Iterative processing techniques can often provide useful solutions to problems, especially problems of inversion, when deterministic solutions are impracticable or too costly. These iterative techniques usually require a feedback path so some measure of the output can affect an input of the system in order to guide it towards the correct solution. This feedback path often needs to be a sophisticated manipulation of the output state, such as linear transformation of a vector. However, when the processing can be properly designed, the necessary dynamic range of this feedback path doesn't need to be as high as the desired precision of the solution. Such feedback operations can be performed quite well by analog multichannel optical processing systems. We show how we have used optical systems in a simulated-annealing inversion algorithm to invert a system of linear equations, such as deconvolution for recovering an intensity distribution from an image formed by an aberrated or indirect imaging system. We show that we can significantly increase the execution speed over the digital processor, but we do not sacrifice the ultimate precision of the solution by using the analog optical system.


ABSTRACT Business-to-Business platforms provide connectivity and data exchange services and compete in several dedicated services, such as electronic invoicing (e-invoicing). Thus far, little research has examined the factors that influence firms' choice among competing platforms: Which platform features matter, and in what proportion in the decision maker's choice? To address this gap, we conduct an empirical study and triangulate with past theoretical explanations that have sought to account for the firm's choice. Based on the analysis, we formulate a platform selection model that includes nine features: (1) reach, (2) total cost, (3) usability, (4) ease of system integration, (5) implementation capability, (6) platform support for service improvement, (7) service customization, (8) platform reputation, and (9) long-term sustainability. We apply conjoint analysis using firms' selection data, collected from 282 firms that have recently made a purchase decision among e-invoicing platforms. All features except the vendor's implementation capability are found to significantly influence the platform choice. Two features—usability and reach—dominate the choice and account for nearly 50 percent of the likely outcome. We use cluster analysis to examine the effect of firm size on firms' preferences in platform features. As hypothesized, larger companies prefer interoperability, scale, and network effects, while smaller companies value local use efficiency and ease of use because they are more concerned with usability and cost. Our theoretical and managerial claims concerning platform choice highlight the difficulty of bootstrapping, the role of pricing and cost, the minor importance of implementation-related features, and the impact of longevity during platform contracting.


Value management is well established in construction to structure early project briefing and to
agree satisficing project values and objectives among project stakeholders. Current practice
concentrates on the consideration of value during project definition. This paper proposes
Integral Value Engineering as a design management practice that considers value in design
throughout project resolution and delivery.
An expansion of value management principles is proposed to include the adoption of a
problem-solving approach and value-adding tools. These can help assemble value-adding
frameworks in which design activity is more explicitly focused on project values. The use of
problem solving frameworks to relate design method and outcome to project values is
described and the notion of documenting these relationships to create a value-adding audit
trail introduced. Integral Value Engineering is defined as the consideration of value when
solving design problems, irrespective of the project stage in which they occur or their
technical nature.
The adaptability of the problem solving approach is discussed, together with its ability to
accommodate the extensive variability in problem scope and concurrency in construction
projects. The role of individual design engineers as practitioners of Integral Value
Engineering is also described; this focuses on collaborative forums to incorporate the
expertise of specialised suppliers. A web-based Value-Adding Toolbox is described to
disseminate value-adding tool descriptions, methods and examples within a single
organisation or managed value chain.
The paper concludes that, for integral value engineering to be effective, suitable metrics must
be identified to monitor the extent to which technical design solutions satisfy overall project
values. This would allow responsive mechanisms to be defined so that design development
can be managed throughout project duration to ensure that the satisficing values initially
defined by value management at project outset will be delivered.


Abstract. An offline-coupled model (WRF/Polyphemus) and an online-coupled model (WRF/Chem-MADRID) are applied to simulate air quality in July 2001 at horizontal grid resolutions of 0.5° and 0.125° over Western Europe. The model performance is evaluated against available surface and satellite observations. The two models simulate different concentrations in terms of domainwide performance statistics, spatial distribution, temporal variations, and column abundance. WRF/Chem-MADRID at 0.5° gives higher values than WRF/Polyphemus for the domainwide mean and over polluted regions in Central and southern Europe for all surface concentrations and column variables except for the tropospheric ozone residual (TOR). Compared with observations, WRF/Polyphemus gives better statistical performance for daily HNO 3 , SO 2 , and NO 2 at the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) sites, maximum 1 h O 3 at the AirBase sites, PM 2.5 at the AirBase sites, maximum 8 h O 3 and PM 10 composition at all sites, column abundance of CO, NO 2 , TOR, and aerosol optical depth (AOD), whereas WRF/Chem-MADRID gives better statistical performance for NH 3 , hourly SO 2 , NO 2 , and O 3 at the AirBase and BDQA (Base de donnees de la qualite de l'air) sites, maximum 1 h O 3 at the BDQA and EMEP sites, and PM 10 at all sites. WRF/Chem-MADRID generally reproduces well the observed high hourly concentrations of SO 2 and NO 2 at most sites except for extremely high episodes at a few sites, and WRF/Polyphemus performs well for hourly SO 2 concentrations at most rural or background sites where pollutant levels are relatively low, but it underpredicts the observed hourly NO 2 concentrations at most sites. Both models generally capture well the daytime maximum 8 h O 3 concentrations and diurnal variations of O 3 with more accurate peak daytime and minimal nighttime values by WRF/Chem-MADRID, but neither model reproduces extremely low nighttime O 3 concentrations at several urban and suburban sites due to underpredictions of NO x and thus insufficient titration of O 3 at night. WRF/Polyphemus gives more accurate concentrations of PM 2.5 , and WRF/Chem-MADRID reproduces better the observations of PM 10 concentrations at all sites. The differences between model predictions and observations are mostly caused by inaccurate representations of emissions of gaseous precursors and primary PM species, as well as biases in the meteorological predictions. The differences in model predictions are caused by differences in the heights of the first model layers and thickness of each layer that affect vertical distributions of emissions, model treatments such as dry/wet deposition, heterogeneous chemistry, and aerosol and cloud, as well as model inputs such as emissions of soil dust and sea salt and chemical boundary conditions of CO and O 3 used in both models. WRF/Chem-MADRID shows a higher sensitivity to grid resolution than WRF/Polyphemus at all sites. For both models, the use of a finer grid resolution generally leads to an overall better statistical performance for most variables, with greater spatial details and an overall better agreement in temporal variations and magnitudes at most sites. The use of online biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emissions gives better statistical performance for hourly and maximum 8 h O 3 and PM 2.5 and generally better agreement with their observed temporal variations at most sites. Because it is an online model, WRF/Chem-MADRID offers the advantage of accounting for various feedbacks between meteorology and chemical species. However, this model comparison suggests that atmospheric pollutant concentrations are most sensitive in state-of-the-science air quality models to vertical structure, inputs, and parameterizations for dry/wet removal of gases and particles in the model.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the association of psychological factors and pediatric health care utilization.

METHOD
Ovid Medline and PsychInfo were searched and archival and forward searchers were conducted of relevant articles. Studies of the association between psychological risk factors and pediatric health care utilization of outpatient services, emergency department, inpatient length of stay, and costs were identified. Effect sizes were expressed in the form of the standardized mean difference. From 4,546 studies identified in the search, 69 studies met inclusion criteria.

RESULTS
There were significant low-moderate associations between higher outpatient visits and general child mental health (MH) problems (mean ES [mES] = 0.35), overall psychopathology (mES = 0.44), and internalizing symptoms (mES = 0.16). Results were significant for any parent MH problem (mES = 0.18). For emergency department (ED) visits, there were significant association between more ED visits and any child MH problems (mES = 0.25), internalizing symptoms (mES = 0.24), externalizing symptoms (mES = 0.16), and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (mES= 0.14), as well as parent MH (mES = 0.24) and maternal depression (mES = 0.21). Increased hospitalizations were associated with any child MH problem (mES = 0.3), overall child psychopathology (mES = 0.49), child depression (ES = 0.41), and any parent MH problem (mES = 0.54). For costs, results were significant for any child MH problem (mES = 0.38).

CONCLUSIONS
Child and parent MH problems are significantly associated with increased HCU.


This paper tries to make the case for a model of political identity based on an optical metaphor, which is especially applicable to nations. Human vision can be separated into sentient object, lenses and inbuilt mental ideas. This corresponds well to identity processes in which 'light' from a bounded territorial referent is refracted through various lenses (ideological, material, psychological) to focus in certain ways on particular symbolic resources like genealogy, history, culture or political institutions. Distinguishing between referent, lenses and resources helps us more precisely situate many hitherto disparate problems of national identity. These include the 'ethnic-civic' dilemma, the mystery of national identity before nationalism, and the relationship between local and national, and individual and collective, identities. The model also clarifies the place of universalist ideology, which currently fits poorly within the leading culturalist and materialist theories of nationalism.


Research and data indicate that wealth inequality is more concentrated than income inequality and that there is a high correlation between both variables. Yet, most empirical studies on the determinants of economic inequality focus on income and not wealth inequality and they rarely examine the nexus between the two variables. Against this backdrop, this paper examines the impact of income inequality on the distribution of wealth using panel data and controlling for the roles of financial inclusion and other potential drivers of wealth inequality. We find evidence that lagged wealth and savings rates increase wealth inequality globally as well as in the developed and developing countries samples. We also find that income inequality and return on deposits are dis-equalizing in developing countries while financial inclusion is equalizing in developed countries. In both the global and developing countries samples, financial inclusion has a negative relationship with wealth inequality, but the coefficients are not statistically significant. The findings of the paper have important policy implications for national efforts to address wealth inequality.


This paper presents an improved implementation of automatic differentiation (AD) technique in rectangular interior point optimal power flow (OPF). Distinguished from the existing implementation of AD, the proposed implementation adds a subroutine to identify all constant first-order and second-order derivates by AD and form a list of constant derivates before the processing of iterations. At every iteration of interior point OPF algorithm, only the changing derivates are updated by AD tool. An excellent AD software-ADC-is used as a basic AD tool to finish the proposed implementation. A user-defined model interface is provided with AD technique to enhance performance and flexibility. Numerical studies on several large-scale power systems indicate that the proposed implementation of AD can compete with hand code in execution speed without loss of maintainability and flexibility of AD codes. This paper demonstrates that AD technique has an application potential in online operating environments of power systems instead of hand-coded derivates, and greatly relieves the burdens of software developers.


It is well established that dogs with chronic partial constriction of the thoracic inferior vena cava develop sodium retention, ascites, and respond poorly to acute saline loading. A group of such chronic caval dogs, and a group of normal controls were studied during hydropenia, and again after acute saline loading by clearance and recollection micropuncture techniques. After volume expansion, the caval dogs excreted 52 muEq/min per kidney of sodium compared with 370 muEq/min per kidney for the normal controls. During hydropenia and after the saline infusions, single nephron filtration rates, fractional reabsorption of sodium within the proximal tubule, and proximal delivery of filtrate to the distal nephron were comparable in both groups of dogs. Micropuncture of distal tubular segments confirmed that the loop of Henle was the major site for salt and water retention in the expanded caval dogs. Alteration of intrarenal hemodynamics by vasodilating one kidney and elevating systemic arterial blood pressure induced a normal natriuretic response in the saline-loaded caval dogs. Proximal tubular function remained unchanged and the loop of Henle appeared to be the major site responsive to these hemodynamic maneuvers. These same experiments in saline-loaded control dogs had no effect on function of the proximal or distal nephron and did not increase urinary excretion of sodium or water. These experiments provide evidence that the loop of Henle is the major site for sodium retention in volume-expanded chronic caval dogs excreting minimal amounts of sodium.


In this dissertation we focus on the application of thermodynamic formalism to non-autonomous and random dynamical systems. Specifically we use the thermodynamic formalism to investigate the dimension of various fractal constructions via the, now standard, technique of Bowen which he developed in his 1979 paper on quasi-Fuchsian groups. Bowen showed, roughly speaking, that the dimension of a fractal is equal to the zero of the relevant topological pressure function. We generalize the results of Rempe-Gillen and Urbanski on non-autonomous iterated function systems to the setting of non-autonomous graph directed Markov systems and then show that the Hausdorff dimension of the fractal limit set is equal to the zero of the associated pressure function provided the size of the alphabets at each time step do not grow too quickly. In trying to remove these growth restrictions, we present several other systems for which Bowen's formula holds, most notably ascending systems.
We then use these various constructions to investigate the Hausdorff dimension of various subsets of the Julia set for different large classes of transcendental meromorphic functions of finite order which have been perturbed non-autonomously. In particular we find lower and upper bounds for the dimension of the subset of the Julia set whose points escape to infinity, and in many cases we find the exact dimension. While the upper bound was known previously in the autonomous case, the lower bound was not known in this setting, and all of these results are new in the non-autonomous setting.

We also use transfer operator techniques to prove an almost sure invariance principle for random dynamical systems for which the thermodynamical formalism has been well established. In particular, we see that if a system exhibits a fiberwise spectral gap property and the base dynamical system is sufficiently well behaved, i.e. it exhibits an exponential decay of correlations, then the almost sure invariance principle holds. We then apply these results to uniformly expanding random systems like those studied by Mayer, Skorulski, and Urbanski and Denker and Gordin.


Lignin fractions having different molecular weights and varied chemical structures isolated from kraft lignins of both softwood and hardwood via a sequential solvent fractionation technique were incorporated into a tunicate cellulose nanofibers (CNF)—starch mixture to prepare 100% bio-based composite films. The aim was to investigate the impact of lignin structural diversity on film performance. It was confirmed that lignin's distribution in the films was dependent on the polarity of solvents used for fractionation (acetone > methanol > ethanol > ethyl acetate) and influenced the optical properties of the films. The –OH group content and molecular weight of lignin were positively related to film density. In general, the addition of lignin fractions led to decrease in thermal stability and increase in Young's modulus of the composite films. The modulus of the films was found to decrease as the molecular weight of lignin increased, and a higher amount of carboxyl and phenolic –OH groups in the lignin fraction resulted in films with higher stiffness. The thermal analysis showed higher char content formation for lignin-containing films in a nitrogen atmosphere with increased molecular weight. In an oxygen atmosphere, the phenol content, saturated side chains and short chain structures of lignin had impacts on the maximum decomposition temperature of the films, confirming the relationship between the chemical structure of lignin and thermo-oxidative stability of the corresponding film. This study addresses the importance of lignin diversities on composite film performance, which could be helpful for tailoring lignin's applications in bio-based materials based on their specific characteristics.


A simple high calorie high protein feed was devised by the addition of Caloreen and egg white to milk feeds for use in low birth weight infants (low birth weight--LBW). The growth rate was studied in 100 LBW infants. A weight gain of 203 g per week was obtained as compared to 110 g in the control group; growth was 8.6 mm in the study group as compared to 6.4 mm in the control group; the occipitofrontal circumference (OFC) was 0.67 mm in the study group and 0.38 mm in the control group. All differences were statistically significant.


Text Mining is a method of extracting or discovering the relevant information from large datasets. The main objective of text mining is extraction of information. Implication of this concept in biomedicine would widely help the researchers to retrieve the relevant data about medicines, treatments, condition of patients from elaborated textsets using the abbreviations. The work includes information gathering, text extraction, linking them with the data dictionaries and fetching the relevant data using the synonyms. This paper mainly focuses on cancer research concept wherein the Clinical trial information is stored in metadata repositories and the data is fetched using the techniques of text mining. Here the research is usually conducted in a virtual environment where it includes a wide range of hospitals, clinics and research institutes. Though this paper is primarily focusing on cancer research, it can be applied to other fields also.


This study estimates the fiscal, energy, and environmental tradeoffs involved in supplying California's future energy needs. An integrated framework is developed whereby an econometric forecasting system of California energy demand is coupled with engineering-economic models of energy supply, and economic impacts are estimated using input-output models of the California economy. A baseline scenario in which California relies on imported electricity to meet future demand is then compared against various energy supply development scenarios over the forecast horizon (2012–2035). The results indicate that if California implements its renewable portfolio standard (RPS), there will be a substantial net cost in terms of value added, employment, and state tax revenues because the economic benefits of building capacity are outweighed by higher energy prices. Although carbon emissions fall, the cost per ton of avoided emissions is well above market prices. Building out natural gas fired generation capacity also leads to losses compared to the baseline, although the impacts are relatively minor. Meanwhile, a strategy of replacing imported crude oil and natural gas with domestic production using indigenous resources increases gross state product, employment, and tax revenues, with minimal impact on carbon emissions. This option could, therefore, help mitigate the costs of California meeting its RPS commitment.


This article is a brief overview of the emerging microfluidic systems called surface-tension-confined microfluidic (STCM) devices. STCM devices utilize surface energy that can control the movement of fluid droplets. Unlike conventional poly(dimethylsiloxane)-based microfluidics which confine the movement of fluids by three-dimensional (3D) microchannels, STCM systems provide two-dimensional (2D) platforms for microfluidics. A variety of STCM devices have been prepared by various micro-/nanofabrication strategies. Advantages of STCM devices over conventional microfluidics are significant reduction of energy consumption during device operation, facile introduction of fluids onto 2D microchannels without the use of a micropump, increased flow rate in a special type of STCM device, among others. Thus, STCM devices can be excellent alternatives for certain areas in microfluidics. In this Minireview, fabrication methods, operating modes, and applications of STCM devices are introduced.


Prospective cohort and case-control studies suggest an association between low folate intake and increased risk of colo-rectal adenoma and cancer. Some, but not all, animal studies indicate that folate supplementation protects against the development of colo-rectal neoplasms, although supraphysiological folate doses have been shown to enhance tumour growth. Folate is a methyl donor for nucleotide synthesis and biological methylation reactions, including DNA methylation. A low dietary folate intake may increase the risk of colo-rectal neoplasia by inducing genomic DNA hypomethylation, which can affect the expression of proto-oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes associated with the development of cancer. Common polymorphisms in genes involved in the methylation pathway, such as methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase and methionine synthase, have been shown to influence risk of colo-rectal neoplasia, with interactions dependent on folate status and/or alcohol intake, which is known to antagonise methyl group availability. There is some evidence to show that DNA from normal-appearing colo-rectal mucosa in individuals with colo-rectal cancer is hypomethylated. In a case-control study DNA methylation in normal-appearing colo-rectal mucosa has been shown to be lower in individuals with colo-rectal cancer (P=0.08) and colo-rectal adenoma (P=0.009) than in controls free of colo-rectal abnormalities. Human intervention trials to date suggest that supraphysiological doses of folate can reverse DNA hypomethylation in colo-rectal mucosa of individuals with colo-rectal neoplasia. In a double-blind randomised placebo-controlled study folate supplementation at physiological doses has been shown to increase DNA methylation in leucocytes (P=0.05) and colonic mucosa (P=0.09). Further studies are required to confirm these findings in larger populations and to define abnormal ranges of DNA methylation.


With the ageing of the global population, China is projected to be impacted significantly by the rising number of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). A cure for AD is not yet available, so society should be prepared for an increasing AD-related burden. In this review, we examine this impending problem and provide overviews on (a) the magnitude of the problem of AD in Hong Kong/China in the near future; (b) the genetic and lifestyle risk factors that contribute to AD; (c) current diagnostic approaches and the potential of newly discovered genetic biomarkers for early detection; (d) medications, non-pharmacological interventions, and possible preventive measures; and (e) the need for social and psychological care from the community. In Hong Kong, primary care and AD-related support for at-risk individuals, patients, and caregivers are inadequate. A joint effort from the medical community, government, universities, non-governmental organisations/charities, and industry should initiate the development of a long-term programme for AD. Finally, we outline recommendations for the relevant parties to consider.


Diarrhoea is a common problem affecting fools of all ages. Common non-infectious causes of mild to moderate diarrhoea include foal heat diarrhoea and nutritionally induced diarrhoea. Clinical signs often resolve spontaneously without or with only minimal treatment. Gastroduodenal ulceration rarely presents as diarrhoea and resolves once the underlying cause is corrected. Neonatal fools may suffer from hypoxicischoemic enteropothy and necrotising enterocolitis; both are associated with severe, often multi-systemic disease and require intensive medical therapy. Long established infectious causes of foal diarrhoea include rotavirus, Salmonella spp. and Cryptosporidium. Diagnosis can be established using commercially available assays, consecutive faecal cultures or PCR and acid fast faecal staining, respectively. Recent evidence suggests that Clostridium difficile and perfringens may be part of the normal gastrointestinal flora of equine neonates, but can also be associated with cases of mild to severe, and even fatal diarrhoea. Due to their occurrence in normal and diseased animals, diagnosis is difficult and further investigations are required to document their role in foal diarrhoea. Correction of fluid, electrolyte and acid-base abnormalities is the most important treatment of diarrhoea regardless of the underlying aetiology and, depending on age and physiological status, systemic antimicrobials and nutritional support. Although controlled clinical trials are lacking, there is some limited evidence suggesting that treatment with metronidozole, di-tri-octahedral smectite and Saccharomyces boulardii may be beneficial in foals suffering from clostridial diarrhoea. infectious agents affecting older fools include small strongyles and Lawsonia intracellularis, both more recently recognized pathogen causing weight loss, severe hypoproteinoemia and mild to severe diarrhoea. While diagnosis of cyathostomiasis is difficult to establish intra vitam, L. intracellularis may be diagnosed by serology or identification of the organism by faecal PCR. Treatment consists of larvicidal doses of fenbendozole and systemic antimicrobials with excellent intracellular penetration, respectively.


The effects of common and concurrent environmental stressors on the social behaviour of farm animals are poorly understood. Here, we report the results of a multifactorial experiment designed specifically to examine the individual, additive or interactive effects of elevated ammonia, noise and low light (LL) levels on the social behaviour of growing pigs. Social behaviour was measured in terms of the nature, frequency and duration of both initiated and response behaviours for 4 weeks following mixing of the groups. General activity patterns, group cohesion and social discrimination were also examined as a function of the environmental treatments. Elevated concentrations of atmospheric ammonia (∼20 v. <5 ppm) and LL intensity (∼40 v. 200 lux) had the most pronounced effects, particularly on the nature of social interactions, with pigs under these conditions showing more aggression in the early stages of the experiment. In addition, pigs exposed to a high level of mechanical noise representative of artificial ventilation (∼80 v. 40 dB [A]) were less submissive to aggressive acts, while pigs in ∼20 ppm ammonia showed more reciprocated aggression when in coincident LL (<40 lux). The results indicate that atmospheric ammonia at commonly experienced concentrations may undermine social stability, particularly in the presence of low lighting, though the mechanisms are currently unknown. These findings have implications for the welfare of growing pigs and hence policy makers and farmers alike, with respect to the improvement of welfare in intensive pig farming.


Poly(carboxybetaine) (pCB) hydrogels do not elicit a foreign body response due to their low-fouling properties, making them ideal implantable materials for in vivo drug and cell delivery. Current reported pCB hydrogels are cross-linked using cytotoxic UV-initiated radical polymerization limiting clinical and in vivo translation. For clinical translation, we require in situ and biorthogonal cross-linking of pCB hydrogels that are both low-fouling and low-swelling to limit nonspecific interactions and minimize tissue damage, respectively. To this end, we synthesized carboxybetaine (CB) random copolymers (molecular weight (MW): ∼7-33 kDa; Đ: 1.1-1.36) containing azide (pCB-azide) or strained alkyne (Dibenzocyclooctyne (DBCO); pCB-DBCO) that rapidly cross-link upon mixing. Unlike CB homopolymers and other CB copolymers studied, high DBCO content pCB-DBCO30 (30% DBCO mole fraction) is thermoresponsive with a upper critical solution temperature (UCST; cloud point of ∼20 °C at 50 g/L) in water due to electrostatic associations. Due to the antipolyelectrolyte effect, pCB-DBCO30 is salt-responsive and is soluble even at low temperatures in 5 M NaCl, which prevents zwitterion electrostatic associations. pCB-azide and pCB-DBCO with 0.05 to 0.16 cross-linker mole fractions rapidly formed 10 wt % hydrogels upon mixing that were low-swelling (increase of ∼10% in wet weight) while remaining low-fouling to proteins (∼10-20 μg cm-2) and cells, making them suitable for in vivo applications. pCB-X31 hydrogels composed of pCB-azide32 and pCB-DBCO30 formed opaque gels in water and physiological conditions that shrunk to ∼70% of their original wet weight due to pCB-DBCO30's greater hydrophobicity and interchain electrostatic interactions, which promotes nonspecific protein adsorption (∼35 μg cm-2) and cell binding. Once formed, the electrostatic interactions in pCB-X31 hydrogels are not fully reversible with heat or salt. Although, pCB-X31 hydrogels are transparent when initially prepared in 5 M NaCl. This is the first demonstration of a thermo- and salt-responsive CB copolymer that can tune hydrogel protein and cell fouling properties.


Twenty-five years after ERISA's enactment, federal courts are still struggling with how to handle the situation in which a promise is made that is inconsistent with the terms of a written plan. Part of the problem is that state law claims that would normally address the situation are generally preempted under ERISA's provisions. The other part of the problem is that none of ERISA's federally provided remedies specifically addresses the situation. In dealing with this problem, some courts have concluded that plaintiffs to whom promises were made are left without a remedy. Other courts have tried to fashion various remedies under state law or under ERISA itself, such as alleging the creation of an informal ERISA plan, estoppel, or breach of fiduciary duty. Each attempted solution, however, has either misread the text and purposes of ERISA or has wrongfully allocated power to federal courts that belongs in the hands of Congress. With an unwavering focus on ERISA's purposes, provisions, and statutory framework, the article examines the problem of "the inconsistent promise." It also examines several approaches that courts have tried to use to address the issue in light of the narrow framework of remedies allowed within the legislation. The article includes an explanation as to why each "solution" has failed or is improper. Finally, the article proposes that Congress amend ERISA's civil remedies provision to include an estoppel claim such that a remedy is available for some inconsistent promises in a manner that is consistent with the framework and purposes of ERISA. Various Court Approaches: 1) *State Law Claims Even after the Supreme Court significantly narrowed preemption in New York State Conference of Blue Cross & Blue Shield Plans v. Travelers Insurance Co., in the context of "inconsistent promises," state law claims simply cannot stand under ERISA's preemption clauses. In essence, the plaintiff's claim is that plan terms were misrepresented. Thus, resolution of the claim both depends on an interpretation of the plan and has a direct impact on the operation and administration of the plan such that the claim "relates to" the plan and is preempted. 2) *Informal ERISA Plan Claims Despite ERISA's requirement that the plan be in writing, it is now generally accepted that informal benefit plans can be created without a formal written instrument. However, in inconsistent promise cases, the claim has failed for two reasons. First, several courts refuse to apply the informal plan doctrine when the alleged informal plan would merely contradict the terms of an existing written plan. Second, it is very rare that the alleged promise meets the requirements of the test set forth in Donovan v. Dillingham such that an informal plan can be said to have been created. 3) *Estoppel Claims In the classic estoppel claim, the participant or beneficiary asks the court to bar the plan and its fiduciaries from enforcing those written plan terms and to enforce the promise instead. Because ERISA does not explicitly provide an estoppel claim, courts have turned to ERISA's federal common law to create one. The circuit courts have fashioned dramatically different answers. Estoppel claims are inappropriate for two reasons. First, the claims improperly create federal common law and interfere with Congress' very clear policy choices about which rights, obligations, and remedies to create. Second, the circuits' wide variety of approaches to estoppel has resulted in nonuniform and inconsistent laws and regulations of ERISA plans, something that Congress expressly sought to avoid by enacting ERISA. 4) *Individual Claims for Breach of Fiduciary Duty Since ERISA preempts state claims, plaintiffs and courts are turning to ERISA's remedy of breach of fiduciary duty for fiduciary misrepresentation. However, the claim is inconsistent with ERISA's statutory scheme. In addition, the doctrine has two significant limitations. First, breach of fiduciary duty actions may be brought only against fiduciaries, so a fiduciary must have made the promise. Second, the relief available for breach of fiduciary duty is limited to "equitable relief" such as injunctions, mandamus, or restitution - none of which adequately deal with most plaintiffs' harm in inconsistent promise cases. *Proposed Solution The author proposes that Congress - not the courts - should amend ERISA's civil remedies provision to include a promissory estoppel claim. Congress should allow itself to be guided by two main principles in the drafting of the provision: first, that it must maintain a careful balance between the rights of individual plan participants and beneficiaries and the long-term interest of all participants and beneficiaries; and second, that any new remedy must not undermine the integrity of the written ERISA plan. The types of promises that should be enforced under the estoppel claim are those that bear sufficient indicia of reliability and formality, such as formal written communications from an employer (e.g., summary plan descriptions, written contracts between the parties) and formal communications to a large group of participants or beneficiaries. In both examples, the promises should be made by high-level persons associated with the plan so that a plan participant or beneficiary could have reasonably relied on the promise.


BACKGROUND
Nutritional interventions are promising tools for the prevention of obesity. The n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 LCPUFA) docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) modulates immune and metabolic responses while the antioxidant hydroxytyrosol (HT) prevents oxidative stress (OS) in white adipose tissue (WAT).

OBJECTIVE
The DHA plus HT combined protocol prevents WAT alterations induced by a high-fat diet in mice. Main related mechanisms.

METHODS
Male C57BL/6J mice were fed a control diet (CD; 10% fat, 20% protein, and 70% carbohydrates) or a high fat diet (HFD) (60% fat, 20% protein, and 20% carbohydrates) for 12 weeks, without and with supplementation of DHA (50 mg kg-1 day-1), HT (5 mg kg-1 day-1) or both. Measurements of WAT metabolism include morphological parameters, DHA content in phospholipids (gas chromatography), lipogenesis, OS and inflammation markers, mitochondrial activity and gene expression of transcription factors SREBP-1c, PPAR-γ, NF-κB (p65) and Nrf2 (quantitative polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay).

RESULTS
The combined DHA and HT intervention attenuated obesity development, suppressing the HFD-induced inflammatory and lipogenic signals, increasing antioxidant defenses, and maintaining the phospholipid LCPUFA n-3 content and mitochondrial function in WAT. At the systemic level, the combined intervention also improved the regulation of glucose and adipokine homeostasis.

CONCLUSION
The combined DHA and HT protocol appears to be an important nutritional strategy for the treatment of metabolic diseases, with abrogation of obesity-driven metabolic inflammation and recovery of a small-healthy adipocyte phenotype.


In a national research project we intend to determine the efforts needed to render horizontal grain storages hermetic following the Australian example. The effects that this may have on the quality of grain stored for several years will be monitored. Another aspect of the project is a laboratory study on vacuum packaging and the effects of various residual oxygen contents and different grain moisture contents on wheat quality. This is done in order to identify suitable methods for long-term grain storage with a mechanical barrier avoiding pest attack. The long-distance orientation of stored product insects is usually influenced by volatile cues. During the project grain volatiles are determined in and around grain storages to prove the correlation between a gradient of attractive volatiles and attack by flying insects. The long-term grain storages tested may be a model for storages of organic grain that can achieve a higher market price per ton but also for grain storage in general. Since in 2007/2008 the world-market value of grain doubled, an improved grain storage technology may be economically even more advisable than before.


The process of image segmentation is one of the most important steps in computer vision for image retrieval, visual summary, image based modeling and in many other processes. The goal of segmentation is typically to locate certain objects of interest. In this paper, we have studied and investigated graph based normalized cut segmentation methods and proposed a technique for adding flexibility to the parameters for performance improvement. These methods are examined analytically and tested their performance for the standard images. The results obtained for the important metrics show that these methods perform better than others approaches and are computationally efficient, and useful for precise image segmentation.


The interactive effects of a shallow, highly saline water table and irrigation management on crop production have not been clarified, due to difficulties in measuring crop water use. The detrimental effects of a rising water table and salinization due to irrigation can be eliminated, provided irrigation scheduling is based on a broad knowledge of crop water requirements. A deficit irrigation approach was used to (i) minimize deep percolation and (ii) study the capability of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) to use water from the soil profile and from lower groundwater. Measurements of sap flow in the stem by the heat pulse method were used to determine transpiration. Transpiration of the mature cotton crop was nearly 20% lower than potential transpiration. Reduced irrigation application did not stimulate root expansion into wet, deep soil layers ; therefore, it resulted in a reduction of the transpiration rate below its maximum rate. An appreciable water uptake from groundwater did not occur, presumably because of high sensitivity of the cotton root system to high soil density. Although the leaching fraction was nearly zero, salt accumulation in the root zone during the growing season was low.


Using lymph node T cells from poly-L(Tyr,Glu)-poly-D,L-Ala--poly-L- Lys[(TG)-A--L]-primed animals and B cells from animals primed with trinitrophenylated (TNP) protein or lipopolysaccharide, we have obtained anti-TNP-(TG)-A--L direct plaque-forming responses in vitro. Response to this antigen was shown to be controlled by the H-2 haplotype of the animal studied. The strain distribution of in vitro response was very similar to that previously reported by others for in vivo secondary IgG responses to (TG)-A--L. We investigated the cell types expressing the Ir gene(s) for (TG)-A--L in our cultures. F1, high responder x low responder mice were primed with (TG)-A--L. Their T cells were active in stimulating anti-TNP-(TG)-A--L responses of high responder but not low responder B cells and macrophages (MPHI), even though both preparations of B cells and Mphi were obtained from mice congenic at H-2 with one of the parents of the F1. For three low responder strains tested, of the H-2h2, H-2k, and H-2f haplotypes, the anti-TNP-(TG)-A--L response of low responder B cells and Mphis in the presence of high responder, F1 T cells could not be improved by the addition of high responder, antigen-bearing Mphis to the cultures. In one strain of the H-2a haplotype, it was shown that neither the B cells nor Mphis could be functional in anti-TNP-(TG)-A--L responses. Our results therefore suggested the Ir genes for anti-TNP-(TG)-A--L responses were expressed at least in B cells in all the low responder strains we studied, and, in mice of the H-2a haplotype, in Mphis too.


bjective: This study was conducted to determine the alterations in serum trace elements, including zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), and magnesium (Mg) in patients with chronic hepatitis C and to compare the results with those of age and sex matched healthy individuals. Methods: The study was carried out in Medical Research Unit, College of Medicine, Al-Nahrain University from 2009-2010. One hundred and ten subjects, 60 patients with chronic hepatitis C and 50 healthy individuals were included in this study. The serum zinc, copper, iron and magnesium concentrations were measured by using atomic absorption spectrophotometery. Results: Serum zinc, copper, iron and magnesium concentrations were found to be 1.081±0.08, 1.143±0.025, 0.0819±0.0188 and 27.455±0.409 mg/L respectively in patients with chronic hepatitis C and 1.086±0.4680, 1.103±0.326, 0.0339±0.0066 and 16.80±0.56 mg/L in healthy individuals, respectively. Serum iron was exhibited to be elevated significantly (p<0.01) and magnesium was observed to be decreased significantly (p<0.01) in patients when compared with those of the control group. However zinc and copper remained without significant variants.


Developing Asia's infrastructure gap results from both inadequate public resources and a lack of effective channels to mobilize private resources toward desired outcomes. The public-private partnership (PPP) mechanism has evolved to fill the infrastructure gap. However, PPP projects are often at risk of becoming distressed, or worst, being terminated because of the long-term nature of contracts and the many different stakeholders involved. This paper applies survival-time hazard analysis to estimate how project-related, macroeconomic, and institutional factors affect the hazard rate of the projects. Empirical results show that government's provision of guarantees, involvement of multilateral development banks, and existence of a dedicated PPP unit are important for a project's success. Privately initiated proposals should be regulated and undergo competitive bidding to reduce the hazard rate of the project and the corresponding burden to the government. Economic growth leads to successful project outcomes. Improved legal and institutional environment can ensure PPP success.


The four main ways in which rural employment creation can be grounded on the exploitation of natural capital can be structured by two complementary analytical directions. These are firstly, 'production' based on (a) renewable resources (agriculture, energy) and (b) depletive resources (energy, construction materials) and, secondly, 'consumption' by (a) non-residents (tourism and leisure) and (b) residents (incomers including the wealthy retired). This analysis forms the basis of a conceptual framework (Rural Europe 2+2+) which recognises that there is no simple definition of rural employment but that a sustainable approach to exploiting natural capital, together with the development of the other capitals of the territory via a place-based (i.e. territorial policy) approach, can create jobs and encourage working age people either to stay in, or relocate to, rural areas. Thus five Strategic Orientations which target the major driving forces for rural employment, namely natural, financial, human, physical and social capital, and the interactions between them, could be the focus for future rural employment strategies. They are as follows: SO1. Encourage the development of key growth sectors; SO2. Reinforce the local rural economy; SO3. Improve skills and labour market participation in rural areas; SO4. Develop infrastructure and services; and SO5. Ensure proper implementation of the strategy through support actions.


Sound fields rotating around stationary blindfolded listeners sometimes elicit auditory circular vection, the illusion that the listener is physically rotating. Experiment 1 investigated whether auditory circular vection depends on participants' situational awareness of "movability," that is, whether they sense/know that actual motion is possible or not. While previous studies often seated participants on movable chairs to suspend the disbelief of self-motion, it has never been investigated whether this does, in fact, facilitate auditory vection. To this end, 23 blindfolded participants were seated on a hammock chair with their feet either on solid ground ("movement impossible") or suspended ("movement possible") while listening to individualized binaural recordings of two sound sources rotating synchronously at 60°/s. Although participants never physically moved, situational awareness of movability facilitated auditory vection. Moreover, adding slight vibrations like the ones resulting from actual chair rotation increased the frequency and intensity of vection. Experiment 2 extended these findings and showed that nonindividualized binaural recordings were as effective in inducing auditory circular vection as individualized recordings. These results have important implications both for our theoretical understanding of self-motion perception and for the applied field of self-motion simulations, where vibrations, nonindividualized binaural sound, and the cognitive/perceptual framework of movability can typically be provided at minimal cost and effort.


The human homologue (MNBH/DYRK1) of the Drosophila minibrain gene maps to human chromosome 21 within the Down syndrome (DS) critical region and is within the region minimally deleted in chromosome 21-linked microcephaly. As a first step in gaining insight into the role that MNBH may have in human neurogenesis, and as a lead-up to the development of mouse models for MNBH overexpression, we have characterized the gene at the molecular level. We describe here the MNBH full-length transcript, alternative splicing, expression profile, and genomic organization. The full-length cDNA of MNBH is 5. 2 kb and is composed of 17 exons spanning 150 kb, between markers D21S335 and D21S337. Transcripts MNBHa and MNBHb arise from the use of different first exons in the 5'-UTR and are differentially expressed. MNBHa is expressed ubiquitiously in a broad spectrum of tissues and is apparently under the control of a CpG island. MNBHb is expressed only in heart and skeletal muscle and is apparently under the control of a TATA-like box. Four alternative splicing events affecting the C-terminus of the protein yield at least four isoforms of MNBH (MNBH-iso1, MNBH-iso2, MNBH-iso3, and MNBH-iso4). A PEST sequence, potentially involved in the rapid degradation of the protein, is present in all the isoforms. A histidine repeat and a serine/threonine domain are present only in the largest form of the protein (MNBH-iso1). MNBH was overexpressed 1.5-fold in DS brains and Dyrk1 about 2.1-fold in the brains of the Ts65Dn mice. The information provided here should be valuable for MNBH mutation studies and aid in the development of DS animal models.


Purpose: The intention of this study is to determine whether previously observed large external surrogate residual motion at end‐or‐inhale (EOI) translates into large tumor residual motion, and if improving the reproducibility at this phase can lessen the internal residual motion. Method and Materials: We simulate gated treatment at the EOI phase, using a set of recently measured internal/external correlated patient data. The 3D locations of internal fiducial markers placed near the target are tracked in real‐time with stereoscopic x‐ray fluoroscopy. An external surrogate respiratory gating system is synchronized with the fluoroscopic unit so that the log files contain the three‐dimensional marker position and the abdominal surface position at every time point. The internal and external measurements are taken even when the MV beam is gated off, throughout each treatment, so large amounts of internal/external‐correlated data were collected. Results: We found that under free‐breathing conditions the residual motion of the tumors is much larger for EOI phase than for end‐of‐exhale (EOE) phase. The mean value of residual motion at EOI was found to be 2.2 mm and 2.7 mm for amplitude and phase‐based gating, respectively; and, at EOE, 1.0 mm and 1.2 mm for the same quantities. However, the residual motion in the EOI gating window is correlated well with the reproducibility of the external surface position in the EOI phase. Using the results of a published breath‐coaching study, we deduce that the tumor residual motion at EOI would approach that at EOE under breath‐coaching conditions. Conclusion: We conclude that the same reproducibility of tumor location can be achieved at EOI as at EOE if breath coaching is implemented. Based on these results, we believe that inhale gating is preferable to exhale gating as long as proper margins are employed and breath coaching is performed.


Riau Province is one of the prone areas of forest and land fires in Indonesia. Fires in Riau have occurred since 1997 and peaked during the period of 2014 to 2015. Since that time, the government and other stakeholders had begun to change the paradigm of forest and land fire prevention, from preventing to handling. This study aims to analyze the communication process among stakeholders in preventing Karhutla (Forest and Land Fires) in Riau Province. The study was conducted by using qualitative methods through semi-structured interview toward 14 informants representing government communication roles, forestry and palm oil industries, researchers, NGOs, mass media, and The Fire Care Community (Masyarakat Peduli Api/MPA). The results of the study explain that all stakeholders have responses that fire intentionally caused by individuals and organized groups on open land, corporate land and community land. The planning and implementation of risk reduction are performed through various communication channels such as Karhutla Task Force, direct communication and media usage, especially WhatsApp, mass media and social media. In general, communication in expert modules is still dominated by government and minus researchers, while in public; the role of stakeholders is almost equal.


TxBox is a new system for sand boxing untrusted applications. It speculatively executes the application in a system transaction, allowing security checks to be parallelized and yielding significant performance gains for techniques such as on-access anti-virus scanning. TxBox is not vulnerable to TOCTTOU attacks and incorrect mirroring of kernel state. Furthermore, TxBox supports automatic recovery: if a violation is detected, the sand boxed program is terminated and all of its effects on the host are rolled back. This enables effective enforcement of security policies that span multiple system calls.


Primary non-function (PNF) after liver transplantation has been found to be the most common cause of early graft loss, which accounts for up to 36% of such failures. The cause of PNF is not known. The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with and independently predictive of PNF after liver transplantation. Four hundreds twenty-four liver transplants performed at the Charles O. Strickler Transplant Center, University of Virginia were retrospectively reviewed. PNF was defined as the failure of an allograft after revascularization with no discernable cause, leading either to retransplantation or to patient death. Risk factors were analyzed using the Pearson chi-square test for univariate analysis and logistic regression for multivariate analysis. Factors found to be associated with PNF included: female recipient (6.4% vs. 2.6%, p=0.045), African-American donor (9.5% vs. 3.2%, p=0.043), inter-racial donor to recipient transplantation (9.5% vs. 2.8%, p=0.008), severe encephalopathy pretransplant (11.1% vs. 3.1%, p=0.034), pretransplant recipient PTT > 50 seconds (10.9% vs. 2.8%, p=0.004), portal vein reconstruction with conduit (15.0% vs. 3.5%, p=0.011), and downsizing of graft (22.9% vs. 3.8%, p=0.007). Logistic regression identified the use of donor iliac vein conduit for the portal vein reconstruction (p=0.003, odds ratio=3.15, 95% confidence interval: 1.49-6.64) and the racial difference between donor and recipient (p=0.012, odds ratio=2.31, 95% confidence interval: 1.20- 4.45) to be independent predictors of PNF. The exact cause of these findings, whether physiologic or immunologic, remains unknown. If confirmed in larger data sets, the attention to these factors may minimize the possibility of PNF in non-emergency situations.


In the current days, with, the usage of credit cards has increased radically due to its varied benefits. The mode of payment through credit card has made people's life easy for both online and ordinary purchases and thus widespread. This enormous usage of credit card leads to different frauds. Due to the rise and rapid growth of E-Commerce, use of credit cards for online purchases has dramatically increased and it caused an explosion in the credit card fraud. As credit card becomes the most popular mode of payment for both online as well as regular purchase, cases of fraud associated with it are also rising. In real life, fraudulent transactions are scattered with genuine transactions and simple pattern matching techniques are not often sufficient to detect those frauds accurately. This system seeks to investigate the current debate regarding the credit fraud in the banking sector and vulnerabilities in online banking and to study some possible remedial actions to detect and prevent credit fraud. The system reveals lots of channels of fraud in online banking which are increasing day by day. These kinds of fraud are the main barriers for the e-business in the banking sector. This system also gives the details of a survey of various techniques used in credit card fraud detection mechanisms and evaluates each methodology based on certain design criteria. Keyword: Fraud detection, credit card, BLAST-SSAHA method, E-Commerce.


One of the leading causes of death in the world are cardiovascular diseases, among which coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common one. It occurs as a result of narrowing of the arteries which supply blood to the heart due to a theroma plaque formation. This kind of heart disease can be considered as a multifactorial one as genetic and environmental factors are involved in its incidence. The already conducted studies have investigated the relationship between some of polymorphisms in different loci and CAD with the aim of on-time diagnosis of this disease, which may lead to its prevention and appropriate treatment. The aim of this study was to examine the association of tRNA Thr 15927 G → A mutation with the risk of CAD incidence to offer programs for early diagnosis and treatment of this disease in Iran. Fifty patients with CAD were included in the patient group, and fifty healthy participants were selected for the control group. 5mL of peripheral blood samples drawn from subjects in patient and control groups were collected in the tubes containing Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). After DNA extraction from blood with the employment of DNA extraction kit, its quality and quantity were measured using electrophoresis and NanoDrop devices, respectively. Then, the isolated DNA with the implementation of amplification-refractory mutation system (ARMS) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) techniques was examined to determine and evaluate the target polymorphism in the intended locus. Sequencing method was also used to confirm the findings. To this end, 4 samples were randomly selected and sequenced.In the control group, 6 screened patients had the mutation while the others did not. Similar result was observed in the patient group. The findings of the present study reveal that there was not any significant relationship between tRNAThr 15927G → A mutation and risk of CAD incidence.


This paper analyzes the demand for shrimp along with beef, pork, and chicken in the US food market, which contributes much to predicting supply strategies, consumer preferences and policy making. It focuses on the own and cross relationship between the expenditure share and price, income changes. An Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDs) model and two alternative specifications are used to estimate a system of expenditure share equations for shrimp, beef, pork, and chicken. Empirical results indicated that some insignificant slope coefficients and inappropriate signs of them did not comply with microeconomic theory. This could be caused by heteroscedasticity, autocorrelation, a limitation in the data used, or shrimp is a commodity that is quite different.


Objective: The objectives of the study were to clinically evaluate the role of Rhus toxicodendron, a homoeopathic medicine, in its various attenuations (Q, 30C, 200C, 1M) prescribed as a single medicine or with other homeopathic medicines for relieving the signs and symptoms of arthritic disorders and also to determine their useful potencies, frequency of administration and building up a new dose repetition protocol and guidelines for practice. Methods: It was a multi-centric, observational study carried out between the years 2016-2018. A total of 91 patients with arthritic disorder were selected according to the pre-defined parameters. The detailed case recording was done for each case and the patients were monitored for assessing the status of their condition according to the pre-defined criteria and the results were evaluated. Results: Out of the 91 patients, 78 patients improved in varying degrees with marked improvement seen in 34 patients, moderate in 27 patients and mild in 17 patients. No improvement was seen in 13 patients. Conclusion: Outcome of the study shows that homeopathic medicines are useful in managing arthritic disorders. However, further study with predefined laboratory and radiological investigation needs to be conducted. Other objectives of the study which included identifying the most useful potencies of Rhus toxicodendron and their frequency of administration could not be achieved. From the available results, a dose repetition observation has been provided and further study for new repetition protocol and guidelines is being formulated for conducting further trials.


The present study examined the role of auditory stream segregation in the selective attention to target tones in infancy. Using a task adapted from Bregman and Rudnicky's (1975) study and implemented in a conditioned head-turn procedure, infant and adult listeners had to discriminate the temporal order of 2200 and 2400 Hz target tones presented alone, preceded and followed by 1460 Hz flanker tones, and presented within a series of 1460 Hz captor tones meant to release the target tones from the effects of the flankers by capturing the flankers into a separate stream. Infants showed the same pattern of discrimination across conditions as adults: discrimination of target tones in the target-alone condition, a decrease in performance when flanker tones were introduced, and a return to target-alone level in the captor condition. These results suggest that infants' perceptual organization of tones is similar to that of adults, and that their ability to selectively attend to target sounds and ignore distractors depends on the structural properties and perceptual organization of the non-target sounds.


Ellis-van Creveld (EVC) syndrome is a genetic disorder with autosomal recessive transmission, which may clinically present as small stature, short limbs, fine sparse hair, hypoplastic fingernails, multiple musculofibrous frenula, conical teeth, hypoplasia of the enamel, hypodontia, and malocclusion. Heart defects, especially abnormalities of atrial septation, have been found in about 60% of cases. The mutation in EVC and EVC2 gene is responsible for this syndrome. The presence of multiple orodental findings makes this syndrome important for dentists. The aim of this article is to present a rare case of EVC syndrome in a 10-year-old girl along with the review of literature.


In May 2007, Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) was commissioned by Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council (WMBC) to undertake an archaeological desk-based assessment of land bounded by Millgate, Rodney Street, Library Street and the Wiend, in the centre of Wigan, Greater Manchester (centred on NGR SD 58356 05569). The principle aim of the assessment was to identify, as far as possible, the nature and significance of the sub-surface archaeological resource within the study area, and to inform and support a planning application by WMBC for the redevelopment of the site. The development proposals are for a Joint Service Centre, which will provide a range of council services on a single integrated site, the construction of which will require some substantial earth-moving works.
The proposed site for the Joint Service Centre lies on the eastern fringe of the town's medieval core, and incorporates an area of known important archaeological remains. In particular, archaeological excavations during the 1980s immediately to the north of the present Municipal Buildings on Hewlett Street provided significant evidence for Roman activity. More recently, the remarkable remains of a Roman bath house were discovered during archaeological excavations carried out in advance of the Grand Arcade Shopping Development on Millgate. These results obtained from these excavations indicate that the focus of Roman settlement in Wigan lies within the present study area. In addition, important archaeological evidence for medieval and post-medieval activity has been recovered from the present study area and its immediate vicinity.
Buried archaeological remains across most of the study area, however, will undoubtedly have been destroyed during redevelopment work in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In particular, the construction of the Wigan and District Mining and Technical College (the present Town Hall) in 1903, and its extension in 1929, will have destroyed any archaeological remains between Hewlett Street and College Avenue. The construction of the public baths and its modern successor will similarly have had a major impact on any buried remains between College Avenue and Rodney Street, although fragmentary evidence for archaeological activity may survive beneath the extant building and a small grassed area immediately to the north. However, the northern part of the study area, which is currently used for car parking, has considerable potential to contain important archaeological remains pertaining to the Roman, medieval, and post-medieval periods. This will require a programme of intrusive investigation, most probably in the form of trial trenching in the first instance, which will be designed to establish the presence or absence, extent, and character of buried archaeological remains.


It is proposed to use the principles of the coaxial and inverted coaxial magnetrons for creation of highly effective crossed – fieldactive coaxial and active inverted coaxial electron guns that not only produce, bunch and inject electron stream into next cascade of theM-type amplifier or frequency transducer, but also ensure high frequency stability, large output signal power and operation at highertemporal harmonics and subharmonics of the input signal. Both magnetron active coaxial and active coaxial inverted electron gunsshould include a high quality coaxial resonator connected with the slow – wave system operating at π-oscillations but in a first case thisresonator covers the slow –wave system and a cathode and in a second one – a large cathode with inner emitting surface covers slow –wave system and stabilizing resonator. Working duration of the devices using such active coaxial magnetron guns should be 3 – 5 timeslarger in comparison with ordinary magnetron guns because of released thermal regime of operation. The expressions for evaluation ofelektronic efficiency and ultimate increase in a gain of the active coaxial magnetron gun are presented. They confirm the high efficiencyof the gun. Ill. 5, bibl. 6 (in English; summaries in Lithuanian, English and Russian).


Estimating longitudinal vehicle speed is required in a wide range of applications from road safety to vehicular emissions modelling. Each vehicle speed estimation method has specific challenges including the high cost of measurement equipment, the small range of vehicle models accessible for performing tests and the low resolution of data in time and space. Thus, the goals of this study are (a) to investigate the use of smartphones' integrated sensors as a convenient, reliable and powerful means of vehicle speed data collection which would mitigate the issues observed in previous methods, and (b) to propose a post-processing pipeline for generating vehicles' speed profiles based on the raw data captured by the proposed data collection method. Accordingly, a smartphone application is developed to facilitate the collection of vehicles' movement data, particularly inside tunnels and high-density urban areas, where state-of-the-art global positioning system (GPS) applications fail to record the desired data. Moreover, a post-processing pipeline is proposed for calculating vehicles' speed profiles and emissions from the raw smartphone acceleration data, and the full system is evaluated through a series of controlled experiments as well as simulations.


The Streicker Bridge at Princeton University campus has been equipped with two fiber-optic sensing technologies: discrete long-gauge sensing, based on Fiber Bragg-Gratings (FBG), and truly-distributed sensing, based on Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis (BOTDA). The sensors were embedded in concrete during the construction. The early age measurements, including hydration swelling and contraction, and post-tensioning of concrete were registered by both systems and placed side by side in order to compare their performances. Aside from the usual behavior, an unusual increase in strain was detected by several sensors in various cross-sections. The nature of this event is still under investigation, but preliminary study indicates early-age cracking as the cause. The comparison between the two monitoring systems shows good agreement in the areas where no unusual behavior was detected, but some discrepancies are noticed at locations where unusual behavior occurred and during the early age of concrete. These discrepancies are attributed to the spatial resolution of the distributed monitoring system and the temperature influences at early age. In this paper, general information concerning the Streicker Bridge project is given. The monitoring systems and their specifications are briefly presented. The monitoring data are analyzed and a comparison between the two systems is performed.


Cultural fit is a concept that can be applied to the effectiveness of one's evaluation practice as well as the interventions that seek to help people. We argue that there is substantial vagueness about being culturally competent, or culturally responsive, or both, and that the concepts these terms are attempting to embody can be viewed better as a continuum of skills, knowledge, attitudes, and positioning. We propose replacing these terms with the concept of cultural fit; that is, the contextual stance or positioning of a practitioner or evaluator as an insider, of the same culture(s) as the service user or evaluand, and having a congruency with the service user or evaluand's core cultural values. We argue that the cultural fit between organisa tional staff and service user creates grounds for greater effectiveness, and therefore the concept of cultural fit is potentially an important effectiveness criterion for interventions and evaluators. Cultural fit also has relevance both for commissioners of evaluation (in reflect ing on how they might reasonably assess the cultural fit of an evalu ation team, or evaluator, or both), and for evaluators themselves, as a way of measuring their own cultural fit and how this impacts on their effectiveness as an evaluator.


This is a publisher's version of an abstract from the Abstracts of Australian Society of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery and the New Zealand Society of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery 1996 Combined Annual Scientific and General Meeting (Surfers Paradise, 21-26 April 1996). This version is reproduced with permission from Australian Society of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery.


At present,with the pushing of the course of law and the buildup of colligating national power,many departments of executing the law have the substance basis,ideology consciousness and practical ability.A part of prisons introducing the new pattern of criminal rebuild is a attempt under this background..In order to research this pattern,since Dec.of 2004,a task grounp that composed by scholars,justice practical department experts and softmare designing experts from southwest university of political scinece and law,review and research on the spot,and separately from the fields of criminial law,criminial lawsuit law,management,psychology,statistics and computer,discuss wholely the feasibility and necessary of prison introducing the system of ISO9001-2000 quality control standard attestation and information technology under the framework of law,review the law basis,designing idea and run theory,research the characteristic of its using modern management pattern system,the technology use levels of the office system on internet,information management and security aspects,amoreover forecast the use foreground and value of this pattern.


The urban housing system in most of Central and East Europe (CEE) is undergoing decentralization, deregulation, and privatization together with other basic changes due to the fall of the iron curtain, the demise of the Soviet Union, and the reinstitution of democracy. In most of the CEE, the urban housing sector is economically important, accounting for 10-20% of total economic activity. In view of its implications for land use, energy consumption, waste generation, and water pollution, it also has a significant effect on sustainability of development. A prime development need in the CEE, according to the World Bank, is to improve the performance of the urban housing sector for economic, social, environmental, and political reasons. This paper describes the urban housing model of the CEE before reform and analyzes changes to that model that began with the privatization reforms in the early 1990s. The paper details the strengths and weaknesses of the reforms and suggests that there are some resource distribution inequities that are accentuated under reform. It discusses the pricing issues in urban housing reforms, as well as the financing of urban housing, and briefly recounts matters related to mobility of labor, spatial issues of urban housing development, urban infrastructure, peripheral urban growth, and titling and property registration that have come about as state socialism is replaced by a more open market.


Examiner interviews are one of the most powerful tools to help both inventors and examiners understand and overcome specific issues during prosecution. Direct discussions between an applicant and an examiner can help bridge the gap between misunderstandings of prior art, the invention or statements in the specification. When used correctly, examiner interviews can dramatically decrease the time in prosecution and help applicants quickly reach a final disposition. This study reviews approximately 1.1 million patent applications corresponding to every patent application with an examiner interview between 2007 to June 2020 to determine the effectiveness of examiner interviews. This study establishes that examiner interviews dramatically decrease the number of Office Actions needed to reach a final disposition (allowance or abandonment).


Wilson disease (WD), an inherited disorder affecting copper metabolism, is characterized by hepatic cirrhosis and neuronal degeneration, which result from toxic levels of copper that accumulate in the liver and brain, respectively. We reported previously that the approximately 1.3-kb promoter of the WD gene contains four metal response elements (MREs). Among the four MREs, MREa plays the most important role in the transcriptional activation of the WD promoter. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSAs) using synthetic MREa and an oligonucleotide containing the binding site for transcription factor Sp1 revealed the presence of nuclear factors that bind specifically to MREa. Two MREa-binding proteins of 70 and 82 kDa were purified using avidin-biotin affinity chromatography. Amino acid sequences of peptides from each protein were found to be highly homologous to the Ku proteins. Immunoblot analysis and EMSAs showed that the MREa-binding proteins are immunologically related to the Ku proteins. To study further the functional significance of these Ku-related proteins in transcriptional regulation of the WD gene, we performed RNA interference (RNAi) assays using a Ku-80 inverted-repeat gene to inhibit expression of the Ku-80 gene in vivo. Results of the RNAi assays showed that expression of the Ku-80 protein was suppressed in transfected cells, which in turn led to the suppression of the WD gene. In addition, a truncated Ku-80 (DeltaKu-80) mutant inhibited WD promoter activity in HepG2 cells in a dominant-negative manner. We also found that WD promoter activity was decreased in Xrs5 cells, which, unlike the CHO-K1 cells, are defective in the Ku-80 protein. When Ku-80 cDNA was transfected into Xrs5 and CHO cells, WD promoter activity was recovered only in Xrs5 cells. Taken together, our findings suggest that the Ku-80 subunit is required for constitutive expression of the WD gene.


The precedence effect refers to the fact that humans are able to localize sound sources in reverberant environments. In this study, sound localization was studied with dual sound source: stationary (lead) and moving (lag) for two planes: horizontal and vertical. Duration of lead and lag signals was 1s. Lead-lag delays ranged from 1-40 ms. Testing was conducted in free field, with broadband noise busts (5-18 kHz). The listeners indicated the perceived location of the lag signal. Results suggest that at delays above to 25 ms in horizontal plane and 40 ms in vertical plane subjects localized correctly the moving signal. At short delays (up to 8-10 ms), regardless of the instructions, all subjects pointed to the trajectory near the lead. The echo threshold varied dramatically across listeners. Mean echo thresholds were 7.3 ms in horizontal plane and 10.1 ms in vertical plane. Statistically significant differences were not observed for two planes [F(1, 5) = 5.52; p = 0.07].


Word spotting provides an efficient mechanism for word searching and indexing of historical documents. In this paper we present a novel feature descriptor, radial descriptor, and study its application for spotting word parts on Arabic historical documents. The radial descriptor aims to capture the intensity variance of the neighborhood of a point at various scale space levels. Features with high variance along multiple levels are used to describe the shape of a word according to the bag-of-features model. The distance between two word-parts is computed as the distance between their occurrence probability histograms. We have tested our approach on a large dataset of Arabic word-parts and received encouraging results.


Comparison of the results of tuberculin diagnosis in patients with tuberculosis during two studies made by the same procedure in 1973 and 1998 showed a marked increase in delayed hypersensitivity, which is indicative of higher sensitization in persons inoculated with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This appears to be associated with the higher frequency and spread of exogenous reinfections and with the increased virulence of the causative agent.


Purpose: Assessment of an Easy-to-Perform Immunoenzymatic Assay for Detecting Diphtheria Immunity in the Population. Can an immunoassay replace or support the toxin neutralisation test? Sera and methods: Sera of 75 adults were collected before and after vaccination and tested in the vero cell neutralisation test and the immunoassay. Results: The sensitivity of the EIA was 73 and 94%, specificity was 74 and 67% before and after vaccination, respectively. Positive or negative predictive value was 70 and 96% or 78 and 49% before and after vaccination, respectively. The correlation coefficient changed from 0.43 to 0.77 after vaccination. A comparison of the quantitative results of the test showed differences up to 19 times in individual cases. Conclusions: Only cases with relatively high antibody titres (e.g. after booster vaccination) show EIA high sensitivity. Linear correlation is also high in such cases. If you expect low antitoxin levels as is the case before booster vaccination, EIA will then often be false positive or negative. Such studies should be limited to the neutralisation method.


Background: DKA and severe hypoglycemia (SH) are the 2 most important acute complications of type 1 diabetes (T1D). SGLT inhibitors are associated with an increased risk of ketosis and DKA. Sotagliflozin (SOTA), a dual SGLT 1 and 2 inhibitor, has been shown to reduce the incidence of documented hypoglycemia and SH as adjunct to insulin therapy in T1D. The objective was to determine if the increased risk of DKA with SOTA was offset by the reduction of SH. Methods: Data were pooled from the inTandem 1 and 2, 52-week, placebo (PBO)-controlled studies in adults with T1D (N=1575). Events of DKA and SH were adjudicated by an IRC. Incidence and exposure-adjusted incidence rates (EAIR) were calculated along with numbers needed to treat or harm (NNT/NNH). Results: A higher incidence of adjudicated DKA was seen with SOTA 200 and 400 mg (2.9 and 3.8%) compared to PBO (0.2%). However, SOTA was associated with a lower rate of hypoglycemia events with blood glucose levels ≤55 mg/dL and a lower incidence of adjudicated SH with SOTA 200 and 400 mg (5.7 and 4.4%) compared with PBO (7.4%). The absolute risk difference in EAIR between SOTA and PBO was 2.9 to 4.0 events per 100 patient-yr for DKA and -1.9 to -3.4 events per 100 patient-yr for SH (Figure). NNH for DKA (28) was similar to the NNT for SH (33) with SOTA 400 mg. Conclusions: With SOTA added to insulin, the increase in DKA was similar in magnitude to the decrease in SH in adults with T1D. Disclosure J. Pettus: Consultant; Self; Diasome Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., MannKind Corporation, Novo Nordisk Inc., Sanofi. B. Cariou: Advisory Panel; Self; Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, Inc., Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Novo Nordisk Inc., Sanofi-Aventis. Board Member; Self; GENFIT. Research Support; Self; Amgen, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. Speaker's Bureau; Self; Abbott, AstraZeneca. S. Sawhney: None. P.L. Banks: Employee; Self; Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. M.J. Davies: Employee; Self; Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. P. Lapuerta: Employee; Self; Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Stock/Shareholder; Self; Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.


The evolution of the Black Sea's salinity after the opening of the Bosporus about 7500 years ago is investigated using a simple two‐box model. The model consists of watermass and salt conservation equations, and allows for changes in halocline depth. The paleoceanographic box model is forced by present‐day Mediterranean inflow and outflow, and atmospheric forcings. Analytic solutions for the evolution of the box volumes are given. Model salinities reach 90% of their the present‐day values in both boxes about 2,500 years after the opening of the Bosporus. The evolution of the salinities is shown to be almost independent of the evolution of the box volumes, and the results are compared with the existing paleoceanographic proxy records.


The author has measured the t{bar t} production cross section at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV using data collected by the D0 experiment at Fermilab. The integrated luminosity of the data set is 140 pb{sup -1} and a total of four candidate events are seen, with an expected background of 2.61 events. The measured cross section of {sigma}{sub t{bar t}} = 11.1{sub -9.3}{sup +22.1}(stat.){sub -4.5}{sup +4.3}(sys.) pb is in agreement with a NNLO calculation of 6.77 pb.


Although teaching hospitals are widely discussed in terms of 115 university teaching hospitals, Medicare's prospective payment system pays about 1,000 teaching hospitals an additional amount per case. This paper investigates two frequent justifications for this add-on payment: 1) teaching hospitals have sicker patients, and 2) they produce medical education. To test assertion 1, I reviewed case-mix analyses and performed regression analyses, which provided little evidence that nonuniversity teaching hospitals have sicker patients. With regard to assertion 2, I argue that the first 10 or 15 residents per 100 beds function as hospital-based and attending physicians and, accordingly, should not be included in the add-on payment. I conclude with two policy options that would focus the add-on payment on university hospitals.


Abstract Purpose: To examine the association between bladder function and falls while controlling for mobility in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: A total of 92 ambulatory individuals with MS (mean age ± SD = 59.1 ± 7.3 years, female n = 69) were divided into two groups based on self-reported bladder function (none-mild n = 43 versus moderate-severe n = 49). The main outcome measure was a number of self-reported falls in the previous 3 months. Participants' demographic information (age, type of MS, gender, use of the assistive device) was also collected. The balance was quantified with the Berg balance scale, and walking speed was indexed with the timed 25-foot walk test. Negative binomial regression analysis was used to examine the association between bladder function and falls in individuals with MS while controlling for balance and walking. Results: The median number of self-reported falls in the previous 3 months was 2 (interquartile range, 0–4). The severe bladder dysfunction group was more likely (incidence rate ratio = 1.84) to have a greater number of self-reported falls compared to mild bladder dysfunction group when balance and walking were taken into account. Conclusion: Bladder dysfunction is related to falls history independently of mobility in individuals with MS. Future research examining whether bladder management programmes have an impact on fall incidence in MS is warranted. Implications for rehabilitation Bladder dysfunction and falls are common health concerns in individuals with multiple sclerosis. Bladder dysfunction was associated with the number of falls in individuals with MS, and this association was independent of mobility. Bladder management should be included in fall prevention strategies in individuals with MS.


A language originally brought in by the British colonial rule in 1841, English used to be the major medium of instruction in Hong Kong educational system. An important debate in today's Hong Kong's education is on the issue of the continuity of Englishmedium education. A significant change since 1998 is that the local vernacular Cantonese has replaced English as the medium of instruction in most secondary schools. Integrating theoretical framework into the case of Hong Kong, this paper examines the wisdom and the long-term effects of this policy change. Acknowledging that mother tongue education may facilitate acquisition of knowledge, it appears that the Hong Kong Government's selection was not well planned and has eroded the principle of bilingual education, which runs counter to its proposed objective of "two written codes and three spoken codes". The paper points out that mixed code is unavoidable and universal in any bilingual society and therefore, it is irrational to regard it as the culprit of the decline of students' language competence. In face of the growing role of English in the world, the restricted use of English in education may cause an undesirable impact. The issue of language in education cannot be separated from the objective of language education. In short, the Hong Kong Government's well-intentioned goal of effective language education for the challenges of the new millennium might, ironically, be a case of linguistic myopia.


Mesoporous activated carbons were prepared from coconut shells by the method of chemical activation with H3PO4. Effects of main influence factors on the yield and adsorption properties of activated carbon were studied via orthogonal experiments. Experimental results under the optimum conditions were as follows: the yield of the activated carbon was 36.90%; methylene blue adsorption was 21.5 mL/0.1 g; and the iodine number was 889.36 mg/g. The surface area of the activated carbon prepared was 891 m2/g, as determined by the BET method. Horvath-Kawazoe equations (H-K) and density functional theory (DFT) were introduced to analyze the porous structures of the activated carbon. It was shown that the activated carbon was mesoporous, with a total pore volume of 0.7233 mL/g, a micropore volume of 37.06%, a mesopore volume of 62.85%, and a macropore volume of 0.07%. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies demonstrated the results of the pore structure analysis.


The role of neuroimaging in neurocutaneous disorders is an evolving field. Research can be inconsistent and inconclusive, leading to divergent practice for some disorders. This study provides an overview of the current role of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain in select neurocutaneous disorders, namely Sturge–Weber syndrome, congenital melanocytic naevus syndrome, neurofibromatosis type 1, tuberous sclerosis complex, incontinentia pigmenti and basal cell naevus syndrome. Future research assessing new targeted treatments and novel MRI techniques may change current practice.


. Surface topography analysis plays a very significant role in determining the functional performance for many engineering surfaces. In this paper, feature characterisation techniques, based on the 'Wolf pruning' method are implemented to characterise micro and nano-scale features which have a dominant effect on the functional lifespan of flexible Photovoltaic (PV) modules. The densities and dimensions of the potential significant features are calculated by means of the feature "characterisation toolbox". The outcome of this study has shown the potential of areal feature segmentation for detecting functionally significant defects present in Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) barrier coatings of Al 2 O 3 on polymer films. The analysis provides the basis for the development in process metrology for Roll-to-Roll (R2R) production of barrier coatings as applied to flexible PV arrays and is a first step in the demonstration of in-process use of feature parameters.


Despite recent policy changes, governmental monitoring and control of grassroots NGOs remain pervasive and effective to a large extent in China. The enforcement of control over NGOs is complicated by at least three layers of factors: First, multiple agencies are involved in NGO control without a centralised norm. Second, government-NGO interactions vary across cases and are deeply rooted in local political contexts. Last, but not least, since the NGO community at its origin is highly diverse, NGOs' responses to various types of governmental control differ, which in turn triggers further complications. The main findings of this research are based on interviews with 60 NGO staff, as well as with civil affairs officials in Shanghai and Shenzhen from January 2011 to May 2012.


In the past few years, many studies have been conducted about the integrated use of statistical process control (SPC) and engineering process control (EPC) because applying them separately cannot control the manufacturing process optimally. And most of these studies reported that the integration outperforms than using only SPC or EPC. Basically, the former aims to rapidly detect assignable causes and time points for abnormalities that take place during process; and the latter is a method in which input variables are adjusted against process outputs through a feedback control mechanism. However, though combining SPC with EPC can effectively detect time points when abnormalities occur during process, using these two conventional tools may give false alarms in most cases if process data are auto-correlated to some extent. In this study, to increase the accuracy of process disturbance identification, we used independent component analysis (ICA) with classification and regression tree (CART) approach to identify and recognize shifts in the correlated process parameters.


Background: Vitamin D is an important micronutrient possessing valuable and diverse biological effects that are related to periodontal disease pathogenesis. Vitamin D levels are regulated by fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) which is strongly associated with inflammation. The aim of the present study was to explore the relation of vitamin D and FGF23 with periodontal disease through the assessment of their levels in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) and serum in periodontitis patients before and after non-surgical periodontal therapy and to compare those levels with healthy controls in order to identify any possible correlation between them. Methods: Serum and GCF samples were collected at baseline and 3 months after therapy to evaluate levels of vitamin D3 and FGF23 using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in both study groups. Group I consisted of 15 controls who were systematically and periodontally healthy, while group II consisted of 15 subjects who were systematically healthy with stage II periodontitis. Results: A significant elevation in vitamin D3 levels in both GCF and serum were recorded 3 months after therapy with a 25.98% and 39.29% increase respectively. On the contrary, a significant reduction in mean values of FGF23 in both GCF and serum were found after treatment with a 49.75% and 39.28% decrease respectively. Conclusion: The results of the present investigation have shed light on a vital association of both FGF23 and vitamin D3 with periodontitis, where FGF23 is associated with periodontal inflammation and vitamin D3 is associated with periodontal health.


INTRODUCTION
The current epidemic of obesity and resultant diabetes mellitus type 2 (DMT2) is a tsunami that will impact healthcare worldwide and lap over into aerospace medicine. Metabolic syndrome (MBS) is the major link between obesity and DMT2.

METHODS
A review of U.S. Air Force Aeromedical Consult Service (ACS) records was accomplished looking at aviators with a diagnosis of DMT2. Case reports of three flyers with DMT2 are presented and discussed. Other aeromedical agencies were contacted regarding their experiences and this information was summarized. A literature review on DMT2, obesity, and metabolic syndrome was accomplished.

RESULTS
Of 70 charts for flyers identified with diabetes mellitus at the ACS between 1975 and 2000, over 95% were for DMT2. The mean body mass index for these aviators was 26.2. Currently, all services grant restricted waivers for some aviators with DMT2, none in high performance, single-seat aircraft. The FAA is currently allowing most flyers with stable DMT2 to operate aircraft in all categories with specific restrictions.

DISCUSSION
Obesity and metabolic syndrome are becoming increasingly prevalent in the aviation community. Aggressive actions to limit weight gain and identify those at risk for developing DMT2 must be considered for all populations.


Heterosis has made a significant contribution to the improvement of many crops regarding yield, quality and resistance to pests. The low wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) productivity in Lesotho has necessitated exploitation of heterosis in commercial cultivars. Heterotic performance of 38 F1 and F2 progenies from 5 x 5 diallel crosses of wheat cultivars were estimated for mid-parent and best-parent values. There were significant differences between F1 and F2 progenies for all characteristics. In F1 progeny, a positive mid-parent heterosis was observed in Sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) sedimentation volume, kernel hardness, break flour yield and kernel weight. Positive best-parent heterosis was obtained in all the above parameters. In F2 progeny, characteristics that showed positive mid-parent heterosis were mixograph development time, hardness index and SDS sedimentation volume; while positive best-parent heterosis was observed in mixograph development time, hardness index, kernel diameter and weight. A significant increase in mid-parent heterosis was observed for five characteristics in Sceptre x Wanda and SST124 x Nata. Another significant increase in mid-parent heterosis occurred for four characteristics in Nata x Wanda, Nata x Sceptre, Sceptre x Kariega, Sceptre x SST 124, Wanda x SST 124 and Sceptre x Nata. SST 124 x Sceptre, Nata x Wanda, SST 124 x Kariega and Kariega x Nata revealed a significant increase in best-parent heterosis for all characteristics. Keywords: Best-parent heterosis, Triticum aestivum African Crop Science Journal , Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 283 - 289


Carbon-doped TiO2 powders in an anatase phase colored yellow were fabricated by oxidative annealing of TiC. Carbons were located at oxygen sites. The carbon substitution caused the absorbance edge of TiO2 to be shifted to the higher wavelength region. Carbon-doped TiO2 showed photocatalytic activities for the decomposition of IPA to CO2 via acetone under visible light (400–530 nm) irradiation.


Coltiviruses and seadornaviruses are members of the family Reoviridae, which encompasses alongside the genera Coltivirus and Seadornavirus, 13 other genera of viruses that can infect mammals, birds, aquatic animals, reptiles, insects, plants, fungi and protists. Coltiviruses are transmitted by hard ticks of the family Ixodidae, whereas seadornaviruses are mosquito-borne. These viruses can infect humans, following the bite of adult infected female ticks or mosquitoes, causing febrile illnesses and are occasionally responsible for encephalitis. Coltiviruses are principally endemic in the north-western parts of the United States and Canada and were also reported in European countries, including France and Germany. Antibodies to coltiviruses have also been identified from patients in the former Czechoslovakia and South Korea. Seadornaviruses are principally endemic in the south-east Asia, although recent data showed that there has been an expansion of their distribution northwards, reaching the north-western Chinese borders. Banna virus (Seadornavirus) has been isolated from human encephalitis cases.

Key Concepts

Coltiviruses are transmitted by adult female tick (family Ixodidae) bite and have animal reservoirs.
Coltiviruses can infect humans causing febrile illnesses and can cause encephalitis in rare cases.
Seadornaviruses are transmitted by mosquitoes and no animal reservoir is known to date.
Seadornaviruses can infect animals and humans causing febrile illnesses and were reported to be responsible for cases of encephalitis.
Coltiviruses show an evolutionary relationship to the turreted mycoreoviruses, aquareoviruses and orthoreoviruses.
Seadornaviruses show an evolutionary relationship to the nonturreted rotaviruses.
Coltiviruses seem to represent a missing link between turreted and nonturreted members of the family Reoviridae.
Differential diagnostic serological and molecular assays for coltiviruses and seadornaviruses are available.
Structure of the viral particles of Banna virus shows striking similarities to that of the rotaviruses.

Keywords:

coltivirus;
seadornavirus;
Reoviridae;
encephalitis;
vector-borne virus