This report presents findings from an examination of the scholarly uses of four prominent newspapers: The Guardian, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. This is a follow up project to earlier work quantifying the impacts of investment in humanities archives (Meyer, 2016; Meyer & Eccles, 2016, 2017) that looked at The New York Times in comparison to two digital collections: Early English Books Online and The House of Commons Parliamentary Papers.
That earlier research suggested that The New York Times when considered as a scholarly resource had a much broader influence across disciplines than the other resources we examined, with publications spread right across a standardized overlay map of scholarly publications. Updated versions of those findings are presented in this report, along with comparisons to the other newspapers we examine here.
The four newspapers in question were selected to provide a comparison between American (New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal) and United Kingdom publications (The Guardian), but also between newspapers with different target audiences. The New York Times and Guardian both appeal to a general educated readership, while the Wall Street Journal is aimed at those interested in business and finance, and the Washington Post appeals particularly to those interested in U.S. politics.


BACKGROUND
Evidence from clinical trials in the past decade has consistently shown that angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors reduce morbidity and mortality in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). The extent to which clinical practice has adopted ACE inhibitor therapy is unknown.

METHODS
The Cardiovascular Health Study is a prospective observational study of 5201 community-dwelling adults aged 65 years and older. Prevalent CHF cases were identified on study entry (from June 10, 1989, through May 31, 1990) and incident CHF cases were identified throughout 5 years of follow-up. Medication data were collected from annual medication inventories. The percentage of patients with CHF using ACE inhibitors was calculated at each annual examination. Temporal trends in CHF treatment with ACE inhibitors between June 10, 1989, through May 31, 1990, and June 1, 1994, through May 31, 1995, were analyzed.

RESULTS
Use of ACE inhibitors to treat CHF increased slightly over time among prevalent cases at each annual examination: 26% of prevalent CHF cases were treated in 1989-1990 compared with 36% of prevalent cases in 1994-1995. This 10% increase was statistically significant (P<.01). Participants with low ejection fractions were 2 times more likely to be treated with ACE inhibitors than were those with normal ejection fraction and this tendency did not change over time. Among cases newly diagnosed in the year before the 1990-1991 examination, 42% were using ACE inhibitors; among those newly diagnosed in the year before 1994-1995, 40% were using ACE inhibitors. This 2% decrease was not statistically significant (P=.68).

CONCLUSION
These findings suggest that, while the medical management of CHF with ACE inhibitors has increased modestly over time in prevalent cases, these drugs may still be underused, especially among incident cases.


An expanded data set for gases produced from the Antrim Shale, a Devonian black shale in the Michigan basin, United States, has allowed for a detailed examination of the related chemical and isotopic compositional changes in the solid-gas-liquid systems that discriminate between microbial and thermogenic gas origin. In the Antrim Shale, economic microbial gas deposits are located near the basin margins where the shale has a relatively low thermal maturity and fresh water infiltrates the permeable fracture network. The most compelling evidence for microbial generation is the correlation between deuterium in methane and coproduced water. Along the basin margins, there is also a systematic enrichment in 13C of ethane and propane with decreasing concentrations that suggests microbial oxidation of these thermogenic gas components. Microbial oxidation accounts not only for the shift in 13C values for ethane, but also, in part, for the geographic trend in gas composition as ethane and higher chain hydrocarbons are preferentially removed. This oxidation is likely an anaerobic process involving a syntrophic relationship between methanogens and sulfate-reducing bacteria.The results of this study are integrated into a predictive model for microbial gas exploration based on key geochemical indicators that are present in both gas and coproduced water. One unequivocal signature of microbial methanogenesis is the extremely positive carbon isotope values for both the dissolved inorganic carbon in the water and the coproduced CO2 gas. In contrast, the 13C value of methane is of limited use in these reservoirs as the values typically fall between the commonly accepted fields for thermogenic and microbial gas. In addition, the confounding isotopic and compositional overprint of microbial oxidation, increasing the values to typically thermogenic values, may obscure the distinction between methanogenic and thermogenic gas.


OBJECTIVE
To study cognitive disorders in patients with schizophrenia at different stages of the disease.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Forty-five patients with paranoid schizophrenia with first and recurrent episodes were examined clinically and psychometrically using the PANSS. Neurocognitive functioning was assessed with the «Rey--Osterrieth Complex figure».

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION
Differences were found not only between patients with chronic and first-episode schizophrenia, but also between first-time hospitalized and re-hospitalized patients within the first-episode group.


A search for a suitable strain to serve as the neotype for Micromonospora fusca Jensen 1932 has uncovered a number of Micromonospora strains which produce a dark-brown, agar-diffusible pigment and which are physiologically and morphologically similar to M. fusca. One of the strains resembling M. fusca is IMRU 3343 (= ATCC 27007), the type strain of Streptomyces purpureochromogenes (Waksman and Curtis 1916) Waksman and Henrici, 1948. [The strain of Streptomyces purpureochromogenus (sic) held at the Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures, Baarn, Netherlands, and S. purpureochromogenes ATCC 3343 have been identified as belonging to S. griseus, and they bear no relationship to IMRU 3343 or to the original description of Actinomyces purpeo-chromogenus (sic). Waksman and Curtis 1916.] It has been determined that the type strain (IMRU 3343) of S. purpureochromogenes is a micromonospora, and therefore this organism is transferred to the genus Micromonospora orskov as M. purpureochromogenes (Waksman and Curtis) comb. nov. Because the species M. purpureochromogenes and M. fusca are so similar, their names are here regarded as subjective synonyms. The specific epithet purpureochromogenes has priority over fusca, and the correct name of this organism is therefore M. purpureochromogenes.


Process variations in advanced CMOS process nodes limit the benefits of scaling for analog designs. In the presence of increasing random intra-die variations, mismatch becomes a significant design challenge in circuits such as comparators. In this paper we describe and demonstrate the details of a statistical element selection (SES) methodology that relies on choosing a subset of selectable circuit elements (e.g., input transistors in a comparator) to achieve the desired specification (e.g., offset). Silicon results from a 65nm test chip demonstrate that SES can achieve an order of magnitude better matching than both redundancy and Pelgrom-model sizing given the same core circuit area.


This paper introduces the emerging new variety of Korean English to what may be a relatively new audience. Shim (1999) suggested that Korean English was codified in the form of school textbooks by the end of the 1980s; now, more than 20 years later it would be reasonable to expect a number of Koreanised forms to be detectable in contemporary Korean spoken English but, to my knowledge, there has never been a corpus-driven study that explores this variety. With a theoretical backdrop based on a new theory of language, Hoey's theory of Lexical Priming (Hoey, 2005), I explore three high frequency lexical strings, 'do you know', 'but you know' and 'and you know' and their variation in two corpora of Korean English and two of British English. The results suggest that Korean speakers use certain strings as extended connectives to 'buy' extra processing time and the study raises interesting questions about the relationship between string form and meaning.


ABSTRACT This paper reviews the current state of research into viruses of microorganisms in the Baltic Sea. Field and experimental studies reveal the great phenotypic and genotypic variety of the Baltic Sea viruses and highlights the importance of phages in the Baltic Sea food-web dynamics. In total, 93 virus isolates from the Baltic Sea have been described, the genome sequence being available for 39 of these. However, these isolates were derived from only eight host species and, therefore, underrepresent the overall viral diversity in the Baltic Sea. The most studied group of viruses is bacteriophages that infect Bacteroidetes, whereas, by contrast, phages of Cyanobacteria, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria, as well as algal viruses, have been investigated to a lesser extent. No reports on viruses infecting Baltic Sea fungi and archaea isolates have been reported to date. This paper also identifies gaps in our knowledge of the aquatic virology of the Baltic Sea and emphasizes the need for more comprehensive analysis of those viruses that occur in one of the world's largest brackish water ecosystems.


The United States has had a wavering acceptance of immigrants throughout itshistory, from eager invitations to violent and immediate forced removals. Presently, immigrants from Central America are in the spotlight, who have been dehumanized into that of the "other" and subjected to harsh deportation and criminal proceedings as a result of these perceptions. This article will show that 'othering' immigrants has been a part of restrictive immigration policy since the origins of the United States, continuing to present day by the following: 1) "othering" is explained in application to undocumented immigrants in America; 2) a history of US deportation policy is discussed in order to provide a context to the deep-seated tendency of "othering" in the US; 3) recent federal U.S. policies are introduced, examining the constant presence of "othering" unauthorized immigrants, with a primary focus on the Secure Communities program; 4) the widespread phenomenon of "othering" is discussed, both in the US and internationally, as well as the current state of the "alien other" in American political discourse.


Inherent challenges accompany the rapidly increasing use of teleradiology and other telemedicine applications. These challenges include the complex interaction of multiple technologies as well as new operational procedures and changes in the way health care is delivered. This article focuses on the operational issues surrounding telemedicine, teleradiology and the transition to a digital department. The legal implications of telemedicine and government's role in regulating it are emphasized, along with telemedicine's impact on rural health care.


Pressure ulcers are a significant medical problem that greatly affects the geriatric population. We reviewed pertinent published data in the literature concerning the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers. The development of pressure ulcers is associated with well known risk factors including unrelieved pressure, skin maceration, shear forces, malnutrition and immobility. Risk factor modification is an important aspect in prevention and treatment. When a pressure ulcer develops, various specialized support surfaces and wound care products exist to accelerate wound healing. Alternative therapeutic modalities such as ultrasonic mist and wound vacuum therapy are increasingly being used with success for such ulcers. Pressure ulcers are typically the consequence of underlying medical conditions that should be treated appropriately in order for the wound to heal.


ECN and Nanoptics are developing a novel fabrication process based on nanoimprint lithography (NIL) of textures for light trapping in thin film solar cells such as thin-film silicon, OPV, CIGS and CdTe. This process is a key process in a fabrication chain of e.g. thin film silicon solar cells, which typically consists of the following steps in case of nip solar cells: 1) application of a UV lacquer which enables texturization; 2) NIL, 3) conformal sputtering of a back contact consisting of Ag or Al plus a thin layer of ZnO; 4) Si deposition with Plasma Enhanced CVD; 5) application of a top TCO by sputtering; 6) series interconnection by laser scribing and printing after deposition of the layers (reducing the total number of process steps). The process can be applied in roll-to-roll mode when using a foil substrate or in roll—to-plate mode when using a glass substrate. The UV lacquer also serves as an electrically insulating layer for cells if steel foil is used as substrate, to enable monolithic series interconnection.


Abstract A total of 56 patients were examined. It is revealed that there is a significant increase of concentration of indirect bilirubin, cholesterol, albumins in cystic bile after monotherapy with praziquantel as compared to healthy persons. It is evidence of high bile lithogenicity, defined lower result of lithogenesis resolution after ongoing therapy (29%). Inclusion of ursodeoxycholic acid into anthelmintic therapy makes it possible to reach more significant litholitical effect of ongoing therapy (70,5%).


Kazimierz Twardowski's contribution to the evolution of logicin PolandTwardowski's legacy, which has been published so far—and the detailed analysis of it—suf fices to consider him a classic of Polish semiotics. The published results of Twardowski in the field of methodology also deserve high scores. A new light on the contribution of Twardowski to the development of logic in Poland sheds the content of his unpublished legacy, including the content of his lectures on logic and unedited logical monographs. Firstly, Twardowski conducted fruitful research on many methodological problems. The result of this research was—an unknown to a wider audience—a new approach to the theory of induction and an original sketch of the perspectives of the inductive method in metaphysics, the first in our literature such a comprehensive monograph on reasoning and reconstruction of the concept of understanding. Secondly, Twardowski referred in his unpublished lectures and monographs to the important results of the nineteenth-century formal logic, thus giving their students an important impulse for individual research in this field. In this text, I focus my attention on the logical issues raised by Twardowski just in his unpublished texts.


This article proposes a multimedia content protection system in which all copies of a protected object are identically watermarked, but each user has a distinct secret detection key that differs from the secret embedding key. An attacker with access to one detection key can fool the corresponding watermark detector but not other watermark detectors. Surprisingly, analogous to a criminal action, during this attack the attacker necessarily inserts his or her fingerprint into the modified content. Even a collusion clique of relatively large size cannot entirely remove the secret marks from the protected content by colluding their detection keys. More importantly, if the clique is not large enough, traces of the detection keys of all colluders can be detected with relatively high accuracy in the attacked clip. Our proposed watermark-fingerprint system achieves a minimum collusion size K that grows linearly with the size N of the marked object. In addition, we can augment our watermark-fingerprint system with a segmentation layer. The media content is partitioned into 5 segments, in which media players as well as forensic analyzers can reliably detect a watermark or fingerprint. Only detection keys that belong to the same segment can participate in the collusion clique. With segmentation, the minimum collusion size K grows as 0(N log N). Therefore, with or without segmentation, our watermark-fingerprint system significantly improves on the best-known asymptotic resistance to (fingerprint) collusion attacks of about O(N/sup 1/4/). Because we use a new protection protocol, comparing our system to classic fingerprint systems might seem unfair. However, such a comparison is important because the two technologies share a common goal: multimedia copyright enforcement. Our aim in this article is to characterize the collusion attacks against this system under the assumption that watermark detection is robust against signal-processing attacks on the protected object.


This paper studies a Fuzzy Logic Control Based (FLCB) Shunt Active Filter (SAF) capable of reducing the total harmonics distortion (THD) in Power System (PS). SAF is one of the key controllers in Flexible Alternating Current Transmission System (FACTS) to control the transmission line voltage and can be used in PS to enhance the power transmission capacity and extend the transient stability. In order to improve the power factor, compensate the reactive power and suppress the total harmonic distortion (THD) drawn from a Non-Linear Diode Rectifier Load (NLDRL) of SAF, we propose a Hierarchical neuro-fuzzy current control scheme for a shunt active power filter for the Pulse Width Modulation technique which is used as control for the switches of the Voltage Source Inverter (VSI) or SAF. The synchronous reference D-Q frame theory is used to detect the harmonic currents and to generate the reference compensating currents for SAF. A fuzzy logic based control is developed to regulate the voltage of the DC capacitor. The system with control scheme is implemented in Mat lab/Simulink.


Peer observation of teaching (POT) is a process used to assist faculty who want to improve teaching.  However, it is unclear how to incorporate this practice with online faculty.  Additionally, barriers including time, ambiguity of review processes, and unqualified reviewers can hinder participation in POT activities.  To address these issues a POT process that incorporated recognized standards, communicated the process, trained reviewers, and limited observation times was implemented for online faculty.  Results indicated the quantity of changes made to observed courses were nearly double those of unobserved courses, and observed faculty made 29% more updates than unobserved peer counterparts.  Observed courses experienced a larger percentage of substantial changes (35%) than unobserved course (10%), and substantial changes made by observed faculty (37%) was higher than unobserved faculty (7%).  Reviewers reported that performing observations was an invaluable experience, and recommendations for future policies suggest addressing time, ambiguity, and training issues.


During the past several decades many investigators have devoted their efforts to determining whether psychosocial factors, such as stress or depression, are associated with the onset, course, or outcome of physical illness. Considerable evidence suggests that both stressful life events and depressive disorders are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. 1 A large body of research in the last few years has considered the possibility that immunologic alterations may be associated with depressive disorders and depressive symptoms accompanying stressful life events. The related immunologic alterations have been viewed as a link between depression and stress and increased risk for immune-related disease states, such as cancer, autoimmune disorders, and infections, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). However, there has been a lack of substantial evidence supporting the association between depression or stress and increased morbidity or mortality due to disorders involving the immune system. In a series of articles recently published in


ABSTRACT Recent evidence suggests that aggresome formation is a physiologic stress response not limited to misfolded proteins. That stress response, termed "physiologic aggresome," is exemplified by aggresome formation of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), an important host defense protein. CHIP (carboxy terminus of Hsp70-interacting protein) is a highly conserved protein that has been shown to mediate substrate ubiquitination and degradation by the proteasome. In this study, we show that CHIP has a previously unexpected critical role in the aggresome pathway. CHIP interacts with iNOS and promotes its ubiquitination and degradation by the proteasome as well as its sequestration to the aggresome. CHIP-mediated iNOS targeting to the proteasome sequentially precedes CHIP-mediated iNOS sequestration to the aggresome. CHIP is required for iNOS preaggresome structures to form a mature aggresome. Furthermore, CHIP is required for targeting the mutant form of cystic fibrosis transconductance regulator (CFTRΔF508) to the aggresome. Importantly, the ubiquitin ligase function of CHIP is required in targeting preaggresomal structures to the aggresome by promoting an iNOS interaction with histone deacetylase 6, which serves as an adaptor between ubiquitinated proteins and the dynein motor. This study reveals a critical role for CHIP in the aggresome pathway.


Automatic segmentation of microvascular structures is a critical step in quantitatively characterizing vessel remodeling and other physiological changes in the dura mater or other tissues. We developed a supervised random forest (RF) classifier for segmenting thin vessel structures using multiscale features based on Hessian, oriented second derivatives, Laplacian of Gaussian and line features. The latter multiscale line detector feature helps in detecting and connecting faint vessel structures that would otherwise be missed. Experimental results on epifluorescence imagery show that the RF approach produces foreground vessel regions that are almost 20 and 25 percent better than Niblack and Otsu threshold-based segmentations respectively.


Haloalkane dehalogenases (HLDs) are α/βhydrolases that convert halogenated compounds to their corresponding alcohols. The overall kinetic mechanism proceeds via four steps: (i) binding of halogenated substrate, (ii) bimolecular nucleophilic substitution (SN2) leading to the cleavage of a carbon-halogen bond and the formation of an alkyl-enzyme intermediate, (iii) nucleophilic addition of a water molecule resulting in the hydrolysis of the intermediate to the corresponding alcohol and (iv) release of the reaction products an alcohol, a halide ion and a proton. Although, the overall reaction has been reported as irreversible, several kinetic evidences from previous studies suggest the reversibility of the first SN2 chemical step. To study this phenomenon, we have engineered HLDs to stop the catalytic cycle at the stage of the alkyl-enzyme intermediate. The ability of the intermediate to exchange halides was confirmed by a stopped-flow fluorescence binding analysis. Finally, the transhalogenation reaction was confirmed with several HLDs with 2,3-dichloropropene in the presence of a high concentration of iodide. The formation of the transhalogenation product 3-iodo-2-chloropropene catalysed by five mutant HLDs was identified by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Hereby we demonstrated the reversibility of the cleavage of the carbon-halogen bond by HLDs resulting in a transhalogenation. After optimization, the transhalogenation reaction can possibly find its use in biocatalytic applications. Enabling this reaction by strategically engineering the enzyme to stop at an intermediate in the catalytic cycle that is synthetically more useful than the product of the natural pathway is a novel concept.


Philosophical debate about the proper role of athletics within the academy has reverberated through each era of collegiate sport, and a growing body of literature points toward an impending tipping point unless radical reform ensues. This study contributes perspective to a proposed reform model through investigating perceptions of National Collegiate Athletics Association Division I coaches (N = 661) about their roles as educators and how this role could be altered through structural and philosophical changes within the academy. Quantitative and qualitative data provided mixed findings related to coach support for an integrated organizational structure with high variance in all structural facets explored except for compensation, where coaches believed structures should not be uniform between athletic and academic units because of the perceived greater workload, hours, media attention, and pressure in athletics.


Many important technical and policy decisions are made by small groups, especially by deliberative committees of technical experts. Such committees are charged with fairly combining information from multiple perspectives to reach a decision that one person could not make alone. Committees are social entities and are therefore affected by any number of mechanisms recorded in the social sciences. Our challenge is to determine which of these mechanisms are likely to be encountered in the deliberative process and to evaluate how they might impact upon decision outcomes. In particular, we examine the role of committee deliberations on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) advisory panels.


Colorectal cancer represents the third cancer
worldwide. Studies showed thatinsufficient
levels of vitamin D may result in colorectal cancer. Genetic variations in
genes controlling vitamin D activity would play a role in determining
susceptibility to colorectal cancer. Aim of the work: to study
the different genotypes of VDR polymorphisms and detect the association between
serum levels of 25(OH)VitD and 1,25(OH)2VitD among sample of Egyptian patients
with different stages of colorectal cancer. Methods: Ninety patients (60 with
different stages of colorectal cancer and 30 patients with benign pathology of
the colon) together with 30 healthy controls were examined using PCR-RFLP
analysis for FokI, ApaI and TaqI polymorphisms. Results: Genotype distribution
for ApaI polymorphism showed no statistically significant
difference between patients (colorectal cancer and benign) and controls with p
= 0.1. There was no statistically significant difference in FokI
polymorphism where p = 0.26 and
genotype distribution for TaqI was also insignificant with p = 0.016.
The median serum level of 25(OH)VitD was low in cancer cases compared to the
control group and benign cases with (p 0.001). There was no statisticallysignificant
difference of median serum level of 1,25(OH)2VitD between benign and cancer
cases. There was statistically
significant difference of median serum level of 25(OH)VitD and 1,25(OH)2VitD
between stage I and stage II with (p = 0.004) and (p 0.001), and between stage I and stage III with
(p = 0.001)and (p 0.001),
but no statistically significant difference between stage II and III with (p = 0.514).
Conclusions: There is ethnic variability in vitamin D receptor gene
polymorphisms. The lack of significant association of the studied gene polymorphism in
our population suggests that its association with other functionally known gene
polymorphism might have a role in the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer.


Abstract Hospital governing board members serve voluntarily, however they are integral to their hospitals' operations. This article investigates if there is a discrepancy between board members' knowledge of healthcare issues and how importanf they perceive these issues to be in their hospitals' operations and direction. In addition, it offers preliminary steps on how to ensure that board members are kept well-informed and up-to-date on issues for strategy planning in the healthcare marketplace.


Lumisterol (L3) is a stereoisomer of 7-dehydrocholesterol and is produced through the photochemical transformation of 7-dehydrocholesteol induced by high doses of UVB. L3 is enzymatically hydroxylated by CYP11A1, producing 20(OH)L3, 22(OH)L3, 20,22(OH)2L3, and 24(OH)L3. Hydroxylumisterols function as reverse agonists of the retinoic acid-related orphan receptors α and γ (RORα/γ) and can interact with the non-genomic binding site of the vitamin D receptor (VDR). These intracellular receptors are mediators of photoprotection and anti-inflammatory activity. In this study, we show that L3-hydroxyderivatives significantly increase the expression of VDR at the mRNA and protein levels in keratinocytes, both non-irradiated and after UVB irradiation. L3-hydroxyderivatives also altered mRNA and protein levels for RORα/γ in non-irradiated cells, while the expression was significantly decreased in UVB-irradiated cells. In UVB-irradiated keratinocytes, L3-hydroxyderivatives inhibited nuclear translocation of NFκB p65 by enhancing levels of IκBα in the cytosol. This anti-inflammatory activity mediated by L3-hydroxyderivatives through suppression of NFκB signaling resulted in the inhibition of the expression of UVB-induced inflammatory cytokines, including IL-17, IFN-γ, and TNF-α. The L3-hydroxyderivatives promoted differentiation of UVB-irradiated keratinocytes as determined from upregulation of the expression at the mRNA of involucrin (IVL), filaggrine (FLG), and keratin 14 (KRT14), downregulation of transglutaminase 1 (TGM1), keratins including KRT1, and KRT10, and stimulation of ILV expression at the protein level. We conclude that CYP11A1-derived hydroxylumisterols are promising photoprotective agents capable of suppressing UVB-induced inflammatory responses and restoring epidermal function through targeting the VDR and RORs.


This is a model of coherency based belief within a dynamic network of individuals. Here beliefs might be copied (or discarded) by an individual based upon the change in coherence it causes with its other beliefs, but also that an individual will change their social connections based upon the the coherence of their beliefs with those they socially interact with.

See slides at http://slidehare.org/BruceEdmonds


The twinning rate of North American Holsteins was analyzed using a linear sire model (LM) and a threshold sire model (TM) to estimate fixed effects and predict sire I 7) J:,lo predicted transmitting abilities (PTAs). The data were 1,324,678 births of 37,174 sires of darns collected from the National Association of Animal Breeders (NAAB) calving ease database. Due to small numbers of triplets, they were not included in the analysis . The twinning rate was 5.02%. No differentiation between rnonozygotic and dizygotic twins was available , so all twins were assumed to be dizygotic. The sire model included relationships among sires and fixed effects of herd-year, season, parity, and sire groups. Heritabilities for the sire of the darn effect were estimated to be 2.10% for the LM analysis and 8.71 % for the TM analysis. The sire evaluations ranged from 1.56% to 7.95%. The parity effect show a marked increase between first and second parities (1.17% vs. 3.95%), but this trend leveled off in parities 3, 4, and 5 or more (5.11 %, 5.54%, and 5.54%, resp.). The season effect showed a peak in the spring and a valley in the fall ( 4.48% vs. 3.17%) . Sire group effects were found to show sires born after 1990 to be more likely to cause twinning. The mean twinning rate for sires born before 1980 was 3.42% compared to mean of 4.25% for sires born after 1991. The highest sire evaluation for twinning rate had an estimated PTA of 7.95%. His observed frequency of twinning was 16.2%. The lowest sire PTA was 1,56%, while his observed frequency was 0.7%.


A wide range of literature on for example non-state governance, market construction, accounting and management in general refers to the notion of accreditations and certifications as crucial for the mechanisms through which organizations and organizational practices gain acceptance and appreciation within their relevant fields or contexts. Accreditations as well as certifications might operate both through legal and informal requirements on organizations to meet standards of acceptable behavior (accreditations) or quality of specific activities or products (certifications). As both concepts seek to capture the processes trough which third parties (i.e. certification and accreditation agents/bodies) evaluate and thereby also monitor different aspects of organizational life; and as they both influence an organization's ability to operate within a given social context in similarly there is no reason to uphold theoretical distinction between these two. Accreditation and certifications are usually seen as an expression of what Michael Power described as audit society where different forms of measurement have become an integrated part of how we organize and manage a wide range of uncertainties and risks in areas such as politics, economy and sustainability. The production, circulation and use of accreditations and certifications function not only as tools by which individual organizations can be assessed, evaluated and governed. In more general terms these tools create stability and predictability in a given area of the social life by signaling what characteristics of an organization are crucial and attractive; and how to assure that these characteristics are achieved, upheld and communicated. Accreditations and certifications are involved in forming both individual as well collective perceptions about organizations in terms of their identities, goals, structures and activities. In the following we start by addressing the way in which accreditations and certifications are produced and diffused. In the second part of this entry we pay a closer attention to how these forms of evaluations influence the way organizations are perceived (and eventually also acted upon) by their constituencies – i.e. the role of accreditations and certifications for organizations' legitimacy, reputation and status.


The magnetostriction constant λS of a magnetic film is usually measured by detecting the mechanical distortion of the film deposited on a thin glass substrate under an applied field using a laser beam. This method, however, cannot be applied to a film deposited on a rigid substrate such as Si and AlTiC used widely in real-world application. This is because that the distortion of the sample is too small to be detected. In addition, λS of the film deposited on the glass substrate sometimes differ from those of the film deposited on the Si or AlTiC substrate. Thus, it is very important to evaluate λS of a film deposited on an actual substrate. In this paper, a new method for measuring λS of a film deposited on a substrate used in actual products is proposed by detecting the change of the anisotropic field Hk of the film under bending load. λS can be calculated from the gradient of the applied mechanical stress dependence of the HK. Utilizing this method, we have successfully measured λS of GMR films fabricated on the practical substrate by a very high resolution of 2×10−8.


Shortest path network interdiction is a combinatorial optimization problem on an activity network arising in a number of important security-related applications. It is classically formulated as a bilevel maximin problem representing an "interdictor" and an "evader". The evader tries to move from a source node to the target node along a path of the least cost while the interdictor attempts to frustrate this motion by cutting edges or nodes. The interdiction objective is to find the optimal set of edges to cut given that there is a finite interdiction budget and the interdictor must move first. We reformulate the interdiction problem for stochastic evaders by introducing a model in which the evader follows a Markovian random walk guided by the least-cost path to the target. This model can represent incomplete knowledge about the evader, and the resulting model is a nonlinear 0-1 optimization problem. We then introduce an optimization heuristic based on betweenness centrality that can rapidly find high-quality interdiction solutions by providing a global view of the network.


PURPOSE
To develop a prediction model for objective function weights for intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) prostate treatment planning with multiple objectives using geometry information from patient anatomy.

METHODS
A previously developed inverse optimization method (IOM) was used to reverse-engineer optimal objective function weights (inverse weights) from an observed treatment plan. We developed a regression model to predict the weights for IMRT prostate treatment planning using patient anatomy from 25 patients. The ratio of the overlap volumes of the rectum and bladder with the planning target volume expanded by 1cm was used to predict the bladder and rectum weights. The femoral head weights were included in the model as a small fixed weight (1%). The model was validated using leave-one-out cross-validation. We evaluated the model by comparing the treatment plans generated through inverse planning using the inverse weights from IOM and the predicted weights from the regression model.

RESULTS
On average, V54Gy for the bladder was 36.1% using the inverse weights and 36.6% using the predicted weights. V70Gy for the bladder was 23.2% (inverse) and 23.5% (predicted). For the rectum, V54Gy was 34.6% (inverse) and 33.9% (predicted), and V70Gy was 22.6% (inverse) and 22.3% (predicted). For each criterion, the difference between the inverse and predicted metrics was not statistically significant. All treatment plans from the predicted weights satisfied the clinical criteria.

CONCLUSION
Our results show that objective function weights are well-predicted by the regression model. This approach may support the genesis of personalized weights in IMRT treatment planning. This research was supported in part by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS).


The coupled, one‐dimensional electron and ion energy equations, with a combination of small steady and fluctuating horizontal magnetic fields imposed, are solved for the Mars ionosphere, corresponding to conditions encountered during the Viking mission. A series of calculations with various boundary conditions and heat sources result in a range of electron and ion temperature profiles, which are compared with the results obtained by the RPA's carried aboard the Viking landers. It is shown that solar EUV heating alone does not lead to the observed temperature profiles and that assuming reasonable heat fluxes at the top result in good agreement. It is also found that the introduction of small steady and altitude dependent fluctuating horizontal magnetic fields, which modify the thermal conductivity, leads to electron temperatures in reasonably good agreement with the RPA data, but does not match the observed ion temperatures above about 240 km. The effects of chemical and Joule heating are also examined and found not to be significant.


A six-generation kindred from Arkansas with X-linked recessive spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia tarda (SEDT) was investigated by genetic linkage and mutation analysis. SEDT had been mapped on the X-chromosome (Xp22.2), and the clinical and radiographic evolution of this kindred had been published. Linkage analysis proved informative for all five polymorphic markers tested, and DXS987 and DXS16 co-segregated with the Arkansas kindred (peak logarithm of the odds scores, 3.54 and 3.36, respectively). Subsequently, dinucleotide deletion in a new gene designated "sedlin" was reported to cause SEDT in three families. In an affected man and obligate carrier woman in the Arkansas kindred, we found a 5-bp deletion in exon 5 of sedlin. The defect causes a frameshift, resulting in eight missense amino acids and premature termination. The 5-bp deletion was then demonstrated to segregate with SEDT in the four living generations, including eight affected males and nine obligate carrier females. Furthermore, the deletion was identified in four females who potentially were heterozygous carriers for SEDT. The mutation was not detected in the two young sons of the consultand (believed to be a carrier because of her subtle radiographic skeletal changes and then shown to have the deletion), but they were too young for x-ray diagnosis Identification of a defect in sedlin in this SEDT kindred enables carrier detection and presymptomatic diagnosis and reveals an important role for this gene in postnatal endochondral bone formation.


In more than 130 years, the cooperative banks and rural banks, have become a best practice, widespread in all the Italian regions so as to become, through Federcasse, a federal system included among the 130 European banks, referents ECB. A model that today has about 400 local banks and that, discounting the guiding principles, interprets the function as a development bank for the area, responding to the economic and social needs of individual communities. Objective of a BCC-CR is, in fact, promote development from the bottom, making the protagonists subjects of the local economy through a process that is defined of circular subsidiarity because element of synthesis between the vertical subsidiarity (integration of the different levels expressed by territory) and horizontal subsidiarity (integration of factors of the local development). In order to analyze and deepen the best practice of the BCC -CR model is, therefore, interesting assess the sustainability of local finance through a relation of functionality that interconnects the level of performance expressed by some important national areas with the intensity of mission of the financial model. The research team has already developed a unique indicator of territorial performance, presented in the session ERSA, 2011 (Spain) and an indicator of intensity of the mission of the BCC -CR model presented in the Workshop RSAI 2012 (China) and in the annual conference PRSCO 2013 (Indonesia). This dimension of the subsidiarity has allowed the research team of assess the relative effectiveness of the model through the measurement of the level of integration between the horizontal subsidiarity and the vertical one by means the structuring of a function of two variables, that, represented by a spherical model in three-dimensional environment (the circular subsidiarity is expressed by level lines to shape of circumferences in two-dimensional level), expresses the intensity of the integration as a factor in the sustainability of local finance. Territorial cohesion and consistency with the orientations set by the different levels of governance is, in fact, a factor of local development able express the potentialities of the territory, the level of competitiveness and the ability to give concrete answers to the current critical issues. The study shows that there is room for improvement among the descriptors that express the intensity of the mission model BCC-CR (horizontal subsidiarity) and those that express the performance of the territory (vertical subsidiarity): on these areas should focus the attention of policy makers and the company management to improve the synchronization between demand of investment and the supply of savings in the territory.


Chitin synthetase preparations from cell walls and chitosomes of the fungus Mucor rouxii were tested for their ability to synthesize chitosan when incubated with uridine diphosphate N-acetyl-D-glucosamine in the presence of chitin deacetylase. The most effective chitin synthetase preparation was one dissociated from cell walls with digitonin. The rate of chitosan synthesis by the wall-dissociated chitin synthetase was about three times that of an equivalent amount of cell walls. The chitosan-synthesizing ability of chitosomes was relatively low, but was more than tripled by treatment with digitonin. Presumably, digitonin improves chitosan yields of dissociating chitin synthetase. The dissociated enzyme would produce dispersed chitin chains that could be attacked by chitin deacetylase before they have time to crystallize into microfibrils. The regulation of chitin and chitosan syntheses in vivo may be determined by the organization of chitin synthetase molecules at the cell surface. Those molecules that remain organized as a complex, similar if not identical to that found in chitosomes, would produce mainly chitin. Chitosan would be preferentially produced by chitin synthetase molecules which are dispersed upon reaching the cell surface.


Considering the importance of nutritional health for people living with HIV, programs delivering nutritional support have been scaled up globally. Among various programs, the Food by Prescription (FBP) program has been implemented in Ethiopia since 2010. This study was undertaken to assess the level of adherence to the FBP program and identify the associated factors among HIV infected adults. Facility-based cross-sectional study design was conducted from May to June 2018 among 481 adult people living with HIV who have been enrolled in the program in 15 public health facilities. The study subjects were selected through a convenient sampling technique and data were collected using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. The data were entered and analyzed using Epi Info version 7 and Statistical Package for Social Science version 20 statistical software respectively. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression were used. More than half 285(59.3) of the study subjects were found to be adherent to the FBP program. The amount of prescribed food, the duration of stay in nutrition program, the practice of sharing the supplement and experiencing of supplement stock out was found to be the most important predictors. The study revealed the level of adherence to the FBP program and identified some of the most important associated factors among adult people living with HIV. Strengthening the counseling component of the program, improving the supply management of the health facilities and linking people living with HIV to the economic strengthening activities should be considered to improve the adherence level of the program.

 Key words: Adherence, Food by Prescription Program, adult PLWHA, Ethiopia.


The NK1 receptor (NK1R) is a molecular target for both approved and experimental drugs intended for a variety of conditions, including i.a. emesis, pain or cancers. While contemplating modifications to the typical NK1R pharmacophore, we wondered whether the CF3 groups common for many NK1R ligands, could be replaced with some other moiety. Our attention was drawn by the SF5-group, and so we designed, synthesized and tested for NK1R affinity ten novel SF5-containing compounds. All the novel analogues exhibit detectable NK1R binding, with the best of them, compound 5a, binding only slightly worse (IC50 = 34.3 nM) than the approved NK1R-targeting drug, aprepitant (IC50 = 27.7 nM). Molecular docking provided structural explanation of SAR. According to our analysis, the SF5 group in our compounds occupies a position similar to that of one of CF3 groups of aprepitant as found in the crystal structure. Additionally, we checked on whether the docking scoring function or energies derived from Fragment Molecular Orbital quantum chemical calculations may be helpful in explaining and predicting the experimental receptor affinities for our analogues. Both these methods produce moderately good results. Overall, this is the first demonstration of the utility of the SF5-group in the design of NK1R ligands.


Chronic renal failure is frequently accompanied by elevated plasma levels of lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)]. Elevated Lp(a) levels have been proposed to contribute not only to increased risk of atherosclerotic and thrombotic complications but also to the progression of renal insufficiency. To investigate whether higher Lp(a) plasma concentrations are associated with an accelerated rate of progression of renal insufficiency, we have correlated baseline plasma concentrations of Lp(a) with the progressive decline of renal function in an observational study of human chronic renal disease. Forty-nine non-diabetic patients (40 men, nine women) were studied as part of an observational study of patients with moderately advanced renal insufficiency. The average follow-up time of the patient population was 3.1 years, and the mean rate of decline in glomerular filtration rate (51Cr-EDTA clearance) was -2.8 (SD 4.1) ml/min/1.73 m2. The mean plasma concentration of Lp(a) at the beginning of the study was 19.2 (SD 18.6) mg/100 ml with a median value of 12.2 mg/100 ml. There was no association between the initial plasma concentration of Lp(a) and the rate of progression as assessed by linear regression analysis. Furthermore, the progression rate in patients within the highest quartile of the Lp(a) distribution (> or = 30 mg/100 ml) did not differ from that in patients with lower levels of Lp(a). In contrast, increased levels of apolipoprotein (apo) B, low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol, and proteinuria were all significantly associated with a more rapid decline in renal function. Based on these results, it was concluded that elevated plasma levels of Lp(a) are not associated with an increased rate of progression of renal insufficiency in human chronic renal disease. However, the results of this study suggest that other apoB-containing lipoproteins may play a significant role in this process.


Authentic learning activities were anchored in a virtual hospital setting in our study. Students watched a 3D case study, role-played, and created concept maps to externalize their thoughts. Their knowledge and skills were measured via traditional multiple-choice questions, role playing, and concept mapping. Preand post-tests showed no significant difference between control and treatment groups. However, the analyses of the role-playing and concept maps demonstrated the treatment group gained significantly. Strengths and constraints of role playing are discussed and important issues implied are included to help understand effective situated learning instructional design strategies in an authentic learning environment.


A quality expert system (QES) prototype for use in the hot strip mill aspect of the steel-making process is described. The QES monitors the process and recommends actions to the user, but it does not directly control the process. The user must adjust operating parameters or change process conditions to improve quality. The QES's architecture and its knowledge acquisition and knowledge representation are discussed. The way in which the prototype QES would handle a slab with a scale defect is described.<<ETX>>


Summary Earlier work showed the existence of sialic acid (SA) in the prothoracic glands (PGs) of Galleria mellonella (Karaçali et al., 1997). In this paper we investigated the role of SA during the degeneration process of PGs. Neuraminidase-digested larval PGs were incubated within the hemolymph collected from same age larvae. Light and electron microscopic observations showed incomplete capsule formation by the accumulation of hemocytes around desialylated gland cells, but not in the control group. Desialylated larval PG cells were recognized as a foreign structure or non-self by hemocytes. The result indicates that SA acts as a mask for hemocytic receptors during the larval period under normal conditions. However, in the absence of SA, the glands start to degenerate. We provide an explanation for the role of SA in the recognition process of hemocytes that initiates the degeneration of PGs in pupal cells and show the functionality of SA in insects, confirming that SA is a universal molecule.


The Dolatabad area located in SE Iran is a well-endowed terrain owning several chromite mineralized zones. These chromite ore bodies are all hosted in a colored mélange complex zone comprising harzburgite, dunite, and pyroxenite. These deposits are irregular in shape, and are distributed as small lenses along colored mélange zones. The area has a great potential for discovering further chromite resources. Therefore, the current work endeavors to delineate the favorable zones of podiform chromite mineralization to focus on the detailed exploration surveys. In order to achieve this goal, the machine learning random forests algorithm was adapted to integrate the footprints of mineralization in various exploration datasets. The genetic characteristics of podiform chromite deposits were used to define the exploration criteria. These defined criteria were then translated to a set of exploration evidence layers. The competent exploration evidence layers, i.e. those with remarkable positive spatial associations with mineralization, were then recognized using distance distribution analysis. Respecting the location of known chromite mineralizations and competent exploration evidence layers, a predictive random forests model was trained and then applied to predict the favorable zones of chromite prospectivity. The delineated targets were found to occupy 19% of the studied area, in which all the known chromite mineralizations were delimited. Consequently, it is worthy to follow up the detailed exploration surveys within the delineated zones.


With the steady progress of high performance electronic systems, the complexity of the electronic systems grows continuously and new features like high-speed, low power and low cost, become the key issues. The interconnection in the electronic systems distributes the power, clock and transfers the electrical signals among numerous components. As the feature size of microelectronic technology becomes smaller, the design and analysis of the interconnection are more important for the performance and cost of the system.
The escape routing design is a new important problem in the interconnection design because the number of chip/package input/output (I/O) pins has continuously been growing for high-speed high-performance system. The traditional escape routing strategy and several improvements, pins/pads special placement and routing resource exploration, could not handle large number of I/Os efficiently and usually require increased cost. We introduce a novel concept, escape sequence, develop efficient escape routing strategies based on the new concept and model the escaping wires using 3D extraction. (1) For square grid array, we formulate and solve a maximum flow problem to analyze the escape bottleneck in area array. The layer count can be decreased dramatically by optimizing the I/O escape sequence. Two new escape routing strategies, central triangular escape routing and two-sided escape routing, are proposed and the number of escape routing layers could be reduced dramatically. We implement an automatic escape routing program to verify our analysis and to compare different escape sequence strategies. The escaping wires could be modeled as frequency dependent RLGC circuit for signal performance analysis. (2) For hexagonal area array, we analyze its preponderant properties that the hexagonal array could increase the density of I/Os in the array remarkably. We propose three escape routing strategies for the hexagonal array: column-by-column horizontal escape routing, two-sided horizontal/vertical escape routing, and multi-direction hybrid channel escape routing. We can escape I/Os in the hexagonal array in the same or less number of routing layers compared with square grid array. Therefore, we could reduce the number of escape routing layers as well as increase the density of I/Os.
The eye diagram prediction is an important problem in the interconnection analysis because an eye diagram provides the most fundamental and intuitive view to evaluate the signal quality of high-speed communication. The traditional method to obtain the eye diagram involves performing a time domain simulation. It requires a very long simulation time and usually could not accurately characterize the communication systems because the limited length pseudorandom bit sequence (PRBS) as the input stimulus. Several eye diagram prediction methods, analytical techniques, analysis based on unit pulse response and analysis based on step response, have their application constraints because of their assumptions and usually could not handle general systems. We introduce an efficient and accurate method, the accumulative prediction method, to predict the eye diagram for high-speed signaling systems. We use the step response of the signaling system to extract the worst-case eye diagram, including the eye opening and timing jitter. Furthermore, this method generates the input data patterns which produce the worst-case inter-symbol interference. The main advantage is that this general-purpose method can handle signals with asymmetric as well as symmetric rise/fall time. Furthermore, the complexity of the proposed method is linear O(n), where n is the number of time points of step response. This method can be applied to analyze the signal performance in escape routing. It is very useful to analyze various high speed signaling systems.


This review will explore the influences of technology integration into pre-service teacher education programs from the constructivist and behaviorist perspectives for the ultimate aim of improving student learning and pre-service teacher training. A wide range of research is cited, including research articles, books, comparison studies, case studies, government records, dissertations and web sites. The study concludes that technology integration representing learning from technology (behaviorist perspective) is not the most effective way to improve learning although it helps learners to perform the lower level subskills automatically. On the other hand, constructivist-learning environments representing learning with technology, which encourages learners to actively process and organize information by making internal cognitive connections, can well provide the theoretical framework for the effective technology integration.


Background: Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) is a syndrome of progressive inflammatory liver injury and vascular remodeling associated with long-term heavy intake of ethanol. Elevated miR-34a expression, macrophage activation, and liver angiogenesis in ALD and their correlation with the degree of inflammation and fibrosis have been reported. The current study aims to characterize the functional role of miR-34a-regulated macrophage- associated angiogenesis during ALD. Methods & Results: We identified that knockout of miR-34a in 5 weeks of ethanol-fed mice significantly decreased the total liver histopathology score and miR-34a expression, along with the inhibited liver inflammation and angiogenesis by reduced macrophage infiltration and CD31/VEGF-A expression. Treatment of murine macrophages (RAW 264.7) with lipopolysaccharide (20 ng/mL) for 24 h significantly increased miR-34a expression, along with the enhanced M1/M2 phenotype changes and reduced Sirt1 expression. Silencing of miR-34a significantly increased oxygen consumption rate (OCR) in ethanol treated macrophages, and decreased lipopolysaccharide-induced activation of M1 phenotypes in cultured macrophages by upregulation of Sirt1. Furthermore, the expressions of miR-34a and its target Sirt1, macrophage polarization, and angiogenic phenotypes were significantly altered in isolated macrophages from ethanol-fed mouse liver specimens compared to controls. TLR4/miR-34a knockout mice and miR-34a Morpho/AS treated mice displayed less sensitivity to alcohol-associated injury, along with the enhanced Sirt1 and M2 markers in isolated macrophages, as well as reduced angiogenesis and hepatic expressions of inflammation markers MPO, LY6G, CXCL1, and CXCL2. Conclusion: Our results show that miR-34a-mediated Sirt1 signaling in macrophages is essential for steatohepatitis and angiogenesis during alcohol-induced liver injury. These findings provide new insight into the function of microRNA-regulated liver inflammation and angiogenesis and the implications for reversing steatohepatitis with potential therapeutic benefits in human alcohol-associated liver diseases.


This study investigates the influence of a temperature gradient on the maturation of fertile
receptacles of Fucus vesiculosus. Samples collected from the North Sea at Sylt were
cultivated at six different Temperatures (0°C – 25°C) over a period of five weeks. All other
abiotic factors like light intensity, salinity and nutrient supply were kept constant. The
number of conceptacles producing the gametes (eggs and sperms) mainly characterize
the reproduction of this alga. The conceptacles are developed on the surface of the receptacles
therefore their number and size are important parameters of the reproduction process.
To investigate this in detail the following relationships were studied:
• Receptacle growth and development with respect to the different temperatures
• Number of conceptacles with respect to the different temperatures
• Correlations between number of conceptacles and receptacle size
It was shown that temperature has a significant influence on the
maturation of the receptacles. The optimal reproduction temperature is in the
range of 5°C – 15°C, where receptacles become biggest and develop the most conceptacles.
Correlations between the number of conceptacles and the receptacle
size were found. The number of conceptacles increases during maturation
and is related to the growth of the receptacles. The description of this dependency with a
linear model was not very accurate. But since it was shown that an increase in length,
width, thickness and area of the receptacles is related to an increase of the number of
conceptacles, these parameters could be used as derived parameters to determine the maturation level in the temperature range of 5°C – 15°C also in field studies.


1. A case of congenital deficiency of proconvertin in a Hopi Indian boy is reported. This is the eleventh case of "pure" proconvertin deficiency and the second reported in the American literature. 2. Laboratory studies revealed normal intrinsic blood coagulation but markedly abnormal tests when coagulation was studied in the presence of tissue extracts. 3. An accompanying mild deficiency of prothrombin was suggested by the results of some tests. 4. The concept that the role of proconvertin in hemostasis is primarily as a co-thromboplastin is supported by the clinical and laboratory studies carried out on this patient. The differentiation of this disorder from other cases with deficiencies of "serum" factors is discussed, and the previously reported cases are reviewed.


We have studied the reversible uptake and release of oxygen in the layered metal oxide system AB2O4 for A = Lu, Yb, Y, and In to understand their suitability as oxygen storage materials. We first examined their structures in their pristine state of AFe2O4 with high-resolution synchrotron X-ray diffraction. To emulate chemical looping conditions, we then monitored their structures and reactivity under H2 and O2 atmospheres utilizing in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) measurements. The nature of the trivalent A cation affects the oxidation kinetics, thermal cycling stabilities, and oxygen storage capacities which varied between 2.20 and 3.13 wt% (0.7–0.98 O2 mmol g−1), corresponding to an oxygen non-stoichiometry (δ) of ∼0.5. These layered oxides underwent various phase transitions above 200 °C which included the creation of a superstructure as oxygen is incorporated until the maximally oxidized phase is established above ∼400 °C. Bond valence sum analysis of the Fe–O bonding across the series reveals that the more underbonded the Fe cation, the more facile the oxygen insertion. During the cycling experiments all samples exhibited stable reversible oxygen insertion at 600 °C with the exception of A = In, which degraded under H2. The Y analogue displayed the fastest kinetics for oxidation, which may make it the most suitable for oxygen storage and sensing applications.


Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a rare inflammatory skin disease that is difficult to diagnose. PG may be an extra-intestinal manifestation of ulcerative colitis (UC). In recent times, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines have caused various adverse cutaneous reactions. However, to the best our knowledge, combinations thereof have not been reported. We encountered a case of PG triggered by COVID-19 vaccination in a patient with UC. A 40-year-old woman developed severe pain and an abscess in the dorsum of the left foot after receiving the first dose of the messenger RNA (mRNA)-based Pfizer/BioNTech BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine. Severe painful ulcers with purulent necrosis and gaseous gangrene progressed rapidly along the extensor tendons and muscles to the toes and ankle. Although surgical debridement can worsen PG by triggering pathergy, we nonetheless performed wide debridement including partial extensor tenotomy with abscess drainage to prevent progression to pyogenic ankle arthritis and to rescue the toes. Antibiotics, corticosteroids, and anticoagulants were prescribed during surgical wound management via negative pressure therapy. After the lesion improved, the skin and soft tissue defect were covered using a superficial circumflex iliac artery perforator free flap and a split-thickness skin graft. The patient was satisfied with the foot salvage, and could walk unaided (without a brace or cane) from 8 weeks after the final surgery. PG may be rare even in UC patients, but mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines may find an immunosuppressive niche. A high level of caution and suspicion of skin manifestations after vaccination is essential.


SIR: Sharpe & Andrew (Journal, January 1988, 152, I34—1 36) report on a case of a 32-year-old woman in whom it was not possible to induce a seizure despite 15 ECT applications. The author's are to be corn mended on the changes in technique such as the move from unilateral to bilateral, reduction in methohexi tone dosage, extensive pre-oxygenation and the use of chlorpromazine, all of which were designed to alter fit threshold. The case raises the question as to whether we have moved too far in the direction oflow energy stimuli in the design of ECT machines. The authors report energy in joules, but it is more conventional to refer to energy in terms of millicoulombs. The two machines that were used are not capable of delivering more than approximately 500 millicoulombs even at their maximum setting. This applies to most modern machines, including those manufactured in the United States. There is one machine available —¿ the Neurotronics (NTS) Machine —¿ which at its maxi mum setting will deliver 2000 millicoulombs. There may be a case for having a wider range of stimuli to allow for the occasional patient with a very high fit threshold to be successfully treated.


Limitations in position, quality, or dimension of bone often require that implants be placed in a nonideal axial inclination. Use of preangulated abutments may be the method of choice when anatomic limitations preclude the axial placement of an implant. This paper discusses the indications for and advantages of the use of preangulated abutments to fulfill esthetic and functional objectives.


Having been largely ignored for decades, the issues of economic and social inequalities have regained mainstream political attention in the Western capitalist countries in recent years. The inequality and austerity trends of recent decades pose significant challenges and implications for the prevailing models of liberal and electoral democracy, the structures and distribution of power, and in turn for understanding the role and practices of professional journalism and news media. Clearly, different conceptualizations, definitions, and framings of inequality and socioeconomic justice are central to the conduct and outcomes of such struggles over the future shape of the social order. This article begins by introducing the topic and competing conceptualizations of inequality. The second section, Modern Political and Economic Discourses and Inequality: Liberal and Others, provides a brief, if selective, overall review of how inequality matters have been addressed and understood in modern political economy as well as the more recent field of economics. The third section, Communication Studies and Inequalities: An Initial Review, outlines the results of a brief but systematic review of how socioeconomic inequalities are addressed in the relevant academic disciplines. The final section comprises some brief conclusions and implications.


Buckling-restrained braces are commonly installed in building structures as concentric diagonal or chevron braces to protect the main construction from seismic actions. These elements have shown repeatedly their usefulness for reducing the seismic response, both from theoretical and experimental studies; and a number of practical applications have been reported. However, seismic records with near-fault effects possess special characteristics that might impair the performance of these devices, similarly as what occurs in base isolation; about energy issues, in such records (containing strong velocity pulses) the energy is delivered in a short time interval, thus being difficult to be absorbed. This work presents a numerical study regarding the performance of buckling-restrained braces under three types of seismic records: cortical far-field, subductive far-field and near-field (i.e. containing velocity pulses). The study is carried out on a symmetric 4-story steel moment-resisting unbraced frame that was tested at the E-defense laboratory, Japan; the dynamic response of such unbraced bare frame is numerically simulated, obtaining a satisfactory agreement. The same numerical model is used to describe the 2-D dynamic behavior of the steel frame equipped with buckling-restrained braces. The inputs are three series of ten ground motion records; each of these series belongs to one of the three aforementioned types. The average responses for each of the three types of inputs are compared; the obtained results show that the buckling-restrained braces are able to reduce the dynamic response of the frame and that no significant differences can be observed among the efficiency for far-fault and nearfault records.


The AdvAnced concreTe PAvemenT Technology (AcPT) Products Program is an integrated, national effort to improve the long-term performance and cost-effectiveness of the nation's concrete highways. managed by the Federal highway Administration through partnerships with State highway agencies, industry, and academia, the goals of the AcPT Products Program are to reduce congestion, improve safety, lower costs, improve performance, and foster innovation.


Over the past half-century electronic industry has enormously grown changing the way people live their lives. Such growth has been driven by the miniaturisation and development of the transistors which are the main components in an integrated circuit (IC) commonly referred as a chip. Until today electronic industry has been based on the use of Si and its native oxide SiO2 in transistors. However, the performance limit of conventional Si based transistors is rapidly being approached and alternatives will soon be required. One of the proposed alternatives is GaAs. n-type GaAs has a mobility 5 times higher than Si. This makes it a suitable candidate for MOSFETs devices. So far, GaAs has not been used for practical MOSFETs because of the difficulties of making a good dielectric oxide layer in terms of leakage current and unpinned Fermi Level. Using processes pioneered by Passlack et al, dielectric gate stacks consisting of a template layer of amorphous Ga2O3 followed by amorphous GdGaO have been grown on GaAs substrates. Careful deposition of Ga2O3 can leave the Fermi Level unpinned. The introduction of Gd is important in order to decrease the leakage of current. The electrical properties of the Ga2O3/Gd[x]Ga[0.4-x]O[0.6] dielectric stack are related to the Gd concentration and the quality of the GaAs/Ga2O3 interface. Over the past years in a unique partnership several research groups from the Physics and the Electronic and Electrical engineering Department have collaboratively worked for the realisation and development of such new generation of GaAs based transistors using the technology described above. The properties of such devices depend on structures at the nanoscale which is only few atoms across. Thus the characterization using the transmission electron microscope (TEM) becomes essential. In this project TEM has been used to study several MBE grown III-V semiconductor nanostructures. In particular most of the thesis is focussed on the chemical characterisation of the GaAs/Ga2O3/GGO dielectric gate stack, mainly using electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and high-resolution scanning Transmission electron microscopy (STEM) imaging. As said above the quality of such interfaces affects the properties of the whole device. Hence the results presented herein represent an important feedback for the realisation of world performance GaAs devices.


suMMARY The y-glutamyl transferase isoenzymes of bile were studied using electrophoretic, gel filtration, and ultracentrifugation techniques. In view of the known association of other biliary enzymes with lipids the effects of butanol extraction were investigated. The results show the presence of four isoenzymes of y-glutamyl transferase in bile, differing in electrophoretic mobilities, molecular size, and density. The correlation between the properties of biliary y-glutamyl transferase and of alkaline phosphatase is discussed.


OBJECTIVE
Our aim was to investigate the effect of body mass index (BMI) levels on quadriceps and hamstring strength and functional outcomes up to 6 months after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) with hamstring tendon autograft (HTG).

DESIGN
Prospective, controlled study.

SETTING
University clinical laboratory.

PATIENTS
Ninety-one participants who had undergone unilateral ACLR with HTG were divided into 2 groups according to their BMI. The participants whose BMI were between 18.5 and 24.9 kg/m were included in group 1 (n = 50, age: 27.2 ± 6.7 years, BMI: 22.3 ± 1.6 kg/m) and those whose BMI > 24.9 kg/m were included in group 2 (n = 41, age: 30.2 ± 6.9 years, BMI: 28.0 ± 2.4 kg/m).

INTERVENTIONS
Quadriceps and hamstring strength, functional performance including hop, jump, and balance performance, and IKDC score.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Maximum voluntary isometric contraction of the quadriceps and hamstring muscles and the body mass were measured at 1, 3, and 6 months after surgery. Absolute peak torques and normalized peak torques to body weight for both limbs were recorded. Functional outcomes were evaluated at 6 months after surgery.

RESULTS
Normalized quadriceps strength improvement was lower in group 2 when compared with group 1 (F(2,178) = 6.23, P = 0.003). Group 2 also demonstrated lower scores in functional performance (P < 0.05). Normalized hamstring and absolute quadriceps and hamstring strength improvement was not affected by higher BMI level (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
Higher BMI levels adversely affect quadriceps strength capacity and performance in patients who have undergone ACLR with HTG. Clinicians should consider BMI levels of patients when assessing and targeting muscle recovery because it could negatively affect the success of the ACLR rehabilitation.


A major player in Japanese society is its government bureaucracy. Neither Japan's phenomenal track record in the world marketplace nor its remarkable success in managing its domestic affairs can be understood without insight into how its government bureaucracy works - how its elite administrators are recruited, socialized, and promoted; how they interact among themselves and with other principal players in Japan, notably politicians; how they are rewarded; and what happens to them when they retire at a relatively young age. Yet, despite its pivotal importance, there is no comprehensive and up-to-date study of Japan's administrative elite in the English language.This book seeks to fill that gap. Koh examines patterns of continuity and change, identifies similarities and differences between Japan and four other industrialized democracies (the United States, Britain, France, and Germany), and assesses the implications of the Japanese model of public management. Though many features of Japanese bureaucracy are found in the Western democracies, the degree to which they manifest themselves in Japan appears to be unsurpassed. Koh shows that the Japanese model of public management contains both strengths and weaknesses. For example, the price Japan pays for the high caliber of its administrative elite is the stifling rigidity of a multiple track system, a system with second-class citizens and demoralized "non-career" civil servants who actually bear a lion's share of administrative burden. The Japanese experience demonstrates not only how steep the price of success can be but also the enduring effects of culture over structure.


The mechanism of phenoxyimine (FI)-cobalt-catalyzed C(sp2)-C(sp3) Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling was studied using a combination of kinetic measurements and catalytic and stoichiometric experiments. A series of dimeric (FI)cobalt(II) bromide complexes, [(4-CF3PhFI)CoBr]2, [(4-OMePhFI)CoBr]2, and [(2,6-diiPrPhFI)CoBr]2, were isolated and characterized by 1H and 19F NMR spectroscopies, solution and solid-state magnetic susceptibility, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, and diffusion-ordered NMR spectroscopy (DOSY). One complex, [(4-CF3PhFI)CoBr]2, was explored as a single-component precatalyst for C(sp2)-C(sp3) Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling. Addition of potassium methoxide to [(4-CF3PhFI)CoBr]2 generated the corresponding (FI)cobalt(II) methoxide complex as determined by 1H and 19F NMR and EPR spectroscopies. These spectroscopic signatures were used to identify this compound as the resting state during catalytic C(sp2)-C(sp3) coupling. Variable time normalization analysis (VTNA) of in situ catalytic 19F NMR spectroscopic data was used to establish an experimental rate law that was first-order in a (FI)cobalt(II) precatalyst, zeroth-order in the alkyl halide, and first-order in an activated potassium methoxide-aryl boronate complex. These findings are consistent with turnover-limiting transmetalation that occurs prior to activation of the alkyl bromide electrophile. The involvement of boronate intermediates in transmetalation was corroborated by Hammett studies of electronically differentiated aryl boronic esters. Together, a cobalt(II)/cobalt(III) catalytic cycle was proposed that proceeds through a "boronate"-type mechanism.


Traditionally the definition and analysis of household well-being has focused on the main economic measures of income and wealth. However, there is now an increased interest within the wider economic literature in exploring those measures which contribute to household well-being which can extend beyond purely economic measures. Furthermore, from a farm household perspective, there is increased research and policy interest in the general well-being of farm households, including how decision-making processes within the farm family influence overall well-being. This paper explores the causal effect of both economic an non-economic factors on well-being for farm and non-farm households in Northern Ireland. The methodology incorporates two complimentary data sources. The results suggest that almost three fifths of those living in Northern Ireland report a high level of satisfaction with life overall, with farm households recording a slightly lower rate of life satisfaction compared with the non-farm group. Regression results support the U-shaped life-cycle effect hypothesis. In terms of gender, for farm based females, the level of education and having an off-farm job has a positive impact on life satisfaction compared to males. For males, being in full time employment brings an increase in the life satisfaction overall.


Mechanical property of coating under the micro-contact load such as impact and sliding wear significantly influence the reliability of surface coating. In order to research the influence, a contact model between the rigid multi-asperity surface and coating was found based on the G-W model in the background of Thermal Barrier Coatings(TBCs) used in aircraft engine blade. The distribution of stress in subsurface of the micro-contact process was analyzed based on the theories of contact mechanics and tribology with the elasto-plastic finite element method. The effect of coating thickness, elastic modulus, yield strength on the distribution of residual stress for TBCs was investigated. It conclude that primary reason of coating failure are cumulation of plastic deformation and excessive interfacial stress. The results are significant for studying the life and final spallation of TBC system and other coating.


In this research we examine the age-specific acceptance motives of medical assistive technologies assessing the general openness of using these technologies as well as estimating potential barriers, which may impede a successful rollout. 122 respondents (20 – 80 years) participated in a survey, in which they were asked to evaluate the pros and cons of the usage of medical assistive technologies, acceptance motives and potential utilization barriers. In order to understand the complex nature of acceptance, personal variables (age, technology generation gender) as well as participants' learning history with technology (technical experience, subjective technical confidence and general attitudes towards the usage of technologies) were related to each other. Outcomes show that, overall, there is a quite positive motivation regarding the usage of medical technology, though, the perceived usage barriers are weighted more decisive for the acceptability of medical technology than the positively evaluated using motives. Overall, it was revealed that acceptance issues should be considered in order to proactively design a successful rollout of medical technologies.


With the widespread occurrence of bacterial resistance to antibiotics, the development of new strategies beyond conventional treatments is a pursuit taken by public health institutions worldwide. LasR, a transcription factor that controls quorum sensing in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, has emerged as an attractive therapeutic target for the next generation of antimicrobial agents. In the present study, a virtual screening workflow combining pharmacophore‐ and structure‐based approaches was used to identify new LasR ligands. Five novel inducers and three inhibitors of LasR activity were validated experimentally by use of a cell‐based assay. Interestingly, these compounds are molecularly distinct from the native signal molecule, N‐3‐oxododecanoyl‐L‐homoserine lactone (OHN), and may serve as lead structures for the design of new drugs. The binding modes of these compounds to the OHN binding site in LasR were predicted and used to identify the key interactions that contribute to the induction and inhibition of LasR activity.


We investigate families of two-dimensional simplicial complexes defined in terms of vertex decompositions. They include nonevasive complexes, strongly collapsible complexes of Barmak and Miniam and analogues of 2-trees of Harary and Palmer. We investigate the complexity of recognition problems for those families and some of their combinatorial properties. Certain results follow from analogous decomposition techniques for graphs. For example, we prove that it is NP-complete to decide if a graph can be reduced to a discrete graph by a sequence of removals of vertices of degree 3.


Eu3+ doped Y2O3 nanopowder was prepared by a novel complex precipitation process in which the mixture of ammonium water and ammonium hydrogen carbonate was adopted as complex precipitant. The precipitant precursor and the resultant powder were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, SEM and TEM. The resultant weakly agglomerate and spherical particles have a uniform grain size about 20nm after calcined at 850°C for 2 hours. 3mol% Eu3+ doped Y2O3 nanopowder shows an intense red luminescence at 612nm under UV excitation.


Identification of tree taxa that can thrive on reduced moisture regimes mandated by xeriscape programs of the southwest United States could be facilitated if responses to drought of those taxa are determined. Leaf water relations, plant development, and cuticular wax content of seven taxa maintained as well-irrigated controls or exposed to drought and irrigated based on evapotranspiration were studied. Leaf water potential of drought-stressed Fraxinus velutina Torr. (Arizona ash), Koelreuteria paniculata Laxm. (golden rain tree), Quercus macrocarpa Michx. (bur oak), and Quercus muehlenbergii Engelm. (chinkapin oak) were lower at predawn than the controls. Drought-stressed plants of F. velutina, K. paniculata, and Quercus lobata Nee (California white oak) had more negative midday water potential than the control plants. Drought reduced stomatal conductance to as little as 17%, 23%, and 45% of controls in F. velutina, K. paniculata, and Q. macrocarpa, respectively. Drought-stressed plants of F. velutina, K. paniculata, Q. macrocarpa, and Q. muehlenbergii had reduced transpiration rates. Fraxinus velutina had both the highest net assimilation rate (NAR) and relative growth rate (RGR) regardless of irrigation treatment. Mean specific leaf weight (dry weight (DW) of a 1-cm 2 leaf disc divided by the weight), trichome density, stomatal density, leaf thickness, and cuticular wax content varied among species but not between irrigation treatments. Leaves of Q. buckleyi Buckl. (Texas red oak) had one of the highest stomatal densities, and also had leaves which were among the waxiest, most dense, and thickest. Abaxial leaf surfaces of F. velutina were the most pubescent. Across species, drought led to lower ratios of leaf surface area to root DW, and leaf DW to root DW. Quercus buckleyi plants subjected to drought had the highest root to shoot DW ratio (3.1). The low relative growth rate of Q. buckleyi might limit widespread landscape use. However, Q. buckleyi may merit increased use in landscapes on a reduced moisture budget because of foliar traits, carbon allocation patterns, and the relative lack of impact of drought on plant tissue water relations.


Two Al-Mg-Mn alloys having similar compositions but with and without Zr addition were subjected to equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) at 350°C using route BC and a 90° die, followed by water quenching or air cooling. A series of annealing experiments were conducted at various temperatures from 400°C to 460°C on the water-quenched alloys. Fine structures with grain size of approximately 1~2μm were obtained in these alloys after 6 passes. The water-quenched alloy containing Zr exhibited finer structure compared with the Zr-free alloy in the same cooling condition, which was due to the existence of Al3Zr dispersoids. And in the air cooling condition, it was found that in the Zr-free alloy static recovery occurred, and in partial regions some small grains without dislocation inside appeared suggesting the occurrence of static recrystallization. This demonstrated a fairly restored structure. However, the microstructure of the alloy containing Zr kept stable during the air cooling process. In addition, in the annealing experiments, secondary recrystallization took place in the Zr-free alloy annealed at 410°C for 1h, while the alloy containing Zr kept stable up to 460°C. TEM observation showed that the Al3Zr dispersoids pinned the motion of the grain boundaries, thereby the secondary recrystallization and grain growth were inhibited.


We analyzed the DNA amount in X and B chromosomes of 2 XX/X0 grasshopper species (Eyprepocnemis plorans and Locusta migratoria), by means of Feulgen image analysis densitometry (FIAD), using previous estimates in L. migratoria as standard (5.89 pg). We first analyzed spermatids of 0B males and found a bimodal distribution of integrated optical densities (IODs), suggesting that one peak corresponded to +X and the other to –X spermatids. The difference between the 2 peaks corresponded to the X chromosome DNA amount, which was 1.28 pg in E. plorans and 0.80 pg in L. migratoria. In addition, the +X peak in E. plorans gave an estimate of the C-value in this species (10.39 pg). We next analyzed diplotene cells from 1B males in E. plorans and +B males in L. migratoria (a species where Bs are mitotically unstable and no integer B number can be defined for an individual) and measured B chromosome IOD relative to X chromosome IOD, within the same cell, taking advantage of the similar degree of condensation for both positively heteropycnotic chromosomes at this meiotic stage. From this proportion, we estimated the DNA amount for 3 different B chromosome variants found in individuals from 3 E. plorans Spanish populations (0.54 pg for B1 from Saladares, 0.51 pg for B2 from Salobreña and 0.64 for B24 from Torrox). Likewise, we estimated the DNA amount of the B chromosome in L. migratoria to be 0.15 pg. To automate measurements, we wrote a GPL3 licensed Python program (pyFIA). We discuss the utility of the present approach for estimating X and B chromosome DNA amount in a variety of situations, and the meaning of the DNA amount estimates for X and B chromosomes in these 2 species.


Despite being fully differentiated, DNA methylation is dynamically regulated in post-mitotic glutamatergic neurons in the CA1 of the hippocampus through competing active DNA methylation and de-methylation, a process that regulates neuronal plasticity. Active DNA methylation after learning is necessary for long-term memory formation, and active DNA de-methylation by the TET enzymes has been implicated as a counter-regulator of that biochemical process. We demonstrate that Tet2 functions in the CA1 as a negative regulator of long-term memory, whereby its knockdown across the CA1 or haploinsufficiency in glutamatergic neurons enhances the fidelity of hippocampal-dependent spatial and associative memory. Loci of altered DNA methylation were then determined using whole genome bisulfite sequencing from glutamatergic Tet2 haploinsufficient CA1 tissue, which revealed hypermethylation in the promoters of genes known to be transcriptionally regulated after experiential learning. This study demonstrates a link between Tet2 activity at genes important for memory formation in CA1 glutamatergic neurons and memory fidelity.


Abstract : 3-D scene reconstructions derived from Structure from Motion (SfM) and Multi-View Stereo (MVS) techniques were analyzed to determine the optimal reconnaissance flight characteristics suitable for target reconstruction. In support of this goal, a preliminary study of a simple 3-D geometric object facilitated the analysis of convergence angles and number of camera frames within a controlled environment. Reconstruction accuracy measurements revealed at least 3 camera frames and a 6 convergence angle were required to achieve results reminiscent of the original structure. The central investigative effort sought the applicability of certain airborne reconnaissance flight profiles to reconstructing ground targets. The data sets included images collected within a synthetic 3-D urban environment along circular, linear and s-curve aerial flight profiles equipped with agile and non-agile sensors. S-curve and dynamically controlled linear flight paths provided superior results, whereas with sufficient data conditioning and combination of orthogonal flight paths, all flight paths produced quality reconstructions under a wide variety of operational considerations.


The Cytogenetic studies were carried out in two important coldwater fishes, Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and
Snow trout (Schizothorax richardsonii), by Giemsa staining. The diploid chromosome number (2n) in Rainbow trout
(Oncorhynchus mykiss) the modal diploid number was found to be 2n = 60. The karyotype formula obtained consist of 38
metacentric (M), 6 submetacentric (Sm) and 16 telocentric chromosomes (24M + 20 Sm + 16 T). The fundamental arm
number was derived to be 208 (FN = 208) and in Snow trout (Schizothorax richardsonii), the modal diploid number was
found to be 2n = 96. The karyotype formula obtained consist of 18 metacentric (M), 16 submetacentric (Sm) and 12
subtelocentric and 50 telocentric chromosomes (18 M + 28 Sm + 50 T). The fundamental arm number was derived to be
284 (FN = 284). This is the attempt to compare the wild snow trout obtained from Himalayan stream and farm raised
Rainbow trout in these species using conventional staining.


5 Abstract: This paper reports a new parallel and distributed simulation architecture for OMNeT++, an open-source discrete event simulation environment. The primary application area of OMNeT++ is the simulation of communication networks. Support for a conservative PDES protocol (the Null Message Algorithm) and the relatively novel Ideal Simulation Protocol has been implemented. Placeholder modules, a novel way of distributing the model over several logical processes (LPs) is presented. The OMNeT++ PDES implementation has a modular and extensible architecture, allowing new synchronization protocols and new communication mechanisms to be added easily, which makes it an attractive platform for PDES research, too. We intend to use this framework to harness the computational capacity of highperformance cluster computers for modeling very large scale telecommunication networks to investigate protocol performance and rare event failure scenarios.


In this paper, we propose two metrics, i.e., the optimal repair time and the resilience reduction worth, to measure the criticality of the components of a network system from the perspective of their contribution to system resilience. Specifically, the two metrics quantify: 1) the priority with which a failed component should be repaired and re-installed into the network and 2) the potential loss in the optimal system resilience due to a time delay in the recovery of a failed component, respectively. Given the stochastic nature of disruptive events on infrastructure networks, a Monte Carlo-based method is proposed to generate probability distributions of the two metrics for all of the components of the network; then, a stochastic ranking approach based on the Copeland's pairwise aggregation is used to rank components importance. Numerical results are obtained for the IEEE 30-bus test network and a comparison is made with three classical centrality measures.


A fundamental issue in cell biology is how signals are transmitted across membranes. A variety of transmembrane receptors, including multichain immune recognition receptors, lack catalytic activity and require Src family kinases (SFKs) for signal transduction. However, many receptors only bind and activate SFKs after ligand-induced receptor dimerization. This presents a conundrum: How do SFKs sense the dimerization of receptors to which they are not already bound? Most proposals for resolving this enigma invoke additional players, such as lipid rafts or receptor conformational changes. Here we used simple thermodynamics to show that SFK activation is a natural outcome of clustering of receptors with SFK phosphorylation sites, provided that there is phosphorylation-dependent receptor-SFK association and an SFK bound to one receptor can phosphorylate the second receptor or its associated SFK in a dimer. A simple system of receptor, SFK, and an unregulated protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) can account for ligand-induced changes in phosphorylation observed in cells. We suggest that a core signaling system comprising a receptor with SFK phosphorylation sites, an SFK, and an unregulated PTP provides a robust mechanism for transmembrane signal transduction. Other events that regulate signaling in specific cases may have evolved for fine-tuning of this basic mechanism.


Autophagy is a degradation pathway, activating under stress conditions. It digests macromolecules, such as abnormal proteins and long-lived organelles by engulfing them and by subsequent delivery of the cargo to lysosomes. The members of the phospholipid-dependent serine/threonine kinases, involved in many signaling pathways, which are necessary for the regulation of cellular metabolic activation. Previous studies implicate that, serine/threonine kinases have crucial roles in the mechanism of many diseases depend on the activated and/or inactivated signaling pathway. Data indicates, the signaling pathways activated by serine/threonine kinases are also involved in activation of autophagy mechanism. However, the information about the effect of serine/threonine kinases on autophagy mechanism and the roles of these effects in disease formation is limited. In this study, we investigated the effect of activated serine/threonine kinases on autophagic pathway. We performed a commonly used autophagy technique, GFP-LC3 dot formation and by using microscopy analyses, we evaluated promotion and/or inhibition of autophagy in serine/threonine kinase-overexpressed fibroblasts as well as cancer cells. In addition, we carried out confocal microscopy analyses and examined autophagic flux by utilizing the differential pH sensitivities of RFP and GFP in mRFP-GFP-LC3 probe. Based on the shRNA-library based screening, we identified autophagy-related proteins affected by serine/threonine kinases. We further studied the involvement of serine/threonine kinases on the molecular mechanism of newly identified autophagy proteins and found that, autophagic pathway is indirectly controlled by serine/threonine kinases via specific autophagic proteins. Our data indicate the molecular connection between two critical cellular mechanisms, which have important roles in the formation of many disease pathologies, particularly cancer.