This paper analyzes the importance of applying the Plan Vallejo's export service incentive to UNE EPM Telecomunicaciones S.A. for equipment import. The document describes the main features and demands, as well as its benefits of such a figure in order to leave a written-public document to be reached by all technical areas of the company which are responsible to request equipments and components to lend excellent telecommunication services.


In recent years, feature extraction using an optical correlator shows promising edge enhancement potential. Hereby, we investigate the performance of the Laplace and Sobel operators in feature extraction for multiple targets. The undesired terms such as the zero-order and false alarm terms are removed by the power spectrum subtraction technique. Also, the separated target and reference planes method is incorporated into the joint wavelet transform correlator to maximize the space-bandwidth product of a magneto-optic spatial light modulator. A cost effective and efficient optoelectronic hardware is proposed for realtime optical correlation. The aforementioned result is verified by computer simulation for both cases; in noise free and in overlapping additive noise corruption situations using both the Laplace and Sobel operators. The Laplace operator could be implemented with lesser steps and is most appropriate for real-time correlation. The Sobel operator yields better edge information and has higher tolerance to noise corruption but required additional correlation steps at the expense of more computation time.


Author(s): Lee, Melody | Advisor(s): Craik, Charles S | Abstract: Proteases play important roles in human biology and disease, and the development of selective tools is essential for studying their function and structure. Members of the same protease family have structurally similar active sites and closely-related substrate specificities. This makes targeting individual proteases particularly challenging. We are interested in using recombinant antibody technology to generate protease-specific tools that are inhibitory, selective, and compatible for translational applications. The focus of our work has been on the design and development of antibodies to study serine proteases involved in cancer pericellular proteolysis. The type II transmembrane serine protease (TTSP) family includes members, matriptase, hepsin, TMPRSS2, TMPRSS4, and DESC1, which are involved in this process. Using a naive phage display antibody library, we identified a new inhibitory antibody A11 against matriptase. A11 uses a novel reverse binding motif found in a long antibody loop to inhibit matriptase in a mechanism different from another antibody E2 that uses a substrate-like binding motif. We designed synthetic antibody libraries around these two motifs to create biased libraries for identifying antibody-based inhibitors of serine protease targets more efficiently than other general approaches. The libraries were validated against matriptase and tested against a second protease target TMPRSS2, chosen for its increasing importance in aggressive and metastatic prostate cancer. Multiple expression systems were tested to produce reagent quantities of active TMPRSS2 for antibody selection as well as future structural efforts. Using recombinant protein expressed from Pichia pastoris with our libraries, we identified and characterized a number of inhibitory TMPRSS2 antibodies and observed a higher ratio of inhibitors selected from the biased libraries. These antibodies were used in flow cytometry and immunofluorescence microscopy applications to follow TMPRSS2 expression and localization in prostate cancer cells. Since TMPRSS2 is an androgen receptor regulated gene, we explored using our antibodies for monitoring androgen receptor signaling, critical for prostate cancer cell survival and treatment resistance mechanisms, for in vivo molecular imaging. The work presented here advances our knowledge of protease-targeting mechanisms of antibodies, demonstrates the importance of selective tools for studying proteases, and contributes to ongoing work in understanding the role of TTSPs in cancer.


Electrograms stored in Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICD-EGM) have been proven to convey useful information for roughly determining the anatomical location of the Left Ventricular Tachycardia exit site (LVTES). Our aim here was to evaluate the possibilities from a machine learning system intended to provide an estimation of the LVTES anatomical region with the use of ICD-EGM in the situation where 12-lead electrocardiogram of ventricular tachycardia are not available. Several machine learning techniques were specifically designed and benchmarked, both from classification (such as Neural Networks (NN), and Support Vector Machines (SVM)) and regression (Kernel Ridge Regression) problem statements. Classifiers were evaluated by using accuracy rates for LVTES identification in a controlled number of anatomical regions, and the regression approach quality was studied in terms of the spatial resolution. We analyzed the ICD-EGM of 23 patients (18±10 EGM per patient) during left ventricular pacing and simultaneous recording of the spatial coordinates of the pacing electrode with a navigation system. Several feature sets extracted from ICD-EGM (consisting of times and voltages) were shown to convey more discriminative information than the raw waveform. Among classifiers, the SVM performed slightly better than NN. In accordance with previous clinical works, the average spatial resolution for the LVTES was about 3 cm, as in our system, which allows it to support the faster determination of the LVTES in ablation procedures. The proposed approach also provides with a framework suitable for driving the design of improved performance future systems.


Author(s): Ko, Gwikyoung | Advisor(s): Burrett, Alan | Abstract: Theatre is an intimate, live performance in which the audience is able to hear even the sound of actors breathing on stage. The purpose of my lighting design is not to deliver information about the world of the play through visually impactful lighting but to bring out the actors and capture the moments of the space as a whole with other elements including set, costumes and sound.In space, lighting becomes the storyteller and guide for the audience¬. Theatre starts in an empty space. In such fixed space, the creative team searches and implements its limitless potential. They turn the empty space into the past, paint the make-believe world, and imagine the future. In this creative process, lighting edits the space and time to depict the world that the creative team wants to generate. Additionally, lighting becomes the guide, which helps the audience to follow the story through time and space. Depending on the quality of the design, lighting can make the audience linger in this empty space called theatre. Painting in lighting does not merely mean painting the stage with vibrant colors. It also means painting various expressions of the stage and actors by setting the direction of lighting. For example, in Three Women in Four Chairs, the sunset – which symbolizes both the beginning and the end of the play – was painted with not only vivid and natural colors of the sunset but also with deep shadows to maximize the feeling of void that the characters felt at the end of their day. Furthermore, lighting creates myriad colors. By changing the intensity of the lights, colors can change. However, I believe that any use of direction and color in lighting must be justified well. One mush use colors that are closely related to the world of the play and visually communicate the image of the play. In addition, darkness is also a part of lighting. While visibility is one of the fundamentals of lighting, darkness, silhouette, and shadows are all part of the image that is painted from lighting. Among many other ways, shadows and silhouettes can exaggerate the shadow of stage and emphasize the movement of the actors, creating various images on stage. Lighting is one of the last elements, which is added in creating the live content of theatre. It is also lighting that completes the whole picture and breaths the life into the fruit of countless communication of many creative collaborators.


Aims. We announce the discovery of a microlensing planetary system, in which a sub-Saturn planet is orbiting an ultracool dwarf host.
Methods. We detected the planetary system by analyzing the short-timescale (tE ~ 4.4 days) lensing event KMT-2018-BLG-0748. The central part of the light curve exhibits asymmetry due to negative deviations in the rising side and positive deviations in the falling side.
Results. We find that the deviations are explained by a binary-lens model with a mass ratio between the lens components of q ~ 2 × 10−3. The short event timescale, together with the small angular Einstein radius, θE ~ 0.11 mas, indicate that the mass of the planet host is very small. The Bayesian analysis conducted under the assumption that the planet frequency is independent of the host mass indicates that the mass of the planet is Mp = 0.18−0.10+0.29 MJ, and the mass of the host, Mh = 0.087−0.047+0.138 M⊙, is near the star–brown dwarf boundary, but the estimated host mass is sensitive to this assumption about the planet hosting probability. High-resolution follow-up observations would lead to revealing the nature of the planet host.


In euthyroid rats fed a high carbohydrate fat-free diet for 10 days, the mass of cellular malic enzyme mRNA in liver is increased 7- to 8-fold above the basal level. Malic enzyme activity is stimulated to the same extent. This effect does not result from an increase either in the transcriptional activity of the malic enzyme gene, as determined by nuclear run-off transcription assay, or in the content of intranuclear malic enzyme RNA sequences. Mathematical modeling shows that this increase in cytoplasmic mRNA is compatible with retarded degradation of cytoplasmic mRNA. Regulation of malic enzyme by carbohydrates is liver-specific, since no response is observed in the following nonhepatic tissues: brain, heart, spleen, kidney, testis, and lung. Furthermore, the amplitude of the response in liver depends on the thyroid state of the animals, being lower (by a factor of approximately 4) in hypothyroidism and higher (12- to 15-fold) when normal animals are injected simultaneously with a daily dose of 15 micrograms of triiodothyronine per 100 g of body weight for 10 days. Since thyroid hormones regulate liver malic enzyme synthesis predominantly at the nuclear level and carbohydrates at the cytoplasmic level, the additive effect of triiodothyronine and a high carbohydrate diet on the activity of malic enzyme is readily explicable.


Mechanical hybrid powertrains have the potential to improve the fuel economy of passenger vehicles at a relatively low cost, by adding a flywheel and only mechanical transmission components to a conventional powertrain. This paper presents a systematic approach to optimizing the topology and flywheel size, which are the key design parameters of a mechanical hybrid powertrain. The topology is optimized from a limited set of over 20 existing mechanical hybrid powertrains described in the literature. After a systematic classification of the topologies, a set of four competitive powertrains is selected for further investigation. The fuel-saving potential of each hybrid powertrain is computed using an optimal energy controller and modular component models, for various flywheel sizes and for three certified driving cycles. The hybridization cost is estimated based on the type and size of the components. Other criteria, such as control complexity, clutch wear, and driving comfort are qualitatively evaluated to put the fuel-saving potential and the hybridization cost into a wider perspective. Results show that, for each of the four investigated hybrid powertrains, the fuel-saving benefit returns the hybridization investment well within (about 50%) the service life of passenger vehicles. The optimal topology follows from a discussion that considers all the optimization criteria. The associated optimal flywheel size has an energy storage capacity that is approximately equivalent to the kinetic energy of the vehicle during urban driving (50 km/h).


Clinical theory is skeptical of individuals' ability to recognize the presence, severity, and impact of clinical symptoms and pathological traits (Oltmanns & Powers, 2012); however, empirical work has found moderate self-other convergence for reports of pathological traits and for Antagonism-related personality disorder (PD) constructs (i.e., psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism), which are characterized by low insight. Nevertheless, empirical examinations of insight into perceptions of impairment is scant. Thus, the present study sought to examine individuals' insight regarding pathological traits and related impairment in two samples. In Sample 1, more psychopathic, narcissistic, and Machiavellian individuals reported higher levels of pathological traits and were aware of related impairment. In Sample 2, individuals reported higher levels of pathological traits and, albeit to a lesser degree, more Antagonism-related impairment. Thus, more psychopathic, narcissistic, and Machiavellian individuals possess a reasonable degree of insight into their trait levels and associated impairment.


Research findings attribute field performance of crops to factors such as hardening off. As a result, an experiment was conducted at the Department of Horticulture Experimental Field of the University for Development Studies (UDS) Nyankpala Campus to assess the effects of hardening off on the growth, yield and quality of Cayenne chilli, Scotch bonnet and Sweet pepper cultivars. The treatments were: Cayenne chili pepper hardened off (C1), Cayenne chilli pepper non-hardened off (C2), Scotch bonnet pepper hardened off (SB1), Scotch bonnet pepper non-hardened off (SB2), Sweet pepper hardened off (SW1) and Sweet pepper non-hardened off (SW2). These were arranged in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) using a 2 x 3 factorial combination with three replications. The results indicate that there were significant differences (p < 0.05) between the hardened off and non-hardened off pepper cultivars in all the growth and yield parameters studied, except fruit diameter and fruit length. The interactions of the two factors (hardening off and the pepper varieties) produced significant effects in all the growth and yield parameters studied. Hardening off produced taller plants [C1 (25.56 cm), SB1 (21.14 cm) and SW1 (13.64 cm)], broader leaves [C1 (20.25 cm2); SB1 (24.53 cm2) and SW1 (26.11 cm2)], more fruits [SW1 (39); C1 (35) and SB1 (16)], bigger fruits [C1 (126.21 cm2), SW1 (86.54 cm2) and SB1 (40.14 cm2)] and higher yields [C1 (3.40 t ha-1); SW1 (3.22 t ha-1); and SB1 (1.82 t ha-1)]. Hardening off also improved fruit quality in terms of freshness/firmness but did not influence colour change of the fruits.


The social scientific debate over consumption is of increasing concern to
commentators addressing the cultural implications of socio-economic change.
All too often, however, the individual meanings that consumers have for the
goods they consume have been neglected by these commentators, notably in
favour of abstract discussions of the role of consumption in the emergence of
a 'postmodern' culture. Arguing that consumption provides the sociologist
with an invaluable means of addressing questions concerning the relationship
between structure and agency, this thesis attempts to move beyond the
limited conception of a fragmented self, picking and choosing his or her
identity from the menu of life, to begin to establish an empirical grounding
for the relationship between consumption and identity amongst young
people. Data were collected from a triangulated three-stage research process,
in the form of a series of focus group interviews, informed by Personal
Construct Psychology, a participant observation study in a sports shop, and a
Consumer Meanings Questionnaire. Arguing that young people's identities
are largely constructed in peer group settings, the evidence presented
suggests that consumption provides an everyday cultural framework, within
which young consumers negotiate some semblance of everyday stability in a
'risk' society. In this sense, young people appear to pursue a dual task. First,
they are intent upon forming group-based identities. Second, they attempt to
construct a sense of individuality in this context. Hence, it is argued that
whilst young people choose consumer goods according to peer group
meanings, they tend to see their own choices as 'individual' and those of their
peers as being determined by media and marketing-created desires. As such,
whilst it would be misleading to see young people as dupes of the capitalist
system, neither are they free agents. Teenagers construct their identities
partially through the framework that consumption provides, but not with
products of their own choosing. Far from being whimsical consumers in this
context, I argue that essentially, young people are modernists, adapting to the
rational constraints upon their everyday lives and changing the character of
their consumption patterns accordingly. The situated realities of so-called
postmodern forms of consumption can therefore only be understood, it is
argued, through innovative triangulated research methods which address
consumer meanings in routine everyday settings and which, in turn, consider
the theoretical implications of such meanings, for both an understanding of
the ideological impact of consumerism and it's relationship to debates
concerning structure and agency.


Cluster-based hierarchical routing protocols play an essential role in decreasing the energy consumption of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). A low-energy adaptive clustering hierarchy (LEACH) has been proposed as an application-specific protocol architecture for WSNs. However, without considering the distribution of the cluster heads (CHs) in the rotation basis, the LEACH protocol will increase the energy consumption of the network. To improve the energy efficiency of the WSN, we propose a novel modified routing protocol in this paper. The newly proposed improved energy-efficient LEACH (IEE-LEACH) protocol considers the residual node energy and the average energy of the networks. To achieve satisfactory performance in terms of reducing the sensor energy consumption, the proposed IEE-LEACH accounts for the numbers of the optimal CHs and prohibits the nodes that are closer to the base station (BS) to join in the cluster formation. Furthermore, the proposed IEE-LEACH uses a new threshold for electing CHs among the sensor nodes, and employs single hop, multi-hop, and hybrid communications to further enhance the energy efficiency of the networks. The simulation results demonstrate that, compared with some existing routing protocols, the proposed protocol substantially reduces the energy consumption of WSNs.


Background Pulmonary rehabilitation is one of the main interventions to reduce the use of health resources, and it promotes a reduction in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) costs. mHealth systems in COPD aim to improve adherence to maintenance programs after pulmonary rehabilitation by promoting the change in attitude and behavior necessary for patient involvement in the management of the disease. Objective This study aimed to assess the effects of an integrated care plan based on an mHealth web-based platform (HappyAir) on adherence to a 1-year maintenance program applied after pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD patients. Methods COPD patients from three hospitals were randomized to a control group or an intervention group (HappyAir group). Patients from both groups received an 8-week program of pulmonary rehabilitation and educational sessions about their illness. After completion of the process, only the HappyAir group completed an integrated care plan for 10 months, supervised by an mHealth system and therapeutic educator. The control group only underwent the scheduled check-ups. Adherence to the program was rated using a respiratory physiotherapy adherence self-report (CAP FISIO) questionnaire. Other variables analyzed were adherence to physical activity (Morisky-Green Test), quality of life (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Assessment Test, St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire, and EuroQOL-5D), exercise capacity (6-Minute Walk Test), and lung function. Results In total, 44 patients were recruited and randomized in the control group (n=24) and HappyAir group (n=20). Eight patients dropped out for various reasons. The CAP FISIO questionnaire results showed an improvement in adherence during follow-up period for the HappyAir group, which was statistically different compared with the control group at 12 months (56.1 [SD 4.0] vs 44.0 [SD 13.6]; P=.004) after pulmonary rehabilitation. Conclusions mHealth systems designed for COPD patients improve adherence to maintenance programs as long as they are accompanied by disease awareness and patient involvement in management. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04479930; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04479930


Abstract When observations in a random sample of n are classified into k categories with n i falling into a given class, the usual estimate of the corresponding probability is ni/n. When a priori information about the distribution of the probabilities is available, more precise estimates can be derived from data in any one sample of n. When the a priori distribution is not specified completely, but its general form can be inferred, the parameters of that distribution can be estimated from the average of the ni/n and their estimated sampling variances. The computations are analogous to those that arise in regression theory with the bivariate normal frequency distribution when Y = X + e and the expected value of X for a given Y is estimated from the regression of X on Y. The parameters of the distribution of X have to be estimated from the observed distribution of Y and the sampling errors in the individual values of those observations.


A true multi-scale approach is applied for the development of a new meso-macro methodology for modeling of sintering. Sintering distortions of multi-layer and capillary-porous composite powder structures are determined based upon the continuum theory of sintering implemented in a finite-element code. The macroscopic constitutive parameters of the powder material are obtained on the basis of the meso-scale simulations of a realistic grain-pore structure. The model follows both the densification and the damage development during sintering using a new fracture criterion for the prediction of macroscopic strength in sintering. The simulation results are compared with the experimental data on sintering of zirconia, alumina, and Cu powder composites. The modeling results contribute to the development of multi-layer powder metalceramic technologies used for fabrication of components for thermal management of electronic circuitry and wireless communication appliances.


[1] Using new data, we build upon the nearly two-decade long record of observations from Jakobshavn Isbrae to investigate the processes driving its dynamic evolution. While winter flow speed has not increased substantially over the last three winters, there remains a strong seasonal variation in flow speed that coincides with a cycle of summer thinning and winter thickening. We relate changes in glacier speed to geometry through variations in basal traction and horizontal stresses, using ice-flow models constrained by satellite and airborne observations. These results suggest that the bed provides little flow resistance along the main trough within about 20 km of the terminus. While the loss of buttressing from the retreat of grounded and floating ice likely contributed to the initial speedup, other processes are of comparable significance at seasonal to decadal time scales. From analysis of the models, we hypothesize that thinning-induced change in basal effective pressure is the dominant process influencing near-terminus behavior, while diffusive processes drive the upstream response. The apparent need for the terminus to thin to near flotation before it can calve may limit the rate at which retreat occurs. Our analysis of the processes controlling the speed suggests little potential for further large acceleration. Thinning and elevated speeds may continue at rates similar to present, however, putting the glacier on course to retreat to the head of its deep trough in about a century, at which point it likely would stabilize with a thinner terminus.


Deploying technology to support and improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in higher education offers significant opportunities. The complexity of such educational interventions, however, also has the potential to create significant unintended consequences arising from the actions of and interactions among students, academics, technology designers, publishing companies and other stakeholders. Based on the experiences derived from a four-year adoption and implementation process of a theory-based online simulation game, this paper reports on and discusses three such unplanned and unexpected consequences and identifies both obvious and more hidden lessons that will be of value to academics in designing and deploying effective and meaningful technology-supported educational and assessment innovations, particularly for those which take an assessment for/as learning perspective.


In countries suffering from chronic water shortages, water distribution systems are often operated on an intermittent basis, leaving them unpressurised and allowing ingress of contaminated groundwater, particularly in areas lacking sewerage systems. The periods of stagnation can promote microbial regrowth, further compromising water quality. On the other hand, peaks in pressure and velocity in the pipe network lead to biofilm detachment events, thus releasing microbial cells that may escape the regular quality monitoring procedures and thus increase risk for the consumer. Finally, intermittent supply requires consumers to store water in household storage tanks, which often encourage bacterial regrowth. This paper reports on research undertaken in Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, the UK and Portugal, which provided an improved understanding of the factors controlling bacterial concentrations in intermittent supplies, and presents an overview of the most important aspects of water quality control in intermittently operated networks.


This paper studies the contribution of real interest rate divergence to the dynamics of the relative price of non-tradables within Europe. Based on a model by De Gregorio et al. (1994), it shows that the real interest rate fall in the Euro Area (EA) periphery following the single currency's inception induced an increase in the relative price of non-tradable goods. Using a new dataset, it documents the dynamics of the tradable and the non-tradable sectors over 1995-2013 and the expansion of the non-tradable sector in the periphery before the euro crisis. It then carries out an econometric estimation for 11 EA countries over 1995-2013 and quantifies the contribution of the pure Balassa-Samuelson effect and the impact of the interest rate on non-tradable relative prices. Diverging evolution in the interest rate impacted greatly the evolution of non-tradable relative prices within the euro area over the period. In Greece, the fall in the real interest rate over 1995-2008 could explain almost half of the non-tradable price increase relative to the EA average, while in Germany the increase in the real interest rate might have contributed up to 7% of the decrease of the non-tradable price relative to the average of the EA.


Structures, termed microbioids, comforming to bacteria in size and shape (e.g. rods, spheres, chains and clusters of spheres) have been observed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) on coalified Silurian and Lower Devonian spores, sporangia, cuticles and coprolites. Some were sectioned for transmission electron microscopy. The elemental composition of both microbioids and 'substrates' was investigated using a X-ray microanalysis system. These analyses combined with comparative studies on recent bacteria and cyanobacteria were undertaken to evaluate the biogenicity, nature and age of the microbioids. Spheres with a Si signature (0.03–0.5 μm diameter) and assumed composed of silica are interpreted as artefacts produced abiotically during the extraction procedures. A similar origin is proposed for hollow spheres that are composed of CaF2. These occur singly, in short chains simulating filaments, and in clusters. Considerable differences in size (0.2–2.0 μm diameter) and appearance relate to local variation in the chemical environment during extraction. Spheres (0.2–1.5 μm diameter), that lack a mineral signature, with a framboidal surface ornament and occur within sporangia are identified as by-products of spore development. A biotic origin is also postulated for C-containing rod-shaped structures (>3.1 μm long, <1.4 μm wide), some with collapsed surfaces, although comparisons with living bacteria indicate recent contamination. More elongate rod-shaped microbioids (<8.6 μm long, 1.2 μm wide) have been identified as detrital rutile crystals (TiO2). Minute naviculate structures (<2.2 μm long) resembling diatoms are of unknown origin but are probably composed of thorium hydroxide. Unmineralized filaments of cyanobacterial morphology are recent contaminants. Some of the sporangia and spore masses are partially covered by associations of fragmented sheets, interconnecting strands, rods and spheres that are interpreted as dehydrated biofilms. Being unmineralized they are probably also of recent origin, although they might have survived wild-fire along with the charcoalified mesofossils. Many of the structures illustrated here were initially identified casually as bacteria on the small fossils extracted for biodiversity studies using well-tried, conventional, palaeobotanical techniques. Our subsequent more detailed analyses have shown how such processes can produce artefacts that are morphological analogues of mineralized bacteria, leave residues that mimic bacterial shapes and, despite some efforts such as storage in dilute HCl to eliminate living bacteria, introduce contamination. They reinforce previous concerns that verification of the biogenicity and syngenicity of bacterial-like objects in ancient Earth and extra-terrestrial rocks should not only rely on size and morphological look-alikes, but must encompass a thorough understanding of fossilization processes and extraction techniques plus, ideally, other measures of biogenicity (e.g. biomarkers) and syngenicity.


This research aims to investigate the application of leadership and governance in higher education organizations in the Kingdom of Bahrain and the UK. The study also intends to gather evidences on the practices of academic management in different cultures. The methods of the study relies on reading lists of governance standards from several advanced educational institutions and uses a "comparative methodology" based on the data from the Kingdom of Bahrain and The UK. This research reviews the various models of "the higher education governance" and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each model. The study employs the three principles of UNDP (Transparency, Participation and Accountability) to assess application of leadership and governance in higher education institutions.The findings of this study reveal that Arab universities need to perceive the significance of clarifying the reason for governance. The examination likewise distinguishes the significance of relating their job and commitment to the procedure of change to the learning based economy and world informatics. Also, it features the need of broadening the cooperation of stakeholders in the key basic leadership.The importance of this study lies in examining whether the governance standards are associated with practical application in universities. Also it examines whether there is an influence of the culture and social aspects on the application and understanding of these standards. The significance of receiving administration measures in the Arab world lies in its possibility to change the HE organizations' practices, and increment their ability for greatness and aggressiveness. Thus, ensures the autonomy of advanced education alongside its quality and viability particularly with respect to their yield and status locally and internationally.


Demola is both a concept and an international organization that facilitates co-creation projects between university students and companies, either locally or internationally. The network consists of various partners including universities: faculties, researcher as well as students but also of both local and international companies, and different types of agencies. The co-creative concept aims to solve real challenges where the outcome can be a new concept, a demo, or a prototype. If the partner company finds the students' outcome useful, the company can license or purchase it, and take it for further development. The framework makes is easy for partners outside the university to cooperate with student groups. Each partner has a clear role, and the work is guided by simple procedures. Contracts, intellectual property rights, licensing models, and other legal requirements are in place and meet international business standards and practices. At Linkoping University the Demola concept is implemented through the course Cross Disciplinary Projects that also is designed to meet the demands expressed in the CDIO Syllabus. What makes this course unique and different from other project courses is that students from the Faculty of Arts and Science, The Institute of Technology and the Faculty of Health Sciences are working together in one course towards the same goal. The students are participating in the work order to creatively and independently contribute with expertise from their different areas and therefore the course is open only to those who are at the end of their studies. The course is conducted in the form of independent cross disciplinary projects. The briefs are externally specified from companies or other interested parties who wish to have an idea eloborated or a problem solved. In addition to the project some lectures are given, for instance in applied ethics and inter professional communication. Upon completion of the course the student is expected to have acquired knowledge and understanding concerning how to independently work on issues related to the knowledge and skills previously acquired in education. The course also aims to enforce their capabilities and competences regarding communication with representatives of other professions since they are expected to demonstrate ability to work in a team and in close collaboration with other professions. Demola is now listed by OECD and World Bank Group as a best practice for innovation policy-makers globally.


The article highlights the advantages and disadvantages of strategic planning methods and their usage possibilities in the municipal institutions. Determining the deviations between theoretical interpretation of strategic planning process and its practical understanding, the article gives suggestions for the improvement of cities and municipal institutions strategic planning methodologies. Suggesting overall recommendations for the strategic planning and management, there are such areas denoted: the increase of municipal institutions financial resources usage autonomy, broader and more effective usage of marketing methods, the improvement of inter-institutional cooperation, and the inducement of innovations.


S and natural scientists have used the complexity paradigm to address issues of the complexity and dynamism of phenomena which hitherto in traditional approaches had been made invisible or had been regarded as aberrant – thereby adding to our explanatory and manipulative power. As Appadurai (1996) calls for a human version of complexity theory in order to further the theory of global cultural interactions, Takahashi (2009) has applied a non-linear, non-reductionist model to human communication, using the ethnographic method, which is a non-linear methodology. Takahashi has provided an integrated framework for the demonstration of three dimensions of complex systems: individuals, social groups and cultures and the paths of dynamic interaction between these in terms of interactivity, self-organisation, adaptivity and the notion of the edge of chaos, thus contributing to the idea of a human version of complexity theory. There are numerous complex systems that exist among the micro and macro levels and each level is not discrete but rather is intraand interconnected and moreover dynamically interacts with the others. In this presentation, we will demonstrate the complex model of communication with some computer images to understand the diversity, dynamism and complexity of human communication in the global digital world.


The reactions of 1,4,5-trisubstituted imidazole 3-oxides 1a – k with cyclobutanethiones 5a,b in CHCl3 at room temperature give imidazole-2(3H)-thiones 9a – k in high yield. The second product formed in this reaction is 2,2,4,4-tetramethylcyclobutane-1,3-dione (6a; Scheme 2). Similar reactions occur with 1 and adamantanethione (5c) as thiocarbonyl compound, as well as with 1,2,4-triazole-4-oxide derivative 10 and 5a (Scheme 3). A reaction mechanism by a two-step formation of the formal cycloadduct of type 7via zwitterion 16 is proposed in Scheme 5. Spontaneous decomposition of 7 yields the products of this novel sulfur-transfer reaction. The starting imidazole 3-oxides are conveniently prepared by heating a mixture of 1,3,5-trisubstituted hexahydro-1,3,5-triazines 3 and α-(hydroxyimino) ketones 2 in EtOH (cf. Scheme 1). As demonstrated in the case of 9d, a `one-pot' procedure allows the preparation of 9 without isolation of the imidazole 3-oxides 1. The reaction of 1c with thioketene 12 leads to a mixture of four products (Scheme 4). The minor products, 9c and the ketene 15, result from an analogous sulfur-transfer reaction (Path a in Scheme 5), whereas the parent imidazole 14 and thiiranone 13 are the products of an oxygen-transfer reaction (Path b in Scheme 5).


Approximately 10-20% of breast cancer consists of triple-negative tumors, which present the poorest prognosis among the different subtypes. The triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) tumors are known to be enriched with stem-like cells that are resistant to standard targeted drugs. Thus, it is extremely important to develop new agents that are non-toxic and specifically efficacious against these cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) that are suggested to be responsible for the initiation and maintenance of tumors. Here, we show that sulforaphane (SFN), a dietary component abundant in broccoli and broccoli sprouts, inhibits cell proliferation and sphere formation of the CSC population in TNBC cells. TNBC stem-like cells were isolated from MDA-MB-231 Luci D3H1human triple negative breast cancer cells using fluorescently activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis. Six week old BalbC/nude mice were purchased from Jackson laboratory and fed with an AIN-96G-purified diet containing no SFN (Harlan Teklad Inc) until the end of experiments. The mice (n = 40) were treated with or without daily i.p. injection of 50mg SFN/kg b.w. for 2 weeks prior to the inoculation with MDA-MB-231 Luci D3H1 cells. The tumor cells were planted into both sides of the 4 th inguinal mammary fat pads. The SFN treatment was continued for 3 additional weeks after the tumor cell xenografts. Our results revealed that the CSC population isolated with CD49f+, CD24-/CD44high showed the ability to form mammoshperes, which is a characteristic of stemness. When these cells were treated with natural dietary constituent SFN at the concentration of 7.5 μM, they lost the property of mammosphere formation in vitro. Furthermore, SFN pre-treated animals (n = 20) exhibited a thirty percent reduction in tumor volume compared with control (saline 0.9%) at day 30 after the tumor cell inoculation. These data indicate that SFN suppresses triple negative mammary tumor formation both in vitro (7.5uM) and in vivo (50mg/kg bw) by targeting a CSC population. Further analysis on gene expression and protein profiles are being performed to elucidate whether stem-related developmental signaling pathways are being modulated by SFN. Citation Format: Nadia P. Castro, Cristina M. Rangel, David Salomon, Karen Saylor, Young S. Kim. Sulforaphane suppresses the growth of triple-negative breast cancer stem-like cells in vitro and in vivo. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 912. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-912


Image processing results in support of ongoing research into the origin of a collection of unusual surface features on Mars are presented. The focus of the investigation is on a mile long feature in the Cydonia region of Mars which resembles a humanoid face that was imaged by Viking orbiter in 1976. While the face has been dismissed as a trick of light and shadow by some, there remains considerable interest in this feature, which others believe was sculpted into the form of a humanoid face, and several nearby polyhedral objects which appear to be spatially aligned with it. Image enhancements of the face show it to be a bisymmetrical object having two eyes, a nose, and a mouth; fine structure in the mouth suggesting teeth are apparent in the enhanced imagery as well as crossed symmetrical lines on the forehead. Facial features are also evident in the underlying 3-D surface which was reconstructed using a single image shape-from-shading technique. Synthetic images derived from the 3-D model by computer graphics techniques suggest that the impression of facial features evident in the original Viking imagery are not a transient phenomenon; i.e., they persist over a wide range of illumination and viewing conditions.


: Acute organophosphate poisoning leads to a cholinergic crisis secondary to an acetylcholine rise, developed by an acetylcholinesterase inhibition. In some cases, after the resolution of the initial cholinergic signs and symptoms, an intermediate syndrome occurs, characterized by a delayed development of proximal and diaphragmatic muscle paralysis. We describe a case of a 67-year-old man who developed an intermediate syndrome after oxydemeton-metryl ingestion in a suicide attempt, despite a continuous pralidoxime infusion. Several hypotheses have been developed to explain the aetiology of this intermediate syndrome (neuromuscular junction dysfunction, inadequate poisoning treatment, late beginning of the oxime administration, etc). Intermediate syndrome manifestation will depend on the organophosphate's organism persistence and its chemical structure, and also on the time elapsed between the poisoning and the antidote administration.


Substance use is a common problem among South African youth. We conducted this study to determine whether religious beliefs influenced substance use among South African youth. We conducted a cross sectional study of 704 students from five high schools in South Africa. We used a questionnaire to assess self reported substance use and religious beliefs among the study subjects. We used binary logistic regression analysis to evaluate the relationship between the subjects' religious beliefs and substance use. Thirty-six point six percent of students reported being very religious. More female students reported being very religious than male students (p = 0.039). Fifty-four percent of students had ever consumed alcohol. Comparing alcohol and drug use between religious and non-religious students, it was found that alcohol and drug use were more common among non-religious students (28.3%, 30.4%) than very religious students (8.4%, 11.5%) (p < 0.05). Those who considered themselves religious had lower odds of substance use. Religious beliefs had an influence on substance use among South African youth in our study.


Talinum triangulare or waterleaf is an underutilized tropical plant, mostly found as weeds, and has been used more as medicinal plant than as vegetable in Indonesia.  The study of Talinum triangulare cultivation has been explored to increase the shoot production as functional vegetables.  The effects of organic fertilizer applications   at 0.50, 0.75, 1.00, 1.25 and 1.50 of the standard rate on waterleaf growth were tested in a Leuwikopo research station, Bogor, West Java, Indonesia. Standard rate of organic fertilizer consisted of 12.3 t..ha -1 of cow manure, 226.8 kg. .ha -1 of guano, and 5.5 t.ha -1 of rice hull ash that is equal to 100 kg urea, 60 kg SP-36 and 100 kg KCl.ha -1 .  Net assimilation rate (NAR) of the organic fertilizer-treated plants was lower than the inorganic fertilizer-treated with plant at two to four weeks after planting (WAP). However, the plants treated with 0.75-1.25 organic fertilizer had a higher NAR than those treated with inorganic fertilizer at four to six WAP.  Plants treated with 0.75 rate of organic fertilizer had similar relative growth rate (RGR) to plants treated with the inorganic fertilizer at two to four WAP, whereas plants treated with 1.00, 1.25 and 1.50 standard rate had higher RGR than plants treated with inorganic fertilizer at 4-6 WAP.   Plants treated with 1.50 organic fertilizer rate had 34.55% more marketable shoots compared to those treated with inorganic fertilizer whereas those treated with 0.50 rate of organic fertilizer had 179.54% at 6 WAP.  The percentage of marketable shoots to total fresh weight of the organic fertilizer-treated plants was lower than the inorganic fertilizer-treated plants. Keywords: Talinum triangulare, leafy vegetables, organic


Sampling and analysis occur along the milk processing train: from collection at farm level, to intake at the diary plant, the processing steps, and the end products. Milk has a short shelf life; however, products such as milk powders have allowed a global industry to be developed. Quality control tests are vital to support activities for hygiene and food standards to meet regulatory and customer demands. Multiples of chemical and microbiological contamination tests are undertaken. Hazard analysis testing strategies are necessary, but some tests may be redundant; it is therefore vital to identify product optimization quality control strategies. The time taken to undergo testing and turnaround time are rarely measured. The dairy industry is a traditional industry with a low margin commodity. Industry 4.0 vision for dairy manufacturing is to introduce the aspects of operational excellence and implementation of information and communications technologies. The dairy industries' reply to Industry 4.0 is represented predominantly by proactive maintenance and optimization of production and logistical chains, such as robotic milking machines and processing and packaging line automation reinforced by sensors for rapid chemical and microbial analysis with improved and real-time data management. This chapter reviews the processing trains with suggestions for improved optimization.


The main challenge in making video games is to make computer-generated characters-dubbed bots-act realistically. They must, of course, look good and move naturally. But, ideally, they should also be able to engage in believable conversations, plan their actions, find their way around virtual worlds, and learn from their mistakes. That is, they need to be smart. Today many video games create only an illusion of intelligence, using a few programming tricks. But in the not-so -distant future, game bots will routinely use sophisticated AI techniques to shape their behavior. We and our colleagues in the University of Alberta GAMES (game-playing, analytical methods, minimax search and empirical studies) research group, in Edmonton, Canada, have been working to help bring about such a revolution.


ABSTRACT Purpose: To examine the changes of non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) by serial morphometry using Fourier domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT). Materials and methods: Retrospective study in patients with newly diagnosed NAION (n=33, all unilateral) and controls (n=75 unilateral NAION patients with full contralateral eye vision) who underwent FD-OCT of the optic disk, optic nerve head (ONH), and macula within 1 week of onset and again 1, 3, 6, and 12 months later. The patients showed no improvement in vision during follow-up. Results: Within 1 week of onset, all NAION eyes exhibited severe ONH fiber crowding and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) edema. Four had subretinal fluid accumulation and 12 had posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) at the optic disc surface. Ganglion cell complex (GCC) and RNFL thicknesses were reduced at 1 and 3 months (p < 0.05), with no deterioration thereafter. Initial RNFL/GCC contraction magnitude in the superior hemisphere correlated with the severity of inferior visual field deficits. Conclusions: NAION progression is characterized by an initial phase of accelerated RNFL and GCC deterioration. These results reveal that the kinetic change of neural retina in NAION and may have implication on the time window for treatment of NAION. FD-OCT is useful in the evaluation of NAION.


Mostly ignored by banks until recently, the reverse mortgage is slowly gaining acceptance. With RMs, as they're called for short, lenders give borrowers monthly checks, a line of credit or both in return for equity stakes in their homes. And, if you're willing to roll with the punches, RMs might provide you with a permanent, long-term earnings boost that will serve both your bank and your community well in both good and bad economic times. The reverse mortgage (or conversion loan) has faced skepticism and scrutiny, and has yet to receive full public acceptance. After all, the loan targets seniors, who are often vulnerable to complex financial transactions. And then there's that absurd but difficult to debunk notion that the banker is fiendishly lying in wait for his senior clients to die. Still, acceptance is irrevocably growing. About 175 sellers are now in the arena, a broadly diverse group that includes not just mortgage banks, but mortgage brokers, community banks and a few big banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of New York. These lenders sold only about 15,000 reverse mortgages in 2001. But that was twice as many as were sold in 2000. And the potential for future sales is truly mind-boggling. No fewer than 20 million seniors hold more than $2 trillion worth of home equity. But even this current equity pool represents just the tip of an enormous market iceberg that'll begin to surface within the next few years. The U.S. population of people above retirement age is expected to double to 70 million people by the year 2030. At that point, seniors will represent a far larger percentage of the population, about 20% compared with 13% today. Meanwhile, of the portion of the population that is 65 or older, 80% still live in their homes. Of that group, 76% have paid off their mortgages. In other words, lenders that can't offer RMs will sooner or later be left out of the loop. They won't just lose their places in a lucrative niche market, they'll also give up the leverage that RMs give lenders in selling a bundle of products of special interest to seniors, including everything from home improvement loans to trusts and insurance. Time may come when the reverse mortgage will become so ubiquitous that virtually every retired homeowner will have such a loan as one part of his income portfolio mix. Legislation adds appeal Meanwhile, it appears that there's no better time to get into the RM business than right now. That's because originators are beginning to see a silver lining in a topsy-turvy economy that is forcing a growing number of seniors to think twice about reverse mortgages. Watching their retirement investments shrink, many fixed-income retirees find themselves in need of cash to supplement their investment incomes and knowledgeable observers believe this will boost RM sales in 2002. Furthermore, a new federal law has made the product even more attractive and much easier to sell, because it provides seniors with new incentives to choose a reverse mortgage. The law offers seniors savings on upfront mortgage insurance fees when they refinance their reverse mortgages or use the money received from the RM loan to purchase a qualified long-term care insurance plan. The law also caps origination fees at $2,000 or 2%, whichever is greater. And, for the first time, it allows owners of cooperative apartments to take out RMs. Four types of reverse mortgage products are available today. They include the federally insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM), the Fannie Mae Home Keeper reverse mortgage, and the Financial Freedom Equity Guard and Cash Account Plans, two products offered by Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corp., an Irvine, California-based company that is also the current RM market leader. The HECM is a reverse mortgage, made by private lenders, that is insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), an arm of the U.S. …


A technique for withdrawal of patients physically dependent upon barbiturates is applicable to either a medical or psychiatric inpatient service. The technique involves substituting phenobarbital, a long-acting barbiturate, for the addicting agent, and subsequent withdrawal of the phenobarbital. Phenobarbital provides a more constant barbiturate blood level than the shorter-acting barbiturates, which are the usual withdrawal agents. The more constant blood level allows for the safe utilization of smaller daily doses of barbiturates during withdrawal. The method is also suggested treatment for dependence upon many of the newer sedative-hypnotics.


Gastrointestinal Basidiobolomycosis (GIB) is a fungal infection in the stomach, small intestine, colon, and liver that can play a role in malignancy. It is a rare disease and only about 73 cases of GIB exist in the literature. Abdominal pain, weight loss, fever and abdominal mass are the most common symptoms which are clues of definitive diagnosis by microbial culture from surgical specimens. In present article, we have reported a case of GIB with gastric outlet obstruction that dramatically has responded to treatment of Amphotericin B. A 44 y/o male was admitted by chief complaint of early post meal vomiting and dyspepsia. He also had a noticeable weight loss in the last 6 months. There were not any other sign or symptoms as fever or etc. However, two masses were observed by abdominopelvic contrasted CT scan; one in second portions of duodenum and the other one in ceccum. Therefore, he was planned for surgery and a jejunustomy tube was placed for the elimination and operation was terminated because the lack of definite diagnosis. Final results of pathology confirmed the fungal infection compatible with basidiobolumycosis. After the 3rd day of laparatomy diet and Intravenous Amphotircin B were started for the patient. After 2 weeks of start of amphotricin B patient scheduled for second laparatomy for permanent gasterojejunostmy. Finally, in the next follow up in 3 months patient was completely relieved of all sign and symptoms. A Contrasted abdomen and pelvic CT scan was performed with any signs of previous masses. In conclusion, surgery could be avoidable by early diagnosis and treatment of GIB by administration of Intravenous Amphotircin B.


Set in West Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, this study explores the shifting relationships between border communities and the state along the political border with East Malaysia. The book rests on the premise that remote border regions offer an exciting study arena that can tell us important things about how marginal citizens relate to their nation-state.


This paper analyzes the role of regional arrangements in trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) performance in the Baltics. While progress with transition is a key determinant of trade and FDI performance, regional arrangements with Western Europe have helped develop trade and transfer of technology, but have not yet led to export-related foreign direct investment toward the European Union. The main reasons for this are policy uncertainties, need for more progress with transition, and restrictions in the trade agreements, especially on the European Union side. Intra-Baltic integration has not yet led to substantial trade and FDI growth between the Baltics.


To protect children from online risks, it is important to recognise that children's perceptions of online problematic situations may greatly differ from those of adults. What adults perceive as problematic does not necessarily result in a negative or harmful experience for children. This report shows that children's perceptions of online risks strongly depend on their awareness of how online activities may turn into problematic or harmful situations. Also important is their knowledge of effective preventive measures, since it appears that when children feel capable of dealing with a risk they are less fearful or worried by it. Children expressed a range of concerns about online problems that sometime bother or upset them. The salient risks in children's eyes are online bullying and harassment, unwelcome contact from strangers, misuse of personal information, issues related to sexual content or communication, and commercial content. Looking at the media platforms where these incidents occur, about half of unpleasant online experiences happen on social networking sites such as Facebook. While children acknowledge the potential risks of social networking sites, they do not necessarily do something to avoid the risk. However, when they do feel capable of dealing with the risk, they are less fearful or worried about it. These new findings result from the qualitative analysis of 57 focus groups and 113 personal interviews with children aged 9 to 16. In total, 349 children from nine different European countries (Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and UK) were invited to explain what they perceive as problematic or harmful online, and what they do to prevent harm from occurring.


VerVita serves to educate and equip a community whose desire to enhance personal wellness and achieve their life's greatest dream can be achieved through specifically designed products naturally occurring in nature.


This project was initiated by the North East Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (NEIEP) following interest from regional local authorities in the evaluation of the impact of large scale regeneration initiatives. The project therefore centres on the Greater Eston area in Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council.

The study evaluates the potential to establish a longitudinal study to monitor the performance and impact of the Greater Eston Master Plan and provides a commentary on how the techniques recommended in this area could be applied to other regeneration initiatives elsewhere. The project was commissioned through the Institute for Local Governance and was jointly funded by them and the RIEP. The project has been undertaken on behalf of the two funders by a team of researchers from the Sustainable Cities Research Institute at the School of the Built and Natural Environment, Northumbria University, and the Policy Research Group at the University of Durham, working with Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council.

The following report sets out the project that has been undertaken to establish and test the potential to establish a longitudinal study in Greater Eston and in particular the South Bank area which although situated at the northern edge of Greater Eston, immediately adjacent to the A66 (see Appendix A for location and delineation of the study area) lies at the heart of the Greater Eston Master Plan. A separate report has been compiled summarising the analysis and findings of the secondary and primary data collection that has been undertaken in the South Bank.

The aim of the project was 'to establish the baseline position and design a robust strategy for a 25 year longitudinal assessment of the impact of the delivery of a large scale regeneration project: the Greater Eston Regeneration Master Plan'.


Climate change is likely to cause an increase in natural disasters such as floods, droughts, and cyclones – factors that have been linked to hunger, diseases, and violent conflict. We test two competing accounts on the effects of disasters on violent conflict. Whereas environmental security holds that increased resource pressure under certain circumstances increases conflict risk, disaster sociology's main finding is that social cohesion is strengthened in the aftermath of disasters. In order to assess potential future consequences of climate change on violence we use a recently collected dataset on low-level violence in Indonesia and explore if natural disasters affect the likelihood of violence at the province-month level for the period 1990-2003. This represents an innovation to a field which is dominated by national level studies on large-scale violence such as civil wars. Of the two forms of violence we investigate, we find that disasters decrease the risk of inter-group violence. The effect is quite small, however. We find the same conflict reducing tendency, although not significant, for less organized violence. Thereafter we investigate whether disasters have a greater impact on violence when poverty is high, land is scarce, there is high inter-ethnic inequality, or a province is dominated demographically by two groups. Contrary to our expectations, we do not find much support for conditional effects. Following environmental security theory, disasters should increase the risk of violence. Our findings do not support this. The results resonate better with disaster sociology, which emphasize increased social cohesion in the wake of disasters.


This case series aims to discuss cases of bilateral optic neuritis secondary to presumed ocular tuberculosis (TB) in two immunocompetent adults. Ocular TB has been associated with optic neuritis, but bilateral cases in immunocompetent individuals are rarely seen. We report a case series of two young healthy adults with bilateral painless optic neuritis as the presenting feature of ocular TB. Clinical examination, TB tests, and angiographic studies supported the diagnosis. All patients were started on anti-TB medication followed by oral prednisolone and had visual improvement a few weeks after treatment. As a conclusion, these cases highlight an atypical case of ocular TB presentation in immunocompetent individuals and thorough investigation is pertinent to preserve the visual function.


An important goal for atmospheric and combustion chemists is continued improvement in our understanding of the gas phase reactivity of free radical intermediates formed during hydrocarbon oxidation. The primary focus of this thesis was to measure gas phase kinetics of prototypical free radicals relevant to atmospheric and combustion chemistry, a goal that requires spectroscopy, quantitative product detection, and computational chemistry in order to address these complex chemical systems. Near-infrared cavity ringdown spectroscopy was used to study the peroxy radicals (RO2) formed from chlorine-initiated oxidation of isoprene and other unsaturated hydrocarbons. Isoprene is one of the most important hydrocarbons in the atmosphere; detection of RO2 formed directly from isoprene oxidation will aid in understanding the initial steps of its fate in the atmosphere. As expected, the near-infrared chloro-isoprenyl peroxy radical spectrum has many features; each spectral feature corresponds to a different isomer and conformer, indicating that several RO2 structures are formed. In small RO2, it was possible to identify the molecular structure of the absorber by comparing the experimental spectrum with the vibrationally-resolved electronic spectrum generated by computational chemistry. Identification of each feature then enabled preliminary isomer-specific kinetics measurements. Photoionization mass spectrometry is another useful method for selective detection of radicals, with the added bonus of detecting many of the other species of interest, leading to a comprehensive understanding of the reaction mechanism. The yields of radical chain-propagating product channels of prototypical RO2 reactions (self- and cross-reactions) are important in understanding radical chemistry in gas phase hydrocarbon oxidation. We obtained branching ratio information for reactions of acetyl peroxy radicals with HO2, with particular focus on OH-regenerating reactions. Along the way, we observed unexpected product formation from low-pressure reactions of acetyl radicals and oxygen. Using the same techniques, we also looked at the self-reaction of ethyl peroxy radicals, confirming past measurements of the radical-propagating channel for this reaction, and investigated interesting product formation, like what may be the dialkyl peroxide. These studies were supported by measurements of VUV photoionization cross sections for several radical species. The utility of this instrumentation was also extended by the development of a low-temperature (200–300 K) flow reactor. Finally, using time-resolved broadband cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy, we measured the rate coefficient of reactions of the smallest Criegee intermediate, CH2OO with ozone. We observed that this reaction is rather fast, which could have significant implications for experimental ozonolysis studies that are carried out under high initial reactant concentrations.


Illness identity refers to the interpretation of having mental illness in persons who regard themselves as mentally ill. Illness identity can impact people diagnosed with mental illness negatively. However, little is known about the background of illness identity. This study aimed to investigate the process whereby mental health service users accept their diagnosis and develop an illness identity and to compare the processes between schizophrenia and depression. Twenty persons with schizophrenia and depression were interviewed, and the data were analysed using grounded theory approach. The major findings were as follows: i) while those with schizophrenia were shocked by their diagnosis and took time to accept it, this was not true for those with depression; ii) for participants with depression, it was relatively easy to accept their diagnosis, as they thought that depression was a normal illness; participants with schizophrenia needed to learn about their illness, know the efficacy of psychiatric medication and reduce their prejudice against mental illness to accept their diagnosis; and iii) participants' illness identity encompassed sickness and normality with sickness being related to taking psychiatric medication and normality being associated with having regular work, acting as other people do or living in the community. These findings suggest the influence of social attitudes to each illness on illness identity and the complex nature of illness identity.


Introduction: Helminth infections affect developing countries, particularly the child population. The medicinal worth of plants lies in their active principles, which have a physiological effect on the human body. Reports have been issued of the anthelmintic activity of Tetradenia riparia (Hochst.) Codd [Lamiaceae], and its phytochemical study has revealed the presence of several metabolites which could be responsible for its pharmacological effect. Objective: Evaluate the anthelmintic activity of saponins and tannins isolated from extracts of T. riparia leaves. Method: 14.07 % aqueous extract and 23.0 % alcoholic extract were obtained from T. riparia dry leaves . The saponins were isolated from the aqueous extract and the tannins from the alcoholic extract after confirming their presence by foam formation for saponins and the ferric chloride test for tannins. Sixty Ascaris suum worms were divided into ten groups: eight experimental and two controls (negative and positive). The experimental groups were exposed to various extract concentrations (40 mg/ml, 80 mg/ml and 120 mg/ml) prepared with Goodwin's physiological solution, which was also used as negative control. The positive control was albendazole 80 mg/ml. The motility test was used to determine anthelmintic activity. The chi-square test was applied, and p values below 0.05 were considered significant. Results: Saponins and tannins were detected at high and moderate concentrations in aqueous and alcoholic T. riparia leaf extracts, respectively. Crude metabolites displayed anthelmintic activity depending on the dose. Saponins and tannins displayed anthelmintic activity, and no significant differences were found between the effect of the two metabolites isolated or between them and the positive control. Conclusions: The saponins and tannins isolated from T. riparia leaves may be responsible for the anthelmintic effect of the plant. Anthelmintic activity is similar in saponins, tannins and albendazole. Key words: anthelmintic activity, ascaricidal activity, Tetradenia riparia , saponins, tannins, motility.


In a volume of impressive detail and opulent photography, the British landscape architect and art historian Penelope Hill has portrayed the developments in contemporary European garden art. Presenting hundreds of gardens - some well-known, others unknown - from the whole of Europe, she succeeds in demonstrating the rich inventiveness, the originality, and the provocative force of a form of art which has attracted renewed interest in recent years. Hill shows how in the field of garden design, the use of new materials, the influence of ecology and art as well as town planning have brought about a break with tradition, and how new goals are emerging.


In the vast majority of European countries, piglets are surgically castrated in order to eliminate the risk of boar taint, an odour or flavour that can be present when pork from entire males is cooked. However, surgical castration is the subject of much debate and criticism as a result of its negative implications for piglets' welfare, integrity and health. At present, there is much ongoing research into potential alternatives, among them immunocastration. This practice involves the injection of a vaccine that inhibits the production of the hormones responsible for boar taint. Although satisfactory results are associated with immunocastration in terms of meat quality and production parameters, uncertainty concerning consumer acceptance is often put forward as a key element in the quest for a successful market introduction. This study focuses on consumer awareness of piglet castration and attitudes towards immunocastration by means of a web-based questionnaire among 225 Flemish consumers. We noted approximately 40% awareness of the routine practice of castrating piglets and this limited awareness is accompanied by a moderate level of concern regarding castration, especially in comparison to food safety and other pork production system-related animal welfare issues. Sixty percent of the sample had a general appreciation for the concept of immunocastration, as opposed to surgical castration. Informing consumers about the potential benefits and/or risks from immunocastration did not tend to have much effect in terms of altering their attitudes. Immunocastration did not emerge as a problem in terms of consumer acceptance: special attention should be paid to consumers' perception of pricing, food safety and the taste of the meat from immunocastrated pigs.


Many integral membrane proteins exist on the plasma membrane as part of multicomponent complexes. In addition to correctly transporting newly synthesized proteins from their site of synthesis in the endoplasmic reticulum to the plasma membrane, the cell must possess mechanisms to ensure that the complexes expressed on the cell surface are accurately assembled. The cell appears to accomplish this feat by superimposing a set of constraints on the newly synthesized membrane proteins whereby the structure and state of assembly of the protein determine its intracellular fate. These processes impose a dramatic level of post-translational regulation on the expression of surface membrane protein complexes. By and large, the cell uses these mechanisms to dispose of, or "edit out," newly synthesized proteins that are not correctly assembled or folded. This review will describe current views of the processes of architectural editing, with an emphasis on the regulation of cell surface expression of the multicomponent T-cell antigen receptor complex.


In the 2017 spring term, the design studio of Public Building at Tampere University of Technology in Finland set a design task for a building that not only occupies and strengthens an urban place in Tampere but also presents imagined spaces: a museum for the stories, characters and places of the Moomin graphic novels by Finnish illustrator Tove Jansson. These graphic novels form the cultural and literary heart of many Finnish childhoods. For the design of such a cultural building, questions of place, landscape, the experience of spatial and material qualities are crucial.
The project by Diana Rimniceanu begins with a museum in search of a place of its own in the city of Tampere. The museum extension aspires to express the Moomin stories through an architecture that is specific and autonomous, capable of preserving the richness and uniqueness of the place while revealing the unexpected landscapes that it hides; an architecture that grows gradually, scene by scene, creating encounters between the Moomin creatures, the historic industrial buildings and the new visitors. The intervention reveals through space a sequence of atmospheres rooted within the darkness and light of the Moomin stories while balancing between the reality of things and imagination.


Background and methods The national immunisation records of over 220 000 girls offered vaccine in the routine or catch-up programme of the Human papillomavirus (HPV) programme in Scotland were analysed. Descriptive statistics and multilevel modelling were used to determine individual and organisational factors associated with uptake. Age, school year, school denomination, deprivation and, for school-leavers, mode of delivery were explored. Additional aggregate data were used to examine the effect of late uptake of missed doses in the routine vaccination programme. Results School-based delivery initially achieved over 80% uptake of complete courses in routine and catch-up age groups. Within this context of generally high coverage, there was an association between individual level deprivation and lower uptake, and a decline in in-year course completion over time. However, later uptake of missed doses in the following year substantially decreased these effects. There was no influence on uptake of the type of school (non-denominational/denominational). Vaccination of school-leavers in the catch-up campaign had lower coverage, with 50% starting and 30% completing the course in-year. There was no clear advantage of vaccination through general practice or through Board-run clinics in reaching this group. Conclusions School-based vaccination can achieve high and equitable uptake of a multidose vaccine in a routine immunisation programme. Sustained high coverage with HPV vaccine across Scotland provides a stable platform for planning future strategies for cervical screening and understanding the impact of the vaccination at a population level.


Conceptual Physical Science,Fifth Edition, takes learning physical science to a new level by combining Hewitt's leading conceptual approach with a friendly writing style, strong integration of the sciences, more quantitative coverage, and a wealth of media resources to help professors in class, and students out of class. It provides a conceptual overview of basic, essential topics in physics, chemistry, earth science, and astronomy with optional quantitative coverage.


This study examines the economic and policy context for environmental investments in the candidate countries from Central and Eastern Europe. This context is created by macroeconomic constraints, the unfinished process of transition and the requirements of membership. The task of this paperback book is to identify these constraints and point to policy options for decision-makers on both sides of the enlargement process.
Experts originally estimated the investment cost for the CEECs to achieve compliance with the environmental acquis at around 3-4% of GDP over 20 years. The Commission now assumes they need to spend between 2 and 3% of GDP "in the coming years". But, as Wolfgang Hager explains in detail in the book, these are largely crude investment costs and do not include operational and financial follow-on costs which may be borne by the public budget. Commonly accepted prudential limits on public spending for the CEEC economies suggest a maximum expenditure on the environment – investment, financial charges and operational costs added together – of around 2.5% of GDP per annum. This translates into a mathematical necessity for transition periods expressed in decades rather than years.
The study argues that there are policy options available to substantially reduce the gap between the desirable and the possible. The present impasse results in part from a planning and forecast exercise that is based on multiplying quantities, taken as given, with equipment and operating costs, taken as given. This study seeks to demonstrate that the main constraint is budgetary rather than macroeconomic and that the full scope for off-budget investments therefore needs to be exploited. The author also finds there is a large scope for policies directed at improving efficiency: achieving the greatest environmental benefit from a given amount of resources.


Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been shown to be effective in the treatment of acute soft tissue injuries. However, taken orally, NSAIDs have a definite incidence of gastro-intestinal toxicity. Since acute soft tissue trauma is normally localised, use of a topical NSAID may eliminate this undesirable side-effect. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a topical NSAID, biphenylacetic acid 3% gel (Traxam) in the treatment of soft tissue trauma. Thirty-two patients (22 males and 10 females) with acute soft tissue trauma were enrolled at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, National University Hospital, Singapore from 7 June 1988 to 28 March 1989. Each patient was treated for a period of one week with bipenylacetic acid 3% gel (Traxam), 60 mg three times a day. Statistically significant improvement was found in pain, swelling and functional impairment in all patients assessed at day 3 and day 7 after the injury. The speed of recovery was enhanced. The medication was found to be well tolerated and safe.


Johor traditional Malay houses are typically known for its Limas roof. However, apart from the significant roof, woodcarving motifs found in Johor traditional Malay houses also possess a distinct architectural heritage that can promote the identity of a region. Many woodcarving motifs are found and should be studiedand managedto sustain the identity of a local region as part of heritage sustainable management. A study on typology of woodcarvings motifs is critically needed in order to avoid losing the authenticity of each state if not being preserved and documented. Johor traditional Malay houses are being demolished day by day before we get to know the typology of it's woodcarving motifs. The objective of this paper is to identify the woodcarvings motifs found in Johor traditional Malay houses, reveal the typology and analyze the mostly used to be named as the identity of Johor woodcarving motif. Site visits were conducted to 60 traditional Malay houses around Johor in which the woodcarvings motifs were examined, photographed and documented. Interviews were also conducted with the house owners or occupants, and the wood carvers. The samples were analyzed,and the results were verified by experts. A total of 12typologies derived from 13 motifs were discovered, drawn, codedand named. The pumpkin motif preceded the percentage of the analysis statistics of mostly used and wasnamed as Labu Maya. The findings of this research suggest that the Labu Maya motif represents the identity of woodcarving motifs of Johor traditional Malay houses. From the analysis and discussion made, 12 typologies on Johor woodcarving motifs were revealed, named and documented. This research has shown the local authenticity, beautiful heritage that should be enhanced through managing the typology and sustaining the local identity as part of sustainable management. All these typologies are important for Johor architectural heritage, body of knowledge and also for tourism purposes.


Safety operation of mechanical equipment groups is of great importance to production and human resources as well as environment. In order to ensure safe operation and improve intelligent level of early fault prediction for key mechanical equipment groups, this paper proposes fault prediction and health management based on the internet of things with structure of three layers to realize comprehensive perception, reliable transmission and intelligent processing of the fault information from the mechanical equipment groups. Two key technologies like condition monitoring and fault prediction are analyzed and application prospects of fault prediction and health management for mechanical equipment groups based on the internet of things are presented in this paper.


The question of whether the ovulation and spawning time in chub mackerel Scomber japonicus is entrained by a circadian rhythm was raised by our previous experiments. Further questions were also raised about whether the time course of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)-induced final oocyte maturation (FOM) and ovulation reflected the natural time course induced by endogeneous pituitary gonadotropin (GtH). To address these questions, hCG and gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog (GnRHa) were administered at two 'opposite' times, 14:00 and 02:00 hours, and the time courses of FOM and ovulation were compared. When hCG was injected, ovulation occurred 33 h post-injection in both groups, regardless of the timing of the hCG injection. The timing of ovulation in chub mackerel depends on the timing of hCG injection, but apparently not on circadian rhythms. When GnRHa was injected, ovulation began at 36 h post-injection of GnRHa, regardless of the timing of injection. These results indicate that the time course of FOM and ovulation in the chub mackerel followed a similar pattern whether stimulated by hCG injection or spontaneous luteinizing hormone (LH) surge because GnRHa induces the secretion of endogenous GtH (primarily LH) from the fish pituitary. Thus, it is concluded that the time course of hCG-induced FOM and ovulation in chub mackerel follows the natural time course induced by endogenous pituitary LH.


Globally, there is a growing interest in using disclosure rules in corporate and securities law to achieve social policy goals. The blending of corporate law with social issues is a transformation of disclosure obligations, which have traditionally focused on reducing information asymmetries and instilling confidence in the market. At the same time, the amalgamation of disclosure requirements with social goals signals a convergence of private and public goals. Private corporations are now being asked to take on a role in promoting social policies — a role traditionally allocated to governments. Against this background, this article examines the utility of disclosure rules to promote social policies. The article finds that the role for public issues in the private area of corporate and securities law is limited, but concludes — from a comparative perspective — that disclosure rules which are narrow in scope and boast a high degree of specificity can be effective supplementary devices for curing corporate ills.


This report describes the effect that protein modifications by isoforms of the small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) have on plant development and innate immunity. SUM1 and SUM2 were found to be essential for suppressing defense responses in noninfected plants by preventing accumulation of the defense hormone salicylic acid, whereas SUM3 enhances these defense responses in infected plants. Posttranslational modifications allow dynamic and reversible changes to protein function. In Arabidopsis thaliana, a small gene family encodes paralogs of the small ubiquitin-like posttranslational modifier. We studied the function of these paralogs. Single mutants of the SUM1 and SUM2 paralogs do not exhibit a clear phenotype. However, the corresponding double knockdown mutant revealed that SUM1 and SUM2 are essential for plant development, floral transition, and suppression of salicylic acid (SA)–dependent defense responses. The SUM1 and SUM2 genes are constitutively expressed, but their spatial expression patterns do not overlap. Tight transcriptional regulation of these two SUM genes appears to be important, as overexpression of either wild-type or conjugation-deficient mutants resulted in activation of SA-dependent defense responses, as did the sum1 sum2 knockdown mutant. Interestingly, expression of the paralog SUM3 is strongly and widely induced by SA and by the defense elicitor Flg22, whereas its expression is otherwise low and restricted to a few specific cell types. Loss of SUM3 does not result in an aberrant developmental phenotype except for late flowering, while SUM3 overexpression causes early flowering and activates plant defense. Apparently, SUM3 promotes plant defense downstream of SA, while SUM1 and SUM2 together prevent SA accumulation in noninfected plants.


The 1996 election of a conservative coalition government after 13 years of Labor Party rule has brought marked changes in the Australian political climate. The Prime Minister, John Howard, has attacked political correctness (PC) and claimed that his government has lifted the pall of censorship that hung over Australia. Also important in this context has been the election of independent Pauline Hanson, an overt racist, to the Federal Parliament. Standing for a traditional working class Labor seat, Hanson achieved a huge swing. Since her election she has continued to attack Aborigines and Asians. The elections of Howard and Hanson have sparked off discussion about the meaning and role of political correctness as well as a race debate.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.


-Objectives: According to World Health Organization, anemia is defined as the value of Hemoglobin (Hb) <13 g/dl in adult males, <12 g/dl in non-pregnant women and <11 g/dl in pregnant women. Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is the most common cause of anemia. There are limited comparative data in the literature, regarding response to parenteral iron therapy. Data of the patients with parenteral iron therapy for IDA were retrospectively examined in this study to reveal their treatment responses. Methods: Data of 145 patients underwent parenteral iron therapy for IDA between April 2013-September 2017 at the hematology outpatient clinic of Izmir Bozyaka Training and Research Hospital were reviewed retrospectively. Pre- and post-treatment hemogram and iron parameters were evaluated with a view to examine the efficacy and adverse effects of parenteral Iron Sucrose (IS) and Iron Carboxymaltose (ICM) administrations and compare treatment responses. Results: 145 patients were included in the study,127(87.5%) female,18(12.5%) male, median age was 43.5(17-87) years. ICM was administered in 65(44.8%), IS in 80(55.2%) patients. Hemoglobin increase was 3.2 g/dl at the end of the 4th week in ICM group while 2.1 g/dl in IS group, which was not statistically significant (p=0.7). Ferritin increase in the first month of treatment displayed a statistically significance in favor of ICM.(48x104, p=0.0001). Conclusion: Both parenteral treatment options are highly effective and reliable in early response to IDA, and the increase observed in hemoglobin and ferritin levels was more prominent with ICM. Abstract


The United Kingdom has amended its nationality legislation in order to make it easier for the state to exercise citizenship deprivation powers. The new powers target citizens who have engaged in behaviours labelled by the UK executive as not conducive to the public good. Statelessness operates as the outer limit of the government's capacity to transform citizens into foreigners and plays an important role in limiting the exercise of executive powers.


This paper shows that product innovations disproportionately benefit high-income households due to increasing inequality and the endogenous response of supply to market size. Using detailed product-level data in the retail sector in the United States, the paper shows that from 2004 to 2013 annualized quality-adjusted inflation has been 0.65 percentage points lower for high-income households, relative to low-income households. Using national and local changes in market size driven by demographic trends plausibly exogenous to supply factors, the paper then provides causal evidence that a shock to the relative demand for goods (1) affects the direction of product innovations, and (2) leads to a decrease in the relative price of the good for which demand became relatively larger (i.e. the long-term supply curve is downward sloping). A calibration shows that this effect is sufficiently strong to explain most of the observed difference in quality-adjusted inflation rates across the income distribution.


Semiconductor material characterization in terms of defect parameters is presently evaluated experimentally by applying the Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) recombination time constant expression. A recent analytic solution to the SRH rate equations extended to differential rate equations for two multiple defect level systems, yields a solution derived without an approximation. In terms of material characterisation, this exact solution is shown to provide detailed information on multiple level depths in contrast to the existing theory, which relies on one dominant single level. Furthermore, for semiconductor samples known to be predominantly doped with one defect species, it is shown theoretically that the dominant decay is influenced by the other defect species present in the semiconductor sample.


Introduction: Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Swiss men and the second leading cause of cancer related death among them (e.g. CH: 1,267 in year 1998). With the population at risk constantly growing these absolute numbers are expected to further increase. While there is no question that aggressive treatment of localised tumour is required for definitive cure of prostate cancer, the application of screening for early stage disease remains controversial. Since 1998 the Clinic of Urology in Kantonsspital Aarau has participated in the ERSPC (European Randomised Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer) study, which is designed to provide data on prostate cancer screening within a prospective randomised controlled setting. Methods: Men aged between 55 and 70 years were enrolled in the study. From n = 18,361 men invited by a letter to participate, 7,124 (38.8%) agreed and gave their informed consent to be randomised in either a PSA measurement (n = 3,562, group 1) or a control group (n = 3,562, group 2). Men in group 1 with a PSA level ≥3.0 ng/ml, n = 372 (10.5%) then underwent ultrasound guided transrectal sextant biopsy of the prostate. Results: Prostate cancer was detected at presentation in every fourth man biopsied (n = 89). Neither the free-to-total PSA ratio nor the PSA density could significantly spare biopsies while sustaining a high sensitivity level. The overall cancer detection rate amounted to 2.5% in PSA tested men. In 7% (n = 5) distant disease was already present. 93% of men with clinically organ confined disease underwent prostatectomy (n = 59) or radiotherapy (n = 22), whilst only (n = 3) chose to follow a policy of watchful waiting. In 92% the histology of the prostatectomy specimens revealed aggressive cancer characteristics according to the criteria of Epstein et al. Conclusions: Although the clinically relevant tumour characteristics and the relatively low cancer detection rate of 2.5% (less than the lifetime mortality risk of 3% and the morbidity risk of 8%) seem to justify screening in terms of adequate diagnosis and treatment, follow-up until 2008 is needed to prove the benefit in mortality for the prostate cancer screening group over the control group. Furthermore, information from the ongoing ERSPC study is needed in order to assess uncertainties i.e. the degree of overdiagnosis caused by repeated screening and the quality of life adjusted gain in life years. For daily practice a "PSA grey zone" of 4–10 ng/ml can no longer be postulated as only 70% of men in this range presented with organ confined disease. Once the PSA level exceeds 4.0 ng/ml. prostate biopsy should be performed immediately


Digitalization in the oil and gas industry has led to the formation of digital twins. Digital twins bring closer the physical and virtual world as data is transmitted seamlessly between real time sensors, databases and models. The strength of the digital twin concept is the interconnectivity of data and models. Any model can use any combination of inputs (e.g. operator owned data sets and sensors, third-party databases such as soil composition or weather data, results from other models such as flow assurance, threat modelling or risk modelling). Consequently, the result of one model may become the input of another. This strength is also a weakness, as uncertain (or missing data) will lead to a great source of uncertainty and may lead to wrong results. Worst case scenarios have been used to solve this issue without success. This paper presents a new concept: probabilistic digital twins for pipelines. Probabilistic digital twins do not lose uncertainty as results pass from one model to another, thus providing greater confidence in the final results. This publication reviews the probabilistic digital twin concept and demonstrates how it can be implemented using gas pipeline data from West Pipeline Company, CNPC.


Given the increase in population and energy demand worldwide, alternative methods have been adopted for the production of hydrogen as a clean energy source. This energy offers an alternative energy source due to its high energy content, and without emissions to the environment. In this bibliometric analysis of energy production using electrolysis and taking into account the different forms of energy production. In this analysis, it was possible to evaluate the research trends based on the literature in the Scopus database during the years 2011–2021. The results showed a growing interest in hydrogen production from electrolysis and other mechanisms, with China being the country with the highest number of publications and the United States TOP in citations. The trend shows that during the first four years of this study (2011–2014), the average number of publications was 74 articles per year, from 2015 to 2021 where the growth is an average of 209 articles, the journal that published the most on this topic is Applied Energy, followed by Energy, contributing with almost 33% in the research area. Lastly, the keyword analysis identified six important research points for future discussions, which we have termed clusters. The study concludes that new perspectives on clean hydrogen energy generation, environmental impacts, and social acceptance could contribute to the positive evolution of the hydrogen energy industry.


Research strategies and sources for selected short stories: The Yellow Wallpaper, ..y no se lo trago la tierra, Cask of Amontillado, Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, and A Temporary Matter.


Inflammation and oxidative stress are 2 factors that play an important role in Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). Controlling these 2 factors is expected to give better kidney functions outcomes. Statins have anti-inflammatory and antioxidative stress effects apart from their lipid-lowering effect. In this study, we want to analyze that statin might be one of a renoprotective agent through their pleiotropic effect as an anti-inflammation and anti-oxidative in CKD patients. This is a cross-sectional study that enrolled of 40 patients with CKD: 20 patients consumed statin and 20 patients did not consume statin. We compared HDL; inflammatory markers: high sensitive – C reactive protein (hsCRP), absolute neutrophil count, absolute leukocyte count, absolute eosinophil count, and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR); and oxidative stress marker malondialdehyde (MDA) with kidney functions (GFR, cystatin c, BUN, albumin urine, and creatinine serum) between groups. Then we analyze the correlation between HDL, inflammatory markers, and oxidative marker with kidney functions. The results are HDL and MDA had a correlation with all the kidney function, hs-CRP correlated with GFR, cystatin c, and BUN, and NLR correlated with GFR, cystatin c, BUN, and creatinine serum. Statin group significantly have lower hs-CRP, NLR, and MDA. HDL, absolute neutrophil, leukocyte, and eosinophil count are lower in the statin group but not significantly. All the kidney function markers significantly have a better outcome in the statin group. This study concludes that lowering inflammation and oxidative stress levels using statin could be one of the strategy therapies in CKD to achieve better kidney function outcomes.