The chromosomes of 4 species of grasshopper in the genus Oxya were analyzed by conventional and five differential-staining methods. All 4 species had a chromosome complement of 2n=22+XX(female)/XO(male), with very similar karyotypes. Both O. hyla intricata and O. japonica japonica had acrocentric chromosomes with minute short arms, while the chromosomes of O. chinensis formosana and O. yezoensis were almost all telocentric. In all 4 species, a secondary constriction (SC) was detected at a proximal site in chromosome 8, which had the same staining properties (positive for C- and CMA-banding; negative for G- and QM-banding) in all 4 species. Our C-banding analysis revealed that the short arms of O. hyla intricata and O. japonica japonica consisted of C-heterochromatin. The 4 species yielded species-specific patterns of C-bands, and there appeared to be a close relationship between O. chinensis formosana and O. yezoensis, as suggested by the polymorphism of the distal C-bands of chromosome 2. In all 4 species of Oxya, Ag-NORs were detected on the centromeric regions of all the chromosomes, but not detected on the SC of chromosome 8. The karyosystematic relationships among the 4 species are discussed on the basis of the results of differential staining.


The coronavirus pandemic, social distancing, and lockdown measures have had an impact on employee well-being. This study uses Latent Profile Analysis to examine subjective well-being among employees during the first lockdown based on a cross-national survey in UK and France (n = 652). We identify five distinct well-being profiles, namely Moderately positive (67%), Languishing (18%), Flourishing (8%), Mixed feelings (4%), and Apathetic (3%). The results showed that while some employees were suffering, others managed to thrive and cope with the stresses of the lockdown. We also found that the profiles could be distinguished by perceived changes in financial situation and physical health as well as experienced boredom. Our study complements prior studies that examine the relations between individual characteristics and well-being during the pandemic on a general level by showing that employee well-being under lockdown is not the same across the board.


The centre of economic gravity in the new century is shifting to the East. Since 200 1, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Asia's contribution to world economic growth has matched that of the United States and Europe combined, and, since 2006, has even exceeded it (IMF, 20 I I; Neumann and Arora, 20 II ). This surge is easy to explain: China has emerged as a global super-power; Japan remains the third-largest world economy, despite only recently emerging from over twenty years of economic stagnation (The Age, 2013); South Korea and the ' tiger ' economies of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore have achieved high-level economic development through capital investment and technological innovation; and Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia have supplied riches in labour and resources to the regional economy (Macintyre and Naughton, 2005, p. 78). A growing middle class is lifting consumption. 'Billions of Asians,' writes Mahbubani (2008, p. 3), 'are marching to modernity.' This book examines scholarly interpretations for the role commercial law has played in East Asia's economic rise. At first blush, this might seem a daunting task. After all, as some theorists have argued, the East Asian experience is largely neglected in writings on Jaw generally and commercial law more broadly (Wolff, 20 12). This is because law, as a discipline, was largely forged in the prior European and American centuries; these 'Anglo-American moorings' ill-serve legal analysis in the new Asian Century (Cossman, 1997, p. 539).


HLA-DRA transgenic (tg) mice on H-2d background were constructed to study assembly, expression and function of DR alpha: E beta class II heterodimers when an alternate E alpha chain is available. Cytofluorimetric analysis and immunoprecipitation studies demonstrate that the majority (90%) of E beta d molecules on class II-positive splenocytes from DRA-tg mice are associated with DR alpha rather than E alpha chains. To characterize the functional role of the interspecies as compared with the wild-type I-E molecules, MHC restriction and T cell epitope immunodominance of synthetic peptides spanning the entire sequence of 65 kDa heat shock protein (hsp) from Mycobacterium tuberculosis were determined in hsp-primed DRA-tg and DBA/2 mice. A similar pattern of responsiveness was observed in both strains, but hsp epitopes recalled a higher response in DRA-tg as compared with DBA/2 mice. A panel of T cell hybridomas specific for two hsp peptides or a hen egg white lysozyme peptide presented by both DR alpha: E beta d and E alpha d: E beta d was studied in detail. Surprisingly, DR alpha: E beta d dimers present these peptides more efficiently than E alpha d: E beta d, even when the TCR was selected in mice expressing only E alpha d: E beta d molecules. The higher efficiency of antigen presentation by DR alpha: E beta d dimers does not appear to depend on increased binding affinity for peptides, as demonstrated by competition for antigen presentation, nor on increased efficiency in the interaction with CD4 molecules. Rather, the higher efficiency of antigen presentation could be explained by a more effective ligand-TCR interaction. This is consistent with molecular modeling based on the class II structure, indicating that 16 out of 17 substitutions between the first domain of E alpha d and DR alpha chains ile outside the peptide binding groove and are potentially available for interaction with the TCR.


Phlegmonous Enteritis SIR,-The report by Mr. B. C. Rowlands (April 28, p. 926) of a case of phlegmonous enteritis following an operation for strangulated femoral hernia prompts me to record briefly two cases which I have encountered in recent weeks. Both presented as intestinal obstruction, were diagnosed at operation as Crohn's disease, showed naked-eye changes in the gut almost exactly as described by Mr. Rowlands, but were proved histologically to be periarteritis nodosa.


In the Southwest United States, water resources depend heavily on snowpacks, which are temporally and spatially limited in this warm, semiarid region. Snow accumulation and ablation in the Southwest are heavily influenced by forest structure. Therefore, water resource managers urgently need to understand the future impacts of unprecedented forest changes now occurring from drought, insect infestation, and forest management. Here, we present state‐of‐the‐art maps and time series of snow water equivalent (SWE), which account for spatial variability of snow depth and snow density over a large range of forest structure and topographies in the highlands of central Arizona. We show that the degree of forest cover and its geometry largely determine which areas have more/less snow accumulation and faster/slower ablation. Compared with under‐canopy areas, open areas can have 20–30% more accumulation and ablation rates can vary by 15–30% in sunny areas versus shaded areas. Although SWE response to forest cover is widely variable, depending on how much shading the trees provide versus how much snow is intercepted and lost through canopy sublimation, dense forests generally have less SWE than sparser forests. In general, SWE is optimized at intermediate levels of forest cover (~30–50%) on flat and north‐facing slopes. Somewhat counterintuitively, increasing forest cover generally causes a reduction of SWE on south‐facing slopes, where trees are less effective at reducing radiative forcing at the snow surface due to less efficient shading and increased enhancement of longwave radiation from the warm canopy.


As part of technology foraging for the Responder Technology Alliance, established by the Department of Homeland Science and Technologies First Responders Group, this report summarizes technologies that are relevant in the area of "wearables," with the potential for use by first responders. The content was collected over the previous month(s) and reproduced from a general Internet search using the term wearables. Additional information is available at the websites provided. This report is not meant to be an exhaustive list nor an endorsement of any technology described herein. Rather, it is meant to provide useful information about current developments in the areas wearable technology.


Molecular genetics and biology have been having significant influence on the practice of neuro‐oncology in recent years, with oligodendrogliomas being the most prominent example. The majority of oligodendrogliomas show remarkable sensitivity to chemotherapy, and the finding that the loss of chromosome 1p was tightly associated with the response opened a new era in which the treatment can be tailored for each tumor patient based on molecular genetic diagnosis. It has been noticed that histological features, when closely examined, are also correlated with the molecular genetic data, such as losses of 1p/19q/10q and TP53 mutation. Furthermore, expression profiling using microarray technology showed that oligodendrogliomas with 1p loss express high levels of neuronal genes, suggesting that the progenitor of those tumors may be shared with neurons. Considering the rapid progress of the knowledge in neural developmental biology, it is possible that the classification, definition and diagnosis of gliomas will be rewritten based on such knowledge at the molecular level in the near future, if they reflect the biological features of each tumor better than the histological diagnosis based mostly on morphology.


Marquis de Sade's Philosophy in the Bedroom engages the question of limits—physical, mental, and moral—through libertine philosophy and the orgy. Sade's controversial exploration of human nature, generally marginalized in both philosophy and the academy, deserves a re-examination for its ontological utility. I read Philosophy in the Bedroom as an attempt at being-in-community as defined by Jean-Luc Nancy in his book, The Inoperative Community. Nancy's radical conceptualization of community is contrary to common notions of the social "community." He argues that true community is something that occurs in the disruption of the everyday social and political projects, and it is in this sense that I read Philosophy in the Bedroom as an attempt at Nancean community. For Nancy, community is an experience that presents to us the reality of our finitude by a process of mutual exposure to one another at our limits. I argue that Sade makes an attempt to reach these limits and generate community, and although he does not succeed, he points us in the right direction. I apply a critical Nancean lens to Sade's text in order to understand its reasons for failure and to rescue his philosophy from its limited context.


We develop a novel algorithm, Predictive Hierarchical Clustering (PHC), for agglomerative hierarchical clustering of current procedural terminology (CPT) codes. Our predictive hierarchical clustering aims to cluster subgroups, not individual observations, found within our data, such that the clusters discovered result in optimal performance of a classification model. Therefore, merges are chosen based on a Bayesian hypothesis test, which chooses pairings of the subgroups that result in the best model fit, as measured by held out predictive likelihoods. We place a Dirichlet prior on the probability of merging clusters, allowing us to adjust the size and sparsity of clusters. The motivation is to predict patient-specific surgical outcomes using data from ACS NSQIP (American College of Surgeon's National Surgical Quality Improvement Program). An important predictor of surgical outcomes is the actual surgical procedure performed as described by a CPT code. We use PHC to cluster CPT codes, represented as subgroups, together in a way that enables us to better predict patient-specific outcomes compared to currently used clusters based on clinical judgment.


Plant nematodes recorded during surveys in the Fynbos Biome are listed and a new Helicotylenchus species is described. Helicotylenchus curatus sp. n. is characterised by stylet length (42-46 μm in females, 37-40 μm in males), presence of two rudimentary subdorsal and two rudimentary subventral lobes on the labial disc, first lip annulus divided into six sectors, presence of fasciculi and presence of males. Nine families represented by 32 genera and 152 species were identified from the Fynbos Biome. The genera Criconema, Helicotylenchus, Hemicycliophora, Rotylenchus, Scutellonema and Xiphinema were found in more than 30 % of the localities, whereas Caloosia, Criconemoides, Ditylenchus, Geocenamus, Hemicriconemoides, Heterodera, Hoplolaimus, Longidorus, Meloidogyne, Mesocriconema, Ogma, Paralongidorus, Paratrichodorus, Paratylenchus, Pratylenchoides, Pratylenchus, Rotylenchulus, Trichodorus and Tylenchorhynchus were found at fewer localities. The genera Anguina, Hirschmaniella, Histotylenchus and Zygotylenchus were each identified from a single locality.


Daniel J. Olson, Purdue University While a growing body of research has established the benefits of pronunciation training on second language (L2) production, these benefits have yet to be incorporated into the general skills language classroom in a systematic manner. Furthermore, although relatively new speech analysis software has been shown to be useful in providing visual feedback for L2 suprasegmental (i.e., intonation) production, there is a relative lack of research on its potential implementation for segmental instruction. The current paper presents a systematic analysis of the effectiveness of a visual feedback paradigm (VFP), in an L2 Spanish classroom, as a pedagogical method for pronunciation teaching at the segmental level (i.e., Spanish intervocalic stops). Results demonstrate a significant improvement of L2 stop production relative to a control group receiving traditional pronunciation feedback. Furthermore, findings demonstrate that VFP leads to small incremental gains. Discussion addresses the role of VFP on segmental production and the potential practical implementations of visual feedback in the lower-level, general skills language classroom.


Tumorigenesis typically requires the accumulation of several driver gene mutations; therefore, there is a mutation threshold for the completion of the neoplastic process. Obesity increases the risk of cancer, and we have proposed that one mechanism whereby obesity raises the risk of microsatellite stable (MSS) colon cancer is by decreasing the mutation threshold. Therefore, obese MSS colon cancer patients should exhibit fewer driver gene mutations compared to normal body-mass index (BMI) patients. Our hypothesis is supported by results from analyses of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data, which revealed that cancer genomes of obese MSS colon patients exhibit both fewer somatic mutations and fewer driver gene mutations. These findings could be explained by the high levels of obesity-associated cytokines and factors, the signaling pathways of which substitute for the additional driver gene mutations detected in normal-weight MSS colon cancer patients. Therefore, obesity-induced aberrant cell signaling might cooperate with initiating driver gene mutations to promote neoplastic development. Consistent with this possibility, we observed a lower number of KRAS mutations in high-BMI MSS colon cancer patients. This paper extends our hypothesis to address the interactions between obesity, immune surveillance in neoplastic development, and colorectal cancer (CRC) risk. A better understanding of these interactions will inform future preventive and therapeutic approaches against MSS CRC. We propose that the individual variations in the major histocompatibility class 1 (MHC-1) genotype interact with obesity to shape the tumor mutational landscape. Thus, the efficiency of the immune surveillance mechanisms to select against specific mutations may depend on both the MHC-1 genotype variant and the BMI of an individual. A high BMI is expected to reduce the number of driver gene mutations required to evade the MHC-1 surveillance mechanism and support an accelerated cancer progression.


We prospectively examined the survival rate of 67 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 74 late sequelae of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB seq) patients to clarify whether nocturnal oxyhemoglobin desaturation (NOD)could be one of the independent factors determining their mortality. The sleep monitoring of arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2) and pulmonary function tests were assessed in all patients at the time of registration. Forty %of COPD and 24%of TB seq died as the direct result of deterioration of chronic respiratory failure during the 7-year observation period. Cox's proportional hazards analysis showed that NOD was an independent prognostic factor in both groups, and this was especially prominent when evaluated in terms of sleep lowest SpO2 in COPD and 85% desaturation time in TB seq. No significant prognostic factor was observed among age, vital capacity percent predicted (%VC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1.0%)and partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO2). We conclude that the degree of NOD can affect mortality in COPD and TB seq.(Internal Medicine 37: 354-359, 1998)


This paper considers a synchronous DS-CDMA system where channel state information at the base station is acquired via uplink training and channel feedback is used to provide the terminals with the optimal uplink signatures. We examine the tradeoffs involved in the proportioning of a resource block between training, data, and feedback symbols, with linear (matched filter and minimum mean-square error) receive processing at the BS with the user rate as the performance metric. Simulation results are presented to corroborate the analytical discussion.


BACKGROUND
University students' approaches to learning have been demonstrated to affect learning outcomes across a wide range of courses, favouring the use of a deep approach. Interventions to promote the use of deep approaches have had mixed success, with the most successful interventions involving large-scale course redesign.

AIMS
This paper describes a study in which contextual modifications were implemented in an existing preservice teacher education programme to increase students' use of deep approaches to learning and reduce their reliance on the use of surface approaches, without the need for major redesign. Students' perceptions of their competence in performing the tasks of teaching (personal teaching efficacy) were also expected to improve in response to improvements in quality learning.

SAMPLE
Three cohorts of students (N = 134), enrolled in a preservice teacher education degree programme at a rural university in New South Wales, Australia participated in the study.

METHOD
A longitudinal quasi-experimental design was used, with Cohort 1 acting as a control while Cohorts 2 and 3 represented treatment groups. Repeated measures were taken on Biggs' (1987b) Study Process Questionnaire, a modified version of Gibson and Dembo's (1984) Teacher Efficacy Scale and the Academic subscale within Lefcourt's (1981) Multidimensional-Multiattributional Causality Scale. An action research paradigm was embedded to enable the development and refinement of the altered teaching approaches.

RESULTS
Results indicated that the modifications to teaching methods, task requirements and assessment processes applied to the treatment group encouraged changes in students' approaches to learning by firstly reducing their use of surface approaches and later increasing the use of deep approaches. While both treatment and contrast groups exhibited equivalent growth in teaching efficacy, differences between cohorts were noted in the sources that informed personal teaching efficacy at the conclusion of the course.

CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that the study succeeded in its major goal of improving the quality of teaching and learning in this teacher education programme. The results conform to the findings of previous research and are consistent with learning approach theory. While the specific contextual modifications used in the current study may not necessarily be transferable to other settings, the processes employed in the generation of those modifications could find wider applicability.


In wastewater from small communities, institutions, hotels, camps and tourist areas the major pollutants such as organic matter, oil and grease and organic nitrogen are mainly in particulate form, while the soluble fractions of organics and nitrogen are low. This is due to the short residence times in the sewerage systems preventing decomposition and lysis. Such wastewaters are also characterized by high variations in pollution load, mostly in the particulate fraction. Small plants, treating wastewater for discharge to lakes or rivers, have to remove organic pollutants and nutrients, mainly phosphorus. Chemical flocculation-sedimentation, as primary treatment, was considered a promising process combination to obtain reliable operation and for minimizing effects of variations in flow and load. Two possible process combinations were studied: a. chemical flocculation-sedimentation as primary stage, followed by biotreatment (CBT); b. biotreatment of raw wastewater, followed by chemical flocculation-sedimentation (BCT). It was found that primary chemical treatment by alum, or lime, removes more than 90 percent of the suspended solids, colloids, phosphates, oil and grease; the organic matter as BOD and organic nitrogen removals were about 70 percent. By removing the particulate organic matter and other disturbing factors the successive bioprocess in CBT was substantially improved: the growth rate constants for general biomass and for nitrifiers as well as the removal rates were higher for CBT than for BCT; the critical sludge age for nitrification in CBT was 4 days, as compared to 10 days in BCT. The reduction of organic load by about 70 percent, producing a more uniform influent and the better bio-kinetics achieved in CBT, enable a considerable economy in the bioreactor volume and lower energy requirement. Experimental results showed that the CBT sequence enables lower sludge production containing higher concentrations of solids, most of them inorganic.


Background: With many disease-modifying therapies currently approved for the management of multiple sclerosis, there is a growing need to evaluate the comparative effectiveness and safety of those therapies from real-world data sources. Propensity score methods have recently gained popularity in multiple sclerosis research to generate real-world evidence. Recent evidence suggests, however, that the conduct and reporting of propensity score analyses are often suboptimal in multiple sclerosis studies. Objectives: To provide practical guidance to clinicians and researchers on the use of propensity score methods within the context of multiple sclerosis research. Methods: We summarize recommendations on the use of propensity score matching and weighting based on the current methodological literature, and provide examples of good practice. Results: Step-by-step recommendations are presented, starting with covariate selection and propensity score estimation, followed by guidance on the assessment of covariate balance and implementation of propensity score matching and weighting. Finally, we focus on treatment effect estimation and sensitivity analyses. Conclusion: This comprehensive set of recommendations highlights key elements that require careful attention when using propensity score methods.


Cavernous degeneration of the optic nerve has been described predominantly in association with long-standing glaucoma, although less frequently it has been reported in other, disparate disease processes. The only descriptions to date have been in pathologic specimens in vitro. This is the first report to describe syrinx formation of the optic nerves in vivo in two patients with non glaucomatous conditions affecting the optic nerves.


Historically concentrated livestock production and, consequently, manure production and management in Belgium have resulted in severe environmental impacts. One major impact, nitrate leaching from soil to surface water, is being tackled through the European Nitrates Directive by imposing strict fertilization standards. However, another significant impact of manure management is the emission of greenhouse gasses (GHG - CO2, CH4, NH3 and N2O) into the air, thereby contributing to global warming. Calls have been made to reduce the high manure pressure and related environmental effects in Belgium by relocating and more evenly spreading livestock production. This paper explores the spatial spreading of CO2-equivalent emissions from livestock production in Belgium and attempt to answer the following question: 'Can spatial reallocation of livestock production in Belgium reduce the impact of GHG emissions?'. This question is translated into several research objectives: 1) conduct an economic (cost minimization) and environmental (GHG minimization) optimization for 3 manure management scenarios, 2) determine the main differences between both approaches, and 3) determine the marginal spatial impact on CO2 emissions of a decrease in manure pressure (i.e., increased spreading of pig production). To conduct the analysis, a model was developed that builds on the spatial mathematical programming multi-agent manure allocation model developed by Van der Straeten et al. (2010). Three options for manure management are inserted: transport of raw manure from nutrient excess to nutrient deficit areas, biological treatment of manure (manure processing) and manure separation. The model optimizes, at municipal level, either the cost-efficiency, either the environmental effect of the manure market in Belgium based on Belgian fertilization standards. While cost-efficiency is calculated based on transport distances and cost of manure separation and processing, GHG emissions, and hence, carbon footprint, are determined based on a life cycle analysis type calculation. The results of the model simulations show that, while the economic optimum is reached by maximizing the transport of raw manure until fertilization standards are fulfilled and subsequently separating and processing the excess manure, the environmental optimum, from a carbon footprint point of view, is reached by separating all manure as this option has the lowest CO2 emissions, mainly due to the limited manure storage time. Moreover, the analyses indicate that rearrangement of the spatial spreading of livestock production in Belgium will not substantially decrease CO2 emissions. As manure storage is the main contributor to the carbon footprint, solutions should rather lie in changing these storage systems.


Abstract I examine the use of flexible savings-and-loan accounts offered by SafeSave, a microfinance institution serving poor slum dwellers in Dhaka, Bangladesh. I find that 59 per cent of the clients co-hold, meaning that they borrow at high interest rates and simultaneously hold low-yield liquid savings. Co-holders could immediately pay down, on average, 32 per cent of their debt using liquid savings and thus avoid significant interest payments. The results show that co-holders are more likely to be regular workers subject to little income uncertainty, suggesting that co-holding is not a consequence of liquidity needs. The paper discusses alternative explanations.


Background Verbal communication skills are use during health assessment by nursing students frequently, the question is: "Are their explanations sufficient for the patient to understand?" This pilot project focused on the 'Human factor', using a Masked academic, acting as a realistic patient with a background of nursing, facilitating learning from a wealth of experience. To set the scene a GP room, the presence of a masked character educated a small group of students, giving their own definitions of their illness, highlighting how to appropriately answer a patient's questions. At the end of the session the character demasked and gave feedback on refined interpersonal interactions, associated with the correct explanation and terminology of the questions asked by the patient. The human factor associates with present-day thinking around simulation and contextualisation of health assessment. It offers a theoretical framework to address the real challenges of students faced with patient contact. Methodology A qualitative methodology was used, with a sample of 90 students. Students were provided with the opportunity to reflect upon their knowledge base using a pre-questionnaire. On arrival of the character, two students performed a health assessment on the patient, whilst the remaining students reflected upon the patient's lifestyle. The patient frequently asked the students questions, teaching them at the same time. On completion of the assessment, students developed an action plan. A post questionnaire evaluated evidence of learning, from their simulated experience. Thematic analysis will be used to analyse the results. Results anticipated It is anticipated that the student's ability to provide accurate explanations to the simulated patient, will have improved, owing to the effectiveness of the masked educator's facilitation. The results are being reviewed at present. Potential impact To nature a good nurse-patient relationship that contributes to good nursing care, aiming to reduce patient distress, better disclosure of concerns and more active understanding of their condition. Additionally student nurses' will gain more confidence in explaining information to patients, in turn providing a better service for all. References Hall A. Defining nursing knowledge. Nurs Times 2005;101(48):34 Galloway S. Simulation techniques to bridge the gap between novice and competent health care professionals. OJIN 2009;14(2):Manuscript 3 McAllister M, Searl KR, Davies S. Who is the masked educator? Deconstructing the teaching and learning process of an innovative humanistic simulation technique. Nurse Educ Today 2013;13(12):1453–1458


The increasing demand of food crops and decrease in productivity due to continuous use of chemical fertilizer has not only resulted in decline of crop yield, loss of fertility and degradation of soil but has also led us one step back in achieving sustainable agriculture. The use of algal bio-fertilizer provides an effective, ecofriendly and non-polluting approach in improving the productivity of crop by both nitrogen fixation and photosynthesis. Algal bio-fertilizers improve soil structure and increase yield productivity even if applied in a small area. The application of algal bio-fertilizers in plants has resulted in increase in root, shoot length with number of leaves and hence overall growth of the plant has been increased. India being one of the largest producer and consumer of pulses requires abundant amount of pulse production to fulfill the demands of ever growing populations which can be achieved by using algal bio-fertilizers. Microalgae efficiently utilize and remove the nitrogen and phosphorus present in wastewater and assimilate these in valuable algal biomass. Yet, besides macronutrients such as N, P and K, microalgae also contain plant growth-promoting substances such as vitamins, carotenoids, amino acids and antifungal substances. In this study, the valorisation of microalgae as an organic slow-release fertilizer is presented. The fertilizer potential of both fresh water and marine microalgal biomass was determined; more specifically dried microalgal biomass, cultivated on microalgae in various natural and chemical methods. In the first stage the mineralization rate of both types of biomass was determined. Also a dosage toxicity test for Ca2+ and Na+ was performed using seedlings of lettuce and garden cress, respectively. Subsequently, a greenhouse maize growth experiment was performed, wherein the fertilizer potential of both types of microalgal biomass was compared with conventional inorganic and organic microalgae fertilizers. The growth rate of the maize plants and the maize yield were assessed for each fertilizer treatment, as well as the leave composition and the water, sugar and carotenoid concentrations in the maize seed. The results of the study show there was no significant difference in plant growth between the fertilizer treatments with microalgae and the conventional algae fertilizer. This demonstrates the potential of microalgae an impending fertilizer for agriculture applications. Keywords: Microalgae, Agriculture, Bio-fertilizer, Maize, Applications


Background: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease that is associated with numerous complications like peripheral neuropathies. It has been shown that hyperglycemia may contribute to its development but the exact pathophysiology underlying this complication has not been fully understood. Since it has been suggested that oral magnesium supplementation can prevent hyperglycemia induced by diabetes, this study was designed to examine the protective effect of oral magnesium administration on thermal hyperalgesia in streptozocin (STZ) induced diabetic rats.
Methods: Male adult wistar rats were divided equally into control, magnesium-treated control, diabetic and magnesium-treated diabetic groups. In magnesium-treated diabetic rats, magnesium sulfate (10 gr/L) was added into drinking water since diabetes was established (10 days after STZ injection) and continued for 8 weeks. Mg-treated control animals received magnesium sulfate in the same dose and time period. The other two groups; control and diabetic animals, only received tap water.
Results: A significant decrease in thermal pain threshold and plasma magnesium levels and also a dramatic increase in plasma glucose levels were seen in diabetic rats eight weeks after diabetes induction. Eight weeks magnesium therapy after the diagnosis of diabetes, could prevent reduction in thermal pain threshold and also restore plasma magnesium and glucose levels in magnesium-treated diabetic animals.
Conclusion: Oral magnesium can prevent hypomagnesaemia, hyperglycemia and thermal hyperalgesia in diabetic rats.


Amoxiciilin is an antibiotic of penicillin. It has been used to treat bacterial infections that caused by Gram negative bacteria and Gram positive bacteria. Most of amoxicillin tablet has been sold with generic name and non generic name. This research was proposed to compare quality and price of amoxicillin tablet 500 mg at the drug store. Especially, for amoxicillin tablet 500 mg generic and non generic. Determination of quality amoxicillin tablet could be showed from standard quality of amoxicillin tablet was based at USP XXVI. Identification, dissolution and assay were included standard quality of amoxicillin tablet. Identification test was performed by TLC with mobile phase consist of methanol, chloroform, water and pyridine (90:80:30:10). Assay of dissolution test was performed by HPLC with mobile phase potassium dihydrogen phosphate buffer and acetonitrile (39:1). Assay of tablet was performed by HPLC with mobile phase potassium dihydrogen phosphate buffer and acetonitrile (96:4). The experiment was held to 15 brands of tablet which they had consisted 3 brands of generic tablet and 12 brands of non generic tablet. The test resulted that every brands of tablet fulfilled standard quality of amoxicillin tablet. But in the test, there was variation of price, in ordinarily price of non generic tablet was more expensive than generic tablet.


Assessment is one of the six main components of an English as a foreign language (EFL) curriculum. It plays an important role in language education. Having the right techniques to assess students certainly supports learning. However, whether an institution or a department has an appropriate policy of assessing students, and a teacher has effective assessment techniques or not needs to be investigated through teachers' opinions as well as real classroom observation. This paper aimed to explore how non-English major students were assessed regarding classroom assessment and achievement tests and whether the applied assessment techniques were effective or not. This study was conducted at the tertiary level through the use of two instruments: "open-response questionnaire" with six experienced EFL teachers and observations of six classes at three universities in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The findings revealed that very few classroom assessment techniques were used during the class and achievement tests did not meet their qualities such as validity and authenticity. The findings of the study provide administrators and EFL teachers with both theoretical and practical implications in student learning assessments at the tertiary level in Vietnam.


BACKGROUND
Familial dysautonomia is a hereditary disease characterized by dysfunction of the sensory and autonomic nervous systems. Studies in patients with familial dysautonomia have shown that abnormal cardiac autonomic denervation might influence repolarization. Autonomic tone also affects atrial conduction parameters and P-wave dispersion, which are predictive of atrial fibrillation.

OBJECTIVES
To examine the possible association of familial dysautonomia with abnormal atrial conduction and P-wave dispersion.

METHODS
The study population included 12 patients with familial dysautonomia and age and gender-matched control subjects. All participants underwent a 12-lead electrocardiogram under strict conditions. P-wave lengths and P-wave dispersion were computed from a randomly selected beat and an averaged beat using designated computer software.

RESULTS
There were no statistically significant differences between the groups in minimal, maximal and average P-wave duration or P-wave dispersion for a randomly selected beat. P-wave dispersion for an averaged beat was also similar. During 6 months follow-up, no supraventricular arrhythmias were documented in either group.

CONCLUSIONS
We found that patients with familial dysautonomia had P-wave dispersion parameters not significantly different from those of controls. Further research is required to clarify the effects of dysautonomia on atrial conduction in familial dysautonomia.


Intelligent e-learning environments (ILE) can significantly increase the attractivity of e-learning systems, as well as their teaching efficiency by adapting to each learner's profile (LP) and by providing multiple support to the tutor. The paper presents the authoring of tests for learner evaluation in an ILE, using the collaborative learning methodological approach.


Highlighting the impact of current globalization on financial markets, this topical book challenges the universality of Western property rights and interprets Islamic finance in Europe as part of a plural financial system, where different conceptions of economic justice(s) co-exist and influence each other.


Diphenylhydantoin has been widely used as an anticonvulsant since its introduction by Merritt and Putnam1in 1938. While the drug is well tolerated by the majority of patients, it can produce a great variety of toxic and allergic reactions.2During the first several weeks of therapy, a skin rash occurs in about 5% of patients.3Usually this eruption is erythematous or morbilliform, is not accompanied by systemic symptoms, and does not necessitate permanent discontinuation of therapy. Occasionally, however, a more severe reaction occurs, with a pleomorphic, often exfoliative rash and high fever; hepatitis may be an associated finding. To our knowledge, the patient described here is the tenth patient reported to have had acute hepatitis accompanying the diphenylhydantoin reaction of fever and skin rash. Patient Summary A 19-year-old Negro male was admitted to Douglas County Hospital on Dec 11, 1966, after his second grand mal seizure, the


By using bank level data this paper examines how bank specific characteristics and the macroeconomic environment affects the profitability of the Thailand and Malaysian banking sectors over the period 1992-2003. All the variables are significant although their impact is not always the same for Thailand and Malaysian banks. We find that liquidity is negatively related to Thailand banks' profitability, but not in Malaysia, while network embeddedness has negative relationship with Malaysian banks, but not Thailand banks. As for the impact of macroeconomic indicators, we find that economic growth is positively related to Thailand banks' profitability only during the pre-crisis period. The impact of inflation is positive on Thailand banks' profitability during the crisis and post-crisis periods, while inflation is negatively related to Malaysian banks' profitability during the crisis period. We find that the Thailand banking sector has been relatively more profitable during the pre-crisis period, while the opposite is true for the Malaysian banking sector.


The most important factor in deciding whether psychotropic medication should be prescribed is a meticulous assessment of the possible causes of the behavioural/psychiatric disturbance. This assessment should include a consideration of the possible roles of the epilepsy itself, treatment of the epilepsy, associated brain damage or dysfunction, reactions to the epilepsy and causes that are unrelated to the epilepsy or its treatment. If the epilepsy itself or antiepileptic drug treatment are responsible for the disorder then a review of antiepileptic medication is required. Contrary to popular myth, most psychotropic medications are not contraindicated in children with epilepsy. Treatment with methylphenidate, dexamfetamine, atomoxetine, clonidine or low-dose risperidone are unlikely to precipitate seizures. The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors might protect against seizures but some of these are powerful enzyme inhibitors, implying that careful monitoring to avoid antiepileptic drug toxicity is recommended. In many cases, the appropriate approach will be through other interventions such as behavioural management or providing the young person with empowering strategies, implying that psychotropic pharmacotherapy should not be the first-line treatment. However, if assessment indicates that psychotropic medication is necessary, it can be of great benefit.


It is not easy to understand the dynamics underlying everyday life. The change around us is so ubiquitous; the processes governing change are invisible; the relationships between cause & effect are usually disconnected in time or space, and probabilistic causation adds uncertainty to the mix. This dissertation is about a new modeling language and a tangible simulation environment that together help children gain an intuitive understanding of the dynamics underlying everyday life phenomena, from fashion trends and financial markets fluctuations to vicious cycles of violence and virtuous cycles of popularity growth. I present the Flowness modeling language, a unique combination of Systems Thinking languages that results in an intuitive-to-understand yet computationally simulate-able language. I present FlowBlocks: a tangible learning technology designed in the spirit of early childhood construction kits (a field pioneered by Friedrich Froebel), with special attention to physical representation of abstract concepts (a field pioneered by Maria Montessori). FlowBlocks are a set of wooden blocks with embedded computation that simulate continuous flow using a moving light signal, making dynamic processes visible and manipulable. I provide evidence that playful modeling using FlowBlocks is not only engaging for children but indeed helps them pay attention to the underlying causality of everyday life situations. Moreover, I show that a FlowBlocks workshop helps middle-school aged students understand core Systems Thinking concepts such as Inflows, Stocks, Outflows, Positive Feedback, and Negative Feedback by generating their own analogies using FlowBlocks as an interactive model. I conclude that Flowness + FlowBlocks can serve as an effective learning aid to introduce children to Systems Thinking concepts in a collaborative playful modeling process, and develop children's intuitive understanding of the dynamics underlying everyday life situations. Thesis Supervisor: Mitchel Resnick Title: LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research Flowness + FlowBlocks: Uncovering the Dynamics of Everyday Life through Playful Modeling


Compounds that degrade upon melting, such as vitamin C, are not convenient for temperature-composition phase diagram survey. To bypass such a disadvantage, faster scan rates may be used to heat the samples. However, in that case, the thermodynamic solid–liquid equilibrium cannot be reached as the present study demonstrates regarding the vitamin C–acetaminophen phase diagram determination. In this work, high performance liquid chromatography has therefore been used as a complementary tool with differential scanning calorimetry to determine the appropriate liquidus point for various mole fractions of vitamin C–acetaminophen. Because a classical thermodynamic approach is not sufficient for such a study, the analytical experiments that we have conducted provide useful data, allowing us to determine the non-degraded vitamin C quantity in the vitamin C–acetaminophen mixtures treated at a given temperature and annealing time.


In the years that followed World War II, both the United States and the newly formed West German republic had an opportunity to remake their economies. Since then, much has been made of the supposed "Americanization" of European consumer societies - in Germany and elsewhere. Arguing against these foggy notions, Jan L. Logemann takes a comparative look at the development of postwar mass consumption in West Germany and the United States and the emergence of discrete consumer modernities. In "Trams or Tailfins?", Logemann explains how the decisions made at this crucial time helped to define both of these economic superpowers in the second half of the twentieth century. While Americans splurged on private cars and bought goods on credit in suburban shopping malls, Germans rebuilt public transit and developed pedestrian shopping streets in their city centers - choices that continue to shape the quality and character of life decades later. Outlining the abundant differences in the structures of consumer society, consumer habits, and the role of public consumption in these countries, Logemann reveals the many subtle ways that the spheres of government, society, and physical space define how we live.


A single administration (IP) of lithium chloride in the rat induces a decrease in erythrocyte calcium, proportional to the lithium level (p less than 0.01) and a diminution in cerebral calcium (p less than 0.001) which is accompanied by decrease in cerebral sodium and potassium levels (p less than 0.001). Repeated administration (IP + VO) has the same cerebral effects. The authors report that the reversible decrease in calcium, sodium and potassium, resulting from an increase in cerebral lithium levels, can be demonstrated on sampling at 1.30 and 3 hours (IP), or at 12 hours (VO). These results are relevant to the treatment of manic illnesses using calcium antagonists.


Restricting access to specialists through "gatekeeping" does not significantly reduce specialist referrals and is not necessarily cost effective, a new study has said ( New England Journal of Medicine 2001;345:1312-7).

Gatekeeping in the United States is the process of requiring insured patients to see a primary care doctor for an initial assessment and examination before being allowed to consult a specialist. As in the NHS in the United Kingdom, the US primary care doctors may choose to treat the patients themselves or to refer them for specialist care. The system has been widely embraced by both health maintenance organisations and traditional insurers as a cost containment method.

In April of 1998 Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, a multispecialty prepaid group practice (previously …


Multi-core processors are growing as a new industry trend as single core processors rapidly reach the physical limits of possible complexity and speed. In the new Top500 supercomputer list, more than 20% processors belong to the multi-core processor family. However, without an in-depth study on application behaviors and trends on multi-core clusters, we might not be able to understand the characteristics of multi-core cluster in a comprehensive manner and hence not be able to get optimal performance. In this paper, we take on these challenges and design a set of experiments to study the impact of multi-core architecture on cluster computing. We choose to use one of the most advanced multi-core servers, Intel Bensley system with Woodcrest processors, as our evaluation platform, and use benchmarks including HPL, NAMD, and NAS as the applications to study. From our message distribution experiments, we find that on an average about 50% messages are transferred through intra-node communication, which is much higher than intuition. This trend indicates that optimizing intra- node communication is as important as optimizing inter- node communication in a multi-core cluster. We also observe that cache and memory contention may be a potential bottleneck in multi-core clusters, and communication middleware and applications should be multi-core aware to alleviate this problem. We demonstrate that multi-core aware algorithm, e.g. data tiling, improves benchmark execution time by up to 70%. We also compare the scalability of a multi-core cluster with that of a single-core cluster and find that the scalability of the multi-core cluster is promising.


Academic writing and subsequent publishing have become an important part of the career advancement and professional development of those engaged in English language teaching worldwide. The aim of this study was to explore a solution to the gap in the academic writing skills of Ecuadorian English teachers in tertiary education. Our survey of 65 Ecuadorian English teachers showed that 92% of teachers had never published. Their reasons for not having done so included lack of self-confidence that they could produce publishable material, lack of English proficiency, lack of academic writing skills and lack of time. The intervention described in the research study involved engaging nine English teachers of an academic writing training course in authentic tasks that required writing academically for five carefully chosen ELT publications. An attainable goal was set: the participants of the training course held in November-December 2016 were invited to write book reviews and short articles on the intervention itself. Till the end of April 2018, altogether seven academic-level texts (four book reviews, one webinar review, one short article, and a concise book) were published. Two of the course participants decided early on that they did not want to participate in the optional academic writing and publishing activity, and a further four did not follow up on their initial steps; nonetheless, as a result of the intervention and its follow-up phase, five of the nine participants (including two that initially abstained) eventually published academic-level texts in recognized ELT publications. The results of the study suggest that tertiary level (non-native) English teachers can start writing academically and achieve success in the competitive world of publishing if realistic tasks are set, the trainees are mentored systematically, and the time frame (18 months) allows the submission, revision, and editing of academic articles to develop organically, leading to polished products.


Although various types of shell microstructures are documented from Cambrian molluscs, the precise organization and mineralogical composition of Terreneuvian molluscs are relatively unknown. Anabarella was one of the first helcionellid molluscs to appear in the Terreneuvian, with the genus surviving until the third epoch of the Cambrian. Here, shell microstructures of Anabarella australis have been studied based on new collections from the lower Cambrian (Series 2) Xinji Formation of the North China Block. Results show that A. australis has a laminar inner shell layer that consists of crossed foliated lamellar microstructure (CFL). Nacreous, crossed-lamellar and foliated aragonite microstructures previously documented in the older (Terreneuvian) species A. plana are here revised as preservational artefacts of the CFL layers. This complex skeletal organization of Anabarella suggests that mechanisms of molluscan biomineralization evolved very rapidly. Morphologically, specimens from the Chaijiawa section show a pattern of distinct 'pseudo-dimorphism' as external coatings are identical to Anabarella, while associated internal moulds are similar to the helcionelloid genus Planutenia. In contrast, internal moulds from the Shangzhangwan section show considerable morphological variation owing to preservational bias and show greater similarities to specimens from South Australia, Northeast Greenland and Germany. These observations demonstrate that the extensive morphological variation seen in the internal moulds of the cosmopolitan genus Anabarella are primarily preservational artefacts and are unlikely to represent the real intra- and interspecific variability of the animal. In these cases, Planutenia is here confirmed to be a subjective synonym of Anabarella.


Germplasm screening programs have primarily relied on inoculation with mycelia to determine the resistance reaction of soybean genotypes to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. However, under field conditions, ascospores are the primary source of inoculum. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine which components most accurately differentiate the resistance reaction of soybean genotypes inoculated with ascospores of S. sclerotiorum. Ascospores were produced in the laboratory and all of the experiments were carried out under controlled conditions with inoculations at flowering stage. Initially, inoculum densities of 1 × 104, 1 × 105 and 1 × 106 ascospores ml-1 were compared on six soybean genotypes with known resistance reactions. Disease symptoms developed on all genotypes and at all inoculum densities. The highest ascospore concentration increased infection efficiency but it was not correlated with an increase in lesion length. Components of resistance were then measured on a set of 17 cultivars with known resistance reactions at 1 × 105 ascospores ml-1. Resistance reactions could be differentiated based on the level of infection efficiency and lesion length on the main stem. Although inoculation with ascospores presents some limitations such as the time required for inoculum production as well as the time and space required for plant growth, it has the potential to be used to complement other methods for the characterization of resistance of soybean genotypes.


The clinician posturologist studies vision as one of the sources of informations about the small movements of the body relative to its environment, informations which enable controlling postural stability. But this way of working, very restrictive indeed, acquires a great clinical dimension because visual information must be integrated with all the other postural informations, and it appears that this integration is not always satisfactory and that its disorders can be detected and cured in many illnesses.


Primary elections in the United States reflect the most inclusive nomination process among political parties across democracies. The desire for mass participation in party nominations appears embedded in a widespread populist ideal. It remains unclear, however, the extent to which voters believe that elites should be able to influence the process. Using data from the 2018 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, we demonstrate that levels of political engagement, perceived ideological distance from the party, and partisanship predict the degree of support for popular selection of party nominees. We find key differences between the parties, with Republicans, particularly conservatives, more strongly opposed to elite influence. Surprisingly, most voters tend to have a pluralistic approach to selecting nominees, allowing for party officials and experts to weigh in on picking the party's candidates. The findings have implications for how we conceive of political parties and the kinds of nomination reforms that might be embraced by voters.


The banking sector reforms that the countries of Latin America undertook in the 1990s were an important step forward, but proved insufficient. Although it is true that the region as a whole progressed significantly, particularly in reducing the role of the State, and that market mechanisms and the regulatory framework in which banking institutions operated were improved, while at the same time the presence of foreign operators increased, it is no less true that most of the Latin American countries continued to experience systemic crises or severe banking instability. This shows that there are still issues that need to be addressed before the region can have a sound banking sector. They include in particular the need to do more to increase the real independence of supervisory bodies by separating bank supervision from short-term economic and political decision- making. Bank supervision needs to be regarded as a matter of State, which means giving priority to its technical and professional aspects; to overcome the difficulties involved, it is essential that there be a real political will to carry through the changes that are required. This article highlights the need to deal with some structural issues, such as the supervision of financial conglomerates, excessive market concentration among a few institutions nationally and region-wide, and the relationship between this and the safety nets which are supposed to contain systemic crises, but which are unable to do so adequately. As regards the regulatory aspects, this paper argues that transparency and market rules in general need to be improved, as do mechanisms for evaluating portfolio and related-party credit risk, especially where effective application of existing rules is concerned.


Crowdsourcing has become widely used in supervised scenarios where training sets are scarce and difficult to obtain. Most crowdsourcing models in the literature assume labelers can provide answers to full questions. In classification contexts, full questions require a labeler to discern among all possible classes. Unfortunately, discernment is not always easy in realistic scenarios. Labelers may not be experts in differentiating all classes. In this work, we provide a full probabilistic model for a shorter type of queries. Our shorter queries only require "yes" or "no" responses. Our model estimates a joint posterior distribution of matrices related to labelers' confusions and the posterior probability of the class of every object. We developed an approximate inference approach, using Monte Carlo Sampling and Black Box Variational Inference, which provides the derivation of the necessary gradients. We built two realistic crowdsourcing scenarios to test our model. The first scenario queries for irregular astronomical time-series. The second scenario relies on the image classification of animals. We achieved results that are comparable with those of full query crowdsourcing. Furthermore, we show that modeling labelers' failures plays an important role in estimating true classes. Finally, we provide the community with two real datasets obtained from our crowdsourcing experiments. All our code is publicly available.


This research explores the effect of information transparency and cooperation among the front nodes of supply chains. Although published works in the supply chain (SC) domain underline the need for information transparency and cooperation for competitiveness of firms, the majority among these are conceptual or empirical. As such, the domain requires fresh effort towards analytical and simulation based research for validation. In the present work, simulation is used as the research methodology. The simulation platform is developed in ARENA®, which is based on simulation language SIMAN. It has the capability to model multi-product, multi-echelon supply chains. Cooperation is depicted in the form of demand pooling and accelerated delivery of consignments from cooperating SC nodes, when stock-out contingency occurs at a particular node. The modelling also explores the effects of full, partial and zero level of information transparency on the SC performance. The simulation results suggest that these initiatives improve SC service time performance. It is also observed that more advantages from cooperation and information transparency are obtainable when the SC is leaner. The studies also highlight that such SC initiative that motivates local optimisation at the nodes is counter-productive to SC wide performance.


A series of copper complexes bearing polypyridyl tridentate ligands have been prepared to fine tune their reactivity toward the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). During the process of preparation of our copper complexes, we successfully obtained two new crystal structures which are [Cu2(μ-Cl)2(adpa)2](ClO4)2 (2b) and [Cu2(addpa)(CH3CN)2(ClO4)2](ClO4)2 (3a) and a new structure [Cu2(addpa)(CH3CN)2(H2O)2](ClO4)4 (3b) captured after the catalytic ORR. Electrochemical studies and stoichiometric chemical reduction of copper(ii) complexes by ascorbic acid indicated that the presence of an anthracene unit helps to facilitate the reduction of Cu(ii) as well as the stabilisation of Cu(i) species. Regarding oxygen activation, the dinuclear Cu(i) complex 3a showed significantly higher ORR activity than its analogous mononuclear complex 2a. Complex 3a was also found to be relatively robust and competent in catalytic O2 reduction. The observed H2O2 product after this catalysis, together with the data obtained from DFT calculations supported that 3a exhibited a 2H+, 2e- catalytic activity towards the ORR as opposed to the expected 4H+, 4e- process usually found in copper complexes with tridentate ligands. The proton (H+) source for this process was expected from ascorbic acid which also serves as a reducing agent in this reaction. This work highlighted an approach for tuning the ORR activity of the copper complexes by the introduction of a conjugated-π moiety to the supporting ligand.


A case of classical rheumatoid arthritis of 12 years' duration, was treated during an exacerbation with levamisole and remission was induced. The findings support the postulate that depressed cell-mediated immunity to an unknown antigen is the primary immunity defect in rheumatoid arthritis, and that the defence mechanism stimulant levamisole is an effective treatment, at least in some cases. The lack of toxicity of the drug is noted, but in this case the blood aspirin level rose while the patient was taking levamisole with an unaltered dose of aspirin. There was some depression of the neutrophil count after five months which responded to a reduced dosage.


Introduction: Results from several studies indicate that workplace exposure to welding fumes is associated with increased frequency of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in exposed workers.
Objective: To assess the prevalence and characteristics of COPD in never-smoking welders.
Methods: A cross-sectional study including 53 never-smoking male welders (aged 35–60 years) was performed, and an equal number of never-smoking male office workers were studied as a control. Evaluation of examined subjects consisted of the completion of a questionnaire, baseline spirometry, and bronchodilator reversibility testing.
Results: We found a higher prevalence of respiratory symptoms in welders, with significant differences in cough and phlegm. The majority of the chronic respiratory symptoms in welders were work-related. The mean values of all measured spirometric parameters registered with both pre and post-bronchodilator spirometry in welders were significantly lower than in office workers. The prevalence of COPD was significantly higher in welders than in office workers (15.1% versus 3.8%, p=0.041). COPD in both welders and office workers was similar in those aged <45 years.
Conclusion: Our findings support data about the relationship between workplace exposure to welding fumes and persistent airflow limitation.


Schools play an important role in fostering students' cognitive and social-emotional development. Some students, such as students with social-emotional and behavioral difficulties (SEBD), have special educational needs: they require individual attention and a tailored approach to their unique educational needs. Whether their needs are best met by providing special education services in inclusive settings for regular education (included students with SEBD) or in exclusive settings for special education (excluded students with SEBD), is subject to debate. Yet, we know surprisingly little about the characteristics of students with SEBD, what schools do to support them, and what results are yielded with the additional support provided. We compared the school development of included and excluded students with SEBD who applied for special education services. We first collected data when they resided in regular education without additional support. We conducted classroom surveys with students and teachers, individual testing sessions with students with SEBD, and we collected data from school administration and students' application files. After provision of special education services (students either stayed in the inclusive setting – the regular school – or were excluded and were placed in a school for special education), we followed students' development for 1,5 years with three additional measurements. The research in this dissertation shows that students with SEBD did not differ in student functioning before placement in inclusive or exclusive settings – that is, before special education services were provided – while their teachers differed on several factors. Teachers of included students reported lower self-efficacy in the classroom, but more positive attitudes towards inclusive education than teachers of excluded students. Placement choices for inclusive or exclusive settings for students with SEBD thus depend to some extent on characteristics of their teachers, rather than on students' school functioning. After 1,5 years of provision of special education services, excluded students performed better than included students with regard to social-emotional and academic functioning. This is an intriguing finding given the fact that there is a strong trend in current educational policy to move towards inclusive education (Passend Onderwijs). It shows that special education services provided in exclusive settings can have important benefits to both the academic and social-emotional functioning of students with SEBD who are at risk for a variety of bad prospects. This supports the perspective that special education services should be provided in inclusive regular education whenever possible, but that exclusive special education must be offered to those students whose needs cannot be met in inclusive regular education. Thus that both inclusive and exclusive settings are necessary to adequately support this diverse group of students seems evident. The benefits of exclusive settings for the development of many of these students are not sufficiently acknowledged by our current educational policy. This stresses the need to better equip schools for regular education with similar services, facilities, and professional expertise to manage and support students with SEBD.


We evaluate quark number densities at imaginary chemical potential by lattice QCD with clover-improved two-flavor Wilson fermion. The quark number densities are extrapolated to the small real chemical potential region by assuming some function forms. The extrapolated quark number densities are consistent with those calculated at real chemical potential with the Taylor expansion method for the reweighting factors. In order to study the large real chemical potential region, we use the two-phase model consisting of the quantum hadrodynamics model for the hadron phase and the entanglement-PNJL model for the quark phase. The quantum hadrodynamics model is constructed to reproduce nuclear saturation properties, while the entanglement-PNJL model reproduces well lattice QCD data for the order parameters such as the Polyakov loop, the thermodynamic quantities and the screening masses. Then, we calculate the mass-radius relation of neutron stars and explore the hadron-quark phase transition with the two-phase model.


Mn-Zn ferrites with chemical formula (Mn-Zn) Fe2O4 have widespread applications in the electrical and electronics industries. These ferrites are synthesized generally by conventional method. This method, which contains calcination of raw materials, is affected by several parameters such as composition and purity of the raw materials and temperature, time and atmosphere of the process. Optimization of these parameters is very important because these parameters affect the magnetic and electrical properties of the material. In this work, the ratio of the different Iranian routs of the raw materials for production of high Ms ferrite powder has been optimized and the effects of calcination conditions have been investigated using XRD, DTA/TGA techniques. The magnetic properties have also been measured.


In the current state of social studies education, field trips are being cut from many schools' curriculum. While not a true substitution, today's technologies provide some opportunities through virtual field trips (VFTs) to simulate these experiences, engage students in knowledge production and disciplined inquiry, and have interactions with the dedicated staff members from these historic sites. Many of the current VFTs, however, fall short of this goal and instead serve as an updated form of a content delivery model, with little interaction or student engagement in historical issues. This article describes research on field trips, hybrid distance learning models, and virtual field trips in the social studies and other areas, as well as a critical case study of one of the most prominent and long lasting virtual field trips, Colonial Williamsburg's Electronic Field Trip program. A model for future social studies VFTs and ways to integrate these VFTs into authentic social studies instruction are developed. The case study revealed a number of key issues that arise in the development and execution of VFT programs, and the ensuing VFT model should be helpful for teachers and VFT developers.


Methods are developed and evaluated to retrieve surface soil temperature information for the advanced microwave scanning radiometer on earth observing system for seven boreal forest and Arctic tundra biophysical monitoring sites across Alaska and Northern Canada. A multiple-band iterative radiative transfer process-based method producing dynamic vegetation and snow cover correction quantities and an empirical multiple regression method using several frequencies are employed. The seasonal pattern of microwave emission and relative accuracy of the soil temperature retrievals are influenced strongly by landscape properties, including the presence of open water, vegetation type and seasonal phenology, snow cover, and freeze-thaw transitions. The retrieval of soil temperature is similar for the two methods with an overall root-mean-square error of 3.1-3.9 K during summer thawed conditions, with a larger error occurring in winter during periods of dynamic snow cover and freeze-thaw state. These results indicate that at high latitudes, the influence of the atmosphere may be less important than that of surface conditions in determining the relative accuracy of the estimated soil temperature. Impacts of surface conditions on surface emissivity, observed brightness temperature, and estimated soil temperature are discussed.


Background/Objectives: The practice of Ayurveda has been long followed in India which is based on the analysis of wrist pulse signal for diagnosing human health. The pulse signal is a non-stationary signal. A signal can be analyzed in either time domain, frequency domain or joint time-frequency domain. This paper highlights the need of joint time-frequency analysis for a non-stationary signal and provides an approach of analyzing wrist pulse signals in time-frequency domain using Gabor Spectrogram. Methods/Statistical Analysis: The work in this paper has been done using Virtual Instruments (VI's) in ®LabVIEW. In this paper, band pass filter and wavelet de-noising technique has been used for pre-processing of raw pulse signals. Segmentation and Normalization has been performed on the noise free pulse signals. For representing the pulse signals in t-f space, Gabor Spectrogram has been used. The Gabor Spectrogram is a time-frequency distribution technique that offers good time-frequency resolution and negligible cross term interference. The performance has been analyzed using a parameter Mean Square Error (MSE). Findings: Various features: Mean Instantaneous Frequency (MIF), Mean Instantaneous Bandwidth (MIB), Frequency Marginal Integral (FMI), Time Marginal Integral (TMI) and Group Delay (GD) have been extracted in t-f domain for pulse signals from healthy subjects and correlation has been performed. The extracted features for different healthy subjects show similarity in variation pattern even though the actual signals differ in time domain, illustrated through correlation, which marks a successful attempt towards the significance of time-frequency distribution for pulse signals. Application/Improvement: These features can prove very significant in health diagnosis of human beings.


Biomass grinds are typically non-spherical and are composed of particles with wide range of sizes that may vary up to 10× between the smallest and largest particle. Since fluidized bed system is often used to convert biomass into fuels, chemicals and products, the viscous and kinetic energy losses' coefficients in the Ergun equation were determined to incorporate these unique characteristics of biomass grinds. The revised Ergun's equation, validated using loblolly pine wood grinds, and data from other published work resulted in estimated Ergun's K1 and K2 coefficients of 201 and 2.7 respectively. In addition, the relative mean deviation between experimental and predicted pressure drop was in general better with the modified Ergun's equation when compared to the original Ergun's equation.


Cancer-specific targeting sparing normal tissues would significantly enhance cancer therapy outcomes and reduce cancer-related mortality. One approach is to target receptors or molecules that are specifically expressed on cancer cells. Peptides as cancer-specific targeting agents offer advantages such as ease of synthesis, low antigenicity, and enhanced diffusion into tissues. Glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) is an endoplasmic reticulum stress chaperone that regulates the unfolded protein response and is overexpressed in various cancers. In this study, we evaluated GIRLRG peptide that specifically targets GRP78 for cancer-specific binding (in vitro) and noninvasive tumor imaging (in vivo). Methods: GIRLRG peptide was modeled into the GRP78 ATPase domain using computational modeling. Surface plasmon resonance studies were performed to determine the affinity of GIRLRG peptide to GRP78 protein. GIRLRG was conjugated with PEG to prolong its circulation in mice. Tumor binding efficacy of PEG-GIRLRG peptide was evaluated in nude mice bearing heterotopic cervical (HT3), esophageal (OE33), pancreatic (BXPC3), lung (A549), and glioma (D54) tumors. Nano-SPECT/CT imaging of the mice was performed 48 and 72 h after injection with 111In-labeled PEG-GIRLRG or PEG-control peptide. Post-SPECT biodistribution studies were performed 96 h after injection of the radiolabeled peptides. Results: Using molecular modeling and surface plasmon resonance, we identified that GIRLRG was binding with an affinity constant of 2.16 × 10−3 M in the ATPase domain of GRP78. GIRLRG peptide specifically bound to cervical, lung, esophageal, and glioma cells. SPECT imaging revealed that 111In-PEG-GIRLRG specifically bound to cervical, esophageal, pancreatic, lung, and brain tumors. Post-SPECT biodistribution data also validated the SPECT imaging results. Conclusion: GIRLRG peptide specifically binds to the ATPase domain of GRP78. Radiolabeled PEG-GIRLRG could be used to target various cancers. Further studies would be required to translate PEG-GIRLRG peptide into the clinic.


To understand the mechanism regulating the effector function of memory CD8 T cells, we examined expression and chromatin state of a key transcription factor (eomesodermin, EOMES) and two of its targets: perforin (PRF1) and granzyme B (GZMB). Accessible chromatin associated histone 3 lysine 9 acetylation (H3K9Ac) was found significantly higher at the proximal promoter and the first exon region of all three genes in memory CD8 T cells than in naive CD8 T cells. Correspondingly, EOMES and PRF1 were constitutively higher expressed in memory CD8 T cells than in naive CD8 T cells at resting and activated states. In contrast, higher expression of GZMB was induced in memory CD8 T cells than in naive CD8 T cells only after activation. Regardless of their constitutive or inducible expression, decreased H3K9Ac levels after treatment with a histone acetyltransferase inhibitor (Curcumin) led to decreased expression of all three genes in activated memory CD8 T cells. These findings suggest that H3K9Ac associated accessible chromatin state serves as a corner stone for the differentially high expression of these effector genes in memory CD8 T cells. Thus, epigenetic changes mediated via histone acetylation may provide a chromatin "memory" for the rapid and robust transcriptional response of memory CD8 T cells.


There is a major mismatch between opportunity and action in most education systems today. It revolves around what is meant by "science education," a term that is incorrectly defined in current usage. Rather than learning how to think scientifically, students are generally being told about science and asked to remember facts. This disturbing situation must be corrected if science education is to have any hope of taking its proper place as an essential part of the education of students everywhere.


ABSTRACT Data from 39 flume studies that report equilibrium bed configuration as well as water temperature, flow depth, flow velocity, and sediment size are used to develop the best approximation to the relationships among bed phases (ripples, dunes, lower-regime plane bed, upper-regime plane bed, and antidunes) produced by flows of water over loose sediments. We use a three-axis graph with dimensionless measures of mean flow depth, mean flow velocity, and sediment size along the axes. The relationships are presented as a series of depth-velocity sections and velocity-size sections through the dimensionless diagram. Boundaries between stability fields of the bed phases were drawn as smooth surfaces that minimize misplacement of data points. A large subset of the data, for which reliable values of bed shear stress are reported, was used to represent the stability relationships of the bed phases in a graph of dimensionless boundary shear stress against dimensionless sediment size. The graph shows substantial overlapping of the fields for dunes, upper plane bed, and antidunes owing to the decrease in bed shear stress in the transition from dunes to plane bed with increasing flow velocity. The topology of bed-phase boundaries was guided by the relationships shown in the dimensionless depth-velocity-size diagram.


Despite much debate in the strategy literatures, there is little consensus as to whether organizational capabilities or market competition are more important in shaping firms' actions and performance. We suspect that simply comparing firm-level and industry-level influences will continue to prove fruitless for two reasons. In the first place, both organization and competition are clearly important in shaping strategy and performance. In the second place, we suspect that the inconclusive nature of much of the existing research reflects the fact that organizational capabilities, competition, strategy, and performance are fundamentally endogenous. That is, reciprocal interactions at multiple levels of analysis between the environment and the firm shape business strategy and performance, while interactions between strategy and performance, in turn, shape both organizational capabilities and competitive environments. This special issue of the Strategic Management Journal includes papers that focus attention on several dimensions of these interactions. A common theme emerges from the work concerning the sequential nature of the interrelationships. The papers suggest that firms develop organizational capabilities as they act in competitive, institutional, and cognitive environments, where capabilities arise both by design and as the unexpected by-products of firm actions. The capabilities, managers' understanding of the capabilities, and the historical context that surrounds them then condition firms' reactions to changes in their environment. The reactions and firm performance in turn affect the structure of the industry, and all these changes generate new information which in turn creates new learning opportunities. Thus, the papers view strategy and performance as an ongoing sequence of capabilities-conditioned adaptations by firms which in turn become exogenous events in the environments of the managers of other firms. For strategy researchers, the important question is not that of which disciplinary perspective or mode of explanation is a more appropriate one, but rather that of the conditions under which a given mode of explanation is most appropriate. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


A two-degree-of-freedom flexible antenna sensor platform was designed to physically simulate the ability of a robotic arm, which rapidly reorients and targets itself towards specific surfaces from different approachable angles. An accurate antenna model involves non-linear expressions that represent the system dynamics. Therefore, a comprehensive study along with experimental work has been carried out in order to achieve accurate system identification and validate the dynamic model. The model developed has proven useful in controlling the antenna tip, minimising the effects of the non-linear flexural dynamics and the Coulomb friction. The system was driven by servo motors. Algebraic controllers were developed for the antenna tip to track the reference trajectory. The platform system used encoders to measure the joint angles and a loadcell sensor to obtain the flexible link tip position. To validate the sensory information, the results obtained by the integrated sensors were compared to that of an external camera system.


To investigate the effects of the two-pore-domain potassium (K2P) channel TASK-3 in a syngeneic murine model for malignant glioma. Malignant or high-grade glioma (WHO grade III and IV) are the most common and most aggressive primary brain tumors in adults. Despite aggressive multimodal therapy, the outcome of patients with malignant glioma remains poor. However, recent phase I and II trials have shown promising results for immunotherapies. The potassium-selective K2P ion channel TASK-3 plays a key role in modulating T cell effector functions. TASK-3 has been shown to functionally impact survival in human glioma cells in vivo and in vitro. We used a syngeneic murine glioma model based on the GL261 glioma cell line. Intracranial injection of GL261 cells leads to development of brain tumors in C57BL/6 wildtype and TASK-3-/- mice. On day 29 after tumor cell implantation eight asymptomatic animals (n = 4 C57BL/6 and n = 4 TASK-3-/- mice) were taken for MRI investigation. Symptom-free survival of GL261 tumor-bearing TASK-3-/- mice was significantly longer as compared to C57BL/6 mice (31 days (29-33 days, 95% confidence interval) versus 23 days (20-26 days, 95% confidence interval); Log-rank test P < 0.001). On MRI, tumors of TASK-3-/- mice showed a clear tendency to have smaller volumes as compared to C57BL/6 wildtype mice (5,25 µm³ vs. 15,48 µm³, n.s.). The K2P ion channel TASK-3 plays an important role in local tumor control, as knockout mice exhibit a delayed onset of symptoms and a longer survival after tumor cell implantation. The mechanisms of these effects and the role of other K2P channels are currently under investigation.


This pilot study focuses on the use of mobile tablets to allow secondary students to compose in class with the application GarageBand. The empirical research has two aims: to demonstrate the possibility of using mobile tablets as a composing device, and to examine professional practices for using mobile technologies in music learning. A 12-week e-learning curriculum was specially designed for students to learn to use mobile tablets to compose popular music. A total of 159 secondary school students participated in the study and responded to a set of pre- and post-activity questionnaires, modelled on items developed for a motivational study by McPherson and O'Neill (2010). The paired sample t-test compared the mean score changes in the dimensions of intrinsic value, attainment value, utility value, perceived cost and expectancy in motivation. Furthermore, one-way analysis of variance compared the mean scores for scale questions on learning motivation between groups based on number of years spent learning to play an instrument as revealed by the student survey. The findings of SPSS analysis reveal that both non-instrument learners and instrument learners showed significant increases in motivation when using mobile tablets as an instrument to compose popular music in class. Different modes of learning, limitations and suggestions are also discussed in mobile composing.


: Improving the accuracy of protein secondary structure prediction has been an important task in bioinformatics since it is not only the starting point in obtaining tertiary structure in hierarchical modeling but also enhances sequence analysis and sequence-structure threading to help determine structure and function. Herein we present a model based on DSPRED classifier, a hybrid method composed of dynamic Bayesian networks and a support vector machine to predict 3-state secondary structure information of proteins. We used the SCOPe (Structural Classification of Proteins-extended) database to train and test the model. The results show that DSPRED reached a Q 3 accuracy rate of 82.36% when trained and tested using proteins from all SCOPe classes. We compared our method with the popular PSIPRED on the SCOPe test datasets and found that our method outperformed PSIPRED.


This contribution discusses the language and social practices of older Greek Cypriot women. It looks at the casual, every-day interactions of an all-female group, with a long interactional history (most of them in their seventies). The ethnomethodological approach to identities is adopted, and a toolkit from membership categorisation analysis and conversation analysis is used. This paper shows how the participants employ various terms, with distinct meaning and associated features, to categorise self and others as "older women". The discussion includes certain emblematic uses of
 code-switching between (varieties of) Cypriot Greek and Standard Modern Greek and shows how this discourse strategy contributes to the construction of old-age identities
 with distinct associations. On the whole, this bottom-up analysis provides an overview of older Cypriot women's situated understanding of their age identities and how the
 deployment of various category labels of different registers ultimately achieves positive self-presentation and dissociation from age-induced decline.


The lockdown, announced on March 16, 2020, led to a massive use of digital tools to offer pedagogical continuity. The objective of this exploratory research is to highlight the digital practices of 1, 994 teachers took part in this research from May to July 2020. A questionnaire measuring their digital practices during the lockdown, as well as the factors of change, was sent to them by email. Although the use of digital tools increased during the lockdown, the underlying pedagogical practices have not changed much. Teachers report that they mainly used digital tools to maintain communication as well as for the deposit, storage and sharing of content, thereby reproducing what is done in class. The results of this study targeting teachers' practices support the idea that the appropriation of digital tools should be considered over a long period of time and through a change in teaching practices.


Experimental data, describing patient inter-fractional set-up errors in the clinical practice of breast radiotherapy, were exploited to simulate the performance in errors detection and correction of a constrained surface registration procedure, based on a hybrid configuration of control points (passive and laser). During 47 treatment sessions in three patients undergoing post-quadrantectomy radiotherapy, an opto-electronic localizer was used to acquire the three-dimensional coordinates of the hybrid control points, being two passive markers placed on selected skin landmarks on the sternum. Laser scanning technique was also applied for the acquisition of the 3-D surface model of the irradiated body area, which was used as reference for the automatic position correction procedure. A constrained surface registration algorithm was applied to estimate the rigid spatial transformation, describing the local errors affecting the control points. The improvement of the irradiation geometrical setup, by correcting the patient position according to the estimated spatial transformation parameters, was simulated. Results showed that the proposed surface registration method allowed us to detect and significantly (Wilcoxon signed rank analysis) reduce the initial misalignments, which exhibited overall median and 75th percentile values equal to 4.26 mm and 5.76 mm. Simulated residual errors dropped down to median and 75th percentile values measuring 2.95 mm and 3.87 mm, respectively. These results confirmed the high potentiality of surface registration techniques for the opto-electronic automatic patient positioning control in breast cancer radiotherapy.


The disease phenotype of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and the molecular/ biological properties of its prion strain, including the host range and the characteristics of BSE-related disorders, have been extensively studied since its discovery in 1986. In recent years, systematic testing of the brains of cattle coming to slaughter resulted in the identification of at least two atypical forms of BSE. These emerging disorders are characterized by novel conformers of the bovine pathological prion protein (PrPTSE), named high-type (BSE-H) and low-type (BSE-L). We recently reported two Italian atypical cases with a PrPTSE type identical to BSE-L, pathologically characterized by PrP amyloid plaques and known as bovine amyloidotic spongiform encephalopathy (BASE). Several lines of evidence suggest that BASE is highly virulent and easily transmissible to a wide host range. Experimental transmission to transgenic mice overexpressing bovine PrP (Tgbov XV) suggested that BASE is caused by a prion strain distinct from the BSE isolate. In the present study, we experimentally infected Friesian and Alpine brown cattle with Italian BSE and BASE isolates via the intracerebral route. BASE-infected cattle developed amyotrophic changes accompanied by mental dullness. The molecular and neuropathological profiles, including PrP deposition pattern, closely matched those observed in the original cases. This study provides clear evidence of BASE as a distinct prion isolate and discloses a novel disease phenotype in cattle.


The Nazi propaganda film Ohm Kruger (Uncle Kruger, 1941) utilized former South African statesman Paul Kruger and his role in the Boer War to promote a virulently anti-British message. By analyzing the international career of Ohm Kruger, this article reassesses the propaganda value traditionally ascribed to the film in an attempt to encourage further research on the exportation of Third-Reich cinema. The parallels between the British invasion and occupation of Boer land, as represented in the film, and the Nazis' invasion and occupation of European countries were so striking that Ohm Kruger was exported almost exclusively to nations allied with Germany while being withheld from occupied territories. The one notable exception was France, which had a long tradition of anti-British sentiment.


In this paper, we present an approach to facilitate long-range device-to-device communication via smartphones in crisis scenarios. Through a custom firmware for low-cost LoRa capable micro-controller boards, called rf95modem, common devices for end users can be enabled to use LoRa through a Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or serial connection. We present two applications utilizing the flexibility provided by the proposed firmware. First, we introduce a novel device-to-device LoRa chat application that works a) on the two major mobile platforms Android and iOS and b) on traditional computers like notebooks using a console-based interface. Second, we demonstrate how other infrastructure-less technology can benefit from our approach by integrating it into the DTN7 delay-tolerant networking software. The firmware, the device-to-device chat application, the integration into DTN7, as well as the experimental evaluation code fragments are available under permissive open-source licenses.


In this paper we examine the behavior of Ad Hoc networks through simulations, using different routing protocols and various topologies. We examine the difference in performance, using a CBR application, with packets of different size through a variety of topologies, showing that the way nodes are placed in a network has an impact in networks performance. We show that the choice of routing protocol plays an important role on network's performance. We also quantify node mobility effects, by looking into both static and fully mobile configurations. Our paper presents a systematic analysis of a variety of different ad hoc network topologies in terms of node placement, node mobility and routing protocols through several simulated scenarios.


This paper uses a nonlinear arbitrage-pricing model, a conditional linear model, and an unconditional linear model to price international equities, bonds, and forward currency contracts. Unlike linear models, the nonlinear arbitrage-pricing model requires no restrictions on the payoff space, allowing it to price payoffs of options, forward contracts, and other derivative securities. Only the nonlinear arbitrage-pricing model does an adequate job of explaining the time-series behavior of a cross section of international returns. Copyright 1993 by American Finance Association.


Compile-time meta-programming allows programs to be constructed by the user at compile-time. Few modern languages are capable of compile-time meta-programming, and of those that do, many of the most powerful are statically typed functional languages. In this paper I present the dynamically typed, object orientated language Converge which allows compile-time meta-programming in the spirit of Template Haskell. Converge demonstrates that integrating powerful, safe compiletime meta-programming features into a dynamic language requires few restrictions to the flexible development style facilitated by the paradigm.


This paper describes the use of a formal optimisation procedure to optimise a plug-in hybrid electric bus using two different case studies to meet two different performance criteria; minimum journey cost and maximum battery life. The approach is to choose a commercially available vehicle and seek to improve its performance by varying key design parameters. Central to this approach is the ability to develop a representative backward facing model of the vehicle in MATLAB/Simulink along with appropriate optimisation objective and penalty functions. The penalty functions being the margin by which a particular design fails to meet the performance specification. The model is validated against data collected from an actual vehicle and is used to estimate the vehicle performance parameters in a model-in-the-loop process within an optimisation routine. For the purposes of this paper, the journey cost/battery life over a drive cycle is optimised whilst other performance indices are met (or exceeded). Among the available optimisation methods, Powell's method and Simulated Annealing are adopted. The results show this method as a valid alternative modelling approach to vehicle powertrain optimisation.


ABSTRACT Selenocysteine (Sec) tRNA (tRNA[Ser]Sec) serves as both the site of Sec biosynthesis and the adapter molecule for donation of this amino acid to protein. The consequences on selenoprotein biosynthesis of overexpressing either the wild type or a mutant tRNA[Ser]Sec lacking the modified base, isopentenyladenosine, in its anticodon loop were examined by introducing multiple copies of the corresponding tRNA[Ser]Sec genes into the mouse genome. Overexpression of wild-type tRNA[Ser]Sec did not affect selenoprotein synthesis. In contrast, the levels of numerous selenoproteins decreased in mice expressing isopentenyladenosine-deficient (i6A−) tRNA[Ser]Sec in a protein- and tissue-specific manner. Cytosolic glutathione peroxidase and mitochondrial thioredoxin reductase 3 were the most and least affected selenoproteins, while selenoprotein expression was most and least affected in the liver and testes, respectively. The defect in selenoprotein expression occurred at translation, since selenoprotein mRNA levels were largely unaffected. Analysis of the tRNA[Ser]Sec population showed that expression of i6A− tRNA[Ser]Sec altered the distribution of the two major isoforms, whereby the maturation of tRNA[Ser]Sec by methylation of the nucleoside in the wobble position was repressed. The data suggest that the levels of i6A− tRNA[Ser]Sec and wild-type tRNA[Ser]Sec are regulated independently and that the amount of wild-type tRNA[Ser]Sec is determined, at least in part, by a feedback mechanism governed by the level of the tRNA[Ser]Sec population. This study marks the first example of transgenic mice engineered to contain functional tRNA transgenes and suggests that i6A−tRNA[Ser]Sec transgenic mice will be useful in assessing the biological roles of selenoproteins.