A critical step in animal development is the specification of primordial germ cells (PGCs), the precursors of the germline. Two seemingly mutually exclusive mechanisms are implemented across the animal kingdom: epigenesis and preformation. In epigenesis, PGC specification is non-autonomous and depends on extrinsic signaling pathways. The BMP pathway provides the key PGC specification signals in mammals. Preformation is autonomous and mediated by determinants localized within PGCs. In Drosophila, a classic example of preformation, constituents of the germ plasm localized at the embryonic posterior are thought to be both necessary and sufficient for proper determination of PGCs. Contrary to this longstanding model, here we show that these localized determinants are insufficient by themselves to direct PGC specification in blastoderm stage embryos. Instead, we find that the BMP signaling pathway is required at multiple steps during the specification process and functions in conjunction with components of the germ plasm to orchestrate PGC fate.


Seven extended-spectrum beta-lactamases related to TEM and four enzymes derived from SHV-1 were transferred to a common Escherichia coli host so that the activity of a variety of beta-lactams could be tested in a uniform genetic environment. For most derivatives, penicillinase activity was 10% or less than that of strains making TEM-1, TEM-2, or SHV-1 beta-lactamase, suggesting that reduced catalytic efficiency accompanied the broader substrate spectrum. Despite this deficit, resistance to aztreonam, carumonam, cefdinir, cefepime, cefixime, cefmenoxime, cefotaxime, cefotiam, cefpirome, cefpodoxime, ceftazidime, ceftibuten, ceftizoxime, ceftriaxone, cefuroxime, and E1040 was enhanced. For strains producing TEM-type enzymes, however, MICs of carumonam, cefepime, cefmenoxime, cefotiam, cefpirome, and ceftibuten were 8 micrograms/ml or less. Susceptibilities of cefmetazole, cefotetan, cefoxitin, flomoxef, imipenem, meropenem, moxalactam, temocillin, FCE 22101, and Sch 34343 were unaffected. FCE 22101, imipenem, meropenem, and Sch 34343 were inhibitory for all strains at 1 microgram/ml or less. In E. coli an OmpF- porin mutation in combination with an extended-spectrum beta-lactamase enhanced resistance to many of these agents, but generally by only fourfold. Hyperproduction of chromosomal AmpC beta-lactamase increased resistance to 7-alpha-methoxy beta-lactams but not that to temocillin. When tested at 8 micrograms/ml, clavulanate was more potent than sulbactam or tazobactam in overcoming resistance to ampicillin, while cefoperazone-sulbactam was more active than ticarcillin-clavulanate or piperacillin-tazobactam, especially against TEM-type extended-spectrum beta-lactamases.


: Molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) is one of the compounds discussed nowadays due to its outstanding properties that allowed its usage in different applications. Its band gap and its distinctive structure make it a promising material to substitute graphene and other semiconductor devices. It has different applications in electronics especially sensors like optical sensors, biosensors, electrochemical biosensors that play an important role in the detection of various diseases' like cancer and Alzheimer. It has a wide range of energy applications in batteries, solar cells, microwave, and Terahertz applications. It is a promising material on a nanoscale level, with favorable characteristics in spintronics and magnetoresistance. In this review, we will discuss MoS 2 properties, structure and synthesis techniques with a focus on its applications and future challenges.


Analog bulletin boards are omnipresent in Swedish urban areas, yet little systematic knowledge about this communication medium exists. In the shadow of the rapid emergence of digital media the analog bulletin board has received less attention than its digital successors, many of them having incorporated similar functionality with novel technical solutions. In this study we used a citizen science method to collect 1167 messages from bulletin boards around Sweden aided by school children and teachers, with the purpose of shedding new light on what is communicated on the boards, by whom, using what types of technologies and in what way the messages refer to other media. Results show that the most common messages are invitations to events, such as concerts, lectures and sports events, followed by buy-and-sell ads for goods and services. The most frequent sender is an association, for example NGOs, sports associations or religious communities. Almost half of the sampled messages were professionally printed, about forty per cent were made by home printers. Only six per cent of the messages were handwritten, almost exclusively by private persons as senders. Moreover, we show how the analog bulletin board has adapted to recent changes in media technology—a media landscape which is saturated with electronicand mobile media. Further, the bulletin board still holds a firm place in a media ecology where local communication is in demand, and exists in parallel with electronic media. Close to forty percent of the messages contained hyperlinks to web pages and we found (and PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202077 August 27, 2018 1 / 21 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111


This paper deals with the question of how aspherical ophthalmic lenses can be measured outside the reference point given by the manufacturer in order to make a lens comparison or to test the shape faithfulness of the lens surface. Three procedures are presented with measuring examples - vertex power measurement with swiveled lens mount, probe scan in a three-coordinate measurement, and interferometer measurement using a non-ideal reference lens. The basic problem inherent in an application-related interpretation of the measuring data sets gained by these methods is shown.


When the new City Charter took effect on July 1, 2000, Los Angeles cast aside a seventy-five year old governing structure in favor of a streamlined system more reflective of the political realities of a twenty-first century metropolis. It was in many ways a typical Los Angeles moment. Dissatisfied with a municipal institution designed for another age, voters looked to the future and embraced sweeping changes in the fundamental operations of the city. Fully sixty percent of voters rejected a venerable but outdated document and chose a new but unproven one. More importantly, voters opted for legislation that reflected the new Los Angeles. No longer a small town with a homogenous population and a narrow economic base, Los Angeles had matured into a metropolis noted for its ethnic, religious, social, and economic diversity. Reform advocates proposed to simplify byzantine codes and regulations and to offer greater representation on the local level, particularly on issues of planning and growth. They presented Angelenos with a choice between the status quo and an opportunity to bring Los Angeles' government in line with the political realities of the present-day city. This articles reveals how Mayor Richard Riordan and his reform allies planned and pursued a campaign to rewrite the charter to prepare for the economic and civic future of Los Angeles and to confront its current problems. By including the conflicts and compromises involved in this effort, the article reveals the complexities of modern urban governance. The blueprint Riordan and others crafted will guide city leaders as Los Angeles enters a new and potentially more turbulent phase of its history. More than any other actions taken in his mayoralty, the new City Charter and its relative success in preserving Los Angeles as an intact and functional metropolis will determine Riordan's legacy in the years to come.


Research has been carried out to investigate the effects of pulsed cyclical microware exposure (7 GHz, 400 pps, 100 mcs, 10-20 mW/cm2, 10 or 20 cycles of "5 min exposure--4 min pause") on avoidance learning of rats. It was shown that reductions in conditioned behavior after cyclical pulsed microware exposure occurred at an SAR of 2.1 W/kg (10 mW/cm2). It was found the cumulation of the effects of the cycles at prolonged cyclical microwave exposures.


BACKGROUND/AIMS
It has been found that mutations of cationic trypsinogen gene (PRSS1) and serine protease inhibitor, Kazal type 1 gene (SPINK1) increase the susceptibility of chronic pancreatitis (CP). Specifically, mutations in the PRSS1 gene are related to the occurrences of hereditary and idiopathic pancreatitis while SPINK1 mutations are known to act as a disease modifier and are associated with idiopathic CP. However, the association of SPINK1 mutations with alcoholic CP is still controversial. We investigated the prevalence of PRSS1 and SPINK1 mutations in idiopathic and alcoholic CP in Korea.

METHODS
Seventy-one Korean patients with CP (alcoholic: 47, idiopathic: 22 and familial: 2) and 19 controls were included in this studies. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood of the patients. Mutations of SPINK1 (exon 3: N34S) and PRSS1 (exon 2: N29I, exon 3: R122H) genes were detected by PCR-RFLP methods. For the detection of SPINK1 mutation, restriction endonuclease PstI and BsrDI were used, while Sau3A and AflIII were used for the defection of PRSS1 mutation.

RESULTS
Only one patient (2.1%) with alcoholic CP was a heterozygote for SPINK1 (N34S) mutation. Mutation in the PRSS1 (N29I, R122H) gene was not found in any group of CP patients. Additionally, we could not find any mutations of SPINK1 or PRSS1 in the control group.

CONCLUSIONS
SPINK1 and PRSS1 mutations are not related to the development of CP in Korea.


The protocol WorldFIP for industrial communication networks, is specified with the formal specification language LOTOS. The paper introduces the main features of WorldFIP particularly those related to its data link layer. The methodology used and the description of specification are explained with the data types implemented. Following that, instances of tests developed for verifying the specification are described. This allows us to detect a lack of efficiency in the protocol with the transfer of messages. Results and new guidelines of this work are explained in the last paragraph devoted to conclusions and future works. The LOTOS specification of the WorldFIP protocol shows that formal description techniques provide powerful CAE tools for advanced designs in the field of industrial communications.


A novel master-multi-SIMD architecture and its kernel template based parallel programming flow is introduced as a parallel signal processing platform. The name of the platform is ePUMA embedded Parallel DSP processor architecture with Unique Memory Access. The essential technology is to separate data accessing kernels from arithmetic computing kernels so that the run-time cost of data access can be minimized by running it in parallel with algorithm computing. The SIMD memory subsystem architecture based on the proposed flow dramatically improves the total computing performance. The hardware system and programming flow introduced in this article will primarily aim at low-power high-performance embedded parallel computing with low silicon cost for communications and similar real-time signal processing.


Our objectives were to determine relative contributions of diet and dust exposure from multiple microenvironments to PentaBDE body burden, and to explore the role of handwipes as a measure of personal exposure to PentaBDE. We administered a food frequency questionnaire and collected serum, dust (office, main living area, bedroom, and vehicle), and handwipe samples from 31 participants. ΣPentaBDEs (sum of BDE 28/33, 47, 99, 100, and 153) in handwipes collected in the office environment were weakly correlated with dust collected from offices (r = 0.35, p = 0.06) and bedrooms (r = 0.39, p = 0.04), but not with dust from main living areas (r = -0.05, p = 0.77) or vehicles (r = 0.17, p = 0.47). ΣPentaBDEs in serum were correlated with dust from main living areas (r = 0.42, p = 0.02) and bedrooms (r = 0.49, p = 0.008), but not with dust from offices (r = 0.22, p = 0.25) or vehicles (r = 0.20, p = 0.41). Our final regression model included variables for main living area dust and handwipes, and predicted 55% of the variation in serum ΣPentaBDE concentrations (p = 0.0004). Diet variables were not significant predictors of ΣPentaBDEs in serum. Our research suggests that exposure to dust in the home environment may be the most important factor in predicting PentaBDE body burden in North Americans, and potential exposure pathways may involve PBDE residues on hands.


Study Design Case report. Setting A tertiary care pediatric hospital. Patient A 7-year-old boy complained of retroauricular pain 3.5 years after cochlear implantation. Temporal bone computed tomographic scan revealed a soft tissue density filling the mastoid and middle ear space. There was extensive osseous erosion involving the cochlear promontory that resulted in lateral displacement electrode array into the middle ear space. Intervention Mastoidectomy with removal of cochlear implant. Results Pathologic examination of the soft tissue filling the mastoid cavity was consistent with a cholesterol granuloma. The cultures of the mastoid cavity demonstrated no growth. Examination of the explanted device revealed a cell layer covering the length of the electrode. The stylet tract was filled with cells that grew out through the silicone component. No birefringent cholesterol crystals were detected in the tissue surrounding the electrode. Biofilms were not identified. Conclusion The authors describe a unique case of a cholesterol granuloma of the middle ear and mastoid in a cochlear implant recipient causing erosion of the otic capsule and displacement of the cochlear implant electrode array into the middle ear space.


Apigenin, as a natural flavonoid, has been proved to have many biological effects. Our previous research has found the antiadipogenic effects of apigenin on HepG2 cells. Autophagy is intimately associated with the metabolism of lipid droplets (LDs) and is considered to be one of the lipid breakdown pathways. However, there is no study to elucidate the lipid-lowering mechanism of apigenin from the perspective of autophagy. Here, we investigated the possible role of apigenin in autophagy and lipid accumulation in palmitic acid (PA)-induced HepG2 cells. Our results showed that apigenin increased autophagosome formation and the LC3-II/I ratio, but decreased the p-mTOR/mTOR ratio and P62 protein expression. The effects of apigenin were blocked by chloroquine (CQ). Likewise, apigenin significantly stimulated autophagic flux in the cytoplasm. This effect also could be blocked by CQ. Moreover, apigenin decreased the lipid content and co-localization of LDs with LC3, and CQ could block these effects. Thus, we proposed that apigenin induced autophagy and stimulated autophagic lipid degradation in PA-treated HepG2 cells.


Abstract While more individuals and communities are becoming connected to technology and the Internet, a gap still remains. If communities intend to be competitive, they must develop and cultivate a well-trained workforce to stay viable. This research identified a working model that developed a strong partnership between the university and four community partners to help close the digital divide in a Midwestern metropolitan area. It was found that a high degree of communication and coordination between the university and the community partners is paramount for success. Introduction On 16 May 1999 the Making a Civic Investment program was launched. Funded by MCI WorldCom and coordinated by Campus Compact, this nationwide grant program was a three-year effort (Fall 2000 through Spring 2003) that provided monies to link schools and community based organizations with universities to implement educational technology projects to bridge the digital divide for children in grades K-12. The goal of the program was to increase the use of technology for educational attainment and civic engagement by preparing children and parents in underserved communities for success in a technology-based world (Campus Compact Making a Civic Investment website, p. 1). Research pertaining to service-learning and the digital divide indicates that service-learning engages students in meaningful service and provides learning experiences to enhance classroom teaching (Astin & Sax, 1998). Research on university student impact shows that service-learning enhances psychological and moral reasoning abilities of students (Boss, 1994; Kuh, Douglas, Lund, & Ramin-Gyurnek, 1994). Faculties have been found to benefit from involvement in service-learning through the application of theory and knowledge to local problem-solving (Lynton, 1995). Vernon and Ward (1999) found that communities overwhelmingly have positive perceptions if there is ample coordination and communication with those from the campus with whom they work. They further described the advantages of having properly trained college students who understand the purpose and expectations of the service initiatives at their agencies because of their enthusiasm, energy, new ideas/perspectives, and their ability to get work done (pp. 33-35). Concerning technology and service-learning, Gerald Boerner (Campus Compact website) identified using technology as a means of providing the service to the community agency and as a product produced for the community agency. He emphasizes that these "high tech" services can be provided without decreasing the focus on the "high touch" traditions of service-learning. Faculties need to listen to agency personnel and identify what skills their students might apply to help define a solution. Description and Procedures The Project Monies from the grant were awarded to Southwest Missouri State University (SMSU) for a project entitled Students as Citizens: Linking Families, Schools, Communities and Universities to Enhance Learning Through Technology. The University in coordination with the Springfield Public Schools (SPS) and three other community organizations (Founders Park, History Museum, and Public Library) formed a partnership to research the history of Springfield from 1829-1929. This supplemental study of Missouri history allowed 396 third and fourth graders in five Title I elementary schools over a three year period to pilot curriculum that accessed historical archives via a website and traditional resources in after-school computer clubs. A total of 130 university service-learning (SL) students assisted five elementary school site coordinators over the three years by their presence at the club locations. The computer clubs met one night a week for two hours at each school for eight weeks each semester, i.e., a total of sixteen sessions per academic year. The curriculum and prototype resource websites developed by history and computer science students, professors, and two curriculum writers helped expand the capabilities of the Internet by being a resource of information for elementary teachers, students and the larger community. …


We demonstrate in-vivo functional imaging of the human retina with Fourier domain optical coherence tomography employing frequency encoding of an excitation pattern. The principle is based on projecting a modulated rectangular pattern across the foveal region and acquiring a time series of B-Scans at the same vertical position across the pattern. The idea is to modulate the excitation with a frequency that is distinct from the heartbeat and irregular motion artifacts. Fourier analysis of the time series at each transverse position in the B-scan series allows assessing the retinal response as change in the FDOCT reflectivity signal exactly at the pattern modulation frequency. We observe a change in retinal reflectivity within the region of the outer segment photoreceptor layer exactly at the pattern modulation frequency.


Bupropion, a monocyclic aminoketone is used primarily for the treatment of major depression. On oral administration, the drug undergoes extensive first pass metabolism. Delivery of bupropion via transdermal route would minimize some of the deficiencies associated with the oral delivery. In the present study, effect of various vehicles and penetration enhancers on diffusion kinetics of the salt and free drug through the human cadaver skin was studied using a modified diffusion cell. The diffused drug was quantified by UV spectrophotometry at 298 nm in phosphate buffer saline. A 100-fold increase In permeability rate was observed with free base compared to salt form. As a vehicle, alcohol was found to be superior compared to phosphate buffer saline and propylene glycol in permeation of free base. Permeation was enhanced by up to 30 %with linseed oil and myristic acid when propylene glycol was used as a vehicle. The study provides suitable clues for delivery of bupropion by the transdermal route.


The Journal of Sport Psychology in Action (JSPA) is pleased to present the latest edition of In the Huddle. This feature involves posing a question to a selection of experienced sport psychology practitioners and each of them presenting their perspective on the issues it raises. Appreciation is extended to the student representatives for JSPA (Jim Doorley, Ph.D. candidate and Brennan Petersen, Ph.D. candidate) who organized and compiled the responses. Readers are welcome to suggest questions for future editions of In the Huddle , which should be e-mailed to the editorial assistant for consideration.


Many biologically important ligands of proteins are large, flexible, and in many cases charged molecules that bind to extended regions on the protein surface. It is infeasible or expensive to locate such ligands on proteins with standard methods such as docking or molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The alternative approach proposed here is scanning of a spatial and angular grid around the protein with smaller fragments of the large ligand. Energy values for complete grids can be computed efficiently with a well-known fast Fourier transform-accelerated algorithm and a physically meaningful interaction model. We show that the approach can readily incorporate flexibility of the protein and ligand. The energy grids (EGs) resulting from the ligand fragment scans can be transformed into probability distributions and then directly compared to probability distributions estimated from MD simulations and experimental structural data. We test the approach on a diverse set of complexes between proteins and large, flexible ligands, including a complex of sonic hedgehog protein and heparin, three heparin sulfate substrates or nonsubstrates of an epimerase, a multibranched supramolecular ligand that stabilizes a protein-peptide complex, a flexible zwitterionic ligand that binds to a surface basin of a Kringle domain, and binding of ATP to a flexible site of an ion channel. In all cases, the EG approach gives results that are in good agreement with experimental data or MD simulations.


Saliva-activated transmission (SAT) of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto was demonstrated using real-time PCR and salivary gland extract (SGE) from partially fed Ixodes ricinus ticks. C3H/HeN mice were injected intradermally with 1.5 x 10(3) spirochetes mixed with 40 microg of SGE per mouse. The control group was inoculated with the same dose of spirochetes without SGE. The accelerating effect of SGE on spirochete proliferation was demonstrated on day 1 post infection, when a 4.2-fold increase in spirochetes was found in the skin and a 10-fold increase in the blood, compared with control mice. The data represent the first direct evidence of a SAT effect of I. ricinus SGE on infection with the Lyme disease agent B. burgdorferi.


For several years the Construction Management Department faculty have discussed implementing a better system of lifting heavy items in the Simpson Strong-Tie Lab. Currently, student assistants and faculty use a forklift to perform heavy lifting, there are definitely more safe and efficient alternatives available. An under running single girder crane system is in the process of being built in the Simpson Strong Tie lab. A full structural analysis has been calculated assuring the crane can lift up to two tons. This crane will help students and faculty use the lab to build the tiny house as well as other projects in need of lifting heavy items. In order to facilitate this project various preconstruction services are required to get the concept from a good idea, to a viable project. The items I am responsible for are a full construction risk analysis, construction schedule, and an in depth vendor buy out analysis.


We perform an empirical study of the behaviour of deep networks when fully linearizing some of its feature channels through a sparsity prior on the overall number of nonlinear units in the network. In experiments on image classification and machine translation tasks, we investigate how much we can simplify the network function towards linearity before performance collapses. First, we observe a significant performance gap when reducing nonlinearity in the network function early on as opposed to late in training, in-line with recent observations on the time-evolution of the data-dependent NTK. Second, we find that after training, we are able to linearize a significant number of nonlinear units while maintaining a high performance, indicating that much of a network's expressivity remains unused but helps gradient descent in early stages of training. To characterize the depth of the resulting partially linearized network, we introduce a measure called average path length, representing the average number of active nonlinearities encountered along a path in the network graph. Under sparsity pressure, we find that the remaining nonlinear units organize into distinct structures, forming core-networks of near constant effective depth and width, which in turn depend on task difficulty.


Known as "the Juiceman" to the millions who have seen him on television, Jay Kordich has at last written a book detailing his revolutionary program for staying healthy, looking young, getting trim, and feeling great -- all by taking advantage of the natural healing power of fresh fruit and vegetable juices.The Juiceman's Power of Juicing shows how you can use delectable fresh juice combinations to help lower your cholesterol, overcome fatigue, lose weight, reduce your risk of many serious diseases, and relieve scores of common ailments, including headaches, insomnia, upset stomach ... and even acne!Jay Kordich has devoted the last five decades to traveling the country promoting the healing power of juicing. In The Juiceman's Power of Juicing, he has written the complete guide, for beginners and for avid juicers, to the health revolution that will give you more energy and have you feeling and looking better than you ever dreamed possible. It's easy and delicious. Don't delay ... start juicing!


Productivity performance in European countries has been a policy concern for some time. This paper shows that productivity can be enhanced by product market policies which, by increasing competition and efficiency, facilitate higher rates of firms' entry and exit (i.e., firm churning). Drawing on annual country-sector data for the period 2000-2014 across the EU countries, we find that: (i) competition-enhancing regulation is associated with a higher rate of firm churning; (ii) business churning, in turn, appears to be positively related to higher total factor productivity at the sector level by facilitating the entry of new competitive firms and the exit of less productive ones. Overall, we conclude that stringent product market regulation can be indirectly associated, via its impact on business dynamism, with the somewhat weak productivity performance in a number of EU countries. Thus, our results point towards significant productivity gains that could follow from the introduction of further competition-enhancing measures in product markets.


We demonstrate an equivalence between the rank 2 fragments of the polymorphic lambda calculus (System F) and the intersection type discipline: exactly the same terms are typable in each system. An immediate consequence is that typability in the rank 2 intersection system is DEXPTIME-complete. We introduce a rank 2 system combining intersections and polymorphism, and prove that it types exactly the same terms as the other rank 2 systems. The combined system suggests a new rule for typing recursive deenitions. The result is a rank 2 type system with decidable type inference that can type some interesting examples of polymorphic recursion. Finally, we discuss some applications of the type system in data representation optimizations such as unboxing and overloading.


The fungal flora of two water bodies Upper Lake and Hathaikheda Reservoir of Bhopal Pradesh were isolated during the course of study from January 2017 to December 2018. During the present study, total 600 isolates, comprising of 17 genera and 24 species of aquatic and terrestrial fungi were recorded from two water bodies. These fungi belonged to various orders of the group Oomycota, Ascomycota and Zygomycota . Members of Saprolegniales were dominant over the rest of the orders of fungi at both the water bodies. Upper Lake showed a great fungal diversity compared to that of Hataikheda Reservoir as total 332 isolated of fungi were isolated from Upper Lake, while as only 268 isolated of fungi were isolated from Hathaikheda Reservoir. Majority of the fungal species were common at both the water bodies, but Aphanomyces laevis, Aphanomyces invades, Saprolegnia hypogyanna, Pythium undulatum and Aspergillus terrus were only specific to Upper Lake.


Abortion is a social phenomenon that is increasingly alarming. The concern is not without reason, because so far the behavior of abortion many negative effects both for themselves perpetrators and the community at large. In terms of positive law in Indonesia, there is still debate and opposition from the pros and cons about the perception or understanding of the laws that exist to this day. Neither of Health Law, the Law on medical practice, The Criminal Code (Penal Code), Law on the elimination of domestic violence (domestic violence), and the Law on Human Rights (HAM). Normative legal research(normative law research) using the product in the form of case studies of normative legal behavior. Factors that led to the crime of abortion is rampant in Indonesia, partly because the sex education curriculum(sex education)in schools has been less effective in tackling promiscuity among teenagers. Therefore, the role of parents is very important in instilling moral values, ethics, law and religion. Sexual promiscuity among teenagers Indonesia today is alarming. Efforts to tackle the crime of abortion in the study of law in Indonesia. As for things - things that must be done by governments, institutions, communities and families in tackling illegal abortions are: Government: Providing spectacle qualified educate and prohibit the spectacle that does not make sense and did not educate as patron wearing tight uniform, Soon follow-up of cases - cases of illegal abortion and impose penalties sufficient to deter; Society: Society as a social institution should be more sensitive control and participate on everything that exists within its territory, reinforcing the social control in society


Abstract. Under the plenary power the Commission has conserved the specific name Coluber irregularis Leach in Bowdich, 1819 (currently Philothamnus irregularis) for the African northern green bush snake placed on the Official List by a ruling in Opinion 328, by ruling that it is not invalid by reason of being a junior primary homonym of Coluber irregularis Bechstein, 1802 (currently Boiga irregularis), used for the brown tree snake, known from Indonesia, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Melanesia and Guam.


OBJECTIVES
to describe the dietary behaviour of children attending primary school and the school activities which promote healthy dietary habits.

DESIGN OF THE STUDY
surveillance system with biannual prevalence studies.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS
the fourth round of data collection of the surveillance system OKkio alla SALUTE took place in 2014, promoted and financed by the Ministry of Health and coordinated by the National Institute of Health in collaborations with all regions. 2,408 schools, 48,426 children and 50,638 parents participated. Stratified cluster sampling (with third grade classes as units) was used; information was collected using questionnaires completed by children, parents, teachers and head-teachers.

OUTCOME MEASURES
consumption of breakfast, mid-morning snack, fruit and vegetables, sweetened and gassy drinks; school initiatives to promote healthy dietary habits.

RESULTS
31% of children have an adequate breakfast and 8% skip this meal; 52% consume an energy-dense mid-morning snack; 25% do not eat fruit and vegetables daily; 41% drink sweetened/gassy beverages daily. The unhealthy dietary habits are more common among children who have less educated parents or live in the South (more deprived area of the Country). Data show an improvement in the period 2008-2014, except in the consumption of fruit and vegetables. 74% of the schools include nutritional education in the curriculum, 66% have started initiatives of healthy dietary habits and 55% distribute healthy food; 35% involve parents in their initiatives. In the schools of the South nutritional education and involvement of parents are more frequent, while the distribution of healthy food and refectories are less common.

CONCLUSIONS
the high frequency of unhealthy dietary behaviour and their geographic and social inequalities show that there is a great potential for improvement. Schools are very involved in initiatives of promotion, but they need more support from the institutions and involvement of the families.


This paper studies power modeling for field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and investigates FPGA power characteristics in nanometer technologies. Considering both dynamic and leakage power, a mixed-level power model that combines switch-level models for interconnects and macromodels for look-up tables (LUTs) is developed. Gate-level netlists back-annotated with postlayout capacitances and delays are generated and cycle-accurate power simulation is performed using the mixed-level power model. The resulting power analysis framework is named as fpgaEVA-LP2. Experiments show that fpgaEVA-LP2 achieves high fidelity compared to SPICE simulation, and the absolute error is merely 8% on average. fpgaEVA-LP2 can be used to examine the power impact of FPGA circuits, architectures, and CAD algorithms, and it is used to study the power characteristics of existing FPGA architectures in this paper. It is shown that interconnect power is dominant and leakage power is significant in nanometer technologies. In addition, tuning cluster and LUT sizes lead to 1.7/spl times/ energy difference and 0.8/spl times/ delay difference between the resulting min-energy and min-delay FPGA architectures, and FPGA area and power are reduced at the same time by tuning the cluster and LUT sizes. The existing commercial architectures are similar to the min-energy (and min-area at the same time) architecture according to this study. Therefore, innovative FPGA circuits, architectures, and CAD algorithms, for example, considering programmable power supply voltage, are needed to further reduce FPGA power.


The lanthanide(iii) complexes (Gd, Eu, Dy, and Yb) of DOTA tris(amide) and bis(amide) derivatives (L1 and L2) featuring one redox active TEMPO arm were prepared. Ligand L2 harbours an alkyne fragment for further functionalization. The X-ray crystal structure of ligand L2 in complexation with Na+ was solved. The complexes showed in their CV one oxidation wave (0.26-0. 34 V vs. Fc+/Fc) due to an oxoammonium/nitroxide redox couple and a broad reduction corresponding to the nitroxide/hydroxylamine system. The Eu complexes demonstrated the presence of one water molecule in their coordination sphere. The nitroxide complexes were characterized by EPR spectroscopy, showing the typical 3-line pattern in the high temperature regime, which is quenched upon the addition of ascorbate (reduction into hydroxylamine). In their nitroxide form, the complexes show essentially no CEST peak. Conversely, the reduced complexes demonstrate a 12% CEST peak at 51 ppm, corresponding to the metal bound water molecule. Fast exchange precluded the CEST activity for the amide protons. All the complexes proved to be essentially non-toxic for M21 cells at concentrations up to 50 μM.


BACKGROUND
Knee injuries may lead to pain and to functional limitations in the activities of daily living. Patients with knee injuries are frequently seen in general practice; however, the outcome and management in these patients is not known.

AIM
To assess the outcome and management of knee injuries at 12 months' follow-up in general practice.

DESIGN OF STUDY
A prospective observational cohort study with a 1-year follow-up.

SETTING
Primary health care.

METHOD
Adult patients consulting their GP after knee injury (n = 134) participated in the cohort. A magnetic resonance imaging scan was carried out and patients were diagnosed as either no lesion or an isolated meniscal tear, an isolated collateral or cruciate ligament lesion, or a combination. Follow-up questionnaires were filled in up to 12 months' follow-up.

RESULTS
At 12 months' follow-up, 34 patients reported full recovery and 67 patients reported major improvement. At baseline, 37 patients (28%) were referred to physical therapy and 17 patients (13%) were referred to secondary care. During 1 year of follow-up, another 21 referrals to physical therapy and 11 referrals to secondary care took place. The pain severity decreased the most, and the Lysholm knee score increased in the majority of patients during the first 3 months after injury. In total, 18 arthroscopies were performed in 15 patients. One patient underwent an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

CONCLUSION
The vast majority of patients report clinically relevant recovery. There is no clear difference in outcomes between patients with meniscal tears or ligament lesions and patients without these diagnoses.


The parents of 100 patients with congenital cleft palates and lips were investigated psychologically.The results showed that the treatment was very urgent,In spite of poor knowledge in etiology and treatment.The effectiveness between patient and relation of parents,family was smaller than than that in abroad,and psychologic status was more stable.By investigation,the key of treatment in time was emotional activity of patients during systemic treatment.We suggested that it be necessary for patients to undergo psychologic training schedularly just after baby-patient-born.It made the parents to know that the function and emotional health of patient were ideal,by sysemic treatment via multi-subjects,the results of profile.


A new material was prepared by formation of polystyrene in situ wood porous structure from styrene monomer through thermal-catalyst treatment. And the performance of such wood-polymer composite, containing mechanical properties and durability, was also tested. The SEM results showed that polymer was generated inside wood, and filled in wood cellular structure. The mechanical properties of such wood-polystyrene composite including modulus of rupture (MOR), modulus of elasticity (MOE), compression strength and hardness, were respectively improved 38%, 77%, 21% and 97% over untreated wood. And the durability of the novel composite involving dimensional stability, decay resistance and stability against weather erosion were remarkably improved than those of untreated wood. Such composite can be widely used in fields of construction, traffic and interior decoration, which greatly enhanced the utilization of low-valued wood material instead of high-quality wood.


A search process for a single, fixed pattern in random data is a topic that had attracted attention of both mathematicians and engineers. In this paper are derived the statistical parameters and probability density function (p.d.f.) of an extended problem - a search for multiple patterns. An analysis of the search process for a fixed pattern with errors in random data (equivalent to the search process for a set of patterns in random data) is given. An analysis of the search process for distributed (interleaved) patterns, where pattern symbols are scattered within the random (scrambled) data symbols, is also given. Some application examples are shown.


Aim of the study. The aim of this study was to assess the scope and direction of long-term change tendencies in indicators of mental, physical, and motor development, and to assess the correlation between the level of non-verbal intelligence and indicators of physical development and between the level of non-verbal intelligence and selected components of physical fitness (measured according to under the health-related fitness convention) among children aged 4–14 years from different social backgrounds in the Małopolska Province. Material. Observed was the level of motor, somatic, and mental development among girls and boys aged 4–14 years between 2005 and 2010 in three different-sized agglomerations in the Małopolska Province: the city of Kraków, the village of Barcice, and the town of Sławków. A total of 1429 children were assessed, including 202 girls and 217 boys from Barcice, 221 girls and 199 boys from Sławków, and 274 girls and 316 boys from Kraków. Methodology. In accordance with the aim of the study, selected indicators of somatic, motor, and mental development among children were compared to the corresponding data for 1975–1980 from the same agglomerations. Results. The level of physical, motor, and mental development among children from the Małopolska Province in the 21st century indicates that during the period of political transformations, beneficial changes in the children's biological and mental development conditions occurred only in villages and towns. In the first decade of the 21st century, the place of residence had a lesser effect on physical, mental, and motor development than in the last decades of the 20th century. At the turn of the 21th century, beneficial changes occurred in the adjustment of non-verbal intelligence development to the rate of biological development in children. The Flynn effect n the Małopolska Province seemed to occur only in towns and only to a limited extent. The scope and direction of long-term change tendencies in the mental conditions of the motor potential among children from the Małopolska Province indicate a need to improve the efficiency of realizing educational aims, i.e, the conscious shaping of the need to participate in various forms of physical culture and improve one's motor abilities that constitute components of Health-Related Fitness (H-RF). NR 64 2013 AN TRO PO MO TO RY KA


Thirty-seven premature infants were examined without anesthesia to determine intraocular pressure (I.O.P.) and corneal diameter (C.D.) measurements. The anterior segment of the premature infant was examined and the presence of Bell's phenomenon was recorded. Measurements were done with a Perkin's applanation tonometer, calipers and clear corneal diameter templates. The systolic blood pressure, weight, length and postconceptional age were also recorded. Correlations of these factors were done to determine interdependency of these parameters. The mean values for I.O.P. were 18.04 mmHg for O.D. and 18.62 mmHg for O.S. The mean difference was statistically significant. Mean values for corneal diameters were 8.18 mm O.D. and 8.15 mm O.S. Statistically significant correlations occurred between I.O.P. with C.D. and between C.D. with weight, length and postconceptional age. Techniques for accurate measurement in this age group require particular attention to adequately-sized instrumentation to accommodate small palpebral fissures and corneas.


Coralline algae are foundation species in many hard-bottom ecosystems acting as a settlement substrate, and binding together and even creating reefs in some locations. Ocean acidification is known to be a major threat to coralline algae. However, the effects of ocean warming are less certain. Here we bring multiple lines of evidence together to discuss the potential impacts of ocean warming on these ecologically crucial taxa. We use a meta-analysis of 40 responses within 14 different studies available which assessed the effects of increasing temperature on coralline algal calcification in laboratory experiments. We find a net negative impact of increasing temperature on coralline algal calcification at 5.2°C above ambient conditions. Conversely, negative effects are observed when temperature drops below 2.0°C from ambient conditions. We propose that some coralline algae will be more capable of both acclimatizing and locally adapting to increasing ocean temperatures over the coming decades. This is because many species possess short generation times, the ability to opportunistically rapidly utilize open space, and relatively high phenotypic plasticity. However, less resistant and resilient species will be those that are long-lived, those with long generation times, or with narrow thermal tolerances (e.g., tropical taxa living close to their thermal maxima). Additionally, ocean warming will occur simultaneously with ocean acidification, a potentially greater threat to coralline algae, which could also reduce any tolerance to ocean warming for many species. To maximize the potential to accurately determine how coralline algae will respond to future ocean warming and marine heatwaves, future research should use environmentally relevant temperature treatments, use appropriate acclimation times and follow best practices in experimental design.


Background: Revision rate of hip resurfacing in most national registries nearly 3.5%. Conversion to total hip replacement may be the correct option for those whose activity levels changed and the need for hip resurfacing no longer required.
Purpose: Assessing outcomes of failed hip resurfacing to total hip arthroplasty. Primary outcomes included improvement of Oxford, WOMAC, Harris, and UCLA hip scores. Secondary outcomes included surgical site infection, residual groin pain, and heterotopic ossification.
Study design: Prospective case series.
Level of evidence: Level IV.
Patients and Methods: 25 patients underwent revision hip resurfacing to total hip arthroplasty. Mean age 56.8 years. Indications for revision: femoral neck fractures (10 cases), femoral neck thinning (3 cases), component loosening (4 cases) component dislocation (2 cases) persistent groin pain, and clicking (3 cases) and component wear (3 cases). Nineteen patients revised both components and six revised femoral components only.
Results: Average duration of follow up 26.8 months (28-48 months) and the procedure was successful in 23 (92%) patients. Preoperative Oxford, WOMAC, Harris, and UCLA hip scores were 21.3, 78.3, 35,7, and 2 respectively improved to 39.8, 11.1, 92.3, and 7 respectively at last follow-up representing statistically significant improvements (p<0.0001) for each score 3 cases (12%) with complications; surgical site infection (1 case), residual groin pain (1 case), and mild heterotopic ossification (1 case).
Conclusion: Conversion of hip resurfacing to THA has high satisfaction rates. These results compare favorably with those for revision total hip arthroplasty.
Keywords
hip resurfacing arthroplasty, total hip arthroplasty, femoral neck fractures, component loosening


While developing a new resist for different lithography applications, starting from high to low nodes, the potential of the resist in successful pattern transfer has been the key for practical applications particularly in semiconductor industries. Although semiconductor industries are looking for materials for sub 7 nm node technology for sophisticated electronic appliances, the materials with potential for high resolution larger node pattern transfer are equally important for specialized applications in CMOS technology. In this regard, a new ionic photoacid generator included terpolymer photoresist viz GBLMA–MAMA–MAPDST has been synthesized for next generation lithography (NGL) applications. Electron beam lithography (EBL) studies of this resist coated thin films have shown that the resist can pattern 100 nm line/space features under e-beam exposure. The sensitivity (E0) and contrast (γ) were calculated to be 36.5 μC cm−2 and 0.08 respectively. Finally, transfer of 100 nm (line/space) patterns into a silicon substrate has been achieved using a dry plasma etching technique.


From the Publisher:
The Essentials series is conceived as a "learning system" that combines graphics, instructions, experience, reinforcement, and problem solving. It consists of modular lessons that are built around a series of numbered, step-by-step procedures that are clear, concise, and easy to review. Explanatory material is interwoven before each lesson and between the steps. For anyone interested in learning Microsoft Office 2000.


Magnetic resonance electrical impedance tomography (MREIT) is a recently introduced noninvasive conductivity imaging modality, which combines the magnetic resonance current density imaging (MRCDI) and the traditional electrical impedance tomography (EIT) techniques. MREIT is aimed at providing high-spatial-resolution images of electrical conductivity because it avoids solving the well-known ill-posed problem in the traditional EIT. In this article, we review our research activities in MREIT imaging of head-brain tissue conductivity profiles. We have developed several imaging algorithms and conducted a series of computer simulations for MREIT imaging of the head-brain tissues. Our work suggests that MREIT brain imaging may become a useful tool in imaging conductivity distributions of the brain and head.


Three patients with Addisonian pernicious anemia were selected, hospitalized and given a diet devoid of meat and meat products. After baseline hematological studies were made and checked repeatedly, daily large doses of thymine were given orally.

The clinical and hematological improvement in these three patients was in every way similar to that which follows the administration of folic acid to patients with pernicious anemia in relapse. The exact mode of action of thymine is obscure, but it is possible that folic acid may act as an enzyme or co-enzyme in the synthesis of thymine or a thymine-like compound. Such synthesis may take place in the gastro-intestinal tract. The present findings indicate that thymine has anti-anemic properties and a profound effect on the general metabolism of patients with Addisonian pernicious anemia in relapse.


We consider the problem of identifying multiple outliers in linear regression models. In robust regression the unusual observations should be removed from the sample in order to obtain better fitting for the rest of the observations. Based on the LTS estimate, we propose a penalized trimmed square estimator PTS, where penalty costs for discarding outliers are inserted into the loss function. We search for suitable penalty costs for multiple high-leverage outliers, which are based on robust leverage and scale. Thus, the best fit for the majority of the data is obtained after eliminating only outliers from the data set. The robust estimation is obtained by minimizing the loss function with a mathematical programming technique, computationally suitable for small sample data. The computational load and the effectiveness of the new procedure are improved by using the idea of e-insensitive tube from support vectors machine regression. The PTS loss function is transformed to an e-Insensitive, where small errors are ignored, and the mathematical formula gains the sparseness property. The good performance of the PTS estimator allows identification of multiple outliers avoiding masking or swamping effects. We conduct benchmark examples and a simulation study to investigate the procedure's efficiency for robust estimation and power as outlier detection. As a result, the performance of both types of PTS is superior to other methods and is worth the extra computational load.


Considering the key technologies to enhance the accuracy of micro-EDM, a micro-EDM system and some techniques are researched. In this system, a micro-energy pulse power supply whose open voltage and capacitance can be adjusted is developed. The detection and control subsystem of the machining process is designed and applied. A simple method of machining high precision microelectrodes is adopted. The forming mechanism of the gap in EDM process is analyzed theoretically. The processing experiments are carried out on the system, and the results basically coincide with the theoretical analysis. The experimental results of machining microelectrodes and micro holes show that the Ø4.5±0.5μm microelectrodes can be ground, and the Ø6±2.0μm micro holes can be drilled.


A new cepstrum-based channel compensation method is proposed for speaker verification over the telephone network. The method consists of intra-frame and interframe cepstral processing. For the former, a poleremoved cepstrum is derived, where the LP poles with frequency higher than a certain threshold are removed. For the latter, we introduce a novel way of cepstral mean subtraction called differential-partial cepstral mean subtraction (DPCMS). The main idea is that the cepstral mean of clean speech is not necessarily zero and that the cepstral difference between clean and channel-corrupted speech is mainly contributed by the channel effects on LP poles within a certain frequency range. A speaker verification system based on radial basis function networks was used to evaluate the proposed approach. Clean speech was used to train the networks and telephone speech was used to evaluate their performance. Experimental results show that the proposed method reduces verification error rate significantly.


Strawberries play an essential role in human nutrition and health, especially as a source of vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber. They also have health-promoting compounds that lower the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease. The nutritional value of strawberries varies greatly among cultivars. Traditional and molecular breeding techniques can be used to develop varieties with enhanced nutritional quality and improved flavor to meet consumer preferences. Climatic conditions, such as temperature and light intensity, and other preharvest factors, e.g., soil type, fertilization, irrigation, mulching, and other cultural practices, have a significant effect on strawberry fruit quality. Additionally, the extent of postharvest physical and physiological injury and potential fruit loss is affected by preharvest parameters. In this chapter, the effect of preharvest factors on fruit and nutritional quality of strawberry is discussed.


Mining distributed databases is emerging as a fundamental computational problem. A common approach for mining distributed databases is to move all of the data from each database to a central site and a single model is built. This approach is accurate, but too expensive in terms of time required. For this reason, several approaches were developed to efficiently mine distributed databases, but they still ignore a key issue privacy. Privacy is the right of individuals or organizations to keep their own information secret. Privacy concerns can prevent data movement data may be distributed among several custodians, none of which is allowed to transfer its data to another site. In this paper we present an efficient approach for mining frequent itemsets in distributed databases. Our approach is accurate and uses a privacy-preserving communication mechanism. The proposed approach is also efficient in terms of message passing overhead, requiring only one round of communication during the mining operation. We show that our privacy-preserving distributed approach has superior performance when compared to the application of a well-known mining algorithm in distributed databases.


Animals quickly acquire spatial knowledge and are thereby able to navigate over very large regions. These natural methods dramatically outperform current algorithms for robotic navigation, which are either limited to small regions [1] or require huge computational resources to maintain a globally consistent spatial map [2]. We have now developed a novel system for mobile robotic navigation that like its biological counterpart decomposes explored space into a distributed graphical network of behaviorally significant places, each represented by an independent "place agent" (PA) that actively maintains the spatial and behavioral knowledge relevant for navigation in that place. Each PA operates only on its limited local information and communicates only with its directly connected graphical neighbors. Thus, there is no global supervisor and it is only necessary to maintain spatial consistency locally within the graph. This simple strategy significantly reduces computational complexity; scales well with the size of the navigable region; and permits a robot to autonomously explore, learn, and navigate large unknown office environments in real time.


This paper deals with decision making under risk with the Weighted Expected Utility (WEU) model, which is a model generalizing expected utility and providing stronger descriptive possibilities. We address the problem of identifying, within a given set of lotteries, a (near-)optimal solution for a given decision maker consistent with the WEU theory. The WEU model is parameterized by two real-valued functions. We propose here a new incremental elicitation procedure to progressively reduce the imprecision about these functions until a robust decision can be made. We also give experimental results showing the practical efficiency of our method.


Charles Darwin University (CDU) offers education courses for students who want to teach in Australian schools. The university is unique due to its geographic location, proximity to Asia and its high Indigenous population compared to the rest of the country. Many courses are offered fully online including music education for pre-service teachers. This shift has presented both opportunities and challenges. The study is an investigation of reviewing music and arts education courses to be delivered fully online using Participatory Action Research as the methodology. The four steps for the research are as follows: planning a change, acting and observing the processes and consequences of change, reflecting on the processes and consequences, and replanning to start the cycle again. The reflection and replanning stage of the course are especially important because courses need to be updated regularly to keep up with policy developments. It is anticipated that by the end of the year, the aspects of the course which have been successful and the ones which will require extensive reviewing will have been addressed. Through this process of rewriting, reviewing and reflecting, a fully online music education course will be able to be delivered successfully to music education students around Australia.


A large body of knowledge on income dynamics in the United States is based on data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). We find two sets of households in the PSID that differ dramatically in the dynamics of their income. Households headed by the sons of original PSID members have a highly persistent income process, whereas households headed by males who marry daughters of the original PSID members have a much less persistent income process. Using a variety of methods for identification of the persistence of income shocks, we show that these differences, albeit surprising, are highly robust.


This paper presents a fast analytical method for estimating the throughput of pipelined asynchronous systems, and then applies that method to develop a fast solution to the problem of pipelining ldquoslack matchingrdquo. The approach targets systems with hierarchical topologies, which typically result when high-level (block structured) language specifications are compiled into data-driven circuit implementations. A significant contribution is that our approach is the first to efficiently handle architectures with choice (i.e. the presence of conditional computation constructs such if-then-else and conditional loops).


The Gulf of Carpentaria is a near-equatorial region, a domain in which past environmental changes are not well understood, but in which much of the world's weather has its origin. Being situated adjacent to the Western Pacific Warm Pool, responsible for the largest transfer of heat and moisture between the surface and the atmosphere, the Gulf of Carpentaria is an epicontinental sea (maximum depth 70 m) bordered to the east by Torres Strait (12 m depth) and to the west by the deeper Arafura Sill (53 m depth), an area sensitive to the Asian monsoon and ENSO, which have a crucial importance on a worldwide scale. Furthermore, this region could be a key point to monitor the palaeocirculation between the Pacific and the Indian oceans that records the switching on and off of the global thermohaline circulation during glacial/interglacial alternations. The Gulf is tectonically stable, therefore no corrections are necessary when interpreting the palaeo-sea level curve. Throughout the Late Quaternary, during times of sea-level lowstands, the gulf was separated from the open waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans, forming Lake Carpentaria with outlet channels to the Arafura Sea. In 1997, six sediment cores were collected from the Gulf of Carpentaria using a giant piston-corer deployed from the Marion Dufresne, as part of the International MArine Global changEs Study (IMAGES). This study provides an interpretation of the palaeoenvironments in the Gulf of Carpentaria over the last 180 ka by means of OSL dating and analysis of abundance and distribution of coccolith assemblages within this series of sediment cores. The usefulness of the OSL Dating technique on such sediment cores covering marine to lacustrine conditions has been demonstrated by establishing a time frame for the changing environments of the Gulf of Carpentaria since MIS 6.6. The shallowness of the Gulf of Carpentaria, as well as its restricted basin size, allow the use of Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) to date the sediment. Indeed, these parameters mean that the quartz grains were bleached soon before deposition and thus that the event date is the real time of deposition. From the thirteen samples processed, twelve dates ranging from 7 ± 1 to 178 ± 18 ka, have been estimated over three cores from the Gulf of Carpentaria. These dates also allow the calculation of the sedimentation rate, which ranges from 4.3 cm ka in the central area to 7.8 cm kaon the western margin. These results are consistent with the modern sedimentation rate observed in the Gulf of Carpentaria. A clear reduction in the sedimentation rate starting about 90-100 ka ago is noticed in the three cores, however this needs to be confirmed by further dating on other levels. Coccolithophores are planktonic marine algae distributed from the open ocean to nearshore littoral and lagoonal environments. They secrete minute calcified plates, coccoliths, which are a major component of pelagic carbonates. Coccolith assemblages preserved in marine sediments are excellent proxies of palaeoceanographic conditions. The lack of coccoliths could be either due to bad preservation conditions or to a freshwater environment. In the Gulf of Carpentaria, coccolith assemblages confirm at least two non-marine/marine cycles, during the past 180 ka, as well as some short marine intervals, as minor incursions of seawater during a non-marine sequence. These collated results are presented on a series of maps illustrating the discrete closure and breach sequences of the Arafura Sill and Torres Strait as related to Quaternary sea level fluctuations, and the corresponding alternations between the Gulf of Carpentaria and Lake Carpentaria. When viewed together, the compilation and interpretation of these data enables the development of a detailed spatial and temporal understanding of the palaeoenvironmental history of the Gulf of Carpentaria since MIS 6.6 (ca. 180 ka). From the sedimentary record of the Gulf evidence of dry and wetter episodes are observed and interpreted as intensification of the monsoon and cyclonic activity. These may be linked to ENSO events and global oceanic and atmospheric processes.


Continuously learning to solve unseen tasks with limited experience has been extensively pursued in meta-learning and continual learning, but with restricted assumptions such as accessible task distributions, independently and identically distributed tasks, and clear task delineations. However, real-world physical tasks frequently violate these assumptions, resulting in performance degradation. This paper proposes a continual online model-based reinforcement learning approach that does not require pre-training to solve task-agnostic problems with unknown task boundaries. We maintain a mixture of experts to handle nonstationarity, and represent each different type of dynamics with a Gaussian Process to efficiently leverage collected data and expressively model uncertainty. We propose a transition prior to account for the temporal dependencies in streaming data and update the mixture online via sequential variational inference. Our approach reliably handles the task distribution shift by generating new models for never-before-seen dynamics and reusing old models for previously seen dynamics. In experiments, our approach outperforms alternative methods in non-stationary tasks, including classic control with changing dynamics and decision making in different driving scenarios.


Background Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is the most common cause of nontraumatic SAH. Current guidelines generally recommend observation for unruptured intracranial aneurysms smaller than 7 mm, for those are considered at low risk for spontaneous rupture according to available scoring systems. Objective We observed a tendency for SAH in small intracranial aneurysms in patients who are methamphetamine users. A retrospective, single center study to characterize the size and location of ruptured and unruptured intracranial aneurysms in methamphetamine users was performed. Materials and methods Clinical characteristics and patient data were collected via retrospective chart review of patients with intracranial aneurysms and a history of methamphetamine use with a specific focus on aneurysm size and location. Results A total of 62 patients were identified with at least one intracranial aneurysm and a history of methamphetamine use, yielding 73 intracranial aneurysms (n = 73). The mean largest diameter of unruptured aneurysms (n = 44) was 5.1 mm (median 4.5, SD 2.5 mm), smaller than for ruptured aneurysms (n = 29) with a mean diameter of 6.3 mm (median 5.5, SD 2.5 mm). Aneurysms measuring less than 7 mm presented with SAH in 36.5%. With regard to location, 28% (n = 42) of anterior circulation aneurysms less than 7 mm presented with rupture, in contrast to 70% (n = 10) of posterior circulation aneurysms which were found to be ruptured. Conclusions Methamphetamine use may be considered a significant risk factor for aneurysmal SAH at a smaller aneurysm size than for other patients. These patients may benefit from a lower threshold for intervention and/or aggressive imaging and clinical follow-up.


The Open University of Mauritius (OUM) pioneered the design and delivery of a MOOC, 'Sustainable Development in Business' in 2019, in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), as part of COL's strategy for "increasing access to learners on environmental awareness". This MOOC facilitated access to SDG materials to a global audience where participants would learn from each other: challenges, lessons and good practice. There were two intakes in 2020 and 2021 as the world was battling against Covid-19. With more than 13,000 registered participants in the four runs of the MOOC (May 2019, November 2019, June 2020, and April 2021), this highly successful MOOC has been a learning experience for the local team. This paper aims to explore the challenges and lessons learnt at the different stages: conception and design of the MOOC bearing in mind cultural diversity, marketing, managing multidisciplinary teams from different institutions, using the mooKIT platform and using feedback to review the MOOC. Being the first-ever Mauritian-led MOOC with predominantly Mauritian learners, this paper contributes to the literature on the lived experiences of the collaborators in developing and facilitating the MOOC. It is hoped that the lessons learnt will empower other institutions embarking on MOOCs to build impactful MOOCs.


There is increasing interest in using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images in automated target recognition and decision-making tasks. The success of such tasks depends on how well the reconstructed SAR images exhibit certain features of the underlying scene. Based on the observation that typical underlying scenes usually exhibit sparsity in terms of such features, this paper presents an image formation method that formulates the SAR imaging problem as a sparse signal representation problem. For problems of complex-valued nature, such as SAR, a key challenge is how to choose the dictionary and the representation scheme for effective sparse representation. Since features of the SAR reflectivity magnitude are usually of interest, the approach is designed to sparsely represent the magnitude of the complex-valued scattered field. This turns the image reconstruction problem into a joint optimisation problem over the representation of magnitude and phase of the underlying field reflectivities. The authors develop the mathematical framework for this method and propose an iterative solution for the corresponding joint optimisation problem. The experimental results demonstrate the superiority of this method over previous approaches in terms of both producing high-quality SAR images and exhibiting robustness to uncertain or limited data.


An experiment was conducted using Anak Red broiler chicks to evaluate the effect of grading the nutritive value of full fat soyabean meal diet based with either fishmeal or Blaick soldier fly larvae meal for broiler production. The average live weight gains of broilers fed an all vegetable protein, fishmeal and larvae meal diets at 10 weeks of age were 1465g, 2045g and 2015g respectively. The corresponding feed consumption values for same period were 4140g, 4878g and 5075g while the figures for the feed/gain ratio were 2.8 2.4 and 2.6 respectively. Significant (P<0.05) treatment effects in favour of diet upgraded with the larvae meal were obtained in the carcass yield, internal organ measurements (kidney, gizzard and liver) and the abdominal fat. The amino acid profile of the larvae meal compared favourably with that of fishmeal and also found to be superior to that of soybean meal. The study suggests that inclusion of protein of animal or insect origin to an all-vegetable diet was very desirable for better nutrient utilization. The results also revealed that under the conditions of the experiment, larvae meal could replace fish meal to upgrade the nutritive value of soyabean meal in the broiler starter and finisher rations without any adverse effect on the rate of gain, feed consumption and feed: gain ratio. Key words: Black soldier fly, larvae meal, soybean meal, fish meal, broiler.


This study is based on the hypothesis that AMPK is a tumor suppressor protein and activation of AMPK in a cancer cell helps to reverse the Warburg effect. To test this hypothesis a computational model has been developed. If AMPK is active in a cancer cell, it phosphorylates and inactivates a number of metabolic enzymes to down-regulate glycolysis and up-regulate oxidative phosphorylation. It is shown that the activation of AMPK opposes the changes induced by the Warburg effect in a cancer cell. The concentrations of pyruvate and lactate, which are higher in a cancer cell, tend to go down towards levels present in a normal cell. As expected, the results show a decreased flux through glycolysis with AMPK activation,. The computational model successfully describes the metabolic hallmark of cancer and explains the metabolic role of AMPK as a tumor suppressor. The model contributes to the identification of important reaction in the metabolic pathways of tumor cell energy metabolism


Soil drainage is a widely used agricultural practice in the midwest USA to remove excess soil water to potentially improve the crop yield. Research shows an increasing trend in baseflow and streamflow in the midwest over the last 60 years, which may be related to artificial drainage. Subsurface drainage (i.e., tile) in particular may have strongly contributed to the increase in these flows, because of its extensive use and recent gain in the popularity as a yield-enhancement practice. However, how evapotranspiration (ET) is impacted by tile drainage on a regional level is not well-documented. To explore spatial and temporal ET patterns and their relationship to tile drainage, we applied an energy balance-based multisensor data fusion method to estimate daily 30-m ET over an intensively tile-drained area in South Dakota, USA, from 2005 to 2013. Results suggest that tile drainage slightly decreases the annual cumulative ET, particularly during the early growing season. However, higher mid-season crop water use suppresses the extent of the decrease of the annual cumulative ET that might be anticipated from widespread drainage. The regional water balance analysis during the growing season demonstrates good closure, with the average residual from 2005 to 2012 as low as -3 mm. As an independent check of the simulated ET at the regional scale, the water balance analysis lends additional confidence to the study. The results of this study improve our understanding of the influence of agricultural drainage practices on regional ET, and can affect future decision making regarding tile drainage systems.


Using Quartz particles as the repeat-agents, commercial water glass as the raw material, butyl titanate as the source of titanium, the TiO2 Membrane/ Macroporous Silica gel composite microspheres were successfully prepared. The uniformity transparent TiO2 Membrane on the surface of Silica gel microspheres(SM) was inducted by sol-gel method and dipping extracted method. The structure and performance of the microspheres were characterized by Infrared Spectroscopy (IR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results showed that the composite microspheres were irregular porous materials and their average diameter was 2.18 mm. The crystal type of the TiO2 film was anatase and its average size was 15 nm. Illuminated for 7.5h, the degradation ratio of the composite microspheres was up to 85%. The properties of photocatalysis would be increased with the increasing of the amount of the quartz.


The present work describes the evaluation of plum molasses (PM) as typical Syrian products called "Dibis Al-Khookh". Some nutritional, microbial, chemical, and physical properties and storage stability of PM were investigated. The PM contents of moisture, crude protein, crude fat, ash, total sugar, and reducing sugar were: 53.31, 3.22, 0.40, 3.63, 37.44, and 28.50 %, respectively. The results confirmed that PM gives considerable amount of human mineral requirement. The total acidity (TA), pH value, total volatile basic nitrogen (TVBN), total soluble solid (TSS) and viscosity were 3.76%, 3.16, 27.57 (ppm), 37.05 °Bx and 19.33 mP.Sc, respectively. We observed that the PM was free from microorganisms. Since microorganism's growth is influenced by pH of a medium, it is logical to suggest that PM could be stored longer as low pH has the ability to inhibit microorganism's growth. PM was shown in this study to be a nutritional food and food ingredient. Indeed, PM could be also exploited in food industry and used as natural ingredient or additive.


Object recognition, localization and imaging capabilities of ultra-wideband signals are demonstrated in this contribution. Resembling a bat, the experimental setup comprises one transmitter and two receivers. Instead of ultrasound, electromagnetic ultra-wideband (UWB) signals are used to recognize and localize features of the surroundings like e.g. walls, edges or corners. Each feature corresponds to a hypothesis on the dominant reflection and scattering conditions described in terms of simple ray-tracing relationships. The hypothesis matching best the propagation time measurements is picked to identify and localize the feature in front of the moving UWB bat. Henceforth these features could be used as landmarks for bat navigation. Both, position and attitude of the UWB bat could be continuously updated based on a map of landmarks. This kind of navigation is well-known in the literature as simultaneous localization and mapping. Since position and attitude of the UWB bat are tracked, an image of the vicinity in front of the UWB bat can be compiled by superimposing the impulse responses recorded at the various locations. This contribution describes the pivotal elements to this approach: feature recognition and localization as well as bat-type imaging.


This volume of the Publications of the Texas Folklore Society contains a miscellany of Texas, Spanish and Mexican folklore, including legends, child ballads, folk tales, folk songs, tall tales, information about home remedies, and other folklore.


Purpose – This article explores challenges for rural Australian local governments during the transition to high-speed broadband infrastructure. Despite the National Broadband Network's promised ubiquitous connectivity, significant access discrepancies remain between rural and urban areas. Design/methodology/approach – Empirical findings are drawn from a full-day workshop on digital connectivity, which included participants from seven rural local governments in New South Wales, Australia. Thematic analysis of the workshop transcript was undertaken to extrapolate recurring nuances of rural digital exclusion. Findings – Rural communities face inequitable prospects for digital inclusion, and authorities confront dual issues of accommodating connected and unconnected citizens. Many areas have no or poor broadband access, and different digital engagement expectations are held by citizens and local governments. Citizens seek interactive opportunities, but rural authorities often lack the necessary resources to offer advanced participatory practices. Research limitations/implications – While this research draws from a small sample of government officials, their insights are, nonetheless, heuristically valuable in identifying connectivity issues faced in rural Australia. These issues can guide further research into other regions as well as civic experiences of digital inclusion. Practical implications – There is a need to reconceive Australia's current policy approach to broadband. Greater rural digital inclusion may be achieved by focusing on connectivity as a public interest goal, targeting infrastructure developments to suit local contexts and implementing participatory digital government practices. Originality/value – The actions suggested would help ensure equity of digital inclusion across Australian municipal areas. Without such changes, there is a risk of rural citizens facing further marginalisation through digital exclusion.


: Background and aims: Musculoskeletal Disorders are prevalent in construction workers in comparison to other working groups. These workers in damming construction worked at awkward postures for long times, so ergonomic assessment of jobs was important. Methods: This is a descriptive-analytical cross sectional study that conducted in 2008 on a random sample of workers of damming construction in Takab city (110 men) who were assessed by Nordic Musculoskeletal questionnaire and digital indicator for heart measurement. To estimate Vo2max consumption Fox equation was used and data were analyzed by SPSS software. Results: The average of total time of worked was 36.6 86.8 months. Results showed that the most prevalent (%55.5) MSDs was low back pain which was positively related with type of job, the number of standing and sitting posotions at work, total time of work, age, smoking, level of education, weight,Vo2max that estimated by Fox Equation, and heart rate at working (P<0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study reveal that prevalence rate of musculoskeletal disorders are high among damming construction workers, and heart rate and Vo2max consumption increases with increase in work load. Therefore, optimal physiological conditions should be considered and physical capacity be measured. Prior to employment of workers approperiate corrections are warranted


Frederick Delius had a strong champion in the conductor Sir Thomas Beecham, who praised the German-born composer as "the last great apostle of romantic beauty in music". This rhapsodic intensity of feeling is nowhere more evident than in the luscious harmonies of his exquisite idylls, The Walk to the Paradise Garden and On Hearing The First Cuckoo In Spring. La Calinda, from Delius' second opera, Koanga, has achieved worldwide popularity.


The authors discuss challenges encountered in satellite-based cellular systems that will employ low Earth orbiting (LEO) constellations to provide continuous worldwide coverage, with some minimum grazing angle. Motorola's Iridium system will utilize spot beams to form cells on the Earth's surface similar to terrestrial cellular radio. However, for LEO constellations, the geometric relationship between cells will no longer be constant, as with terrestrial systems. To execute channel reuse, it will be necessary to maintain sufficient distance between reuse cells to assure that interference levels do not degrade performance. Due to the dynamics of the cell movement, relative to the subscribers, calls must be handed off, from cell-to-cell and/or from space vehicle-to-space vehicle, during a call. Cell hand-off will be transparent to the subscribers at both ends of the call, and can occur several times during a normal call. The Iridium program will operate with a seven-cell frequency reuse pattern. On a global basis, there will typically be 1628 cells on to ensure worldwide coverage, and the seven-cell pattern will reuse each frequency over two hundred times. Within the contiguous US alone, Iridium will achieve more than five times frequency reuse.<<ETX>>


Submicron lipid vesicles (nanoliposomes) are being used as carriers of bioactive compounds. In addition, complexes of nanoliposomes and nucleic acids (nanolipoplexes) are promising tools for the treatment of cancer, and viral and genetic disorders. Toxicity of some of these formulations, however, still remains a concern in their clinical utilisation. To address this problem, anionic liposomes were prepared by two different techniques, the conventional thin-film method, and the heating method (HM), in which no volatile organic solvent or detergent is used. An anionic nanolipoplex was constructed by incorporating plasmid DNA (pcDNA3.1/His B/lacZ) into the HM-nanoliposomes by the mediation of calcium. The toxicity of the nanoliposomes, with and without plasmid and Ca2+, was assessed using a human bronchial epithelial cell line (16HBE14o-) in the presence of serum. Cytotoxicity evaluations performed by two different assays (i.e. NRU and MTT) indicated that HM-nanoliposomes were completely non-toxic in the cell-line tested, whereas conventional liposomes revealed significant levels of toxicity. This may be due to the presence of trace amounts of chloroform and/or methanol applied during their preparation. Similar results were obtained for different sizes of lipid vesicles (prepared by 100 nm and 400 nm pore-size filters). In addition, it was observed that incorporation of DNA (15 microg/ 285 microg lipid) and Ca2+ (50 mM) to the nanoliposomes did not have any effect on their cytotoxicities. These findings indicate that the HM-liposomes have great potential as non-toxic delivery vehicles in human gene therapy and drug delivery applications while liposomes made using organic solvents should be used with caution.


It is widely accepted that the zinc element is crucial in human beings. Zinc has gained more attention during the COVID-19 pandemic due to its utilization for the treatment and prevention of respiratory tract infections. However, some studies also pointed out that zinc intake might cause unwanted side effects and even be dangerous when overdosed. To reveal the relationship between zinc intake and health outcomes, we performed an umbrella review from human studies. In total, the umbrella review included 43 articles and identified 11 outcomes for dietary zinc intake and 86 outcomes for supplementary zinc intake. Dietary zinc intake in the highest dose would decrease the risk of overall and specific digestive tract cancers, depression, and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in adults. Supplementary zinc consumption in adults was linked to an improvement of depression, antioxidant capacity and sperm quality, higher serum zinc concentration, and lower concentration of inflammatory markers. Zinc supplementation in children would reduce the incidence of diarrhea and pneumonia, improve zinc deficiency and boost growth. However, zinc might not decrease all-cause mortality in adults or the in-hospital mortality of COVID-19. And better maternal and neonatal outcomes may not derive from pregnant women who consumed higher or lower doses of zinc supplementation (>20 mg/day and <20 mg/day, respectively). Dose-response analyses revealed that a daily 5 mg increment of zinc would lower the risk of colorectal and esophageal cancer, whereas a large dose of zinc supplementation (daily 100 mg) showed no benefit in reducing prostate cancer risk.


Soluble CD4 (sT4) has been metabolically labeled with [3H]leucine in Chinese hamster ovary cells and purified by S Sepharose chromatography. Over 250 microCi of high specific radioactivity [3H]sT4 (42 Ci/mmol) was prepared. The radiolabeled molecule was chemically and biologically representative of the unlabeled molecule and thus appropriate for in vivo metabolic investigations. To explore the biotransformation and disposition of a recombinant protein, this uniformly labeled [3H]sT4 was administered intravenously and subcutaneously to male Sprague-Dawley rats. Following a single dose of 0.3 mg/kg, blood samples were collected for 9 days and analyzed for total radioactivity, total plasma radioactivity, trichloroacetic acid-precipitable plasma radioactivity, sT4-related plasma radioactivity (by extraction with a Sepharose-bound polyclonal anti-sT4 antibody), and plasma sT4 concentration (by an N and C terminal-specific Leu3A/OKT4 ELISA). Excreta were analyzed for total radioactivity. The pharmacokinetic profiles of intact sT4 were as expected from the results of previous studies. sT4 was cleared rapidly from plasma with an elimination t1/2 of 7 min (intravenous), and low sT4 levels were observed following subcutaneous administration. Comparison of the kinetic profiles of total radiolabel, trichloroacetic acid-precipitable radiolabel, sT4-related radiolabel, and the isolation of plasma proteins containing tritium have led to the following conclusions. One of the major metabolic pathways for [3H]sT4 was the degradation of the polypeptide to its constituent amino acids, which were subsequently incorporated into endogenous proteins. Incorporation of tritium into blood cell proteins resulted in a prolonged radiolabel blood profile (t1/2 greater than 250 hr). Following subcutaneous administration, [3H] sT4 was significantly degraded before reaching the vascular circulation.


An Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) that implements the SpaceWire protocol has been developed in a radiation hardened 0.25 micron CMOS, technology. This effort began in March 2003 as a joint development between the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and BAE Systems. The BAE Systems SpaceWire ASlC is comprised entirely of reusable core elements, many of which are already flight-proven. It incorporates a 4-port SpaceWire router with two local ports, dual PC1 bus interfaces, a microcontroller, 32KB of internal memory, -and a memory controller for additional external memory use. The SpaceWire ASlC is planned for use on both the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES)-R and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). Engineering parts have already been delivered to both programs. This paper discusses the SpaceWire protocol and those elements of it that have been built into the current SpaceWire reusable core. There are features within the core that go beyond the current standard that can be enabled or disabled by the user and these will be described. The adaptation of SpaceWire to BAE Systems' On Chip Bus (OCB) for compatibility with the other reusable cores will be discussed. Optional configurations within user systems will be shown. The physical imp!ementation of the design will be described and test results from the hardware will be discussed. Finally, the BAE Systems roadmap for SpaceWire developments will be discussed, including some products already in design as well as longer term plans.


Among subsistence farmers in low-income countries, the potential gains from agricultural technology adoption depend crucially on who adopts new technologies, how households internally reallocate resources amongst members, and whether yield gains are realized as a result of this reallocation. In the West African Sahel, few subsistence farmers adopt new seed varieties or fertilizer when planting sorghum, the main food staple and most widely cultivated dryland crop among these farmers. Farmers in the West African Sahel face a myriad of constraints in terms of available inputs and resources, which in our study, prove to be critical complements to production inputs such as fertilizer and improved seed. To address some of these constraints, we conducted a Randomized Control Trial in which we introduced sorghum farmers in Burkina Faso to a technology for applying small amounts of fertilizer at the time of planting, and provided a randomly assigned subset of farmers with free kits comprised of mineral fertilizer and improved seed. To identify effective methods for diffusing adoption of this technique, we randomized villages to either two forms of social network targeting of influential villagers, or to a more common non-targeted approach where farmers received free kits by random assignment. We find that the targeted approach is much more effective in encouraging broader adoption in the longterm. In terms of identifying potential gains to adoption, we find that smaller landholders who were already using mineral fertilizer saw considerable yield responses from our encouragement design.


The Air Force Institute of Technology Virtual Environments, 3-D Medical Imaging, and Computer Graphics Laboratory is investigating the 3-D computer graphics, user-interface design, networking protocol, and software architecture aspects of distributed virtual environments. In this paper we describe the research projects that are underway in the laboratory. These projects include the development of an aircraft simulator for a distributed virtual environment, projects for observing, analyzing, and understanding virtual environments, a space virtual environment, a project that incorporates live aircraft range data into a distributed virtual environment, a virtual environment application framework, and a project for use in a hospital emergency department. We also discuss the research equipment infrastructure in the laboratory, recent publications, and the educational services we provide.


Depressive symptoms are known to compromise health status in cardiac disease, but this relationship has not been described in peripheral artery disease (PAD). Depressive symptoms (PHQ-9) and disease-specific health status (Peripheral Artery Questionnaire, PAQ) were assessed in 242 PAD patients undergoing percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) at baseline and 1 year. Patients were classified by baseline and follow-up depression status (moderate–severe depressive symptoms = PHQ ≥ 10). Changes were categorized as no depression/improvement of depression versus persistent/worsened depression. At baseline, 20% of patients were depressed; at 1 year, 17% of patients experienced persistent/worsened depression. Although this group improved on most PAQ subscales, they improved to a significantly lesser degree than those without depressive symptoms or those who improved by 1 year (p-values < 0.05). Baseline depressive symptoms (Bper 5-point increment = −11.9, 95% CI −15.3, −8.5, p < 0.0001) and changes in depression were independently associated with a decrease in 1-year health status (Bper 5-point increment = −11.7, 95% CI −14.3, −9.2, p < 0.0001). In conclusion, depressive symptoms are associated with less improvement in health status 1 year after undergoing a peripheral endovascular revascularization (PER) as compared with those having no depression or whose depressive symptoms improve. Efforts to improve depression detection and treatment among patients with PAD may improve the health status outcomes of these patients.


ABSTRACT A common polymorphism at codon 72 in the p53 tumor suppressor gene encodes either proline (P72) or arginine (R72). Several groups have reported that in cultured cells, this polymorphism influences p53's transcriptional, senescence, and apoptotic functions. However, the impact of this polymorphism within the context of a living organism is poorly understood. We generated knock-in mice with the P72 and R72 variants and analyzed the tissues of these mice for apoptosis and transcription. In the thymus, we find that the P72 variant induces increased apoptosis following ionizing radiation, along with increased transactivation of a subset of p53 target genes, which includes murine Caspase 4 (also called Caspase 11), which we show is a direct p53 target gene. Interestingly, the majority of genes in this subset have roles in inflammation, and their promoters contain NF-κB binding sites. We show that caspase 4/11 requires both p53 and NF-κB for full induction after DNA damage and that the P72 variant shows increased interaction with p65 RelA, a subunit of NF-κB. Consistent with this, we show that P72 mice have a markedly enhanced response to inflammatory challenge compared to that of R72 mice. Our data indicate that the codon 72 polymorphism impacts p53's role in inflammation.


Coronary artery spasm may produce angina, major arrhythmias, syncope, myocardial infarction, and death in patients with normal or nearly normal coronary arteriograms. The clinical picture in patients with symptomatic coronary artery spasm is characterized by: (1) predominant angina at rest, with little or no exertional angina; (2) changes of myocardial ischemia, especially ST segment elevation, on the electrocardiogram during pain: and (3) major arrhythmias and syncope during angina. A complete electrocardiogram during pain, or at least a Holter monitor recording, is important in establishing a diagnosis. The ergonovine maleate provocative test is a reliable method of establishing the diagnosis, but it is associated with some risks. Calcium flux antagonists are more effective than nitrates or beta blockers in the treatment of coronary spasm. Coronary bypass surgery is generally ineffective in the treatment of coronary spasm unless the spasm is superimposed on a fixed severe coronary obstruction.


In this paper we show that the binding kinetics of a molecular system can be identified by a projection of a continuous process onto a finite number of macro states. We thus interpret binding kinetics as a projection. When projecting onto nonoverlapping macro states the Markovianity is spoiled. As a consequence, the description of, e.g., a receptor-ligand system by a two state kinetics, is not accurate. By assigning a degree of membership to each state, we abandon the nonoverlapping approach. This overlap is crucial for a correct mapping of binding effects by Markov state models with regard to their long time behavior. It enables us to describe the highly discussed rebinding effect, where the spatial arrangement of the system has the be included. By introducing a "degree of fuzziness," we have an indicator for the strength of the rebinding effect such that the minimal rebinding effect can be derived from an optimization problem. The fuzziness also includes some new paradigms for molecular kinetics. These ...


Urological disorders, including urinary infections, incontinence, and renal failure, represent a significant source of morbidity and mortality in these patients. Long-term mortality is associated to urological causes in approximately 33%. In order to prevent this complications, urologic evaluation since early childhood must be done. The evaluation of the degree of damage to the urinary tract and the determination of the type of neurogenic bladder involved in the spina bifida spectrum will be the guideline for establishing therapeutic management, which can be from behavioral modifications, medical management, minimally invasive therapy and, as a last resort, surgery. In this chapter, we will discuss the wide spectrum of urologic implications, a brief reminder of urinary tract physiology and the pathological processes involved in spina bífida, as well as long-term complications. The diagnostic evaluation of urinary tract and the different therapeutic modalities according to the type of neurogenic bladder and age will be discussed.


The normalised subband adaptive filter (NSAF) is a useful adaptive filter, which improves the convergence rate compared with the normalised least mean-square algorithm. Most analytical results of the NSAF set the regularisation parameter set to zero or present only steady-state mean-square error performance of the regularised NSAF (e-NSAF). This study presents a mean-square performance analysis of e-NSAF, which analyses not only convergence behaviour but also steady-state behaviour. Furthermore, a novel adaptive regularisation for NSAF (AR-NSAF) is also developed based on the proposed analysis approach. The proposed AR-NSAF selects the optimal regularisation parameter that leads to improving the performance of the adaptive filter. Simulation results comparing the proposed analytical results with the results achieved from the simulation are presented. In addition, these results verify that the proposed AR-NSAF outperforms the previous algorithms in a system-identification and acoustic echo-cancellation scenarios.