Objectives: In competitive athletes, return to play (RTP) and return to pre-injury levels of performance are the main goals of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery. RTP has been studied in several athletic populations, such as the National Football League. However, to our knowledge, RTP has not been comprehensively evaluated in Division 1 college football. This study aimed to determine the rate of RTP amongst players in three major Division 1 college football conferences, and to investigate several athlete and surgery related variables that may affect RTP. We hypothesized that rates of RTP would be higher than those previously reported in the National Football League and that graft choice and history of concomitant menisectomy would affect RTP. We also hypothesized that players with more experience, at higher depth chart positions, and/or on scholarship would RTP at higher rates than other players. Methods: Head team orthopaedists and athletic trainers at institutions in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Southeastern Conference, and Pacific 12 Conference were contacted to request their participation in the study. Following IRB approval participating institutions were sent a standardized data collection spreadsheet that asked for RTP and other athlete- and surgery-specific information on all football players undergoing ACL reconstruction from 2004-2010. RTP was defined as an athlete participating in a full practice or official game after the date of his surgery. Athletes whose eligibility expired while injured were excluded from our analysis. Data from each institution was pooled and Chi-square and Fisher Exact tests were used to test the association between any categorical variables and RTP rates. Results: Data from a total of 184 athletes was obtained. The overall rate of RTP was 82% amongst all athletes. 76% of athletes were able to return to a level of play equal or higher than before their injury. Player's depth chart position before injury did have a significant (p = .0049) association with RTP, with 73% of players who rarely played, 88% of utilized players, and 95% of starters returning to play after surgery. Athletes on scholarship returned to play at a higher rate (88%), than those not on scholarships (69%) (p = .014). Years of experience also had a significant (p = .047) effect on RTP, with freshman RTP at 83%, sophomores at 94%, juniors at 89%, seniors at 73%, and fifth year seniors at 75%. The use of autograft vs. allograft and the specific choice of autograft did not have a significant impact on RTP rates. Players who underwent a menisectomy returned to play at a rate (79%) similar to those who did not have a concomitant menisectomy (84%) (p = .56). Conclusion: The overall rate of RTP in our Division 1 college football athlete cohort was higher than that previously reported in professional football players. Athletes at higher positions on the depth chart and those on scholarship returned to play at higher rates. Year in school also had a significant effect on RTP rates, while the type of ACL graft and the performance of menisectomy did not.


Abstract. Political ecology is a research field comprising studies with a critical perspective on human/nature-relations – critical in both a political and an epistemological sense. Fundamental questions of political ecology, here, are related to just and equal access to resources, their contribution and control, and to the regimes of regulation. The article specifies the empirical and epistemological approaches within political ecology in the last decades. It does not tell a linear history or a single story, because political ecology emerges out of a continuous process of mutual inspirations of academic debates and activist practices. The research strands in political ecology operate with different ideas on how to conceptionalize nature: as social product, technonature, hybrid, or as actant. These conceptualisations are related to different approaches of neo-Marxist and post-structural epistemology. This article discusses the present debate of political ecology in two steps. After introducing a broader perspective of what critique means in political ecology, it gives an account of the various approaches for analysis of both, geographies and materialities of uneven development. The early studies of political ecology explain human/nature-relations as socially produced, related to a Marxist understanding of historical materialism. In recent debates of political ecology, this approach was confronted with a new materialist thinking of more fluid interrelations between nature and non-nature; it also addresses postcolonial studies' claim to decentralize the perspectives on history and geography in order to understand new forms of connectivity of nature and culture.


While shifts to high-intensity land cover have caused overwhelming biodiversity loss, it remains unclear how important natural land cover is to the occurrence, and thus the conservation, of different species groups. We used over 4 million plant species' observations to evaluate the conservation importance of natural land cover by its association with the occurrence probability of 1 122 native and 403 exotic plant species at 1 km resolution by species distribution models. We found that 74.9% of native species, 83.9% of the threatened species and 77.1% rare species preferred landscapes with over 50% natural land cover, while these landscapes only accounted for 15.6% of all grids. Most species preferred natural areas with a mixture of forest and open areas rather than areas with completely open or forested nature. Compared to native species, exotic species preferred areas with lower natural land cover and the cover of natural open area, but they both preferred extremely high and low cover of natural forest area. Threatened and rare species preferred higher natural land cover, either cover of natural forest area or cover of natural open area than not threatened and common species, but rare species were also more likely to occur in landscapes with 0–25% cover of natural open area. Although more natural land cover in a landscape will not automatically result in more native species, because there is often a non-linear increase in species occurrence probability when going from 0% to 100% natural land cover, for conserving purposes, over 80% natural land cover should be kept in landscapes for conserving threatened and very rare species, and 60% natural land cover is the best for conserving common native species. Our results stress the importance of natural areas for plant species' conservation. It also informs improvements to species conservation by increasing habitat diversity.


Background
 Stroke is the second leading cause of death in the world. Spasticity is one of the most commonly found sequelae of stroke. No systematic review of trials of acupuncture mainly focusing on spasticity management in post stroke patient have been searched.

 Objective
 The objective of this review was to evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture in managing of spasticity for patients with acute, subacute and chronic stroke.

 Search strategy
 We searched the MEDLINE (Ovid), EMBASE, AMED, CINAHL Plus, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (CCTR), CBM and CMCC, from inception to March 2010. Reference lists of retrieved articles were also searched.

 Selection criteria
 Randomized controlled clinical trials and crossover studies in stroke patients with spasticity syndrome in any phase were included in this review.

 Data collection and analysis
 Two review authors independently extracted data and assessed the quality of the papers. The Cochrane Review Manager software RevMan 4.2 was used for meta-analyses. For dichotomous outcomes, the results were expressed as odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI), for continuous data, the weighted mean difference (WMD) was used.

 Main results
 There were 4 relevant trials in the review including one trial with adequate quality and three trials with low quality, involving 176 participants. Conflicting results were found among the trials for the change of the spasticity level of the affected extremities and the change of the activities of daily life. Only one trial reported the change of upper extremity motor function, grip strength of affected upper extremity, range of motion of affected upper and/or lower extremity and health-related quality of life. No statistically significant differences in all mentioned outcomes between active and sham acupuncture groups were found by Intention to treat analysis. No data was available to analyze ambulation function. There was insufficient available data to be pooled in meta-analysis. Limited safety information was reported.

 Reviewers' conclusion
 This review does not provide evidence to support the routine use of acupuncture in management of spasticity for patients with acute, subacute and chronic stroke. Large, methodologically sound randomized controlled trials are needed.


Background: This study aimed to assess the risk factors and the association of circulatory failure with treatments, complications, outcomes, and resource utilization in hospitalized patients for heatstroke in the United States. Methods: Hospitalized patients with a principal diagnosis of heatstroke were identified in the National Inpatient Sample dataset from the years 2003 to 2014. Circulatory failure, defined as any type of shock or hypotension, was identified using hospital diagnosis codes. Clinical characteristics, in-hospital treatment, complications, outcomes, and resource utilization between patients with and without circulatory failure were compared. Results: A total of 3372 hospital admissions primarily for heatstroke were included in the study. Of these, circulatory failure occurred in 393 (12%) admissions. Circulatory failure was more commonly found in obese patients, but less common in older patients aged ≥60 years. The need for mechanical ventilation, blood transfusion, and renal replacement therapy were higher in patients with circulatory failure. Hyperkalemia, hypocalcemia, metabolic acidosis, metabolic alkalosis, sepsis, ventricular arrhythmia or cardiac arrest, renal failure, respiratory failure, liver failure, neurological failure, and hematologic failure were associated with circulatory failure. The in-hospital mortality was 7.1-times higher in patients with circulatory failure. The length of hospital stay and hospitalization costs were higher when circulatory failure occurred while in the hospital. Conclusions: Approximately one out of nine heatstroke patients developed circulatory failure during hospitalization. Circulatory failure was associated with various complications, higher mortality, and increased resource utilizations.


Wolfgang Haas is an award-winning Austrian author
known primarily for his entertaining and quirky detective novels
which follow the misadventures of Simon Brenner, an Austrian
private investigator. These novels are notable for their subtle and
not-so-subtle critiques of contemporary Austrian society and
culture, their sometimes grisly content, and their unique and
colloquial use of the Austrian variety of the German language. Haas
has received numerous literary awards in the German-speaking world
and attributes his success to the unique way he tells his stories,
rather than the stories themselves. Of the seven Brenner novels
that have been published thus far, only one is available in English
translation, and he remains virtually unknown in the
English-speaking world. This thesis includes a brief biography of
Haas and an overview of his career, an analysis of his unique
writing style and the problems they pose for a translator, and an
English translation of the first two chapters of the novel
Silentium! (1999).


Home security has been a major issue where crime is increasing and everybody wants to take proper measures to prevent intrusion. In addition, there is a need to automate home so that user can take advantage of the technology. The project is aimed at developing the safety and security of individual flat in an apartment against Intruders, Gas Leak and Fire. In addition, this project also looks after the switching ON and OFF of the passage lights depending on the intensity of the lights and the Overhead water tanks will be filled automatically.


Linear-optical logic gates have the potential to be the bases of the next-generation information technology (IT) because of the low power consumption and rapid response. This study proposes a general theoretical model to obtain the optimal solutions for linear-optical logic gates. All common logic gates (AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR, XOR, and XNOR) are experimentally demonstrated with one single sample structure based on ultracompact plasmonic waveguides. The measured intensity contrast ratio between the output-logic "1" and "0" states reaches 28 dB for the OR gate and 9.4 dB for the AND gate, thereby approaching the theoretical maximum of infinity and 9.5 dB, respectively. The proposed logic gates provide uniform output intensities for identical output logics when the input logics are different. The measured intensity discrepancies are below 1% for the three output-logic "1" states of the OR gate and the three output-logic "0" states of the AND gate. This phenomenon is favored in practical applications and th...


Five patients were treated for pseudo-obstruction of the colon. The symptoms, diagnostic procedures and treatment of Ogilvie's syndrome are discussed. A definitive diagnosis can be established only at laparotomy when no mechanical obstruction is found to be present. Progression of ileus and signs of peritonitis constitute an indication for laparotomy. Delay in operative therapy implies the risk of (coecal) perforation with increased mortality. Coecostomy is an adequate therapy that spares the patient a second procedure for closure of a colostomy.


Palaeopropithecids, or "sloth lemurs," are a diverse clade of large‐bodied Malagasy subfossil primates characterized by their inferred suspensory positional behavior. The most recently discovered genus of the palaeopropithecids is Babakotia, and it has been described as more arboreal than Mesopropithecus, but less than Palaeopropithecus. In this article, the within‐bone and between‐bones articular and cross‐sectional diaphyseal proportions of the humerus and femur of Babakotia were compared to extant lemurs, Mesopropithecus and Palaeopropithecus in order to further understand its arboreal adaptations. Additionally, a sample of apes and sloths (Choloepus and Bradypus) are included as functional outgroups composed of suspensory adapted primates and non‐primates. Results show that Babakotia and Mesopropithecus both have high humeral/femoral shaft strength proportions, similar to extant great apes and sloths and indicative of forelimb suspensory behavior, with Babakotia more extreme in this regard. All three subfossil taxa have relatively large femoral heads, also associated with suspension in modern taxa. However, Babakotia and Mesopropithecus (but not Palaeopropithecus) have relatively small femoral head surface area to shaft strength proportions suggesting that hind‐limb positioning in these taxa during climbing and other behaviors was different than in extant great apes, involving less mobility. Knee and humeral articular dimensions relative to shaft strengths are small in Babakotia and Mesopropithecus, similar to those found in modern sloths and divergent from those in extant great apes and lemurs, suggesting more sloth‐like use of these joints during locomotion. Mesopropithecus and Babakotia are more similar to Choloepus in humerofemoral head and length proportions while Palaeopropithecus is more similar to Bradypus. These results provide further evidence of the suspensory adaptations of Babakotia and further highlight similarities to both extant suspensory primates and non‐primate slow arboreal climbers and hangers. J. Morphol. 277:1199–1218, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Objectives: To investigate the influence of motor control training of deep external rotators of hip joint on pain and function followed by Total Hip Replacement (THR). Methods: Subjects (n=10) who had posted for unilateral Total Hip Replacements were enrolled. Pre and post intervention data collected from 10 patients, who were posted for total hip replacement. Patient's received motor control training for deep external rotators of hip joint, twice a day for 8 weeks along with standard THR rehabilitation exercises. Thirty second chair stand test is used as primary outcome measure and NPRS, HOOS and Timed Up and Go test are used as secondary outcome measures. All the outcome measures have taken pre and post 8 weeks of intervention. Paired t-test used for statistical analysis to find out the changes within the group. Results: Overall significant differences were observed before and after the training in all outcomes. 30 sec chair stand test improved by mean of 2.60 ± 1.35 times (p=0.001). NPRS demonstrated a reduction in pain score from 8.90 (0.99) to 2.30 (0.82) with a mean of 5.60 ± 0.96. Timed Up and Go test showed an improvement of 8.10 sec over an 8 weeks from 29.60 sec to 21.50 sec (p=0.003). HOOS total score showed a better shift from 98.89 ± 16.59 to 52 ± 8.92 in 8 weeks. Conclusion: The implementation of motor control training of deep external rotators of hip joint along with standard THR protocol following unilateral Total Hip Replacement improves pain scores and physical function post 8 weeks of surgery.


Recently, highly luminescent lanthanide complexes with mixed ligands such as and β-diketone and two herobiaryl ligands have been synthesized and suggested as promising light-conversion molecular devices as described by several authors. The synthesis, luminescence, quantum yields, spectroscopic characteristics, structure, among others properties of these complexes, including the possibility of production thin film films from these materials have been discussed, but little is known about their thermal decomposition kinetics. In this work we report the determination of kinetic parameters of thermal decomposition of the complexes Gd(thd)3phen and Er(thd)3phen (thd=2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5- heptanodione; phen=1,10-phenantroline) using the method proposed by Ozawa (1965). The kinetic parameters obtained for activation energy were: 90 and 87 kJ.mol-1, the values of frequency factor were: 2.3x107 and 2.0x107 s-1 for Gd(thd)3phen and Er(thd)3phen, respectively. On the kinetic energy of the complexes, we notice the following order in thermal stability: Gd(thd)3phen < Er(thd)3phen.


Abstract Low ice adhesion surfaces are a promising anti-icing strategy. However, experimentally obtained ice adhesion strengths are so far not transferable or comparable, and they are very sensitive to the experimental set-up and type of accreted ice. This critical review describes both the widely used ice adhesion measurement techniques and ice generation methods, before discussing why the results cannot be directly compared. The ice adhesion measurement techniques included are horizontal and vertical shear tests, centrifugal ice adhesion tests and tensile tests. The ice generation methods included in the review are icing by freezing drizzle, wind tunnel icing and bulk water icing, and definitions of other ice types are included. Special challenges for low ice adhesion surfaces have been discussed, as well as the effect of ice sample size and the impact from gravity. A future standard within ice adhesion research should be able to directly compare different experimental results, and should, therefore, include all relevant parameters and currently available methods. Due to the large variation of available ice adhesion set-ups, it is recommended that a reference test and ice type is established for enhanced comparability. The reference suggested is a horizontal shear test with bulk water ice, and defined experimental parameters. A continuing focus on the fundamental mechanisms of ice adhesion is needed to identify the important contributions to the large variations in reported ice adhesion strengths.


Computed tomography(CT) is the only current clinical modality which is fundamentally quantitative. While other modalities can in many cases be calibrated to deliver a linear response, the normalization with respect to water of the Hounsfield Unit is the standard in clinical CTimaging. Furthermore, gray scale in CT is linearly related to the concentration of injected iodine contrast agent, which is useful for CT‐based organ function assessment. In addition to a quantitative gray scale, CT is a robust quantitative tool in regards to distances in three dimensions. Because of the straight‐line assumption used in x‐ray imaging including CT, in the absence of patient motion, distances, areas, and volumes can in principle be measured with accuracy. Modern multi‐slice CT scanners allow thin section imaging, and thus the volume data sets produce near‐isotropic spatial resolution. These properties of CT have led to a number of quantitative applications: CT has been used to quantify bone mineral density for almost 30 years, and this tool has proven useful in quantitative risk assessment in patients with osteoporosis. Researchers in pulmonary function have used CT to measure changes in the lung parenchyma over time. Organ perfusion measurements are commonly performed in the head for the evaluation in patients suspected of stroke or vasospasm, and abdominal organ perfusion measurements have also been studied in cancer patients. Computed tomography remains a primary tool for the assessment of tumor size, in monitoring the response to chemotherapy in cancer patients. While linear dimension assessment is a RECIST criterion, there has been a recent move towards tumor volume assessment to better capture tumor response. After a brief review of the fundamental properties of CT pertinent to its quantitative performance, a number of clinically used quantitative CT applications will be discussed. Issues of accuracy and precision will also be addressed. A discussion of the expansion of CT as a quantitative tool in other clinical applications will conclude this presentation. Learning Objectives: 1. The physical basis for quantitative CT will be described 2. Current applications of quantitative CT will be outlined 3. The precision and accuracy of volume and HU metrics will be described 4. A list of potential future applications in quantitative CT will be presented.


Ecological risk assessments rarely evaluate indirect pesticide effects. Pesticides causing no direct mortality in wildlife can still reduce prey availability, resulting in a lower reproductive rate or poor juvenile condition. Few studies have examined these consequences at the population level. We use a four‐year data set from a forest ecosystem in which Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki (Btk) was applied to control gypsy moths (Lymantria dispar L.). Lower worm‐eating warbler (Helmitheros vermivorus) productivity on Btk plots contributed to an intrinsic growth rate <1. Altered provisioning behavior by adults led to lower nestling mass in Btk‐treated plots, and simulations of reduced juvenile survival expected as a result further reduced population growth rate. The present study explored different spatial representations of treated areas, using a two‐patch matrix model incorporating dispersal. Minimal migration from areas with increasing subpopulations could compensate for detrimental reductions in reproductive success and juvenile survival within treated subpopulations. We also simulated population dynamics with different proportions of treated areas to inform management strategies in similar systems. Nontoxic insecticides are capable of impacting nontarget populations with consistent, long‐term use and should be evaluated based on the spatial connectivity representative of habitat availability and the time period appropriate for risk assessment of pesticide effects in wildlife populations. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. © 2011 SETAC


Abstract This paper reports on developments in teaching and learning for first year employment relations students at the University of Wollongong based on creating conditions of learning informed by Vygotsky's 'zone of proximal development' theory. Essentially, this meant emphasising collaborative learning (group work) in the lecture theatre and in assessment tasks to provide opportunities for students to 'learn the language' of employment relations. The paper also considers collaboration between an employment relations discipline lecturer and an learning development discipline lecturer that helped identify the objectives for teaching and learning (the desired attributes of a Wollongong Graduate, ethical concerns about how students' may affect one another in group work, and developing knowledge and skills to equip students to be effective in employment relations practice) within a particular task environment (characterised by an organisational imperative to 'do more with less', and students' beliefs that lectures have the purpose of didactic information delivery) simultaneously with teaching. This paper offers readers a case study of the application of a teaching and learning theory that may stimulate reflection on their practice.


ABSTRACT Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157:H7 strain EDL933 harbors multiple prophage-associated open reading frames (ORFs) in its genome which are highly homologous to the chromosomal nanS gene. The latter is part of the nanCMS operon, which is present in most E. coli strains and encodes an esterase which is responsible for the monodeacetylation of 5-N-acetyl-9-O-acetyl neuraminic acid (Neu5,9Ac2). Whereas one prophage-borne ORF (z1466) has been characterized in previous studies, the functions of the other nanS-homologous ORFs are unknown. In the current study, the nanS-homologous ORFs of EDL933 were initially studied in silico. Due to their homology to the chromosomal nanS gene and their location in prophage genomes, we designated them nanS-p and numbered the different nanS-p alleles consecutively from 1 to 10. The two alleles nanS-p2 and nanS-p4 were selected for production of recombinant proteins, their enzymatic activities were investigated, and differences in their temperature optima were found. Furthermore, a function of these enzymes in substrate utilization could be demonstrated using an E. coli C600ΔnanS mutant in a growth medium with Neu5,9Ac2 as the carbon source and supplementation with the different recombinant NanS-p proteins. Moreover, generation of sequential deletions of all nanS-p alleles in strain EDL933 and subsequent growth experiments demonstrated a gene dose effect on the utilization of Neu5,9Ac2. Since Neu5,9Ac2 is an important component of human and animal gut mucus and since the nutrient availability in the large intestine is limited, we hypothesize that the presence of multiple Neu5,9Ac2 esterases provides them a nutrient supply under certain conditions in the large intestine, even if particular prophages are lost. IMPORTANCE In this study, a group of homologous prophage-borne nanS-p alleles and two of the corresponding enzymes of enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) O157:H7 strain EDL933 that may be important to provide alternative genes for substrate utilization were characterized.


Simulations of the photodynamics of ethylene were carried out by employing the semiempirical direct trajectory with surface hopping method in order to assess quantitatively the importance of different regions of the S(2)S(1) and S(1)S(0) crossing seams. The results show that during the first 50 fs after a vertical photoexcitation to the pipi(*) state, the nonadiabatic coupling between the S(1) and the S(2) states produces a recurrence pattern of oscillation of the populations in these states. Within the first 100 fs, the S(1) state population spans a limited region of the configuration space between the initial geometries and the twisted-pyramidalized minimum on the crossing seam (MXS). Depending on the way of counting, about 50% of the S(1)-->S(0) transitions occur in the pyramidalized region of the crossing seam, but not necessarily close to the MXS. The remaining 50% occurs in the H-migration and ethylidene regions. Our analysis shows that the ethylidene region becomes more important in later stages of the dynamics when the flux of trajectories that was not effectively converted to the ground state in the pyramidalized region starts to reach this part of the configuration space. The excited-state nonadiabatic dynamics could be employed to generate suitable initial phase space distributions for the hot-ethylene ground-state kinetic studies.


The occurrence of scavenger seabirds at fishing trawlers was studied off Galicia, Spain. A total of 9,368 seabirds of 23 species were recorded during 92 fishing operations in 1998 and 1999. The most common species were the yellow-legged and lesser black-backed gull ( Larus cachinnans and L. fuscus ), Sabine´s gull ( L. sabini ), the northern gannet ( Morus bassanus ), the great shearwater ( Puffinus gravis ), sooty shearwater (P. griseus), the Manx and Balearic shearwater ( P. puffinus and P. mauretanicus ), the great skua ( Catharacta skua ) and terns (mainly Sterna hirundo and S. paradisaea ). Other species occurred in small numbers: Leach´s petrel ( Oceanodroma leucorhoa ), the storm petrel ( Hydrobates pelagicus ), the little shearwater ( Puffinus assimilis ), Cory´s shearwater ( Calonectris diomedea ), the parasitic skua ( Stercorarius parasiticus ), the pomarine skua ( S. pomarinus ), the black-headed gull ( Larus ridibundus ), the glaucous gull ( L. hyperboreus ), the kittiwake ( Rissa tridactyla ), the sandwich tern (Sterna sandvicensis), the black tern (Chlidonias niger), the guillemot ( Uria aalge ) and the little auk ( Alle alle ). The maximum number of seabirds recorded at a haul was 320. The maximum number of a particular species ranged from 120 great shearwaters to 250 yellow-legged/lesser black-backed gulls during a single haul. The differences in ship-follower species abundance are related to migratory movements but fisheries could also have a strong influence at a smaller scale on the distribution of seabirds off Galicia. The degree to which seabirds rely on fishery discards as food was not quantified, but may be important for several species.


In this commentary we describe our vision of 4Vitality Kettle Bell Training.  We then briefly discuss colonization as it relates to the current health disparities between Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people.  It is our belief that we can challenge these effects of colonialism by regenerating our physicality. We then explain how having access to community physical activity activities, such as 4Vitality offered through the Odawa Native Friendship Centre, for example, can provide sites for physical regeneration.  Finally, we offer recommendations based on our program's success that may assist others who wish to build a physical activity program in their community.


The aims of this work were to establish whether glutamine infusion via alanyl-glutamine dipeptide provides effective therapy against muscle atrophy from glucorticoids and whether the glucocorticoid induction of glutamine synthetase (GS) is downregulated by dipeptide supplementation. Rats were given hydrocortisone 21-acetate or the dosing vehicle and were infused with alanine (AA) or alanyl-glutamine (AG) at the same concentrations and rates (1.15 mumol.min-1.100 g body wt-1, 0.75 ml/h) for 7 days. Compared with AA infusion in hormone-treated animals, AG infusion prevented total body and fast-twitch muscle mass losses by over 70%. Glucocorticoid treatment did not reduce muscle glutamine levels. Higher serum glutamine was found in the AG-infused (1.72 +/- 0.28 mumol/ml) compared with the AA-infused group (1.32 +/- 0.06 mumol/ml), but muscle glutamine concentrations were not elevated by AG infusion. Following glucocorticoid injections, GS enzyme activity was increased by two- to threefold in plantaris, fast-twitch white (superficial quadriceps), and fast-twitch red (deep quadriceps) muscle/fiber types of the AA group. Similarly, GS mRNA was elevated by 3.3- to 4.1-fold in these same muscles of hormone-treated, AA-infused rats. AG infusion diminished glucocorticoid effects on GS enzyme activity to 52-65% and on GS mRNA to 31-37% of the values with AA infusion. These results provide firsthand evidence of atrophy prevention from a catabolic state using glutamine in dipeptide form. Despite higher serum and muscle alanine levels with AA infusion than with AG infusion, alanine alone is not a sufficient stimulus to counteract muscle atrophy. The AG-induced muscle sparing is accompanied by diminished expression of a glucocorticoid-inducible gene in skeletal muscle. However, glutamine regulation of GS appears complex and may involve more regulators than muscle glutamine concentration alone.


Dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid (DBSA) doped polypanilines (PANIs) were chemically synthesized in different molar ratios of aniline (An) to ammonium persulfate (APS) and An to DBSA. The microstructures of these PANIs were investigated by means of scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR). UV-Vis spectrometer, semiconductor parameter analyzer, ubbelohde viscometer and electrospinning technique were used to characterize the optical, electrical properties, viscosity and solubility of these PANIs. The results show that the molar rations of An to APS and An to DBSA had strong effect on the microstructure, molecular weight, degree of crystallinity, optical property, solubility and conductivity of obtained DBSA doped PANI. With the increase of the molar ratios of An to APS and An to DBSA, the conductivities and molecular weight of DBSA doped PANIs decreased, while the degree of crystallinity and solubility of DBSA doped PANIs increased. The DBSA doped PANI could dissolve in dichloromethane or HFIP and could be fabricated short fibers by electrospinning. Moreover, the solution of DBSA doped PANIs in concentrated sulphuric acid showed liquid crystal property.


Animal production systems are large and complex sources of greenhouse gases (GHG), especially nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4). Emissions from these systems are expected to rise over the coming decades due to the increasing global population and shifting diets, unless appropriate mitigation strategies are implemented. In this paper, we argue that the main constraints for such implementation are: (i) the complex and often poorly understood controls of GHG sources in animal production systems; (ii) the lack of knowledge on the economic and social costs involved in implementing mitigation strategies; and (iii) the strong political emphasis on mitigating nitrate leaching and ammonia volatilisation, rather than GHG emissions. We further argue that overcoming these three constraints can only be achieved by initiating integrated mitigation strategies, based on modelling and experimental work at three scales. At the 'laboratory and field scale', basic causal relationships with respect to processes of GHG formation and other detrimental fluxes need to be experimentally established and modelled. As management options are considered at the 'farm scale', this is the ideal scale to evaluate the cost-effectiveness, feasibility and possible pollution swapping effects of mitigation measures. Finally, at the 'national and supra-national scales', environmental legislation is implemented, effectiveness of environmental policies and emissions abatement measures are being monitored, and the social costs of various scenarios are being weighed. We illustrate the need for integral measures and working across different scales using our own work on the relationship between nitrogen surplus and fluxes to the environment. At the field scale, a clear positive relation between nitrogen surplus and N2O emission, NO3 − leaching and NH3 volatilisation was experimentally established. At the farm scale, the model DAIRYWISE was used to evaluate effects of minimising nitrogen surplus on the nutrient flow and economic viability of an average Dutch dairy farm. Even after including trade-off effects of CH4 emissions from cattle and manure storage, there was still a clear positive relationship between farm gate nitrogen surplus and GHG emission. At this scale, the prime issue was balancing environmental gains with economic viability. Finally, at the 'national and supra-national scale' we developed the MITERRA-EUROPE model, and used it to quantify the effects on GHG emissions of environmental policies aimed at reducing NO3 − leaching and NH3 volatilisation in the 27 Member States of the European Union (EU-27). This showed the intricate relationships between different environmental goals, with both positive feedback (balanced fertilisation reduced both NO3 − leaching and N2O emission) and negative feedback ('low-emission' manure application reduced NH3 volatilisation but increased N2O emission) possible. At this scale, there is a clear need for an integral approach towards reducing environmental assessment to the environment. Our studies so far suggest that 'balanced fertilisation' is among the most promising mitigation measures for simultaneously lowering N2O emission, NO3 − leaching and NH3 volatilisation, without pollution swapping to CH4 emission.


As the popularity of enterprise social media (ESM) increases in organizations, recent studies have shown that ESM may be excessively used at work, triggering negative consequences for employees and organizations. Drawing on uses and gratifications theory (UGT), we propose a theoretical model to test how the communication visibility—message transparency and network translucence—enabled by ESM affects employees' excessive use of ESM at work by satisfying their different needs (i.e., social, content, and hedonic needs); the gratifications of these needs are reflected through employees' perceived values, including perceived social, information, and hedonic values. We analyzed a valid sample consisted of 301 Chinese employees using ESM through smart-PLS to verify the model. The data analysis results indicate that both message transparency and network translucence are positively correlated with employees' perceived social, information, and hedonic values. Perceived social value and perceived information value exert positive influences on excessive ESM use by employees, whereas perceived hedonic value has no significant effect on employees' excessive use of ESM. The findings also show that the relationship between ESM communication visibility affordance and employees' excessive ESM use is fully mediated by their perceived social value and perceived information value. These findings enrich the existing research on ESM and excessive use behavior and help inspire organizations to guide and manage the use of ESM by employees.


The magnetic coercivity of ferritic 12Cr steel was experimentally studied in order to characterize its microstructures and mechanical properties during isothermal aging. As the aging time increased, the M23C6 carbide coarsened and additional precipitation of Fe2W phase was induced. The width of martensite lath increased to about 0.4μm after 4000 hrs of aging. The coercivity decreased as the number of precipitate decreased and the width of martensite lath increased. The hardness was proportional to the magnetic coercivity. These empirical linear relations suggested that the change in the microstructures and strength of ferritic 12Cr steel during thermal aging could be evaluated by monitoring the magnetic coercivity.


This study addresses the benefits and shortcomings of the organizational culture models employing organizational effectiveness and competitive advantage theories. Following the critical analysis of preceding literature, this study discusses the benefits of an integrative approach as demonstrated by the ABCD model for conceptualizing organizational culture for practitioners to proactively manage culture for enhanced firm performance. Also, by focusing on the sequential dynamics of ABCD model which denotes dedication as the originating point, this paper explores how the findings from organizational behavior can be integrated with the ABCD model to create a competitive corporate culture. For this purpose, Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc.'s leadership and human resource policies are and initial conditions that facilitate the creation of competitive culture are introduced through a qualitative case study approach.


Advances in web-based oriented technologies and services are taking place with
a considerable speed around the world. New technologies have significantly influenced
trade, and converted traditional commerce to e-Commerce. Modern commerce enables
people to conduct business in their offices or at homes, with minimal time, cost, error,
and maximum efficiency. Customer trust, satisfaction and loyalty play vital roles in the
success or failure of e-Commerce. It is also clear that loyal customers are one of the
most important assets of firms, which results in long-term benefits. In this research,
three problems were addressed. Firstly, companies easily lose their e-Customers in the
competitive environment of today's business (Internet). Secondly, gaining loyal
customers takes a long time, and is high in cost. Thirdly, there are inactive and nonprofitable
customers in the database of online companies; converting inactive and nonprofitable
customers to active and profitable customers by increasing their trust,
satisfaction and loyalty. These three basic problems encourage us to study the nature of
e-Loyalty formation in e-Commerce.
The main aim of this study is to answer the question of how firms can increase
Electronic Trust (e-Trust), Electronic Satisfaction (e-Satisfaction) and Electronic
Loyalty (e-Loyalty) among their e-Customers. A review of literature and interviews
with experts in this domain revealed that e-Satisfaction and e-Trust are two important
factors that influence e-Loyalty. The significant aspect of this research is derived from
the inclusion of a comprehensive conceptual framework with different aspects of
technology, organization, and customers (three main entities in e-Commerce). Nine
hypotheses display the relationships between technological, organizational, and
customer factors with e-Satisfaction and e-Trust, which is significantly influence e-
Loyalty. The data for this study were collected from e-Customers of the largest retail
company in Iran in 2011, and statistical analyses were used to validate and ensure the
reliability of the proposed model. The results showed the relationship between
technological, organizational and customer factors with e-Satisfaction, e-Trust, and
finally, e-Loyalty. The findings also revealed the fact that technological factor has the
most effect on e-Satisfaction, e-Trust and e-Loyalty. Furthermore, Artificial Neural
Fuzzy Interface System (ANFIS) was utilized to estimate e-Loyalty based on e-
Satisfaction and e-Trust as assessment of the results. The outcomes showed a slight
iii
difference between the prediction of ANFIS and e-Loyalty data. The results of both
methods (statistical analysis and ANFIS) confirm the reliability of the model. This
research sheds some light on the formation of e-Loyalty in e-Commerce and can be
useful for academics and practitioners.


Traditionally the design and production of motion graphics and animation is a slow, quiet process. The aim of this project, from the perspective of the student participant, is to show the interrelationship between sound and visuals, and how they can tap into a more spontaneous form of creativity by designing visual work interactively in real-time. This project gives the student freedom to produce visual work live as they produce sounds and react to music, and other environmental stimuli. The aim of the project, from a pedagogic perspective, is to consider how students drive their own creative development through an independent and collaborative approach to learning.


Compact groups of galaxies provide a unique environment to study the mechanisms by which star formation occurs amid continuous gravitational encounters. We present 2MASS (JHK) and Spitzer IRAC (3.5-8 μm) and MIPS (24 μm) observations of a sample of 12 Hickson Compact Groups (HCGs 2, 7, 16, 19, 22, 31, 42, 48, 59, 61, 62, and 90) that includes a total of 45 galaxies. The infrared colors of the galaxies in this sample span a range of parameter space, and some trends are apparent in the data. The near-infrared colors of the sample galaxies are largely consistent with being dominated by slightly reddened normal stellar populations. There is also some evidence for a K-band excess in a few cases, which likely indicates the presence of hot dust at or near the sublimation temperature associated with active galactic nuclei or star formation activity. Galaxies that have the most significant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and/or hot dust emission (as inferred from excess 8 μm flux) also tend to have larger amounts of extinction and/or K-band excess and stronger 24 μm emission, all of which suggest ongoing star formation activity. We separate the 12 HCGs in our sample into three types based on the ratio of the group H I mass to dynamical mass. We find evidence that galaxies in the most gas-rich groups tend to be the most actively star forming. Galaxies in the most gas-poor groups tend to be tightly clustered around a narrow range in colors consistent with the integrated light from a normal stellar population. We interpret these trends as indicating that galaxies in gas-rich groups experience star formation and/or nuclear actively until their neutral gas is consumed, stripped, or ionized. The galaxies in this sample exhibit a "gap" between gas-rich and gas-poor groups in infrared color space that is sparsely populated and not seen in the Spitzer First Look Survey sample. This gap may suggest a rapid evolution of galaxy properties in response to dynamical effects. These results suggest that the global properties of the groups and the local properties of the galaxies are connected.


Halothane was given to dogs which had been bled to an arterial mean blood pressure of 60 mmHg, and the circulatory effects were studied with the aid of the radioactive microsphere technique. The cardiac output and coronary blood flow were well maintained, whereas the arterial mean blood pressure was slightly, and the stroke volume markedly increased, indicating an improved heart function. The blood flows to the brain, lungs, liver and kidneys were well preserved throughout the anesthesia. The effect of retransfusing the withdrawn blood was also studied, and it resulted in an increased cardiac output, arterial mean blood pressure and increased blood flows to the heart, lungs, spleen, bowel and liver.


Soil moisture observations are expected to play an important role in monitoring global climate trends. However, measuring soil moisture is challenging because of its high spatial and temporal variability. Point-scale in-situ measurements are scarce and, excluding model-based estimates, remote sensing remains the only practical way to observe soil moisture at a global scale. The ESA-led Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission, launched in 2009, measures the Earth's surface natural emissivity at L-band and provides highly accurate soil moisture information with a 3-day revisiting time. Using the first six full annual cycles of SMOS measurements (June 2010–June 2016), this study investigates the temporal variability of global surface soil moisture. The soil moisture time series are decomposed into a linear trend, interannual, seasonal, and high-frequency residual (i.e., subseasonal) components. The relative distribution of soil moisture variance among its temporal components is first illustrated at selected target sites representative of terrestrial biomes with distinct vegetation type and seasonality. A comparison with GLDAS-Noah and ERA5 modeled soil moisture at these sites shows general agreement in terms of temporal phase except in areas with limited temporal coverage in winter season due to snow. A comparison with ground-based estimates at one of the sites shows good agreement of both temporal phase and absolute magnitude. A global assessment of the dominant features and spatial distribution of soil moisture variability is then provided. Results show that, despite still being a relatively short data set, SMOS data provides coherent and reliable variability patterns at both seasonal and interannual scales. Subseasonal components are characterized as white noise. The observed linear trends, based upon one strong El Niño event in 2016, are consistent with the known El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) teleconnections. This work provides new insight into recent changes in surface soil moisture and can help further our understanding of the terrestrial branch of the water cycle and of global patterns of climate anomalies. Also, it is an important support to multi-decadal soil moisture observational data records, hydrological studies and land data assimilation projects using remotely sensed observations.


Extreme fire seasons characterised by very large 'mega-fires' have demonstrably increased area burnt across forested regions globally. However, the effect of extreme fire seasons on fire severity, a measure of fire impacts on ecosystems, remains unclear. Very large wildfires burnt an unprecedented area of temperate forest, woodland and shrubland across south-eastern Australia in 2019/2020, providing an opportunity to examine the impact of extreme fires on fire severity patterns. We developed an atlas of wildfire severity across south-eastern Australia between 1988 and 2020 to test (a) whether the 2019/2020 fire season was more severe than previous fire seasons, and (b) if the proportion of high-severity fire within the burn extent (HSp) increases with wildfire size and annual area burnt. We demonstrate that the 2019/2020 wildfires in south-eastern Australia were generally greater in extent but not proportionally more severe than previous fires, owing to constant scaling between HSp and annual fire extent across the dominant dry-forest communities. However, HSp did increase with increasing annual fire extent across wet-forests and the less-common rainforest and woodland communities. The absolute area of high-severity fire in 2019/2020 (∼1.8 M ha) was larger than previously seen, accounting for ∼44% of the area burnt by high-severity fire over the past 33 years. Our results demonstrate that extreme fire seasons are a rare but defining feature of fire regimes across forested regions, owing to the disproportionate influence of mega-fires on area burnt.


Emodin is a component in a Chinese herb, Rheum officinale Baill, traditionally used for diabetes and anticancer. Its poor solubility is one of the major challenges to pharmaceutical scientists. We previously reported on thermoreversible gel formulations based on poloxamer for the topical delivery of emodin. The present study was to understand the effect of poloxamer type on emodin solubility and its application in cellular activity screening. Various gel formulations composed of poloxamer 407 (P407), poloxamer 188 (P188) and PEG400 were prepared and evaluated. Major evaluation parameters were the gelation temperature (Tgel) and solubility of emodin. The emodin solubility increased with increasing poloxamer concentration and the Tgel was modulated by the proper combination of P407. In particular, this study showed that the amount of P407 in thermoreversible poloxamer gel (PG) was the dominant factor in enhancing solubility and P188 was effective at fixing gelation temperature in the desired range. A thermoreversible emodin PG was selected as the proper composition with the liquid state at room temperature and gel state at body temperature. The gel showed the solubility enhancement of emodin at least 100-fold compared to 10% ethanol or water. The thermoreversible formulation was applied for in vitro cellular activity screening in the human dermal fibroblast cell line and DLD-1 colon cancer cell line after dilution with cell culture media. The thermoreversible gel formulation remained as a clear solution in the microplate, which allowed reliable cellular activity screening. In contrast, emodin solution in ethanol or DMSO showed precipitation at the corresponding emodin concentration, complicating data interpretation. In conclusion, the gel formulation is proposed as a useful prototype topical formulation for testing emodin in vivo as well as in vitro.


Kalman filters have received much attention with the increasing demands for robotic automation. This paper briefly surveys the recent developments for robot vision. Among many factors that affect the performance of a robotic system, Kalman filters have made great contributions to vision perception. Kalman filters solve uncertainties in robot localization, navigation, following, tracking, motion control, estimation and prediction, visual servoing and manipulation, and structure reconstruction from a sequence of images. In the 50th anniversary, we have noticed that more than 20 kinds of Kalman filters have been developed so far. These include extended Kalman filters and unscented Kalman filters. In the last 30 years, about 800 publications have reported the capability of these filters in solving robot vision problems. Such problems encompass a rather wide application area, such as object modeling, robot control, target tracking, surveillance, search, recognition, and assembly, as well as robotic manipulation, localization, mapping, navigation, and exploration. These reports are summarized in this review to enable easy referral to suitable methods for practical solutions. Representative contributions and future research trends are also addressed in an abstract level.


Estimating the position of a 3-dimensional world point given its 2-dimensional projections in a set of images is a key component in numerous computer vision systems. There are several methods dealing with this problem, ranging from sub-optimal, linear least square triangulation in two views, to finding the world point that minimized the L2-reprojection error in three views. This leads to the statistically optimal estimate under the assumption of Gaussian noise. In this paper we present a solution to the optimal triangulation in three views. The standard approach for solving the three-view triangulation problem is to find a closed-form solution. In contrast to this, we propose a new method based on an iterative scheme. The method is rigorously tested on both synthetic and real image data with corresponding ground truth, on a midrange desktop PC and a Raspberry Pi, a low-end mobile platform. We are able to improve the precision achieved by the closed-form solvers and reach a speed-up of two orders of magnitude compared to the current state-of-the-art solver. In numbers, this amounts to around 300K triangulations per second on the PC and 30K triangulations per second on Raspberry Pi.


A high speed in acquisition of backscatter Kikuchi patterns (BKP) and solving the stored raw patterns offline has many advantages over online EBSD. No compromise is made between speed and reliability. Automated backscatter Kikuchi diffraction in the scanning electron microscope (SEM) is about to become a tool for process and quality control. Mandatory requirements for these applications are measures to enable re-examination of the results at any time and a high speed. Therefore, fast acquisition of pattern sequences and off¬line indexing will soon become standard. Online pattern solving is optional, but at the disadvantage of reduced speed and reliability.


stenosis (AS) affects 2-5% of the population aged >65 years. Functional DNA variants at the NOTCH1 locus result in bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) and severe valve calcification. The contribution of these variants to AS in the population with tricuspid aortic valve (TAV) remains to be determined. Methods: Fourteen genetic variants surrounding the NOTCH1 gene were genotyped, including rare mutations previously reported, and common polymorphisms. The study involved 457 French Canadian patients with severe tricuspid AS. Genotyping was carried out using the Illumina® BeadXpress platform. Allele frequencies of common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for patients with AS were compared to a shared control group of European ancestry (n = 3,294). In total, 88 ancestryinformative markers were used to correct for population stratification. Results: The mutation R1107X, previously associated with AS and BAV, was identified in a relatively young patient (aged 58 years). The mutations R1279H and V2285I were detected in 18 and 14 heterozygotes, respectively. A common polymorphism (rs13290979) located in intron 2 was significantly associated with AS (p = 0.003), which remained significant after correction for multiple testing. However, this association was no longer significant after accounting for population stratification (p = 0.088). Conclusion: In this study, rare functional variants were found in the NOTCH1 gene in a French Canadian population of patients with severe tricuspid AS. This also suggests, for the first time, the presence of a common polymorphism in this gene conferring susceptibility to AS.


Airborne pollen grains in the atmosphere of Bozuyuk were investigated over a 2 yr period from 2000 to 2001 using a Durham sampler. A total number of pollen grains of 5 170 pollen grains belonging to 32 taxa were identified and recorded along with some unidentified pollen grains. Of all the pollen grains, 78.66% were arboreal, 19.20% were non-arboreal, and 2.12% were unidentified. The majority of pollen grains investigated were Pinus, Platanus, Quercus, Cupressaceae, Poaceae, Fagus, Salix, Rosaceae, Urticaceae, Asteraceae, and Chenopodiaceae. The maximum number of pollen grains was recorded in May.


Acknowledgements: This paper is the second of four papers related to pastoral economic growth and development in Ethiopia that were commissioned by the Department for International Development (DfID) at the request of the Government of Ethiopia. Ian Scoones served as a peer reviewer of the report and we wish to thank him for his constructive comments and suggestions. The authors, of course, assume full responsibility for the views and contents expressed in this report.


One of the main aims of this study is to increase the environmental consciousness of university students while looking into whether there is a difference in their perspectives about environmental consciousness between the Turk and Azeri university students. There were 593 students in Ankara and 231 in Baku. The survey used in the investigation consisted of behaviours, knowledge and attitudes. The Cronbach's alpha value of the scale applied in Ankara is .97, while the Baku's is .84. Differences are found in favour of Turkish students. While there is no gender difference in Azeri students, differences found in favour of males among the group Turkish students. The consciousness about environment of Azeri students is about home plants while it is about to the problems seen in environment and conversations about these problems, the news in media about the environmental problems and the home pets in Turk students. Another interesting result is that knowledge and the behaviours of Azeri students about environmental issue do not have any positive effect on their environmental attitudes. To analyze the data, t test, co-relation and multiple regression are used.


Abstract. Observations of high-elevation meteorological conditions, glacier mass balance, and glacier run-off are sparse in western Canada and the Canadian Rocky Mountains, leading to uncertainty about the importance of glaciers to regional water resources. This needs to be quantified so that the impacts of ongoing glacier recession can be evaluated with respect to alpine ecology, hydroelectric operations, and water resource management. In this manuscript the seasonal evolution of glacier run-off is assessed for an alpine watershed on the continental divide in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The study area is a headwaters catchment of the Bow River, which flows eastward to provide an important supply of water to the Canadian prairies. Meteorological, snowpack, and surface energy balance data collected at Haig Glacier from 2002 to 2013 were analysed to evaluate glacier mass balance and run-off. Annual specific discharge from snow- and ice-melt on Haig Glacier averaged 2350 mm water equivalent from 2002 to 2013, with 42% of the run-off derived from melting of glacier ice and firn, i.e. water stored in the glacier reservoir. This is an order of magnitude greater than the annual specific discharge from non-glacierized parts of the Bow River basin. From 2002 to 2013, meltwater derived from the glacier storage was equivalent to 5–6% of the flow of the Bow River in Calgary in late summer and 2–3% of annual discharge. The basin is typical of most glacier-fed mountain rivers, where the modest and declining extent of glacierized area in the catchment limits the glacier contribution to annual run-off.


Injury to a peripheral nerve from pressure placed on it causes a compression neuropathy. There are particular anatomic sites where individual nerves are most vulnerable. The authors describe the physiology and structural anatomy of peripheral nerves, the pathophysiology of nerve entrapment, and the classification of peripheral nerve injury. Specific compression and entrapment neuropathies of the lower extremity are described in detail.


Block copolymer-based porous carbon fibers are emerging materials for electrochemical energy conversion and storage. Pyrolysis temperature governs the properties of carbons. To design porous carbon fibers with tunable pore size, surface area, heteroatom content, electrical conductivity, and electrochemical performance, block copolymer poly(acrylonitrile-block-methyl methacrylate) (PAN-b-PMMA) was converted to porous carbon fibers via self-assembly, stabilization, and pyrolysis at temperatures ranging from 600 to 1200 °C. An increase in the pyrolysis temperature increases the total pore volume, specific surface area, and graphitic level, but decreases the amounts of nitrogen and oxygen heteroatoms, as well as the electrical resistance. As electrochemical supercapacitor electrodes, the porous carbon fibers pyrolyzed at 800 °C exhibit the highest gravimetric capacitance, owing to the balanced structural, chemical, and physical properties. The porous carbon fibers pyrolyzed at 600 °C have the highest heteroatom content to induce pseudocapacitance, but their capacitance and rate capability are the lowest due to the poorest electrical conductivity. In contrast, the porous carbon fibers pyrolyzed at 1200 °C show the best rate capability because of the highest electrical conductivity, the largest pore volume, the lowest diffusion resistance, and the best electron/ion transport. This work systematically reveals the thermal processing principles of porous carbon fibers with controlled structural, physical and electrochemical properties. The findings provide a guideline for designing block copolymer-based porous carbon fibers for electrochemical energy conversion and storage.


Pharmacological potential of curcumin was assessed in PC12 cells against hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2) exposure. In MTT [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide] and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assays, 24-hour exposure of H2O2 (0.5 mM and above) was found to be cytotoxic. A significant (p < 0.001) increase in percentage cell viability was recorded in PC12 cells pretreated with curcumin (25, 50 and 100 µg/mL) for 24 hours prior to H2O2 (0.5 and 1 mM) exposure for 24 hours. Co-exposure to H2O2 and curcumin was also found effective. However, a therapeutic treatment of curcumin for 24 hours after H2O 2 exposure to the cells was found ineffective. Differential response of PC12-H2O2 model to curcumin in MTT and LDH assays suggests the utility of these endpoints to sort the drug candidates to study their antioxidant potential.


Background Understanding the differences in care-seeking pattern is key in designing interventions aimed at improving health-care service delivery, including prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases. The aim of this study was to identify the differences and determinants of care-seeking patterns of urban and rural residents in Abia State in southeast Nigeria. Methods This was a cross-sectional, community-based, study involving 2999 respondents aged 18 years and above. Data were collected using the modified World Health Organization's STEPS questionnaire, including data on care seeking following the onset of illness. Descriptive statistics and logistic regressions were used to analyze care-seeking behavior and to identify differences among those seeking care in urban and rural areas. Results In both urban and rural areas, patent medicine vendors (73.0%) were the most common sources of primary care following the onset of illness, while only 20.0% of the participants used formal care. Significant predictors of difference in care-seeking practices between residents in urban and rural communities were educational status, income, occupation, and body mass index. Conclusions Efforts should be made to reduce barriers to formal health-care service utilization in the state by increasing health insurance coverage, strengthening the health-care system, and increasing the role of patent medicine vendors in the formal health-care delivery system.


The modulation transfer function (MTF) has long been accepted as an index of scintillation camera system resolution, but the technique necessary for the derivation of the MTF has discouraged its widespread acceptance because of its tedious and time-consuming nature. We have shown that the generation of LSFs for input into computer programs for MTF generation can be accomplished very easily and in short periods of time by using a simplified method. Establishment of the validity of this simplified procedure should contribute to more widespread utilization of the MTF in routine quality control programs as a check for crystal deterioration, electronic circuitry degradation, and/or collimator damage.


Two new species of the treehopper genus Machaerotypus Uhler, 1896, M. stigmosus Li & Chen sp. nov. and M. nodulus Li & Chen sp. nov., are described and illustrated from Guizhou Province, China. A checklist and key to species of Machaerotypus are provided with a map of geographic distribution.


A deterministic water - sediment quality model was developed with a Monte Carlo interface and input generation. The model was used to simulate water and sediment (total and dissolved-pore water) quality of a reach of Milwaukee River that includes an urban impoundment. The sediments in the impoundments are contaminated by toxic metals and other priority pollutants. The sediment - water quality model was composed of three sequential segments each represented by three systems: water, upper sediment and lower sediment layers. The mass balance of the sediment contaminants was strongly affected by the direction of the groundwater fluxes through the sediments. Steady state was assumed for the water column and the upper sediment layer while a dynamic mass balance model was used for the lower sediment layer. The inputs of the Monte Carlo simulation were ten years long time-series of upstream flows and Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) discharges with corresponding Monte Carlo generated concentrations. The model calculated output concentrations which were statistically similar to the probability distribution of measured concentrations.


Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a skin disease characterized by itching, typical morphology, and distribution of rash, chronic relapsing course, and personal or family history of "atopic diathesis." Stress is an important precipitating factor of AD. Stress has also some causal link with depression. Rationale of this case report is to demonstrate the co-occurrence of AD and depression in a patient, and better improvement of AD occurs when homoeopathic treatment focuses on psychological symptoms. Here, a 38-year-old male presented with a 6-month history of eczematous skin lesions with associated symptoms of depression in the background of chronic ongoing stress. A diagnosis of AD with comorbid depression was made. He initially did not show stable improvement on homoeopathic medicine selected on the basis of totality of symptoms and miasmatic background. On changing the medicine giving more priority to psychological symptoms, he gradually showed stable improvement on both the domain of symptoms and reached remission by 3 months. Remission maintained without any recurrence over the next 3½ years. Hence, the main lesson from this case is the demonstration of importance of mental symptoms over other physical symptoms in homoeopathic treatment.


According to the features of lithium ion battery packs, a distributed battery management system (BMS) for battery electric vehicle (BEV) is designed in this article. The BMS consists of a master module with several sampling modules. The kernel of master module is TMS320C2812 digital signal processor, and the kernel of sampling module is P87C591 singlechip. The main functions of master module include estimation of state of charge (SOC) and security management of lithium ion battery packs, and the main functions of sampling module include battery information collection and CAN bus based communication. SOC estimation method based on Extended Kalman filtering (EKF) theory is adopted in this article to precisely estimate the SOC of lithium ion battery packs.


The literature on knowledge creation in economic geography has often focused on the territorial or organizational level, without considering the multi-scalar aspect of innovation and knowledge dynamic. This article contributes to fill this gap by analyzing the knowledge dynamics that take place in localized emerging communities in Coworking Spaces (CWS) as well as their impact at the local and global levels. CWS are theorized as microclusters as they present similar knowledge dynamics as the ones identified in industrial clusters but at a lower scale. As an illustration, the article presents the case of the CWS in Barcelona. The implications for policy makers are analyzed in view of the potential contributions of these microclusters to the local dynamics of knowledge creation and transfer.


Exposure of humans to potential mutagenic and carcinogenic food compounds through the diet is unavoidable. On the other hand, there is epidemiological evidence for antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic properties of food as well (such as vegetables and fruit). The assessment of carcinogenic and cancer preventive properties of food compounds is generally restricted to genotoxicity assays available for the evaluation of manmade chemicals. Specific processes related to the gastrointestinal tract, such as digestion and bioaccessibility and interactions between various food components received little attention in the assessment of (anti)mutagenic and (anti)carcinogenic dietary compounds. A dynamic in vitro gastrointestinal model (TIM system), which simulates the human physiological conditions in the digestive tract, was used to study these processes.
The aim of the studies described in this thesis was to investigate whether this dynamic in vitro gastrointestinal model, in combination with in vitro genotoxicity assays, is a suitable tool for the assessment of (anti)mutagenic activity of food compounds. In this TIM system the availability for absorption of food mutagens, such as heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAA) present in prepared meat, was studied. Furthermore, the mechanisms involved in the antimutagenic activity of green tea and black tea and their interaction with HAA were investigated. The addition of a food matrix, such as meat, milk or breakfast, influenced the availability for absorption and (anti)mutagenic activity of HAA and tea. The antimutagenic activity of tea was also studied in a crossbreed dlb-1/lacZ transgenic mice model. However, a convincing antimutagenic effect of green and black tea in the small intestine could not consistently be demonstrated in vivo, in which B(a)P was used to induce mutations in the endogenous dlb-1 gene and in the lacZ transgene in the same animal. Besides the presence of mutagens in the diet, mutagens can also be formed in the human body, e.g. at a low pH present in the stomach. The intragastric formation of nitrosamines, by a reaction of amine (derived from various fish species) and nitrite (produced by salivary bacteria after consumption of nitrate), was investigated under various human physiological conditions in the gastric compartment of the TIM system. Higher levels of nitrosamines were formed than expected on the basis of other in vitro models, but lower amounts than based on urinary exretion of nitrosamines in human studies. The nitrosation reaction was effectively inhibited by the addition of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) or green or black tea, which corresponds to in vivo studies. In the large-intestinal-model it was demonstrated that inter individual differences were observed in the conversion of the glucosinolate into isothiocyanate, a metabolite which possibly has anticarcinogenic properties, by the human colonic microflora. In conclusion, the dynamic in vitro gastrointestinal model, in combination with in vitro genotoxicity assays, is a useful tool for the assessment of mutagenic and antimutagenic activities of food compounds and suitable for mechanistic studies. The use of this in vitro gastrointestinal model will contribute to the further reduction of the number of laboratory animal studies.


Marine sponges represent one of the few eukaryotic groups that frequently harbor symbiotic members of the Thaumarchaeota, which are important chemoautotrophic ammonia-oxidizers in many environments. However, in most studies, direct demonstration of ammonia-oxidation by these archaea within sponges is lacking, and little is known about sponge-specific adaptations of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA). Here, we characterized the thaumarchaeal symbiont of the marine sponge Ianthella basta using metaproteogenomics, fluorescence in situ hybridization, qPCR and isotope-based functional assays. "Candidatus Nitrosospongia bastadiensis" is only distantly related to cultured AOA. It is an abundant symbiont that is solely responsible for nitrite formation from ammonia in I. basta that surprisingly does not harbor nitrite-oxidizing microbes. Furthermore, this AOA is equipped with an expanded set of extracellular subtilisin-like proteases, a metalloprotease unique among archaea, as well as a putative branched-chain amino acid ABC transporter. This repertoire is strongly indicative of a mixotrophic lifestyle and is (with slight variations) also found in other sponge-associated, but not in free-living AOA. We predict that this feature as well as an expanded and unique set of secreted serpins (protease inhibitors), a unique array of eukaryotic-like proteins, and a DNA-phosporothioation system, represent important adaptations of AOA to life within these ancient filter-feeding animals. Originality-Significance Statement Many marine sponges harbor symbiotic members of the Thaumarchaeota, but there is generally only indirect evidence available about their functional role within these filter-feeding animals. Furthermore, the specific adaptations of thaumarchaeal symbionts to their sponge hosts are incompletely understood. In this study, we thoroughly characterized a thaumarchaeal symbiont residing in the reef sponge Ianthella basta and demonstrate by using a combination of molecular tools and isotope techniques, that it is the only ammonia-oxidizer in its host. In contrast to other sponges, I. basta does not contain nitrite-oxidizing microbes and thus excretes considerable amounts of nitrite. Furthermore, using metagenomics and metaproteomics we reveal important adaptations of this symbiont, that represents a new genus within the Thaumarchaeota, and conclude that it most likely lives as a mixotroph in its sponge host.


As Ethics Committee Chair, I am pleased to introduce the first in an ongoing series of ethics vignettes. These columns, which are based on true-to-life situations that arise in oncology research and practice, are intended to identify and explore important ethical issues and provide commentary that is specific to oncology. Please look for them periodically in both the Journal of Clinical Oncology and the Journal of Oncology Practice. The idea for publishing vignettes evolved through the joint efforts of the Ethics Committee and the Board of Directors. Rather than adopt a single set of ethical principles that applies vaguely to any situation and well to none, the Committee and the Board preferred to tackle ethical dilemmas individually, specifically, and directly. Because the Ethics Committee thought the ethical and legal implications of physician interactions with the investment industry were so important and timely, it chose to address this topic in both a position article, which was previously published in the January 20, 2007, issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology (J Clin Oncol 25:338-340, 2007) and in its first vignette column. The Ethics Committee hopes this column will be the first of several that ASCO members will find helpful as they grapple with the many ethical issues that arise in daily practice in the field of oncology. Because these columns are intended to address the concerns of ASCO members, the Committee welcomes suggestions for future topics at email@example.com. Martin D. Abeloff, MD, Chair, Ethics Committee.


Aims: To evaluate the effect of site specific advice from a school travel coordinator on school travel patterns. Methods: Cluster randomised controlled trial of children attending 21 primary schools in the London boroughs of Camden and Islington. A post-intervention survey measured the proportion of children walking, cycling, or using public transport for travel to school, and the proportion of parents/carers very or quite worried about traffic and abduction. The proportion of schools that developed and implemented travel plans was assessed. Results: One year post-intervention, nine of 11 intervention schools and none of 10 control schools had travel plans. Proportions of children walking, cycling, or using public transport on the school journey were similar in intervention and control schools. The proportion of parents who were very or quite worried about traffic danger was similar in the intervention (85%) and control groups (87%). However, after adjusting for baseline and other potential confounding factors we could not exclude the possibility of a modest reduction in parental concern about traffic danger as a result of the intervention. Conclusions: Having a school travel coordinator increased the production of school travel plans but there was no evidence that this changed travel patterns or reduced parental fears. Given the uncertainty about effectiveness, the policy of providing school travel coordinators should only be implemented within the context of a randomised controlled trial.


Flow-induced noise produced by expansion devices can be very disturbing to the user, especially when the device is in the close vicinity of the occupants. This paper characterizes the relationship between flow-induced noise and the flow regime, which may aid the design process of future geometry improvements of thermostatic expansion valves (TXV). A refrigerant loop using pumped R134a with appropriate pre-conditioning sections to vary inlet and outlet conditions is connected to a TXV and an automotive microchannel evaporator. The experiment is set up in a semianechoic chamber using microphones, accelerometer, and high-speed pressure transducers. Noise spectrum analysis is performed using the Fast-Fourier-Transform method. Visual access is made through transparent test sections. To the authors' best knowledge, it is the first-time noise measurements have been linked with two-phase flow regime information for TXV with an adjacent evaporator published in the open literature. A gurgling noise vibrating at 4.4 kHz and 6.0 kHz and a hissing noise at 10.3 kHz is observed. The gurgling noise mostly appeared in the wavy and slug flow regimes, while the hissing noise appeared in all kinds of flow regime. The acceleration signal and microphone signal matched each other perfectly, meaning that the acceleration signal could be used to simulate the flow-induced noise. This paper also proposes some possible geometry improvements based on the results, which could be applied to the industry after further experimental testing.


. In this study, commercial Al was subjected to plastic deformation by multi-axial compression. The microstructure and mechanical properties in dependence on effective strain were studied. Aluminum was processed to effective strain f = 9.6. The misorientation distribution and subgrain/grain size were analyzed by using a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipment with electron back scattered diffraction (EBSD) facility. The dislocation microstructure was investigated by a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM). The mechanical properties as: yield strength (YS), ultimate tensile strength (UTS), uniform and total elongation were performed on MTS QTest/10 machine equipped with digital image correlation method (DIC). Deformation of Al by the multi-axial compression leads to grain refinement to ultra-fine grains (UFGs) and improvement in strength properties. Material exhibits the following strength parameters: UTS: 129 MPa, YS: 124 MPa after deformation at f = 9.6. These values are about two times higher compared with initial state.


Homecare administration of intravenous antibiotics and anti-infectives is a rapidly growing service of the healthcare system. Knowledge of disease states that are amenable to homecare intravenous antibiotics includes those of long-term duration or deep-seated infections not suitable for oral therapy. Consideration of patient populations that are identified as appropriate for homecare intravenous antibiotic therapy includes the very young and old patients, pregnant patients, and patients with HIV. Awareness of a patient's medication history relating to allergic reactions allows guided monitoring before, during, and after intravenous antibiotic administration. Recognition of potential adverse drug reactions associated with each class of anti-infectives, as well as those related to the dose or infusion process, is another important part of safe and effective intravenous antibiotic administration.


Nanostructured WC-Co coatings have been manufactured by high velocity oxyfuel (HVOF) spraying using commercially available nanocomposite powders. The effect of feedstock powder characteristics on coating microstructure has been investigated. A significant loss of carbon occurred during HVOF spraying, which was much greater for a porous, irregular powder than for a dense, spherical powder. The decarburization promoted the formation of several additional phases in the coating, including W2C, W and CoxWxC. The microstructural differences in each coating arose from the different extent of feedstock powder melting because of initial powder morphology.


The high-speed fracture mechanism of glass bottles by using underwater shockwave and the recycling process by crushing the glass bottles were discussed. The proposed crushing process of the glass bottles can decrease the recycle cost by generating small fragments called "Cullet" and by executing the washing process at the same time as the crushing process. In this study, the relations between the "Cullet" sizes and various explosive conditions, that is, the distance from explosive, the amount, the velocity and the shapes of explosive, were clarified by using beer bottles, and the influence of the serial and concentric arrangements of two or more bottles on "cullet" sizes were examined. Moreover the behaviors of the underwater shockwave were observed by framing photograph method, shadowgraph method, illumination photography method and the FEM simulation was executed in order to make clear the high speed fracture mechanism.


Demand for automobile in Indonesia increases significantly in the latest decade. Therefore, competitiveness for each automobile manufacturer is tight. One of options to improve competitiveness, manufacturer has to use local material. As the result, manufacturing cost and car unit cost also decreases. This condition not only happened in internal combustion engine vehicle but also for electric vehicle. Therefore the challenge is facing when using local steel sheet material for auto body panel and structure. One of the main focuses in the ability to produce complex shape without visual defect and failure named as forming ability. In this paper we propose new forming technique to improve forming ability for the local steel sheet produce by PT Krakatau Steel. Even though conventional stroke is able to produce cup without crack, but winkle is still exist that produce visual defect. The new approaches are applying step motion of the punch stroke. By applying step motion materials has enough for relaxation before further deformation. As the result deep drawing process that implement step motion exhibit free from wrinkle and uniform thickness.


Network planning and operation in core optical networks require processes that lead to a cost-effective network able to effectively accommodate the given traffic demands. Crosslayer techniques that exploit information coming from the transport plane to serve either the network planning or the operation phases have been proposed to achieve optimal resource utilization and network performance.
Dynamic impairment-aware networking refers to a solution that utilizes the dynamicity as well as the valuable physical-layer information of a reconfigurable WDM network to provide a smooth transition from the quasi-static networking of today to an intelligent reconfigurable and physical impairment-aware architecture. The concept of physical layer awareness allows intelligent techniques to offer optimal planning, dynamic configuration and management of the network while ensuring strong quality of transmission (QoT). A physical-layer performance estimating tool called Q-tool, has been designed and developed to deliver fast and accurate QoT assessments in dynamic single line-rate WDM networks employing 10 Gb/s OOK systems. The Q-tool was developed so as to feed with QoT evaluations the various cross-layer modules including offline RWA, monitor placement, regenerator placement, online RWA and failure handling. The significance of the physical-layer awareness and the role of Q-tool in the online routing strategy have been experimentally investigated using an impairment-enabled control-plane testbed. A cross-layer module that utilizes physical layer information to optimize the planning phase of single line-rate networks has been also developed; a monitor placement scheme was designed that takes into account partial monitoring information coming from the physical layer to decide the optimum number and locations of the optical monitoring devices. A techno-economic analysis was also conducted to explore the cost implications stemming from the resource optimization of a dynamic single line-rate network. Impairment aware and impairment-unaware algorithms along with the developed QoT tool were used to compare the planning solutions in terms of CapEx and OpEx.
The challenges arising in the core networks of the next generation have also been addressed. Flexible optical networking has been introduced by the research community as a way to offer efficient utilization of the available optical resources while offering ultra-high speed rates. As opposed to the rate-specific and fixed-grid solution of a mixed line-rate (MLR) network, flexible networks are bandwidth agnostic and have the ability to adapt on- demand the delivered bit-rate. Yet, the increased level of flexibility imposes complex requirements; during network operation traffic is changing with time, leaving windows of spectrum of variable size unused. Moreover, interference from the neighbouring channels has to be taken into account and sufficient guard-bands ought to be considered. In such context the physical layer requirements for a spectrum-flexible optical superchannel were experimentally investigated by implementing a set of networking scenarios. The importance of the result is that it can act as input for cognitive algorithms that will enable a novel networking paradigm. Finally next generation core networks were evaluated from a cost, spectral and energy perspective so as to give a comprehensive view of the potential of the proposed technologies. The resource optimization achieved by flexible networks has been compared to single and mixed line-rate networks under the prism of cost and energy efficiency. It was shown that the capability of flexible networks to allocate efficiently the available spectrum, counterbalances the additional capital expenditures that are required to migrate to a multi-carrier system. In addition flexible networks achieve low energy per bit as they use just the amount of network resources needed for the given input traffic.


Agitate Educate Organise: A history of Community Radio 4ZzZ Community radio 4ZzZ has been broadcasting local and underground music and local and alternative news for over 30 years. It operates under the logo AGITATE EDUCATE ORGANISE and is licensed to serve the general community with an emphasis on special interest and marginalised audiences. The station has a colourful history including the arrests of journalists and controversial police presence at fund raising events. This presentation/paper will look at the history of 4ZzZ as well as addressing some of the issues currently faced by the station to stay on the air.


This paper develops and implements a new algorithm for calculating wave trace invariants of a bounded plane domain around a periodic billiard orbit. The algorithm is based on a new expression for the localized wave trace as a special multiple oscillatory integral over the boundary, and on a Feynman diagrammatic analysis of the stationary phase expansion of the oscillatory integral. The algorithm is particularly effective for Euclidean plane domains possessing a Z2 symmetry which reverses the orientation of a bouncing ball orbit. It is also very effective for domains with dihedral symmetries. For simply connected analytic Euclidean plane domains in either symmetry class, we prove that the domain is determined within the class by either its Dirichlet or Neumann spectrum. This improves and generalizes the best prior inverse result (cf. [Z1, Z2, ISZ]) that simply connected analytic plane domains with two symmetries are spectrally determined within that class.


ABSTRACT Recent scholarship has identified a new era of post-democracy or democratic crisis in the West, characterised by the increasing resort to authoritarian measures and the erosion of mechanisms such as representative parties and unions that link citizens and social forces with the political process. Conservative political movements, right-wing governments and populism have also emerged in the democratic states of the Asia-Pacific. The existing literature, with its focus on the crisis of social democratic institutions and forms of representative politics, provides inadequate frameworks for explaining these trends in the region. This article suggests that a better way of understanding the emergence of these new forms of political regime in Asia is to locate the origins of democratic crises in processes of global capitalist transformation and political incorporation and disincorporation. The articles in this special issue show that previously dominant modes of incorporation are fracturing under the conditions of neo-liberal capitalist transformation. In the wake of this fracturing, political elites have struggled to created new forms of political incorporation. This has inadvertently resulted in the sharpening of the conditions that give rise to political crisis. The political responses to crises have predominantly been conservative and have led to attempts to restructure the state to limit dissent and electoral competition.


Opioid Prescription and Use After Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy Valynn Christina Haslam College of Nursing, BYU Master of Science Background: Opioid abuse has become a serious public health issue. While adequate pain management is an ethical responsibility for health care providers, responsible stewardship of controlled substances is of equal concern. Opioids are often prescribed for treatment of acute pain post-operatively. The purpose of this study is to examine opioid prescription practices and use of opioids after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Methods: A convenience sample of 42 patients scheduled for laparoscopic cholecystectomy were enrolled in the study. Using a descriptive study design, patients were interviewed by phone 6-10 days post-operatively using a scripted questionnaire. The average number of excess prescribed opioid medication pills, patient perception of prescribed quantity, duration of opioid use, and average pain score with and without activity on the date of contact was determined. Participants were also asked about any instruction received regarding proper medication disposal. Results: A final sample of 34 patients met inclusion criteria and completed the phone questionnaire. Average number of excess pills ranged from 0-42 (M:14; SD 11.7). Nearly half of patients (47%) perceived the prescribed quantity as 'too many', 41% indicated the prescription quantity was 'just right' but many had left-over pills, and 11.8% believed the prescribed quantity to be 'too few'. The average number of days of opioid use following surgery was 4.2 days with 71% of patients using opioids for five or fewer days. The average pain score at the time of the interview was 2.0 without activity, and 4.1 with activity. Almost all (88%) patients did not recall any instruction or knowledge of appropriate medication disposal. A few participants volunteered plans to dispose of unused medications by various means, while others indicated they planned to keep excess pills. Conclusion: Pain management experts advise using around-the-clock regimens of over-thecounter analgesics (i.e. acetaminophen or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication (NSAID)) and using opioids sparingly as an adjunct therapy following uncomplicated laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The data in this study indicated currently prescribed opioid quantities after laparoscopic cholecystectomy are more than adequate and could be decreased without affecting adequate pain management. In addition, the data show a large majority of patients are not provided with personalized instruction on proper medication disposal procedures.


The present study is a simple experiment with the most commonly used and abundantly available spherical hydrogel crystal beads. Immersing the beads in distilled water, both mass and volume were measured at regular time intervals. The experimental results thus obtained have been explained on the basis of analytical and numerical approach. A theoretical model has been developed based on the consideration of water absorption through vacant polymer sites in a highly porous hydrogel. Considerations of cylindrical and spherical pores in this model predicted almost the same swelling behaviour. Expressions relating to the mass and the volume of hydro-gels with time have been formulated and it has been shown that the theoretical plots almost fit the experimental data and using the experimental result several swelling parameters (e.g. the characteristic time, pore sizes etc.) have been evaluated. In this regard the maximum number of water molecules which may be attached to the active polymer sites in a single crystal bead has been calculated. The results found during this experiment seem to be similar to those found in some earlier similar type of experiments hence validating the assumptions made in the analytical model used by us.


Gene finding in eukaryotic genomes is an essential part of a comprehensive approach to modern systems biology. Most methods developed in the past rely on a combination of computational prediction and external information about gene structures from transcript sequences and comparative genomics. In the past, external sequence information consisted of a combination of full-length cDNA and expressed sequence tag (EST) sequences. Much improvement in prediction of genes and gene isoforms is promised by availability of RNA-seq data. However, productive use of RNA-seq for gene prediction has been difficult due to challenges associated with mapping RNA-seq reads which span splice junctions to prevalent splicing noise in the cell. This work addresses this difficulty with the development of methods and implementation of two new pipelines: 1/ a novel pipeline for accurate mapping of RNA-seq reads to compact genomes and 2/ a pipeline for prediction of genes using the RNA-seq spliced alignments in eukaryotic genomes. Machine learning methods are employed in order to overcome errors associated with the process of mapping short RNA-seq reads across introns and using them for determining sequence model parameters for gene prediction. In addition to the development of these new methods, genome annotation work was performed on several plant genome projects.


A new route for the preparation of benzo[1,5]diazocines from indoles and enaminone analogues is described. This protocol features easily available substrates, mild reaction conditions, high atom economy, environmentally friendly oxidants and site-selectivity. In addition, a plausible mechanism involving a cascade of copper-catalyzed oxidation/intermolecular cyclization/oxygen-participated intramolecular ring-opening is suggested.