Recently, vibration isolation technology has been widely applied in different types of structures, which refer to as nonlinear hysteretic vibration isolation systems, to withstand the strong vibration that may damage the structures, influent the structural normal operation, or reduce the life of structures. However, parameter identification and damage tracking of nonlinear hysteretic vibration isolation systems is quite challenging because the restoring behavior of these systems are inelastic. Besides, the external inputs of these systems may not be accurately measured or even may not be measurable in practical applications. To resolve the problems above, in this research, three timedomain analysis methods, which refer to as adaptive extended kalman filter with unknown inputs (AEKF-UI), adaptive sequential nonlinear least-square estimation with unknown inputs (ASNLSE-UI) and adaptive quadratic sum-square error with unknown inputs (AQSSE-UI), have been newly developed to online identify the structural parameters and to real-time track the structural damages. Further, experiment research was conduct through a series of laboratory tests using a scaled vibration-isolation structure model with two typical excitations in the case of different damage scenarios. Finally, the capability of AEKF-UI, ASNLSE-UI and AQSSE-UI methods in parameter identification and damage tracking have been demonstrated and compared in terms of accuracy, convergence and efficiency.


Background Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are widely used for migraine, but gastrointestinal tolerability limits use. We previously reported results from the first treatment period of this 2-period, randomized, controlled study comparing DFN-15—an oral, ready-made liquid solution of a selective cyclo-oxygenase-2 inhibitor celecoxib—with placebo for the acute treatment of a moderate-severe migraine attack. Herein, we report the effects of treatment for the second treatment period. Methods In the first treatment period of this trial, adults with migraine were randomized to double-blind trial treatment of attacks of moderate or severe pain with DFN-15,120 mg or placebo. For the second treatment period, reported herein, participants were re-randomized to treat an attack of any baseline pain intensity (mild, moderate, or severe). Co-primary efficacy endpoints specified for the first attack were not specified for the second attack. Results Of the 531 patients who completed the first treatment period, 491 (n = 243 DFN-15; n = 248 placebo; 87% female, mean age 41 years) were re-randomized into the second double-blind treatment period. Baseline pain intensity was mild in 17.2% (85/493) of patients, moderate in 58.4% (288/493) of patients, and severe in 22.9% (113/493) of patients. At 2 hours post-dose, DFN-15 was superior to placebo for freedom from pain (46.2% [110/238] vs 31.1% [76/244], p ≤ 0.001) and the most bothersome symptom (63.4% [121/191] vs 50.0% [98/196], p = 0.010). Treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) occurred in 7.1% (35/493) of patients (DFN-15: 6.1% [15/244]; placebo 8.0% [20/249]). Study drug-related TEAEs occurred in 5.1% (25/493) of patients (DFN-15: 4.5% [11/244]; placebo 5.6% [14/249]); nausea (1% [5/493]) and dysgeusia (0.8% [4/493]) were most common. No serious TEAEs, severe TEAEs, or TEAEs leading to study drug termination were reported. Conclusions DFN-15 was superior to placebo for pain freedom and freedom from the most bothersome symptom when patients treat a migraine attack of any baseline pain intensity. Rates of TEAEs did not differ between treatment groups.


We theoretically investigated Anomalous Hall Effect (AHE) and Spin Hall Effect (SHE) transversally to the insulating spacer O, in magnetic tunnel junctions of the form F/O/F where F are ferromagnetic layers and O represents a tunnel barrier. We considered the case of purely ballistic (quantum mechanical) transport, taking into account the assymetric scattering due to spin-orbit interaction in the tunnel barrier. AHE and SHE in the considered case have a surface nature due to proximity effect. Their amplitude is in first order of the scattering potential. This contrasts with ferromagnetic metals wherein these effect are in second (side-jump scattering) and third (skew scattering) order on these potentials. The value of AHE voltage in insulating spacer may be much larger than in metallic ferromagnetic electrodes. For the antiparallel orientation of the magnetizations in the two F-electrodes, a spontaneous Hall voltage exists even at zero applied voltage. Therefore an insulating spacer sandwiched between two ferromagnetic layers can be considered as exhibiting a spontaneous ferroelectricity.


ABSTRACT Access to safe drinking water is now recognized as a human right by the United Nations. In developed countries like Canada, access to clean water is generally not a matter of concern. However, one in every five First Nations reserves is under a drinking water advisory, often due to unacceptable microbiological quality. In this study, we analyzed source and potable water from a First Nations community for the presence of coliform bacteria as well as various antibiotic resistance genes. Samples, including those from drinking water sources, were found to be positive for various antibiotic resistance genes, namely, ampC, tet(A), mecA, β-lactamase genes (SHV-type, TEM-type, CTX-M-type, OXA-1, and CMY-2-type), and carbapenemase genes (KPC, IMP, VIM, NDM, GES, and OXA-48 genes). Not surprisingly, substantial numbers of total coliforms, including Escherichia coli, were recovered from these samples, and this result was also confirmed using Illumina sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. These findings deserve further attention, as the presence of coliforms and antibiotic resistance genes potentially puts the health of the community members at risk. IMPORTANCE In this study, we highlight the poor microbiological quality of drinking water in a First Nations community in Canada. We examined the coliform load as well as the presence of antibiotic resistance genes in these samples. This study examined the presence of antibiotic-resistant genes in drinking water samples from a First Nations Community in Canada. We believe that our findings are of considerable significance, since the issue of poor water quality in First Nations communities in Canada is often ignored, and our findings will help shed some light on this important issue.


Dicyclomine is a selective muscarinic M1 receptor antagonist in humans. Dicyclomine targets signal transduction genes and inhibits virulence factors in the human pathogen, Candida albicans. Muscarinic acetylcholine receptors are not known to exist in C. albicans. We carried out a search to identify a muscarinic receptor like proteins in C. albicans. A BLAST protein analysis revealed that a C. albicans protein Rrp9 shares 54% identity and 71% similarity with human muscarinic M1 receptor at 24 amino acids overlap. Global alignment between human muscarinic M1 receptor and C. albicans Rrp9 showed 19% identity and 33% similarity at 570 amino acid residues overlap. Our molecular docking study of dicyclomine with C. albicans, Rrp9, Gpr1, Ste2 and Ste3 showed that dicyclomine could bind only with Rrp9 by forming hydrogen bond interactions with VAL386 and ILE313 amino acid residues in the active site region. Dicyclomine bound with human muscarinic receptor M1 by forming hydrogen bond interaction with ARG123 at the active site region. Our study suggests that Rrp9 may be considered as a potential target for dicyclomine in C. albicans.


The Internet has changed drastically in recent years, multiple novel applications and services have emerged, all about consuming digital content. In parallel, users are no longer satisfied by the Internet's best effort service, instead, they expect a seamless service of high quality from the side of the network. This has increased the pressure on Internet service providers (ISP) in their effort to efficiently engineer their traffic and improve their end-users' experience. Content providers from their side, and to further protect the content of their customers, have shifted towards end-to-end encryption (e.g., TLS/SSL), which has complicated even further the task of ISPs in handling the traffic in their network. The challenge is notable for video streaming traffic which is driving the Internet traffic growth, and which imposes tight constraints on the quality of service provided by the network depending on the content of the video stream and the equipment on the end-user premises. Video streaming relies on the dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP (DASH) protocol which takes into consideration the underlying network conditions (e.g., delay, loss rate, and throughput) and the viewport capacity (e.g., screen resolution) to improve the experience of the end user in the limit of available resources. Nevertheless, knowing the reality of the encrypted video traffic is of great help to ISPs as it allows taking appropriate network management actions. In this work, we propose an experimental framework able to infer fine-grained video flow information such as chunk sizes from encrypted YouTube video traces. We also present a novel technique to separate video and audio chunks from encrypted traces based on Gaussian Mixture Models (GMM). We evaluate our technique with real chunk sizes (Audio/Video) collected through the browser using the Chrome Web Request API [1]. Then, we leverage these results and our dataset to train a model able to predict the class of viewport (either SD or HD) per video session with an average 92% accuracy and 85% F1 score.


An 18-year-old man presented with a 2 day history of breathlessness and left-sided chest pain, with no preceding trauma. He had no medical history of note, and had never smoked. He was in hypovolaemic shock, with Hb of 8.1 g/dl, and received fluid resuscitation. Chest x-ray (CXR) revealed left-sided hydropneumothorax, with the effusion of blood-consistency on CT thorax. Tube thoracostomy drained 1.7 litres of blood immediately. He remained haemodynamically stable after 4 units of blood transfusion on the first day with post-transfusion Hb 11 g/dl. Following cardiothoracic surgeon advice, tube was removed on day 5 draining total of 3.5 litres, with good response clinically and radiologically. Patient was well when followed up at 1 week after hospital discharge, with no recurrence and complete re-expansion of left lung on CXR.


Eighteen chronic schizophrenic patients received subcutaneous doses of apomorphine, a dopamine receptor agonist, and of placebo in separate trials. A significant improvement in psychotic symptoms occurred after apomorphine compared to placebo. The results are interpreted as a consequence of presynaptic dopamine receptor activation by apomorphine with a subsequent decrease in dopamine-mediated neural transmission.


The fractal analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) has been associated to the chaos theory. We evaluated the association of the fractal exponents of HRV with the time and frequency domain and geometric indices of HRV for short period. HRV was analyzed with a minimal number of 256 RR intervals in the time (SDNN-standard deviation of normal-to-normal R-R intervals, pNN50-percentage of adjacent RR intervals with a difference of duration greater than 50ms and RMSSD-root-mean square of differences between adjacent normal RR intervals in a time interval) and frequency (LF-low frequency, HF-high frequency and LF/HF ratio) domains. The geometric indexes were also analyzed (RRtri-triangular index, TINN-triangular interpolation of RR intervals and Poincare plot) as well as short and long-term fractal exponents (alpha-1 and alpha-2) of the detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). We observed strong correlation of the alpha-1 exponent with RMSSD, pNN50, SDNN/RMSSD, LF (nu), HF (nu), LF/HF ratio, SD1 and SD1/Sd2 ratio. In conclusion, we suggest that the alpha-1 exponent could be applied for HRV analysis with a minimal number of 256 RR intervals.


We have analysed the CAG repeat in the Huntington disease (HD) gene in sperm and blood from 20 unrelated HD patients. Although the CAG repeat displayed significant mosaicism in sperm from all individuals, there were marked differences in the degree of repeat instability. Individuals who had either inherited or transmitted an expanded CAG repeat displayed the highest levels of repeat mosaicism, whereas individuals who had inherited or transmitted a contracted repeat had very limited CAG mosaicism in sperm. A strong association between intergenerational change in CAG allele size and the level of sperm repeat mosaicism was determined (P = 0.019). In contrast, neither blood CAG size nor repeat mosaicism in blood, were significantly associated with intergenerational CAG changes. These data suggest the presence of a cis-acting factor, separate from CAG size, that strongly influences the intergenerational behaviour of the CAG repeat. Additional studies are needed to determine whether analysis of CAG mosaicism in sperm is useful for assessing an individual's risk for transmitting large expansions or contractions to his offspring.


Activity budgets can provide a direct link to an animal's bioenergetic budget and is thus a valuable unit of measure when assessing human-induced nonlethal effects on wildlife conservation status. However, activity budget inference can be challenging for species that are difficult to observe and require multiple observational variables. Here, we assessed whether whalewatching boat interactions could affect the activity budgets of minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata). We used a stepwise modeling approach to quantitatively record, identify, and assign activity states to continuous behavioral time series data, to estimate activity budgets. First, we used multiple behavioral variables, recorded from continuous visual observations of individual animals, to quantitatively identify and define behavioral types. Activity states were then assigned to each sampling unit, using a combination of hidden and observed states. Three activity states were identified: nonfeeding, foraging, and surface feeding (SF). From the resulting time series of activity states, transition probability matrices were estimated using first-order Markov chains. We then simulated time series of activity states, using Monte Carlo methods based on the transition probability matrices, to obtain activity budgets, accounting for heterogeneity in state duration. Whalewatching interactions reduced the time whales spend foraging and SF, potentially resulting in an overall decrease in energy intake of 42%. This modeling approach thus provides a means to link short-term behavioral changes resulting from human disturbance to potential long-term bioenergetic consequences in animals. It also provides an analytical framework applicable to other species when direct observations of activity states are not possible.


Neutron scattering measurements on the pyrochlore magnet Ce_{2}Zr_{2}O_{7} reveal an unusual crystal field splitting of its lowest J=5/2 multiplet, such that its ground-state doublet is composed of m_{J}=±3/2, giving these doublets a dipole-octupole (DO) character with local Ising anisotropy. Its magnetic susceptibility shows weak antiferromagnetic correlations with θ_{CW}=-0.4(2)  K, leading to a naive expectation of an all-in, all-out ordered state at low temperatures. Instead, our low-energy inelastic neutron scattering measurements show a dynamic quantum spin ice state, with suppressed scattering near |Q|=0, and no long-range order at low temperatures. This is consistent with recent theory predicting symmetry-enriched U(1) quantum spin liquids for such DO doublets decorating the pyrochlore lattice. Finally, we show that disorder, especially oxidation of powder samples, is important in Ce_{2}Zr_{2}O_{7} and could play an important role in the low-temperature behavior of this material.


Optimized software execution on parallel computing systems demands consideration of many parameters at run-time. Determining the optimal set of parameters in a given execution context is a complex task, and therefore to address this issue researchers have proposed different approaches that use heuristic search or machine learning. In this paper, we undertake a systematic literature review to aggregate, analyze and classify the existing software optimization methods for parallel computing systems. We review approaches that use machine learning or meta-heuristics for scheduling parallel computing systems. Additionally, we discuss challenges and future research directions. The results of this study may help to better understand the state-of-the-art techniques that use machine learning and meta-heuristics to deal with the complexity of scheduling parallel computing systems. Furthermore, it may aid in understanding the limitations of existing approaches and identification of areas for improvement.


ABSTRACT Chione elevata is a venerid bivalve common in modern molluscan assemblages and in the fossil record throughout the southeastern United States. Knowledge of its life span and growth rates can provide insights into paleoenvironmental and paleoecological conditions for a large number of fossil assemblages. We used isotope sclerochronology to decipher the accretionary record in modern shells of C. elevata. Sixty-three live specimens were collected from a soft-substrate intertidal flat near Wilmington, North Carolina. Aragonite samples drilled from the outer shell layer of three specimens were analyzed for oxygen isotope ratios (&dgr;18O). Previous studies show that dark growth lines in other bivalve taxa from the same geographic area, such as Mercenaria mercenaria, correlated with summer growth cessation. A similar accretionary pattern does not exist in C. elevata. Dark growth lines in C. elevata shells appear randomly distributed. Their occurrence does not always correspond with maxima in &dgr;18O values (winter growth cessation). Additionally, dark growth lines are not correlated with concentric ornaments on the surface of the shell. Instead, maxima in &dgr;18O values correspond to indentations, or notches, on the surface of the shell. We characterize these concentric external notches as annual markers of winter growth cessation.


Most of the existing document and web search engines rely on keyword-based queries. To find matches, these queries are processed using retrieval algorithms that rely on word frequencies, topic recentness, document authority, and (in some cases) available ontologies. In this paper, we propose an innovative approach to exploring text collections using a novel keywords-by-concepts (KbC) graph, which supports navigation using domain-specific concepts as well as keywords that are characterizing the text corpus. The KbC graph is a weighted graph, created by tightly integrating keywords extracted from documents and concepts obtained from domain taxonomies. Documents in the corpus are associated to the nodes of the graph based on evidence supporting contextual relevance; thus, the KbC graph supports contextually informed access to these documents. In this paper, we also present CoSeNa (Context-based Search and Navigation) system that leverages the KbC model as the basis for document exploration and retrieval as well as contextually-informed media integration.


Sago starch is extracted from the trunk of sago palm (Metroxylon spp.), which is found throughout South East Asia. In Indonesia sago is considered an underutilised crop and moreover Iron Deficiency Anaemia (IDA) is prevalent among particularly women and children. Creation of a ready to eat product from sago, which was fortified with iron, would address issues of food security both in terms of nutrition and as a non-imported carbohydrate source. With this aim studies for the manufacture of a thermomechanical directly expanded snack product using a commercial source of sago starch were conducted.

Composition and properties of sago starch were analysed and compared with rice and cassava. Sago starch differed in several aspects from the two other starches widely processed in Asia. Sago starch had large granules, had the highest amylose levels and gelatinisation temperature (76 °C). X-ray diffraction suggested an A-type packing for all samples, including the sago where literature suggest a C-type ordering.

Conversion of the starches (30% moisture) and their flow were studied in a capillary rheometer. A stable extruded product was achieved, but it did not expand. Capillary rheometer data showed pseudoplastic behaviour of the moistened sago starch. With increasing temperature viscosity decreased and no impact of the presence of iron (ferrous sulphate heptahydrate 800 ppm) on the flow behaviour was found, but the inclusion of iron made the extrudates brown in colour. The losses of crystallinity were measured on the extrudates from the rheometer. Levels of order loss were predicted from the state diagram and by comparison with the DSC enthalpy changes for uncooked sago at higher moisture contents. When processed at 70 °C the samples showed more amorphous material than anticipated. When processed at 100 °C still 30% of the order remained. This indicated that shear and moisture levels are critical in the processing of the starch.

Thermomechanical extrusion was carried out on a twin screw pilot scale machine (Thermo Fisher, Prism). The screw and die configuration and feed rate for the sago starch (8 kg/h) were fixed. The impact of variable processing parameters of water feed rate (16.5 to 25% wwb), screw speed (200, 300 and 400 rpm) and die temperature (120, 140 and 160 °C) on the physical and physicochemical properties of extruded sago starch were investigated. At the lower water feed rates expansion occurred as the product left the extruder to form a stable extrudate with multiple air cells, which gave a crispy texture. The specific mechanical energies needed to create the expanded product were high at 400-500Whr/kg. The properties of the extrudates were more affected by water feed rate than by alterations in screw speed or die temperature.

In order to reduce discolorations, iron-fortified sago starch extrudates were made using iron and ascorbic acid (1:6 ratio). The presence of additives at low water feed rate had no detrimental impact on the extrudates. The recommended extrusion parameters for the manufacture of an extruded sago starch product would be: feed rate of 8 kg/h, screw speed of 300 rpm, die temperature at 140 °C, and water feed rate at 4 mL/min (equivalent to 16.5% wwb), and it is possible that machine settings that produce even higher SME values may allow a more expanded product. From this work it appears that an iron fortified directly expanded sago product could be manufactured. Its nutritional properties and commercial applicability would need to be ascertained.


In this paper, we address the problems of power allocation at relays to maximize the transmission rate in a nonorthogonal amplify-and-forward (AF) relay-assisted network, in which multiple relays simultaneously transmit the amplified signals in the same time and frequency. We first formulate a power allocation problem that aims to maximize the minimum of transmission rates in a multicast under a sum power constraint. Then, we prove that the optimal solution can be alternatively obtained by solving its inverse problem, which minimizes the sum power consumption at relays while achieving the target signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) with the same constraint. The inverse problem can be solved by using linear programming, and the inverse problem's complexity can be further reduced by a proposed suboptimal power allocation algorithm. As in the special case of multicast, the optimal solution is derived in unicast, and two suboptimal algorithms are proposed to reduce the feedback overhead and complexity, in which multirelay diversity is also investigated.


Inference-based optimization via simulation, which substitutes Gaussian process (GP) learning for the structural properties exploited in mathematical programming, is a powerful paradigm that has been shown to be remarkably effective in problems of modest feasible-region size and decision-variable dimension. The limitation to "modest" problems is a result of the computational overhead and numerical challenges encountered in computing the GP conditional (posterior) distribution on each iteration. In this paper, we substantially expand the size of discrete-decision-variable optimization-via-simulation problems that can be attacked in this way by exploiting a particular GP—discrete Gaussian Markov random fields—and carefully tailored computational methods. The result is the rapid Gaussian Markov Improvement Algorithm (rGMIA), an algorithm that delivers both a global convergence guarantee and finite-sample optimality-gap inference for significantly larger problems. Between infrequent evaluations of the global conditional distribution, rGMIA applies the full power of GP learning to rapidly search smaller sets of promising feasible solutions that need not be spatially close. We carefully document the computational savings via complexity analysis and an extensive empirical study. Summary of Contribution: The broad topic of the paper is optimization via simulation, which means optimizing some performance measure of a system that may only be estimated by executing a stochastic, discrete-event simulation. Stochastic simulation is a core topic and method of operations research. The focus of this paper is on significantly speeding-up the computations underlying an existing method that is based on Gaussian process learning, where the underlying Gaussian process is a discrete Gaussian Markov Random Field. This speed-up is accomplished by employing smart computational linear algebra, state-of-the-art algorithms, and a careful divide-and-conquer evaluation strategy. Problems of significantly greater size than any other existing algorithm with similar guarantees can solve are solved as illustrations.


Beverages are an integral part of human nutrition, yet little is known about their contribution to daily intakes of minerals and trace elements in German consumers. Using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, we determined the concentration of five minerals and six trace elements in beverage samples (n = 990, assigned to different beverage groups) collected throughout Germany. For a calculation of their relative contribution to the mineral supply, available beverage consumption data was combined with our quantitative analysis to calculate the average contribution of beverage groups to meet the respective dietary reference values currently used in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (D-A-CH region). Based on their presence in beverages and their consumption, the top three minerals are phosphorous, calcium and magnesium, and they, therefore, may reasonably contribute to the reference values. Among the trace elements, beverages mostly contributed to the manganese supply, whereas at the same time, concentrations of iron, cobalt and copper were low across all tested groups. Our study provides an overview of the assumed mineral and trace element intake via beverages in Germany and may, thus, serve as a foundation for a mineral and trace element database of beverages that needs to be expanded in the future.


Objective: To investigate the contribution of polymorphic variation in genes involved in the folate-dependent homocysteine pathway in the aetiology of neural tube defects (NTD). Design: Case-control association study. Subjects: A total of 530 individuals from families affected by NTD, 645 maternal controls, and 602 healthy newborn controls from the northern UK. Main outcome measures: Seven polymorphisms in six genes coding for proteins in the folate-dependent homocysteine pathway (MTHFR 677C→T, MTHFR 1298A→C, MTRR 66A→G, SHMT 1420C→T, CβS 844ins68, GCPII 1561C→T, RFC-1 80G→A). The impact of each polymorphism and the effect of gene–gene interactions (epistasis) upon risk of NTD were assessed using logistic regression analysis. Results: The MTHFR 677C→T polymorphism was shown to represent a risk factor in NTD cases (CC v CT+TT odds ratio (OR) 2.03 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.09, 3.79] p = 0.025) and the MTRR 66A→G polymorphism was shown to exert a protective effect in NTD cases (AA v AG+GG OR 0.31 [95% CI 0.10, 0.94] p = 0.04). When statistical tests for interaction were conducted, three genotype combinations in cases (MTRR/GCPII; MTHFR 677/CβS; MTHFR 677/MTRR) and one combination in case mothers (CβS/RFC-1) were shown to elevate NTD risk. Maternal–fetal interaction was also detected when offspring carried the MTHFR 677C→T variant and mothers carried the MTRR 66A→G variant, resulting in a significantly elevated risk of NTD. Conclusion: Both independent genetic effects and gene–gene interaction were observed in relation to NTD risk. Multi-locus rather than single locus analysis might be preferable to gain an accurate assessment of genetic susceptibility to NTD.


Traditional healthcare cost-accounting methods determine the cost of unused inpatient beds by calculating the fixed cost per patient-day using the number of patient days of inpatient care expected to be provided. Unfortunately, this approach can result in a misleading estimate of fixed costs per patient-day that fluctuate over time as expected levels of inpatient care fluctuate. A recommended alternative approach, practical capacity cost accounting, determines the cost of unused inpatient beds by calculating fixed costs per patient-day using the maximum feasible patient days of inpatient care that can be provided in a year. This approach yields stable fixed costs for more accurate costing of unused capacity and better long-range planning and decision making.


Simultaneous studies were made as to the degrees of Heinz body formation, of change in hemoglobin and of change in osmotic fragility in erythrocytes incubated with certain drugs which are known to produce Heinz bodies in vivo. Certain factors that modify the pattern of effect of drugs on normal adult erythrocytes were also studied.

A close relationship was found between the degrees of Heinz body production and "intact" hemoglobin destruction. Factors that caused variation in the degree of "intact" hemoglobin destruction caused similar variation in the degree of Heinz body production. Staining studies suggested that Heinz bodies are protein in nature and derived from hemoglobin. These observations were taken to indicate that Heinz bodies probably result from the direct effect of certain drugs on intra-erythrocytic hemoglobin.

β-naphthol and primaquine were found to cause marked increase in osmotic fragility relative to the degrees of Heinz body production and of "intact" hemoglobin destruction, whereas acetyl phenylhydrazine produced marked Heinz body production and "intact" hemoglobin destruction with relatively little increase in osmotic fragility. These observations were regarded as evidence that Heinz body production is not the sole determinant of instability of erythrocytes exposed to these various drugs.

Under no experimental conditions was Heinz body production or "intact" hemoglobin destruction found without methemoglobin formation. Evidence was presented to indicate that Heinz body production could be inhibited by trapping methemoglobin as methemoglobin cyanide or methemoglobin azide. The suggestion was advanced that methemoglobin is in fact an essential stage in the destruction of "intact" hemoglobin and the formation of Heinz bodies.


Road accident is one of the major causes of mortality in many countries. Road traffic education is essential for all drivers in order to improve road safety and minimizes the impacts to the society due to road accidents. Virtual Experiential Learning (VEL) framework is proposed in this study to improve learning by reducing cognitive load in educating undergraduate students on traffic rules in Thailand. The VEL framework is developed based on the Mayer's model, comprising learning instructions with multimedia presentations including Experiential Learning (EL) techniques, aiming to reduce cognitive overload while focusing on the education of traffic rules. The learning conceptual framework of Virtual Experiential Learning (VEL) combines with learning instructional materials, including multimedia and 3D based video instructions.

This study has been conducted with four different instructional designs, but they presented the same contents. The control group (group A) was based on traditional instructional design comprised text and pictures. Three other experimental groups were: (a) traditional instruction design with EL comprised narration of text and pictures (group B); (b) multimedia instruction design with EL comprised narration of text, pictures, sounds, and 2D animations (group C); and (c) 3D based instruction design with EL comprised of narration of text, pictures, sounds, and 3D videos (group D). The results were compared between pre-test, post-test and final-test scores of four groups of participants.

The results, multimedia instruction delivered with Experiential Learning (EL) and 3D based video instruction delivered with EL has improved learners' knowledge on traffic rules. It was noted that learners' knowledge was improved using multimedia instructional designs with EL techniques, and it also affected cognitive load reduction in short term memory. The study also found that 3D based video instructions affected cognitive load reduction and it provided the best results in terms of learner's knowledge retention in the long term memory. Finally, the effect of learner satisfaction on cognitive load reduction was examined and it was found that learner satisfactions can affect the learning outcomes.


The fate of alleles in the human population is believed to be highly affected by the stochastic force of genetic drift. Estimation of the strength of natural selection in humans generally necessitates a careful modeling of drift including complex effects of the population history and structure. Protein truncating variants (PTVs) are expected to evolve under strong purifying selection and to have a relatively high per-gene mutation rate. Thus, it is appealing to model the population genetics of PTVs under a simple deterministic mutation-selection balance, as has been proposed earlier [1]. Here, we investigated the limits of this approximation using both computer simulations and data-driven approaches. Our simulations rely on a model of demographic history estimated from 33,370 individual exomes of the Non-Finnish European subset of the ExAC dataset [2]. Additionally, we compared the African and European subset of the ExAC study and analyzed de novo PTVs. We show that the mutation-selection balance model is applicable to the majority of human genes, but not to genes under the weakest selection.


Ultrasonic sensors have been widely used as time-of-flight range finding systems in mobile robots. Different variations of this scheme lead to robust identification of simple reflector types, like walls, corners and edges. In this paper an alternative approach is attempted, able not only to locate and identify simple reflectors, but to detect and recognize more complicated objects. A more sophisticated sensor, the CTFM sonar, produces an image which corresponds to a range map. The image provides information about the location and type of the reflector. A reflectivity model for planes, corners, and edges is presented and compared with some experimental results. A method to distinguish well structured reflectors from complex objects is then described and the application of the system in a room mapping task is demonstrated.


Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) are important causes of diarrhea in humans and animals worldwide. Although ruminant animals are the main source of STEC, diarrhea due to this pathotype is very low in Bangladesh where ETEC remains the predominant group associated with childhood diarrhea. In the present study, E. coli strains (n = 35) isolated from Bangladesh livestock (goats, sheep, and cattle) and poultry (chicken and ducks) were analyzed for the presence of major virulence factors, such as Shiga toxins (STX-1 and STX-2), heat-labile toxin, and heat-stable toxins (STa and STb). Multiplex polymerase chain reaction results revealed 23 (66%) E. coli strains to be virulent possessing either sta (n = 5), stx (stx1, n = 8; stx2, n = 2), or both (n = 8) genes in varying combinations. Thirty-four percent (8/23) of strains from livestock were hybrid type that carried both stx (either stx1 or stx2) and ETEC-specific enterotoxin gene sta. Serotyping results revealed that the ETEC strains belonged to five serotypes, namely O36:H5, O174:H−, O152:H8, O109:H51, and O8:H21, while the STEC-producing strains belonged to serotypes O76:H19 (n = 3), O43:H2 (n = 2), O87:H16 (n = 2), OR:H2 (n = 1), O110:H16 (n = 1), and O152:H8 (n = 1). The STEC–ETEC hybrid strains belonged to serotypes O76:H19 (n = 3), O43:H2 (n = 2), O87:H16, OR:H2, and O152:H8. Forty percent (2/5) of the ETEC and 20% (2/10) of the STEC strains were multidrug resistant with the highest drug resistance (50%) being found in the hybrid strains. Molecular fingerprinting determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and cluster analyses by dendrogram revealed that, genetically, STEC–ETEC hybrid strains were highly heterogeneous. Multidrug-resistant E. coli STEC–ETEC hybrid strains in domesticated animals pose a public health threat for humans in Bangladesh.


As a negative electrode material for lithium ion batteries (LIBs), carbon has a higher cycle life and higher safety. However, it has poor electrical conductivity, low charging and discharging platform, and poor stability of layered structure. Some carbon materials are complicated to make such as synthetic graphene, and the shape is difficult to control. Metal materials have good electrical conductivity, but due to the rapid volume expansion of lithium ions during the cycle of insertion and extraction, the electrodes are extremely quickly crushed and accompanied by extremely rapid capacity decay. Scholars have combined the advantages of carbon and metal materials to create a new type of carbon-based composite material. This article outlines the use of carbon based composite materials as lithium-ion electrodes to improve battery performance.


The test results show tool life of multilayer ceramic (TiCN/Al2O3/TiN) CVD-coated carbide tool when using in high speed turning of AISI O1 steel with 240 HV under eco-maching technique is majority determined by the maximum flank wear on zone C and excessive chipping on tool nose region. The results are due to the geometry of cutting tool, mechanical and thermal wears. The use of oil-based cutting fluid in wet gives longer tool life and better surface roughness, Ra, than dry cutting (the eco-machining technique). This result is due to the presence of cutting fluid in supporting the advantages of coating materials. When tool rejection criteria are attained, higher surface roughness under wet cutting is resulted. The rough surface and abused feed marks are observed. They occur since excessive chipping on wet is worse than dry cutting due to the occurrence of thermal shock on the substrate (WC-Co).


Background: Estimates of colorectal cancer test use vary widely by data source. Medicare claims offer one source for monitoring test use, but their utility has not been validated. We compared ascertainment of sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy between three data sources: self reports, Medicare claims, and medical records. Materials and Methods: The study population included Medicare enrollees residing in North Carolina (n = 561) who had participated in a telephone survey on colorectal cancer tests. Medicare claims were obtained for the 5 years preceding the survey (January 1, 1998 to December 31, 2002). Information about sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy procedures conducted in physician offices were abstracted from medical records. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, agreement, and κ statistics were calculated using the medical record as the gold standard. Agreement on specific procedure type and purpose was also assessed. Results: Agreement between claim and medical record regarding whether an endoscopic procedure had been done was high (over 90%). Agreement between self report and medical record and between self report and claim was good (79% and 74%, respectively). All three data sources adequately distinguished the type of procedure done. None of the data sources showed reliable levels of agreement regarding procedure purpose (screening or diagnostic). Conclusion: Medicare claims can provide accurate information on whether a patient has undergone colorectal endoscopy and may be more complete than physician medical records. Medicare claims cannot be used to distinguish screening from diagnostic tests. Recognizing this limitation, researchers who use Medicare claims to assess rates of colorectal testing should include both screening and diagnostic endoscopy procedures in their analyses. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16(10):2118–27)


Study design, materials and methods We had 26 patients with PD who underwent a systematized lower urinary tract symptom (LUTS) questionnaire and a urodynamics, which were performed irrespective of the presence of LUTS. The diagnosis of PD was made according to published criteria. In addition, in order to augment diagnostic accuracy, we performed 123I-ioflupane scintigraphy. The patients included 14 men and 12 women; mean age 66.7 (47-79) years; mean disease duration 2.7 (0.4-10) years. All patients had gait difficulty with the mean Hoehn Yahr stage 2.3. Cognitive function was assessed in all patients; and the mean Mini Mental Sate Examination (MMSE) score was 26.1 (less than 24 indicates cognitive decline). Urodynamics/ sphincter electromyography (EMG) was performed according to the International Continence Society methods. Before participating in the study, informed consent was obtained from all subjects and their families. This study was approved in local Ethics Committee.


Recent evidence supports a strong role for immune suppression in facilitating cancer progression. Transforming growth factor beta (TGFs) regulates a diverse array of biological events, including neoangiogenesis, stromal formation, and immune responses. Both TGFs and a small molecule inhibitor of TGFsR-1, LY364947, were effective regulators of these processes in vitro. Using quantitative RT-PCR and fluorescence imaging, TGFs increased collagen production by pancreatic stellate cells while addition of LY364947 suppressed production below basal levels. Endothelial cell proliferation, measured as a function of endothelial tube formation in Geltrex® matrix, was similarly increased by TGFs and reduced to basal levels by LY364947. To explore the in vivo effects of these molecules, LY364947 was encapsulated in liposomes to encourage tumor accumulation and to avoid administration of DMSO vehicle. Liposomes were prepared with a molar ratio of 6:3:1 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine /Chol/1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-[amino(polyethylene glycol)-2000] using a Hei-Vap Series Heidolph Rotatory Evaporator and a Thermobarrel Extruder. In contrast to in vitro studies, tumor stromal content in human pancreatic capan-2 tumors established in nude mice was not influenced by LY364947, free or liposomal. In addition, tumor progression, as a function of size, and myeloid populations were unaltered by weekly treatments with liposomal LY364947. Thus the influence of TGFsR-1 inhibition in cell cultures does not translate directly into biologically equivalent events. Citation Format: Ismail Meraz, Leoncio Vergara, Sarah Suki, Prem Siddharth Gunamalai, Rita Elena Serda. Transforming growth factor-beta as a therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR Inaugural International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference: Translating Science into Survival; September 16-19, 2015; New York, NY. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2016;4(1 Suppl):Abstract nr A118.


Migraine headache trigger site deactivation surgery is a term that encompasses 4 different surgical procedures that are performed based on headache onset location for the preventative treatment of migraine headaches. Multiple studies have demonstrated some efficacy of these procedures, but closer evaluation of the methodology of these studies reveals major flaws in study design. In this article, the author provides an overview of the procedures and presurgical screening tools, as well as a critical evaluation of 2 of the major studies that have been published. In addition, the author provides his opinion on future study designs that may help to better determine the potential efficacy of these experimental procedures and potential headache subtypes (contact point headache, supraorbital neuralgia, and occipital neuralgia) that may respond to peripheral decompression surgery.


This paper presents an original circuit model that furnishes an efficient description of the impedance and of the radiation performance for typical printed-circuit leaky-wave structures. In particular, referring to a junction between slot-coupled feeding and radiating microstrips, we have developed an unconventional equivalent transmission-line formulation, involving the propagation of the dominant mode for the feeding line and of the first higher mode for the radiating line, which is leaky. The quantification of the relevant scattering matrix, achieved with spectral-domain techniques, suitably summarizes the coupling effects and, consequently, the radiative features. Various antenna configurations have been tested, and the relevant results have been validated through comparisons with heavier full-wave numerical approaches. In addition to substantial computational advantages, this innovative approach gives the possibility of treating printed leaky-wave structures in a convenient fashion by means of a network formalism similar to that used in standard microwave circuits.


This paper examines end-to-end learning for autonomous vehicles in diverse, simulated environments containing other vehicles, traffic lights, and traffic signs; in weather conditions ranging from sunny to heavy rain. The paper proposes an architecture combing a traditional Convolutional Neural Network with a recurrent layer to facilitate the learning of both spatial and temporal relationships. Furthermore, the paper suggests a model that supports navigational input from the user to facilitate the use of a global route planner to achieve a more comprehensive system. The paper also explores some of the uncertainties regarding the implementation of end-to-end systems. Specifically, how a system's overall performance is affected by the size of the training dataset, the allowed prediction frequency, and the number of hidden states in the system's recurrent module. The proposed system is trained using expert driving data captured in various simulated settings and evaluated by its real-time driving performance in unseen simulated environments. The results of the paper indicate that end-to-end systems can operate autonomously in simulated environments, in a range of different weather conditions. Additionally, it was found that using ten hidden states for the system's recurrent module was optimal. The results further show that the system was sensitive to small reductions in dataset size and that a prediction frequency of 15 Hz was required for the system to perform at its full potential.


This study had two purposes. First, in order to address the controversy regarding activation of the primary visual area (PVA) during visual mental imagery, regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was recorded while subjects performed a task that required high-resolution visual mental imagery. Second, in order to discover whether verbal descriptions can engage visual mechanisms during imagery in the same way as visual stimuli, subjects memorized 3D scenes that were visually presented or were based on a verbal description. Comparison of the results from the imagery conditions to a non-imagery baseline condition revealed no activation in PVA for imagery based on a verbal description and a significant decrease of rCBF in this region for imagery based on visual learning. The pattern of activation in other regions was very similar in the two conditions, including parietal, midbrain, cerebellar, prefrontal, left insular, and right inferior temporal regions. These results provide strong evidence that imagery based on verbal descriptions can recruit regions known to be engaged in high-order visual processing.


Underplatform friction dampers are possible solutions for minimizing vibrations of rotating turbine blades. Solid dampers, characterized by their compact dimensions, are frequently used in real applications and often appear in patents in different forms. A different type of the friction damper is a thin-walled structure, which has larger dimensions and smaller contact stresses on a wider contact area in relation to the solid damper. The damping performance of a thin-walled damper, mounted under the platforms of two rotating, freestanding high pressure turbine blades, is investigated numerically and experimentally in this paper. The tangential and normal contact stiffness that are crucial parameters in optimal design of any friction damper are determined from three-dimensional finite element computations of the contact behavior of the damper on the platform including friction and centrifugal effects. The computed contact stiffness values are applied to nonlinear dynamic simulations of the analyzed blades coupled by the friction damper of a specified mass. These numerical analyses are performed in the modal frequency domain, which is based on the harmonic balance method for the complex linearization of friction forces. The numerical dynamic results are in good agreement with the measured data of the real mistuned system. In the analyzed excitation range, the numerical performance curve of the thin-walled damper is obtained within the scatter band of the experimental results. For the known friction coefficients and available finite element and harmonic balance tools, the described numerical process confirms its usability in the design process of turbine blades with underplatform dampers.


Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), an endotoxin, is known to induce inflammatory response and oxidative stress in rodents. We evaluated the protective role of Euglena tuba extract (ETME) against LPS induced inflammatory response and oxidative stress in male Balb/c mice. Male Balb/c mice were divided into 4 groups. Group 1 (control) were intraperitoneally administered 0.5 mL PBS. Group 2, 3 and 4 were treated with a single dose of LPS (i.p. 40 mg/kg body weight). Prior 1 h, Group 3 and 4 received orally 100 mg/kg body weight and 200 mg/kg body weight ETME respectively. Biomarkers of oxidative stress including TBARS, SOD, Catalase, Liver marker enzyme (SGPT and SGOT), Nitric Oxide, and inflammatory cytokines including IL-6 and TNF-α, were estimated in serum. Oxidative stress and inflammatory markers were significantly increased in the LPS treated group, whereas ETME treated group at different concentrations protected mice from pro inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress. Our results indicate that 70% methanolic extract of Euglena tuba can efficiently counteract free radical generation and increased level of inflammatory cytokine in an LPS induced mice model.


The stability of a Bose-Einstein condensed state of trapped ultra-cold atoms is investigated under the assumption of an attractive two-body and a repulsive three-body interaction. The Ginzburg-Pitaevskii-Gross (GPG) nonlinear Schrödinger equation is extended to include an effective potential dependent on the square of the density and solved numerically for the s-wave. The lowest collective mode excitations are determined and their dependences on the number of atoms and on the strength of the three-body force are studied. The addition of three-body dynamics can allow the number of condensed atoms to increase considerably, even when the strength of the three-body force is very small compared with the strength of the two-body force. We study in detail the first-order liquid-gas phase transition for the condensed state, which can happen in a critical range of the effective three-body force parameter.


an insistent practice to give fresh lemon juice (with no sugar) to all patients before and after every operation which involved stasis of the large veins. In his opinion, too little movement of the lower limbs did seem to favour thrombosis in the veins of the legs; on the other hand he felt strongly that too early movement of thbe trunk was often associated with sudden death from pulmonary embolism.'


It is increasingly evident that inequalities exist for Indigenous people with cancer. Incidence for all cancers combined is similar to or lower than that of non-Indigenous people, but incidence of cancers with a poorer prognosis, such as lung cancer, is higher among Indigenous people, largely due to higher rates of smoking. Indigenous Australians with cancer are diagnosed with more advanced disease and are less likely to receive or complete curative treatment than non-Indigenous Australians. Wide disparities exist in cancer survival between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, particularly in the first year after diagnosis. The need to improve cancer-related health services for Indigenous Australians is apparent, however the available evidence is currently inadequate to effectively direct efforts. For example, despite high cancer mortality rates, there is little information about palliative care services, their models of care or their uptake by Indigenous cancer patients. Through an increased understanding of how cancer affects Indigenous Australians and the establishment of collaborations, in particular the recently funded Centre for Research Excellence DISCOVER-TT, and networks such as the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia, an opportunity for targeted efforts in improving cancer outcomes for Indigenous Australians is tangible.


A shortage of skilled workers is currently emerging in many countries. Yet public discourse and much research literature convey the impression that manual labor is somehow outmoded, requiring competencies that are no longer necessary in today's «post-industrial, information-based society». The question of how to achieve the right balance between different types of work in a society is one that transcends national borders. This book challenges received thinking in the areas of work and education. It does so by presenting novel evidence on the lives and thoughts of men skilled in male-dominated, manual occupations in Norway. The heart of the book is comprised of extracts from life-story interviews in which workers, in their own vivid and vigorous language, talk about their experiences with work and education over the course of their lives. Detailed exploration of opportunities and constraints in individuals' lives form the basis for a critical discussion of often unnoticed, exclusionary consequences of ongoing social change. --- About the book «Through cohort comparison and life story interviews Vogt offers a richly nuanced account of the changing social experiences of men in manual occupations over the past 50 years. His book provides a fascinating analysis of the links between lived experiences and social structural change. It also raises important questions about how we see the relationship between education, work and knowledge in 21st century societies». Sarah Irwin, Professor of Sociology, University of Leeds (UK). «The subject of Vogt's book is the important and timely one of ideas of the post-industrial , knowledge , and information society, as characterizing present-day industrial societies. He subjects these ideas to a forceful and thoroughgoing critique, based on detailed empirical work among a variety of Norwegian workers». Krishan Kumar, Professor, University of Virginia (USA).


Studies of teacher cognition and the teaching of grammar have attracted increasing research attention in recent years, yet relatively little has been published about how EFL teachers working in secondary schools teach grammar compared to what they know about their teaching. The present study considers this relationship by looking at eight teachers and investigating if their knowledge is consistent with their instructional practice. The value of this study is that it examines the current situation in grammar teaching by exploring how knowledge may influence performance in secondary school, teaching in the Libyan context.
Observation and semi-structured interviews were employed to collect the necessary data. A factual questionnaire was used to collect background information and then to choose the most appropriate participants in a sample of eight who were more and less experienced teachers and both male and female. Purposive sampling was used to select the sample. Data were transcribed and encoded for analysis according to grounded theory principles, and a framework was designed to analyse the coded data in order to triangulate the findings gathered from observation and interviews.
The findings revealed that grammar was taught using different approaches and techniques, but there was no single way of teaching that worked perfectly with all classes. What did not work for one teacher worked for another in certain cases. The teachers had different levels of knowledge which was not always reflected in their classroom practice. The more experienced teachers had better practical knowledge, although all had similar levels of theoretical knowledge about teaching and learning English grammar.
This study offers a more profound understanding of the complex relationship between teachers' practice and their knowledge about teaching grammar. Different patterns of incongruence and congruence between practice and knowledge are acknowledged, such as 'teachers knew but did not do'; 'teachers did but were not aware that they did'; and 'teachers did and they knew'. Some of the most interesting findings in this study have not been reported before, and it is clear that not all relationships of congruence between practice and knowledge have positive pedagogical value, and not all incongruent relationships have negative value. The rationales behind of all of these relationships between practice and knowledge were related to the complex relationship between teachers' practice and knowledge and contextual factors. Thus, the implications of this research should benefit future EFL teachers of grammar and open doors to further research.


IBUPROFEN ENCAPSULATED IN BEESWAX by SWATI P. SHAH (Under the Direction of A.C. CAPOMACCHIA) ABSTRACT Ibuprofen was encapsulated with beeswax by the hydrophobic congealable disperse phase method. Incorporation of stearyl alcohol in the formulation decreased the average size of the microspheres and led to a modified drug release. The microspheres showed a log-normal particle size distribution and a high drug encapsulation efficiency of about 94%. The in vitro release of ibuprofen from the microspheres could be modified according to the size distribution of the microspheres. Higuchi spherical matrix dissolution kinetics was followed. The appropriate size fraction of the microspheres was blended with microcrystalline cellulose and each formulation was compressed at different pressures. The effect of the compression pressure on various tablet properties was determined. Tableted microspheres appeared deformed but intact on the scanning electron micrographs. Drug release from the tableted microspheres was slightly slower than that from uncompressed microspheres. Increasing compression pressure led to a small decrease in drug release rate from the tableted microspheres.


Within the small satellite mission TechnoSat of Technische Universitaet Berlin, a verification strategy based on Dynamic Analysis has been applied to the C++-operating system RODOS using automated massive stimulation of the softwareunder- test. This approach is aiming at evaluating the robustness of the software and to derive feedback on the implemented messaging scheme of the on-board process chain. For fault detection and recording of message exchange the code is automatically instrumented with application-independent indicators which shall flag anomalies. Manual fault analysis is limited to the reported issues highlighting fault potential in contrast to usual reviews on the full code. The suggested reviews were extended to similar code, an approach which turned out as being effective. For the verification of the messaging scheme observed functional and performance properties were evaluated. The verification strategy targets the reduction of costs of verification and risks. Within this paper, the different verification steps are described and examples for reported issues are given.


OBJECTIVES
To determine how department chairs in pediatrics rate involvement in medical research and to determine whether faculty deans' offices have written criteria for evaluating research activity when assessing candidates for promotion or tenure.

DESIGN
Cross-sectional mailed survey and telephone survey.

SETTING
Canadian faculties of medicine.

PARTICIPANTS
Chairs of the 16 Canadian university departments of pediatrics and deans' offices of the 16 university medical faculties.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
Weight assigned by department chairs to contributions to published research according to author's research role and position in list of authors and the method of listing authors.

RESULTS
Fifteen of 16 chairs responded. Twelve submitted a completed survey, two described their institutions' policies and one responded that the institution had no policy. Eleven reported that faculty members were permitted or requested to indicate research roles on curricula vitae. There was a consensus that all or principal investigators should be listed as authors and that citing the research group as collective author was insufficient. The contribution of first authors was rated highest for articles in which all or principal investigators were listed. The contribution of joint-principal investigators listed as first author was also given a high rating. In the case of collective authorship, the greatest contribution was credited to the principal investigator of the group. Participation of primary investigators in multicentre research was rated as having higher value than participation in single-centre research by seven respondents and as having equal value by four. Only one dean's office had explicit written criteria for evaluating authorship.

CONCLUSIONS
Most departments of pediatrics and medical faculty dean's offices in Canadian universities have no criteria for assessing the type of contribution made to published research. In view of the trend to use multicentre settings for clinical trials, guidelines for weighting investigators' contributions are needed.


This report is a retrospective study of painless labor and its relation to the instrumentation. It consists of 200 cases of primigravida in labor. In the study group, 100 consecutive cases of primigravida receiving painless labor was chosen and compared to another 100 consecutive primigravida in labor without receiving painless labor. We found that painless labor with epidural analgesia would decrease the rate of cesarean section, but increase the frequency of using forceps and vacuum for labor. The rate of normal spontaneous delivery is low as compared with those not receiving epidural analgesia for painless labor. However, painless labor bears no relation to the labor course nor discernible significance to the Apgar Score of the newborn babies. We strongly recommend painless labor to those poor pain tolerated primigravida.


The early chick blastoderm expresses two endogenous galactose-binding lectins of 14 kDa and 16 kDa. We have studied the effect the lectin hapten inhibitors thiodigalactoside and the synthetic neoglycoprotein lactosyl-bovine serum albumin as well as polyclonal anti-lectin antibodies on the development of early chick embryos cultured in a defined medium. Controls consisted of maltose, maltosyl bovine serum albumin and rabbit IgG. Embryos treated at the onset of cell migration during early gastrulation underwent blastoderm retraction with decrease in surface area. In addition, they exhibited a lack of demarcation between the presumptive embryonic area (area pellucida) and the presumptive extraembryonic area (area opaca). These blastoderms also lacked a primitive streak, that is, the structure that forms in the area pellucida during gastrulation as cell migrate to form the endodermal and mesodermal layers of the embryo. Embryos treated at later stages of gastrulation showed development similar to that of controls in that they were able to undergo early organogenesis. The results suggest that lectin mediated mechanisms are essential for the migratory movements of early gastrulation and that, at late gastrulation, other mechanisms exist in the embryo to compensate for lectin function.


The aim of this paper is to show security measures for NFC (Near Field Communication) use cases and devices. We give a brief overview over NFC technology and evaluate the implementation of NFC in devices. Out of this technology review we derive different use cases and applications based on NFC technology. Based on the use cases we show assets and interfaces of an NFC device that could be a possible target of an attacker. In the following we apply different attacks against the operation modes to show how applications and devices could be protected against such attacks. The information collected is consolidated in a set of threats giving guidelines on how to improve security and overcome privacy issues. This allows integrating NFC technology in a secure way for the end consumer.


This paper presents a biometric identification system based on near-infrared imaging of dorsal hand veins and matching of the keypoints that are extracted from the dorsal hand vein images by the scale-invariant feature transform. The whole system is covered in detail, which includes the imaging device used, image processing methods proposed for geometric correction, region-of-interest extraction, image enhancement and vein pattern segmentation, as well as image classification by extraction and matching of keypoints. In addition to several constraints introduced to minimise incorrectly matched keypoints, a particular focus is placed on the use of multiple training images of each hand class to improve the recognition performance for a large database with more than 200 hand classes. By organising multiple keypoint sets extracted from multiple training images of each hand class into three sets, namely, the union, the intersection and the exclusion, based on their inter-class and intra-class relationships, this study shows the contribution made by each set to the recognition performance and demonstrates the feasibility of achieving 100% correct recognition by combining the three sets, based on the experiments conducted using more than 2000 dorsal hand vein images.


The feeding behavior of biotype E greenbug, Schizaphis graminum (Rondani), on seedlings of sorghum, Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench, genotypes with various levels and mechanisms of seedling resistance was examined in a 12-h period with a computerized electronic insect feeding monitor. Results indicated that 7 of the 12 behavioral events monitored (durations of phloem ingestion, probing, and salivation; time to first committed phloem ingestion; and frequencies of occurrence of baseline, probing, and salivation) showed significant quantitative differences among the genotypes. PI266965 and 152388, the two sources with the highest level of seedling antibiosis, had the shortest duration of phloem ingestion (250, 280.5 min); the longest durations of probing (15.2, 15.0 min), salivation (333.2, 314.4 min), and time to first committed phloem ingestion (433.5, 266.4 min); and the highest frequencies of occurrence of baseline (20.3, 22.4), probing (20.1, 22.5), and salivation (26.0, 26.8) of biotype E greenbug, respectively. These events were highly intercorrelated and were about equally related to seedling antibiosis (measured in growth chamber and field) and average damage score (overall resistance) experiments. The most important mechanism that the insect feeding monitor measured was antibiosis.


Representational systems such as language, mind or brain exhibit a structure that is widely assumed to be compositional, i.e. the semantic value of complex representations is determined by the semantic values of their parts. Dating back to the late 19th century, the principle of compositionality has regained wide attention recently. Since the way the principle has been dealt with differs largely across the disciplines, the aim of the two volumes is to conjoin the diverging approaches. They assemble a collection of original papers that cover the topic of compositionality from virtually all perspectives of interest in the contemporary debate. The well chosen international list of authors includes psychologist, neuroscientist, computer scientist, linguists and philosophers.


Three polymorphic copper carboxylate-phosphonates are reported, namely, α-Cu(4-cnappH)(H2O) (α-Cu-1), α-Cu(4-cnappH)(H2O)·0.5H2O (α-Cu-2) and β-Cu(4-cnappH)(H2O) (β-Cu), where 4-cnappH3 is (4-carboxynaphthalen-1-yl)phosphonic acid. All show layer structures but with different layer topologies. The layer topologies of the α-phases are similar, where the distorted {CuO4} planes and {PO3C} tetrahedra are corner-shared forming an inorganic layer containing 8- and 16-member rings. In β-Cu, double chains made up of corner-sharing {CuO5} and {PO3C} are crossed-linked through edge-sharing of the {CuO5} square pyramids to form an inorganic layer containing 4- and 8-member rings. The uncoordinated carboxylate groups are protonated and are involved in the interlayer hydrogen bonds in all cases. Antiferromagnetic interactions are dominant in all cases. Compounds α-Cu-1, α-Cu-2 and β-Cu can be exfoliated in THF resulting in 2D nanosheets of mainly two-layer thickness. Proton conductivity measurements reveal that the proton conduction is more favorable in α-Cu-2 than in α-Cu-1, but exfoliation into nanosheets decreases the conductivity.


The blood-feeding kinetics of Anopheles albitarsis, An. aquasalis, An. bellator and An. homunculus were determined under laboratory conditions using females collected from two sites in Trinidad. Many An. aquasalis, An. albitarsis and An. bellator completed probing within 30 s but An. homunculus averaged > 50 s. Anopheles albitarsis (68.3 s), An. aquasalis (67.0 s) and An. homunculus (77.7 s) took similar times to fill their guts but An. bellator took longer (106.5 s). More than 75% of the An. albitarsis, An. aquasalis and An. homunculus but only 51% of the An. bellator showed apparent prediuresis. Anopheles aquasalis exhibited the shortest mean duration of prediuresis (77.3 s) and An. homunculus the longest (152.9 s). Most individual mosquitoes spent less time filling their guts than in prediuresis. Overall, An. aquasalis exhibited the shortest total feeding time (135.7 s) and An. homunculus the longest (197.0 s). There was a considerable degree of variation among individuals of each species in their ability to agglutinate human erythrocytes immediately upon blood engorgement. For example, within the same feeding experiments, some individuals agglutinated < 25% of the ingested erythrocytes whereas others agglutinated > or = 90%. The parity of the field-collected anophelines had no significant effect on probing, duration of blood-feeding, duration of prediuresis, or erythrocyte agglutination. The inter- and intra-specific variations in blood-feeding and erythrocyte processing observed for the four species of field-collected anophelines from Trinidad are discussed in terms of vector competence and the evolution of these behaviours.


The Great Book of Ireland, Leabhar Mór na hÉireann, is an extraordinary modern vellum manuscript in a single volume which comprises the original work of 120 artists, 140 poets and nine composers. Produced in Dublin between 1989 and 1991, it has been acquired by University College Cork to be preserved in posterity on behalf of the Irish people. Conceived originally as a venture to create a saleable artefact which would help to fund the development plans of two arts organizations in Ireland, the original architects of the idea and editors of the end product were Theo Dorgan of Poetry Ireland and Gene Lambert of Clashganna Mills, with Eamonn Martin as business manager. Out of their initial meeting in March 1989 came the first tentative idea of producing an original artefact that would raise substantial funds for their charitable-status arts organizations, while at the same time being a venture worthwhile in itself. What was to emerge was a project of breath-taking ambition and scale – The Great Book of Ireland, Leabhar Mór na hÉireann, completed in 1991. Artists, poets, and composers were asked to contribute in their own medium what they believed represented their hopes, fears, dreams, or imaginings in the Ireland of that particular time, and which would have resonance in a thousand years - as the longevity of vellum allows. Each page of The Great Book is a unique artefact in itself, often multi-layered or palimpsestial in nature. The whole "united" in design by the work of the scribe, Denis Brown. This paper will describes the creation process of the book, its subsequent history, and future plans for the book at University College Cork.


PURPOSE
To registrate the oscillations of the pH probe in the esophagus during phonation and swallowing in the erect and supine positions.

MATERIAL AND METHOD
Sixty-seven patients with suspicion of gastroesophageal reflux disease underwent manometry, 24-h pH monitoring, and videoradiography. In 43 patients the effect of dry, wet, and solid swallows in the erect and supine positions was determined, making a total of 258 swallows. In another 24 patients the effect of pH probe movement during phonation was studied.

RESULTS
During every swallow the probe moved in the proximal direction from 0.5 to 2.0 cm, returned to baseline, and in 48 swallows an additional descendent movement of up to 2.0 cm was seen, the last mentioned more pronounced during solid swallows. In the erect position, no significant difference was observed for the different swallowing types, whereas in the supine position, movements were significantly more pronounced during solid food swallows. During phonation the pH probe only ascended and returned to the baseline, with no descending part.

CONCLUSION
The pH probe movements are dependent on body position, bolus size, bolus composition, and talking. The ascending movements can only partially compensate for the esophageal shortening during swallow because of the time difference, and could perhaps explain the variation in results and reproducibility of 24-h pH monitoring.


Wind-angle changes evoke yaw-correcting deflections of the abdomen in tethered locusts, but only if the wings are beating. In flight, the central neuronal flight motor drives abdominal motoneurons in rhythmic bursts. Wind angle inputs, which are inadequate alone to drive these motoneurons, alter the number of spikes per burst, and the alterations are reciprocal in opposite nerves. Burst frequency and phase are unaffected.


The article focuses on the phenomenon of inter-part-of-speech antonymy and types of inter-part-of-speech antonymic oppositions typical of the English language and represented in authentic sources, in particular, fiction books of English-speaking writers. The paper analyzes cognitive foundation and linguistic sources of the oppositions in question, describes their range within each part of speech as well as contextual means of intensifying the oppositional contrast. The authors argue that the traditional point of view, according to which only words belonging to one and the same part of speech can form antonymic oppositions, is insufficient and claims that inter-part-of-speech antonymy has a semantical and grammatical nature as it is based on the ability of the language to give different categorial form to the same fragments of reality. The results of the research show that practically all works of fiction include inter-part-of-speech antonymic oppositions, which thus can be treated as a regular language phenomenon. The paper contributes to the theory of parts of speech, giving additional information about their interaction and its cognitive basis. It also enriches the theory of antonymy, proposing a wide approach to antonymic oppositions.


Establishment of persistent infection in memory B cells by murid herpesvirus-4 (MuHV-4) depends on the proliferation of latently infected germinal center B cells, for which T cell help is essential. Whether the virus is capable of modulating B-T helper cell interaction for its own benefit is still unknown. Here, we investigate if the MuHV-4 latency associated M2 protein, which assembles multiprotein complexes with B cell signaling proteins, plays a role. We observed that M2 led to the upregulation of adhesion and co-stimulatory molecules in transduced B cell lines. In an MHC-II restricted OVA peptide-specific system, M2 polarized to the B-T helper contact zone. Furthermore, it promoted B cell polarization, as demonstrated by the increased proximity of the B cell microtubule organizing center to the interface. Consistent with these data, M2 promoted the formation of B-T helper cell conjugates. In an in vitro competition assay, this translated into a competitive advantage, as T cells preferentially conjugated with M2-expressing B cells. However, expression of M2 alone in B cells was not sufficient to lead to T cell activation, as it only occurred in the presence of specific peptide. Taken together, these findings support that M2 promotes the formation of B-T helper cell conjugates. In an in vivo context this may confer a competitive advantage to the infected B cell in acquisition of T cell help and initiation of a germinal center reaction, hence host colonization.


Human has strong natural immunity against fungal infections, nevertherless, fungi can cause diseases when this immunity breaks down, such as in cancer patients, transplant recipients and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients. In the last few years, fungal infections have increased strikingly and it has been blamed for the rise in the number of deaths in patients with compromised immune systems. Antifungal remedy from the natural sources is preferred because chemical treatments maybe toxic to both fungus as well as human cells. In this study, antifungal peptides has been recovered from whole body extraction of non-immunized final instar larvae of Zophobas morio Fabricus using acidified (triflouroacetic acid) solvent (ethanol and isopropanol). The two different extracts were found active, although at varying degrees, towards four fungi tested, namely, Aspergillus niger, Microsporum canis, Candida albicans and Blastomyces dermatitids. In vitro susceptibility results were observed by 'Colony Count Method' and this was then compared and confirmed by two other assay methods, namely 'Poisoned Agar Assay' and 'EUCAST Standard Method or Broth Micro Dilution Method' of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control. Results showed that the two different extracts exhibited high activity towards the tested fungi, whereby, isopropanolic extract against C. albicans showed the highest inhibition (82%). Besides, results obtained from the other two assay methods showed almost similar trend in activities. This work may present the first initiative towards recovering antifungal peptides from low cost, easily found insect larvae, whereby it can be potentially developed as peptide-based drug to combat fungal infection. Future work includes purifying, identification and characterization of peptides.


Background: The infantile angle-closure glaucoma is a common and well characterized complication of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Progressive shallowing of the anterior chamber by retrolental fibrous masses is mostly responsible for the pressure elevation during the first years of life. Apart of this pathogenesis, ROP-associated glaucoma is totally different in cases that do not manifest until adulthood. Only few cases are described in the literature. Case Report: A 36-year-old female patient presented with symptoms of acute intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation and fundus results of a cicatricial ROP stadium II. Control of IOP was not achieved by systemic and topical drug treatment. The biometry showed a relative anterior microphthalmus (RAM) in myopia. After peripheral iridectomy, the IOP normalized and remained stable over a long-time period. Conclusion: Myopia induction after ROP and ROP treatment often lead to special anatomical conditions corresponding to the classical relative anterior microphthalmus. Shallowing of the anterior chamber and development of angle-closure glaucoma increase with age. Thus, a manifestation not before the third decade of life was a typical finding in the literature review. A detailed recording of history and consideration of the biometric data are of importance for diagnosis. Peripheral iridectomy was found to be the therapy with the highest success rate. The increase of a pupillary block mechanism can prevent further visual loss to the often pre-damaged eyes. Consideration of this entity is crucial in unilateral IOP elevation, because an increasing prevalence of these patients can be expected due to the increase of premature babies since 1970.


Abstract Atmospheric humidity is introduced into powders during handling, transportation, and storage. High moisture content can increase cohesive forces between particles and make it difficult to spread a powder into thin layers in powder bed processes or to fill a mold in processes such as press-and-sinter. Furthermore, water can cause porosity and uptake of oxygen in the final component, damaging its mechanical properties. In this study, a Freeman FT4 powder rheometer was placed inside a climate chamber. Both flowability and shear tests were performed on four steel powders under a range of humidity and temperatures. Basic flowability energy and specific energy were both found to increase significantly with humidity (typically increase by 50% for 80% of relative humidity compared to dry conditions) and were insensitive to temperature change (10–30 °C). Conversely, the behavior of the powders under shear was neither sensitive to relative humidity nor temperature. Measurements of moisture content revealed that finer powders contained more moisture than coarser ones, but the moisture content was not correlated with humidity, probably due to shortcomings with the measurement method. This knowledge can be used to optimize powder processing conditions.


Levamisole, an anthelminthic agent with immuno-stimulatory properties, was used in a double-blind, controlled therapeutic trial in rheumatoid arthritis. Patients received either levamisole 100 mg 4 days a week, or placebo, for a period of 4 months. Significant improvement in the treated group, as compared with the control group, was found in the number of tender and swollen joints, grip strength, range of joint motion, sedimentation rate, and C-reactive protein. On double-blind global evaluation by the examining physicians, 9 of 14 patients on levamisole and none of 13 on placebo were considered to have improved. Adverse effects did not differ in frequency between the two groups except for mild alteration in taste, which was more common with levamisole.


: A hypothesis is suggested on the positive effect of light radiation on the formation of protective immune mechanism related to the photophysiological destruction of porphyrins. References to experimental data are given which illustrate the possibility for existence of such a mechanism.


T cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (T-ALL) is a devastating malignancy found primarily in pediatric populations. Unfortunately, standard of care for T-ALL has not progressed from highly toxic, intensive regimens of chemotherapy, which fails to cure all patients. Immunotherapies designed to activate patients' leukemia-specific T cells may provide a new therapeutic avenue to increase complete response rates, reduce toxicity without the need to engineer (e.g. CAR) cells. However, it is unknown whether T-ALL is capable of being recognized by T cells due given its relatively low mutation-rate. These studies therefore sought to investigate whether signs of leukemia-specific T cell responses are generated by T-ALL. Because T-ALL results in systemic disease and infiltrates multiple lymphoid and non-lymphoid tissues, these studies also determined how the divergent immune contextures of these TMEs impacts T cell responses to T-ALL. From this, we aim to identify immunotherapeutic targets capable of activating T cells across tissues to eradicate leukemia systemically.Primary leukemia cells isolated from a spontaneous murine model (LN3 mice) into immune-competent, congenic (CD45.1) recipient mice. Tissues were harvested at distinct stages of disease for analysis by flow cytometry or utilizing NanoString Technologies' GeoMX Digital Spatial Profiling (DSP) platform.Flow cytometric analysis of T cells revealed extensive changes in response to T-ALL that included multiple features of exhaustion typically associated with anti-tumor responses as determined by upregulation of co-inhibitory receptors and TOX. This included a surprisingly high-frequency of PD1+ T cells, which was accompanied by PDL1- and PDL2-expressing myeloid cells that likely are restraining these subsets. Importantly, combination immunotherapy with OX40 agonists while inhibiting PD1 resulted in drastically reduced tumor burden and concomitant expansion of proliferating granzyme-expressing CD8 T cells. To gain better insight into T cell responses within distinct organs, we analyzed tissue sections using DSP. This technique enabled us to evaluate T cells in direct contact with leukemia infiltrates compared to T cells in regions without T-ALL, which further revealed an enrichment of activated subsets. Importantly, these studies have provided critical insight needed to better understand how T cells responding to T-ALL diverge between distinct types of tissues.The results from these studies collectively suggest that T cells are activated by T-ALL and that they can be therapeutically harnessed despite relatively low mutation-rates. Future studies will continue analysis of individual organs and use these results to rationally design combinations of immunotherapies by tailoring to activate T cells in all tissue types.Special thanks to all the support and analysis from everyone at NanoString, along with financial support provided by a SITC-NanoString DSP Fellowship awarded to Dr. Todd Triplett used for DSP analysis of all frozen tissues in these studies. Salary support for Dr. Triplett and pilot funding was provided by departmental funds via a Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Scholar Award (Grant #RR160093; awarded to Dr. Gail Eckhardt).


Background Metastatic urothelial cancer (UC) is the eighth most common cause of cancer death in the UK. Standard first-line treatment, for most patients, is cytotoxic chemotherapy. Although UC is initially sensitive to chemotherapy, relapse is almost inevitable after which outcomes are poor, with median overall survival 8 months. There is, therefore, an urgent need for novel therapies to improve outcomes for this patient group. Methods ATLANTIS is a randomised phase II, adaptive design trial of maintenance therapy in biomarker defined subgroups of patients with advanced UC. The primary end-point is progression-free survival (PFS) and the study involves over 30 UK cancer centres. Discussion ATLANTIS is the first study in the UK to employ a precision medicine approach to UC patients for maintenance treatment. Agents with positive efficacy signal will proceed to randomised phase III trials to confirm activity of novel biologically stratified therapies in UC.


In this paper, I present FPGA implementation of a digital down converter (DDC) and digital up converter (DUC) for a single carrier WCDMA system. The DDC and DUC is complex in nature. The implementation of DDC is simple because it does not require mixers or filters. Xilinx System Generator and Xilinx ISE are used to develop the hardware circuit for the FPGA. Both the circuits are verified on the Spartan 3 FPGA. Keywords— WCDMA, FPGA, DDS, FIR


Numerous models of emotional intelligence (EI) have proposed the existence of hitherto undiscovered mental abilities, competencies, and skills. The theory of trait emotional intelligence suggests that the content domains of these models invariably contain permutations of personality traits. The two studies in this article examine the heritability of trait EI scores with a view to demonstrating empirically that the construct has a similar level of genetic influence as other personality traits. Study 1 was a family design of 133 high-school students and their parents. Regressions of offspring on midparent scores suggested median upper-limit heritability estimates of .18 at facet level, .25 at factor level, and .32 at the global trait EI level. Study 2 was a twin design (213 pairs of monozygotic [MZ] twins and 103 pairs of dizygotic [DZ] twins). It yielded median heritabilities of .42 for the facets, .44 for the factors, and .42 for global trait EI. Overall, our findings are in accordance with studies of the major personality dimensions and provide further empirical support for the conceptualization of EI as a personality trait.


In the context of on-going debates regarding sex work laws, in most jurisdictions forms of criminalisation continue to dominate. Despite decades of sex workers calling for the decriminalisation of sex work and collectively organising against repressive laws, decriminalisation remains uncommon. New Zealand was the first full country to decriminalise sex work with the passing of the Prostitution Reform Act in 2003, which aimed to improve occupational health and safety. Several empirical studies have documented positive impacts of this framework. However, despite this, neo-abolitionists persistently describe the New Zealand model as a failed approach. This article examines neo-abolitionist knowledge claims regarding the New Zealand model and in doing so unpacks the strategic stories told about this approach, considering the implications for sex work policy making.


Assisted death is an extremely contested topic in bioethics. Despite the strongly influential role human dignity plays in this debate, it still has not received the appropriate, multifaceted treatment it deserves. Studies show that the notion of dignity already plays an important role in medical contexts. However, its use in these contexts needs to be analyzed and explained in more detail. A detailed philosophical analysis of dignity and how it relates to assisted death will benefit both the general discussion and the specific bioethical context to which it is applied. The goal of this first in-depth examination of the application of human dignity to assisted suicide is threefold. First, it aims to enlighten and explain the widely shared intuitions about human dignity, which has a specific usage in the medical context of terminal illness, because opponents as well as supporters of assisted suicide lay claim to that notion. Second, it aims to push the debate an important step forward because arguments that are often taken for granted can be more fairly reconsidered once their relationship to dignity has been clarified. Third, by making sense of dignity even within the complex and seemingly confused context of this debate, one will have taken an important step toward a clarification of it in general, which might lead to its application in other contexts as well


The ICF/MR provides services to individuals with a dual diagnosis of mental retardation and mental illness. These services prepare these individuals to the least restrictive environment analogous to the norms and patterns of the mainstream of society. The individuals served are more than 22 years of age and have behavioral problems associated with mental retardation and/or mental illness. In addition, they have multiple medical problems which are related or unrelated to their physical or mental disabilities. These individuals have multiple changing needs which are addressed by an interdisciplinary team. The team develops a unified Individual Program Plan which is the framework for a comprehensive care for these individuals. This is to enable them to live a normal life as possible and to achieve gainful occupational pursuits like any other citizen in the State of South Carolina.


The performance, competitiveness, major destinations and determinants of cucumber and gherkin export from India have been studied. Export performance ratio has been used to estimate the competitiveness, and log linear type of demand function has been used to determine the export determinants. It has been observed that India has made tremendous progress in the export of cucumber and gherkin products during the past 15 years (1990-2005). The export has increased by about 128.5- times with an impressive annual compound growth rate of 37.46 per cent, as against only 4.38 per cent in the world market. The major export destinations for cucumber and gherkin have been identified as France, USA, Russia, Belgium and Spain. An increasing and high value of revealed comparative advantage (RCA) and a positive and increasing value for revealed symmetric comparative advantage (RSCA) have indicated high potential in their export, particularly for the provisionally-preserved and prepared/preserved products. One per cent increase in volume of international trade in cucumber and gherkin may increase the demand from India by 5.96 per cent. This indicates that India is highly competitive in export of cucumber and gherkin and has ample scope to further increase its export. The study has also revealed that exchange rate is a more dominant determinant of export from India than price of commodity.


The aim of the study was to compare the effect of feeding coconut oil (CO) and sunflower oil (SO), fats customarily classified as saturated and polyunsaturated on oxidative stress in Sprague Dawley rats of different age groups. The rats were divided into six groups (I, II, III, IV, V&VI) based on their age (groups I & II-one month old, groups III & IV- 12 months old, groups V & VI-22 months old) and were provided with standard pellet diet along with 10% oil (groups I, III & V were fed with coconut oil, groups II, IV &VI were fed with sunflower oil). The concentration of lipid peroxidation products viz TBARS in the tissues and in RBC, hydroperoxides and conjugated dienes were found to be increased with age in rats fed SO compared to rats fed CO. The reduced glutathione content was found to decrease with respect to age, but rats fed CO showed higher glutathione content than rats fed SO in both the age groups. The activities of the antioxidant enzymes catalase, superoxide dismutase, were found to decrease with increasing age in rats fed SO. Glutathione peroxidase and Glutathione reductase decreased only in the aged rats. The in vitro LDL oxidation was also found to increase with age and depending on the nature of dietary fat. Thus we conclude that aging diminished total antioxidant capacity to an extent with both oil fed diets, but in a lower extent in rats fed coconut oil diet.


The effect of the sulfhydryl reagent, thimerosal (TMS) on meiosis resumption in germinal vesicle (GV)‐stage denuded mouse oocytes was studied. It irreversibly inhibits both GV breakdown (GVBD) and the first polar body (pb1) extrusion in concentration‐ and time‐dependent manners, the most striking result being the very early and narrow temporal window during which denuded primary oocytes released from their follicle are susceptible to a pulse of the drug. This inhibition is bypassed by dithiothreitol (DTT) with an efficiency declining with time, while thiosalicylic acid (TA), an analog of TMS devoid of the mercury atom, has no effect on meiosis reinitiation. These results strongly suggest that the inhibitory effect of TMS is a consequence of its sulfhydryl group oxidising activity. The molecular target(s) of this inhibitory oxidation should however be identified. In contrast to DTT, okadaic acid (OA), known to bypass the inhibitory effect of drugs interfering with protein kinase activities, only induces chromatin condensation and GVBD in TMS‐pulsed oocytes with a delay of about 8 hr as compared to the control situation. This confirms that a very early thiol oxidation induced by TMS exerts a much more dramatic effect on resumption on meiosis than any pharmacological manipulation of protein kinase activities leading to activation of MPF. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 65: 454–461, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


In this paper, we analyzed and compared the performance of cooperative diversity systems such as cooperative and multi dual‐hop networks with non‐regenerative relay nodes. The contributions of this study are twofolds. Firstly, analytical expressions of outage probability Pout and average symbol error rate ASER are derived using moment generating function (MGF) analysis of the received SNR with the assumption that the channel experiences Weibull fading and the best relay selection is used. Then, using the analytical results, comparative performance evaluation of cooperative and multi dual‐hop relay networks is done for varying number of relay nodes and different receive diversity schemes such as maximal ratio combining (MRC) and selection combining (SC). The results show that the cooperative relay network has better performance than a multi dual‐hop relay network in terms of Pout and ASER. The results also show that the multi dual‐hop network can achieve the same performance as the cooperative network with the requirement that it needs the deployment of three times more relay nodes.