Abstract Risk-based regulation is growing in popularity and in the UK has official backing as part of the government's modernization programme. State and non-state regulators alike are under pressure to adopt risk-based approaches. With radical reform of the General Medical Council (GMC) in progress, the rhetoric of risk-based regulation is used by both the Department of Health and the GMC, and is evident in the 2007 White Paper Trust, Assurance and Safety—The Regulation of Health Professionals in the 21st Century. This paper focuses on the dilemmas inherent in risk-based approaches to regulation by the GMC. Two sources of difficulty are examined. First, the evidential demands can be heavy and costly. Databases and information sources related to patient safety and the performance of doctors are proliferating, but have important limitations. Second, decisions about which risk factors to include and how to weight them are riddled with difficulties, both technical and normative. One attraction of risk-based approaches is that they seem to offer objectivity, but it is questionable how far this is possible in practice. Risk information is neither generated nor used against a neutral background. In the medical regulation arena, questions of public trust and confidence are crucial: risk-based regulation does not help deal with these. Furthermore, a focus on individual doctors and a certain amount of blame and sanctioning would seem to be integral to regulatory functions of such bodies as the GMC. The paper poses fundamental questions about how blame-free these systems really can be.


We applaud the efforts of Rohr and coworkers 1 who published a further contribution addressing the cause of stroke in young adults with a case-control study. 2 The authors make reference only to history of hypertension and diabetes and current cigarette smoking though other modifiable or unmodifiable risk factors, such as diet, obesity, migraine, alcohol abuse, oral contraceptive use, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertriglyceridemia, might have been easily included in their analysis. Their data on history of hypertension and current cigarette smoking are consistent with our odds ratios ranging from 2.7 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.9-8.1) to 3.6 (95% CI, 1.7-7.5) in the different hypertension categories and the 3.4 odds ratio (95% CI, 2.3-5.1) that we found for current smoking. 2 Rohr and coworkers 1 also found very high odds ratios for diabetes (22.9 in white men and 6.2 in white women, respectively), which were higher than expected. In fact, while the


Objectives Providing access to hospice services will become increasingly difficult due to the pressures of an ageing population and limited resources. To help address this challenge, a small number of services called Virtual Hospice have been established. This paper presents early-stage design work on a Virtual Hospice to improve access to services provided by a hospice (Highland Hospice) serving a largely remote and rural population in Scotland, UK. Methods The study was structured as a series of Experience Labs with Highland Hospice staff, healthcare professionals and patients. Experience Labs employ a participatory design approach where participants are placed at the centre of the design process, helping to ensure that the resultant service meets their needs. Data from the Experience Labs were analysed using qualitative thematic analysis and design analysis. Results A number of themes and barriers to accessing Highland Hospice services were identified. In response, an initial set of seven design principles was developed. Design principles are high-level guidelines that are used to improve prioritisation and decision making during the design process by ensuring alignment with research insights. The design principles were piloted with a group of stakeholders and gained positive feedback. Conclusions The design principles are intended to guide the ongoing development of the Highland Hospice Virtual Hospice. However, the challenges faced by Highland Hospice in delivering services in a largely remote and rural setting are not unique. The design principles, encompassing digital and non-digital guidelines, or the design approach could be applied by other hospices in the UK or overseas.


Repertory grid analysis was employed as a means of constructing representations of learners conceptions of living things (described in previous work). Experts in biology and secondary school science learners were probed for their representations of living things. Clearly, a theory is at work in the mind of the experts. The question now is: how many of the students share this theory? A record of commonality
is required, and for that a social network framework is necessary. Therefore, representations were compared using the SOCIO program which measures the similarity between individuals and a visual network produced for the groups studied. This work is part of an overall project examining the learners' innate ability to classify and categorize living things. Classification and categorization are neglected in science curricula which has implications with respect to the renewed emphasis in education on learning about biodiversity. It was found that whereas there is a commonality with respect to learners' conceptions, the commonality is measurable and that learners often operate within a 'pre-scientific' or folk-biological mode, experts operate within a highly formalized mode based on their training, and that notwithstanding such a difference in modes, there remains a degree of commonality between learners and experts.


—Real hardware PLCs are quite pricey, and some-times are unaffordable for scientists/engineers to build up small testbeds, and conduct their experiments or academic researches. For all that, the OpenPLC project introduces a reasonable alternative option and offers flexibility in programming codes, simulating physical processes and also the possibility of being utilized with low-cost devices e.g., Raspberry Pi and Arduino Uno. Unfortunately, the OpenPLC project was designed without any security in mind i.e., it lacks protection mechanisms such as encryption, authorization, anti-replay algorithms, etc. This allows attackers to fully access the OpenPLC and makes unauthorized changes e.g., start/stop the PLC, setting/updating passwords, removing/altering the user-program, and others. In this paper we conduct intensive investigations and disclose some vulnerabilities existing in the OpenPLC project, showing that an attacker without any prior knowledge neither to the user credentials, nor to the physical process; can access critical information and ma-liciously alter the user-program the OpenPLC executes. All our experiments were conducted on the latest version of the OpenPLC i.e., V3. Our experimental results proved that attackers can confuse the physical process controlled by the infected OpenPLC. Finally we suggest security recommendations for the OpenPLC founder and engineers to close the disclosed vulnerabilities and have more secure OpenPLC based environments.


The objectives of this study were to determine the antioxidant activities and antimicrobial activities of the flavonoid glycoside, flavonoid aglycone, flavonol and anthocyanin extracts of 'Bung a Raya' (Hibisucs rosa-sinensis) leaves and petals against Listeria monocytogenes L55 and Salmonella typhimurium S1000. The antioxidant activities of Hibiscus extracts were evaluated by the 2, 2' -diphenyl -l-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and p-carotene bleaching methods. Anthocyanin extracts of petals had the highest total phenolic contents (67.80:t 0.80mg/g extract in gallic acid equivalent) among the Hibiscus extracts tested. The anthocyanin and flavonoid aglycone extracts showed a good scavenging ability in DPPH radical scavenging and exhibited an excellent total antioxidant activity in I²-carotene-linoleic acid assay. Both tester bacteria susceptibility profiles were carried out using various antibiotics to show that both tester bacteria which used for antimicrobial test were in inherent or have not occured any mutation. The result indicated that L. monocytogenes was sensitive to all antibiotics tested and only resistance to Oxacilin (1µg). Meanwhile S. typhimurium was resistant to Penicillin G (10µg) and Oxacillin (1µg) but susceptible to other antibiotics. Disc diffusion method was used to screen the antimicrobial activity of each extract on both tester bacteria. Flavonoid aglycone extracted from the leaves seems to be the most active extracts with largest inhibition zone towards L. monocytogenes (19.75± 0.50 mm) and S. typhimurium (18.34 ±0.52 mm). Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of the extracts were investigated by using the broth dilution method. MIC and MBC value of flavonoid aglycone was the lowest followed by anthocyanin, flavonoid glycoside and flavonol on both tested organisms. The flavonoid aglycone inhibited L. monocytogenes and S. typhimurium with MIC values of 21.50 mg/ml and 23.45 mg/ml respectively. Meanwhile the MBC value of this extract on the same bacteria was determined as 22.48 mg/ml and 25.41 mg/ml. Flavonol was found less effective in controlling L. monocytogenes and S. typhimurium with higher MIC (82.02 mg/ml and 132.82 mg/ml). The decimal reduction times required by L. monocytogenes population in broth system containing flavonoid aglycone and anthocyanin were 10.38 hours and 10.19 hours respectively according to their MIC values. As a conclusion, flavonoid aglycone and anthocyanin extracts showed a good antimicrobial activity among the Hibiscus extracts and therefore both flavonoid aglycone and anthocyanin have the potential for further studies of their effectiveness in the development of a natural preservative.


We have investigated the effects of androgen or oestrogen treatment of female or male tammar wallabies from the day of birth, when the gonads are histologically undifferentiated, to day 25 of pouch life, when the gonads and the Wolffian and Müllerian ducts have differentiated and the testes have migrated through the inguinal canal. Female tammars treated with testosterone propionate (24-50 mg kg-1 day-1) orally for 25 days had enlarged Wolffian and Müllerian ducts. Mammary and pouch development, however, was indistinguishable from that of control females. The treatment had no apparent effect on ovarian development, or on ovarian position in the abdomen. The phallus of males and females was similar in size, and neither experimental treatment had a significant effect on its size at day 25. Male tammars treated with oestradiol benzoate (1.2-2.5 mg kg-1 day-1) orally for 25 days had gross hypertrophy of the urogenital sinus. Testicular morphology was abnormal; many of the germ cells appeared necrotic, the seminiferous tubules were of reduced diameter, and there were few Leydig cells and increased amounts of fibrous tissue between the tubules. The cortex of these gonads contained some areas which had an ovarian appearance, lacking tubules and containing numerous germ cells. The Müllerian ducts of control males had regressed, but this was prevented by oestrogen treatment, suggesting an inhibition of either Müllerian Inhibiting Substance (MIS) production or its action. Normal testicular migration was inhibited in treated males; the testes remained high in the abdomen, similar in position to the ovaries of control females, whilst control males all had testes in the inguinal region. The gubernaculum and processus vaginalis of control males extended into the scrotum, but in treated males they terminated outside it. Oestrogen treatment had no effect on the size of the scrotum and did not induce mammary or pouch development. These experiments show that marsupials, like eutherians, have a dual hormonal control of Wolffian and Müllerian development. By contrast, the initial development of the mammary glands, pouch, gubernaculum and scrotum does not appear to be under hormonal control and is therefore likely to be autonomous and dependent on genotype.


This paper describes the design process of a full aerodynamic package of a Formula SAE (FSAE) style race car. The meaning of a full aerodynamic package in this context is a front wing, a rear wing and a diffuser; the focus will however be on the wings. The vehicle for which the aerodynamic package is designed is the Chalmers Formula Student (CFS) 2012 FSAE car, but vehicle data logged from the CFS 2011 FSAE car was used during the design phase. This data was used to evaluate how the aerodynamic package will influence the behaviour of the vehicle, both in terms of lateral and longitudinal acceleration as well as fuel consumption, in order to determine whether or not an aerodynamic package can enhance the vehicle performance. The main tool used during the design process was numerical simulations (computational fluid dynamics, CFD) and special attention was paid to post-processing of these simulations. It was concluded that although the resolution of the simulations was relatively low, valuable insights on how the air flows over the vehicle was obtained using CFD. The manufactured aerodynamic package was also evaluated during pre-competition testing using an on-board data acquisition system as well as flow-visualisation tufts.


Studies the dynamics of parallel manipulators. We first have a brief review and discussion on different dynamics formulations in the literature (Newton-Euler, direct Lagrangian, and Lagrange-D'Alembert formulation on the reduced system). Then we show the equivalence of these methods. Based on the concepts from differential manifolds, we prove that away from configuration singularity, there exists a projection from the joint space to parameterize the configuration space. The fact that the dynamics is well defined even at actuators singularity, end-effector singularity and other kinds of parameterization singularity is highlighted. For the method of reduced systems, there are two main drawbacks. Firstly the joints being cut for forming the tree system are presumed to have no external torque. Secondly the force and torque applied to other links of the manipulator is not considered. We propose two methods to remedy the situation. Firstly by cutting a link instead of a joint, all the joints torque can be incorporated into our equations of motion. This is useful not only for the case of actuating all the joints, but also if we consider compensating the joints friction. Secondly we propose a concept of transforming force to the generalized force space so that all the other forces and torque can be considered.


We have studied the magnetic field, temperature and frequency dependencies of the complex sheet conductance, σ(ω,T), of 1–3 unit cell (UC) thick YBa2Cu3O7-x films sandwiched between semiconducting Pr0.6Y0.4Ba2Cu3O7-x layers. Experiments have been carried out at frequencies between 2 MHz -1 GHz, with one-spiral coil technique and at 250–500 GHz, by aid of a quasi optical spectrometer based on backward-wave oscillators. We have found a very large shift of the superconducting transition onset temperature and of the maximum Reσ(T) position to higher temperatures with increasing ω. The dependence of Hc2(T) is exponential close to Tc, with a break in a slope at the Berezinski-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) temperature TBKT, due to the vortex-antivortex pair unbinding, and linear below TBKT because the Abrikosov vortex formation. We have compared our experimental results with the extended dynamic theory for the BKT transition and found that the research explored the dynamics of bound vortex-antivortex pairs with short separation lengths.


In the mammalian brain, astrocytes modulate neuronal function, in part, by synchronizing neuronal firing and coordinating synaptic networks. Little, however, is known about how this is accomplished from a structural standpoint. To investigate the structural basis of astrocyte-mediated neuronal synchrony and synaptic coordination, the three-dimensional relationships between cortical astrocytes and neurons was investigated. Using a transgenic and viral approach to label astrocytes with enhanced green fluorescent protein, we performed a three-dimensional reconstruction of astrocytes from tissue sections or live animals in vivo. We found that cortical astrocytes occupy nonoverlapping territories similar to those described in the hippocampus. Using immunofluorescence labeling of neuronal somata, a single astrocyte enwraps on average four neuronal somata with an upper limit of eight. Single-neuron dye-fills allowed us to estimate that one astrocyte contacts 300–600 neuronal dendrites. Together with the recent findings showing that glial Ca2+ signaling is restricted to individual astrocytes in vivo, and that Ca2+ signaling leads to gliotransmission, we propose the concept of functional islands of synapses in which groups of synapses confined within the boundaries of an individual astrocyte are modulated by the gliotransmitter environment controlled by that astrocyte. Our description offers a new structurally based conceptual framework to evaluate functional data involving interactions between neurons and astrocytes in the mammalian brain.


The Rayleigh lidar at the Centre d'Essais des Landes has been adjusted to provide continuous day and nighttime measurements when clear weather permits with high resolution in both time and space. These measurements are processed to show tidal effects in the 30- to 80-km height range. The observed temperature variations in two 11-day series of data, from November 1988 and January 1989, are treated by spectral analysis and by least squares fitting sinusoids for 12- and 24-hour periods. The observed tidal amplitudes correspond with experimental results from rocket studies and are generally consistent, though somewhat larger than predicted in theoretical models. Observed lidar phases are roughly corroborated by radar observations and also follow the same general trends as model predicitions.


ABSTRACT Multiple burial in medieval burial grounds are often interpreted as a result of disease, but it is difficult to test such hypotheses, as most acute infectious diseases leave no visible evidence on skeletal material. Scientific dating can potentially associate multiple burials with historically documented epidemics, but the precision required to exclude alternative explanations would normally be attainable only by dendrochronology. Here, we argue that by combining archaeological, osteological and paleodiet research in a Bayesian framework, we can exploit differences in dietary reservoir effects to refine the dates of multiple burials, and potentially date such events to within a range of <20 years. We present new radiocarbon (14C) and stable isotope (δ13C, δ15N) results from a medieval multiple grave at St Alban's Odense, on the island of Funen in central Denmark. We show the ca. 150-yr spread in 14C ages of the five juveniles is compatible with differences in the amount of fish they consumed. Our chronological model, which combines marine reservoir effect correction with calendar age offsets based on osteological evidence, dates the multiple burial to cal AD 1425–1445 (95% probability), an interval in which two plague epidemics took place in Denmark.


Eighteen insulin-dependent diabetic (IDD) and 15 healthy control women participated in a study of the relationship between glycemic control or renal function measurements and the levels of magnesium, calcium and copper in the serum and urine. In the IDD women glycosylated hemoglobin averaged 9.8 +/- 0.5% and the fasting plasma glucose was 1.89 +/- 0.19 g/L. The glomerular filtration rate, approximated from creatinine clearance, averaged 125 +/- 16 ml/min in the IDD women in comparison to 82 +/- 4 ml/min in the controls. IDD women had lower serum (p less than 0.001) and higher urinary (p less than 0.01) magnesium levels than did the controls; serum and urinary copper levels and serum ceruloplasmin levels all were higher (p less than 0.01) in the IDD women. There was no difference in either serum or urinary calcium levels between the two groups. In the IDD women serum magnesium was related to urinary glucose (r = -0.758, p less than 0.01) and to glycosylated hemoglobin (r = -0.603, p less than 0.01); none of the other measurements of serum or urinary minerals was related to measures of glucose control. Urinary calcium and copper levels, but not urinary magnesium, were correlated with the glomerular filtration rate (r = 0.476, p less than 0.05 and r = 0.554, p less than 0.05, respectively). The results of this study suggest that IDD alters the utilization of magnesium, calcium, and copper, but that these three minerals are not affected in the same way by physiological changes associated with the disease.


Background Several studies have revealed that the Masai, pastoralists in Tanzania, have low rates of coronary heart disease despite a diet high in saturated fat. It has also been suggested that they may be genetically protected. Recent studies detailing other potential protective factors, however, are lacking. Methods A cross-sectional investigation of 985 Tanzanian men and women (130 Masai, 371 rural Bantu and 484 urban Bantu) with mean age of 46 (9.3) years. Anthropometric measures, blood pressure, serum lipids, and the reported dietary pattern and physical activity level were assessed. Results 82% of Masai subjects reported a high fat/low carbohydrate intake, whereas 77% of the rural Bantu subjects reported a low fat/high carbohydrate intake, while a high fat/high carbohydrate intake was the main dietary pattern of the urban Bantu group as, reported by 55%. The most conspicuous finding for the Masai was the extremely high energy expenditure, corresponding to 2565 kcal/day over basal requirements, compared with 1500 kcal/day in the rural and 891 kcal/day for the urban Bantu. Mean body mass index among the Masai was lower than the rural and urban Bantu. Mean systolic blood pressure of the Masai was also lower compared with their rural and urban Bantu counterparts. The Masai revealed a favourable lipid profile. Conclusion The potentially atherogenic diet among the Masai was not reflected in serum lipids and was offset probably by very high energy expenditure levels and low body weight.


The matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), MMP-2 and MMP-9, share structural and substrate similarities and are up-regulated during human as well as animal models of inflammatory bowel disease. We recently demonstrated that epithelial-derived MMP-9 is an important mediator of inflammation and tissue damage in colitis. In this study, we examined the role of MMP-2 in acute colitis. Colitis was induced using two models, administration of dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) and Salmonella enterica subsp. serovar Typhimurium (S.T.). Bone marrow chimeras were performed using bone marrow cells from wild-type (WT) and MMP-2−/− mice. Colitis was evaluated by clinical symptoms, myeloperoxidase assay, and histology. MMP-2 protein expression and activity were up-regulated in WT mice treated with DSS or S.T. MMP-2−/− mice were highly susceptible to the development of colitis induced by DSS (or S.T.) compared with WT. During inflammation, MMP-2 expression was increased in epithelial cells as well as in the infiltrating immune cells. Bone marrow chimera demonstrated that mucosa-derived MMP-2 was required for its protective effects toward colitis. Furthermore, we demonstrate that severe colitis in MMP-2−/− is not due to a compensatory increase in MMP-9. Finally, we show that MMP-2 regulates epithelial barrier function. In contrast to MMP-9, mucosa-derived MMP-2 may be a critical host factor that is involved in the prevention or cessation of the host response to luminal pathogens or toxins, an important aspect of healing and tissue resolution. Together, our data suggest that a critical balance between the two gelatinases determines the outcome of inflammatory response during acute colitis.


The junctional form of epidermolysis bullosa (JEB) is an inherited blistering disease in which blisters occur at the level of the lamina lucida in the cutaneous basement membrane zone. Specific mutations have been detected in the genes encoding different components of the hemidesmosomal‐anchoring filament complex. In the recessively inherited lethal (Herlitz) type of JEB (H‐JEB), typically nonsense mutations or insertions or deletions are present on both alleles of any of the three genes encoding the polypeptide subunits of the anchoring filament protein, laminin 5. In this study, we searched for mutations in a proband who presented at birth with severe and extensive blistering. We detected a novel 1 bp deletion and a previously reported hotspot mutation (R635X) in the LAMB3 gene. This mutation combination established the diagnosis of H‐JEB in this case, in which attempted diagnosis by skin biopsy had failed. The molecular analysis was performed shortly after birth while the patient was admitted to the intensive care unit, and the definitive molecular diagnosis allowed the parents and physicians to devise management plans.


We performed Monte Carlo simulations in order to determine, by means of microdosimetry calculations, tumour control probability (TCP) curves for treatments with 225Ac-PSMA of metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Realistic values of cell radiosensitivity, nucleus size and lesion size were used for calculations. As the cell radiosensitivity decreased, the nucleus size decreased and the lesion size increased, the absorbed dose to reach a given TCP increased. The widest variations occurred with regard to the cell radiosensitivity. For the Monte Carlo simulations, in order to address a non-uniform PSMA expression, different 225Ac-PSMA distributions were considered. The effect of these different PSMA distributions resulted in small variations in the TCP curves (maximum variation of 5%). Absorbed doses to reach a TCP of 0.9 for a uniform 225Ac-PSMA distribution, considering a relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of 5, ranged between 35.0 Gy and 116.5 Gy. The lesion absorbed doses per administered activity reported in a study on treatments with 225Ac-PSMA of mCRPC ranged between 1.3 Gy MBq-1 and 9.8 Gy MBq-1 for a RBE = 5. For a 70 kg-patient to whom 100 kBq kg-1 of 225Ac-PSMA are administered, the range of lesion absorbed doses would be between 9.1 Gy and 68.6 Gy. Thus, for a single cycle of 100 kBq kg-1, a number of lesions would not receive an absorbed dose high enough to reach a TCP of 0.9.


Background: Dermatological infections are the most common cases in the daily pet clinic. Since its discovery in 1990, Staphylococcus schleiferi subspecies coagulans have been reported more frequently in canine otitis externa and pyoderma and even in cases of zoonoses. Aim: Detect the presence of S. schleiferi subsp. coagulans of canine otitis externa and pyoderma, its antimicrobial resistance, and the presence of mecAgen. Methods: Three-hundred-thirty-one swabs from dogs with otitis externa and pyoderma were cultured on bacteriological agar for bacterial isolation and subsequent biochemical and molecular identification. The identified S. schleiferi subsp. coagulans were evaluated for their antimicrobial susceptibility using the Kirby–Bauer technique, including an oxacillin disk, and subsequently, a PCR was run to identify which ones had the mecA gene. Results: Thirty-four (22.97%) and twelve (6.56%) isolates were identified as S. schleiferi subspecies coagulans from otitis externa and pyoderma, respectively. Fluoroquinolones, the most widely used group of antibiotics in Peru, showed a susceptibility of 58.82% (20/34) in cases of otitis externa and 50% (6/12) in cases of canine pyoderma. Meanwhile, nitrofurantoin was the antibiotic with the best efficacy in both cases, with 97% (33/34) in otitis externa and 83% (10/12) in pyoderma. Furthermore, 40% (13/34) of S. schleiferi subsp. coagulans isolated from otitis externa were resistant to methicillin, and 85.29% (29/34) had the mecA gene. On the other hand, the only methicillin-resistant isolate from pyoderma was also the only one with a mecA gene. Conclusion: This study is the first report of S. schleiferi subsp. coagulans in Peru, finding a higher percentage than reported in other South American countries.


Both the organization of the penitentiary system -as structured within the legislative framework- and its practical implementation reflect society's representations of crime as well as perceptions of its prevention and combat. This work study will focus upon the Greek penitentiary system based on the prison officers' views and perceptions. The sample of the present research consists of 37 guards serving in Greek penitentiary institutions. The findings of the research indicate the managerial quality of the reforms attempted in the country during the last two decades. The major problems of the penitentiary system are the following: insufficient organizational infrastructure, overcrowding of prisons, weaknesses in administrative organization and inefficient care system. Additionally, the education and training of prison officers is insufficient. State policies should aim at developing actions which will take into account both empirical data and scientific findings.


ZSM-5-type zeolite membranes were synthesized at 130 °C on alumina supports coated with seed crystals by vacuum seeding. Compact and uniform ZSM-5 layers were formed on the support surfaces when the amount of seed was less than 1 mg/cm2. Higher loading of seed crystals resulted in an asymmetric structure with a compact and uniform ZSM-5 layer on top, the support at the bottom, and the seed layer in between. Fifty-one membranes were prepared on supports coated with different amounts of seed. About 70% of the membranes synthesized on seeded supports were impermeable to nitrogen before calcination, whereas all nine membranes synthesized on plain supports were permeable to nitrogen before calcination. One-third of the membranes synthesized on seeded supports had N2/SF6 ideal selectivity higher than the quality criterion of 40 after calcination. Membranes with high N2/SF6 ideal selectivity also showed high n-C4H10/i-C4H10 separation selectivity.


To perform their multiple functions, cilia and flagella are precisely positioned at the cell surface by mechanisms that remain poorly understood. The protist Trypanosoma brucei possesses a single flagellum that adheres to the cell body where a specific cytoskeletal structure is localised, the flagellum attachment zone (FAZ). Trypanosomes build a new flagellum whose distal tip is connected to the side of the old flagellum by a discrete structure, the flagella connector. During this process, the basal body of the new flagellum migrates towards the posterior end of the cell. We show that separate inhibition of flagellum assembly, base-to-tip motility or flagella connection leads to reduced basal body migration, demonstrating that the flagellum contributes to its own positioning. We propose a model where pressure applied by movements of the growing new flagellum on the flagella connector leads to a reacting force that in turn contributes to migration of the basal body at the proximal end of the flagellum.


The capsular polysaccharides of Cryptococcus neoformans have historically been divided into three components namely, glucuronoxylomannan (GXM), galactoxylomannan (GalXM), and mannoprotein (MP) but their relative spatial-geographical relationship in the capsule is unknown.  To explore this problem would require the capacity for visualizing these components in the capsule.  Prior studies have reported serological reagents to GXM and GalXM but no antibodies are available against MPs.  Consequently, we immunized Balb/c mice with C. neoformans recombinant mannoprotein 98 and recovered twelve monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) of which one, an IgG2a designated 18F2, bound to intact cells by immunofluorescence. mAb 18F2 bound to the cell wall surface in acapsular and encapsulated cells.  Using mAb 18F2 and previously generated antibodies to GXM and GalXM we have established the localization of three capsular components GXM, GalXM and one type of mannoprotein, MP98 on the C. neoformans cell.  The results show that MP98, like GalXM, is found near the cell wall and this information allows us to begin to discern the geography of the cryptococcal capsule.


This paper discusses the novel adaptive optical closed loop system with bimorph mirror as a wavefront corrector and Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor to compensate for the aberrations of the laser beam occurred during the distribution of the beam from laser to processed material. Adaptive system can correct for the low-order aberrations in the real-time, the frequency of corrected aberrations is less then 25 (30) Hz. The amplitude of such aberrations, about 7 microns. These parameters are mostly determined by utilized Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor. Number of corrected aberrations - up to 15th Zernike polynomial (excluding tip-tilt).


Background: Coeliac disease is a gluten-sensitive enteropathy where pro-inflammatory cytokines and excess nitric oxide (NO) production can contribute to mucosal damage. NO urinary products are elevated in coeliac children on a gluten diet, but it is not known how rapidly this increase develops after gluten exposure. Methods: Oral gluten challenge was performed in 25 children whose families kept a daily record of gluten intake and symptoms. Blood was analysed monthly for antigliadin (AGA) and endomysium antibodies (EMA). Urine was analysed every second week for NO products, i.e. the sum of nitrite and nitrate was measured with a colorimetric method. We performed a third biopsy when clinical symptoms indicated a relapse. Median age at the post-challenge biopsy was 3.8 (2.7-8.8) years. Results: Signs of morphological or serological relapse were seen in all children. Mean daily gluten intake was 0.10 (range 0.02-0.26) g/kg bodyweight. Median NO level was doubled and significantly higher after 4 weeks of challenge but not after 2 weeks. EMA, but not AGA levels, correlated positively with NO. Intraepithelial lymphocyte count was significantly higher in the post-challenge biopsy, but did not correlate with the NO levels. Conclusions: NO products in urine increased during gluten challenge. EMA levels reflected severity of mucosal damage, and NO products reflected the inflammatory response, which was doubled after 4 weeks of challenge. The NO analysis is simple and non-traumatic for the child. It can be performed repeatedly during investigation of children with suspected coeliac disease.


The Operational Land Imager (OLI) is one of two instruments onboard the Landsat 8 platform, which was launched on 11 February 2013 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The multispectral bands of OLI retain the 30-m spatial resolution of Landsat 5 TM and Landsat 7 ETM+, but improvements to the system include 12-bit radiometric resolution, eight multispectral bands in the VNIR and SWIR spectral regions, and one panchromatic band. The earlier TM and ETM+ sensors use a whiskbroom configuration, while OLI uses a pushbroom configuration, which allows it to have a higher signal-to-noise ratio than previous Landsat instruments. This also creates challenges in radiometric calibration due to the large number of detectors on the 14 focal plane modules. Long-term data continuity is a crucial component of the 40-year Landsat series of satellites, and ground-based vicarious calibration has played an important role in ensuring that these sensors remain on the same radiometric scale. This work presents the early ground-based in-flight radiometric calibration of OLI, which was determined using the traditional and well-understood reflectance-based approach, as well as the Radiometric Calibration Test Site (RadCaTS), which is an automated suite of instruments located at Railroad Valley, Nevada.


Growth and differentiation of stem cells is thought to be regulated by growth factors and responding protein tyrosine kinase activities. Comparing mitotic stem cells from the adult intestinal epithelium, isolated from the crypts of Lieberkuhn, with isolated differentiated absorbtive cells we find major differences in the levels of phosphotyrosine-containing proteins. Crypt stem cells possess two major phosphotyrosine-containing polypeptides of 36 and 17 kD which have greater than 15 times more phosphotyrosine than that present in the polypeptides of differentiated enterocytes. Tyrosine kinase activity and similar phosphotyrosine-containing proteins are associated with the Triton cytoskeleton. Moreover, crypt tyrosine kinase(s) is active in vitro in phosphorylating similar cytoskeleton-associated substrates. These results suggest that cytoskeleton-associated phosphotyrosine kinase(s) and their substrates may play a role in growth and differentiation of adult intestinal epithelial cells.


We describe the design, implementation, and analysis of a speech intelligibility test. The test included five codec modes, four frame-erasure rates, and two background noise environments, for a total of 40 conditions. The test protocol required twenty listeners to repeat all words that they heard in short messages with median length of seven words. Each condition was tested using approximately 1100 words total. Listeners' responses were scored against the original message transcripts to produce a count of words correctly repeated and thus a measure of speech intelligibility. We present results that show exactly how this measure of speech intelligibility drops as frame-erasure rate increases for three of the five codec modes. The remaining two codec modes did not produce valid results due to defects in the reference software provided to us.


Crop and disease classification is one of the important problems in automation of agricultural processes with multi-cropping method where the field is cultivated with more than one crop. In order to solve this classification problem, a study has been carried out in the field cultivating eggplant (Solanum melongena) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) using the images obtained from a mobile phone camera. Textural descriptors namely contrast, correlation, energy and homogeneity were extracted from the gray-scale converted RGB image for crop identification, i.e., (tomato or eggplant) and the same descriptors were extracted from the gray-scale converted image from Hue Saturation Value (HSV) for disease classification (due to Cercospora leaf spot disease or two-spotted spider infestation). Discriminant analysis, Naive Bayes algorithm, support vector machine and neural network were the classification algorithms used with a resulting best accuracy of 97.61%, 95.62%, 98.01% and 98.94% for crop identification, 86.09%, 76.52%, 86.96% and 86.04% for disease classification respectively. Similarly, application of algorithm with 6 histogram-based descriptors for health status detection resulted in an accuracy of 66.67%, 37.04%, 50% and 72.9% respectively. Deep learning algorithm namely AlexNet was also evaluated which resulted in an accuracy of 100% for crop identification, 89.36% for health status detection and 81.51% for disease classification. Among the algorithms, AlexNet resulted in the best average accuracy of 90.29% for the above classification tasks.


Sources of natural threats include weather extremes, tectonic and soil movements, diseases, and other natural hazards Epidemics, epiphytes, epizootics, and pandemics can be included in the section of diseases It is the pandemic that became the biggest threat to the whole world in 2020 Everyone knows that it is a coronavirus infection - COVID-19 This epidemic had spread from China since the end of 2019 when it gradually affected the whole world from Australia and Europe to America This threat affects all areas of life for each of us It is the area of the economy, the environment, the restriction of citizens' rights, and others Our article will aim to focus on the economic impacts of this pandemic mainly from SME (Small and medium enterprises) point of view Each company seldom finds itself in a situation where it has to deal with a crisis Each crisis has its specifics, and have the negative impact on profit of companies However, the crisis in 2020 is something specific It is not caused by the collapse of banks or the country's unfortunate economic or political situation The coronavirus crisis has affected the all sized companies (as Large as SME), thanks to limited opportunities to leave home, a ban on traveling to foreign countries, and, in essence, a slowdown in the entire economic cycle The financial crisis with coronavirus is further divided into two types Firstly, there is the crisis of companies that could not produce during a state of emergency (i e , at the time of the greatest threat to the population from coronavirus) Secondly, these are companies that operated during the crisis, thanks to the running-up contracts, but the crisis came later, after the state of emergency For example, it is due to the low number of orders for a given product due to limitations in times of emergency The aim of the article is to point out not only the economic but also the environmental impacts of the coronavirus crisis on the SME Mainly because of the reduction in the production and operation of companies that had a significant impact on the environment worldwide Based on the analysis performed in this article, will be proposed measures aimed to mitigating negative impact of the crisis, mainly by implementation of project management tools in the SME © 2020 International Multidisciplinary Scientific Geoconference All rights reserved


Emission control devices on dryers and presses have been legislated into the industry, and are now an integral part of the drying system. These devices consume large quantities of natural gas and electricity and down-sizing or eliminating them will provide major energy savings. The principal strategy taken here focuses on developing process changes that should minimize (and in some cases eliminate) the need for controls. A second approach is to develop lower-cost control options. It has been shown in laboratory and full-scale work that Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs) emerge mainly at the end of the press cycle for particleboard, and, by extension, to other prod-ucts. Hence, only the air associated with this point of the cycle need be captured and treated. A model for estimating terpene emissions in the various zones of veneer dryers has been developed. This should allow the emissions to be concentrated in some zones and minimized in others, so that some of the air could be directly released without controls. Low-cost catalysts have been developed for controlling HAPs from dryers and presses. Catalysts conventionally used for regenerative catalytic oxidizers can be used at much lower temperatures for treating press emissions. Fluidized wood ash is an especiallymore » inexpensive mate-rial for efficiently reducing formaldehyde in dryer emissions. A heat transfer model for estimating pinene emissions from hot-pressing strand for the manufacture of flakeboard has been constructed from first principles and validated. The model shows that most of the emissions originate from the 1-mm layer of wood adjoining the platen surface. Hence, a simple control option is to surface a softwood mat with a layer of hardwood prior to pressing. Fines release a disproportionate large quantity of HAPs, and it has been shown both theo-retically and in full-scale work that particles smaller than 400 AƒÂ'A'µm are principally responsible. Georgia-Pacific is considering green-screening their furnish at several of their mills in order to remove these particles and reduce their treatment costs.« less


15.1 Introduction Many interesting astronomical objects within the FOV of a telescope are characterized by great differences in brightness. The coronagraph is an optical system configuration designed to measure very faint objects in the presence of very bright objects by blocking unwanted radiation using an innovative technique. Some examples of the applications of coronagraphy are the characterization of exoplanets, the evolution of binary star systems, and studies of the faint gas and dust that surrounds some bright celestial objects such as stars. Ground-based telescopes at the threshold of detection measure the very faint solar corona, which is less than 10 −7 times the brightness of the solar photosphere, the sun's apparent surface. The white-dwarf companion of Sirius (α CMa), which is 10 −4 times as bright as Sirius with a separation of only 4 arcsec was observed. These measurements were accomplished without the aid of adaptive optics. Several investigators have analyzed the possibility of combining adaptive optics with ground-based coronagraphs to improve the probability of imaging an exoplanet from the earth's surface, beneath the turbulent atmosphere. Groundbased telescopes are limited by airglow in the atmosphere and the forwardscattering properties of the earth's atmosphere. Small dust particles and aerosols in the atmosphere cause narrow-angle forward scattering. Optical telescopes in orbit about the earth are above the airglow and atmospheric scattered light. In space (within the solar system), the limits to unwanted radiation are the zodiacal light and the gegenschein within the solar system, and the scattered light within the telescope system.


This study was carried in four villages of Kirua South Ward of Moshi Rural District, Kilimanjaro region- Tanzania. The overall aim of the study was collecting information and data with regards to climate change and variability. Both secondary and primary were used. Primary data were obtained using structured questionnaires and key informant interviews. In total 80 respondents were randomly selected for interviews whereby 20 extra knowledgeable farmers were purposefully sampled for a key informant interviews. Findings showed that local people perceived climate change and variability in their communities. The changes have affected crops and livestock in a number of ways resulting in reduced productivity, which in turn has subjected small scale farmers to income poverty. In order to improve the income level of small scale farmers in the study area, the study proposed and implementation of a CED project in Uchira village as a pilot project, which included the use of drought tolerant maize varieties together with Dolichos lablab and good agricultural management practices in order to improve agricultural outputs in an area so as to reduce effect of climate change and variability. The results indicate that members who participated in the project realized Net benefits of Tanzanian Shillings (Tshs.) 846,500/= with Benefit Cost Ratio(BCR) of 2.02 in year 2013 while before the project returns to invest was not that much attractive for the previous year 2012 with Net benefit of Tshs. 237,500/= and BCR of 1.26. The success of this project will be a catalyst for other farmers, agricultural sector expert, and other stakeholders to extrapolate to a wider population in the Kirua South ward eventually improve the income level of farmers and the nation as a whole.


Ecotones are regarded as diversity hotspots in terrestrial systems, but it is unknown if this "ecotone effect" occurs in the marine environment. Oceanic fronts are widespread mesoscale features, present in the boundary between different water masses, and are arguably the best potential examples of ecotones in the ocean. Here we performed the first seasonal study along an oceanic front, combining 16S rRNA gene sequencing coupled with a high spatial resolution analysis of the physical properties of the water masses. Using the Subtropical Frontal Zone off New Zealand we demonstrate that fronts delimit shifts in bacterioplankton community composition between water masses, but that the strength of this effect is seasonally dependent. While creating a transition zone where physicochemical parameters and bacterioplankton communities get mixed, this ecotone does not result in increased diversity. Thus unlike terrestrial ecotones, oceanic ecotones like fronts are boundaries but not hotspot of bacterioplankton diversity in the ocean.


A 5 pH point acid titration method is proposed to measure the short chain fatty acids, total carbonate species concentration and H2CO3*alkalinity in anaerobic systems. To test the method, aqueous solutions containing NaHCO3 (1990; 2488 mg/l as CaCO3) and the short chain fatty acid (SCFA) acetic acid with concentrations ranging from 100 to 1000 mg/l were titrated using the method; the H2CO3*alkalinity and SCFA estimates ranged around the expected values with an average standard deviation of 5 and 8 percent respectively. Estimates of the SCFA by the method and by Montgomery et al 's wet chemical method on the effluents of UASB reactors treating brewery and wine distillery waste correlated closely (r = 0.98). Other tests demonstrated as predicted that the presence of ammonium has a negligible effect on the derived results. However, phosphates can have a significant effect on the H2CO3*alkalinity but not on the SCFA estimates. The phosphate effect is eliminated in the derived estimates if its concentration is known. The method also identifies errors in pH due to the residual liquid junction effect or poor calibration and corrects the estimates accordingly; deliberately imposed pH calibration errors were identified and their error effects on the H2CO3*alkalinity and SCFA estimates largely corrected.


Significant narrowing of the left main coronary artery puts the patient at high risk, since occlusion of this vessel, if unprotected by collateral flow or a patent bypass graft to either the left anterior descending or circumflex artery, compromises flow to approximately 75% of the left ventricle. Percutaneous coronary intervention of left main coronary artery may be the only life saving procedure. There are limited data on the general use of percutaneous intervention (PCI) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) due to left main disease. Small series have noted in-hospital mortality rates of 30 to 35 percent following PCI with or without stenting. Moreover, cardiogenic shock secondary to acute MI, in patients with left main coronary artery disease, carries a very high mortality. Treatment options are limited especially when emergent coronary artery bypass surgery is not an option. We report a case of emergency angioplasty of left main coronary artery with simultaneous kissing stent technique in cardiogenic shock.


The aim of this study was to elucidate the presence of components of the innate immune system in the bovine corpus luteum (CL) by detecting the expression and cell-specific localization of TLR2 and TLR4 during different stages of the estrous cycle in a control study design. Bovine CL samples were collected from a local slaughterhouse and assigned to three groups as follows: developing CL (dCL; n = 6, approx. days 3–6), mature CL (mCL; n = 5, approx. days 8–12), and regressing CL (rCL; n = 5, approx. days 17–19). An upregulation of TLR2 mRNA was detected only in rCL (P < 0.05). Localization of the TLR2 protein was particularly apparent in luteal cells and a prominent immunofluorescent signal corresponding to TLR2 was detected only in rCL. TLR4 mRNA were higher in mCL and rCL compared to dCL (P < 0.05). The presence of the TLR4 protein in bovine CL was clearly detected in the luteal cells of both mCL and rCL. The results of this study suggest a role for TLRs in the development, maintenance, and regression of bovine CL. TLR signaling mediated pathway in luteal cells may involve in the regression of CL via regulation of TLR2 and TLR4.


PURPOSE
To analyze outcomes and immunologic features after cultured corneal endothelial cell (CEC) transplantation in a murine model.

METHODS
CEC-deprived BALB/c corneas were reconstituted in vitro with an immortalized C3H-CEC cell line and then transplanted orthotopically into recipient BALB/c mice with experimental bullous keratopathy. Graft survival rates, donor-specific delayed hypersensitivity (DTH), and mixed lymphocyte reactions were evaluated in recipient mice after grafting. Fates of CEC transplantation were assessed after adoptive transfer, regrafting, and immunization with C3H splenocytes.

RESULTS
Chimeric CEC allografts composed of cultured allogeneic CECs did not provoke rejection reaction, DTH, or mixed-lymphocyte reactions, unlike the high rejection rate that occurred in full-thickness corneal allografts. Adoptive transfer of splenocytes from mice that had accepted chimeric CEC allografts did not increase the graft survival rate after full-thickness corneal transplantation, and the rejection rate of a second full-thickness graft was not improved in these mice, suggestive of no active immunosuppression. Pre-sensitization by subcutaneous injection of splenocytes with the same haplotype as cultured CECs induced systemic DTH to the same allogeneic antigens but did not promote the rejection of chimeric CEC allografts, suggesting that chimeric CEC allografts are ignored by the host immune system.

CONCLUSIONS
These findings indicate that immunologic ignorance rather than active immunosuppression is important for the rejection-free acceptance of chimeric CEC allografts. Transplantation of corneal grafts formed with allogeneic CECs could be an ideal treatment strategy to overcome postoperative rejection.


ABSTRACT Annual vaccination is the most effective way to prevent seasonal influenza illness. Instituto Butantan (IB) performed clinical studies with its 2013, 2014 and 2015 seasonal trivalent influenza vaccines (inactivated split-virion). Prospective cohort studies were carried out to describe the safety and immunogenicity of Instituto Butantan influenza vaccines, in healthy adults and elderly, from 2013 to 2015. Immediately after the informed consent was signed, participants underwent blood collection followed by vaccination. On study days 1, 2 and 3 post-vaccination participants were contacted by the staff to evaluate the occurrence of solicited (local and systemic) and non-solicited adverse reactions. On study day 21 (+7) subjects returned to the clinical site for final safety assessments and blood collection to evaluate post-vaccination immunogenicity. The immunogenicity analyses were performed by means of hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay. The immunogenicity endpoints were: seroprotection (SPR) and seroconversion (SCR) rates and the geometric mean HI antibody titer ratio (GMTR). The 2013 study was conducted at the Centro de Referência para Imunobiológicos Especiais (CRIE) and at the Centro de Pesquisa Clínica do Instituto da Criança, Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo while the 2014 and 2015 studies were conducted at CRIE. The vaccine composition followed the WHO recommendation for the Southern hemisphere seasonal influenza vaccine. Forty-seven healthy adults and 13 elderly participated in the 2013 study, 60 healthy adults and 60 elderly in the 2014 study, and 62 healthy adults and 57 elderly in the 2015 study. In the 2013, 2014 and 2015 studies, pain was the most frequent local adverse reaction and headache the most frequent systemic adverse reaction. All observed adverse reactions were classified as mild or moderate and none as severe. SPR >70% and SPR >60% were observed in adults and elderly, respectively, for the three vaccine viruses, in the 2013, 2014 and 2015 studies. SCR >40% was observed in adults, for the three vaccine viruses, only in the 2014 study and SCR >30% was observed in the elderly, for the three vaccine viruses, only in the 2013 and 2014 studies. GMTR >2.5 among adults, for the three vaccine viruses was only observed in the 2013 study and GMTR >2.0 was observed among elderly, for the three vaccine viruses, in the 2013, 2014 and 2015 studies. The 2013, 2014 and 2015 seasonal influenza vaccines produced by Instituto Butantan were safe and immunogenic according to the immunogenicity criteria defined by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).


Introduction: Up to 50% of adults with congestive heart failure (CHF) and left ventricular dysfunction demonstrate Cheyne–Stokes respiration (CSR), although the mechanisms remain controversial. Because CSR has been minimally studied in children, we sought to assess the prevalence of CSR in children with low and high output cardiac failure. We hypothesized that the existence of CSR only in children with low output CHF would support the importance of circulatory delay as a CSR mechanism. Methods: Thirty patients participated: 10 children with CHF, 10 matched children with no heart disease, and 10 adults with CHF. All participants underwent an in-laboratory polysomnographic sleep study. Results: CHF children's average age (±SEM) was 3.6 ± 2.1 years vs. 3.7 ± 2 years in the age-matched control group. The average ejection fraction of three children with low output CHF was 22 ± 6.8%. The remaining seven had normal-high cardiac output. Compared to control children, CHF children were tachypneic and tachycardic during stable sleep (55.1 ± 6.7 vs. 26.9 ± 3 breath/min and 127.6 ± 8.7 vs. 97.6 ± 6.9 beats/min, respectively, p < 0.05 for both). They had shorter total sleep time (195 ± 49 vs. 373 ± 16 min, p < 0.05) with a low sleep efficiency of 65.6 ± 6%. None of the children had a pattern of CSR at any time during the studies while the adults with CHF had 40% prevalence of CSR. Conclusions: The complete absence of CSR in our sample of children with CHF compared to the 40% prevalence in the adults with CHF we studied, suggests that CSR may be an age-dependent phenomenon. Thus, we speculate that regardless of the exact mechanism which drives CSR, age is an over-riding factor.


Meter‐scale MRO/HiRISE camera images of dune slipfaces in the north polar sand sea of Mars reveal the presence of deep alcoves above depositional fans. These features are apparently active under current climatic conditions, because they form between observations taken in subsequent Mars years. Recently, other workers have hypothesized that the alcoves form due to destabilization and mass‐wasting during sublimation of CO2 frost in the spring. While there is evidence for springtime modification of these features, our analysis of early springtime images reveals that over 80% of the new alcoves are visible underneath the CO2 frost. Thus, we present an alternative hypothesis that formation of new alcoves and fans occurs prior to CO2deposition. We propose that fans and alcoves form primarily by aeolian processes in the mid‐ to late summer, through a sequence of aeolian deposition on the slipface, over‐steepening, failure, and dry granular flow. An aeolian origin is supported by the orientations of the alcoves, which are consistent with recent wind directions. Furthermore, morphologically similar but much smaller alcoves form on terrestrial dune slipfaces, and the size differences between the terrestrial and Martian features may reflect cohesion in the near‐subsurface of the Martian features. The size and preservation of the largest alcoves on the Martian slipfaces also support the presence of an indurated surface layer; thus, new alcoves might be sites of early spring CO2sublimation and secondary mass‐wasting because they act as a window to looser, less indurated materials that warm up more quickly in the spring.


A panel put together by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) concludes in a report released this week that the benefits of xenotransplants outweigh the risks that the procedure might permit animal pathogens to cross the species barrier into humans. The panel advises, however, that new trials should be delayed until the government has put some guidelines into place. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is now finalizing rules that mirror those suggested by the IOM panel, and experiments, which have been on hold for several months, may soon be resumed.


A novel design concept to turn on the SCR device by applying the substrate-triggered method is first proposed in the literature for effective on-chip ESD protection design. To avoid the transient-induced latch-up issue, the substrate-triggered SCR devices are stacked in the ESD protection circuits. The turn-on efficiency of the SCR can be greatly improved by applying the substrate-triggered method. The on-chip ESD protection circuits designed with the substrate-triggered SCR devices for input pad, output pad, and power pad have been successfully verified in a 0.25 /spl mu/m CMOS process. The substrate-triggered SCR device with a smaller layout area of only 40 /spl mu/m/spl times/20 /spl mu/m can sustain an HBM (human-body-model) ESD stress of higher than 7 kV.


In aged society and modern life, chronic diseases and sub-health have become more and more common. It is very urgent and challengeable to providemedical services for people who have suffered fromthese diseases. Compared with traditional medical service pattern, in which patient must go to the hospital to see a doctor face to face, telemedicine and telecare can satisfy both the patient and doctor in a remote environment. Based on the concept of telemedicine and telecare, this paper proposed a new solution formedical service, inwhich patients canmonitor their own health conditions and share medical services at home, health practitioners can provide professionalmedical services for patients at remote locations, and medical organizations can analyze the regional distribution of diseases in their offices.According to these results of requirement analysis, the Browse/ Server system architecture is adopted and the corresponding thematic function modules are designed. With the integrated application of information technology such as sensor, communication, network, database and geographical information system, the proposed home health monitoring and telecare system, which seamlessly links the patients, doctors and medical service institutions together anytime and anywhere, is developed. The case applications show that this system is feasible in technique and effective in practice.


Radioiodine (¹³¹I) is an important therapy for patients who have well-differentiated thyroid cancer. However, ¹³¹I may also result in side effects in multiple organs and glands. The glands that are frequently affected are the salivary glands with the major untoward effects including sialoadenitis and increased risk of second primary malignancy. This report will review sialoadenitis secondary to ¹³¹I therapy including (1) proposed mechanisms, (2) incidence and clinical presentations, (3) possible approaches to improve prevention, (4) management, and (5) sequelae of sialoadenitis (e.g. xerostomia and salivary duct obstruction). A discussion of second primary malignancies is beyond the scope of this review. With a better understanding of the above, dentists, oral surgeons, otolaryngologists, endocrinologists, nuclear medicine physicians, and nuclear radiologists will be more likely to implement more effective preventive measures to reduce the incidence and severity of ¹³¹I-induced sialoadenitis, and if it does occur, to identify and treat sialoadenitis sooner, thereby potentially reducing not only the severity of the initial symptoms, but also the severity of subsequent sequelae.


OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of a telecommunications approach to hypertension education. METHODS Participants (N = 83) were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. Experimental group participants received spiritual and hypertension-related messages via programmed telephone calls, and the control group participants received spiritual messages only. Both the experimental and control group participants received the following: printed material on hypertension-related information and regular home visits from a health educator to conduct pre-test and post-test assessments of hypertension knowledge, pill counts, and blood pressure readings. RESULTS There were no statistically significant improvements in hypertension knowledge. By week 4 of the intervention, there was a statistically significant decrease in systolic and diastolic blood pressure for both groups. However, there were no differences between the experimental and control groups. DISCUSSION There was no evidence that the telecommunications approach improved older African Americans' understanding of hypertension or its management.


Marital satisfaction is one of the ingredients of marital stability and is affected by a number of factors. A cross-sectional survey substantiated with qualitative studies was conducted so as to identify the major socio-demographic factors that influence the marital satisfaction of married couples among selected districts of Jimma Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia. Study participants of 240 randomly selected couples, either the wife or husband, were surveyed and key informant interview was held to collect evidences about the study objectives.  As a result, variables such as level of education, number of children, spousal infidelity, marriage type, leisure spending, interest difference, openness among couples, and poverty have brought a statistically significant difference in marital satisfaction.  Similarly, qualitative study participants noted that economic background, educational background, type of marriage, religious background, ethnic background, age difference, place of birth, religious discordant marriage, migration, adultery, early marriage, Khat abuse, in-laws interference, family size, sexual incompatibility and polygamous marriage determine the marital satisfaction of couples in the study area. Besides, the study found out the existence of differences on the factors that shape the marital satisfaction of urban and rural couples.

 Key words: Socio-demographic, marital satisfaction, determinants, Jimma Zone, Ethiopia.


I am creating a digitized, geo-temporal exhibit that explores the development of the UT campus on the Omeka and Neatline platforms. Drawing from research conducted at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, I have written brief histories of prominent UT buildings, statues, and landmarks, and incorporated and improved metadata for a selection of digitized items, such as photographs, press releases, and personal letters, that relate to UT's history. I am now in the process of layering geo-tagged maps of the UT campus from 1923, 1941, and 1961, which will add a time-dimension to the exhibit. This will further allow viewers to follow the development of particular buildings and statues and themes of construction. Along with learning sciences specialists, archivists, and cartographers from UT, I am working with Dr. Penne Restad to develop this collaborative project, which aims to engage students in archival research and be a prototype for a foundational Liberal Arts research course.


In Pongamia pinnata only one of the two ovules develops into a seed in most of the pods. Since pollen was not found to be limiting and reduced fertilization could not completely explain the observed frequency of seed abortion, it implied an effect of postfertilization factors. Aqueous extracts of developing seeds and maternal tissue (placenta) did not influence abortion in vitro, suggesting that abortion may not be mediated by a chemical. Experimental uptake of (14)C sucrose in vitro indicated that both the stigmatic and the peduncular seed have similar inherent capacities of drawing resources, but the peduncular seed is deprived of resources in the presence of the stigmatic seed. This deprivation of the peduncular seed could be offset by supplying an excess of hormones leading to the subsequent formation of two seeds in a pod. The prevalence of single-seeded pods in P. pinnata seems therefore to be a result of competition between the two seeds for maternal resources. The evolutionary significance of single-seeded pods in P. pinnata is discussed with respect to possible dispersal advantage enjoyed by such pods.


This paper introduces the basic conception of the reverse engineering, process of digital measurement and 3-D modeling method based RE technology: one is based on point-curve-curved surface reconstruction, and the other is based on point-curved surface fitting directly. According to the first method, the processes of data gathering, cloud data processing and 3-D model rebuilding are introduced through reconstructing the 3-D models of the gauge board and left board in Imageware and UGNX. Using the reverse engineering technology in product design will shorten the period of developing a new product and accelerate it's response to the market.


A typical automated warehousing system consists of automatic storage and retrieval modules including lifting equipment and powered conveyor systems. These facilities are used to overcome some disadvantages of manually operated warehousing systems which often lead to a high frequency of human errors, high labour costs and low efficiency. The information system integration also plays a key role in speeding up data processing and coordinating inventory control and management in a warehouse. In recent years, it has also been seen a rising trend for online shopping across the UK as well as in many other countries. Suppliers or distributors have therefore been seeking for even more efficient and effective methods of storing and dispatching goods in a way of increasingly centralised distribution centres through which customers place their orders online and goods are dispatched automatically from storage and retrieval areas to collection points where these goods are packed and delivered directly to customers' door steps. In order to achieve this functionality, a novel design of automated warehousing system through an integrated inventory data platform is desired. This paper presents a framework by proposing a novel design of future generation warehousing systems incorporating fast-growing IT applications such as radio frequency identification (RFID), wireless sensors and communication networks.


Probably every human culture has developed typical ways of philosophising in the sense that there were given explanations of the world, of what man is, and of the right relationships between human beings. Some of the cultures of the past have invented systems of writing and documentation, thereby establishing long lasting traditions of thought. Amidst a period of globalisation of many aspects of human life, the problem now arises, whether there will be one single form or method of philosophy in the future. If so: what then will be the role of the different traditions in shaping this future thinking? If not: must we give up the idea that philosophy ever can argue for universally acceptable truths or insights? This paper deals with some aspects of these questions by discussing the role of (Euro_)centrism in the historiography of philosophy, and by analysing the impact of the different languages of philosophy on thinking itself.


ABSTRACT Adhesive bonding is increasingly used in numerous industrial branches (aeronautics, space, etc.) for the many advantages this technique features. The quality of the adhesive bonds depends on diversified factors, and bonding defects within the joints are common. These defects may take the shape of pores, of various sizes, which are a possible threat to the good mechanical strength of the joints. These pores may create unwanted stress concentrations, and they are susceptible to locally weaken the adhesive joints. As they are created during the bonding process, the hypothesis that the bonding and curing conditions should influence their properties is well-founded. In order to validate this assertion, adhesively bonded samples were made, for different adhesives and different curing cycles. In particular, the influence of the peak temperature reached during the curing cycle was studied. The pores in the joints were then observed and studied using X-ray microtomography. The performances of the segmentation technique developed for the data processing were studied beforehand on synthetic data, in order to identify the limitations of the suggested methodology and to quantify the uncertainty on the computed quantities. It was found that a higher curing temperature may induce noticeable pore growth phenomena (mainly dilation and coalescence). In particular, this growth seems to be predominant halfway-through the thickness of the joints, resulting in an observable decrease in the effective section.


OBJECTIVE--To investigate the possible mechanical associations of the presence or absence of the septal q wave. STUDY DESIGN--Retrospective and prospective study of 63 patients with various left ventricular diseases and 10 controls by electrocardiography, echocardiography, and pulsed Doppler recordings. SETTING--Tertiary cardiac referral centre. PATIENTS--73 subjects were studied. 26 had absent septal q waves and a QRS duration < 120 ms, 25 had classic left bundle branch block, and the rest had a normal electrocardiogram. Pathologically, 34 had left ventricular disease and 29 had a structurally normal heart. 10 subjects with structurally normal hearts and normal septal q waves were taken as controls. RESULTS--The timing of left ventricular minor axis motion was consistently normal in patients with abnormal activation, but long axis motion was considerably altered, with delayed "post-ejection shortening" of a mean amplitude of 4 mm. The post-ejection shortening began 10 (15) ms and reached its peak 90(20) ms after aortic closure (A2). Peak lengthening rate did not differ from normal (6.2 (3.5) v 8.5 (3.5) cm/s, NS) though it occurred significantly later. Post-ejection shortening was unrelated to age, amplitude of left ventricular wall motion, or QRS axis on the surface electrocardiogram. Post-ejection shortening was commoner when QRS duration was > 115 ms, but an absent septal q wave predicted its presence with a specificity of 90% and sensitivity of 86%. In patients with a post-ejection shortening, the onset of left ventricular systolic long axis shortening was delayed and the extent of its lengthening during the pre-ejection period increased, indicating delayed and incoordinate onset of tension development. During diastole, post-ejection shortening was associated with a prolonged isovolumic relaxation period and the time from A2 to the onset of transmitral flow. Peak mitral E wave flow velocity was reduced due to a fall in acceleration time although acceleration rate itself was unchanged. CONCLUSION--Loss of the normal septal q wave is associated with considerable mechanical consequences throughout the cardiac cycle, from the pre-ejection period to atrial systole, and apparently causes asynchronous subendocardial function.


The assembly of plaque-forming particles in cell-free extracts of induced lambda lysogens was ob- served two ways. (i) DNA isolated from a X-related phage, 434 for example, is added to an extract of an induced X lysogen, and plaque-formers with the genotype of the added DNA are detected. (ii) One extract from an induced X lysogen that carries an amber mutation in one of the head genes (A, B, C, D, or E) is mixed with one carrying an amber mutation in a different head gene; an increase in the number of X plaque-formers is found over that in either extract alone. These plaque-forming particles have the properties of normal phage particles. They are re- sistant to DNase, although DNase added to an extract before addition of DNA prevents their appearance; they have a sensitivity to neutralizing antibody and a specificity of adsorption to bacteria characteristic of the source of the extract, but they have the genotype of the added DNA; and they have about the same bouyant density as phage particles. Mutants in genes B, C, or D can donate DNA to the phage formed by complementation between extracts of dif- ferent mutants, but mutants in genes A or E cannot. Complementation occurs between a pair of extracts only if one (or both) is a DNA donor. This observation suggests a tentative pathway for head assembly: that the products of genes A and E act before those of B, C, and D.


In recent times there have been debates among health professionals on the desirability of integrating traditional health practices into orthodox medicine. This thinking was influenced by the resistance of some ailments to the orthodox healing methods as well as the proven efficacy of traditional healing processes in the treatment of some ailments. In Nigeria, the ambience of psychiatric victims or madmen at every corner and under bridges has raised some concerns on the actual role of psychiatric hospitals and their efficiency and effectiveness in contemporary times. The need for new ways of handling psychiatric cases led to new interest in traditional healing processes which have been shown to be effective in the management of ailments. Consequently traditional practitioners have availed themselves the opportunity of this debate to call for recognition as partners in the provision of effective and affordable health care. This paper explored the traditional psychiatric healing processes in Igbo land, Nigeria. It analyzed the various concepts, processes, perspectives and dimensions of traditional psychiatric healing in Igbo land and argued for the integration of this aspect of psychiatry into modern system of psychological or psychiatric intervention and general health care

 Key words: Traditional, Igbo, psychiatric, healing, culture, empirical, intervention.


Abstract : Aerospace power has become the archetypal expression of the U.S. ability to project force in the modern world. Throughout the world, U.S. aerospace power and thus, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) plays a critical, and often primary, role in securing U.S. interests, in promoting American values, and in protecting human rights. While the USAF has had significant success in employing aerospace power in the recent past, emerging trends in international relations, in technology, and in our own domestic society will create a wide variety of new challenges and new opportunities for U.S. aerospace power. Meeting these challenges and exploiting these opportunities will require careful planning, wise investments, and thoughtful training, as well as difficult cultural adaptations within the USAF. This book identifies many of these challenges and opportunities in a wide variety of issue areas and assesses the degree to which the USAF is prepared to meet them. While the work was carried out under the auspices of the Strategy and Doctrine program of RAND's Project AIR FORCE, which is sponsored by the U.S. Air Force, this volume draws on the expertise of researchers from across RAND in a variety of related disciplines. The primary audience of this work consists of Air Force leaders and planners, but it should be of interest to others concerned about national security issues.


The effect of phenformin on the exocrine function of the pancreas was studied in thirteen healthy subjects. Pancreatic exocrine secretion was stimulated by intraduodenal infusion of 100 ml. of a 0.1 N hydrochloric acid solution and, after fifty minutes, intravenous injection of 1 U. secretin per kilogram of body weight. At the same time serum insulin level was determined by a radioimmunologic method. In each subject the test was performed twice; the first test provided control values, and the second was preceded by treatment with phenformin. Administration of the antidiabetic biguanide markedly reduced the basal secretion rate and its amylase content and also inhibited the increase in secretion normally caused by either intraduodenal infusion of a HCI solution or injection of secretin. In these healthy subjects, intraduodenal infusion of a HCI solution produced a smaller increase in insulin secretion than did intravenous injection of secretin. Previous phenformin treatment largely eliminated the increase in insulinemia after intraduodenal infusion of a HCI solution, whereas it failed to affect the increase in insulinemia after secretin injection. The clinical significance of these observations is discussed.


SPECT can provide valuable diagnostic and treatment response information in large-scale multicenter clinical trials. However, SPECT has been limited in providing consistent quantitative functional parametric values across the centers, largely because of a lack of standardized procedures to correct for attenuation and scatter. Recently, a novel software package has been developed to reconstruct quantitative SPECT images and assess cerebral blood flow (CBF) at rest and after acetazolamide challenge from a single SPECT session. This study was aimed at validating this technique at different institutions with a variety of SPECT devices and imaging protocols. Methods: Twelve participating institutions obtained a series of SPECT scans on physical phantoms and clinical patients. The phantom experiments included the assessment of septal penetration for each collimator used and of the accuracy of the reconstructed images. Clinical studies were divided into 3 protocols, including intrainstitutional reproducibility, a comparison with PET, and rest–rest study consistency. The results from 46 successful studies were analyzed. Results: Activity concentration estimation (Bq/mL) in the reconstructed SPECT images of a uniform cylindric phantom showed an interinstitution variation of ±5.1%, with a systematic underestimation of concentration by 12.5%. CBF values were reproducible both at rest and after acetazolamide on the basis of repeated studies in the same patient (mean ± SD difference, −0.4 ± 5.2 mL/min/100 g, n = 44). CBF values were also consistent with those determined using PET (−6.1 ± 5.1 mL/min/100 g, n = 6). Conclusion: This study demonstrates that SPECT can quantitatively provide physiologic functional images of rest and acetazolamide challenge CBF, using a quantitative reconstruction software package.


I report here the development in the recently established biose- miotics - a science at the borderland of biology and semiotics. The kernel of discussions is in the question whether biosemiotics can develop into a standard science, or if the very nature of semiotics does not allow this. The second circle of disputes is the question concerning levels of semiotic development at different levels of organization of the living. I illustrate the problems on the recent exchange between the defender of scientifi c biose- miotics Marcello Barbieri, and the semiotician John Deely. I try to highlight the most interesting, hence most problematic points of the discussion, and punctuate them with my own opinions.


A simple and convenient protocol has been developed for the synthesis of N-amino-3-cyano-2-pyridone derivatives by a one-pot reaction of cyanoacetohydrazide, activated nitrile substrates (malononitrile, ethyl cyanoacetate, cyanoacetamide) and aromatic aldehydes in the presence of piperidine in water or a mixture of water and ethanol. The sequence of cascade reactions includes Knoevenagel condensation, Michael addition, intramolecular cyclization, imine-enamine tautomerization and oxidative aromatization. The main advantages of this procedure are availability of starting compounds, simple procedure, mild conditions, easy purification of products and the use of water or water/ethanol as green solvents.


This article focuses on the production, delivery of, and investment in mortgage-related assets, including what has changed and what the future looks like in this market. The number and volume of those assets are derivative of the underlying real estate, so the article briefly describes the U.S. demographic profile, which drives demand for places to live—rentals and owned property, and offers a view on what this means for mortgage asset volumes. There follows a review of the organization of firms that make mortgage loans to consumers in the primary market. The author discusses how a number of post-crisis economic and policy forces have been acting on these firms and changing the opportunities and constraints they face as well as how the environment has altered the product set these firms offer. The author provides perspective on how the demographic factors and the implied potential mortgage-related asset volumes might look going forward and how they are likely to affect the number and type of firms operating in the primary market.


A multicultural field gathered at 07:00 for the start of the recent Abu Dhabi half marathon. Runners from Australia, Canada, France, India, South Africa and the United Kingdom, to name but a few of the countries represented, took their marks. Yet of the 306 runners who made it back to the Golf and Equestrian Club, not one was from the United Arab Emirates. Chris Collier, from the Abu Dhabi Striders Club, which organizes the annual event, puts the absence of local entrants down to the lack of an exercise culture in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). "We're definitely not just a club for expats," Collier, an Englishman, explained. "We welcome all nationalities and in the past have given young Emiratis the chance to join us on our weekly runs, but we have had little response." He adds: "There is no culture of running here in the UAE. Why would you get willingly hot and bothered in this sort of heat?" The low levels of exercise, along with a taste for fast foods laden with carbohydrates, salt, fat and processed sugar is cause for increasing concern about the nation's health. In 2000 the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that over 50% of men and women in the UAE were overweight or obese. These rates are also increasing in other countries in the region. [WHO defines overweight as a body mass index (BMI) equal to or greater than 25 kg/[m.sup.2] and obesity as a BMI equal to or greater than 30 kg/[m.sup.2].] In 2008, the Department of Nutrition and Health at UAE University reported that about a quarter of children aged between eight and 12 were overweight. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Where there is obesity, diabetes follows. In 2000 WHO reported that 13.5% of the UAE population was diabetic, the second-highest prevalence of the disease in the world; this figure is expected to rise to 19.3% by 2030. Of course, the UAE is not alone in facing these problems. WHO says obesity has reached alarming numbers globally. In 2005 it estimated that 1.6 billion adults were overweight, of whom at least 400 million were obese. But it is the rapidity with which these problems have taken hold in the UAE where less than half a century ago the people--nomadic Bedouin desert farmers and coastal dwellers involved in pearling and sea trade--still subsisted on a diet of fish, rice, bread, dates, yogurt, homegrown vegetables and meat from sheep, goats and camels. Oil production, which started in the 1960s, has triggered massive population growth and urbanization and an attendant change in lifestyle. However, obesity and related illness in the UAE are not exclusive to the country's nationals, who account for less than 20% of the population. The country's development relies heavily on expatriate labour, mainly from Bangladesh, India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Pakistan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. Dr Ayoub Al Jawaldeh, regional adviser on nutrition at WHO's Office for the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMRO), says people have become victims of their affluence. "They are spoiled by their high incomes," he says. "They have a driver, a maid to do their housework and they enjoy eating at restaurants. They also watch at least three hours of TV a day, more in summer. People used to cook at home. Now we have delivery services from any number of restaurants." Al Jawaldeh says food portions have become too big. "Low levels of exercise and overeating the wrong foods--all this has led to increasing obesity. It starts early in childhood. There is no control of the food in the school canteens where they sell fast food and soft drinks. Of course, this is not something linked to the UAE alone, but in Europe and the United States of America, people realize they need to change their diet and lifestyle. There isn't that same awareness in this part of the world." While he cites a lack of health awareness among the public, there are signs of urgency among government officials in tackling the problem. …


In many real-world scenarios, data to train machine learning models become available over time. However, neural network models struggle to continually learn new concepts without forgetting what has been learnt in the past. This phenomenon is known as catastrophic forgetting and it is often difficult to prevent due to practical constraints, such as the amount of data that can be stored or the limited computation sources that can be used. Moreover, training large neural networks, such as Transformers, from scratch is very costly and requires a vast amount of training data, which might not be available in the application domain of interest. A recent trend indicates that dynamic architectures based on an expansion of the parameters can reduce catastrophic forgetting efficiently in continual learning, but this needs complex tuning to balance the growing number of parameters and barely share any information across tasks. As a result, they struggle to scale to a large number of tasks without significant overhead. In this paper, we validate in the computer vision domain a recent solution called Adaptive Distillation of Adapters (ADA), which is developed to perform continual learning using pre-trained Transformers and Adapters on text classification tasks. We empirically demonstrate on different classification tasks that this method maintains a good predictive performance without retraining the model or increasing the number of model parameters over the time. Besides it is significantly faster at inference time compared to the state-of-the-art methods.


In his book on, "Pan-Africanism or Pragmatism? Lessons of Tanganyika-Zanzibar Union", Shivji presents an account of issues, dramas, and politics surrounding the Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. He also includes an account of the January 1984 Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM)'s Conference held in Dodoma that toppled President of Zanzibar, then Aboud Jumbe Mwinyi. This book brings back the debate on Pan-Africanism. Throughout the six chapters, the author emphasized that the stresses and tensions in the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar since its formation 54 years ago are not showing any sign of abating. He also argues that, imperialism under new forms and labels continues to bedevil the continent in ever-aggressive, if subtle, ways. The political federation of East Africa, which was one of the main spin-offs of the Pan-Africanism of the nationalist period, is reappearing on the political stage, though in a distorted form of regional integration. In his words, Shivji argue that, "the Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar was born in the midst of debates on Pan-Africanism and in the thick of cold war. To this day, the Union carries its birthmarks, more of the latter than the former. The Union is the only surviving example of a political association of African sovereign states. Friends and foes alike often cite it as an exemplar of Pan-Africanist unity or an illustration of its failure" (P xv).


Background:Aggressive treatment of mechanically ventilated liver failure patients has been questioned as they frequently succumb to multiorgan failure. However, survivors have a chance at liver transplantation, and the knowledge of mortality predictors may help decrease the wait-list mortality. We aimed to determine outcomes of this population and determine which variables predict mortality. Materials and Methods:A retrospective study of 131 mechanically ventilated liver failure patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a major liver transplant center from January 2011 to June 2014 with a follow-up period of 1 year. Results:The most common indication for ICU admission and intubation was hepatic encephalopathy. The median length of intubation was 4 days. Patients intubated for miscellaneous reasons spent the longest time on mechanical ventilation at a median of 12 days followed by sepsis and respiratory failure. In-hospital and 1-year mortalities were 54% and 71%, respectively. Only 5 of 27 patients listed for transplant received an organ. Patients readmitted to the ICU were 4 times more likely to die in 1 year. A Model for End Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score >40 and chronic kidney disease were the strongest predictors for overall mortality. A MELD score >40 was the sole predictor for in-hospital mortality. Acute renal failure, ICU readmission, and hepatic encephalopathy were additional predictors for postdischarge mortality. Conclusions:The in-hospital mortality remains as high at 54%. The MELD score was consistently a predictor for overall, in-hospital, and postdischarge mortalities. Patients readmitted to the ICU were 4 times more likely to die in 1 year. Most survivors who were liver transplant candidates died waiting for an organ.


ABSTRACT The lower section of the lower Silurian Qusaiba Member, Qalibah Formation, is characterized by regionally developed organic-rich shales that have sourced many of the large Paleozoic petroleum systems of Saudi Arabia. In northern Saudi Arabia, these high–total organic carbon (TOC) horizons are being assessed for their unconventional shale-gas potential. The initial phase of exploration drilling, which resulted in a quadrupling of the number of penetrations in northern Saudi Arabia, had the dual purpose of (1) assessing the high-TOC horizons as an unconventional resource play and (2) acquiring the fundamental data required to understand the geologic development of the zones of interest within the lower Qusaiba. The availability of numerous new cores from across northern Saudi Arabia enabled an extensive refinement of the existing biostratigraphy and enhanced integration between graptolite and palynomorph biozonation systems. In cores from the study area, four distinct sedimentary facies are recognized, (1) pyritic siltstone, (2) black mudstone, (3) black chert, and (4) gray shale, representing distinct paleoenvironmental conditions related to the stepped latest Ordovician and early Silurian Gondwanan deglaciation. The failure of the Gondwanan ice sheet was not a simple, short-lived, consistent melting and associated flooding of a flat continental shelf. This study highlights the complex interplay of sea-floor topography, ocean currents, sediment supply, and variations in the rate of melting of the ice sheet. With the associated rising ambient temperatures there are (1) increasing clay concentrations associated with intensifying chemical weathering of the exposed land mass and (2) progressive lowering of the carbonate compensation depth as water temperatures rise, enabling the preservation of carbonate shell material.


Under the background of the transformation and upgrading of Chinese enterprises, transformation by informatization through the implementation of ERP is undoubtedly an effective means. And how to effectively increase the success rate of ERP implementation is an issue of common concern. By using method of case analysis and combining the ERP project of WX Company, this article analyses the critical success factors for ERP implementation and provides ERP implementation reference for labour-intensive manufacturing companies which are represented by WX Company.


In 1776, the US proclaimed its independence. It was not until 1817 that Austria's Emperor Franz I ordered the establishment of a Consulate in the US, which led to the arrival in 1820 of the first Consul in New York City. This book describes when, where, and why 53 Consulates of Austria (-Hungary) were established in the US from 1820 to the present. It describes the Consuls, their daily work, and challenges, including pan-Slavic activities before 1914. The book offers a glimpse at the living conditions of immigrants and migrant workers who came to the US from the Empire before World War I, reflecting the sentiment (1911) that "in no country the foreigner, and particularly the uneducated foreigner, is more in need of protection than in the United States." (Series: Forschungen zur Geschichte des osterreichischen Auswartigen Dienstes - Vol. 4)


Mealworms (ulat hongkong) are larvae of the rice beetle (Tenebrio molitor) which are considered pests but are also known to have a high content of nutrition and bioactive compounds. These bioactive compounds include antioxidants, anti-inflammatory agents, antidiabetic substances, and antihypertensive components. This literature study aims to review works of literature on the nutritional content and bioactive compounds present in mealworms, as well as the factors that influence this composition. The data search method used keywords such as nutrient content, bioactive composition, and factors influencing mealworms, conducted in reputable journals published within the last 10 years. The results of the literature study indicate that mealworms have high and complete nutritional content. The nutritional content and bioactive compounds in mealworms were influenced by feed, extraction methods, hydrolysis processes, and processing methods used. Freeze drying and microwave drying were recommended processing methods to maintain the nutritional content of mealworms. The main bioactive compounds in mealworms that provide health benefits were the bioactive peptides, omega-3, oleic acid, and chitosan.


Various substances, including methemoglobin, melanin, lipid, protein, calcium, iron, copper, and manganese, are responsible for the intrinsically high signal intensity observed in intracranial lesions at T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Many of these substances have physical properties that lead to other specific imaging features as well. For example, lipid-containing lesions frequently produce chemical shift artifact, and some melanin-containing lesions exhibit a combination of high signal intensity on T1-weighted images and low signal intensity on T2-weighted images. The location and extent of a region of abnormal signal hyperintensity may be helpful for identifying rare diseases such as an ectopic posterior pituitary gland near the floor of the third ventricle, bilateral involvement of the dentate and lentiform nuclei in Cockayne syndrome, and involvement of the anterior temporal lobe and cerebellum in neurocutaneous melanosis. In cases in which diagnostically specific T1-weighted imaging features are lacking, findings obtained with other MR pulse sequences and other modalities can help narrow the differential diagnosis: An elevated glutamine or glutamate level at MR spectroscopy is suggestive of hepatic encephalopathy; a popcorn ball-like appearance at T2-weighted imaging, of cavernous malformations; and hyperattenuation at computed tomography, of mineral deposition disease. In many cases, a comparison of imaging features with clinical measures enables a specific diagnosis.