR: 6.3), anemia (OR: 7.9), hypocomplementemia (OR: 6.1) and anti-dsDNA antibodies (OR: 12.7) were significantly more frequent in patients without SCLE. Anti-Ro/SS-A antibodies were detected in 15 (88.2%) patients with SCLE and 62 (55.8%) patients without SCLE by ELISA, in 10 (58.8%) and 34 (30.6%) patients by immunoblotting, and in 13 (76.4%) and 34 (30.6%) by CIE, respectively. Anti-60 kD-Ro/SS-A and anti-La antibodies, but not anti-52 kD-Ro/SS-A, were significantly more frequent in patients with SCLE than in patients without SCLE. Conclusions: The presence of SCLE lesions in patients with SLE is associated with a more favourable prognosis. The major anti-Ro/SS-A response is directed against the native 60 kD Ro/SSA protein.


A novel electrochemical DNA biosensor system based on multi-walled carbon nanotubes(MWCNTs) was presented in this paper. In order to make multi-walled carbon nanotubes being perpendicularly standing on Au electrode via Au-S chemical bonding, we cut multi-walled carbon nanotubes (1.5 m) into short pipes (200-300 nm). Then, the shortened nanotubes were further modified by thiolization reaction with cysteamine (NH2CH2CH2SH). The –SH modified MWCNTs, gold nanoparticles and 5' end –SH modified DNA (HS-DNA) as nucleotide probes were self-assembled onto the surface of Au electrode respectively. The DNA biosensors based on self-assembled MWCNTs had a higher current response compared to those based on random MWCNTs. When the target DNA concentration was 4.0×10–9 mol/L to 1.2×10-8 mol/L, the cathodic peak current of Au electrode system with the AQDS as indicator was linearly related, and the detection limit was about 6.5×10-9 mol/L. In addition, the developed DNA biosensors also had a high selectivity of hybridization detection.


Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the common diabetic microvascular complications that occurs in the eyes and is closely associated with vision loss in working adults. However, the clinical treatment of DR is limited or accompanied by a large number of complications. Therefore, the development of new drugs for the treatment of DR is urgently needed. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is widely used to treat DR in China, and its multi-pathway and multi-level characteristics can effectively address the complex pathogenesis of DR. Growing evidence suggests that inflammation, angiogenesis, and oxidative stress are the core pathological mechanisms in the development of DR. This study innovatively considers the aforementioned processes as the fundamental unit and sheds light on the molecular mechanisms and potential of TCM against DR in terms of signaling pathways. The results showed that NF-κB, MAPK/NF-κB, TLR4/NF-κB, VEGF/VEGFR2, HIF-1α/VEGF, STAT3, and Nrf2/HO-1 are the key signaling pathways for the treatment of DR by TCMs, which involved curcumolide, erianin, quercetin, blueberry anthocyanins, puerarin, arjunolic acid, ethanol extract of Scutellaria barbata D. Don, Celosia argentea L. extract, ethanol extract of Dendrobium chrysotoxum Lindl., Shengpuhuang-tang, and LuoTong formula. The purpose of this review is to update and summarize the signaling pathways of TCM in the treatment of DR and provide ideas for the development of new drugs against DR in the future.


This essential how-to handbook is a valuable reference guide that can be used to improve profitability, financial status, performance, productivity, efficiency, effectiveness, cooperation, coordination and the management information system. More than 325 sample reports cover every company operation. Logical, useful and easy to understand, the reports provide information needed for management to make informed decisions and focus on what is essential for accomplishing goals. Companies of all sizes and types will find this handbook an essential reference.


This study investigates water diffusion changes in Wallerian degeneration. We measured indices derived from the diffusion tensor (DT) and T2-weighted signal intensities in the descending motor pathways of patients with small chronic lacunar infarcts of the posterior limb of the internal capsule on one side. We compared these measurements in the healthy and lesioned sides at different levels in the brainstem caudal to the primary lesion. We found that secondary white matter degeneration is revealed by a large reduction in diffusion anisotropy only in regions where fibers are arranged in isolated bundles of parallel fibers, such as in the cerebral peduncle. In regions where the degenerated pathway crosses other tracts, such as in the rostral pons, paradoxically there is almost no change in diffusion anisotropy, but a significant change in the measured orientation of fibers. The trace of the diffusion tensor is moderately increased in all affected regions. This allows one to differentiate secondary and primary fiber loss where the increase in trace is considerably higher. We show that DT-MRI is more sensitive than T2-weighted MRI in detecting Wallerian degeneration. Significant diffusion abnormalities are observed over the entire trajectory of the affected pathway in each patient. This finding suggests that mapping degenerated pathways noninvasively with DT-MRI is feasible. However, the interpretation of water diffusion data is complex and requires a priori information about anatomy and architecture of the pathway under investigation. In particular, our study shows that in regions where fibers cross, existing DT-MRI-based fiber tractography algorithms may lead to erroneous conclusion about brain connectivity.


The use of background memory to improve coding efficiency has gained momentum recently due to the rapid decrease in the cost of memory chips. However, the associated computational costs still pose a problem for real time implementation. The authors propose a coding oriented scene-change detection algorithm and the use of multiple thread background memory to improve the coding efficiency of both scene-change frames and frames between two consecutive scene cuts. The experimental results show that the proposed scheme can improve the coding efficiency in both situations. The improvement is significant for scene-change frames.


Background The endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms by coiling needs specific and expensive medical devices. At the same time, management by social security coverage is dependent on the social status of patients and strongly affect's the pharmacy's budget. Purpose The objective of this study was to evaluate the cost of medical devices in the treatment of intracranial aneurysms by coiling depending on the billing system, which itself depends on social coverage category in patients in a public hospital. Hence, a zone of budgetary equilibrium, integrating different parameters, was then sought. Material and methods This was a retrospective study of 83 cases of intracranial aneurysms, which were embolised in the neuroradiology department between January 2009 and December 2015. Data were collected from patient cards in neuroradiology and the financial department. The costs of biological analyses, radiological imaging, hospitalisation, medication and indirect costs were not included in this study. Results For an average of 2.75 coils per patient, the average charge for the medical devices was €2000, which is close to 400% of the amount refunded by uninsured patients (€450) who represent 85% of patients treated. Health insurance of covered patients is €5364 but represents only 15%. In these conditions, the ratio revenues/expenses is 0.65. The hospital is then in deficit. Conclusion These results show that, for budgetary equilibrium of the pharmacy, this treatment billing must be re-evaluated, especially among uninsured patients. The figure shows the budgetary equilibrium zone where revenues are between once and twice the expense of medical devices. References and/or acknowledgements Thanks to the coauthors. No conflict of interest


Abstract The article examines whether female political candidates are disfavored in terms of persuasiveness potential based on their expertise and trustworthiness. Using a Bayesian argumentation paradigm in which candidates endorse policies, this study shows that male voters regard female candidates as less persuasive than male candidates. A controlled between-subjects experiment among 202 potential voters in the United States suggests that female election candidates are subject to sex biases in two central ways. First, despite agreeing on their trustworthiness and expertise, male voters find highly credible female candidates less persuasive than identical male candidates. Second, female candidates are affected more adversely if they are perceived as lacking in trustworthiness. Male candidates, on the other hand, are affected more negatively if they are perceived as lacking in expertise. Whereas perceived lack of expertise is relatively easy to repair, trustworthiness may be difficult to regain once it is lost. In a political environment in which attack ads are prevalent, this may carry a greater negative impact for female candidates.


This paper investigates sequential Thermoforming and Flash Light Sintering (FLS) of conductive silver nanowire interconnects printed on planar polymer sheets. The resulting interconnect-polymer assemblies are pre-shaped to a desired 3D geometry and can be robustly attached to the surface. This approach avoids interconnect delamination in manual conformation of planar flexible electronics, eliminates heating of the 3D object in direct conformal printing, and enables easy circuit replacement. The effect of the forming strain and FLS fluence on the resistance of the interconnect are studied. The interconnect resistance increases after thermoforming but is reduced significantly by subsequent FLS. The resistance depends nonlinearly on the forming strain, interconnect thickness, and FLS fluence. With the optimal parameters found here this process achieves interconnect resistance of < 10 Ω/cm within 90.8 seconds at 100% maximum strain over a 1 square-inch forming area. The application of this process for complex surfaces is demonstrated via a simple conformal LED-lighting circuit.


In the system of several interacting spins, geometric phases have been researched intensively. However, the studies are mainly focused on the adiabatic case (Berry phase), so it is necessary for us to study the non-adiabatic counterpart (Aharonov and Anandan phase). In this paper, we analyze both the non-degenerate and degenerate geometric phase of Lipkin—Meskov—Glick type model, which has many application in Bose—Einstein condensates and entanglement theory. Furthermore, in order to calculate degenerate geometric phases, the Floquet theorem and decomposition of operator are generalized. And the general formula is achieved.


Abstract Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are a key economic sector in Molise, a region in central Italy, characterized by a high level of rurality. This paper uses descriptive survey research to discuss the findings of a study of the innovation process in a sample of SMEs located in rural areas of Molise. It explores the aims of the innovation and any barriers encountered. Data were collected from 30 respondents with the aid of an on-line questionnaire. The sample was drawn from a database made available by the Chambers of Commerce in Molise. The database includes 165 firms that, in recent years, have introduced innovative technologies. The findings of the study revealed that there is a high level of awareness of the importance of technology among the managing bodies of SMEs. Most rural firms prefer to use new production technologies and new processes, rather than invest in research and development activities. Furthermore, there is a low propensity to set up partnerships with other enterprises along the supply chain and to participate in collaborative networks designed to stimulate innovation. Most owners and/or managers interviewed lamented the lack of financial resources necessary to make technological innovations. They also highlighted the considerable difficulty in accessing public and private funding. The paper concludes with some brief prospects by recommending a few implications for policy. The results of this study are important for both researchers as well as those involved in small business (including government, agencies and owner/managers).


In this article, we present the multi-faceted interface to the open PAISÀ corpus of Italian. Created within the project PAISÀ (Piattaforma per l'Apprendimento dell'Italiano Su corpora Annotati) [1], the corpus is designed to be freely available for non-commercial processing, usage and distribution by the public. Hence, this automatically annotated corpus (for lemma, part-of-speech and dependency information) is exclusively composed of documents licensed under Creative Commons (CC) licenses [2].The dedicated corpus interface is designed to provide flexible, powerful, and easy-to-use modes of corpus access, with the objective to support language learning, language practicing and linguistic analyses. We present in detail the interface's functionalities and discuss the underlying design decisions. We introduce the four principal components of the interface, describe supported display formats and present two specific features added to increase the interface's relevance for language learning. The main search components are (1) a basic search that adopts a "Google-style" search box, (2) an advanced search that provides elaborated graphical search options, and (3) a search that makes use of the powerful CQP query language of the Open Corpus Workbench [3]. In addition, (4) a filter interface for retrieving full-text corpus documents based on keyword searches is available. It is likewise providing the means for building temporary sub-corpora for specific topics. Users can choose among different display formats for the search results. Besides the established KWIC (KeyWord In Context) and full sentence views, graphical representations of the dependency relation information as well as keyword distributions are available. These dynamic displays are based on a visualisation for dependency graphs [4] and one for Word Clouds [5], which build on latest developments in information visualisation for language data. Two special features for novice learners are integrated into each search component. The first feature is a function for restricting search results to sentences of limited complexity. Search results are automatically filtered based on formal text characteristics such as sentence length, vocabulary, etc. The second is the supply of pre-defined search queries for linguistic constructions such as sentences in passive voice, questions, etc. Finally, we show how the PAISÀ interface can be employed in different language teaching tasks. In particular, we present a complete unit of work aimed at learners of Italian (CEFR level A2/B1) and centered on students' direct use of the interface and its functionalities. By doing so, we are giving concrete examples for targeted searches and interactions with the provided language material, as well as an exemplification of how the use of the corpus can be integrated with communicative language activities in the classroom.


The all-inorganic halide perovskite (CsPbI 3 ) holds promise for photovoltaic applications but su ff ers from a detrimental phase transformation to a non-perovskite phase d -CsPbI 3 at low-temperature. Of the di ff erent perovskite polymorphs, there has been a wide range of studies on g -CsPbI 3 due to its kinetic stability at near room-temperature. However, synthesis routes to this and other all-inorganic halide perovskites are still not ideal, requiring uneconomical elimination of humidity as well as quenching from elevated temperature. Water/moisture is commonly meticulously avoided due the fact that it can accelerate the detrimental degradation of the perovskite. In our synthesis, we used an alternative approach of engineering an in situ degradation process to form a dual-functional PbI(OH) protective covering and succeeded in performing the fi rst room-temperature synthesis of g -CsPbI 3 under ambient humidity. The vastly improved stability bene fi ts from both lattice anchoring and physical coverage of g CsPbI 3 by an ultra-thin PbI(OH) layer. The resultant g -CsPbI 3 is stable for more than 2 months under ambient conditions (25 (cid:3) C, RH ¼ 30 – 60%) and more than 12 hours at 175 (cid:3) C in air without any degradation. Furthermore, we show that this novel facile method can be successfully applied to mixed halide perovskites such as CsPbI 2 Br, and this has allowed the fi rst experimental synthesis of the g polymorph of CsPbI 2 Br. Thus, our work provides an e ffi cient degradation-induced lattice-anchoring self-stabilization strategy and a new avenue to the economical synthesis of all-inorganic perovskite materials at room-temperature under ambient conditions.


The effect of whole body vibration exercise (WBV) on muscle activation has recently been a topic for discussion amongst some researchers. Researchers are divided on the safety and effectiveness of WBV. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of WBV on muscle activation. Healthy university students (N = 11; 25.2 y) participated in the study (five males and six females). The resting electromyogram (EMG) signal was recorded for the: gastrocnemius medial head, rectus abdominis, and erector spinae. Participants then performed two different exercises: standing calf raises and prone bridging, without and with WBV. A Power-Plate Pro 5 vibration platform was used to superimpose WBV on voluntary exercise. The averaged EMG signal was used to describe the average muscle activation. A paired sample t-test was used for analysis. There was no significant difference observed in the EMG of the gastrocnemius and rectus abdominis muscles when WBV was superimposed onto the respective movements (p = 0.193 and 0.125, respectively). However, the EMG of the erector spinae increased significantly by 35.5% (p = 0.005) when WBV was added to the prone bridging. Thus, adding WBV to voluntary exercise led to significant increases in muscle activation of the erector spinae muscles during prone bridging, but there were no significant changes in the muscle activation of the gastrocnemius and rectus abdominis muscles. These findings are attributed to the specific positioning of the participants during WBV as well as to the specific intensity of the WBV stimuli used.


In order to study the law of emergence and its internal attributable causes according to the resources owned by agents that interacts with each other in the complex adaptive system about the supply chain, at the beginning the resources which the agents in the supply chain draw are defined as followings: the resources outside system, the resources in the system, the resources that other else agents own, and the dynamic resources the agent itself own, the multi-compartment agent of resources. The operating points of eight resources owned by agents interact with each other are controlled through eight random numbers, the direction, degree, speed and stability of resources flow during interaction among agents are described respectively by matching capability, matching speed and matching time; Furthermore, the evolution process about the resources among agents interacting is described by rules of GEF(Global Evaluate Function) and LEF(Local Evaluate Function), resources flow model of complex system about the supply chain is established; Eventually, through simulating respectively in the Swarm platform both the proposed model and the simple model that doesn't cunsder the multi-compartment agent but the linear sum of all resources, it is found that the former describes the change rule of the resource more accurately in the supply chain system. It means that syncretizing eight resources, which interact and inter-constrain in the system, to an indiscerptible one is the attributable cause of the emergence.


Selection of an appropriate sample pretreatment method is crucial to the quality of metabolomic analysis. Great variability exists in terms of sample pretreatment techniques for microbial metabolomics in the current literature, and it is unknown that a suitable sample preparation procedure for metabolomic analysis of Bacillus licheniformis. To improve the quality of metabolomic analysis of B. licheniformis based on GC-MS, the leakage of intracellular metabolites with five different quenching solvents was compared in this study, and 60% methanol/0.9% NH4HCO3 and 60% methanol/0.9% NaCl were found to have the least leakage; effects of different cell disruption methods including bead-milling, liquid nitrogen grounding and ultrasonication on the extraction of metabolites were compared. The bead-milling method was shown to have the best extraction efficiency. The effects of derivatization time (0.5–2.5 h) on the relative abundance of metabolite distribution were also compared and derivatization for 2 h was shown to be adequate. The optimal sample pretreatment method for metabolomic analysis of B. licheniformis was determined as follows: 60% methanol/0.9% NH4HCO3 as a quencher, bead-milling for cell disruption and a derivatization time of 2 h. With this method, 127 metabolites were detected, including a large number of amino acids, organic acids and carbohydrates in B. licheniformis. This study will facilitate the comprehensive metabolic analysis of this important industrial microbe.


This paper introduces a special drill machine for machining flange hole. Base on design project Specifications, discussed system compose and machining requirement. Design actuator and hydraulic system. The electric control system chooses programmable controller, according to the logic relation of processing request, design control programs with the sequence function chart, analyzed the processing cycle technological process. Point out that using the sequence function chart to design special drill machine control programs, it is logical and adaptable and also convenient on changing the programs. The programmable controller is just designed for industry control, so it is reliable and anti-jamming.


Androgen deprivation induces substantial changes in the phenotype of prostate cancer that are accompanied by alterations in protein expression. Immunohistochemical studies allow precise cellular localization of such expression, thereby providing an understanding of the biochemical alterations caused by therapy. Expression of proteins may be increased (e.g., multiple growth factors, heat shock protein), decreased (e.g., microvessel density, proliferation markers, certain integrins), or remain unchanged (e.g., prostate specific antigen, prostatic acid phosphatase, prostate-specific membrane antigen, and other secretory proteins). Variations in immunoreactivity may be of prognostic value in some patients. This report summarizes the existing literature regarding changes in tissue expression of proteins, as determined by immunohistochemistry, and the clinical implications of these changes.


The purpose of this research is to present Symmetrical Singular Value Decomposition Representation (SSVDR) method with Gabor Filter under illumination effect for face recognition. SSVDR method was proposed to normalize illuminated face images caused by the difference of light. SSVDR method represented characteristics of face images on low-intensity combined with the symmetrical reversed part of the face based on Singular Value Decomposition (SVD). Gabor Filter was used to extract the face images which were already processed using SSVDR. In order to do the face recognition, PCA and LDA methods were used with Nearest Neighbor as the classifier. The result showed that face recognition with SSVDR based on Gabor Filter was quite good on face images with low-intensity, but the recognition were not good enough on face images with extreme illumination. Overall, the accuracy of face recognition scored 91.86% with PCA and 91.57% with LDA.


Abstract. The EPICA (European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica) Dome C drilling in East Antarctica has now been completed to a depth of 3260 m, at only a few meters above bedrock. Here we present the new EDC3 chronology, which is based on the use of 1) a snow accumulation and mechanical flow model, and 2) a set of independent age markers along the core. These are obtained by pattern matching of recorded parameters to either absolutely dated paleoclimatic records, or to insolation variations. We show that this new time scale is in excellent agreement with the Dome Fuji and Vostok ice core time scales back to 100 kyr within 1 kyr. Discrepancies larger than 3 kyr arise during MIS 5.4, 5.5 and 6, which points to anomalies in either snow accumulation or mechanical flow during these time periods. We estimate that EDC3 gives accurate event durations within 20% (2σ) back to MIS11 and accurate absolute ages with a maximum uncertainty of 6 kyr back to 800 kyr.


Molecular detection of transgenic DNA sequences in human food and animal feed in Costa Rica. Since the introduction of genetically modified (GM) crops, there has been a continuous growth in adoption of the technology and in commercialization of food and feed products derived from GM crops worldwide. Governments and organizations have developed methods for rapid and high throughput screening of GM-derived foods and feeds, to verify compliance with labelling regulations aimed at providing information to consumers. The objective of this study was to determine the presence of DNA sequences, derived from GM maize and soy, in a range of unprocessed and processed foods and feeds commercialized in Costa Rica, a market without regulations to indicate transgenic content in the labelling. The standard end-point qualitative method of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used for detection of GM material, the common regions of the 35S promoter and the NOS terminator, followed by the specific detection of maize Bt11,  MON810, GA21, and NK603 events, as well as the soybean GTS 40-3-2 event, in a selection of foods and feeds available in Costa Rica. The overall results of the GM crops screening were: 86% for the 35S promoter, 72% for NOS terminator and 40% for identified events. The most frequently detected events were MON810, NK603 and Bt11. The results showed that GM crops-derived foods and feeds are found in the local market, and that the significance and viability of product labelling, to provide information to consumers, should be addressed by competent authorities. However, quantitative studies on the routine analyses are still needed, to detect if the threshold of GM material, set by the European Union GM food and feed regulation, has been exceeded.


The primary difficulty in the interpretation of the stratigraphic record is that a multiplicity of sedimentary processes, some producing similar effects, are responsible for it. We seek to unravel the effects of the more important processes through analysis of sedimentary properties. The effects to be unravelled are those relating to pelagic input (vertical flux) due to organic productivity, wind-blown dust, ice-rafting and volcanic ash; to horizontal flux in turbidity currents, debris flows, and nepheloid layers caused by the reworking of sea-bed sediments by internal waves and bottom currents; and to degradation of the record by dissolution, oxidation and mixing of components. Contrasting regions of the North Atlantic are used to show the effects of bottom currents, ice-rafting, wind and productivity on sediments. Applications to estimates of changes in bottom currents, productivity and carbon sequestration in the N.E. Atlantic over the past 30 ka are given.


As data acquisition systems evolve and begin utilizing new avenues of acquisition such as Ethernet, an entirely new range of flight test capabilities become available. These new capabilities, defined by acquisition, monitoring, and varying of test measurements, enhance previous operation as they can now be realized during flight. Achieving such high levels of integration between ground station and test vehicle involves complex network protocols. Implementing such systems from scratch would be a time consuming and costly proposition. Fortunately, employing Internet protocols (TCP/IP) over Ethernet provides a cornucopia of readily available technology. Using state-of-the-art integration techniques, modern data acquisition systems can leverage years of proven technology offered by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). This paper discusses an implementation of dynamic data acquisition measurements for use in network data acquisition systems. The methodology used to determine whether or not a measurement can and should be variable during a flight test is examined in detail along with a discussion of the advantages of dynamically varying flight test measurements. Finally, an implementation is presented which successfully integrates Internet protocols with modern flight test equipment using the techniques described above for dynamic data acquisition measurements.


A B S T R A C T In recent years, energy predicament and environmen tal problems in the world caused by fossil fuels combustion make us to pay serious attention to optimizing energy consumption and using renewable energies. One of the potential renewable energies which can be helpful in electricity generation is harness wind and water energy or using these two kinds of energy simultaneously. In this study, to provide a part of electricity in Azadi complex, 2 wind turbines with 12 different scenarios are used. In addition to provide some parts of the consumed electricity , they provide consumed electricity for water pumps which pump the sport complex lake water to a reservoir with 30000 cubic meters capacity and 20 meters height which provides remainder the consumed electricity. In this model, with regard to the uncertain amount of electricity consumption, 3consumption scenarios with three probabilities are pumped every day into a pool and a few of it is used for electricity consumption and the surplus is sold to the agricultural sector and irrigation of green spaces. The GAMS software and two stage optimization methods in two states, with and without considering the risk for optimization are used and in both states, profit and net profit in each scenario are computed .


Effects of L-tryptophan on learning and behavior were studied in male rats with a deficit or excess of thyroid hormones. Learning was assessed in active avoidance paradigm, and behavior was estimated in the "open-field" test. It was found that L-tryptophan restored the capability of thyreoidectomized rats for acquisition and reproduction of the active avoidance reaction and increased the exploratory behavior of these rats in the open-field. In triiodothyronine treated rats, L-tryptophan eliminated a light stimulatory effects of thyroid hormones on the processes of formations and retention of the active avoidance reaction, increased the exploratory activity, but decreased grooming in the open-field.


Two varieties of tall oil were copolymerized with indene–coumarone and subsequently esterified with ethylene glycol, glycerol, and pentaerythritol in addition to these esters, Urethanes were also obtained by reacting pentaerythritol esters of copolymers with toluene diisocyanate (TDI). These resultant products were evaluated as varnish vehicles and their film properties were compared with some standard formulation of tall-oil- and vegetable-oil-based varnishes. The effect of indene–coumarone content of copolymer on the film properties of final products were additionally studied. Film evaluation showed that these copolymer-based varnish vehicles could be used in the field of organic surface coating.


Critical Constructivism and postphenomenology are two possible ways of describing, analysing and evaluating the role and meaning of technology in contemporary society and world. Whereas Critical Constructivism looks at the way technologies are dealt with on a macro level considering systems and programs, then postphenomenology digs into the individual and personal appropriation and understanding of technology in everyday life. This means that there is a gap for what concerns levels, but also in relation to what they want to accomplish. The critical stance of Andrew Feenberg in conceiving societal and political problems as ripe for radical technological change is met by postphenomenology's pragmatic focus on how to build appropriate and meaningful structures for handling of emergent and imminent problems together with and through technology. This paper tries to bridge this gap by introducing the concept of scaffolding, which is inspired by Heidegger's "Gestell," but re-read in a new and different way than the usual pessimistic and deterministic interpretation where exploitation and "enframing" is at hand. Scaffolding is read as a common enterprise where we stretch and reach out towards each other in order to create platforms for interventions and activism. The paper is an attempt to direct this common enterprise in specific directions, and this directedness is indicative for our aims and goals. It is the claim that Critical Constructivism and postphenomenology should meet, and perform a certain kind of Techno-Activism when confronted with problems in technological society.


Option is one of security derivates. In financial market, option is a contract that gives a right (not the obligation) for its owner to buy or sell a particular asset for a certain price at a certain time. Option can give a guarantee for a risk that can be faced in a market.This paper studies about the use of Skewed Normal Distribution (SN) in call europeanoption pricing. The SN provides a flexible framework that captures the skewness of log return. We obtain aclosed form solution for the european call option pricing when log return follow the SN. Then, we will compare option prices that is obtained by the SN and the Black-Scholes model with the option prices of market. Keywords: skewed normaldistribution, log return, options.


Data mining is an emerging technology in the recent decade. There are several application areas in which data mining is used widely. It is also useful in agriculture for various purposes. In this paper our focus is on the various techniques used to predict/forecast the water demand for agriculture purpose. The techniques discussed in the paper are Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Decision Tree (DT), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Evapotranspiration (ETc) and Systematically developed Forest (SysFor). Prediction of water demand is a very important factor that remains to be solved based on available data. The prediction of water demand can be done with the various data mining techniques.


Combinatorial technology is a powerful tool for new material exploration. Some new combinatorial technologies, such as combinatorial laser molecular beam epitaxy (CLMBE) and combinatorial pulsed laser deposition (CPLD), were introduced in the paper. La1-xCexVO3 (0≤x≤1) composition-spread films were fabricated successfully by CPLD, while their thermoelectric properties and structures were evaluated by the multi-channel thermoelectric measurement system and concurrent X-ray analysis respectively. Combinatorial technologies are proving to be an efficient, low-cost tool in synthesis and characterization of thermoelectric composition-spread films.


To eliminate thermal stress during laser cladding and to raise the bonding strength between substrate and coating, composition gradient coatings are designed and fabricated by using wideband laser cladding technique on a Ti alloy. And mechanical properties on coating is studied. The experimental results indicate that the bonding strength between coating and substrate is fairly high, above 38.8MPa. The highest microhardness is obtained for coating containing 0.6wt.% Y2O3 1062HV0.1 and 1405HV0.1, respectively at bioceramic coating and alloyed transition layer. The average tensile strength, bending strength, and elastic modules of coatings are 767.83MPa, 1671.65MPa, and 13.98GPa, respectively.


ABSTRACT Zhang, X. and Jin, R., 2018. Detection of chemical composition of sea water based on Gaussian wavelet. In: Liu, Z.L. and Mi, C. (eds.), Advances in Sustainable Port and Ocean Engineering. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 83, pp. 17–22. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Common methods for detecting the chemical composition of sea water involves tedious procedures, which consumes lots of time, wastes an abundance of solvents, and leads to environmental pollution. Therefore, this paper proposes using the Gaussian wavelet, which denoises the absorption spectrum of water quality detection by using wavelet transforms, analyzes the chemical composition of marine Prorocentrum micans and Skeletonema costatum by using gas chromatography / mass spectrometry (GC/MS), and detects the chemical composition of sea water by using the Flow Injection-Solid-Phase Extraction-Spectrophotometry method. Experimental results show that the proposed method can improve the detection efficiency by 20%.


Overall proteolysis and the activity of skeletal muscle proteolytic systems were investigated in rats submitted to guanethidine-induced adrenergic blockade for 4 days. In soleus, overall proteolysis increased by 15-20% during the first 2 days of guanethidine treatment but decreased to levels below control values after 4 days. Extensor digitorum longus (EDL) did not show the initial increase in total proteolysis, which was already reduced after 2 days of guanethidine treatment. The initial rise in the rate of protein degradation in soleus was accompanied by an increased activity of the Ca(2+)-dependent proteolytic pathway. In both soleus and EDL, the reduction in overall proteolysis was paralleled by decreased activities of the Ca(2+)-dependent and ATP-dependent proteolytic processes. No change was observed in the activity of the lysosomal proteolytic system. Overall proteolysis in soleus and EDL from nontreated rats was partially inhibited by isoproterenol, in vitro. The data suggest an acute inhibitory control of skeletal muscle proteolysis by the adrenergic system, well evident in the oxidative muscle, with an important participation of the Ca(2+)-dependent pathway.


Electronic government (E-government) is the use of information and communication technology by the government to increase the service to citizens. E-government also could be applied on the legislative and judicative to improve internal efficiency of democratic governance. However, technological, governing and social issues have to treat carefully in order to adopt these phenomena. This study aims to find critical factor that influence e-government adoption. Furthermore, comprehensive analysis base on the bibliometric technic on various resources has been chosen to guide this work.  Several dependent variables such as information quality, trust, and system quality also considered relevant were integrated with the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) constructs as examining variables affecting the adoption of e-government. Finally, this study found a formulation of the conceptual framework on the basis of existing experience and their relationship.


Carbapenems are recommended for the treatment of urosepsis caused by extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing, multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli; however, due to selection of carbapenem resistance, there is an increasing interest in alternative treatment regimens including the use of β-lactam-aminoglycoside combinations. We compared the pharmacodynamic activity of piperacillin-tazobactam and amikacin as mono and combination therapy versus meropenem monotherapy against extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing, piperacillin-tazobactam resistant E. coli using a dynamic hollow fiber infection model (HFIM) over 7 days. ABSTRACT Carbapenems are recommended for the treatment of urosepsis caused by extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing, multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli; however, due to selection of carbapenem resistance, there is an increasing interest in alternative treatment regimens including the use of β-lactam-aminoglycoside combinations. We compared the pharmacodynamic activity of piperacillin-tazobactam and amikacin as mono and combination therapy versus meropenem monotherapy against extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing, piperacillin-tazobactam resistant E. coli using a dynamic hollow fiber infection model (HFIM) over 7 days. Broth-microdilution was performed to determine the MIC of E. coli isolates. Whole genome sequencing was conducted. Four E. coli isolates were tested in HFIM with an initial inoculum of ~107 CFU/mL. Dosing regimens tested were piperacillin-tazobactam 4.5 g, 6-hourly, plus amikacin 30 mg/kg, 24-hourly, as combination therapy, and piperacillin-tazobactam 4.5 g, 6-hourly, amikacin 30 mg/kg, 24-hourly, and meropenem 1 g, 8-hourly, each as monotherapy. We observed that piperacillin-tazobactam and amikacin monotherapy demonstrated initial rapid bacterial killing but then led to amplification of resistant subpopulations. The piperacillin-tazobactam/amikacin combination and meropenem experiments both attained a rapid bacterial killing (~4-5 log10) within 24 h and did not result in any emergence of resistant subpopulations. Genome sequencing demonstrated that all ESBL-producing E. coli clinical isolates carried multiple antibiotic resistance genes including blaCTX-M-15, blaOXA-1, blaEC, blaTEM-1, and aac(6′)-Ib-cr. These results suggest that the combination of piperacillin-tazobactam/amikacin may have a potential role as a carbapenem-sparing regimen, which should be tested in future urosepsis clinical trials.


It is the character of a natural holy place to shift and alter. Sometimes the changes are the product of natural causes; other times, they are the result of human intervention. The mutable character of these natural sites, however, does not impair their ability to act as holy sites; instead, it appears to benefit them, for just as nature is not static, neither is the 'sacred'. In order to explore how appropriate natural sites are as 'settings' for the 'sacred' because of their very mutability, this paper will focus on coin-trees. These are natural places of pilgrimage in Britain and Ireland, which have sustained themselves as sacred centres for decades – in some cases, centuries – and have, during that time, undergone numerous recontextualisations, adapting themselves to the religious and cultural changes of their surroundings.


Farmer's household economies are complex and diversified. Although, non-agricultural activities performed by farmers constitute a phenomenal growth but obtained very little attention from development research. This study looks into the strategic and extension role of different non-agricultural activities play in the livelihood securities of farmers and identified the comparative profiles of diversifier and non- diversifier farmers in West Bengal. This study presents evidence that non-farm and off-farm activities are carried out by adults make an important contribution to livelihoods. It was found that Average Diversification Index in the study area was 0.46. The study reveals that on socio-personal characters, the diversifiers were found significantly higher on family labour status but, significantly lower on dependency ratio. Similarly, on economic context, the mean values of diversifiers on material possession, resource mobilization potentiality, annual income and credit utilization behaviour were found significantly higher than those of nondiversifiers but the mean value of the variable distance from market was found significantly lower among diversifiers as against non-diversifiers households. On psychological background the diversifier farmers were higher on the characters of risk taking behaviour and innovativeness. The comparison between diversifiers and non-diversifiers on different livelihood assets reveals that the former differed significantly from the latter in education, family education status, contact with personal localite and awareness about diversification. The diversifier farmers were also found significantly different from non-diversifier farmers on availability of financial assets and extent to the local infrastructure. Despite the vast potentiality to diversify the livelihood towards farm and non- farm activities in the study area, there are problems such as negative perception of the community, outdated method of production, lack of improved technology and skills, lack of business start- up budget and absence of wide market intake of non-farm out put. There are also lack of potential researches to study the effect of non-farm activities on farm production and to identify the major problems that hamper the non-farm sector.


Background and objectives: Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting are the most important complications for cancer patients. Ginger is an effective herbal drug for the treatment of nausea and vomiting. It hasn't any known side effects. In some countries, it is used for making of antiemetic drugs. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of ginger on the intensity of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in cancer patients . Method: This study is a randomized, cross-over, double – blinded, clinical trial that was done on 44 cancer patients undergone chemotherapy. In the first cycle of the study, patients were assigned by four block random allocation to receive one of the antiemetic regimens; regimen A (routine and 1gr ginger) and regimen B (routine and 1gr placebo). After 28 days, in the next cycle of chemotherapy, another regimen was administrated; A or B plus chemotherapy drugs., the severity of the nausea and vomiting was measured in 4h (1, 2, 3, 4) after second dose and at the end of the 24h after receiving the first dose by using VAS and kortila tools .The data were analyzed by independent student t - test and non-parametric test (Mann-Whitney U test) by using SPSS, version 16 software . Results: The results showed that the frequencies of nausea and vomiting in two regimen groups weren't different, but nausea score was significantly decreased in ginger group, compared to placebo. Independent student t - test and Mann-Whitney U test also revealed a significant difference on nausea scores in 3rd and 24th hour post chemotherapy ( p =0.06, p =0.01, respectively). Conclusion: In respect to low nausea score in ginger regimen, compared to placebo, it seems ginger using is a safe and simple method and it can be used as antiemetic drugs in patient undergoing chemotherapy


Several studies have suggested that exposure to organic solvents is associated with glomerular nephropathies (GN), but this relationship remains controversial. A case-control study of 298 biopsy-proven cases and 298 hospital controls, matched for year of birth, sex, origin, and place of residence, was conducted between 1989 and 1991 in five hospitals in the Paris area : 82 cases of membranous glomerulopathy were included ; 100, nephrotic syndrome with either minimal change nephropathy or focal and segmental hyalinosis (MCN/FSH); and 116, IgA nephropathy (IgA N). Subjects were interviewed about their lifelong occupational and non-occupational activities. Type, level, and duration of solvent exposure were assessed blind with respect to case-control status by two industrial hygienists. HLA phenotypes were determined. Among males, a clear association, which was not explained by social class, was observed between chronic renal failure and high exposure to solvents for both MCN/FSH (OR = 7.7, 95% CI 1.4-41.6) and IgA N (OR = 3.5, 95% CI 1.0-11.8). The odds ratios increased with duration of exposure. No relationship was observed between such exposure and GN cases with normal renal function. No evidence was found that the HLA phenotype plays a role in the solvent exposure-disease association. These results support the hypothesis of a causal relationship between high solvent exposure, which concerned 15% of the males in this study, and the development of GN with chronic renal failure.


The networking literature has burgeoned in recent years within a complex cross-disciplinary field and particularly in economic geography and regional planning. Networks have been analysed both as organizational expressions of globalization, linked to claims about the rise of the network society, and as territorial and cultural systems of exchange. Concepts of networks and networking have been accepted as positive, and sometimes also as progressive or radical within both social science and policy discourses. In this article we analyse regionally embedded economic networks and the EU's urban and regional policy networks as a new mode of administration, at a variety of spatial scales. Little attention has been paid to the theoretical implications of using the concept of network as a social metaphor or to the operation of actually existing networks, as a result of conceptualizing networks in ways that deny their constitutive inequalities, asymmetries and democratic deficits. This darker side has been pushed into the shadows by the rhetorical emphasis on the benefits claimed for networked organizational forms.


Marjolin's ulcer is a term used to describe squamous cell carcinomas which develop in chronic wounds. These carcinomas may also develop at the site of long-standing irritation, such as unstable burn scars. Development times for burn scar carcinomas of more than 30 years have been noted. This evaluation describes the treatment of 10 patients with burn scar carcinomas who have been treated using wide excision and closure of the defect with skin grafts or flaps, plus regional lymph node dissection if required. Results indicate a mean carcinoma development time of 26 years. Local recurrence occurred in only one patient.


Understanding patterns and forest communities and its driving factors play a critical role in ecological studies. In view of this, present study attempted to understand the role of environmental and anthropogenic factors in relation to species diversity and composition along the altitudinal gradient (700-4000 m asl) in Indian western Himalaya. A total of 51 tree species (28 families) were recorded; pinaceae (5) and fagaceae (5) were the species rich families. α-diversity indices i.e., Margalef's richness index (R), Shannon index (H(cid:0)) and Simpson index showed a humped shaped distribution, whereas Evenness index (E) showed an inverted humped shaped distribution along the altitude range. Based on non-metric dimensional scaling (NMDS), four different community types were identi�ed. Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed a strong relationship of tree species composition with environmental (41.73% variation) and anthropogenic factors (17.35% variation). RDA further indicated that the bulk density (BD), disturbance index (DI), mean diurnal temperature range (Bio2) and solar radiation (SR) are signi�cantly associated with sub-tropical (below 1200 m) and lower temperate forest (1200-1700 m) types. Likewise, soil organic carbon (SOC), precipitation of the driest quarter (Bio17) and pH were signi�cantly associated with upper temperate (1700-2900 m) and subalpine forest composition (<2900 m). Both NMDS classi fi cation and RDA ordination clearly demonstrate spatial variability in composition of tree community and environmental properties.


Let $P$ be a convex polyhedron in $\mathbb{R}^3$. The skeleton of $P$ is the graph whose vertices and edges are the vertices and edges of $P$, respectively. We prove that, if these vertices are on the unit-sphere, the skeleton is a $(0.999 \cdot \pi)$-spanner. If the vertices are very close to this sphere, then the skeleton is not necessarily a spanner. For the case when the boundary of $P$ is between two concentric spheres of radii $1$ and $R>1$, and the angles in all faces are at least $\theta$, we prove that the skeleton is a $t$-spanner, where $t$ depends only on $R$ and $\theta$. One of the ingredients in the proof is a tight upper bound on the geometric dilation of a convex cycle that is contained in an annulus.


The objectives of this article are to clarify the concepts of violent death, suspicious death and natural death, and to define the situations which need to be reported to the coroner's office, while referring to the recommendations of the National Order of the Doctors and to the European recommendation n degrees R (99) 3 about the harmonisation of the rules in the field of forensic autopsy. In practice, the indications for forensic autopsy are as follows: homicide or suspicion of homicide, suicide or suspicion of suicide, violation of human rights, death in custody or potentially associated actions of police or army, death engaging a possible responsibility, death bringing into play a particular legislation, collective catastrophe, unexpected sudden death, not identified bodies or skeletal remainders. A guiding principle is that an unexpected death remains non natural until forensic proof of the opposite!


At operation the body temperature of mechanically ventilated infants was initially decreased to 25--22 degrees C with surface cooling and further lowered to 16 degrees C by total body perfusion. During circulatory arrest, averaging 40 min, repair of complex intracardiac deformities was carried out. Rewarming to 36 degrees C was achieved by 35--65 min of total body perfusion. Of 29 infants, 23 under 10 kg survived their correction; normothermic ventilation without added CO2 was given throughout the cooling period. The following measurements were made: gas exchange, lung mechanics, heart rate, arterial pressure, right atrial pressure, cardiac output (Qt), ECG, core and nasopharyngeal temperature, as well as biochemical determinations. During surface cooling O2 consumption (VO2), CO2 production (VCO2), endtidal CO2 (PETCO2) and PaCO2 decreased proportionally and linearly with body temperature. Inspiratory resistance, total compliance, physiological dead space (VD/VT), and the single breath CO2 curve did not reveal disturbed lung function. Mean arterial pressure was 98, 90, and 70 mm Hg and heart rate was 141, 107, and 76 beat/min, at temperature 35, 30, and 25 degrees C, respectively. Cardiac index was 2.2 +/- 0.2 liter/min/m2 (mean +/- SEM, n = 25) 2 hours after surgery. Arterial lactate reached peak values of 4.1 +/- 0.3 mM/liter (n = 17), during rewarming but returned to normal. Respiratory alkalosis caused by hyperventilation during cooling caused no apparent harm. No neurological damage was observed. It is concluded that surface cooling performed with normothermic ventilation under guidance of core temperature, VO2, PETCO2, and VCO2, is a safe method.


Real-time, two-dimensional echocardiography was used to document the presence and assess the size and location of vegetative lesions of the cardiac valves and chambers in seven patients with bacterial endocarditis. Anatomic correlation (surgical or autopsy) was accurate in all patients. Two-dimensional echocardiography was shown to be of particular value in determining morphologic characteristics of the lesions since this technique provides spatial information concerning moving cardiac structures. The results of twodimensional echocardiography were most helpful in determining selected aspects of the clinical care provided for each patient.These data demonstrate that real-time, two-dimensional echocardiography, in combination with M-mode imaging techniques, may be of great potential value in the detection of vegetative endocarditis. Furthermore, reliable assessment of lesion size and location may, in time, become a valuable method for following the morphologic changes that occur in vegetative lesions, and thus determine the efficacy of antibiotic therapy. This information may also provide a means for evaluating certain patients for surgical intervention.


In this paper, we consider a single-machine production system, operating under a stochastic demand. Over each production cycle, it is assumed that there is a single realization of the demand random variable. Furthermore, it is assumed that the system is operated under a periodic-review policy. Thus, the particular realization of the demand cannot be determined prior to the end of the corresponding period. The continuous-time optimal production control, that minimizes a linear combination of expected surplus and shortage costs over the planning horizon is shown to be piecewise constant, and the appropriate production levels and control breakpoints are determined as functions of the demand distribution.


OBJECTIVE
A recent retrospective study showed that the ischemic consequences of femoropopliteal bypass graft occlusion were more severe with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) than with vein. This study examines this conclusion and whether oral anticoagulation therapy reduces the degree of ischemia after occlusion of PTFE and vein femoropopliteal bypass grafts.

METHODS
Four hundred two patients who underwent femoropopliteal bypass grafting (233 PTFE and 169 vein) were randomized to a postoperative regimen of either warfarin (international normalized ratio, 1.4 to 2.8) and aspirin (WASA; 325 mg daily) therapy or aspirin alone (ASA) therapy. The grade of acute ischemia at the time of graft occlusion was assessed with the Society of Vascular Surgery recommended reporting standards (I, viable; II, threatened). Early graft occlusions (<30 days) were excluded.

RESULTS
There were 100 graft occlusions (67 PTFE and 33 vein) during a mean follow-up period of 36 months (PTFE) and 39 months (vein). Forty-eight patients were randomized to WASA therapy, and 52 were randomized to ASA therapy. The patients were well matched for age, atherosclerotic risk factors, operative indication, and preoperative ankle-brachial index. Overall, a greater percentage of the PTFE occlusions caused grade II ischemia than did the vein graft occlusions (48% versus 18%; P =.005). The ankle-brachial index at the time of graft occlusion was significantly lower in the PTFE grafts than in the vein grafts (0.28 versus 0.45; P =.001). The patients with PTFE who were undergoing WASA therapy at the time of graft occlusion had less grade II ischemia than did those patients who were undergoing ASA therapy (28% versus 55%; P =.057). However, the incidence rate of severe ischemia after graft occlusion remained greater with PTFE grafts and WASA therapy as compared with all the vein grafts (28% versus 18%). The vein graft occlusions had the same incidence rate of grade II ischemia with WASA therapy as with ASA therapy (20% versus 17%; P = 1.0).

CONCLUSION
The ischemic consequences of femoropopliteal bypass graft occlusion are worse with PTFE than with vein. Treatment with WASA therapy lessens the severity of acute ischemia after the occlusion of PTFE graft as compared with ASA therapy but not to the degree seen with vein graft occlusion. Occlusion of femoropopliteal vein grafts is seldom accompanied by severe ischemia and is not improved with WASA therapy.


Background and objectives:  Upper airway pathologies often accompany asthma. Because this represents a single airway, the diagnosis, follow up and treatment of both upper and lower respiratory diseases is essential. Samter Syndrome (SS) is known to be associated with more severe asthma. The presence of nasal polyps (NPs) is also associated with asthma. However, the incidence of NPs in asthma and the effect of NPs on asthma severity are not well documented.


In many settings, an effective way of evaluating objects of interest is to collect evaluations from dispersed individuals and to aggregate these evaluations together. Some examples are categorizing online content and evaluating student assignments via peer grading. For this data science problem, one challenge is to motivate participants to conduct such evaluations carefully and to report them honestly, particularly when doing so is costly. Existing approaches, notably peer-prediction mechanisms, can incentivize truth telling in equilibrium. However, they also give rise to equilibria in which agents do not pay the costs required to evaluate accurately, and hence fail to elicit useful information. We show that this problem is unavoidable whenever agents are able to coordinate using low-cost signals about the items being evaluated (e.g., text labels or pictures). We then consider ways of circumventing this problem by comparing agents' reports to ground truth, which is available in practice when there exist trusted evaluators---such as teaching assistants in the peer grading scenario---who can perform a limited number of unbiased (but noisy) evaluations. Of course, when such ground truth is available, a simpler approach is also possible: rewarding each agent based on agreement with ground truth with some probability, and unconditionally rewarding the agent otherwise. Surprisingly, we show that the simpler mechanism achieves stronger incentive guarantees given less access to ground truth than a large set of peer-prediction mechanisms.


Background Advanced or metastatic prostate cancer (PCa) is still an incurable malignancy with high lethality and a poor prognosis. Despite the remarkable success of immunotherapy against many types of cancer, most patients with PCa receive minimal benefit from current immunotherapeutic strategies, because PCa is an immune cold tumor with scarce T-cell infiltration in the tumor microenvironment. The aim of this study was to develop an effective immunotherapeutic approach for immune cold PCa tumors. Methods The therapeutic efficacy of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and zoledronic acid (ZA) plus thymosin α1 (Tα1) therapy was analyzed retrospectively in patients with advanced or metastatic PCa. The effects and mechanisms by which ZA and Tα1 regulated the immune functions of PCa cells and immune cells were evaluated by a PCa allograft mouse model, flow cytometric analysis, immunohistochemical and immunofluorescence staining assays, and PCR, ELISA, and Western blot analyses. Results In this study, clinical retrospective analysis revealed that ADT combined with ZA plus Tα1 improved the therapeutic outcomes of patients with PCa, which might be associated with an enhanced frequency of T cells. ZA and Tα1 treatment synergistically inhibited the growth of androgen-independent PCa allograft tumors, with increased infiltration of tumor-specific cytotoxic CD8+ T cells and enhanced tumor inflammation. Functionally, ZA and Tα1 treatment relieved immunosuppression in PCa cells, stimulated pro-inflammatory macrophages, and enhanced the cytotoxic function of T cells. Mechanistically, ZA plus Tα1 therapy blocked the MyD88/NF-κB pathway in PCa cells but activated this signaling in macrophages and T cells, altering the tumor immune landscape to suppress PCa progression. Conclusions These findings uncover a previously undefined role for ZA and Tα1 in inhibiting the disease progression of immune cold PCa tumors by enhancing antitumor immunity and pave the way for the application of ZA plus Tα1 therapy as an immunotherapeutic strategy for treating patients with immunologically unresponsive PCa.


s of papers presented at the eighth Mammalian Genetics and DeŠelopment Workshop held at the Wellcome Trust Building, Euston Road, London on 19–21 NoŠember 1997 Edited by: ANDREW COPP" and DENNIS A. STEPHENSON# "Neural DeŠelopment Unit, The Institute for Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, UK #The Galton Laboratory, UniŠersity College London, 4 Stephenson Way, London NW1 2HE, UK Sponsored by: The Wellcome Trust, The Genetical Society and B&K Universal Group Limited cDNA libraries from single human preimplantation


In previous work we have shown that aligned high aspect-ratio (pseudo-2D) nanofillers can yield large dielectric breakdown strength (E_BD) improvements for a nanocomposite with a low-crystallinity polyethylene matrix. Here, we report a systematic study which delineates the contributions of the aligned inorganic fillers and of the aligned polymer crystallites in the overall E_BD improvement achieved in the nanocomposites. Specifically, extrusion blown-molded polyethylene/montmorillonite nanocomposite films were cold-stretched to various strains, to further align the nanoparticles parallel to the film surface; this filler alignment is accompanied by a commensurate alignment of the polymer crystallites, especially those heterogeneously nucleated by the fillers. A systematic series of films are studied, with increased extent of alignment of the fillers and of the crystalline lamellae (quantified through Hermans orientation order parameters from 2D X-ray diffraction studies) and the aligned structure is correlated to the electric field breakdown strength (quantified through Weibull failure studies). It is shown that aligned pseudo-2D inorganic nanofillers provide additional strong improvements in E_BD, improvements that are beyond, and added in excess of, any E_BD increases due to polymer-crystal orientation.


C-reactive protein is an acute phase protein in man and an important component of the innate immune system. C-reactive protein activates the classical pathway of complement, which is one of its main mechanisms in providing host defense. It has recently been recognized that C-reactive protein interacts with the cells of the immune system by binding to Fc gamma receptors. It may thus bridge the gap between innate and adaptive immunity and provide an early, effective antibacterial response. Furthermore, as it protects against the damaging inflammatory response to lipopolysaccharide and cytokines, it may prevent the lethal side-effects of bacterial products. The recent identification of the interaction of C-reactive protein with Fc gamma receptors will lead to an enhanced understanding of C-reactive protein and its role in both the innate and acquired immune systems.


In the coevolution of host and the associated opportunistically pathogenic microbiota, the microbiota has an advantage of a smaller generation time and thereby faster evolution. Sexual reproduction by the host is hypothesized to be the hosts' evolutionary counter-strategy. We propose further that the ticking clock of the evolving microbiota influences the evolution of host aging. Modeling these dynamics shows that if transmission of microbes has a small to moderate vertical or kin-biased component, early aging can evolve in the host. Host genotypes with shorter longevity are more likely to escape pathogen evolution thereby getting a selective advantage for their progeny when risk of infection is high. As parasite communities are ecologically and evolutionarily dynamic, hosts can in response evolve plasticity in aging. The model shows that a genotype which activates aging or death pathways in response to threshold parasite colonization gets a selective advantage whenever there is a nonzero kin transmission bias. The hypothesis is compatible with classical hypotheses for aging. We make many predictions testable by epidemiological, comparative or experimental methods.


This study investigates how the closure of rural hospitals affected other rural hospitals. The empirical analysis examined whether being the neighbor of a closed rural hospital affected financial performance variables during the periods before and after closure. Before and after comparisons of surviving rural hospitals were made between 1985 and 1989 for closures in 1987 and between 1986 and 1990 for closures in 1988. The regression results showed that neighbors of closed rural hospitals typically did experience increased volume in comparison to non-neighbors, but the increased volume did not lead to reductions in average cost or to improved profitability, after controlling for other factors.


Organically-modified silica xerogels from 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTES) and 3-isocyanatepropyltriethoxysilane (ICPTES) have been synthesized through carboxylic acid (formic acid, acetic acid and valeric acid) solvolysis. The resulting hybrid materials have been characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, mid-infrared spectroscopy, 29Si and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance, and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The results show that urea cross-links have been formed in these hybrids. The luminescence features depend on the selected carboxylic acids. For example, comparatively to the hybrids derived from formic and acetic acid solvolysis, valeric acid shows a red-shift of the emission features.


The goal of this research is to develop effective learning algorithms that will predict the viewers viewing pattern, retrieve the related tv-event on the basis of viewer viewing pattern that could be useful for recommender system of interactive TV. An efficient data model for electronic program guide (EPG) has been proposed which will be beneficial for overall system. We have performed some experiments to show the validity of our system.


The concept of psychopathy has long been of interest within the criminal justice
system, often presented as the causal antecedent to serial violent and sexual offences. Despite
this, psychopathy has remained difficult to assess, with research in the area compromised by
the absence of an established definition of the disorder. The first comprehensive
conceptualisation of psychopathy was proposed by Hervey Cleckley in 1941. Cleckley
suggested the prototypical psychopath to be characterised by the following 16 traits:
superficial charm, absence of delusions, absence of "nervousness", unreliability,
untruthfulness, lack of remorse and shame, antisocial behaviour, poor judgement and failure
to learn by experience, pathological egocentricity, poverty in affective reactions, loss of
insight, unresponsiveness in interpersonal relations, fantastic and uninviting behaviour,
suicide rarely carried out, impersonal sex life, and failure to follow any life plan.


Phenylpropanoids are specialized metabolites derived from phenylalanine. Glucosinolates are defense compounds derived mainly from methionine and tryptophan in Arabidopsis. It was previously shown that the phenylpropanoid pathway and glucosinolate production are metabolically linked. The accumulation of indole-3-acetaldoxime (IAOx), the precursor of tryptophan-derived glucosinolates, represses phenylpropanoid biosynthesis through accelerated degradation of phenylalanine-ammonia lyase (PAL). As PAL functions at the entry point of the phenylpropanoid pathway which produces indispensable specialized metabolites such as lignin, aldoxime-mediated phenylpropanoid repression is detrimental to plant survival. Although methionine-derived glucosinolates in Arabidopsis are abundant, any impact of aliphatic aldoximes (AAOx) derived from aliphatic amino acids such as methionine on phenylpropanoid production remains unclear. Here, we investigate the impact of AAOx accumulation on phenylpropanoid production using Arabidopsis aldoxime mutants, ref2 and ref5. REF2 and REF5 metabolize aldoximes to respective nitrile oxides redundantly, but with different substrate specificities. ref2 and ref5 mutants have decreased phenylpropanoid contents due to the accumulation of aldoximes. As REF2 and REF5 have high substrate specificity toward AAOx and IAOx respectively, it was assumed that ref2 accumulates AAOx, not IAOx. Our study indicates that ref2 accumulates both AAOx and IAOx. Removing IAOx partially restored phenylpropanoid production in ref2, but not to the wild-type level. However, when AAOx biosynthesis was silenced, phenylpropanoid production and PAL activity in ref2 were completely restored, suggesting an inhibitory effect of AAOx on phenylpropanoid production. Further feeding studies revealed that the abnormal growth phenotype commonly observed in Arabidopsis mutants lacking AAOx production is a consequence of methionine accumulation. Significance Statement Aliphatic aldoximes are precursors of various specialized metabolites including defense compounds. This study reveals that aliphatic aldoximes repress phenylpropanoid production and that altered methionine metabolism affects plant growth and development. As phenylpropanoids include vital metabolites such as lignin, a major sink of fixed carbon, this metabolic link may contribute to available resource allocation during defense.


Conduct disorder (severe and persistent antisocial behaviour in children and youth) is an important community mental health problem in Canada and has been the focus of considerable recent public policy debate. Good research evidence is available on effective (and ineffective) interventions for conduct disorder. Paradoxically, however, relatively little of the research evidence is incorporated into policy decision-making. There is a policy-research gap. An example (Hamilton, Ontario) is used to illustrate this gap. The gap is then explained using a framework for health policy analysis that incorporates values, institutional structures, and information. Values and institutional structures greatly outweigh research evidence in influencing current Canadian policy-making for the problem of conduct disorder. Possibilities for improving the situation are suggested.


Tuberculosis is primarily a pulmonary condition caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which causes a serious threat to human health. In 2016 more than 1.3 million people died of tuberculosis, meanwhile there were 10.4 million new infections worldwide. Treatment for tuberculosis currently takes a minimum of 6 months with a combination of four different antibiotics, but there is increasing resistance to the first line antibiotics. The second line antibiotics include the fluoroquinolones (moxifloxacin, levofloxacin and gatifloxacin), which target DNA gyrase, the only Type IIA topoisomerase in M. tuberculosis, of which there is limited structural and biochemical information available within the literature.

To address these problems, we sought to increase our knowledge of mycobacterial DNA gyrase through biochemical mechanistic studies, inhibition studies of known and novel inhibitors of DNA gyrase alongside structural studies by X-ray crystallography. This led us to determine that a fusion of the GyrB and GyrA subunits was fully active and, in some cases, potentially more active than using the individual subunits. In particular, we determined that a detectable and greater rate of ATPase activity was present in Mtb DNA gyrase than previously suggested. We found this rate to be highly DNA-dependent requiring a topologically unconstrained DNA substrate (linear or nicked plasmid) for the highest rates. In addition, we cloned, expressed, purified and partially characterised DNA gyrase from the thermophilic M. thermoresistibile for use in structural studies.

In investigating the novel tricyclic group of compounds optimised by Redx AntiInfectives, we determined that they act in a similar mechanism of action to novobiocin through biochemical studies. They differ in their binding pocket, as determined by X-ray crystallography, and mechanism of resistance, as determined by bacterial mutagenesis.


Research has shown how unpremeditated events can influence media attention and media framing. But how do staged political events influence patterns of news coverage across countries, and are such changes sustainable beyond the immediate event context? We examined whether the UN climate change conferences are conducive to an emergence of a transnational public sphere by triggering issue convergence and increased transnational interconnectedness across national media debates. An automated content analysis of climate change coverage in newspapers from Germany, India, South Africa, and the United States between 2012 and 2019 revealed largely event-focused reporting. Media coverage quickly returned to preconference patterns after each conference. References to foreign countries showed almost no relationship to the climate change conferences' coverage. We found similar results for the effects of the Fridays for Future movement. The significance of these events lies less in long-term changes in media reporting but more in short-term attention generation and coordinated message production.


We consider the problem of semantic load shedding for continuous queries containing window joins on multiple data streams and propose a robust approach that is effective with the different semantic accuracy criteria that are required in different applications. In fact, our approach can be used to (i) maximize the number of output tuples produced by joins, and (ii) optimize the accuracy of complex aggregates estimates under uniform random sampling. We first consider the problem of computing maximal subsets of approximate window joins over multiple data streams. Previously proposed approaches are based on multiple pair-wise joins and, in their load-shedding decisions, disregard the content of streams outside the joined pairs. To overcome these limitations, we optimize our load-shedding policy using various predictors of the productivity of each tuple in the window. To minimize processing costs, we use a fast-and-light sketching technique to estimate the productivity of the tuples. We then show that our method can be generalized to produce statistically accurate samples, as needed in, e.g.. the computation of averages, quantiles. and stream mining queries. Tests performed on both synthetic and real-life data demonstrate that our method outperforms previous approaches, while requiring comparable amounts of time and space.