Aim To contribute to the knowledge about the mechanisms involved in aortic stiffness due to ageing. Materials and Methods Aortic rings from young (1.5±0.5 months, 0.8±0.2 kg), adult (6±0.5 months, 2.7±0.5 kg) and old (28±8 months, 3.2±0.8 kg) male New Zealand rabbits were used to evaluate: 1) intima-media thickness by optical microscopy; 2) vascular reactivity (VR) in terms of sensitivity (pD2) and efficacy (Emax) to KCl; phenylephrine (PE); U-46619, a thromboxane A2 receptor agonist, TXA2; carbachol (CCh), isoproterenol and sodium nitroprusside (SNP), using organ bath experiments; and 3) the expression of receptors α1, β2 and thromboxane-prostanoids (TP), by immunofluorescence. Results Ageing 1) did not change the thickness of tunica; 2) significantly reduced the pD2 to KCl, increased the pD2 to PE and reduced both the pD2 and Emax to TXA2, CCh and isoproterenol, and reduced the pD2 to SNP; and 3) significantly increased the expression of α1 and β2 receptors in the intima and adventitia, and the expression of TP only in the adventitia. Conclusion Our results suggest that ageing makes the aorta more reactive to α1 adrenergic contraction, and it could be a compensation for lower responsiveness to prostanoids. The aged aorta is less reactive to endothelium-dependent and non-dependent relaxation, and the vessel seems to try to compensate for that stiffness increasing β2 receptors, although probably less functional. These results complement the proposed mechanisms of elastocalcinosis and smooth muscle rigidity, expanding the vision that should guide the treatment of aortic stiffness due to aging.


Rotation is expected to have an important influence on the structure and the evolution of stars. However, the mechanisms of angular momentum transport in stars remain theoretically uncertain and very complex to take into account in stellar models. To achieve a better understanding of these processes, we desperately need observational constraints on the internal rotation of stars, which until very recently was restricted to the Sun. In this paper, we report the detection of mixed modes—i.e., modes that behave both as g modes in the core and as p modes in the envelope—in the spectrum of the early red giant KIC 7341231, which was observed during one year with the Kepler spacecraft. By performing an analysis of the oscillation spectrum of the star, we show that its non-radial modes are clearly split by stellar rotation and we are able to determine precisely the rotational splittings of 18 modes. We then find a stellar model that reproduces very well the observed atmospheric and seismic properties of the star. We use this model to perform inversions of the internal rotation profile of the star, which enables us to show that the core of the star is rotating at least five times faster than the envelope. This will shed new light on the processes of transport of angular momentum in stars. In particular, this result can be used to place constraints on the angular momentum coupling between the core and the envelope of early red giants, which could help us discriminate between the theories that have been proposed over the last few decades.


Objective. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a new questionnaire to assess outcomes related to the midline anterior lumbar approach and to identify risk factors for negative patient responses. Methods. A retrospective review of 58 patients who underwent anterior lumbar surgery at a single institution for either degenerative disc disease or spondylolisthesis in 2009 was performed. The outcome measures included our newly developed Anterior Lumbar Surgery Questionnaire (ALSQ), ODI, and EQ-5D. Results. There were 58 patients available for followup, 27 women and 31 men. The average age at surgery was 50.8 years, with an average followup of 2.92 years. The average change in ODI was 34.94 (22.7) and EQ-5D was 0.28 (0.29). The rate of complications with the anterior approach was 10.3% and there was one male patient (3.2%) with retrograde ejaculation. Determination of the effectiveness of the new ALSQ revealed that it significantly correlated to the EQ-5D and ODI (P < 0.05). Smoking was associated with a negative response on thirteen questions. BMP use was not associated with a negative response on any sexual function questions. Conclusions. Our new Anterior Lumbar Surgery Questionnaire determines patient perceived complications related to the midline anterior lumbar surgical approach.


an era of diminishing public resources, community college depart0e,nts need a budgetary system in which options are clearly spelled out, consequences projected, priorities delineated, and budget requests made that are functional and provide useful results. Unfortunately, few colleges and even fewer departments are developing and utilizing such systems. Department chairs, in their budgetary submissions, may do little more than roll over previous years' requests. Discussions with department chairs indicate that many institutions go through planning exercises designed to create documents rather than to produce useful changes in the organization. A well-developed strategic planning process includes input from all department members and stimulates dialogue on the departments' purpose. Moreover, it should be a structured process including the following six specific steps: (1) departmental values are clarified and a mission statement developed; (2) department strengths and weaknesses are analyzed: (3) key areas for attention are identified and goals developed for these areas; (4) specific operational plans are developed to accomplish those goals; (5) the plan is implemented; and (6) results are evaluated, leading to further plan development. Once priorities and actions have been developed, the budgetary prozess becomes simplified as departments merely request funds to accomplish the goals they have developed. Another advantage is that expectations between the administration and department become very clear when requests are based on thought-out plans. (KP) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document. ***********************************************************************


The distribution of alpha-bungarotoxin binding sites on chick ciliary ganglion neurons was examined at the ultrastructural level by incubating ganglia with horseradish peroxidase-conjugated toxin and examining the peroxidase-stained and thin-sectioned ganglia with the electron microscope. Both in embryonic and in adult ganglia heavy labeling was restricted to the surface membrane of short processes emerging from the ciliary and choroid cell somata in the region of preganglionic innervation. Less dense labeling occasionally was present on the smooth surface membrane of the soma in the same region. In contrast, the pre- and postsynaptic membranes of most synapses were clearly not labeled even in the immediate vicinity of heavily labeled processes. The labeling represented specific binding of the toxin conjugate since it could be prevented by d-tubocurarine and hexamethonium or by unconjugated toxin. The conjugated toxin was not excluded from the synaptic cleft on the basis of size because a substantially larger protein conjugate, a horseradish peroxidase- labeled monoclonal antibody, was able to enter the cleft and heavily label synaptic membranes as well as soma membranes. Even neurons in adult ganglia had very little synaptic labeling after exposure to the conjugated toxin. These results strongly suggest that the high affinity alpha-bungarotoxin binding sites on chick ciliary ganglion neurons are different from the synaptic ACh receptors which would be expected to be concentrated in the postsynaptic membrane. Clustering of the alpha- bungarotoxin binding sites in the vicinity of synapses, however, may reflect a related synaptic function.


The main objective of the research was to determine the tourists' satisfaction and their behavioral intention to travel to eco-tourism destinations of Sapa for the Year 2020. The study's methodology used questionnaire which was designed with the purpose to describe the factors influencing tourists' satisfaction of the eco-tourism destinations of Sapa as perceived by respondents and determine the influence of tourist's satisfaction on tourist's behavioral intentions to pay more, to return, and to recommend to friends and relatives. The respondent of this study were domestic visitors who visited five ecotourism sites of Sapa (Lao Cai province). Because of Covid 19 epidemic's influence, the survey was conducted online in two months and 500 responses were received. The age of the respondents were from below 18 to over 60. To have the general view of the respondents, this study used Likert scales. All measurement items are based on a five-point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree; 5=strongly agree). The author used SPSS version 20 to run the data. Since the population was non propbalistic and data was not normally distributed, Non parametric test was used such as Mann-Whitney U-test for two groups (instead of t-test), Kruskal Wallis H-test for three or more groups and Spearman Rho. In addition, descriptive statistics, reliability test, factor analysis, were used in this study. The study recommended the following policy recommendations to improve the service of Eco tourism destinations in Sapa about Ecosystem health and cultural attraction; Amenities; Accommodation, food, people, safe and security and some other policy recommendations.


We study the structure of low-lying states in 6Li, 6He, 8Be, 8B, 12C, and 16O, using ab initio symmetry-adapted no-core shell model. The results of our study demonstrate that collective modes in light nuclei emerge from first principles. We investigate the impact of the symmetry-adapted model space on spectroscopic properties and, in the case of the ground state of 6Li, on elastic electron scattering charge form factor. The results confirm that only a small symmetry-adapted subspace of the complete model space is needed to accurately reproduce complete-space observables and the form factor momentum dependence.


Suitable functions fitted to transverse offset data for measuring the mode field diameter according to the Petermann II definition are investigated with the help of computer simulation using three different model functions. The Gaussian fit to points in the vicinity of the curve maximum gives the best results.


Systematic education policy is essential for offering school and college education in a country due to the reason that education leads to progress in society. Different countries use different education systems with different stages during its life cycle of school and College education levels. Recently, the Government of India received a draft Education policy suggested by an expert committee headed by Dr. K. Kasturirangan, former chairman of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The committee suggested both incremental and drastically changes in existing Indian education policy and give guidelines to effective implementation in the country by 2030. This is also in line with the Objectives of fourth Sustainable Development Goals to provide quality education for all citizens through fourth Educational Industry Revolution (EIR 4.0) in the country. This paper reviews the related literature during last few years on Indian Higher Education Policies and their consequences, Salient features and their focuses on the present draft of National Education policy 2019 through content analysis. The paper highlights on various policies proposed in the draft with the special emphasis on higher education section and compare them with the previous policies. The analysis also compares the possible effects of NEP 2019 proposal on private and public HEIs in terms of facilities & restrictions. The strength and weakness of the new policy are identified with respect to various stakeholders and listed. Appropriate suggestions are made to realize the policy and make it defect free and effective from a public point of reference and for the prosperity of the country