Background This report prospectively examines the 4-year course, and predictors of course, of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), a common and often severe disorder. No prior studies have prospectively examined the course of BDD in individuals ascertained for BDD. Method The Longitudinal Interval Follow-Up Evaluation (LIFE) assessed weekly BDD symptoms and treatment received over 4 years for 166 broadly ascertained adults and adolescents with current BDD at intake. Kaplan–Meier life tables were constructed for time to remission and relapse. Full remission was defined as minimal or no BDD symptoms, and partial remission as less than full DSM-IV criteria, for at least 8 consecutive weeks. Full relapse and partial relapse were defined as meeting full BDD criteria for at least 2 consecutive weeks after attaining full or partial remission respectively. Cox proportional hazards regression examined predictors of remission and relapse. Results Over 4 years, the cumulative probability was 0.20 for full remission and 0.55 for full or partial remission from BDD. A lower likelihood of full or partial remission was predicted by more severe BDD symptoms at intake, longer lifetime duration of BDD, and being an adult. Among partially or fully remitted subjects, the cumulative probability was 0.42 for subsequent full relapse and 0.63 for subsequent full or partial relapse. More severe BDD at intake and earlier age at BDD onset predicted full or partial relapse. Eighty-eight percent of subjects received mental health treatment during the follow-up period. Conclusions In this observational study, BDD tended to be chronic. Several intake variables predicted greater chronicity of BDD.


: At first the essential conceptions concerning tinnitus in connection with sensorineural hearing losses are reported. Correlation of tinnitus with the pure tone threshold and spontaneous activities are proved by electrophysiologic and psychoacoustic tests. The sensation arising by the tinnitus concerning tonal quality and loudness is compared with external signals as well as the masking tinnitus by noise and pure tones. Masking and the temporal shift of tinnitus when masked was investigated for tinnitus of experimental and sensorineural origin. A method for classifications is described and examples are presented. Possibilities for physical and medical effects on tinnitus are discussed. The difficulties of treatment are exhibited by means of a new model concerning tinnitus.


Purpose: To investigate if MRI of the liver can be used for in‐vivo dose verification in proton therapy. Recently it was shown that irradiated healthy livertissue shows a strong systematic decrease in uptake of a hepatobiliary‐directed contrast agent (Gd‐EOB‐DTPA) six weeks after brachytherapy. In this study it is investigated, if the radiation‐related effect is also detectable for hypo‐fractionated proton therapy. Methods: For patients who receive liver lesion directed hypo‐fractionated proton therapy (5 fractions within 2 weeks) Gd‐EOB‐DTPA enhanced MRI is performed 10–12 weeks after treatment. MR images are registered to the planning CT and the planned dose map by non‐rigid image registration. The reviewer contours the border of hypointensity on T1‐w images that indicates the hepatocyte function loss. The threshold dose for this function loss is evaluated as the D90, the dose achieved in at least 90% of the pseudolesion volume. Moreover, irradiated‐ to‐non‐irradiated livercontrast and the correlation of detected signal change in MRI with the planned dose map are analyzed. Results: Gd‐EOB‐DTPA enhanced T1‐w MR images taken after hypo‐fractionated proton therapy show a hypo‐intense area that is correlated to the area of high dose deposition in shape and volume with small deviations in location (up to 5–6 mm) giving information on the actual distal edge position. With Gd‐EOB‐DTPA enhanced MRI, irradiated‐to‐non‐irradiated contrast is superior to MRI enhanced with extracellular, nonspecific contrast agents used in a previous study. Conclusions: A biomarker for radiation induced changes in livertissue was identified and promising post‐treatment MRI data have been acquired and are currently evaluated. For the next step, a pilot patient study has been set up to investigate, if radiation‐induced changes using Gd‐EOB‐DTPA enhanced MRI can be detected prospectively during fractionated proton therapy and therefore would allow for an immediate assessment of the proton therapy with direct impact on patient safety. The work was partly supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under contract no. 03ZIK445.


Agriculture is facing a number of challenges included limited water supply, low nutrient use efficiency, etc affected by climate change. Nano-silica is a product of nanotechnology, the frontier technologies to enhance crop productivity under climate change threats. The purpose of the research was to investigate the effects of nano silica concentration and rice hull ash on growth and yield of soybean. The experiment was conducted at Gagasari village, Cirebon, West Java from March until June 2017. The treatments were arranged by using factorial completely randomized block design with two factors. The first factor was a concentration of nano silica fertilizer consisted of four levels i.e., 0, 1.75, 2.5, and 3.75 ml.l−1. The second factor was doses of rice hull ash consisted of four levels i.e., 0, 1, 2, and 3 ton.ha−1. Each treatment combinations was repeated three times. The result showed that concentration of nano silica individually affected the number of leaves and number of branches, NAR and RGR, productive branches at 21, 30-45, and 35 daps, respectively. It also affected the seed dry weight plant−1 and plot−1. Meanwhile, doses of rice hull ash affected LAI, NAR, and RGR, 15-30, and 30-45 dap, respectively. Dry seed weight plot−1 was also affected by doses of rice hull ash. There was an interaction effect between nano-silica concentration and doses of rice hull ash on number pods.plant−1. Combinations of 2.5 ml.l−1 nano-silica and 3 ton.ha−1 of rice hull ash gave the highest number pods.plant−1.


Skill level estimation is very important since it allows an instructor, a human or an artificial instructor through an intelligent tutoring system, to predict the level of a student and adjust the learning materials accordingly. In this paper, a new approach based on 1-NN (First Nearest Neighbor) is introduced to determine the skill level of a student based on the pattern of skill levels learned over time in the same course. The data over several years are used to determine four clusters of expert, good, average and bad skill level. The advantage of the proposed approach is in its capability to adjust the levels over time based on the new data received each year. Furthermore, it can estimate the skill level after a few homework or project assignments. Consequently it can help an instructor to better conduct its class. The proposed approach has been implemented and tested on an introductory computer programming course and the results prove the validity of the approach.


Inspired by the themes of violence, masculinity and responsibility, this article investigates the visibility of male victims/survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in war. Despite the passing of UNSCR 1820 in 2008, the formulation of UN ACTION (United Nations Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict), and the appointment of a United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General to lead policy and practice in this issue area, we argue here that male survivors/victims remain a marginal concern, which has, among other consequences, profound implications for the facilities that exist to support male victims/survivors during and after periods of active conflict. In the first section of the article, we provide an overview of the contemporary academic literature on rape in war, not only to act as the foundation for the analytical work that follows but also to illustrate the argument that male survivors/victims of sexualised violence in war are near-invisible in the majority of literature on this topic. Second, we turn our analytical lens to the policy environment charged with addressing sexualised violence in conflict. Through a discourse analysis focussed on the website of UN ACTION (www.stoprapenow.org), we demonstrate that this lack of vision in academic work maps directly to a lack of visibility in the policy arena. The third section of the article explores the arrangements in place within extant peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction programmes that aim to facilitate recovery with victims/survivors of sexualised violence in war. We conclude with reflections on the themes of violence, masculinity and responsibility in the context of sexualised violence in war and suggest that in this context all privileged actors have a responsibility to theorise violence with careful attention to gender in order to avoid perpetuating models of masculinity and war-rape that have potentially pernicious effects.


Calcium (Ca2+) is a universal signaling entity in eukaryotic cells mediating diverse processes such as the immune response,

hypertrophy, apoptosis, platelet aggregation and memory, to name a few. These processes require a sustained elevation

of cytosolic Ca2+ levels which is facilitated by store operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE). SOCE is the process whereby endoplasmic

reticulum (ER) luminal Ca2+ depletion signals the opening of ion channels on the plasma membrane (PM) which facilitate

the movement of Ca2+ down the concentration gradient from the extracellular space into the cytosol. Th e principal molecules that mediate SOCE include the ER resident stromal interaction molecule-1 (STIM1) and PM ORAI1 protein subunits which assemble into a channel pore. Upon ER luminal Ca2+ depletion, STIM1 undergoes a destabilization coupled oligomerization which leads to translocation of this Ca2+ sensor to ER-PM junctions where it couples to ORAI1 subunits and opens these PM Ca2+ channels. Since the identification of STIM1 and ORAI1 as the principal molecules driving SOCE, considerable progress has been made elucidating their high-resolution structural mechanisms of action. Author will present available structural data on the STIM1 Ca2+ sensing mechanism and how this regulator may complex to ORAI1 subunits. Th e coupling mechanism revealed using soluble human STIM1 and ORAI1 fragments are congruent with the hexameric assembly elucidated in the D. melanogaster crystal structure. Finally, author will present unpublished work showing how post translational modifications within the luminal domain of STIM1 aff ects the structural mechanisms of Ca2+ sensing. Ultimately, the post-translation modifi cation driven STIM1 structural and biophysical changes have implications in the agonist induced hypertrophic response

and pinpoint a new therapeutic target for heart disease.


Offers a fairly general discussion of the significance of ageism in work and employment and then proceeds to suggest that labour process researchers might very usefully pay some attention to it. Writers about the labour process tend to emphasize the issue of labour exploitation and gender and race discrimination but, to some extent, seem to overlook the problem of ageism in work and employment. In this context, considers the character of links between a number of economic and social phenomena and ageism, namely life cycles, divisions of labour, managerialism and industrialization. Specific aspects of ageism in the UK are discussed and the need for debate and policy formulation about the issue of ageism is called for.


Biometrics in a Data Driven World: Trends, Technologies, and Challenges aims to inform readers about the modern applications of biometrics in the context of a data-driven society, to familiarize them with the rich history of biometrics, and to provide them with a glimpse into the future of biometrics. The first section of the book discusses the fundamentals of biometrics and provides an overview of common biometric modalities, namely face, fingerprints, iris, and voice. It also discusses the history of the field, and provides an overview of emerging trends and opportunities. The second section of the book introduces readers to a wide range of biometric applications. The next part of the book is dedicated to the discussion of case studies of biometric modalities currently used on mobile applications. As smartphones and tablet computers are rapidly becoming the dominant consumer computer platforms, biometrics-based authentication is emerging as an integral part of protecting mobile devices against unauthorized access, while enabling new and highly popular applications, such as secure online payment authorization. The book concludes with a discussion of future trends and opportunities in the field of biometrics, which will pave the way for advancing research in the area of biometrics, and for the deployment of biometric technologies in real-world applications. The book is designed for individuals interested in exploring the contemporary applications of biometrics, from students to researchers and practitioners working in this field. Both undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in college-level security courses will also find this book to be an especially useful companion.


This first issue of volume five contains 16 inedited peer reviewed papers from 59 authors that originated from three continents, 25 universities from which 12 are federal universities, 7 are state universities, three are from a municipal university from Brazil and three from abroad. Other four authors are from research institutions. We proudly state that this twelfth edition has been published on time as it happened with all previous issues. Most articles of this issue concentrate on environmental characterization of different ecosystems and on water quality assessment of several river basins. Then, there two articles on water reuse and two on environmental chemistry. The others relate to sediments, water treatment and hydropower impacts investigations.


This paper presents a colour image watermarking scheme resistant to affine geometric distortions. The technique involves embedding of the watermark in the host image in the Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) domain in a spread-spectrum format. Harris corner detector based feature-points are then employed to get Delaunay triangulation which is used to reverse geometric attacks before attempting to extract the watermark. In some instances the geometric attack may lead to loss of feature-points resulting in the recovery of low quality watermark. In this paper we propose a scheme of estimating geometric attacks by taking the mean of selected triangles in the Delaunay tessellation. Computer simulation using MATLAB has been used to show the robustness of the proposed scheme.


Background—Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS) is a rare, autosomal dominant, polyposis syndrome, associated with an increased risk of gastrointestinal and extragastrointestinal malignancy. Occasionally dysplasia occurs in PJS polyps. Aims—In colorectal carcinomas, mutations in codon 12 of the K-ras oncogene are common and are found at similar frequency in precursor adenomas. Therefore, K-rascodon 12 point mutations in PJS polyps were evaluated. Materials and methods—Fifty two PJS polyps, including four with dysplasia, collected from 19 patients with PJS, were analysed for mutations in the K-ras codon 12 by a mutant enriched polymerase chain reaction procedure, followed by allele specific oligodeoxynucleotide hybridisation. Results—A K-ras codon 12 mutation was identified in one colonic polyp with dysplasia. The mutation was found in the non-neoplastic epithelial cells and not in the dysplastic component of the polyp. Conclusions—K-ras codon 12 point mutations are very rare in PJS polyps, by contrast with colorectal adenomas. The findings support previous evidence that there seems to be no intrinsic relation between K-ras codon 12 mutation and dysplasia.


Purpose To identify mutations in the carbohydrate sulfotransferase gene (CHST6) for a Chinese family with macular corneal dystrophy (MCD) and to investigate the histopathological changes in the affected cornea. Methods A corneal button of the proband was obtained by penetrating keratoplasty. The half button and ultrathin sections from the other half button were examined with special stains under a light microscope (LM) and an electron microscope (EM) separately. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood of 11 family members, and the coding region of CHST6 was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. The PCR products were analyzed by direct sequencing and restriction enzyme digestion. Results The positive reaction to colloidal iron stain (extracellular blue accumulations in the stroma) was detected under light microscopy. Transmission electron microscopy revealed the enlargement of smooth endoplasmic reticulum and the presence of intracytoplasmic vacuoles. The compound heterozygous mutations, c.892C>T and c.1072T>C, were identified in exon 3 of CHST6 in three patients. The two transversions resulted in the substitution of a stop codon for glutamine at codon 298 (p.Q298X) and a missense mutation at codon 358, tyrosine to histidine (p.Y358H). The six unaffected family individuals carried alternative heterozygous mutations. These two mutations were not detected in any of the 100 control subjects. Conclusions Those novel compound heterozygous mutations were thought to contribute to the loss of CHST6 function, which induced the abnormal metabolism of keratan sulfate (KS) that deposited in the corneal stroma. It could be proved by the observation of a positive stain reaction and the enlarged collagen fibers as well as hyperplastic fibroblasts under microscopes.


Background and Aims: In some studies, the crucial role of information management in future of education and research in higher education has been emphasized. Educational data are significant for management goals at its macro level. This paper tries to explain the management structure of educational information at facilities of higher education of medical sciences in order to improve the information quality, obtain information, and promote the university management. Methods: In this review paper, databases such as Noor, PubMed and Elsevier, both in Persian and English from 2000 to 2017, were investigated by searching some compound keywords including "information management" to retrieve the required resources and 87 related cases were categorized along with the printed sources. No limitations were applied in the selection of sources in terms of their types. Results: The most important findings are explained in the follows. Effective information management is a prerequisite for a continued social and economic development. Information management function is concerned in all aspects of managing information. Information and its management method should lead to the productivity of academic community. Information needs of Stakeholders must be met. Findings were categorized based on educational information management in university and three main subjects, as data collecting, processing and presentation. Conclusion: In order to establish the three main steps of information management including the data collecting, processing and disseminating in universities of medical sciences, the necessary infrastructure should be made. Information systems and services should be designed, and redesigned to work based on a method that concentrates on user and tasks.


Orphanin Fo (OFQ) is a newly-discovered neuropeptide which shares great simliar sequence with endogenous opioid peptide but with different functions. The present study was to investigate the role of OFQ dricroinjected in the periaqueductal gray (PAG) on pain threshold and acupuncture analgesia (AA) using tail flick tests. The results show that the hyperalgesia of OFQ and its antagonization on AA in PAG are dose-related. OFQ in PAG decreases the enhancing effect on AA induced by ohlnefentanyl, a selective μreceptor agonist. These observations suggest that OFQ in PAG can increase the rat pain sensitivity and antagonize AA.


Abstract Background. A growing body of evidence suggests that effective blood pressure reduction may inhibit the progression of microvascular damage in patients with essential arterial hypertension. However, the potential influence of anti-hypertensive drugs on ocular circulation has not been studied sufficiently. Purpose. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effects of anti-hypertensive therapy on blood flow in the central retinal artery in patients with systemic arterial hypertension. Material and methods. Twenty patients with essential arterial hypertension, aged 32–46 years, were examined with Doppler ultrasonography (10 MHz ultrasound probe). Blood flow velocities, pulsatility, and vascular resistance were determined before and 3 hours after systemic application of either bisoprolol 5 mg or cilazapril 2.5 mg. Results. Administered bisoprolol significantly decreased maximum (9.8 ± 0.5 cm/s versus 8.5 ± 0.6 cm/s; P < 0.05) and minimum (2.75 ± 0.19 cm/s versus 1.75 ± 0.27 cm/s; P < 0.02) velocity, increased the Pourcellot's index (0.71 to 0.79; P < 0.05) in central retinal artery. There were no statistically significant changes in central retinal artery blood flow after administration of cilazapril. Conclusion. Systemic application of beta-blockers may unfavourably disturb the ocular blood flow.


Five human cell lines producing oncornaviruses type D were studied by the method of molecular hybridization of viral and cellular nucleic acids. Repeated sequences of viral genome equivalents were found in nuclear DNA and numerous copies of viral genome were found in the cytoplasm. The viruses produced by the cell lines were found to be identical or closely related as regards nucleotide sequences of their genomes.


Several studies provide evidence for the existence of a hypermetabolic state of biological origin in recently weight recovered patients with anorexia nervosa. It remains unclear if current nutritional rehabilitation strategies are consistent with the resulting high energy requirements. Further insight into specific pathophysiological characteristics of energetic efficiency in patients with anorexia nervosa will help us to provide evidence based nutritional guidance. Basic nutritional research in this field is urgently required.


The possibility of the effective use of microcomputers in the practical work of a sanitary and epidemiological station for the purpose of organizing epidemiological surveillance has been shown. The programs developed in this investigation are recommended for introduction into the practical work of sanitary and epidemiological stations servicing districts with a population of 100,000-200,000 and more.


Based on strain-induced grain refinement, a novel surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT) technique has been developed to synthesize a nanostructured surface layer on metallic materials in order to upgrade their overall properties and performance without changing their chemical compositions. In recent several years, the microstructures and properties of surface layer were systematically investigated in various SMAT metals and alloys, including b.c.c., f.c.c. and h.c.p. crystal structures. Different grain refinement approaches and nanocrystalline formation mechanisms were identified in these deformed materials, involving dislocation activities, mechanical twinning and interaction of dislocations with mechanical twins. The properties of the surface layer were measured by means of hardness, tensile, fatigue and wear tests. The enhanced properties of the surface layer are mainly attributed to the strain-induced grain refinement. In this work, we reviewed the microstructures and properties of surface layer in the SMAT materials.


1. Basic Concepts. Introduction to Structural Dynamics. Types of Dynamic Loads. Sources of Dynamic Loads. Distinguishing Features of a Dynamic Problem. Methodology for Dynamic Analysis. Types of Structural Vibration. Organization of the Text. Systems of Units. References. I. SINGLE-DEGREE-OF-FREEDOM (SDOF) SYSTEMS. 2. Equation of Motion and Natural Frequency. Fundamental Components of a Vibrating System. D'Alembert's Principle of Dynamic Equilibrium. The Energy Method. The Principle of Virtual Displacements. References. Notation. Problems. 3. Undamped Free Vibration. Simple Harmonic Motion. Interpretation of the Solution. Equivalent Stiffness. Rayleigh Method. References. Notation. Problems. 4. Damped Free Vibration. Free Vibration with Viscous Damping. Logarithmic Decrement. Hysteresis Damping. Coulomb Damping. References. Notation. Problems. 5. Response to Harmonic Excitation. Forced Harmonic Response of Undamped Systems. Beating and Resonance. Forced Harmonic Vibrations with Viscous Damping. Effect of Damping Factor on Steady-State Response and Phase Angle. Harmonic Excitation Caused by Rotating Unbalance. Base Excitation. Vibration Isolation and Transmissibility. References. Notation. Problems. 6. Response to Periodic and Arbitrary Dynamic Excitation. Response to Periodic Excitation. Response to Unit Impulse. Duhamel Integral. Response to Arbitrary Dynamic Excitation. Response Spectrum. References. Notation. Problems. 7. Numerical Evaluation of Dynamic Response. Interpolation of the Excitation. Direct Integration of the Equation of Motion. Central Difference Method. Runge-Kutta Methods. Average Acceleration Method. Linear Acceleration Method. Response to Base Excitation. Response Spectra by Numerical Integration. References. Notation. Problems. 8. Frequency Domain Analysis. Alternative Forms of the Fourier Series. Discrete Fourier Transform. Fast Fourier Transform. Discrete Fourier Transform Implementation Considerations. Fourier Integral. References. Notation. Problems. II. MULTI-DEGREE-OF-FREEDOM (MDOF) SYSTEMS. 9. General Property Matrices for Vibrating Systems. Flexibility Matrix. Stiffness Matrix. Inertia Properties: Mass Matrix. The Eigenproblem in Vibration Analysis. Static Condensation of the Stiffness Matrix. References. Notation. Problems. 10. Equations of Motion and Undamped Free Vibration. Hamilton's Principle and the Lagrange Equations. Natural Vibration Frequencies. Natural Vibration Modes. Orthogonality of Natural Modes. Systems Admitting Rigid-Body Modes. Generalized Mass and Stiffness Matrices. Free Vibration Response to Initial Conditions. Approximate Methods for Estimating the Fundamental Frequency. References. Notation. Problems. 11. Numerical Solution Methods for Natural Frequencies and Mode Shapes. General Solution Methods for Eigenproblems. Inverse Vector Iteration. Forward Vector Iteration. Generalized Jacobi Method. Solution Methods for Large Eigenproblems References. Notation. Problems. 12. Analysis of Dynamic Response by Mode Superposition. Mode Displacement Method for Undamped Systems. Modal Participation Factor. Mode Superposition Solution for Systems with Classical Damping. Numerical Evaluation of Modal Response. Normal Mode Response to Support Motions. Response Spectrum Analysis. Mode Acceleration Method. References. Notation. Problems. 13. Analysis of Dynamic Response by Direct Integration. Basic Concepts of Direct Integration Methods. The Central Difference Method. The Wilson-u Method. The Newmark Method. Practical Considerations for Damping. Stability and Accuracy of Direct Integration Methods. Direct Integration versus Mode Superposition. References. Notation. Problems. III. CONTINUOUS SYSTEMS. 14. Vibrations of Continuous Systems. Longitudinal Vibration of a Uniform Rod. Transverse Vibration of a Pretensioned Cable. Free Transverse Vibration of Uniform Beams. Orthogonality of Normal Modes. Undamped Forced Vibration of Beams by Mode Superposition. Approximate Methods. References. Notation. Problems. IV. NONLINEAR DYNAMIC RESPONSE. 15. Analysis of Nonlinear Response. Classification of Nonlinear Analyses. Systems with Nonlinear Characteristics. Formulation of Incremental Equations of Equilibrium. Numerical Solution of Nonlinear Equilibrium Equations. Response of Elastoplastic SDOF Systems. Response of Elastoplastic MDOF Systems. References. Notation. Problems. V. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS. 16. Elastic Wave Propagation in Solids. Stress and Strain at a Point. Constitutive Relations. Equations of Motion. Stress Wave Propagation. Applications. References. Notation. Problems. 17. Earthquakes and Earthquake Ground Motion. Causes of Earthquakes. Faults. Seismic Waves. Earthquake Intensity. Earthquake Magnitude. Seismicity. Earthquake Ground Motion. Earthquake Damage Mechanisms. References. Notation. 18. Earthquake Response of Structures. Time-History Analysis: Basic Concepts. Earthquake Response Spectra. Earthquake Design Spectra. Response of MDOF Systems. Generalized SDOF Systems. In-Building Response Spectrum. Inelastic Response. Seismic Design Codes. References. Notation. Problems. 19. Blast Loads on Structures. Sources of Blast Loads. Shock Waves. Determination of Blast Loads. Strain-Rate Effects. Approximate Solution Technique for SDOF Systems. References. Problems. Notations. 20. Basic Concepts of Wind Waves. Linear Wave Theory. Nonlinear Waves. Wave Transformations. Wave Statistics. Wave Information Damping. References. Notation. Problems. 21. Response of Structures to Waves. Morison Equation. Force Coefficients. Linearized Morison Equation. Inclined Cylinders. Transverse Lift Forces. Froude-Krylov Theory. Diffraction Theory: The Scattering Problem. Diffraction Theory: The Radiation Problem. References. Notation. Problems. Appendix A. Appendix B. Index.


Abstract In point-based sensing systems such as coordinate measuring machines and laser ultrasonics where complete sensing is impractical due to the high sensing time and cost, adaptive sensing through a systematic exploration is vital for online inspection and anomaly quantification. Most of the existing sequential sampling methodologies focus on reducing the overall fitting error for the entire sampling space. However, in many anomaly quantification applications, the main goal is to estimate sparse anomalous regions at pixel-level accurately. In this article, we develop a novel framework named Adaptive Kernelized Maximum-Minimum Distance to speed up the inspection and anomaly detection process through an intelligent sequential sampling scheme integrated with fast estimation and detection. The proposed method balances the sampling efforts between the space-filling sampling (exploration) and focused sampling near the anomalous region (exploitation). The proposed methodology is validated by conducting simulations and a case study of anomaly detection in composite sheets using a guided wave test.


This paper aims to examine the increasingly protectionist policies of the Ottoman government against the foreign steamship postal services operating between the imperial ports under the reign of Sultan Abdülaziz (r. 1861-1876). This remarkable phenomenon has both local and international dimensions. First of all, rising postal monopoly claims of the Ottoman government against the foreign postal services on its territory are the striking consequences of increasing autonomy of the local steamship networks in the Ottoman Empire. In other words, foreign postal services had lost their utility in the Empire as a result of the development of the local postal services. Nevertheless, the Ottoman Postal Administration under Abdülaziz manifested substantial deficiencies in relation to its services outside the Empire. By adopting protectionist policies, the Ottoman government aimed to eliminate financial and political threats to the Empire that were coming through foreign postal channels. Finally, at an international level, the protectionism of the Ottoman government was a local response to the globalisation of postal communications.


In reconstructive head and neck surgery, there is a great need for cartilage transplants. Sufficient autologous graft is often not available. Heterologous cartilage is used frequently, although there is danger of transmitting viral infections and resorption rates are high. We have developed a three-dimensional model for the formation of cartilage in vitro. The aim of this study was to characterize the collagen synthesis under these culture conditions. Human chondrocytes were isolated by digesting septal cartilage matrix in the presence of type II collagenase, hyaluronidase, and Dnase II in Ham's F12 medium. The resulting cells were kept in monolayer culture for one week and then suspended in 2% ultra-low-melting agarose (1:1). The cell-agarose conglomerate was encapsulated with a 3% ultra-low-melting agarose solution and placed in a perfusion culture chamber. A permanent flow of fresh medium (Ham's F-12 supplemented with 50 micrograms/ml ascorbic acid and 2% fetal calf serum) was provided by a peristaltic pump which delivered 1 ml/h with on/off intervals of 30 min. Samples were recovered after two weeks. Using electron microscopy abundant collagen fibril formation was shown. The collagen fibrils were identified histologically as cartilage specific type II collagen. No mRNA expression of collagen type X was observed using in situ hybridization. The cells appeared in a round cell shape with round nucleus and only slight variations in form and size. The present results indicate that the chondrocytes maintain their differentiated phenotype and continue to synthesize typical matrix products in this three-dimensional perfusion culture chamber.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


This paper reviews the importance of mentoring in tourism development its link to information technology and challenges. Sources of mentee resources were also identified while the various challenges of mentoring which inhibit the growth of tourism development in developing nations were also highlighted. The challenges identified include uneven distribution of tourism personnel, individual bias, misplacement of priority by mentees and economic hardship. Recommendations were made to move the tourism industry of developing nations from the very present nascent status to a more developed state.


Many tasks in artificial intelligence require the collaboration of multiple agents. We exam deep reinforcement learning for multi-agent domains. Recent research efforts often take the form of two seemingly conflicting perspectives, the decentralized perspective, where each agent is supposed to have its own controller; and the centralized perspective, where one assumes there is a larger model controlling all agents. In this regard, we revisit the idea of the master-slave architecture by incorporating both perspectives within one framework. Such a hierarchical structure naturally leverages advantages from one another. The idea of combining both perspective is intuitive and can be well motivated from many real world systems, however, out of a variety of possible realizations, we highlights three key ingredients, i.e. composed action representation, learnable communication and independent reasoning. With network designs to facilitate these explicitly, our proposal consistently outperforms latest competing methods both in synthetics experiments and when applied to challenging StarCraft micromanagement tasks.


Improving the knowledge and skills of Medical Laboratory Scientists (MLSs) is imperative and a key intervention area in Nigeria. Earning continuing professional development (CPD) credits is a requirement for re-licensing of MLSs. While the requirement was adopted in 1996, it was rarely practiced and enforced due to the absence of adequate stakeholder commitment and a lack of comprehensive and accessible accredited activities. Recognizing these challenges, a multi-stakeholder partnership was built to expand upon and institutionalize the previously defunct CPD Policy and develop e-learning courses for CPD credits. A mixed method evaluation concluded that developing e-learning courses for CPD credits made the policy more accessible to MLSs. In addition, the evaluation concluded that third generation knowledge management principles improved stakeholder collaboration and joint adoption and implementation of the Policy and e-learning courses. Results and lessons learned can be adopted by other cadres of health workers and government agencies on various global health topics.


Recently, there has been a great deal of research on using mobility in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) to facilitate surveillance and reconnaissance in a wide deployment area. Besides providing an extended sensing coverage, node mobility along with spatial correlation introduces new network dynamics, which could lead to the traffic patterns fundamentally different from the traditional (Markovian) models. In this paper, a novel traffic modeling scheme for capturing these dynamics is proposed that takes into account the statistical patterns of node mobility and spatial correlation. The contributions made in this paper are twofold. First, it is shown that the joint effects of mobility and spatial correlation can lead to bursty traffic. More specifically, a high mobility variance and small spatial correlation can give rise to pseudo-long-range-dependent (LRD) traffic (high bursty traffic), whose autocorrelation function decays slowly and hyperbolically up to a certain cutoff time lag. Second, due to the ad hoc nature of WSNs, certain relay nodes may have several routes passing through them, necessitating local traffic aggregations. At these relay nodes, our model predicts that the aggregated traffic also exhibits the bursty behavior characterized by a scaled power-law decayed autocovariance function. According to these findings, a novel traffic shaping protocol using movement coordination is proposed to facilitate effective and efficient resource provisioning strategy. Finally, simulation results reveal a close agreement between the traffic pattern predicted by our theoretical model and the simulated transmissions from multiple independent sources, under specific bounds of the observation intervals.


Underwater welding is developed for underwater repair applications. This process can be done by two principles, wet welding and dry welding. Wet welding process is designed for welding repair of ship and offshore structure where dry welding process is not possible. However, wet welding process gives low weld quality since it is done in worst welding environment. Hydrogen in water can cause many problems in welds such as severe porosity and hydrogen induced cracking. The objective of this study is to investigate diffusible hydrogen and microstructure in weld metal. Three types of filler metal, E6013, E309-16 and E312-16, are modified in order to be used for underwater welding. Diffusible hydrogen is measured. Microstructure and hardness of weldment are investigated


Background/Objectives: Internet of Things (IoT) is going to govern the future world where all devices will be connected with each-other. The expectation with the Internet of Things is that the increase in number of devices going to be truly dramatic. Method: With the increase in the number of devices, the amount of traffic will grow together with data. IoT will have huge number of power sensitive smaller devices and they're going to put significant constraint on the total bandwidth of the system. This paper analyses how 6LoWPAN, a practical developed for resource constrained IP based systems suitable for Internet of Things with respect to Internet Protocol. Findings/Applications: Internet protocols used to be fine-tuned, modified, changed to be able to accommodate the era of Internet of Things. 6LoWPAN has different features like, support for 64 bit or 16-bit addressing, targeted at low power networks including Bluetooth low energy, header compression for IPv base as well as for UDP headers, network auto configuration and neighbor discovery, support for multicast, unicast, and broadcast, supporting the concept of fragmentation. This makes 6LoWPAN a best suited protocol for IoT.


AbstractThis Article argues for three ways in which historical emissions should count for the fair distribution of the benefits and burdens of responding to climate change among currently living people. First, historical emissions should count as a matter of ideal distributive justice if and insofar as their consequences can be considered beneficial to currently living and future people. Second, it is difficult to justify compensatory measures for damages caused by historical emissions for three main reasons: the non-identity problem, past people's limited knowledge of the long-term consequences of the emissions they caused, and the problem of attributing responsibility for past people's actions to currently living people. Rather than regarding climate damages primarily as a reason for compensation for wrongdoing, we should view them primarily as a justification for redistribution due to undeserved benefits and harms. Third, historical emissions play an important role informing the expectation of people in the developed countries to be able to cause emissions at the current level. If we were in a position to implement a fair, effective and legitimately imposed global climate regime we should not unnecessarily frustrate that expectation.Table of ContentsI. Introduction 598II. How Should We Distribute Emissions? 599A. How to Distribute Emissions? Three Presuppositions 599B. How to Distribute Emissions Ahistorically 601C. Accounting for Historical Emissions in the Distribution of Emission Rights 603III. Claims to Compensation Owing to Climate Damages? 609IV. Conclusion 614I. INTRODUCTIONIntergenerational justice, namely, what currently living people owe to future people and the question of how to interpret the normative significance of what past people did,1 is of central importance in providing an interpretation of what ought to be done to respond to climate change in the present. Answers to questions concerning the past and the future are relevant for determining what currently living people ought to do today. In the climate-justice debate, the time dimensions past, present, and future are interlinked in interesting ways.This Article addresses two questions: First, how should we take into account historical emissions and their beneficial consequences in initially distributing emission rights among currently living people? I will argue first, in Section II, that as a matter of ideal distributive justice, historical emissions should count if and insofar as their consequences can be interpreted as beneficial to currendy living and future people. In their book Climate Change Justice, Eric A. Posner and David Weisbach do not address this issue.2My second question concerns who should pay for the damages that are caused by (historical) emissions, especially assuming that people (taken individually and collectively) have not stayed and will not stay within their fair shares. In Section III, I agree with Posner and Weisbach in arguing that compensation payments are difficult to justify, given the reasons they discuss in Chapter 5 of Climate Change Justice? Insofar as arguments actually succeed in justifying some compensatory measures, they are likely only to justify them for parts of those who cause or suffer from climate change. However, I add what I take to be an important reason for believing that the compensatory rationale is limited in the case of intergenerational relations: to the extent that the contingency of future people's existence and personal identity depend upon currendy living people's decisions and actions, common notions of harming and benefitting are not applicable for interpreting die effects of these actions. …


Dr Holm and Ambassador De Vos van Steenwijk discuss the state of affairs between the West and Russia. They argue that it is much worse and antagonistic than would have been necessary. They blame this largely on mistakes in American and European policies towards the Soviet Union/Russia, but disagree on the causes and motivations of those policies. Holm and De Vos van Steenwijk offer thoughts on how matters could be rectified or at least improved.


Advanced remote sensing satellite data with detail spatial resolution can be an alternative to aerial photography and outweigh in providing rapid and vast spatial, remote area, and consist of multispectral bands to produce continues information. The various types of very high spatial resolution satellite, benefit in producing information for large-scale mappings, such as updating an urban map and supporting disaster management for mitigation, preparedness, emergency response, and recovery effectively and efficiently. Large-scale mapping information for disaster management, particularly for quick response is essential to map the impacted sites, measure the number of houses and infrastructure damaged and determine the evacuation area. However, in producing large-scale mapping, the information should refer to the geospatial specification standard, such as accurate geometric, detail thematic information and completeness. This study aims to identify the use of Pleiades imagery for supporting large-scale mapping, including for disaster management by assessing the geometry accuracy from a standard product acquired from the ground station and precise orthorectification using different types of DSM, including TerraSAR-X and improvement using ground control points. The results show that the improved accuracy to meet geometric accuracy standard for scale 1:5000 can be achieved using a primary product data which process using an insertion of GCPs and selecting the better DSM, while for the standard ortho product can be achieved using shifting the coordinate position of the image. Assessment of the thematic extraction visually shows that the imagery meets the information for large-scale mapping, but detail attribution requires information from field data.


Integrating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into Science Education improves teachers' and students' understanding of the nature of science. The ICT proficiency of seasoned teachers is critical for augmenting Science concepts and providing seamless opportunities for both teachers and students. The goal of this study is to determine the required level of ICT proficiency for Junior High School Science (JHS) teachers who teach Science subjects. This study collected data quantitatively, particularly, a descriptive method was used to describe the extent of ICT-related requisites of seventy (70) seasoned junior high school science teachers in nineteen (19) schools in Cluster V, Candaba-San Luis, in the Schools Division of Pampanga, Philippines. The level of teachers' use of ICT in their teaching-learning process was determined using a modified survey questionnaire. The analysis revealed that, on average, JHS Science teachers lacked proficiency with technology and had difficulty integrating it into their teaching-learning practices. Given the findings, it is recommended that training/seminars on ICT use in teaching-learning practice to be conducted. More so, teachers are encouraged to incorporate technology into daily instruction and LCDs/laptops may be purchased to assist teachers in delivering quality education.


Elevated proteasome activity extends lifespan in model organisms such as yeast, worms and flies. This pro-longevity effect might be mediated by improved protein homeostasis, as this protease is an integral module of the protein homeostasis network. Proteasomes also regulate cellular processes through temporal and spatial degradation of signaling pathway components. Here we demonstrate that the regulatory function of the proteasome plays an essential role in aging cells and that the beneficial impact of elevated proteasome capacity on lifespan partially originates from deregulation of the AMPK signaling pathway. Proteasome-mediated lifespan extension activity was carbon-source dependent and cells with enhancement proteasome function exhibited increased respiratory activity and oxidative stress response. These findings suggested that the pro-aging impact of proteasome upregulation might be related to changes in the metabolic state through a premature induction of respiration. Deletion of yeast AMPK, SNF1, or its activator SNF4 abrogated proteasome-mediated lifespan extension, supporting this hypothesis as the AMPK pathway regulates metabolism. We found that the premature induction of respiration in cells with increased proteasome activity originates from enhanced turnover of Mig1, an AMPK/Snf1 regulated transcriptional repressor that prevents the induction of genes required for respiration. Increasing proteasome activity also resulted in partial relocation of Mig1 from the nucleus to the mitochondria. Collectively, the results argue for a model in which elevated proteasome activity leads to the uncoupling of Snf1-mediated Mig1 regulation, resulting in a premature activation of respiration and thus the induction of a mitohormetic response, beneficial to lifespan. In addition, we observed incorrect Mig1 localization in two other long-lived yeast aging models: cells that overexpress SIR2 or deleted for the Mig1-regulator HXK2. Finally, compromised proteasome function blocks lifespan extension in both strains. Thus, our findings suggest that proteasomes, Sir2, Snf1 and Hxk2 form an interconnected aging network that controls metabolism through coordinated regulation of Mig1.


The penetration of distributed generation (DG) in electrical power systems is rapidly increasing these days and more attention is drawn to maintaining a healthy distribution system. Islanding operation of DG is one of the biggest challenges. When Islanding occurs, the power supply from the main grid is interrupted which causes a problem when distributed generators keep providing power into the distribution networks. This situation can damage both DG and power system equipment if the grid is suddenly reconnected to the system. This paper investigates improving the performance of rate of change of frequency (ROCOF) as used in embedded generation islanding detection of synchronous generator. The factors of ROCOF relays which contribute to the diverse operating response are frequency measuring algorithms, measuring windows, and the different relay settings. It is found that the rate of change of power can be used to avoid false operation of synchronous generators during non-islanding situation. This is demonstrated for a variety of load types.


Background: Biliary tract cancers (BTCs) are heterogenous, highly aggressive tumors that harbor a dismal prognosis for which more effective treatments are needed. The role of cancer immunotherapy in BTC remains to be characterized. The tumor microenvironment (TME) of BTC is highly immunosuppressed and combination treatments are needed to promote effective anticancer immunity. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drives immunosuppression in the TME by disrupting antigen presentation, limiting T-cell infiltration, or potentiating immune-suppressive cells. Many VEGF-regulated mechanisms are thought to be relevant to repressed antitumor immunity in BTC, making dual targeting of VEGF and programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/PD-L1 pathways a rational approach. Gemcitabine and Cisplatin (Gem/Cis) can also modulate anticancer immunity through overlapping and complementary mechanisms to those regulated by VEGF. Anti-PD-L1/VEGF inhibition, coupled with chemotherapy, may potentiate antitumor immunity leading to enhanced clinical benefit. Methods: IMbrave 151 is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter, international phase II study to evaluate atezolizumab (a PD-L1 inhibitor) in combination with chemotherapy (gemcitabine and cisplatin) and bevacizumab (an anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody) as a first-line treatment for advanced BTC. Approximately 150 patients with previously untreated, advanced BTC will be randomized to either Arm A (atezolizumab + bevacizumab + Gem/Cis) or Arm B (atezolizumab + placebo + Gem/Cis). Randomization is stratified by the presence of metastatic disease, primary tumor location, and geographic region. The primary efficacy endpoint is investigator-assessed progression-free survival (PFS) per RECIST 1.1. Secondary endpoints include objective response rate (ORR), duration of response (DoR), disease control rate (DCR), overall survival (OS), and safety and patient reported outcomes (PROs). Tissue, blood, and stool samples will be collected at baseline and on-treatment in order to perform correlative biomarker analyses. Discussion: IMbrave 151 represents the first randomized study to evaluate combined PD-L1/VEGF blockade on a chemotherapy backbone in BTC. Trial registration: NCT identifier: NCT04677504; EUDRACT number: 2020-003759-14


Background: Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death globally and is projected to remain the leading cause of death. If the trend is allowed to continue, by 2015 an estimated 20 million people will die from cardiovascular disease (mainly because of myocardial infarction and strokes). The number of cardiovascular disease cases in Malaysia has increased to 14% in five years from 96,000 cases in 1995 to 110,000 cases in 2000. Methods: The cost to treat patients admitted to Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Center (UKMMC) Malaysia, diagnosed with Acute Uncomplicated ST Elevated Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) was calculated by using two different methodologies, namely step down costing methodology and activity based costing using clinical pathway. Results: Cost for each stay per day at the cardiology ward using the step down methodology is RM596.42. The treatment cost is estimated from RM1, 789.26 to RM 4,771.36. The average cost per episode for STEMI care with the average length of stay for 5.6 days is RM3, 340(SD ±596.42. The cost of coronary PCI procedure in step costing is RM 13,950.00. Hence, the total cost incurs for STEMI with PCI is RM 17,290.00(SD ±596.42) by using step down method. (an average cost per episode is RM3,340, plus the cost of coronary procedure of RM 13,950.00 . However by using the ABC the cost of STEMI (PCI) with an average length of stay for 5.6 days is RM 20,431.39. The study showed the ABC method was higher by 15.3% than the step down costing. Conclusion: The cost in managing STEMI (PCI) with the average length of stay of 5.6 days was calculated by using two different methodologies, namely step down costing methodology and activity based costing. Cost of treatment calculated by using activity based costing are higher because all resources used are incorporated in detail. The ABC method was higher by 15.3% than the step down costing. The difference is within 80-20 rules and the biggest percentage of cost in both methods is procedure or PCI cost.


Objective To investigate associations of objective caregiver burden, subjective caregiver burden and positive aspects of caregiving with self-reported health indicators in caregiving partners of persons with a severe physical disability (spinal cord injury). Design Cross-sectional, observational. Setting Community, Switzerland. Participants Caregiving partners of persons with spinal cord injury (n=118, response rate 19.7%). Outcome measures General health, role limitations due to physical health, role limitations due to mental health, pain intensity, mental health and vitality were assessed using items from the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). Three items were used to assess the frequency of different types of sleep problems. Results Subjective caregiver burden was associated to all self-reported health indicators. A high subjective burden was linked to poorer general health (OR 6.5, 95% CI 2.0 to 21.5), more role limitations due to physical health (OR 4.2, 95% CI 1.4 to 12.8), more role limitations due to mental health (OR 3.6, 95 % CI 1.1 to 11.7), higher pain intensity (OR 4.0, 95% CI 1.4 to 11.5), poorer mental health (coefficient −17.9, 95% CI −24.5 to −11.2), lower vitality (coefficient −20.3, 95% CI −28.4 to −12.1), and more frequent sleep problems (OR 5.3, 95% CI 1.6 to 18.4). Partners who indicated positive aspects of caregiving further reported better mental health (coefficient 6.5, 95% CI 0.2 to 12.8). Objective burden was not related to any health indicator. Conclusions Subjective burden and lack of positive aspects of caregiving were associated with poorer physical and mental health. Caregiver health may be promoted through the strengthening of psychological and psychosocial resources.


When a viscous liquid is applied to a solid substrate, a patterned liquid layer is usually formed by the phenomenon called viscous fingering, since the moving liquid surface is in far‐from‐equilibrium conditions to let the morphological fluctuation to grow. Pseudosunscreen solutions were prepared and applied on a flat quartz plate. A spatially periodic stripe pattern was formed on the pseudosunscreen layer when a block applicator was used, whereas a flat surface layer was formed when a four‐sided applicator was used. UV absorbance of the patterned layer was lower than that of the flat layer having the same average thickness. In addition, a larger decrease in the UV absorbance by the pattern formation was observed at wavelengths at which the UV absorbance of the flat layer was large, which was consistent with theoretical simulations. In 2011, US FDA introduced a new rule using the term "Broad Spectrum" for labeling the sunscreens. The different decrease in the UV absorbance at each wavelength was found to change the critical wavelength, which is a criterion for sunscreens to be labeled as "Broad Spectrum" protection. The result of this study makes the problem on the evaluation of the critical wavelength come to the surface.


Abstract Cancer metastasis is a key event in tumor progression associated not only with mortality but also significant morbidity. Metastatic disease can promote end-organ dysfunction and even failure through mass effect compression of various vital organs including the spinal cord. In such cases, prompt medical attention is needed to restore neurological function, relieve pain, and prevent permanent damage. The three therapeutic approaches to managing metastatic spinal cord compression include corticosteroids, surgery, and radiation therapy. Although each may improve patients' symptoms, their combination has yielded the best outcome. In cancer patients with clinical suspicion of spinal cord compression, dexamethasone should be initiated followed by surgical decompression, when possible, and radiation. The latter becomes the preferred treatment in patients with inoperable disease.


At the global level, interest is growing in extending agricultural activities northwards to increase future food production. Agricultural activities are emerging at the local level in the subarctic and Arctic regions in order to adapt to climate change, mitigate food insecurities, and build up food autonomy. This pilot crop management study was situated in the Hudson Bay Lowlands within an isolated, Indigenous community garden site surrounded by a mature shelterbelt. The study's purpose was to compare kale growing in three types of low-cost garden bed treatments (four plots per treatment) under ambient conditions in a subarctic climate. The 2019 study measured aboveground biomass and total leaf surface area of kale, monitored soil climate conditions of each treatment, and deciphered, with regards to regional suitability, the benefits and drawbacks of each garden bed treatment. Kale cultivated in the standard boxes (0.25 m height raised bed) and hügelkultur-style boxes (0.50 m height raised bed, including a layer of buried woody debris) resulted in 44 – 58% more aboveground mass and 52% more total surface area than were yielded in kale cultivated in the ground treatment (not elevated), but these increases did not represent statistically significant differences among treatments (ANOVA, p ≥ 0.12) because of the large variation likely from a small sample size. The two raised box treatments increased early-season soil temperatures by 0.5˚C to 2.5˚C and reduced soil moisture by 41% – 53% compared to the ground treatment. We determined that the standard box treatment is best suited for the study site for improving soil climate conditions, protecting against water erosion, and decreasing the need to bend over.


Medial artery calcification, which does not accompany lipid or cholesterol deposit, preferentially occurs in elderly population, but its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In the present study, we investigated the potential role of senescent vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in the formation of senescence-associated medial calcification. Replicative senescence was induced by the extended passages (until passages 11-13) in human primary VSMCs, and cells in early passage (passage 6) were used as control young cells. VSMC calcification was markedly enhanced in the senescent cells compared with that in the control young cells. We identified that genes highly expressed in osteoblasts, such as alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and type I collagen, were significantly upregulated in the senescent VSMCs, suggesting their osteoblastic transition during the senescence. Knockdown of either ALP or type I collagen significantly reduced the calcification in the senescent VSMCs. Of note, runt-related transcription factor-2 (RUNX-2), a core transcriptional factor that initiates the osteoblastic differentiation, was also upregulated in the senescent VSMCs. Knockdown of RUNX-2 significantly reduced the ALP expression and calcification in the senescent VSMCs, suggesting that RUNX-2 is involved in the senescence-mediated osteoblastic transition. Furthermore, immunohistochemistry of aorta from the klotho(-/-) aging mouse model demonstrated in vivo emergence of osteoblast-like cells expressing RUNX-2 exclusively in the calcified media. We also found that statin and Rho-kinase inhibitor effectively reduced the VSMC calcification by inhibiting P(i)-induced apoptosis and potentially enhancing matrix Gla protein expression in the senescent VSMCs. These findings strongly suggest an important role of senescent VSMCs in the pathophysiology of senescence-associated medial calcification, and the inhibition of osteoblastic transition could be a new therapeutic approach for the prevention of senescence-associated medial calcification.


Currently, one of the principal assumptions that sustain the teaching of English as a foreign
language is the privilege position it occupies as a vehicle for international communication.
Nowadays Nicaraguans students have to be prepared to live in a world more open to
progress, closer to different cultures and languages, going to the hand with the growing
technology and economy etc., and this is achieved with foreign language acquisition in
Media Basic education.
"In addition to the lack of methodology to teach English in schools in Nicaragua,
specialists in education point out to the needs of students to be autodidact that can
complement the learning of the language beyond the lesson within the classroom"
"The deficit of bibliographical resources and methodological resources affects the
learning of English, according to the specialist in education, Mario Quintana, since
he considered that the English cannot be taught without the books and other
materials for educational support. …" (Castillo Bermudez, La Prensa, 2011)
All this demand the necessity to have specialized teachers able to implement methods to
facilitate the learning process of reading comprehension in EFL1, in order to have the
students improve their reading skills. The methods for teaching English are very important
to achieve good results in student learning, however, it is decided to speak and present the
experiences and disadvantages found in the application of this research with 11th grade
students on the evening sessions in the high school Jose Marti in La Trinidad, because
although the methods have the best features and their realization was well-planned. Also
should consider the character and disposition from the students, especially at this stage
which are as we looked at students interacting together in this learning sessions.
It was found that this topic (reading comprehension) is very interesting, because with the
experience gather and the disposition of students at this level in the Institute Jose Marti, a
greater awareness of the forms and processes that must be the most suitable for language
learning in reading comprehension in English.
However, the problems are very different from each other and also the problems vary
according to different classrooms and social climates. To cope with these difficulties
students need to make connections between prior knowledge and new information assisting
the construction of meaning and comprehension. This is to ensure that the students build
confidence and interest about learning to read English.


The polyethylene glycol-sodium sulfate aqueous two-phase system has been characterized at 23 °C. Tielines for the phase diagram were obtained experimentally. Phases in equilibrium were characterized by means of the solvatochromic parameters π*, R, and â, which provide a measurement of the polarity/polarizability and the H-bond donor and acceptor abilities, respectively. The ability of the phases to participate in hydrophobic interactions was characterized by means of the free energy of transfer of a methylene group between the conjugated phases, using the partition of a homologous series of dinitrophenylated amino acids. The results show the effect of the presence of polymer and salt in the aqueous phase, and a comparison of both phases with pure water is made.


A special fraction of RNA-binding proteins with a non-specific affinity for RNA is present in the extracts of eukaryotic cells. Earlier these proteins were considered exclusively as a pool of free informosomal proteins. It has been shown that a significant part (about 1/3) of RNA-binding proteins is found in labile association with mono- and polyribosome mass, respectively. The labile-associated proteins dissociate from the complex with mono- and polyribosomes with an increase in the ionic RNA-binding proteins bind to particles due to the non-specific affinity for the exposed part of RNA of mono- and polyribosomes. The decrease of the ionic strength leads to the stabilization of the RNA-binding proteins-polyribosomes complexes and enables purification of these complexes. A direct comparison by the O'Farrell two-dimensional analysis has shown that practically all the proteins that are labile-associated with polyribosomes are present within the preparation of free RNA-binding proteins.


Grain boundary microcracking in sliding test using a silicon pin was evaluated on several kinds of AlN to investigate the behavior of damage generation and the influence of material properties on it. The grain boundary fracture toughness (KIC gb ) was estimated from a percentage of the intergranular fracture as a grain boundary property for each specimen. KIC gb was greatly influensed by an amount and kinds of additives. After the sliding test, silicon debris accumulation and grain boundary microcracking of AlN were observed at the wear traces on the surface of AlN. The density of grain boundary microcracks increased linearly with increasing the contact load. Empirical relationship indicated that its density depended on KIC gb and the AlN grain size, and decreased mainly with increasing KIC gb. The density of grain boundary microcracks greatly degreased at the KIC gbvalue above 1.9 (MPa·m1/2).


2-Arylureidobenzoic acids (AUBAs) have recently been presented as the first series of selective noncompetitive GluR5 antagonists. In this paper we have modified the acidic moiety of the AUBAs by introducing different acidic and neutral groups, and similarly, we have replaced the urea linker of the AUBAs with other structurally related linkers. Replacing the acid with neutral substituents led to inactive compounds in all instances, showing that an acidic moiety is necessary for activity. Replacing the carboxylic moiety in 2a with a sulfonic acid (5c) or a tetrazole ring (5d) improved the potency at GluR5 receptors (compounds 5c and 5d showed IC(50) values of 1.5 and 2.0 muM, respectively, compared to compound 2a with IC(50) = 4.8 muM). Compound 5c did not show improved in vivo activity in the ATPA rigidity test compared to 2a, whereas compound 5d was 4 times more potent than 2a. All compounds wherein the urea linker had been replaced showed lower or no activity. The results described extend the knowledge of structure-activity relationships for the AUBAs, and compound 5d may prove to be a good candidate for studying GluR5 receptors in vitro and in vivo.


Abstract Introduction: The diagnosis of trisomy 21 in children has been associated with failed extubation after CHD surgery. Dexmedetomidine may be a useful agent to improve postoperative outcomes in these patients, such as ventilator time, ICU length of stay, or hospital length of stay. Materials and methods: The Pediatric Health Information System database was queried from January, 2008 to December, 2010 for patients with trisomy 21 who underwent CHD surgery. Patients who received dexmedetomidine were matched to patients who did not by propensity score. The primary outcome was ventilator days charged, and secondary outcomes included ICU and hospital length of stay. Results: A total of 1088 patients (544 matched pairs) met inclusion criteria. Patient characteristics were similar, with the exception of more patients in the dexmedetomidine group undergoing repair of complete atrioventricular canal and fewer undergoing mechanical valve replacement (p<0.01). More patients in the dexmedetomidine group were administered milrinone, epinephrine, vasopressin, benzodiazepines, opiates, and adjunct pain and sedative medications (p<0.01). The dexmedetomidine group had greater time on the ventilator [7 (4.5–11) versus 6 (4–10) days (median, interquartile range) p<0.01] and similar ICU length of stay, hospital length of stay, and mortality compared with controls. Mixed-effects modelling clustered on institution did not show beneficial effect of dexmedetomidine on ventilator time, ICU stay, or hospital length of stay. Conclusions: The use of dexmedetomidine was not associated with the decreased ventilatory time. Routine use of dexmedetomidine is not warranted in this patient population.


Direct preparation of activated carbon (AC) from coal was reported by microwave heating with potassium hydroxide as activation agent. Electrochemical properties of AC electrodes were investigated by cyclic voltammetry, constant current charge–discharge. The results show that functional groups on AC include –C=O, –O–H and –C–O. The micropore volume of AC from different coal totals 48.5–95.6%. The total pore volume of AC from different coal passes through a maximum with the decrease of volatile mater content in coal. The specific surface area and total pore volume of AC from Qing ting coal reach 1874 m2 g-1 and 1.00 cm3 g-1, respectively. The specific capacitance and energy density of AC from higher coal rank is usually bigger than that of AC from lower coal rank.


Of all the long bones in the human skeleton, the bone fractured most often is the tibia. In the surgical treatment of shaft fractures, the use of the correct length nail is important. Therefore, the length of the tibia is crucial during orthopedic surgery and in forensic science, anatomy and anthropology. In this study, the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) method was applied to obtain a correct estimation of the tibia length from its proximal measurements. The inputs of the ANN, which are independent parameters of the problem, are the age of the subject, the tibia side, top measurement, middle measurement, bottom measurement and fibula length. A total of 193 tibia bone measurements were taken from an adult Turkish population. Five different input parameter combinations were tried for the correct determination of the tibia length. According to these combinations, the root mean square error (RMSE) values and correlation coefficients ® were obtained as 21.27, 17.60, 19.56, 18.39, 6.14 and 0.66, 0.78, 0.72. 0.76, 0.98 for the training data of ANN, respectively. For the test data these values were 21.81, 21.53, 23.32, 21.50, 9.26 for RMSE and 0.51, 0.56, 0.44, 0.55, 0.93 for values. The correlation coefficients showed a moderate correlation between data in the ANN estimation, and according to the RMSE values, the error in the estimations was at the level of approximately 5%. Received :05.09.2020 Received in revised form :16.11.2020 Accepted :02.11.2020 Available online :05.01.2021


We report the performance of our approaches for protein–protein docking and interface analysis in CAPRI Rounds 20–26. At the core of our pipeline was the ZDOCK program for rigid‐body protein–protein docking. We then reranked the ZDOCK predictions using the ZRANK or IRAD scoring functions, pruned and analyzed energy landscapes using clustering, and analyzed the docking results using our interface prediction approach RCF. When possible, we used biological information from the literature to apply constraints to the search space during or after the ZDOCK runs. For approximately half of the standard docking challenges, we made at least one prediction that was acceptable or better. For the scoring challenges, we made acceptable or better predictions for all but one target. This indicates that our scoring functions are generally able to select the correct binding mode. Proteins 2013; 81:2175–2182. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Industrial Systems are nowadays exposed to new kinds of malicious threats. The cause of this is related to the large number of new vulnerabilities and architectural weaknesses introduced by the extensive use of ICT and Networking Technologies for the operation and monitoring of such complex systems. Several scientific works, have showed how Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition Systems (SCADA), i.e. the systems which control industrial installations, are exposed to cyber attacks. These, due to the intrinsic nature of SCADA systems, cannot be avoided by using traditional ICT security measures. In this paper, we present a first prototype of survivable SCADA architecture, conceived in order to be resilient and robust to cyber SCADA attacks.


This chapter reviews common cutaneous infections, infestations, and neoplasms of the scalp. Infections of the scalp are subdivided into three major groups. The most seen are: (1) Bacterial: Folliculitis, folliculitis decalvans, tufted hair folliculitis and acne keloidalis nuchae. (2) Fungal: Tinea capitis, favus and kerion celsi. (3) Protozoal: Syphilitic alopecia. Pediculosis capitis is the most common worldwide infestation of the scalp. The neo- plasms of the scalp are large group of different diseases due to arising different origin. In the following section, trichilemmal cyst, proliferating trichilemmal cyst, nevus sebaceous and cylindroma are discussed in detail.


Distributed digital control systems have appeared structurally desirable for many years. The concepts of hierarchial control and distributed risk were advanced as necessary structural considerations in the control of large scale systems almost coincidentally with the advent of modern electronic instrumentation and digital process control computers. The logarithmic growth patterns of semiconductor technology over the last two decades and the availability of microprocessors and other manifestations of large scale integrated circuitry have finally converted the distributed digital control system from a structurally desirable nicety to an economic inevitability. This paper examines the relevance of distributed digital control systems in the rigorous industrial environment of energy, utility, and process control applications. Design considerations leading to minimization of total installed system costs while retaining the necessary system flexibility to allow user reconfiguration to meet changing process or product needs are delineated. The twin problems of reliability and maintainability are examined in the context of allowable structural degradation concepts which must be inherent in the design of any distributed system.


Environmental pollution of waters caused by the release of chemical substances is becoming a threat for both man and the environment. The active pharmacological agents discharged into the waters, can interact with the cell DNA and induce genetic damage. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the potential genotoxic effects of nine pharmacological agents, Atorvastatin, Sildenafil citrate, Gemfibrozil, Ibuprofen, Atenolol, Ofloxacin, Carbamazepine, Bezafibrate, and Diclofenac present in the waste waters of some Italian treatment plants. Genotoxic effects of the nine pharmacological compounds were evaluated by using four tests, the Comet Assay, the Diffusion Assay, the TUNEL test, and RAPD-PCR technique. The sperm cells were exposed in vitro for three different times: 15, 30 and 45 min at the mean concentrations detected in the waste waters. All drugs tested induced a statistically significant reduction in the integrity of sperm DNA and high fragmentation values. The drugs found in the wastewater were then able to induce damage to sperm DNA, highlighted in a very early stage of cell suffering, even before they are capable of inducing other metabolic disorders.


In this paper, an MEMS gyro aided on line calibration algorithm for electronic compass is presented. This electronic compass module consists of a three-axis AMR sensor, a two-axis MEMS tilt sensor and a one-axis MEMS gyro. The automatic calibration method requires to rotate the electronic compass two full 360-degree revolution. In this rotation procedure, magnetic field data, attitude data and angular rate data are recorded. Based on recorded magnetic field data and attitude data, raw heading data is calculated. This raw heading data is verified by angular rate output of MEMS gyro. Results of experiment show that the accuracy of calibrated compass is better than 0.5 deg and MEMS gyro aided on line calibration algorithm is effective for electronic compass.


Welcome to the FSU Libraries' guide to resources on African American Literature. Please contact me with any questions. Happy searching!


This study was aimed to examine the effects of "group logotherapy" on reducing the degree of depression between olds. Materials & Methods:The experimental design: pre-post test with control group was used in this study. The population was the female olds of the "house of the oldsters". The samples were selected by means of Beck inventory of depression. Then 20 persons were selected randomly. Then they were assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group was then exposed to 8 sections of group logotherapy. By ending the therapeutic period, both groups were examined by means of the mentioned inventory. Covariance analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient and the test for its meaningfulness were calculated for analyzing the raw data. Results: This finding showed that logotherapy has statistically meaningful effect on curing depression (P<0.01) and the scores of depression in experimental group decreased (from 20.8 in pretest to 12.6 in posttest). Conclusion: Group logotherapy has considerable effect on curing depression between olds. Therefore it is necessary to pay more attention to nondrug treatments -which are helpful


Local relapse was suspected in 26 women treated conservatively for breast cancer. All women underwent routine magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and a dynamic MR subtraction study after injection of gadolinium-tetraazacyclododecanetetra-acetic acid. Twelve women had no local relapse. Surgical biopsy enabled confirmation of recurrence in 14 patients. Routine MR imaging did not allow differentiation of recurrence from glandular or scar tissue. Except for one case of fat necrosis, patients without local relapse showed no contrast enhancement 1 minute 34 seconds after injection. At dynamic MR imaging, all recurrences showed contrast enhancement 1 minute 34 seconds after injection. Nodular enhancement (n = 11) was found in invasive carcinoma, whereas linear enhancement was seen in intraductal carcinoma (n = 3). Subtraction of precontrast from postcontrast images always allowed better visualization of contrast enhancement. Contrast-enhanced subtraction dynamic MR imaging may prove to be accurate in diagnosis of local relapses of breast cancer.


BACKGROUND: Limb lengthening is performed through distraction osteogenesis after osteotomy and has traditionally been performed using external fixation. The PRECICE® Limb Lengthening System has recently emerged as an alternative method to control distraction. In this study, the first experience of intramedullary nail lengthening using PRECICE®, in a South African limb lengthening and reconstruction unit, was evaluated in terms of the accuracy of distraction and the number of implant-related complications that were reported
METHODS: A total of nine patients underwent the limb lengthening procedure in 11 limb segments. Distraction of the nail was initiated by ERC (external remote controller) around 10 days after surgery at a distraction rate of 1 mm/ day. The distraction was monitored every 2 weeks by clinical and radiographic examinations. Ongoing physiotherapy rehabilitation was performed until consolidation was achieved
RESULTS: A mean target distraction length of 45.18 mm (15 to 65 mm range) was obtained over an average follow-up period of 266 days, with an accuracy of 103% ± 18%. All the distraction segments united. Two complications were reported that were successfully treated
 CONCLUSION: Limb lengthening using the PRECICE® nail system was found to have excellent accuracy of distraction, which is reproducible between different segments and indications. Acceptable complication rates were observed in this study


The autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS) is characterized by early-onset lymphadenopathy, splenomegaly, immune cytopenias, and an increased risk for B cell lymphomas. Most ALPS patients harbor mutations in the FAS gene, which regulates lymphocyte apoptosis. These are commonly missense mutations affecting the intracellular region of the protein and have a dominant-negative effect on the signaling pathway. However, analysis of a large cohort of ALPS patients revealed that ∼ 30% have mutations affecting the extracellular region of FAS, and among these, 70% are nonsense, splice site, or insertions/ deletions with frameshift for which no dominant-negative effect would be expected. We evaluated the latter patients to understand the mechanism(s) by which these mutations disrupted the FAS pathway and resulted in clinical disease. We demonstrated that most extracellular-region FAS mutations induce low FAS expression due to nonsense-mediated RNA decay or protein instability, resulting in defective death-inducing signaling complex formation and impaired apoptosis, although to a lesser extent as compared with intracellular mutations. The apoptosis defect could be corrected by FAS overexpression in vitro. Our findings define haploinsufficiency as a common disease mechanism in ALPS patients with extracellular FAS mutations. The Journal of Immunology , 2011, 186: 6035–6043.


We studied the growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) over a Co/Mo/Al2O3 catalyst by decomposing ethylene with or without the assistance of water. The optimal amount of water was determined to be 0.6% (φ) since excess water removed the amorphous carbon around the catalysts and also directly etched the CNTs at high temperature. Under this condition, the yield of CNTs can be increased from 3.7 g•g^(-1), based on the mass of catalyst, to 70 g•g^(-1) within 1 h. The time-dependent online conversion of ethylene and the ratio of effective catalysts suggested that the effect of water is insignificant in the final growth period of the CNTs compared to that at the beginning. The correlation between the relative activity of the catalyst and the relative density of the CNT agglomerate suggests that the lack of growth volume inside the CNT agglomerate results in a gradual deactivation of the catalyst in the final CNT growth period. Raman characterization suggests that the degree of CNT defects increases with the bulk density of the CNT agglomerates since the mechanical resistance that is exposed on CNTs inside the agglomerate increases with reaction time. Thermal-gravimetric analysis indicates that the purity of CNTs ranges from 95.0% to 99.9% for a product with average purity of 99.2%. The non-uniform purity of the CNTs is due to the difference in mechanical resistance inside and outside the CNT agglomerate. The growth of CNTs outside the agglomerate is nearly free of mechanical resistance compared to that inside the agglomerate and, consequently, results in a high yield and high purity for the CNTs. These results suggest that it is necessary to control the agglomerate size and the structure, and to use a reactor with a large reactor volume for the growth of CNTs with low resistance and with high yield.


Background: Benign neonatal hemangiomatosis (BNH) is a rare, self-limiting subtype of infantile hemangiomas (IHs), in which infants with multiple cutaneous hemangiomas lack visceral involvement. Other subtypes of IHs exist that may mimic BNH and can be life-threatening depending on hemangioma location and size. Clinical Findings: At birth, a 29/7-week preterm female presented with several pinhead-sized pink papules distributed throughout her body. At 10 days of age, the patient had 12 enlarged domed-shaped red papules in a generalized distribution throughout her body. Over several weeks, the number and size of the domed-shaped red papules continued to increase to a total of 26 located on the head, chest, abdomen, back, legs and arms. They were of firm consistency with both smooth and lobulated surfaces. Primary Diagnosis: A diagnosis of BNH was made after extensive workup did not reveal any extracutaneous hemangiomas. Interventions: Due to the lack of extracutaneous involvement and low-risk location/size of hemangiomas in our patient, no interventions were pursued and an observation-only approach was implemented. Outcomes: The patient remained stable while followed up over 8 months, with the size of the hemangiomas only increasing slightly in proportion to the patient's natural body growth. Practice Recommendations: Given the life-threatening nature of certain hemangioma subtypes, it is important to implement a proper workup and subtype diagnosis as early as possible in any infant with multiple hemangiomas.


Human-annotated labels are often prone to noise, and the presence of such noise will degrade the performance of the resulting deep neural network (DNN) models. Much of the literature (with several recent exceptions) of learning with noisy labels focuses on the case when the label noise is independent from features. Practically, annotations errors tend to be instance-dependent and often depend on the difficulty levels of recognizing a certain task. Applying existing results from instance-independent settings would require a significant amount of estimation of noise rates. Therefore, learning with instance-dependent label noise remains a challenge. In this paper, we propose CORES^2 (COnfidence REgularized Sample Sieve), which progressively sieves out corrupted samples. The implementation of CORES^2 does not require specifying noise rates and yet we are able to provide theoretical guarantees of CORES^2 in filtering out the corrupted examples. This high-quality sample sieve allows us to treat clean examples and the corrupted ones separately in training a DNN solution, and such a separation is shown to be advantageous in the instance-dependent noise setting. We demonstrate the performance of CORES^2 on CIFAR10 and CIFAR100 datasets with synthetic instance-dependent label noise and Clothing1M with real-world human noise. As of independent interests, our sample sieve provides a generic machinery for anatomizing noisy datasets and provides a flexible interface for various robust training techniques to further improve the performance.


The influence of calcium (Ca) at titanium surface on co-precipitation of Ca-P and bovine serum albumin (BSA) has been investigated by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. The titanium surface containing Ca was prepared by immersing titanium plates into a saturated calcium hydroxyl (Ca(OH)2) solution. A solution containing BSA, calcium and phosphate ions was used for the co-precipitation test. Both BSA and calcium phosphate co-precipitated onto titanium surfaces with and without Ca. For the former, however, a thicker carbonate apatite coating, which consisted of finer crystal grains, formed and more protein precipitated compared to the surface without Ca. These results indicated that Ca at the titanium surface was favorable to the co-precipitation of BSA and Ca-P. Moreover, chemical interactions probably occurred during the co-precipitation of BSA and Ca-P.


This paper proposes a paradigm where commonly made segmental pronunciation errors are modeled as pair-wise confusions between two or more phonemes in the language that is being learnt. The method uses an ensemble of support vector machine classifiers with time varying Mel frequency cepstral features to distinguish between several pairs of phonemes. These classifiers are then applied to classify the phonemes uttered by second language learners. Instead of providing feedback at every mispronounced phoneme, the method attempts toprovide feedback about typical mispronunciations by a certain student, over an entire session of several utterances. Two case studies that demonstrate how the paradigm is applied to provide suitable feedback to two students is also described in this pape


Objectives: Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is challenging to identify in children with acute liver failure and was not a requirement for enrollment into the Pediatric Acute Liver Failure Study Group (PALFSG). The outcomes of PALFSG participants presenting with and without HE are presented. Methods: PALFSG participants were classified based on daily assessment of HE during the first 7 days following study enrollment: group 1—never developed HE; group 2—no HE at enrollment with subsequent HE development; and group 3—HE at study enrollment. Clinical and biochemical parameters and outcomes of death, spontaneous recovery, or liver transplantation were compared between groups. Results: Data from 769 PALFSG (54% boys; median age 4.2 years; range 0–17.9 years) participants were analyzed, with 277 in group 1 (36%), 83 in group 2 (11%), and 409 in group 3 (53%). Mortality occurred in 11% of all participants and was highest among group 3 participants who demonstrated persistent grade III–IV HE (55%) or showed progression of HE (26%). Eleven (4%) group 1 participants died within 21 days of enrollment. Spontaneous recovery was highest in group 1 (79%) and lowest in group 2 (25%; P < 0.001). Conclusions: Mortality 21 days after enrollment was highest in participants enrolled with severe HE (grades III or IV) or demonstrating HE progression. Four percent of participants without recorded clinical HE in the 7 days after enrollment, however, died within 21 days. Improved assessment of neurological injury and pediatric acute liver failure prognostication schema are needed.


The cross-talk of two redox factors, H2O2 accumulation and redox status of photosynthetic electron transport (PET) in tobacco chloroplasts, on the expression of cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase (cAPX) was studied. Transgenic tobacco plants, which expressed respectively the Escherichia coli catalase and spinach thylakoid-membrane-bound APX in chloroplasts and showed increased tolerance to photooxidative stress, were used for evaluation of the relationship between H2O2 accumulation or change of redox status of PET and cAPX induction under photooxidative stress condition. There was no difference in the increase in the transcript level of cAPX in the first 1 h after irradiation with high-intensity light between the wild-type and either of the transgenic plants. The transcript level of cAPX in the wild-type showed a steady gradual increase during the next 5 h, while that in the transgenic plants during this period was stable. The H2O2 level of wild-type plants increased after 1 h, while those of transgenic plants remained constant. The decrease in q(p) value in all types of plants occurred earlier than the increase in H2O2 level. These results indicate that the induction of cAPX expression is caused by a redox change in PET, probably through the plastquinone pool at an early stage and thereafter by an increase in the cellular H2O2 level.


Bulk of the kidney disease in diabetic patient are associated with nephropathy complications. Hypertension is usually found in chronic type 1 and type 2 diabetes sufferers. Numerous factors like vascular remodelling, basement membrane thickening, vascular atherosclerosis, mesangial cell proliferation, oxidative stress in renal apparatus due to ischemia etc. due to both the hypertension and hyperglycemia leads to expansion and evolution of nephropathy in these patients. Management of hypertension is therefore highly advisable in diabetes patient as an important intervention to prevent vascular damages like nephropathy. The aim of hypertensive drug management in diabetic patient should include both the management of blood pressure as well as albuminuria management. ACE inhibitors are found to be the most appropriate drugs which complies to both these requirement while the use of other antihypertensive drugs require caution due to their derogatory influences on the glucose and lipid metabolism in diabetic patients.


Abstract Whether the pilot registration system reform can achieve the expected effect is related to the pace of China's comprehensive implementation of the registration system reform. This paper selects the data of listed companies on the Science and Technology Innovation Board and the data of listed companies on the Growth Enterprise Market after the pilot registration system. At the same time, the data of listed companies before the GEM registration system reform were selected as a comparative sample. Using the stochastic frontier analysis to test the pricing efficiency of IPOs, this article finds that the registration system reform works well. It improves the efficiency of Chinese IPO pricing. Also, underwriter reputation has a negative impact on IPO pricing efficiency.


Background: Chitosan is a natural polymer with special properties that are prepared and purified in the industry of crustaceans. In this study, Trametes versicolor fungus, which was obtained from the forests of northern Iran, was used due to its medicinal properties, and the extracted chitosan of this fungus was optimized and its antimicrobial properties were investigated. Materials & Methods: To increase chitosan, four influential NaOH parameters, time, temperature, and biomass to NaOH ratio were performed by the Taguchi method. Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectrometry (FTIR) was identified, and the antibacterial properties of the disc release method were investigated against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria and the bacterial non-growth halo by millimeters. Results: The optimal conditions of the variables were: 5.94 Molar, 4 hours, and 40 minutes, 65.6 degrees Celsius, and 1:25 ratio, respectively. Under these conditions, the amount of chitosan produced was equal to 0.261 g/L and the degree of deacetylation 78% was obtained. The antibacterial properties against E. coli gram-negative bacteria and S. aureus gram-positive bacteria were found to be 12±1 and 18±2, respectively. Conclusion: Evidence has shown that four parameters had a positive effect on more chitosan production and the S. aureus is more sensitive to the resulting chitosan.


In the United States, cancer is the leading cause of death by disease among children; approximately 9500 new cases of were diagnosed in 2006 among children under 19 years of age. Among these children it was estimated that 1850 of these cases were Hispanic children. Survival rates have sharply risen over the past 25 years and now more than 75% of children diagnosed with cancer in the US are alive 5 years after diagnosis. This increase in childhood survival rates have exposed a need for increased understanding of parental functioning following their child's cancer diagnosis. While a majority of parents report increased distress following a traumatic event such as a child's cancer diagnosis, the aim of this study was to investigate distress and problem-solving skills between English (N=253) and monolingual Spanish-speaking (N=44) mothers. Data for this study was extracted from a pre-existing data set from a large intervention study on maternal problem-solving skills training and participants were mothers who were recruited within 2 to 16 weeks following their child's cancer diagnosis. Compared with English-speaking mothers, monolingual Spanish-speaking mothers reported greater distress and poorer problem-solving skills at baseline, but only one distress measure (IES-R) was significant after controlling for maternal education. The findings from this exploratory analysis are significant to public health because it is important to assess psychosocial adjustment following traumatic events, such as a child's cancer diagnosis, among the fastest growing minority population in the United States. It is also important to determine the contribution of socio-cultural characteristics to parental adjustment for minority populations. A better understanding of these socio-cultural differences in family adjustment to traumatic events has the potential to create interventions to improve the quality of life for families.


Abstract Theoretical improvements have been made in the unified Hauser-Feshbach and exciton model. The angular momentum conservation is considered in reaction processes for both equilibrium and preequilibrium mechanisms. The recoil effects in varied emission processes are taken into account strictly so the energy balance can be held exactly. A method for calculating double-differential cross sections of composite particles is proposed. Based on this theoretical frame, the UNF code (2001 version) for calculating neutron-induced reaction data of structural materials below 20 MeV was issued. The functions of the UNF code are introduced.