Background/aims: B-scan ultrasonography is an invaluable, versatile, non-invasive tool in ophthalmology. Recently, a "high frequency" contact 20 MHz probe has been introduced. B-scanning ultrasonography of orbital and ocular structures was performed with both a 10 MHz and the new 20 MHz probe, to evaluate what information was best obtained from each probe, and provide recommendations for the use of each. Methods: Patients were selected from routine ultrasound clinics at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary between 1 January 2002 and 1 August 2002. The vitreous, retina, choroid, sclera and, in the orbit, the extraocular muscles, optic nerve, and orbital fat were assessed with both the 10 MHz and 20 MHz probes. In the laboratory, using a "point target," the characteristics of the ultrasound beam at different distances from the probe were also assessed. Results: The point target showed that focus was deeper and that the lateral, and to a lesser degree the axial, resolution are sharper with the 20 MHz probe, compared with the 10 MHz probe. In patients' eyes, highly reflective structures are seen at higher resolution with the 20 MHz probe. Imaging of lower intensity reflectors such as the vitreous and particles within it are seen better with the 10 MHz probe. Increased tissue attenuation was evident with the 20 MHz probe. Conclusion: The 20 MHz probe has a superior resolution and can be used to better detect details at the posterior pole and in the orbit. The 10 MHz probe can be used to examine low intensity scatterers, such as the vitreous humour, that cannot be seen using a higher frequency probe.


This presentation introduces a research plan about Antarctic ice sheet and climate, and their interactions. The plan aims at revealing the Antarctic ice sheet climate in terms of their status, variability and interactions in the present and past. Emphases will be laid on (1) analyses and proxy developments for reconstructing the past temperature, accumulation rate, sea ice and carbon cycle, as well as (2) modern observations of the ice sheet margin and ocean.


Introduction: Moral distress is one of the issues considered in the educational environment. That it can affect the physical, psychological, and social dimensions of individuals and access to ethical and educational goals. This study aimed to investigate the moral distress in operating room technologist students of Iran University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This cross‑sectional study was performed on Iran University of Medical Sciences' operating room technologist students in 2017. Data were collected with two questionnaires, including demographic information and a moral distress questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS software using an independent t‑test and one‑way ANOVA (P < 0.05). Results: In this study, 121 operating room technologist students participated. The mean score of moral distress in the scores' severity and frequency dimensions was (3.5 ± 1.76) and (3.11 ± 1.6), respectively. The results showed that only age and semester had a significant relationship with the total score of moral distress, and with increasing age and semester, students' moral pain has decreased. Conclusions: This study's results indicated that the moral distress in operating room technologist students was moderate, which requires investigating the factors involved in creating moral distress and providing strategies and measures to reduce its adverse effects in the educational setting. of


The model for spectrum transformation in the auditory analyser consists of three layers: that of filters whose parameters imitate the masking curves; that of non-linear transformers, the non-linearity parameters being chosen in such a way that the calculation results would correspond to the basic regularities of perception of stationary signal loudness; that of lateral inhibition. The weight function parameters of the latter were chosen according to a psychoacoustical experiment. By means of such a model the formant structure of the sound can be distinguished in a synthetic speech-like signal; at low frequencies to 1000 Hz besides formants the first harmonics are distinguished.


The main epidemiological findings that were associated with oedema disease of swine were recent weaning (8-14 days), mixing of piglets from different litters, change of feed and ad libitum feeding with concentrates after weaning and high fatality rate (70%-100%) even with treatment. The consistent clinical history was sudden death of healthy piglets after weaning. The clinical manifestation was combination of the following; anorexia, staggering gait, oedema of the eyelids, dropping edematous ears, hoarse sound, tremors, paralysis and recumbency. Marked dyspnea and bluish red discoloration in some cases. The main microscopic findings were subcutaneous oedema of the head, submucosa of the stomach wall, mesentery of the spiral colon and the brain and the meninges characterized by cloudy appearance, lung congestion, edema, consolidation and collapse and excessive fluid in the serous cavities. In animals that had died suddenly there were no gross lesions at necropsy. Microscopically the main lesions in all the animals were edema in the predilection sites, interstitial pneumonia of varying degrees of severity and non-suppurative ventricular encephalitis. The histopathological lesions in the lung and the brain tissues were suggestive of a viral involvement in addition to normal E. coli toxemia. Consequently it was concluded that the etiopathogenesis of these cases of oedema disease of swine could have also involved a virus in addition to the normal E.coli toxaemia. The Kenya Veterinarian Vol. 22 2001: pp. 79-81


This book, designed to help doctoral students carry out and complete a successful dissertation, offers a motivational guide to assist in every step of the process. The authors offer a view of the dissertation process which takes students through the doctoral proposal to the formal defence of the dissertation, and which goes beyond the academic by addressing the emotional and mental stress engendered by the process itself.


AbstractThe purpose of this research is to increase buying interest online, especially buying and selling groups online. Social media is an investment for the present, as the world of technology continues to develop, this will affect the business world. Recently there have been a lot of entrepreneurs selling their goods in online buying and selling groups, in this study using electronic word of mouth, vendor trust and merchant product trust to influence significantly the buying interest in the group online buying and selling, so that it can be a reference for entrepreneurs who sell their trade in online buying and selling groups to pay attention to ewom, vendor trust and merchant product trust. This study found that vendor trust has an effect on online group buying intention to perfome, the conclusion is that vendor trust has a significant positive effect on the impact on customers' intention to engage in online group buying in Indonesia.


....................................................................................................................................................................III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................................................... IV TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................................................................... VI LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................................................................VIII LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................................................................X LIST OF EQUATIONS ................................................................................................................................................. XI


PURPOSE
the study aimed to compare the quality of life (QOL) and radiotherapy complications among Chinese nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients at different 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) stages adjusting for other variables.

METHODS
511 NPC patients at different 3DCRT stages were enrolled. They were interviewed regarding SF-36, complications and socio-demographic variables and cancer- or treatment- related variables. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) based on SF-36, complications scores as dependent variables, 3DCRT stages as independent variables, and other variables as covariate were established.

RESULTS
The influencing factors of PCS included 3DCRT stages and age group. The influencing factors of MCS included 3DCRT stages and income. Most QOL scores of NPC patients were significantly associated with 3DCRT stage, after accounting for other variables. QOL scores of the patients receiving 3DCRT were the lowest, QOL scores of people after 3DCRT gradually increased. PCS scores of people greater than 5 years after 3DCRT was improved to or even better than the level before 3DCRT. The complications with significantly different scores of patients at different 3DCRT status included xerostomia, throat ache, hypogeusia, caries, hearing loss, snuffles.

CONCLUSIONS
Clinicians should pay more attention to older NPC patients and patients with lower income. When patients receive 3DCRT, measures should be taken to reduce radiation injury to improve the patients' QOL.


1. Understanding the consequences of spatial structure on ecological dynamics is a central theme in ecology. Recently, research has recognised the relevance of river and river-analogue network structures, because these systems are not only highly diverse but also rapidly changing due to habitat modifications or species invasions.
2. Much of the previous work on ecological and evolutionary dynamics in metapop- ulations and metacommunities in dendritic river networks has been either using comparative approaches or was purely theoretical. However, the use of micro- cosm experiments provides the unique opportunity to study large-scale questions in a causal and experimental framework.
3. We conducted replicated microcosm experiments, in which we manipulated the spatially explicit network configuration of a landscape and addressed how linear versus dendritic connectivity affects population dynamics, specifically the spatial distribution of population densities, and movement behaviour of the protist model organism Tetrahymena pyriformis. We tracked population densities and individual-level movement behaviour of thousands of individuals over time.
4. At the end of the experiment, we found more variable population densities between patches in dendritic networks compared to linear networks, as pre- dicted by theory. Specifically, in dendritic networks, population densities were higher at nodes that connected to headwaters compared to the headwaters themselves and to more central nodes in the network. These differences follow theoretical predictions and emerged from the different network topologies per se. These differences in population densities emerged despite weakly density- dependent movement.
5. We show that differences in network structure alone can cause characteristic spatial variation in population densities. While such differences have been postu- lated by theoretical work and are the underlying precondition for differential dis- persal evolution in heterogeneous networks, our results may be the first experimental demonstration thereof. Furthermore, these population-level dynam- ics may affect extinction risks and can upscale to previously shown metacommu- nity level diversity dynamics. Given that many species in natural river systems exhibit strong spatiotemporal patterns in population densities, our work suggests that abundance patterns should not only be addressed from a local environmental perspective, but may be the outcome of processes that are inher- ently driven by the respective habitat network structure.


For each fixed prime p $4 5, we prove Leopoldt's conjecture in two infinite families of fields of degree five whose normal closure has Galois group over the rationals isomorphic to S5. The units of these fields were determined by Maus [4]; we develop and apply a simple reformulation of Leopoldt's conjecture to obtain the result. We also observe that Leopoldt's conjecture in one field can imply the same in a second field related by congruence conditions.


The aim of this study was the construction of a tool in order to know people opinion about mental health, illness and care in this area. We constructed and validated a Scale of opinion measurement, formed by 56 affirmations about mental health, illness and care in which the subjects demonstrated their agreement to the expressed content. The 5 stages of the scale construction involve the formulation of the statements and respective improvement of the affirmations content, understanding and the distribution of items in the Scale before the validation procedure. The definitive tool was applied in a sample of 250 subjects (patients, family members and health professionals). Data were quantitatively analyzed with non parametric proves and qualitatively analyzed through comparisons among groups, by categories.


A large number of coverage criteria to generate tests from logical expressions have been proposed. Although there have been large variations in the terminology, the articulation of the criteria and the original source of the expressions, many of these criteria are fundamentally the same. The most commonly known and widely used criterion is that of modified condition decision coverage (MCDC), but some articulations of MCDC have had some ambiguities. This has led to confusion on the part of testers, students, and tool developers on how best to implement these test criteria. This paper presents a complete comprehensive set of criteria that incorporate all the existing criteria, and eliminates the ambiguities by introducing precise definitions of the various possibilities.


Youth unemployment is a major concern to various different countries, including South Africa, which ranked fourth-worst in the global youth unemployment ratings in 2013 and 2014reaching rates of more than 50 percent. Entrepreneurship development and increased employability through appropriate skills development have been considered as possible solutions to this growing problem. The aim of this study is to determine perceptions of students pertaining their entrepreneurial outlook and perceived employability. Validated Entrepreneurship- and Employability Scales were used to determine entrepreneurial outlook and perceived employability perception. A total of 293 students from a South African University participated in this study. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, histograms, Pearson correlation, MANOVA and ANOVA. The findingsof this studyshow that student'sperceptions indicated that if they haveamore entrepreneurial outlook, it could strongly increase their employability. They also do not think that after the completion of their degrees that they would be more employable. A significance difference was found between year level of study, race, age, and perception of entrepreneurial outlook and employability variables of the students.They seem to have a realistic view when it comes to the risk of possible unemployment for some time after graduation. Based on these findings, it is suggested that introducing entrepreneurship training and employability programs (skills development) to students during the completion of their higher education career, could assist in the reduction of youth unemployment in South Africa.


Pesticides are used in intensive farming to help fight plant pests and diseases (insecticides, fungicides), kill weeds (herbicides), as well as accelerate the growth of seeds (defoliants), but until 1992 pesticides were kept in improperly equipped warehouses, there was no maintenance or accounting of the pesticides. Consequently, the environment of the warehouse was often polluted. Such sources of pollution are hazardous to the environment. Economic activities in the area have been carried out from 1980 to 1994. Various agricultural chemicals have been stored and used there. Later, in 1997, chemicals (fertilizers and plant protection chemicals) stored in the territory of the warehouse have been collected and removed from the territory. During the inventory of 2009, no chemical substances were found in the territory. In 2010, an investigation carried out in the territory of the pesticide warehouse revealed unacceptable levels of pollution in the soil and the groundwater by pesticides and other toxic and neutral chemicals.  In 2012, the polluted territory was cleaned eliminating the remains of buildings, and removing the soil polluted by the pesticides. The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of the territory of the former pesticide warehouse in Kaunas District Municipality, Bubių Village on the groundwater during the period from 2012 to 2016. The results have shown that the groundwater is mostly polluted with nitrogen compounds, as well as the tendency in increase of chlorides, sodium, and calcium. Minimum and unchanging concentrations of the pesticides (DDD, DDE, DDT) were determined throughout the investigation. Keywords: concentrations , groundwater, pesticides Article DOI: http://doi.org/10.15544/RD.2017.097


We introduce a new method for transforming chemical systems into desired logical operators (e.g. NAND gates) or similar signal-manipulation components. The method is based upon open-loop dynamic regulation, where external conditions such as feed-rate, lighting conditions, etc., are modulated according to a prescribed temporal sequence that is independent of the input to the network. The method is first introduced using a simple didactic model. We then show its application in transforming a well-stirred cubic autocatalytic reaction (often referred to as the Selkov–Gray–Scott model) into a logical NAND gate. We also comment on the applicability of the method to biological and other systems.


SUMMARY: A strain of Pseudomonas whose motility could be activated under anaerobic conditions by arginine was shown to decompose arginine to ornithine by enzymic reactions involving citrulline and adenosine phosphates. The enzymes were readily separable from the particulate cell fractions and were not associated with the external flagellar apparatus. Citrulline also activated anaerobic motility but only after a period of pre-aeration or subsequent to its aerobic intracellular synthesis from ornithine. Permeability experiments suggested strongly that the cells of the pseudomonad were more permeable to arginine and citrulline under aerobic than anaerobic conditions. The promotion of motility by citrulline and the dependence of arginine-activated motility on the activity of the arginine dihydrolase system indicate that arginine acts as a direct source of energy for motility.


Upon seed imbibition, abscisic acid (ABA) levels decrease to allow embryos to germinate and develop into seedlings. However, under abiotic stress conditions, ABA levels remain high, and growth and development are arrested. Several transcription factors, including abscisic acid-insensitive (ABI)3 and ABI5, are known to control this developmental checkpoint. Here, we show that, in germinating Arabidopsis thaliana seeds, ABA induces the accumulation of microRNA 159 (miR159) in an ABI3-dependent fashion, and miRNA159 mediates cleavage of MYB101 and MYB33 transcripts in vitro and in vivo. The two MYB transcription factors function as positive regulators of ABA responses, as null mutants of myb33 and myb101 show hyposensitivity to the hormone. Consistent with this, miR159 over-expression suppresses MYB33 and MYB101 transcript levels and renders plants hyposensitive to ABA, whereas transgenic plants over-expressing cleavage-resistant forms of MYB33 and MYB101 are hypersensitive, as are plants over-expressing the Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) P1/HC-Pro viral protein that is known to inhibit miRNA function. Our results suggest that ABA-induced accumulation of miR159 is a homeostatic mechanism to direct MYB33 and MYB101 transcript degradation to desensitize hormone signaling during seedling stress responses.


Undergraduate research experiences are critical for the talent development of the STEM research workforce, and research mentors play an influential role in this process. Given the many life science majors seeking research experiences at universities, graduate and postdoctoral researchers (i.e., postgraduates) provide much of the daily mentoring of undergraduate researchers. Yet, there remains little research on how postgraduates contribute to talent development among undergraduate researchers. To begin to address this knowledge gap, we conducted an exploratory study of the experiences of 32 postgraduates who mentored life science undergraduate researchers. We identified four factors that they perceived as enabling undergraduate researcher talent development: undergraduate researcher characteristics, research project characteristics, and mentoring implementation as well as outcomes for both the postgraduate and undergraduate. We then describe a team‐based approach to postgraduate mentoring of undergraduate researchers that attends to these factors to provide an example that practitioners can adapt or adopt for their own research groups.


The use of fibre reinforced plastics – FRP's – in structures is under a considerable increase. Advantages of their use are related with their low weight, high strength and stiffness. The improvement of the dynamic characteristics has been profitable for aeronautics, automobile, railway, naval and sporting goods industries. Drilling is a widely used machining technique as it is needed to assemble parts in a structure. This is a unique machining process, characterized by the existence of two different mechanisms: extrusion by the drill chisel edge and cutting by the rotating cutting lips. Drilling raises particular problems that can reduce mechanical and fatigue strength of the parts. In this work, quasi-isotropic hybrid laminates with 25% of carbon fibre reinforced plies and 4 mm thickness are produced, tested and drilled. Three different drill geometries are compared. Results considered are the interlaminar fracture toughness in Mode I – GIc –, thrust force during drilling and delamination extent after drilling. A bearing test is performed to evaluate tool influence on the load carrying capacity of the plate. Results consider the influence of drill geometry on delamination. A correlation linking plate damage to bearing test results is presented.


Objective. A comparative investigation of glycosphingolipids and phospholipids of cultured skin fibroblasts from healthy donors and patients with progressive systemic sclerosis (SSc) was performed. Methods. Culture techniques, qualitative and quantitative lipid analyses, determination of neuraminidase activity, and immunofluoresence microscopy were used. Results. The quantitative content of individual phospholipids in the fibroblasts of SSc patients (PF) was equally elevated, on the average 2.8 times in comparison with the fibroblasts of healthy donors (DF). The total content of neutral glycosphingolipids was slightly elevated only because of a 1.5-fold increase of monoglucosylceramide in PF. A decrease in the amount of the gangliosides GM3 and GM1 and the absence of the disialogangliosides in PF in comparison with DF, were demonstrated. Immunofluorescent assay also showed a decrease of ganglioside epitopes on the cellular surface of PF in comparison with DF. The GM3-neuraminidase activity of PF homogenates was increased two-fold in comparison to normal values. Conclusions. These results are discussed in connection with abnormalities in membrane receptor functions, alterations in the cell phenotype and AMP-cyclase system activity, as well as hyperproduction of extracellular matrix proteins by PF.


I report on teacher change in the context of a reading strategy instruction intervention. Reading Strategy Instruction (RSI) was implemented by three teachers, new to the concept, over a period of 15 weeks. Observations of these teachers showed that a multitude of factors affect the uptake of RSI as part of everyday teaching practice, and that teachers seem to move through distinct phases in their uptake of RSI. The article focuses on teachers' reaction to RSI and highlights a number of issues that are important to the implementation of RSI, not the least of which is that a clear need exists for changes to in-service teacher training and support and pre-service teacher training. In an effort to address these training issues the article contains specific recommendations for pre-service teacher training in particular.


We tested the effect of high-Ca2+ diet on blood pressure and responses of mesenteric arterial rings in vitro in established deoxycorticosterone (DOC)-NaCl hypertension. Ca2+ supplementation (2.5%) of Wistar rats, which was commenced 8 wk after initiation of DOC-NaCl treatment (Ca(2+)-DOC group), reversed the development of hypertension, whereas in animals ingesting a normal diet (1.1% Ca2+; DOC group) blood pressure continued to rise until the end of the 12-wk study. In norepinephrine-precontracted arterial rings, relaxations to acetylcholine (ACh) and sodium nitroprusside were attenuated in the DOC group, but these responses were significantly improved by Ca2+ supplementation. The nitric oxide (NO) synthesis inhibitor NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester, in the presence of diclofenac, totally abolished ACh-induced relaxations in the DOC group but only attenuated them in the Ca(2+)-DOC group. The remaining relaxation was further inhibited by apamin, an inhibitor of Ca(2+)-activated K+ channels, and practically abolished after blockade of ATP-dependent K+ channels by glyburide. Interestingly, when endothelium-dependent hyperpolarization was prevented using precontractions induced by KCl, no differences were found in relaxations to ACh between the groups. In conclusion, high-Ca(2+) diet effectively reduced blood pressure in DOC-NaCl hypertension and concomitantly enhanced arterial relaxation. Because the relaxations to ACh in the Ca(2+)-DOC group were augmented in the absence and presence of NO synthesis inhibition but not under conditions of prevented hyperpolarization, these enhanced relaxations could be attributed to promoted endothelium-dependent hyperpolarization in the Ca(2+)-supplemented animals.


A well-constructed questionnaire was used to obtain data from livestock farmers through an interview schedule (n = 220) in five local government areas in Ogbomoso, Southwest Nigeria. This study assesses the characteristics of the livestock farmers, type of livestock kept, type of feed used, energy feedstuffs used in feed compounding, quantity of feed used daily, level of awareness of cassava peel utilization as livestock feedstuff, factors affecting the utilization of the identified potential energy feedstuff and constraints to the use of cassava peel as livestock feedstuffs. The survey results revealed that the respondents were mostly part time livestock farmers, middle aged men with less than 10 years farming experience, who kept majorly poultry and pigs amongst other livestock such as goat, sheep and mini-livestock. Compounded rations were commonly used with maize as the main energy feedstuff and the quantity of feed used daily indicated that they were small-scale farmers. Majority of the respondents were aware of the potential use of cassava peel as livestock feedstuff but indicated that availability of maize and sorghum, nutrient quality and seasonality influenced their utilization while ease of use and cost were factors also considered in Ogbomoso south and Ogo Oluwa for the use of sorghum. Cost and quantity were not of serious concern for use of whole cassava in livestock feed but storability, availability and seasonality were the major factors affecting its use as energy feedstuff while nutrient quality and rate of spoilage were constraints for the use of cassava peel. It can therefore be recommended that agricultural extensionist should work together with livestock nutritionists and reorient the farmers with available research outputs that had addressed the constraints of cassava peel usage for it to compete with maize as an energy feedstuff.


Design of interconnection networks is an important
integral part of the parallel processing or distributed systems.
There are a large number of topological choices for interconnection
networks. Among several choices, the Shuffle Exchange
Network is one of the most popular versatile and efficient
topological structures of interconnection networks. In this
paper, we have given a new method of drawing shuffle exchange
network for any dimension. This has enabled us to investigate
some of the topological properties of shuffleexchange
network.


This paper focuses on how Jean Pillot, author of the most popular French grammar of the sixteenth century in terms of editions, took efforts to contrast his native language with Greek. His Gallicæ linguæ institutio (1550/ 1561), although written in Latin, contains numerous passages where Pillot subtly confronted French with Greek, surveyed in Section 2, in order to give his audience of educated German speakers a clearer view of the idiosyn-crasies of French. In Section 3, I analyze why he preferred Greek to the other languages he knew in quite a number of cases, arguing that this subtle contrastive endeavor bore an indirect pedagogical and ideological load. Section 4 discusses the terminological means Pillot used to confront Greek with French, and their origins. In Section 5, I frame Pillot's appropriation of Greek grammar in the long history of contrastive language studies, with special reference to the pivotal role of sixteenth-century linguistic analysis.


Acoustic telemetry showed that stomach temperature from large bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus, held in an impoundment, changes markedly during feeding. The stomach cools rapidly on ingesting cold food. It then warms to a maximum of 10–15 °C above water temperature over a period of 12–20 h. Temperature decreases slowly over the next 20–30 h to a final state where it remains 3–6 °C above water temperature. The viscera are thermally isolated. Conductive heat losses are reduced by an overlying gas bladder and by the thick fatty muscle of the body wall. Convective heat losses are prevented by heat exchangers in the circulation. The temperature rise can be accounted for by heat released in the hydrolytic processes of digestion and by an increase in metabolic rate. The elevated temperatures should speed digestion and allow the tuna to feed frequently when food is abundant.


Two populations from the crosses DOR 364 x XAN 176 and DOR 364 x WBB-20-1 were tested in the field in the F 3 and F 4  generations and under greenhouse conditions in the F 5  generation to determine the effectiveness of selection for resistance to Xanthomonas campestris pv phaseoli (Xcp) in early generations and to estimate the heritability (h2) of foliage resistance to Xcp. The study was conducted at the Isabela Substation of the University of Puerto Rico in 1991. Significant differences among lines for Xcp reaction were observed in the three generations evaluated.The parents, XAN 176 and WBB-20-1, showed more resistance to Xcp than DOR 364. The h2 of the resistance to Xcp in the leaves was intermediate to high (> 0.60) for the DOR 364 x XAN 176 population. In the DOR 364 x WBB-20-1 population, however, the h2 was low (0.30) in the F 3  generation, and intermediate to high (> 0.60) in the F 4 and F 5  generations. Evaluation in the F 3  generation requires at least three replications to have adequate precision to detect differences among lines. Selection in the F 4  generation was more effective because of higher heritabilities.The evaluation of the disease on the basis of a 1 to 9 scale was better than estimates of the percentage of leaf area infected because there was less variation among generations. In addition, variances among groups of lines were more homogeneous.


Leaks in water distribution networks (WDNs) are one of the main reasons for water loss during fluid transportation. Considering the worldwide problem of water scarcity, added to the challenges that a growing population brings, minimizing water losses through leak detection and localization, timely and efficiently using advanced techniques is an urgent humanitarian need. There are numerous methods being used to localize water leaks in WDNs through constructing hydraulic models or analyzing flow/pressure deviations between the observed data and the estimated values. However, from the application perspective, it is very practical to implement an approach which does not rely too much on measurements and complex models with reasonable computation demand. Under this context, this paper presents a novel method for leak localization which uses a data-driven approach based on limit pressure measurements in WDNs with two stages included: (1) Two different machine learning classifiers based on linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and neural networks (NNET) are developed to determine the probabilities of each node having a leak inside a WDN; (2) Bayesian temporal reasoning is applied afterwards to rescale the probabilities of each possible leak location at each time step after a leak is detected, with the aim of improving the localization accuracy. As an initial illustration, the hypothetical benchmark Hanoi district metered area (DMA) is used as the case study to test the performance of the proposed approach. Using the fitting accuracy and average topological distance (ATD) as performance indicators, the preliminary results reaches more than 80% accuracy in the best cases.


As of October 1989, over 560 patients with end-stage heart disease have received heart transplants at Stanford. In addition, 70 patients have received heart-lung transplants (H-L Tx) and 5 patients received single-lung transplants for end-stage pulmonary disease. Cyclosporine A (CsA) significantly improved survival, especially during the first posttransplant year. All patients now receive maintenance CsA, prednisone (P), and azathioprine (AZA). Fourteen-day prophylactic OKT3 significantly reduces early rejection after heart transplantation. One-year survival for cardiac transplants is 82% using CsA and 73% for our recent H-L Tx group. All 5 patients are alive after single-lung transplantation. Children with heart transplants and patients bridged to transplant with a Novacor ventricular assist system have a 1-year survival rate similar to routine heart transplant patients. Beyond the first year, heart transplant mortality continues at 5% per year. Transplant coronary artery disease (Tx CAD) accounts for 33% of the mortality, and other patients require retransplantation for Tx CAD. Cytomegalovirus contributes to the development of TX CAD and antiviral agents are being used for the early treatment of CMV infections. Cytomegalovirus is also thought to contribute to obliterative bronchiolitis (OB), the late complication that threatens H-L Tx patients. Surveillance bronchoscopy and pulmonary function tests can be used to detect early lung infection and rejection. Hopefully this will lead to improved late graft function. Future immunosuppressive efforts will be directed toward decreasing the morbidity and mortality after the first year in both heart and lung transplant patients.


[reaction: see text] A new, very efficient, enantioselective synthesis of the sexual attracting insect pheromone (+)-grandisol has been developed, in which the key step is the double [2 + 2] photocycloaddition of ethylene to a bis(alpha,beta-butenolide) readily available from D-mannitol. The C2 symmetry of the substrate and the appropriate protection of the central diol unit are the crucial features for the high diastereofacial discrimination during the cycloaddition process.


With Tinker nearing its golden anniversary, the Supreme Court has gifted the ruling with a possible continued relevance regarding its applicability in today's off-campus student-speech world. As a result, both schools and lower courts continue to struggle with how to balance off-campus student speech with the problems it can cause on campus.
This Article suggests for the first time that much of the confusion can be eliminated by utilizing a framework for analyzing off-campus student speech based on the well-rooted doctrine of premises liability coupled with relevant portions of Tinker and Bell.
This approach calls for an emphasis based on the identity of the speech target. Such an approach not only ensures essential protections to student speech, but also safeguards the institution of education through protecting the most important aspects of the school environment: teachers and students.


Image segmentation and an interest operator are combined to identify characteristic regions that are likely to correspond to parts of buildings. A set of general purpose shape descriptors are calculated and each region is assigned a classification probability. The shape attributes of classes relating to buildings and non-buildings are represented by a set of training shapes, from which these probabilities are derived. The classification probabilities are used by our high-level vision system which fuses several sources of information to interpret the scene.


Professor Robert Masterson lives and works in the megalopolis of New York City, but spent his formative years in the American West, growing up and going to school in Colorado and New Mexico. First published at age 19, Masterson has written award-winning fiction, journalism, and creative nonfiction steadily ever since. His books of poetry and short prose, Trial by Water (1982), Artificial Rats & Electric Cats (2008), and Garnish Trouble (2011), have become collector's items. Masterson's work as a lecturer, a writer, and a teacher has taken him around the world, and his work appears in numerous anthologies, journals, magazines, newspapers, and on websites across the Internet. He is a professor of English at the City University of New York's BMCC campus and divides his time between New York, New Mexico, and travel. Dr Ajit Kumar interviewed Professor Masterson about his different literary books and many other less shared facts of his life.


Beneficial owner is one of the most important concepts used in tax treaties. It limits the benefit of treaty-reduced withholding taxes on dividends, interest and royalties to recipients who are beneficial owners of such income. The term has been adopted in most bilateral tax treaties, but defined in none. Its meaning is thus left to be interpreted under Art. 3(2) of the OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital (the Model). Because the term has no specific meaning in the domestic tax law of most countries, the way in which domestic courts should interpret this treaty-originated concept has been the subject of much scholarly debate.


Three main views of the primate motor cortex have been proposed over the 140 years of its study. These views are not necessarily incompatible. In the homunculus view, the motor cortex functions as a rough map of the body's musculature. In the populationcode view, populations of broadlytuned neurons combine to specify hand direction or some other parameter of movement. In the recently proposed action map view, common actions in the movement repertoire are emphasized in different regions of cortex. In the action map view, to fully understand the organization of the motor cortex, it is necessary to study the structure and complexity of the movement repertoire and understand how that statistical structure is mapped onto the cortical surface. This chapter discusses the action map in the primate brain and how some of the complex actions represented there may play a role in social behavior.


The main purpose of this study is to show that how can we use multivariate multiple linear regression analysis (MMLR) based on principal component scores to investigate relations between two data sets (i.e.preand postslaughter traits of Ross 308 broiler chickens). Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to predictor variables to avoid multicolinearity problem. According to results of the PCA, out of 7 principal components only the first three components (PC1, PC2, and PC3) with eigenvalue greater than 1 were selected (explained 89.45 % of the variation) for MMLR analysis. Then, the first three principal component scores were used as predictor variables in MMLR. The results of MMLR analysis showed that shank width, breast circumference and body weight had a similar linear effect on predicting the post-slaughter traits (P=0.746). As a result, since the animals had high value of shank width, breast circumference and body weight, it might be probable that their post-slaughter traits namely heart weight, liver weight, gizzard weight and hot carcass weight were also expected to be high.


This paper explores the capability of deep neural networks to capture key characteristics of vehicle dynamics, and their ability to perform coupled longitudinal and lateral control of a vehicle. To this extent, two different artificial neural networks are trained to compute vehicle controls corresponding to a reference trajectory, using a dataset based on high-fidelity simulations of vehicle dynamics. In this study, control inputs are chosen as the steering angle of the front wheels, and the applied torque on each wheel. The performance of both models, namely a Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) and a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), is evaluated based on their ability to drive the vehicle on a challenging test track, shifting between long straight lines and tight curves. A comparison to conventional decoupled controllers on the same track is also provided.


Since 1976, 15 national metrology institutes (NMIs) and two other laboratories have submitted 34 samples of known activity of 137Cs to the International Reference System (SIR) for activity comparison at the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures. The activities ranged from about 550 kBq to 67 MBq. The degrees of equivalence between each equivalent activity measured in the SIR and the key comparison reference value (KCRV) have been calculated and the results are given in the form of a matrix for eleven NMIs and the BIPM. A graphical presentation is also given. Main text. To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by Section II of the Consultative Committee for Ionizing Radiation (CCRI(II)), comparison identifier BIPM.RI(II)-K1.Cs-137, according to the provisions of the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA). The results of a CCRI international comparison, identifier CCRI(II)-K2.Cs-137 held in 1982 that have been approved for provisional equivalence for this radionuclide, have been linked to the SIR results. This has enabled three NMIs to update their results and a further three NMIs and one international laboratory, the IRMM, to be linked to the SIR.


How best to lead an information systems project team continues to be an open issue. For three decades, the research literature has contrasted between the leadership of the "chief programmer" led team to that of the "egoless" software team with little clarity as to what is appropriate leadership and under what circumstances. Software project teams, like other knowledge teams, are characterized by distributed expertise, the reliance on methodologies, high levels of collaboration, as well as the need to meet the expectations of a diverse set of stakeholders. We propose a theoretical model of information systems project team leadership that focuses on empowering and directive leadership practices and investigate whether this leadership is more effective than the use of traditional coordination mechanisms; we also test whether these relationships are moderated by factors such as task uncertainty or professional experience. We test this model using data from 69 software development teams. Our results indicate that empowering leadership has an important impact on team performance but only under conditions of high task uncertainty or team expertise.


The paper reports on results from a public survey on attitudes to collusion and cartel enforcement in Britain. Respondents demonstrate an understanding that price-fixing is harmful and should be punished. While there is strong support for high corporate fines and naming and shaming, only 1 in 10 Britons think individuals responsible should be imprisoned. Weak perceptions of the severity of price-fixing are confirmed by only 6 in 10 people considering such practices to be dishonest. Sex and age stronly influence attitudes. Education and newspaper readership have less of an effect, indicating poor information dissemination. Only 20% would report their employer's involvement in price-fixing without guarantees of anonymity and/or a reward; 14% would not report at all for fear of consequences. Public opinion is divided as to whether leniency programmes are justifiable. Respondents consider public enforcement to be more important than compensating parties injured by cartels.


Participant assessments of mediator performance are one of several methods that have been proposed for evaluating mediator quality. The present article reports the findings of an empirical study that examined the usefulness of attorneys' assessments of mediator skillfulness as a method for monitoring mediator performance. Attorneys who had participated in federal appellate civil mediation rated the mediator's skillfulness on seven dimensions as part of a larger questionnaire about their mediation experience. Attorneys gave some of the five mediators higher skillfulness ratings than others, suggesting that their assessments were sufficiently discriminating to reveal differences among the mediators. In addition, attorneys gave each mediator higher skillfulness ratings on some dimensions than on others, and the pattern of ratings differed across mediators, showing that the attorneys' assessments were nuanced and did not simply reflect their overall impression of the mediators. Importantly, attorneys' skillfulness ratings did not simply mirror whether settlement or other favorable outcomes were achieved in mediation, suggesting that their assessments were not overwhelmed by the outcome of mediation. Taken together, these findings suggest that participant assessments could provide an effective means for monitoring mediator performance.


In [4] Mostow remarks that nonabelian solvable groups can operate transitively on the torus. In this paper we characterize the simply connected, connected solvable Lie groups (for the rest of this paper a solvable Lie group will always be understood to be connected and simply connected) which can operate transitively on the torus with a discrete isotropy group. The characterization is contained in the following theorem.


We show that the one-sided Dyck shift has a unique tail invariant topologically σ-finite measure (up to scaling). This invariant measure of the one sided Dyck turns out to be a shift-invariant probability. Furthermore, it is one of the two ergodic probabilities obtaining maximal entropy. For the two sided Dyck shift we show that there are exactly three ergodic double-tail invariant probabilities. We show that the two sided Dyck has a double-tail invariant probability, which is also shift invariant, with entropy strictly less than the topological entropy.


Objective:
to analyze the influence of glutamine on morphological and histological changes observed in the ileum, lung, kidney and liver of Wistar rats subjected to sepsis.

Methods:
we induced sepsis by cecal ligature and puncture. We divided the animals in two groups: group A, control, with five animals, and group B, experience, with ten animals that received enteral glutamine two days before sepsis induction. We used histological analysis to rank the injury according to a score dependent on the injury severity and the affected organ. The sum of values assigned to each animal resulted in a final grade. We assessed the villi in the ileum, microgoticular steatosis in the liver, interstitial pneumonitis in the lungs, and vacuolation of the proximal convoluted tubules in the kidneys.

Results:
cell lysis and destruction of the villi of the ileum were more intense in the control group when compared with animals receiving glutamine. In the kidney, we found more pronounced vacuolization in the proximal convoluted tubules in the control group compared with animals receiving glutamine. Both microgoticular steatosis and interstitial pneumonitis were similar between groups.

Conclusion:
administration of enteral glutamine prior to sepsis preserved the histological structure.


ABSTRACT School-based Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programs emerged in North America and have not traditionally focused on embodied learning processes that are situated in the learners' contexts and lived experiences. Thus, we present evidence and advance the case that transferable social-emotional competencies are inherently culturally responsive or situated in learners' authentic experiences and are inherently embodied. We also introduce a conceptual model grounded in bioecological and embodied theoretical frameworks to help guide future research and practice for culturally relevant SEL. Research findings: We used parts of the scoping review methodology to search and screen the published empirical literature on SEL and embodied learning. Findings highlight the increase in SEL research over the past 2 decades but with extremely limited work done outside of North America, particularly in Japan and South Africa. Consequently, we explored what culturally responsive, situated, and embodied SEL would look like across three different cultural contexts (i.e., in North America, Japan, and South Africa). Practice or Policy: While the principles, goals, and key skills of SEL might apply to most or even all cultures, an emic approach where culture-specific values, beliefs, or customs drive the development and implementation of SEL curriculum, and incorporates the meaningful inclusion of key community members is needed to be effective for specific groups of students. To implement and facilitate effective SEL programs within diverse and multicultural settings, policies and practices related to SEL curriculum need to consider the backgrounds and needs of the children, families, and communities that are being served.


BACKGROUND
Given the high costs of delivering care to critically ill patients, practitioners and policymakers are beginning to scrutinize the costs and outcomes associated with intensive care. Health economics is a discipline concerned with determining the best way of using resources to maximize the health of the community. This involves addressing questions such as which procedure, test, therapy, or program should be provided, and to whom, given available resources.

PURPOSE
The purpose of this article is to review general economic principles that will help intensivists to better interpret published economic evaluations.

DATA SOURCES
Selected articles from the health economics and critical care literature.

RESULTS
In this article, we use an economic evaluation that examines sedation strategies in critically ill patients. We discuss how learning to critically appraise an economic evaluation is only part of the task for end users. Determining whether and how to apply the results of economic evaluations to local settings presents bigger challenges and remains largely a matter of judgment.

CONCLUSIONS
Economic evaluations use analytic techniques to systematically consider all possible costs and consequences of clinical actions. Although they should never form the sole basis for clinical decisions for individual patients, economic evaluations offer potentially useful information at different levels of decision-making.


The purpose of this research was to analyze the biogas production from co-digestion of Salvinia molesta and rice straw. Ratio of Salvinia molesta and rice straw was 5:0, 4:1, 3:2. Lab-scale-batch digesters (600 mL) were operated at room temperature (30 o C) and pressure of 1 atm. Total basis of Salvinia molesta and rice straw was 10 gr, water was added with ratio of organic matter:water = 1:7 (w/w), rumen fluid was added as inoculum, initial pH was adjusted to be 7. Fermentation process was conducted for 30 days. The results showed that total biogas volume for ratio of 5:0, 4:1, 3:2 was 6.30±0.00; 32.76±18.32; 107.54±18.51 mL/g VS respectively. The pH of substrate was changing from 7.00 to 6.77±0.19; 6.60±0.14; 6.73±0.09 for all variables respectively.


From 101 records relating to health kept in the National Archives of Malaysia for the period 1946–1981, 30 records were chosen using purposive criterion-based sampling on dimensions of universal health coverage (UHC) and health system governance. From those 30, document review was performed on 13 records that were selected based on relevance to analysis of the evolution of private and public health institutions and their roles in achieving UHC from 1946 to 1981. UHC relates to the ability of patients to access good quality service with high population coverage of health care at low financial risk. Malaya was a former Western Pacific nation ruled by the British colonial government. Initially, the government bore the cost of medicines and passages between the United Kingdom and Malaya for Red Cross and St. John's ambulance teams to serve in rural areas in Malaya. This was later replaced by home grown Rural Health Teams trained in purpose built Rural Health Centres beginning with the first such training school in Jitra under the Rural Health Scheme. The Rural Health Scheme was implemented from 1953 to 1956 and marked an ambitious period of utilising limited resources to expand human resource and establish District Health Centres, Sub-District Health Centres, Midwives' Houses and Maternal and Child Health Centres across the rural landscape of Malaya. After analysis, it was found that the British colonial government's efforts in improving public health through the Rural Health Scheme had provided the foundation for achieving UHC in Malaysia today. DOI : http://dx.doi.org./10.17576/JSKM-2019-1701-05


End_Page 622------------------------------Geochemical and petrographic studies of core samples from the Panna Maria uranium deposit, a roll-type orebody in the Jackson Group (Eocene) in Karnes County, Texas, yield important constraints on the origin of the deposit. Organic carbon content averages about 0.42 wt. % in reduced rock and correlates positively with sulfur content. Pyrite is the dominant iron disulfide (FeS2) mineral in most of the ore zone and throughout a surrounding zone of reduced barren ground and is commonly associated with organic debris. Marcasite is sparse except in ore adjacent to the altered tongue in one core and locally in mineralized lignite. Sulfur isotopic compositions (^dgr34S) of FeS2 minerals range broadly from -1 to -34 per mil; the lightest ^dgr34S val es (less than -20 per mil) were measured in samples from mineralized lignite and from the nose of the ore roll. Petrographic and geochemical characteristics of the Panna Maria deposit contrast greatly with those of three other south Texas roll-type uranium deposits (the Benavides, Felder, and Lamprecht deposits), which are devoid of organic carbon and which contain more sulfide than does the Panna Maria. These three deposits are characterized by abundant isotopically light ore-stage marcasite and by isotopically heavy pre-ore (in the Benavides) or post-ore (in the Felder and Lamprecht) pyrite. We concluded in earlier reports that sulfide-bearing fault-leaked solutions from underlying hydrocarbon accumulations were important in the formation of the Benavides, Felder, and Lamprecht deposit . Although the Panna Maria deposit shows an apparent alignment along a fault zone, and although underlying formations in the Karnes County area contain sour gas ^dgr34S) ^sime + 14 per mil) and produce oil, the deposit lacks characteristics indicating that its formation and/or preservation involved extrinsically derived reductants such as fault-leaked hydrogen sulfide. Mineralization of the Panna Maria, rather, appears to have been controlled by intrinsically derived reductants related either directly or indirectly to the presence of organic matter. End_of_Article - Last_Page 623------------


: It has been demonstrated in experiments on non-anesthetized rabbits that conjunctival injection of carnosine (beta-alanyl 1-histidine) caused a decrease in normal intraocular pressure and reduced prostaglandin-induced ocular hypertension. The rapid onset of the pressure response and the absence of papillary dilation in rabbits treated with carnosine were observed. It is concluded that L-carnosine can be used as a potent drug for the prevention of reactive hypertension syndrome.


Obligate predatory bacteria, i.e. bacteria requiring a Gram negative prey cell in order to complete their cell cycle, belong to the polyphyletic group referred to as the Bdellovibrio And Like Organisms (BALO). Predatory interactions between bacteria are complex, yet their dynamics and impact on bacterial communities in the environment are becoming better understood. BALO have unique life cycles: they grow epibiotically with the predator remaining attached to the prey's envelope, dividing in a binary manner or periplasmically, i.e. by penetrating the prey's periplasm to generate a number of progeny cells. The periplasmic life cycle includes unique gene and protein patterns and unique signaling features. These ecological and cellular features, along with applications of the BALO in the medical, agricultural and environmental fields are surveyed.


Dr. Yin Pan, Professor in the Computing Security department, received her Ph.D. in Systems Science and M.S. degree in Computer Science from Binghamton University. Dr. Pan holds four US patents in the areas of Network Quality of Services, Voice over IP and Artificial Intelligence. Since joining RIT in 2002, Dr. Pan has been actively involved in the IT security area, especially in security audits and computer forensics. Her current research interests include game-based digital forensics and memory-based malware detection using machine learning. She has published over 45 papers and presentations in research conferences and journals. She received grants from NSF, US Air Force Research Lab, and RIT. Dr. Pan teaches graduate courses in digital forensics and security audits.


The purpose of this study is to analyze how market and policy uncertainties affect the general profitability of new investments in the power sector, and investigate the associated investment timing and technology choices. We develop an economic model for new investments in three competing energy technologies in the Swedish electric power sector. The model takes into account the policy impacts of the EU ETS and the Swedish green certificate scheme. By simulating and modeling policy effects through stochastic prices the results suggest that bio-fuelled power is the most profitable technology choice in the presence of existing policy instruments and under our assumptions. The likelihood of choosing gas power increases over time at the expense of wind power due to the relative capital requirement per unit of output for these technologies. Overall the results indicate that the economic incentives to postpone investments into the future are significant.


The City of Atlanta began long-term streamwater-quality monitoring during the spring of 2003 as part of a long-term watershed monitoring program to evaluate the effects of proposed and ongoing wastewatertreatment infrastructure upgrades on water quality. As part of the streamwater-quality monitoring, the U.S. Geological Survey routinely collected and analyzed concurrent manual grab and equal-width increment samples from 20 urban stream sites in the City of Atlanta from May 2003 through October 2004. Discrete automatic samples are collected and real-time streamflow and water-quality measurements are monitored at 10 of the sites (Fig. 1). The relations among dissolved solute concentrations at the routine sites were evaluated with respect to land use and compared among sites and to a background stream in a relatively undisturbed watershed at the Panola Mountain State Conservation Park, 25 kilometers southeast of Atlanta (Panola Mountain Research Watershed [PMRW]). Relations among solute concentrations were relatively consistent at most sites for naturally-occurring solutes, that is, those solutes derived primarily from rock weathering. In addition, streamwater at most sites shows the effects of more urbanized land use through elevated concentrations of some solutes—such as calcium, magnesium, sulfate, and chloride—relative to other solutes or parameters such as dissolved silica and alkalinity. The streamwater solute concentrations do not show a distinct seasonal pattern, but most major solute concentrations are flow dependent, showing a decrease with increasing streamflow, that is, dilution of background concentrations during stormflow. Nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) concentrations generally are low relative to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) standards, but about 10 times higher than at PMRW and do not correlate with streamflow or season. Bacteria concentrations vary markedly among the sites. Escherichia coli (E. coli), a subset fecal coliform, is a strain of bacteria that lives in the intestines of humans and animals and produces a powerful toxin, which can cause illness. Fecal coliform and E. coli concentrations varied markedly among sites. Although the median fecal coliform concentration at PMRW was higher than most of the routinely sampled urban stream sites, median E. coli concentrations were only slightly lower than two sites on Nancy Creek draining predominantly residential area, higher than two upstream South River sites having other water-quality issues as noted below, and less than or equal to one-eighth of the median concentration at other sites. Furthermore, the E. coli concentrations were positively correlated with turbidity and streamflow at the urban sites, but the significance of the relations varied markedly among sites. The median E. coli concentration at each site, except the South River at Springdale Road, exceeds the USEPA standard for freshwater bathing of 126 colonies per 100 milliliter. Samples collected at some sites on Intrenchment Creek, South River, and Proctor Creek have different solute concentration relations than most of the other streams. Intrenchment Creek solutes appear to be derived from two distinctly different water types. One type is attributed to combined sewer overflow (CSO) releases, which are apparent from a rapid and sustained streamflow increase during baseflow periods. This water type is characterized by high concentrations of all major solutes, which are poorly correlated among each other, and sporadically low concentrations of bacteria. The high chloride concentrations may be caused by chlorine disinfection prior to release; residual chlorine in CSO discharges would result in low streamwater bacteria concentrations. The other water type is similar to samples collected at sites dominated by residential land use; high correlations among concentrations of solutes derived from mineral weathering. The streamwater solute concentrations at two sites on the South River upstream of the confluence with Intrenchment Creek also are sporadic but have atypical characteristics compared to other sites including high sulfate concentrations, low pH (4.5), and low alkalinity (0 parts per million). These conditions may result from the discharge of sulfuric acid or another acidic substance, which has not been determined. Proctor Creek generally has much higher concentrations of calcium, magnesium, and alkalinity than the other sites and these elevated concentrations were measured in the headwaters at Hortenese Way and downstream at Jackson Parkway. The Proctor Creek sites also have relatively high and variable chloride concentrations, which may be attributed to disinfection of the CSO. Utoy Creek at Great Southwest Parkway South Utoy Creek at Childress Drive South River at Springdale Road South River at Macon Drive South River at Forest Park Road South Fork Peachtree Creek at Johnson Road Sandy Creek at Bolton Road Proctor Creek Tributary at Spring Road Proctor Creek at Jackson Parkway Proctor Creek at Hortense Way Peachtree Creek at Piedmont Road Peachtree Creek at Northside Drive Peachtree Creek at Bohler Road North Utoy Creek at Peyton Road North Fork Peachtree Creek at Buford Highway Nancy Creek at West Wesley Road Nancy Creek at Rickenbacker Drive Nancy Creek at Randall Mill Road Lullwater Creek at Lullwater Parkway Intrenchment Creek at Constitution Avenue 1


The working hypothesis for this research project is that it is possible to develop a new functional polymer printing process for the direct application of conductive polymer onto textiles. We will use the basic extrusion technology that is currently applied in 3D printing. Thus the aim is also expanding the knowledge and knowhow base of 3D printing and make this technology applicable for deposition of functional polymers on textiles in such a way that process parameters are clearly understood, and pre-defined final product specifications can be met. Thus the challenge is to apply conductive tracks with a simple one step process that fits the current textile production processes. This means that investigating polymer deposition onto textiles of bio based polymers like PLA, doped with carbon could be a versatile route to achieving economic and sustainable conducting textiles. If the mechanism underlying the bonding of doped PLA with textiles can be controlled for processing then a new route to achieving conductive grids would be opened.Paper written by the Saxion chair Smart Functional Materials and The Unversity of Twente for and accepted by the Autex Conference 2013 (22-24 May 2013, Dresden, Germany).


The microbiological quality of sachet and tap water in Enugu,State,Nigeriawas analyzed. Sachet water was purchased from five different manufacturers. Samples Q1, T1, R1, J1, and M1 were directly from the manufacturers while samples Q2, T2, R2, J2, and M2 were obtained from the retailers. Tap water was collected from three different locations in the town. All water samples were subjected to bacteriological (aerobic and anaerobic) and fungal studies using standard bacteriological and mycological methods with little modifications. For sachet water, batch of five packets both from the manufacturer and retailers were analysed and average result taken. Five separate tap water samples were taken from the three different locations. For sachet water, E. coli and S. faecalis were isolated with colony forming units (CFU) ranging from 7 to >500. For tap water, isolates included Coliform, Cl. sp and Penicillium sp. An average of 66% Clostridium sp was recovered from all the tap water of the 3 different locations. Penicillium sp was isolated from only 16.6% of tap samples. Microbial quality may vary rapidly and widely but short-term peaks in pathogen concentration may increase disease risks considerably and may also trigger outbreaks of waterborne disease.


BACKGROUND
Hemangiomas, one of the most common childhood neoplasms, exhibit a characteristic history of rapid proliferation and slow spontaneous involution. Most of hemangiomas are often managed conversatively, requiring numerous years for spontaneous involution. However hemangiomas can threaten function in 10% to 20% of cases, less than 1% are truly life threatening. All these serious hemangiomas require treatment to avoid severe sequelae and in some rare cases to save the infant's life.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the efficacy, side effects, and influencing factors of intralesional triamcinolone in enhancing regression of various sizes and locations of hemangiomas and to discuss the optimal time and interval of the treatment.

MATERIAL AND METHOD
The retrospective study was done on 160 pediatric patients with hemangiomas, treated with intralesional triamcinolone injection at age 1 month to 15 years by the author at Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health from March 1995 to March 2008. Data were collected from interviews, examinations, medical records, photographs and telephone conversations. Standard statistical methods were used for comparison. The hemangioma sizes were classified into small (> 0-3 cm), medium (> 3-6 cm) and large (> 6-9 cm). Indications for the treatment were rapidly growing lesions, lesions with visual problems, bleeding, ulceration and cosmetic concern. Intralesional injection of triamcinolone was given in a dose of 1 to 2 mg/kg of body weight (maximum of 60 mg). The interval between the treatments varied from 4 to 12 weeks. Most patients were followed up at monthly interval at least 14 months through clinic visits. Mean follow-up was 3.6 years (range 14 months to 12 years).

RESULTS
One hundred and sixty patients, 111 girls and 49 boys were treated with this technique. The mean age at first injection was 16.1 months, with a range from 2 months to 9 years. The number of intralesional triamcinolone injection varied from single injection to twelve injections with a mean of 5.7 injections. The overall response rate was 90% (excellent at 70% and good at 20%). Maximum response was observed in children below the age of 1 year (excellent at 77.8% and good at 15.7%) and parotid hemangiomas (excellent at 93.1% and good at 6.9%). The difference between hemangiomas sizes and treatments interval result was not of statistical significance.

CONCLUSION
Intralesional administration of triamcinolone was devoid of systemic side effects and an effective initial modality for rapidly growing hemangiomas.


The article deals with the use of effective reading strategies with Generation Z students based on a critical review of modern psychological and pedagogical studies of 'digital learners'. The relevance of the study is substantiated by the fact that the subjects of the modern educational process today are mostly representatives of Generation Z and their ways of study, preferences and values are bringing important changes to teaching and learning contexts. The purpose of the article is to analyse effective reading strategies using authentic texts. It features a brief overview of the studies devoted to the reading strategies and highlights the differences between reading skills and reading strategies. The authors explore the concept of authenticity of texts and tasks and suggest their highly motivational nature for digital learners. The article presents an analysis of Generation Z's unique characteristics and projects them onto the choice of effective reading strategies for digital learners. The article concludes with a discussion of pedagogical implications and a list of recommendations to consider when selecting effective reading strategies for language classrooms.


Research on vehicle-to-vehicle communications (including train-to-train, car-to-car etc.) is one of the lead activities of the center of excellence for robust and reliable communications as part of the Institute of Communications and Navigation of the German Aerospace Center (DLR). This talk will elaborate on some latest research results on different levels of the communication stack targetting in particular safety-of-live applications. Examples will be given from the rail and the road domain, with a specific focus on a new evaluation metric.


In this paper, a new nonparametric feature extraction method is proposed for high-dimensional multiclass pattern recognition problems. It is based on a nonparametric extension of scatter matrices. There are at least two advantages to using the proposed nonparametric scatter matrices. First, they are generally of full rank. This provides the ability to specify the number of extracted features desired and to reduce the effect of the singularity problem. This is in contrast to parametric discriminant analysis, which usually only can extract L-1 (number of classes minus one) features. In a real situation, this may not be enough. Second, the nonparametric nature of scatter matrices reduces the effects of outliers and works well even for nonnormal datasets. The new method provides greater weight to samples near the expected decision boundary. This tends to provide for increased classification accuracy.


We propose a strategy for achieving maximum cooperation in evolutionary games on complex networks. Each individual is assigned a weight that is proportional to the power of its degree, where the exponent alpha is an adjustable parameter that controls the level of diversity among individuals in the network. During the evolution, every individual chooses one of its neighbors as a reference with a probability proportional to the weight of the neighbor, and updates its strategy depending on their payoff difference. It is found that there exists an optimal value of alpha, for which the level of cooperation reaches maximum. This phenomenon indicates that, although high-degree individuals play a prominent role in maintaining the cooperation, too strong influences from the hubs may counterintuitively inhibit the diffusion of cooperation. We provide a physical theory, aided by numerical computations, to explain the emergence of the optimal cooperation. Other pertinent quantities such as the payoff, the cooperator density as a function of the degree, and the payoff distribution, are also investigated. Our results suggest that, in order to achieve strong cooperation on a complex network, individuals should learn more frequently from neighbors with higher degrees, but only to certain extent.


We present the McMaster Unbiased Galaxy Simulations (MUGS), the first 9 galaxies of an unbiased selection ranging in total mass from 5×10 11 Mto 2×10 12 Msimu- lated using n-body smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) at high resolution. The simulations include a treatment of low temperature metal cooling, UV background radiation, star formation, and physically motivated stellar feedback. Mock images of the simulations show that the simulations lie within the observed range of relations such as that between color and magnitude and that between brightness and circular velocity (Tully-Fisher). The greatest discrepancy between the simulated galaxies and observed galaxies is the high concentration of material at the center of the galaxies as represented by the centrally peaked rotation curves and the high bulge-to-total ratios of the simulations determined both kinematically and photometrically. This central concentration represents the excess of low angular momentum material that long has plagued morphological studies of simulated galaxies and suggests that higher resolu- tions and a more accurate description of feedback will be required to simulate more realistic galaxies. Even with the excess central mass concentrations, the simulations suggest the important role merger history and halo spin play in the formation of disks.


The preparation of dendron functional initiators capable of initiating polymerization by atom transfer radical polymerization is described. Polyester dendrons up to the fifth generation were synthesized by the divergent route using acetonide-protected 2,2-bis(methoxy)propionic acid. These dendrons were functionalized, at the focal point, with a single α-bromoisobutyrate group, thus forming a dendron functional macroinitiator. A library of highly branched, 3-dimensional, dendron functional core cross-linked star (CCS) polymers were prepared from these macroinitiators by varying generation number and polystyrene chain length, followed by reaction with divinyl benzene, utilizing the "arm first" approach. The number of arms of the star polymer was shown to decrease with increasing dendron size; a generation 1 functional polymer prepared CCS polymers with 27 arms, and a generation 5 functional polymer prepared CCS polymers with 19 arms. The length of the polystyrene linear segment had a drastic effect on the f...


OBJECTIVE Obesity is characterized by chronic oxidative stress. Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) has recently been identified as a novel hormone that regulates metabolism. NFE2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a transcription factor that orchestrates the expression of a battery of antioxidant and detoxification genes under both basal and stress conditions. The current study investigated the role of Nrf2 in a mouse model of long-term high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity and characterized its crosstalk to FGF21 in this process. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Wild-type (WT) and Nrf2 knockout (Nrf2-KO) mice were fed an HFD for 180 days. During this period, food consumption and body weights were measured. Glucose metabolism was assessed by an intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test and intraperitoneal insulin tolerance test. Total RNA was prepared from liver and adipose tissue and was used for quantitative real-time RT-PCR. Fasting plasma was collected and analyzed for blood chemistries. The ST-2 cell line was used for transfection studies. RESULTS Nrf2-KO mice were partially protected from HFD-induced obesity and developed a less insulin-resistant phenotype. Importantly, Nrf2-KO mice had higher plasma FGF21 levels and higher FGF21 mRNA levels in liver and white adipose tissue than WT mice. Thus, the altered metabolic phenotype of Nrf2-KO mice under HFD was associated with higher expression and abundance of FGF21. Consistently, the overexpression of Nrf2 in ST-2 cells resulted in decreased FGF21 mRNA levels as well as in suppressed activity of a FGF21 promoter luciferase reporter. CONCLUSIONS The identification of Nrf2 as a novel regulator of FGF21 expands our understanding of the crosstalk between metabolism and stress defense.


In this paper, with the rapid development of Health Care a methodology based on Ergonomics for developing Medical Human-Computer Systems in Health Care (MHCS-HC) has been proposed. In order to verify it, a prototype system called Home Health Care Management Information System (HHC-MIS) has been developed. As a result, the methodology has been proven feasible and effective. The framework of methodology which resulted from the authors' preliminary study is reported in this paper, including a basic method (Human-Computer Cooperation), a developing principle with four items based on "WHAT-IS-WHAT", and some optimal solutions in the developing of HHC-MIS.


The human rights movement has traditionally focused on documenting abuses, rather than attempting to explain them. In recent years, however, the question of the 'root causes' of violations has emerged as a key issue in human rights work. The present article examines this new (or newly insistent) discourse of root causes. While valuable, it is shown to have significant limitations. It foreshortens the investigation of causes; it treats effects as though they were causes; and it identifies causes only to put them aside. With these points in mind, the article counterposes an alternative approach in which the orienting concept is not root causes, but 'planned misery'.


Abstract : As current international guideline and IMO regulation give seve re restrictions for ships to manage ballast water to reduce unintentional organ ism transfers, several ballast water treatment systems recently have been being develo ped together with filtration. That is because discharging ballast water from ships causes many pollutions by foreign biological invasive species. The primary treatment s ystem being considered in this study was based on fine screen filtration technology applied to ballast water filter in ballast tank in order to reduce the load of ballast w ater treatment system. New ballast water filtration system was invented and analysed. The structural stress and strain analysis for ballast filtration systems which are curren t and invented filters were carried out using UGS and Ansys. The results showed that the structure of current filtering module was not designed to meet the requirement of sea water filtration during ballasting operation. The studies also showed that the invented design of filtration system equipped with back washing and automatic s crapper for eliminating cake of bio-species might be a potentially effective technology for ballast water management of ship's ballast tank.


An increasing literature body is devoted to the study of efficacy and risks concerning compounds allowed in organic farming and new compounds considered harmless for environmental and human health. The great biodiversity inhabiting olive agroecosystem lead to a biotic control of many pest species. The only widespread pest causing economic damages is the olive fly, Bactrocera oleae. The side effects of compounds allowed against the olive fly in open field are still little known as well as the agronomical methods for mitigating them. The aims of this research were to evaluate the impact of compounds allowed in organic olive farming and searching for more ecocompatible farming strategies. The research was carried out in Southern Italy. Experimental olive groves were untilled, and the grass cover was periodically managed. Six theses composed by 200 plants were randomly chosen and sprayed with rotenone, kaolin, a mixture of copper oxychloride and propolis, and dimethoate. Due to different actions of active agents involved in this research, arthropods were sampled at canopy and soil levels. The same compound showed different consequences on arthropods at canopy and soil levels. The sprayed compounds showed few negative effects in respect to previous studies. This fact could be attributed to the grass cover which probably reduced the effects of active agents with short term efficacy. In definitive, the grass cover could play an important role in minimising the impact of sprayed compounds on non target arthropods providing a shelter against the direct contact with active agents.


This specific research aims to find out the rubric effects on raters' reliability with connection to language testing with reference to language testing in Pakistani context. It was also aimed to explore if any significant difference in marking of the student essays, with and without rubric is present. The population for this specific study was 100 students from Public Sector University who were assigned a topic to write an essay which was in the later stage given to a single teacher initially without rubric and later with rubric (see Appendix A). The outcomes of this study unfolded that there is marked difference in the assessment of the same essay, when evaluated with and without rubric. Additionally it was also examined that the assessment with rubric not only provide ease to the assessors but it also provides method, discipline, and direction to the assessors. This study has its practical implications.


Ubiquitous Information communication technologies (ICT) and dynamics in today's society (both disruptive and progressive changes) are increasingly driving adoption of e-learning models at all levels of education. Previous research has shown that the synergy between learner and assessment centered dimensions are antecedent to knowledge centeredness which is a key goal in higher education. This paper offers insights on how to address the key challenges facing Universities in implementation of competence-based learning through effective use of formative e-assessment in e-learning as a tool for fostering learner and assessment centeredness. The ultimate goal is to enhance understanding on effective integration of formative e-assessment in e-learning courses as a strategy for promoting competence-based education, while providing information that serve formative and summative purposes. It is also important to emphasize that use of formative e-assessment as a tool for assessment for learning (formative assessment) is an integral requirement for active and meaningful engagement particularly in e-learning settings. Formative assessment should be seamlessly integrated within teaching and learning processes; and it entails enabling adequate opportunities for continuous monitoring and assessment to inform formative feedback. However, such a focus has been lacking or inadequate based on what characterizes continuous assessment in many Universities e-learning settings. This implies that the validity of continuous assessment cannot be realized without purposeful focus on formative assessment and tailored feedback. This briefing paper therefore aims to offer better understanding on the role of formative e-assessment from a contextualized perspective as an important pedagogical strategy for enhancing e-learning. Contextualization implies paying attention to the unique needs of particular e-learning settings including ICT capacity, learners' needs and experiences. Drawing from related literature and practical experiences, this paper offers best practices that need to be emphasized in applying formative e-assessment to promote learner and assessment centeredness that are desirable for achievement of envisaged core competences.


In this study, extracting a path plan has been aimed by using vision based and potential field methods together for a static obstacle hosted environment. Path extracting operations have been executed on image frame taken from real environment with eye-out-device configuration. An obstacle free path plan is uncovered between robot and target with adaptive potential field method by considering position of robot, target and obstacle which are detected by image process techniques. Updating process of functional parameters belonging to potential field has been ensured with proposed method by taking into account distances of robot sensors to obstacle and global positions of obstacles. As a result of this study, strengths of the proposed method have been put forth by comparing experimental results of adaptive and nonadaptive versions.


Defined regions (septum, substantia nigra) of the embryonic central nervous system (CNS) were transplanted into the sciatic nerves of young adult rats. Immunocytochemical techniques were used to examine the expression of neurotransmitter related enzymes and neuronal cytoskeletal proteins in the grafts. The origin of the septal grafts was confirmed by immunoreactivity in nenrons to choline acetyltransferase and the β-nerve growth factor receptor (192-IgG). In substantia nigra grafts, neuronal perikarya and processes were identified with an antibody directed against tyrosine hydroxylase. Typical spatial distributions of phosphorylated (Mr 200,000) and non phosphorylated (Mr 168,000 & 200,000) neurofilaments were observed in the short term (1-2 months) grafts with the monoclonal antibodies RT97 and SMI-32 respectively. Dense dendrite arbors and neuronal cell bodies were immunostained with an antibody that recognizes a high molecular weight microtubule associated protein (MAP2). In the long term (1 year) transplants, prominent cytoskeletal changes in the somata, axons and dendrites of neurons were evident. The cells showed a shift in phosphorylated neurofilament staining from the axon to the soma accompanied by a reduction in axonal immunoreactivity in the adjacent neuropil, Other abnormal features included swollen perikarya, hypertrophied axonal segments and Short segments of kinked axons. Regression of the dendrite trees in the long standing grafts was also apparent when sections were reacted with the MAP2 antibody. These experiments indicate that grafted fetal neurons, isolated in the peripheral nervous system, differentiate and express markers like their counterparts in situ. After extended time periods under these circumstances, cytoskeletal modifications become apparent in the neurons. These aberrant changes are similar to morphological characteristics associated with aging and neurodegenerative disorders. This experimental paradigm offers a new approach, to study cytoskeletal disturbances in neurons and provides a unique opportunity to examine conditions that may modulate the abnormal changes.


We present a detailed study of the localized coupled-cavity modes in a photonic molecule formed from two dielectric spherical microcavities with CdTe nanocrystals, which show a multi-peak narrowband modal structure resulting from lifting of the mode degeneracy with respect to the azimuthal quantum number. The waveguiding through the coupled microcavities and wavelength switching effect is demonstrated. The feasibility of photonic molecules as the basis for a multi-channel, wavelength-tunable optical delay device is analysed.


Tertiary cormorant fossils (Aves: Phalacrocoracidae) from Late Oligocene deposits in Australia are described. They derive from the Late Oligocene – Early Miocene (26–24 Mya) Etadunna and Namba Formations in the Lake Eyre and Lake Frome Basins, South Australia, respectively. A new genus, Nambashag gen. nov., with two new species (Nambashag billerooensis sp. nov., 30 specimens; Nambashag microglaucus sp. nov., 14 specimens), has been established. Phylogenetic analyses based on 113 morphological and two integumentary characters indicated that Nambashag is the sister taxon to the Early Miocene Nectornis miocaenus of Europe and all extant phalacrocoracids. As Nambashag, Nectornis, and extant phalacrocoracids constitute a strongly supported clade sister to Anhinga species, the fossil taxa have been referred to Phalacrocoracidae. Sulids and Fregata were successive sister taxa to the Phalacrocoracoidea, i.e. phalacrocoracids + Anhinga. As phalacrocoracids lived in both Europe and Australia during the Late Oligocene and no older phalacrocoracid taxa are known, the biogeographical origin of cormorants remains unanswered. The phylogenetic relationships of extant taxa were not wholly resolved, but contrary to previous morphological analyses, considerable concordance was found with relationships recovered by recent molecular analyses. Microcarbo is sister to all other extant phalacrocoracids, and all Leucocarbo species form a well-supported clade.

© 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 163, 277–314.


The ovarian follicle is an individual functional unit that provides the optimal environment for the oocyte within to develop. This thesis outlines the research in the field of ovarian follicular dynamics that has already been established, and further develops these findings to explore in greater detail the relationship between the oocyte and its environment, both in an in vitro and in vivo setting, using a variety of species. The first major research area involved studying the role of oocyte-secreted factors, which was examined using a series of dose response experiments. These were performed using an ovine granulosa cell culture model, and elucidated a possible role for a collaborative action of BMP15 and GDF9 in the promotion of oestradiol synthesis, while inhibiting production of progesterone in this species. This finding was then further investigated using an ovine in vivo immune-neutralisation study, the endocrine and histological results of which confirmed these findings in a proportion of these animals, although this study was limited by the animals appearing to have been in seasonal anoestrus.

The second major topic that was investigated was based around the ovarian microenvironment, in terms of angiogenesis and hypoxia. Again, ovine granulosa cell cultures were used, in this instance to examine the effect of hypoxic conditions on steroid hormone production. These experiments indicated that somatic cell steroid hormone production is likely to be compromised by a hypoxic environment, and therefore that the provision of oxygen through a local blood supply may be a vital requirement for these cells.

To investigate the relevance of studying ovarian blood supply and physiology in a clinical setting, perfusion studies were carried out based on a series of bovine phantom experiments, which were used to study the effect of varying flow rate on the parameters routinely measured using this technology. The routine clinical ultrasonographic methods of ovarian assessment such as 4D ViewTM, SonoAVCTM and VOCAL were also examined, based on bovine phantom experiments, revealing possible weaknesses in the data provided by ultrasound that are increasingly relied upon in the clinical setting.

Finally, a clinical trial was carried out to try and encompass all of the findings of the in vitro and in vivo work, in order to place these theories into context in a human IVF setting. This work was unfortunately limited severely by a lack of patient numbers, but some interesting results were observed with regard to oocyte developmental potential relationships with follicular fluid and somatic cell factors, as well as ultrasound measures of peri-follicular blood supply.


This paper proposes and compares a set of models of college football team performance for teams in major conferences during the years of 2006 – 2018. The outcome measure of team performance is the team's standardized Sagarin Ranking at the end of the season after the postseason bowl games and, in recent years, playoff games are complete. Potential predictor variables include several variables taken from the team recruiting rankings at the website www.rivals.com, and other attributes of the team compiled from an annual college football prediction magazine. Models considered include models screened via traditional forward, backward, and stepwise model selection methods, as well as a regression tree model. These candidate models are first compared using a cross-validation technique where each individual season is used successively as a test data set, and the predictive accuracy of the candidate models are compared after these successive comparisons. We find that the model chosen via stepwise selection performs the best in this cross-validation comparison but that other models have comparable error rates. We further consider refinements of the forward selection model when quadratic terms and a piecewise approach is taken for two predictors, and compare the prediction error rates for these models using the same cross-validation technique. Our findings from these analyses suggest that teams with higher recruiting rankings are predicted to perform better in a given season, but that other factors about the team are also significant predictors of performance.


The influences of high school community service participation, extracurricular involvement, and civic knowledge on voting and volunteering in early adulthood were examined using the National Educational Longitudinal Study. The major finding in this study is that both voluntary and school-required community service in high school were strong predictors of adult voting and volunteering. In addition, involvement in high school extracurricular activities was predictive of voting and volunteering. Civic knowledge was related only to voting. The authors consider the findings for their policy relevance and their contributions to theoretical debates.


The main functional purpose of a water distribution network is to transport water from a source to several domestic and industrial units while at the same time satisfying various requirements on hydraulic response. All the water distribution networks perform two basic operations: firstly the water network needs to deliver adequate amounts of water to meet specific requirements, and secondly the water network needs to be reliable; therefore, the required amount of water needs to be continuously available 24 hours a day and 365 days per year. Due to the inevitable failures of some components such as pump stations, reservoirs and/or pipelines in a large-scale water distribution network, in designing a reliable network, the topological structure with low vulnerability must be achieved. Consequently, the study of connectivity, which is the key graph-theoretical notion, becomes crucial. This paper highlights some fundamental concepts from graph theory for vulnerability assessment of water distribution networks, addresses the mathematical properties of the link and nodedeletion problems, and outlines some well-established results on the deterministic measures to assess the fault tolerance of networks.


This study aims to analyze the performance and value added of kelanting agroindustry. Kelanting is kind of snack made from cassava. Karang Anyar Village Gedongtataan District of Pesawaran Regency was chosen as a research site. The respondents consisted of 25 actors in agroindustry of kelanting. Data collection was conducted from July to August 2012. Methods of data analysis for (1) performance are reported net loss/profit, productivity, and capacity, and (2) value added is Hayami method. The results showed that: (1) Performance of kelanting agroindustry was good based on the R/C ratio of 1.24 (R/C > 1), the productivity was 16.07 kg per HOK (>7.2 kg/HOK), and the capacity was 0.92 (>0.5). (2) Value added of kelanting was Rp1,184.02 per kilogram of cassava or 34.57 percent.


AIM
To investigate the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) affected by ginsenoside Rg1 and further explore the molecular mechanism of ginsenoside Rg1 using proteomics.

METHODS
The proliferation of VSMC was measured by MTS assay kit and flow cytometry. Proteomic alterations were analyzed using two-dimensional electrophoresis and peptide mass fingerprinting. Differential proteins found in proteomics were confirmed by RT-PCR.

RESULTS
The proliferation of VSMC was enhanced significantly after tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) treatment, and ginsenoside Rg1 treatment inhibited proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. Proteomic analysis showed 24 protein spots were changed, including 17 spots that were increased and 7 spots that were decreased. Ginsenoside Rg1 could restore the expression levels of these proteins, at least partly, to basic levels of untreated cells. The expression of G-protein coupled receptor kinase, protein kinase C (PKC)-zeta, N-ras protein were decreased, while cycle related protein p21 was increased by ginsenoside Rg1 in TNF-alpha treated VSMC.

CONCLUSION
PKC-zeta and p21 pathway might be the mechanism for inhibitory effects of ginsenoside Rg1 on proliferation of VSMC.