Forest structure comprises numerous quantifiable biometric components and characteristics, which include tree geometry and stand architecture. These structural components are important in the understanding of the past and future trajectories of these biomes. Tropical forests are often considered the most structurally complex and yet least understood of forested ecosystems. New technologies have provided novel avenues for quantifying biometric properties of forested ecosystems, one of which is LIght Detection And Ranging (lidar). This sensor can be deployed on satellite, aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, and terrestrial platforms. In this study we examined the efficacy of a terrestrial lidar scanner (TLS) system in a tropical forest to estimate forest structure. Our study was conducted in January 2012 at La Selva, Costa Rica at twenty locations in a predominantly undisturbed forest. At these locations we collected field measured biometric attributes using a variable plot design. We also collected TLS data from the center of each plot. Using this data we developed relative vegetation profiles (RVPs) and calculated a series of parameters including entropy, Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), number of layers and plant area index to develop statistical relationships with field data. We developed statistical models using a series of multiple linear regressions, all of which converged on significant relationships with the strongest relationship being for mean crown depth (r2 = 0.88, p < 0.001, RMSE = 1.04 m). Tree density was found to have the poorest significant relationship (r2 = 0.50, p < 0.01, RMSE = 153.28 n ha-1). We found a significant relationship between basal area and lidar metrics (r2 = 0.75, p < 0.001, RMSE = 3.76 number ha-1). Parameters selected in our models varied, thus indicating the potential relevance of multiple features in canopy profiles and geometry that are related to field-measured structure. Models for biomass estimation included structural canopy variables in addition to height metrics. Our work indicates that vegetation profiles from TLS data can provide useful information on forest structure.


As overall population ages, elderly drivers have become a larger percentage of the driving population. With this trend, a lot of vehicle systems have been improved for elderly's safety and convenience using different advanced technologies. However, elderly drivers have often paid more money than other drivers in a car-repair shop due to their lack of knowledge about vehicle systems with modern technologies. Given this fact, developing a tool to diminish this disadvantage and to help elderly drivers maintain their cars with confidence and with minimal cost is necessary. Therefore, this research work mainly focuses on suggesting a system concept on user-interface application, which is connected to a smart phone or a tablet to provide beneficial services anywhere. For the research outcome, diverse research activities – surveys, interviews with small focus groups, observations of the focus groups, and discussions – has been conducted to understand the elderly driver's difficulties and behaviours regarding vehicle maintenance, to investigate what specific problems make them uncomfortable in repair shops, and to demonstrate how new system-concepts could be developed for the elderly. Furthermore, we conclude that adequate system-concepts for the elderly would offer elderly drivers convenient vehicle repair and maintenance and provide them a confident driving experience.


Perhaps the most recognizable sensory map in all of neuroscience is the somatosensory homunculus. Though it seems straightforward, this simple representation belies the complex link between an activation in somatosensory Area 3b and the associated touch location on the body. Any isolated activation is spatially ambiguous without a neural decoder that can read its position within the entire map, though how this is computed by neural networks is unknown. We propose that somatosensory cortex implements multilateration, a common computation used by surveying and GPS systems to localize objects. Specifically, to decode touch location on the body, the somatosensory system estimates the relative distance between the afferent input and the body's joints. We show that a simple feedforward neural network which captures the receptive field properties of somatosensory cortex implements a Bayes-optimal multilateral decoder via a combination of bell-shaped (Area 3b) and sigmoidal (Areas 1/2) tuning curves. Simulations demonstrated that this decoder produced a unique pattern of localization variability between two joints that was not produced by other known neural decoders. Finally, we identify this neural signature of multilateration in actual psychophysical experiments, suggesting that it is a candidate computational mechanism underlying tactile localization.


This article addresses the potential of virtual worlds as a platform for creative team collaboration. The proliferation of geographically distributed teams, striving towards innovative results, calls for ICT that support team creativity. Three-dimensional virtual worlds represent such an emergent and rapidly developing collaboration tool. A systematic literature review was conducted to reveal the affordances of virtual worlds contributing towards team creativity. The results of the literature review reveal eight proposed affordances relevant for virtual worlds to foster team level creativity. Avatars (1) allow the team members to express themselves and their insights and point out information to others. Changing the users' frame of reference (2) embraces the virtual world's potential as a context for creative action. Perceived feeling of co-presence (3) within the team members, and user's own experience of immersion (4), contributes towards engaging creative team collaboration. Multimodality (5) and rich visual information (6) facilitate communication between team members. Finally, virtual worlds allow teams to modify the collaboration environment to simulate a new kind of reality (7), and offer a selection of supporting tools (8) that can be utilized in the creative collaboration. Departures for further research efforts and insights for practitioners engaged in virtual world collaboration are presented.


TRPV4 is a nonselective cation channel that belongs to the vanilloid (V) subfamily of transient receptor potential (TRP) ion channels. While TRP channels have been found to be involved in sensing temperature, light, pressure, and chemical stimuli, TPRV4 is believed to be primarily a mechanosensor although it can also respond to warm temperatures, acidic pH, and several chemical compounds. In zebrafish, the expression of trpv4 has been studied during embryonic development, whereas its pattern of TPRV4 expression during the adult life has not been thoroughly analyzed. In this study, the occurrence of TRPV4 was addressed in the zebrafish sensory organs at the mRNA (RT‐PCR) and protein (Westernblot) levels. Once the occurrence of TRPV4 was demonstrated, the TRPV4 positive cells were identified by using immunohistochemistry. TPRV4 was detected in mantle and sensory cells of neuromasts, in a subpopulation of hair sensory cells in the macula and in the cristae ampullaris of the inner ear, in sensory cells in the taste buds, in crypt neurons and ciliated sensory neurons of the olfactory epithelium, and in cells of the retina. These results demonstrate the presence of TRPV4 in all sensory organs of adult zebrafish and are consistent with the multiple physiological functions suspected for TRPV4 in mammals (mechanosensation, hearing, and temperature sensing), but furthermore suggest potential roles in olfaction and vision in zebrafish. Microsc. Res. Tech., 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


A birefringent structure consisting of a mass of filaments, 100 to 125 angstroms in diameter, appears at certain times during the spreading of a BHK-21 cell in culture. It is involved in the formation of the birefringent streak found in fully spread cells. The structure may be in part responsible for various aspects of cell motility.


Mandatory water restrictions continue to be the immediate response to urban water shortages in most major cities in southern Australia. Whilst generally rejected by economists on efficiency grounds, restrictions and the enforcement regimes used to invoke them are, nonetheless, viewed by some in the community as a positive way of dealing with water scarcity. Given the likelihood that urban water restrictions will persist for some time, there is value in understanding householders' attitudes in this context. The impact and acceptability of differing approaches to enforcement is of particular interest, because this has wider ramifications for the administration of policy generally. This paper uses the results from a choice experiment to investigate the interplay between different components of a water restriction regime. In stark contrast to prevailing views that focus on the community benefits from 'sharing the pain of water shortages', results point to the significance of being able to inform on ones neighbours as a component of the enforcement regimes.


Presentation made at Latinos in Missouri (2nd : 2007 : Kansas City, Mo.) and published in the annual conference proceedings.


We have studied the impact of multiply charged solar wind O and Fe ions on the surfaces of Mercury, the Moon and on a Ceres-size asteroid using a quasi-neutral hybrid model. The simulations showed that heavy O and Fe ions impact on the surface of Mercury non-homogenously, the highest flux being near the magnetic cusps—much as in the case of impacting solar wind protons. However, in contrast to protons, the analyzed heavy ions do not create high ion impact flux regions near the open–closed magnetic field line boundary. Dawn–dusk asymmetry and the total ion impact flux were each found to increase with respect to the increasing mass per charge ratio for ions, suggesting that the Hermean magnetic field acts as a mass spectrometer for solar wind ions. The Moon, in contrast, does not have a global intrinsic magnetic field and, therefore, solar wind ions can freely impact on its surface when this body is in the solar wind. The same is true for a, non-magnetized, Ceres-size asteroid. The impact of multiply charged ions on a solid surface results in a large variety of physical processes, of often intimately inter-related atomic reactions, e.g. electron exchange between solid and approaching projectile, inelastic scattering of projectile, electronic excitation in the projectile and/or the solid, ejection of electrons, photons, neutral and iodized surface particles, and eventual slowing down and stopping of the projectile in the solid. The electron transfer process between impacting heavy ions and surface constituents can result in soft X-ray (Eo1 keV) and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photon emissions. These processes will eventually damage the target surface. Analysis of the hybrid Mercury model (HYB-Mercury) suggests that, at this planet the damaging processes result in non-homogenous ageing of the surface that is controlled by the intrinsic magnetic field of the planet and by the direction of the interplanetary magnetic field. In the corresponding Lunar model (HYB-Moon) and in the non-magnetized asteroid model (HYB-Ceres), surface ageing is demonstrated to take place on that side of the body that faces toward the flow of the solar wind. r 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


Abstract Stable isotopic values were measured on micrite, sparry calcite, dolomite, inarticulated brachiopods, and conodonts from the Lange Ranch section (central Texas) of the Lower Ordovician Tanyard Formation. The section spans the upper Cordylodus angulatus Zone through the lower Rossodus manitouensis Zone. An ∼2‰ negative δ13C shift from >0‰ to <−1.5‰VPDB through the section suggests the lower third of the Rossodus manitouensis Zone was sampled. Consistent with previous studies, the δ18O values of carbonates are low, ranging from −3.3‰ to −8.1‰VPDB. Phosphate δ18O values range from 15.4‰ to 17.1‰VSMOW. Paleotemperature estimates calculated from micrite δ18O values assuming an ice-free seawater δ18O value of −1‰VSMOW indicate Early Ordovician tropical seawater temperatures averaged 42°C, whereas δ18O values of co-occurring biogenic phosphate assuming the same seawater value yield paleotemperature estimates averaging 37°C. The phosphate values are interpreted as less affected by diagenesis than carbonate values and suggest Early Ordovician tropical paleotemperatures were not more than 10°C warmer or the oxygen isotopic composition of Early Ordovician hydrosphere was not more than 2‰ lower than present.


EDrrOR,--The attention of the media was concenrated recently on the problems faced by patients who had received blood and blood products collected by the German company UB Plasma.' According to reports in the lay press, UB Plasma is undergoing criminal investigations with regard to having distributed blood collected from paid donors who had been inappropriately selected and whose blood had been inadequately tested, if at all, for HIV. A similar scandal seems to be brewing in Italy, with suggestions that the Mafia has been involved in the sale of blood.23 The media interest kept the National Blood Transfusion Service busy on 5 November, when we received calls from numerous radio stations and television channels. In addition, worried patients and donors jammed our switchboard and contacted clinicians in hospitals for reassurance. The scare was heightened because a commercial firm that had obtained plasma for fractionation from UB Plasma was forced to recall two products legitimately imported to Britain-namely, normal immunoglobulin for intramuscular injection and albumin. The recall was totally unrelated to the German scandal: it was due to a failure of good manufacturing practice rather than a fear of transmission of virus. The irony is that Britain did not need to import albumin and normal immunoglobulin because there are plentiful stocks of these products prepared in Britain from plasma collected from unpaid voluntary donors, all tested by the blood transfusion service. The committee of ministers of the Council of Europe considers that self sufficiency in blood products is one of the basic conditions for minimising the hazard of transmission of infectious diseases by blood transfusion.4 The committee has stated clearly that, until self sufficiency is achieved, health authorities may decide to authorise the importation of blood products. For ethical and security reasons it recommends that blood products are imported from countries where the legislation and practice governing the protection of donors and recipients meet the criteria laid down by the council. Therefore health authorities should, in particular, ascertain the origin of blood and plasma that have been used in the preparation of products. Hence the Council of Europe advocates the use of blood products manufactured from donations from unpaid, altruistic blood donors, whose lower rates of infection with agents transmitted by transfusion compared with rates in paid donors is copiously attested to.'6 Unpaid donors have nothing to gain from donating their blood; they are therefore less likely then paid donors to conceal higher risk social or sexual behaviour that would lead to their exclusion as donors. Modern methods of viral inactivation for plasma products are good but not necessarily perfect, and several cases of transmission of virus by products treated with currently available methods have been reported.7Viral inactivation substantially reduces the viral load, but if the load is high in the original plasma pool the risk of the end product being infectious will also be increased. Obviously, the risk is greatly reduced when only volunteer unpaid donors are used. Isn't it about time that doctors and pharmacists started demanding to know the origin of the plasma used to manufacture the blood products they use rather than trying to make Priority will be given to letters that are less than 400 words long and are typed with double spacing. All authors should sign the letter. Please enclose a stamped addressed envelope for acknowledgment.


Lok Baintan Floating Market is the tourism destination in South Kalimantan. Trading activity in Lok Baintan become the tourism attraction, which traders in the Floating Market are women using the small boat ( jukung ). The objective of research is to analyze the role of women in Lok Baintan Floating Market. The study uses fieldwork and qualitative approach. Research data is obtained through interviews with traders in the Floating Market. The research shows that women have the important role in floating market. The role of women is to prepare the merchandise the day before selling until then they sell in the floating market in next day. Merchandise is sold by women in the floating market such as agricultural products, fishery products, handicrafts, traditional cuisine, and traditional cakes. Women get both agricultural product and fishery product from their own land or from other traders. Women make their own craft and then sold in the floating market. Women make both traditional dishes and traditional cake and then sold in the floating market. The presence of women in Lok Baintan has improved the local socio-economics of community. In the perspective of tourism development in floating market, there is still need women community empowerment. Keywords : floating market, tourism destination, women role.


This paper deals with calculated effective doses that members of real population received from radon gas and its short lived progeny during air inhalation in their dwellings at field site Kalna in Eastern Serbia. There are two crucial parameters in effective dose calculation: Dose Conversion Factor (DCF) for particular subjects (including real gender, age and physical activity level) and indoor concentration of
radon and its short lived progeny in field area. According to the results of indoor radon measurements in the area of former uranium mine, Kalna, the effective dose for this real population was estimated by using the dosimetric lung model, developed by authors according ICRP Publication 66 [1]. Authentic software was developed for determination of effective dose per unit inhaled activity of radon progeny, DCF expressed in unit [mSv/WLM]. The results, obtained according to ICRP66 dosimeter lung model [1], were compared with results calculated according to ICRP Publication 65 [2]. The dosimetric results were, also, compared and discussed with epidemiological approach data, according to UNSCEAR [3].


The structural aspects as well as the classification of the ABC superfamily (the largest group of transmembrane proteins) has been highlighted. Over-expression of one or more of these transporters, barring exceptions, can correlate with an increased drug resistance (the multidrug resistance phenotype). Hence, studying these proteins, using experimental and in silico approaches, has tremendous benefit for patient selection as well as stratification into "good" and "poor" drug responders. Further, the need to obtain a better insight into "intrinsic" and "extrinsic" mechanisms of resistance were reiterated upon, based on the relative recruitment of the different signal transduction molecules. The concept of the reversal of the MDR phenotype, has been discussed and extended in the context of combination therapy. This form of therapy involves the use of a cocktail of synthetic and biopharmaceutical drugs as well as nanotechnology-based approaches, for improvements in their pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) profile. Such strategies have targeted the heterogeneous cancer and cancer stem cells, signaling molecules, marker enzymes as well as the microenvironment for improved efficacy and safety as well as to minimize the chance of relapse


This study consisted of 1) molecular deletion analyses in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) using the entire cDNA for the DMD gene as hybridization probes, 2) RFLP analyses in a large number of Japanese normal women using 11 DMD-linked cloned DNAs as probes, and 3) segregation analyses with these RFLP data in 17 DMD families in which prenatal or carrier diagnosis was required. The deletion study showed that 18 (43%) of 42 male DMD patients had a deletion within the DMD gene, while no detectable deletion was found in 3 BMD patients. These deletions were preferentially observed at the 5' end of the DMD gene, while no deletion was found in the 3' portion of the gene. Of a total of 15 RFLPs detected with the 11 probes, one was a new RFLP (probe/enzyme: P20/MspI). In 6 RFLPs, the allele frequencies in the Japanese were statistically different from those in the Caucasian. Based on the RFLP data combined with the result of the deletion study, an estimated diagnostic rate for prenatal diagnosis and/or carrier detection in the Japanese DMD families was 63%. The real diagnostic rate obtained from the prenatal and carrier diagnoses, which were practically performed in 17 families, corresponded to the estimation. A protocol useful for the diagnosis in Japanese DMD families is presented.


As human beings, the exercise of our professional roles demands that we relate to others. Relationships, however, challenge the self in a way that requires us to act with integrity. Different approaches to integrity configure diverse ways of cognitively and intuitively feeling and acting in our relationships. Moreover, different ways of understanding human development are related to different ways of understanding integrity in the self. While not an exhaustive account, we sketch out three models of human development that capture much of this diversity, the so-called autonomous self (AS), processual self (PS) and inter-processual self (IPS). Each has a particular way of understanding how self-integrity and congruent action come to be.
The AS and PS models understand integrity as internal coherence thanks primarily to rational exercise, with priority given to the content of action, while relations are utilised as resources. AS and PS focus on cognition through rational or emotional and external mastery of our relationships and own integrity (self-integrity is also handled as a cognitive exercise that mirrors how external relations are understood). The IPS understands integrity as the dynamic that leads to growth and cognition itself is a relational act that, when it arises from within, affects all dimensions of the person and hence how we ethically relate to others and ourselves. Different kinds of integrity are also related to practical wisdom. Based on this, we explore consequences of these different ways of understanding self-integration and relationships for approaching management and leadership roles, aiming to open up reflection on relational integrity and personal development via education in the field of management/leadership.


The continued desire for more graduates in science, technology, engineering, and mathematical (STEM) fields has resulted in a number of educators proclaiming video games as the next step in motivating students towards these careers. While the popularity of games with children lead many to believe that games may be the key to driving girls toward STEM careers, the negativity surrounding the "girl gamer" stereotype may actually continue to drive females away. The present study investigates the effect of stereotype threat on female video game players and how this effect impacts the perception of gender and overall appeal towards both gaming and STEM fields of study. A 2 (gender of opponent: male or female) x 2 (article type: stereotype threat or non-threatening) experiment found that game-related stereotype threat caused participants to rate STEM careers as more suitable for males but actually did show an increase in the appeal of certain STEM careers such as Computer Science. These results suggest a connection between perceptions of gender in video games and STEM which must be understood and addressed in regards to motivating more females toward STEM careers. GIRLS GETTING PLAYED 3


The goal of this study is to test an alternative method for determining turbulent H2O and CO2 fluxes, which has a faster statistical convergence than the classical eddy-covariance method. This enables determining turbulent fluxes during strongly non-stationary conditions, e.g. in the intermittent stable boundary layer or rapidly changing cloud-cover. In our new method, we suggest a hybrid set-up that combines a point-sensor for scalar H2O and CO2 with a dual-beam laser scintillometer (DBLS). We used a LiCor7500 open-path fast-response H2O/CO2 sensor. The H2O/CO2 sensor forms the basis for estimating the turbulent exchange scale for H2O and CO2. The DBLS yields the friction velocity and stability. The data presented were gathered in May-June 2009 over a wheat field near Merken, Germany in the framework of the TransRegio32 program. With the DBLS installed in homogeneous areas, turbulence is averaged both in time and space, allowing short averaging flux intervals down to a couple of seconds. When determining the averaging-time-dependent systematic and random errors in the H2O and CO2 fluxes, we found that eddy-covariance is not apt to measure 1-minute averaged fluxes, whereas our new method is. Even for 1-minute averaging intervals, our new method does not have an averaging-time-dependent systematic error and the corresponding random error is only halve that of the eddy-covariance method. Thus, we demonstrate that our new method reproduces reliable estimates of H2O and CO2 fluxes for 1-minute averaging intervals and show that not only individual plants, but also at field scales wheat responds rapidly to changes in solar radiation.


Particle systems are physical systems of simple computational particles that can bond to neighboring particles and use these bonds to move from one spot to another (non-occupied) spot. These particle systems are supposed to be able to self-organize in order to adapt to a desired shape without any central control. Self-organizing particle systems hav e many interesting applications like coating objects for monitoring and repair purposes and the formation of nano-scale devices for surgery and molecular-scale electronic struct ures. While there has been quite a lot of systems work in this area, especially in the context of modular self-reconfigura ble robotic systems, only very little theoretical work has b een done in this area so far. We attempt to bridge this gap by proposing a model inspired by the behavior of ameba that allows rigorous algorithmic research on self-organizing particle systems.


InAlN has been studied by means of temperature-dependent time-integrated photoluminescence and time-resolved photoluminescence. The variation of PL peak energy did not follow the behavior predicted by Varshni formula, and a faster redshift with increasing temperature was observed. We used a model that took account of the thermal activation and thermal transfer of localized excitons to describe and explain the observed behavior. A good fitting to the experiment result is obtained. We believe the anomalous temperature dependence of PL peak energy shift can be attributed to the temperature-dependent redistribution of localized excitons induced by thermal activation and thermal transfer in the strongly localized states. V-shaped defects are thought to be a major factor causing the strong localized states in our In0.153Al0.847N sample.


Experience with a nationwide screening programme for congenital hypothyroidism in New Zealand is reported. Using radio-immune assays for thyroxine (T4) on all newborns, and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) determinations on samples with T4 levels below the 5th percentile, 160 899 babies were screened and 33 cases of primary hypothyroidism were detected (incidence 1: 4875). Screening resulted in treatment beginning within the first three weeks of life.


We derive the quantum dynamics of heavy quark systems in quark-gluon plasma as open quantum systems. The scatterings of a heavy quark with the hard medium particles give rise to Debye screened QCD force and drag force and its fluctuation. We present a unified quantum description of these in-medium QCD forces at high temperature in the leading-order perturbation on the basis of the influence functional formalism.


Purpose To determine the effects of optically imposed astigmatism on early eye growth in chicks. Methods 5-day-old (P5) White Leghorn chicks were randomly assigned to either wear, monocularly, a "high magnitude" (H: +4.00DS/-8.00DC) crossed-cylindrical lens oriented at one of four axes (45, 90, 135, and 180; n = 20 in each group), or were left untreated (controls; n = 8). Two additional groups wore a "low magnitude" (L: +2.00DS/−4.00DC) cylindrical lens orientated at either axis 90 or 180 (n = 20 and n = 18, respectively). Refractions were measured at P5 and after 7 days of treatment for all chicks (P12), whereas videokeratography and ex-vivo eyeshape analysis were performed at P12 for a subset of chicks in each group (n = 8). Results Compared to controls, chicks in the treatment groups developed significant amounts of refractive astigmatism (controls: 0.03±0.22DC; treatment groups: 1.34±0.22DC to 5.51±0.26DC, one-way ANOVAs, p≤0.05) with axes compensatory to those imposed by the cylindrical lenses. H cylindrical lenses induced more refractive astigmatism than L lenses (H90 vs. L90: 5.51±0.26D vs. 4.10±0.16D; H180 vs. L180: 2.84±0.44D vs. 1.34±0.22D, unpaired two-sample t-tests, both p≤0.01); and imposing with-the-rule (H90 and L90) and against-the-rule astigmatisms (H180 and L180) resulted in, respectively, steeper and flatter corneal shape. Both corneal and internal astigmatisms were moderately to strongly correlated with refractive astigmatisms (Pearson's r: +0.61 to +0.94, all p≤0.001). In addition, the characteristics of astigmatism were significantly correlated with multiple eyeshape parameters at the posterior segments (Pearson's r: -0.27 to +0.45, all p≤0.05). Conclusions Chicks showed compensatory ocular changes in response to the astigmatic magnitudes imposed in this study. The correlations of changes in refractive, corneal, and posterior eyeshape indicate the involvement of anterior and posterior ocular segments during the development of astigmatism.


Genes associated with regulation of membrane-type matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MT1-MMP)-mediated pro-MMP-2 processing were screened in 293T cells by a newly developed expression cloning method. One of the gene products, which promoted processing of pro-MMP-2 by MT1-MMP was claudin-5, a major component of endothelial tight junctions. Expression of claudin-5 not only replaced TIMP-2 in pro-MMP-2 activation by MT1-MMP but also promoted activation of pro-MMP-2 mediated by all MT-MMPs and MT1-MMP mutants lacking the transmembrane domain (ΔMT1-MMP). A carboxyl-terminal deletion mutant of pro-MMP-2 (proΔMMP-2) was processed to an intermediate form by MT1-MMP in 293T cells and was further converted to an activated form by introduction of claudin-5. In contrast to the stimulatory effect of TIMP-2 on pro-MMP-2 activation by MT1-MMP, activation of pro-MMP-2 by ΔMT1-MMP in the presence of claudin-5 and proΔMMP-2 processing by MT1-MMP were both inversely repressed by expression of exogenous TIMP-2. These results suggest that TIMP-2 is not involved in cluadin-5-induced pro-MMP-2 activation by MT-MMPs. Stimulation of MT-MMP-mediated pro-MMP-2 activation was also observed with other claudin family members, claudin-1, claudin-2, and claudin-3. Amino acid substitutions or deletions in ectodomain of claudin-1 abolished stimulatory effect. Direct interaction of claudin-1 with MT1-MMP and MMP-2 was demonstrated by immunoprecipitation analysis. MT1-MMP was co-localized with claudin-1 not only at cell-cell borders, but also at other parts of the cells. TIMP-2 enhanced cell surface localization of MMP-2 mediated by MT1-MMP, and claudin-1 also stimulated it. These results suggest that claudin recruits all MT-MMPs and pro-MMP-2 on the cell surface to achieve elevated focal concentrations and, consequently, enhances activation of pro-MMP-2.


Laser peen forming is an emerging novel process of metal plate bending, which uses laser-induced shock wave pressure to generate an unbalanced residual stress field in the target, the moment of the residual stress causes metal plate to develop plastic bending deformation. The mechanism of laser shock induced residual stress was introduced firstly, then the deforming process of metal plate induced by residual stresses was discussed and the depth of the residual compressive stress was proposed. Effects of processing parameters on the residual stress distribution and plate bending deformation were numerical analyzed. The results indicated that the bending deformation of sheet was relative to laser peening numbers, peening coverage and thickness of plate, the magnitude and distribution of residual stresses could be precisely controlled by adjusting laser processing parameters.


A year after the Eisenhower Administration came into office, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles announced that the United States intended to protect its allies and indirectly project military power through, as Dulles called it, the "deterrent of massive military power." Dulles's speech to Council of Foreign Relations on 12 January 1954 is seen as the dawn of the era of what became known as "massive retaliation," which sought to apply America's nuclear arsenal as a political and military instrument to serve the nation's strategic interests around the globe. Importantly, however, it wasn't just that Dulles gave the speech proclaiming the new era. President Eisenhower directed that the newly created United States Air Force receive a larger share of the Defense Department's budget to operationalise the new strategy. Leaders like Air Force General Curtis LeMay had been preparing for such a day for his entire career. He set about building up the Strategic Air Command to implement the new strategy with plans, programmes, policies, training, manpower, and procurement. LeMay and his colleagues did not need an engraved invitation from their political masters on what to do once Eisenhower's directive landed on their desks.


Higher levels of fluoride (F–) in groundwater constitute a severe problem that affects more than 200 million people spread over 25 countries. It is essential not only to detect but also to accurately quantify aqueous F– to ensure safety. The need of the hour is to develop smart water quality testing systems that would be effective in location-based real-time water quality data collection, devoid of professional expertise for handling. We report a cheap, handheld, portable mobile device for colorimetric detection and rapid estimation of F– in water by the application of the synthesized core–shell nanoparticles (near-cubic ceria@zirconia nanocages) and a chemoresponsive dye (xylenol orange). The nanomaterial has been characterized thoroughly, and the mechanism of sensing has been studied in detail. The sensor system is highly selective toward F– and shows unprecedented sensitivity in the range of 0.1–5 ppm of F–, in field water samples, which is the transition regime, where remedial measures may be needed. It addresses multiple issues expressed by indicator-based metal complexes used to determine F– previously. Consistency in the performance of the sensing material has been tested with synthetic F– standards, water samples from F– affected regions, and dental care products like toothpastes and mouthwash using a smartphone attachment and by the naked eye. The sensor performs better than what was reported by prior works on aqueous F– sensing.


In pedestrian safety research, the definition of an injury criterion for the knee joint should provide information for future regulation procedures. Also, do the existing injury criteria (based on knee lateral shearing levels and flexion levels for sub-segment testing) remain efficient for full scale tests? Is the impact location on the leg influencing injury mechanisms and injury criteria assumptions? Lastly, what are the potential consequences of these differences to the pelvis component during the first phase of impact? The LLMS lower limb model coupled to a hybrid 3 was used to investigate these questions. This work was based on pedestrian full scale experiments performed in the laboratory and a sensitivity analysis regarding various impact positions. The results obtained for this car geometry showed that injury mechanisms (i. e. the proportion of shearing and lateral flexion) for the knee joint and the pelvis are directly related to the impact position. Lastly they lead to improve existing injury criteria by adding combination of two injury modes. For the covering abstract see ITRD E141569.


Resistance in waterhemp to herbicides that inhibit protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO) previously was shown to result from the deletion of a glycine codon at position 210 (&Dgr;G210) in the PPO-encoding gene, PPX2. Research was conducted to determine if this same mechanism accounted for resistance in geographically separated populations—from Illinois, Kansas, and Missouri—and, if so, to determine if the mutation conferring resistance was independently selected. A dose–response study with lactofen indicated that the resistant populations had different levels of resistance. These differences, however, could be accounted for by different frequencies of resistant individuals within populations and, therefore, the dose–response data were consistent with the hypothesis that the populations contained the same resistance mechanism. Direct evidence in support of this hypothesis was provided by DNA sequencing, which showed that nearly all resistant plants evaluated contained the &Dgr;G210 mutation. A variable region of the PPX2 gene was sequenced and resulting sequences were aligned and organized into a phylogenetic tree. The phylogenetic tree did not reveal clear clustering by either geography or phenotype (resistant vs. sensitive). Possibly recombination within the PPX2 gene has masked its evolutionary history. Nomenclature: Common waterhemp, Amaranthus tuberculatus (Moq.) Sauer var. rudis (Sauer) Costea and Tardif AMATU.


The last few decades, a great deal of attention has been paid to low-voltage (LV) low-power (LP) integrated circuits design since the power consumption has become a critical issue. Among many techniques used for the design of LV LP analog circuits, the Bulk-driven principle offers a promising route towards this design for many aspects mainly the simplicity and using the conventional MOS technology to implement these designs. This paper is devoted to the Bulk-driven (BD) principle and utilizing this principle to design LV LP building block of Operational Transconductance Amplifier (OTA) in standard CMOS processes and supply voltage 0.9V. The simulation results have been carried out by the Spice simulator using the 130nm CMOS technology from TSMC.


Gastric localization of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLDs) is very rare. In this study, we aimed to accumulate existing data in the current literature to reveal the clinical, histopathological and prognostic specificities associated with gastric PTLDs and to find the best treatment strategies in this patient population. A comprehensive search was conducted for the available data in the current literature using Pubmed and Google scholar search engines for reports on gastric PTLD in renal transplant recipients. Data of different studies were standardized and entered into a database and analyzed. No statistically significant difference was found between gastric and non-gastric PTLD. Gastric PTLD was relatively more prevalent in female patients (P = 0.08) and showed a trend toward better outcome (P = 0.1) and less metastasis (P = 0.07). Surgical intervention and rituximab therapy were associated with a more favorable outcome (17% mortality). Our study showed that organ transplant recipients having gastric PTLD develop metastasis less frequently and tend to have a relatively more favorable outcome. Prospective studies with larger patient populations are needed to confirm or modify our results.


Background: The ketogenic diet (KD) is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet that limits glucose and results in the production of ketones by the liver and their uptake as an alternative energy source by the brain. KD is an evidence-based treatment for intractable epilepsy. KD is also self-administered, with limited evidence of efficacy, for conditions including weight loss, cognitive and memory enhancement, type II diabetes, cancer, neurological and psychiatric disorders. A commonly discussed side effect of KD in media and online forums is "keto flu," a cluster of transient symptoms generally reported as occurring within the first few weeks of KD. This study aimed to characterize the pattern of symptoms, severity and time course of keto flu as related by users of online forums. Method: Online forums referring to "keto flu," "keto-induction," or "keto-adaptation" in the URL were identified in Google. Passages describing personal experiences of keto flu were categorized manually with reference to pattern of symptoms, severity, time course, and remedies proposed. Results: The search criteria identified 75 online forums, 43 met inclusion criteria and contained 448 posts from 300 unique users. Seventy-three made more than one post (mean 3.12, range 2–11). Descriptors of personal experience of keto flu, reported by 101 of 300 users, included 256 symptom descriptions involving 54 discrete symptoms. Commonest symptoms were "flu," headache, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, "brain fog," gastrointestinal discomfort, decreased energy, feeling faint and heartbeat alterations. Symptom reports peaked in the first and dwindled after 4 weeks. Resolution of keto flu symptoms was reported by eight users between days 3 and 30 (median 4.5, IQR 3–15). Severity of symptoms, reported by 60 users in 40 forums, was categorized as mild (N = 15), moderate (N = 23), or severe (N = 22). Eighteen remedies were proposed by 121 individual users in 225 posts. Conclusions: Typically, individual posts provided fragmentary descriptions related to the flow of forum conversations. A composite picture emerged across 101 posts describing personally experienced symptoms. User conversations were generally supportive, sharing remedies for keto flu reflecting assumptions of physiological effects of KD.


The present paper aims to provide a brief survey of two kinds of morphological change shown by the diachronic development of the Central-Southern Italo-Romance verbal system. On the one hand, a series of systematic homophonies between inflected forms arises for reasons not related to sound changes: such syncretisms typically involve tense(-aspect)/mood values and affect paradigm cells with low usage frequency (especially 1st and 2nd person plural cells). On the other hand, a second series of events conspires to enhance formal dissimilarities related to distinctions of person, thus reducing the amount of person syncretism instances created by final vowel reduction. The observed phenomena seem to corroborate the idea that paradigm cells with low usage frequency are more prone to synchronic syncretism, but also show that in a particular system different tendencies with respect to syncretism-tolerance or avoidance can be associated with different paradigm dimensions. KEYWORDS: morphological change, Central-Southern Italo-Romance, verbal paradigms, homophony, syncretism


Bi-based glass pastes were prepared in the mixed organic solvents (α-terpineol and texanol) with different kinds and concentrations of organic dispersant such as fish oil , phosphate ester and poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA). The rheological stability of glass pastes was characterized by using a rheometer and adsorption behavior of organic additives for the glass powders was carried out by using a thermal gravimetric analyzer (TGA).The Bi-based glass pastes exhibited the most stable rheological behavior at an addition of phosphate ester of 0.5 in mass %, due to the steric repulsive force acting on the surface of glass powers with adsorbing the organic additives. This study allowed significant delay of the sedimentation time and suppressed generation of micropores during practical forming process by a screen printing method.


This fixation at the intersection of flight and design is the premise for the workshop. The history of the kite is deeply rooted in design, architecture and as the author's discuss in this paper, may also enable a rich discussion of deeper and perhaps a more intuitive mode of contemporary site investigation.  With a long legacy tied to both recreation and utility, the kite has been used for communication, scientific study, and as a landscape-scale measurement tool, yet it is the profound benefit of near-instant-flight and design realization - the act of ascending quickly and gracefully from the ground, on nothing but the wind - provided the foundation and inspiration for this short design workshop.


Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were used to analyze genetic stability of the somatic embryogenesis-derived regenerants (R1-6) and mother plant in Iranian date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) cultivar Khanizi. Total genomic DNA extracted from in vitro fresh leaves of regenerated plants and mother plant was amplified using 10-mer oligonucleotide Fermantas primers. Four primers of the set A to J primers were selected which revealed polymorphism and gave reproducible results. The genetic similarity between the mother plant and the callus-derived plantlets was ranged between 94% (for R1, R2) and 83% (for R5). Cluster analysis by the unweighted paired group method of arithmetic mean (UPGMA) showed a single large cluster at an estimated similarity coefficient (90.2%).


This volume brings together six case studies of an adult multilingual speaker who acquires a new language through social interaction. The book deals especially with the multilingual situation, the learner's acquisitional activities, and the involvement of her background languages in the process of speaking. It offers a coherent study of various linguistic phenomena in one individual, including patterns and functions of language switching, word search in interaction, hypothetical construction of words, and articulatory settings in speaking. The main languages involved are English (L1), German (L2) and Swedish (L3). The activation of these languages in the learner's speech is examined in a cognitive perspective in relation to current models of the speaking process. A longitudinal corpus of NNS–NS conversations covering 21 months from the beginner stage provides the main data for these studies.


During the last Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA), Beijing - China August 2009, in collaboration with World Health Organization an international group for developing a "toolkit for MSD prevention" was founded. Possible users of toolkits are: members of a health and safety committee; health and safety representatives; line supervisors; foremen; workers; government representatives; health workers implementing basic occupational health services; occupational health and safety specialists. According with ISO standard 11228 series and their ISO Application document for the Key enters and Quick Assessment (green/red conditions), our group developed a first mapping methodology of occupational hazards in handicraft, working with the support of the information technology (Excel). This methodology, utilizing specific key enters and quick evaluation, allows a simple risk estimation. So it is possible to decide for which occupational hazards will be necessary an exhaustive assessment and to which professional consultant it is better to direct them to (worker's doctor, engineer, chemical, etc.).


In this paper, a novel autotransformer with a reduced kilovolt-ampere rating is presented for harmonic current reduction in twelve-pulse ac-dc converter-fed vector-controlled induction motor drives (VCIMDs). Different transformer arrangements for 12-pulse-based rectification are also studied and a novel harmonic mitigator capable of suppressing fifth, seventh, and 11th (most dominant harmonics) in the supply current is presented. The design procedure for the proposed autotransformer is presented to show the flexibility in the design for making it a cost-effective replacement suitable for retrofit applications, where presently a six-pulse diode bridge rectifier is being used. The effect of load variation on VCIMD is also studied to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed harmonic mitigator. A set of power-quality indices on input ac mains and on a dc bus for a VCIMD fed from different 12-pulse ac-dc converters is given to compare their performance.


In current society, the deployment of distributed applications necessitates the development of trustable human recognition mechanisms that could be executed through open networks. If the recognition mechanism to be used is based on biometrics, then the biometric solution shall be developed as a network-based service. Additionally, as the biometric service will be executed by applications around the globe, it will be recommended to use standardised technology. This work shows the current standards in this area, as well as some of the gaps still existing. A solution for one of these gaps has been developed by the authors and is explained in the last section of this study. With the current definitions and reference implementations, the industry could implement network-based biometric services in an interoperable way.


The oral cavity serves as a reservoir of Staphylococcus aureus for infection of the lower respiratory tract and cross-infection to other patients. This systematic review was designed to examine the effectiveness of oral health promotion interventions on this pathogen. The PubMed, ISI Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases were searched for clinical trials assessing the effect of oral health promotion interventions on oral and oropharyngeal carriage of S. aureus. Oral health promotion interventions on oral reservoirs of S. aureus in both systemically healthy and medically compromised groups consisted of oral hygiene interventions only. There was a lack of evidence pertaining to the effectiveness of mechanical oral hygiene interventions against this pathogen. Chlorhexidine delivered in oral hygiene products such as mouthrinses, gels, and sprays appeared to have some utility against S. aureus, although some studies found equivocal effects. There was a dearth of studies investigating the efficacy of other chemical agents. Although many chemical agents contained in oral hygiene products have proven in vitro activity against S. aureus, their clinical effectiveness and potential role as adjuncts or alternative therapies to conventional treatment remain to be confirmed by further high-quality randomized controlled trials.


Flooding avoidance in deepwater rice is characterised by rapid growth of the youngest internode which allows the plant to keep part of its foliage above the surface of raising flood waters. The primary signal triggering internodal elongation is the phytohormone ethylene which accumulates as a result of increased ethylene biosynthesis and entrapment. Through unknown signalling components, ethylene increases the level of bioactive gibberellins (GA) and responsiveness of the tissue to GA. GA is the hormone ultimately responsible for induction of internodal growth. I report the identification of ACC-induced (aci) genes through subtractive hybridisation of cDNA libraries constituted from internodes incubated with the ethylene precursor ACC. Two aci genes, aci7 and Osaci3-1 were shown to be regulated by ethylene but not by GA in planta. Sequence comparison and domain searches provided a likely function for ACI7 in the MTA recycling pathway which is linked to ethylene biosynthesis. Expression of Osaci3-1 was induced by ethylene prior to increase in GA content, which made of Osaci3-1 a putative candidate gene for ethylene to gibberellin signalling. Ataci3-1 is the closest homologue of Osaci3-1 in Arabidopsis thaliana. Like Osaci3-1, expression of Ataci3-1 correlated to elevated growth rates during vegetative growth. Sequence analysis of OsACI3-1 and AtACI3-1 revealed homology to MIP1, a MADS-box interacting protein from Antirrhinum majus likely involved in transcriptional regulation. With the recent finding that several MADS-box transcription factors regulate expression levels of GA biosynthetic genes, these results pinpoint a possible role for OsACI3-1 and AtACI3-1 in co-operating with MADS-box proteins to regulate GA biosynthesis.


This study will identifies and addresses the range of musical and cultural phenomena that did not historically supersede early UK punk, but that were distinct outcomes and after-echoes of its indistinct identity, and the diverse interpretative readings of the phenomenon. After 1978, the continuing development of punk discourses that retained potency for ensuing youth generations is very clear. UK punk obviously did not die in 1978 anymore than it was really born in 1976, so it makes little sense to talk of a distinct 'post-punk' moment. This study aims to identify continuity and connections, cross-currents and after effects, while
simultaneously suggesting punk was still 'in effect', present and (in)correct in early 1980s UK music
and popular culture.


A Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) is a collection of wireless mobile terminals that are able to dynamically form a temporary network without any aid from fixed infrastructure or centralized administration. In this paper, we present the implementation and analysis of our implemented MANET testbed and simulation system considering Ad-hoc On demand Distance Vector (AODV) and Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR) protocols for wireless multi-hop networking. We investigate the effect of mobility and topology changing in MANET. We evaluate and compare the performance by simulation (using ns-2 simulator) and experiments in a real environment. In this work, we consider two models: stationary and mobile. We assess the performance of our testbed and simulation in terms of throughput, number of received packets and hop distance. From the results, we found that the AODV protocol has a good performance when the relay node is moving. Also, the AODV protocol provides a flexible and effective routing for indoor environments.


In the absence of confirmed causes for around 50% of recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) cases this study was conducted in order to evaluate the relationship between PAEP gene single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs760140467 C>T and recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) in Palestinian women. A retrospective case-control study was carried out during the period (August 2015 to April 2016). A total of 200 females, 100 RPL patients and 100 control women without previous history of RPL were included in the study. PAEP (rs760140467 C>T) polymorphism was tested by PCR-RFLP. Statistically significant difference existed between RPL cases and controls in terms of the genotypic and allelic distribution of the tested polymorphism. PAEP "T/C" genotype and "T" allele were significantly higher in the RPL group. The study showed, for the first time, that the "C/T" genotype and the "T' allele of the tested polymorphism are strongly associated with RPL in the investigated population. This finding may lead to improved therapeutic approaches for those RPL cases.


The directionality debate in interpreting revolves around the question of whether and how (simultaneous) interpreters' performance differs when working from a second and into a first language compared to interpreting from a first and into a second language. Interpreting into a second language remains a controversial practice that has been dubbed "retour interpreting", "active interpreting", "service translation", or "inverse translation" (Pavlovic 2007), terms that reflect the traditionally critical attitudes towards the practice. While many scholars argue in favour of either one of the two interpreting directions, often rejecting the opposite direction as producing interpreting of inferior quality, more recent research suggests that other, extralinguistic factors may have interpreting direction-specific effects on an interpreter's performance (Gile 2005), which may explain contradictory findings in the literature. The pilot study reported on in this article examines the interaction between one such extralinguistic factor, namely interpreters' familiarity with the context of the speech to be interpreted, and interpreting direction by analysing the examination performances of eight interpreters following a postgraduate simultaneous interpreting course. The course participants were recorded interpreting speeches into both their first and second languages on familiar as well as unfamiliar topics; their individual performances were then compared on the basis of examiners' assessments of the individual renditions. The results provide support for the notion that interpreters' familiarity with the context of a speech does indeed have a direction-specific effect on interpreting quality and provides more consistent benefits for second-language interpreting than for first-language interpreting.


Anolis lizards are well known for their specialist ecomorphs characterized by the convergent evolution of suites of traits linked to the use of particular microhabitats. Many of these same traits evolve rapidly in response to novel selection pressures and have been very well studied. In contrast, the tail crest, a feature present in a subset of lineages, has been almost entirely overlooked. Variation in tail crest morphology within and among species remains largely unstudied, as does the function of the trait. Here, we use the natural experiment provided by urbanization to ask whether tail crest size differs between urban and forest populations of the crested anole (Anolis cristatellus) across the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. We find that tail crest size differs primarily between regions; however, within regions, crests are invariably larger in urban than in forest environments. This difference in size is correlated with the hotter, drier conditions and sparser distribution of perches that typify urban sites, leading to the intriguing possibility that the tail crest might be under differential natural selection for signalling and/or because of the thermoregulatory challenge of urban habitats. Further study is required to shed light on the functional significance and evolution of this under-studied trait.


: Even though a shoulder dystocia occurs very seldom it plays an important part in obstetrical medical opinions since it is quite often associated with infant plexus brachialis injuries. In legal medical discussions it is necessary to determine whether there were certain antepartal risks, if diagnosis and therapy were carried out correctly and whether a shoulder dystocia resp. plexus brachialis injury could have been prevented. In general one is looking for answers to prevent both serious complications. In the past a great number of articles were published referring to these answers. Especially in Anglo-American literature of the last few years one can find more and more indications that a clear cause-effect between shoulder dystocia and plexus brachialis injuries does not exist in every case. Also the value of typical or historical factors concerning association between the two are criticised in different publications. In addition the therapy strategies for shoulder dystocia treatments are momentarily analyzed in scientific discussions. Which treatment should be used first? Which ones are actually effective or do they even increase the risk of plexus brachialis injuries? Answers to these questions are given in the following abstract.