In preparation for the midterm evaluation (MTE) of the 2022-2025 Light-Duty Greenhouse Gas (LD GHG) emissions standards, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is refining and revalidating their Advanced Light-Duty Powertrain and Hybrid Analysis (ALPHA) tool using newly acquired data from model year 2013-2015 engines and vehicles. ALPHA is a physics-based, forwardlooking, full vehicle computer simulation capable of analyzing various vehicle types with different powertrain technologies, showing realistic vehicle behavior, and auditing of all internal ener gy flows in the model. As part of the validation of ALPHA, the EPA obtained model year 2014 Dodge Chargers equipped with 3.6 liter V6 engines and either a NAG1 five-speed automatic transmission or an 845RE eight-speed automatic transmission. Vehicles were tested on a chassis dynamometer; test results showed eight-speed vehicles averaging 6.5% reduction in unadjusted combined city-highway fuel consumption compared to five-speed vehicles. In addition, an 845RE eight-speed transmission was obtained and tested in a standalone transmission test rig. The measured transmission parameters were used in ALPHA to simulate the behavior and fuel consumption of the eight-speed Dodge Charger. A companion model for the five-speed Charger was also constructed; the resulting simulated fuel consumption for both vehicles closely matched the test results. This paper uses the validated ALPHA model to predict the effectiveness improvement of real-world transmissions over a baseline circa 2008 four-speed transmission, and to predict further improvements possible from future eight-speed transmissions. To that end, transmission models for a four-speed automatic transmission and future eight-speed automatic transmissions were constructed, and ALPHA was used to predict the fuel consumption differences of a Dodge Charger equipped with these transmissions. A fuel consumption reduction of over 12% was predicted when comparing a future eight-speed transmission to a baseline four-speed. Predicted fuel consumption reduction was over 16% when the engines were resized to maintain a constant acceleration performance.


In this paper, we proposed a new noise speech recognition method based on the compressive sensing theory. Through compressive sensing, our method increases the anti-noise ability of speech recognition system greatly, which leads to the improvement of the recognition accuracy. According to the experiments, our proposed method achieved better recognition performance compared with the traditional isolated word recognition method based on DTW algorithm.


Social innovations are targeted measures that are capable to resolve social problems (Rammert 2010) and they are directed towards an improvement of the situation (Gillwald 2000). Finally, they are directed towards an amelioration of the situation (Gillwald 2000). In Austria it is argued that ethnic business represents a type of social innovation (Haberfellner 2000). The question the paper addresses is if and to what extent ethnic business goes hand in hand with social developments and possibly boosts social change. Entrepreneurs of Turkish origin in Salzburg are the focus of analysis. The paper starts with a definition of the term 'social innovation' (1), the issues of ethnic vs. migrant business (2.), followed by the description of the labour market situation of Turkish migrants in Salzburg and discrimination in the labour market (3.), and, to to round up, the analysis of biographic interviews with Turkish entrepreneurs in Salzburg (4.). The preliminary results show that there exist social problems such as the lower socio-economic situation of Turkish migrants in Salzburg and discrimination in the labour market. These problems can be seen as basis for the need of social innovations. But nevertheless Turkish run ethnic businesses in a strict sense of the word are no social innovation because they do not act against the problems in an intended way; they rather work on their own account. They may overcome disadvantages on the labour market but their actions are not directed towards overcoming the problem per se. It is much rather a transintentional aspect (Schimank 2010), which goes beyond the economic interest of the actors.


We sought to determine the spectrum of mutations producing β‐thalassemia in Egypt using genomic PCR and a variety of mutation‐screening procedures. Thirty‐four β‐thalassemia and three Hb S/β‐thalassemia patients originating from different regions of Egypt were studied, and the causative mutation was found in 69 of 71 (97%) β‐thalassemia genes. Four mutations accounted for 78% of β‐thalassemia genes in this population; IVS‐1, nt 110 (41%), IVS‐1 nt 6 (13%), IVS‐1, nt 1 (13%), and IVS‐2, nt 848 (11%). The latter allele, a C–A mutation at the third nucleotide of an acceptor site consensus sequence, has been described previously only in one Egyptian, one Iranian, one Tunisian, and one Black American patient. Nine other alleles each accounted for 1‐3% of β‐thalassemia genes. Among these was one codon 27 allele (Hb Knossos), two frameshift 106/107 alleles previously seen only in a Black American, and a rarely observed mutation in the distal promoter region of the β‐globin gene, −87 (C‐A). Our results suggest that from a molecular genetic standpoint a β‐thalassemia prevention program based on carrier screening and prenatal diagnosis can be implemented in Egypt. In couples at risk for β‐thalassemia, the causative mutation should be identifiable in both members in 92% and in one member in the remaining 8%. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Depth information is one of the most important factors for the recognition of a digital face image. Range images are very useful, when comparing one face with another, because of implicating depth information. As the processing for the whole face produces a lot of calculations and data, face images can be represented in terms of a vector of feature descriptors for a local area. In this paper, depth areas of a 3 dimensional (3D) face image were extracted by the contour line from some depth value. These were resampled and stored in consecutive location in feature vector using multiple feature method. A comparison between two faces was made based on their distance in the feature space, using Euclidian distance. This paper reduced the number of index data in the database and used fewer feature vectors than other methods. Proposed algorithm can be highly recognized for using local depth information and less feature vectors on the face.


6-10 September 2015 Graz, Austria EUROCORR 2015 EUROCORR Congress secretariat: DECHEMA e.V. Theodor Heuss-Allee 2560486 Frankfurt, Germany Email: email@example.com 15-17 September 2015Budapest, Hungary HUNGAROKORR 2015 Hungarokorr 2015 is the 16th in a series of international corrosion science conferences of the Hungarian Corrosion Alliance (HUNKOR). Bridge-Tours Ltd. Tel: þ36 1 484 0805 (Mon-Fri: 09h-17h) Mobil: þ36 20 480 5472 (Mon and Wed: 09h-17h) Fax: þ36 1 341 6046 Email: firstname.lastname@example.com 27-30 September 2015 Portorož, Slovenia ICMT23 23rd International Conference on Materials and Technology. Conference Secretariat: Vesna Nahtigal Institute of Metals and Technology Lepi pot 11, SI-1000 Ljubljana Tel: þ386 (1) 470 19 02 Fax: þ386 (1) 470 19 39 Email: email@example.com 4-9 October 2015 Taipei, Taiwan ISE Annual Meeting 201566th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry International Society of Electrochemistry Rue de Sébeillon 9b 1004 Lausanne, Switzerland Email: email@example.com 4-7 October 2015 Orlando, Florida, USA Titanium 2015 31st Annual Conference and Exhibition of the International Titanium Association Jennifer Simpson International Titanium Association 2655 West Midway Blvd., Suite 300 Broomfield, CO 80020-7186, USA Email: firstname.lastname@example.com 11-16 October 2015 Phoenix, Arizona, USA 228th ECS Meeting Fall Meeting 2015 of the Electrochemical Society The Electrochemical Society 65 South Main Street, Building D Pennington, New Jersey 08534-2839, USA Email: email@example.com 15-17 October Istanbul, Turkey Paint Expo Eurasia 2015 FairFair GmbH Max-Eyth-Straße 1972644 Oberboihingen, Germany Tel: þ49 7022 60255-0 Fax: þ49 7022 6025577 26-30 October 2015 INSTN CEA Saclay, France Fall School ''Modelling of Corrosion'' The aim of the school is to provide PhD students, post-doc researchers, young scientists and engineers with the various methods for corrosion modelling, on the basis of the current understanding of corrosion mechanisms. Mrs. Mireille Cestrieres Tel: þ33 1 69 08 87 04 Fax: þ33 1 69 08 98 00 Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


There is a need for improved therapies for severe asthma. Lebrikizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody that binds to interleukin (IL)-13, is under development for the treatment of poorly controlled asthma. This article reviews the potential role of IL-13 in the pathogenesis of asthma, the efficacy and safety of lebrikizumab in humans, and progress in patient selection for lebrikizumab therapy. IL-13 is a T-helper (Th2) cell-derived cytokine implicated in inflammatory responses in asthma, including serum immunoglobulin-E synthesis, mucus hypersecretion, and subepithelial fibrosis. Blocking the pro-inflammatory effects of IL-13 with lebrikizumab has the potential to improve asthma control. Published data on the efficacy and safety of lebrikizumab in the treatment of asthma are relatively limited. The late asthmatic response after inhaled allergen challenge is reduced by almost 50%, following treatment with lebrikizumab. In a Phase II study performed in 219 adults with poorly controlled asthma despite inhaled corticosteroids (MILLY trial), lebrikizumab produced an improvement in prebronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 second of 5.5% compared with placebo at 12 weeks, but had no effects on other efficacy end points. Adverse effects were similar to placebo, except that musculoskeletal side effects occurred slightly more often with lebrikizumab. Stratifying patients into a high Th2 phenotype using serum periostin, which is upregulated in lung epithelial cells by IL-13, may identify individuals responsive to blockade of IL-13. In the MILLY trial, lebrikizumab treatment was associated with greater improvement in lung function in patients with elevated serum periostin levels compared with those with low periostin levels. Two large Phase III randomized controlled trials in patients with uncontrolled asthma are underway to establish the safety and efficacy of lebrikizumab when administered over a 52-week period. These studies will also help to determine whether identifying patients with a Th2 high inflammatory phenotype using serum periostin allows a personalized approach to the treatment of asthma.


Trained as a biochemist at Bath and obtaining a doctorate in medical biochemistry at Leeds, Rod has spent over 35 years in academic life both as a lecturer and a researcher. His first research post (MRC) was with Professor Monty Lowsowsky at Jimmy's studying lipid metabolism but soon moved across the city to work with Professor John Golligher at Surgery LGI Leeds. Working with a dynamic team engaged upon surgical research proved to be too irresistible to contemplate thought of movement elsewhere or other discipline. He has extensive experience of research with human subjects as patients and also subjects in normal health in a variety of clinical contexts. Rod progressed from senior biochemist in Surgery at Leeds LGI to principal research fellow at Leeds Medical School. During this period he gained considerable ability and expertise in the design, implementation and analysis of data gained from many research investigations in the clinical area. Rod specialised on wet chemistry techniques and led the laboratory team within the academic unit at the LGI. He was fortunate to work on quantitative research with Professor Morgan in Chemical Pathology, with Dr Burkinshaw in the MRC neutron activation facility at Leeds and with Professors Johnston, Hill and McMahon in Surgical Research. A consequence of such activity is the variety of networks developed, not only academically but also with commercial organisations. Whilst working within clinical nutrition an idea was developed into a company through the help of ULIS (Innovations, Leeds University) and also LeedsMet. To achieve this necessitated comprehensive technical, industrial and commercial involvement between and with patent agents, suppliers, plant manufacturers, ingredient producers, marketing agents, product consultants, retail organisations and others on a national and international scale. He also worked with the Open University both as a tutor and consultant gaining experience with distance learning techniques and the teaching of science. Rod joined the School of Leisure and Sports Studies in 2000. He moved to the School from Leeds University where he had already worked in close collaboration with colleagues in this School. He was appointed as a Reader in 2004 and Professor in September 2004. This lecture was recorded on 9 March 2006.


Abstract. The mitigation of seismic risk passes through the assessment of seismic hazard of urban fabrics on a given territory. Statistical methods and damage probability matrices are currently used to facilitate seismic safety knowledge and assessment operations. These methods, despite being fast and low cost, often return results that differ from reality and prone to the expertise of the operator. Indeed, in order to have more accurate information it is necessary to conduct Finite Element Analysis (FEA). However, this type of analysis requires considerable surveying and modeling time and therefore are not easily applied to the urban scale. The key to implement this analysis at the territorial scale lies in the way of acquisition of urban data (geometric and informative) and their management within appropriate modeling environments that allow their treatment. Currently, the information modeling paradigms used for urban data collection and management are either time and resource consuming (HBIM) or overly simplified (GIS). In this research we investigate the potential of City Information Modeling (CIM) in a parametric environment (with reference to CityGML standards) combined with urban survey procedures. Aim of the work presented here is the definition of a parametric modeling protocol that allows, in a short time, the acquisition, modeling and finite element structural analysis of urban aggregates.


Graphical user interface (GUI) for applications of embedded devices (ED) has been increasingly in demand. Rapid GUI development tools are being required more than ever. However, traditional way of GUI development for ED applications has some limitation in support of visual environment and blocks rapid development. In this paper, we introduce a new mini visual IDE, called VY, which supports rapid development utilizing control library, and simulation of GUI. VY can realize the development of GUI in ED efficiently by means of "what you see is what you get"(WYSIWYG). It consists of five modules: simulator, control library, script complier, script virtual machine (SVM) and visual window. By utilizing the hardware-independent control library of graphical interfaces, an attractive GUI can be produced with much less script effort on the visual window. Then, the script file is compiled into script data (including instructions) which will be executed by the SVM with visiting system calls in ED, and the Simulator will display the resulting GUI. After all these steps, the final GUI can be downloaded into the ED system. In this way, VY supports rapid development of hardware-independent GUI for ED applications on a visual metaphor.


Compared to traditional, low-frequency ventilation (LFV), mechanical ventilation at high frequencies (60-200 breaths/min) and low tidal volumes (HFV) is known to: 1) eliminate respiratory-synchronous variations in blood pressure; 2) minimize ventilatory effects on the cardiovascular system; 3) reduce peak airway pressures; and 4) suppress spontaneous respiratory efforts. Since these and other properties may make HFV useful in patients with acute intracranial pathology, we studied the effects of HFV on intracranial pressure (ICP) in cats. Compared with LFV (rate 11/min, tidal volume equals 15 ml/kg), HFV (rate 100/min, VT equals 3.3 ml/kg) had little effect on mean arterial pressure, heart rate, right atrial pressure, mean ICP or mean cerebral perfusion pressures, even if baseline ICP was raised using an epidural balloon. However, HFV effectively eliminated ventilator-linked fluctuations in both blood pressure and ICP, and at all levels of mean ICP studied (4.8, 15, and 30 torr), significantly reduced the peak ICP seen during a single respiratory cycle. The reduction in ICP fluctuation and peak pressure was more pronounced as intracranial complicance fell. However, the physiologic significance of such a change in the ICP pressure waveform is unknown. Because of the observed influence of HFV on ICP fluctuations, we also examined its effects on the physical movement of the exposed brain, using a non-contact, inductive displacement measuring device. During LFV, the cortical surface moved "in and out" by 0.36 plus or minus 0.1 (plus or minus SD) mm, a distance sufficient to make microscopic focusing difficult. Changing to HFV reduced surface movement to 0.05 plus or minus 0.01 mm, producing a very stable surface. These results suggested that HFV may play a very important role in the intraoperative management oif patients undergoing certain neurosurgical procedures, particularly those requiring microsurgical techniques where reduced brain movement may facilitate surgery.


System Identification is the art and science of building mathematical models of dynamical processes, from observed input and output signals. The presentation will give a state-of-the art overview of approaches, methods and models for this. Particular attention will be paid to the connection to techniques of building simple process models (such as gain + time constant + delay).


Numerous studies have explored consumer adoption of mobile payments from a variety of perspectives – security, convenience, and perceived ease of use and usefulness. A few studies have concluded that cost contributes to consumer adoption of m-payments, but not explored this factor in any detail. This study (a) offers exploratory research on specific reasons why consumers do or don't use mobile payments and (b) examines the propensity of consumers to pay mobile service fees under a variety of realistic scenarios. The study finds that the top reason why consumers don't use mobile payments is dislike for paying service fees. Research results also show that consumers are quite price sensitive to making mobile payments when a service fee is charged, except when urgent or when no alternative payment method exists.


Provides new perspectives on the renowned anime and manga creator, Tezuka Osamu, and examines his legacy.

Contributors to volume eight of Mechademia analyze Tezuka Osamu and his complicated approaches toward life and nonlife, as well as his effect on other manga artists. Using essays and reprints of Japanese manga on Tezuka, this volume questions his influence and attitudes toward the nonhuman, the sexual politics of manga bodies, and the origins of the moe culture, among others.


In this issue of Pediatric and Developmental Pathology, Aigner and colleagues report a detailed investigation of cartilage matrix changes in a 14-week fetus with achondrogenesis type IA [1]. The changes reported differ from matrix alterations observed in achondrogenesis types IB or II and provide insight into the phenotypic and genotypic differences within this group of skeletal dysplasias.


Because of restrictions imposed by hybridization barriers, Russian wildrye [Psathyrostachys juncea (Fisch.) Nevski] breeders have usually limited themselves to selection and hybridization within ploidy levels. Plants of diploid (2n = 2x = 14) Russian wildrye tend to be shorter, finer stemmed, leafier, and generally higher in forage production than tetraploids (2n = 4r = 28), which have larger seeds and superior seedling vigor. The principle objectives of the present study were to combine the genes from diploid and tetraploid Russian wildrye into a stable population, and evaluate variability in chromosome behavior, molecular genetic diversity, forage production, seed characteristics, and seedling vigor of the hybrids. Cytologically, the hybrid population behaved as an autotetraploid averaging 0.50 univalents + 9.37 bivalents + 0.24 trivalents + 1.98 quadrivalents per cell. Narrow-sense heritabilities were 31, 63, 17, and 23% for dry matter yield (DMY), total seed yield, 100-seed weight, and rate of seedling emergence, respectively. Coefficients of determination (r 2 ) among parent and half-sib family means were 0.12, 0.29, 0.09, and 0.72 for the above traits, respectively. Essentially all variation among half-sib families for rate of seedling emergence was associated with environmental effects. Positive responses to selection pressure for improved seed yield, rate of seedling emergence, and dry matter production were achieved and additional gains are expected. Any major improvement in seed mass would be limited without broadening the genetic base of the hybrid.


This paper presents a solution to an important econometric problem, namely the root n consistent estimation of nonlinear models with measurement errors in the explanatory variables, when one repeated observation of each mismeasured regressor is available. While a root n consistent estimator has been derived for polynomial specifications (see Hausman, Ichimura, Newey, and Powell (1991)), such an estimator for general nonlinear specifications has so far not been available. Using the additional information provided by the repeated observation, the suggested estimator separates the measurement error from the "true" value of the regressors thanks to a useful property of the Fourier transform: The Fourier transform converts the integral equations that relate the distribution of the unobserved "true" variables to the observed variables measured with error into algebraic equations. The solution to these equations yields enough information to identify arbitrary moments of the "true," unobserved variables. The value of these moments can then be used to construct any estimator that can be written in terms of moments, including traditional linear and nonlinear least squares estimators, or general extremum estimators. The proposed estimator is shown to admit a representation in terms of an influence function, thus establishing its root n consistency and asymptotic normality. Monte Carlo evidence and an application to Engel curve estimation illustrate the usefulness of this new approach. Copyright Econometric Society 2004.


We used a one-dimensional model to simulate the chemical evolution of air masses in the tropical Atlantic Ocean, with a focus on halogen chemistry. The model results were compared to the observations of inorganic halogen species made in this region. The model could largely reproduce the measurements of most chlorine species, especially under unpolluted conditions, but overestimated sea salt chloride, BrCl, and bromine species. Agreement with the measurements could be improved by taking into account the reactivity with aldehydes and the effects of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and Saharan dust on aerosol pH; a hypothetical HOX → X(-) aqueous-phase reaction could also improve the agreement with measured Cl(2) and HOCl, especially under semipolluted conditions. The results also showed that halogens speciation and concentrations are very sensitive to cloud processing. The model was used to calculate the impact of the observed levels of halogens: Cl atoms accounted for 5.4-11.6% of total methane sinks and halogens (mostly bromine and iodine) accounted for 35-40% of total ozone destruction.


Phospholipid:diacylglycerol acyltransferase (PDAT) catalyzes the acyl-CoA-independent 41 triacylglycerol (TAG) biosynthesis in plants and oleaginous microorganisms and thus is a key target in 42 lipid research. The conventional in vitro PDAT activity assay involves the use of radiolabeled 43 substrates, which, however, are expensive and demand strict regulation. In this study, a reliable 44 fluorescence-based method using nitrobenzoxadiazole-labeled diacylglycerol (NBD-DAG) as an 45 alternative substrate was established and subsequently used to characterize the enzyme activity and 46 kinetics of a recombinant Arabidopsis thaliana PDAT1 (AtPDAT1). We also demonstrate that the 47 highly toxic benzene used in typical PDAT assays can be substituted with diethyl ether without 48 affecting the formation rate of NBD-TAG. Overall, this method works well with a broad range of 49 PDAT protein content and shows linear correlation with the conventional method with radiolabeled 50 substrates, and thus may be applicable to PDATs from various plant and microorganism species.


In this paper a method for the automatic segmentation of the brain in magnetic resonance images is presented and validated. The proposed method involves two steps: 1) the creation of an initial model, and 2) the deformation of this model to fit the exact contours of the brain in the images. A new method to create the initial model has been developed and compared to a more traditional approach in which initial models are created by means of brain atlases. A comprehensive validation of the complete segmentation method has been conducted on a series of three-dimensional T1-weighted magnetization-prepared rapid gradient echo image volumes acquired both from control volunteers and patients suffering from Cushing's disease. This validation study compares results obtained with the method the authors propose and contours drawn manually. Averages differences between manual and automatic segmentation with the model creation method the authors propose are 1.7% and 2.7% for the control volunteers and the Cushing's patients, respectively. These numbers are 1.8% and 5.6% when the atlas-based method is used.


A case of familial dermatomyositis (DM) is reported in a 27-yr-old mother and her daughter aged 2 yr and 8 months. Familial DM is a rare occurrence and has never been reported in a child of < 4 yr old, although isolated cases of DM have been found in infants as young as 1 yr. The mother responded readily to corticosteroids; however, the child proved resistant to steroids and was eventually successfully managed on a combination of methotrexate and prednisolone. Another daughter presented with the dermatological stigmata of DM, but with no evidence of muscle involvement.


Rizatriptan benzoate is a popular serotonin 5-HT1 receptor agonist triptan drug indicated for the acute treatment of migraine, a neurological disorder. Copper ion plays a key role in brain metabolism. Several neuro diseases are characterised by copper toxicity. The drug binds to copper acetate as revealed by UV and IR spectra. The triazole ring of the drug binds to copper. The cyclic voltammetric studies revealed that with increasing concentration of metal, the corresponding current increases. With increasing scan rate, the corresponding current increases linearly with the square root of the scan rate. This shows that the binding of the drug to the metal is diffusion controlled. The present study investigates the reaction of ascorbic acid with Copper-Rizatriptan complex at neutral pH. The mechanism of reversible formation of Cu(II)/Cu(I) is described based on absorption spectral data.


Abstract For natural populations to adapt to anthropogenic threats, heritable variation must persist in tolerance traits. Silver nanoparticles, the most widely used engineered nanoparticles, are expected to increase in concentrations in freshwaters. Little is known about how these particles affect wild populations, and whether genetic variation persists in tolerance to permit rapid evolutionary responses. We sampled wild adult whitefish and crossed them in vitro full factorially. In total, 2896 singly raised embryos of 48 families were exposed to two concentrations (0.5 μg/L; 100 μg/L) of differently sized silver nanoparticles or ions (silver nitrate). These doses were not lethal; yet higher concentrations prompted embryos to hatch earlier and at a smaller size. The induced hatching did not vary with nanoparticle size and was stronger in the silver nitrate group. Additive genetic variation for hatching time was significant across all treatments, with no apparent environmental dependencies. No genetic variation was found for hatching plasticity. We found some treatment‐dependent heritable variation for larval length and yolk volume, and one instance of additive genetic variation for the reaction norm on length at hatching. Our assessment suggests that the effects of silver exposure on additive genetic variation vary according to trait and silver source. While the long‐term fitness consequences of low‐level silver exposure on whitefish embryos must be further investigated to determine whether it is, in fact, detrimental, our results suggest that the evolutionary potential for adaptation to these types of pollutants may be low.


Abstract To better understand the link between obesity and prostate cancer (PC) aggressiveness, we investigate the role of leptin, an obesity associated adipokine, and its receptor (Ob-R) in PC cells migration. The migration assay (Wound-healing) was used to study the leptin impact on DU-145 and PC3 cells lines. STAT3 activation was performed by Western Blot. E-cadherin expression was studied using fluorescence microscopy and Ob-R expression in PC and benign prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) biopsies was assessed by RT-PCR. In this study we demonstrate that high dose of leptin promotes PC cells migration and EMT transition via the stimulation of STAT3 pathway. In addition, we report that although Ob-R mRNA is expressed by ADK and BPH resections biopsies, significant higher levels were observed for ADK patients. Finally, we found a positive association between Ob-R mRNA expression and worse PC prognosis. A better understanding of the molecular processes of leptin signaling is crucial for identifying appropriate approaches for treatment of obesity-related PC patients.


Hydrographic, acoustic and zooplankton data were collected during June 1992 and June 1995 along transects to the north and south of Kiska and Buldir Islands in the western Aleutian Islands to look for mesoscale relationships between zooplankton community composition, biomass, and associated frontal systems and pycnoclines. Hydrographic data revealed a front dividing the Bering Sea water mass from the mixed regime in the passes and Alaska Stream water south of the islands. Chlorophyll concentration and ADB (acoustically determined biomass) were consistently higher on the Bering Sea side of the front in June 1992. Elevated ADB in the Bering Sea was due to aggregates of Neocalanus cristatus copepodid V in the pycnocline separating the upper mixed layer from the underlying cold intermediate layer. N. cristatus abundance was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in Bering Sea water in June 1992 than in Pacific water in June 1992 and Bering Sea water in June 1995. N. fleminger abundance was significantly higher in Bering Sea water than in Pacific water in both 1992 and 1995. N. plumchrus and Eucalanus bungil stages III and IV were more abundant in Pacific water than in Bering Sea water. The results clearly demonstrate the utility of interfacing acoustics, net samples and hydrographic data to elucidate mesoscale associations of zooplankton to fronts, water masses and pycnoclines.


Evaluates the effectiveness of the Human Rights Act 1998 five years after its commencement. Explains the legislative intentions underpinning the Act and reflects on how well these have been achieved, using case law to demonstrate the courts' approach to such goals as: (1) improving compliance with human rights principles; (2) interpreting domestic legislation in a manner compatible with the Act; (3) imposing obligations on public authorities through the doctrine of horizontal effect; and (4) modifying the grounds of judicial review.


The Honeycomb Hills rhyolite dome in western Utah displays chemical and mineralogical features characteristic of a rare-element pegmatite magma. The lavas show extreme enrichments in such trace elements as Rb (≤1960 ppm), Cs (≤78), Li (≤344), Sn (≤33), Be (≤270), and Y (≤156). Phenocrysts (10%-50% by volume) include sanidine (Or 66-70 ), plagioclase (Ab 83-92 ), quartz, biotite approaching fluorsiderophyllite, and fluortopaz, as well as accessory phases common to highly differentiated granites and pegmatites, including zircon, thorite, fluocerite, columbite, fergusonite, and samarskite. Low temperatures (600 to 640 °C), coupled with high phenocryst and silica content, might normally preclude eruption due to the extremely high viscosity of the melt. However, high concentrations of fluorine (2%-3%) could domal lavas significantly reduce viscosity and allow eruption of domal lavas even after dewatering of the mama during the initial pyroclastic phase of the eruptive cycle. Fractionation of phenocrysts and accessory phases, for which partition coefficients have been measured, is sufficient to account for most compositional gradients inferred in the preeruptive magma body, although transport by a fluid phase formed a may have caused upward enrichments in Li, Be, and Cs. If the Honeycomb Hills magma had crystallized at depth, it would have formed a rare-element pegmatite.


Capsule endoscopy (CE) is recommended for the diagnosis and assessment of disease extension in patients with suspected or known inflammatory bowel disease, particularly Crohn's disease. Ulcers and erosions of the enteric mucosa are prevalent findings in these patients. They frequently occur together, and their identification in CE is crucial for an accurate evaluation of disease severity. Nevertheless, reviewing CE images is a time-consuming task, and the risk of overlooking lesions is significant.
 Over the last decade, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a mean for overcoming these pitfalls. Of all AI methods, convolutional neural networks (CNN), due to their complex multilayer architecture present the best results in image analysis.
 We aimed to develop a CNN for the automatic identification of ulcers and erosions in the small bowel mucosa.

 A total of 1483 CE exams (PillCam SB3®) performed at a single centre between 2015–2020 were analyzed. From these exams, a sum of 11588 frames of the enteric mucosa were obtained, 3163 containing enteric ulcers and erosions, and the remaining containing normal mucosa or other findings. Ulcers and erosions were stratified according to the Saurin's classification for bleeding potential: P1E – erosions with intermediate bleeding risk; P1U – ulcers with intermediate bleeding risk; P2U – ulcers with high bleeding risk. For automatic identification of these lesions, these images were inserted into an CNN model with transfer learning. Subsequently, the performance of the network assessed using an independent set of images. The output provided by the CNN was compared to the classification provided by a consensus of specialists (Figure 1).

 After optimizing the neural architecture of the algorithm, our model was able to automatically detect and distinguish ulcers and erosions (any bleeding potential) in the small intestine mucosa with an accuracy of 96.7%, precision of 95.9%, sensitivity of 91.7% and a specificity of 97.8% (Figure 1). The mean processing time for the validation dataset was 23 seconds (approximately 101 frames/second).

 We developed and tested a deep learning model based on a CNN for the automatic detection of enteric ulcers and erosions in CE images. Our system revealed extraordinary performance marks. We believe that our study lays the foundation for the development and application of effective AI tools to clinical practice. These techniques should improve diagnostic accuracy and reading efficiency.


Electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) of two kinds of damage rate samples in natural seawater were measured and the relations between coating resistances and phase angles at high frequencies were analyzed. The results indicated that for the coating systems studied, the variation of phase angles at 14 kHz with immersion time was very close to the variation of coating resistance, hence may qualitatively reflect the coating with artificial defect degradation. This approach contains no error in calculation and the special phase angle parameters could be extracted easily from the EIS measured data. These phase angle parameters may be used as quick measurements to evaluate coating with artificial defect performance.


This study aimed to investigate whether career competencies could enhance an employee's subjective career success in terms of perceived employability and work–home balance via job crafting behaviors. Based on Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) Theory, we examined a potential motivational process in which career competencies, as a personal resource, would enhance career success through expansive job crafting. The results showed that job crafting mediated the positive relationship between career competencies and both internal and external perceived employability. In addition, job crafting mediated the positive relationship between career competencies and work–home enrichment. We expected a negative association between job crafting and work–home interference, yet our results indicated that career competencies are indirectly and positively related to work–home interference via job crafting. With our findings, we add to JD-R Theory by (1) showing that career competencies may be considered a personal resource, (2) empirically examining the role of job crafting in motivational processes, and (3) showing that enhanced subjective career success can be an outcome of motivational processes. Organisations may use these findings to implement developmental HR practices aimed at increasing career competencies and job crafting.


The purpose of this paper is to identify those broad behaviors and mental ideas that commonly underpin poor people's money management practices. A metaphorical image is associated with each of these behaviors and mental ideas in order to make them come to life more strongly. The aspiration is to depict them in a way that poor people themselves could understand and relate to.


Author(s): Liu, Siyuan John | Advisor(s): Lim, Daniel A | Abstract: The human genome produces tens of thousands of long non-coding RNA (lncRNAs), transcripts larger than 200 nt that do not make proteins. Select lncRNAs are established regulators of gene expression in developmental processes and in the etiology of diseases. However, the functions of the vast majority of lncRNAs are unknown. Here we utilize high throughput descriptive and functional genomics to characterize and understand the roles of lncRNAs in development of the human brain and in cancer biology. Starting with deep RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) of developing brain tissues, we comprehensively annotated lncRNA transcript structures in the cerebral cortex, revealing thousands of novel lncRNAs, many of which were antisense or non-polyadenylated. We then applied single cell RNA-seq to quantitatively measure the transcriptomes of individual cells, revealing cell type-specific expression of lncRNAs and surprisingly high abundance of certain lncRNAs (e.g. DLX6-AS1) that appear to be low abundance at the population level, due to cellular heterogeneity in the brain. Combination of single cell RNA-seq and exome-seq were then applied to not only measure RNA expression heterogeneity, but also to map the mutational phylogenies of glioblastoma tumors, revealing a novel deletion in PDGFRA that confers survival advantage. We then developed a CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) platform to systematically repress 16,401 lncRNA loci across seven cancer and non-cancer cell lines, identifying 499 lncRNAs necessary for robust growth and proliferation. The functions of these lncRNAs were exquisitely cell type-specific and correlated with complex transcriptional networks and chromatin architecture. Finally, we applied CRISPRi screening of lncRNAs in combination with ionizing radiation therapy and identified over 200 lncRNAs whose knockdown sensitizes glioblastoma cells to radiation induced cell death. As much as these efforts advance our knowledge of lncRNA biology in development and in disease, they also raise exciting new questions for future inquiry.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
We sought to describe the process of integrating resident self-assessments into milestone assessments at the University of Texas Medical Branch Family Medicine Residency Program in Galveston, Texas. We compared resident self-assessments across milestones to Clinical Competency Committee (CCC) assessments across terms (fall versus spring) and by postgraduate year (PGY).

METHODS
In fall 2020, the milestone assessment process was updated to include a resident milestone self-assessment, which was used as the starting point for CCC assessment. We calculated mean and standard deviation of average milestone scores for both self-assessment and CCC for each PGY. We used repeated measure analysis of variance to examine within- and between-subject effects.

RESULTS
Self-assessment and CCC assessments were completed for 30 postgraduate trainees for spring 2020 and fall 2021 terms, for a total of 60 self- and 60 CCC assessments. CCC score was similar to self-assessment. There were larger variations in the resident self-assessment scores than CCC scores. Self-assessment scores increased by PGY, but were not different between fall and spring terms. We found a significant three-way interaction of assessors, terms, and PGYs.

CONCLUSIONS
Resident milestone self-assessment enables residents to participate in the assessment process, and when differences exist between self- and CCC assessments, specific feedback can be given based on individual milestone skills. Our study showed progression between PGY regardless of the assessor, but only CCC assessment showed significant differences between terms.


The acoustic emission signals of rolling bearing with different type of defects are de-noised and illustrated by the continuous wavelet transform and scalogram. Morlet wavelet function is selected and the wavelet parameters are optimized based on the principle of minimal wavelet entropy. The soft-threshold de-noising is used to filter the wavelet transform coefficients. The de-noised signals obtained by reconstructing the wavelet coefficients show the obvious impulsive features. Based on the optimized waveform parameters, the wavelet scalogram is used to analyze the real AE signal from the defective rolling bearing in experimental test rig. The results indicate that the proposed method is useful and efficient for signal purification and features extraction.


Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-based wireless transmission technologies such as WiMAX are now widely deployed, and the frame check sequence (FCS) scheme is used to enhance the reliability of OFDM-based systems. As the padding overhead cannot be completely avoided in such systems when variable-length medium access control (MAC) frames are encapsulated, the authors propose a novel cyclic redundancy check (CRC)-based error-correction scheme that utilises the frame padding overhead to carry as much extra segmented FCS information as possible. In a multi-hop relay environment, a mobile station might receive a multicast frame more than once, so the error bit correction scheme could be triggered in the first transmission. In the IEEE's work, the original CRC scheme is optional and only has limited error-detection capability in upper MAC layer. FCS requires a few bits in a frame, but in our work, CRC is compulsory and all sub-FCSs are carried by padding space without using any extra bit. For the best error-correction capability, all transmissions must be padded as many sub-FCSs are possible in cross layer. The proposed approach achieves a significant performance improvement over the legacy FCS scheme in terms of error detection and correction of multicast frames in a transparent mode multi-hop relay network, and it is redundancy-free as well as energy efficient. The authors assess the performance improvement via both mathematical analysis and simulations. The results show that the mobile stations get significant improvement of goodput and utilisation in an error-prone WiMAX multi-hop relay network.


A nonintrusive auxonometric system, based on the DARWIN image processor (Telewski et al. 1983 Plant Physiol 72: 177-181), is described and demonstrated in the analysis of gravitropism and thigmomorphogenesis in corn seedlings (Zea mays). Using this system, growth and bending of regularly shaped plants or organs can be quickly and accurately measured without, in any way, interfering with the plant. Furthermore, the growth and bending curves are automatically plotted. Thigmomorphogenesis in the aerial part of corn seedlings involves growth promotion at a low force load and growth retardation at higher force loads. The time courses of the two kinds of response are somewhat different, with retardation occurring immediately after mechanical perturbation and growth promotion taking somewhat longer to begin. Gravitropic experiments show that when dark-grown corn seedlings are placed on their side in the light, the resulting curvature is due to two consecutive morphological mechanisms. In the first instance, lasting for about 15 minutes, the elongation of the bottom edge of the plant accelerates, while the elongation of the top edge remains constant. After that, for the next 1.75 hours, the elongation of the top edge decelerates and stops while that of the bottom edge remains constant at the increased rate for most of the period. The measurements taken from both experiments at relatively high resolution (0.08-0.1 millimeter) show that the growth curves are not smooth but show many small irregularities which may or may not involve micronutations.


The ability of uranium to support multiple oxidation states, achieve various coordination numbers combined with the highly reducing nature of the U(III) ion makes this metal a great candidate for small molecule activation. The challenge lies in designing the appropriate ligand that can stabilize a highly reactive uranium center while simultaneously promoting activation and functionalization of small molecules in a controlled manner. Presented herein are the syntheses of two new ligand systems for uranium coordination chemistry. The effects of different ligand environments on the reactivity of trivalent uranium complexes toward small molecules are investigated. The U(III) complexes containing triazacylononane tris- aryloxide ligands [((R/ArO)₃/tacn)U] (R = t-Bu, Ad) were found to stabilize charge-separated species with radical anionic ligands. Isolation of uranium ketyl radical complex, [((t-Bu/ArO₃/tacn)UIV(OC*t-Bu/Ph₂)], was achieved through a one-electron reduction of di-tert-butyl benzophenone with [((t-Bu/ArO₃/tacn)U]. One-electron reduction of diphenyldiazomethane by [((Ad/ArO)₃/tacn)U] generated a highly reactive charge-separated intermediate species [(([((Ad/ArO)₃/tacn)U([Eta]²-NNCPh₂)]⁺+С that underwent C--H activation, N-insertion, and H₂ elimination to yield the uranium indazole complex [((Ad/ArO)₃/ tacn)U([Eta]²-3-phen(Ind))]. A comparatively bulkier diamantyl functionalized ligand system was developed and the reactivity of the corresponding U(III) precursor complex was investigated. The molecular structures obtained for [((Dia/ArO₃/tacn)U(Cl)] and [((Dia/ArO₃/ tacn)U(NTMS)] revealed a much deeper coordination cavity than in those of corresponding uranium complexes supported by the tert-butyl and adamantyl ligand systems. The deeper hydrophobic pocket is potentially advantageous for activation and functionalization of alkanes. A highly reactive trivalent uranium complex was also prepared supported by a more flexible single N-anchored ligand, [((Ad/ArO)₃/N)U]. This U(III) complex is reactive towards a wide range of substrates. For instance, reductive cleavage of CO₂ was observed to form bridging carbonate complex [{((Ad/ArO)₃/N)U}₂/[Mu]-[Eta]¹:[Kappa]²/-CO₃)]. A rare transformation involving reductive coupling of CS₂ was achieved generating uranium thiooxalate complex [{((Ad /ArO)₃/N)U}₂/[Mu-[Kappa]²:[Kappa]²-C₂S₄)]. Activation of organic azides such as azidotrimethylsilane yielded [((Ad/ ArO)₃/N)U(N₃)] and [((Ad/ArO)₃/N)U(NTMS)]. Uranium mesitylimide complex [((Ad/ArO)₃/N)U(NMes)] can also be synthesized from activation of mesityl azide. The trivalent uranium complex [((Ad/ArO)₃/N)U] can also activate chalcogenides such as elemental sulfur and selenium to form bridging chalcogenide complexes of the type [{((Ad/ArO)₃/N)U}₂/[Mu]-E)], E = S, Se. In the presence of Na/Hg, [Na₂][{((Ad/ArO)₃/N)U}₂/[Mu]-E)₂]-type complexes, E = S, Se, Te were also obtained


Background: Neonatal Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) occurs in 40–70% of critically ill newborn infants and is independently associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Understanding the practice patterns of physicians (neonatologists and pediatricians), caring for neonates in India is important to optimize care and outcomes in neonatal AKI. Aim: The aim of this study was to identify differences in physician's perception and practice variations of diagnosis, management, and follow-up of newborn infants with AKI in India. Methods: An online survey of neonatologists and pediatricians in India caring for newborn infants with AKI. Results: Out of 800 correspondents, 257 (135 neonatologists and 122 pediatricians) completed the survey, response rate being 32.1%. Resources available to the respondents included level III NICU (59%), neonatal surgery (60%), dialysis (11%), and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO, 3%). Most respondents underestimated the risk of AKI due to various risk factors such as prematurity, asphyxia, sepsis, cardiac surgery, and medications. Less than half the respondents were aware of the AKIN or KDIGO criteria, which are the current standard criteria for defining neonatal AKI. Only half of the respondents were aware of the risk of CKD in preterm neonates and nearly half were unaware of the need to follow up with a pediatric nephrologist. Conclusions: Similar to other regions worldwide, there exists a knowledge gap in early recognition, optimal management and follow up of newborn infants with AKI amongst Indian physicians.


To effectively combat the AIDS health crisis among adolescents, future research must address three key issues: (a) the risk of disease for culturally differing adolescent populations, particularly African-American adolescents; (b) the need for empirical investigations to identify and understand the variables influencing adolescents 'adoption of HIV-preventive sexual practices; and (c) the development of more effective prevention programs to reduce adolescents' existing HIV-associated risk behaviors. This article reviews the relevance of these issues for prevention research and suggests policy recommendations. These recommendations argue for: (a) expanded funding for basic behavioral surveys to identify the prevalence of risk-taking behavior among adolescents in general, and among high-risk adolescent subgroups, for example, incarcerated and homeless adolescents; (b) encouraging more epidemiologic and ethnographic research to understand the psychosocial and cultural variables associated with high and low-risk behavior among understudied and underserved racial/ethnic populations such as African-American adolescents; and (c) urging that evaluation of HIV prevention programs include multisite trials and larger samples in ethnically and geographically diverse populations.


We analyze existing models for material transport in non-isothermal non-electrolyte liquid mixtures that utilize non-equilibrium thermodynamics. Many different sets of equations for material have been derived that, while based on the same fundamental expression of entropy production, utilize different terms of the temperature- and concentration-induced gradients in the chemical potential to express the material flux. We reason that only by establishing a system of transport equations that satisfies the following three requirements can we obtain a valid thermodynamic model of thermodiffusion based on entropy production, and understand the underlying physical mechanism: (1) Maintenance of mechanical equilibrium in a closed steady-state system, expressed by a form of the Gibbs–Duhem equation that accounts for all the relevant gradients in concentration, temperature, and pressure and respective thermodynamic forces; (2) thermodiffusion (thermophoresis) is zero in pure unbounded liquids (i.e., in the absence of wall effects); (3) invariance in the derived concentrations of components in a mixture, regardless of which concentration or material flux is considered to be the dependent versus independent variable in an overdetermined system of material transport equations. The analysis shows that thermodiffusion in liquids is based on the entropic mechanism.


In the eye of educators, Java looks like a very promising tool. This paper discusses how we can use Java in introductory computer science courses. We first present and analyze how Java fits in our requirements in this context. Then, we present our strategy, based on using functional then object programming.


In 2015 the PHENIX collaboration at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider recorded $p$$+$$p$, $p$$+$Al, and $p$$+$Au collision data at center of mass energies of $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV with the proton beam(s) transversely polarized. At very forward rapidities $\eta>6.8$ relative to the polarized proton beam, neutrons were detected either inclusively or in (anti)correlation with detector activity related to hard collisions. The resulting single spin asymmetries, that were previously reported, have now been extracted as a function of the transverse momentum of the neutron as well as its longitudinal momentum fraction $x_F$. The explicit kinematic dependence, combined with the correlation information allows for a closer look at the interplay of different mechanisms suggested to describe these asymmetries, such as hadronic interactions or electromagnetic interactions in ultra-peripheral collisions, UPC. Events that are correlated with a hard collision indeed display a mostly negative asymmetry that increases in magnitude as a function of transverse momentum with only little dependence on $x_F$. In contrast, events that are not likely to have emerged from a hard collision display positive asymmetries for the nuclear collisions with a kinematic dependence that resembles that of a UPC based model. Because the UPC interaction depends strongly on the charge of the nucleus, those effects are very small for $p$$+$$p$ collisions, moderate for $p$$+$Al collisions, and large for $p$$+$Au collisions.


Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) has been associated with notable improvements in health-related quality of life of patients with end-stage knee arthritis. Although most patients experience substantial symptomatic relief after TKA, up to 19% of patients are unsatisfied with their outcome. With the dramatic, projected increase in the number of TKAs performed annually, it is crucial to appreciate the various modes of failure associated with this procedure. A comprehensive understanding of the symptomatology and thorough clinical examination aid in identifying the etiology of ongoing knee pain. Ancillary testing including conventional laboratory analyses, imaging studies, and diagnostic injections supplement a thorough history and physical examination. In addition, novel laboratory markers, RNA/DNA-based tests, and novel imaging modalities are emerging as beneficial tools in evaluating patients with a painful TKA. A well-structured, algorithmic approach in the management of these patients is essential in correctly diagnosing the patient and optimizing clinical outcomes.


Glottalization is often associated with low pitch in intonation languages, but evidence from many languages indicates that this is not an obligatory association. We asked speakers of German, English and Swedish to compare glottalized stimuli with several pitch contour alternatives in an AXB listening test. Although the low F0 in the glottalized stimuli tended to be perceived as most similar to falling pitch contours, this was not always the case, indicating that pitch perception in glottalization cannot be predicted by F0 alone. We also found evidence for cross-linguistic differences in the degree of flexibility of pitch judgments in glottalized stretches of speech.


We carried out a study to compare the performance, in terms of sensitivity and specificity, of the new SD BIOLINE® HAT rapid diagnostic test (RDT) with the card agglutination test for trypanosomiasis (CATT) for diagnosis of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Participants were enrolled actively by four mobile teams, and passively at four health facilities in three provinces. Consenting participants were tested concurrently with the RDT and CATT on whole blood. Those found positive by either test were tested with CATT on serial dilutions of plasma, and with a parasitological composite reference standard (CRS). Cases were only the individuals found positive by the CRS, while controls were negative by both CATT and RDT, as well as those that were positive by CATT or RDT, but were negative by the CRS, and had no history of HAT. Over five months, 131 cases and 13,527 controls were enrolled. The sensitivity of the RDT was 92.0% (95% confidence interval (CI) = 86.1–95.5), which was significantly higher than CATT (sensitivity 69.1%; 95% CI = 60.7–76.4). The sensitivity of CATT on plasma at a dilution of 1:8 was 59.0% (95% CI = 50.2–67.2). The specificity of the RDT was 97.1% (95% CIs = 96.8–97.4) while that of CATT was 98.0% (95% CIs = 97.8, 98.2) and specificities of algorithms involving CATT at 1:8 dilution were 99.6% (95% CI = 99.5–99.7). Reproducibility of results was excellent. We concluded that an algorithm in which the SD BIOLINE® HAT RDT is used for screening is optimal for case detection in both passive and active screening settings. However, the lower specificity of the RDT compared to that of CATT would result in a larger number of false positive individuals undergoing confirmatory testing.


Background: In present scenario Acrylamide (A) concen tration in starchy food processed at high temperatures have become very serious health problems. It is also used in industries and research chemical and potent toxic to experimental animals as well as humans. The present study was carried out to investigate protective effects of Kaempferol (KPF) against A-induced toxicity in rats. KPF is a natural flavonol, found in tea, strawberries, broccoli, cabbage, beans, grapes, tomato and plant products used in traditional medicine such as ginkgo biloba, Moringa oleifera and propolis. Methods: A (38.27 mg/kg, p.o.) was administered to female Wistar rats for 10 consecutive days followed by therapy of KPF for 3 days at different doses (5, 10, 20, 40 mg/kg, p.o.). Results: Activities of transaminases (aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase), urea, creatinine and lipid profile were significantly rise whereas decline in haemoglobin after A administration. A significant elevation of LPO were observed with concomitant depleted activities of SOD, CAT and GSH in toxicant treated group. Significant reduction was found in the activity of AChE in brain. Therapy of KPF showed its protective effect on biochemical and histopathological observation at all the doses in a dose dependent manner. Conclusion: The protective effect of KPF was observed against A-induced toxicity.


Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) inverse planning using total-variation (TV) regularization has been proposed to reduce the complexity of fluence maps and facilitate dose delivery. Conventionally, the optimization problem with L-1 norm is solved with quadratic programming (QP), which is time consuming and memory expensive due to the second-order Newton update. This study proposes to use a new algorithm, template for first-order conic solver (TFOCS), for fast and memory-efficient optimization in IMRT inverse planning. The TFOCS utilizes dual-variable updates and first-order approaches for TV minimization without the need to compute and store the enlarged Hessian matrix required for Newton update in the QP technique. To evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method, two clinical cases were used for IMRT inverse planning: a head and neck case and a prostate case. For comparison, the conventional QP-based method for the TV form was adopted to solve the fluence map optimization problem in the above two cases. The convergence criteria and algorithm parameters were selected to achieve similar dose conformity for a fair comparison between the two methods. Compared with conventional QP-based approach, the proposed TFOCS-based method shows a remarkable improvement in computational efficiency for fluence map optimization, while maintaining the conformal dose distribution. Compared with QP-based algorithms, the computational speed using TFOCS for fluence optimization is increased by a factor of 4 to 6, and at the same time the memory requirement is reduced by a factor of 3 to 4. Therefore, TFOCS provides an effective, fast and memory-efficient method for IMRT inverse planning. The unique features of the approach should be particularly important in inverse planning involving a large number of beams, such as in VMAT and dense angularly sampled and sparse intensity modulated radiation therapy (DASSIM-RT).


: Organisations often focus on only one single aspect of knowledge management (KM). Due to the lack of a generic perspective and a systematic approach, such KM projects are likely to fail. This paper proposes a KM Assessment which is oriented on organisational processes. It measures the necessity of KM activities within a knowledge-intensive organisation. A detailed situation analysis enables to systematically deduce a specific KM approach for the organisation. The KM Assessment is based on a five-level-model of KM (culture, strategy, knowledge, data, processes), which indicates the five major operating fields of a successful KM, and four scopes of intervention (individual, team, organisation, organisational environment). In a first step, knowledge-intensive processes are identified. For the selected processes, major requirements of process-related stakeholders and key drivers for an effective KM are evaluated. In a next step, the knowledge base for the specific process is analysed using the scopes of intervention and first measures are identified. Based on the KM model it is analysed whether KM activities are already set or have to be evolved. Measures are deduced and implemented into the organisation. Universities are knowledge-intensive organisations; however, management systems are mostly not implemented. A case study realised within an Austrian University shows the benefit of the proposed KM Assessment in identification and implementation of KM measures for a specific research process. The here proposed assessment method is able to be conducted in research institutions as well as in industry. Depending on the desired depth of content, the assessment can be applied within some workshops or over a longer period.


The research aims to explore and analyze the main elements of agricultural policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina with a particular focus on one of the two entities: Republika Srpska. A particular attention has been given to the institutional capacity to identify adequate instruments and mechanisms. The paper is based on the use of different methodological tools including the agrarian system analysis; the examination of official documents and reports; a field survey; a number of interviews with policy makers and key informants.


In this study, I would like to discuss my experiences with flipping undergraduate marketing classroom at various levels (introductory Vs. advanced courses). I have been experimenting flipping a classroom since Fall 2014 and the approach has gone through a few revisions. The study is intended to summarize my findings and make an attempt to develop a set of best practices that tend to work with undergraduates. The first part of the paper will discuss the initial iterations of classroom flipping. The second part identifies some of the issues (as seen by the instructor) that were limiting the class from deriving full benefits of flipping. The third part discusses the list of changes that were made to the flip technique (partly influenced by the ABSEL Workshop in 2016). The final part discusses the student response to the flipping experience (segregated by course level – introductory versus advanced) and based on student feedback and instructor reflection attempts to identify some practices that might yield more positive experiences and outcomes.  Initial implementation of flip and problems associated with the flip.  1. Lectures provided online (slides, audio) – very detailed (ranging from 30-45 minutes long per topic)  2. Class time split between three things  a. Class activities (1 case, 1 game, 2 assignment discussions, 1 model development)  b. Brief Lectures (only discussed key points related to each module of the course)  c. Student led current event discussion – Each student was responsible for a marketing topic and was expected to present a current event related to their topic to the class and lead the class in a 15-20 minute meaningful discussion. Problems identified from the above approach  1. Students would depend on the brief lecture for getting course content. Very few read/listened to online lectures and/or text book  2. Much of class time (almost 60%) being spent as non-flip and in a more traditional mode.  Changes made in delivery based on the insights from the ABSEL workshop to address the problems  1. Lectures provided online (slides, audio) – very detailed (ranging from 30-45 minutes long per topic)  2. Class time was spent in the following  a. Class was divided into teams and each teams was assigned a module in marketing to prepare and reinforce 2-3 key concepts the class in one session (graded based on level of class involvement, clarity of information provided and creativity used to reinforce)  b. Student led current events discussion - Each team was responsible for a marketing topic and was expected to present 3-4 current event articles related to their topic with a common underlying theme to the class and lead the class in meaningful discussion for the entire meeting period (1 hour).  c. Class activities (1 case, 2 games, 3 assignment discussions, 1 model development)  d. Last 4 sessions of the semester were used by the instructor to do brief catch up sessions related to key topics where students expressed having less clarity, but was done after tests to ensure that they would not rely on these catch up sessions for content  Student Feedback on the approach  Mixed response – Introductory class had a more negative response compared to upper level classes. But at both levels some concerns were expressed. Student feedback is still being collected and analyzed.  Detailed findings will be presented at ABSEL meeting in March 2017.


A novel hybrid learning algorithm based on a evolutionary programming to design a growing fuzzy neural network, named self-organizing fuzzy neural network based on evolutionary programming, to implement Takagi-Sugeno (TS) type fuzzy models is proposed in this paper. Construct and parameters of the fuzzy neural network is trained by evolutionary algorithms. Simulation results demonstrate that a compact and high performance fuzzy rule base can be constructed. Comprehensive comparisons with other approach show that the proposed approach is superior over other in terms of learning efficiency and performance.


In order to produce membranes with good features, this study aimed to evaluate the influence of the method of preparation of heterogeneous anion exchange membranes (AEMs). Membranes were prepared by spread coating and casting methods. In the latter method, different solvents were used: tetrahydrofuran (THF) and dimethylformamide (DMF). Membranes with different quantities of anion exchange resin (AER), 50% and 35%, were prepared. The characterization of the AEMs was performed by means of conductivity, ion exchange capacity (IEC) and swelling. Membranes prepared by coating showed lower conductivity, possibly due to the degradation of some functional groups of the AER during processing because of high temperatures. Evaluating the solvent influence, the membrane obtained in DMF had the highest conductivity. The IEC of membranes prepared by casting method was very similar, showing that this is not a parameter influenced by solvent exchange. It was noted that coated membranes had lower IEC, reinforcing the hypothesis of losing functional groups during processing. Finally, membranes prepared using THF as solvent showed higher swelling than those using DMF because THF evaporates quickly leading to the formation of small voids where water accumulation is favored. The coated membranes had the lowest swelling since these membranes do not use solvent in their preparation. Lastly, it can be inferred that the choice of the methods and/or the solvents can modify AEMs properties. Among the methods, the most satisfactory was casting due to the possibility of functional group loss by thermal degradation during the coating process. Concerning the solvents, DMF has been demonstrated the best one for casting process since it does not provide large voids which increase the swelling


The successful establishment of trees in pastures may be related to species, seed size, and weed control treatments. This study experimentally evaluated the emergence, establishment after 2 years, and growth of individuals of 7 tree species with different seed sizes sowed under three weeding methods (no weeding, grasses clipped, and grasses removed). The experiment was carried out in a tropical abandoned pasture in Midwestern Brazil, dominated by the exotic invasive grass Urochloa brizantha. The effect of seed size on seedling emergence was significant and was more intense in the no weeding and weeding treatment plots than in grasses clipped. Furthermore, an increase in seed size resulted in an increase in the probability of establishment of tree species, although this pattern also differed among weeding treatments. The increase in seed size reflected negatively on tree growth in the absence of grasses, whereas in the presence of grasses there was an inverse relationship. The experimental results suggested that the use of seeds of different sizes for direct seeding in pastures is a possible strategy of Fabaceae tree species reintroduction in pastures within the Cerrado. Fabaceae species with seeds larger than 100 mg can establish in areas with no weeding, whereas species with seeds smaller than 50 mg can establish preferentially in areas with weeding, growing faster than larger ones. Thus, weeding strategies can determine the success of direct seeding of different species in restoration projects of tropical pastures.


Objective: To evaluate the morphology of hypodermic needle bevels after drug aspiration, and the perception of comfort caused by the change or not of needles between preparation and subcutaneous drug administration. Method: Experimental research carried out in two moments. Initially, hypodermic needles were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, and then a pilot trial was conducted with the participants, which indicated the level of comfort perceived at the time of needle bevel penetration during subcutaneous administration. Results: Forty-one adult inpatients participated in the study. Although the needles presented a slight to significant morphological alteration when evaluated by ultramicroscopy, the participants in this study were not able to report significant sensory changes during their penetration in the two techniques used. Conclusions: The standardization of fixed needle syringes, or the use of a single needle for both the preparation and the subcutaneous drug administration should be considered as strategies to reduce the production of sharp-perforating residues, to decrease the cost per procedure, and to limit the risk of contamination of critical devices. DESCRIPTORS Injections, Subcutaneous; Needles; Syringes; Evidence-Based Nursing; Patient Comfort.


Network quantization is one of network compression techniques to reduce the redundancy of deep neural networks. It reduces the number of distinct network parameter values by quantization in order to save the storage for them. In this paper, we design network quantization schemes that minimize the performance loss due to quantization given a compression ratio constraint. We analyze the quantitative relation of quantization errors to the neural network loss function and identify that the Hessian-weighted distortion measure is locally the right objective function for the optimization of network quantization. As a result, Hessian-weighted k-means clustering is proposed for clustering network parameters to quantize. When optimal variable-length binary codes, e.g., Huffman codes, are employed for further compression, we derive that the network quantization problem can be related to the entropy-constrained scalar quantization (ECSQ) problem in information theory and consequently propose two solutions of ECSQ for network quantization, i.e., uniform quantization and an iterative solution similar to Lloyd's algorithm. Finally, using the simple uniform quantization followed by Huffman coding, we show from our experiments that the compression ratios of 51.25, 22.17 and 40.65 are achievable for LeNet, 32-layer ResNet and AlexNet, respectively.


1. The particulate form of lactating bovine mammary lactose synthetase activity is shown to be more highly organized than previously reported. 2. A novel method of shattering frozen mammary tissue with effective cell disruption is described. 3. The apparent subcellular distribution of lactose synthetase was shown to reflect the method of homogenization. 4. After mild homogenization particles associated with a high content of intact lactose synthetase activity sedimented in the lysosome size range between 5x10(4) and 3x10(5)g-min. 5. Lactose synthetase was dissociated and solubilized by VirTis homogenization and ultrasonic treatment. The activities and behaviour of UDP-galactose hydrolase, succinate dehydrogenase, beta-glucuronidase and phosphodiesterase I were compared. 6. Inhibition of UDP-galactose hydrolase by UTP and alpha-lactalbumin was observed.


Although we and others have previously shown that newborn central mammalian neurons are more tolerant to anoxia than their adult counterparts, we do not know whether neonatal nerve cells accumulate free cytosolic calcium (Ca2+i) less than adults in response to O2 deprivation. In order to determine whether anoxia increases Ca2+i in adult and neonatal neurons, we monitored calcium in CA1 hippocampal neurons using the calcium-sensitive probe fluo-3 and confocal microscopy. These neurons were studied in the dissociated state in order to study their inherent response to anoxia without the influence of modulatory factors such as synaptic input and neurotransmitters. Severe anoxia caused a rapid increase in Ca2+i in adult CA1 hippocampal neurons, followed by swelling and bleb formation. In neonatal neurons, the latency of this calcium rise was about five times longer than in the adult. Removal of extracellular calcium and addition of calcium channel blockers (Co2+) greatly attenuated the increase in Ca2+i in response to anoxia but did not prevent cell swelling and injury. The addition of glutamate antagonists MK-801 and 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline- 2,3-dione did not affect the increase in Ca2+i induced by anoxia. Replacing extracellular sodium with impermeant cations (N-methyl-D- glucamine) prevented anoxia-induced nerve injury. In addition, Ca2+i levels dropped, rather than increased, during the anoxic period in the absence of sodium; Ca2+i returned toward baseline levels upon reoxygenation. Glutamate was also studied, in the presence of O2, to compare with the effects of anoxia. Adult neurons responded with similar latencies to both anoxia and glutamate (10-500 microM). Neonatal neurons, however, exhibited a more rapid increase in Ca2+i in response to glutamate than they did when exposed to anoxia. We conclude (1) that neonatal neurons increase Ca2+i more slowly than adults in response to anoxia and that this response is due to an influx of Ca2+o into the cytosol, (2) that an increase in Ca2+i is not necessary to induce nerve injury when nerve cells are deprived of O2, (3) that the removal of Nao+ prevents cell swelling and blebbing and is associated with a decrease in Ca2+i during anoxia, and finally (4) that glutamate exposure may not be a completely valid model for the direct action of anoxia on neurons.


Abstract Prevention has been a main issue of recent policy orientations in health care. This renews the interest on how different organizational designs and the definition of payment schemes to providers may affect the incentives to provide preventive health care. We focus on the externality resulting from referral decisions from primary to acute care providers. This makes our analysis complementary to most works in the literature allowing to address in a more direct way the issue of preventive health care. The analysis is performed through a series of examples combining different payment schemes at the primary care center and hospital. When hospitals are reimbursed according to costs, prevention efforts are unlikely to occur. However, under a capitation payment for the primary care center and prospective budget for the hospital, prevention efforts increase when shifting from an independent to an integrated management. Also, from a normative standpoint, optimal payment schemes are simpler under joint management.


Over the past 30 years, a growing field of scholarship has explored the relationship between education and the media. Scholars within this field have explored representations of education, schooling, teachers' work and students in print and other news media, utilizing approaches that include critical discourse analysis, news framing analysis and, more recently, corpus-assisted discourse analysis. The relationship between these representations, public understandings of education and education policy has also been explored in the research literature, with a focus on the complex interplay between media discourses and public policy around education. The emergence of social media and the engagement of both educators and members of the general public on social media around issues related to education has seen this relationship shift in the first two decades of the 21st century. This, along with the growth of computer-assisted research approaches (including corpus-assisted analysis and network analysis, for example) has brought new theoretical and methodological possibilities to bear on the field.


This paper derives arbitrage trading strategies taking into account the fact that the actions of arbitrageurs impact prices. This avoids the difficulty of having to rely on exogenous position limits to prevent infinite arbitrage profits. When arbitrageurs are financially constrained their trading strategies can be expressed as feedback functions of their capital, which in turn depends on the optimal amount traded. An important component of the trading by financially constrained arbitrageurs is done to guarantee future financial flexibility. It is this hedging component that explains why price deviations persist in spite of arbitrage. Financial constraints are also responsible for periods of excessively volatile prices and for the time variation in the correlation of price deviation across markets. The fact that the actions of regulated firms can influence the dynamics of prices on which minimum capital requirements are based raises important implications for the regulation of securities firms.


This chapter first introduces the two most popular Open Source Statistical Software (OSSS), R and Python, along with their Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and Graphical User Interface (GUI). Secondly, additional OSSS, such as JASP, PSPP, GRETL, SOFA Statistics, Octave, KNIME, and Scilab, will also be introduced in this chapter with function descriptions and modeling examples. The chapter intends to create a reference for readers to make proper selection of the Open Source Software when a statistical analysis task is in demand. The chapter describes software explicitly in words. In addition, working platform and selective numerical, descriptive, and analysis examples are provided for each software. Readers could have a direct and in-depth understanding of each software and its functional highlights.


Small-scale farmers on marginal land in the Loess Plateau of China are adapting their livelihood to new situations and changes such as varying climate, new land-use policies, changing employment opportunities and new market situations. To avoid generalising explanations with regard to land-use change, interactions between proximate causes and underlying driving forces adopted from a meta-analysis model are explored through 23 in-depth interviews. This was done through collaborative work with farmers in northern Shaanxi Province and focused on the land-use situation between 1982 and 2005. The result reveals five categories of land-use change. The interaction pattern is broken down into eight proximate causes and four underlying driving forces. The dominant underlying driving forces are economic forces with short time horizons arising partly from compensation through policies, changes in crop demand from an expanding nearby market and a need for cash because of an increasingly cash-based lifestyle. The direct proximate causes were vividly described by the farmers as tools or means by which they are adapting to more abstract and indirect factors. These factors were identified as underlying driving forces. Hence, the knowledge and ability to separate the interaction into proximate causes and underlying driving forces are crucial in policy-making.


A bacteriophage with a B-3 morphology was detected by electron microscopy in a spirochete isolated from the tick Ixodes dammini. It has a 40- to 50-nm elongated head and a tail 50 to 70 nm in length. It appears devoid of collars or kite-tail structure. The spirochete has been identified as the causative agent of Lyme disease.


Bystander rate of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is still low worldwide because of inadequate skills and knowledge. Training the public on CPR is one of the methods to increase the bystander CPR rate. This study aimed to compare the efficacy in acquiring and retaining CPR skills and knowledge among secondary school students in Klang Valley trained by school teachers and medical students. We recruited five school teachers and five medical students as trainers. They were trained in several sessions by American Heart Association (AHA)-certified instructors using the video-assisted CPR training module. The recipients were 44 secondary school students divided between the teacher's group and the medical student's group. We compared knowledge and psychomotor skills between these two groups prior, immediately after and at three months after CPR training. Students in the teacher's group showed a higher increase in knowledge comparable to the medical student's group (median score difference 3 vs 2, p>0.05) and in psychomotor skill (median score difference 5 vs. 7, p<0.05). The level of knowledge and skills decreased after 3 months but remained significantly higher than at baseline for both groups. In conclusion, teachers could provide CPR training to their students as effective and retainable as medical students. This study aims to create an opportunity to teach CPR to the public in a larger scale.


Andrographis paniculata has a long history of use in traditional medicine and andrographolide is one of its potent compounds. In this study, a rapid isolation of andrographolide (colourless, bitter and crystalline diterpene lactone) was carried out by a newly developed microwave-assisted extraction. The extraction intensity, time and amount of solvent were optimised prior to this. The conventional heating method provided a 0.4452% yield of andrographolide and microwave heating at 210 W for 40 min provided a 0.589% yield. Compared to conventional extraction procedures, the results suggested that the proposed method was an effective alternative for the extraction of andrographolide. The isolated compounds were found to be the same by UV, HPTLC and 1H-NMR studies. The isolated andrographolide was tested for in vitro antioxidant activity, and showed a potent free radical scavenging activity.


The objective was to determine the effects of ascorbic acid (AA), trichostatin A (TSA), and their combined treatment (TA) on reprogramming and development of cloned porcine embryos. Embryos treated with AA (50 and 100 mg/mL) had a higher blastocyst rate than controls (49.6% and 44.0% vs 30.7%, P < .05). Blastocyst rates of handmade cloned (HMC) embryos were nearly 60% in both the 30 and 40 nmol/L TSA treatment groups, which were higher (P < .05) than the control (29.4%). The TA treatment groups had a higher blastocyst rate compared with the AA treatment alone (58.9% vs 43.5%, P < .05). Histone acetylation was much higher in the TSA and TA treatments (primarily in 2and 4-celled embryos) but was not significantly different between AA-treated and untreated embryos. Both AA and TA treatments reduced apoptotic rates of blastocysts. In conclusion, AA supplementation improved blastocyst development in porcine HMC embryos mainly by a traditional antioxidant pathway rather than by cellular reprogramming.


The matrix converter topology is a versatile one that is capable of functioning as an ac regulator and as a cycloconverter. The topology has been used for ac-ac conversion for various applications that involve variable voltage and variable frequency. Various pulse width modulation (PWM) techniques have been implemented in the topology to reduce the harmonic distortion and obtain better power quality parameters at the output. In this paper the symmetrical multipulse modulation technique (SMM) has been implemented in the single-phase matrix converter. The ability of the converter to deliver variable voltage at a specific fundamental (source) frequency and variable voltage at variable fundamental frequency with the technique has been assessed and experimental results are presented. The SMM is a simple method that involves two key parameters - the number of equal width pulses per half cycle (M) of the supply and the duty cycle of the pulses (δ). The performance of the single-phase matrix converter is assessed for control strategies that involve a fixed value of M and variable δ; and vice-versa.


type="main"> The early twentieth century constituted the heyday of the 'breadwinner–homemaker' household, characterized by a high degree of intra-household functional specialization between paid and domestic work according to age, gender, and marital status. This article examines the links between formal workforce participation and access to resources for individualized discretionary spending in British working-class households during the late 1930s, via an analysis of household leisure expenditures. Leisure spending is particularly salient to intra-household resource allocation, as it constitutes one of the most highly prioritized areas of individualized expenditure, especially for young, single people. Using a database compiled from surviving returns to the Ministry of Labour's national 1937/8 working-class expenditure survey, we examine leisure participation rates for over 600 households, using a detailed set of commercial leisure activities together with other relevant variables. We find that the employment status of family members other than the male breadwinner was a key factor influencing their access to commercial leisure. Our analysis thus supports the view that the breadwinner–homemaker household was characterized by strong power imbalances that concentrated resources—especially for individualized expenditures—in the hands of those family members who engaged in paid labour.


Objective To determine the incidence of lymph node metastasis in women with low-risk cervical cancer stage IA2 or IB1 (<2 cm) without lymph-vascular space invasion. Methods A multicenter retrospective study was performed in patients who underwent radical or simple hysterectomy, conization, or trachelectomy plus pelvic lymphadenectomy for cervical cancer between January 2000 and June 2016. Results A total of 271 patients were included in the study. Median age and body mass index were 46 years (range, 23–77 years) and 24 kg/m2 (range, 18–48 kg/m2), respectively. Twenty-two patients had stage IA2 (8.1%), and 249 (91.9%) had stage IB1. The median tumor size was 14 mm (range, 5–20 mm). Tumor grades were 1 (n = 63 [23.2%]), 2 (n = 120 [44.3%]), 3 (n = 63 [23.2%]), and unknown (25 [9.2%]). Median depth stromal invasion was 6 mm (range, 3–20 mm). Histologic subtypes included squamous (n = 171 [63.1%]), adenocarcinoma (n = 92 [33.9%]), and adenosquamous (n = 8 [3.0%]). Overall incidence of lymph node metastasis was 2.9% (n = 8). The incidence of lymph node involvement in G1, G2, and G3 was 0% (0/63), 5% (6/120), and 3.1% (2/63), respectively. No patient with stage IA2 (regardless of grade or histology) or G1 cervical cancer less than 2 cm (stage IB1) had lymph node metastasis. Conclusions Patients with stage IA2 or IB1 (G1) with tumor size of less than 2 cm and no lymph-vascular space invasion may not need lymph node evaluation. On the other hand, 95% and 98% of patients with grade 2 or 3 tumors, respectively, could potentially undergo an unnecessary lymphadenectomy. Further studies with bigger sample size are required to confirm these results.


Author(s): Pobanz, Kelsey | Advisor(s): Luptak, Andrej | Abstract: Design of a nucleic acid library is an essential foundation for an in vitro selection. Increasing the starting diversity of a pool will increase the sampling of sequence space but other strategies must be considered to access rare secondary structures including varying random region length, modularity of the secondary structure and introducing complexity. Efforts to understand these characteristics are reviewed. In vitro evolution of peptides and proteins has been enabled by display technologies such as phage and mRNA display, but each has limitations. To bypass these, a new system that utilizes peptide-DNA conjugations was designed by employing in vitro compartmentalization, which colocalized genotype and phenotype allowing selections. This system could permit a 1014 starting diversity. To optimize DNA and RNA stability in the coupled transcription/translation reaction and the compartmentalized reaction, DNA constructs were designed to code for reporter peptides and altered to increase mRNA stability and translation yields. Pool construction was then optimized and the flanking fixed sequences as well as four bioorthogonal moieties were installed. A mock selection was optimized using an electrophoretic shift mobility assay (EMSA) leading to the same result in the positive and negative controls, which suspended the project. In vitro selection of a ssDNA pool was performed in the presence of fluorescein mono-β-D-galactopyranoside (FMG) and fluorescein di(β-D-galactopyranoside (FDG), substrates for a β-galactosidase. Twenty-one rounds of selection were performed with increasing stringency including a decrease of substrate to 2 µM, a decrease of incubation to 10s and addition of 7 M urea and incubation at 95 °C after the selection reaction. Fluorescence increases were observed when FDG and FMG were incubated with ssDNA from rounds 19 and 21 as well as with individual DNA clones from round 21. Incubation of individual clones with boronate affinity gel did not result in detectable binding, indicating that galactose had not been transferred from the substrate to the DNA clone. Reselection of the DNA pool was performed by competitively eluting bound ssDNA sequences with 0.1 M ribose but it did not result in enrichment of the DNA pool for active sequences over the six additional rounds of selection.


Vanadium complexes were studied during recent years and considered as a representative of a new class of non-platinum metal antitumor agents in combination with their low toxicity. However, a few challenges still remain in the discovery of new molecular targets for these novel metal-based drugs. The study of cell signaling pathways related to vanadium drugs, which is highly critical for identifying specific targets that play an important role in the antitumor activity of vanadium compounds, is scarce. This research deals with the alterations in intracellular signaling pathways promoted by an oxovanadium(iv) complex with the flavonoid chrysin [VO(chrysin)2EtOH]2 (VOChrys) in a human osteosarcoma cell line (MG-63). Herein we report for the first time the effect of [VO(chrysin)2EtOH]2 on the relative abundance of 224 proteins, which are involved in the most common intracellular pathways. Besides, full-length human recombinant (FAK and AKT1) kinases are produced using an in situ IVTT system and then we have evaluated the variation of relative tyrosine-phosphorylation levels caused by the [VO(chrysin)2EtOH]2 compound. The results of the differential protein expression levels reveal that several proteins such as PKB/AKT, PAK, DAPK, Cdk 4, 6 and 7, FADD, AP2, NAK, and JNK, among others, were altered. Moreover, cell signaling pathways related to the PTK2B, FAK, PKC families suggests an important role associated with the antitumor activity of [VO(chrysin)2EtOH]2 was demonstrated. Finally, the effect of this compound on in situ expressed FAK and AKT1 is validated by determining the phosphorylation level, which decreased in the former and increased in the latter.


Trends in VLSI technology scaling demand that future computing devices be narrowly focused to achieve high performance and high efficiency, yet also target the high volumes and low costs of widely applicable general purpose designs. To address these conflicting requirements, we propose a modular reconfigurable architecture called Smart Memories, targeted at computing needs in the 0.1 /spl mu/m technology generation. A Smart Memories chip is made up of many processing tiles, each containing local memory, local interconnect, and a processor core. For efficient computation under a wide class of possible applications, the memories, the wires, and the computational model can all be altered to match the applications. To show the applicability of this design, two very different machines at opposite ends of the architectural spectrum, the Imagine stream processor and the Hydra speculative multiprocessor, are mapped onto the Smart Memories computing substrate. Simulations of the mappings show that the Smart Memories architecture can successfully map these architectures with only modest performance degradation.


On the basis of orthogonal test analysis of variance, BP neural network is used to forecast quantitatively the stamping spring-back of front panel of a car body, namely the engine hood, under the conditions of different stamping parameters. Firstly, BP neural network prediction model is established and sample training is done in Matlab. Then, the spring-back prediction using BP neural network and the result of spring-back simulation using Dynaform is compared to verify the precision and stability of the prediction model. Lastly, modification is made to the BP neural network according to practical stamping parameters and an efficient BP neural network model is established. Using this model, stamping spring-back prediction for the front panel of a car body is made. The spring-back prediction could then be used for spring-back compensation in the mould design of the front panel.


Facile catalyst separation and recycling is a challenging topic for the transition-metal mediated polymerization of water-soluble monomers. In this work, a photoinduced iridium-based water-induced phase separable catalysis for atom transfer radical polymerization (WPSC ATRP) system has been established under blue light-emitting diode (LED) irradiation, using water-soluble poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether (meth)acrylate (PEGMA and PEGA) as the model monomer, ethyl α-bromophenylacetate (EBPA) as an initiator, tris(2-phenylpyridine)iridium (fac-[Ir(ppy)3]) as a catalyst, and 1,2-dichlorobenzene/ethanol as the co-solvent. After polymerization, pure water was added in this polymerization system to induce the phase separation, and the Ir catalyst in the 1,2-dichlorobenzene phase could be easily separated in situ for recycling. Attractive features of the constructed visible-light-mediated catalyst separation and recycling ATRP system include the feasibility of visible light irradiation, high catalytic activity, good control over molecular weights and distributions, attractive "living" characteristics, efficient separation capacity, low metal residues and more catalyst reuse cycles.


Generation of random variables are needed in the simulations of many natural process. For
some random variables, different methodologies are known, specially into euclidean spaces. In this
paper a routine for dealing with random variables into a simplex space with the Aitchison geometry
is presented. The routine has been implemented for the CoDaPack, a freeware software developed
to be used for users with minimum programming skills