Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has the potential to affect virtually every organ; however, gastrointestinal system manifestations are relatively rare compared to other autoimmune diseases such as systemic sclerosis and inflammatory bowel disease. A 29‐year‐old female patient attended to the emergency room with abdominal distention, acute onset abdominal pain and constipation. She had watery chronic diarrhea (4‐5 times/d) and weight loss (6 kg, 12%) for 4 months. While there was increased intestinal wall thickness, air‐liquid levels were shown on abdomen computed tomography scan. The patient underwent abdominal surgery due to diagnosis of ileus. Ileocecal resection was performed and pathologic evaluation revealed intestinal lymphangiectasia. Autoimmune serology was performed with the following resulats: anti‐nuclear antibody 1/3200 with homogenous pattern, anti‐DNA antibody and anti‐Sm/ribonucleoprotein antibodies were positive in addition to low complement levels (C3: 0.28 [0.9‐1.8 g/L], C4: 0.06 [0.1‐0.4 g/L]) indicating diagnosis of SLE. Development of intestinal involvement in SLE (lupus enteritis) is mainly grouped into 3 headings such as mesenteric vasculitis, pseudo‐obstruction, and protein‐losing enteropathy. Although the pathogenesis of intestinal lymphangiectasia remains unknown, it has been reported that immune complex‐mediated visceral vasculitis may result in bowel wall and mucosal edema. To our knowledge this is the first case report accompanying hyperinflammatory response in addition to intestinal lymphangiectasia in SLE. On the other hand, clinicians should be alert for other reasons for hyperinflammatory syndromes rather than COVID‐19, even during the pandemic.


BACKGROUND
Hospitalists care for an increasing percentage of hospitalized patients, yet evaluations of patient perceptions of hospitalists' communication skills are lacking.

OBJECTIVE
Assess hospitalist communication skills using the Communication Assessment Tool (CAT).

METHODS
A cross-sectional study of patients, age 18 or older, admitted to the hospital medicine service at an urban, academic medical center with 873 beds. Thirty-five hospitalists assigned to both direct care and teaching service were assessed.

MEASUREMENTS
Hospitalist communication was measured with the CAT. The 14-item survey, written at a fourth grade level, measures responses along a 5-point scale ("poor" to "excellent"). Scores are reported as a percentage of "excellent" responses.

RESULTS
We analyzed 700 patient surveys (20 for each of 35 hospitalists). The proportion of excellent ratings for each hospitalist ranged from 38.5% to 73.5%, with an average of 59.1% excellent (SD=9.5). Highest ratings on individual CAT items were for treating the patient with respect, letting the patient talk without interruptions, and talking in terms the patient can understand. Lowest ratings were for involving the patient in decisions as much as he or she wanted, encouraging the patient to ask questions, and greeting the patient in a way that made him or her feel comfortable. Overall scale reliability was high (Cronbach's alpha = 0.97).

CONCLUSIONS
The CAT can be used to gauge patient perceptions of hospitalist communication skills. Many hospitalists may benefit from targeted training to improve communication skills, particularly in the areas of encouraging questions and involving patients in decision making.


CONTEXT
Parental anxiety and apprehension is related to inadequate knowledge of fever and febrile convulsion.

AIMS
To study the knowledge, attitude, and practices of the parents of children with febrile convulsions.

SETTINGS AND DESIGN
Prospective questionnaire based study in a tertiary care centre carried over a period of one year.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS
140 parents of consecutive children presenting with febrile convulsion were enrolled.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED
Chi-square test.

RESULTS
83 parents (59.3%) could not recognise the convulsion; 90.7% (127) did not carry out any intervention prior to getting the child to the hospital. The commonest immediate effect of the convulsion on the parents was fear of death (n= 126, 90%) followed by insomnia (n= 48, 34.3%), anorexia (n= 46, 32.9%), crying (n= 28, 20%) and fear of epilepsy (n= 28, 20%). Fear of brain damage, fear of recurrence and dyspepsia were voiced by the fathers alone (n= 20, cumulative incidence 14.3%). 109 (77.9%) parents did not know the fact that the convulsion can occur due to fever. The long-term concerns included fear of epilepsy (n= 64, 45.7%) and future recurrence (n= 27, 19.3%) in the affected child. For 56 (40%) of the parents every subsequent episode of fever was like a nightmare. Only 21 parents (15%) had thermometer at home and 28 (20%) knew the normal range of body temperature. Correct preventive measures were known only to 41 (29.2%). Awareness of febrile convulsion and the preventive measures was higher in socio-economic grade (P< 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
The parental fear of fever and febrile convulsion is a major problem with serious negative consequences affecting daily familial life.


Mode conversion effects take place when a dielectric optical guide is bent and its curvature varies along the guide. This paper considers and compares such conversion losses of singly and doubly clad slabs (adopted as analogs of corresponding fibers) for single mode transmission. It is shown that the conversion loss of a W-type slab is much smaller than that of a singly clad slab, provided that the beamwidths of both guides are equal. This property is the consequence of the wider mode spacing of the W-guide.


Several projects are currently underway to build the nation''s next generation computing infrastructure. These projects are sometimes called metasystems projects and seek to provide the illusion of a single, unified, virtual computing environment to end users. We expect metasystems to consist of millions of hosts and billions of objects, and on this scale, resource failures will be the norm and no longer the exception. One of the technical challenges that must be solved before such systems become usable is the widespread adoption of fault-tolerance techniques for both system level services and user applications. As part of the Legion metasystem project, we have developed an architecture for incorporating fault-tolerance techniques into user applications. Our approach is based on reflective dynamic transformation techniques that manipulate the control and data flow characteristics of an application to achieve the desired fault-tolerance policies. In this paper, we present our Reflective Graph & Event model (RGE) computation model and illustrate sample reflective transformations for incorporating exception handling and replication techniques into applications.


Received: 2016-08-07 | Accepted: 2016-09-13 | Available online: 2017-09-30 http://dx.doi.org/10.15414/afz.2017.20.03.60-65 This paper quantifies the diversity of natural and artificial allochthonous materials in bee pollen pellets and assesses their impact on potential applications. Bee products used in medicine, pharmacology and food products contain honey bee wax, propolis and flower pollens, and bee pollen pellet composition is dependent on the flower's locality and methods used in technological preparation and storage. The quality of commercially available pollen and its positive and negative mode-of-actions are significantly influenced by natural and artificial allochthonous substances. The flower pollen pellets for this study were obtained from the Levice district in the Slovak Republic and analysed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). These visual and chemical analyses confirmed; (i) 4 different botanical pollen species were present in the pellets, (ii) minimal harmful substances were detected; with bee fragments and dead fungal hyphae biomass noted, (iii) different types of soil particles/aggregates were adsorbed; mainly Fe, Si oxides, silicates and alumosilicates and (iv) analysis revealed one artificial Ti-Mn-Fe grain, but this was most likely a residue from technological processes. Determination of all hazardous substances is necessary for bee pollen to be widely commercially available as food nutritional and energy supplements, and this can be achieved by microscopic study and the wide range of current analytical techniques. Keywords:  bee pollen, food sources, pollen pellets, soil particles, artificial contaminants References Almeida-Muradian, L.B. et al. (2005) Chemical composition and botanical evaluation of dried bee pollen pellets. In Journal of Food Composition and Analysis , vol. 18, pp. 105−111. 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(2004) The potential impact of soil ingestion on human mineral nutrition. In Science of The Total Environment , vol. 333, pp. 75−87. Kacaniova, M. et al. (2004) Microflora of the honeybee gastrointestinal tract. In Folia Microbiologica , vol., 49, no. 2, pp. 169−171. Kacaniova, M. et al. (2011) Mycobiota and mycotoxins in bee pollen collected from different areas of Slovakia. In Journal of Environmental Science and Health - Part B Pesticides, Food Contaminants, and Agricultural Wastes , vol. 46, pp. 623−629. Kim, H., Suh, D.W. and Kim, N.J. (2013) Fe-Al-Mn-C lightweight structural alloys: A review on the microstructures and mechanical properties. In Science and Technology of Advanced Materials , vol. 14, pp. 1−12. Klimko, M., Kluza, M. and Kreft, A. (2000) Morphology of pollen grains in three varieties of Helianthus annuus L. In Roczniki Akademii Rolniczej w Poznaniu CCCXXII Botanika , vol. 3, pp. 135−142. Knox, R.B. et al. (1997) Major grass pollen allergen Lol p 1 binds to diesel axhaust particles: Implications for asthma and air pollution. In Clinical and Experimental Allergy , vol. 27, pp. 246−251. Konvickova, Z. et al. (2016) Antimicrobial bionanocomposite–from precursors to the functional material in one simple step. In Journal of nanoparticle research, vol. 18, pp. 368. Kořenkova, L. et al. (2017) Physiological response of culture media-grown barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) to titanium oxide nanoparticles. In Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica Section B: Soil and Plant Science , vol. 67, pp. 285−291. Lin, H., Gomez, I. and Meredith, J.C. (2013) Pollenkitt wetting mechanism enables species-specific tunable pollen adhesion. In Langmuir , vol. 29, pp. 3012−3023. Linskens, H.F. and Jorde, W. (1997) Pollen as food and medicine - A review. In Economic Botany , vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 78−86. Mărgăoan, R. et al. (2010) Bee collected pollen–General aspects and chemical composition. In Bulletin of University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca. Animal Science and Biotechnologies , vol. 67, no. (1-2), pp. 254 −259. Miklos, L. et al. (2002) Landscape atlas of the Slovak Republic . Bratislava: Ministerstvo životneho prostredia SR. Nogueira, C. et al. (2012) Commercial bee pollen with different geographical origins: A comprehensive approach. In International Journal of Molecular Sciences , vol. 13, pp. 11173−11187. Ormstad, H., Johansen, B.V. and Gaarder, P.I. (1998) Airborne house dust particles and diesel exhaust particles as allergen carriers. In Clinical and Experimental Allergy , vol. 28, pp. 702−708. Punt, W. et al. (2007) Glossary of pollen and spore terminology. In Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology , vol. 143, pp. 1−81. Ruby, M.V. et al. (1999) Advances in evaluating the oral bioavailability of inorganics in soil for use in human health risk assessment. In Environmental Science and Technology , vol. 33, pp. 3697−3705. 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Fault detection based on a common steady-state analysis technique, such as FFT, is known to be significantly dependant on the loading conditions of induction motors. At light load, it is difficult to distinguish between healthy and faulty rotors because the characteristic broken rotor bar fault frequencies are very close to the fundamental component and their amplitudes are small in comparison. As a result, detection of the fault and classification of the fault severity under light load is almost impossible. In order to overcome this problem, this paper investigates the detection of rotor faults in induction machines by analysing the starting current using a newly developed quantification technique based on the wavelet transform. The analysis technique applies the wavelet transform to the envelope of the starting current. The envelope extraction is used to remove the strong fundamental component, which overshadows the characteristic differences between a healthy motor and a faulty motor with broken rotor bars. The results are then verified using tests on a machine with a varying numbers of broken bars. The effects of initial rotor position, supply imbalance and loading are also investigated


With the explosion in the number of digital images taken every day, people are demanding more accurate and visually pleasing images. However, the captured images by modern cameras are inevitably degraded by noise. Besides deteriorating image visual quality, noise also degrades the performance of high-level vision tasks such as object recognition and tracking. Therefore, image denoising is a critical preprocessing step. This thesis presents novel contributions to the field of image denoising.Image denoising is a highly ill-posed inverse problem. To alleviate the ill-posedness, an effective prior plays an important role and is a key factor for successful image denoising. With abundance of images available online, we propose to obtain priors from external image databases. In this thesis, we perform statistical analyses and rigorous derivations on how to obtain effective priors by utilizing external databases. For three denoising applications under different external settings, we show how we can explore effective priors and accordingly we present adaptive patch-based image denoising algorithms. In specific, we propose three adaptive algorithms: (1) adaptive non-local means for multiview image denoising; (2) adaptive image denoising by targeted databases; (3) adaptive image denoising by mixture adaption.In (1), we present how to improve the non-local prior by finding more relevant patches in the multiview image denoising setting. We propose a method that uses a robust joint-view distance metric to measure the similarity of patches and derive an adaptive procedure to determine the optimal number of patches for final non-local means denoising. In (2), we propose to switch from generic database to targeted database, i.e., for specific objects to be denoised, only targeted databases with relevant images should be used. We explore both the group sparsity prior and the localized Bayesian prior, and show how a near optimal and adaptive denoising filter can be designed so that the targeted database can be maximally utilized. In (3), we propose an adaptive learning procedure called Expectation-Maximization (EM) adaptation. The adaptive process takes a generic prior learned from a generic database and transfers it to the image of interest to create a specific prior. This adapted prior better captures the distribution of the image of interest and is consistently better than the un-adapted one. For all the three denoising applications, we conduct various denoising experiments. Our proposed adaptive algorithms have some superior denoising performance than some state-of-the-art algorithms.


Abstract Objectives Congenital generalized lipodystrophy type 4 (CGL4) is a rare autosomal recessive condition with high rates of morbidity and mortality. It is a multisystem condition associated with ventricular tachyarrhythmia, congenital myopathy, hepatitis, and metabolic profile of severe hypertriglyceridemia and insulin resistance. Metreleptin is the first line treatment, however it is unavailable in several countries. Herein, we describe a unique presentation and treatment of CGL4. Case presentation A 16-year-old female presented with insulin resistant diabetes, and was later found to have myopathy, hypertriglyceridemia, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, ventricular arrhythmias, and genetic confirmation of CGL4 due to homozygous change in CAVIN1 gene. She had severe hypertriglyceridemia, frequently >17 mmol/L, requiring several hospital admissions. To better control hypertriglyceridemia, in context of known congenital myopathy, we opted for treatment with icosapent ethyl, an ethyl ester of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), which reduces synthesis and enhances clearance of triglycerides. On this treatment, she was able to maintain stable triglyceride levels of 4 mmol/L. Conclusions We present the first case report of a patient with CGL4, successfully treated for hypertriglyceridemia, with icosapent ethyl.


About 20 million U.S. adults with diabetes (DM) used glucose-lowering medications in 2016. We examined insurance coverage for prescription medications and its association with glycemic control in this population, overall and by age group. We used data from 3,311 adults aged ≥18y with self-reported diagnosed DM and treated with oral hypoglycemic agents or insulin in the 2005-2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Participants reported on having health insurance that covered any part of prescription costs. Poor glycemic control (poor A1C) was defined as A1C >9%. During 2005-2016, 15.3% (95%CI 13.7-17.1) of treated U.S. adults with DM lacked prescription coverage, including 8.9% (7.9-10.1) who were uninsured and 6.4% (5.2-7.8) who were insured without any prescription coverage. Compared to treated adults ≥65y, the percentage without prescription coverage was 55% higher for treated adults 18-44y (20.3%, 16.3-25.0 vs. 13.1%, 10.7-16.0) and similar for those 45-64y (15.9%, 13.7-18.4). Overall, 21.4% (17.6-25.7) of treated adults without prescription coverage and 13.5% (11.9-15.3) with prescription coverage had poor A1C (prevalence ratio 1.58 [1.25-2.00]). By age group, % poor A1C differed by coverage status for treated adults 18-44y (covered: 24.9% [18.8-32.1]; not covered: 38.9% [28.2-50.8], p=0.034) and those 45-64y (covered: 15.2% [12.8-18.1]; not covered: 25.5% [19.8-32.3], p=0.005) but not for those ≥65y (covered: 7.5% [6.1-9.1]; not covered: 6.4% [4.0-9.9], p=0.29). For those insulin-treated, % poor A1C differed by coverage status only among adults 18-44y (covered: 31.9% [23.4-41.8]; not covered: 70.0% [53.1-82.8], p Disclosure K.M. Bullard: None. S.R. Benoit: None. S. Saydah: None. C. Mercado: None. G. Imperatore: None.


It is generally acknowledged that macroinvertebrates are good indicators of water quality in streams, as a number of taxa are sensitive to pollution and integrate their response to pollution over time. This fact has led some states (e.g., Maine) to incorporate macroinvertebrates in their water quality standards. To quantify the relationship between macroinvertebrates and urban land use, this study used data from the US Geological Survey "Effects of Urbanization on Stream Ecosystems" (EUSE) program. Bayesian networks were developed to characterize the relationship between urban land use metrics and selected macroinvertebrate taxa. It is shown that impervious surfaces and percent urban land have a strong effect on sensitive species of macroinvertebrates, demonstrating the adverse effect of urbanization and thus the value of these macroinvertebrate taxa as indicators of pollution. The resultant models are probabilistic and graphical, making them easily interpretable techniques for urban planning to achieve downstream water quality goals and sustain aquatic ecosystems.


: Effects of digitonin, dimethylsulfoxide and protamine sulfate on yeast Pichia guilliermondii were studied in order to produce cells with increased permeability and possessing the GTP-cyclohydrolase, riboflavinsynthetase and riboflavinkinase activities. The digitonin-treated cells exhibited a higher cyclohydrolase activity than the cell-free extracts; the activities of riboflavinsynthetase and riboflavinkinase in the cells and cell-free extracts were found to be similar. Treatment of cells with dimethylsulfoxide proved to be most effective to determine the activity of GTP-cyclohydrolase and also helpful to determine that of riboflavinsynthetase. Protamine sulfate had no effect on the cells of P. guilliermondii. The methods developed were used to determine the activities of GTP-cyclohydrolase, riboflavinsynthetase and riboflavinkinase in the cells of flavinogenic (P. guiller-mondii, Torulopsis candida) and non-flavinogenic (Candida utilis, Candida pulcherrima) yeasts grown in iron-rich and iron-deficient media. Derepression of riboflavinsynthetase and GTP-cyclohydrolase syntheses under conditions of Fe deficiency in the flavinogenic yeast cells confirmed previously made assumptions.


In this work the feasibility of pellet size distribution using images captured from the operator's sight glass of the moving pellet bed using a standard digital camera is investigated. The pellet size distribution is determined using a bespoke circle detection program which is able to fit circles to pellet edges, neural networks are used to match predicted distributions to actual distributions and discrete element modelling is used to create a large quantity of rendered images with known distributions for network training. The results show that the circle detection algorithm is able to find a high percentage of pellets in an image and find their sizes. Neural networks are then able to use the predicted pellet size distributions to give a good prediction of the actual distributions and are able to account for segregation effects in the pellet beds. This demonstrates that an online pellet sizing scheme is feasible in nickel pellet production.


A comprehensive study of displacement-based design for reinforced concrete bridge columns is conducted. Section analysis software UC-Fyber is used to analyze the bending moment and curvature performance of columns' sections, based on this, a new calculation method of target displacement of RC bridge columns is educed. Elastic displacement response spectrum, inelastic displacement response spectrum and inelastic demand spectrum are educed from acceleration spectra of Chinese Code JTG/T B02-01-2008; three simplified methods for displacement demand determination are developed. Example of the displacement-based design of bridge column was studied and checked by dynamic inelastic time-history analysis to clarify the reasonableness of the developed methods. Research shows that target displacement of RC bridge columns is relevant with concrete strength grade, longitudinal reinforcement ratio, height and the section form, etc; equivalent linearization method and inelastic displacement response spectrum method are based on the design response spectrum, could reach the target displacement and consider structure safety requirement; demand spectrum method is a simple and direct way to show design with graphics mode, with deficiency of structure capacity spectrum curve from pushover analysis differing from the reality.


3329 AbstrAct Estimates of mineralizable N with the anaerobic potentially mineralizable N (PMNan) test could improve predictions of corn (Zea mays L.) economic optimal N rate (EONR). A study across eight US midwestern states was conducted to quantify the predictability of EONR for single and split N applications by PMNan. Treatment factors included different soil sample timings (pre-plant and V5 development stage), planting N rates (0 and 180 kg N ha–1), and incubation lengths (7, 14, and 28 d) with and without initial soil NH4–N included with PMNan. Soil was sampled (0–30 cm depth) before planting and N application and at V5 where 0 or 180 kg N ha–1 were applied at planting. Evaluating across all soils, PMNan was a weak predictor of EONR (R2 ≤ 0.08; RMSE, ≥67 kg N ha–1), but the predictability improved (15%) when soils were grouped by texture. Using PMNan and initial soil NH4–N as separate explanatory variables improved EONR predictability (11–20%) in fine-textured soils only. Delaying PMNan sampling from pre-plant to V5 regardless of N fertilization improved EONR predictability by 25% in only coarse-textured soils. Increasing PMNan incubations beyond 7 d modestly improved EONR predictability (R2 increased ≤0.18, and RMSE was reduced ≤7 kg N ha–1). Alone, PMNan predicts EONR poorly, and the improvements from partitioning soils by texture and including initial soil NH4–N were relatively low (R2 ≤ 0.33; RMSE ≥ 68 kg N ha–1) compared with other tools for N fertilizer recommendations.


: Advances in Machine Learning (ML) led organizations to increasingly implement predictive decision aids intended to improve employees' decision-making performance. While such systems improve organizational efficiency in many contexts, they might be a double-edged sword when there is the danger of a system discontinuance. Following cognitive theories, the provision of ML-based predictions can adversely affect the development of decision-making skills that come to light when people lose access to the system. The purpose of this study is to put this assertion to the test. Using a novel experiment specifically tailored to deal with organizational obstacles and endogeneity concerns, we show that the initial provision of ML decision aids can latently prevent the development of decision-making skills which later becomes apparent when the system gets discontinued. We also find that the degree to which individuals "blindly" trust observed predictions determines the ultimate performance drop in the post-discontinuance phase. Our results suggest that making it clear to people that ML decision aids are imperfect can have its benefits especially if there is a reasonable danger of (temporary) system discontinuances.


We present an enhanced performance Brillouin optical time-domain analysis sensor that uses dual probes waves with optical frequency modulation and cyclic coding. The frequency modulation serves to increase the probe power that can be injected in the fiber before the onset of non-local effects and noise generated by spontaneous Brillouin scattering. This leads to higher detected signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), which is further increased by the coding gain. The enhanced SNR translates to extended range for the sensor, with experiments demonstrating 1-m spatial resolution over a 164 km fiber loop with a 3-MHz Brillouin frequency shift measurement precision at the worst contrast position. In addition, we introduce a study of the power limits that can be injected in the fiber with cyclic coding before the appearance of distortions in the decoded signal.


Electron-microscopic analysis was used to show that invertebrate muscle has feetlike structures on the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) displaying the typical four-subunit appearance of the calcium (Ca2+) release channel/ryanodine receptor (RyR) observed in vertebrate skeletal muscle (K. E. Loesser, L. Castellani, and C. Franzini-Armstrong. J. Muscle Res. Cell Motil. 13: 161-173, 1992). SR vesicles from invertebrate muscle exhibited specific ryanodine binding and single channel currents that were activated by Ca2+, caffeine, and ATP and inhibited by ruthenium red. The single channel conductance of this invertebrate RyR was lower than that of the vertebrate RyR (49 and 102 pS, respectively). Activation of lobster and scallop SR Ca2+ release channel, in response to cytoplasmic Ca2+ (1 nM-10 mM), reflected a bell-shaped curve, as is found with the mammalian RyR. In contrast to a previous report (J.-H. Seok, L. Xu, N. R. Kramarcy, R. Sealock, and G. Meissner, J. Biol. Chem. 267: 15893-15901, 1992), our results show that regulation of the invertebrate and vertebrate RyRs is quite similar and suggest remarkably similar paths in these diverse organisms.


Ensifer medicae strain WSM1115 forms effective nitrogen fixing symbioses with a range of annual Medicago species and is used in commercial inoculants in Australia. WSM1115 is an aerobic, motile, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming rod. It was isolated from a nodule recovered from the root of burr medic (Medicago polymorpha) collected on the Greek Island of Samothraki. WSM1115 has a broad host range for nodulation and N2 fixation capacity within the genus Medicago, although this does not extend to all medic species. WSM1115 is considered saprophytically competent in moderately acid soils (pH(CaCl2) 5.0), but it has failed to persist at field sites where soil salinity exceeded 10 ECe (dS/m). Here we describe the features of E. medicae strain WSM1115, together with genome sequence information and its annotation. The 6,861,065 bp high-quality-draft genome is arranged into 7 scaffolds of 28 contigs, contains 6,789 protein-coding genes and 83 RNA-only encoding genes, and is one of 100 rhizobial genomes sequenced as part of the DOE Joint Genome Institute 2010 Genomic Encyclopedia for Bacteria and Archaea-Root Nodule Bacteria (GEBA-RNB) project.


Don DeLillo has frequently acknowledged William Gaddis as a significant influence, particularly in his concern with the vagaries of self-identity. DeLillo's The Body Artist (2001) and Gaddis's Carpenter's Gothic (1985) both thematically explore the relationship between self and space, employing gothic motifs and metafictional devices which intersect with the dramatic content of the novel, in which characters experience disruption to the stability of the known and located. In both, even the most intimate knowledge of relationships and environments is portrayed as a contingent construction, open to radical revision. As has been acknowledged by a number of critics, the transitory nature of postmodern spatiality is a central thematic preoccupation of both writers. The novels of both writers confront postmodern space by the way they complicate processes of identification and communication through a formalist evocation of indeterminacy. However differences become apparent in a careful comparison of their larger works. In Gaddis's J R (1975) Gaddis attempts to govern this indeterminacy in the service of cultural critique; rhetorically manipulating readerly identification in the service of an overall vision of decline. DeLillo's Underworld (1997), on the other hand, destabilizes meaning, and as a result the reader is directed towards a more ambivalent relationship to postmodern existence.


Summary A study of lavas of early Tertiary age in NE Rockall Trough has revealed that they can be classified on the basis of their seismic reflection character and their relationship with the overlying Tertiary sediments. The lavas have been mapped using commercial seismic reflection data. Our interpretation of the areal distribution of the subaerial flows has major implications for the subsidence history of the area. Three seismic facies are recognized: (1) High amplitude parallel reflections in laterally continuous sheets with steep edges. (2) Basinward-thinning wedges of high-amplitude discontinuous reflections. (3) A single high-amplitude reflection underlain by a zone of small diffractions. These are interpreted respectively as subaerial flows, hyaloclastite deposits derived from the basalts, and tuffs. Throughout the sedimentary sequence below the lavas, high amplitude, subhorizontal reflection packages occur. These are interpreted as sills of early Tertiary age intruding Mesozoic sediments. In places, the lavas themselves are intruded by seismically translucent bodies of up to a few kilometres across. These may represent small centres of lava extrusion.


Patients with this pathology represents a difficult problem in differential diagnosis. Clinical findings and radiologic studies could help but endoscopy is now the most precise method in order to determine the site and nature of hemorrhage. We performed 504 colonoscopies in colon hemorrhage finding that our most frequent cause were polyps in both, children and adults in 199 cases (39%); diverticular disease was the second with 131 patients (26%) and third carcinoma with 52 (10%). Other causes were amebic colitis in 47 (8%); inflammatory bowel disease in 28 (6%) and infectious colitis in 13 (3%). Risks, complications and limitations of colonoscopy, as well as its great utility in diagnosis and treatment of colonic hemorrhagic lesions are commented.


Hemispheric stroke survivors tend to have persistent motor impairments, with muscle weakness and muscle spasticity observed concurrently in the affected muscles. The objective of this preliminary study was to identify whether impairment of muscle force transmission could contribute to weakness in spastic-paretic muscles of chronic stroke survivors. To characterize the efficiency of the transmission of muscle forces to the tendon, we activated biceps brachii muscle electrically by stimulating the musculocutaneous nerve with maximum current. The ratio between the elicited maximum twitch force amplitude and the maximum M-wave peak-peak amplitude was calculated as a measure of the efficiency of force transmission. Based on the preliminary results of two stroke survivors, we show that the Force/M-wave ratio was reduced in the affected biceps brachii muscles in comparison with the contralateral muscles, indicating a potential impairment in the muscle force transmission in the affected muscles. Our findings suggest that disrupted muscle force transmission to the tendon could contribute to weakness in spastic muscles of chronic stroke survivors.


Since 1990, Ae. albopictus has spread in 9 regions and 30 provinces of the country. This species was introduced in Italy in shipments of scrap tires form the USA. In Italy, Ae. albopictus is the major biting pest throughout much of its range and, although there is no evidence that this mosquito is the vector of human disease in the country, the species might be involved in the transmission of some arboviruses which have been reported in the Mediterranean Basin. Aim of this paper is to provide an update on the distribution of Ae. albopictus in Italy and to renew the interest in a problem frequently underestimated. Public health implications after a ten-year presence of the species are also discussed.


Abstract Background: Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is increasingly identified in critically ill patients, but it is considered a pathogen with limited pathogenicity and it is therefore infrequently targeted. This study explores whether S. maltophilia may cause ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and whether it affects intensive care unit (ICU) mortality and 28-day mortality when compared to VAP caused by other Gram-negative bacilli. Methods: Retrospective analysis of a 19-year prospectively collected database. Stenotrophomonas maltophilia as a cause was considered in VAP-suspected cases when S. maltophilia growth of ≥104 cfu/ml was detected in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid analysis. Cases were matched on hospital, gender, age and acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II score in a 1:3 ratio with controls from the same database suffering from VAP caused by other Gram-negative bacilli. Results: Eight cases met the inclusion criteria, of which three were labelled as 'probable' SM-VAP and three as 'possible' SM-VAP. These six patients constitute 1.8% of all VAPs in the studied period. No significant differences in baseline characteristics and duration of mechanical ventilation (p = 0.68), length of stay in the ICU (p = 0.55) and hospital (p = 0.84) between cases and controls were identified between cases and controls. Intensive care unit mortality odds ratio was 1.7 (p = 0.55; 95% CI 0.3–10.5) and 28-day mortality odds ratio was 1.4 (p = 0.70; 95% CI 0.2–9.1). Conclusions: Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is a possible, yet infrequent cause of VAP. No outcome differences were found when compared to matched VAP caused by other Gram-negative bacilli.


It is important in the democratic society that state authority would treat citizens properly. Seimas Ombudsmen (Controller) – are officers appointed by Seimas, as legislative body and parliamentarian control institution, who are responsible to investigate complaints against abuse of power and bureaucratic attitudes. This institution is the worldwide known on a name of ombudsman, because of its' Swedish origin. The legal status of this institution detected according their relationship with powers of the state exercised institutions. It's possible to find some attempts to execute court's power in analysis of Seimas Ombudsmen empowering fulfillment, despite of no legal power to do this according the laws. Decisions made by Seimas Ombudsmen are recommendations, but right to have access to all information (states secretes are included) not belittle their powers. Seimas Ombudsmen relationship within media has an interesting aspect. The rights to bring a court action for the compensation of moral or material damage incurred by the person by reason of the violations committed by officers and right to recommend to the Seimas or other state institutions to amend the laws or other statutory acts which restrict human rights and freedoms are argument to speak about Seimas Ombudsmen as a national human rights institution.


High quality forage production is needed in late summer and fall until frost. The pearl millet (Pennisetum americanum ✕ napiergrass (P. purpreum Schum.) interspecific hybrids have potential for producing high quality forage during this period but more than 1 year's data on a number of hybrids using different female parents is limited. In 1976, 1977, and 1978, 20 pearl millet ✕ napiergrass interspecific hybrids were seeded in the field in a Fuquay soil (Arenic Plinthic Paleudults : loamy, siliceous thermic) and evaluated for dry-matter yield percent in vitro dry-matter digestibility (IVDMD), percent crude protein, agronomic characteristics (seed Production, pest resistance, yield distribution), and breeding behavior (effects of male and female parents on dry matter yield). Most of the interspecific hybrids were equal to the best pearl millet hybrids in yield, IVDMD, and protein. In 1977 and 1978, six and two interspecific hybrids, respectively, were significantly (P = 0.05) higher in dry matter yield. One hybrid, Tift 23A ✕ N23, yielded 34 and 27% more dry matter in 1977 and 1978, respectively, than the best pearl millet hybrid. Hybrids with 'Tift 23A1' yielded over 25% more dry matter than hybrids with 'Tift 23D2A1 when the same male parents were used on both female parents. One of the major advantages of the interspecific hybrids is that they produced almost 50% of their forage from after the middle of August until early December.
This study also showed that of the three female parents tested, Tift 23A1 produced the highest yielding hybrids and that much variability for maximizing yield exists among the napiergrass clones used as male parents in the interspecific hybrids


Aims
The aim of this study was to report health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and joint-specific function in patients waiting for total hip or knee arthroplasty surgery (THA or TKA) in Northern Ireland, compared to published literature and a matched normal population. Secondary aims were to report emergency department (ED) and out-of-hours general practitioner (OOH GP) visits, new prescriptions of strong opioids, and new prescriptions of antidepressants while waiting.

Methods
This was a cohort study of 991 patients on the waiting list for arthroplasty in a single Northern Ireland NHS trust: 497 on the waiting list for ≤ three months; and 494 waiting ≥ three years. Postal surveys included the EuroQol five-dimension five-level questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L), visual analogue scores (EQ-VAS), and Oxford Hip and Knee scores to assess HRQoL and joint-specific function. Electronic records determined prescriptions since addition to the waiting list and patient attendances at OOH GP/EDs.

Results
Overall, 712/991 (71.8%) responded at ≤ three months for THA (n = 164) and TKA (n = 199), and ≥ three years for THA (n = 88) and TKA (n = 261). The median EQ-5D-5L score in those waiting ≤ three months was 0.155 (interquartile range (IQR) -0.118 to 0.375) and 0.189 (IQR -0.130 to 0.377) for ≥ three years. Matched controls had a median EQ-5D-5L 0.837 (IQR 0.728 to 1.000). Compared to matched controls, EQ-5D-5L scores were significantly lower in both waiting cohorts (p < 0.001) with significant differences found in every domain. Negative scores, indicating a state "worse than death", were present in 40% at ≤ three months and 38% at ≥ three years. Patients waiting ≥ three years had significantly more opioid (28.4% vs 15.2%; p < 0.001) and antidepressant prescriptions (15.2% vs 9.9%; p = 0.034) and significantly more joint-related attendances at unscheduled care (11.7% vs 0% with ≥ one ED attendance (p < 0.001) and (25.5% vs 2.5% ≥ one OOH GP attendance (p < 0.001)).

Conclusion
Patients on waiting lists in Northern Ireland are severely disabled with the worst HRQoL and functional scores studied. The lack of deterioration in EQ-5D-5L and joint-specific scores between patients waiting ≤ three months and ≥ three years likely reflects floor effects of these scores. Prolonged waits were associated with increased dependence on strong opiates, depression, and attendances at unscheduled care.


The incidence and correlates of low birth weight (LBW) among an index population of 525 newborn Nigerian twins and a control population of 363 singletons were studied. The incidence of LBW among the twins (53.9%) was significantly higher than the incidence of 11.8% among the singletons (P < 0.001). Smallness for gestational age (SGA) was also higher (14.3%) among the twins compared with 1.4% among the singletons (P < 0.001). Morbidity factors frequently associated with LBW among the twins were perinatal asphyxia, hypothermia, neonatal seizures, and intracranial haemorrhage. Intrapartum asphyxia was particularly common in those preterm LBW twins who were also SGA. This raises serious concern because of the known higher risks of SGA preterm babies for severe neurologic sequelae. Low socioeconomic status (SES) of mothers was an important predisposing factor to LBW and SGA as well as to premature deliveries among the twins. Improved SES of the maternal population and increased awareness by health practitioners of the risks LBW twins face, should improve their immediate and later outcome. Furthermore, there is a need for the development of an intrauterine growth chart for Nigerian twins to enhance accurate diagnosis of LBW and SGA among newborn twins.


In my thesis I argue for a philosophical-anthropological approach which enables investigations in empathy and care by opening up a window on the motivation of recognition. I show how biographies as narratives can help to understand the other within her or his own life-world, even if the life-world is the very part of our personality as a dividually conceived relational self. Therewith, personhood can be conceived in a new concept of personhood that is understood as a category of the human being endowed with a stronger focus on culturally and historically founded dividuality and relationality, instead of relying exclusively on individuality and subjectivity. To show this relational movement in our life-world, I introduce 'the Melanesian' worldview on personhood. This worldview assumes that we are holistically relational. Thus, it lets the perception of an objective world shift into a world of animated entities which become parts of the human. Other people are also part of our life, and, in this way, take part in the life-world − and thus in life. In consequence, the life-world as the place where humans get in touch with each other builds up the social community: others have a particular role just as we take part in their lives. Our relationship with others is related to certain tasks in the social community and to definitions of personality and character.
In academia, it is common ground that increasing individuality causes an increasing claim to recognition, especially since Honneth's revival and actualization of Hegel's concept of recognition. It is also Honneth who is inseparably linked with the recent philosophical discussion about recognition. We are recognized and we recognize others both on a personal as well as on a social level. The leading question, still unsolved and at the same time unsolvably linked with the relationship of individual and society, is: why are we relying on recognition? In other words: how do we recognize me, my self, and the other?
My approach of a self-based model of mutual recognition follows two methodological paradigms: hermeneutics and phenomenology. Unsurprisingly, the hermeneutical investigation of our self in relation to mutual recognition has to start at the current state of the recognition debate, and takes its way to the anthropological state of personhood- and self-debate. The phenomenological approach constitutes the second main basis for an approach to a self-based concept of mutual recognition.
Also the connection of philosophical and anthropological approaches to identity, personhood, and self-recognition is very fruitful in the way of developing a holistic approach of mutual recognition. To support this, I connect Western approaches in the phenomenological and hermeneutical traditions as well as theories of narrativity and human biography with non-Western approaches (Melanesian concept of personhood) to elaborate and emphasize the intersection of both approaches. In consequence, the Cartesian Ego is rejected in favour of a decentral, cosmomorphic, and sociocentric approach to personhood. This anthropological approach is merged with a narrative concept of identity to emphasize the self-reflexive way of personal identity.
Building on this set of philosophical and anthropological arguments, my purpose is to draw up a self-based model of mutual recognition which includes all stages of mutual recognition: recognition of one's own identity, recognition of one's own acting, recognition of others, and evaluative recognition.
I begin this journey with preliminary remarks on recognition, person, and self by elaborating the state of the art in approaches to mutual recognition, the Anthropological notion of personhood, individual, and self, and their Philosophical notion. In the second part of my work, I show how these approaches compose a self-based model of mutual recognition. Here we receive the idea how we are recognized: through empathic understanding an act of knowledge is performed, in which the other is perceived and acknowledged as another human similar to ourselves. Therefore, empathic understanding, feelings of sympathy, care and solicitude, personal ethos, and theories of mind are related to mutual recognition. The definition of our being through empathy highlights our social wellbeing. By implication we refer to the recognition of others as constitutive of the community, since we recognize others and take care of them.


Background/Aim: The association between heavy metal exposure and adverse birth outcomes is well-established. However, there is a paucity of research identifying biomarker profiles that may improve the early detection of heavy metal-induced adverse birth outcomes. Because lipids are abundant in our body and associated with important signaling pathways, we assessed associations between maternal metals/metalloid blood levels with lipidomic profiles among 83 pregnant women in the Puerto Rico PROTECT birth cohort. Methods: We measured 10 metals/metalloid blood levels during 24–28 weeks of pregnancy. Prenatal plasma lipidomic profiles were identified by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry-based shotgun lipidomics. We derived sums for each lipid class and sums for each lipid sub-class (saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated), which were then regressed on metals/metalloid. False discovery rate (FDR) adjusted p-values (q-values) were used to account for multiple comparisons. Results: A total of 587 unique lipids from 19 lipid classes were profiled. When controlling for multiple comparisons, we observed that maternal exposure to manganese and zinc were negatively associated with plasmenyl-phosphatidylethanolamine (PLPE), particularly those containing polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) chains. In contrast to manganese and zinc, arsenic and mercury were positively associated with PLPE and plasmenyl-phosphatidylcholine (PLPC). Conclusion: Certain metals were significantly associated with lipids that are responsible for the biophysical properties of the cell membrane and antioxidant defense in lipid peroxidation. This study highlighted lipid-metal associations and we anticipate that this study will open up new avenues for developing diagnostic tools.


Image thresholding is a challenging task due to its sensitivity to environmental variations and degradation in the quality of the captured image. Although many image thresholding methods have been introduced, most of them require the fine tuning of a thresholding parameter that is not suitable for single-shot structured light (SSSL) based projector-camera applications. In this paper, we introduce a locally adaptive thresholding method with automatic parameter selection based on the local statistics of the distinct image partitions. For assessing the proposed scheme, we introduce an evaluation that relies on mapping SSSL patterns between the camera and projector spaces. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique by maintaining the thresholding accuracy of the baseline method, without the need to fine tune the obtained thresholding parameter or any noticeable change in the qualitative results.


Smart material-based actuators are known to exhibit the hysteresis behavior, and most of them are rate-dependent, i.e., the level of hysteresis depends closely on the rate of input excitation frequency. This behavior is undesirable and has to be eliminated in order to facilitate high-precision applications. Therefore, there is a need for the comprehensive and robust approach to model and control the hysteresis effects. This paper proposes a new model modification to the phenomenological class of the hysteresis model. In this paper, the special case of the Bouc–Wen model is used as the basis for developing the modified one, and its establishment is realized in the discrete-time domain. Through the identification method called "extended particle swarm optimization," it is verified that the proposed model is able to capture the dynamic and hysteretic behavior of a class of smart material-based actuators with a relatively good accuracy. Then, a robust adaptive control is synthesized based on the proposed model in order to eliminate the hysteresis effects. It is shown that the formulated adaptive controller guarantees the stability of the closed-loop control system. Experimental results show that the proposed control scheme mitigates the hysteresis effects efficiently.


In the last years, the possibility of light generation and/or amplification in silicon, based on Raman emission, has achieved great results. However, some significant limitations, inherent to the physics of silicon, have been pointed out, too. In order to overcome these limitations, a possible option is to consider low dimensional silicon. On this line of argument, an approach based on Raman scattering in porous silicon is presented. We prove two significant advantage with respect to silicon: the broadening of spontaneous Raman emission and the tuning of the Stokes shift. Finally, we discuss about the prospect of Raman amplifier in porous silicon.


The Independent- "...a remarkable guide to the lives and work of 900 educationists. It is crammed with colourful and, above all, readable pen portraits." Paedagogica Historica - "The book is a valuable addition to the growing literature on "lives" that has added an important personal dimension to the study of education in recent years. It will be useful to students at the undergraduate and graduate levels and will be a valuable starting point for researchers in education and related disciplines. Finally, it will stimulate many kinds of readers to think more deeply about the nature of education and the wide variety of people who engage in it." History of Education -"A work of reference which will be of great value to historians of education." History of Education Review - "A valuable reference work... Every historian of education should have a copy near at hand." History of Education Society Bulletin- " The Biographical Dictionary is a well-written,authoritative, concise introduction to the men and women who helped shape the educational profession and school systems in the Western world since 1800.


Abstract The Swedish National Research programme for Energy Efficiency in historic buildings was initiated in 2006 by the Swedish Energy Agency. This article gives an overview of the programme: objectives, projects and the general results of the programme. The research programme aims to develop knowledge, methods and technical solutions that contribute to energy efficiency in historically valuable buildings without destroying or damaging the historical value of the buildings, including decoration, furnishings, interiors or equipment. The programme is not limited to listed and monumental buildings but covers a wider range of historic buildings that account for a large part of the energy use in the building sector. For one and two-family houses, around 25 % of the energy use is associated with buildings built before 1945. The same number for multifamily houses is around 15 %. The programme is currently in its third consecutive four-year-stage. Previous four-year-stages were completed in 2010 and 2014. Over time, the scope of the programme and the projects have developed from mainly dealing with indoor climate control in monumental buildings towards addressing more general issues in the much larger stock of non-listed buildings. Technical research, based on quantitative analysis, dominate throughout all three stages, however most projects have had interdisciplinary components. The results from the programme have been presented in 31 journal papers, 67 conference papers, five books and five PhD theses. The projects have also contributed to CEN standards and resulted in a number of Bachelors and Master's theses. An equally important long-term effect of the programme is that the number of Swedish researchers in the field have increased from practically none in 2007 to 18 senior researchers and twelve PhD students from ten universities in 2014. The research programme on Energy Efficiency in historic buildings is unique in an international context. Hopefully it can serve as an example for other countries on how to address an important interdisciplinary research challenge.


Purpose: In the presence of organ motion, geometric target uncertainty can hamper the benefits of highly conformal dose techniques such as IMRT. A critical step in dealing with intra‐fraction tumor motion is the real‐time monitoring of the tumor position. The aim of this study is the first time demonstration of a real‐time 3D internal fiducial tracking system based on onboard kV diagnostic imaging together with a MV electronic portal‐imaging device (EPID).Method and Materials: A Varian Trilogy radiotherapy system equipped with both kV and MV imaging systems was used in this work. A hardware frame grabber was used to capture both kV and MV video streams simultaneously at 30 fps. An in house built support vector machine (SVM) classifier tool using prior CT based knowledge was used to locate gold cylindrical markers in the kV/MV frames. Controlled kV beam switching, synced with the 'step' part of a step‐and‐shoot IMRT delivery, was investigated in allowing continuous 3D tracking in the presence of beam interruption. A correlation/prediction algorithm was used to buffer lost geometric marker information during kV/MV synchronization. The geometric tracking capabilities of the system were evaluated using a pelvic phantom with embedded fiducials placed on a 3D moveable stage. Results: The maximum 3D tracking speed of the kV‐MV system is approximately 9 Hz. The geometric accuracy of the system is found to be on the order of less than 1 mm in all three spatial dimensions. Synchronized kV/MV switching is found to reduce MV scatter interference on kV imaging and to reduce the overall kV diagnostic dose needed for continuous tracking. Conclusion: A real‐time 3D fiducial tracking system using combined kV and MV imaging has been successfully demonstrated for the first time. The technique is especially suitable for RT systems already equipped with on board kV and EPIDimaging devices.


Introduction Detention under section 136(1) of the Mental Health Act 1983 allows for the police to arrest a person from a public place and remove them to a 'place of safety', typically an emergency department or mental-health unit if it is 'in the interests of that person or for the protection of other persons in immediate need of care or control'. Aims/objective: The aim of this study was to describe the views and perceptions of the process for people with lived experience of mental distress who have been detained under section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983. Method Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a non-probability sample of people with lived experience of mental distress who have been detained under section 136 across Greater London. Interviews were transcribed and thematically analysed using grounded theory. Fifty-eight people with lived experience of mental distress detained under section 136, including four carers, participated in this study. Results Three interwoven themes were identified: (a) process or procedural issues; (b) the professional–patient relationship; and (c) the importance of a supportive therapeutic environment. Conclusion The length of time, multiple assessment points and processes juxtapose against the need for a humane physical environment and supportive therapeutic interactions from all professional agencies. It is unclear how changes proposed in the Policing and Crime Act 2017 will address these patient needs.


Opo (a.k.a. Opuuo, T'apo [lgn]), a Koman language spoken in Ethiopia and South Sudan, has complex and interesting systems of both NOMINAL NUMBER and VERBAL NUMBER. This paper provides a description and analysis of these systems as found in the Bilugu dialect of Ethiopia, using Corbett's (2000) model of number systems as a theoretical framework. In Bilugu Opo, NOMINAL NUMBER marking is divided along the animacy hierarchy into two systems. The TOP SYSTEM, encompassing all human referents, marks singular ~ plural opposition via a variety of morphological strategies (lexical, derivational, and inflectional) and patterns (marked plural, marked singular, and both marked). The SECOND SYSTEM, encompassing all non-human referents, encodes GENERAL NUMBER. In the Opo verb system, VERBAL NUMBER (Corbett 2000) or PLURACTIONALITY (Newman 1990) is attested for just under half of verbs. These verbs can be organized into two groups: a large group which derive a plural stem through morpho-phonemic means (tone modification, vowel gemination, and reduplication) with unpredictable semantics, and a small group which derive a plural stem through lexical means (suppletion and stem alternation) with more predictable semantics.


It has become more important for operators to be able to predict the future number of public transport passengers when consider to place a tender for operating public transport in a city or region, this is due to the new types of operator contracts was introduced quite recently. There are models in use today that can predict this, but they are often time consuming and complex and therefore it can be expensive to perform a forecast. Aside from this, most models in use for Sweden today are adapted for larger cities. Thus, the aim of this thesis is to propose a model that requires minimal input data with a short set up and execution time that can be used to predict a forecast for the public transport system in smaller cities without notably affecting the quality of the result. The developed model is based on a forecast model called LuTrans, which in turn is based on a common method, the four step model. The aim of the model lies within public transportation but it also consider other modes. The input data used by the model mainly consists of socio-economic data, the travel time and distance between all the zones in the network. The model also considers the cost for traveling by car or public transport. The developed model was applied to the Swedish city, Orebro, where a forecast was conducted for a future scenario. It is easily to apply the model to different cities to estimate a forecast for the public transport system. The developed model for the base scenario predicts trips for individual bus lines with an accuracy of 85 % for the city of Orebro. The developed model gave the result that the trips made by public transport in the future scenario of Orebro 2025 will increase annually by 0.94 %. The conclusion is that it is possible to develop a simple model that can be easily applied for a desired city. Although the developed model produced a plausible result for Orebro, further work such as implementation on other cities are required in order to fully evaluate the developed model.


We examine the performance of multimodal biometric authentication systems using state-of-the-art Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) fingerprint and face biometrics on a population approaching 1000 individuals. Prior studies of multimodal biometrics have been limited to relatively low accuracy non-COTS systems and populations approximately 10% of this size. Our work is the first to demonstrate that multimodal fingerprint and face biometric systems can achieve significant accuracy gains over either biometric alone, even when using already highly accurate COTS systems on a relatively large-scale population. In addition to examining well-known multimodal methods, we introduce novel methods of fusion and normalization that improve accuracy still further through population analysis.


We carried out experiments of the mechanical properties of frozen pipes under different temperatures (-5°C, -10°C, -15°C), obtained axial tensile stress - strain curves of the steel and performance of the overall bending under low temperature conditions. The results showed that: the freezing pipes bending capacity increased with the decrease of temperature, but the stiffness was decreased with the decreasing temperature; the steel yield strength and ultimate strength were both increased with the decrease of temperature, the elongation and sectional shrinkage were decreased with the decrease of temperature. The test results provided the basis for the further research of frozen pipes' ductile-brittle transition, fracture and other acts in low temperature, and provided reference for the selection of frozen pipe and engineering design.


Cloud computing presents the idea of elastic and highly scalable networking resources provisioned as a service over the internet. It is an emerging Internet based computing where shared resources, data and information are provided on demand to the end users using computers and other devices. Cloud is the significant model to access the distributed computing resources. This research is based on evaluation of performance degradation factors in cloud computing. Performance evaluation is an important factor in any application particularly in cloud networks. Traditional benchmarks are not sufficient to analyze and evaluate performance of the cloud. This research covers different strategies of performance evaluation in cloud computing. There are many factors, which covers performance degradation in cloud networks and unlike traditional systems it is difficult to reveal the degradation factors and their intensity. This research will discover different types of performance degradation factors and their magnitude in cloud computing. High performance is the essential key elements in cloud computing to make the cloud users happy. The objective of this study is to highlight the significance of parameters which can create the high performance of cloud computing. The ambition of this study is to present progressive advancement in understanding the implications of cloud computing performance parameters. The approach of this study has been to undertake an evaluation of the technological factors affecting the cloud computing performance and to present idea to build highly scalable cloud environments. This research study will also identify the metrics through which performance of the cloud network becomes unreliable and unsuitable. This research will be helpful for those who wants to deploy new cloud infrastructure.


Street-based sex work is criminalized throughout much of the U.S. Diversion programs have shown mixed results. This study examined the effect a quasi-experimental intervention (prostitution diversion program, n = 149) had on prostitution rearrest compared with a waitlist control group (n = 77) among N = 226 individuals arrested for prostitution in Baltimore. In both groups, n = 64 (28.32%) were rearrested for prostitution over 30 months. Tests of differences compared groups with a significant difference in gender only. A Cox proportional hazard model examined differences in survival time (to recidivist prostitution arrest) between individuals in the control and intervention groups at 6, 12, 18, 24, and 30 months. Results indicate that participation in the intervention did not have a significant effect on decreasing prostitution arrests over time. History of prior prostitution arrest was a significant predictor (hazard ration [HR] = 1.12, p = .02) of rearrest.Lack of program success suggests that barriers to exiting prostitution are substantial, despite availability of supportive services, and that diversion programs may not be the best intervention strategy for all sex workers. Future research should identify motivators for exiting and how to reduce exiting barriers.


Optical isomerization of 2-phenylpropionic acid (hydratropic acid, HTA) was studied in the organs of male rat in vitro. (R)-(-)-HTA was not isomerized by rat liver homogenate even after the addition of CoA, ATP, and Mg2+ to the incubation mixture; however, it was isomerized slowly but significantly in liver slices. This suggests that some additional factor(s) are required for the optical isomerization of HTA in rat liver homogenate. Kidney slices showed about 3-fold higher isomerizing activity of (R)-(-)-HTA than liver slices. (S)-(+)-HTA was also slightly isomerized to (R)-(-)-HTA in kidney slices suggesting that the isomerization of HTA is stereoselective but not stereospecific. The liver and the kidney were considered to be the major organs for isomerization of HTA, since the isomerizing activity of the small intestine was low and other tissues examined were inactive. Change of the incubation medium of liver slices from Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate buffer to Krebs-Ringer buffer without bicarbonate, 0.25 M sucrose solution with 0.05 M Tris-HCl buffer (pH 7.4) or 0.9% NaCl solution with 0.05 M Tris-HCl buffer (pH 7.4) increased the isomerization rate of (R)-(-)-HTA to (S)-(+)-HTA, but decreased the glucuronide formation. During incubation of racemic HTA with liver slices, (S)-(+)-enantiomer percentage in HTA acyl glucuronide (HTA-G) increased with time, whereas that of the free HTA remained nearly constant. These results suggested the stereoselective hydrolysis of (R)-(-)-HTA-G in liver slices, which was confirmed by the results from incubation of HTA-G with rat liver preparations. Kidney homogenate also preferentially hydrolyzed (R)-(-)-HTA-G.


Discrimination between disomic and tetrasomic inheritance aids in determining whether tetraploids originated by allotetraploidy or autotetraploidy, respectively. Past assessments of inheritance in tetraploids have used analyses whereby each inheritance hypothesis is tested independently. I present a Bayesian analysis that is appropriate for discriminating among several inheritance hypotheses and can be used in any case where hypotheses are defined by discrete distributions. The Bayesian approach incorporates prior knowledge of the probability of occurrence of disomic and tetrasomic hypotheses so that the results of the analysis are not biased by the fact that there is a single tetrasomic hypothesis and multiple disomic hypotheses. This analysis is used to interpret data from crosses in the tetraploid Astilbe biternata, a herbaceous plant native to the southern Appalachians. The progeny ratios from all crosses favored the hypothesis of disomic inheritance at both the PGM and slow-PGI loci. These results support earlier cytogenetic evidence for the allotetraploid origin of Astilbe biternata.


Abstract : Infrastructure systems and facilities have deteriorated due to the impact of limited defense funding and competing priorities within the Air Force. The current method used for infrastructure prioritization is influenced by political sensitivity and uncertainty regarding the consequences of various funding decisions. Senior leaders need to better understand how their funding decisions will impact the overall condition and service life of the installation's infrastructure systems and facilities. The purpose of this research was to improve the method of prioritizing infrastructure projects through the use of a decision analysis methodology known as Value-Focused Thinking. The value model was created based on the perspective of the civil engineer with inputs from a proxy decision maker at Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command. The model was used to apply three funding strategies to develop prioritized lists of restoration and modernization projects. It also applies metrics to compare the three funding strategies and their impact to the installation's infrastructure. The resulting model provides insight to the decision maker on which funding strategy is best suited for prioritizing infrastructure projects and how their selection of prioritized projects will impact the overall condition and service life of infrastructure systems and facilities.


This paper introduces a collection of articles on 'Transnational livelihoods and landscapes'. We outline the analytical value of grounding political ecologies of globalization in notions of livelihood, scale, place and network. This requires an understanding of the linkages between rural people to global processes. We argue that the exploitation of these linkages can, under certain circumstances, result in new options and markets for rural people in marginal regions, even though many rural societies also confront serious political, environmental and economic challenges that likewise derive from globalization.


Variability in snow cover strongly influences mass budgets of glaciers, permafrost distribution, and seasonal discharge of rivers. In times of a changing climate, the spatio-temporal patterns of snow cover are of high interest. In this study, snow cover time series for the Aksu catchment in Central Tien Shan have been generated from optical remote sensing imagery. The analyses span a period between 1986 and 2013 and imbed Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) level 1b scenes, which were classified using a dichotomous decision scheme, as well as the preprocessed Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) snow cover product. High congruence of the results could be achieved in spite of different sensors involved. However, a small bias appears especially at high elevations. The results from 2000 to 2013 reveal that snow accumulation begins in October and melting starts in March. Above an elevation of around 5200 m a.s.l., permanent snow cover can be expected, which is mirrored by a zonal mean of more than 85% of snow for the whole period 1986-2013. Anomalies are very indicative and reveal a high interannual variability of snow cover in terms of quantity and spatial distribution. Change detection of snow cover probability (SCP) shows a slight decrease in lower altitudes up to 4000 m a.s.l. and an opposite trend above. However, the negative trends are not significant. Significant gradients have been found only at high elevations where the two data sources could not perfectly be harmonized. Comparisons with climatic variables show a similar temporal behavior of SCP and temperatures.


This exploratory study delves into video game (VG) habits and personal histories of students managing anxiety from their respective courses and institutions of higher education. Whilst the expanse of video game research is limited, the recent increase in research is presumably reactive, thus resulting in literature focused on the phenomenon of aggression caused by gaming. Approaches in these studies typically include questionnaires, observations in induced situations, physiological tests, or meta-analysis, regardless of previous researcher bias. As such are clearly quantitative and reductionist in nature, this study endeavours to demonstrate an inclusive approach that fills a gap within literature. Phenomenology of Perception, by philosopher Merleau-Ponty in 1945, frames phenomenology as the study of essence of perception and consciousness through direct description of human experience. The present qualitative study engages this principal notion in its approach to unearth evocative themes of the VG player experience neglected by prior research. The liberation of participant experiences through interviews calls for a more necessary, apt approach of Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The aim of this research was to establish themes in which higher education students make sense of their VG habits to relieve anxiety, and to what extent it relates to identity development and metacognition. To gain knowledge of the eight participants in college and/or university within the United Kingdom and the United States of America, 34 semi-structured IPA interviews were conducted and analysed. The multiple trends uncovered include the use of video games to relax and fulfil social needs; anxiety related to academic deadlines and finances; and participant histories impacting identity formation and metacognition.


Fish bone ingestion is relatively common, however, resultant perforation of the small bowel is fortunately rare. We present a case of a 48-year-old gentleman who attended our emergency department complaining of severe, unrelenting right lower abdominal pain for the preceding five hours. CT scanning suggested a perforated appendix however at operation the appendix was normal. Several loops of small bowel walling off an inter-loop abscess and a fishbone were discovered in the washout fluid. A diagnosis of small bowel fish bone perforation was made intra-operatively and the patient subsequently made a full recovery without the need for bowel resection. We present this as a rare case of small bowel perforation by a fish bone where the site of perforation was unidentifiable but was treated successfully without the need for bowel resection. doi:10.4021/jmc151w


This study analyzes 34 tools through 442 publications on energy systems modeling, aiming to identify the most relevant trends in research and the research gaps in energy planning. For detecting these gaps, the publications analyzed were categorized based on pre‐defined criteria regarding geographical coverage, sectoral coverage, time horizon, analytical approach and energy source. The categories were designed to be a broad classification with the appropriate level of information required to differentiate between models. The results show that there is a lack of studies concerned with better understanding the energy systems in Africa and South America. Environmentally‐oriented publications account for 50.4% of all the publications studied. Modelers have thus shown a greater interest in studying issues related to climate change mitigation than in other areas of the energy chain.


Are presidential cabinets gendered institutions? This important question has been ignored for Latin America to date. In this article, the authors propose four benchmarks for evaluating whether presidential cabinets should be classified as gendered institutions. If they are we should observe (1) that there are differences in career length, continuity, and mobility between men and women; (2) that women receive feminine domain posts and men masculine ones; (3) that masculine ministries offer greater potential for upward mobility; and (4) that women must be better qualified than men to receive appointments. Using data from eighteen Latin American countries from 1980 to 2003, the authors analyze the degree to which cabinets conform to these criteria. They conclude that even though women are starting to gain appointments to high-profile and to masculine domain cabinet posts, the overall evidence supports the conclusion that there are gendered patterns to cabinet appointments.


The lower esophageal mucosal ring, or Schatzki's ring, was first described by Templeton. Anatomically, it represents the lower end of the esophagus. Patients classically present with intermittent dysphagia to solids. Diagnosis is made by endoscopy or a barium esophagram. Gastroesophageal reflux disease has been suggested as an etiology. It can usually be treated by passing a large dilator. Further controlled studies are needed to study its cause.


ABSTRACT We examine the impediments to scientific integrity with an analysis of the water science-policy interface for the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB), Australia. We highlight the dangers to the public interest of 'administrative capture' of science, whereby scientists are incentivised to narrow or close down the scientific questions asked, the debates on evidence and the scientific dialogue so to support predetermined policy actions. Administrative capture of science is not intended to be objective or disinterested and contributes to a diminution of trust in science and scientists. Using an integrative theoretical framework for analysis of the different stances taken by scientists in science–policy interactions, we show how scientists as Issue Advocates have sought to limit debate and the options available in relation to water reform in the MDB. We provide six possible actions to reduce administrative capture that encourages scientists to become Issue Advocates. These actions include procedural, professional, evaluative, judicial, instrumental and external controls that support scientific integrity by individuals and agencies that use and/or undertake publicly funded research.


Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infects mainly CD4+CCR4+ effector/memory T cells in vivo. However, it remains unknown whether HTLV-1 preferentially infects these T cells or this virus converts infected precursor cells to specialized T cells. Expression of viral genes in vivo is critical to study viral replication and proliferation of infected cells. Therefore, we first analyzed viral gene expression in non-human primates naturally infected with simian T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (STLV-1), whose virological attributes closely resemble those of HTLV-1. Although the tax transcript was detected only in certain tissues, Tax expression was much higher in the bone marrow, indicating the possibility of de novo infection. Furthermore, Tax expression of non-T cells was suspected in bone marrow. These data suggest that HTLV-1 infects hematopoietic cells in the bone marrow. To explore the possibility that HTLV-1 infects hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), we analyzed integration sites of HTLV-1 provirus in various lineages of hematopoietic cells in patients with HTLV-1 associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) and a HTLV-1 carrier using the high-throughput sequencing method. Identical integration sites were detected in neutrophils, monocytes, B cells, CD8+ T cells and CD4+ T cells, indicating that HTLV-1 infects HSCs in vivo. We also detected Tax protein in myeloperoxidase positive neutrophils. Furthermore, dendritic cells differentiated from HTLV-1 infected monocytes caused de novo infection to T cells, indicating that infected monocytes are implicated in viral spreading in vivo. Certain integration sites were re-detected in neutrophils from HAM/TSP patients at different time points, indicating that infected HSCs persist and differentiate in vivo. This study demonstrates that HTLV-1 infects HSCs, and infected stem cells differentiate into diverse cell lineages. These data indicate that infection of HSCs can contribute to the persistence and spread of HTLV-1 in vivo.


Tunas and their relatives dominate the world's largest ecosystems and sustain some of the most valuable fisheries. The impacts of fishing on these species have been debated intensively over the past decade, giving rise to divergent views on the scale and extent of the impacts of fisheries on pelagic ecosystems. We use all available age-structured stock assessments to evaluate the adult biomass trajectories and exploitation status of 26 populations of tunas and their relatives (17 tunas, 5 mackerels, and 4 Spanish mackerels) from 1954 to 2006. Overall, populations have declined, on average, by 60% over the past half century, but the decline in the total adult biomass is lower (52%), driven by a few abundant populations. The trajectories of individual populations depend on the interaction between life histories, ecology, and fishing pressure. The steepest declines are exhibited by two distinct groups: the largest, longest lived, highest value temperate tunas and the smaller, short-lived mackerels, both with most of their populations being overexploited. The remaining populations, mostly tropical tunas, have been fished down to approximately maximum sustainable yield levels, preventing further expansion of catches in these fisheries. Fishing mortality has increased steadily to the point where around 12.5% of the tunas and their relatives are caught each year globally. Overcapacity of these fisheries is jeopardizing their long-term sustainability. To guarantee higher catches, stabilize profits, and reduce collateral impacts on marine ecosystems requires the rebuilding of overexploited populations and stricter management measures to reduce overcapacity and regulate threatening trade.


In educational settings, substantial scholarly interest has focused on student engagement as an antecedent for educational development and positive school outcomes. Very limited research, however, has focused on the engagement of academic staff members. This may be a crucial oversight because engagement has been argued to lead to more satisfied, more productive and healthier staff. In this study, based on a sample consisting of 489 members of multicultural university departments, we set out to investigate the relationship between trust, conflict and academic staff engagement. More specifically we assessed the effect of group trust, group relational conflict and group task conflict on indicators of behavioural, cognitive and emotional engagement. Our findings show a strong positive association between group trust and all academic staff engagement variables as well as a strong negative association between group relational conflict and all staff engagement variables. Task conflict was negatively associated with indicators of staff cognitive engagement. However, surprisingly, group trust did not have any moderating effect. Implications for educational organisation managers and policy makers are discussed in detail.


Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is the major active polyphenol in green tea. Protein interaction with EGCG is a critical step in the effects of EGCG on the regulation of various key proteins involved in signal transduction. We have identified a novel molecular target of EGCG using affinity chromatography, two-dimensional electrophoresis, and mass spectrometry for protein identification. Spots of interest were identified as the intermediate filament, vimentin. The identification was confirmed by Western blot analysis using an anti-vimentin antibody. Experiments using a pull-down assay with [3H]EGCG demonstrate binding of EGCG to vimentin with a Kd of 3.3 nm. EGCG inhibited phosphorylation of vimentin at serines 50 and 55 and phosphorylation of vimentin by cyclin-dependent kinase 2 and cAMP-dependent protein kinase. EGCG specifically inhibits cell proliferation by binding to vimentin. Because vimentin is important for maintaining cellular functions and is essential in maintaining the structure and mechanical integration of the cellular space, the inhibitory effect of EGCG on vimentin may further explain its anti-tumor-promoting effect.


Perpetual Shift, a responsive art installation, exists at the intersection of digital media, art and architecture, bearing a range of connections to the realm of ubiquitous computing and adding to evolving perspectives in the fields of installation art and interactive architecture by proposing a new mode of engaging with data through the physical built environment.
The physical embodiment of the sculpture has the functional properties of a Tangible User Interface and employs an innovative approach to material application to generate multi-modal dynamic output (sight and sound). Though as a device Perpetual Shift is capable of being programmed to function as a form of data-physicalization, this artwork is a form of data-sculpture whereby location of the human body is interpreted as data which drives the actuation of the built environment.


The amphibian chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), is an infectious disease responsible for the worldwide decline of amphibian species. To mitigate these declines, it is necessary to identify the various vectors by which the fungus can be transmitted between individuals and populations. The objective of this study was to determine whether adult female mosquitoes can carry and transfer Bd fungal cells. Mosquitoes were exposed to netting soaked in a live Bd zoospore suspension to determine whether they are able to externally acquire the fungus. Another group was placed into containers with a sterile and Bd-inoculated agar plate to determine whether mosquitoes could transfer Bd between these surfaces. Bd DNA was found to be present on mosquito legs exposed to inoculated netting and agar plates suggesting that Bd can be transmitted by the mosquito over short distances. This is the first study to demonstrate that an insect host may be a mechanical vector of Bd and suggests that we should begin to consider the role of mosquitoes in the dissemination and control of the fungus.


In this work, we present the design, laboratory tests, and the field trial results of a power-over-fiber (PoF) low power instrument transformer (LPIT) for voltage and current measurements in the medium voltage distribution networks. The new proposed design of this power-over-fiber LPIT aims to overcome the drawbacks presented by the previous technologies, such as the continuous operation (measuring and data transmission) for a wide current range conducted in the medium voltage transmission lines, damage due to lightning strikes, accuracy dependency on vibration, position and temperatures. The LPIT attends the accuracy criteria of IEC 61869-10 and IEC 61869-11 in terms of current and voltage accuracy and it attends the practical criteria adopted by Utilities companies including voltage measurements without removing the coating of the covered conductors. The PoF based LPIT was developed to be applied at 11.9 kV, 13.8 kV, and 23.0 kV phase-to-phase nominal voltages, and in two current ranges 1.25–30 A and 37.5–900 A. The digital data transmission of current, voltage, and temperature from the sensing unit to the processing unit uses a special synchronism technique and it is performed by two 62.5 µm multimode fibers in 850 nm. The optical powering in 976 nm is also performed by one 62.5 µm multimode fiber from the processing unit to the sensor unit. We presented all details of the sensor design and its laboratory characterization in terms of accuracy and temperature correction. We also presented the results of field tests of the sensor made in two different conditions: in a standard distribution network and an experimental hybrid fiber/power distribution network. We believe that these studies aim to incorporate optical fiber and devices, digital technologies, communications systems in electrical systems driving their evolution.


Actor-critic algorithms solve dynamic decision making problems by optimizing a performance metric of interest over a user-specified parametric class of policies. They employ a combination of an actor, making policy improvement steps, and a critic, computing policy improvement directions. Many existing algorithms use a steepest ascent method to improve the policy, which is known to suffer from slow convergence for ill-conditioned problems. In this paper, we first develop an estimate of the (Hessian) matrix containing the second derivatives of the performance metric with respect to policy parameters. Using this estimate, we introduce a new second-order policy improvement method and couple it with a critic using a second-order learning method. We establish almost sure convergence of the new method to a neighborhood of a policy parameter stationary point. We compare the new algorithm with some existing algorithms in two applications and demonstrate that it leads to significantly faster convergence.


Experiments were done to determine the effects of cold stratification (0, 20, 40, 60, 80 or 100 days), application of gibberelic acid (GA3) (0, 250, 500, 1000 or 2000 mg/l) and the combination (GA3 + stratification) on seed germination of black mulberry. Application of 1000 mg/l GA3 proved more effective than any of the other concentrations of GA3 applied. Seeds stratified for 100 days showed 88% germination. The combined treatment of 250 mg/l GA3 and 100 days of stratification yielded 96% germination of seeds. The relationships between GA3 concentration and seed germination (r = 0.93), and between stratification duration and seed germination (r = 0.91) of black mulberry were linear.


CONTEXT
Supplementing with fruits high in anthocyanins to reduce exercise-induced oxidative stress and inflammation has produced mixed results.

OBJECTIVE
This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to discuss the impact of whole fruits high in anthocyanins, including processing methods and the type and amount of fruit, on inflammation and oxidative stress.

DATA SOURCES
PICOS reporting guidelines and a customized coding scheme were used to search 5 databases (SPORTDiscus, Science Direct, Web of Science [BIOSIS], Medline [Pubmed], and the Cochrane Collaboration) with additional cross-referencing selection.

DATA EXTRACTION
A random-effects meta-analysis was used to measure effects of the fruit supplements with 3 statistics; the QTotal value based on a χ2 distribution, τ2 value, and I2 value were used to determine homogeneity of variances on 22 studies (out of 807). Outliers were identified using a relative residual value.

RESULTS
A small significant negative summary effect across the sum of all inflammatory marker outcomes (P < 0.001) and a moderate negative effect for the sum of all oxidative stress marker outcomes (P = 0.036) were found. Moderator analyses did not reveal significant (P > 0.05) differences between subgrouping variables.

CONCLUSIONS
Results indicate that consumption of whole fruit high in anthocyanins can be beneficial for reducing inflammation and oxidative stress.


Abstract. – OBJECTIVE: Obesity is a major health problem in modern society because their progression is always associated with many health issues. The major among them is developing the cardiovascular disease because as the obesity prolonged it results with cardiac remodelling and finally results in the dysfunction of the cardiac system. Many genes are associated with developing the obesity-linked cardiac dysfunction and it should be evaluated at different pathological stages of obesity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In the present studies, we analyzed the expression pattern of Smad6 and TGF-β using obesity-induced mice model which are ob/ob−/− deficient. The pathology of disease progression in initial and aggressive stage of cardiac dysfunction are studied together with Smad6 and TGF-β expression. RESULTS: The mice develop initial stages of cardiac dysfunction on 3rd month and advanced stage of cardiac dysfunction on the 6th month. The results with histology show as the dysfunction progress it shows cellular lesions associated with enlarged cells. Immunochemistry with Smad6 represents that its expression positively regulate and repair the initial lesion but it has no role in the aggressive form of cardiac dysfunction and at that stage their expression downregulated. The results with TGF-β show initial upregulation in repairing the damage but in latter stage its expression many fold increases and it takes part in the inflammatory response. CONCLUSIONS: Overall our results show aberrant expression of Smad6 and TGF-β at different stages of obesity linked cardiac dysfunction.


Siderophores are high-affinity ferric iron chelators biosynthesised and excreted by most microorganisms that play an important role in iron acquisition. Siderophore-mediated scavenging of ferric iron from hosts contributes significantly to the virulence of pathogenic microbes. As a consequence siderophore biosynthesis is an attractive target for chemotherapeutic intervention. Two main pathways for siderophore biosynthesis exist in microbes. One pathway involves nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) multienzymes while the other is NRPS-independent. The enzymology of NRPS-mediated siderophore biosynthesis has been extensively studied for more than a decade. In contrast, the enzymology of NRPS-independent siderophore (NIS) biosynthesis was overlooked for almost thirty years since the first genetic characterisation of the NIS biosynthetic pathway to aerobactin. However, the past three years have witnessed an explosion of interest in the enzymology of NIS synthetases, the key enzymes in the assembly of siderophores via the NIS pathway. The biochemical characterisation of ten purified recombinant synthetases has been reported since 2007, along with the first structural characterisation of a synthetase by X-ray crystallography in 2009. In this feature article we summarise the recent progress that has been made in understanding the long-overlooked enzymology of NRPS-independent siderophore biosynthesis, highlight important remaining questions, and suggest likely directions for future research.


In manufacturing of working parts by metal forming there are a number of various methods, owing to sorts and largeness of parts as well as the demands for form and accuracy that cause different procedures and ways of bending process. Elastic part of deformation causes aberration of form and accuracy in bending. The important criterion in validation of bended parts presents the aberration of bending angle. As a measure for angle accuracy, it can be taken into account a relative error of bending angle. For the improvement of accuracy it is used a model, that compensate the mechanical spring back. The influence of mechanical spring back on bending angle can be eliminated, if it is in certain range of opposite direction and the same amount. The following elements exter influence on bending: press-brak, die, work piece geometry, product properties and friction. This paper analysis the influence of friction on the accuracy of bending.


© Civil-Comp Press, 2015. Large displacement response of stone masonry structures often involves the opening and closing of dry joints, or hinging behaviour. Discrete element modelling (DEM) is often used to model large displacement response as it inherently captures the interaction of discrete bodies, and allows for joint contact recognition in a more efficient manner than many finite element modelling procedures. Modelling such behaviour can be computationally demanding and the problem becomes more complicated when reinforcing, often in the form of post-tensioning, is applied to prevent collapse. This paper evaluates the ability of DEM to accurately capture the behaviour of reinforced masonry as observed in an experimental study conducted at the University of Porto. The DEM software 3DEC was used to model the response of the post-tensioned arch when subjected to gravity and a superimposed dead load, and this response was evaluated for varying levels of pre-stress in the arch. A reasonably good correlation was observed between the experimental and DEM results, and the differences that do exist are discussed.