Single crystals of the new host Ba12F19Cl5 doped with Eu2+ were grown and studied by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and luminescence emission spectroscopy. Three different Eu2+ sites were observed. Two of them had orthorhombic point symmetry while the last one was monoclinic. Physico-chemical and symmetry arguments allowed us to establish correspondence between the different Eu2+ centres and the host cation lattice sites. All three centres presented in their ground state important crystal field splitting. The 80 K luminescence emission spectrum consisted of one broad unsymmetrical f-d band peaking at 22 700 cm-1. No 4f-4f transitions of the Eu2+ ion were observed between room temperature and 80 K.


We investigated the anti-obesity effects of the potential prebiotic, laminarin, on mice fed a high-fat diet. A metagenomics approach was applied to characterize the ecological and functional differences of gut microbiota among mice fed a normal diet (CTL), a high-fat diet (HFD), and a laminarin-supplemented high-fat diet (HFL). The HFL mice showed a slower weight gain than the HFD mice during the laminarin-feeding period, but the rate of weight gain increased after the termination of laminarin supplementation. Gut microbial community analysis showed clear differences between the CTL and HFD mice, whereas the HFL mice were between the two. A higher abundance of carbohydrate active enzymes was observed in the HFL mice compared to the HFD mice, with especially notable increases in glycoside hydrolase and polysaccharide lyases. A significant decrease in Firmicutes and an increase in the Bacteroidetes phylum, especially the genus Bacteroides, were observed during laminarin ingestion. Laminarin ingestion altered the gut microbiota at the species level, which was re-shifted after termination of laminarin ingestion. Therefore, supplementing laminarin could reduce the adverse effects of a high-fat diet by shifting the gut microbiota towards a higher energy metabolism. Thus, laminarin could be used to develop anti-obesity functional foods. Our results also suggest that laminarin would need to be consumed regularly in order to prevent or manage obesity.


Intensive workload for nurses due to high demands directly impacts the quality of care and nurses' health. To better manage workload, it is necessary to understand the drivers of workload. This multidisciplinary research provides an adaptable nurse-focused approach to discrete event simulation (DES) modelling that can quantify the effects of changing technical design and operational policies in terms of nurse workload and quality of care.

In the first phase of this research, a demonstrator model was developed that explored the impact of nurse-patient ratios. As the number of patients per nurse (nurse-patient ratio) increased, nurse workload increased, and the quality of care deteriorated. In the second phase of this research, the DES model tested the interaction of patient acuity and nurse-patient ratios. As the levels of patient acuity and number of patients per nurse increased, nurse workload increased, and quality of care deteriorated – a result that was not surprising but an ability to quantify this proactively, was conceived. In the third phase of this research, the DES model was validated by means of an external field validation study by adapting the model to a real-world unit. The DES model showed excellent consistency between modelling and real-world outcomes (Intraclass iv Correlation Coefficient = 0.85 to 0.99; Spearman Rank-order Correlation Coefficient = 0.78). The fourth phase of this research used the validated simulation model to test the design implication of geographical patient bed assignment. As nurses were assigned to patient beds further away from the center of the unit or spread further apart, nurse workload increased as the nurse had to walk more leading to a deterioration in the quality of care. The DES modelling capability showed that both aspects of assignment were important for patient bed assignment. The fifth phase of this research combined Digital Human Modelling (DHM) and DES to produce a time-trace of biomechanical load and peak biomechanical load ('activity') for a full shift of nursing work. As the nurse was assigned to beds further away from the center of the unit, the cumulative biomechanical load decreased as the nurse spent more time walking yielding a reduced biomechanical load in comparison to the task group 'activity'. As patient acuity is increased, a decrease in L4/L5 moment is observed as the task duration and frequency of most care task increase. Due to increased care demands, nurses must now spend more time delivering care. Since the care demands are much higher than the current capability of nurses, quality of care is deteriorated. As number of patients per nurse, increased a 'ceiling' effect on biomechanical load can be observed as nurses do not have the time to attend to this extra demand for care. The use of this adaptable DES modeling approach can assist decision makers by providing quantifiable information on the potential impact of these decisions on nurse workload and quality of care. Thereby, assisting decision makers to create technical design and operational policies for hospital units that do not compromise patient safety and health of nurses.

Keywords: Behavioural operations research; Discrete Event Simulation; Nurse Workload; Quality of care; Healthcare Ergonomics; Human Factors Engineering; Nurses; Healthcare policy


Behavioural abnormality in fishes has been proposed as a significant consequence of the increasing levels of carbon dioxide occurring in the oceans. Negative effects of elevated CO2 have been reported for behaviours such as predator–prey interactions, foraging, hearing and behavioural lateralization. Importantly, the effects vary greatly both within and between species, and some recent studies have shown minimal effects of CO2 on behaviour. Whether the effect of CO2 also varies between males and females is, however, virtually unexplored. According to resource allocation theory, females are expected to be more sensitive to elevated CO2, meaning that non-sex-specific studies may overlook ecologically important differences between the sexes. In this study, we investigated the possible differences between males and females in their response to elevated CO2 by performing behavioural lateralization tests in adult temperate two-spotted gobies, Gobiusculus flavescens. We found that the strength of the side bias (absolute lateralization) was unaffected by the CO2 treatment, and there was no difference between males and females. The control fish were slightly right-biased in their behavioural asymmetry (mean relative lateralization of 14). Exposure to high CO2 affected this pattern, such that treated fish were slightly left-biased (mean relative lateralization of −10), regardless of their sex. The same results were obtained yet again when the study was repeated during a second year. We discuss our results in light of the great variation in lateralization that has been reported to depend on variables such as species, ecological settings and environmental factors.


OBJECTIVES
To explore GPs' attitudes to and experiences of introducing C-reactive protein (CRP) point-of-care testing (POCT) for lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) in primary care.

METHODS
Semi-structured interview study with 20 GPs who participated in the IMPAC(3)T randomized trial evaluating the effect of GP use of CRP POCT on management of LRTI. Main outcomes were GPs' experiences and views about CRP POCT in general practice, including its role in guiding antibiotic prescribing decisions and applicability and implementation in daily practice.

RESULTS
GPs expressed mainly positive attitudes. Test results were rapidly available to support diagnostic and therapeutic processes for LRTI and other common infections, enhancing patient and GP confidence in prescribing decisions and empowering GPs to prescribe antibiotics less often. GPs were concerned about responding to ambiguous test results. They regarded financial reimbursement for using the test as essential for successful uptake.

CONCLUSIONS
GPs were generally positive about CRP POCT, and they felt that it empowered them to safely prescribe fewer antibiotics for LRTI without alienating their patients. Successful wider implementation should address reimbursement and updating management guidelines to include the place of CRP POCT.


A quaternary system, NaNO3–KNO3–LiNO3–Ca(NO3)2, was predicted using the extended symmetric Kohler model to be a molten mixture with a low melting point that can be used as a heat storage and transfer fluid in concentrating solar power. The predicted eutectic temperature and composition of this system are 98.30 °C and 9.5 mol% NaNO3, 52.8 mol% KNO3, 27.6 mol% LiNO3 and 10.1 mol% Ca(NO3)2. Differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis were used to measure the predicted eutectic mixture. The results showed that the salt mixture has a low melting point of 95.96 °C, which coincides with the predicted eutectic temperature (98.30 °C), a moderate heat of fusion of 64.88 J g−1, and a thermal stability temperature of 450 °C. Therefore, this quaternary eutectic salt is suitable for use as a heat storage and transfer medium in solar thermal power plants.


Stock market reports in on-line news are widely used by amateurs to make quick investment decisions. Financial analysts often give opinions about trends of stock markets based on past and present economic event indicators. These opinions commonly appear in text form and are abundant over the Internet. It is tedious and time consuming for users to browse through such text manually let alone to understand the embedded opinions. To overcome this shortcoming, automatic trend predication methods have been proposed. Under conventional methods, reports are represented using bag of words and trend prediction is treated as a 3-way trend classification problem, i.e. trend as 'up', 'down' or 'stable'. In this paper, we propose a new pattern-based opinion mining method for market trend predication. Experiments show that (1) pattern-based classification is more effective than its word-based counterpart for feature representation; and (2) opinion mining outperforms event-based classification for trend predication. The task of opinion mining gets more difficult when the users are exposed to opinions from more than one analyst. The question becomes whose opinions should he/she trust? This lays down our second research objective, i.e. to study different opinion incorporation strategies. Intuitively, one would trust the opinion supported by the majority. However, we show that on the contrary, the user is better off trusting the most credible analyst.


GM2-synthase produces sialic acid–containing glycosphingolipids called gangliosides, and its mRNA overexpression and the gangliosides it generates are linked to tumor progression, migration, and suppression of tumor-specific host immune responses. However, the mechanism underlying GM2-synthase de-repression in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that higher GM2-synthase mRNA expression levels in various cancer cells and in human RCC tumors correlate with higher histone acetylation levels (H3K9, H3K14, or both) at region +38/+187 relative to the transcription start site (TSS) of the GM2-synthase gene than in normal kidney epithelial (NKE) cells or healthy adjacent tissues. An increase in GM2-synthase mRNA expression in cells treated with a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor was accompanied by increased histone acetylation levels at this promoter region. DNA methylation around the TSS was absent in both RCC cell lines and NKE cells. Of note, both the transcription factor Sp1 and corepressor HDAC1 associated with the +38/+187 region when the GM2-synthase gene was repressed in NKE and tumor-adjacent tissues, indicating plausible site-specific repressive roles of HDAC1 and Sp1 in GM2-synthase mRNA expression. Site-directed mutagenesis of the Sp1-binding site within the +38/+187 region relieved repressed luciferase activity of this region by limiting HDAC1 recruitment. Moreover, Sp1 or HDAC1 knock down increased GM2-synthase transcription, and butyrate-mediated activation of GM2-synthase mRNA expression in SK-RC-45 cells was accompanied by Sp1 and HDAC1 loss from the +38/+187 region. Taken together, we have identified an epigenetic mechanism for the de-repression of the GM2-synthase gene in RCC.


The objective of the poster paper is to identify factors of participation in investment support scheme and to assess economic and other effects of the measures 121 "Modernisation of Agricultural Holdings" and 123 "Increasing of value added" of the Rural Development Programme (RDP) 2007-2013 on the Czech farms. A particular attention is paid to the issues of participation in different measures, differentiated impacts of the supports according to the production conditions and deadweight. In general, the selected measures improved performance of supported farms. Evident differences are among impacts in the farm subsamples – in the sub-sample of farms with a higher density of ruminants the economic impacts are statistically significant while in the other case are not.


Semiconductors, metal oxides in particular, are usually regarded as key components in most industrial catalysts. It has been reported that the band structures of semiconductors can significantly influence their catalytic properties. As one of the most effective methods for tuning the band structure of semiconductors, the establishment of nano-hetero-junctions in catalysts is attracting increasing attention due to the use of rational design and the facile synthesis procedure. This Microreview covers the applications of nano-hetero-junctions in both photocatalytic and traditional thermal catalytic reactions. The applications of these reactions range from removal of pollutants to renewable energy production to new chemical synthesis routes, all of which are closely knitted into our daily lives. In photocatalysis, improvement is mainly attributed to the separation of photogenerated electrons and holes, which prolongs their lifetimes and eventually allows the occurrence of chemical reactions with adsorbed substrate molecules. Our research group were amongst the first to apply this concept in the design of metal/metal oxide catalysts in traditional thermal catalysis. It has been found that the establishment of electronic nano-hetero-junctions in support materials with use of two semiconducting metal oxides of different energy levels influences the catalytic properties of the dispersed metal particles from two perspectives: (i) the potential energy upon excitation, created by the charge separation on semiconducting oxide support in proximity to the overlying metal particles, and (ii) under H2, the accumulated electrons on one semiconducting oxide support can facilitate direct reduction of metal cations in this support to metal atoms, while the accumulated holes (activated oxygen) on the other semiconducting oxide are relaxed by water formation through hydrogen oxidation. The metallic atoms from the support surface thus act as modifiers to the primary metal particles through the formation of a bimetallic phase. As a result, the electronic configuration of the supported metal particles can be modified in a subtle manner that consequently influences the catalytic performance. It is believed that this concept of designing nano-hetero-junctions should empower scientists to approach new catalytic reactions in a systematic manner, allowing fine-tuning of catalysts with superior performance.


Elderly people, the majority of whom completed education at age 14, comprise an increasingly significant proportion of the population. Neurological disorders which affect language processing are particularly associated with older age. To detect mild or subtle deficits, assessment is required to extend beyond decontextualized units which permit only literal interpretation. A lack of elderly normative data limits the usefulness of such measures. The influences of age, education and gender on comprehension were assessed in adults aged between 40 and 88. Clear advantage for those educated beyond minimum school leaving age and disadvantage for those over age 75 was evident in all measures: discourse, metaphor and inference. In particular the scores of very elderly subjects whose education was completed at the then minimum age of 14 show similarity to the published test data for pathological populations. Age and education are relevant to interpretation of language test performance of those with known pathology but also to everyday communication.


An approach to telerobotic system organization with manipulator variable parameters is developed. It is intended for solution of manipulation problems when fast transportation operations are combined with high-precision positioning operations. Based on previous research, manipulator gain was chosen as a means for system quality control. It was proposed that the human operator should personally adjust the robot parameters in compliance with situation requirements. Besides such direct parameter adjustment, another implementation of this concept based on indirect adjustment (such as by analog circuit) was also developed. An additional channel of parameter control was introduced into the system in these cases. A new hand-controller design and a method for synthesis of such system algorithms were also developed. The ground has thus been laid for the kinematic coordinate-parameter control for the main regimes of telerobot work. The described approach results in the organization of effective online systems with sufficiently simple control algorithms. By means of testing, the efficiency of these systems is shown.


Differential evolution (DE) algorithm is a random search algorithm by referring to the natural genetic and natural selection mechanism of the biological world and it is used to process the complicated non-linear problems which are difficult to be solved by traditional computational methods. However, subject to its own mechanism and single structure, the basic DE algorithm is easy to get trapped into local optimum and it is difficult to handle high-dimensional and complicated optimization problems. In order to enhance the search performance of the DE algorithm, this paper uses the idea of niche, decomposes the entire population into several niches according to the fitness, perform population selection by integrating the optimum reservation strategy to realize the optimal selection of niche, adjusts the fitness of the individual of the population, designs the adaptive crossover and mutation operators to make the crossover and mutation probabilities change with the individual fitness and enhances the ability of DE algorithm to jump out of the local optimal solution. The experiment result of benchmark function shows that the method of this paper can maintain solution diversity, effectively avoid premature convergence and enhance the global search ability of DE algorithm.


Background: Hikikomori, a severe and often prolonged social withdrawal observed primarily in young people, was first described in Japan, but cases have now been reported in many other countries. Methods: A review paper on hikikomori has been prepared following the literature searches in 3 databases. Search terms related to hikikomori included epidemiology, globalization, diagnosis, treatment, comorbidity, and COVID-19. Conclusions: Hikikomori was first reported in Japan and has been described in detail by researchers there, but there are now reports in many countries of hikikomori-like cases. It occurs primarily in young people, often men in their late teens and early twenties who isolate themselves, sometimes confining themselves to their homes for months or even years. It has been proposed that hikikomori has increased in recent years in part because of advances in information technology that result in decreased socialization. Hikikomori was originally considered a non-psychotic phenomenon, but comorbidity with psychiatric disorders is often present and should be considered during diagnosis. Considerable efforts have been made in recent years to establish reliable, widely applicable guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of hikikomori. There is very little information with regard to neurobiology, although involvement of the immune system, oxidative stress, and the social brain network has been proposed. It is widely agreed that hikikomori must be treated in a multi-dimensional fashion, with family support very important. Lessons learned from these treatment approaches are relevant to the potential increased risk of social withdrawal arising from COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.


At a high level of abstraction, the brain is a system for analysing sensory information, and responding appropriately. That information is encoded and stored in the millions of neural circuits that comprise the brain. Deciphering this code is essential to understanding how memories are implemented in physiologically normal brain tissue, and to inferring the nature of some neurological disorders affecting memory such as Alzheimer's disease, in which the neural encoding is aberrant or unsuccessful.
One approach to this problem is to reduce the complexity of the brain functionality to three elements: stimuli, response, and reinforcement. The electrical activity of individual neurons can be recorded with electrodes, capturing the pathways of signal propagation in a network of cells. Individual neurons can be also induced to reliably respond to electrical or optical stimuli, so that they initiate, relay, or even block a signal.
If the stimuli to a finite network of cells can be made heterogeneous so that only a sub-population of cells is targeted, then the network can be trained to react in a repeatable way to a given stimulus, testing the concept that the higher order functions of the brain can emerge from a simple set of underlying computational rules.
Training however requires a mechanism for reinforcing only some of the possible pathways, in synchrony with stimuli and in response to the recorded network activity. In the intact brain, this mechanism is pharmacological: a neuromodulator such as dopamine is released throughout the brain, but as it only coincides with some but not all neuronal activity, the reinforcement is temporally selective.
The key task of this project is to emulate this selective neuromodulator reinforcement in vitro in a finite neuronal network. The project must also provide capacity for heterogeneous stimulation and individual cell recording, which can be coordinated with the reinforcement under computer control.
The strategy used was to develop microscale chambers to house a small network of cultured neurons. The chambers were integrated with existing cell recording and stimulating technologies, so that specific connections between neurons could be both monitored and induced. Neuronal cultures of a few hundred cells were successfully grown in microchannels, on substrates capable of recording their electrical activity. Thus it was possible to create a small cultured network in which complete network activity could be detected, subject to a sufficiently precise recording technique.
Additionally, a fluid-handling system was developed in order to emulate the continual replenishment of nutrients and soluble gases that are essential to cell survival. The system is intended to deliver soluble chemicals that modulate neuronal activity, on a timescale that is consistent with neuromodulator delivery in the body.
The fluid handling system comprises a set of pressure driven pumps under automated computer control. This system has the capacity to deliver neuromodulator in solution with high spatiotemporal precision. The ability to reliably deliver and wash off precise volumes of drugs in a matter of seconds, with no dilution of the intended concentration, will be of great benefit to researchers investigating the response of various cell types to different agonists.


The Victory2020 Garden Community Program was established by faculty members within the University of Florida (UF), Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) in Marion and Columbia County Extension offices. In response to COVID-19, the purpose of the program was to provide online-mediated programs that could be completed at the desired pace of the participants, while promoting a self-reliant, science-based approach to learning about home food production through gardening. Due to food insecurity rates in both Marion (14.4%) and Columbia (15.2%) counties ranking above the statewide average in Florida, an immediate need to provide educational resources on becoming self-sufficient in growing one's own food became increasingly important due to nationwide supply-chain shortages (Feeding America, 2020). 2,548 participants representing 43 states and six countries were provided access to eight learning modules hosted by Canvas, an online tool through UF. Participants were provided a package of free seeds, including corn, squash, cucumber, and cowpea to plant their Victory2020 Garden. A purposeful online community was established by extension agents in Marion and Columbia counties to facilitate quality discussion and growth, culminating in over 225,000 total impressions. The findings of the program revealed that 88% of gardening households began eating more fruits and vegetables while 73% are embracing new food safety techniques in both the garden and kitchen. Primary investigators and co-pi's recommend an implementation of a program timeline to benefit the participants through diverse, online learning options. Continued programming addressing mental health, nutrition, and gardening is recommended across extension programs nationally.


The planar and channel waveguides were fabricated by C ion implantation on Nd:SrGdGa3O7 crystal respectively. The guided modes and optical propagation properties were investigated by waveguide coupling method, and the simulation of the light propagation process was performed simultaneously for comparison. The propagation losses of planar and channel waveguides were 0.84 dB/cm and 0.5 dB/cm, respectively, which were measured by end-face coupling equipment. The confocal microfluorescence investigation was used to observe the influence of the C ion implantation process on the Nd ions properties. It shows that there are merits about the relative low loss and the good reservation of Nd ions fluorescence properties in the C-ion-implanted waveguide. Thus, this waveguide could be a very promising candidate for integrated optical device.


In a metal sample, where at least one of the dimensions is comparable with the de Broglie wavelength of conduction electrons, the quantum size effects (QSE) should be observed. QSEs manifest themselves as non-monotonic dependencies of various material properties as function of relevant dimension. QSE should be particularly noticeable in materials with charge carrier(s) effective mass less than the free electron mass. Bismuth is one of the most suitable semi-metal to observe QSE due to small effective masses and small the Fermi energy. However, bismuth has a high anisotropic energy spectrum. Hence to observe QSE which can be interpreted with reasonable accuracy, it is mandatory to fabricate singlecrystal nanostructure with known orientation of crystallographic axes. In this paper several short bismuth nanowires (nanorods) were investigated, and oscillating dependence of electric resistance on effective cross section was found. Theoretical calculations provide a reasonable agreement with experiment. The quantum-size phenomena are important for operation of a wide spectrum of nanolelectronic devices.


Quality improvement (QI) efforts affect a broader range of people than we often assume. These are the potential stakeholders for QI and its evaluation, and they have valuable perspectives to offer when they are consulted in planning, conducting and interpreting evaluations. QI practitioners are accustomed to consulting stakeholders to assess unintended consequences or assess patient experiences of care, but in many cases there are additional benefits to a broad inclusion of stakeholders. These benefits are better adherence to ethical standards, to assure that all legitimate interests take part, more useful and relevant evaluation information and better political buy-in to improve impact. Balancing various stakeholder needs for information requires skill for both politics and research management. These challenges have few pat answers, but several preferred practices, which are illustrated with practical examples.


A two-stage master-oscillator power-amplifier (MOPA) system based on Yb:YAG single-crystal-fiber (SCF) technology and designed for high peak power is studied to significantly increase the pulse energy of a low-power picosecond laser. The first SCF amplifier has been designed for high gain. Using a gain medium optimized in terms of doping concentration and length, an optical gain of 32 dB has been demonstrated. The second amplifier stage designed for high energy using the divided pulse technique allows us to generate a recombined output pulse energy of 2 mJ at 12.5 kHz with a pulse duration of 6 ps corresponding to a peak power of 320 MW. Average powers ranging from 25 to 55 W with repetition rates varying from 12.5 to 500 kHz have been demonstrated.


We investigated metabolite levels during the progression of pathology in McGill‐R‐Thy1‐APP rats, a transgenic animal model of Alzheimer's disease, and in healthy age‐matched controls. Rats were subjected to in vivo 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) of the dorsal hippocampus at age 3, 9 and 12 months and of frontal cortex at 9 and 12 months. At 3 months, a stage in which only Aβ oligomers are present, lower glutamate, myo‐inositol and total choline content were apparent in McGill‐R‐Thy1‐APP rats. At age 9 months, lower levels of glutamate, GABA, N‐acetylaspartate and total choline and elevated myo‐inositol and taurine were found in dorsal hippocampus, whereas lower levels of glutamate, GABA, glutamine and N‐acetylaspartate were found in frontal cortex. At age 12 months, only the taurine level was significantly different in dorsal hippocampus, whereas taurine, myo‐inositol, N‐acetylaspartate and total creatine levels were significantly higher in frontal cortex. McGill‐R‐Thy1‐APP rats did not show the same changes in metabolite levels with age as displayed in the controls, and overall, prominent and complex metabolite differences were evident in this transgenic rat model of Alzheimer's disease. The findings also demonstrate that in vivo 1H MRS is a powerful tool to investigate disease‐related metabolite changes in the brain.


Author(s): Howsmon, Rebecca Anne | Advisor(s): Riley, Lee W | Abstract: Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb), the causative agent of tuberculosis, is a highly successful pathogen that establishes a persistent human infection. The hallmark of human host response to M.tb infection is the formation of a conglomeration of immune cells called a granuloma that is thought to limit bacterial replication and spread. M.tb is able to persist within this harsh environment. Research from our laboratory demonstrates a role for a 13-gene cluster called the mce1 operon in immune modulation within this environment that allows the bacilli to persist. We hypothesize that fluctuations in expression of the mce1 operon during the course of infection are involved in the stable maintenance of the granuloma, which is also protective for the mycobacteria. A mce1 operon mutant strain of M.tb ( dmce1 ) is hypervirulent in a mouse model of infection. Infected mice are unable to mount a proper granulomatous response. In vitro studies with RAW macrophages and A549 epithelial cells infected with dmce1 demonstrate that this is likely due to an aberrant early innate immune response. In this dissertation we used primary mouse bone marrow derived macrophages and dendritic cells to further corroborate these findings. We found that macrophage and dendritic cell cytokine and chemokine production was impaired in response to infection with dmce1 , and dendritic cells failed to upregulate costimulatory molecules that are essential for their role in linking the innate and adaptive immune responses. The cell envelope of dmce1 was shown previously to contain an accumulation of mycolic acids that are not present in wild-type M.tb. We also investigated whether M.tb alters its lipid profile to directly or indirectly modulate the immune response. Our data show that the accumulated lipids from dmce1 do not block TLR2 signaling, nor do they directly inhibit macrophage or dendritic cell activation. Instead, these lipids may alter the bacterial cell wall architecture in such a way as to induce other, yet uncharacterized innate immune signaling pathway. These observations, nevertheless, show that early events in the interaction of M.tb with host immune cells have dramatic consequences later, and ultimately determine the clinical fate of this interaction — persistence or active disease.


Because of the Lack of water resources and the increasing water quantity used in living and production, the water resources are becoming the restrictive factor of regional economic and social development in in Manas river basin. The exploitation and utilization of conventional water resources has reached more than 95% in the basin,it caused great attention that the development and utilization of non-conventional water resources for agricultural development and ecological environment construction. At present, the exploitation and utilization of the non-conventional water resources(shallow underground salt water,saline water) for agriculture and forestry has become more and more widespread and in-depth. because of the lack of scientific instruction and reasonable exploitation, which not only caused water level falling, leading to degradation of the brittle natural entironment, but also caused SBHCSS and the decline in productivity. With the analysis of the non-conventional water resources actual exploitation and utilization, under the scientific development concept, the aryicle puts forward the sustained strategies of non-conventional underground water resources (salt water, saline water) reasonable exploitation and the irrigation return flow reuse efficient exploitation which is used for ecological restoration and reconstruction.


Enhancement of cholinergic function via muscarinic acetylcholine receptor M1 agonism improves cognition in some schizophrenia patients. Most atypical antipsychotic drugs, including clozapine and its active metabolite, N-desmethylclozapine, and lurasidone, enhance the release of acetylcholine in key brain regions involved in cognition (e.g. hippocampus). We determined the effect of muscarinic acetylcholine receptor M1 stimulation on novel object recognition and its contribution to the ability of atypical antipsychotic drugs to reverse the novel object recognition deficit in rats withdrawn from subchronic phencyclidine, a rodent model of cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. In control rats, the non-specific muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist, scopolamine, and the M1 selective antagonist, VU0255035, induced a novel object recognition deficit, which was reversed by the M1 agonist, AC260584. Scopolamine fully blocked the effect of clozapine and N-desmethylclozapine, but not lurasidone, to restore novel object recognition in subchronic phencyclidine-treated rats. VU0255035 also blocked these effects of clozapine and N-desmethylclozapine, but not lurasidone; however, the blockade was not as complete as that achieved with scopolamine. Furthermore, subchronic phencyclidine increased hippocampal M1 mRNA expression. These data suggest that M1 agonism is required for clozapine and N-desmethylclozapine to ameliorate the phencyclidine-induced deficit in novel object recognition, additional evidence that M1 agonism is a potential target for treating cognitive impairment in schizophrenia.


Risk of establishment of the freshwater climbing perch (Anabas testudineus) in mainland Queensland from the Torres Strait is high. The species is dispersed through human assistance and/or attributes that assist its own spread. The species has the potential to out-compete native freshwater and estuarine species, and has sharp well-developed gill plates and spines that may choke and kill predatory species like barramundi if swallowed. The presence of climbing perch would severely impact Queensland's inshore and freshwater fisheries, both commercial and recreational. The net present value of expected lost fishing activity due to build-up of the climbing perch is $48.5 million when the probability of introduction is 20 per cent. Analysis of potential spending on an entry prevention strategy for the climbing perch can be justified, with a benefit cost ratio of 150 to 1.


Bethlem myopathy is an early‐onset benign myopathy characterized by proximal muscular weakness and multiple flexion contractures. It is a dominantly inherited disorder associated with mutations in the three COL6 genes encoding type VI collagen. We detected a g→a substitution at +1 position of COL6A1 intron 3 in a four‐generation Italian family affected by a mild form of Bethlem myopathy. The mutation results in the activation of a cryptic splice donor site at the 3′ end of exon 3, leading to the loss of 66 nucleotides and an "in‐frame" deletion of 22 amino acids in the NH2‐domain. Molecular analysis on fibroblasts of the propositus showed that the mutated mRNA was present and stable, but the mutated protein could not be detected. Western blot and immunofluorescence analyses showed a decreased level of collagen VI synthesis and deposition in fibroblasts of the propositus. Together, the results suggest that the mutated protein was highly unstable and rapidly degraded, and that the mild phenotype was caused by a reduced amount of normal collagen VI microfibrils. In addition, we demonstrated that lymphocytes can be used for the first mutation screening analysis of patients with Bethlem myopathy. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Muscle Nerve 25: 000–000, 2002


In exploring the nature of excess relative to a phenomenology of the limit, Testing the Limit claims that phenomenology itself is an exploration of excess. What does it mean that "the self" is "given"? Should we see it as originary; or rather, in what way is the self engendered from textual practices that transgress-or hover around and therefore within-the threshold of phenomenologial discourse? This is the first book to include Michel Henry in a triangulation with Derrida and Levinas and the first to critique Levinas on the basis of his interpolation of philosophy and religion. Sebbah claims that the textual origins of phenomenology determine, in their temporal rhythms, the nature of the subjectivation on which they focus. He situates these considerations within the broader picture of the state of contemporary French phenomenology (chiefly the legacy of Merleau-Ponty), in order to show that these three thinkers share a certain "family resemblance," the identification of which reveals something about the traces of other phenomenological families. It is by testing the limit within the context of traditional phenomenological concerns about the appearance of subjectivity and ipseity that Derrida, Henry, and Levinas radically reconsider phenomenology and that French phenomenology assumes its present form.


In this paper, we consider a discrete restriction associated with KdV equations. Some new Strichartz estimates are obtained. We also establish the local well-posedness for the periodic generalized Korteweg-de Vries equation with nonlinear term F (u)∂xu provided F ∈ C and the initial data φ ∈ H with s > 1/2.


In the course of the studies on fuzzy regression analysis, we encountered the problem of introducing a distance between fuzzy numbers, which replaces the classical (x-y)² on the real line. Our proposal is to compute such a function as a suitable weighted mean of the distances between the \ac s of the fuzzy numbers. The main difficulty is concerned with the definition of the distance between intervals, since the current definitions present some disadvantages which are undesirable in our context. In this paper we describe an approach which removes such drawbacks.


Labor markets in the transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe underwent a dramatic transformation. Notably, this transformation took place within just a few years. Until the mid-2000s job opportunities were scarce and unemployment was high. But since then labor demand has picked up and unemployment has dropped substantially. In contrast to the earlier period of weak labor demand, it is now the supply side of the labor market that constrains job creation. These spectacular improvements can hardly be attributed to the greater labor market flexibility or to the more efficient matching of workers with jobs because no major reforms to labor market institutions were recently implemented in the region. Instead, the main cause was a strong increase in labor demand, as evidenced by the increase in the job vacancy rates and real wages. The surge in labor demand is likely to reflect successful enterprise restructuring supported by the improvements in the investment climate and access to global markets associated with the EU accession. For a long time enterprises in transition economies were improving competitiveness by shedding of redundant labor. Now they use productivity gains to invest, expand output and hire more workers. However, the emerging skills shortages may constrain firm growth. Thus the transition economies face a challenge of mobilizing effective labor supply. This requires improving labor supply incentives and investing in education. This paper documents the recent changes in labor market conditions in the transition economies, suggests tentative explanations, and finally suggests policies to address the emerging challenges.


The aim with this paper is to elucidate the current situation of the Swedish glulam market. This thesis paper will also consider prospects for the future and analyse the relationship between customer and producer and what makes a specific supplier attractive to their customer.

The companies that are included in the paper are: Martinsons Group AB, Moelven Toreboda AB and Setra Group AB, Langshyttan. These three companies are the members of the organi¬sation Svenskt Limtra AB and produce the largest part of glulam in Sweden. Together they produce 140 000 – 150 000 m3 a year.

The study is based on interviews with all three producers and a customer survey, where I have interviewed five customer to each producer. The task for the producers and the customer was to answering the same questions about how well the producer performe in different respects and what is important when you purchase glulam. The answer would show how the communi¬cation between producer and customer works and which variance there is in the opinion be¬tween them.

During the interviews with the respondents of each producer a qualitative method was used. The idea was that the respondents would answer my questions freely without being inter¬rupted.

This study shows that the glulam market has been very good the last years and it looks like it will remain in that way in the future. The demand for glulam is high all over the world. The biggest part of glulam that is exported from Sweden goes to Japan. The rest of the export goes to the European market. Moelven Toreboda is the only of the three companies that don't export to Japan any more. The Swedish domestic market is also important now and has in¬creased the last years.

A big problem on the market is that there is no uniform strength classification for glulam. The lack of that kind of classification creates technical trade obstacles which make it hard to enter the market in some countries.

In the future it is important for the Swedish producers to follow the development that possibly comes. If a uniformed classification system for glulam is introduced in the EU area and the de¬mand changes negatively, it is important for the producers to be prepared before it happens. If the companies have good contacts and well established relationships with their customer it will not give them any reason to change supplier when the competition on the glulam market increases.


Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens forms part of the gastrointestinal microbiome of ruminants and other mammals, including humans. Indeed, it is one of the most common bacteria found in the rumen and plays an important role in ruminal fermentation of polysaccharides, yet, to date, there is no closed reference genome published for this species in any ruminant animal. We successfully assembled the nearly complete genome sequence of B. fibrisolvens strain INBov1 isolated from cow rumen using Illumina paired-end reads, 454 Roche single-end and mate pair sequencing technology. Additionally, we constructed an optical restriction map of this strain to aid in scaffold ordering and positioning, and completed the first genomic structure of this species. Moreover, we identified and assembled the first chromid of this species (pINBov266). The INBov1 genome encodes a large set of genes involved in the cellulolytic process but lacks key genes. This seems to indicate that B. fibrisolvens plays an important role in ruminal cellulolytic processes, but does not have autonomous cellulolytic capacity. When searching for genes involved in the biohydrogenation of unsaturated fatty acids, no linoleate isomerase gene was found in this strain. INBov1 does encode oleate hydratase genes known to participate in the hydrogenation of oleic acids. Furthermore, INBov1 contains an enolase gene, which has been recently determined to participate in the synthesis of conjugated linoleic acids. This work confirms the presence of a novel chromid in B. fibrisolvens and provides a new potential reference genome sequence for this species, providing new insight into its role in biohydrogenation and carbohydrate degradation.


Herein, an anionic metal-organic framework nanowire array not only directly grew on Cu foam, but also captured Ni(ii) ions at an ultra-small particle level. The hybrid material exhibited high activity with low overpotential (310 mV at 20 mA cm-2 in 1.0 M KOH solution) toward the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) (1 M KOH), with performance comparable to that of the precious metal benchmark. These findings may expand the field of MOFs for scaled-up water electrolysis.


Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the feasibility of using additive manufacturing (AM) technique to produce an efficient valve manifold for hydraulic actuator by redesigning valve blocks produced by conventional methods.

Design/methodology/approach
A priori, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was carried out using the software ANSYS Fluent to determine the optimal flow path that results in least pressure drop, highest average velocity and least energy losses. Fluid–structure interaction (FSI) simulations, processed with imported pressure distribution from the CFD, were conducted to determine the resulting loading and deformations of the manifold assembly.

Findings
The new design offers a 23 per cent reduction of oil volume in the circuit, while weighing 84 per cent less. When using the new design, a decrease of pressure drop by nearly 25 per cent and an increase in the average velocity by 2.5 per cent is achieved. A good agreement, within 16 per cent, is found in terms of the pressure drop between the experiment and computational model.

Originality/value
It is possible to build an efficient hydraulic manifold design by iterative refinement for adequate production via selective laser melting (SLM) and minimize used material to circumventing building support structures in non-machinable features of the manifold.


A major surface antigen of Schistosoma mansoni has been identified and characterized as a glycoprotein of 66,000 molecular weight (Mr) and isoelectric point of 6.2-6.1 (SM66-GP) by use of a monoclonal antibody. The antigen was expressed by schistosome eggs, cercariae, larvae, and adults, and was recognized by sera of schistosome infected hosts. Direct immunofluorescence microscopy showed the antigen was distributed in a uniform pattern on the entire worm surface. Indirect immunofluorescence microscopy revealed that it was present in the parenchymal tissue of immature and mature Fasciola hepatica, in the gut of the mature fluke, and in embryonated fasciola eggs. The cross-reactive F. hepatica epitope recognized was expressed on a polypeptide of Mr 220,000.


Museums about our industrial past are presently in fashion . Most of them are intended to ' preserve' or 'conserve ' a certain 'heritage' , to use the jargon of heartrending public appeals for cash . But it has also become useful to claim that industrial archaeology museums are of great 'educational' value. Most industrial museums, when school or college parties are on the point of departing, receive effusive t hanks for a most 'interesting visit' . However most educators feel uncertain about the equation 'interesting equals educational' . It is not old fashioned to suggest an educational visit to an industrial museum (or indeed any other museum) can only be tested by two rather unattainable methods : (I) examination or other assessments and (2) by some science fiction meta-Kenneth Richmond test for cultural and imaginative impact . Such tests seem to be and probably are unattainable, so that it may be useful to come down to earth by hinging on the Gladstone Pottery Museum some thoughts about the educational value of museums of crafts or industries.


Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE HE Williams' (1966) terminal investment hypothesis states that in species showing an age-related decline in reproductive value, reproductive effort should increase with age. Non-human primate studies have supported this hypothesis, though research in humans is lacking, likely due to the restricted age range of participants in typical studies in evolutionary psychology. We hypothesize that older women will decrease mating effort in order to allocate additional resources to parental effort, and that this shift will be manifested in women's' mate selection preferences. Because older women are hypothesized to shift resources from mating to parenting, they may show greater preferences for partners with high potential for paternal investment compared to partners with features signaling high potential for genetic investment. We use character sketches of "dad" and "cad" male reproductive strategies to demonstrate the age-related shift in relationship preferences. We found that older women prefer mating strategies that are related with higher paternal investment. In addition, we found that a woman's self-description changes with age, mediating the age-related changes in mate preferences. We suggest that these changes serve the changing needs of an older woman and the transition from investing in future offspring to investment in the current offspring.


Many road designations have conditions with respect to noise that require that when the road is completed, measurements will be undertaken to prove that the performance standards of those conditions have been fulfilled. However all measurements are subject to variability, and the designation conditions do not address either the expected nature of this variability, or how it should be accounted for in establishing compliance with the conditions. This research was carried out in New Zealand between 2006 and 2008. It sought to quantify the variability in noise measurement, and then in light of this identified variability, develop a recommended approach to establishing compliance. This report first discusses the evolution of current practice, and then examines in detail the expected variability that can occur both in noise generation and noise propagation. The impact on noise levels of factors such as traffic volume, HGV, traffic speed, road type, road deterioration, wind speed and direction, ground type and vegetation is examined. Recommendations to improve measurement consistency are made. The recommended method of compliance that is advanced is based on noise modelling, supplemented by measurement, to validate the overall model, followed by testing the performance of noise mitigation elements that are incorporated in the modelling.


ABSTRACT Vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (VISA) and heteroresistant VISA (hVISA) are pathogens for which accurate antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) would rule out standard treatment with vancomycin. Unfortunately, AST for vancomycin is relatively slow and standard methods are unable to reliably detect VISA and hVISA. An article in this issue (C. A. Mather, B. J. Werth, S. Sivagnanam, D. J. SenGupta, and S. M. Butler-Wu, J Clin Microbiol 54:883–890, 2016, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/JCM.02428-15) describes a rapid whole-cell matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight proxy susceptibility method that highlights current innovations and challenges with rapid AST, VISA/hVISA identification, and clinical bioinformatics.


The strategies by which epidemiology addresses potential health effects are described and contrasted with experimental laboratory assessments of health and safety. The role of epidemiology in establishing regulatory standards is discussed. This approach is illustrated by the study of residential 60 Hz magnetic field exposure in relation to childhood cancer. It is concluded that although the difficulties in quantifying exposure, threat of bias, and frequent inconsistency of results place limitations on epidemiology, it should and probably will continue to play a key role in the developing of exposure standards. >


Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is regarded as one of the main gr een house gases (GHGs) that is causing global warming and forc ing climate change. CO 2 sequestration is widely recognized as an important option to reduce increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. However, CO 2 storage technology is receiving criticism for allo wing continued use of fossil fuels. CO 2 utilization technology is fast emerging as a practical solu tion that involves recycling of CO 2 to various important industrial compounds and feedstock materials bringing concepts of organic chemistry to be the core climate change mitigation measure. This review article communicates current trends, challenges and advances in CO 2 utilization that exploits concepts of organic chemistry.


Clinical exome sequencing (CES) is an established method for genetic diagnosis that is commonly used in clinical practices. Studies examining the CES experience for families have primarily been non-Latino white participants who speak English. To begin to address how these experiences may differ in other populations, we conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews. Interviews were completed with 22 Latino parents (14 in English; 8 in Spanish) of children who had pediatric CES at Columbia University Medical Center and received results within three to 20 months of the interview. We also measured acculturation with a standardized scale. Similar to prior studies, parents reported varied emotional reactions to their child's results. Parents largely understood their child's CES results though were not always able to correctly recall recurrence risk. The majority of participants reported feelings of anxiety while waiting for CES results. Some parents, particularly those not fluent in English with lower acculturation scores, reported language barriers to their understanding of the testing and their child's care. Faith appeared to be a positive coping mechanism that was more frequently reported by participants with lower acculturation scores. Our findings are consistent with many of the previous studies of parental experience of CES but highlight some key findings that warrant further study and potentially inform practice. Larger studies should explore potential associations between acculturation and parental understanding or emotional response to results. The minimal language barriers reported by Spanish-speaking patients reiterates the importance of a Spanish-speaking provider, when possible, and bilingual resources.


In an average week in September 2007, viewers of British television would have had difficulty avoiding programs with some kind of cooking element. On terrestrial television there were at least a dozen weekly of daily shows of this sort, including the magazine show Saturday Kitchen (BBC1, 2006-), the celebrity cookery show Ready Steady Cook (BBC2, 1994-), competitive reality formats like Britain's Best Dish (ITV, 2007), The Restaurant (BBC2, 2007), and Hell's Kitchen (ITV, 2004-), documentary cooking shows such as The Wild Gourmets (Channel 4, 2007), and the most recent series by the cookery superstars Nigella Lawson, Ray Mears, and Jamie Oliver. Viewers with access to digital, cable, or satellite television were able to watch countless other examples of this broad-ranging genre of programming, including an entire channel (UKTV Food) devoted to the subject. For a nation not renowned for its culinary prowess, this seemed remarkable. Had the United Kingdom suddenly changed into a nation of gourmets au fait conversant with terms such as saute, tapas and al dente, or was this cluster of programming more the result of format evolution? As part of a wider trend toward lifestyle programming in both daytime and prime-time television, the upsurge of cookery shows is certainly not unique to British television culture, as a quick glance at television guides across America and continental Europe would confirm. Though such programs are undoubtedly part of a global programming trend toward a diversified and demand-led broadcasting culture, however cookery shows in other countries have hardly ever become part of political discourse, as they have recently in the United Kingdom. In particular, the four-part series Jamie's School Dinners, first broadcast on Channel 4 in 2005, and a one-off sequel shown the following year, generated considerable debate about governmental versus parental responsibility not only among academics from various disciplines but also in the UK media in general (Spence). The program charted the attempts by the celebrity chef Jamie Oliver to improve the quality of food served to children in British state schools as well as to raise awareness of nutritional issues. It showed Oliver taking charge of the provision of food in two schools that were struggling to produce fresh meals on a limited budget; one in Greenwich, a suburb of London, and another "up north" in County Durham.


The study was to examine the effectiveness of Human Resource Planning (HRP) and its effect on Songea Municipal Police (SMP), where the study which have the research design, research population, sample and sampling procedure and data gathering instruments. And then dealt with also to find out whether there are policies and practices are done in the SMP and also establish whether the Human Resource Planning practices and procedures which are within the Songea Municipal Police are functioning effectively and also to find out the challenges of provision of framework to guide the implementation of Human Resource Planning that are in Songea Municipal Police. The findings of the study found that most of officers employed at Songea Municipal Police do not have a wide knowledge of Human Resource Planning and also found that Human Resource Planning is not well practiced by the administration officers. The study concludes that with the organization being more active in recruiting and retaining employees will help the SMP effective in making sure that all the departments at the SMP are functioning well to make the citizens enjoy the service provided and also to the employees to be well treated and frequently trained, promoted and appreciated when the job is well performed. And the recommendations for Songea Municipal Police towards an effective Human Resource Planning for organization to perform and meet their goals.


The paper proposes a method based on different security-related factors to dynamically calculate the validity period of digital certificates. Currently validity periods are most often defined statically without scientific justification. This approach is not sufficient to objectively consider the actual need for security. Therefore the approach proposed in this paper considers relevant security criteria in order to calculate a meaningful validity period for digital certificates. This kind of security assessment can be executed periodically in order to dynamically respond to changing conditions. Especially in the context of complex systems and infrastructures that have an increased need for security, privacy and availability this issue is highly relevant.


The analogy between the diffraction of light by a set of holes, and the diffraction of X -rays by a set of atoms can be exploited in solving many different types of X -ray diffraction problem . A special instrument has been built to obtain diffraction patterns rapidly, making possible several different approaches to the determination of crystal structures. Of particular importance is that involving the 'optical transform' of a molecular representation. Consideration of the optical transform, which is closely related to the Fourier transform, can, for simple space groups, lead directly to the crystal structure. For more complicated space groups, optical transforms of molecules in different orientations have to be combined, and some rules governing their combination are given. The discussion includes several examples of structures which have been determined by optical-transform methods. These methods require the presentation of the X -ray data in the form of a weighted reciprocal lattice, from which information can often be obtained directly. For several new structures such information as the separation of two similarly oriented molecules, or the orientation of hexagonal arrangements of atoms, has been deduced by considering the weighted reciprocal lattice alone. In some cases this led to the complete structure; in others it was a valuable supplement to the optical transform method. Despite the lack of quantitative accuracy, optical methods can be of use in refining approximate structures by ordinary Fourier methods. Examples are given of the determination of the relative phase angles of the reflexions of both centrosymmetric and non-centrosymmetric structures. The relationships between optical methods and more conventional methods of structure determination are discussed.


ABSTRACT The diagenetic histories of some Mississippian calcilutites from England and Wales are considered in the light of fabric criteria recently put forward by the author (1958). It is concluded that calcite-mudstone was, at the time of its cementation, a mud of discrete calcite crystals, only slightly finer-grained than the present mosaic. Whether the crystals had earlier inverted from aragonite it is impossible at present to say. Calcite-siltstones seem to have had a similar history, and evidence for cementation of original calcite crystals is to be seen is some examples. Criteria are presented for the distinction of mudstone aggregates (Bahamite "grains," faecal pellets, etc.) from relics of calcite-mudstone remaining after grain growth. Distinction is based on a study in thin section of the shapes of the finer-grained areas and their distribution, and of the fabrics of the intervening coarser mosaics. The fabrics of pseudobreccia are described in detail and are shown to be the result of patchily developed grain growth.


As this ever-evolving pandemic lays itself, more of its impact is being understood. Until recently, most guidelines were reported to aid in managing and treating suspected or confirmed cases. Research institutions around the world are responding with a sense of confusion. Some are continuing routinely, especially those who are overseeing clinical trials that could offer life-saving therapies, particularly against the novel coronavirus. Since research must continue even in the face of a shutdown, we aim to collate the currently available recommendations from various organizations and provide guidance to head and neck researchers across the world during these trying times.


The experimental observations demonstrate that different cell lines reveal various shape of dynamic curves for radiation-induced chromosomal instability (RICI). We analyzed our own and published data on RICI for three cell lines, CHO-K1, V79 and TK6, on the basis of the mechanistic RICI model. We demonstrate that all three dynamic curves can be successfully described by the proposed model with partially cell line specific parameters.


In this paper improvement in voltage sag by using GA optimized fuzzy controller is described. Dstatcom is the FACTS device used in voltage sag improvement. Genetic Algorithm(GA) is used to optimize the if then rules of the fuzzy controller. In this system a Dstatcom is placed in a three phase system to control the voltage sag. A fuzzy controller is designed to control the output of Dstatcom. The whole system is simulated using MATLAB Simulink. The fuzzy controlled Dstatcom output is compared with a PI controlled Dstatcom output. The system without Dstatcom is also simulated using MATLAB Simulink. The fuzzy controller rules are optimized using genetic algorithm and the results are also compared with other systems.


Background: In addition to airflow limitation, peripheral muscle dysfunction is a limiting factor in physical performance of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).Any measure to improve global muscle function in COPD patients such as vitamin D replacement seems to enhance exercise tolerance of these patients. Aim: The aim of present study was to study the effect of vitamin D replacement therapy on exercise tolerance of a group of stable COPD patients with vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency. Methods: It was an experimental, unblended open-label trial. A total number of 25 stable COPD patients were enrolled in the study in the period between March 2012 and OCT 2012 and received 50,000 IU vitamin D weekly for 4-8 weeks in addition to their standard medical therapy as before. They were also subdivided into two subgroups based on serum 25 hydroxy vitamin D,25(OH)D( <10 ng/ml and 10-30 ng/ml).Pulmonary function tests, six-minute walk distance test(6MWD) were measured at baseline and three months after the enrollment. Results: By the end of study, there was significant improvement in the distance walked during 6-minute walk test. This improvement was documented in both subgroups of patients. However, the perceived dyspnea during test did not differ from baseline value by the end of the study. Also, only patients with serum 25(OH) D, 10 -30 ng/ml showed the significant increase in their mean value of FEV1 by the end of the study. Conclusion: Vitamin D replacement therapy is an effective measure to improve exercise tolerance of stable COPD patients with vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency *Corresponding author: Dr. Mehrnaz Asadi Gharabaghi, Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran, Iran, Tel: +982161192646; E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Received May 28, 2013; Accepted August 12, 2013; Published August 14, 2013 Citation: Gharabaghi MA, Ghrabaghi MA, Arabi M, Anaraki MRZ, Deilami GD (2013) High Dose Vitamin D3 Improves Exercise Tolerance in Elderly Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. J Gerontol Geriat Res 2: 127. doi:10.4172/2167-7182.1000127 Copyright: © 2013 Gharabaghi MA, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.


Precision positioning is an essential basis for precision mechanical engineering, such as positioning for precision manufacture, or positioning control of robot arms. Due to the increasing demand for precision in the submicrometer range, precision positioning plays an important role for precision manufacture. In this investigation a nano-positioning stage is developed. With the positioning system, high precision positioning and large displacement range can be achieved simultaneously. Advantages of this developed system are positioning driver with single actuator, uncomplicated mechanical structure, low cost and lower hardware requirement. A laser interferometer is used for displacement measurements of the translation stage, and a mini-autocollimator serves as angle sensor for tilt angle measurements. The tilt angle can be minimized with piezo translators and control operations. By the displacement measurements of laser interferometer, the feedback control is performed for positioning in large travel range. High precision positioning in nanometer-order can be achieved with the positioning system. With this development, individual sensor modules are self-accomplished and dominating technologies for the complete nano-positioning system are established.


Departing Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Mark McClellan outlines the major initiatives of his sixteen-month tenure at the agency, including an expanded role for economic analysis in FDA policy, steps to promote "e-prescribing" and other information technologies, broadened use of external advisory panels to reduce political conflict between the agency and its various stakeholders, and an uncompromising stance against allowing U.S. citizens to reimport drugs from foreign sources. McClellan's policy interests and positions at the FDA may offer some insight into his approach to future policy positions at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.


Co-cultured subcloned LAK cell and human liver cancer cell (H7402) were fixed in situ for scanning electron microscopic and transmission electron microscopic examinations. The SEM and TEM findings gave a new evidence in answering how LAK cells kill the cancer cells. First, the activated killer cells recognized and made close contact with the target cell. Then some kind of lethal hit produced by intact killer cells was delivered, injuring the target cell, boring holes and pole-like tunnels on the cell surface or even penetrating into the cytoplasm of the cancer cells. Eventually, cell death in the manner of apoptosis and necrosis occurred as the end result of the damage to the cancer cell. These findings strongly support the idea that the death of the target cells is mediated by LAK cells.


Description: As the need for proficient power resources continues to grow, it is becoming increasingly important to implement new strategies and technologies in energy distribution to meet consumption needs. The employment of smart grid networks assists in the efficient allocation of energy resources. Smart Grid as a Solution for Renewable and Efficient Energy features emergent research and trends in energy consumption and management, as well as communication techniques utilized to monitor power transmission and usage. Readers: Emphasizing developments and challenges occurring in the field, this book is a critical resource for researchers and students concerned with signal processing, power demand management, energy storage procedures, and control techniques within smart grid networks.


Exercise at depth and during decompression is a commonly accepted factor that affects the risk of decompression sickness in divers and aviators, but data documenting these effects are limited and conflicting. The mechanisms may be complex and influenced by several factors, such as the type and nature of exercise, the temporal course of the exercise in relation to the decompression procedure, and the diving profile. This paper reviews previous studies in this field of research, and discusses current concepts in diving activities.


The desorption of molecules and molecular fragments adsorbed on solid metal surfaces stimulated by pulsed-laser radiation is the basic process involved in a variety of new techniques for the controlled modification of surface composition, for the analysis of adsorbed monolayers, and for fundamental investigations of the dynamics of molecule–surface interactions. In this short review we highlight the current status of the understanding of laser–solid surface and of laser–adsorbate interactions that lead to desorption and describe both the demonstrated and potential applications of laser-induced thermal desorption for studies of surface chemistry.


The prevalence of fatigue cracking in steel bridge girders due to out-of-plane web distortion motivates development of procedures to evaluate the effects of distortional fatigue. In a previous study sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) the frequency and magnitude of distortional stresses on a typical skewed, steel bridge with staggered, bent-plate diaphragms were assessed. The results revealed a diaphragm deformation mechanism that causes distortional fatigue in the girder web gap, leading to simple, accurate estimates of fatigue stress if bridge properties and differential vertical deflection between girders are known. In the present study, linear finite element models are used to represent composite steel bridges and identify bridge parameters that influence relative deflection of adjacent girders. Parameters found to have a significant effect on differential deflection include girder spacing, angle of skew, span length, and deck thickness. These results are incorporated in a simple procedure that is intended for use in management schemes for skewed, steel-girder bridges, with staggered, bent-plate diaphragms, susceptible to web gap distortional fatigue.


How should universities balance the requirements of teaching with those of scholarship? The consensus that scholarship counts first and teaching comes second has lost its hold, for in an academic world in which few publish (95 percent of publications come from 5 percent of the professors), insisting on the priority of scholarship rings hollow. The American college and university today must assess what difference scholarship makes to teaching and what teaching means to scholarship. Reaffirming Higher Education asks who teaches, what, to whom, and why. The authors maintain that what matters in higher learning is learning, while denying that scholarship detracts from teaching. Chapter 1 discusses who should teach in a university and touches upon such topics as tenure and teaching. Chapter 2 defines what universities should teach, and the mutuality of scholarship, research, and teaching. Chapter 3 answers who should go to college and why. Chapter 4 assesses the future of higher education in the American university and what is at stake on campus. William Scott Green places into perspective the authors' observations and ideals about higher education and what it means to make one's major field of study, the "major," into a primary path to a liberal education. In this intelligent and insightful volume, the authors outline reform and renewal for both' the institutional and personal dimensions of higher learning that would encompass the ideal of the academic ethic. This book should be read by all those who strive to make universities more humane, educators, parents, and students alike.


This paper shows that changes in market participants' fear of rare events implied by crude oil options contribute to oil price volatility and oil return predictability. Using 25 years of historical data, we document economically large tail risk premia that vary substantially over time and significantly forecast crude oil futures and spot returns. Oil futures prices increase (decrease) in the presence of upside (downside) fears in order to allow for smaller (larger) returns thereafter. This increase (decrease) is amplified for the spot price because of time varying-benefits from holding physical oil inventories that work in the same direction. We also provide support for view that that time variation in the relative importance of oil demand and supply shocks is an important determinant of oil price fluctuations and their interaction with aggregate outcomes. However, the option-implied tail risk premia are not spanned by traditional macroeconomic and oil market uncertainty measures, suggesting that time-varying oil price fears are an additional source of oil price volatility and predictability.


Background: Accumulating evidence suggests that necroptosis, or programmed necrotic cell death, may play a significant role in cancer. We evaluated the expression of key molecules in necroptosis and their association with clinical features and prognosis in NSCLC. Methods: A total of 253 NSCLC patients (96 squamous cell carcinoma [SCC] cases and 157 adenocarcinoma [AC] cases) who underwent curative resection were included. Tumor tissues and corresponding normal tissues were investigated for relative mRNA expression levels of RIPK1, RIPK3, and MLKL. Difference in disease free survival (DFS) was analyzed according to the expression levels of these molecules in tumor tissues. Results: NSCLC tissues had significantly lower expression of RIPK1, RIPK3, and MLKL than normal tissues (P = 1 x 10-4, P = 8 x 10-6, and P = 4 x 10-8, respectively). In subgroup analysis, SCCs had significantly lower RIPK1, RIPK3, and MLKL expression (P = 5 x 10-4, P = 3 x 10-15, P = 1 x 10-5, respectively), and ACs had significantly lower RIPK1 and MLKL expression (P = 0.01 and P = 6 x 10-4, respectively) than normal tissues. Low expression of RIPK1, RIPK3, and MLKL in tumors was associated with a worse DFS (HR = 1.71, P = 0.01; HR = 1.53, P = 0.04; and HR = 1.53, P = 0.04, respectively) in a multivariate analysis. In SCC, none of the RIPK1, RIPK3, and MLKL expression was significantly associated with DFS. However, in AC, low expression of RIPK1, RIPK3, and MLKL was significantly associated with worse DFS (HR = 1.67, P = 0.03; HR = 1.70, P = 0.03; and HR = 1.81, P = 0.02, respectively). Conclusions: Key regulatory genes in necroptosis, RIPK1, RIPK3, and MLKL, were downregulated in NSCLC, and their lower expression in NSCLC may be used to predict early recurrence after curative resection, especially in AC.


In flowering plants, ideal male reproductive development requires the systematic coordination of various processes, in which timely differentiation and degradation of the anther wall, especially the tapetum, is essential for both pollen formation and anther dehiscence. Here, we show that OsGPAT3, a conserved glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase gene, plays a critical role in regulating anther wall degradation and pollen exine formation. The gpat3-2 mutant had defective synthesis of Ubisch bodies, delayed programmed cell death (PCD) of the inner three anther layers, and abnormal degradation of micropores/pollen grains, resulting in failure of pollen maturation and complete male sterility. Complementation and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated 9 (Cas9) experiments demonstrated that OsGPAT3 is responsible for the male sterility phenotype. Furthermore, the expression level of tapetal PCD-related and nutrient metabolism-related genes changed significantly in the gpat3-2 anthers. Based on these genetic and cytological analyses, OsGPAT3 is proposed to coordinate the differentiation and degradation of the anther wall and pollen grains in addition to regulating lipid biosynthesis. This study provides insights for understanding the function of GPATs in regulating rice male reproductive development, and also lays a theoretical basis for hybrid rice breeding.


Introduction: Concurrent training or the simultaneous performance of several types of exercise (strength and endurance training), has more positive effects on body composition and cardiovascular system, than training with either mode alone The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of three different training regimes (endurance, resistance and concurrent) on the hormone (cortisol & testosterone), lipid (LDL, HDL, TG, TC), and inflammatory (TNF-α) indexes of previously untrained subjects. Materials and Methods: Twenty-nine sedentary men students (age 24.89±1.21yrs, height 175.87±6.52 cm, weight 68.44±5.50 kg) were randomly divided into the Endurance (E; n=10), Strength (S; n=9), and the Concurrent(C; n=10) groups. The training programs were performed for 10 weeks, 3 times per week in the three groups. Results: Body mass decreased in E group. Significant increases in squat and bench press exercises 1RM occurred after training in the S and C groups (P≤0.01). Training regimes produced no significant differences in plasma levels of TNF-α. Basal testosterone concentrations showed no significant changes in any group. In contrast, resting cortisol levels showed a significant increase in the S group only. Lipid profiles improved in all three groups. Conclusion: Our results indicate that strenght training leads to increase in the plasma levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokine (TNF-α) and cortisol in untrained men, immunomodulatory effects which may be related to the training load of the S training program. It appears that combining the E and S training (concurrent training), neutralized the single effects of this these training types. Concurrent training can also be used for normalization of lipid profiles.


Fill the holidays with joyous song! In the tradition of Chronicle Book's Classic Illustrated Edition of "The Night Before Christmas" comes another charming book to help you sing in the holidays. With illustrations garnered from one of the world's most extensive antique picture book collections, "The Glorious Christmas Songbook" features over 50 favorite songs, both contemporary and time-honored, from "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" to "Joy to the World." It is the perfect musical companion for the most glorious season of the year.


EEG of the frontal and parietal areas (F3, F4, Fz, P3, P4 according to the International 10-20 System) was recorded in 4 healthy subjects aged 20-25 years. The saccades were elicited by the shift of the light stimulus to the peripheral diodes (step or gap stimulation scheme). A complex fast event-related potential was evoked by the visual stimulation prior to the saccade onset. Amplitudes and topography of this potential depended on the saccade latency, stimulation scheme, spatial pattern of stimuli presentation and individual features of a subject. It is suggested that the early negative potentials reflect the processes of sensory processing of the stimuli spatial patterns and perceptive attention. The negative potentials with the intermediate latency may reflect the processes of activation of the cortical structures which participate in programming and triggering the saccades.


Ultrasound neuromodulation (UNM), where a region in the brain is targeted by focused ultrasound (FUS), which, in turn, causes excitation or inhibition of neural activity, has recently received considerable attention as a promising tool for neuroscience. Despite its great potential, several aspects of UNM are still unknown. An important question pertains to the off-target sensory effects of UNM and their dependence on stimulation frequency. To understand these effects, we have developed a finite-element model of a mouse, including elasticity and viscoelasticity, and used it to interrogate the response of mouse models to focused ultrasound (FUS). We find that, while some degree of focusing and magnification of the signal is achieved within the brain, the induced pressure-wave pattern is complex and delocalized. In addition, we find that the brain is largely insulated, or 'cloaked', from shear waves by the cranium and that the shear waves are largely carried away from the skull by the vertebral column, which acts as a waveguide. We find that, as expected, this waveguide mechanism is strongly frequency dependent, which may contribute to the frequency dependence of UNM effects. Our calculations further suggest that off-target skin locations experience displacements and stresses at levels that, while greatly attenuated from the source, could nevertheless induce sensory responses in the subject.


Background: Dissecting aneurysm (DA) of the proximal Middle Cerebral Artery (MCA) is uncommon, and there are only a few reports of ruptured M1 dissecting aneurysms. The M1 segment, which has numerous Lenticulostriate Arteries (LSAs), is difficult to treat with either direct clipping or endovascular therapy. Our report is the first to describe a ruptured M1 dissecting aneurysm that is successfully treated with trapping and external carotid artery-to-MCA bypass. Case Description: A 40-year-old woman presented with dissecting aneurysm of the right MCA, manifesting as subarachnoid hemorrhage. Right carotid arteriography revealed aneurysmal dilation of the proximal M1 segment, between the origin of the MCA and the origin of the anterior temporal artery. Rebleeding occurred on Day 4, and repeating the right carotid arteriography indicated enlargement of the M1 lesion and the bleb of the aneurysm. Surgery was performed on Day 5 to devascularize the DA of the M1 segment and revascularize the MCA area. High-flow bypass using saphenous vein grafting occurred prior to aneurysm trapping. Only the most medial of the LSAs was sacrificed and the postoperative course was uneventful. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a small infarction in the right lenticular nucleus. The patient was discharged without neurological deficits on Day 28. Conclusion: Trapping with high-flow bypass appears feasible for treatment of ruptured M1DA.


The new video coding standard, High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), was developed to succeed the current standard, H.264/AVC, as the state of the art in video compression. However, there is a lot of legacy content encoded with H.264/AVC. This paper proposes and evaluates several transcoding algorithms from the H.264/AVC to the HEVC format. In particular, a novel transcoding architecture, in which the first frames of the sequence are used to compute the parameters so that the transcoder can learn the mapping for that particular sequence, is proposed. Then, two types of mode mapping algorithms are proposed. In the first solution, a single H.264/AVC coding parameter is used to determine the outgoing HEVC partitions using dynamic thresholding. The second solution uses linear discriminant functions to map the incoming H.264/AVC coding parameters to the outgoing HEVC partitions. This paper contains experiments designed to study the impact of the number of frames used for training in the transcoder. Comparisons with existing transcoding solutions reveal that the proposed work results in lower rate-distortion loss at a competitive complexity performance.


An ambitious project in propulsion was introduced as part of the final-year integrator project offerings of the mechanical and aerospace engineering programs at Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal in 2011–2012. It has been running successfully for the past three academic years. The project consists in the design, fabrication and placement into service of a functional instrumented multi-stage compressor test rig, including the compressor, for research in compressor aerodynamics. A team of 15–17 senior-year undergraduate engineering students are given set of design and performance specifications and measurement requirements, an electric motor and drive, a data acquisition system and some measurement probes. They must complete the project in two semesters with a budget on the order of Can$15,000. The compressor is made from rapid prototyping to keep production cost and time reasonable. However, its required rotation speed of 7200 rpm stretches the limits of the plastic material and presents the same structural challenges as industrial compressors running at higher speeds.The students are split into sub-teams according to the required disciplines, namely compressor aerodynamics, general aerodynamics, structures, dynamics, mechanical design and integration, instrumentation and project management. For the initial phase, which covers the first two months, the students receive short seminars from experts in academia and industry in each discipline and use the knowledge from fundamental engineering courses to analytically model the different components to come up with a preliminary design. In the second phase, covering months three through six, the students are trained at commercial simulation tools and use them for detailed analysis to refine and finalize the design. In each of the first two phases, the students present their work in design reviews with a jury made up of engineers from industry and supervising professors. During the final phase, the compressor is built and tested with data acquisition and motor control programs written by the students. Finally, the students present their results with comparison of measured performance with numerical and analytical predictions from the first two phases and hand over their compressor rig with design and test reports as well as a user manual and an assembly/maintenance manual.This complete project allows the students to put into practice virtually all the courses of their undergraduate engineering curriculum while giving them an extensive taste of the rich and intellectually challenging environment of gas turbine and turbomachinery engineering.© 2015 ASME


This paper is concerned with delay-dependent stability analysis and stabilization problems for continuous-time Takagi and Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy systems with a time-varying delay. A new method for the delay-dependent stability analysis and stabilization is suggested, which is less conservative than other existing ones. First, based on a fuzzy Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional (LKF), a delay-dependent stability criterion is derived for the open-loop fuzzy systems. In the derivation process, some free fuzzy weighting matrices are introduced to express the relationships among the terms of the system equation, and among the terms in the Leibniz-Newton formula. Then, a delay-dependent stabilization condition based on the so-called parallel distributed compensation (PDC) scheme is worked out for the closed-loop fuzzy systems. The proposed stability criterion and stabilization condition are represented in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) and compared with the existing ones via two examples. Finally, application to control of a truck-trailer is also given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed design method.


Recently, neuroscience approach has revealed new findings in the mental disorder of schizophrenia, now clearly established as a brain disease, and affecting 1% of the world population. Its onset from 18-25 years cripples people in the most productive period of their lives with positive symptoms (thought disorder, delusions, hallucinations) and negative symptoms (poor social relationships and self care) . In this article, the author has overviewed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in patients with schizophrenia. Recent MRI studies show it is characterized in MRI by loss of brain gray matter (neuropil, not cells), some of which occurs before full symptom onset and some of which progresses in the 1-2 years after onset. This is most prominent in some neocortical regions and is associated with worsening of symptoms. To understand the pathophysiologic basis, neuroscience efforts and collaborations between neurologists and psychiatrists will be important.


We study the angular dynamics of small non-spherical particles settling in a turbulent flow, such as ice crystals in clouds, aggregates of organic material in the oceans, or fibres settling in turbulent pipe flow. Most solid particles encountered in Nature are not spherical, and their orientations affect their settling speeds, as well as their collision and aggregation rates in suspensions. Whereas the random action of turbulent eddies favours an isotropic distribution of orientations, gravitational settling breaks the rotational symmetry. The precise nature of the symmetry breaking, however, is subtle. We demonstrate here that the fluid-inertia torque plays a dominant role in the problem. As a consequence rod-like particles tend to settle in turbulence with horizontal orientation, the more so the larger the settling number Sv (a dimensionless measure of the settling speed). For large Sv we determine the fluctuations around this preferential horizontal orientation for prolate particles with arbitrary aspect ratios, assuming small Stokes number St (a dimensionless measure of particle inertia). Our theory is based on a statistical model representing the turbulent velocity fluctuations by Gaussian random functions. This overdamped theory predicts that the orientation distribution is very narrow at large Sv , with a variance proportional to Sv − 4 . By considering the role of particle inertia, we analyse the limitations of the overdamped theory, and determine its range of applicability. Our predictions are in excellent agreement with numerical simulations of simplified models of turbulent flows. Finally we contrast our results with those of an alternative theory predicting that the orientation variance is proportional to Sv − 2 at large Sv .


The assimilation of high-quality in situ data into ocean models is known to lead to imbalanced analyses and spurious circulations when the model dynamics or the forcing contain systematic errors. Use of a bias estimation and correction scheme has been shown to significantly improve the balance of the analysed states in such cases. Given the large impact of zonal wind stress bias on the tropical ocean circulation we propose to estimate directly a bias in the forcing rather than in the model state vector. The bias scheme introduced by Dee and Da Silva is modified for use with the Ensemble Kalman Filter and approximate schemes are derived to achieve computational savings. Twin experiments show that for this particular application these simplified schemes efficiently reproduce the bias. The bias in the wind stress can be completely reconstructed sequentially, also when it is slowly evolving in time, leading to well-balanced analyses and unbiased forecasts. In particular the correct recovery of the amplitude of the wind stress bias is found to be important. We additionally investigate the use and correction of a mean sea level climatology in the context of forcing bias estimation and suggest an alternative approach based on the ensemble mean sea level.


Since the 1900s, Canada has heavily relied on foreign domestic workers. This program has evolved over the years into what is currently known as the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP). It is rooted in our colonial history and has reproduced power imbalances between employers and caregivers. Challenging dominance is a difficult task given that immigration policies perpetuate inequalities through the denial of social, economic and political rights to caregivers. I selected this topic based on my experiences as a live-in caregiver with this program. This study uses anti-colonialism and feminist thought to examine the experiences of three former LCP workers. Through narrative interviewing, the findings indicate that the live-in requirement of the LCP has contributed to the abuse, exploitation and marginalization of these caregivers. The study concludes with a discussion of the ways in which the structure of the program can be modified to prevent further exploitation and human rights violations.


Mouse BC3H1 myoblasts were stably transfected with the adenovirus 5 E1A gene. One clonal line, BC3E7, was found to differ in some important respects from those previously reported for E1A-transformed myoblasts. In contrast to BC3H1 cells which differentiate when confluent in medium containing 0.5% fetal calf serum (FCS), BC3E7 cells failed to elongate and align, to express acetylcholine receptor and creatine kinase, and to down-regulate expression of beta- and gamma-actins and tropomyosin isoform (TM) 1. However, increased synthesis of TMs 2, 3, and 4, and myosin light chain 1 associated with differentiation in BC3H1 still occurred in BC3E7 cells, and most surprisingly, alpha-actin was produced at a significant level in both proliferating and confluent BC3E7 cells. Interestingly, myogenin was expressed in confluent BC3E7 cells in 0.5% FCS, but not in 20%. The level of E1A expression in BC3E7 cells was found to be very low by analysis of mRNA, by immunoprecipitation of E1A protein, and by the ability of BC3E7 cells to complement the E1A-deficient adenovirus mutant dl312. These results suggest that different levels of E1A may be needed to repress different promoters and that E1A does not block myogenic differentiation by repressing myogenin expression, but represses each muscle gene independently.