In today's market, competition is driving companies to force themselves to constantly improve. New challenges due to higher competition force engineering companies to reduce costs, increase their efficiency and decrease time to market. Lean Product Development, involving powerful methodologies and tools to maximize customer value and eliminate waste, is being popularised. This Master's thesis aims to analyse the possibilities of Lean Product Development in project orientated engineering companies.Semcon is a global technology company offering engineering services and product information. It strives to undertake more in-house projects and become a project delivery. A study was conducted investigating how Semcon and its division TDO can improve its in-house projects from a resource and time perspective based on Lean Product Development. Furthermore, it investigates how Lean Product Development can be introduced at Semcon and during what restrictions. To achieve a deeper understanding of the methodologies and its possibilities at Semcon, benchmarking was conducted at Autoliv, Saab EDS and Scania, companies that successfully have initiated Lean transformation in their PD processes.The study reaches the conclusion that by working with continuous improvement, great potential exists for Semcon to improve its organisation. No systematic approach for utilising new ideas exists today and improvements need to be better spread and standardised in the company. Benchmarking companies have shown remarkable results working with this methodology and by introducing it at Semcon, it should provide great possibilities. Furthermore, the study shows that TDO's ambition is to add much value in the earlier phases of product development. According to TDO's management as well as research within the field, these phases are where most costumer value is created. By working with even more front-loaded product development, utilising a broader design space, TDO will gain advantages such as closer customer interaction and more successful results. Set-based design is a methodology recommended for TDO to avoid long iterative loops. When investigating what limitations exist when trying to combine XLPM, Semcon's project model, and Lean Product Development, no great obstacles are observed. In XLPM, the first tollgates are to be postponed in comparison to traditional product development, to better suit front-loaded product development. The benchmarking companies are working with similar stage-gate project models, and have with satisfying results managed to combine it with Lean Product Development.The study reaches the conclusion that by creating a visual organisation, using a so-called Obeya room, the best possibilities for introducing Lean Product Development at Semcon will occur. A larger transparency between projects and more spreading of knowledge is requested by Semcon consultants, which a visual organisation provides. An action plan for an Obeya room is presented involving tools that support essential Lean methodologies that are important for TDO, such as continuous improvement, standardisations and knowledge flow. Visual tools supporting the possibilities to conduct parallel projects and handle resources more efficient are presented. TDO is recommended to initiate its Lean journey with an Obeya room.


Predation on large woody plant seeds; chestnuts, acorns and sloe kernels, was studied in deciduous forests of two size classes: small woodlots (< 1 ha) and large woods (at least 25 ha) in southern Sweden. Seeds used for the study were artificially distributed on the forest ground and seed predation measured as seed removal. Predation rate was similar in both types of woods. However, rodent density was higher in small woodlots and a correction for differences in rodent density showed that predation rate per individual rodent was higher in the large woods. This suggests that the small woodlots (including the border zone) and their adjacent fields have more rodent food per area unit. A small woodlot cannot be considered a representative sample of a large continuous forest, even if the habitats appear similar. There was a strong effect of rodent density on seed predation rate. This suggests that rodents are major seed predators in this habitat. (Less)


In this work, we introduce an open-source suite of quantum application-oriented performance benchmarks that is designed to measure the effectiveness of quantum computing hardware at executing quantum applications. These benchmarks probe a quantum computer's performance on various algorithms and small applications as the problem size is varied, by mapping out the fidelity of the results as a function of circuit width and depth using the framework of volumetric benchmarking. In addition to estimating the fidelity of results generated by quantum execution, the suite is designed to benchmark certain aspects of the execution pipeline in order to provide end users with a practical measure of both the quality of and the time to solution. Our methodology is constructed to anticipate advances in quantum computing hardware that are likely to emerge in the next five years. This benchmarking suite is designed to be readily accessible to a broad audience of users and provides benchmarks that correspond to many well-known quantum computing algorithms.


An $n$-generalized topological ($n$-GT) space is a pair $(X,\mathscr{G})$ of a nonempty set $X$ and a collection $\mathscr{G}$ of $n$ $(n\in\mathbb{N})$ distinct generalized topologies (in the sense of A. Cs\'{a}sz\'{a}r [1]) on the set $X$. In this paper, we look into $\mathscr{G}$-continuous maps, $\mathscr{G}$-open and $\mathscr{G}$-closed maps, as well as $\mathscr{G}$-homoemorphisms in terms of $n$-GT spaces and establish some of their basic properties and relationships. Moreover, these notions are also examined with respect to the component generalized topologies of the underlying spaces by defining and characterizing pairwise versions of the said types of mappings.


Abstract A landscape simulation was designed and tested in Viengkham, a mountainous district in the north of Lao PDR. This social learning process was introduced by researchers affiliated with national research institutions to improve land use planning practices and increase the ownership of local people in the planning process. Twelve members of the village land management committees participated in the role play called "PLUP Fiction," which is part of a stepwise process of participatory land use planning (PLUP). This article introduces the principles of land zoning, the sequence of events presented during the role play session, and the lessons learned from a series of experiments conducted in remote upland villages. The villagers gained an increased understanding of the issues at stake during a zoning process, thus demonstrating the relevance of this learning simulation tool. They were able to explore different zoning options, assess their respective advantages and constraints, and gradually improve their understanding of the consequences of land zoning on the environmental and economic values of the resulting landscape. The villagers also felt empowered by their newly acquired knowledge and well disposed toward negotiations to improve their current land use through more realistic plans. Long-term environmental concerns (ie biodiversity and carbon values) were fully integrated with shorter-term economic considerations in the collective decision-making process. Furthermore, "PLUP Fiction" has become a key tool for fully involving local communities in Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) through negotiations that are taking place during a land use planning process.


Traditionally, for complicated systems such as a gas turbine power plant, maintenance cost and on-line availability are two of the most important concerns to the equipment owner. However, in the deregulated electric power market, cost and reliability are not the only concerns. The ultimate goal is to maximize plant profitability, and this requires the evaluation of many different factors including system performance, the aging and reliability of equipment, maintenance practices, and market dynamics accounting for the price and availability of fuel as well as the generation of revenues in competing markets. Thus, gas turbine power plant planning optimization is a complex problem, and comprehensive operational modeling and optimization methods are required. In this paper, a profit based power plant outage planning approach is presented that reflects the new challenges posed by deregulation. Specifically, particular attention is paid to modeling power plant aging, performance degradation, reliability deterioration, and, importantly, the energy market dynamics. A multiple time scale method is developed for coupled short term, long term generation scheduling and outage planning for this profit based outage planning approach. The procedure is implemented for a base load combined cycle power plant with single gas turbine with the results demonstrating the feasibility of the proposed approach.Copyright © 2005 by ASME


The LAS glass containing P2O5 has been prepared by conventional molten quenching method. The influence of heat treatment conditions on crystallization behavior, including phase transformation and microstructure, and thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) of Li2O–Al2O3–SiO2 (LAS) glass-ceramics were investigated. DSC, XRD, SEM and TEC were used to detect the microstructure and properties of glass-ceramics under the different heat-treatment conditions. The results show the virgilite crystalline separated firstly from the matrix glass when heat treatment temperature was 850 °C. As the heat treatment temperature increased from 850 °C to 1050 °C, virgilite and β-spodumene were identified as main crystal phases. The TEC of glass-ceramics ranges from 0.5×10-6 °C-1 to 2.8×10-6 °C-1, which is much lower than that of matrix glass.


According to results of performed examinations scoliotic spinal deformity in flight personnel has a low impact on professional health. This is proved by: oligosymptomatic course of disease - lack of complaints of pain, moderate pain, which is revealed only in case of loading tests and palpation; preservation of supporting and movement spinal function; lack of worsening of deformity during the flight service. At the same time in flight personnel suffering from scoliosis was registered a low tolerance to ergometri; robe, which point to insufficient muscle reserve of lower extremities, abdominals and dorsum. This insufficient may have an adverse effect on G-tolerance of pilots serving in maneuvering aviation. According to this fact authors came to conclusion that first-degree scoliotic deformity is of importance for expert examination of pilots of high-performance aircraft. Scoliotic deformity in pilots of other branches of aviation is of importance only in case of clinical implications (pain syndrome, restraint of movement). From there, it is not necessary to make a record in regulatory documents of flight medical board about functional-compensatory spinal deformity (first- and second degree scoliosis) in flight personnel, except flight personnel of high-performance aircraft.


Using conversation analysis as the research approach, this study explores how L2 learners utilize their task-related identities during task interactions and how those identities are used as resources for task management. Eight students in an ESL academic reading class formed two groups while they did their reading circle task for six rounds. In each round, the students took turns to be in charge of a specific role in the discussion session (i.e., discussion leader, notetaker, vocabulary definer, and contextualizer). Data was collected from all rounds and analyzed for emerging patterns. Results showed that (a) the participants used each other's assigned identities skillfully to orient the group to the institutional goal, and (b) the participants used their own existing obligations to problematize the task interactions. By providing insights on those dynamic task-related identities, this study broadens our understanding of interactions happening at the task implementation stage and suggests pedagogical implications.


This is chapter 1 of Challenging Boardroom Homogeneity: Corporate Law, Governance, and Diversity (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming in 2015). The lack of gender parity in the governance of business corporations has ignited a heated global debate, leading policymakers to wrestle with difficult questions that lie at the intersection of market activity and social identity politics. Challenging Boardroom Homogeneity draws on semi-structured interviews with corporate board directors in Norway and documentary content analysis of corporate securities filings in the United States to investigate empirically two distinct regulatory models designed to address diversity in the boardroom—quotas and disclosure. The author's study of the Norwegian quota model demonstrates the important role diversity can play in enhancing the quality of corporate governance, while also revealing the challenges diversity mandates pose. His analysis of the US regime shows how a disclosure model has led corporations to establish a vocabulary of "diversity." At the same time, the analysis highlights the downsides of affording firms too much discretion in defining that concept. This book thus deepens ongoing policy conversations and offers new insights into the role law can play in reshaping the gendered dynamics of corporate governance cultures.


In the past few decades, much progress has been made in semiparametric modeling and estimation methods for econometric analysis. This paper is concerned with inference (i.e., confidence intervals and hypothesis testing) in semiparametric models. In contrast to the conventional approach based on t-ratios, we advocate likelihood-based inference. In particular, we study two widely applied semiparametric problems, weighted average derivatives and treatment effects, and propose semiparametric empirical likelihood and jackknife empirical likelihood methods. We derive the limiting behavior of these empirical likelihood statistics and investigate their finite sample performance via Monte Carlo simulation. Furthermore, we extend the (delete-1) jackknife empirical likelihood toward the delete-d version with growing d and establish general asymptotic theory. This extension is crucial to deal with non-smooth objects, such as quantiles and quantile average derivatives or treatment effects, due to the well-known inconsistency phenomena of the jackknife under non-smoothness.


Hemophilia can be defined as a genetic disorder in which the body loses its capability to clot blood, and hence can't stop blood flow. It is an X- linked recessive disease, hence mostly seen in males, with its severity significantly reduced in females. In India, hemophilia has an occurrence of 1 per 10,000 births, which generally progresses to a chronic disability or premature death in subjects left untreated or provided with suboptimal treatment, a case prevalent in India [1]. The two major types of this condition are hemophilia A or factor VIII deficiency and hemophilia B or factor IX deficiency. In addition, hemophilia C is a rare category in which inhibitory antibodies develop which show high affinity to procoagulants, thus neutralizing the effect of a coagulation factor. Inhibitors are much less common in patients with hemophilia B than in those with hemophilia A. The F8 gene present on the X chromosome is responsible for guiding the production of coagulation factor VIII, essential for forming blood clots. In hemophilia A, mutation results from two gross (140 kbp or 600 kbp) chromosomal inversions that involve introns 1 and 22, respectively. Similarly, the F9 gene present on the X chromosome mutates through several different mechanisms to give rise to hemophilia B condition. The conditions associated with hemophilia Leyden, ribosome readthrough of nonsense mutation and apparently 'silent' changes that do not alter amino acids are the major mutations studied. It has been observed that reconstitution with 1–2% of the clotting factor helps uplift the quality of life, while 5–20% reconstitution is required to ameliorate the genetic disorder. Gene-specific genome editing is preferred over random integration of expression cassettes as this helps avoid genotoxicity and achieve the required physiological levels of expression. Advances in genome engineering based on CRISPR- associated RNA- guided endonuclease Cas9 are empowering the guidance of the said endonuclease to target locations by a short RNA search string [2]. It requires a programmable sequence-specific RNA to direct it and introduce cleavage and double-stranded breaks at the target site. In case of hemophilia A, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be derived from patients with inversion genotypes with an aim to revert these chromosomal conditions to the corrected state with the assistance of CRISPR- Cas9 nucleases [3]. The endothelial cells from the corrected iPSCs can be checked for expression of F8 gene and the production of factor VIII. Likewise, in case of hemophilia B, delivery of naked Cas9-sgRNA plasmid and donor DNA, aiming to recover the mutation has shown a detectable gene correction (>1%) in F9 alleles of hepatocytes [4]. To construct the related plasmids, an AAVS1-Cas9-sgRNA plasmid is designed to cut the AAVSI locus in human. Subsequently, two donor plasmids are designed to insert GFP and F9 cDNA into the designated AAVS1 locus. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) is used in combination with this editing method to identify off-target mutations, to ensure that editing takes place at the desired site. The technique offers several benefits over the popularly used Adeno- associated viral (AAV) vectors such as precision, decreased insertional oncogenesis and control through an endogenous promoter [5]. The CRISPR/Cas9- mediated genome editing with an AAV8 vector has been put to use to provide an adjustable path to induce double-strand breaks at the target genes in hepatocytes [6]. The foremost need for CRISPR-Cas9 is the identification of targets that have undergone a mutation, which has led to the development of the said condition. Although a few targets are known, none of the target mutation has been capable to render a 5-20 percent of reconstitution that is required for the elimination of the disorder. Hence, there is a need to find novel targets for the CRISPR-Cas9 system, which in turn requires the assistance of computational tools. The aim of this study is to identify positive CRISPR-Cas9 targets which would help in better and more accurate treatment of the disorder with computational biology facilitating the research. The study provide targets which possess minimum off-target mutations, providing maximum reconstitution for hemophilia.

References
 [1] Kar, A., Phadnis, S., Dharmarajan, S., & Nakade, J. (2014). Epidemiology & social costs of haemophilia in India. The Indian journal of medical research, 140(1), 19.
 [2] Hsu, P. D., Lander, E. S., & Zhang, F. (2014). Development and applications of CRISPR-Cas9 for genome engineering. Cell, 157(6), 1262-1278.
 [3] Park, C. Y., Kim, D. H., Son, J. S., Sung, J. J., Lee, J., Bae, S., ... & Kim, J. S. (2015). Functional correction of large factor VIII gene chromosomal inversions in hemophilia A patient-derived iPSCs using CRISPR-Cas9. Cell stem cell, 17(2), 213-220.
 [4] Huai, C., Jia, C., Sun, R., Xu, P., Min, T., Wang, Q., ... & Lu, D. (2017). CRISPR/Cas9-mediated somatic and germline gene correction to restore hemostasis in hemophilia B mice. Human genetics, 136(7), 875-883.
 [5] Doshi, B. S., & Arruda, V. R. (2018). Gene therapy for hemophilia: what does the future hold?.Therapeutic advances in hematology, 9(9), 273-293.
 [6] Ohmori, T., Nagao, Y., Mizukami, H., Sakata, A., Muramatsu, S. I., Ozawa, K., ... & Sakata, Y. (2017). CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing via postnatal administration of AAV vector cures haemophilia B mice. Scientific reports, 7(1), 4159.


Today, organizational culture and customer satisfaction are running the operations of firms. The organizational culture of the firm is the way of life of the members of the organization whereas customers with high satisfaction levels, are more likely to repurchase the services and products of a firm. The ability of firms to provide satisfaction to their customers is dependent on the values, thoughts, actions and beliefs of the organization. These attributes fall under organizational culture. This suggests that there is a relationship between organizational culture and customer satisfaction. Due to the continuous financial scandals-Ponzi schemes, which are being run by fraudulent financial institutions, people are losing faith in the financial system of the world. A firms ability to retain its customers can go a long way to increase their profitability and retention of customers can be done through customer satisfaction. This study sought to find the relationship between organizational culture and customer satisfaction. A mixed methods approach was used to collect data that could be generalizable and in-depth unlike past literature that used only a quantitative analysis. Data was analyzed using Pearson's 'r' correlation coefficient and regression analysis. Results showed that three out of the four types of culture; clan, adhocracy, and hierarchy had a significant relationship with customer satisfaction levels. However, the result of the market culture was inconclusive. Qualitative results served as a complement to the results of the quantitative study, showing similar outcomes. Based on the results of this study, firms can concentrate on improving their current culture or changing it if need be in order to boost their customer satisfaction levels. Organizations can also work on receiving feedback from their customers in order to make the necessary adjustments and put in place the right structures, to increase their profitability. ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION v


Esik and Maletti introduced the notion of a proper semiring and proved that some important (classes of) semirings – Noetherian semirings, natural numbers – are proper. Properness matters as the equivalence problem for weighted automata over proper and finitely and effectively presented semirings is decidable. Milius generalised the notion of properness from a semiring to a functor. As a consequence, a semiring is proper if and only if its associated "cubic functor" is proper. Moreover, properness of a functor renders soundness and completeness proofs of axiomatizations of equivalent behaviour. In this paper we provide a method for proving properness of functors, and instantiate it to cover both the known cases and several novel ones: (1) properness of the semirings of positive rationals and positive reals, via properness of the corresponding cubic functors; and (2) properness of two functors on (positive) convex algebras. The latter functors are important for axiomatizing trace equivalence of probabilistic transition systems. Our proofs rely on results that stretch all the way back to Hilbert and Minkowski.


Objectives: Transvaginal ultrasound has greatly improved our understanding of ovarian neoplasms. Transvaginal ultrasound has had a very high negative predictive value for excluding ovarian malignancy in cases of unilocular cysts and or minimal septations. Solid components and/or mural nodules have been felt to be a more ominous sonographic finding. Cystadenofibromas are benign ovarian neoplasms that originate from the surface epithelium as well as underlying cortical connective tissue of the ovary. Sonographically they often have solid areas that appear to be papillations coming off the cyst wall (''mural nodules'') and thus are almost always surgically removed to exclude malignancy. This study was undertaken to determine if any consistent finding of cystadenofibroma could be discerned thereby increasing the negative predictive value of transvaginal ultrasound and color flow Doppler in identifying them as benign. Material and methods: Over a 6 year period 58 cases of pathologically proven cystadenofibromas were identified from our hospital's pathology database. Of these 32 had transvaginal ultrasound with color flow Doppler performed in our imaging facility. The images were analyzed for size, presence of features beyond simple cystic appearance, and presence or absence of blood flow. Results: 22 of the tumors presented as unilocular cystic structures with one or more solid mural nodules projecting from the cyst wall. None of these displayed any discernable blood flow within the solid area. Ten were multi loculated with multiple solid areas and did not follow this more typical classic appearance. Conclusion: Not all cystadenofribromas will look the same on transvaginal ultrasound and color flow Doppler. The majority(69% in our series) presented as unilocular cysts with a small solid non vascular projection from the cyst wall. This particular presentation was virtually pathognomonic and when present seemed to have reliability for benign cystadenofribroma that approached 100% in this small series. Further study is clearly necessary.


Digital Frequency Testing (DFT) is a simple and potentially effective tool that can be used efficiently in the certification audit as well as in the service of forensic investigations to rationalize the use of extended audit procedures at the substantive phase of the audit. To further the hegemony of DFT, this paper summarizes certain aspects of the excellent treatment of DFT offered by Reddy and Sebastin (2012). In the following, the paper takes up the development of a Benford Screening Window (BSW) that can be employed to create alerts as to when datasets under audit examination do not seem to conform to the DFT profile as corrected from the Benford (1938) paper. The BSW is tested vis-a-vis the log10expectation function, two accounting industry datasets downloaded from COMPUSTATTM, and the 12 years of in-kind committee contributions dataset developed by Reddy and Sebastin (2012). The paper finds a reasonable fit for these datasets for the BSW and hence suggests an overall calibration cut-off taken from the results obtained by passing the Reddy-Sebastin datasets through the BSW. In this paper, the authors have programmed an ExcelTMVBAâ driven Decision Support System (DSS) to aid in the creation of these audit alerts which is available for free as a download with no restriction on its use.


Introduction: Breast reduction is listed among the most commonly performed operations in plastic surgery. Even so, many different techniques, pedicles, scars and approaches have been defined. A retrospective study was undertaken in our clinic to evaluate the changes in techniques and approach within the last decade.
Material and Methods: For this purpose, all breast reductions surgeries performed within 2001, 2006 and 2010 were evaluated. After the demographic data was collected, a technical evaluation was done to determine the choice of pedicle, the choice of scar, and scar preference according to the pedicle in the three different time frames.
Results: A total of 40 reduction mammoplasty cases were performed during 2001, while this number was 107 for 2006, and 168 for 2010. The surgical team was similar regarding the three time frames. In 2001, the main choice in pedicle was the inferior pedicle while the Wise pattern was the preferred scar of choice. In 2006, the superomedial pedicle was also highly preferred alongside the inferior pedicle while the choice in scar was the same. In 2010, the superomedial-lateral pedicles were the dominant choice in technique while there was an increase in verticolateral scars.
Conclusions: Breast reduction surgeries are among the most versatile operations in plastic surgery. The reason behind this versatility is the different advantages and disadvantages that come with each technique. Furthermore, the more experienced the surgeon gets, the more likely they note these disadvantages and start to look for ways to overcome them. We believe that the changes in the three different time frames are reflective of this development.


AbstractThis study involved model evaluation of acute impact of dimethyl phthalate (DMP) on substrate utilization kinetics of aerobic nitrifying activated sludge biomass. A laboratory scale fill/draw reactor acclimated to peptone-meat extract mixture, supplying the biomass, was maintained throughout the study and four sets of batch experiments were conducted to determine the acute impact. After nitrification and carbon removal kinetics of the acclimated biomass were determined as a baseline to the acute inhibitory impact studies, 1 g/L DMP concentration was applied. Related experimental data were derived and simulated for model calibration to determine the necessary process kinetics. Model evaluation provided unique information on blockage of nitrification under impact of DMP, and its biological degradation by a fraction of heterotrophic biomass as carbon source at a slower rate than peptone-meat extract mixture.


The generation of naturally-sounding F0 contours in TTS enhances the intelligibility and perceived naturalness of synthetic speech. In earlier works the first author developed a linguistically motivated model of German intonation based on the quantitative Fujisaki model of the production process of F0, and an automatic procedure for extracting the parameters from the F0 contour which, however, was specific to German. As has been shown by Fujisaki and his co-workers, parametrization of F0 contours of Mandarin requires negative tone commands, as well as a more precise control of F0 associated with the syllabic tones. This paper presents an approach to the automatic parameter estimation for Mandarin, as well as first results concerning the accuracy of estimation. The paper also introduces a recently developed tool for editing Fujisaki parameters featuring resynthesis which will soon be publicly available.


The problem of scheduling interference-free transmissions with maximum throughput in a multi-hop radio network is NP-complete. The computational complexity becomes intractable as the network size increases. In this paper, the scheduling is formulated as a combinatorial optimization problem. An efficient neural network approach, namely, mean field annealing, is applied to obtain optimal transmission schedules. Numerical examples show that this method is capable of finding an interference-free schedule with (almost) optimal throughput.<<ETX>>


The harmonic signal rejection capability and the rejection schemes of polyphase downconverters are discussed. An analysis of a simple model of a polyphase downconverter shows that n -phase converter can reject up to (n-2)th harmonic signal, and that (n-1)th harmonic signal aliases into the desired signal. It means that the harmonic rejection is not exclusive ability of downconverters with large number of phases, and conventional downconverters with fewer phases have the ability. An example is a differential amplifier type downconverter (n=2), which has the ability of even harmonic signal rejection as common-mode signal. In this paper, the common-mode concept is extended to polyphase circuits. It is named "partial common mode," because it does not have to be common for all node but is common for a part of nodes. The partial common-mode rejection is effective for harmonic rejection. There is the other type of harmonic rejection techniques for polyphase downconverters, i.e., signal weighting-and-summing type. Comparison between the harmonic rejection with weighting-and-summing circuit and that with the common-mode rejection circuit is discussed, too. Due to its simple structure, a 6-phase downconverter with partial common-mode rejection is attractive for practical wideband receivers.


Aspergillus section Nigri includes some of the most important species for biotechnology and its species are of widespread occurrence. During our surveys of various food products and tropical soil we isolated several aspergilli belonging to section Nigri. In this paper, four new sclerotium and/or ochratoxin A producing species belonging to this section are proposed. In addition, based on a polyphasic approach using traditional characters, extrolites and β-tubulin sequencing, a provisional revision and synoptic key of section Nigri is proposed. Aspergillus costaricaensis was isolated from soil in Costa Rica and produces large pink to greyish brown sclerotia. Aspergillus lacticoffeatus was found on coffee beans in Venezuela and Indonesia, and is an effective producer of ochratoxin A. Aspergillus piperis was isolated from black ground pepper and produces large yellow to pink brown sclerotia. Aspergillus sclerotioniger was isolated from a green coffee bean and produces large yellow to red brown sclerotia and abundant ochratoxin A. The species A. homomorphus is validated. The ochratoxin A producing black aspergilli are revised. Fifteen species are provisionally accepted in Aspergillus section Nigri, four of these produce ochratoxin A. Ochratoxin A producing species of section Nigri occurring on grapes, raisins and in wine include A. carbonarius and to a lesser extent A. niger. Four species recovered from coffee, viz. A. carbonarius, A. niger, A. lacticoffea- tus and A. sclerotioniger, all produce ochratoxin A, but other species of Nigri also occur on this substrate, including A. japonicus and A. tubingensis. The 10 species not producing ochratoxin A are especially interesting for biotechnological exploration, as many other extrolites are produced by these species.


Back injury has predominantly been a problem which has affected a large cross-section of nursing staff involved with direct patient care. While back injury prevention has been instituted in hospitals for sometime, the percentage of nurses with back injury remains high. Within a major teaching hospital, a ward in which nurses suffered a high rate of back injuries was identified. Through an action research approach the researcher (who worked in the same area as the participants) developed and implemented an individualized back injury prevention programme. The 4 criteria by which the study was measured included, a reduction of back injuries, worth of the programme, behavioural change and cognitive knowledge acquisition. The participants who were involved in the study demonstrated that individual back education has a positive effect upon reducing the injury rate of nurses' back injuries. The study also describes the importance of maintaining good communication skills and co-operation with the people involved or whose behaviour is being changed. Social Learning Theory was the framework from which the design and implementation of teaching was derived. III


Objective: Tooth agenesis is a multifactorial condition accompanied by morphological differences. This study aimed to investigate the effects of different patterns of tooth agenesis on tooth dimensions. Methods: Records of children registered at the Department of Pedodontics and had tooth agenesis were reviewed, and those aged between 7 and 18 years of age with no systemic diseases, syndromes, or fluorosis were included in the study; the third molars were excluded. The study sample comprised 82 patients with one to six teeth missing (Group 1; hypodontia), 26 with more than six teeth missing (Group 2; oligodontia), and 31 with no missing teeth (Group 3; control). Mesiodistal widths, buccopalatal/labiolingual depths, and cervicoincisal/cervicoocclusal heights of permanent teeth were measured. Data were analyzed statistically. Results: Majority of the teeth in Group 2 were smaller than those in the other groups. Tooth agenesis was correlated with a dimensional decrease in mesiodistal width. Tooth dimensions were generally smaller in patients with tooth agenesis in both jaws (upper and lower) and regions (anterior and posterior). Conclusion: Decrease in tooth dimensions increased with the increase in the number of missing teeth. Teeth with clinically reduced dimensions or modifications during formation should receive additional attention from clinicians with regard to tooth agenesis.


The goal of this article is to critically evaluate a possibility of automatic extraction of such kind of rules which could be later used within a Data Quality Management process for validation of records newly incoming to Information System. For practical demonstration the 4FT-Miner procedure implemented in LISpMiner System was chosen. A motivation for this task is the potential simplification of projects focused on Data Quality Management. Initially, this article is going to critically evaluate a possibility of fully automated extraction with the aim to identify strengths and weaknesses of this approach in comparison to its alternative, when at least some a priori knowledge is available. As a result of practical implementation, this article provides design of recommended process which would be used as a guideline for future projects. Also the question of how to store and maintain extracted rules and how to integrate them with existing tools supporting Data Quality Management is discussed.


Tourism as a science has been recognized by the Indonesian government since 2010, but has not been touched in depth matters are applicable. Integrated city tourism development model urgent should be done for short term and long term. Developing an urban area is an attempt to raise revenue through tax of hotels, restaurants, and increase economic activities in urban areas. Integrated city tourism will realize the satisfaction of all parties. Some cities in Indonesia deserve to be developed as a tourist city when viewed from some of the components as a tourist attraction. These components are like: the town hall, the street that contains myth and meaningful, historical monuments, culinary, colleges or universities, shopping malls, traditional markets, parks, museums, exhibitions, and other attractions. To be able to packaged it as a tourist product, the necessary integration of all aspects that comprise aspects of the appeal of the city, the transportation aspect, the aspect of the main aspects and support facilities, and institutions such as the attributes of human resources, systems, and other relevant institutions. In this study, Denpasar city as a case study for the city of Denpasar as a business center for Balinese, and the center of tourist activity both domestic and foreign. To make the city of Denpasar as an attractive tourist town, in need of restructuring. The arrangement is an urgent need e.g. Community business center arrangement, the arrangement of the hotel, and the management of tourist areas. The results showed that of the 10 major tourist attractions as an indicator of the resort town of Denpasar, can be categorized as a livable city into a tourist town. Potential development of the tourist city could be seen from some of the attributes of the city assessed based popularity tourist attraction that has developed, such as the town hall, historic streets, city monuments, culinary, colleges or universities, shopping malls, traditional markets, city parks, museums town, exhibitions, and other urban areas is a resource that has the potential to be integrated into the city of Denpasar travel packages.


In the last decade, a great progress was made in developing projects of sub-critical fission systems dedicated to transmutation of nuclear waste. In contrast to a fission reactor, such a device is fed with neutrons from an outer source in order to sustain a steady-state power generation. The Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics has made the proposal of a powerful 14 MeV neutron source based on a gas dynamic trap (GDT). This neutron source is primarily thought as irradiation facility for fusion material research. So, the question raises, whether the GDT based neutron source could be a candidate to efficiently drive such a sub-critical system too. The contribution pursues this question using results of first neutron transport calculations. The calculations were made for a simplified model of an actinides burner, which has been developed for an international benchmark exercise performed under the auspices of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Important parameters of the burner are compared for two cases - when driven by a spallation or by the GDT neutron source. From this comparison some advices for further improvements of the GDT neutron source are concluded.


The isolation of aerobic marine bacteria able to degrade hydrocarbons represents a promising alternative for the decontamination of oceanic and coastal environments. In the present work, twelve water and sediment samples from the Felton coastline in the Province of Holguín were collected and screened with Bushnell-Haas medium supplemented with light crude oil or with seawater supplemented with yeast extract and crude oil as a carbon source, obtaining twenty seven and six bacterial isolates respectively that were able to grow in these media. The obtained isolates were then subjected to selection in Bushnell-Haas medium supplemented with a heavy crude oil, selecting three strains able to degrade this hydrocarbon mixture within a period of seven days. Pure cultures of these strains were further used in crude oil biodegradability assays. Total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) degradation was evaluated through SARA analysis, employing gas chromatography with an FID detector and infrared spectroscopy to analyze the aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon fractions, respectively. All three stains removed more than 60% of the TPH and one of them showed the best degradation potential with figures above 65% for the entire hydrocarbon fraction, except resins. Two of the strains were also able to decrease C17:Pr and C18:Ph ratios to less than 50% in comparison to the abiotic control. Two of these strains were phenotypically identified as Bacillus sp., and the remaining one as Alcaligenes sp. The degradation potential exhibited by these new isolates warrants further studies on their possible application to decontaminate coastal environments affected by oil spills.


A novel fiber optic structure, termed stochastic ordered hole fibers, has been developed that contains an ordered array of six hollow tubes surrounding a hollow core, combined with a nanoporous glass creating a unique fully three dimensional pore/fiber configuration. The objective of this study is to increase the functionality of these stochastic ordered hole fibers, as well as porous clad fibers, by integrating electronic device components such as conductors, and semiconductors, and optically active materials on and in the optical fiber pore structures. Conductive copper pathways were created on/in the solid core fibers using an electroless deposition technique. A chemical vapor deposition system was built in order to attempt the deposition of silicon in on the porous clad fibers. Additionally, conductive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and photoactive polymer blend poly(3hexylthiophene) and 1-(3-methoxycarbonyl)-propyl-1-phenyl-)6,6)C61 (P3HT: PCBM) were deposited on the fibers using dip coating techniques. Quantum dots of Cadmium Selenide (CdSe) with particle sizes of ranging from 210 nm were deposited in the stochastic ordered hole fibers. SEM and EDS analysis confirm that copper, polymer materials, and quantum dots were deposited in the pore structure and on the surface of the fibers. Finally, resistance measurements indicate that the electrolessly deposited copper coatings have sufficient conductivity to be used as metallic contacts or resistive heating elements.


A number of recent publications have pointed out the accelerating speed at which ecosystems and biodiversity are being lost (United Nations Development Programme/United Nations Environment Programme/The World Bank/The World Resources Institute 2000). The general view is that conservation can only be achieved in a global network of protected areas (see Pimm et al. 2001). To safeguard the most important ecosystems, Myers et al. (2000) have suggested that we primarily conserve 25 biodiversity hotspots, in particular forests, comprising 1.4% of the land surface of the Earth. The costs for the conservation of these hotspots have been estimated at US$ 500 million per year (Myers et al. 2000), while the costs of a global network of protected areas may even reach US$ 27.5 billion per year (James et al. 1999). Even though these costs may seem minor compared to, for example, the costs of global armament, governments in developing countries and environmental organizations are clearly not in the position to finance conservation. It is thus urgent to raise additional funds to safeguard biodiversity. In the following, I suggest a twofold strategy, based on tourism.


Muscular dystrophy is a devastating disease in which no treatment or cure exists. A promising therapy for muscular dystrophy is the transplantation of cells that are able to contribute to existing muscle fibers or generate new muscle fibers. While several cell populations have been shown to demonstrate this phenomenon in mouse models, the mechanism by which these cells are able to differentiate into myogenic cells is largely unknown. The goal of this research was to (i) create HSV vectors that are useful for expressing muscle development genes in developing embryos in culture (ii) design strategies to produce and characterize large and diverse HSV vector libraries of expressed genes from different cells or tissues and (iii) design methods by which this expression vector library can be screened for expressed gene functions that participate in skeletal muscle lineage determination. The outcome of these studies were intended to provide a method for exploiting the high level infectivity and growth of HSV in embryonic stem (ES) cells and germ layer derivatives, the virus ability to accommodate large DNA inserts, and the ability to create vector libraries potentially useful in selection of lineage determining genes based on complementation of virus growth. The engineering and characterization of a replication defective HSV vector that is useful for the delivery of genes to embryonic stem cells and their derivatives was described. The deletion of ICP4, ICP22 and the conversion of the immediate early genes ICP0 and ICP27 to the early gene class by promoter exchange generated a vector, JDββHE. JDββHE was found to be non-toxic to ES cells and vector infection of ES cells did not interfere with germ layers formation. This vector was engineered to be dependent on a single IE gene ICP4 for replication. Gene expression from the JDββHE HSV vector, including the expression of eGFP and the early myogenic gene Pax3, was demonstrated in infected ES cells and cells of the embryoid body in a robust and transient manner. In order to discover genes which contribute to muscle differentiation, a cDNA library was constructed within HSV viral vectors in order to be used in the identification of novel gene functions which play a role in the activation early myogenic promoters. For this purpose, the HSV genome was modified to contain BAC elements as well as the Gateway recombination system, which facilitated efficient incorporation of cDNAs into the vector genome. HSV cDNA vectors expressed gene products at the transcriptional and protein level. Functional analysis of the cDNA inserts demonstrated that the library consisted of at least 15,000 unique genes. Some of these genes have been shown to participate in biological functions related to muscle differentiation, such as Id1 and Cand2.Finally, a conditional replication strategy was developed by which the recently produced HSV cDNA library could be used to identify genes that activate early myogenic promoters. This study exploited the characteristic of the JDββHE vector in which viral replication can be restored upon introduction of the essential viral gene ICP4. By placing this essential viral gene under the control of the early myogenic promoter Pax3, viral replication was found to be dependent on activation of this cellular promoter in a Pax3-expressing rhabdomyosarcoma cell line. In a similar manner, HSV cDNA library vectors that express a Pax3 activator will be able to replicate in the presence of the conditional ICP4 construct, thereby capturing the relevant gene product by the release of viral progeny into the supernatant. The future use of this strategy to identify gene products that specifically activate an early myogenic promoter would lead to the testing of these gene products for their ability to induce downstream myogenic gene expression and differentiation. In this manner, a better understanding of early muscle differentiation might be achieved and applied to the use of stem cells in transplantation studies using muscular dystrophy models.


Twenty-two known strains of the Bacteroides fragilis group of organisms and 67 clinical specimens from a variety of sites were examined by fluorescent antibody test (IFA) using two different antisera fro the rapid detection of B fragilis group of organisms. A previously reported Barts' pooled antisera was compared with a commercially produced Fluoretec kit antisera and the findings were related to routine anaerobic culture and gas liquid chromatography for short chain fatty acids. The Barts' antisera was more sensitive (88%) but less specific (88%) than the kit (sensitivity 50%, specificity 98%). This indicates that Barts' antisera picks up more positive cultures than the kit. The predictive value of a positive test was 82% for Barts' antisera and 93% for the kit. There were higher numbers of false-negatives with the kit (13/26) than with the Barts' (3/26). The predictive value of a negative test was 92% for Barts' antisera and 75% for the kit, indicating that a negative IFA test with Barts' antisera is a reliable index of the absence of the B fragilis group of organisms from clinical specimens. The implications for the use of this test in a routine laboratory are discussed.


Low adhesion in railway vehicle wheel/rail contact can create large cost and punctuality issues for train operators and users. There is currently a lack of real time knowledge of the running conditions on networks, therefore the work reported here proposes a method of detecting dynamically the adhesion conditions underneath a rail vehicle using modest cost sensors and advanced model based monitoring of the creep forces. The estimated creep forces are then post processed to give an estimation of the current adhesion condition.


The introduction of multidentate chelating ligands and secondary small inorganic anions into a variable-valence cobalt synthesis system led to the formation of six novel mixed-valence cobalt clusters, namely, [CoII2CoIII2(mdea)2(OH)2(2,2′-bipy)2(CH3CN)4]·4ClO4·2H2O (SD/Co1), [CoII2CoIII2(dmhmp)6(CH3CN)4]·4ClO4·4CH3CN (SD/Co2), [CoIICoIII4(mdea)4(N3)4(piv)2] (SD/Co3), [CoII2CoIII2Na(mdea)2(N3)(piv)8] (SD/Co4), [CoII4CoIII2(dea)2(Hdea)4(piv)4]·2piv (SD/Co5), and [CoII2CoIII2(mdea)2(dmpea)2(OH)2(CH3CN)2(H2O)2]·4ClO4·2H2O (SD/Co6) (H2dea = diethanolamine, H2mdea = N-methyldiethanolamine, 2,2′-bipy = 2,2′-bipyridine, Hdmhmp = 3,5-dimethyl-1-(hydroxymethyl)-pyrazole, Hpiv = pivalic acid and dmpea = 1-(3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)-ethanimine). Among them, compounds SD/Co1, SD/Co2 and SD/Co6 have a similar cationic tetranuclear core motif {Co4O6} consisting of two CoIII and two CoII mixed-valence ions. Compound SD/Co3 has two similar neutral pentanuclear {Co5O8} clusters co-crystallized in one asymmetric unit that each contains four CoIII ions and one CoII ion. Compound SD/Co4 consists of a bimetallic pentanuclear calyx-like {Co4Na} skeleton including two CoIII and two CoII ions, while compound SD/Co5 has a cationic hexanuclear rod-like cluster {Co6O8} consisting of two CoIII and four CoII ions. In addition, the high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HRESI-MS) technique was introduced to detect their solution behaviors and reveal their evolutional processes. Magnetic measurements indicated that these cobalt clusters show distinct magnetic behaviors at low temperature.


In this paper, a new scheme for synchronization between two or more complex networks is proposed using scalar signals under pinning control. Unlike common synchronization schemes, where all states of the driving networks are transmitted to the response network and all the nodes in the response network are required to be controlled, here, it is suggested that only a few nodes in the response network are controlled and only a few scalar signals are required to be transmitted from the driving network to the response one. Some criteria for synchronization between two or more complex dynamical networks are given in the form of linear matrix inequality. Furthermore, how to choose the pinned nodes according to the network topology is discussed by a numerical simulation method. Some typical network configurations are simulated, and the simulation results show that the proposed synchronization scheme is effective for the synchronization between two or more complex networks.


THIS IS A report of a follow-up investigation conducted during the first six months of 1969. The subjects are patients who were extensively studied in a systematic research program on the "borderline syndrome," carried out between 1961 and 1968 at the Psychosomatic and Psychiatric Institute (P&PI) of Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center. The original research is published in the book by Grinker et al 1 titled the Borderline Syndrome . In this book we reported on four investigations: 1. Observations of the behavior of a sample of patients, hospitalized on the Michael Reese floor of the Illinois State Psychiatric Institute (ISPI), were made. The behavioral observations when clinically assessed in an ego functions framework became the basic data used to define the "borderline syndrome" and its four subcategories. 2. Individual case studies of borderline patients hospitalized at P&PI were developed to illustrate vividly the characteristics of the subcategories of the


The time reversal (TR) technique consists of transmitting in the channel a signal filtered by the time-reversed channel impulse response. To assess the performance of a TR system using impulse radio ultrawideband signals, one interesting parameter is the focusing gain defined as the ratio of the maxima in the time waveforms of the received signal with and without the time-reversal operation. We propose a heuristic approach to get an approximate analytical expression for the distribution function of this gain, as a function of the channel delay spread normalized to the pulse width and assuming a dense multipath environment. Predicted results are compared to experimental values obtained in reverberating chambers.


The abrasive ice disc chemical mechanical polishing (AID-CMP) is a potential polishing process in the semiconductor industry to realize superior surface finish and planarity for semiconductor wafers. In this paper we investigated the temperature field during GaAs wafer AID-CMP process for a better understanding of AID-CMP. The results show that the AID outer temperature is higher than the inner, and the highest temperature in AID is at the wafer/AID contact zone. The increases of Pc, v, eh and tp will generate more energy and cause more local melting during GaAs wafer AID-CMP process. The AID temperature and the area of highest temperature zone increase with increasing Pc, v, and eh. The nodes temperature increase in every conditions adopted as tp increases. The area of melted zone and thickness of melted ice increase with increasing Pc, v, eh and tp.


Lattice truss structures, which are used as a core material in sandwich panels, were widely investigated experimentally and theoretically. However, explanation of the deforming mechanism using reliable experimental results is almost rarely reported, particularly for the dynamic deforming mechanism. The present work aimed at the measurement of the deforming mode of lattice truss structures. Indeed, quasi-static and Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) tests have been performed on the tetrahedral truss cores structures made of Aluminum 3003-O. Global values such as crushing forces and displacements between the loading platens are obtained. However, in order to understand the deforming mechanism and to explain the observed impact strength enhancement observed in the experiments, images of the truss core element during the tests are recorded. A method based on the edge detection algorithm is developed and applied to these images. The deforming profiles of one beam are extracted and it allows for calculating the length of beam. It is found that these lengths diminish to a critical value (due to compression) and remain constant afterwards (because of significant bending). The comparison between quasi-static and impact tests shows that the beam were much more compressed under impact loading, which could be understood as the lateral inertia effect in dynamic bucking. Therefore, the impact strength enhancement of tetrahedral truss core sandwich panel can be explained by the delayed buckling of beam under impact (more compression reached), together with the strain hardening of base material.


Neocortical circuits are dominated by massive excitatory feedback: more than eighty percent of the synapses made by excitatory cortical neurons are onto other excitatory cortical neurons. Why is there such massive recurrent excitation in the neocortex and what is its role in cortical computation? Recent neurophysiological experiments have shown that the plasticity of recurrent neocortical synapses is governed by a temporally asymmetric Hebbian learning rule. We describe how such a rule may allow the cortex to modify recurrent synapses for prediction of input sequences. The goal is to predict the next cortical input from the recent past based on previous experience of similar input sequences. We show that a temporal difference learning rule for prediction used in conjunction with dendritic back-propagating action potentials reproduces the temporally asymmetric Hebbian plasticity observed physiologically. Biophysical simulations demonstrate that a network of cortical neurons can learn to predict moving stimuli and develop direction selective responses as a consequence of learning. The space-time response properties of model neurons are shown to be similar to those of direction selective cells in alert monkey V1.


3D shape matching is a long-standing problem in computer vision and computer graphics. While deep neural networks were shown to lead to state-of-the-art results in shape matching, existing learning-based approaches are limited in the context of multi-shape matching: (i) either they focus on matching pairs of shapes only and thus suffer from cycle-inconsistent multi-matchings, or (ii) they require an explicit template shape to address the matching of a collection of shapes. In this paper, we present a novel approach for deep multi-shape matching that ensures cycle-consistent multi-matchings while not depending on an explicit template shape. To this end, we utilise a shape-to-universe multi-matching representation that we combine with powerful functional map regularisation, so that our multi-shape matching neural network can be trained in a fully unsupervised manner. While the functional map regularisation is only considered during training time, functional maps are not computed for predicting correspondences, thereby allowing for fast inference. We demonstrate that our method achieves state-of-the-art results on several challenging benchmark datasets, and, most remarkably, that our unsupervised method even outperforms recent supervised methods.


This article uses a case study of an intimate partner violence criminal case to examine the relationship among communication privacy management, evidence acquisition and retrieval, and the use of digital evidence in criminal court. We followed the case of Krista and Alex (pseudonyms) for a period of four months from August 2017 to November 2017. Data were collected from observations in two locations: the digital forensics laboratory of the public defender who handled the case and the courtroom in which the trial took place. Findings indicate that the couple engaged in preemptive and after-the-fact privacy management strategies, which complicated the process of acquiring digital evidence and had implications for how the evidence was used at trial. The case study joins communication privacy management and legal research to show why digital evidence falls short as a "model witness" and may expose female complainants to greater privacy turbulence than male defendants.


Coagulation studies were carried out in 20 beta-thal children (five splenectomized) and 16 control children. It was found that the activities of factors II, VII, IX, and X (prothrombin complex group), V, and possibly I that are produced by hepatic parenchymal cells were uniformly depressed. Factor VIII activity was normal. There was no statistically significant difference in the prothrombin complex activity between the splenectomized and nonsplenectomized group, or those with and without parenteral vitamin K administration. The absence of "cold-activation" of factor VII in thal plasma, probably secondary to depressed activities of plasma kallikrein and HMW kininogen, further implicates liver involvement in these children.


Recommendation System is used to recommending to the user. The objective of recommender to assist users to find out items which they would be interested in. However, current ways suffering from such issues as information poorness, recommendation quality, and big error in predictions. The paper tends to take ideas of object normality from psychology and gives a unique Typicality-based Collaborative filtering recommended technique named TyCo. A defining feature of normality-based Collaborative filtering is that it finds ―neighbors‖ of users supported user typicality grouped in user teams. E-commerce market is growing rapidly in last 5 years. The ever increasing quality of online searching, Debit or MasterCard fraud and private data security area unit major issues for patrons, merchants and banks especially within the case of situation where Card Not Present. The paper gives an idea about the shopping recommendation with filtering methods and online payment gateway system using steganography.


Integrating energy-harvesting photodiodes with logic and exploiting on-die interconnect capacitance for energy storage can enable new, ultraminiaturized wireless systems. Unlike CMOS imager pixels, the proposed photodiode designs utilize p-diffusion fingers and are implemented in a conventional logic process. Also unlike specialized solar cell processes, the designs utilize the on-chip metal interconnect to form a diffraction grating above the p-diffusion fingers which also provides capacitive energy storage. To explore the tradeoffs between optical efficiency and energy storage for integrated photodiodes, an array of photovoltaics with various diffractive storage capacitors was designed in a 90-nm CMOS logic process. The diffractive effects can be exploited to increase the photodiodes' response to off-axis illumination. Transient effects from interfacing the photodiodes with switched-capacitor DC-DC converters were examined, with measurements indicating a 50% reduction in the output voltage ripple due to the diffractive storage capacitance. A quantitative comparison between 90-nm and 0.35-μm CMOS logic processes for energy-harvesting capabilities was carried out. Measurements show an increase in power generation for the newer CMOS technology, however at the cost of reduced output voltage. One potential application for the integrated photodiodes is harvesting energy for a subdermal biomedical device.


ABSTRACT Background: Wartime rape is an atrocity with long-lasting impacts not only on victims but whole societies. In this brief report, we present data on experience and witness of sexual violence during World War II (WWII) and subsequent time of occupation and on indicators of mental health in a sample of elderly Austrians. Methods: Interviews of 298 elderly Austrians from a larger epidemiological study on WWII traumatization were analyzed for the impact of experience and witness of sexual violence during the wartime committed by occupational forces. Interviews comprised a biographical/historical section and psychological measures (BSI, TLEQ, PCL–C). Participants were recruited in all nine provinces of Austria with respect to former zones of occupation (Western Allied/Soviet). Results: Twelve persons reported direct experience of sexual violence, 33 persons witnessed such atrocities. One third of the victims and 18.2% of the witnesses reported post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD full/subthreshold). Sexual violence occurred more often in the former Soviet zone. Victims and witnesses displayed higher odds of post-traumatic symptoms and symptoms of depression and phobic fear than non-victims. Furthermore, witnesses displayed higher levels of aggression compared to victims and non-witnesses. Conclusions: Our results corroborate previous findings that wartime rape has long-lasting effects over decades on current mental health and post-traumatic distress in victims and witnesses. We recommend integration of psychotraumatological knowledge on consequences of sexual violence on mental health into geriatric care and the education of dedicated personnel.


This thesis is written in cooperation with the Robbins Company to: - Document the effect of using large diameter cutters (19") compared to smaller diameters (17") - Document the effect of using 20" cutter rings on 19" cutters - Evaluate Robbins estimation methods to the NTNU-method and the recorded data. The report starts with a short introduction to cutter wear and the factors influencing on it. Before presenting acalculation of the effects the difference cutter diameters theoretical will have on advance rate and cutter life.The calculations suggest an advance rate of a 10 meter diameter TBM with 17" cutters being 77.3% of the rate of aTBM with 19" cutters. The 20" cutters will have an advance rate of 91.3 % of the 19" cutter machine. The cutter lifein hours is calculated to be 13% lower for a machine with 17" cutters than a machine with 19". The effect of using20" cutter rings is calculated to extend the cutter life in hours with 16%.The field work on the thesis is done on two 10m diameter double shield TBMs boring in India, the AMR1 projectand the Veligonda Project. Both machines are utilizing 19" with 20" cutter rings. The geological conditions arevarying for both projects. The field testing and the lab testing is done according to the NTNU model and includes net penetration tests andchip analysis. The processing and calculations are done according to the NTNU-model.The AMR1 project has had an average penetration rate of 1.62 m/h and a cutter life of 1.25 h/c, or 2.02 m/h. TheVeligonda project has an average penetration rate slightly higher 1.90 m/h. The cutter life has been significantly higher with 12.75 h/c in the first period at the project. On the second period it was a change in the geology and thecutter life was reduced to 1.90 h/c. The utilization rates for the projects have been generally low with an averagemachine utilization of around 30%. When comparing the results to comparable projects it gives the following indications: - The advance rate is significantly improved when using large cutter diameters. - The 20" cutter rings have a beneficial effect on weekly advance rates in hard and abrasive rock. - The 20" cutter rings gives a slight economic saving in hard and abrasive rock compared to 19" cutter rings. The estimation of the AMR project from NTNU and Robbins has some major differences. This has been looked at indetail and it gives an indication of a systematically overestimation in advance rate and cutter life for the Robbinsestimates. This leads to an underestimation of the cutter costs of the AMR1 project. The biggest differences in theestimates are at the AMR2 where the boring still has not started.


This study was conducted to investigate the distribution and correlation of selected trace elements (Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State and its environs. Air particulate matter was collected gravimetrically at five stations (using a high volume portable SKC air check MTXSidekickair sampler (Model: 224-52MTX). The total suspended particulate matter samples were extracted in nitric acid and hydrochloric acid mixture, followed by the quantification of the trace elements by flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometric (AAS) method (Model: AA 6600, GBC Avanta PM AAS). The estimated elemental data were then subjected to a set of Multivariate statistical analysis and evaluated for their mutual variations in the urban particles. The concentrations of trace elements ( μ gm -3 ) found in the particulate matter were in the order of Ca>Fe>Zn>Ni>Pb> Mn>Cu>Cd>Co>Cr. On the average, the correlation of the trace elements of the study area shows strong correlations between Pb-Ni, Fe-Mn, Co-Ni, Zn-Pb, with correlation coefficients of 0.767, 0.595, 0.508, and 0.791 respectively. Principal component analysis revealed that major sources of trace metals in ambient air of the study areas were mainly emissions from automobile exhaust, industrial emissions and gas flaring. Keywords: Particulate matter, trace elements, enrichment factor, toxic


During recent years the trend to tighten competitiveness has been increasing globally almost in all industries, although before then it was absent in many countries and economic sectors. This article touches upon the main issues regarding the competitiveness of enriched curd products with prebiotic substances. On the basis of a consumer survey, the calculation of advantageous indicators was performed. According to the results of the ranking of quality indicators, the following maximum values were accepted: taste and smell, form and consistency, titratable acidity, amino acid composition, and vitamin and mineral composition. A comparative analysis of consumer qualities of curd products is given. According to the results of the assessment of the quality of curd products, it can be concluded that competitive advantage belongs to a curd product enriched with cedar oil cake, lactulose syrup and whey proteins. This is followed by the curd product enriched with cedar oil cake and lactulose syrup, and then the integral indicator in the curd sample enriched with cedar oil cake. The integral indicators of curd cream and curd cheese have low values: 0.16 and 0.145, respectively. Thus, the developed curd products enriched with prebiotic substances will be in demand in the modern market of curd products.


The endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF) contributes critically to the regulation of vascular tone. Its dependency on direct signaling through myoendothelial gap junctions composed of connexins (Cx) is controversially discussed. We studied the impact of Cx40 in EDHF-type dilations in vivo and in vitro (wire and pressure myography) in small arteries (A. gracilis) using different Cx40-deficient mouse models. Acetylcholine induced prominent EDHF-type dilations (inhibition of NO synthase and cyclooxygenase) of ≈90%(maximum effect) in wild-type and Cx40-deficient vessels (Cx40−/−) in vitro under isobaric conditions. In contrast, under isometric conditions, EDHF-type relaxations were nearly abrogated in Cx40−/− (9±3%) but only slightly reduced in wild-type vessels (45±4%; P<0.05). Vessels expressing Cx45 instead of Cx40 exhibited similarly reduced relaxations (13±1%), demonstrating that Cx45 cannot replace Cx40 functionally. The necessity of Cx40 in EDHF-type dilations under isometric conditions was verified by the attenuation in vessels being specifically deficient for Cx40 in endothelial cells (Cx40fl:TIE2-Cre: 17±3%; Cx40-floxed controls: 67±6%; P<0.05). Nevertheless, EDHF-type dilations were Cx40 independent when studied isobarically. The EDHF-type dilation in vivo resembled the isobaric situation, being virtually Cx40 independent and similar powerful. Distinct EDHF mechanisms can be distinguished by their Cx40 dependency. A powerful EDHF is present in vivo and in vitro under isobaric conditions but is lacking in wire myography (isometric conditions). Herein, a less potent EDHF depends on Cx40 and may represent signaling through myoendothelial gap junctions. We suggest that distinct EDHFs (even in the same artery) explain partially the controversy on the role of myoendothelial gap junctions in EDHF signaling.


Instruction is usually designed based on the cognitive load theory. Human cognition can be portrayed as a native information processing system while handling biologically secondary information, which works similarly to the information processing during evolution by natural selection. There is a critical aspect to be taken into account assuming that human cognition does not explicitly evolve to learn topics that require domain-specific knowledge. This characteristic of human cognition strongly related to the capacity of working memory is essential for the development of a germane architecture to instructional design. Considering that the working memory applies to a biologically secondary domain-specific knowledge that requires instruction, cognitive load provides techniques for calibrating working memory load during this process. The evaluation of a learning process performance for either standard systems or virtual e-learning environments is mainly associated with working memory activities. The goal of our work is to study different approaches to assess and classify cognitive load and working memory activity along teaching activity during stressful conditions. For this purpose, Electroencephalography (EEG) signals were acquired using both high-end and wireless EEG acquisition devices. The EEG signals were acquired from users involved in memory tests and typical reasoning scenarios. Electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings offer insightful information concerning diagnosis and prognosis of human thinking and memory-related processes, aiding researchers and physicians in Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) systems development. Oscillatory activity in all frequency bands characterizes with high accuracy different memory tasks. Alpha rhythms are spontaneous waves that appear in healthy awake adults under relaxation and mental inactivity. Beta waves are specific for central and frontal locations on the scalp enhancing during mental computations. Theta and delta rhythms are typically observed during deep sleep. Under task conditions, Theta reflects the degree of difficulty and portraits the transfer of information between long-term memory and memory functions. Considered the optimal frequency of brain functioning, Gamma brainwaves are patterns related to perception and consciousness. A statistical analysis of the EEG data is performed, while a comparison between several classifiers is meant to emphasize their fitting for working memory activities identification.


In this progressive era of #MeToo and other movements which highlight the reality of women's experiences in the workplace and other settings, the question arises as to why discrimination-based civil lawsuits are not more successful for female litigants. The courts have served as an important tool in reforming discriminatory workplace cultures by directly addressing and punishing overtly discriminatory workplace behavior such as blatant pregnancy and gender discrimination or grievous acts of sexual harassment. But the same courts have not been able to function as a safe haven for women who have their careers curtailed by implicit bias-based gender discrimination brought under Title VII. Gender discrimination lawsuits brought under a theory of bias-based discrimination, more specifically bias-based gender discrimination, have not offered reliable remedies for female litigants and have not impacted workplace culture in any meaningful way.

Bias-based gender discrimination theory involves structural discrimination – facially neutral workplace policies that are applied to favor the male dominant group and consequently written and managed by a male-dominated upper hierarchy. Successful litigants in bias-based gender discrimination cases must convince the judicial decision-maker not only that the law of Title VII applies, not only that the facts at issue constitute discrimination, but also that the workplace is mired in multi-layer structural discrimination flowing from an implicit bias against female employees. In order for the federal courts to function fully as interpreters of Title VII, policing our workplaces for equity and inclusion, the judicial gatekeepers must engage their own biases and preconceptions when evaluating the subject workplace.

This article follows an earlier piece which theorized there is an additional layer of implicit bias-based discrimination which inhibits the success of plaintiffs in Title VII lawsuits. That article argued that lawsuits seeking relief under facts of implicit bias-based workplace discrimination are further inhibited by bias in the courts, specifically the implicit biases of the federal judges who monitor the progress of the plaintiff's case. This additional layer of implicit bias-based discrimination, Third Generation Discrimination, theorizes that a federal judge may be influenced by his or her own traits when evaluating gender discrimination cases which involve bias-based theories of gender discrimination.

This article is based on the authors' study of Title VII cases in federal district courts over a ten-year period. The authors studied the judicial rulings on dispositive motions in Title VII cases and compared those outcomes to demographic information for the deciding judge, including race, gender, age and political affiliation. Part II of the article summarizes the theories of Second and Third Generation Discrimination, creating a framework for the research to follow. Part III of the article describes and explains the relevant research by outlining the parameters of the sample, explaining the statistical method followed, and discussing the research results. Part IV of the article analyzes the results of the authors' research and theorizes how the authors' findings can inform future discussions of gender discrimination.


Abstract. Improving the matching reliability of low-altitude images is one of the most challenging issues in recent years, particularly for images with large viewpoint variation. In this study, an approach for low-altitude remote sensing image matching that is robust to the geometric transformation caused by viewpoint change is proposed. First, multiresolution local regions are extracted from the images and each local region is normalized to a circular area based on a transformation. Second, interest points are detected and clustered into local regions. The feature area of each interest point is determined under the constraint of the local region which the point belongs to. Then, a descriptor is computed for each interest point by using the classical scale invariant feature transform (SIFT). Finally, a feature matching strategy is proposed on the basis of feature similarity confidence to obtain reliable matches. Experimental results show that the proposed method provides significant improvements in the number of correct matches compared with other traditional methods.


H much fertilizer should you use on your lawn? Too much can result in turf burn, wasted product and money, and potential environmental concerns. Too little will result in a low-density lawn that will not be attractive or competitive against weed invasions. To insure that you apply the proper amount of fertilizer to your lawn, you must calibrate your fertilizer spreader. You should calibrate your spreader each time you use a new (different) fertilizer because not all fertilizers have the same particle size or density. The information on the fertilizer bag is a good starting point for the calibration process but remember that spreaders can differ significantly. Calibrating your spreader will take a little bit of work, but the series of fairly simple steps below will help you complete the task.


In order to clarify the role of renin-angiotensin systems on arterial wall thickening in hypertension, the effect of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, captopril, in rats with aortic coarctation was studied. Captopril was given by intragastric instillation, 3 mg/kg B, W. twice a day, since the 2nd day after the operation, and the animals were examined 4 to 6 weeks later. Blood pressures from carotid and femoral arteries were recorded directly; the heart and standardized segments of the aorta were weighted; aorta, coronary and renal arterioles were studied morphometrically; renin activity, angiotensin II and aldosterone concentrations were assayed. The results showed that captopril reduced significantly thickening of the aortic and arteriolar wall in both the hypertensive forequarters and the normotensive hindquarters. This suggests that renin-angiotensin system plays a role in the development of arterial wall thickening in hypertension.


Using lithographically defined surfaces consisting of hydrophilic patterns of nanoporous and nonporous (bulk) amorphous silica, we show that fusion of small, unilamellar lipid vesicles produces a single, contiguous, fluid bilayer phase experiencing a predetermined pattern of interfacial interactions. Although long-range lateral fluidity of the bilayer, characterized by fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, indicates a nominally single average diffusion constant, fluorescence microscopy-based measurements of temperature-dependent onset of fluidity reveals a locally enhanced fluidity for bilayer regions supported on nanoporous silica in the vicinity of the fluid-gel transition temperature. Furthermore, thermally quenching lipid bilayers composed of a binary lipid mixture below its apparent miscibility transition temperature induces qualitatively different lateral phase separation in each region of the supported bilayer: The nanoporous substrate produces large, microscopic domains (and domain-aggregates), whereas surface texture characterized by much smaller domains and devoid of any domain-aggregates appears on bulk glass-supported regions of the single-lipid bilayer. Interestingly, lateral distribution of the constituent molecules also reveals an enrichment of gel-phase lipids over nanoporous regions, presumably as a consequence of differential mobilities of constituent lipids across the topographic bulk/nanoporous boundary. Together, these results reveal that subtle local variations in constraints imposed at the bilayer interface, such as by spatial variations in roughness and substrate adhesion, can give rise to significant differences in macroscale biophysical properties of phospholipid bilayers even within a single, contiguous phase.


The aim of the present work was to gain insight into a putative anticancer effect of dietary vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) in a rat model of colon carcinogenesis. Male rats were assigned to three different dietary groups. The dietary regimens were based on a standard murine-defined diet (AIN-76A) or a stress diet containing 20% fat, reduced Ca2+ concentration, a high phosphorus-to-Ca2+ ratio, and either low or high vitamin D3 content. Colorectal cancer was induced by administration of the procarcinogen 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH). Blood Ca2+, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2 D3 ], and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D3 ] levels were measured in DMH-treated rats and in respective weight- and age-matched dietary control groups. Colonic epithelial proliferation was assessed by determining thymidine kinase (TK) activity, bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) incorporation into crypt cell DNA, and the mean labeling index along the colonic crypt continuum. Maintenance of rats on the stress diet either unmodified or supplemented with vitamin D3 in the absence of carcinogen treatment provoked a time-dependent rise in colonic TK activity and hyperproliferation of colonic epithelium. DMH treatment of rats maintained on the standard diet caused a marked increase in the proliferative indexes of colonic epithelium and in expansion of the crypt proliferative compartment. TK activity and the crypt mitotic zone were significantly augmented in the animal group fed the stress diet. Supplementary vitamin D3 abrogated the stress diet-enhanced colonic responses to the carcinogenic insult. Colon tumor multiplicity was fourfold higher in animals fed the stress diet than in animals maintained on a standard diet. The marked rise in colonic tumor multiplicity and adenocarcinoma incidence in rats fed the stress diet was obliterated by supplemental dietary vitamin D3 Cumulatively, the present results indicate that dietary vitamin D3 impedes the neoplastic process in murine large intestine and strengthen the view that inappropriate changes in dietary components and micronutrients are contributory determinants of colorectal cancer.


—In this paper, a grounding framework is proposed that combines unsupervised and supervised grounding by extending an unsupervised grounding model with a mechanism to learn from explicit human teaching. To investigate whether explicit teaching improves the sample efficiency of the original model, both models are evaluated through an interaction experiment between a human tutor and a robot in which synonymous shape, color, and action words are grounded through geometric object characteristics, color histograms, and kinematic joint features. The results show that explicit teaching improves the sample efficiency of the unsupervised baseline model.


No-reflow during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is observed most commonly during saphenous vein graft intervention, rotational atherectomy and primary PCI for acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction. The contributions of distal embolization and ischemia/reperfusion injury to the pathogenesis of no-reflow vary in these settings, as does prevention and management. Prevention of no-reflow in these high-risk groups is the best treatment strategy, employing antiplatelet agents, vasodilators and/or mechanical devices to prevent distal embolization. Once mechanical factors are excluded as a cause for reduced epicardial flow, the treatment of established no-reflow is mainly pharmacologic, since the obstruction occurs at the level of the microvasculature. Compared with patients in whom no-reflow is transient, refractory no-reflow is associated with a markedly increased risk of 30-day mortality.


The literature and artifacts associated with Haiti's history have puzzled its people for a long time. One historical symbol left open to interpretation is the Haitian flag, although its aesthetic appeal is apparent to many. Ascertaining precise meanings from the flag's design is difficult due to the lack of available information and alteration of the original design by successive political administrations. This study is an attempt to decipher the hidden significance embedded in the Haitian flag and explore various themes represented in its colorful elements. The themes that are displayed in the Haitian flag are an exemplification of symbols that carry several important messages pertaining to order, discipline, unity, self-control, strength, opportunities for commerce, economic development, stability, wisdom, and health. It embodies a bond in which the native takes pride in self-identifying with a culture rich in beauty and content. The artifact is a resourceful guide that elicits substantive lessons aiming at progress, nationalism, and governance. It is also a spatial-temporal ensign with positive connotations and an ongoing inspiration for the homeland.

 Key words: Haitian flag, flag symbolism, national symbolism.


Neurolysin (Nln) is a recently recognized endogenous mechanism functioning to preserve the brain from ischemic injury. To further understand the pathophysiological function of this peptidase in stroke and other neurologic disorders, the present study was designed to identify small molecule activators of Nln. Using a computational approach, the structure of Nln was explored, which was followed by docking and in silico screening of ∼140,000 molecules from the National Cancer Institute Developmental Therapeutics Program database. Top ranking compounds were evaluated in an Nln enzymatic assay, and two hit histidine-dipeptides were further studied in detail. The identified dipeptides enhanced the rate of synthetic substrate hydrolysis by recombinant (human and rat) and mouse brain–purified Nln in a concentration-dependent manner (micromolar A50 and Amax ≥ 300%) but had negligible effect on activity of closely related peptidases. Both dipeptides also enhanced hydrolysis of Nln endogenous substrates neurotensin, angiotensin I, and bradykinin and increased efficiency of the synthetic substrate hydrolysis (Vmax/Km ratio) in a concentration-dependent manner. The dipeptides and competitive inhibitor dynorphin A (1-13) did not affect each other's affinity for Nln, suggesting differing nature of their respective binding sites. Lastly, drug affinity responsive target stability (DARTS) and differential scanning fluorimetry (DSF) assays confirmed concentration-dependent interaction of Nln with the activator molecule. This is the first study demonstrating that Nln activity can be enhanced by small molecules, although the peptidic nature and low potency of the activators limit their application. The identified dipeptides provide a chemical scaffold to develop high-potency, drug-like molecules as research tools and potential drug leads. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT This study describes discovery of two molecules that selectively enhance activity of peptidase Nln—a newly recognized cerebroprotective mechanism in the poststroke brain. The identified molecules will serve as a chemical scaffold for development of drug-like molecules to further study Nln and may become lead structures for a new class of drugs. In addition, our conceptual and methodological framework and research findings might be used for other peptidases and enzymes, the activation of which bears therapeutic potential.


In present work the investigation of the electrochemical and chemical hydrothermal deposition processes of ZnO on silicon is presented. The influence of the electrochemical process parameters on the characteristics and morphology of the ZnO deposits is analyzed. Electrochemical deposition from non aqueous DMSO solutions on porous silicon buffer layer is also discussed. The details of the chemical hydrothermal deposition from the nitrate bath of high-quality ZnO crystals on silicon substrate are presented. It was shown that morphology and size of synthesized ZnO crystals depends on the temperature of the deposition bath. Differences between photoluminescence of electrochemically deposited ZnO thin films and hydrothermally synthesized crystals are shown. Electrochemically deposited ZnO films demonstrate defect-caused luminescence and hydrothermally grown ZnO crystals shows intensive exciton luminescence band in UV region. Hydrothermal deposition of high-quality ZnO crystals on the surface of electrochemically deposited ZnO seed layer with porous silicon buffer improves photoluminescence properties of the structure which is useful for optoelectronics applications. Possible applications of ZnO as gas sensors and photovoltaic devices are considered. Aspects of ZnO electrochemical deposition on bulk silicon and silicon-on-isolator wafers for integration purposes are discussed.


Inclusion has long been a policy issue for governments globally. Within education, the Salamanca statement (1994) has been instrumental in strengthening the drive to deliver inclusion; recognised in policy in many different parts of the world. Even so, disabled young people often experience integration in schools rather than inclusion that does not support their sense of belonging to the community. An important aspect of this is how digital technologies are used in schools given that studies of disabled children's uses of technology remain limited, particularly studies that engage with disabled children's own views in context. In response, participatory research was carried out in England taking an interdisciplinary approach combining digital education with disability theory. It explored how disabled children use digital technologies for formal learning. Research was carried out with visually impaired children, their teachers, teaching assistants and qualified teachers of visual impairment as an illustrative case. Semi-structured interviews complemented observational data collected in classrooms. It was clear that disabled children benefited when schools had adopted 1:1 tablet computer schemes in class because often disabled children were able to use the same devices as their peers thereby reducing stigma. Moreover, analysis also showed that disabled children's experiences of using digital technologies were qualitatively different depending on subject teacher approaches. Some teachers worked closely with teaching assistants in curriculum planning to ensure the seamless inclusion of disabled children. Others relied for the most part on teaching assistants in situ to provide just-in-time support or on children themselves to find workarounds to inaccessible provision. Teachers gave reasons for their different approaches in relation to the development of inclusive pedagogies using technology. This included time availability/constraints, provision/lack of guidance both in terms of using digital technologies for learning and in terms of implementing inclusive education policy; and technical issues when using technology. The paper will set out the main issues and offer short and longer term recommendations for improvement.


The incidence of prostate cancer has dramatically increased worldwide in the past decade, with mortality rates also increasing in many countries. Once prostate cancer is diagnosed, it is important to rapidly begin a treatment regimen that is either potentially curative or impedes disease progression. When the disease is confined to the prostate, it can be cured by radical prostatectomy or irradiation therapy. However, there are no curative therapies for locally advanced, recurrent, or metastatic diseases. Clearly, new therapies are needed for these patients. Gene therapy may provide additional therapeutic options with the potential to affect both localized and metastatic disease. Virus-mediated transduction of the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV-tk) gene transfer, followed by a course of the prodrug ganciclovir (GCV), so-called suicide gene therapy, has been demonstrated by several investigators. The present in situ gene therapy clinical trial for human prostate cancer demonstrated safety, clinical efficacy, and biological effects of antitumor activity. HSV-tk clinical trials for prostate cancer are also ongoing in Japan, the Netherlands, and Mexico. Currently, numerous preclinical studies have reported immunomodulatory cytokine gene therapy, such as interleukin-2, interleukin-12, B7-1 (CD80), B7-2 (CD86) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor. Several clinical studies have been approved that potentially will show that these immunomodulatory gene therapies may generate an effective local and systemic antitumor activity and that should provide options for patients with prostate cancer. We review the multiple issues involved in current in situ gene therapy (gene/immunotherapy), its outcome, and future directions for patients with prostate cancer.


Salinity is among the most serious threats for crop production, especially in regions with unreliable rainfall patterns. To sustain agricultural use of affected areas, genotypes are needed that are sufficiently resistant to salinity to offset the farmers' investment and decrease famine hazards. Detailed knowledge of the traits involved in salinity resistance is imperative to successfully breeding tolerant varieties. Molecular trait markers could facilitate this process. Phenotyping of mapping populations under saltstress conditions and computation of QTLs can detect markers closely linked to the genes responsible for salinity resistance. The winter barley mapping population W766 ('Angora'×W704/137) was subjected to saltstress at germination in climate chambers (IPK, Germany, 100 lines, 4 salt concentrations 0–2.5 % for 10 days, germination score 1–9 of 10 replications and from the vegetative stage to maturity in a field trial (Herat, Afghanistan, 100 lines, 12.04.-05.05., 2 treatments, EC = 0.8 and 3.2 mS cm−1, 3 replications). Aboveground biomass was sampled 21 days after salt application and at maturity. Dry matter, K and Na concentrations were measured at the vegetative stage and yield components were determined at maturity. QTLs were calculated using the QGENE software. Germination under saline conditions was related to QTLs on linkage groups 3H and 5H confirming earlier results for the OWB and Steptoe-Morex mapping populations. Evaluation of salt responses in yield components using principal component analysis discriminated 4 groups of genotypes within the mapping population, namely tolerant and susceptible includers and susceptible and resistant excluders. From the germination test, the five best and worst performing lines were found in the groups of tolerant includers and resistant excluders, respectively. Thus, QTLs originating from germination responses to salinity cannot reliably indicate resistance strategies realised in later developmental stages. A QTL related to sodium uptake not identified from the germination test was found on chromosome 1H in the field trial. However, one QTL responding to saltstress on chromosome 3H was found in both development stages and was related to yield and yield reduction in the later developmental stages, probably indicating a gene location related to translocation of carbohydrates. Studies are ongoing to further corroborate these findings.