The anaesthetic effects of quinaldine sulphate (QS) together with diazepam (D) on tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) (20-25 g) were studied at different temperatures. The application of QS with D significantly increased the anesthesia level of QS in the fish. Depending on temperature, the fish entered light or deep anesthesia levels with the use of QS alone at 10 or 35 mg/l, compared to 5 or 20 mg/l when used together with D (1-2 mg/l). In addition, when used together with QS, D eliminated the excitement and hyperactivity of the fish compared to QS alone. A rise in temperature from 18 °C to 26 °C increased the level of anesthesia from light to medium or from medium to deep.


This qualitative research aimed at identifying the knowledge of the mothers regarding diarrhea. It was conducted with eight mothers of hospitalized children in a university hospital located in Santa Cruz, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, in 2012. Data were collected through open interviews and the analysis was based on Bardin. The categories emerging from the analysis were: understanding diarrhea and preventing/treating diarrhea. Regarding the understanding of diarrhea, mothers conceptualize and understand it from the symptoms, habits/eating mistakes and/or cultural beliefs. Concerning the prevention and treatment of the disease, the mothers highlight hygiene and home cleaning as preventive measures, as well the importance of home and hospital care measures. The interviewees have basic knowledge of pathology, further studies are necessary in order to define the current gap between the knowledge of mothers and recurrence of diarrhea cases, resulting in hospitalization and expenses with unnecessary treatment.


The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Moreover, the designations employed and the presentations of material in this information product have been provided for users' convenience without any representation when compiled and do not purport to represent reality truthfully. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of FAO.


Although many eukaryotic transcripts contain cap structures, it has been long thought that bacterial RNAs do not carry any special modifications on their 5′‐ends. In bacteria, primary transcripts are produced by transcription initiated with a nucleoside triphosphate and are therefore triphosphorylated on 5′‐ends. Some transcripts are then processed by nucleases that yield monophosphorylated RNAs for specific cellular activities. Many primary transcripts are also converted to monophosphorylated species by removal of the terminal pyrophosphate for 5′‐end‐dependent degradation. Recent studies surprisingly revealed an expanded repertoire of chemical groups on 5′‐ends of bacterial RNAs. In addition to mono‐ and triphosphorylated moieties, some mRNAs and sRNAs contain cap‐like structures and diphosphates on their 5′‐ends. Although incorporation and removal of these groups have become better understood in recent years, the physiological significance of these modifications remain obscure. This review highlights recent studies aimed at identification and elucidation of novel modifications on the 5′‐ends of bacterial RNAs and discusses possible physiological applications of the modified RNAs.


The effect of manganese on strength and fracture toughness was investigated using five kinds of Mg-6Al-1Zn alloys. From the experimental results, the yield strength increased with increasing in manganese content until manganese content reached 0.14 wt. %. On the other hand, further increase in yield strength was not observed in case larger than 0.14 % of manganese was added. In addition, fracture toughness decreases with increasing manganese content. Fracture of magnesium alloy was ductile fracture by void coalescence. Adding excessive amount of manganese caused the increase in the presence of inclusions. This kind of particle easily became the nucleus of microvoid. As a conclusion, manganese should be added so that coarse manganese-bearing particle is not formed. Thus, 0.14 wt. % of manganese should be added to Mg-6Al-1Zn alloy in order to develop the alloy with well-balanced relationship between strength and fracture toughness.


This article seeks to contribute to the literature that assesses the local outcomes of hosting hallmark events by examining the expressed levels of enthusiasm for the year 2000 Olympic Games within Sydney. We report on the results of a telephone survey of 658 Sydney residents conducted in February 1998 designed to measure enthusiasm for the 2000 Olympic Games. As of February 1998, it appeared that enthusiasm for the 2000 Olympics remained strong in Sydney, thereby providing support to the views of those who regard hallmark events as a psychological mechanism to assist residents to feel a sense of pride in their city and nation. However, higher levels of enthusiasm were recorded in the lower socioeconomic status suburbs of Western Sydney than in the higher status suburbs of the North Shore. These differences were not statistically differentiated by economic indicators (income, occupation, and education levels) but were significant by association with social variables such as country of birth, age, and marital and family status. Several implications of these results are considered within the literature debating the outcome of hosting hallmark events.


Objectives We developed a conceptual framework, called the Care Bond (CareBond), to describe the relationship between healthcare worker and patient safety during the delivery of care and how psychosocial, work organisational and other occupational safety and health (OSH) factors can impact this relationship. We applied the framework in a population of home care (HC) aides in order to: 1) determine whether the CareBond could be measured quantitatively and 2) test the hypothesis that OSH factors can influence the CareBond. Methods We developed the CareBond framework based on our previous studies and a review of the scientific literature. We evaluated the CareBond using a questionnaire in a cross-sectional survey of HC aides. Questionnaire responses used to measure dimensions of the CareBond were analysed using Principal Components Analysis; impacts of OSH factors on the CareBond were evaluated using Poisson regression. Results 1,249 HC Aides completed the questionnaire and contributed information on 3,484 patient care visits. Three major dimensions of the CareBond were identified: HC worker safety, patient safety and collaboration. OSH conditions that weakened the CareBond included lack of equipment for patient mobility, prevalence ratio (PR) = 0.94; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.90, 0.99; experiencing slip, trip and falling hazards during the patient care visit (PR = 0.68; CI = 0.57, 0.81); presence of uncontrolled pets (PR = 0.78; CI = 0.64, 0.94); catching a patient while falling (PR = 0.94; CI = 0.87, 1.02); caring for a patient on home dialysis (PR = 0.70; CI = 0.52, 0.95); requirement of mopping the floors during the patient care visit (PR = 0.94; CI = 0.89, 1.00); and exposure to faeces (PR = 0.90; CI = 0.84, 0.97). Conclusions The CareBond is a promising framework for characterising and quantifying the connexion between HC worker and patient safety. Factors that weaken the CareBond can be targeted for preventive interventions to improve OSH and quality of care.


The finishing rolling of microalloyed steels was simulated by double-deformation plane strain compression testing of both model and conventional steels microalloyed with Nb. The flow behavior following interpass delay times of 1-100s was related to the deformed microstructure, the deformation substructure and the strain-induced precipitation. Fe-30wt%Ni is clearly a good model alloy for conventional microalloyed steels, as similar results are observed for both materials. In addition, the location of fine strain-induced precipitates in relation to the deformation substructure can be determined directly using transmission electron microscopy.


Continued scaling of silicon CMOS technologies to smaller feature sizes will provide impressive opportunities for integration of very compex processing systems on single ICs and single wafers. This suggests a considerable scaling of "large-scale" systems such as distributed computing environments to much smaller, more highly monolithic real-izations. Such "scaled systems" will require a corresponding scaling of communications networks, perhaps reduced to single wafer sized networks and switching circuits. Presently, electronic interconnections characterize monolithic circuit interconnections while optical communications is making significant inroads for efficient realization of system communications. In the future "scaled" world of ULSI systems, it remains unclear whether optical interconnection techniques increasingly favored for large-scale system communications will remain favored. However, the system organizations and operating protocols are likely to change significantly as present large-scale systems are scaled. It is suggested here that a principle objective will be to develop networks with disposable bandwidth, well in excess of the actual bandwidth required. Under such conditions several of the control issues limiting efficient use of distributed systems are greatly relaxed. Optical interconnects, integrated for example on silicon wafer substrates, provide the high bandwidth sought. However, resynchronization delays and queues will be very difficult in the optical domain. It is suggested here that the overall network function can be divided into relatively slow electronic control of the network paths and high bandwidth (optical or electrical) links and switches, providing a high performance, hybrid network realization.


The current study analyzed NGF protein levels in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) as compared with aged neurologically normal individuals. An established two-site ELISA was used to measure NGF-like immunoreactivity in the hippocampus, superior temporal gyrus, superior frontal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, frontal and occipital cortical poles, cerebellum, amygdala, putamen, and nucleus basalis of Meynert (nbM). ChAT activity was assayed in adjacent tissue samples. NGF levels were also evaluated in Parkinson's disease for comparison with both AD and age-matched control cases. Regardless of the brain bank (University of Cincinnati, Rush Presbyterian St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago, or University of Alabama at Birmingham), NGF-like activity was at least moderately increased with AD in virtually every brain region examined except for the nbM, in which significant declines were observed. NGF levels were also increased when compared with age- matched Parkinson's cases (frontal cortex). NGF-like activity was not related to age at onset or disease duration in AD cases, nor did NGF levels correlate with age at death in the control or AD groups. Correlations between ChAT and NGF-like activity across brains varied considerably and were generally not significant. The present findings indicate that AD is characterized by a widespread increase in cortical and subcortical NGF. Although a correlation with ChAT activity was not observed in cortex, the AD-related decline in NGF found in nbM is consistent with the possibility of impaired retrograde transport of NGF to this region.


A three month field experiment with tidal level (upper, middle, lower) and treatment (excavated and not excavated plots) as categorical experimental factors showed that the invasive clam Mya arenaria has reached a more advanced stage in the invasion process in the Tagus estuary. As we observed the smallest recruited juveniles of Mya arenaria (2 mm) throughout the study period, we concluded that the clam is capable of reproducing in the new habitat. Juveniles of both Mya arenaria and the bivalve Scrobicularia plana were found to avoid excavated experimental plots, showing a significantly higher abundance in the control plots. These data, strongly suggest that the recruited bivalves actively avoid unsuitable substrata. Juvenile specimens of Mya arenaria were more abundant in the mid-intertidal zone. However, juvenile specimens of Scrobicularia plana were mainly distributed in the upper intertidal level, which suggests that they have a different settlement behaviour from that observed for the juveniles of the invasive clam. Despite the divergent distribution between the juveniles of the two species in the study site, the possible interaction between these two species is considered and discussed.


Developed at the University of Huddersfield, United Kingdom, known for its association with the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and National Sonic Art Forum, Cellmusic presents the performer with a set of composition and performance tools. During a performance, mobile devices communicate with each other, and may create sonic events in a passive (non interactive) mode or influence the performance using the device's interface. Launched in September 2008, Cellmusic is soon to debut in public performance after having made a number of successful private performances. Its accessibility and portability enable the system to be used by composers and sonic artists who choose to explore a variety of physical environments for composition (such as parks and other public spaces). This paper describes the Java programming environment, the system hierarchy, pieces written for the system, the evolving compositional processes and future considerations for system development.


Present study estimated status of Johne's disease in the buffalo population of Malwa region using goat based Indigenous plate ELISA test. Of 156 serum samples screened 41.0% (64) and 85.8% (134) were positive for MAP infection by Indigenous plate ELISA kit; condition (A), condition (B), respectively. Study showed that despite high slaughter rate, prevalence of Johne's disease was high in native population of riverine buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) and call for immediate control of disease. The present findings indicated that higher number of animals infected with JD may be responsible for reduced productivity or un-productivity and weight loss in buffaloes. Therefore systematic screening of buffaloes with indigenous sensitive and specific test for detection of Johne's disease at certain time interval is required. So that spread of infection to other animals and herds can be reduced or avoided. The goat based 'Indigenous ELISA kit' was good herd screening test with high sensitivity and is recommended for the large scale screening of Johne's disease in the domestic livestock population.


Worldwide, there remains a reliance on repeated chemical applications as a control strategy for the coconut mite, but these are impractical, not economical, and environmentally hazardous. In this study, the damage severity of Aceria guerreronis on coconut fruits was studied under different conditions to investigate the effects of bunch management on the amount of damage to newly produced bunches. The damage was evaluated using a diagrammatic scale under four different conditions: 1) plants with bunches removed; 2) bunches with the distal portion of the spikelet removed; 3) bunches sprayed monthly with abamectin (9 g a.i./ha); and 4) control plants. For each treatment, two fruits from bunches 1 to 6 (counted from the last open inflorescence) from 10 plants were randomly collected every month for 4 months. The removal of the distal portion of the spikelets had no effect on the damage level of new bunches but delayed the damage severity by '1 month. After the removal of all of the bunches, the damage severity was restored within 2 months to the newly produced bunches, whereas the chemical control with abamectin kept the A. guerreronis damage intensity at a low level. Thus, the removal of bunches or the distal portion of spikelets is not an effective practice for the control of A. guerreronis in areas with high levels of infestation.


The Zn(II) and Hg(II) complexes of Schiff base derived from Salicylaldehyde and Xipamide have been synthesized keeping in view that some metal complexes are found to be more potent than their parent drugs. The complexes of the type ML2 have been synthesized and characterized on the basis of elemental analysis, conductivity, magnetic measurements, IR and electronic spectral studies. The conductivity data of the complexes also suggests their nonelectrolytic nature. Comparative antimicrobial behavior and particle size analysis of Schiff base with their complexes has also been studied


Stem cell therapy is a potential treatment for spinal cord injury (SCI), and a variety of different stem cell types have been grafted into humans suffering from spinal cord trauma or into animal models of spinal injury. Although several studies have reported functional motor improvement after transplantation of stem cells into injured spinal cord, the benefit of these cells for treating SCI-induced neuropathic pain is not clear. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic effect of transplanting human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUCB-MSCs) or amniotic epithelial stem cells (hAESCs) on SCI-induced mechanical allodynia (MA) and thermal hyperalgesia (TH) in T13 spinal cord hemisected rats. Two weeks after SCI, hUCB-MSCs or hAESCs were transplanted around the spinal cord lesion site, and behavioral tests were performed to evaluate changes in SCI-induced MA and TH. Immunohistochemical and Western blot analyses were also performed to evaluate possible therapeutic effects on SCI-induced inflammation and the nociceptive-related phosphorylation of the NMDA NR1 receptor subunit. While transplantation of hUCB-MSCs showed a tendency to reduce MA, transplantation of hAESCs significantly reduced MA. Neither hUCB-MSC nor hAESC transplantation had any effect on SCI-induced TH. Transplantation of hAESCs also significantly reduced the SCI-induced increase in NMDA receptor NR1 subunit phosphorylation (pNR1) expression in the spinal cord. Both hUCB-MSCs and hAESCs reduced the SCI-induced increase in spinal cord expression of the microglial marker, F4/80, but not the increased expression of GFAP or iNOS. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that the transplantation of hAESCs into the injured spinal cord can suppress mechanical allodynia, and this effect seems to be closely associated with the modulation of spinal cord microglia activity and NR1 phosphorylation.


Population figures for the Republic of South Africa are given, with projected figures to the year 2000. The population status of the Municipality of Johannesburg, its birth rate and infant mortality rate, are presented. Points affecting the acceptance of contraception and family planning clinics are made and the unique situation of family planning clinics is emphasised. Figures relating to attendence at family planning clinics in Johannesburg are presented. Aspects such as consent for contraception, sex education for adolescents, abortion and sterilisation are commented on.


This thesis consists of the manuscripts of three research papers studying stochastic ODEs (ordinary differential equations) and PDEs (partial differential equations) that arise in biological models of interacting multi-type populations. In the first paper I prove uniqueness of the martingale problem for a degenerate SDE (stochastic differential equation) modelling a catalytic branching network. This work is an extension of a paper by Dawson and Perkins to arbitrary networks. The proof is based upon the semigroup perturbation method of Stroock and Varadhan. In the proof estimates on the corresponding semigroup are given in terms of weighted Hölder norms, which are equivalent to a semigroup norm in this generalized setting. An explicit representation of the semigroup is found and estimates using cluster decomposition techniques are derived. In the second paper I investigate the long-term behaviour of a special class of the SDEs considered above, involving catalytic branching and mutation between types. I analyse the behaviour of the overall sum of masses and the relative distribution of types in the limit using stochastic analysis. For the latter existence, uniqueness and convergence to a stationary distribution are proved by the reasoning of Dawson, Greven, den Hollander, Sun and Swart. One-dimensional diffusion theory allows for a complete analysis of the two-dimensional case. In the third paper I show that one can construct a sequence of rescaled perturbations of voter processes in d = 1 whose approximate densities are tight. This is an extension of the results of Mueller and Tribe for the voter model. We combine critical long-range and fixed kernel interactions in the perturbations. In the long-range case, the approximate densities converge to a continuous density solving a class of SPDEs (stochastic PDEs). For integrable initial conditions, weak uniqueness of the limiting SPDE is shown by a Girsanov theorem. A special case includes a class of stochastic spatial competing species models in mathematical ecology. Tightness is established via a Kolmogorov tightness criterion. Here, estimates on the moments of small increments for the approximate densities are derived via an approximate martingale problem and Green's function representation.


Selected Papers of Sir Gordon Holmes. Compiled and edited by F. M. R. Walshe. (Pp. 262 + xii; illustrated. 20s.) London: Macmillan and Co. Ltd. 1956. The unusual prestige of British neurology has been largely determined by the achievements of the great exponents of the last two generations. In this twentieth century no one has done more to establish British neurology than Sir Gordon Holmes. It is no exaggeration to assert that the accepted present-day techniques of clinical examination of the nervous system, which in skilful hands reveal so much, directly stem from Holmes's exemplar. Whether we realize it or not, in Medicine . . . " as in Life, the law of heredity holds good; on est toujours le fils de quelqu'un," as Oscar Wilde has truly said. The Guarantors of Brain, that journal of neurology which Holmes edited so long and with such authority, wisely decided to mark the occasion of his eightieth birthday by reissuing a number of his earlier papers. The task of selection was no easy matter, but Sir Francis Walshe did well in his eventual choice. Thus we find in the first place a series of articles dealing with the cerebellum, and therein we discern Holmes's original methods of detailed clinical analysis of the physiology of that organ in man. Holmes's researches into the visual pathways are equally well known, and the original communications fittingly find a place in this volume. His views upon the cortical representation of vision, and especially of the macula, are well worth rereading, and they contrast with the -rival opinions of Henschen and of Bouwer. Lastly, the very topical theme of visuo-psychic disturbances from gross cerebral lesions becomes illuminated in an interesting fashion when one refers to the pioneer papers written by Holmes (alone or in collaboration with Gilbert Horrax) on such notions as visual attention and spatial and visual orientation. The reader will note the detached and careful way i6 which Holmes observes, records, and evaluates his facts, using the scientific and austere prose-style of a modern Tacitus. Each word is packed with meaning and stands out sincere and unembellished. Walshe as editor has provided a valuable preface with an eloquent appraisal of Holmes and his work. All this steady accumulation of scientific research, be it noted, has been effected by dint of " private enterprise " in the medical sphere. Walshe makes the telling point that it was the voluntary achievement of a physician, without university post or title, engaged in both hospital and private practice. It might be pointed out, too, that these researches were unsupported by expense grants or financial aid of any kind, being the outcome of sheer hard work, tireless devotion to an ideal, and innate intellectual brilliance. Holmes and his accomplishments are an inspiration and at the same time almost a reproach to those of us physicians who follow him and owe him so much. MACDONALD CRITCHLEY.


Objective: A critical review of the mechanisms involved in a 1sttrimester screening programme with the aim of preventing screening failures. Methods: A complete systems analysis of the combined 1st-trimester nuchal translucency and maternal serum biochemistry screening programme in one of the units of the hospital trust was performed. Using the London protocol, beginning with a focus on the audited unit results and followed through to making recommendations and implementation. Three broad steps were involved in the initial analysis – 1)Identifying areas of potential for active screening failures 2) Identifying the contributory factors 3) Identifying the organisational factors The relevant factors were then collated and recommendations made. This was finally followed by an implementation of the action plan. Results: Various care delivery problems were recorded with the 1st-trimester screening programme. Many of these issues were organisational. There may therefore be a significant risk for latent failures in such screening programmes. This in turn may lead to recurrent untoward screening incidents with their associated potential for screening deterioration or breakdown. This study found that as emphasised by the 1st-trimester screening pioneers, the Fetal Medicine Foundation, regular audit of screening activity is highly essential to identify deviational trends early and enable prompt analysis and correction, to maintain cost-benefit in 1st-trimester screening. The use of Systems Analysis, such as the London Protocol, was helpful in correcting deviant trends in screening. Conclusions: There are strict protocols in place for the prevention of 1st-trimester screening programme failures. In view of the associated potential for litigation and large payouts, these must be adhered to closely, to avoid breakdowns and maintain service delivery.


Background: Metastatic gastrointestinal cancer (GI-cancer) is often a chronic disease where the treatment intention often is palliative. For such patients, it is important to offer treatments that can prevent tumor progression without reducing quality of life more than necessary. Metronomic chemotherapy involves continuous administration of cytostatic drugs at low doses without longer drugfree intervals. Capecitabine (Xeloda) is a prodrug, given in a tablet formulation, that is selectively converted to 5-Fluorouracil at the tumor sites. In this study, we aimed to explore the efficacy and tolerability of metronomic Xeloda.
Methods: Patients (n = 87) diagnosed with a primary metastatic or recurrent disease were included and retrospectively analyzed. Clinical data were obtained from patient journals. All patients had been treated with metronomic Xeloda (500 mg × 2). Primary endpoints were to investigate the two-year overall survival (OS) and the best response. Best response was evaluated by radiological and clinical examination. Standard RECIST criteria were used. Survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier method.
Results: Regress stable disease and progress were seen in 13% (n = 11), 38% (n = 33) and 47% (n = 41) of the cases respectively. The two-year OS for the cohort was 56% and median OS was 26 months. The treatment was well tolerable and all reported side effects (n = 21) were of toxicity grade I or II.
Conclusions: Our data show that metronomic Xeloda may offer a therapeutic alternative for highly motivated patients in a good general condition when evidence-based regimens are not considered suitable or have failed.


As compared to conventional inverter topologies like diode clamped and capacitor clamped inverters, the cascaded multilevel inverter has lesser harmonics as well as lower switching stress. The cascaded topology has more number of power switches leading to greater heat losses, larger size, higher cost and more gate drive circuitry. The proposed configuration contains less number of switches and produces lesser harmonics in the output voltage than the cascaded topology. A comparison between four different types of pulse width modulation (PWM) techniques, namely, In-phase disposition (IPD), Anti-phase disposition (APD), Carrier Overlap (CO) and Variable Frequency (VF) PWM methods, has been done. The results have been verified through simulation study in MATLAB/Simulink in order to select the best PWM method that provides minimum THD in the output voltage. An LC filter has been designed to improve the harmonic profile.


PURPOSE
To investigate concentrations of growth factors and inflammatory cytokines in eyes with central (CRVO) and branch (BRVO) retinal vein occlusion before and during therapy with bevacizumab and to identify associations with disease activity.

METHODS
In a prospective clinical trial, 13 eyes of patients with CRVO (n = 5) or BRVO (n = 8) were included. Bevacizumab was administered intravitreously at baseline and months 1 and 2. Retreatments were given at monthly visits if OCT showed edema or when vision loss occurred. Aqueous humor samples were taken each time injections were performed. Follow-up was 15 months. Samples from patients with cataract served as the control. Multiplex bead assays were used for measurement of 28 growth factors and cytokines.

RESULTS
During therapy with bevacizumab, VEGF levels were reduced to below detection in the first 2 months. Whenever criteria for retreatment were met, VEGF was measurable again. The decrease in VEGF was associated with a decrease in central retinal thickness (CRT) and improvement in visual acuity (VA). Significantly increased concentrations of VEGF, IL-6, IL-8, IP-10, MCP-1, and PDGF-AA were observed in aqueous humor samples of patients with CRVO compared with the control samples.

CONCLUSIONS
VEGF levels were significantly elevated in patients with CRVO compared with control subjects. Intravitreal injections of bevacizumab resulted in a substantial decrease of VEGF under physiologic levels and remained low under the loading dose of three consecutive monthly retreatments. Macular edema was related to VEGF levels in the aqueous humor.


Background and objective African–Americans and Hispanic–Americans with lupus are the two most common minority groups who receive kidney transplants in the USA. It is unknown if African–Americans and Hispanic–Americans with lupus have similar outcomes after kidney transplantation. In this study, we assessed whether African–Americans compared to Hispanic–Americans have worse kidney allograft survival after risk factors of rejection and other prognostic factors were matched between both groups. Methods Out of 1816 African–Americans and 901 Hispanic–Americans with lupus, who received kidney transplants between 1987 and 2006 and had complete records in the UNOS program, 478 pairs were matched in 16 baseline predictors and follow-up time employing a predicted probability of group membership. The primary outcome was kidney allograft survival. Main secondary outcomes were rejection, allograft failure attributed to rejection, and mortality. Results Matched pairs were predominantly women (81%) with the mean age of 36 years. 96% were on dialysis before transplantation. 89% of recipients received kidneys from deceased donors and 15.5% from expanded criteria donors. 12% of recipients had zero HLA mismatch. African–Americans compared to Hispanic–Americans had lower cumulative allograft survival during 12-year follow-up (p < 0.001). African–Americans compared to Hispanic–Americans had higher rates of rejection (10.4 vs 6.73 events/100 patients-years; p = 0.0002) and allograft failure attributed to rejection (6.31 vs 3.99; p = 0.0023). However, African–Americans and Hispanic–Americans had similar mortality rates (2.71 vs 2.31; p = 0.4269). Conclusions African–Americans compared to Hispanic–Americans with lupus had lower kidney allograft survival when recognized risk factors of rejection were matched between groups.


Hadoop is one of the most important implementations of the MapReduce programming model. It is written in Java and most of the programs that run on Hadoop are also written in this language. Hadoop also provides an utility to execute applications written in other languages, known as Hadoop Streaming. However, the ease of use provided by Hadoop Streaming comes at the expense of a noticeable degradation in the performance. In this work, we introduce Perldoop, a new tool that automatically translates Hadoop-ready Perl scripts into its Java counterparts, which can be directly executed on Hadoop while improving their performance significantly. We have tested our tool using several Natural Language Processing (NLP) modules, which consist of hundreds of regular expressions, but Perldoop could be used with any Perl code ready to be executed with Hadoop Streaming. Performance results show that Java codes generated using Perldoop execute up to 12x faster than the original Perl modules using Hadoop Streaming. In this way, the new NLP modules are able to process the whole Wikipedia in less than 2 hours using a Hadoop cluster with 64 nodes.


Plant response to elevated CO2 concentration is known to increase leaf‐level water‐use efficiency through a reduction in stomatal opening. Recent studies have emphasized that increased plant water‐use efficiency can ameliorate the impact of drought due to climate change. However, there is a potentially counterbalancing impact due to the increased leaf area. We investigate long‐term trends (1951 to 2015) of observed streamflow in the Southeastern United States (SE US) and quantify the contribution of major drivers of streamflow changes using single factor climate modeling experiments from Community Land Model Version 5 (CLM5). The SE US streamflow observations do not exhibit a trend, which is in agreement with the CLM5 control experiment. Using the factorial set of CLM5 experiments, we find that increased leaf area under elevated CO2 leads to decreased runoff and completely counteracts increased runoff due to water‐use efficiency gains under elevated CO2 and land‐use change.


Although research into consumer participation in online brand communities has grown in recent years, still little is known about how membership in a Facebook brand community is related to brand loyalty. This study tests the direct and indirect effects of brand community engagement, electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) intention, and community promotion behavior on attitudinal loyalty, repurchase intention, and positive word-of-mouth. Partial least squares modeling is used to test the conceptual model on data from a survey of 1,936 Facebook brand community members. The results support most of the hypotheses and show that whereas brand community engagement and eWOM intention are strongly associated with all the aspects of brand loyalty, community promotion behavior only affects word-of-mouth. The results also reveal that user activity in the Facebook brand community has no effect on positive word-of-mouth.


We review the personality construct and its disorders according to the categorical and dimensional approaches, and the present understanding of dementia and its risk factors. This study shows a relationship between pre-morbid personality and risk of developing dementia. Data with speculative character, and indirect proofs from studies on life style, habits and pathological behaviors are reported. Categorical and dimensional parameters of personality are studied respectively by cluster analysis of the DSM classification, and by two contributive instruments: the Cloninger's temperament and character inventory (TCI) with seven dimensions, and the Costa and McCrae's NEO personality inventory (NEO PI) with five factors. Risk of dementia is higher in patients with the DSM C personality cluster, and, by order of severity, the dependent, avoidant and obsessive types of personality. According to the TCI, these three personality types have a high score on the dimension "harm avoidance", which increases the risk of dementia. With the five factor model investigated by the NEO PI, the risk of dementia is increased by low levels of extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscienciousness, and high level of neuroticism. Biological correlations are mixed up with these two personality models, which have coherent correlations between their respective dimensions. High levels of neuroticism and harm avoidance are associated with low serotonin activity, deficient neuroplasticity, cortisol abnormalities and greater deleterious impact according to the type of stressing situations. Cortisol levels regulation differs according to the type of personality and cortisol axis dysregulation could play a key part in dementia occurrence. Detecting vulnerable personalities should lead to recommendations for dementia prevention.


A parallel manipulator is a closed kinematic structure with the necessary rigidity to provide a high payload to self-weight ratio suitable for many applications in manufacturing, flight simulation systems, and medical robotics. Because of its closed structure, the kinematic control of such a mechanism is difficult. The inverse kinematics problem for such manipulators has a mathematical solution; however, the forward kinematics problem (FKP) is mathematically intractable. This work addresses the FKP and proposes a neural-network-based hybrid strategy that solves the problem to a desired level of accuracy, and can achieve the solution in real time. Two neural-network (NN) concepts using a modified form of multilayered perceptrons with backpropagation learning were implemented. The better performing concept was then combined with a standard Newton-Raphson numerical technique to yield a hybrid solution strategy. Simulation studies were carried out on a flight simulation syystem to check the validity o the approach. Accuracy of close to 0.01 mm and 0.01/spl deg/ in the position and orientation parameters was achieved in less than two iterations and 0.02 s of execution time for the proposed strategy.


Knowledge integration is an emerging discipline in organizational science where the central proposition is that the increasing complexity of products and services being developed and delivered, means that the knowledge required for production is increasingly specialized, varied (multi-disciplinary) and distributed across the organization's internal boundaries, and as a result there is a need for organizations to continuously gather their knowledge resources in order to maintain their ability to innovate, and to sustain their competitive position in the market. In addition, the increasing scale and scope of organizational arrangements, such as multinational partnerships or multi-tiered prime-supplier arrangements commonly encountered in the aerospace, automotive and other complex product development industries, also give rise to environments of dispersed knowledge resources, thus necessitating the subsequent integration of this knowledge across external boundaries spanning large-scale organizational networks. Knowledge integration in this context is done through a process of transferring knowledge from multiple sources in the organizational network to where it is needed, combining it with existing knowledge, before it can be applied to accomplish complex tasks and to solve major problems. The primary purpose of this paper is to define the powerful concept of knowledge integration in large-scale organizational networks using an extensive review of the pertinent literature on knowledge in organizations. An operational definition for knowledge integration is also proposed, followed by a systematic identification and classification of the different strategies, practices, channels and mechanisms for integrating different types of knowledge across a multitude of organizational boundaries and environments.


CONTEXT
Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is a potentially life-threatening complication of assisted reproduction. OHSS is induced by an ovarian release of vasoactive, angiogenic substances that results in vascular hyperpermeability, leakage, and shift of fluids from blood vessels into the extravascular space with consequent ascites and edema that are attributed to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).

OBJECTIVE
Our objective was to examine a physiological approach for preventing and treating OHSS, based on negating the VEGF network.

DESIGN
We used a mouse OHSS model and cultured granulosa cells.

MAIN OUTCOME
Changes in pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) and VEGF were measured by quantitative PCR and Western blot analysis. OHSS was recorded by changes in body weight and in peritoneal vascular leakage, quantified by the modified Miles vascular permeability assay.

RESULTS
Granulosa cells produced and secreted the anti-angiogenic factor, PEDF, in an inverse fashion to VEGF. The physiological PEDF-VEGF counterbalance was found to be impaired in the mouse OHSS model. Treatment of OHSS-induced mice with low doses of recombinant PEDF (rPEDF) alleviated OHSS signs including edema (P < .001) and vascular leakage (P < .001) and reduced the level of ovarian VEGF mRNA. Low doses of rPEDF also reduced VEGF mRNA levels in granulosa cells in vitro. However, these effects were not seen at higher doses of rPEDF, suggesting a hormetic mechanism of rPEDF action.

CONCLUSION
These observations provide a new perspective into the pathophysiology of OHSS, namely, high expression level of VEGF together with a nearly undetectable level of PEDF. A replacement therapy with rPEDF is suggested as an innovative physiological treatment for OHSS. Finally, control of the PEDF-VEGF reciprocal relationship could open new therapeutic avenues for other angiogenic-related fertility pathologies.


Resting-state functional connectivity is a promising biomarker for Alzheimer's disease. However, previous resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging studies in Alzheimer's disease and amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) have shown limited reproducibility as they have had small sample sizes and substantial variation in study protocol. We sought to identify functional brain networks and connections that could consistently discriminate normal aging from aMCI despite variations in scanner manufacturer, imaging protocol, and diagnostic procedure. We therefore combined four datasets collected independently, including 112 healthy controls and 143 patients with aMCI. We systematically tested multiple brain connections for associations with aMCI using a weighted average routinely used in meta-analyses. The largest effects involved the superior medial frontal cortex (including the anterior cingulate), dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, striatum, and middle temporal lobe. Compared with controls, patients with aMCI exhibited significantly decreased connectivity between default mode network nodes and between regions of the cortico-striatal-thalamic loop. Despite the heterogeneity of methods among the four datasets, we identified common aMCI-related connectivity changes with small to medium effect sizes and sample size estimates recommending a minimum of 140 to upwards of 600 total subjects to achieve adequate statistical power in the context of a multisite study with 5–10 scanning sites and about 10 subjects per group and per site. If our findings can be replicated and associated with other established biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (e.g., amyloid and tau quantification), then these functional connections may be promising candidate biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease.


Employing theory of reasoned action with religiosity as its additional construct in the model, this paper is aimed at examining factors influence the intention of investors to opt Islamic investment schemes in Malaysia Islamic capital markets. As many as 120 questionnaires were collected from market players in Bursa Malaysia using online survey. Afterwards, the data collected were analyzed using structural equation model to reveal the relationship of variables tested in the proposed model. The result shows that religiosity and subjective norms appeared to be the significant factors affecting intention to choose Islamic investment schemes in Malaysia Islamic capital markets. Interestingly, despite its significant role shown in previous studies, this study has shown insignificant level of the attitude in predicting the intention behavior. The managerial implications are discussed in this paper.


The tunability of the bandgap, absorption and emission energies, photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield, exciton transport, and energy transfer in transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) monolayers provides a new class of functions for a wide range of ultrathin photonic devices. Recent strain-engineering approaches have enabled us to tune some of these properties, yet dynamic control at the nanoscale with real-time and -space characterizations remains a challenge. Here, we demonstrate a dynamic nano-mechanical strain-engineering of naturally-formed wrinkles in a WSe2 monolayer, with real-time investigation of nano-spectroscopic properties using hyperspectral adaptive tip-enhanced PL (a-TEPL) spectroscopy. First, we characterize nanoscale wrinkles through hyperspectral a-TEPL nano-imaging with <15 nm spatial resolution which reveals the modified nano-excitonic properties by the induced tensile strain at the wrinkle apex, e.g., an increase in the quantum yield due to the exciton funneling, decrease in PL energy up to ~10 meV, and a symmetry change in the TEPL spectra caused by the reconfigured electronic bandstructure. We then dynamically engineer the local strain by pressing and releasing the wrinkle apex through an atomic force tip control. This nano-mechanical strain-engineering allows us to tune the exciton dynamics and emission properties at the nanoscale in a reversible fashion. In addition, we demonstrate a systematic switching and modulation platform of the wrinkle emission, which provides a new strategy for robust, tunable, and ultracompact nano-optical sources in atomically thin semiconductors.


Presented herein are the findings of examining a total of 66 patients suffering from lower limb varicosity complicated by trophic ulcers, to have been subdivided into 3 groups depending on the vegetative reaction of the cardiovascular system to the orthostatic test. In each patient group, determined were peculiarities of the parameters of the central and peripheral haemodynamics at rest and while performing active orthostasis, as well as peculiarities of the clinical pattern and course of the disease. Based on the obtained findings, the authors revealed a group of patients suffering from trophic ulcers with the severest clinical course of the disease.


How does the neocortex learn and develop the foundations of all our high-level cognitive abilities? We present a comprehensive framework spanning biological, computational, and cognitive levels, with a clear theoretical continuity between levels, providing a coherent answer directly supported by extensive data at each level. Learning is based on making predictions about what the senses will report at 100 msec (alpha frequency) intervals, and adapting synaptic weights to improve prediction accuracy. The pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus serves as a projection screen upon which predictions are generated, through deep-layer 6 corticothalamic inputs from multiple brain areas and levels of abstraction. The sparse driving inputs from layer 5 intrinsic bursting neurons provide the target signal, and the temporal difference between it and the prediction reverberates throughout the cortex, driving synaptic changes that approximate error backpropagation, using only local activation signals in equations derived directly from a detailed biophysical model. In vision, predictive learning requires a carefully-organized developmental progression and anatomical organization of three pathways (What, Where, and What * Where), according to two central principles: top-down input from compact, high-level, abstract representations is essential for accurate prediction of low-level sensory inputs; and the collective, low-level prediction error must be progressively and opportunistically partitioned to enable extraction of separable factors that drive the learning of further high-level abstractions. Our model self-organized systematic invariant object representations of 100 different objects from simple movies, accounts for a wide range of data, and makes many testable predictions.


With the rapid development of big data and cloud computing, data management has become increasingly challenging. Over the years, a number of frameworks for data management and storage with various characteristics and features have become available. Most of these are highly efficient, but ultimately create data silos. It becomes difficult to move and work coherently with data as new requirements emerge as no single framework can efficiently fulfill the data management needs of diverse applications. A possible solution is to design smart and efficient hierarchical (multi-tier) storage solutions. A hierarchical storage system (HSS) is a meta solution that consists of different storage frameworks organized as a jointly constructed large storage pool. It brings a number of benefits including better utilization of the storage, cost-efficiency, and use of different features provided by the underlying storage frameworks. In order to maximize the gains of hierarchical storage solutions, it is important that they include intelligent and autonomous mechanisms for data management grounded in the features of the different underlying frameworks. These decisions should be made according to the characteristics of the dataset, tier status, and access patterns. These are highly dynamic parameters and defining a policy based on the mentioned parameters is a non-trivial task. This paper presents an open-source hierarchical storage framework with a dynamic migration policy based on reinforcement learning (RL). We present a mathematical model, a software architecture, and an implementation based on both simulations and a live cloud-based environment. We compare the proposed RL-based strategy to a baseline of three rule-based policies, showing that the RL-based policy achieves significantly higher efficiency and optimal data distribution in different scenarios compared to the dynamic rule-based policies.


The growing complexity of satellite and mobile communication systems means that there are increasing needs for antenna arrays with multiple-beam capability. Conventional beamforming-network (BFN) configurations can be realized by different types of transmission lines, such as a microstrip line or waveguide. However, each of these has its own obvious defects. As part of a new generation of high-frequency integrated circuits, called substrate integrated circuits (SICs), substrate-integrated-waveguide (SIW) technology combines the benefits of both planar transmission-line and non-planar-waveguide technologies. It presents an excellent solution for the design and implementation of high-frequency beamforming networks, including for use at millimeter wavelengths. This paper overviews the state-of-the-art of substrate-integrated-waveguide techniques in the design and realization of innovative beamforming networks, and multibeam antenna arrays for low-cost satellite and mobile systems. Different classes of substrate-integrated-waveguide-based structures are theoretically and experimentally studied and demonstrated, to offer unprecedented performance and opportunities for specific space-and ground-based applications.


IT IS NOT GENERALLY KNOWN THAT OVER THE course of some thirty years, Isaac Newton carried out around four hundred chemical experiments in a private laboratory located in the walled garden immediately below his rooms in Trinity College, Cambridge. The exact location of his laboratory has long been a source of conjecture and this article describes a survey undertaken to determine both the possible site of the laboratory as well as that of the rubbish pit in which Newton would have disposed of the waste materials generated in his chemical experiments. The results are believed to be of sufficient interest to justify continuation of the investigation.


The aim of this article is to share with a wider audience a quality enhancement approach from a nationally funded project which used peer review to benchmark practice standards as a basis for enhancing the care of older people within acute inpatient settings. The study involved the development and implementation of clinical practice review systems, and provision of mentoring, peer review and critical refection for staff nurse and health care assistant grades. A review of the nursing care in 43 ward areas and departments was undertaken, along with analysis of the peer review feedback sheets. Analysis revealed that examples of good practice predominated. There were, however, important areas where practice could be improved. For example, many staff needed to improve their communication skills, and some health care assistant grades needed particularly to improve their patient-centred approaches. It was also found that many staff had unmet educational needs.


A morphological expression of quiescent nymphal instars (calyptostases) in trombiculid mites (Trombiculidae) is analysed. The analysis takes into consideration ontogenetic functions of different instars during the individual development of these mites, which includes an alternation of active and regressive quiescent instars. Cyclic start and blocking of different integumental differentiation programs in Trombiculidae is caused by the cyclic reduction and renewal of particular functions of respective instars, whereas internal organs of these mites do not transform significantly during the life cycle. The reduction of some functions, particularly the locomotion and feeding, in the quiescent nymphal instars with changed integumental function has an inevitable result in a complication and prolongation of the moulting process. The moulting of these instars begins at once after finishing the previous moulting cycle, i.e. it is realized in "automatic pattern" without the intermoult phase. In general, the organization of both quiescent proto- and tritonymph is the same, because it expresses concordant morphological correlations and synchronous reductions of certain functions and structures in these instars during the evolutionary process. At the same time, the trombiculid mites and, perhaps, other representatives of Parasitengona reveal the most generalized type of ontogenesis in Acariformes within the "alternating calyptostasy" phenomenon.


We will examine sona sand drawings (as presented in the work by Paulus Gerdes [1]) and the conditions that guarantee monolinearity - the property that the curve can be traced in one continuous motion. In particular, we will discuss plaited mat designs and generalized lion's stomach designs. We will associate words from permutation groups with these designs and use reductions of these words to determine the number of curves needed to complete the desIgn. We will show how a generalized lion's stomach design can be associated with a sequence of rotations and flips of a regular polygon. Finally, we will explore how this work can be extended to mirror curves in general. References


For every service, the level of satisfaction is one of the most important measurement and feedback for the service providers to find the best way for service quality improvement. The computer lab of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University provides the services for students, staff, and faculty members all year round. In modern education, service quality of computer lab is an essential ingredients of the overall service of the university. In fact, it is imperative for the computer labs to improve human resources by learning specific knowledge and skills to improve service quality. The main purposes of this study were to investigate the level of satisfaction of using computer labs from three major groups: students, staff, and faculty members.This research study employed a quantitative research which using the specially designed questionnaire to interview with three different groups: students, staff, and faculty members. Fifty of each group were selected from the regular users of computer lab and they would be asked to provide detailed information. Data collection, from these samples started at semester one of year 2019. The findings of the research can be reported that there were high level of satisfaction from students, but only medium level of satisfaction from staff and faculty members. Certainly, there was a need to have quality improvement for lab assistants to be more professional and to provide new better services.Suggestions from the findings and discussion included four methods. First is to making training with flexible times and schedules. Second is to keep high level of enthusiasm during the training. Third is to encourage more participation from audiences. Finally, is to survey feedback and use information to improve the service quality constantly.


The partial globalisation of social policy is seen in the growth in importance of welfare programs emanating from supranational and global governmental and non-government institutions. Yet, while there is a literature from within the social policy research community on the international institutional response to poverty and the increasing inequality of world resource-distribution, relatively little appreciation is given to the importance of the redesign of organisational management in elevating the importance of global social policy. The primary objective of this paper is to draw conceptual connections between 'strategic management' patterns within the international (super) NGO sector and the fight against poverty. The principal argument is that the recent emulation by international NGOs (INGOs) of the strategic management methods of multinational corporations feeds directly into the delivery of anti-poverty programmes, and that the fight against global poverty calls upon social policy researchers to pay closer attention to the strategies of private sector organisations and managers in assessing the effectiveness of global welfare reform. Primary among the salient management changes have been the increasing use of NGO-Government-corporate strategic alliances, increased contractualism, and various organisational redesign tools. The next phase of the ongoing project of which this paper forms part, will use in-depth fieldwork interviews with key managers within super-INGOs to establish the contours of the link between INGO management strategy and global social policy.


In the last decade, economic approaches based on computational markets have been proposed as a paradigm for the design and control of complex sociotechnical systems, such as urban road traffic systems. The control problem of an urban road traffic system can be modeled as a distributed resource-allocation problem to apply market-based techniques as solution methods. In this paper, we design a competitive computational market, where driver agents trade the use of the capacity inside the intersections with intersection manager agents. We show how the market dynamics influence the drivers' behavior, leading to a more efficient use of the urban road traffic system, in terms of lower average travel times and less congestion.


Purpose of review Mast cell disorders (MCDs) comprise mastocytosis and disorders referred to as mast cell activation syndrome and are caused by abnormal accumulation and/or activation of mast cells in tissues. Clinical signs and symptoms are protean; therefore, finding suitable treatment options for individual patients entails a challenge for clinicians. The purpose of this manuscript is to review the literature on the available therapeutic interventions in patients with MCD. Recent findings Pharmacotherapy is mainly directed against the effects of mast cells and their mediators. The current recommendations are exclusively based on expert opinions due to the lack of controlled clinical trials. The targeted therapies aiming at blocking mutant KIT variants and/or downstream signaling pathways are currently being developed and may be considered in severely affected, therapy-refractory patients. Summary There is currently no method for predicting the best available approach to control symptoms in individual patients with MCD. Therefore, a stepwise, individual-based approach in pharmacotherapy options appears to be most successful strategy and is recommended in all patients. The core component of the treatment in most patients is to control symptoms caused by mast cell mediator release, whereas cytoreductive therapies are mainly reserved for patients with advanced/aggressive systemic mastocytosis.


The ability to move, at some stage in the life cycle, is fundamental to success in life. Passive drift in water columns conferred a selective advantage for early life, offering an escape from starvation and genetic uniformity. Since then, organisms have evolved many ways to disperse and migrate in response to the pressures of finding resources, escaping predators, seeking out mates and suitable breeding grounds, and distancing themselves from family. Dispersal in its broadest sense means movement away from the birthplace. Strictly speaking, migration involves travel in a periodically and geographically predictable way, whether it occurs just once or many times. In this issue, Science deals with what we know, what we need to know, and how we are going to find out more about both of these movement types.

In plants, the spore, seed, or fruit is typically the unit of dispersal. Although the many morphological adaptations for their dispersal are known, until now, researchers have been unable to determine the distances traveled or the proportion of dispersal events that lead to seedlings. In one Perspective (p. 786), Nathan describes recent developments in the modeling and measurement of the long-distance dispersal of plants. A News story by Holden (p. [779][1]) discusses the push to come up with a theoretical framework, not just for plants, but for all moving organisms. Organisms also disperse in reaction to changing habitats and climate. The Perspective by Kokko and Lopez-Sepulcre (p. [789][2]) discusses the selective forces affecting this ability in animals and how dispersal translates into range expansions and contractions. Kintisch (p. 776) describes the challenges for marine scientists assessing how climate change may affect oceangoing species.

Humans have been great dispersers. Colonizing new habitat has been a hallmark of human ecology over the past million years or so. In a Review (p. [796][3]), Mellars considers recent advances in archaeology and genetics that are illuminating the controversies over the routes taken by ancient peoples in the colonization of Asia 40,000 to 60,000 years ago. Two Perspectives consider migration: Holland et al. (p. 794) focus on migrating insects, which tend to travel in established geographical patterns across several generations rather than returning to their birthplace, and Alerstam (p. [791][4]) discusses the accumulating and sometimes conflicting evidence about the navigational mechanisms used by animals (particularly birds) in long-distance annual migrations. In a related Report (p. 837), Muheim et al. describe the role of polarized light at dawn and sunset in calibrating the magnetic compasses of migrating birds. A News story by Morell (p. 783) describes a new model that will clarify the mix of genes and environmental responses underlying successful bird migration.

As News stories by Blackburn and Holden (p. 780) and Unger (p. [784][5]) point out, ingenuity and persistence are beginning to pay off in new techniques for following organisms, be they fish, crabs, jellyfish, rhinos, or polar bears. Thanks to these advances, the study of the ecology and evolution of movement is charging ahead and unearthing the challenges faced by organisms in dispersing and migrating in a world undergoing anthropogenic change.

 [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.313.5788.779
 [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1128566
 [3]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1128402
 [4]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1129048
 [5]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.313.5788.784


Robert Morales and Kyle Baker's 2004 graphic novel Truth: Red, White, and Black incorporates the visual vocabularies of social realism and a grotesque cartoon style in order to represent the devastating experiences of African Americans during World War II. The book's revisionist version of the Captain America mythology depicts a black Captain, Isaiah Bradley, as not only the successful product of an experiment with super-soldier serum but also a would-be savior of Jewish concentration-camp inmates. The story both reveals the subversive potential of the Captain America story and challenges the traditions in which characters of color have been excluded from superheroic accounts of American culture by invoking some of the many real-world histories that shape accurate wartime accounts. Morales and Baker depict such histories through moments of cultural crisis, when racial identities visually oversignify the graphic boundaries that attempt to contain them, highlighting the interracial foundation of contemporary American literature.


A study of 3,193 arterial entries of various types disclosed 66 major complications and 321 minor complications for a total complication rate of 13%. The Seldinger technique of percutaneous arterial catheterization was followed by the highest incidence of complications, the percutaneous needle puncture method was associated with an intermediate complication rate, and the cutdown arteriotomy with suture repair resulted in the lowest complication rate. Utilizing the brachial artery as the entry site resulted in a significantly higher complication rate than utilizing other sites for entering the arterial tree did. Factors significantly increasing the risk of arterial entry include the existence of aortic valvular incompetence in the patient, systemic anticoagulation at the time of the arterial entry, and the presence of arteriosclerosis or hypertension in the patient.


With a quarter of the global burden of tuberculosis (TB) occurring in India, children in this country are at high risk of tuberculous infection and TB disease. India's Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme provides free diagnosis and treatment for children with TB using quality assured, weight-based individual drug boxes. Guidelines have recently been revised, updating both the diagnostic algorithm and shifting to a daily regimen with World Health Organization recommended dosages using child-friendly, fixed-dose combination pills. Active case finding is practised in households of TB patients as well as among human immunodeficiency virus infected and malnourished children. More attention needs to be paid to the provision of preventive therapy for household contacts aged <6 years as well as to the detection of multidrug-resistant TB among children. Case notification and the use of the Standards of TB Care in India are being strengthened in the private sector.


Surfactin is a lipopeptide antibiotic produced by the cells of Bacillus subtilis ATCC 21332. A genetic locus responsible for surfactin production (sfp) was transferred from ATCC 21332 to JH642, a derivative of the standard B. subtilis 168. To study the sfp locus at the molecular level, a Tn917 insertion mutant that was blocked in surfactin production (srf) was isolated. The srf::Tn917 mutation was found to be closely linked to sfp, and both loci mapped by PBS1 phage transduction to the chromosomal region between aroI and mtlB. These studies suggest that JH642, a strain which is not a producer of surfactin (genotypically sfp0), contains at least some of the genes encoding surfactin production. Expression of the srf gene(s) was examined in both sfp and sfp0 cells by assaying beta-galactosidase activity encoded by a promoterless lacZ gene that was fused to the srf::Tn917 insertion. In cells of both strains, srf-directed beta-galactosidase activity increased when cells entered the stationary phase of the growth curve, but the activity in sfp cells was higher than that in sfp0 cells. srf-lacZ expression was partially impaired by a mutation in spo0A. In sfp0 cells, this dependence on the spo0A gene product could be entirely bypassed by an abrB suppressor mutation. In the sfp cells, the abrB mutation could not restore the defect conferred by the spo0A mutation. These data suggest that the sfp locus, which is responsible for surfactin production, alters the transcriptional regulation of srf in JH642 cells.


Objectives: To review the literature that describes effective intervention strategies to improve balance in older community-dwelling adults. Data Sources: CINAHL, PubMed, Cochrane, and Cochrane Center Register for Controlled Trial Databases. Review Methods: A search of the terms "balance and exercise," "fall risk and exercise," "fall risk and physical therapy," and "balance and rehabilitation" in Community Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and PubMed. Interventions must be able to be reproduced in standard rehabilitation practice or at home or easily in the community recreation center. Results: The literature is robust with reports that describe the benefits and limitations of balance retraining exercises programs, most in combination with other objectives such as strength training, mobility improvement, functional improvement, and fall prevention within the timeframe of 2000 to 2013. Randomized controlled trial studies are becoming more evident in the literature and assist with greater generalizability; however, much more study is warranted to understand priorities of intervention selection, dosing, duration, and sensitive outcome measures. Conclusion: Multicomponent exercise programs that specifically address the older adult's physical impairments based on a therapist evaluation is more effective in promoting increased strength, balance, and fall prevention than general, nonspecific approaches. This individualized approach, whether conducted in a health care facility or at home guided specifically by a rehabilitation clinician, will result in more immediate gains. This may also improve the long-term compliance that is needed for long-term balance improvement, fall prevention, and maximizing physical function in older adults. Rehabilitation professionals should consider expanding their role in prevention and ongoing primary care practices that monitor the physical function of older adults on a routine basis to assist in optimal aging.


Message exchange patterns provide means to define the message flow of a service and how these messages are related in an abstract and reusable manner. They are an integral part of WSDL 2.0 and allow defining operations that have a message exchange beyond request-response. They reduce the impedance mismatch between imperative programming and message orientation while emphasising the message orientated nature of Web Services. Whereas BPEL defines a flow between Web Service operations, BPELlight is an appropriate candidate to define the flow within operations since it abstracts from WSDL. In this article we use BPELlight to capture complex message exchanges. We show how its partner model can be used to not only define bilateral message exchanges but also those conversations that involve different partner types and/or multiple instances of such partners. Therefore we introduce first-class mechanisms to store, query and thus distinguish addressing information related to multiple partner instances. In addition, we increase reusability by allowing recursive definitions of such models. Thus, we enable modelling message exchange patterns that capture business logic in a reusable manner on an abstract level like for instance a request for bid scenario or a business transaction for purchase. Finally, we show how such patterns can be generically mapped to transport protocols.


Hazard models are the most commonly used tool to analyse time-to-event data. If more than one time scale is relevant for the event under study, models are required that can incorporate the dependence of a hazard along two (or more) time scales. Such models should be flexible to capture the joint influence of several times scales and nonparametric smoothing techniques are obvious candidates. P-splines offer a flexible way to specify such hazard surfaces, and estimation is achieved by maximizing a penalized Poisson likelihood. Standard observations schemes, such as right-censoring and left-truncation, can be accommodated in a straightforward manner. The model can be extended to proportional hazards regression with a baseline hazard varying over two scales. Generalized linear array model (GLAM) algorithms allow efficient computations, which are implemented in a companion R-package.


Composition and temperature induced natural convection within an open topped vertical circular enclosure has been numerically investigated. A theoretical model that describes the mass, heat and momentum transport processes in a 2-dimensional axisymmetric domain is presented. The model included consideration of the transient development of natural convection flow, density and thermophysical property variations. The results presented are for a n-Pentane liquid vapor diffusing into Air. A description of the transient temperature and concentration gradients development is given along with their effects on the flow field progression.Copyright © 2002 by ASME


Abstraact: The article is devoted to the analysis of political subculture as a specific cultural phenomenon based on the material of substandard vocabulary. Slang is considered to be an integral part of any developed language and it emerges as an inevitable consequence of codification of a national language. Being the most dynamic layer of a lexico-semantic system of a language, slang updates very quickly; therefore, it represents basic concepts in a concentrated form, that is, the linguistic ground, which checks many other new elements of a language. In their turn, they may become standard literary language. Each political subculture is considered to possess conscious viewpoints but at the same time it should have special relations which will reinforce assessment and attitudes towards political phenomena and assist in bringing together the participants of this movement more closely. The article underlines that the analysis of substandard English political vocabulary contributes to the understanding of typical and specific peculiarities of their people by a language personality, and as a result of a description of cultural interpretation of a figurative basis of the slang units conceptual values of these peoples based on their mentality and the typical traits of an ethnos can be singled out.


Supraglacial channel networks link time varying melt production and meltwater routing on temperate glaciers. Such channel networks often include components of both surface transport in streams and subsurface porous flow through near-surface ice, firn or snowpack. Although subsurface transport if present will likely control network transport efficacy, it is the most poorly characterized component of the system. We present measurements of supraglacial channel spacing and network properties on the Juneau Icefield, subsurface water table height, and time variation of hydraulic characteristics including diurnal variability in water temperature. We combine these data with modeling of porous flow in weathered ice to infer near-surface permeability. Estimates are based on an observed phase lag between diurnal water temperature variations and discharge, and independently on measurement of water table surface elevation away from a stream. Both methods predict ice permeability on a 1–10 m scale in the range of 10 −10 –10 −11 m 2 . These estimates are considerably smaller than common parameterizations of surface water flow on bare ice in the literature, as well as smaller than most estimates of snowpack permeability. For supraglacial environments in which porosity/permeability creation in the subsurface is balanced by porous flow of meltwater, our methods provide an estimate of microscale hydraulic properties from observations of supraglacial channel spacing.


Knee osteoarthritis (OA), the most common form of arthritis in the US, carries a lifetime risk of 45% in older adults. Knee OA has been associated with neuropathic symptoms, such as pain and loss of sensation, and reduced sensory peripheral nerve function (PNF). However, the relationship between knee OA and peripheral nerves remains poorly understood. We examined PNF using monofilament detection (insensitivity: unable to detect 3/4 touches of 1.4-g, 4-g and 10-g at dorsum of right and left big toe) in patients aged ≥60 years with knee OA who had unilateral total knee replacement (TKR). Patients (N=126) were 63.5% women; age 69.8±6.5 years; 2-4 months post-surgery, and had a mean Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) score: 20.1±7.8. Conditional logistic regression was used to compare between knee differences of patients' TKR and non-surgical knee (NSK) in separate models for 1.4-g, 4-g and 10-g monofilament insensitivity. Monofilament insensitivity was similar in the TKR knee compared to NSK: 1.4-g (31.8% vs. 29.4%), 4-g (15.9% vs. 15.1%), and 10-g (8.7% vs. 10.3%), all NS. In conditional logistic regression models, monofilament insensitivity was not different for 1.4-g (OR=1.3; 95% CI: 0.57-3.0), 4-g (OR=1.2; 95% CI: 0.39-3.5) or 10-g (OR=0.50; 95% CI: 0.09-2.7) in patients' TKR vs. NSK. Although light touch monofilament insensitivity was highly prevalent in TKR patients, lack of differences for TKR vs. NSK suggests that knee OA rather than surgery may be responsible for PNF impairments. Future studies should include more sensitive tests of PNF in TKR patients to further elucidate the public health importance of PNF and knee OA.


This chapter contains sections titled: Frederick Sanger: MRI and Its Beginnings in NMR, Ultrasound, Otto Wichterle: Father of the Soft Contact Lens, Harold Hopkins and the Fiberscope: "Let There Be Light", The Accident: Wilson Greatbatch and the Pacemaker, Philip Drinker: Iron Lung, In All . . .


Simulations of infiltration during three ephemeral streamflow events in a coarse‐grained alluvial channel overlying a less permeable basin‐fill layer were conducted to determine the relative contribution of transient infiltration at the onset of streamflow to cumulative infiltration for the event. Water content, temperature, and piezometric measurements from 2.5‐m vertical profiles within the alluvial sediments were used to constrain a variably saturated water flow and heat transport model. Simulated and measured transient infiltration rates at the onset of streamflow were about two to three orders of magnitude greater than steady state infiltration rates. The duration of simulated transient infiltration ranged from 1.8 to 20 hours, compared with steady state flow periods of 231 to 307 hours. Cumulative infiltration during the transient period represented 10 to 26% of the total cumulative infiltration, with an average contribution of approximately 18%. Cumulative infiltration error for the simulated streamflow events ranged from 9 to 25%. Cumulative infiltration error for typical streamflow events of about 8 hours in duration in is about 90%. This analysis indicates that when estimating total cumulative infiltration in coarse‐grained ephemeral stream channels, consideration of the transient infiltration at the onset of streamflow will improve predictions of the total volume of infiltration that may become groundwater recharge.


This thesis focuses on the effectiveness of different governance approaches for realization
of the Ecological Main Structure (EHS) in Overijssel. The thesis shows that various
approaches can be effective, although differentially.
To measure policy network effectiveness two cases were selected. One Northeast-Twente
case network was under the influence of a large network of area-oriented policy, a
provincial initiative from 1993 onwards. The other one, located in the Vecht area near
Dalfsen was outside this influence and was a different governance set-up by area actors
themselves, with the Province steering at a distance. Both cases were found to contribute
to realization of the Provincial Ecological Main Structure (PEHS), although this contribution
was not the major project goal in both cases. One case network was not found to be more
PEHS-effective than the other in a quantitative sense.
PEHS-quality nevertheless may be better protected and developed by nature specialists as
the private nature conservancy organizations or State Forest Management. PEHS-land
ownership by these organizations will possibly create larger entities of nature with a more
natural development. This was the major concept behind the Ecological Main Structure of
the Nature Policy Plan (NBP) in 1990.
But for areas like Northeast-Twente, where land mobility is low and land prices are high,
making PEHS-purchases difficult, area brokers working for the Province might help to
initiate future PEHS-projects. This will be especially the case when sectoral nature subsidy
schemes are integrated in their toolbox. These area brokers were found to be able to
influence actor core characteristics of the target group. In the thesis power to act/ capacity
was introduced as a fourth core characteristic to explain PEHS-interactions. This variable
proved to be an essential theoretical factor to understand interactions in PEHS policy in the
two cases.
The 2004 provincial choice to use the area-oriented policy set-up for the total Overijssel
area will only be legitimate from a PEHS-policy perspective, if these broker activities are
stimulated. Both cases finally showed that PEHS-policy will


Theories of political accountability assume citizens use information about the performance of government to hold public officials accountable, but whether citizens actually use information is difficult to directly examine. We take advantage of the importance of citizen-driven, performance-based accountability for education policy in Tennessee to conduct a survey experiment that identifies the effect of new information, mistaken beliefs and differing considerations on the evaluation of public officials and policy reforms using 1,500 Tennesseans. Despite an emphasis on reporting outcomes for school accountability policies in the state, mistaken beliefs are prevalent and produce overly optimistic assessments of the institutions responsible for statewide education policy. Moreover, individuals update their assessments of these institutions in an unbiased way when provided with objective performance data about overall student performance. Providing additional information about race-related performance differences does not alter this relationship, however. Finally, support for specific policies that are intended to improve student performance is unchanged by either type of performance information; opinions about policy reforms are instead most related to race and existing partisan commitments.


Mice bearing a targeted disruption of the gene encoding the invariant chain (Ii) have provided a deeper understanding of the critical role that Ii plays in the assembly, transport, and peptide occupancy of MHC class II molecules. In this study, we have investigated the consequence of the altered class II expression in Ii-deficient (Ii zero) mice on the phenotype and function of their CD4+ T cells. As seen by others, these mice show a sharp reduction in the CD4+8- subset in the thymus and periphery. Furthermore, a large proportion of the peripheral CD4+, but not CD8+, T cells in Ii zero mice exhibit decreased surface TCR-alpha beta levels and express markers of T cell activation. Although the CD4+ T cells respond to mitogens, anti-CD3 mAbs, and alloantigens, they respond poorly to the bacterial superantigen staphylococcal enterotoxin B and do not respond to peptide and protein Ags. Analysis of reciprocal radiation bone marrow chimeras constructed using Ii zero and wild-type mice indicate that the lack of Ii in the thymus is responsible for the phenotype of the CD4+ T cells in mutant mice. These results suggest that the altered thymic peptide repertoire displayed by class II molecules in the absence of Ii has a dramatic impact on the selection of CD4+ T cells and their phenotype in the periphery.


The leader (L) peptide is located in the amino-terminal part of the polyprotein of members of the Cardiovirus (which includes Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus) and Aphthovirus genera of picornaviruses. Although the function of L is unknown, strain DA of Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus with a mutation of L produces a cell-specific restricted infection. We now report that the DA L peptide is a metalloprotein and that zinc binds to a Cys-His motif that is conserved among cardioviruses.


In recent years, tablets have been shown to serve as incredible teaching tools in classrooms around the world. In mathematics education, divergent thinking, creativity, and play may play a key role in formation of adaptive thinking and math achievement. This qualitative, participatory action research investigated the use of an instructional model that provided minimal instruction in the use of tablets to create stop motion animation movies. This study focused on the themes and patterns that emerged as pre-service teachers integrate a design thinking philosophy as they explore creativity and divergent thinking through the creation of stop motion animation movies. This study employed a participatory action research design that examined the use of an instructional approach informed by design thinking that utilized tablets to enable pre-service teachers to create stop motion animation movies and examine pedagogical implications of creativity, divergent and convergent thinking.


Importance Glioma is the most commonly occurring malignant brain tumor in the United States, and its incidence varies by age, sex, and race or ethnicity. Survival after brain tumor diagnosis has been shown to vary by these factors. Objective To quantify the differences in incidence and survival rates of glioma in adults by race or ethnicity. Design, Setting, and Participants This population-based study obtained incidence data from the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States and survival data from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registries, covering the period January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2014. Average annual age-adjusted incidence rates with 95% CIs were generated by glioma histologic groups, race, Hispanic ethnicity, sex, and age groups. One-year and 5-year relative survival rates were generated by glioma histologic groups, race, Hispanic ethnicity, and insurance status. The analysis included 244 808 patients with glioma diagnosed in adults aged 18 years or older. Data were collected from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2014. Data analysis took place from December 11, 2017, to January 31, 2018. Results Overall, 244 808 patients with glioma were analyzed. Of these, 150 631 (61.5%) were glioblastomas, 46 002 (18.8%) were non-glioblastoma astrocytomas, 26 068 (10.7%) were oligodendroglial tumors, 8816 (3.6%) were ependymomas, and 13 291 (5.4%) were other glioma diagnoses in adults. The data set included 137 733 males (56.3%) and 107 075 (43.7%) females. There were 204 580 non-Hispanic whites (83.6%), 17 321 Hispanic whites (7.08%), 14 566 blacks (6.0%), 1070 American Indians or Alaska Natives (0.4%), and 5947 Asians or Pacific Islanders (2.4%). Incidences of glioblastoma, non-glioblastoma astrocytoma, and oligodendroglial tumors were higher among non-Hispanic whites than among Hispanic whites (30% lower overall), blacks (52% lower overall), American Indians or Alaska Natives (58% lower overall), or Asians or Pacific Islanders (52% lower overall). Most tumors were more common in males than in females across all race or ethnicity groups, with the great difference in glioblastoma where the incidence was 60% higher overall in males. Most tumors (193 329 [79.9%]) occurred in those aged 45 years or older, with differences in incidence by race or ethnicity appearing in all age groups. Survival after diagnosis of glioma of different subtypes was generally comparable among Hispanic whites, blacks, and Asians or Pacific Islanders but was lower among non-Hispanic whites for many tumor types, including glioblastoma, irrespective of treatment type. Conclusions and Relevance Incidence of glioma and 1-year and 5-year survival rates after diagnosis vary significantly by race or ethnicity, with non-Hispanic whites having higher incidence and lower survival rates compared with individuals of other racial or ethnic groups. These findings can inform future discovery of risk factors and reveal unaddressed health disparities.


Osteoprotegerin (OPG) binds the ligand for receptor activator of nuclear factor kappaB (RANKL) to prevent association with its receptor RANK and inhibit osteoclast-mediated bone resorption. OPG has been reported, recently, to inhibit tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-induced ligand (TRAIL)-induced tumor cell apoptosis. This raises the possibility that OPG may play a unique role in regulating these two signaling pathways. However, there are little data on the interactions between OPG, RANKL, and TRAIL, and the relative affinity of OPG for these two ligands is unknown. In the present study we examined the ability of OPG to bind native human TRAIL and RANKL under physiological conditions. Native TRAIL was expressed in Escherichia coli, purified to homogeneity, and shown to induce human myeloma cell apoptosis. OPG inhibited native TRAIL from binding the TRAILR1 at 37 degrees C in vitro. Similarly, OPG prevented RANKL from binding to RANK. TRAIL also prevented OPG-mediated inhibition of RANKL from binding RANK. The affinity of OPG for native TRAIL and RANKL at 37 degrees C was determined by plasmon surface resonance analysis. OPG had a binding affinity for TRAIL of 45 nM, whereas the affinity of OPG for RANKL was 23 nM. These data suggest that OPG can bind both RANKL and TRAIL and that the affinity of OPG for these two ligands is of a similar order of magnitude. Furthermore, OPG prevented TRAIL-mediated reductions in cell viability, whereas TRAIL inhibited OPG-mediated inhibition of osteoclastogenesis in vitro. This highlights the pivotal role of OPG in regulating the biology of both RANKL and TRAIL.


The ever-increasing demand for wireless services and the continual improvements in wireless technology has led to the emergence of different types of wireless networks. These emerging networks include 5G networks [item 4) in the Appendix], Internet-of-Things (IoT) [item 5) in the Appendix], communication networks for smart grid, etc. 5G networks are envisioned to adopt a number of emerging concepts and technologies such as dense small cells and heterogeneous networks, device-to-device (D2D) communications, energy-efficient algorithms and protocols, multiband and full duplex transmission, and new multiple access techniques like non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) technique, etc. The IoT is an emerging concept in which a variety of intelligent objects or things around us such as mobile phones, sensors, actuators, and radio frequency identification tags, etc., will be seamlessly integrated and will communicate and interact with each other to achieve common goals [item 5) in the Appendix]. In general, these networks aim at providing wireless services to all network users with good quality-of-service, and ubiquitous and high data rate connectivity. Along with their envisioned benefits, these emerging network bring numerous challenges, such as allocation and management of radio spectrum, co-existence of different networks, and explosively increased energy consumption, etc. The effective deployment of these networks and coping with the associated challenges rely on the optimal modeling and design of the networks as well as on optimization method and algorithms for optimal management and utilization of radio spectrum and consumption of energy resource.


- BACKGROUND: Congenital hydrocephalus (CH) is a frequently encountered birth anomaly that can hinder long-term neurologic maturity and social well-being of affected children. This study was undertaken to assess quality of life (QOL) 10 e 15 years after surgical treatment for primary CH during infancy at a tertiary care hospital in a developing country. - METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included individuals who presented to Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan, between 1995 and 2005 at < 1 year old and underwent surgery for primary CH. The Hydrocephalus Outcome Questionnaire was used to assess outcomes with respect to QOL. - RESULTS: Of 118 patients, 90 patients participated in the study. Mean age at first admission was 6.2 months. Mean length of follow-up was 5.4 years. Of these, 28 patients had died after surgery. Shunt infection ( P [ 0.012) and delayed milestones ( P [ 0.003) were found to be statistically significant factors affecting mortality in the patients who died. The mean overall health score was 0.67 (cid:1) 0.30. Age < 6 months at the time of first surgery was a poor predictor of overall health on the Hydrocephalus Outcome Questionnaire ( P [ 0.039). - CONCLUSIONS: In our analysis, we assessed the QOL associated with CH. We hope that these results will provide insight for future prospective work with the ultimate goal of improving long-term QOL in children with CH.


Small RNAs are regulatory RNA fragments which, through RNA silencing, can regulate the expression of genes. Because sRNAs are negative regulators it is generally assumed that expression profiles of sRNAs and their targets are negatively correlated. Recently, examples of positive correlation between the expression of sRNAs and their targets have been discovered. At the moment, it is not known how many sRNA‐target pairs are positively and negatively correlated, and it is also not clear in what situations (e.g., under which treatments) any of these correlations can be observed. To determine this, one of the first steps is to develop tools to carry out a genome wide characterization of covariation of expression levels of sRNAs and genes. We present FiRePat—Finding Regulatory Patterns—an unsupervised data mining tool applicable to large datasets, typically produced by high throughput sequencing of sRNAs and mRNAs or microarray experiments, that detects sRNA‐gene pairs with correlated expression levels. The method consists of three steps: first, we select differentially expressed sRNAs and genes; second, we compute the correlation between sRNA and gene series for all possible sRNA–gene pairs; and third, we cluster the sRNA or gene expression series, simultaneously inducing clusters in the other series. Potential uses of FiRePat are presented using publicly available sRNA and mRNA datasets for both plants and animals. The standard output of FiRePat, a list of correlated pairs formed with sRNAs and mRNAs, can be used to investigate the cause and consequences of the respective expression patterns. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


In order to improve the measuring accuracy and efficiency of projectiles' centroidal deviation, the working principle and the relevant calculation formulae based on three points method are described in detail, the main factors affecting precision are discussed and quantitative analysis on precision of the equipment is made. The measuring platform with automatic leveling and locating based on the arc locating and so on are put forward to reduce error. The experimental results show that the system can satisfy the requirement for measuring with high accuracy. The equipment plays a very important role in testing ordnance, especially for measuring regular projectiles.


Author(s): Wood, Benjamin Donald | Advisor(s): Liu, Wentai | Abstract: In the past few years neural recording and stimulation technology has advanced rapidly. As new implants and electrode devices are implemented and tested, a full system capable of effectively utilizing them within a medical application has remained unrealized. A mechanism that is able to wirelessly communicate with and control such instruments would drastically increase the ease with which they can be used in scenarios such as free-moving animal experiments, medical studies, and field trials. Certain constraints come with constructing such an end-to-end device, such as limits on power, cost, and size, along with stringent performance requirements on data rates and range.This thesis introduces a fully developed wireless neural recording system. Consisting of a multi-channel neural implant, a small microcontroller relay device, and a tablet running a control application, it is capable of recording and displaying neural data at high speed and long range. Communication between the three components is accomplished purely through wireless transmissions, utilizing inductive coils to transfer data through the patient's tissue along with an 802.11 WiFi to establish a link and facilitate transmission between the microcontroller and control software. The control software gives the researcher freedom to specify recording parameters such as the amount of data desired, sampling speed, recording channels, and format of the data to be sent from the implant. Upon data reception, the software processes the received data, creating a time series of neural points per channel that can be graphed, displayed, and downloaded.This modular and simple approach to an end-to-end wireless recording system will allow cutting edge neural implants to be quickly integrated into full solutions that can be used in neurological and biomedical research.