Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a new and devastating disease with renal involvement that deserves an intense and collaborative research effort. Golmai et al.1 make use of classic autopsy with the modern modification of postmortem, fine-needle kidney biopsy. Autopsy was originally developed to investigate macroscopic, light-microscopic, postmortem, anatomic and histologic changes associated with disease. Standard autopsy is mildly time sensitive, with autolysis developing several hours after death. However, new developments in pathophysiologic diagnostics—protein, RNA, and DNA analyses—require faster sample handling and careful sample storage to prevent postmortem effects. Golmai et al.1 do not describe how long after death biopsies were performed, but state the majority of samples show signs of autolysis. This precludes protein, RNA, and most DNA analyses because we would be observing mostly postmortem effects. Similar to sepsis, COVID-19 microscopic changes in the kidney are limited, with most studies showing some acute tubular necrosis, which cannot fully explain AKI. A large proportion of renal failure in patients with COVID-19 and those with sepsis seems to be attributed to functional defects without major histologic changes. Therefore, modern protein and nucleic-acid techniques might shed some light on the underlying mechanisms driving renal failure. We have shown that kidney biopsies can be performed at the bedside within 1 hour after death, and that gene expression analyses are feasible.2,3 Mortality of patients with COVID-19 was shown to be higher in patients with AKI.4 Yet, the mechanisms driving renal failure in patients with COVID-19 still remain largely unknown. Therefore, we plead for more studies to investigate postmortem renal biopsy specimens taken rapidly after death to enable the use of modern molecular diagnostics, together with classic autopsy, to investigate mechanisms of AKI induced by COVID-19.


Sediment load materials is one of the key factors that determine the surface water quality, both of oceanic and river water, and it specifies water optical properties. Thus it provides a background for a plenty of applications and projects in the water and oceanography community. Landsat detects and classifies reflected solar energy from bodies on the earth's surface. Suspended sediments existing in water column have an optical influences. So that, Landsat images could detect suspended sediments concentration in such a water surface. In this study we have three main objectives to be achieved as; TSS Concentration maps generation in the Gaza Strip coastal zone, achieving analysis processes on TSS trend itself and TSS related coastal phenomenon, and investigation of the ability of Landsat images to detect TSS comprehensively in a wavy coastal zone. For this purpose two landsat TM5 images acquired in 1999 and 2010, one Landsat TM7 images acquired in 2003, and 2 Landsat Oli 8 images acquired in 2014 and 2015 were used for TSS mapping. In addition, 64 TSS in-situ tested samples were also to calculate a correlation equation between Digital Numbers - DN in each image pixels and TSS values in the ground data. All image analysis and remote sensing steps have been done in this study using Integrated Land and Water Information System - ILWIS software version ILWIS academic 3.3. Green and Red bands in all used Landsat images contained the highest linear correlation factors -R- for the images acquired in 1999, 2003, 2010, 2014, and 2015. Resulted correlation factors were higher by reducing time difference between acquisition time and sampling time. Generated maps showed that circulation in Gaza coastal area are counterclockwise, and it brings the sediments from Nile River Delta toward Gaza Strip.


We hypothesised that bradykinesia may be partly due to the failure of the corticomuscular system to engage in high frequency oscillatory activity in Parkinson's disease (PD). In healthy subjects such oscillations are evident in coherence between active muscles at 15–30 Hz. We therefore investigated the effects of therapeutic stimulation of the basal ganglia on this coherence and related it to changes in bradykinesia in the contralateral arm. Increases in coherence at 15–30 Hz and improvements in bradykinesia upon stimulation were correlated (r = 0.564, p < 0.001). This suggests that the basal ganglia modulate oscillatory activity in the corticomuscular system and that impairment of the motor system's ability to engage in synchronised oscillations at high frequency may contribute to bradykinesia in PD.


ABSTRACT In the 21st century, we live in a world packed with closed-circuit video cameras, facial recognition systems, radio frequency identification chips, electronic toll collectors, smartphones with location tracking, and widespread monitoring of our electronic communications. As deeply as the industrial revolution upended 20th century social norms and political structures, so too has modern information technology been a revolution, giving governments and large private corporations vast power to keep track of, manipulate, and potentially repress entire populations. China offers some examples in this area, but even democratically elected governments have shown a tendency to want to digitally profile and analyze their citizens without sufficient respect for individual privacy. And just as rampant industrialization had to be reined in to protect human rights and individual dignity, information technology and digital systems must be controlled to prevent abuse and exploitation. This "boundary setting" can come none too soon, as rapid advances in artificial intelligence allow an even greater ability to process and categorize the vast amounts of data generated by all our electronic devices.


Edible films have been widely used in food packaging. One of the basic materials of these edible films is starch. One potential source of starch is sorghum which contains 72% starch. However, generally starch-based edible film which contains amylopectin has some weaknesses such as being fragile, easily broken and less flexible. Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), a cellulose derivative product, is expected to improve the mechanical properties of starch-based edible film. The objective of this work is to study the physical properties of sorgum flour film and the effect of CMC as an additive in the characteristic of edible film biopolymers that produce sorghum flour. The study was started with the production of sorghum starch, and then synthesised with the addition of CMC starch (0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% w/w), and finally the mechanical characterisation and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis. The tensile test results showed that the addition of CMC has affected the tensile strength, elongation and elasticity. The lowest level of tensile strength was at 7.742 MPa at 0% of CMC concentration and the highest level was at 29.988 MPa with CMC concentration of 10%. The addition of CMC to the film also affected the elongation properties of the sorghum film. The lowest level of elongation of the film was 14% at 0% of CMC concentration and the highest one was 65% at 25% of CMC concentration. The addition of CMC also affected the elasticity of the sorghum film. The lowest elasticity level was 3.1 mm at 0% of CMC concentration and the highest level one was 5.2 mm at 25% of CMC concentration. Whereas, the FTIR analysis results showed that the addition of CMC did not form any new group, which means that the synthesis process occurred only physically.


We have investigated the effects of inhibiting the spontaneous activity of cultured rat myotubes on several representative enzymes of glycolytic and oxidative metabolism. The results presented demonstrate that contractile activity in the absence of nerves can regulate the amounts of these enzymes and indicate that muscle activity may partially control development of the metabolic types of muscle fibers. Control muscle cells have relatively high levels of glycolytic enzymes and low oxidative enzymes and metabolically most closely resemble fast glycolytic fibers. The divalent cation ionophore A23187 caused enzyme levels of the cultured cells to change towards those found in tonically contracting skeletal muscle fibers in vivo. The evidence presented suggests that calcium may mediate certain of the effects associated with muscle contraction on enzymes of energy metabolism.


The present study was devoted to elucidate the mode of action and histopathological effects of the spore delta-endotoxin complex of B.t. var aizawai on the larvae of the cotton leaf worm Spodoptera littoralis.The results obtained has clearly shown that the consequence of symptoms of infection could be divided in morphologically distinct four stages. Furthermore, the results of this investigation have indicated that the sequence of symptoms starts with cessation of feeding followed by movement sluggishness, vomiting and diarrheae, excessive sluggishness, complete paralysis and finally death of the insect. On the other hand, the histopathological effects of the endotoxin observed in the dissected insect fed on diet containing the toxin were followed periodically. The results have clearly demonstrated marked histopathological alterations in the midgut epithelium, layers and clumping of both exo-and endocuticle of the integument. Furthermore, the uptake of bacterial deltaendotoxin has caused a marked degeneration of the nerve cells of the fourth abdominal nerve ganglion. The nerve cells and fibers were partially destroyed. In addition a notable destruction and vacuolation of the fat body cells became evident and the fat tissues became soft and easily crushed as compared to those of the healthy insect.


Author(s): Kerr, Lisa A.; Andrews, Allen H.; Frantz, Brian R.; Coale, Kenneth H.; Brown, Thomas A.; Cailliet, Gregor M. | Abstract: The overall goals of this study were to (1) establish a chronological benchmark for bomb radiocarbon in the waters of southeast Alaska by determining radiocarbon levels in otoliths of the yelloweye rockfish (Sebastes ruberrimus), for which age was validated, (2) validate the age of quillback rockfish (S. maliger), bocaccio rockfish (S. paucispinis), cowcod (S. levis), and canary rockfish (S. pinniger) using the yelloweye rockfish radiocarbon chronology, (3) provide a basis for future age and growth studies of marine fishes in the northwest Pacific using the radiocarbon record, and (4) apply the technology to sharks (e.g. validate the age and ageing methodology of the shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus, and investigate its application to the white shark, Carcharodon carcharias).California Sea Grant funded publications that pre-date and resulted from this study are listed below. Please contact Allen H. Andrews at firstname.lastname@example.com, A.H., K.H. Coale, J.L. Nowicki, C. Lundstrom, Z. Palacz, E.J. Burton and G.M. Cailliet. 1999. Application of an ion-exchange separation technique and thermal ionization mass spectrometry to 226Ra determination in otoliths for radiometric age determination of long-lived fishes. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 56:1329–1338 (R/F-148)Andrews, A.H., G.M. Cailliet and K.H Coale. 1999. Age and growth of the Pacific grenadier (Coryphaenoides acrolepis) with age estimate validation using an improved radiometric ageing technique. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 56:1339–1350 (R/F-148)Andrews, A.H., G.M. Cailliet, K.H. Coale, K.M. Munk, M.M. Mahoney and V.M. O'Connell. 2002. Radiometric age validation of the yelloweye rockfish (Sebastes ruberrimus) from southeastern Alaska. Mar. Freshwater Res. 53:139–146 (R/F-148)Kerr, L.A., A.H. Andrews, B.R. Frantz, K.H. Coale, T.A. Brown and G.M. Cailliet. 2004. Radiocarbon in otoliths of yelloweye rockfish (Sebastes ruberrimus): a reference time series for the coastal waters of southeast Alaska. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 61:443-451.Stevens, M.M., A.H. Andrews, G.M. Cailliet, K.H. Coale, C.C. Lundstrom. 2004. Radiometric validation of age, growth, and longevity for the blackgill rockfish, Sebastes melanostomus. Fish. Bull. 102:711–722Andrews, A.H., E.J. Burton, L.A. Kerr, G.M. Cailliet, K.H. Coale, C.C. Lundstrom and T.A. Brown. 2005. Bomb radiocarbon and lead-radium disequilibria in otoliths of bocaccio rockfish (Sebastes paucispinis): a determination of age and longevity for a difficult-to-age fish. Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on Otolith Research and Application. Mar. Freshwater Res. 56:517–528Kerr, L.A., A.H. Andrews, B.R. Frantz, K.H. Coale, T.A. Brown, K. Munk and G.M. Cailliet. 2005. Age validation of quillback rockfish (Sebastes maliger) using bomb radiocarbon. Fish. Bull. 103(1):97–107Kerr, L.A., A.H. Andrews, G.M. Cailliet, T.A. Brown and K.H. Coale. 2006. Investigations of Δ14C, δ15N, and δ13C in vertebrae of white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) from the eastern Pacific Ocean. Environ. Biol. Fish. 77:337–353.Ardizzone, D.A., G.M. Cailliet, L.J. Natanson, A.H. Andrews, L.A. Kerr and T.A. Brown. 2006. Application of bomb radiocarbon chronologies to shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) age validation. Environ. Biol. Fish. 77:355–366.Andrews, A.H., L.A. Kerr, G.M. Cailliet, T.A. Brown, C.C. Lundstrom and R.D. Stanley. 2007. Age validation of canary rockfish (Sebastes pinniger) using two independent otolith techniques: lead-radium and bomb radiocarbon dating. Mar. Freshwater Res. 58:531–541


The objective of this paper is to analyze the influence of individual variables and some characteristics related to spatial mobility in regional labour markets on overeducation in Spain. With this aim, we use microdata from the Spanish Budget Family Survey to estimate a logit model for overeducation probability taking into account the problem of selection bias and the presence of data of different levels (individuals and territory). The obtained results permit us to conclude that the size of local labour markets and the possibility of extending the job search to other labour markets through commuting are relevant factors to explain overeducation in the Spanish labour market. In spite of the differences in terms of labour market institutions, our results are very similar to the ones obtained for other countries.


The control of androgen concentrations in the intraluminal fluids of the male reproductive tract is not well understood. The present experiments were performed to determine the effects of hypophysectomy, hypophysectomy plus testosterone (T), and hypophysectomy plus pregnenolone treatment on intraluminal androgen concentrations in the adult rat testis and epididymis. T and 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) concentrations were determined in the vascular, interstitial, and intraluminal compartments of the epididymis. Testicular and epididymal morphology also were examined under light microscopy. Hypophysectomy of at least 5 days duration significantly reduced T and DHT concentrations in serum, tissues, and intraluminal fluids of the reproductive tract. T replacement for 14 days, which produced peripheral T concentrations of 5 ng/ml, did not support intraluminal androgen concentrations in the seminiferous tubules equivalent to controls; rete testis androgen concentrations were similar to controls, however. Pregnenolone administration at 2 mg X rat-1 X day-1 for 14 days did not maintain spermatogenesis nor intraluminal T concentrations in the seminiferous tubules equivalent to controls; however, a low level of spermatogenesis continued when intraluminal and tissue androgen concentrations were maintained at 10-20% of controls by either the testosterone and pregnenolone treatments.


Loquat ( Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) is one of the most perspective trees with tasty fruits suitable for commercial production in Iran. However, self-incompatibility of most loquat cultivars makes it necessary to select good pollinizers in breeding and orchard establishment programs. Therefore, studies on pollen viability traits of cultivars and genotypes have been one of the main issues for loquat growers and breeders which are investigated in this study. The experiment was conducted in in vitro conditions for the identification of the pollen germination and longevity in some loquat genotypes for recognition of the best pollinizers. Pollens of twenty (20) genotypes were gathered and after three weeks storage in 0°C, their pollen germination, pollen tube growth rate and pollen longevity were tested in the in vitro medium. The experiment was carried out based on completely randomized design (CRD) and data were analyzed with SAS software. Significant differences were observed among the genotypes in pollen germination, pollen tube growth rate and pollen longevity. Finally, the best genotypes were selected for using in loquat orchard establishment and breeding programs in Iran. Key words : Loquat, in vitro, pollen germination, pollen tube growth, pollen longevity, breeding programs.


The fish Tilapia mossambica were exposed for 30 days to continuously illuminated black or white backgrounds. When compared with the controls the black-adapted fish showed multiplication of the melanophores with a maximal dispersion of the melanosomes. The white background induced blanching of the fish because of depletion of the melanophores and aggregation of the melanosomes. The treatment evoked major changes in the pars intermedia cells. Of these, the amphiphils were stimulated in the black-adapted and regressed in the white-adapted fish indicating that these cells secrete melanophore stimulating hormone. The cyanophils showed depressed activity in the black-adapted fish, but in the white-adapted animals they were stimulated. These alterations suggest the elaboration of a melanophore concentrating hormone by the cyanophils. Regressive effects were also recorded in the gonadotrops and gonads of the experimental T. mossambica.


Stochastic approaches are often used to simulate discrete fracture networks that are consistent with statistics obtained from field observations. However, classical stochastic methods do not account for fracture interactions to draw the geometry and the position of fractures. In this work, the tectonic history is considered. The fractures related to the oldest tectonic events are simulated first and others are simulated by order until the youngest tectonic events is considered. We use geomechanical consideration to define both a repulsion zone (constraint release zone) and an attraction zone (constraint accumulation zone) around each fracture. The implantation and the growth of each fracture are optimized considering the effect of neighboring fracture already simulated. Simulated discrete fracture network may also be constrained by secondary data such as micro seismic events or connectivity data.


The cytotoxicity of several antitumor drugs is enhanced by hyperthermia (HT). Using mouse Sarcoma‐180 (S‐180) tumors, the authors examined the effects of 5‐fluoroura‐cil (5‐FU) and a combined oral preparation of l‐(Gtetra‐hydrofuryl)‐5‐fluorouracil (FT) and uracil in a molar ratio of 1:4 (UFT), in combination with HT. The antitumor effect of 5‐FU was not enhanced significantly by HT. Growth inhibition by UFT plus HT was significantly greater than that by UFT alone, whereas inhibition by UFT alone was significantly greater than that by 5‐FU. The intracellular metabolism of 5‐FU and FT in whole homogenates of S‐180 cells, human tumor cell lines (SC‐2 and Lu‐99), and five fresh human tumor tissues also was investigated. Conversion of FT to 5‐FU, phosphorylation, and degradation of 5‐FU were assayed with [3H]FT or [3H]5‐FU, and the products were separated by thin‐layer chromatography. The conversion of FT to 5‐FU and the phosphorylation of 5‐FU were more rapid at 43°C than at 37°C, whereas the degradation of 5‐FU to 2‐fluoro‐β‐alanine remained unchanged. This acceleration of the active metabolism of FT and 5‐FU may be one explanation for the enhanced effect of UFT by HT. Cancer 1992; 70:1177–1182.


Static cold storage is the most prevalent method for renal allograft preservation. Several solutions have been designed to counteract the detrimental effects of cold ischemia and reperfusion. The aim of this study was to appraise the evidence for the currently available preservation solutions. We performed a systematic literature search using MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, the Transplant Library and trial registries. Inclusion criteria specified any comparative, prospective study for deceased donor renal allografts. Studies were assessed for methodological quality. The primary outcome was delayed graft function (DGF). Fifteen trials with a total of 3584 kidneys were included. Eurocollins was associated with a higher risk of DGF than University of Wisconsin solution (UW) in two randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and histidine–tryptophan–ketoglutarate (HTK) in two RCTs. UW was associated with an equal risk of DGF compared with Celsior in three RCTs and HTK in two RCTs. There was limited data regarding other comparisons and outcomes. The choice of preservation solution has an effect on the incidence of DGF, which might, in turn, affect long‐term outcomes. Both UW and HTK have lower rates of DGF than Eurocollins. There is no difference in the incidence of DGF with the use of Celsior, HTK and UW. These findings are supported by registry data.


In the light of the debate on the future of the European Union, a debate on new and better governance has started. One of the subjects of this debate is the Open Method of Coordination (OMC). It was initiated at the Lisbon European Council in 2000 as one of the ways to reach the strategic goals set for the EU at the same summit. Policy coordination was however applied in European policy- making before the Lisbon European Council. In the area of employment these activities had been operating for some years, and the OMC was created with the European Employment Strategy (EES) as a model. Now the OMC is also operating in the area of social inclusion policy, and a number of other policy areas. As its use is being extended, scholars as well as practitioners are studying it to determine its role and functions in EU governance. This thesis aims at examining the open method of coordination, in an effort to position it in the European governance structure and discuss if it can be a sign of an emerging new mode of European governance. Using a comparative approach, this thesis combines three methodologies; documentation analysis, interviews and case-studies. The analytical framework consists of existing modes of governance, as defined by Helen Wallace (2000). These are complemented with one more mode of governance. A discussion on governance in general and European governance in particular is also part of the analytical framework. The OMC is studied by its definition and is further discussed from the view of the different European institutions. Finally a case study of its application in employment policy and social inclusion policy is presented. These findings are then set in relation to the governance modes in the analytical framework, in order to define and explain the OMC. A discussion of the notions of democracy and legitimacy is also held. The conclusions hold that the OMC is an interesting mix of multi-level governance, intensive transgovernmentalism and policy coordination and benchmarking. It also has interesting features of the innovative mode of network governance. This concludes that the OMC does not only build on innovative governance, but is an interesting balance between multi-level and intergovernmental governance. It is also based on notions of legitimacy rather than democracy. Based on the findings in this thesis, the OMC should be seen as a sign of a new way of thinking about European governance. Its role should however not be exaggerated as most actors are very clear on it not being an alternative to ordinary Community action, and it should be seen as a complement rather than a substitute. The fact that the Convention on the future of Europe did not include the OMC into the draft constitutional treaty shows a somewhat ambivalent position towards it. It is concluded that the specific mix of governance features in the OMC is best served outside the treaty at this point.


Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.]
exhibits enormous genetic diversity in the global
germplasm collection. The pearl millet core collection
(~10% of the entire collection), with 2094
accessions, is still large for precise evaluation to
identify parents for a genetic improvement program.
A minicore collection of pearl millet comprising
238 accessions was constituted by using
data on 10 qualitative and 8 quantitative traits of
2094 core collection accessions. The hierarchical
cluster analysis of data using a phenotypic
distance matrix resulted in 136 clusters. A proportional
sampling strategy with 10% or a minimum
of one accession from each cluster was
used to form the minicore collection. The comparison
of data in the minicore and core collections
using various statistical parameters, such
as homogeneity of distribution for geographical
origin and frequency classes of qualitative traits,
means, median, within and between-accession
variances, diversity index, and phenotypic correlations,
indicated that almost the entire genetic
variation present in the core collection was captured
in the minicore collection. The possible
impact of high between- and within-accession
variability in pearl millet on maintenance of
genebank accessions is discussed. With its
greatly reduced size, the pearl millet minicore
collection can be used for precise evaluation of
traits of agronomic importance and biotic and
abiotic stresses as well as mapping with molecular
markers for identifi cation of trait-specifi c
germplasm and discovery of new genes.


74-year-old right-handed man with homonymous hemianopia Afrom an occipital stroke presented with an abrupt behaviour change. A neuropsychological examination revealed severe cognitive impairment, apathy, amnesia and paraphasia, without sensory or motor deficit. A head computed tomography scan showed no new lesions. A diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging scan of the head performed 10 days after the disease onset showed a strategic lacunar infarction in the left genu of the internal capsule (Figure, A, arrow). A computed tomography scan repeated 45 days after the disease onset showed the lacunar infarction (Figure, B, white arrow) and an old left occipital stroke (Figure, B, red arrow). The symptoms were unchanged at an 8month follow-up visit. This condition severs the connection of the anterior and inferior thalamic peduncles with the cingulate gyrus, amygdala, and prefrontal, orbitofrontal, insular, temporal and frontal cortex, and manifests as an abrupt behaviour change.


The relationship between nationalism and the rule of law has been largely neglected by scholars despite the fact that separately, they have often captured public discourse and have emerged as critical concepts for the social sciences. This book provides the first systematic account of this relationship. The main focus of the book is to develop an analytical framework for understanding the interactions of nationalism and the rule of law by focusing on the domains of citizenship, transitional justice, and international justice. The book engages these insights further in a detailed empirical analysis of three case studies from the former Yugoslavia. The author argues that while the tensions and contradictions between nationalism and the rule of law have become more apparent in the post–Cold War era, they can also be harnessed for productive purposes. In exploring the role of law in managing and transforming nationalism, the book emphasizes the deliberative character of legal processes and offers an original perspective on the power of international law to reshape public discourse, politics, and legal orders.


Sperm transport through and distribution within the anterior reproductive tract were evaluated at either 2 or 22 h after artificial insemination in ewe lambs at first (1E; n = 15) or third (3E; n = 14) estrus and in mature (MAT; n = 12) ewes. Each ewe was inseminated immediately upon detection of estrus with 7.5 x 10(8) progressively motile sperm placed into the external os cervix. Ewes were hysterectomized at either 2 or 22 h after insemination. Sperm were recovered from the uterus, isthmi, and ampullae by flushing with sterile .9% saline. The distribution of sperm recovered from the uterus, isthmus, and ampulla did not differ (P > .10) among 1E, 3E, and MAT ewes at either 2 or 22 h. However, there was a tendency (P = .08) for more sperm to be recovered from the anterior reproductive tract in 3E and MAT ewes than from that in 1E ewes. There was a time of hysterectomy x anatomical segment interaction (P < .05) for percentage of sperm recovered of the total number of sperm in the inseminate because more sperm were recovered from the isthmus and ampulla at 22 h than at 2 h after insemination. Percentages of 1E, 3E, or MAT ewes from which sperm were recovered from the anterior reproductive tract did not differ (P > .10). However, sperm were recovered from the oviducts in a greater (P < .05) percentage of ewes at 22 h after insemination than at 2 h.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Objective: This is the first report of successful allograft mosaicplasty treatment of a large osteochondral lesion of the knee caused by a blast fragment sustained during combat operations. The patient was able to return to active duty following rehabilitation. Methods: An active-duty infantryman sustained an osteochondral lesion of the medial femoral condyle caused by a metallic fragment of an explosively formed projectile. Initial treatment consisted of removal of the foreign body and primary closure. The patient continued to experience pain, mechanical symptoms, and repeated effusions after initial nonoperative treatment. Allograft mosaicplasty of the lesion utilizing two 18-mm-diameter fresh allograft osteochondral plugs was performed at 6 months post-injury. Results: At 2-year follow-up, the patient remains on active duty with marked improvement in symptoms. Two years postoperatively, his outcome scores are 72 of 100 on the Western Ontario and McMaster University osteoarthritis scoring index (WOMAC) and 60 of 100 on the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS). His follow-up x-rays and MRI demonstrate intact articular cartilage and subchondral bone incorporation. Conclusion: Penetrating injuries to joints are commonplace in the battlefield environment. Combat injuries to the knee are frequently associated with articular cartilage injury. While numerous cartilage restoration techniques have been used with success for the treatment of osteochondral injuries to the femoral condyles, no published reports describe the use of allograft mosaicplasty in this location for open, penetrating injuries with focal cartilage loss. This is the first documented use of allograft mosaicplasty for a traumatic osteochondral defect of the medial femoral condyle caused by a metallic projectile. The patient was able to return to active duty following rehabilitation. We demonstrate a high level of functioning is possible following allograft mosaicplasty of a large osteochondral lesion caused by penetrating ballistic trauma.


Accurate methods for the solution of the migration of zero‐offset seismic records have been developed. The numerical operations are defined in the frequency domain. The source and recorder positions are lowered by means of a phase shift, or a rotation of the phase angle of the Fourier coefficients. For applications with laterally invariant velocities, the equations governing the migration process are solved very accurately by the phase‐shift method. The partial differential equations considered include the 15 degree equation, as well as higher order approximations to the exact migration process. The most accurate migration is accomplished by using the asymptotic equation, whose dispersion relation is the same as that of the full wave equation for downward propagating waves. These equations, however, do not account for the reflection and transmission effects, multiples, or evanescent waves. For comparable accuracy, the present approach to migration is expected to be computationally more efficient than fini...


Unlike manufacturing processes, knowledge-intensive projects are often iterative, stochastic, and collaborative. In this paper, we study how contractual arrangements affect the work dynamics between a vendor and a client in finite-deadline collaborative projects. We consider a project that has been disambiguated and needs to be executed. We show that the client and the vendor should both exert high effort when the project is near completion, i.e., either when the project has reached a high state or when there is limited time left until the deadline. Otherwise, only one of them needs to exert high effort. When efforts are not contractible, i.e., with double moral hazard, the dynamics of collaboration depend on the contractual arrangement: Reward-sharing contracts yield suboptimal output and give rise to free-riding; fixed-fee completion bonuses make the vendor exert high effort only when the project has reached a high state; and with time-and-materials contracts, the vendor attempts to either shirk work or creep the project scope. Despite these shortcomings, our analysis reveals that simple contracts may perform well, but that they must be judiciously chosen based on the project characteristics.


may be a guide, in other cases. They show what a large angle can thus-be overcome, and the almost daily improvement obtained by orthoptic training after the operation. My only regret is that I did not have-a photograph of the children taken before the operation, s that I could have another taken afterwards. In his paper of May, 1944, J. A. Magnu's states that his case had little or no power of abduction after the operation, but in my first case the child has developed this power, and it seems possible that the second may also do' so. As regards the advisability of recessing the internal rectus in these cases, this point must be left to the individual judgment of the particular surgeon, who should base his conclusions on the synoptophore readings taken beforethe operation. For myself, I am far from convinced that an advancement should kbe ever performed without a recession of the opposing muscle, though the recession may have to be only part of the way 'between the insertion and the equator.


Reduction kinetics of stainless steel slag in iron bath smelting reduction was studied at the temperature of 1500°C ~ 1650°C. It was concluded that the reduction process consisted of two parts. That is to say smelting reduction was controlled by stainless steel slag melting initially and by interface reaction later. In order to increase smelting reaction rate, the melting point of slag should be decreased at the first stage and adjust the liquidity of slag at later stage. Smelting reaction rate will be accelerated by means of optimize the slag content. The optimal reduction result that all most all of the chromium in slag been recovered was obtained in temperature was 1500°C, basicity of slag was 1.0~1.2, the value of Al2O3+MgO was 25%.


Among the elements that are used to make the economical-financial analysis of a firm, we can mention ratios, which offer a wide range of possibilities to determine the situation of the company in a particular moment, as well as its evolution in time, and its position com-pared with other firms. Crisp ratios are not able to accurately explain the problems that insurance companies face because of the degree of uncertainty some of the estimations present and the lack of information. In this paper we analyze IRIS ratios used for the elementary insurance and we propose the use of triangular fuzzy numbers for the treatment of the non-crisp ones. Moreover, we set the criteria to compa-re fuzzy ratios so defined within the ran-ges considered acceptable in the in-ternational market, which allows to rank firms and form affinity groups.


In a changing scenario, employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment to an automotive industry is of highly importance. Organizations have to perform at their best in this competitive environment. The aim of this paper is to explore the relationship between employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment. The research establishes a framework to deal with the employees to make satisfied in his job and to strengthen employee commitment to an organization that is undergoing change and to achieve the profitability of the organization. A questionnaire based survey of 215 employees of four different automotive industries in India was conducted. The results of this study showed that leader-member relations, personality traits, employee training have significant and positive relationship among different variables of employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Further implications are discussed in terms of discussion and further researches.


Juan Gil-Albert's (Alcoy, Spain, 1906) second book of poems Misteriosa Presencia: Sonetos was printed in Madrid in 1936, but its distribution was aborted by the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. After the war, GilAlbert was forced to exile himself to France and Mexico, while his poetic voice was silenced in Francoist Spain. His early production would only be reprinted in 1972, within the famous anthology Fuentes de la constancia. Therefore, the influence of his 1936 homosexual sonnets on his contemporaries must have been very marginal; and yet, there is little doubt that other homosexual poets of this generation, including Luis Cernuda, must have been familiar with some version of them. Modern readers of Misteriosa Presencia will discover in the book not only one of the most complete and articulated homoerotic collections of its time, but also a prelude to a panoply of homoerotic themes that would be fully developed in Gil-Albert's later works. This paper sets out to use Lee Edelman's concept of homographesis to study the modes of representation of the homosexual voice, its modes of appropriation of the other, and the literary topics associated with this type of love. Some of the sonnets contained in Misteriosa Presencia are analysed in depth.


The aim of this study was to determine the effects of different brine concentrations on some properties of Turkish white cheese. Cheeses made from pasteurized milk (65°C for 30 min) were ripened in 11, 14 and 17 g 100 ml NaCl for 90 days at 7±1°C. Some physicochemical and biochemical analyses were carried out during storage time. The effects of brine concentrations on total solids, protein, ash, salt, pH, and WSN values were found to be significant (P<0.05). On the contrary, fat, lipolysis, TCA-SN and PTA-SN values of the cheese samples were not significantly affected by the brine concentrations used. On the other hand, the values of protein, ash, salt, pH, lipolysis, WSN, TCA-SN and PTA-SN of the experimental cheeses were significantly (P<0.05, P<0.01) affected by storage time, while the effect of storage period on total solids and fat contents was found to be insignificant (P>0.05).


Aims and background Carcinoids are infrequent neoplasms arising from neuroendocrine cells. Due to blurred symptoms and the presence of equivocal diagnostic findings, these tumors are sometimes misdiagnosed. Therefore, increased rates of false neuroendocrine tumors represent an emerging problem in clinical practice. Our aim is to alert clinicians on this matter by supplying them with useful warnings. Methods In the specialized neuroendocrine tumor study Center Centro di Riferimento per lo Studio e la Cura dei Carcinoidi e dei Tumori Neuroendocrini (Ce.Ri.Ca), some patients highly suspected to have a neuroendocrine tumor have been recognized as having false neuroendocrine tumors. The related clinical and instrumental findings leading to a previous wrong neuroendocrine tumor diagnosis are reported. Results From July 2006 to December 2008, 88 consecutive cases of neuroendocrine tumors (Nets) were referred at Ce.Ri.Ca. In the former group, 8 cases of false Nets were discovered while in the remaining 80 cases a correct Net diagnosis was carried out. Watchful differential diagnoses and skill appraisal of laboratory investigations resulted in: chronic atrophic gastritis with enterochromaffin-like cell hyperplasia (4 cases), estrogen-deprivation syndrome (1), hypochondriac disorder (1), metabolic syndrome (1), and sarcoidosis (1). Conclusions Neuroendocrine tumors are still relatively known clinical entities. To discriminate false neuroendocrine tumors from neuroendocrine tumors requires a good expertise and a large daily practice with the disease. Good knowledge and skillfulness in identifying biochemical alterations and false radiological positive results could avoid both patient inconvenience and very expensive workup. The importance of a multidisciplinary approach in specialized centers is emphasized.


Like many immigrants during the mid-nineteenth century, Irishman Richard D. Dunphy served his new country in the Civil War, albeit not entirely willingly. The wounds he sustained during the war were grave, including the loss of both arms. He received some reward for his sacrifice from his country: a monthly pension, a Medal of Honor, and a notability lacked by other faceless coal heavers. As with other great conflicts, the war played a pivotal role in the lives of its participants, especially in the case of Richard Dunphy. [excerpt]


Purpose of review This work reviews recent research regarding treatment of fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common inherited cause of intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder. The phenotype includes anxiety linked to sensory hyperarousal, hyperactivity, and attentional problems consistent with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and social deficits leading to autism spectrum disorder in 60% of boys and 25% of girls with FXS. Recent findings Multiple targeted treatments for FXS have rescued the phenotype of the fmr1 knockout mouse, but few have been beneficial to patients with FXS. The failure of the metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 antagonists falls on the heels of the failure of Arbaclofen's efficacy in children and adults with autism or FXS. In contrast, efficacy has been demonstrated in a controlled trial of minocycline in children with FXS. Minocycline lowers the abnormally elevated levels of matrix metalloproteinase 9 in FXS. Acamprosate and lovastatin have been beneficial in open-label trials in FXS. The first 5 years of life may be the most efficacious time for intervention when combined with behavioral and/or educational interventions. Summary Minocycline, acamprosate, lovastatin, and sertraline are treatments that can be currently prescribed and have shown benefit in children with FXS. Use of combined medical and behavioral interventions will likely be most efficacious for the treatment of FXS.


Objective
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is responsible for some thromboembolic events. Asymmetrical dimethylarginine(ADMA) increases in atrial fibrillation(AF) animals with dysfunction of endothelium, but its role in pro-thrombotic state of AF was unknown. The aim of our study was to explore the role of ADMA in predicting the pro-thrombotic state in AF and to reveal its mechanism.

Methods
One hundred and thirty-eight patients in the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, from 2010 to 2012, were enrolled (persistent atrial fibrillation group, PAF, n=80; paroxysmal atrial fibrillation group, Paf, n=30; sinus rhythm, SR, n=28). Plasma ADMA levels were detected by ELISA-kits. CHADS2 and CHA2DS2-VASc scores were estimated for each patient.14 Beagles (pacing group, n=8; sham group, n=6) were subjected to rapid atrial pacing (RAP). ADMA level was detected after 4 weeks of RAP.

Results
ADMA level was elevated significantly in patients with atrial fibrillation especially in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation, and showed a significant linear correlation to CHADS2 and CHA2DS2-VASc score. With ADMA, ROC area under the curve was 0.865 in CHADS2 score ≥2 and was 0.959 in CHA2DS2-VASc score ≥2 (P<0.001 respectively). After 4 weeks of RAP, ADMA level was elevated compared to sham group and before operation. ADMA showed a linear correlation with atrial fibrillation susceptibility(r=0.686, P=0.007).

Conclusions
ADMA levels are elevated both in AF patients and RAP beagles. ADMA correlates with stroke risk concerning with CHADS2/CHA2DS2-VASc score. ADMA may become a new biomarker for predicting pro-thrombotic risk in AF.

Key words:
Atrial fibrillation; Stroke; Thromboembolism; Asymmertricaldimethylarginine


The specimens used in the present tests were cut from an actual airplane wing of the stressed-skin type. The specimens thus obtained were not representative of the usual type of laboratory specimens because the stiffeners were not exactly parallel nor evenly spaced and, in one case, the skin consisted of pieces of sheet of different thicknesses. The test data obtained indicate that the buckling strain of stiffened curved sheet can be computed with reasonable accuracy by the equation given by Wenzek. The ultimate loads of the specimens when tested as flat sheet were within +/-11 percent of the product of the compressive yield strength and the cross-sectional area of the stiffeners. A rivet spacing equal to 98 times the sheet thickness was a source of weakness, and rivet spacings up to 36 times the sheet thickness appeared satisfactory.


In order to find the wavenumber by deploying four magnetometers at edges of the large thin film solar cell (~50m each) of the Solar Sail (Trojan asteroid exploration mission), we are developing an ultra-slim and light magnetometer integrated with signal processing circuits of low power and noises. One of the problems for installing our magnetometers is that the signal process circuits are too large and heavy to deploying into the solar cell. Therefore we developed the 5mm-chip (ASIC; Application Specific Integrated Circuit) for the analog parts of our signal process circuits to achieve both weight saving and downsizing. This magnetometer is planed to perform a flight proof by SS-520-3 sounding rocket experiment. In our presentation, we will show the result of experiment tests, the sensitivity, offset and noise derived by the calibration test at Kakioka geomagnetic observatory, and the time delay of this magnetometer derived by the timing test. PCG23-P08 JpGU-AGU Joint Meeting 2017


Introduction: To date, no specific therapeutic drug has been approved to target SARS-CoV-2. Hence, it remains a major challenge to decide what potential therapeutic regimens to treat COVID-19 patients. This study aims to investigate curcumin and virgin coconut oil (VCO) effects on cytokine levels (IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, IL-18, TNF-α, and IFN-β) in COVID-19 patients. Methods: This study was a single-center, controlled trial with a parallel Arm or a Randomized Clinical trial design. A total of sixty COVID-19 patients admitted to the Universitas Sebelas Maret Hospital, Surakarta, Indonesia, were divided into two groups. The first group, consisting of 30 patients, was treated with Azithromycin 500 mg + Oseltamivir 2×75 mg + Hydroxychloroquine 400 mg/day for 5 days. The second group, comprising 30 patients, was treated with Azithromycin 500 mg + Oseltamivir 2×75 mg + Hydroxychloroquine 400 mg/day for 5 days, added with VCO 30 mL and curcumin 3×1 g/day for 21 days. The cytokine profiles of the serum samples were analyzed by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) on days 1, 14, and 21. Results: Our study showed that the second group had a significant reduction in IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, TNF-α, and IFN-β levels after being treated with standard therapy added with curcumin and VCO on day 21 (p<0.05). Conclusion: These results su ested that curcumin and VCO mi ht benefit the treatment of COVID-19 atients


BACKGROUND
The construct of aggression is central to work with violent offenders, but it is a broad construct that can be assessed by many different methods and instruments. Its measurement may, however, have profound implications for treatment planning. We need more knowledge about how different methods for assessing aggression relate to each other.

AIMS
Our aims were to investigate, first, the convergence and concordance of two methods of assessing aggression: self-report and clinical assessment and, second, to determine the degree to which aggression can be discriminated from neighbouring constructs, such as hostility, anger and criminal behaviour.

METHODS
A nationally representative Swedish cohort of 269 18-25-year-old incarcerated violent offenders was recruited. Data were collected through structured self-reports of aggression, anger and hostility traits (Aggression Questionnaire-Revised Swedish Version) and clinical assessments of lifetime prevalence of aggressive and antisocial behaviours (Life History of Aggression). Criminal records were retrieved from the Swedish National Crime Register.

RESULTS
Self-ratings and clinician-ratings of aggression were highly convergent and concordant, especially regarding physical aggression. Violent offence records were weakly, if at all, correlated, while self-reported hostility was weakly, or not at all, correlated with self-reported or with clinician-rated aggression. There was an inverse relationship between aggression and criminal records of sexual offences.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
Even though a combination of self-reports and clinician-ratings may provide a better overview of an individual's aggressive behaviours, our results indicate that they yield such similar information that either alone would be sensitive enough. Our results do not, however, support using one of these methods as a proxy for the other since choice of measure and accepted concordance between them depend on the context within which the assessment is conducted. We reconfirmed that official records of violent offending are unlikely to be adequate measures of outcome after interventions to reduce aggressive behaviours.


: Long-Evans rats were intubated with 0.3 or 1.0 mg/kg of triethyltin sulfate (TET) or 0.3 mg/kg of trimethyltin hydroxide (TMT) from postnatal day 3-29. 1.0 mg/kg of TMT was given on alternate days beginning on postnatal day 3. Learning and memory were assessed in an automated radial-arm maze when the rats were 180-200 days old. With this maze accuracy and activity data can be collected simultaneously. TET or TMT treatment resulted in an increase in the number of days required to adequately perform and radial-arm maze task, and a transient deficit in accuracy. However, the most pronounced effect in both TET and TMT-treated animals was hyperactivity which became manifest on the second day of testing and persisted throughout the remainder of testing.


Potato is a key food and cash crop in Uganda, mainly produced by smallholder farmers in the eastern and southwestern highlands of the country. This study assessed different factors influencing the choice of storage technologies by Ugandan potato farmers. Data were collected from 240 potato farmers using structured questionnaires in key potato producing districts in eastern and southwestern Uganda. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and the multinomial probit regression model. Results indicate that potato farmers have limited access to credit and adequate extension services. Furthermore, most of the potato production is sold immediately after harvest. Although significant quantities of potato are stored as food for the household and seed for the next season, very few farmers store ware potato for later sale at a higher price. The farmer households generally use light storage technologies designed for seed storage, while dark stores required for proper ware potato storage are rarely used. Results for factors influencing the choice of storage technologies were mixed, and the extent and direction of influence varied with technology. The predominant factors that positively influenced the choice of dark storage technologies or a combination of different storage technologies included monthly income from sources other than potato sales, access to storage management advice and access to credit. This study recommends enhancing farmers' access to adequate extension services and credit to promote good ware potato storage conditions.


High performance computing has enabled the creation of high-resolution, continental-scale models such as the NOAA's National Water Model (NWM) which predicts hourly stream ow at 2.7 million locations in the conterminous US using the National Hydrographic Dataset Plus (NHDPlus) as the reference geofabric. is high resolution model provides a novel opportunity to bridge the gap between the scale of process research (at hillslope to headwater catchment scale) and the operational scale of river basins where predictions are needed for water resources management and hazard. We present a study design that uses the NWM in a hypothesis-testing (i.e., rejectionist) framework to assess process representations included in both "physically based" models, such as ParFlow-CLM, and conceptual models, such as the USGS Precipitation Runo Modeling System. An information theoretic framework is proposed to assess the ability of either of these approaches to extract information from available data to make reliable predictions of water transport in the subsurface and surface.


Many hospitals are still setting up acute stroke thrombolysis services, often delayed by fears over workload. However, there are few data on how many patients require urgent assessment before one is treated. We prospectively studied all referrals to the 24-hour stroke thrombolysis service, February 2009 - January 2010, in Southampton General Hospital. 128 patients were referred to the thrombolysis team and 20 received thrombolysis. The most common reasons for treatment exclusion were: stroke severity (37%), time from onset (26%) or CT findings (15%). Approximately six patients required urgent assessment by the thrombolysis team for every one treated. These data are crucial to inform service planning.


A new checklist of Plecoptera of the Czech Republic was prepared based on the compilation of published faunistic data from 1420 sites (143 references) and unpublished data from 775 sites collected during the past 20 years. The history of Plecoptera research in the Czech Republic is briefl y summarized. Altogether 95 species are recorded from the Czech Republic (85 species from Bohemia, 81 species from Moravia). In comparison with the previous checklist of Plecoptera, 13 species were added, 8 previously mentioned species were not confirmed, and some misidentifi cations are discussed. The distribution of species in eight districts based on main river basins, and species frequencies of occurrence and ranges of altitude and stream order of their localities are presented. Evaluation of data on species distribution from the past century enabled re-evaluation of threatened species. The new red list includes 5 regionally extinct, 6 critically endangered, 3 endangered, 10 vulnerable and 12 near threatened species. A special attention is paid to 8 species described from the present territory of the Czech Republic. Their type material, type localities and nomenclature are given and discussed. Nemoura monticola Rauser, 1965, syn. nov., is placed as a junior synonym of Nemoura fusca Kis, 1963.


Chytridiomycosis is an emerging disease of amphibians
caused by the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis
(hereafter Bd) (Fisher et al. 2009). Chytridiomycosis
is thought to be contributing significantly to global
amphibian declines (Berger et al. 1998; Stuart et al. 2004;
Skerratt et al. 2007). In the Neotropics the disease has
spread in a wave-like fashion (Lips et al. 2008), and arrival
at previously pathogen-free sites in this region results in
mass mortalities and extinctions (Lips et al. 2008). Little
is known, however, about the effects of Bd after population
declines have occurred. In some places, Bd persists
where it has invaded (Retallick et al. 2004). Thus, amphibians
may evolve resistance to this novel pathogen
such that the negative effects of Bd are attenuated over
time.
Murray et al. (2009) address this very important question.
They used a multistate mark-recapture model to estimate
survival of Bd-infected and Bd-free frogs (Litoria
pearsoniana) in Queensland, where Bd has been present
for 30 years. The use ofmark-recapturemethods is a clear
improvement over earlier studies in which survival was
estimated but did not account for imperfect detectability
of animals in field studies (Faustino et al. 2004; Schmidt
2004). Murray et al. found that Bd causes a substantial
reduction in survival. This matters because a reduction
in adult survival can lead to amphibian population declines
(Schmidt et al. 2005) and because it implies that
Bd remains a dangerous pathogen, such that amphibian
populations are unlikely to recover from population declines
caused by Bd for many decades, if ever.
Here, I point out that the apparent monthly survival estimates
ofMurray et al. are likely confoundedwith perma-
Paper submitted November 11, 2009; revised manuscript accepted December 14, 2009.
nent emigration from the study site (Sandercock 2006). If
infected and uninfected frogs have different emigration
probabilities, then one would obtain different apparent
survival estimates from the mark-recapture analysis for
Bd-positive and Bd-negative frogs.


We reviewed the clinical findings in 55 patients with cerebellar degeneration associated with the anti-Yo antibody (an anti-Purkinje cell antibody identified in this study by histochemistry and Western blot). The patients were all women, 26 to 85 years old. Fifty-two of them proved to have malignancies, almost exclusively breast or gynecologic cancers and usually confined to the involved organs and local lymph nodes. One woman had adenocarcinoma of the lung, and in three no malignancy has yet been identified. In 34 of 52 patients with cancer, the neurologic syndrome preceded the diagnosis of cancer and in many led to that diagnosis. Patients subacutely developed a pancere-bellar disorder that was substantially disabling in most, with 37 of 48 assessable patients being unable to walk or sit unassisted. Laboratory evaluation revealed lymphocytic pleocytosis in 35 patients, with eventual cerebellar atrophy on imaging studies in seventeen. The disabling neurologic syndrome generally did not respond to treatment, but the cancer was often successfully treated. The presence of the anti-Yo antibody in patients with cerebellar symptoms warrants an aggressive approach to diagnosis and treatment of the underlying cancer, as many are curable at the time neurologic symptoms develop.


The Internet-of-Things is an open source architecture for enabling information sharing between globally connected devices, which existing system do not offer. However, the Internet-of-Things induces the single points of failure and long communication delay. Thus, the Sensible Things platform is proposed, which is a fully distributed system. So far, it has produced components to share sensor and actuator information on the Internet. In the past, manual work was problematic since physical access could be difficult on remote locations. There were also difficulties to detect if the devices were actually working properly. Therefore, the thesis mainly focuses on the functionality which is able to check status, update software automatically and restart the devices with new software. The thesis first analyzes the mechanism of the automatic updating and describes the methods for it. The automatic updates of demonstrator is implemented in My-Eclipse. Finally, this paper describes the evaluation of the automatic updating in Sensible Things platform.


A new nickel-base superalloy Ni-25Cr-20Co-0.5Mo-2Nb-1.7Ti-0.8Al has just developed by Special Metals Corporation in the application to ultra-supercritical boilers with steam temperatures up to 700°C. The structure stability of the alloy was studied in detail in combination of SEM, TEM, XRD and micro-chemical phase analyses. Experimental results show that the most important structure instability is as follows: 1) g¢ coarsening; 2) g¢ to h transformation; 3) G phase formation. The phase computation by means of Thermo-Calc has been adopted in chemical composition modification for structure stability improvement. Two suggested new modified alloys in adjustment of the Al and Ti contents and in control of Si level were designed and melted for experimental study. These 2 modified new alloys exhibit more stable structure at 760oC long time aging. A bright perspective has been shown for the development of this new alloy in the near future.


A two-phase model is proposed for describing the dynamics of a fluidized bed reactor used for polypropylene production. In the proposed model, the fluidized bed is divided into an emulsion phase and bubble phase where the bubble phase flow pattern is assumed to be plug flow and the emulsion phase is considered to be perfectly mixed. Similar previous models consider the reaction in the emulsion phase only. In this work the contribution of reaction in the bubble phase is considered and its effect on the overall polypropylene production is investigated. The kinetic model combined with hydrodynamic model in order to develop a comprehensive model for gas-phase propylene copolymerization reactor. Simulation profiles of the proposed model were compared with those of well mixed model for the emulsion phase temperature. The simulated temperature profile showed a lower rate of change compared to the previously reported models due to lower polymerization rate. Model simulation showed that about 13% of the produced polymer comes from the bubble phase and this considerable amount of polymerization in the bubbles should not be neglected in any modeling attempt.


In vitro activity of fosfomycin, compared with other antibiotics used for urinary tract infections (UTI), against extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical isolates obtained from UTIs, was determined. The activity of fosfomycin, co-trimoxazole, ciprofloxacin, nitrofurantoin, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and gentamicin against 71 ESBL-producing E. coli clinical isolates and 13 ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae clinical isolates obtained from UTI was studied by the agar-dilution method or E-test. E. coli isolates produced mainly CTX-M type ESBL (76.1%), especially CTX-M 14 (56.3%). K. pneumoniae isolates produced most predominantly SHV-type ESBL (92.3%), mainly SHV-2 (76.9%). Gentamicin (4.4%), fosfomycin (5.6%) and nitrofurantoin (5.6%) showed the lowest resistance proportions against E. coli. Co-trimoxazole and ciprofloxacin (7.7%) showed the lowest resistance proportions against K. pneumoniae.


There is currently a great deal of interest in the development of vaccines using purified recombinant protein antigens. For practical and scientific reasons, it would be advantageous if these vaccines could be administered orally. This is esssential for stimulating widespread immunity at the mucosal surfaces where most pathogens are encountered and, as the success of the oral polio vaccine shows, this can also protect against systemic infection. Furthermore, oral immunisation is one of the few effective means allowing passive transfer of immunity from mother to infant via milk. The poor immunogenicity of purified soluble proteins, their inability to induce class I MHC-restricted CTL responses and the systemic tolerance induced by their oral administration are major obstacles to the development of synthetic oral vaccines. Thus, there is a need for well characterised vaccine vectors which will circumvent these difficulties and allow soluble protein antigens to be immunogenic when administered orally. Immune stimulating complexes (ISCOMS) are lipophilic, cage-like particles composed of cholesterol, phospholipid and the saponin adjuvant Quil A. Parenteral immunisation with ISCOMS is known to induce humoral and cell-mediated immune responses as well as protective immunity against a number of infections. However, their efficacy by mucosal routes and their use with non-hydrophobic proteins had received little attention. My studies exploited a recently established method for incorporating purified OVA into ISCOMS and aimed to extend preliminary work in the laboratory showing that ISCOMS-OVA were immunogenic by oral and parenteral routes. I therefore explored the full range of responses induced and investigated the immunological basis of the adjuvant properties of ISCOMS when used by the oral and parenteral routes. A single parenteral immunisation with as little as 5-10mug ISCOMS-OVA primed potent OVA-specific systemic DTH and IgG responses and high levels of class I MHC-restricted OVA-specific CTL activity were detected in the spleen. These findings indicate that ISCOMS allow presentation of incorporated protein to the class II MHC-restricted T cells required for antibody and DTH responses, as well as permitting efficient entry of the protein into the endogenous antigen processing pathway required for stimulation of class 1 MHC-restricted CTL responses. A multiple dose oral immunisation schedule induced the same range of systemic immune responses as parenteral immunisation and also stimulated the production of secretory IgA antibodies in the intestine and local CTL precursors in MLN. These findings indicate that ISCOMS may allow protein antigen to subvert the regulatory mechanisms which normally cause protein antigens to induce tolerance at mucosal surfaces. One of the most novel properties of ISCOMS was their ability to stimulate potent class I MHC-restricted CTL responses to exogenous protein antigens in vivo. As this would be important for a vaccine capable of stimulating protection against many viral infections, I characterised the CTL responses primed by ISCOMS- OVA and investigated the mechanisms involved in their induction. My results showed that the CTL primed by ISCOMS-OVA were CD8+ T cells which recognised the immunodominant epitope contained within the endogenously processed peptide OVA 258-276, containing the minimal motif for binding the H-2Kb class I MHC molecule. This is the epitope recognised by OVA-specific CTL in H-2b mice following physiological processing of OVA. OVA-specific precursor CTL appeared rapidly in the draining lymph node after subcutaneous immunisation with ISCOMS-OVA and these pCTL differentiated into effector cells when cultured merely with IL-2, indicating the efficiency of priming in vivo. Phagocytic accessory cells (M?) were required for the priming of a large proportion of the OVA-specific CTL, as paralysis or depletion of these cells produced a marked decrease in the priming of OVA-specific CTL in vivo. However, detectable CTL activity remained in the absence of M(?), suggesting that there may be more than one pathway of CTL induction utilised by ISCOMS in vivo. The CTL responses were entirely dependent on helper T cells, as depletion of CD4+ T cells completely abolished priming of CTL responses by ISCOMS-OVA. These findings suggest that the induction of CTL by ISCOMS is a complicated process, involving both phagocytic accessory cells and CD4+T helper cells. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.).


We use a new contiguous imaging survey conducted using the Dark Energy Camera to investigate the distribution and properties of young stellar populations in the Magellanic inter-Cloud region. These young stars are strongly spatially clustered, forming a narrow chain of low-mass associations that trace the densest H I gas in the Magellanic Bridge and extend, in projection, from the SMC to the outer disc of the LMC. The associations in our survey footprint have ages ≲ 30 Myr, masses in the range ∼100-1200 M⊙ and very diffuse structures with half-light radii of up to ∼100 pc. The two most populous are strongly elliptical and aligned to ≈10°, with the axis joining the centres of the LMC and the SMC. These observations strongly suggest that the young inter-Cloud populations formed in situ, likely due to the compression of gas stripped during the most recent close LMC-SMC encounter. The associations lie at distances intermediate between the two Clouds, and we find no evidence for a substantial distance gradient across the imaged area. Finally, we identify a vast shell of young stars surrounding a central association, that is spatially coincident with a low column density bubble in the H I distribution. The properties of this structure are consistent with a scenario where stellar winds and supernova explosions from massive stars in the central cluster swept up the ambient gas into a shell, triggering a new burst of star formation. This is a prime location for studying stellar feedback in a relatively isolated environment.


Background Communication aids can facilitate advance care planning (ACP) conversations. The vignette technique involves using scenarios of sensitive clinical circumstances to explore research participants' perspectives. Its use in ACP research remains unexplored. Aim To examine the use of the vignette technique in ACP discussions with cancer patients and their caregivers. Methods Secondary analysis using qualitative methods on data from three previous studies examining cancer patients' and caregivers' perspectives on ACP and the acceptability of a cancer specific ACP intervention. Four vignettes depicting patients in different stages of cancer assisted with ACP considerations in each stage. Data was extracted from 85 responses (42 patients; 43 caregivers) and underwent thematic analysis, informed by grounded theory methods. Results Participants may not identify with vignettes, despite similarities in prognosis, disease burden or disease stage. Vignettes, however, may promote and support ACP considerations, conversations, and decisions when used in a facilitated context. They may also confront or be unmemorable. The vignette technique is acceptable but requires cautious, individualised, informed, and selective use in oncology. Discussion Sensitive patient- and family-centred conversations in oncology require varied techniques to facilitate discussions. Vignettes during face-to-face discussions can aid understanding about ACP's relevance. However, they may be more acceptable in research settings with biassed samples and allocated time rather than real-world situations. Conclusion Patients and caregivers can be informed about varied reactions to the use of vignettes in ACP discussions, and be offered the opportunity to choose whether health professionals incorporate them into ACP discussions/interventions.


abstract:  The stinging catfish Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch) (Siluriformes: Heteropneustidae) has been reported to harbor as many as 19 species of caryophyllidean tapeworms (Cestoda) of 11 genera in tropical Asia (Indomalayan zoogeographical region). However, a critical review of the species composition has shown that only 1 species, Lucknowia fossilisi Gupta, 1961 (Lytocestidae), is a specific parasite of H. fossilis. Three other species, Djombangia penetrans Bovien, 1926 (syn., Djombangia caballeroi Sahay and Sahay, 1977), Pseudocaryophyllaeus ritai Gupta and Singh, 1983 (syn. Pseudocaryophyllaeus lucknowensis Gupta and Sinha, 1984), and Pseudocaryophyllaeus tenuicollis (Bovien, 1926) Ash, Scholz, Oros and Kar, 2011 (syn. P. mackiewiczi Gupta and Parmar, 1982), were found only once. Lucknowia fossilisi is redescribed on the basis of new material collected in West Bengal and voucher specimens from Maharashtra, India. A total of 9 species of Capingentoides, Lucknowia, Lytocestus, Pseudoadenoscolex, Pseudocaryophyllaeus, Pseudoheteroinverta, and Sukhapatae are newly synonymized with L. fossilisi and previous synonymies of 9 other species, proposed by Hafeezulah (1993), are confirmed. Generic diagnosis of Lucknowia Gupta, 1961 is amended. In addition, 1 species of Pseudobatrachus and 2 species of the monotypic genera Pseudoneckinverta and Sudhaena are invalidated as nomina nuda.


This paper presents a mathematical model that was developed to study instabilities (primarily thermoacoustic oscillations) experienced inside a channel (with a rectangular cross section) heated symmetrically (from its top and bottom.) The heated channel is configured to simulate a combustion chamber of a rocket hybrid rocket motor and is connected to a converging–diverging nozzle in the downstream and to a plenum with a flow straightener in the upstream side. The working fluid is supplied from a pressurized storage tank to the upstream plenum through a throttle valve. A multi-component approach is used to model this test apparatus. In this integrated component model, the unsteady flow through the throttle valve and the nozzle is assumed to be one-dimensional and isentropic where as the flow in the forward plenum and the heated channel is assumed to be a two-dimensional, unsteady, compressible, turbulent, and subsonic. The physics based mathematical model of the flow in the channel consists of conservation of mass, momentum (two-dimensional Navier-Stokes) and energy equations subject to appropriate boundary conditions as defined by the physical problem stated above. The working fluid is assumed to be compressible where the density of the fluid is related to the pressure and temperature of the fluid through a simple ideal gas relation. The governing equations are discretized using second order accurate central differencing for spatial derivatives and second order accurate (based on Taylor expansion) finite difference approximations for temporal derivatives. The resulting nonlinear equations are then linearized using Newton's linearization method. The set of algebraic equations that result from this process are then put into a matrix form and solved using a Coupled Modified Strongly Implicit Procedure (CMSIP) for the unknowns (primitive variables, i.e., pressure, temperature, and the velocity field) of the problem. The turbulence model equations and the unsteady flow equation for the throttle valve are solved using a second order accurate explicit finite difference technique. Convergence and grid independence studies were done to determine the optimum mesh size and computational time increment. Furthermore, two benchmark cases (unsteady driven cavity and laminar channel flows) were simulated using the developed numerical model to verify the accuracy of the proposed solution procedure. Numerical experiments were then carried out to simulate the thermoacoustic oscillations inside rectangular channels with various aspect ratios ranging from 5 to 20 for various operating conditions (i.e., for Re numbers between 102 and 106 ) and to determine the flow regions where these oscillations are sustained. The numerical simulation results indicate that the mathematical model for the gas flow in the heated channel predicts the expected unsteady temperature and pressure distributions, and the velocity field, successfully. Furthermore, it is concluded that the proposed integrated component model is successful in generating the characteristics of the instabilities associated with thermal, hydrodynamic, and thermoacoustic oscillations in heated channels.Copyright © 2009 by ASME


Xpo1p (yeast CRM1) is the major nuclear export receptor that carries a plethora of proteins and ribonucleoproteins from the nucleus to cytoplasm. The passage of the Xpo1p nuclear export complex through nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) is facilitated by interactions with nucleoporins (Nups) containing extensive repeats of phenylalanine–glycine (so‐called FG repeats), although the precise role of each Nup in the nuclear export reaction remains incompletely understood. Here we report structural and biochemical characterization of the interactions between the Xpo1p nuclear export complex and the FG repeats of Nup42p, a nucleoporin localized at the cytoplasmic face of yeast NPCs and has characteristic SxFG/PxFG sequence repeat motif. The crystal structure of Xpo1p‐PKI‐Nup42p‐Gsp1p‐GTP complex identified three binding sites for the SxFG/PxFG repeats on HEAT repeats 14–20 of Xpo1p. Mutational analyses of Nup42p showed that the conserved serines and prolines in the SxFG/PxFG repeats contribute to Xpo1p‐Nup42p binding. Our structural and biochemical data suggest that SxFG/PxFG‐Nups such as Nup42p and Nup159p at the cytoplasmic face of NPCs provide high‐affinity docking sites for the Xpo1p nuclear export complex in the terminal stage of NPC passage and that subsequent disassembly of the nuclear export complex facilitates recycling of free Xpo1p back to the nucleus.


The increase of Latino immigrants in the United States places more pressure on school counselors to assist in the adjustment of Latino students entering school systems (U.S. Census Bureau, 2004). This may particularly affect schools that only a few years ago had no Latino immigrants. This article addresses how one Southern school district's counseling program is working to meet the needs of its non-English-speaking Latino middle school students by hiring a Spanishspeaking counselor and offering intervention strategies to facilitate the transition and adjustment of incoming students.


In Hungary, the elaboration of regional development policy started in the 1960s. The 30 years of regional development policy are evaluated in the most extreme ways; There are some who find this activity fundamentally successful, as has it reached its most important goal, the moderation of regional-aconomic-social differences. Others question whether regional development policy had any influence whatsoever on the regional changes of the socio-economic processes. However, neither the affirmative nor the doubting opinions deny that the regional development policy was the product of the socialist economic system between 1961 and 1989, and that this system was characterized by both the general socialist and the specific Hungarian features. Consequently, its success and failures can be explained exactly with these characteristics. When studying the history of French regional development policy, strange similarities can be found between the French and the Hungarian intentions, and these similarities are not accidental at all. The French regional development policy served as an example for the Hungarian experts already in the very beginning. France, which is far more centralized than the other West-European countries, can be a pattern, and a kind of "reference country" for the Hungary in transition these days. In France, regional development policy became an integrated part of the government policy, because the French accept quite well the idea of caring about underdeveloped regions, and as the conflict between the overdeveloped capital city and the rest of the country has always been and still is a fundamental issue. However, highlighting the above similarities in development can be interesting in itself, just by showing the different results brought about by similar efforts in the two countries with different political systems and levels of economic development. The parallel tendencies, that could be detected in France until the mid-1970s, and in Hungary until the end of the 1980s, are over now. The new economic conditions weakened the French regional development policy. DATAR worded and announced its new economic development policy during the Tast one or two years as an answer to the challenges of new economic, social and political conditions. The Hungarian regional development policy has also weakened, its ideological foundations are shaken, the efforts to ease social and economic inequalities have become extremely timely and, at the same time, outdated, and the financial resources of regional development are more limited than ever. Does Hungarian regional development policy pay any attention to the French example, which fights for preserving its positive traditions, or will the spatial influences of spontaneous market proecesses gain ground? In my opinion, this is a good enough reason to learn more about the present French regional policy. The beginnings of the French regional development policy can be dated back to the 1950s. In the middle of the 20th century, two basic spatial conflicts became extremely strong in France: one of them was the conflict between the overgrown capital city, Paris, and the rest of the country (one-sixth of the population in France was concentrated in Seine and Oise counties, while only one-twentieth had lived in this region a hundred years before; in the first half of the century, the number of industrial employees increased by 50% in the Paris agglomeration, while the national average was only 3 %; in the 1950s, Paris concentrated 70% of bank employees, 60% of business turnover, and 40% of higher education) and the other conflict could be identified among the rural regions (East of the the Havre-Marseille axis, the living standards were twice or three times higher than in the regions West of the axis). It was the time when the first general regional development policy was worded, and its classical elements — decentralized industrial development, modernization of agriculture, development of tourism and infrastructure, decentralization of culture — were applied by all those countries where regional development was taken into consideration. The necessity of the development of underdeveloped regions was codified by law in 1955-56, and this was extended with two more regulations: the adminsitrative prevention of the further growth of the Paris region (the foundation of industrial enterprises exceeding a certain size had to be licensed in advance, permissions to construct new offices and scientific institutions would not be granted for 3 years), and the establishment of an economic and regional development fund (Fonds de Developpement Economique et Social) to cover the relocation costs of industries and the costs of establishing new industries in the regions to be developed. This was the time when the comprehensive development program of the 22 regions was elaborated. This regional development project was not too very successful. The companies relocated from Paris tried to settle down in a 200-km radius from the capital city. The efforts to decentralize the scientific and educational institutions ended up in complete failure. The Hungarian regional develoment project applied the above measures only in part and at a later date, but did not learn anything of its failures. The decentralization of industry and the modernization of agriculture were accepted, but the infrastructural development was neglected, not to speak about the decentralization of culture. The administrative economic regulations which aimed to stop the development of Budapest were extended, in addition to increasing the severity of regulations on settling down in Budapest. The Regional Development Fund was created fairly late, only in 1971, and it was an insignificant amount and gave about 1% of the industrial investments of the time, and oriented only about 4-5 % of all the investments. After some years, the Regional Development fund ceased to exist. Until the mid-1970s, VATI (Scientific Institute for Urban Development) elaborated development plans for the counties, which were similar to the French development projects. The French were lucky to draw the conclusions on the inefficiency of the means and methods of regional development policy already in the period of prosperity. In the mid-1960s, there was a chance to initiate new, global regional development activities. The French were aware that no regional development project could be succesful without overall decentralization. Decentralization of power is the most delicate and most difficult issue, and its success could be celebrated by the French only several years after the implementation. Under Hungarian conditions, no decentralization could take place as it contradicted the rules and principles of the socialist regime. Though the role of county councils increased from the 1970s, they remained primarily the executors of central decisions, and had very little field for independant activities. The new economic mechanism, which granted rather big independence to the companies, did not touch the institutional structure. In the period of economic prosperity, in the 1960s and 1970s, production was spread all over the country, but the management and control of production remained centralized. "Divison industry" became dominant in large zones and counties, but it had no roots, and did not generate further development in the neighbourhood. Consequently, these industries s ion, got into an uncertain position due to unfavourable economic conditions. It is not accidental that this industrialization project was called colonialization. Though the population increase and the effective growth of the economy could be stopped in the administrative arca of Budapest, the agglomeration of Budapest developed dynamically, and its population density increased rapidly.


The dengue, West Nile, Japanese encephalitis and yellow fever viruses are important mosquito-borne viruses whose epidemiology is shifting in response to changing societal factors, such as increasing commerce, urbanization of rural areas, and population growth. All four viruses are expanding geographically, as exemplified by the emergence of West Nile virus in the Americas and Japanese encephalitis virus in Australasia. The large, recent global outbreaks of severe neurological disease caused by West Nile virus, the increasing frequency of dengue hemorrhagic fever outbreaks in the Americas, and the emergence of yellow fever virus vaccination-associated viscerotropic disease, are new clinical epidemiologic trends. These worrisome epidemiologic trends will probably continue in coming decades, as a reversal of their societal and biological drivers is not in sight. Nevertheless, the substantial reductions in Japanese encephalitis virus incidence resulting from vaccination programs and economic development in some Asian countries provide some encouragement within this overall guarded outlook.


. Knowledge on the spatial distribution of taxa is crucial for the decision - making processes in conservation and management of biodiversity that rely on precise distribution data. We present an annotated list for a total of 37 amphib ian (20 caudatans and 17 anurans) and 141 reptile species (11 chelonians, 70 lizards, 3 amphisbaenians and 57 snakes) in Turkey, using both available scientific literature up to December 2020 and our own fieldwork data from 1987 to 2020. We provide a comprehensive listing of taxonomy, names, distribution and conservation status of Turkish amphibians and reptiles. The herpetofauna list will be particularly useful for establishing national conservation priorities as well as for placing Turkish fauna into phyl ogenetic and biogeographic contexts. We compiled information published in books, journals and various web sources and added our personal data. We projected the data in the WGS84 coordinate system and created an overlay grid with cells of 50x50 km 2 . The data base comprises more than 500 grid cells and 11,913 records. As a result, the distribution of Turkish amphibians and reptiles has been extensively mapped with geographical information systems and a database has been created. The obtained data will be usefu l in planning future studies on taxonomy, and


Neural crest cells (NCCs), a multipotent stem cell population, contribute to cardiac development as a source of the outflow septum, vascular smooth muscle and semilunar valves. However, genetic programs underlying lineage diversification of cardiac NCCs remain largely unknown. Using single-cell (sc) and spatial transcriptomics, we demonstrate multiple NCC subpopulations with distinct gene expression signatures; smooth muscle(-like), non-muscle mesenchymal, and Schwann cell progenitor/melanoblast-like cells. Integrative scRNA-seq and scATAC-seq analyses predict lineage trajectories starting from immature NCCs, which bifurcate into smooth muscle(-like) and non-muscle mesenchymal lineages in association with hierarchical transcription factor networks. Combinatory analyses with Cre-mediated genetic lineage tracing characterize intermediate NCCs at the bifurcation as Sox9+/Scx+ tendon and cartilage progenitor-like cells with genetic programs, some of which are common to skeletal tissues whereas others are unique to cardiac NCCs. These findings provide a basis for understanding the roles of NCCs in cardiac development and pathogenesis particularly associated with calcification.


X-linked recessive ectodermal dysplasia with immunodeficiency is a rare primary immunodeficiency caused by hypomorphic mutations of the IKBKG gene encoding the nuclear factor κB essential modulator (NEMO) protein. This condition displays enormous allelic, immunological, and clinical heterogeneity, and therapeutic decisions are difficult because NEMO operates in both hematopoietic and nonhematopoietic cells. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is potentially life-saving, but the small number of case reports available suggests it has been reserved for only the most severe cases. Here, we report the health status before HSCT, transplantation outcome, and clinical follow-up for a series of 29 patients from unrelated kindreds from 11 countries. Between them, these patients carry 23 different hypomorphic IKBKG mutations. HSCT was performed from HLA-identical related donors (n = 7), HLA-matched unrelated donors (n = 12), HLA-mismatched unrelated donors (n = 8), and HLA-haploidentical related donors (n = 2). Engraftment was documented in 24 patients, and graft-versus-host disease in 13 patients. Up to 7 patients died 0.2 to 12 months after HSCT. The global survival rate after HSCT among NEMO-deficient children was 74% at a median follow-up after HSCT of 57 months (range, 4-108 months). Preexisting mycobacterial infection and colitis were associated with poor HSCT outcome. The underlying mutation does not appear to have any influence, as patients with the same mutation had different outcomes. Transplantation did not appear to cure colitis, possibly as a result of cell-intrinsic disorders of the epithelial barrier. Overall, HSCT can cure most clinical features of patients with a variety of IKBKG mutations.


Models based on the Continuum Damage Mechanics principle are increasingly used for predicting the initiation and growth of damage in materials. The growing reliance on 3-D finite element (FE) virtual structural testing demands implementation and validation of robust material models that can predict the material behaviour accurately. The use of these models within numerical analyses requires suitable material data. EU aerospace companies along with Cranfield University and other similar research institutions have created the MUSCA (non-linear MUltiSCale Analysis of large aero structures) project to develop virtual structural testing prediction. The MUSCA project focuses on static failure testing of large aircraft components. It aims to reduce laboratory tests using advanced numerical analysis to predict failure in order to save overall cost and development time. This thesis aims to improve the current capability of finite element codes in predicting orthotropic material behaviour, primarily damage. The Chow and Wang damage model has been implemented within ABAQUS as a VUMAT subroutine. This thesis presents the development of a numerical damage prediction model and an experimental study to develop a damage material characterisation process that can easily be performed using standard tensile test specimen and equipment already available in the aerospace industry. The proposed method makes use of Digital Image Correlation (DIC), a noncontact optical strain field measurement technique. Experiments were conducted at Cranfield University material testing facility on aerospace aluminium alloy material AA-2024-T3 and AA-7010-T7651. After thorough literature survey a complete new method was formulated to implement Chow and Wang damage model in Abaqus Explicit numerical code. The damage model was successfully implemented for isotropic and orthotropic behaviour using single element model, multi-element coupon test model and a simple airframe structure. The simulation results were then verified with the similar experimental results by repeating the experimental procedure using simulation for each material type and found matching results. The model is then compared with experimentally determined orthotropic material parameter for AA2024 and AA7010 for validation and found agreeable results for practical use. The material characterisation of damage parameters from standard tensile specimen using DIC technique was also demonstrated and the procedures were established. In this research the combination of experimental work and numerical analysis with clear and simpler calibration strategy for damage model is demonstrated. This is the important contribution of this research work and the streamlined procedures are vital for the industry to utilise the new damage prediction tools. The damage model implementation and test procedures developed through this research provide information and processes involved in fundamentally predicting the ductile damage in metals and metal alloys. The numerical damage model developed using the well-defined verification and validation procedures explained in this research work with new streamlined damage material characterisation using recent contact less DIC technique has wider implication in the material model development for ductile metals in general. The thesis ultimately delivered a fully verified, validated robust damage model numerical simulation code with a new DIC damage characterisation procedure for practical application. The model is now used by the aerospace industry for predicting damage of large aircraft structures.


This paper discusses the discovery and study of the functional connection between the quark masses and their mixing parameters. That allowed calculating Cabibbo angle from the known values of the masses of two lower quarks. It has been established that mixing occurs not only among lower quarks, as it was known up to now, but the upper quarks, independently, do the same. A separate mixing angle is calculated for the latter. The existence of "two Cabibbo angles", i.e. independent mixings of upper and lower quarks, is a strong argument in favor of models with not one, but with several Higgs bosons. Only taking into account such a link, it is possible to give the unified description of the dependence of the mass on the generation number for all charged fermions (except t-quark). It turns out that increments of values and N are linearly linked. (Here m and N—mass and generation number of fermion, A—common internal parameter of concerned fermions).


The main goal of Active Learning (AL), is to empower the learning process by reducing the cost of obtaining the labels with a limited training samples and by selecting the most informative samples from the unlabelled set. AL was implemented to solve a wide range of problems in all fields [1]. In this paper, we will go forward to utilize a multiclass active learning model over an ecological zones dataset in order to classify the dune-beach interface to a divided sub-environments category. Pool, ranked & stream-based sampling were used as an active learning frames where three query strategies were tested with each frame to achieve the best performance. The performance metrics values would be illustrated in three different comparative statements, in term of different framework implemented by different query strategies, in term of incremental learning process behaviour in a pool-based sampling frame work by selecting 20 different query quires from the unlabelled set to present the incremental learning process behaviour with each query strategy (random, entropy & margin) and finally in term of incremental learning process behaviour above a three different AL frame works and three different query strategies in term of accuracy metric.


This is a thesis that deals with Swedish extradition law - more specifically with the requirements that must be fulfilled before Sweden, as the requested state, can grant extradition. Before dealing with these requirements the role of extradition law within the judicial system is examined. Interacting disciplines such as constitutional law, human rights, foreign law, citizenship law and national criminal- and procedural law are referred to. Alternatives to extradition, both legal (such as having the trial in the requested state instead of extradition) and illegal ones (kidnapping for example) are discussed.The main issues of the thesis are1) to analyse and interpret the different Swedish conditions for extradition, and to examine the question why these conditions exist.2) to show how these different conditions interact with each other, and how this interaction can be of importance when one or several conditions are being changed or abandoned. Even if conditions are not being abandoned, the interaction is of importance because it can significally affect the outcomes of extradition cases.3) to give a brief discussion on the issue whether the double criminality rule, the prohibition of extraditing ones own nationals and the speciality rule should be kept in schemes for extradition co-operation.