This article aims to explore the nature and functioning of trust in work teams. Trust is defined as a multi‐component variable with distinct but related dimensions. These include propensity to trust, perceived trustworthiness, co‐operative and lack of monitoring behaviours. A model was tested relating trust with perceived task performance, team satisfaction, and two dimensions of organisational commitment, i.e. attitudinal and continuance. Survey data from 112 teams(n=395) was collected in three social care institutions in The Netherlands. The results are supportive of a multi‐component structure for trust and of its importance to the functioning of teams and organisations. Work team trust appeared strongly related with team member's attitudes towards the organisation. Trust between team members was positively associated with attitudinal commitment and negatively with continuance commitment. Trust was also positively related with perceived task performance and with team satisfaction. In addition, perceived task performance appeared strongly related to team satisfaction.


In accordance with the main flow characteristics of steel and iron production process, some problems are analyzed coming from the making, performance and feedback of the production planning of iron and steel business enterprises in this paper. By using operation research theories and genetic algorithms, one advanced planning model of iron and steel productions suitable of various circumstance and environments is established to set up on the factor of the segment and environment variety. Penalty function is adopted in the course of getting solution. These parameters of scale of father population, crossover probability, mutation probability and penalty factor are combined and optimized. At the same time, to improve these algorithms and the solution process actually, some optimized models and projects were put forward from some plans on the basis of collecting information. It accords with the actual conditions of this enterprise basically that the optimization solution to production plans of real iron and steel enterprise by using the algorithm.


Economics of West African Dwarf (WAD) goat Production by Small Holder Farmers in humid and tropical region was studied using 120 farmers selected from southeast states of Nigeria. The information generated for the study comprised farmers' socio-economic characteristics and other quantitative variables relevant to the study using mainly structured questionnaire and personal interviewed, descriptive Statistic such as percentage response and budgetary technique were used to address the objectives of the study. The mean of age of the farmer was 54 years, level of education was 11 years, while years of rearing experience and house hold size were 10 and 7 respectively. The result of net farm income analysis revealed that an average total cost of goat production was $127,517 per 12 herds of goat with cost of purchasing breeding kids input resource constituting the highest (30%) of total costs of production. A positive net farm income of $23938 was realized by average goat farmer in the study area, indicating the profitability of the enterprise. The identified problems limiting goat production in the region were poor access credit, problem of pests and diseases, seasonality of forage, theft problem, poor extension contact, poor nutrition of confined animal and technology too costly. There are needs for policies options and measures to enhance farmers' access to education, access to credit, extension services, and access to drugs at subsidized rates to ensure goat production by the farmers. Original Research Article Ume; JAERI, 17(2): 1-8, 2018; Article no.JAERI.28098 2


Object. Empirical radiotherapy is the current treatment for children with diffuse pontine lesions that have imaging characteristics of an infiltrative malignant astrocytoma. The use of chemotherapeutic agents is, however, currently under investigation in the treatment of these tumors. To be included into a trial, patients need a definitive histological diagnosis. The authors present their prospective study of the stereotactic biopsy of these lesions during a 4-year period. Methods. A suboccipital, transcerebellar approach was used to obtain biopsy samples in 24 children. Results. Two patients suffered deficits. Both had a transient (< 2 months) new cranial nerve palsy; one of these patients also experienced an exacerbation of a preoperative hemiparesis. No patient died during the perioperative period. A histological diagnosis was made in all 24 patients as follows: 22 had a malignant infiltrative astrocytoma, one had a low-grade astrocytoma, and one had a pilocytic astrocytoma. The diagnosis of the latter two patients affected the initial treatment after the biopsy. Conclusions. The findings of this study imply that stereotactic biopsy sampling of a diffuse pontine tumor is a safe procedure, is associated with minimal morbidity, and has a high diagnostic yield. A nonmalignant tumor was identified in two of the 24 patients in whom the imaging findings were characteristic of a malignant infiltrative astrocytoma. With the advent of new treatment protocols, stereotactic biopsy sampling, which would allow specific tumor characterization of diffuse pontine lesions, may become standard.


The discipline of psychology has much to contribute to our understanding of immigrants and the process of immigration. A framework is proposed that lays out two complementary domains of psychological research, both rooted in contextual factors, and both leading to policy and program development. The first (acculturation) stems from research in anthropology and is now a central part of cross- cultural psychology; the second (intergroup relations) stems from sociology and is now a core feature of social psychology. Both domains are concerned with two fundamental issues that face immigrants and the society of settlement: maintenance of group characteristics and contact between groups. The intersection of these issues creates an intercultural space, within which members of both groups develop their cultural boundaries and social relationships. A case is made for the benefits of integration as a strategy for immigrants and for multiculturalism as a policy for the larger society. The articles in this issue are then discussed in relation to these conceptual frameworks and empirical findings.


Abstract The investigation of insulation debris generation, transport and sedimentation becomes important with regard to reactor safety research for PWR and BWR, when considering the long-term behaviour of emergency core cooling systems during all types of loss of coolant accidents. A joint research project on such questions is being performed in cooperation between the University of Applied Sciences Zittau/Görlitz and the Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf. The project deals with the experimental investigation of particle transport phenomena in coolant flow and the development of CFD models for its description. While the experiments are performed at the University at Zittau/Görlitz, the theoretical modelling efforts are concentrated at Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf. In the current paper the basic concepts for CFD modelling are described and feasibility studies are presented.


Low-loss optical fibers are now indispensable transmission media for transmission systems. Recently, the ultralow-loss performance for long transmission systems, the water-loss-free performance for wide-band wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) systems, the hydrogen-loss-insensitive performance for system reliability, and the bending-loss-insensitive performance for access or indoor applications have attracted much interest. In this regard, pure-silica-core fibers (PSCFs) are suitable, and unprecedented low-loss PSCFs have been successfully fabricated. This paper introduces the recent progress of low-loss PSCFs and their possible impact on transmission systems.


This 2004 book explores the question of British exceptionalism in the period from the Glorious Revolution to the Congress of Vienna. Leading historians examine why Great Britain emerged from years of sustained competition with its European rivals in a discernible position of hegemony in the domains of naval power, empire, global commerce, agricultural efficiency, industrial production, fiscal capacity and advanced technology. They deal with Britain's unique path to industrial revolution and distinguish four themes on the interactions between its emergence as a great power and as the first industrial nation. First, they highlight growth and industrial change, the interconnections between agriculture, foreign trade and industrialisation. Second, they examine technological change and, especially, Britain's unusual inventiveness. Third, they study her institutions and their role in facilitating economic growth. Fourth and finally, they explore British military and naval supremacy, showing how this was achieved and how it contributed to Britain's economic supremacy.


Context. The X-ray burster 4U 1850-087, located in the Galactic globular cluster NGC 6712, is an ultracompact binary (orbital period ~21 min), likely harbouring a degenerate companion. Aims. The source has been observed at soft γ -rays several times with the INTEGRAL satellite, during the monitoring of the Galactic plane, with an unprecedented exposure time. We analysed all available INTEGRAL observations, with the main aim of studying the long-term behaviour of this Galactic bulge X-ray burster. Methods. The spectral results are based on the systematic analysis of all INTEGRAL observations covering the source position performed between March 2003 and November 2005. Results. The source X-ray emission is hard and is observed, for the first time, up to 100 keV. A broad-band spectrum obtained combining the INTEGRAL spectrum together with a quasi-simultaneous XMM–Newton  observation performed in September 2003 is well modeled with a disk-blackbody emission (with an inner disk temperature of ~0.8 keV) together with a power-law (with a photon index, Γ , of 2.1). The 2-100 keV luminosity is $1.5\times10^{36}$ erg s -1 (assuming a distance of 6.8 kpc). Conclusions. INTEGRAL observations reveal for the first time that this X-ray burster displays a very hard X-ray spectrum, with a cut-off at energies higher than 100 keV, and that the source spends most of the time in this low luminosity and hard state. Indeed, a previous BeppoSAX  observation in April 1997 observed high energy emission from 4U 1850-087 only up to 50 keV.


In this paper, we investigate whether the degree of entry liberalization and public ownership is associated with higher industry level total factor productivity (TFP) growth of south European economies. We first estimate relative TFP levels and TFP growth rates across manufacturing and service industries of Greece, Italy and Spain, by using a standard growth accounting framework. Then, we estimate the TFP growth impact of entry liberalization and degree of public ownership, within a productivity convergence framework. To this end, we employ panel data econometric techniques. The empirical results indicate that a higher degree of entry regulation and public ownership is significantly associated with lower TFP growth only for Spanish industries. The empirical results for Italy and Greece do not provide us with any evidence for a statistically significant impact of these variables on TFP growth. We attribute the mixed nature of our results to the fact that south European economies still operate below the productivity frontier and are still considered as relatively more


Beyond any cloud of doubt, no professional philosopher can dismiss the claim that Heidegger is one of the pioneering thinkers in the science of deconstruction. Indeed, Heidegger has succeeded to sprinkle a different scent and aroma of his own way of giving "meaning" (Bloom, Derrida, and Miller, 1979:1) of reality. A good example of Heidegger"s deconstructive efforts pertains to his analysis of the meaning of understanding and potentiality. Usually, understanding is understood in a subjectobject paradigm where the knower comes to terms with the essence and accidents of a particular object. The object in-turn becomes poor victims of human knowledge or understanding. It is, so to say, robbed of its "privacy" to retain and sustain its being what it is without being disposed to the danger of being abstracted of its essence in order to become a particle of knowledge and to be stocked in the human mind. In case of potentiality, Aristotle (Babor, 1999:40), "St. Thomas Aquinas, and the rest in the row of the Scholastics, are fast in telling their audience that potency is derived from the verb "posse" whose meaning is "to be able" or "to have power (Phillips, 1950:180)." (


The mouse κ-opioid receptor (KOR) gene is expressed in mouse embryonal carcinoma P19 cells and induced by retinoic acid (RA) within 24 h. An RA-responsivecis-acting element is identified within promoter I of the KOR gene. This element contains a GC box, a putative binding site for transcription factor Sp1. Enhanced binding of Sp1 to this GC box correlates with RA induction of KOR gene. Phosphatase inhibitor (sodium pyrophosphate) decreases RA induction of this promoter, whereas hypophosphorylation of Sp1 results in an increase in its DNA binding affinity to this promoter as demonstrated by in vitro gel retardation and in vivo chromatin immunoprecipitation assays. Consistently, the inhibitor of MEK, PD98058, dose-dependently enhances RA induction of this promoter, suggesting that the ERK signaling pathway is negatively involved in the RA induction of mouse KOR gene activities. Collectively, enhanced binding of Sp1 to promoter I of the KOR gene as a result of inhibiting the ERK pathway contributes to RA induction of this gene in P19.


Cardiotonic steroids such as ouabain, digoxin, and marinobufagenin are known ligands for the plasma membrane receptor Na/K-ATPase (NKA). These ligands are able to stimulate interaction of the NKA with other membrane and cytosolic proteins leading to cellular events such as activation of kinase cascades and gene transcription. Endogenous cardiotonic steroids have been detected in human circulation and interestingly their levels were elevated in human patients with hypertension, congestive heart failure and diabetes, all of which were associated with chronic systemic inflammation. However, the role of cardiotonic steroids in systemic inflammation and immunity has not been well studied. We previously discovered that ouabain stimulated macrophages to produce pro-inflammatory cytokines, many of which are known targets of the transcription factor, NF-κB. Therefore, we hypothesized that ouabain activates NF-κB pathway leading to pro-inflammatory cytokine production in macrophages. Using Western blot and densitometry analysis, we showed that physiological concentrations of ouabain promoted IκBα degradation (as low as 5 nM ouabain decreased IκBα level by 66.8%±7.4%, n=4). This was accompanied by NF-κB translocation from cytoplasm to the nuclei as shown by immunocytochemistry (% of nuclei NF-κB signals increased from 30.5%±2.3% in control to 62.2%±2.6% in ouabain-treated macrophages, n>25). Moreover, via quantitative RT-PCR (n=3), we found that ouabain increased mRNA levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as MCP-1 (3.2±1.1 fold), TNF-α (59.7±35.6 fold), and CXCL-10 (2.8±1.6 fold), all of which are known NF-κB targets. Consistent with the increase in mRNA level, we found that MCP-1 protein levels were elevated in both cell lysates (1.8±0.3 fold) and culture media (1.4±0.1 fold; n=4). Addition of an NF-κB inhibitor blocked MCP-1 production induced by ouabain (n=4). Mechanistically, ouabain stimulated interaction between NKA and TLR4 as shown by Co-Immunoprecipitation (n=3). Blockade of TLR4 signaling using a specific peptide inhibitor, CLI-095, abolished the ouabain effect on NF-κB activation (n=3). We conclude that ouabain activates NF-κB through NKA/TLR4 complex leading to pro-inflammatory cytokine production by macrophages.


Author(s): Redick, Brittney | Advisor(s): Detel, Roger | Abstract: Background: Despite significant public health advancements in prevention, screening and treatment of tuberculosis (TB), mortality with TB remains unacceptably high. The epidemiology of TB mortality is not well understood, and therefore urgent investigation of potentially modifiable aspects of TB care that could inform public health service delivery and improve patient outcomes is needed. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between supervision of TB treatment and risk of TB death during TB treatment.Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted to estimate the effect of health provider supervision on the risk of all-cause TB mortality during TB treatment among clinically and/or laboratory verified active TB cases alive at time of diagnosis and who started treatment in Los Angeles County during 2010-2014.Results: Of the 3016 TB cases included in the analysis, 283 (9.4%) died. TB treatment was solely supervised by a provider outside of the health department for 508 (19.2%) case-patients. Bivariate analysis revealed significant differences in age, TB disease characteristics and distribution of social, behavioral and common comorbid conditions between patients with TB treatment supervision solely by providers outside the health department (HD), compared to patients who had any HD supervision during their TB treatment. After adjustment for potential confounding factors, patients managed solely by providers outside the HD were found to have increased risk of all-cause mortality during TB treatment, compared to patients who had any HD involvement in the supervision of their TB treatment (adjusted risk ratio [aRR] 2.33, 95% CI 1.80-3.01). Conclusion: Patients who did not have any HD involvement in their TB treatment supervision experienced over twice the risk of death as those patients with any HD supervision in their TB treatment. Further investigation of TB treatment practices and case management strategies by providers outside the HD is warranted to understand potential mechanisms for the observed increased risk of TB mortality.


Objective: Despite the indubitable beneficial effect of exercise to prevent of cardiovascular diseases, there is still a lack of studies investigating the impact of exercise in non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy. Here, we investigated the impact of voluntary exercise on cardiac function in a mouse model of non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (αMHC-MerCreMer:Sf/Sf), induced by cardiac-specific inactivation of the Serum Response Factor. Materials and Methods: Seven days after tamoxifen injection, 20 αMHC-MerCreMer:Sf/Sf mice were assigned to sedentary (n = 8) and exercise (n = 12) groups. Seven additional αMHC-MerCreMer:Sf/Sf mice without tamoxifen injection were used as control. The exercise group performed 4 weeks of voluntary running on wheel (1.8 ± 0.12 km/day). Cardiac function, myocardial fibrosis, and mitochondrial energetic pathways were then blindly assessed. Results: Exercised mice exhibited a smaller decrease of left ventricular (LV) fractional shortening and ejection fraction compared to control mice. This was associated with a lower degree of LV remodeling in exercised mice, as shown by a lower LV end-systolic intrerventricular septal and posterior wall thickness decrease from baseline values compared to sedentary mice. Moreover, exercised mice displayed a reduced gene expression of atrial and brain natriuretic factors. These benefits were associated by a reduced level of myocardial fibrosis. In addition, exercised mice exhibited a higher mitochondrial aconitase, voltage-dependent anion-selective channel 1 and PPAR gamma coactivators-1 alpha proteins levels suggesting that the increase of mitochondrial biogenesis and/or metabolism slowed the progression of dilated cardiomyopathy in exercised animals. Conclusions: In conclusion, our results support the role of voluntary exercise to improve outcomes in non-ischemic dilated heart failure (HF) and also support its potential for a routine clinical use in the future.


Polyvinylalcohol (PVA) is a polymer that is often used in 3D printing technology in the  health sector. However, most research addresses the behavior of products interacting with the body, and very rare information discus about the mechanical properties of 3DP products from PVA. This study aims to determine the effect of 3D printing process parameters on PVA materials using the Taguchi method. PVA filament with diameter of 1.75 mm was obtained from ESun Co. Specimen was designed with CAD according to ASTM D-638 Type IV and fabricated using Pursa-I3 3D Printer Machine. The orthogonal arrays L4 (22) experimental  design with two process parameters namely nozzle temperature and extrusion width and two levels for each parameter with tensile strength in response was carried out. The specimen was then measured by weight, dimensions, and time of production. After that the specimens were tested using the Zwick Roell Z020 engine. The data were then analyzed using S/N Ratio and ANOVA. The results showed that all the products meet the dimensions that have been set with the product weight that is not much different (0.03-0.1 gr). S/N Ratio and ANOVA analysis showed the same results that the extrusion width parameter had a greater effect than the temperature of the nozzle on the tensile strength response of the PVA product. The combination of optimal process parameter levels obtained, nozzle temperature of 180 ° C and extrusion width of 0.4 mm produces the highest tensile strength of PVA products (7,611 MPa). Keywords : 3D Printing, PVA, Taguchi, tensile strength.


TiO2 thin film was grown on a glass substrate by sol–gel process followed by high temperature treatment at 500 ◦ C. TiO2 films demonstrated a very good wear resistance, endurance life and enhancing tribological characteristics. Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) was used to indicate elements that contain in the film. EDS result showed that besides Ti, O and Si elements there is a small amount of Ca, Na, Mg elements diffused from the glass substrate. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis indicated that TiO2 films contain only anatase phase. The morphologies of the original and worn surfaces of the samples were analyzed by means of Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The tribological properties of TiO2 thin film sliding against the AISI-52100 steel pin were evaluated with a pin on disk system. The results indicate that TiO2 films are superior in reducing friction and resisting wear compared with that of glass substrate. SEM observation of worn surfaces indicates that the glass wear is characteristic of brittle fracture and severe abrasion. The superior friction reduction and wear resistance of multilayer TiO2 films are attributed to slight plastic deformation as well as good adhesion of the film to the substrate.


High levels of lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)], an apoB100-containing lipoprotein, are an independent and causal risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases through mechanisms associated with increased atherogenesis, inflammation, and thrombosis. Lp(a) is predominantly a monogenic cardiovascular risk determinant, with ≈70% to ≥90% of interindividual heterogeneity in levels being genetically determined. The 2 major protein components of Lp(a) particles are apoB100 and apolipoprotein(a). Lp(a) remains a risk factor for cardiovascular disease development even in the setting of effective reduction of plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and apoB100. Despite its demonstrated contribution to atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease burden, we presently lack standardization and harmonization of assays, universal guidelines for diagnosing and providing risk assessment, and targeted treatments to lower Lp(a). There is a clinical need to understand the genetic and biological basis for variation in Lp(a) levels and its relationship to disease in different ancestry groups. This scientific statement capitalizes on the expertise of a diverse basic science and clinical workgroup to highlight the history, biology, pathophysiology, and emerging clinical evidence in the Lp(a) field. Herein, we address key knowledge gaps and future directions required to mitigate the atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk attributable to elevated Lp(a) levels.


Tibial dyschondroplasia (TD) is a genetic leg defect in broilers with a lesion of avascular, non-calcified cartilage below the growth plate of the proximal tibiatarsus. This disease is considered to result from the inability of chondrocytes to undergo terminal differentiation. Thyroid hormones are required for chondrocyte differentiation. The thyroid gland produces and secrets mostly L-thyroxine or T4 and T4 plays most of its biological activities through conversion to triiodothyronine or T3 in local tissues by iodothyronine deiodinases type 1 or type 2, which are tissue specific. In this study, no differences were found in the plasma concentrations of total T3 and T4 between two chicken lines divergently selected for the incidence of TD. Plasma T4 was higher than T3, especially in older chickens. Younger birds had much higher T3 than older birds, but there were no significant age differences in T4. The expression level of deiodinase type 2 in the growth plates of broilers with TD was one-eighth of those birds without the disease. The expression levels of deiodinase type 2 (DIO2) in commercial broilers without the disease were much higher than those with TD and lower than those without the disease in the susceptible and resistant lines, respectively. These results indicate that the inadequate expression of DIO2 in the growth plates contributes to the pathogenesis of TD in broilers and that TD is a tissue-specific hypothyroidism.


Women and men have a role to be the connector of present-future generations. In SDGs 5, the country policy as a system has been allocating part of its plans for women and children's welfare. This study examines the role of the government in allocating its policies along with the urgency to empower. This research is qualitative research with a qualitative approach. Data collected through literature studies and interviews with the informant, namely Assistant Deputy for Gender Equality and Infrastructure, the Indonesian Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection), then the data were analyzed descriptively. The result of this research is that the SDGs synergy has been implemented in the presidential program called Nawa Cita and the National Medium-Term Development Plan. According to the informant, the ministry as the coordinating minister that has specially designed seven programs for women's empowerment and child protection, including in the fields of education, health, furthermore family development. It is shown in the gender empowerment index that every year increases accumulatively in Indonesia. In sum, the gender empowerment program design aims to increase the Gender Development Index in all regions in Indonesia and has been coordinated through the Government Work Plan.


Predicting harvest timing is a key challenge to sustainably develop soft fruit farming and reduce food waste. Soft fruits are perishable, high-value and seasonal, and sales prices are typically time-sensitive. In addition, fruit harvesting is labour-intensive and increasingly expensive making accurate phenological predictions valuable for growers. A novel approach for predicting soft fruit phenology and yields was developed and tested, using strawberries as the model crop. Seedlings were planted in polytunnels, and environmental and yield data were collected throughout the growing season. Over 1.2 million datapoints were collected by networked microsensors which measured spatial and temporal variability in air temperature, relative humidity (RH), soil moisture and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). Fleeces were added to a subset of the plants to generate additional within-polytunnel variation. Cumulative fruit yields followed logistic growth curves and the coefficients of these curves were dependent on micro-climatic growing conditions. After 10,000 iterations, machine learning revealed that RH was the optimal factor informing the coefficients of these curves, perhaps because it is an integrative metric of air temperature and water status. Trigonometric models transformed weather forecasts, which showed a relatively low agreement with polytunnel air temperature (R2 = 0.6) and RH (R2 = 0.5) measurements, into more accurate polytunnel-specific predictions for temperature and RH (both R2 = 0.8). We present a framework for using machine-learning techniques to calculate curve coefficients and parametrise coupled weather models which can predict fruit yields and timing to a greater degree of accuracy that previously possible. Dataloggers measuring environmental and yield data could infer model parameters using iterative training for novel fruit varieties or crop types growing in different locations without a-priori phenological information. At this stage in the development of artificial intelligence and networked microsensors, this is a step forward in generating bespoke phenological prediction models to inform and support growers.


Medical terms are a recognised problem in doctor–patient consultations. By contrast, the language difficulties of online healthcare documents are underestimated, even though patients are often encouraged to go to the internet for information. Literacy levels in the community vary, and for patients, carers and health workers with limited reading skills (including first- and second-language users of English), the language of web-based health documents may be challenging or impenetrable. Online delivery of health information is inherently problematic because it cannot provide two-way discussion; and amid the range of health documents on the web, the intended readership (whether general or specialist) is rarely indicated up front. In this research study, we focus on the language and readability of web-based cancer documents, using lexicostatistical methods to profile the vocabularies in two large test databases of breast cancer information, one consisting of material designed for health professionals, the other for the general public. They yielded significantly different word frequency rankings and keyness values, broadly correlating with their different readerships, that is, scientifically literate readers for the professional dataset, and non-specialist readers for the public dataset. The higher type/token ratio in the professional dataset confirms its greater lexical demands, with no concessions to the variable language and literacy skills among second-language health workers. Their language needs can, however, be addressed by a new online multilingual termbank of breast cancer vocabulary, HealthTermFinder, designed to sit alongside health documents on the internet, and provide postconsultation help for patients and carers at their point of need.


Tuberculosis (TB), an ancient scourge of humanity known for several thousands of years, is still a main public health challenge in many countries today even though some progress has been made recently in curbing the disease. Deferred diagnosis, poor treatment regimens and fatality qualify drug-resistant and multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB). Unlike other bacterial pathogens, Mycobacterium tuberculosis lacks plasmid mediated mechanisms of resistance. Drug resistance in M. tuberculosis is entirely due to chromosomal changes that occur within the genes, for instance deletions or mutations. These chromosomal modifications influence the drug target or bacterial enzymes that are responsible for activating or customizing the drug. Inadequate or incomplete chemotherapy also enables M. tuberculosis to become drug resistant due to mutants that exist by nature in the mycobacterial community. Since the frequency of mutations vary geographically and limited data is available on the patterns of gene mutation in Kenya, insight of the rates of geographic specific mutations can enable the evolution of internal, PCR-based techniques for targeting mutations relevant in a specific setting. In addition to crafting new molecular biology-based techniques for the examination of MDR tuberculosis and advancement of new drugs, heightened rates of MDR and extremely-drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB) worldwide need to be controlled and profiled. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and detection of drug resistant mutations in Mycobacterium tuberculosis among patients visiting selected health centers in Nairobi, Kenya. The current study employed a cross-sectional study design which involved collecting sputum samples from 132 patients visiting Mbagathi district hospital and Chandaria community hospital. Of the 132 patients, male subjects were seventy-two (54%), while women were 60 (46%), all averaging 35 years and having a range of 18 to 60 years. Overall, 132 sputum samples were collected from patients who were all smear-positive for pulmonary TB and included for processing. Sample processing involved decontamination of collected sputum samples with NALC/NaOH/sodium citrate, thereafter, direct sputum smear microscopy using Ziehl-Neelsen stain for Acid Fast Bacteria (AFB). DNA was then extracted from the positive samples and analyzed by means of Genotype MTBDRplus (Rapid test for rifampicin and/or isoniazid resistance) and Genotype MTBDRsl (Rapid test for fluoroquinolones, aminoglycosides, and lowlevel kanamycin resistance in addition to confirmation of M. tuberculosis). Data analysis was carried out using chi-square test to analyze the difference in mutations detected. In total, the prevalence for the resistance to first and second-line TB drugs was 1.5% (2/132). Rifampicin resistant strain had the rpoB mutation S531L; isoniazid resistant strains had the mutations katG S315T; AG/CP resistant strains had the rrs mutation G1484T. The molecular analysis indicates confirmation of the transmission of resistant strain. The data suggested that there is homogeneity when it comes to the type of drug resistance and mutation that occurs in the region. This calls for intensified drug resistance surveillance and drug adherence among patients infected with TB. In addition, there is an urgent need for randomized controlled trials to discover the most effective treatment regimen for managing INH resistant TB.


OBJECTIVES
Pyrophosphate arthropathy has been linked to diverse clinical subtypes. The two most common are: acute synovitis (pseudogout) and chronic pyrophosphate arthropathy ("pseudo-osteoarthritis"). We have conducted a study to examine whether these are overlapping syndromes.

METHODS
We reviewed all synovial fluid (SF) analyses performed in our laboratory from January 1988 to May 1997 to determine if patterns of SF leukocyte counts and Alizarin red stains in patients with repeated samples suggest that some patients were prone to acute attacks and some to chronic pyrophosphate arthropathy and whether acute attacks superimposed on chronic symptoms were common. Joint x-rays were screened for osteoarthritis (OA) and chondrocalcinosis.

RESULTS
We identified 67 patients who had Calcium pyrophosphate dehydrate (CPPD) in their SF and had more than one SF examined (185 SF). We divided the patients into 2 groups. Group A (n=25) had at least one SF leukocyte count > than 2000 per mm(3) and group B (n=42) had SF leukocyte counts always < than 2000 per mm(3). Chondrocalcinosis detected on x-ray was more common in group A versus group B, 48% versus 19% (p<0.05, Fisher's exact test). OA was mild (grades 0-1) in 39% of group A versus 12.5% of group B patients, but the difference between groups was not significant. CPPD crystals were not detected in 13.5% SFs previously having CPPD crystals. Alizarin red staining for suspected hydroxyapatite was more often 2+ to 3+ in group B (31.6%) compared to group A (15.5%; p<0.05, Fisher's exact test).

CONCLUSION
Acute synovitis and chronic pyrophosphate arthropathy are often two distinctive syndromes with some patients never having inflammatory attacks. Acute synovitis is more common in patients with chondrocalcinosis while chronic pyrophosphate arthropathy is associated with increased alizarin red staining and a trend suggestive of increased severity of OA.


This work presents the analysis of eleven CME events which were observed by instruments of the Sun-Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation (SECCHI) imaging suite on board the NASA Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) mission, launched in October 2006. The selected CMEs were chosen such that their projected speeds exceed 1000 km/s. Five out of the eleven events drove interplanetary shocks with distinct signatures in white-light observations from both the coronagraph COR2 and the heliospheric imager HI1 on board STEREO. For each event geometrical modelling via the Graduated Cylindrical Shell (GCS) model was performed in order to test the assumption of self-similar evolution for the CME. The performance of the GCS model at heliocentric distances higher than 15 R☉ , corresponding to the outer field of view of COR2, was tested. The results show that the GCS is appropriate in reproducing the observed CME geometry at higher heliocentric distances mainly for events with projected angular half-width ω such that ω < 45° - PA_APEX, with PA_APEX being the position angle of the CME apex. The GCS results, moreover, showed that all the modelled CMEs decelerated during their propagation. The average acceleration was found to lie in the range -15.21 m/s^2 ≤ a ≤ -1.13 m/s^2. The observed CME morphology was preserved during the CME propagation.
The Stereoscopic Self-Similar Expansion Model (SSSEM) was used to infer the kinematics of the analysed CMEs, and, in the cases in which a shock was detected in time-elongation plots, of the shock itself. Arrival times and speeds at the Lagrangian point L1 were inferred by assuming propagation at constant speed and at constant deceleration and compared to in-situ Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) measurements. The precision of the arrival time estimates is compatible with the accuracy of the models employed, with the smallest errors being as low as 1.3 hours. In six out of the nine events detected by ACE the inclusion of deceleration produced the most accurate results.
Models for the shock location were employed in order to determine the temporal evolution of the shock standoff distance Δ, the density compression ratio ρu/ρd and the upstream Mach number M for the five events in which both the CME and shock kinematics could be inferred.
The derived shock parameters were extrapolated to the location of ACE and compared to their values computed from in-situ plasma and magnetic field measurements. ACE data was available for four of the five shock events. The observed values lie in the ranges 15 R☉ ≤ Δ ≤ 38 R☉ , 1.89 ≤ ρd/ρu
≤ 2.87, and 1.8 ≤ M ≤ 5.8. The standoff distance estimates yield the most precise results when constant deceleration is included in the CME and shock propagation. In this case the errors are below 40% of the observed values, with the better predictions yielding discrepancies as low as 10%. For three out of the four shock events detected by ACE the precision in the compression ratio extrapolations for the linear and quadratic fits is comparable, of the order of 10%. For the other event the inclusion of deceleration reduces the error by 40%. The accuracy of the Mach number extrapolations is lower, ranging from 20% to ≈ 70% in the worst-case, and with the linear fit yielding more precise predictions in three out of four events.
The analysis presented in this work confirms that CME-driven shocks can be detected in remote-sensing observations by coronagraphs and heliospheric imagers, and that their kinematics can be derived independently from the CME kinematics via the application of inverse modelling techniques. The results also show that multipoint space observations are necessary in order to achieve a sufficient precision for the independent analysis of CMEs and CME-driven shocks when using the methods employed in this work. The analysis of their interplanetary evolution, as well as of the shock standoff distance, suggests that deceleration plays an important role in their propagation. More accurate results for the arrival time predictions and the standoff distance extrapolation are obtained when the effects of deceleration are accounted for. To the best of the author's knowledge this is the first time that the separate CME and shock kinematics, as well as the temporal evolution of the shock parameters in the inner heliosphere are derived from the application of inverse modelling techniques. Finally, the application of the methods presented here to data gathered from upcoming space-based mission such as the ESA Solar Orbiter and the NASA Solar Probe Plus, to be launched in 2018, will provide an unprecedented tool to further verify the models presented here and to determine the CME-driven shock parameters at locations unexplored so far.


Abstract The authors of the present selection of Latin American Psychiatry texts were characterized by a common deep humanistic attitude. These prolific writers were able to establish or extend the scope of the discipline in which they chose to act, questioning the establishment of rigid boundaries within the framework of a rigorous epistemological reflection. Thus the systematizing spirit of Jose Ingenieros' in the context of positivist evolutionism, resulted in the act of founding a discipline that integrated the biological and the social. In the case of Guillermo Vidal his conception of mental health went beyond the biomedical to consider psychotherapies as an emotional commitment, continence and empathic understanding; with regard to César Cabral his formation and extensive clinical practice resulted in a work defined by the inquiring into the theoretical concepts underlying Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology. This brief selection does not exhaust the issues or the level of ideas and discussions of Psychiatry in Argentina, but constitutes a textual corpus representative of a disciplinary conception understood as scientific and humanistic endeavor.


Lawmakers around the country are crafting new laws to target"dark patterns"-- user interface designs that trick or coerce users into enabling cell phone location tracking, sharing browsing data, initiating automatic billing, or making whatever other choices their designers prefer. Dark patterns pose a serious problem. In their most aggressive forms, they interfere with human autonomy, undermine customers' evaluation and selection of products, and distort online markets for goods and services. Yet crafting legislation is a major challenge: Persuasion and deception are difficult to distinguish, and shifting tech trends present an ever-moving target. To address these challenges, this Article proposes leveraging state private law to define and track dark patterns as they evolve. Judge-crafted decisional law can respond quickly to new techniques, flexibly define the boundary between permissible and impermissible designs, and bolster state and federal regulatory enforcement efforts by quickly identifying those designs that most undermine user autonomy.


Superior mesenteric artery syndrome is an uncommon cause of upper gastrointestinal tract obstruction. The syndrome results from compression of the third portion of duodenum as it crosses underneath the superior mesenteric artery, related to conditions that reduce the aortomesenteric angle (acute weight loss) or after scoliosis surgery. Patients may present symptoms of gastrointestinal obstruction, such as upper abdominal distension and epigastric tenderness, usually relieved by posture changing. Diagnose must be complemented with an upper gastrointestinal barium-contrast radiography. Conservative treatment is usually effective with early diagnosis. Surgery is needed when conservative measures are ineffective. We present the case of a 18 year-old patient with Wilkie's syndrome secondary to scoliosis surgery. The patient presented symptoms of gastrointestinal obstruction, and diagnosis was confirmed with upper gastrointestinal barium-contrast radiography. The patient started conservative treatment with proper positioning after eating and nutritional support to provide optimal calories supply.


Are characters in writing systems (e.g. Latin or Chinese) perceived in the same way as objects or do we process characters in a different way? Previous research [Gauthier et al., 2006] has suggested that readers familiar with a writing system are able to take advantage of the stylistic regularities in typefaces, whereas those without this expertise cannot. The experiments described in this chapter explore whether a different form of expertise, acquired through design training, also affects our perception of unfamiliar characters, meaningless shapes if we cannot read the script. A comparison was made of Chinese bilinguals and English monolinguals and those with and without design expertise. All participants
were asked to discriminate between strings of characters in both Latin and Chinese and in different typefaces. The results reveal that non-designers are more susceptible to interference from incongruent font information than designers, particularly in an unfamiliar, or less familiar, writing system. However, design expertise appears to facilitate the abstraction of the character shapes from the stylistic variations. These results were found in UK students and not the more fluent bilingual students in Hong Kong suggesting the need for further exploration of the effects of different types and levels of expertise on character recognition.


Algorithms for ensemble methods (EM) based on bootstrap aggregation often perform copious amount of redundant computations (RC) thus limiting their practicality. Given this constraint, we propose a framework that views these algorithms as a collection of computational units (cu), a tightly coupled set of both mathematical operations and data. This view facilitates a reduction in RC (RRC), thereby allowing for faster execution plans. Inspired by the floor tiling approach in VLSI, we look to engineer solutions for RRC while possibly reconfiguring the underlying computing system's compiler technology stack. We start by showing that under the assumption that the computational system has unbounded but finite memory (i.e., the memory is large enough to hold all intermediate values) and that each has a uniform cost, our approach reduces to a well-studied directed bandwidth problem for the directed acyclic graphs (DAGs). Next, we consider a more realistic scenario where the computing system has limited memory and concurrent execution while still assuming a uniform cost. Using a new notion of (r, s) set cover of a DAG (nodes representing computational units and edges representing their interdependencies) we formulate the problem of reducing redundant computational steps in EM as a variation of a directed bandwidth problem. We show that the graph's minimum bandwidth is closely related to memory requirements for studying RRC. Finally, our preliminary experimental results are supportive of the proposed approach for RRC and promising that it can be applied to a broader set of algorithms in decision sciences.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of CSF-tau in clinical practice as a diagnostic marker for AD compared with normal aging and depression, to study the stability of CSF-tau in longitudinal samples, and to determine whether CSF-tau levels are influenced by different covariates such as gender, age, duration or severity of disease, or possession of the APOE-epsilon4 allele.

METHODS
Consecutive AD patients from a community-based sample were studied, including 407 patients with AD (274 with probable AD and 133 with possible AD), 28 patients with depression, and 65 healthy elderly control subjects. A follow-up lumbar puncture was performed in 192 AD patients after approximately 1 year. CSF-tau was determined using a sandwich ELISA, which was run as a routine clinical neurochemical analysis.

RESULTS
CSF-tau was increased in probable (690+/-341 pg/mL; p < 0.0001) and possible (661+/-447 pg/mL; p < 0.0001) AD, but not in depression (231+/-110 pg/mL) compared with control subjects (227+/-101 pg/mL). Receiver operating characteristics analysis showed that a cutoff level of 302 pg/mL resulted in a sensitivity of 93% (95% CI, 90-96%) and a specificity of 86% (95% CI, 75-94%), with an area under the curve of 0.95 to discriminate AD from control subjects. Within the AD group, CSF-tau did not differ significantly between baseline and follow-up investigations, and was relatively stable between baseline and 1-year follow-up levels, with a coefficient of variation of 21.0%. High CSF-tau levels were also found in most AD patients with very short duration of dementia, and with Mini-Mental State Examination scores >23 (n = 205). In total, 193 of 205 patients (sensitivity, 94%) had a CSF-tau level higher than 302 pg/mL.

CONCLUSIONS
CSF-tau has a high sensitivity and specificity to differentiate AD from normal aging and depression, as demonstrated in a large community-based series of consecutive AD patients during which analyses were run continually in a clinical neurochemical laboratory. The increase in CSF-tau is found very early in the disease process in AD, is stable over time, and has a low interindividual variation on repeated sampling. Although high CSF-tau is found in some neurologic conditions (e.g., stroke), these findings suggest that CSF-tau may be of use to help in differentiating AD from normal aging and depression, especially early in the course of the disease, when the symptoms are vague and the diagnosis is especially difficult.


High-spin states in 157Yb have been populated in the 144Sm(16O, 3n)157Yb fusion-evaporation reaction at a beam energy of 85 MeV, and two rotational bands have been established for the first time. Within the framework of the triaxial particle-rotor model, the energy spectra and single-particle configurations of 157Yb are investigated. The calculated energy spectra agree well with the experimental data. The newly observed νf7/2 band, and the previously known νi13/2 band in 157Yb, are also discussed by means of Total-Routhian-Surface methods. The structural characters observed in 157Yb provide evidence for the shape coexistence of three distinct shapes: prolate, triaxial and oblate. At higher spins, both the νf7/2 band and the νi13/2 band in 157Yb undergo a shape evolution with sizable alignments occurring.


Linguistics, accordingly, needs to accommodate broader views so as to go in line with the broader views of social culture as the home base of linguistics. In this case, linguistics needs to build on the assumption that (1) language is not innocent (neutral), (2) language deals with the issue of representation, and (3) language has to do with power. Therefore, this research is based on the concept of language above. Text or discourse is not standing in the vacuum space. Discourse contains ideological intention of its speaker or writer. In this research, Obama's speech is part of discourse that contains his own ideologies.
Obama's speech at Universitas Indonesia is a set of discourse containing certain ideological purposes and intensions. Therefore, to reveal the ideologies of
Obama's speech, this research is divided into two parts of problem questions.

They are (1) What kind of ideologies that appear in Barrack Obama's speech at Universitas Indonesia?, and (2) How do the ideologies appear in Barrack Obama's speech at Universitas Indonesia?. Ideology is the central concept in this analysis. Statements are examples of practical form of ideology. Critical Discourse Analysis is used to reveal the hidden ideology in those statements. It examines how ideology is maintained and reproduced within specific social, political and historical contexts.

This research is conducted by descriptive qualitative method. According to Creswell, qualitative research claims to describe 'life-worlds' from the 'inside out', from the point of view of people who participate. By so doing it seeks to contribute to a better understanding of social realities and to draw attention to processes, meaning patterns and structural features. In addition, this research is analyzed by using Critical Discourse Analysis in van Dijk's perspective.

According to van Dijk, analysis of the research is not only merely based on the text itself, but also based on how the text is produced. Van Dijk's discourse has three dimensions such as: text, social cognition, and social context. In text
analysis, the text is examined from linguistic features inside the text. In socio cognitive and societal analysis, the elements that need to be examined is one that closely related to the production of the text. Van Dijk introduces those elements in an access, setting, and participant's positions and roles.


Abstract The anticancer activity of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) is well known to be synthesized using green-synthesized methods, although its mechanism of action is not understood fully. Moringa oleifera leaves were used as reducing and stabilizing agents to synthesize AgNPs. Green-synthesized AgNPs were characterized using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, transmission electronic microscopy, scanning electronic microscopy, Fourier transform infrared, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analyses. The synthesized nanoparticles were then characterized by their anticancer properties by performing a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. The real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to check the expression levels of the four genes (β-catenin, adenomatous polyposis coli (APC), and lipoprotein receptor-related proteins 5 and 6 (LRP5/6)). The synthesized nanoparticles were 25 nm on average and spherical in shape and aggregated form. Noteworthy cytotoxicity is how green-synthesized M. oleifera–AgNPs were observed in comparison with the M. oleifera leaf extract against a cancerous cell line. The M. oleifera–AgNPs decreased the expression of CTNNB1 and LRP6 genes, while the LRP5 gene expression increased in both cell lines. With treatment, the APC gene expression decreased in SW480 but increased in HTC116. Our results imply that AgNPs synthesized by M. oleifera extract could be an ideal strategy to combat colon cancer.


These are powered equipment for conveying bulk materials in a vertical or steep inclined path, consisting of an endless belt, or chain/s to which metallic buckets are fixed. With the flexible belt/chain, the buckets move unidirectionally within a casing and collect bulk materials at bottom end of the equipment and deliver it at the top end. A range of different research methods have been used to determine the productivity improvement of elevator. The present study shows the productivity improvement of elevator for granular materials by changing in parameter and structure affecting the efficiency of elevator. Current work deals with the design and analysis of elevator for conveying granular materials at 2 tonnes/hr output and lifting height 12m. Modeling of different components of bucket elevator has been done using 3d Solid Modeling software based upon the dimensions obtained from analytical design. The new modified design of the bucket elevator is proposed and validated using CAE tools which are well within the safe limit. Keywords— Bucket elevator, Material handling equipment, CAE tools, Bucket


Student growth percentiles (SGPs) express students' current observed scores as percentile ranks in the distribution of scores among students with the same prior-year scores. A common concern about SGPs at the student level, and mean or median SGPs (MGPs) at the aggregate level, is potential bias due to test measurement error (ME). Shang, vanIwaarden, and Betebenner (SVB; this issue) develop a simulation-extrapolation (SIMEX) approach to adjust SGPs for test ME. In this paper, we use a tractable example in which different SGP estimators, including SVB's SIMEX estimator, can be computed analytically to explain why ME is detrimental to both student-level and aggregate-level SGP estimation. A comparison of the alternative SGP estimators to the standard approach demonstrates the common bias-variance tradeoff problem: estimators that decrease the bias relative to the standard SGP estimator increase variance, and vice versa. Even the most accurate estimator for individual student SGP has large errors of roughly 19 percentile points on average for realistic settings. Those estimators that reduce bias may suffice at the aggregate level but no single estimator is optimal for meeting the dual goals of student- and aggregate level inferences.


This article involves a popular Facebook group named Pencil that features creative productions from Bangladeshi people from around the world. While its basic focus is on writing, it also creates room for audio-visual productions such as songs, poetry recitation, dance, and photography. Among the contributors, a modest number is from diasporic Bangladeshi women who represent Bangladeshi culture through their artistic endeavors. The purpose of this research is to study how diasporic Bangladeshi women writers make use of the virtual platform of Pencil to express their kinship to Bangladeshi culture, as well as to carve an identity to endorse it. The prevalent discussion here is theoretical with a limited close reading of texts. While discussing the process of identity formation, this research refers to Stuart Hall's concept of "cultural identity" to create its theoretical background. Another predominant idea of the research is the "cyberspace" provided by the Internet to diasporic subjects. The final concept is "digital diaspora" which is integral to the study of cyberspace and diaspora. Considering the debate on the ambiguous role of cyberspaces in women's emancipation, this article argues in favor of cyberspaces by perceiving that the virtual platform promotes women's resourcefulness.


This paper reports on secondary analysis of TIMSS 2003 data with the aim of explaining the difference in science achievement of Korean and South African learners. The question asked by this research, i.e. which factors at various educational levels influence science achievement in Korea and South Africa respectively, is addressed from the perspective of school effectiveness. Data from Korea included 5 300 learners from 151 schools, while approximately 9 000 learners from 265 schools were tested in South Africa. The background data were analysed in conjunction with the achievement data by means of factor, reliability, correlation and multilevel analysis. The multilevel analysis revealed that the strongest predictor of science achievement is attitudes towards science in both countries at learner level while, at classroom/ school level, the strongest predictors are learner background in Korea and safety in school in South Africa respectively. In addition, factors specifically significant in Korea included educational resources, out-of-school activities, high expectation, professional development, and school size, while South Africa showed factors such as ethnicity and SES-related factors, textbook use, teacher age, teacher qualification, STS-based teaching, physical resources, and class size.


Benzimidazole derivatives can effectively treat nematode parasitic infections; however, some derivatives demand distinct administrative strategies depending on plasma concentration and patient conditions. Numerous studies have examined the potential of natural extracts to exert parasiticidal activity with minimal side effects. Herein, we examined the potential parasiticidal effects of Torreya nucifera extract. The pericarps of T. nucifera were extracted with methanol, dried, and the pellet was dissolved in hot water (Tn-Phw). We designed four individual mouse experiments to clarify the prophylactic and therapeutic effects of Tn-Phw on Trichinella spiralis infection. Also, 100 L1 larvae were isolated and treated with Tn-Phw (10 mg/mL) in vitro to confirm the killing effect. Furthermore, we microscopically examined the morphology of L1 larvae to confirm the parasite-killing effect and analyzed the morphology using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The expression of three molting-related genes was confirmed to determine whether Tn-Phw induced morphological changes in L1 larvae. Following treatment with Tn-Phw, L1 larvae death was observed after 16 h. Following SEM examination, the healthy muscle larvae showed striated ridges and wrinkles; this was not observed in extract-treated muscle larvae. Expression levels of the three molting-related genes did not differ between the Tn-Phw-treated and control groups. T. spiralis-infected mice pretreated with Tn-Phw showed significantly reduced muscle larva infection when compared with control mice. In all experiments, treatment with Tn-Phw afforded preventive and therapeutic effects against T. spiralis infection and parasitism. Natural substances against nematode parasites could be developed as therapeutic agents with few side effects and enhanced parasiticidal efficacy.


There is evidence that low doses of convulsant agents may enhance acquisition under various behavioral procedures. The following experiments were undertaken to establish whether the putative GABA(A) antagonist pentylenetetrazole, and known GABA(A) receptor antagonists picrotoxin, picrotoxinin and bicuculine, might also enhance acquisition. Learning was studied under two different schedules of food presentation using the technique of repeated acquisition. Under this procedure, subject were required to acquire a different three-response sequence each session. Sequence completions were reinforced under a fixed-ratio five (FR 5) schedule, which engendered a low level of errors. A chain strained-ratio schedule was also studied because it engendered a high level of errors. Pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) (0.32-32mg/kg) generally produced a dose-related decrease in responding at higher doses (10-32mg/kg), while at lower doses (0.32-5.6mg/kg) response rate was not affected. PTZ generally disrupted accuracy of responding only at doses that decreased the rate of responding. Like PTZ, the noncompetitive GABA(A) receptor antagonist picrotoxin decreased the overall rate of responding and disrupted accuracy only at the higher doses tested (0.13-0.32mg/kg) in three of four subjects. At low doses (0.0032-0.1mg/kg), response rates and accuracy were unaffected when compared to the control ranges. Picrotoxinin, an active metabolite of picrotoxin, increased errors at doses that decreased the overall rate of responding. Conversely, the competitive GABA(A) receptor antagonist bicuculline (0.0032-0.56mg/kg) had no effect on accuracy and only decreased the rate of responding at doses that produced convulsions. Under the chain strained-ratio schedule, PTZ and picrotoxinin failed to enhance acquisition. These data suggest that pentylenetetrazole, picrotoxin, picrotoxinin and bicuculline do not reliably enhance acquisition in the squirrel monkey, and that differences exist between competitive and noncompetitive GABA(A) antagonists with regard to their effects on acquisition processes in the squirrel monkey. d-amphetamine, on the other hand, disrupted acquisition under the fixed-ratio schedule while at certain doses it enhanced acquisition under the strained-ratio schedule. The data also suggest that classical brain stem and cortical stimulants differ in terms of their ability to enhance acquisition under a strained-ratio schedule and that these differences may relate to their effects on conditioned reinforcement.


The meadowfoam plant is a moisture-loving native of the west coast of the North American continent near the borders of USA and Canada. It has recently stirred great interest in the chemical oil industry due to the potential of its seed oil to substitute for sperm whale oil. Due to the relative lack of published literature on this plant, an experiment was planned to study the quantitative genetics of some of its characters. Thirty-six half-sib families were planted and the following characters were examined: plant height; diameter; uprightness; intensity of redness on branches and its distribution; leaf shape; period to first flower; seed set; mature seed retained; degree of seed shattering; and thousand-seed mass. Factor analysis was also performed on the flowering pattern of the plants. Results indicated that all characters were heritable in the broad-sense, and all but two characters (diameter and degree of seed shatter) had significantly heritable narrowsense heritabilities. The amount of genetic variability present in this species is also very high. Plant improvement methods based on selection are therefore recommended. Predictions on genetic advance show that the characters plant height, seed retention, leaf shape, and red intensity and distribution on branches showed greatest promise for rapid improvement.


textabstractThe thesis investigates police performance management in Maputo, which is the capital city of Mozambique. To conduct the analysis, it applies a multiangle and multi-factor framework that enables examination of core values and indicators of governance while taking into account the influencing factors within and around the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM).
The thesis sets the stage for the investigation with an historical analysis of changes in socioeconomic and political factors over time, as well as an institutional analysis of the public sector context in which the police have been operating and a stakeholder analysis encompassing the courts, donors and
urban communities. It evaluates organisational systems and dimensions in terms of patterns of human and material resources, management styles, and organisational cultures that have characterised the PRM from the one-party socialist regime adopted after independence in 1975 to multiparty democracy
and open market system introduced through the Constitution in 1990.
The analytical framework of the thesis combines capacity building, strategic management concepts and governance perspectives. In addition, literature on informality is used to interpret the reality observed in the field.
The study's relevance and importance lie in its unique approach. Instead of analysing police performance in the usual way through crime statistics and public opinion, it provides insights into the organisation and surrounding factors that shape the PRM performance management style. It goes beyond performance measurement and tries to understand whether and how the police manage their performance, by assessing the availability and usage of the systems, including vital databases, that are necessary for internal and external performance management and monitoring.
...


Clinical classification of cholelithiasisis presented, which includes 4 stages: stage without calculi, stage of formed gallstones, chronic calculous cholecystitis and complications. Sonographic description of main versions of biliary sludge, its causes and therapy efficacy are also given.


Purpose: To describe the clinical findings and outcome for three homozygous females affected with X-linked retinoschisis (XLRS) in a large Colombian family with 26 affected males. Methods: Retrospective review of charts for females from a family with XLRS who underwent complete ophthalmologic examinations, ancillary tests, clinical genetic evaluation, and molecular studies. Results: Three female patients (6 eyes) with clinical findings of XLRS were identified. The patients' ages ranged from 10 to 37 years. Initial visual acuity was equal to or worse than 20/50 in 4 eyes (66%) of 2 patients. Four eyes (66%) were hyperopic. Intraocular pressure was normal in all eyes. Three eyes (50%) had cataracts, and vitreous veils were present in 3 (50%). The optic disk was pale in 6 eyes (100%). Foveal schisis was present in 6 eyes (100%). Peripheral retinal schisis was present in five eyes. A silvery gloss or tapetal-like retinal reflex or sheen was observed in 6 eyes (100%), and dendritic lines were found in 2 (33%). One eye had a retinal break, and one had a retinal detachment. Two eyes underwent cataract extraction; one patient underwent bilateral cryotherapy, one, laser treatment, and one, scleral buckling. Final visual acuity was 20/50 to 20/100 in 2 eyes and 20/200 to 20/400 in 4. Follow-up ranged from 7 to 22 years. Molecular analysis showed that all three female patients were homozygous for the allele 639delG of (on) the XRLS1 gene. Conclusions: Compared with their affected male relatives, three females from a family with XLRS had similar ocular findings and a more severe course of disease. These findings are explained by the fact that these patients were homozygous for a mutation in the XLRS1 gene.


Background Local and volatile anesthetics are widely used for surgery. It is not known whether anesthetics impinge on the orchestrated events in spontaneous resolution of acute inflammation. Here we investigated whether a commonly used local anesthetic (lidocaine) and a widely used inhaled anesthetic (isoflurane) impact the active process of resolution of inflammation. Methods and Findings Using murine peritonitis induced by zymosan and a systems approach, we report that lidocaine delayed and blocked key events in resolution of inflammation. Lidocaine inhibited both PMN apoptosis and macrophage uptake of apoptotic PMN, events that contributed to impaired PMN removal from exudates and thereby delayed the onset of resolution of acute inflammation and return to homeostasis. Lidocaine did not alter the levels of specific lipid mediators, including pro-inflammatory leukotriene B4, prostaglandin E2 and anti-inflammatory lipoxin A4, in the cell-free peritoneal lavages. Addition of a lipoxin A4 stable analog, partially rescued lidocaine-delayed resolution of inflammation. To identify protein components underlying lidocaine's actions in resolution, systematic proteomics was carried out using nanospray-liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Lidocaine selectively up-regulated pro-inflammatory proteins including S100A8/9 and CRAMP/LL-37, and down-regulated anti-inflammatory and some pro-resolution peptides and proteins including IL-4, IL-13, TGF-â and Galectin-1. In contrast, the volatile anesthetic isoflurane promoted resolution in this system, diminishing the amplitude of PMN infiltration and shortening the resolution interval (Ri) ∼50%. In addition, isoflurane down-regulated a panel of pro-inflammatory chemokines and cytokines, as well as proteins known to be active in cell migration and chemotaxis (i.e., CRAMP and cofilin-1). The distinct impact of lidocaine and isoflurane on selective molecules may underlie their opposite actions in resolution of inflammation, namely lidocaine delayed the onset of resoluion (Tmax), while isoflurane shortened resolution interval (Ri). Conclusions Taken together, both local and volatile anesthetics impact endogenous resolution program(s), altering specific resolution indices and selective cellular/molecular components in inflammation-resolution. Isoflurane enhances whereas lidocaine impairs timely resolution of acute inflammation.


The mixture of the two pentacyclic triterpenes alpha-amyrin and beta-amyrin, isolated from the resin of Protium kleinii and given by intraperitoneal (i.p.) or oral (p.o.) routes, caused dose-related and significant antinociception against the visceral pain in mice produced by i.p. injection of acetic acid. Moreover, i.p., p.o., intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.), or intrathecal (i.t.) administration of alpha,beta-amyrin inhibited both neurogenic and inflammatory phases of the overt nociception caused by intraplantar (i.pl.) injection of formalin. Likewise, alpha,beta-amyrin given by i.p., p.o., i.t., or i.c.v. routes inhibits the neurogenic nociception induced by capsaicin. Moreover, i.p. treatment with alpha,beta-amyrin was able to reduce the nociception produced by 8-bromo-cAMP (8-Br-cAMP) and by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) or the hyperalgesia caused by glutamate. On the other hand, in contrast to morphine, alpha,beta-amyrin failed to cause analgesia in thermal models of pain. The antinociception caused by the mixture of compounds seems to involve mechanisms independent of opioid, alpha-adrenergic, serotoninergic, and nitrergic system mediation, since it was not affected by naloxone, prazosin, yohimbine, DL-p-chlorophenylalanine methyl ester, or L-arginine. Interestingly, the i.p. administration of alpha,beta-amyrin reduced the mechanical hyperalgesia produced by i.pl. injection of carrageenan, capsaicin, bradykinin, substance P, prostaglandin E2, 8-Br-cAMP, and TPA in rats. However, the mixture of compounds failed to alter the binding sites of [3H]bradykinin, [3H]resiniferatoxin, or [3H]glutamate in vitro. It is concluded that the mixture of triterpene alpha-amyrin and beta-amyrin produced consistent peripheral, spinal, and supraspinal antinociception in rodents, especially when assessed in inflammatory models of pain. The mechanisms involved in their action are not completely understood but seem to involve the inhibition of protein kinase A- and protein kinase C-sensitive pathways.


A new robust structured light technique based on multi-valued pseudo-random color encoded pattern is discussed in this paper. After analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of the existing pseudo-random coding patterns in computer vision, a new multi-valued pseudo-random color encoded pattern is designed on the basis of the combination of the feature points and the feature lines. Using this pattern, the feature points are easy to extract, and the problems of leaking points and pseudo-feature points are greatly reduced. Furthermore, it also reduced the difficulty and the complexity of the feature matching because of the feature lines.


Resource efficiency assessment methods, along with eco-efficiency assessment methods are needed for various industrial sectors to support sustainable development, decision-making and evaluate efficiency performance. The combination of eco-efficiency with efficiency assessment allows to identify major inefficiencies and provides means to foster sustainability, through the efficient and effective material and energy use. Despite the available information for decision making, this proves to be a difficult task in the manufacturing industry, therefore, there is a real need to develop and use optimization techniques to enhance resource efficiency. In this context, and due to the lack of simple and integrated tools to assess and optimize resource efficiency, crossing the different environmental and economic aspects, arises the need to develop optimisations models, enabling support and optimize sustainable decision making process and identification of potential improvements. The optimisation method should provide robust knowledge to support decisionmaking, allow comparability of the results and consider a cost-saving approach to help set priorities. Moreover, the optimisation techniques should centre the process through design/configuration of the production system, without considering time, in order not to limit the physical agents.


Exploring the origins of local transport resistance and characterizing the oxygen transport resistances in the catalyst layer (RCL) are critical for cost reduction. In this paper, a comprehensive mesoscopic model for simulating coupled transport processes of oxygen and water vapor for different structural parameters under different operating conditions in reconstructed microstructures is proposed. The local transport resistance is calculated after achieving the limiting current density and the effective diffusivity of oxygen. The results demonstrate that RCL increases greatly with decreasing platinum loading (LPt) and the transport resistances in other components of the cell dominate for high-loadings. Both the reduced oxygen permeation coefficient in the ionomer thin-film and the adsorption resistance account for the origins of local transport resistance. The local transport resistance increases with the bare carbon ratio for a constant LPt and Pt/C ratio due to the decreased effective ionomer surface, and increases with the I/C ratio due to the increased ionomer thickness and decreased Knudsen diffusivity. Due to the presence of liquid water, a slight decrease followed by an increase of the local transport resistance versus relative humidity is obtained. The contribution of ionomer thin-films to RCL is more sensitive to liquid saturation compared with that of pores.


In order to improve the properties of thermomechanical pulp (TMP), the influences of the TEMPO (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidyl-1-oxyl radical)-mediated oxidation on recycled TMP properties were investigated, and the impacts of recycling process on TEMPO-mediated oxidized TMP properties were studied as well. The results showed that TEMPO-mediated oxidation is an effective way to enhance the recycled TMP inter-fiber bonding dependent properties due to the introduction of carboxylic acid groups onto pulp, while the oxidation had some negative impacts on the tear index, zero span tensile index, and brightness. The oxidation-recycling (O-R) process had remarkable adverse impacts on TMP compared with the recycling-oxidation (R-O) process. The tensile, burst, tear strengths, as well as the zero-span tensile strength dropped sharply when oxidized TMP was recycled, and the physical strength properties decreased with the increasing recycling times. The opacity was improved after the O-R treatment, although the O-R treatment had an adverse impact on the pulp brightness.


Neural fibrolipomatous hamartoma is a rare benign tumour commonly involving the median nerve. Other less frequently involved nerves include the ulnar, radial, brachial plexus, superficial peroneal nerve, inferior calcaneal nerve and median plantar nerve. Involvement of sural nerve has not been reported in the available literature so far. A three-year-old female child presented with a painless swelling over the posterolateral aspect of left leg with no associated motor or sensory deficits. Radiological investigations revealed a fat density lesion with interspersed neural element in the subcutaneous plane of the left leg. Histopathological examination of the excised specimen showed features of a fibrolipomatous hamartoma of the nerve. This report describes the occurrence of fibrolipomatous hamartoma in the sural nerve for the first time in the literature. This rare tumour should be considered in the differential diagnosis of such lesions.


Vegetation has a significant effect on the purifying processes in storm-water ponds. As pond hydrodynamics are also strongly affected by vegetation, it is necessary to understand flow and mixing processes in vegetated ponds for effective treatment design. In this paper the Residence Time Distribution (RTD) and related indices are discussed, and selected recent field and laboratory studies on vegetated ponds are reviewed. Selected RANS CFD (Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes Computational Fluid Dynamics) studies, which investigate pond geometry, are outlined. Those studies which investigate the effects of vegetation are divided into two types, first those which consider it as bed roughness or a retarding force, and second, those which consider it as a flow zone. The conclusions from the first approach are that it is sufficient to predict average hydraulic features for flood studies but insufficient for investigating mixing effects of vegetation. Recent publications have suggested that the second approach, i.e. considering vegetation as a porous media, may be more suitable. However, the most recent study highlighted certain limitations, as well as providing some preliminary suggestions for overcoming them. This discussion reinforces the need for further comprehensive research into this, and alternative, approaches.


Object detection is a critical problem for advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS). Recently, convolutional neural networks (CNN) achieved large successes on object detection, with performance improvement over traditional approaches, which use hand-engineered features. However, due to the challenging driving environment (e.g., large object scale variation, object occlusion, and bad light conditions), popular CNN detectors do not achieve very good object detection accuracy over the KITTI autonomous driving benchmark dataset. In this paper, we propose three enhancements for CNN-based visual object detection for ADAS. To address the large object scale variation challenge, deconvolution and fusion of CNN feature maps are proposed to add context and deeper features for better object detection at low feature map scales. In addition, soft non-maximal suppression (NMS) is applied across object proposals at different feature scales to address the object occlusion challenge. As the cars and pedestrians have distinct aspect ratio features, we measure their aspect ratio statistics and exploit them to set anchor boxes properly for better object matching and localization. The proposed CNN enhancements are evaluated with various image input sizes by experiments over KITTI dataset. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed enhancements with good detection performance over KITTI test set.


One method for validating a biosensor is through comparative assessment of the test sensor with a control sensor when both sensors are presented with the same inputs. In the case of adult pulse oximeter (SpO2) sensors, both sensors should ideally be placed on the same digit of the subject. However, at present, one SpO2 sensor interferes with another so that the two sensors are applied to two different digits, which may not be identical in SpO2 level. This article proposes a ring-shaped SpO2 sensor transfer standard that can be used on the same digit as the test sensor, based on the idea of timing, SpO2 is a slowly varying signal, while the two sensors can be gated to measure the same digit's SpO2 value very quickly. Hardware and software requirements for the transfer standard, and a statistical method for analyzing the data will be discussed. A method for the direct comparison of two SpO2 sensors using a "switch over" trial design will also be presented.


Binti's father is dying from AIDS, a disease that nobody in their town in Malawi dares name aloud. As Binti and her brother and sister slowly begin to understand what this means, they begin to realise too that not only is this what killed their mother, but that they could all be infected. But Binti's a fighter. She fought to become the child star in Malawi's most popular radio show and she's going to fight to overcome the fear and prejudice all around her. When the family are split up and sent to live with various scared and cruel relatives, Binti knows that it is up to her to reunite them. But her fight to do so means coming to a new understanding not only of herself but of human nature and realising that people are not always as they seem.


Throughout their long history, humans have worked hard to tame chance. They adapted to their uncertain physical and social environments by using the method of trial and error. This evolutionary process made humans reason about uncertain facts the way they do. Behavioral economists argue that humans' natural selection of their prevalent mode of reasoning wasn't wise. They censure this mode of reasoning for violating the canons of mathematical probability that a rational person must obey. This chapter challenges both parts of this ambitious claim. Based on the insights from probability theory and the philosophy of induction, I argue that a rational person need not apply mathematical probability in making decisions about individual causes and effects. Instead, she should be free to use common sense reasoning that generally aligns with causative probability. I also show that behavioral experiments uniformly miss their target when they ask reasoners to extract probability from information that combines causal evidence with statistical data. Because it is perfectly rational for a person focusing on a specific event to prefer causal evidence to general statistics, those experiments establish no deviations from rational reasoning. Those experiments are also flawed in that they do not separate the reasoners' unreflective beliefs from rule-driven acceptances. The behavioral economists' claim that people are probabilistically challenged consequently remains unproven.


Large-scale and reproducible manufacturing of scaffolds for tissue engineering applications will necessitate the adoption of methods relying on the processing of the biodegradable polymers directly from the melt. Such solventless processing will give rise to bulk and surface properties that will differ significantly from those generated upon processing from solution-based methods. Thus, detailed understanding of the microstructures that are developed during melt processing and the resulting surface/cell interactions is needed. Here, surfaces of melt-cast poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) were patterned to furnish membrane samples with a wide range of crystallinity and significant differences in surface topographies, ranging from highly crystalline (60%) with spherulitic protrusions at the surface to amorphous with nanoscale indentations. The PLLA membranes were used to culture in vitro mouse 3T3-Swiss albino fibroblast cells and osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 cells. The growth rates of 3T3 fibroblasts were significantly lower on highly crystalline PLLA membranes with spherulitic protrusions in comparison to crystalline PLLA without spherulitic protrusions and amorphous surfaces with 5-10-nm-deep indentations. However, the differences in the growth rates of osteoblast-like cells cultured on the PLLA membranes with different surface patterns were only marginally different.


Topography is an important control on hydrological processes. One approach to quantify this control is the topographic ln(a/tanβ) index. This index has become widely used in hydrology, but it utilizes a relatively small portion of the information contained in a digital elevation model (DEM). One potentially important feature not considered in the implementation of the ln(a/tanβ) index is the enhancement or impedance of local drainage by downslope topography. This effect could be important in some terrain for controlling hydraulic gradients. We propose a new way of estimating the hydraulic gradient by calculating how far downhill (Ld, [m]) a parcel of water must move in order to lose a certain amount of potential energy (d, [m]). Expressed as a gradient, tanαd = d/Ld, values tend to be lower on concave slope profiles and higher on convex slope profiles compared with the local gradient, tanβ. We argue that the parameter d controls the deviation of hydraulic gradient from surface slope. While we determine this subjectively, landscape relief, DEM resolution, and soil transmissivity should be considered at the selection of d. We found the downslope index values to be less affected by changes in DEM resolution than local slope. Three applications are presented where the new index is shown to be useful for hydrological, geomorphological, and biogeochemical applications.


The conceptual framework presented in this paper argues that basic nature of general medicine are in the "Interstices": spaces between, rather than within, the familiar boundaries of accepted biological or psychological or social structures, such as "doctor", "patient", "family", "health system", "symptoms "," beliefs "," time", "place", etc. "Interstice" here is understood both in the topographical, bio-psycho-social, and metaphoric senses of the term. It refers to a space of the living of people in societies; to the spaces of inclusion and exclusion of people from the production process and relationship; and it refers to the sharp boundaries of the conventional structures. The Interstices are concrete "event spaces". What exactly happens in the empty interstices of living organisms has not yet been investigated. These interstitial structures have a fundamental bio psychosocial importance and are recognized as the real basis for interdisciplinary research in medicine. The development of general medicine demands new ways of thinking about connections between different elements, and needs also new technologies to work with these connections. These spaces between boundaries are the appropriate places for potentialities to arise, to be creative, to produce novelties, to make bold thoughts. But, these interstices in which the academic discipline of general medicine live and develops are still very narrow. The biomedical and quantitative approaches are like two aircraft carriers that approach and barely leave a narrow gap between one and the other; however, in these gaps, in these clearings, is where general medicine lives, and from where it proposes an affirming, reflective, and transfiguring character of health care.


Rectal cancer (RC) is a common malignant tumor with high mortality. MR imaging plays an important role in treatment decision making of RC. Unfortunately, the contents (gas and feces) in the rectum often induce artifacts and thus negatively affect the depicting and staging of RC. We developed a new protocol for MR rectography using oral administration of iso-osmotic mannitol to distend lumen after bowel cleansing preparation. Fused MR rectography and high resolution diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) is then performed to facilitate detection and staging of RC. Our present technique can eliminate the effect of gas and feces on image quality, especially on DWI, and can achieve satisfactory bowel distention, lesion depicture and visualization of surgical planes. Fused high resolution DWI and MR rectography can be a promising technique to improve the accuracy of RC local staging.


Various types of protein kinase A (PKA) alterations have been observed in adrenocortical tumours and Carney complex (CNC). PKA is a heterotetramer of two regulatory and two catalytic subunits. The R1A and R2B proteins are the most abundant regulatory subunits in endocrine tissues. A decrease in R2B protein levels has been observed in adrenal adenoma, whereas tumours from patients with CNC display a decrease in R1A protein levels. Dysregulation of the balance between R1A and R2B may thus be involved in adrenal tumourigenesis. We investigated the impact of the differences in the balance of PKA subunits on cell growth using specific cAMP analogues. We assessed the effects of 8-chloroadenosine-cAMP (8Cl-cAMP), a site-selective activator of PKA R2B, in H295R adrenocortical cells. 8Cl-cAMP stimulated PKA activity, decreased R1A levels and increased R2B levels. It had no cytotoxic effects, initially stimulating DNA synthesis and then inducing apoptosis by disrupting G(2)/M progression. We observed an initial accumulation of cells in the S phase, translocation of cyclin A to the nucleus, CDK2 activation, sustained DNA synthesis and proliferating cell nuclear antigen accumulation. Cell cycle arrest in the G(2) phase was parallel with the accumulation of cyclin B and the inactivation of CDC2 kinase. The 8CPT-cAMP, which activates the R2B subunit, had similar effects. R2B silencing reduced the apoptosis induced by tumour necrosis factor alpha and transforming growth factor beta. Thus, R2B is a key regulator of proliferation/differentiation in H295R cell line along with the complex balance between the PKA subunits. Activation of PKA R2B and dysregulation of the R1A/R2B balance regulate cell cycle progression and apoptosis in adrenocortical cells by modulating cyclin production and cyclin-dependent kinase activities.


Recent years have witnessed the resurgence of knowledge engineering which is featured by the fast growth of knowledge graphs. However, most of existing knowledge graphs are represented with pure symbols, which hurts the machine's capability to understand the real world. The multi-modalization of knowledge graphs is an inevitable key step towards the realization of human-level machine intelligence. The results of this endeavor are Multi-modal Knowledge Graphs (MMKGs). In this survey on MMKGs constructed by texts and images, we first give definitions of MMKGs, followed with the preliminaries on multi-modal tasks and techniques. We then systematically review the challenges, progresses and opportunities on the construction and application of MMKGs respectively, with detailed analyses of the strength and weakness of different solutions. We finalize this survey with open research problems relevant to MMKGs.


A simple and sustainable production of nanoplatelet graphite at low cost is presented using carbon-based materials, including the recycled lead-graphite pencils. In this work, exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets (EGNs), ball-milled exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets (BMEGNs) and recycled lead-graphite pencils (recycled 2B), as well as thermally cured polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), are used to fabricate highly stretchable thermal-interface materials (TIMs) with good thermally conductive and mechanically robust properties. Several characterization techniques including scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed that recycled nanoplatelet graphite with lateral size of tens of micrometers can be reliably produced. Experimentally, the thermal conductivity was measured for EGNs, BMEGNs and recycled 2B fillers with/without the effect of ball milling. The in-plane thermal conductivities of 12.97 W/mK (EGN), 13.53 W/mK (recycled 2B) and 14.56 W/mK (BMEGN) and through-plane thermal conductivities of 0.76 W/mK (EGN), 0.84 W/mK (recycled 2B) and 0.95 W/mK (BMEGN) were experimentally measured. Anisotropies were calculated as 15.31, 15.98 and 16.95 for EGN, recycled 2B and BMEGN, respectively. In addition, the mechanical robustness of the developed TIMs is such that they are capable of repeatedly bending at 180 degrees with outstanding flexibility, including the low-cost renewable material of recycled lead-graphite pencils. For heat dissipating application in high-power electronics, the TIMs of recycled 2B are capable of effectively reducing temperatures to approximately 6.2 °C as favorably compared with thermal grease alone.


Abstract Here we review the potential of ILB 938 (IG 12132 – doi: 10.18730/60FD2), a unique faba bean accession originating from the Andean region of Colombia and Ecuador, maintained at ICARDA – International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, with resistance to multiple biotic and abiotic stresses and carrying some useful morphological markers. It has been used as a donor of leaf-related drought adaptation traits and chocolate spot (Botrytis fabae) resistance genes in faba bean breeding programmes worldwide. From generated populations of recombinant inbred lines, quantitative traits loci associated with these useful traits have been mapped. Other markers, such as a lack of stipule-spot pigmentation and clinging pod wall, show the presence of unusual changes in biochemical pathways that may have economic value in the future.


Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Lawson) needles cause abortions in pregnant cows. We examined pine needle consumption by cattle in 2 trials in eastern Montana. Trial 1 compared pregnant and open cows (n=4) from January to March 1989; trial 2 compared pregnant cattle (n=4) that received either 9 kg alfalfa hay head-1 day-1 or 1.4 kg alfalfa pellets head-1 day-1 from December 1989 to February 1990. Diets were estimated using both bite counts and fecal analysis. During trial 1, bite counts revealed pregnant and open cows consumed 45 and 42% of their grazing diets as pine needles (P>0.1). Fecal analysis showed that pregnant cows consumed more pine needles than did open cows (36% vs. 27%, respectively) (P<0.05). During trial 2, cattle consumed < 1% of their diets as pine needles. In trial 1 cattle consumed less pine litter and consumed more needles from trees as snow depth increased. Consumption of needles from trees increased as ambient temperature declined; no needles were consumed from trees when the minimum daily temperature exceeded -5 degrees C. During both trials, grazing times decreased as temperatures declined, and increased as snow depth and wind speed decreased. We conclude that weather is a major factor influencing needle consumption; other interrelated factors may be forage availability, snow cover, and grazing time. Pine needle consumption, and the risk of abortion, in pregnant cattle appears to be greatly diminished during mild winter weather.


PURPOSE
Congenital stationary night blindness is a nonprogressive retinal disorder manifesting as impaired night vision and is generally associated with other ocular symptoms, such as nystagmus, myopia, and strabismus. This study was conducted to further investigate the genetic basis of CSNB in a consanguineous Pakistani family.

METHODS
A consanguineous family with multiple individuals manifesting cardinal symptoms of congenital stationary night blindness was ascertained. All family members underwent detailed ophthalmic examination, including fundus photographic examination and electroretinography. Blood samples were collected and genomic DNA was extracted. Exclusion and genome-wide linkage analyses were completed and two-point LOD scores were calculated. Bidirectional sequencing of GNAT1 was completed, and quantitative expression of Gnat1 transcript levels were investigated in ocular tissues at different postnatal intervals.

RESULTS
The results of ophthalmic examinations were suggestive of early-onset stationary night blindness with no extraocular anomalies. The genome-wide scan localized the critical interval to chromosome 3, region p22.1-p14.3, with maximum two-point LOD scores of 3.09 at θ = 0, flanked by markers D3S3522 and D3S1289. Subsequently, a missense mutation in GNAT1, p.D129G, was identified, which segregated within the family, consistent with an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance, and was not present in 192 ethnically matched control chromosomes. Expression analysis suggested that Gnat1 is expressed at approximately postnatal day (P)7 and is predominantly expressed in the retina.

CONCLUSIONS
These data suggest that a homozygous missense mutation in GNAT1 is associated with autosomal recessive stationary night blindness.