Time Has Gone, this year's theme and conversation of interest is intended to explore contemporary dialogues surrounding different facets of time. Artists from around the globe have been invited to discuss, confront and wrestle with this idea of urgency. Each in their own way, they investigate the practices of archiving, preservation, imagining the possibility of an Afro-based future, putting an end to a ''time that is up'' or the never-ending desire to reinterpret a past, laden with both nostalgia and/or hidden phantoms.

Looking at time both from a macro lens and with West African goggles, the curatorial team sheds light on the long way to go, from the then to the now, investigating diverse configurations of time in the least linear way possible.

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For LagosPhoto, Mary Evans will complete a new fresco on site. The work, titled Passage, a wall- scape of cut out, kraft paper figures, evokes a suspension in time and space. It refers to the passage of time as well as a psycho-geographical reference to transitioning from place to place. Many of the tableaux depicted in this, and other installations by the artist, are reminiscent of barely remembered pictorial passages dredged from her memory as a young child in Lagos.


Nau Mai & Welcome to the Distance Services page, a good place to start when searching for resources to support your studies. If you have any questions email your Subject Librarian.


inevitably be linguistic and cultural integration and assimilation. In a similar vein, the worldwide dissemination of the English language has radically shaped the linguistic and textual devices installed by the Saudi English writers in their texts. Besides, the Saudi English writers have reconstructed L2 (English) on the linguistic pattern of L1(Arabic) to foreground their distinctive ideological and cultural norms. Also, the research work investigates, can Saudi English be considered an authentic linguistic instrument? The researcher also has focused and authenticated on the emergence of Saudi English regarding the innovative linguistic and textual tactics inducted by the Saudi writers in their texts. Besides, the research study has investigated the reconstruction of L2 (English) on the lexical, rhetorical, and grammatical patterns of L1(Arabic). The research work also has a great significance regarding the pedagogical, and theoretical linguistic debate about the emergence of the Asian and African variants of Englishes. Likewise, the researcher has chosen the appropriating linguistic theory, and multiple canons approach as a theoretical framework to analyze the selected Saudi English texts. The research work also has concluded that the Saudi English has emerged as a practical linguistic instrument like any other Asian variants of Englishes. Consequently, the researcher has suggested to the Saudi English writers to reconstruct L2 (English) as a functional instrument to disseminate their national, ideological, and cultural norms for global readers.


We study the pointwise maximum likelihood estimation rates for a class of Gaussian mixtures that are invariant under the action of some isometry group. This model is also known as multi-reference alignment, where random isometries of a given vector are observed, up to Gaussian noise. We completely characterize the speed of the maximum likelihood estimator, by giving a comprehensive description of the likelihood geometry of the model. We show that the unknown parameter can always be decomposed into two components, one of which can be estimated at the fast rate $n^{-1/2}$, the other one being estimated at the slower rate $n^{-1/4}$. We provide an algebraic description and a geometric interpretation of these facts.


We describe an interactive system for classification of normal and seven types of abnormal lung tissue in CT scans from interstitial lung disease patients, using training data from previously annotated scans and annotations by the observer in the scan under investigation. We compared seven different interactive annotation strategies using different combinations of both types of training data, in order to minimize user effort in the interactive annotation process. The lungs in all scans were divided into roughly spherical volumes of interest (VOIs). An observer labeled all VOIs in 21 thoracic CT scans. Leave-one-scan-out experiments that simulated slice-by-slice interactive annotation sessions were performed. The best results were obtained with a strategy in which the simulated user decides for each slice whether to use a classifier trained on pooled data from prior scans or a classifier trained on data from the current scan. In this approach, the labels of 88% of all VOIs were predicted correctly, meaning that only 12% of all labels needed to be changed by the simulated user.


In one of the most famous law review articles ever written, The Role of the Judge in Public Law Litigation, Professor Abram Chayes in 1976 described a paradigm shift away from bipolar traditional litigation to a new model of public law litigation. More than twenty years later, at the end of the twentieth century, Professor Chayes's public law paradigm no longer accurately captures the terrain of complex disputes nor reflects the methods of private aggregate dispute resolution. In American jurisprudence, the end of the twentieth century has been the great era of aggregate private dispute resolution, a paradigm that shares some attributes of the public law model. However, the public law model differs in significant respects. Aggregate private dispute resolution has stretched the boundaries of the judicial function, arrogating to private parties and an array of judicial surrogates vast powers for resolving aggregate claims. This aggregative private dispute resolution paradigm resembles nothing so much as private legislation with wide-reaching effects, carrying the imprimatur of judicial oversight and approval, but frequently accompanied by troubling questions about fairness, adequate representation, and the subtle merger of legislative, administrative, and judicial functions.This article first canvasses Professor Chayes's articulation of the public law model, the context in which Professor Chayes generated his thesis, and the late twentieth-century expansion of the public law model to encompass mass tort litigation. The article then explains why the public law model is an inapt explanatory paradigm for mass tort litigation.The discussion then focuses on four dimensions of the late twentieth-century mass tort and other aggregate litigation that implicate special concerns about these cases and that suggest that the paradigm is closer to private legislation without meaningful representation. These include issues relating to solicitation, adequate representation, and the role of objectors and intervenors. This discussion also briefly canvasses problems of copy-cat litigation, forum-shopping, attorneys' fees, and other matters.The article concludes with broad observations on the need for a new descriptive model to capture the contemporary mass tort litigation paradigm.Obviously, we are now quite some distance from Professor Chayes's description of the public interest law paradigm. Mid-way through his analysis, Professor Chayes pauses to offer a "morphology of the public law litigation," a model consisting of eight characteristics. The challenge for the contemporary commentator, then, is to formulate a "morphology" of the complex litigation that is now prevalent throughout the federal and state court systems.Contemporary mass tort litigation needs another Professor Chayes to weave together all these strands. After setting forth his morphology of the public interest law litigation, Professor Chayes concluded: "In fact, one might say that, from the perspective of the traditional model, the proceeding is recognizable as a lawsuit only because it takes place in a courtroom before an official called a judge." That insight applies with equal force to contemporary aggregate tort litigation. But we need a theoretician with greater analytical power and a more descriptive vocabulary than me to accurately capture the new mass tort paradigm.


We present new, accurate positions, spectral classifications, radial and rotational velocities, Hα fluxes, equivalent widths and B, V, I, R magnitudes for 579 hot emission-line stars (classes B0–F9) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) which include 469 new discoveries. Candidate emission-line stars were discovered using a deep, high-resolution Hα map of the central 25 degree2 of the LMC obtained by median stacking a dozen 2 h Hα exposures taken with the UK Schmidt Telescope (UKST). Spectroscopic follow-up observations on the Anglo-Australian Telescope, the UKST, the Very Large Telescope, the South African Astronomical Observatory 1.9 m and the 2.3-m telescope at Siding Spring Observatory have established the identity of these faint sources down to magnitude Requiv ∼ 23 for Hα (4.5 × 10−17 ergs cm−2 s−1 A−1).

Confirmed emission-line stars have been assigned an underlying spectral classification through cross-correlation against 131 absorption line template spectra covering the range O1–F8. We confirm 111 previously identified emission-line stars and 64 previously known variable stars with spectral types hotter than F8. The majority of hot stars identified (518 stars or 89 per cent) are of class B. Of all the hot emission-line stars in classes B–F, 130 or 22 per cent are type B[e], characterized by the presence of forbidden emission lines such as [S ii], [N ii] and [O ii]. We report on the physical location of these stars with reference to possible contamination from ambient H ii emission. Only 13 of the emission-line stars require additional high-resolution spectroscopic observations in order to assign a spectroscopic classification. They have nonetheless been added to the catalogue.

Along with flux calibration of the Hα emission, we provide the first Hα luminosity function for selected sub-samples after correction for any possible nebula or ambient contamination. We find a moderate correlation between the intensity of Hα emission and the V magnitude of the central star based on SuperCOSMOS magnitudes and Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE)-II photometry where possible. Cool stars from classes G–S, with and without strong Hα emission, will be the focus of Part II in this series.


Background : Oxidative stress has a considerable influence on endothelial cell dysfunction and atherosclerosis. Acacetin, an anti-inflammatory and antiarrhythmic, is frequently used in the treatment of myocarditis, albeit its role in managing atherosclerosis is currently unclear. Thus, we evaluated the regulatory effects of acacetin in maintaining endothelial cell function and further investigated whether the flavonoid could attenuate atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E deficiency (apoE -/- ) mice. Methods : Different concentrations of acacetin were tested on EA.hy926 cells, either induced or non-induced by human oxidized low density lipoprotein (oxLDL), to clarify its influence on cell viability, cellular reactive oxidative stress (ROS) level, apoptotic ratios and other regulatory effects. In vivo, apoE -/- mice were fed either a western diet or a chow diet. Acacetin prodrug (15mg/kg) was injected subcutaneously two times a day for 12weeks. The effects of acacetin on the atherosclerotic process, plasma inflammatory factors and lipid metabolism were also investigated. Results : Acacetin significantly increased EA.hy926 cell viability by reducing the ratios of apoptotic and necrotic cells at 3μM. Moreover, 3μM Acacetin clearly decreased ROS levels and enhanced reductase protein expression through MsrA and Nrf2 pathway through phosphorylation of Nrf2 and degradation of Keap1. In vivo , acacetin treatment remarkably attenuated atherosclerosis by increasing reductase levels in circulation and aortic roots, decreasing plasma inflammatory factor levels as well as accelerating lipid metabolism in Western diet-fed apoE -/- mice. Conclusions : Our findings demonstrate the anti-oxidative and anti-atherosclerotic effects of acacetin, in turn suggesting its potential therapeutic value in atherosclerotic-related cardiovascular diseases (CVD).


This paper presents an intelligent search strategy for the conforming bad data errors identification in the generalized power system state estimation, by using the tabu search meta heuristic. The main objective is to detect critical errors involving both analog and topology errors. These errors are represented by conforming errors, whose nature affects measurements that actually do not present bad data and also the conventional bad data identification strategies based on the normalized residual methods.


To solve current social problems, manufacturers need to supply service rather than materialized products to consumers. We have been proposing a novel engineering paradigm to deal with services, service engineering. We define services as a state change. A service model consists of three sub-models: scope model, view model and flow model. A computer-aided design tool, called Service Explorer, is developed to represent a network of the parameters and determines the influence weight one another. Keywords– service design, design methodology, computer aided design, value creation


Information sharing is one of the important aspects that improve the quality of businesses and organizations.With the advent of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), electronic information sharing could transform the provision of services to universities with the right and quality information and with minimum cost.Yemen Center Information Technology of Higher Education (YCIT-HE) in Yemen provide services to the Yemeni public universities.However, not all Yemeni public universities are able to share information electronically due to low experiences and insufficient resources such as information.The lack of electronic information sharing between the Yemeni public universities and YCIT-HE is considered as a critical gap in order to increase the quality and relevance of information in supporting good decision making. Four dimensions or layers of electronic information sharing (environmental, technological organizational and individual) with twelve factors have been proposed in this study to determine the potential in enhancing the provision of education services to the universities. Cloud computing and social media are included with an expectation to bring a transformation in the provision of services to universities.


The relation of house dust mite allergen levels to asthma and allergy was examined in two population samples of children aged 8–11 years in northern New South Wales. We studied 805 children in Lismore (a hot, humid, coastal region) and 770 in Moree/ Narrabri (a hot, dry inland region). Respiratory symptoms were measured by questionnaire, bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) by histamine inhalation test, and allergy by skin‐prick tests. Current asthma was defined as the presence of both wheeze in last 12 months and BHR. Der p I levels were measured in dust from the bed and floors in the homes of 57 randomly selected children in the coastal region and of 74 inland children. Der p I levels were significantly higher by the coast (83.0 vs 11.2 μg/g, P < 0.001). House dust mite sensitivity was of similar prevalence in both regions (28.6 vs 26.4%, n.s.) but Alternaria sensitivity was higher inland (4.0 vs 15.2%P < 0.001). Bronchial responsiveness was more severe in coastal children sensitized to house dust mites and in inland children who were sensitized to Alternaria. The adjusted odds ratios for current asthma in children sensitized to house dust mites were 21.3 (95% CI 10.5, 43.2) by the coast and 2.7 (95% CI 1.3, 5.4) inland, and in children sensitized to Alternaria were 3.4 (95% CI 1.3, 9.1) in the coastal region and 5.6 (95% CI 3.1, 10.1 inland. These studies suggest that high house dust mite allergen levels in a humid, subtropical region act to significantly increase bronchial responsiveness in sensitized children, and that Alternaria allergens have a similar but less potent action in a dry, rural region.


Pharmacological strategies for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) continue to develop apace but deficiencies remain. We present an updated literature review of the evidence supporting available strategies. We aim to answer key questions including: (1) What are the first-line treatments? (2) Does pharmacotherapy improve health-related quality of life? (3) How do we evaluate clinical response and relapse? (4) How long should treatment continue? (5) Can we predict treatment outcomes? (6) What is the management of treatment-refractory OCD? Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) remain the pharmacological treatment of choice for most patients and are associated with improved health-related quality of life. However, discontinuation is associated with relapse and loss of quality of life, implying treatment should continue long term. A substantial minority of patients fail to respond to SSRI. Such patients may respond to strategies such as dose elevation or adjunctive antipsychotic, although long-term trials validating the effectiveness and tolerability of these strategies are relatively lacking. Newer compounds targeting other neurotransmitter systems, such as glutamate, are undergoing evaluation.


To meet the ever-increasing demands on higher throughput and better network delay performance, 60 GHZ networking is proposed as a promising solution for the next generation of wireless communications. To successfully deploy such networks, its important to understand their performance first. However, due to the unique fading characteristic of the 60 GHz channel, the characterization of the corresponding service process, offered by the channel, using the conventional methodologies may not be tractable. In this work, we provide an alternative approach to derive a closed-form expression that characterizes the cumulative service process of the 60 GHz channel in terms of the moment generating function (MGF) of its instantaneous channel capacity. We then use this expression to derive probabilistic upper bounds on the backlog and delay that are experienced by a flow traversing this network, using results from the MGF-based network calculus. The computed bounds are validated using simulation. We provide numerical results for different networking scenarios and for different traffic and channel parameters and we show that the 60 GHz wireless network is capable of satisfying stringent quality-of-Service (QoS) requirements, in terms of network delay and reliability. With this analysis approach at hand, a larger scale 60 GHz network design and optimization is possible.


Orientation: This article, the final in a series of three papers, locates organisational change, specifically within the context of individuals' experience of 'meaning', as conceptualised in Viktor Frankl's logotherapy. Research purpose: The purpose of this theoretical paper is to investigate the context of meaning in organisational change by exploring the relationship between meaning and change. Motivation for the study: Although literature on change management is available in abundance, very little research has been focussed on the micro-level issues pertaining to organisational change, and virtually no research relating to the 'existential meaning' context of such change could be found. Research design, approach and method: The study was conducted by means of a review of literature, guided by the theoretical perspectives of logotherapy. Main findings: Whilst systems to which individuals traditionally turned for meaning decline, organisations become increasingly important for employees' experience of meaning. As organisational change threatens such meaning, resistance to change may occur, which inhibits organisations' ability to change. Logotherapy provides a useful framework for understanding this meaning context, which could be utilised to inform frameworks to guide change implementation more successfully. Practical and managerial implications: An understanding of the role that meaning can play in causing − and hence reducing − resistance to change may be of great value to organisations attempting to implement change initiatives. Contribution: The value-add of the article is grounded on its exploration of the relatively uncharted territory of how the experience of meaning by employees may impact organisational change. This article therefore provides a novel perspective for conceptualising change. In addition, it suggests specific recommendations for utilising an understanding of the meaning change relationship with the objective of optimising change initiatives.


Supply of reliable and safe water is essential for human health and survival, food security, empowerment of women and protection of natural resources. Lack of water impedes economic
development, prevents progress towards gender equality and puts people's health in danger. This study focused on benefits of water spring protection on the lives of community members and
institutions governing the use and management of the protected facility. There was a further assessment of environmental benefits by the respondents willingness to pay (WTP) and the factors influencing them to pay. Semi-structured questionnaire was used to generate qualitative and empirical data on 200 randomly selected respondents using protected and unprotected springs in Emuhaya District of Vihiga County. Contigent valuation method was used for valuation of environmental benefits. Logit model was adopted to evaluate factors influencing WTP while the benefits and institutions of existing water structures were analyzed using descriptive methods. An independent t-test was also run to determine whether the socioeconomic variables were statistically significant between households with protected springs and those with unprotected springs. The results indicated that lack of cooperation, insufficient funds/poor contributions and lack of frequent meetings were the main challenges hindering major developments towards water supply. These challenges mostly arose in the water user groups. Majority of respondents using protected springs (56.2%) had not received training on the
use of the facility. The results also revealed that spring protection had significant benefits in terms of time saving, water quality and sanitation, agriculture, health aspects and social capital. Upto 93% of respondents were willing to pay in order to receive satisfactory spring protection services with a mean WTP of Ksh 111. Regression results showed that source of support, membership to group, farm size and time were significant in explaining the variations in the WTP for spring protection at 95% level of confidence. Generally, the maintenance of the springs
was still impaired due to lack of information on how to maintain in order to ensure sustainability. This led to a recommendation of further training of the community at large on conservation
issues especially at spring site to ensure the resource is used sustainably and conserved for future generation. There was also a need of further studies on impact of time saved due to spring
protection on agricultural productivity.


Introduction: The ongoing challenge for Chilean hospitals of meeting population health needs merits attention to the health care workforce. No studies have explored how nursing might contribute to addressing this challenge. International research shows that organizational characteristics of the nursing workforce and practice environment are associated with patient outcomes. Chile lacks actionable evidence that applies to its context of care. Method: First, a review of international literature was developed to synthesize evidence on the association between organizational characteristics of the nursing workforce and patient outcomes. Second, a review of literature and other nonacademic sources was performed to describe the context of care and data pertaining to nurses in Chilean hospitals. Third, a research agenda for efficient utilization of the hospital nursing workforce in Chile was proposed. Results: International evidence shows that low patient-to-nurse ratios, high skill mix, and good practice environments are associated with better patient outcomes. Chilean hospitals have financial constraints that greatly influence the context of nursing practice and the scarce data about nursing organization call for greater attention. Conclusion: The establishment and implementation of a research agenda is needed to build local evidence regarding effective organization of nurses to inform policies and to improve patient outcomes in Chile.


Over the past decade, many microfluidic platforms for fluid processing have been developed in order to perform on-chip fluidic manipulations. Many of these methods, however, require expensive and bulky external supporting equipment, which are not typically applicable for microsystems requiring portability. We have developed a new type of portable contactless metal electro-osmotic micropump capable of on-chip fluid pumping, routing and metering. The pump operates using two pairs of gallium metal electrodes, which are activated using an external voltage source, and separated from a main flow channel by a thin micron-scale PDMS membrane. The thin contactless membrane allows for field penetration and electro-osmotic (EO) flow within the microchannel, but eliminates electrode damage and sample contamination commonly associated with traditional DC electro-osmotic pumps that utilize electrodes in direct contact with the working fluid. The maximum flow rates and pressures generated by the pump using DI water as a working buffer are 10 nL min(-1) and 30 Pa, respectively. With our current design, the maximum operational conductivity where fluid flow is observed is 0.1 mS cm(-1). Due to the small size and simple fabrication procedure, multiple micropump units can be integrated into a single microfluidic device for automated on-chip routing and sample metering applications. We experimentally demonstrated the ability to quantify micropump electro-osmotic flowrate and pressure as a function of applied voltage, and developed a mathematical model capable of predicting the performance of a contactless micropump for a given external load and internal hydrodynamic microchannel resistance. Finally, we showed that by activating specific pumps within a microchannel network, our micropumps are capable of routing microchannel fluid flow and generating plugs of solute.


Cluster analysis and principal component analysis were used to investigate the differences among species of Acanthophyllum sect. Oligosperma in Khorassan provinces (NE Iran). In this study, a total of 60 including 32 quantitatives and 28 qualitatives characters were examined on 98 herbarium specimens. The results explained morphological treats are useful to discriminate taxa. Phenogram and scattergram displayed four distinct groups among samples which suggest four series for this section in NE Iran. These series are agreement with previous series considered for this section in Flora of USSR. In addition, here, a new series named "Speciosa" is introduced for the first time for the Flora of Iran. Our analysis didn't provide any distinguishing pattern between A. squarrosum Boiss., and A. heratense SchimanCzeika, and also between A. pachystegium Rech. f., A. adenophorum Freyn, and A. lilacinum Schischk. It seems more ditailed morphological study in field and molecular analysis could solve the problem of theses complexes.


Insects face the challenge of navigating to specific goals in both bright sun-lit and dim-lit environments. Both diurnal and nocturnal insects use quite similar navigation strategies. This is despite the signal-to-noise ratio of the navigational cues being poor at low light conditions. To better understand the evolution of nocturnal life, we investigated the navigational efficiency of a nocturnal ant, Myrmecia pyriformis, at different light levels. Workers of M. pyriformis leave the nest individually in a narrow light-window in the evening twilight to forage on nest-specific Eucalyptus trees. The majority of foragers return to the nest in the morning twilight, while few attempt to return to the nest throughout the night. We found that as light levels dropped, ants paused for longer, walked more slowly, the success in finding the nest reduced and their paths became less straight. We found that in both bright and dark conditions ants relied predominantly on visual landmark information for navigation and that landmark guidance became less reliable at low light conditions. It is perhaps due to the poor navigational efficiency at low light levels that the majority of foragers restrict navigational tasks to the twilight periods, where sufficient navigational information is still available.


Desalting is a water-washing operation performed initially at the production field and thereafter at the refinery site for additional crude oil cleanup. Salt and water content specifications are even more rigid because of their negative effect in downstream processes due to corrosion, and catalyst deactivation. An optimum formulation concept is presented to describe emulsion breaking in desalting process. In the stabilization mechanism is accepted that water droplets are stabilized by the formation of a mechanically strong and viscoelastic film at the interface composed of asphaltenes. In the case of water-in-crude-oil emulsions, a balanced optimum formulation is attained by adding to the lipophilic natural surfactants contained in the crude oil, demulsifiers which are hydrophilic. The aim is to relate the nature and concentration of the added demulsifier products to the amphiphilic mixture at the interface. All formulation parameters, such as solvent, alcohols, kind and concentra‐ tion of demulsifier, amoung others, can be explained for proportional and saturation regimens.


This paper assesses the effects of household investments through child educating activities on child neurodevelopment between the ages of 3 and 24 months, and evaluates whether investments explain racial and socioeconomic developmental gaps in South America. Quantile regression is used to evaluate the heterogeneity in investment effects by unobserved developmental endowments. The study finds large positive investment effects on early child neurodevelopment, with generally larger effects among children with low developmental endowments (children at the left margin of the development distribution). Investments explain part of the observed racial gaps and the whole socioeconomic developmental gap. Investments may compensate for low endowments and policy interventions to increase investments may reduce early development gaps and result in high social and economic returns.


Human activities threaten reef ecosystems globally, forcing ecological change at rates and scales regarded as unprecedented in the Holocene. These changes are so profound that a cessation of reef accretion (reef 'turn‐off') and net erosion of reef structures is argued by many as the ultimate and imminent trajectory. Here, we use a regional scale reef growth dataset, based on 76 core records (constrained by 211 radiometric dates) from 22 reefs along and across the inner‐shelf of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, to examine the timing of different phases of reef initiation ('turn‐on'), growth and 'turn‐off' during the Holocene. This dataset delineates two temporally discrete episodes of reef‐building over the last 8500 years: the first associated with the Holocene transgression‐early highstand period [∼8.5–5.5 k calibrated years bp (cal ybp)]; the second since ∼2.3 k cal ybp. During both periods, reefs accreted rapidly to sea level before entering late evolutionary states – states naturally characterized by reduced coral cover and low accretion potential – and a clear hiatus occurs between these reef‐building episodes for which no records of reef initiation exist. These transitions mimic those projected under current environmental disturbance regimes, but have been driven entirely by natural forcing factors. Our results demonstrate that, even through the late Holocene, reef health and growth has fluctuated through cycles independent of anthropogenic forcing. Consequently, degraded reef states cannot de facto be considered to automatically reflect increased anthropogenic stress. Indeed, in many cases degraded or nonaccreting reef communities may reflect past reef growth histories (as dictated by reef growth–sea level interactions) as much as contemporary environmental change. Recognizing when changes in reef condition reflect these natural 'turn‐on'– growth –'turn‐off' cycles and how they interact with on‐going human disturbance is critical for effective coral reef management and for understanding future reef ecological trajectories.


AIM
Esophageal cancer remains a major and lethal health problem. In Nepal, not much has been explored about its management. The aim of this study was to conduct a retrospective review of esophageal cancer patients undergoing surgery or combined modality treatment at a cancer hospital in Nepal.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Resectable cases were treated primarily with surgery. Locally advanced cases with doubtful or obviously unresectability underwent preoperative chemo/radiation or chemoradiation followed by surgery.

RESULTS
Among 900 patients, 103 were treated with curative intent. Mean age of patients was 54 years, and 100% of the patients presented with complaint of dysphagia. Surgery as a single modality of treatment was done in 57% of cases, and the remaining underwent combined modality treatment. Transthoracic and transhiatal approaches were used in 95% and 5% of cases, respectively. Nodal sampling, two-field (2-FD), and three-field lymphadenectomy (3-FD) were done in 18%, 59%, and 20% of cases, respectively. A majority of patients had pathological stage III disease (46.6%). In-hospitality mortality was 5%, and anastomotic leakage rate was 14%. In 87% of patients, R0 resection was achieved. Overall, 4-year survival was 20%. A R0 resection, early-stage disease and 3-FD favored the survival advantage (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION
The mortality, complication, and survival results were in the acceptable range. R0 resection and radical nodal dissection should be standard practice.


Carbon black materials have been frequently used from prehistory as pigments for drawings and paintings and also as dyes, inks and cosmetics, since they are easy to make by burning organic matter. However, the carbonaceous phases they form are often ill-ordered and not easy to characterize. Five carbon black Roman micro samples found in vessels in houses in Pompeii were studied. These precious powders correspond to mixed phase samples that contain both crystalline and ill-ordered components. Here, a methodological approach that accomplishes the identification, quantification and mapping of the different phases in these heterogeneous samples using synchrotron-based techniques is proposed. The results were compared with those from scanning electron microscopy. Information about the nature of the mixtures and the origin of carbon black pigments is obtained. The use of charred vegetable materials is concluded, independently of the shape and the nature of the container.


Background Key populations, including female sex workers (FSWs), are at a disproportionately high risk for HIV infection. Estimates of the size of these populations serve as denominator data to inform HIV prevention and treatment programming and are necessary for the equitable allocation of limited public health resources. Objective This study aimed to present the respondent-driven sampling (RDS) adjusted reverse tracking method (RTM; RadR), a novel population size estimation approach that combines venue mapping data with RDS data to estimate the population size, adjusted for double counting and nonattendance biases. Methods We used data from a 2014 RDS survey of FSWs in Windhoek and Katima Mulilo, Namibia, to demonstrate the RadR method. Information from venue mapping and enumeration from the survey formative assessment phase were combined with survey-based venue-inquiry questions to estimate population size, adjusting for double counting, and FSWs who do not attend venues. RadR estimates were compared with the official population size estimates, published by the Namibian Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS), and with the unadjusted RTM. Results Using the RadR method, we estimated 1552 (95% simulation interval, SI, 1101-2387) FSWs in Windhoek and 453 (95% SI: 336-656) FSWs in Katima Mulilo. These estimates were slightly more conservative than the MoHSS estimates—Windhoek: 3000 (1800-3400); Katima Mulilo: 800 (380-2000)—though not statistically different. We also found 75 additional venues in Windhoek and 59 additional venues in Katima Mulilo identified by RDS participants' responses that were not detected during the initial mapping exercise. Conclusions The RadR estimates were comparable with official estimates from the MoHSS. The RadR method is easily integrated into RDS studies, producing plausible population size estimates, and can also validate and update key population maps for outreach and venue-based sampling.


25-Hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) half-life is a potential biomarker for investigating vitamin D metabolism and requirements. We performed a pilot study to assess the approach and practical feasibility of measuring 25(OH)D half-life after an oral dose. A total of twelve healthy Gambian men aged 18–23 years were divided into two groups to investigate the rate and timing of (1) absorption and (2) plasma disappearance after an 80 nmol oral dose of 25(OH)D2. Fasting blood samples were collected at baseline and, in the first group, every 2 h post-dose for 12 h, at 24 h, 48 h and on day 15. In the second group, fasting blood samples were collected on days 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18 and 21. Urine was collected for 2 h after the first morning void at baseline and on day 15. 25(OH)D2 plasma concentration was measured by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem MS/MS and corrected for baseline. Biomarkers of vitamin D, Ca and P metabolism were measured at baseline and on day 15. The peak plasma concentration of 25(OH)D2 was 9·6 (sd 0·9) nmol/l at 4·4 (sd 1·8) h. The terminal slope of 25(OH)D2 disappearance was identified to commence from day 6. The terminal half-life of plasma 25(OH)D2 was 13·4 (sd 2·7) d. There were no significant differences in plasma 25(OH)D3, total 1,25(OH)2D, parathyroid hormone, P, Ca and ionised Ca and urinary Ca and P between baseline and day 15 and between the two groups. The present study provides data on the plasma response to oral 25(OH)D2 that will underpin and contribute to the further development of studies to investigate 25(OH)D half-life.


The effect of the cooling rates on oxygen content of silver sheathed Bi-2223 bulk superconducting samples was investigated performing dc electrical resistivity, transport critical current density, ac susceptibility and x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. The bulk samples with Ag sheathing were annealed under identical conditions and cooled with rates of 25° C / h, 50° C / h, 75° C / h, and 100° C / h. We estimated the transition temperatures from both dc resistivity and ac susceptibility as a function of temperature measurements. It is observed that Tc and Jc depend on cooling rates of the samples. Tc and Jc decrease with increasing cooling rates. The imaginary part of ac susceptibility measurements is used to calculate inter-granular critical current density using the Bean Model. Jc(Tp) is also seen to decreases with increasing cooling rates. The peak temperature, Tp, in the imaginary part of the ac susceptibility is shifted to a lower temperature with increasing cooling rates as well as increasing ac magnetic fields. The force pinning density decreased with increasing the cooling rates. XRD patterns are given to determine lattice parameter c and obtain information about Bi-2223 and Bi-2212 phases.


This paper concerns itself with dialectal differences between British Eng-lish (BrE) and American English (AmE) regarding modal have-got and its scope with respect to sentential negation. Modal haven't got is perfectly acceptable in BrE, meaning 'not obligated to' in the standard variety. In AmE, modal have-got is somewhat degraded when the have has unambiguously raised, and especially so when it is negated, as shown in a preliminary acceptability judgement survey of American English speakers. An analysis in terms of polarity sensitivity is inadequate, and Iatridou & Zeijlstra's (2013) syntax for modals is overly restrictive in the face of scopally ambiguous have not (got) to in non-standard varieties of BrE. We propose an analysis in terms of the locus of modality: whereas have and got are separate in BrE, in AmE have-got is a scopally indivisible whole. Finally, we evaluate how well this analysis extends to an additional dialectal difference in verb phrase ellipsis (LeSourd 1976), where the have of have-got survives ellipsis in BrE but not AmE.


The treatment of chronic rotator cuff tears is a controversial topic. Proponents of conservative therapy cite cadaver studies and postulate that with time the inflammatory reaction will subside and that although the structural integrity of the cuff may not be completely intact, the patient will nevertheless have an excellent functional result. On the other hand, operative intervention proponents contend that better mechanical advantage to shoulder motion will be present with an intact rotator cuff and that excision of necrotic tissue will alleviate impingement and pain. This paper is an overview of the topic and discusses some of the treatment modalities.


A novel approach is investigated to extend the range of measurable velocities by 3D-PTV systems. The method is specifically conceived for robotic volumetric PTV measurements, but it has applications for other similar techniques. The multi-Δt method relies upon combining the information from two or more sets of double-frame images with pulse separation of different time duration. Measurements with a short time separation yield a robust particle velocity field estimation with a higher percentage of valid vectors, yet a low measurement precision. Conversely, measurements with longer time separation potentially offer a higher measurement precision but suffer from an increased probability of spurious particle pairing. Reynolds decomposition is used to combine the two (dual-Δt) sets where a predictor for the mean particle displacement and its statistical dispersion is used to pair particle recordings from a longer time separation. For this reason, this method is aimed at the analysis of turbulent flows where the Reynolds decomposition is meaningful (e.g. turbulent flows with steady/quasi-steady boundary conditions). The extent of the search region is selected dynamically, based on the estimate of the velocity fluctuations from the short time separation evaluation. A more advanced variant of the algorithm contemplates the progressive increase of the pulse separation (multi-Δt) until the expected dispersion of data due to turbulent fluctuations eventually exceeds the distance between neighbouring particles. Flow measurements in the near wake of a truncated cylinder obstacle and of an Ahmed body are carried out to examine the performance of the proposed method. Reference data is taken from time-resolved multi-frame analysis based on the Shake-The-Box (STB) algorithm. The two experiments differ for the measurement principle used: the first one is conducted with a tomographic-like system (large aperture), whereas the latter uses coaxial volumetric velocimetry. The rate of correct pairing as well as the velocity dynamic range dependence upon the choice of the time separation are monitored and discussed. The results compare favourably with the STB analysis, indicating that the measurement of the time-average velocity field can be based on dual-Δt 3D-PTV measurements removing the constraint of time-resolved particle motion recording.


A considerable part of the European property portfolio is owned by municipalities. In a market economy this raises several important questions, for instance whether the real estate management in public administrations is as efficient and effective as in private institutions. We address this question by looking at one important detail: the ways decisions are made in European cities. Surely this aspect cannot fully answer the question, but it can deliver meaningful hints for further research and for improvements in practice.The first part of our paper contains a review of the literature on decision theory and public real estate management from which we derive a number of current issues in municipal real estate decision making. In the next chapter we analyze the literature on the real estate portfolios of selected European cities which leads to a classification of public properties. Since the data is scarce and not much research has been done in this field we take an in-depth look at three best-practice cities to find out about the decision making processes in practice. For each city we describe the current situation (Example: 'How many properties are managed by how many employees?'), the strategy (Example: 'Is 'creating public value' a strategic objective?'), the organization (Example: 'Is the real estate management centralized?'), and the decision making process (Example: 'When do employees deviate from the defined decision making processes?'). We conclude our paper with a summary of the findings from the case studies and some suggestions for other cities how to improve real estate management by improving the decision making processes and instruments.


Fetal hemoglobin (HbF) is the dominant form of hemoglobin present in the fetus during gestation. HbF is produced by erythroid precursor cells from 10 to 12 weeks of pregnancy through the first six months of postnatal life. HbF contains two alpha and two gamma subunits, while the major form of adult hemoglobin, hemoglobin A (HbA), contains two alpha and two beta subunits. The genes that express gamma chain proteins are present in the beta chain locus on chromosome 11. The gamma subunit differs from its adult counterpart in that it contains either an alanine or a glycine at position 136, both of which are neutral, nonpolar amino acids. This difference introduces conformational changes to the protein that gives rise to several physiological differences in oxygen delivery that are important in the fetal circulation.


For more than 2 decades the popularity of text messages has been continuously increasing. At the same time the abuse of short message services (SMS) in terms of SMS-Spam is also increasing and leads to high costs and data security issues for mobile users as well as for service providers. In this working paper the concepts of machine learning are elaborated to identify automatically possible SMS-Spam and therefore improve the service quality of telecommunication companies. The recognition of SPAM is hereby based upon the classification of text messages with the help of the a) Bayes' theorem by fragmenting the text message into n-grams and to determine the likelihood for SPAM. Deploying vertical n-grams is hereby a new approach. b) Multilayer perceptron (neural networks) and the Backpropagation learning algorithm. The ROC curve (receiver operation characteristic) and corresponding measures are used to compare and evaluate both methods.


This for many computer innovation and machine learning problems, key of good performance is large data set. However, in many computer innovation and machine learning algorithms consist of finding nearest neighbour matches in large data set is computationally expansive part. New algorithms are developed for approximate nearest neighbour matching and evaluation and then compare them with preceding algorithms. For matching high dimensional features most efficient algorithms are essential. Perhaps the Locality sensitive hashing (LSH) technique is best known hashing based nearest neighbour technique which requires multiple numbers of hash functions with the property that the hashes of elements that are close to each other are also likely to be close. Variants of LSH such as multi-probe LSH improves the high storage costs by reducing the number of hash tables, and LSH Forest adapts better to the data without requiring hand tuning of parameters. for finding the best algorithm to search a particular data set, Optimal nearest neighbour algorithm and its parameters depend on the large data set characteristics and gives description of automated configuration procedure. In order to scale to very large data sets that would otherwise not fit in the memory. When dealing with such large data, possible solutions include performing some dimensionality reduction on the data, keeping the data on the disk and loading only parts of it in the main memory or distributing the data on several computers and using a distributed nearest neighbour search algorithm.


Even under field conditions the registration of EMG-signals is often interfered with artifacts. For quantitative signal processing it is necessary to eliminate artifacts and noise from the EMG raw data. We show a simple and efficient way with the help of a recursive digital first order Butterworth filter. This filter-type has a great slope steepness and requires minimal calculations. The algorithm is derived and easily programmable.


The subject approached in this article concerns and optimization of costs so that integrated quality management systems could be applied. The optimization implies in this case that a limit should be ascertained for costs that are generated by the implementation and operation of the system so that such limit could be used as a basis for obtaining a maximum of benefit or, in other words, a minimum cost should be determined to which the business of the company can be materialized in such results that are foreseen upon the implementation of the system. In order that optimization could be possible, one must know such costs first of all, while corporate practice suggests that such requirement is difficult to fulfil. At present, circumstances are even more complicated, as most industrial corporations apply integrated quality systems in which, beside the standard ISO 9001, other two or several other ISO standards have been further implemented. In this case, the recording and optimization of quality costs becomes much more complex, less precise and more expensive. This is why cost optimization by mathematical modelling, which is both the most precise and the most complex method, is less affordable, meaning that business agents, in their practice, prefer a simpler method, that of comparing the performance of the organization with a reference standard (for example ISO 9001), which captures the difference to the performance before a quality system was implemented. In this context, authors suggest that the second method (i.e. that based on comparisons) should be selected. For its application, they have prepared a methodology for which feasibility was based on the results of a research made in several companies in Romania.


Peptide isosteres are important tools for the understanding of peptide function and for the development of drugs. (E)-Alkene peptide isosteres are particularly useful due to their close geometric match of the amide bond structure. We developed a method for the generation of a small library of (E)-alkene peptide isosteres on solid support via cuprate mediated SN2′ ring opening of allylic BUS-aziridines. We also studied the selectivity for the opening of these aziridines in the solution phase.Halenaquinone is a marine natural product that was first isolated in 1983 from the Pacific sponge Xestosongia exigua. We realized the synthesis of a thiophene-containing analog, thio-halenaquinone. The key steps include an alkynyl ketone-benzocylcobutane Diels-Alder reaction to construct the naphthalene subunit, a Heck cyclization to form the quaternary carbon, and a ring closing metathesis to install the final ring. This compound showed an IC90 ~5 µM against Pfnek-1 and an analog that had an IC90 ~3 µM. Based on these results we designed and synthesized a simplified analog that showed an IC90 ~4 µM. This compound was selected to move on to animal testing and the synthesis was optimized for the preparation of and 200 mg of the lead structure.


Introduction: Nowadays new radiochromic films have an essential role in radiotherapy dosimetry. Properties such as high sensitivity, good reproducibility, high spatial resolution, easy readout and portability have made them attractive for dosimetry, especially in high-dose-gradient regions. Material and Methods: In this study, electron-beam dose distributions in homogenous and heterogeneous phantoms were calculated using the MCNPX Monte Carlo code and compared with experimental measurements obtained by GAFCHROMIC® EBT film and p-type silicon diode dosimetry. Irradiation was carried out using an Elekta linear accelerator at two different electron energies (8 and 15 MeV), with a 10×10 cm2 applicator and at 100 cm source-to-surface distance. Results: The results show good agreement (within 2%) between radiochromic film measurements and MCNP results. Conclusions: The results show that the new radiochromic films can be used in electron dosimetry and that they are also reliable in presence of heterogeneous media.


Economists and sociologists disagree over markets' potential to assume functions typically performed by networks of personal connections, first among them the transmission of information. This paper begins from a model of labor markets where social ties are stronger between similar individuals and firms employing productive workers prefer to rely on personal referrals than to hire on the anonymous market (Montgomery (1991). However, we allow workers in the market to engage in a costly action that can signal their high productivity, and ask whether the possibility of signaling reduces the reliance on the network. We find that the network is remarkably resilient. To be effective signaling must fulfill two contradictory requirements: unless the signal is extremely precise, it must be expensive or it is not informative; but it must be cheap, or the network can undercut it.


User identification opens up new interaction possibilities on interactive surfaces. Yet many current multi-touch systems only detect isolated touches and cannot identify users. This paper presents a low-cost, biometric method for user identification for vision-based interactive surfaces. To identify users, we extract characteristic contour features from a flat hand posture and use Support Vector Machines (SVM) for classification. Our evaluation shows the method's robustness together with high true and low false positive rates of 96% respectively 0.5%. We further outline possibilities to integrate this method with surface interaction techniques, taking into account that users have to perform distinctive hand postures to afford identification.


IgA deficiency and common variable immunodeficiency are heritable disorders that can occur within the same family. Both immunodeficiencies are characterized by arrests in B-cell differentiation that vary in the extent of the immunoglobulin isotypes involved. A high frequency of major histocompatibility complex supratypes associated with a null allele of the gene encoding the C4A isotype of complement component C4 has been observed in IgA-deficient individuals. In search of a genetic linkage between the two immunodeficiencies, we examined the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class III genes encoding complement components C2, C4A, and C4B and steroid 21-hydroxylase in addition to the HLA serotypes in individuals with either common variable immunodeficiency or IgA deficiency. Twelve of 19 patients with common variable immunodeficiency (63%, P less than 0.001) and 9 of 16 patients with IgA deficiency (56%, P less than 0.01) had rare C2 alleles and/or C4A and 21-hydroxylase A deletions, whereas these gene features were seen in only 5 of 34 healthy individuals (15%) in the control group. Nine of 11 patients with C4A deletion had an HLA haplotype consistent with the MHC supratype HLA-A1, Cw7, B8, C4AQ0, C4B1, BfS, DR3 previously found to be associated with IgA deficiency. The data support the hypothesis that common variable immunodeficiency and IgA deficiency are related disorders, susceptibility to which is determined by a gene(s) within or near the MHC class III gene region on chromosome 6.


ABSTRACT Forming the majority of plant diversity in boreal forests, understory communities are important drivers of nutrient cycling and overstory succession. In western Canadian boreal forests, fire is the primary mechanism of natural disturbance, with oil sands mining a substantial anthropogenic disturbance in north-eastern Alberta. An operational reclamation trial, at an oil sands mine, was established the same year as a nearby forest fire, allowing for direct comparison of plant community development between reclaimed and naturally regenerated fire-origin and mature stands. This work reflects a case study with large, but unreplicated, areas of both fertilized and unfertilized reclamation treatments on forest floor-mineral mix (FFMM) and peat-mineral mix (PMM) capping materials. After three years, reclamation sites are compositionally distinct from post-fire and mature natural stands, with more non-native species in reclamation treatments than in natural stands. Communities developing on FFMM are more similar to post-fire successional communities than those on PMM, with high species richness and diversity on FFMM comparable with post-fire stands. Cover soil had a stronger impact on plant community development than fertilization, with fertilization effects dependent on cover soil. A standard dose of fertilizer lowered richness and diversity on FFMM and is not recommended for use with that soil.


A 62-year-old patient presented with abdominal discomfort, weight loss, discoloration of the skin, and dark urine (figure 1). His medical history revealed achondroplasia. Physical examination showed a short stature due to achondroplasia, a remarkable blue-grey skin discoloration most pronounced in the sun exposed skin, pathological lymphadenopathies of the right axilla, an enlarged liver and a scar on his back after a wide excision of a skin lesion performed 20 years ago, according to the patient.


We present a new power spectrum emulator named EuclidEmulator that estimates the nonlinear correction to the linear dark matter power spectrum depending on the six cosmological parameters ωb, ωm, ns, h, w0, and σ8. It is constructed using the uncertainty quantification software UQLab using a spectral decomposition method called polynomial chaos expansion. All steps in its construction have been tested and optimized: the large high-resolution N-body simulations carried out with PKDGRAV3 were validated using a simulation from the Euclid Flagship campaign and demonstrated to have converged up to wavenumbers k≈ 5 h Mpc^{-1} for redshifts z ≤ 5. The emulator is based on 100 input cosmologies simulated in boxes of (1250 Mpc/h)3 using 20483 particles. We show that by creating mock emulators it is possible to successfully predict and optimize the performance of the final emulator prior to performing any N-body simulations. The absolute accuracy of the final nonlinear power spectrum is as good as one obtained with N-body simulations, conservatively, { } 1 per cent for k≲ 1 h Mpc^{-1} and z ≲ 1. This enables efficient forward modelling in the nonlinear regime, allowing for estimation of cosmological parameters using Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods. EuclidEmulator has been compared to HALOFIT, CosmicEmu, and NGenHalofit, and shown to be more accurate than these other approaches. This work paves a new way for optimal construction of future emulators that also consider other cosmological observables, use higher resolution input simulations, and investigate higher dimensional cosmological parameter spaces.


The fear of crime has been recognized as an important social problem in its own right, with a significant number of citizens in many countries concerned about crime. In this book, the authors critically review the main findings from over 35 years of research into attitudes to crime, highlighting groups who are most fearful of crime and exploring the theories used to account for that fear. Using this research, the authors move on to propose a new model for the fear of crime, arguing that such methods, which involve intensity questions (such as 'how worried are you about x ...'), may actually conflate an 'expressive' or 'attitudinal' component of the fear of crime with an experiential component and therefore fail to provide a comprehensive insight into how crime is perceived. Taking an entirely new approach to their subject, the authors use existing quantitative data from the British Crime Survey to pose theoretically informed questions to help identify those who only 'expressively' fear crime, separating them from those who have the actual experience of worrying about crime. By exploring the extent to which each group has different social attitudes and backgrounds, and whether there is more than one social/cultural form of the fear of crime, this innovative and exciting title promises to reposition this aspect of criminology to a more prominent place.


Times of emergency call for drastic measures. These steps may include the physical takeover of privately-owned assets by the government for a certain period of time and for various purposes, aimed at addressing the state of emergency. When will such acts amount to a taking, and what compensation should be paid to the property owner? How do temporary physical appropriations during times of emergency diverge, if at all, from temporary takeovers in more ordinary times?

The doctrinal and theoretical analysis of potential temporary takings has been done mostly in the context of non-physical government intervention with private property, such as when a local government imposes a temporary moratorium on land development until a certain condition is met. This Article focuses, however, on less investigated scenarios of temporary physical takeovers or other forms of government invasions. It seeks to identify the differences between a temporary invasion and a permanent occupation of property considered per se taking under the Loretto rule. In so doing, this Article argues that while the alleged distinction between prevention of public harm and promotion of public benefit often proves untenable in evaluating whether a permanent government measure constitutes a taking, it might make more sense in exploring temporary acts.

Temporary eminent domain - referring here to various types of acts amounting to time-limited physical takings, even if not initially recognized as such by the government - may diverge from permanent eminent domain in yet another key element: identifying the basis for just compensation. Under long established (although often criticized) rules, compensation for a permanent taking is based on identifying the "fair market value" of the rights taken, while ignoring the effects that the public use for which the underlying asset is taken might have on the property's long-term value.

The allegedly parallel metric used in the case of temporary takings, one of "fair rental value," may often prove inadequate, both practically and normatively. This Article argues that because of unique aspects of temporary physical takings, legal rules on compensation should often seek to identify lost profits or actual damage. Moreover, in some cases, in which there is a direct relation between the pre-appropriation use of the asset and its post-appropriation use by the government, just compensation might also be based on a certain portion of the value of the public use. This is especially so when the time-sensitive value of the asset during such public use is particularly high. On this point, the Article offers an analogy to rules pertaining to compulsory licenses for patents.


Several new monometallic, homobimetallic and heterobimetallic complexes such as [Ni(hfacac)2(dmaeH)] (1), [Cu(dmap)(OAc)(H2O)]2⋅H2O (2), [Cu2(OAc)3(dmap) (THF)]n (3), [Cu(dmae)(TFA)]4 (4), [Cu(deae)(TFA)]4 (5), [Cu4(OAc)6(bdmap)2 (H2O)2]⋅2H2O (6), [Cu6(bdmap)3(μ-O)2Cl6] (7), [Zn6(OAc)8(μ-O)2(dmae)4] (8), [Co(acac)Cu2(bdmap)2Cl3]⋅C7H8 (9), [Co(acac)Cu2(bdmap)2Cl3]⋅3CH2Cl2 (10), [Zn(TFA)3(μ-OH)Cu3(dmae)3Cl]∙THF (11), [Zn(TFA)4Cu3(dmae)4] (12), [Zn2(OAc)6 (μ-O)Cu4(dmae)4]⋅2H2O (13), [Zn2(OAc)6(μ-O)2Cu4(bdmap)2Cl2] (14), [Cd2(OAc)6(μ- O)Cu4(dmae)4]⋅H2O (15), [Ba2(dmae)4Cu4(OAc)6(OH)2] (16) and [Pb2(OAc)4(μ-O)3 Cu6(dmae)4Cl4]∙C7H8∙1.7H2O (17) were successfully synthesized and characterized by their melting point, elemental analysis, FT-IR, mass spectrometry, TGA and their molecular structures were determined by single crystal X-ray analysis. Thermogravimetric analyses prove that precursors undergo facile thermal decomposition at relatively low temperature to give copper/mixed-metal copper oxides. All the designed precursors except (1), (3) and (10), were used for the fabrication of thin films of copper/mixed-metal copper oxides by aerosol-assisted chemical vapour deposition. The phase crystallinity of deposited thin films was determined by XRD, while SEM and EDX were used for surface morphology and elemental composition.
The homometallic precursors (2), (4), (5), (6) and (7) have been found suitable for the deposition of Cu metal, while ZnO films were fabricated from precursor (8) under ordinary conditions of temperature and pressure, using nitrogen as carrier gas. The heterometallic precursors (9), (10) are promising for the deposition of Cu-CoO composite thin films, while (11), (12), (13), (14) for fabrication of Cu-ZnO and (15) for Cu-CdO composite thin films. Similarly, precursor (16) is suitable for CuO-Ba2Cu3O5+x and (17) for Cu-Pb2O3 ceramic thin films.
The powder XRD and EDX analysis revealed the formation of crystalline thin films by AACVD without any carboneous impurities and the SEM results demonstrated that the deposited films are crack free with particles having distinct and clear grain boundaries. These characteristics make them suitable for their possible technological applications. The thickness and voltage-current measurements of the films deposited from precursors (8) and (16) revealved their semiconducting nature, while the films fabricated from (11), (12) and (14) are ohmic conductors.


In image analysis two stages can be considered, object recognition and object parameter estimation. An initial estimate of the object parameters can be generated in the object recognition stage. The paper is about the second stage. The paper shows the usability of different comparison levels in iterative estimators. The levels of comparison studied are raw pixel data, shape of segments and shape parameters of these segments. It is demonstrated that accuracies as required by vision problems encountered in robot vision can be achieved at the different comparison levels.<<ETX>>


Ambient-assisted living (AAL) is promising to become a supplement of the current care models, providing enhanced living experience to people within context-aware homes and smart environments. Activity recognition based on sensory data in AAL systems is an important task because 1) it can be used for estimation of levels of physical activity, 2) it can lead to detecting changes of daily patterns that may indicate an emerging medical condition, or 3) it can be used for detection of accidents and emergencies. To be accepted, AAL systems must be affordable while providing reliable performance. These two factors hugely depend on optimizing the number of utilized sensors and extracting robust features from them. This paper proposes a generic feature engineering method for selecting robust features from a variety of sensors, which can be used for generating reliable classification models. From the originally recorded time series and some newly generated time series [i.e., magnitudes, first derivatives, delta series, and fast Fourier transformation (FFT)-based series], a variety of time and frequency domain features are extracted. Then, using two-phase feature selection, the number of generated features is greatly reduced. Finally, different classification models are trained and evaluated on an independent test set. The proposed method was evaluated on five publicly available data sets, and on all of them, it yielded better accuracy than when using hand-tailored features. The benefits of the proposed systematic feature engineering method are quickly discovering good feature sets for any given task than manually finding ones suitable for a particular task, selecting a small feature set that outperforms manually determined features in both execution time and accuracy, and identification of relevant sensor types and body locations automatically. Ultimately, the proposed method could reduce the cost of AAL systems by facilitating execution of algorithms on devices with limited resources and by using as few sensors as possible.


The article deals with the everyday survival strategies employed by the workers of (largely non-functioning) state enterprises in post-socialist North Korea, and with the social changes this group has dealt with in the last two decades. It also compares these trends with the experiences of post-socialist Eastern Europe. In the 1990s the economic role of the North Korean state decreased dramatically. Official wages could no longer guarantee the physical survival of the populace, so workers from state industries engaged in a multitude of economic activities which were (and still are) largely related to the booming "second economy." These activities include private farming, employment in semi-legal and illegal private workshops, trade and smuggling, as well as small-scale business activities. The choice of a particular activity depends on a number of factors, of which network capital is especially significant. Income is also augmented by the illegal use of state resources and widespread theft of material and spare parts from state-owned factories. As a result of these changes, the industrial working class of North Korea, once a remarkably homogenous group, has fragmented, and its members have embarked on vastly different social trajectories.


Today it is critical to excite young people about mathematics in our high-tech STEM world we live in. Math teachers today need to embolden students to be confident in their ability to solve problems, to think and use their imaginations, to understand mathematical concepts, to be creative, and to see math as a human endeavor. The author feels that as students feel less anxious about, and more confident in their abilities to do math their performance will improve. The author has provided an in-depth literature review and offers background information on using children's literature to teach mathematics; sharing the methods and materials possible to incorporate such literature into such math instruction in a wide range of mathematics strands. The results of using such literature in the teaching of mathematics may help to lower math anxiety and pique students interest and confidence in math and the STEM fields. Teachers need to address this alarming problem and work toward developing mathematically confident young people for a world where Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields dominate the globe, using literature to teach mathematics can support and cultivate students' math confidence for a STEM world.


BACKGROUND: Effective glucose management using exercise modalities in older patients with type 2 diabetes and activities of daily living (ADL) disabilities are unknown. PURPOSE: The study investigated the acute effects of motor-assisted cycling and functional electrical stimulation (FES) cycling on the 2-h postprandial glucose responses compared with sitting control in older adults with type 2 diabetes and ADL disability. METHODS: The study used a 3×3 crossover study design. Nine participants were randomly assigned to one of the three intervention sequences: ABC, BCA, and CAB. (A, motor-assisted cycling; B, FES cycling; C, sitting control). Linear mixed models (LMM) with Bonferroni post-hoc tests were used to test the mean differences for the 2-h postprandial glucose, estimated by the area under the curve (AUC) and incremental AUC (iAUC), between intervention and control treatments after adjustment for covariates (e.g., age, sex, and race). RESULTS: There were significant mean differences for iAUC (p = 0.005) and AUC (p = 0.038) across motor-assisted cycling, control, and FES cycling treatments. The FES cycling had a lower mean of 2-hour postprandial iAUC as compared with sitting control (iAUC 3.98 mmol∙h/L vs 6.92 mmol∙h/L, p = 0.006, effect size [ES] = 1.72) and the motor-assisted cycling (iAUC, 3.98 mmol∙h/L vs 6.19 mmol∙h/L , p = 0.0368, ES = 1.29), respectively. The FES cycling also had a lower mean of the 2-hour postprandial AUC as compared with sitting control (AUC, 18.29 mmol∙h/L vs 20.95 mmol∙h/L, p = 0.043, ES = 0.89), but had an AUC similar to the motor-assisted cycling (18.29 mmol∙h/L vs 20.23 mmol∙h/L , p = 0.183, ES = 0.19). There were no statistical differences in iAUC (6.19 mmol∙h/L vs 6.92 mmol∙h/L) and AUC (20.23 mmol∙h/L vs 20.95 mmol∙h/L) between the motor-assisted cycling and sitting control (all p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Performing 30 minutes of FES cycling on a motor-assisted bike (40 Hz, 38 rpm, 25-29 mA) significantly decreased the 2-h postprandial glucose levels by 42% in older adults with type 2 diabetes and ADL disabilities. Our findings suggested that FES cycling can be a promising exercise modality for glucose management in diabetic patients with ADL disabilities.


This article reconstructs the Endangered Species Act as a government information statute. That Act makes use of an official list of vulnerable creatures that is used for agency action to save them from extinction. This article argues that the official list of species is not sufficiently accurate or transparent to citizens, so the compilation of that list does not satisfy the public interest goals of American environmental law or government transparency policy.


An image-based visual servoing (IBVS) method is proposed for controlling the 3D translational motion and the yaw rotation of a quadrotor. The dynamic model of this unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is considered at the design stage to account for its underactuation. In contrast with previous IBVS methods for underactuated UAVs, which used spherical image moments as visual features, the proposed controller makes use of appropriately defined perspective moments. As a consequence, we gain a clear improvement in performance, as satisfactory trajectories are obtained in both image and Cartesian space. In addition, an adaptation mechanism is included in the controller to achieve robust performance in spite of uncertainties related to the depth of the image features and to the dynamics of the robot. Simulation results in both nominal and perturbed conditions are presented to validate the proposed method.


Preface Contributors History and Background Discovery of Aspartame - Robert H. Mazur Sweeteners: An Overall Perspective- George E. Inglett Metabolism Absorption of Peptides, Amino Acids and Their Methylated Derivatives- David M. Matthews Aspartate and Glutamate Metabolism- Lewis D. Stegink Phenylalanine Metabolism- Alfred E. Harper Methanol Metabolism and Toxicity- Thomas R. Tephly and Kenneth E McMartin Aspartame Metabolism in Animals- James A. Oppermann Tissue Distribution of Orally Administered Isotopically Labeled Aspartame in the Rat- Yoshimasa Matsuzawa and Yuichi O'Hara Sensory and Dietary Aspects Projected Aspartme Intake: Daily Investigation of Aspartic Acid. Phenylalanine, and Methanol- Roberta Roak-Foltz and Gilbert A. Leveille Comparison of Taste Properties of Apartame with Other Sweeteners- Susan S. Schiffman Aspartame Implications for the Food Scientist- Barry E. Homler Role of Sugar and Other Sweeteners in Dental Caries- William H. Bowen Efficacy of Low-Calorie Sweeteners in Reducing Food Intake: Studies with Aspartame- Katherine P. Porikos and Theodore B. VanItallie Preclinical Studies Preclinical Studies of Aspartame in Non-primate Animals- Samuel V. Molinary Chronic Feeding Studies with Aspartame and Its Diketopiperazine- Hiroyuka Ishii Artificial Sweeteners and Bladder Cancer: Assessment of Potential Urinary Bladder Carcinogenicity of Aspartame and Its Diketopiperazine Derivative in Mice- George T. Bryan Aspartame-Induced Neurotoxicity in Infant Mice-Arnold E. Applebaum, Michael W. Finkelstein, Tahia T. Daabees and Lewis D. Stegink Neuropathology Studies Following Aspartame ingestion by Infant Nonhuman Primates- W. Ann Reynolds, Linda Parsons, and Lewis D. Stegink Behavioral Testing in Rodents Given Food Additives- Richard E. Butcher and Charles V. Vorhees Developmental Assessment of Infant Macaques Receiving Dietary Aspartame or Phenylalanine- W Ann Reynolds, Anne F. Bauman, Lewis D. Stregink, L. J. Filer Jr, and Sakkubai Naidu Effect of Aspartame on the Learning Test Performance of Young Stumptail Macaques- Stephen J. Suomi Aspartame and Brain Tumors: Pathology Issues- Adalbert Koestner Aspartame and Brain Tumors: Statistical Issues- Richard G. Cornell, Robert A. Wolfe, and Paul G. Sanders Possible Neurihormonal Effects of Aspartame Investigation- Frank M. Sturtevant Studies of Aspartame Metabolism in Humans Chronic Ingestion of Aspartame in Humans- Williard J Visek Aspartame Metabolism in Humans: Acute Dosing Studies- Lewis D. Stegink Aspartame Ingestion During Pregnancy- Roy M. Pitkin Aspartame Ingestion During Lactation- George L. Baker Aspartame Ingestion by Phenylketonuric Heterozygous and Homozygous Individual- Richard Koch and Elizabeth J Wenz Interactions of Aspartame and Glutamate Metabolism- Lewis D. Stegink Aspartame Use by Persons with Diabetes- David L. Horwitz Effects of Acute Aspartame Ingestion on Large Neutral Amino Acids and Monoamines in Rat Brain- John D. Fernstrom Index


The conveyor mechanism (working in a plan) to be presented in this study is a classic case of manipulating conveyor, simply with a single degree of mobility. It is a very common mechanism used in classical mechanics, being encountered at lifting platforms, at handicapped chairs, at cranes, forklifts, automatic machines and machines, or at older steam locomotives where it having the role of reversing the rotation-translation movement. Being a simple, common manipulator, he is also a good teaching example, much used in the student courses of mechanics, mechanisms, robotics-mechatronics. That is why we want to present in this study in a concise way the geometry and the kinematics of this mechanism. There will be a constructive and one kinematic scheme. The mechanism consists of a crank (a motor element 1), an RRR dyad composed of elements 2 and 3 and an RRT dyad formed by kinematic elements 4 and 5. The motor element 1 has a complete rotation (360 degrees) being the single driving feature of the entire mechanism. The element 3 is a bar that links the engine element 1 to the rocker element 2. From the rocker element 2, the movement is forwarded through the rod 4 to the final execution member 5, which is a slider (patina), having the role of oscillating linearly (it can also be a piston in a cylinder). The mechanism can also be used by changing the driving element to the driven one so as to become a motor mechanism with the leading element 5 and when the rotation element 1 to become a final driven element. Thus it can be used as a mechanism for producing the movement and transmitting it with the conversion from the rotation to translation movement. We intend to present this mechanism, in the present paper, when it functions as a manipulator, having the motor element 1 and the final element, the execution element, the patina 5. Special emphasis will be placed on the kinematics of the mechanism, studied on elements, but also on structural groups. Obviously there will be presented and some applications of the mechanism.


In image segmentation, we are often interested in using certain quantities to characterize the object, and perform the classification based on them: mean intensity, gradient magnitude, responses to certain predefined filters, etc. Unfortunately, in many cases such quantities are not adequate to model complex textured objects. Along a different line of research, the sparse characteristic of natural signals has been recognized and studied in recent years. Therefore, how such sparsity can be utilized, in a non-parametric way, to model the object texture and assist the textural image segmentation process is studied in this work, and a segmentation scheme based on the sparse representation of the texture information is proposed. More explicitly, the texture is encoded by the dictionaries constructed from the user initialization. Then, an active contour is evolved to optimize the fidelity of the representation provided by the dictionary of the target. In doing so, not only a non-parametric texture modeling technique is provided, but also the sparsity of the representation guarantees the computation efficiency. The experiments are carried out on the publicly available image data sets which contain a large variety of texture images, to analyze the user interaction, performance statistics, and to highlight the algorithm's capability of robustly extracting textured regions from an image. Copyright (c) 2013 IEEE Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to use this material for any other purposes must be obtained from the IEEE by sending a request to firstname.lastname@example.com NIH Public Access Author Manuscript IEEE Trans Image Process. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2014 May 01. Published in final edited form as: IEEE Trans Image Process. 2013 October ; 22(10): 3866–3878. doi:10.1109/TIP.2013.2263147. N IH -P A A uhor M anscript N IH -P A A uhor M anscript N IH -P A A uhor M anscript


A phenothiazine (PTZ)–borondipyrromethene (BODIPY) based electron donor–acceptor dyad, 1, was designed and used for the sensitive and selective detection of hypochlorite. Upon excitation of the BODIPY moiety, the fluorescence of 1 was observed to be quenched (∼90%) due to photo-induced electron transfer from PTZ to 1BODIPY*. However, upon the addition of incremental amounts of NaOCl, the fluorescence of 1 was enhanced, indicating inhibition of the reductive PET process from PTZ to BODIPY, which was quickly restored upon treatment with H2S, indicating the reversibility of the probe for the continuous detection of hypochlorite. Parallel time-resolved fluorescence studies showed a decrease in the lifetime of the BODIPY moiety compared to the pristine BODIPY, and upon the addition of NaOCl, the lifetime of the BODIPY moiety (0.7 ns) in 1 was observed to be recovered highlighting the real-time applications of the probe in sensing NaOCl. Steady-state fluorescence experiments at varied pH have suggested that 1 can detect NaOCl in the pH range of 7–8, similar to physiological conditions, and at a pH of 7.6, 1 displayed high selectivity for hypochlorite over other reactive oxygen species. To understand the chemical and photophysical mechanisms involved in the fluorescence "turn-on" event, 1 was treated with NaOCl and subjected to ESI-MS analysis. Mass spectrometry showed the formation of oxidized products, sulfoxide and sulfone, and the density functional theory studies confirmed that the formation of these products was responsible for the inhibition of the reductive PET process from the PTZ group to the 1BODIPY* moiety. Also, 1 exhibited enhanced fluorescence upon treatment with commercially available sodium hypochlorite disinfectants, indicating the applications of the probe to real samples. Cytotoxicity studies performed on HEK 293 cells suggested that, up to a 5 μM concentration of 1, the cell viability is above 80%, implicating the applications of the probe for biological samples.


In this study, we explore the possibility of monitoring program cell death (apoptosis) and classifying clusters of apoptotic cells based on the changes in high frequency ultrasound backscatter signals from these cells. One of the hallmarks of cancer is that the fail [sic] in the apoptosis mechanism in cells. Therefore this research carries the promise of designing more refined and more effective cancer therapies. The ultrasound signals are modeled through the Autoregressive (AR) modeling technique. The proper model order is calculated by tracking the error criteria derived from statistical properties of the original and modeled signal. In the next stage, five machine learning classifiers are developed to classify backscatter signals based on their AR coefficients. In clinical applications ultrasound backscatter signals from tissues and tumors are most likely to be non-stationary. Therefore analyzing such signals requires signal segmentation techniques. We developed recursive least square lattice filter for adaptive segmentation of ultrasound backscatter signals from multiple cell types into blocks of stationary segments, and model and classify the segments individually. In this thesis we demonstrate the accuracy of modeling, segmentation and classification techniques to detect signals from different cell pellets based on the signal processing and machine learning techniques.


Using the experience of one community that has undergone a district line altering transformation as a case study, this article argues that endorsement from the state is an essential element for success in efforts to mitigate the educational inequities caused by district boundaries and then offers specific steps states can take to support such changes even without altering district boundaries. Part I will introduce the ways in which school district lines can serve as barriers to educational opportunities, and Part II will summarize several current educational reform proposals and trends that either have the intent or effect of weakening the power of district lines. Part III examines the rationale for the largely successful suburban resistance to district-weakening proposals, filling out the context in which conversations on these topics take place. The case study of the merger of urban and suburban school districts in Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee will be introduced in Part IV. Utilizing the experience in Memphis and Shelby County, Part V will identify lessons learned from Memphis, focusing on the role of the state in assisting or obstructing elimination of interdistrict disparities, and Part VI will offer practical and politically viable suggestions that states can take to address these issues. Although the legal context was quite different, the practical landscape facing the merger process in Memphis was not unlike what Judge Roth found in Detroit four decades earlier. At issue remained questions about whether education should be considered a common undertaking for the entire metropolitan area it affects, or whether local control should be limited conceptually by existing district lines. If anything, the fences between urban and suburban districts have grown even stronger since the Supreme Court embraced them in Milliken. The lessons from this contemporary attempt to break down school district boundaries demonstrate just how strong those fences have become.


Ventifact-bearing cover sands, wind-driven lacustrine spits, and fluted bedrock outcrops in New England indicate that a strong anticyclonic circulation under moist periglacial conditions accompanied early recession of the Laurentide ice sheet. Dunes from this interval are conspicuously absent. An abrupt shift to warmer and drier conditions during the Bolling/Allerod period (12.7–11 ka) was apparently associated with rapid accretion of transverse dunes built by northeast winds along the shore of New England9s largest ice-recessional lake. By the time of lake drainage, however, the anticyclonic circulation had been replaced by a northwesterly wind regime, resulting in erosion of the older deposits, the development of parabolic dunes, and gradual stabilization associated with revegetation. Reactivation of the dunes was associated with a return to colder and windier conditions during the Younger Dryas (11–10 ka) and with anthropogenic changes during the historic period, but not during Holocene time.


Abstract Based on the assumption that the economic integration process contributes, via market reforms, to the dynamics of the space distribution in candidate countries, this study examines (i) whether agglomeration forces or dispersion forces are dominant; (ii) whether EU-integration causes a structural break to the space distribution over time; (iii) whether EU-integration makes the city-size distribution more even or uneven in eight eastern European Union members (EU–8). To carry out the analysis, the Ziwot-Andrew and Cusum Square tests are used to detect structural breaks; the ARDL Bound test is used to reveal the interaction between long-run and short-run equilibrium; and the Granger test is used to determine the direction of the causality among the variables. The main results are: the integration with the EU (i) caused a structural break to the city-size distribution, (ii) made the city-size distribution more uneven and (iii) stimulated the agglomerating forces over the spreading forces in the EU–8.


Video conferencing plays an important role in many corporate and educational fields. E-learning uses the concept of video conferencing for interaction between students' and tutors' in different locations. The tutor's actual presence is in a real classroom and the students can view their tutor through a video in a virtual classroom. Wireless microphones and video sensors are used, to facilitate an interaction between the students and tutors but sometimes it may not be as efficient when we use multiple speakers. In that case, it would be helpful if we can identify the student who asks a question first, either in the virtual or real classroom by using audio and video sensors. To make an E-learning classroom as similar to a real classroom, we propose a system that will utilize the professor's gestures; this will decide who can ask questions. This is particularly useful when we use several speakers in an E-learning classroom. The student who is asking a question, for the first time, will be located using audio and video sensors in either virtual or real classroom. The raised hand along with student's voice is used for localization. This method helps both the professor and the student get the experience of being in a real classroom.


The National Institutes of Health Women's Health Initiative (WHI) is the largest research study ever funded by NIH ($625 million over 14 years) and is designed to test strategies to prevent cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, and osteoporotic fractures--leading causes of death, disability, and decreased quality of life for older women. Although the WHI has already begun, serious questions remain about its design, cost, and the likelihood that it can answer the questions it asks. This book evaluates whether the effort can be justified scientifically.


Induction machines are widely used in industrial applications. Safety, reliability, efficiency, and performance are major concerns that direct the research activities in the field of electrical machines. Even though the induction machine is very reliable, many failures can occur such as bearing faults, air-gap eccentricity, and broken rotor bars. The challenge is, therefore, to detect them at an early stage in order to prevent breakdowns. In particular, stator current-based condition monitoring is an extensively investigated field for cost and maintenance savings. In this context, this paper deals with the assessment of a new stator current-based fault detection approach. Indeed, it is proposed to monitor induction machine bearings by means of stator current spectral subtraction, which is performed using short-time Fourier transform or discrete wavelet transform. In addition, diagnosis index based on the subtraction residue energy is proposed. The proposed bearing faults condition monitoring approach is assessed using simulations, issued from a coupled electromagnetic circuits approach-based simulation tool, and experiments on a 0.75-kW induction machine test bed.


Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cancer worldwide. The prognosis of patients diagnosed with CRC at the stage IV is poor with a 5-year survival rate less than 10%. Combination chemotherapy with platinum-based drugs and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) remains the first line treatment, while the chemotherapy combined target therapeutic agents were decreasing the mortality of CRC patients. However, the efficacy of platinum-based drugs has often been limited because of the substantial risk for severe toxicities, including nephrotoxicity or neurotoxicity. Therefore, there is an unmet need to develop a novel drug for improving the treatment of advance colorectal cancer. We have previously designed and synthesized several series of DNA-directed alkylating agents with potent antitumor activity. Recently, one derivative of N-mustard-quinoline conjugates with hydrazinecarboxamide as a linker, designated as SL-1, was selected to explore its anti-colorectal cancer (CRC) activity because it was highly cytotoxic to a panel of CRC cell lines in culture. Flow cytometric analysis showed that treatment of CRC cells with SL-1 induced G2/M arrest and triggered apoptosis. We further demonstrated that SL-1 preferentially targeted on the selective guanine sequence by sequencing gel electrophoresis. By the aid of comet assay, SL-1 in combination with 5-FU resulted in increased DNA tail moments and induced more DNA damage. Evaluation of the potency of antitumor activity both in culture and in xenograft models, we observed that SL-1 was more potent than 5-FU and oxaliplatin against SW620, RKO and RKO-E6 (an oxaliplatin resistant-subline) cells. Notable, SL-1+5-FU were more efficacious than oxalipatin+5-FU in suppression the growth of RKO or SW620 in xenograft models. We further found that SL-1 enhanced 5-FU and induced more apoptosis by c-caspase 3 and TUNNEL staining. Additionally, histopathological examination showed that SL-1 by itself has no obvious kidney and liver toxicity in ICR mice comparing to cisplatin, oxaliplatin or 5-FU. Taken together, SL-1 alone or in combination with 5-FU may warrant our further development as a potential antitumor agent for the treatment of CRC patients. Citation Format: Tai-Lin Chen, Yan-Bo Chen, Chia-Ning Shen, Tsann-Long Su, Te-Chang Lee. A novel N-mustard-quinoline conjugate is a potent agent against colorectal cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 5104. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-5104


The purpose of this study was to determine whether activation of muscles in the paretic leg, particularly contributing to propulsion, and gait symmetry can be improved by applying a targeted resistance force to the pelvis in the backward direction during stance phase while walking in individuals post-stroke. Thirteen individuals post-stroke participated in two experimental sessions, which consisted of treadmill walking, with either targeted or constant resistances, together with overground walking. For the targeted condition, a resistance force was applied to the pelvis during the stance phase of the paretic leg. For the constant condition, the resistance force was applied throughout the whole gait cycle. Participants showed greater increase in medial hamstring muscle activity in the paretic leg and improved step length symmetry after the removal of targeted resistance force, compared to effects of a constant resistance force (P < 0.03). In addition, treadmill walking with the targeted resistance induced more symmetrical step length during overground walking 10 min after the treadmill walking, compared to the result of the constant resistance force (P = 0.01). Applying a targeted resistance force to the pelvis during the stance phase of the paretic leg may induce an enhanced use of the paretic leg and an improvement in gait symmetry in individuals post-stroke. These results provide evidence showing that applying a targeted resistance to the pelvis may induce a forced use of the paretic leg during walking.


In 2015, 16.52 km3 of water was consumed for energy production in China, of which coal production, thermoelectric power and coke used 57.7%, 28.8% and 6.2%, respectively. Most water is consumed in China's northern (north and northwest) provinces where water is scarce and energy production's impact on water resources is further intensified in the north when this water scarcity is taken into account. The top five provinces with the largest consumption of scarce water by energy production are predominantly concentrated in the North China Plain. In 2015, nine provinces did not meet their Industrial Water Efficiency Improvement targets set by the 'Three Red Lines' water policy. Of these nine, five provinces (Shanxi, Shandong, Hebei, Xinjiang and Ningxia) are located in northern regions and face severe water stresses. Water consumed by energy production occupied more than 20% of the Industrial Water Allowances (IWAs) that were allowed by the 'Three Red Lines' policy in all five provinces. In Shanxi, energy consumption exceeded more than three times its IWA. Our findings underscore that energy production imposes severe pressure on water-scarce provinces' compliance with the 'Three Red Lines' policy and thus suggest a necessity to coordinate cross-sectoral policies, planning and investments.