The work presented here was an attempt to characterise some properties of a rat erythroleukaemic cell line (REL), in particular, the ability of these cells to undergo erytliroid differentiation following exposure to dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO). Erythroid differentiation was readily demonstrated by the appearance of haemoglobin in REL cells, using the benzidine reaction. Although it required some 72 hours exposure to DMSO before significant numbers of haemoglobinized cells could be detected, it appeared that some cells became committed to differentiate after as little as 8 hours exposure. It was possible to propose a sequence of events when REL cells were exposed to DMSO. After 4 hours of DMSO, DNA synthesis was down- regulated and REL cells started to shift out of S-phase of the cell cycle (i.e. proliferative) and started to accumulate in G0/G1(i.e. quiescent). This loss of proliferative ability was reflected in a reduction in cloning efficiency, i.e. some cells could no longer divide. Cells became committed to differentiation by 8 hours and by 24 hours, gross morphological changes could be observed, e.g. a significant reduction in cell size, cells adopting a smooth surface appearance as demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Cells producing haemoglobin could be detected by 72 hours of DMSO and the number of cells rose to a maximum after about 96 hours. It would appear that haemoglobin production is a relatively late event in DMSO-induced erytliroid differentiation of REL cells. To try to identify the biological activities that regulate differentiation, REL cells were adapted to a chemically defined, serum-free (SF) medium. Although the growth and division of these cells was not significantly different from cells grown in serum-containing medium, without serum, REL cells could not be induced to differentiate. Even when SF medium was supplemented with combinations of known growth factors / cytokines, no significant erythroid differentiation was obtained. It is because of this ability to differentiate along an erythroid pathway that the REL cells are regarded as erythroleukaemic. However, under certain culture conditions, REL cells developed characteristics associated with monocyte / macrophage maturation as demonstrated by morphology, appearance under SEM, cytochemical analyses, and expression of a macrophage-associated surface antigen. It would appear that REL cells are not restricted to the erythroid lineage, but, in fact, they retain the potential to mature along additional lineages. Brief cytogenetic analysis revealed the presence of a chromosomal abberation, namely, the translocation of the major portion of chromosome 3 to the terminal region of chromosome 1. The area of the breakpoint on chromosome 3 contains the protooncogene, c-abl. It may be that this translocation subverts the normal expression of c-abl and this aberrant expression contributes to the unregulated growth of REL cells.


BACKGROUND
Residential care/assisted living (RC/AL) is a rapidly growing, long-term care setting, where medication use has not been carefully examined. We sought to determine the prevalence and predictors of nonprescribing of selected medications whose value in decreasing morbidity has been established in clinical trials.

METHODS
As part of a survey of a stratified random sample of 193 RC/AL facilities in Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, and North Carolina, data were gathered on 2014 residents 65 years and older. Patient characteristics and diagnoses were recorded based on medical record reviews and in-person patient assessments; all medications administered at least 4 of the previous 7 days were recorded. Data on facility characteristics were obtained by interviewing facility administrators. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify associations between medication nonprescribing and facility characteristics, physician visitation, and patient age, sex, race, comorbidity, functional dependency, and cognition.

RESULTS
Of 328 subjects with congestive heart failure, 204 (62.2%) were not receiving an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor; of 172 subjects with prior myocardial infarction, 60.5% were not receiving aspirin and 76.2% were not receiving beta-blockers; of 435 patients with history of stroke, 37.5% were not receiving an anticoagulant or antiplatelet agent; and of 315 patients with osteoporosis, 61.0% were not receiving calcium supplementation and 51.1% were not receiving any treatment for the condition. Resident age, race, sex, comorbidity, cognitive status, and dependency in activities of daily living were rarely associated with nonprescribing; in contrast, facility factors-particularly facility type and the frequency of physician visits-were somewhat more frequently associated with nonprescribing.

CONCLUSIONS
Undertreatment appears to be prevalent in RC/AL facilities. Since preserving independence is often a primary goal of care in these settings, more attention may need to be paid to the use of treatments that have been shown to reduce long-term morbidity.


The bleeding tendency in uraemia has been under investigation in recent years. It has been attributed to vascular fragility, thrombocytopenia and abnormalities in plasma coagulation factors. A qualitative platelet defect has also been suggested as being partly responsible for the haemostatic failure in uraemia. In this thesis an attempt has been made to define the defect in platelet function in uraemia, to assess the effect of haemodialysis on the defect and to demonstrate by in vitro tests the effect on the reactivity of platelets to adenosine diphosphate of certain substances known to be present in increased amounts in uraemic plasma. The discovery of platelets, their morphology and the role they play in haemostasis and thrombosis is described. An historical account is given of the progress of knowledge on the bleeding tendency in uraemia and the evolution of ideas on aetiology and methods used in these studies. An account is given on the materials and methods used to study some of the properties of platelets in normal controls and uraemic patients. These include a method for estimation of platelet aggregation by addition of calcium and calcium plus adenosine diphosphate (ADP) in an artificial circulation system (the Chandler tube technique), and by a turbidimetric method. Platelet aggregation with ADP and its reversal was studied by a turbidimetric system. The ability of platelets to adhere to glass surfaces was measured by a modified Hellem's glass bead column method. Platelet factor 3 availability was estimated by determining the 'Stypven' time of kaolin activated platelet-rich plasma (the method of Spaet and Cintron). A brief outline of the basis of each method and a discussion of some of the possible sources of error in the basic techniques are given with each method. Experiments on the effect of factors influencing the results of some of the tests were also described. The addition of ADP to platelet-rich plasma in the Chandler tube system resulted in significant shortening of the platelet aggregation time. When calcium and calcium plus ADP were added to platelet-rich plasma in turbidimetric system, a significant positive correlation was obtained between the platelet-rich plasma platelet count and the platelet aggregation time, duration of platelet aggregation and the fall in optical density occurring just before clot formation. A similar correlation was found with the clotting time and the platelet count. The addition of ADP as well as calcium significantly prolonged the duration of platelet aggregation occurring just before clot formation. When the results from normal controls and uraemic patients were compared, no difference was obtained in the mean aggregation time and clotting time, although uraemic patients had a significantly lower platelet count. However, the duration of platelet aggregation occurring before clot formation in the calcium plus ADP experiment v/as found to be prolonged in most of the uraemic patients examined. This may be a reflection of a qualitative platelet defect in uraemia resulting in inability of the platelets to release a normal amount of ADP in response to thrombin. ADP-induced platelet aggregation in normal control and uraemic patients was also investigated by the turbidimetric system. In normal controls a positive correlation was found between platelet disaggregation and the platelet count, but not between the count and platelet aggregation. However, when the results of experiments in which the platelet count was diluted with platelet-poor plasma were included, both aggregation and disaggregation were significantly correlated with the platelet count. A positive correlation also existed between platelet aggregation and disaggregation. Because of these correlations with the platelet count, the results from normal subjects and uraemic patients were grouped into four ranges of platelet count and the mean values compared. Platelet aggregation and disaggregation in uraemic patients were significantly lower than in normal controls. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.).


The objective of this report (MIF/GN-78-11) is to present the results of the evaluation of the initiative taken by the MIF to support Venture Capital Development in the region. The point of departure for this evaluation was to look at the international experience in SME/Venture Capital development and the benefits that this dynamic segment can bring to the economy as a whole. order to proceed with the evaluation, a special methodological framework was developed by OVE to capture the specific characteristics of MIF interventions. Also an initial estimate of its entire project portfolio was done, identifying the main thematic project groups for which common reference points could be established and meaningful lessons could be drawn. The evaluation was initiated in 2002, covering four groups of projects: (i) Financial Reform, (ii) Capital Markets; (iii) Microfinance; and (iv) Alternative Dispute Resolution. These four groups represented 134 projects from 16 countries with a total approved value US$159.75 millions of MIF resources.


This Chapter offers several arguments regarding geoengineering's relationship to mitigation and adaptation. First, compared to the terms moral hazard or risk compensation, weakened resolve better captures the concern regarding the possible adverse effect of geoengineering on mitigation and adaptation. Second, the inquiry into weakened resolve needs to be framed around who actually will determine mitigation and adaptation policy. Third, the current literature on weakened resolve would benefit from a broader geographical scope (to include major emitters such as China), the attitudes of elites as opposed to the general population, and the interaction between cultural and political polarization and weakened resolve. Fourth, because there is almost certainly some potential for weakened resolve even if we cannot ex ante establish how much, efforts should be made to mitigate any weakened resolve effect by framing geoengineering as a temporary, limited, risky response to climate change. Successfully maintaining that framing in public discourse may best be served by high-quality, peer-reviewed research regarding geoengineering technologies, with clear attention to their limits and risks. Restrictions on research at mainstream scientific venues itself may poses the risk that there will be a dearth of high-quality science to rebut efforts to rebut a framing of geoengineering as an easy, quick, low-risk solution to the problem of climate change.


We propose a method of approaching contemplative interaction through an understanding of affect and embodiment that is multi layered and multi-sited across the physical and the virtual. Such an assemblage may be found in so-called mixed reality artworks that we define as software-driven works that engage with a specific physical environment and explicitly mediate the boundary between physical and virtual space. Notions of contemplation have traditionally been associated with the viewing of static visual art rather than an engagement with interactive media, although a number of researchers and artists have recently articulated connections between these two ostensible opposites. We further develop an understanding of how contemplative interaction operates with mixed reality artworks. Through a critical analysis of several contemporary mixed reality artworks, we identify the nature and quality of the affect cycle in relation to a distributed and hybrid expression of embodiment and its role in contemplative interactive experiences. We also examine the role of reflection, engagement and meaning in this assemblage. Finally, we assert that a meaningful experience of contemplative interaction is constituted when an interactor engages in a collaborative feedback cycle of affect between themselves and the artwork.


&NA; In two experiments, attempts were made to improve visual acuity through reinforcement. In Experiment I, four myopic subjects were given five blocks of 24 trials in a conditioning task. The target stimuli were slides of Landolt rings, with 14 different sizes (increasing on a logarithmic scale) and 12 different stimuli representing each size. Trial blocks of contingent social approval for a correct response were alternated with noncontingent blocks in which approval was delivered randomly. Results permitted the inference that contingent approval resulted in increased acuity. In Experiment II, essentially the same task was used to compare the performance of three groups of subjects (each N=20): contingent reinforcement, noncontingent response, and no‐response control. Results showed a nonsignificant increase in acuity and a significant decrease in refractive error. Possible directions for further research are discussed, and ethical considerations are noted.


: Eight years after the onset of bronchial asthma a 28-year-old woman fell ill with abdominal pain, diarrhoea and rapidly increasing ascites. Increased numbers of eosinophils in the protein-rich ascitic fluid and histologically demonstrated eosinophilic infiltration of the intestinal mucosa, together with the history and symptoms, established the diagnosis of eosinophilic gastroenteritis. The disease proved self-limiting without specific treatment. Within four years of first manifestations there were two short recurrences with rapid regression without specific treatment.


We have developed an adjustable Interferometer combined to a Scanning Microwave Microscopy (ISMM) to characterize the impedance of thousands of nanocapacitors. The adjustable interferometer allows the choice of the interference frequency within ± 50 MHz as well as the choice of the impedance range where the interference occurs. Calibration is investigated using metal-insulating-semiconductor capacitances. The ISMM allows quantitative characterization of tiny capacitors with size reaching sub-10 nm and capacitance value around the aF with a limit of resolution of about 0.5 aF at 7.8 GHz. A water meniscus parasitic capacitance is introduced to explain the discrepancy between measured and theoretical values over the 5 to 100-nm nanodot diameter range. The ISMM allows also measuring tunnel junctions made with very thin Al2O3 dielectric layers.


Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a carcinoma arising from Merkel cells located in the basal layer of the epidermis. The skin of the head and neck is a common site for MCC, occurring generally in fair-skinned elderly patients. MCC is considered as the most lethal skin cancer. Radical surgical excision with pathological verification of complete removal of the tumour is the recommended treatment. Early MCC can be cured by surgery with or without postoperative radiation therapy, whereas advanced MCC is currently considered to be incurable. In the year 2008, a new polyoma virus was found in the tumour genome of the MCC tumours. MCPyV (Merkel cell polyoma virus) appears to be the first example of a human oncogenic polyoma virus. Specific mutations in the viral genome and its clonal integration to the tumour genome are strong evidence against MCPyV as being a passenger virus that secondarily infects MCC tumours. The purpose of this review article is to shed light on this rare skin cancer and introduce the latest advances in research on MCC.


Employing both the Dirac R-matrix and the relativistic distorted wave with independent process and isolated resonance approaches, we report resonance enhanced electron impact excitation data(specifically, effective collision strengths)among the lowest 41 levels from the n = 3 configurations of Cu XV. The results show that the latter approach can obtain resonance contributions reasonably well for most excitations of Cu XV, though a comparison between the two approaches shows that the close-coupling effects are truly significant for rather weak excitations, especially for two-electron excitations from the 3s3p4 to 3s23p23d configuration. Resonance contributions are significant(more than two orders of magnitude) for many excitations and dramatically influence the line intensity ratios associated with density diagnostics.


Interactions between the toxic and mixotrophic haptophyte Prymnesium parvum and the heterotrophic dinoflagellate Oxyrrhis marina were investigated in P-limited semi-continuous cultures and nutrient-replete batch culture experiments. When exposed to 100 × 10 3 cells ml -1 of P- limited P. parvum, starved O. marina initially ingested the algae, but ingestion was low (0.07 cells grazer -1 h -1 ) compared to the O. marina ingestion rate when the Cryptophyte Rhodomonas sp. was offered as food (2.75 cells grazer -1 h -1 ). Microscopic observations showed that low ingestion is due to toxic effects of P. parvum on the dinoflagellate. Cells of O. marina lost their normal cell shape and became rounded, hyaline and finally lysed. Rounded and partly lysed O. marina cells were rapidly attacked by several P. parvum cells, which formed larger aggregates around the remains of the O. marina cells. This was accompanied by phagotrophic ingestion of particulate material originating from disintegrating O. marina. Cell-free culture medium lysed O. marina cells, although to a lower degree compared to the effect of algal suspensions. O. marina mortality was not only reduced by diluting P. parvum, but also by increasing the dinoflagellate concentration. This clearly indicates that the toxin is removed from the system by its action, presumably by binding to the membrane. Under conditions where toxic effects were not apparent (nutrient-replete batch cultures, low cell concentra- tions, dim light), P. parvum, after an initial lag period, was rapidly ingested and sustained growth of O. marina at rates comparable to those estimated for Rhodomonas sp. Toxicity of P. parvum is thus a key factor in determining the interaction with protozoan grazers. If toxicity is low, P. parvum is a suit- able prey for O. marina. At high toxicity levels, however, O. marina is rapidly killed and ingested by P. parvum, thus reversing the normal direction of grazing interactions between protozoa and algae.


Abstract Hydrofluoric acid solution calorimetric measurements conducted at 50 °C on a series of Al-Si ordered Rb-K feldspars reveal that the enthalpies Rb-K mixing (Hex) for this series are positive, with maximum values skewed toward Rb-rich compositions. However, the magnitudes of Hex are greatly reduced relative to those for Na-K feldspars, as are the positive volumes of Rb-K mixing observed for this series. Both observations can be explained by the substitution of two ions that are relatively similar in size. The difficulty in synthesizing Rb-rich sanidine via Rb-exchange of K-sanidine, contrasted with the ability to synthesize rubicline from K-microcline by such exchange, together with a vanishingly small ΔV between ordered rubicline and disordered Rb-sanidine suggest that the volume of Rb-feldspar is close to the limit to which the feldspar structure can be expanded at 1 bar.


Background Sexting includes sending, receiving or forwarding sexually explicit material via mobile phone, and occurs in about a third of teenagers. Much of the available information on this relatively recent phenomenon comes from popular press. Given the legal and psychosocial consequences of sexting, it is important to understand why teenagers sext and the characteristics of young people involved in sexting. Methods We conducted a structured literature review. PubMed, PsycINFO and Embase were searched to February 2013, using 'sexting' as key term. We extracted data on; reasons for sexting, attitudes, and factors statistically associated with sexting. Results Seven studies were included; most were cross-sectional, all were quantitative and conducted in the United States. Six studies assessed correlates of sexting in teenagers/young adults and found the following statistical associations; older adolescent, dating, sexually active, sexual risk behaviours, substance use, lower parental educational, peers sexting, and greater texting frequency. Girls were more likely to be senders, boys more likely to be receivers and to have asked someone to sext. Sexually active respondents were more likely to be both senders and receivers. Two studies explored attitudes about sexting finding those who sent pictures were more likely to consider sexting acceptable, over one third of non-sexters reported positive attitudes towards sexting, and most of those who sent pictures were bothered by having been asked to sext. Expecting serious legal consequences for getting caught sexting did not reduce reported sexting. Conclusion Many young people don't perceive sexting negatively. Sexting may either be part of a cluster of risky sexual behaviours or in fact lead to sexual risk behaviour. Because of the cross-sectional nature of the studies, we were unable to determine causality. Additional research is needed to understand contexts in which sexting occurs, and motivations. Longitudinal designs are required to explore causality with sexual risk behaviour.


Most existing methods for conditional average treatment effect estimation are designed to estimate the effect of a single cause — only one variable can be intervened on at one time. However, many applications involve simultaneous intervention on multiple variables, which leads to multi-cause treatment effect problems. The multi-cause problem is challenging because one needs to overcome the confounding bias for a large number of treatment groups, each with a different cause combination. The combinatorial nature of the problem also leads to severe data scarcity — we only observe one factual outcome out of many potential outcomes. In this work, we propose Single-cause Perturbation (SCP), a novel two-step procedure to estimate the multi-cause treatment effect. SCP starts by augmenting the observational dataset with the estimated potential outcomes under single-cause interventions. It then performs covariate adjustment on the augmented dataset to obtain the estimator. SCP is agnostic to the exact choice of algorithm in either step. We show formally that the procedure is valid under standard assumptions in causal inference. We demonstrate the performance gain of SCP on extensive synthetic and semi-synthetic experiments.


Firefighting is a stressful occupation. The monitoring of psychophysiological measures in those professionals can be a way to prevent and early detect cardiac diseases and other stress-related problems. The current study aimed to assess morphological changes in the ECG signal induced by acute stress. A laboratory protocol was conducted among 6 firefighters, including a laboratory stress-inducer task - the Trier Social Stress Task (TSST) - and a 2-choice reaction time task (CRTT) that was performed before (CRTT1) and after (CRTT2) the stress condition. ECG signals were continuously acquired using the VitalJacket®, a wearable t-shirt that acts as a medical certified ECG monitor. Results showed that ECG morphological features such as QT and ST intervals are able to differentiate stressful from non stressful events in first responders. Group mean Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for stress assessment significantly increased after the stress task (TSST), relatively to the end of CRTT2 (after TSST: 4.67±1.63; after CRTT2: 3.17±0.75), a change that was accompanied by a significant increase in group mean QT and ST segments corrected for heart rate during TSST. These encouraging results will be followed by larger studies in order to explore those measures and its physiological impact under realistic environments in a higher scalability.


Rationale Pulmonary coagulopathy may play a pathogenetic role in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), by contributing to alveolocapillary inflammation and increased permeability. Recombinant human activated protein C (rh-APC) may inhibit this process and thereby improve patient outcome. Methods A prospective randomized, saline-controlled, single-blinded clinical trial was performed in the intensive care units of two university hospitals, and patients with ARDS were included within 24 h after meeting inclusion criteria. Intervention A 4-day course of intravenous rh-APC (24 mcg/kg/h) (n = 33) versus saline (n = 38). Outcomes The primary outcome parameter was the pulmonary leak index (PLI) of 67Gallium-transferrin as a measure of alveolocapillary permeability and secondary outcomes were disease severity scores and ventilator-free days, among others. Results Baseline characteristics were similar; in 87% of patients the PLI was above normal and in 90% mechanical or non-invasive ventilation was instituted at a median lung injury score of 2.5. There was no evidence that Rh-APC treatment affected the PLI or attenuated lung injury and sequential organ failure assessment scores. Mean ventilator-free days amounted to 14 (rh-APC) and 12 days (saline, P = 0.35). 28-day mortality was 6% in rh-APC- and 18% in saline-treated patients (P = 0.12). There was no difference in bleeding events. The study was prematurely discontinued because rh-APC was withdrawn from the market. Conclusion There is no evidence that treatment with intravenous rh-APC during 4 days for infectious or inflammatory ARDS ameliorates increased alveolocapillary permeability or the clinical course of ARDS patients. We cannot exclude underpowering. Trial Registration Nederlands Trial Register ISRCTN 52566874


A study on the morphological diversity of the genus Mugil of the lagoons Ebrie and Grand-Lahou was carried out in order to differentiate species of Mugilidae in Cote d'Ivoire. Univariate and multivariate analyses of 40 metric and 11 meristic characters identified 3 homogeneous groups. This phenotypic plasticity within the genus Mugil allowed differentiating the species Mugil curema, M. bananensis, and M. cephalus. Contrary to the overlap presented by the metric parameters, meristic characters, in this case the number of branchiospines on the superior and inferior parts and the number of microbranchiospines on the first branchial arch, were very clearly discriminating for each species. The number of branchiospines on the superior part varies from 27 to 44, from 19 to 39, and from 43 to 58, respectively, for Mugil curema, M. bananensis, and M. cephalus. On the inferior part of that arch, M. curema (57 to 70) and M. bananensis (34 to 45) were separated without overlap. M. bananensis and M. cephalus (62 to 89) were also separated without overlap. Similarly, the number of microbranchiospines on the first arch differs in each of these species. It varies between 103 and 123 for Mugil curema, between 65 and 84 for M. bananensis, and between 123 and 165 for M. cephalus.


ABSTRACT Hepatitis B virus (HBV) includes an X gene (HBx gene) that plays a critical role in liver carcinogenesis. Because centrosome abnormalities are associated with genomic instability in most human cancer cells, we examined the effect of HBx on centrosomes. We found that HBx induced supernumerary centrosomes and multipolar spindles. This effect was independent of mutations in the p21 gene. Furthermore, the ability of HBV to induce supernumerary centrosomes was dependent on the presence of physiological HBx expression. We recently showed that HBx induces cytoplasmic sequestration of Crm1, a nuclear export receptor that binds to Ran GTPase, thereby inducing nuclear localization of NF-κB. Consistently, supernumerary centrosomes were observed in cells treated with a Crm1-specific inhibitor but not with an HBx mutant that lacked the ability to sequester Crm1 in the cytoplasm. Moreover, a fraction of Crm1 was found to be localized at the centrosomes. Immunocytochemical and ultrastructural examination of these supernumerary centrosomes revealed that inactivation of Crm1 was associated with abnormal centrioles. The presence of more than two centrosomes led to an increased frequency of defective mitoses and chromosome transmission errors. Based on this evidence, we suggest that Crm1 is actively involved in maintaining centrosome integrity and that HBx disrupts this process by inactivating Crm1 and thus contributes to HBV-mediated carcinogenesis.


In a cooperative intelligent transportation system (C-ITS), sensor-assisted vehicles share the collected data with each other through vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications. This enables high-level applications such as safetyrelated service and provides a high-quality driving experience. However, the increasing number of intelligent vehicles leads to serious aggregated interference and congested communications. This increases the transmission latency and degrades the quality of service (QoS). To provide low-latency and reliable communications, non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) is recently advocated for V2X communications. By allowing multiple terminals to share the same time and frequency channel resources, NOMA improves the spectral efficiency and reduce the transmission latency, especially for a high-dense network. However, the overlapping of signals from multiple users introduces new challenges to the receiver design. This thesis exploits NOMA operating in two basic V2X communication scenarios: information exchange in a two-way relay channel (TWRC) and message broadcasting. Two non-orthogonal technologies are investigated: physical-layer network coding (PNC) and multiuser detection (MUD). The major difference between PNC and MUD is the decoding objectives. PNC aims to decode the network-coded messages while MUD is to recover individual messages. First, we study a TWRC operating with orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) modulated PNC and propose an inter-carrier interference iii (ICI) aware approach that jointly achieves accurate channel estimation, signal detection, and channel decoding. In highly-mobile networks, the carrier frequency offsets (CFOs) due to high-speed motion will lead to ICI in OFDM systems. Moreover, the vehicular environment with time-frequency-selective channels further undermines accurate channel estimation for multiple users. It is also worth noting that the CFO that exists in OFDM-modulated PNC cannot be completely eliminated through CFO tracking and equalization as in conventional point-to-point transmissions. These critical issues can significantly increase the bit error rate (BER) at the receiver. To address these challenges, we first express the channel estimation, and detection and decoding as two optimization problems. Then the expectation maximization (EM) and the belief propagation (BP) algorithms are employed to resolve the two optimization problems, respectively. Simulation results verify that the proposed approach can efficiently mitigate the negative effect of ICI by exploiting both pilot and data tones in channel estimation, detection, and decoding. The proposed ICI-aware approach is further implemented with softwaredefined radio (SDR). Experiment along a road-side environment was conducted on the campus. The V2X trial involved two types of nodes: terminals, which can be either vehicle or pedestrian, that aim to exchange self-information with each other, and a relay that is played by a road side unit (RSU). Each node was equipped with a universal software radio peripheral (USRP) platform for data transmission. The empirical results further verified that the proposed ICI-aware approach provides low BER and low latency compared with the conventional algorithm. Besides, the proposed scheme can decode both networkcoded and individual messages. An interesting finding is that when the receiver fails to decode the network-coded messages, it is of strong possibility to recover the individual messages. This provides insights into our work on the MUD. Broadcasting is very common in V2X communications. For instance, it iv involves basic safety messages (BSMs) for safety applications and multimedia content for entertainment services. In urban areas, dense buildings obstruct the radio channel between vehicles in different road segments and non-line-ofsight (NLOS) propagation lowers the received power level. Therefore, messages that originate from adjacent roads (traveling in non-parallel directions) usually have weaker signals as compared with messages generated from vehicles on the opposite road segment (traveling in parallel directions). Besides, the high vehicular density leads to insufficient orthogonal channel resource and high interference. In this thesis, we propose to apply NOMA for V2X communications at the road intersection to enhance the spectrum efficiency and improve the package delivery ratio (PDR) performance. With NOMA, signals from more than one transmitters are decoded together and the interference from undesired users can be canceled once its message is obtained. This thesis studies two NOMA-based V2X communication schemes, namely, NOMA-V2X decoded by successive interference cancellation (SIC-V2X) and NOMA-V2X decoded by joint decoding (JD-V2X). Based on the tools developed in stochastic geometry, we derive and compare the PDR expressions for both NOMA schemes and the orthogonal multiple access (OMA) scheme. The results indicate that 1) both NOMA schemes outperform the conventional OMA scheme and the PDR of LOS/NLOS communications with two-user access increases by 51%/369%; 2) for four-user access, the proposed NOMA scheme shows 375% goodput enhancement as compared with the OMA scheme; and 3) the JD-V2X provides significant PDR enhancement compared with SIC-V2X in the high data rate regime. Besides the tractable network model to analyze C-V2X broadcast performance operated with NOMA, the feasibility of applying NOMA to C-V2X communications is studied. Focusing on the PC5 sidelink interface that is enabled in the 3GPP Release 14 for direct communications, we discuss the imv plementation of NOMA in the radio interface and propose two NOMA receivers based on SIC and JD techniques. Compared with the conventional C-V2X receiver operated with OMA, modifications are needed at the channel estimator, equalizer, and demodulator, as well as the inclusion of an interference canceler so that multiple users can be decoded from the overlapping signals. Besides, the proposed NOMA receivers support both single-antenna and multi-antenna systems, and the impact of the number of receiving antennas on the block error rate (BLER) is studied. Overall, this thesis investigates non-orthogonal V2X communications. The research combines the concepts of NOMA and network coding to address the basic issues and new challenges from the increasingly high-dense vehicular networks. The algorithms proposed in this thesis are expected to provide insights into the development of ultra-reliable and low-latency V2X communications in future smart cities.


Authority and Power in Social Interaction explores methods of analyzing authority and power in the minutiae of interaction. Drawing on the expertise of a diverse international team of organizational communication and language and social interaction scholars, this book suggests reverting the perspective that notions of authority and power constrain human activity, to determine how people (re)create them through conversation and other joint action.

Confronting several perspectives within each chapter, the book offers a broad range of approaches to each theme: how and when to bring "context" into the analysis, formal authority, institutions, bodies and materiality, immateriality, and third parties. A core belief of this volume is that authority and power are not looming over human activity; rather, we weave together the constraints that we mutually impose on each other. Observing the details of how this joint process takes place may at once better account for how authority and power emerge and impact our actions, and provide guidelines on how to resist them.

This book will be an important reference for students and scholars in language and social interaction, organizational communication, as well as those interested in an alternative take on issues of authority and power. It will also find resonance among those interested in managements studies, public administration and other disciplines interested in situations where authority is a crucial issue.


Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) is an autosomal dominant inherited syndrome characterized by multiple adenomatous polyps (predisposing to colorectal cancer development) and numerous extracolonic manifestations. The underlying genetic burden generates variable clinical features that may influence operative management. As a precancerous hereditary condition, the rationale of performing a prophylactic surgery is a mainstay of FAP management. The purpose of the present paper is to bring up many controversial aspects regarding surgical treatment for FAP, and to discuss the results and perspectives of the operative choices and approaches. Preferably, the decision-making process should not be limited to the conventional confrontation of pros and cons of ileorectal anastomosis or restorative proctocolectomy. A wide discussion with the patient may evaluate issues such as age, genotype, family history, sphincter function, the presence or risk of desmoid disease, potential complications of each procedure and chances of postoperative surveillance. Therefore, the definition of the best moment and the choice of appropriate procedure constitute an individual decision that must take into consideration patient's preferences and full information about the complex nature of the disease. All these facts reinforce the idea that FAP patients should be managed by experienced surgeons working in specialized centers to achieve the best immediate and long-term results.


We compared the herbage standing crop on 31 farms along a rainfall gradient in Namibia (southwestern Africa) in 1997 with the results attained for the same gradient by Walter (1939). We found that the slope for the regression of herbage yield on mean annual rainfall in 1997 was 5.93, i.e. 5.93 kg herbage was produced per hectare for every 1 mm increase in rainfall along the gradient. This regression slope is considerably lower than that in Walter's (1939) study (slope = 10.34). Thus, current grassland productivity per unit of rainfall in Namibia is about half that of 50 years ago. There is no evidence of a change in annual rainfall over this period, nor is there any evidence that either short-term (current) or longer-term (11 years) stocking densities affect current herbage yield. We conclude that, while desertification has taken place, grazing over the last decade has not been the cause of this reduced productivity. DOI:10.2458/azu_jrm_v53i2_ward


A recent publication by Richard Freeman, Hristos Doucouligos and Patrice Laroche summarizes the available economic evidence on the effects of trade unions by using a meta-analysis. The latter allows presenting a median of all the estimated effects of trade unions (minimum wages) across the wide range of studies. The method also allows observing how these estimates are driven by factors such as the different research methods used, the different periods or countries that are covered by the studies or by differences in institutional settings such as (de)regulated labour market regimes. This TUAC paper describes the key conclusions from this meta-analysis and concludes with some comments.


This paper presents a multi-nodal intertemporal Cournot gaming model with transmission constraints and uses it to simulate energy-only and capacity-energy market designs in the presence of uncertainties stemming from intermittent renewable power generation. Both market paradigms are compared to a competitive benchmark in order to determine which one performs better in a concentrated market with significant penetration of wind and solar generation. As a specific example, the model is applied to the South Australian zone of the Australian National Electricity Market (NEM). The simulation results for the time interval 2013-2030 show that the capacity-energy market has the potential to induce significant new capacity and push prices much closer to the competitive level in contrast to the current energy-only market design.


While transitional justice processes call upon individuals and societies to recall and remember, memory practices – and more specifically the frequent politicisation of memory in transitional societies – can undermine transitional justice goals, including peace and reconciliation. This interdisciplinary article seeks to re-think the relationship between transitional justice and memory. It does so by introducing the concept of ecological memory, a supra-political form of memory centred on complex ecosystem responses to disturbance events and the development of resilience to future shocks and stressors. Transposing the concept of ecological memory to the novel context of transitional justice can ultimately foster a new alignment between memory and transitional justice that is more conducive to the realisation of the latter's core goals. Drawing on empirical data, the article seeks to demonstrate that transitional justice processes can contribute to fostering ecological memory by giving attention to the ecological legacies of war crimes and human rights violations.


Jump frequencies of Cd tracer atoms were measured in three phases having the orthorhombic Al11R3 structure, with R= La, Ce, or Pr. The structure has four inequivalent Al-sites and two inequivalent R-sites. 111In/Cd tracer atoms were observed to occupy several sites via the nuclear quadrupole interaction using perturbed angular correlation of gamma rays (PAC). Time-domain PAC spectra became damped as the temperature increased, which is attributed to nuclear relaxation caused by diffusional jumps of Cd tracer atoms leading to changes in orientations and/or magnitudes of electric field gradients (EFG's). Maximum relaxations were observed near 770 K. A method is proposed for estimating the mean jump frequency at that temperature, giving a mean jump frequency w averaged over all sites of about 100 MHz. At still higher temperatures, damping decreased due to motional averaging, and the quadrupole perturbations evolved into unique signals having lower frequencies and corresponding in each phase to the averages of EFG tensors of all sites visited by the Cd tracer atoms. For Al11La3, the jump frequency at 1073 K was estimated to be 1.9 GHz. Such jump frequencies imply unusually high diffusivities in these phases.


Enhancing economic performance of micro and small enterprise through micro financial service in Ethiopia has the problem of fiance or credit. And others like marketing this , happen> because of less effort made by international non governmental, micro finical institutions and the government bodies and policy makers to help clients to be come self sufficient. The objective of this study is to identify the basic causes of law income generating activities and it's impact to ever come development problem of the country. The study was conducted through interviewing the concerned bodies of governmental organizations, micro finical institutions and International nongovernmental organizations. Also questionnaires were being distributed to clients thus analysis of the data was make by descriptive analysis more over this paper has an objective of providing base line information for those governmental bodies and all other users and others who need it for further resource.


The empirical results of this study reveal the following interesting characteristics of the Romanian banking sector over the December 1993 through August 2017 period. First, the spread between the lending-Central Bank's discount rates was stable and adjusted to its long-run threshold asymmetrically. Second, lending institutions respond faster to contractionary than expansionary countercyclical monetary policy actions. This empirical finding suggests that Romanian commercial banks exhibit predatory rate setting behavior, which is consistent with those of their counterparts in advanced and emerging economies. Third, lending institutions respond to countercyclical monetary policy and the Romanian Central Bank authority effectively utilizes monetary policy to manage the economy as evidenced by the short-run dynamic and long-run Granger-causality from the discount rate to the banks' lending rate. With respect to the time lags of the Romanian monetary policy found within the banking sector, the empirical results suggest that it takes almost two years for the lending rate to adjust to a monetary policy action completely.


This is an experimental and theoretical study of a laminar separation bubble and the associated linear stability mechanisms. Experiments were performed over a flat plate kept in a wind tunnel, with an imposed pressure gradient typical of an aerofoil that would involve a laminar separation bubble. The separation bubble was characterized by measurement of surface-pressure distribution and streamwise velocity using hot-wire anemometry. Single component hot-wire anemometry was also used for a detailed study of the transition dynamics. It was found that the so-called dead-air region in the front portion of the bubble corresponded to a region of small disturbance amplitudes, with the amplitude reaching a maximum value close to the reattachment point. An exponential growth rate of the disturbance was seen in the region upstream of the mean maximum height of the bubble, and this was indicative of a linear instability mechanism at work. An infinitesimal disturbance was impulsively introduced into the boundary layer upstream of separation location, and the wave packet was tracked (in an ensemble-averaged sense) while it was getting advected downstream. The disturbance was found to be convective in nature. Linear stability analyses (both the Orr–Sommerfeld and Rayleigh calculations) were performed for mean velocity profiles, starting from an attached adverse-pressure-gradient boundary layer all the way up to the front portion of the separation-bubble region (i.e. up to the end of the dead-air region in which linear evolution of the disturbance could be expected). The conclusion from the present work is that the primary instability mechanism in a separation bubble is inflectional in nature, and its origin can be traced back to upstream of the separation location. In other words, the inviscid inflectional instability of the separated shear layer should be logically seen as an extension of the instability of the upstream attached adverse-pressure-gradient boundary layer. This modifies the traditional view that pegs the origin of the instability in a separation bubble to the detached shear layer outside the bubble, with its associated Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism. We contend that only when the separated shear layer has moved considerably away from the wall (and this happens near the maximum-height location of the mean bubble), a description by the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability paradigm, with its associated scaling principles, could become relevant. We also propose a new scaling for the most amplified frequency for a wall-bounded shear layer in terms of the inflection-point height and the vorticity thickness and show it to be universal.


Muon Spin Rotation, Relaxation and Resonance ({\mu}SR) technology has an irreplaceable role in studying the microstructure and properties of materials, especially micro-magnetic properties. An experimental muon source is being built in China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS) now. At the same time, a 128-channel {\mu}SR spectrometer as China's first {\mu}SR spectrometer is being developed. The time spectrum of {\mu}SR can be obtained by fitting the curve of positron count rate with time. This paper presents a 32-channel Time-to-Digital Converter (TDC) implemented in a Xilinx Virtex-6 Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) for measuring the positron's flight time of {\mu}SR Spectrometer. Signal of each channel is sampled by 16 equidistant shifted-phase 200 MHz sampling clocks, so the TDC bin size is 312.5ps. The measuring range is up to 327us. This TDC has the ability to store multiple hit signals in a short time with a deep hit-buffer up to 512. Time tag is added to each data to record the moment when the data was detected. Programmable time window and channel shielding give the flexibility to choose the time range and channels of interest. The delay of each channel can be calibrated. The data is transmitted to data acquisition system (DAQ) through Gigabit Ethernet. TDC and control logic are configured in real time by DAQ. The results of test show that the Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) precision of single channel is better than 273 ps with a low sensitivity to temperature and the linearity is pretty well.


The VideoCLEF track, introduced in 2008, aims to develop and evaluate tasks related to analysis of and access to multilingual multimedia content. In its first year, VideoCLEF piloted the Vid2RSS task, whose main subtask was the classification of dual language video (Dutch-language television content featuring English-speaking experts and studio guests). The task offered two additional discretionary subtasks: feed translation and automatic keyframe extraction. Task participants were supplied with Dutch archival metadata, Dutch speech transcripts, English speech transcripts and 10 thematic category labels, which they were required to assign to the test set videos. The videos were grouped by class label into topic-based RSS-feeds, displaying title, description and keyframe for each video. Five groups participated in the 2008 VideoCLEF track. Participants were required to collect their own training data; both Wikipedia and general web content were used. Groups deployed various classifiers (SVM, Naive Bayes and k-NN) or treated the problem as an information retrieval task. Both the Dutch speech transcripts and the archival metadata performed well as sources of indexing features, but no group succeeded in exploiting combinations of feature sources to significantly enhance performance. A small scale fluency/adequacy evaluation of the translation task output revealed the translation to be of sufficient quality to make it valuable to a non-Dutch speaking English speaker. For keyframe extraction, the strategy chosen was to select the keyframe from the shot with the most representative speech transcript content. The automatically selected shots were shown, with a small user study, to be competitive with manually selected shots. Future years of VideoCLEF will aim to expand the corpus and the class label list, as well as to extend the track to additional tasks.


This project report presents design, simulation and development of passive shunt filter and shunt hybrid power filter (SHPF) for mitigation of the power quality problem at ac mains in ac-dc power supply feeding to a nonlinear load. The power filter is consisting of a shunt passive filter connected in series with an active power filter. At first passive filter has been designed to compensate harmonics. The drawback associated with the passive filter like fixed compensation characteristics and resonance problem is tried to solve by SHPF. Simulations for a typical distribution system with a shunt hybrid power filter have been carried out to validate the presented analysis. Harmonic contents of the source current has been calculated and compared for the different cases to demonstrate the influence of harmonic extraction circuit on the harmonic compensation characteristic of the shunt hybrid power filter.


Acinic cell adenocarcinoma is a malignant salivary gland neoplasm with a relatively low rate of lymphangitic spread to regional lymph nodes. Distant metastases are rare and their occurrence typically indicates an unfavorable outcome. We encountered an unusual example of acinic cell adenocarcinoma that initially presented in the lung, whereas the primary parotid carcinoma, despite extensive clinical evaluation, only became apparent 1 year after initial diagnosis. The histologic, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural features of the tumor in the parotid gland and lung were similar. The tumor displayed an aggressive behavior resulting in death within 2 years of the initial presentation. This presentation is unique, showing that peripheral lung tumors of salivary gland type are likely to be metastatic, and careful clinical evaluation is warranted in establishing their primary site of origin.


Expansion of oxygen deficient waters (hypoxia) in the northeast Pacific Ocean (NEP) will have marked impacts on marine life. The response of the resident communities will be a function of their ecophysiological constraints in low oxygen, although this remains untested in the NEP due to a lack of integrative studies. Here, we combine in situ surveys and lab‐based respirometry experiments were conducted on three indicator species (spot prawn Pandalus platyceros, slender sole Lyopsetta exilis, squat lobster Munida quadrispina) of seasonally hypoxic systems in the NEP to test if metabolic constraints determine distributions and energy sequestration in a hypoxic setting. These experiments were integrated with a global review of critical oxygen levels ( O2crit ; lower threshold of aerobic metabolism) for crustaceans to determine if O2crit ‐based hypoxia thresholds are different among ocean basins. Our results show that species‐specific differences in O2crit and standard metabolic rates (1) determine the lowest environmental oxygen ([O2]env) at which in situ populations occur, (2) result in disproportionate shifts in distributions among co‐occurring species during summer hypoxia expansion events, and (3) characterize shifts in megafaunal community respiration rates due to marked spatio‐temporal variability in [O2]env. Our results show that O2crit ‐based hypoxia thresholds are significantly lower in the East Pacific Ocean relative to other major ocean basins, which suggests that the physiological response of local fauna to deoxygenation can be determined by the natural variability and oxygen exposure in a region. In order to establish realistic predictions on the biological consequences of marine deoxygenation, we suggest integrating metabolism‐based traits to calculate hypoxia thresholds for marine ecosystems.


Colorectal cancer (CRC), a leading cause of cancer deaths, is characterised by two early molecular events: the expression of cyclo-oxygenease-2 (COX-2) and aberrant Wnt signalling. Culinary spices and their constituent polyphenols have been shown to inhibit both COX-2 expression and cancer cell growth in vitro. However, there is relatively little data on the effect of culinary spices on CRC cells. Thus, the aim of this study was two-fold: to investigate the impact of a selection of commonly used culinary spices (cinnamon, clove, ginger, nutmeg and turmeric) on the growth of CRC cell lines HCT116 (a COX-2 negative cell line) and HT29 (a COX-2 positive cell line); and to identify whether the measured inhibition is underpinned by their effect on s-catenin (a central signal transducer of the Wnt pathway and a marker of uncontrolled proliferation) and/or COX-2. Growth . inhibition studies indicated that all the spices tested were able to inhibit CRC cell proliferation in vitro and that their potency was influenced by the extraction solvent used and the cell line; the 50% inhibitory concentration (ICso) ranged from 3.5 gallic acid equivalents (GAE) Ilg/ml (clove) to 18.4 GAE Ilg/ml (cinnamon). Analysis of the data indicated that the amount of actual ground spice needed to achieve the ICso, for aqueous extracts only, did not exceed the amounts used in the preparation of food. Immunoblot analysis indicated that the spice extracts (SEs) did not have an effect on Wnt signalling via s-catenin and their impact on COX-2 could not be determined. In conclusion, this study shows that whole spice extracts inhibited the growth of colorectal cancer cells in vitro at quantities that can be achieved in the diet, and can thus be considered as promising dietary chern 0- preventative agents. However, further experiments are required for the elucidation of their mode of action. Interactions that occur between the constituent polyphenols of these spices may provide further insight into their chemo-preventative properties and also the chemo-therapeutic potential of their constituents.


Smart Grid facilitates real-time communication network between the user and the grid company by smart terminals, which utilizes bidirectional data transmission and information control. In Smart Grid, the smart meters play important role by measuring the amount of electricity consumption and sending various information to the power generators and substations. The communication of such information raises privacy concerns from the users about their private information leakage. Therefore, Confidentiality and integrity of smart meter readings are important as altering such data can lead to incorrect billing and false energy usage approximations. In order to insure the security of communication in Smart Grid, we propose the use of ID-based signcryption scheme using bilinear pairing and time factor. It satisfies the requirements for secure communication. It is also efficient, which makes it suitable for low power, low storage sensors in home appliances devices.


Transient errors caused by terrestrial radiation pose a major barrier to robust system design. A system's susceptibility to such errors increases in advanced technologies, making the incorporation of effective protection mechanisms into chip designs essential. A new design paradigm reuses design-for-testability and debug resources to eliminate such errors.


Significance Equidistant layering of materials is central to the outstanding performance of biological minerals, such as nacre and bone, and offers exciting opportunities for classes of artificial materials with advanced functionalities. We demonstrate the self-organization of highly regular band patterns by embedding reaction–diffusion processes in mechanically responsive hydrogels. The mechanical deformation of the gel automatically regulates the local reactions conditions such that the reaction–diffusion process spontaneously generates equidistantly spaced layers. The simplicity, tunability, and generality of our self-organization strategy open exciting opportunities for exploiting reaction–diffusion processes toward fabricating components with advanced optical, mechanical, and thermal functionalities. Moreover, the here-introduced mechano-regulated chemical transport mechanism can impact our ability to understand and control pattern formation in complex and living matter.


Knowledge of the physiological stress mechanisms triggered by corn rootworm larval feeding damage may suggest new ways of maintaining maize (Zea mays L.) productivity in plants damaged by this important insect pest. Western corn rootworm [Diabrotica virgifera virgifera (LeConte)] larval feeding damage to maize root systems causes complex changes in leaf CO 2 assimilation. The objective of our study was to further explore the relationships between plant morphology and CO 2 assimilation in rootworm-damaged maize. The effects of moderate or severe root damage caused by larval feeding or by mechanical damage on root system morphology, shoot dry weight, leaf area, stomatal conductance, and CO 2 assimilation were investigated in greenhouse experiments. Rootworm larval feeding, which removed about 75% of the total root system volume, or mechanical cutting treatments imposed at the V12 leaf stage, which removed about 30% of the total root system volume, had no effect upon leaf CO 2 assimilation but significantly reduced stomatal conductance when measured at the tassel development stage. During the time when larvae were damaging root systems or when specific root node axes were mechanically cut, however, leaf CO 2 assimilation was less in root-damaged plants than in undamaged plants. Larval-damaged root systems had accelerated adventitious root axis growth and development in the nodes located immediately above the damaged nodes. This compensatory root growth was more pronounced under the moderate root feeding damage treatments than in the severe root damage treatments. Total leaf area and shoot CO 2 assimilation were less in plants with severe larval feeding damage than in plants with moderate damage or in control plants. Thus, the severity of root damage plus the level of root compensatory growth play important roles in mediating shoot growth and CO 2 assimilation responses to stress imposed by rootworm larval feeding.


: Symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis were assessed clinically, roentgenologically and using laboratory tests in 34 new cases of tuberculosis with diabetes mellitus (DM) compensated in different degree. A correlation was found between the degree of DM compensation and severity of the specific process. Patients with a higher level of glycosylated hemoglobin had more serious intoxication, more advanced process, were prone to destruction, more resistant to treatment, discharged bacteria more frequently. Pulmonary tuberculosis in the presence of DM runs more unfavorably in less compensated patients.


This paper proposes an empirical framework to study the effects of a policy regime change defined as an unpredictable and permanent change in the policy parameters. In particular I show how to make conditional forecast and perform impulse response functions and counterfactual analysis. As an application, the effects of changes in fiscal policy rules in the US are investigated. I find that discretionary fiscal policy has become more countercyclical over the last decades. In absence of such a change, surplus would have been higher, debt lower and output gap more volatile but only until mid 80s. An increase in the degree of counter-cyclicality of fiscal policy has a positive effect on output gap in periods where the level of debt-to-GDP ratio is low and a zero or negative effect when the ratio is high. This explains why a more countercylical stance of the systematic fiscal policy taking place in 2008:II is predicted to be rather ineffective for recovering from the crisis. JEL classification: C32, E62.


Educating parents about normal, age-appropriate behavior in their children, teaching them basic behavioral techniques (such as the time-out and positive-reward systems) and giving them specific suggestions for intervention can increase parental confidence and decrease anxiety. Anticipating problems before they develop can help parents prevent inappropriate behavior patterns from developing in their children and may decrease abusive behavior.


The tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) movement protein (MP) facilitates transport of virus infection between adjacent cells by modifying plasmodesmata. Previous studies suggested that the cytoskeleton and the endomembrane system are involved in this transport. We examined the effects of TMV infection on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in transgenic Nicotiana benthamiana that accumulate the green fluorescent protein (GFP) in the ER. Fluorescence microscopy was used to show that early in infection the ER undergoes dramatic morphological changes that include the conversion of tubular ER into large aggregates that revert to tubular ER in later stages of infection. These changes parallel MP accumulation and degradation. Furthermore, a fusion protein comprising MP fused to GFP accumulates in or on these large aggregates of ER. Expression of MP-GFP in the absence of virus infection led to the production of fluorescent aggregates of the same apparent form and size. Microsomes isolated from infected leaves contain MP. We show that the MP appears to behave as an integral ER membrane protein and is exposed on the cytosolic face of the ER. The importance of the association of MP with ER and its possible role in intracellular and intercellular spread of infection is discussed.


The crack closure phenomenon is important to study as it estimates the fatigue life of the components. It becomes even more complex under low cycle fatigue (LCF) since under LCF high amount of plasticity is induced within the material near notches or defects. As a result, the assumptions used by the linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) approach become invalid. However, several experimental techniques are reported on the topic, the utilization of numerical tools can provide substantial cost and time-saving. In this study, the authors present a finite element simulation technique to evaluate the opening stress levels for two structural steels (25CrMo4 and 30NiCrMoV12) under low cycle fatigue conditions. The LCF experimental results were used to obtain kinematic hardening parameters through the Chaboche model. The finite element analysis (FEA) model was designed and validated, following the fatigue crack propagation simulation under high plasticity conditions using ABAQUS. Crack opening displacement vs. stress data was exported from ABAQUS, and 1.5% offset method was employed to define opening stress levels. Numerical simulation results were compared with the experimental results obtained earlier through the digital image correlation (DIC) technique. To conclude, FEA could be a valuable tool to predict crack closure phenomena and, ultimately, the fatigue life of components. However, analysis of opening stresses using crystal plasticity models or extended finite element method (XFEM) tools should be explored for a better approximation in future studies.


In the recent past, trade in services has emerged as one of the most contentious areas of the multilateral trade negotiations. In line with the "built-in" agenda of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), a new round of services negotiations, termed "GATS 2000", was launched in January 2000, which were subsequently subsumed by the Doha Development Agenda in November 2001. India, from being a leading opponent of the GATS during the Uruguay Round, has now emerged as one of the forerunners of the services trade liberalization under the GATS. Given this backdrop, this article tracks the evolution of the GATS 2000 negotiations and puts forward a concise overview of the state of play, with a special reference to India.


Summary A longitudinal study of twenty-six breast-feeding and twelve non-breast-feeding postpartum women was conducted in Assiut, Egypt in order to determine the time that ovulation resumed after childbirth, and the effect of breast-feeding frequency on the period of lactational anovulation. Breastfeeding women experienced the onset of follicular development, vaginal bleeding, ovulation and pregnancy significantly later than women who did not breast-feed. Ovulatory and non-ovulatory breast-feeders reported similar frequencies of breast-feeding episodes. The introduction of dietary supplements commonly preceded ovulation. An algorithm using three simple variables observable to the breast-feeding mother was found to predict up to 100% of the first ovulations. All breast-feeding women who did not give supplements and did not have a vaginal bleeding episode by 6 months postpartum were anovular by strict criteria for ovulation. Ovulation did not precede bleeding or supplementation in the women who experienced these events before 6 months, yielding a highly effective formula for preventing unplanned pregnancy by the informed use of breast-feeding.


The expressed purpose of this atlas of pulse tracings and phonocardiograms is "familiarizing those who are not well acquainted with these valuable adjuncts to the physical, and it provides a set of tracings of didactic value for those involved in teaching or learning the physical signs of heart disease." The author is successful in attaining this goal. It is not exhaustive nor thorough and will serve best as a supplement to more wordy but frequently less well-illustrated texts on the same material. One hundred and twenty reproductions of actual three-channel tracings are provided, displaying simultaneously recorded phonocardiograms, pulse pressure contours, and electrocardiograms in various combinations. The tracings themselves are of uniformly good quality, and one particularly refreshing attribute is that they are not retouched or stylized multicolored diagrams. They are authentic representatives of what one can record at the bedside or in the catheterization laboratory. The illustrations are labeled clearly


The American Burying Beetle (ABB), Nicrophorus americanus , is a red-listed endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) . We serendipitously recorded 3 individuals of this species during a forensic study in the summer of 2013. These specimens represent the first known records for Clark County, AR and the southeastern-most record in the State since the extirpation of the species from the region in the late 1800's. Two males and one female were collected, photographed, sexed and measured. One male specimen was deceased upon discovery. The remaining two individuals were released. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) was notified of the accidental catch and death of an endangered species as required and the specimen was awarded to Ouachita Baptist University for further study. The deceased specimen was used for DNA barcode sequence analysis. A 400bp section of the cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene was amplified using gene specific primers and then sequenced using Sanger sequencing methods. Sequence analysis revealed the collected beetle to be 98.5% identical to the ABB voucher sequence and was 86% similar to other Nicrophorus species. Taken together the DNA sequence analysis results and taxonomic identification both support the identification of our specimen.


Polyurethanes have been investigated for use as vascular grafts due to their excellent mechanical properties and relatively good biocompatibility. However, poor retention of endothelial cells and thrombogenicity in vivo remain problematic for vascular graft applications. The peptide YIGSR has been shown to increase endothelial cell adhesion but not attachment of platelets, suggesting its possible utility for vascular graft applications. In this study, a bioactive polyurethaneurea has been synthesized by incorporating GGGYIGSRGGGK peptide sequences into the polymer backbone. Successful incorporation of the peptides was confirmed by NMR, contact angle measurement and ESCA. Uniform distribution of peptides on the surface was observed using a fluorescent probe capable of reacting with tyrosine residues on the peptides. Hard segment domains were visualized using tapping mode AFM. Endothelial cell adhesion, spreading, proliferation, migration and extra-cellular matrix production were improved on bioactive polyurethaneurea compared to control polyurethaneurea. Competitive inhibition of endothelial cell attachment and spreading by soluble YIGSR peptides indicated that cell adhesion and spreading were specifically mediated by YIGSR-sensitive cell adhesion receptor, not just by changed surface properties. There was no significant difference in the number of adherent platelets. Therefore, this bioactive polyurethanurea may improve vascular graft endothelialization without increasing thrombogenicity.


Tailored scaling allows the effectiveness of physical effects and mechanical stability to be enhanced. This is shown for micromachined 1.55μm vertical-resonator-based filters and VCSELs, capable of wide, continuous, and kink-free tuning by a single control parameter. Tuning is achieved by mechanically actuating one or several membranes in a vertical air-gap resonator including two highly reflective DBR mirrors. Electrostatically actuatable single-chip filters including InP/air-gap DBR's (3.5 periods) reveal a continuous tuning up to 14% of the absolute wavelength. Varying a reverse voltage (U=0 .. -3.2V) between the membranes (almost flat in the unactuated condition) a tuning range up to 142nm was obtained. Varying a reverse voltage (U=0 .. -28V) between the membranes (strained and curved in the unactuated condition) a tuning range up to 221nm was obtained. Optically pumped and continuously tunable 1.55μm VCSELs show 26nm spectral tuning range, 400μW maximum output power, and 57dBm SMSR. This two-chip VCSEL has a movable top mirror membrane, which is precisely designed to obtain a specific air-gap length and a tailored radius of curvature in order to efficiently support the fundamental optical mode of the plane-concave resonator. The curved top mirror DBR membrane consists of periodically alternating differently stressed silicon nitride and silicon dioxide multilayers. The lower InP-based part consists of the InP/GaInAsP bottom DBR and the GaInAsP active region.


Reconciling divergent copies is a common problem encountered in distributed or mobile systems, asynchro-nous collaborative groupware, concurrent engineering, software configuration management, version control systems and personal work involving several mobile computing devices. Synchronizers provide a solution by enabling two divergent copies of the same object to be reconciled. Unfortunately, a master copy is gener-ally required before they can be used for reconciling n copies, otherwise copy convergence will not be achieved. This paper presents the principles and algorithm of a Synchronizer which provides the means to reconcile n copies, without discriminating in favour of any particular copy. Copies can be modified (concur-rently or not) on different sites and the Synchronizer we propose enables them to be reconciled pairwise, at any time, regardless of the pair, while achieving convergence of all copies. For this purpose, it uses the history of operations executed on each copy and Operational Transformations. It does not require a central-ised or ordering (timestamp, state vector, etc.) mechanism. Its main advantage is thus to enable free and lazy propagation of copy updates while ensuring their convergence – it is particularly suitable for P2P environ-ments in which no copy should be favoured.


We examine the incremental predictive ability and information content of analysts' provision forecasts to explore the potential effects of the FASB's new current expected credit loss (CECL) accounting method. Controlling for the recognized loan loss provision, consensus analyst provision forecasts are incrementally associated with future non-performing loans (NPLs) and equity markets returns. This incremental association is increasing in banks' unconstrained ability to estimate future losses as evidenced by their loan fair value disclosures and the extent of the constraints imposed by the incurred loss model measured by the fraction of heterogeneous loans individually reviewed for impairment. For a sample of analysts that also forecast NPLs, the association between the individual analyst's provision forecast and future NPLs is increasing in the analyst's comparative NPL forecasting accuracy. Finally, we find that the association between the analyst's provision forecast and future NPLs is increasing in EPS forecast errors but decreasing in target price forecast errors. Together these results suggest that the reported provisions under the current incurred loss model do not fully incorporate banks' information about future losses and that the extent to which this occurs depends both on banks' ability to forecast expected losses and the constraints imposed by the incurred loss model. These results suggest that analysts forecast future losses beyond those reflected in the recognized provision and that the incremental information in these forecasts and potential CECL provision timeliness effect is greater when the constraints imposed by the incurred loss model are greater.


Using the adaptive time-dependent density-matrix renormalization group method, the dynamics of entanglement and quantum discord of an one-dimensional spin-1/2 XXZ chain is studied when anisotropic interaction quenches are applied at different temperatures. The dynamics of the quantum discord and pairwise entanglement between the nearest qubits shows that the entanglement and quantum discord will first oscillate and then approach to a constant value. The quantum discord can be used to predict the quantum phase transition, while the entanglement cannot.


This paper presents a framework for extracting surface models from a broad variety of volume datasets. These datasets are produced from standard 3D imaging devices, and are all noisy samplings of complex biological structures with boundaries that have low and often varying contrasts. The level set segmentation method, which is well documented in the literature, creates a new volume from the input data by solving an initial-value partial differential equation (PDE) with user-defined feature-extracting terms. However, level set deformations alone are not sufficient, they must be combined with powerful initialization techniques in order to produce successful segmentations. Our level set segmentation approach consists of defining a set of suitable pre-processing techniques for initialization and selecting/tuning different feature-extracting terms in the level set algorithm. This collection of techniques forms a toolkit that can be applied, under the guidance of a user, to segment a variety of volumetric data.


The combination of laser ablation and tandem ICP-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS/MS) allows for successful Sr isotopic analysis of solid samples with high Rb/Sr ratios. Isobaric overlap at a mass-to-charge ratio of 87 (87Sr–87Rb) is overcome via chemical resolution. By using CH3F/He (10% CH3F in He), in an octopole collision-reaction cell, Sr+ ions are converted into the corresponding SrF+ reaction product ions, while Rb+ ions show no reactivity towards this gas mixture. Two sample introduction setups, leading to "dry" and "wet" plasma conditions, respectively, were evaluated and the figures of merit are documented in detail. The 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratio results were corrected for instrumental mass discrimination using a double correction approach – internal correction using the Russell law, followed by external correction in a sample–standard bracketing (SSB) approach. NIST SRM 610 was applied as an external standard for mass bias correction; no closer matrix-matching was required for the sample types investigated. Under "wet" plasma conditions, accurate and precise (0.02–0.05% RSD) 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratio results were obtained for 7 glass-type geological reference materials.


: Results of roentgenography, performed in 92 patients with diabetes mellitus, complicated by purulent-necrotic affection of foot, and data of nuclear-magnetoresonance tomography (NMRT), conducted in 17 patients, were analyzed. In 70% patients tactics of their further treatment was influenced by presence of deformity and destruction of the foot bones and joints, revealed by roentgenography. Data of the foot roentgenography permitted to differentiate diabetic osteoarthropathy vs the foot bones osteomyelitis in 81% of observations. It is impossible to determine the bone integrity according to NMRT results, but inflammatory foci in bone may be revealed. In presence of obscure data of roentgenography and NMRT it is necessary to make diagnosis of osteomyelitis and to perform proper treatment during 3-6 weeks.


Introduction Studies suggest that females fare worse than males after traumatic brain injury (TBI). To investigate whether gender differences in cerebral blood flow (CBF) could affect TBI outcome, we studied CBF, metabolism, and outcomes of 90 male (mean age 35.8±16.3; mean GCS=6.2) and 26 female trauma patients (mean age 39.6±22.7; mean GCS=6.8). Methods Patients from Los Angeles and Haifa, Israel were consented for CBF measurement and arterial-jugular venous sampling. Studies were conducted from postinjury days 0 to 9. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed on subjects stratified into 4 age groups (under 25, 25–44, 45–59, and over 59 years). Results In females, a trend of decreasing CBF with increasing age was observed, reaching significance between youngest and oldest age groups (47.1 to 31.8 mg/100g/min, respectively; p=0.004). Mean GOS scores also decreased with increasing age (youngest:oldest=3.9 to 1.6; p=0.02). However, association of outcome and age may be partially explained by CBF (p=0.3 for age-outcome association after controlling for CBF). In contrast to females, males showed only slight decreases in CBF with increasing age (youngest:oldest= 39.2: 36.7 mg/100g/min; p=0.44). GOS followed a similar trend (youngest:oldest=3.2: 3.0; p=0.92). No differences were found between gender for hematocrit, hemoglobin, or intracranial pressure. Conclusion Increasing age appears to affect female trauma patients more adversely than males. CBF decreased significantly among older females compared to younger, but CBF in male patients decreased only slightly with age. Outcome followed similar patterns to CBF. Gender differences in CBF may help explain the disparity in outcome after TBI between males and females.


In this article, we review the evidence for implementation of parenting programs in pediatric primary care, which are effective at preventing and treating children's behavioral health problems. CONTEXT: More than 4 decades of research indicate that parenting interventions are effective at preventing and treating mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders in children and adolescents. Pediatric primary care is a viable setting for delivery of these interventions. OBJECTIVE: Previous meta-analyses have shown that behavioral interventions in primary care can improve clinical outcomes, but few reviews have been focused specifically on the implementation of parenting interventions in primary care. We aimed to fill this gap. DATA SOURCES: We reviewed 6532 unique peer-reviewed articles published in PubMed, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and PsycInfo. STUDY SELECTION: Articles were included if at least part of the intervention was delivered in or through primary care; parenting was targeted; and child-specific mental, emotional, and behavioral health outcomes were reported. DATA EXTRACTION: Articles were reviewed in Covidence by 2 trained coders, with a third coder arbitrating discrepancies. RESULTS: In our review of 40 studies, most studies were coded as a primary. Few researchers collected implementation outcomes, particularly those at the service delivery system level. LIMITATIONS: Including only published articles could have resulted in underrepresentation of implementation-related data. CONCLUSIONS: Parenting interventions delivered and implemented with fidelity in pediatric primary care could result in positive and equitable impacts on mental, emotional, and behavioral health outcomes for both parents and their children. Future research on the implementation strategies that can support adoption and sustained delivery of parenting interventions in primary care is needed if the field is to achieve population-level impact.


Normal light (L) chains cleaved from normal pooled human gamma globulin contain immunologic determinants not overtly present in the native unreduced molecule. These hidden determinants are shared with Bence Jones proteins. Similarly, one of two Bence Jones proteins contained immunologic determinants which were not overtly present on the autologous serum myeloma protein.


The application of bone marrow gene therapy has been stalled by the inability to achieve stable high-level gene transfer and expression in the totipotent stem cells. We show that retroviral vectors can stably introduce genes into antigen-specific murine and human T lymphocytes in culture. Murine helper T cells were transduced with the retroviral vector SAX to express both neomycin-resistance and human adenosine deaminase genes. These cells were expanded in culture and selected for expression of neomycin resistance with G418. The gene insertion, selection, and culture expansion did not alter antigen specificity or growth characteristics of the T cells in vitro. To determine if cultured T cells might be used for gene therapy, their persistence and continued expression of the introduced genes was evaluated in nude mice transplanted with the SAX-transduced T cells. G418-resistant cells could be readily recovered from the spleens of recipients of transduced T cells for several months. In addition, recovered cells continued to produce human adenosine deaminase. Based on these observations, we studied cultured human tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes as a candidate cell for a trial of gene transfer in man. Exponential cultures of interleukin-2-stimulated tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes were efficiently transduced with the neomycin-resistance gene using the retroviral vector N2. Gene insertion and subsequent G418 selection did not substantially alter the growth characteristics, interleukin 2 dependence, membrane phenotype, or cytotoxicity profile of the transduced T cells. These studies provided a portion of the experimental evidence supporting the feasibility of the presently ongoing clinical trials of lymphocyte gene therapy in cancer as well as in patients with adenosine deaminase deficiency.


The adenoma-carcinoma sequence refers to the development of malignant change in a precursor focal dysplastic polypoid lesion, the adenoma. In the intestinal tract of man this progression has been most clearly documented in the large bowel and although the evidence is largely circumstantial, it would appear that the majority of malignant tumours at this site arise in this way. By contrast this course is unusual in the stomach, the other major site of gut malignancy, where adenomas are uncommon. Small intestinal adenocarcinoma is rare but there is evidence that a significant proportion of these tumours develop from a precursor adenoma. In the large bowel, adenomas are very common lesions in those populations where there is a high incidence of colorectal cancer. The likelihood of malignancy developing in an adenoma is related to increasing size, a villous as opposed to a tubular growth pattern, and the severity of cytological and architectural abnormalities (dysplasia) of the epithelium.


Shallot landraces and varieties are considered an important genetic resource for Allium breeding due to their high contents of several functional metabolites. Aiming to provide new genetic materials for the development of a novel bulb onion cultivar derived from intraspecific hybrids with useful agronomic traits from shallots, the metabolic profiles in the bulbs of 8 Indonesian shallot landraces and 7 short-day and 3 long-day bulb onion cultivars were established using LC–Q-TOF-MS/MS. Principal component analysis, partial least squares discriminant analysis, and dendrogram clustering analysis showed two major groups; group I contained all shallot landraces and group II contained all bulb onion cultivars, indicating that shallots exhibited a distinct metabolic profile in comparison with bulb onions. Variable importance in the projection and Spearman's rank correlation indicated that free and conjugated amino acids, flavonoids (especially metabolites having flavonol aglycone), and anthocyanins, as well as organic acids, were among the top metabolite variables that were highly associated with shallot landraces. The absolute quantification of 21 amino acids using conventional HPLC analysis showed high contents in shallots rather than in bulb onions. The present study indicated that shallots reprogrammed their metabolism toward a high accumulation of amino acids and flavonoids as an adaptive mechanism in extremely hot tropical environments.


The dissection of work based on biological sex orientation amid non-remunerated and remunerated work reduces females frugally and socially to become extra susceptible towards remaining poor and poorer in the society. This division is engineered by family, individual, communal and financial predicaments, especially those emanating from the cultural background, partisan and racial struggle circumstances or disasters like the COVID-19 pandemic. In Africa, particularly in Zimbabwe, women are marginalised and excluded by social discrimination and poverty, hence the call for action by the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Action is required specifically from the areas, such as education and environment, among others, to empower women to improve their situations or to develop communities and the country as a whole. Actions aimed at reducing impoverishment in society are perilous;hence, the Zimbabwean government decided to give preference to women in economic empowerment strategies and to advance acts that support monetary constitutional rights. While both men and women are susceptible to poverty, gender discrimination makes women to be more vulnerable to poverty and have meagre incomes to survive impoverishment. Women are always the last to feed, they are also usually the last to sleep and the first to wake up, they are the disadvantaged to get healthcare facilities and they are stuck in laborious, voluntary household chores from time to time. Unfortunately, some are left with no option and engage in prostitution as a means to survive. Using purposive sampling and cultural feminist lens, this study problematises the feminisation of poverty in Zimbabwe, using Mutasa community, particularly villages 4 and 30, as a case study to see how women alleviate poverty through mukando/marounds . The main argument presented in this study is that poverty must not have a feminine face;hence, the labels that synonymise scarcity with femininity must be eradicated. Contribution: This study contributes to the ongoing academic studies on the feminisation of poverty, using Mutasa district in Zimbabwe as a case study. It concludes by restating that the feminisation of poverty is a product of a flawed cultural system that denies women opportunities for realising their full potential.


High peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) is a critical issue in any multicarrier systems using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing, as terrestrial digital video broadcasting (DVB). It can result in low power efficiency and large performance degradation of systems, due to the nonlinearity of high-power amplifier (HPA). A PAPR reduction method based on tone reservation technique with second-order cone programming (SOCP) approach in terrestrial DVB systems is proposed. The authors first demonstrate the superiority of the SOCP optimisation algorithm compared with an iterative gradient-based algorithm, using the current DVB-T parameters: significant PAPR reduction gains can be achieved with only a very small set of subcarriers in the useful bandwidth, making the proposed method more promising in terms of spectral efficiency. Moreover, the proposed solution presents a very good trade-off between PAPR reduction gain and mean transmitted power increase. An overall study, taking into account the limitation of the power level of the dedicated subcarriers and the evaluation of the performances in presence of a nonlinear HPA, is presented. These performances are given in terms of adjacent channel power ratio and bit error rate. The resulting PAPR reduction gain demonstrates that the relevance of the proposed method for the future DVB-T standard is straightforward.


This work revisits the synthesis of the colloidal particles most commonly used for making model near hard suspensions or as building blocks of model colloidal gels, i.e. sterically stabilised poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) particles. The synthesis of these particles is notoriously hard to control and generally the problems are ascribed to the difficulty in synthesising the graft stabiliser (PMMA-g-PHSA). In the present work, it is shown that for improving the reliability of the synthesis as a whole, control over the polycondensation of the 12-polyhydroxystearic acid is the key. By changing the catalyst and performing the polycondensation in the melt, the chain length of the 12-polyhydroxystearic acid is better controlled, as confirmed by 1H-NMR spectroscopy. Control over the graft copolymer now enables us to make small variations of near hard sphere colloids, for example spherical PMMA particles with essentially the same core size and different stabilising layer thicknesses can now be readily produced, imparting controlled particle softness. The PMMA spheres can be further employed to create, in gram scale quantities, colloidal building blocks having geometrical and/or chemical anisotropy by using a range of mechanical deformation methods. The versatility of the latter methods is demonstrated for polystyrene latex particles as well.


This paper's purpose is to explore the present state of bioethics as a subject in odontologists' training curriculum in Argentina. It also shows the graduate's profile and his needs according to techno-scientific, social and cultural requirements that justify the inclusion of bioethics in the university's curriculum. Similarly, it draws attention upon the need of a space for bioethics, the so-called science of the new millennium.


We investigate the effect of strong interactions on the spectral properties of quantum wires with strong Rashba spin–orbit (SO) interaction in a magnetic field, using a combination of matrix product state and bosonization techniques. Quantum wires with strong Rashba SO interaction and magnetic field exhibit a partial gap in one-half of the conducting modes. Such systems have attracted wide-spread experimental and theoretical attention due to their unusual physical properties, among which are spin-dependent transport, or a topological superconducting phase when under the proximity effect of an s-wave superconductor. As a microscopic model for the quantum wire we study an extended Hubbard model with SO interaction and Zeeman field. We obtain spin resolved spectral densities from the real-time evolution of excitations, and calculate the phase diagram. We find that interactions increase the pseudo gap at k = 0 and thus also enhance the Majorana-supporting phase and stabilize the helical spin order. Furthermore, we calculate the optical conductivity and compare it with the low energy spiral Luttinger liquid result, obtained from field theoretical calculations. With interactions, the optical conductivity is dominated by an excotic excitation of a bound soliton–antisoliton pair known as a breather state. We visualize the oscillating motion of the breather state, which could provide the route to their experimental detection in e.g. cold atom experiments.


We studied the immunoexpression of p14ARF, MDM2, and p53, in addition to relationships between those protein expressions and estrogen receptor (ER)α in ovarian serous tumors including benign (n = 23), borderline (n = 41), and malignant (n = 94). The aberrant expressions of p14ARF, MDM2, and p53 were observed in 19.6% (31/158), 47.5% (75/158), and 39.9% (63/158) of cases, respectively. The expression of MDM2 was significantly higher in borderline tumors compared to benign (P = 0.04) and malignant (P < 0.01) tumors. p53 expression in borderline tumors was uncommon, and p14ARF expression loss was mainly observed in carcinomas. Altered expression of p14ARF, MDM2, and p53 shows significant relationship with stage. Overexpression of MDM2 (P = 0.01) and loss of p14ARF expression (P = 0.04) were significantly associated with ER expression. Our results suggest that alteration of p14ARF–MDM2–p53 pathway proteins may contribute significantly to the tumorigenesis of ovarian serous neoplasms, and ER is involved in cellular regulation of p14ARF–MDM2–p53 pathway in ovarian serous neoplasms.


We examine performance of different classifiers on different audio feature sets to determine the genre of a given music piece. For each classifier, we also evaluate performances of feature sets obtained by dimensionality reduction methods. Finally, we experiment on increasing classification accuracy by combining different classifiers. Using a set of different classifiers, we first obtain a test genre classification accuracy of around 79.6 plusmn 4.2% on 10 genre set of 1000 music pieces. This performance is better than 71.1 plusmn 7.3% which is the best that has been reported on this data set. We also obtain 80% classification accuracy by using dimensionality reduction or combining different classifiers. We observe that the best feature set depends on the classifier used


For decades, Colombia's most interesting and diverse ecosystems have been occupied by guerrilla fighters and other armed groups, forcing scientists to stay away. But for a hopeful week, the threat finally seemed to have lifted. On 26 September, Colombia's government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia signed an agreement ending 52 years of conflict. As the fighters pledged to lay down their weapons, scientists made plans to return to the field—sometimes to research stations they had been forced to abandon years earlier. But on 2 October, Colombians in a referendum narrowly rejected the peace accord, leaving researchers wondering when it will truly be safe for fieldwork, and whether Colombia will ever be able to direct its resources away from war and toward research.


Using a system to study promoter activity, we have obtained a promoter fragment from E. coli chromosomal DNA. The HBsAg gene under the control of this promoter could be expressed in E. coli. The expression products are isolated and purified by means of a column of anti-HBs cross-linked to Sepharose 4 B. The pure products are characterized through the double diffusion method on 0.6% agarose and polyacrylamide-SDS gel electrophoresis. The synthesis of high levels of HBsAg sequences in E. coli is confirmed.