Background Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most prevalent malignant cancers worldwide. Although the purine metabolism pathway is known to be vital for cancer cells survival mechanism, not much is known on ENT2 role in CRC development and its association with purine metabolites. Hence this study is aimed to determine the level of hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase (HPRT), hypoxanthine, uric acid (UA), and the activity of xanthine oxidase (XO) and relate the findings with the ENT2 expression level in different CRC stages. Methods and results Normal colon cell line; CCD-841CoN and a panel of human CRC cell lines; SW480, HCT15 and HCT116, representing different CRC stages; Dukes' B, C, and D respectively, have been used to measure HPRT, hypoxanthine/xanthine, UA levels and the activity of XO by biochemical assays. The level of ENT2 gene expression was also performed by qRT-PCR. The levels of HPRT, hypoxanthine were significantly higher (P< 0.05), while XO and UA were lower (P< 0.05) in all CRC stages as compared to the normal colon cells. Furthermore, ENT2 expression was found to be increased in all CRC stages. Despite having the highest level of HPRT and hypoxanthine, ENT2 level is lower in Dukes' D when compared to Dukes' B and C. Conclusion The rate of salvage pathway is increased in CRC development as indicated by the elevated levels of HPRT and hypoxanthine in different CRC stages. Increase ENT2 expression implies its importance in assisting hypoxanthine uptake. This step is vital in order to increase DNA synthesis via hypoxanthine recycling. Thus, ENT2 may be a potential marker in therapeutic development.


This study develops an end-use energy demand analysis model for Romania to project energy demand by sector and end-use for 2015-50. The study finds that Romania's energy demand in 2050 would be 34 percent higher than the level in 2013. The industry sector would be the largest final energy-consuming sector, surpassing the residential sector from 2025 onward. The services sector would exhibit the fastest growth of energy consumption in line with the expected structural change from manufacturing to services. Although population in the country is projected to drop by 7 percent in 2050 from the 2013 level, electricity demand would increase by 46 percent over the same period, because of increased household income and the expanded service sector, which is relatively electricity intensive. Still, per capita electricity consumption in Romania will be about half the European Union 28 average. At the end-use level, thermal processes in the industry sector, space heating in the residential and services sectors, and road transportation in the transport sector would be dominant throughout the study period. The study also shows that improvement of energy efficiency in the heating system would be the main channel to cut energy demand in the country.


This article draws on unpublished archival material to illuminate Gertrude Stein's visits to Chicago during the 1930s. Stein caused a sensation all over the city--especially among the city's literary ladies--but also met with resistance at the University of Chicago. Stein's time in Chicago reveals the complex relationship among gender, literary celebrity, and the reception of literary modernism, as well as the ways in which an avant-garde lesbian writer becomes a "great" writer in a tradition that is dominated by men. Most importantly, Stein's reception in Chicago is central to understanding new arguments not only about Stein's identity but also about Stein's aesthetic, which was significantly impacted by her experiences in a city characterized by its "middle"-ness and mobility.


Objectives: The purpose of this study was firstly to introduce a Participatory Action-Oriented Training (PAOT) program for the prevention of work-related musculoskeletal diseases (WRMSDs) in Small and Medium sized Enterprises in the Gumi Industrial Zone, and secondly to assess its effect. Methods: Two PAOT workshops to prevent WRMSDs were conducted with 39 volunteer participants from 10 companies selected (on a first-come, first-served basis) among 200 small- or medium-sized enterprises in Gumi. These companies had been provided with mandatory occupational health management agency services for Small and Medium sized Enterprises by an occupational medicine clinic. Each workshop consisted of 6 technical sessions and one closing ceremony. At the 1st session, the principles of each action checklist item were explained and an on-site checklist exercise was carried out. The 2nd to 5th sessions presented good example pictures on 4 subjects: material storage and handling, working environment, work organization and work-related welfare. Group discussions were carried out by the participants. In the final 6th session on the implementation of improvement, each participant was asked to present 6 action plans, 3 short-term and 3 long-term, for their own workplace improvement. Results: Overall, the participants worked out 47 real action plans, 27 short-term and 20 long-term, for improvement of their own workplaces. Three to 6 months after the workshops, through in-person visits to each company, it was confirmed that more than half of these 47 plans had been completed; 25 plans (53.2%) had been completed as planned, 8 (17.0%) were in processing, and 14 (29.8%) had not yet been put into practice. Conclusions: The study findings confirmed that the PAOT program holds strong potential as an intervention method to prevent WRMSDs in Small and Medium sized Enterprises, although the final results have not been fully assessed yet.


In a 1998 speech before the California Science Center in Los Angeles, then US Vice‐President Al Gore called for a global undertaking to build a multi‐faceted computing system for education and research, which he termed "Digital Earth." The vision was that of a system providing access to what is known about the planet and its inhabitants' activities – currently and for any time in history – via responses to queries and exploratory tools. Furthermore, it would accommodate modeling extensions for predicting future conditions. Organized efforts towards realizing that vision have diminished significantly since 2001, but progress on key requisites has been made. As the 10 year anniversary of that influential speech approaches, we re‐examine it from the perspective of a systematic software design process and find the envisioned system to be in many respects inclusive of concepts of distributed geolibraries and digital atlases. A preliminary definition for a particular digital earth system as: "a comprehensive, distributed geographic information and knowledge organization system," is offered and discussed. We suggest that resumption of earlier design and focused research efforts can and should be undertaken, and may prove a worthwhile "Grand Challenge" for the GIScience community.


This paper documents the impact of Community led Total Sanitation (CLTS) on women's health in urban slums of Kalyani Municipality the first open defecation free (ODF) town in India. Women's health was viewed not only in terms of their physical health status but also their social and psychological well-being. The study also looked at how the process had empowered women and the role of the external environment in stimulating and supporting the change process. The study findings indicate that improved sanitation reduced the disease burden on women and their families, increased their safety and enhanced their social status. It was found that women played a lead role in initiating and driving sanitation and hygiene behaviour change in their communities, placing them in leadership roles and involving them in the decision- making process. This enabled woman to exercise agency in achieving gains beyond sanitation to improve their lives.


The role of the medial capsule and transverse metatarsal ligament in hallux valgus deformity including stability of the first metatarsophalangeal and adjacent joint was investigated in vitro. The three-dimensional positions of the proximal phalanx, first metatarsal, and second metatarsal before and after sectioning the medial capsule and metatarsal ligament were measured using a magnetic tracking system. Valgus deformity of the hallux increased with medial capsule sectioning an average of 22.3° ± 6°. Valgus deformity of the hallux increased with medial capsule and metatarsal ligament sectioning an average of 27.4° ± 9.1°. Valgus deformity of the hallux did not change significantly after sectioning the metatarsal ligament only. No significant changes were found in varus and eversion of the first metatarsal, in valgus of the second metatarsal, in the distance between first and second metatarsal heads after sectioning the medial capsule, or in the metatarsal ligament. This study shows the importance of the medial capsule in hallux valgus deformity. The transverse ligament did not contribute substantially to cause the deformity.


Abstract Context: Talactoferrin alfa (TLF) is a unique recombinant form of human lactoferrin. The hypothesized mechanism of action involves TLF binding to the intestinal endothelium inducing dendritic cell maturation and cytokine release leading to infiltration of tumor with monocytes and T-lymphocytes and inhibition of tumor growth. Objective: Based on promising phase II trial results, this correlative study was undertaken to examine immune mechanism of action of TLF in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Methods: Talactoferrin was administered orally at 1.5 g bid weeks 1–12 with 2 weeks off on a 14-week cycle. Enrolled patients had a pathologic diagnosis of NSCLC previously treated with at least two lines of systemic treatment. Patients had core biopsy of tumor before initiation of talactoferrin and at week 7 on TLF. Flow cytometry and quantitative immunohistochemistry for immune correlates were performed on the biopsied specimens. Results: Four patients with metastatic NSCLC were enrolled. The trial was halted pre-maturely in light of negative phase III trial results. For the two patients who had repeat on-treatment tumor biopsies, a consistent increase in monocytes as a percentage of total immune cells was observed. Otherwise, no clear trend of increase or decrease was observed in any other immune cell parameters compared to matched patient pre-treatment biopsies. Conclusion: Repeat biopsies for immune correlates by flow cytometry and quantitative immunohistochemistry in NSCLC patients are feasible. In the few patients sampled before trial closure, increased monocytes as a total percentage of the immune cell population within tumor was observed in response to TLF.


In this paper, a new three-dimensional vehicle with tandem axels at the rear is developed to determine dynamic response of bridge deck under load applying truck. The vehicle is modeled by a three-axle dynamic system with 9 degrees of freedom to accurately simulate the disposition and the intensity of loads on the bridge deck. The bridge deck is modeled by a thin, orthotropic, multi-span plate. The road surface irregularities are modeled by a random function characterized by a spectral roughness coefficient and power spectral density. The modal method is used to solve the equation of motion of the bridge deck. Equations of motion of the vehicle are obtained using the virtual work principle. The coupled equations of motion vehicle/bridge deck are integrated numerically by Newmark's method. A computational algorithm in FORTRAN is then elaborated to solve the integrated equations of motion in a decoupled, iterative process. A numerical example of an orthotropic, three-span bridge deck, excited by a 9 degree of freedom truck is presented. The resulting distribution of the Dynamic Amplification Factor (DAF) on the bridge deck does not reflect any particular trend, because high values can be obtained at points where the vertical displacement is small. The DAF is significant only under the interaction force. Thus, the road surface roughness was shown to have a significant influence on the dynamic vehicle/bridge deck interaction forces.


The efficiency of sampling-based motion planning algorithms is dependent on how well a steering procedure is capable of capturing both system dynamics and configuration space geometry to connect sample configurations. This paper considers how metrics describing local system dynamics may be combined with convex subsets of the free space to describe the local behavior of a steering function for sampling-based planners. Subsequently, a framework for using these subsets to extend the steering procedure to incorporate this information is introduced. To demonstrate our framework, three specific metrics are considered: the LQR cost-to-go function, a Gram matrix derived from system linearization, and the Mahalanobis distance of a linear-Gaussian system. Finally, numerical tests are conducted for a second-order linear system, a kinematic unicycle, and a linear-Gaussian system to demonstrate that our framework increases the connectivity of sampling-based planners and allows them to better explore the free space.


- The electoral process is considered as one of the important and sensitive operations that take place from time to time in all countries of the world and need to be protected. The importance of the electronic voting came because, it provides a maintaining for the secrecy of the vote, as well as, the speed, accuracy and credibility of the vote counts. This is due to the growing of the technology that always needs for electronic process and for new approaches to achieve high security. In this paper, a new E-voting system is designed based on secret sharing scheme. The new protocol is implemented to show its efficiency in terms of computational time and cost.


The article aims to analyze the European Union (EU)'s approach to the Syrian crisis and to evaluate the role it attributes to Turkey. The EU's approach staggered between supporting transition in Syria to a post-Assad regime and the need to protect itself against spill-over effects of the conflict. Two issues emerged as urgent priorities that determined the EU's approach to the conflict. One of them was to control the outpouring of refugees fleeing war and oppression in Syria and the other was to deal with the growing threat of terrorism, mainly the ISIL threat. The influx of Syrian refugees through the Aegean and Balkan route to the EU surged in the summer of 2015 leading to practical and political problems for EU countries. In the meantime, ISIL related terror attacks in the EU created a major security problem and led several Member States to bring back border controls in the Schengen area. The EU turned to Turkey and sought Turkey's cooperation in controlling the refugee flow and also keeping away the ISIL threat. The article looks at cooperation between Turkey and the EU and also points of contention that created hurdles in this cooperation.


Academic and professional work integrated learning is an integral part of tertiary education around the world. This article arises from a research project evaluating radiography students' satisfaction during their practical and clinical training sessions. The major aim of this study was to determine the extent at which perceived academic and organizational support influences the commitment of radiographers to their learning in practical and clinical hospital settings. 162 students from various levels (junior and senior) were evaluated on the questionnaire for their satisfaction in radiography practical sessions at the university level and clinical training in hospitals. A positive relationship was found between practical and clinical training sessions. Our data strongly suggest that the current management strategies in education play an important role in creating positive learning and potential working environment for radiographers to perform their tasks.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce three storylines that address the relation between economic growth, technical innovation and environmental impact. The paper assesses if and how these storylines as guiding visions increase our range of future orientations.

Design/methodology/approach
The paper first explains its general outline and then explores different strands of literature to arrive at its analytical conclusions.

Findings
Pursuing the three storylines in a paradigmatic articulation creates paradoxes. The growth paradigm focuses on economic growth as its main goal. To overcome environmental degradation, products have to be substituted by environmentally friendly alternatives, but the continuous substitution of finite resources seems unlikely possible. The storyline of innovation sees technological development as a driver of economic progress, and holds that innovations allow the decoupling of economic growth from environmental impact, a claim that is compromised by the occurrence of rebound effects. The degrowth storyline holds that economic growth has to be stopped altogether, but is unclear how this can be done.

Originality/value
By articulating paradigmatic perspectives as storylines, a new understanding on how these perspectives can be figured as a constructive repertoire of guiding visions and not as mere theory-based descriptions.


This thesis aims to better understand at the cellular level the behaviour of beta-blockers, which decrease the heart rate and are used daily in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases and anxiety.
Some medicines in this class can both decrease and increase the heart rate depending on the amount used. To study this, we developed new molecules based on a known beta-blocker with this effect and evaluated their behaviour in cell lines. We identified molecular features that modulate this peculiar effect.
In future, the understanding of this behaviour may contribute to an improved profile of beta-blockers leading to less side effects.


Autonomous localization of nodes in wireless sensor networks is essential to minimize the complex self organization task consequently enhancing the overall network lifetime. Recently, precise indoor localization is impeded by multi path propagation of signals due to reflections at walls or objects. In this paper we partly overcome some of these problems by methods like frequency diversity and averaging multiple measured data. Received radio signal strength (RSS) in combination with weighted centroid localization, featuring low communication overhead and a low complexity of O(n), is our basis of a localization on the energy constrained sensor nodes. We first analyze the RSS-characteristics on a specific sensor node platform in different rooms. Next, we describe methods to improve these characteristics to reach best localization results at minimized complexity. Finally, in a practice indoor localization we achieve a small localization error of only 14% for 69% of all test-points that was enhanced to at least 8% in average by simple optimizations. For that, no hardware modifications as well as time consuming RSSI-maps or complex signal propagation models are required.


64 patients with abdominal sepsis were included in the study of the intraabdominal pressure changes before and after the operation. The study demonstrated that the use of the crystalloids alone leads to the development of the capillary leak syndrome in comparison with the therapy regimen using colloids. The aggressive fluid resuscitation, associated with high numbers of central venous pressure, increasing 1177Pa (120 mm H2O), was connected with the increase of the intraabdominal pressure.


When users want to continue an analysis performed in the past, done by themselves or by a collaborator, they need an overview of what has been done and found so far. Such an overview helps them to gain a shared knowledge about each otherspsila analysis strategy and continue the analysis. We aim to support users in this process, and thereby support their exploration awareness. We present an information visualization framework with three linked processes: overview, search and retrieve for this purpose. First, we present a userpsilas information interest model that captures key aspects of the exploration process. Exploration overview, and keyword and similarity based search mechanisms are designed based on these key aspects. A metadata view is used to visualize the search results and help users to retrieve specific visualizations from past analysis. Finally, we present three case studies and discuss the support offered by the framework for developing exploration awareness.


AIM: To determine the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes in Iranian hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carriers, chronic hepatitis B and cirrhotic patients. METHODS: A total of 109 HBsAg-positive patients were included in this study. HBV genotypes were determined by using INNO-LiPA methodology which is based on the reverse hybridization principle. RESULTS: The distribution of patients with different stages of liver disease was as follows: 95 (86.4%) chronic hepatitis, 11 (10%) liver cirrhosis, and 3 (2.7%) inactive carrier. Of the chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis patients, 26.4% were HBeAg-positive while 70% were HBeAg-negative. Genotype D was the only detected type found in all patients. CONCLUSION: Classifying HBV into genotypes has to be cost-effective and clinically relevant. Our study indicates that HBV genotype D prevails in the Mediterranean area, Near and Middle East, and South Asia. Continued efforts for understanding HBV genotype through international co-operation will reveal further virological differences of the genotypes and their clinical relevance.


Women are less likely than men to be diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). We examined contemporary gender differences in symptoms, health status, and quality of life associated with diagnosed OSA and OSA symptoms in a population-based sample. A 2015 postal/on-line questionnaire of 2889 active participants of The North West Adelaide Health Study (response rate = 54%, male n = 704; female n = 856; age 30–100 years) assessed previously diagnosed OSA, OSA symptoms, insomnia, doctor-diagnosed medical conditions, and the SF-36. In weighted analyses, self-reported diagnosed OSA (men: 12.6%, n = 95; women: 3.3%, n = 27) and OSA symptoms (men: 17.1%; women: 9.7%) were more common in men. Diagnosed OSA showed stronger adjusted associations with typical OSA features in women, including obesity (women-odds ratio (OR), 95% CI: 5.7, 1.9–17.1, men: 2.2, 1.2–4.0), daytime sleepiness (women: 6.4, 2.7–15.6, men: 3.3, 2.1–5.4), and loud snoring (women: 25.4, 9.4–69.1, men: 8.7, 5.2–14.4). Diagnosed OSA was independently associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) in men, and in women with high cholesterol, respiratory disease, insomnia, and reduced SF-36 Physical Component Summary score. In both sexes, OSA symptoms were significantly associated with depression, insomnia, and moderate to severe impairments in SF-36 physical and mental component summary scores. Diagnosed women showed clinical characteristics overtly related to OSA. A higher index of clinical suspicion of OSA may be required in women for a condition regarded as male-predominant to increase equity in health outcomes.


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WiMAX-WLAN gateway (WWG) in heterogeneous WiMAX networks were configured to aggregate and route traffic from WiMAX and WLAN mobile stations (MSs) that is out of coverage with base station (BS) and access point, respectively. However, previous studies on bandwidth request (BR) mechanism at WWG are carried out using either polling or bandwidth reservation for best effort (BE) services. These studies suffer from low spectral efficiency with WiMAX network and cause unfairness to WiMAX MSs while contention based BR is carried out from WiMAX MS to BS (via WWG). To overcome these limitations, we suggest three variants of contention based bandwidth request namely message based BR, CDMA or code based BR and heterogeneous BR. Simulations validate the proposed mechanisms in terms of throughput, connection delay and queuing delay. It is inferred that with heterogeneous BR, the network throughput is improved by 11.21%, the connection delay at WWG is reduced by 5.85%, the queuing delay at WWG is reduced by 9.47%, the MAC delay at WLAN MS is reduced by 9.09% and the average access delay at WiMAX MS is reduced by 62.12% compared to message and CDMA based BR.


Water related problems are characterized by complexities, uncertainties, and conflicting interests and there is no single "optimal" way to approach these "wicked" problems. Model-assisted participatory processes have been suggested as one way to meet these challenges. However, the use of models as ascenario tools for local planning of mitigation and adaptation strategies addressing environmental challenges is more often an exception than a common practice. In order to assess future possibilities for successful useof participatory scenario modelling, experiences from two model-facilitated projects are presented and discussed. The participatory scenario modelling described in this paper, implies modelling with people, as opposed to agent based modelling which is based on modelling of people's behaviour and its consequences. In the first project, a participatory model-assisted process was conducted to formulate a locally proposed remedy plan to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus loads in local lakes and the coastal zone. In the second project, a similar process was used to formulate local adaptation strategies to climate change impacts on water allocation, farming and the environment. Based on the experiences of these projects; recommendations are made to how model-assisted participatory processes can best be organised and conducted. A key message is that modellers need to rethink their role as "solution providers" to become "process facilitators". (Less)


In recent years, the increased interest in pediatric research has enforced the role of physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models in pediatric drug development. However, an existing lack of published examples contributes to some uncertainties about the reliability of their predictions of oral drug exposure. Developing and validating pediatric PBPK models for oral drug application shall enrich our knowledge about their limitations and lead to a better use of the generated data. This study was conducted to investigate how whole-body PBPK models describe the oral pharmacokinetics of sotalol over the entire pediatric age. Two leading software tools for whole-body PBPK modeling: Simcyp® (Simcyp Ltd, Sheffield, UK) and PK-SIM® (Bayer Technology Services GmbH, Leverkusen, Germany), were used. Each PBPK model was first validated in adults before scaling to children. Model input parameters were collected from the literature and clinical data for 80 children were used to compare predicted and observed values. The results obtained by both models were comparable and gave an adequate description of sotalol pharmacokinetics in adults and in almost all pediatric age groups. Only in neonates, the mean ratio(Obs/Pred) for any PK parameter exceeded a twofold error range, 2.56 (95% confidence interval (CI), 2.10–3.49) and 2.15 (95% CI, 1.77–2.99) for area under the plasma concentration-time curve from the first to the last concentration point and maximal concentration (Cmax) using SIMCYP® and 2.37 (95% CI, 1.76–3.25) for time to reach Cmax using PK-SIM®. The two PBPK models evaluated in this study reflected properly the age-related pharmacokinetic changes and predicted adequately the oral sotalol exposure in children of different ages, except in neonates.


Forkhead box O (FOXO) transcription factors are involved in the regulation of the cell cycle, apoptosis and metabolism. In model organisms, FOXO activity affects stem cell maintenance and lifespan as well as age-related diseases, such as cancer and diabetes. Multiple upstream pathways regulate FOXO activity through post-translational modifications and nuclear-cytoplasmic shuttling of both FOXO and its regulators. The diversity of this upstream regulation and the downstream effects of FOXOs, suggest that they function as homeostasis regulators to maintain tissue homeostasis over time and coordinate a response to enable adaptation to environmental changes, including growth factor deprivation, metabolic stress (starvation) and oxidative stress. To gain insight into the mechanisms of FOXO-regulated target gene expression, we studied genome-wide effects of FOXO3 activation. The profiling of RNA polymerase II changes suggests that FOXO3 regulates gene expression through transcription initiation. Correlative analysis of FOXO3 and RNA polymerase II ChIP-seq profiles demonstrates FOXO3 to act as a transcriptional activator, of which a significant part of gene regulation proceeds through enhancer regions. We investigate features that define the subset of enhancer binding events that actually contribute to gene regulation. From this, we conclude that FOXO3 transcriptional output is determined by the amount of bound FOXO3, with the most prominent gene activation mainly associated with binding to multiple sites within the vicinity of the gene, rather than isolated binding events. FOXO3 binding events are in turn determined by a combination of Forkhead motif presence and pre-existing enhancer activity/accessibility. In this manner, FOXO3 amplifies pre-existing levels of enhancer activity marks (e.g. H3K27ac, p300, RNAPII) and potentiates enhancer-RNA transcription. Since the FOXO3-mediated increases in enhancer activity marks correlate with the regulation of adjacent genes, we conclude that not only enhancer presence and sequence content, but also pre-existing activity dictates the amplitude of FOXO3 gene induction. In addition, we show pre-existing chromatin loops between several FOXO3 bound enhancers and regulated genes. Considering the flexible and cell type specific nature of regulatory regions, their activity and their spatial organization, our observations provide a novel explanation for the context-dependent nature of FOXO transcriptional output and introduce chromatin context as a new player in the regulation of FOXO function. Our results also provide an elegant rationale on how homeostasis can be achieved. The usage of a pre-existing gene program directed by chromatin context of regulatory regions, could allow for a rapid and temporary adjustment in gene transcription, sufficient to re-establish homeostasis, while preventing elaborate time- and energy consuming permanent alterations in the cell's specific gene expression program.


This study examines the link between math anxiety and math performance in a group of Colombian students. A total of 296 students between 8 and 16 years of age took part in this study. Analyses by gender and grade were conducted, while controlling for other types of anxiety (i.e., general and test anxiety). In line with that reported in other countries, a negative correlation was found between performance in mathematics and math anxiety. Importantly, this trend was stronger in girls than in boys. Given the limited number of studies exploring the relationship between math anxiety and math performance in Latin America and, particularly, in Colombia, this study fills an important gap in the literature. The results are particularly relevant in view of the poor performance of Colombian students in mathematics, revealed by the most recent PISA reports.


Despite the fact that teachers can have an important effect on the regulation of student behavior, the existing scientific literature has hardly explored the simultaneous influence of personal traits and social factors to promote student well-being. This study examined the mediating role of amotivated behavior and the relationship with teacher controlling behaviors, grit, and satisfaction with life. A total of 474 college students (female= 135; male= 339) participated in the study. All participants completed a multi-section survey assessing the constructs under analysis. Results from the structural model analysis displayed acceptable fit and amotivation played a mediating role in the relationship between grit-perseverance and life satisfaction but not for gritpassion. These findings provide evidence regarding adequate teacher behavior and the importance of measuring student grit in the classroom setting. These findings provide new insights into the understanding of teacher motivational behaviors and student learning processes that influence student behavioral regulations and affective outcomes.


An efficient way of noise reduction has been presented: A modified Costas loop called as Masterpiece. The basic version of the Costas loop has been developed for SSB SC demodulation, but the same circuit can be applied for QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) demodulation as well. Noise sensitivity of the basic version has been decreased. One trick is the transformation of the real channel input into complex signal, the other one is the application of our folding algorithm. The result is that the Masterpiece provides a 4QAM symbol error rate (SER) of 6 × 10−4 for input signal to noise ratio (SNR) of −1 dB. In this paper, an improved version of the original Masterpiece is introduced. The complex channel input signal is normalized, and rotational average is applied. The 4QAM result is SER of 3 × 10−4 for SNR of −1 dB. At SNR of 0 dB, the improved version produces 100 times better SER than that the original Costas loop does. In our times, this topic has a special importance because by application of our Masterpiece, all dangerous field strengths from 5G and WiFi, could be decreased by orders of magnitude. The Masterpiece can break the Shannon formula.


We previously identified proliferative cells in adipose tissue expressing adipocyte specific genes and preadipocyte specific genes, which were named small proliferative adipocytes (SPA). Furthermore, we found that SPA specifically express proliferin (PLF) and have superior potential for adipogenic differentiation as compared to stromal vascular cells (SVC). In this study, we investigated the role of SPA. A comparison between differentiated SPA (D-SPA) and differentiated SVC (D-SVC) revealed that UCP1 and PLF were strongly expressed in D-SPA. Therefore, we speculated that SPA might be progenitor of beige cells. The real time PCR analyses and the immunohistochemical studies revealed that beige cells associated genes, including UCP1, PPARα and PGC1α were significantly increased in D-SPA. Treatment with pioglitazone and CL316234, a specific β3-adrenergic receptor agonist, converted cultured SPA into cell clusters like beige cells which expressed UCP1 and activation of mitochondrial function confirmed by MitoRed stain. Furthermore, PLF was expressed in beige cells induced by continuous injection of CL316243. In conclusion, since D-SPA were found to express UCP1 and PLF, which were detected in beige cells, but not WAT, SPA were considered to be a progenitor of beige cells. There might be two lineages of cells in adipose tissue; adipose progenitor cells in SVC and WAT (PLF-), and SPA and beige cells (PLF+). The combination of pioglitazone and CL316423 produced an additive effect of inducing browning in SPA. Disclosure K. Taguchi: None. K. Kajita: None. M. Fuwa: None. M. Asano: None. Y. Kitada: None. T. Ikeda: None. T. Ishizuka: None. H. Morita: None.


By exploiting a new and rich firm-level dataset, we provide some evidence on labour demand by Italian manufacturing firms, with a focus on high school graduates, and we estimate the factors underlying the decision to engage in work-based training, as well as its relative intensity. Relying on a job competition mechanism of skill formation, we stress the role of the strategic complementarity between innovation and firm organization. Our results show that training propensity is affected by firm size, capital intensity, skill composition, R&D, investments in new machinery and organizational change following technological change. No relevant effects emerge from labour cost and internationalization activities. These results hold particularly for the decision to provide both formal and informal training together. Finally, R&D and techno-organizational innovations also affect the intensity of training, both in terms of training costs and in terms of the employment share of trainees.


The behaviour of supply chains, especially those in which several enterprises are involved, is often difficult to predict. For the analysis of such systems, which cannot be evaluated by analytical models, discrete event simulation is an adequate technology. The competence of the local engineers about the single chain elements has to be incorporated into the simulation models. This can be done best by establishing local models, representing the local section of the supply chain. Up to now, integrating such local models into one complete model was time consuming and error prone. Even more critical, local maintenance of partial models was inhibited. A new approach solves this problem, exploiting the advantages of distributed simulation. Furthermore, this approach provides encapsulation, if supply chain partners do not wish to publish details of their node to other partners. The interfacing description is based on the High Level Architecture (HLA) and generates Extensible Markup Language (XML) files, which provide a specification of each supply chain node and its interfaces.


The aim of the study was to assess the stability of soil organic carbon (SOC) in Arenosol (AR) under three different land uses: 1) continuous arable land, 2) abandoned for the last 15 years arable land, and 3) 50 years ago afforested with Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) or silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) arable land. In the 0–10, 10–20 and 20– 40 cm mineral soil layers the following was determined: 1) total SOC and humus fractional composition in bulk soil, 2) unprotected SOC (water extractable SOC and soil microbial biomass carbon (C bio )), and 3) in physical fractions unprotected and protected from microbial decomposition SOC. Mean C bio was the lowest in pine plantations, the highest in birch plantations and intermediate in arable or abandoned arable land. The highest concentrations of fulvic and humic acids and unprotected water extractable SOC were found in forest plantations. However, mineral topsoil after the afforestation, especially with birch, contained the highest concentrations of total SOC and the concentrations of SOC protected in soil organic matter (SOM) of silt + clay sized (<53 µm) fraction. Our results confirmed the Kyoto Protocol's provision that the afforestation of nutrient-poor sandy arable soils with birch could be relevant for soil carbon sequestration.


As new technologies enable a radical transformation of the learning process, new learning approaches and techniques appear, and the need for quality assurance of all learning assets emerges. Although, the existing e-learning standards have managed to cover most of the different aspects of the e-learning process, the shift to new paradigms such as collaborative and community learning sets the need for new standards. The main goal of e-learning standards is to enable and ensure interoperability and re-usability of solutions, systems, objects and processes. E-learning is an extremely useful tool for the healthcare community since it allows professionals, researchers, companies and individuals to improve their skills and expand their knowledge. However, it has faced several difficulties mainly due to the heterogeneity of educational needs. The different user groups have different requirements from e-learning, different availability and resources and consequently different quality standards. In this chapter, the authors emphasize on the quality assurance, and the community aspect of e-learning.


Strengthening urban resilience is one of the main goals of urban mitigation. This document explains the concept of urban mitigation and urban resilience and demonstrates spatial relevance of hazard and vulnerability. From three levels, including urban scale, urban spatial structure and urban open space, spatial design methods for urban mitigation to strength urban resilience, namely resistance, adaptability and transformation are proposed based on characteristics of different phases of disaster process.


The threshold illumination i at the eye from a steady source of light of 1′ angular diameter in a field of brightness b was measured for b ranging from zero to about 1500 candles per square foot. The data were obtained by five young experienced observers using both eyes unaided and with natural pupil. A bend in the i, b curve at about b = 1000 mμL occurred at the transition from foveal to extra-foveal vision. The relation i=10−10(1+b)12, where i is in footcandles and b is in millimicrolamberts, expressed the experimental data within a factor of 3 over the entire range.


East African countries are poor due to several factors particularly due to vicious circle of poverty prevalence, conflict and civil war trap, natural resource trap, land locked with bad neighbors and bad governance. These are traps discouraging the incentive for economic growth and brought about poor performance of the economy; thus, leads to difference in income associated with difference in institutional arrangement and structure. The average per capita income of the region is $333 with minimum average of $82.64 and maximum average of $882.46. Dummy intercept indicated that each country has its own unique features. On average, Kenya is performing better from members in the region followed by Tanzania, Rwanda and Eritrea respectively. Panel data technique is employed to identify factors affecting economic performance of the region and the random effects outcome shows that investment, inflation and exploded population growth affects economic performance.


Self-reflection is paramount to the development of professionalism and serves as the foundation of adult education and lifelong learning. Pedagogical approaches in health sciences programs that promote selfreflection are growing in popularity. Current literature identifies a gap in what and how students conceive selfreflection and whether self-reflection is creating professionals that meet the challenges of today's healthcare climate. This qualitative study explores the conceptions of self-reflection for occupational therapy students in Level II Fieldwork. The use of phenomenographic methodology guided the collection of information-rich data through semi-structured interviews. Twenty-one occupational therapy graduates volunteered to participate in the interviews. Verbatim transcripts were coded to identify categories and patterns in the data. A focused discussion was employed as a member-checking method to ensure accuracy of study outcomes. Participants identified that self-reflection may serve to inform personal and professional practices during occupational therapy student clinical rotations. Although universally defined, student self-reflection occurred in countless ways and took many forms. Participants valued its function in expanded decision making, selfawareness, and competence in fieldwork and everyday occupations. These findings facilitate further research and the creation of new self-reflection educational methods or interventions designed to build or remediate self-reflective capacity of health sciences students during academic and clinical programming.


Using a post-socialist framework, this article analyzes recreational communism, that is, the commodification of communism through commercial places that use Bao Cấp (subsidy period in Vietnam) for tourism and leisure. These places include cafés, restaurants, souvenir shops, art galleries, or flea markets. Why do places dedicated to pleasure make use of such a painful period? I propose to go beyond this paradox by focusing not only on the economic, but also the emotional, political, and memorial value of Bao Cấp, both in the way they are designed by their owners and practiced by customers. The visual descriptions and interviews I accumulated since 2006 allow me to address the dynamics of social interactions between people, place, and space. The spatial analysis of this material explores recreational communism as a practice of social distinction in the sense that it involves upper classes within the most globalized cities of the country.


Introduction: Despite the efficacy and tolerability of modern antiretroviral therapy (ART), many patients with advanced AIDS prescribed these regimens do not achieve viral suppression or immune reconstitution as a result of poor adherence, drug resistance, or both. The clinical outcomes of continued ART prescription for such patients have not been well characterized. Methods: We examined the causes and predictors of all-cause mortality, AIDS-defining conditions, and serious non-AIDS- defining events among a cohort of participants in a clinical trial of pre-emptive therapy for CMV disease. We focused on participants who, despite ART had failed to achieve virologic suppression and substantive immune reconstitution. Results: 233 ART-receiving participants entered with a median baseline CD4 + T cell count of 30/mm 3 and plasma HIV RNA of 5 log 10 copies/mL. During a median 96 weeks of follow-up, 24.0% died (a mortality rate of 10.7/100 patient-years); 27.5% reported a new AIDS-defining condition, and 22.3% a new serious non-AIDS event. Of the deaths, 42.8% were due to an AIDS-defining condition, 44.6% were due to a non-AIDS-defining condition, and 12.5% were of unknown etiology. Decreased risk of mortality was associated with baseline CD4 + T cell count $ 25/mm 3 and lower baseline HIV RNA. Conclusions: Among patients with advanced AIDS prescribed modern ART who achieve neither virologic suppression nor immune reconstitution, crude mortality percentages appear to be lower than reported in cohorts of patients studied a decade earlier. Also, in contrast to the era before modern ART became available, nearly half of the deaths in our modern-era study were caused by serious non-AIDS-defining events. Even among the most advanced AIDS patients who were not obtaining apparent immunologic and virologic benefit from ART, continued prescription of these medications appears to alter the natural history of AIDS—improving survival and shifting the causes of death from AIDS- to non-AIDS-defining conditions.


Technological parameters included in energy density (ED) are the more powerful tools in selective laser melting (SLM) technology which can be used in the time of fabrication to regulate chemical, metallurgical, and mechanical properties of a product. The volumetric Energy Density (ED) depends on the energy input employed by the laser power, scanning speed, hatch spacing, and the layer thickness. Density, microstructure, surface morphology, dimension accuracy, strength and porosity including the number of pores, place of the pore, size of a pore shape of a pore, inclusions of pores of an SLM product depends on the processing parameters. As the powder material fusion process is done by track by track and layer by layer, the architecture of the microstructure in a product is oriented as the direction of building up too. The research has emphasized on metallurgical properties, tensile properties, and producing the non-porous products from Ti-6Al-4V alloy powder and surface modification using bioactive polymer for orthopedic application. The research has followed four steps to study the metallurgical properties and finding out the combinations of technological parameters in producing non-porous products. The purpose of the first step of the study was to examine the effects of ED on the product properties and to obtain an optimum ED as well as the optimal range of scanning speed. The second step of the study has focused on the influences of laser power. The third step of the study has investigated the effect of amounts of track overlapping and hatch spacing. Almost a zero-porosity product has been able to produce by following these three steps of the ongoing research. The fourth step has studied the metallurgical properties emphasizing on re-melting of every layer. High-density products have been found in the fourth step where a small amount of very small sized pores are present as a result of keyhole effect and gaseous bubble entrapment mainly. Four buildup orientations have been selected for each ED in the first step of the study to examine the tensile properties of the products. The best buildup orientation has been seen in longitudinally vertical tensile specimens considering tensile properties. The tensile properties have also been studied in the second and third step of the study with best build up orientation of the tensile specimens. The alterations of metallurgical and tensile properties have also been investigated after heat-treatment of the specific samples. Dimensional accuracies were also invigilated on the cubic, and tensile specimens over the studies and consequently, inaccuracies have been noticed. The fifth step of the study has observed the pore properties, adhesion properties, the compressive strength of gelatin coating manufactured using unidirectional freezing and the freeze-drying process of three different gelatin concentrations on four different surfaced Ti-6Al-4V alloy substrates. The results indicate that the coating properties depend on the substrate's surface texture as well as the concentration of gelatin. Above 80% of porosity, interconnected and well-aligned pores of 75-200 μm have been obtained which is required to stimulate bone ingrowth histologically.


Significant progress has been made recently in the numerical simulation of heterogeneous reservoir media. One of the fundamental reasons for the hysteretic nonlinear behavior of porous reservoir media is that heterogeneous or damaged materials contain an enormous number of mesoscopic features such as microcracks and macrocracks, joints, and grain to grain contacts containing multiple phases. Each of these mesoscopic units exhibits a hysteretic behavior which dominates the macroscopic reservoir response. Based on the work of Preisach and Mayergoyz (P-M space model), Coleman and Hodgdon, a generalized phenomenological model has been developed to describe the hysteretic nonlinear response of capillary pressure and relative permeability. The proposed approach enables the description of active hysteresis by the solution of either a differential or an integral equation. The model focuses on the correct representation of the primary drainage (forced), the imbibition (spontaneous and forced), the secondary drainage (spontaneous and forced) curves and scanning curves. The functions and parameters used in the model can be fine-tuned to match different experimental data or can be used as history matching parameters. It is shown that the proposed model incorporates the Killough type hysteresis as one analytical solution. The differential form of the proposed model allows a smooth transition of both relative permeability and capillary pressures from drainage-to-imbibition or imbibition-to-drainage states and requires minimum storage of parameters during the simulation. Validation of the model indicates that the proposed hysteresis model is stable and robust. The results are presented and discussed and future studies outlined.


In 1990 we advanced the hypothesis that frightened and frightening (FR) parental behavior would prove to be linked to both unresolved (U) adult attachment status as identified in the Adult Attachment Interview and to infant disorganized/disoriented (D) attachment as assessed in the Ainsworth Strange Situation. Here, we present a coding system for identifying and scoring the intensity of the three primary forms of FR behavior (frightened, threatening, and dissociative) as well as three subsidiary forms. We review why each primary form may induce fear of the parent (the infant's primary "haven of safety"), placing the infant in a disorganizing approach-flight paradox. We suggest that, being linked to the parent's own unintegrated traumatic experiences (often loss or maltreatment), FR behaviors themselves are often guided by parental fright, and parallel the three "classic" mammalian responses to fright: flight, attack, and freezing behavior. Recent studies of U to FR, as well as FR to D relations are presented, including findings regarding AMBIANCE/FR+. Links between dissociation, FR, U, and D are explored. Parallel processing and working memory are discussed as they relate to these phenomena.The work described in this paper was supported by a Guggenheim fellowship to the second author and by grants from the William B. Harris Foundation and the Amini Foundation for the Study of Affects. We are grateful to Alberto Amengual, Giovanni Liotti, and John Watson for directing us to varying portions of the literature discussed. Alvin Nye Main first pointed to the relevance of the quotation from Darwin.


Superheated steam drying is an energy saving and effective drying technology, in which the waste heat is recycled with the loop system and the moisture removal is much faster than that of conventional low temperature drying. The computation methods for the estimation of wood mass diffusivities were evaluated and the first ten terms of the analytic solution of Fick's Second Law was considered sufficiently accurate, but Crank's method was rejected, due to its large errors. The experimental data show that higher temperature significantly accelerated the drying rate. In addition, no visible surface or internal checks have been found in the superheated steam dried samples (dry-bulb temperature 160, 180, 200, 220 oC). The highly effective super heated steam drying is definitely an advantage. However, samples were browned when dried above 220 oC, which may be regarded as the critical temperature for quality control.


Cyclophosphazene and Polyphosphazene have been developed as a fire retarding material by increasing the number of bromine and chlorine atoms and adding azo moieties within the chemical structure. Four azo phenolic compounds with different numbers and places of substituted bromine and chlorine atoms were prepared. The cyclophosphazene and polyphosphazene were functionalized by the azo phenolic compounds. The functionalizing was done by substituting three chlorine atoms from cyclophosphazene or one chlorine atom from polyphosphazene by the prepared azo compounds through hydroxyl group. (ratio Azo3:1Cyclophosphazoene, and ration Azo1:1 Polyphosphazene). The chemical structure of the phosphazenes were studied by IR, 1 H-NMR and elemental analysis. The fire retarding efficiency of phosphazenes compounds for many trading constructional materials was examined. The efficiency of the new phosphazenes compounds was increased for both Cyclophosphazene and Polyphosphazene as a fire retardant.


Although heterozygous lipoprotein lipase (LPL) deficiency is not rare, only part of the phenotypes may have been reported in Japan. Here we describe a Japanese family with LPLArita, the most common mutation linked to familial LPL deficiency in Japan, and show for the first time a heterozygote for the mutation who had marked hypercholesterolemia due to increased low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. The proband's mother, one of the eterozygotes for LPLArita in the family, had both severe hypercholesterolemia (total cholesterol 306mg/dl) with an especially increase in LDL-cholesterol and mild hypertriglyceridemia (180mg/dl). She had normal LDL receptor activity and did not show clear evidence of possible causes of secondary hyperlipidemia. In addition to being heterozygous for LPL deficiency, she was also heterozygous for apo e4. Because the e4 allele is known to be associated with higher LDL-cholesterol, heterozygous apo e4 may be one of causes of her LDL-cholesterol elevation. The other three heterozygotes for LPLArita were moderate drinkers, and all of them had both remarkable hypertriglyceridemia and mild hypercholesterolemia due to increased very-low-density lipoproteins (VLDL). The results suggest that heterozygotes for LPLArita can exhibit various phenotypes of hyperlipidemia, that is, hypertrigliceridemia and/or hypercholesterolemia due to not only increased VLDL but also increased LDL. The phenotypes appear to depend on some other genetic and environmental factors.


The present study examines the congruence of individuals' minimum preferred amounts of voice with the prospect theory value function across nine countries. Accounting for previously ignored minimum preferred amounts of voice and actual voice amounts integral to testing the steepness of gain and loss functions explicated in prospect theory, we use curve fitting to show that ratings of procedural justice fit prospect theory's value function specifically. Further, we investigate the form of this function across nine countries that range in power distance. Results suggest that the form of the value function is congruent with prospect theory, showing an S-shaped curve that is steeper in the loss than in the gain domain. Further, this pattern is similar across countries. Theoretical and practical implications of these results for both decision making and organizational justice are discussed.


Recent physiological and cognitive studies of schizophrenia have implicated dysfunction of prefrontal cortex as a possible explanation for some of the disabling intellectual and social aspects of the disorder. To investigate the potential reversibility of cognitive deficits and the role of state variables, eg, attention and motivation, three groups of patients with schizophrenia were administered the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test on six consecutive occasions. Two of the groups received incremental information on how to do the test, including explicit card-by-card instruction. The third group served as a control. Regardless of the degree of instruction, patients who could not do the test could not learn it. The deficit did not appear generalized, as patients were able to learn word lists on the Selective Reminding memory test and were not globally demented on the Mini-Mental State Examination. These data suggest that prefrontal-type cognitive deficits in schizophrenia may be more profound than is generally appreciated.


The role of business development has become increasingly important for videogame developers in the mobile sector. Over $10 billion was spent in Apple's App Store in 2013 – a platform dominated by games since its inception – and although few games are guaranteed to be an "overnight success", developers can optimize for opportunity, particularly in adopting a business model with proven success. In the contemporary sector, the model often adopted is that of free-to-play (F2P), yet response to this model is often mixed; and developers' discourse often binaries F2P according to moral and ethical criteria. Such attitudes were apparent on 6 December 2013, when a cohort of ten games developers and industry experts were invited to participate in a workshop to discuss the current state of the sector. Through analysis of material gathered from these workshop discussions, this chapter examines the way in which F2P is valued by those within the industry, and how its pervasiveness in the contemporary sector is having an impact on production processes (and approaches to games as "art"), intra-industry relations, and engagement with consumers. In an ever-changing landscape, this chapter captures a moment where free-to-play business models – and the wider implications they have for the industry at large – are a pressing issue. Shaped by the direct views of those in the industry, as well as popular and trade press, industry reports, and academic literature, the chapter highlights the importance of communication between stakeholders to help shape the direction of their industry.


Fluid jet polishing (FJP) is a computer controlled polishing (CCP) process. As the water effect of concave optics surface, the slurry won't spread immediately until component have a basinful, and jet goes through a layer of slurry firstly before impact in FJP process, the submerged jet will influence material removal rate and bring on inaccurate fabrication results if it is not considered. In this paper, submerged jet characteristics are studied, and researches were taken for submerged jet polishing by simulation with FLUENT software and experiments analysis. Based on that, mathematical material removal correction with submerged depth is established for semi-submerged jet polishing. A BK7 concave surface was polished by semi-submerged jet with removal correction. The results show an affirmative proof for correction in submerged jet polishing.


Biological formation and consumption of molecular hydrogen (H2) are catalyzed by hydrogenases, of which three phylogenetically unrelated types are known: [NiFe]-hydrogenases, [FeFe]-hydrogenases, and [Fe]-hydrogenase. We present a crystal structure of [Fe]-hydrogenase at 1.75 angstrom resolution, showing a mononuclear iron coordinated by the sulfur of cysteine 176, two carbon monoxide (CO) molecules, and the sp2-hybridized nitrogen of a 2-pyridinol compound with back-bonding properties similar to those of cyanide. The three-dimensional arrangement of the ligands is similar to that of thiolate, CO, and cyanide ligated to the low-spin iron in binuclear [NiFe]- and [FeFe]-hydrogenases, although the enzymes have evolved independently and the CO and cyanide ligands are not found in any other metalloenzyme. The related iron ligation pattern of hydrogenases exemplifies convergent evolution and presumably plays an essential role in H2 activation. This finding may stimulate the ongoing synthesis of catalysts that could substitute for platinum in applications such as fuel cells.


Chronic hypertension, known to affect the collagen profile of the heart, and exercise result in impaired or improved heart function, respectively. Collagen types I [alpha 1(I)2 and alpha 2(I)] and III [alpha 1(III)3] are the predominant interstitial collagens thought to influence cardiac function, and the ratio of type III to I (collagen III/I) is thought to be a significant factor in the altered relaxation observed in hypertrophy. The present study tested the hypothesis that the myocardial structure and function are different in chronically exercise-trained vs. hypertensive rat hearts. Male rats were either chronically exercised (XTr) or submitted to experimental hypertension by coarctation of the abdominal aorta (Hyp) for 10 wks. Heart rate, blood pressure, and maximal rate of fall of the left ventricular pressure (-dp/dt) were recorded during isoproterenol stimulation. Results showed that both Hyp and XTr had higher heart weight and left ventricular weight-to-body weight ratios (P < 0.05). Mean arterial pressure (MAP) was higher in Hyp and lower in XTr (P < 0.05), whereas (-dP/dt)/MAP was diminished in Hyp but enhanced in XTr. Left ventricular collagen was higher in Hyp than XTr, whereas collagen III/I was reduced in Hyp compared with XTr (P < 0.05). Scanning and transmission electron microscopy also supported an accumulation of left ventricular collagen in Hyp compared with XTr. A negative correlation was observed between collagen III/I and (-dP/dt)/ MAP (r = -0.91; P < 0.05). These results suggest an important relationship between adaptations in left ventricular collagen and the changes in diastolic function observed in both chronic hypertension and exercise cardiac stress.


This paper reports the synthesis of TiO2 quantum dots, carbon dots (C-dots), and TiO2/C-dots using facile sol–gel and hydrothermal methods. The synthesized quantum dots were further characterized in detail to understand their crystalline, structural, morphological, thermal and optical properties using various spectroscopic and analytical techniques. The characterization results confirmed that the prepared photocatalysts exhibited high crystallinity, purity and excellent optical properties. The morphological results indicated that the C-dots were uniformly distributed over the TiO2 quantum dots and nanocomposites have an average size of 12 nm. Furthermore, the prepared sample, i.e. TiO2/C-dots, was efficiently employed as a potential heterogeneous photocatalyst for solar light driven photocatalytic degradation of a fluoroquinolone antibiotic drug levofloxacin. To optimize the photocatalytic degradation experiments, various catalyst dose-dependent, pH-dependent, and initial drug-concentration dependent experiments were carried out. The photocatalytic experiments revealed almost complete photocatalytic degradation of levofloxacin (10 mg L−1) within 90 minutes of solar light illumination using the TiO2/C-dots under optimum conditions, whereas bare TiO2 showed only 66.5% degradation of the drug. Different commercial photocatalysts such as TiO2 PC-50 and TiO2 PC-500 were also used for comparing the photocatalytic efficiency of the synthesized photocatalyst. Furthermore, the stability of the photocatalyst was studied by performing recyclability experiments up to 5 cycles using the TiO2/C-dots, indicating that the nanocomposites could be reused without any significant loss. The TOC results indicated the simultaneous 53.4% mineralization and photocatalytic degradation of levofloxacin under optimized conditions. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of the nanocomposites was attributed to the presence of the C-dots in the system, which provided more active sites for the drug molecules and also restricted the recombination of charge carriers. The role of active radical species in the photocatalytic degradation of levofloxacin was also investigated. A photocatalytic degradation mechanism and pathway were also proposed.


Motivated by the debate around "churnalism" and online media, this article develops, evaluates, and validates a computational method for detecting shared text between different news articles, at scale, using n -gram shingling. It differentiates between newswire copy, public relations material, source-to-source copying, and common-source and incidental overlaps. I evaluate the method, quantitatively and qualitatively, and show that it can effectively handle newswire content, copying, and other forms of reuse. Substantively, I find lower levels of news agency and press release copy reuse than is suggested by previous studies, and conclude that the news agency finding is robust, but the lack of press release copy found might reflect limitations of the method and the changing practices of journalists.


Radial hemolysis was used for detection of influenza virus antibody in sera from children and adults in various epidemic outbreaks of 1977-1979. RH is highly sensitive, and the presence of inhibitors does not affect the titration results. The results of RH correlate well with those of the HI and CF tests. The 7S immunoglobulins were active in RH, 19S produced no hemolysis zone. In sera from children under 3 years no correlation between antibody titers by H1 and RH tests was observed in the acute period of the disease but it appeared within 2-3 weeks.


Purpose: To investigate the serum levels of uric acid (UA) in obese acanthosis nigricans (AN) patients with different thyroid hormones (THs) levels within the normal range. Methods: We investigated 834 obese patients (385 females and 449 males) with euthyroid function in the department of endocrinology of shanghai 10th people's hospital from 2011 to 2019 with the median age of 29 years (interquartile range 22-36 years) for this study. 343 patients were diagnosed of AN. The cut-offs for thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free triiodothyronine (FT3) and free thyroxine (FT4) were 2mIU/L, 16mIU/L and 5mIU/L, respectively. Results: In male obese patients, AN patients with high TSH and FT4 had higher levels of UA compared to those with high TSH and low FT4 (523.20±120.98 vs. 477.56±86.92umol/L, P=0.036) and showed a correlation with fasting C-peptide (FCP) (r=0.330, P=0.029). The TSH, FT3, and FT4 alone did not showed any predictive value in male patients. In female patients, high FT3 was associated with higher levels of UA (388.47±100.95 vs. 366.33±82.40umol/L, P=0.019). However, the predictive value of FT3 in female was obtained only in low TSH subgroup (low TSH+ high FT3 vs. low TSH+ low FT3, P=0.033) not in high TSH patients. The levels of fasting insulin, 2h-insulin, FCP, 2h C-peptide, total cholesterol, triglyceride and testosterone were in correlation with higher UA levels in female obese patients with low TSH and high FT3(all P Conclusion: The metabolic characteristics of UA are found to differ in obese patients with euthyroid function, in which AN plays an important role for male obese patients with high TSH and high FT4. But in the case of female, a combination of THs instead of AN showed it's unique in UA metabolism. Disclosure J. Zhang: None. G. Li: None. X. Cheng: None. X. Wang: None. M. Jayachandran: None. Y. Huang: None. S. Qu: None. Funding National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFC1314100); National Natural Science Foundation of China (81970677); Shanghai Pujiang Program (2019PJD040); Effect of ApoC3 High Expression on Islet Cells and Related Molecular Mechanism (03.05.18.002)


SIR,-Your leading article in your issue of February 22 (p. 449) referred to the Woman's Hour broadcast " The Unknown Seed " with great unfairness. The writer did not simply express an idea which would be acceptably fair, but tried to colour his readers' judgment by a sneering tone and by the false use of emotionally changed words: " to fortify the public taste for the morbid and sensational," or " . . . doctors lending their private consulting-rooms for this kind of public entertainment." Such phrases may possibly be justified for other items, but they were entirely out of place in this context. Your leader writer is entitled to his opinion (which I personally consider oddly archaic), but he should know better than to use discreditable techniques of vocabulary play instead of reasoned argument. Listening to this programme, I found it presented with skilled reserve, and, I might add, a certain " ladylike" caution. At its onset the announcer explained how long the item would last, so that any who wished to avoid it might time their switching off. The subject was topical, and it was much more intelligently treated than it had been by the majority of newspapers. Pros and cons were given equal weight. It was an entirely justifiable subject of interest to any thinking woman, and its decent handling was such that a morbid-sensation-seeking listener would have been disappointed. The doctors (anonymous, of course) spoke gravely and reasonably. The gibe that this was contributing to " a kind of public entertainment " was obviously undeserved. This deliberate polemic misuse of words is just not worthy of a scientific journal.-I am, etc.,


ABSTRACT Young people are increasingly engaging in diverse forms of participatory politics, especially to obtain commitments from powerholders regarding climate change. Do-It-Ourselves (DIO) politics is a helpful concept to understand much of youth-led environmental activism today. It is when citizens participate politically beyond the ballot box, personally and collectively. For young environmental activists engaging in DIO politics, the 'doing' is brought about by feeling the need to react to institutional inefficacy, i.e. politicians not 'doing' enough. The importance of 'ourselves' is two-fold. First, it involves young citizens taking action themselves, but not just for themselves, outside party politics. Second, it entails young people acting together as part of a global generational movement, providing belonging and hope to a marginalised cohort that is being politically socialised in challenging times. Drawing on valuable data obtained through semi-structured interviews with school climate strikers (Fridays For Future) and Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists, this article contends that many young people today form a global generation unit engaging in DIO politics, notably environmental activism, due to their specific shared lived experiences. Theoretically and qualitatively, the article provides important insights to understand this particular young cohort's concern for the environment, agency, efficacy, collective engagement and protest actions.


PURPOSE
To investigate aspects of health care provided to the elderly, as a way to undertake health surveillance initiatives.

METHODS
Cross-sectional quantitative study with elderly people who participate in health promotion groups in health centers at Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Surveys were conducted on aspects relative to comprehensive health care provision, namely, records of the Family Health Strategy, diagnosis, awareness of initiatives to treat non-communicable diseases, as well as awareness of related risks and complications. A descriptive statistical analysis was performed of the profile and perception of elderly patients about comprehensive health care.

RESULTS
Were interviewed 58 elderly patients; 94.83% of them reported having Arterial Hypertension (AH); 44.83%, Diabetes Mellitus (DM) and 39.66% reported having both comorbidities. Only a small part of the participants was aware of initiatives promoted by health centers for treatment of AH and DM; thus, there is little participation of the elderly in such initiatives. It was found that these patients still have limited awareness of the risks of not treating chronic Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).

CONCLUSION
The population's lack of awareness of primary health care initiatives and low adherence must be addressed by primary health care policies. Importantly, awareness-raising proposals that seek to integrate health promotion and disease prevention may bring comprehensive health care provision to the elderly, thus strengthening health surveillance initiatives.


This paper deals with multilevel partial-response class-IV (PRIV) transmission over unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) cables. Specifically, transmission at a rate of 155.52 Mb/s over data-grade UTP cables for local-area networking is considered. As a low-complexity method used to compensate for cable-length dependent signal distortion, adaptive analog equalization with two controlled parameters is proposed: one parameter determines a frequency-independent receiver gain, the other parameter controls the transfer characteristic of a variable analog receive-filter section. For the stepwise design of the transmit and receive filters, a combination of analytic techniques and simulated annealing is employed. First, the variable equalizer section, then the remaining fixed analog receive filter section are developed and finally the analog transmit filter is determined. The paper also describes the adjustment of the equalizer section, and the control of the sampling phase in the receiver front-end. The two equalizer parameters are controlled by an algorithm that operates on the sampled signals and adjusts these parameters to optimum settings independently of the sampling phase. The latter is controlled by a decision-directed phase-locked loop algorithm that becomes effective when equalization has been achieved. The dynamic behaviour and mean-square error in steady-state obtained with these control algorithms are investigated.


As we progress into applications that incorporate interactive life-like 3D computer graphics, the mouse falls short as a user interface device, and it becomes obvious that 3D computer graphics could achieve much more with a more intuitive user interface mechanism. Haptic interfaces, or force feedback devices, promise to increase the quality of human-computer interaction by accommodating our sense of touch. The article discusses the application of touch feedback systems to 3D modelling. To achieve a high interactivity level requires novel rendering techniques such as volume-based rendering algorithms.


septicaemias, trauma, and obstetric accidents. These are situations in which intravascular coagulation has been expected for several reasons, and not only because sympathetic nerve stimulation is accompanied by activation of coagulation. Perhaps the most cogent reason for believing that intravascular coagulation plays its own role in the genesis of sone types of acute renal failure has been the finding that in some situations inhibition of fibrinolysis actually precipitates renal cortical necrosis as opposed to mere renal shutdown. However, as Dr. Briggs and others imply, elevation of fibrin products in uraemia may also arise as a result of that very process. Thus increased fibrinogen catabolism has been demonstrated in nephrectomized animals.5 It may also be true that because of inhibition of fibrin-stabilizing factor (FSF) fibrin may be lysed to F.R.-antigen products without implying the formation of thrombi. However, for this to be true blood urea levels must be very high. In these latter situations extravascular deposition of fibrin and subsequent lysis also occurs.Secondly, study of platelet mechanisms in glomerulonephritis6 has led to the understanding that F.R.-antigen is not only a byproduct but is also central to the pathogenesis of, in particular, proliferative glomerulonephritis. For example, I have found that it is precipitating antibody to B.S.A. antigen that is particularly associated with intravascular coagulation. However, I have voiced my doubts about the meaning of F.R.-antigen in the urine without consideration of selectivity and the fact that in proliferative disease whole red cells appear in the urine. We also have attempted to relate F.R.-antigen to selectivity of IgG and to total urine protein loss, and, like Dr. Clarkson3 but unlike Dr. Briggs and colleagues in their Fig. 5, we have found no relation. What we have found is that there is a good relation between urinary F.D.P. and the urinary excretion of fibrinogen measured by a chemical method (to be published). This not only suggests that the expensive immunochemical method is unnecessary but again raises the question of the relation of urinary F.D.P. to fibrinogen selectivity.-I ai, etc., E. N. WARDLE


This paper argues that the current normative and legal paradigms that shape the Unived States' response to security threats posed by acts of transnational terrorism are misapplied. In the international arena, we should downplay states' right to sovereignty in favor of a paradigm that requires nation states not only to protect select common goods including the responsibility to protect (R2P), but also to observe a new duty, namely, not to harbor or support terrorists. With regard to those alleged terrorists who are captured, the current paradigm that treats them as criminals should be replaced with one that treats them as a distinct class of defendants, entitled to their own rights and procedures -- just as we deal differently with ex-cons, sex offenders, and many other classes of offenders. Finally, those terrorists faced in armed conflicts should be expected to abide by the rule of distinction and, if they violate it, they should bear part of the onus for the resulting collateral damage. The paradigms most often employed in conceptualizing and legitimating counterterrorism campaigns -- the paradigms of war among nations and of law enforcement -- are ill-suited to meet new realities. The considerable policy mistakes, misjudgments, and above all, morally flawed positions that are caused by the misapplication of these concepts, point to a need for a distinct normative and legal paradigm for dealing with transnational terrorism. This Article focuses on the normative assumptions of such a paradigm, which have clear legal parallels. Further, this Article seeks to develop this distinct paradigm by situating it in ongoing transnational moral dialogues on the just and effective ways to combat terrorism. This distinct paradigm would benefit if it were consolidated into a new Geneva Convention in the future.


The landscape of ubiquitous computing comprising of numerous interconnected computing devices seamlessly integrated within everyday environments introduces a need to do research beyond human-computer interaction: in particular incorporate human-environment interaction. While the technological advancements have driven the field of ubiquitous computing, the ultimate focus should center on human agents and their experience in interacting with ubiquitous computing systems offering smart services. This paper describes egocentric interaction as a human body-centered interaction paradigm for framing human-environment interaction using proximity and human perception. A smart home environment capable of supporting physical-virtual activities and designed according to egocentric interaction principles is used for exploring the human experience it offers, yielding positive results as a proof of concept.


Data on the validity of pediatric thrombosis diagnoses are missing. We aimed to examine the predictive value of a diagnosis of venous and arterial thrombosis using the Danish National Patient Registry (DNPR). We identified all first-time diagnoses among children and adolescents (aged 0–18 years) between 1994 and 2006 in DNPR. In total, 1138 potential cases of thrombosis were identified; the medical records were retrieved for 1112 (97.7%) and the positive predictive value (PPV) computed. Overall, the diagnosis of thrombosis was verified in 598 of the 1112 cases, corresponding to a PPV of 53.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 50.8–56.7). Diagnoses from wards had the PPV of 62.5% (95% CI: 59.4–65.6). The predictive value of a thrombosis diagnosis from wards was age-dependent, with a higher PPV (77.4%, 95% CI: 68.7–84.7) in neonates (<28 days) and adolescents (15–18 years) (68.2%; 95% CI: 63.2–72.5)) than in children (28 days–14 years) (51.2%; (95% CI: 46.0–56.4)). The PPV of a thrombosis diagnosis was improved by restricting the analysis to diagnoses from wards, primary diagnoses, and admissions with a length of stay of three or more days. The results indicate that an interpretation of nonvalidated hospital discharge data for pediatric thrombosis in a registry like DNPR should be made with caution.


This paper presents a method for gaze estimation according to face images. We train several gaze estimators adopting four different network architectures, including an architecture designed for gaze estimation (i.e.,iTracker-MHSA) and three originally designed for general computer vision tasks(i.e., BoTNet, HRNet, ResNeSt). Then, we select the best six estimators and ensemble their predictions through a linear combination. The method ranks the first on the leader-board of ETH-XGaze Competition, achieving an average angular error of $3.11^{\circ}$ on the ETH-XGaze test set.


A possibility of efficient extraction of 238U, 239Pu and 241Am by microorganisms from solutions with activity 520-3200 Bq/l has been shown on the example of microbial biosorbent (MBS). MBS presents water-resistant granules consisting of living microorganisms and nutrient substances. The ratio MBS:solution being equal to 1:100 and 1:20, microorganisms extracts 98.9 and 99.8% of 238U; 99.1 and 99.8% of 239Pu, 241Am, respectively. The worked out MBC granules may be utilized by burning with the 4-8 decrease of the volume. It is foreseen to use MBS in industrial processes of treatment of liquid radioactive waste (LRW) for uranium and transuranium elements.


The study aimed to investigate the phenotypic and genotypic identification of in vitro antimicrobial susceptibility of 21 Staphylococci (10 Staphylococcus aureus and 11 Coagulase Negative Staphylococci) isolated from bovine mastitis to 12 antimicrobial drugs frequently using in veterinary medicine in Algeria. Isolates of staphylococci from bovine mastitis were tested for antibiotics with disc-diffusion method according to the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards guidelines in the Mueller-Hinton agar, and resistant genes mecA, blaZ, aac-aph, ermA, ermC, tetK and tetM were detected by PCR. Staphylococci isolates showed high resistance to penicillin (95.23%), oxacillin (80.95%), clindamycine (80.95%), and erythromycin (76.19%) but, no resistance in all these strains was detected for gentamicin. Among 21 isolates of Staphylococci, 20 were found to be methicillin and multidrug resistant. Multidrug resistant strains exhibited several antibiogram patterns (antibiotic I to XIII). The distribution of antibiotic-resistant genes was mecA (100%) and tetM (100) followed by blaZ (42.85%). In the present study, the significant determination was the high prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococci, which were resistant to multiple antibiotics. The finding of methicillin-resistant staphylococci from bovine mastitis is the first report in Algeria and revealed the status of resistant isolates in herd that might be helpful in treatment, controlling of resistant strains and for deciding culling of cows.


The use of functionalised recombinant spider silk as a sustainable advanced biomaterial is currently an area of intense interest owing to spider silk's intrinsic strength, toughness, biocompatibility and biodegradability. This paper demonstrates, for the first time, the site-specific chemical conjugation of different organic ligands that confer either antibiotic or fluorescent properties to spider silk. This has been achieved by the incorporation of the non-natural methionine analogue L-azidohomoalanine (L-Aha) using an E. coli methionine auxotroph and subsequent copper catalysed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) or 'click chemistry' functionalisation of 4RepCT 3Aha . The 4RepCT 3Aha protein can be modified either prior to, or post fibre formation increasing the versatility of this approach as demonstrated here by the formation of silk fibres bearing a defined ratio of two different fluorophores uniformly distributed along the fibres. Silk decorated with the fluoroquinone family broad spectrum antibiotic levofloxacin via a labile linker is shown to have significant antibiotic activity over a period of at least 5 days. The inherent low immunogenicity and pyrogenicity of spider silk should allow a diverse range of functionalised silks to be produced using these approaches that are tailored to applications including wound dressings and as tissue regeneration scaffolds.


Background. Many individuals with Parkinson disease (PD) experience difficulty with turning, yet little is known about the reasons for this difficulty. Objective. The authors sought to determine whether individuals with PD can use visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive cues to estimate how far they have turned. Methods. Fifteen PD subjects and 11 controls performed active and passive turns to the left and right, with and without vision, with amplitudes of 90, 180, 270, and 360 degrees. For active conditions, subjects were told the direction and amplitude of the desired turn and then attempted to turn in place the specified amount via actively stepping. For passive conditions, subjects were told that the disc they stood on would turn and they were to press a button when they had traveled the specified amplitude. Results. There were no differences between PD and control groups in any of the conditions, suggesting that those with PD effectively used sensory cues available in the different conditions to accurately judge distance turned. The authors found no apparent deficits in the visual, vestibular, or proprioceptive systems or in integration of these senses for performance of the turning task tested. Conclusions. Turning difficulties associated with PD may more likely relate to motor or sensorimotor integration deficits than to pure sensory or sensory integration deficits. Generalizability of the study may be limited by the fact that subjects were tested at a single velocity for passive rotations, were on medication, and had relatively mild PD (primarily H&Y 2).


Synopsis High strain zones, characterized by shear fabrics and mylonites, have been identified within lower amphibolite-grade, coarse granular metasandstones of the Glen Lethnot Grit Formation of the Southern Highland Group (Dalradian) along the Highland Border, south-west of Stonehaven. The rocks comprise part of a polydeformed, regionally metamorphosed, Neoproterozoic sequence, bounded to the north by the post-orogenic Mount Battock Granite (Late Caledonian) and to the south-east by the Highland Boundary Fault Zone. Early regional D1 and D2 structures have been rotated by a major monoform, the Highland Border Downbend (D4), to produce a steeply dipping, downward facing succession. The mylonitic metasand-stones contain a variety of kinematic indicators, including asymmetrical pressure shadows, S-C fabrics, shear bands and an extensional crenulation cleavage, which yield a sense of shear of top-towards-the SE (present structural position). Regional syn- to post-D2 metamorphism resulted in the development of prograde pelitic mineral assemblages which overgrow earlier Dl structures. Mylonitic fabrics within the high strain zones, developed during D2, both deform and are also overgrown by syn- to post-kinematic biotite porphyroblasts. The high strain zones may represent part of a major ductile structure active during the Dalradian D2–D3 tectonothermal event, which contributed to the development of strong metamorphic gradients and narrowing of mineral assemblage zones within the Highland Border.


Digestate prepared from anaerobic digestion can be used as a fertilizer, as it contains ample amounts of plant nutrients, mainly nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. In this regard, digestates produced from mixed intercropped cereal and legume biomass have the potential to enrich soil and plants with nutrients more efficiently than monoculture-based digestates. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of different types of digestates applied at a rate of 40 t·ha-1 of fresh matter on soil properties and crop yield in a pot experiment with lettuce (Lactuca sativa) as a test crop. Anaerobic digestion of silages was prepared from the following monocultures and mixed cultures: broad bean, maize, maize and broad bean, maize and white sweet clover, and white sweet clover. Anaerobic digestion was performed in an automatic custom-made system and applied to the soil. Results revealed that fresh and dry aboveground biomass as well as the amount of nitrogen in plants significantly increased in all digestate-amended variants in comparison to control. The highest content of soil total nitrogen (+11% compared to the control) and urease (+3% compared to control) were observed for maize digestate amendment. Broad bean digestate mediated the highest oxidizable carbon (+48%), basal respiration (+46%), and N-acetyl-β-D-glucosamine-, L-alanine-, and L-lysine-induced respiration (+22%, +35%, +22%) compared to control. Moreover, maize and broad bean digestate resulted in the highest values of N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase and β -glucosidase (+35% and +39%), and maize and white sweet clover digestate revealed the highest value of arylsulfatase (+32%). The observed differences in results suggest different effects of applied digestates. We thus concluded that legume-containing digestates possibly stimulate microbial activity (as found in increased respiration rates), and might lead to increased nitrogen losses if the more quickly mineralized nitrogen is not taken up by the plants.


The purpose of present investigation is to describe present status of air pollution in three (03) different areas of Karachi. It is hoped that information will provide of this better planning for pollution control. Karachi comprises of more than eighteen million population, who lives in acute and continual condition. NO, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), oxide of nitrogen (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), sulphur dioxide (SO2), methane and its derivative are generated from different sources. Fifteen particles of ambient air have been sampled from three (03) locations of Karachi in order to study the quantitative analysis of the ambient air and its possible effects on the human population. For this purpose, air sampling quality was done in various areas such as Sohrab Goth, North Nazimabad and Defence to sample ambient air quality. Total ten (10) different gases and five (5) environmental parameters were analyzed. The concentrations of the pollutants of the ambient air usually found high in winter while moderate in summer season. The parameters of carbon monoxide (CO) and ozone (O3)analyzed for three years are found below the NEQS while the highest mean average level of SO2 95.75 μg/m³ which is above the National Environmental Quality Standard (NEQS) recorded in June only. The highest mean average value 6527.59 μg/m³, 3743.18 ppb, 9565.31 ppb, 81.17 μg/m³ of methane (CH4), non methane hydrocarbon (NMHC), total hydrocarbon carbon (THC) and methane carbon (MC) are found in the months of December, August, March and February. The highest mean average value of Wind Speed (WS) and Temperature (Temp) are recorded in the months of October and December. The highest mean average value among all three areas of NO, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), oxide of nitrogen (NOx) and sulphur dioxide (SO2)91.41 μg/m³, 87.18 μg/m³, 113.03ppb, 171.18 μg/m³ are found in Sohrab Goth which is above the NEQS. While 6527.59 μg/m³ of methane (CH4) in Defence, 3870.37 ppb of non methane hydrocarbon (NMHC) in Sohrab Goth and 10244.64 ppb of total hydrocarbon carbon (THC) in North Nazimabad are also found higher as compared to Defence and Sohrab Goth. Key words: Ambient Air, Air Pollution, Parameters , Pollutants, Locations


Cooked, vacuum-packaged beef top rounds containing 3% sodium lactate (NaL) or 3 or 4% NaL in combination with 0.1 or 0.2% sodium propionate (NaP) were stored for up to 84 days at 4°C. Addition of any of the treatments greatly reduced total Aerobic Plate Counts (APC). Positive flavor notes associated with fresh beef were enhanced by ingredient addition and tended to be highest in roasts with 3% NaL + 0.2% NaP. Cooked roast beef color was enhanced by addition of NaL alone or in combination with 0.1% NaP. Lipid oxidation and water activity were decreased by addition of NaL with NaP and pH and cooked yield were increased with any level or combination of ingredients.


Energy chirp compensation of the electron bunch (e-bunch) in a laser wakefield accelerator, which is caused by the phase space rotation in the gradient wakefield, has been applied in many schemes for low energy spread e-bunch generation. We report the experimental observation of energy chirp compensation of the e-bunch in a nonlinear laser wakefield accelerator with a negligible beam loading effect. By adjusting the acceleration length using a wedge-roof block, the chirp compensation of the accelerated e-bunch was observed via an electron spectrometer. Apart from this, some significant parameters for the compensation process, such as the longitudinal dispersion and wakefield slope at the bunch position, were also estimated. A detailed comparison between experiment and simulation shows good agreement of the wakefield and bunch parameters. These results give a clear demonstration of the longitudinal characteristics of the wakefield in a plasma and the bunch dynamics, which are important for better control of a compact laser wakefield accelerator.


Eggs obtained from broiler breeders at 32 (young), 42 (middle aged), and 65 wk (old) were used to measure the effects of heat acclimation during incubation on morphological, physiological, and metabolic traits at internal pipping (IP) and at hatch. All eggs were from the same stock, and hatching performance was also evaluated. Eggs from each breeder age were incubated at control (CONT) or 38.5 degrees C for 6 h daily from d 10 to 18 of incubation (HA). On d 10 after heat exposure and on d 14, absolute and proportional weights were significantly lower for HA than CONT embryos. By the time of hatching, HA chicks were heavier than CONT chicks, which suggested accelerated growth. This effect was consistent across ages. Liver and heart weights were lower for HA than CONT chicks. At IP, pH was similar for HA and CONT embryos, whereas pO(2) and Na(+) were significantly higher and pCO(2), HCO(3)-, and K(+) significantly lower for HA than CONT embryos. Blood pH was higher in embryos from older than for younger and mid-aged parents at IP. At hatch there was no effect of heat acclimation for blood HCO(3)-, Na(+), and K(+) levels, whereas plasma triglyceride and T(3) levels were higher and plasma uric acid, glucose, and lipid peroxidation levels were lower for HA than CONT chicks. Embryonic mortality was similar among parental ages for CONT. In contrast for HA, embryonic mortality from older parents was higher than for younger and middle-aged parents. A delay in external pipping and hatching time with high incubation temperature was consistent across the breeder ages. It was concluded that lower blood pCO(2), HCO(3)-, K(+), and higher pO(2) at IP stage, plus increased plasma triglyceride concentrations at hatch, indicate adaptive responses of embryos.