Microglia represent the immune system of the brain. Their role is central in two phenomena, neuroinflammation and oxidative stress, which are at the roots of different pathologies related to the central nervous system (CNS). In order to maintain the homeostasis of the brain and re-establish the equilibrium after a threatening imbalance, microglia communicate with each other and other cells within the CNS by receiving specific signals through membrane-bound receptors and then releasing neurotrophic factors into either the extracellular milieu or directly into the cytoplasm of nearby cells, such as astrocytes and neurons. These last two mechanisms rely on the activity of protein structures that enable the formation of channels in the membrane, namely, connexins and pannexins, that group and form gap junctions, hemichannels, and pannexons. These channels allow the release of gliotransmitters, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and glutamate, together with calcium ion (Ca2+), that seem to play a pivotal role in inter-cellular communication. The aim of the present review is focused on the physiology of channel protein complexes and their contribution to neuroinflammatory and oxidative stress-related phenomena, which play a central role in neurodegenerative disorders. We will then discuss how pharmacological modulation of these channels can impact neuroinflammatory phenomena and hypothesize that currently available nutraceuticals, such as carnosine and N-acetylcysteine, can modulate the activity of connexins and pannexins in microglial cells and reduce oxidative stress in neurodegenerative disorders.


Constructing controllable liquid patterns with high resolution and accuracy is of great importance in droplet depositions for a range of applications. Simple surface chemical micropatterns have been popularly used to regulate the shape of liquid droplets and the final structure of deposited materials. In this work, we study the morphological evolution of a dissolving femtoliter droplet pinned on multiple microdomains. On the basis of minimization of interfacial energy, the numerical simulations predict various symmetric droplet profiles in equilibrium at different liquid volumes. However, our experimental results show both symmetric and asymmetric shapes of droplets due to contact line pinning and symmetry breaking during droplet dissolution. Upon slow volume reduction, the deposited microdroplet arrays on one single type of simple surface prepatterns spontaneously morphed into a series of complex regular 3D shapes. The findings in this work offer insights into design and prepararion of the rich and complex morphology of liquid patterns via simple surface premicropatterns.


Price transparency initiatives are typically undertaken by third parties to ensure that consumers have access to price information in markets where obtaining such information is costly. Since providing information is not a strategic decision by the firms in the market, what is the effect of such a practice on the pricing behavior of firms? We investigate the effect of mandatory price posting (on large electronic signs) by competing gas stations on their pricing behavior in the Italian motorway. The theoretical ambiguity in how the signs may affect prices, due to the opposing forces of lower search costs and the potential for collusion, motivates our empirical question. When prices are posted, the average price of gasoline decreases by 1 cent per liter, which represents about 20\% of stations' margins. About half the price decrease can be attributed to the introduction of a sign posting a station's own price and those of its nearest neighbors, with the other half coming from the introduction of other signs posting other stations' prices; specifically those located after the focal station in the direction of travel. Posting of prices by preceding stations does not affect prices. Despite the documented price changes, however, the introduction of signs seems to have little impact on price dispersion, suggesting that price uncertainty persists even after the policy is implemented. Analysis of customer transaction data confirms this finding, showing that less than 10\% of consumers use the posted prices effectively.


In April 2010, new rules governing the reporting of securities trades by insiders of reporting issuers came into effect in Canada. These new rules were embodied in National Instrument 55-104, and in contemporaneous harmonized changes to Ontario's Securities Act. Under the new regime, the deadline for filing insider reports has been shortened, from ten calendar days to five calendar days following a purchase or sale. When a draft of National Instrument 55-104 was first published for comment, the Canadian Securities Administrators linked this proposed timing change, among other things, to the practice of improper stock options backdating. The suggestion that insider reporting obligations might deter the practice of options backdating is intriguing. Insider reporting rules have historically been regarded primarily as a regulatory tool to detect or prevent the improper use of inside information by insiders of reporting issuers. For these requirements to perform an effective secondary role in combating improper options backdating, clear rules on the timing of reporting obligations and rigorous enforcement would be required. It is not clear that the administration and enforcement of current Canadian insider reporting rules, crafted with very different objectives in mind, provide an effective deterrent to improper options backdating. A review of the current rules and the mechanisms for their enforcement, together with a comparison with insider reporting regimes in other selected jurisdictions, reveals weaknesses in the Canadian approach and suggests ways in which the Canadian regime could be enhanced to deter or detect options backdating.


Deep Learning has become overly complicated and has enjoyed stellar success in solving several classical problems like image classification, object detection, etc. Several methods for explaining these decisions have been proposed. Black-box methods to generate saliency maps are particularly interesting due to the fact that they do not utilize the internals of the model to explain the decision. Most black-box methods perturb the input and observe the changes in the output. We formulate saliency map generation as a sequential search problem and leverage upon Reinforcement Learning (RL) to accumulate evidence from input images that most strongly support decisions made by a classifier. Such a strategy encourages to search intelligently for the perturbations that will lead to high-quality explanations. While successful black box explanation approaches need to rely on heavy computations and suffer from small sample approximation, the deterministic policy learned by our method makes it a lot more efficient during the inference. Experiments on three benchmark datasets demonstrate the superiority of the proposed approach in inference time over state-of-the-arts without hurting the performance. Project Page: https://cvir.github.io/projects/rexl.html


Chronic inflammation and airway remodelling are two key steps in asthma pathophysiology. The development of chronic airway inflammation depends upon the continuous recruitment of inflammatory cells from the bloodstream towards the bronchial mucosa and by their subsequent functional activation. The release of inflammatory mediators by activated cells contributes to the generation of a complex network which involves mobile inflammatory cells and structural cells such as epithelial cells, fibroblasts and myofibroblasts. This network is responsible for the amplification and persistence of the inflammatory process as well as for the development of a peculiar microenvironment which can directly modulate the survival of inflammatory cells in the inflamed airways. Increased cellular recruitment and activation, enhanced cell survival and cell:cell interactions are therefore the key steps in the development of chronic airway inflammation in asthma and represent the major causes for tissue damage, repair and remodelling.


As has already been highlighted in the introduction to this themed issue on 'impact' (see Rogers et al., this issue), the recent 'impact agenda' has been engaged with in a variety of critical ways through the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF). As a doctoral student, the word 'impact' is a constant demand on everyday academic life, owing to the pressure to consider it in terms of funding, publishing and future career. In the following I offer a consideration of the ways early-career geographers understand and engage with the institutional demands upon their research, in order for them to compete with their more experienced counterparts in an environment that is expecting ever more.


This paper investigates how the Fresh Fruits and Vegetable Program (FFVP), a national program which provides funding for the distribution of free fresh fruits and vegetables to students in participating schools, affects childhood obesity. Using a panel data set, we combine matching methodology and difference-in-differences analysis to estimate the effect of the FFVP on childhood obesity outcomes. The results suggest that estimates of the FFVP effect are very sensitive to use of different matching methods. With the use of a stricter matching method, the estimate of the FFVP effect is negative and significant, indicating that the program reduces children's body mass index. Less strict matching methods yield opposite results.


Cylindrical guided structures, such as coaxial lines or circular waveguides, have been widely adopted in microwave engineering, while study of electromagnetic band-gap (EBG) structures has become an interesting topic in the area. In this research, some studies are conducted through the EBG implemented on cylindrical guided structures, using a body-of- revolution finite difference time domain (BOR-FDTD) method. It is a two-dimensional (2-D) algorithm, applicable to analysis of cylindrical structures thanks to their axial symmetric properties. A periodic series of dielectric slabs are placed longitudinally along the guided structures for EBG formation. Clear band-gap properties are observed through the spectra of the scattering parameters. BOR-FDTD offers an alternative solution for such structures than a full 3D-FDTD analysis, as the former approach provides more efficient savings in terms of computational time and memory allocation.


Sexual assault examinations consist of a medical evaluation and forensic evidence collection. Usually the patient signs a consent form allowing the examination to occur. Occasionally circumstances exist that render a patient unable to give consent for this examination. Such circumstances include young age, mental health disease, cognitive delay, or drug/alcohol ingestion. This article provides suggestions for developing a policy allowing a sexual assault examination to be conducted without patient consent. A sample of such a policy is provided.


Colin Patterson was a distinguished ichthyologist and palaeontologist; no matter where his wider studies led him, he always returned to his fishes. His colleagues will recall him bending rapt over a dissecting microscope even while the tea ritual and three different conversations continued around him. His reflections upon the problems of fish taxonomy led him to examine the theory and practice of biological classification in general, and it was this work that secured his international reputation. He was one of the first to espouse cladistic methods in rationalizing the subjective techniques hitherto employed in systematics. He made important contributions to the development of the theory and practice of phylogenetics. He was an eloquent and convincing champion of the new discipline, persuading many, and alienating rather fewer, with his charismatic manner and impeccable facility for reasoning. When molecular sequence evidence became a practical source of data, Colin Patterson was among the first to realize its potential for casting light on recalcitrant phylogenetic problems. He was central to a transformation of perceptions of how, and why, we classify animals. His legacy will be that the methods he championed are now customarily employed by most systematists; he left a substantial body of scholarship on the classification and morphology of fish, and essays that will continue to stimulate thought. His lifelong work at the Natural History Museum is preserved in unparalleled collections.


Composite films of graphene and tungsten oxide were fabricated by dip-coating with ammonium metatungstate as the precursor and polyvinylpyrrolidone as the bridging agent. The as-prepared composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Raman spectroscopy. Photocurrent test, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), transient photocurrent spectroscopy,and intensity-modulated photocurrent spectroscopy were used to study the transfer process and transport behavior of the charge carriers at the interface of the film electrodes. The results showed that the tungsten oxide nanoparticles were sufficiently composited with graphene. The efficiency of photoelectric conversion improved significantly. The transient constant and the electron-hole lifetime increased after the incorporation of graphene. The electron transit time of the composite film was reduced and was found to be only 47.5% of that of the tungsten oxide film.


In this book, Horace Bartilow develops a theory of embedded corporatism to explain the U.S. government's war on drugs. Stemming from President Richard Nixon's 1971 call for an international approach to this "war," U.S. drug enforcement policy has persisted with few changes to the present day, despite widespread criticism of its effectiveness and of its unequal effects on hundreds of millions of people across the Americas. While researchers consistently emphasize the role of race in U.S. drug enforcement, Bartilow's empirical analysis highlights the class dimension of the drug war and the immense power that American corporations wield within the regime.
Drawing on qualitative case study methods, declassified U.S. government documents, and advanced econometric estimators that analyze cross-national data, Bartilow demonstrates how corporate power is projected and embedded—in lobbying, financing of federal elections, funding of policy think tanks, and interlocks with the federal government and the military. Embedded corporatism, he explains, creates the conditions by which the interests of state and nonstate members of the regime converge to promote capital accumulation. The subsequent human rights repression, illiberal democratic governments, antiworker practices, and widening income inequality throughout the Americas, Bartilow argues, are the pathological policy outcomes of embedded corporatism in drug enforcement.


We studied the effect of flurbiprofen, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, on muscles that had been subjected to exercise-induced injury. The muscles of the anterior compartment in the limbs of rabbits were cyclically activated as the ankle was simultaneously moved through passive plantar flexion every two seconds for thirty minutes. This treatment imposed acute passive lengthening (eccentric contractions) of the maximally contracted muscles of the anterior compartment. After the eccentric contraction-induced muscle injury, one group of rabbits was treated with oral administration of flurbiprofen, two times a day for six days, while the other group of rabbits served as untreated controls. The contractile, histological, and ultrastructural properties of the muscles were measured before the initial exercise and at three, seven, and twenty-eight days afterward. The group that was treated with flurbiprofen demonstrated a more complete functional recovery than the untreated controls at three and seven days but had a deficit in torque and force generation at twenty-eight days. The administration of flurbiprofen also resulted in a dramatic preservation of the intermediate filament protein desmin. After three days, the proportion of fibers of the extensor digitorum longus that lost desmin-staining was significantly greater in the untreated controls than in the treated animals (34 +/- 4.1 compared with 2.9 +/- 1.7 per cent) (p < 0.001), a finding that supports the concept of a short-term protective effect. However, the muscles in the treated animals still mounted a dramatic regenerative response, as indicated by the expression of embryonic myosin. Early in the recovery period (at three days), significantly fewer fibers of the extensor digitorum longus (2.2 +/- 1.4 per cent) expressed embryonic myosin in the treated animals than in the untreated controls (11.8 +/- 1.9 per cent) (p < 0.001). However, at seven days, the expression of embryonic myosin by the muscles from the treated animals (19.5 +/- 11.9 per cent) actually exceeded that of the muscles from the untreated controls (16.2 +/- 4.1 per cent). This finding suggests either a delayed or an ineffectual regenerative response by the muscles in the treated animals.


Giant? The Potentials and the Pitfalls1 In 2009 the World Bank published a report entitled Awakening Africa's Sleeping Giant: Prospects for Commercial Agriculture in the Guinea Savannah Zone and Beyond. The report highlights the agricultural potential of Africa's Guinea Savannah (henceforth GS) zone, which it describes as "one of the largest underused agricultural land reserves in the world" (p2). It argues that the time has come for this potential to be realized, noting the strengthening demand for agricultural commodities both in world markets and within Africa, where population growth, rising incomes and urbanization are driving demand for staple foods as well as for l ivestock and hor ticultural products. Macroeconomic and sectoral (taxation) policies are also increasingly favourable to agricultural investment within Africa. The report draws lessons from post-1960 agricultural development experiences in two other regions once considered low potential agricultural areas, but now home to agricultural export industries of global importance: the Brazilian cerrado, where production is dominated by large-scale farmers, and the Northeast Region of Thailand, where production is dominated by smallholders. I t recognises that considerable challenges will have to be overcome if Africa's GS zone is to emulate their success and also that such success could be accompanied by some adverse environmental and possibly social impacts. However, it argues that, with adequate planning and policy, the worst of these eff ects can be mitigated. Priorities for public intervention thus include: land policies that protect property rights in an equitable manner; investments in agricultural research, education and infrastructure; institutions to promote smallholder access to markets and services (including fi nance), and enhanced environmental monitoring and management. With these in place, "opportunities abound for farmers in Africa to regain international competitiveness, especially in light of projected stronger demand in world markets for agricultural commodities over the long term" (p2).


The terpolymer of 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB), 3-hydroxyvalerate (3HV), and 4-hydroxybutyrate (4HB) was produced employing Cupriavidus sp. DSM 19379. Growth in the presence of γ-butyrolactone, ε-caprolactone, 1,4-butanediol, and 1,6-hexanediol resulted in the synthesis of a polymer consisting of 3HB and 4HB monomers. Single and two-stage terpolymer production strategies were utilized to incorporate the 3HV subunit into the polymer structure. At the single-stage cultivation mode, γ-butyrolactone or 1,4-butanediol served as the primary substrate and propionic and valeric acid as the precursor of 3HV. In the two-stage production, glycerol was used in the growth phase, and precursors for the formation of the terpolymer in combination with the nitrogen limitation in the medium were used in the second phase. The aim of this work was to maximize the Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) yields with a high proportion of 3HV and 4HB using different culture strategies. The obtained polymers contained 0–29 mol% of 3HV and 16–32 mol% of 4HB. Selected polymers were subjected to a material properties analysis such as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetry, and size exclusion chromatography coupled with multi angle light scattering (SEC-MALS) for determination of the molecular weight. The number of polymers in the biomass, as well as the monomer composition of the polymer were determined by gas chromatography.


The processes of modernisation that re-capitalised London in the post-war period can be located in both dominant and resistant movements. Many aspects of the city's discursive fabric in the 1950s and 1960s were underpinned by a similar geographical imagination. This geographical imagination was characterised by a desire to visualise and represent nature and the real afresh and can be found in modernist architecture and planning aesthetics, Pop Art, Op Art, Angry realist writing, the style of Swinging London, and the tactics of counter-cultural rebellion in the city. Acknowledged geographies of modernity and anti-modernity are therefore questionable. Similarly, the geographies of power and resistance are constituted by more than spatial tactics and moral or behavioural boundaries as they are often rendered. An approach that understands hegemonic processes in terms of geographical imaginations allows an analysis that moves beyond outward manifestations of resistance and enables an engagement with the less palpable aspects of dissent such as ideology and aesthetics.


Recent clinical reports have demonstrated that umbilical cord blood (CB) may be utilized as a source of transplantable hematopoietic stem cells when bone marrow is not available. However, it is not apparent that CB can be used to transplant partially HLA-matched siblings or matched, non-familial recipients. In this study the immunoreactivity of CB has been investigated within familial confines; 14 families were analyzed at the time of birth of their child and six of these families were reassessed at 6 months post-partum. In mixed lymphocyte reactions, CB was unable to significantly respond to stimulation with cells from either the mother or father. Furthermore, unlike adult peripheral blood, CB displayed depressed immune responses to alloantigen and T cell mitogen. At 6 months, the immune responses of the infant demonstrated normal development in terms of alloantigen and mitogen responses. However, at 6 months both the mother and the infant demonstrated a continued immune tolerance to one another. The data suggest that CB could be used in familial transplant situations when siblings are HLA-haploidentical if the donor/recipients are chosen based on the paternal haplotype. Furthermore, maternal bone marrow harvested during the 6 months immediately following delivery of a child also should be suitable as a stem cell graft in haploidentical situations.


According to the structure and construction features of prestressed concrete continuous rigid frame bridge, with reference to the principle of vibrational chord strain gauge to concrete, the vibrational chord strain gauges to concrete are used in the construction control of prestressed concrete continuous rigid frame bridge. This paper introduces the measurement techniques and methods for stress and strain of main girder of the bridge, analyses some infection factors of stress measuring and testing, and presents the error analysis methods of stress measuring and testing and calculation methods of true stress of structure. The techniques and analysis methods prove to be quite effective through the applications and provide background data for constructing safely of prestressed concrete continuous rigid frame bridge.


The paper presents precise agriculture as a complex adaptive system with high level of uncertainty and dynamics, in which knowledge is forming experimentally and in a very enterprise-specific way. Is there any opportunity to learn the best practices from advanced precise farmers, transfer their knowledge and support everyday decision making for regular farmers? The concept of Smart Farming as an augmented AI solution for precise agriculture is proposed. The solution is designed as a digital eco-system (system of systems) of smart services, where each service, in its turn, is an autonomous AI system. The paper also discusses functionality of smart services for precise agriculture and the service-oriented architecture of the solution with p2p interaction of services. Ontology-driven knowledge base and multi-agent technology are considered as the key technologies of the solution. The virtual "round table" for coordinated decision making of smart services is introduced. Finally, the paper presents results of the first applications, as well as the future steps and expected results.


ABSTRACT Autocrine or paracrine signaling by beta interferon (IFN-β) is essential for many of the responses of macrophages to pathogen-associated molecular patterns. This feedback loop contributes to pathological responses to infectious agents and is therefore tightly regulated. We demonstrate here that macrophage expression of IFN-β is negatively regulated by mitogen- and stress-activated kinases 1 and 2 (MSK1/2). Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced expression of IFN-β was elevated in both MSK1/2 knockout mice and macrophages. Although MSK1 and -2 promote the expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin 10, it did not strongly contribute to the ability of MSKs to regulate IFN-β expression. Instead, MSK1 and -2 inhibit IFN-β expression via the induction of dual-specificity phosphatase 1 (DUSP1), which dephosphorylates and inactivates the mitogen-activated protein kinases p38 and Jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK). Prolonged LPS-induced activation of p38 and JNK, phosphorylation of downstream transcription factors, and overexpression of IFN-β mRNA and protein were similar in MSK1/2 and DUSP1 knockout macrophages. Two distinct mechanisms were implicated in the overexpression of IFN-β: first, JNK-mediated activation of c-jun, which binds to the IFN-β promoter, and second, p38-mediated inactivation of the mRNA-destabilizing factor tristetraprolin, which we show is able to target the IFN-β mRNA.


Introduction: Dermatoglyphics, "derma-skin and glyphe-curve", is the name given to the study of the ridge patterning of skin of the fingers, palms, toes and soles. Study of the patterns of the epidermal ridges can also serve as an aid to the diagnosis of many diseases, particularly those caused by chromosomal abnormalities. As Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (NIDDM) has genetic predisposition, dermatoglyphics can be used to find out possibility of occurring of disease in future. Material & Method: The dermatoglyphic patterns of 100 patients (Cases) (50 male, 50 female) of NIDDM between age group of 40-75 years have been taken. Similarly 100 normal healthy individual (50 male, 50 female) without NIDDM of the same age group have been included in the study as controls. The dermatoglyphic prints in present study have been taken by Ink method. atd angle was measured. Results: Mean atd angle (°) was higher in right hand of cases (43.87°) than controls (40.81°), with P value was 0.002(<0.01). So, it was statistically highly significant while Mean atd angle (°) was higher in left hand of cases (41.58°) than controls (40.27°), with P value was 0.09. So, it was not statistically significant. Conclusion: From the present study, it can be concluded that there is significant difference in atd angle between NIDDM patients and normal individuals. atd angle can be helpful to find out high risk individuals for NIDDM. Key words: dermatoglyphics, atd angle, non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus


Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors with suitable direct band gaps, high carrier mobility, and excellent open-air stability are especially desirable for material applications. Herein, we show theoretical evidence of a new phase of a copper(i) sulfide (Cu2S) monolayer, denoted δ-Cu2S, with both novel electronic properties and superior oxidation resistance. We find that both monolayer and bilayer δ-Cu2S have much lower formation energy than the known β-Cu2S phase. Given that β-Cu2S sheets have been recently synthesized in the laboratory (Adv. Mater.2016, 28, 8271), the higher stability of δ-Cu2S than that of β-Cu2S sheets suggests a high possibility of experimental realization of δ-Cu2S. Stability analysis indicates that δ-Cu2S is dynamically and thermally stable. Notably, δ-Cu2S exhibits superior oxidation resistance, due to the high activation energy of 1.98 eV for the chemisorption of O2 on δ-Cu2S. On its electronic properties, δ-Cu2S is a semiconductor with a modest direct band gap (1.26 eV) and an ultrahigh electron mobility of up to 6880 cm2 V-1 s-1, about 27 times that (246 cm2 V-1 s-1) of the β-Cu2S bilayer. The marked difference between the electron and hole mobilities of δ-Cu2S suggests easy separation of electrons and holes for solar energy conversion. Combination of these novel properties makes δ-Cu2S a promising 2D material for future applications in electronics and optoelectronics with high thermal and chemical stability.


When a traditional Indigenous identity is submerged beneath a cloud of contemporary politics and power relations, how might such a situation undermine its educational and developmental aspirations? This article examines the case of Te Riu o Hokianga (the valley of Hokianga) in Aotearoa New Zealand, where the imposition of a contemporary political identity is adversely affecting the development of a more culturally appropriate identity, otherwise known as Hokianga whānui (the wider Hokianga family community). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six participants who shared an ancestral whakapapa (genealogy embodying layered connections) with the Hokianga. Voicing their interpretations, experiences and aspirations, participants disclosed how they envisioned educational and developmental success in Hokianga. Our interpretation of Te Ihomatua (a positive active essence for transformation)—informed by a hybrid theoretical framework that interweaves Marxist, elite and kaupapa Māori (based on Māori worldview) theory—is employed to discern the multifaceted whakapapa of place and how that might inform Indigenous arrangements that support identity and developmental aspirations.


The distribution of gains of plant breeding and plant genetic resource exchange has been the source of heated North-South debates in meetings of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO) and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. We report results of a study using a world agricu ltural trade model to estimate the size and distribution of economic gains from yield increases in major United States (U.S.) crops attributable to genetic improvements. The net global economic benefits of a onetime, permanent increase in U.S. yields are about $8.1 billion (discounted at 10%) and $15.4 billion (discounted at 5%). The United States captures 50-60% of these net gains. Gains to consumers in developing and transitional economies range from 6.1 billion (10% discount rate) to $11.6 billion (5% discount rate).


Classification of electromagnetic scatterers by the annihilation of natural modes is considered. After providing some historical background, the conceptual basis of this methodology is discussed, followed by a development of the requisite theoretical techniques. Implementations of some resonance annihilation schemes are illustrated and resultant validations using synthetic signals, integral equation computations and scattering measurements are featured.


Summary Breast ptosis is a common occurrence following weight loss, pregnancy, and breastfeeding, or as a consequence of normal aging. This results in loss of a youthful shape and contour of the breast, with a change in the position of the nipple–areolar complex. Mastopexy can restore this youthful appearance and transpose the nipple–areolar complex to a more aesthetic position on the breast. Various techniques exist that address the skin and parenchyma of the breast and are chosen based on the degree of ptosis and skin laxity, as well as the patient's goals. These techniques all differ in scar burden and risk profile. Additionally, this can be done simultaneously or in a staged manner. In this literature review, we aim to provide an overview of mastopexy procedures, with and without augmentation. Further, we aim to detail recent advancements in technical approaches, and delineate common complications in certain patient demographics. To this end, we performed a literature search with a medical librarian, using PubMed/Medline to identify pertinent literature. In the context of the review, we discuss important considerations in patient selection and counseling to set expectations and ultimately, optimize surgical outcome and patient satisfaction.


Migraine disease is a painful and throbbing brain disorders. Important studies have done about automatic diagnose method of migraine by biomedical equipment. In these studies Flash stimulation which is a triggering factor of migraine used as a triggering factor and EEG signals of migraine patient obtained results by flash stimulation is observed. Most important result of these flash stimulation based analyze method is magnitude increasing have observed at the 13–30Hz ranged frequency EEG signals of migraine patient. In this study performance of frequency domain transform methods which can be used for determining the magnitude increasing of migraine patient's EEG signals are researched. In our study EEG signals obtained from both migraine patients and healthy subjects are transformed to frequency domain by using (AR) Burg method which is a Autoregressive based method and (MUSIC) method which is a Sub-space based method. Obtained results by using these methods are compared by observing the power spectral density (PSD) graphics and support vector machine classification method is used again for performance analysis of these methods again. According to obtained performance result of these methods which transform method is more useful for diagnosis of migraine is determined.


A ray tracing model can be used to simulate sound (10–100 kHz) transmitted through shallow water. The phase of the ray arrivals, primarily given by travel time, may be mutually independent in such a multipath transmission. Consequently, the transmission loss in a receiving point is randomly valued due to the coherent interference of the multipath arrivals. This problem can be overcome by incoherent summation of the multipath arrivals. However, knowing that nature behaves coherently, this method is not preferred. Instead, the channel can be regarded as dynamic by allowing microfluctuations of the sound speed. Specifically, the channel may be modeled as given by horizontal layers, each assigned with an individual turbulent dissipation rate, and a translation of this is performed into diffraction and phase fluctuation parameters, following DiIorio and Farmer [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 96, 1056–1069 (1994) and Flatte et al., Sound transmission through a fluctuating ocean (1979)]. Amplitude and phase fluctuations of every ray are realized as samples of a random process. The results for the dynamic channel show a smoother and easier interpretable transmission loss behavior than for the static channel. Furthermore, it is observed that amplitude fluctuations generally exhibit Ricean fading. [Work sponsored by the Danish Technical Research Council.]


Background: Renal trauma occurs in 8% to 10% of all patients with abdominal trauma & the most common organ injured in pediatrics blunt abdominal trauma. Blunt force is responsible for 70 to 80% of renal trauma. Objectives: To identify & determine the common mode & types of injury, investigation of choice, conservative & surgical management & outcome. Methods: An Observational Cross Sectional Combined Retrospective and Prospective study of 25 patients of blunt renal injuries was conducted during a period of 5 years from December 2008 to November 2013. Results: Blunt renal injury is more common in young male of 11-20 years (40% patients). Road traffic accident was responsible for 64% cases. Minor & major renal injuries were found in 68% & 32% cases respectively. CT scan & USG had detected renal injuries in 88 % & 64% patients respectively. Only 2 (8%) patients of blunt renal trauma were managed surgically, both the patient had AAST Grade IV injury. All 17 (68%) patients with AAST Grade I, II & III were successfully managed conservatively with one mortality. Conclusion: Contrast enhanced computerized tomography abdomen is the choice of investigation. Majority of patients had minor renal injuries (Grade I, II or III) with Grade V injury being the most rare and most severe renal injury.  Keywords: Blunt renal injury, USG, CECT, conservative & operative management.


PURPOSE
To determine the accuracy and clinical use of MR-guided vacuum biopsy (VB) of enhancing breast lesions.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
254 lesions were referred to MR-guided vacuum-assisted breast biopsy. In 43 (16 %) patients the indication was dropped because the lesions could not be identified at the time VB was scheduled. This was due to hormonal influences (n = 37), to too strong compression (n = 3) or to misinterpretation of the initial diagnostic MRI (n = 3). In 5 cases (2 %) VB was not performed due to obesity (n = 2); problems of access (n = 2) or a defect of the MR-unit (n = 1). VB was performed on altogether 206 lesions. In 4 cases (2 %) VB was unsuccessful. This was immediately realized on the post-interventional images. Thus a false negative diagnosis was avoided. Verification included excision of the cavity in cases with proven malignancy or atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH) and (for benign lesions) retrospective correlation of VB-histology with pre-and postinterventional MRI and subsequent follow-up.

RESULTS
51/202 successful biopsies proved malignancy. In 7 cases ADH and in 144 cases a benign lesion was diagnosed. One DCIS was underestimated as ADH. All other benign or malignant diagnoses proved to be correct.

CONCLUSION
MR-guided VB allows reliable histological work-up of contrast-enhancing small lesions which are not visible by any other modality.


Accurate prediction of kernel number per plant is critical for yield simulation in maize (Zea mays L.). Model predictions of kernel number generally are based on empirical relationships between final kernel number and carbohydrate supply or plant growth at silking, without regard to flowering dynamics. The objective of this study was to develop a model for predicting kernel set from seasonal dynamics of pollen shed and silk exsertion. Hybrids were planted in isolated plots at four ratios of male fertile (MF) and male sterile (MS) plants. Dynamics of pollen shed in each plot was described by a Gauss curve and by a population index (P ind ) derived from the percentage of plants at beginning, maximum, and ending pollen shed. Percentage of plants at silking followed a sigmoid curve, whereas the number of silks exposed daily per ear followed a monomolecular model. Pollen shed and silk exsertion curves were translated to potential kernel set using a published relationship. Excellent agreement was observed between predicted and measured number of florets per hectare available for pollination. The model overpredicted kernel number per hectare at high pollen shed densities. Predicted kernels per hectare were within 5% of actual kernel numbers at low pollen shed densities when delayed development of subapical ears and asynchronous pollination within ears were considered. These results indicate kernel set in maize can be predicted from simple measures of the flowering process. They confirm that kernel set is limited primarily by factors other than pollen amount when all plants in the population are MF.


Objective: Liquid-based cytology of nongynecological specimens is commonly used in cytology laboratories throughout the world and various processing methods, such as ThinPrep and SurePath, have been reported. The cytological features and performance of liquid-based cytology for various cytology specimens, including body cavity fluids, urine, brushing specimens and fine-needle aspiration of various lesions, were reviewed and compared with the experience of our laboratory and the literature published in PubMed. Study Design: The parameters for the evaluation of liquid-based cytology and conventional smears were described in the various types of specimens. Criteria for the interpretation of nongynecological liquid-based cytology were highlighted to show differences in cell morphology, background and artifacts. Results: The interpretation requires familiarity with the appearance of liquid-based cytology in the various types of preparations to avoid misdiagnosis. Conclusions: Cell blocks can be prepared with specimens preserved in a liquid-based cytology medium and immunocytochemical stains and molecular testing can be successfully performed. These are important adjuncts in order to reach a definitive diagnosis.


Design of an efficient fuzzy logic controller involves the optimization of parameters of fuzzy sets and proper choice of rule base. There are several techniques reported in recent literature that use neural network architecture and genetic algorithms to learn and optimize a fuzzy logic controller. This paper presents methodologies to learn and optimize fuzzy logic controller parameters that use learning capabilities of neural network. Concepts of model predictive control (MPC) have been used to obtain optimal signal to train the neural network via backpropagation. The strategies developed have been applied to control an inverted pendulum and results have been compared for two different fuzzy logic controllers developed with the help of neural networks. The first neural network emulates a PD controller, while the second controller is developed based on MPC. The proposed approach can be applied to learn fuzzy logic controller parameter online via the use of dynamic backpropagation. The results show that the Neuro-Fuzzy approaches were able to learn rule base and identify membership function parameters accurately.Copyright © 2004 by ASME


Noise due to dark current is a serious limitation for taking long exposure time images with a CCD digital camera. Current solutions have serious drawbacks: interpolation of pixels with high dark current leads to smoothing effects or other artifacts – especially if a large number of pixels are corrupted. Due to the exponential temperature dependence of the dark current, dark frame subtraction works best for temperature controlled high end CCD imaging systems. On the physical level, two independent signals (charge generated by photons hitting the CCD and by the dark current) are added. Due to its random distribution, adding (or subtracting) the dark current noise signal increases the entropy of the resulting image. The entropy is minimal if the dark current signal is not present at all. A dark frame is a good representation of the dark current noise. As the generated dark current depends on the temperature equally for all pixels, a noisy image can be cleaned by the subtraction of a scaled dark frame. The scaling factor can be determined in an optimization step which tries to minimize the entropy of the cleaned image. We implemented a software system that effectively removes dark current noise even from highly corrupted images. The resulting images contain almost no visible artifacts since only the noise signal is removed. This extends the range of usable exposure times of digital cameras without temperature control systems by about one to two orders of magnitude.


Clock grid is a mainstream clock network methodology for high performance microprocessor and SOC designs. Clock skew, power usage and robustness to PVT (power, voltage, temperature) are all important metrics for a high quality clock grid design. Tree-driven-grid clock network is a typical clock grid clock network. It includes a clock source, a buffered tree, leaf buffers, a mesh clock grid, local clock buffers, and latches as shown in Fig. 1. For such network, one big challenge is how to connect the leaf level buffers of the global tree to the grid with nonuniform loads under tigh slew and skew constrainsts. The choice of tapping points that connect the leaf buffers to the clock grid are critical to the quality of te clock designs. Good tapping points can minimize the clock skew and reduce power. In this paper, we proposed a new algorithm to select the tapping points to build the global tree as regular and symmetric as possible. From our experimental results, the proposed algorithm can efficiently reduce global clock skew, rising slew, maximum overshoot, reduce power, and avoid local skew violation.


Through formal inter-institutional arrangements, articulated systems of postsecondary education claim to promote equality of opportunity by allowing for a seamless flow of students toward their educational and occupational goals. However, despite system wide articulation of course offerings, numerous studies indicate that the transfer experience is not unproblematic. This paper reports the findings of a qualitative study of the experiences of British Columbia university students who had trans- ferred from community college. The central focus of this study was to portray students' experiences of the transfer process; document difficul- ties and successes encountered before, during, and after transfer; high- light advantages and disadvantages of transfer; and offer recommendations for improving the transfer process. In 1997, 47 indi- viduals who had transferred from one Lower Mainland Community College to one Lower Mainland University in 1996 were interviewed. The findings revealed that although the majority of students in this study support transfer as a viable and even preferable route to university degree completion, problems occur at each of the three stages of transfer as specified by Dougherty (1987). Obstacles to successful transfer by students include: difficulty gaining access to useful information; problems understanding transfer policies, practices, and procedures; and declines in GPA following transfer to university. Several recommendations for improving existing transfer policies and practices — including improving access to useful information by students; facilitating transfer through extensive coordination of transfer policies, practices, and proce- dures; and addressing differences in the teaching and learning experi- ence at sending and receiving institutions — are offered to enhance successful transfer from community college to university.


Experiments were conducted on dogs aged 18-22 days, 2-3 month-old and adult dogs. Arterial blood pressure, cardiac output, heart rate and total peripheral resistance during the infusion of synthetic angiotensin-II-amide in a dose of 2 mug/kg per minute were studied. An increase of arterial pressure in adult dogs during the action of angiotensin-II was connected with the elevation of the total peripheral resistance. An increase of the total peripheral resistance and also of the cardiac output was seen in the puppies. The differences in the degree of increase of the arterial blood pressure in adult dogs and puppies were not marked.


Background : The importance of vitamin C as a way to prevent scurvy has been known for centuries. More recent research on vitamin C has expanded beyond scurvy prevention, providing promising evidence for additional health benefits and clinical applications. This review of scientific literature will evaluate many aspects of vitamin C including deficient versus optimal blood plasma levels, adequate daily amounts necessary to maintain ideal levels, and the safety of higher doses. It will also focus on the importance of vitamin C as a powerful bioactive compound, and its utilization in the prevention and management of different chronic diseases. This review is necessary to express the importance of alternative healthcare methods in both preventative and clinical care. Vitamin C was chosen as a representative of this concept due to its powerful antioxidant capacity, incredibly important physiological implications, and very minimal chance of side-effects. This review focuses on studies involving human participants that address how vitamin C is important for our health. Keywords : Ascorbic acid, deficiency, disease, dose, health, supplementation, vitamin C


Obtaining a better understanding of the adsorption behavior of polymeric nanomedicines is important to properly assess their distribution and fate and to develop successful strategies for minimizing their distribution in the environment. In this study, the adsorption and removal dynamics of a model polymeric nanomedicine of systematically varied sizes – levofloxacin loaded poly(ethyleneglycol-b-e-caprolactone) – on and from silica surfaces are investigated using a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D). For all the sizes of the nanomedicine investigated (90 nm, 110 nm, 149 nm, 174 nm, 207 nm, and 305 nm), the adsorbate mass on the silica followed a roughly exponential trend with respect to time during the exposure stage, suggesting first-order adsorption kinetics. The adsorption rate constant decreased with the increasing particle size. Furthermore, we have developed a modified Leveque equation to describe the mass transport and adsorption behavior of the nanoparticulate dispersion inside the QCM-D chamber. The derivation involved the application of a bipolar coordinate system to the continuity, Navier–Stokes, and convective–diffusion equations. The adsorption rate constants calculated using the derived equation were found to match the experimental results well. The derived equation is important not only in the field of environmental science but also in many other fields as QCM-D is heavily used to characterize the dynamic adsorption behavior of various types of materials including polymers, proteins, and nanoparticles.


The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit decided twenty-four insurance-related cases between June 2004 and April 2005. Those cases originated in nine federal district courts. Unlike its 2002-2004 rulings, the Court of Appeals did not decide any exceptionally novel or complex substantive or procedural questions. In fact, the Fifth Circuit issued four extremely short per curiam decisions, and in two other cases, presented brief analyses and dispositions of statutes-of-limitations and exhaustion-of-administrative-remedies questions under Louisiana's law. Although the remaining eighteen cases present a diverse body of law and legal issues, only the more novel and highly questionable Fifth Circuit insurance decisions of the survey period warrant further consideration. In order to gain a greater understanding of the factors that influenced the Fifth Circuit's rulings, limited content analysis of these particular decisions is necessary, and highlights and comparisons of the dispositions of the cases among and between the various federal district courts and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is useful.


Translocation is an important management tool that has been used for >50 years in Arizona, USA, to increase bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) population densities and to restore herds to suitable habitat throughout their historical range. Yet, translocation can also alter the underlying genetic diversity and spatial structure of managed wildlife species in beneficial or detrimental ways. To evaluate the long-term effect of translocation actions on bighorn sheep, we characterized statewide genetic structure and diversity using microsatellite andmitochondrial DNA data in 16 indigenous and translocated (supplemented or reintroduced) Arizona populations sampled between 2005 and 2012. Populations that were recipients of translocated animals showed no reduction in genetic diversity with allelic richness and heterozygosity estimates equivalent to, and in some cases greater than, indigenous source populations. The indigenous population occupying the Silver BellMountains population displayed the lowest indices of genetic diversity but sharedmitochondrial DNA haplotypes with theMohawkMountains, Sierra Pinta, and Cabeza Prieta populations, indicating past connectivity and potential opportunities for genetic management if warranted. Bayesian clustering on genetic similarity and genetic divergence estimates corroborated previous work differentiating Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (O. c. canadensis) and 2 desert lineages corresponding with Nelson's (O. c. nelsoni) andMexican desert bighorn sheep (O. c. mexicana). In northern Arizona, assignment tests confirmed the presence of 2 indigenous metapopulations of Nelson's desert bighorn sheep in the Black Mountains and Grand Canyon and indicated that gene flow from the Grand Canyon population has likely played a role in maintaining genetic diversity and mitigating founder effects among multiple translocated populations in the area. In southern Arizona, we detected genetic structure consistent with 2metapopulations ofMexican desert bighorn sheep representing a departure from current management practices that consider this lineage to be a single genetic unit. Several lines of genetic evidence presented in this study suggest that the Bill Williams River area is the contemporary contact zone for the 2 desert lineages; however, the degree to which translocation has enhanced introgression is unknown. Despite relative isolation from other herds, the translocated Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep population in eastern Arizona had high levels of allelic richness and heterozygosity and a negative inbreeding coefficient, conceivably as a result of multiple translocation events from sources in Colorado and New Mexico, USA. Although translocation management has successfully contributed to the reestablishment of bighorn sheep populations in Arizona without diminishing genetic diversity, future translocation should proceed with caution to preserve the genetic integrity and potential local adaptation within the Nelson's and Mexican desert bighorn sheep metapopulations identified in this study. 2019 The Wildlife


Firms often attribute their service employees' competent performance to either dedicated effort or natural talent. However, it is unclear how such practices affect customer evaluations of service employees and customer outcomes. Moreover, prior work has primarily examined attributions of one's own performance, providing little insight on the impact of attributions of others' performance. Drawing on research regarding the warmth–competence framework and performance attributions, the current research proposes and finds that consumers expect a more communal-oriented and less exchange-oriented relationship when a service employee's competent performance is attributed to dedicated effort rather than natural talent, as effort (vs. talent) attribution leads consumers to perceive the employee as warmer. The authors further propose customer helping behaviors as downstream consequences of relationship expectations, finding that effort (vs. talent) attribution is more likely to induce customers' word-of-mouth and idea provision behaviors. The findings enrich existing literature by identifying performance attributions as a managerially meaningful antecedent of relationship expectations and offer practical guidance on how marketers can influence consumers' relationship expectations and helping behaviors.


We redefine "green food enterprises" and expound the connotation of "greenification" of food processing industry. Taking the case of Heilongjiang Province, we give an overview of green food enterprises in Heilongjiang Province, and study the degree of "greenification" of food processing industry in Heilongjiang Province, through the case study of related enterprises. There are some problems in the process of pushing forward "greenification" of food processing industry, such as the high cost of production, varying quality of products, weak R & D capability and the distance limitations of raw material places and the consumer market. The following recommendations are put forth for promoting the "greenification" of food enterprises: (i) Reducing the production costs of green food, and improving the "greenification rate"; (ii) Intensifying policy support, and creating a "green" environment; (iii) Strengthening quality control, and improving consumers' trust in green food; (iv) Establishing the network of green marketing, and broadening sales channels of green food.


The crystal structures of (S, S)-aminobenzylnaphthols, easily produced by a chromatography-free highly stereoselective Betti reaction, were investigated by means of single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, and the main intra- and intermolecular interactions were described. The presence of a strong intramolecular hydrogen bond was confirmed, whereas the whole crystal building was found to be due mainly to other bondings, such as CH⋯O and CH⋯π interactions. As far as the last interactions were concerned, we observed many short distances from one hydrogen atom to an aryl plane, together with the appropriate geometric requirements for the assemblies. The observations suggest that these interactions can play a relevant role in the crystal building. The absence of similar short distance CH⋯π interactions in the crystal of a diastereomeric (R, S)-aminobenzylnaphthol could be a suggestion of the preferential crystallisation of the (S, S)-stereoisomer and, consequently, its prevalence as a product of the Betti reaction.


Ascochyta blight (AB) caused by Ascochyta rabiei (Pass.) Labr. is an important and widespread disease of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) worldwide. The disease is particularly severe under cool and humid weather conditions. Breeding for host resistance is an efficient means to combat this disease. In this paper, attempts have been made to summarize the progress made in identifying resistance sources, genetics and breeding for resistance, and genetic variation among the pathogen population. The search for resistance to AB in chickpea germplasm, breeding lines and land races using various screening methods has been updated. Importance of the genotype × environment (GE) interaction in elucidating the aggressiveness among isolates from different locations and the identification of pathotypes and stable sources of resistance have also been discussed. Current and modern breeding programs for AB resistance based on crossing resistant/multiple resistant and high-yielding cultivars, stability of the breeding lines through multi-location testing and molecular marker-assisted selection method have been discussed. Gene pyramiding and the use of resistant genes present in wild relatives can be useful methods in the future. Identification of additional sources of resistance genes, good characterization of the host–pathogen system, and identification of molecular markers linked to resistance genes are suggested as the key areas for future study.


Over the years, the number of transistors that is available to hardware designers has exponentially increased. Because of this it is very important to have an effective hardware description language. One of the most important hardware description languages is the VHSIC hardware description language (VHDL). To cope with the increased number of transistors one could ask the question: "What language constructs can be added to the VHSIC hardware description language to keep it effective and relevant for the future?". To answer this question, a basic understanding of how compilers work is needed. The compiler starts by lexing files and then parsing the output of the lexer into an abstract syntax tree. Once the abstract syntax tree is made it can be traversed. Also a good understanding of how simulation- and synthesis-tools work is important. Simulators work with two types of events: timed events and delta events. The timed events cause signal changes and each timed event is followed by one or more delta events to bring the system back into a stable state. Synthesis tools are less predictable than simulation tools, since it is not always clear what exact gate level description the synthesis tool will come up with.
The language enhancements that have been added to the language are: An independent compilation order of the input files, having no separation between the declaration area and the body area of architectures, subprograms, entities and blocks, being able to assign signals immediately after declaring them, being able to overload the assignment operator so less type transformation functions are needed, having namespaces that encapsulate all language elements and a new and fast attribute system.
To be able to use these enhancements, a compiler is created that can compile the language with enhancement, back to the VHDL 2008 standard. The compiler uses five passes. During the first pass the VHDL files are linked and parsed. In the second pass all the declaration elements are collected. During the third pass these elements are linked together. In the fourth pass the expressions are reparsed since they are context sensitive. Finally the output of the compiler is generated during the fifth pass.

Next the compiler is tested with a use-case design of Astron. With some small changes, the design can be compiled with the new compiler, and can be tested with the test-bench that was also provided by Astron. After this, parts of the code have been rewritten with the new language constructs and the output was tested successfully with the same test-bench.
A multi-pass compiler gives a lot of freedom in terms of what can be added to the language. We can conclude that the new features improve the language, but that they are hard to implement on the existing compilers. In general the conclusion can be made that due to the design of the VHDL language it is hard to add new features to it.


This thesis explores the learning opportunities that are presented to student-teachers as they talk about teaching and learning with their school-based mentor and part-time university-based tutor. Against the backcloth of endemic complexity in initial teacher education, the study asks what these conversations tell us about student-teacher learning. What each of these participants talk about, the sources they draw on and the levels of agreement, disagreement or contradiction evident in their conversations with one another are issues that are central to developing an understanding of this research problem and to this thesis.

The thesis adopts an activity theoretical approach, complemented by a social learning theory perspective, to investigate the way that boundaries between university study and the classroom as a site for work-based learning are seen as learning assets. The research is in two phases, the first in the form of a scoping questionnaire which attempts to identify the level of perceived contradiction by student-teachers on a PGCE course and the second in the form of four case studies. A variety of data-gathering tools and methods inform the studies and, in particular, content analysis is used to examine and report on conversations which centre around one taught lesson in each case.

The study reveals understandings about the way that learning opportunities are presented to student-teachers. When teaching is presented as a process of bricolage and when provenance is not fully articulated, opportunities for expansive and systemic learning are restricted. The thesis argues that by looking at student-teacher learning systemically, with a focus on dissonance, student-teacher learning can be enhanced. It concludes with recommendations for the Open University PGCE programme team.


Disturbances play important roles in shaping ecological and evolutionary processes. By using disturbances to perturb natural systems, biologist can both develop generalizable predictions about how disturbances alter natural systems as well as utilize disturbances as a tool to test ecological and evolutionary theory. Using pesticide disturbances in aquatic systems, the first half of this thesis integrates ecology, evolution, and toxicology to develop predictions about the consequences of pesticides in aquatic communities and patterns of pesticide tolerance across populations of wood frogs (Lithobathes sylvaticus). Towards this goal, I first conducted a mesocosm study tracking the direct and indirect effects of four insecticides–applied individually and as a mixture– across 18 weeks and demonstrated that insecticides applied individually and in a mixture have complex direct and indirect consequences on aquatic system response and recovery not predicted by traditional laboratory tests. Second, I investigated the potential for cross-tolerance in non-target populations of wood frogs and demonstrate that amphibian populations with tolerance to one pesticide may be cross-tolerant to many other pesticides.

The second half of this dissertation uses pesticides as a tool, to test theoretical predictions about the role of phenotypic plasticity in evolutionary innovation to novel environments. I investigated whether natural populations of wood frogs can respond plastically to pesticides (i.e. by inducing increased tolerance) and whether there is evidence supporting the process of genetic assimilation. This study is the first to demonstrate that sublethal and ecologically relevant concentrations of a common insecticide can, within the same generation, induce adaptive tolerance in amphibians and the population-level patterns of inducibility are consistent with predictions of genetic assimilation. Induced pesticide tolerance would be particularly beneficial to non-target species if it were to confer increased tolerance not only against the pesticide it first experienced, but also against many other pesticides (e.g., induced cross-tolerance). Using wood frogs, the final chapter of this dissertation demonstrated the phenomenon of induced cross-tolerance and suggests that cross-tolerance is not limited to insecticides that share mode of action. Overall, the inducible tolerance and cross-tolerance findings suggest that phenotypic plasticity may play a role in shaping patterns of species abundance in nature.


Primary salivary gland-type tumors of the lung are rare neoplasms. The pulmonary myoepithelial carcinoma belongs to this group. Since it was first described in 1998, we have identified only seven actual cases reported in the literature so far. We describe the case of a nonsmoker 60-year-old Caucasian female, who was referred to our institution for the treatment of three peripheral nodules. Her medical history revealed that a wedge resection, for pulmonary myoepithelial carcinoma, was performed in another center 15 months previously. After resection of the current nodules, the histological findings showed three myoepithelial carcinomas of the lung. There was no vascular or lymphatic invasion. The hilar and mediastinal lymph nodes were negatives. The patient is doing well without any sign of recurrence. Herein we shall discuss the case of a primary pulmonary myoepithelial carcinoma in a female and propose a brief review of the literature.  2011 Published by European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.


The orientation and position of the trypsin molecule in the complex crystal cell mung bean trypsin inhibitor Lys fragment (MBILF)-bovine trypsin (BTRY) have been successfully determined by molecular replacement method with the model of the refined bovine trypsin molecule. Starting from the BTRY coordinates which were oriented and located in the correct azimuth and position in the complex cell according to the result from rotation function and translation function, sim-weighted Fourier map with coefficients 2/Fo/-/Fc/ at 3.0 A resolution was calculated. Besides the electron density which is obviously attributed to itself, in the vicinity of the active site of BTRY the dense contour levels corresponding to the MBILF and and its boundary could be clearly seen in this map. The size of MBILF was approximately estimated at 15 x 15 x 25 A.


The courses and outcomes of infectious-allergic myocarditis (IAM) were analysed in 96 IAM patients to elucidate prognostically essential factors. These appeared to be: combination of left ventricular dilation with disturbed repolarization and ventricular rhythm, left atrial dilation, QRS index, a number of echocardiographic indices. There are some minor factors which in certain combination can provide additional prognostic information as regards IAM course and outcome.


Teachers of all students, particularly English Learners (ELs), need to integrate social justice pedagogy into their lessons so that all learners are included in the learning process, thinking critically about curriculum and taking action in the face of injustice. There has been some research into teacher preparation programs focusing on how they integrate culturally responsive and social justice pedagogy into their curricula and whether there has been a positive impact on teachers' self-awareness, social justice knowledge and classroom practices as a result (Ruffin, 2016; Thieman, 2016). However, these studies do not address lesson content. This document analysis study, framed theoretically with critical intercultural communication (Halualani & Nakayama, 2010), explored the integration of social justice principles into lesson plans developed by pre-service and in-service English as a second language (ESL) teachers who were pursuing a TESOL graduate degree (Initial License) at a university in the Northeast of the United States. The lesson plans were analyzed using a rubric aligned with the Social Justice Standards: The Teaching Tolerance Anti-Biases Framework. The exploration unveiled the need for more connections to students' backgrounds, structured in-class dialogues, support for linguistic needs and modeling of intercultural practices.


REBa2Cu3Ox (REBCO, RE = rare earth) coated conductors (CCs) are expected to show high performance for superconducting coil applications due to their high tensile strength and high critical current density under magnetic fields. One of the most serious problems on the coil application is the significant screening current, which is caused by the configuration of CC. Since screening current is dependent on the width of the REBCO layer, filamentization of the REBCO layer is strongly desired. We have succeeded in fabricating long length four-divided multifilamentary CCs with 4 mm wide over 100 m long by using the process of scratching the IBAD-MgO layer (scratching process). In this work, we fabricated two epoxy-impregnated coils and investigated the effects of the screening current. One of the coils is wound with multifilamentary CCs fabricated by scratching process, another is wound with conventional mono-filamentary CC. As the results, it is confirmed that the screening current is reduced and the coupling current between the filaments might be in the acceptable range on the DC magnet application.


Abstract. For better utilization of the ground-based microwave radiometer, it is important to detect the cloud presence in the measured data. Here, we introduce a simple and fast cloud detection algorithm by using the optical characteristics of the clouds in the infrared atmospheric window region. The new algorithm utilizes the brightness temperature (Tb) measured by an infrared radiometer installed on top of a microwave radiometer. The two-step algorithm consists of a spectral test followed by a temporal test. The measured Tb is first compared with a predicted clear-sky Tb obtained by an empirical formula as a function of surface air temperature and water vapor pressure. For the temporal test, the temporal variability of the measured Tb during one minute compares with a dynamic threshold value, representing the variability of clear-sky conditions. It is designated as cloud-free data only when both the spectral and temporal tests confirm cloud-free data. Overall, most of the thick and uniform clouds are successfully detected by the spectral test, while the broken and fast-varying clouds are detected by the temporal test. The algorithm is validated by comparison with the collocated ceilometer data for six months, from January to June 2013. The overall proportion of correctness is about 88.3% and the probability of detection is 90.8%, which are comparable with or better than those of previous similar approaches. Two thirds of discrepancies occur when the new algorithm detects clouds while the ceilometer does not, resulting in different values of the probability of detection with different cloud-base altitude, 93.8, 90.3, and 82.8% for low, mid, and high clouds, respectively. Finally, due to the characteristics of the spectral range, the new algorithm is found to be insensitive to the presence of inversion layers.


The operating system Symbian OS and the programming language Java have existed in a symbiosis since the first version of Symbian OS arrived on the mobile scene. This thesis explores important aspects of the mobile version of Java, namely the Java 2 Micro Edition, on Symbian OS based mobile phones. Part one of the thesis reviews the structure and evolution of Java 2 Micro Edition and the Symbian OS, and the symbiosis between them. This is done through a thorough theoretical investigation of the programming interfaces offered to the developer. Particularly certain problem areas such as hardware control, wireless messaging, network services and file access have been investigated. To evaluate the maturity and feature richness of the platform, a test application has been made which incorporates features depending on all these areas. We found that Java 2 Micro Edition platform was quite easy to use when implementing features like camera recording, HTTP/Servlet communication and Graphical User Interface programming. However, we also experienced that the platform is lacking some advanced options in each of the mentioned features. In the second part of the thesis, the device independent aspects of Java2 Micro Edition have been examined. The idea was to evaluate the portability offered by this development platform, and consider the feasibility of creating device independent applications that offer an even higher degree of portability. By reviewing Java2 Micro Editions built in portability and studying relevant projects, two frameworks, built on top of Java2 Micro Edition, have been suggested as possible tools for development of better device independent applications.


Two infinite families of self-similar tilings are described which have apparently not been reported before. Each tiling is based on a single prototile that is a segment of a regular polygon. Each tiling is also edge to edge and bounded in the Euclidean plane, by means of the tiles being reduced in size. by a fixed scaling factor. This results in self similarity. Tilings are constructed from these prototiles that are of a rich visual complexity, and an example is· given of an Escher-like design based on one of these tHings.


Post-cesarean delivery pain relief is important. Good pain relief will improve mobility and can reduce the risk of thromboembolic disease, which is increased during pregnancy. Pain may also impair the mother's ability to optimally care for her infant in the immediate postpartum period and may adversely affect early interactions between mother and infant. Pain and anxiety may also reduce the ability of a mother to breast-feed effectively. It is necessary that pain relief be safe and effective, that it not interfere with the mother's ability to move around and care for her infant, and that it result in no adverse neonatal effects in breast-feeding women. The most commonly used modalities are systemic administration of opioids, either by intramuscular injection or IV by patient-controlled analgesia, and neuraxial injection of opioid as part of a regional anesthetic for cesarean delivery. These techniques have specific advantages and disadvantages which will be discussed in this review. In addition, there are new drug applications of potential benefit for the treatment of post-cesarean delivery pain.


This paper aims to describe and explain the beliefs of public sector managers regarding measures to promote active ageing within organizations and how these beliefs can relate to their own attitudes, age, gender, organizational roles, and structures. Data were collected by mailed questionnaires from 672 managers on operative and administrative levels in the Norwegian municipal and health sectors. It was found that managers believe in the usefulness of at least seven different measures, identified by factor analyses. Sum scores were calculated from the factors, and five of them showed sufficient reliability. Ranked according to their mean values, the factor-based sum scores were 1) reducing working hours, increasing the number of holidays, and offering flexible part-time schedules without a reduction in wages; 2) reducing workload and demands; 3) increasing wages, pensions, and bonuses; 4) increasing esteem, learning, and job enrichment for the senior workers; and 5) repositioning the workers to other, less demanding parts of the organization. In multiple regression analyses, these sum scores were found to be influenced mainly by the managers' individual attributes, like age, gender, own retirement plans, beliefs, and attitudes. Organizational and structural factors seemed less important. The findings are discussed within three schools of thought: the 'Human Relations Model,' the 'Market Model,' and the 'Age Management Model.' A fourth 'school,' the 'Laissez-faire Model,' is indicated by the 26% of managers who claimed no responsibility for the age management issues.


As computational methodologies become more integrated into industrial vehicle pre-development processes the potential for high transient vehicle thermal simulations is evident. This can also been seen in conjunction with the strong rise in computing power, which ultimately has supported many automotive manufactures in attempting non-steady simulation conditions.The following investigation aims at exploring an efficient means of utilizing the new rise in computing resources by resolving high time-dependent boundary conditions through a series of averaging methodologies. Through understanding the sensitivities associated with dynamic component temperature changes, optimised boundary conditions can be implemented to dampen irrelevant input frequencies whilst maintaining thermally critical velocity gradients.A sub-module derived from real vehicle geometry was utilised to evaluate a series of alternative averaging schemes (consisting of steady-state CFD points) in comparison to full CFD transient conditions. The size and simplicity of the model additionally allowed for an easy transition to the heavy computationally demanding unsteady conditions. The input data for both averaging schemes and full transient conditions were derived from the real vehicle driving profiles experimentally obtained on the Nuerburgring test track.Qualitative analysis was conducted between the alternative schemes and full transient data in order to isolate the effects of dampening boundary conditions on consequent component temperatures. It was found that a weighted moving average can be optimal in resolving the high frequency changes whilst maintaining the average energy balance across under body components. The reactivity of the averaging schemes was dependent on the sampling rates in combination with the process of neutralising the inherent lag effects. Both these parameters had a significant effect on the time dependent results.In order to isolate the effectiveness of the averaging schemes on the "warm-up phase", multiple laps were conducted to locate the point at which temperature stabilisation occurs. Additionally the effect of incorrect initial component temperature was explored through evaluating the time taken to thermal stabilisation. It was found that under differing thermal conditions the time taken to thermal stabilisation was relatively constant regardless of the initialisation temperature.The investigation explored the influence of improving the simulation accuracy by increasing the quantity of steady-state CFD points in locations of high velocity amplitudes over a short time period. Additionally the opposite was explored in regions of low velocity amplitude, in extended time phase. A relationship was found between the velocity gradient and the quantity of steady-state CFD points for component temperature. Through the findings of the investigation a Fourier type algorithm was exploited to further improve turnover efficiencies.


Previous predictions of sea-level change subsequent to the last glacial maximum show significant, systematic discrepancies between observations at Tahiti, Huon Peninsula, and Sunda Shelf during Lateglacial time (∼14,000 to 9000 calibrated years before the present). We demonstrate that a model of glacial isostatic adjustment characterized by both a high-viscosity lower mantle (4 × 1022 Pa s) and a large contribution from the Antarctic ice sheet to meltwater pulse IA (∼15-meters eustatic equivalent) resolves these discrepancies. This result supports arguments that an early and rapid Antarctic deglaciation contributed to a sequence of climatic events that ended the most recent glacial period of the current ice age.


The study aimed at identifying the appropriateness of educational outputs in the Saudi public universities for the labor market from the point of view of graduates from the specialization of accounting and finance by investigating the following axes (Motivation in specialization identification, teaching staff in universities, the appropriateness of the study plan for the labor market, and the extent of knowledge of professional tests) and its impact on the quality of educational outputs. The study adopted the inductive method trough reviewing the previous studies regarding the research subject. On the field study, the study used the questionnaire as the study tool. On the statistical side, the following statistical analyzes were conducted (frequencies, percentages, arithmetic means and standard deviations), as well as Pearson correlation coefficients to determine the relationships between the variables of the study. The study population consisted of all graduates from the accounting and finance departments of the Saudi public universities working in the public sector or the private sector or self-employed " entrepreneurial". The field study was carried out in 2018 and the number of participants was (125) graduates from Saudi public universities and (80%) of the participants were under the age of (30) years. This is an excellent percentage as the study focused more on graduates. The study concluded the approval of the sample on each of the following: (the specialization identification was their personal desire, the teaching staff at the university is characterized by knowledge and eruditeness, the quality of study plans in universities and their knowledge of the study plan and its requirements, quality of educational outputs). It also concluded that the most prominent obstacles for graduates in the professional tests was the high financial fees of professional tests. In addition to there was no relationship between the specialization identification and the quality of educational outputs, while there was a relationship between (the efficiency of the teaching staff, the study plan, and the professional tests) and the quality of the educational outputs.


Programs written in C/C++ are vulnerable to memory-safety errors like buffer-overflows and use-after-free. While several mechanisms to detect such errors have been previously proposed, they suffer from a variety of drawbacks including poor performance, imprecise or probabilistic detection of errors, or requiring invasive changes to the binary-layout or source-code. Consequently, memory-safety errors continue to exist in production-software and are a principal cause of security problems.In our project at IBM, we worked on a minimally-invasive and low-cost hardware-based bounds-checking framework for preventing out-of-bounds accesses and use-after-free errors. The key idea is to re-purpose "unused bits" in a pointer to store an index into a bounds-information table that can be used to catch out-of-bounds errors and use-after-free errors without any change to the binary layout. Using this bounds-checking framework, we implement a design for preventing Out-of-Bounds accesses and Use-After-Free for heap-objects, that are responsible for the majority of memory-safety errors in the wild.


SUMMARY The mitogenic and second-messenger signals that promote cell proliferation often proceed through multienzyme complexes. The kinase-anchoring protein Gravin integrates cAMP and calcium/phos-pholipid signals at the plasma membrane by seques-tering protein kinases A and C with G protein-coupled receptors. In this report we define a role for Gravin as a temporal organizer of phosphoryla-tion-dependent protein-protein interactions during mitosis. Mass spectrometry, molecular, and cellular approaches show that CDK1/Cyclin B1 phosphory-lates Gravin on threonine 766 to prime the recruitment of the polo-like kinase Plk1 at defined phases of mitosis. Fluorescent live-cell imaging reveals that cells depleted of Gravin exhibit mitotic defects that include protracted prometaphase and misalignment of chromosomes. Moreover, a Gravin T766A phos-phosite mutant that is unable to interact with Plk1 negatively impacts cell proliferation. In situ detection of phospho-T766 Gravin in biopsy sections of human glioblastomas suggests that this phosphorylation event might identify malignant neoplasms.


An efficient method for the broadband EMC analysis of on-platform antennas is proposed, where the hybrid moment method-physical optics (MM-PO) formula is employed to generate the impedance matrix. The impedance matrix is calculated at relatively large frequency intervals and interpolated to approximate its values at intermediate frequencies. Numerical examples, including the coupling and radiation pattern evaluation of on-platform antennas, are presented. Through these examples, it is shown that the proposed method can greatly reduce the computing time in the wide-band computation compared with the traditional MM-PO method.


Objective: In elective surgery, it is well documented that a midline laparotomy should be closed with a slowly absorbable monofilament suture material in a continuous technique, in a ratio of at least 4 : 1. The evidence concerning the suture material or suturing technique in the emergency setting is lacking. We aimed to investigate whether this technique would reduce the rate of dehiscence. Methods: A standardized procedure of closing the midline laparotomy by using a "small steps" technique of continuous suturing with a slowly absorbable (polydioxanone) suture material in a wound-suture ratio of minimum 1 : 4 was introduced in June 2014. All patients scheduled for any gastrointestinal emergency midline laparotomy were included until October 2015. Pre-, intra-, and postoperative data were registered. All emergency laparotomies performed from 2009 to 2013 served as reference. Chi-squared tests and multivariate Cox regression analysis were performed. Results: We included 494 patients from 2014 to 2015 and 1079 patients from our historical cohort for comparison. All patients had a midline laparotomy in an emergency setting. The rate of dehiscence was reduced from 6.6% to 3.8%, P = 0.03 comparing year 2009 to 2013 with 2014 to 2015. Factors associated with dehiscence were male gender [hazard ratio (HR) 2.8, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) (1.8–4.4), P < 0.001], performance status ≥3 [HR 2.1, 95% CI (1.2–3.7), P = 0.006], cirrhosis [HR 3.8, 95% CI (1.5–9.5), P = 0.004], and retention sutures [HR 2.8, 95% CI (1.6–4.9), P < 0.000]. The 30-day mortality rate was 18.4% in the standardized group vs 22.4% in 2009 to 2013, P = 0.057 and 90-day mortality 24.2% vs 30.4%, P = 0.008. Conclusion: The standardized procedure of closing the midline laparotomy by using a "small steps" technique of continuous suturing with a slowly absorbable (polydioxanone) suture material reduces the rate of fascial dehiscence.


From the first applications of AT-cut quartz crystals as sensors in solutions more than 20 years ago, the so-called quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor is becoming into a good alternative analytical method in a great deal of applications such as biosensors, analysis of biomolecular interactions, study of bacterial adhesion at specific interfaces, pathogen and microorganism detection, study of polymer film-biomolecule or cell-substrate interactions, immunosensors and an extensive use in fluids and polymer characterization and electrochemical applications among others. The appropriate evaluation of this analytical method requires recognizing the different steps involved and to be conscious of their importance and limitations. The first step involved in a QCM system is the accurate and appropriate characterization of the sensor in relation to the specific application. The use of the piezoelectric sensor in contact with solutions strongly affects its behavior and appropriate electronic interfaces must be used for an adequate sensor characterization. Systems based on different principles and techniques have been implemented during the last 25 years. The interface selection for the specific application is important and its limitations must be known to be conscious of its suitability, and for avoiding the possible error propagation in the interpretation of results. This article presents a comprehensive overview of the different techniques used for AT-cut quartz crystal microbalance in in-solution applications, which are based on the following principles: network or impedance analyzers, decay methods, oscillators and lock-in techniques. The electronic interfaces based on oscillators and phase-locked techniques are treated in detail, with the description of different configurations, since these techniques are the most used in applications for detection of analytes in solutions, and in those where a fast sensor response is necessary.


The heat-motor is a simple device that converts thermal-to-mechanical energy, individual heat-motors may be considered as inputs to a 'class of machine' that can perform simple Boolean logic operands. This research explores some of the properties of this 'class of machine' and an application that uses multiple heatmotors. The high mechanical actuation energy that is generated by the heat-motor is inherted by this 'class of machine' and suggests the possibilities for an architecture of reconfiguration in response to different external thermal conditions. The possibility of conditional response to the thermal environment is explored through a case-study project.


ObjectiveIntensive Care Unit (ICU) data are registered for quality monitoring in the Netherlands with near 100% coverage. They are a 'big data' type source that may be useful for infectious disease surveillance. We explored their potential to enhance the surveillance of influenza which is currently based on the milder end of the disease spectrum. We ultimately aim to set up a real-surveillance system of severe acute respiratory infections.IntroductionWhile influenza-like-illness (ILI) surveillance is well-organized at primary care level in Europe, little data is available on more severe cases. With retrospective data from ICU's we aim to fill this current knowledge gap and to explore its worth for prospective surveillance. Using multiple parameters proposed by the World Health Organization we estimated the burden of severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) to ICU and how this varies between influenza epidemics.MethodsWe analyzed weekly ICU admissions of adults in the Netherlands (2007-2016) from the national intensive care evaluation (NICE) quality registry (100% coverage of adult ICU in 2016; population size 14 million adults. A SARI syndrome was defined as admission diagnosis being any of 6 pneumonia or pulmonary sepsis codes in the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation IV (APACHE IV) prognostic model. Influenza epidemic periods were retrieved from primary care sentinel influenza surveillance data. In recent years NICE has explored and promoted increased timeliness and automation of data transfer.ResultsAnnually, 11-14% of medical admissions to adult ICUs were for a SARI (5-25% weekly). Admissions for bacterial pneumonia (59%) and pulmonary sepsis (25%) contributed most to ICU-SARI. Between influenza epidemics, severity indicators varied: ICU-SARI incidence (between 558-2,400 cumulated admissions nation-wide, rate: 0.40-1.71/10,000 inhabitants), average APACHE score (between 71-78), ICU-SARI mortality (between 13-20%), ICU-SARI/ILI ratio (between 8-17 SARI ICU cases per 1,000 expected medically attended influenza-like-illness in primary care), peak incidence (between 101-188 ICU-SARI admissions nationally in the highest week, rate: between 0.07-0.13/10,000 population).ICUs use different types of electronic health records (EHRs). Data submitted to the NICE registry is mainly based on routinely collected data extracted from these EHRs. The timeliness of data submission varies between a few weeks and three months. Together with ICUs, the NICE registry has recently undertaken actions to increase timeliness of ICU data submission.ConclusionsIn ICU data, great variation can be seen between the yearly influenza epidemic periods in terms of different influenza severity parameters. The parameters also complement each other by reflecting different aspects of severity. Prospective syndromic ICU-SARI surveillance, as proposed by the World Health Organization would provide insight into severity of ongoing influenza epidemics which differ from season to season.Currently a subset of hospitals provide data with a 6-week delay. This can be a worthwhile addition to current influenza surveillance, which, while timelier, is based on milder cases seen by general practitioners (primary care). Future increases in data timeliness will remain an aim.


What makes a man a father in a constitutional sense? The United States Supreme Court seems to answer that question by saying, "it depends." Sometimes it is biology alone, but sometimes 'biology plus' is required. Since the mid-1970s, biology alone usually satisfies the constitutional test where there are benefits to give out and where those emoluments cost the state money or something else of value. It is apparently permissible to give neither the indigent father nor the indigent mother a choice in this matter. Involuntary paternity establishment, with the coerced 'cooperation' of the mother, is permissible. Even if paternity establishment is a waste of state resources, a futile attempt to get blood out of a stone, the state may do this. Indeed, in order to keep its Title IV-D funding, the state must do this. According to this approach, there is but one family, normatively private, and it requires a single financially responsible father. If he balks at that responsibility, then the state can thrust it upon him on a simple proof of biology alone. On the other hand, a biological father's personal relationship to his child may turn on whether a 'biology plus' standard has been satisfied, especially where there is another man prepared to take up financial responsibility in his stead. After the last in a series of adoption consent cases, Lehr v. Robertson, line-drawing is necessary to determine just how much 'plus' is enough to ripen the inchoate claims of an unmarried father into mature rights to notice, a hearing, and the ability to withhold consent to adoption of his child by another man. What should we make of this apparent paradox of paternity? In particular, how does the distinction apply to the putative father who claims to have been thwarted and deprived of his 'opportunity interest' to develop a relationship with his newborn child? The Court has provided little or no guidance for Lehr line-drawing in this context. The difficulty arises because there has been no time for the "opportunity interest" recognized by the Court to ripen into something with greater constitutional significance. In this situation, it is harder to define and establish the 'plus' factor that is necessary for the relationship claims. As a result, outside of the context of an approved putative father registry, and despite some examples taken from state court decisions, the constitutional fate of the thwarted putative father remains to be seen.


We compared aberration detection methods requiring historical data to those that require little background by using simulated data. Methods that require less historical data are as sensitive and specific as those that require 3–5 years of data. These simulations can determine which method produces appropriate sensitivity and specificity.