ABSTRACT   Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) functions as a key regulator of inflammation and innate immunity. The protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii actively infects human blood monocytes and induces the production of IL-1β; however, the host and parasite factors that mediate IL-1β production during T. gondii infection are poorly understood. We report that T. gondii induces IL-1β transcript, processing/cleavage, and release from infected primary human monocytes and THP-1 cells. Treating monocytes with the caspase-1 inhibitor Ac-YVAD-CMK reduced IL-1β release, suggesting a role for the inflammasome in T. gondii-induced IL-1β production. This was confirmed by performing short hairpin RNA (shRNA) knockdown of caspase-1 and of the inflammasome adaptor protein ASC. IL-1β induction required active parasite invasion of monocytes, since heat-killed or mycalolide B-treated parasites did not induce IL-1β. Among the type I, II, and III strains of T. gondii, the type II strain induced substantially more IL-1β mRNA and protein release than did the type I and III strains. Since IL-1β transcript is known to be induced downstream of NF-κB signaling, we investigated a role for the GRA15 protein, which induces sustained NF-κB signaling in a parasite strain-specific manner. By infecting human monocytes with a GRA15-knockout type II strain and a type I strain stably expressing type II GRA15, we determined that GRA15 is responsible for IL-1β induction during T. gondii infection of human monocytes. This research defines a pathway driving human innate immunity by describing a role for the classical inflammasome components caspase-1 and ASC and the parasite GRA15 protein in T. gondii-induced IL-1β production. IMPORTANCE Monocytes are immune cells that protect against infection by increasing inflammation and antimicrobial activities in the body. Upon infection with the parasitic pathogen Toxoplasma gondii, human monocytes release interleukin-1β (IL-1β), a "master regulator" of inflammation, which amplifies immune responses. Although inflammatory responses are critical for host defense against infection, excessive inflammation can result in tissue damage and pathology. This delicate balance underscores the importance of understanding the mechanisms that regulate IL-1β during infection. We have investigated the molecular pathway by which T. gondii induces the synthesis and release of IL-1β in human monocytes. We found that specific proteins in the parasite and the host cell coordinate to induce IL-1β production. This research is significant because it contributes to a greater understanding of human innate immunity to infection and IL-1β regulation, thereby enhancing our potential to modulate inflammation in the body. Monocytes are immune cells that protect against infection by increasing inflammation and antimicrobial activities in the body. Upon infection with the parasitic pathogen Toxoplasma gondii, human monocytes release interleukin-1β (IL-1β), a "master regulator" of inflammation, which amplifies immune responses. Although inflammatory responses are critical for host defense against infection, excessive inflammation can result in tissue damage and pathology. This delicate balance underscores the importance of understanding the mechanisms that regulate IL-1β during infection. We have investigated the molecular pathway by which T. gondii induces the synthesis and release of IL-1β in human monocytes. We found that specific proteins in the parasite and the host cell coordinate to induce IL-1β production. This research is significant because it contributes to a greater understanding of human innate immunity to infection and IL-1β regulation, thereby enhancing our potential to modulate inflammation in the body.


Detrital apatite (U-Th)/He and fission-track thermochronometry are applied to constrain the exhumation history of the Ligurian Alps (southwest Alps). Exhumation of the Ligurian Alps is recorded from ca. 11 Ma and continues until present. More than 4 km of exhumation is recorded at an average rate of 0.4 ± 0.2 mm/yr. Exhumation is accommodated along a north-dipping thrust at the foot of the Ligurian margin. Combined (U-Th)/He and fission-track thermal modeling show a phase of accelerated denudation between 7 and 5 Ma, associated with the base-level drop during the Messinian salinity crisis.


The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster (Meigen, 1830) has been established as a cornerstone for research into a wide array of subjects including diseases, development, physiology, and genetics. Thanks to an abundance of genetic tools, publicly available fly stocks, and databases, as well as their considerable biological similarity to mammalian systems, Drosophila has been solidified as a key model organism for elucidating many aspects of human disease. Herein is presented an overview of what makes Drosophila such an appealing model organism. In Part I of this chapter, basic Drosophila biology is reviewed and the most relevant genetic tools available to Drosophila researchers are covered. Then in part II, we outline the use of Drosophila as a model organism to study a wide array of pathologies in which Drosophila has been used, along with key advances made in the specific field using the fly as a model organism.


Stress among employees is a public health issue in modern working life in developed countries. A lack of balance between job and demands in private life, and stressful situations in work life let people experience high levels of stress. Long-term sick leave and ill-health can be a consequence of high stress exposure during a long period of time. The objective of this interdisciplinary ongoing research program is to develop a platform providing multiple help online with evidence-based measures in a stress management program. The program is aimed to prevent stress-related dysfunctions and promote wellbeing and lower levels of stress among salaried employees in white collar jobs. The platform includes a web based system for asking experts, communities for peers and different health promotion measures which will be further described.


Aim: We aim to refine and define surgical techniques for doing difficult adherent bulky cervical nodal metastases from thyroid cancer to help surgeons do dissections with better curability and lesser morbidity. Background: Patients with thyroid cancer with large nodal metastases presenting with severe neck pain due to compression effects and encasing carotid artery and other major vessels pose a challenge to surgeons to do complete resections while preserving important structures in the neck. Materials and methods: We define surgical planning and road map to dissect difficult bulky adherent cervical nodes encasing carotid artery and jugular vein by splaying the plane over carotid sheath by doing adventitial level dissection and dissecting medial and lateral to carotid sheath the large nodal mass adherent to adjacent structures preserving the major vessels and nerve plexus. Conclusion: By appropriate surgical planning and meticulous dissection techniques, we can do major neck dissections with complete resections and same time preserving important structures in the neck minimizing morbidity. Clinical significance: By doing neck dissections with complete oncological resections and saving vital structures in the neck, we aim to offer best possible chance of cure to the patient along with reduced morbidity at same time.


Verso l'alto is a multi-disciplinary undergraduate research and development project whose goal is to gain insight into the upper atmospheric electromagnetic environment above the Southern Appalachian Mountains.  Using high altitude weather balloons, Verso l'altos' payload carries scientific and amateur radio equipment in order to record cosmic radiation fluctuations and locate gamma rays that produce terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs).  TGF's commonly form in high electrical fields within and above thunderstorms and snowstorms in the troposphere and tropopause; where they produce a shot of intense gamma radiation that is hurled into space.  A high-speed camera is also included within the payload to capture images of the region and of the lightning in the upper atmosphere. Live tracking and telemetry of the flight is performed by amateur radio, and coordinates are uploaded to aprs.fi for real-time access online.  The chase team consists of three licensed mobile amateur radio vehicles and licensed undergraduate amateur radio operators who track and retrieve the payload.   This project encourages cooperation between local communities, scientific organizations and academic institutions, in order to better understand the impact of cosmic radiation fluctuations from the ground into the mid-stratosphere, where direct observation is extremely limited.  A launch of Verso l'alto was conducted in October 2012 and a second launch is scheduled for December 2012.  In the October flight, radio and tracking equipment indicated the balloon rose to an altitude over 76,271 feet, covering 43.25 direct miles in a southeasterly flight path.  Throughout the journey, a radiation dosimeter recorded cosmic radiation, which generally increased with altitude.  The onboard camera captured 476 pictures during the 117 minutes of the operation.  In December 2012, it is anticipated that a new digital radiation monitor will more precisely record the variations in radiation counts in each atmospheric layer during the flight. This project brings together interdisciplinary scientists, engineers, and students, which further enhances multiple STEM fields.


On the basis of experimental data and clinical observations reported in the literature, the authors describe the development of vesico-sphincteric physiology from the stage of the foetus to adulthood. They then present the normal values for the principal urodynamic parameters (vesical capacity, urinary flow, vesical pressure and urethral pressure).


The basic idea developed in this paper is to study the viability of computing a TDNN algorithm in a systolic architecture. The main problem to adopt this kind of solution resides in the presence of the digital filter part of the NN algorithm. Such an irregularity requires the inclusion of some additional external hardware for the proper treatment of the data inputs to the pipeline. The external hardware proposed consists in two similar elements named distributor and collector. The complete algorithm is computed with the restriction of having available a pipeline of only four processors due to limitations in the area of silicon. To solve this problem, some partitioning and mapping techniques have been applied. Finally a brief discussion regarding performance aspects and conclusions are presented.<<ETX>>


Objective To study the frequency a diagnosis is made in children with early developmental impairment (EDI), and the contribution made to diagnosis by specific investigations. Design Retrospective case note review. Setting Community, neurodisability and neurology department at a UK tertiary centre. Participants Children referred to determine the aetiology of EDI where a cause was not evident on history and examination. Participants were divided into two groups: EDI and no additional features (EDI−) and EDI with additional features (EDI+). Main outcome measures The frequency a cause was found for the child's EDI and which tests contributed to a diagnosis. Results 699 participants, 68.8% boys, median age at investigation 2 years 8 months (range 3 months to 11 years 5 months). 61 (8.7%) of participants had no investigations, and children with EDI− were less likely to be investigated (χ2=12.5, p<0.05). A diagnosis was made in 166 children (23.7%) and was more frequent in EDI+ (EDI− 9.9%, EDI+ 27.3%, χ2=19.0; p<0.05). Full blood count, zinc protoporphyrin, renal or liver function, bone profile, biotinidase, creatine kinase or lead level revealed no diagnoses. The following investigations found causes for EDI: MRI (23.1%), microarray (11.5%), Fragile X (0.9%), plasma amino acids (1.2%), urine organic acids (0.9%) and thyroid function tests (0.5%). Conclusions The majority of 'screening' investigations for EDI do not contribute to a diagnosis, highlighting an area of cost saving for the NHS and reduced burden for patients and families. We propose a streamlined guideline for the investigation of EDI based on our data.


Background Parents have the primary responsibility for safety of their under-fives due to the obvious inability of children to conduct appropriate risk appraisal, and to differentiate safe from unsafe situations. The complex and multi-causal nature of child injuries demands contextual investigation of these injuries. The paucity of evidence in Iran encouraged us to conduct this qualitative research. Objective To explore parents' practices for protecting young children against unintentional home injuries. Methods Eighteen parents who had children younger than five years were recruited from three selected health centres in Tehran city. A quota sampling strategy focused on children's age and the socioeconomic status of families was utilized. Two main sources of data were employed: semi-structured in-depth interviews with parents, and observation of their home environment. Inductive thematic analysis and content analysis were used for analysing interview transcripts and observational data, respectively. Findings The interviews with parents and their home observation revealed that they prevented some domestic child injuries through both active and passive preventive measures including education, supervision, and keeping hazards out of the reach of children. However, despite parents' efforts to protect their children against injuries, several hazards were found in all homes and in different rooms. Additionally, families' performance about childproofing their home against hazards were cross-checked with their comments. Parents had positive attitudes for adopting safety measures but their knowledge regarding injury risk factors for children was poor. Conclusion Parents are more likely to adopt safety measures if they receive home safety education and are aware of injury outcomes. Further, supportive safety legislation and law enforcement as well as environmental modification are crucial for removing hazards related to home structure. Policy implications The study findings are supported by the three E's approach. They should be helpful to families, health professional, and policymakers in promoting children's safety in their homes.


The line distinguishing motor neuron diseases (MNDs) from motor neuropathies is sometimes blurred. Among MNDs, the pseudopolyneuritic form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) strictly mimics a neuropathy. We describe the clinical and electrophysiological features in the early stages of the pseudopolyneuritic ALS, and assess the disease progression in eight patients. Early symptoms were unilateral foot-drop and, less commonly, paraparesis. At the clinical examination, weakness of distal and proximal leg muscles was often detected, while the hand muscles were rarely involved and craniobulbar muscles were spared. Definite upper motor neuron signs were rare in the early stages of the disease. Electromyography (EMG) showed active denervation in the lower limbs of all patients (distal > proximal) and in the paraspinal muscles of 7 patients (lumbosacral > thoracic), and more rarely in the upper limbs. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) yielded abnormal responses (low amplitude or absent cortical motor evoked potentials and prolonged central motor conduction time) in most lower-limb recordings, while mild abnormalities were rarely observed in the upper limbs. Haematologic and cerebrospinal fluid examinations were normal. Brain and spinal MRI showed no significant abnormalities. After a three years follow-up on seven patients, all cases were nonambulatory and had upper limb weakness, and most of them had bulbar dysfunction. The electrophysiological finding of both upper and lower motor neuron involvement of the lower limbs in the early stages of the disease could be a useful marker to distinguish the pseudopolyneuritic form of ALS from other MNDs and motor neuropathies.


ABSTRACT The seeming revival of Hong Kong cinema through Hong Kong-China co-productions catered increasingly to the China market allowing major Hong Kong creative talents to prosper and even influence industry conventions and infrastructure in China. However, Hong Kong below-the-line jobs are increasingly replaced by those from China, making such careers unsustainable. Such 'mainlandized' co-productions find the more liberal Sinophone communities of Hong Kong and South East Asia harder to penetrate. Mainlandization and Hollywoodization in all Sinophone markets threatens Hong Kong film with ontological crisis. In this context, the Special Administrative Region (SAR) New Wave and their new generation of post-1980s audience make us wonder if cultural articulations that go beyond vertically imagined colonial/national identity politics are still possible; whether sensitive portrayals of inter-local Sinophone dialogues, the kind of creole translocality from below that has characterized much Hong Kong film productions are still viable, without giving up a decent China market.


We compared the biological properties of Oshima 5-10 (tick-borne encephalitis [TBE] virus isolated in Hokkaido, Japan) and Sofjin-HO (Far-Eastern subtype TBE virus) including plaque formation, virus replication and virus protein synthesis in BHK-21 cell cultures to reveal strain differences. We also determined the complete nucleotide sequences of both strains and compared the deduced amino acid sequences. Plaques of Oshima 5-10 were smaller than those of Sofjin-HO. Virus titers in culture fluid of Oshima 5-10 were 1/100 of those of Sofjin-HO at 9 and 12 hr after infection. Less viral protein and RNA syntheses of strain Oshima 5-10 was observed than with Sofjin-HO. Genetic analysis revealed 1.4% of amino acids to differ with Sofjin-HO. No difference between the two strains was detected in the motif sequence of the viral enzyme, cleavage sites of viral protein or glycosylation sites of NS1.


Assortative marriage for smoking habits was studied in 68 engaged couples, 112 newly wed couples, and 223 couples married for six years or more. All three groups showed a fairly strong correlation between couples for smoking, r = 0.332 +/- 0.047 (mean + SD). Smoking habits were highly intercorrelated with social class and education but the correlation for smoking remained highly significant, even when correction was made for these factors. Because this correlation was present even in those who have not yet married, smoking habits may well be an important factor in choosing a marriage partner


ABSTRACT Active precipitation of high-magnesian cryptocrystalline calcite cement (15.5 mole % MgCO3) in the intertidal zone on the north shore of Maui, Hawaii, results in formation of an extensive beachrock exposure at Hookipa Park. Framework grains in the beachrock are coarse algal, molluscan, and intraclast-bearing sands. Meniscus fabric is dominant in the cement, indicating that most lithification occurs in the vadose zone. The cryptocrystalline cement is generally brownish gold in color, but very thin, clear isopachous fringes of microcrystalline calcite surround darker cryptocrystalline cement, especially in upper horizons of the beachrock. Peloidal texture is scarce in the cement but is present in a few samples. Silt and fine-sand-sized skeletal fragments have been trapped in he evolving cement, resulting in cement-supported fabric. Hollow rims of microcrystalline calcite occupy some pore spaces. These hollow rims may have precipitated at the air-water interface of bubbles that formed in pores, and they may therefore be additional evidence of cementation in the vadose zone. Interstitial water samples from wells that penetrate portions of the beachrock and unconsolidated beach sands reveal temporal chemical variations that suggest the importance of CO2 degassing in the formation of beachrock cement. When chemical and tidal cycles fluctuate with the same period, PCO2 values in pore water of the intertidal zone generally bear a direct relationship to tidal stand. Increasing values of PCO2 most often occur during semi-daily rising tides and decreasing values of PCO2 occur during falling tides. Saturation ratios with respect to calcite vary in direct proportion to PCO2. Saturation levels generally increase during rising tides and decrease during falling tides. T ese data suggest that CO2 degassing during falling tides results in precipitation of calcite cement from pore water of the beach.


We present a brief pedagogical introduction to the Effective Electroweak Chiral Lagrangians, which provide a model independent description of the WW interactions in the strong regime. When it is complemented with some unitarization or a dispersive approach, this formalism allows the study of the general strong scenario expected at the LHC, including resonances.


The issue of underfunding of university education in Nigeria is a recurring one and cannot be glossed over. Under funding is viewed as bane of qualitative university education in Nigeria. This paper highlights the trend in establishment and funding of universities nothing that funding of education has remained one of the most challenging problems of universities and the government. It described the concept of quality education, how quality education is perceived in the Nigeria context and various ways in which underfunding has impinged on the quality of university education. It concluded that underfunding has became a recurring have not been sincere in their commitment towards university education. A number of recommendations to ameliorate the situation were made amongst which are: that the government and political class should muster enough political-will and allocate at least 26% of the total budget to university education as suggested by UNESCO, use of the find allocated to the universities should be closely monitored to forestall misappropriation, allowances paid to political office holders should be received downwards as this would make more money available in government offers and that money accruing from such exercise should be channelled towards providing state-of-the-art laboratories in universities, faith based organizations be made to contribute to universities funding by paying a stipulated percentage of their income to government to augment university funding.


A novel bacterial strain designated CJ70(T) was isolated from tidal flat sediment in Korea. A polyphasic approach was used to identify this strain taxonomically. The isolate was Gram-stain-negative, strictly aerobic, yellow-pigmented, rod-shaped and non-motile. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that strain CJ70(T) was related most closely to Stakelama pacifica JLT832(T) with 95.7 % similarity and formed an independent phyletic line from recognized species of the genus Sphingomonas, comprising a clade with Stakelama pacifica, which is the only recognized species of the genus Stakelama. The predominant cellular fatty acids of strain CJ70(T) were C(18 : 1)ω7c (60.0 %), C(16 : 0) (21.2 %) and C(14 : 0) 2-OH (5.8 %). The major isoprenoid quinone was ubiquinone-10. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 61.4 mol%. The results obtained from this study suggested that strain CJ70(T) represents a novel species of the genus Stakelama, for which the name Stakelama sediminis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CJ70(T) ( = KACC 16559(T) = JCM 18079(T)).


During a study of yeast diversity in marine waters of the Arabian Gulf surrounding Qatar, 30 strains were isolated that represent a novel species of Kondoa. The isolates were obtained from five locations along the Qatari coast. Species identifications were based on sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions and D1/D2 domains of the large subunit (LSU) rRNA gene. Five strains were selected for further study. The novel species was closely related to Kondoa aeria (CBS 8352T) and Kondoa malvinella (CBS 6082T) but differed from the two species by 5.6 % sequence divergence (16 substitutions and 14 gaps) in the ITS region. On the basis of D1/D2 domains of the LSU rRNA gene, the novel species differed from K. aeria by only >0.35 % sequence divergence (2 substitutions and 0 gaps) and 1.5 % sequence divergence (9 substitutions and 1 gap) to that of K. malvinella. Although the novel species showed a close similarity in the D1/D2 domains to K. aeria (CBS 8352T), based on the significant differences (16 substitutions) in ITS regions and on the basis of physiological and biochemical tests, viz ability to grow at 35 °C, and inability to assimilate, sucrose, raffinose, d,l-lactate, succinate, citrate and nitrite, these strains are considered as novel species of Kondoa. The species name of Kondoa qatarensis f.a., sp. nov. is proposed with specimen 2Y109 as the holotype.


Merger and acquisition(M&A)is a very important financial decision-making activity of enterprises, and also a hot topic in China's capital market now. The success of M&A will directly affect company value or shareholder wealth. Therefore, the information asymmetry in M&A has become a malignant tumor in the M&A market. Senior executives working in the "association" across organizations will enable enterprises to build a new social network, which may help to overcome the information asymmetry between master and target enterprises and improve the efficiency of effective identification of target enterprises.Evidenced on the listed companies of China's A-share market in 2000-2015 as the research object, we analyze "association" executives across the organization at the size of the probability of successful M&A. It is found that corporate executives in the "association" across the organization will significantly increase the probability of successful M&A and the scale of M&A, and the influence is more significant in private enterprises and enterprises of high financing constraints. Further examination shows that the influence of executives' cross-organizational position in the "association" on M&A probability and scale is only significant in national and provincial association organizations, but there is no result in the executive office of the municipal association. In addition, it is also found that executives' cross-organizational position in the "association" can significantly improve corporate performance, market return and enterprise value after M&A, which further confirms, complements and strengthens that the impact of executives'cross-organizational position in the "association" on M&A decision-making will improve the company's value effect.This paper not only enriches the literature on the influencing factors of M&A decision-making, but also provides new empirical evidence to solve the information asymmetry in M&A. Moreover, the subjects of sociology and public management are interdisciplinary with the research on corporate finance and accounting, which enriches the research objects in the fields of accounting and corporate finance, deepens and expands the literature on the influence of the "background" of corporate executives on corporate financial decision-making behavior, and provides a new perspective and explanation for the research on the social network of corporate executives, so it has a strong value and significance of policy application. In addition, the study provides necessary policy implications for regulators to identify the informal institutional factors behind M&A behaviors and strengthen the supervision on the M&A behaviors of listed companies, and provides references for social organization management departments to recognize and evaluate the functions of the "association". All in all, this paper will improve and strengthen the management of social organizations.


This paper presents the results of the experimental phase of a three year research program sponsored in part by Water Research Foundation (WRF) to form the experimental basis of an American Water Works Association (AWWA) Standard on Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) Renewal and Strengthening of Prestressed Concrete Cylinder Pipe (PCCP) that is being developed. The experimental program included full-scale three-edge bearing tests and hydrostatic pressure tests on CFRP-lined PCCP with simulated distress; laboratory testing of CFRP shear bond strength on steel substrate for use in the design of CFRP terminations; and laboratory testing of tensile and flexural ductility of different epoxies used in CFRP liners. A summary of the results of these experiments and their effect on the design, material, installation, and quality control provisions of the AWWA Standard are presented.


Widening participation has encouraged students from a diverse range of backgrounds into university. Yet, this presents challenges to ensuring not only a connected transition but one that is inclusive and positive in which all students are able to engage. None more so is this diversity found than at the post-92 universities, where many students face long commutes from the communities, they live each day, which they did not previously have. This potentially hinders their ability to fully participate and can adversely affect their sense of belonging. Moreover, timetabling related issues are found to be predominant responses in student surveys including the NSS. In London, these challenges have been compounded by lower scores in NSS/TEF (which have been referred to as the 'London effect') and where the prevalence of commuting students likely plays a major role in making it harder for these universities to establish effective learning communities that students feel part of. Our own results from of a study involving over 500 undergraduate students across the life sciences, chemistry and pharmacy at Kingston University has shown a strong negative correlation between the impact of travel time and 'the timetable works efficiently for me' (Q16NSS), which was independent of ethnicity or gender. Moreover, significant demographic differences are observed, where White, mixed White and Chinese students are found living in a very tight radius (3.77mi) around the university with the majority (64%) being able to walk, use the university bus or cycle and 75% within 0-30min. This was in comparison to Black African, Caribbean, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Arab students, who lived in a much broader radius (7.24mi) with only 29% being able to walk/use the university bus, and where 60% relied on public transport with more complex journeys and travel times double that of most White students (av.60mins). With timetabling playing such a major role in the way students perceive and interact with their learning environment understanding the challenges faced in developing more inclusive learning communities becomes even more paramount. Here, we will provide a deeper insight into the impact of commuting and timetabling on student lives that is accompanied by student/staff narratives (including from our head of timetabling), to what a sustainable student centred timetable should look like whilst at the same time highlighting the areas where significant work remains.


The concept of employing photonic crystal fibers for chemical and (photo)‐catalytical transformations is presented. These optofluidic microdevices represent a versatile platform where light and fluids can interact for spectroscopic or photoactivation purposes. The use of photonic crystal fibers in chemistry and sensing is reviewed and recent applications as catalytic microreactors are presented. Results on homogeneous catalysis and the immobilization of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts in the fiber channels are discussed. The examples demonstrate that combining catalysis and the excellent light guidance of photonic crystal fibers provides unique features for example, for photocatalytic activation and quantitative photospectroscopic reaction analysis.


Shale gas in the Sichuan Basin and its periphery potentially plays an important role in the world shale gas industry. An understanding of remigration and leakage from continuous shale reservoirs is very important for shale gas exploration, especially in the Sichuan Basin and its periphery. The shale gas accumulation models that relate to remigration and leakage were developed within the Wufeng and Longmaxi black shales in the Jiaoshiba and the Youyang blocks. First, a tectono-sedimentary history of the Wufeng and Longmaxi black shales in the Sichuan Basin and its periphery was developed based on the published literature. The history exhibits a continuous distribution of high-quality Wufeng and Longmaxi black shale, which is the foundation of the shale gas formation. Second, the shale gas remigration–accumulation model in the anticlines was clarified by using data collected from the shale gas fields in Jiaoshiba block. The shale gas model for the Jiaoshiba block was developed on the basis of a continuous shale reservoir distribution, differentiated structural deformation, and a gas self-sealed system. Third, the shale gas fault failure leakage model in the fault blocks and the erosion model in the residual areas were revealed based on the shale reservoir and shale gas content heterogeneity in the Youyang block. These two models were validated by available data including 13 two-dimensional seismic lines and 2 shale gas exploration vertical wells in the Youyang block. Shale gas areas with high gas resource and gas production rates in the anticlines were defined by the remigration–accumulation model. The fault failure leakage model was used to find shale gas with limited commercial potential, whereas commercial shale gas was largely lacking according to the erosion residual model. The study on remigration and leakage from continuous shale reservoirs in the Sichuan Basin and its periphery can be used to better understand and improve the exploration efforts based on resource preservation.


Left ventricular (LV) structure and function abnormalities are frequent in patients with chronic uraemia; these disorders increase the risk of cardiovascular (CV) and overall morbidity and mortality in the predialysed population, during dialysis treatment, and in renal transplant recipients. Since the first description of the association between chronic kidney disease (CKD) and heart disease, many epidemiological studies have confirmed and extended this finding. The risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is notably increased in patients with CKD. When adjusted for traditional CV risk factors, impaired kidney function increases the risk of CVD 2 to 4-fold. CVD is frequently underdiagnosed and undertreated in patients with CKD. This review will attempt to summarise current knowledge of the prevalence and pathophysiological mechanisms of LV disease in chronic uraemia, and to discuss useful medical strategies in this population.


Immunoglobulin A (IgA) is the main antibody isotype present in the body fluids such as tears, intestinal mucous, colostrum and saliva. There are two subtypes of IgA in humans: IgA1 mainly present in blood and IgA2, the preferentially expressed mucosal antibody. In clinical practice, immunoglobulins are typically measured in venous or capillary blood; however, alternative samples including saliva are now being considered given its non-invasive and easy collection nature.
 Since IgA deficiency could be frequently detected in patients with autoimmune diseases, we decided to evaluate the levels of both IgA subtypes in serum and saliva of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. Specific IgA1 and IgA2 levels were measured by a light chain capture-based ELISA in a cohort of 32 patients with SLE that were compared with antibody levels of healthy volunteers.
 Surprisingly, our results indicated that in saliva of SLE patients, both IgA subtypes were significantly elevated; however, serum IgA1 levels were decreased when compared with control subjects. Interestingly, we also found that salivary IgA levels, most specifically IgA1, positively correlate with the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) values as well with the amount of serum anti-nucleosomes and anti-dsDNA IgG autoantibodies. Strikingly, we also were able to detect the presence of salivary anti-nucleosome IgA antibodies in SLE patients, a feature that was not previously reported elsewhere.
 According to our results, IgA characterization in saliva could be used as a pre-diagnostic or follow-up clinical tool in SLE with easier, faster and safer to manipulate than blood samples.


A long-standing challenge in reinforcement learning is the design of function approximations and efficient learning algorithms that provide agents with fast training, robust learning, and high performance in complex environments. To this end, the use of prior knowledge, while promising, is often costly and, in essence, challenging to scale up. In contrast, we consider problem knowledge signals, that are any relevant indicator useful to solve a task, e.g., metrics of uncertainty or proactive prediction of future states. Our framework consists of predicting such complementary quantities associated with self-performance assessment and accurate expectations. Therefore, policy and value functions are no longer only optimized for a reward but are learned using environment-agnostic quantities. We propose a generally applicable framework for structuring reinforcement learning by injecting problem knowledge in policy gradient updates. In this paper: (a) We introduce MERL, our multi-head reinforcement learning framework for generalized auxiliary tasks. (b) We conduct experiments across a variety of standard benchmark environments. Our results show that MERL improves performance for on- and off-policy methods. (c) We show that MERL also improves transfer learning on a set of challenging tasks. (d) We investigate how our approach addresses the problem of reward sparsity and pushes the function approximations into a better-constrained parameter configuration.


To identify potential proteins interacting with the insulin-responsive glucose transporter (GLUT4), we generated fusion proteins of glutathione S-transferase (GST) and the final 30 amino acids from GLUT4 (GST-G4) or GLUT1 (GST-G1). Incubation of these carboxyl-terminal fusion proteins with adipocyte cell extracts revealed a specific interaction of GLUT4 with fructose 1,6-bisphosphate aldolase. In the presence of aldolase, GST-G4 but not GST-G1 was able to co-pellet with filamentous (F)-actin. This interaction was prevented by incubation with the aldolase substrates, fructose 1,6-bisphosphate or glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate. Immunofluorescence confocal microscopy demonstrated a significant co-localization of aldolase and GLUT4 in intact 3T3L1 adipocytes, which decreased following insulin stimulation. Introduction into permeabilized 3T3L1 adipocytes of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate or the metabolic inhibitor 2-deoxyglucose, two agents that disrupt the interaction between aldolase and actin, inhibited insulin-stimulated GLUT4 exocytosis without affecting GLUT4 endocytosis. Furthermore, microinjection of an aldolase-specific antibody also inhibited insulin-stimulated GLUT4 translocation. These data suggest that aldolase functions as a scaffolding protein for GLUT4 and that glucose metabolism may provide a negative feedback signal for the regulation of glucose transport by insulin.


An 8-month-old girl of consanguineous parents presented with multiple subcutaneous nodules on her limbs and trunk. Over the preceding 2 weeks, her bacillus Calmette–Guerin (BCG) wound, which had been weeping since it was administered at birth, had become significantly worse. Both BCG and skin nodules had progressed to deep ulcers surrounded by areas of erythema with scaling. Previous contacts with health services included concerns regarding delayed development and a prolonged admission for a chest infection at 3 months of age (positive for respiratory syncytial virus with Campylobacter in her stool), associated with significant growth faltering requiring nasogastric feeding.

This clinical picture raised the suspicion of severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). Skin biopsy and Ziehl–Neelsen staining demonstrated numerous acid alcohol-fast bacilli within granulomatous lesions. Analysis of lymphocyte subsets, absent lymphocyte proliferations and molecular genetics confirmed the diagnosis of SCID with maternofetal engraftment complicated by disseminated BCG. The patient has recently received a matched unrelated donor human stem cell transplantation.

Severe complications following BCG vaccination are rare and almost exclusively confined to patients with immunological impairment, in particular, SCID, chronic granulomatous disease, AIDS and complete DiGeorge syndrome.1 Individuals may present firstly to a dermatologist with subcutaneous nodules or a rash.2 The case described is used to highlight the importance of recognizing the cutaneous manifestations of disseminated BCG and to discuss the pathogenesis of the disease.

References

1 Casanova JL, Jouanguy E, Lamhamedi S et al. Immunological conditions of children with BCG disseminated infection. Lancet 1995; 346:581.

2 Al-Bhal LA. Pathological findings for bacilli Calmette–Guerin infections in immunocompetent and immunocompromised patients. Am J Clin Pathol 2000; 113:703–8.


BACKGROUND
Even though intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is a current treatment for Kawasaki disease (KD), 10-20% of patients require additional therapy. This study seeks to investigate the therapeutic effects of glucocorticoids plus IVIG on KD and to ascertain the subsequent effect on platelet activation during the acute phase.

METHODS
A total of 32 children with KD were randomly classified into two groups: the experimental group (16 cases) and the control group (16 cases). The control group was exposed to IVIG (2 g/kg), whereas children in the experimental group were treated with IVIG (2 g/kg) + glucocorticoid. Peripheral venous blood samples were obtained from all participants before treatment as well as three days post-treatment to test platelet activation levels with procaspase activating compound-1 (PAC-1) antibody, Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), interleukin-6 (IL- 6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), procalcitonin (PCT), and C-reactive protein (CRP). Fever duration posttreatment was documented for both groups. Additionally, the coronary arteries in both groups were evaluated during three months of treatment.

RESULTS
After treatment, the experimental group had remarkably lower levels of TNF-α, CRP, PCT, IL-6, PAC- 1, and TLR4 relative to the control group. The fever persistence rate was considerably elevated in the control group compared to the experimental group (log-rank, P=0.024). In addition, the z-score of coronary artery size dropped after IVIG + glucocorticoids treatment compared to the control group, although this difference was not significant.

CONCLUSIONS
The IVIG + glucocorticoids can quickly mitigate the inflammatory response and platelet activation. Moreover, it can also improve clinical symptoms in children with KD.


Both in social science and in everyday life, 'respect' is an important and widely used term to describe positive conduct of one person towards another. However, just what respectful behaviour refers to, and how it can be differentiated from considerate, tolerant, kind, etc. behaviour continues to elude social-scientific analysis. In order to investigate the meaning that people give to the concept of respect, the authors carried out focus groups in that participants discussed two vignettes regarding respect and a very closely related concept – considerateness. A systematic analysis of the transcripts preliminary supported the study's hypothesis that respect is a form of behaviour which refers to the ascribed agency of another person, as opposed to non-agential properties such as needs or feelings.


The ability to make learning resources readily available to students via course websites can mean that attendance falls and learning suffers. To address this it is necessary to engage students in different ways which provides an opportunity to change the delivery of courses. But the implementation of blended learning or the flipped classroom with greater engagement and interactivity with peers and learning content is not something that can be simply done. Each approach has its own particular pedagogy and requires particular support mechanisms. Here we present our experience of a coordinated approach to provide students with a comprehensive set of online learning resources and engage them in the classroom to encourage attendance and potentially deeper and more meaningful learning outcomes. The target group was first year environmental science students in their first semester. Three courses were adjusted to various levels to incorporate elements of a flipped classroom approach and/or a blended approach. Course coordinators worked with a pedagogical expert and an experienced science specialist who has considerable experience in digital and innovative approaches to university teaching. The paper presents each person's goals, approaches and perceptions of the extent to which they were successful. Students' impressions gleaned from their responses to the standard assessment of teaching will also be presented.


Roman historian Livy claimed that "Envy has no other quality than that of detracting from virtue." More than one thousand years later this statement can be used to illuminate the virulent relationship between the Muscovites and the Magyar expatriates in America as well as the impetuous consanguinity within the Hungarian-American community itself, following World War II. The jealousy and rivalries that the political emigres exhibited not only precipitated the political deficiencies of the individuals involved, but also the organizations that they created or led. Ironically, the factionalism following the Second World War epitomized the political divisions that existed in Hungary before, during and immediately after the war. Fundamentally, the various emigres retained the same personal and political animosities that they held in Hungary, while residing in the United States. This factionalism impeded the expatriates in several ways: 1) of successfully unifying Magyars in Hungary against the Muscovites; 2) of combating the evils of the Muscovites directly; and 3) of gaining the support of the United States government. So, even though all of the Magyar politicians in America sought the similar goal of eliminating the evils of Communism in their homeland, their personal jealousies and factionalism were the major factors that contributed to their ineptness and overall failures. On April 4, 1945, the Red Army drove the last Axis Troops out of Hungary. Immediately thereafter the Hungarian National Front, which unified in 1944 to topple the fascist regime of World War II, took control of the Magyar nation. All of its members--comprising five political parties including the Communists--agreed initially both to institute a democratic form of government and mend the physical and economic conditions of the war-torn country, agreeing that once they had restored order and repaired the damages, the Red Army would then exit Hungary. However, in the ensuing years, rather than withdrawing from the nation, the Soviets imposed a Communist regime on the country which lasted until 1989. This defeat incited major discord among scores of Hungarians at home and abroad, especially since they had such a tumultuous history concerning the Russians. Emperor Franz Josef extinguished the nationalistic fire of the Revolution of 1848 only with the help of Tsar Nicholas I. Thereafter, in the unpopular and short-lived Communist government under Soviet sponsored Bela Kun--from March until August 1919--inflamed even greater animosity against the Russians. Accordingly, the surreptitious Communist take over following World War II incited a tremendous amount of nationalist fervor and anti-Russian sentiments for Hungarians all over the world. During the postwar years, particularly the decade following the war, 1945 to 1955, Hungarians around the world, including individuals and organizations in the United States, lobbied for one common goal, to free their homeland from the Muscovites: the most intense efforts transpired immediately after the war and with the onset of the 1956 Revolution. Unfortunately for the expatriates, their efforts proved futile. For the most part, this failure was due to the factionalism inherent and pervasive between the various immigrant organizations and more so the personal animosities between their leading expatriates. The factionalism impeded any unified movement which might have proved successful in aiding their homeland; created animosities between the new emigres and those already established Magyars in America; and caused United States officials to question their sincerity and validity, particularly since the infighting was brutal and even childish on most occasions. Thus, in spite of their common goal, to free Hungary from the Communists grasp, the Hungarian emigres were unable to work together in a peaceful manner--in spite of their common ethnicity--thereby completely frustrating any of their efforts, made from 1945 to 1955, to hinder the Communist take over, more specifically that of the Soviet trained and championed Muscovites. …


Many changes occur with age, including changes in emotion regulation and memory. The Socioemotional Selectivity Theory (Carstensen, 2006) posits that older adults tend to be more concerned with emotionally meaningful goals and therefore experience what is called the "positivity effect" with age. The positivity effect results in a bias in attention and memory towards positive stimuli over neutral and negative stimuli. Age-related changes also arise in memory monitoring, specifically in Judgments of Learning (JOLs), when individuals learn emotional words. We examined the presence of the positivity effect in memory and JOLs for positive, negative, and neutral words. Younger and older adults (N=83) viewed words of each valence category and made immediate JOLs, followed by a two-alternative forced choice recognition memory task. The positivity effect was not supported in number correct on the memory task, but it was suggested by the number of positive lures incorrectly identified by older adults relative to that of younger adults. Importantly, JOL ratings suggested a positivity bias in older adults and an emotional salience effect in younger adults. Results of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) also provided support for the positivity effect in affect scores for older adults relative to younger adults. These results strongly suggest that the positivity effect extends beyond performance on a memory task to metacognition and emotion.


Rhesus monkey infants fed a marginally zinc-deficient diet (4 ppm) from conception through 12 mo of postnatal life were monitored for changes in hematological, biochemical, and immunological parameters. These zinc-deprived (ZD) infants were compared to control infants whose mothers were fed a zinc-replete (100 ppm) diet either ad libitum (AL) or pair-fed (PF) throughout gestation and lactation. Blast transformation of peripheral blood lymphocytes to phytohemagglutinin (PHA-P), concanavalin A (Con A), and pokeweed mitogen (PWM), was dramatically depressed in the zinc-deficient (ZD) group. Similarly, ZD infants had reduced polymorphonuclear leukocyte function as measured by chemotaxis to endotoxin-activated plasma and phagocytosis of Candida albicans. Levels of serum IgM were significantly altered in zinc-deficient infants compared to controls. Serum concentrations of IgG and IgA were similar in zinc-deficient and control infants. ZD infants also manifested a hypochromic microcytic anemia at one month of age, reduced activity of the zinc metalloenzyme alkaline phosphatase, and lower activity of SGPT.


This work presents an extended Joint Factor Analysis model including explicit modelling of unwanted within-session variability. The goals of the proposed extended JFA model are to improve verification performance with short utterances by compensating for the effects of limited or imbalanced phonetic coverage, and to produce a flexible JFA model that is effective over a wide range of utterance lengths without adjusting model parameters such as retraining session subspaces. Experimental results on the 2006 NIST SRE corpus demonstrate the flexibility of the proposed model by providing competitive results over a wide range of utterance lengths without retraining and also yielding modest improvements in a number of conditions over current state-of-the-art.


Aim Plant distributions are influenced by species' ability to colonize new areas via long-distance dispersal and propensity to adapt to new environments via niche evolution. We use Otoba (Myristicaceae), an ecologically dominant tree genus found in low-to-mid elevation wet forests, as a system to understand the relative importance of these processes within the Neotropics, a region characterized by high species richness and a diversity of biomes. Location Neotropics and global Taxon Otoba and entire Myristicaceae Methods We resolve the first phylogeny of Otoba using targeted sequence capture phylogenomics. We pair this with the most densely sampled phylogeny of Myristicaceae to date, inferred using publicly available data. We then use phylogenetic comparative methods to infer biogeography and examine patterns of niche evolution. Results Myristicaceae has an Old World origin, with a single expansion event into the Americas. Divergence dates, fossil evidence, and a notable lack of long-distance dispersal are consistent with a Boreotropical origin of Neotropical Myristicaceae. Mirroring the rarity of dispersal at the family level, Otoba's biogeography is marked by few biogeographic events: two expansions into Central America from a South American ancestor and a single dispersal event across the Andes. This limited movement contrasts with rapid climatic niche evolution, typically occurring across geographically proximate habitats. Main conclusions Contrasting with previous studies, long-distance dispersal does not need to be invoked to explain the pantropical distribution of Myristicaceae, nor the biogeography of Otoba. This likely results from the family's relatively large seeds that are dispersed by large-bodied vertebrates. Instead, rapid niche evolution in Otoba has facilitated its occurrence throughout mesic habitats of the northern Neotropics, including the Amazon rainforest and Andean montane forests. Otoba adds to a growing group of Neotropical plant clades in which climate adaptation following local migration is common, implying an important role of niche evolution in the assembly of the Neotropical flora. Significance statement Species distributions across the climatically and topographically heterogenous Neotropics are explained by a combination of local adaptation and dispersal. The relative importance of these mechanisms is clade dependent. We find that niche evolution in geographically proximal habitats is much more common than long-distance dispersal to preadapted regions in the tree genus Otoba, which includes both hyperdominant Amazonian species and narrow Andean endemics. The lack of long-distance dispersal is likely due to Otoba's large seeds. Our results add to a growing body of literature demonstrating a key role of labile niche evolution across steep environmental gradients in Neotropical plant biogeography.


Energy and space propulsion are two of the largest applied research areas requiring contributions from fundamental physical sciences, due to the growing world-wide demand in energy and continuing interests in expanding the frontier of deep space exploration. One of the common thrust areas in these two disciplines is plasma physics, the study of the motion of charged particles and their interaction with the electromagnetic field. The characterization of these plasma systems requires a comprehensive understanding of the physics of charged particles, collisional and radiative interactions among these particles, and how they interact with the electromagnetic field.This dissertation presents some advances in the development of hydrodynamic models for plasma modeling and simulations in highly non-equilibrium conditions. Expressed in the form of conversation laws, these governing equations are solved by a finite volume discretization with a high-order reconstruction procedure and a multi-stage time integration method. High-fidelity collisional-radiative (CR) models are constructed by taking into account various elementary processes responsible for the excitation and ionization kinetics. The accuracy of the CR model is benchmarked against different experimental shock tube data, and yields satisfactory agreement for a wide range of flow conditions. A mechanism reduction scheme, based on a level grouping approach, is derived to lower the complexity of the CR kinetics while maintaining sufficient accuracy to capture the non-equilibrium dynamics of the plasma kinetics. The method is shown to be more accurate and efficient than standard level grouping approach, and is suitable for multidimensional flow calculations. Although the hydrodynamic or fluid approach offers a convenient way to model the system, it requires some assumptions on the time and length scales, which in some case might be violated. Fortunately, small deviations from these assumptions can still be captured by extending the fluid equations to multi-fluid equations, which characterize the plasma species (ions and electrons) via their own set of conservation laws. The extension of the CR model to the multi-fluid regime requires a new derivation for exchange source terms. A model for excitation and deexcitation collisions within the multi-fluid framework is derived, starting from kinetic theory, where the model obeys the principle of detailed balance. The multi-fluid equations developed in the current work are used to study ion acceleration in laser-plasma interaction. The role of the laser parameters and the mechanism of the acceleration are examined in detail, demonstrating the capabilities of this computational framework.


Since the 1985 M 8.0 central Chile earthquake, national strong-motion seismic networks have recorded ten megathrust earthquakes with magnitudes greater than M 7.5 at the convergent margin, defined by the contact between the Nazca and South American plates. The analysis of these earthquake records have led to improved hazard analyses and design codes for conventional and seismically protected structures. Although strong-motion baseline correction is required for a meaningful interpretation of these records, correction methods have not been applied consistently in time. The inconsistencies between correction methods have been neglected in the practical use of these records in practice. Consequently, this work aims to provide a new strong-motion database for researchers and engineers, which has been processed by traceable and consistent data processing techniques. The record database comes from three uncorrected strong motion Chilean databases. All the records are corrected using a four-step novel methodology, which detects the P-wave arrival and introduces a baseline correction based on the reversible-jump Markov chain Monte Carlo method. The resulting strong motion database has more than 2000 events from 1985 to the date, and it is available to download at the Simulation Based Earthquake Risk and Resilience of Interdependent Systems and Networks (SIBER-RISK) project website.


Hair cells (HCs) are the sense receptors for the auditory and vestibular systems. I report here that asteroid, a gene identified in an ENU mutagenesis screen for deafness/vestibular dysfunction mutants, encodes vesicular glutamate transporter 3 (Vglut3). Hair cells in ast -1fish show normal FM 1-43 uptake-indicative of normal mechanotransduction-and display no obvious morphological defects, suggesting that the ast defect is in neurotransmission. In situ hybridization shows that vglut3 is expressed in hair cells of the ear, whereas vglutl and -2 are not. A splicing defect that results in the exclusion of exon 2 from vglut3 mRNA correlates with the ast phenotype; however, the genomic lesion is not located in exonic sequence, suggesting that the lesion is likely in an intronic splicing regulatory element. Morpholinos directed against the vglut3 start codon and intron 2 splice sites delete ex on 2 in ~50% of vglut3 transcripts and cause a balance defect reminiscent of, though weaker than, the asteroid phenotype. While there is no apparent difference in synaptic ribbon number or ribbon localization in ast mutants, ultrastructural analysis reveals a decrease in the number of ribbon-associated synaptic vesicles, perhaps indicating a role for Vglut3 in synaptic vesicle biogenesis and/or trafficking. Thus Vglut3 may have roles beyond neurotransmitter transport. These results provide the first unambiguous identification of the hair cell vesicular glutamate transporter, and establish the asteroid mutation as a platform on which to conduct further investigation into hair cell synaptic biology.


e-Thermal is a vehicle level thermal analysis tool developed by General Motors to simulate the transient performance of the entire vehicle HVAC and Powertrain cooling system. It is currently in widespread (global) use across GM. This paper discusses the details of the airconditioning module of e-Thermal. Most of the literature available on transient modeling of the air conditioning systems is based on finite difference approach that require large simulation times. This has been overcome by appropriately modeling the components using Sinda/Fluint. The basic components of automotive air conditioning system, evaporator, condenser, compressor and expansion valve, are parametrically modeled in Sinda/Fluint. For each component, physical characteristics and performance data is collected in form of component data standards. This performance data is used to curve fit parameters that then reproduce the component performance. These components are then integrated together to form various A/C system configurations including orifice tube systems, txv systems and dual evaporator systems. The A/C subsystem uses airflow rates, temperatures, humidity's and compressor speed as inputs. The outputs include overall system energy balance, system COP, refrigerant flow rates and system pressures. The A/C simulation runs about three times faster to three times slower than real time. The modeling technique used is also capable of tracking the effect of system charge on the overall system performance. A database of automotive air conditioning components accompanies the simulation tool. This database is then integrated in e-Thermal to provide the component data for modeling. Validation results for component level models are demonstrated. They form the basis of system level models. System level validation is also demonstrated. The simulation times vary from 3 times faster than real time to 5 times slower than real time depending on the nature of the simulation.


Probabilistic principal component analysis (PPCA) seeks a low dimensional representation of a data set in the presence of independent spherical Gaussian noise, Sigma = (sigma^2)*I. The maximum likelihood solution for the model is an eigenvalue problem on the sample covariance matrix. In this paper we consider the situation where the data variance is already partially explained by other factors, e.g. covariates of interest, or temporal correlations leaving some residual variance. We decompose the residual variance into its components through a generalized eigenvalue problem, which we call residual component analysis (RCA). We show that canonical covariates analysis (CCA) is a special case of our algorithm and explore a range of new algorithms that arise from the framework. We illustrate the ideas on a gene expression time series data set and the recovery of human pose from silhouette.


From electron-irriadiation studies, it is known that point defects can strongly affect the electrical properties of GaAs-based MESFET's, MODFET's, solar cells, resonant-tunneling diodes, MIMIC circuits and other devices. As an example, 1 × 10 16 cm −2 , 1 MeV electrons reduce the transconductance in a 1 μm by 200 μm MESFET by nearly an order of magnitude. Fortunately, annealing at 350 °C for 10 min. can largely restore the device performance, although not without some adverse effects. Point defects, or simple point defect complexes, can also exist in as-grown GaAs and affect devices in several different ways. For example, an As-rich stoichiometry can lead to an abundance of Ga vacancies, and thus to a higher Si donor activation in implanted MESFET devices; however, it can also promote an increase in unwanted impurities which sit on the Ga site. As another example, extremely high (> 3 × 10 19 cm −3 ) concentrations of As arntisites, which are found in MBE GaAs grown at 200°C, lead to very unusual electrical and optical properties, and make possible a highly useful buffer material anid a very fast photoconductive switch. However, there are also adverse effects here, such as slow-transients in some MODFET devices, which may result from defect diffusion. Thus, the effects of point defects in GaAs devices must be understood.


The Endocrine Society Clinical Guidelines on Androgen Therapy in Women (henceforth referred to as the Guidelines) do not necessarily represent the opinion held by the many health-care professionals and clinicians who are specialized in the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of women's health in androgen insufficiency states. The recommendations provided in the published Guidelines are neither accurate nor complete. We disagree with the therapeutic nihilism promoted by these Guidelines. The members of the Guidelines Panel (henceforth referred to as the Panel), in their own disclaimer, stated that the Guidelines do not establish a standard of care. Based on data available in the contemporary literature, on the role of androgens in women's health, we provide in this commentary a point-by-point discussion of the arguments made by the Panel in arriving at their recommendations. It is our view that the Guidelines are not based on the preponderance of scientific evidence. Health-care professionals, physicians, and scientists often disagree when determining how best to address and manage new and emerging clinical issues. This is where we stand now as we endeavor to understand the role of androgens in a woman's health and welfare. Indeed, some basic facts are not in contention. All agree that dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) production from the adrenal gland begins during the preteen years, peaks in the mid 20s, then declines progressively over time. In contrast, ovarian androgen (i.e., testosterone) secretion commences at puberty, is sustained during a woman's peak reproductive years and declines as a woman ages, with a more rapid and steep decrease after surgical menopause. However, there are ample data to suggest that adrenal androgens play a role in the development of axillary and pubic hair, and that testosterone is critical for women's libido and sexual function. We take this opportunity to invite members of the Panel on Androgen Therapy in Women to discuss, clarify, comment, or rebut any of the points made in this Commentary. It is our goal to elevate this debate in order to provide women who are afflicted with androgen insufficiency and sexual disorders with the highest quality health care and to relieve their distress and suffering, as well as to improve their quality of life.


Abstract This article presents automatic generation control (AGC) of a two-area interconnected power system with diverse energy sources using the bacteria foraging optimization technique. The control areas of interconnected power systems consist of hydro, thermal, and gas power plants. In this study, the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) structures of AGC regulators are designed for various case studies identified herein. An artificial intelligent optimization algorithm using the modeling behavior of E. Coli bacteria present in human intestines, is applied to tune the gains of PID structured AGC regulators. The closed-loop system dynamic response plots are obtained with designed AGC regulators for various power system models. The effectiveness of the proposed AGC regulators is demonstrated in the wake of a 1% step load disturbance in one of the control areas. It has been shown that the system dynamic responses subject to a step load disturbance are superior over other power plant combinations in a control area with only thermal and gas power plants participating in the AGC schemes, and it is sluggish/poor when only hydro power plants participated in the AGC scheme as one of the diverse sources in the power system.


Literature on the media representation of probation highlights that probation as a 'brand' and concept is poorly understood and lacks public visibility. This has implications for its legitimacy and credibility. In this article we explore probation's visibility in one country, the Republic of Ireland, through a critical analysis of print media representations of probationover a 12-year period (2001 to 2012). While our study finds that the majority of the coverage of probation was either positive or neutral in tone, we note a recent shift towards a more negative tone that we argue is reflective of the changing shape of the penal-probation boundaries. These changes are linked to resourcing of the criminal justice system and have implications for the public perception of probation.


Staphylococcus spp., especially S. aureus species, are part of the normal microbiota of healthy humans and animals, but it can also be opportunistic pathogens. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) is a serious health problem since it shows resistance to almost all β-lactam antibiotics. In 2005, for the first time, a genetic MRSA clonal complex CC398 was detected associated with livestock (MRSA-LA), whose main reservoir are pigs. Since then, it has been observed a large dissemination of this genetic lineage, as well as the transmission to people in direct or indirect contact with farm animals. In 2011, a new mec gene (mecC) was described associated with genetic lineages of S. aureus adapted to animals, especially CC130. MRSA-mecC is an emerging problem, detected in production and free-living animals, and also sporadically in people. The human, animal, and environmental ecosystems, are interconnected allowing a flow of bacteria and genes between them. The study of bacterial molecular epidemiology requires a global and integrating approach (one world, one health), such as the one proposed in this thesis.
Environmental samples [surface water, treated and untreated sewage water from waste water treatment plants (WWTP)], and free-living animals [small mammals, red deer and white storks] have been studied for the isolation and characterization of Staphylococcus. Likewise, using the whole genome sequencing, a comparison of CC130 strains of different origins and of CC398 strains was made, both clonal complexes being emerging in the animal-human interface.
A high variability of species was detected in wastewater and surface waters: S. aureus, S. equorum, S. vitulinis, S. lentus and S. sciuri being the most abundant in WWTP waters, and S. aureus, S. epidermidis, S. vitulinis, S. sciuri and S. fleurettii the most frequent ones in surface waters. A MRSA-ST398-t011 strain which with a multiresistant phenotype (scn-negative) was detected in treated wastewater. The remanding S. aureus strains from WWTP were susceptible to methicillin but some of them contained numerous enterotoxin genes. In surface waters, no MRSA strains were detected, and the isolated S. aureus belonged to CCs associated with humans (CC5) or adapted to animals (CC130, CC133). The 21.8% of coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CoNS) isolated from the WWTP contained the mecA gene, and 15.6% presented a multiresistance antimicrobial phenotype. These percentages raised to 30.5% and 23.7%, respectively, in CoNS of surface waters.
Coagulase positive Staphylococcus (CoPS) strains of free-living animals were characterized, and detected prevalences for S. aureus were as follows: small mammals (13%), red deer (24.6%), and white storks (34.8%); a big difference was detected in storks, depending on where they were fed: areas with human influence (55.8%) or natural areas (16.3%). Moreover, 2% of small mammals and 17% of deers animal samples obtained from the same farm) were carriers of MRSA strains, all of them mecC-positive, typed as ST1945 and carrying genes of IEC system (type E). This is the first description of MRSA-mecC-IEC-positive strains. To date, no IEC-positive strain belonging to CC130 has been described. The similarity of these strains in the analysis carried out suggests an animal-animal transmission. The remaining S. aureus of red deer and small mammals were susceptible to methicillin and to the other antimicrobials tested, being described as CC5 and CC1956 (in small mammals) and CC133 (in red deer). On the other hand, the clonal diversity of S. aureus isolated from white storks was very high, highlighting the detection of three MRSA strains, one mecC-IEC-negative (ST3061-CC130), and two mecA-positive (one CC5 and another CC398-LA). Among the MSSA strains, CC398 lineage with different spa-types was detected (between them: t571, IEC type C, and erm(T)-positive, associated with invasive infections in humans). Other lineages detected were: CC5, CC7, CC22, CC30, CC45, CC59 and CC133.
The analysis of the complete genome sequences of 18 S. aureus isolated from multiple animal species belonging to 6 sequences type ascribed to CC130 (14 MRSA and 4 MSSA) allowed to establish possible phylogeny relationships. The obtained results show that, except for the ST700 lineage, the core genome did not present differential characteristics that allowed to group the strains according to the animal species or the geographical origin area, although there seems to be a certain clustering depending on the methicillin resistance phenotype and the sequence type.
The study of comparative genomics of two strains ST398-t011, one MSSA and another MRSA, isolated from a swine driving men, showed that both belonged to the animal clade and that they had a very high clonal relationship. The results obtained suggest the evolutionary change from MRSA to MSSA due to the loss of the mecA gene (associated with the loss of a 17342pb fragment), probably due to the recombination of putative primase which caused a SCCmec remnant.


The status of marine caves as cryptic, fragmented and vulnerable biotopes require appropriate conservation measures and protection planning. These biotopes represent one of the most important natural heritages in the Mediterranean and recently they have been indeed inserted in the EU Habitat Directive.
These extreme environments are colonized by peculiar faunas composed of species able to tolerate to survive these conditions and characterized by selected adaptive strategies. In addition, the caves, as the islands are isolated and discontinuous habitats that limit or gene flow between populations, making the cave faunas of ideal subjects for speciation analysis.
The aim of present tesis is was to contribute to increase the knowledge, conservation and sustainable use of natural resources represented by the cave fauna of Sardinia, Sicily and the Mediterranean Sea with particular regard to the Porifera.
The collaboration with other research groups allowed to increase the expertise also on other cave-dwelling model taxa rich in endemic species such as the freshwater planarians (Tricladida, Turbellaria), and the Sardinian endemic Speomolops sardous ( Coleoptera Carabidae ).


The structure of the Streptomyces sp. strain C5 daunorubicin type II polyketide synthase (PKS) gene region is different from that of other known type II PKS gene clusters. Directly downstream of the genes encoding ketoacylsynthase alpha and beta (KS alpha, KS beta) are two genes (dpsC, dpsD) encoding proteins of unproven function, both absent from other type II PKS gene clusters. Also in contrast to other type II PKS clusters, the gene encoding the acyl carrier protein (ACP), dpsG, is located about 6.8 kbp upstream of the genes encoding the daunorubicin KS alpha and KS beta. In this work, we demonstrate that the minimal genes required to produce aklanonic acid in heterologous hosts are dpsG (ACP), dauI (regulatory activator), dpsA (KS alpha), dpsB (KS beta), dpsF (aromatase), dpsE (polyketide reductase), and dauG (putative deoxyaklanonic acid oxygenase). The two unusual open reading frames, dpsC (KASIII homolog lacking a known active site) and dpsD (acyltransferase homolog), are not required to synthesize aklanonic acid. Additionally, replacement of dpsD or dpsCD in Streptomyces sp. strain C5 with a neomycin resistance gene (aphI) results in mutant strains that still produced anthracyclines.


BACKGROUND Jefferson's fracture, first described in 1927, represents a bursting fracture of the C1 ring with lateral displacement of the lateral masses. It has been determined that if the total lateral mass displacement (LMD) exceeds 6.9 mm, there is high likelihood of transverse atlantal ligament (TAL) rupture, and if LMD is less than 5.7 mm TAL injury is unlikely. Several recent radiographic studies have questioned the accuracy and validity of the "rule of Spence" and it lacks biomechanical support. OBJECTIVE To determine the amount of LMD necessary for TAL failure using modern biomechanical techniques. METHODS Using a universal material testing machine, cadaveric TALs were stretched laterally until failure. A high‐resolution, high‐speed camera was utilized to measure the displacement of the lateral masses upon TAL failure. RESULTS Eleven cadaveric specimens were tested (n = 11). The average LMD upon TAL failure was 3.2 mm (±1.2 mm). The average force required to cause failure of the TAL was 242 N (±82 N). From our data analysis, if LMD exceeds 3.8 mm, there is high probability of TAL failure. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that although the rule of Spence is a conceptually valid measure of TAL integrity, TAL failure occurs at a significantly lower value than previously reported (P < .001). Based on our literature review and findings, LMD is not a reliable independent indicator for TAL failure and should be used as an adjunctive tool to magnetic resonance imaging rather an absolute rule.


A new set of thienylphenothiazine-integrated pyrenes have been prepared by Stille coupling reactions in good yields and characterized by optical, electrochemical, thermal and electroluminescence investigations. The optical properties of these dyes are highly dependent on the chromophore density on the pyrene nucleus. Thus, the tetra-substituted derivative displayed the most red-shifted absorption and emission profiles among the series, indicative of an extended π-conjugation length. And the molar extinction coefficients increased progressively from mono- to tetra-substitution, attributable to the increment in the chromophore density. Interestingly, the physicochemical properties of the isomers such as 1,6- and 1,8-disubstituted derivatives remained unaltered by positional tuning. The emission profiles of the dyes are tuned from the cyan to the orange region in accordance with the chromophore substitution. All the dyes displayed positive solvatochromism in the emission spectra, whereas their absorption profiles are insensitive to solvent polarity, indicative of a more polarized excited state of the dyes. These dyes exhibited exceptional thermal stability with remarkable thermal decomposition temperatures, which fell in the range of 585–669 °C. The oxidation propensity of these dyes increases with increasing phenothiazine loading, while the LUMO is well stabilized by tetra-substitution. Solution processable multilayer OLEDs were fabricated by using the selected dyes featuring mono-, di- and tetra-substitution either as host emitters or dopants in the CBP host matrix and found to exhibit decent device performances. Intriguingly, the 1,6-substituted isomer exhibited superior performance over the 1,8-substituted isomer.


The number of deaths from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning remained constant for many years but has recently started to fall. There are three reasons. Firstly, it has become more fashionable to commit suicide by more sophisticated methods, particularly now that tranquillisers and antidepressants are widely prescribed. Secondly, Britain's domestic gas supply is being changed over from coal gas to natural gas, which contains no carbon monoxide-though so far only an eighth of the country has actually been converted to the new gas. Thirdly, and perhaps most significant, is the changeover which has taken place in the manufacture of gas for domestic use, coal carbonization having given way to oil reforming. Techniques for reducing the amount of CO present have also been introduced, but as G. Thurston' has shown, inadequate combustion or ventilation can be lethal even when the original fuel contains no CO. So in about eight years, when the whole country has been converted to natural gas, there will still be numbers of patients with CO poisoning needing resuscitation. Recently J. S. Smith and S. Brandon2 reviewed 206 episodes of CO poisoning in Newcastle. The mortality rate was 3900. In 20% of patients recovery was complicated by prolonged delirium suggesting that "all degrees of functional or structural neurological damage may have occurred, yet oxygen therapy was given in only 43.8% of suicidal and 32-5% of accidental exposures." They suggest that in view of the risk of persistent neuropsychiatric sequelae current patterns of management should be revised. In selecting a form of therapy there are two aspects to consider: firstly, the prevention of death and, secondly, the reduction of neuropsychiatric sequelae such as those described by H. Garland and J. Pearce.3 Carboxyhaemoglobin should be eliminated as quickly as possible because its presence alters the dissociation curve of the remaining oxyhaemoglobin, impeding oxygen release to the tissues.4 J. S. Haldane5 was the first to describe the use of hyperbaric oxygen in CO poisoning, when he failed to poison a mouse placed in a jar containing two atmospheres of oxygen and one of CO. This was all the more remarkable for the fact that the affinity of haemoglobin for CO is about 250 times that for oxygen. Hyperbaric oxygen keeps the patient's tissues oxygenated by the oxygen physically dissolved in the plasma at a time when his haemoglobin is not available to him for oxygen transport. It is also the most efficient means of reducing the carboxyhaemoglobin level, as was shown by T. A. Douglas and his colleagues6 in 1962 when they compared the efficiencies of oxygen at one atmosphere's pressure, oxygen at two atmospheres' pressure, and of 50/% and 70% carbon dioxide in oxygen. Doctors confronted with a patient suffering from CO


Joined-up government (JUG) has been a notable feature of many national governments, not least the UK Labour government (1997 onwards) with its emphasis on welfare modernisation, tackling engrained social problems, and evidence-based policy. This article focuses on the ways in which JUG has been implemented in England although we draw comparisons with the different approaches in Wales and Scotland, as devolution has provided an interesting natural experiment. Certainly during its early years in power, the Labour government regarded JUG as a critical mechanism to achieve its goal of narrowing the "health gap" between different social groups since the requisite policy response is, by general agreement, inter-sectoral and cross-governmental.Responsibility for tackling the health gap does not reside within one policy sector or department but rather is a total or whole government issue. This article reviews previous efforts to promote JUG in the area of health inequalities, examines the factors which have shaped JUG over the past 13 years or so, and evaluates its implementation. Although JUG has helped keep health inequalities on the policy agenda, the evidence from newly introduced structures and processes (such as targets and cross-departmental units and committees) suggests that JUG remains poorly integrated within the government machinery.Many of the basic dilemmas of JUG thus continue to apply to policies aimed at tackling health inequalities. The article draws conclusions about the impact of JUG in recent years and the likelihood of reducing health inequalities. A new approach to governance in respect of "wicked problems" (such as health inequalities) is called for.


It is argued that the Calibrated Bayesian (CB) approach to statistical inference capitalizes on the strength of Bayesian and frequen- tist approaches to statistical inference. In the CB approach, inferences under a particular model are Bayesian, but frequentist methods are useful for model development and model checking. In this article the CB approach is outlined. Bayesian methods for missing data are then reviewed from a CB perspective. The basic theory of the Bayesian ap- proach, and the closely related technique of multiple imputation, is described. Then applications of the Bayesian approach to normal mod- els are described, both for monotone and nonmonotone missing data patterns. Sequential Regression Multivariate Imputation and Penalized Spline of Propensity Models are presented as two useful approaches for relaxing distributional assumptions.


To investigate older drivers' perceptions of vehicle functions that compensate for aging effects, including different levels of automation and various types of warning functions, we conducted a survey among older drivers in South Korea. Participants ( N = 118 men and 45 women; age range 55–75 years) reported on how important they perceived each function to be. Results showed that, for older drivers, the importance of warnings about the surrounding environment was significantly greater than that of warnings about the driver's condition and the car's status. Further, fully automatic functions were significantly less preferred to warning and assistive functions. These results indicate that the characteristics and needs of older adults should be taken into account in relation to the design of vehicle functions.


The case of a patient with abdominal crisis and shock without any discernible origin who died 36 hours after hospital admission despite maximal therapy is described. Gram-negative sepsis, peritonitis and haemochromatosis with hepatic siderosis was the post-mortem diagnosis. We consider spontaneous peritonitis arising from translocation of normal intestinal flora (E. coli) through the intact wall of the gut combined with the impaired ability of the reticulo-endothelial system to remove endotoxin to be the causative factors. It is unknown whether the adrenal insufficiency due to siderophilic adrenal hypophysis and adrenal glands contributed to the fulminant course of the disease. Undiagnosed liver cirrhosis and especially haemochromatosis should therefore be included in the differential diagnostic considerations in patients presenting with these symptoms, and in whom no obvious cause for a septic focus can be found.


The goal of this paper is to problematize allegorical readings of Kafka. Ever since the first publication of his works, commentators have constructed escapes from his difficult texts into external systems of thought, starting with Max Brod's negative theology and continuing today with unreflective applications of poststructuralist theory. I will focus on "Die Sorge des Hausvaters" (1917) as a case study, though I will also touch on Die Verwandlung (1915), "Von den Gleichnissen" (1922) and the aphorisms. Allegorical readers of "Die Sorge des Hausvaters" have sought to tame the text and its wild creature, Odradek, by establishing stable correspondences between text and theory, replacing Odradek, in all its unknowability, with some element of their own understanding. Some readers have been more careful, building their allegories based on the coherence of the text instead of its correspondence to an external system of ideas: Wilhelm Emrich was first among them. Through an analysis of Emrich's reading of "Die Sorge des Hausvaters," I will show that this self-allegorizing route, too, is insufficient. Using Kafka's aphorisms, I will argue that an interpretation of his works must deal only with their sensus literalis. Their truth is autonomous: independent of reference, undetermined by a conceptual framework. While my analysis is indebted to Deleuze and Guattari, I will move beyond their interpretation of the animal stories as failed escapes and show how Gregor Samsa's metamorphosis and Odradek's ontological evolutions point the way to a new kind of experiential and textual truth. Kafka's texts serve as markers of ecstatic transformation that Kafka sought in the possibilities of writing. Our task as readers is not to reduce these deeply ambiguous flights of language to representation but to engage creatively those very becomings that reading Kafka entails.


Background: Although there is a little evidence of social media, especially short message service or SMS, enhancing maternal-neonatal outcomes, clinical trials with social audio-video networking improving their maternal-neonatal outcomes have not been investigated yet.

Objective: To determine whether antenatal-health education through audio-video social network about severe obstetric symptoms can provide earlier management and better maternal-neonatal outcomes.

Materials and Methods: Using an open-label randomized controlled trial, the difference of the rate of preterm birth, neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), stillbirth, and perinatal mortality between the control group of routine antenatal health education and the intervention group with audio-video social networking about severe obstetric symptoms was analyzed. Between April 2015 and July 2018, the investigator randomly assigned 1,160 antenatal women in the control (n=558) and the intervention groups (n=602). Data from 832 participants (control n=400, intervention n=432) were available for analyses.

Results: The intervention group had an inconclusively non-significant difference in the rate of preterm birth when compared with the control group (8.1% versus 11%), odds ratio (OR) 0.8 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.5 to 1.2); p=0.260 with the statistical power of 0.26. However, the rate of neonatal RDS was significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group with statistical significance (0.9% versus 3.8%), OR 0.3 (95% CI 0.1 to 0.9); p=0.028. There was a significant difference in labor pain duration before admission between the intervention and the control groups (121.7±95.3 versus 139.2±7.0 minutes), coefficient –17.7 (95% CI –31.4 to –4.0); p=0.011.

Conclusion: Antenatal health education through audio-video social networking was found to significantly lower the rate of the neonatal RDS, which was the result of a significant shorter labor-pain time. The shorter labor-pain time plays a role in the early management of preterm birth and low birth weight.

Keywords: Social networking, Mobile phone, Antenatal care, Health education, Maternal outcome, Neonatal outcome, Preterm birth


Universities, like other trademark owners, often claim that their brands are supported by meaningful core values. With less expensive products, consumers may test the quality of goods or services without sacrificing high opportunity costs. Thanks to this common purchasing game of trial and error, trademarks are thought by economic theorists to incentivize investment in quality. This incentive mechanism may explain much about the consumer-producer relationship for products like diapers that are bought repeatedly if the consumer has a positive experience with the product's style, price point, design and ability to prevent leaking. For more expensive, one-time purchases, like a college education, consumers do not have the same opportunity to experiment. Because schools sell themselves with seemingly interchangeable values, consumers must search for new ways to discern authenticity and quality before the point of purchase. This article proposes that one window into a brand's authenticity is the extent to which its consumer community demands adherence to specific core values in moments of crisis. A pair of case studies examines how two communities responded when their law schools deans were accused of sexual harassment. The demands of the consumer communities compelled very different results. These stories demonstrate the pivotal role a consumer community may play in identifying an educational brand's core values and compelling institutional commitment to them.


Objectives To determine the pooled effectiveness and feasibility of telerehabilitation in patients with COVID-19. Design Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Data sources PubMed, CINAHL, Science Direct, PEDro, Google Scholar and Cochrane Library databases were systematically searched to the end of March 2022. Eligibility criteria and outcomes RCTs investigating the effects of telerehabilitation in the management of patients with COVID-19 were included. The outcomes of interest were functional capacity, cardiopulmonary exercise tests, quality of life and other variables where data are available. Data extraction and synthesis Two reviewers screened, extracted data and performed methodological quality assessment independently. The revised Cochrane Risk of Bias tool was used to assess the risk of bias. Review Manager V.5.4 and Stata V.14.0 software were used for statistical analysis. Mean difference (MD) with 95% CI and the corresponding p value were used to determine the treatment effect between groups. A fixed-effect model was used for all variables as no significant heterogeneity was observed. Results Four studies with 334 patients with COVID-19 were included. The pooled result of telerehabilitation showed statistically significant improvement on 6-minute walking test (MD 75.50; 95% CI 54.69 to 96.30; p=0.48), 30-second sit-to-stand test (MD 1.76; 95% CI 1.47 to 2.04; p=0.30), Borg Scale (MD 2.49; 95% CI 2.16 to 2.83; p=0.28) and level of dyspnoea (MD 6.26; 95% CI 5.42 to 7.10; p=0.66). The overall treatment completion rate was 88.46%, and the most common reason for withdrawal after randomisation was lost to follow-up or uncooperativeness. Conclusions The findings showed that telerehabilitation interventions could improve functional capacity and exercise perception among patients affected by COVID-19 and can be implemented with a high completion rate and minimal adverse events. However, more studies are required to investigate the effects on cardiopulmonary function, quality of life, anxiety, depression and other variables. PROSPERO registration number CRD42021287975.


This paper presents a behavioral finance model of the exchange rate. Agents forecast the exchange rate by means of very simple rules. They can choose between three groups of forecasting rules: fundamentalist, extrapolative and momentum rules. Agents using a fundamentalist rule are not able to observe the true value of the fundamental exchange and therefore have to rely on an estimate of this variable to make a forecast. Based on simulation analysis we find that two types of equilibria exist, a fundamental and a non-fundamental one. Both the probability of finding a particular type of equilibrium and the probability of switching between different types of equilibria depend on the number of rules available to agents. Furthermore, we find that the exchange rate dynamics is sensitive to initial conditions and to the risk perception about the underlying fundamental. Both results are dependent on the number of forecasting rules.


Abstract : Control strategies are investigated for friction compensation in servomechanisms. As part of the investigation, several different models of friction are reviewed and analyzed for their relevancy to the control problem. Models of friction at zero and near-zero velocities are of particular concern since in this regime friction can introduce oscillations. These different models are considered in friction-compensating adaptive control design. Three friction-compensating adaptive controllers are designed based on strategies proposed in the literature. Adaptive controllers are well-suited to the friction compensation problem since they are nonlinear and have the additional advantage of providing system identification and tracking of slowly-varying parameters such as friction parameters. Stability analyses are performed for the controllers and yield asymptotic stability results for the system error. An original stability proof employing passivity theory is provided for one of the controllers. To test the effectiveness of the adaptive controllers, an experimental program is designed and implemented on a direct drive dc motor. Comparative position trajectory tracking experiments are performed with the three adaptive controllers, a controller with dither (a commonly-used heuristic friction-compensating controller), and a traditional linear controller used as a benchmark. The results show that the adaptive controllers outperform the more traditional heuristic and linear controllers. Additionally, the experiments yield insight into the appropriateness of the different friction models under the tested operating conditions. In particular, the less popular Dahl model is observed to provide a reliable representation of friction behavior near zero velocity.


This paper focuses on the role of a local sports club in shaping the lives of British African-Caribbean males in one British city over a 40-year period. The paper describes how the 'Meadebrook Cavaliers' has transitioned from its origins as an East Midlands parks-based football team in 1970 to a successful senior-level local football club by the early 1980s, before finally achieving a further social and financial organizational complexity in its charitable status, attained in 2009. Attention is paid specifically to the social formation of this largely masculine 'black' sport space over time and on how, and in what ways, these developments in local sport in one club in one British city are also intimately connected to wider social, economic and political developments in the UK. In doing so, the paper demonstrates, both theoretically and empirically, how the emergence of 'black' local football resonates with social change around 'race' politics in Britain during the period 1970–2010. By the same token, this mainly black male sporting space continues to reflect and influence change in the wider political, social and sporting terrains within which the club has been located – and within the dynamic black African-Caribbean communities which constitute it.