Within this paper we derive the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) for semiblind channel estimation with respect to coded or uncoded finite alphabet source signals in finite impulse response systems. Since the obtained solution incorporates a high dimensional integral, which can only be solved numerically, we approximate the CRLB for low and high signal to noise ratio (SNR). We also examine the SNR range where the CRLB crosses over from the low to the high SNR approximation. It is shown that the crossover range depends on the modulation index and code characteristics. Combining the approximations for high and low SNR and estimating the crossover range yields an overall approximation, which can easily be calculated also for more complex scenarios. It is shown that the approximation meets the true CRLB very well.


Purpose: To study the demographic and clinical profile of the types of primary angle closure patients presenting at a tertiary care center in North India. Materials and Methods: Clinic records of patients diagnosed as primary angle closure were reviewed. International Society of Geographical and Epidemiological Ophthalmology (ISGEO) classification scheme was used to categorize patients. Demographic and clinical data including prior management was collected and analyzed. Main Outcome measures were age, sex, symptomatology, best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), intraocular pressure (IOP), gonioscopy, optic disc assessment and visual field defects. Logistic regression model and receiver operating curve (ROC) were calculated for predictors of type of glaucoma. Results: Eight hundred and fourteen patients (1603 eyes; males: 380, females: 434) were diagnosed to have various subtypes of angle closure. Mean (±SD) age at presentation was significantly higher for males (57.57 ± 11.62 years) as compared to females (53.64 ± 10.67 years) (P < 0001). Primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG) was most frequently diagnosed subtype (49.38%) followed by Primary angle closure (PAC) (39.68%) and Primary angle closure suspect (PACS) (10.93%) respectively. The three subtypes differed significantly among their mean IOP (on ANOVA, F = 14.04; P < 0001 using Greenhouse-Geisser correction). Univariate analysis was done to find significant predictors for the outcome of PACG. Logistic regression model and ROC containing the significant predictors yielded a very high AUC of 0.93 with strong discriminatory ability for PACG. Conclusion: In our hospital-based study, the significant predictors for the outcome of PACG included male gender, diminution of vision, the presence of pain and worsening grades of BCVA. Nearly half of PACG presented with advanced disease. In spite of one-third of the patients being diagnosed as angle closure prior to referral, only 8.34% had iridotomy (laser or surgical) done.


Floral farmscaping is the planting of flowering plants in proximity of target crops in order to attract and enhance the populations, fitness, and biological control efficacy of natural enemies. Flowering plants provide food resources such as pollen, floral, and extrafloral nectar for natural enemies. These food resources can be critical for survival and reproduction of natural enemies, and have therefore provided a means of manipulating natural enemies to enhance their biological control efficacy for pest management, in cropping systems.
Flowering plants differ in their capacity to supply these food resources; therefore, it is important in designing a farmscaping system to screen potential flower plants to identify and work with those that attract and support desired natural enemies, while excluding those that might compromise the intended goal of pest suppression.
We investigated the effects of two flowering plants (buckwheat, Fagopyrum esculentum (Moench) and Indian blanket, Gaillardia pulchella Foug.) on adults of the southern green stink bug, Nezara viridula (L.) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) parasitoid, Aridelus rufotestaceus (Tobias) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). We also assessed the suitability of three flower treatments (buckwheat; a combination of fennel, Foeniculum vulgare (Mill.) and dill, Anethum graveolens (L.); and a combination of sunflower, Helianthus annuus (L.) and yarrow, Achillea millefolium (L.)) for enhancing parasitism of lepidopteran pests in an organic broccoli production system, and predation of sentinel eggs of the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua (Hubner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), in organic broccoli and cucumber systems.
Aridelus rufotestaceus lived longer on flowers and 5% honey solution than on water alone. Feeding on Indian blanket and 5% honey solution increased production of mature ova. Apart from few inconsistent significant differences among treatments in the response variables, the flower treatments did not enhance parasitism of lepidopteran pests, as well as predation of S. exigua eggs. The results imply that F. esculentum and G. pulchella can benefit A. rufotestaceus for managing N.viridula. Our results on parasitism of lepidopteran pests and predation of S. exigua eggs might have been confounded by the size of the plots, interactions among predators and available prey, and history of the land.


A novel tetraphenylethylene-based ladder network (MP1) made by polycondensation reaction from 4,4′,4″,4‴-(ethene-1,1,2,2-tetrayl)tetrakis(benzene-1,2-diol) and 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoroterephthalonitrile and its COOH-functionalized analogue (MP2) were synthesized for the first time. Their structures were confirmed by solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (13C cross-polarization magic angle spinning), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and elementary analysis. MP1 exhibited a high Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area (1020 m2 g–1), whereas the COOH-functionalized MP2 showed a much smaller surface area (150 m2 g–1) but displayed a more uniform pore size distribution. Because of the high density of nitrile groups in the network polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIMs) and strong interaction with quadrupole CO2 molecules, MP1 exhibited a high CO2 adsorption capacity of 4.2 mmol g–1 at 273 K, combined with an isosteric heat of adsorption (Qst) of 29.6 kJ mol–1. The COOH-functionalized MP2 showed higher Qst of 34.2 kJ mol–1 coupled with a modest CO2 adsorption capacity of 2.2 mmol g–1. Both network PIMs displayed high theoretical ideal adsorbed solution theory CO2/N2 selectivities (51 and 94 at 273 K vs 34 and 84 at 298 K for MP1 and MP2, respectively). The high selectivities of MP1 and MP2 were confirmed by experimental column breakthrough experiments with CO2/N2 selectivity values of 23 and 45, respectively. Besides the promising CO2 capture and CO2/N2 selectivity properties, MP1 also demonstrated high sorption capacity for toxic volatile organic vapors. At 298 K and a relative pressure of 0.95, benzene and toluene sorption uptakes reached 765 and 1041 mg g–1, respectively. Moreover, MP1 also demonstrated some potential for adsorptive separation of xylene isomers with adsorptive selectivity of 1.75 for m-xylene/o-xylene.


Personal Authentication using Finger Knuckle patterns has received substantial attention from researchers with prominent applications in biometrics and forensics. This paper explores the performance evaluation of texture based feature extraction techniques for personal authentication using minor finger knuckle patterns, which are formed on the finger surface joining distal phalanx and middle phalanx bones. The texture pattern produced by the finger knuckle blending is quite unique and has high capability to discriminate different individuals. Finger knuckle matching scheme is developed with key steps for region of interest segmentation, feature extraction and robust matching. Feature extraction techniques based on texture features, like Local binary patterns (LBP), Three patch local binary patterns (TLBP), 1-D log Gabor filter is evaluated and compared. The algorithms have been tested on database available from Hong Kong Polytechnic University of both male and female volunteers. The experimental results show that TLBP and 1-D log Gabor filter yields better accuracy with reduced computational time.


Abstract The Atlas, Eastern Cordillera and Pyrenees are thick-skinned thrust-fold belts formed by tectonic inversion of rift basins in continental settings. A comparison of shortening between them shows a gradation from 20–25% in the central High Atlas, to 25–30% in the Eastern Cordillera, and c. 40% in the Pyrenees. Accordingly, there is a structural variation from interior zones with low structural relief and isolated basement massifs in the first two cases, to an axial culmination of stacked basement thrust sheets in the Pyrenees. This results in marked topographic and drainage variation: the High Atlas and Eastern Cordillera contain axial plateaus dominated by structure-controlled longitudinal rivers and orogen flanks with slope-controlled transverse rivers, whereas the Pyrenees show a two-sided wedge profile dominated by transverse rivers. In spite of singularities exhibited by each orogen, we propose that this spatial variation can be understood as reflecting different degrees of evolution in mountain building. Rapidly incising, transverse rivers are capturing earlier longitudinal streams of the Atlas and Eastern Cordillera, thus reducing their axial plateaux, which will eventually disappear into a transverse-dominated drainage. This pattern of landscape evolution may be characteristic of inversion orogens as they develop from initial stages of inversion to full accretion.


Histopathological comparison between clinically affected and intact regions in alopecia patients has been considered to facilitate better understanding of the pathophysiology of ongoing disease. Theoretically, adjacent intact regions should provide ideal controls as they should share close histological characteristics, however, to what extent clinically non‐affected neighboring regions maintain their pathological integrity has not been fully assessed. The goal of this study is to delineate histopathological characteristics of clinically intact perilesional regions in the patients with various forms of alopecia. Transverse sections of 4‐mm punch biopsy at the levels of isthmus and suprabulbar portion were obtained from seemingly unimpaired perilesional scalp of 50 Japanese alopecia patients (16 alopecia areata [AA] multiplex, 19 scarring alopecia [SA], 15 other conditions) and subject to histopathological investigation. Initial screening detected decrease in anagen (anagen : telogen ratio = 82.4:17.6) when compared with previously reported standard hair counts in normal Asian scalp. This finding prompted further investigation. Unexpectedly, 33 (66%) specimens demonstrated some microscopic abnormalities, 10 (62.5%) AA specimens showed increase in telogen ratio, vellus hair count and miniaturization, while perifollicular inflammatory cell infiltration was detected in 5 (26.3%) SA cases. Exclusion of histologically affected specimens yielded average hair count numbers resembling those reported in Koreans, supporting the pathological integrity of selected samples and, more importantly, indicating normal hair counts in east Asians. These findings indicated a less recognized significance of histopathological investigation of clinically non‐affected perilesional scalp in alopecias for better assessment of the spread of disease activities, which should enable better management of hair loss conditions.


Perhaps no two nations in modern times have had a more complex cultural engagement than imperial Britain and colonised India. This unique anthology of stories, poems, historical documents and extracts from novels - most unavailable elsewhere - enables readers to examine the cultures of these two countries in an integrated way. Introductory chapters by Richard Allen and Harish Trivedi and others set out agendas for reconsideration of classic texts from the period. Major themes include: The British nation and the colonies Literature, nation and revolution Poetry and nation Liberal dilemmas in England and India Gandhian nationalism Independence and after Post-colonial hybridity Literature and Nation helps readers understand how critical thinking in the post-colonial area has developed. It also extends the field of post-colonial studies by presenting fresh primary materials translated into English from other languages. It is essential reading for all those interested in Britain and India, in colonial and post-colonial discourse, and in the interface of literature and history.


Atmospheric conditions affect the development of cascades of secondary particles produced by primary cosmic rays. Global Data Assimilation System, implementing atmospheric models based on meteorological measurements and numerical weather predictions, could significantly improve the outcomes of the simulations for extensive air showers. In this work, we present a methodology to simulate the effect of the atmospheric models in secondary particle flux at the Earth's surface. The method was implemented for BucaramangaColombia, using ARTI: a complete computational framework developed by the Latin American Giant Observatory Collaboration to estimate the particle spectra on Water Cherenkov Detectors depending on the geographical coordinates. We observe differences in the total flux that varies monthly concerning the subtropical summer atmospheric profile as preliminary results.


We study the effect of Mn doping on the photocatalytic photodegradation properties of Zn1−xMnxO nanomaterials to the methyl orange. The Zn1−xMnxO powders and thin films were synthesized by the sol-gel, spin coating and high temperature annealing processes. UV-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy was used to examine the radiated and non-radiated samples to study their photocatalytic photodegradation property of the methyl orange. Our results showed that Mn doping can enhance the decolorization efficiency of methyl orange at optimal Mn doping levels, and there exists an optimum Mn doping (x~0.18) at which photodegradation efficiency is nearly optimized.


Residual stresses can arise in engineering components as part of their manufacturing or can also be introduced deliberately as part of surface treatment procedures. A precise knowledge of the level of residual stresses that exist in engineering components is necessary in analysis and quality control as well as for accurate prediction of components lifetime. Therefore, reliable methods of determining the magnitude and distribution of residual stresses are required in order to quantify their effect and to avoid detrimental failures. On the other hand on-site portable and nonor near non-destructive methods are required for practical use. The hole-drilling method shows a great potential in measuring and evaluating residual stresses in practical applications. This paper presents results and problems on residual stress measurements performed by the holedrilling method on real components, including forming applications of rolling, punching and cutting, and machine component applications of gears and shafts. Presented results clearly indicate the importance of residual stress information for proper design and use of engineering components.


It is a pleasure to present this year's third issue of the Journal of Cardiovascular Disease Research (JCDR) to our audience. Our editorial board is excited to observe continuous growth of the journal and its formation into a true multidisciplinary publication. In a short span of time, we were indexed in Scopus, PubMed, and other important national and international databases. The journal is continuing to receive very interesting and high-quality manuscripts from all over the world


Background: Epigenetic machinery plays an important role in genomic imprinting, a developmental process that establishes parent-of-origin–specific monoallelic gene expression. Although a number of studies have investigated the role of 5-methylcytosine in imprinting control, the contribution of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) to this epigenetic phenomenon remains unclear. Objectives: Using matched mouse blood samples (from mice at 2, 4, and 10 months of age), our objective was to examine the effects of perinatal bisphenol A (BPA) exposure (50μg/kg diet) on longitudinal 5-hmC patterns at imprinted regions. We also aimed to test the hypothesis that 5-hmC would show defined patterns at imprinted genes that persist across the life course. Methods: Genome-wide 5-hmC levels were measured using hydroxymethylated DNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (HMeDIP-seq). Modeling of differential hydroxymethylation by BPA exposure was performed using a pipeline of bioinformatics tools, including the csaw R package. Results: Based on BPA exposure, we identified 5,950 differentially hydroxymethylated regions (DHMRs), including 12 DHMRs that were annotated to murine imprinted genes—Gnas, Grb10, Plagl1, Klf14, Pde10a, Snrpn, Airn, Cmah, Ppp1r9a, Kcnq1, Phactr2, and Pde4d. When visualized, these imprinted gene DHMRs showed clear, consistent patterns of differential 5-hmC by developmental BPA exposure that persisted throughout adulthood. Conclusions: These data show long-term establishment of 5-hmC marks at imprinted loci during development. Further, the effect of perinatal BPA exposure on 5-hmC at specific imprinted loci indicates that developmental exposure to environmental toxicants may alter long-term imprinted gene regulation via an epigenetic mechanism. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP3441


In this paper, we analyze the performance degradation of a multi-hop decode-and-forward full-duplex relaying system caused by the residual self-interference (RSI) and hardware distortions (HWD) imposed by the FDR operation and imperfect hardware, respectively. In addition, we study the benefits of employing improper Gaussian signaling (IGS) in the MH-FDR system. Different from the traditional symmetric signaling scheme, i.e., proper Gaussian signaling (PGS), IGS has non-zero pseudo-variance that can limit the impact of RSI and HWD in the MH-FDR system. To evaluate the system performance gain using IGS, first we express the end-to-end achievable rate of the MH system as the minimum rate supported by all participating links. Then, we optimize the pseudo-variance of all participating transmitters, including source and relays to compensate the interference impact and improve the end-to-end achievable rate. We propose two network optimization schemes based on the system characteristics, i.e., joint optimization framework and distributed optimization scenario. Interestingly, IGS-based scheme outperforms its counterpart PGS-based scheme, especially at higher interference-to-noise ratio. Our findings reveal that using IGS in single-user detection systems that suffer from both RSI and HWD can effectively mitigate the degradation in the achievable rate performance.


The negative impacts of global warming on climate have been witnessed worldwide, and therefore global efforts to decrease the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs), particularly carbon dioxide, have increased. Carbon capture (CC) strategies can effectively reduce the quantity of CO2 being released into the atmosphere by various industries. In this study, several characteristics of CC technologies are analysed, the negative environmental impacts of CO2 emissions are highlighted, policies that have recently been adopted to decrease GHG emissions are discussed, and state-of-the-art post-combustion CC, pre-combustion CC, and oxyfuel combustion CC technologies are reviewed. Furthermore, this study investigates and compares the three most common carbon separation techniques, namely, absorption, adsorption, and membrane methods. Through the investigation of the CC technologies, we discuss the practicality of implementing such methods and discuss specific case studies that have implemented CC technologies. Furthermore, we summarise ways of utilising the end-product (the captured carbon) of these technologies. Much research has gone into investigating the negative environmental impacts that are currently arising. This paper stresses the importance of taken measures that go from theory to implementation and how such measures can be approached.


Herein, we introduce a co-precipitation synthesis of CuO, which produces small and uniform nanoparticles (∼12 nm) with a specific surface area of 97.3 m2 g−1. The resulting CuO nanoparticles are superior to the commercial ones, which have previously been used to prepare p-type DSSCs. In turn, we compared p-type DSSCs consisting of CuO-based photocathodes based on newly synthesized and commercial nanoparticles. Devices based on new CuO nanoparticles enable higher dye loadings, and, in turn, superior short-circuit current densities and efficiencies. To corroborate our findings, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and intensity modulated photocurrent spectroscopy assays were conducted, revealing a better charge injection and faster charge transport for those photocathodes featuring the new CuO nanoparticles.


Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) tends to be a new epidemic. It is now considered as the new element of metabolic syndrome, since it is highly correlated with obesity and diabetes mellitus type II. However, there are some patients whose disease is not linked to metabolic abnormalities; the etiology of this type of disease is the genetic background. Main genetic contributors to NAFLD are PNPLA3, TM6SF2 and GCKR. Genetic variations in these loci have been associated with NAFLD onset and progression. Moreover, dietary habits and nutrients' intake can affect the disease status. Diet composition, such as anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and carbohydrates intake, along with energy intake constitute key factors in the pathogenesis of NAFLD and development of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Up to now, treatment of NAFLD is based on generalized dietary intervention. However, there is an urgent need for personalized dietary advice in order to provide health professionals with more precise and drastic NAFLD management tools. Nutrigenetics is a field that examines how genetic variation affects response to diet or nutrients. This literature review meets the need of a summary of all available data regarding nutrigenetics of NAFLD. So far, studies in the area are scarce; however, they hold promise for future personalized dietary interventions, aiming to the reduction of NAFLD incidence.


This investigation evaluated the familiarisation conditions required to promote subsequent and more long-term improvements in perceptual processing of dysarthric speech and examined the cognitive-perceptual processes that may underlie the experience-evoked learning response. Sixty listeners were randomly allocated to one of three experimental groups and were familiarised under the following conditions: (1) neurologically intact speech (control), (2) dysarthric speech (passive familiarisation), and (3) dysarthric speech coupled with written information (explicit familiarisation). All listeners completed an identical phrase transcription task immediately following familiarisation, and listeners familiarised with dysarthric speech also completed a follow-up phrase transcription task 7 days later. Listener transcripts were analysed for a measure of intelligibility (percent words correct), as well as error patterns at a segmental (percent syllable resemblance) and suprasegmental (lexical boundary errors) level of perceptual processing. The study found that intelligibility scores for listeners familiarised with dysarthric speech were significantly greater than those of the control group, with the greatest and most robust gains afforded by the explicit familiarisation condition. Relative perceptual gains in detecting phonetic and prosodic aspects of the signal varied dependent upon the familiarisation conditions, suggesting that passive familiarisation may recruit a different learning mechanism to that of a more explicit familiarisation experience involving supplementary written information. It appears that decisions regarding resource allocation during subsequent processing of dysarthric speech may be informed by the information afforded by the conditions of familiarisation.


Dietary fiber has many health benefits, including positive impact on numerous chronic and life threatening diseases. Whole grain foods, legumes, fruits and vegetables are important sources of dietary fiber. In this article, the definitions of soluble and insoluble fiber, their mechanism of action and impact on health are discussed. Further, the characteristics and advantages of resistant starch, a high fiber product used by the food industry are outlined. There is a Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) for fiber in place for adults and children; it is recommended to cover that amount with natural food sources rather than in form of capsules. However, there are also natural high fiber supplements on the market; one of these food sources is Plantago psyllium, whose seed husk has high fiber content. Practical guidelines for a sufficient daily fiber intake are also given


Background. BK virus (BKV)-associated nephropathy (BKVAN) has been increasingly recognized as an important cause of renal transplant dysfunction. We report the role of quantitative viral load monitoring in the management of BKVAN. Methods. We developed a real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for BKV detection in urine and plasma. Four renal allograft recipients, including two children, with BKVAN were treated with low-dose cidofovir and followed prospectively. Results. The PCR assay showed a detection limit of 10 viral copies with an intra-assay coefficient of variation of 19%. All four patients with BKVAN demonstrated intranuclear inclusions on allograft biopsy and a progressive rise in serum creatinine; three patients underwent multiple biopsies before the diagnosis of BKVAN was made. Three of the patients experienced a "viral syndrome" before the onset of renal dysfunction. One child also demonstrated an echogenic renal mass. All of the patients demonstrated strongly positive urinary PCR values (>100,000 copies/&mgr;L). BKV DNA was also detected in the plasma of three patients. All the patients were treated with intravenous low-dose cidofovir (0.25–1 mg/kg per dose, every 2–3 weeks, without probenecid). BK viruria resolved within 4 to 12 weeks (after 1–4 doses) of the cidofovir therapy, and all patients remain with stable renal function 6 to 26 months posttherapy. Conclusions. Quantitative PCR for BKV is a sensitive and reliable method for following the course of the infection in renal transplant patients. In addition, cidofovir therapy may be useful in the treatment of some of these patients, and its role needs to be investigated further.


The application of optical sensors in process tomography involves using non-intrusive sensors to obtain vital information in order to produce images from the dynamic characteristics of a process system. Multiple fan beam projec- tion technique here is defined as allowing more than one emitter to transmit light at the same time using the switch-mode fan beam method. For the thirty-two pairs of sensors used, the 2-projection technique and 4-projection technique are being investigated. Sixteen sets of projections will complete one frame of light emission for the 2-projection technique while eight sets of projection will complete one frame of light emission for the 4-projection technique. The data obtained from optical fibre sensors will then be reconstructed into image using the Linear Back Projection and Iterative Reconstruction algorithms through Visual C++ programming. Concentration measurements and series of error analyses will determine the feasibility of the optical fibre sensors to perform as an instrument in solid flow visualization.


The next generation 4G wireless networks is envisioned as a convergence of different wireless access technologies providing the user with the best anywhere, anytime connection and improving the system resource utilization. The integration of wireless local area network (WLAN) hot spots and cellular networks (such as GPRS and UMTS) needs a more efficient handoff process. Handoff process between WLAN and cellular networks is known as vertical handoff. In this handoff process, number of unnecessary handoff should be minimized and WLAN network should be given high priority. The main objective of this paper is to study and evaluate the handoff process between WLAN and cellular networks using two algorithms. The algorithms are based on received signal strength, WLAN threshold value and lifetime estimation. Then, simulation model are developed to evaluate the performance of the vertical handoff algorithms using Matlab. The performance is evaluated according to the number of vertical handoff, number of unnecessary handoff and handoff delay by varying the user mobility rate. Simulation shows that the number of vertical handoff is increasing as the user mobility rate is increasing. Handoff algorithm using received signal strength (RSS) averaged and lifetime estimation shows the minimum number of unnecessary handoffs as compared to algorithm using only RSS averaged. The result also shows that the handoff delay is affected by the user mobility rate. Slower mobility rate user tends to stay longer in WLAN network as compared to high mobility rate user.


Many regions subjected to uniform seismic excitation are characterized by relatively small areas of intense damage. This paper examines the effects of geological inhomogeneity, and the related focusing of seismic rays, as a possible cause of this phenomenon. The analysis uses the progressing wave technique to calculate ray paths and amplification factors for typical geological configurations.


Information about protein structures is important in many areas of life sciences, including structure-based drug design. Gas phase methods, like electrospray ionization and mass spectrometry are powerful tools for the analysis of molecular interactions and conformational changes which complement existing solution phase methods. Novel techniques such as single particle imaging with X-ray free electron lasers are emerging as well. A requirement for using gas phase methods is that we understand what happens to proteins when injected into vacuum, and what is the relationship between the vacuum structure and the solution structure.Molecular dynamics simulations in combination with experiments show that protein structures in the gas phase can be similar to solution structures, and that hydrogen bonding networks and secondary structure elements can be retained. Structural changes near the surface of the protein happen quickly (ns-µs) during transition from solution into vacuum. The native solution structure results in a reasonably well defined gas phase structure, which has high structural similarity to the solution structure. Native charge locations are in some cases also preserved, and structural changes, due to point mutations in solution, can also be observed in vacuo. Proteins do not refold in vacuo: when a denatured protein is injected into vacuum, the resulting gas phase structure is different from the native structure.Native structures can be protected in the gas phase by adjusting electrospray conditions to avoid complete evaporation of water. A water layer with a thickness of less than two water molecules seems enough to preserve native conditions.The results presented in this thesis give confidence in the continued use of gas phase methods for analysis of charge locations, conformational changes and non-covalent interactions, and provide a means to relate gas phase structures and solution structures.


Objective: the purpose of this study was to compare the technical efficiency of Italian hospitals at a regional level and to examine if differences could be explained by organisational and contextual factors. Technical efficiency was defined as the ability of the operating units evaluated to use optimal resource levels for their level of output.
Methods: the effect of external factors was explored through a second stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Efficiency scores were calculated for each hospital using the DEA method (Stage I). Through Tobit regression analysis, the estimated efficiency scores were regressed against a set of organisational and contextual characteristics beyond managerial control, which reflected differences in the population demographics and regional health expenditure (Stage II). Stage I and Stage II efficiency scores were compared in order to indirectly assess managerial contribution in relation to hospital efficiency.
Results: the highest efficiency (M±SD) was observed in hospitals in the North-West (75.7±15.1), followed by those in the North-East (75.5±15.1), Central Italy (73.9±16.4) and then Southern Italy (70.6±17.9). Hospital Trusts (HTs) were shown to be more technically efficient than Local Public Hospitals (LPHs). Organisational and contextual indicators were statistically significantly different at Tobit regression analysis for HTs and LPHs. Emilia Romagna and Lombardia were the regions whose management contributed to increased efficiency.
Conclusions: in our study, the distribution of regions according to technical efficiency only partly reflected the North-South gradient shown by other studies regarding the gap of expenditure. The important role of organisation and environment in establishing efficiency differences among hospitals was demonstrated.


Summary
Purified poliovirus preparations were heated and analysed by sucrose gradient centrifugation. They consisted of virus-like particles containing RNA and sedimenting at about 80s, empty 80s capsids, 35s virus RNA, and a non-sedimentable capsid polypeptide (VP 4). By electron microscopy the 80s ribonucleoprotein particles (80s RNP) were similar in appearance to intact poliovirus particles. They contained infectious, RNase-sensitive RNA that could be liberated from the capsid by treatment at room temperature with 1% sodium dodecyl sulphate. One of the virus polypeptides was missing, and they had lost the antigenicity of the mature virus and the ability to adsorb to HeLa cells.
Degradation of poliovirus particles probably occurs in two steps: the first is the splitting off of a minor part of the capsid protein (VP 4) followed under certain conditions by a liberation of the RNA from the capsid. The alteration of the physical and biological properties of the virus particle is probably due to the loss of the protein rather than to the liberation of the RNA.


In a mesoscale convective system (MCS), convection that redevelops over (i.e., back-builds), and/or repeatedly passes over (i.e., trains) a region for an extended period of time can contribute to extreme rainfall and flash flooding. Past studies have indicated that both mesoscale ascent and lifting of the inflow layer by a cold pool or bore are important when this back-building/training convection is displaced from the leading line [sometimes called rearward off-boundary development (ROD)]. However, Plains Elevated Convection At Night (PECAN) field campaign observations suggest that the stability of the nocturnal boundary layer is highly variable and some MCSs with ROD have only a weak surface cold pool. Numerical simulations presented in this study suggest that in an environment with strong boundary layer stability, ROD can be supported by mechanisms other than those mentioned above. Simulations were initialized using a sounding from ahead of a PECAN MCS with a strong stable layer and ROD, and the three-dimensional simulation produced an MCS similar to that observed despite the homogeneous initial conditions. Some of the findings presented herein challenge existing understanding of nocturnal MCSs, and especially how downdrafts interact with a stable boundary layer. Notably, downdrafts can reach the surface, and different regions of the MCS may have different propagation mechanisms and different relevant inflow layers. Unlike previous studies of ROD, parcel lifting may be supported by an intrusion (an elevated layer of downdraft air) modified by the three-dimensional vertical wind shear.


The structure of DNA proposed by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953 was one of the most important scientific discoveries of the 20th century, transforming biology, giving medicine new impetus, and providing a foundation for the new industry of biotechnology. In this videotaped lecture, recorded live at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in November 1999, Dr. Watson retraces those events in a personal reminiscence of the period and the people involved. This is an account of one of the great dramas of science, told from the intimate perspective of a participant who, age 25 at the time of the discovery, is considered by many to be one of the intellectual leaders of our time.


Dance provides both psychological and physical benefits and yet many boys miss out due to societal perceptions surrounding the feminization of dance. These perceptions can lead to bullying of boys who dance. Since dance teachers are in a unique position to engage boys in dance, it is important to investigate their perceptions. This article reports the experiences of ten female dance teachers from the UK vis-à-vis attracting and retaining boys in dance, especially ballet. Here we focus on three salient themes that emerged from the data: "dancing boys in social context", "parental and teacher support", and "improving the dancing boy's milieu". The dance teachers identified a number of strategies for engaging and retaining boys in ballet, such as privileging boys within the dance studio and improving opportunities to dance in schools. This article posits potential strategies to engage boys in ballet that could potentially empower all genders within the dance-world.


Can businesses voluntarily adopt progressive environmental policies? Most environmental regulations are based on the assumption that the pursuit of profit leads firms to pollute the environment, and therefore governments must impose mandatory regulations. However, new instruments such as voluntary programs are increasingly important. Drawing on the economic theory of club goods, this book offers a theoretical account of voluntary environmental programs by identifying the institutional features that influence conditions under which programs can be effective. By linking program efficacy to club design, it focuses attention on collective action challenges faced by green clubs. Several analytic techniques are used to investigate the adoption and efficacy of ISO 14001, the most widely recognized voluntary environmental program in the world. These analyses show that, while the value of ISO 14001's brand reputation varies across policy and economic contexts, on average ISO 14001 members pollute less and comply better with governmental regulations.


Background Being married is known to decrease the risk of all cause and cardiovascular mortality for men, but it is not clear if marriage confers a similar benefit for women. In addition, few studies have examined marital status in relation to both mortality and disease incidence to determine whether the beneficial effects of marriage influence the aetiology or prognosis of disease. Methods A total of 747,532 women (mean age: 59.8, SD 4.9), without previous heart disease, stroke or cancer, were followed prospectively for an average of 6.1 years for hospital admissions and deaths. We used Cox regression models to calculate relative risks for the first ischaemic heart disease (IHD) event and for IHD deaths comparing married women to unmarried women, adjusting for age, region of residence, socio-economic status, health-related behaviours, social support, depression and self-rated health. We also calculated relative risk of subsequent death in participants whose first IHD event was a hospital admission (n = 19,506, mean follow-up 2.7 years). Results At baseline, 2000-2003, 81% of the sample was married or living with a partner. Over follow-up, there were 20,458 first IHD events (19,572 non-fatal and 886 fatal), and among those whose first event was a hospital admission there were 407 deaths. Married women had lower rates of smoking and physical inactivity, were less deprived, and less likely to rate their health as poor. In women who had no prior hospital admissions for IHD, married women had a 34% lower risk of IHD death as a first event than unmarried women (p < 0.001), but no significantly decreased risk of non-fatal hospital admission for IHD. Among the women whose first IHD event was a (non-fatal) hospital admission, married women did not have a significant reduction in subsequent mortality. Conclusion Being married or living with a partner appears to reduce the risk of death from IHD for women, which is not fully explained by health-related behaviours or by socio-economic status.


This paper analyzes food inflation trends in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) from 2000 to 2016 using two novel datasets of disaggregated CPI baskets. Average food inflation is higher, more volatile, and similarly persistent as non-food non-fuel (NF/NF) inflation, especially in low-income countries (LICs) in SSA. We find evidence that food inflation became less persistent from 2009 onwards, related to recent improvements in monetary policy frameworks. We also find that high food prices are driven mainly by non-tradable food in SSA and there is incomplete pass-through from world food and fuel prices and exchange rates to domestic food prices. Taken together, these finding suggest that central banks in low-income countries with high and persistent food inflation should continue to pay attention to headline inflation to anchor inflation expectations. Other policy levers include reducing tariffs and improving storage and transport infrastructure to reduce food pressures.


In the biomedical domain, there is an abundance of dense, complex data where objects of interest may be challenging to detect or constrained by limits of human knowledge. Labelled domain specific datasets for supervised tasks are often expensive to obtain, and furthermore discovery of novel distinct objects may be desirable for unbiased scientific discovery. Therefore, we propose leveraging the wealth of annotations in benchmark computer vision datasets to conduct unsupervised instance segmentation for diverse biomedical datasets. The key obstacle is thus overcoming the large domain shift from common to biomedical images. We propose a Domain Adaptive Region-based Convolutional Neural Network (DARCNN), that adapts knowledge of object definition from COCO, a large labelled vision dataset, to multiple biomedical datasets. We introduce a domain separation module, a self-supervised representation consistency loss, and an augmented pseudo-labelling stage within DARCNN to effectively perform domain adaptation across such large domain shifts. We showcase DARCNN's performance for unsupervised instance segmentation on numerous biomedical datasets.


Economist commonly use recreational demand models to estimate benefits visitors receive from consumption of a specific site. These models also capture impacts of recreational activities consumed and help to determine the value consumers place on the factors that influence their choice to visit a site. Households spend leisure time pursuing a variety of recreational activities. Policy makers need accurate estimates of the benefits and costs of actions that affect the quality and quantity of available recreation activities. The travel cost method (TCM) is a commonly used estimation method. The model estimates that the number of trips to a site are assumed to be related to travel cost incurred getting to the site, time traveling to and from the site along with time spent at the site, as well as other demographic and/or locational variables (Parsons, 2003). Survey sampling is the most common method used to gather information on visitors to a specific area and what types of amenities these visitors are consuming. The data collected from the surveys is used to estimate recreational trip demand for sites.


Spectral interferences in the simultaneous determination of multi-elements in sediments and soil by ICP-AES were investigated and the multicomponent spectral fitting (MSF) method was used for the correction. Several factors affecting the MSF method such as the signal integration time and the spectra shift were studied. The comparison between MSF and off-peak background correction were made by analyzing national standard reference material: sediment GBW07306. The detection limit and the precision could be improved by a factor of 1.3-9.0 and 1.1-4.9 respectively and the results agreed better with those of the certified values when using MSF correction.


This dissertation seeks to comprehensively refocus the analytical frameworks dealing with black modern subjectivity through an in-depth examination of "Culturalism," or the regime of meaning-making in which Blackness is culturally specified and abstracted from material, political economic, and structural conditions of dispossession through state technologies of antiradicalism. Cold War liberalism institutionalized the hegemony of cultural politics and Culturalism by foregrounding cultural analyses of African retention and syncretism, cultural continuity, and comparative diasporic cultures. As the Cold War instantiated the bifurcation of the world and influenced the direction of decolonization, the African diaspora as an analytical framework became reduced to its cultural aspects. It essentially framed connections among African descendants in terms of culture; asserted Black modernity and claims to equality on cultural grounds; and constructed culture as the domain of struggle. Culturalism divorced Blackness and the African diaspora from the material realties of governmentalized, transnational state projects that sustain racial and class hierarchies.The hegemony of Culturalism in contemporary theories of the Black condition and the African diaspora diverge significantly from those of the Black radical structure of feeling that conceptualized Diaspora (thought not explicitly named at this time) through a nexus that included political economy, cultural formations, and nationalism. Conditions of Black abjection were seen to permeate both the base and the superstructure such that mobilization on both fronts was necessary to combat white supremacy. The result has been a turn away from the political economy/structural critique that, in the interwar period, provided a theoretical framework to challenge American antiblack statist discourse. The marginalization of Black radicalism and political economy produced the politicization of culture as the dominant mode of organizing for Black equality, and the primary intellectual focus in African diaspora studies. Anticommunism entrenched this move away from structural critique by criminalizing and disciplining critiques that opposed the racialized social order, the spread of empire, and capitalist accumulation. Instead of challenging their exclusion from the state based on economic dispossession and maldistribution of resources, Black people in the United States began to mobilize around cultural specification, for inclusion based on liberal civil rights discourse, and/or to assert international linkages based on mutually recognized cultural enunciations of blackness. In other words, the Cold War curtailed the possibilities of challenging the state in terms of the political economy of exploitation, thus Blackness came to be understood in nationalist and cultural terms of exclusion. At the same time, decolonizing countries that sought equality in the world-system asserted their willingness and ability to adopt the culture of development, modernization, and anticommunism. This was notwithstanding the fact that their insertion into the global political economy as sovereign nations continued relations of unequal exchange, declining terms of trade, and neocolonialism.Culturalism is thus a function of antiradical and antiblack statist pedagogy, and after World War II, it became entangled with anticommunism as an instrumentality of surveillance and violence. Culturalism institutionalized the erasure of radical political economic critique in the theorizing of the black global condition, the disciplining of Black radicalism, and the cultural specification of African diaspora studies examined in the dissertation. The cultural specification of blackness and the forms of Culturalism that it takes are integrally related to statist technologies that facilitate the accommodation of black intellectual and practical challenges to the capitalist state while, at the same time, ensuring their cooptation. These are the bases for the surveillance, disciplining, and punishment of black radical critique.


This paper inquiries the insertion of nostalgic elements in Italian point-and-click video games of the 2010s, highlighting those elements that still survive in spite of being out-of-date from the points of view of technology and gameplay. After having clarified the notions of "point-and-click" and nostalgia, the paper presents the corpus of titles considered in the analysis, that is, thirty-seven Italian point-and-click video games of the last decade. The choice of such corpus is based on three reasons: limiting the size of the corpus to make it manageable; maintaining an adequate temporal distance from the classic and post-classic point-and-click video games, such a lapse of time being a precondition of nostalgia; focussing on video games "indie", a label including all the corpus's titles. Three categories of nostalgic insertion were detected: "technical", "thematically dense" and "thematically rarefied". The first includes titles technically similar to the classics (1990-1995), which they idealise and emulate by an explicit interface (e.g. SCUMM v. 4). The second comprises games whose inspiration is rather that of the second half of the Nineties, when new technological solutions were introduced (e.g. pseudo-3D). The third contains products more innovative than nostalgic, still interspersed with quotations. Three case studies are presented to testimony of these categories, respectively: Chronicle of Innsmouth (PsychoDev, 2017), Detective Gallo (Footprints Games, 2018) and The Wardrobe (C.I.N.I.C. Games, 2017).


Whether stock prices can be accurately forecasted or not is usually associated with whether markets are efficient or not. The idea of market efficiency suggested by the Efficient Market Hypothesis has been debated among financial professionals for a long time, especially due to the occurrence of financial bubbles in the past. Some argue that stock prices prediction is no different than the results of "a series of tosses of a coin, rolls of a die, or spins of a roulette wheel," while others argue that stock prices are affected by past patterns, which can be used to forecast future prices [11]. Although a concrete answer has yet to be found on the behavior of the stock market, researchers have continued exploring the topic and have established various quantitative models for forecasting, one of which is clustering. This paper evaluates the application of the clustering method of stock forecasting by analyzing the financial statements of technology companies over a period of four years.


ABSTRACT The study shows that the perceived healthfulness of processed organic foods, compared to their conventional counterparts, can be altered by slight variations in how promotional messages are framed. A sample of US organic shoppers (N = 375) was exposed to advertisements promoting processed organic (and processed conventional) foods by highlighting either virtue or vice aspects of the products. An interaction between the type of processed food (organic, non-organic) and the type of promotional message (vice, virtue) was observed. Processed organic foods were perceived as more healthful than non-organic equivalents only when advertisements emphasized vice-related aspects of the product. Following exposure to virtue-framed advertisements, organic and non-organic products were seen as equally healthful. The result was replicated conceptually using different vice and virtue products, rather than framing the same product as virtue and vice. The paper concludes by presenting theoretical, practical, and methodological implications of the design and reported findings.


The literature on multiple roles and identities tends either to ignore strategies of role-system organization altogether or to assume that all people organize a salience hierarchy, through which they assign more importance to some roles and selves than to others. Drawing on our reading of William James and George Herbert Mead, we argue that the way people organize their roles and identities is an empirical issue, not an established fact, and that it is a live option for people to create a nonhierarchical pattern of self-organization. We offer findings from two studies of role balance. Using planned comparisons, we confirm hypotheses that people who maintain more balance across their entire systems of roles and activities will score lower on measures of role strain and depression and higher on measures of self-esteem, role ease, and other indicators of well-being. We end with some cautions and suggestions concerning the further exploration of role balance. Key Words: identity theory, multiple roles, role balance, role involvement, role strain, self-esteem. In the literature on multiple roles and selves, there are two distinct shortcomings. The first is insufficient attention to the systemic organization of roles and selves. The second is the assumption by those who do theorize about such systems that roles and selves are always hierarchically organized. We discuss each problem in turn and then offer a phenomenology of role-system organization that will obviate some difficulties signaled in our critique. We then present two empirical studies of role balance-a neglected type of rolesystem organization. ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT MULTIPLE ROLES AND SELVES Neglecting Goode's Legacy: The Atomistic Tendency In his seminal article, Goode (1960) claimed that role strain-any felt difficulty in carrying out a role-arises only when a person's total role system is overdemanding. Role strain is not, therefore, role-specific in its origin; it is a product of the individual's myriad interests and his or her navigation through the entire system of typical activities. Despite this holistic, systemic animus of the theory, much of the literature since then has reverted to an atomistic framework. Each role is seen as a thing in itself, separable from its embeddedness in an organized system of roles. (See O'Neil & Greenberger, 1994, and the accompanying critique by Marks, 1994.) To be sure, research after Goode has provided an important corrective to his cynical statement that role strain is "normal"; we are cheered by findings suggesting that multiple roles may be good for one's health (Verbrugge, 1986) and for one's psychological wellbeing (Baruch & Barnett, 1986). Similarly, there has been useful research on the quality of certain roles (for example, Barnett, 1994) and on the enhancing effects of certain role combinations on well-being (for example, Barnett, Marshall, & Pleck, 1992; Menaghan, 1989). Role-specific experience-role quality-does make a difference within a given role and within each of several roles in combination. But Goode explicitly adopted a holistic rather than an atomistic level of analysis, calling our attention to the way our roles function as a single pattern or system. That is, the pattern of organization itself may generate important consequences. A psychological counterpart of atomistic role theories is seen in some work on multiple selves. For Linville (1987), people with many selfaspects are buffered against stress from negative events because they have the option of refocusing on whichever selves have remained unaffected by any particular event. While Linville sees selfaspects to be systemically embedded in a "larger associative network" (p. 664), she lays so much emphasis on the distinctness of each self-aspect that she verges on the atomistic tendency just noted. Similarly, Markus and Nurius (1986) point to a system of self-conceptions within the person, but they offer no analysis of how the organization of this overall system may make a difference. …


We develop a model in which innovations in an economy's growth potential are an important driving force of the business cycle. The framework shares the emphasis of the recent "new shock" literature on revisions of beliefs about the future as a source of fluctuations, but differs by tieing these beliefs to fundamentals of the evolution of the technology frontier. An important feature of the model is that the process of moving to the frontier involves costly technology adoption. In this way, news of improved growth potential has a positive effect on current hours. As we show, the model also has reasonable implications for stock prices. We estimate our model for data post-1984 and show that the innovations shock accounts for nearly a third of the variation in output at business cycle frequencies. The estimated model also accounts reasonably well for the large gyration in stock prices over this period. Finally, the endogenous adoption mechanism plays a significant role in amplifying other shocks.


"Routes and Roots" is the first comparative study of Caribbean and Pacific Island literatures and the first work to bring indigenous and diaspora literary studies together in a sustained dialogue. Taking the "tidalectic" between land and sea as a dynamic starting point, Elizabeth DeLoughrey foregrounds geography and history in her exploration of how island writers inscribe the complex relation between routes and roots. The first section looks at the sea as history in literatures of the Atlantic middle passage and Pacific Island voyaging, theorizing the transoceanic imaginary. The second section turns to the land to examine indigenous epistemologies in nation-building literatures. Both sections are particularly attentive to the ways in which the metaphors of routes and roots are gendered, exploring how masculine travelers are naturalized through their voyages across feminized lands and seas. This methodology of charting transoceanic migration and landfall helps elucidate how theories and people travel, positioning island cultures in the world historical process. In fact, DeLoughrey demonstrates how these tropical island cultures helped constitute the very metropoles that deemed them peripheral to modernity. Fresh in its ideas, original in its approach, "Routes and Roots" engages broadly with history, anthropology, and feminist, postcolonial, Caribbean, and Pacific literary and cultural studies. It productively traverses diaspora and indigenous studies in a way that will facilitate broader discussion between these often segregated disciplines.


In this report, we present a new reinforcement learning (RL) benchmark based on the Sonic the Hedgehog (TM) video game franchise. This benchmark is intended to measure the performance of transfer learning and few-shot learning algorithms in the RL domain. We also present and evaluate some baseline algorithms on the new benchmark.


Abstract The ILSI Health and Environmental Sciences Institute (HESI) has developed a framework to support a transition in the way in which information for chemical risk assessment is obtained and used (RISK21). The approach is based on detailed problem formulation, where exposure drives the data acquisition process in order to enable informed decision-making on human health safety as soon as sufficient evidence is available. Information is evaluated in a transparent and consistent way with the aim of optimizing available resources. In the context of risk assessment, cumulative risk assessment (CRA) poses additional problems and questions that can be addressed using the RISK21 approach. The focus in CRA to date has generally been on chemicals that have common mechanisms of action. Recently, concern has also been expressed about chemicals acting on multiple pathways that lead to a common health outcome, and non-chemical other conditions (non-chemical stressors) that can lead to or modify a common outcome. Acknowledging that CRAs, as described above, are more conceptually, methodologically and computationally complex than traditional single-stressor risk assessments, RISK21 further developed the framework for implementation of workable processes and procedures for conducting assessments of combined effects from exposure to multiple chemicals and non-chemical stressors. As part of the problem formulation process, this evidence-based framework allows the identification of the circumstances in which it is appropriate to conduct a CRA for a group of compounds. A tiered approach is then proposed, where additional chemical stressors and/or non-chemical modulating factors (ModFs) are considered sequentially. Criteria are provided to facilitate the decision on whether or not to include ModFs in the formal quantitative assessment, with the intention to help focus the use of available resources to have the greatest potential to protect public health.


Adsorption of natural organic matter (NOM) on nanomaterials (NMs) results in the formation of interfacial area between NMs and the surrounding environment (referred to as NOM-corona), giving rise to NMs' unique surface identity. This unique surface identity is determined by the ligands and their interactions with NM surfaces. Since the chemical structure and functionality is heterogeneous and polydisperse, the molecular composition of NOM-corona is the result of competitive adsorption of NOM molecules on the NM surface. Here, we investigate the molecular composition of NOM-corona formed from two different NOM samples (isolated from the Yukon River and Milwaukee River) on the surface of AgNMs using electrospray ionization-Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (ESI-FT-ICR-MS). The composition of AgNM-NOM corona varied with the composition of the original NOM. In general, AgNM-NOM corona is rich with N- and S-containing compounds. Furthermore, AgNM-NOM corona is rich with compounds with high molecular weight, high unsaturation, and high number of oxygenated groups. However, CHOS (carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and sulfur) compounds adsorbed on AgNMs from the Yukon River NOM have low molecular weight (LMW) and low saturation index, which might be due to selective adsorption via chemical complexation (Ag–S). On the other hand, NOM compounds with LMW and low unsaturation or compounds containing few oxygenated groups (mainly alcohols and ethers) are preferentially maintained in solution phase. The results here provide evidence of molecular interactions between NOM and NMs, which are critical to understanding NM behavior and toxicity in natural environments.


The Lower Jurassic (Hettangian–Sinemurian) continental deposits of the Mehadia area (Caras–Severin County) belong to the Presacina Basin, Upper Danubian Units of the South Carpathians, Romania. This un-named succession is exposed along large areas within the Greaţca Quarry where deposits of a complex braided river system can be seen. Nine clastic facies are identified within the Mehadia section and grouped into two facies associations reflecting two main sub-environments. (A) a fine-grained association, up to 6.5 m thick, composed of greyish black and dark grey massive and horizontally laminated mudstones interbedded with fine- to medium-grained sandstones showing ripple lamination, tabular low-angle large-scale cross-bedding and in some places massive sandstones. Within this association coarsening and fining-upward sequences are visible, while subordinate pensymmetrical-like sequences were observed. The sediments of the fine-grained association are interpreted as having been deposited along an alluvial plain from flood waters. The sandstone interbeds are interpreted as crevasse channel-fills and the thinner sandstone bodies as proximal crevasse splays. (B) a coarse-grained facies association represented by sandstones and conglomerates, both clast- and matrix-supported, from granule to pebble clast sizes. Almost all basal members of this association are underlain by erosional surfaces, while internal erosional surfaces occur at some levels. The coarse-grained facies association is interpreted as having been deposited within active river channels of a sandy braided river system. The occurrence of numerous erosional surfaces, the recurrence of the facies within this association (channel bodies), as well as the abundant mudstone and sandstone intraclasts all point to frequent conditions of erosion (including redeposition) of previously deposited sediments. The relatively low fine-grained sediment content (<25%) can be explained by two factors: (1) a creation rate for accommodation space was not enough for the accumulation of a large amount of overbank deposits; (2) a lack of larger quantities of fine-grained material being transported in the river system. Both factors may have operated independently or interacted.


In today"s world securing file data is very important. The proposed Secure File System (SFS) provides file data security using steganographic techniques in a transparent and convenient way. The proposed SFS pushes information hiding services into the Linux kernel space, mounting it between the Virtual File System layer and underlying file system. After SFS is integrated with the Linux operating system (OS), it enables OS to provide File Data Security as its inherent functionality. SFS requires that the user creates a directory and name it with the prefix 'secrt' to store the encrypted file data, such as secrtdir. Any directory on the system with the prefix 'secrt' will basically tells the system that the newly created directory will contain secret data. All files destined to be saved on this directory will be transparently hidden in nonsuspicious information on the fly without any user intervention. For hiding we use a steganographic technique in which SFS is fully compatible with all underlying storage file systems. This paper illustrates the design of SFS for Linux which extends the operating system to provide file data security as its inherent functionality.


This paper presents the design, optimization, fabrication, and test results of an electrothermally actuated tip-tilt-piston micromirror with a large optical aperture of 1 mm. The fabrication of the device is a combination of thin-film surface micromachining and bulk silicon micromachining based on silicon-on-insulator wafers. The device has 3-DOF of actuations, including rotations around two axes in the mirror plane, and out-of-plane piston actuation. The micromirror shows an optical scan range of plusmn30deg about both x- and y-axes and displaces 480 mum in the z-axis, all at dc voltages that are less than 8 V. Dynamic testing of the micromirror shows that the thermal response time of each actuator is about 10 ms. Resonant frequencies of the piston and rotation motion are 336 and 488 Hz, respectively. The unique structural design of the device ensures that there is no lateral shift for the piston motion and no rotation-axis shift for the rotation scanning. With the large tip-tilt-piston scan ranges and low driving voltage, this type of device is very suitable for biomedical imaging and laser beam steering applications.


Abstract:  This essay explores the connection between religious practices and torture with specific reference to the debate in the USA about 'waterboarding' as part of the so-called War on Terror. After isolating some defining features of torture, the essay examines the historical background of waterboarding in the symbolism of Christian baptism and how this symbolism was used during the Inquisition and the Reformation as part of the torture of heretics and others. Mindful of this sordid use of a Christian rite meant to celebrate new life, the essay thereby clarifies Christian responsibility in the political order. That responsibility requires uncovering the religious roots of some forms of torture, resisting their use by the State, and, further, seeking to render current Christian practice both humane and life giving.


The high-flux beam reactor (HFBR) at the Brookhaven National Laboratory was a heavy water cooled and moderated reactor that achieved criticality on Oct. 31, 1965. It operated at a power level of 40 megawatts. An equipment upgrade in 1982 allowed operations at 60 megawatts. After a 1989 reactor shutdown to reanalyze safety impact of a hypothetical loss of coolant accident, the reactor was restarted in 1991 at 30 megawatts. The HFBR was shut down in December 1996 for routine maintenance and refueling. At that time, a leak of tritiated water was identified by routine sampling of groundwater from wells located adjacent to the reactor's spent fuel pool. The reactor remained shut down for almost three years for safety and environmental reviews. In November 1999 the United States Department of Energy decided to permanently shut down the HFBR. The decontamination and decommissioning of the HFBR complex, consisting of multiple structures and systems to operate and maintain the reactor, were complete in 2009 after removing and shipping off all the control rod blades. The emptied and cleaned HFBR dome, which still contains the irradiated reactor vessel, is presently under 24/7 surveillance for safety. Detailed dosimetry performed for the HFBR decommissioning during 1996–2009 is described in the paper.


This investigation draws upon concepts from prospect theory (Kahneman and Tversky [Kahneman, D., A. Tversky. 1979. Prospect theory: an analysis of decisions under risk. Econometrica 47 263--291.]) and multiattribute utility theory (Keeney and Raiffa [Keeney, R. L., H. Raiffa. 1976. Decisions with Multiple Objectives: Preferences and Value Tradeoffs. Wiley, New York.]) in an examination of the multiattribute risky choice behavior of 128 managers. The questions of how managers edit multiattribute prospects and how editing relates to various independence assumptions were explored. The major result is that managers appear to violate attribute independence in its general form, and especially in the form of the marginality assumption. The most common form of behavior observed was multiattribute risk aversion for prospects involving only gains and multiattribute risk seeking for prospects involving only losses. This result reinforces the importance of a target, reference point, or aspiration level that has been found in earlier studies of single attribute risky choice. Furthermore, the result casts doubt on such commonly used multiattribute utility functions as the additive, multiplicative, and multilinear forms. The implications of the results for the development of multiattribute risky decision aids are discussed.


This paper offers new evidence on the impacts of school finance reforms (SFRs) precipitated by school finance litigation, exploring the extent to which the impact of SFR differs by district racial composition. Using difference-in-differences and event study models with a series of district and year (or state-by-year) fixed effects, and a sixteen-year panel of over 10,000 school districts, my analyses exploit variation in funding across school districts, and timing of school finance court orders across states, to estimate the effect of SFR on the distribution of district funding by racial composition. Models include relevant control variables available in national data and results are robust to numerous alternative specifications, including estimating impacts on percent changes in resources (in addition to levels), restricting analyses to districts in SFR states, controlling for additional covariates available in only some years and some states, and adding controls for state-specific time trends. In addition, I estimate changes in New York State to assess whether and to what extent results are sensitive to additional controls for revenue-raising capacity and district costs. Results suggest that SFR can work to alleviate racial funding gaps, though impacts are moderate.


A galactose-binding lectin isolated from the venom of Trimeresurus stejnegeri is a homodimer C-type lectin. The cloned cDNA encoding the monomer of Trimeresurus stejnegeri lectin (TSL) was sequenced and found to contain a 5'-end non-coding region, a sequence which encodes 135 amino acids, including a typical 23 amino acid signal peptide followed by the mature protein sequence, a 3'-end non-coding region, a polyadenylation signal, and a poly(A) region. To completely characterize the deduced amino acid sequence, on-line HPLC-MS and tandem MS were used to analyse the intact monomer and its proteolytic peptides. A modified peptide fragment was also putatively identified by HPLC-MS analysis. The deduced amino acid sequence was found to contain a carbohydrate-recognition domain homologous with those of some known C-type animal lectins. Thus TSL belongs to group VII of the C-type animal lectins as classified by Drickamer [(1993) Prog. Nucleic Acid Res. Mol. Biol. 45, 207-232]. At present, a number of C-type lectins have been purified from snake venom, but most of them have been characterized only at the protein level. To our knowledge, this is the first known cDNA sequence of a true C-type lectin from snake venom.


The interdental pressure index (IPI) is introduced to specifically evaluate clinical interproximal-tissue conditions and assess the effect of interproximal hygiene stimulation. This index scores clinical responses of periodontal tissues to the apical pressure of a horizontally placed periodontal probe. It is negative when gingival tissues are firm, bleeding-free, and slightly ischemic by the stimulation; otherwise it is positive. The clinical validation showed high intraoperator agreement (0.92; 95% CI: 0.82–0.96; í µí±ƒ = 0.0001) and excellent interoperator agreement (0.76; 95% CI: 0.14–1.38; í µí±ƒ = 0.02). High internal consistency with bleeding on probing (í µí¼… = 0.88) and gingival index (Cronbach's í µí»¼ = 0.81) was obtained. Histological validation obtained high sensitivity (100%) and specificity (80%) for IPI+ toward inflammatory active form. The same results were recorded for IPI− toward chronic inactive form. IPI results as a simple and noninvasive method with low error probability and good reflection of histological condition that can be applied for oral hygiene motivation. Patient compliance to oral hygiene instructions is essential in periodontal therapy and IPI index can be a practical and intuitive tool to check and reinforce this important aspect.


Background Opioid overdoses in Canada have shown dramatic increases over recent years, despite significant investments in harm reduction. Most community monitoring currently relies on emergency department and coroner data. Our team has previously shown that paramedic data can be a useful addition to the current metrics as paramedics regularly interact with opioid overdose patients. This study examines paramedic data to investigate the changes to community opioid overdoses in the era of COVID-19 to better support our strategic partners in their battle against the opioid crisis. Methods The electronic ambulance call report database of Peterborough Paramedics (Ontario, Canada) was examined. De-identified records for patients from 2017-2020 with documented problem codes of 'Opioid Overdose' were extracted. Patients receiving paramedic naloxone were also included. The data was cleaned and analysed, and incomplete records were removed. Statistical models including chi-squared tests of goodness-of-fit and post hoc pairwise t-tests were applied to the data. Ethics approval for this study was granted by the Trent University's Research Ethics Board. Results 788 opioid overdoses were identified out of 72,737 patients. There were 263 opioid overdoses found in 2020 representing 1.4% patients, a significant increase from 2017-2019 (p value: 0.006). The proportion of patients receiving paramedic naloxone was significantly increased from previous years (p value: 0.005) while bystander naloxone administration was significantly decreased (p value 0.002). Age, gender, and pick-up location types were not significantly different between 2020 and previous years. Conclusion Despite reduced overall call volumes in 2020, paramedics observed an increase in opioid overdoses. The increase in paramedic naloxone administration and decrease in bystander naloxone administration may indicate changes in usage practices of community opioid users or an instability in the drug supply. These factors must be considered in future opioid harm reduction strategies and public health COVID-19 containment measures.


Masculinity frameworks in men's health research have focused on masculine ideals and norms to describe men's health practices. However, little attention has been paid to inductively deriving insights about what constitutes health-related masculine values among young men. A sequential exploratory mixed-methods design, comprising a qualitative lead to derive health-related masculine values with a follow-up quantitative arm to test the items, was used. Drawing on a sample of 15-29-year-old Canadian male interview participants (n = 30) and survey respondents (n = 600), 5 health-related masculine values were highlighted: (a) selflessness, (b) openness, (c) well-being, (d) strength, and (e) autonomy. Selflessness was characterized by caring for and helping others. Openness included the willingness to gain exposure from new experiences, ideas, and people. Well-being was linked to fitness and masculine body ideals and aesthetics. In terms of strength, men endorsed intellectual, emotional, and physical strength. Regarding autonomy, there was consensus men should be self-sufficient and decisive, whereas being independent drew less endorsement. Highlighting the interdependency of these domains, exploratory factor analysis yielded 2 overarching reliable quantitative dimensions characterized by domains of being inclusive (openness and selflessness; α = .88) and empowered (well-being and autonomy; α = .85). Some inductively derived and pilot-tested values ran counter to long-standing claims that young men are typically hedonistic, hypercompetitive, and estranged from self-health. Study findings are discussed detailing how the evaluation of specific health-related masculine values in subgroups of men might advance masculinities-focused men's health research and inform the next generation of targeted gendersensitized services.


In Reply. —I read with interest the comments by Zachariae and colleagues in which they relate their experience with a group of patients with systemic sclerosis. Because their patients differed substantially from the ones we treated with photopheresis and would not have fulfilled the entrance requirements for our study, we cannot readily compare their observations with ours. Furthermore, their study was not blinded or randomized, and they evaluated their patients by different standards. Nevertheless, their findings may contribute to a definition of which patients might benefit from photopheresis. We concur that all patients with systemic sclerosis do not respond to photopheresis; even in our carefully selected patient group, approximately one third showed either no improvement or worsened. Because we selected patients with progressing skin sclerosis in the absence of serious internal organ involvement, our study does not provide meaningful information about the capacity of photopheresis to reverse advanced lung, kidney, heart, or


Objective: Upper airway obstruction and mouth breathing influence facial growth and development, which may result in breathing disorders while asleep. The purpose of the present investigation was to analyze cephalometric alterations between patients with cleft palate and a noncleft control group in an obstructive sleep disordered breathing-specific tracing. Setting: The study was conducted in the cleft palate clinic of a university hospital. Participants: Fifty-three subjects with a mean age of 12.3 6 3.7 years (range 6.3 to 17.2 years). The cohort included 33 subjects (13 females, 20 males; mean age 12.1 6 3.8 years, mean body mass index 17.5 6 2.9 kg/m2) with surgical closure of a unilateral or bilateral cleft palate and a matched control of noncleft participants. None of the subjects suffered from sleep disordered breathing syndrome. Results: Compared with the controls, patients with cleft palate had a significant narrow anterior-posterior dimension of the pharynx at the level of the maxillary plane and the narrowest width, a more downward hyoid position, and a longer uvula. Conclusions: Patients with cleft palate appear to present pharyngeal and craniofacial distinctive features that characterize patients with obstructive sleep disordered breathing and differ from those of a noncleft control.


We have examined the functional significance of the organization of pre- mRNA splicing factors in a speckled distribution in the mammalian cell nucleus. Upon microinjection into living cells of oligonucleotides or antibodies that inhibit pre-mRNA splicing in vitro, we observed major changes in the organization of splicing factors in vivo. Interchromatin granule clusters became uniform in shape, decreased in number, and increased in both size and content of splicing factors, as measured by immunofluorescence. These changes were transient and the organization of splicing factors returned to their normal distribution by 24 h following microinjection. Microinjection of these oligonucleotides or antibodies also resulted in a reduction of transcription in vivo, but the oligonucleotides did not inhibit transcription in vitro. Control oligonucleotides did not disrupt splicing or transcription in vivo. We propose that the reorganization of splicing factors we observed is the result of the inhibition of splicing in vivo.


The question of the roles played in their fiction by fantasy and related generic borrowing has been a common strand running through the critical writing on Marie Darrieussecq, Marie NDiaye and Marie Redonnet. 1 Critics have been alert to the evidence of debt to various literary and popular traditions that, while not necessarily classifiable as fantasy, nevertheless incorporate fantastic elements; such traditions include the gothic, the picaresque and the chivalric narrative as well as folk culture, mythology, children's literature and various types of speculative fiction. 2 The work of Darrieussecq, NDiaye and Redonnet is also characterized by hybridity, the fusion of features from different genres, both fantastical and supposedly verisimilitudinous and including the following: the ghost story, science fiction, the fairy tale, the quest, allegory, romance, the detective story, the political thriller and


SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.1.7 viruses are more transmissible, may lead to greater clinical severity, and result in modest reductions in antibody neutralization. subgenomic RNA (sgRNA) is produced by discontinuous transcription of the SARS-CoV-2 genome and is a crucial step in the SARS-CoV-2 life cycle. Applying our tool (periscope) to ARTIC Network Oxford Nanopore genomic sequencing data from 4400 SARS-CoV-2 positive clinical samples, we show that normalised sgRNA expression profiles are significantly increased in B.1.1.7 infections (n=879). This increase is seen over the previous dominant circulating lineage in the UK, B.1.177 (n=943), which is independent of genomic reads, E gene cycle threshold and days since symptom onset at sampling. A noncanonical sgRNA which could represent ORF9b is found in 98.4% of B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2 infections compared with only 13.8% of other lineages, with a 16-fold increase in median expression. We hypothesise that this is a direct consequence of a triple nucleotide mutation in nucleocapsid (28280:GAT>CAT, D3L) creating a transcription regulatory-like sequence complementary to a region 3' of the genomic leader. These findings provide a unique insight into the biology of B.1.1.7 and support monitoring of sgRNA profiles in sequence data to evaluate emerging potential variants of concern. One Sentence Summary The recently emerged and more transmissible SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.1.7 shows greater subgenomic RNA expression in clinical infections and enhanced expression of a noncanonical subgenomic RNA near ORF9b.


To study the long-term effects of estrogen deprivation on breast cancer, MCF-7Ca human estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer cells stably transfected with human aromatase gene were cultured in the steroid-depleted medium for 6 to 8 months until they had acquired the ability to grow. Proliferation of these cells (UMB-1Ca) was accompanied by increased expression of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, increased activation of AKT through phosphorylation at Ser473 and Thr308, and increased invasion compared with parental MCF-7Ca cells. Estrogen receptor expression was also increased 5-fold. Although growth was inhibited by the antiestrogen fulvestrant, the IC50 was 100-fold higher than for parental MCF-7Ca cells. Aromatase inhibitor letrozole also inhibited growth at 10,000-fold higher concentration than required for MCF-7Ca cells, whereas anastrozole, exemestane, formestane, and tamoxifen were ineffective at 100 nmol/L. Growth of UMB-1Ca cells was inhibited by phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitor wortmannin (IC50 approximately 25 nmol/L) and epidermal growth factor receptor kinase inhibitor gefitinib (ZD 1839; IC50 approximately 10 micromol/L) whereas parental MCF-7Ca cells were insensitive to these agents. Concomitant treatment of UMB-1Ca cells with the signal transduction inhibitors and anastrozole and tamoxifen restored their growth inhibitory effects. These studies show that estrogen deprivation results in up-regulation of growth factor signaling pathways, which leads to a more aggressive and hormone refractory phenotype. Cross-talk between ER and growth factor signaling was evident as inhibition of these pathways could restore estrogen responsiveness to these cells.


Multiparameter cytometry, for example with CyTOF, has enabled the interrogation of immune phenotypes in unprecedented detail in many clinical contexts. But cytometry is incapable of answering a question of critical importance to many tissue context studies, and especially understanding how local interactions between tumor cells and immune cells correlate to clinical outcomes. This becomes especially relevant to understanding the subtleties of how different immunotherapeutic approaches operate in vivo. We recently developed a multiparameter immunofluorescence technique, termed CODEX, which allows the capture of spatial information for protein and RNA expression in tissue sections. This spatial information enables us to establish not only cell-types according to traditional phenotypic surface marker expression, but also to potentially surmise specific tissue states driving clinical responses. To make sense of the high-dimensional data afforded by CODEX, we apply here state-of-the-art deep neural networks (DNNs). These networks, which have achieved superhuman classification accuracy in many diverse domains, automatically identify cells, cell niches and regions (at multiple scales) that are capable of distinguishing healthy and diseased samples. This is done in an unbiased way, with only 'healthy' vs. 'disease' labels as additional input alongside the imaging data. We first train DNNs to successfully classify multiparameter tissue images from independent replicates across conditions. Having achieved a high accuracy of classification, we set the network output to highlight cells and regions deemed to be most relevant to classify each condition. Applying this methodology to healthy and mrl (lupus) spleens stained for 30 markers, our neural network is able to successfully identify a not previously observed enrichment of cell confluences (niches) consisting of CD8 T-cells and conventional dendritic cells enriched in MRL samples, as well as other novel niches completely unpredicted by prior knowledge. Our DNN enables the systematic and unbiased discovery of specific immune interactions in any tissue type. Applying our technique to the analysis of samples from immunotherapy recipients could enable the discovery of key factors in the tumor microenvironment that distinguish positive responders as well as the subsequent identification of targets for perturbation. Citation Format: Salil S. Bhate, Nikolay Samusik, Yury Goltsev, Garry P. Nolan. Automatic identification of cell niches and immune interactions important for clinical outcomes using multiparameter imaging and deep neural networks [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Second CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference: Translating Science into Survival; 2016 Sept 25-28; New York, NY. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2016;4(11 Suppl):Abstract nr PR14.


The Early Aptian was a time of major global events, being probably the most notable the Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a. In this paper, we present the study of the record of the OAE1a in a platform setting, the Prebetic Zone of the Betic Cordillera, which represents the shallow platform environments of the Southern Iberian Palaeomargin during the Mesozoic. In this context, several events of global and regional character are recorded, whose timing and relationships are extremely interesting to be clarified. The correlation between the studied sections has permitted the establishment of the timing of the main sedimentary events. The transgressive general context recorded in the studied units, linked to the tectonic subsidence, resulted in several retrogradational pulses, leading finally to the drowning of the shallow platform, which was postdated by the OAE1a event. The record of the OAE1a in a platform setting is explained as related to a local combination of factors, as a transgressive general context, strong local subsidence rate, and important input of terrestrial organic matter in the platform, as has been supported by the data provided from the
analysis of the organic matter contained in the sediments.


This paper examines the impacts of globalization on small countries, covering the main features of globalization, the quality of national economic and commercial environment, main characteristics of small countries including important facts and concrete indicators for their development, and their challenges and opportunities for regional integration. It concludes that: 1) globalization is a process of continuing integration of the countries of the world that is beneficial, inevitable and irreversible. No any country can afford to remain isolated from the world economy. 2) some of small countries might have higher income and much richer than others. But all small countries do not posse such an advantage. Therefore, the small countries were in this paper differently considered according to their per capita income level which varies significantly from each others. 3) For most developing countries, in particular the small and poor countries, a North-South Regional Integration Agreement with a large industrial country is likely to be superior to a South-South Regional Integration Agreement with a developing or poor small country.


BACKGROUND
Several correlations between morphological and/or positional alterations of the jaws and respiratory functional impairments have been reported. Nasal airway obstruction represents a critical issue with no clearly defined gold standard as for its measurement. Rhinomanometry was adopted by multiple Authors to evaluate whether patients with malocclusion developed respiratory functional changes after an orthodontic-surgical treatment. However, there are contrasting findings in the literature regarding the possibility of improving the respiratory function by means of surgically-assisted rapid palatal expansion (SARPE) or bimaxillary repositioning of the bony bases.

METHODS
Ten patients aged from 18 to 30 years and scheduled for orthodontic-surgical treatment of maxillary constriction volunteered as participants for this study. Orthognathic surgery consisted in: 1) SARPE in 4 patients; 2) Le Fort I down fracture combined with a bilateral sagittal split osteotomy (BSSO) in 6 patients. All patients underwent a computerized rhinomanometric test before treatment (T0) and 40 days after surgery, at the time of the inter-maxillary splint removal (T1). Specifically, all 10 patients received AAR evaluations, while 6 patients received both active anterior (AAR) and active posterior rhinomanometry (APR).

RESULTS
Both AAR and APR tests showed a decrease in mean nasal resistance following the intervention. As for the AAR, a difference of 0.19 Pa/s/cm3 was found. The difference found for APR at a reference pressure of 75 Pa was 0.24 Pascal/s/cm3, while for APR at 150 Pa it was 0.20 Pa/s/cm3.

CONCLUSIONS
This study helps to confirm respiratory benefits obtainable after mono and bi-maxillary orthognathic surgery.


Soil test is the key-point for formulated fertilization. The traditional chemical analysis methods for estimating soil nutritional parameters were time-consuming. The present aims to use portable acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) near-infrared (NIR) spectrometer to measure soil parameters, thus provide basis for field analysis of soil quality. A total of 231 soil samples were collected, Partial least squares (PLS) was used to construct the calibration model between the NIR spectra and the reference values measure by standard chemical methods, including organic matter, pH, ammonium nitrogen, nitric nitrogen, and total kalium content. Results showed that the prediction of organic matter and pH had high correlation (R=0.8745, R=0.8594, respectively), the prediction of ammonium nitrogen and total kalium content were acceptable (SEP%=23.2595%, 10.1516%), and the calibration model for nitric nitrogen had the worst performance. The present study indicated that portable AOTF-NIR spectrometer could be used to measure the nutrient parameters of soil.


V(D)J recombination cleavage generates two types of dsDNA breaks: blunt signal ends and covalently sealed hairpin coding ends. Although signal ends can be directly ligated to form signal joints, hairpin coding ends need to be opened and subsequently processed before being joined. However, the underlying mechanism of coding end resolution remains undefined. The current study attempts to delineate this process by analyzing various structures of coding ends made in situ from recombination-inducible pre-B cell lines of both normal and scid mice. These cell lines were derived by transformation of B cell precursors with the temperature-sensitive Abelson murine leukemia virus. Our kinetic analysis revealed that under conditions permissive to scid transformants, hairpin coding ends could be nicked to generate 3′ overhangs and then processed into blunt ends. The final joining of these blunt ends followed the same kinetics as signal joint formation. The course of this process is in sharp contrast to coding end resolution in scid heterozygous transformants that express the catalytic subunit of DNA-dependent protein kinase, in which hairpin end opening, processing, and joining proceeded very rapidly and appeared to be closely linked. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the opening of hairpin ends in scid cells could be manipulated by different culture conditions, which ultimately influenced not only the level and integrity of the newly formed coding joints, but also the extent of microhomology at the coding junctions. These results are discussed in the context of scid leaky recombination.


Abstract Seed set in triploid Musa spp. L. is very low due to high levels of sterility. This makes cross breeding of plantain and banana difficult. Nonetheless, several triploid plantain and banana cultivars produce seeds after hand pollination with diploid parents. This paper reports results about the pattern of seed variation, success of in vitro germination and hybrid production after triploid-diploid crosses. Between-and within-clones differences in seed set were observed. ABB cooking bananas had the highest rates of seed production followed by AAB French plantains. Plantains produced more diploid than tetraploid offsprings after triploid-diploid crosses, which suggests that meiosis resulted in the production of balanced haploid gametes ( n = x ) due to normal chromosome behaviour between homologous genomes. Seed set variation within clones was influenced by both the production of 2 n (= 3 x ) gametes in the triploid parent and climatic factors. Indeed, seed production, embryo and seed germination success, and euploid and tetraploid hybrid production followed a pattern of seasonal variation reaching a peak in September. High frequency of seed with tetraploid embryos was obtained in the period from January to mid-March. The results demonstrate that production of desirable tetraploids would be more efficient when hand pollinations are done under high temperature, high solar radiation and low relative humidity. These seem to be the most convenient conditions for relatively high production of 2 n eggs as compared to haploid gametes.


: A longitudinal study of a large mixed medical-surgical series of chronic pancreatitis indicates that the two main indications for pancreatic surgery are persistent pain due to pseudocysts or rarely recurrent severe pain despite alcohol abstinence in uncomplicated chronic pancreatitis. Drainage procedures of cysts and/or pancreatic duct are the method of choice. Resections are rarely indicated and are associated with a high late postoperative mortality particularly in alcoholics.