In the geostatistical modeling and characterization of natural resources, the traditional approach for determining the spatial distribution of a given deposit using stochastic sequential simulation is to use the existing experimental data (i.e., direct measurements) of the property of interest as if there is no uncertainty involved in the data. However, any measurement is prone to error from different sources, for example from the equipment, the sampling method, or the human factor. It is also common to have distinct measurements for the same property with different levels of resolution and uncertainty. There is a need to assess the uncertainty associated with the experimental data and integrate it during the modeling procedure. This process is not straightforward and is often overlooked. For the reliable modeling and characterization of a given ore deposit, measurement uncertainties should be included as an intrinsic part of the geo-modeling procedure. This work proposes the use of a geostatistical simulation algorithm to integrate uncertain experimental data through the use of stochastic sequential simulations with local probability functions. The methodology is applied to the stochastic modeling of a benchmark mineral deposit, where certain and uncertain experimental data co-exist. The uncertain data is modeled by assigning individual probability distribution functions to each sample location. Different strategies are proposed to build these local probability distributions. Each scenario represents variable degrees of uncertainty. The impacts of the different modeling approaches on the final deposit model are discussed. The resulting models of these proposed scenarios are also compared against those retrieved from previous studies that use conventional geostatistical simulation. The results from the proposed approaches showed that using stochastic sequential simulation with local probability functions to represent local uncertainties decreased the estimation error of the resulting model, producing fewer misclassified ore blocks.


form in Canada, focusing upon six 'representative' plays from the 1970s and 1980s, through which he details crucial research and rehearsal methodologies. He locates his topic within a developing post-colonial cultural autonomy in Canada. This might appear a somewhat parochial approach, but the book contains much of general interest. It is fascinating to cross-reference Filewood's claims and observations with other traditions of documentary use (Augusto Boal's, for example), and also to note the UK influence (Theatre Workshop and, especially, Peter Cheeseman). This book is one more expression of the importance of documentary theatre as a vital (and practical) weapon in national and international struggles for selfdefinition and validation.


Raman spectroscopy is a widely used technique for organic and inorganic chemical material identification. Throughout the last century, major improvements in lasers, spectrometers, detectors, and holographic optical components have uplifted Raman spectroscopy as an effective device for a variety of different applications including fundamental chemical and material research, medical diagnostics, bio-science, in-situ process monitoring and planetary investigations. Undoubtedly, mathematical data analysis has been playing a vital role to speed up the migration of Raman spectroscopy to explore different applications. It supports researchers to customize spectral interpretation and overcome the limitations of the physical components in the Raman instrument. However, large, and complex datasets, interferences from instrumentation noise and sample properties which mask the true features of samples still make Raman spectroscopy as a challenging tool. Deep learning is a powerful machine learning strategy to build exploratory and predictive models from large raw datasets and has gained more attention in chemical research over recent years. This chapter demonstrates the application of deep learning techniques for Raman signal-extraction, feature-learning and modelling complex relationships as a support to researchers to overcome the challenges in Raman based chemical analysis.


If every productive form of linguistic expression can be described by some idealized human grammar, an individuals's variable linguistic behavior (Weinreich, Labov, & Herzog, 1968) can be modeled as a statistical distribution of multiple idealized grammars. The distribution of grammars is determined by the interaction between the biological constraints on human grammar and the properties of linguistic data in the environment during the course of language acquisition. Such interaction can be formalized precisely and quantitatively in a mathematical model of language learning. Consequently, we model language change as the change in grammar distribution over time, which can be related to the statistical properties of historical linguistic data. As an empirical test, we apply the proposed model to explain the loss of the verb-second phenomenon in Old French and Old English based on corpus studies of historical texts.


Sugarcane production in China has a prolonged history since fourth century BC. At present, China is the world's third largest sugar producing country after Brazil and India. During the past decade, more than 90% of the sugar production was contributed by sugarcane. Guangxi is the dominant sugarcane and sugar producer, accounting for 65% of sugar production in China. China's sugarcane production faced serious problems in the past several years, especially the rapid increase in the labor cost because of the manual harvest. Now, China requires changing their sugarcane practice from manual to mechanical in order to catch up with the international trends in worldwide industry. Many other challenges and constraints are becoming severe, including abiotic and biotic stress, cost escalation, over fertilization, poor ratooning, and single cultivar. New technologies will be applied to sugarcane production, including omics-based breeding, best management practices, and so on.


The present work aims to identify common bean accessions resistant to anthracnose by incompatibility reaction evaluations to races 73 and 2047 of C. lindemuthianum, associated with using of SF101072 and SAS13950 molecular markers linked, respectively, to gene Co-10 and allele Co-42. A total of 75 common bean accessions from Common Bean Germplasm Bank (CBGB) of Nucleo de Pesquisa Aplicada a Agricultura (Nupagri) were evaluated. The results showed that 14 accessions were resistant to both races 73 and 2047 of C. lindemuthianum, 36 exhibited resistances only to race 2047, and 25 revealed incompatibility reaction to race 73. Joint analysis between incompatibility phenotypic reactions and the presence of markers allowed identifying 13 resistant accessions to races 73 and 21 to race 2047, indicating the occurrence of Co-10 (renamed Co-34) and Co-42, respectively. A total of 32 accessions were resistant without the presence of markers. Among the 75 common bean accessions evaluated, important sources of resistance to C. lindemuthianum, from Andean and Mesoamerican regions, were identified and have promising potential in breeding programs.

 Key words: Phaseolus vulgaris, anthracnose, molecular marker, sequence characterized amplified regions for amplification of specific band (SCAR).


It is commonly agreed that the plural -s has become a part of Standard German inflection, yet in dialects such as Alemannic it is often seen as an intruder. We challenge this view based on data from a written survey amongst speakers of Swiss German dialects. Our analysis of pluralised loanwords (e. g. Mango) and abbreviations (e. g. WG 'flat share') shows a strong effect of both speakers' age and grammatical gender that points towards a progressive integration of the plural -s into the dialectal system.
While masculine and neuter nouns can express number syntagmatically (using articles that differ in singular and plural), feminine nouns rely heavily on suffixes (as the definite article is d' in both cases). A comparison of the -s plural with traditional dialectal plurals shows clear advantages for -s plurals in both cue strength (output) and scope (input) of the plural schema. We argue that it is due to this that feminine nouns show a significantly higher percentage of -s plurals compared with masculine and neuter nouns in speakers aged 25 and above. The difference disappears for younger speakers while the overall number of -s plurals increases drastically. Combined, we have an apparent time scenario that shows how the -s plural is first borrowed with nouns that rely on overt plural markers, and later spreads to most loans and other words with non-native structure.


In the present work, renewable lignocellulosic material Euphorbia Tirucalli L wood was used as a precursor for the production of activated carbon. The preparation includes both physical and chemical activation, which resulted in a porous structure and opening of pores on the surface of all activated carbon. Different activated carbons were prepared by pyrolysis, treatment using H2SO4, H3PO4, KOH and ZnCl2 solutions, respectively. The activated carbon was characterized by pH, ash content, volatile matter, porosity, conductivity, bulk density, specific gravity, iodine number and adsorption of methylene blue. From the physico-chemical characteristic studies, the activated carbon prepared by impregnating the precursor with 35% H3PO4 solution followed by carbonization and activation at 800oC was selected as better adsorbent due to its high surface area and high adsorption capacity. This carbon shows high adsorptive property for various dyes and could be used as a cost effective alternative novel adsorbent in waste water treatment for the removal of dyes.


Abstract While there is a copious body of literature explaining Egypt's political trajectory post-Mubarak through the lens of democratisation and transition theory, this paper argues that by using a political settlements lens, a less linear reading of the events can be offered, which highlights several attempts through both peaceful and violent means of arriving at negotiated agreements. The paper analyses the forging of three political settlements, one informal (2011) and two formal (2012, 2013) following the demise of the Mubarak regime in Egypt and the influence of intrinsic, instrumental and resultant violence on power configurations. It argues that the formal political settlement forged in Egypt in 2013 following the ousting of President Morsi cannot be read independently of the exclusionary outcomes of the informal political settlement forged in 2011 and the demise of the Fairmont Agreement of 2012. The paper relies on empirical data, including survey and focus groups undertaken in 2013–2014, complemented with secondary literature in Arabic and English.


In a major victory for mutual fund investors, the Supreme Court of Canada has upheld a decision to certify the "market timing" class action (AIC Limited v Fischer). The decision means that securities class actions can proceed even where fines have been imposed or settlements reached in parallel regulatory proceedings by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). The decision has significant and positive ramifications for access to justice and has been described as "the most important class action decision this year".


Abstract We surveyed poneromorph ants of Morelos state in south-central Mexico with pitfall traps and hand collecting. In total, we collected 16 poneromorph species representing 9 genera (Anochetus, Ectatomma, Gnamptogenys, Hypoponera, Leptogenys, Odontomachus, Pachycondyla, and Patythyrea). Although all 16 species are previously known from Mexico, our records increase the number of poneromorphs known from Morelos from 5 to 18. The most commonly collected species were O. clarus, G. striatula, E. tuberculum, and H. opaciceps, all extremely widespread Neotropical species. Some information is provided on distribution, foraging strati, and nesting.


This study was designed to investigate the effect of an aqueous methanol extract of Acacia nilotica pods (Anp) on various biochemical parameters, namely blood glucose levels, total cholesterol, High density lipids (HDLs), triglycerides, Serum Glutamate Oxaloacetate and Pyruvate Transaminase (SGOT, SGPT) and serum creatinine clearance in alloxan-induced diabetic rabbits. Rabbits were divided into three experimental groups: control, diabetic and Anp treated. The Anp treated group was further subdivided into three different groups based on the dose administered. This showed that a dose of 400 mg/kg body weight maximally reduced the blood glucose levels as compared to the diabetic group (p<0.001). This dose also significantly (p<0.05) lowered the plasma total cholesterol, triglyceride and Low-density lipids (LDLs) in treated rabbits as compared to diabetic rabbits. Furthermore, the same dose also significantly increased the plasma HDL levels of the treated group when compared with the diabetic group. Whereas the activity of SGOT and SGPT were decreased significantly (p<0.001). Anp extract in treated diabetic rabbits. Anp treatment showed no significant effect on creatinine clearance. For interest a paper with similar aims, but using water extract of Nigella stiva L. appeared in this journal in 2004, (Merel et at , 31 (1), 49-53).


The purpose of this study was to characterize a collection of 103 multidrug resistance IncF plasmids recovered from Escherichia coli of food producing and companion animals between 2003 and 2012. A total of 103 incF plasmids were characterized using an established PCR-based IncF replicon sequence typing (RST) system to identify FII, FIA, and FIB (FAB) groups. Plasmids were also analyzed using-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Antibiotic Resistance determinants blaCTX-M, plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) genes and rmtB and plasmid addiction systems (PAS) were identified by PCR screening. A total of 20 different RSTs from 103 IncF plasmids were identified. The groups F2 and F33 with the RST formulae A-: B- were the most frequently encountered types (63.1%). The antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) blaCTX-M, rmtB, and oqxB were carried by 82, 37, and 34 IncF plasmids, respectively. Most of these plasmids carried more than one resistance gene (59.2%, 61/103). The IncF plasmids also had a high frequency of addiction systems (mean 2.54) and two antisense RNA-regulated systems (hok–sok and srnBC) and a protein antitoxin-regulated system (pemKI) were the most prevalent. Not surprisingly, RFLP profiles among the IncF plasmids were diverse even though some shared identical IncF-RSTs. This is the first extensive study of IncF plasmid-positive E. coli isolates from animals in China. Our results demonstrate that IncF is the most prevalent plasmid family in E. coli plasmids and they commonly carry multiple resistance determinants that render them resistant to different antibiotic classes simultaneously. IncF plasmids also harbor addiction systems, promoting their stability and maintenance in the bacterial host, under changing environmental conditions.


Purpose: Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) can be responsive to T-cell–mediated immunity. K562/granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is a GM-CSF producing vaccine derived from a CML cell line that expresses several CML-associated antigens. A pilot study was developed to determine if K562/GM-CSF immunotherapy could improve clinical responses to imatinib mesylate (IM) in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia. Experimental Design: Patients with chronic phase CML who achieved at least a major cytogeneic response but remained with persistent, measurable disease despite one or more years on imatinib mesylate were eligible. Each was given a series of four vaccines administered in three-week intervals, with or without topical imiquimod, while remaining on a stable dose of imatinib mesylate. CML disease burden was measured serially before and after vaccination. Results: Nineteen patients were vaccinated, with a median duration of previous imatinib mesylate therapy of 37 (13–53) months. Mean PCR measurements of BCR-ABL for the group declined significantly following the vaccines (P = 0.03). Thirteen patients had a progressive decline in disease burden, 8 of whom had increasing disease burden before vaccination. Twelve patients achieved their lowest tumor burden measurements to date following vaccine, including seven subjects who became PCR-undetectable. Conclusions: K562/GM-CSF vaccine appears to improve molecular responses in patients on imatinib mesylate, including achieving complete molecular remissions, despite long durations of previous imatinib mesylate therapy. Clin Cancer Res; 16(1); 338–47


The recent evolution of corporate whistleblowing has demonstrated the capacity of effective internal corporate whistleblowing systems to support regulatory aims. Further, theoretical support for the role of internal corporate whistleblowers can be found in the smart regulation paradigm, which points to the potential for whistleblowers to operate as surrogate regulators. In light of this, the potential impact of fast-developing 'RegTech' applications on corporate whistleblowing activity has significant regulatory implications. While 'first' generation RegTech applications such as improved data analytics already have the capability to assist corporations to implement more efficient internal whistleblowing systems, the rise of second-generation AI-powered RegTech technologies is likely to further disrupt, and potentially transform, the practice of whistleblowing in corporations. As AI advances, internal corporate whistleblowers may be supplemented, or even replaced, by 'whistlebots' with the ability to report autonomously, with dramatic implications for the role of whistleblowing as a corporate regulatory device.


Training Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) places immense compute requirements on the underlying hardware platforms, expending large amounts of time and energy. We propose LoCal+SGD, a new algorithmic approach to accelerate DNN training by selectively combining localized or Hebbian learning within a Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD) based training framework. Back-propagation is a computationally expensive process that requires 2 Generalized Matrix Multiply (GEMM) operations to compute the error and weight gradients for each layer. We alleviate this by selectively updating some layers' weights using localized learning rules that require only 1 GEMM operation per layer. Further, since localized weight updates are performed during the forward pass itself, the layer activations for such layers do not need to be stored until the backward pass, resulting in a reduced memory footprint. Localized updates can substantially boost training speed, but need to be used judiciously in order to preserve accuracy and convergence. We address this challenge through a Learning Mode Selection Algorithm, which gradually selects and moves layers to localized learning as training progresses. Specifically, for each epoch, the algorithm identifies a Localized→SGD transition layer that delineates the network into two regions. Layers before the transition layer use localized updates, while the transition layer and later layers use gradient-based updates. We propose both static and dynamic approaches to the design of the learning mode selection algorithm. The static algorithm utilizes a pre-defined scheduler function to identify the position of the transition layer, while the dynamic algorithm analyzes the dynamics of the weight updates made to the transition layer to determine how the boundary between SGD and localized updates is shifted in future epochs. We also propose a low-cost weak supervision mechanism that controls the learning rate of localized updates based on the overall training loss. We applied LoCal+SGD to 8 image recognition CNNs (including ResNet50 and MobileNetV2) across 3 datasets (Cifar10, Cifar100, and ImageNet). Our measurements on an Nvidia GTX 1080Ti GPU demonstrate upto 1.5× improvement in end-to-end training time with ~0.5% loss in Top-1 classification accuracy.


This report represents the results of research conducted by the authors and does not necessarily represent the views or policies of the Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute. This report does not contain a standard or specified technique. The authors and the Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers' names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to this report.


We isolated two Autographa californica nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) mutants that have infectivity similar to that of wild-type (wt) AcMNPV in TN368 cells, but reduced budded virus and polyhedral inclusion body production in IPLB-SF-21 and SE1c cells. Restriction endonuclease analysis and sequence analysis indicated that 3.2-kb (77.0-79.4 m.u.) and 4.4-kb (76.7-80.1 m.u.) regions, the location of four major open reading frames (ORFs), pk2, ORF-247, lef-7, and chitinase, were deleted in mutant T295 and T297, respectively. Phenotypes of recombinant viruses vdel-AG, in which all four ORFs were deleted, and vlef7-AG, in which only lef-7 was deleted, were identical to the mutants. The phenotypes of recombinant viruses with deletions of the other ORFs were indistinguishable from wt AcMNPV. This demonstrated that the deletion of lef-7 was responsible for the mutant phenotypes. Viral DNA synthesis in both mutant- and vlef7-AG-infected SF-21 and SE1c cells was reduced to less than 10% of that of wt AcMNPV-infected cells. In TN368 cells, DNA synthesis in mutant- and vlef7-AG-infected cells was delayed relative to wt-infected cells. Although lef-7 is not essential for AcMNPV infection in TN368 cells, it is expressed in TN368, SF-21, and SE1c cells in a similar manner.


During the past decade there has been increasing media coverage about human trafficking, exploitation and modern day slavery. In most of these stories the so-called 'victims' of these scourges are depicted in classic stereotypes. For example, once freed from their abuse they are referred to as being 'rescued', usually by a foreigner, or they are presented as being vulnerable people or children, sold by greedy, drug-affected parents who have little regard for their own children. This simplistic presentation of a complex transnational crime not only inaccurately depicts the process of modern day exploitation and slavery, but can also stigmatise and have dire consequences on those recovering from these human rights abuses. This paper based on eight years of research and practice as a community development worker in Southeast Asia aims to propose a best practice for this type of reporting.


In the Mediterranean Sea, in addition to the two historically known species belonging to the Squalus genus, a third species, Squalus megalops, has been reported. Considering the high level of morphologic similarity of this species with the native species S. blainville, this study aims to evaluate the Central-Western Mediterranean spurdog population in order to test the hypothesis of the presence of two distinct species S. blainville and S. megalops. A total of 137 spurdogs, caught in the Sardinian waters, were analyzed morphologically and genetically after their subdivision into two groups depending on the number of the lateral processes in the chondrocranium basal plate. The CAP analysis, employing all body and chondrocranial measurements, revealed no clear segregation among the a priori assigned groups with a high misclassification percentage. Besides, no evident dissimilarities in teeth and dermal denticle morphology between the two groups were observed. All the 18 specimens which were genetically analyzed, by sequencing of the mtDNA marker COI, clustered together resulting to be S. blainville. All the obtained results indicated the presence, in the study area, of only one species, ascribable to S. blainville.


Misogynoir describes the co-constitutive, anti-Black, and misogynistic racism directed at Black women, particularly in visual and digital culture (Bailey, 2010). The term is a combination of misogyny , the hatred of women, and noir , which means black but also carries film and media connotations. It is the particular amalgamation of anti-Black racism and misogyny in popular media and culture that targets Black trans and cis women. Representational images contribute to negative societal perceptions about Black women, which can precipitate racist gendered violence that harms health and can even result in death. As philosopher Linda Alcoff asserts, racism depends on perceptible difference to determine which bodies are expendable, and in this cultural moment of Black hypervisibility, Black women are particularly vulnerable (Philosophy). I use two culture examples to explore the real life impact of misogynoir in medical media. I explore the ways in which the biomedical knowledge produced by physicians reinforces certain bodies as normal and others as pathological. The case of Caster Semenya as well as the trial of R&B star R. Kelly, allow me to introduce Black feminist health science studies as a critical intervention into current medical curriculum reform conversations.


The treatment of textile and electroplating wastewater for reuse using adsorption combined with UV is reported in this paper. The goal of this work is to study the performance of the adsorption coupled with UV radiation process and to develop a potential wastewater treatment system for reuse. The combined process has reduced the chemical oxygen demand from 1200 mg/L to 160 mg/L for textile effluent, and from 1440 mg/L to 200 mg/L electroplating waste water. For the adsorption process, the adsorbent is prepared from the Ayurvedic plants, Dashmool (mixture of ten Ayurvedic plants such as Aegle marmelos corr, Tribulus terrestric linn, Urauiapicta desv etc). For both the textile and the electroplating waste water sample, the results showed clearly that the combined treatment has a high removal efficiency (86%) of the chemical oxygen demand (COD), and total dissolved solids are removed upto 73% from textile sample, whereas from the electroplating wastewater 62% of the dissolved solids are removed. This combined treatment hold great promise to provide alternative for better treatment and protection of environment.


The electrochemical characteristics of bioresmethrin have been determined by means of electrochemical techniques such as cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse polargraphy over a wide range of pH from 2.0- 12.0. The title compound exhibits a single well defined peak due to the reduction of the -C=C- mookety present in bioresmethrin. The variation of half-wave potential with the pH, concentration of the title compound, and other experimental conditions is described. The overall reduction process is diffusion-controlled and adsorption free in nature. A possible mechanism for the reduction is suggested. The number of electrons involved in the electrode reduction is two. Investigation was also undertaken for the determination of bioresmethrin in vegetables and in storage bags of rice and wheat under FCI's storage system.


A novel hopping discrete Fourier transform (DFT) algorithm and its architecture design for efficiently computing time–frequency spectra are presented. Since the sliding process is adopted sample by sample, the spectral bin output data rate is the same as the input data rate. Under the conditions of an M-sample complex input sequence (M = 256), and N-point recursive DFT computation (N = 64) for time hop L (L = 4), the proposed method has the following advantages: (i) the computational complexity of Proposed-I requires only four complex additions and four complex multiplications for each frequency bin, after the first spectral component has been finally calculated; (ii) Proposed-II utilises a re-timing scheme to greatly shorten and balance the critical path; (iii) Proposed-II is less computationally complex than Wang et al.'s method, as the numbers of multiplication and addition operations in the proposed algorithm are 768 and 1024, representing reductions of 50 and 20%, respectively. In addition, the number of coefficients can be reduced by 50% compared with Park et al.'s method. In the FPGA implementation, the proposed design can be operated at 47.26 MHz. It is thus more suitable for use with real-time analytic applications of time–frequency spectra.


The evidence from epidemiological and experimental studies that vegetables reduce the risk of colorectal cancer is convincing. However, the involved genes and genetic pathways are not clear. The aim of this study was to identify genes that are modulated in vivo in colorectal mucosa by vegetables, and to investigate whether colon adenoma patients respond differently compared with healthy controls. Twenty female adenoma patients and eight healthy controls were randomly split into two groups of ten and four persons, respectively, receiving either a 50% decreased (=75 g/day) or doubled (=300 g/day) intake of vegetables for 2 weeks. In order to assess the effects on gene expression at the target level, colorectal biopsies were collected before and after the intervention. Total RNA was isolated from the biopsies to measure gene expression of 597 genes relevant for responses to xenobiotics by microarray technology, followed by confidence analyses to identify differentially expressed genes. Mainly genes related to cell cycle control and genes for oxidoreductase activities were over-represented in the list of modulated genes. Twenty genes were modulated, which are known to be related to (colon)carcinogenesis. Seven genes were similarly modulated in patients and controls, for example fos proto-oncogene and ornithine decarboxylase. Thirteen genes were modulated differently in patients compared with controls, including cyclooxygenase-2 and human mdm2-A in patients and cytochrome P45027B1, -2C19, -2D6, -2C9 and -3A4 in controls. Almost all the effects on modulating the expression of genes by altering vegetable intake can be mechanistically linked to cellular processes that explain either prevention of colorectal cancer risk by high vegetable intake or increased colorectal cancer risk by low vegetable intake. Furthermore, it seems that vegetables in patients affect genes involved in the late stage of colorectal cancer, whereas in controls genes involved in the initiation phase are modulated.


Functional loss of CCAAT/enhancer binding protein a (C/ EBPa), a master regulatory transcription factor in the hematopoietic system, can result in a differentiation block in granulopoiesis and thus contribute to leukemic transformation. Here, we show the effect of epigenetic aberrations in regulating C/EBPA expression in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Comprehensive DNA methylation analyses of the CpG island of C/EBPa identified a densely methylated upstream promoter region in 51% of AML patients. Aberrant DNA methylation was strongly associated with two generally prognostically favorable cytogenetic subgroups: inv(16) and t(15;17). Surprisingly, while epigenetic treatment increased C/EBPa mRNA levels in vitro , C/EBPA protein levels decreased. Using a computational microRNA (miRNA) prediction approach and functional studies, we show that C/EBPa mRNA is a target for miRNA-124a. This miRNA is frequently silenced by epigenetic mechanisms in leukemia cell lines, becomes upregulated after epigenetic treatment, and targets the C/EBPa 3¶ untranslated region. In this way, C/EBPA protein expression is reduced in a posttranscriptional manner. Our results indicate that epigenetic alterations of C/EBPa are a frequent event in AML and that epigenetic treatment can result in downregulation of a key hematopoietic transcription factor. [Cancer Res 2008;68(9):3142–51]


In ecological farming systems farmers can't use chemicals against pests. In ecological plant protection the aim is to prevent diseases; if it is not possible the use of allowed materials are permitted. Until now there haven't been enough effective and environmental friendly materials for seed treatment in organic farming. Seed borne diseases of tomato and pepper can cause serious losses in yield, so finding appropriate inhibitors has a great importance. Different materials were tested against these bacterial strains for seed treatment in this study. In vitro trials have shown that vinegar, cider vinegar, red wine vinegar and white wine vinegar have inhibiting effect against the causative agent of bacterial canker (Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis), bacterial speck (Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato) of tomato. These materials also have inhibiting impact on the causative agent of bacterial spot of pepper (Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria). Seed treatment with (natural alkaline material) sodium hydrogen carbonate (NaHCO3) had no effect on the examined bacterial strains. Among examined essential oils cinnamon oil seemed to be the most effective, but all oils decreased the germination ability. Thyme and savory teas were effective against Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato. Other examined materials had insufficient bactericide impact (sucrose, NaCI, ethanol, valerian extract, peppermint tea). The germination test has shown that examined vinegar types don't decrease germination ability.


Historically, the neutrophil has been perceived as a terminally differentiated leukocyte with limited ability to produce de novo proteins. Furthermore, in the context of acute inflammation the activated neutrophil has been appreciated only for its ability to release various proteases, reactive oxygen, and arachidonic acid metabolites. Recently, the neutrophil has been shown to have the capacity to produce a number of cytokines that may be instrumental in orchestrating the progression of acute inflammation to a more chronic and specific immune response. These cytokines include IFN-alpha, M-CSF, G-CSF, TNF, IL-1, and IL-6. Our laboratory and others have shown that neutrophils produce IL-8 in response to LPS or a phagocytic challenge. Although these studies have shown the induction of IL-8 from polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN), relatively little is known regarding the regulation of PMN-derived IL-8. Because PMN and monocytes share the same stem cell, and monocyte-derived IL-8 is regulated by prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), glucocorticoids (dexamethasone; DEX) and the T-Lymphocyte-derived IL-4, we postulated that PMN-derived IL-8 production may be regulated in a similar manner. To test this hypothesis, PMN were isolated (> 99% pure) from peripheral blood and cultured in media with 5% FCS in the presence or absence of LPS (10 ng/ml; a concentration of LPS that induced the half-maximal production of PMN-derived IL-8) and in the presence or absence of DEX (10(-6) M to 10(-10) M), PGE2 (10(-6) M to 10(-10) M), or IL-4 (100 ng/ml to 100 pg/ml). PMN-derived IL-8 was measured using a specific sandwich ELISA. DEX and IL-4 in the presence of LPS were found to inhibit PMN-derived IL-8 in both a dose- and time-dependent fashion. DEX and IL-4 in concentrations of 10(-6) M and 10 ng/ml resulted in maximal inhibition of LPS-induced PMN-derived IL-8, respectively. Moreover, both DEX and IL-4 administration could be delayed 4 hr post-stimulation with LPS and result in significant suppression of PMN-derived IL-8. Interestingly, in contrast to the regulation of monocyte-derived IL-8 by PGE2, PGE2 treatment of PMN failed to inhibit the generation of LPS-induced IL-8. Northern blot analysis of steady-state IL-8 mRNA demonstrated that both DEX and IL-4 treatment of PMN resulted in a 40 and 52% reduction in LPS-stimulated PMN-derived IL-8 mRNA, respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


BACKGROUND/AIMS
This study was aimed to analyze the relationship between gastric varices and its collaterals using magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and to assess the usefulness of MRA in studies of portosystemic circulation.

METHODS
Eighty-one patients who had portal hypertension with gastric varices took MRA before the therapy for gastric varices.

RESULTS
The types of collaterals observed by MRA were left gastric vein in 67 patients (83%), short gastric vein in 28 (35%), gastrorenal shunt in 25 (31%), and splenorenal shunt in 14 (17%). In most of patients with advanced gastric varices, the size of left gastric vein was larger than others. In most cases of large gastric varices, the short gastric vein ranged between 5 to 10 mm. Gastrorenal shunt was also correlated with the size of gastric varices. The types of more prominent esophageal varices showed a right type (left gastric vein predominance), but the types of more prominent gastric varices or only the gastric varices showed a left type (posterior or short gastric vein predominance) (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
Gadolinium enhanced 3D-MRA can contribute to the study of the hemodynamic relationships between gastric vein and the collateral circulations by presenting more clear images for patients with portal hypertension.


Although Indonesia's child mortality rate has decreased in tandem with the global trend, healthcare services can be further improved for children. This study aims to explore the perceptions of healthcare providers and caregivers of children aged below five years to improve child health in urban Indonesia. A mixed-methods study design was adopted. Quantitative data were collected via questionnaires from the caregivers. Qualitative data were collected via semi-structured interviews from the healthcare providers. Analysis of 540 caregiver questionnaires regarding the care provided to their child revealed that the majority of them were very satisfied (46.1%) and satisfied (52.2%) with the care received. Analysis of 12 interviews with healthcare providers derived three major themes: (1) importance of one's role as a healthcare provider; (2) factors affecting the delivery of healthcare; and (3) the way forward in caring for young children. Although caregivers were very satisfied with the care received for their children, the perception of healthcare providers regarding their responsibility in delivering care to children under five years old provides insights into improving the quality of services for children in Indonesia. Our findings suggest that mortality and morbidity of children aged below five years can be best reduced by optimizing primary and secondary preventive measures.


The boldest element of Music: A Social Experience is the idea that music is meaningful through its social role. The text offers a topic-driven, semester-long course of study for non-music majors that is inclusive of popular and world musics, as well as Western art music. The accompanying instructor's manual was writen by the authors, who are leading thinkers on the scholarship of pedagogy, and is of tremendous value. The supplemental online materials, Pearson's MySearchLab, however, are still evolving.


This paper presents a novel approach of the track following control for a 7 degrees-of-freedom (DOF) manipulator by ADAMS, which is to solve the accurate transfer function being hard to set up. The simulation results show that the 7-DOF manipulator has better tracking performance by proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control when the moving rate of the end-effector is 215mm/s. In addition, the virtual prototype established in ADAMS can replace the traditional transfer function as the controlled plant of track following control system. Using the parametric design and optimization analysis in ADAMS, we can find the plausible control parameters more quickly.


A fifty-nine year old man, known to have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, presented worsening of angina. Multivessel coronary artery disease was diagnosed, and he underwent myocardial revascularization (mammary and two safenous grafts were implanted) with good evolution and reduction of left atrium dimension.


1. pH-activity curves have been determined for the phosphatase activity of rat liver homogenates using as substrates, alpha- and beta-glycerophosphate, phenyl phosphate, p-nitrophenyl phosphate, adenosine-3'-phosphate, adenosine-5'-phosphate, inosine-5'-phosphate, glucose-1-phosphate and glucose-6-phosphate. The effect of Mg ions on these curves was also studied. Evidence was obtained from these studies which indicated the presence in liver of three non-specific acid phosphatases, a non-specific alkaline phosphatase, specific 5'-nucleotidase and glucose-6-phosphatase activity. 2. The intracellular distribution of these enzymes was studied using the differential centrifugation methods of Schneider (1948) and Hogeboom, Schneider and Striebich (1952). Alkaline phosphatase and 5'-nucleotidase were the only enzymes found in significant amounts in the nucleus. Non-specific acid phosphatase activity was present in large amounts in the mitochondria and to a lesser extent in the microsomes. The microsomal fraction contained large amounts of glucose-6-phosphatase activity and 5'-nucleotidase activity. More than 50% of the alkaline phosphatase activity was found in the non-particulate cytoplasm. 3. The effect of various inhibitors and activators on the acid phosphatase activity of rat liver homogenates was studied over a wide pH range and the results confirmed for the existence of at least two acid phosphatases. 4. Further evidence for the existence of two acid phosphatases was obtained from fractionation studies involving acetone precipitation in the presence of Zn++ ions and electrophoresis in the Tiselius apparatus. 5. The alkaline phosphatase activity of nuclear and cytoplasmic fractions was further studied in normal and regenerating rat livers, and from the effect of pH and Mg++ ions it was concluded that two enzymes were probably present in the cytoplasm and only one in the nucleus. The presence of two alkaline phosphatases in the cytoplasm was also suggested from determinations of the activation energy at different pHs. Fractionation and electrophoretic studies, however, failed to indicate the presence of more than one alkaline phosphatase. 6. The hydrolysis of glucose-1-phosphate by whole tissue extracts and intracellular fractions was studied along with some of the properties of liver phosphoglucomutase. The results indicate that the mechanism of hydrolysis of G-1-P is by a two stage process involving a preliminary conversion to glucose-6-PO4 and subsequent hydrolysis of this compound by glucose-6-phosphatase. No evidence for any secondary pathway was obtained.


The monophyly and taxonomic validity of some currently accepted genera of gall wasps in the Cynipini (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) are being challenged by recent systematic studies. Here we used morphological and molecular data to re-describe and revise the taxonomic limits of the monotypic genus Kokkocynips Pujade-Villar Melika, previously recorded only from Mexico.                We describe a new species from Panama, Kokkocynips panamensis Medianero Nieves-Aldrey, reared from galls on Quercus salicifolia Neé, and add new records from Mexico for the type species of the genus K. doctorrosae Pujade-Villar. Six Nearctic species, Dryocosmus rileyi (Ashmead, 1896), D. imbricariae (Ashmead, 1896), D. coxii (Basset, 1881), D. deciduus (Beutenmueller, 1913), Callirhytis difficilis (Ashmead, 1887) and C. attractans (Kinsey, 1922) are transferred to Kokkocynips. Species of Kokkocynips are associated only with red oaks (Quercus section Lobatae (Fagaceae)) and are distributed in the Nearctic and Neotropical regions, from Canada through Mexico and Panama. Taxonomic limits of Kokkocynips are discussed in light of the molecular phylogenetic relationships of the studied species. Diagnostic characters, gall description, distribution, and biological data of Kokkocynips species are given, including a key for the identification of the asexual generations of seven species.


In an environment characterised by flux and uncertainty, a capacity for innovative, divergent strategic thinking rather than conservative, convergent strategic planning is seen as central to creating and sustaining competitive advantage. As the case study of Communications Co. illustrates, scenario planning is one tool that many organisations, committed to redesigning their strategic planning processes, are using with some success. However, scenario planning requires both left‐ and right‐brain thinking styles. The elements of left‐brain thinking reflect the planning side of strategy making, while right‐brain thinking mirrors the thinking component of strategy making. The relationship between the factors that enable strategic thinking and the level of "emotional intelligence" of business leaders is also considered. The Communications Co. case findings appear to support the view that while strategic thinking capabilities can be nurtured and diffused through an organisation, it will need business leaders with a high degree of emotional intelligence to lead the way.


Background Coordination of care plans between healthcare sectors and efficient management of patients (pts) with co-morbidities is of large demand. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pts are at increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Different stakeholders are potentially involved in the EULAR recommended management processes. Optimized orchestration of accumulated information is of major importance to ensure data quality, meaningful management processes and cost effectiveness. A newly developed information and communications technology (ICT) platform within the Horizon2020-funded PICASO-project (www.picaso-project.eu)will support a continuum of care from hospitals and outpatient clinics to the home. Objectives Explore challenges to provide an efficient ICT integrated solution across many healthcare professionals working for various organisations and potentially crossing national borders that complies to privacy and regulatory constraints allowing more efficient care management. Suitable system architecture and appropriate features require identification of target users' user requirements. PICASO platform will be developed and trialed with pts and clinician. The proposed system architecture will be evaluated for suitability for a larger scale rollout. Methods Projects' pre-defined clinical and technological driven work packages started. Various stakeholders (e.g. pts, local data security and IT representatives, health care insurances' representatives, clinicians) were integrated in the design phase. A PICASO ethical board including external members (e.g. Chair of the Standing Committee of PARE) addressed ethical and legal concerns. Results Current work-flows for the care plan management including stakeholders' hand-over procedures were elaborated. Vision scenarios (n=11) and To-Be Use Cases (n=18) addressing solutions including home monitoring were developed (1). A comprehensive list of user requirements (currently n=87) resulted. Detailed system architecture descriptions are stipulated. Ethical issues and how to handle these, in particular data-protection and -privacy challenges were pre-assigned as these affect platforms' architecture. PICASO ethical principles and guidelines were stated (2). The platform is under development. The first trial running over nine months including RA-pts will start in spring 2017. First experiences will be reported at EULAR. Conclusions Considering the needs of a highly valued, specialised health care system relevant To-Be Use Cases, numerous user requirements and EU-wide ethical and legal issues were gathered to serve as basis for appropriate design, development and implementation of the ICT platform. Software development will take place in iterative cycles followed by prototypes' thoroughly evaluated by real end users investigating usability and acceptance. The platform will become available for RA-pts in routine care but also for wider applicability in Rheumatology and other chronic diseases. References PICASO Consortium (2016), D2.1 Scenarios and Use Cases for Integrated Care. http://www.picaso-project.eu/download/4894. PICASO Consortium (2016), D3.3 PICASO Ethical Guidelines. http://www.picaso-project.eu/download/520/;both last accessed 27/01/2017. Acknowledgements This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 689209. Disclosure of Interest None declared


(TFBG) covered by silver nanowires aligned perpendicularly to the fiber axis. TBFGs are a convenient way to measure surrounding refractive index, as they provide intrinsic temperature-insensitivity and preserve the optical fiber structural integrity. With bare TFBGs, sensitivity is about 60 nm/RIU (refractive index unit) while when coated with a gold thin film, surface plasmon resonance can be excited leading to a sensitivity about 600 nm/RIU. In our case, we show that localized plasmon resonances can be excited on silver nanowires. These nanowires (100 nm diameter and about 2.5 µm length) were synthetized by polyol process (ethylene glycol reducing silver nitrate in the presence of poly (vinyl pyrrolidone and sodium chloride). The nanowires were aligned and deposited perpendicularly to the fiber axis on the gratings using the Langmuir-Blodgett technique in order to maximise the coupling between azimuthally polarized light modes and the localized plasmons. Excitation of surface plasmons at wavelengths around 1.5 µm occurred, leading to a dip in the polarization dependent losses of the grating. This dip is highly dependent of the surrounding refractive index, leading to a sensitivity of 650 nm/RIU, which is a 10-fold increase compared to bare gratings. We obtain results equal or slightly higher than those obtained using a gold layer on TFBGs. In spite of the comparable bulk refractometric sensitivity, the use of these oriented nanowire layers provide significantly higher contact surface area for biochemical analysis using bioreceptors, and benefit from stronger polarization selectivity between azimuthal and radially polarized modes.


The aim of this work is the development of a fully explicit scheme in the framework of time dependent hyperbolic problems with strong interacting discontinuities to retain high order accuracy in the context of compressible multiphase flows. A new methodology is presented to compute compressible two-fluid problems applied to the five equation reduced model given in Kapila et al. (Physics of Fluids 2001). With respect to other contributions in that area, we investigate a method that provides mesh convergence to the exact solutions, where the studied non-conservative system is associated to consistent jump relations. The adopted scheme consists of a coupled predictor-corrector scheme, which follows the concept of residual distributions in Ricchiuto and Abgrall (J. Comp. Physics 2010), with a classical Glimm's scheme (J. Sci. Stat. Comp. 1982) applied to the area where a shock is occurring. This numerical methodology can be easily extended to unstructured meshes. Test cases on a perfect gas for a two phase compressible flow on a Riemann problem have verified that the approximation converges to its exact solution. The results have been compared with the pure Glimm's scheme and the expected exact solution, finding a good overlap.


Chinese Popular Prints ventures into the world of Chinese blockprint illustration that had its assured niche in the rich history of Chinese popular culture from the 17th to the early 20th centuries. These prints were not considered high art in China, but were produced for the urban and rural populations. The book deals with all aspects of the Chinese popular print. In the first two chapters its invention, origins, powerful traditions and its history are described. Classical art and the Ming illustrated book were important impetuses. Three major centres of north and central China emerged. Finally the popular print took on something of the roles of the modern cinema or television. In the following four chapters the main themes are: the printmakers and printshops; society, symbolism and visual pun; categories of popular prints and their display; technical terms. A description of the workshops and their techniques, figure drawing and colouring, gives a good insight in the technical side of the print. A varied popular culture and a certain realism are strands in it, as are spirit protection of the house, recalls of the past, hopes for the future, the hold of the theatre, etc. Two elaborate appendices provide much detailed information about persons, symbols, as well as about some images in the lore of the print. A special section of 28 illustrations (8 full colour) demonstrates the potentialities of the Chinese blockprint illustration.


Walter Benjamin's posthumous reception was significantly broader than the one during his lifetime, particularly in the one country he had never succeeded to visit (although he had intended to), the United States of America. In the current article, we suggest, that while beginning to widen in American intellectual circles, the acknowledgment of the philosopher's legacy happened later in a narrower academic context, rehabilitating the philosopher who had never had the chance to work in a university due to a failed 1925 habilitation. The majority of Benjamin's works were disseminated in various non-academic journals and magazines, making the process of translation and publication of his texts more difficult than it usually is for scientists. We suggest that, firstly, Benjamin's reception in the USA established his image as a provocative essayist stepping far beyond Marxist frameworks (as opposed to how his first publisher and friend Theodor Adorno presented him through a thoroughly-selected collection of writings that had been translated into English for the first time), exploring such topics as Messianism, mass culture, and everyday practices. Our second suggestion is that Benjamin's legacy appeared to be fruitful for American cultural studies whose representatives rejected ideas of the teleology of culture embedded in the original British program, and turned to "practice theories" which presented everyday practices significant in themselves, not as privileged sites of ideology.


BACKGROUND
Severe subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) is a common cause of cardiac arrest. The survival of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) due to SAH is extremely poor. Electrocardiographic and echocardiographic changes associated with SAH may mimic changes caused by acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and thus lead to delayed treatment of the primary disease. Misdiagnosed SAH due to ACS mask can have an influence on patient outcomes.

CASE REPORT
A 47-year-old man presented with a history of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest due to asystole. He had a medical history of hypertension, smoking, and a diffuse, severe headache for one week. The ECG showed atrial fibrillation, 0,2 mV ST-segment elevation in leads aVR and V1-V3 and 0.2 mV ST-segment depression in leads I, II, aVL and V4-V6. Echocardiography revealed left ventricular function impairment (ejection fraction < 20%). The CK-MB activity was 98 U L⁻¹ and the troponin I concentration was 0.59 μg L⁻¹. ACS was suspected. Coronarography did not reveal any changes in the coronary arteries. An urgent CT of the head was arranged and showed an extensive SAH.

CONCLUSIONS
It appears that an urgent CT of the head is the most effective method for the early identification of SAH-induced OHCA, especially in patients with prodromal headache, no history of the symptoms of ACS and CA due to asystole/pulseless electrical activity (PEA). Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) predominantly develops due to acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Extra-cardiac causes, e.g., subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH), are less common. The purpose of the present case report was to describe a patient with OHCA due to subarachnoid haemorrhage imitating acute coronary syndrome.


BACKGROUND
Ethical constraints limit the ability to study peri-implantation phase human endometrium. In this study, the donor oocyte model was used to study candidate endometrial markers of uterine receptivity.

METHODS
Archived, paraffin-embedded tissue obtained by endometrial biopsy during cycle days 21-23 of patients undergoing 'mock' hormonal treatment cycles were evaluated by standard histological criteria and immunohistochemical staining for alpha v beta 3 integrin and glycodelin. All of these patients (n = 101) had undergone a donor oocyte embryo transfer cycle utilizing the exact same hormonal protocol.

RESULTS
Histological evaluation revealed 62 (61.3%) in-phase, 34 (33.7%) dyssynchronous, 2 (2.0%) immature and 3 (3.0%) advanced endometria. The clinical outcomes of patients with either in-phase or dyssynchronous endometria were similar. Very strong correlations were noted between endometrial glandular dating and either alpha v beta 3 integrin or glycodelin immunostaining intensity (P < 0.001 for both). Glycodelin and alpha v beta 3 integrin immunostaining intensities were also highly correlated with each other (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS
Throughout the time period corresponding to the putative window of maximal endometrial receptivity (cycle days 21-23) a dynamic process was observed in exogenous hormonal replacement cycles characterized by a rapid histological advancement of endometrial glandular elements as well as progressive alpha v beta 3 integrin and glycodelin expression.


In this paper, we investigate a security mode decision policy for a cognitive radio network (CRN) powered by a non-radio frequency energy harvester. In such a network, a cognitive user (CU), which has a finite battery capacity, senses the presence of the primary user and tries to access the time-slotted primary channel opportunistically to transmit data. However, communication can be vulnerable to sudden attacks that are carried out by hidden eavesdroppers. Therefore, we propose an energy-efficient data encryption scheme for CRNs to increase the effective security level under energy limitation constraints. The operation mode decision policy is formulated as a framework of a partially observable Markov decision process. In this approach, based on the sensing results and the remaining energy at the beginning of each time slot, CUs can decide to stay silent to save energy, or become active and encrypt data using opportune private-key encryption methods considering the effect of the current action on the future reward to maximize the effective security. Finally, we evaluate the performance of the proposed scheme by using numerical simulation results.


Net data reveal surprises in size, composition, committee structure, and participation in governance. From 1973 to 1982: Medical staff size has grown by an average of 55 percent. The number of medical staff committees in the average hospital has nearly doubled. Nearly 30 percent more hospitals have made physicians voting members of their governing boards.


ABSTRACT Several specific cell cycle activities are dependent on cell-substratum adhesion in nontransformed cells, and the ability of the Ras oncoprotein to induce anchorage-independent growth is linked to its ability to abrogate this adhesion requirement. Ras signals via multiple downstream effector proteins, a synergistic combination of which may be required for the highly altered phenotype of fully transformed cells. We describe here studies on cell cycle regulation of anchorage-independent growth that utilize Ras effector loop mutants in NIH 3T3 and Rat 6 cells. Stable expression of activated H-Ras (12V) induced soft agar colony formation by both cell types, but each of three effector loop mutants (12V,35S, 12V,37G, and 12V,40C) was defective in producing this response. Expression of all three possible pairwise combinations of these mutants synergized to induce anchorage-independent growth of NIH 3T3 cells, but only the 12V,35S-12V,37G and 12V,37G-12V,40C combinations were complementary in Rat 6 cells. Each individual effector loop mutant partially relieved adhesion dependence of pRB phosphorylation, cyclin E-dependent kinase activity, and expression of cyclin A in NIH 3T3, but not Rat 6, cells. The pairwise combinations of effector loop mutants that were synergistic in producing anchorage-independent growth in Rat 6 cells also led to synergistic abrogation of the adhesion requirement for these cell cycle activities. The relationship between complementation in producing anchorage-independent growth and enhancement of cell cycle activities was not as clear in NIH 3T3 cells that expressed pairs of mutants, implying the existence of either thresholds for these activities or additional requirements in the induction of anchorage-independent growth. Ectopic expression of cyclin D1, E, or A synergized with individual effector loop mutants to induce soft agar colony formation in NIH 3T3 cells, cyclin A being particularly effective. Taken together, these data indicate that Ras utilizes multiple pathways to signal to the cell cycle machinery and that these pathways synergize to supplant the adhesion requirements of specific cell cycle events, leading to anchorage-independent growth.


Pain and dysfunction of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) may affect more than 10 percent of the adult people in developed countries. TMJ is a unique jaw joint with both rotational and translational movements while masticating, swallowing or speaking. During masticatory function, the both-side joints work in harmony with adjacent structures including masticatory muscles, teeth (occlusion), tongue, etc. and sustain heavy and repeated bite force or loading. The function of the articular disc is the absorption of the compression load to the joint and is susceptible to displacement forward due to the increase of the friction coefficient and the degeneration of the collateral ligaments. An anteriorly displaced disc will lead to higher compressive and tangential stresses in the posterior band of the disc and to a fibrotic change or eventual perforation of that zone of the disc. The disease thus may progress to a more severe stage of degenerative osteoarthritis, and joint replacement is indicated for the destructed disease entity. TMJ prosthesis has evolved for more than 50 years and served to restore the function of temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) patients. There are some limitations in the function of the implanted TMJ prosthesis, such as lack of translational motion of the condyle and reduction in opening of the mouth. Recent advances in tissue engineering may provide an alternative to traditional strategies to repair and regenerate the TMJ. For the patient or defect-specific purpose, a three-dimensional (3D) image-based design and multi-phasic tissue fabrication technique is under development and could offer a sophisticated approach to the TMJ reconstruction. The biomechanical analyses of the TMJ prosthesis and the newly developed bioengineering constructs are still very rare. Study of the biomechanism of TMJ could improve our knowledge in the pathogenesis of TMD and success in the regeneration of TMJ.


Many elder patients have multiple health conditions such as heart attacks (of various kinds), brain problems (such as seizure, mental disorder, etc.), high blood pressure, etc. Monitoring those conditions needs different types of sensors for analog signal data acquisition, such as electrocardiogram (ECG) for heart beats, electroencephalogram (EEG) for brain signals, and electromyogram (EMG) for muscles motions. To reduce mobile-health (m-health) cost, the above sensors should be made in tiny size, low memory, and long-term battery operations. We have designed a series of medical sensors with wireless networking capabilities. In this paper, we report our work in three aspects: (1) networked embedded system design, (2) network congestion reduction, and (3) network loss compensation. First, for networked embedded system design, we have designed an integrated wireless sensor network hardware / software platform for multi-condition patient monitoring. Such a system integrates ECG/EEG/other sensors with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) into a Radio Frequency (RF) board through a programmable interface chip, called PSoc. Second, for network congestion reduction, the interface chip can use compressive signal processing to extract bio-signal feature parameters and only transmit those parameters. This provides an alternative approach to sensor network congestion reduction that aims to alleviate ?hot spot? issues. Third, for network loss compensation, we have designed wireless loss recovery schemes for different situations as follows. (1) If original sensor data streams are transmitted, network congestion will be a big concern due to the heavy traffic. A receiver-only loss prediction will be a good solution. (2) If the signal parameters are transmitted, the transmission loss mandates a 100% recovery rate. We have comprehensively compared the performance of those schemes. The proposed mechanisms for m-health system have potentially significant impacts on today's elder nursing home management and other mobile patient monitoring applications.


In modified gravity theories, the luminosity distance for gravitational waves (GWs) is in general different from that for electromagnetic signals. This opens the possibility of model-independent tests of GR, by comparing the results from standard candles with those from standard sirens. We illustrate this fact using a nonlocal modification of gravity, that has been shown to fit remarkably well CMB, SNe, BAO and structure formation data. We find that, for rather general reasons, the relative difference between the GW luminosity distance of the modified gravity model and the luminosity distance of $\Lambda$CDM is larger by one order of magnitude than the relative difference of electromagnetic luminosity distances. This effect would be missed in phenomenological studies that parametrize dark energy using only an equation of state $w_{\rm DE}(z)$. We discuss the prospects for distinguishing nonlocal gravity from $\Lambda$CDM at third-generation GW detectors such as the Einstein Telescope and we find that, depending on the exact sensitivity, a few tens of standard sirens with measured redshift at $z\sim 0.4$, or a few hundreds at $1< z < 2$, could suffice.


In this article we review tandem mass spectral approaches to the structural characterization of flavonoid glycosides wich are ubiquitous secondary plant metabolites. It is demonstrated how structural information on O-diglycosides can be obtained on (i) the carboydrate sequence, (ii) the aglycone part, and (iii) the linkage in the diglycosidic part. Both the positive and negative ion modes have been employed.


Two types of silver-doped glass were used for direct laser recording of 2D and 3D photonic crystals. The first contained a diffusion layer (20 microns thick) with embedded silver nanoclusters of 20-nm average radius. 2D and 3D photonic crystals of submicron lattice parameters were fabricated by nanosecond pulsed laser irradiation (l, = 355 nm) using four or five coherent intersecting beams. Under irradiation the clusters absorbing light energy are heated to high temperatures and become mobile due to the formation of liquid shells around them. Adjacent clusters move towards each other and towards the irradiated surface under local temperature gradients, form agglomerates and merge in periodically located "spots" of high light intensity in the interference field. The second type of glass, photosensitive to UV irradiation, contained in the bulk Ag+ and Ce3+ ions. Under UV irradiation excited electrons passed from Ce3+ to Ag+. The Ag atoms became neutral and under subsequent heat treatment of the glass at elevated temperatures have a tendency to form nanoclusters, thus "developing" the UV recorded patterns. Using nanosecond pulsed irradiation of 308 nm we have recorded 3D photonic crystals in the bulk of such glass.


Abstract 155 bryophytes are reported from Frakto Forest, Greece, parts of which consist of old-growth mixed forest with spruce (Picea abies), fir (Abies borisii-regis) and beech (Fagus sylvatica). Many of the species recorded extend into the boreal zone in Europe, and are rare or unknown elsewhere in Greece. Three species, Syzygiella autumnalis, Ulota crispa and Ulota crispula are new to Greece, and there are second or confirmed records for Dicranella subulata, Lewinskya breviseta, Mnium lycopodioides, Seligeria recurvata and Solenostoma obovatum. Attention is drawn to a distinctive forest form of Ctenidium molluscum occurring on non-calcareous substrates.


Mg-4Al-6RE-0.3Mn (RE=La, Ce, Pr, Nd, wt.%) magnesium alloys were prepared successfully by the high-pressure die-casting technique. The microstructures and tensile properties in the temperature range from room temperature to 200 °C were investigated. It was confirmed that the Mg-Al-RE-based alloys exhibited an outstanding die-cast character. The cross-section of test bar could be divided into the fine skin region and the relatively coarse interior region by a narrow band with fine structure. Two binary Al-RE (RE=La, Ce, Pr, Nd) phases with the former being the dominant one, Al11RE3 and Al2RE, occupied large grain boundary area. All the four alloys exhibited excellent tensile properties until 200 °C, which were mainly attributed to the fine grain size and the strengthening phase Al11RE3 with high volume fraction, fine acicular/lamellar morphology, "orderly stack" distribution and good thermal stability. The results of this work provided a basis for further investigation of the new heat-resistant high-pressure die-cast magnesium alloys designed to serve at temperature up to 200 °C.


Most sexuality education curricula developed the past 20 years were not thoroughly evaluated. This study provides results from a content analysis of 10 sexuality education curricula for junior and senior high school students. Nine nationally available sexuality education curricula and one curriculum guide comprised the sample. The basis for analysis was the Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education, developed by the Sex Information and Education Council of the U.S. (SIECUS) and an instrument developed to measure bias in the curricula. Trained coders found that Sex Respect and Teen Aid addressed less than half the topics suggested by the SIECUS guidelines. Several of the curricula contained gender and sexual orientation bias. Certain key concepts such as "Sexual Behavior" and "Society and Culture" were not adequately addressed by most of the curricula. Findings indicate that of 10 curricula, only six are considered acceptable for educating junior and senior high school students.


Introduction: Frailty is a state of vulnerability in elderly people linked to higher mortality risk. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is highly prevalent in aged populations and associated with frailty. Thus, frailty state could predict higher risk of CVD. Many frailty scores (FS) have been developed, but none of them is considered the gold standard. We aimed to compare predictive and discriminative ability of an extensive list of FS with regard to incidence of CVD in a sample of the general elderly population in England. We assessed the hypothesis that some FS will have better predictive ability than others, depending on their characteristics. Methods: We performed a prospective analysis of the association between 35 FS in participants free of CVD at baseline wave 2 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (2004-2005), and incident CVD assessed until February 2012. The sample consisted of 4,177 participants (43.0 % men). Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated for each FS using Cox proportional hazards model, adjusted for demographic, lifestyle and comorbidity variables. FS were analyzed on a continuous scale and using original cutoffs. The added predictive ability of FS beyond a basic model consisting of sex and age was studied using Harrel's C statistic (the higher the better). Results: The median follow-up was 5.8 years, the incidence rate of CVD events was 301.2/10,000 person-years and CVD represented 28% of the total cause of death. The mean age was 70.5 (SD: +/-7.8) years. In fully-adjusted models with demographics, lifestyles and comorbidity, HRs ranged from: 1.0 (0.7; 1.6) to 12.7 (5.5; 29.3). Using cutoffs, HRs ranged from 0.7 (0.2; 1.9) to 1.8 (1.3; 2.5). Adjusted for sex and age, delta Harrel's C statistic ranged from-0.8 (-3.4; 1.8) to 3.0 (-0.4; 6.4). The best CVD predictive ability was found for the Frailty Index with 70 variables and the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment screening FS for continuous and cutoff analyses respectively. In conclusion, there is high variability in the association between different published FS and incident CVD. FS have better predictive ability used as continuous variable. Although most of the analyzed FS have good predictive ability with regard to incident CVD, they do not significantly improve on the discriminative capacity of a basic model. Our results will help to guide clinicians, researchers and public health practitioners in choosing the most informative frailty assessment tool.


Under the simulation environment for the vacuum and heat sink in space, the changes in optical and electrical properties of transparent conductive indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films induced by radiation of protons with 100 keV were studied. The ITO thin films were deposited on JGS1 quartz substrate by a sol-gel method. The sheet resistance and transmittance spectra of the ITO thin films were measured using the four-point probe method and a spectrophotometer, respectively. The surface morphology was analyzed by AFM. The experimental results showed that the electrical and optical performances of the ITO thin films were closely related to the irradiation fluence. When the fluence exceeded a given value 2×1016 cm-2, the sheet resistance increased obviously and the optical transmittance decreased. The AFM analysis indicated that the grain size of the ITO thin films diminished. The studies about the radiation effect on ITO thin films will help to predict performance evolution of the second surface mirrors on satellites under space radiation environment.


Age‐related neurodegeneration has been studied extensively through the use of model organisms, including the genetically versatile Drosophila melanogaster. Various neurotoxic proteins have been expressed in fly eyes to approximate degeneration occurring in humans, and much has been learned from this heterologous system. Although Drosophila expedites scientific research through rapid generational times and relative inexpensiveness, one factor that can hinder analyses is the examination of milder forms of degeneration caused by some toxic proteins in fly eyes. Whereas several disease proteins cause massive degeneration that is easily observed by examining the external structure of the fly eye, others cause mild degeneration that is difficult to observe externally and requires laborious histological preparation to assess and monitor. Here, we describe a sensitive fluorescence‐based method to observe, monitor, and quantify mild Drosophila eye degeneration caused by various proteins, including the polyglutamine disease proteins ataxin‐3 (spinocerebellar ataxia type 3) and huntingtin (Huntington's disease), mutant α‐synuclein (Parkinson's disease), and Aβ42 (Alzheimer's disease). We show that membrane‐targeted green fluorescent protein reports degeneration robustly and quantitatively. This simple yet powerful technique, which is amenable to large‐scale screens, can help accelerate studies to understand age‐related degeneration and to find factors that suppress it for therapeutic purposes. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


In order to investigate the superplasticity of ceramic/ceramic laminated composite under tensile stress, the superplastic deep-drawing process was simulated by FEM. The results shown that, the strain and stress conditions of laminated composite, made by ceramic with different superplastic formability, are better than that of monolithic ceramic. Consequently, the material may exhibit high superplasticity. To testify this, some experiments were carried out. Tape casting and hot-press sintering are used to fabricate Al2O3/3Y-TZP laminated composite. As-received material is deep-drawing at high temperature to research its superplasticity. The results shown that, when suitable strain rate and forming temperature were used, the as-received material has excellent superplasticity.


ABSTRACT This paper characterizes the ways in which increased attention to response process data has implications for psychometrics. To do so, this work draws on two organizing frameworks that have heretofore not been associated: evidence-centered design, and the distinction between greater and lesser statistics. Overlaying these frameworks leads to a conceptualization of greater and lesser psychometrics. This provides a conceptual space for articulating the ways in which response process data have implications for lesser psychometrics through measurement models, as well as greater psychometrics through student models, task models, and the social and personal contexts in which assessment takes place. To illustrate the key points and motivate discussions of where future research is needed, I draw from experiences with three assessments that have involved response process data: a task assessing the measurement of geometric area, a performance-based assessment of computer networking, and an educational video game targeting rational number addition.


Mechanical components are often related to technological meaning: it is a screw, a ball bearing, . . . Technological meaning relates to the notion of function which, in turn, refers to the environment of a component. Here, it is shown how a digital mock-up contextualizing a set of components is used to annotate its components with technological information. This information is derived from the interfaces between components. Interfaces together with the concept of state of a digital mock-up initiate annotations of components with functional information. Symmetries of components is a complementary information that can contribute to a query. Local rotational symmetry is analyzed and adapted to the context of mechanical components. Then, combining these two categories of information enables the generation of high level queries addressing a subset of a component boundary. Technological as well as symmetry informations are component annotations automatically derived from the digital mock-up analysis and from components analyzed separately.


ABSTRACT It often happens in longitudinal studies that repeated measurements of markers are observed with various data features of a heterogeneous population comprising of several subclasses, left-censoring due to a limit of detection (LOD) and covariates measured with error. Moreover, repeatedly measured markers in time may be associated with a time-to-event of interest. Inferential procedures may become very complicated when one analyzes data with these features together. This article explores a finite mixture of hierarchical joint models of event times and longitudinal measures with an attempt to alleviate departures from homogeneous characteristics, tailor observations below LOD as missing values, mediate accuracy from measurement error in covariate and overcome shortages of confidence in specifying a parametric time-to-event model with a nonparametric distribution. The Bayesian joint modeling is employed to not only estimate all parameters in mixture of joint models, but also evaluate probabilities of class membership. A real data example is analyzed to demonstrate the methodology by jointly modeling the viral dynamics and the time to decrease in CD4/CD8 ratio in the presence of CD4 cell counts with measurement error and the analytic results are reported by comparing potential models for various scenarios. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.


This thesis examines the corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities of UK supermarkets and measures how they compare amongst each other when evaluated using a framework based on ISO 26000, incorporating the seven core principles of ISO 26000. UK supermarkets first started to grow in popularity throughout British high streets circa the 1950s, since then the sector has experienced rapid growth levels over many years with UK supermarkets of recent times becoming powerful retail giants. This study addresses a gap in knowledge regarding the use of environmental standards within the UK supermarket sector; through providing a deeper understanding of the involvement of CSR within complex differentiation strategies, with relevant theories critiqued throughout. Secondary analysis is utilised through the examination of CSR reports published by UK supermarkets, providing a mixture of qualitative and quantitative data to be scrutinised. Each supermarket is then scored based on CSR activity levels, the results show the discount supermarket gaining the highest score with some of the UK supermarket 'giants' awarded the lowest scores based on the evidence provided, representing the overhaul that has occurred within the UK supermarket sector over recent years as discount stores are quickly gaining market share. These conclusions suggest that those supermarkets best implementing ISO 26000 are gaining a competitive advantage over competitors, however potential limitations of ISO 26000 become apparent during this study such that the applicability and usability of ISO 26000 for SMEs must come into question when implementing theory into practice, with issues such as a lack of power across the value chain and financial constraints coming into effect. Recommendations are made regarding ways in which supermarkets can improve CSR and sustainable development practices, the need for a standardised method of CSR reporting and potential future research on an international scale.


This paper describes the design and operation of a liquid-core liquid-cladding (L(2)) lens formed by the laminar flow of three streams of liquids in a microchannel whose width expands laterally in the region where the lens forms. Two streams of liquid with a lower refractive index (the cladding) sandwich a stream of liquid with a higher refractive index (the core). As the core stream enters the expansion chamber, it widens and becomes biconvex in shape, for some rates of flow. This biconvex fluidic element focuses light. Manipulating the relative rates of flow of the streams reconfigures the shape, and therefore the focal distance, of the L(2) lens. This paper also describes a technique for beam tracing, and for characterization of a lens in an enclosed micro-scale optical system. The use of a cladding liquid with refractive index matched to that of the material used in the fabrication of the microfluidic system (here, poly(dimethylsiloxane)) improves the quality of the focused beam.


An argument in favor of the development of genetically modified (GM) hybrids is that their presence is considered to be risk decreasing., and hence, insurance premiums for US corn growers who plant approved hybrids have been reduced. In this study we investigate, using a large set of experimental data, whether the presence in a corn hybrid of various combinations of GM traits is likely to affect production variability and downside risk. We estimate a heteroskedastic production function that allows for the variance of yield to change with the level of inputs, and use the residuals of the mean function to estimate the marginal effect of each input on variance and skewness of yield. The results show that the presence of most combinations of GM traits leads to an increase in both yield variability and downside risk.


To investigate potential transmission of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) to health care workers in a hospital, we serologically tested hospital contacts of the index case-patient in Saudi Arabia, 4 months after his death. None of the 48 contacts showed evidence of MERS-CoV infection.


The evaluation of the efficacy of penile arterial by-pass surgery (PABG) must be based on data obtained in clinical trials which have utilized a traditionally acceptable scientific design. A review of the studies which have presented the PABG surgical outcomes analysis revealed that patient selection and patient assignment have not been randomized. Demographic and individual variables, which could potentially influence outcomes, have not been eliminated by use of a marched pair design. Treatment options, including an option which allows assessment of effect of surgery per se, have not been presented in any of the studies. A majority of the studies have not blinded the researcher who analyzed the results. Commonly, follow-up evaluations have been limited and have not used converging sources of evidence. Practical suggestions are offered to improve future clinical trials so that the question of the efficacy of PABG surgery can be scientifically answered.


Frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radars offer many advantages such as low peak power, low probability of interception, low interference to other systems and high range resolution. However, their major drawback is the isolation required between transmitter and receiver that typically leads to the use of two separate antennas for transmission and reception. Some schemes have been proposed to enable FMCW radars to operate with a single antenna. Frequency modulated interrupted continuous wave (FMICW) is a possible solution. However, some considerations must be taken into account before implementing this technique in high resolution radars because of the amount of bandwidth needed. The problems associated with the use of the FMICW technique in broadband radars are analysed and a staggering procedure is proposed to overcome them. This technique is tested using simulated data from a 1 GHz bandwidth millimetre wave sensor, currently under development. The results are compared against other single antenna configurations and the advantages of the staggering technique are shown.


This paper calls for the acknowledgement and institutionalization of an ethic of care into the education of decision-making processes for pre-service teachers. The impetus for this paper came from the author's experiences with teaching a mandatory ethics and law course for pre-service teachers. Over the course of their teaching and as expounded upon in this paper, the authors illustrate how the course goals, aims, objectives and readings ignore discussions on gender in the teaching profession. Using a critical feminist policy analysis, the authors analyse the ethical perspectives taught in the required textbooks. Findings suggest that the absence of the "ethic of care" perpetuates a gender regime and teaching as "women's work" while ignoring ethical perspectives founded outside of the rational male perspectives. This notion of mandating an ethic of care into the teaching of ethics for pre-service teachers is our attempt to address issues of power and privilege by pointing to a gap in the curriculum of university ethics courses.


The objectives of the Snowy Precipitation Enhancement Research Project are to determine the technical, economic and environmental feasibility of augmenting snowfalls in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales. The project commenced during 2004, following proclamation of special enabling legislation, the Snowy Mountains Cloud Seeding Trial Act 2004 (NSW). Amongst other things, the legislation prescribed a target area of approximately 1000 square kilometres (mostly within the Kosciuszko National Park), and scheduled completion date of 2009. The legislation also mandated the use of silver iodide as the seeding agent. The Snowy Mountains Cloud Seeding Trial Act 2004 (NSW) was amended in May 2008, expanding the size of the target area to around 2150 square kilometres, and authorising the continuation of cloud seeding activities until April 2015. An extensive review of the literature was undertaken prior to commencement of the project to determine if the use of the silver iodide (AgI) seeding agent would have an adverse impact on the environment. Although silver ions from watersoluble silver salts have been shown to be toxic to aquatic species, this is not the case for the insoluble silver iodide. Many studies have shown that the toxicity of silver ion in water is significantly ameliorated by the presence in water of chloride ion, carbonate ion, sulfide ion and dissolved organic carbon. In addition, silver has been shown to strongly adsorb onto particulate matter in water. Recent research has shown that silver ion concentrations in natural waters are negligibly small, and an investigation in the study area has confirmed many of these ameliorating factors to be present. Consequently the bioavailability of silver is unlikely to change from the current background levels. Extensive investigations undertaken prior to the commencement of the project confirmed background levels of silver, and the presence of many ameliorating factors known to limit toxicity of silver the ion. An analysis of ecotoxicity monitoring data collected over the first four years of the SPERP has shown that the monitoring program has sufficient power to detect any adverse trend in silver concentration well before a level of environmental concern is reached. The SPERP monitoring results to date have all shown mean concentrations of total silver to be well below any level of concern, and we consider the risk of an adverse ecotoxicological impact resulting from the use of silver iodide for this project to be negligibly small.


Internet of Things (IoT) devices, mobile phones, and robotic systems are often denied the power of deep learning algorithms due to their limited computing power. However, to provide time critical services such as emergency response, home assistance, surveillance, etc., these devices often need real time analysis of their camera data. This paper strives to offer a viable approach to integrate high performance deep learning based computer vision algorithms with low-resource and low-power devices by leveraging the computing power of the cloud. By offloading the computation work to the cloud, no dedicated hardware is needed to enable deep neural networks on existing low computing power devices. A Raspberry Pi based robot, Cloud Chaser, is built to demonstrate the power of using cloud computing to perform real time vision tasks. Furthermore, to reduce latency and improve real time performance, compression algorithms are proposed and evaluated for streaming real-time video frames to the cloud.


All wars are "hell." Certain aspects of the Vietnam War, however, differentiated it from World War II and the Korean Conflict: guerrilla tactics predominated; this war was undeclared and became increasingly unpopular; and for the first time the exposure of war atrocities committed by Americans became a national issue. Many Vietnam veterans reflect the impact of these differences in their conflictual attitudes toward their combat experiences and in their psychopathology. The Vietnam combat veteran who reports atrocities presents a special therapeutic challenge. The therapist's countertransference and real, natural response to the realities of the patient's experience must be continually monitored and confronted. If the therapist is honest with him/herself, a therapeutic relationship becomes possible for men whom many therapists are, or would be, repulsed and frightened by and would never treat.


This research examined the attitudes of gifted and talented pupils towards different methods of teaching and learning experiences at an enrichment center. The research sample included 275 gifted and talented children aged ten to twelve who studied at an after-school enrichment program, Hugordon, based at the Gordon Academic College of Education in Haifa and the Maagan Michael Community Center in 2008. Within the workshops, teachers employed various teaching methods and strategies. A survey was conducted among the pupils that included both open- and closed-ended questions about their attitudes towards various teaching methods. Findings indicated that the pupils had a high to very high level of satisfaction from their learning experience in the workshops. Moreover it was found that pupils who specialized in science and technology were challenged by activities that promoted analytical and practical thinking methods, whereas pupils that specialized in humanities showed a higher level of satisfaction from the role of the teacher.


A guide that provides direction and resources to faculty with regards to the application of the Teach Act, and to students with regard to intellectual property and photocopying.


Thirty-eight insulin-dependent diabetic subjects were treated for periods ranging from 1 to 14 mo with human insulin (recombinant DNA) in order to investigate the clinical effects of human insulin in comparison with pork insulin. Human insulin was well tolerated and no side effects were detected. The following differences between human and pork insulin were observed: reduced blood glucose oscillations associated with a reduction in hypoglycemic symptoms in patients with "brittle" diabetes and type I diabetes, decreased concentrations of antibodies against pork insulin related to a reduction of insulin requirement of §15%, increased specific receptor binding in patients with type I diabetes and insulin resistance: type A, possibility for treating patients with pork insulin allergy, and an increased biologic activity in a patient with polyclonal antireceptor antibodies. No difference was detected between pork and human insulin treatment in patients with type II diabetes and in a patient with insulin resistance: type B with monoclonal antireceptor antibodies. Human insulin was used safely and successfully in the treatment of diabetic patients.


OBJECTIVE:This study was undertaken to prospectively determine the prevalence of gastric H. pylori infection in Barrett's esophagus and Barrett's complicated by dysplasia or adenocarcinoma.METHODS:The prevalence of H. pylori was determined in Barrett's esophagus patients compared to a control population of patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) only. All patients had a minimum of 10 gastric surveillance biopsies obtained. H. pylori colonization was determined upon the basis of hematoxylin and eosin and use of a modified Giemsa and or Steiner's silver stain of all gastric biopsy specimens.RESULTS:Two hundred and eighty-nine Barrett's patients and 217 GERD control patients were included in the study. H. pylori was found in 95/289 (32.9%) of the Barrett's patients, compared with 96/217 (44.2%) of the GERD controls (NS). Forty-seven of the Barrett's patients had low-grade dysplasia/indefinite dysplasia, 14 high-grade dysplasia, and 20 Barrett's adenocarcinoma. When Barrett's was subgrouped according to absence of dysplasia, and presence of low-grade dysplasia, high-grade dysplasia, or adenocarcinoma, H. pylori prevalence was found to be significantly less for patients with Barrett's high-grade dyslpasia (14.3%) and adenocarcinoma (15.0%) versus patients with GERD alone (44.2%), Barrett's alone (35.1%), or Barrett's with low-grade dysplasia (36.2%) (p = 0.016). This difference could not be explained by differences between Barrett's esophagus patients infected with H. pylori and those who were not with respect to gender, smoking history, alcohol consumption, use of proton pump inhibitor, or length of Barrett's mucosa.CONCLUSIONS:Barrett's high-grade dysplasia and adenocarcinoma are significantly more prevalent in patients who are not infected with H. pylori. H. pylori appears to have a protective effect against the development of Barrett's adenocarcinoma.


Abstract The electronic spin and valence states of iron in lower-mantle silicate perovskite have been previously investigated at high pressures using various experimental and theoretical techniques. However, experimental results and their interpretation remain highly debated. Here we have studied a wellcharacterized silicate perovskite starting sample [(Mg0.9,Fe0.1)SiO3] in a chemically inert Ne pressure medium at pressures up to 120 GPa using synchrotron Mössbauer spectra. Analyses of the Mössbauer spectra explicitly show a high-spin to low-spin transition of the octahedral-site Fe3+ occurring at ~13-24 GPa, as evidenced from a significant increase in the hyperfine quadrupole splitting. Two quadrupole doublets of the A-site Fe2+, with extremely high-QS values of 4.1 and 3.1 mm/s, occur simultaneously with the spin transition of the octahedral-site Fe3+ and continue to develop to 120 GPa. It is conceivable that the spin-pairing transition of the octahedral-site Fe3+ causes a volume reduction and a change in the local atomic-site configurations that result in a significant increase of the quadrupole splitting in the dodecahedral-site Fe2+ at 13-24 GPa. Our results here provide a coherent explanation for recent experimental and theoretical results on the spin and valence states of iron in perovskite, and assist in comprehending the effects of the spin and valence states of iron on the properties of the lower-mantle minerals.


CaS, SrS and BaS bsvm bean araporatad and the Tapor analyzed bgr aaaa apeotroaatrj. The following thanoehaalcal data «ara obtained: D^SjP-TTtf; Dl(CaS)-73.m.5; D;(3rS)-74.1±4.5j p;(BaS)-94.7±4.5i AH(dlJB.BaS)-113.9±5i ^H298nv(CaS)-U8.0±5; AH29eTlip(SrS)-U3.0±5; AH298Tap(BaS)-122.5±5; Dl(CaO)-84.A±6; lC(SxO)-92.2±6; Dl(BaO)=130.4±6; D*(SO)-123.5 kcal per sole. Thie technical docueentary report has been reriewed and is approved. V. 0. RAMKE Chief, Cemaics and Graphite Branch Metals and Ceramics Division Air Force Materials laboratory