The Project aimed at improving disease control, which is one of the main and most difficult tasks in organic viticulture, integrating plant resistance against pathogens, cropping practices, use of weather-driven disease models, and use of biocontrol agents (BCAs). All these aspects were firstly considered separately in each WP by the competent partners, then efforts were made to develop innovative vineyard management strategies that consider all these aspects.
All plants have an innate immunity against pathogenic fungi and oomycetes that is triggered by pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). Repeated application of these molecules or their structural analogues can activate and enhance the innate defence response against a following infection by pathogens. During the project, 85 substances were tested, 26 were able to induce a pH-shift or demonstrated to have some cytotoxic activities, 11 were further analysed in pathogen-leaf-disc assays and demonstrated to reduce downy mildew sporulation. One substance achieved promising results also in field experiments.
Different methods for manipulating vegetative growth, canopy density, and fruit exposure were evaluated as a means for making the microclimate less favourable to pathogens and more ideal for the ripeness of the grapes. The first leaves of each shoot were removed at pre-flowering (ELR) and at pre-veraison, and compared to control vines in Italian, Spanish and Austrian vineyards. ELR was effective in reducing bunch sensitivity to grey mould by reducing bunch compactness and increasing berry skin thickness. Both treatments did not affect the titratable acidity of the musts, while ELR increased the tartaric acid suggesting the possibility to obtain more balanced wines by preserving acidity. Above-bunch-zone leaf removal applied at pre- and post-veraison was also tested on potted vines and compared to untreated vines. The results are very promising in that defoliation was effective in temporarily delaying technological maturity without affecting bunch colour and the content of phenoles. Other treatments, such as anti-transiprant application and "cutting off parts of bunches" were also tested.
Existing models for predicting plant disease outbreaks/epidemics were evaluated for their ability to support decision-making about crop protection, based on the presence of favorable environmental conditions and/or biological information concerning the disease and/or the host plant. Mechanistic, weather-driven models for downy and powdery mildews were implemented in a web-based platform provided by Horta s.r.l., able to produce decision-aids for crop protection in organic viticulture.
Fitness and efficacy of biocontrol agents, representing formulations of bacteria and fungi already registered in Europe, were evaluated in relation to grape pest and disease control under organic practices. Strain-specific detection systems were developed and tested in controlled and natural conditions. Experiments in controlled and natural conditions were performed to test the compatibility of different BCAs and inorganic fungicides for mixed or sequential application and it was demonstrated that sulphur can enhance the efficacy of the product SerenadeTM.
Two innovative management strategies were designed, evaluated through an ex-ante assessment, and tested in different experimental vineyards set up in Italy, Austria, Germany and Slovenia. A first "risk-adverse strategy" is based on the combination of: i) fall treatments with the hyperparasite Ampelomyces spp. for the reduction of the overwintering chasmothecia of Erysiphe necator, ii) the web-portal with models for the prediction of downy and powdery mildews to schedule copper and sulphur treatments at label dose during the season; iii) use of BCAs for the control of grey mold. A second "risk-seeking strategy" is based only on: i) low-dose copper and sulphur applications according to the models and ii) early leaf removal for the control of grey mould. In general, the use of epidemiological models allowed a significant reduction of fungicides, with a consequent reduction of the costs for disease management and the ecotoxicity risk, as well as an increased social acceptability of the vineyard management.
Finally, to test whether the innovative management strategies can increase overall numbers of species inhabiting the grapevines, appropriate culture-depended and culture-independent methods were implemented and applied on samples form the experimental vineyard in Slovenia. Unfortunately, the applied methods could not show that the different management strategies had a significant effect on the fungal species profiles, but very interesting fungal species were detected and the retrieved culture collection represents an important resource for future studies.


Infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) remains a global health challenge. Approximately 292 million people worldwide are chronically infected with HBV and the annual mortality from the infection is approaching 900,000. Despite the availability of an effective prophylactic vaccine, millions of individuals are at risk of potentially fatal complicating cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Current drug treatments can suppress viral replication, slow the progression of liver fibrosis, and reduce infectivity, but can rarely clear the viral covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) that is responsible for HBV persistence. Alternative therapeutic strategies, including those based on viral gene silencing by harnessing the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway, effectively suppress HBV replication and thus hold promise. RNAi-based silencing of certain viral genes may even lead to disabling of cccDNA during chronic infection. This review summarizes different RNAi activators that have been tested against HBV, the advances with vectors used to deliver artificial potentially therapeutic RNAi sequences to the liver, and the current status of preclinical and clinical investigation.


Recognizing ongoing events based on acoustic clues has been a critical yet challenging problem that has attracted significant research attention in recent years. Joint audio-visual analysis can improve the event detection accuracy but may not always be feasible as under many circumstances only audio recordings are available in real-world scenarios. To solve the challenges, we present a novel visual-assisted teacher-student mutual learning framework for robust sound event detection from audio recordings. Our model adopts a multi-modal teacher network based on both acoustic and visual clues, and a single-modal student network based on acoustic clues only. Conventional teacher-student learning performs unsatisfactorily for knowledge transfer from a multi-modality network to a single-modality network. We thus present a mutual learning framework by introducing a single-modal transfer loss and a cross-modal transfer loss to collaboratively learn the audio-visual correlations between the two networks. Our proposed solution takes the advantages of joint audio-visual analysis in training while maximizing the feasibility of the model in use cases. Our extensive experiments on the DCASE17 and the DCASE18 sound event detection datasets show that our proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art audio tagging approaches.


Objective To determine what triggers the use of digoxin therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) that adheres to established indications and the change in digoxin dosage after the result of monitoring is obtained. Methods This prospective study included 86 patients admitted to 6 medicine wards and 2 intensive cardiac care unit wards in a tertiary-care center. Data on patients' demographics, drug therapy, serum chemistry values, indications for digoxin therapy, indications for ordering the drug assay, timing of the blood sample relative to administration of the last dose, and physicians' decisions after attaining serum digoxin concentrations were collected. Results Eighty-six digoxin assays were evaluated. Indications for the use of a digoxin assay were mostly routine without a clear indication (66%); in only 22% of the assays were orders considered clinically justified. Eleven patients had concentrations >2 ng/mL, but only 8 patients had digoxin intoxication. In only 31% of patients did the medical staff respond to the results. In only 21% of patients with subtherapeutic drug concentrations was there a change in digoxin dose. Conclusions Although there are clear indications for the use of digoxin TDM, physicians seem to routinely order these blood tests. The clinicians did not adequately use the digoxin concentration data to optimize therapy. The assistance of a clinical pharmacist or pharmacologist is warranted for use of the assays, to optimize digoxin therapy.


The study of the problem of impairment of the kidneys in gout is important because investigation ofgout nephropathy specifies the role of hyperuricemia (a known risk factor) in development of renal damage, on the one side, and emphasizes the role of early detection of hyperuricemia genesis of nephropathy allowing prognosis improvement due to administration of uricostatic treatment, on the other side. Earlier data on tubulointerstitial lesion are now supplied with information on essential glomerular damage due to endothelial dysfunction in the presence of insulin resistance often associated with gout.


The genome of a multi-cellular organism acquires various functional capabilities in different cell types by means of distinct chromatin modifications and packaging states. Acquired during early development, the cell type-specific epigenotype is maintained by cellular memory mechanisms that involve epigenetic modifications. Here we present the epigenetic status of the euchromatic region of the human Y chromosome that has mostly been ignored in earlier whole genome epigenetic mapping studies. Using ChIP-on-chip approach, we mapped H3K9ac, H3K9me3, H3K27me3 modifications and CTCF binding sites while DNA methylation analysis of selected CpG islands was done using bisulfite sequencing. The global pattern of histone modifications observed on the Y chromosome reflects the functional state and evolutionary history of the sequences that constitute it. The combination of histone and DNA modifications, along with CTCF association in some cases, reveals the transcriptional potential of all protein coding genes including the sex-determining gene SRY and the oncogene TSPY. We also observe preferential association of histone marks with different tandem repeats, suggesting their importance in genome organization and gene regulation. Our results present the first large scale epigenetic analysis of the human Y chromosome and link a number of cis-elements to epigenetic regulatory mechanisms, enabling an understanding of such mechanisms in Y chromosome linked disorders.


ABSTRACT The most common source of Salmonella infections in humans is food of poultry origin. Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis has a particular affinity for the contamination of the egg supply. In this study, the medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA), caproic, caprylic, and capric acid, were evaluated for the control of Salmonella serovar Enteritidis in chickens. All MCFA were growth inhibiting at low concentrations in vitro, with caproic acid being the most potent. Contact of Salmonella serovar Enteritidis with low concentrations of MCFA decreased invasion in the intestinal epithelial cell line T84. By using transcriptional fusions between the promoter of the regulatory gene of the Salmonella pathogenicity island I, hilA, and luxCDABE genes, it was shown that all MCFA decreased the expression of hilA, a key regulator related to the invasive capacity of Salmonella. The addition of caproic acid (3 g/kg of feed) to the feed of chicks led to a significant decrease in the level of colonization of ceca and internal organs by Salmonella serovar Enteritidis at 3 days after infection of 5-day-old chicks. These results suggest that MCFA have a synergistic ability to suppress the expression of the genes required for invasion and to reduce the numbers of bacteria in vivo. Thus, MCFA are potentially useful products for reducing the level of colonization of chicks and could ultimately aid in the reduction of the number of contaminated eggs in the food supply.


Abstract Although many plants are dispersed by wind and seeds can travel long distances across unsuitable matrix areas, a large proportion relies on co‐evolved zoochorous seed dispersal to connect populations in isolated habitat islands. Particularly in agricultural landscapes, where remaining habitat patches are often very small and highly isolated, mobile linkers as zoochorous seed dispersers are critical for the population dynamics of numerous plant species. However, knowledge about the quali‐ or quantification of such mobile link processes, especially in agricultural landscapes, is still limited. In a controlled feeding experiment, we recorded the seed intake and germination success after complete digestion by the European brown hare (Lepus europaeus) and explored its mobile link potential as an endozoochoric seed disperser. Utilizing a suite of common, rare, and potentially invasive plant species, we disentangled the effects of seed morphological traits on germination success while controlling for phylogenetic relatedness. Further, we measured the landscape connectivity via hares in two contrasting agricultural landscapes (simple: few natural and semi‐natural structures, large fields; complex: high amount of natural and semi‐natural structures, small fields) using GPS‐based movement data. With 34,710 seeds of 44 plant species fed, one of 200 seeds (0.51%) with seedlings of 33 species germinated from feces. Germination after complete digestion was positively related to denser seeds with comparatively small surface area and a relatively slender and elongated shape, suggesting that, for hares, the most critical seed characteristics for successful endozoochorous seed dispersal minimize exposure of the seed to the stomach and the associated digestive system. Furthermore, we could show that a hare's retention time is long enough to interconnect different habitats, especially grasslands and fields. Thus, besides other seed dispersal mechanisms, this most likely allows hares to act as effective mobile linkers contributing to ecosystem stability in times of agricultural intensification, not only in complex but also in simple landscapes.


This paper introduces a static multi-level memory cell that was conceived to store state variables in neuromorphic onchip learning applications. It consists of a capacitance that holds a voltage and an array of 'fusing' amplifiers that are connected as followers. These followers drive their output towards the voltage level of the input like normal followers, but only if the difference between input and output is smaller than about 120mV. The inputs to this 'fusing' follower array determine the stable voltage levels of the memory cell. All follower-outputs are connect to the storage capacitance and thus the voltage is always driven to the closest stable level. The cell content can be changed by injecting current into the capacitance. This form of storage offers arguably a better compromise between desirable and undesirable properties for neuromorphic learning systems than alternative solutions (e.g. non-volatile analog storage on floating gates or digital static storage in combination with AD/DA conversion), as shall be discussed in the following.


In this paper we investigate the likelihood of a proposed monetary union in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) being successful from the viewpoint of the Generalised Purchasing Power Parity (GPPP) hypothesis and optimum currency area (OCA) theory. We apply Johansen's multivariate co-integration technique, panel unit root tests, Pedroni's residual cointegration test and error correction based panel cointegration tests. The findings from this study confirm that GPPP holds among SADC member countries included in this study on account of cointegration and stationarity in real exchange rate series. The South African rand normalised long run beta coefficients of all the real exchange rates are below one except in the case of the Mauritian rupee and all bear negative signs except in the case of the Angolan New Kwanza and Mauritian rupee. This evidence support monetary union in the region except for Angola and Mauritius. However, the absolute magnitudes of the short run adjustment coefficients of SADC countries' real exchange rates are low and bear positive signs in some cases. This finding implies that the observed slow speed of adjustment for the (log) real exchange rate of SADC member states might constrain the effectiveness of stabilization policies in the wake of external shocks, rendering SADC countries vulnerable to macroeconomic instability in the region. This result has important policy implications for the proposed monetary union in SADC.


Given the lack of data on heat pump performance in customers' homes, the Energy Saving Trust in partnership with the Open University undertook the first large-scale heat pump field trial in the UK to determine how heat pumps perform in real-life conditions. The year-long field trial monitored technical performance and customer behaviour observed at 83 sites across the UK. The findings provide valuable information about the factors that affect the success of a domestic heat pump installation. Instead of revealing outcomes along statistical grounds, or acting as a "brand-vs-brand" competition, the field trial findings provide a discussion of key points of interest to potential consumers, including:
• Measured coefficient of performance (COP) and system efficiency
• Installation practices (both system design and performance)
• Customer behaviour (contribution by the Open University)
• Heating patterns and average internal temperatures
• Economics
This report makes recommendations for consumers, installers, manufacturers and policy makers, and identifies areas that require additional investigation and research.


A solid-state imager fabricated in CMOS technology is presented for depth information capture of arbitrary 3D objects with millimeter resolution. The system is based on an array of 32x32 pixels that independently measure the time-of-flight of a ray of light as it is reflected back from the objects in a scene. A single cone of pulsed laser light illuminates the scene, thus no complex mechanical scanning is required. Millimetric depth accuracies can be reached thanks to the rangefinder's optical detectors that enable picosecond time discrimination. The detectors, based on a single photon avalanche diode operating in Geiger mode, utilize avalanche multiplication to enhance light detection. Optical power requirements on the light source can therefore be significantly relaxed. A number of standard performance measurements, conducted on the imager, are discussed in this paper. The 3D imaging system was also tested on real 3D subjects demonstrating the suitability of the approach.


Conductive hearing loss is a common cause of deafness and disability, particularly in children and young adults. This article presents a brief overview of the various methods currently available for reconstructing the tympanic membrane and middle ear ossicular chain, including some comments as to their indications and limitations. Schematic diagrams showing these techniques illustrate the various types of repair described.


In this chapter, the focus is on the use and control of degrees of freedom in the radar illumination pattern and presented examples to highlight the value of properly utilizing degrees of freedom. It has been shown that by coordinating the transmission of Golay complementary waveforms in time (or exploiting waveform agility over time) according to carefully designed biphase sequences, and pulse trains whose ambiguity functions have desired properties can be constructed. It has also been shown that by combining Alamouti coding and Golay complementary property unitary polarization-time waveform matrices that make the full polarization scattering matrix of a target available for detection on a pulse-by-pulse basis can be constructed. Looking to the future, unitary waveform matrices as a new illumination paradigm that enables broad waveform adaptability across time, space, frequency and polarization.


Most of the common cancers in Canada have been associated in some way with diet. More than half of all newly diagnosed cancers and cancer-related deaths are limited to three sites in each sex: lung, prostate, and colorectum in men and breast, colorectum, and lung in women. The earliest and strongest epidemiologic evidence associating diet and cancer has come from descriptive correlation studies. The findings of subsequent, more powerful, analytic studies have been inconsistent. The author reviews the importance of diet for common cancers in Canada and considers the methodologic limitations of various study designs.


R. VAIDYANATHASWAMT. On disjunction in intuitionist logic. Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Section A, vol. 17 (1943), pp. 41-45. In intuitionistic logic, the author distinguishes between strong disjunction a ® b (Heyting's 'o v b) and weak disjunction a + b (Heyting's-i (-i OAT 6); likewise between strong existential quantification ((J5i))F(z)(Heyting's (Ex)a) and weak existential quantification (Ex)F(x) (Heyting's -i (x) -i a). As distributive laws for weak disjunction, it is shown that a 4be is equivalent to (a + b)(a + c),and that a'(b + c) is equivalent to a'b + a'c (where a' is Heyting's-i a). Other results concerning weak disjunction and weak existential quantification are of less interest, being essentially already contained in Heyting's 3852, 3. There is also a proposal—which is interesting but too briefly treated here for satisfactory evaluation—to introduce a notion of not true or untrue in a metalogic (it must be a semantics) of intuitionistic logic, the logic of the meta-language being classical rather than intuitionistic. The principle of excluded middle is discussed from this point of view. ALONZO CHURCH


A route in the Internet may take a longer AS path than the shortest AS path due to routing policies. In this paper, we systematically analyze AS paths and quantify the extent to which routing policies inflate AS paths. The results show that AS path inflation in the Internet is more prevalent than expected. We first present the extent of AS path inflation observed from the RouteView and RIPE routing tables. We then employ three common routing policies to show the extent of AS path inflation. We find that No-Valley routing policy causes the least AS path inflation among the three routing policies. PreferCustomer-and-Peer-over-Provider policy causes the most AS path inflation. In addition, we find that single-homed stub ASes experience more path inflations than transit ASes and multi-homed ASes. The AS pairs with shortest AS path of 3 AS hops experience more path inflations than other AS pairs. Finally, we investigate the AS path inflation on the end-to-end path from end users to two popular content providers, Google and Comcast. Although the majority of the shortest AS paths from end users to the two providers consists of no more than three AS hops, the actual end-to-end paths that the traffic will take are longer than the shortest AS paths in many cases. Quantifying AS path inflation in the Internet has important implications on the extent of routing policies, traffic engineering performed on the Internet, and BGP convergence speed.


In this study acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) terpolymer was reinforced with glass fiber. The effects of glass content on the tensile properties of the composites were examined. Increasing the glass content in the ABS matrix from 10 wt% to 30 wt% resulted in improved tensile strength and tensile modulus. To obtain a strong interaction at the interface, SiO2 at varying concentrations was introduced into the GF composite. The incorporation and increasing amount of SiO2 in the composites increased tensile properties of the ABS/ SiO2/GF systems due to the improved adhesion at the interface,. These results were also supported by scanning electron micrographs of the ABS/ SiO2/GF composites, which exhibited an improved adhesion between the GFs and the ABS matrix.


An injectable aqueous composition of hyaluronic acid or one of the salts thereof, one or more polyol(s) and lidocaine is used for cosmetic purposes or for therapeutic purposes. It has improved viscoelastic rheological properties and long in vivo persistence. The polyol is chosen, for example, from glycerol, sorbitol, propylene glycol, mannitol, erythritol, xylitol, maltitol and lactitol. The particular properties are obtained by heat sterilizing the mixture.


Smooth muscle cells (SMCs) are a key component of many visceral organs, including the ureter, yet the molecular pathways that regulate their development from mesenchymal precursors are insufficiently understood. Here, we identified epithelial Wnt7b and Wnt9b as possible ligands of Fzd1-mediated β-catenin (Ctnnb1)-dependent (canonical) Wnt signaling in the adjacent undifferentiated ureteric mesenchyme. Mice with a conditional deletion of Ctnnb1 in the ureteric mesenchyme exhibited hydroureter and hydronephrosis at newborn stages due to functional obstruction of the ureter. Histological analysis revealed that the layer of undifferentiated mesenchymal cells directly adjacent to the ureteric epithelium did not undergo characteristic cell shape changes, exhibited reduced proliferation and failed to differentiate into SMCs. Molecular markers for prospective SMCs were lost, whereas markers of the outer layer of the ureteric mesenchyme fated to become adventitial fibroblasts were expanded to the inner layer. Conditional misexpression of a stabilized form of Ctnnb1 in the prospective ureteric mesenchyme resulted in the formation of a large domain of cells that exhibited histological and molecular features of prospective SMCs and differentiated along this lineage. Our analysis suggests that Wnt signals from the ureteric epithelium pattern the ureteric mesenchyme in a radial fashion by suppressing adventitial fibroblast differentiation and initiating smooth muscle precursor development in the innermost layer of mesenchymal cells.


Background:  Sensory processing is an important factor in development and affects the function of the senses in daily living activities. Hearing impairment may lead to some difficulties in sensory processing in children with hearing impairment. Objectives:  In this cross-sectional study, the sensory processing of children with hearing impairment and that of their normal hearing peers who were between 3 to 6 years old were compared. Methods: The study population consisted of 60 normal-hearing and hearing-impaired children with hearing aids in Shiraz who were between 3 and 6 years of age. Dunn's Short Sensory Profile was utilized in both groups. The results were statistically analyzed by SPSS 21, and a p-level of < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Independent t-test results showed that there was no significant difference between the two groups in total sensory processing (p -value = 0.097), touch sensitivity (p -value = 0.043), olfactory and taste sensitivity (p -value = 0.259), movement sensitivity (p -value = 0.079), sensory seeking (p -value = 0.229), hearing processing (p-value = 0.390), low energy and weakness (p-value = 0.916), or hearing and vision sensitivity (p -value = 0.429). The total mean score was 15.28 ± 4.8 for children with hearing aids and 15.28 ± 4.6 for normal-hearing children. Conclusions: The results of this study showed that the impact of hearing impairment on sensory processing is unperceivable and needs to be addressed through more research However, it does seem that hearing impairment may affect one area of sensory processing.


Microbaroms with about 0.2 Hz caused by oceanic wave are often observed as infrasound wave. We installed infrasound sensor and have observed small pressure variation since 2008 at the Showa station in Antarctica. The results show continues wave with about 0.2 Hz arrives from ocean area. Therefore, the wave is concluded with microbaroms excited at the Antarctic Ocean. However, the excitation mechanism of microbaroms has been still unknown enough because of lack of observation. To understand it, the infrasound sensor was installed on icebreaker SHIRASE and infrasound was observed from Fremantle, Australia during JARE-54 (54th Japan Antarctic Research Expedition) in 2012 and JARE-55 in 2013, and Harumi, Japan during JARE-56 in 2015 to offshore of the Syowa station. Although waves with similar frequency band of microbaroms was observed on the ship, pitch angle variation of the ship also had similar frequency. The pitch angle motion of the ship results vertical motion of the sensor, namely, pressure change. Rough estimation of vertical motion indicates that more than 50% of pressure change in microbaroms-band arises from vertical motion of the ship. In order to eliminate pressure change coming from microbaroms, accurate estimation of vertical motion of the ship is key issue. In this paper, we show attempt to detect microbaroms on the ship and preliminary results.


This paper is concerned with the question of whether and why individuals who know more about a particular knowledge domain acquire domain-related information more readily than individuals who know less about the domain. A conceptual framework is presented that hypothesizes differences in the memory structure of the high-knowledge and low-knowledge individuals, primarily with respect to concepts, higher ordered conceptual groupings, goal structures, and related strategies. Acquisition differences between high-knowledge and low-knowledge individuals are assumed to be a function of differences in memory structure, and the primary factor involved in the acquisition of domain-related information is assumed to be a process termed structural mapping, i.e., encoding input information in terms of one's existing memory structure. The results of six experiments using male and female college students that were designed to study various aspects of the acquisition process are reported. The findings support the general framework and also emphasize the facilitative effect of conceptual differentiation and of context in the high-knowledge individuals.


Hypercholesterolemia, a risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, is a silent health problem. It occurs due to buildup of large amount of cholesterol in blood vessels resulting in narrowed blood vessels or blockage of the flow of blood and causes cellular dysfunction. The predisposing factors for hypercholesterolemia are carbohy‐ drates‐enriched diet, unhealthy fats, and red meat. Moreover, family history, obesity, hypokinetic lifestyle, aging, and oxidative stress are associated with hypercholestero‐ lemia. Therapeutic interventions of hypercholesterolemia involve cessation of bad habits, regular exercise, consumption of cholesterol buster diets, and cholesterol‐ lowering drugs. However, cholesterol‐lowering drugs have low efficacy, and some patients cannot tolerate the adverse effects of hypocholesterolemic drugs. In light of this, there has been great interest to address natural cholesterol busters as first choice as cholesterol‐lowering option. Healthy diet, regular exercise and natural cholesterol‐ lowering agents are documented to decrease blood cholesterol level. Natural cholesterol busters include dietary fibers, plant sterols, healthy fats, smart proteins, antinutrients, antioxidants, and L‐arginine. These busters not only decrease cholesterol oxidation and absorption but also increase cholesterol catabolism and elimination. Most of these busters are found in cereals, oatmeal, fruits, vegetables, legumes, and fermented foods. The natural cholesterol busters are recommended strategies for treatment of hypercho‐ lesterolemia alone or in combination with cholesterol‐lowering drugs.


This paper reports the use of Cholografin (disodium salt of N,N'-adipyl-bis-[3-amino-2,4,6-triiodo]-benzoic acid) for visualization of the gall bladder in infancy. Cholecystography has been difficult and unsatisfactory in this age group. These preliminary studies are presented because Cholografin appears to be superior to any of the contrast materials previously used for this purpose in the early months of life. Cholografin is identical with Biligrafin of Schering, A. G., and has been subjected to clinical trials in Germany which were reported in 1953.* Cholografin is a crystalline powder readily soluble to about 20% in water to give a colorless isotonic solution. It has a higher iodine content than other comparable contrast media. Cholografin is given intravenously and is excreted by the liver, the first traces appearing in the bile within a few minutes. The extrahepatic ducts may be visualized in adults within 15 to 20 minutes following injection. Filling of the gall


Conventional metal microparts were fabricated by a series of complex photolithography, sputtering, sacrificial layer and release processes. This reported work demonstrates the integrated process of metal microparts using 1064 nm Nd:YVO4 laser direct-write patterning of indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films on glass, followed by the electrochemical deposition of copper (Cu) on the pattern. The ITO thin film could be removed without any damage to the glass structure through the diffractive multiple Nd:YVO4 beam. A high overlapping area of the laser spot was used to pattern the electrode layer on the film surface for obtaining a 50 µm ablated edge profile with a linear boundary after laser patterning. A high quality of surface could be achieved at a proper parameter control without numerous processing steps. Compared with conventional photolithography and etching technologies, direct-write micropatterns of ITO using the Nd:YVO4 laser is a maskless, dry and low-cost process. Accordingly, the micrometal parts can be obtained using the electrochemical deposition and release process of laser-patterned ITO films because of the adhesion property of Cu on ITO.


Background: In vitro studies of Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS) have demonstrated anti-GQ1b IgG antibodymediated presynaptic damage at the neuromuscular junction. Previous studies have provided electrophysiological evidence of presynaptic neuromuscular transmission defect in MFS in anti-GQ1b positive patients, which persisted up to 3 months from initial presentation. Methods and results: In this study, we show that incremental responses were significantly greater in antibodypositive MFS and Bickerstaff's brainstem encephalitis, compared with antibody-negative Guillain-Barre and MFS variants. These responses return to normality by 6 months, in tandem with clinical recovery. Conclusions: The findings have pertinent implications on developing management strategies of these conditions.


Copper oxidative addition into organohalides is a challenging two-electron process. In contrast, formal oxidative addition of copper to Csp2 carbon-bromine bonds can be accomplished by employing latent silyl radicals under photoredox conditions. This novel paradigm for copper oxidative addition has now been applied to a Cu-catalyzed cross-coupling of Csp3-bromides. Specifically, a copper/photoredox dual catalytic system for the coupling of alkyl bromides with trifluoromethyl groups is presented. This operationally simple and robust protocol successfully converts a variety of alkyl, allyl, benzyl, and heterobenzyl bromides into the corresponding alkyl trifluoromethanes.


In the present dissertation, proton exchange membrane (PEM) was prepared by using virgin polystyrene and polymeric waste precursors. The adopted sulfonation followed an open and reflux conditions in the presence of dichloroethane and chloroform respectively. Thus the obtained sulfonated polystyrene (SPS) were utilized for the membrane casting using suitable solvents. Concentrated sulfuric acid and freshly prepared acetyl sulfate was employed as sulfonating agent for open and reflux methods respectively. The membrane casting was carried out with and without isolating the sulfonated polystyrene. The zeolite was chosen as an inorganic additive. The synthesized membranes were characterized with Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) to identify the -SO3H functional group attached onto the polymer membrane, thermal stability and surface morphology. The membranes were further examined for their water uptake capacity, swelling behavior and degree of sulfonation. In addition, the crucial performance of the fabricated PEM was scrutinized by experimenting ion exchange capacity (IEC) and proton conductivity analysis. The performed FTIR analysis elucidated the presence of sulfonic and other functional groups in the prepared samples. Further analysis of the degree of sulfonation confirmed the level of sulfonation achieved. The membranes fabricated through an open sulfonation (OS) route exhibited greater swelling characteristics than that of the other samples. The sulfonation via reflux condition using chloroform without zeolite (RCC) and with the inclusion of zeolite (RCC-Z) equivalently displayed good thermal and surface properties. The inclusion of zeolite reduced the water uptake that lead to a less swelling and greater mechanical stability than the one prepared without zeolite. The membranes casted in similar reflux condition but using waste polystyrene as precursor demonstrated good stability towards hydrated condition. The ion exchange capacity of RCC and RCC-Z was found to be 0.030 meq/g and 0.170 meq/g, where else the one obtained using waste PS with varied acetyl sulfonate volume (1 mL and 5 mL) displayed value of 0.220 and 0.536 meq/g respectively. The proton conductivity of the membrane surged by the inclusion of the zeolite (1.11 × 10-5 S/cm), meanwhile the proton conductivity of membrane fabricated through the waste PS with varied acetyl sulfonate volume (1 mL and 5 mL) exhibited an value of 2.03 × 10-6 S/cm and 6.07 × 10-6 S/cm respectively. The present study disclosed the prospective of waste polymers and its obtained inherent properties endorsed its feasibility towards preparation of PEM that outfits fuel cell applications.


Translation initiation on eukaryotic mRNAs usually occurs by 5'-processive scanning of 40S ribosome subunits from the m7GTP-cap to the initiating AUG. In contrast, picornavirus and some specialized mRNAS initiate translation by internally binding ribosomes. A poorly described third mechanism of initiation, referred to as ribosome shunting or jumping, involves discontinuous scanning by 40S ribosome subunits, in which large segments of the 5' noncoding region are bypassed. Ribosome shunting has only been observed to date on a cauliflower mosaic virus mRNA. In this report we show that the family of adenovirus late mRNAs, which are preferentially translated during infection, use a ribosome jumping mechanism to initiate protein synthesis. Late adenovirus mRNAs contain a common 5'-noncoding region known as the tripartite leader, which confers preferential translation by reducing the requirement for the rate-limiting initiation factor eIF-4F (cap-binding protein complex). Adenovirus inhibits cell protein synthesis largely by inactivating eIF-4F. We show that the tripartite leader directs both 5' linear ribosome scanning and ribosome jumping when eIF-4F is abundant but exclusively uses a ribosome jumping mechanism during late adenovirus infection or heat shock (stress) of mammalian cells, when eIF-4F is altered or inactivated. Shunting is directed by a complex group of secondary structures in the tripartite leader and is facilitated by one or more unidentified viral late gene products. We propose that shunting may represent a widespread mechanism to facilitate selective translation of specialized classes of capped mRNAs, including some stress and developmentally regulated mRNAs, which possess little requirement for eIF-4F but do not initiate by internal ribosome binding.


Nanowire growth occurs by step flow at the wire-catalyst interface, with strikingly different step-flow kinetics for solid versus liquid catalysts. Here we report quantitative in situ measurements of step flow together with a kinetic model that reproduces the behavior. This allows us to identify the key parameters controlling step-flow growth, evaluate changes in the catalyst composition during growth, and identify the most favorable conditions for growing abrupt heterojunctions in nanowires.


The measurement of gene expression levels in the human brain can help accelerate our understanding of complex mental states and psychiatric illnesses. Mental states are typically associated with whole-brain networks; however, gene expression levels from postmortem brain samples have traditionally been measured in a limited number of brain regions due to resource limitations. The recent availability of whole-brain gene expression data from the Allen Human Brain Atlas (AHBA) provides the opportunity to generate gene expression patterns for over 20,000 genes. By linking these expression patterns with brain activity patterns that are associated with specific mental states, researchers can better understand which genes may support given mental states, via forward inference. Conversely, reverse inference can also be used to determine which mental state activation patterns are most strongly associated with a given gene expression map. This chapter provides a step-by-step guide on how to use the AHBA in conjunction with the NeuroSynth fMRI meta-analysis tool to identify the mental state correlates of specific gene expression patterns, using genes from oxytocin signaling pathway as an example. We also demonstrate how to perform an out-of-sample validation and assess the specificity of results for genes of interest.


The cystic swellings of scrotum are one among the commonest clinical entities faced by a surgeon in day to day practice and a cause of concern to the patient more with his fertility. Presenting with varied etiology they can represent a wide range of medical issues. Gold standard for the management of such cystic swellings of scrotum continues to be surgical extirpation of the lesion. Objective: To identify the cause, mode of presentation, various modalities of treatment and outcome of these with their complications. Method: A total of 170 cases of cystic swellings of scrotum fulfilling the methodology criteria were subjected to the preformatted study. Diagnosis was mostly by clinical examination and supported by ultrasonography. All cases were treated surgically with the appropriate surgical procedure. Results: Maximum patients were in the age group of 31-50 years and presented with scrotal swelling (59%) and more commonly affecting the right side. The commonest cause for cystic swelling of the scrotum was primary vaginal hydrocele (55%). Surgical procedure using Lords Plication was found to be simple, effective and associated with minimum post operative complications; the other conventional techniques like Partial/sub-total excision of sac, everson of sac were associated with more complications like haematoma, scrotal edema and infection. Majority of patients were discharged on 7th Post-operative day. Conclusion: The present study, primary vaginal hydrocele was the commonest cystic swelling of scrotum and treated surgically showed good results. Lord's procedure was associated with the less post-operative complications, minimal tissue handling and good haemostatic control.


Context. This paper describes the initial modelling of gas and dust data acquired in August and September 2014 from the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft when it was in close proximity to the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Aims. This work is an attempt to provide a self-consistent model of the innermost gas and dust coma of the comet, as constrained by the Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA) data set for the gas and by the Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System (OSIRIS) data set for the dust. Methods. The model uses a previously developed shape model for the nucleus, and from this the water sublimation rate and gas temperatures at the surface are computed with a simple thermal model. The gas expansion is modelled with a 3D parallel implementation of a Direct Simulation Monte Carlo algorithm. A dust drag algorithm is then used to produce dust densities in the coma, which are then converted to brightnesses using Mie theory and a line-of-sight integration. Results. We show that a purely insolation-driven model for surface outgassing does not produce a reasonable fit to ROSINA/COPS data. A stronger source in the "neck" region of the nucleus (region Hapi) is needed to match the observed modulation of the gas density in detail. This agrees with OSIRIS data, which shows that the dust emission from the "neck" was dominant in the August-September 2014 time frame. The current model matches this observation reasonably if a power index of 2-3 for the dust size distribution is used. A better match to the OSIRIS data is seen by using a single large particle size for the coma. Conclusions. We have shown possible solutions to the gas and dust distributions in the inner coma, which are consistent with ROSINA and OSIRIS data.


This article describes the design and implementation of a remote laboratory for learning sensors-based experiments and its applications using embedded systems and Internet of Things (IoT) platform. The main objective of this remote laboratory is to enhance the learning on sensors in engineering education and dealing with the industrial automation applications. With the growing IoT platform for automation, the proposed system can monitor the sensor data and allows the learner to work from anywhere and anytime using mobile android application. Thus, learners can develop knowledge on sensors and control algorithms required for the automation industries and then deploy them on the real industrial automation modules. Keywords—Sensor laboratory, Remote laboratory, Embedded systems, IoT, Industrial Sensors and Automation.


The hyperpolarization-activated nonselective cation current, I(h), was investigated in neonatal and adult rat intracardiac neurons. I(h) was observed in all neurons studied and displayed slow time-dependent rectification. I(h) was isolated by blockade with external Cs(+) (2 mM) and was inhibited irreversibly by the bradycardic agent, ZD 7288. Current density of I(h) was approximately twofold greater in neurons from neonatal (-4.1 pA/pF at -130 mV) as compared with adult (-2.3 pA/pF) rats; however, the reversal potential and activation parameters were unchanged. The reversal potential and amplitude of I(h) was sensitive to changes in external Na(+) and K(+) concentrations. An inwardly rectifying K(+) current, I(K(IR)), was also present in intracardiac neurons from adult but not neonatal rats and was blocked by extracellular Ba(2+). I(K(IR)) was present in approximately one-third of the adult intracardiac neurons studied, with a current density of -0.6 pA/pF at -130 mV. I(K(IR)) displayed rapid activation kinetics and no time-dependent rectification consistent with the rapidly activating, inward K(+) rectifier described in other mammalian autonomic neurons. I(K(IR)) was sensitive to changes in external K(+), whereby raising the external K(+) concentration from 3 to 15 mM shifted the reversal potential by approximately +36 mV. Substitution of external Na(+) had no effect on the reversal potential or amplitude of I(K(IR)). I(K(IR)) density increases as a function of postnatal development in a population of rat intracardiac neurons, which together with a concomitant decrease in I(h) may contribute to changes in the modulation of neuronal excitability in adult versus neonatal rat intracardiac ganglia.


Law is an interpretative profession as it is vested with the legitimate authority to interpret the rules governing the structure and processes of societal relations. As societal facts are accurately interpreted through the legal profession, justice in society is thereby promoted, if not enhanced. However, rarely are facts accurately interpreted, for the accuracy of interpretation is largely dependent on the quality of the case that is constructed by the legal practitioner. Indeed, the quality of case building is largely constrained by, or has a direct relation to the economic class to which the litigants belong. Thus, the rich have far greater chances than the poor have of obtaining better-constructed cases. Some of the factors that negatively affect the building of cases for the pauper litigants are: difficulty of locating witnesses, inability to communicate with their lawyers and lack of knowledge of the law, heavy workload of the public attorneys, and absence of investigators and legal researchers at the Public Attorney's Office.


As an emerging field in entrepreneurship research, business model has attracted the attention from scholars in entrepreneurship, strategy, organization, and technological innovation fields. Although the number of literature has experienced a substantial increase in the last ten years, the academic understanding of business model is not improved. The key reason could lie in the broad use of business model in the extant literature. The comprehensive literature review of business model has suggested that researchers have yet to develop a common and widely accepted language that would allow researchers to draw effectively on the work of others. To fill up this theoretical gap, this paper addresses the following research questions: how to conceptualize business model to integrate the different views on business model, and what are the theoretical implications to the business model research, especially in China's context. Our purpose is to improve the business model research in general by developing a dual-dimension conceptualization and typology of business model, and contribute to the business model research in China's context by highlighting the implications of our developed theoretical typology. Specifically, we firstly draw a comprehensive review on the origin and development of business model concept, and conclude that the extant literature mainly addresses the business model as the design or architecture of the value creation, delivery, and capture mechanisms of a firm. Secondly, we highlight the limitations of the current understanding by addressing the value attribute of business model, which leads to the competitive advantages of new ventures. We develop a dual-dimension conceptualization and typology of business model based on the characteristics of the business architecture and value attribute. And lastly we highlight the implications of the typology to the business model research in general, as well as the business model research in China's context. Our theoretical exploration might contribute to the business model research. Firstly, we explore and integrate the differences of business model concept in extant literature. Specifically, we highlight the nature of business model concept in terms of the business architecture on how to create value, and the value attribute on how to compete the established business. We could understand that they are two sides of the same coin. Future research might take more efforts to the origin and development of the value attribute of business model. Secondly, we develop a typology model to highlight the differences of business model in the real business. We believe that this typology model might inspire the researchers to define, observe and measure the nature of business model. By doing so, it might contribute to the theoretical development of business model research in the future.


The nonadhesive mutant CD11 of Vibrio cholerae El Tor, defective in expression of mannose-sensitive haemagglutinin, lacks a protein when compared with its parent strain. Determination of the amino acid sequence revealed the identity of the protein as the product of VC1929, which is annotated to encode a protein, DctP, involved in the transport of C₄-dicarboxylates. We cloned the dctP gene in pUC19 vector and expressed it in mutant CD11. Expression of DctP in the resulting complemented strain restored virulence, adhesive and colonizing capabilities, mannose-sensitive haemagglutination (MSHA) and ability to grow in medium containing sialic acid as a sole carbon source. The mutation in CD11 was caused by insertion of an adenine nucleotide in the reading frame of dctP. Recombinant purified DctP protein showed MSHA of human red blood cells, and protected rabbits against infection by V. cholerae. The protein was localized in membrane and cell wall fractions. The mutant, recombinant CD11 expressing DctP and parent strains were grown in M9 minimal medium in the presence of various carbohydrates (glucose, malate, fumarate, succinate or N-acetylneuraminic acid). The mutant was unable to grow in minimal medium containing N-acetylneuraminic acid (sialic acid) as the sole carbon source whereas the recombinant and parent strains utilized all the sugars tested. It is concluded that DctP is a mannose-sensitive haemagglutinin and a virulence factor and is involved in the utilization of sialic acid.


ABSTRACT In November 2017, it was announced that the new dengue vaccine ("Dengvaxia") had risks for those not previously exposed to dengue. While some countries proceeded with adjusting guidance accordingly, the Philippines reacted with outrage and political turmoil with naming and shaming of government officials involved in purchasing the vaccine, as well as scientists involved in the vaccine trials and assessment. The result was broken public trust around the dengue vaccine as well heightened anxiety around vaccines in general. The Vaccine Confidence ProjectTM measured the impact of this crisis, comparing confidence levels in 2015, before the incident, with levels in 2018. The findings reflect a dramatic drop in vaccine confidence from 93% "strongly agreeing" that vaccines are important in 2015 to 32% in 2018. There was a drop in confidence in those strongly agreeing that vaccines are safe from 82% in 2015 to only 21% in 2018; similarly confidence in the effectiveness of vaccines dropped from 82% in 2015 to only 22%. This article highlights the importance of routinely identifying gaps or breakdowns in public confidence in order to rebuild trust, before a pandemic threat, when societal and political cooperation with be key to an effective response.


Random forests have long been considered as powerful model ensembles in machine learning. By training multiple decision trees, whose diversity is fostered through data and feature subsampling, the resulting random forest can lead to more stable and reliable predictions than a single decision tree. This however comes at the cost of decreased interpretability: while decision trees are often easily interpretable, the predictions made by random forests are much more difficult to understand, as they involve a majority vote over multiple decision trees. In this paper, we examine different types of reasons that explain "why" an input instance is classified as positive or negative by a Boolean random forest. Notably, as an alternative to prime-implicant explanations taking the form of subset-minimal implicants of the random forest, we introduce majoritary reasons which are subset-minimal implicants of a strict majority of decision trees. For these abductive explanations, the tractability of the generation problem (finding one reason) and the optimization problem (finding one minimum-sized reason) are investigated. Unlike prime-implicant explanations, majoritary reasons may contain redundant features. However, in practice, prime-implicant explanations - for which the identification problem is DP-complete - are slightly larger than majoritary reasons that can be generated using a simple linear-time greedy algorithm. They are also significantly larger than minimum-sized majoritary reasons which can be approached using an anytime Partial MaxSAT algorithm.


Complete data on the polymorphisms of CYP1A1, GSTM1 and p53 genes in Tundra Nentsi population, with known genealogical history are essential for the analysis of the "cancer susceptibility gene markers" distribution among different Oriental populations. The cytochrome P4501A subfamily is known to be responsible for the metabolic activation of aromatic compounds occurring in the products of gas mixture combustion, the main environmental pollutants in the north of western Siberia. Recently a close correlation was reported between development of some types of cancer and polymorphisms of human CYP1A1, GSTM1 and p53 genes. The frequency of the CYP1A1 Vol allele in the healthy part of the Tundra Nentsi population differs from those previously reported for Japanese and is more than 1.5 times higher. It is necessary to underline that homozygote Val genotype was present in 26% of non-healthy Tundra Nentsi, the incidence being 2.7-times higher in comparison with healthy population. GSTM1 gene deletion is present in 40% of Orientals and in 39% of Tundra Nentsi. Moreover, the share of individuals with null genotype among a group with chromosomal abnormalities and cancer was 63%, or 1.5 fold higher. Thus the prevalence of two polymorphic genes CYP1A1 and GSTM1 responsible for the biotransformation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons was too high in the non-healthy group.


Introduction: Organ transplantation is the therapeutic modality available for people with end-organ failure. However, only 10% of the need for transplantation is met globally. There are different factors that influence organ donation by people. Objective: This study was planned with an aim to understand the beliefs and knowledge of a rural community toward organ donation and the identification of barriers for organ donation. Materials and Methods: A qualitative community-based cross-sectional study was carried out among the adults of a rural area of Ballabgarh block of district Faridabad, Haryana. There were four groups of participants based on age and gender. Data collection was done through focused group discussion. Results: Several themes emerged and various reasons that were facilitators/barriers for donation of organ by people were listed: unawareness on what organs can be donated, misuse of donated organs by black marketing, organ donation by people having any comorbidity, no religious prohibition on organ donation, and disfigurement of body after organ donation. Conclusion: People consider organ donation a noble act. However, there are various myths and misconceptions as well as unawareness of procedure regarding organ donation that leads to lower rate of organ donation. Awareness campaigns should be organized to take care of such issues.


Tribal warfare is a way of life in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. In earlier times direct confrontation with bushknives and axes, and shooting with bows and arrows were common. In recent years there have not been as many instances of direct confrontation with bushknives and axes, but the use of bows and arrows is on the rise. Since 1993, guns have been increasingly used, with devastating results. In 1993, 18 deaths were reported from tribal warfare in one area of the Southern Highlands Province, especially from gunshots, while in 1994, 24 deaths were reported from another area. A five-year review of tribal fight admissions to Mendi Hospital, from 1990 to 1994, showed an increase in the number and proportion of gunshot wounds; there were none in 1990-1992 but they constituted 18% of tribal fight injuries in 1993 and 33% in 1994. Language: en


Real-world visual data often exhibits a long-tailed distribution, where some ''head'' classes have a large number of samples, yet only a few samples are available for ''tail'' classes. Such imbalanced distribution causes a great challenge for learning a deep neural network, which can be boiled down into a dilemma: on the one hand, we prefer to increase the exposure of tail class samples to avoid the excessive dominance of head classes in the classifier training. On the other hand, oversampling tail classes makes the network prone to over-fitting, since head class samples are often consequently under-represented. To resolve this dilemma, in this paper, we propose a simple-yet-effective auxiliary learning approach. The key idea is to split a network into a classifier part and a feature extractor part, and then employ different training strategies for each part. Specifically, to promote the awareness of tail-classes, a class-balanced sampling scheme is utilised for training both the classifier and the feature extractor. For the feature extractor, we also introduce an auxiliary training task, which is to train a classifier under the regular random sampling scheme. In this way, the feature extractor is jointly trained from both sampling strategies and thus can take advantage of all training data and avoid the over-fitting issue. Apart from this basic auxiliary task, we further explore the benefit of using self-supervised learning as the auxiliary task. Without using any bells and whistles, our model achieves superior performance over the state-of-the-art solutions.


Based on the medical evidence provided by the literature reviewed, there does not appear to be support for the hypothesis that any form of intraoperative monitoring improves patient outcomes following lumbar decompression or fusion procedures for degenerative spinal disease. Evidence does indicate that a normal evoked EMG response is predictive for intrapedicular screw placement (high NPV for breakout). The presence of an abnormal EMG response does not, however, exclude intrapedicular screw placement (low PPV). The majority of clinically apparent postoperative nerve injuries are associated with intraoperative changes in SSEP and/or DSEP monitoring. For this reason, changes in DSEP/SSEP monitoring appear to be sensitive to nerve root injury. There is a high-false positive rate, however, and changes in DSEP and SSEP recordings are frequently not related to nerve injury. A normal study has been shown to correlate with the lack of a significant postoperative nerve injury. There is no substantial evidence to indicate that the use of intraoperative monitoring of any kind provides useful information to the surgeon in terms of assessing the adequacy of nerve root decompression at the time of surgery.


. Clark's nutcracker ( Nucifraga columbiana ) functions as a keystone seed disperser and ecological mobile link for many western conifers. The bird is the primary seed disperser for limber pine ( Pinus fl exilis ), which is an important seed resource for the bird. In the Southern Rocky Mountains, annual variation in limber pine cone production and growing threats, such as exotic disease, require that nutcrackers rely on additional conifer seed resources. We investigated the utilization of limber pine, ponderosa pine ( Pinus ponderosa ), and Douglas- fi r ( Pseudotsuga menziesii ) as seed resources by nutcrackers to determine how temporal variation in seed production and maturation drives nutcracker seed resource and habitat use decisions. Working in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) during three fi eld seasons, we examined (1) cone production in limber pine, ponderosa pine, and Douglas- fi r, and seed energy availability across the RMNP landscape; (2) timing and likelihood of nutcracker seed harvest and caching behavior for each conifer species; and (3) predictors of nutcracker visitation to the different forest stand types. Each year starting in mid- to late August, nutcrackers foraged on limber pine seeds. In 2014 and 2015, nutcrackers transitioned from limber pine to harvesting ponderosa pine seeds. In 2016, a year of low ponderosa pine cone production but exceptionally high Douglas- fi r cone production, they transitioned from limber pine to Dou-glas- fi r seeds. Cone density was a signi fi cant predictor of nutcracker counts in every negative binomial regression model in which it was used. However, the best overall model, which included interaction effects, indicated that stand type, year, and month were better predictors. We interpret these three predictors as re fl ecting temporal variation in patterns of cone production and maturation among the three conifers but also in habitat use by nutcrackers. In all three years of study, limber pine alone did not provide suf fi cient energy resources for foraging and caching, and nutcrackers used an additional conifer seed resource. With potential future limber pine losses, these other seed resources may be essential to sustain a nutcracker population. We suggest that Douglas- fi r and especially ponderosa pine will serve as increas-ingly important food resources as limber pine declines across the montane West.


The central focus of the article is managing change in the National Health Service (NHS). In particular, it uses the implementation of general management (see the Griffiths Report, 1983) to explore the value of the process-sociological approach for understanding a number of unintended outcomes associated with this change. Elias is not a sociologist associated with the study of the NHS, or indeed the management of change, yet it is argued his approach has much to offer in exploring change in complex organizations such as the NHS. The article is organized as three sections. First, the central elements of a figurational approach are discussed and used to explore existing studies of change in the NHS. Second, the article applies a figurational approach to the study of the implementation of general management. Here the value of Elias's game models is explored in some detail. Finally, Elias's contribution to the study of complex social change is critically assessed.


Multiple myeloma (MM) is characterized by infiltration of bone marrow (BM) with clonal malignant
plasma cells. The percentage of plasma cells in the BM is required for both diagnosis and prognosis.

Intracellular protein screening and quantitative proteomic analysis was performed in myeloma plasma cells with
an aim to compare expressions between low (0-9%), intermediate (10-20%) and high (>20%) plasma cell infiltration groups.

BM aspiration samples were collected from newly diagnosed untreated patients with MM. The samples
were pooled into three groups according to the plasma cell content (PCC) in the BM: group 1 (0-9%),
group 2 (10-20%) and group 3 (>20%). Protein profiles were obtained and proteins were identified by peptide mass
fingerprinting analysis.

 Differentially expressed proteins were detected between all groups. The identified proteins are Endoplasmin, Calreticulin,
Protein Disulfide-isomerase, Marginal zone B and B1 cell specific protein/pERp1, Actin cytoplasmic 1, Myeloblastin,
Thioredoxin domain-containing protein 5, Ig kappa chain C region, Apoptosis regulator B-cell lymphoma 2 and Peroxiredoxin-
4.

Proteins involved in cell proliferation, apoptosis, redox homeostasis and unfolded protein disposal through endoplasmic
reticulum-associated degradation machinery has been found to be correlated to PCC. Our results confirm earlier
reports in regards to the potential effects of identified proteins in the major signaling pathways that lead to cancer. Moreover,
this study reveals a novel association between PCC levels and MM. It further highlights the roles of Marginal zone B
and B1 cell specific proteins in MM, which could be used as candidate biomarkers in future studies.


Thermal remote sensing has been used over urban areas to assess the urban heat island, to perform land cover classifications and as input for models of urban surface atmosphere exchange. Here, we review the use of thermal remote sensing in the study of urban climates, focusing primarily on the urban heat island effect and progress made towards answering the methodological questions posed by Roth et al. [International Journal of Remote Sensing 10 (1989) 1699]. The review demonstrates that while some progress has been made, the thermal remote sensing of urban areas has been slow to advance beyond qualitative description of thermal patterns and simple correlations. Part of the difficulty lies in the tendency to use qualitatively based land use data to describe the urban surface rather than the use of more fundamental surface descriptors. Advances in the application of thermal remote sensing to natural and agricultural surfaces suggest insight into possible methods to advance techniques and capabilities over urban areas. Improvements in the spatial and spectral resolution of current and next-generation satellite-based sensors, in more detailed surface representations of urban surfaces and in the availability of low cost, high resolution portable thermal scanners are expected to allow progress in the application of urban thermal remote sensing to the study of the climate of urban areas. D 2003 Elsevier Inc


Morinda ellipfica or locally known as "mengkudu kecil" is a medicinal plant
commonly used by the Malays i n Peninsular Malaysia. The plant parts are used in
various ways to treat many health problems and ailments. Literature search did not
reveal any reports on its chemical constituents or biological activity. So, it is believed
tl1at this is the first study on the chemical constituents and biological activity of
Morinda ellipfica.
Phytochemical studies on roots of this plant have resulted in the isolation of
a new anthraquinone, 2-formyl-1-hydroxyanthraquinone, and ten known
anthraquinones, 1-hydroxy-2-methylanthraquinone, nordamnacanthal,
damnacanthal, lucidin-w-methylether, rubiadin, soranjidiol, morindone, rubiadin-1-methylether, morindone-5-methyl ether and a lizarin-1-methylether. The structures
of the anthraquinones were established based on spectral studies using ultravioletvisible
spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, one and two dimensional nuclear
magnetic resonance spectra, and mass spectrometry.The new anthraquinone, 2-formyl- -hydroxyanthraquinone, was synthesized
through a four step synthesis from phthalide anhydride and 4-bromophenol. The
steps involved a Friedel-Crafts condensation of the starting mate rial to form the
anth raqu inone rings followed by debromination and methylation before an oxidation
step to the targeted aldehyde.
Studies on the biological activity of the anthraquinones were conducted
using some selected bioassay procedures. The anthraquinones were subjected to a
battery of bioactivity testings, which included antimicrobial, antiviral, cytotoxicity and
antioxidant assays. The results of these tests indicated that some of the compounds
do possess interesting biological activity especially in the cytotoxicity and antioxidant
assays. Damnacanthal and nordamnacanthal were found to be active against many
cell lines tested and may have potential to be developed as anticancer agents.


We consider the security requirements for a broad class of content distribution systems where the content distribution infrastructure is required to strictly abide by access control policies prescribed by owners of content. We propose a security solution that identifies a minimal trusted computing base (TCB) for a content distribution infrastructure, and leverages the TCB to provide all desired assurances regarding the operation of the infrastructure. It is assumed that the contents and access control policies associated with contents are dynamic.


Abstract Functioning of the amphibian oviduct is the subject of many studies, but detailed understanding of caecilian reproduction exists for very few species. In this study, a description is made of morphological changes of the oviduct of the caecilian Boulengerula taitana throughout the year, using conventional histology and immunohistochemistry. The reproductive cycle of this little-known species, originating from the Taita Hills in southeast Kenya, is annual. During the reproductive period (November–February), both lamina propria and the epithelium of the oviduct exhibit a maximum degree of development. The epithelial mucosa is more secretory and the cilia cells are abundant. Histological analysis shows the distribution of the different type of cells according to a specific pattern in the pars recta, pars convoluta and pars utera. Evaluation of proliferative (Ki-67 positive cells) and apoptotic cells (TUNEL and Apostain assays) into the different tissues brings out cyclic modifications of the lamina propria and epithelial cells throughout a seasonal cycle. The results demonstrate that the balance between cell proliferation and apoptosis reflects the functionality of the oviduct during the sexual cycle.


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With respect to experimental condition, we have investigated the point spread function of a high numerical aperture objective lens, taking into account the absorption effect of the studied material. By using a material possessing an ultralow one-photon absorption (LOPA) coefficient at the excitation wavelength, the light beam can penetrate deeply inside the material and be tightly focused into a subwavelength spot, almost the same as in the absence of material. Combining tight focusing and ultralow absorption conditions, we show that LOPA-based microscopy is thus capable of three-dimensional imaging and fabrication with long penetration depth up to 300 μm. As compared to the commonly used two-photon absorption microscope, the LOPA method allows simplification of the experimental setup and also minimization of the photodamaging or bleaching effect of materials.


BACKGROUND
Patients with endometriosis rarely have a serum CA 125 concentration >100 IU/mL. A raised plasma level of D-dimer indicates active fibrinolysis, either secondary to clot formation or primarily activated. This condition is seldom diagnosed in patients with endometriosis.

CASE REPORT
A 53-year-old woman was referred to our institution for acute abdominal pain. Laparoscopic surgery revealed a large ovarian cyst with rupture on the left side. Preoperative laboratory tests detected high serum CA 125 and D-dimer levels. Adnexectomy was performed, resulting in a sharp decrease in serum CA 125 and D-dimer concentration. We describe the clinical course of the patient.

CONCLUSION
Rupture of a large ovarian endometrioma can lead to a high serum concentration of CA 125, a condition which, in addition to the detected pelvic mass, may mimic a malignant process. The increased D-dimer plasma level indicated that a ruptured endometriotic cyst can induce coagulation reactions.


It is significance to predict coal production for balancing coal supply and demand in China. The primary goal of this research is the prediction of coal production in china. The method used in the study is known as the BP neural network. The BP neural network is designed with the MATLAB simulation software based on coal production historical data from 1980 to 2007. The studies we have performed showed that the prediction of coal production based on BP neural network is reasonable and valuable. Finally, we get the prediction of coal production from 2010 to 2015, and the prediction indicates that the coal production will increase in the next 5 years.


In this paper, Cost-effectiveness of various straw pulp wastewater treatment technologies were compared in detail, moreover the separate and combined process of Coagulation Sedimentation, Anaerobic Baffled Reactor, Sequencing Batch Reactor and Biological Aerated Filter processes were researched. The test result has showed that when addition dosage of PAM and PAC is 4mg/L and 80mg/L in Coagulation Sedimentation separately, and ABR HRT is 10h, the biodegradability of the straw wastewater increased from 0.25 after pretreatment to about 0.45. As the best SBR HRT is 8h, the CODcr removal rate was about 62%, the BOD5 removal rate was 70.7% averagely, and the treatment effectiveness is steady correspondingly. But in combined process, the CODcr removal rate of SBR unit is significantly increased to 78%, the CODcr removal rate of whole system is higher than 90%. Finally, the BAF has been applied to the advanced treatment on outwater of two biological treatment. The experimental results show that there is a good efficiency on the advanced treatment of the using the method, the CODcr of outwater is 78 mg/L, the BOD5 is 28 mg/L, the chroma is 32 times, the SS is 38 mg/L, and the treated water not only meets the state's new discharge standards (GB3544-2008), but also satisfies the requirements of reuse water, and the cost of whole treatment is only RMB 1.80 yuan / m3 wastewater.


Due to increasing requirement for light weight armour solutions the use of ceramic materials in armour applications has enormously increased. However, the multi hit performance of ceramic materials is still a problem due to their inherent brittleness. This problem is generally addressed by changing the design aspect like using ceramic segments instead of tiles. Even though ceramic segments are in use for armour applications for a long time the ballistic performance of these cylindrical segments have not been measured using simple ballistic testing technique like the Depth of Penetration (DOP) test similar to that of tiles. In this study the DOP test method is utilized for ballistic evaluation of cylindrical alumina segments. The post ballistic damage area was found to be lesser in case of cylindrical alumina segments than alumina tiles, but the ballistic performance of cylindrical segments was found to be inferior to that of tiles.


The Portuguese road design guidelines have undergone periodical revisions, aiming at updating technical aspects of the geometric design of road elements and enlarging the field of their application to various types of roads and intersections. The National Laboratory for Civil Engineering (LNEC), through its Transportation Department, has provided scientific and technical support and advice to the road administrations along this process. At the present stage, a proposal made by LNEC points out to the need for a thorough reformulation of the whole set of documents which are currently being used in Portugal as road design guidelines, in order to introduce a greater integration among them, and new technical advances based on scientific ground. A strategy to carry out that reformulation is being followed, which involves the setting up of an encompassing framework centred in a so called "base document" which contains common concepts and technical indications to which all the guidelines for specific types of roads must comply with. In this paper a presentation is made on the main characteristics of the said "base document" prepared by LNEC, as well as the rationale underlying the introduction of a road safety approach into not only the conceptual frame but also the definition of road geometric design parameters and acceptable limit values, more closely related to the human component, which are derived, for example, from the assessment of driver's behaviour characterization, using the results of a large number of measurements in Portuguese and other European road networks.


Introduction: Natural honey has been valued in traditional medicine having demonstrated many antioxidant properties. The aim of this study was to compare the antioxidant activities of 12 types of honey from Thailand and manuka honey from New Zealand. Methods: Antioxidant contents of phenolic content, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), ascorbic acid content, 2, 2-diphenyl-1picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity (TEAC) were determined in Thai and manuka honey samples. Results: All of the 12 types of Thai (n=54) and manuka (n=3) honey varied in range for phenolic content (210-1,519, 563-785 mg GAE/kg), FRAP value (600-9,183, 3,866-4,933 μM Fe(II)/ kg), ascorbic acid content (103-386, 913-1,212 mg/kg), DPPH radical scavenging activity (25-528, 259-310 mg Trolox/kg) and TEAC content (96-636, 328-421 mg Trolox/kg). Mangosteen honey had the highest content of phenolics (1,495±20 mg GAE/kg), FRAP value (9,083±100 μM Fe(II)/kg), DPPH radical scavenging activity (522±6 mg Trolox/kg) and TEAC content (632±3 mgTrolox/kg). Conclusion: Antioxidant activities in mangosteen and rambutan honey presented significantly higher values than manuka honey in terms of phenolic content, DPPH and TEAC. Manuka honey contained the highest vitamin C content (1,194±18 mg/ kg). However, the values for antioxidant properties were dependent on source of honey. Some honeys from Thailand were found to be a better source of antioxidant properties compared to manuka honey.


This project aims to make clear the nature of collaboration between performer and
composer. Whereas the roles of composer and interpreter are essentially sequential, the
roles of collaborators are, by definition, interactive. While an interpreter comes to a
score as a finished piece of work, a collaborative performer is involved with the
composer's creative process before the musical score obtains its final form.
As an intermediary between the composer and the audience, the interpreter must balance
the literal requirements of the printed score with his or her own understanding of the
composer's intentions and the needs of the performance. The printed score is a
necessarily limited medium and interpreters define the extent of their own creative
freedom in relation to its constraints and their understanding of its meaning.
The purpose of this Master of Music project is to demonstrate my creative contribution,
as both interpreter and collaborative performer, to the realisation of new musical works
for guitar that were written between 1995 and 2002 by composers resident in Tasmania.
The project consists of a recital of works by Graham Southwell Brown, Russell Gilmour,
Maria Grenfell, Don Kay, John Lockwood and Raffaele Marcellino with a master
recording of performances of these works for later release on CD or for broadcast. These
are accompanied by a performance edition of the works by Brown, Gilmour, Grenfell
and Kay that includes my fingerings, editorial marks and the revisions that have arisen
from the process of collaborating with these composers. The exegesis outlines my
collaboration with the composers of the works, and places the project in the context of
writings by performers, composers, and musicologists on the interpretive role of the
performer and the nature of collaboration between performer and composer.


Texas is one of five states in the United States in which teen pregnancies exceed 70 per 1,000 females aged 15 to 17 years. The purpose of this retrospective exploratory study was to analyze and map sociodemographic variables associated with unmarried teen childbirth. It was hypothesized that selected sociodemographic variables would be related to the unmarried teen birthrates. Correlational analysis was employed to ascertain the relationship between the sociodemographic variables and the unmarried teen birthrates for 81 zip codes in Dallas County, Texas. The births occurred between January 1, 1995 and December 31, 1996. Geographic Information System (GIS) software illustrated the spatial distribution of the unmarried teen birthrates in conjunction with sociodemographic variables extracted from the 1990 U.S. Census Bureau. The results indicate that unmarried teen births are positively related to low socioeconomic status, single-parent family households, and minority populations. Mapping supports the quantitative relationships between the variables. Maps can be used to identify communities where teens most vulnerable to unmarried pregnancy and childbirth reside and provide policy makers with explicit information about their constituents so that they can develop and implement population-specific interventions.


Sound is an important communication tool for humans that contain information about the surrounding environment. It may signify a danger or a reward for an organism. In humans, the mechanism of sound production and perception is complex and sophisticated. Sound is produced by vibrating body in a medium that contains molecules in the surrounding space. The sound perception starts in the human foetus at around the third trimester where it plays a vital role in organising the foetal brain. This process continues after birth and can be exploited by various endogenous and exogenous factors. Many mechanisms that can modulate hearing process at different levels lead to subclinical or clinical presentation of hearing-related problems. It is important to contemplate the mechanisms underlying sound production, perception and pathogenesis of hearing loss. This will facilitate prescribing a relevant treatment option according to the cause and its underlying mechanism. The current narrative review was planned to focus on sound production, its perception, types of hearing loss and available treatment options vited in relevant literature searched by using Google Scholar and PubMed.


The purpose of this research was to apply the bedload transport efficiency approach of Bagnold (1973) to a new bedload data set for two sand-bed streams in the seasonally wet tropics of northern Australia. Hand-held, pressure difference, Helley-Smith bedload samplers were used to measure bedload fluxes for the 1998/1999, 1999/2000, 2000/2001 and 2001/2002 wet seasons at the East Tributary and Swift Creek gauging stations in the Ngarradj Creek catchment at Jabiluka, NT, Australia. The East Tributary gauge is characterized by slightly higher stream powers than Swift Creek gauge and hydraulic geometry relations show that both stations respond to increasing discharge differently. Bedload ratings were defined as those that were not only statistically significant (ρ ≤ 0.05) but also explained at least (Adjusted R2 ≥) 0.60 of the variance in bedload flux. They were established between adjusted submersed bedload weight per unit width and time, and both unit and excess unit stream power for raw and log10-transformed data. Bagnold (1973) defined the capacity of a river to transport bedload at various percentage efficiencies. Most stream kinetic energy is expended overcoming internal resistance to flow within the fluid and only a very small proportion is expended in moving bedload. For East Tributary, bedload transport efficiency increased with increasing excess unit stream power but never exceeded 0.1%. For Swift Creek, bedload transport efficiency approximately followed a linear trend at a constant slope at about 0.3 % efficiency. This indicates that bedload transport at Swift Creek is at least three times more efficient than at East Tributary, most likely because of the wider cross section and less dense loading of large wood. This would permit a greater proportion of excess unit stream power to be expended on the bed. Furthermore, at-a-station hydraulic geometry equations differ between the stations, supporting the differences in bedload efficiency. Bagnold"s (1973) approach seems to apply to the two gauges.


In 37 full-colour international maps, "The State of the Earth" examines the health of the planet and the quality of human life. It illustrates all the critical issues - global warming, holes in the ozone layer, rainforest destruction, the loss of wildlife, pollution of every sort. It identifies the effects of industrial and urban expansion, changing methods of agriculture and ever-increasing demands for energy. It measures our ability to meet basic human needs while protecting other forms of life. As the Chernobyl nuclear accident proved so dramatically in 1986, environmental problems do not stop at state boundaries. "The State of the Earth" reflects world wide public concern for our environment and considers the need for more effective international organizations and agreements. With facts on a broad range of topics - from air quality and acid rain to toxic waste and tourism - this book should be a comprehensive source of reference.


The study describes the synthesis and characterization of zinc(II) minoxidil nanocomposite (1). The reaction between zinc(II) acetate, minoxidil, {C9H15N5O=minoxidil=(2,4-diamino-6-piperidine-1-yl) pyrimidine N-oxide)} as a ligand and KI as bridging agent, in methanol at 60°C leads to the formation of nano-sized Zn(II) minoxidil nanocomposite, 1. Characterization of (1) was carried out by elemental analysis, FTIR, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDAX), and gel-permeation chromatography analysis (GPC). The result showed that nanocomposite (1) has polymeric structure with spherical morphology and particle size of about 77 nm. Wurtzite (hexagonal) nanocrystals of zinc oxide were prepared from decomposition of the coordination polymer (1) at 400°C. Characterization of zinc oxide nanocrystals was performed by FTIR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), EDAX and X-ray powder diffraction XRD. The results showed that the product has spherical morphology with particle size of about 34 nm.


An external magnetic field induces large relative changes in the entropy of one-dimensional quantum spin systems at finite temperatures. This leads to a magnetocaloric effect, i.e. a change in temperature during an adiabatic (de)magnetization process. Several examples of one-dimensional spin-1/2 models are studied by employing the Jordan–Wigner transformation and exact diagonalization. During an adiabatic (de)magnetization process, the temperature drops in the vicinity of a field-induced zero-temperature quantum phase transition. Comparing different levels of frustration, we find that more frustrated systems cool down to lower temperatures. For geometrically frustrated spin models a finite entropy survives down to zero temperature at certain magnetic fields. This property suggests frustrated quantum spin systems as promising alternative refrigerant materials for low-temperature magnetic refrigeration.


Objectives: To describe the clinical and radiological characteristics of adult black Zimbabweans with Low Back Pain (LBP). Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Harare, Zimbabwe. Subjects: A random sample of 105 medical records of adult black Zimbabweans that presented to a Neurosurgeon in Harare, Zimbabwe with LBPwas obtained using the stratified sampling technique from a total of 525 medical records. Results: There were 55 women (52%) and 50 men (48%).The mean age was 47 ± 14 years. Most patients were between20 and 60 years of age (80%) and the mean duration of LBP at presentation was 2 years. A past medical history of trauma, no significant illness in the past, smoking cigarettes, and drinking alcohol was observed in 25%, 38%, 23%, and 44% of the records respectively. The common occupations were: office workers (38%), unemployed (19%), and manual workers (15%). The common radiological diagnoses were: Degenerative Lumbar Spine Disease (DLSD) in 38% and Disc Prolapse (DP) in 33%of the records. Lumbar Vertebral Fractures (LVF) and Facet Joint Arthritis (FJA) accounted for 14% and 10%of the records respectively. Conclusions: There was a significant delay by adult black Zimbabweans with LBP in presenting to medical practitioners. Having a past medical history of trauma, no history of a major illness, smoking, alcohol, and occupation were common predisposing factors. Radiology revealed that DLSD, DP, LVF, and FJA were common diagnoses.


Normalization transforms one parent genotype to be consistent with the other before crossover. In this paper, we explain how normalization alleviates the difficulties caused by non-synonymously redundant encodings in genetic algorithms. We define the encodings with maximally non-synonymous property and prove that the encodings induce uncorrelated search spaces. Extensive experiments for a number of problems show that normalization transforms the uncorrelated search spaces to correlated ones and leads to significant improvement in performance.


The article presents the results of measurements of the atmospheric quality in "Kolomna" municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill, the visual assessment of plant life and analysis of morphological parameters of leaves, which grow in experimental and control areas, and the 3D concentration spreading of landfill gas emission. The main idea is to identify the influence of landfill gas emission and morphological parameters of leaves, which grow near the landfill. By factor analysis, we proved the factor value of landfill gas emissions on the morphological parameters of leaves and revealed the main factors which could change the morphological parameters of leaves in experimental and control areas.


The paradigm the new European Higher Education Area places us in together with the teaching/learning guidelines and models demands the teacher adapt his/her function considering new methods which locate the students in the centre of this process. In this context the experience of the subject 'Advanced forming and moulding techniques' taught in 5th course of the Industrial Engineering qualification at the Bilbao Engineering Faculty (UPV/EHU), is presented. This subject must be taken by students opting for intensification in Mechanical Manufacturing. The subject is taught over tour months with 30 students per group on average, where a methodology based on Scoring Rubrics was set up.


The Loire region of France (Fig. 1) is famous for its many chateaux which represent not only a pinnacle in art and architecture but also are a testimony to the excellence of the local building stone. The Saumur region of the Loire valley has an estimated 1000 km of quarried limestone galleries which were excavated from the 1lth to the 19th century. The stone has been used in buildings ranging from grand chateaux to simple domestic, commercial and agricultural buildings (Bailey 1993) (Fig. 2). The stone is extracted from thickly bedded, fine-grained Cretaceous limestones of Turonian age, mainly the Tuffeux Jaune of the Upper Turonian or the Craie Micacée of the Middle Turonian (Alcaydé et al. 1976). It owes its wide usage to the fact that it has ideal engineering properties for a dimension stone since it is stronger and more resistant to weathering than ordinary Cretaceous Chalk but not so strong as to be difficult to quarry or carve into decorative features. The stone occurs in deposits with widely to very widely spaced bedding and joint discontinuities which enable it to have been mined in a manner similar to that of the Jurassic, Bath Stone of England.The value of the stone does not lie solely in its architectural or constructional attributes. The abandoned mines remain as very stable underground spaces by virtue of their exceptionally wide bedding and joint spacing. They are relatively dry and, in common with most underground spaces, possess a constant temperature. Thus, they have found


In plants, the primary input of nitrogen (obtained from the soil or from symbiotic dinitrogen fixation) occurs through the assimilation of ammonia into organic form. Synthesis of glutamine (via glutamine synthetase) is the major, and possibly exclusive, route for this process, and there is little evidence for the participation of glutamate dehydrogenase. A variety of reactions distribute glutamine nitrogen to other compounds, including transfer to amino nitrogen through glutamate synthase. In many plants asparagine is a major recipient of glutamine nitrogen and provides a mobile reservoir for transport to sites of growth; ureides perform a similar function in some legumes. Utilisation of transport forms of nitrogen, and a number of other metabolic processes, involves release of ammonia, which must be reassimilated. In illuminated leaves, there is an extensive flux of ammonia released by the photorespiratory cycle, requiring continuous efficient reassimilation. Aspects of ammonia recycling and related amid...


In recent years, flying ad hoc networks have attracted the attention of many researchers in industry and universities due to easy deployment, proper operational costs, and diverse applications. Designing an efficient routing protocol is challenging due to unique characteristics of these networks such as very fast motion of nodes, frequent changes of topology, and low density. Routing protocols determine how to provide communications between drones in a wireless ad hoc network. Today, reinforcement learning (RL) provides powerful solutions to solve the existing problems in the routing protocols, and designs autonomous, adaptive, and self-learning routing protocols. The main purpose of these routing protocols is to ensure a stable routing solution with low delay and minimum energy consumption. In this paper, the reinforcement learning-based routing methods in FANET are surveyed and studied. Initially, reinforcement learning, the Markov decision process (MDP), and reinforcement learning algorithms are briefly described. Then, flying ad hoc networks, various types of drones, and their applications, are introduced. Furthermore, the routing process and its challenges are briefly explained in FANET. Then, a classification of reinforcement learning-based routing protocols is suggested for the flying ad hoc networks. This classification categorizes routing protocols based on the learning algorithm, the routing algorithm, and the data dissemination process. Finally, we present the existing opportunities and challenges in this field to provide a detailed and accurate view for researchers to be aware of the future research directions in order to improve the existing reinforcement learning-based routing algorithms.