The complex flow and wave pattern following an initially planar shock wave transmitted through a double-bend duct is studied experimentally and theoretically/numerically. Several different double-bend duct geometries are investigated in order to assess their effects on the accompanying flow and shock wave attenuation while passing through these ducts. The effect of the duct wall roughness on the shock wave attenuation is also studied. The main flow diagnostic used in the experimental part is either an interferometric study or alternating shadow–schlieren diagnostics. The photos obtained provide a detailed description of the flow evolution inside the ducts investigated. Pressure measurements were also taken in some of the experiments. In the theoretical/numerical part the conservation equations for an inviscid, perfect gas were solved numerically. It is shown that the proposed physical model (Euler equations), which is solved by using the second-order-accurate, high-resolution GRP (generalized Riemann problem) scheme, can simulate such a complex, time-dependent process very accurately. Specifically, all wave patterns are numerically simulated throughout the entire interaction process. Excellent agreement is found between the numerical simulation and the experimental results. The efficiency of a double-bend duct in providing a shock wave attenuation is clearly demonstrated.


This paper investigates errors in compositions written by junior and senior high school students. Two types of errors are specifically targeted, one relating to grammar in subject-verb agreement and another relating to the word class of prepositions. The aim of the present study is to focus on aspects which are of particular difficulty for the students, and to unveil underlying psycholinguistic mechanisms which affect the students' acquisition process, for example, a potential influence of the mother tongue. The study is also expected to yield information about potential differences in error frequency and language construction between proficiency levels. The study is cross-sectional and includes altogether fifty-six samples collected from 7th and 9th grade at junior high school, and Year 1 and Year 3 at senior high school. Each group has produced fourteen compositions of free writing, and each text consists of approximately 200-300 words. The topic of the writing task was related to the supernatural and the head title was set as Do you believe in ghosts? A few taxonomies (James, 1998) and a method referred to as Error Analysis (Ellis, 1994), (both deriving from Second Language Acquisition research) are used to categorize, describe and explain error frequencies of certain error types. The results of the study show that the error frequency generally decreases from one expected proficiency level to another. The highest number of errors was found in 7th grade students' writing, and the lowest in Year 3 students' writing. Regardless of proficiency level, what is most troublesome for the students with subject-verb agreement is to master the 3rd person –s inflection. Prepositions, on the other hand, which account for a lower number of errors in the compositions compared to the number of subject-verb agreement errors, tend to be used erroneously when the students are confused about when and which a particular preposition should agree in a specific contextual meaning in English.


Hydroxyapatite (HAp)-alginate gels were developed as drug delivery carriers of the anti-cancer drug, water-insoluble paclitaxel (Taxol). The spray-drying technique was employed for loading the paclitaxel into spherical HAp microparticles with 1 to 20 μm in diameter. The microparticles loaded with 2.4 or 7.3wt% of paclitaxel were then mixed with sodium alginate, which was followed by Ca2+-mediated gelation. The compressive strength of the HAp-alginate gels and the release of paclitaxel from the gels in a medium were investigated in vitro. The alginate matrix was effective for the achievement of controlled release of anti-cancer drugs.


Spinal epidural hematoma (SEH) following neuraxial anesthesia needs prompt recognition and early decompressive measures to prevent long-term neurologic injury. We report a case of SEH presenting on the second postoperative day during an ongoing epidural infusion. Aspiration of blood through the epidural catheter and a subsequent improvement in the neurological symptoms made us suspect SEH, which was further confirmed by an MRI study. We describe the timeline of the presentation of SEH and the subsequent clinical course in our patient. Aspiration of blood through an in situ epidural catheter may not only point toward the possibility of SEH but may also temporarily decompress the spinal canal.


While prominent life-span sport participation and development models suggest children enter organized sport at approximately six years of age (i.e., Developmental Model of Sport Participation [DMSP], CA´tA© & Fraser-Thomas, 2016; Long-Term Athlete Development Model [LTAD], CS4L, 2016), current trends indicate active free play is being replaced by organized sport at markedly younger ages (AAP, 2019; ParticipACTION, 2018). As limited research captures children's sport experiences during the early years (i.e., ages 0-6), this study aimed to advance understanding of toddler and preschooler sport participation, by exploring patterns of sport take-up, pathways, and general patterns of engagement. Data were collected through external program observations of five early-years sport programs (i.e., multi-sport, soccer, hockey, rugby, and gymnastics), as well as 10 semi-structured parent interviews (Mage = 36.4; six female, four male), who each had a child between 3-5 years of age enrolled in one of the aforementioned programs. Results offer novel insight into toddler and preschooler children's sport, organized physical activity, active-play, and unstructured sport habits, while also highlighting common features and engagement patterns within early-years sport programs (e.g., structure, movement/sport skill focus, play-based activities). Findings suggest existing models (i.e., DMSP, CA´tA© & Fraser-Thomas, 2016; LTAD, CS4L, 2016) do not reflect or align with the delivery of or experiences within early-years sport programming. Future research is needed to determine what engagement patterns/program activities are optimal for toddler and preschooler development, to in turn contribute to refined versions of models, while acknowledging that sport participation is occurring prior to six years of age.Acknowledgments: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [grant no. 435-2016-1630], and Ontario Graduate Scholarship.


1. Overview of the JIP Database To measure total factor productivity (TFP) of the Japanese economy by industry, we created a database that we are calling the Japan Industry Productivity (JIP) database. The database contains annual information on 84 sectors, including 49 non-manufacturing sectors, from 1970 to 1998. It includes detailed information on factor inputs, annual input-output tables, relatively reliable deflators, and some additional data, such as R&D stock, and Japan's trade data by trade partner, etc., at a detailed sectoral level. 2. Estimate of TFP Growth of the Japanese Economy Labor quality is not taken into consideration in estimating TFP growth rates in many previous studies. When we estimate the TFP growth rate of the Japanese economy for the period of 1970-98 by taking it into consideration, we find that the TFP growth rate in consideration of labor quality was lower than that in no consideration of it. This implies that accumulation of human capital through school education and aging after 1970 contributed to improvements in labor productivity.When we take capacity utilization into consideration, we find that we tend to underestimate TFP for the periods of recession. Still, we can say that the TFP growth rates in the 1990s were lower than those before. 3. Estimate of TFP Growth By Sector When we compare TFP growth rates in service sectors and non-service ones, we find that those in non-service sectors were relatively high before the 1990s, while TFP growth rates in service sectors were relatively low before the 1990s. However, a new trend can be found in the 1990s. It should be noted that TFP growth rates in some of service sectors where deregulation was accelerated in the 1990s were getting higher. 4. Estimate of Software Investment In National Accounts of Japan, only order-made software investment is estimated. We estimate in-house software and general application software as well as order-made software. Our estimation suggests that Japan's official statistics underestimate software investment. The huge gap in software investment between the U.S. and Japanese official statistics vanishes when we take account of in-house software and general application software.


Abstract Individual lithic discard activities from an open site in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, were identified by using conjoining and minimum analytical nodules (MAN). Activities identified included core flaking associated with backed artefact production, other types of core flaking, tool use and retouching of transported tools. Artefacts made or used elsewhere were also discarded on site. Core flaking associated with backed artefact production resulted in high artefact discard rates, while other kinds of activities were more common, but were associated with lower discard rates. The assemblage associated with backed artefact production had a restricted range of raw material types, was dominated by small artefacts, and had higher proportions of elongate flakes, as well as faceted and focal platforms. The assemblage created from other activities included diverse raw material types, large artefacts, few elongate flakes, and a higher proportion of cortical platforms. The results from this study have implications for how artefact discard rates and assemblage attributes may be interpreted at other sites in the Hunter Valley.


Background Despite medical school admission committees' best efforts, a handful of seemingly capable students invariably struggle during their first year of study. Yet, even as entrance criteria continue to broaden beyond cognitive qualifications, attention inevitably reverts back to such factors when seeking to understand these phenomena. Using a host of applicant, admission, and post-admission variables, the purpose of this inductive study, then, was to identify a constellation of student characteristics that, taken collectively, would be predictive of students at-risk of underperforming during the first year of medical school. In it, we hypothesize that a wider range of factors than previously recognized could conceivably play roles in understanding why students experience academic problems early in the medical educational continuum. Methods The study sample consisted of the five most recent matriculant cohorts from a large, southeastern medical school (n=537). Independent variables reflected: 1) the personal demographics of applicants (e.g., age, gender); 2) academic criteria (e.g., undergraduate grade point averages [GPA], medical college admission test); 3) selection processes (e.g., entrance track, interview scores, committee votes); and 4) other indicators of personality and professionalism (e.g., Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test™ emotional intelligence scores, NEO PI-R™ personality profiles, and appearances before the Professional Code Committee [PCC]). The dependent variable, first-year underperformance, was defined as ANY action (repeat, conditionally advance, or dismiss) by the college's Student Progress and Promotions Committee (SPPC) in response to predefined academic criteria. This study protocol was approved by the local medical institutional review board (IRB). Results Of the 537 students comprising the study sample, 61 (11.4%) met the specified criterion for academic underperformance. Significantly increased academic risks were identified among students who 1) had lower mean undergraduate science GPAs (OR=0.24, p=0.001); 2) entered medical school via an accelerated BS/MD track (OR=16.15, p=0.002); 3) were 31 years of age or older (OR=14.76, p=0.005); and 4) were non-unanimous admission committee admits (OR=0.53, p=0.042). Two dimensions of the NEO PI-R™ personality inventory, openness (+) and conscientiousness (-), were modestly but significantly correlated with academic underperformance. Only for the latter, however, were mean scores found to differ significantly between academic performers and underperformers. Finally, appearing before the college's PCC (OR=4.21, p=0.056) fell just short of statistical significance. Conclusions Our review of various correlates across the matriculation process highlights the heterogeneity of factors underlying students' underperformance during the first year of medical school and challenges medical educators to understand the complexity of predicting who, among admitted matriculants, may be at future academic risk.


The article problematises the role of real estate in geopolitical circulations. The internationalisation of real estate increases mutual dependencies and vulnerabilities between nation states and, therefore, calls for a better appreciation of the geopolitical externalities and exteriorities of real estate. The article brings together disjoint bodies of literature on real estate globalisation, assemblage theory, and international relations to show how real estate is a case of the geopolitics of the multiple – geopolitics that is being assembled by diverse and distributed actors, discourses, and materialities representing the contingent and emergent formation of connections and considerations, which affect the ways how foreign relations are negotiated today. The argument is substantiated by considering several dimensions of the real estate/geopolitics nexus: (1) external influences over domestic real estate markets; (2) the implications of outward real estate investment; and (3) state-led mega-projects conveying externally the power of the state. These dimensions are considered empirically in the context of the renewed geopolitical tensions between a resurgent Russia and the West. Overall, the article calls for a better positioning of real estate in the conceptualisations of soft power, state power, and geopolitics.


Cancer is one of the major health problem with one in four Malaysians (1:4) will develop cancer by 75 years old. Increased consumption of fruits and vegetables has been recommended to reduce the risk of various types of cancer. The antioxidant properties of micro and macro nutrients besides the polyphenolic compounds present may explain the protective effects. This study was conducted to investigate the antioxidant activities and anticancer potential of Cyphomandra betacea (tamarillo)and to compare with its counterpart the Solanum lycopersicum (tomato). Results from nutritional compositions analyses showed that tamarillo possessed higher ash, protein, carbohydrate and minerals (calcium, magnesium and potassium) than tomato. Tamarillo also reported to have higher total phenol and flavonoid contents compared to tomato which represents about 7% of its total weight. The antioxidant studies also revealed that tamarillo displayed strongest antioxidant activities as assessed using both DPPH scavenging and beta-carotene bleaching assay. The presence ofp-coumaric acid, caffeic acid and vanillic acid analysed by HPLC have been identified as the key polyphenolic compounds found in tamarillo, meanwhile GC-MS analysis showed the presence of 11 phytochemical compounds. The cytotoxic behavior of tamarillo and tomatoshowed that both extracts strongly inhibited the proliferation of liver (HepG2) and non-hormone dependent breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. Conversely, the sample extracts did not exert any significant cytotoxic effect against 3T3. The cellular morphologyrevealed the typical morphological features of apoptotic cells while AO/PI double staining observed apoptotic mediated cell death of HepG2 and MDA-MB-231. Exposure of both extracts resulted in the formation of DNA ladder pattern in both HepG2 and MDA-MB-231. Tamarillo extract induced cell cycle arrest in HepG2 at sub-G1 phase at 24 h, followed by the reduction in the S and G2/M phases after 72 h of incubation. Further investigations of the antiproliferative activities using colorimetric BrdU incorporation demonstrated a reduction in the number of viable cells which underwent synthesis (S phase), hence suggesting that both extracts demonstrated inhibitory effects in proliferation of HepG2 and MDA-MB-231. Annexin V FIT-C staining confirmed that apoptosis occurred early in HepG2-treated tamarillo while tamarillo treated MDA-MB-231 showed that the early apoptosis increased up to 56% at the end of 48 h of treatment. This apoptosis occurred to be dependent on the activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3, but not caspase-8. Together with the released of cytochrome c, established that both extracts possibly induced apoptosis in HepG2 and MDA-MB-231 through the intrinsic pathway. The molecular mechanism in the induction of apoptosis by both extracts in HepG2 and MDA-MB-231 found that Bax protein was elevated with a concomitant down-regulation of Bcl-2 expression. Alongside, a marked immunoexpression of p53 was also observed. The final chapter concerns the factors that determined the protective roles tamarillo extract on hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress in 3T3. Results showed that cells pre-treated cell with tamarillo extract (10 μg/ml) were best protected from H2O2 toxicity. Also, no toxic effect was observed (200 μg/ml), suggesting that tamarillo is a selective anticancer agent with low toxicity effect. In an attempt to study the combination effect of tamarillo with commercial chemotherapy drug led to final part of this study. Combination of tamarillo extract with Doxorubicin in HepG2 resulted in a synergism effect. The most effective combination (CI values = 0.45) was 1.6 μg/ml of Doxorubicin with 30 μg/ml of tamarillo extract on the growth inhibition of HepG2. In summary, tamarillo demonstrated promising anticancer properties especially in liver and breast cancer that could be attributed for their potent antioxidant activity and high polyphenolic compounds. The synergistic combination of tamarillo with commercial chemotherapy drug opens a new possible approach in the cancer treatments that are more effective and less toxic effect.


Phase-stepping photoelasticity has been used to study the fragmentation of an E-glass fibre in epoxy resin and examine quantitatively the effect of a transverse matrix crack on the stress transfer at an interphase. Unsized glass fibre was coated by plasma polymerisation with a crosslinked conformal film of 90% acrylic acid and 10% 1,7-octadiene. The micro-mechanical response at the fibre-matrix interphase and in the adjacent matrix has been described in detail using contour maps of fringe order. From these, the interfacial shear stress profiles at fibre-break have been calculated.


Objectives We evaluated the association between exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and immunological measurements using blood samples from coke oven workers exposed to high and low PAH levels. Methods A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 2008–2009 with coke oven workers and steel-rolling workers as the exposed and control groups, respectively. Questionnaires on basic demographic information were administered. Personal breathing zone and urine samples were collected to quantify personal PAH intake and biological response doses. Immunological and cytokine parameters in serum were analysed. Urinary malondialdehyde (MDA) and 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) were analysed to determine oxidative stress induced by PAHs in relation to altered humoural immunological status. Results Mean levels of serum immunoglobulin A (IgA) and TNF-α were significantly increased in coke oven workers compared to steel-rolling workers who had no or minimal PAH exposure (p=0.0033 and p<0.0001, respectively). There were no significant differences in mean levels of IL-4 and IL-10 between coke oven workers and steel-rolling workers. Moderate activation of lipid peroxidation and oxidative damage as determined by plasma MDA and 8-OHdG levels were detected simultaneously with significant alterations in IgA and IgE levels. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that PAHs with high molecular weights >252 (dibenzo(a,h)anthracene, benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(a)anthracene and/or indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene) correlated with IgA and IgE levels. Conclusions This study showed that coke oven workers with chronic exposure to PAHs may develop immunological alteration. Oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation induced by PAHs may partly explain the alteration in immunological parameters.


This paper discusses strategic issues in language 'management' (Spolsky 2009; Jennudd and Neustupný 1987) and its complexity in relation to the maintenance of minority languages in contemporary Indonesia. Within Indonesia it is argued that language can be managed and that it should be managed as part of a national language policy framework (among other means). This is especially pertinent in the case of threatened minority languages. The discussion focuses on how categorizing an issue as either a 'threat' or an 'opportunity' has affected the priorities and the motivations in strategic decisions and implementations of language policies in Indonesia. These labels have symbolic and instrumental values, and both can be potentially exploited to achieve positive outcomes for language survival. However, the complexity and uncertainty of the problems in dealing with minority languages and their speech communities call for a sophisticated interdisciplinary model of language management. The problems will be illustrated using cases from (eastern) Indonesia, showing how Categorization (Cognitive) Theory and Organisational Theory (Rosch 1978; Rosch and Mervis 1975; Dutton & Jackson 1981) are useful for conceptualizing strategic issues by decision makers at different levels – individuals, families, traditional organizations (adat), and government institutions.


In Methyl Ammonium Lead Iodide (MAPI) perovskite solar cells, screening of the built-in field by mobile ions has been proposed as part of the cause of the large hysteresis observed in the current/voltage scans in many cells. We show that photocurrent transients measured immediately (e.g. 100 μs) after a voltage step can provide direct evidence that this field screening exists. Just after a step to forward bias, the photocurrent transients are reversed in sign (i.e. inverted), and the magnitude of the inverted transients can be used to find an upper bound on the width of the space charge layers adjacent to the electrodes. This in turn provides a lower bound on the mobile charge concentration, which we find to be ≳1 × 1017 cm−3. Using a new photocurrent transient experiment, we show that the space charge layer thickness remains approximately constant as a function of bias, as expected for mobile ions in a solid electrolyte. We also discuss additional characteristics of the inverted photocurrent transients that imply either an unusually stable deep trapping, or a photo effect on the mobile ion conductivity.


Background: Malnutrition remains one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality among children throughout the world. It is responsible for over 50% death of under age of 5 years children. Objective: To assess feeding practice and factors associated with severe acute malnutrition in under age of 5 year children admitted to Addis Ababa Government Hospitals, Ethiopia, 2014. Methods and Materials: A cross sectional study design was conducted on 151 under age of 5 year children admitted to Addis Ababa Governmental Hospitals from April to May 2014. The required number of sample was selected based on the registration and diagnosis. Data was collected by review of medical records and interview of the family member nearby during data collection. The data was manipulated and analyzed by using Epi.info version 3.5.4 for windows and SPSS version 16.0. Results: Out of one hundred fifty one study subjects, 124(82.1%) of them breastfed; but majority of them, 65.4% did not practice exclusive breast feeding. Maternal illiteracy had 2.46 times high risk and significant association with severe acute malnutrition (AOR = 2.46, 95% CI, 1.4-42.4). Being age younger than 11 months also showed 5.97 times high risk and statistically significant association with severe acute malnutrition (AOR = 5.97, 95% CI, 1.8-20). Children of governmental employee mother were 2.29 times high risk to be affected by marasmus (AOR = 2.29, 95% CI, 1.4–3.86). Male children were 2.28 times higher risk to be affected by the case than female children (AOR = 2.28, 95% CI, 1.1–4.9). Conclusion: Maternal illiteracy, maternal occupation, sex of the child being male and age of the child younger than 11 months have strong and statistically significant association with child severe acute malnutrition.


One of the main open challenges in visual odometry (VO) is the robustness to difficult illumination conditions or high dynamic range (HDR) environments. The main difficulties in these situations come from both the limitations of the sensors and the inability to perform a successful tracking of interest points because of the bold assumptions in VO, such as brightness constancy. We address this problem from a deep learning perspective, for which we first fine-tune a deep neural network with the purpose of obtaining enhanced representations of the sequences for VO. Then, we demonstrate how the insertion of long short term memory allows us to obtain temporally consistent sequences, as the estimation depends on previous states. However, the use of very deep networks enlarges the computational burden of the VO framework; therefore, we also propose a convolutional neural network of reduced size capable of performing faster. Finally, we validate the enhanced representations by evaluating the sequences produced by the two architectures in several state-of-art VO algorithms, such as ORB-SLAM and DSO.


The use of herbal medicines remains controversial despite their wide use by consumers. By U.S. standards few of these products have been sufficiently evaluated in scientific studies to determine with certainty their efficacy and safety. The authors review the herbal medicines with reputed psychiatric indications and discuss the potential adverse events with which physicians should be familiar. Whatever their potential benefits, some of these herbal products have potentially serious side effects, and many can interact with prescription medications. Patients frequently do not tell their physicians about their use of alternative medicines, and practitioners must ask specifically about products patients may be taking for health promotion and disease prevention as well as for the treatment of the presenting complaint.


Conducting a project with multiple participants is a complex task that involves multiple social, economic, and psychological interactions. Conducting academic research in general and the process of writing an academic manuscript, in particular, is notorious for being challenging to successfully navigate due to the current form of collaboration dynamics common in academia. In this study, we propose a game-theory-based model for a co-authorship writing project in which authors are allowed to raise an ultimatum, blocking the publishment of the manuscript if they do not get more credit for the work. Using the proposed model, we explore the influence of the contribution and utility of publishing the manuscript on the rate one or more authors would gain from raising an ultimatum. Similarly, we show that the project's duration and the current state have a major impact on this rate, as well as the number of authors. In addition, we examine common student-advisor and colleague-colleague co-authorships scenarios. Our model reveals disturbing results and demonstrates that the current, broadly accepted, academic practices for collaborations are designed in a way that stimulates authors to raise an ultimatum and stopped only by their integrity and not by a systematic design.


Each fish species tends to choose a suitable environment suitable for its survival and reproduction horizontally and vertically. Blue shark (Prionace glauca) is the dominant catch of pelagic sharks by-catch in the Eastern Indian Ocean longline tuna fishery, with about 70% of the total sharks caught in this fisheries. This study aims to provide the information and the vertical analysis distribution of blue sharks based on temperature and depth in the Indian Ocean. The scientific observer collected 2,951 set-by-set longline fishing data based on Research Institute For Tuna Fisheries (RITF) from January 2006 to December 2018, on which the present analysis was made. The mini logger was used to measure the vertical distribution of blue sharks in the longline fisheries. This result indicated that blue shark was caught between 75.18-445.46 m depth, with 84% of which live at thermocline area (70-300 m depth), and 16% lived in underlayer area (>300 m depth). Blue sharks distributed in the underlayer area have a larger body size than those in the thermocline area with a size >180 cmFL compared to 50-170 cmFL in the thermocline area.


From the early days of management research and standardization in the late 1980's, there has always been a quest for a management technology that would be general enough to be used for network, system, service, and distributed application management; efficient in terms of information retrieval time, computational resources required, and management traffic incurred; and easy to use in order to reduce development time and operational costs. From protocol-based approaches such as OSI management and SNMP, attention shifted to distributed object and Web-based approaches. Recently, XML-based approaches and, in particular, Web services have been emerging as a promising Internet-based technology that might also be used for management. In this article we survey first the key aspects of protocol and distributed object approaches to management. We subsequently examine Web services as a distributed object approach to management, and consider its suitability, usability, and performance in comparison to SNMP and CORBA.


We demonstrate a novel technique for the generation of mode-locked pulses from a continuous-wave (cw) optical parametric oscillator (OPO). The technique is based on the deployment of a phase modulator in combination with an antiresonant ring interferometer internal to a cw OPO, simultaneously providing spectral broadening and phase-to-amplitude feedback modulation. The scheme is implemented in a doubly-resonant cw OPO based on MgO:sPPLT, configured in a standing-wave cavity and pumped at 532 nm. With the phase modulator activated and the cavity length synchronized, a stable train of 800 ps pulses is generated at a repetition rate of 160 MHz. Using single-pass second harmonic generation (SHG) of the OPO output, we observe a four times enhancement in SHG compared with cw operation, confirming the real achievement of energy concentration as a result of mode-locked operation.


Estimated breeding values for the selection of more profitable sheep for the sheep meat and wool industries are currently based on pedigree and phenotypic records. With the advent of a medium-density DNA marker array, which genotypes ∼50000 ovine single nucleotide polymorphisms, a third source of information has become available. The aim of this paper was to determine whether this genomic information can be used to predict estimated breeding values for wool and meat traits. The effects of all single nucleotide polymorphism markers in a multi-breed sheep reference population of 7180 individuals with phenotypic records were estimated to derive prediction equations for genomic estimated breeding values (GEBV) for greasy fleece weight, fibre diameter, staple strength, breech wrinkle score, weight at ultrasound scanning, scanned eye muscle depth and scanned fat depth. Five hundred and forty industry sires with very accurate Australian sheep breeding values were used as a validation population and the accuracies of GEBV were assessed according to correlations between GEBV and Australian sheep breeding values . The accuracies of GEBV ranged from 0.15 to 0.79 for wool traits in Merino sheep and from 0.07 to 0.57 for meat traits in all breeds studied. Merino industry sires tended to have more accurate GEBV than terminal and maternal breeds because the reference population consisted mainly of Merino haplotypes. The lower accuracy for terminal and maternal breeds suggests that the density of genetic markers used was not high enough for accurate across-breed prediction of marker effects. Our results indicate that an increase in the size of the reference population will increase the accuracy of GEBV.


Changes in the production of reactive oxygen species in the mammary gland of dairy cows during the periparturient period could lead to oxidative stress and potentially impair mammary function. Phosphorylation of the transcription factor nuclear factor erythroid 2-like 2 (NFE2L2), also known as nuclear factor-E2-related factor 2, controls mRNA abundance of genes encoding antioxidant proteins and enzymes. The hypothesis was that NFE2L2 phosphorylation status and target gene mRNA abundance in the mammary gland of dairy cows is altered around parturition. Total NFE2L2 protein, phosphorylated protein (p-NFE2L2), and ratio of p-NFE2L2 to NFE2L2 along with mRNA abundance of 24 genes related to the NFE2L2 signaling pathway, apoptosis, and cell proliferation were measured in mammary tissue samples from Holstein cows at -30, 1, 15, and 30 d relative to parturition. Although total NFE2L2 protein abundance did not differ, p-NFE2L2 and p-NFE2L2-to-NFE2L2 ratio were greater after parturition. The upregulation of DNA damage inducible transcript 3 (DDIT3) postpartum indicated a localized oxidative stress state. Among genes evaluated, thioredoxin (TXN), glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPX1), and glutathione S-transferase mu 1 (GSTM1) had the highest (37.1, 15.1, and 4.8% of total mRNA measured, respectively) abundance. The mRNA abundance of various target genes with detoxifying enzymatic functions and free radical scavenging activities [glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC); glutathione reductase (GSR); ferrochelatase (FECH); TXN; thioredoxin reductase 1 (TXNRD1); and NAD(P)H quinone dehydrogenase 1 (NQO1)] were consistently upregulated (linear effect of time) as parturition approached and lactation began. Among the transcription regulators, NFE2L2 had the highest mRNA abundance (7.3% of total mRNA measured). Abundance of NFE2L2 and other transcription factors [nuclear factor kappa B subunit 1 (NFKB1), retinoid X receptor α (RXRA), and mitogen-activated protein kinase 14 (MAPK14)] were upregulated (linear effect of time) from -30 d to 30 d relative to parturition. Overall, NFE2L2 phosphorylation and downstream signaling leading to postpartal upregulation of genes associated with oxidative stress and inflammation in the mammary gland seem to be key components of normal cellular function to maintain proper redox homeostasis. However, if the longitudinal increases in mRNA and protein abundance of these antioxidant mechanisms are a reflection of cellular oxidative stress, then the likelihood of protein and DNA damage would be greater and might be one factor compromising cell viability and potentially lactation persistency. The actual cues coordinating these molecular responses remain to be determined.


Rapid development of advanced military command and control systems results in a dynamic growth in demand for data rate. One of the methods that make it possible to deal with the problem of limited capacity of military wireless systems is the use of broadband radios. Another one is the increase in the capacity of narrowband radios by implementing advanced modulation systems. Apart from remarkable benefits, such as the increase in system bit rate, there are also certain limitations since such radios are more sensitive to radio-electronic countermeasures, and the operation in the broad band makes it easier for the enemy to detect the radio emission. In such a situation, it is essential to define again and implement the transmission security functions into modern radios consistently. In this article, some current NATO activities are discussed, regarding the definitions of transmission security functions and the way of implementing them in radios, while paying special attention to a new element, that is to AIE radio cryptography (On Air Encryption). In the paper, the authors present an exemplary implementation of the functions in the Cognitive Radio Demonstrator using R-450C radio, the results of the examinations as well as the conclusions.


Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of artificial-accelerated aging (AAA) on the color stability of three types of monolithic cubic Zirconia materials of the third generation compared with tetragonal Zirconia materials of the first generation. Materials and Methods: A four groups of 10 disc-shaped specimens (10 mm × 1.2 mm) were made from the following CAD/CAM Zirconia blocks: first-generation Zirconia (Ceramill Zi LT) as a control, and three brands of third-generation Zirconia (Ceramill Zolid FX UT, Katana UTML, and Cercon XT) as the experimental groups. Ten discs from each group were subjected to the color measurement using a Spectrophotometer (Hunterlab, EasyMatch QC. Ver 4.90). Then, same discs were subjected to AAA for 3500 cycles. The data were analyzed with the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey's post hoc test. Data analyses were evaluated at a statistically significance level of P < 0.05. Results: Statistically significant differences were detected in the L*, a*, and b* values among the four groups both before and after AAA. One-way ANOVA was used, which showed statistically significant differences among the groups (P < 0.001). The Ceramill ZI LT showed the greatest change in color (ΔE = 2.74 ± 0.23), followed by Katana UTML (ΔE = 1.91 ± 0.23), Ceramill Zolid FX UT (ΔE = 1.52 ± 0.43), and least change in color was seen in Cercon XT (ΔE = 1.44 ± 0.25). Tukey's post hoc test showed a statistically significantly difference among the test materials, except between Ceramill Zolid Fx UT and Cercon XT, where there was no significant difference seen in ΔE. Conclusion: The AAA protocols used in this study resulted in a significant effect in the (ΔE) of the four-tested Zirconia materials. The Ceramill ZI LT (First Generation) showed the greatest change in color and the least change in color was observed with Cercon XT (third generation). The color changes in all four tested Zirconia, though statistically significant was not a clinically perceivable


Deep reinforcement learning (RL) has shown great empirical successes, but suffers from brittleness and sample inefficiency. A potential remedy is to use a previously-trained policy as a source of supervision. In this work, we refer to these policies as teachers and study how to transfer their expertise to new student policies by focusing on data usage. We propose a framework, Data CUrriculum for Reinforcement learning (DCUR), which first trains teachers using online deep RL, and stores the logged environment interaction history. Then, students learn by running either offline RL or by using teacher data in combination with a small amount of self-generated data. DCUR's central idea involves defining a class of data curricula which, as a function of training time, limits the student to sampling from a fixed subset of the full teacher data. We test teachers and students using state-of-the-art deep RL algorithms across a variety of data curricula. Results suggest that the choice of data curricula significantly impacts student learning, and that it is beneficial to limit the data during early training stages while gradually letting the data availability grow over time. We identify when the student can learn offline and match teacher performance without relying on specialized offline RL algorithms. Furthermore, we show that collecting a small fraction of online data provides complementary benefits with the data curriculum. Supplementary material is available at https://tinyurl.com/teach-dcur.


The fluorescence excitation-emission matrices (FEEM) of domestic waste water, treated effluent of a waste water treatment plant and receiving river water were analyzed to select wavelengths for the monitoring of organic contents as COD. Excitation/emission wavelengths of 220/350 nm and 270/350 nm for protein-like fluorescence and 240/450 nm and 340/450 nm for humic-like fluorescence were suggested as fluorescence peak emitting wavelength pairs, respectively. Without any pre-treatment, the protein-like fluorescence peaks showed better correlation between COD values and fluorescence intensities than the humic-like fluorescence peaks. No enhanced correlation was observed by removing the suspended solids from the samples using filtration. However, statistical multiple regression methods, using the fluorescence intensities from each peak and the light scattering intensity at 633 nm as variables, resulted in an enhanced correlation, with r2 > 0.9 for the measured and predicted COD values.


The evaluation of amniotic fluid volume represents, together with the evaluation of fetal growth, one of the most important indicators of fetal wellbeing. Amniotic fluid is produced by fetal urines with small aliquots from fetal membranes and lung fluids. The main determinant of its turnover is fetal swallowing together with a small absorption through fetal skin and membranes. The pathologic conditions that lead to an excess of amniotic fluid are represented by excessive production or by a reduction of the physiologic turnover. The most frequent cause is gestational diabetes. This complication can be diagnosed in 2-3% of pregnancies, as a result of increased insulin resistance, most frequently found in association with risk factors such as high maternal BMI. Placental hormones, such as HPL, act indeed to increase insulin resistance and can therefore lead to post-prandial hyperglycemia in predisposed mothers. Maternal hyperglicemia leads in turn to fetal hyperglycemia and fetal hyperinsulinemia. Increased amniotic fluid volume is not a constant feature, being associated with the most severe cases, but its evaluation is very useful in the clinical management. The resulting increase in uterine volume, also related to accelerated fetal growth, is a potential cause of premature delivery, a severe complication also considering the delay in fetal lung maturation observed with fetal hyperinsulinemia. The evaluation of the degree of polyhydramnios has to be pursued by ultrasound. Precise diagnostic steps must be followed in order to rule out other potentially associated causes. Amongst these, malformations of the intestinal tract, such as hesophageal atresia, that are associated with decreased or absent fetal swallowing, must be considered. The clinical workout must therefore include an ultrasound evaluation of fetal morphology together with an oral glucose tolerance test. The therapeutic approach will be defined according to the definition of the underlying cause. Many cases will benefit from bedrest, tocolysis and induction of lung maturation.


The identification of individuals carrying unexpressed genetic liability to schizophrenia is crucial for both etiological research and clinical risk stratification. Subclinical psychopathological features detectable in the nonpsychotic part of the schizophrenia spectrum could improve the delineation of informative vulnerability phenotypes. Inspired by Meehl's schizotaxia-schizotypy heuristic model, we tested anomalous subjective experiences (self-disorders, SDs) as a candidate vulnerability phenotype in a sample of nonpsychotic, genetically high-risk subjects. A total of 218 unaffected members of 6 extended multiplex families (assessed between 1989 and 1999 during the Copenhagen Schizophrenia Linkage Study) were stratified into 4 groups of increasing psychopathological expressivity: no mental illness (NMI), no mental illness with schizotypal traits (NMI-ST), personality disorders not fulfilling other personality disorders (OPDs), and schizotypal personality disorder (SPD). We tested the distribution of SDs among the subgroups, the effect of SDs on the risk of belonging to the different subgroups, and the effect of experimental grouping and concomitant psychopathology (ie, negative symptoms (NSs) and subpsychotic formal thought disorder [FTD]) on the chances of experiencing SDs. SDs distribution followed an incremental pattern from NMI to SPD. SDs were associated with a markedly increased risk of NMI-ST, OPDs, or SPD. The odds of SDs increased as a function of the diagnostic category assignment, independently of sociodemographics and concomitant subclinical psychopathology (NSs and FTD). The results support SDs as an expression of schizotaxic vulnerability and indicate a multidimensional model of schizotypy—characterized by SDs, NSs, FTD—as a promising heuristic construct to address liability phenotypes in genetically high-risk studies.


To the Editor: Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a tickborne zoonotic disease caused by a member of the virus family Bunyaviridae, genus Nairovirus. This virus (CCHFV) has caused illness throughout Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East (1). CCHFVs are clustered among 7 genotypes (Asia-1, Asia-2, Euro-1, Euro-2, Africa-1, Africa-2, and Africa-3) on the basis of genetic variation in the small segment (2). These genotypes are well conserved among their regions of origin; however, >1 genotype is prevalent in many countries (2). In Pakistan, the first CCHF case was reported in 1976; multiple sporadic cases and outbreaks have occurred in subsequent years (3).

To determine which genotypes were present in Pakistan, we performed molecular analysis of archived serum samples collected during 2008 in Fatima Jinnah General and Chest Hospital, Quetta, Baluchistan, in southwestern of Pakistan. Because of limited diagnostic facilities for CCHFV in this country, samples collected during 1976–2002 were occasionally sent to laboratories in countries such as South Africa and the United States, where genetic analysis showed that all viruses tested from that location belonged to the Asia-1 genotype (4). Data beyond this period are not available; however, because of improved molecular diagnostic facilities at the Department of Virology, National Institute of Health, Pakistan, blood samples collected from patients with suspected cases attending in-country hospitals are now examined by the institute for confirmation. Our findings substantiate the presence of Asia-1 and Asia-2 genotypes in Baluchistan.

Thirteen IgM-positive samples collected during 2008 and stored at –70°C were available for study. The samples were processed for amplification of 260 bp of the small segment by using reverse transcription PCR with a previously described protocol (5). The mean age of patients with serology-confirmed CCHF was 31.3 (range 18–40) years; male-to-female IgM positivity ratio was 1:2. Common symptoms were fever, headache, and nosebleeds. Platelet counts ranged from 16,000 to 43,000/μL of blood.

Of the 13 samples, viral RNA was detected in 2 (CCHF-65–2008PAK and CCHF-43–2008PAK); the amplicons were subjected to bidirectional sequencing by using the BigDye Terminator v3.1 cycle sequencing kit (Applied BioSystems, Foster City, CA, USA). Sequences were analyzed with Sequencher (GeneCodes Corp., Ann Arbor, MI, USA) and MEGA v4.0 (http://megasoftware.net/). The 2 viruses were phylogenetically clustered into Asia-1 and Asia-2 genotypes, with 7% nucleotide divergence, although both samples were collected during September–October, 2008.

The closest nucleotide identity (99%–100%) for CCHF-65–2008PAK was found with the previously reported Asia-1 strains from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran; CCHF-43–2008PAK had 96%–97% similarity to viruses from Dubai and Tajikistan (Figure). The sequences reported from United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq belong to the Asia-1 genotype; the Asia-2 genotype sequences were mostly from China and Central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan (6). All viruses detected intermittently in Pakistan during 1976–2002 were of the Asia-1 genotype (4). However, the analysis of the 2 samples reported here enhances our knowledge of CCHFV genetic diversity in Pakistan.

Figure

Phylogenetic analysis of partial small gene fragment (220 bp) obtained from Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus strains analyzed in this study (black circles). Reference strains belong to different genogroups as retrieved from GenBank. Diamonds indicate ...

The closest phylogenetic positioning of CCHF-43–2008PAK with Asia-2 strain Dubai-616 (GenBank accession no. {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"JN108025","term_id":"354990643","term_text":"JN108025"}}JN108025) indicates that the probable route of CCHFV transmission was through animal trade between the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan. This finding supports the proposition that animals imported from Pakistan were the probable source of a 1979 outbreak in the United Arab Emirates (7). However, we cannot determine the direct source of the Asia-2 genotype in Pakistan, nor confirm the transmission link between the 2 countries. We attribute this to a lack of consistent, contemporary viral genetic information of CCHFV strains in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates. This lack of data necessitates intensive surveillance and epidemiologic investigations in animal and human populations because geographic factors alone do not provide comprehensive information about the diversity of CCHFV strains circulating in Asia (6).

The presence of geographically distant, but genetically similar, strains suggests that the viruses are dispersed either through animal trade or migratory birds (8). No clear evidence of CCHFV infection in migratory birds has been found, but they may play a major role in translocation of infected ticks to distant areas (9). Birds are known to be parasitized by these vectors of CCHFV in eastern Europe and Asia and disseminate the virus by transporting infected immature ticks between continents (4). It is therefore highly advisable to develop an active surveillance system with appropriate laboratory facilities to conduct the seroepidemiologic surveys and screening of household animals and vectors for CCHFV to rule out potential risks.

Our study was limited by a low number of samples, resulting in availability of only a short fragment of the small gene for analysis. However, similar partial small gene sequencing has been used in previous studies (2) and has supported the classification of CCHFV strains correctly into 7 genotypes.

In conclusion, because tick control is not feasible, surveillance activities and laboratory facilities should be improved. Health care workers should also be aware of proper patient management and standard prophylactic and preventive measures, particularly in areas where CCHFV is endemic, such as Baluchistan, where many deaths associated with nosocomial transmission have been reported (10).


During the years 1500–1800, European performing arts reveled in a kaleidoscope of Otherness: Middle-Eastern harem women, fortune-telling Spanish 'Gypsies', Incan priests, Barbary pirates, moresca dancers, and more. In this prequel to his 2009 book Musical Exoticism, Ralph P. Locke explores how exotic locales and their inhabitants were characterized in musical genres ranging from instrumental pieces and popular songs to oratorios, ballets, and operas. Locke's study offers new insights into much-loved masterworks by composers such as Cavalli, Lully, Purcell, Rameau, Handel, Vivaldi, Gluck, and Mozart. In these works, evocations of ethnic and cultural Otherness often mingle attraction with envy or fear, and some pieces were understood at the time as commenting on conditions in Europe itself. Locke's accessible study, which includes numerous musical examples and rare illustrations, will be of interest to anyone who is intrigued by the relationship between music and cultural history, and by the challenges of cross-cultural (mis)understanding.


Abstract. Ice particles play an important role in precipitation formation and
radiation balance. Therefore, an accurate description of ice initiation in
the atmosphere is of great importance for weather prediction models and
climate simulations. Despite the abundance of ice crystals in the
atmosphere, the mechanisms for their formation remain not well understood.
There are two major sets of mechanisms of ice initiation in the atmosphere:
primary nucleation and secondary ice production. Secondary ice production
occurs in the presence of preexisting ice, which results in an enhancement
of the concentration of ice particles. Until recently, secondary ice
production was mainly attributed to the rime-splintering mechanism, known as
the Hallett–Mossop process, which is active in a relatively narrow
temperature range from −3 to −8 ∘C. The existence of
the Hallett–Mossop process was well supported by in situ observations. The
present study provides an explicit in situ observation of secondary ice
production at temperatures as low as −27 ∘C, which is well outside
the range of the Hallett–Mossop process. This observation expands our
knowledge of the temperature range of initiation of secondary ice in clouds.
The obtained results are intended to stimulate laboratory and theoretical
studies to develop physically based parameterizations for weather prediction
and climate models.


Adversarial robustness has emerged as an important topic in deep learning as carefully crafted attack samples can significantly disturb the performance of a model. Many recent methods have proposed to improve adversarial robustness by utilizing adversarial training or model distillation, which adds additional procedures to model training. In this paper, we propose a new training paradigm called Guided Complement Entropy (GCE) that is capable of achieving "adversarial defense for free," which involves no additional procedures in the process of improving adversarial robustness. In addition to maximizing model probabilities on the ground-truth class like cross-entropy, we neutralize its probabilities on the incorrect classes along with a "guided" term to balance between these two terms. We show in the experiments that our method achieves better model robustness with even better performance compared to the commonly used cross-entropy training objective. We also show that our method can be used orthogonal to adversarial training across well-known methods with noticeable robustness gain. To the best of our knowledge, our approach is the first one that improves model robustness without compromising performance.


Dynamic event region detection is an important application of wireless sensor networks. The position of event region should be transmitted to the base station in good time. A routing scheme based on gradient field and cluster is advised to track dynamic event region. The gradient field is set up after sensors are deployed. Only the event sensors are organized into clusters and then the cluster heads send the event information to the base station through the gradient paths respectively. When no event occurs, no data will be reported. When event occurs, data will be reported periodically. This scheme is of low traffic, low computational complexity and low delay. Computer simulations verified the effectiveness of this scheme.


A novel self-timed communication protocol is based upon phase-modulation of a reference signal. The reference and the data are sent on the same transmission lines and the data can be recovered observing the sequence of events on the same lines. Employing several lines increases the number of states hence reducing the number of symbols required for a transmission. A new encoding algorithm is described which generates symbol-dependent matrices which are used to control the phase of transmission lines. The protocol concept, the algorithm and analysis of the system, together with simulation results, are presented


The impacts of the home-appliance replacement with and without subsidy on the new product demand will affect the price decisions for new product. In this paper, considering two cases with subsidy and without subsidy, we studied the price decisions for the manufacturer and the retailer in three periods: in the first period, there is no home-appliance replacement and without the financial subsidy; in the second period, the home-appliance replacement is begun and with the financial subsidy; and in the third period, the home-appliance replacement is continued and without the financial subsidy. At the same time, we analyze the impacts of ω (the sensitivity coefficient of the consumer for the subsidy or payment) and β (the sensitivity coefficient for the retail price of the new products) on the optimal results, give the analysis of the numerical results in different cases. From our study, if ω ≤ β, the manufacturer should not offer the payment to stimulate the consumer's consumption willingness if the government stops the subsidy. But, if ω > β, in order to get more profit, the manufacturer should offer the payment to stimulate the consumer's consumption willingness even though the government stops the subsidy.


Abstract Lytohoplites Spath, 1925 is a late Tithonian–?early Berriasian ammonoid genus with a southern perigondwanean distribution. Two Lytohoplites species, L. burckhardti (Mayer-Eymar in Burckhardt, 1900) (type species) and L. vetustoides (Burckhardt, 1903), were originally described from carbonate successions of the Vaca Muerta Formation, Neuquén Basin, Argentina. Nevertheless, the holotype of L. burckhardti consisted of a single incomplete specimen that is currently missing. This situation compelled the search for new Lytohoplites specimens in Argentina and the selection of a neotype for L. burckardti. New Lytohoplites representatives were obtained through bed-by-bed collections performed at five localities in the Neuquén Basin. In addition to the taxonomic revision of the Lytohoplites species occurring in the basin, a paleobiological approach was preferred to conduct a paleontological analysis of L. burckhardti, including a description of its ontogeny, probable sexual dimorphism, and spectrum of intraspecific variability. Results of the qualitative and quantitative analyses supported the homogeneity of L. burckhardti as a taxonomic unit, thus implying that L. vetustoides should be considered its synonym. Lytohoplites in the Neuquén Basin is restricted to beds assigned to the Andean Substeueroceras koeneni Assemblage Zone (upper Tithonian–lower Berriasian), and not to the Andean Corongoceras alternans Assemblage Zone (upper Tithonian). Furthermore, the paleobiogeographic distribution of Lytohoplites around southern Gondwana and the herein reported occurrence of L. subcylindricus Collignon, 1962, otherwise only known from Madagascar, lend support to the existence of a functional trans-Gondawana seaway at least since the upper Tithonian.


Natural Language Inference (NLI) is the task of determining the semantic relationship between a premise and a hypothesis. In this paper, we focus on the generation of hypotheses from premises in a multimodal setting, to generate a sentence (hypothesis) given an image and/or its description (premise) as the input. The main goals of this paper are (a) to investigate whether it is reasonable to frame NLI as a generation task; and (b) to consider the degree to which grounding textual premises in visual information is beneficial to generation. We compare different neural architectures, showing through automatic and human evaluation that entailments can indeed be generated successfully. We also show that multimodal models outperform unimodal models in this task, albeit marginally


The purpose of the investigation was to assess the possibility to control free radical oxidation in patients with cardiovascular pathologies with the help of vetoron. This was the first attempt to study effects of a beta-carotene (vetoron) on lipid peroxidation and the activity of antioxidant defense enzymes in flying personnel with cardiovascular pathologies (hypertension and neurocirculatory dystonia). Therapeutic effect of the medicament was evaluated by its action on peroxide metabolism (malonic dialdehyde, acyl hydroperoxides and trien conjugates, Schiff bases) and stimulation of the antioxidant defense enzymes (catalase and glutathione reductase). Results of the investigation pointed to the inhibition of lipid peroxidation against activation of the antioxidant defense enzymes in patients with hypertension who had been given the course of vetoron; however, in patients with neurocirculatory dystonia.


Solubility and stability are two key aspects of any successful formulation for curcumin beverage development. In the present study, the effect of polysorbate on the solubility of curcumin in aqueous solution with or without the autoclave treatment was studied. The remarkable effect of the autoclave treatment on enhancing the solubility was confirmed. Among polysorbate 20, 60 and 80, polysorbate 20 exhibited the highest solubility of approximately 6 mg/ml in 20% aqueous solution by the autoclave treatment, while the solubility was approximately 4 mg/ml in polysorbate 60 and 80, prepared under the same condition. Without the autoclave treatment, the solubility in 20% aqueous solutions of polysorbate 20, 60 and 80 was 2.7, 3.4 and 3.4 mg/ml, respectively. The stability of curcumin was obviously improved a lot by applying the micelle formation with polysorbate. However, the remarkable decomposition of curcumin at 30 and 40°C was observed over a few weeks. Dynamic light scattering study found that the curcumin and polysorbate formed the micelle (meandiameter, approximately 10nm). Through the present study, the feasibility of the development of curcumin beverage by micellar formation technique with polysorbate is confirmed though the further study for improving the stability remained untouched. Keywordscurcumin, polysorbate, autoclave, solubility


This longitudinal case study explored how four Chinese university students constructed their global and national identities while learning English and using it as a lingua franca in the course of four undergraduate years. Qualitative research methods were adopted. Primary data were obtained through open interviews, and supplementary data sources included student journals, classroom observations, and Internet postings. Analysis showed that the students constructed multiple kinds of global identities and a prominent Chinese national identity in their engagement with ELF. The national and the global were often dialogically related. The ELF-associated identities, particularly the global, were often embedded in their membership in selected communities of practice and imagined communities. The students were also found to exercise their agencies in choosing their target communities. The study showed both the pervasiveness and variation of identity work with ELF.


FIFTY-SIX PATIENTS WITH T1-T3 AND T2-T3 N0 MEDIAL lesions of breast carcinoma were randomized after modified radical mastectomy to receive either cytoxan, methotrexate, 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu) (CMF) chemotherapy for 1 year (group A) or CMF for 1 year and postoperative radiation therapy (group B).Thirty-two patients received chemotherapy alone and 25 patients received both chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Twenty-five of 32 group A patients (median age 52) and 20/24 group B patients (median age 50) were evaluable.Leukopenia was the major cause of drug dose reduction in both groups. In group A, 4/25 patients (16%) had leukopenia at less than the 2500 level, whereas 8/20 (40%) group B patients had leukopenia at the same level. If 70% of all three drug dosages are considered as adequate chemotherapy, 21/25 (84%) patients received adequate chemotherapy in group A, and 10/20 (50%) in group B (p ± 0.029 from contingency table). It appears that radiation therapy in postmastectomy patients hinders adequate drug dose delivery in an adjuvant setting.


The purpose in this study was to examine whether or not the effect of active procrastination on academic achievement is significantly different according to how long before the examination students begin cramming and whether or not active procrastinators get a better grade than passive procrastinators when they begin to cram the day before an examination. The data were collected from 172 Korean undergraduates. The results show that there was no significant difference in academic achievement among the 3 groups of active procrastinators in terms of how much cramming they did, but there was a significant difference in academic achievement between active procrastinators and passive procrastinators in the group who began cramming only 1 day or less before the examination. The implications of this study are discussed.


Single molecule imaging to characterize protein interactions with the environment Megan Julia Armstrong In the past decade, single molecule imaging has advanced our understanding of processes at the molecular scale. Total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy is one implementation in particular that has been extensively applied in the study of protein adsorption to surfaces. The spatial and temporal resolution provided by TIRF has enabled dynamic measurements of individual proteins in solution, where previously only bulk measurements or static electron microscopy observations were possible. The ability to study individual proteins has revealed and sometimes clarified the complex interactions at their interfaces. Here, the utility of TIRF is expanded to introduce a new model of protein adsorption to the suface and to study the protein interface in contact with solution. Protein adsorption to surfaces has implications in surface biocompatibility, protein separation, and pharmaceutical nanoparticle development. For this reason, the phenomenon has been quantitatively by a variety of techniques, including single molecule imaging. The key data are the protein lifetimes on the surface, which have been shown to be broadly distributed and well-approximated by the sum of several exponential functions. The determined desorption rate constants are thought to reflect different interaction types between surface and protein, but the rates are not typically linked to a specific physical interaction. In the first part of this thesis, we establish appropriate imaging conditions and analysis methods for TIRF. A robust survival analysis technique is applied to capture the range of protein adsorption kinetics. In the second part, we utilize single molecule lifetime data from the adsorption of fibrinogen and bovine serum albumin (BSA) to glass surfaces and discover a heavy-tailed distribution: a very small fraction of proteins adsorbs effectively permanently, while the majority of proteins adsorb for a very short time. We then demonstrate that this characteristic power law behavior is well described by a model with a novel interpretation of the complex protein adsorption process. The second half of the thesis extends TIRF to study the solution-facing interface of the protein as opposed to the surface facing interface by establishing the parameters for a super-resolution imaging technique. Point accumulation for imaging nanoscale topography (PAINT) generates high-resolution images of the sample of interest through the positional tracking of many temporally-distinct instances of a fluorescent probe binding to the sample. Previously, this technique has been applied in the mapping of DNA nanostructures. Here, in the third part, we apply PAINT to the study of proteins. First, a workstream is established for a model system of Nile red and BSA. The kinetic parameters for the system are established to allow rational design of PAINT experiments with this system. The on-rate and off-rate for Nile red are determined. Additionally, the binding model between the two components is tested by studying how the presence of an inhibitor effects the parameters. In the final part, TIRF is used to study the protein-solution interface to examine the glycosylation of immunoglobulin A 1 (IgA1). Over 50% of eukaryotic proteins are glycosylated, and the glycan sequence is simultaneously difficult to study and crucial in the many functional roles proteins play. The glycosylation of IgA1, for example, plays a key role in the pathophysiology of IgA1 nephropathy. Lectins are proteins that bind to specifc glycan sequences and are often used to isolate glycosylated proteins. In this study, the appropriate surface conditions are established to allow specific binding between lectins and IgA1 glycans. The association and dissociation rate between lectins specific for the glycans on IgA1 are measured and affinity constants calculated. These efforts will help to rationally design experiments in the future to elucidate unknown glycan sequences on proteins.


Organizations are adopting and integrating robots to work with and alongside their human employees. However, their human employees are not necessarily happy about this new work arrangement. This may be in part due to the increasing fears that robots will eventually take their jobs. Organizations are now facing the challenge of integrating robots into their workforce by encouraging humans to work with their robotic teammates. To address this issue, this study employs similarity and attraction theory to encourage humans to work with and alongside their robotic co-worker. Our research model asserts that surface and deep level similarity with the robot will impact a human's willingness to work with a robot. We also seek to examine whether risk moderates the importance of both surface and deep level similarity. To empirically examine this model, this proposal presents an experimental design. Results of the study should provide new insights into the benefits and limitations of similarity to encourage humans to work with and alongside their robot co-worker.


A photonic crystal (PC) sensor that can detect homologues and isomers with very similar refractive indices through stopband shifts has been prepared from highly monodispersed hollow mesoporous silica spheres (HMSSs) for the first time. The HMSS PC shows two obvious reflection peaks, the positions of which are related to the inner and outer diameters of the HMSSs. When the HMSS PC sensors are infiltrated with 10 μL of homologues or isomers, the positions of the second reflection peaks remain nearly unchanged, while the first reflection peaks shift between 60 and 200 nm. The difference in the refractive indices of n-propanol and iso-propanol is only 0.008; however, the difference in the stopband shifts is approximately 25 nm, showing high sensitivity in distinguishing homologues and isomers of the HMSS PC. The proposed strategy provides a convenient, cheap trace detection method to distinguish homologues and isomers.


Fotemustine is a chloroethylnitrosourea with antitumor activity in disseminated melanoma and adult primary brain tumors. Because new drugs are required for the treatment of medulloblastoma in children, we evaluated the preclinical antitumor activity of fotemustine in four s.c. medulloblastoma xenografts, in comparison with 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU). Both drugs were administered as a single i.p. injection to nude mice bearing advanced-stage tumor. Fotemustine displayed significant antitumor activity in three of four medulloblastoma xenografts; two, IGRM34 and IGRM57, were highly sensitive, with 37 and 100% tumor-free survivors, respectively, more than 120 days after treatment at the highest nontoxic dose (50 mg/kg). Fotemustine was also highly active in a malignant glioma xenograft (IGRG88; five of six tumor-free survivors on day 177). Fotemustine proved to be significantly more active than BCNU in IGRM34 and the glioma xenograft IGRG88. The DNA repair protein O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase (ATase) was detected in all tumor xenografts, ranging in activity from 6 to 892 fmol/mg protein. The high in vivo sensitivity to fotemustine and BCNU observed in three xenografts was clearly associated with a low ATase activity (> 20 fmol/mg), whereas the two poorly sensitive or refractory medulloblastoma xenografts showed high ATase activity (> 500 fmol/mg). Alkylpurine-DNA N-glycosylase activity was detected in all tumor xenografts but at levels ranging only from 513 to 1105 fmol/mg/h; no consistent relationship was found between alkylpurine-DNA N-glycosylase activity and the in vivo sensitivity to the two chloroethylnitrosoureas. The improved activity and tolerance of fotemustine in comparison with BCNU in pediatric medulloblastoma xenografts strongly support the clinical development of this agent in children with brain tumors, in which ATase should be examined as a potential prognostic indicator.


The severity of depression, the presence and intensity of suicidal feelings, and the outcome of depressive illness treated in general practice were studied. The results suggest that a consideration of the relatively good outcome at 16 to 18 weeks alone is misleading. At least one in six new patients is suffering from a depression of moderately severe intensity and a similar proportion experience suicidal ideas that are persistent and require active rejection. A sample of patients with chronic depression had only a slightly smaller morbidity. The presence of moderately severe symptoms of depression in both groups of patients has important implications for treatment.


Companies select their suppliers to provide required performance while being successful partners. An important aspect of collaboration is the power relationship between the company and its suppliers. Although the significance of power in supplier selection is acknowledged, published work rarely includes assessment of power. An empirical study on selecting suppliers for new product developments in a major European diesel engine manufacturing company, supported by three smaller studies with electronic engineering companies, frames overall questions regarding the importance of incorporating power into supplier selection and how this might be achieved.

This research proposes an approach that assesses both performance and power and integrates the assessment results by modelling the relative effects of power and performance. It positions the suppliers into six scenarios (ideal, satisfying, tolerable, unfavourable, risky and tough) which depict to what extent a supplier is 'suitable' to work with. A reverse analysis reviews the relationship when several suppliers appear suitable.

An assessment method is developed incorporating both subjective and objective data for qualitative and quantitative criteria. It combines two decision making methods, AHP and TOPSIS, with triangular fuzzy numbers. Multiple judgements from several decision makers are synthesised. This method is adapted for performance assessment of single, group and cross-group suppliers. Weights are calculated for the criteria, and combined with calculations of supplier performance against each criterion to provide an overall assessment and supplier profile. Power is quantified against a set of power determinants and power relations (supplier dominance, buyer dominance and balanced) are determined. The effects of supplier perceptions (objective, optimistic and pessimistic) are estimated in the calculation.

The proposed approach involves complex calculations and a prototype software tool is developed with graphical interfaces. The tool includes performance criteria and power determinants collected from literature and allows users to define new ones. Application to an agriculture case enables the sustainable performance of suppliers (farmers) to be evaluated and compared.


Experiments on rats were made to study the action of hypotension and vasopressive agents. The effects obtained as a result of administering the drugs under common gas medium and hyperbaric oxygenation were compared. A considerable reduction of hypotensive action of alpha- and beta-adrenoblockers, ganglioblockers, beta-adrenomimetics and elimination of the effect of central alpha-adrenomimetics were discovered. The pressor effects of direct- and particularly of indirect-action alpha-adrenomimetics, as well as cardiotropic effects of beta-adrenoblockers were found to be potentiated. It is suggested that the action mode of oxygen is mediated via its direct- and primarily indirect-action adrenomimetic and beta-adrenoblocking effects. A classification of the periods of combined action of the drugs and hyperbaric oxygenation is suggested.


Chronic trapezius myalgia was shown to be associated with a reduction in microcirculation (via direct measurements of bloodflow). In line with this, morphological data have indicated disturbances in oxidative metabolism. Therefore, data obtained on the muscle oxygenation status could help provide insight into the pathomechanisms behind work related muscle pain. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) allows for the noninvasive monitoring of continuous changes in skeletal muscle oxygenation (representing the dynamic balance between oxygen delivery and consumption), and for subsequent determinations of changes in blood volume.


This paper attempts to present and analyze problems that may arise from the use of Genetically Modified (GM) products and issues raised by the Intellectual Property (IP) rights that Genetic Engineering (GE) companies have on their products. Arguments in favor and against the existence of health risks and environmental risks of GM products are presented. The European policy of the socioeconomic effects of the GM products is discussed and is proposed the application of the precautionary principle for the prevention of unintended consequences from the GM products to other than health and environmental domains. The need of IP rights is supported, but is also suggested an IP rights flexibility. Do IP rights violate the rights of all people to a nourishing life, natural resources, the right to decide about what they eat and the right to live in a viable ecosystem? Finally, I provide an analysis of the effects on the farmers due to the IP rights on GM crop for cultivation and state dependency issues that may occur.


The southern foothills of Alberta are composed of much compressed, imbricately faulted Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks in an elongate belt between the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains. Within the belt structural shortening evidently has been achieved mainly by thrust faulting, accompanied by the development of drag folds, most of which are not large. The major thrust faults lie in well defined sliding zones, and they generally transect the bedding at relatively low angles. This is true for supposedly competent as well as incompetent beds, although there is apparently some refraction of fault planes between beds of differing competence. At and near the surface the faults commonly dip steeply, but this is a result of rotation and is not indicative of the dips the faults ha when formed. Structures that originated as folds and were later faulted may not exist. Turner Valley anticline, which is commonly regarded as a faulted fold developed from a protofold, might be an exception, but the evidence is by no means conclusive. In this area oil and gas have been found in Cretaceous, Mississippian, and Devonian rocks. The reservoirs tapped to date are associated with thrust faults and it appears that, with the possible but unproved exception of the Turner Valley pool, all the traps are fault traps. Migration of hydrocarbons might have started very early, but was not completed before the close of the Laramide revolution. There is no reason to suppose that all hydrocarbons migrated at once, or in any one direction, or that the process of migration was uninterrupted.


The appeal to the Supreme Court in Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer deals with the equitable defense of plaintiff's laches before suing for copyright infringement. Laches is unreasonable and prejudicial delay. MGM allegedly violated plaintiff's copyright repeatedly over a period of many years; the statute of limitations has not run on the most recent violations. Plaintiff argues that laches should never apply to a cause of action with a statute of limitations. Defendant argues that laches should bar all relief if defendant relied on plaintiff's failure to sue earlier, without having to match defendant's reliance to the remedies plaintiff seeks. This scholars' amicus brief, which supports neither party, argues against all-or-nothing solutions. In particular, the brief says that laches should be available as needed to protect defendant's reliance, but that defendant should have to show how particular remedies would unfairly override particular reliance interests. Plaintiff also argues that laches should be unavailable because it would be a ground for refusing an injunction that was not mentioned in eBay v. MercExchange. The scholars' brief takes this occasion to point out several unintended untoward consequences of the four-part test in eBay.


ABSTRACT We analyzed the phylogenetic composition of bacterioplankton assemblages in 11 Arctic Ocean samples collected over three seasons (winter-spring 1995, summer 1996, and summer-fall 1997) by sequencing cloned fragments of 16S rRNA genes. The sequencing effort was directed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) screening of samples and the clone libraries. Sequences of 88 clones fell into seven major lineages of the domain Bacteria: α (36%)-, γ (32%)-, δ (14%)-, and ε (1%)-Proteobacteria; Cytophaga-Flexibacter-Bacteroides spp. (9%); Verrucomicrobium spp. (6%); and green nonsulfur bacteria (2%). A total of 34% of the cloned sequences (excluding clones in the SAR11 and Roseobacter groups) had sequence similarities that were <94% compared to previously reported sequences, indicating the presence of novel sequences. DGGE fingerprints of the selected samples showed that most of the bands were common to all samples in all three seasons. However, additional bands representing sequences related to Cytophaga and Polaribacter species were found in samples collected during the summer and fall. Of the clones in a library generated from one sample collected in spring of 1995, 50% were the same and were most closely affiliated (99% similarity) with Alteromonas macleodii, while 50% of the clones in another sample were most closely affiliated (90 to 96% similarity) with Oceanospirillum sp. The majority of the cloned sequences were most closely related to uncultured, environmental sequences. Prominent among these were members of the SAR11 group. Differences between mixed-layer and halocline samples were apparent in DGGE fingerprints and clone libraries. Sequences related to α-Proteobacteria (dominated by SAR11) were abundant (52%) in samples from the mixed layer, while sequences related to γ-proteobacteria were more abundant (44%) in halocline samples. Two bands corresponding to sequences related to SAR307 (common in deep water) and the high-G+C gram-positive bacteria were characteristic of the halocline samples.


This paper presents improved architectures for a fused floating-point add-subtract unit. The fused floating-point add-subtract unit is useful for digital signal processing (DSP) applications such as fast Fourier transform (FFT) and discrete cosine transform (DCT) butterfly operations. To improve the performance of the fused floating-point add-subtract unit, a dual-path algorithm and pipelining are employed. The proposed designs are implemented for both single and double precision and synthesized with a 45-nm standard-cell library. The fused floating-point add-subtract unit saves 40% of the area and power consumption compared to a discrete floating-point add-subtract unit. The proposed dual-path design reduces the latency by 30% compared to the discrete design with area and power consumption between that of the discrete and fused designs. Based on a data flow analysis, the proposed fused dual-path floating-point add-subtract unit can be split into two pipeline stages. Since the latencies of two pipeline stages are fairly well balanced, the throughput is increased by 80% compared to the nonpipelined dual-path design.


During the last twenty-five years, housing policy in Sweden has radically changed. Once forming a pillar of the comprehensive welfare system, abbreviated the "Swedish model," neoliberal housing politics have established market-governed housing provision with a minimum of state engagement. This shift has had consequences on the social geography of housing conditions. The research reported here analyzes social geographic change in Sweden's three largest cities—Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö—between 1986 and 2001, relating observed patterns of gentrification and filtering to cycles of accumulation and to neoliberalization of housing policies. First, we outline the neoliberalization of Swedish housing policies. We then present an empirical analysis of gentrification and filtering in the three cities, spanning two boom periods (1986–1991, 1996–2001) and a bust period (1991–1996). The data reveal social geographic polarization manifested in the growth of supergentrification and low-income filtering. The analysis also introduces the concept of ordinary gentrification, supporting the move in gentrification research toward a broad generic conception of the process. Political reforms after 2001 are summarized and we argue that these underlie the continued increase in inequality and that the social geographic polarization mapped between 1986 and 2001 has probably intensified during this decade.


Learning reward-agnostic representations is an emerging paradigm in reinforcement learning. These representations can be leveraged for several purposes ranging from reward shaping to option discovery. Nevertheless, in order to learn such representations, existing methods often rely on assuming uniform access to the state space. Without such a privilege, the agent's coverage of the environment can be limited which hurts the quality of the learned representations. In this work, we introduce a method that explicitly couples representation learning with exploration when the agent is not provided with a uniform prior over the state space. Our method learns representations that constantly drive exploration while the data generated by the agent's exploratory behavior drives the learning of better representations. We empirically validate our approach in goalachieving tasks, demonstrating that the learned representation captures the dynamics of the environment, leads to more accurate value estimation, and to faster credit assignment, both when used for control and for reward shaping. Finally, the exploratory policy that emerges from our approach proves to be successful at continuous navigation tasks with sparse rewards.


This title helps you turn mentoring into Profits. There's no doubt that the concept of workplace mentoring is a hot-button issue facing management today. With managers under extraordinary pressure to cut costs, streamline operations, and increase productivity, the role of mentors has become more critical than ever-particularly since studies show leaders who mentor get promoted faster and earn significantly more than those who don't. But as with any growing workplace trend, questions remain about how to utilize mentoring so you get tangible and profitable results. This book, from two of the world's foremost experts on business learning and employee development, answers those questions. "Becoming an Effective Mentoring Leader" breaks down the essentials of mentoring, and shows you how to take advantage of this valuable new workplace dynamic. You'll learn: the smartest way to incorporate mentoring into your day-to-day leadership role; the fastest way to equip, inspire, and motivate your staff; the differences between mentoring, coaching, and teaching; and how you as a leader can rate the mentors in your office - and assess the progress of mentees. Using case studies, tools, and impactful learning concepts, the authors show you how to use mentoring's "core skills" to create a winning approach tailored to your own style, be it the "reflective mentor," the "storytelling mentor," or "the example-based mentor." The book also features several appendices and FAQs, handouts, and worksheets to gauge competencies among mentors and mentees, and a blueprint with steps to set up one's own companywide program. As today's biggest industry leaders continue to recognize the profound effect mentoring has on performance and profitability, there's never been a better time to put this book's essential tools to work for you.


The recording process is examined by computer simulation to clarify the reason why magnetic recording at a linear recording density of over 2000 kFCI is difficult in perpendicular magnetic recording. The recording medium is found to suffer from strong thermal fluctuations, even during the recording process. The recorded magnetization of the preceding recorded bit is decreased considerably by the reversed head field to write the succeeding bit. Numerical results show that this decrease is not due to normal recording loss, but rather to the thermal fluctuations that is enhanced by the reversed trailing field of the SPT head. Based on the results obtained herein, recording at over 2000 kFCI is believed to be possible by reducing the trailing field strength of the SPT head


Throughout the history of its representation in the European and North American eyes, China has been viewed as unique, but at the same time placing it on a politico-cultural grid was perceived as a necessity to make theories and discourses work. After a brief period of positioning China in post-socialist transition, its place in representation changed to an exploitative pool of cheap labour and then – to an emerging superpower. Therefore China is as much a testing ground for theories about the development of capitalism and world political systems as it was in the 19th century. The empirical part of this publication discusses how cultural theories, symbols and images powerfully shape the discourse around China in rationalist, economically oriented elite media, and then discusses the role of experts, who position themselves as intermediaries, fluctuating in the field of the rules of various genres of knowledge production. Based on media discourse analysis and interviews with the experts, the author shows how different methods of knowledge production and claim-making interact in shaping political positions at the EU level.


This paper deals with problems associated with risks analysis of a safety-critical control system. In the paper there are introduced recommendations enabling practical enforceability of risk analysis by the assurance of sufficient objectivity level. In the initial phases of the system lifecycle risk analysis serves for a tolerable hazard rate definition for individual safety relevant functions. In the end of the control system development process the risk analysis (an analysis of failures consequences on system safety) serves for the verification of system safety attributes.


Residential energy efficiency is an increasingly important notion in light of the increasing energy prices and increased focus on an environmentally sustainable society. DSO's have the potential to make a great contribution to the field based on their unique market position, but are held back by regulation and market opposition. This article explores the strategic possibilities, that a DSO has in making a contribution while identifying and taking into consideration the most important goals and constraints such as economic and regulatory feasibility. This has resulted in a framework that can be used as a guiding tool in the search for a viable role of a DSO and the conclusion that a DSO can make the best contribution by actively aiming at non-consumer stakeholders in the residential energy efficiency field.


Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the etiology and risk factors for acute histoplasmosis in two outbreaks in Illinois among laborers at a landfill in 2001 and at a bridge reconstruction site in 2003. Design: We performed environmental investigations during both outbreaks and also performed an analytic cohort study among bridge workers. Participants: Workers at the landfill during May 2001 and those at the bridge site during August 2003 participated in the study. At the landfill, workers moved topsoil from an area that previously housed a barn; at the bridge, workers observed bat guano on bridge beams. Evaluations/Measurements: We defined a case by positive immunodiffusion serology, a ≥ 4-fold titer rise in complement fixation between acute and convalescent sera, or positive urinary Histoplasma capsulatum (HC) antigen. Relative risks (RR) for disease among bridge workers were calculated using bivariate analysis. Results: Eight of 11 landfill workers (73%) and 6 of 12 bridge workers (50%) were laboratory-confirmed histoplasmosis cases. Three bridge workers had positive urinary HC antigen. At the bridge, seeing or having contact with bats [RR = 7.0; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.1–43.0], jack-hammering (RR = 4.0; 95% CI, 1.2–13.3), and waste disposal (RR = 4.0; 95% CI, 1.2–13.3) were the most significant job-related risk factors for acquiring histoplasmosis. Conclusions: Workers performing activities that aerosolized topsoil and dust were at increased risk for acquiring histoplasmosis. Relevance to Professional and Clinical Practice: Employees should wear personal protective equipment and use dust-suppression techniques when working in areas potentially contaminated with bird or bat droppings. Urinary HC antigen testing was important in rapidly identifying disease in the 2003 outbreak.


IAA2 is a member of the Aux/IAA auxin responsive gene family in Arabidopsis thaliana. No iaa2 mutant has been reported until now, thus hindering its further mechanistic investigations. The normal genomic editing technology of CRISPR/Cas9 (Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein 9) uses only a single guide RNA (sgRNA) to target one site in a specific gene, and the gene knockout efficiency is not high. Instead, multiple sgRNAs can target multiple sites; therefore, the efficiency may be improved. In the present investigation, we used the golden-gate cloning strategy and two rounds of PCR reactions to combine three sgRNAs in the same entry vector. The final expression vector was obtained by LR reactions with the destination vector containing the Cas9 expression cassette. Four out of the six sgRNAs were effective, and we also obtained a lot of insertion and deletion mutations. Compared with one sgRNA approach, multiple sgRNAs displayed higher gene-knockout efficiency and produced more germ-line mutants. Thus, we established a more rapid and efficient method and generated five mutants for further studies of IAA2 functions.


Translator Training (TT) is considered a crucial part of translation activity in many translator-training institutions. In the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OTPs), however, TT has been a neglected area until quite recently. As a result of recent developments in the field of translation, and in technology, TT has gained a place all over the world; the OTPs are no exception, but unfortunately here TT remains scarcely adequate. This paper aims to explore the status of professionally-oriented translation versus the academisation of translation; it will examine laying the groundwork for TT in the OTPs, based on a case study of the Centre for Continuing Education's (CCE's) Welfare Online Translation Project (WOT). The paper argues that TT in the OTPs still lags behind most countries, although there have been some attempts to initiate TT.


Circuits that have an underlying acyclic topology are guaranteed to be combinational since feedback is necessary for sequential behavior. However, the reverse is not true, i.e., feedback is not a sufficient condition since there do exist combinational logic circuits that are cyclic. Such combinational circuits occur often in bus structures in data paths. This class of circuits has largely been ignored by conventional combinational single-stuck-at fault test pattern generators which assume that the circuit topology is acyclic. There has been no formal study of the test generation problem for these circuits and no algorithms and tools exist for this purpose. In practice, test generation for these circuits is handled in an awkward manner, typically with poor fault coverage. This paper provides, for the first time, a formal analysis of the test generation problem for these circuits. This analysis leads to a clear insight into generation of tests, as well as a classification of untestable faults for such circuits. We demonstrate that unlike acyclic circuits, where an untestable fault corresponds to a redundancy, cyclic combinational circuits may have untestable faults that do not correspond to redundancies. This insight is then translated to a testing algorithm which has been implemented in the program RAM. RAM has been successful is providing almost complete coverage on a range of typical examples, which Is significantly higher than that provided by conventional techniques.