Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a neurodegenerative brain disorder that affects the frontal and temporal lobes predominantly. Impaired emotion recognition has been reported in two FTD subtypes: behavioral-variant FTD (bvFTD) and semantic dementia (SD), but has not been investigated in the third subtype: progressive nonfluent aphasia (PNFA). Methods: Recognition of six basic facial emotions (anger, disgust, fear, sadness, surprise, and happiness) was investigated in 41 FTD patients (bvFTD = 16; SD = 12; PNFA = 13) and 37 age- and education-matched controls, using two tests. In one task, intensity of emotional expression was increased to identify cognitive components contributing to emotion recognition performance. Results: All patient groups demonstrated impaired overall facial emotion recognition compared to controls. Performance, however, improved with increased emotion intensity in bvFTD and PNFA groups, the effect of intensity on emotion recognition being particularly pronounced for negative emotions. In contrast, increased intensity of facial emotion did not change performance in SD. Conclusions: Patients with SD demonstrate a primary emotion processing impairment, whereas PNFA and bvFTD patients' emotional disturbance is in part mediated by attentional deficits. These findings indicate that a subset of FTD patients may benefit from enhanced emotional intensity that will facilitate facial emotion recognition.


We are developing the Fuce processor based on the dataflow computing model. Fuce means fusion of communication and execution. In order to execute many threads with multiple thread execution units efficiently, the Fuce processor executes multiple threads using the exclusive multi-thread execution model. The core concept of the exclusive multi-thread execution model is continuation based multi-thread execution, which is derived from dataflow computing. The Fuce processor aims to fuse the intra-processor execution and inter-processor communication. The Fuce processor unifies processing inside the processor and communication with processors outside as events, and executes the event as a thread. In this paper, we introduce the architecture of the Fuce processor and evaluate the concurrency performance of a Fuce processor which we described in VHDL. As a result, we understood that the processor has concurrency capability when there is sufficient thread level parallelism.


Nanofabricated devices, where the characteristic dimension is less than one micron (10^-6 m), have remarkable potential as highly sensitive tools to observe the quantum world to which we belong. By operating such devices at extremely low temperatures we can engineer physical scenarios never before seen in nature. Investigating the laws which govern at such small energy and length scales has the potential to upend our current understanding of the universe. This thesis introduces two main bodies of experimental work, both of which utilise nanoscale devices as precise detectors for various unique quantum phenomena. In Part I, nanomechanical devices with extremely high mass sensitivity were used as probes of quantum fluids, namely superfluid 4He. We present the first measurements of nanomechanical devices in superfluid 4He, measuring the spectra of thermal excitations, and use our devices to demonstrate a new quasiparticle driving mechanism, which we call the 'phonon wind'. Here, a nanobeam can be moved coherently under the influence of a modulated flux of thermal excitations. We go on to use nanobeams as high-speed detectors for the phenomenon of quantized vortices in 4He, ultimately concluding with the systematic study of a single vortex trapped by a nanobeam. We also present the first measurements of micromechanical torsional tuning forks in superfluid 4He, demonstrating a unique multimode detection scheme where torsional oscillations are used to sense quantised vortices generated by flexural oscillations. In Part II, nanoelectronic devices with extremely high charge sensitivity were used as probes of the superconducting field-effect. The superconducting field-effect, as previously observed in nanoconstrictions, is a completely unexpected phenomenon and cannot theoretically coexist with the well-established Bardeen, Cooper and Schrieffer theory of superconductivity. Using a gated Dayem bridge coupled to a high-frequency circuit, we characterise this effect with far greater time resolution than previously possible, demonstrating that the observed effect is merely a result of electron tunnelling causing localised heating in the constriction.


For the development of earthquake occurrence models, historical earthquake catalogues and compilations of mapped, active faults are often used. The goal of this study is to develop new methodologies for the generation of an earthquake occurrence model for New Zealand that is consistent with both data sets. For the construction of a seismological earthquake occurrence model based on the historical earthquake record, 'adaptive kernel estimation' has been used in this study. Based on this method a technique has been introduced to filter temporal sequences (e.g. aftershocks). Finally, a test has been developed for comparing different earthquake occurrence models. It has been found that the adaptive kernel estimation with temporal sequence filtering gives the best joint fit between the earthquake catalogue and the earthquake occurrence model, and between two earthquake occurrence models obtained from data from two independent time intervals. For the development of a geological earthquake occurrence model based on fault information, earthquake source relationships (i.e. rupture length versus rupture width scaling) have been revised. It has been found that large dip-slip and strike-slip earthquakes scale differently. Using these source relationships a dynamic stochastic fault model has been introduced. Whereas earthquake hazard studies often do not allow individual fault segments to produce compound ruptures, this model allows the linking of fault segments by chance. The moment release of simulated fault ruptures has been compared with the theoretical deformation along the plate boundary. When comparing the seismological and the geological earthquake occurrence model, it has been found that a 'good' occurrence model for large dip-slip earthquakes is given by the seismological occurrence model using the Gutenberg-Richter magnitude frequency distribution. In contrast, regions dominated by long strike-slip faults produce large earthquakes but not many small earthquakes and the occurrence of earthquakes on such faults should be inferred from the dynamic fault model.


Spin foam models are an attempt at a covariant or path integral formulation of canonical loop quantum gravity. The construction of such models usually relies on the Plebanski formulation of general relativity as a constrained BF theory and is based on the discretization of the action on a simplicial triangulation, which may be viewed as an ultraviolet regulator. The triangulation dependence can be removed by means of group field theory techniques, which allows one to sum over all triangulations. The main tasks for these models are the correct quantum implementation of the Plebanski constraints, the existence of a semiclassical sector implementing additional 'Regge-like' constraints arising from simplicial triangulations and the definition of the physical inner product of loop quantum gravity via group field theory. Here we propose a new approach to tackle these issues stemming directly from the Holst action for general relativity, which is also a proper starting point for canonical loop quantum gravity. The discretization is performed by means of a 'cubulation' of the manifold rather than a triangulation. We give a direct interpretation of the resulting spin foam model as a generating functional for the n-point functions on the physical Hilbert space at finite regulator. This paper focuses on ideas and tasks to be performed before the model can be taken seriously. However, our analysis reveals some interesting features of this model: firstly, the structure of its amplitudes differs from the standard spin foam models. Secondly, the tetrad n-point functions admit a 'Wick-like' structure. Thirdly, the restriction to simple representations does not automatically occur—unless one makes use of the time gauge, just as in the classical theory.


: The induction of the synthesis of interleukin-1 (IL-1) in human monocytes under the influence of the endotoxic preparations (LPS) and Y. pestis basis somatic antigen has been experimentally studied. The results obtained in this study make it possible to come to the conclusion that the capacity of the endotoxin of Y. pestis cell wall, consisting of LPS of type R, for inducing the synthesis of IL-1 in human monocytes is not different from the corresponding capacity of Salmonella and Shigella LPS, type S. Y. pestis O-specific polysaccharide in a discrete state has considerably greater IL-1-inducing activity in comparison with other preparations used in this experimental study. Such typical changes, characteristic of the initial stage of Y. pestis infection, as a sharp rise in temperature, transitory neutropenia, significant primary suppression of the oxygen-dependent metabolism of polymorphonuclear neutrophils are probably due to the induction of the synthesis of IL-1 by the polysaccharide-containing antigen of Y. pestis cell wall (LPS, basic somatic antigen) in cells of the mononuclear phagocytizing system.


Quiescence is the absence of outputs in a labelled transition system. Quiescent Transition Systems (QTSs) are labelled transition systems that can model quiescence explicitly. Time outs in combination with QTSs are often used to determine quiescence in model-based testing. This is not yet done in a systematic and standardized way. This paper proposes a way to add quiescence to Timed Automata (TAs), the Quiescent Timed Automaton (QTA). TAs are transition systems extended with realvalued clocks. It is possible to determine quiescence in model-based testing via QTAs, because of the extra clock x that can be added to a TA to determine if quiescence is the case. The paper ensures that QTAs can be used for determining quiescence in testing, since it provides proof that it is an valid alternative for QTSs which does not alter the behavior of QTSs. Furthermore, a way is proposed to create a QTA from a labelled transition system and to directly create a QTA from a QTS and vice versa. QTAs as alternative for QTSs provide a foundation for a practical and systematic way of testing, which is now only done intuitively. The contribution of the QTA is therefore relevant for model-based testing with quiescence.


:Aims/Background: Colchicine is an anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic drug. Several randomized clinical trials have addressed the question whether colchicine has any efficacy in patients with alcoholic as well as non-alcoholic fibrosis and cirrhosis. The objectives were to assess the efficacy of colchicine evaluated in randomized trials on mortality, liver related mortality, liver related complications, liver fibrosis markers, liver histology, alcohol consumption, quality of life, and health economics in patients with alcoholic and non-alcoholic fibrosis or cirrhosis. Methods: Interventions encompassed peroral colchicine at any dose versus placebo or no intervention. The trials could be double-blind, single-blind or unblinded. The trials could be unpublished or published as an article, an abstract, or a letter, and no language limitations were applied. All analyses were performed according to the intention-to-treat method. MEDLINE, The Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, The Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group Controlled Trials Register and full text searches were combined. Results: Combining the results of 14 randomized clinical trials including 1138 patients demonstrated no significant effects of colchicine on mortality (odds ratio (OR): 0.91; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.64, 1.31), liver related mortality (OR: 0.98; CI 0.56, 1.74), complications (OR: 1.06; CI 0.65, 1.73), and the other outcomes. Colchicine was associated with a significantly increased risk of adverse events (OR: 4.41; CI 2.24, 8.70; p< 0.001). Conclusions: Colchicine should not be used for liver fibrosis or liver cirrhosis irrespective of etiology. Future trials on colchicine for liver diseases ought to be large.


The assessment of the reliability of systems which learn from data is a key issue to investigate thoroughly before the actual application of information processing techniques to real-world problems. Over the recent years Gaussian processes and Bayesian neural networks have come to the fore and in this thesis their generalisation capabilities are analysed from theoretical and empirical perspectives. Upper and lower bounds on the learning curve of Gaussian processes are investigated in order to estimate the amount of data required to guarantee a certain level of generalisation performance. In this thesis we analyse the effects on the bounds and the learning curve induced by the smoothness of stochastic processes described by four different covariance functions. We also explain the early, linearly-decreasing behaviour of the curves and we investigate the asymptotic behaviour of the upper bounds. The effect of the noise and the characteristic lengthscale of the stochastic process on the tightness of the bounds are also discussed. The analysis is supported by several numerical simulations. The generalisation error of a Gaussian process is affected by the dimension of the input vector and may be decreased by input-variable reduction techniques. In conventional approaches to Gaussian process regression, the positive definite matrix estimating the distance between input points is often taken diagonal. In this thesis we show that a general distance matrix is able to estimate the effective dimensionality of the regression problem as well as to discover the linear transformation from the manifest variables to the hidden-feature space, with a significant reduction of the input dimension. Numerical simulations confirm the significant superiority of the general distance matrix with respect to the diagonal one.In the thesis we also present an empirical investigation of the generalisation errors of neural networks trained by two Bayesian algorithms, the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method and the evidence framework; the neural networks have been trained on the task of labelling segmented outdoor images.


Polyprolines are attractive polymers because of their folding property into polyproline II (PPII) structure, their significance in protein/protein interactions, and their potential as new therapeutic targets. Silaproline (Sip) is an analogue of proline, which exhibits similar conformational properties. The presence of dimethylsilyl group confers to Sip a higher lipophilicity as well as an improved resistance to biodegradation. Enantiomerically pure Sip was available in gram quantities from resolution of the enantiomers by chiral high performance liquid chromatography. This study describes the first synthesis of Sip N-carboxyanhydride (NCA) and shows preliminary results on comparison of polymerization of (l)Pro-NCA and (d)Sip-NCA to obtain homopolypeptides with PPII structure, polyproline, and polysilaproline polymers. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013, 51, 3103–3109


This paper introduces the characteristics of the agricultural high-tech industries, and points out that the agricultural high-tech industries are intelligence-intensive and knowledge-intensive industries with the characteristics of high investment, high risk, high value-added, which focuses on constant innovation, having strong horizontal and vertical linkages with other enterprises and showing the trend of internationalization. The connotation of agricultural high-tech industrialization is analyzed as follows: Agricultural high-tech industrialization is the process of transformation of the agricultural high-tech achievements to the agricultural high-tech industries; essentially the marketization and commercialization of agricultural high technology; the manifestation of scale and level of agricultural high-tech industries; the manifestation of social impact, social status and social role of agricultural high-tech industries. The development strategies are put forward for agricultural high-tech industrialization: (1) Bringing the research of agricultural high technology into the orbit of the market economy; (2) Implementing the new mechanism to closely link agricultural high technology with modern rural enterprises; (3) Building the agricultural high-tech team with a larger size and high level; (4) Further improving the construction of the agricultural high-tech industrial development zone; (5) Solving the issues concerning agricultural intellectual property and patent; (6) Increasing policy guidance and support efforts for agricultural high-tech industries.


Despite the unsurpassed selectivity that enzymes usually offer, biocatalytic transformations repeatedly fall short of the robustness and process efficiency demanded for production-scale chemical synthesis. Nucleotide sugar-dependent "Leloir" glycosyltransferases (GTs) are fine catalysts of glycosylation but there is concern as to whether reactions from this enzyme class are fit for industrial process development. We demonstrate in this study of sucrose synthase (SuSy; EC 22.214.171.124) that, in order to unlock the synthetic potential of the GT reaction, it was vital to combine a focused, kinetic characteristics-based enzyme selection with a reaction design properly aligned to thermodynamic constraints. The equilibrium constant (Keq) for the conversion of sucrose and uridine 5′-diphosphate (UDP) into the target product UDP-α-d-glucose and d-fructose decreased with increasing pH due to deprotonation of the β-phosphate group of UDP above the pKa of ∼6.0. Proton uptake coupled to the glucosyl transfer made it essential that the pH was carefully controlled throughout the reaction. Comparing two SuSys from Acidithiobacillus caldus and Glycine max (soybean), substrate inhibition by UDP superseded catalytic efficiency as the prior selection criterion, demanding choice of the bacterial GT for use at high UDP concentrations. Reaction at the operational pH optimum, determined as 5.0, gave 255 mM (144 g L−1) of UDP-glucose in 85% yield from UDP. Using an enzyme concentration of only 0.1 g L−1, a space-time yield of 25 g L−1 h−1 was obtained. The mass-based turnover number (g product formed per g enzyme added) reached a value of 1440 from a single batch conversion. Therefore, these parameters of the UDP-glucose synthesis show that the reaction of a GT can be pushed to a process efficiency typically required for implementation in fine chemicals production.


A series of new rings, made for COLLECT: The International Art Fair for Contemporary Objects at The Saatchi Gallery

(Subsequently exhibited as part of a larger body of work at FRAME: Eleven Selected Galleries at Handwerk & Design 2019 (Munich Jewellery Week)

The artefacts are part of my ongoing practice based research exploring visual illusion and optical effects within jewellery. Experimentation is key to the way that I develop new ideas and although there is a mathematical precision to the way I work there is an organic flow and spontaneity within the surfaces I am creating, this is important for me in developing unique pieces of jewellery. I made this group of rings following years of tests and research using bi-metals and multiple alloys of gold, silver, platinum and palladium. My aim is to create jewellery that engages both the wearer and viewer through playful and innovative use of these traditional materials. In keeping with previous 'Lenticular' pieces, the pattern within each ring changes colour. The surfaces, created using thousands of individual elements, come alive through the slightest of hand movements. (see movie and images)

COLLECT: The International Art Fair for Contemporary Objects at The Saatchi Gallery - 27 February to 3 March 2019 - Represented by The Bishopsland Educational Trust

'The growing recognition of how craft is the foundation for providing the skill and intellectual rigour behind new and contemporary work is to be celebrated. Collect showcases remarkable work by living, multi-disciplinary artists' - Isobel Dennis (Fair director, previously at The Design Museum and prior to that, Group Director of New Designers for 14 years)

Collect is the only gallery-presented art fair dedicated to modern craft and design, and provides an opportunity to discover and invest in exceptional work produced in the last five years by living artists, much of which is made exclusively for the Fair. It occupied the Saatchi Gallery for four days with 45 galleries - the largest number of participating galleries in the fair's history - selected by an independent panel of experts.

FRAME: Eleven Selected Galleries at Handwerk & Design 2019 (Munich Jewellery Week) - 13 to 17 March 2019 Handwerksmesse Munich - Represented by Galerie Marzee

Galerie Marzee was founded in 1978 as a gallery for contemporary jewellery, and has since become one of the principal promoters of contemporary jewellery and silverware. Since 1995 the gallery has been housed in a former granary on Nijmegen's waterfront. With 850 square meters of exhibition space, Galerie Marzee is one of the largest galleries in the Netherlands, and the largest gallery for modern art jewellery in the world.

Marie-Jose van den Hout (Owner - Galerie Marzee) is the creative mastermind behind FRAME. Schmuck, Exempla, Talente and Meister Der Moderne, the other special shows at Handwerk & Design were already well-established within the Handwerksmesse when she started Frame in 2009. She wanted to add another dimension to these exhibitions and together with Wolfgang Losche, director of Schmuck and then Dieter Dohr, the director of the Handwerksmesse she initiated Frame for the first time


Partners to the UNFCCC have been asked to make their pledges and contribute to climate change mitigation through Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). Funds have been allocated to support developing countries implement climate mitigation and adaptation measures. Meanwhile, the global sustainable development agenda has also been approved, including energy and climate goals. In other words, we would expect that INDCs explore the synergies between climate and development agendas. In 2012, Ethiopia, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had electrification levels of 26.6%, 23% and 18% respectively. This also means the three countries had populations of 70 million, 35 million and 60 million with no access to electricity. The electricity access targets of Ethiopia, Kenya and the DRC for 2030 are 75%. The objective of this paper is to analyze how these countries improve energy access in a context of climate change mitigation. The analysis explores (i) the electricity mix aimed for, (ii) the expected GHG emissions from electricity generation until 2030, and (iii) electrification and related metrics. Ultimately, we aim at a better understanding of what these countries' climate and development strategies encompass in terms of emissions reductions as well as electrification goals, as per reflected in their INDCs. Given the bottom-up process inherent in the INDCs and the climate agreement mechanism, the paper gives insights on how these countries have used the INDCs to prioritize sustainable electricity access. The electrification goals are achieved by increasing generation in these countries for domestic use and enabling access to generated electricity. The INDCs are an ideal platform to achieve this if generation capacity is increased by catalyzing climate finance if the expansion falls under the category of climate-appropriate technologies. The BAU case electricity generation has been computed using a simple regression model. It has been compared with targets given by the countries or multilateral organizations. The regression model's independent variable is the GDP/capita for each individual country. These GDP/capita forecasts are also an underpinning assumption of their submitted INDCs, and thus it is reasonable to use them in the regression model to forecast electricity generation. The diversity of the power mix is calculated using the Shannon-Weiner Index. The percentage of renewable energy sources are calculated along with their share in the total potential available in each country. The results show that the three countries have different storylines as to their sustainable electricity access targets and their INDCs. Ethiopia aims at nearly 100% renewables for power in 2030, while Kenya's renewables only generate 54% of the total electricity provided in 2030. In the case of DRC, the renewables are very high, but the per capita electricity use is very low and it will become a power exporter. Although the climate mitigation goals for the energy sector as defined in the INDCs of the three countries are ambitious, they still have a long way to go in translating the electricity access ambitions into feasible domestic electricity use.


The Malaysian Peninsula belongs to the Southeast Asian tin belt. It is divided by a sutUre into two different magmatic provinces of s- and I-type characteristics. Three areas within the S-type granitoid province of the Main Range have been studied. New K Ar mica and fission track zircon and apatite ages were established, and Rb-Sr whole rock data from literature have been reinterpreted in the light of these new data. The results were compared with existing Rb-Sr isochrons of the I-type granitoid province and with the one reported from the northern extension of the belt stretching into Thailand. This integrated study led to the better understanding of: a) the behavior of the different isotopic systems in different geological environments, and b) the complex magmatic, tectonic and cooling history of Southeast Asian granitoids. Applying the intrusion extrapolation method, based on the evolutionary trend of decreasing Rb-Sr ages and increasing initial (87186)Sr (Kwan et al., paper submitted), periods of 300, 250, 210, and 90 Ma for the Main Range and of 260, 240, 210 and 90 Ma for the I-type granite province became evident. The best evaluated initial (87186)Sr for the source regions of the granitoids are 0.708 to 0.709 and 0.704 respectively. the major magmatic event in the Main Range dates of the late-Permian. The close time range of individual magmatic periods and their spatial distribution can best be explained in the context of plate tectonics by northward motion of compositionally different arcs; by their collision to one another and to the East Asian Continent; subsequent deformation; subduction reversal; following the model of Hamilton (1988). The most crucial event for the Main Range granitoids was the intrusion of the highly evolved, late-Triassic post-collision granites. They induced a regional hydrothermal convection system, which is considered to have lasted for a maximum of 40 Ma dependent upon the crustal level. This hydrothermal system was responsible for the major tin mineralization processes and the entire granite alteration. Biotite of the crystallized granitoids is considered to be the main Sn supplier. The K-Ar and fission track ages indicate a slow post-orogenic cooling in the range of 1- 5°ClMa. With FT zircon ages different crustal levels can be distinguished within the Main Range, and the discordant K-Ar mica and the differently reset Rb-Sr whole-rock ages can be correlated with depth. After the early-Cretaceous the Main Range has been dominated by tectonic activities, such as differential vertical uplift of the Main Rage combined with thejuxtapositioning of blocks, thrust faulting close to the Bentong-Raub suture and Tertiary left-lateral displacement, which is inferred from isotopic and petrological evidences.


This paper proposes a set membership method based on interval analysis to solve the simultaneous localization and map building (SLAM) problem. The principle of the approach is to cast the SLAM problem into a constraint satisfaction problem for which interval propagation algorithms are particularly powerful. The resulting propagation method is illustrated on the localization and map building of an actual underwater robot.


Dimension herbicide (dithiopyr) was applied to common bermudagrass turf at 90, 60, and 45 days before fall overseeding to measure the efficacy for turf safety and for control of fall germinating POA Annua (PA). Applications were made at 0.25, 0.375, and 0.50 lbs. AI/A on each date. One half of each plot was overseeded, while the other half was not. Percent plot (PA) infestation and percent weed control was more greatly affected by the process of overseeding, than that of the herbicide applications alone. When not overseeded, the bermudagrass turf had a maximum of 45% PA control in November, which decreased dramatically to little or no control from January to March 2000. With the inclusion of ryegrass overseed, the high rate (0.50 lbs. AI/A) applied closest to the overseeding (45 DBOS) provided between 79-82% PA control over the length of the test. Actual infestation levels among non-chemical receiving control plots showed a 3X increased level in PA suppression due to overseeding, when compared to the non-overseeded, non-chemical controls. Dimension herbicide alone had little effect for PA control. When combined with overseeding, the 0.50 lb. AI/A rate, applied at 60 or 45 DBOS provided the greatest levels of PA control. The performance of Dimension on non-overseeded bermudagrass does not support the anticipated use of this chemical for PA control.


ABSTRACT The carbazole 1,9a-dioxygenase (CARDO) system of Pseudomonas resinovorans strain CA10 consists of terminal oxygenase (CarAa), ferredoxin (CarAc), and ferredoxin reductase (CarAd). Each component of CARDO was expressed in Escherichia coli strain BL21(DE3) as a native form (CarAa) or a His-tagged form (CarAc and CarAd) and was purified to apparent homogeneity. CarAa was found to be trimeric and to have one Rieske type [2Fe-2S] cluster and one mononuclear iron center in each monomer. Both His-tagged proteins were found to be monomeric and to contain the prosthetic groups predicted from the deduced amino acid sequence (His-tagged CarAd, one FAD and one [2Fe-2S] cluster per monomer protein; His-tagged CarAc, one Rieske type [2Fe-2S] cluster per monomer protein). Both NADH and NADPH were effective as electron donors for His-tagged CarAd. However, since the kcat/Km for NADH is 22.3-fold higher than that for NADPH in the 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol reductase assay, NADH was supposed to be the physiological electron donor of CarAd. In the presence of NADH, His-tagged CarAc was reduced by His-tagged CarAd. Similarly, CarAa was reduced by His-tagged CarAc, His-tagged CarAd, and NADH. The three purified proteins could reconstitute the CARDO activity in vitro. In the reconstituted CARDO system, His-tagged CarAc seemed to be indispensable for electron transport, while His-tagged CarAd could be replaced by some unrelated reductases.


The popularity of smartphones has led to the creation of sport-related mobile applications in the areas of games, fitness, information, and events for sport consumers. The main purpose of this study was to examine why college students use sport-related mobile applications and what benefits they received from their usage. The study employed the Motivation Scale for Sport Online Consumption and the Technology Acceptance Model to understand this usage in more detail. Using a mixed-method approach, the study revealed that college students identified fanship, convenience, and information as primary motives for using their sport-related mobile applications. For college students who are sport fans, supporting their fanship through these applications represents an important aspect of their lifestyle. Sport managers and sport application developers will benefit from understanding users' intentions and motives as the market for sport-related applications continues to grow.


Ruminants depend on the highly diverse microbial community that resides in the rumen, the first and largest chamber of their digestive system, to gain nutrients from their herbivorous diet. The Hyper Ammonia Producers (HAPs) are obligate amino acid fermenting bacteria found in low numbers in this community. This break down of amino acids and peptides results in excessive ammonia production, as well as hydrogen and carbon dioxide, resulting in loss of nitrogen from the host and contribution to environmental emissions from enteric fermentation. Despite their large impact, little is known about the genomic underpinnings of the HAP phenotype. Our study employed comparative genomics and transcriptomics approaches to address this question. A phylogenetic tree of 498 rumen prokaryotic microbial genomes from the Hungate 1000 project (including 12 known HAPs) identified the HAP phenotype as polyphyletic, indicating independent origins or a result of horizontal gene transfer (HGT). However, following construction of sequence similarity networks for all genomes, few uniquely shared homologous genes families were apparent in the HAPs, suggesting that HGT did not drive their evolution. Instead, independent evolution of the phenotype is supported by similar functional analog profiles in the genomes of organisms with the HAP phenotype. Genome-wide characterisation and expression of functional analogs in known HAPS will allow in silico prediction of novel HAPs from the rumen which can be confirmed in vitro.


We analyze the problem of a buyer who purchases a long-term project from one of several suppliers. A changing state of the world influences the costs of the suppliers. Complete contracts conditioning on all future realizations of the state are infeasible. We show that contractual incompleteness comes without a cost. The buyer achieves the same surplus with complete and incomplete contracts. The key insight is that the allocation prescribed by optimal complete contracts is sequentially optimal with incomplete contracts if the buyer does not receive too much information ex-interim. We show that the English auction restricts the information optimally.


Mr. Editor: —A former number of this Journal contained a very interesting article from Dr. F. Andros, of Mitchell, Dakota, on the Medical and Surgical Lore of the Winnebago and Sioux Indians. In the following paper he continues the subject, with the addition of some points of Indian mythology, connected with their medical theories. One of his observations as to what were the theological ideas of the Winnebagoes before they were much modified by the ideas of the whites, will interest ethnological scientists. The latter have of late been discussing the question whether the Great Spirit, called by the Chippawas Sha Monedo, was an original idea of the natives, or a modern notion introduced by the missionaries. Dr. Andros was a member of the sacred lodge at an early time, when it would probably not be difficult to distinguish new imported ideas from aboriginal ones. His impression is that the


An approach to structured analysis and design that has been found useful in teaching students to apply these techniques to the development of interactive information systems (IIS) is presented. The problems that arise for the students may be solved by showing them how to develop a conversational view of an IIS. This view expresses the students' spontaneous way of looking at the system. However, the conversational view cannot serve adequately as a basis for the development of a design. To become the basis for a design, the conversational view must be translated into the global view that displays the standard tripartite division into afferent, transform, and efferent flows. >


This chapter takes a political phenomenological approach to the study of war, with the aim of explaining the key determinants of individuals' conscious experience – in this case war reporters. This perspective avoids both the voluntarist conception of consciousness as 'owned' by social agents and the determinism of rational actor theory, holding instead that consciousness is structured by a variety of factors and in sometimes unpredictable ways. Such determinations can be interpreted as strategic, in the sense that individuals and institutions have an interest in how symbolic forms such as professional values and identities are structured. The chapter draws on a discourse analysis of interviews with war correspondents and others active in the field, including military personnel and PR officers, newspaper editors and a US government spokesperson. It identifies two symbolic economies which govern the symbolic value accorded to individuals and media forms, esotericisation and ambivalence, and suggests that while these mostly go unacknowledged there is some scope for reflexivity amongst war reporters of the 'game' in which they are engaged. The rules of interaction proceed according to distinctions made between actors, usually not overtly but through expressions of common sense or personal character. However, these rules are subject to change. The chapter assesses how the physical constraints of pool and embedded reporting and the imposition of foreign scheduling influence a journalist's ability to perform his/her professionalism and autonomy, and ends by suggesting four ways in which new communication technologies produce substantially different experiences of inhabiting a conflict environment.


ABSTRACT The role of male sounds in attracting females and in mating was investigated in the three most common species of Micronecta found in ponds 60 km NE of Melbourne, Australia: M. concordia, M. tasmanica and M. robusta. In playback experiments using recorded male signals, females were attracted to signals of conspecific males, in preference to signals of heterospecific sympatric males. Studies of mating behaviour, using video recording, showed that signals were obligatory for mating. These findings strongly suggest that acoustic signalling is important in reproductive isolation in Micronecta. Comparisons between matings and rejected matings showed that, within each species, copulation only occurred following a certain minimum number of acoustic signals with more pulse-trains than the mean for the species. Low amplitude sounds (after signals) were also important in courtship, immediately preceding mating. No sounds occurred during copulation.


By the time of Handel's death in 1759, Judas Maccabaeus had become the composer's second most popular oratorio: it received thirty-three London performances during the composer's lifetime, and continued to receive regular performances in London from 1760 until 1774.

This thesis begins with a review of the historical and social, events which led to the composition of Judas Maccabaeus in 1746. Then the evolution of the libretto and music up to the first performance on 1 April 1747 is traced. The form of Handel's first performing version is reconstructed, involving the interpretation of early sources and the correction of errors found in available published editions of the work.

Chapters 4-6 trace the subsequent versions of the work, as presented by Handel and his immediate successors in London. Evidence from the conducting score used by Handel and J. C. Smith the younger, and from early manuscript copies of the score and contemporary word-books, is linked with information about successive casts of solo singers. Newlyfound material has enabled a revision to be made of previous assumptions concerning Handel's performing versions during 1747-1750.

The content of Judas Maccabaeus from 1751 until the composer's death in 1759 is charted season by season, and the continued development of Judas Maccabaeus from 1760 until. 1774, previously ignored by commentators, is dealt with comprehensively. Finally the critical reception of the oratorio between 1747 and 1774 is reviewed.

This study clarifies many details relevant for future performances and new editions of Judas Maccabaeus, and presents a history of the work's development in performance, comparable to the published studies of Messiah.


The collapse of the Soufrière Hills Volcano lava dome on Montserrat in July 2003 is the largest such event worldwide in the historical record. Here we report on borehole dilatometer data recording a remarkable and unprecedented rapid (∼600s) pressurisation of a magma chamber, triggered by this surface collapse. The chamber expansion is indicated by an expansive offset at the near dilatometer sites coupled with contraction at the far site. By analyzing the strain data and using added constraints from experimental petrology and long‐term edifice deformation from GPS geodesy, we prefer a source centered at approximately 6 km depth below the crater for an oblate spheroid with overpressure increase of order 1 MPa and average radius ∼1 km. Pressurisation is attributed to growth of 1–3% of gas bubbles in supersaturated magma, triggered by the dynamics of surface unloading. Recent simulations demonstrate that pressure recovery from bubble growth can exceed initial pressure drop by nearly an order of magnitude.


A new numerical approach to efficiently reconstruct the profile of a grating from measurements of reflection coefficients is demonstrated. The problem is posed in the mathematical framework of an inverse scattering problem and solved using gradient-based algorithms. The gradient is computed efficiently using adjoint equations, which amounts to an extra scattering computation per iteration. For symmetric profiles it is shown that only knowledge of the scattered field is sufficient to compute the gradient. As a result, complex profiles can be reconstructed rapidly, and the method can be potentially used in metrology applications in semiconductors. The technique is demonstrated for the case of TE polarization.


Spatial awareness is a vital component for most autonomous robots operating in unstructured environments. Appearance-based maps are emerging as an important class of spatial representations for robots. Requiring only a camera instead of an expensive sensor like a laser range finder, appearance-based maps provide a suitable world model to human perception and offer a natural way to exchange information between robots and humans. In this dissertation, we embrace this representation and present a framework that provides navigation, localization, mapping, and map merging capabilities to heterogeneous multi-robot systems using exclusively monocular vision. Our first contribution is integrating different ideas from separately proposed solutions into a robust appearance-based localization and mapping framework that does not suffer from the individual issues tied to the original proposed methods. Next, we introduce a novel visual navigation algorithm that steers a robot between two images through the shortest possible path. Thanks to its invariance to changes in the tilt angle and the elevation of the cameras, the images collected by another robot with a totally different morphology and camera placement can be used for navigation. Furthermore, we tackle the problem of merging together two or more appearance-based maps independently built by robots operating in the same environment, and propose an anytime algorithm aiming to quickly identify the more advantageous parts to merge. Noting the lack of any evaluation criteria for appearance-based maps, we introduce our task specific quality metric that measures the utility of a map with respect to three major robotic tasks: localization, mapping, and navigation. Additionally, in order to measure the quality of merged appearance-based maps, and the performance of the merging algorithm, we propose the use of algebraic connectivity, a concept which we borrowed from graph theory. Finally, we introduce a machine learning based WiFi localization technique which we later embrace as the core of our novel heterogeneous map merging algorithm. All algorithms introduced in this dissertation are validated on real robots.


In this work, we demonstrate sputtered amorphous indium-gallium-zinc oxide thin-film transistors (a-IGZO TFTs) with a record high effective field-effect mobility of 174 cm(2)/V s by incorporating silver nanowire (AgNW) arrays to channel electron transport. Compared to the reference counterpart without nanowires, the over 5-fold enhancement in the effective field-effect mobility exhibits clear dependence on the orientation as well as the surface coverage ratio of silver nanowires. Detailed material and device analyses reveal that during the room-temperature IGZO sputtering indium and oxygen diffuse into the nanowire matrix while the nanowire morphology and good contact between IGZO and nanowires are maintained. The unchanged morphology and good interfacial contact lead to high mobility and air-ambient-stable characteristics up to 3 months. Neither hysteresis nor degraded bias stress reliability is observed. The proposed AgNW-mediated a-IGZO TFTs are promising for development of large-scale, flexible, transparent electronics.


Single passage of a star through the Oort cloud yields anisotropic distribution of observable long period comets. This conclusion emerges from our extensive Monte Carlo simulations of the directional distribution of long-period comets induced by a stellar passage through the Oort cloud. For a broad range of simulation parameters we obtained the asymmetric distribution of comets as result of a single stellar passage. A direct result of our simulation is a guide-line for studies of the anisotropies in the observed long-period comet sample and searching for fingerprints of a recent stellar passage. We obtained an isotropic distribution, as simulated by Weissman ([CITE]) only for a very peculiar choice of input parameters. The accuracy of our calculations was verified by consistency of the impulse approximation and direct orbit integration results.


A nonpreemptive priority queueing system incorporating a channel reservation policy and a hysteresis mechanism is considered for use in cellular mobile networks. The aim is to provide for priority for handover attempts over new call. Attempts in such a way as to avoid the forced termination of calls in progress without unduly affecting the performance seen by new call attempts. The system model is found to have a matrix-geometric solution with a phase-type distribution for the handover delay and a matrix-exponential distribution for the delay seen by new call attempts. It is also shown that the system can be represented by an M/G/1 queue with multiple vacations. A new result is derived for the M/G/1 queue with multiple vacations and impatient customers and this allows for the analysis to be extended so that new call arrivals are subject to a fixed timeout in queue. Results are provided which show how nonpreemptive priority in conjunction with channel reservation and hysteresis an provide for fast and efficient handover performance for cellular mobile networks. >


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Anesthetic induction with inhalational agents using a facemask has gained attention since the introduction of sevoflurane. At the same time, the influence of adding nitrous oxide on the pattern of induction and recuperation deserves attention, especially regarding recovery of the cognitive function. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cognitive effects of inhalational anesthetic induction with sevoflurane alone or associated with nitrous oxide in adults.

METHODS
Twenty adult volunteers, ASA physical state I, without a history of psychiatric disorders or prior use of benzodiazepines, were enrolled in the study. After answering the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Group I received 5% sevoflurane until a bispectral index (BIS) of 60 was achieved. Group II received nitrous oxide in increments of 10% until it achieved 50% followed by the administration of sevoflurane until a BIS of 60 was achieved. Arterial blood pressure, heart rate, pulse oxymetry, SEF 95% (Spectral Edge Frequency), induction time, and anesthetic recovery time were evaluated.

RESULTS
Time of induction showed no differences between both groups. Group II showed greater hemodynamic stability and smaller SEF 95% values when BIS achieved 60. The time for recovery of cognitive function was similar in both groups, as well as the incidence of nausea and vomiting. There were no cases of apnea. Group II demonstrated greater incidence of psychomotor agitation during induction.

CONCLUSIONS
Sevoflurane alone or in association with nitrous oxide is an adequate option for inhalational anesthetic induction or outpatient sedation in adults, maintaining spontaneous ventilation, and providing a fast recuperation of the cognitive function.


Post-tensioned (PT) flat plate frames are commonly used to support gravity load in connections in high seismic regions. But test results of many studies indicated that PT flat plate connections were possessed of later-resisting capacity for lateral load though this capacity is not enough to be used by itself in high seismic regions. So this study evaluated the cyclic behavior of PT flat plate connections and developed an analytical model for predicting nonlinear behavior of those to estimate the seismic performance of PT flat plate frames accurately. For this purpose, the test results of static pushover test and shaking table test of 2 story PT flat plate frame were used to evaluate the characters of failure mode for PT flat plate connections and to compare with analysis results. The test results indicated two failure modes which are classified the shear failure mode or the moment failure mode as for shear strength of PT connections to resist lateral loads acted on the specimens. So the analytical model was designed to consider these failure modes of PT connections and the results of comparing with test results predict the nonlinear behavior of PT connections.


To ensure the health and safety of their workforce and protection of their assets and the environment, a global oil and gas company operating in Indonesia requires comprehensive identification and evaluation of job hazards that were included in work permitting process prior work execution in the field. Based on 20 data points obtained in August 2013, start-working time for contractors who worked for Capital Project Management (CPM) Team in Facility B was in average at 09.05 a.m. The aim of this paper is to present how the firm implemented Lean Six Sigma to reduce non-added value activities while fulfilling to its safety requirements and to share lessons learned from practical and theory testing perspective. The methodology used is Lean Six Sigma's DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) as mandated by the corporate policy of the firm. This research adopts a mix-methods approach, by using both qualitative and quantitative data. This study was a one year longitudinal study of the Lean Six Sigma implementation to improve contractors' work preparation process. The improvement resulted in reduction of non-value added activities and successfully increased the available working time per day by 59.3 minutes in average. The results of this case study reconfirm Lean Six Sigma as a good management theory since it shows a consistency between the theory and the real practice in a global oil and gas company in Indonesia.


Purpose: Antenatal diagnosis of congenital cystic adenomatoid lung malformation (CCAM) is vital for disease surveillance and postnatal care. Ultrasonography (US) has been the imaging gold standard for antenatal CCAM assessment. However, one of the limitations of US is the "vanishing phenomenon" caused by isoechogenicity of CCAM tissue and adjacent normal lung parenchyma. Methods: Antenatal serial US were concurrently used with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to monitor macro- and microcystic lesions. Results: In both pregnant women, antenatal US and MRI confirmed the presence, in the fetus, of cystic lesions and predicted disease regression/progression as well as the need for postnatal surgical intervention. Several advantages were detected by using both—serial US and MRI (over serial US alone)—including improved signal intensity, exact volume size measurements, precise CCAM location in particular for patients with adverse ultrasound conditions. Both neonates underwent surgical resection and had an uneventful post-operative course. Conclusions: Antenatal use of MRI as well as serial US improved information regarding tissue resolution and delineation of CCAM. The information from two imaging modalities was complementary. Our literature review confirmed the emerging role of prenatal MRI for postnatal monitoring and management of CCAM.


BACKGROUND
Although an intracoronary frequency-domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) system overcomes several limitations of the time-domain OCT (TD-OCT) system, the former requires injection of contrast media for image acquisition. The increased total amount of contrast media for FD-OCT image acquisition may lead to the impairment of renal function. The safety and usefulness of the non-occlusion method with low-molecular-weight dextran L (LMD-L) via a guiding catheter for TD-OCT image acquisition have been reported previously. The aim of the present study was to compare the image quality and quantitative measurements between contrast media and LMD-L for FD-OCT image acquisition in coronary stented lesions.

METHODS AND RESULTS
Twenty-two patients with 25 coronary stented lesions were enrolled in this study. FD-OCT was performed with the continuous-flushing method via a guiding catheter. Both contrast media and LMD-L were infused at a rate of 4 ml/s by an autoinjector. With regard to image quality, the prevalence of clear image segments was comparable between contrast media and LMD-L (97.9% vs. 96.5%, P=0.90). Furthermore, excellent correlations were observed between both flushing solutions in terms of minimum lumen area, mean lumen area, and mean stent area. The total volumes of contrast media and of LMD-L needed for OCT image acquisition were similar.

CONCLUSIONS
FD-OCT image acquisition with LMD-L has the potential to reduce the total amount of contrast media without loss of image quality.


Sir, Patients with thyroid storm typically present with hyperthermia, tachycardia, and central nervous system dysfunction such as confusion, lethargy, and psychosis culminating in stupor and coma. Very rarely, repeated stroke is the sole clinical manifestation.' To our knowledge, there has been only report of status epilepticus during the clinical course of thyroid storm.2 We experienced a woman with thyroid storm who initially presented with status epilepticus followed by stroke. A 56-year-old woman was taken to the emergency room as a result of recurrent generalised seizures which had occurred four times for an hour on the day of admission. After the first seizure at home, she had become confused and lethargic. On arrival at hospital, she was still confused and irritable, and then she experienced her fifth generalised seizure of the day. After this seizure, intravenous sodium valproate (1200 mg/day) was started. The history revealed Graves' disease, diagnosed three years earlier, although she had discontinued antithyroid medication about two years before. In the past year, she had had a brief episode offrank psychosis. For the most recent three days, she had reported upper respiratory symptoms. Examination revealed tachycardia (140 beats/min), sweating, and an enlarged thyroid. Neurological evaluation showed confusion, irritability, generalised rigidity, and neck stiffness. Enhanced computed tomography (CT) and cerebrospinal fluid study were normal. Electrocardiographic monitoring documented persistent sinus tachycardia. Immediately after the brain CT scan, she was found to have right hemiplegia and she became stuporous. The attending physician then managed her as a thyroid storm. Thyroid function test showed free thyroxine 59.6 pmol/1 (normal 9-24) and thyroid-stimulating hormone 0.05 mU/1 (normal 0.4 to 0.6). An electroencephalogram (EEG) showed diffuse slow waves in the delta and theta range. In the next morning, she developed a high fever that lasted for three days. A T2-weighted magnetic reasonance imaging (MRI) of the brain showed a small lacune in the left fronal subcortical white matter. MR angiography (MRA) showed mild stenosis at the bilateral terminal internal carotid arteries and the left middle cerebral artery. Ticlopidine was started to prevent ischaemic stroke. On the fourth day, single-photon-


This paper presents a framework for design automation of VLSI interconnect geometries. Crosstalk, overshoot, undershoot, signal delay, and line impedance are design performance parameters under consideration. Since the dependence of electrical performance parameters on geometry is not easily defined, both qualitative and quantitative techniques are used. Two knowledge bases are introduced-a model and simulation base. The model base contains models used for terminations, transmission line parameter extractors, and transmission lines. The simulation knowledge base contains a set of approximations and routines for the exact evaluation of electrical performance parameters. Procedures are introduced for the automatic extraction of applicable models and simulation techniques in the design process. An unconstrained optimization routine is used as a design search technique. The approach presented here gives faster results than approaches shown in literature, with little sacrifice of accuracy.


LIM domain containing protein 1 (LIMD1) is a tumour suppressor located at 3p21.3, a region that harbours multiple tumour suppressor genes and is commonly subject to homozygous deletions and loss of heterozygosity in many cancers. The mechanism of LIMD1 tumour suppressive activities are not fully elucidated, however to date it has been shown to bind to the retinoblastoma protein (pRb) and repress E2F driven transcription as well as being a critical component of miRNA mediated gene silencing. Recent work has also identified LIMD1 as a possible negative regulator of hypoxia inducible factor α (HIF1α) and the hypoxic response. In lung cancer, LIMD1 protein expression is down regulated in up to 79% of tumours when compared to normal tissue with gene deletion and loss of heterozygosity accounting for 32 and 12% respectively, leaving 30% of tumours with unexplained mechanism of LIMD1 protein loss.

In an aim to identify other possible mechanisms of LIMD1 loss, scrutinisation of the LIMD1 promoter identified a CpG Island in the 5' promoter region, within which a small region was found to be critical for transcriptional activation. This region was methylated in the non-LIMD1 expressing MDA-MB435 cell line, but became hypomethylated and LIMD1 expressed following treatment with the DNA methylation inhibitor 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine. In primary lung tumours, analysis of genomic DNA also identified increased methylation of this region as well as a reduction in LIMD1 mRNA levels when compared to matched normal lung tissue. Furthermore, in silico analysis identified a conserved binding motif for the Ets transcription factor PU.1. Experimentally PU.1 was verified as binding to the LIMD1 promoter with siRNA mediated depletion of PU.1 significantly reducing endogenous LIMD1 protein levels, thus identifying two possible novel mechanisms of LIMD1 silencing. Transcription of LIMD1, like that of other HIF1α regulatory proteins, was enhanced when cells were exposed to hypoxia (1% O2), facilitated by HIF1α binding a hypoxic responsive element (HRE) within the promoter. At the molecular level, in vivo LIMD1 forms an endogenous complex with proline hydroxylase 2 (PHD2) and the von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) protein, with LIMD1 loss decreasing the efficiency of HIF1α degradation and impeding the resultant cellular adaptation to chronic hypoxia.

In summary these studies identified epigenetic silencing of LIMD1 as a possible explanation for LIMD1 protein loss in transformed cells. Furthermore, LIMD1 transcription was identified as being activated by PU.1 and enhanced by HIF1α, and a revised, LIMD1 integrated, model of HIF1α regulation is proposed.


Osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) is a well-known devastating side effect of parenteral bisphosphonate therapy for cancer. Several ONJ cases have been reported in patients taking oral bisphosphonates for osteoporosis or Paget's disease. Even if the number of cases of ONJ in patients taking oral bisphosphonates are still rare compared to the total exposure, rheumatologists treating bone diseases with bisphosphonates must be aware of this new complication, allowing for prevention and early diagnosis. The patients must be informed on the benefit/risk of bisphosphonate therapy and, when necessary and possible, alternative therapy for postmenopausal osteoporosis should be considered. The need for the patient to be dentally fit and to maintain this state forever should be part of the informed consent for bisphosphonate treatment. It is uncommon for rheumatologists to ask about dental problems but this new bisphosphonate- associated complication highlights the need for this to change. In this paper we review the literature available on this newly described bisphosphonate-induced complication with particular emphasis on ONJ cases related to the use of oral bisphosphonates.


Background: The introduction of bidirectional Glenn (BDG) procedure in patients with functional single ventricles improved the clinical outcomes for all candidates undergoing total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC). We tried to evaluate the obstacles that prevent patients to achieve TCPC after BDG.

Methods: All patients who underwent BDG at Leipzig Heart Centre from April 2003 to November 2013 were included in this study, except cases preceded by Norwood procedure.

Results: 82 patients were included in this study. 59 patients underwent TCPC (72%), while 12 patients were waiting for TCPC (14.6%). There were two in-hospital deaths (2.4%) after BDG. In two patients (2.4%), completion of TCPC was not possible, while 6 patients were lost during follow-up (7.3%). One patient had his BDG taken down (1.3%). Therefore the survival rate till completion of Fontan was 72% with another 14.6% waiting for TCPC. A univariate analysis revealed that patients with unbalanced atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD), previous repair of total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVD), elevated mean pulmonary arterial pressure and long operation time were significant predictors of death, take-down, or failure to progress to Fontan Operation. Thrombosis was found to be the main mechanism for morbidity and mortality.

Conclusion: The staged plan for single ventricle candidates provides excellent clinical results. The main risk factors for death, take-down, or failure to progress to Fontan Operation were elevated pulmonary arterial pressure, unbalanced AVSD, TAPVD and long operation time.


The results of an experimental study of corona discharge on aligned multi-walled carbon nanotubes electrode in air at atmospheric pressure are presented in this paper. The breakdown voltage and corona pulses on nanotubes electrode are discussed compared with aluminum electrodes. It is found that the breakdown voltage reduced largely by using nanotubes electrode, and the repetition rate of nanotube pulses is much higher than that of metal pulses. The mechanisms of positive and negative corona pulse and the field emission of CNTs are all also discussed in detail. The results of our experimental study provide a basic preparation for the next research on CNTs gas sensor by dc corona with multi-walled carbon nanotubes electrode.


INTRODUCTION
Sterile neutrophilic dermatosis is a rare disease in dogs, similar to Sweet's syndrome in humans. This case report describes the treatment of a 2-year old Bearded Collie that was presented with a 3-week history of fever, hind-limb weakness, peripheral lymphadenomegaly and leucocytosis. Blood tests revealed severe leukocytosis, renal azotaemia, elevated liver enzymes and bilirubinaemia. Skin lesions started to appear in week four. Histology revealed a sterile neutrophilic dermatitis resembling Sweet's syndrome. The dog displayed extracutaneous manifestations, including fever, polyarthritis, a severe leukemoid reaction, anaemia, hepatopathy and nephropathy. Issues regarding the use of criteria for the diagnosis of Sweet's syndrome in humans that are used for dogs with sterile neutrophilic dermatosis, are discussed in this case report. The condition resolved with dexamethasone and mycophenolate mofetil as a novel steroid-sparing therapy. Three months later the dog relapsed, which rapidly responded to short-term dexamethasone treatment and temporarily increased mycophenolate mofetil dosage.


Software Defined Radio (SDR) technology is used to receive and transmit radio signals. Radio signals can be received using the SDR_sharp software that can be downloaded to a personal computer and combined with the RTL-SDR dongle hardware that is connected to the computer. This report gives a brief explanation of the SDR receiver, the supported software, and some applications that can be implemented with SDR. Moreover, it is shown how to install the SDR_sharp software and the hardware Zadig. After installation, wideband FM (WFM) reception and adjustment of RF gain and frequency error is illustrated. The reception of some national, regional and community/commercial stations that can be received in Vaxjo Sweden is presented.Keyword: Software defined radio, FM radio.


'Frye was a person of uncommon gifts, and very little that came from his pen is without interest.' So writes Robert Denham in his introduction to this unique collection of twenty-two papers written by Northrop Frye during his student years. Made public only after Frye's death in 1991, all but one of the essays are published here for the first time. The majority of these papers were written for courses at Emmanuel College, the theology school of Victoria College at the University of Toronto. Essays such as 'The Concept of Sacrifice,' 'The Fertility Cults,' and 'The Jewish Background of the New Testament' reveal the links between Frye's early research in theology and the form and content of his later criticism. It is clear that even as a theology student Frye's first impulse was always that of the cultural critic. The papers on Calvin, Eliot, Chaucer, Wyndham Lewis, and on the forms of prose fiction show Frye as precociously witty, rigorous, and incisive - a gifted writer who clearly found his voice before his last undergraduate year. David Lodge wrote in the New Statesman: 'There are not many critics whose twenty-year-old book reviews one can read with pleasure and instruction, but Frye is an exception to most rules.' Northrop Frye's student essays provide pleasure and instruction through their comments on the Augustinian view of history, on beauty, truth, and goodness, on literary symbolism and tradition.


Starting from the observation of taxpayers' heterogeneity in terms of honesty andof the existence of a perverse social dynamic leading the most honest to evade, wepropose a simple mechanism to restore honesty. In a laboratory experiment, we testthe willingness of subjects to voluntarily contribute to a fund dedicated to financethe fight against tax evasion. This voluntary contribution mechanism, without redis-tribution, is analyzed thanks to several treatments that differ depending on the typeand the level of the required contribution. We show: (i) that a substantial numberof subjects contribute and that the frequency of contribution decreases with the in-crease in the level of contribution; (ii) that the most honest taxpayers are those whocontribute and (iii) that risk aversion deters subjects to contribute, while inequalityaversion encourages them. Finally, in line with the literature on tax evasion, we con-firm that the increase in the audit probability, which is observed only in groups wherethe collective contribution is sufficient, reduces evasion in these groups..


This dissertation consists of three relatively independent chapters that study individual choice behavior from various angles. Chapter 1 is aimed at improving the existing discrete choice models. Of the commonly used models, the probit class is computationally infeasible for problems with more than a few alternatives, and the GEV class, including the widely used logit and nested logit models, suffers from the restriction of homoscedastic disturbances. We relax the homoscedasticity restriction on the GEV class to achieve both functional flexibility and computational feasibility. The heteroscedastic logit/nested logit models are of particular practical interest. Chapter 2 studies voting behavior in mass elections using data from the 1968 and 1980 presidential elections. We discuss theoretical and methodological issues in the specification, comparative study, and empirical testing of the rational voter models, and explore the methodological treatment of voter heterogeneity. While the standard models do not predict voting turnout well, we obtain clear evidence
of strategic voting in the candidate choice decision in three candidate elections. The data suggest voter information as one source of voter heterogeneity which introduces heteroscedasticity. The heteroscedastic logit model developed in Chapter 1 is therefore applied and is shown to outperform the standard logit model and to reveal strong effects of voter information on the turnout decision. Chapter 3 studies choice behavior in congressional career decisions. Previous research largely focuses on the binary choices of retiring vs. seeking reelection or
seeking higher office vs. seeking reelection. Using data from the 80th through the 99th congresses, we rigorously explore the congressmen's choice from all available
career options, and discuss the effects of variables on both pairwise comparisons of the alternatives and on the unconditional probabilities of choosing the congressional
career options. Our findings suggest that formal positions held and previous vote margins do not figure into House members' career decisions, and being a Republican per se does not encourage progressive ambition. We also see
that a number of factors previously identified as predisposing House members to seek higher office also affect retirement decision.


Purpose of review Exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are associated with adverse outcomes and thus prevention of exacerbations is crucial. New data attest that long-term macrolide therapy decreases the risk of COPD exacerbations. We review the key studies that analyzed the effect of long-term use of macrolide antibiotics on the prevention of exacerbations, focusing on the higher quality evidence. Health-related quality of life, sputum bacteriology and development of resistance, inflammatory markers, lung function, cost–benefit analysis, and lung function in relation to long-term macrolide therapy are also discussed. Recent findings Two well designed, randomized, placebo-controlled trials report that select patients treated for 1 year with erythromycin or azithromycin, in addition to usual care, have prolonged time to and lower frequency of COPD exacerbations. There are more hearing decrements and higher prevalence of macrolide-resistant bacteria among the patients treated with macrolide therapy. Summary Prevention of COPD exacerbations is paramount given the adverse consequences on quality of life, lung function, and survival. Macrolide therapy for 1 year, in addition to usual therapy, decreases the risk of COPD exacerbations but carries the risk of hearing decrements and development of macrolide-resistant bacteria.


The cerebellum is a major brain structure central for the voluntary control of the motor system and is implicated in a range of movement disorders. Mice are a well validated models for studying the human cerebellum and creation of digital atlases that can capture biological variability in control and diseased mice are critical for understanding the underlying basis of human neurological disease. As a result in this study we present a methodology for systematic delineation of the vermal and hemispheric lobules of the C57BL/6J mouse cerebellum in magnetic resonance images. We have successfully delineated 38 cerebellar and cerebellar-related structures.


Following is a conversation with Dr. Grant Swinger, director of the Center for the Absorption of Federal Funds.

Q: How is the center doing in this difficult time? A: Doing well in project support. It's a competitive environment, but while others are still pushing the envelope, we're thinking outside the box. Soon we'll be out of the box.

Q: Outside the box? A: Program officers and reviewers like the term. On a par with "leapfrogging current concepts." Adds glitter to a proposal.

Q: What are the growth sectors these days? A: High-energy physics is a dog. Managed care is zilch. The genome still has legs. But homeland security is taking over. It came along when we needed it. We were worried after the doubling of NIH went through. "What's next?" we wondered. But something always turns up.

Q: There's always something? A: Looking back, we had the Cold War, the Space Race, the War on Poverty, the energy crisis, the energy glut, the Japanese challenge, the Japanese crash, the baby boom, the baby bust, the scientist shortage, and then the surplus, complexity, computer literacy, sustainability, and nanotechnology.

Q: What a list. A: Right. We've worked on all of them. Actually, our people have an advantage. They aren't torn between research and teaching. They've resolved that conflict.

Q: How? A: By doing neither.

Q: What do they do? A: Travel, attend meetings, confer a lot. It's hectic. For all of those issues, we've appointed task forces and steering groups, held workshops, convened committees, held conferences and retreats, did studies, conducted briefings, issued reports. Crushing workload for our staff and consultants and advisers. For closure on each one, we do an attractive report, spiral binding, colorful cover. But what's really important is a snappy press release and a short executive summary.

Q: Why's that? A: Reporters are too busy to read the reports. They have to write about them. Nobody reads the reports, except the people who write other reports and incorporate the previous reports into their reports. Sort of a food chain.

Q: Anything tangible come out of your reports? A: With the job shortage, we can take credit for the creation of a new academic rank: postdoc emeritus. And after all those years of talk about the importance of interdisciplinary studies, we're leading the charge for restoring disciplinary purity. You can't tell what anybody is these days. I just met a nano-theologian. Next we'll have psycho-metallurgists and neuro-agronomists. We should aim to keep it simple—chemists, mathematicians, biologists, etc. No hyphens.

Q: I see. Well, let's get back to homeland security. A: It's big. Given today's conditions, we've reactivated a part of the center that we mothballed at the end of the Cold War.

Q: Namely? A: The Institute for the Violent Resolution of Conflict. Many research centers work on international negotiations, compromise, and conciliation—soft stuff. We're big bang. And we find there's an appreciation of our approach.

Q: Where? A: It comes from the top, and the agencies get the cue. I can't say more than that.

Q: What else? A: We find that threat assessment is a growing field. The basic approach is to warn against complacency. No one is for complacency. Case in point: the recent warnings about an asteroid colliding with Earth. Far-fetched, but brilliant. I wish we had thought of it. NASA is broke, but they can't ignore it. They'll probably take the toilet out of the space station to pay for it. It's the only fixture left.

Q: What's next in line for the center? A: We're always looking. For a time, there seemed to be some promise in what they call outcomes research: What do you get for money spent on RD don't forget bioethics. Always good for getting funding for a conference, with plenty of top-line speakers ready to give their papers from previous conferences. Fortunately, no one reads the proceedings volumes.

Q: I can see you're quite busy. A: As I said, something always turns up. Now, let me ask you a question: What do you hear about xenotransplants?.


Abstract A representation changer is a function that converts a concrete representation of an abstract value into a different concrete representation of that value. Many useful functions can be recognised as representation changers; examples include compilers and arithmetic functions such as addition and multiplication. Functions that can be specified as the right inverse of other functions are special cases of representation changers. In recent years, a number of authors have used a relational calculus to derive representation changers from their specifications. In this paper, we show that the generality of relations is not essential, and representation changers can be derived within the more basic setting of functional programming. We illustrate our point by deriving a carry-save adder and a base-converter, two functions which have previously been derived relationally.


Hamilton's ring road is almost complete. When Wairere Drive reaches Cobham Drive, the city will have a 24 kilometre circuit that not only helps the flow of traffic, but also connects the present to the past. More than six decades in the making, the story of Hamilton's ring road includes two major bridge openings, a political stoush that made the front page of the Waikato Times, the preservation of an historic green belt, and award-winning use of social media to engage with the public. This multimedia exhibition tells the story so far.


This article has highlighted several new concepts in the pathogenesis of bronchiectasis and proposed a hypothesis that could explain the deterioration seen in some of the patients. Modification of our current antibiotic policy has been shown to be beneficial in both the short and long term. The results of recent studies would suggest that patients with purulent sputum benefit from antibiotic therapy whether this represents an acute exacerbation or the usual clinical state. Exacerbations respond well to broad-spectrum antibiotics effective against H. influenzae and S. pneumoniae in conventional doses. However failure to respond, particularly when the usual secretions are purulent, often indicates that dosage is inadequate and a trial of a higher dosage of an agent such as amoxicillin may well prove effective. Treatment of patients who are also penicillin sensitive needs to be clarified, although no orally effective alternative has yet been identified. Relapse is rapid in patients whose usual secretions are purulent, and long-term therapy improves well-being and several biochemical indices of important pathogenic mechanisms. However, as we understand the reasons for bacterial colonization and persistence better, it should prove possible to modify other mechanisms therapeutically, thus negating the need for long-term antibiotic therapy and the associated potential risks of resistance.


A scanning transmission x-ray microscopy (STXM) based methodology is introduced for determining the dimensions (shell thickness, core and total diameter) of core-shell nanoparticles which exhibit a strong x-ray absorption contrast and a well-defined interface between core and shell material. A low radiation dosage during data acquisition and, therefore, less x-ray beam induced damage of the sample is achieved by recording STXM images only at two predetermined energies of maximum absorption contrast, instead of recording a stack of images across the whole absorption edge. A model core-shell nanoparticle, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) cores with polystyrene (PS) shell, is used for demonstration. Near edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy confirms the significant difference in x-ray absorption behavior between PTFE and PS. Additionally, due to the insolubility of styrene in PTFE a well-defined interface between particle core and shell is expected. In order to validate the STXM results, both the naked PTFE cores as well as the complete core-shell nanoparticles are examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The introduced STXM based methodology yields particle dimensions in agreement with the SEM results and provides additional information such as the position of the particle core which cannot be extracted from a SEM micrograph.


The expansion of a rarefied axisymmetric plume emitted by a plasma thruster is analyzed and compared with a 3D Cartesian-type and a 2D cylindrical-type simulation code, both based on a particle-in-cell formulation for the heavy species and a simple Boltzmann-type model for the electrons. The first part of the paper discusses the 2D code numerical challenges in the moving of particles, their generation within the cells, and the weighting to the nodes, caused by the radial non-uniformity and the singular and boundary character of the symmetry axis. The second part benchmarks the 2D code against the 3D one for a high-energy, unmagnetized plume with three major species populations (injected neutrals, singly-charged and doubly-charged ions) and three minor species populations (constituted by particles coming from collisional processes, such as the charge-exchange reactions). The excellent agreement found in the results proves that both plume codes are capable of simulating, with a reasonable noise level, heavy particle populations differing by several orders of magnitude in number density. For simulations with a comparable level of accuracy, the 2D code presents a ten-fold gain in computational cost, although the symmetry axis remains its weakest point, due to particle depletion there and the related weighting noise.


Background Leukemia threatens so many lives around the world. Dihydroartemisinin (DHA), as a typical derivative of artemisinin (ART), can efficiently inhibit leukemia, but the controversial mechanisms are still controversial. Many reports showed that tumor cells acquire energy through the glycolysis pathway, pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) plays a crucial role in regulating glycolysis. However, it is unclear whether PKM2 or other key molecules are involved in DHA induced cytotoxicity in leukemia cells. Thus, this paper systematically investigated the anticancer effect and mechanism of DHA on human chronic myeloid leukemia K562 cells. Methods In vitro, cytotoxicity was detected with CCK-8. Glucose uptake, lactate production and pyruvate kinase activity were investigated to evaluate the effect of DHA on K562 cells. To elucidate the cellular metabolism alterations induced by DHA, the extracellular acidification rate was assessed using Seahorse XF96 extracellular flux analyzer. Immunofluorescence, real-time PCR, and Western blotting were used to investigate the molecular mechanism. Results We found that DHA prevented cell proliferation in K562 cells through inhibiting aerobic glycolysis. Lactate product and glucose uptake were inhibited after DHA treatment. Results showed that DHA modulates glucose uptake through downregulating glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) in both gene and protein levels. The cytotoxicity of DHA on K562 cells was significantly reversed by PKM2 agonist DASA-58. Pyruvate kinase activity was significantly reduced after DHA treatment, decreased expression of PKM2 was confirmed in situ. Conclusion The present study implicated that DHA inhibits leukemia cell proliferation by regulating glycolysis and metabolism, which mediated by downregulating PKM2 and GLUT1 expression. Our finding might enrich the artemisinins' antitumor mechanisms.


Over the past five to six decades, oral history has become a complex and diverse tool, not only for uncovering and analysing individual and collective patterns of memory but also to inscribe them into public historical narratives. In the wake of the decline of the mining industry in the Ruhr region, local history workshops, academic historians, filmmakers, and museum practitioners began to construe miners and mining communities as historical subjects from the bottom up. Throughout this time, personal narrations played an increasingly important role as both a source of research and a tool for public historical representations. Using the case study of the Ruhr area, this article deals with the functions of public oral history narrations about the region's mining past. It will particularly address the question of how the work and life stories of Turkish immigrant labourers, officially labelled as "guest workers", have been represented in regional historical culture. To what extent did they become narrative agents in the Ruhr's historiography, from a democratic and participatory "history from below" to an increasingly institutionalised approach in public history?


The purpose of this article is to clarify the epistemological basis of self-regulated learning. The authors note that learning to learn, a term that has pervaded education policy at EU and national levels in recent years is often conflated with self-regulated learning. As a result, there has been insufficient attention paid to learning as social performance and to a more nuanced conceptualisation of agency. A review of the literature on self-regulated learning suggests that self-regulated learning is behaviour that is oriented towards the optimal execution of predefined tasks. The authors suggest that the consequences of this are a resolute focus on the individual learner and a striking denial of learning as social performance. They trace the origins of self-regulated learning to ad-hoc combinations of behaviourism and cognitive psychology and explore the consequences of this for the way in which learning to learn is conceptualized. They argue that a reflexive social epistemology is a necessary counterweight to the systematic neglect of learning as a social process that has resulted from the psychological turn in learning theory.


Abstract #6022 With breast cancer, early detection and proper staging are critical, influencing both the treatment regimen and therapeutic outcome for a patient. Improvements in these areas will play a profound role in reducing mortality due to this disease. We therefore aim to develop a targeted adenoviral based gene therapy vector that can be used in the detection and staging of metastatic breast cancer. We did this through application of the two-step transcriptional amplification system (TSTA). This system was developed in our lab, and has shown the ability to greatly augment the activity of weak promoters, while still maintaining tissue specificity.
 We incorporated the tumor specific promoter Mucin1 into the TSTA system to successfully target breast tumor models. Studies carried out in vitro have demonstrated that this MUC1 TSTA vector is able to achieve efficiency of up to 250 fold over basal promoter levels, without loss of specificity. Moreover, when incorporated into an adenoviral vector to express firefly luciferase (AdMUC1-TSTA-fl), it exhibits higher reporter gene expression than a AdCMV-fl virus at the same multiplicity of infection (MOI).
 Biodistribution studies have shown that, depending upon the initial route of administration, this system holds great potential for use in the detection of lymph node metastais, as well as distant metastases. This vector has shown low off target expression following intravenous injection into non-tumor bearing mice. Through use of in vivo xenograft models of breast cancer, we have shown the ability to target and detect both lymph node metastais, as well as liver metastasis using our AdMUC1 TSTA-fl reporter virus in combination with in vivo optical imaging. Based on these results, we believe that this system holds strong promise for clinical application.
 A critical aspect of this project will be the incorporation of cytotoxic genes for therapeutic studies. At the same time, the ability to express imaging reporter genes for bioluminescent imaging or PET (positron emission tomography) is highly desirable, allowing for efficient, non-invasive monitoring of pharmacokinetics of transgene expression in real time. To address this issue, we developed a MUC-1 driven TSTA amplification scheme able to simultaneously express two separate transgenes, the firefly luciferase and the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV-tk sr39tk) gene. This bi-directional reporter TSTA construct has shown strong efficiency, and specificity, and is currently being evaluated for use in therapeutic application of breast tumors in vivo . This approach holds great promise for the treatment and diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(2 Suppl):Abstract nr 6022.


Trans-18:1 and 18:2 isomer composition in ruminal fluid during the daily feeding cycle was examined in 3 cows fed a high concentrate diet (35:65) with 5% (DM basis) sunflower oil (SO), 5% linseed oil (LO), or 2.5% fish oil (FO) in a 3 x 3 Latin square with 3 4-wk periods. Grass hay and concentrate mixtures were fed at 0900, 1300, and 1700 h daily. Ruminal fluid was collected at 0900, 1100, 1300, 1500, 1700, 2000, and 0000 h. Feeding SO resulted in the greatest mean concentrations (% of total fatty acids) of trans10,cis12-18:2 and cis9,trans11-18:2. In particular, trans10,cis12-18:2 with SO was greater at 1500 (0.29%), 2000 (0.34%), and 0000 h (0.25%) relative to 0900 h (0.07%). Cis9,trans11-18:2 concentration increased from 0.47% at 0900 h to a peak of 2.06% at 1100 h; it remained greater than the percentage determined at 0900 h at 1300 (1.4%) through 0000 h (1.1%). Concentration of trans11,cis15-18:2 was greatest with LO, ranging from 3.3% (0900 h) to a peak of 11.4% at 2000 h. Mean trans10-18:1 concentration ranked by diet was SO > FO > LO. Peak trans10-18:1 with SO was observed at 1700 h (14.9%) compared with 0900 h (5.1%). Trans11-18:1 did not differ with diet or time. Stearic acid decreased over time with all diets reaching minimum concentrations at 1700 to 2000 h relative to 0900 h. Feeding FO, however, decreased mean 18:0 concentration 4-fold compared with LO or SO. The moderate effect on concentration of trans-18:1 coupled with accumulation of 18:2 intermediates and the decrease of 18:0 over time suggest that oils reduced the biohydrogenation of 18:2 isomers to trans-18:1.


In unstructured peer-to-peer networks, the average response latency and traffic cost of a query are two main performance metrics. Controlled-flooding resource query algorithms are widely used in unstructured networks such as peer-to-peer networks. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm named Selective Dynamic Query (SDQ). Based on mathematical programming, SDQ calculates the optimal combination of an integer TTL value and a set of neighbors to control the scope of the next query. Our results demonstrate that SDQ provides finer grained control than other algorithms: its response latency is close to the well-known minimum one via Expanding Ring; in the mean time, its traffic cost is also close to the minimum. To our best knowledge, this is the first work capable of achieving a best trade-off between response latency and traffic cost.


There are many more machines - defined as things with mechanical, electrical, or electronic properties - in the world than people. And a growing number of machines are networked. Harbor Research, a technology consultancy and analysis firm, estimates that by 2010, at least 1.5 billion devices will be Internet-connected worldwide. The increasingly popular machine-to-machine technology plans to take advantage of these developments. M2M would leverage connectivity to enable machines - including manufacturing and telecommunications equipment, data centers, storage tanks, property-security products, industry-specific assets such as public-utility systems, and even vending machines - to communicate directly with one another. M2M is based on the idea that a machine has more value when it is networked and that the network becomes more valuable as more machines are connected. Sensors that gather the information that some M2M systems transmit are becoming more widely used and thus are driving demand for the technology. The biggest new trend is that vendors are expanding M2M into wireless technology, using radio chips or modules they can attach to almost any device or machine. Thus, M2M is gearing up for exponential growth.


Background: It is necessary to know the causes of dyspepsia to establish the therapeutic approach. Dyspepsia is a frequent syndrome our country, while there are restrictions to endoscopy and high prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. This study was conducted to evaluate the endoscopic findings of the syndrome, in an outpatient screening clinic of the Baqiyatallah Hospital in Tehran, Iran.
Material and methods: Between 20 March and 20 November 2015 and according to Rome III criteria, outpatients with uninvestigated dyspepsia, answered Dyspepsia Hong Kong Index Questionnaire and underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy. The Rapid Urease Test was applied to fragments of the antral mucosa, and epidemiological data were collected from the studied population. Normal endoscopic findings were analyzed with different variables to verify statistically significant associations.
Results: Eventually 400 patients (57.5% males and 42.5% females) with the mean age of 51.32±17.98 years were evaluated. About 55% of them were smokers and 45% used NSAID. H. pylori (80%) were the most endoscopic findings between Endoscopic findings. Among positive and negative H. pylori patients, 56.25% and 50% were smokers respectively. All patients with gastric adenocarcinoma (100%) and 13.2% patients without gastric adenocarcinoma were with fundus, body or antrum ulcer.
Conclusions: Predominance of functional disease was showed in our setting by the endoscopic diagnosis of uninvestigated dyspepsia. Although the prevalence of H. pylori was high, cancer was an uncommon finding.


In western China, carbonate reservoirs are deeply buried and the surface is very loose. Due to Earth filtering, the high-frequency component of seismic waves is seriously absorbed. This causes a decrease in the dominant frequency and a narrowing of the frequency bandwidth of the seismic signals from a deep target. In the Tarim Basin, the most prospective reservoirs are below 6000 m. The seismic data recorded in these areas always show weak energy, low frequency, and phase distortion. Additionally, due to the desert surface, the energy of the seismic waves suffers serious absorption.


Buddhadev, HH, Vingren, JL, Duplanty, AA, and Hill, DW. Mechanisms underlying the reduced performance measures from using equipment with a counterbalance weight system. J Strength Cond Res 26(3): 641–647, 2012—Bench press throws are commonly used in the assessment of upper-body power and are often performed on a Smith machine that uses a counterbalance weight to reduce the net load on the barbell. The use of a counterbalanced Smith machine was recently shown to reduce performance measures, but the mechanisms for this reduction have not been established. The purpose of this study was to determine the underlying physiological and biomechanical causes of the reduced performance measures found when using a counterbalanced Smith machine. Twenty-four men (mean ± SE: age, 23 ± 1 years; weight, 91.0 ± 3.5 kg; height, 178.9 ± 1.2 cm) performed Smith machine bench press throws at 30% of 1-repetition maximum under 4 conditions: (a) rebound movement and counterbalance, (b) rebound movement and no counterbalance, (c) concentric-only movement and counterbalance, and (d) concentric-only movement and no counterbalance. Peak power, peak force, and peak concentric and eccentric velocities were measured using a linear accelerometer, and peak ground reaction force was measured using a force plate. The counterbalance condition produced significantly (p < 0.05) lower peak accelerometer-based force (−21.2 and −17.0% for rebound and concentric-only bench press throws, respectively) but increased peak ground reaction force (5.3 and 3.2%). The discrepancy between changes in peak accelerometer-based force and peak ground reaction force suggests that an increase in net external load occurred during the movement. For performance testing of explosive movements, the use of a counterbalance system results in an underestimation of performance capability, likely because of an increase in the net external load during the concentric phase. Therefore, a counterbalance system should not be used for explosive movement performance testing.


This paper shows that product design shapes search frictions and that intermediaries leverage this channel to increase their rents in the context of the U.S. municipal bond market. The majority of bonds are designed via negotiations between a local government and its underwriter. They are then traded in a decentralized market, where the underwriter often also acts as an intermediary. Exploiting variations in state regulations that limit government officials' conflicts of interest, we provide evidence that bond design from the government's perspective involves a trade-off between flexibility and liquidity, but the underwriter benefits from designing and trading complex bonds. Motivated by these findings, we build and estimate a model of bond origination and trades to quantify market inefficiency driven by underwriters' role in intermediating trades and discuss policy implications.