Metalloporphyrins are networking molecules with strong internal N-H hydrogen bonds that may be used to substitute a metal ion inside a porphyrin ring, forming a metallo complex. The understanding of electronic structures and charge dynamics of porphyrin based molecular architectures is mandatory to clarify biological functions, catalytic processes, and opto-electrical responses in which these molecules are involved. We present here a systematic analysis of the electronic structures and the charge dynamics of two different iron-porphyrins (i.e. protoporphyrin IX and meso-tetraphenylporphine) with different functional architectures. We investigated these prototypical porphyrins and their mu-oxo-dimer derivatives by means of Fe K-edge X-ray Absorption Near-Edge Spectroscopy (XANES) combined with theoretical calculations. The electronic structure, namely the partial projected density of states and the polarization components were discussed in terms of orbital hybridizations among metal and local ligands. Data show that hydrogens are electron donors while the central metal irons accept electrons. Moreover, the metal axial ligands exhibit different electron behaviors: donors for Cl in prototypical porphyrins and acceptors for O in mu-oxo-dimer derivatives. Actually, the charge dynamics are affected by local metal ligands, but also strongly depend on the mid-range atomic ordering of the porphyrins network. The charge dynamics, evaluated from the self-consistent local potential, is associated with charge transfer mechanisms involving interactions with the axial ligands as well as with the substituents. The quantum chemical topology analysis of the electron localization function (ELF) has been used to identify the distribution of the electron pairs. They are localized around Cl atoms regardless of porphyrin configurations. Charge dynamics and electron localization are fundamental information for a deep understanding of the role of porphyrin and porphyrin-like molecules in a wide range of molecular biophysical mechanisms and in materials science processes.


Biosphere Reserves (BRs) are highly recognized areas under UNESCO's MAB Programme for their conservation, learning and sustainable development initiatives. Even though Mount Hakusan BR (MHBR) in Japan was designated in 1980, its transition zone was recognized in 2016, and area still lacks any implementations or functions as BR. We suggested that introducing the place-based learning will be one of the most important logistic functions of MHBR, and it will provide the site- specific knowledge and experience for bio-cultural education. We conducted five educational fieldworks at MHBR sites, with the objectives to assess the site-specific elements that links biological and cultural diversity of the region. Each field provided thematic understanding of ecosystems of the MHBR, such as forest, hydrology, wildlife, culture, livelihood as well as conservation initiative and tourism. Participant were 21 academic students. As the outcome of the course, several natural and cultural resources were assessed by the students as valuable "treasures" of the region. However, we found that local residences were not aware about the values of those regional resources, and about the role of MHBR as designated area. In future, we plan to evaluate the awareness change of local people before and after implementation of the educational fieldworks together with the youth, at BR sites.


A large amount of sago pith waste (SPW) produced by the growing sago industry has become an environmental concern. Instead of disposing as waste, SPW could be converted into a hydrogel and used as a seed germination medium. In this study, a hydrogel was prepared from SPW cellulose fibres via crosslinking with epichlorohydrin (ECH). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) characterisation showed that pure cellulose fibres extracted from the SPW were successfully crosslinked with ECH to form the hydrogel. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) micrograph of the hydrogel showed a porous microstructure. The optimum hydrogel swelling ratio at 19.9 g g–1 was obtained with 5% w/v SPW cellulose content and 5 ml ECH. In this study, the hydrogel hydration property was demonstrated by using it as a medium for maize seed germination. The germination rate (GR) was observed to be above 70% when SPW cellulose hydrogel alone was used as the medium without the needs for frequent watering.


A common issue in deformable object detection is finding a good way to position the parts. This issue is even more outspoken when considering detection and pose estimation for 3D objects, where parts should be placed in a three-dimensional space. Some methods extract the 3D shape of the object from 3D CAD models. This limits their applicability to categories for which such models are available. Others represent the object with a predefined and simple shape (e.g. a cuboid). This extends the applicability of the model, but in many cases the pre-defined shape is too simple to properly represent the object in 3D. In this paper we propose a new method for the detection and pose estimation of 3D objects, that does not use any 3D CAD model or other 3D information. Starting from a simple and general 3D shape, we learn in a weakly supervised manner the 3D part locations that best fit the training data. As this method builds on a iterative estimation of the part locations, we introduce several speedups to make the method fast enough for practical experiments. We evaluate our model for the detection and pose estimation of faces and cars. Our method obtains results comparable with the state of the art, it is faster than most of the other approaches and does not need any additional 3D information.


Developing countries frequently offer tax incentives and even subsidize the entry and operation of foreign firms. I examine the optimality of such policies in an economy where growth is driven by entrepreneurial know-how, a skill that is continuously updated on the basis of the productive ideas implemented in the country. Openness allows foreign ideas to disseminate inside a country and can foster the country's domestic accumulation of know- how. With externalities, however, laissez-faire openness is suboptimal and can be growth-and even welfare-reducing. I examine the gains from openness under an optimal taxation program the self-funding taxes on domestic and foreign firms that maximize the welfare of the recipient country, subject to the equilibrium behavior of national and foreign firms. Under optimal taxation, openness is always welfare enhancing and leads lagging countries to catch up with the world frontier. Yet, a country may want to subsidize the entry of foreign firms only if it can also subsidize the domestic accumulation of know-how. I also consider the optimal tax program under a number of restrictions that developing countries typically face. For instance, a country must not subsidize entry of foreign firms if doing so requires taxing the concurrent cohort of domestic firms. Similarly, an international agreement that requires equal taxation of domestic and foreign firms can be welfare reducing for a country close to the knowledge frontier.


Waist circumference (WC) is measured for the assessment of abdominal obesity, whereas carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) is a marker of preclinical atherosclerosis. The relationship between WC and carotid IMT in the general population is not fully understood. In this study, we examined 1,182 subjects (658 men and 524 women, 62.3 ± 11.7 years on average) who underwent voluntary health check-ups and sought to determine the optimal cut-off value of WC for predicting carotid IMT thickness. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis of WC was utilized to predict high carotid IMT (defined as carotid IMT ≥ 1.1 mm). We determined that the appropriate WC cut-off value was a WC ≥ 79 cm for men and women. There was a statistically significant difference in the prevalence of high carotid IMT between WC ≥ 79 cm and WC < 79 cm in both men and women. However, multivariable logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the WC category was independently associated with high carotid IMT in men, but not in women. Our study indicates that the optimal cut-off value of WC to identify preclinical atherosclerosis may be lower than the current Japanese diagnostic criteria for metabolic syndrome (MetS) in both men and women. Compared to women, the association between WC and preclinical atherosclerosis may be more pronounced in men.


Hot (explosive) hydrogen burning, or the rapid proton capture process (rp-process), occurs in a number of astrophysical environments. Novae and X-ray bursts are the most prominent ones, but accretion disks around black holes and other sites are candidates as well. The expensive and often multidimensional hydrocalculations for such events require an accurate prediction of the thermonuclear energy generation while avoiding full nucleosynthesis network calculations. In the present investigation we present an approximation scheme that leads to accuracy of more than 15% for the energy generation in hot hydrogen burning from 108-1.5 × 109 K, which covers the whole range of all presently known astrophysical sites. It is based on the concept of slowly varying hydrogen and helium abundances and assumes a kind of local steady flow by requiring that all reactions entering and leaving a nucleus add up to a zero flux. This scheme can adapt itself automatically and covers low-temperature regimes, characterized by a steady flow of reactions, as well as high-temperature regimes where a (p, γ)-(γ, p)-equilibrium is established, while β+-decays or (α, p)-reactions feed the population of the next isotonic line of nuclei. In addition to a gain of a factor of 15 in computational speed over a full-network calculation and energy generation accurate to more than 15% this scheme also allows the correct prediction of individual isotopic abundances. Thus, it delivers all features of a full network at a highly reduced cost and can easily be implemented in hydrocalculations.


Nano-fibers composite ceramics were mainly composed of fiber eutectics with random orientation, in which nanometer sized second fibers are dispersed within the ceramic matrix. First, Mori-Tanaka method was used to predict the stiffness of the fiber eutectic structure. The fiber eutectic structure is transverse isotropy and has five independent elastic constants. Then considering random orientation of the fiber eutectic structure, the Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio of composite ceramics is determined by mean strain. Composite ceramics is isotropy. When the volume fraction of nano-fibers increase, the Young's modulus of composite ceramics decrease and are little smaller than the volume average value, the Poisson's ratio of composite ceramics decrease and are little bigger than the volume average value.


This paper discusses a number of issues related to the support of research in Theory of Computing, including funding, evaluation of i:esearch, commnnication, interaction with other research areas, education, and employment. It is directed primarily to researchers in Theory of Computing and is meant to complement the Infrastructure Section of the committee report "Strategic Directions for Research in Theory of Computing". Theory of Computing is a field of Computer Science that uses mathematical techniques to understand the nature of computation and to design and analyze algorithms for important and fundamental problems. It provides important new ways of thinking about computation and lasting insights that are applicable to a wide variety of systems. There are a range of different research activities that occur within this field, including developing models (and ways to quantify the efficiency of algorithms in those models), determining the relationships among different models, designing new (provably correct) algorithms, analyzing the efficiency of various algorithms, proving lower bounds and impossibility, and explaining experimental results. Some researchers are better at posing interesting questions or opening up new directions for research; others are better at answering questions and developing new techniques to do so. In this paper, I wish to discuss a number of issues related to the support of research in Theory of Computing, including funding, evaluation of research, communication, interaction with other research areas, education, and employment. It is directed primarily to researchers in Theory of Computing and is meant to complement the Infrastructure Section of the committee report "Strategic Directions for Research in Theory of Computing", which is directed primarily to people outside our community. I will examine some things our community has done well, some recent innovations, and some suggestions to enhance our research environment. Finally, I will address the relationship of Theory of Computing with experimental computing and algorithmic engineering.


We demonstrate a widely tunable dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser that used a 10-cm photonic crystal fiber as a Mach-Zehnder interferometer to filter out the switchable dual-wavelength signals so as to generate tunable continuous-wave (CW) terahertz (THz) radiation. Each single longitudinal mode wavelength could be independently tuned by using a tunable band-pass filter and polarization controller (PC). The wavelength fine-tuning was achieved via adjustments to the PC, and the resulting dual-wavelength output had a side-mode suppression ratio (SMSR) of more than 30 dB. The wavelength spacing of 7, 11.4, and 21.2 nm, corresponding to 0.9, 1.4, and 2.66 THz radiation, respectively, was tuned in order to obtain CW THz radiation. This CW THz radiation was produced by means of a stable dual-wavelength fiber laser performing as the optical beat source, together with a DAST crystal-based photomixer. High-sensitivity thermal sensors calibrated for THz radiation were able to continuously detect the emitted CW THz radiation.


Non-tuberculous mycobacterial lung disease (NTMLD) is a rare disorder diagnosed in 0.6-1.8/100,000 people. Nevertheless NTMLD may be observed more frequently (2-6%) in the patients (pts) with predisposing conditions such as chronic lung diseases (COPD, cystic fibrosis), genetic disorders and many others. The aim of the present study was to assess the frequency and clinical features of NTMLD in CTEPH and IPAH pts. 250 patients (150 with CTEPH and 100 with IPAH) diagnosed and treated in the Department of Chest Medicine, National Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases in the period of 2002-2008 entered the study. NTMLD fulfilling the criteria of ATS 2007, was diagnosed in 9 pts (3.6%): 6 pts with CTEPH (4%) and 3 with IPAH (3%). Majority of patients presented with exacerbation of dyspnea. Chest CT scans revealed areas of infiltration with cavitation, surrounded by small nodules in 4/9 pts, cavities surrounded by small nodules in 4/9 and cavities only in 1 pt. NTMLD-related lung pathology developed in the areas with hypoperfusion, no parenchymal lung pathology was seen on CT scans taken before the disease development. The responsible pathogen was M. kansasii in all of the patients. NTMLD was observed more frequently in CTEPH and IPAH patients with BMI Conclusion: CTEPH and IPAH are probably the diseases predisposing to NTMLD. The disease develops in the hypoperfused regions of lung parenchyma, in the patients with low CO and satO2mv.


Objectives
Workplace violence (WPV) is a serious issue, resulting in significant negative health outcomes. Understanding sex/gender differences in risk of WPV has important implications for primary prevention activities.

Methods
Utilizing two waves of the Canadian General Social Survey on Victimization (N = 27,643), we examined the likelihood of WPV, and sub-categories of WPV, for women relative to men. Using a sex/gender analytical approach, a series of logistic regression models examined how the associations between being a woman and each of the outcomes changed upon adjustment for work and socio-demographic characteristics.

Results
After adjustment for work hours, women were at more than twice the risk of WPV compared to men (odds ratio = 2.12, 95% confidence interval 1.52-2.95). Adjustment for work characteristics attenuated, but did not eliminate this risk. Differences in associations were observed across sub-categories of violence, with adjustment for work characteristics attenuating sex/gender differences in physical WPV, but having minimal impact on sex/gender differences in sexual WPV.

Conclusions
Work characteristics explain a substantial proportion of the sex/gender differences in risk of physical WPV. However, even after adjustment for work characteristics, women still showed an elevated risk relative to men for almost all types of violence (as defined by nature of the violence, sex of the perpetrator, and relationship to the perpetrator) examined in this study. Future investigations should examine why these differences between women and men remain, even within similar occupational contexts.


Seasonal reconstructions of the Southern Hemisphere annular mode (SAM) index are derived to extend the record before the reanalysis period, using station sea level pressure (SLP) data as predictors. Two reconstructions using different predictands are obtained: one [Jones and Widmann (JW)] based on the first principal component (PC) of extratropical SLP and the other (Fogt) on the index of Marshall. A regional-based SAM index (Visbeck) is also considered.These predictands agree well post-1979; correlations decline in all seasons except austral summer for the full series starting in 1958. Predictand agreement is strongest in spring and summer; hence agreement between the reconstructions is highest in these seasons. The less zonally symmetric SAM structure in winter and spring influences the strength of the SAM signal over land areas, hence the number of stations included in the reconstructions. Reconstructions from 1865 were, therefore, derived in summer and autumn and from 1905 in winter and spring.
This paper examines the skill of each reconstruction by comparison with observations and reanalysis data. Some of the individual peaks in the reconstructions, such as the most recent in austral summer, represent a full hemispheric SAM pattern, while others are caused by regional SLP anomalies over the locations of the predictors. The JW and Fogt reconstructions are of similar quality in summer and autumn, while in winter and spring the Marshall index is better reconstructed by Fogt than the PC index is by JW. In spring and autumn the SAM shows considerable variability prior to recent decades.


Influenza A virus (IAV) infection results in a highly contagious respiratory illness leading to substantial morbidity and occasionally death. In this report, we assessed the in vivo physiological contribution of invariant NKT (iNKT) lymphocytes, a subset of lipid-reactive αβ T lymphocytes, on the host response and viral pathogenesis using a virulent, mouse-adapted, IAV H3N2 strain. Upon infection with a lethal dose of IAV, iNKT cells become activated in the lungs and bronchoalveolar space to become rapidly anergic to further restimulation. Relative to wild-type animals, C57BL/6 mice deficient in iNKT cells (Jα18−/− mice) developed a more severe bronchopneumonia and had an accelerated fatal outcome, a phenomenon reversed by the adoptive transfer of NKT cells prior to infection. The enhanced pathology in Jα18−/− animals was not associated with either reduced or delayed viral clearance in the lungs or with a defective local NK cell response. In marked contrast, Jα18−/− mice displayed a dramatically reduced IAV-specific CD8+ T cell response in the lungs and in lung-draining mediastinal lymph nodes. We further show that this defective CD8+ T cell response correlates with an altered accumulation and maturation of pulmonary CD103+, but not CD11bhigh, dendritic cells in the mediastinal lymph nodes. Taken together, these findings point to a role for iNKT cells in the control of pneumonia as well as in the development of the CD8+ T cell response during the early stage of acute IAV H3N2 infection.


The study of substituted thiopyrimidine drugs have been investigated by measuring the densities and refractive index of different concentration solution in 70% (DMF+water) binary mixture. Also extension with this all above parameters are investigated in different composition of solvent having same concentration of ligand. It could be seen that molar refraction and polarizability constant of substituted thiopyrimidine drugs decreases with decrease in concentration of ligand in 70%(DMF+ water) solvent and increases with increase in percentage composition of solvent when ligand concentration is constant. This data have been used to determine solute-solute, solute-solvent and solvent-solvent interaction in the system.


AIM
To discuss the methods of a study which will aim to determine the usability of a medical device not yet approved for use in a clinical trial.

BACKGROUND
The Blood Loss Estimation and Evaluation of Drape (BLEED) pilot aims to determine the usability of a drape which measures blood loss during third stage labour. Third stage blood loss is usually estimated visually. This method has been found to be inaccurate. The drape has been tested in developing countries overseas and has been found to more accurately measure third stage blood loss when compared with visual methods. The usability of the drape has not yet been evaluated.

REVIEW METHODS
Before starting the BLEED pilot study, the risks to the participants were evaluated and the drape was determined to pose minimal risk of harm for participants. The pilot study will involve recruitment of women and health professionals who will use the drape to measure third stage blood loss and then complete a survey about their opinion of the drape's usability. The data will be used to determine the suitability of using the drape in a clinical trial.

DISCUSSION
The benefits of pursing this programme of research outweigh the challenges. The drape has been validated as more accurate than visual estimation for evaluating blood loss during third stage labour, yet the usability has not been established and a clinical trial is needed. This programme of research will determine if routine use of this drape in research and practice is justified.

CONCLUSION
This work will assist health professionals who are considering ways to improve clinical outcomes and will particularly inform researchers who are interested in piloting new devices in maternity care. While adherence to monitoring requirements and governance of clinical trials is essential, the system has become complicated for investigator-initiated research using devices. Despite these challenges, the authors of this paper believe that this research programme is justified.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
The complexity of navigating documentation and governance required for clinical trials may deter some healthcare professionals who plan to initiate research that involves the use of a medical device. While adherence to monitoring requirements and governance of clinical research is essential, research involving the evaluation of emerging medical technologies can be complicated, particularly for an investigator-initiated (clinician) researcher who does not have the support of a biotech company. These issues may deter clinician researchers from initiating trials and impede their ability to implement clinical research. Despite the challenges, the effectiveness and safety of technologies must be evaluated for their effectiveness in improving clinical outcomes for patients.


Book synopsis: Public policy thinking and implementation is both a process of intellectual thought and rationale for governing. This book examines public policy and the influence news media organizations have in the production and implementation of public policy.

Part I assesses the impact of political philosophy on public policy thinking and further discusses the meaning of public policy in social democratic systems. It uses the riots that occurred across England in the summer of 2011 as a case-study to focus on how the idea of the 'Big Society' was regenerated by government and used as a basis for public policy thinking. Finally, it investigates how media organizations form news representations of public policy issues that seek to contextualize and reshape policy manufactured for public consumption.

Part II provides a psychological exploration of the processes which explain the connection between the media, the public and policy-makers. Does the 'common good' really drive public policy-making, or can group processes better explain what policy-makers decide? This second part of the book explores how media workers' professional identities and practices shape their decisions about how to represent policy news. It also shows how the public identities and corporate interests of media organizations shape their role as referees of public policy-making and how all this culminates in faulty decision-making about how to represent policy news, polarization in public opinion about particular policies, and shifts in policy-makers' decisions.


The first aim of this study was to investigate the ZnO modification effect on the prussian blue (PB) films. A second aim of the study was to determine the decoration effect of multi walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) on the PB-ZnO nanocomposite films which could be deposited by chemical bath. The electrochemical behaviour of PB films was systematically studied using ZnO- or ZnO/MWCNT modification. Additionally, detailed optical properties of nanocomposite films were determined by UV-VIS, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. Optical transparency was severely decreased by ZnO modification onto PB film but the decoration of MWCNTs did not change the optical transparency of film compared to PB film. PB, ZnO and MWCNT presence in the nanocomposite films were proven by FTIR spectrum. Stretching vibration peak of C≡N shifted to short-wavelength for PB-ZnO nanocomposite films and same peak disappeared with MWCNT coating due to the structural distortion. ZnO modification and MWCNT coating affected the electrochemical properties due to the different factors such as OH- group effect in film growth process, Zn2+ substitution with Fe2+ site and interaction between ferricyanide ions and oxygen.


Exposure to insulin increased stimulus-evoked transmission at synapses formed in culture by cholinergic retinal neurons derived from fetal rats. This effect occurred at physiological concentrations and was long lasting. The findings support the hypothesis that insulin may serve as a developmental signal to regulate the emergence of effective neurotransmission across nascent synapses.


Antioxidants are an alternative to prevent or slow the degradation of the biofuel. In this study, it was evaluated the oxidative stability of B100 biodiesel from soybean oil in the presence of three commercial synthetic antioxidants, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), pure or blended, from the experimental design of simplex-centroid mixture. The reaction order and rate constant were also calculated for all tests. The treatment containing pure TBHQ proved to be the most effective, proven by design, the optimum mix obtained and the rate constant. Binary and ternary mixtures containing TBHQ also showed appreciable antioxidant effect.


The well established power flow methods-Gauss-Seidel, Newton-Raphson, and fast decoupled load flow-are all based an major, classical methodologies of applied mathematics. The Krylov subspace power flow (KSPF) method presented in this paper uses a newer, very successful approach-the Krylov subspace methodology-developed in applied linear algebra for the iterative solution of large, sparse systems of linear equations. The method has been adapted to nonlinear equations and used for the solution of the power flow problem with either an approximation of the Jacobian, as in the fast decoupled load flow, or in a direct Newton-like manner but without explicitly forming the Jacobian. Convergence rates are from linear to almost quadratic. The general methodology is described as well as its application to the power flow problem. The main advantage of KSPF is that no matrix factorizations, only sparse matrix-vector multiplications or evaluations of residuals, are used. Preliminary tests suggest that KSPF may become a competitive alternative to existing methods, especially in the case of large power systems.


ABSTRACT Humanitarian coordination systems increasingly recognize and aim to respond to the needs of people with disabilities within populations affected by crises, spurred on by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) which was adopted in 2006. Many agencies state their aim to meet the requirements of the CRPD using a "twin track" approach: ensuring the inclusion of people with disabilities in mainstream provision, alongside targeted support for their needs, which may include the need for Assistive Technology (AT). However, there is very little evidence of AT provision in humanitarian settings, which is a specific and urgent need for many people including the elderly and people with disabilities, and an implicit requirement of Article 11 of the CRPD and World Health Assembly resolution on improving access to assistive technology. There is also little evidence of effective mechanisms for AT provision in humanitarian settings. This is despite high and growing levels of unmet AT need in crises, and despite the legally binding requirement in the CRPD to provide AT for those who need it. AT provision faces unique challenges in humanitarian settings. This paper discusses the evidence available in the literature for the scale and quality of AT provision interventions in crises, and what is known about the challenges and facilitators of provision. We conducted a search of the academic literature and retained literature that reported on any form of AT provision following crisis, where international humanitarian response was in place, published in English between January 2010 and June 2020. We found very few examples in that academic literature of systematic and coordinated AT provision at the acute stage of crisis, and even less in the preparedness and post-acute stages. However, it is difficult to assess whether this is the result of insufficient academic attention or reflects a lack of provision. The small body of academic literature that describes AT provision in humanitarian settings paints a picture of small-scale provision, specialized to single types of impairments, and delivered by predominantly by NGOs. We also conducted a search of the gray literature, using the same inclusion criteria, in two countries: Afghanistan and South Sudan (case studies forthcoming). This gray literature provided supplementary evidence of the types of AT providers and AT provision available in those protracted crises. There are very few examples of how AT services can be scaled up (from a very low baseline) and maintained sustainably within a strengthened health system. The literature also describes more examples of provision of assistive products for mobility over assistive products for other impairments. If the paucity of literature on AT provision in humanitarian settings is a reflection of the scale of provision, this implies a deficiency in humanitarian response when it comes to providing people with AT needs with the essential products and services to which they have a right, and which will enable their access to basic, life-saving assistance. We conclude by providing recommendations for urgent actions that the AT and humanitarian community must take to fill this critical gap in the provision of essential products and services for a potentially marginalized and excluded group.


The profile of patients who are operated on for lung cancer is evolving. More and more ground glass opacities and early stage lung carcinomas are discovered, either because lung cancer screening programs are being set up or because patients or their physician ask more easily for a CT-scan than in the past. Until recently, many of these patients—when a non-small cell lung carcinoma (NCSLC) was suspected - underwent a lobectomy whatever the size and clinical stage of the tumor. Although the results of ongoing trials comparing survivals of lobectomy and sublobar resections (SLR) for early NSCLC are pending, most pulmonologists, oncologists and surgeons agree that many of these patients should rather have a SLR than a lobectomy.


Data mining and knowledge representation processes are explored for use in pre-processing data for an evaluation system. The RAN (Royal Australian Navy) Bridge Simulator provides the evaluation environment. Both performance grading and biological measures are analysed and processed to provide a basic level of knowledge representation. These knowledge fragments can then be passed to an evaluation system.


This guide provides information on Case Law Research, and identifies pertinent print and online resources available through the NYU Law Library


Following the previous sequel, we posit innovation activity management as managing process-based interactivity dependencies to achieve organizations' desired goals for novel competitive advantages in global supply pipelines, either by means of product or process development. In this paper, we propose a computational method to address the specific issue of modelling and managing a dynamic innovation process, and posit inter-organizational process dependency as a fundamental issue within the modelling organization's cooperation process. Adopting the perspectives of interdependency within an embedded network, we define innovation activities as networked process structure systems, and simulate and evaluate the dynamic performance of embedded process structures through an adaptive heuristic process. To illustrate the use of this method and its potential benefits, we apply it to real life case studies of inter-organization cooperation, concerning an innovative control and coordination system for globally dispersed textile firms. The validity of our methodology is partially justified by the results of several computational experiments. From an industry point of view, this framework aims to benefit those concerned with design and selection of organization cooperation and coordination systems that are characterized by a high degree of complexity and structural dynamics within today's proliferating organizational cooperation contexts.


Electrical resonators are widely used in quantum information processing, by engineering an electromagnetic interaction with qubits based on real or virtual exchange of microwave photons. This interaction relies on strong coupling between the qubits' transition dipole moments and the vacuum fluctuations of the resonator in the same manner as cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED), and has consequently come to be called 'circuit QED' (cQED). Great strides in the control of quantum information have already been made experimentally using this idea. However, the central role played by photon exchange induced by quantum fluctuations in cQED does result in some characteristic limitations. In this paper, we discuss an alternative method for coupling qubits electromagnetically via a resonator, in which no photons are exchanged, and where the resonator need not have strong quantum fluctuations. Instead, the interaction can be viewed in terms of classical, effective 'forces' exerted by the qubits on the resonator, and the resulting resonator dynamics used to produce qubit entanglement are purely classical in nature. We show how this type of interaction is similar to that encountered in the manipulation of atomic ion qubits, and we exploit this analogy to construct two-qubit entangling operations that are largely insensitive to thermal or other noise in the resonator, and to its quality factor. These operations are also extensible to larger numbers of qubits, allowing interactions to be selectively generated among any desired subset of those coupled to a single resonator. Our proposal is potentially applicable to a variety of physical qubit modalities, including superconducting and semiconducting solid-state qubits, trapped molecular ions, and possibly even electron spins in solids.


In this paper, we consider the problem of training operators to make identification judgments from multidimensional, possibly probabilistic, information sources. We used models of the environment and the operator to measure the causes of lack of fit of the operator to the environment. Linear regression was used to model the relationship between cues and identifications. Cues in the environment were regressed on the correct identification to obtain the environmental model. These same cues were regressed on the operators' identity judgments to obtain the operator models. Individual environmental models were necessary in order to properly represent the environment when operator decisions and timing shaped the environment dynamically. High agreement between environmental and operator models were linked to top performance on the task. Implications for training are discussed.


to admit that he would consider himself "guilty of a criminal. act" did he resort to hysterectomy without first giving it a trial. He also said that it was not a question of surgery, it was a question of humanity; and as his mortality was only .4 per cent., it appears to me that the mortality-rate had little to do with such a decided expression of opinion, but that it was prompted rather by the after-history of the successful cases. Perhaps Mr. Stanmore Bishop or some other operator would -furnish us with the exact condition of, say, 50 cases six months after removal of the uterus for fibroids. I have seen a great many such cases, and they were Qertainly not benefited by the operation. It has been asserted that if any time is wasted in " useless experiments " complications are likely to arise, and are likely injuriously to affect the success of Qhysterectomy at a later date. General statements are easily made, but what we require are specific instances where complications have arisen, or injurious effects of any sort in patients treated by the Apostoli method, or by medicinies as recommended by Dr. ;Shaw-Mackenzie, or where the treatment has proved to be inimical to operation performed at a subsequent date. During the past eleven years I have treated over 6o patients with uterine fibroids (and have seen Apostoli treat about I 50), -and fully go per cent. of those cases have been symptomatically cured, and in not one single instance has any untoward restult followed the use of the current. I can therefore characterise the statements made by Mr. Stanmore Bishop as only existing on the " baseless fabric of a vision." In conclusion. anyone interested in this form of treatment would do well to read Dr. Milne Murray's able article in the f,8s?tem of Gyn&-cology.-I am, etc., Liverpool, Jani. 12th. T. GERALD GARRY, M.D.


This paper examines the roles of research in teacher education across the four nations of the United Kingdom. Both devolution and on-going reviews of teacher education are facilitating a greater degree of cross-national divergence. England is becoming a distinct outlier, in which the locus for teacher education is moving increasingly away from Higher Education Institutions and towards an ever-growing number of school-based providers. While the idea of teaching as a research-based profession is increasingly evident in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, it seems that England, at least in respect of the political rhetoric, recent reforms and explicit definitions, is fixed on a contrastingly divergent trajectory towards the idea of teaching as a craft-based occupation, with a concomitant emphasis on a (re)turn to the practical. It is recommended that research is urgently needed to plot these divergences and to examine their consequences for teacher education, educational research and professionalism.


This chapter presents a review and synthesis of effects of education in agriculture, summarizes major contributions, and suggests major research gaps in the literature. Although growth in knowledge enables skill acquisition and specialization of labor, which generally raises labor productivity, and technical change, the dominant effect of agriculture has been technical change. A puzzle remains why schooling does not have broader direct impacts in agriculture. Furthermore, as we proxy education or general intellectual achievement by schooling in our empirical research, this has led to biased interpretations of impacts when general intellectual achievement of school graduates changes over time and perhaps in nonlinear ways.


Nowadays lidar has become a leading edge technology for photogrammetry and remote sensing. A new lidar with two detection wavelengths was presented in this paper. The two-wavelength lidar can obtain spatial information and spectral information, and intensity of backscatter signals in two-wavelength can be availably used for objects identification and observation. However, the backscatter signals are weak and strongly influenced by the noise. In order to acquire accurate intensity, the signal noise has to be removed. As a useful tool for signal processing, wavelet transform was chosen. In this study, the principle of two-wavelength lidar was introduced and possible noise in the backscatter signal was analysed. Then the signal progressing was executed on the basic of wavelet de-noising. First, singular values caused by varieties of noise source have to be rejected from the signal based on three standard deviations. Second, combination of modulus maxima method and threshold method is used to make further improvement on the signal. Finally, an evaluation of the noise reduction was given to testify the ability of the method. The results show that the effect of the method based on wavelet transform is better than other classical algorithms, and the method is suitable for signal noise reduction in two-wavelength lidar system.


Synopsis Thirty-two consecutively admitted females with bulimia nervosa (purging type) according to DSM-IV and additional impulsive behaviours (multi-impulsive bulimia (MIB)) and 32 age-matched female controls with DSM-IV bulimia nervosa (purging type) (uni-impulsive bulimia (UIB)) were assessed longitudinally on admission and at discharge following in-patient therapy and at a 2-year follow-up. Multi-impulsive bulimics were defined as presenting at least three of the six of the following impulsive behaviours in their life-time in addition to their bulimic symptoms at admission: (a) suicidal attempts, (b) severe autoaggression, (c) shop lifting (other than food), (d) alcohol abuse, (e) drug abuse, or (f) sexual promiscuity. Multi-impulsive bulimics were more frequently separated or divorced, had less schooling and held less-skilled jobs. Except for interoceptive awareness (EDI), which was more disturbed in multi-impulsive bulimics, there were no differences concerning scales measuring eating disturbances and related areas. Multi-impulsive bulimics showed more general psychopathology – anxiety, depression, anger and hostility, psychoticism – differed in several personality scales from uni-impulsive bulimics (e.g. increased excitability and anger/hostility) and had overall a less favourable course of illness. Multi-impulsive bulimics also received more in- and out-patient therapy previous to the index treatment and during the follow-up period. The data support the notion that 'multi-impulsive bulimia' or 'multi-impulsive disorder' should be classified as a distinct diagnostic group on axis I or that an 'Impulsive Personality Disorder' should be introduced on axis II. The development of more effective treatment for multi-impulsive bulimia is warranted.


To the Editor. —The article by Bharati and Lev1in the September 1984 Archives was obviously intended to emphasize "the relationship of the conduction system and sudden death." As a consequence, the thrust of the article detailing various types of cardiovascular disease leaves the reader with the impression that gross or microscopic anatomic alterations can almost always be demonstrated in cases of cardiac sudden death. Some discussion, however, should be devoted to the important role of stress and coronaryprone behavior in this phenomenon. Sudden death may also result from increased secretion of stress-related catecholamines. While preexisting cardiovascular disease may facilitate this, it is equally apparent, in many cases, that there is no such evidence from autopsy findings. Mechanisms whereby stress can cause sudden death in the absence of overt cardiac disease are most likely related to the induction of lethal arrhythmias. In addition, direct cardiac damage can also result


Application of thermoreversible gel can be a solution to the low residence
time of the topical dosage forms such as normal gel, ointment and cream on the skin surface. Addition
of another polymer and a nanocomposite can improve the poor mechanical strength and fast drug release
of poloxamer 407 (POL 407) gel. Therefore, it is essential to add xanthan gum (XG) and graphene
oxide (GO, thickness 1-2 nm, lateral dimension 1-5 µm) to POL 407 gel to enhance the mechanical
strength and to sustain the drug release from the gel.

Thermal gel of ondansetron hydrochloride (OSH) containing nanocomposite was prepared
by adopting cold method. Interaction between drug and polymers was studied using FTIR method,
morphological investigation was carried out by optical and scanning electron microscopy method, and
rheological study was performed employing rotational rheometer equipped with a cone/plate shear apparatus,
gelation temperature by glass bottle method and ex vivo permeation study was performed with
cylindrical glass diffusion cell. Skin irritation potential was measured using rat as a model animal.

The FTIR spectrum of the selected gel showed that there is shifting of O-H stretching vibration
of a hydroxyl group from 3408.72 to 3360.49 cm-1 and appearance of a new band at 1083.01 cm-1.
The spectrum of the selected gel also showed the absence of characteristic peaks of GO at 1625.49 cm-
1. This result indicated that there may be an interaction between OSH and GO and hydrogen bonding
between XG and POL 407. The gelation temperature was found to be decreased with the increase in
GO content from 14.1±1.21°C 13±0.97°C. SEM micrograph demonstrated the uniform dispersion and
intercalation of GO sheets in the gel. All the gel formulations showed a pseudo-plastic flow. Ex vivo
permeation study (for 24 hr) exhibited highest (6991.425 µg) and lowest (2133.262 µg) amount of
drug release, for OG1 and OG5, respectively. This is attributed to an increase in viscosity which led to
a decrease in drug permeation across the abdominal skin of rats. The OG1 formulation (without GO)
showed the highest flux of 76.66 µg/cm2/h, permeability coefficient (Kp) of 5.111× 10-3 cm/h and enhancement
ratio of 3.277 compared to OG5 containing highest amount (9% w/w) of GO. The selected
gel was found to be physically stable and there was minimum irritation score.

All the above results indicated that thermal gel containing nanocomposite sustained the
drug release and can be considered as an alternative to the orally administered tablet of OSH.


Literature as one of the works that involve the text as a medium in delivering form and meanings. It has a role that affects other works or readers' point of view. In the process of creating a work, an author is inseparable from his involvement with other texts which have existed before that surround them. It shows the influence of other texts that included into the result of literary text. Thus, there is no original text belongstoanauthor.Themethodusedinthisstudyisdescriptivequalitative.Thedata were analyzed by reading and identifying which determined through the relationship between the structures and the social problems of the story. The result indicates that intertextuality is established through the social conflict relationship. The stories give a portrait on how social situation and discrimination cultural conditions become a reflection of society in the era of globalization and information.


The investigations demonstrated clearly a unique function and role of endogenous formaldehyde (HCHO) and ozone (O3) in the antibiotic effect of diverse molecules having different chemical structure. Elimination of HCHO and/or O3 from the layer chromatographic spots resulted in a decrease in the antimicrobial activity. On the basis of detection and measure of endogenous HCHO and O3 BioArena enables to both direct isolation and biological evaluation of new bioactive compounds.


This paper reports on the influences of magnetic media remanent magnetizations on the output levels in digital magnetic tape and disk recording. While at low densities a high magnetization is required for a high output, a lower magnetization is required at high densities. However, for particular applications, an output near to the maximum can be obtained from a wide range of remanent magnetization values, which suggests possible uses for media with diverse properties.


Josephs recently reported interesting data on frontotemporal dementia and related disorders. In defining the different terminologies associated with progressive aphasias, the author used the term apraxia of speech, which is characterized by slow and impaired articulation, dysprosody, phonetic or phonemic errors, and frequent oral apraxia. We believe that, for this condition, it is preferable to use the term aphemia. This disturbance of speech is frequently associated with an orofacial apraxia that is not present in all reported patients and that cannot explain all of the symptoms. In fact, the frequent phonemic paraphasias and paragraphias cannot be interpreted as an apraxic disorder. Furthermore, writing errors were due to articulatory suppression as was demonstrated in healthy control subjects, thereby excluding a linguistic basis. Aphemia is a rare disorder of speech without a global intellectual deficit caused by a focal degeneration of the anterior frontal regions, mainly of the frontal operculum, included into cases of primary slowly progressive focal cognitive deficits. This clinical picture can have different outcomes with possible progression to a primary motor aphasia, frontotemporal dementia, or both. The aphasic, apraxic, or dysarthric nature of aphemia is debatable; however, the selective articulatory dysfunction of prevalent cortical origin appears most convincing. Nevertheless, it is probable that aphemia represents a syndrome that has to be better defined in its clinical, pathological, and genetic aspects.


Broadcast is an important communication operation required by many real-world applications encountered in parallel, cluster, and grid computing environments. Broadcasting on regular networks has been widely investigated in the past. However, most of the existing algorithms handle broadcast in a sequential manner and do not scale well; as a consequence, many applications cannot be efficiently supported using existing algorithms. In an effort to avoid this limitation, this article presents a new broadcast algorithm based on coded path routing. In addition to its simplicity, the proposed algorithm has shown to be capable of performing the broadcast operation in a fixed number of message-passing steps, irrespective of the network size. An extensive simulation study has been conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm under different traffic working conditions. The analysis reveals that the new algorithm exhibits superior performance characteristics over those of the well-known recursive-doubling and extended-dominating node algorithms.


Authors report on four patients with clinically typical multiple sclerosis with onset in childhood up to the tenth year of life. Though the onset of the disease in childhood is unusual, a pediatrician confronted with a child showing evidence of scattered neurologic deficits that remit should consider the possibility of multiple sclerosis. The disease does not appear to differ clinically from the disease as observed in adults, in respect to mode of onset, symptoms, and physical findings. Even in childhood the chronic non remitting course does occur.


Abstract We used experimental manipulations to test adaptive explanations for the courtship display of the male widow spider, Latrodectus pallidus O. Pickard-Cambridge 1872. Two hypotheses have been suggested to explain a long and complex male display: a) Cooperation of males and females in the effort to physically stimulate the female. As the time of male arrival is not predictable, females may delay sexual readiness until the appearance of a courting male. b) Conflict between males and females regarding the display cost. Females impose on the males an energetically costly display that may last several hours as a test of their quality. To test both hypotheses, we manipulated the previous experience of either the male or the female. We presented naive or experienced males (males that had courted and were accepted by females but were prevented from copulating) to females that were either naive or experienced (had been courted by a male but prevented from copulating). We also presented naive males to mated females. Following the stimulation hypothesis, courted females were presumed to have been stimulated to mate and thus were expected to accept non-courting males as mates. Both naive and mated females, however, were expected to await male stimulation before allowing copulation. In contrast, the conflict of interest hypothesis predicts that the female tests each male for quality indicators and therefore a non-courting male should not be accepted as a mate. Mated females, however, should apply a less stringent test to courting males. Our results show that 1) naive females prevented males that did not perform a full courtship display from entering the nest and mounting; 2) naive males courted virgin females with the full display, independent of the female previous courting history; and 3) naive males shortened their courtship when presented with mated females. The results are consistent with the conflict of interest hypothesis.


Brazing is one of the primary joining processes increasingly often applied in industry. Because of their mechanical properties, overlap joints are particularly popular when making brazed structures. The use of brazed joints in structures of critical importance requires that particular attention be paid to joint quality, e.g. by the appropriate cleaning of surfaces to be joined. The article presents results of non-destructive tests of brazed joints made in steel S235JRG2. Surfaces used in the tests were deliberately contaminated to simulate the presence of welding imperfections. Afterwards, the test specimens were subjected to non-destructive (visual and radiographic) tests aimed to determine the effect of surface impurities on the quality of brazed joints.


Sera were examined for the presence of antibody against E7 protein of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV‐16) by Western blot analysis using the bacterially derived unfused protein. The occurrence rates of anti‐E7 antibody against HPV‐16 were 14.1% (10/71) in cervical cancer patients, 0% (0/48) in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia patients, and 0% (0/41) in female non‐malignant patients. Three patients (one with endometrial cancer, one with breast cancer, and one male patient with colon polyp) out of 115 patients with tumors in organs other than the cervix, had antibody against E7 protein of HPV‐16. The serum antibody, once positive, could be detected for a long time after surgical removal of the cancers in all cases that could be followed up. HPV‐16 DNA could be detected in 50% (13/26) of cervical cancer patients. Sixty‐nine percent (9/13) of patients with HPV‐16 DNA in cancers had the antibody and all the patients with stages II, III, and IV cervical cancer (8/8) harboring HPV‐16 DNA showed the presence of the antibody against E7 protein of HPV‐16. In contrast, only 20% (1/5) of cervical cancer patients with stage Ia or Ib harboring HPV‐16 DNA showed positive for the anti‐E7 antibody in sera. These findings suggest that the presence of anti‐E7 antibody in serum depends on the staging of cervical cancer and extent of HPV infection.


Data visualisation has been recently named as one of the fast approaching future trends in Business Intelligence and Analytics, placing easy-to-use decision-making tools into the hands of decision makers at all organisational levels. There is a worldwide shortage of skilled professionals in this area and this trend is expected to worsen due to the rapid advancement of technology and wide proliferation of data (i.e. big data) into all aspects of our work and life. This paper describes an applied research project that aims to capture and analyse leading real life industry practices in using Visual Analytics (VA) and "translate" them into innovative learning activities. The main idea here is to enable business students to experience the types of problems that industry practitioners are dealing with and help them to develop skills to tackle these problems, using state of the art VA tools. The resulting learning activities are captured as high-level learning designs (using learning design theory) and stored in an online (open) repository of learning designs, made available to other educators to use and continue to learn from each other.


This paper addresses the challenge to provide realistic aircraft behaviours in air traffic control simulations. Many simulation environments lack actual information on aircraft, airline or airspace-specific operational procedures: they resort to generic procedures to navigate the simulated aircraft, which may result in unsatisfying aircraft behaviours. A methodology has been developed by EURO-CONTROL to improve the aircraft behaviour model in its large-scale and real-time air traffic management simulation system, by identifying specific aircraft operation parameters from historical radar data. The simulator has been adapted to take these aircraft operation parameters into account, and the methodology was applied and tested during the last two simulations which took place at the EUROCONTROL Experimental Centre in 2010. The results of using operationally-tuned parameters during those simulations demonstrate that the analysis of flight recordings can bring valuable information about numerous flight behaviour parameters, and that the use of detailed flight behaviour models based on the parameters identified from the recordings can improve the accuracy of aircraft modeling enough that air traffic controllers liken the simulated traffic to a real traffic.


Among 78 000 patients hospitalized over a period of 11 years there were 12 with agranulocytosis drug- or allergy-induced. It is often difficult to be certain of the aetiology, because drug combinations or several drugs simultaneously are often prescribed. A definite relationship could not be proven, although it seemed possible, between six cases of agranulocytosis and the intake of metamizole. Taking into account two deaths and four relatively mild cases assumed to be the result of metamizole treatment, this incidence is similar to that reported in the literature. Alternative drugs have not been proven to cause fewer side-effects. These results suggest that there is no reason at present to stop the use of metamizole.


Professor Raymond D. Adams (1911-2010) has been one of the most prominent figures in North American neurology in the XX century. He studied medicine at Duke University. He began training in psychiatry but decided to study nervous system pathology and neurology in Boston City Hospital during ten years. Then he became chairman of the neurology department in Massachusetts General Hospital for more than twenty five years. He was Neuropathology Emeritus Professor at Harvard University and has been recognized by other universities and scientific associations in United States and in other countries. His contribution to North American Neurology consolidation has been crucial. He described various syndromes and contributed to the development of other fields in neuroscience. He wrote and published many scientific articles and since 1977 with his colleague Maurice Victor the books "Principles of Neurology" a classic in the field, being traduced to many languages. He has been the chairman of a Department where many important neurologists from different parts of the world where trained and brighten neurology worldwide.


The non-stationarity characteristic of the solar power renders traditional point forecasting methods to be less useful due to large prediction errors. This results in increased uncertainties in the grid operation, thereby negatively affecting the reliability and increased cost of operation. This research paper proposes a unified architecture for multi-time-horizon predictions for short and long-term solar forecasting using Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN). The paper describes an end-to-end pipeline to implement the architecture along with methods to test and validate the performance of the prediction model. The results demonstrate that the proposed method based on the unified architecture is effective for multi-horizon solar forecasting and achieves a lower root-mean-squared prediction error compared to the previous best performing methods which use one model for each time-horizon. The proposed method enables multi-horizon forecasts with real-time inputs, which have a high potential for practical applications in the evolving smart grid.


Many attempts were made in the past to investigate numerically the metal-hydrogen interactions at macro-scale but the actual microstructure was generally not introduced into the analyses. The objective of this work is to simulate, on an artificial polycrystal, the effect of the microstructure-induced stress-strain field heterogeneity on the internal hydrogen evolution. Finite element method is used to take into account explicitly the grain morphologies and their crystalline orientations into the description of the mechanical deformation. A one-way coupled crystal plasticity-transient hydrogen diffusion analysis is developed and applied to solve the boundary value problem. The analysis of the computed hydrogen content field shows that a segregation of hydrogen is observed mainly at the grain boundaries. It is also shown that grain size has a significant effect not only on the amount of hydrogen segregated at the grain boundaries but also on the relative size of concentration gradients.


We present a phenomenological model of imbalanced MHD turbulence in an incompressible magnetofluid. The steady state cascades, of waves traveling in opposite directions along the mean magnetic field, carry unequal energy fluxes to small length scales, where they decay as a result of viscous and resistive dissipation. The inertial range scalings are well understood when both cascades are weak. We study the case in which both cascades are, in a sense, strong. The inertial range of this imbalanced cascade has the following properties: (1) The ratio of the rms Elsässer amplitudes is independent of scale and is equal to the ratio of the corresponding energy fluxes. (2) In common with the balanced strong cascade, the energy spectra of both Elsässer waves are of the anisotropic Kolmogorov form, with their parallel correlation lengths equal to each other on all scales, and proportional to the two-thirds power of the transverse correlation length. (3) The equality of cascade time and wave period (critical balance) that characterizes the strong balanced cascade does not apply to the Elsässer field with the larger amplitude. Instead, the more general criterion that always applies to both Elsässer fields is that the cascade time is equal to the correlation time of the straining imposed by oppositely directed waves. (4) In the limit of equal energy fluxes, the turbulence corresponds to the balanced strong cascade. Our results are particularly relevant for turbulence in the solar wind. Spacecraft measurements have established that in the inertial range of solar wind turbulence, waves traveling away from the Sun have higher amplitudes than those traveling toward it. Result 1 allows us to infer the turbulent flux ratios from the amplitude ratios, thus providing insight into the origin of the turbulence.


We report the identification of quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting carcass composition, carcass length, fat deposition and lean meat content using a genome scan across 462 animals from a combined intercross and backcross between Hampshire and Landrace pigs. Data were analysed using multiple linear regression fitting additive and dominance effects. This model was compared with a model including a parent-of-origin effect to spot evidence of imprinting. Several precisely defined muscle phenotypes were measured in order to dissect body composition in more detail. Three significant QTL were detected in the study at the 1% genome-wide level, and twelve significant QTL were detected at the 5% genome-wide level. These QTL comprise loci affecting fat deposition and lean meat content on SSC1, 4, 9, 10, 13 and 16, a locus on SSC2 affecting the ratio between weight of meat and bone in back and weight of meat and bone in ham and two loci affecting carcass length on SSC12 and 17. The well-defined phenotypes in this study enabled us to detect QTL for sizes of individual muscles and to obtain information of relevance for the description of the complexity underlying other carcass traits.


Receptors responsive to the removal of carbon dioxide from ventilatory gas were demonstrated in the lungs of the chicken. Apnea was induced in 0.64 second after rapid lowering of respired carbon dioxide in the absence of blood flow through the lungs. Afferent impulses from the receptors are conducted centrally in the vagi.


Intensity modulated particle therapy (IMPT) with carbon ions can generate highly conformal treatment plans; however, IMPT is limited in robustness against range and positioning uncertainty. This is particularly true for moving targets, even though all motion states of a 4DCT are considered in 4D-IMPT. Here, we expand 4D-IMPT to include robust non-linear RBE-weighted optimization to explore its potential in improving plan robustness and sparing critical organs. In this study, robust 4D-optimization—based on worst-case optimization on 9 scenarios—was compared to conventional 4D-optimization with PTV margins using 4D dose calculation and robustness analysis for 21 uncertainty scenarios. Slice-by-slice rescanning was used for motion mitigation. Both 4D-optimization strategies were tested on a cohort of 8 multi-lesion lung cancer patients with the goal of prioritizing OAR sparing in a hypofractionated treatment plan. Planning objectives were to keep the OAR volume doses below corresponding limits while simultaneously achieve CTV coverage with D95% ≥ 95 %. For the conventional plans, average D95% was at 98.7% which fulfilled the target objective in 83.2% of scenarios. For the robust plans, average D95% was reduced to 97.6% which still fulfilled the target objective in 80.7% of cases, but led to significantly improved overall OAR sparing: Volume doses were below the limits in 96.2% of cases for the conventional and 99.5% for the robust plans. When considering the particularly critical smaller airways only, fulfillment rates could be increased from 76.2% to 96% for the robust plans. This study has shown that plan robustness of 4D-IMPT could be improved by using robust 4D-optimization, offering greater control over uncertainties in the actual delivered dose. In some cases, this required sacrificing target coverage for the benefit of better OAR sparing.


High quality DNA is essential for many molecular biology techniques. However, the reagents used for that purpose usually are expensive and/or cause a high environmental impact. Here, we describe two alternative protocols that use inexpensive reagents and are not hazardous to the environment. The first protocol utilizes the enzyme chymosin, normally used as "rennet" in cheese production and which is easily obtained on the commercial market. The second protocol uses "rennet DNA extraction protocol" combined with the DNA binding capacity of glass powder (glass milk), which can easily be "home made". The first protocol is used when a high yield of DNA is needed, whereas the second protocol is used for production of a higher quality DNA, being able to work with sparse samples.


Male C57BL/6J mice were given i.v. injections of 7 mg (about 4 mu Ci) of N'-[pyrrolidine-2-14C] nitrosonornicotine per kg and frozen by immersion in dry ice:hexane at 0.1, 0.33, 1, 3, 9, and 24 hr after injection. The mice were processed for whole-body autoradiography without allowing thawing or the use of any solvents; sagittal sections of the frozen mice were freeze dried and placed on X-ray film to reveal areas of localization of radioactivity. At 6 min after administration, radioactivity was highest in liver, kidney, parotid gland, nasal epithelium, melanin, and contents of lower stomach; there was very little radioactivity at this time interval in bronchial epithelium. At later time intervals, there was increasing radioactivity in bronchial and nasal epithelium and sublingual and submandibular duct epithelium. By 24 hr after administration, virtually the only radioactivity remaining in the entire body was in the epithelium of the nasal cavity, bronchi, esophagus, and salivary glands and also in melanin, liver, proximal tubules of the kidney, and preputial gland. The autoradiographs are interpreted to reveal that most of the radioactivity is eliminated by renal and hepatic secretion and that metabolites are retained only at sites of carcinogenic action. The specificity of accumulation in nasal, bronchial, esophageal, and salivary duct epithelium may be due to receptor-directed interactions and suggests that other compounds might block this accumulation.


Two field studies were conducted in 2004 and 2005 to evaluate the response of glyphosate-resistant 'TV52R42' and 'TV52R14' soybean to glyphosate at 0, 458, 916, 1,375, 1,833, or 2,749 g ae/ha applied at the R4 reproductive growth stage and at R4 followed by the same rates at R6. A single glyphosate application at the R4 stage did not injure soybean or cause reductions in soybean height, nodes per plant, branch pods, main stem pods, or yield, regardless of application rate. Likewise, sequential applications of glyphosate at the R4 followed by R6 growth stages resulted in no adverse effects on growth parameters or yield. Preliminary findings indicate excellent tolerance to glyphosate application at reproductive growth stages beyond the currently labeled R2 growth stage restriction in varieties evaluated. Research findings warrant evaluation of an expanded range of germplasm under a variety of environmental conditions and potential effects on seed quality for establishment of tolerance levels and potential herbicide label amendments. Nomenclature: Glyphosate, soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr. 'TV52R42' and 'TV52R14'


Mechanical properties of the adult pulmonary vasculature are affected by perinatal experience of hypoxic pulmonary hypertension. In the present study, we followed the long-term effects of perinatal pulmonary hypertension induced by means other than hypoxia in rats. Daily injections of indomethacin (1 mg.kg-1 body weight (BW)) were given to the parturient rats. Their newborn pups had significantly increased number of muscularized peripheral pulmonary vessels. Pulmonary hypertension, however, did not persist to adulthood (mean pulmonary arterial pressure (Ppa) was 17.2 +/- 1.3 torr in the experimental group and 16.4 +/- 0.8 torr in controls). Pulmonary hypertension induced in adult rats by exposure to chronic hypoxia or by acute hypoxic challenges was similar in indomethacin-treated and control rats. Normoxic perfusion pressure/flow (P/Q) plots in isolated lungs were less steep in indomethacin-treated than in control rats. Acute hypoxia increased the slope of P/Q plots in indomethacin treated rats but not in controls. The described changes in the pulmonary vasculature induced by indomethacin are similar to those found previously in adult rats born in hypoxia. We conclude that perinatal pulmonary hypertension permanently modifies the pulmonary vasculature.


Summary

Recent studies to evaluate the quality of transit service are generating a good amount of renewed interest in an old idea, the passenger's perspective; this new interest stems from recognizing that transit service quality should be characterised, measured, and managed by parameters capturing both passenger and transit operator perspectives. However, although the selected parameters are user-oriented in their input, the output may not be as user-oriented as considered, and the number or the percentage of passengers is often neglected. As a result, the findings are often misleading because the perspectives of transit operators dominate. Therefore, academics and practitioners must rethink their strategies of quality analysis of public transportation by stressing more on the role of passengers. These challenges are addressed in this paper with a practical, simple, and holistic framework, for Transit Quality (TRANSQUAL). This framework provides for the involvement of all stakeholders in the characterisation, measurement, and management of the stages of quality monitoring, which is jointly analyzed at different planning levels. In the characterization stage, the framework supports the selection of parameters to be monitored. The measurement stage sets and measures four quality areas in terms of percentage of passengers who expect a predefined level of service, for whom the service is designed, who receive the planned service, and who perceive the service as delivered. The management stage computes the differences between these percentages, points out criticalities, and recommends corrective actions. These stages are investigated in-depth, integrated, and discussed in a real-life case study. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Macrofungi are considered as a group of high-value forest resources worldwide. In this paper, we report species richness and composition of macrofungi in three different forest patches (Schima-Castanopsis, Pinus and Alnus forest) of mid-hill, central Nepal, which were managed under Boshan Community Forest. A Systematic random sampling was applied where 20 rectangular plots of size 10 m x 10 m were laid at 1500 m to 1600 m elevation in each forest type. Species richness and composition of macrofungi were accessed in each forest type. Schima-Castanopsis forest was the richest in terms of macrofungal diversity (70 species), followed by Alnus forest (64) and Pinus forest (56). Polyporaceae was the largest family, followed by Amanitaceae. Agaricales (Rusulla and Amanita) were dominant in Schima-wallichi and Alnus forests, whereas Boletales were dominant in Pine forest. Macrofungal species richness increased with increasing canopy, soil moisture and soil pH. The species richness, however, had weak relationships with litter cover and disturbance. Based on the present study it can be concluded that the study area is rich in macrofungal diversity. Moist soil followed by litter and decaying wood assist the higher diversity of macrofungi. Species diversity is higher in moist and dense canopy forests (like, Schima-Castanopsis and alder) than in open and dry pine forest. Soil moisture, soil pH and tree canopy cover are the most important variables affecting macrofungal diversity. Botanica Orientalis – Journal of Plant Science (2017) 11: 43–48


In the traditional precision machining, it is easy to introduce positioning error because of the separation of the machining and the measurement. In order to solve this problem, an online measurement technique for aspheric grinding has been put forward. It measured the workpiece with sensor which was fixed to the high-precision machine tool. It processed data with the algorithm of Two-dimensional weighted average filtering and curve fitting based on Gauss-Newton and Levenberg-Marquardt least-square method. The experimental results indicated that the fitting residual error was less than 3×10-6 mm. In the grinding process, the measurement error was of the order of the magnitude of 10-3 mm. It can be concluded that the technique measures the surface exactly, and improves the machining accuracy effectively by providing accurate data for compensation.


Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) remain one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality
worldwide. Current dietary guidelines advocate for a restriction of high intakes of saturated
fatty acids (SFA), an important risk factor for the development of CVD due to their
association with increased low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). Dairy foods are
major contributors of total SFA intake. The literature review explored aspects of dairy
consumption on CVD risk, highlighting current evidence which suggests a beneficial effect of
certain dairy products. A reduction of dietary SFA is also dependent on a suitable replacement
macronutrient. Supplementation of the dairy cow diet with plant oils/seeds provides an
alternative strategy to partially replacing SFA in milk fat with monounsaturated fatty acids
(MUFA). Few interventions studies have extensively investigated the impact of fatty acid
(FA) modified dairy products on traditional and novel CVD risk markers. The RESET
intervention study aimed to address this knowledge gap in both a chronic and acute-withinchronic
setting in adults at moderate CVD risk. A food-exchange model (38% total energy
(%TE) from fat) was implemented and adherence assessed from 4 day weighed food diaries
and phospholipid FA (PL-FA) analysis. Consumption of the FA-modified diet for 12 weeks
(dietary target: 16%TE SFA; 14%TE MUFA) led to a significant attenuation in fasted LDL-C
concentrations from baseline values and compared to matched control products (19%TE SFA;
11%TE MUFA). At the beginning and end of each dietary intervention, the postprandial
investigation was performed using sequential test meals representative of the assigned dairy
diet. Following the FA-modified diet and test meals, a decrease in the postprandial iAUC
summary response for apolipoprotein B (apoB) was observed, suggestive of an effect on
triacylglyceride-rich lipoproteins (TRL). Changes in postprandial summary responses of
plasma total lipid FA reflected the intake of the test meals. Additionally, the FA-modified diet
appeared to modestly impact on both fasted concentrations and postprandial responses of
nitrite, which may be indicative of an effect on endothelial function. Little to no impact was
observed for other outcome measures. The impact of APOE genotype, retrospectively
assessed, fasted and postprandial outcome measures following the two dairy diets, was
explored. Significant pre-intervention fasted baseline differences in high-density lipoprotein
cholesterol (HDL-C), small and medium HDL particle distribution and non-esterified fatty
acids (NEFA) between E4 carriers and E3/E3, were observed. There was no interaction
between genotype and treatment on any of the outcome measures. In summary, consumption
of FA-modified dairy products appear to beneficially impact on certain markers of CVD risk, compared to matched control products. However, further research should address the impact
of other types of FA-modified dairy products in both healthy and at risk populations.


: Benign intracranial hypertension (BICH) is characterized by elevated spinal fluid pressure in the absence of space-occupying lesion in the skull, dilated cerebral ventricles, significant neurological disorders, and altered spinal fluid composition. Forty-nine patients with a female predominance were examined. Their age ranged from 4 to 52 years (median 39 years). The most common predictors of BICH were overweight, endocrine disorders, and cerebral sinus thrombosis. Ophthalmoscopically, the patients were found to have early, moderate, and significant papilledema, and secondary optic atrophy. Examination of visual functions revealed these or those disturbances of visual acuity and/or field of vision in 43 of the 49 patients. The incidence and degree of visual disturbances depended on the stage of papilledema. Timely diagnosis and treatment in patients with BICH allows the development of visual disturbances to be prevented in them.


To date, no consistent oncogenic driver mutations have been identified in most adult soft tissue sarcomas; these tumors are thus generally insensitive to existing targeted therapies. Here we investigated alternate mechanisms underlying sarcomagenesis to identify potential therapeutic interventions. Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS) is an aggressive tumor frequently found in skeletal muscle where deregulation of the Hippo pathway and aberrant stabilization of its transcriptional effector yes-associated protein 1 (YAP1) increases proliferation and tumorigenesis. However, the downstream mechanisms driving this deregulation are incompletely understood. Using autochthonous mouse models and whole genome analyses, we found that YAP1 was constitutively active in some sarcomas due to epigenetic silencing of its inhibitor angiomotin (AMOT). Epigenetic modulators vorinostat and JQ1 restored AMOT expression and wild-type Hippo pathway signaling, which induced a muscle differentiation program and inhibited sarcomagenesis. YAP1 promoted sarcomagenesis by inhibiting expression of ubiquitin-specific peptidase 31 (USP31), a newly identified upstream negative regulator of NFκB signaling. Combined treatment with epigenetic modulators effectively restored USP31 expression, resulting in decreased NFκB activity. Our findings highlight a key underlying molecular mechanism in UPS and demonstrate the potential impact of an epigenetic approach to sarcoma treatment.Significance: A new link between Hippo pathway signaling, NFκB, and epigenetic reprogramming is highlighted and has the potential for therapeutic intervention in soft tissue sarcomas. Cancer Res; 78(10); 2705-20. ©2018 AACR.


Abstract
Title: The delivery of health and safety training in the construction industry using
virtual classes
Background
This research took place within the context of an EU Minerva funded project. The
project's aim was to create an e-learning framework that combined multiple
intelligence theory with open source software to deliver health and safety training for
the construction industry. The project involved partners from Cyprus, the UK,
Turkey, France and Ireland. This study reports on the activities carried out at
Waterford Institute of Technology as part of the project.
Purpose
The research concerned the delivery of the class content through the e-learning
framework developed through the Minerva Project to construction industry related
students. The content was delivered through two phases of virtual classes and
evaluated using an action research methodology. The evaluation results allowed for
the identification of key lessons learned from the use of Multiple Intelligence (MI)
theory in an e-learning framework.
Methodology
The theory of MI proposes that people learn using a number of intelligences and that
the most effective learning environment is one that can target an individual's dominant
intelligence areas. An online MI profiling tool was used to determine the dominant
intelligence areas of a group of construction managers and the results were used to
design a number of virtual classes. The virtual classes were subsequently delivered in
two phases to construction students using an action research methodology. The
evaluation process, completed after each phase, measured the levels of interaction and
students satisfaction with the use of technology, the learning community, the class
content and the role of the instructor.
Findings
The investigation found that the instructor played a key role in balancing the social,
technical and educational focus of a virtual class. The evaluation process identified
the role of the instructor, the level of class interactions and the stability of technology
as the key aspects to the e-learning framework. The investigation produced guidelines
on using MI theory within an e-learning framework. The guidelines involve
presenting class content in a number of ways to allow multiple perspectives on a
topic, creating a learning community through online interactions and finally allowing
students to express what they have learned through personalised learning outputs.


To detect moving objects from a video sequence is a fundamental and critical task in many computer vision applications. For China high-speed railway transport hub video surveillance system, we need a stable, fast and accurate moving object detection method to promptly find the congestion of passenger flow and other dangerous in hub. Through the comparative study on moving object detection, we find the average/median filtering is the most appropriate method for China high-speed railway transport hub video surveillance.


Bisphenol A is widely used in food contact materials and other products and is detected in human urine and blood. Bisphenol A may affect reproductive and neurological development; however, opinion of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on bisphenol A (EFSA J, 13, 2015 and 3978) concluded that none of the available studies were robust enough to provide a point of departure for setting a tolerable daily intake for bisphenol A. In the present study, pregnant Wistar rats (n = 17–21) were gavaged from gestation day 7 to pup day 22 with bisphenol A doses of 0, 25 μg, 250 μg, 5 mg or 50 mg/kg bw/day. In the offspring, growth, sexual maturation, weights and histopathology of reproductive organs, oestrus cyclicity and sperm counts were assessed. Neurobehavioural development was investigated using a behavioural testing battery including tests for motor activity, sweet preference, anxiety and spatial learning. Decreased sperm count was found at the lowest bisphenol A dose, that is 25 μg/kg/day, but not at the higher doses. Reproductive organ weight and histology were not affected and no behavioural effects were seen in male offspring. In the female offspring, exposure to 25 μg/kg bw/day bisphenol A dose resulted in increased body weight late in life and altered spatial learning in a Morris water maze, indicating masculinization of the brain. Decreased intake of sweetened water was seen in females from the highest bisphenol A dose group, also a possible sign of masculinization. The other investigated endpoints were not significantly affected. In conclusion, the present study using a robust experimental study design, has shown that developmental exposure to 25 μg/kg bw/day bisphenol A can cause adverse effects on fertility (decreased sperm count), neurodevelopment (masculinization of spatial learning in females) and lead to increased female body weight late in life. These results suggest that the new EFSA temporary tolerable daily intake of 4 μg/kg bw/day is not sufficiently protective with regard to endocrine disrupting effects of bisphenol A in humans.


Essential biodiversity variables (EBVs) have been proposed by the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON) to identify a minimum set of essential measurements that are required for studying, monitoring and reporting biodiversity and ecosystem change. Despite the initial conceptualisation, however, the practical implementation of EBVs remains challenging. There is much discussion about the concept and implementation of EBVs: which variables are meaningful; which data are needed and available; at which spatial, temporal and topical scales can EBVs be calculated; and how sensitive are EBVs to variations in underlying data? To advance scientific progress in implementing EBVs we propose that both scientists and research infrastructure operators need to cooperate globally to serve and process the essential large datasets for calculating EBVs. We introduce GLOBIS-B (GLOBal Infrastructures for Supporting Biodiversity research), a global cooperation funded by the Horizon 2020 research and innovation framework programme of the European Commission. The main aim of GLOBIS-B is to bring together biodiversity scientists, global research infrastructure operators and legal interoperability experts to identify the research needs and infrastructure services underpinning the concept of EBVs. The project will facilitate the multi-lateral cooperation of biodiversity research infrastructures worldwide and identify the required primary data, analysis tools, methodologies and legal and technical bottlenecks to develop an agenda for research and infrastructure development to compute EBVs. This requires development of standards, protocols and workflows that are 'self-documenting' and openly shared to allow the discovery and analysis of data across large spatial extents and different temporal resolutions. The interoperability of existing biodiversity research infrastructures will be crucial for integrating the necessary biodiversity data to calculate EBVs, and to advance our ability to assess progress towards the Aichi targets for 2020 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).


BACKGROUND
Chronic illness management is increasingly carried out at home by individuals and their informal caregivers (dyads). Although synergistic in concept, the nuances of dyadic congruence in caring for patients with heart failure are largely unexamined.

AIMS
The purpose of this study was to examine the role of dyadic-type congruence on patient self-care (maintenance, symptom perception, and management) while controlling for actor and partner effects.

METHODS
This secondary data analysis of 277 dyads consisted of a series of multilevel models to examine the impact of dyadic congruence on a patient's self-care maintenance, symptom perception, and self-care management. Patient-level and caregiver-level data were input into each model simultaneously to account differential appraisals of factors related to the dyad.

RESULTS
Bivariate analyses yielded dyad congruence which was associated with better patient self-care maintenance, symptom perception and management. However, after multilevel models were constructed, dyad congruence was found to be a significant predictor of patient's symptom perception scores, but not self-care maintenance or management scores. Caregiver's satisfaction with the dyad was differentially and significantly associated with self-care - it was inversely associated with patient self-care maintenance and positively associated with patient self-care management.

CONCLUSION
This is the first study, to our knowledge, reporting that congruence in heart failure dyads is associated with better patient symptom perception and this advances our prior hypothesis that dyad typologies could be used to predict patient self-care performance. Since symptom perception is the key to preventing heart failure exacerbation, screening heart failure patient and caregiver dyads for congruence is important in clinical settings.


Background: The contradictory evidence of greater life expectancy among Indonesian female while our 2007 National Health Report, Riskesdas 2007 showed that female leads male almost in all morbidity needs explanation. Differences in health and illness patterns of men and women are attributable both to sex, or biology, and to gender, that is social factors such as powerlessness, access to resources, and constrained roles. Methods: The paper use gender perspective to analyse phenomena from the Riskesdas 2007 report. Two gender related hypotheses, one with risk factors exposure approach developed by Lois Verbrugge, and the other on female sub-ordination developed by Amartya Sen were applied to explain the health phenomena between female and male health as shown in the Riskesdas 2007 report. Results: Equal nutritional status between under-five female and male and equal access to health service in the Riskesdas 2007 report provides evidence of no gender inequality in Indonesia. Indonesian males are indeed more exposed to death relate drisk behavior, especially smoking and accidents, while Indonesian female engaged in more pro healthy behavior. But higher female morbidity and mortality related to diaorrhea demands more study exploration. Conclusion: Health status in Riskesdas 2007 shows no gender inequality in Indonesia. Higher exposure to death related risk behavior lead to higher mortality in Indonesia male, which reflects in the lower life expectancy in Indonesian male. Recommendation: Indonesian males should be more engaged in pro healthy behavior to increase their life expectancy and health promotion should be targeted to reduce death related risk behavior.


Tacrolimus is a main drug for induction and maintenance immunosuppression for patients with kidney transplants in many centers. One of important side effect of drug is post-transplant diabetes mellitus. Of course, diabetes ketoacidosis (DKA) is rare. In this report, a 12-yearold girl with DKA was presented after 45 days of kidney transplantation.


The main goals of the work are to define consistent patterns of impacts exercised by vibration of the vehicle in emergency braking on the vehicle's movement mode and on the braking distance and to analyze the formation of oscillation. Besides, it is aimed to extend expert's opportunities for modeling vehicle movement for investigation of accidents' circumstances related to vehicle braking with the aid of the developed models. A mathematical model of impact exercised by bumper's characteristics on the vehicle's braking process has been designed, enabling the determination of coefficients of longitudinal relative forces of the vehicle's front and rear axles, which depend on the road's pavement and its condition. The obtained research results extend the vehicle vibration theory in transitional movement modes, which are used in the design and improvement of vehicle suspensions, as well as in traffic accident's investigation and improvement of methodology of their expertise calculations.


Abstract Appropriate irrigation and nitrogen fertilization, along with suitable crop management strategies, are essential prerequisites for optimum yields in agricultural systems. This research attempts to provide a scientific basis for sustainable agricultural production management for the North China Plain and other semi-arid regions. Based on a series of 72 treatments over 2003-2008, an optimized water and nitrogen scheme for winter wheat/summer maize cropping system was developed. Integrated systems incorporating 120 mm of water with 80 kg N ha-1 N fertilizer were used to simulate winter wheat yields in Hebei and 120 mm of water with 120 kg N ha-1 were used to simulate winter wheat yields in Shandong and Henan provinces in 2000-2007. Similarly, integrated treatments of 40 kg N ha-1 N fertilizer were used to simulate summer maize yields in Hebei, and 80 kg N ha-1 was used to simulate summer maize yields in Shandong and Henan provinces in 2000-2007. Under the optimized scheme, 341.74 107 mm ha-1 of water and 575.79 104 Mg of urea fertilizer could be saved per year under the wheat/maize rotation system. Despite slight drops in the yields of wheat and maize in some areas, water and fertilizer saving has tremendous long-term eco-environmental benefits.


A series of 2,3,5-substituted thiophene-based metal-free dyes with two anchoring groups, D–π–(A)2 (DA), were synthesized for application in DSSCs. Different arylamines and 2-cyanoacrylic acid were used as the electron donor and the electron acceptor, respectively. The DSSC based on DA5 has the best power conversion efficiency (7.28%) among all devices, which is 2 times higher than that of S1 with only one anchoring group. With addition of a co-adsorbent, CDCA, the device performance of all the DA-based DSSCs are improved by 1.03 to 2-fold, with the best efficiency (7.87%) reaching 95% of that of the N719-based standard cell (8.28%). Compared with the S1 congener with only one anchor, the DA dyes can more effectively suppress charge recombination and increase electron injection efficiency, leading to higher open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current.


Adenoviruses (AdVs) are being developed for oncolytic or vaccination therapy against existing and emerging conditions. Well-characterized replication-competent human and human primate AdVs expressing multiple payloads are desirable, but their replication in rodent models is limited. To score the timing of adenoviral gene expression in cell cultures, we developed fully replication-competent transcriptional reporter viruses for HAdV-C5, -B3 and -B35. The picornavirus-derived 2A sequence, which induces cotranslational peptide splitting and reinitiation (skipping), was linked to GFP and the fused sequence was inserted C-terminal of the early gene E1A, the intermediate early gene protein IX and the late fiber gene. The 2A peptide induced ribosomal skipping during translation of the mRNA and gave rise to GFP from the corresponding viral promoters, as shown by immunoblotting and flow cytometry analyses of human and rodent cells. In human cells, both species B and C AdV exhibited highest reporter expression for fiber, followed by protein IX and lowest for E1A. Inoculation with either HAdV-C5 or -B3/35 viruses encoding protein IX- or fiber-GFP gave rise to higher GFP levels in hamster than mouse cells. Remarkably, despite rather low 2A ribosomal skipping efficiency of ∼50% for E1A-2A-GFP, protein IX-2A-GFP and fiber-2A-GFP, unprocessed protein IX-2A-GFP and fiber-2A-GFP fusion proteins were efficiently incorporated into HAdV-B3 virions, respectively. These data indicate that the B3 C-termini of protein IX and fiber can be considered for retargeting engineered oncolytic or vaccination vectors, or for antigen display. The variable expression levels of transgenes from different subviral promoters may be used to improve oncolytic AdV vectors expressing therapeutic genes.