AIMS
The purpose of this study was to investigate the influences of apigenin on proliferation, differentiation and function of renal fibroblast after TGF-β1 stimulation and to uncover the underlying mechanisms.

BACKGROUND
Renal fibrosis is a common pathway leading to the progression of chronic kidney disease. Activated fibroblasts contribute remarkably to the development of renal fibrosis. Although apigenin has been demonstrated to play a protective role from fibrotic diseases, its pharmacological effect on renal fibroblast activation remains largely unknown.

OBJECTIVE
Here, we examined the functional role of apigenin in the activation of renal fibroblasts response to transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 and its potential mechanisms.

METHOD
Cultured renal fibroblasts (NRK-49F) were exposed to apigenin (1, 5, 10 and 20 µM) followed by the stimulation of TGF-β1 (2 ng/mL) for 24 h. The markers of fibroblast activation were determined. In order to confirm the anti-fibrosis effect of apigenin, the expression of fibrosis-associated genes in renal fibroblasts was assessed.

RESULT
As a consequence, apigenin alleviated fibroblast proliferation and fibroblast-myofibroblast differentiation induced by TGF-β1. Notably, apigenin significantly inhibited the fibrosis-associated genes expression in renal fibroblasts. Moreover, apigenin treatment significantly increased phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). Apigenin treatment also obviously reduced TGF-β1 induced phosphorylation of ERK1/2 but not Smad2/3, p38 and JNK MAPK in renal fibroblasts.

CONCLUSION
In a summary, these results indicate that apigenin inhibits renal fibroblast proliferation, differentiation and function by AMPK activation and reduced of ERK1/2 phosphorylation, suggesting it could be an attractive therapeutic potential for the treatment of renal fibrosis.


Metapelitic Eocambrian strata from eastern exposures of the footwall of the northern Snake Range decollement experienced Mesozoic amphibolite facies metamorphism and greenschist facies overprint accompanying extreme ductile thinning. Samples from the Hampton Creek area where the overprint is weakest contain the assemblage quartz + muscovite + biotite + garnet + plagioclase + opaque oxides + staurolite ± kyanite ± tourmaline ± apatite. Textural relations and consistency of rim analyses among multiple domains in each sample indicate equilibrium. Rim pressure-temperature estimates were obtained using the garnet-biotite Fe-Mg exchange thermometer and the garnet-muscovite-plagioclase-biotite and garnet-aluminosilicate-plagioclase barometers. The results suggest final equilibration at 610 ± 50 °C and 810 ± 70 MPa, or a depth of 30 ± 3 km, about a factor of 3 greater than the stratigraphic depth.
To the west, in the Schell Creek Range, correlative strata are contiguous with unmetamorphosed upper Paleozoic and Tertiary strata. From west to east, exposures of Eocambrian rocks in the two ranges collectively show increasing intensity of crystal-plastic deformation, metamorphic recrystallization, and metamorphic grade from subgreenschist to amphibolite facies, and a monotonic decrease in ^(40)Ar/^(39)Ar muscovite ages from Mesozoic age to about 23 Ma. In light of these relations, the pressure-temperature data suggest that Eocambrian strata were inclined eastward during Mesozoic metamorphism with ∼15–20 km of structural relief. We interpret the eastward tilting and burial to be the result of west-directed thrusting, as expressed by folding to the north in the Deep Creek Range. Unroofing of the deeply buried strata may have occurred partly in Cretaceous or early Cenozoic time, with final unroofing in Oligocene and Miocene time along the northern Snake Range decollement. These results exclude the hypothesis that the northern Snake Range decollement initiated as a brittle-ductile transition zone within Cambrian strata of a little-deformed miogeoclinal section, and support the hypothesis that it is a major low-angle extensional shear zone.


Background Percutaneous transcatheter closure of atrial septal defect (ASD) among children using devices other than the Amplatzer septal occluder has not been extensively tested. Objectives We evaluated the efficiency and safety of secundum ASD closure using the Occlutech Figulla ASD occluder in children and the efficiency and safety of secundum ASD closure under transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) guidance in children with less than 12 kg body weight. Patients and methods Forty-two patients (19 girls and 23 boys; mean age 4.8±2.0 years) were enrolled in a prospective cohort study. All patients underwent TTE and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) to assess the characteristics of the ASD before transcatheter closure. Procedures were performed under fluoroscopic and TTE or TEE guidance. Follow-up was done at 1, 3, and 6 months following the procedure by clinical and TTE examination. Results The mean defect size was 14.9±4.2 mm on TTE and 16.1±4.7 mm on TEE. The mean device size was 17.9±4.9 mm (range 10.5–27 mm). The mean procedure time was 59.6±19.5 min. Thirty-one cases were performed under general anesthesia and TEE guidance, whereas the other 11 cases were performed under general anesthesia and TTE guidance. The device was placed successfully in all 42 patients. A small residual flow was seen immediately after device placement in three (7.1%) patients, which disappeared at 6 months. No complications occurred during the procedure. All patients were asymptomatic during the follow-up period. Conclusion Transcatheter closure of secundum ASD is generally safe and efficient in children younger than 12 years old, and ASD closure under TTE guidance in children less than 12 kg body weight is considered safe and efficient when performed in a tertiary center in the presence of an expert echocardiographer and interventional cardiologist.


Evitable mortality and morbidity remains a formidable challenge in many developing countries, Kenya among them. Countering this challenge due to birth complications then becomes a critical area of concern. The principle and practice of Birth Preparedness and Complication Readiness (BP/CR) in resource-poor settings have the potential of reducing maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality rates. This paper aims to assess the factors that influence BP/CR among pregnant women attending Antenatal care in selected Health Care Facilities in Eldoret, Kenya. The current maternal mortality ratio is 488 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births (KDHS 2008-9). Most of these deaths occur due to the five leading causes: severe bleeding/hemorrhage (25%), infections (13%), unsafe abortions (13%), eclampsia (12%), obstructed labor (8%), other direct causes (8%), and indirect causes (20%). It is important to note that most of these deaths can be prevented by proper ANC attendances and ensuring the presence of a skilled birth attendant during delivery and/or in case of any complications (Omolo & Kizito, 2010). The study used a descriptive cross sectional approach. Pregnant women seeking antenatal services in 3 health care facilities (Eldoret West Health Centre, Huruma and Uasin Gishu District Hospitals) formed the target population from which a sample size of 273 was obtained using fisher's formula. Data collection was done using questionnaire and analyzed using the SPSS software. Results are presented in tables and narratives. Among the factors established to be the most predictors included maternal education, source of income, pregnancy planning and attendance of Antenatal Care. The study recommends emphasis of Antenatal care education on birth preparedness and complication readiness to improve access to skilled and emergency obstetric care.


It has been shown that a trade-off exists between estimates of the break- down strength drop and the critical slip-weakening distance (e.g., Guatteri and Spu- dich, 2000). For this reason, only the fracture energy, proportional to these two parameters, may be estimated from waveform modeling. However, Mikumo et al. (2003) proposed a new technique to estimate the slip-weakening distance of earth- quakes, separate from the fracture energy. For this method to be valid, the peak slip- velocity time must be close to the stress breakdown time. Here we explain the theo- retical background of this assumption and clarify the limitations of this technique using numerical simulations based on the boundary integral equation method. The theoretical analysis using the boundary integral equation and some numerical tests indicates that a rather smooth rupture process and relatively sharp change in stress at the stress breakdown time in the slip-weakening curve ensure the validity of the method.


There has been considerable interest in spin-orbit torques for the purpose of manipulating the magnetization of ferromagnetic (FM) films or nano-elements for spintronic technologies. Spin-orbit torques are derived from spin currents created from charge currents in materials with significant spin-orbit coupling that diffuse into an adjacent FM material. There have been intensive efforts to search for candidate materials that exhibit large spin Hall angles, i.e. efficient charge to spin current conversion. Here we report, using spin torque ferromagnetic resonance, the observation of a giant spin Hall angle of up to ~0.35 in (100) oriented single crystalline antiferromagnetic (AF) IrMn3 thin films, coupled to ferromagnetic permalloy layers, and a spin Hall angle that is about three times smaller in (111) oriented films. For the (100) oriented samples we show that the magnitude of the spin Hall angle can be significantly changed by manipulating the populations of the various AF domains through field annealing. Using ab-initio calculations we show that the triangular AF structure of IrMn3 gives rise to a substantial intrinsic spin Hall conductivity that is three times larger for the (100) than for the (111) orientations, consistent with our experimental findings.


Based on twenty months of ethnographic research from 2016 to 2019 at Buddhist educational programs for youth in Hồ Chí Minh City, this article investigates the emergence of urban therapeutic Buddhism. Responding to the heightened public concerns over youth's well-being and mental health, urban monastics are adapting Theravada vipassanā meditation and Thích Nhất Hạnh's mindfulness teachings to help youth address their social-emotional concerns. The article argues that by promoting a lifestyle based on Buddhist mindfulness and meditation practices, Buddhist monastics and youth are fashioning a framework of ethical personhood and moral community that challenges, but also reinforces, market-socialist morality.


This study at the Church of Nossa Senhora do Pilar, built in 1613 by the Spanish Capuchos Franciscan, investigates the acoustic effect of music on the subjective comfort of a listener in a worship space. The results presented describe the effect of variations in the type of music rendered (in the form of live music from the cello, clarinet and the ensemble) from two music sources sites (the nave and the choir loft, of the church) on the subjective acoustic comfort of listeners in the church of Nossa Senhora do Pilar (a significant Catholic church of Goa, India). The subjective acoustic comfort of the listeners for different music types at the two music sources was measured through the Acoustic Comfort Impression Index (ACII). This index for subjective acoustic comfort was derived as a difference between desirable Subjective Acoustic Impressions such as of Intimacy, Envelopment, Reverberance, Loudness, Clarity, Directionality, Balance and undesirable Subjective Acoustic Impressions such as of Echoes and of Background Noise. The derived acoustic comfort impression index also took into account the requisite of reverential awe; intelligibility for sacred speech, music, singing and the sacred silence that characterizes a worship space. Although the sacred music rendered by the ensemble seems to have elicited better scores of Acoustical Comfort Impression Index (ACII) among the listeners, yet there is no significant difference between the means of the listeners acoustical comfort impressions by the ensemble, cello or clarinet (p = 0.43). Amongst the two music source locations, although the Acoustical Comfort Impression Index (ACII) seems to favor the choir loft location, the music rendered therein is only 80% significantly more effective than the music rendered from the nave floor location (p = 0.20). _____________________________________________________________________________


In many developing countries, only 30 per cent of land rights are registered. This publication aims to support developing countries that have unregistered lands to be able to value these lands. It is intended for policy makers, valuation practitioners, other land professionals and various stakeholders involved in the valuation of unregistered lands. It highlights the need to address the challenges related to valuing unregistered lands. This publication provides key principles and policy guidance for people to progressively undertake valuations of unregistered lands. It is intended to assist in the achievement of professional level valuations of unregistered lands and enable users of this guide to discern when this has been achieved. Lessons learnt and solutions should be documented leading to detailed manuals on how to better value unregistered land in the future and thereby significantly contribute to sustainable development objectives. The guide serves to strengthen the implementation of the continuum of land rights a key tool to strengthening security of tenure for all. Governments, policy makers, the valuation industry, practitioners, capacity development institutions and other interested parties should use this guide to help achieve the SDG goals of conflict prevention, food security, gender equity and sustainable urban and rural development.


We present a generalized hybrid Monte Carlo (gHMC) method for fast, statistically optimal reconstruction of release histories of reactive contaminants. The approach is applicable to large-scale, strongly nonlinear systems with parametric uncertainties and data corrupted by measurement errors. The use of discrete adjoint equations facilitates numerical implementation of gHMC, without putting any restrictions on the degree of nonlinearity of advection-dispersion-reaction equations that are used to describe contaminant transport in the subsurface. To demonstrate the salient features of the proposed algorithm, we identify the spatial extent of a distributed source of contamination from concentration measurements of a reactive solute.


Formulating design guidelines from research results can potentially offer two advantages: available empirical knowledge is distilled into a readily accessible form, and practitioners can judge the authority of those guidelines for themselves, but a case history demonstrates that challenges confront the developer of research-based guidelines for Web site design, First, few studies of people using the Web have yet been conducted. Second, when the process of guideline development is not systematic and designed to control bias and subjectivity, the resulting guidelines can be compromised. This paper describes the issues and problems that one guideline developer encountered and suggests a guideline development process that might resolve them.


The WIEN2k program is based on the augmented plane wave plus local orbitals (APW+lo) method to solve the Kohn-Sham equations of density functional theory. The APW+lo method, which considers all electrons (core and valence) self-consistently in a full-potential treatment, is implemented very efficiently in WIEN2k, since various types of parallelization are available and many optimized numerical libraries can be used. Many properties can be calculated, ranging from the basic ones, such as the electronic band structure or the optimized atomic structure, to more specialized ones such as the nuclear magnetic resonance shielding tensor or the electric polarization. After a brief presentation of the APW+lo method, we review the usage, capabilities, and features of WIEN2k (version 19) in detail. The various options, properties, and available approximations for the exchange-correlation functional, as well as the external libraries or programs that can be used with WIEN2k, are mentioned. References to relevant applications and some examples are also given.


Gaucher disease (GD) is the most common LSD worldwide. The disease is caused due to mutations in β-glucocerobrosidase (GBA) gene located on chromosome 1. The mutations results in the deficient activity of acid β-glucosidase (glucocerebrosidase) enzyme. It is inherited in an autosomal recessive fashion and both men and women are affected equally. We report here two families wherein the mutation analysis for the disease was performed as the clinical features of the children were suggestive of GD. In the first family the enzyme analysis reports of the children were normal but GD was confirmed upon mutation analysis. In another family who had come for prenatal diagnosis, the parents were confirmed to be heterozygote of normal mutation whereas the foetus was found to be of carrier status. The family had already lost two children who had clinical features suggestive of Gaucher. We conclude that in some cases the enzyme analysis report may not be conclusive and mutation analysis has to be carried out to confirm the disorder. Prenatal diagnosis for lysosomal storage disorders like GD is also recommended among high risk couples.


Abstract The phylogenetic significance of archeopyles in calcareous dinoflagellates cysts has been evaluated, and a classification model is developed that focuses on the archeopyle categories and types established for organic-walled dinoflagellates by Evitt (1967, 1985). Several of Evitt's archeopyle categories are presently recognized within the calcareous dinoflagellate cysts: apical, intercalary, and combination archeopyles, which are here subdivided into eight archeopyle types and several variations. Archeopyles that cannot be assigned to a distinct type, and those with outlines that do not allow an accurate interpretation, are together placed in a separate category: miscellaneous archeopyles. The stratigraphic distribution of the different archeopyle types reveals a phylogenetic trend characterized by an increase of the number of plates involved in archeopyle formation. The first calcareous dinoflagellate cysts to appear in the late Triassic have a monoplacoid apical archeopyle. The first taxa that show an archeopyle involving more than one plate are from the Early Cretaceous, with the first triplacoid apical archeopyle appearing at the Berriasian/Valanginian boundary. This is followed by the first combination archeopyle, which includes six plates, in the middle Aptian. Epitractal archeopyles originated no earlier than the early Oligocene. At the beginning of the Paleogene, species with a combination archeopyle increased in abundance, progressively replacing species possessing an apical archeopyle that dominated during the Mesozoic. Newly described species are: Calciodinellum clamosum, accommodating the two subspecies Calciodinellum clamosum subsp. clamosum Autonym, and Calciodinellum clamosum subsp. latum; Calciodinellum kerguelense; Fuettererella belliata; and Pernambugia? patata. New combinations are: Cervisiella operculata (Bramlette and Martini, 1964); Praecalcigonellum sulcatum (Keupp, 1979a); and Praecalcigonellum dolium (Keupp, 1979b). Because of the new interpretation of their archeopyles we emend the following genera: Cervisiella Hildebrand-Habel, Willems, and Versteegh, 1999; Echinodinella Keupp, 1980; Fuettererella Kohring, 1993a; and Pernambugia Janofske and Karwath in Karwath (2000). The species Orthopithonella? minuta and Pirumella johnstonei, which have been previously synonymized with Fuettererella deflandrei, are retained as independent taxa.


Over the last decades, the idea that communication constitutes organizations (CCO) has been gaining considerable momentum in organization studies. The CCO perspective provides new insights into key organizational issues, such as the relation between stability and change, between micro-level and macro-level phenomena, or between emergence and control. However, despite various theoretical advancements, the CCO perspective's range of methodologies is still limited to analyzing local communication episodes, rather than studying organizations as broader networks of communication episodes. In this paper, we present a new methodological approach to the study of the relation between organization and communication, based on network analysis. Following a discussion of existing network approaches, we incorporate the fundamental assumptions of the CCO perspective into a methodology that places communication at the center of network analysis by turning the prevalent network perspective inside out, so that the vertices of the network represent communication episodes and the edges represent individuals. We illustrate our methodology with an empirical case study, in which we examine the structures and dynamics of an actual organization as a network of communication episodes.


Introduction Various valuation methods exist and have been applied to estimate the values of different ecosystem services. The methods reflect the extent to which the services provided by ecosystems touch on the welfare of society either as direct determinants of individuals' well-being (e.g. as consumer goods) or via production processes (e.g. as intermediate goods). The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of available valuation methods, to discuss their advantages and disadvantages, and to provide guidance on when to use which method. In doing so we do not aim to be comprehensive; extensive details of the underlying theory and on the actual practice of applying the valuation methods are provided in general texts, including Braden and Kolstad (1991), Freeman (2003), Bateman et al . (2002), Mitchell and Carson (1989), Champ et al . (2003), Bockstael and McConnell (2007), and Kanninen (2007). A number of economic valuation methods have been developed to estimate the value of changes in ecosystem services. An important distinction is between market-based and non-market-based valuation methods. Market-based valuation means that existing market behavior and market transactions are used as the basis for the valuation exercise. Economic values are derived from actual market prices for ecosystem services, both when they are used as inputs in production processes (production values) and when they provide direct outputs (consumption values). By observing how much of an ecosystem service is bought and sold at different prices, it is possible to infer directly how people value that good. Examples of market-based methods are the use of direct market prices, net factor income and production function methods, and the calculation of replacement costs, defensive expenditures, and avoided damage costs.


We consider Device-to-Device (D2D) communication underlaying cellular networks to improve local services. The system aims to optimize the throughput over the shared resources while fulfilling prioritized cellular service constraints. Optimum resource allocation and power control between the cellular and D2D connections that share the same resources are analyzed for different resource sharing modes. Optimality is discussed under practical constraints such as minimum and maximum spectral efficiency restrictions, and maximum transmit power or energy limitation. It is found that in most of the considered cases, optimum power control and resource allocation for the considered resource sharing modes can either be solved in closed form or searched from a finite set. The performance of the D2D underlay system is evaluated in both a single-cell scenario, and a Manhattan grid environment with multiple WINNER II A1 office buildings. The results show that by proper resource management, D2D communication can effectively improve the total throughput without generating harmful interference to cellular networks.


This thesis considers bivariate extension of the Meixner class of distributions by the method of generalized trivariate reduction so that the marginal distributions have different parameters; in particular, a new bivariate negative binomial (BNB) distribution is examined. Different marginal parameters allow flexibility in statistical modelling and simulation studies when different marginal distributions and a specified correlation are required. The multivariate extension of this class of distributions is also given. Specifically, various interesting properties of the proposed BNB distribution, such as canonical expansion and quadrant dependence are examined. In addition, potential applications of the proposed distribution, as a bivariate mixed Poisson distribution, and
the computer generation of bivariate samples are discussed. Due to the complicated or intractable joint probability function (pf) for most bivariate and multivariate
distributions, the popular method of maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) either leads to a slow parameter estimation or totally could not be employed. Furthermore, MLE is not robust in the presence of outliers. Alternative robust methods like minimum Hellinger distance (MHD) can be used but these methods may also involve complicated
pf. To address this difficulty in estimation, a Hellinger type distance measure based on the probability or moment generating function is proposed as a tool for quick and robust parameter estimation. The proposed method is shown to yield consistent estimators. It is computationally much faster than MLE or MHD since the generating function required is usually much simpler compared to the corresponding pf. The distribution of the difference of two discrete random variables, particularly that of two correlated negative binomial random variables from the proposed BNB distribution, is also studied.The application of this distribution, which caters for non homogeneity in a group of individuals, in modelling fluctuating asymmetry based on meristic (counts) traits in organisms is discussed. A test for fluctuating asymmetry, based on a zero-inflated count model, is examined. Also, numerical illustrations are given to complement the ideas and theories put forth.


Preface. 1. Significance, History, and Challenges of Environmental Microbiology. 1.1 Core concepts can unify environmental microbiology. 1.2 Synopsis of the significance of environmental microbiology. 1.3 A brief history of environmental microbiology. 1.4 Complexity of our world. 1.5 Many disciplines and their integration. . 2. Formation of the Biosphere: Key Biogeochemical and Evolutionary Events. 2.1 Issues and methods in Earth's history and evolution. 2.2 Formation of early planet Earth. 2.3 Did life reach Earth from Mars? 2.4 Plausible stages in the development of early life. 2.5 Mineral surfaces: the early iron/sulfur world could have driven biosynthesis. 2.6 Encapsulation: a key to cellular life. 2.7 A plausible definition of the tree of life's "last universal common ancestor". 2.8 The rise of oxygen. 2.9 Evidence for oxygen and cellular life in the sedimentary record. 2.10 The evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis. 2.11 Consequences of oxygenic photosynthesis: molecular oxygen in the atmosphere and large pools of organic carbon. 2.12 Eukaryotic evolution: endosymbiotic theory and the blending of traits from Archaea and Bacteria . 3. Physiological Ecology: Resource Exploitation by Microorganisms. 3.1 The cause of physiological diversity: diverse habitats provide selective pressures over evolutionary time. 3.2 Biological and evolutionary insights from genomics. 3.3 Fundamentals of nutrition: carbon- and energy-source utilization provide a foundation for physiological ecology. 3.4 Selective pressures: ecosystem nutrient fluxes regulate the physiological status and composition of microbial communities. 3.5 Cellular responses to starvation: resting stages, environmental sensing circuits, gene regulation, dormancy, and slow growth. 3.6 A planet of complex mixtures in chemical disequilibrium. 3.7 A thermodynamic hierarchy describing biosphere selective pressures, energy sources, and biogeochemical reactions. 3.8 Using the thermodynamic hierarchy of half reactions to predict biogeochemical reactions in time and space. 3.9 Overview of metabolism and the "logic of electron transport". 310 The flow of carbon and electrons in anaerobic food chains: syntrophy is the rule. 3.11 The diversity of lithotrophic reactions. 4. A Survey of the Earth's Microbial Habitats. 4.1 Terrestrial biomes. 4.2 Soils: geographic features relevant to both vegetation and microorganisms. 4.3 Aquatic habitats. 4.4 Subsurface habitats: oceanic and terrestrial. 4.5 Defining the prokaryotic biosphere: where do prokaryotes occur on Earth? 4.6 Life at the micron scale: an excursion into the microhabitat of soil microorganisms. 4.7 Extreme habitats for life and microbiological adaptations. 5. Microbial Diversity: Who is Here and How do we Know? 5.1 Defining cultured and uncultured microorganisms. 5.2 Approaching a census: an introduction to the environmental microbiological "toolbox". 5.3 Criteria for census taking: recognition of distinctive microorganisms (species). 5.4 Proceeding toward census taking and measures of microbial diversity. 5.5 The tree of life: our view of evolution's blueprint for biological diversity. 5.6 A sampling of key traits of cultured microorganisms from domains Eukarya, Bacteria , and Archaea . 5.7 Placing the "uncultured majority" on the tree of life: what have nonculture-based investigations revealed? 5.8 Viruses: an overview of biology, ecology, and diversity. 5.9 Microbial diversity illustrated by genomics, horizontal gene transfer, and cell size. . 6. Generating and Interpreting Information in Environmental Microbiology: Methods and their Limitations. 6.1 How do we know? 6.2 Perspectives from a century of scholars and enrichment-culturing procedures. 6.3 Constraints on knowledge imposed by ecosystem complexity. 6.4 Environmental microbiology's "Heisenberg uncertainty principle": model systems and their risks. 6.5 Fieldwork: being sure sampling procedures are compatible with analyses and goals. 6.6 Blending and balancing disciplines from field geochemistry to pure cultures. 6.7 Overview of methods for determining the position and composition of microbial communities. 6.8 Methods for determining in situ biogeochemical activities and when they occur. 6.9 Metagenomics and related methods: procedures and insights. 6.10 Discovering the organisms responsible for particular ecological processes: linking identity with activity. 7. Microbial Biogeochemistry: a Grand Synthesis. 7.1 Mineral connections: the roles of inorganic elements in life processes. 7.2 Greenhouse gases and lessons from biogeochemical modeling. 7.3 The "stuff of life": identifying the pools of biosphere materials whose microbiological transformations drive the biogeochemical cycles. 7.4 Elemental biogeochemical cycles: concepts and physiological processes. 7.5 Cellular mechanisms of microbial biogeochemical pathways. 7.6 Mass balance approaches to elemental cycles. 8. Special and Applied Topics in Environmental Microbiology. 8.1 Other organisms as microbial habitats: ecological relationships. 8.2 Microbial residents of plants and humans. 8.3 Biodegradation and bioremediation. 8.4 Biofilms. 8.5 Evolution of catabolic pathways for organic contaminants. 8.6 Environmental biotechnology: overview and eight case studies. 8.7 Antibiotic resistance. 9. Future Frontiers in Environmental Microbiology. 9.1 The influence of systems biology on environmental microbiology. 9.2 Ecological niches and their genetic basis. 9.3 Concepts help define future progress in environmental microbiology. Glossary. Index.


Poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are considered to be healthier than saturated fatty acids (SFAs), but others postulate that especially the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 PUFAs (n6/n3 ratio) determines health. Health can be determined with biomarkers, but functional health status is likely better reflected by challenge tests that assess metabolic flexibility. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of high-fat diets with different fatty acid compositions, but similar n6/n3 ratio, on metabolic flexibility. Therefore, adult male mice received isocaloric high-fat diets with either predominantly PUFAs (HFpu diet) or predominantly SFAs (HFs diet) but similar n6/n3 ratio for six months, during and after which several biomarkers for health were measured. Metabolic flexibility was assessed by the response to an oral glucose tolerance test, a fasting and re-feeding test and an oxygen restriction test (OxR; normobaric hypoxia). The latter two are non-invasive, indirect calorimetry-based tests that measure the adaptive capacity of the body as a whole. We found that the HFs diet, compared to the HFpu diet, increased mean adipocyte size, liver damage, and ectopic lipid storage in liver and muscle; although, we did not find differences in body weight, total adiposity, adipose tissue health, serum adipokines, whole body energy balance, or circadian rhythm between HFs and HFpu mice. HFs mice were, furthermore, less flexible in their response to both fasting- re-feeding and OxR, while glucose tolerance was indistinguishable. To conclude, the HFs versus the HFpu diet increased ectopic fat storage, liver damage, and mean adipocyte size and reduced metabolic flexibility in male mice. This study underscores the physiological relevance of indirect calorimetry-based challenge tests.


This retrospective cohort study was aimed to investigate the impact of endometriosis on the IVF/ICSI outcomes. A total of 1027 cycles of patients undergoing IVF/ICSI treatment in a reproductive medicine unit of academic hospital were enrolled. In the present study, 431 cycles of patients with endometriosis constituted the study group, including 152 cycles of patients with stage I-II endometriosis and 279 cycles of patients with stage III-IV endometriosis, while 596 cycles of patients with tubal factors infertility were considered as the control group. Ovarian stimulation parameters and IVF/ICSI outcomes were compared. Patients with stage I-II and stage III-IV endometriosis required higher dosage and longer duration of gonadotropins, but had lower day 3 high-quality embryos rate, when compared to patients with tubal infertility. In addition, the number of oocytes retrieved, the number of obtained embryos, the number of day 3 high-quality embryos, serum E2 level on the day of hCG, fertilization rate were lower in patients with stage III-IV endometriosis than those in tubal factors group. Except reduced implantation rate in stage III-IV endometriosis group, no differences were found in other pregnancy parameters. This study suggests that IVF/ICSI yielded similar pregnancy outcomes in patients with different stages of endometriosis and patients with tubal infertility. Therefore, IVF/ICSI can be considered as an effective approach for managing endometriosis-associated infertility.


Abstract The tectonothermal evolution of a unit in the foreland fold-and-thrust belt of the Iberian massif is established using the conodont colour alteration index (CAI). The unit consists of two parts with different tectonothermal histories – the Esla nappe region and the Valsurbio region – separated by a synorogenic Carboniferous basin (Guardo–Valderrueda basin). The Esla nappe region evolved in diacaizonal conditions (corresponding to the diagenetic conditions of the pelites) whose palaeotemperatures were controlled by rock burial. Maximum values were reached before the emplacement of the thrust nappes, so tectonic superimposition is not registered by the CAI. Overburial due to the emplacement of the thrust units was prevented by simultaneous intense erosion. The geothermal gradient obtained for burial was c. 35 °C km−1 and the temperature reached by the older Cambrian rocks was c. 210–230 °C. The Valsurbio region was affected by an extensional tectonothermal post-orogenic event that gave rise to metamorphism with ancaizonal or epicaizonal conditions (corresponding to anchizone or epizone of the pelites). The most common maximum palaeotemperatures reached in this event fall within the range 305–415 °C, although higher palaeotemperatures could be reached locally as a consequence of contact metamorphism. This event gave rise to subhorizontal cleavage that cuts the main Variscan folds. Coal rank data indicate an increase in maximum palaeotemperatures eastwards from the Esla nappe region to the Valsurbio region through the Guardo–Valderrueda basin.


Purpose Individuals with primary progressive apraxia of speech (AOS) have AOS in which disruptions in articulation and prosody predominate the speech pattern. Many develop aphasia and/or dysarthria later in the disease course. The aim of this study was to describe the communication limitations in these patients, as measured by (a) the patient via the Communicative Participation Item Bank (CPIB) and (b) the speech-language pathologist via the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's (ASHA) Functional Communication Measures (FCMs) and an adapted motor speech disorder (MSD) severity rating. Method Speech and language evaluations were completed for 24 patients with progressive AOS (n = 7 with isolated AOS; n = 17 with a combination of AOS and aphasia). Descriptive comparisons were utilized to evaluate differences in communication measures among patients with various combinations of MSDs and aphasia. Differences associated with phonetic predominant or prosodic predominant AOS were also examined. Across the entire cohort, correlations were calculated between the participation ratings and other clinical assessment measures. Results The CPIB reflected greater limitations for those with aphasia and AOS compared to isolated AOS, but was not notably different when dysarthria occurred with AOS (n = 9/24). Across the cohort, there were statistically significant correlations between the CPIB and ASHA FCM-Motor Speech and Language Expression ratings and the MSD severity rating. The CPIB did not correlate with the ASHA FCM-Language Comprehension or other speech-language measures. Conclusions Patients with neurodegenerative AOS experience reduced participation in communication that is further exacerbated by co-occurring language deficits. The study suggests measures of severity cannot be assumed to correlate with measures of participation restrictions and offers a foundation for further research examining the day-to-day sequela of progressive speech and language disorders. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12743252.


This thesis deals with spherical microparticles trapped at liquid interfaces. It focuses on two aspects of their behavior: firstly, the effect of the curvature of a liquid interface on interparticle interactions and their organization; secondly, the mobility of particles at visco-elastic interfaces. In Chapter 2of this thesis we showed that it is possible to induce capillary interactions between spherical microparticles with homogeneous surface chemistry by tailoring the curvature of the liquid interface. If the interfacial curvature is anisotropic, the constraint of constant contact angle along the contact line can only be satisfied if the interface is deformed locally. These deformations create excess surface area, which changes when two particles approach each other. This leads to a change in the surface free energy, which manifests itself as a capillary interaction between the particles. To study the effect of curvature on the interactions between particles, we created oil-water interfaces of different shape (ellipsoid, dumbbell, torus and squares) and added spherical negatively charged particles that adsorbed at these interfaces. On all these interfaces, we observed quadrupolar capillary interactions that organized the particles into square lattices. The order of this organization increased with increasing curvature anisotropy, indicating that capillary interactions are stronger as well. By contrast, on flat interfaces or on spherical droplets with homogeneous curvature, no attractive interaction was observed and only at very high surface coverage did the particles order in a hexagonal lattice, as a result of repulsive interactions. In Chapter 3we studied the interface deformations around particles at curved interfaces and the resulting capillary interactions theoretically. We used the finite element method to solve the Young-Laplace equation for the shape of the interface around a particle and calculated the interaction potential between the particles numerically. The main finding of these calculations is that for an anisotropically curved interface, with two different local principal curvatures, the particle deforms the interface in two ways simultaneously: concave deformation along one principal direction and convex – along the other, thus creating a deformation field with quadrupolar symmetry. Two particles with such deformations interact favorably only if the overlapping deformations are similar (concave-concave, convex-convex), which occurs when they approach each other along one of the two principal directions. Since the two local principal directions are always perpendicular, particles interacting along them will tend to arrange into a square pattern. As a consequence of the quadrupolar deformation field, two particles approaching each other along a line forming 45 degrees with the principal axes will repel each other (which is confirmed by our observations), because in this case the deformation fields overlap with four different "petals" (2 pairs of concave-convex), and the excessive surface area doesn't reduce upon approaching, but increases. A system of two particles oriented at an angle with respect to the principal axis is therefore subjected to a torque rotating the axis of the system so that it gets aligned with one of the two principal directions. The torque magnitude reaches its maximum when the system's axis is at an angle of 45 degrees with respect to the principal direction and decreases to 0 when the axis is aligned with one of the principal directions. The family of interaction potentials we obtained allows for calculating the minimum deviatoric curvature needed to initialize capillary interactions strong enough to compete with thermal energy, so that a stable organization can be expected. The calculated value was very close to the deviatoric curvature where ordering was observed experimentally in Chapter 2. In Chapter 4we studied the mobility of 3 mm polystyrene particles in a monolayer of 1.5 mm core-shell microparticles deposited at flat air-water interfaces; all the particles present in the system were stabilized by negative charges. In this exploratory chapter we made an attempt to characterize the mechanical properties of such monolayers by analyzing the mobility of the larger tracer particles in the monolayer. With increasing particle density of the monolayer, we observed that the mean-square displacement of the tracer particles was reduced, which can be interpreted as an increase of the viscosity of the monolayer. At very high densities the motion of the particles became subdiffusive and confined, pointing at elasticity of the monolayer. We also studied correlated movements between neighboring particles in an attempt to do two-point interfacial microrheology. A comparison between the one-point and two-point methods shows clear indications of heterogeneous dynamics of the tracer particles. Our results therefore call for a further development of two-point microrheology at interfaces. In Chapter 5we used tracer particles to study the properties of thin cross-linked actin networks deposited at the surface of oil droplets. These networks are a model system for the intracellular actin cortex. We used the generalized Stokes-Einstein relation to extract the complex frequency-dependent shear modulus of such networks from the movement of the added tracer particles. We studied the effects of the length of actin filaments and the cross-linker concentration on the mechanical properties of these layers. The advantage of this system is that actin networks are freely accessible from the water phase, and therefore can be subjected to in-situ addition of cross-linkers, enzymes or other chemicals of interest. Using this, we managed to show strong stiffening after addition of myosin motor proteins and ATP, which we ascribed to contraction of the actin-myosin network.


"I would meet you upon this honestly." "GERONTION," T.S. ELIOT "I have only in my life carried to an extreme what you have not dared to carry halfway, and what's more, you have taken your cowardice for good sense, and have found comfort in deceiving yourselves." NARRATOR, NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND BOTH IN HIS PERSONAL LIFE and in his writings, Walker Percy was deeply attracted to the idea and practice of confession. When he and his wife, Mary Bernice, converted to Catholicism in 1947, Percy told his friends and fellow converts Jidge Minyard and Sal Milazzo, "This is one of the main reasons I've become a Catholic." (1) At the time, private sacramental confession was widely practiced in the Catholic Church the Percys were joining. The ritual of confessing one's sins to a priest, expressing repentance, and receiving penance and absolution would have been profoundly important to someone with Percy's tragic family past--his father's suicide, his mother's untimely death (and suspected suicide), his struggle with tuberculosis, and his troubled search for his vocation and a meaningful life. Sacramental confession could be a help in his struggle to come to terms with the burden of that past. After his conversion and throughout his life as a Catholic, Percy made more than twenty retreats at the Jesuit Retreat Center in Manresa, Louisiana, during which all retreatants could avail themselves of sacramental confession. (2) Percy's faith and his writings were strongly influenced by two prominent confessional works in the Catholic tradition: Pascal's Pensees and St. Augustine's Confessions. His first published novel, The Moviegoer, was based partly on the initial draft of Diary of the Last Romantic, the first chapter of which was titled "Confessions of a Moviegoer." That chapter eventually evolved into the novel, which is the "confession" of moviegoer Binx Bolling, a religious skeptic. In the novel, a crucial scene between Binx and his half-brother Lonnie Smith, a devout Catholic, centers on a discussion of Lonnie's recent confession, on his concern with the sin of envy, on overscrupulosity, and on absolution. In Percy's third novel, Love in the Ruins, a first-person novel like The Moviegoer, Dr. Tom More confesses his wayward life during a time "near the end of the world" when America is falling apart. At the end of the novel, with his career and dreams of medical fame in tatters, Dr. More goes to confession to Father Rinaldo Smith, receives absolution and penance, and celebrates his return to grace by attending Christmas Mass, receiving the Holy Eucharist, and enjoying a holiday barbecue. Percy's fourth novel, Lancelot, is a somber, chilling first-person confession spoken by murderer Lance Lamar to his friend Father John, a priest struggling with his vocation. In his monologue Lance undertakes a "search for sin" as an ironic way, he argues, to prove God's existence. Percy saw Lance's search as analogous to Augustine's search for God in his Confessions by understanding his own sin. (3) As we shall see, Lance's complex search challenges the meaning of confession in modern culture and of the confessional mode in writing. Finally, in Percy's last novel, The Thanatos Syndrome, the disturbed priest Father Rinaldo Smith made a painful confession to Dr. Tom More (set off in the text as "Father Smith's Confession") of his misanthropic view of humanity except for "children and the dying, who do not lie," and of his youthful infatuation with the Nazi Schutzstaffel and their romantic cult of war and death. (4) It is useful to view Percy's concern with confession, both sacramental and secular, and with the confessional mode in writing in the light of his concern with the predicament of the modern self, that is, ordinary citizens living in a technological society. Two inter-related issues are especially relevant here. The first is Percy's belief that modern man has suffered a "loss of self," due to the dominance of scientism--the scientific perspective elevated into an all-consuming ideology--in the culture. …


Human papillomavirus (HPV) does not induce lysis of infected keratinocytes, and the exact mechanisms of viral escape are not known. As keratinocytes differentiate, the cornified cell envelope (CCE) develops, providing a protective barrier to the host. We previously showed that the normally durable CCE in HPV 11-infected epithelium is fragile compared to CCEs in healthy epithelium. In this study, we examined uninfected and HPV 11-infected human genital epithelium for expression of loricrin, the major CCE protein in healthy epidermis. In HPV 11-infected human genital epithelium, detection of loricrin was reduced in immunoelectron microscopic and immunoblot assays, suggesting that loricrin incorporation into the CCE was reduced or that loricrin synthesis was reduced. Loricrin detection was reduced in immunohistochemical assays in areas of high viral replication. Mathematical modeling by least squares was performed using the amino acid composition of highly purified CCE fragments, confirming that loricrin was markedly reduced and that the small proline-rich proteins and cytokeratins were increased in those derived from HPV 11-infected epithelium compared to healthy genital epithelium. In RNase protection and RT-PCR assays, loricrin transcripts were markedly reduced in HPV 11-infected epithelium compared to uninfected epithelium. Loricrin transcripts were detectable by RNA in situ analysis in isolated cells of HPV 11-infected epithelium, but were absent in large regions of epithelium. We conclude that HPV 11 infection reduces transcription of the loricrin gene and that this leads to a reduction in loricrin incorporation into the CCE. Further studies will examine the effects of specific HPV gene products on transcription of loricrin and other CCE components, as it is likely that viral egress from the infected keratinocyte depends on these effects.


The most extensively studied Heusler alloys are those based on the Ni-Mn-Ga system. However, to overcome the high cost of Gallium and the usually low martensitic transformation temperature, the search for Ga-free alloys has been recently attempted, particularly, by introducing In, Sn or Sb. In this work, two alloys (Mn50Ni35.5In14.5 and Ni50Mn35In15) have been obtained by melt spinning. We outline their structural and thermal behaviour. Mn50Ni35.5In14.5 alloy has the transformation above room temperature whereas Ni50Mn35In15 does not have this transformation in the temperature range here analyzed.


Purpose : To quantify the response of human lung to a course of fractionated radiotherapy based on a literature review of published clinical data. Materials and methods : Quantitative clinical radiobiology is concerned with the estimation of parameters that describe the clinical outcome of radiotherapy as a function of patient and treatment characteristics. Here, parameters describing the steepness of the dose–response curve, the response to a change in dose per fraction and to a change in overall treatment time for early and late lung injury are compiled based on published clinical studies. Results : Two phases of lung injury are seen, radiation pneumonitis and lung fibrosis. The first signs of early lung changes are seen almost immediately after irradiation. This reaction peaks after 5 to 6 months, and settles partially before 9–10 months. Around that time, the late changes become manifest and these are stable in most cases. There is an important distinction between lung injury and radiotherapy-related morbidity, as even severe changes in a small volume may not give rise to any clinical symptoms. Many assays have been developed for lung damage, and these highlight various clinical and biological aspects of lung damage. Here, the literature on steepness of dose–response curves and fractionation sensitivity is reviewed and quantified by the alpha/beta ratio of the linear-quadratic model for both radiation pneumonitis and lung fibrosis. For the early phase a significant time factor exists. Current best estimates for these radiobiological parameters are derived. Other external factors affecting these estimates are briefly discussed. Conclusions : Quantitative estimates of radiobiological characteristics of human lung are available for the pneumonitis phase where the fractionation sensitivity is in the same range as for most late-responding normal tissues. Short intensive schedules may also bear an added risk for pneumonitis as the dose recovered per day is around 0.5 Gy. For the later phase of lung fibrosis, the estimates are fewer and generally less precise. It is clear though, that the alpha/beta ratio is low, possibly 2–3 Gy. No time factor has been demonstrated for the late reaction. Due to the considerable physiological reserve capacity in the normal human lung, the relationship between damage and morbidity depends strongly on the lung volume affected. It therefore seems likely that for small volumes irradiated to high doses, the dose-limiting complications may not be due to restriction of lung function, but rather to haemorrhage and formation of fistulae.


A sizable portion of the current research on the socio-emotional development of children and adolescents focuses on negative outcomes of aversive circumstances. However, Lerner (2002) has highlighted the need to explore positive youth development. As such, this special issue aims to explore research on promoting positive socio-emotional development from underrepresented contexts. In doing so, we've invited articles on development in adverse circumstances using samples from Latin America, in addition to reports of intervention programs that have shown success and have the potential to be replicated in other settings. Creative programs to address these issues have been implemented at the local, regional and national levels, yet rarely are the results of these interventions disseminated to academic audiences in the U.S.


Neutron spin-echo spectroscopy and small-angle scattering measurements were performed to determine how the isomeric structure and concentration of C4-cosurfactants (i.e. butyl alcohols) influence structure and dynamics in four-component water-in-oil microemulsions. The system investigated was AOT/butanol/water/n-octane at room temperature (AOT denotes sodium di-2-ethyl hexylsulfosuccinate), deuterated to achieve contrast of the surfactant/cosurfactant film. At a fixed volume fraction of 0.06 and a fixed molar ratio of [water]/[AOT] = 20, we studied the effects of increasing the molar ratio of [butanol]/[AOT] from 0 to 30. Data from samples containing the cosurfactant n-butyl alcohol were compared with samples prepared with tert-butyl alcohol and, in a few cases, sec-butyl alcohol. Data were analysed using a core–shell model for polydisperse spherical droplets, allowing for the presence of shape fluctuations. It was found that all structural isomers of the cosurfactant led to a similar decrease in droplet size with increasing alcohol content. In all cases, droplet size and shape fluctuations were observed to increase with alcohol content; however, the effect was most pronounced for size fluctuations (i.e. polydispersity) in the presence of tert-butanol. The data indicates that tert-butanol has a higher degree of penetration into the water core, leading to a reduced influence on the effective area per surfactant head group on the droplet surface. There is also evidence that an increased droplet–droplet attraction upon adding tert-butanol drives phase separation in the system.


The relationships between low-level convergence, vertical velocity, relative vorticity, and moderate-to-heavy precipitation indicate the significance of understanding both the meteorology and the topography of a given region. In this study, the three-dimensional winds, convergence, and relative vorticity associated with a terrain-induced low-level cyclonically-turning circulation (LLCC) are analyzed over the southern Colorado Palmer Divide on 9-10 October 2014 to diagnose the importance of complex topography in generating, enhancing, and distributing precipitation. Past studies show that the necessary ingredients for heavy precipitation over the Colorado Front Range (including the Palmer Divide) are: easterly upslope winds, a high water vapor environment, and an unstable or conditionally unstable atmosphere. Furthermore, many orographic precipitation mechanisms have been studied and identified across this region. However, few studies discuss the importance of the complex topography and its influence on both low-level circulations and precipitation over the Palmer Divide except for the Denver Cyclone. The results of this study indicate that the LLCC formed near Colorado Springs, CO, and contained high moisture content traced back to Tropical Storm Simon, in conjunction with an easterly flow over the Palmer Divide. The circulation enhanced convective activity due to latent heat release, which strengthened convergence that led to heavy precipitation over the southern Palmer Divide. As the LLCC dissipated, a larger-scale upper-level induced circulation developed and extended convergence to the east, which produced significant mesoscale lifting and widespread precipitation that mirrored the shape of the Palmer Divide. Reflectivities dissipated as the circulation moved east and southeastward off the higher terrain. This movement led to a developing northeasterly flow initiated by high pressure to the north that weakened convergence over much of the Palmer Divide, which ended the event.


The hydrated excess proton is a common species in aqueous chemistry which complexes with water in a variety of structures. The infrared spectrum of the aqueous proton is particularly sensitive to this array of structures, which manifests as continuous IR absorption from 1000-3000 cm-1 known as the ``proton continuum". Because of the extreme breadth of the continuum and strong anharmonicity of the involved vibrational modes, this spectrum has eluded straightforward interpretation and simulation. Using protonated water hexamer clusters from reactive molecular dynamics trajectories, and focusing on their central H+(H2O)2 structures' spectral contribution, we reproduce the linear IR spectrum of the aqueous proton with a high-level local-monomer quantum method and highly accurate many-body potential energy surface. The accuracy of this approach is first verified in the vibrational spectra of the two isomers of the protonated water hexamer in the gas phase. We then apply this approach to 800 H+(H2O)6 clusters, also written as [H+(H2O)2](H2O)4, drawn from MS-EVB simulations of the bulk liquid to calculate the infrared spectrum of the aqueous proton complex. Incorporation of anharmonic effects to the vibrational potential and quantum mechanical treatment of the proton produce better agreement to the infrared spectrum compared to the double-harmonic approximation. We assess the correlation of the proton stretching mode with different atomistic coordinates, finding the best correlation with 〈ROH〉, the expectation value of the proton-oxygen distance ROH. We also decompose the IR spectrum based on normal mode vibrations and 〈ROH〉 to provide insight on how different frequency regions in the continuum report on different configurations, vibrational modes, and mode couplings.


Connectivity based node clustering has wide ranging applications in decentralized peer-to-peer (P2P) networks such as P2P file sharing systems, mobile ad-hoc networks, P2P sensor networks and so forth. We describe a connectivity-based distributed node clustering scheme (CDC). This scheme presents a scalable and an efficient solution for discovering connectivity based clusters in peer networks. In contrast to centralized graph clustering algorithms, the CDC scheme is completely decentralized and it only assumes the knowledge of neighbor nodes, instead of requiring a global knowledge of the network (graph) to be available. An important feature of the CDC scheme is its ability to cluster the entire network automatically or to discover clusters around a given set of nodes. We provide experimental evaluations of the CDC scheme, addressing its effectiveness in discovering good quality clusters. Our experiments show that utilizing message-based connectivity structure can considerably reduce the messaging cost, and provide better utilization of resources, which in turn improves the quality of service of the applications executing over decentralized peer-to-peer networks.


The persistence in the body of pathogenic bacteria to which their host has grown immune is instanced by diphtheria bacilli in the throat and typhoid bacilli in the gallbladder of carriers. That the urethral crypts may harbor gonococci for many years is well known. In the solid tissues, as well as in the cavities and spaces of the body, bacteria may linger indefinitely without symptoms. I have seen Bacillus pyocyaneus , a secondary invader, apparently disappear from a wound that continued to heal, only to reappear when the same tissues were opened again several months later. 1 I have also recorded a case of actinomycosis of the groin that appeared four times in twenty years, with six and seven year intervals of complete and apparently definitive healing. 1 The chronic bone abscess is an exquisite example of this longevity of organisms in the tissues, of the attenuation of bacterial virulence and of


Preparation for vocational work is an especially important process of personal development, requiring relevant skills, capacities and conditions for self-cognition, accumulation of information on the current labour market and identification of his/her relations with the market. High-quality vocational guidance services are important both for the education system, labour market, and for the interaction between the two systems. These services are a constituent part of the active labour market policy and one of the main elements of training and employment policy at the national, regional and local level. Vocational guidance within the European Union context is considered as one of the main factors promoting life-long learning, employment, adaptation of labour force to market conditions, entrepreneurship and equal opportunities. The object of this research: assumptions of the work of a vocational adviser. The goal of the research is to analyze theoretical assumptions of the work of a vocational adviser within the Lithuanian vocational guidance system. According to the research object, the following problem questions are formulated: what functional components of vocational guidance as a system are identified? What are the legal normative assumptions of vocational adviser's activity within the vocational guidance system? What assumptions of vocational adviser's activity are identified in the context of vocational guidance services providers and recipients? The analysis of assumptions of the work of a vocational adviser within the vocational guidance system is made according to principles of investigation of educational reality and theory of education levels.


This paper describes an open framework for teachers and lecturers in science. It will help them write their teaching documents even if these documents include interactive or multimedia content, leaving the entire presentation burden to the OPTIM rendering engine. This framework will also allow the global editor to define the authoring language automatically, and to put the structure common to sets of documents into classes for subsequent reuse. Moreover, OPTIM gives the authors a way to insert interactive parts into their documents without any GUI programming skills.


Background: In light of therapeutic limitations in Alzheimer's disease (AD), recent alternative or add-on treatment approaches such as non-invasive brain stimulation through transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) have gained attention. Translational studies have postulated that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is potentially a novel therapeutic option to reverse or stablize cognitive impairments. The aim of this study was to comparatively evaluate the effects of the four main paradigms of tES, including tDCS, transcranial alternative current stimulation (tACS), transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS), and transcranial pulse current stimulation (tPCS) on beta amyloid 25-35 (Aβ 25-35)-induced memory impairment in male rats submitted to the Morris water maze (MWM) task.
Method: To develop AD model in Sprague-Dawley male rats weighing 250-270, the cannula was implanted bilaterally into the hippocampi. Aβ 25-35 (5 μg/2.5 ml/ day) was microinjected bilaterally for 4 days. Then, tES was applied to the animals for 6 days. Subsequently, rats' learning and memory function was evaluated on day 11-14 in MWM task.
Results: Our findings indicated that tDCS, tACS, tRNS reduced escape latency, while such an effect was not observed in tPCS paradigm. In terms of the duration of animals' presence in the platform quadrant, tDCS and tACS increased the outcome measure.
Conclusion: We conclude that tDCS and tACS are more effective than the other two examined paradigms of tES in ameliorating learning and memory impairments.


The interconversions of C1-substituted folates form the core of plant one carbon metabolism. An analytical method for extraction, purification and liquid chromatography−electrospray-ionization mass spectrometry detection of low level, labile tetrahydrofolate monoglutamates from Arabidopsis thaliana was developed in this study. Under gold fluorescent light, folates were extracted by homogenizing the leaves in extraction buffer and heating the homogenate. A portion of leaf homogenate was incubated with crude preparation of rat plasma conjugase to remove the polyglutamate tails in order to simplify the mixture for analysis. The resulting extract containing the monoglutamyl folates was then applied to an agarose affinity column containing folate binding protein which was purified from milk whey. After elution from the affinity column, the folates were separated and identified by liquid chromatography−electrospray- ionization mass spectrometry on a 150×0.32 mm Symmetry 300 C18 column using isocratic elution with mobile phase (0.1% formic acid/95% acetonitrile, containing 0.1% formic acid, 88:12) at a flow rate of 0.3 µl/min. In positive ion mode, ions representing 5-methyl-tetrahydrofolic acid, 5-formyl-tetrahydrofolic acid and 5,10-methenyl-tetrahydrofolic acid were detected and identified. It is concluded that this folate extraction procedure, combined with folate binding protein affinity column purification is applicable to liquid chromatography−electrospray-ionization mass spectrometry and this method is appropriate for analysis of tetrahydrofolate metabolites in plant leaf tissues. (Nature and Science 2003;1(1):32-36).


Rupture-prone plaques in the coronary arteries, called ``vulnerable plaques'', are recognized as the key factor in acute myocardial infarction. Vulnerable plaques have a thin fibrous cap over a large fatty core and are highly susceptible to rupture. In general, this type of plaque rupture is mainly associated with stress concentrated on the fibrous cap. Fibrous cap stresses are counted among the most important factors in the plaque rupture process and must be taken into consideration when assessing the plaque vulnerability leading to heart attacks. The objective of this paper was to investigate the effects of nitinol stent deployment on the morphological changes of vulnerable plaques and then to propose a new stent design concept for effectively reducing fibrous cap stresses and the associated rupture risk. The deployment of a self-expanding nitinol stent was modeled, and the resulting stress distribution on the fibrous cap was investigated. The fibrous cap stresses were more uniformly distributed and the maximum stress was reduced by 13% when the crown number of the stent was increased. This study demonstrates an excellent approach to stent design that could effectively reduce the risk of a vulnerable plaque rupturing and causing a heart attack.


The paper presents a research and design of a high speed vacuum switch whose actuator consists of an electromagnetic repulsion driving unit (ERDU) and an permanent magnet force holding unit (PMFHU). A 2D finite element model of ERDU is established. The discharging current waveform, the repulsion force waveform and the effect of different distance between the driving coil and the metal plate on force are analyzed based on this model. Three types of PMFHU are proposed. And those holding force curves are acquired by 3D static magnetic analysis and compared with the measured data from the PMFHU prototypes. At last, the mechanical characteristics of the high speed switch prototypes assembled with three types of PMFHU are tested. The results show that the properties of Model 2 meets the requirements of high speed repulsion actuator most.


This article investigates the evolving relationships between national interests and the global solidarity principles emerging from the 1992 UNFCCC. It argues that France developed a distinctive climate policy template, which allowed modest but significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. However, faced with heightened climate challenges, policy elites in the 2000s hesitated between focusing on long-standing national interests and rescuing the policy template, or responding to global solidarity principles and substantially revising it. The article concludes that ambitious policy measures were proposed but not implemented due to the persistence of a construal of national interest in terms of short-term economic competitiveness, but also because of the underdevelopment of the international climate regime between the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and the 2009 Copenhagen Accord.


ABSTRACT Antimicrobial hand soaps provide a greater bacterial reduction than nonantimicrobial soaps. However, the link between greater bacterial reduction and a reduction of disease has not been definitively demonstrated. Confounding factors, such as compliance, soap volume, and wash time, may all influence the outcomes of studies. The aim of this work was to examine the effects of wash time and soap volume on the relative activities and the subsequent transfer of bacteria to inanimate objects for antimicrobial and nonantimicrobial soaps. Increasing the wash time from 15 to 30 seconds increased reduction of Shigella flexneri from 2.90 to 3.33 log10 counts (P = 0.086) for the antimicrobial soap, while nonantimicrobial soap achieved reductions of 1.72 and 1.67 log10 counts (P > 0.6). Increasing soap volume increased bacterial reductions for both the antimicrobial and the nonantimicrobial soaps. When the soap volume was normalized based on weight (∼3 g), nonantimicrobial soap reduced Serratia marcescens by 1.08 log10 counts, compared to the 3.83-log10 reduction caused by the antimicrobial soap (P < 0.001). The transfer of Escherichia coli to plastic balls following a 15-second hand wash with antimicrobial soap resulted in a bacterial recovery of 2.49 log10 counts, compared to the 4.22-log10 (P < 0.001) bacterial recovery on balls handled by hands washed with nonantimicrobial soap. This indicates that nonantimicrobial soap was less active and that the effectiveness of antimicrobial soaps can be improved with longer wash time and greater soap volume. The transfer of bacteria to objects was significantly reduced due to greater reduction in bacteria following the use of antimicrobial soap.


Study limitations include reliance on ICD-9-CM coding and not documented disease, the lack of specificity of causeunspecified acute gastroenteritis discharges, low use of rotavirus diagnostic tests, which may result in underestimation of rotavirus burden, and the observational or ecological nature of the study design. The most recent reported coverage of 73% for a full rotavirus vaccine series is lower than that of other established childhood vaccines so our findings support continued efforts to increase rotavirus vaccine coverage.6


For as long as computers have been around, people have looked for ways to involve them in music. Research in computer music progresses in many varied areas: algorithmic composition, music representation, music synthesis, and performance analysis to name a few. However, computer music research, especially relating to music composition, does very little toward making the computer useful for artists in practical situations. This lack of consideration for the user has led to the containment of computer music, with a few exceptions, to academia. In this thesis, I propose a system that enables a computer to aide users composing music in a specific setting: soundtracks. In the process of composing a soundtrack, a composer is faced with solving non-musical problems that are beyond the experience of composers of standalone music. The system I propose utilizes the processing power of computers to address the non-musical problems thus preventing users from having to deal with them. Therefore, users can focus on the creative aspect of composing soundtrack music. The guiding principal of the system is to help the composer while not assuming any creative power and while leaving the user in full control of the music. This principal is a major step toward helping users solve problems while not introducing new ones. I present some carefully chosen tasks that a computer can perform with guidance from the user that follow this principal. For example, the system performs calculations to help users compose music that matches the visual presentation and allows users to specify music, using the idea of timed regular expressions, so that a computer can fill arbitrary amounts of time with music in a controlled manner. A prototype application, called EMuse, was designed and implemented to illustrate the use and benefits of the proposed system. To demonstrate that the system is capable of serving as a tool to create music, two soundtracks were created for two sample animations. It is beyond the scope of the work presented here to evaluate if the system achieves the goal of being a practical tool for composers. However, the innovations herein discussed are analyzed and found to be useful for soundtrack composition and for future user-centered computer-music research.


This article discusses the image of the Jew in its recent manifestations in Arab discourse, showing how competing political and religious factions have manipulated it and imbued it with meaning. It contends that the "Jew" is being constructed as a functional metaphor, an all-purpose villain, to explain the changing circumstances and catastrophes that have befallen Arab societies, particularly in the wake of the Arab Spring. To borrow from Shulamit Volkov's vocabulary, it is suggested that the metaphor "Jew" has become a "cultural code" that signifies belonging to a specific group and acceptance of a set of ideas and attitudes. It serves to define non-Jewish adversaries by Judaizing them and attributing to them certain supposed features of Jews, while denouncing them for their actions.


Preterm labour is the onset of regular uterine contractions associated with progressive cervical change between viability and 37 completed weeks of gestation. The incidence is between 5% and 10% in most developed nations. In the US, the incidence has increased from 9% to 12% in the past two decades. Preterm delivery can be associated with immediate and long-term neonatal complications. Long-term morbidity includes cerebral palsy, neurodevelopmental delay and chronic lung disease. The neonatal outcome is dependent on the gestational age at delivery and associated features such as infection. The lower the gestational age, the higher the risk of mortality and morbidity. The management of preterm labour involves identification of high-risk women, prevention and treatment.

The identification of women at high risk of preterm delivery remains a major challenge. Scoring systems based on socioeconomic status, obstetric or medical history and antenatal events in the index pregnancy have shown a suboptimal correlation with subsequent preterm birth.1 This is primarily because the single greatest risk factor is a history of preterm labour, so delivery cannot be reliably predicted in the first pregnancy. The risk of preterm delivery after one and two previous preterm deliveries has been given as 15% and 41%, respectively1; however, such figures are difficult to apply to individuals as the risk is dependent on the cause and the gestational age of the previous preterm delivery.

Investigations such as fetal fibronectin or cervical ultrasound can be used to identify women at high risk. A positive swab for vaginal fetal fibronectin taken in the late second or early third trimester increases the likelihood of delivery before 34 weeks by a factor of 4.2 Likewise, a negative swab reduces the likelihood of delivery to 0.78. Such results from meta-analysis include women both at high risk and at low risk. …


In vivo microdialysis has become a key method in investigating the dynamics of different neurotransmitter systems such as acetylcholine in the extracellular fluid. Depending on the sensitivity of the analytical method applied for measuring acetylcholine levels in brain dialysates, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors are often used to increase the basal acetylcholine level up to a detectable magnitude. This artificial manipulation of the system questions the outcome of pharmacological studies and has led to a large number of experiments pursuing the appropriate physiological and pharmacological concentration of the AChE inhibitors in a range between 0.01 and 100 μM. However, the complexity of the action of these substances, particularly through the involvement of muscarinic autoreceptors and the induction of an autoinhibitory effect on acetylcholine release, did not allow this quest to be resolved completely and suggests the application of advanced mathematical methods for the evaluation of acetylcholine baseline levels. Here we performed a meta‐analysis on published datasets of in vivo microdialysis measurements to assess the concentration‐dependent effects of various AChE inhibitors on acetylcholine levels within the prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, caudate putamen, and hippocampus in adult rats. In total 3255 rats were analyzed and we found that when compared with the minority of studies (14%) that did not use AChE inhibitors (these studies yielded basal levels between 0.55 and 2.71 nM depending on the brain site) an up to 350‐fold increase in baseline values after the application of an inhibitor could be detected. Especially, the derivates neostigmine bromide and physostigmine sulfate seem to produce dramatic effects. Furthermore, concentration‐dependent effects after the application of AChE inhibitors could not be established. In the case of neostigmine bromide an inverted concentration (0.1–10 μM)–response relationship was even detected. We conclude that although the presynaptic action of AChE inhibitors is well understood the nonphysiological and concentration‐independent augmentation of the acetylcholine system requires the use of a standard protocol in order to produce replicable and comparable results. Our meta‐analysis suggests the use of 0.1 μM neostigmine which produces an approximately 10‐fold boost of brain baseline levels. Synapse 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


The gravity-driven flow of a liquid film down an inclined wall with periodic indentations in the presence of a normal electric field is investigated. The film is assumed to be a perfect conductor, and the bounding region of air above the film is taken to be a perfect dielectric. In particular, the interaction between the electric field and the topography is examined by predicting the shape of the film surface under steady conditions. A nonlinear, non-local evolution equation for the thickness of the liquid film is derived using a long-wave asymptotic analysis. Steady solutions are computed for flow into a rectangular trench and over a rectangular mound, whose shapes are approximated with smooth functions. The limiting behaviour of the film profile as the steepness of the wall geometry is increased is discussed. Using substantial numerical evidence, it is established that as the topography steepness increases towards rectangular steps, trenches, or mounds, the interfacial slope remains bounded, and the film does not touch the wall. In the absence of an electric field, the film develops a capillary ridge above a downward step and a slight depression in front of an upward step. It is demonstrated how an electric field may be used to completely eliminate the capillary ridge at a downward step. In contrast, imposing an electric field leads to the creation of a free-surface ridge at an upward step. The effect of the electric field on film flow into relatively narrow trenches, over relatively narrow mounds, and down slightly inclined substrates is also considered.


Title of Dissertation: PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CARBOHYDRATE-FUNCTIONALIZED NANOMATERIALS FOR USE AS CELLULAR PROBES AND TARGETED DELIVERY VEHICLES Juhee Park, Doctor of Philosophy, 2008 Dissertation directed by: Professor Philip DeShong Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Carbohydrates are the most abundant biomolecules found in living organisms. In addition to their roles such as fuel storage and structural components, carbohydrates encode molecular recognition information. Carbohydrates presented on the cell surface interact with cell surface receptors. These carbohydrate-receptor interactions are involved in a variety of biological processes including intercellular adhesion, microbial attachment, and signal transduction. Research in the DeShong laboratory has been focused on the development of cellular probes and targeted delivery vehicles utilizing carbohydrate-cell surface receptor interactions. The work reported herein details (1) the synthesis of glycoconjugates to functionalize the surface of gold, silica, nanoparticles, and surfactant vesicles, and (2) the preparation and characterization of carbohydratefunctionalized gold nanospheres and surfactant vesicles. A variety of N-linked glycoconjugates tethered to thiols, siloxanes, and hydrocarbons were synthesized via modified Staudinger methodology with a high stereoselectivity. The stereochemistry at the anomeric center (α vs. β) was readily controlled by choosing the appropriate reaction conditions. Typically, the αstereochemistry arose from the reaction of ester derivatives with isoxazolines generated in-situ via epimerization of β-phosphorimines at high temperature. The ability to control tether length has been demonstrated. Carbohydrate-functionalized gold nanospheres were prepared by two methods: (1) in-situ reduction of gold salt in the presence of thiolated glycoconjugates to provide ca. 2 nm particles and (2) a stepwise method where thiolated glycoconjugates were selfassembled on the surface of pre-formed, citrate-capped gold nanospheres to provide nanospheres with larger diameters (15 73 nm). Carbohydrate-functionalized surfactant vesicles were prepared by mixing a cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium tosylate (CTAT) and an anionic surfactant sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS) in the presence of lipidated glycoconjugates. The resulting surfactant vesicles were stable, in mean diameter of ca. 140 nm, and showed significant amounts of glycoconjugate incorporation. The bioactivity of carbohydrates on the surface of gold nanospheres and surfactant vesicles was investigated through agglutination assays using carbohydrate-binding lectins concanavalin A and peanut agglutinin. These agglutination results indicated that both gold nanospheres and surfactant vesicles display multiple presentations of carbohydrates on their surfaces that can be used for binding of receptors. The suitability of the resulting glycosylated nanomaterials for use as cellular probes and targeted delivery vehicles is being investigated. PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CARBOHYDRATE-FUNCTIONALIZED NANOMATERIALS FOR USE AS CELLULAR PROBES AND TARGETED DELIVERY VEHICLES


The transmission and storage of a digital image requires considerable expenditure in terms of bandwidth and/or memory resources. Digital image compression is concerned with minimising the number of bits used in representing an image, and is therefore a means of reducing image data for economical storage or transmission. Image compression techniques can be grouped into two broad classes: (a) lossless techniques, and (b) lossy techniques. Some applications require lossless compression of the image data, e.g., remote sensing, the main application area of the work described in this paper. For multiband satellite images redundancy exists in three forms, namely, statistical redundancy, correlation redundancy, and interband redundancy. The reduction of statistical redundancy and correlation redundancy within an image has been extensively investigated by many researchers. The paper explains that correlation redundancy was first exploited within each band of a multiband image. A new stage exploiting interband redundancy was then introduced. The final stage was the reduction of statistical redundancy. Interband redundancy is quantitatively analysed, and two schemes are developed to exploit it.


In the digital information age where large amounts of movement data are generated daily through technological devices, such as mobile phones, GPS, and digital navigation aids, the exploration of moving point datasets for identifying movement patterns has become a research focus in GIScience (Dykes and Mountain 2003). Visual analytics (VA) tools, such as GeoVISTA Studio (Gahegan 2001), have been developed to explore large amounts of movement data based on the contention that VA combine computational methods with the outstanding human capabilities for pattern recognition, imagination, association, and reasoning (Andrienko et al. 2008). However, exploring, extracting and understanding the meaning encapsulated in movement data from a user perspective has become a major bottleneck, not only in GIScience, but in all areas of science where this kind of data is collected (Holyoak et al. 2008). Specifically the inherent complex and multidimensional nature of spatio-temporal data has not been sufficiently integrated into visual analytics tools. To ensure the inclusion of cognitive principles for the integration of space-time data, visual analytics has to consider how users conceptualize and understand movement data (Fabrikant et al. 2008). A review on cognitively motivated work exemplifies the urgent need to identify how humans make inferences and derive knowledge from movement data. In order to enhance visual analytics tools by integrating cognitive principles we have to first ask to what extent cognitive factors influence our understanding, reasoning, and analysis of movement pattern extraction. It is especially important to comprehend human knowledge construction and reasoning about spatial and temporal phenomena and processes. This paper proposes an experimental approach with human subject testing to evaluate the importance of contextual information in visual displays of movement patterns. This research question is part of a larger research project, with two main objectives, namely validating improve the design of visual analytics tools to enhance visual data exploration.


Dynamic properties at intermediate strain rate are inherently difficult due to the dynamic interactions between the test specimen and the test machine. These effects obscure the interpretation of test results and therefore can make the derivation of the material properties difficult and unprecise. Soft materials can be used within load introduction devices to mitigate the inertia effect that typically occurs in dynamic tests. In this paper, dynamic tensile tests were performed within the strain rate range of 0.1 s−1 to 400 s−1 on high strength steels. With the aim of evaluating the performance of damping materials in the slack adaptor, copper and acrylic tapes were used. Experimental results show that both damping materials may be used to effectively reduce the oscillations in the measured force signal. The outcome of this project will provide the test procedure for dynamic testing at intermediate strain rates, which can produce reliable test results for materials with low failure to strain.


In order to address how aquaculture has influenced the Setiu estuary and lagoon of northeast peninsular Malaysia foraminifera sediment grain-size and carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios and abundances were analyzed in surface samples collected from beneath and around three floating fish cage complexes. Two currently active floating fish cage complexes SET11-S43 and SET11-S40 in the Setiu lagoon within four km of an inlet (salinity in the 20s) have mixed agglutinated and calcareous foraminiferal assemblages generally dominated by Ammonia aff. A. aoteana and Ammobaculites exiguus . The majority of live foraminifera at these sites are agglutinated species; percent of live specimens is greater around the SET11-S43 fish cage complex likely related to the presence of aquaculture-related organic rich mud. Percent agglutinated specimens decreases towards the inlet as density and diversity increase as a function of salinity. At an abandoned fish cage complex SET11-S9A located in a low salinity ( Miliammina fusca and Ammobaculites exiguus dominate entirely agglutinated assemblages; there is no evidence of fish farm influence in surficial sediments. Side scan sonar data as well as grain-size analysis of surface sediment samples indicate that a muddy substrate extends up to tens of meters to the north of the lagoonal fish cage complexes with a surrounding sandier substrate typical of most of the Setiu estuary and lagoon system. The percent carbon and nitrogen in sediment exhibit distributional patterns that strongly correlate with the distribution of fish cage mud. Greater concentrations of mud carbon and nitrogen in sediment are found to the north of the active fish cage complexes SET11-S43 and SET11-S40 than to the south. The δ 13 C and δ 15 N signatures of the sediment are attributed to organic matter input from the surrounding mangrove forest while their distribution is a result of tidal currents water depth and the presence of the fish farm complexes. Since the abandonment of the SET11-S9A fish cage complex sediment distribution and foraminiferal assemblages surrounding the complex are indistinguishable from the surrounding estuary. The influence of the active fish cages at SET11-S40 is minimal as a result of tidal currents and mixing although environmental effects are evident further north at the SET11-S43 fish cage complex which receives less marine influence.


The Rh-blood-group antigens (often described as Rhesus antigens) are associated with erythrocyte membrane proteins of approx. 30 kDa. We have determined the N-terminal 54 amino acid residues of the 30 kDa Rh D polypeptide (D30 polypeptide). We used primers based on these sequence data and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on human reticulocyte cDNA and genomic DNA to clone two types of PCR product of identical size. The two PCR products had related translated amino acid sequences between the 3' ends of the primers, one of which was identical with that found for the D30 polypeptide. We designate the two related mRNA species which gave rise to the PCR products as Rh30A and Rh30B, the latter corresponding to the D30 polypeptide. We have isolated cDNA clones for the Rh30A protein which encode a hydrophobic membrane protein of 417 amino acids. The Rh30A protein has the same N-terminal 41 amino acids as the D30 polypeptide, but beyond this point the sequence differs, but is clearly related. The Rh30A protein probably corresponds to the R6A32 polypeptide, another member of the Rh 30 kDa family of proteins, which may carry the C/c and/or E/e antigens. Hydropathy analysis suggests that the Rh30A protein has up to 12 transmembrane domains. Three of these domains are bordered by a novel cysteine-containing motif, which might signal substitutions at these cysteine residues. Information which supplements this paper (amino-acid-sequence-analysis histograms) is reported in Supplementary Publication SUP 50160 (4 pages), which has been deposited at the British Library Document Supply Centre, Boston Spa, Wetherby, West Yorkshire LS23 7BQ, U.K., from whom copies can be obtained on the terms indicated in Biochem. J. (1990) 265, 5.


Softwarization of networked infrastructures combined with containerization of codes promises unprecedented computing capabilities distributed across the federations of computing systems and physical instruments. The development and testing of a software stack that implements these capabilities over an expensive physical production infrastructure is not cost-effective, and in the early stages, may potentially cause service disruptions. To address these aspects, we develop the Virtual Federated Science Instrument Environment (VFSIE), a digital twin of the physical infrastructure that emulates a multi-site federation. Each federated site is emulated using containers and virtual hosts that are connected over local-area networks, and the sites, in turn, are connected over an emulated wide-area network. We describe the framework design and implementation details. We also illustrate its application by emulating a federation of four laboratories that use Jupyter Notebook for computations and the EPICS software system for instrument control.


The aim of this PhD was to develop tools for analyzing perceptual modifications induced by
complex sounds in schizophrenia and to relate these changes to neurophysiological data.
Previous works inspired by phenomenological philosophy describe two types of perceptual
changes in schizophrenia: i) changes in the perceptual organization and ii) changes linked to
perceptual inundation. Concerning perceptual organization, phenomenological reports have
been validated by experimental data in the field of visual perception, but no such validations
have been reported in the auditory domain. Concerning perceptual inundation, no
experimental studies have explored the relevance of phenomenological reports.
The first result of our work enabled to confirm that complex sounds modify the auditory
perceptual organization. Indeed, we first showed a deficit of categorization of environmental
sounds (impact sounds) in patients with schizophrenia compared with controls, and secondly
a difference in the perception of familiarity and strangeness for environmental and abstract
sounds, indicating a modification of data organization of hearing in a unique and consensual
form.
The second result of our work revealed, by a perceptual induction method, the presence of a
larger perceptual sense of inundation in patients suffering from schizophrenia compared with
controls when submitted to more or less invasive stimuli. This perceptual inundation was
significantly correlated with a neurophysiological measurement of sensory gating with
evoked responses in the paradigm of double audio clicks (decrease in amplitude of the P50
component after the second stimulus as compared to the first stimulus). We have also
translated a self-administered questionnaire called "Sensory Gating Inventory" (SGI) to
French and validated it in order to complete the psychophysiological assessment of perceptual
changes related to abnormal sensory gating.
Our results highlight several important points to future works: i) from an experimental point
of view, it is important to develop tools for analyzing changes in the perception of complex
sounds using an ecological perspective and using neurophysiological measures by induced
responses, ii) from a neuroscientific point of view, it is meaningful to make hypotheses based
on works inspired by phenomenological philosophy, and iii) from a therapeutic point of view,
it is necessary to take perceptual changes into account in cognitive behavioral therapy,
cognitive remediation or neurofeedback to treat patients with schizophrenia.


Consumers have historically shown an inclination to purchase plants that enhance their quality of life, meaning they will purchase items that positively influence their social, physical, psychological, cognitive, environmental, and spiritual well-being. Plants in native and improved landscapes (and interiorscapes) have been documented to influence each of six quality of life constructs. This paper summarizes publications regarding the emotional and mental health benefits associated with plants, addressing reduced anxiety and stress, attention deficit recovery, fractals and visual response, decreased depression, enhanced memory retention, greater happiness and life satisfaction, mitigation of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), increased creativity, enhanced productivity and attention, reduced effects of dementia, and improved self-esteem. This research should be strategically incorporated into both industry-wide and firm-specific marketing messages that highlight the quality of life value proposition in order to maintain the industry's sense of value and relevance to consumers of the future.
 Index words: benefits of plants, emotional health, mental health.