Every year, at least one major Listeria monocytogenes (Listeria) outbreak occurs within the United States. If pregnant women are uninformed of possible ramifications of contracting Listeria, the mother and child are at risk for health complications. One possibly effective communication approach to this population regarding prevention and risk is through Listeria Educational Materials (LEM). In order to ascertain the status and effectiveness of currently available LEM for pregnant women, a systematic literature review was conducted. Literature searches were conducted using widely accepted public/private databases. The mesh terms used included "Listeria pregnancy", "listeria education", "Listeriosis", "Listeria pregnancy prevalence" "Listeria monocytogenes". Articles published within the past 10 years pertaining to educational materials for pregnant women were evaluated. Articles relating to general information of Listeria, were also narrowed to specific characteristics, traits, and origin for exposure. References to Listeria in elderly and immunocompromised individuals were excluded. Four studies involving Listeria interventions including LEM for pregnant women were identified. These studies all concluded a majority of pregnant women were still not provided with sufficient information on infection prevention of Listeria. Most educational materials provided to the women were in the form of pamphlets, and the majority of pregnant women who had heard of Listeria gathered the information through their own research efforts. The current evaluation of the available studies concludes there is inadequate emphasis placed on educational interventions for pregnant women regarding Listeria risk. These interventions concluded more must be done to inform these pregnant women of the dangers of Listeria as well as on the high-risk foods they consume on a daily basis.


Abstract Mammalian sperm require ATP for motility, and most of it is generated by glycolysis. The glycolytic enzymes segregate to the principal piece region of the flagellum, where some are bound tightly to a novel cytoskeletal structure defining this region, the fibrous sheath (FS), and others are easily extracted with detergents. One of the latter is the spermatogenic cell-specific variant isozyme of hexokinase type 1 (HK1S), characterized by an N-terminal 24-amino acid spermatogenic cell-specific region (SSR). Yeast two-hybrid screens carried out using the SSR as bait determined that HK1S is tethered to muscle-type phosphofructokinase (PFKM) in the principal piece region. This led to the identification of four testis-specific Pfkm splice variants, one that overlapped a variant reported previously (Pfkm_v1) and three that were novel (Pfkm_v2, Pfkm_v3, and Pfkm_v4). They differ from Pfkm transcripts found in somatic cells by encoding a novel 67-amino acid N-terminal extension, the testis-specific region (TSR), producing a spermatogenic cell-specific PFKM variant isozyme (PFKMS). An antiserum generated to the TSR demonstrated that PFKMS is present in the principal piece and is insoluble in 1% Triton X-100 detergent. In subsequent yeast two-hybrid screens, the TSR was found to interact with glutathione S-transferase mu class 5 (GSTM5), identified previously as a spermatogenic cell-specific component of the FS. These results demonstrated that HK1S is tethered in the principal piece region by PFKMS, which in turn is bound tightly to GSTM5 in the FS.


ABSTRACT This article provides a brief overview of some of the most seminal and important events in the history of singing voice pedagogy, from the earliest historical writings through the most recent twenty-first century developments. Topics include primary sources from the Renaissance through the romantic eras; an exploration of bel canto concepts and methodologies; reflections on figures such as Manuel García II, William Vennard, Ralph Appelman, and Richard Miller; the history of professional organizations in the United States and their role in shaping scholarly discourse in voice pedagogy; the revelation and influence of acoustic theory, vocology, and contemporary commercial music (CCM) pedagogy in recent decades; and a look at the pedagogical horizon in the coming decades. Readers are provided with additional resources for further study.


Two-phase, gas-solid processes are extremely difficult to operate. Fluidized-bed reactor systems and fluidized-solids recycle systems are two of the more complex two-phase systems and, therefore, offer special challenges in getting them to operate well and keeping them operating. A study has shown that plants processing solids operate at only about 68% of design capacity in the first year of operation, whereas the industry standard for plants that do not process solids is about 90 to 95%. During the past two decades, various tools and techniques have been developed to assist in minimizing startup and operating problems in plants that react and/or transport solids. These are very helpful tools, and if applied correctly can be used with much success to solve problems. When plant downtime can mean a multi-million dollar loss, solving (and preventing) problems in order to keep the units operating becomes extremely important. Two of the tools that can be used to diagnose and troubleshoot problems in commercial, hot units are cold models and pilot plants. Cold models (models operated at ambient temperature) can often be used to simulate and solve problems occurring in the hot unit. They are popular because they can be constructed of clear plastic to allow visual observation of the flow system. They are also relatively inexpensive and can be constructed in a relatively short time. Pilot plants that were used for scaling up a process can also be used for solving problems. This is more the case if the problems are of a chemical nature or if operation at exact process conditions is required. Using pilot plants judiciously can lead to significant improvements in the operation of the process.


Critics have discussed how John Donne's writing responds to alchemy and to patronage, but none has examined how he draws parallels between the two frameworks. Donne sees both as convoluted, frustrating processes that rely on falseness. Comparing his praise to alchemical coins—the quality of which was considered dubious—he attempts to persuade patrons that his flattering epistles are nonetheless "currant" in possessing both social relevance and monetary value. Reading these letters alongside contemporary alchemical tracts, this article traces how Donne's references to alchemy explore the complex relationships between verse and value in the Jacobean Court.


A novel point mutation in the ND6 subunit of complex I at position 14,459 of the mitochondrial DNA (MTND6*LDY T14459A) was identified as a candidate mutation for the highly tissue-specific disease. Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy plus dystonia. Since the MTN%*LDYT14459A mutation was identified in a single family, other pedigrees with the mutation are needed to confirm its association with the disease. Clinical, biochemical, and genetic characterization is ieported in two additional pedigrees. Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy developed in two family members in one pedigree. The daughter had clinically silent basal ganglia lesions. In a second pedigree, a single individual presented with childhood-onset generalized dystonia and bilateral basal ganglia lesions. Patient groups that included individuals with Leigh's disease, dystonia plus complex neurodegeneration, and Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy did not harbor the MTND6 * LDYT14459A mutation, suggesting that this mutation displays a high degree of tissue specificity, thus producing a narrow phenotypic range. These results confirm the association of the MTNDG * LDYT14459A mutation with Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy andlor dystonia. As the first genetic abnormality that has been identified to cause generalized dystonia, this mutation suggests that nuclear DNA or mitochondrial DNA mutations in oxidative phosphorylation genes are important considerations in the pathogenesis of dystonia.


Thyroid hemiagenesis is a rare anomaly with an uncertain incidence, since some patients have been found in a euthyroid state without abnormalities. Females account for 75% and males account for 25% of the cases, giving a female to male ratio of 3:1. The left lobe is absent in 80% of cases and the right lobe is absent in 20% of cases (a left to right hemiagenesis ratio of 4:1). The isthmus is absent in 50% of the patients. A variety of pathological conditions have been found in the remaining thyroid tissue in association with thyroid hemiagenesis: hyperthyroidism, multinodular goiter, hypothyroidism, benign adenoma, adenocarcinoma, Grave's disease. The differential diagnosis would include unilateral inflammatory disease and infiltrative disease, such as amyloidosis. We present two cases diagnosed in pediatric age, with absence of the left lobe and of the isthmus. Thyroid hemiagenesis has been found in association with congenital hypothyroidism in one case. The other patient was found to be in a euthyroid state without abnormalities. The diagnosis of thyroid hemiagenesis should be considered in any patients where, on physical examination, no apparent thyroid tissue is noted on one side of the neck. Sonography demonstrates an absent lobe, an eventually absent isthmus, and an eventually coexiting pathological condition in the remaining thyroid tissue. Sonography may be useful in distinguish between unilateral thyroiditis or other infiltrative processes and true hemiagenesis. Scintigraphy shows the remaining thyroid tissue uptake, and may reveal ectopic thyroid tissue not seen by ultrasound. Ultrasound may be useful in monitoring asymptomatic patients according to the high frequency of pathological condition associated with thyroid hemiagenesis.


In this paper, we present a novel method for virtual focus and object depth estimation from defocused video captured by a moving camera. We use the term virtual focus to refer to a new approach for producing in-focus image sequences by processing blurred videos captured by out-of-focus cameras. Our method relies on the concept of Depth-from-Defocus (DFD) for virtual focus estimation. However, the proposed approach overcomes limitations of DFD by reformulating the problem in a moving-camera scenario. We introduce the interframe image motion model, from which the relationship between the camera motion and blur characteristics can be formed. This relationship subsequently leads to a new method for blur estimation. We finally rely on the blur estimation to develop the proposed technique for object depth estimation and focused video reconstruction. The proposed approach can be utilized to correct out-of-focus video sequences and can potentially replace the expensive apparatus required for auto-focus adjustments currently employed in many camera devices. The performance of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated through error analysis and computer simulated experiments.


The Type I ELM behavior in ASDEX Upgrade with full W plasma facing components is studied in terms of time scales and energy losses for a large set of shots characterized by similar operational parameters but different nitrogen seeding rate and input power. ELMs with no nitrogen can have two typical behaviors, that can be classified depending on their duration, the long and the short ELMs. The work shows that both short and long ELMs have a similar first phase, but the long ELMs are characterized by a second phase with further energy losses. The second phase disappears when nitrogen is seeded with a flux rate above 1022 (e s−1). The phenomenon is compatible with a threshold effect. The presence of the second phase is related to a high divertor/scrape-off layer (SOL) temperature and/or to a low pedestal temperature. The ELM energy losses of the two phases are regulated by different mechanisms. The energy losses of the first phase increase with nitrogen which, in turn, produce the increase of the pedestal temperature. So the energy losses of the first phase are regulated by the pedestal top parameters and the increase with nitrogen is due to the decreasing pedestal collisionality. The energy losses of the second phase are related to the divertor/SOL conditions. The long ELMs energy losses increase with increasing divertor temperature and with the number of the expelled filaments. In terms of the power lost by the plasma, the nitrogen seeding increases the power losses of the short ELMs. The long ELMs have a first phase with power losses comparable to the short ELMs losses. Assuming no major difference in the wetted area, these results suggest that (i) the nitrogen might increase the divertor heat fluxes during the short ELMs and that (ii) the long ELMs, despite the longer time scale, are not beneficial in terms of divertor heat loads.


A self-consistent model based on the classical fieldsusceptibilities formalism has been developed to simulate recent experiments where metallic particle chain waveguides are addressed locally by the tip of a Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscope (SNOM) [1]. This approach which accounts for the actual optical response of the particles leads to a reliable description of both near-field transmittances and losses of this kind of integrated devices.


INTRODUCTION
Changes in worldwide healthcare delivery require review of current medical school curricula structure to develop learning outcomes that ensures mastery of knowledge and clinical competency. In the last 3 years, Mayo Medical School implemented outcomes-based curriculum to encompass new graduate outcomes.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Standard courses were replaced by 6-week clinically-integrated didactic blocks separated by student-self selected academic enrichment activities. Gross and microscopic anatomy was integrated with radiology and genetics respectively. Laboratory components include virtual microscopy and anatomical dissection. Students assigned to teams utilise computer portals to share learning experiences. High-resolution computed tomographic (CT) scans of cadavers prior to dissection were made available for correlative learning between the cadaveric material and radiologic images.

RESULTS
Students work in teams on assigned presentations that include histology, cell and molecular biology, genetics and genomic using the Nexus Portal, based on DrupalEd, to share their observations, reflections and dissection findings.

CONCLUSIONS
New generation of medical students are clearly comfortable utilising web-based programmes that maximise their learning potential of conceptually difficult and labor intensive courses. Team-based learning approach emphasising the use of knowledge-sharing computer portals maximises opportunities for students to master their knowledge and improve cognitive skills to ensure clinical competency.


A comparison on geometrically nonlinear analysis of composite girder cable-stayed bridge is presented. The spatial nonlinear analysis model named double-girder is established, the geometrically nonlinear behavior of whole bridge is analyzed under dead load plus live load in normal service stage, the nonlinear analysis involves cable sag, large displacement and beam-column, the three nonlinear factors effect on internal force and deformation of side tower, main girder are investigated. The results show that the effect of geometric nonlinearity is small on bending moment and deformation of side tower, and also small on vertical deflection of main girders, but nonlinear effect is large on bending moment of main girders. Results obtained in this research and conclusions made provide valuable insight and guidelines for the design of composite girder cable-stayed bridge with three towers.


In today's competitive environment, the security concerns have grown tremendously. In the modern world, possession is known to be 9/10'ths of the law. Hence, it is imperative for one to be able to safeguard one's property from worldly harms such as thefts, destruction of property, people with malicious intent etc. Due to the advent of technology in the modern world, the methodologies used by thieves and robbers for stealing have been improving exponentially. Therefore, it is necessary for the surveillance techniques to also improve with the changing world. With the improvement in mass media and various forms of communication, it is now possible to monitor and control the environment to the advantage of the owners of the property. The latest technologies used in the fight against thefts and destruction are the video surveillance and monitoring. By using the technologies, it is possible to monitor and capture every inch and second of the area in interest. However, so far the technologies used are passive in nature, i.e., the monitoring systems only help in detecting the crime but do not actively participate in stopping or curbing the crime while it takes place. Therefore, we have developed a methodology to detect the motion in a video stream environment and this is an idea to ensure that the monitoring systems not only actively participate in stopping the crime, but do so while the crime is taking place. Hence, a system is used to detect any motion in a live streaming video and once motion has been detected in the live stream, the software will activate a warning system and capture the live streaming video. Keywords—Motion, Detection, System, Video, Crime, Matlab, Surveillance.


We can all appreciate the importance of sensing our external and internal environments – functions carried out by sensory nerves supplying essentially every organ and tissue of our body. Sensory signals warn of impending tissue damage or danger, yet also provide pleasure, e.g. the beauty of a sunset and the pleasure of a caress. Below conscious perception, sensory nerves also regulate essential visceral functions including bladder, bowel, breathing and blood pressure. Loss of sensory functions due to injury or disease is debilitating and devastating, for individuals and society. Deservingly so, the exploration of mechanisms of sensory transduction has received extensive attention from scientists.

Professor Edgar Douglas Adrian, in the first half of the 20th century, launched the field of sensory transduction. The subject of this Classical Perspective (Adrian, 1926a) was the first in a series of papers addressing the nature of action potential discharge recorded from a variety of sensory nerves (Adrian, 1926b; Adrian & Zotterman, 1926a,b). As they say in the wine business, 1926 was a very good year! This first paper described the use of a triode thermionic valve amplifier coupled to a capillary electrometer to record action potentials from sensory nerves with previously unattainable precision. The electrometer resulted in much less distortion than the string galvanometer commonly used at the time, the latter being limited by the mass of the string and consequently high inertia of the moving parts. The use of a reliable valve amplifier solved a major limitation of the electrometer, its low sensitivity.

The improvement in the method was substantial. It enabled, for the first time, quantitative measurements of action potential discharge from frog, cat and rabbit sensory nerves evoked by relatively mild, physiologically relevant stimuli (Adrian, 1926a). Not surprisingly, and as is often the case in science, the improved method led to numerous discoveries.

Beyond the importance of the technological advance, one must not overlook the astute observations of sensory nerve function reported in this classic paper. Activity was recorded from mechanoreceptor afferents innervating skeletal muscle during muscle stretch, from cutaneous afferents stimulated by forceps pinch and pin prick (nociceptors), and from visceral afferents in the vagus and 'cardiac depressor' nerves (Adrian, 1926a). The relation between stimulus strength and discharge frequency, the all-or-none nature of action potential discharge, and spike frequency adaptation were understood. The presence of pulmonary stretch receptor afferents in the vagus nerve and blood pressure sensitive afferents in the 'cardiac depressor' nerve were described.

This paper was soon followed by more detailed reports of nerve impulses recorded from single fibres innervating muscle spindles of the frog (Adrian & Zotterman, 1926a), and cutaneous afferents in cats responsive to touch and pressure (Adrian & Zotterman, 1926b) and painful stimuli (Adrian, 1926b). Later studies addressed afferent single-fibre activity in the vagus nerves and its influence on respiration (Adrian, 1933), and multifibre activity in efferent sympathetic nerves (Adrian et al. 1932).

Investigators and particularly students interested in sensory transduction are strongly encouraged to read the Adrian papers. His extraordinary skills in experimental observation and data interpretation are illuminated by the exquisite detail and clarity of his writing. He took care to not overstate the results and exercised caution in interpreting them. His conclusions and speculations were particularly insightful, and were confirmed and proven true in later studies. Professor Adrian's breakthrough discoveries earned him the Novel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which he shared with Sir Charles Sherrington in 1932.

How has our knowledge of sensory transduction progressed since the time of Adrian? Although a major advance, the amplifier/electrometer used by Adrian was not sensitive enough to record from single non-myelinated C-fibres. Further improvements in instrumentation were needed before detailed information on this important class of nerve fibre could be obtained. Adrian recognized the need for deformation of the sensory nerve endings (or end organ) to activate mechanosensitive afferents, but he was uncertain as to how deformation led to initiation of the nerve impulse (Adrian & Zotterman, 1926b). We now know that this is achieved by a depolarizing generator or receptor potential localized at or near the nerve terminals or end organ (Katz, 1950; see review by Grigg, 1986).

Investigation into molecular mechanisms mediating mechanically induced depolarization has evolved and has utilized diverse experimental approaches. These include: (1) patch-clamp recordings of currents through mechanosensitive ion channels permeable to cations, first achieved in embryonic chick skeletal muscle (Guharay & Sachs, 1984); (2) the discovery of genes/molecules involved in mechanosensation in lower 'model' organisms (e.g. C. elegans) using genetic screens (Driscoll & Chalfie, 1991; Huang & Chalfie, 1994); (3) the identification of evolutionarily conserved mammalian homologues as candidate mechanosensitive channels (Canessa et al. 1993); and (4) the demonstration that genetic disruption or pharmacological blockade of candidate channels alters responses of sensory neurones to mechanical stimuli in vitro and in vivo.

Members of three channel subfamilies – the epithelial sodium channels (ENaCs), acid sensing ion channels (ASICs), and transient receptor potential (TRP) channels – have emerged as contributing to mechanoelectrical transduction in a variety of different types of mammalian sensory nerves (Drummond et al. 1998; Price et al. 2000, 2001; Garcia-Anoveros et al. 2001; Jones et al. 2005; Page et al. 2005). Recent reviews on these topics are available (Hamill & Martinac, 2001; Welsh et al. 2002; Goodman & Schwarz, 2003; Chapleau et al. 2007).

Clearly, exciting times continue in the field of sensory transduction! Professor Adrian would surely agree that today's rapid pace of gene discovery and technological development combined with carefully performed, well-designed physiological studies will lead to major advances in our understanding of sensory transduction in the years to come.


I have been thinking and writing about Australia's asylum seeker policies
for over 25 years. When I started back in 1991, the asylum seeker policies
now espoused by the major parties would have been inconceivable to
most politicians on all sides – but here we are. Explaining how we got here
requires me to start further back in time than 1991. It requires me to start,
in fact, with the drafting of the founding document of the Australian
political and legal system – the Constitution. From there, I consider
two key features of contemporary asylum seeker policy – mandatory
detention, which was introduced in 1992, and offshore processing, which
was initially introduced in 2001. I end the chapter by reflecting on the
lessons of our past for our future.


Traditional home area network (HAN) equipment is usually unmanaged and network traffic is served in best effort fashion. This type of unmanaged network sometimes causes quality-of-service issues in the HAN, for example loss of quality in streamed video or audio content. Traffic
management rules using policies to prioritise certain types of traffic according to user requirements and to assign bandwidth limits to other traffic types. However very little work has been done yet addressing the specification of these requirements, how they would be communicated to the gateway device using policies, and how the policies would be refined into device level configurations to effectively implement the user requirements. In this paper we briefly discuss this
as a research problem, placing it within the context of the research goals and an initial research methodology in the area of policy refinement for policy-based traffic management in home area networks (HANs).


Summary 1. The efficiency of agricultural subsidy programmes for preserving biodiversity and improving the environment has been questioned in recent years. Organic farming operates without pesticides, herbicides and inorganic fertilizers, and usually with a more diverse crop rotation. It has been suggested that this system enhances biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. We analysed the effects of organic farming on species richness and abundance using meta-analysis of literature published before December 2002. 2. Organic farming usually increases species richness, having on average 30% higher species richness than conventional farming systems. However, the results were variable among studies, and 16% of them actually showed a negative effect of organic farming on species richness. We therefore divided the data into different organism groups and according to the spatial scale of the study. 3. Birds, insects and plants usually showed an increased species richness in organic farming systems. However, the number of studies was low in most organism groups (range 2‐19) and there was significant heterogeneity between studies. The effect of organic farming was largest in studies performed at the plot scale. In studies at the farm scale, when organic and conventional farms were matched according to landscape structure, the effect was significant but highly heterogeneous. 4. On average, organisms were 50% more abundant in organic farming systems, but the results were highly variable between studies and organism groups. Birds, predatory insects, soil organisms and plants responded positively to organic farming, while non-predatory insects and pests did not. The positive effects of organic farming on abundance were prominent at the plot and field scales, but not for farms in matched landscapes. 5. Synthesis and applications. Our results show that organic farming often has positive effects on species richness and abundance, but that its effects are likely to differ between organism groups and landscapes. We suggest that positive effects of organic farming on species richness can be expected in intensively managed agricultural landscapes, but not in small-scale landscapes comprising many other biotopes as well as agricultural fields. Measures to preserve and enhance biodiversity should be more landscape- and farmspecific than is presently the case.


Background: Clinical outcomes after ablation of persistent atrial fibrillation remain suboptimal. Identification of AF drivers using a novel integrated mapping technique may be crucial to ameliorate the clinical outcome. Methods and Results: Persistent AF patients were prospectively enrolled to undergo high-density electrophysiological mapping to identify repetitive-regular activities (RRas) before modified circumferential pulmonary vein (PV) ablation. They have been randomly assigned (1:1 ratio) to ablation of RRa followed by modified circumferential PV ablation (mapping group; n=41) or modified circumferential PV ablation alone (control group; n=40). The primary end point was freedom from arrhythmic recurrences at 1 year. In total, 81 persistent AF patients (74% male; mean age, 61.7±10.6 years) underwent mapping/ablation procedure. The regions exhibiting RRa were 479 in 81 patients (5.9±2.4 RRa per patient): 232 regions in the mapping group (n=41) and 247 in the control group (n=40). Overall, 185 of 479 (39%) RRas were identified within the PVs, whereas 294 of 479 (61%) in non-PV regions. Mapping-guided ablation resulted in higher arrhythmia termination rate when compared with conventional strategy (25/41, 61% versus 12/40, 30%; P<0.007). Total radiofrequency duration (P=0.38), mapping (P=0.46), and fluoroscopy times (P=0.69) were not significantly different between the groups. No major procedure-related adverse events occurred. After 1 year, 73.2% of mapping group patients were free from recurrences versus 50% of control group (P=0.03). Conclusions: Targeted ablation of regions showing RRa provided an adjunctive benefit in terms of arrhythmia freedom at 1-year follow-up in the treatment of persistent AF. These findings might support a patient-tailored strategy in subjects with nonparoxysmal AF and should be confirmed by additional larger, randomized, multicenter studies. Clinical Trial Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier NCT02571218.


SUMMARY: Cultures of form 2 mycobacteria, which had been recently isolated from form 1 of strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and atypical mycobacteria, were cultivated on nutrient agar in screw-capped bottles and kept unopened for 6 weeks at room temperature. Gram-positive granules developed in organisms which had penetrated into the medium. When these organisms were incubated in digest broth at 37° with intermittent aeration, the granules were liberated into the medium and gradually increased in size to that of a small coccus. After a resting period of about 2 weeks, the 'cocci' started to multiply independently, forming diplococci and tetrads. At this stage the cocci yielded colonies on subculture on nutrient agar. The cocci were identified as members of the genus Mycococcus, family Mycobacteriaceae, order Mycobacteriales (Krassilnikov, 1959). Mycococci were not obtained in broth cultures which were either not aerated or were aerated frequently or continuously. Prolonged subcultivation of the parent form 2 strains on nutrient agar prevented the development of mycococci in broth. Evidence, such as the failure to isolate mycococci from uninoculated but aerated media, is submitted that the mycococci were not contaminants. Previous work on isolation of similar cocci from different members of the order Actinomycetales, including human and bovine strains of M. tuberculosis is reviewed.


A transmission line (TL) method was proposed to compute the far-field radiation of Hertzian dipoles in a multilayer dielectric structure previously. This method is generalized here to deal with a structure embedded with perfectly electric conducting (PEC) strip interfaces. The problem is solved by analyzing an equivalent network, where each PEC strip interface is mapped into a four-port network, and each dielectric layer is mapped into two two-port networks for transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) modes. The S matrix of a four-port network is obtained analytically by applying the asymptotic boundary conditions. As an application, the PEC strip interfaces are used to reduce the cross polarization or rotate the polarization of a dielectric resonator antenna (DRA). In addition, the TL method is valid for a structure with any type of homogeneous and reciprocal layers whose S matrices are known. It is also able to solve two kinds of problems which cannot be done by a full-wave analysis equipped with a periodic boundary condition. Furthermore, the investigation of the system matrix singularity helps us to avoid the cavity mode in designing a radiating structure.


With the rapid development of the Internet, blended learning (online learning plus face-to-face learning) has become a model that more and more higher education institutions are intending to adopt. This chapter first compares various forms and expressions of blended learning adopted by different institutions around the world, and then reports on how blended learning has been implemented and promoted in the English Department at the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) using a variety of approaches. Here, a number of projects have been carried out over the past seven years, focusing on the conversion of traditional face-to-face modules into partly face-to-face, partly online modules. In addressing these developments, the Blackboard online learning management system, which has been adopted as the main platform for the delivery of blended learning at HKIEd, is first examined. Then the design of a series of subject-specific Web sites to supplement the Blackboard system and facilitate blended learning is introduced. Finally, the implementation of innovative Wikibook projects is illustrated and discussed. Such Wikibook projects, where students are required to work in groups to write an academic textbook collaboratively online, are highly effective in promoting not only autonomous yet collaborative online academic reading and writing, but also online peer editing. This adds a new dimension to blended learning. Feedback from students shows that they greatly enjoyed the experience of collaborative academic writing through the Wikibook projects, and found that the wiki technology made peer editing much more efficient and effective. All the evidence suggests that blended learning has great potential as a vehicle for teaching and learning and is a notable current trend in higher education. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60566-852-9.ch004


BACKGROUND
Public health and other population-based studies often depend on participants' self-reported disease status to assess prevalence, incidence, and disease trends. We sought to assess the feasibility of self-reported periodontal disease measures using dental history questions combined with demographic and medical history to predict periodontal disease.

METHODS
We evaluated results from two separate population-based studies carried out at the University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, i.e., the "Periodontal Infection and Risk for Myocardial Infarction Study," a study of 1,578 adults assessing the association between periodontal disease and myocardial infarction and the "Periodontal Disease Research Center" (the Erie County Study), an epidemiologic risk assessment study of 1,438 adults. In each study, an extensive list of oral health questions was asked, and a comprehensive medical history, blood analysis using chemistry and hematology tests, and demographic data were collected.

RESULTS
Using a predefined measure of severity of periodontal disease, we compared patients with severe disease to all others (i.e., those with moderate and no or mild disease). We examined areas under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating curve to determine the best models, adding one, two, or three dental variables in all possible combinations. The AUC maximized at 0.76, and the combined sensitivity and specificity maximized at 142 and were comparable in both studies.

CONCLUSIONS
Self-reported measures of periodontal disease are moderately predictive of clinical attachment loss. The demographic variables of age, race, smoking, gender, and diabetes mellitus accounted for much of the predictive power for self-reported periodontal disease; however, increases in sensitivity and specificity in the C statistics occurred when questions, including "Gum surgery in the past?," "Sore gums in the past?," "Scaling in the past?," "Bleeding gums now?," "Periodontal surgery in the past 2 years?," and "Chewing satisfaction?," were added to the model.


In the late 1980s, throughout the '90s, and well into the 2000s, MIT Principle Research Scientist, Gloriana Davenport investigated the idea that movies had begun to operate as a kind of new "elastic" media. She wrote, "Interactive cinema reflects the longing of cinema to become something new, something more complex, something more intimate, as if in conversation with an audience." The cultural artefacts informing this shift were in Davenport's opinion as disparate as interactive TV, video games, large format simulation rides, and experimental VR. Between 1987 and 2004, her Interactive Cinema Lab at MIT designed multi-threaded movies, multiplayer VR experiences, previsualization tools for visual effects, documentary platforms, and "smart" VR characters driven by story databases. When asked in a 1995 interview with American Cinematographer, what kind of filmmaker would adopt the radical new tools she was building, Davenport replied that the current generation of 30-year old filmmakers steeped in the culture of video games were already deploying them.


C-GEN is a new topology of direct-drive permanent magnet generator being developed at University of Edinburgh. The main benefits are reduced overall system mass and ease of manufacturing, due to the use of an air-cored winding, but with a modular PM rotor consisting of C-core modules. A 15 kW rotary prototype has been fitted and tested on a commercially available wind turbine. Initial sizing studies for wind indicate that the C-GEN concept will be up to 50% lighter than conventional iron cored PM direct drive generators. In addition to wind the C-GEN has applications in marine energy converters. The authors are working with four marine developers to investigate the feasibility of C-GEN for their technology. The results from two of those studies will be presented in this paper namely; Aquamarine Oyster device near shore wave energy converter, Scotrenewables SRTT device tidal current energy converter. In order to find the most optimum solution for the specific application; electromagnetic, thermal, structural and economical design aspects of the generator are defined and coupled using an analytical design tool. To evaluate different design variations an optimization tool is developed based on genetic algorithm. All these considerations make the optimised generator design a very close optimum solution for the "real-world". (6 pages)


The impact line is a remarkable disadvantage in the auto body panels forming. It is difficult to study because of the complexity shape of automotive panels. The finite element models of hyperboloid shallow shells that can represent automotive panels are established, and suitability of finite element analysis to induce the impact line of automotive panel is carried out. The experiment test method for determining impact line is presented also. The criterion and research technique of auto body panels impact line are introduced. The consistency of results of simulation and experiment shows that the numerical simulation on research of impact line is accurate and feasible. Finally, research works of simulation and experiment on controlling impact line measures are carried out: effects of blank holding force (BHF), sheet thickness and lubricating modes on the impact line are obtained.


The paper describes a new stochastic heuristic algorithm for global optimization. The new optimization algorithm, called intelligent-particle swarm optimization (IPSO), offers more intelligence to particles by using concepts such as: group experiences, unpleasant memories (tabu to be avoided), local landscape models based on virtual neighbors, and memetic replication of successful behavior parameters. The new individual complexity is amplified at the group level and consequently generates a more efficient optimization procedure. A simplified version of the IPSO algorithm was implemented and compared with the classical PSO algorithm for a simple test function and for the Loney's solenoid.


Aim: Our aim was to investigate the effect of low dietary zinc intake in late gestation on zinc status, transaminases and alkaline phosphatase activities, carbohydrate metabolism and progesterone level in albino (Wistar) rats. Materials and Methods: Eight-week-old female pregnant and non-pregnant albino (Wistar) rats were fed with diets containing either adequate (54 mg/kg) or low zinc (1 mg/kg) quantities for 18 days. Food intakes and body weight gain were recorded regularly. On day 19, after an overnight fast, blood samples were collected and animals dissected. Femur, pancreas, placenta and fetuses were removed. Concentrations of glucose, cholesterol, and urea; transaminases and alkaline phosphatase activities; and progesterone level in serum and zinc amount in femur, pancreas, placenta and fetus were determined, respectively. Results: The consumption of the low-zinc diet had an effect on animal characteristics and zinc status as indicated by the growth rate, food intake and femur, pancreas, placenta and fetus zinc concentrations. Dietary zinc intake also significantly altered glucose, cholesterol, urea, and progesterone concentrations and GOT, GPT and alkaline phosphatase activities of pregnant rats compared to their control counterparts. Conclusions: These data revealed that reduction of zinc in the diet during pregnancy affected growth rate, food intake, fetus development, zinc status, carbohydrate metabolism and progesterone concentration, and caused disturbance in transaminases and alkaline phosphatase enzyme activities.


The Horizon of Modernity provides a historicized account of New Confucian philosophy in relation to the contemporary revival of Confucianism and explores the nexus between subjectivity and social structure in the works of Mou Zongsan, Tang Junyi, and Xiong Shili.


: It is not generally appreciated that the diagnosis of chemical diabetes by oral glucose tolerance testing has many pitfalls and that many patients with a diagnosis of diabetes based solely on abnormal glucose tolerance testing in fact do not have true diabetes mellitus. Once the clinician sees an abnormal glucose tolerance test his major objective is to exclude all the nondiabetic factors which may have influenced the testing procedure, thus giving a false-positive result. Furthermore, the standards used in the interpretation of the test remain uncertain in older patients thus markedly reducing the usefulness of the procedure in this group. In addition, the test is of limited value and therefore probably should not be performed in hospitalized or chronically (or acutely) ill patients. Finally the detection of glucose intolerance (in presence of fasting normoglycemia) is rarely of benefit to the patient in the absence of obesity and may prove a hardship for psychosocial reasons. Thus the clinician should carefully evaluate the medical indications and the potential benefits derived prior to ordering an oral glucose tolerance test. He should be very conservative in making a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus based on this test.


OBJECTIVES
Despite home haemodialysis (HHD) being associated with significant health and psychosocial benefits, it remains an under-utilized dialysis modality for people with chronic kidney disease. Self-cannulation, where patients insert their own needles for dialysis, is a key component of HHD. Recent research suggests that the prospect of self-cannulation is a barrier for patients, but there is little research which examines why this is the case. The aim of this study was to explore male HHD patients' experiences and attitudes towards self-cannulation.

DESIGN
Qualitative methods were adopted to gather in-depth views from experienced HHD patients from a UK renal centre.

METHODS
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight male HHD patients (HHD duration: 12-55 months). During the interview, the researcher elicited participants' lived experience of self-cannulation. Topics included the decision to self-cannulate and the impact of self-cannulation on the patient. The data collected were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.

RESULTS
The findings from this study elucidate the process of how self-cannulation changed from an ordeal to the norm in these participants' lives. The central theme from these interviews is that 'becoming a person who self-cannulates is a process'. Three super-ordinate themes were discussed that relate to this central theme: 'gaining control', 'building confidence', and 'becoming the norm'.

CONCLUSIONS
The findings from this study suggest that some patients' initial fears of self-cannulation can be overcome. These findings offer health care professionals and patients alike a greater understanding of how patients who self-cannulate conceptualize it and its role in their mental and physical health. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Home haemodialysis is a cost-effective form of renal replacement therapy which is under-utilized in the United Kingdom. Home haemodialysis is associated with positive health outcomes. Self-cannulation is noted as a barrier to home haemodialysis. What does this study add? Describes the process by which male dialysis patients became proficient in self-cannulation. Highlights psychological mechanisms which may facilitate and maintain self-cannulation. Suggests practical techniques which can be incorporated into renal clinics and care plans.


Transformative applications in biomedicine require the discovery of complex regulatory networks that explain the development and regeneration of anatomical structures, and reveal what external signals will trigger desired changes of large-scale pattern. Despite recent advances in bioinformatics, extracting mechanistic pathway models from experimental morphological data is a key open challenge that has resisted automation. The fundamental difficulty of manually predicting emergent behavior of even simple networks has limited the models invented by human scientists to pathway diagrams that show necessary subunit interactions but do not reveal the dynamics that are sufficient for complex, self-regulating pattern to emerge. To finally bridge the gap between high-resolution genetic data and the ability to understand and control patterning, it is critical to develop computational tools to efficiently extract regulatory pathways from the resultant experimental shape phenotypes. For example, planarian regeneration has been studied for over a century, but despite increasing insight into the pathways that control its stem cells, no constructive, mechanistic model has yet been found by human scientists that explains more than one or two key features of its remarkable ability to regenerate its correct anatomical pattern after drastic perturbations. We present a method to infer the molecular products, topology, and spatial and temporal non-linear dynamics of regulatory networks recapitulating in silico the rich dataset of morphological phenotypes resulting from genetic, surgical, and pharmacological experiments. We demonstrated our approach by inferring complete regulatory networks explaining the outcomes of the main functional regeneration experiments in the planarian literature; By analyzing all the datasets together, our system inferred the first systems-biology comprehensive dynamical model explaining patterning in planarian regeneration. This method provides an automated, highly generalizable framework for identifying the underlying control mechanisms responsible for the dynamic regulation of growth and form.


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BACKGROUND
We conducted a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the efficacy of telithromycin in patients with acute exacerbations of asthma.

METHODS
A total of 278 adults with diagnosed asthma were enrolled within 24 hours after an acute exacerbation of asthma requiring short-term medical care. The patients were randomly assigned to receive 10 days of oral treatment with telithromycin (at a dose of 800 mg daily) or placebo in addition to usual care. Primary efficacy end points were a change from baseline over the treatment period in symptoms (as recorded by patients in a diary card) and in the peak expiratory flow in the morning at home. The presence of Chlamydophila pneumoniae or Mycoplasma pneumoniae was ascertained by serologic analysis, polymerase chain reaction, and culture.

RESULTS
Of the two prespecified primary outcomes, only asthma symptoms showed a significantly greater reduction among patients receiving telithromycin than among those receiving placebo. Mean (+/-SD) scores on a test of asthma symptoms (on a 7-point scale, with 0 denoting no symptoms and 6 denoting severe symptoms) were 3.0+/-1.4 at baseline and 1.7+/-1.1 at the end of treatment for the telithromycin group and 2.8+/-1.3 at baseline and 2.0+/-1.0 at the end of treatment for the placebo group. The mean decrease in symptom scores during the treatment period was 1.3 for telithromycin and 1.0 for placebo (mean difference, -0.3; 95 percent confidence interval, -0.5 to -0.1; P=0.004). There was no significant treatment effect on the other primary outcome measure, a change in morning peak expiratory flow. Nausea was more common among patients in the telithromycin group than in the placebo group (P=0.01). Although 61 percent of patients had evidence of infection with C. pneumoniae, M. pneumoniae, or both, there was no relationship between bacteriologic status and the response to asthma treatment.

CONCLUSIONS
This study provides evidence of the benefit of telithromycin in patients with acute exacerbations of asthma; the mechanisms of benefit remain unclear. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00273520.).


OBJECTIVES
The goal of this study was to evaluate the relationship between admission hemoglobin levels and left ventricular systolic functions in patients admitted with first ST-segment elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI).

STUDY DESIGN
The study was conducted prospectively in three centers in 483 consecutive patients (402 men, 81 women; mean age 56.5 ± 11.2 years; range 24 to 74 years) with first STEMI. All patients were evaluated by echocardiography after a mean of 2.4 days of admission. Evaluation of left ventricular systolic functions included measurements of ejection fraction (EF), wall motion score index (WMSI), and tissue Doppler S wave velocities at four different localizations (anterior, inferior, lateral, posterior septum). Hemoglobin levels were measured within one hour of admission. Anemia was defined according to the World Health Organization criteria (hemoglobin < 13.0 g/dl in men and < 12.0 g/dl in women). Echocardiographic characteristics of the patients with and without anemia were compared.

RESULTS
Anemia was detected in 67 patients (13.9%). There were no significant differences between patients with and without anemia with respect to left ventricular end-systolic and end-diastolic diameters, wall thickness, WMSI, and EF. The mean EF in the anemic group (47.5%) was lower than that of the patients without anemia (48.5%), but this difference was not significant. All Sm velocities were lower in the anemic group, but only septal mitral annular Sm velocity reached statistical significance (p = 0.048). There was no correlation between hemoglobin levels and EF (r = 0.027, p = 0.55).

CONCLUSION
Our findings suggest that mild to moderate anemia has no deleterious effect on systolic function in patients with first STEMI.


Modern industrial production of food products is characterized by the use of certain additives. The food science, by using the modern diagnostic methods, significantly affects the new findings regarding the harmless or harmfully effect of certain substances. The important trends in food industry production of food products today is implementation of natural ingredients. It is possible to obtain extracts (essential oil) with antioxidant characteristics. The paper points out the importance of certain separation process for isolating natural ingredients from drugs. The aim of this paper is to compare different extraction techniques such as distillation with steam, hydro distillation, the application of classical organic solvents and supercritical extraction (SCFE) in production of essential oil. To obtain these goals, the following works will be carried out: investigate the chemical composition of essential oil, investigate the effects of quality and yield, the selection of the operating conditions depends on the specific compound or compound family to be extracted. There are five crucial parameters that need to be taken into account of essential oils including: extraction temperature, extraction pressure, extraction time, CO2 flow rate and particle size. The SCFE method offers many important advantages over hydro distillation.


Background: Recent studies showed partial reversal of opioid-induced respiratory depression in the pre-Bötzinger complex and the parabrachial nucleus/Kölliker–Fuse complex. The hypothesis for this study was that opioid antagonism in the parabrachial nucleus/Kölliker–Fuse complex plus pre-Bötzinger complex completely reverses respiratory depression from clinically relevant opioid concentrations. Methods: Experiments were performed in 48 adult, artificially ventilated, decerebrate rabbits. The authors decreased baseline respiratory rate ~50% with intravenous, "analgesic" remifentanil infusion or produced apnea with remifentanil boluses and investigated the reversal with naloxone microinjections (1 mM, 700 nl) into the Kölliker–Fuse nucleus, parabrachial nucleus, and pre-Bötzinger complex. In another group of animals, naloxone was injected only into the pre-Bötzinger complex to determine whether prior parabrachial nucleus/Kölliker–Fuse complex injection impacted the naloxone effect. Last, the µ-opioid receptor agonist [d-Ala,2N-MePhe,4Gly-ol]-enkephalin (100 μM, 700 nl) was injected into the parabrachial nucleus/Kölliker–Fuse complex. The data are presented as medians (25 to 75%). Results: Remifentanil infusion reduced the respiratory rate from 36 (31 to 40) to 16 (15 to 21) breaths/min. Naloxone microinjections into the bilateral Kölliker–Fuse nucleus, parabrachial nucleus, and pre-Bötzinger complex increased the rate to 17 (16 to 22, n = 19, P = 0.005), 23 (19 to 29, n = 19, P < 0.001), and 25 (22 to 28) breaths/min (n = 11, P < 0.001), respectively. Naloxone injection into the parabrachial nucleus/Kölliker–Fuse complex prevented apnea in 12 of 17 animals, increasing the respiratory rate to 10 (0 to 12) breaths/min (P < 0.001); subsequent pre-Bötzinger complex injection prevented apnea in all animals (13 [10 to 19] breaths/min, n = 12, P = 0.002). Naloxone injection into the pre-Bötzinger complex alone increased the respiratory rate to 21 (15 to 26) breaths/min during analgesic concentrations (n = 10, P = 0.008) but not during apnea (0 [0 to 0] breaths/min, n = 9, P = 0.500). [d-Ala,2N-MePhe,4Gly-ol]-enkephalin injection into the parabrachial nucleus/Kölliker–Fuse complex decreased respiratory rate to 3 (2 to 6) breaths/min. Conclusions: Opioid reversal in the parabrachial nucleus/Kölliker–Fuse complex plus pre-Bötzinger complex only partially reversed respiratory depression from analgesic and even less from "apneic" opioid doses. The lack of recovery pointed to opioid-induced depression of respiratory drive that determines the activity of these areas. The hypothesis that opioid-induced respiratory depression is due to combined depression of parabrachial nucleus/Kölliker–Fuse complex activity and pre-Bötzinger complex activity was tested in a decerebrate, hyperoxic, and moderately hypercapnic rabbit preparation at steady-state intravenous remifentanil infusions that depressed the respiratory rate by 50% and after a remifentanil bolus that produced apnea. Sequential naloxone microinjection into the bilateral Kölliker–Fuse nucleus, parabrachial nucleus, and pre-Bötzinger complex did not completely reverse respiratory depression produced by the steady-state remifentanil concentrations and reversed respiratory depression from apneic remifentanil doses even less effectively. This suggests that opioids depress respiratory drive to the parabrachial nucleus/Kölliker–Fuse complex and pre-Bötzinger complex and that depression of drive reduced the activity of these areas, especially at high opioid concentrations.


A successful HIV vaccine would have a substantial impact on acquisition of infection, progression of disease among the infected, or infectiousness of the infected. Current vaccine candidates are anticipated to have their major effect on viremia, however, with the expectation that this would induce or be concordant with a reduced rate of AIDS, death, or infectiousness. Although direct assessment of disease progression or infectiousness may be impractical, available potential surrogates for these endpoints may be misleading. This article summarizes the proceedings of a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease–sponsored workshop to explore the use of surrogate endpoints for licensure of an HIV vaccine. Early, medium, and late endpoints were discussed, along with challenges such as surrogate validity, the confounding effect of antiretroviral therapy initiation, and potential selection bias in the vaccine and placebo recipients who become infected. Results from 5 hypothetic HIV vaccine clinical trials with ambiguously successful results were presented to an expert panel for interpretation and discussion of next steps. Key recommendations included assessing magnitude and durability of surrogate effects, generalization across populations, and directed improvement of vaccines. Use of acquisition and a postinfection surrogate as coprimary endpoints was supported, along with use of composite endpoints and exploration of heterogeneity in vaccine efficacy by characteristics of the host and virus.


BACKGROUND
A positive correlation between elderly dependency ratios and elderly suicide rates has been observed using one-year cross-sectional data on elderly suicide rates.

METHODS
A cross-national study designed to replicate this positive correlation between elderly dependency ratios and elderly suicide rates was undertaken by: (i) using one-year average of five years data on suicide rates; and (ii) using more recent data on both elderly suicide rates and elderly dependency ratios. Data on elderly suicide rates, and the total number of elderly and young people was ascertained from the World Health Organization website.

RESULTS
The main findings were of significant positive correlations between elderly dependency ratios and suicide rates in both sexes in both the elderly age-bands (65-74 years and 75+ years).

CONCLUSIONS
The replication of the positive correlations between elderly dependency ratios and elderly suicide rates by using one-year average of five years data on suicide rates suggests that this relationship is robust and accurate.


Background Several studies have demonstrated the positive impact of clinical pharmacy services in the hospital setting. Interventions by clinical pharmacists have been shown to reduce the frequency of drug-related problems. Pharmacist interventions (PIs) are defined as a professional activity performed by pharmacists, directed towards improving the quality use of medicines and resulting in a recommendation for a change in the patient's drug treatment. Purpose To characterise all PIs recorded in the electronic medical record and quantify their acceptance by the medical team. Materials and methods An observational, retrospective study was carried out in a 350-bed central hospital, between January and June 2013. All the PIs recorded in the electronic medical record during the study period were eligible for inclusion; verbal PIs and related to clinical pharmacokinetics were excluded. Results 1449 PIs were performed during the study period. The majority of these PIs involved the following therapeutic classes: antibacterial (25%), CNS (24%), cardiovascular (18%) and blood (9%). 147 drugs were targeted in an intervention; acetaminophen (18%) was the subject of the largest number of pharmacist interventions, followed by enoxaparin (13%) and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (10%). When we looked at the type of intervention we found that most corresponded to dose adjustment for renal failure (29%), change of administration route (24%) or other dose adjustment (9%). Discharge, transfer between clinical services and drug discontinuation led to it only being possible to assess 69% of interventions performed. The acceptance rate was 48%. Conclusions Our results, in particular those referring to dose-dependent problems, confirm the need for pharmacotherapy follow-up. From this study it can be concluded that a high percentage of PIs are focused on a limited number of drugs, suggesting the need to make specific recommendations in order to improve drug use. The ultimate goal of PI is to improve health outcomes for each patient by promoting the rational use of medicines. No conflict of interest.


Several genes which are deactivated on the initiation of development of Dictyostelium discoideum were identified by differential screening of various cDNA libraries. These genes have in common a decrease in the steady-state levels of their corresponding mRNAs on the onset of development and as development proceeds. When development was carried out in the absence of protein synthesis by inhibition with cycloheximide, the decrease in mRNA levels for most genes (V genes) was normal or slightly accelerated. For about 5% of the genes (H genes), however, cycloheximide caused an apparent induction of expression, as revealed by a slight or dramatic increase in mRNA levels, instead of the normal decrease. This effect was due to inhibition of protein synthesis and not to cycloheximide per se. The induction was found to be due to an enhancement of the transcription rate; normal rates of transcription for the H genes were dependent on continued protein synthesis during vegetative growth and development. Thus, two general regulatory classes exist for deactivation of gene expression on initiation of development, one of which is dependent on and one of which is independent of protein synthesis. Analysis of expression of these genes in mutant strains which are aggregation deficient allowed the classes to be subdivided further. Taken together, these characterizations allow several distinct regulatory mechanisms to be identified that are involved in the deactivation of gene expression on the onset of development in D. discoideum.


Wildfires are key drivers of changes in soils and the ecosystems. The temperatures reached during a wildfire dictate for the most part the post-fire changes in the soil-system. Additionally, the duration and severity of the wildfire, together with different soil characteristics (e.g. soil organic matter or moisture content) play an important part in the direction and nature of the post-fire changes. Wildfires affect the soil by heating and later trough ash incorporation in topsoil. Wildfire severity determines the degree of vegetation and litter combustion and the soil physical and chemical modifications. Post-fire alterations in soil and its hydrological processes promote erosion in the topsoil layer, which is often associated with quantitative and qualitative changes in soil organic matter. The recovery of soil organic matter is the key for the overall recovery of soil quality after a wildfire. The duration and extremity of the changes of soil properties depend on the severity of the wildfire. Wildfire severity is conditioned by various environmental factors, for example vegetation quantity and type, soil temperature and humidity, wind speed and topography. This paper reviews various studies on the impacts of wildfire on soil chemical and physical properties and sums up the current knowledge on the topic that is increasingly becoming a vital component in recognizing and understanding the mechanisms of adaptation of the global ecosystem to climate change. It is paramount to continue the research of wildfire impacts on soil properties in the attempt to more easily quantify soil degradation processes, predict the ecosystem response to wildfire, and assure the appropriate land management techniques.


Considerable areas of remnant native vegetation have been fenced in the last decade to manage grazing by domestic stock. This study investigated vegetation condition in comparative fenced and unfenced remnant vegetation in the mid–upper Murrumbidgee and Lachlan catchments in south-eastern Australia. Native species richness, native groundcover and overstorey regeneration were higher at fenced than at unfenced sites. Area of bare ground was lower at fenced sites. Exotic groundcover did not differ between fenced and unfenced sites. Native species richness was higher at sites fenced for longer and with no stock grazing; neither native nor exotic groundcover at fenced sites was related to time since fencing or stock grazing pressure. Some tree species regenerated at both fenced and unfenced sites (Blakely's red gum, Eucalyptus blakelyi; tumbledown gum, E. dealbata, long-leaved box, E. goniocalyx; red stringbark, E. macrorhyncha), some regenerated at few fenced and few unfenced sites (white box, E. albens; yellow box, E. melliodora) and some regenerated at fenced sites but not at unfenced sites (grey box, E. microcarpa; mugga ironbark, E. sideroxylon; white cypress pine, Callitris glaucophylla). Although less robust than pre- and postfencing monitoring, the comparisons reported here provide a logistically feasible and relatively inexpensive assessment of effects of the sizeable public investment in fencing on vegetation condition.


Cloud computing services often replicate data and may require ways to coordinate distributed actions. Here we present Derecho, a library for such tasks. The API provides interfaces for structuring applications into patterns of subgroups and shards, supports state machine replication within them, and includes mechanisms that assist in restart after failures. Running over 100Gbps RDMA, Derecho can send millions of events per second in each subgroup or shard and throughput peaks at 16GB/s, substantially outperforming prior solutions. Configured to run purely on TCP, Derecho is still substantially faster than comparable widely used, highly-tuned, standard tools. The key insight is that on modern hardware (including non-RDMA networks), data-intensive protocols should be built from non-blocking data-flow components.


Dynamics simulations of excited-state multiple proton transfer (ESMPT) reactions in 7-azaindole (7AI) with ammonia, mixed water–ammonia, and water molecules were investigated by quantum dynamics simulations in the first-excited state using RI-ADC(2)/SVP-SV(P) in the gas phase. 7AI(WW), 7AI(WA), 7AI(AW) and 7AI(AA) clusters (W, water and A, ammonia) show very high probability of the excited-state triple proton transfer (ESTPT) occurrence in ranges from 20% for 7AI(WA) to 60% for 7AI(AW), respectively. Furthermore, 7AI(AW) clusters with ammonia placed near N–H of 7AI has the highest probability among other isomers. In 7AI with three molecules of bridged-planar of water, ammonia and mixed water–ammonia clusters, the excited-state quadruple proton transfer reactions occur ineffectively and rearrangement of hydrogen-bonded network on solvents also takes place prior to either ESTPT or excited-state double proton transfer. The role played by mixed-solvent is revealed with replacing H2O with NH3 in which the ESMPT is found to be more efficient corresponding to lower barrier in the excited state. The preferential number of solvent surrounding 7AI that facilitates the proton transfer process is two for methanol and water but this preferential number for ammonia is one. Highlights: (i) replacing H2O with NH3 assists ESPT corresponding to lower barrier in the excited state; (ii) the ESMPT time of 7AI with mixed water–ammonia is in the sub-picosecond timescale; (iii) the PT tends to be concerted process with at least one ammonia, but synchronous without ammonia.


Background and Purpose The restoration of blood-flow following cerebral ischemia incites a series of deleterious cascades that exacerbate neuronal injury. Pharmacologic inhibition of the C3a-receptor ameliorates cerebral injury by attenuating post-ischemic inflammation. Recent reports also implicate C3a in the modulation of tissue repair, suggesting that complement may influence both injury and recovery at later post-ischemic time-points. Methods To evaluate the effect of C3a-receptor antagonism on post-ischemic neurogenesis and neurological outcome in the subacute period of stroke, transient focal cerebral ischemia was induced in adult male C57BL/6 mice treated with multiple regimens of a C3a receptor antagonist (C3aRA). Results Low-dose C3aRA administration during the acute phase of stroke promotes neuroblast proliferation in the subventricular zone at 7 days. Additionally, the C3a receptor is expressed on T-lymphocytes within the ischemic territory at 7 days, and this cellular infiltrate is abrogated by C3aRA administration. Finally, C3aRA treatment confers robust histologic and functional neuroprotection at this delayed time-point. Conclusions Targeted complement inhibition through low-dose antagonism of the C3a receptor promotes post-ischemic neuroblast proliferation in the SVZ. Furthermore, C3aRA administration suppresses T-lymphocyte infiltration and improves delayed functional and histologic outcome following reperfused stroke. Post-ischemic complement activation may be pharmacologically manipulated to yield an effective therapy for stroke.


Easily learn, build, and execute real-world Big Data solutions using Hadoop and AWS EMR About This BookLearn how to solve big data problems using Apache HadoopUse Amazon Elastic MapReduce to create and maintain cluster infrastructure for big data analyticsA step-by-step guide exploring the vast set of services provided by Amazon on the cloudWho This Book Is ForThis book is aimed at developers and system administrators who want to learn about Big Data analysis using Amazon Elastic MapReduce. Basic Java programming knowledge is required. You should be comfortable with using command-line tools. Prior knowledge of AWS, API, and CLI tools is not assumed. Also, no exposure to Hadoop and MapReduce is expected. In Detail Amazon Elastic MapReduce is a web service used to process and store vast amount of data, and it is one of the largest Hadoop operators in the world. With the increase in the amount of data generated and collected by many businesses and the arrival of cost-effective cloud-based solutions for distributed computing, the feasibility to crunch large amounts of data to get deep insights within a short span of time has increased greatly.This book will get you started with AWS so that you can quickly create your own account and explore the services provided, many of which you might be delighted to use. This book covers the architectural details of the MapReduce framework, Apache Hadoop, various job models on EMR, how to manage clusters on EMR, and the command-line tools available with EMR. Each chapter builds on the knowledge of the previous one, leading to the final chapter where you will learn about solving a real-world use case using Apache Hadoop and EMR. This book will, therefore, get you up and running with major Big Data technologies quickly and efficiently.


Tsunami risk is a combination of the danger posed by tsunami hazard, the vulnerability of people to an event, and the probability of destructive tsunami. The spatial multicriteria approach made a possibility for integrating the vulnerability and risk parameters to assess the potential area that will be affected by the tsunami. The study applied the parameters of physical and social vulnerability and combined element at risk to assess tsunami risk in the coastal area of East Java Indonesia. All parameters in both tsunami vulnerability and tsunami risk assessment were analyzed through cell-based analysis in geographical information system. The weight of each parameter was calculated through the analytical hierarchy process. The results were provided as maps of tsunami vulnerability and tsunami risk. Tsunami risk map described five classes of risk. It described that coastal area with a low elevation and almost flat identified as high risk to the tsunami. The coastal area with a high density of vegetation (mangrove) was defined as the area with low level of tsunami risk. The existence of river and other water canals in coastal area was also analyzed for generating tsunami risk map. Risk map highlights the coastal areas with a strong need for tsunami mitigation plan.


With increasing numbers of children enrolled in child core, the safety of the child care environment and the preparedness of personnel to prevent injuries and fatalities in the event of natural disasters becomes an important public policy issue. In this study, earthquake preparedness and its correlates were examined in 25 child care centers located in a southern California community adjacent to the San Andreas Fault. Extensive survey, interview, and on-site, observational data were collected. Findings indicated a wide range of preparedness in child care centers. Half of the child care centers lacked basic essentials required to cope in the aftermath of a major quake. Several hazards were also common: unsecured bookcases, open shelves. rolling furniture, large and unprotected windows, and heavy objects stored on high shelves. In addition, many directors had misconceptions about the role of local agencies (e.g., fire department, police. Red Cross) following an earthquake. Findings are considered in terms of risk assessment theory and implications; public policy and legislative courses of action are discussed.


This paper considers a setting where a single "leadership agent" intervenes in a multi-agent system through actions that (perhaps subtly) change the dynamics of the system. We describe a number of forms this intervention can take and compare these situations to settings in previous work. We identify two important effects of leadership: faster system convergence, and convergence to a better equilibrium. Empirically, we first explore these properties in leadership of algorithms engaged in classical 2-player games. We then apply this general framework to the leadership of a super-peer file-sharing network. In these experiments the network contains some agents that make locally greedy decisions that hamper the network as a whole.We show that a leader acting based on a more global criteria can push the system to a better equilibrium point as well as speeding up convergence. We also show how a mathematical approximation of such super-peer networks can be used to aid a leader in determining a minimum-cost intervention strategy.


Embryonic stem cells (ESC) aggregates in suspension (named embryoid bodies, EB) can further attached to tissue culture plates to allow the emergence of differentiated specific cells. During the differentiation process, Oct4 and Nanog gene expression decreases along with increase of developmental gene markers. Toxicans to embryo development are usually screened in vitro by comparing their effects on expression levels of developmental gene markers during EB differentiation. We test the effect of the attachment of EB to microplates on gene expression differentiation markers to analyze embriotoxicants. Embryoid bodies were formed by the conic method and further transferred to 24 -well tissue culture microplates and incubated with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). The expression profile of early differentiation gene markers along with gene markers of ESC undifferentiation were analyzed by RT-PCR. Using microscopic evaluation, three distinct morphologies of the attached cells from untreated EBs were observed. Each one showed a distinct pattern of differentiation gene markers and distinct Oct4/Nanog ratios. On the other hand, morphologies of 5-FU treated EBs were similar and it seems to be necrotic. However the profile of the differentiation gene markers from 5-FU treated EBs was similar to untreated EBs but Oct4/Nanog ratio was quite different. These results suggest that embryoid body differentiation after attachment to tissue culture plates can not be easily controlled (even the size before attachment was equal), leading to a wide range of variability in differentiation gene markers levels. So, comparisons between control and toxicans-treated cultures are not adequate. The gene expression Oct4/Nanog ratio is probably an alternative way to detect embryotoxicity.


William Ogilvy Kermack was born on 26 April 1898, in Kirriemuir, Angus Scotland, the only child of William Kermack, postman, and Helen Ogilvy. His ancestors were country folk who hailed from the neighbourhood of Kirriemuir, a small country town of some three thousand inhabitants nestling in the foothills of the Grampians. Sir James Barrie, also a native of the town, has described it vividly in his novels under the name of 'Thrums'. Kermack's mother died in 1904 and his upbringing fell largely on his father's sister. At the age of five he was sent to the local school, Webster's Seminary which provided an excellent primary and secondary education typical of the rural Scotland of the period. Of his schooling he wrote: 'Mathematical instruction was given chiefly by the headmaster, Thomas Pullar whose thoroughness I learnt to appreciate. He took me as tar as co-ordinate geometry and geometrical conic sections as well as elementary dynamics, hydrostatics, etc Physics and chemistry were taught by Pullar and others including G. K. Sutherland afterwards, I believe, of Southampton University College who was most inspiring in his teaching of what would now be called general science, and a somewhat eccentric Mr Tinto who failed to keep good discipline but introduced me to non-Euclidian geometry about 1913 by lending me a small book called Theories of parallelism which I read with great interest. The chief and most lasting influence amongst teachers, however was Mr C. H. Moore who combined a gift for teaching with a fine intellect, a broad tolerance and an idealistic outlook on life and affairs. Through his teaching of English, he encouraged us to think and introduced us to a wide range of ideas, artistic, ethical, political and social.'


This handbook describes a wide range of strategies that local governments, developers, and nonprofit organizations can use to create and retain affordable housing in their communities. Fifteen strategies for addressing affordable housing are discussed. The strategies are divided into three categories: housing production, housing retention, and asset building. The handbook adds to the body of literature on affordable housing strategies by considering the interplay of strategy implementation and housing-market context. The document serves as a companion piece for the report, In the Face of Gentrification: Case Studies of Local Efforts to Mitigate Displacement.


Background Chronic stress is an important risk factor in the etiology of mood and anxiety disorders, but exact pathomechanisms remain to be understood. Mapping individual differences of acute stress-induced neurophysiological changes, especially on the level of neural activation and functional connectivity (FC), could provide important insights in how variation in the individual stress response is linked to disease risk. Methods Using an established psycho-social stress task flanked by two resting-state scans, we measured subjective, physiological, and brain responses to acute stress and recovery in 217 unmedicated participants with and without mood and anxiety disorders. To estimate block-wise changes in stress-induced brain activation and FC, we used hierarchical mixed-effects models based on denoised timeseries within a predefined stress network. We predicted inter- and intra-individual differences in stress phases (anticipation vs. acute stress vs. recovery) and transdiagnostic dimensions of stress reactivity using elastic net and support vector machines. Results We identified four subnetworks showing distinct changes in FC over time. Subnetwork trajectories predicted the stress phase (accuracy: 71%, pperm<.001) and increases in pulse rate (R2=.10, pperm<.001). Critically, individual spatio-temporal trajectories of changes across networks also predicted negative affectivity (ΔR2=.08, pperm=.009), but not the presence or absence of a mood and anxiety disorder. Conclusions Spatio-temporal dynamics of brain network reconfiguration induced by stress reflect individual differences in the psychopathology dimension negative affectivity. These results support the idea that vulnerability for mood and anxiety disorders can be conceptualized best at the level of network dynamics, which may pave the way for improved prediction of individual risk.


The process of extracting coalbed methane (CBM) is not only of significance for unconventional energy supply but also important in mine safety. The recent advance in fracking techniques, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) fracking, intensifies the complexity of stimulated coalbeds. This work focuses on developing a fully coupled multidomain model to describe and get insight into the process of CBM extraction, particularly from those compound-fractured coalbeds. A group of partial differential equations (PDEs) are derived to characterize gas transport from matrix to fractures and borehole. A stimulated coalbed is defined as an assembly of three interacting porous media: matrix, continuous fractures (CF) and radial primary hydraulic fracture (RF). Matrix and CF constitute a dual-porosity-dual-permeability system, while RF is simplified as an 1-D cracked medium. These media further form three distinct domains: non-stimulated reservoir domain (NSRD), stimulated reservoir domain (SRD) and RF. The effects of coal deformation, heat transfer, and non-thermal sorption are coupled into the model to reflect the multiple processes in CBM extraction. The finite element method is employed to numerically solve the PDEs. The proposed model is verified by comparing its simulation results to a set of well production data from Southern Qinshui Basin in Shanxi Province, China. Great consistency is observed, showing the satisfactory accuracy of the model for CBM extraction. After that, the difference between various stimulation patterns is presented by simulating the CBM extraction process with different stimulation patterns including (1) unstimulated coalbed; (2) double-wing fracture + NSRD; (3) multiple RFs + NSRD; (4) SRD + NSRD and (5) multiple RFs + SRD + NSRD. The results suggest that Pattern (5) (often formed by CO2 fracking) boosts the efficiency of CBM extraction because it generates a complex fracture network at various scales by both increasing the number of radial fractures and activating the micro-fractures in coal blocks. Sensitivity analysis is also performed to understand the influences of key factors on gas extraction from a stimulated coalbed with multiple domains. It is found that the distinct properties of different domains originate various evolutions, which in turn influences the CBM production. Ignoring thermal effects in CBM extraction will either overestimate or underestimate the production, which is the net effect of thermal strain and non-isothermal sorption. The proposed model provides a useful approach to accurately evaluate CBM extraction by taking the complex evolutions of coalbed properties and the interactions between different components and domains into account. The importance of multidomain and thermal effects for CBM reservoir simulation is also highlighted.


Background: American foulbrood (AFB), caused by Paenibacillus larvae (P.larvae) bacterium, is one of the major threatening disease to the global apiculture industry. This Apiary-threatening bacterium has recently been detected in some of the Saudi Apiaries. The current study herein was conducted to investigate the impact of the locally isolated P. larvae infection on the histological integrity of the alimentary tract of the indigenous Saudi honeybee brood, Apis mellifera jemenitica (A.mellifera jemenitica). Methods: The 1st instar larvae were orally infected with the P. larvae. Non-infected (control) or infected (at 48 and 72h post-treatment) alimentary canals were dissected for histological investigations. Alimentary canals were separated into three parts; foregut (proventriculus), midgut (ventriculus) and hind gut (intestine) prior to histological investigation. Gut sections were subject to light and electron microscopy investigations at 48 and 72h postinfection. Results: Data showed histopathological alterations in the infected alimentary canal as early as 48h post-P. larvae infection. Infected proventriculus showed many vacuoles, separation of the epithelial layer and damage of circular muscles. Lacerations were observed in the basement membrane surrounding the midgut in the infected larvae. Vacuoles of different sizes were also observed in the hindgut of infected larvae. Moreover, aggregations of P. larvae bacterial cells were detected in the gut epithelium of infected larvae. At 72h post-P. larvae infection, infected broods showed separation and elongation of the midgut epithelial cells. These histological alterations may have led to the severe laceration observed in the layers of infected stomach. Finally, deterioration of muscular and epithelial layers of infected stomach was observed at 48h post-infection. In addition, increased vacuoles were also observed in the epithelial cells of the hindgut of infected larvae. These histological alterations have been confirmed on the subcellular level via transmission electron microscopy as it showed subcellular degradation in terms of degraded mitochondria and nuclei. Conclusion: These histopathological deteriorations are similar to that globally recorded in the AFB, and hence, provides warning alarm to the local authorities for taking immediate actions towards restricting the epidemics of this disease within the Saudi Apiaries. In parallel, utilizing the larval immune system against P. larvae infection is currently under investigation for producing natural pharmaceutical treatment of the AFB.


A number of studies have been published on the benefits offered by educational video games for student development and there has been a constant increase in the use of serious games for this purpose. Very few methodological proposals for educational video game development, however, have been published in scientific literature and the proposals analyzed in this paper display certain drawbacks that limit their application. This article therefore presents a new methodology for developing educational games based on interactive screenplays. This methodology seeks a balance between the overall and the detailed view required to create the game. In order to achieve this, the methodology moves between different levels of abstraction and deconstructs the process into phases and steps that structure this complex task and which can be understood by non-technical members of the multidisciplinary team.


1028 ear operations which were performed by our department during the last few years are being analysed in the study. 649 of them were carried out to improve hearing, 245 to cure the middle ear; 120 were reoperations, and 14 could not be classified. The patients were diagnosed as follows: 280 with and 279 with other forms of cholesteatoma, 151 with otosclerosis, 20 with deformations, 89 with a trauma, and 20 with a tumour of the middle ear. Of these, only reoperations of cholesteatoma, chronic otitis media and tympanosclerosis were examined in further detail in this research. 54 (of a total of 280) patients diagnosed with cholesteatoma were surgically treated a second time. The reason for reoperation was recurrent cholesteatoma in 70% of the cases, and a planned second-look operation after one year in 30%. In second-look operations, ossicular chain reconstruction was performed in most cases, but in another 11%, recurrent cholesteatoma was found. The majority of recurrencies occurred either 2 to 4 years after primary operation or after 11 years. 44 of a total of 297 patients with chronic mesotympanic otitis media were re-operated on: 57% of them for recurrent inflammation, and 43% for ossicular chain reconstruction as a planned second-step operation. The majority of reoperations occurred within the first year after primary operation, continually decreasing for up to five years afterwards. The following conclusions can be drawn from these results: 1. Often the patients suffer from extended cholesteatoma, so that at first curative surgery is necessary, while the ossicular chain can be reconstructed by a second operation only.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


This paper presents and describes the anatomical variation of the left vertebral artery originating from the arch of aorta as a case report. This variation was found in one of the cadavers at the Division of Clinical and Functional Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa. During routine dissection of a male cadaver, in the superior mediastinum and the neck we observed an atypical origin of the left vertebral artery. Atypical origin was compared to the typical origin of the left vertebral artery in the anatomical literature. We compared our findings with different possible variations of the origin of the left vertebral artery reported in the literature. The clinical importance of the variation is discussed.


The pharmacokinetic disposition, urinary excretion and toxicity of tolonium chloride were determined after i.v. administration to sheep. Pretreatment with sodium nitrite significantly decreased the volume of the central compartment, apparent volume of distribution, area under the concentration-time curve, and total body clearance of tolonium chloride. Urinary excretion of tolonium chloride and its metabolite, leucotolonium chloride, together accounted for less than 15% of the administered dose in sheep receiving sodium nitrite and less than 10% of the administered dose in control sheep. The LD50 of tolonium chloride was 10 mg/kg with a 95% confidence interval of 7.35-13.60 mg/kg. Comparison with previously published data describing the pharmacokinetics and toxicity of a related compound, methylene blue, indicated that tolonium chloride has a higher volume of distribution and a narrower therapeutic index.


RADIOTHERAPY IS USED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PANCREATIC CANCER BECAUSE OF ITS HIGH PROPENSITY FOR LOCOREGIONAL RELAPSE: one third of patients succumb to localized disease. Thus, strategies to improve the efficacy of radiotherapy in pancreatic cancer are important to pursue. We used naturally serum-free, selectively permeable basement membranes and confocal microscopy of fluorescent antibody-stained human Panc-1, MiaPaCa-2, and BxPC-3 pancreatic cancer cell lines to investigate the effects of ionizing radiation on α(5)β(1) integrin fibronectin receptor expression and on α(5)β(1)-mediated invasion. We report that radiation rapidly induces pancreatic cancer cell invasion, and that radiation-induced invasion is caused by up-regulation of α(5)β(1) integrin fibronectin receptors by transcriptional and/or postendocytic recycling mechanisms. We also report that radiation causes α(5)β(1) up-regulation in Panc-1, MiaPaCa-2, and BxPC-3 tumor xenografts and that upregulated α(5)β(1) colocalizes with upregulated early or late endosomes in Panc-1 or BxPC-3 tumors, respectively, although it may colocalize significantly with both endosome types in MiaPaCa-2 tumors. Our results suggest that systemic inhibition of α(5)β(1)-mediated invasion might be an effective way to reduce radiation-induced pancreatic cancer cell invasion, thereby improving the efficacy of radiotherapy.


Background: Total hip arthroplasty (THA) patients have been shown to not achieve normal sagittal plane hip kinematics. However, previous studies have only conducted group level analysis and as such lack the sensitivity to highlight whether individual patients do achieve normal hip kinematics. As such this study looked to determine whether some patients with well-functioning THA achieve typical sagittal plane hip kinematics. Methods: Sagittal plane hip kinematics were collected on 11 well-functioning THA patients (Oxford Hip Score = 46 ± 3) and 10 asymptomatic controls using a 3-dimensional motion analysis system during self-paced walking. High-functioning THA patients were identified as those who displayed sagittal plane hip kinematics that were within the variance of the control group on average, and low-functioning patients as those who did not. Results: 5 THA patients were identified as high-functioning, displaying hip kinematics within the variance of the control group. High-functioning THA patients displayed peak hip flexion and extension values more closely aligned to asymptomatic control group than low-functioning patients. However, hip range of motion was comparable between high- and low-functioning total hip arthroplasty patients and reduced compared to controls. Conclusion: The presence of high-functioning THA patients who display comparable sagittal plane hip kinematics to controls suggests these patients do achieve normative function and challenges the conclusions of previous group level analysis. Understanding why some patients achieve better function post-operatively will aid pre- and post-operative practices to maximise functional recovery.


Sulfur-containing materials may be of importance in devices such as proton conducting fuel cells for energy conversion involving fossil or bioderived fuels. First-principles calculations were employed to elucidate the thermodynamics of proton incorporation as well as proton migration barriers in selected sulfides, oxysulfides, and oxysulfates. In this respect, dissolution of H2S and H2O into anion vacancies as SH– and OH–, respectively, was considered for La2O2S, La2O2SO4, and the perovskite sulfides SrZrS3 and BaZrS3. The structurally equivalent A-La2O3 and SrZrO3 were included for comparison. Protons were found to be most stable associated with oxide ions as OH– rather than with the sulfide or sulfate anions in La2O2S and La2O2SO4, respectively. The enthalpies of dissolution of H2O were calculated to −1.31 and −1.21 eV, respectively. However, the low symmetry of the protonated structures implied insubstantial long-range proton transport. SrZrS3 and BaZrS3 both exhibit exothermic enthalpies of dissolutio...


This paper is devoted to the persistence issue for chemostat models with an arbitrary number of species competing for a single limiting substrate. On the one hand, fundamental limitations of nonlinear feedback control exist for the persistence in some chemostats. That is, there exist some bounded periodic trajectories for which there is no feedback control law guaranteeing trajectory-stabilization. On the other hand, for other families of growth rates, it is shown that a dilution rate and input substrate time-varying nonlinear controllers can be designed so that a positive trajectory of the chemostat model becomes globally asymptotically stable. In this case, the designed control laws ensure persistence of all the species. A local version of this result is given in the situation where only the substrate concentration is available for feedback design.


PURPOSE
Topotecan, a topoisomerase I inhibitor, was evaluated in a multicenter, phase II study of women with epithelial ovarian carcinoma who relapsed after one or two prior regimens that included platinum and paclitaxel.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Topotecan 1.5 mg/m2 daily was administered as a 30-minute infusion for 5 consecutive days on a 21-day cycle. Eligibility criteria included bidimensionally measurable disease, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 2 or less, and adequate bone marrow, liver, and renal function. Efficacy was assessed by independent radiologic review.

RESULTS
One hundred thirty-nine patients were treated; 81% were platinum resistant. Sixty-two patients had received one prior regimen and 77 patients had received two prior regimens. Nine patients were not assessable for response; however, all patients were included in the response analysis. The overall response rate was 13.7%; 12.4% in platinum-resistant and 19.2% in platinum-sensitive patients. Stable disease lasted at least 8 weeks in 27.3% of the patients. The median duration of response and time to progression were 18.1 and 12.1 weeks, respectively. The median survival was 47.0 weeks. Grade 4 neutropenia occurred in 82% of the patients (34% of the courses) and thrombocytopenia in 30% of the patients (9% of the courses). Infectious complications occurred in 6% of the courses. Nonhematologic toxicities were mild. There were no drug-related toxic deaths.

CONCLUSION
As a single agent, topotecan has modest activity in women with advanced epithelial ovarian carcinoma who have progressed or not responded after one or two prior regimens with platinum and paclitaxel. Further investigation of combination regimens is indicated in the primary therapy for ovarian cancer based on the mechanism of action and tolerability.