Supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) are a very popular system for the study of bio-mimetic membranes. Understanding of the interactions between the solid substrate and the lipid membrane opens pathways to the design of new materials with fine-tunable properties. While it is possible to study SLBs via Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations, difficulties still remain for these strategies; in particular, the confined water layer thickness and structure are difficult to reproduce in simulations. We have explored different coarse-grained (CG) models for the membrane/support interaction, and their impact on the substrate hydration level. Our results highlight the relevance of including long-range interactions in CG-MD simulations of fluid SLBs. Modeled neutron reflectivity curves are deduced from the structures obtained by molecular simulations, and substrate parameters are optimized to match the experimental and modeled reflectivity curves. We expect our coarse-grained approach to open new perspectives for the simulations of SLBs of increasing complexity, including lipid layers of complex compositions, or adsorbed lipidic layers on patterned surfaces.


and HbA2 did not show any variation. The baby did not require any blood transfusion, and her physical and mental development is normal


Changes in REDD+ over the past five years have led to significant shifts in the size and composition of financing and the likely pace and cost of implementation, as well as to the divergence of interests across actors and levels. Challenges resulting from these changes include increased 'aid-ification,' sequencing problems faced by project proponents and uncertain rewards from REDD+ efforts by forest countries and communities. Lessons learned from the first generation of REDD+ initiatives include the importance of the jurisdictional scale in between national and local levels for land use decision making, the need for cross-scale coordination to address issues such as tenure, benefit sharing and monitoring and the tenacity of interests and institutions associated with business as usual. To move forward, REDD+ objectives must be clarified and strategies developed to bridge the financial gap created by the lack of a new international climate agreement. Pending greater certainty regarding the future of REDD+, priority should be given to 'no regrets' policy reforms that are desirable, regardless of climate objectives, and to building constituencies and capacities critical to the eventual success of REDD+.


Basic theoretical analyses to detect undesirable foreign metal pieces in the meat being processed have already been carried out. In this study, taking the low conductivity of meat into account, a double-layered spherical sample structure which enables easy analyses was selected. In order to detect these conductive materials, analyses of the difference in the impedance of a circular coil with, and another one without a double-layered spherical conductor were made. In this way, a new formula for obtaining the electromagnetic properties of a double-layered spherical sample was derived. The process of deriving the new formula is explained. The calculated value was compared with the experimental value. Their values had a close correlation.


To comprehend the actions of a single person, from the point of view of social psychology, it is necessary to understand the relationship between individuals and society. First of all, by establishing history and goals of social psychology from its birth to recent times. In this sense, it is impossible not to consider the fundamental contribution of philosophy in defining the existence and the more or less necessary role of the social in the formation and education of the individual, giving rise to the two fundamental orientations of this discipline, namely the one centered on the social and the one centered on the individual. Secondly, deepening the subject of attitudes and their influence on behavior. Through the study of attitudes and social influence it is possible to recognize the relationship existing between the individual and society, in which a reciprocal influence takes place. Even if people remains cognitive conservative the potential for change still exist when a communication has been done between a source and a receiver. Last, but not least, defining the appropriate method so that the psychosocial perspective can be defined as a science. The need for scientific validation, in social psychology as in other disciplines, implies, however, that the use of investigative tools should never be thought of as a rigid application of contexts and techniques, but should represent the expression of choices taken towards an adaptation that the researcher pursues, evaluating the cases in question, with the aim of providing answers capable of increasing the scientific and everyday knowledge of one's own and others. Finally, arriving at a reinterpretation of the original meanings of the Pirandellian work in the light of the psychosocial condition, in which the flow of influences that each day drive the behavior and opinions of the subject involved should be rethought as a guarantee of a necessary exchange for the lymph vital to a journey that is continually progressing, both in science and in everyday life.


ABSTRACT Mutations in transition zone genes change the composition of the ciliary proteome. We isolated new mutations in RPGRIP1L (denotated as RPG1 in algae) that affect the localization of the transition zone protein NPHP4 in the model organism Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. NPHP4 localization is not affected in multiple new intraflagellar transport (IFT) mutants. We compared the proteome of cilia from wild-type and mutants that affect the transition zone (RPGRIP1L) or IFT (IFT172 and DHC1b) by mass spectrometry. The rpg1-1 mutant cilia show the most dramatic increase in cytoplasmic proteins. These nonciliary proteins function in translation, membrane remodeling, ATP production and as chaperonins. These proteins are excluded in isolated cilia from fla11-1 (IFT172) and fla24-1 (DHC1b). Our data support the idea that RPGRIP1L, but not IFT proteins, acts as part of the gate for cytoplasmic proteins. The rpg1-1 cilia lack only a few proteins, which suggests that RPGRIP1L only has a minor role of in the retention of ciliary proteins. The fla11-1 mutant shows the greatest loss/reduction of proteins, and one-third of these proteins have a transmembrane domain. Hence, IFT172 may play a role in the retention of proteins. Summary: RPGRIP1L, a key protein of the transition zone that is needed for NPHP4 localization, helps to exclude cytoplasmic proteins from the cilia in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.


The conflict over the looming threat of Iran's alleged ongoing development of a nuclear bomb has been one of the more potent and discussed problems on the international arena since the nuclear program was discovered in 2002. After several unsuccessful diplomatic efforts to halt the development Israel has issued threats to militarily strike Iranian nuclear facilities. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the credibility of these threats to create a better understanding of the current status of the conflict. By analyzing the preferences and the military strategies available I created a game theoretic model that shows that Israeli escalation will, even with a successful strike, end up weakening the Israeli power position, thereby rendering an Israeli attack irrational. This is due to the Iranian options of creating new theaters of war at Israel's borders through Hezbollah and Hamas and the potential escalation of a new Intifada. The conclusion of this study is that the cost of the expected Iranian retaliation as well as significant operational hazard connected to a strike, with uncertain prospects for success as well as potential high costs, is the main reason why Israel has not acted on its threats. Adding to this is that the Israeli threats have been unclear as to where the line is drawn and what will effectuate that Israel carries through. These factors are the cause of a significant lack of credibility in the Israeli threats.


Microcredit has been found to be an intervention to improve the livelihood of women micro entrepreneurs in developing countries. It is often used as an attractive strategy to enhance the livelihoods of women as it provides micro entrepreneurs with the avenue to generate more income. The study focused on the effect of micro credit on rural households' livelihood: evidences from women micro entrepreneurs in Oyo State, Nigeria. A descriptive survey design was adopted and 180 beneficiaries of microcredit were used. The result of the study revealed that microcredit had a positive effect on household income and welfare which led to improvement in the standard of living and opportunity to save money. The women micro entrepreneurs were able to contribute significantly to their children's education improve the quality of meals intake and employment and housing conditions of their households. The microcredit scheme also contributed to beneficiaries' development, sustainability and local governance participation. Above all, the respondents felt empowered. It is therefore concluded that those concerned with availing funds in form of microcredit and microfinance in general should take into consideration the results of these indicator variables for better livelihood of rural households.


Education of people of the "third age" is based on the fact that the ability to self-development and understanding of the surrounding world is reduced to the application of previously acquired knowledge in a certain period of time. At the same time, it is believed that a decrease in cognitive abilities and an increase in inaccuracies in motor skills leads to the fact that it is almost impossible to master new knowledge. Determining the extent to which this statement corresponds to psychological and educational attitudes shapes the relevance of the study. The novelty of the research is determined by the fact that, for the first time, it is proposed to approach the topic of education for people of "third age" not only as a problem, which is determined solely for increasing the employment of the population and raising the retirement age. The authors offer to consider the topic of the research as a factor in improving the standard of living and social adaptability of "third age" citizens. Models of university and distance education are considered in the article. The practical significance of the research is determined by the need to develop the issue outlined in the face of crisis and the desire of public administration to identify priorities for the formation of a qualitatively new social model. A model of comparative analysis with foreign models is used in the research as well as and the experience of implementation is offered to be implemented.


Hierarchical silicon structures consisting of micropyramids and nanowire arrays are fabricated by two-step chemical etching processes aimed at achieving cost and time effectiveness constraints without using any expensive vacuum system or complicated lithography process. The hierarchical structures can suppress the average reflectance to as low as 4.3% from 300 to 1100 nm without causing poor minority carrier lifetimes, exhibiting excellent broadband light-harvesting abilities with minimal recombination losses, which is the key point to design high-performance nanostructured solar cells. By utilizing hierarchical structures in the practical solar cells application, the short-circuit current density (JSC) shows a significant enhancement from 21.5 to 28.7 mA/cm2, and the conversion efficiency is enhanced by a factor of 35%. Such a significant enhancement is attributed not only to the superior light harvesting achieved by hierarchical structures but also to the benefit of small electrical losses in the solar cells. Thus, the concept and technique presented in this paper open avenues for developing high-performance structure solar devices.


Two different dwarf rat models with primary (dw/dw, DW) or secondary (transgenic growth retarded, WF/Tgr) GH deficiency and contrasting hypothalamic GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) and somatostatin (SRIH) expression were implanted sc with GC cells. These form encapsulated rat GH-secreting tumors that maintain high plasma rat GH levels for several weeks. In both strains, GC cell tumors stimulated growth and raised GHBP levels, without affecting pituitary GH content. In DW rats, GC cell implants increased SRIH expression in the periventricular nucleus (PeV), but not in the arcuate nucleus (ARC), whereas their high GHRH expression in ARC was decreased by GC cells. In contrast, GC cell implants in WF/Tgr rats had little effect on the already high SRIH expression in PeV or low GHRH expression in ARC, although they reduced SRIH expression in ARC. GC cell implants also reduced GH receptor expression in both ARC and PeV in the WF/Tgr dwarves. Thus, chronic GH overexposure stimulates rapid growth in both dwarf strains, but has differential hypothalamic effects in these models. This experimental approach now makes it possible to study the effects of pathophysiological concentrations of GH ranging from dwarfism to acromegaly in the same animal model.


The community composition of denitrifying bacteria was studied in the stratified water column of Lake Kinneret. The nitrite reductase genes nirS and nirK were amplified by PCR from water samples taken at 1, 14, 19 and 22 m depth, which represent the epi-, meta- and hypolimnion of the lake. The PCR products were analyzed with terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and clone libraries. The highest diversity of nirS denitrifying communities was observed at 1 m depth. According to the T-RFLP profiles and clone libraries of nirS products, 2 groups of denitrifiers were common to and dominant in all depths. Deduced protein sequences from one of these groups displayed low identity (77%) with other nirS sequences reported in GenBank. Denitrifying bacterial communities with nirK were most diverse at 22 m and showed highest similarity to those at 19 m depth. Sequences unrelated to nirK dominated the clone libraries from 1 m depth, suggesting that denitrifying bacteria with copper-containing nitrite reductase were less frequent at this depth. The results suggest that microorganisms with nirK and those with nirS respond differently to the environmental conditions in the stratified water column of Lake Kinneret.


A method for estimating past UV radiation levels using measurements of total ozone, sunshine duration and snow depth was applied to Abisko, northern Sweden, and Helsinki, southern Finland. The method has earlier been applied to Sodankyla (Finland) and Davos (Switzerland). The performance of the method was, as in earlier studies, found to be satisfactory with, for instance, a seasonal correlation coefficient as compared to measurements of the order of 95%. By extending the available ozone time series into the past using climatological values of the total ozone column, we were able to make UV estimates all the way back to the early 20th century at both stations. Both at Abisko and Helsinki, the produced time series of estimated daily erythemal UV doses shows increases over the last few decades partly due to the diminution of the total ozone column, and partly due to variations in the sunshine duration. Over the period 1950-1999, a statistically significant increasing trend of 2.2%/decade was found for Abisko, whereas for Helsinki, a trend of 4.2%/decade (also statistically significant) was found for the period 1979-1999.


The dynamic roles of photosensitizer (PS) concentration and light intensity were measured and analyzed empirically. The efficacy of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and cell viability (CV) are measured (in vitro) and analyzed by analytic and numerical modeling. For a fixed PS concentration, CV is a nonlinear deceasing function of light intensity and exposure time; for a fixed light intensity, higher PS concentration achieves higher efficacy or smaller CV (at steady-state), in consistent to our analytic formulas. The anticancer efficacy may be improved by various strategies such as resupply of Ce6, external oxygen, or stabilizing the singlet oxygen (with increased lifetime).


Flaxoat
nutty bar, a granola cereal bar was developed using oat and wheat as major
cereal ingredients and their shelf life was assessed in polypropylene (PP 75 μ), paper (42 GSM) aluminium foil (20 μ) polyethylene (PFP, 37.5 μ) and metallised polyester (MP, 12 μ) low density/linear low density (150 μ) (with and without vacuum) films and
stored under ambient temperature conditions and 37℃. Chemical changes in bar under different
packaging materials during storage revealed that, the bar remained stable and
acceptable for 12 months at ambient conditions irrespective of the packaging
materials used, while at 37℃,
the bar packed in PP films remained stable for 6 months only and rest of the
bars packed in PFP, MP and MP (vacuum) films found stable and acceptable for
the entire storage period of 12 months. The effect of aw on lipid
peroxidation established the maximum stability of the bar at 0.33 aw. Fourteen fatty acids
were identified in which oleic (50.91%), linoleic (22.50%) and palmitic
(12.63%) acids were found to be the major fatty acids. Fortification of a bar with vitamin C, B1 and B2 contents to meet 50% RDA enhanced vitamin contents and the
maximum retention was
observed in bars packed under vacuum in MP films.


Biological particles are rarely individual organisms, but are clusters of organisms physically bound to one another, or bound to other material present in the environment. The size and composition of these bioclusters contribute to the protection of the organisms within the core of cluster from the harmful effects of ambient UV light. The use of ultraviolet irradiation has been evaluated in the past as an option for decontaminating surfaces and air; however, previous studies were conducted with single spores, or poorly characterized polydispersed aerosols making comparisons between studies difficult. This study is intended to evaluate the effect of UV-C irradiation on monodispersed particles of spore clusters with mean diameters of 2.8 μm and 4.4 μm, and single spores of Bacillus atrophaeus var. globigii on fixed surfaces and as aerosol. The D90, the UV-C irradiation doses at which 90% of the colony forming units were rendered nonculturable, for single spores and spore clusters of 2.8 and 4.4 μm on surfaces were 138, 725, and 1128 J/m2, respectively. The respective values for airborne spores were 27, 42, and 86–94 J/m2. The first-stage decay rate constant for the surface exposure ranged from 0.012 for single spores to 0.003 for 4.4 μm clusters. Similarly, the aerosol decay rate constant ranged from 0.12 for single spores to 0.04 for 4.4 μm clusters. The results of this study demonstrate that the decay rate of spores contained in clusters is proportional to the overall particle size, and that it is harder to inactivate large clusters on surfaces. Copyright 2014 American Association for Aerosol Research


As technology advanced, new e-health solutions are evolved to empower people to manage their care at home. This study explored the needs for disease management in activity tracking using photo diary through older adults' subjective perspective. It further aimed to suggest which lifestyle measures, symptoms and behaviours would be meaningful to include in such a digital diseases care management program for technology design. Both photo diary and focus group discussion were used, 11 older adults with multiple metabolism-related chronic diseases (Mean age, 72.5 ± 6.14 years) were recruited and asked to carry out the photo diary to trace their living situation and needs using a tablet camera. A focus group discussion was applied to identify the needs of chronic disease management, based on the results of living context tracing. Five themes, regular physical activity, smart management of healthy behaviors, healthy diet, regular daily routine and social connection, were identified by content analysis from photo diary and the focus group discussion. The results indicated that the photo diary program can raise awareness and promotes positive behavior changes. It is believed that the E-approach can be applied to the effectively enhance older adults' self-management by monitoring their health status and their daily routine activities.


Teaching mathematics is typically designed to develop the skills of learners, including problem-solving skills. Practice requires teachers to use effective teaching processes to bring the necessary mathematical skills back to the students. In many teaching models, attention must be paid to the lesson study model, which originated in Japan, because it has many educational meanings. This research aims to deploy a teaching process that promotes students' problem-solving skills to solve two mathematical problems in writing straight-line equations. The study used the model of a lesson study to do this. Two classes, including 74 students, have been selected for the control and experimental groups. For the first time, a lesson plan was taught in the control class; then it was thoughtfully adapted and taught for the second time in the experimental class. The data was based on the students' worksheets in two classes and qualitatively analysed to show progress in the teaching process. The findings indicated that the teaching process of the teacher's straight-line equations has led to a positive change in the ability of students to solve problems in the experimental class. These results also revealed more about the effectiveness of a lesson study model. Besides, some implications related to the professional development of teachers in teaching experience have been drawn up, such as teaching practice, competence, assessment skills and the lesson study team.


No study has been reported on carbonic anhydrase enzyme of the fish (Calcalburnus tarichi) living in the carbonated Van Lake. Having partial purification of Carbonic anhydrase from gill and liver of Van Lake fish by ethanol-chloroform and acetone-chloroform, the esterase activity was performed by using p-nitrophenyl acetate as a substrate on spectrophotometer. The effects of the some kinetic parameters (km, Vo, Vmax, Na2CO3 activation, optimum pH etc.) have been examined When Lineweaver-Burk diagram of liver extracts (at 25°C) is examined, ethanol has an apparent competitive inhibition compare to acetone extracts. So Km of the substrate (p-nitrophenyl acetate) is 0.95 mM is for ethanol extract and 0.54 mM of that is found for acetone extracts. In two extracts from gill (at 25°C), ethanol seems to have a non-competitive inhibition comparing to acetone, Km for both extracts is 0.39 mM. Na+/CO32- ions induce esterase activity, Na+/CO3-2 ions are not competitive with the inhibitory effects of ethanol. Infect, inhibition of ethanol on gill esterase activity appears to be competitive which is understood by addition of Na+/CO3-2. Since carbonate ions and p-nitrophenyl acetate act on two different catalytic site of this enzyme, both have formed a cooperative effect It is clear that carbonic anhydrase activity has not been affected till pH:7.4. Although pH above 8.0 enzyme activity has seem to increase, this increase is due to kinetic reaction between substrate (p-nitropheny acetate) and buffer at pH:8-11.5. So, the esterase activity of this enzyme at this high pH, can not be evaluated. for the esterase activity of this enzyme. The optimal and unaffected pH for the substrate is 7 for the esterase activity of carbonic anhydrase. "Esterase" activity could be useful for determining "anhydrase" activity of Carbonic anhydrase enzyme of Van Lake fish. Stimulation of esterase activity of carbonic anhydrase has been shown by addition of CO32- ions. Carbonic anhydrase present in gill and liver of Van Lake fish has a significant regulatory role for internal pH balance.


Blasting has become a crucial work in mining operation. However, it produces high-intensity seismic waves which cause some serious troubles such as injure people, fly-rock, cracking, breaking and reducing the lifetime of adjacent buildings. In Vietnam, there have been many conflicts between residents and government about the compensation policy for these damages. The solution is proposed, in which a similar explosion is made and an instantaneous concussion meter is used to record the magnitude of the generated shock wave. The results received from this operation will be used to determine the effects of mining blast. In fact, that is an incorrect method because just by changing the type of explosives, the order, the explosives, etc., the shock wave will be significantly reduced. Nothing is ensured that another explosion causing a shock wave amplitude will not occur in the future. To solve this problem, this paper presents an online seismic wave monitoring system operating 24/24h, to transmit the recorded signal to an independent server located around the boundary of the mine. On the basis of the mechanism of generating explosive waves and the recording mechanism of shock waves, the authors have built a program to store records according to the permissible influence of Vietnam Standard and Circular 32/2019/TT- Vietnam Board of Directors.


Water is essential for life and for all human activities but also for preserving the environment and its resources. Rapidly growing population, intensification of agriculture, industrialization, urbanization, development of any kind and climatic factors are the main reasons for water pollution and scarcity conditions in many countries of the world (Tsihrintzis et al 2013, WWAP 2018).
1.1 Study region
The study region comprises the Mongolian part of the Selenga River Basin with a particular focus on the Kharaa, Tuul, Orkhon and their sub-basins, which are comparable with regard to the physical environment and socio-economic development (Karthe et al. 2013). The Selenga River itself has a transboundary catchment which is shared by two countries, Mongolia and Russia. Originating in Mongolia, it is the largest inflow of Lake Baikal with over 60 % of annual water amount contribution (UNOPS 2013). The delta of Selenga River is included in the list of Ramsar Wetlands of international importance because of its significant role as a habitat for flora and fauna as well as its role in functioning as a water filter against pollution flowing into Lake Baikal (UNOPS 2013). In Mongolia the Selenga River has a water catchment of 299,690 km2 (67 %) and is divided into six sub-basins, while the catchment area in Russia is about 147,370 km2 (33 %) (UNOPS 2013). The river plays an important role because 19 % of the total land area of Mongolia is located in its catchment, including the capital, important centers of industry and large farming areas (Nadmitov et al. 2015, Chalov et al. 2015).
The Tuul, Kharaa and Orkhon River Basins are home to Mongolia's three largest cities (Ulaanbaatar, Darkhan and Erdenet, respectively) and to more than half of the country's population. Moreover, the three river basins constitute important centers of agriculture, industry and mining (in particular for gold and copper). This does not only lead to a concentration of consumption but also of contamination risks. At the same time, water pollution in this region may harm a relatively large exposed population (Chalov et al. 2013).
The northern part of Mongolia is characterized by a highly continental climate with wide variations of annual, monthly and daily temperatures. The mean annual temperature is just below freezing, and annual precipitation ranges between 250-400 mm. Winters are long-lasting (monthly mean temperatures are 0°C or below between October and March) and very cold (temperatures frequently drop below -25°C), while summers are not only warm, but also the time of the main rainy period from June to August, when about 70 % of the annual precipitation falls (Hulsmann et al. 2015; Menzel et al. 2011).
Water availability is naturally limited due to low precipitation and high evaporation rates. Even though only 20% of the annual precipitation falls during the winter months, and sublimation losses are above 80%, the melting of snow and river icings produce a first considerable peak in river discharge around May (Minderlein & Menzel 2014). Because of a concentration of rainfall during the summer months, more than half of the annual runoff occurs during the months of July, August and September, albeit with a large interannual variability (Batimaa et al. 2005; Berezhnykh et al. 2012; Hulsmann et al. 2014). While open grasslands dominate low-lying regions, mountainous regions (particularly in the rivers' headwater areas) are typically forested and play a key role in runoff formation (Menzel et al. 2011).


Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of gadobenate dimeglumine–enhanced magnetic resonance imaging in characterizing the grade of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using the signal intensity (SI) of the erector spinae as internal reference. Materials and Methods Clinical data of 40 patients (a total of 44 lesions) confirmed by pathology for HCC were retrospectively reviewed. Gadobenate dimeglumine–enhanced magnetic resonance imaging was performed in all patients, and SI of lesions (SIles), liver parenchyma around the lesions (SIhep), erector spinae (SImus) and standard deviation of SI of the surrounding noise (SDnoi) on nonenhanced T2WI, nonenhanced T1WI, and contrast-enhanced T1WI (in both arterial and hepatobiliary phase [AP and HBP]) were measured, respectively. Contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were separately defined as CNR1 ([SIles − SIhep]/SDnoi) and CNR2 ([SIles − SImus]/SDnoi). Statistical analyses were performed using one-way analysis of variance, least significant difference test, logistic regression analysis, Spearman rank correlation, and receiver operating characteristic curves analysis. Results Forty-four HCCs, including 3 well-differentiated HCCs, 26 moderately differentiated HCCs, and 15 poorly differentiated (PD) HCCs, were confirmed. On logistic regression analysis, only CNR2 in the HBP was predictor of PD HCCs (P = 0.015, odds ratio = 1.040). The size of lesions, CNR1 in the AP, CNR2 in the AP, and CNR2 in the HBP, showed significant correlations with the degree of differentiation (correlation coefficients = −0.371, 0.435, 0.503, and 0.512, respectively; P = 0.013, 0.003, 0.001, and 0.000, respectively). Contrast-to-noise ratio 2 in the HBP with the cutoff of less than 4.56 could distinguish moderately differentiated HCCs from PD HCC with the sensitivity and specificity of 84.6% and 60.0%, respectively. Conclusions Relatively low arterial enhancement and low CNR2 value in the HBP are predictive for poor histological grade of HCCs.


Hypertonicity increases urea transport independently of, as well as synergistically with, vasopressin in the inner medullary collect duct (IMCD). We previously showed that hypertonicity does not increase the level of cAMP in the IMCD, but it does increase the level of intracellular calcium. Since we also showed that hypertonicity increases both the phosphorylation and biotinylation of the urea transporters UT-A1 and UT-A3, this would suggest involvement of a calcium-dependent protein kinase in the regulation of urea transport in the inner medulla. In this study, we investigated whether protein kinase C (PKC), which is present in the IMCD, is a regulator of urea permeability. We tested the effect of PKC inhibitors and activators on urea permeability in the isolated, perfused rat terminal IMCD. Increasing osmolality from 290 to 690 mosmol/kgH(2)O significantly stimulated (doubled) urea permeability; it returned to control levels on inhibition of PKC with either 10 μM chelerythrine or 50 μM rottlerin. To determine the potential synergy between vasopressin and PKC, phorbol dibutyrate (PDBu) was used to stimulate PKC. Vasopressin stimulated urea permeability 247%. Although PDBu alone did not change basal urea permeability, in the presence of vasopressin, it significantly increased urea permeability an additional 92%. The vasopressin and PDBu-stimulated urea permeability was reduced to AVP alone levels by inhibition of PKC. We conclude that hypertonicity stimulates urea transport through a PKC-mediated phosphorylation. Whether PKC directly phosphorylates UT-A1 and/or UT-A3 or phosphorylates it as a consequence of a cascade of activations remains to be determined.


Background: Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) constitutes a significant medical challenge. The rising number of marketed drugs, aging population and polypharmacy make it imperative to understand the clinical presentation of DILI and the processes used in the assessment of causality and early detection. Objective: This article reviews the current clinical understanding of DILI including presentation patterns, causality assessment, risk factor ascertainment and early detection strategies including liver test monitoring. Significant initiatives such as the Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network (DILIN) are also discussed. Methods: A narrative review of clinical studies of DILI, with emphasis on clinical features, causality and surveillance. Conclusion: DILI remains a serious challenge in contemporary clinical practice. Further research and collaboration in the areas of epidemiology, causality and early detection are required to enhance the diagnosis and management of DILI.


Fashionable theories of post-industrialism and post-Fordism have blinded many to the uncomfortable reality of working conditions in the United States that are more evocative of the accounts drawn by Engels and Dickens than of the imagined anodyne workplace of the 21st century This book focuses on the persistence of one such aspect of industrial life - the lack of a universal entitlement to withdraw from the inexorable flow of production in order to rest and void during the workday. Although federal and state law requires employers to provide toilets, incredibly, government agencies do not require employers to permit workers to use them. In placing this regulatory breakdown in the broader context of the history of capital-labor struggles over rest periods, the book focuses on the physiological consequences for workers who are prohibited from interrupting work to rest or urinate.


Stigmatized property is real estate burdened with an external negative effect. Individual cases are spread along a broad spectrum, along many dimensions that include the rational and the irrational, the acute and the chronic. Examples for the stigmatizing effect are a nearby airport, ground water contaminated by chemicals, presence of a high-voltage power line, and so on. Evaluation of these properties needs special methodology. Stigma can reduce the property's market value through a particular, multi-layered filter. The author systematically examines the professional literature's cases of evaluation of stigmatized properties. The research aims to organize and compare the cases in order to calculate the market value of stigmatized properties. Based on the analysis, six significant dimensions are identified. A focus group of 19 experts examined and individually evaluated the stigmatizing effects along these different dimensions. The author suggests that it is possible to estimate the stigma's effect and compare different cases to one another effectively. The results allow the international methodology of valuation to be processed.


The G8 countries propose a goal of a 50% reduction in global emissions by 2050, in an effort that needs to take account of other agreements specifying that developing countries are to be provided with incentives to action and protected from the impact of measures taken by others. To help inform international negotiations of measures to achieve these goals we develop a technique for endogenously estimating the allowance allocations and associated financial transfers necessary to achieve predetermined distributional outcomes and apply it in the MIT Emissions Prediction and Policy Analysis (EPPA) model. Possible burden sharing agreements are represented by different allowance allocations (and resulting financial flows) in a global cap-and-trade system. Cases studied include agreements that allocate the burden based on simple allocation rules found in current national proposals and alternatives that specify national equity goals for both developing and developed countries. The analysis shows the ambitious nature of this reduction goal: universal participation will be necessary and the welfare costs can be both substantial and wildly different across regions depending on the allocation method chosen. The choice of allocation rule is shown to affect the magnitude of the task and required emissions price because of income effects. If developing countries are fully compensated for the costs of mitigation then the welfare costs to developed countries, if shared equally, are around 2% in 2020, rising to some 10% in 2050, and the implied financial transfers are large—over $400 billion per year in 2020 and rising to around $3 trillion in 2050. For success in dealing with the climate threat any negotiation of long-term goals and paths to achievement need to be grounded in a full understanding of the substantial amounts at stake. Sharing the Burden of GHG Reductions Henry D. Jacoby, Mustafa H. Babiker, Sergey Paltsev, and John M. Reilly Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change Massachusetts Institute of Technology Outline


A fast and reliable detection and identification of microorganisms is crucial in environmental science, for food quality as well as medical diagnosis. In these fields, all types of Raman spectroscopy are gaining more and more importance during the last years. The review provides an extensive overview of recent research, technical expertise, and scientific findings based on Raman spectroscopic detection and identification of microorganisms within the years 2010 and 2015, demonstrating the diverse capability of Raman spectroscopy as a modern analytical tool. Raman spectroscopy distinguishes itself from other currently applied techniques by its easy application at low cost, its high speed of analysis, and its broad information content on both the chemical composition and the structure of biomolecules within the microorganisms. Slight chances in the chemical composition of microorganisms can be monitored by means of Raman spectroscopy and used to differentiate genera, species, or even strains. Detection of pathogens is possible from complex matrices, such as soil, food, and body fluids. Further, spectroscopic studies of host–pathogen interactions are addressed as well as the effect of antibiotics on bacteria. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Intestinal protozoa are among the organisms that cause diseases in various countries of the world, especially poor countries. Six hundred and three  stool samples were collected from patients coming to  some hospitals in Mansoura District (22 May Hospital, Cuban Hospital, Al-Naqeeb Hospital, Al Salam Hospital), and blood samples were taken from 384 patients of both sexes infected with intestinal protozoa (E. histolytica, Giardia lamblia)  and 21 blood samples from non-infected people.
      The results of the current study showed that the total infection rate of intestinal protozoa (E. histolytica, G. lamblia) was 603/384 (63.68%). For blood picture tests, a decrease in haemoglobine values and an increase in the total number of white blood cells and Eosinophils were observed for the affected people. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence rate of E. histolytica and G. lamblia and its effect on some hematological parameters in some hospitals in Al-Mansoura District of Aden Governorate (Yemen).
     We recommend raising the level of health by providing educational programs and paying attention to personal hygiene in order to reduce the incidence of parasites, activate the role of health institutions, and work to combat rodents and insects to cut off the parasite life cycle.


The Anglo - Australian expedition to Java in 1984 comprised six cavers from Britain and six from Western Australia. They were joined in the field by a number of Indonesian cavers from FINSPAC. Fifty five cave entrances were located in the spectacular cone karst of East Gunung Sewu. The major discovery, Luweng Jaran , was explored for over 11 km and is currently the longest cave in Indonesia.


There six life cycle stages of buildings are: raw material extraction; manufacturing; construction; operation and maintenance; demolition; and disposal, reuse or recycling. The life cycle stages of a building are all intensively involved, in that the use of natural resources, energy and water are consumed in each of them. This paper investigate the environmental impacts across each of these stages. Furthermore, the paper also highlight the role the building sector on the total global environmental impacts in terms of the building sector's contribution to waste generation, pollution, amongst others. This is done in order to encourage and to inform ways which can be incorporated into the building sector in order to reduce their impact on the environment. The study is conducted with reference to existing theoretical literature, published and unpublished research. The study is mainly a literature review/survey on the life cycle stages of a building. The key findings from the study are that energy is consumed across all the stages of a building. Environmental impact such as greenhouse gas emissions, waste generation and pollution etc. associated with a building are declared to be of a great quantity due to many and relatively long life cycle stages a building have. This study is valuable to the South African built environment, construction industry, infrastructure development and/or sustainable urban development.


Health or care seeking behavior has been defined as any action undertaken by individuals who perceive themselves to have a health problem or to be ill for the purpose of finding an appropriate remedy. A little understanding exists concerning socio-ecological barriers experience when seeking mental health care. we aimed at determining the factors that affect health seeking behavior of people with preexisting mental illness during COVID19 pandemic. METHODOLOGY: A Cross sectional study done for three months duration at Department of psychiatry, Chengalpattu Medical College and Hospital with sample size of 105. Ethical committee clearance was obtained.105 patients (age >18 years) consecutive patients having an International Classification of Disease 10 (ICD-10) psychiatric diagnosis, were included. Informed consent was obtained. Data regarding Socio demographic and clinical profile was obtained. RESULTS: In our study,39% of the patients belonged to 30-45 and 46-60 years of age, 6.7% of patients were between the age of above 60. 60% of study participants were male and the rest were female.69.5 % of patients had financial crisis ,70.5% of patients had decrease in the monthly income of the family by 30%or more.60% of patients had difficulty in travel to the hospital due to lack of transport facility during COVID pandemic. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION; Factors determining health-seeking behavior can help address problems and delay in early identification and optimal management of mental disorders during pandemic. Implementing community-based strategies to support resilience and psychologically vulnerable individuals during the COVID-19 crisis is fundamental for any community.


Family history is usually seen as a significant factor insurance companies look at when applying for a life insurance policy. Where it is used, family history of cardiovascular diseases, death by cancer, or family history of high blood pressure and diabetes could result in higher premiums or no coverage at all. In this article, we use massive (historical) data to study dependencies between life length within families. If joint life contracts (between a husband and a wife) have been long studied in actuarial literature, little is known about child and parents dependencies. We illustrate those dependencies using 19th century family trees in France, and quantify implications in annuities computations. For parents and children, we observe a modest but significant positive association between life lengths. It yields different estimates for remaining life expectancy, present values of annuities, or whole life insurance guarantee, given information about the parents (such as the number of parents alive). A similar but weaker pattern is observed when using information on grandparents.


In June 1984, methyl parathion (phosphorothioic acid, O, O-dimethyl O-[4-nitrophenyl] ester) was applied at 1.4 kg a.i./ha to a cultivated field in Skagit Valley, Washington. Brain cholinesterase (ChE) activity was determined in adult and nestling starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) in artificial nesting boxes on the peripheries of a treated and a control field for up to 1 week following application of the pesticide. Brain ChE activities in nestling starlings from the control field increased linearly from age 6 to 19 d. Brain ChE levels in chicks taken from the treated fields were more variable. From the treatment field, 92% of adults collected up to 7 d posttreatment exhibited marked depressions of brain ChE, while during the same period, 29% of the nestlings showed similar responses. A significant correlation was demonstrated between the levels of brain ChE depression in adult and in the nestling starlings collected from the same nests.

Measures of reproductive success (i.e., hatching of eggs and fledging of young) were also determined in a portion of the nestboxes to assess any potential adverse effects. The spraying of methyl parathion did not significantly reduce hatchability of the starling eggs. The mean (±SE) number of young fledged per nest on the sprayed field, 2.22 ± 0.29, was not significantly different from that on the control site, 3.33 ± 0.17. However, collectively, the number of nestlings fledging from the treatment field postspray was significantly lower than from the control field.


The authors devised a technique of interstitial radiation therapy for locally disseminated vaginal recurrences and metastases that occur after the use of various therapeutic methods for uterine and rectal cancer. Indications and counterindications to interstitial radiation therapy with 60Co as an independent method or the main therapeutic component in combined or multimodality treatment, were determined. Methods of the topometric and dosimetric planning of treatment, methods of needle administration and fixation by the system of manual afterloading were developed. Interstitial radiation therapy was given to 22 patients with a complete tumor regression in 17 of them. Interstitial radiation therapy is recommended as a method of choice for the therapy of vaginal recurrences and metastases.


While the design of signature analyzers for digital circuits has been well researched in the past, signature analyzers for analog signals are relatively unknown. The primary difficulty in analyzing signatures for analog signals is that the latter are imprecise in nature. Therefore, deterministic signature analysis schemes, such as those based on finite-field arithmetic using linear feedback shift registers, are unsuitable for analog circuits. In this paper, a novel signature analysis scheme for analog and mixed signal circuits is proposed. The signatures possess the interesting property that if the input analog signal is imprecise within certain bounds (an inherent property of analog signals), then the generated signature is also imprecise within certain bounds. A failure is indicated by the generated signature being different from the expected signature by a margin greater than a predetermined threshold; the larger the effects of the failure, the larger the difference between the generated signature and the expected signature. The probabilities of aliasing and false rejection are also derived. Results for an example filter circuit are presented.


Piezoelectric materials are opening the door for the design of large smart structures. To explore what possibilities there might be for building practical smart structures, a review of the characteristics and methods of processing piezoelectric active materials is given. The advantages and limitations of using the different forms of piezoelectric materials for sensors and actuators are then discussed. One area where piezoceramic sensors can have a large impact is structural condition monitoring. Structural condition monitoring refers to using in-situ sensors to monitor the internal loads and the health of a structure in real-time. This will allow a structure to be operated at its maximum performance and efficiency while minimizing the fatigue damage. To achieve this on a large structure, a new highly distributed sensor concept is discussed in which piezoceramic fibers and microelectronic components are used to mimic the biological nervous system. A simplified simulation and experiment are presented to show how this artificial neural system can measure dynamic strains and acoustic emissions caused by damage in structures.


The empirical conclusions regarding the relationship between energy price and energy efficiency are relatively mixed. This paper systematically examines the influence of energy price on energy efficiency in China based on data from 30 provinces between 2003 and 2017, using linear and nonlinear effect analysis. We found that the impact of energy price on energy efficiency in China was positive in general. However, there existed heterogeneous effects of energy price on energy efficiency in various regions, and the effect differed with differences in energy efficiency levels based on the panel quantile regression analysis. Finally, the nonlinear effect analysis based on the panel threshold model indicated that the effect of energy price on energy efficiency increased with the rise of the environmental regulation level and economic growth rate, while it decreased with the ascent of the degree of energy price distortion and economic development level. In particular, when the value of a region's economic development level and economic growth rate was within a certain range, the impact was not statistically significant. Overall, these findings contribute to a deeper understanding regarding the effect of energy price on energy efficiency in China.


In the monocentric classic model the bid rent theory suggest a trade-off between land value and transport costs between residential location and the CBD where all employment is likely to be concentrated. Nevertheless, contemporary metropolises significantly apart from that stylized model for a number of reasons. Firstly, monocentricity coexist with polynucleation and employment diffusion and, secondly the place of work does not exerts the only, and probably, nor the main influence on quotidian travel behaviour, since transport surveys reveals an emergence of non-labour mobility. In this paper we test in Barcelona Metropolitan Area, a very well recognised polycentric Mediterranean city, whether proximity to subcentres is a key determinant of housing prices. Using listing prices an hedonic model is built, and the asking price is regressed over the distance to different subcenters, identified by analysing the travel and spatial behaviour of people, among other control variables. The results suggest that subcentres does exert little influence on housing prices and other amenities have a significant influence on the spatial distribution of values.


Recently deep neural networks have been widely employed to deal with the visual tracking problem. In this work, we present a new deep architecture which incorporates the temporal and spatial information to boost the tracking performance. Our deep architecture contains three networks, a Feature Net, a Temporal Net, and a Spatial Net. The Feature Net extracts general feature representations of the target. With these feature representations, the Temporal Net encodes the trajectory of the target and directly learns temporal correspondences to estimate the object state from a global perspective. Based on the learning results of the Temporal Net, the Spatial Net further refines the object tracking state using local spatial object information. Extensive experiments on four of the largest tracking benchmarks, including VOT2014, VOT2016, OTB50, and OTB100, demonstrate competing performance of the proposed tracker over a number of state-of-the-art algorithms.


The effect of dust on phytophagous mite numbers was examined in five apple orchards situated in the dry, inland apple producing Ceres area, South Africa. The study was conducted over three seasons. The season with the most dust had the least number of mites. There was no relationship between the amount of dust on leaves and mite numbers from different orchards. Of the 15 correlations between the amount of dust on individual trees and the number of mites on these trees, two were marginally not significant and one was highly significant, but negative. Therefore, seasons during which there is a lot of dust did not result in mite outbreaks nor did dusty orchards harbour elevated mite population levels, and trees with a lot of dust did not necessarily harbour more mites than trees with less dust. However, if there is enough dust to cause stress to the trees, phytophagous mite outbreaks could occur.


'In Mario Vargas Llosa's latest novel there are two stories - that of Paul Gauguin, the Post-Impressionist painter, and that of Paul Gauguin's grandmother, Flora Tristan ...what makes the novel so illuminating is the continuity between their parallel lives ...the novel is highly accomplished and teems with characters, ideas and incident - Gauguin and Flora may have thought they were masters of their own destiny, but this novel powerfully suggests that even that may have been an illusion - like paradise itself.' Literary Review 'Vargas Llosa's storytelling gifts are pretty much unrivalled, and they don't desert him this time either. His recreation of the tactile, sensuous, brilliant, whiffy details of the everyday is superb ...a fabulously abundant book.' Financial Times 'The Way to Paradise weaves an extraordinarily rich double fantasia around Gauguin's life, strenuously explores qualities in the works, and sets moral issues in a far wilder, more real historical world ...riveting stuff, beautifully written, wild, exact, and visually stunning.' Independent


The person responsible for global allocation for a large pension fund had been asked by the board of directors in April 2008 for an assessment on whether she thinks the dollar would appreciate or depreciate over the next five to ten years. She has heard mostly negative views about path of the dollar over the long term, and former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's suggestion that the Gulf States, and others, should de-link from the U.S. dollar as a way to contain inflationary pressures. Currently, the fund is 60% in dollar-based assets and 40% in foreign markets. The dollar's sharp decline against a broad array of currencies, central banks diversifying reserves away from dollars, and some OPEC members invoicing oil-sales currencies in other than dollars are discouraging news. She considers whether to increase the foreign weighting and, because the dollar has overshot its "long-term value," whether it is now more likely to appreciate than depreciate, and finally whether the fund should use the recent dollar pessimism as an opportunity to take profits on its foreign positions and increase the weighting on the now relatively cheap U.S. securities.


North Korea detonated its first known nuclear device, a moderate-sized event in the northeastern corner of the Korean Peninsula, on 9 October 2006. A second one, several times more powerful, was set off nearby on 25 May 2009. Both were recorded at high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) by a modern broadband (0.03-30 Hz) network of seismographs deployed since 2004 along the Sino-Korean border, and by station MDJ due north of ground zero. Spanning a wide range of station azimuth (259°-11°), the near-regional (1.3°-3.3°) paths are all purely continental and away from continental margins, making the resulting data uniquely suited for assessing the capabilities of an out-country network to verify the compliance by North Korea with a future comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty. The mbLg magnitudes for the 2006 and 2009 nuclear explosions were determined anew, giving 4:32 0:13 and 4:86 0:13, respectively. We show that the MS-mbLgmethod correctly differenti- ates these nuclear explosions from natural earthquakes, although the differentiation was not achieved in studies based on published mbLg values. An analysis of the Pg∶Lg ratio, derived from recordings of the two nuclear tests and of four regional earthquakes selected for their comparable magnitudes (4:2 ≤ mb ≤ 4:8), reveals that the ratios associated with the explosion and earthquake populations showed surpris- ingly little overlap for a broad frequency range of 3 to 11 Hz. In principle, MS-mb can also be used to correctly identify the nuclear tests as explosions, but the mb measure- ment for such moderate-sized events is not as robust as the mbLg measurement, rendering this traditionally favored method less practical.


This paper explores the contradictions arising from the simultaneous commitment to globalisation and diversity. The backdrop to the study is the marked shift to the right that has occurred in State and federal politics, emulating the global trend that has resulted in neo-liberalism supplanting social liberalism as the dominant ideology. Neo-liberalism, or market liberalism, necessarily locates its subjects within the market where they are expected to vie with one another for survival and success. Globalisation is one manifestation of neo-liberal competition policy which, along with corporatisation and privatisation, displays little interest in diversity politices, other than as a means of enhancing market image. Indeed, the feminine is constructed as incompatible with corporatisation and competition. Just as the political shift to the right has witnessed a dilution, if not a complete disbandonment, of formal social justice measures. there has been a tendency to dismantle feminist legal studies subjects, as well as to contract critical and theoretical content of all kinds. The paper considesr how neo-liberal and globalising imperatives are impacting on legal education in (1) the appointment of academic staff; (2) the shaping of the curriculum; (3) the profile of the 'consumers' of legal education; (4) the cartography of legal knowledge.


Eighteen previously untreated patients with histologically confirmed small-cell lung cancer were treated with high-dose epirubicin (course 1, 100 mg/m2; courses 2–6, 140 mg/m2, day 1), every 3 weeks. Overall response rate was 33% (95% confidence limits, 14–52%), including two complete and four partial responses. The response rates for limited (n = 11) and extensive (n = 7) disease patients were 45% and 14%, respectively. With a median follow-up of 18 months, estimated 2-year survival of all patients was 29% and the median duration of response 18.5 months. The dose-limiting toxicity was myelosuppression, with a median granulocyte nadir of 1,150/mm3; 39% of patients had neutropenic fever. Nausea/ vomiting, alopecia, and stomatitis were the most common non hematological toxicities, usually mild to moderate. Acute cardiac toxicity was unusual and no episodes of congestive heart failure were observed. Cumulative doses of 800 mg/m2 were associated with moderate cardiotoxicity (grade 2), as assessed by endomyocardial biopsy and electron microscopy analysis. These results indicate that epirubicin, at the present doses and schedule, is an active single agent in patients with small-cell lung cancer, with acceptable general and moderate cardiac toxicity.


Doppler shift decreases the estimation accuracy of carrier frequency and may result in divergent estimation. It thus degrades the performance of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) underwater acoustic (UWA) communication system. In this paper, the two-step Doppler shift mitigation scheme[4] was adopted to mitigate the Doppler effect. The innovation lied in the second step in which an enhanced carrier frequency offset (CFO) two-time estimation approach on basis of the pilot was proposed to improve the Doppler shift mitigation scheme. In addition, the new Doppler shift mitigation scheme with the proposed approach was implemented in the OFDM communication system under the simulated multipath-spread channel environment. The experiment results show that the new scheme is able to improve the performance of OFDM UWA communication significantly.


Chronic drug exposure can induce a significant change in neurotransmitter receptor systems and is possibly involved in the pathogenesis of drug‐induced neurological disorders. Abuse of analgesics is known to induce deterioration in headache status in patients with primary headaches, especially migraine. To assess the possibility of 5‐HT2A serotonin receptor plasticity in this condition, we investigated receptor binding on the platelet membrane in patients with analgesic‐induced transformed migraine, patients with migraine, and nonheadache controls. Various concentrations of [3H]‐spiperone (0.4 to 12 nmol) was used as a radioligand, and ketanserin was used to determine nonspecific binding. A lower maximal number of receptors (Bmax) was observed in patients with migraine as compared to patients with transformed migraine, and controls (467 ± 58, 708 ± 36, and 786 ± 64 fmol/mg protein, respectively, P<0.01); whereas the value of the dissociation equilibrium constant (Kd) remained unchanged (1.72 ± 0.16, 1.41 ± 0.13, and 1.25 ± 0.21 nmol for patients with migraine, patients with transformed migraine, and nonheadache controls, respectively). A significant decrease in Bmax value was observed in patients with transformed migraine after 4 weeks of analgesic withdrawal (770 ± 25 and 345 ± 31 fmol/mg protein, P<0.001), whilst no significant change in Kd value was observed (1.95 ± 0.12 and 2.47 ± 0.30 nmol, respectively). These findings indicate that 5‐HT2A serotonin receptor system is altered in patients with transformed migraine with analgesic overuse. Such receptor plasticity may be an important step in the pathogenic mechanism of transformed migraine.


The use of genomic data in the clinic has not been as widespread as was envisioned when sequencing and genomic analysis became common techniques. An underlying difficulty is the direct assessment of how much additional information genomic data are providing beyond standard clinical measurements. This is hard to quantify in the clinical setting where laboratory tests based on genomic signatures are fairly new and there are not sufficient data collected to determine how valuable these tests have been in practice. Here we focus on the potential precision gain from using the popular MammaPrint genomic signature in a covariate-adjusted, randomized clinical trial. We describe how adjustment of an estimator for the average treatment effect using baseline measurements can improve precision. This precision gain can be translated directly into sample size reduction and corresponding cost savings. We conduct a simulation study using genomic and clinical data gathered for breast cancer patients and find that adjusting for clinical factors alone provides a gain in precision of 5-6%, adjusting for genomic factors alone provides a similar gain (5%), and combining the two yields a 2-3% additional gain over only adjusting for clinical covariates.


In this paper we want to give possible answers to questions such as: What is art? How is art related to society? How does art develop? We consider art not as static, but as dynamic and complex, it permanently changes, interpretations of artworks permanently (re-)emerge, new artworks emerge, etc. In the first section we will discuss different conceptual approaches of art theory. In section 2 we introduce a dynamic concept of art that is based on processes of cognition (2.1.), communication (2.2.), and co-operation (2.3). In section 3 we discuss the historical development of art as a dynamic process, in section 4 we take a look the idea of the autonomy of art in society and the relationship of art and society, in section 5 we outline the role of art in capitalism and communism. Methodologically we advance from the abstract to the concrete, we first discuss what the essence of art is on a more abstract level, then we outline informational aspects of cognition, communication, and co-operation of the artistic production process. The analysis of the dynamic evolution of art and of the autonomy of art introduces an already more concrete level of analysis where the role of art in society is discussed. Finally we discuss the role of art in the societal formation that we live in - capitalism - and possible future developments of art in society. Hence we reach a concrete level of analyis that describes the present and points towards the future.


Abstract This paper critically evaluates how archaeologists define 'grave goods' in relation to the full spectrum of depositional contexts available to people in the past, including hoards, rivers and other 'special' deposits. Developing the argument that variations in artefact deposition over time and space can only be understood if different 'types' of find location are considered together holistically, we contend that it is also vital to look at the points where traditionally defined contexts of deposition become blurred into one another. In this paper, we investigate one particular such category – body-less object deposits at funerary sites – in later prehistoric Britain. This category of evidence has never previously been analysed collectively, let alone over the extended time period considered here. On the basis of a substantial body of evidence collected as part of a nationwide survey, we demonstrate that body-less object deposits were a significant component of funerary sites during later prehistory. Consequently, we go on to question whether human remains were actually always a necessary element of funerary deposits for prehistoric people, suggesting that the absence of human bone could be a positive attribute rather than simply a negative outcome of taphonomic processes. We also argue that modern, fixed depositional categories sometimes serve to mask a full understanding of the complex realities of past practice and ask whether it might be productive in some instances to move beyond interpretively confining terms such as 'grave', 'hoard' and 'cenotaph'. Our research demonstrates that is it not only interesting in itself to scrutinize archaeological evidence that does not easily fit into traditional narratives, but that the process of doing so also sheds new light on the validity of our present-day categories, enabling deeper insights into how people in the past ordered their material and conceptual worlds. Whilst our main focus is later prehistoric Britain, the issues we consider are potentially relevant across all periods and regions.


We have investigated spin related processes in fullerene C60 devices using several experimental techniques, which include magnetic field effect of photocurrent and electroluminescence in C60-based diodes; spin polarized carrier injection in C60-based spin-valves; and pure spin current generation in NiFe/C60/Pt trilayer devices. We found that the 'curvature-related spin orbit coupling' in C60 plays a dominant role in the obtained spin-related phenomena. The measured magneto-photocurrent and magneto-electroluminescence responses in C60 diodes are dominated by the difference in the g-values of hole and electron polarons in the fullerene molecules. We also obtained giant magneto-resistance of ∼10% at 10 K in C60 spin-valve devices, where spin polarized holes are injected into the C60 interlayer. In addition, using the technique of spin-pumping in NiFe/C60/Pt trilayer devices with various C60 interlayer thicknesses we determined the spin diffusion length in C60 films to be 13 ± 2 nm at room temperature.


Multi-agent systems play an important role in modern robotics. Due to the nature of these systems, coordination among agents via communication is frequently necessary. Indeed, Perception-Action-Communication (PAC) loops, or Perception-Action loops closed over a communication channel, are a critical component of multi-robot systems. However, we lack appropriate tools for simulating PAC loops. To that end, in this letter, we introduce ROS-NetSim, a ROS package that acts as an interface between robotic and network simulators. With ROS-NetSim, we can attain high-fidelity representations of both robotic and network interactions by accurately simulating the PAC loop. Our proposed approach is lightweight, modular and adaptive. Furthermore, it can be used with many available network and physics simulators by making use of our proposed interface. In summary, ROS-NetSim is (i) Transparent to the ROS target application, (ii) Agnostic to the specific network and physics simulator being used, and (iii) Tunable in fidelity and complexity. As part of our contribution, we have made available an open-source implementation of ROS-NetSim to the community.


Article type: Original article Background & aim: Menopause refers to the cessation of menstruation due to hormonal changes and ovarian inactivity in women. These changes in hormone levels lead to various health consequences. This period of physiological change usually starts in women with 40-50 years of age, and is characterized by the reduction of estrogen level. The mortality rate of premenopausal women, due to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), is one fifth of men, though it rapidly increases after the menopause. Therefore, this descriptive study was conducted in order to determine the cardiovascular risk factors for menopausal and nonmenopausal women in comparison with men of the same age. Methods: The study sample included patients referring to the cardiology department of Imam Reza Hospital, Mashhad, Iran. The subjects were divided into 4 groups: non-menopausal women (n=35), men of the same age (as the non-menopausal women, n=35), menopausal women (n=50), and men of the same age (as the menopausal women, n=50). All criteria related to major cardiovascular risk factors including systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP), cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), and low and high-density lipoprotein (LDL and HDL) were measured and compared in all four groups. In order to analyze the data, Fisher's exact test was carried out, using SPSS version 16. Results: There was a significant difference between non-menopausal women and men of the same age with regard to high SBP and DBP, hypercholesterolemia, low HDL, and high LDL. However, no significant difference was observed among these groups, regarding high levels of TG. The menopausal women and men of the same age showed significant differences in terms of high SBP and low HDL. However, no differences were observed in DBP, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and high LDL. Conclusion: Menopausal women, non-menopausal women, and men had significant differences in terms of high SBP and low HDL. However, regarding high DBP, hypercholesterolemia, and high LDL, there was a significant difference only between non-menopausal women and men of the same age. Article History: Received: 4-Agu-2013 Accepted: 18-Dec-2013


Abstract Aurivilliusite, ideally Hg2+Hg1+OI, is monoclinic, C2/c, with unit-cell parameters refined from X-ray powder data: a = 17.580(6), b = 6.979(1), c = 6.693(3) Å , ß = 101.71(4)º, V = 804.0(5) Å3, a:b:c = 2.5190:1:0.9590,Z = 8. The strongest six lines of the X-ray powder-diffraction pattern [d in Å (I)(hkl)] are: 8.547(70)(200), 3.275(100)(002), 2.993(80)(2̅21), 2.873(80)(600), 2.404(50b)(6̅02, 421, 2̅22) and 1.878(50)(2̅23). This extremely rare mineral was collected from a small prospect pit near the longabandoned Clear Creek mercury mine, New Idria district, San Benito County, California, USA. It is intimately intermixed with another new undefined Hg-O-I phase ('CCUK-15'), and is also closely associated with native mercury, cinnabar and edgarbaileyite in a host rock principally composed of quartz and magnesite. Aurivilliusite occurs in a cm-wide quartz vein predominantly as irregular-shaped thin patches 'splattered' on the quartz surface; patches vary in size from 10–20 μm up to 0.5 mm. The only known subhedral platy brightly reflecting crystal fragment, with major {100} form and distinct {100} cleavage, did not exceed 0.2 mm in longest dimension. The mineral is dark grey-black with a dark red-brown streak. Physical properties include: metallic lustre; opaque; non-fluorescent; brittle; uneven fracture; calculated density 8.96 g/cm3 (empirical formula), 8.99 g/cm3 (ideal formula). In polished section in plane-polarized reflected light, aurivilliusite resembles cinnabar, is extremely light sensitive, shows twinning and no internal reflections, and exhibits an unusual 'red light' coalescing phenomena. Averaged and corrected results of electron-microprobe analyses yielded HgO 40.10, Hg2O 38.62, I 22.76, Br 0.22, Cl 0.06, sum 101.76, less O = I + Br + Cl -1.46, total 100.30 wt.%, corresponding to Hg2+1.00Hg1+1.00O1.01(I0.97Br0.01Cl0.01)∑0.99, based on O + I + Br + Cl = 2 atoms per formula unit (a.p.f.u.). The original value for Hg, 74.27 wt.%, was partitioned in a HgO:Hg2O ratio of 1:1 after the discovery of the crystal-structure paper dealing with the synthetic equivalent of aurivilliusite. The mineral name is in honour of the late Dr Karin Aurivillius (1920−1982), chemistcrystallographer at the University of Lund, Sweden, for her significant contributions to the crystal chemistry of Hg-bearing inorganic compounds. Aurivilliusite is related chemically to terlinguaite, Hg2+Hg1+OCl, but has a different structure and X-ray characteristics.


The controlled synthesis of oligosaccharides is of growing interest due to the important roles of oligosaccharides in various biological processes. Enzymatic synthesis enables regio- and stereo-selective control during synthesis which still remains a challenge using total chemical synthesis. In this study, endoplasmic reticulum 1,2-α-mannosidase from Glaciozyma antractica was recombinantly expressed in Pichia pastoris. The gene sequence for ER mannosidase was obtained from the Glaciozyma antractica database. The BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool) results from bioinformatics screening showed that ER mannosidase had 41 % identity with the equivalent mannosidases from Sacchromyces cerevesiae. ER mannosidase from G. antartica was then cloned into the pPICZαC expression vector and used to transform in the host Pichia pastoris X33 cells. The ER mannosidase (MW∼58 kDa) was successfully expressed at 25 °C with 1.0 % methanol induction.


Chronic myeloid leukaemia is a clonal malignant myeloproliferative disorder believed to originate in a single abnormal haemopoietic stem cell. The progeny of this abnormal stem cell proliferate over months or years such that, by the time the leukaemia is diagnosed, the number of leucocytes is greatly increased in the peripheral blood. Normal blood cell production is almost completely replaced by leukaemia cells, which, however, still function almost normally.

Chronic myeloid leukaemia has an annual incidence of 1 to 1.5 per 100 000 of the population in the United Kingdom (about 700 new cases each year), with no clear geographical variation.

Presentation may be at any age, but the peak incidence is at age 40-60 years, with a slight male predominance. This leukaemia is very rare in children.

Most cases of chronic myeloid leukaemia occur sporadically. The only known predisposing factor is irradiation, as shown by studies of Japanese survivors of the atomic bomb and in patients who received radiotherapy for ankylosing spondylitis.

The clinical course of chronic myeloid leukaemia can be divided into a "stable" or chronic phase and an advanced phase, the latter covering both accelerated and blastic phases. Most patients present with chronic phase disease, which lasts on average four to five years. In about two thirds of patients the chronic phase transforms gradually into an accelerated phase, characterised by a moderate increase in blast cells, increasing anaemia or thrombocytosis, or other features not compatible with chronic phase disease. After a variable number of months this accelerated phase progresses to frank acute blastic transformation. The remaining one third of patients move abruptly from chronic phase to an acute blastic phase (or blastic crisis) without an intervening phase of acceleration.

All leukaemia cells in patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia contain a specific cytogenetic marker, described originally in 1960 by …


In the above article [Ji J-Z, Ting T, Huang B-B, Gu T-T, Mi Q-Y and Xie H-G (2018) Drug Metab Dispos 46 (2):151–154; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1124/dmd.117.078329], the second reference in the References section contained an incorrect DOI. The correct DOI for the reference is "DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/bdd.2117" The HTML and PDF versions of the article have been corrected. The authors apologize for any inconvenience.


A novel microextraction technique based on membrane-protected multiwalled carbon nanotubes coated with molecularly imprinted polymer (MWCNTs-MIP) was developed. In this technique, MWCNTs-MIP were packed inside a polypropylene membrane envelope, which was then clamped onto a paper clip. For extraction, the packed membrane envelope was first impregnated with toluene and then placed in sample solutions. Target analytes in the solutions were first extracted into toluene in the membrane envelope, and were then extracted specifically onto the MWCNTs-MIP. After the extraction, target analytes were desorbed in methanol for liquid chromatography analysis. MWCNTs-MIP of prometryn were used as a model to demonstrate the feasibility of this novel microextraction technique. Factors affecting the extraction including organic solvent, stirring rate, extraction time, salt concentration, and pH were investigated. Under the optimized conditions, the limits of detection (a signal-to-noise ratio of 3) for the selected triazine herbicides were 0.08-0.38 μg/L. The prepared membrane envelope could be used at least 50 times. The developed method was used for the analysis of the triazines spiked in river water, wastewater, and liquid milk, with recoveries ranging from 79.3-97.4, 58.9-110.3 and 76.2-104.9%, respectively.


Following attack by nucleophiles, various methoxypyrylium compounds derived from 2H-pyran-2-ones and 4H-pyran-4-ones react either to produce a linear β-polycarbonyl derivative in which one or more carbonyl groups is derivatised in the form of an enol ether or to form a methylene-2H-pyran. The linear polycarbonyl derivatives can undergo biomimetic cyclisation to generate polyketide aromatic systems; syntheses of the following benzene derivatives are described: ethyl 2,4-dimethoxy-6-methylbenzoate (29), 2,4-dimethoxy-6-methylbiphenyl (31), and 6-(2,4-dimethoxy-6-methylphenyl)-4-methoxy-2H-pyran-2-one (34).


Background: Cardiovascular disease is a major comorbidity of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and a leading cause of death. Chronic systemic inflammation involving tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF) could contribute to endothelial activation and atherogenesis. A number of anti-TNF therapies are in current use for the treatment of RA, including certolizumab pegol (CZP), (Cimzia ®; UCB, Belgium). Anti-TNF therapy has been associated with reduced clinical cardiovascular disease risk and ameliorated vascular function in RA patients. However, the specific effects of TNF inhibitors on endothelial cell function are largely unknown. Our aim was to investigate the mechanisms underpinning CZP effects on TNF-activated human endothelial cells. Methods: Human aortic endothelial cells (HAoECs) were cultured in vitro and exposed to a) TNF alone, b) TNF plus CZP, or c) neither agent. Microarray analysis was used to examine the transcriptional profile of cells treated for 6 hrs and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysed gene expression at 1, 3, 6 and 24 hrs. NF-κB localization and IκB degradation were investigated using immunocytochemistry, high content analysis and western blotting. Flow cytometry was conducted to detect microparticle release from HAoECs. Results: Transcriptional profiling revealed that while TNF alone had strong effects on endothelial gene expression, TNF and CZP in combination produced a global gene expression pattern similar to untreated control. The two most highly up-regulated genes in response to TNF treatment were adhesion molecules E-selectin and VCAM-1 (q 0.2 compared to control; p > 0.05 compared to TNF alone). The NF-κB pathway was confirmed as a downstream target of TNF-induced HAoEC activation, via nuclear translocation of NF-κB and degradation of IκB, effects which were abolished by treatment with CZP. In addition, flow cytometry detected an increased production of endothelial microparticles in TNF-activated HAoECs, which was prevented by treatment with CZP. Conclusions: We have found at a cellular level that a clinically available TNF inhibitor, CZP reduces the expression of adhesion molecule expression, and prevents TNF-induced activation of the NF-κB pathway. Furthermore, CZP prevents the production of microparticles by activated endothelial cells. This could be central to the prevention of inflammatory environments underlying these conditions and measurement of microparticles has potential as a novel prognostic marker for future cardiovascular events in this patient group. Disclosure statement: Y.A. received a research grant from UCB. I.B. received a research grant from UCB. S.H. received a research grant from UCB. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest


This paper experimentally identifies some non-linea r effects, e.g. modal coupling effect and beating m otion, on a flexible model riser due to variable curvature when vortex-induced vibration (VIV) occurs. The VIV on the riser can cause enlarging dynamic stress of the body and redu cing its fatigure life. This work expands existing numerical and analytical investigations on a model riser with con stant curvature in shear flow condition. The result s indicate that for a flexible model riser displaced in non-uniform she ar flow when VIV occurred, the curvature shows substantial effects on lock-in response and multi-mode non-lock-i n response. The modal coupling effect on lock-in re sponse repeats the same effect on the structure in air, whic h indicates that modal coupling effect seems indepe ndent to the lockin phenomenon. This experimental investigation embeds the situation when displacing a flexible rubber cable with initial caterany shape stretching its bottom end to most tensioned straight condition for varying the curvature. The effect of varying curvature on the vibration characte ristics of the rubber cable is identified when disp laced in air. The same effect on the structure when vortex-induced vi bration occurred is taken into account through a fa n produced wind loading.


We present an adaptive finite element method for solving the acoustic wave equation. Using a global duality argument and Galerkin orthogonality, we derive an identity for the error with respect to an arbitrary functional output of the solution. The error identity is evaluated by solving the dual problem numerically. The resulting local cell-wise error indicators are used in the grid adaptation process. In this way, the space-time mesh can be tailored for the efficient computation of the quantity of interest. We give an overview of the implementation of the proposed method and illustrate its performance by several numerical examples.


: The aim of this article was to provide an update that would serve to increase knowledge of health problems among juvenile delinquents before and during incarceration in juvenile correctional centers. Recommendations are made for the care of mental and physical health and for the health education of these teenagers that could be useful for health professionals providing health care to these teenagers while in custody as well as for those seeing them in the ambulatory setting. From the literature consulted, 63 % of studies have been performed in the United States, 24 % in Western Europe (Spain, United Kingdom, Holland, Belgium, Sweden, Finland), 8 % in Australia and 5 % in Canada. These studies show no appreciable qualitative differences in the health problems most frequently presented by these teenagers and there is agreement that the areas that should be prioritized are the provision of preventive and/or therapeutic dental care, as well as programs for psychiatric care, immunization, infectious diseases and health education. Failure to identify the health requirements of these teenagers and to provide early interventions can not only adversely effect their quality of life and their future physical, emotional and intellectual development but can also make their rehabilitation and reintegration into society more difficult.


Abstract One of the big challenges in the development of probabilistic relational (or probabilistic logical) modeling and learning frameworks is the design of inference techniques that operate on the level of the abstract model representation language, rather than on the level of ground, propositional instances of the model. Numerous approaches for such "lifted inference" techniques have been proposed. While it has been demonstrated that these techniques will lead to significantly more efficient inference on some specific models, there are only very recent and still quite restricted results that show the feasibility of lifted inference on certain syntactically defined classes of models. Lower complexity bounds that imply some limitations for the feasibility of lifted inference on more expressive model classes were established earlier in Jaeger (2000; Jaeger, M. 2000. On the complexity of inference about probabilistic relational models. Artificial Intelligence 117, 297–308). However, it is not immediate that these results also apply to the type of modeling languages that currently receive the most attention, i.e., weighted, quantifier-free formulas. In this paper we extend these earlier results, and show that under the assumption that NETIME≠ETIME, there is no polynomial lifted inference algorithm for knowledge bases of weighted, quantifier-, and function-free formulas. Further strengthening earlier results, this is also shown to hold for approximate inference and for knowledge bases not containing the equality predicate.


Thermal rectification requires that thermal conductivity not be a separable function of position and temperature. Investigators have considered inhomogeneous solids to design thermal rectifiers but manipulations of solid lattices are energy intensive. We propose a thermal logic device based on asymmetric solid-fluid resistances that couples two fluid reservoirs separated by solid-fluid interfaces. It is the thermal analog of a three terminal transistor, the hot reservoir being the emitter, the cold reservoir the output, and smaller input reservoirs as the base. Changing the input temperature alters the transport factor and the flux gain as does the base current in a transistor.


Fundamental research in visualization is concerned with the impact of presentation on visual perception and understanding [5] [6]. In current Air Traffic Control (ATC) environments, Air Traffic Controllers (ATCo) use several visualization systems: radar views, timelines, electronic strips, meteorological views, supervisions etc... The information displayed is intrinsically temporal: aircraft positions that evolve over time, conflicts between aircraft at a given time, airspace congestions... Each of these visualizations is rich and dynamic: it displays numerous visual entities that move and evolve over time. Furthermore, this considerable volume of information must be understandable with a minimum cognitive workload. As traffic increases and safety criteria become more demanding ATC requires this new kind of visualizations. Our research focuses on the production of new efficient visualizations with temporal data. We characterize a more efficient visualization as one in which a greater volume of information can be perceived and understood with a smaller or equivalent cognitive workload (while at the same time reducing the error rate in the perception of the information).


The literature on the wood anatomy of the genus Abies is reviewed and discussed, and complemented with a detailed study of 33 species, 1 subspecies and 4 varieties. In general, the species studied do not show diagnostic interspecific differences, although it is possible to establish differences between groups of species using certain quantitative and qualitative features.The marginal axial parenchyma consisting of single cells and the ray parenchyma cells with distinctly pitted horizontal walls, nodular end walls and presence of indentures are constant for the genus, although these features also occur in the other genera of the Abietoideae. The absence of ray tracheids in Abies can be used to distinguish it from Cedrus and Tsuga, and the irregularly shaped parenchymatous marginal ray cells are only shared with Cedrus. The absence of resin canals enables Abies to be distinguished from very closely related genera such as Keteleeria and Nothotsuga. The crystals in the ray cells, taxodioid cross-field pitting and the warty layer in the tracheids can be regarded as diagnostic generic features.


ABSTRACT Dunnington DW, Spooner IS, Krkošek WH, Gagnon GA, Cornett RJ, Kurek J, White CE, Misiuk B, Tymstra D. 2018. Anthropogenic activity in the Halifax region, Nova Scotia, Canada, as recorded by bulk geochemistry of lake sediments. Lake Reserv Manage. 34:334–348. Separating the timing and effects of multiple watershed disturbances is critical to a comprehensive understanding of lakes, which is required to effectively manage lacustrine systems that may be experiencing adverse water quality changes. Advances in X-ray fluorescence (XRF) technology has led to the availability of high-resolution, high-quality bulk geochemical data for aquatic sediments, which in combination with carbon, nitrogen, δ13C, and δ15N have the potential to identify watershed-scale disturbance in lake sediment cores. We integrated documented anthropogenic disturbances and changes in bulk geochemical parameters at 8 lakes within the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), Nova Scotia, Canada, 6 of which serve as drinking water sources. These data reflect more than 2 centuries of anthropogenic disturbance in the HRM that included deforestation, urbanization and related development, and water-level change. Deforestation activity was documented at Lake Major and Pockwock Lake by large increases in Ti, Zr, K, and Rb (50–300%), and moderate increases in C/N (>10%). Urbanization was resolved at Lake Fletcher, Lake Lemont, and First Lake by increases in Ti, Zr, K, and Rb (10–300%), decreases in C/N (>10%), and increases in δ15N (>2.0‰). These data broadly agree with previous paleolimnological bioproxy data, in some cases identifying disturbances that were not previously identified. Collectively these data suggest that bulk geochemical parameters and lake sediment archives are a useful method for lake managers to identify causal mechanisms for possible water quality changes resulting from watershed-scale disturbance.


Objectives The primary objective of this pilot study was to investigate whether the therapeutic drug monitoring of imipenem could be performed with spent effluent instead of blood sampling collected from critically ill patients under continuous renal replacement therapy. Methods A prospective open-label study was conducted in a real clinical setting. Both blood and effluent samples were collected pairwise before imipenem administration and 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 h after imipenem administration. Plasma and effluent imipenem concentrations were determined by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters of blood and effluent samples were calculated. Results Eighty-three paired plasma and effluent samples were obtained from 10 patients. The Pearson correlation coefficient of the imipenem concentrations in plasma and effluent was 0.950 (P<0.0001). The average plasma-to-effluent imipenem concentration ratio was 1.044 (95% confidence interval, 0.975 to 1.114) with Bland-Altman analysis. No statistically significant difference was found in the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters tested in paired plasma and effluent samples with Wilcoxon test. Conclusion Spent effluent of continuous renal replacement therapy could be used for therapeutic drug monitoring of imipenem instead of blood sampling in critically ill patients.


The great success of supervised learning has initiated a paradigm shift from building a deterministic software system to a probabilistic artificial intelligent system throughout the industry. The historical records in enterprise domains can potentially bootstrap the traditional business into the modern data-driven approach almost everywhere. The introduction of the Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) significantly reduces the efforts of feature engineering so that supervised learning becomes even more automated. The last bottleneck is to ensure the data quality, particularly the label quality, because the performance of supervised learning is bounded by the errors present in labels. In this paper, we present a new Active Deep Denoising (ADD) approach that first builds a DNN noise model, and then adopts an active learning algorithm to identify the optimal denoising function. We prove that under the low noise condition, we only need to query the oracle with log n examples where n is the total number in the data. We apply ADD on one enterprise application and show that it can effectively reduce 1/3 of the prediction error with only 0.1% of examples verified by the oracle.


To evaluate pathogenetic link of ischemic heart dysfunction with the level of endogenic STH in myocardial infarction (MI) patients at different MI stages and to specify prognostic value of STH for MI outcomes, we examined 78 males on MI day 21-26, month 3-6 and a year later. 20 healthy males served control and 17 patients with ischemic heart diseases without MI according to coronaroventriculography (CVG) were a comparison group. STH was measured in all the patients with radioimmunoassay, CVG was made according to M. Judkins. We found that in patients with high level of endogenic STH (> 1 nm/l) within the first postmyocardial infarction month development of reparative and adaptive fibrosis continues 3 to 6 months and is more favorable. If STH physiological level maintains, myocardial contractility remains satisfactory for a long period. In high STH levels, patients with myocardial ischemia more frequently exhibit ventricular arrhythmia. Low STH blood levels lead to left ventricular dilatation, deterioration of cardiac contractility, stenotic coronary atherosclerosis, intracardiac hemodynamics and IHD clinical course. Lethal outcomes occur more frequently.


Abstract Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is among the most frequent disorders within child and adolescent psychiatry, with a prevalence of over 5%. Nosological systems, such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5) and the International Classification of Diseases, editions 10 and 11 (ICD-10/11) continue to define ADHD according to behavioral criteria, based on observation and on informant reports. Despite an overwhelming body of research on ADHD over the last 10 to 20 years, valid neurobiological markers or other objective criteria that may lead to unequivocal diagnostic classification are still lacking. On the contrary, the concept of ADHD seems to have become broader and more heterogeneous. Thus, the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD are still challenging for clinicians, necessitating increased reliance on their expertise and experience. The first part of this review presents an overview of the current definitions of the disorder (DSM-5, ICD-10/11). Furthermore, it discusses more controversial aspects of the construct of ADHD, including the dimensional versus categorical approach, alternative ADHD constructs, and aspects pertaining to epidemiology and prevalence. The second part focuses on comorbidities, on the difficulty of distinguishing between "primary" and "secondary" ADHD for purposes of differential diagnosis, and on clinical diagnostic procedures. In the third and most prominent part, an overview of current neurobiological concepts of ADHD is given, including neuropsychological and neurophysiological researches and summaries of current neuroimaging and genetic studies. Finally, treatment options are reviewed, including a discussion of multimodal, pharmacological, and nonpharmacological interventions and their evidence base.


Trichosanthin (TCS) is a type I ribosome-inactivating protein (RIP) which possesses rRNA N-glycosidase activity. In recent years, its immunomodulatory, anti-tumor and anti-HIV properties have been revealed. Here we report the crystal structures of several E85 mutant TCS complexes with adenosine-5'-monophosphate (AMP) and adenine. In E85Q TCS/AMP and E85A TCS/AMP, near the active site of the molecule and parallel to the aromatic ring of Tyr70, an AMP molecule is bound to the mutant without being hydrolyzed. In the E85R TCS/adenine complex, the hydrolyzed product adenine is located in the active pocket where it occupies a position similar to that in the TCS/NADPH complex. Significantly, AMP is bound in a position different to that of adenine. In comparison with these structures, we suggest that there are at least two subsites in the active site of TCS, one for initial substrate recognition as revealed by the AMP site and another for catalysis as represented by the NADPH site. Based on these complex structures, the function of residue 85 and the mechanism of catalysis are proposed.