In the standards and criterions of many countries, the evaluating index of energy efficient buildings mostly comprises of two types, prescriptive index and performance index. Firstly , the concepts of each type  were  explained  respectively  in  this paper , and  several  existed typical evaluating performance indexes and methods of energy2efficient buildings were introduced , also  the  characteristics of  each index were presented. Furthermore , the evaluating indexes and methods used by  existing  design  standards for  energy  efficiency  buildings  in  China were  briefly  discussed  and  some  elementary  suggestions  on  the foundation  of   evaluating  index  system  were  analyzed.   At  last ,  based  on the discussion , a suitable evaluating index system of energy efficient buildings for China could  be  established ,  as  a  result ,  the  energy  resources could  be  saved and the environment  could  be protected.


The safety and activity of the multikinase inhibitor sorafenib were investigated in patients with relapsed or refractory lymphoproliferative disorders who received sorafenib (400 mg) twice daily until disease progression or appearance of significant clinical toxicity. The primary endpoint was overall response rate (ORR). Biomarkers of sorafenib activity were analysed at baseline and during treatment. Thirty patients (median age, 61 years; range, 18–74) received a median of 4 months of therapy. Grade 3–4 toxicities included hand/foot skin reactions (20%), infections (12%), neutropenia (20%) and thrombocytopenia (14%). Two patients achieved complete remission (CR), and two achieved partial remission (PR) for an ORR of 13%. Stable disease (SD) and progressive disease (PD) was observed in 15 (50%) and 11 patients (37%), respectively. The median overall survival (OS) for all patients was 16 months. For patients who achieved CR, PR and SD, the median time to progression and OS was 5 and 24 months, respectively. Compared with patients with PD, responsive patients had significantly higher baseline levels of extracellular signal‐regulated kinase phosphorylation and autophagy and presented a significant reduction of these parameters after 1 month of therapy. Sorafenib was well tolerated and had a clinical activity that warrants development of combination regimens.


This paper used data from professional drag racing to study how proximity to another competitor in a status ranking affected performance. The one-on-one format of races in National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) tournaments provided a setting to analyze pairs of higher- and lower-ranked drivers when status differentials were either large or small. Based on panel data from the 2009 through 2019 seasons of the NHRA's Top Fuel and Funny Car divisions, results indicated that rank proximity improved absolute performance on reaction times by higher-ranked drivers. However, this effect only occurred when contiguously ranked opponents were paired together. Lower-ranked drivers, or underdogs, did not experience any improvements in absolute performance due to rank proximity. In the main findings, I observed that a threat of status loss can motivate performance for a focal competitor, but this effect primarily occurred when a status rival was physically present during a task.


Several open government initiatives have been launched to make available online data enhancing accountability of public officials towards ordinary citizens. However, these initiatives raise several questions, namely: Which data should be disclosed? How to bring together dispersed (fragmented) data? How to improve its understandability by ordinary citizens? Literature shows that, in general, the data selection process does not take into account ordinary citizens' expectations and information needs. This paper presents the development process of a transparency ontology, which aims to provide an answer to the above questions, in what concerns public sector entities' use of resources. The process started by creating a list of relevant expressions/terms discussed in national and local newspapers, considering the role of journalists as 'information brokers' acting on behalf of ordinary citizens. This list was externally validated for relevance, comprehensiveness and improvements by interviewing journalists, and the resulting transparency ontology was formalised using OWL and Protege.


In the literature on inspection modelling, the failure distribution
traditionally plays a fundamental role in model construction in that it
is assumed that system failures occur instantly at random time points
from new with a known pdf. of time to failure. Numerous models have
been built on this basis. However, Professor Christer challenged this
traditional idea and proposed the concept of delay time. The idea,
which is an essential part of most engineers' experience, assumes that
defects do not just appear as failures, but are present for a while
before becoming sufficiently obvious to be noticed and declared as
failures. The time lapse from when a defect could first be identified
at an inspection to consequential failure has been termed the "delay
time". It is this idea which can be captured to reveal the nature and
scope for preventive maintenance or inspection. It appears that the
concept is now being taken up by many other authors.
In this thesis, various models for condition monitoring inspection are
built on the basis of delay time analysis. Extensions and further
developments are made here to enrich the delay-time modelling. Since
the distribution of the delay time is important to delay time
modelling, a new approach to estimate the delay time distribution is
proposed. This technique, which contrasts with the previous subjective
data estimation technique, is based upon objective data.
Assuming the distribution of the delay time is known, models of
condition monitoring inspection are fully discussed for both perfect
and imperfect inspections, and for infinite and finite time horizons.
Based upon the models for perfect inspection, algorithms are presented
to find the optimal solution. Numerical examples are presented in each
Chapter to illustrate how models and algorithms work.


Sex differences in cardiovascular disease (CVD), including aortic stenosis, atherosclerosis and cardiovascular calcification, are well documented. High levels of testosterone, the primary male sex hormone, are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular calcification, whilst estrogen, the primary female sex hormone, is considered cardioprotective. Current understanding of sexual dimorphism in cardiovascular calcification is still very limited. This review assesses the evidence that the actions of sex hormones influence the development of cardiovascular calcification. We address the current question of whether sex hormones could play a role in the sexual dimorphism seen in cardiovascular calcification, by discussing potential mechanisms of actions of sex hormones and evidence in pre-clinical research. More advanced investigations and understanding of sex hormones in calcification could provide a better translational outcome for those suffering with cardiovascular calcification.


Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate relations between aerobic physical activity (PA), muscle-strengthening PA, and stretching behavior and presenteeism in university employees. Methods: A cross-sectional study used health assessment data from two employee respondent groups (n2015 = 10,791 and n2009 = 10,165). Multivariable zero-inflated negative binomial regression models assessed the association between self-reported PA types and presenteeism. Results: There was consistent evidence that employees who reported participating in sufficient aerobic PA had higher odds for no work limitations [odds ratio (OR2015) = 1.45, P < 0.001; OR2009 = 1.55, P < 0.001] and lower levels of work limitations [incidence rate ratio (IRR)2015 = 0.92, P < 0.05; IRR2009 = 0.83, P < 0.001] than employees who reported participating in no activity. There was some evidence of an inverse association between muscle-strengthening PA and work limitations, but no evidence between stretching behavior and work limitations. Conclusions: Promoting PA among employees is a key health behavior to target for worksites concerned about presenteeism.


Type I interferon (IFN‐α/β) plays a critical role in suppressing viral replication by driving the transcription of hundreds of interferon‐sensitive genes (ISGs). While many ISGs are transcriptionally activated by the ISGF3 complex, the significance of other signaling intermediates in IFN‐α/β‐mediated gene regulation remains elusive, particularly in rare cases of gene silencing. In human Th2 cells, IFN‐α/β signaling suppressed IL5 and IL13 mRNA expression during recall responses to T‐cell receptor (TCR) activation. This suppression occurred through a rapid reduction in the rate of nascent transcription, independent of de novo expression of ISGs. Further, IFN‐α/β‐mediated STAT4 activation was required for repressing the human IL5 gene, and disrupting STAT4 dimerization reversed this effect. This is the first demonstration of STAT4 acting as a transcriptional repressor in response to IFN‐α/β signaling and highlights the unique activity of this cytokine to acutely block the expression of an inflammatory cytokine in human T cells.


Abstract The author analyzes the impact of religion in current conflicts throughout the world. The main focus lies on the monotheistic religions, i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam, all of which have recently been reproached for potentially fostering the temptation to resort to violence. The article focuses on this accusation and departs from an analysis of the concept of "holy war" in the three religions. The article concludes with setting out a pragmatism of peaceableness highlighting that wars in the twenty-first century can neither be regarded as just, nor holy, nor clean and that absolute pacifism will not only be politically impossible but might as a political principle even be irresponsible.


How does delayed fitnesses adaptation after local habitat changes affect survival of species metapopulation? We study this question in a two-species model system, where the species composition of a local patch determines the reference fitness of all its individuals. When individuals move, this local species composition changes. As the local environment on the patch might adapt slowly to this change, we assume that individuals in turn adapt their fitness with a stochastic delay. We show that the combination of delay and spatial substructure can yield significantly different phase diagrams for the survival of these species with respect to models with immediate response. We investigate this exemplarily for the case where the two species interact via an exoproduct: thus, our population consists of a slow-growing producer species and a fast-growing dominant species. We provide a conceptual understanding of the role of delay by presenting analytic results in the well-mixed and low-mobility limit. By studying intermediate mobilities numerically, we ensure that our results are robust, and may be relevant to different ecological situations as well as microbial metapopulation experiments.


The Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei is a euryhaline species with optimal salinity of 20–25 practical salinity unit (psu) for growth and survival, but has been cultured in inland water with salinity <5 psu worldwide. In the past decade, much research progress has been made on the physiological and nutritional requirements of white shrimp at low salinity. This study reviews the recent findings in the aspects of growth, survival, energy metabolism, stress resistance and immunity of white shrimp at low salinity and synthesizes recent research outcomes in nutritional requirements in an attempt to improve the shrimp performance in aquaculture at low salinity. The white shrimp at low salinity usually show slow growth, low immunity, high susceptibility to pathogens and high energy demand. The diet containing 30–36% protein, 15–20% carbohydrate and supplementations of potassium, sodium, vitamin E and C, free amino acids (glycine, alanine, proline and taurine), antioxidants and probiotics can improve shrimp growth and immunity at low salinity. The white shrimp has demonstrated the ability to synthesize DHA and EPA from LNA at low ambient salinity, but further studies are needed to further confirm this finding. Future research should focus on the understanding of physiological mechanism and adaptation associated with salinity change and nutritional manipulation. The specific dietary requirements of essential fatty acids, essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals and the nutrition-mediated immune response also warrant further study on shrimp at low salinity.


Atomically dispersed and nitrogen-coordinated single iron sites (FeN4) embedded in carbon (Fe-N-C) catalysts are the most promising platinum group metal (PGM)-free catalysts. However, they have yet to match their Pt counterparts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity and stability in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Here, we developed viable Fe-N-C catalysts, which, for the first time, demonstrated competitive activity to that of Pt/C catalysts and dramatically enhanced stability and durability under practical PEMFC operating conditions. The most active Fe-N-C catalyst achieved a record half-wave potential (E1/2 = 0.915 V vs. RHE at 0.6 mgcatcm-2) and an ORR mass activity of 10.5 mA mgcat at 0.9 V in (RDE) tests, exceeding a Pt/C baseline catalyst (60 µgPt cm-2) by 40 mV in acidic electrolytes. This compelling activity of the Fe-N-C catalyst in aqueous acids on rotating disk electrode (RDE) was successfully transferred to a fuel cell membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs), generating an initial current density of 44.2 mA cm-2 exceeding the U.S. DOE 2025 target (i.e., 44 mA cm-2) at 0.9 VIR-free under O2. Under practical hydrogen-air conditions, record 151 mA cm-2 at 0.8 V and peak power density of 601 mW cm-2 were achieved. Importantly, we discovered that depositing nitrogen-carbon species on the catalyst surface via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) dramatically enhanced catalyst stability, evidenced by performance durability after accelerated stress tests (30 000 square-wave voltage cycles under H2/air) and long-term steady-state life tests (> 300 hours at 0.67 V). Innovative identical location-scanning transmission electron microscopy (IL-STEM) experiments confirmed that the CVD process leads to deposition of nitrogen-doped carbon onto the catalyst surfaces. Along with theoretical modeling, a reconstruction of the carbon structure adjacent to FeN4 sites leads to increased robustness against demetallation and carbon oxidation. This work opens new avenues for developing earth-abundant iron-based catalysts with extraordinary activity and stability, thus competing with Pt and addressing the cost barrier of current PEMFCs.


Despite increased methamphetamine use worldwide, pharmacotherapies are not available to treat methamphetamine use disorder. The vesicular monoamine transporter-2 (VMAT2) is an important pharmacological target for discovery of treatments for methamphetamine use disorder. VMAT2 inhibition by the natural product, lobeline, reduced methamphetamine-evoked dopamine release, methamphetamine-induced hyperlocomotion, and methamphetamine self-administration in rats. Compared to lobeline, lobelane exhibited improved affinity and selectivity for VMAT2 over nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Lobelane inhibited neurochemical and behavioral effects of methamphetamine, but tolerance developed to its behavioral efficacy in reducing methamphetamine self-administration, preventing further development. The lobelane analog, R-N-(1,2-dihydroxypropyl)-2,6-cis-di-(4-methoxyphenethyl)piperidine hydrochloride (GZ-793A), potently and selectively inhibited VMAT2 function and reduced neurochemical and behavioral effects of methamphetamine. However, GZ-793A exhibited potential to induce ventricular arrhythmias interacting with human-ether-a-go-go (hERG) channels. Herein, a new lead, R-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)-N-(1-phenylpropan-2-yl)propan-1-amine (GZ-11610), from the novel scaffold (N-alkyl(1-methyl-2-phenylethyl)amine) was evaluated as a VMAT2 inhibitor and potential therapeutic for methamphetamine use disorder. GZ-11610 was 290-fold selective for VMAT2 over dopamine transporters, suggesting that it may lack abuse liability. GZ-11610 was 640- to 3500-fold selective for VMAT2 over serotonin transporters and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. GZ-11610 exhibited > 1000-fold selectivity for VMAT2 over hERG, representing a robust improvement relative to our previous VMAT2 inhibitors. GZ-11610 (3–30 mg/kg, s.c. or 56-300 mg/kg, oral) reduced methamphetamine-induced hyperactivity in methamphetamine-sensitized rats. Thus, GZ-11610 is a potent and selective inhibitor of VMAT2, may have low abuse liability and low cardiotoxicity, and after oral administration is effective and specific in inhibiting the locomotor stimulant effects of methamphetamine, suggesting further investigation as a potential therapeutic for methamphetamine use disorder.


This thesis is largely the documentation of two passive tracer release studies performed in Sterling Pond (SP), a small embayment on the southern coast of Lake Ontario (LO). SP has a large watershed and is strongly connected to LO by a long and narrow channel. The experiments were designed to decipher the effects of aquatic vegetation (macrophytes) on flow and transport through SP and through shallow embayments dominated by macrophytes in general. Towards this objective, the studies captured the residence time distribution (RTD) of water entering SP from its watershed under two different spatial distributions of macrophytes, and they were conducted in synchrony with extensive surveys of macrophyte density, height, and species composition. Variables relevant to the dynamics of SP were continuously monitored at its boundaries, including meteorological conditions, water surface elevation, flow, and temperature (temperature was continuously monitored within SP as well); bathymetric data was collected once. The first study took place when watershed flow was high and macrophytes were sparse – mean residence time was measured to be 0.6days. The second took place under moderate barotropic forcing from LO when watershed flow was low and macrophytes were dense and uniform across SP – mean residence time was measured to be 20days. As the studies were conducted under fairly extreme environmental conditions, the measured RTD's roughly capture the range of residence time scales of water entering SP from its watershed. The tracer experiments, macrophyte surveys, and auxiliary data comprise a benchmark data set that may be used for development and validation of numerical models of flow through flexible vegetation.


This paper describes a system called SAM that simplifies the task of programming machines with distributed address spaces by providing a shared name space and dynamic caching of remotely accessed data. SAM makes it possible to utilize the computational power available in networks of workstations and distributed memory machines, while getting the ease of programming associated with a single address space model. The global name space and caching are especially important for complex scientific applications with irregular communication and parallelism. SAM is based on the principle of tying synchronization with data accesses. Precedence constraints are expressed by accesses to single-assignment values, and mutual exclusion constraints are represented by access to data items called accumulators. Programmers easily express the communication and synchronization between processes using these operations; they can also use alternate paradigms tyhat are built with the SAM primitives. Operations for prefetching data and explicitly sending data to another processor integrate cleanly with SAM''s shared memory model and allow the user to obtain the efficiency of message passing when necessary. We have built implementations of SAM for the CM-5, the Intel iPSC/860, the Intel Paragon, the IBM SP1, and heterogeneous networks of Sun, SGI, and DEC workstations (using PVM). In this report, we describe the basic functionality provided by SAM, discuss our experience in using it to program a variety of scientific applications and distributed data structures, and provide performance results for these complex applications on a range of machines. Our experience indicates that SAM significantly simplifies the programming of these parallel systems, supports the necessary functionality for developing efficient implementations of sophisticated applications, and provides portability across a range of distributed memory environments.


The chronology of the main events of the history of the Kola Science Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2014is presented: the results of researches, scientific and management activities, information on events, so-cial life, state and scientific awards and transformations, as well as photographs from the Archive of the Depart-ment of Science Management of FRC KSC RAS.


Abstract Background: A substantial proportion of low-income children with asthma living in rural western North Carolina have suboptimal asthma management. To address the needs of these underserved children, we developed and implemented the Regional Asthma Disease Management Program (RADMP); RADMP was selected as one of 13 demonstration projects for the National Asthma Control Initiative (NACI). Methods: This observational intervention was conducted from 2009 to 2011 in 20 rural counties and the Eastern Band Cherokee Indian Reservation in western North Carolina. Community and individual intervention components included asthma education in-services and environmental assessments/remediation. The individual intervention also included clinical assessment and management. Results: Environmental remediation was conducted in 13 childcare facilities and 50 homes; over 259 administrative staff received asthma education. Fifty children with mild to severe persistent asthma were followed for up to 2 years; 76% were enrolled in Medicaid. From 12-month pre-intervention to 12-month post-intervention, the total number of asthma-related emergency department (ED) visits decreased from 158 to 4 and hospital admissions from 62 to 1 (p < 0.0001). From baseline to intervention completion, lung function FVC, FEV1, FEF 25–75 increased by 7.2%, 13.2% and 21.1%, respectively (all p < 0.001), and average school absences dropped from 17 to 8.8 days. Healthcare cost avoided 12 months post-intervention were approximately $882 021. Conclusion: The RADMP program resulted in decreased ED visits, hospitalizations, school absences and improved lung function and eNO. This was the first NACI demonstration project to show substantial improvements in healthcare utilization and clinical outcomes among rural asthmatic children.


"This paper reports on a study of management's attitudes and responses to union activities in 20 call centres in Western Australia. Australian unions have identified call centres as an important sector to organise, but past research has acknowledged the importance of employer recognition of union rights to organise within the workplace as critical to the success of a union campaign. In addition, there is now substantial literature illustrating call centres as high control workplaces, and therefore difficult sites for unions to organise, although the question as to what extent these high control strategies reflect management's attitude towards union organisation in call centres has been much less addressed. This article outlines management's stance towards unions within the sample of Western Australian call centres, detailing the forms their co-operation and resistance take. It explores the link between management's control strategies and their attitudes towards unions and, finally, identifies several factors influencing management's stance towards unions."


The field of behaviour-based artificial intelligence (AI), with its roots in the robotics research of Rodney Brooks, is not predominantly tied to linguistic interaction in the sense of the classic Turing test (or, "imitation game"). Yet, it is worth noting, both are centred on a behavioural model of intelligence. Similarly, there is no intrinsic connection between musical AI and the language-based Turing test, though there have been many attempts to forge connections between them. Nonetheless, there are aspects of musical AI and the Turing test that can be considered in the context of non-language-based interactive environments–-in particular, when dealing with real-time musical AI, especially interactive improvisation software. This paper draws out the threads of intentional agency and human indistinguishability from Turing's original 1950 characterisation of AI. On the basis of this distinction, it considers different approaches to musical AI. In doing so, it highlights possibilities for non-hierarchical interplay between human and computer agents.


This study compared the marginal sealing property Provifil (Promedica, Germany), a new light-cured one-component temporary filling material with IRM (Dentsply-Caulk) and Cavit (3M ESPE). Standard box-shaped cavity preparations were completed in 40 caries-free anterior bovine teeth.  The teeth were randomly assigned to 4 groups (n = 10) and were filled with one of the three restorative materials.  In five teeth (Positive control), no restorative material was placed; while five teeth of the negative control group had no restorative material but were filled with sticky wax. After thermocycling in water baths with temperatures of 5±5°C and 55±5°C (dwell time, 30 seconds) for 200 cycles, the teeth were coated with nail varnish, leaving an area of 1 mm short of the cavity margin uncovered.  The samples were immersed in 2% Methylene blue dye solution for 10 days, sectioned and then digital pictures were taken.  Dye penetration along the walls was measured using the UTHSCA Image Tool software. The greatest depth of dye penetration was considered the score of the specimen.  Data was analyzed using One-way ANOVA (p < 0.05) and Tukey's HSD Post Hoc Test.  Results showed that all the materials tested leaked at the tooth-restorative material interface. Provifil had the lowest mean leakage value (1.609 mm) while Cavit had the next lowest (2.028 mm).  IRM demonstrated significant leakage values (4.587 mm) signifying complete dye penetration on all the samples. There was no statistical significant difference between the marginal sealing property of Cavit and Provifil (p>0.05).  The marginal sealing property of Provifil was better than that of IRM.


The issue of the environment continues to receive special attention from researchers. This is related to business operations' importance in paying attention to the profit aspect and environmental impacts to maintain the surrounding environment. Therefore, activities that affect carbon emissions must be reported annually. This is called carbon accounting. This study aims to map carbon accounting articles for 2012 to 2021 on the dimensions.ai database. Using the keyword 'carbon accounting', the collected data was 500 articles. The study results found that the journal most relevant to carbon accounting is 'The Science of the Total Environment'. Meanwhile, the journals that have the most significant impact are 'Global Change Biology', 'Scientific Reports', and 'The Science of the Total Environment'. Meanwhile, the most productive journal is 'The Science of the Total Environment', followed by 'Environmental Science and Pollution Research'. The most relevant and prolific authors were Wang Y, followed by Zhang Y and Zhang X. In addition, Wang Y and Zhang X were the authors who had the greatest impact. The distribution of words in articles with the theme of carbon accounting is dominated by 'carbon' and 'accounting'. This research shows that the theme is undergoing good development. Research data shows that the word 'carbon' is rapidly from 2012 to 2021. This study predicts that articles on carbon accounting will continue to increase in the years to come, especially the themes of 'emissions' and 'study' which have high development although their relevance is quite low. The development of research on carbon accounting is closely related to environmental issues which are currently being studied by many researchers, especially to achieve sustainable development goals.


A novel econometric method is used to estimate trade effects of non-tariff measures (NTMs) for roughly 5 000 traded goods and 80 countries. It explicitly distinguishes several types of measures and ascertains their distinct effects on trade volumes and prices. The latter feature allows disentangling trade-cost effects associated with non-tariff measures from possible demand-enhancing effects that come from reducing information asymmetries and strengthening consumer confidence in imported products. The volume-based estimates yield information on how NTMs ultimately affect trade: the trade cost associated with NTMs, as captured by the ad valorem estimates, often reduces trade volumes, as expected, but not always. In a number of cases, in particular in the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) area, trade is found to expand, even though trade costs rise. This is likely explained by closer regulatory environments between the countries examined, but the trade-enhancing features of such measures merit further study.


Background: Hyperparathyroidism is associated with increased bone turnover and fractures. We aimed to determine its prevalence in patients attending our osteoporosis clinic, and investigate relationships between their serum calcium, vitamin D, bone turnover markers, bone mineral density (BMD), DXA T-scores and fracture history. Methods: We identified records from 2003–2017, collecting data on parameters above, and parathyroid imaging. Normal calcium level defined as 2.35–2.50 nmol/litre; normal vitamin D =/> 50 nmol/litre; normal PTH < 2.65 pg/ml. Results: 7624 patients; 364 (4.77%) had elevated PTH; 27 with incomplete data excluded. Of remaining 337, 294 female, 43 male; median age 76, mean T-score spine −2.6, mean T-score hip −2.4; overall osteoporosis prevalence 68.8%; 19% had prior hip fracture, 49% vertebral, and 21% Colles. 16 with eGFR < 30 ml/min excluded. Of the remaining 321, 53 (16.5%) hypercalcaemic, 69 (21.5% normocalcaemic and 199 (62%) hypocalcaemic. 182 had low vitamin D, implying secondary hyperparathyroidism; 139 normal vitamin D, implying primary hyperparathyroidism. Of 139 with likely primary hyperparathyroidism, we compared those with normal calcium level to those with high calcium: No significant differences in BMD spine/hip, prevalence of osteoporosis or fragility fracture. P1NP – a bone formation marker – was significantly higher in normocalcaemic group (mean difference 17.483 ng/ml, p = 0.049). 57 patients had parathyroid ultrasound or isotope scans. 22 positive for adenoma; 35 negative. Scans significantly more likely to be positive in patients with high calcium compared with normal calcium (likelihood ratio 5.671, p = 0.0173, ChiSquare test). 13 positive scans were in patients with low vitamin D. Conclusions: Patients with hyperparathyroidism were relatively older, osteoporotic and had high prevalence of fractures, low serum calcium and vitamin D. Low vitamin D was a poor negative predictor of adenoma. Although normocalcaemic patients were less likely to have a radiologically-proven adenoma, they appeared to carry a similar risk of osteoporosis and fracture as those with high calcium/adenoma.


At the turn of the nineteenth century, British consular officials regularly reported to the Foreign Office in London the political occurrences in the Philippines. The United Kingdom's huge economic investments in the Philippines prompted London to closely monitor the outcomes of the events. On the other hand, the Filipinos, particularly the government of Emilio Aguinaldo, capitalized on such economic interests by getting British support to the Filipino war for independence. This paper presents the accounts and insights of the British consuls on the two significant historical events that shaped Filipino nationhood—the Philippine Revolution and the Filipino-American War. The consular reports provide perspectives of the events different from the views of the colonialists and the Filipinos. Theirs actually was from a standpoint of a non-participant. Furthermore, this study also examines the United Kingdom's policy and actions throughout the Filipino anti-colonial struggles, as well as the Philippine Revolutionary Government's engagement with the British. Ultimately, this work hopes to contribute to the study of the country's diplomatic history, particularly on Philippine-British relations.


Rational design and construction of novel nanostructured electrode materials with high energy/power density and long cycling lifetime is urgently required for developing high-performance lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Herein, we report a facile and generalized approach for the synthesis of hollow transition metal oxide (NiO, Co3O4, and FeOx) nanoparticles coupled with graphene nanomesh architectures (H-TMO/GMAs) through combining in situ carbothermal reduction with an oxidation strategy on the basis of spontaneously assembled graphene hybrid frameworks. Benefiting from the naturally integrated advantages of both subunits, which synergistically provide a robust structure, large ion-accessible surface area, and efficient electron/ion transport pathways, the newly developed hollow-on-mesh H-TMO/GMAs show promising performance as free-standing LIB anodes. Remarkably, the H-NiO/GMA exhibits a high specific capacity (1145 mA h g−1 at 0.2 A g−1), ultra-high rate capability (574 mA h g−1 at 10 A g−1), and excellent cycling stability (98% storage capacity retention after 1000 cycles), which is among the best results that have been reported for NiO-based anode materials. This work paves the way for developing novel hollow-on-mesh electrode material systems for highly efficient lithium storage.


This paper presents an empirical methodology for studying the reallocation of agricultural labour across sectors from micro data. Whereas different approaches have been employed in the literature to better understand the mobility of labour, looking at the determinants to exit farm employment and enter off-farm activities, the initial decision of individuals to work in agriculture, as opposed to other sectors, has often been neglected. The proposed methodology controls for the selectivity bias, which may arise in the presence of a non-random sample of the population, in this context those in agricultural employment, which would lead to biased and inconsistent estimates. A 3-step multivariate probit with two selection and one outcome equations constitutes the selected empirical approach to explore the determinants of farm labour to exit agriculture and switch occupational sector. The model can be used to take into account the different market and production structures across European member states on the allocation of agricultural labour and its adjustments.


The role light that plays in architecture is not simply to brighten a room to enable people to see, but also to create atmospheres and define spaces. The quality of light affects our perception of space. Light has the power to enhance our experience of spaces by increasing pleasure and comfort. Conversely, light can make spaces uncomfortable for users. This thesis demonstrates how light with materiality and tectonic qualities can create different tactical and atmospheric conditions to strategically enhance the relationships of user to space and user to nature. By considering light in design, architects can turn light into a design feature and use it to create a variety of spatial perceptions. Light can define a room's characteristics and create atmosphere so that people feel connected to that space through association with natural lighting phenomena. Consequently, lighting can be used as a tool to enhance the user's experience with architecture


Agouti grey pelage, as found in the opcssum and many other mammals, is a generalised concealing coloration. In dense vegetation melanic pelage also is concealing, but the melanic phase displaces the grey one in rain forests where, in the current absence of predation, selection is not for colour. This local dominance suggests close linkage of genes [e.r melanism with ones for toleration of humidity. Since food trees of the opossum are killed by heavy browsing. a low birth rate conserves limited resources. Elimination of surplus young would not be effective in this because there is a long period of maternal protection, and young do not face direct competition for food before reaching an age of one and a half years. Increase of reproductive rate is beneficial to the species when vacant habitat is available, but such an increase is cangerous unless curbed after population establishment. Field evidence in New Zealand shows that, despite abundance of food, a low reproductive rate is usual. This would be expected if the pioneer and the established opossum belong to alternative genetic phases, analagous to the visually distinct metanic and grey ones.


360° videos give viewers a spherical view and immersive experience of surroundings. However, one challenge of watching 360° videos is continuously focusing and re-focusing intended targets. To address this challenge, we developed two Focus Assistance techniques: Auto Pilot (directly bringing viewers to the target), and Visual Guidance (indicating the direction of the target). We conducted an experiment to measure viewers' video-watching experience and discomfort using these techniques and obtained their qualitative feedback. We showed that: 1) Focus Assistance improved ease of focus. 2) Focus Assistance techniques have specificity to video content. 3) Participants' preference of and experience with Focus Assistance depended not only on individual difference but also on their goal of watching the video. 4) Factors such as view-moving-distance, salience of the intended target and guidance, and language comprehension affected participants' video-watching experience. Based on these findings, we provide design implications for better 360° video focus assistance.


The purpose of this study was to understand the correlation between the elderly with depressive symptomatology and the predictors of the risk of violence against them. The method used was a quantitative approach using the Statistical Package program for Social Sciences. There was a participation of 237 elderly people aged 65-96 years, of the project "Aging in Safety in Alentejo-Understanding to Act", at the University of Evora. The Geriatric Depression Scale and the Predictors of Risk of Violence (an adaptation of the Elder Abuse and Neglect-Risk Assessment Tool and Vulnerability to Abuse Screening Scale) were applied. About the results, 50 elderly (21.1%) had mild depressive symptomatology, and 14 (5.9%) had severe depressive symptomatology. Of the 64 elderly individuals who presented depressive symptomatology 55 were female. In the relationship between the severity of depressive symptomatology and predictors of risk of violence, significant results were found in three dimensions: current supports and relationships, family context and cognitive/emotional difficulties. The main conclusion of the study is that factors like no social support networks, complex family context and cognitive and emotional changes, contribute to greater physical and mental vulnerability of the elderly, resulting in cases of anxiety and stress, which present a depressive symptomatology and the risk of violence.


This study attempts to answer the following basic question: why do some lone parents escape low income or never enter spells of low income or social assistance (SA), while others remain in low income or on SA for many years? The analysis relies on the 1993-98 longitudinal panel of the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID). The main focus is lone mothers, since they account for 93% of low income lone parents. The results make somewhat of a case for investing more in education. However, this is not conclusive. Many lone mothers who are in low income or SA recipients have a post-secondary certification. Also, a higher level of education does not seem to have any benefits in terms of shortening SA spells. The fact that half of new SA recipients exit within the first two years suggest that policies should be well targeted. However, waiting for several years to ascertain who are long term recipients is not the best targeting strategy. Not only is valuable time wasted, but there is evidence that the longer individuals stay on SA, the more difficult it is to exit. A better strategy is to keep probing the characteristics of SA recipients that are associated with long spells and develop programs that are targeted to those characteristics. And since lack of paid work or limited attachment to paid work are common factors among the low income and SA recipients, the main focus should be on providing employment services (such as referrals and employment counseling), coupled with a more generous treatment of earnings under SA and wage subsidies to those able to work a significant number of paid hours.


This thesis presents such a new production system architecture, called a palimpsest parser, that adapts LR parsing technology to the process of controlled production system interpretation. Two unique characteristics of this architecture facilitate the construction and execution of large production systems: the rate at which productions fire is independent of production system size, and the modularity inherent in production systems is preserved and enhanced. In addition, individual productions may be evaluated in either a forward or backward direction, production systems can be integrated with other production systems and procedural programs, and production system modules can be compiled into libraries and used by other production systems.
Controlled production systems are compiled into palimpsest parsers as follows. Initially, the palimpsest transformation is applied to all productions to transform them into context-free grammar rules with associated disambiguation predicates and semantics. This grammar and the control grammar are then concatenated and compiled into modified LR(0) parse tables using conventional parser generation techniques. the resulting parse tables, disambiguation predicates, and semantics, in conjunction with a modified LR(0) parsing algorithm, constitute a palimpsest parser. When executed, this palimpsest parser correctly interprets the original controlled production system. Moreover, on any given cycle, the palimpsest parser only attempts to instantiate those productions that are allowed to fire by the control language grammar. Tests conducted with simulated production systems have consistently exhibited firing rates in excess of 1000 productions per second on a conventional microcomputer.


When predicting bankruptcy of a company basing on its financial statements, the line of business in which the company is operating plays a significant role in terms of prediction accuracy. This accuracy is particularly crucial to banks and businesses which realise sales mostly on credit. The failure to recognise a client's or business partner's financial difficulties or the threat of bankruptcy with sufficient accuracy could lead to significant losses. Bankruptcy prediction models are used for these purposes. Most of the models created have been dedicated to the branch of manufacturing, while the branch of construction is relatively neglected by the mainstream literature. Traditional bankruptcy prediction models cannot be used effectively due to specifics of construction business. The aim of this paper is to test the current accuracies of five selected bankruptcy models in predicting the bankruptcy of construction companies. An additional aim is to create a new model designed specifically for this branch. The research was conducted on the sample of Czech companies. The method of Receiver Operating Characteristic was applied as the measure of accuracy for testing the models. The model created during the course of this research achieved an accuracy higher by 3.6 to 8 percent than the traditional models tested.


Introduction: Anemia is caused by a variety of mechanisms in chronic kidney disease (CKD), including erythropoietin (EPO) deficiency, resistance to erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs), impaired iron metabolism and its clinical management remains challenging. Objectives: The aim of the current study was to evaluate the impact of CRP, BMI, gender and duration of hemodialysis. Patients and Methods: A total of 94 maintenance HD patients participated in this study. Laboratory investigation included CBC, renal function test and qualitatively C-reactive protein was performed. Erythropoietin resistance index (ERI) was calculated as weekly EPO dose/ body weight in kg/hemoglobin level. Results: Female gender had significantly higher ERI (11.36 ± 1.52) compared to male HD patients (10.68 ± 1.56) (P ˃ 0.05). Patients with low BMI had significant higher ERI (12.08 ± 1.09) compared to HD patients with overweight (10.62 ± 0.79) and obese (9.62 ± 1.68) (P ˃ 0.05). The highest ERI were found in the positive CPR group (P ˃ 0.05) compared to negative CRP group. There is no significant difference between duration of hemodialysis. Conclusion: Our data exposed that female gender; low BMI and inflammation (positive CRP) contributed to EPO hyporesponsiveness. In addition, there is no significant difference between lengths on hemodialysis.


Recent research efforts in growth of 3C-SiC are reviewed. Sublimation growth is addressed with an emphasis on the enhanced understanding of polytype stability in relation to growth conditions, such as supersaturation and Si/C ratio. It is shown that at low temperature/supersaturation spiral 6H-SiC growth is favored, which prepares the surface for 3C-SiC nucleation. Provided the supersaturation is high enough, 3C-SiC nucleates as two-dimensional islands on terraces of the homoepitaxial 6H-SiC. Effect of different substrate surface preparations is considered. Typical extended defects and their electrical activity is discussed. Finally, possible novel applications are outlined.


This is a new edition of the popular guide to Cairo's monuments. Cairo's Islamic monuments are part of an uninterrupted tradition that spans over a thousand years of building activity. No other Islamic city can equal Cairo's spectacular heritage, nor trace its historical and architectural development with such clarity. The discovery of this historic core, first visually by nineteenth-century western artists then intellectually by twentieth-century Islamic art specialists, now awaits the delight of the general visitor.This new, fully revised edition of a popular and handy guide continues to walk the visitor around two hundred of the city's most interesting Islamic monuments. It also keeps pace with recent restoration initiatives and newly opened monuments such as the Amir Taz Palace and the Sitt Wasila House.


Antifungal resistance is one of the major causes of the increasing mortality rates for fungal infections, especially for those caused by Aspergillus spp. A surveillance program was established in 2014 in the Spanish National Center for Microbiology for tracking resistance in the most prevalent Aspergillus species. A total of 273 samples were included in the study and were initially classified as susceptible or resistant according to EUCAST breakpoints. ABSTRACT Antifungal resistance is one of the major causes of the increasing mortality rates for fungal infections, especially for those caused by Aspergillus spp. A surveillance program was established in 2014 in the Spanish National Center for Microbiology for tracking resistance in the most prevalent Aspergillus species. A total of 273 samples were included in the study and were initially classified as susceptible or resistant according to EUCAST breakpoints. Several Aspergillus cryptic species were found within the molecularly identified isolates. Cyp51 mutations were characterized for Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus terreus, and Aspergillus flavus sensu stricto strains that were classified as resistant. Three A. fumigatus sensu stricto strains carried the TR34/L98H resistance mechanism, while two harbored G54R substitution and one harbored the TR46/Y121F/T289A mechanism. Seventeen strains had no mutations in cyp51A, with ten of them resistant only to isavuconazole. Three A. terreus sensu stricto strains harbored D344N substitution in cyp51A, one of them combined with M217I, and another carried an A249G novel mutation. Itraconazole-resistant A. flavus sensu stricto strains harbored P220L and H349R alterations in cyp51A and cyp51C, respectively, that need further investigation on their implication in azole resistance.


The driving vision for our work is to provide intelligent, automated assistance to users in understanding the status of their email conversations. Our approach is to create tools that enable the detection and connection of speech acts across email messages. We thus require a mechanism for tagging email utterances with some indication of their dialogic function. However, existing dialog act taxonomies as used in computational linguistics tend to be too taskor application-specific for the wide range of acts we find represented in email conversation. The Verbal Response Modes (VRM) taxonomy of speech acts, widely applied for discourse analysis in linguistics and psychology, is distinguished from other speech act taxonomies by its construction from crosscutting principles of classification, which ensure universal applicability across any domain of discourse. The taxonomy categorises on two dimensions, characterised as literal meaning and pragmatic meaning. In this paper, we describe a statistical classifier that automatically identifies the literal meaning category of utterances using the VRM classification. We achieve an accuracy of 60.8% using linguistic features derived from VRM's human annotation guidelines. Accuracy is improved to 79.8% using additional features.


Abstract Natural-production conditions determine operational efficiency of logging machines. This influence needs to be taken into account at different levels of forest management. It is necessary to allocate areas with similar natural-production conditions for effective forest management. It allows simplifying the decision making process for selecting logging technology and machines. The purpose of this study was to establish areas with similar natural and production conditions in the European North of Russia (ENR). In addition, for small enterprises, we recommend logging technologies and logging machines that can be used in established areas. We determined the indicators of the natural-production conditions of ENR regions and compared them. Cluster analysis was used to compare the indicators. We found that ENR can be divided into three main zones A, B, C and two subzones B1 and B2 with similar natural-production conditions. In the zones A, B and the subzones B1 and B2, small logging enterprises should use a harvester and a forwarder. In the zone C, the enterprises can use a logging system including a harvester and a forwarder or a logging system including a feller buncher, a skidder and a processor. The logging system should be based on the light class of logging machines for the zone A, the medium class or the heavy class for the zones B, C and the subzones B1, B2, the heavy class of machines for the zone C.


: Burn injuries to the perineum and genitals present the bedside care provider with a unique set of management problems. Traditionally, thermal injuries to these areas have been allowed to close by secondary intention, with epithelialization occurring from remnants protected within skin folds. Partial-thickness wounds of the perineum and genitals must be kept clean and free of bacterial infection to prevent necrosis and development of full-thickness injury. Although full-thickness thermal injuries to the penis and vulva are rare, they require special attention during the immediate postgrafting period to ensure complete engraftment. Control of scarring in this area requires tailor-made pressure garments, with customized inserts to provide controlled pressure to the skin folds.


Dr. Trial has been hired as an expert witness to defend a dermatologist in a medical malpractice case. He rendered his expert opinion stating that he would have performed a dermatologic surgical procedure in a certain manner, even though such an approach was not routinely performed by the dermatologic community. The defendant dermatologist lost the case. His attorney is convinced that the case was lost because Dr. Trial did not perform well on cross-examination. Should Dr. Trial be concerned that he will now be sued?


Although Hawthorne's use of folklore material has been previously studied, no attempt has been made prior to this study to relate that usage to Hawthorne's attempt to establish himself as an American writer. The central contention of this study is that Hawthorne used folklore to establish himself as a literary nationalist, one who used indigenous resources to write literature peculiarly appropriate to the American culture. Hawthorne used seven types of folklore in his short fiction: legends, m?rchen, oral tradition, folkloric characters, folklore motifs, folkloric themes, and witchcraft and the supernatural. An examination of the changes which occur in the way these materials are used from 1825 to 1850 indicates that Hawthorne wrote primarily as a literary nationalist until the publication of Twice-Told Tales.


This two-page note describes a simple idea that I had in 2005. I have found the Castro-Liskov algorithm and other "Byzantine Paxos" algorithms unsatisfactory because they use a leader and, for progress, they require detecting and removing a malicious leader. My idea was to eliminate the leader by using a synchronous Byzantine agreement algorithm to implement a virtual leader. The note is too short to discuss the practical details, but they seem to be straightforward.


The context in which Baghdadis build, live and move today is not stable, but meta-stable. To address this state of temporality, a study of movement was conducted. For Baghdadis, such movement can help in coming to terms with the ambiguity and temporality of Baghdad as a severed city. This speculative work embodies two contrasting worlds; a collective memory of the city as it was – the soft city, and the reality of the severed, walled city of today – the hard city. The pendulum swings. To bridge these two worlds, this inquiry explores Baghdad as a text, and posits the Baghdadian flâneur as its reader. A study of stairs, pathways and circulation networks is used to understand these transient moments within the volatile city. The inquiry then proceeds to investigate the connection between the existing walls of Baghdad and the proposed architecture. This is architecture of and for circulation.


ABSTRACT The field of terrorism research has arguably long been characterized by a separation of the scholars from their subject of inquiry. Interviews can be used to bridge this chasm, but making contact with potential interviewees, conducting interviews, and analyzing the data pose unique challenges when conducting research into jihadists, especially active ones. This article focuses on the author's experience of interviewing both former and active jihadi foreign fighters. It is specifically intended to contribute to a better methodological understanding of conducting first-hand empirical research into jihadi foreign fighters and builds on fieldwork conducted in Sweden, Iraq, and Lebanon.


Abstract Connectivity is a fundamental concept linking dispersal to the emergent dynamics and persistence of spatially structured populations. Functional measures of connectivity typically seek to integrate aspects of landscape structure and animal movement to describe ecologically meaningful connectedness at the landscape and population scale. Despite this focus on function, traditional measures of landscape connectivity assume it is a static property of the landscape, hence abstracting out the underlying spatiotemporal population dynamics. Connectivity is, arguably, a dynamic property of landscapes, and is inherently related to the spatial distribution of individuals and populations across the landscape. Static representations of connectivity potentially overlook this variation and therefore adopting a dynamic approach should offer improved insights about connectivity and associated ecological processes. Using a large‐scale, long‐term time series of occupancy data from a metapopulation of water voles Arvicola amphibius, we tested competing hypotheses about how considering the dynamic nature of connectivity improves the ability of spatially explicit occupancy models to recover population dynamics. Iteratively relaxing standing assumptions of connectivity metrics, these models ranged from spatially and temporally fixed connectivity metrics that are widely applied, to the more flexible, but lesser used model that allowed temporally varying connectivity measures that incorporate spatiotemporally dynamic patch occupancy states. Our results provide empirical evidence that demographic weighting using patch occupancy dynamics and temporal variability in connectivity measures are important for describing metapopulation dynamics. We highlight the implications of commonly held assumption in connectivity modelling and demonstrate how they result in different and highly variable predictions of metapopulation capacity. Thus, we argue that the concept of connectivity and its potential applications would benefit from recognizing inherent spatiotemporal variation in connectivity that is explicitly linked to underlying ecological state variables.


An extension of Berge's Maximum Theorem is given, with two different topologies on the choice set used for the two semicontinuity assumptions on preferences. It is used to establish the norm-to-weak* continuity of (truncated) excess-demand, announced without proof by Jones (1986). This significantly improves upon the continuity result of Florenzano (1983) and Van Zandt (1989) who use the finite topology on the price space. Though that result provides a sufficient basis for the direct, excess-demand method of proving equilibrium existence, its usefulness is limited by the extreme strength of the finite topology. With the norm topology used instead, demand continuity acquires an independent interest, particularly for practical implementations of the equilibrium solution. Other techniques needed to realize the full potential of the direct approach are also developed. These include a closedness result for the total production set and an additivity property of the asymptotic cone operation.


This paper introduces a fast, robust and accurate iris segmentation technique based on active lighting. The geometry of the light sources, a single camera and the eye facilitates the detection of the pupil and the automatic selection of the most appropriate image for biometric identification from the video stream, minimizing the effects of noise, distortion and occlusion during the image acquisition process. Two near infrared (NIR) light sources (that are invisible to the human eye) are synchronized with the video signal. One of the light sources is placed near the optical axis of the camera, and generates a bright pupil image. The second light is placed off-axis, generating dark pupil images. These two images can be easily combined to segment the pupil region, and the corneal reflection of the light sources can be used to select best quality images. The pupil position is then used to segment the iris and eyelids using a coarse-to-fine strategy. Experimental results with a real-time prototype show the quality of the iris segmentation.


Neat grinding of 5-sulfosalicylic acid (A) and hexamethylenetetramine (B) yields two stoichiometric hydrated salts A1B1·H2O and A1B2·H2O. The hydrated forms A1B1·H2O and A1B2·H2O undergo a reversible solid state interconversion process with anhydrous A1B1 and A1B2 by getting or losing the water molecule. The interconversion between the stoichiometric variations of salts was investigated, in which the dynamic conversion can be obtained by adding one mole of one of the corresponding crystallizing components (A·2H2O or B) upon grinding. Furthermore, the four diverse forms of salts follow transformations reversibly in the solid state. All structural properties have been determined from X-ray diffraction, dynamic vapour sorption, and hot-stage microscopy analysis. The rationalization of the structural changes associated with the transformation has been discussed by combining with Hirshfeld surface analysis.


The tribe Millettieae belongs to the family Leguminosae. As traditionally circumscribed it
comprises approximately 45 genera and over 900 species distributed pantropically and in
subtropical regions. Previous phylogenetic studies revealed that many genera in the tribe are
not monophyletic. The most problematic genus is the massive genera Millettia. Various
authors have attempted to clarify generic circumscription since the genus was established in
1834. This thesis attempts to clarify the phylogenetic relationships of doubtfully placed
genera of the tribe Millettieae, with the emphasis on the polyphyletic genus Millettia and its
closed allies.
Forty-five genera placed in the Millettioid s.l. were sampled for phylogeny reconstruction,
representing 22 genera putatively part of the Core Millettieae, 17 genera from the Basal
millettioid & phaseoloid group (BMP) of the Millettioid s.str. Group, and six genera from the
IRLC Clade. Phylogenetic relationships are reconstructed in this study using Maximum
Likelihood and Bayesian analysis. Three DNA markers were used in the study, which included
published and newly-generated sequence data. In total, there were 361 sequences of the
ribosomal nuclear DNA (nrDNA) ITS region; a combined chloroplast (matK+trnL-F) included
306 individuals, and the total evidence analysis (ITS+matK+trnL-F) included 436 individuals.
The Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian analyses which produced comparable phylogenies
are largely congruent.
The total evidence phylogeny supported the monophyly of genera in Millettioid s.str. Group,
namely Antheroporum, Apurimacia, Chadsia, Leptoderris, Mundulea, Philenoptera, Piscidia,
Platysepalum, Pongamiopsis, Pyranthus, Solori, Sylvichadsia and Tephrosia, while others
were not monophyletic and need to be re-evaluated, namely Dahlstedtia, Deguelia, Derris,
Fordia, Lonchocarpus, Millettia, Muellera, Ptycholobium and Requienia. Genera with
uncertain placement that now more robustly placed are: Antheroporum and Disynstemon in
the Basal Millettioid and phaseoloid group (BMP), and Deguelia, Fordia, Leptoderris,
Platysepalum and Sylvichadsia in the Core Millettieae. In case of genus Millettia, all
sequences were distributed between Group 1 and Group 2 of the Millettioid s.str. Group,
groups which correspond with the Canavanine Group and the Non-canavanine Group.
Within these groups eleven subgroups were recognized.
iii
The distribution of canavanine, a Non-Protein Amino Acid Accumulating (NPAAA), is
explored by means of a literature review, in the light of the new phylogenetic hypothesis.
The investigation found three species without canavanine in the Canavanine Group, and two
species with canavanine in the Non-canavanine Group. Consequently, these groups are
considered whether to retain old names or proposed possible alternative names.
In order to retain the monophyletic Derris, a need for a new combination and a new name
for Millettia pachycarpa Benth. was identified. Here Derris lithocarpa (Benth.) Mattapha &
Hawkins, com.nov. et nom.nov. is proposed. In relation to this, a new species of Derris from
Thailand is newly described as Derris constricta Mattapha & Hawkins, sp.nov.
Furthermore, three new species Millettia are also newly described, two species from
Thailand namely M. calcicola Mattapha & Hawkins, sp.nov. and M. khaoyaiensis Mattapha &
Hawkins, sp.nov. and another species from Vietnam, M. fulva Mattapha, Forest & Hawkins,
sp.nov. However, the generic placement for these new species might yet prove to be
provisional, since generic limits remain unsatisfactory.


The bond strength of various metal multilayers produced by cold rolling of metal foils with different thermal conductivity was investigated. Results indicated that under the same conditions of deformation and surface preparation, the metallic multilayer system with low thermal conductivity exhibited relative high bond strength while high thermal conductivity metal system may fail to be roll-bonded together. The relationship between the deformation-induced localized heating and the bond strength were discussed. The deformation-induced localized heating in the low thermal conductivity metal multilayer systems may provide opportunities for achieving a successful accumulative roll bonding or a "cold roll/heat treatment/cold roll" process to synthesize metallic multilayer materials.


Abstract. The utilization of groundwater for irrigation purposes becomes problematic if groundwater recharge decreases through climate variability. Nevertheless, the degree of groundwater utilization for irrigation increases significantly in dry periods, when the amount of green water is strongly limited. With an increasing gap between water demand and supply, new water management activities are started, which are mostly directed to increase the supply, often by overuse of local resources. In many cases such local activities results in their summarization in side-effects, which worsen the hydrological conditions throughout a region. Step by step the spatial scale of water management measures has to be extended in such cases by implementation of water transfer systems. In this contribution this general scale problem of water management is discussed at the example of an agricultural region in the Province of Shandong (P.R. of China). The local irrigation systems and the options to increase the water supply at the local scale (e.g. by waste water reuse) are discussed as well as regional measures e.g. reservoirs or barrages in rivers to increase the groundwater recharge. For this purpose, several socio-economic and hydrological models were combined. It is shown how a change of water policy towards a demand management requires a new approach to spatial aspects. Here the question arises, how hydrological most effective measures can be allocated within a region. In the case study, a reduction of agricultural irrigation and a change of the crop structure would be essential to improve the groundwater conditions, which are impaired by ongoing sea-water intrusions. A model hierarchy, which is needed to answer such problems not only from the hydrological point of view, but also considering their socio-economic feasibility, are presented.


ABSTRACT Consumer socialization is usually associated with young consumers, but transitions that require learning new types of consumption patterns can occur at any point in life. Although the literature on transitional consumers is quite fragmented, an important body of consumer research explores transitional consumers from the perspective of role theory. Nonetheless, role theory has not problematized learning and due to its static nature role theory tends to overlook how consumer learning becomes embodied over time as well as how this learning is affected by experiences from related practices. With a practice theory approach to learning and based on an ethnographic study of mothering through dinner consumption, this paper highlights learning as an embodied experience influenced by the practitioners' positioning in time and space as well as by multiple sources among which the market has become increasingly important.


The binding energies, ground state geometries, and electronic properties of the rare earths metal neutral Lun (n=2–14) clusters, cations, and anions have been systematically investigated by using DFT. The ground state structures of the clusters with 4 and 11 atoms are found to be magic. We get some different property comparing with Lan cluster [J. Chem. Phys. 120, 5104 (2004)], which belongs to lanthanide. Lu13 cluster is an icosahedral structure with magnetic moment of 1 μB, the occupied states of Lu13 are highly degenerated. It has large p-d hybridization, which makes PDOS peaks value below Fermi level moving to the Fermi level.


Robustness against disorder and defects is a pivotal advantage of topological systems, manifested by absence of electronic backscattering in the quantum Hall and spin-Hall effects, and unidirectional waveguiding in their classical analogs. Two-dimensional (2D) topological insulators, in particular, provide unprecedented opportunities in a variety of fields due to their compact planar geometries compatible with the fabrication technologies used in modern electronics and photonics. Among all 2D topological phases, Chern insulators are to date the most reliable designs due to the genuine backscattering immunity of their non-reciprocal edge modes, brought via time-reversal symmetry breaking. Yet, such resistance to fabrication tolerances is limited to fluctuations of the same order of magnitude as their band gap, limiting their resilience to small perturbations only. Here, we tackle this vexing problem by introducing the concept of anomalous non-reciprocal topological networks, that survive disorder levels with strengths arbitrarily larger than their bandgap. We explore the general conditions to obtain such unusual effect in systems made of unitary three-port scattering matrices connected by phase links, and establish the superior robustness of the anomalous edge modes over the Chern ones to phase link disorder of arbitrarily large values. We confirm experimentally the exceptional resilience of the anomalous phase, and demonstrate its operation by building an ideal anomalous topological circulator despite its arbitrary shape and large number of ports. Our results pave the way to efficient, arbitrary planar energy transport on 2D substrates for wave devices with full protection against large fabrication flaws or imperfections.


Background: Intermediate care units (IMCUs) serve as a bridge between general wards and intensive care units by providing close monitoring and rapid response to medical emergencies. We aim to identify the common acute medical conditions in patients admitted to IMCU and compare the predicted mortality of these conditions by acute physiology and chronic health evaluation-II (APACHE-II) score with actual mortality. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital from 2017 to 2019. All adult internal medicine patients admitted to IMCUs were included. Acute conditions were defined as those of short duration (<3 weeks) that require hospitalization. The APACHE-II score was used to determine the severity of these patients' illnesses. Results: Mean (standard deviation [SD]) age was 62 (16.5) years, and 493 (49.2%) patients were male. The top three acute medical conditions were acute and chronic kidney disease in 399 (39.8%), pneumonia in 303 (30.2%), and urinary tract infections (UTIs) in 211 (21.1%). The mean (SD) APACHE-II score of these patients was 12.5 (5.4). The highest mean APACHE-II (SD) score was for acute kidney injury (14.7 ± 4.8), followed by sepsis/septic shock (13.6 ± 5.1) and UTI (13.4 ± 5.1). Sepsis/septic shock was associated with the greatest mortality (odds ratio [OR]: 6.9 [95% CI (confidence interval): 4.5–10.6]), followed by stroke (OR: 3.9 [95% CI: 1.9–8.3]) and pneumonia (OR: 3.0 [95% CI: 2.0–4.5]). Conclusions: Sepsis/septic shock, stroke, and pneumonia are the leading causes of death in our IMCUs. The APACHE-II score predicted mortality for most acute medical conditions but underestimated the risk for sepsis and stroke.


Whilst the benefits and potentials of the dual roles assumed by external auditors are emphasized, as well as the need to ensure that safeguards operating to guard against a compromise of objectivity and independence are in place, this paper also highlights the fact that even though such dual roles are appropriate in certain cases – as illustrated by justifications for limitations imposed by the Sarbanes Oxley Act and other relevant and applicable legislation – instances also persist where section 201 of Sarbanes-Oxley, with regard to internal audit outsourcing, may have been over-reactionary and may continue to hinder both companies and their auditors.


The surface crystal chemistry of enamel treated with peroxide-based (the commercial product Opalescence Xtra Boost as well as aqueous solutions of H2O2) and citric-acid-containing bleaching agents (the commercial product Rapid White as well as aqueous solutions of C6H8O7) were studied by Attenuated Total Reflectance Infrared Spectroscopy and electron-probe microanalysis. The results show that the treatment with H2O2-based reagents leads to no side effects on the enamel superficial layer, whereas C6H8O7-based agents deteriorate the enamel mineral component. Hence, bleaching with citric-acid-containing products cannot be recommended.


A novel quantification method is proposed for labeled LC-MS data. Unlike the traditional extracted ion chromatogram based quantification methods, the new method considers the reliability or the quality of signals with different intensities and applies more weights to the more reliable signals in the relative quantification procedure. Testing shows that the new method has improved accuracy than current quantification software.


The arrangement of atoms and bonds in a molecule influences its physical and chemical properties. The scanning tunneling microscope can provide electronic and vibrational signatures of single molecules. However, these signatures do not relate simply to the molecular structure and bonding. We constructed an inelastic tunneling probe based on the scanning tunneling microscope to sense the local potential energy landscape of an adsorbed molecule with a carbon monoxide (CO)–terminated tip. The skeletal structure and bonding of the molecule are revealed from imaging the spatial variations of a CO vibration as the CO-terminated tip probes the core of the interactions between adjacent atoms. An application of the inelastic tunneling probe reveals the sharing of hydrogen atoms among multiple centers in intramolecular and extramolecular bonding. Vibrational excitation of a carbon monoxide molecule on a scanning tunneling microscope tip reveals bonding within adsorbed molecules Probing bonding profiles with a CO tip Greater resolution has been achieved in atomic force microscopy by terminating the tip with a sharper probe: an adsorbed CO molecule. Chiang et al. now show that the adsorbed CO tip can reveal the bonding within cobalt phthalocyanine molecules absorbed on silver or gold surfaces. Inelastic tunneling spectroscopy reveals variations in the vibration excitation of the CO molecule that can map out the internal bonding of the molecules, as well as hydrogen bonding between molecules. Science, this issue p. 885


Intensification of aquaculture production in Uganda is likely to result into disease out-breaks leading to economic losses to commercial fish farms and associated natural aquatic ecosystems. This survey assessed health profiles of selected commercial fish farms and adjacent natural aquatic ecosystemsto identify fish diseases and parasites affecting Nile tilapia ( Oreochroms niloticus ) and African catfish ( Clarias gariepinus ) in aquaculture systems in Uganda. Fish farms encounter disease out-breaks that cause low survival rates (0 - 30%), especially catfish hatcheries. Health management issues are not well understood by fish farmers, with some unable to detect diseased fish. Current control strategies to control aquatic pathogens include use of chemotherapeutants and antibiotics. Bacterial pathogens isolated included Flavobacterium columnare, Aeromonas sp., Edwardsiella sp., Psuedomonus sp., Steptococcus sp., Staphylococcus sp., Proteus sp., and Vibrio sp. A high occurrence of Flavobacterium columnare exists in both asymptomatic and symptomatic fish was observed. Parasites included protozoans ( Ichthyopthirius multiphilis ,  Trichodina sp. and Icthyobodo sp.) and trematodes ( Cleidodiscus sp. and Gyrodactylus sp.). Diagnosis and control of diseases and parasites in aquaculture production systems requires adoption of a regional comprehensive biosecurity strategy: the East African (EAC) region unto which this study directly contributes. Key words: African catfish, fish disease, Nile tilapia, parasite


The autoimmune myasthenias are prototypes of an emerging group of autoantibody-mediated neurological diseases, mostly with very well defined target molecules, whether receptors or ion channels (or both). At the neuromuscular junction, these include presynaptic calcium channels in the Lambert–Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS) and postsynaptic acetyl-choline receptors (AChR) in myasthenia gravis (MG). These disorders are particularly informative because of the distinct aetiological factors in the several patient subgroups, including characteristic associations with small cell lung cancers in the LEMS or with thymomas in MG; also – but mainly in other subgroups – with certain immuno-genetic variants, both in the HLA region and at other immuno-regulatory loci. Here, I briefly summarise current knowledge in these areas and discuss its implications.

Keywords:

myasthenia gravis;
Lambert–Eaton myasthenic syndrome;
HLA and disease;
immunogenetics;
humoral autoimmunity;
autoantibody;
thymoma;
thymic hyperplasia;
germinal centre


CdZnTe crystals were grown by the vertical Bridgman method in closed quartz ampoules. The crystalline quality and the impurity content of these crystals were studied. Several X-ray detectors were cut out of these crystals. The resistivity, emission spectra, μτ product, and spectroscopic characteristics of these detectors were extensively measured and compared with the characteristics of detectors obtained from CdZnTe crystals grown by the boron oxide encapsulated vertical Bridgman technique. The detectors prepared from crystals grown without boron oxide show good μτ value, spectroscopic resolution, and higher reproducibility. The influence of growth method on impurity content and on detector response was discussed.


It is known that electromagnetic energy emission mediate the non-chemical distant cell to cell communication. However, its role in the intra and inter species interaction in microbes is not clear. This investigation has been initiated to study the possible role of electric and magnetic energy in the interaction between separated microbial cultures. Cultures of Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus thuringiensis were exposed to each other with glass barriers and their growth was measured. With improved DEI Meridian Energy Analysis Device (DEI MEAD) and Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) we aim to understand the effect of energy emission on the growth of microbial population. We were able to record electrical and magnetic energy from each of the cultures with DEI MEAD which suggest that it may be a possible mode to exchange information. Further, it was observed that while the culture grew, the intensity of the electrical energy emission intensified. Also, there was significant growth in the population when two similar species of bacteria kept together in comparison to control. Whereas, American Journal of Research Communication www.usa-journals.com Richa, et al., 2016: Vol 4(12) 2 the growth reduced when two different species were exposed to each other. With SQUID, very weak magnetic energy from the culture could be recorded. However, it was observed that both species were diamagnetic in nature. We could infer here that the intra and inter-species energy exchange between the two cultures have a significant role in regulation of biological functions and hence, their growth. This could be further investigated with different species of microbes as it may be an aid to study primary and secondary infections in biomedical science.


Covalent adducts between serum albumin and low molecular weight organic electrophiles are formed with a high degree of regioselectivity mostly for nucleophilic amino acid residues located in subdomains IIA and IIIA. Previous studies have indicated that diol epoxide metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) may target residues in a different subdomain. The regioselectivity of PAH epoxide and diol epoxide binding was examined in this study by reaction of human serum albumin in vitro with the racemic trans,anti-isomers of 7,8-dihydrobenzo[a]pyrene-7,8-diol 9,10-epoxide (1), 2,3-dihydrofluoranthene-2,3-diol 1,10b-epoxide (2), 1,2-dihydrochrysene-1,2-diol 3,4-epoxide (5), 6-methyl-1,2-dihydrochrysene-1,2-diol 3,4-epoxide (6), 5-methyl-1,2-dihydrochrysene-1,2-diol 3,4-epoxide (7), 3,4-dihydrobenzo[c]phenanthrene-3,4-diol 1,2-epoxide (8), 11,12-dihydrobenzo[g]chrysene-11,12-diol 13,14-epoxide (9), and 11,12-dihydrodibenzo[a,l]pyrene-11,12-diol 13,14-epoxide (10) and the racemic epoxides cyclopenta[cd]pyrene 3,4-epoxide (3) and benzo[a]pyrene 4,5-epoxide (4) followed by determination of the linkage site. Adducted albumin was digested enzymatically, and digests were chromatographed by reversed-phase HPLC to purify peptide adducts, which were analyzed by electrospray ionization collision-induced dissociation (CID) tandem mass spectrometry. Product ion spectra revealed that adducts fragmented predominantly by cleavage of the peptide-PAH bond with retention of charge by the peptide as well as by the hydrocarbon. Peptide sequences were determined by MS/MS analysis of the peptide ions formed by in-source CID to cleave the adduct bond. Longer peptide sequences established site selectivity by virtue of their uniqueness, while shorter sequences revealed the reactant amino acid within the site. Epoxide 4 and diol epoxides 1, 2, 5, and 6 reacted predominantly with His146; epoxide 3 and diol epoxides 7-9 reacted predominantly with Lys137. Both residues are situated in subdomain IB. The binding site for 10 could not be determined uniquely, but one of the several possibilities was Lys159, which is also located in subdomain IB. The results, taken together with previous findings, demonstrate that the reaction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon epoxides with human serum albumin is highly selective for a small number of residues in subdomain IB.


Parent-adolescent conflicts are examined as a function of parental rule construction, use of reason at points of disagreement, and regulation of personal, moral, conventional, and prudential social domains. Multiple regression analyses of interviews with mothers, fathers, and adolescents revealed that, across all perspectives, variations in parental use of reason explain unique variance in conflict frequency above and beyond rule construction or regulation of domains. Furthermore, based on mothers' reports about their parenting and adolescents' reports of their mothers, the domains mothers regulate do not explain unique variance in conflict frequency but fathers' reports about their parenting and adolescents' reports of their fathers do. Differences in parents' and adolescents' perspectives are examined and it is concluded that content and form of parenting are both important in explaining conflict in differential ways between mother-adolescent and father-adolescent dyads.


To lighten total product weights, the local increases in sheet thickness of products effectively contribute to decreasing product weights, when appropriate sheet thickness distribution in product by a designer could be performed by using an accurate prediction method by simulation. The designer only could distribute thick part where needed a large moment inertia of area from the view points of the strength of the section. In the sense of the such optical designing for the variable thickness distribution in the products, we do not need to consider that sheet thickness should be constant in a product. This paper is concerned with a forming prediction during deep drawing process. To clarify the mechanism of increase of sheet thickness, a 3-D forming simulation during deep drawing by finite element method was performed. Effects of tool shapes (contacting angles to the original materials, contacting length of punch with a material) which mainly affects the results on thickness change of original materials were investigated. The thickness distribution of drawn cups was measured in order to compare simulation results obtained by the finite element method. It has been found that controlling sheet thickness distribution was possible if an original material was relatively thick, when in choosing an appropriate manufacturing condition could be selected.


The change of the global dynamic performance of a turret-moored FPSO (Floating Production Storage Offloading) with DP (Dynamic Positioning) control is analyzed for two different internal turret locations: bow and mid-ship. Both collinear and non-collinear 100-yr GOM (Gulf of Mexico) storm environments and two cases (mooring-only, with DP control) are simulated. The horizontal trajectory, 6DOF (degree of freedom) motions, fairlead mooring top tension is compared. The PD (Proportional-Derivative) controller based on LQR (linear quadratic regulator) theory is implemented in the fully-coupled time-domain hull-mooring-riser-DP simulation program. Both in collinear and non-collinear 100-yr WWC (wind-wave-current) environments, the benefit of mid-ship turret is demonstrated by the significant reduction in heave at the turret location due to the minimal coupling with pitch mode, which is advantageous to mooring and riser design. However, in the non-collinear WWC environment, the mid-turret case exhibits unfavorable position keeping characteristics, which can be reduced by employing DP controls as demonstrated in the present case studies. The present study also presents the plausible cause of the failure of mid-turret Gryphon Alpha FPSO in milder environment than its survival condition.


This paper aims at studying the benefits of forms of innovations on the environment. Using two waves of Community Innovation Survey - CIS datasets, we are able to investigate the impact of four forms of innovations (Product, Process, Organizational and Marketing) during the 2004-2006 period on two types of environmental benefits (for the firm and for the end user) during the period 2006-2008. Our findings indicate that product innovation as no significant impact on environmental footprint whereas three other forms: process, organizational and marketing innovations have a positive and significant impact. Companies that implement specific procedures dedicated to measure and control their environmental impact are more prone to reduce their negative outcomes on the environment.


Abstract: The inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) are a group of heterogeneous disorders characterized by acute and chronic inflammatory changes in the small or large bowel, or in both. Increasing incidence and prevalence figures for IBD both in the developed and developing world indicate that environmental factors are at least as significant in IBD as genetic susceptibility. Of these, diet and the host microbiota are likely to play important but as yet poorly defined roles. The major constituents of a standard "Western" diet may contribute to, or protect against, intestinal inflammation via several mechanisms. These include the effects of insulin resistance and short‐chain fatty acids such as butyrate, modification of intestinal permeability, the antiinflammatory role of polyunsaturated fatty acids, and the effect of sulfur compounds from protein on host microbiota. This detailed review critically assesses the evidence for the role of diet in the development of IBD and examines the evidence for obesity as a contributing factor to IBD pathogenesis. Particular attention is focused on methodological issues including suitability of cases and controls, confounders such as smoking, and total energy expenditure. Inflamm Bowel Dis 2010


Objective
To investigate the characteristics of ocular surface inflammation index after pterygium excision by using Oculus Keratograph® 5M and Visual analogue scale and evaluated the effectiveness of anti-inflammatory treatment.

Methods
A prospective case control study was performed.Eighteen patients (6 males and 12 females) who suffered from primary pterygium were recruited in Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center from June to September 2016.All patients were treated with monocular pterygium excision combined with amniotic membrane transplantation.Anti-inflammatory treatment was given after surgery, and the ocular inflammation index was evaluated at preoperative and 1st, 3rd, 7th, 10th, 30th and 60th day postoperative.The temporal conjunctival hyperemia index (TCHI) was assessed by Oculus Keratograph® 5M with a red eye index analysis software.Ocular symptom scores (OSS) and visual analogue scale (VAS) were used to analyze the subjective symptoms of the patients.Fluorescein staining was used to detect the epithelization of corneal and scleral wound.The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), intraocular pressure and complications were evaluated in this study.This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center of Sun Yat-sen University (2016KYPJ024). All patients signed informed consent for clinical research.

Results
No drug-related ocular and systemic adverse events were found during the follow-up.Corneal epithelial defect was recovered on 10th day, and conjunctival epithelization was observed in sclera exposed area on 30th day.The BCVA on the 60th day was 0.12±0.17, which was significantly lower than 0.34±0.36 preoperatively (t=3.401, P=0.003). Compared with those before surgery, OSS and VAS were significantly increased on 1st day (OSS: Z=-4.255, P=0.000; VAS: Z=-5.256, P=0.000). The OSS on 7th day was not significantly different from that before surgery (Z=-0.958, P=0.372). VAS decreased to baseline on 30th day.The OSS on 60th day after surgery was significantly lower than that before surgery (Z=-2.397, P=0.037). TCHI was higher than 1.2 preoperatively, and increased to the highest on 1st day after surgery, with significant difference between them (t=-6.620, P=0.000). The TCHI decreased to baseline on 7th day, no significant difference were obtained when compared with preoperative TCHI (t=-1.050, P=0.310), and TCHI on 60th day after surgery was lower than that before surgery, with significant difference between them (t=2.758, P=0.020).

Conclusions
The subjective symptoms combined with conjunctival hyperemia can be more accurate assessment of ocular surface inflammation in the perioperative period of pterygium surgery, which can be used as an evaluation index to assess the effectiveness of anti-inflammatory treatment.

Key words:
Pterygium; Ocular inflammation; Hyperaemia index; Symptom score; Visual analogue scale


Data compression is crucial in large-scale storage servers to save both storage and network bandwidth, but it suffers from high computational cost. In this work, we present a high throughput FPGA based compressor as a PCIe accelerator to achieve CPU resource saving and high power efficiency. The proposed compressor is differentiated from previous hardware compressors by the following features: 1) targeting Xpress9 algorithm, whose compression quality is comparable to the best Gzip implementation (level 9); 2) a scalable multi-engine architecture with various IP blocks to handle algorithmic complexity as well as to achieve high throughput; 3) supporting a heavily multi-threaded server environment with an asynchronous data transfer interface between the host and the accelerator. The implemented Xpress9 compressor on Altera Stratix V GS performs 1.6-2.4Gbps throughput with 7 engines on various compression benchmarks, supporting up to 128 thread contexts.


The iodothyronine deiodinases are a family of selenoproteins that metabolize thyroxine and other thyroid hormones to active and inactive metabolites in a number of tissues including brain. Using primary cultures of rat astroglial cells as a model system, we demonstrate that the mRNA for the type II iodothyronine deiodinase (DII) selenoenzyme is rapidly and markedly induced by forskolin and 8-bromo-cAMP. The induction of DII activity, however, was significantly impaired by culturing cells in selenium-deficient medium for 7 days. Under such conditions, the addition of selenium resulted in a rapid increase in cAMP-induced DII activity that was dose-dependent, with maximal effects noted within 2 h. Cycloheximide blocked this effect of selenium on restoring cAMP-induced DII activity, whereas actinomycin D did not. These data demonstrate that the DII selenoenzyme is expressed in cultured astrocytes and that the induction of DII activity by cAMP analogues appears to be mediated, at least in part, by pretranslational mechanisms. Furthermore, selenium deprivation impairs the expression of DII activity at the level of translation.


The genus Stillingia (Euphorbiaceae) is represented by 30 species distributed in the America and islands of the Pacific. In Brazil, seven species are distributed between Caatinga and Atlantic Forest, four of which are predominantly Caatinga. Only four species of Stillingia were studied chemically. Diterpenes with rare flexibilane skeletons have been reported from the roots of S. sanguinolenta. These compounds demonstrated interesting pharmacological activities. The use of hyphenated techniques, such as LC-MS2, coupled with bioinformatics techniques such as Molecular Networking, are able to rapidly identify substances from complex biological extracts. Thus, the objective of the study was the identification of flexibilene diterpenes, using LC-MS2 and Molecular Networking, of root bark of S. loranthaceae. The botanical identification was carried out in the Herbarium Alexandre Leal Costa at the Biology Institute of UFBA. The hexane extract (HE) from the root bark was analyzed by LC-MS2, and the data were used to generate a molecular network in GNPS site. It was possible to observe a cluster represent this diterpene skeleton in the molecular network. This data associated to MS/MS fragmentation approach suggested the presence of several new flexibilene diterpenes and known compounds (tonantzitlolone A-C) already identified from other Stillingia species.


Photonic active diamond nanoparticles attract increasing attention from a wide community for applications in drug delivery and monitoring experiments as they do not bleach or blink over extended periods of time. To be utilized, the size of these diamond nanoparticles needs to be around 4 nm. Cluster formation is therefore the major problem. In this paper we introduce a new technique to modify the surface of particles with hydrogen,whichpreventsclusterformationinbuffersolutionandwhichisaperfectstartingconditionforchemical surface modifications. By annealing aggregated nanodiamond powder in hydrogen gas, the large (>100 nm) aggregates are broken down into their core (4 nm) particles. Dispersion of these particles into waterviahigh powerultrasoundandhighspeedcentrifugation,resultsinamonodispersenanodiamondcolloid,withexceptional long time stability in a wide range of pH, and with high positive zeta potential (>60 mV). The large change in zetapotentialresultingfromthisgastreatmentdemonstratesthatnanodiamondparticlesurfacesareabletoreact with molecular hydrogen at relatively low temperatures, a phenomenon not witnessed with larger (20 nm) diamond particles or bulk diamond surfaces.


Having dedicated more than 20 years to this single major lexicographic project, the authors, Professor Wilfrid H.G. Haacke and Pastor Eliphas Eiseb, have pro-duced a dictionary of amazing quantity and quality. The newly published Khoekhoegowab Dictionary comprises some 25 000 Khoekhoegowab entries and the English renderings in the English-Khoekhoegowab index amount to over 26 000 entries. While these figures are quite impressive in themselves, the reader will also find a thorough analysis of the Khoekhoegowab entries as well as refined English translations. The dictionary attempts to address the interests of linguists as well as the needs of the speech community. Unavoidably, the divergent interests of these two groups force the authors to accept a number of compromises that result in some inconvenience for both the target audiences. Despite these limitations, linguistic research on African languages will find the dictionary a source of eminent importance for both historical linguistics as well as typological studies. And mother-tongue speakers will greatly benefit from this publication, which, thanks to financial support from the German technical assistance agency GTZ, is available at a price that is affordable for the Namibian public.


Nowadays, social media marketing is an ever-expanding method to attract customers. This study tries to explore the impact of social media activities on the return on investment of a company, especially in the business-to-business market. A model provided by Favier (2012) will be used in order to investigate the impact of URLs tweeted on trust, one component of Favier's model, measured in terms of a retweet-to-tweet-ratio in order to gain an understanding of its effectiveness. This paper collects and codes the tweets of Intel and Oracle in order to draw a comparison of their use of social media.
Several linear regression analyses indicate that the general use of links has no positive impact on trust. Only 0.3% of the variance in trust is accounted by the use of links, thus, no correlation could be determined. However, different types of links and its impact on the retweet-ratio were analyzed. The use of video, website and news links show a positive relationship with the retweet-ratio in comparison to no use of links. Furthermore, a positive relationship of communicative links in contrast to informative links can be determined. Nevertheless, not all of the results were found to be significant.