Abstract Degradation of oil painted copper surfaces involves chemical, physical and mechanical processes that are influenced by the prevailing environment. The oil paint/copper interface formed between the lower layers of paint and its copper support determines the stability of the system. Components within the painted copper system are identified and their interactions are discussed. Decay routes are described. Ingress of water and ions to the oil paint/copper boundary through paint film defects is shown to be essential for the electrochemical reactions at the metal surface that lead to adhesion loss. Destabilisation begins with bond failure and blistering, which provides ideal conditions for the initiation of delamination. The study reveals that further work on the structure and properties of copper carboxylates of individual and mixed linseed oil fatty acids, together with models of their reaction, would further understanding in this field.


OBJECTIVE
A controlled, clinical, double-blind study was conducted to assess the efficacy of sugar-free tablets containing zinc lactate and magnolia bark extract (MBE) on oral volatile sulfur-containing compounds (VSC) versus placebo tablets for two hours.

METHODS
In order to join the study, subjects had to have at least 24 teeth, no report of oral and systemic diseases, and no removable dentures. All 128 eligible participants had to avoid any professional oral hygiene, refrain from taking medicines for two weeks, be not menstruating, and not brush their teeth and tongue, smoke, drink alcohol, coffee or tea, eat onion, garlic, or licorice for a six-hour period before the visit and during the test. Moreover, to join the protocol, they had to show a VSC score of ≥ 75 ppb at the baseline measurement. Each qualified subject was placed in the test or the control group using a table of random numbers. The test tablet (0.7 g) contained 0.17 mg of zinc, in the form of zinc lactate, and 0.84 mg magnolia bark extract; the control tablet was identical, but without these active agents. The OralChroma2 device was utilized to evaluate total oral VSC. Their levels were recorded at baseline, after eight minutes of sucking two tablets in succession, after one hour, and after two hours. Data were analyzed with SPSS software and the level of significance was set at α = 0.05.

RESULTS
One hundred subjects completed the trial (50 in the control group and 50 in the test group); 52 men and 48 women, mean age 38. None reported problems linked to zinc lactate or magnolia bark extract. The mean percentage reduction from baseline at the end of eight minutes of tablet sucking was 39% in the control group (p < 0.001) and 62% in the test group (p < 0.001); one hour later it was 6% in the control group and 30% in the test group (p < 0.001), and two hours later it was 2% in the control group and 18% in the test group (p < 0.001). The comparisons between the two groups after baseline adjustment showed a statistically significant difference in reductions of VSC between the test and the control tablets at the end of the sucking period (p < 0.01), after one hour (p < 0.001), and after two hours (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION
Tablets containing zinc lactate and magnolia bark extract can statistically significantly reduce the oral VSC levels for over two hours and were statistically significantly more effective than a control tablet.


When the word 'bureaucrat' is used, it often bears no relation to the concept of 'bureaucracy' as an efficient way of organizing an administration, as it does in Max Weber's writings (Weber, 1922). Even 'civil servant' carries a negative connotation. Civil servants are lazy and risk avoiding (Merton, 1940). If a civil servant takes initiative, this is considered as being engendered by the wish to protect one's own or one's administration's interests, as the public choice approach would state (Niskanen, 1971; Dunleavy, 1992). These connotations pervade all uses of the words. There are many jokes about civil servants. Most officials in TV-series are corrupt. The alienation between the administration and citizens is also a common theme in literature. Beck-Jørgensen analyzed novels in which government-citizen relations took a central place (e.g. Kafka's 'The Castle'). His analysis showed that when dealing with the alienation between the citizen and government, novels or the characters in them never refer to concrete activities, facts, or events, but to perceived aims, consequences and contexts of the administration in question (Beck Jorgensen, 1994). Evaluations of government are not only based on 'objective' facts, but also on pre-established images. Context determines when these pre-established images (stereotypes) surface, and when an 'honest' evaluation of government is made. Even though we find similar processes throughout the entire government, we will focus on the image of 'civil servants' and 'bureaucrats'. Part of the image of the administration is generated by stereotypes. We will not only focus on the content of these stereotypes, but also on the factors that determine their persistence and diffusion despite observations to the contrary. Governments worldwide are making efforts to modernize their administrations in order to give them a more positive image. The existence of negative stereotypes of the administration suggests that any modernizing efforts by governments are bound to fail. In this article we want to do two things: first, we want to show how stereotyping theory can help to explain citizens' image of government, and second, we'd like to show how, by approaching the stereotype of civil servants as a social norm, the image of civil servants is diffused and preserved.


Tumors arising in human embryo from embryonic laying of an organ can be considered anomalies. Such tumors are renal adenomyosarcoma (Wilms' tumor), mesenchymoma and sarcoma botryoides of the prostatic gland, embryonal cancer of the testis, leydigocellular tumors of the testis and teratomas. Such anomaly as testicular teratoma occurs not rarely. However, testicular teratoma containing brain tissue is a rare finding. A case of teratoma of the left testis is reported in an 11-month-old infant. The tumor contained skin, appendages of the skin, cartilage, bone tissue, brain tissue, hair, fat.


Using the data obtained from the structured interviews of 33 professionals with a high level of technical knowledge specific to the subject of intermodal rail yards and their associated operations, this study addresses 10 issues that cover not only the design and layout issues within a terminal, but also broader topics such as administration/ownership, location, and other topics that may be overlooked by the designers. This is still a preliminary report, so we will only present discussion regarding some of the results that we consider to be of greatest import concerning the development of intermodal rail yards over the next decade. Based upon the level of collective expertise and insights expressed by the respondents, we feel these 10 issues, plus two which came to our attention from this study, warrant consideration in the planning for future intermodal rail yards in the Chicago region. Our key findings include that while a general level of interest for technology is high, it is unlikely that deployment of them will be fast enough to provide sufficient capacity increases to counter the expected demand growth. Also, future Intermodal yards will likely to be at least 300 acres and 7000 feet in length. Given their size, it is likely that those facilities will be located in semirural or rural areas. While there is a high level of awareness for environmental issues among freight professionals, the perception tends to focus on the direct impacts associated with the Intermodal yards, while broader implications are often unnoticed.


A numerical study is conducted concerning the improvement of radial plane fins heat sinks for natural convection cooling of light-emitting diode (LED) lamps. The main objective is to maintain the temperature of the heat sink base below a prescribed threshold for a given released heat flux at the heat sink, minimizing its mass and maintaining at a reasonably simple level the manufacturing processes and operations required for its production. Starting from a previously optimized heat sink for the same purpose, constituted by complete rectangular radial plane fins, the present study aims at further improvements by considering incomplete rectangular radial plane fins. The main objective of this study is to find the best profile for the turning operation to obtain the radial plane fins lighter configuration. It is found that this can be achieved by removing part of the upper internal corners of the rectangular fins, more specifically shaping a curved cut, leading to heat sink mass reduction up to 32.4%. The geometry of the improved heat sink is of cylindrical nature, obtained from cutting an aluminum extruded bar comprising a cylindrical central core and a number of uniformly distributed rectangular radial plane fins, followed by a simple turning operation to remove their upper internal corners. Even if results concern a particular LED lamp, the main ideas and approach prevail to improve other types of heat sinks for general light and/or electronic components cooling.


Abstract Sm–Nd data for rocks of granitic composition in an east–west traverse across the Namaqua Sector of the Mesoproterozoic c. 1.2 Ga Namaqua–Natal Province of southern Africa provide new evidence about the timing of crustal extraction from the mantle. Recent ion probe zircon dating has shown that, contrary to previous indications that pre-Namaqua basement had been preserved in parts of the Namaqua Sector, the majority of the magmatic rocks were emplaced during the 1.4–1.0 Ga Namaqua tectogenesis and very little U–Pb evidence of older precursors remains. Sm–Nd model ages show that Mesoproterozoic crustal extraction did occur, but was also strong in the Palaeoproterozoic, with local evidence for the existence of Archaean crust. The distribution of model ages generally corresponds with the established terranes, subdivided using lithostratigraphic and structural criteria. The northern part of the Bushmanland Terrane shows early Palaeoproterozoic to Archaean model ages and is clearly different from the southern part, which has Mesoproterozoic model ages. This supports the previously published results of a north–south traverse and justifies the separation of the Garies Terrane from the Bushmanland Terrane, though further subdivisions are not supported. The continuation of the Richtersveld Province east of Pofadder is supported by one sample, and the terrane boundary between the Bushmanland and Kakamas terranes is marked by an abrupt change from Palaeoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic model ages. Model ages for the Kakamas and Areachap terranes do not distinguish them well. They suggest a Mesoproterozoic to late Palaeoproterozoic origin for both terranes, neither of which has a purely juvenile character. The influence of Palaeoproterozoic crust-forming events is clear in the Kaaien Terrane to the east, possibly reflecting reworking of the Kaapvaal Craton. The Namaqua Sector of the Province thus has a history of crustal extraction and evolution which reaches back locally to the Archaean, with major Palaeoproterozoic and Mesoproterozoic crust-forming events. This differs from the Natal Sector, which has a largely juvenile character related to a Mesoproterozoic Wilson cycle. Attempts to reconstruct the Mesoproterozoic Supercontinent Rodinia will have to take into account the extensive Nd-isotopic evidence for older crustal events in the Namaqua sector.


Hierarchical probabilistic modeling of discrete data has emerged as a powerful tool for text analysis. Posterior inference in such models is intractable, and practitioners rely on approximate posterior inference methods such as variational inference or Gibbs sampling. There has been much research in designing better approximations, but there is yet little theoretical understanding of which of the available techniques are appropriate, and in which data analysis settings. In this paper we provide the beginnings of such understanding. We analyze the improvement that the recently proposed collapsed variational inference (CVB) provides over mean field variational inference (VB) in latent Dirichlet allocation. We prove that the difference in the tightness of the bound on the likelihood of a document decreases as O(k - 1) + √log m/m, where k is the number of topics in the model and m is the number of words in a document. As a consequence, the advantage of CVB over VB is lost for long documents but increases with the number of topics. We demonstrate empirically that the theory holds, using simulated text data and two text corpora. We provide practical guidelines for choosing an approximation.


Ribosomes are universal, essential, and complicated; they mediate protein synthesis in all organisms in our biosphere and thereby link genotype to phenotype. The imperative in research on ribosomes is to determine their structure and thus be able to account for their function. This led to the isolation, the characterization, and the determination of the structures of mammalian (rat) ribosomal proteins and nucleic acids (Wool 1979Wool 1986; Wool et al. 1990). Mammalian ribosomes are composed of two subunits that are designated by their sedimentation coefficients: The smaller is 40S and the larger is 60S. The subunits associate—they are held together by noncovalent bonds, perhaps by magnesium salt bridges—and form the functional 80S ribosome. The 40S subunit has a single molecule of RNA, designated 18S rRNA, and 33 proteins, whereas the 60S subunit has three molecules of RNA, designated 5S, 5.8S, and 28S rRNA, and 47 proteins. The covalent structures of the four species of rat rRNAs (5S, 5.8S, 18S, and 28S) have been established (Nazar et al. 1975; Aoyama et al. 1982; Chan et al. 1983, 1984; Torczyn-ski et al. 1983; Hadjiolov et al. 1984), and there are rational proposals for their secondary structures (Chan et al. 1984; Hadjiolov et al. 1984; Wool 1986; Raue et al. 1988). Eighty-two proteins have been isolated from rat ribosomes, and the complete amino acid sequences in 75 of these proteins have been either determined directly from the protein or deduced from the sequences of nucleotides in cDNAs (for references, see Table A1...


The enzyme tyrosinase is indispensable for pigmentation and the gene is expressed mainly in pigment cells. Regulatory elements, at -12 to -15 kb (enhancer) and within the 270 bp directly upstream of the transcription start site, have been described recently and their importance demonstrated in transgenic experiments. We were interested in tyrosinase promoter activity during development and used beta-galactosidase as reporter gene. Transgenic mice were generated carrying a tyrosinase-lacZ fusion gene, containing 6.1 kb of tyrosinase 5' sequences. In transgenic embryos, beta-galactosidase activity was detected along the entire neural tube, with the most prominent expression in the developing telencephalon, and also in the adult brain. Equivalent expression was observed in the developing retina. Tyrosinase protein was identified in embryonic and adult brain, but no DOPAoxidase or tyrosine hydroxylase activity was detected. From our results we conclude that 1) tyrosinase protein is present in embryonic and adult mouse brain and 2) the tyrosinase promoter can direct expression of a reporter gene to pigment cells and neural tissues.


textabstractThis document provides an outline of the NISV's various internal and external Designated Communities, as identified and documented in 2013. It offers a general decription of each of the DC's and presents a comprehensive overview of (technical) demands from the distinct user groups as to 1. Delivery, 2. Software/hardware environment and 3. Metadata. As such, the document serves as a baseline audit for continuous Designated Community polling and development, as part of the Digital Archive 's preservation watch mechanisms.


The Jurassic of Store Koldewey comprises a Middle Jurassic succession towards the south and an Upper Jurassic succession towards the north. Both successions onlap crystalline basement and coarse sediments dominate. Three main lithostratigraphical units are recognised: the Pelion Formation, including the Spath Plateau Member, the Payer Dal Formation and the Bernbjerg Formation. Rich marine macrofaunas include Boreal ammonites and the successions are dated as Late Bathonian – Early Callovian and Late Oxfordian – Early Kimmeridgian on the basis of new collections combined with material in earlier collections. Fine-grained horizons and units have been analysed for dinoflagellate cysts and the stratigraphy of the diverse and well-preserved flora has been integrated with the Boreal ammonite stratigraphy. The dinoflagellate floras correlate with contemporaneous floras from Milne Land, Jameson Land and Hold with Hope farther to the south in East Greenland, and with Peary Land in North Greenland and Svalbard towards the north. The Middle Jurassic flora shows local variations in East Greenland whereas the Upper Jurassic flora gradually changes northwards in East Greenland. A Boreal flora occurs in Peary Land and Svalbard. The characteristic and stratigraphically important species Perisseiasphaeridium pannosum and Oligosphaeridium patulum have their northernmost occurrence on Store Koldewey, whereas Taeniophora iunctispina and Adnatosphaeridium sp. extend as far north as Peary Land. Assemblages of dinoflagellate cysts are used to characterise significant regional flooding events and extensive sequence stratigraphic units.


Background: Textbooks are an educational tool for learning health habits. The aim of this study was to determine how these textbooks present the health priorities defined by health organizations to children and teenagers. Method: We performed a descriptive study in 3 steps: a) the priorities defined by health organizations were identified; b) the messages on health in the textbooks used in the schools of a municipality were identified, and c) the extent to which these messages fitted the priorities established was analyzed. Results: The World Health Organization, the European Union, the Spanish Ministry of Health and Consumption, and the Spanish Society of Public Health and Healthcare Administration define 24 priorities. One hundred textbooks were collected, with 663 health messages. The priorities most frequently covered in the textbooks were diet, physical exercise and the impact of environmental contamination. The least frequently covered topics was bullying, child maltreatment, poverty, self harm, and obesity. The latter topic was especially lacking in kindergartens and elementary schools. Conclusions: The health messages contained in school textbooks are not well adapted to the priorities defined by health organizations.


INTRODUCTION
 Pregnant women are more susceptible to malaria than their non-pregnant counterparts. When P. falciparum infect pregnant women, it evades splenic clearance, by sequestrating in the placenta, causing placental malaria which has several adverse outcomes to both the mother and her foetus. P. falciparum infected Red blood cells in pregnant women, express an antigen called VAR2CSA, which is known as the unique var gene, that mediates binding of infected Red Blood cells (IRBC) to Chondroitin Sulphate A(CSA) at the level of the placenta syncytiotrophoblast. Pregnant women exposed to malaria produce antibodies to VAR2CSA and high levels of antibodies to VAR2CSA are associated with better pregnancy outcomes. This suggests that immunity to VAR2CSA could be protective against placental malaria. The VAR2CSA based vaccine, is the main candidate vaccine to prevent placental malaria. Studies have shown that antibodies to VAR2CSA are present in children. Acquired from their mother or which they produce later in life. If a VAR2CSA vaccine is to be given in children, when antibody levels are high, it may be neutralized. The exact time when maternally transferred antibodies to VAR2CSA markedly decline in infants, and the magnitude of antibody response to VAR2CSA in children later in life, is not clearly known.
OBJECTIVES
Our general objective was to evaluate the antibody response to full-length VAR2CSA in children from Ngali II and Ntouessong villages in the center region of Cameroon. Specifically 1) To determine when maternal IgG to full-length VAR2CSA markedly decline in neonates. 2) To determine the magnitude of antibody response to full-length VAR2CSA in children aged 2-15 years. 3) To determine the influence of maternal placental malaria status and parity on the antibody levels to full-length VAR2CSA in neonates.
METHODOLOGY
 Our study was designed as part of a cohort study in Cameroonian children earlier enrolled in a previous study, investigating the influence of Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPT) with Sulfadoxine Pyrimithemine (SP) on malaria in pregnancy (IPT study) between 2008 and 2013. Another group of children aged 2-15 years, enrolled in 2017. Some pregnant women were diagnosed with malaria and placental malaria confirmed by microscopy of peripheral blood and placental impression smears and histology respectively. Neonates of these women were screened for malaria during monthly visits, using thin and thick films. The MagPix Multiplex Analyte Platform (MAP) assay by the Luminex® Corporation was used to measure antibody levels to the P.f. antigens FCR3 FV2 and FV2 3D7.
Results
 In this study, were 49 neonates with monthly visits from birth till one year. And 30 children aged 2-15 years. Antibody levels to full-length VAR2CSA, declined successively from birth till 5 months. There was a significant difference in antibody levels between visits (P<0.0001).
The thirty children, were divided into two age groups. Children less than or 5 years and those greater than 5 years. The magnitude of antibody response was weak with only 1 out of the 30 children (3%) expressing antibodies to VAR2CSA.
 Forty-nine mothers of the neonates were included in this study. Twelve were primigravidae and 37 multigravidae. Twenty-five (51%) were diagnosed with pregnancy associated malaria with 6 (12%) of them diagnosed with placental malaria. Primigravidae were significantly most affected with PAM and placental malaria (P<0.0001). Antibody levels were non significantly higher in neonates of mothers who were positive for pregnancy associated malaria compared to those of neonates, whose mothers did not have malaria. Neonates of multigravidae, had non significantly higher antibody levels compared to those of primigravidae.
Conclusion and recommendations: We concluded that, maternally transferred antibodies (IgG) to full-length VAR2CSA in neonates decline markedly at 5 months of age. The magnitude of antibody response to full-length VAR2CSA in children aged 2-15 years is weak. Mothers' pregnancy associated malaria status and parity influence the level of antibodies in neonates. We humbly recommend to the ministry of health, together with the scientific community, to carry-out a study in a larger scale to have a better understanding on the kinetics and dynamics of the antibodies to VAR2CSA in children.


We review empirical evidence on the ability of decentralization to enhance preference matching and technical efficiency in the provision of health and education in developing countries. Many influential surveys have found that the empirical evidence of decentralization's effects on service delivery is weak, incomplete, and often contradictory. Our own unweighted reading of the literature concurs. However, when we organize quantitative evidence first by substantive theme, and then—crucially—by empirical quality and the credibility of its identification strategy, clear patterns emerge. Higher-quality evidence indicates that decentralization increases technical efficiency across a variety of public services, from student test scores to infant mortality rates. Decentralization also improves preference matching in education, and can do so in health under certain conditions, although there is less evidence for both. We discuss individual studies in some detail. Weighting by quality is especially important when quantitative evidence informs policy-making. Firmer conclusions will require an increased focus on research design, and a deeper examination into the prerequisites and mechanisms of successful reforms.


In spite of various actions, the implementation of GIS (geographic information systems) in German schools is still very low. In the presented research, teaching experts as well as teaching novices were presented with empirically based constraints for implementation stemming from an earlier survey. In the process of various group discussions, the participants developed ideas for overcoming the constraints in the field of continuing teacher education among others. These ideas were used to create empirically based strategies for the future design of training activities in continuing education of teachers while taking these constraints into account. These strategies were later validated externally by comparing them to empirical findings on effects of training activities in continuing teacher education in general and empirical findings on GIS implementation from other studies.


Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) represents a therapeutic option of increasing impact for the treatment of high-risk patients with symptomatic, severe aortic valve stenosis. We report here the case of an 86-year old patient with a cutaneo-pericardial fi stula after a transapical TAVI procedure.


The purpose of this study is to demonstrate through towing tank experiments the effectiveness of a novel sensor-less Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) control for Tidal Stream Turbines (TST) under fluctuations of the onset flow.

Ocean energies will play a crucial role in the renewable energy sector over the next decades. Instream turbines for tidal currents are a rapidly maturing technology to exploit a highly predictable energy source. However, short-term fluctuations on the inflow velocity caused by waves or turbulence determine fatigue loads that affect system reliability. Power control strategies to maximize the energy yield can be also used to mitigate the effects of transient loading on drivetrain components.
Aim of this paper is to present a straightforward and robust MPPT control method based on the linear relationship between the current and voltage squared of the generator's DC outputs. The method requires pre-determined turbine characteristics to establish the control reference that is effective across operating conditions. The proposed MPPT model was derived mathematically through linearization and simplifications of the turbine power conversion system and validated by model tests carried out in the wave-towing tank facility of CNR-INM in Rome, Italy, using the 1.5 m diameter Tidal Turbine Testing (TTT) device developed at the Queen's University Belfast (QUB).

In the study, a conventional TSR control method was also considered in order to perform a comparative analysis of system response to inflow speed fluctuations with time scales comparable to turbine revolution periods. TSR control was tested using two control references: TSR = 5 (design point) and TSR = 6 (over-speed zone) to verify the operation of the turbine under different loading conditions. The tests were conducted in two scenarios: calm water (steady state) and unsteady inflow with a regular (sinusoidal or monochromatic) waveform, with amplitude chosen to simulate an extreme wave case.
The power output was measured from the turbine during regular wave conditions and compared to results from steady flow to assess the impact of wave-induced velocity on turbine performance (Fig. 1). Test results showed that by using the proposed MPPT control strategy, the algorithms converged to the maximum power coefficient (Fig. 2), which validates the proposed methodology. Results also demonstrated the capability of the proposed MPPT to significantly reduce mechanical loads fluctuations as compared to the TSR control.
In the full-length paper, the proposed MPPT control strategy is outlined, the test methodology, set-up and conditions are described, and main results are presented and discussed.


Abstract Latitudinal geographic variation in Drosophila melanogaster is pervasive. Parallel clines in traits such as body size, egg size, ovariole number, and development time have been found on several continents throughout the world. However, a cline in starvation resistance and fat content in D. melanogaster has so far been found only in India. Here we investigate starvation resistance and fat content in 10 populations from South America, in which clines in body size, egg size, and development time have previously been found. We find no evidence for a cline in starvation resistance or fat content in South America. We therefore suggest that the cline in starvation resistance in India may have evolved in response to specific climatic variation found only in India. Corresponding Editor: W. T. Starmer


Purpose: To investigate whether lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA), an important component of the LDH tetramer crucial for aerobic glycolysis, is associated with patient outcome and constitutes a therapeutic target in neuroblastoma (NB). Experimental Design: Expression of LDHA mRNA and protein was determined in 709 and 110 NB patient samples, respectively, and correlated with survival and risk factors. LDHA and LDHB were depleted in human NB cell lines by CRISPR/Cas9 and shRNA, respectively, and aerobic glycolysis, clonogenicity, and tumorigenicity were determined. Expression of LDHA in relation to MYCN was measured in NB cell lines and in the TH-MYCN NB mouse model. Results: Expression of LDHA, both on the mRNA and the protein level, was significantly and independently associated with decreased patient survival. Predominant cytoplasmic localization of LDHA protein was associated with poor outcome. Amplification and expression of MYCN did not correlate with expression of LDHA in NB cell lines or TH-MYCN mice, respectively. Knockout of LDHA inhibited clonogenicity, tumorigenicity, and tumor growth without abolishing LDH activity or significantly decreasing aerobic glycolysis. Concomitant depletion of LDHA and the isoform LDHB ablated clonogenicity while not abrogating LDH activity or decreasing aerobic glycolysis. The isoform LDHC was not expressed. Conclusions: High expression of LDHA is independently associated with outcome of NB, and NB cells can be inhibited by depletion of LDHA or LDHB. This inhibition appears to be unrelated to LDH activity and aerobic glycolysis. Thus, investigations of inhibitory mechanisms beyond attenuation of aerobic glycolysis are warranted, both in NB and normal cells. Clin Cancer Res; 24(22); 5772–83. ©2018 AACR.


BACKGROUND
Perinatal period begins at 22 gestational weeks and ends seven days after birth. Perinatal mortality is an important quality indicator of the obstetric and pediatric care available, and representative of the population's health service.

OBJECTIVE
To know fetal, early neonatal, and perinatal dead rates, and them main mortality causes.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Descriptive and retrospective study at IMSS's no. 32 UMAE (Monterrey, Nuevo León, México), from January 2002 to December 2006. Mortality rates during fetal and perinatal, or neonatal periods, were estimated per 1,000 births or 1,000 live born, respectively.

RESULTS
There were 1,681 deaths: 747 stillbirths and 934 neonatal. Two hundred and nineteen (29.3%) stillbirths had 22 to 27 gestational weeks, and 528 (70.6%) had 28. Three hundred and sixty neonatal deaths (38.5%) occurred before 27th gestational week, 320 (34.2%) between weeks 28th and 35th, and 254 (27.1%) after 36 weeks of pregnancy. Seven hundred and sixty four neonates died within 0 to 6 days of life, and 170 (18%) between seventh to 28th days of life. Fetal, neonatal, early neonatal, and late neonatal mortality rates were 7.2 in 1,000 births, 9.08 in 1,000 live born, 7.42 in 1,000 live born, and 1.65 in 1,000 births, respectively, and overall perinatal mortality rate was 14.58 in 1,000 births.

CONCLUSIONS
Stillbirth, early neonatal, and perinatal mortality rates of this study were under national mean. Main mortality causes (70%) were congenital defects and prematurity.


The Online Social Network (OSN) landscape has transformed significantly over the past few years with the emergence of networks. The primary capabilities of these online networks di↵er. Few of the major leading ones are: Relationship networks (Facebook), Media sharing networks (Instagram), Online reviews (Zomato), Discussion forums (Quora), Social publishing platforms (Twitter), etc. In order to avail these services, users end up creating multiple identities across these platforms. For each OSN, a user defines his identity with a di↵erent set of attributes, genre of content and friends to suit the purpose of using that OSN. Researchers have proposed numerous techniques to resolve multiple such identities of a user across di↵erent platforms. However, the ability to link di↵erent identities poses a threat to the users privacy; users may or may not want their identities to be linkable across networks. In this study, we model the notion of linkability as the probability of an adversary (who is part of the users network) being able to link two profiles across di↵erent platforms, to the same real user. The major factors that lead to increased linkability across social networks are similar profile attributes and cross posting across the social networks. To make users aware of the linkability across multiple social networks, as part of the thesis, we develop a framework, which assists the users to control their linkability. It has two components; a linkability calculator that uses three state-of-the-art identity resolution techniques to compute a normalized linkability measure for each pair of social network platforms used by a user, and a soft paternalistic nudge. The user configures the desired linkability score range for each pair of networks. There are two types of nudge: Attribute-driven Notification Nudge, which alerts the user through a pop-up notification if any of their activity violates their preferred linkability score range and Content-driven Color Nudge, which notifies the user by changing the color of the box bounding the post update from black to red if the content being posted by them is found to be similar to the content already posted by them on a di↵erent social network. We evaluate the e↵ectiveness of the nudge by conducting a controlled user study on privacy conscious users who maintain their accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Outcomes of user study confirmed that the proposed framework of providing nudge helped 75% of participants to take informed decisions, thereby preventing inadvertent exposure of their personal information across social network services. Also, the content driven color nudge refrained few participants from making post updates.


In the present study we report the isolation of a phenylpropanoid glucoside, plantamajoside, together with rosmarinic acid, chlorogenic acid and luteolin-7-O-monoglucoside. This is the first report of these compounds from Plantago lagopus.


Cells of a dedifferentiated rat hepatoma clone were submitted in vitro to copper deficiency. This treatment caused inhibition of cell growth. In addition, in treated cultures, the frequency of differentiated revertants selected in glucose-free medium was drastically increased when compared with the spontaneous frequency. The maximum effect was observed when cell proliferation spontaneously resumed after 20 days of copper deficiency. Furthermore, a copper depletion/replenishment protocol applied before the selection of revertants reduced the period of time of copper deficiency that was necessary to provoke the reversion process. It has been previously demonstrated that cell growth arrest and reinitiation may induce gene amplification events. Amplification of the dihydrofolate reductase gene as an indicator of such events was tested during the copper deficiency treatment. The frequency of cells resistant to increasing methotrexate concentrations due to gene amplification was enhanced by the treatment, just as was the frequency of differentiated revertants. These results suggest that in rat hepatoma cells the phenotypic transition to the stable differentiated state involves gene amplification and/or genome rearrangement.


The research reported in this article shows that public employees, both state and local government employees, are not overpaid and may be slightly undercompensated. Comparisons with the private-sector employees that control for education, experience, hours of work, organizational size, gender, race, ethnicity, and disability indicate that the public-employment compensation (wages and benefits) penalty is relatively small. On average there is a 3.7 percent penalty in total compensation for full-time state and local employees when compared to similar private-sector employees. The data analysis also reveals substantially different approaches to staffing and compensation between the private and public sectors. On average, state and local public-sector workers are more highly educated than the private-sector workforce; 54 percent of full-time state and local public-sector workers hold at least a four-year college degree compared to 35 percent of full-time private sector workers. For college-educated labor, state and local governments pay salaries on average over 25 percent less than private employers. The public sector appears to set a floor on compensation, particularly improving the compensation of workers with high-school educations, when compared to similarly educated workers in the private sector. Benefits are allocated differently between private- and public-sector full-time workers. State and local government employees receive a higher portion of their compensation in the form of employer-provided benefits. Public employers provide better health insurance and pension benefits. National polling data indicate that the public does not believe public employees are overpaid. They oppose pay and benefit cuts, but believe pay freezes and greater employee contributions to their health and pensions plans may be appropriate. Nevertheless, thirteen states revised their public-sector collective-bargaining laws, mainly weakening employee bargaining power or severely restricting or eliminating collective bargaining, while the majority of the public opposed those changes.


Astrocytes play a predominant role in energy metabolism and in the catabolism of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate, neurotransmitters critically involved in epileptic processes. We show specific astrocytic alterations in the genetic absence epilepsy rats from Strasbourg (GAERS). Spontaneous absence seizures appear in this strain in the cortex and thalamus after the age of 1 month. In these brain structures, we demonstrate increased GFAP expression in both adult and young GAERS, suggesting that reactive astrocytes are already present before the onset of seizures. Glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) and glutamine synthetase (GS), which are localized mainly in astrocytes and involved in glutamate catabolism, are shown to be differentially altered. GDH expression was increased in the thalamus of both young and adult GAERS and in the cortex of young GAERS. GS expression was slightly decreased in the thalamus of young GAERS. These astrocytic modifications are not adaptive responses to seizures, as the modifications appear before the development of absence seizures. Thus, astrocytes might be involved in the neuronal processes giving rise to epileptic seizures in this strain.


Wheat is a key staple crop for global food security, but its production is strongly concentrated in a few regions, among which the EU is the first producer. EU farmers are struggling to keep high productivity levels due to global market and climate challenges. Risk management practices (RMP) are often advocated as viable tools to cope against these uncertainties, but their adoption can also subtract resources to the production activity, resulting in a controversial impact on the overall farm productivity. This paper analysis whether and how much four RMP contribute to wheat farming efficiency in France and Hungary using i) a stochastic frontier model to obtain a measure of farms efficiency; ii) an endogenous switching regression model to quantify the RMP impact. Results show that RMP can benefit farm efficiency, but not all the RMP have the same effect. While insurance, diversification and contract farming can positively affect farm efficiency, cultivating different varieties can reduce farm efficiency of about 10% depending on the production conditions.


Abstract Benchmark models were developed to evaluate the cold-critical start-up measurements performed during the fresh core reload of the neutron radiography (NRAD) reactor with low-enriched uranium fuel. Experiments include criticality, control rod worth measurements, shutdown margin, and excess reactivity for four core loadings with 56, 60, 62, and 64 fuel elements. The worths of four graphite reflector block assemblies and an empty dry tube used for experiment irradiations were also measured and evaluated for the 60-fuel-element core configuration. Dominant uncertainties in the experimental keff come from uncertainties in the manganese content and impurities in the stainless steel fuel cladding as well as the 236U and erbium poison content in the fuel matrix. Calculations with MCNP5 (Monte Carlo N-Particle version 5-1.60) and ENDF/B-VII.0 neutron nuclear data are ˜1.4% (9σ) greater than the benchmark model eigenvalues, which is commonly seen in Monte Carlo simulations of other TRIGA (Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics) reactors. Simulations of the worth measurements are within the 2σ uncertainty for most of the benchmark experiment worth values. The complete benchmark evaluation details are available in the 2014 edition of the International Handbook of Evaluated Reactor Physics Benchmark Experiments.


The clinical pattern of asthma and atopic disease was compared in 2331 children of European, Asian and West Indian parentage seen in Birmingham in the past 10 years. The main findings were that a higher proportion of children born in England of all races developed asthma within the first 4 years of life than children born abroad; the sex ratio of roughly 2 boys to every girl with asthma was similar in each race wherever born; the ratio of persistent to intermittent asthma was similar in each race wherever born; there was no difference in the proportion with eczema between the racial groups; hay fever and pollen allergy was less frequent in Asian and West Indian children even if born in England; hospital admission was more frequent in immigrant groups; positive skin reactions to grass pollen and domestic animals were more frequent in European children than in immigrants but positive reactions to house-dust mites were less frequent in European children. It was considered that most differences could be explained on the basis of differences in environmental conditions and were unlikely to be of genetic origin.


The geometric features and particles burdens of the leaf of twenty-seven common tree species were studied. Three different tree categories including coniferous, broad and bisect leaf were recorded. These categories exhibited significant differences in their particle burdens of TDP, PM10 and PM2.5. The value of TDP appears to affect strongly by leaf macro-morphology such as leaf direction, flatness and hardness. Micro-roughness of the leaf surface such as trichomes, ridges and furrows formed by epidermal cell lining , veins projections, stomata protected with wax rings, cuticular arches, hairs or scales and sunken position stimulated the capturing of fine and ultrafine particles. Accordingly, Thuja orientales, Ficus carica and Morus nigra dominated other species in their TDP burdens. Bougainvilla glabra, Tipuana tipu, Eucalyptus globulus, Bauhinia variegate, Ficus religosa, Jacaranda acutifolia have higher PM10 burdens than other species. High PM 2.5 burdens were recorded in species of Ficus religiosa, Dalbergia sissoo, Bauhinia variegate and Psidium guajava.


The combination of different metallic materials enables the design of lightweight structures with tailor-made properties at global as well local scale and offers great potential for advanced solutions especially for the aircraft and automobile sector. Whereas titanium alloys show particular high mechanical strength and good corrosion resistance, aluminium alloys provide a considerable lower density and consequently higher potential for weight savings. However, after conventional fusion joining, e.g. after laser beam welding, heat affected zones, porosity or grain growth may occur and impair the local properties [1, 2]. In contrast, by solid-state joining techniques like co-extrusion these disadvantages can be avoided. Therefore co-extrusion exhibits an attractive solution for long products combining aluminium and titanium based alloys. Current investigations have been focused on the co-extrusion of aluminium and titanium, where titanium is the reinforcing element that is inserted in aluminium profiles. Two different billet variants were examined in the investigations, a titanium-core integrally moulded in the aluminium-billet and titanium-core inserted in a hollow drilled aluminium-billet. Experiments were made with different material combinations, Al99.5 with titanium grade 2 and AlSi1MgMn with Ti6Al4V. Beside mechanical properties of compound the formation of bonding zone are presented.


ABSTRACT This article advances a subaltern geopolitics of sovereignty production at the borders of the DR Congo – the supposedly most fragile – and South Sudan – the youngest state in Africa. Moving beyond critiques of representing postcolonial statehood and sovereignty in terms of 'lack' and 'failure', we localise and ground analysis by drawing on Butler's figure of the 'petty sovereign'' to analyse the agency of border officials at the DR Congo/Rwanda and the South Sudan/Uganda border who we refer to as 'sovereignty entrepreneurs': officials who, tasked with managing and controlling the border, in constant face-to-face negotiations and closely linked to resource competition prescribe, set and decide on the terms and conditions of border crossing. It is argued that in the context of the DR Congo and South Sudan, where the states' claims to territorial sovereignty face similar internal and external challenges, the border work of sovereignty entrepreneurs, characterised by the ability to tax, threaten and discipline with impunity, represents a form of sovereign power that renders the state's capacity to act excessively visible at its borders.


We explore a motion feature as the appropriate basis for classifying or describing a number of fine motor human activities. Our approach not only estimates motion directions and magnitudes in different image regions, but also provides accurate segmentation of moving regions. Through a combination of motion segmentation and region tracking techniques, while filtering for temporal consistency, we achieve a balance between accuracy and reliability of motion feature extraction. To identify specific activities, we characterize the dominant directions of relative motions. Experimental results show that this approach to motion feature analysis could be successful in assisting caregivers at a nursing home in assessments of patient's activity levels over time.


Parents' awareness regarding child health has a significant influence on physical and psychological issues. This study aims to explore the implication of parents' behavior and attitude on the mental and physical health status of secondary education level children. A total of 130 respondents (either father or mother) is selected using the snowball sampling technique from Khulna City Corporation (KCC), Bangladesh. This study has applied Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Ordinary Least Square (OLS) techniques for analyzing data. Results reveal that household structure (joint or nuclear) have significant implications in shaping the physical and mental health status of children. A poor level of parental awareness and care may lead children into depression and impede their mental growth. However, regression results postulate that parents' awareness and spending more time with children is significantly related to the physical and mental fitness of their children which in turn keeps them on the right track. This study has predominantly explored to what extent parents' awareness matters for improving child physical and mental health status. Thus, parents' awareness regarding child healthcare issues is indispensable.


Abstract Perceived control is a fundamental psychological function that can either boost positive affect or buffer negative affect. The current study addressed the electrophysiological correlates underlying perceived control, as exercised by choice, in the processing of feedback valence. Thirty-six participants performed an EEG choice task during which they received positive or negative feedback following choices made either by themselves or by a computer. Perceived control resulted in an enhanced reward positivity for positive feedback but increased theta power for negative feedback. Further, perceived control led to greater feedback P3 amplitude and delta power, regardless of feedback valence. These results suggest functional heterogeneity of perceived control in feedback processing as diverse as magnifying the reward signal, enhancing the need for control and increasing the motivational salience of outcome irrespective of valence.


Introduction Biliary complications after liver transplantation (LT) are common and some risk factors have been identified. Optimum endoscopic management including use of fully covered self-expanding metal stents (fcSEMS) in patients following LT requires evaluation. We aimed to identify risk factors for biliary complications following LT and present our experience of endoscopic management. Method Retrospective analysis of adult LT's performed at our centre. Patient demographics, donor characteristics, transplantation data (including graft type; donation after brain death (DBD) or cardiac death (DCD)), biliary complications and subsequent management were recorded and the DRI calculated. The cohort consisted of all DBD LT's performed between 2013 and 2016 and all DCD LT's performed between 2007 and 2016. Univariate and multivariable analysis was used to identify risk factors for biliary complications and ascertain factors associated with stricture resolution and ascertain factors associated with biliary stricture resolution. Results A total of 153 (n=122 DBD and n=31 DCD) patients were included of which 43 (28%) patients developed biliary complications. There was no difference in the rate of biliary leaks but biliary strictures were associated with DCD (16/31, 51.6%) compared to DBD (27/122, 22.1%) OR 3.1 (1.6–8.6, p=0.0017), higher donor risk index (2.08 vs. 1.85, p=0.017) and warm ischaemia time >40 min (p=0.033). Late biliary strictures (>1 year) occurred more frequently in DCD compared to DBD livers (4/11 vs. 1/15 respectively). Hepatic artery thrombosis rate was the same in both groups (9.3% vs. 7.2%, p=0.74). Multivariable analysis showed that only DCD was independently associated with biliary strictures (adjusted OR 6.4, 2.4–17.0, p=0.0002). 11/43 with biliary complications underwent surgical or radiological management. The remainder underwent ERCP; 24 patients had 60 procedures for strictures, 6 patients had 17 procedures for biliary leak and 2 had 4 procedures for stone disease (all DCD). There were no differences in stricture resolution between DCD and DBD (7/11 vs. 11/13, p=ns) or the number of procedures required (32 in DBD vs. 28 in DCD). However, stricture resolution rates were higher following fcSEMS insertion compared to plastic stents (8/10 vs. 10/39 respectively, p=0.006). Conclusion Biliary complications are associated with DCD livers, higher DRI and longer warm ischaemia time. Endoscopic management of biliary complications leads to high resolution rates but patients undergo a high volume of such procedures. fcSEMS appear to have improved efficacy for stricture resolution compared to plastic stents. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


Abstract The fluoronitrenoid metal complexes FNCoF2 and FNRhF2 as well as the first ternary RhVI and IrVI complexes NIrF3 and NRhF3 are described. They were obtained by the reaction of excited Group‐9 metal atoms with NF3 and their IR spectra, isolated in solid rare gases (neon and argon), were recorded. Aided by the observed 14/15N isotope shifts and quantum‐chemical predictions, all four stretching fundamentals of the novel complexes were safely assigned. The F−N stretching frequencies of the fluoronitrenoid complexes FNCoF2 (1056.8 cm−1) and FNRhF2 (872.6 cm−1) are very different and their N−M bonds vary greatly. In FNCoF2, the FN ligand is singly bonded to Co and bears considerable iminyl/nitrene radical character, while the N−Rh bond in FNRhF2 is a strong double bond with comparatively strong σ‐ and π‐bonds. The anticipated rearrangement of FNCoF2 to the nitrido CoVI complex is predicted to be endothermic and was not observed.


MiRNAs are gene (post-transcriptional) regulators that bind the 3'UTR of target genes. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located within a miRNA binding site can impact miRNAdependent gene regulation by weakening or reinforcing the microRNA:mRNA bond. We present a general in silico approach enabling researchers to "predict" which of the several SNPs of 3'UTR of H2AFX gene can mainly affect its regulation. H2AFX gene encodes a member of the H2A histone family which is central in the detection of and response to DNA double-strand breaks. All the 17 common SNPs located within the 3'UTR of H2AFX gene were analyzed for putative miRNA-binding sites by using different databases (such as dbSNP and miRBase) and pre-existing algorithms (such as MicroSNiPer and RNAcofold) in order to calculate the minimum free energies of hybridization of the microRNA:mRNA duplex, for both the wild-type and mutant alleles. The difference in these energies was also calculated. Since in each tissue one target sequence can bind only one miRNA at a time, the sum of all the difference of energies can be considered a relevant parameter for predicting the importance of a SNP with respect to miRNA regulation. We used tertiles to classify the SNPs and provide a priority list based on their theoretically strongest impact on miRNA binding. By using the described approach, we provided the basis for a reasoned, user-friendly algorithm-driven selection of SNPs impacting miRNA biology. The proposed method is helpful for selecting SNPs having a more powerful (putative) biological function, minimizing workflow and costs for experimental and clinical investigations.


Dosage adjustments are often used to manage HIV drug interactions, but little is known about their clinical significance. We examined patients from the Ontario HIV Cohort Study to assess the effects of dosage adjustments on plasma viral load. A significant reduction (0.67 log10 copies/mL) in viral load was associated with adjustments to manage efavirenz-based interactions (95% confidence interval, -1.33 to -0.01) but was not observed after adjustments to manage rifabutin-based (difference in viral load, 0.03 log10 copies/mL; 95% confidence interval, -0.71 to 0.77) or nevirapine-based interactions (difference in viral load, 0.09 log10 copies/mL; 95% confidence interval, -0.83 to 1.01).


Restricted interests and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) represent a core diagnostic category of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). RRBs encompass a range of behaviors from motor stereotypy to cognitive rigidity. Several cases of ASD have been linked to deletion or mutation in the SHANK3 gene. Haploinsufficiency of the SHANK3 gene contributes to Phelan-McDermid syndrome (PMS), a neurodevelopmental disorder which often presents an ASD behavioral phenotype and moderate to severe intellectual disability. Deletion of the SHANK3 gene in mice results in elevated excitation of cortical pyramidal neurons that alters output to other cortical and subcortical areas. Serotonin 1A receptors (5-HT1ARs) are highly expressed on layer 2 cortical neurons and are known to have inhibitory actions. Treatment with a 5-HT1AR agonist in PMS may restore excitatory and inhibitory balance to cortico-basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical circuits that alleviate RRBs and learning deficits. To begin exploring this possibility, the present experiments determined whether acute treatment with the partial 5-HT1AR agonist, tandospirone in Shank3B+/- mice attenuated elevated self-grooming and a probabilistic learning deficit. Systemic treatment with tandospirone, 0.01 and 0.06 mg/kg doses, attenuated elevated self-grooming behavior in Shank3B+/- mice without affecting locomotor and rearing behavior. Tandospirone, at 0.06 mg/kg, alleviated a learning impairment in Shank3B+/- mice on a spatial discrimination task using 80/20 probabilistic reinforcement. Together, these results indicate the potential for tandospirone as a treatment for behavioral symptoms characteristic of PMS and ASD.


Mutant tobacco plants deficient for class I beta-1,3-glucanase (GLU I) are decreased in their susceptibility to virus infection. This is correlated with delayed virus spread, a reduction in the size exclusion limit of plasmodesmata and increased cell-wall deposition of the beta-1,3-glucan callose. To further investigate a role of GLU I during cell-to-cell movement of virus infection, we inserted the GLU I coding sequence into TMV for overexpression in infected cells. Compared with the size of local lesions produced on plants infected with virus expressing either an enzymatically inactive GLU I or a frameshift mutant of the gene, the size of local lesions caused by infection with virus expressing active GLU I was consistently increased. Viruses expressing antisense GLU I constructs led to lesions of decreased size. Similar effects were obtained for virus spread using plants grown at 32 degrees C to block the hypersensitive response. Together, these results indicate that enzymatically active GLU I expressed in cells containing replicating virus can increase cell-to-cell movement of virus. This supports the view that GLU I induced locally during infection helps to promote cell-to-cell movement of virus by hydrolyzing callose. Moreover, our results provide the first direct evidence that a biological function of a plant beta-1,3-glucanase depends on its catalytic activity.


Of primary importance in the consideration of animal models of prenatal drug exposure is the recognition of interdependence among physiologic systems, the pervading influence of sleep and waking states, and the potential interaction between drug-induced structural changes and physiologic function. It is difficult for a drug effect on the cardiovascular system not to modify respiratory pattern; any change in blood pressure, systemic perfusion, or heart rate is immediately reflected in breathing; respiratory pattern, in turn, through negative thoracic pressure and other sensory activity, can alter cardiac patterning. The respiratory system itself is one component of a somatic motor system, and neural motor control structures undergo substantial modification by drug action. Enhancing or diminishing any aspect of interaction is the influence of sleep states, which nonlinearly can alter relationships between physiologic systems, occasionally dissociating systems, as in the case of temperature effects on breathing during REM sleep. Finally, drug-induced structural changes that alter morphology of the upper airway can result in obstructive respiratory events, leading to pronounced cardiovascular sequelae.


Selfishness of preferences alone will not support the coordination necessary for the industrialization of the food system. Social capital relationships of mutual sympathy (caring) yield socio-emotional goods that are important in the more personal business world of evolving incomplete contracts and alliances involving input suppliers, processors, and labor. Relationships are also critical when consumers are buying image as well as physical products. Management and policy alternatives constitute investment in social capital that can affect opportunism, risk, loyalty, and trust.


This study entitled "The Use of Commissive Speech Acts and its Politeness Implication: A Case of Banten Gubernatorial Candidates Debate" examines the use of commissive speech acts in the Banten gubernatorial candidate debate and the realization of politeness in the use of the speech acts. This study is largely qualitative, supported by some descriptive quantification. Data were collected by downloading the debate from relevant websites. The data analysis was based on Searle's (1979) classification of speech acts and Brown and Levinson's (1987) theory of politeness. It is found that commissive speech acts were mostly realized through guarantee (53.7%), followed by promise (38.9%), and refusal (7.4%). It is also found that in terms politeness, all the candidates appear to behave in relatively the same way. This seems to result from the weightiness which is not largely different and the candidates' consideration that the panelists and other candidates are only media to speak to a party that has the ultimate power, i.e. the people of Banten. Keywords : Speech Acts, Commissive Speech Acts, Politeness


The pioneering work by Dale Schenk established that antibodies specific for the beta-amyloid (Aβ) peptide could reduce the level of Aß pathology in the brains of transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (AD), overexpressing a human mutant form of the amyloid precursor protein (APP). Unfortunately, the first immunotherapy clinical trial in AD patients, the AN1792, was halted due to meningoencephalitis in a subset of the patients that received the anti-Aβ vaccine. Efforts to develop next generation vaccines are now being pursued by various groups to eliminate or reduce the potential for adverse outcomes in patients.
 To further explore the diversity of immune responses by different mammal species to Aß1-42 immunization and to choose the adequate immunological animal model we immunized several strains of mice, as well as rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, and dogs with the AN-1792 vaccine.
 We found that the dominant anti-Aß B-cell epitope in mice, rats and guinea pigs is located in an internal sequence of Aß1-42, and serum from these species recognizes APP on a Western blot. Conversely, anti-Aβ antibodies from monkeys, canines and rabbits all closely resembled the reported immune response in humans by recognizing only the free N-terminus of Aß1-42, and did not recognize APP by Western blot.
 Thus, careful selection of animal models for testing new vaccine candidates may facilitate effective translation to human clinical trials.
 Support by NIH grants RO-1 AG20241, AG-00538, P50 AG16573 to DHC, AG20242 to EH


Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 47, 2006

5532

A number of water-soluble natural camptothecins containing a polyamine linked to the carboxylate function of the opened lactone ring has been identified. To investigate the therapeutic interest of these hydrophilic camptothecins, a series of analogs containing a polyamine moiety has been synthesized, and IDN5174 was selected for further development. In the NCI-H460 human lung carcinoma cell line the molecule was cytotoxic, even though less potent than topotecan or SN38, in short-term and long-term exposure assays (1 and 72 h). The analysis of topoisomerase-mediated DNA cleavage using purified enzyme indicated that IDN5174 was an efficient topoisomerase I poison and displayed the same cleavage pattern of SN38. Persistence of the DNA cleavage after NaCl-mediated disruption of the ternary complex was comparable to that of SN38. Stabilization of the cleavable complex was not the result of hydrolysis of the N-C bond between polyamine and the drug, because less than 1% of camptothecin was formed during the enzymatic reaction. Against the NCI-H460 human tumor xenograft, IDN5174 exhibited an activity comparable to that of topotecan or irinotecan (TWI% ∼ 90%) when given i.v. or per os. Preliminary evaluation of IDN5174 pharmacokinetics in CD1 mice, after i.v. administration of 15 mg/kg, showed rapid plasmatic clearance with elimination half-life of 20 minutes. In plasma the camptothecin level were 50-fold lower than that of IDN5174. In conclusion, such results were unexpected, since a closed α-lactone ring has been considered for long time a critical requirement for effective camptothecins. In spite of presenting a polyamine linked through a stable N-C bond to the carboxilate function of the opened lactone ring, the novel camptothecin analog IDN5174 maintained the biological and antitumor properties of the established camptotecins. The contribution of closed-ring camptothecins in determining the effects of IDN5174 appeared marginal.


The aim of this research was to explore people's knowledge, attitude, behaviour and practice towards HIV/AIDS and sexual activity in rural Kenya, where HIV is widespread. The study community was located in south-eastern Kenya, 50 km north of Mombassa, and had an estimated population of 1500. Subjects aged between 16 and 49 were recruited using a stratified cluster-sampling method and they completed self-administered questionnaires.Almost all respondents knew the word 'HIV'. Around 50% knew of a person living with HIV. About 80% gave 'death' or 'fear' as words representing their image of AIDS. With regard to sexual activity, the distribution of answers to the question 'how many partners have you ever had in your life' was bimodal in males but had only one peak in females, indicating that some men have a large number of sexual partners in their lifetime. First sexual intercourse was at around 12–13 years for both sexes, but female teenagers were more sexually experienced than their male counterparts.


Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 46, 2005

5991

Activating mutations of the protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) FLT3 can be found in approximately 30% of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) thereby representing the most frequent genetic alterations in AML. Activating internal tandem duplication (ITD) mutations in the FLT3 juxtamembrane domain have been shown to be an independent negative prognostic factor for survival. BAY 43-9006 is a novel dual action RAF kinase and VEGFR inhibitor that targets tumor cell proliferation and tumor angiogenesis. We show that BAY 43-9006 potently inhibits FLT3 wild type (FLT3-WT) and FLT3-ITD enzymatic activity in cell free assays. BAY 43-9006 at single digit nanomolar concentrations inhibited the proliferation of MV4;11 and EOL-1 leukemic cells that express FLT3-ITD in vitro , whereas the growth of the FLT-3 independent RS4-11 leukemic cell line was only weakly inhibited (IC50 = 12 μM). Cell cycle arrest and induction of apoptosis were observed upon treatment with BAY 43-9006 in MV4;11 and EOL-1 cells. In HEK293 cells stably transfected with FLT3-WT or FLT3-ITD, BAY 43-9006 at nanomolar concentrations (5-50 nM) blocked basal and ligand (FL) dependent FLT3-mediated tyrosine autophosphorylation as well as ERK1/2 and Stat5 transphosphorylation. Inhibition of FLT3-mediated signaling was also observed in MV4;11 cells treated with nanomolar doses of BAY 43-9006. The anti-tumor efficacy of BAY 43-9006 was evaluated against the MV4;11 leukemia grown subcutaneously in NCr nu/nu mice. Doses of 3 and 10 mg/kg administered orally for 14 days induced complete regression of 60% and 90% of MV4;11 tumors, respectively. Modeling of the binding of BAY 43-9006 to FLT3 showed that it interacts with FLT3 in a similar binding mode as reported for BRAF. The demonstration that BAY 43-9006 exhibits potent target inhibition and efficacy in FLT3-ITD models suggests that this compound may have biologic activity in AML patients with FLT3 mutations.


Recently, energy generation using algae technology is being promising due to the emerging issues on energy insufficiency and environmental contamination, although the solution has not been resolved in aspect of technological and economical efficiencies since it was originally proposed in the early 1980s by many scholars. The energy production technology using algae materials has great values as not only a solution for new energy generation but also an eco-friendly sustainable building equipment system. In addition, cultivation tank for algae using water sources seems to play a role as a decreasing system for thermal transmittance on building components. This study aims at investigating the adaptability towards the future sustainable building with algae technology and testifying the energy efficiency of the algae skins by operating a couple of simulation tools to measure building performances for the proposed prototype of the façade system.


The useful compromise between resolution and penetration power of the submillimeter or terahertz (THz) spectral region has long made it attractive for a variety of imaging applications. However, many of the demonstrations of imaging in this spectral region have used strategically oriented targets, especially favorable concealment materials, proximate imaging geometries, etc. This paper reports the results of studies aimed at better understanding the phenomenology of targets, the impact of this phenomenology on various active and passive imaging strategies, and most importantly, the development of imaging strategies that do not require the aforementioned special circumstances. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between active and passive images, especially with respect to how they interact with the illumination- and detector-mode structures of various imaging scenarios. It is concluded that the very large dynamic range that can be obtained with active single-mode systems (including focal-plane arrays) can be used in system designs to overcome the deleterious effects that result from the dominance of specular reflections in single-mode active systems as well as to strategically orient targets to obtain recognition. This will aid in the development of a much more robust and generally useful imaging technology in this spectral region.


To determine the role of unicompartmental knee replacement in knee arthroplasty and, in particular, the design and function of the ICLH (Finsbury Prosthetics Ltd., London, UK) knee prosthesis, the authors report their experience with 18 patients (15 women and 3 men, mean age 73 years), who underwent unicompartmental knee replacement with this prosthesis. The prosthesis failed in five (27.8%) cases, but in the remainder the results were good to excellent over a follow-up extending to 6 years (mean 4.5 years). The main problem with the ICLH prosthesis is the linear wear of the plastic of the tibial component, caused by a sharp radius at the edge of the femoral component. This leads to fracture and breakdown of the tibial portion. Because the short-term results are good but the long-term results are poor, the authors suggest that the ICLH unicompartmental knee prosthesis should be reserved for use in patients whose life expectancy is short.


A previously isolated cDNA sequence with homology to the long-range repeat (LRR) cluster in chromosome 1 of the house mouse, Mus musculus, was identified as derived from a 1.3 kb polyadenylated RNA. This transcript belongs to a family of polyadenylated RNAs which are synthesized from a multicopy gene included in the LRR copies. The representation of the 1.3 kb transcript in genomic DNA was studied in lambda and cosmid clones from the LRR cluster. Two different types of LRRs were detected with respect to the arrangement of coding regions. In the type-1 arrangement, the sequence is split into five exons, and in the type-2 arrangement, into six exons. The respective exons with their flanking regions were sequenced. The analysis of splice signals revealed that LRR copies with a type-1 arrangement are presumably the source of the 1.3 kb transcript. The 1.3 kb transcript has sequence homology to a human gene encoding Sp100, a nuclear antigen recognized by autoantibodies from patients suffering from some autoimmune diseases including primary biliary cirrhosis. Mouse exons II and III exhibit 71% homology at the nucleotide level and 56% homology at the amino acid level to the human Sp100 cDNA. We mapped the human Sp100 gene to chromosome 2. This location corroborates the assumption that the human Sp100 gene and the mouse LRR gene are homologous, as the human chromosome 2 contains the segment which is homologous to the mouse LRR region.


The authors make a brief review of burn treatment in Portugal as well as describing the Burn Unit of the Coimbra University Hospitals. The scientific advances in this area and new perspectives to the future are also mentioned, emphasizing the importance of burn prevention and a complete social reintegration of the burn patient.


Endoscopy, for many reasons, is an important technique in the diagnosis of celiac disease (CD), since it is currently the most widely used method for performing duodenal biopsies. On the other hand, certain changes in the duodenal mucosa must warn the endoscopist of a possible celiac disease. This is relevant, since it is well-known that most of the people who have this disease remain undiagnosed. With the development of endoscopy, diferent markers can be used to predict the existence of villous atrophy, but a high level of suspicion is required. The correct applicaton of guidelines performing biopsies for a celiac disease diagnosis, especially if there is a sufcient number of samples, is important to reach diagnosis. Besides, due to the fact that the spectrum of health problems related to celiac disease is quite wide, their possible associaton must be taken into account and the performance of duodenal biopsies must be encouraged. This last decade's technological achievements have greatly facilitated the study of the small intestne via endoscopy. Even if these advanced techniques are generally unnecessary in most cases, there are some of them in which the video capsule and/or enteroscopy allow to achieve a diagnosis, especially in refractory celiac disease cases. Other cutng-edge techniques, such as digital chromoendoscopy, optcal coherence tomography and confocal endomicroscopy could be useful to predict the existence of villous atrophy and some of them could even help the endoscopist recognize lesser degrees of celiac disease. The relevance of these techniques in daily practce remains to be dilucidated.


Stochastic inversion problems arise when it is wanted to estimate the probability distribution of a stochastic input from indirect observable and noisy information and the limited knowledge of an operator that connects the inputs to the observable output. While such problems are characterized by strong identifiability conditions, well-posedness conditions of "signal over noise" nature should be respected priori to collect observations. In addition to well-known Hadamard' well-posedness condition, a new one is established based on the predictive transmission of input uncertainty to output, which can be interpreted as the result provided by a sensitivity analysis if the problem were solved. This new condition should take part within the input model itself, which adds a constraint in established frequentist or Bayesian methodologies of stochastic inversion. While this article mainly deals with linearizable operators, the lack of constrast typical of linear problems suggest that the proposed condition should be used in more general settings, provided the operator owns diffferentiability properties.


We introduce a general tensor model suitable for data analytic tasks for heterogeneous data sets, wherein there are joint low-rank structures within groups of observations, but also discriminative structures across different groups. To capture such complex structures, a double core tensor (DCOT) factorization model is introduced together with a family of smoothing loss functions. By leveraging the proposed smoothing function, the model accurately estimates the model factors, even in the presence of missing entries. A linearized ADMM method is employed to solve regularized versions of DCOT factorizations, that avoid large tensor operations and large memory storage requirements. Further, we establish theoretically its global convergence, together with consistency of the estimates of the model parameters. The effectiveness of the DCOT model is illustrated on several real-world examples including image completion, recommender systems, subspace clustering and detecting modules in heterogeneous Omics multi-modal data, since it provides more insightful decompositions than conventional tensor methods.


This book provides a timely overview of a current state of knowledge of the use of polymer thin film for important technological applications. Polymer thin film book covers the scientific principles and technologies that are necessary to implement the use of polymer electronic device. A wide-ranging and definitive coverage of this emerging field is provided for both academic and practicing scientists. The book is intended to enable readers with a specific background, e.g. polymer nanotechnology, to become acquainted with other specialist aspects of this multidisciplinary field. Part A of the book covers the fundamental of the key aspect related to the development and improvement of polymer thin film technology and part B covers more advanced aspects of the technology are dealt with nano-polymer layer which provide an up-to-date survey of current research directions in the area of polymer thin film and its application skills.


The proportion of renewable energies in power generation has increased in recent years according to the political aims. In low-voltage grids, these are mostly decentralized renewable energy systems such as photovoltaics (PV) that are connected to the grid through the inverters. The temporary reversal of the power flow causes overvoltage problems. Consequently, regenerative sources need to be turned off temporarily or on the long term the grid infrastructure has to be extended by the utility company. The concept described in this paper uses reactive power which is generated by the solar inverters to increase power capability and quality of the grid. Thus grid extension can be avoided in many cases or at least it can be delayed. Voltage fluctuations due to fluctuating power input, such as by passing clouds, can be reduced. Additionally, the inverters can be remotely controlled to compensate harmonic distortion and to improve phase voltage balance by feeding unsymmetrical currents into the three phases. Distributed data collection and central control is required for control of a distributed system of a number of solar inverters installed in a grid segment. The concept can be applied not only to PV systems; it is rather a basic technology which can be used in future grids with distributed generation and storage. Even the power consumption in the grid can be optimized accordingly to the generation if remotely controllable appliances will be installed in the future.


Abstract The problem of detecting and isolating sensor faults (sensor fault detection and isolation-SFDI) on a general aviation aircraft, in the presence of external disturbances, is considered. The proposed approach consists of an extended Kalman observer applied to an augmented aircraft plant, where some integrators are added to the output variables subject to faults. The output of the integrators should be ideally zero in the absence of model uncertainties, external disturbances and sensor faults. A threshold-based decision making system is adopted where the residuals are weighted with gains coming from the solution to an optimization problem. The proposed nonlinear observer was tested both numerically on a large database of simulations in the presence of disturbances and model uncertainties and on input-output data recorded during real flights. In this case, the possibility of successfully applying the proposed technique to detect and isolate faults on inertial and air data sensors, modelled as step or ramp signals artificially added to the real measurements, is shown.


Atopic dermatitis (AD) commonly identified as eczema. AD is an inflammatory, long-lasting, highly pruritic reverting disease of the skin. AD is classified by disease of outer skin layer barrier function. AD is progress with Immunoglobulin E facilitated sensitization to food and environmental allergens. One study stated that more than 59.6% of teen-agers with AD are at high risk of develop asthma or rhinitis. Interaction between genes and environment increase the prevalence of AD. AD have three standard stages: infantile, childhood, and adulthood. AD sign and symptoms diverge extensively. AD can be present that simply affect the hand to where a patient presents with erythroderma. AD present with erythematous papules, extremely pruritic with serous exudate. Lichenified plaques and papules are symptoms of long lasting AD. Due to outer skin layer barrier dysfunction bacterial and viral infection risk is increased in AD patients. This study was directed on 100 patients in which 50 are PolymixinB-bacitrin group and 50 are Dermidoc group. Patients were selected after seeing inclusion and exclusion criteria and taking written informed consent. Dermidoc group expressively amended skin symptoms associated with AD comparing to the PolymixinB-bacitrin group. The Dermidoc cream is effective and well tolerated. The results were analysis using paired sample t-test. The p value is <0.05. Test group (Dermidoc) were significantly more effective than PolymixinB-bacitrin group.


We report on ab initio simulation of fluid interface deformations induced either by acoustic or optical radiation pressure. This is done by solving simultaneously the scalar wave propagation equation and the two-phase flow equations using the boundary element method. Using dimensional analysis, we show that interface deformation morphogenesis is universal, i.e. depends on the same dimensionless parameters in acoustics and electromagnetics. We numerically investigate a few se-lected phenomena—in particular the shape of large deformations, the slenderness transition and its hysteresis— and compare with existing and novel experimental observations. Qualitative agreement between the numerical simulations and experiments is found when the mutual interaction between wave propagation and wave-induced deformations is taken into account. Our results demonstrate the leading role of the radiation pressure in morphogenesis of fluid interface deformations and the importance of the propagation-deformation interplay .


This study shows that 6-[4-(1-cyclohexyl-1H-tetrazol-5-yl) butoxy]-3,4-dihydro-2(1H)-quinolinone (cilostazol) suppresses the atherosclerotic lesion formation in the low-density lipoprotein receptor (Ldlr)-null mice. Ldlr-null mice fed a high cholesterol diet showed multiple plaque lesions in the proximal ascending aorta including aortic sinus, accompanied by increased macrophage accumulation with increased expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1). Supplementation of cilostazol (0.2% w/w) in diet significantly decreased the plaque lesions with reduced macrophage accumulation and suppression of VCAM-1 and MCP-1 in situ. Increased superoxide and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) production were significantly lowered by cilostazol in situ as well as in cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). TNF-α-induced increased inhibitory κBα degradation in the cytoplasm and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) p65 activation in the nuclei of HUVECs were reversed by cilostazol (1 ∼ 100 μM) as well as by (E)-3[(4-t-butylphenyl)sulfonyl]-2-propenenitrile (BAY 11-7085) (10 μM), suggesting that cilostazol strongly inhibits NF-κB activation and p65 translocation into the nuclei. Furthermore, in gel shift and DNA-binding assay, cilostazol inhibited NF-κB/DNA complex and nuclear DNA-binding activity of the NF-κB in the nuclear extracts of the RAW 264.7 cells. Taken together, it is suggested that the anti-atherogenic effect of cilostazol in cholesterol-fed Ldlr-null mice is ascribed to its property to suppress superoxide and TNF-α formation, and thereby reducing NF-κB activation/transcription, VCAM-1/MCP-1 expressions, and monocyte recruitments.


Emission inventories provide information about the amount of a pollutant that is emitted to the atmosphere as a result of a specific anthropogenic or natural process at a given time or place. Emission inventories can be used for either policy or scientific purposes. For policy purposes, emission inventories can be used to monitor the progress of environmental policy or to check compliance with conventions and protocols. For scientific purposes, emission inventories can be used as input into atmospheric dispersion models that are aimed at understanding the chemical and physical processes and the behaviour of air pollutants in the atmosphere. A strict separation between policy and scientific oriented emission inventories is not always possible. The usefulness of emission inventories for policy or science depends on the accuracy and the reliability of the inventories. There is uncertainty about an emission inventory when the accuracy and reliability of the emission estimates are not known. Proper use of emissions inventories requires an assessment of the uncertainties, including identification, qualification and quantification of the uncertainty. Although different methods for the assessment of uncertainty in emission inventories have been proposed, a systematic approach for identification, qualification and quantification of uncertainty does not exist. The objective of this thesis is to develop such a systematic approach for large-scale inventories. In order to meet this objective three research questions have been formulated:(i) What are the potential sources of uncertainty in emission inventories(ii) Which methods can be followed for the assessment of uncertainty (111) To what extent can uncertainty in emission inventories be identified, qualified or quantified.The methodology of emission inventory compilation typical for large-scale emission inventories has been illustrated by two emission inventories. In chapter 2, time series of past worldwide emission of anthropogenic trace gases for the period 1890 - 1990 are described. Chapter 3 presents projections for NOx emissions in Asia for the period 1990 -2020. The construction of these emission inventories was hampered by the lack of experimental data on the different sources of emission. As a result, the emissions were calculated on another scale than on which the emission processes occur in reality. The activity data and emission factors were based on extrapolation of existing information. Due to these aggregations and extrapolations, the emission inventories are inaccurate representations of the actual emissions. Chapter 4 describes the theoretical basis for our definitions of uncertainties, followed by a categorisation of uncertainties in emission inventories. It is argued that two types of uncertainty in emission inventories exist. Uncertainty about accuracy is the lack of knowledge about the sources and size of the inaccuracy. Uncertainty about reliability is the lack of knowledge about the degree to which the emission inventory is meeting user-specified quality criteria. These user-specified criteria depend on the purpose of the emission inventory. For scientific purposes the reliability is defined by the accuracy of the inventory. For policy purposes, quality criteria can be related to transparency, application of agreed upon methodologies or sometimes also to the assessment of accuracy. Uncertainty about reliability exists when either the accuracy of the emission inventory is not known or when the documentation of the inventory is inadequate and incomplete. Uncertainty about accuracy exists when the different sources of inaccuracy or the extent to which the inventory is inaccurate is not known. A categorisation of uncertainty about different sources of inaccuracy has been presented. Uncertainty about structural inaccuracy is the lack knowledge about the extent to which the structure of an emission inventory allows for an accurate calculation of the 'real' emission. Three causes for structural inaccuracy have been defined. These are aggregation error, incompleteness and mathematical formulation error. Uncertainty about input value inaccuracy is the lack of knowledge about the values of activity data and emission factors. Four causes for input value inaccuracy have been identified. These are extrapolation error, measurement error, unknown developments and reporting error.Uncertainty about reliability can be assessed through peer review. For the assessment of inaccuracy, a distinction is made between internal and external assessment of uncertainty. In an internal assessment, the methodology and information to construct an emission inventory form the basis for the assessment of inaccuracy. Based on review of available methodologies six methods for internal assessment are proposed: (i) qualitative discussion, (ii) data quality rating, (iii) calculation cheek and evaluation of mathematical formulation, (iv) expert judgement, (v) error propagation and (vi) importance analysis. In an external assessment, the difference between the emission inventory and external sources of information is used to identify, qualify or quantify inaccuracy in the emission inventory. Four methods can be used: (1) comparison with other emission inventories, (ii) comparison with (in)direct measurements, (iii) forward air quality modelling and (iv) inverse air quality modelling.Against this background we developed a systematic approach for the assessment of uncertainty in emission inventories. This framework, FRAULEIN (FRamework for the Assessment of Uncertainty in Large-scale Emission INventories) can be used to assess uncertainty about reliability and uncertainty about accuracy. It provides guidance for selection of the methods that can be used to identify, qualify or quantify different sources of uncertainty. Several methods included in the framework have been analysed in more detail to identify the advantages and disadvantages of these methods in practice. Chapter 5 presents the results of assessment of uncertainties in estimates of 1990 N20 emissions from agriculture in The Netherlands using the methods of error propagation and importance analysis. The results indicate that only a small number (three out of 23) of uncertain inventory parameters have large share in the inaccuracy of the emission inventory. These parameters include emission factors for indirect N20 emissions (EF5), the fraction of N leaching from agricultural soils (Fracleach) and the emission factor for direct soil emissions (EF1). Reducing the inaccuracy in the inventory should therefore focus on improved quantification of indirect emissions (based on EF5 and Fracleach) and direct soil emissions (EF1). From a methodological point of view, the results of the N20 case study show that quantification of input value inaccuracy through error propagation is influenced by the statisticalquantification interpretation of the available information in the IPCC Guidelines (default values, and uncertainty ranges of emission factors in particular). This result provides an indication that the extent to which inaccuracies can be assessed depends not only on the characteristics of the method used for the assessment but also on the available information on inventory parameters. Identification of inventory parameters having the largest share in the inaccuracy, on the other hand, was not influenced by the statistical interpretation of IPCC information.Chapter 6 describes the results of assessment of uncertainty in a European emission inventory of S02 in 1994 using forward air quality modelling and atmospheric measurements. The problem with this type of assessment is that it is not easy to pinpoint emission inventory inaccuracy as single cause of the deviation between measurements and model results. Inaccuracies exist in both the inventory, model and measurements. In the case study it has been analysed whether wind-direction-dependent differences between calculated and measured concentrations can be used to assess inaccuracies in emission inventories. The results indicate that in three regions within the study domain inaccuracy in the emission inventory is the most likely cause for the discrepancy between modelled and observed S02 concentrations. These regions are Sachsen/Brandenburg (Germany), Central England and the western part of the Russian Federation. In Sachsen/Brandenburg and Central England the spatial distribution of the emissions seems to be inaccurate while in the western part of the Russian Federation the total emission estimate seems to be inaccurate. We developed a relatively simple method to identify inventory inaccuracies based on differences between the air quality model and atmospheric measurements. However, it was also shown that the method is primarily a tool for identifying relatively inaccurate parts of the inventory. The method cannot be used to analyse causes of the inaccuracies, such as inaccurate structure or input values. Furthermore, it was concluded that the method is more a qualitative than a quantitative approach.There are three ways to use FRAULEIN in practice. First, in situations where the method for uncertainty assessment is prescribed, FRAULEIN clarifies the sources of uncertainty that can be identified, qualified or quantified. Second, if the objective of a study is to assess a specific source of uncertainty, FRAULEIN may serve as a guide for selection of the appropriate methods. Third, if the aim is to perform a full assessment of inaccuracy, FRAULEIN forms the basis of a four-step approach: (1) identification, qualification (2) and quantification (3) of the sources of inaccuracy, followed by evaluation to prioritise further research (4).


Existing literature is characterized by certain deficiencies in measuring housing bubbles in China. By extending the analytical framework of Black et al. (2006) to a spatial panel VAR structure, this paper measures housing bubbles in China's 35 major cities from 1999Q2 to 2012Q3 and analyzes the spatial-temporal changes of the housing bubbles in these cities. Results indicate that 1) changes to housing bubbles in most cities highly correspond with changes in the main real estate policies of the country and 2) housing bubbles in eastern developed cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, and Ningbo, have been relatively large in recent years although the average housing bubble is not very serious over the 35 major cities. Through the Kernel Density Function and local indicators of spatial autocorrelation analysis, this paper finds that housing bubbles are concentrated in several eastern developed cities. Based on empirical analysis, this paper proposes policy recommendations on inhibiting the expansion and diffusion of housing bubbles.


Ciliate assemblages play a significant role in the microbial food web. The effects of environmental temperature on assemblage composition may be influenced by abiotic factors such as seasonality and disturbance, but the effects of temperature on ciliate assemblages found on different substrata have not been explored. Sandy bottoms and submerged rocks harbour dissimilar ciliate assemblages, and it might be expected that their ciliate assemblages will respond differently to temperature. We studied how alpha diversity, beta diversity and total biomass of ciliate protist assemblages found on sandy bottoms and submerged rocks differed in 13 geothermally heated streams in Iceland whose mean temperatures range from 5 to 20 degrees C. We recorded number of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and measured the size of cells in ciliate assemblages from both substrata. Effects of temperature on natural ciliate assemblages were substratum dependent. On rock surfaces, both total ciliate biomass and alpha diversity declined with increasing temperature, and beta diversity increased with increasing temperature difference due to OTU nestedness (assemblages from warm streams being composed chiefly of subsets of the OTUs found in colder streams). In sandy substrata, however, ciliate assemblage composition was independent of temperature. Substratum-specific responses may be due to differences in mechanical disturbance, nutrient availability or exposure to invertebrate grazers. Rock-surface assemblages may be more exposed to the flow and retain less nutrient than those of sandy substratum; thus, they may be more strongly resource limited and more responsive to direct effects of temperature on metabolism. Alternatively, rock-surface assemblages may be more exposed to grazing by invertebrates, which intensifies with temperature. Our study highlights the need to account for environmental context such as substratum type to fully understand the effect of temperature on microbial assemblages in streams. Future increases in global temperatures may affect fresh waters differently depending on their prevalent substratum. Those dominated by hard substrata may have their ciliate assemblages, and thus, food-web structures and ecosystem functioning more strongly affected by warming relative to systems dominated by soft substrata.


This study was carried out to investigate the biological activities, including the total polyphenolic contents, antioxidant activities, and tyrosinase inhibition activities, of various cultivars of unripe peaches (Prunus persica L. Batsch). The results indicate that the total polyphenolic content (gallic acid equivalent mg/g) was the highest in Yumefuji among six-cultivars (Takinosawa Gold, Kawanakawase Hakuto, Madoka, Yumefuji, Nagasawa Hakuho, and Hong Bak) of unripe peaches, whereas it was the lowest in Madoka. Antioxidant effects of unripe peaches were determined in three different in vitro bioassays measuring DPPH radical scavenging, ABTS radical scavenging, and reducing power activity. In the results, antioxidant activity was also higher in Yumefuji than other cultivars. Tyrosinase inhibition activity ranged from 4.65% to 8.58%, and Hong Bak displayed the highest tyrosinase inhibition activity, although the difference was not significant. This study will provide information on antioxidant and tyrosinase inhibition activities for the development of natural compounds as functional cosmetics.