Summer seasonal averages of chlorophyll-a concentrations (mg/m3), calculated from July to September averages, derived from the MODIS sensor on the NASA Aqua satellite. Chlorophyll-a concentrations are a proxy for primary productivity and are derived from measurements of ocean color. The climatology was built using tools in the Marine Geospatial Ecology Tools (http://code.env.duke.edu/projects/mget) and ArcGIS map algebra. For more information about ocean color satellite data see http://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/. Spatial extent = EEZ, Min X= 165 W, Max X= 150 W, Min Y= 15 N, Max Y= 25 N; Temporal extent = 2003-2011; Spatial resolution =~4 km; Temporal resolution = monthly; Spatial persistence = dynamic, km2; Temporal persistence = months, seasons, interannual, decades


Explanation of the so-called Oklo phenomenon can only be found by associating neutron physics and geological observations. The framework of Reactor Zone #9 (RZ9) from the Oklo uranium deposit in Gabon is discussed. A realistic model of RZ9 is proposed and studied with present-day numerical tools. Anchor points for this model are set by means of a selection of relevant parameters acting on geological conditions and neutron-transport physics, including ore homogeneity, initial reactor thickness, reflector effect and initial neutron poison content. Based on Monte Carlo simulations, the present modeling enables discussion of start-up conditions of the RZ9 reactor at optimal overlap of two opposing long-term processes: geochemical enrichment of the uranium content of the ore and its progressive impoverishment in 235U. On the basis of the present work, the inception and operation of Oklo natural reactors can be discussed from the largest to smallest initial core size, whereas before, only the largest ones had found some explanation.


A novel multivariate statistical process monitoring (MSPM) method based on modified independent component analysis (ICA) is proposed. ICA is a multivariate statistical tool to extract statistically independent components from observed data, which has drawn considerable attention in research fields such as neural networks, signal processing, and blind source separation. In this article, some drawbacks of the original ICA algorithm are analyzed and a modified ICA algorithm is developed for the purpose of MSPM. The basic idea of the approach is to use the modified ICA to extract some dominant independent components from normal operating process data and to combine them with statistical process monitoring techniques. Variable contribution plots to the monitoring statistics (T2 and SPE) are also developed for fault diagnosis. The proposed monitoring method is applied to fault detection and diagnosis in a wastewater treatment process, the Tennessee Eastman process, and a semiconductor etch process and is compared with conventional PCA monitoring methods. The monitoring results clearly illustrate the superiority of the proposed method. © 2006 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2006


We introduce and illustrate by examples a new statistical technique, the persistence function, for characterizing ion-channel activity in a single-channel patch-clamp recording. Persistence is a function of both current and time. It is the probability that the current is at a given level (conditional on it having been at that level at an earlier time). Viewed as a function of current it exhibits the prominent conductance levels present in the recording, and viewed as a function of time for a conductance level it portrays the kinetics at that level.


This paper presents a short review of recent research activities on 5G as the next generation of wireless technology, the requirements they are facing, user scenarios, functionalities, and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) as a measure of assessing the performances of these systems. 5G technology also known as International Mobile Telecommunications 2020, (IMT-2020) will dramatically increase the capabilities of the Internet of Things, Vehicle-to-everything and will pave the way for massive machine-type communications. While it is not yet define how the ultimate 5G design will be, it is possible to identify the most important services, functionality and KPIs that will provide satisfactory solutions to innovative digital business models after 2020. It is expected that 5G standards be in focus of Regulation Agencies, mainly through socio-economic analysis. In emerging markets, socio-economic dimensions of wireless connectivity must be considered carefully since data will be basic asset in digital age. This paper also highlights the importance of changes in mindset of regulation framework in telecommunications sector. Strong understanding of digital transformation is crucial in order to stay competitive in dynamic changes in the future.


Although there has been much research on the factors associated with breast density, most studies did not include Hispanic women or relied on semiquantitative methods of assessing density. Using data from the Chicago Breast Health Project, which targeted Hispanic women and assessed density quantitatively using full-field digital mammography, we assessed cross-sectional associations of breast cancer risk factors with percentage of breast density. Between November 2000 and June 2002, 296 Hispanic women recruited from three community health centers in Chicago, Illinois completed a health and lifestyle questionnaire, had their height and weight measured, and underwent screening mammography. The average percentage of total breast area occupied by fibroglandular tissue was computed from each mammographic view. Associations of breast cancer risk factors with percentage of breast density were assessed using multivariate linear regression analyses. Overall, the mean percentage of breast density was 17.6%. In multivariate analysis, older age was associated with lower density (P = 0.03), and density was lower among postmenopausal than premenopausal women (beta = 5.2%; P = 0.002). Body mass index was significantly inversely related to percentage of breast density (P < 0.00001). Women currently taking hormone replacement therapy had a higher percentage of breast density (beta = 3.3%; P = 0.03). In premenopausal women, cigarette smokers had a marginally higher percentage of density (beta = 6.23%; P = 0.06) compared with nonsmokers, but there was no relationship for postmenopausal women. Other breast cancer risk factors were not associated with density. In summary, breast density was strongly and inversely associated with age, body mass index, and menopausal status, and positively associated with hormone replacement therapy use and cigarette smoking. Additional research focusing on relationships of other, potentially modifiable, factors with the extent of breast density is warranted to better understand the interindividual variability in density among Hispanic women.


In this article, I enquire into the ways that journalists understand their identities and values now that social media dominate the routines of networked newsrooms. My approach is grounded on a Discourse Theory framework within which journalism emerges as a symbolic practice constituted through the discourse of its practitioners. Drawing additionally on pragmatic sociology, I understand journalists as reflexive practitioners who discursively attribute value to various orders of worth in order to evaluate their own identities. Taking the British news organisation The Guardian as my case study, my analysis of 10 newsroom interviews demonstrates how journalists develop a series of evaluations in order to identify themselves. My findings confirm a shift in the ways that journalists evaluate themselves, which is today associated with a new valorisation of networking. This shift towards networking, however, does not destroy long-standing journalistic values. It is ultimately their institutional identities that journalists re-invent through social media, and it is according to their institutional expertise that they evaluate themselves as professionals. In conclusion, I argue that, whilst journalists reaffirm their disdain for the financial rewards of the market, by embracing social media networking they expose themselves to the influence of capitalist markets.


Identification and coverage of information needs of hospital personnel during an austerity period was the aim of this study. Scholarly publications of Greek hospital personnel between 1985 and 2013 from MEDLINE database were collected and analyzed. Analysis showed that Greek physicians were publishing in the scientific literature as an effect of intense clinical practice. The objective of the study was to obtain support for information needs resulting from that clinical practice, arguing for an appropriate budget allocation (while avoiding budget waste) from the administrative board of the hospital.


Character strengths are universally valued positive attributes, theorized to improve individuals' functioning as well as of the organizations. Over the last two decades, the study of character strengths has attracted a large number of researchers across the globe. However, most of the existing research has been conducted in Western countries whereas research on
character strengths is sparse in Pakistan and under-represented in international studies. Therefore, the prime aim of the present dissertation is twofold (a) to explore the relevance and prevalence of character strengths in Pakistan and (b) to get a further understanding of the
role of character strengths and signature strengths use for workplace outcomes at the employee and organizational level. The present dissertation is organized into four studies. The first study examined the extent to which the 24 character strengths of the Values in Action (VIA) Classification were perceived as relevant in Pakistan. The Cultural
Relevance of Character Strengths Survey (CRCSS) was developed to explore different aspects of the cultural relevance (e.g., existence, helpfulness, and importance) as well as gender and age-based practices of character strengths. Among 288 members of the Pakistani society, high rates of the agreement were found about nine aspects of the cultural relevance for all the 24 character strengths (perceived by ≥ 70 % of the participants). Spirituality, gratitude, and love were perceived as highly relevant character strengths. Moreover, at least 70% of the participants agreed that both gender and age groups (younger and elderly) practice
all the 24 character strengths (except the practice of bravery by women).
The second study aimed to assess the prevalence of character strengths in Pakistan and to make the results comparable with the global findings. A sample of 352 participants from the general population filled in the questionnaire measuring possession of character strengths. The results showed that the mean scores on possession of the 24 character strengths
were above average for all the 24 character strengths (M ≥ 3.49). Honesty, fairness, kindness, teamwork, and leadership were the top five character strengths whereas modesty, humor, forgiveness, love of learning, and self-regulation were the bottom five character strengths.
Further, ranks of the character strengths of the present Pakistani data showed considerable similarities with pre-existing Pakistani and US data (McGrath, 2015a). Women scored higher on character strengths of appreciation of beauty and excellence. Age positively correlated
with gratitude and spirituality. The results supplemented the findings of the first study, corroborated the existing international literature regarding the prevalence of character strengths, and extended it by providing evidence from a relatively less studied population of Pakistan. Overall, the findings advocated that character strengths are not a culture-specific
phenomenon and thus settled the ground for further study of the VIA Classification in specific settings (such as work) in Pakistan. The third study was the first-ever attempt in the work setting of Pakistan examining the role of character strengths and signature strengths use for productive (i.e., job performance and organizational citizenship behavior) and counterproductive work behaviors (i.e., deviant behavior and workplace procrastination). A sample of 227 employees from diverse occupational groups (e.g., sales, customer services, and academia) provided self-
ratings for all the study variables along with supervisory ratings of job performance. In line with the expectation, findings indicated that character strengths and signature strengths use positively correlated with job performance and organizational citizenship behavior whereas negatively correlated with deviant behavior and workplace procrastination. Signature strengths use emerged as one of the prominent predictors of job performance and organizational citizenship behavior. Hope and modesty emerged as the most important predictors of supervisory ratings of job performance (e.g., emerged for seven and four
dimensions respectively). Curiosity and love were the prominent predictors for organizational citizenship behavior. Forgiveness and fairness emerged as important negative predictors of deviant behavior and workplace procrastination respectively. The findings provided initial
insight that character strengths and signature strengths use matter at work. However, there is a dire need for an overarching theoretical framework that explains how strengths-relevant behaviors are linked to various outcomes at work. The fourth study tested the motivational process of the Job Demands-Resources theory to explicate the role of signature strengths use as a personal resource and perceived
organizational support for strengths use as job resource for different work outcomes. Further, it extended the role of resources to organizational outcomes (i.e., perceived and objective organizational performance, and actual turnover) through serial and parallel mediation of employee level variables (i.e., work engagement, job performance, and turnover intentions). The sample consisted of 202 top managers from 52 branches of a large bank in Pakistan. All the information was collected from participants except objective organizational performance
and turnover. The findings divulged the mediational role of serial and parallel mediators between both kinds of resources and organizational outcomes. The effect of signature strengths use on turnover was fully mediated by work engagement, job performance, and turnover intentions whereas partially mediated on perceived and objective organizational
performance by the same mediating variables. Moreover, the effect of organizational support for strength use on perceived and objective organizational performance was fully mediated by work engagement, job performance, and turnover intention. Overall, initial evidence about the relevance and prevalence of character strengths from Pakistani culture offers important implications for their widespread utility at the
individual as well as societal level. The findings based on studies representing 'character strengths at work' also hold several practical implications for employees and employers. At the employee end, identification and use of signature strengths is the first step to reap the
benefits. Employees can experience high work engagement leading to their improved performance by building on their strengths. Career counselors and coaches can customize and apply interventions to track changes in character strengths development through different
career stages and transitions. At the organization level, specific intervention programs can also be designed to enable employees to identify and use their signature strengths (Dubreuil et al., 2016; Harzer & Ruch, 2016). In addition, the promotion of a strengths-based culture
can help to engage employees to contribute more to their organizations (Dubreuil & Forest, 2017; Linley et al., 2011). Particularly, organizations can adopt strengths-based HRM practices to achieve high performance. Further, the strengths and limitations of the studies are discussed along with ideas for future research and practice.


The proliferation of cellular network enabled users through various positioning tools to track locations, location information is being continuously captured from mobile phones, created a prototype that enables detected location based on using the two invariant models for Global Systems for Mobile (GSM) and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). The smartphone application on an Android platform applies the location sensing run as a background process and the localization method is based on cell phones. The proposed application is associated with remote server and used to track a smartphone without permissions and internet. Mobile stored data location information in the database (SQLite), then transfer it into location API to obtain locations result implemented in Google Maps. Track a smartphone with fixed identifiers mostly SSN (SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) Serial Number) and IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) derived from an identifying string unique to the user's device. The result located place is Moderate correct according to the (GSM) and (UMTS) cellular networks which is used for obtaining location information.


The drug DL-alpha-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), a specific inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase, was studied as an antitrypanosomal drug. We showed that an antibody response to the surface antigen of trypanosomes was necessary for rapid elimination of parasites after DFMO treatment, as effects of drug treatment were greatly reduced in immunosuppressed mice. Efficacy of the treatment also varied with the inherent ability of different mouse strains to mount antibody responses to trypanosomal surface antigen. Further, some trypanosomes were more resistant to the combined effects of drug and host immunity, as relapses occurred with certain parasite clones.


An altered sleep pattern is often one of the general symptoms experienced by people with dementia. The quantity and quality of sleep may be a reflection of their dementia condition and affect the quality of life for people with dementia. In this paper we present our research in using sensor based technology for a telecare service to monitor daily activities over a period of three months for one healthy elderly client and one client with early dementia using assistive technology. We analyze their sleep patterns, propose a set of measures to assess the quantity and quality of sleep, and visualize the sleep patterns for a telecare service provider and carers to support users with dementia. Results show that people with early dementia have more alternations of sleep-wake cycles than healthy elderly people, and assistive technology can provide objective and ubiquitous monitoring of sleep patterns for health care purposes.


There are important engineering and crop production advantages in growing plants under hypobaric (reduced atmospheric pressure) conditions for extraterrestrial base or spaceflight environments. The objectives of this research were to determine the influence of hypobaria and reduced partial pressure of oxygen (p02) (hypoxia) under low and high light irradiance on carbon dioxide (C02) assimilation (CA), dark-period respiration (DPR), and the C02 compensation and C02 saturation points of lettuce (Laetuea sativa L. 'Buttercrunch'). Plants were grown under variable total gas pressures [25 and 101 kPa (ambient)] at 6, 12, or 21 kPa p02 (approximately the partial pressure in air at normal pressure). Light irradiance at canopy level of the low-pressure plant growth system (LPPG) was at 240 (low) or 600 (high) j.lmol·m-2·s-1. While hypobaria (25 kPa) had no effect on CA or the C02 compensation point, it reduced the DPR and the C02 saturation point, and increased the CA/DPR ratio. Hypoxia (6 kPa p02) and low light reduced CA, DPR, and the CA/DPR ratio. Hypoxia decreased the C02 compensation point regardless of total pressure. Hypoxia also decreased the the C02 saturation point of ambient-pressure plants, but had no effect on hypobaric plants. While low light reduced the CO2 saturation point, it increased the C02 compensation point, compared with high-light plants. The results show that hypobaric conditions of 25 kPa do not adversely affect gas exchange compared with ambient-pressure plants, and may be advantageous during hy-


This paper presents the investigation results of laser alloying and the influence on structure and properties of the surface of the 32CrMoV12-28 hot work steel, carried out using the high power diode laser (HPDL). Structure changes were determined in the work, especially structure fragmentation. Also hardness investigation of the different remelting areas was performed. The reason of this work was also to determine the laser treatment parameters, particularly the laser power, to achieve good work stability and to make the tool surface more resistant for work extremal conditions. Based on microstructural examinations of the obtained material, the distribution of the reinforcing ceramic particles in the hot work tool steel was revealed. Tungsten carbide WC powder was used for alloying. The remelted layers which were formed on the surface of the investigated hot work steel were examined metallographically and analyzed using a hardness testing machine.


This review of recently published papers focuses on the recent tious disease. Despite advances in thoracic imaging, the chest roentgenogram combined with the clinical history remain the cornerstone in the diagnosis, staging, and follow-up of pulmonary infectious disease. Examination of all prior films to document preexistent anatomic pulmonary or cardiac disease and to establish the progression or regression of the pulmonary infiltrate is essential prior to proceeding with more costly imaging.


As a human choosing a supervised learning algorithm, it is natural to begin by reading a text description of the dataset and documentation for the algorithms you might use. We demonstrate that the same idea improves the performance of automated machine learning methods. We use language embeddings from modern NLP to improve state-of-the-art AutoML systems by augmenting their recommendations with vector embeddings of datasets and of algorithms. We use these embeddings in a neural architecture to learn the distance between best-performing pipelines. The resulting (meta-)AutoML framework improves on the performance of existing AutoML frameworks. Our zero-shot AutoML system using dataset metadata embeddings provides good solutions instantaneously, running in under one second of computation. Performance is competitive with AutoML systems OBOE, AutoSklearn, AlphaD3M, and TPOT when each framework is allocated a minute of computation. We make our data, models, and code publicly available.


SIR,-I was surprised to find in this very comprehensive and helpful consensus statement on asthma,' no mention about the short course of oral steroids that has in recent years become widely, yet so uncritically, used in the treatment ofacute exacerbations ofasthma: the use of oral steroids is referred to only in the context of managing severe asthma. Yet most children whom I see in hospital who have been treated with prednisone by the general practitioner at home or in hospital on admission by junior staff have been far from seriously ill. It is so easy for the occasional short course of prednisone to become for some children almost continuous therapy with its well known possible side effects. Can the Steering Committee advise on this?


360° cameras can capture complete environments in a single shot, which makes 360° imagery alluring in many computer vision tasks. However, monocular depth estimation remains a challenge for 360° data, particularly for high resolutions like 2K (2048 × 1 024) and beyond that are important for novel-view synthesis and virtual reality applications. Current CNN-based methods do not support such high resolutions due to limited GPU memory. In this work, we propose aflexible framework for monocular depth estimation from high-resolution 360° images using tangent images. We project the 360° input image onto a set of tangent planes that produce perspective views, which are suitable for the latest, most accurate state-of-the-art perspective monocular depth estimators. To achieve globally consistent disparity estimates, we recombine the individual depth estimates using deformable multi-scale alignment followed by gradient-domain blending. The result is a dense, high-resolution 360° depth map with a high level of detail, also for outdoor scenes which are not supported by existing methods. Our source code and data are available at https://manurare.github.io/360monodepth/.


In earlier studies we have been able show that Independent Component Analysis is able to extract automatically meaningful linguistic features. The emergent syntactic and semantic features are based on an analysis of the words in their contexts in a large corpus. We have also shown that there is a reasonably strong correlation between traditional features and categories defined by linguists and the emergent features. In this article, we introduce a new measure for comparing the emergent and the traditionally defined features. We apply this measure to compare the emergent features produced by Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) and Independent Component Analysis (ICA). The conclusion is that the ICA-based features correspond to the human intuitions much more closely than the SVD-based features not only in a visual inspection but also in a systematic and principled comparison.


Chemistry learning involves theoretical education and practices. Laboratory infrastructure frequently becomes the primary obstacle. Generally, this research aims to provide an alternative solution for the limited learning resources in Universities, especially in practice courses. This research was specifically conducted to analyze the effect of the implementation of the virtual laboratory and reality laboratory through an experimental method. The research participants were 15 students from Singaperbangsa University Karawang. The participants were given seven questions to reveal the effects of a virtual and a real practice they had carried out. The analysis result on students' answers identifies that the implementation of virtual lab reduces mistakes and work accidents usually happen in the real laboratory, and it can be an alternative for universities with problems in their laboratory facility. However, the virtual lab cannot fully replace real laboratory, since the level of experiences and skills provided by the virtual lab is not as desirable as the real laboratory. The student does not directly interact with tools and chemicals, so the virtual lab is more effective if it is applied as a preliminary practicum to support the understanding of the practicum in conducting real practicum in the laboratory.


Circadian clocks are present in many different cell types/tissues and control many aspects of physiology. This broad control is exerted, at least in part, by the circadian regulation of many genes, resulting in rhythmic expression patterns of 5-10% of the mRNAs in a given tissue. Although transcriptional regulation is certainly involved in this process, it is becoming clear that posttranscriptional mechanisms also have important roles in producing the appropriate rhythmic expression profiles. In this chapter, we review the available data about posttranscriptional regulation of circadian gene expression and highlight the potential role of Nocturnin (Noc) in such processes. NOC is a deadenylase-a ribonuclease that specifically removes poly(A) tails from mRNAs-that is expressed widely in the mouse with high-amplitude rhythmicity. Deadenylation affects the stability and translational properties of mRNAs. Mice lacking the Noc gene have metabolic defects including a resistance to diet-induced obesity, decreased fat storage, changes in lipid-related gene expression profiles in the liver, and altered glucose and insulin sensitivities. These findings suggest that NOC has a pivotal role downstream from the circadian clockwork in the post-transcriptional regulation genes involved in the circadian control of metabolism.


The biodiversity of urban parks is an indicator object of monitoring biodiversity under conditions of constant recreational pressure. The main approaches to these issues are based  on measuring the indices of vertical and horizontal heterogeneity of parklands, which make it possible to identify links between plant, wood-decaying fungi and bird diversities. As in the case of Kyiv, Ukraine, we augmented existing published data with new compositions, links and α-diversity indices of plant, fungi and bird communities in the parks of a metropolis! The  infraction of α-diversity (diversity, dominance, and evenness indices) and the compositions in the communities depending on the level of recreational transformation of the parks were established. The main driving factors of α-diversity in urban parks were shown. Further research is needed to use these relationships to indicate the state of park ecosystems.Keywords: plant, vegetation; forest birds; wood-decaying fungi; recreational impact; diversity index, dominance index, evenness index


Based upon extensive sampling with strict stratigraphical control on Hettangian and Sinemurian deposits cropping out at the river Atuel region (southwest Mendoza Province), the presence of all bivalve and brachiopod genera was recorded. Data gathered from the analysed interval were processed by multivariate analysis and the resulting Q-mode dendrogram was used to discriminate five associations (i.e. Entolium-limoids, Pholadomya-Pinna-Pleuromya, Weyla-Gryphaea, Lywea and Cardinioides). These are not in simple stratigraphical succession but are recurrent, reflecting palaeosynecological and biofacies influences. The palaeoenvironmental implications of these associations are analysed, as well as their geographical and stratigraphical distributions in the studied sections (Arroyo Malo, El Pedrero and Las Chilcas). The Cardinioides association is controlled by palaeosalinity and corresponds to a paralic/estuarine environment, of restricted geographical and stratigraphical distribution, whereas the remaining associations correspond to normal marine shelf to littoral environments. The Lywea association is interpreted as allochthonous and probably an impoverished subset derived from the diverse Weyla-Gryphaea association. On the basis of the palaeoautecological characteristics of the taxa involved in terms of guilds represented in these benthonic associations, it is concluded that most of the associations were dominated by the epifauna, whereas in the Pholadomya-Pinna-Pleuromya association the infauna and semi-infauna were particularly conspicuous and diverse, and the Cardinioides association was characterized by shallow infauna. Typical basinal biofacies from deeper, off-shore environments, and fresh-water biofacies, are both missing.


Topics in What's New in Adolescent Clinical Care? include "The Non-Medical Use of Prescription Drugs," "Screening for Substance Abuse in the Office Setting," "Strength Based Interviewing," "Dropout Crisis Impacting America: Can We Turn It Around?" "Management of the Adolescent Concussion Victim," "Adolescent Contraceptive Care for the Practicing Pediatrician," "Social Networking and Adolescents," "An Approach to Obesity Management in Primary Care," "Understanding Adolescent Brain Development and its Implications for the Clinician," and "Adolescent Contraceptive Care for the Practicing Pediatrician."


Despite the prevalence and medical threat of enteroviruses, presently, there are no antivirals against them. Here, we show that vemurafenib, an FDA-approved RAF kinase inhibitor for treating BRAFV600E mutant-related melanoma, prevents enterovirus translation and replication. ABSTRACT Enteroviruses are one of the most abundant viruses causing mild to serious acute infections in humans and also contributing to chronic diseases like type 1 diabetes. Presently, there are no approved antiviral drugs against enteroviruses. Here, we studied the potency of vemurafenib, an FDA-approved RAF kinase inhibitor for treating BRAFV600E mutant-related melanoma, as an antiviral against enteroviruses. We showed that vemurafenib prevented enterovirus translation and replication at low micromolar dosage in an RAF/MEK/ERK-independent manner. Vemurafenib was effective against group A, B, and C enteroviruses, as well as rhinovirus, but not parechovirus or more remote viruses such as Semliki Forest virus, adenovirus, and respiratory syncytial virus. The inhibitory effect was related to a cellular phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase type IIIβ (PI4KB), which has been shown to be important in the formation of enteroviral replication organelles. Vemurafenib prevented infection efficiently in acute cell models, eradicated infection in a chronic cell model, and lowered virus amounts in pancreas and heart in an acute mouse model. Altogether, instead of acting through the RAF/MEK/ERK pathway, vemurafenib affects the cellular PI4KB and, hence, enterovirus replication, opening new possibilities to evaluate further the potential of vemurafenib as a repurposed drug in clinical care. IMPORTANCE Despite the prevalence and medical threat of enteroviruses, presently, there are no antivirals against them. Here, we show that vemurafenib, an FDA-approved RAF kinase inhibitor for treating BRAFV600E mutant-related melanoma, prevents enterovirus translation and replication. Vemurafenib shows efficacy against group A, B, and C enteroviruses, as well as rhinovirus, but not parechovirus or more remote viruses such as Semliki Forest virus, adenovirus, and respiratory syncytial virus. The inhibitory effect acts through cellular phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase type IIIβ (PI4KB), which has been shown to be important in the formation of enteroviral replication organelles. Vemurafenib prevents infection efficiently in acute cell models, eradicates infection in a chronic cell model, and lowers virus amounts in pancreas and heart in an acute mouse model. Our findings open new possibilities to develop drugs against enteroviruses and give hope for repurposing vemurafenib as an antiviral drug against enteroviruses.


Background:
The most accepted surgical approach for gastric cancer is total or partial gastrectomy plus D2 lymphadenectomy. This implies that patients with early gastric cancer (EGC) undergo extensive lymphadenectomy, which is in most cases unnecessary, resulting in significant morbidity. To reduce these complications, the use of the sentinel lymph node technique has been proposed in these patients. Studies have shown that the best results are obtained with dual tracer techniques, with promising results. However, there is a lack of information from clinical trials comparing both techniques.
Objective:
Study whether the use of sentinel node mapping using dual tracer (patent blue V and 99mTc-Antimony Sulfur Colloid) in patients with EGC achieves similar survival rate with less morbidity as compared to the conventional approach of D2 lymphadenectomy. Other variables like length of stay and quality of life will be also compared between both techniques.
Design:
Multicenter, randomized, clinical trial conducted in Hospital Universitari Doctor Josep Trueta and six hospitals of Barcelona between 2017 and 2026.
Participants:
Using a non-probabilistic consecutive sampling, 190 patients older than 18 years old presenting an early gastric cancer with tumor size ≤3 cm will be recruited.
Intervention:
Patients will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to sentinel node mapping (n=95) or D2 lymphadenectomy (n=95).
Main outcomes:
Assess if the sentinel node technique achieves a disease-free survival and an overall survival rate comparable to D2 lymphadenectomy after five years of follow-up. Moreover, we will compare the complications rates between both techniques during the first month after the intervention.
Statistical analysis:
To compare the intervention performed and morbidity, we will use a Chi-square test. To study the overall and the disease-free survival rate, we will use the Kaplan-Meier estimator. For the multivariate analysis, we will use a multiple logistic regression model for the morbidity and Cox models for the overall and disease-free survival rate


BACKGROUND
The purpose of this study was to compare the dimension of interproximal soft tissue between adjacent implants in distinctive implant systems.

METHODS
This study involved 85 interproximal papillae between two adjacent implants in 50 patients who had implants placed adjacent to each other and who had prosthesis in place for longer than 1 year. The shortest distance between the radiopaque material on the tip of interimplant papilla and the most coronal portion of the interimplant crestal bone was measured (radiographic length of papilla [RL]). The horizontal distance (HD) between the two adjacent implants was measured at the fixture-abutment interface level. Considering the possible effect of interimplant crestal bone resorption on closely implanted sites, HDs were divided into two categories: HD <3 and >or=3 mm. The Mann-Whitney test was performed to find the difference in the dimension of interimplant papilla.

RESULTS
In cases of HD <3 mm, RL did not differ statistically in both systems. Also, in cases of HD >3 mm, RL did not show a statistically significant difference in both systems.

CONCLUSION
Both systems had similar dimensions of interproximal soft tissue between adjacent implants, irrespective of the horizontal distance of the fixture.


First, the authors will refer to the general tasks that the armed forces are faced with in connection with the epidemiological threat. Then, the tasks and areas of Polish soldiers' involvement during the fight against the pandemic will be presented. Further, the impact of the existing threat on the functioning of the armed forces will be analyzed. Finally, based on the analyses carried out, conclusions will be drawn to boost the readiness for epidemiological threats, allowing the appropriate state security level to be achieved more effectively. The appearance of SARS-Cov-2 coronavirus, causing the COVID-19 disease in Poland, was a new and unprecedented threat posing an enormous challenge to the state security management system. Therefore, the armed forces have been involved in the fight to stop the pandemic quickly and efficiently. Primarily, the services of territorial defense forces, operational forces, and cadets were relied upon. Soldiers support the health service, carry out preventive measures, and monitor and control national borders. They participate in mitigating the effects of the crisis and in strengthening the resilience of local communities. They support the activities of local government and sanitary institutions. The evolving pandemic has become a test of military units' effectiveness and readiness taking part in the fight. military units' effectiveness and readiness taking part in the fight. This allows us to draw conclusions that are significant for the armed forces' on-going operations and define future directions concerning modernization and development.


• Seventy-two infants were treated with nasal continuous positive airway pressure for one day to five weeks, and nasal deformities developed in none. One hundred thirty-six infants were treated with nasotracheal tubes and eight (6%) were found to have nasal deformities. There was a strong correlation between duration of intubation and birth weight and the presence of deformities. In no infant receiving ventilation therapy for less than six days did nasal deformities develop. The incidence of nasal deformities in infants weighing less than 1,000 g was 50%, whereas in infants heavier than 1,000 g it was 2.4%. No infant had clinical symptoms suggestive of subglottic stenosis during the first year of life. The data do not support the use of routine tracheostomy in newborn infants even after prolonged intubation. ( Am J Dis Child 134:954-957, 1980)


Mobile devices and applications have traditionally been seen as data consumers. However, as their computation capabilities are increasing, they are becoming perceived as potential data collectors and providers, and even as hosts for web services. In fact, mobile web services gain in importance when it comes to deliver real-time contextual data, such as current location or real-time heart rate. Some emerging lightweight frameworks to host web services on mobile devices have been developed. They are recognized for their low resource footprint. However, they are barely tested and the potential of utilizing them in real-life settings is not known yet. In this paper, we present an architecture to test web services hosted on mobile devices as well as some preliminary results. We target to evaluate the QoS of these web services such as their response time, availability, throughput, and scalability and to evaluate the overall performance of mobile device host with main focus on the battery consumption.


The number of bachelor's degrees awarded in food and agribusiness management continues to climb, while the size of faculty that has traditionally taught in these programs declines. As a result, there is an opportunity for the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA) to cultivate good teaching among its academic members. This paper documents the trends and suggests six actions that IFAMA could take to create value for its academic members actively engaged in teaching: (1) facilitate surveys of professors and industry on agribusiness curriculums, (2) collaborate with like-minded organizations, (3) develop and maintain a database of industry speakers, (4) assist in the development of webinars related to teaching, (5) organize a formal teaching mentoring program, and (6) honor members for teaching achievements.


Indonesia is the fourth most highly populated country in the world. Every year, there are more than 1.5-million students enrolled into universities across Indonesia. This large num- ber of students is a potential source of scientific publication, as all students are required to publish a paper before they take their final examination. To accommodate this publication demand, good-quality journals need to be established in Indonesia. Therefore, this paper will describe the current status of scientific journals in Indonesia and some other infor- mation related to Indonesian scientific journals. The data presented in this article were obtained from the websites of government institutions such as Indonesian Institute of Sci- ences, Ministry of Education and Culture, and Indonesian Scientific Journal Database. Cur- rently, there are 5,900 scientific journals in Indonesia that are grouped into three classes, namely non-accredited journals (5,579 titles), accredited journals (342 titles), and interna- tional journals (16 titles). Most journals are published by universities, faculties, or depart- ments. Other journals are published by research centers and scientific associations. In re- cent years, the number of journals indexed in Scopus has increased substantially, from only 2 journals before the year 2000 to 16 journals in 2013. In addition, the number of journals registered in the DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals) increased sharply from 3 titles in 2009 to 109 titles at the end of 2013. In the year 2012, the number of pa- pers published in the abovementioned journals was 145,000, but only 1,314 papers were published internationally. This number is still very low, even when compared to some Southeast Asian countries. To improve the quality of journals and to increase the number of papers published, a high commitment from the government is required, particularly in terms of regulation formulation and funding provision.


Abstract. Avalanche risk management is strongly related to the ability to identify and timely report the occurrence of snow avalanches. Infrasound has been applied to avalanche research and monitoring for the last 20 years but it never turned into an operational tool to identify clear signals related to avalanches. We present here a method based on the analysis of infrasound signals recorded by a small aperture array in Ischgl (Austria), which provides a significant improvement to overcome this limit. The method is based on array-derived wave parameters, such as back azimuth and apparent velocity. The method defines threshold criteria for automatic avalanche identification by considering avalanches as a moving source of infrasound. We validate the efficiency of the automatic infrasound detection with continuous observations with Doppler radar and we show how the velocity of a snow avalanche in any given path around the array can be efficiently derived. Our results indicate that a proper infrasound array analysis allows a robust, real-time, remote detection of snow avalanches that is able to provide the number and the time of occurrence of snow avalanches occurring all around the array, which represent key information for a proper validation of avalanche forecast models and risk management in a given area.


In recent years, fixed priority real-time scheduling has made significant advances. These advances have been applied primarily to CPU scheduling. While CPU scheduling is an important aspect of real-time designs, other shared system resources require the same attention in order for a system to transfer real-time traffic. This paper addresses one such resource, the system bus, and presents a methodology for analyzing bus structures, specifically buses carrying continuous media (CM), using fixed priority scheduling. A scheduling bus model for the Micro Channel Architecture which incorporates the non-ideal, real-world bus features is presented. A continuous media (CM) task set is used to explore design issues. These issues include the following: priority level assignment on the bus, the effect of task period transformation, the use of multi-level scheduling, and the effort of limited priority levels on the bus. In addition formulations are made for setting bus parameters such as tenure time and DRAM refresh periods to optimize continuous media scheduling.<<ETX>>


A commercially available fluorescent hydrogen sulfide (H2S) probe 7-azido-4-methylcoumarin (AzMC) was developed into its lysosome-targeted counterpart Lyso-C via a four-step synthetic approach. Lyso-C displayed fast response (within 5 min), excellent sensitivity (with a detection limit of 37 nM) and high selectivity toward H2S. More importantly, Lyso-C was successfully applied to imaging lysosomal H2S and showed potential capability to quantitatively detect H2S in living cells.


Diabetic neuropathy is associated with changes in composition of extracellular matrix. Laminin is a major component of extracellular matrix. In this study, we investigated protective effects of insulin and alpha lipoic acid on improving of blood glucose levels, body weight and laminin expression of sciatic nerve in diabetic rats. Diabetes was induced in the rats by 55 mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ) via an intraperitoneal injection. 12 weeks after STZ treatment, laminin expression in sciatic nerves was evaluated by immunohistochemical study and real time polymerase chain reaction. Laminin expression increased in the perineurium, endoneurium and blood vessels walls in sciatic nerve of untreated diabetic rats compared to control rats. Insulin treatment significantly reduced overall laminin immunoreactivity but alpha lipoic acid treatment significantly decreased it only in the blood vessels walls. Laminin β1 mRNA level in sciatic nerve of untreated diabetic group increased 0.6 fold compared to control group. Although, alpha lipoic acid decreased this up regulation but unlike insulin, this reduction was not significant. These findings suggest that untreated diabetic neuropathy in rats might be associated with increased laminin expression and also it implies that insulin therapy is more effective than alpha lipoic acid treatment in improving hyperglycemia and laminin up-regulation in diabetic nerves.

 Key words: Diabetic neuropathy, laminin, alpha lipoic acid, insulin.


Manufacturers and retailers often acquire market information to help guide their marketing activities. Yet this strategy has yielded mixed results. In this paper, we examine how the outcome of acquiring information is affected by the strategic interaction between channel members. We obtain implications for who acquires information in a distribution channel – the manufacturer, retailer or both – and whether channel members should collaborate to jointly acquire information. Conventional wisdom suggests that acquiring market information should be beneficial because it helps improve decisions. However, we find that acquiring information can be counterproductive for either channel member because of strategic channel interaction. We show that, as a result, only the manufacturer may acquire information in the channel, even if information is costless to acquire for the retailer. Moreover, channel members may acquire information independently even though acquiring information jointly would have been more cost-effective. Interestingly, acquiring information jointly is mutually beneficial only if either manufacturer advertising or retailer merchandising is sufficiently effective in stimulating demand, but not if both are effective. Our findings lead to implications for when information acquisition is beneficial and for whom.


The prevalence of low birth weight (LBW) in Indonesia varied between 2.1 - 17.2%. At the end of Five years Development Plan V (Repelita V) it was 15.0%, and is expected to decrease to 10.0% by the end of Repelita VI. Low Birth Weight infant (less than 2500 grm) is an important issue, because of its relationship with the survival and health status of the infant in the future. The prevalence of anemia in pregnant women is 63.5%. The cause of anemia is mostly iron deficiency. The need of iron in pregnant women is quite high which is an average of 800 mg during pregnancy. Daily food contains 10 - 20 mg iron but the human body can absorb only less than 10.0%. To overcome the problem, iron pills distribution program is implemented. The iron pills contain 200 mg ferro sulfate and 0.25 mg folic acid, and are given to all pregnant women who visit Community Health Centres (Puskesmas) and Integrated Health Service Posts (Posyandu). Each pregnant women is expected to have at least 90 iron pills during the pregnancy. The objective of further analysis of the Demographic and Health Survey 1994 is to obtain information on the impact of iron pills on low birth weight. Among the 1689 weighted children born in 1994, there were 6.7% (112 children) with low birth weight. The percentage of low birth weight (10.6%) in the mothers who did not take the iron pills is the highest, followed by mothers who took less than 90 pills (6.0%) and the lowest percentage of low birth weight is found among mothers who took the least iron pills (5.9%), and statistically the difference is significant at p=0.0271. Among mothers who weighted their new born children, 14.6% did not take iron pills during pregnancy, only 26.1% mothers who took at least 90 iron pills during pregnancy. There is variation among the number of iron pills taken. Iron pill is useful for pregnant women. Based on the pills consumed by the pregnant women, the risk for having low birth weight infant for mother who did not take pills compared with those who take at least 90 pills is 3.5 times (95% CI: 1.41 - 9.09) in Java Bali, 10.3 times (95% CI: 1.11-14.29) for mothers with education Junior High School and 2.7 times (95% CI: 1.11 - 6.66) for mothers who give birth for the first child. Based on the number of pills taken by pregnant women, risk for Low Birth Weight in urban and rural area is not different, in Java Bali and as outer Java Bali. To reduce the Low Birth Weght, it is important to intensify monitoring, educating, informating on the importance of iron pills with balanced nutrition through health attendant and community key person and involvement of private company through mass media. It is important to have examination of women before she get pregnant and give proper treatment to the diseases which can worsen the anemia during pregnancy. It is also important to do special research on the high risk of anemia by considerating factors which determine low birth weight in the effort of promoting the health of pregnant women and the infants, so that specific and or appropriate methods of intervention can be developed and applied.


Brand extension has been regarded as a means to achieve growth by capitalising on the reputation of an established brand. However, the extent to which brand extensions can benefit from or even detract from the original brand, is determined by various factors. This study focuses on brand associations as means to extend the original brand. A qualitative study was used to elicit an unbiased picture of consumers' associations of a brand. The qualitative study, in contrast with the quantitative nature of most previous studies, enables further probing on the comments made by respondents. The study examined consumers' reactions to a variety of fictitious extensions for four different popular brands (Coca-Cola, Benetton, Yamaha, and Kellogg's). The main purpose of this study was to explore in what ways the associations consumers have with a brand name influence the way in which they evaluate brand extensions. Six propositions were investigated. Because of the considerable extent of the findings, the research is reported in two parts. The findings on three propositions are described in this first part of the reported research.


The paper presents a systematic procedure and details of the use of experimental and analytical modal analysis technique for structural dynamic evaluation processes of a vertical machining centre. The main results deal with assessment of the mode shape of the different components of the vertical machining centre. The simplified experimental modal analysis of different components of milling machine was carried out. This model of the different machine tool's structure is made by design software and analyzed by finite element simulation using ABAQUS software to extract the different theoretical mode shape of the components. The model is evaluated and corrected with experimental results by modal testing of the machine components in which the natural frequencies and the shape of vibration modes are analyzed. The analysis resulted in determination of the direction of the maximal compliance of a particular machine component.


In this thesis, I focus on studying interaction between colloidal particles and lipid bilayers. Inspired by proteins that generate membrane curvature, sense the underlying membrane geometry, and migrate driven by curvature gradients, we explore the question: Can colloids, adhered to lipid bilayers, also sense and respond to membrane geometry? In the first part of the thesis, I report experimental results of homogeneous nanoparticles and microparticles on lipid bilayers. Charged nanoparticles were used to study the dependence on tension of particle wrapping by bilayer membranes. The particle wrapping process is a competition between adhesion energy on the particle/lipid interface, and the energy cost to deform the membrane. I found that when membrane tension was below 0.27 mN/m, the apparent area of an aspirated giant unilamellar vesicle (GUV) decreased during nanoparticles binding, likely due to wrapping of particles by the membrane. This area decrease was eliminated by increasing the membrane tension. I also report results on pair interactions between streptavidin-coated microparticles bound to biotinylated GUVs. A preferred separation distance was found between pairs of particles, and an interaction potential energy on the order of thermal fluctuations was found. To control the degree of wrapping systematically, I used Janus microparticles with two different surface properties on each of the hemisphere. I report the migration of Janus microparticles adhered to giant unilamellar vesicles elongated to present spatially varying principal curvatures. In experiments, colloids migrated on these vesicles toward sites of high deviatoric curvature. This migration occurred only when the membranes were tense, suggesting that they migrate to minimize membrane area. By determining the energy dissipated along a trajectory, the energy field was inferred to depend linearly on the local deviatoric curvature, like curvature driven capillary migration on interfaces between immiscible fluids. In this latter system, energy gradients were larger, so colloids move deterministically, whereas the paths traced by colloids on vesicles had significant fluctuations. By addressing the role of Brownian motion, I show that the observed migration is analogous to curvature driven capillary migration, with membrane tension playing the role of interfacial tension. Since this motion is mediated by membrane shape, it can be turned on and off by dynamically deforming the vesicle. While particle-particle interactions on lipid membranes have been considered in many contributions, I report here an exciting and previously unexplored modality to actively direct the migration of colloids to desired locations on lipid bilayers. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering First Advisor Kathleen J. Stebe This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2439 Second Advisor Tobias Baumgart


We aim to describe the incidence and source of contagion of COVID-19 in patients with IBD, as well as the risk factors for a severe course and long-term sequelae. This is a prospective observational study of IBD and COVID-19 included in the ENEIDA registry (53,682 from 73 centres) between March–July 2020 followed-up for 12 months. Results were compared with data of the general population (National Centre of Epidemiology and Catalonia). A total of 482 patients with COVID-19 were identified. Twenty-eight percent were infected in the work environment, and 48% were infected by intrafamilial transmission, despite having good adherence to lockdown. Thirty-five percent required hospitalization, 7.9% had severe COVID-19 and 3.7% died. Similar data were reported in the general population (hospitalisation 19.5%, ICU 2.1% and mortality 4.6%). Factors related to death and severe COVID-19 were being aged ≥ 60 years (OR 7.1, 95% CI: 1.8–27 and 4.5, 95% CI: 1.3–15.9), while having ≥2 comorbidities increased mortality (OR 3.9, 95% CI: 1.3–11.6). None of the drugs for IBD were related to severe COVID-19. Immunosuppression was definitively stopped in 1% of patients at 12 months. The prognosis of COVID-19 in IBD, even in immunosuppressed patients, is similar to that in the general population. Thus, there is no need for more strict protection measures in IBD.


OBJECTIVE
The Genitourinary Cancer Disease Site Group (GU DSG) and Cancer Care Ontario's Program in Evidence-Based Care (PEBC) in Ontario, Canada developed a guideline on low-dose rate brachytherapy (LDR-BT) in patients with early-stage low-grade prostate cancer in 2001. The current updated guideline focuses on the research questions regarding the effect of LDR-BT alone, the effect of LDR-BT with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) and the selection of an isotope.

METHODS
This guideline was developed by using the methods of the Practice Guidelines Development Cycle and the core methodology was a systematic review. MEDLINE and EMBASE (from January 1996 to October 2011), the Cochrane Library, main guideline websites, and main annual meeting abstract websites specific for genitourinary diseases were searched. Internal and external reviews of the draft guideline were conducted.

RESULTS
The draft guideline was developed according to a total of 10 systematic reviews and 55 full text articles that met the pre-planned study selection criteria. The quality of evidence was low to moderate. The final report reflects integration of the feedback obtained through the internal review (two oncologists and a methodologist) and external review (five target reviewers and 48 professional consultation reviewers) process, with final approval given by the GU DSG and the PEBC.

CONCLUSION
THE MAIN RECOMMENDATIONS ARE: (1) For patients with newly diagnosed low-risk or intermediate-risk prostate cancer who require or choose active treatment, LDR-BT alone is a treatment option as an alternative to EBRT alone or RP alone; and (2) I-125 and Pd-103 are each reasonable isotope options.


Investigations of bacterial resistance strategies can aid in the development of new antimicrobial drugs as a countermeasure to the increasing worldwide prevalence of bacterial antibiotic resistance. One such strategy involves the TipA class of transcription factors, which constitute minimal autoregulated multidrug resistance (MDR) systems against diverse antibiotics. However, we have insufficient information regarding how antibiotic binding induces transcriptional activation to design molecules that could interfere with this process. To learn more, we determined the crystal structure of SkgA from Caulobacter crescentus as a representative TipA protein. We identified an unexpected spatial orientation and location of the antibiotic binding TipAS effector domain in the apo state. We observed that the α6-α7 region of the TipAS domain, which is canonically responsible for forming the lid of antibiotic binding cleft to tightly enclose the bound antibiotic, is involved in the dimeric interface and stabilized via interaction with the DNA-binding domain in the apo state. Further structural and biochemical analyses demonstrated that the unliganded TipAS domain sterically hinders promoter DNA binding, but undergoes a remarkable conformational shift upon antibiotic binding to release this autoinhibition via a switch of its α6-α7 region. Hence, the promoters for MDR genes including tipA and RNA polymerases become available for transcription, enabling efficient antibiotic resistance. These insights into the molecular mechanism of activation of TipA proteins advance our understanding of TipA proteins as well as bacterial MDR systems, and may provide important clues to block bacterial resistance.


Introduction: The prevalence of obesity and depression is increasing at an alarming rate. The state of obesity and perception of job stress is different in both genders. The circulating levels of stress related hormones cortisol, serotonin and leptin are attenuated in stress.
 Objective: To investigate variations in the coding regions of leptin gene in relation to stress perception and other biochemical and physiological parameters of stress perception.
Method: With verbal and written consent, twenty working women were identified from 5 corporate sections of local banks in Karachi. Stress perception was measured by standardized questionnaire. Depending on stress scores the data were classified as no/minimal, mild, moderate and severe stress groups. Changes in appetite were determined by visual analogue scale for hunger and desire to eat during stress. The chemical analytes were measured by ELISA. Leptin gene was sequenced using 3130 Genetic Analyzer of (ABI) Applied Biosystems using BigDye Terminator 3.1 Sequencing Kit protocols at Centralized Science Laboratory University of Karachi. One way ANOVA was applied to analyze data. Result: The BMI and VAS for hunger and desire to eat increased significantly with the severity of stress (p<0.05). Although circulating levels of leptin and cortisol also increased with stress perception (p<0.05) but a decrease in cortisol levels was observed in the group with severe stress perception. Plasma serotonin decreased with increase in stress perception. A single nucleotide polymorphism was found in 5' flanking region of exon 2 of leptin gene compared to the reference gene fragment retrieved from gene bank with no minimal perception of stress. The guanosine at position 15719 in the reference fragment was replaced by cytidine. No variation was found in the DNA sequences of exon 2 of women with mild, moderate or severe perception of stress. No variation was found in the segment of exon 3 of leptin gene. Conclusion: The consistent finding of a G15719C variant on the 5' flanking region of exon 2 of LEP in the group of women who claimed no/minimal stress suggest a role of this gene in stress induced obesity and other physiological reactions to stress.


Abstract
 The hydrological data (since 1953) of the Llanganuco basin (87.0 km2, 39% glacierized) show an increase of the glacial melting during the last quarter of the 20th century. These results were supplemented (since the end of 2000) by the data of the small basin of Artesoncocha (8.4 km2, 79% glacierized). The basin runoff is well correlated to the atmospheric temperature derived from the NOAA-NCEP re-analysis above the Cordillera Blanca. At the monthly time scale, the temperature is a good proxy of the glacier melting. The retreat of several glaciers in the Cordillera Blanca has been well documented for 50 years, highlighting an acceleration of the deglaciation in the mid-1970s. The use of these data of various origins permits one to model the behaviour of glaciers, especially the meltwater production, and then to predict their future evolution. The model was calibrated over the 1950–2000 period, thus providing a possible optimistic evolution range (underestimation if the climate change becomes more intense). The forcing of the model by forecasts of the future temperature evolution above the Cordillera Blanca, derived from the regionalization of global climatic models, allows improvement of the estimations only based on past glacial behaviour.


In order to save weight in a certain engine application the possibility of replacing the currently used material with cast Ti-6Al-4V is investigated here. The working environment for this particular engine part is pure hydrogen gas at high pressure. Therefore selected mechanical properties such as tensile and low cycle fatigue (LCF) in air and hydrogen atmosphere have been studied for cast Ti-6Al-4V. In addition to cast Ti-6Al-4Vt the corresponding mechanical properties of a more recently developed additive manufacturing method, electron beam melting (EBM), is also investigated in hydrogen and compared with cast Ti-6Al-4V. Cast Ti-6Al-4V showed lower yield strength and lower ultimate tensile strength in hydrogen compared with air. However, no significant change in the ductility was observed. The LCF was significantly reduced in the hydrogen atmosphere, mostly at high strain range (? 2%). The EBM Ti-6Al-4V in hydrogen showed higher yield strength, higher ultimate strength and higher ductility as well as improved fatigue life compared with cast Ti-6Al-4V under the same test conditions. Microstructural and fractographic characterization were also performed and the results are included.


Abstract A new artificial receptor layer was successfully electrosynthesized on the gold electrode to fabricate a chemosensor. Based on the molecular imprinting technique and capacitive transduction, the sensor was applied for herbicide detection. The dielectric property of the receptor layer was characterized by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The relative capacitive shift depended on the concentration of mefenacet at the range of 1–50 µM. The kinetic aspects of the recognition process were evaluated. A two‐step kinetic model was derived to describe the recognition process. Fitted results were well in agreement with the corresponding experimental results. The selectivity was evaluated by capacitance selective coefficient of mefenacet and other herbicides. The chemosensor exhibited a selective response to herbicide mefenacet. The nonimprinted polymer modified electrode did not show selective response to mefenacet, thus, indicating that the imprinted polymer acts as recognition element of mefenacet sensor.


Epidemiological studies investigating associations between early life factors and adult health are often limited to studying exposures that can be reliably recalled in adulthood or obtained from existing medical records. There are few US studies with detailed data on the pre- and postnatal environment whose study populations are now in adulthood; one exception is the Collaborative Perinatal Project (CPP). We contacted former female participants of the New York site of the CPP who were born from 1959 to 1963 and were prospectively followed for 7 years to examine whether the pre- and postnatal environment is associated with adult health in women 40 years after birth. The New York CPP cohort is particularly diverse; at enrolment, the race/ethnicity distribution of mothers was approximately 30% White, 40% Black and 30% Puerto Rican. Of the 841 eligible women, we successfully traced 375 women (45%) and enrolled 262 women (70% of those traced). Baseline data were available for all eligible women, and we compared those who participated with the remaining cohort (n = 579). Higher family socio-economic status at age 7, availability of maternal social security number, and White race/ethnicity were statistically significantly associated with a higher probability of tracing. Of those traced, race/ethnicity was associated with participation, with Blacks and Puerto Ricans less likely to participate than Whites (OR = 0.5, 95% CI 0.3, 0.8, and OR = 0.5, 95% CI 0.3, 1.0, respectively). In addition, higher weight at 7 years was associated with lower participation (OR = 0.95, 95% CI 0.92, 0.99), but this association was observed only among the non-White participants. None of the other maternal characteristics, infant or early childhood growth measures was associated with participation or with tracing, either overall or within each racial/ethnic subgroup. Daughters' recall of early life factors such as pre-eclampsia (sensitivity = 24%) and birthweight were generally poor, with the latter varying by category of birthweight with the highest sensitivity for the largest babies (81%) and the lowest sensitivity for the smallest babies (54%). These data reinforce the need to rejuvenate existing birth cohorts with prospective data for life course studies of adult health. Understanding the factors that are associated with tracing and participation in these existing cohorts will help in interpreting the validity and generalisability of the findings from these invaluable cohorts.


Abstract The sensitivity of 0-3 composites based on a modified lead titanate has been investigated. The effects of poling field, poling time and poling temperature will be shown. Based on these variations, optimum poling conditions have been estimated. The problems associated with a resistivity imbalance have been addressed with reversible changes based on moisture content within the sample.


, Abstract: Vision is one of the essential perception modalities for legged robots to safely and efficiently navigate uneven terrains, such as stairs and stepping stones. However, training robots to effectively understand high-dimensional visual input for locomotion is a challenging problem. In this work, we propose a framework to train a vision-based locomotion controller which enables a quadrupedal robot to traverse uneven environments. The key idea is to introduce a hierarchical structure with a high-level vision policy and a low-level motion controller. The high-level vision policy takes as inputs the perceived vision signals as well as robot states and outputs the desired footholds and base movement of the robot. These are then realized by the low level motion controller composed of a position controller for swing legs and a MPC-based torque controller for stance legs. We train the vision policy using Deep Reinforcement Learning and demonstrate our approach on a variety of uneven environments such as randomly placed stepping stones, quincuncial piles, stairs, and moving platforms. We also validate our method on a real robot to walk over a series of gaps and climbing up a platform.


Aim: To compare the individual quantity of the movements preand postnatally. Methods: Twenty eight out of 45 pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy (28–35 weeks) during the six month period (November 2003–May 2004) and 28 term, appropriatefor-gestational-age newborns took part in the study. All 4D examinations were performed on Voluson 730 (Kretztechnik, Zipf, Austria). 4D images were displayed on the screen and recorded on the videotape during 30 min observation period. Recordings were performed in the moming and no meal was taken within two hours of the beginning of the study. Examinations of the newborsn were performed while the newboms were in bed, separated from other infants in the nursery, dressed, and lying on their backs in a supine position with unrestrained hands. The video recording was processed mainly while children were actively awake or during alert inactivity. Video recording was not performed during prolonged episodes of fussing and crying, during drowsiness and episodes of hiccupping. Results: Hand to mouth and hand to face movements were more frequent in fetuses than in neonates, while all other hand movements were less frequent in neonates than in fetuses. Wilcoxon rank-sum test reached statistically significant differences between the fetuses in third trimester and the newboms (p < 0.05) in hand to head, hand to mouth, hand to eye, hand to face, and hand to ear movements. Spearman rank order correlation reached statistical significance between the fetuses in the third trimester and in the newborns (p < 0.05) in hand to head (r = 0.42; t = 2.33; p = 0.03), hand to mouth (r = 0.76; t = 5.91; p < 0.05), hand to eye (r = 0.56; t = 3.42; p < 0.05), hand to face (r = 0.86; t = 8.53; p < 0.05) and in hand to ear movements (r = 0.66; t = 4.95; p < 0.05). Conclusions: There is continuity between fetal and neonatal movement pattems concerning the quantity of hand movements. 4D is a good tool for the assessment of the quantity of fetal movements.


Aiming to draw the current world outlook of the caries-forming process, pertinent information was compiled from the World Health Organization and various other sources. Data from the different countries were grouped in five categories, depending on the average number of teeth affected. On the basis of compiled data and the experience of countries enjoying the highest levels of buccal health, a set of tactics are proposed toward diminishing the incidence of cavities in our country.


This paper describes a LabVIEW-based automated system to carry out frequency response tests in electrical machines. The system is being used by undergraduate students in the laboratory of electrical machines, where they can experiment with the application of frequency response analysis and the characterization of mathematical models. An advantage of the system is its friendly user interface to a laboratory experiment. The system avoids the risky utilization of oscilloscopes for data acquisition and shortens the time taken to analyze the measured data. The Automated System for Frequency Analysis (ASFFA) can carry out tests within a bandwidth of 0.001-900 Hz. In addition, the ASFFA can estimate the transfer function parameters based on one- or two-port network theory. Design details of the interface, system structure, frequency response tests, electrical machine modeling, and signal processing are presented. Finally, ASFFA is applied to synchronous, induction, and direct-current machines.


Cereals grown
 world-wide are used as staple food. Due to high temperature,
 humidity and non-scientific storage prevail the growth of certain
 species belong to family Aspergillus. Mycotoxins are small (MW
 ~700), toxic chemical products formed as secondary metabolites by
 fungal species that readily settle on crops and infect them with
 toxins in the field or after harvest, during transport and storage.
 These compounds cause a potential threat to human and animal health
 through the intake of food products prepared from these commodities.
 Generally, crops that are stored for more than a few days become a
 potential target for mould growth and mycotoxin formation.
 Mycotoxins can occur both in temperate and tropical regions of the
 world, depending on the species of fungi.The extraction, clean up
 and analysis methodology for aflatoxins in cereals (maize, rice and
 wheat) were validated and found it efficient and good in respect of
 recovery, reproducibility, repeatability, resolution and
 cost-effective. The extraction solvent (acetonitrile and water) gave 85% recovery in spiked cereal samples using MycoSep-226 column.The
 sensitivity (LOD) of HPLCFLD was higher as compared to HPLC-UV-Vis
 after derivatization of sample extract with trifluoroacetic acid (TFA).
 The collected cereals samples from Faisalabad Division, Pakistan
 exhibited high level of aflatoxins but after treatment with
 irradiation, more than 95% reduction in AFB1 and 97% in Total
 AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2) were observed at a dose of 6 kGy.
 Significant affect of radiation was found in wheat samples because
 substantial reduction was found in AFB1 and total aflatoxins
 at high dose of radiation.The level of aflatoxin contamination was
 far behind that the recommended limits of EU and FDA, USA. From the
 results it is evident that irradiation is a good technology to
 remove contaminants like aflatoxins from cereal commodities
 The food quality of irradiated cereals was evaluated to study any
 chemical change in protein (amino acids), fatty acid composition and
 fungal biomass using different methods.The total biomass (CFU/g)
 showed linearity behaviour as increasing the dose level of gamma
 irradiation. In some samples of cereals, no microflora (fungi) was
 observed after 72 hrs. of incubation.composition revealed that
 linolenic acid and oleic acid showed decrease whereas no significant
 change was found in other fatty acids. The unsaturated and poly
 unsaturated fatty acids remained same after irradiation exposure.
 The amino acids profile showed that leucine, lysine, tryptophane and
 valine increased while methionine, phenylalanine and threonine
 decreased in composition as increased the dose level of exposure of
 gamma irradiation.Overall no major difference was observed in any
 essential amino acids.The permanent use of contaminated cereals in
 the area may pose certain diseases like hepatitis, cancer of liver
 or effect of other major organs of the human body.The fatty acid


In order to machine complex free surface parts, a micro NC (numerical control) three-dimensional machine tool is developed, integrated the PMAC control. Based on this NC machine tool, the influencing of the technological and tool's parameters on machining accuracy of micro complex surface parts are analyzed, and the cause to lead to the machining errors is explained. Therefore, the cutting parameters and tool geometry parameters to machine micro complex surface, such as the human's face, can be selected optimally. Finally, the micro complex human's face is machined on this developed micro machine tool under optimal parameters. The experimental results show that the machined surface is smooth and continuous. The machined quality is satisfied.


The 4-H volunteer program is a new concept to the people of Iraq, for decades the country has been closed to western ideas. Iraqi culture and the Arabic customs have not embraced the volunteer concept and even more the concept of scientific animal production technologies designed to increase profitability for producers. In 2011 the USAID-Inma Agribusiness program teamed with the Iraq 4-H program to create youth and community entrepreneurship opportunities for widowed families. Iraq 4-H provided the youth members and adult volunteers and Inma provided the financial capital (livestock) and the animal science training program for the volunteers. The purpose of this study was to measure the knowledge level gained through intensive animal science training for Iraqi 4-H volunteers. Researchers designed and implemented a pre and post test to measure the knowledge of fifteen volunteers who participated in the three day course. The pretest exposed a general lack of animal science knowledge of all volunteers; over 80% of the participants incorrectly answered the questions. However, the post-test indicated positive change in the participants understanding of animal science production principles.


The area of Walikale in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, is intensely affected by conflict and population displacement. Médecins-Sans-Frontières (MSF) returned to provide primary healthcare in July 2012. To better understand the impact of the ongoing conflict and displacement on the population, a retrospective mortality survey was conducted in April 2013. A two-stage randomized cluster survey using 31 clusters of 21 households was conducted. Heads of households provided information on their household make-up, ownership of non-food items (NFIs), access to healthcare and information on deaths and occurrence of self-reported disease in the household during the recall period. The recall period was of 325 days (July 2012–April 2013). In total, 173 deaths were reported during the recall period. The crude mortality rate (CMR) was of 1.4/10,000 persons/day (CI95%: 1.2–1.7) and the under-five- mortality rate (U5MR) of 1.9/10,000 persons per day (CI95%: 1.3–2.5). The most frequently reported cause of death was fever/malaria 34.1% (CI95%: 25.4–42.9). Thirteen deaths were due to intentional violence. Over 70% of all households had been displaced at some time during the recall period. Out of households with someone sick in the last two weeks, 63.8% sought health care; the main reason not to seek health care was the lack of money (n = 134, 63.8%, CI95%: 52.2–75.4). Non Food Items (NFI) ownership was low: 69.0% (CI95%: 53.1–79.7) at least one 10 liter jerry can, 30.1% (CI95%: 24.3–36.5) of households with visible soap available and 1.6 bednets per household. The results from this survey in Walikale clearly illustrate the impact that ongoing conflict and displacement are having on the population in this part of DRC. The gravity of their health status was highlighted by a CMR that was well above the emergency threshold of 1 person/10,000/day and an U5MR that approaches the 2 children/10,000/day threshold for the recall period.


Ongoing volcanic eruptions generate hazards of varying intensity over time, where more pervasive hazards include ashfalls, gases and acid rain. These hazards can generate widespread losses across societies and essential services in urban areas, constituting environments of extensive risk. Yet, the complexities of such environments are little-understood and the effects of ashfalls on complex systems that support societies are under-explored. This research applies a systems approach to explore the consequences and dynamics of long-term volcanic activity for the healthcare system in Montserrat, West Indies, where the long-duration eruption prompted relocation of the population further from the volcano. A case study methodology and qualitative methods are used to explore healthcare system recovery, dynamic interdependencies and complexities of healthcare system function in an ongoing eruption environment. The relocation presented significant challenges as well as opportunities to develop healthcare services, and the process of recovery for the healthcare system is ongoing. Development is hindered by legacies of the relocation that include a smaller population, resource shortages, and temporary infrastructure that became permanent. Consequences of ashfall exposure are wide-ranging, affecting facilities, services and staff. Yet, adaptations and capacities are identified across the system, and the interacting network of essential services contributes cascading disruptions, as well as capacities to respond to heightened volcanic activity and to reduce effects at vulnerable sectors. For healthcare staff, complex influences on decision-making, adjustment and balancing work and life are identified. Influences on healthcare function are found to be complex, interacting, and stem from external and internal factors as well as the wider development context. This thesis concludes that holistic approaches for exploring the function of complex systems in extensive risk contexts should account for the history of the system, the dynamic interactions of the system within its context and the complexities of the social context in which it operates.


The inverted index is the dominant indexing method in information retrieval systems. It enables fast return of the list of all documents containing a given query term. However, for retrieval schemes involving query expansion, as in pseudo-relevance feedback (PRF), the retrieval time based on an inverted index increases linearly with the number of expansion terms. In this regard, we have examined the use of a forward index, which consists of the mapping of each document to its constituent terms. We propose a novel forward index-based reranking scheme to shorten the PRF retrieval time. In our method, a first retrieval of the original query is performed using an inverted index, and then a forward index is employed for the PRF part. We have studied several new forward indexes, including using a novel spstring data structure and the weighted variable bit-block compression (wvbc) signature. With modern hardware such as solid-state drives (SSDs) and sufficiently large main memory, forward index methods are particularly promising. We find that with the whole index stored in main memory, PRF retrieval using a spstring or wvbc forward index excels in time efficiency over an inverted index, being able to obtain the same levels of performance measures at shorter times.


As an editorial for Acta Psychologica Sinica 's special column, this paper provides a concise overview of the nudge concept and its progress. The necessity of the concept is analyzed, and the main methods and fields of application are summarized. The effects of the concept on the promotion of people's health, wealth, and happiness are elucidated, and the related disputes are clarified. Several suggestions that may help researchers in carrying out nudge research are also derived. We briefly draw the outlines for several papers in this special column and discuss the outlook for how nudge research should begin in China with the goal of attracting psychologists to devote to nudge research.


Seventeen global unconformities and their correlative conformities (sequence boundaries) subdivide the strata of the Jurassic and earliest Cretaceous into genetic depositional sequences produced by 16 eustatic cycles. These 16 cycles make up the Jurassic supercycle. Eight of the global unconformities are both subaerial and submarine (Type 1), and are believed to have been caused by rapid eustatic falls of sea level. Nine of the unconformities are subaerial only (Type 2), and are believed to be related to slow eustatic falls of sea level. In addition, 16 marine condensed sections (starved intervals) have been identified. These condensed sections are interpreted to be related to rapid eustatic rises of sea level. Unconformity recognition is locally or regionally enh nced by periodic truncation of folded and faulted strata during sea-level lowstands and onlap onto topographic highs during sea-level highstands, but we find no evidence that the tectonics caused the global unconformities. The 16 eustatic cycles that make up the Jurassic supercycle correspond to 16 global chronostratigraphic intervals that subdivide Jurassic strata into a series of genetic depositional sequences, which are recognizable from seismic, well, and outcrop data. The Jurassic unconformities and the stratal and facies patterns between them are caused by the interaction of basement subsidence, eustatic changes of sea-level, and varying sediment supply. Detailed analyses of the sediments with seismic stratigraphy and well data permit quantification of the subsidence history and reconstruction of paleoenvironment and sea-level changes through time. The integrated use of seismic stratigraphy and biostratigraphy provides a better geologic age history than could be obtained by either method alone. Paleobathymetry, sediment facies, and relative changes of sea level can be interpreted from seismic data and confirmed, or improved on, by well control. Geohistory analysis based on geologic time-depth diagrams provides a quantitative analysis of total basi subsidence. When this subsidence is corrected for compaction and sediment loading, the tectonic subsidence and long-term eustatic changes may be determined. Short-term, rapid changes of sea level can be demonstrated from seismic, well, and outcrop data. The stratigraphic resolution of these changes rarely allows exact quantification of their magnitude, but a minimum rate of sea-level change often can be determined.


This case asks student teams to make a number of accounting decisions in the context of a single company. The decisions address the allowance for bad debts, inventory valuation, depreciation lives and methods, contingency provisions, and accounting for off‐book entities. The case setting requires you to address those issues in an integrated way, and establish a rationale for the decisions required. The teamwork required illustrates the way differing personal judgments, regarding both facts and principles, enter into the determination of net income. Whether you mean to or not, your teams will be practicing "earnings management."


Abstract This doctoral research examines the similarities between the Iranian and classical pedagogies through utilizing the holistic music education. Iranian classical ney and Western flute will be drawn upon to explore how and to what extent the pedagogical elements relate to and interplay with each other within the two different contexts to attain the same goals through the similar behaviours and functions that embraces all the physical and musical aspects of performance, instrument and instrumentalist. This research aims to demonstrate how the process of holistic pedagogy can aid the acquisition of practical knowledge and skill as a pathway towards sophisticated and mature performance and pedagogy. This study also attempts to illustrate how the pedagogical elements can serve to unite the instrument and the instrumentalist together as one entity, regardless of their cultural and environmental background, in order to lead individuals to not only be professional musicians but, more importantly, to be fine citizens capable of great competence in any field of engagement. This doctoral thesis is structured in the format of a Thesis by Publication and includes eight journal articles. To undertake this research that qualitative research methodology has been utilized through the autoethnographical approach. The academic research articles included in this research are connected through the selected methodology and holistic music pedagogy and this connects the various sections of the study. Following a contextualising historical account of Iranian music pedagogy, the five key themes have been explored: tone production, primal sound, breathing, balance and support and the centre of gravity. Although all the selected themes were originally used to address both the Iranian classical ney and Western flute, the author had to remove the discussion concerning the ney from the related articles to meet the requirements of the journals and editors' revisions (see preface, limitations of the study). Through this, the research explored some of the least-articulated aspects of pedagogy which benefit not only flute and ney players, but also other wind instrumentalists.


Future third-generation mobile communication systems will require improved sensitivity and selectivity to support the growth in multi-media services, increased coverage, longer talk time and larger numbers of subscribers. The paper describes a transceiver for use in mobile and personal communications base transceiver stations (BTS). Key components of the transceiver are fabricated using thin film high temperature superconductor technologies to achieve, in the receiver chain, enhanced sensitivity and selectivity and, in the transmitter chain, reduced combiner losses and increased selectivity. Cryo-packaging techniques, which provide a long between-service interval are described. The cryogenic r.f. module encapsulation design features novel r.f. and thermal interconnects which obviates the need for long lossy input cables. In-situ tuning methods allow the HTS filters to be optimised at the operating temperature, 60 K, and in vacuum. The transceiver incorporates an integrated miniature Stirling-cycle cooling engine designed for a 5-watt heat lift at 60 K, over an ambient temperature range of -40/spl deg/C to +65/spl deg/C. The control electronics are driven directly from the BTS d.c. supplies. The input power requirement to the cryo-cooler and drive electronics is <250 watts. The design of the cooler is arranged to provide an inherent balance, virtually eliminating vibration. Multiple r.f. transceivers are integrated with a single cryocooler, and together with bypass switching, alarms and lightning protection, are contained within a single mast-head mounted weatherproof housing.


Metal-halide perovskites have revolutionised photovoltaics in a short space of time due to their large power-conversion efficiencies and flexibility in device processing. However, questions loom over the deployment of these materials in photovoltaic modules including those of long-term stability and reproducibility in performance. In this review we provide an update to this rapidly developing field.


This article investigates the impact of labour mobility on plant performance in Denmark. Our study shows that the effect of labour mobility can only be assessed when one accounts for the type of skills that flow into the plant and the degree to which these match the existing skills at the plant level. As expected, we found that the inflow of skills that are related to skills in the plant impacts positively on plant productivity growth, while inflows of skills that are similar to the plant skills have a negative effect. We used a sophisticated indicator of revealed relatedness that measures the degree of skill relatedness between sectors on the basis of the intensity of labour flows between sectors. Intra-regional mobility of skilled labour had a negative effect on plant performance, but the impacts of intra- and inter-regional mobility depended on the type of skills that flow into the plant.


Background: Although electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a well-established treatment modality worldwide for elderly with severe psychiatric disorders, literature is sparse in India. Materials and Methods: A retrospective chart review of patients aged 60 years and above (n = 90) who received a course of ECTs between April 2003 and 2013 in National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, a tertiary care neuropsychiatric institute, was carried out. For each elderly person, the next consecutive nonelderly ECT patient was selected as a control (n = 85). Clinical, demographic, and ECT variables were compared. Results: Depression (n = 57; 63.3%) was the most common diagnosis for ECT among the elderly while schizophrenia (n = 28; 32.9%) was most common among controls (P < 0.01); suicidal ideas were the most common indication (n = 25; 28.4%) among the elderly while aggression was the most common indication among controls (n = 28; 33.3%) (P = 0.004). Elderly received more number of ECTs (mean [standard deviation (SD)] 8.0 [3.0] vs. 6.4 [2.8]; P ≤ 0.01), had higher seizure threshold (mean [SD] 135.3 [76.9] mc vs. 81.3 [54.2] mc; P < 0.01), and experienced lesser duration of motor seizures (mean [SD] 38.48 [9.72] s vs. 48.90 [14.66]; P < 0.01). Immediate post-ECT cognitive deficits were more in the elderly (n = 19; 21.6% vs. n = 7; 8.3%; P = 0.02). Case records showed no between-group differences both at the end of 3-month (P = 0.40) and 6-month (P = 0.50) follow-up for cognitive complaints. Mean (standard deviation) Clinical Global Impression-Improvement scores at the end of ECT course were 2.3 (0.9) versus 2.4 (0.8) (P = 0.5) among elderly and nonelderly, respectively. These scores were comparable at the end of 3 as well as 6 months' follow-up. Conclusions: This retrospective chart review showed ECT to be safe and effective for geriatric patients with severe psychiatric disorders including cognitive adverse effects. However, prospective studies would help to better establish cognitive adverse effects of ECT.


The identification of mitosomes in Giardia generated significant debate on the evolutionary origin of these organelles, whether they were highly reduced mitochondria or the product of a unique endosymbiotic event in an amitochondrial organism. As the protein import pathway is a defining characteristic of mitochondria, we sought to discover a TOM (translocase in the outer mitochondrial membrane) complex in Giardia. A Hidden Markov model search of the Giardia genome identified a Tom40 homologous sequence (GiTom40), where Tom40 is the protein translocation channel of the TOM complex. The GiTom40 protein is located in the membrane of mitosomes in a approximately 200-kDa TOM complex. As Tom40 was derived in the development of mitochondria to serve as the protein import channel in the outer membrane, its presence in Giardia evidences the mitochondrial ancestry of mitosomes.


Sams Teach Yourself C++ in 24 Hours is a hands-on guide to the C++ programming language. Readers are provided with short, practical examples that illustrate key concepts, syntax, and techniques. Using a straightforward approach, this fast and friendly tutorial teaches you everything you need to know, from installing and using a compiler, to debugging the programs youve created, to whats new in C++14. Step-by-step instructions carefully walk you through the most common C++ programming tasksQuizzes and exercises at the end of each chapter help you test yourself to make sure youre ready to go on Learn how to... Install and use a C++ compiler for Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux Build object-oriented programs in C++ Master core C++ concepts such as functions and classes Add rich functionality with templates and lambda expressions Debug your programs for flawless code Learn exception and error-handling techniques Put to use the new features in C++14, the latest version of the language Create and use templates Control program flow with loops Store information in arrays and strings Declare and use pointers Use operator overloading Extend classes with inheritance Use polymorphism and derived classes Employ object-oriented analysis and design