Autoimmune vascular inflammation and oxidative stress (lipid peroxidation) are common in systemic autoimmune diseases and contribute to the oxidative modification of low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) and oxLDL/β2GPI complex formation. Circulating oxLDL/β2GPI complexes have been detected in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). The presence of antibodies to oxLDL/β2GPI complexes indicates that these complexes are immunogenic, and the coexistence of complexes and antibodies has pointed to an active proatherogenic role in the development of autoimmune vascular complications. Immunohistochemical staining of atherosclerotic lesions suggest that these complexes are formed in the arterial wall and released into circulation. The in vitro macrophage uptake of oxLDL/β2GPI complexes was significantly increased in the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies, either β2GPI-dependent anticardiolipin or anti-β2GPI antibodies, suggesting that macrophage Fcγ receptors are involved in lipid intracellular influx and foam cell formation. These findings provide an explanation for the accelerated development of atherosclerosis seen in SLE and APS. The presence of circulating oxLDL/β2GPI complexes and IgG antibodies to these complexes indicate significant vascular injury and oxidative stress as well as an active role in autoimmune-mediated atherothrombosis.


Understanding the elementary steps involved in a chemical reaction forms the cornerstone of physical chemistry research. One way to deepen this understanding is by studying chemical and physical processes using linear and nonlinear spectroscopic techniques. However, the outcomes of such experiments can be difficult to decipher due to the interweaving of several effects. Therefore, in order to help experimentalists to disentangle such spectra, the role of theorists is to develop efficient tools that are able to accurately describe molecular systems. The starting point of such tools is solving the time-dependent Schrodinger equation. In this thesis, after implementing geometric integrators, which are based on a combination of the split-operator algorithm and Magnus expansion, for the exact nonadiabatic quantum dynamics of a molecule interacting with a time-dependent electromagnetic field, we derive and implement these geometric integrators for the time-dependent perturbation theory, the Condon, rotating-wave, and ultrashort-pulse approximations, as well as every possible combination thereof. As verified in several model systems, these integrators exactly preserve the geometric invariants, and achieve an arbitrary prescribed order of accuracy in the time step and an exponential convergence in the grid spacing. We also explore in more detail the ultrashort-pulse approximation and derive an analytical expression for the combination with the time-dependent perturbation theory; this expression significantly accelerates numerical calculations. We show that in the limit of the zero pulse width, the d-pulse approximation is recovered. We illustrate the performance of the introduced approximations, using a three-dimensional model of pyrazine, in which it is essential to go beyond the d-pulse limit in order to describe the dynamics correctly. The high-order algorithms are also applied to the photodissociation dynamics of iodomethane (CH3I), following its excitation to the A band. We implement a general split-operator with both discrete-variable and finite-basis representations that can treat one non-Cartesian, such as angular coordinate. To test the effect of various degrees of freedom and of the nonadiabatic dynamics, we apply these algorithms to one-, two-, and three-dimensional models of iodomethane, both in the presence and in the absence of nonadiabatic couplings. A full quantum calculation is, however, limited to problems with low dimensionality (approximately ten degrees of freedom). Beyond this, one must seek an affordable balance between computational efficiency and physical accuracy and can employ, for example, semiclassical methods that are based on classical trajectories. A simple semiclassical approximation that can treat larger systems and requires only local knowledge of the potential is the on-the-fly ab initio thawed Gaussian approximation. We implement a generalization of the method that goes beyond the Franck-Condon approximation and treats Herzberg-Teller active molecules. Our method is used to compute absorption spectra of phenyl radical and of benzene, for which the Herzberg-Teller contribution is essential.


In any discussion of early American literature, the captivity narrative stands out as one of the most interesting, and often troubling, forms of Puritan writing. While these tales of Indian attack and entrapment were often embedded in the rhetoric of Protestant spirituality, their graphic language and images invoked both terror and titillation in at least two centuries of readers. Focusing most often on female victims, captivity stories directly addressed the fears of colonists who felt threatened by the power of the vast American wilderness and its indigenous population. Of these, The True History of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson (1682) provides one of the best expressions of the type of emotions and tensions early European settlers experienced in confrontations with dark "others" in the New World. Through her tale of captivity with a band of Indians, along with the transformation she seems to experience as a result, Rowlandson's text reflects the anxieties of an entire community. Her use of racialized language or distinctions also demonstrates one of the ways that these narratives sought to control or interpret the threats to social order implied by the protagonists' experiences. Even as the wilderness gave way to white "civilization," and real encounters with the Indians declined, these narratives and the constructions of race they employed continued to have a powerful influence on growing American fiction. Those texts that chose an urban, instead of a wilderness, setting still often invoked elements of the captivity theme along with the dangers of transformation and confrontation it involved. This continuous popularity suggests one of the ways that anxieties about the influence of dark "otherness," and the captivating or transformative power it represented for the developing society, remained a part of the American imagination and literature long after Rowlandson. Two early American novels illustrate this continued use of the captivity theme and the fears or anxieties it explores are Susanna Rowson's Charlotte Temple and Charles Brockden Brown's Wieland; or the Transformation.(1) Published over 100 years after Rowlandson, both worm invoke the image of female entrapment and transformation. Susanna Rowson, for example, explores the plight of a young girl held physically and emotionally captive by her seduction at the hands of a young British officer. Brown's Wieland also explores the power of psychological captivity through his story of a family destroyed by an outsider's deception. In both works, a young heroine confronts dark others who are distinguished through racialized language as foreign, dangerous, and even demonic. The similarities between these later representations of dark villains, and Rowlandson's construction of her Indian captors suggests that all share a common symbolic role in relation to the traditional form of the captivity narrative. The urban settings of Rowson's and Brown's texts further demonstrate that the uncertainty and danger early colonists experienced in New England did not disappear simply because the literal wilderness no longer existed. The uncivilized chaos and brutality the Indians seemed to embody for Rowlandson and her readers continued to be attributed to any figure of dark otherness that remained (most notably African slaves, and all those who did not fit the white European Protestant norm). However, the ambiguous and often contradictory messages found in the later texts also begin to imply that these threats to social order are inherent in the dominant white culture as it attempts to define itself against the various marginalized or "othered" groups in its midst. In order to examine the construction of captivity and the representations and fears surrounding the dark others in each of these texts, my analysis focuses on not only the historical situation that influenced these authors, but also on the cultural work performed by these representations. …


Grain yield in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) can be improved by understanding the interrelationships among yield, yield components, vegetative growth, and growth durations. The objective of this study was to determine for barley genotypes adapted to low-input tropical highlands the extent to which grain yield was related to: (i) vegetative and mature heights, straw yield, and vegetative and grain-filling durations and (ii) yield components determined by correlation and ontogenetic path analysis. Data were obtained from 26 barley genotypes tested in factorial combinations of N (0 and 11.5 g m -2 ) and P (0 and 2 g m -2 ) in 1998 and 1999 at Holetta, Ethiopia. Grain yield was correlated positively with straw yield, vegetative and mature heights, and grain-filling duration. Grain yield was correlated positively with harvest index and correlated negatively with vegetative duration in the cooler season. Vegetative duration influenced grain yield negatively under low N and in the cooler season but positively under high N. Mature height influenced grain yield negatively under high N. Vegetative height influenced vegetative duration negatively. Spikes per square meter followed by kernels per spike largely determined grain yield. However, spikes per square meter had a strong negative effect on kernels per spike. Kernel weight had little effect on grain yield. Early shoot height association with yield and time to maturity may suggest an adaptive strategy for capturing the early flush of mineralized N and an escape mechanism from drought towards season end. Early shoot height can serve as an indirect selection criterion for high grain yield and early maturity for this gene pool grown in a tropical highland environment.


If dark matter possesses a lepton number, it is natural to expect the dark-matter annihilation and/or decay mainly produces the standard model leptons, while negligible amount of the antiproton is produced. To illustrate such a simple idea, we consider a scenario that a right-handed sneutrino dark matter decays into the standard model particles through tiny R-parity violating interactions. Interestingly enough, charged leptons as well as neutrinos are directly produced, and they can lead to a sharp peak in the predicted positron fraction. Moreover, the decay of the right-handed sneutrino also generates diffuse continuum gamma rays which may account for the excess observed by EGRET, while the primary antiproton flux can be suppressed. Those predictions on the cosmic-ray fluxes of the positrons, gamma rays and antiprotons will be tested by the PAMELA and FGST observatories.


Molecularly imprinted polymer was synthesized with salicylanilide as template, acrylamide (MA) as functional monomer, ethylene dimethacrylate (EDMA) as crosslinker, azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as initiator in methanol solution. The results showed that imprinted polymer had specific binding affinity for salicylanilide. The polymer selectivity was indicated by the separation of salicylanilide and its isomer in the HPLC analysis the resulting polymer as stationary phase.


Purified water forms an integral part of pharmaceutical production. The consistency of water quality produced by purrficatron processes and distributed to points-of-use is of utmost importance Tee-sectlons Installed in distribution loops are commonly used to divert fluid flow at take-off points. However fluid flow restriction at teesection branches can cause piping dead-legs.

Dead-legs consist of reglons of stagnant fluid where harmful organisms can proliferate unaffected by the scounng effects of distribution loop flow. This thesis presents a thermo-fluld analysis focusmg upon the fluid dynamics and heat transfer mechanisms occurrmg wthin dead-leg branches A literature review of high purity water system designed etails sanitization methods currently employed in industry with reference to the detrimental effects of dead-legs.

Experimentation was performed using a single-loop fluid rig complete with capped 90' tee-section representmg a piplng dead-leg. Analysis of the thermal conditions for various dead-leg configurations was performed mcludmg variations of branch length and diameter. The effect of varying loop velocity was also investigated. The application of non-intrusive analysis techniques was considered. Infrared thermography and surface-mounted thermocouples were used to map surface temperature distribution across a dead-leg branch.

Increased temperatures were noted at the base of the dead-leg branch for increasing loop velocities. Comparison of reduced and equal diameter dead-legs for varying branch lengths suggested dead-leg temperature is strongly related to mlet loop velocity. Acceptable thermal responses were noted m 4d dead-legs for loop velocity > 0.94m/s, 2d reduced diameter dead-legs at 1 50m/s and in 2d equal diameter deadlegs throughout the examined velocity range.

Although all dead-leg configurations used in analysis adhered to industry recommendations; unsatisfactory thermo-fluid conditions recorded for remalnlng dead-legs suggests revision of accepted regulations. Non-intrusive analyses illustrated greater temperatures at branch md-pomnt compared with base measurements. However the application of techniques was deemed limited due to pipe wall conduction effects.


Pterostilbene, a natural dimethylated analog of resveratrol, is known to have diverse pharmacologic activities including anticancer, anti-inflammation, antioxidant, apoptosis, anti-proliferation and analgesic potential. However, the effects of pterostilbene in preventing invasion of cancer cells have not been studied. Here, we report our finding that pterostilbene significantly suppressed 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA)-induced invasion, migration and metastasis of human hepatoma cells (HepG(2) cells). Increase in the enzyme activity, protein and messenger RNA levels of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 were observed in TPA-treated HepG(2) cells, and these were blocked by pterostilbene. In addition, pterostilbene can inhibit TPA-induced expression of vascular endothelial growth factor, epidermal growth factor and epidermal growth factor receptor. Transient transfection experiments also showed that pterostilbene strongly inhibited TPA-stimulated nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) and activator protein-1 (AP-1)-dependent transcriptional activity in HepG(2) cells. Moreover, pterostilbene can suppress TPA-induced activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase, c-Jun N-terminal kinases 1/2 and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt and protein kinase C that are upstream of NF-kappaB and AP-1. Significant therapeutic effects were further demonstrated in vivo by treating nude mice with pterostilbene (50 and 250 mg/kg intraperitoneally) after inoculation with HepG(2) cells into the tail vein. Presented data reveal that pterostilbene is a novel, effective, anti-metastatic agent that functions by downregulating MMP-9 gene expression.


A pilot study was conducted in schoolchildren from three main districts of São Tome to assess the relationship between the prevalence of infections caused by Schistosoma intercalatum or intestinal helminths and individual behaviour and social conditions. Coprological examination revealed an increase of schistosome infections and a persisting high endemicity for ascariasis and trichuriasis. Infection rates were 36.2% for S. intercalatum and 70.8%, 68.5% and 4.6% for Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and Ancylostomidae, respectively. Out of the 47 children positive for S. intercalatum, 35 (74.5%) were co-infected with one or more geohelminths. Logistic regression analysis of data collected through questionnaire demonstrate that behaviour and/or social conditions in the house were positively associated with S. intercalatum or T. trichiura. Neither sex nor age groups were associated with infections, suggesting that low personal hygiene and sanitation practices were similar for all groups of children. These data are in accordance to those of other studies and highlight the importance of assessing multivariate factors that may contribute to the transmission of these diseases, in order to design integrated control approaches for schistosomiasis and geohelminthiasis which could have more rapid effects on reduction of infections as well as greater cost-effectiveness.


A wave motion compensating platform has the function of compensating the ship's generalized heave motion (a coupling result of roll, pitch and heave). It can decrease the impact of ship motion on some sea works and equipments. The hydraulic mechanism of platform system has the characteristics of nonlinear and big inertia. In order to compensate generalized heave motion effectively, an adaptive predictive control policy is used for controlling the hydraulic mechanism. Based on equal-dimension and new information, an automation regressive model can get adaptive multi-step prediction. The model parameter estimation based on the least square algorithm is easy to blow up and be unstable when the system has random noise. To improve the problem solution, a damped recursive least square algorithm is proposed to estimate the parameters on line. For the short regulation time, strong anti-disturbance ability and great robustness, a nonlinear PID controller whose gain parameters vary with errors is suitable for controlling the hydraulic mechanism. Using the collected experimental data, the simulations suggest that adopting the above adaptive predictive control policy to control hydraulic mechanism is able to decrease the generalized heave amplitude of wave motion compensating platform.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of supplier development (SD) on supplier's performance by sharing implicit knowledge in mentorship under the influence of supplier's organizational culture (OC).

Design/methodology/approach
A survey questionnaire was employed to collect data from 226 employees of participating suppliers after conducting mentorship training at the suppliers' site. The data were analyzed by the partial least squares structural equation modeling with software SmartPLS Ver. 3.0.

Findings
The empirical analysis indicates that SD by mentorship partially mediates the total effects of OC – power distance and uncertainty avoidance – on performance. It completely mediates the collaborative culture on performance.

Originality/value
This study may confirm that the SD program by mentorship is a viable strategy to enhance the performance of supply chain partners and the selection of suppliers.


Our objective is to describe the use of a ventricular assist device (VAD) in single-ventricle patients with circulatory failure following superior cavopulmonary anastomosis (SCPA). We performed a retrospective chart review of all single-ventricle patients supported with a VAD following SCPA. Implantation techniques, physiologic parameters while supported, medical and surgical interventions postimplant, and outcomes were reviewed. Four patients were supported with an EXCOR Pediatric (Berlin Heart Inc., The Woodlands, TX, USA) following SCPA for a median duration of 10.5 days (range 9-312 days). Selective excision of trabeculae and chords facilitated apical cannulation in all patients without inflow obstruction. There were two pump exchanges in the one patient supported for 312 days. Two patients were evaluated by cardiac catheterization while supported. Three of four patients were successfully bridged to transplantation. One patient died while supported. All patients had significant bleeding at the time of transplantation, and one required posttransplant extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with subsequent full recovery. VAD support can provide a successful bridge to transplantation in patients with single-ventricle circulation following SCPA. A thorough understanding of the challenges encountered during this support is necessary for successful outcomes.


Crosstalk between neurons and glia may constitute a significant part of information processing in the brain. We present a novel method of statistically identifying interactions in a neuron–glia network. We attempted to identify neuron–glia interactions from neuronal and glial activities via maximum-a-posteriori (MAP)-based parameter estimation by developing a generalized linear model (GLM) of a neuron–glia network. The interactions in our interest included functional connectivity and response functions. We evaluated the cross-validated likelihood of GLMs that resulted from the addition or removal of connections to confirm the existence of specific neuron-to-glia or glia-to-neuron connections. We only accepted addition or removal when the modification improved the cross-validated likelihood. We applied the method to a high-throughput, multicellular in vitro Ca2+ imaging dataset obtained from the CA3 region of a rat hippocampus, and then evaluated the reliability of connectivity estimates using a statistical test based on a surrogate method. Our findings based on the estimated connectivity were in good agreement with currently available physiological knowledge, suggesting our method can elucidate undiscovered functions of neuron–glia systems.


Whitley Bay High School, Tyneside, embraces the use of comics and graphic novels to encourage reading in the library, and boost pupil engagement with English. Visual literacy expert Doctor Mel Gibson visits the school to promote the positive impact of comics as an educational resource, and library manager Gareth Ellis works with Mel to increase the school's stock of comics, and bring less-keen readers into the library. Mel leads a workshop with Year 9 pupils, to increase their awareness of the wide range of comics on offer for boys and girls of all ages. Keen to help the school develop their use of comics and graphic novels in the classroom, she runs a training session with English teachers Lynne Smith and Faye Robinson. We return to the school one month later to assess whether comics have boosted reading in general, and see if they've proved to have real educational value in the classroom.


In this study, the authors propose a multimodal biometric system by combining the finger knuckle and finger vein images at feature-level fusion using fractional firefly (FFF) optimisation. Biometric characteristics, like finger knuckle and finger vein are unique and secure. Initially, the features are extracted from the finger knuckle and finger vein images using repeated line tracking method. Then, a newly developed method of feature-level fusion using FFF optimisation is used. This method is utilised to find out the optimal weight score to fuse the extracted feature sets of finger knuckle and finger vein images. Thus, the recognition is carried out by the fused feature set using layered k-SVM (k-support vector machine) which is newly developed by combining the layered SVM classifier and k-neural network classifier. The experimental results are evaluated and the performance is analysed with false acceptance ratio, false rejection ratio and accuracy. The outcome of the proposed FFF optimisation system obtains a higher accuracy of 96%.


We have defined the nucleotide sequence of a protein-binding domain within U1 RNA that specifically recognizes and binds both to a U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein component (the 70K protein) and to the previously defined RNA-binding domain of the 70K protein. We have investigated direct interactions between purified U1 RNA and 70K protein by reconstitution in vitro. Thirty-one nucleotides of U1 RNA, corresponding to stem-loop I, were required for this interaction. Nucleotides at the 5' end of U1 RNA that are involved in base pairing with the 5' splice site of pre-mRNA were not required for binding. In contrast to other reports, these findings demonstrate that a specific domain of U1 RNA can bind directly to the 70K protein independently of any other snRNP-associated proteins.


Genomic datasets continue to increase in number due to the ease of production for a wider selection of species including non-model organisms. For many of these species, especially those with large or polyploid genomes, highly contiguous and well-annotated genomes are still rare due to the complexity and cost involved in their assembly. As a result, a common starting point for genomic work in non-model species is the production of a linkage map. Dense linkage maps facilitate the analysis of genomic data in a variety of ways, from broad scale observations regarding genome structure e.g., chromosome number and type or sex-related structural differences, to fine scale patterns e.g., recombination rate variation and co-localization of differentiated regions. Here we present both sex-averaged and sex-specific linkage maps for Coregonus sp. "Albock", a member of the European whitefish lineage (C. lavaretus spp. complex), containing 5395 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci across 40 linkage groups to facilitate future investigation into the genomic basis of whitefish adaptation and speciation. The map was produced using restriction-site associated digestion (RAD) sequencing data from two wild-caught parents and 156 F1 offspring. We discuss the differences between our sex-averaged and sex-specific maps and identify genome-wide synteny between C. sp. "Albock" and Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar), which have diverged following the salmonid-specific whole genome duplication. Our analysis confirms that many patterns of synteny observed between Atlantic Salmon and Oncorhynchus and Salvelinus species are also shared by members of the Coregoninae subfamily. We also show that regions known for their species-specific rediploidization history can pose challenges for synteny identification since these regions have diverged independently in each salmonid species following the salmonid-specific whole genome duplication. The European whitefish map provided here will enable future studies to understand the distribution of loci of interest, e.g., FST outliers, along the whitefish genome as well as assisting with the de novo assembly of a whitefish reference genome.


Because the cranial capacity of LB1 (Homo floresiensis) is only 417 cm3, some workers propose that it represents a microcephalic Homo sapiens rather than a new species. This hypothesis is difficult to assess, however, without a clear understanding of how brain shape of microcephalics compares with that of normal humans. We compare three-dimensional computed tomographic reconstructions of the internal braincases (virtual endocasts that reproduce details of external brain morphology, including cranial capacities and shape) from a sample of 9 microcephalic humans and 10 normal humans. Discriminant and canonical analyses are used to identify two variables that classify normal and microcephalic humans with 100% success. The classification functions classify the virtual endocast from LB1 with normal humans rather than microcephalics. On the other hand, our classification functions classify a pathological H. sapiens specimen that, like LB1, represents an ≈3-foot-tall adult female and an adult Basuto microcephalic woman that is alleged to have an endocast similar to LB1's with the microcephalic humans. Although microcephaly is genetically and clinically variable, virtual endocasts from our highly heterogeneous sample share similarities in protruding and proportionately large cerebella and relatively narrow, flattened orbital surfaces compared with normal humans. These findings have relevance for hypotheses regarding the genetic substrates of hominin brain evolution and may have medical diagnostic value. Despite LB1's having brain shape features that sort it with normal humans rather than microcephalics, other shape features and its small brain size are consistent with its assignment to a separate species.


The consequences of planning issues like suburban sprawl are well-known in academia and the planning profession, however there is a disconnect between this knowledge and the actions of decision-makers, as well as, the populations who elect them. It is argued that if students in Ontario were better informed or knowledgeable about urban planning issues within the high school curricula, then there could be a stronger framework for which to improve upon planning urban regions according to best practices and principles. A focus is placed on geography education and the provincial geography curriculum due to it having the strongest potential for inclusion of this topic. Through a literature review and semi-structured interviews with educators and planners, this paper examines the current geography curriculum, best practices, as well as the barriers to incorporating urban planning issues into high school geography classrooms. Lastly, recommendations are provided for stakeholders in the planning and geography education professions on how to overcome these barriers.


ARTICLE INFO The Steady flow of a non-Newtonian fluid over a stretching sheet under the influence of a constant transverse magnetic field has been investigated based on the power-law model. The velocity of the sheet varies linearly along the flow direction. PDE type equations of motion of fluids were transformed into a nonlinear ODE type equation using similarity transformation. A numerical scheme based on finite difference and shooting method has been proposed to solve the governing equations. Effects of the characteristics of flow, fluid and magnetic field have been investigated. Results show that the magnetic field acts as a drag force and decreases the boundary layer thickness. Finally, considering the Newtonian model for a non-Newtonian fluid causes considerable errors up to 100% especially for the skin friction coefficient.


Abstract Three lessons have emerged from the experience of the recent crisis for future economic policy. First, when a crisis of this severity strikes, governments and central banks must be prepared to engage quickly and decisively into countervailing measures. Second, as the world economy has been stabilizing gradually, they now need to orchestrate a careful exit from the extraordinary monetary and fiscal policy stimuli taken, in a way that does not jeopardize the fragile process of recovery. In this difficult balancing act, governments must adamantly reduce their very high structural budget deficits. And third, governments are responsible for facilitating a steep growth path for the aggregate economy, preferably by safeguarding competition and investing into physical and human infrastructure. Above all, national policies need to be consistently embedded into an international perspective.


Abstract Field studies were conducted to compare the barnyardgrass suppression by four U.S. ('Starbonnet', 'Kaybonnet', 'Lemont', and 'Cypress') and three highly competitive, high-yielding Asian cultivars ('PI 312777′, 'Guichao', and 'Teqing'). The economic consequence of applying less than the recommended propanil rates to these cultivars was also evaluated. Grain yields increased, and barnyardgrass biomass decreased with increasing propanil rates. With or without propanil, the Asian rice cultivars consistently suppressed barnyardgrass more and consequently produced higher grain yields than did U.S. cultivars. The economic benefit derived from propanil application was less for Asian than for U.S. cultivars. Asian cultivars produced higher rough rice yields, resulting in higher net returns (not adjusted for milling) than did the commercial cultivars, but this advantage was usually reduced when adjusting for their lower milling yields. These results suggest that growing weed-suppressive Asian rice cultivars in conjunction with reduced herbicide rates could be an effective and economical weed management strategy for rice in the southern United States. However, first, their plant type and grain quality characteristics must be improved. Nomenclature: Propanil; barnyardgrass, Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) Beauv. ECHCG; rice, Oryza sativa L.


In this article we present the morphological and magnetic characterization of ferrofluid-impregnated biomimetic scaffolds made of hydroxyapatite and collagen used for bone reconstruction. We describe an innovative and simple impregnation process by which the ferrofluid is firmly adsorbed onto the hydroxyapatite/collagen scaffolds. The process confers sufficient magnetization to attract potential magnetic carriers, which may be used to transport bioactive agents that favour bone regeneration. The crystalline structure of the magnetite contained in the ferrofluid is preserved and its quantity, estimated from the weight gain due to the impregnation process, is consistent with that obtained from energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The magnetization, measured with a superconducting quantum interference device, is uniform throughout the scaffolds, demonstrating the efficiency of the impregnation process. The field emission gun scanning electron microscopy characterization demonstrates that the process does not alter the morphology of the hydroxyapatite/collagen scaffolds, which is essential for the preservation of their bioactivity and consequently for their effectiveness in promoting bone formation.


It is widely acknowledged that mass media play a central role in circulating and disseminating ideas. Particularly in this globalised era, it is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the role and impact of news media in shaping public opinion worldwide. During the attacks on New York in September 2001, for instance, CNN – the American cable news network – broadcast across the world twenty-four hours, and most of its reports were translated, or interpreted, into other languages, to be aired in other countries in real time. Most people are thus exposed to extensive reporting every day, but they are not necessarily aware that each news institution promotes, or, at least tries to construct, a particular media discourse according to its political or social orientation. Because of the complexity of mass media discourses, however, it is difficult to demonstrate how the language used participates in constructing and disseminating certain ideologies, or to challenge stereotypes and power relationships. This explains why media, news, political and institutional texts are preferred genres for critical discourse analysts. The extensive body of literature on news media discourses and their impact which draws on critical discourse analysis includes Van Dijk (1988), Fairclough (1995), Al-Hejin (2007), Kim (2008), among many others. Translation is a major variable that influences the circulation of ideas and ideologies, and translational choices can participate in provoking (or diffusing) political conflict. At the same time, translation may also challenge dominant discourses. Baker (1996: 14) acknowledges the power of translation, arguing that translation and the study of translation have been used as a "weapon in fighting colonialism, sexism, racism, and so on". And yet, most research on news discourse has so far tended to examine monolingual texts, rather than multilingual texts, including translations, despite the fact that numerous news reports are translated from one language into another on a regular basis. Critical approaches to language study have occasionally been used to investigate translation, in order "to reveal how translation is shaped by ideologies and in this way contributes to the perpetuation or subversion of particular discourses" (Olk 2002: 101), but such studies have remained restricted in scope. Drawing on corpus-based methodology and critical discourse analysis, this study examines US and South Korean news stories published in mainstream media with a view to identifying specific discursive practices relating to North Korea and how they are mediated in translation. The study attempts to analyze the relationship between textual features and practices specific to each news outlet. The corpus for this study consists of two separate sub-corpora, designed and compiled according to the same criteria and specifications: one made up of news texts originally written New Voices in Translation Studies 10 (2013) Kyung Hye Kim, abstract of Ph.D. thesis, i-ii. ii in English, and the other consisting of translated texts which include English source texts and the target texts translated from English into Korean. The texts are drawn from Newsweek/Newsweek Hangukpan and CNN/CNN Hangeul News. The analysis carried out in this study reveals some of the linguistic devices and mechanisms by which news outlets generate representations and hence, it is hoped, sensitizes both consumers and media translators to the power of discourse.


SUMMARY In this paper, a control methodology is proposed for dual-user teleoperation system in the presence of unknown constant communication time delay. To satisfy dual-user system-desired objectives, three impedance characteristics are defined as the desired closed-loop system. In order to satisfy the desired impedance characteristics, a sliding-mode-based impedance controller is applied. The proposed controller affords unknown communication delay, an issue that is disregarded in the previous studies performed on dual-user systems. The nonlinear gain of the controller is achieved independent of time delay caused by communication channels. Therefore, the necessity of measurement or estimation of the time delay is relaxed. In addition, the stability analysis is presented for the closed-loop system using the passivity theory. The validity of the proposed controller scheme is demonstrated via experimental results performed on a dual-user system in the presence of unknown communication delay. In addition, due to lack of availability of forces corresponding to the operators' hand that are required in the proposed controller, a Kalman Filter-based Force Observer (KFFO) is proposed.


We study the low-frequency timing properties and the spectral state evolution of the transient neutron star low-mass X-ray binary EXO 1745-248 using the entire Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer Proportional Counter Array data. We tentatively conclude that EXO 1745-248 is an atoll source, and report the discovery of a ~ 0.45 Hz low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillation and ~ 10 Hz peaked noises. If it is an atoll, this source is unusual because (1) instead of a `C'-like curve, it traced a clear overall clockwise hysteresis curve in each of the colour-colour diagram and the hardness-intensity diagram; and (2) the source took at least 2.5 months to trace the softer banana state, as opposed to a few hours to a day, which is typical for an atoll source. The shape of the hysteresis track was intermediate between the characteristic `q'-like curves of several black hole systems and `C'-like curves of atolls, implying that EXO 1745-248 is an important source for the unification of the black hole and neutron star accretion processes.


AIM
To examine gastroduodenal mucosa in patients treated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), to evaluate the rate and severity of gastrointestinal hemorrhage (GIH) as NSAID-gastropathy manifestation by the results of clinical and device tests.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
A retrospective analysis of 2042 case histories of patients admitted to the surgical department of the Moscow city hospital N 1 in 1997-2001 with diagnosis GIH confirmed at esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGDS). 989 patients (566 males and 423 females) had acute GIH from the upper gastrointestinal tract.

RESULTS
Relationship between intake of NSAID and GIH was documented in 342 patients (16.7% of overall number of the examinees and 34.6% of patients with acute GIH). According to EGDS, GIH was provoked by gastric lesions (68%), duodenal lesions (20%), gastroduodenal lesions (9%), esophageal erosions (3%). GIH was caused primarily by low-dose aspirin, indometacin, diclofenak and ibuprofen. Severe GIH occurred in 28.9% cases, moderate and mild ones in 20.8 and 50.3%, respectively.

CONCLUSION
To reduce the incidence of GIH, it is necessary to take preventive measures against NSAId-gastropathies.


Background: A delay in the diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) reduces the eligibility and outcome of patients for thrombolytic therapy. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment of AIS are crucial. The present study evaluated the sensitivity and accuracy of serum extracellular vesicle (EV)-derived miR-124-3p in the diagnosis and prediction of AIS. Methods: An miRNA expression profile was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and analyzed by R software. EVs were harvested from the serum of AIS patients using a total exosome isolation kit and characterized by Western blotting, a transmission electron microscope, and the nanoparticle tracking analysis. BV2 microglia were pre-stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), followed by miR-124-3p treatment for 24 h and subsequent analysis of viability, apoptosis, and migration (scratch assay), and Western blotting. The relative expression of the selected genes was assessed by qRT-PCR. The phosphorylation of Erk1/2, PI3K/Akt, and p38MAPK in BV2 microglia cells was evaluated by Western blotting, while the luciferase reporter gene assay detected the correlation between key genes involved in the pro-inflammatory signaling pathways and miR-124-3p. Results: hsa-miR-124-3p was downregulated in AIS serum compared to the non-AIS serum (p < 0.05), and the gene expression of has-miR-124-3p in EVs was negatively correlated with serum pro-inflammatory cytokines and the NIHSS (p < 0.05). In addition, miR-124-3p promoted the viability and inhibited the apoptosis of LPS-induced BV2 microglia. Furthermore, miR-124-3p reduced the phosphorylation of Erk1/2, PI3K/Akt, and p38MAPK, and promoted the migration in LPS-induced BV2 microglia (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Serum EV-derived miR-124-3p serves as a diagnostic and predictive marker for early-stage AIS.


Mobile health (mHealth) technologies enable frequent sampling of physiological and psychological signals over time. In our recent work we used a convolutional neural network (CNN) model to predict self-reported phenotypes of chronic conditions from step and sleep data recorded from passive trackers in free living conditions. We investigated the impact of the time-granularity of the collected data and showed that training the models on higher- resolution (minute-level) data improved classification performance on conditions related to mental health and nervous system disorders, as compared to using only day-level totals. In the present work we shift the focus from the time resolution of the observation window to its duration. We study how the performance of the best-performing model on the highest-resolution data changes as the length of the data collection window is varied from 3 to 147 days for each user. We found that for mental health and nervous system disorders, a model trained on 30 days of mHealth data attains the same performance as using the full 147-day window of data, in terms of AUC increase over a baseline model that uses only demographics, height, and weight. Additionally, for the same cluster of conditions, only 7 days of data are sufficient to realize 62% of the maximum increase in AUC over baseline attainable using the full window. The results suggest that for some conditions health-related digital phenotyping in free-living conditions can potentially be performed in a relatively short amount of time, imposing minimal disruptions on user habits.


This acclaimed volume is the first to provide a comprehensive overview of Jerzy Grotowski's long and multi-faceted career. It is essential reading for anyone interested in Grotowski's life and work. Edited by the two leading experts on Grotowski, the sourcebook features: *essays from the key performance theorists who worked with Grotowski, including Eugenio Barba, Peter Brook, Jan Kott, Eric Bentley, Harold Clurman, and Charles Marowitz *writings which trace every phase of Grotowski's career from his 'theatre of production' to 'objective drama' and 'art as vehicle' *a wide-ranging collection of Grotowski's own writings, plus an interview with his closest collaborator and 'heir', Thomas Richards *an array of photographs documenting Grotowski and his followers in action *a historical-critical study of Grotowski by Richard Schechner.


Biological effects of laser radiation (LR) are determined by the absorption properties of the irradiated tissues and physiological characteristics of radiation. The high intensities of the effect are accompanied by melting, evaporation, substance ionization, formation of shock and acoustic waves. Under the action of the low-intensity LR there prevail photochemical, photobiological and thermal processes. The action of LR of one or another wave length is determined by the initial stages of its interaction with biological substrate. The biostimulating action of LR is widely used in clinical medicine. On the contrary, the effects that give rise to morphofunctional lesions of biological tissues determine the necessity of elaborating preventive measures ensuring protection of man from LR. It is generally accepted that thresholds of the damaging action on the retina and skin may be used as the main criterion for maximum allowable level (MAL) basing. In addition to the changes observable in the directly irradiated tissues, many authors point to a possibility of functional disturbances on the part of certain organs and systems of the body, followed by the formation of asthenic and vegetovascular syndromes. The experimental and clinical data confirm that the body may develop common nonspecific changes which, together with the local damaging effects, can be regarded as criteria for an adverse action of LR and, therefore, taken into account in MAL derivation.


This note is a response to an unpublished paper by Evans and Thomas (1998) of which we have recently become aware. Evans and Thomas (1998) take issue with a paper that we published some years back on 'Cooperation and Effective Computability' in repeated games (Anderlini and Sabourian 1995). In that paper we showed that it is only the cooperative equilibria of an infinitely repeated two-player common-interest game with no discounting that survive both the restriction that players' strategies must be computable, and appropriately computable trembles. Evans and Thomas (1998) assert that our results are seemingly not robust to changes in the set of computable strategies at the disposal of each player. In particular, they claim that our equilibrium selection result does not extend to the case in which players are allowed to choose strategies that halt on certain histories but do not halt on others. The purpose of this note is to show that the claim in Evans and Thomas (1998) is misleading. We present a modification of the set-up of our earlier paper in which the cooperative equilibria are selected when strategies that halt on certain histories and do not halt on others are allowed. Although extensive modifications are required, the proof of this extension of our earlier result runs along the same general line of argument as the original proof


An important goal for health care organizations is supporting older adults who age in place. Telehomecare (THC) technology can help to meet the growing demand for care. Despite the apparent positive effects of this technology, there are still barriers to THC adoption. This study investigates how the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) can be used to identify predictors for THC use by Dutch care professionals. Data were collected from 207 health professionals working in homecare in the Netherlands. Data were fit to the UTAUT model. The UTAUT was extended with three possible determinants for professionals' intention to use THC: concerns about privacy, costs expectancy and technology experience. We conclude that UTAUT can be used to explore predictors for care professionals. More research has to be done that can be used to develop transnational eHealth nursing education programs to make them more adequately prepared for a rapidly changing health care sector.


In this global village we live in, education is not restricted to a special place like a school. All learners should be life-long learners, and learning should not be restricted to a time and place. Like any other kind of education, e-learning, a process to create and provide access to learning when the source of information and the learners are separated by time and distance, has special kinds of barriers which need to be known and considered, for instance the high drop-out rate of e-learning and the suitability of e-learning to cover different subjects. These problems appear to be related, directly or indirectly, to the issue of interactivity. Interactivity in e-learning is considered to be more than just clicking a mouse. Interactivity encourages both active learner reflection and manipulation of learning content; it reduces the feelings of isolation and of anxiety of not learning the curriculum. Interactivity facilitates the integration of learned content into existing schemata and in particular into real-life work situations. In the context of e-learning, interactivity is viewed as the principal method of engaging with learners and helping them to attain, retain and sustain the knowledge and skills they are learning. This thesis argues that an in-depth understanding of interactivity in e-learning will reinforce and enhance the capabilities of this learning mode, and consequently have a measurable positive impact on student drop-out rates, and widen the suitability and subject coverage of e-learning.


Because of the high prevalence of CTX-M-15-producing Escherichia coli isolates causing urinary tract infections in Rio de Janeiro, we have investigated bla-CTX-M-15 gene presence, as well as CTX-M-15 production, in 32 E. coli isolates recovered from the urine of outpatients assisted at a public hospital located in the west zone of Rio. Molecular epidemiology was assessed by PFGE and phylo-typing methods. The work highlights the good performance of MALDI-TOF MS as an alternative tool to detect extended-spectrum beta-lactamases among CTX-M-15-producing E. coli isolates.


The frequency and distribution of mutations in Plasmodium falciparum, dihydrofolate reductase and dihydropteroate synthase genes were analyzed, using the polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism methodology, in infected blood samples from Mozambican children living in Maputo, before and seven days after treatment with sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine (S/P). The results showed the occurrence of point mutations in the genes studied and the presence of combinations of three alleles in dhfr (51Ile, 59Arg and 108Asn) and "quintuple" mutant (dhfr 51Ile, 59Arg, 108Asn and dhps 437Gly, 540Glu). Both of these situations were associated with seven-day therapeutic failure, following treatment with S/P. These findings show the importance of studying S/P resistance in Mozambique, and how molecular markers for antimalarial resistance can provide important data for national malaria control policy.


The popularity of Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) has risen dramatically over the last decade. Some gamers spend many hours a day in these virtual environments interacting with other gamers, completing quests, and forming social groups. The present study set out to explore the experiences and feelings of online gamers. The study comprised 71 interviews with online gamers (52 males and 19 females) from 11 different countries. Many themes emerged from the analyses of the interview transcripts including (i) engaging in social interaction, (ii) being part of a community, (iii) learning real-life skills, (iv) gaining in-game rewards, (v) playing never-ending games (vi) escaping from real life, (vii) playing longer than intended, and (viii) being obligated towards other gamers in-game. These findings specifically showed the many positives of online gaming (including the social interaction and the community aspects of belonging) as well as the in-game features within MMORPGs that in some cases can lead to excessive online gaming. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to previous qualitative and quantitative research in the area.


With the experimental binding energies and configurations, the root-mean-square radii of p-wave valence neutron distributions for nuclei up to the second p-shell have been calculated in the framework of the single-particle potential model. By analyzing the relations between the radii and the binding energies, the scaling laws of p-wave valence neutron distributions are obtained. The quantitative conditions for the formation of p-wave neutron halos are deduced from these scaling laws. Based on the investigation on the probability of finding the valence nucleon outside the range of the interaction potential, a 2p3/2 halo state in 47S is anticipated for the first time. These obtained results might provide reference for searching for p-wave neutron halos in nuclei up to the second p-shell.


Background and Objective Nearly one-third of persons with epilepsy will continue having seizures despite trialing multiple antiseizure medications. Epilepsy surgery may be beneficial in these cases, and evaluation at a comprehensive epilepsy center is recommended. Numerous palliative and potentially curative approaches exist, and types of surgery performed may be influenced by center characteristics. This article describes epilepsy center characteristics associated with epilepsy surgery access and volumes in the United States. Methods We analyzed National Association of Epilepsy Centers 2019 annual report and supplemental survey data obtained with responses from 206 adult epilepsy center directors and 136 pediatric epilepsy center directors in the United States. Surgical treatment volumes were compiled with center characteristics, including US Census region. We used multivariable modeling with zero-inflated Poisson regression models to present ORs and incidence rate ratios of receiving a given surgery type based on center characteristics. Results The response rate was 100% with individual element missingness less than 4% across 352 observations undergoing univariate analysis. Multivariable models included 319 complete observations. Significant regional differences were present. The rates of laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) were lower at centers in the Midwest (incidence rate ratio [IRR] 0.74, 95% CI 0.59–0.92; p = 0.006) and Northeast (IRR 0.77, 95% CI 0.61–0.96; p = 0.022) compared with those in the South. Conversely, responsive neurostimulation implantation rates were higher in the Midwest (IRR 1.45, 95% CI 1.1–1.91; p = 0.008) and West (IRR 1.91, 95% CI 1.49–2.44; p < 0.001) compared with the South. Center accreditation level, institution type, demographics, and resources were also associated with variations in access and rates of potentially curative and palliative surgical interventions. Discussion Epilepsy surgery procedure volumes are influenced by US epilepsy center region and other characteristics. These variations may affect access to specific surgical treatments for persons with drug resistant epilepsy across the United States.


One of the most efficient Real-Coded Genetic Algorithms (RCGAs) for function optimization currently is the G3-PCX (Parent-Centric Crossover) algorithm. However, its performance for solving complex multimodal problems with highly deceptive fitness landscapes is known to be poor compared with its performance for unimodal problems. The problem primarily stems from premature convergence to local rather than global optima due to lack of explorative capabilities of the algorithm. In this study, a hybrid approach combining both adaptive as well as non-adaptive mutation in a cooperative manner is investigated in the hope of improving the explorative capabilities of the G3-PCX algorithm for solving complex multimodal problems. The proposed algorithm is called G3HM (G3-PCX with Hybrid Mutation) and empirical tests on four benchmark complex multimodal test problems have shown highly competitive performance. In two of the four problems, G3HM dramatically outperformed the standard G3-PCX algorithm in terms of solution quality. Thus, the concept of combining adaptive with non-adaptive mutation as a hybrid genetic operator is shown to have beneficial effects for cooperatively exploring complex multimodal search spaces.


Selective gonadal venography was used on 28 patients with a total of 34 non-palpable undescended testes. The data obtained in this study suggest that 1) an internal spermatic vein with a pampiniform-like plexus indicates the presence of a testis, 2) a blind-ending vein on venography suggests the absence of a testis, 3) an internal spermatic vein or vas deferens may be present without a testis, 4) a testis probably cannot be present without a gonadal vein, 5) a testis may be present without a vas, 6) a blind-ending vas deferens does not necessarily indicate the absence of a testis and 7) a blind-ending vas deferens in a patient in whom a blind-ending gonadal vein is localized to the same region probably indicates the absence of a testis. Gonadal venography may localize a non-palpable undescended testis or suggest testicular agenesis. In addition, gonadal venography has aided in the selection of the operative approach and, in the future, may provide criteria under specific circumstances for determining whether an operation is necessary and, if so, the extent of surgical exploration.


The aim of this study is to model launch vehicles with focus on 3-DOF trajectory optimization using a modular approach. Despite the large number of operational launch vehicles, they usually consist of basic components and subsystems. In other words, a launch vehicle is an assembly of stages, which in turn is divided into propellant system and engine, and the engine is an assembly of basic components such as pumps, turbines, combustion chamber, and nozzle. To allow future extension and reuse of the codes, a modular structure using object-oriented programming is used. Two formulations of state equations of the trajectory and two optimization methods are described. The launch vehicle performance will be measured by payload mass for a given mission. The simulations of the VLS-1, Ariane 5 and VLS-Alfa were performed and showed good agreement with the literature.


Audio Arts, the invention of two artists, William Furlong and Barry Barker, began in 1973 as the first art magazine to be published on audio cassette and is now a source of reference about contemporary art of the last 20 years. This volume features interviews, discussions, art-work documentation, reportage, archive recordings and artist collaborations with Audio Arts. Its featured artists include: Noam Chomsky; Wyndham Lewis; James Joyce; W.B. Yeats; Marcel Duchamp; Howard Hodgkin; Buckminister Fuller; Tadeusz Kantor; Mario Merz; John Cage; Philip Glass; Andy Warhol; Dan Graham; Joseph Beuys; Joseph Kosuth; Angela Bulloch; and Rachel Whiteread.


Despite considerable efforts in the recent years, the sedimentation processes in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific, namely the Panama Basin, remain the subject of considerable uncertainty. In particular, the occurrence of lateral sediment redistribution as suggested by constant flux proxies like Th-230 excess is the subject of much debate. Th-230 excess measurements performed on bulk samples imply strong sediment focusing, leading to up to 8-fold higher accumulation than vertical flux rates. Arguments have been put forward suggesting that the assumptions behind the Th-230 excess method may not be entirely valid. In several other regions of the world, comparison of compound-specific radiocarbon ages of marine algal biomarkers with those of co-occurring coarse-grained sediment constituents like planktonic foraminifera have provided independent evidence for the occurrence of lateral supply of allochthonous, pre-aged sediment. The interpretation of those data is based on the assumption that organic biomarkers primarily reside in the fine-grained sediment fraction, which is more susceptible to resuspension and lateral transport processes than foraminifera. Here we present results from a study combining both methods to assess lateral sediment supply. Using samples from sediment cores Y69-71P and ME0005-24JC from the SW Panama Basin, we performed compound-specific radiocarbon analyses of marine phytoplankton-derived organic biomarkers (alkenones) and co-occurring planktonic foraminifera. In addition, we examined the Th-230 excess distribution in individual sediment grain size fractions of selected radiocarbon-dated horizons in both cores, testing the hypothesis that laterally advected fine-grained material contributes more strongly to the total inventory of Th-230 excess than coarse-grained material. We found higher Th-230 inventories in the smaller grain size fractions than in coarse silt and sand sized material. Down-core variations in grain-size distribution may thus partly explain the observed Th-230 excess inventory. In contrast, radiocarbon data indicate no supply of pre-aged organic matter.


Many recent analyses of mood selection in Romance and Balkan rely on the idea that subjunctive is triggered by a modal predicate whose meaning is comparative. We work out a precise version of this idea, which we call the Proto-Standard Theory, and show that it runs into problems with a variety of indicative-selecting predicates in French. We then develop and argue in favor of an alternative account based on individuals being Contextually Committed towards the modal parameters used to give the meaning of the predicate.


Geographically annotated social media is extremely valuable for modern information retrieval. However, when researchers can only access publicly-visible data, one quickly finds that social media users rarely publish location information. In this work, we provide a method which can geolocate the overwhelming majority of active Twitter users, independent of their location sharing preferences, using only publicly-visible Twitter data. Our method infers an unknown user's location by examining their friend's locations. We frame the geotagging problem as an optimization over a social network with a total variation-based objective and provide a scalable and distributed algorithm for its solution. Furthermore, we show how a robust estimate of the geographic dispersion of each user's ego network can be used as a per-user accuracy measure which is effective at removing outlying errors. Leave-many-out evaluation shows that our method is able to infer location for 101, 846, 236 Twitter users at a median error of 6.38 km, allowing us to geotag over 80% of public tweets.


Background The sedation needs of critically ill patients have been recognized as a core component of critical care that is vital to assist recovery and ensure humane treatment. Evidence suggests that sedation requirements are not always optimally managed. Suboptimal sedation, both underand over-sedation, have been linked to short-term (e.g. length of stay) and long-term (e.g. psychological recovery) outcomes. Strategies to improve sedation assessment and management have been proposed. This review was originally published in 2015 and updated in 2018. Objectives To assess the eFects of protocol-directed sedation management compared to usual care on the duration of mechanical ventilation, intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital mortality and other patient outcomes in mechanically ventilated ICU adults and children. Search methods We used the standard search strategy of the Cochrane Anaesthesia, Critical and Emergency Care Group (ACE). We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled trials (CENTRAL) (December 2017), MEDLINE (OvidSP) (2013 to December 2017), Embase (OvidSP) (2013 to December 2017), CINAHL (BIREME host) (2013 to December 2017), LILACS (2013 to December 2017), trial registries and reference lists of articles. (The original search was run in November 2013). Selection criteria We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-randomized controlled trials conducted in ICUs comparing management with and without protocol-directed sedation in intensive care adults and children. Protocol-directed sedation versus non-protocol-directed sedation in mechanically ventilated intensive care adults and children (Review) Copyright © 2018 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 1 Cochrane Library Trusted evidence. Informed decisions. Better health. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews Data collection and analysis Two authors screened the titles and abstracts and then full-text reports identified from our electronic search. We assessed seven domains of potential risk of bias for the included studies. We examined clinical, methodological and statistical heterogeneity and used the randomeFects model for meta-analysis where we considered it appropriate. We calculated the mean diFerence (MD) for duration of mechanical ventilation and risk ratio (RR) for mortality across studies, with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Main results We included four studies with a total of 3323 participants (864 adults and 2459 paediatrics) in this update. Three studies were single-centre, patient-level RCTs and one study was a multicentre cluster-RCT. The settings were in metropolitan centres and included general, mixed medical-surgical, medical only and a range of paediatric units. All four included studies compared the use of protocol-directed sedation, specifically protocols delivered by nurses, with usual care. We rated the risk of selection bias due to random sequence generation low for two studies and unclear for two studies. The risk of bias was highly variable across the domains and studies, with the risk of selection and performance bias generally rated high and the risk of detection and attrition bias generally rated low. When comparing protocol-directed sedation with usual care, there was no clear evidence of diFerence in duration of mechanical ventilation in hours for the entire duration of the first ICU stay for each patient (MD -28.15 hours, 95% CI -69.15 to 12.84; I2 = 85%; 4 studies; adjusted sample 2210 participants; low-quality evidence). There was no clear evidence of diFerence in ICU mortality (RR 0.77, 95% CI 0.39 to 1.50; I2 = 67%; 2 studies; 513 participants; low-quality evidence), or hospital mortality (RR 0.90, 95% CI 0.72 to 1.13; I2 = 10%; 3 studies; adjusted sample 2088 participants; low-quality evidence). There was no clear evidence of diFerence in ICU length of stay (MD -1.70 days, 95% CI-3.71 to 0.31; I2 = 82%; 4 studies; adjusted sample of 2123 participants; low-quality of evidence), however there was evidence of a significant reduction in hospital length of stay (MD -3.09 days, 95% CI -5.08 to -1.10; I2 = 2%; 3 studies; adjusted sample of 1922 participants; moderatequality evidence). There was no clear evidence of diFerence in the incidence of self-extubation (RR 0.88, 95% CI 0.55 to 1.42; I2 = 0%; 2 studies; adjusted sample of 1687 participants; high-quality evidence), or incidence of tracheostomy (RR 0.67, 95% CI 0.35 to 1.30; I2 = 66%; 3 studies; adjusted sample of 2008 participants; low-quality evidence). Only one study examined incidence of reintubation, therefore we could not pool data; there was no clear evidence of diFerence (RR 0.65, 95% CI 0.35 to 1.24; 1 study; 321 participants; low-quality evidence). Authors' conclusions There is currently limited evidence from RCTs evaluating the eFectiveness of protocol-directed sedation on patient outcomes. The four included RCTs reported conflicting results and heterogeneity limited the interpretation of results for the primary outcomes of duration of mechanical ventilation and mortality. Further studies, taking into account diFering contextual characteristics, are necessary to inform future practice. Methodological strategies to reduce the risk of bias need to be considered in future studies. P L A I N   L A N G U A G E   S U M M A R Y Protocol-directed sedation to reduce duration of mechanical ventilation Review question We reviewed the evidence to determine if the use of protocol-directed sedation reduced the time on mechanical ventilation (method to mechanically assist breathing). We also determined if it reduced the intensive care unit (ICU) or hospital death rate in critically ill adults and children.


We investigate the excitation spectrum and compressibility of a dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate in an infinite tube potential in the parameter regime where the transition between superfluid and supersolid phases occurs. Our study focuses on the density range in which crystalline order develops continuously across the transition. Above the transition the superfluid shows a single gapless excitation band, phononic at small momenta and with a roton at a finite momentum. Below the transition, two gapless excitations branches (three at the transition point) emerge in the supersolid. We examine the two gapless excitation bands and their associated speeds of sound in the supersolid phase. Our results show that the speeds of sound and the compressibility are discontinuous at the transition, indicating a second-order phase transition. These results provide valuable insights into the identification of supersolid phenomena in dipolar quantum gases and the relationship to supersolidity in spin-orbit coupled gases.


At the start of meiotic prophase I, homologous chromosomes become aligned lengthwise. After recombination, chromosomes reconfigure to reduce contacts between homologues and prepare for bipolar spindle attachment. On page 683, Nabeshima et al. illustrate these rearrangements during worm meiosis and provide evidence that crossovers are symmetry-breaking events that promote the ungluing of lengthwise contacts between homologues.During homologous recombination, proteins of the synaptonemal complex (SC) link aligned homologues. Later, the SC disassembles, leaving exchanged DNA and sister chromatid cohesion to link homologues.

Figure

After recombination, SC proteins (green) remain only on the short chromosome axis.

The new images reveal that this SC disassembly is asymmetric. Crossovers usually occur at an off-center position, leaving a short and a long axis emerging from the spot of the crossover. SC components departed from the long axis first, but lingered on the short axis.

The crossover, or a precursor structure, seems to cue the unequal SC disassembly. Recombination mutants underwent more symmetric SC disassembly, but asymmetry was restored when crossovers were initiated by radiation-induced DNA breaks. The authors imagine that SC disassembly increases with distance from a crossover. As SC proteins bind cooperatively, loss of a few from the long end may start a chain reaction that clears that axis of the SC.

SC proteins lingered at the same spots where sister chromatid cohesion must be released in anaphase I. This partial cohesion release allows homologues to separate even as sister chromatids are still held together on the long axis. The lingering SC proteins may direct local release by recruiting the aurora kinase AIR-2, which concentrates on the short axis at the end of prophase.


This research was conducted with the long-term goal to improve the quality of livestock through scientific information on the bad effects and adverse effects of malnutrition for female animals. The specific target is to provide scientific information on the effects of malnutrition on reproductive dysfunction, infertiltas and sterility form the gonads (ovaries) in female mice as an animal model. The methods used are females Mus musculus having malnutrition by fasting for 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 days were given to drink ad libitum compared with controls fed a normal fixed 300-400 grams per day per mice and drinking water ad libitum.Further observations through several phases 1. in vivo, based on an assessment of oestrous signs of the female, form female willingness to accept the stud marks (silent when riding), 2. the celluler, by histological examination of the preparation of the ovary organ, based on counting the number of Subordinate follicles (follicles secondary and tertiary), dominant follicle and corpus luteum and histopathological examination,and 3. in vitro by examination of vaginal smears 5 times of estrus cycle. Results from the study showed asignificant difference between female mice made malnourished compared with controls, whereas in thetreated mice led to a decline in malnutrition estrus signs (estrus) a decrease in the willingness of females accept males, dysfunction of folikulogenesis developmental processes such as the formation of the decline isnot even subordinate follicles or dominant or persistent corpus luteum formation (CLP) and disorders of there productive cycle and histopathologic picture ovaries form of hyperemia, edema, and necrosis congesti.


&NA; Restenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention continues to be a serious problem in clinical cardiology. Recent advances in nanoparticle technology have enabled us to deliver an antiproliferative drug selectively to the balloon‐injured artery for a longer time. NK911, which is a core‐shell nanoparticle of polyethyleneglycol‐based block copolymer encapsulating doxorubicin, accumulates in vascular lesions with increased permeability. We first confirmed that balloon injury caused a marked and sustained increase in vascular permeability (as evaluated by Evans blue staining) for a week in the rat carotid artery. We then observed that intravenous administration of just 3 times of NK911, but not doxorubicin alone, significantly inhibited the neointimal formation of the rat carotid artery at 4 weeks after the injury in both a single‐ and double‐injury model. Immunostaining demonstrated that the effect of NK911 was due to inhibition of vascular smooth muscle proliferation but not to enhancement of apoptosis or inhibition of inflammatory cell recruitment. Measurement of vascular concentrations of doxorubicin confirmed the effective delivery of the agent to the balloon‐injured artery by NK911 in both a single‐ and double‐injury model. RNA protection assay demonstrated that NK911 inhibited expression of several cytokines but not that of apoptosis‐related molecules. NK911 was well tolerated without any adverse systemic effects. These results suggest that nanoparticle technology to target vascular lesions with increased permeability is a promising and safe approach for the prevention of restenosis after balloon injury. The full text of this article is available at http://www.circresaha.org. (Circ Res. 2003;92:e62‐e69.)


OBJECTIVE
To explore the feasibility of remote monitoring of neonatal jaundice in newborns with ABO hemolytic disease.

METHODS
Forty six neonates of gestational age >35 weeks with ABO hemolytic disease admitted to Women's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine from January 20th, 2020 to February 29th, 2020 were enrolled in the study (study group). The newborns were followed up at home after discharge, the transcutaneous bilirubin (TCB) levels were measured by parents using the provided device and the results were sent to the doctor by smart phone using the installed APP. Fifty six newborns with ABO hemolytic disease admitted in 2018 who received conventional outpatient follow-up after discharge served as the control group. The demographic characteristics, total serum bilirubin (TSB) level during hospitalization, number of outpatient visit and rate of re-admission due to rebound hyperbilirubinemia were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS
There were no significant differences between the two groups in gestational age, birth weight, delivery mode, gender, length of the first hospitalization, TSB level before phototherapy and before discharge, and the managements during the first hospitalization (all P>0.05). Compared with the control group, TSB level before readmission [(265±16) μmol/L vs. (295±15) μmol/L] and the number of outpatient visits (1.3±0.8 vs. 3.8±0.5) were significantly lower in the study group (all P<0.01), while the rate of readmission (17.4%vs. 12.5%) and the weight at the time of readmission[(3398±452) g vs. (3477±324) g] were not significantly different (all P>0.05). No cases of acute bilirubin encephalopathy occurred in both groups.

CONCLUSIONS
The remote follow-up for neonatal jaundice at home can effectively reduce the number of outpatient visits without increasing the risk of readmission and severe neonatal hyperbilirubinemia for newborns with ABO hemolytic disease.


The responsibility of materials managers has grown tremendously in the past few years as cost containment has become a top priority. Today materials managers are responsible not only for seeing that supplies are on hand, but also for contributing to the hospital's cost savings efforts. For Southeastern General, those goals were met through consignment purchasing. In fact, the ACCESS consignment program enabled the hospital to increase its linen inventory by three times the amount it had previously carried. Whereas Southeastern General's materials management department used to be caught with stockouts at the unpredictability of an antiquated laundry system, it is now the most reliable hospital in the area. It maintains a fully stocked inventory and is prepared for the unexpected. For example, many of the small hospitals in the region will borrow from Southeastern General when they are confronted with an immediate inventory crisis rather than wait the standard 15 to 30 days for shipment from suppliers. In this circumstance, Southeastern General provides the other hospitals with materials from its inventory and Medline bills the other hospitals directly for supplies used. Overall, Southeastern General has benefited from consignment through elimination of stockouts, price stability, improved cash flow, and time and labor savings. Above all, savings through the use of consignment directly impacts the hospital's bottom line.


Abstract 3735 Agonist monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to CD137, a co-stimulatory TNF receptor family member expressed on activated T and NK cells, can induce immune-mediated rejection of multiple murine tumor types, and a fully human anti-CD137 mAb, BMS-663513, is in early-phase clinical trials in solid tumors. Significant activity has been seen in murine lymphoma models, both alone and in combination with anti-CD20 mAbs, providing rationale for clinical studies in lymphoma patients. Recently, however, CD137 up-regulation on activated human B cells has been reported, with CD137 ligation causing enhanced B cell proliferation and survival. This raises the concern that mAb binding to CD137, if present, on B cell neoplasms may promote tumor cell proliferation and/or resistance to apoptosis that may counteract the beneficial effects on T and NK cells. We therefore sought to assess the expression of CD137 on a series of human cell lines and primary tumor samples from patients with B-cell neoplasms, and if expressed, to explore the consequences of ligation with the anti-CD137 agonist BMS-66513. First, archived paraffin-embedded lymph node specimens from patients with low-grade B-cell lymphoma (n=11: 5 follicular, 4 marginal zone, 2 small lymphocytic) and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (n=15) were stained for CD137 by immunohistochemistry. Reactive tonsillar tissue served as a positive control. No CD137 expression was observed within any tumor cells. Next, fresh samples from 14 additional patients with known tumor involvement of peripheral blood or bone marrow (8 chronic lymphocytic leukemia, 1 mantle cell lymphoma, 3 myeloma, 2 marginal zone lymphoma) were analyzed by multi-color flow cytometry. Again, no CD137 expression was observed on the gated neoplastic cells. Baseline surface expression of CD137 was similarly absent in all B cell-derived lines tested (Raji, FCTxFL2, FSCCL, DoHH2, Jeko-1, RPMI8226). However, activation with PMA/Ionomycin could reproducibly induce CD137 expression (% positive: 0.17% → 91%) after 24 hours in 1 of the lines: the follicular lymphoma FSCCL. Interestingly, this was the only line tested that lacked constitutive expression of CD137 ligand (CD137L), suggesting some reciprocal regulation of ligand and receptor expression. Despite this up-regulation of CD137, in vitro ligation of PMA/Ionomycin-activated FSCCL cells with BMS-66513 did not further increase tumor cell proliferation, nor protect the cells from activation-induced cell death, in contrast to effects of CD137 ligation reported in normal B cells (Zhang et al, J Immunol 2010; 184:787). Similarly, BMS-663513 treatment of activated, CD137+ FSCCL cells did not diminish the apoptosis induced by doxorubicin or bortezomib treatment. In addition, FSCCL cells recovered from ascites 7 and 14 days following intraperitoneal injection in SCID mice did not express CD137, implying that CD137 up-regulation is not occurring in vivo during tumor growth. Finally, treatment of FSCCL cells with rituximab, either in vitro or in vivo, did not induce CD137 expression. In conclusion, we demonstrate a lack of steady-state CD137 expression on malignant B cells, confirming the prior study by Houot et al (Blood 2009; 114:3431) and extending these findings to include CLL/SLL for the first time. While CD137 could be induced in a single cell line upon non-specific activation, CD137 expression on FSCCL cells was not seen under physiologic conditions likely to be encountered in the clinical setting, consistent with the primary patient data. Furthermore, even when CD137 was expressed, ligation with the agonist anti-CD137 mAb BMS-663513 did not provide a pro-proliferative or anti-apoptotic signal. These studies provide reassurance and further rationale for exploring agonist anti-CD137 antibodies as therapies for B cell neoplasms. Disclosures: Borghaei:Lilly, Genentech, Amgen, Pfizer: Honoraria, Research Funding. Jure-Kunkel:Bristol Meyers Squibb: Employment.


abstract An earthquake of magnitude M L 4.5 occurred on June 20, 1976 in an area of complex faulting in northeastern California, near the intersection of the Sierra Nevada, Modoc Plateau, Cascade Range, and Basin and Range geological provinces. P -wave first motion plots for larger aftershocks of this earthquake indicate maximum and minimum compressive stress, respectively, in north-south and east-west directions, with predominantly strike-slip motion. Focal depths for these events ranged from 7 to 15 km, consistent with other earthquake sequences in the region. Origin times of more than 4,700 aftershocks for the period between June 20 and July 1 are compared with the phase of solid-earth tidal components appropriate for normal and shear stress on northeast- and northwest-trending fault planes. Based on this comparison, approximately 20 per cent more earthquakes occurred at times when the normal compressive stress on the fault plane was decreasing, and the shear stress was increasing in the sense of slip on the fault plane. This correlation may be explained by two large bursts of aftershocks that occurred at times when tidal stresses were favorable for motion on the fault plane, rather than continuous triggering of small events during the entire sequence.


Estimate breeding value can be used as single trait animal model was developed directly using the Fortran language program. The program is based on data computed by using the indirect method repeatedly. The program develops a common algorithm and imprves efficiency. Algorithm efficiency was compared between the two programs. Estimated using the solution is easy to farm and brand the service, pedigree data base was associated with the development of an improved system. The existing program that uses the single trait animal model and the comparative analysis of efficiency is weak because the estimation of the solution and the conventional algorithm programmed through regular formulation involve many repetition; therefore, the newly developed algorithm was conducted to improve speed by reducing the repetition. Single trait animal model was used to analyze Gauss-Seidel iteration method, and the aforesaid two algorithms were compared thorough the mixed model equation which is used the most commonly in estimating the current breeding value by applying the procedures such as the preparation of information necessary for modelling, removal of duplicative data, verifying the parent information of based population in the pedigree data, and assigning sequential numbers, etc. The existing conventional algorithm is the method for reading and recording the data by utilizing the successive repetitive sentences, while new algorithm is the method for directly generating the left hand side for estimation based on effect. Two programs were developed to ensure the accurate evaluation. BLUPF90 and MTDFREML were compared using the estimated solution. In relation to the pearson and spearman correlation, the estimated breeding value correlation coefficients were highest among all traits over 99.5%. Depending on the breeding value of the high correlation in Model Ⅰ and Model Ⅱ, accurate evaluation can be found. The number of iteration to convergence was 2,568 in Model Ⅰ and 1,038 in Model Ⅱ. The speed of solving was 256.008 seconds in Model Ⅰ and 235.729 seconds in Model Ⅱ. Model Ⅱ had a speed of approximately 10% more than Model Ⅰ. Therefore, it is considered to be much more effective to analyze large data through the improved algorithm than the existing method. If the corresponding program is systemized and utilized for the consulting of farm and industrial services, it would make contribution to the early selection of individual, shorten the generation, and cultivation of superior groups, and help develop the Hanwoo industry further through the improvement of breeding value based enhancement, ultimately paving the way for the country to evolve into an advanced livestock country.


SIR,-The aim of conventional sewage treatment in this country is more limited than was suggested in your leading article (26 January, p 206) "No sewage in the streets." It is to reduce suspended solids and biochemical oxygen demand, although a concomitant improvement in the chemical and microbiological quality of the effluent can be expected. Some chemicals will go through the plant virtually unchanged and may find their way into water supplies. For this reason dual water supplies incorporating a small highly purified supply for drinking are desirable. Incidentally, the Aberdeen typhoid outbreak occurred because of contamination when the Argentinian factory used untreated river water for cooling cans of meat after a breakdown in the chlorination plant. JOHN E SCUTT


This study examined the influence of implicit and explicit instruction for the acquisition of two types of Dutch spelling rules: a morphological and a phonological rule. A sample of 193 first grade, low- and high skilled spellers was assigned to an implicit-instruction, explicit-instruction, or control-group condition. The results showed that for both rules, students in the explicit condition made more progress than students in the control condition. For the morphological rule, students in the explicit condition had higher posttest scores on pseudo-words than students in the implicit condition. The effects of the three conditions were the same for low- and high-skilled spellers. Both low- and high-skilled spellers in the implicit and explicit condition did not fully generalize their knowledge of both rules to new and pseudo-words.


Objective In Italy, colorectal screening programmes using the faecal immunochemical test from ages 50 to 69 every two years have been in place since 2005. We aimed to measure the incidence of interval cancers in the two years after a negative faecal immunochemical test, and compare this with the pre-screening incidence of colorectal cancer. Methods Using data on colorectal cancers diagnosed in Italy from 2000 to 2008 collected by cancer registries in areas with active screening programmes, we identified cases that occurred within 24 months of negative screening tests. We used the number of tests with a negative result as a denominator, grouped by age and sex. Proportional incidence was calculated for the first and second year after screening. Results Among 579,176 and 226,738 persons with negative test results followed up at 12 and 24 months, respectively, we identified 100 interval cancers in the first year and 70 in the second year. The proportional incidence was 13% (95% confidence interval 10–15) and 23% (95% confidence interval 18–25), respectively. The estimate for the two-year incidence is 18%, which was slightly higher in females (22%; 95% confidence interval 17–26), and for proximal colon (22%; 95% confidence interval 16–28). Conclusion The incidence of interval cancers in the two years after a negative faecal immunochemical test in routine population-based colorectal cancer screening was less than one-fifth of the expected incidence. This is direct evidence that the faecal immunochemical test-based screening programme protocol has high sensitivity for cancers that will become symptomatic.


Obtaining accurate system models for verification is a hard and time consuming process, which is seen by industry as a hindrance to adopt otherwise powerful model driven development techniques and tools. In this paper we pursue an alternative approach where an accurate high-level model can be automatically constructed from observations of a given black-box embedded system. We adapt algorithms for learning finite probabilistic automata from observed system behaviors. We prove that in the limit of large sample sizes the learned model will be an accurate representation of the data-generating system. In particular, in the large sample limit, the learned model and the original system will define the same probabilities for linear temporal logic (LTL) properties. Thus, we can perform PLTL model-checking on the learned model to infer properties of the system. We perform experiments learning models from system observations at different levels of abstraction. The experimental results show the learned models provide very good approximations for relevant properties of the original system.


We suggest a test for discovering whether a potential expert is informed of the distribution of a stochastic process. In a non-Bayesian non-parametric setting, the expert is asked to make a prediction which is tested against a single realization of the stochastic process. It is shown that by asking the expert to predict a "small" set of sequences, the test will assure that any informed expert can pass the test with probability one with respect to the actual distribution. Moreover, for the uninformed non-expert it is impossible to pass this test, in the sense that for any choice of a "small" set of sequences, only a "small" set of measures will assign a positive probability to the given set. Hence for "most" measures, the non-expert will surely fail the test. We define small as category 1 sets, described in more detail in the paper.


Keywords The primary purpose of the present research was to study the effect of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) powder content on ultrasonic wave velocity in PVC/Epoxy composites. The second part is concerned with the relations of dynamic elastic moduli with the ultrasonic wave velocities, to determine how ultrasonic waves can affect them. Experimental data have been obtained using the sonic viewer (model -5217 A) device to generate two types of waves, longitudinal waves of frequency 63 kHz and transverse waves of frequency 33 kHz and to measure the transit time required for those waves to travel through individual sample. The experimental results have shown that the propagation of the ultrasonic velocity increases directly with PVC content in the tested specimens, due to the changes in the dynamical properties that were investigated from the calculated values of the elastic moduli of the composites. The influence of PVC content on the acoustical impedance I of the medium was also investigated.


You can't buy a drink in or even visit the toughest bar in Texas. That's because it was never formally established in brick and mortar but was instead an association forged by blood, bravery, and sacrifice. The toughest bar in Texas was — and still is — the "Alamo Bar Association."A total of 6 lawyers perished at the Alamo in March 1836: (1) Micajah Autry; (2) Peter James Bailey; (3) James Butler Bonham; (4) Daniel William Cloud; (5) Green Berry "Ben" Jameson; and (6) William Barret Travis. They ranged in age from their early 20s to their mid-40s. Only one of their number had formally earned a law degree, two had previously been opposite each other in court, and another pair may even have been second cousins. Each trod a unique path in their journey to the Alamo, but all earned the eternal respect of future Texans and attorneys through their shared valor.


The phase field simulation of interface movement and interdiffusion microstructure in a binary diffusion couples was developed. The diffusion couples with nonequilibrium concentration for single phase or single phase and two-phase including the temperature and mobility effects were studied. It's shown that the interface movement and the atoms diffusion direction were determined by the magnitude of relative concentration difference between the initial concentration and the equilibrium concentration, the distance of interface movement and interdiffusion flux increases as the temperature or the mobility increasing, and the large mobility makes the particles coarsening faster.


Lightweight brick is a material widely used in civil engineering as a substitute alternative material and brick walls of the building material. The aim of this study is to determine the behavior of burnt light brick, and behavior of piropilit additions in the mix proportion of the light brick. Specimens were tested by compressive strength, porosity, and modulus of elasticity. To test the compressive strength, plates were set at the top and bottom of the test specimen; a dial gauge was used to determine the deformation. To test the porosity, the specimen was cut into a size of 15 x 20 x 10 cm 3 and tested in accordance with porosity testing procedures. Data for the elastic modulus was obtained from stress and strain testing in conjunction with the compressive strength test. After the age of 28 days, specimens undergo combustion process before tested in the laboratory. Results of this study show that the addition of amount of piropilit as filler as much as 10-25% by weight of cement will increase the strength of brick light post-combustion at 800 o C temperature along with the increasing number of additional piropilit in it, however the addition of 5% would reduce the value of compressive strength. The addition of piropilit in the burnt lightweight brick will decrease the value of the strength. Porosity and modulus of elasticity values indicate that the addition of a filler piropilit as much as 515% by weight of cement on the burnt brick would increase the value of its porosity, however the addition of 20% and 25% would reduce the value of porosity. The modulus of elasticity values obtained from the stress and strain diagram, an increase of 5% -25% variation pyrophyllite additions. However there are some fluctuation trends on a variation of 5% -20% due to piropilit characteristics that do not fit to undergo the process of combustion or due to the setting position of the specimen in the furnace when the combustion process which allows the specimen exposed to direct flame or not.


Assistive technologies (AT) have the potential to augment individual's life and to promote functional independence. However, in many cases, optimum use of an assistive technology device is restricted due to the difficulties in interacting with the user. Owing to inherent differences in the level of individuals' impairment, selection of a suitable interface for an assistive technology device is usually a difficult choice. Objective quantification of the individual's impairment is therefore a very important step in matching a suitable interface for use with assistive technology equipments. Similar need for such measures can be seen in rehabilitation where appropriate objective measures can inform the effectiveness of a therapy regime or help to compare different therapies and their usefulness. This paper presents the peg-in-hole haptic assessment designed for quantifying upper limb skills.


Megachiropteran bats (megabats) show remarkable diversity in microhabitat occupation and trophic specializations, but information on how vision relates to their behavioral ecology is scarce. Using stereology and retinal wholemounts, we measured the topographic distribution of retinal ganglion cells and determined the spatial resolution of eight African megachiropterans with distinct roosting and feeding ecologies. We found that species roosting in open microhabitats have a pronounced streak of high retinal ganglion cell density, whereas those favoring more enclosed microhabitats have a less pronounced streak (or its absence in Hypsignathus monstrosus). An exception is the cave‐dwelling Rousettus aegyptiacus, which has a pronounced horizontal streak that potentially correlates with its occurrence in more open environments during foraging. In all species, we found a temporal area with maximum retinal ganglion cell density (∼5,000–7,000 cells/mm2) that affords enhanced resolution in the frontal visual field. Our estimates of spatial resolution based on peak retinal ganglion cell density and eye size (∼6–12 mm in axial length) range between ∼2 and 4 cycles/degree. Species that occur in more enclosed microhabitats and feed on plant material have lower spatial resolution (∼2 cycles/degree) compared with those that roost in open and semiopen areas (∼3–3.8 cycles/degree). We suggest that the larger eye and concomitant higher spatial resolution (∼4 cycles/degree) in H. monstrosus may have facilitated the carnivorous aspect of its diet. In conclusion, variations in the topographic organization and magnitude of retinal ganglion density reflect the specific ecological needs to detect food/predators and the structural complexity of the environments. J. Comp. Neurol. 525:186–203, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.