During an experiment conducted in Serbia, near the city of Šabac over two growing seasons (2012/13 and 2013/14), the yield and quality of grassland treated with an organo-mineral fertilizer (farmyard manure 30 t ha-1 +10 wt.% zeolite) was monitored and compared to fertilization with pure manure (30 t ha-1), spring nitrogen application (50 kg/ha N), treatment with pure zeolite, and treatment without the addition of fertilizers. All fertilizers were spread in the autumn of 2012. Nitrogen was exceptionally applied in the spring of 2013 and 2014. Dry matter (DM) yield and forage quality were evaluated during the growing season, in two forage harvests. In addition to yields, the chemical composition of the biomass, concentrations of total protein fractions and in vitro DM digestibility were examined in detail. The biomass yields of both cuts in the first season were considerably higher after the application of manure with zeolite, pure manure and mineral nitrogen, compared to the control and zeolite. No significant differences among the treatments were noted with regard to the chemical composition of the biomass, or the effect of the type of fertilization on DM digestibility of the biomass from the natural grassland. The application of the organo-mineral fertilizer considerably reduced the share of NPN in total protein, compared to pure manure.


On March 11, 2020, just after 2 months from the first cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China, the Director-General of the World Health Organization stated that COVID-19 has to be considered as a pandemic. Italian doctors were the first protagonists, after the Chinese ones, in the management of this disease. Clinical observations showed that, in addition to the respiratory infection, a systemic inflammatory response occurs, which leads to coagulation disorders and consequent venous thromboembolism as well as other thrombotic complications. We here review the available literature on this issue to better understand the pathophysiological mechanisms of coagulopathy useful to draw future clinical and therapeutic conclusions.


Superconducting transport through a silicon MOSFET can open up many new possibilities ranging from fundamental research to industrial applications. In this thesis, we investigate the electric transport properties of a MOSFET built with superconducting source and drain contacts. Due to their advantages in terms of scalability and reproducibility, we want to integrate superconducting materials compatible with CMOS technology, thus exploiting the reliable and mature silicon technology. The idea is to realize a new type of superconducting circuits in a transistor geometry in which a non-dissipative supercurrent flowing through the device from source to drain will be modulated by a gate: a JOFET. One important outcome is the realization of superconducting qubits in a perfectly reproducible and mature technology. However, at low temperature and with the reduction of the size of the devices, two antagonistic phenomena appear. The dissipation-free transport of Cooper pairs competes with lossy single-particle processes due to Coulomb interactions. The goal is to understand how these two conflicting properties manifest in such hybrid devices. In this thesis, I studied two different ways of introducing superconductivity in the devices. We deployed a high boron doping and a laser annealing provided by well-controlled out-of-equilibrium doping techniques to make the silicon superconducting. Although highly boron-doped silicon has been known to be superconducting since 2006, superconductivity of SOI, the basic brick of some transistors, was never tested before. We aim at adapting those doping techniques on SOI in order to make it superconducting and to integrate it in transistor-like devices. In a second project, we study source and drain contacts fabricated with superconducting silicides such as PtSi. Such Schottky barrier MOSFETs with superconducting PtSi contacts are elaborated at the CEA/LETI. Measurements at very low temperature revealed the competition between superconductivity and Coulomb interactions and moreover, have brought evidence of superconductivity in PtSi based silicon Schottky barrier MOSFET.


Heat transfer by forced convection and radiation in tubes is very important for high-temperature heat exchangers, which find wide applications in power plants. In addition, the entropy analysis gives insight into the qualitative measure of the heat transfer processes. Consequently, in the present study, forced convection and radiation heat transfer in flow through a tube is considered. The wall and fluid sides temperature rise are predicted for different tube lengths. The entropy analysis is carried out and the influence of tube length and heat transfer coefficient on the volumetric entropy generation are examined. It is found that the wall temperature and the volumetric entropy generation increases as the tube length increases. The point of maximum volumetric entropy generation moves close to the tube inlet as the tube length increases. In addition, the maximum volumetric entropy generation becomes independent of tube length for high heat transfer coefficients.


Voluntary settlement is linked to the ethos of independence. However, it is unclear whether initial cultural contexts in frontier areas influence this ethos. The present study focused on Hokkaido, a Japanese island with a history of voluntary settlement, and predicted that while the predominant mainland-Japanese ethos of interdependence is prevalent in Hokkaido, the idea of independence fostered by settlement emerges mainly in the normative beliefs of people living there. The study examined the degree of interdependence measured by attention to vocal affect. Participants listened to emotional utterances and judged the verbal meaning while ignoring the vocal affect. During the process, about half of the participants were presented with schematic faces that activate normative beliefs. Overall, Japanese were more sensitive to vocal affect than were North Americans. Nevertheless, consistent with the prediction, the interference effect in the face condition was less in both North Americans and Hokkaido-born Hokkaido Japanese than in mainland Japanese.


"A postgraduate thesis (MA (Hons)) submitted to the Department of European Languages, Macquarie University, Sydney".%%%%"July, 2001".%%%%Thesis (MA (Hons)) – Macquarie University, 2001.%%%%Bibliography: p. 335-352.%%%%This thesis offers an analysis of the distinguishing features of the memoir as a literary genre. Although works of this genre became known in the history of literature centuries ago, they did not receive considerable attention until the end of the twentieth century. The discussion of the features of the memoir is based on the works of the Ukrainian emigre writer Dmytro Nytczenko (pseudonym - Chub). Two of his books [title in Russian] (From Zinkiv to Melbourne) (1990) and [title in Russian] (Under the Sun of Australia) (1994) are used as examples of Ukrainian memoir writing of the twentieth century. General features of the memoir as a literary genre as well as specific features of these works are examined and discussed. The thesis comprises theoretical and practical sections. The first two chapters deal with the former. An overview of the general literary, theoretical and critical approaches to the analysis of the memoir are contained in the first chapter. Most of these theories are accepted in contemporary study of literature and form the concepts of an academic analysis of the literary work. The various characteristics of the memoir as a literary genre are discussed in the second chapter, where it is useful to apply some theories developed in the fields of philosophy, psychology and linguistics. Thus, the theoretical basis for the second section of this thesis is formed. It is argued that most works of the literary memoir have three components: autobiographical, sociographical and episodic-biographical. The third chapter of the thesis offers a thematic analysis of the above mentioned three components, with particular reference to the two works of Dmytro Nytczenko. In the fourth chapter the stylistic features of these works are discussed. The purpose of an analysis of D. Nytczenko's memoirs is threefold. Firstly, to reveal and analyse the characteristic features of the genre of the memoir. Secondly, to present the hypothesis that the three components - autobiographical, sociographical and episodic-biographical - are essential prerequisites for writing a memoir. Finally, the thesis focuses on an analysis of the specific features of Dmytro Nytczenko's memoirs.%%%%%%%%1 online resource (ix, 352 p.)


The main purpose of this research was to explore the links between gym use, the consumption of protein products and social media usage in the projection of the perfect body image. The thesis evaluated the number of gym users who used protein products and social media and found that body builders and recreational gym users consumed more protein and used social media more than other groups. In determining the reasons for the use of gyms, the consumption of protein products and social media usage, it was found that participants (particularly men) consumed protein for confidence reasons. Large numbers of participants took gym selfies although more women engaged in this practice than men.

While evaluating the commonalities and differences in regard to the online behaviour of protein consumers, this work found that high numbers of both men and women were influenced by the behaviour of their online friends and they both tended to share and like images of protein products. Women used the selfie as a form of communication and a way to attract attention more so than men.

Even though this work understands that the gender binary is problematic it found that an evaluation of the commonalties and differences in identity goals between genders was important due to the changing target market segments of protein companies. Evidence revealed that both sexes were seeking physiques that were both lean and muscular that were almost impossible to obtain.

100 male and 100 female gym users who consumed protein participated in a quantitative questionnaire. Statistical analysis was carried out by the use of Microsoft Excel. A combination of primary research and an engagement with a large body of past literature lead to the above findings that can be used to help protein companies and gyms to better understand the behaviour of gym users and market protein products to a number of desired market segments. An idea for a potentially lucrative business was also revealed by the researcher.


Receiver function analysis in transition zone between the Zagros collision zone and the Makran subduction zone shows gradual increment of the Moho depth to ~58km into the north. The Moho depth is ~32km beneath western end of the Makran prism (58o E-26.6oN). Furthermore, crust thickening to ~58km is observed 60km west of the Zendan-Minab-Palami fault system (ZMP) that is unusual for this part of the Zagros. This implies deflection of the Arabian Platform west of the ZMP. The Moho upwarp under region of the Khurgu indicates that the mountain ranges were lifted enmasse as a result of crustal buckling under horizontal compression. Moho depth variation beneath other stations in eastern end of the Zagros is around ~45km and increases into north to ~53km beneath Main Zagros Thrust (MZT). Strong PS conversion is observed under Zendan-Minab-Palami fault system in upper crust that could be related to unconsolidated material associated with this fault. Inversion of P travel time residuals suggests a low velocity zone beneath the transition zone in accordance with the receiver function result. This information implies underthrusthing of the Arabian plate beneath the Central Iran and the gradual transition into thinner crust beneath the accretionary prism of the Makran.


This paper presents a user-friendly, CAD-interfaced methodology for the rapid seismic assessment of historic masonry structures. The proposed multi-level procedure consists of a two-step analysis that combines upper bound limit analysis with non-linear dynamic (rocking) analysis to solve for seismic collapse in a computationally-efficient manner. In the first step, the failure mechanisms are defined by means of parameterization of the failure surfaces. Hence, the upper bound limit theorem of the limit analysis, coupled with a heuristic solver, is subsequently adopted to search for the load multiplier's minimum value and the macro-block geometry. In the second step, the kinematic constants defining the rocking equation of motion are automatically computed for the refined macro-block model, which can be solved for representative time-histories. The proposed methodology has been entirely integrated in the user-friendly visual programming environment offered by Rhinoceros3D + Grasshopper, allowing it to be used by students, researchers and practicing structural engineers. Unlike time-consuming advanced methods of analysis, the proposed method allows users to perform a seismic assessment of masonry buildings in a rapid and computationally-efficient manner. Such an approach is particularly useful for territorial scale vulnerability analysis (e.g., for risk assessment and mitigation historic city centres) or as post-seismic event response (when the safety and stability of a large number of buildings need to be assessed with limited resources). The capabilities of the tool are demonstrated by comparing its predictions with those arising from the literature as well as from code-based assessment methods for three case studies.


The Parker Solar Probe (PSP) has observed copious rapid magnetic field direction changes in the near-Sun solar wind. These features have been called "switchbacks," and their origin is a mystery. But their widespread nature suggests that they may be generated by a frequently occurring process in the Sun's atmosphere. We examine the possibility that the switchbacks originate from coronal jets. Recent work suggests that many coronal jets result when photospheric magnetic flux cancels, and forms a small-scale "minifilament" flux rope that erupts and reconnects with coronal field. We argue that the reconnected erupting-minifilament flux rope can manifest as an outward propagating Alfvénic fluctuation that steepens into an increasingly compact disturbance as it moves through the solar wind. Using previous observed properties of coronal jets that connect to coronagraph-observed white-light jets (a.k.a. "narrow CMEs"), along with typical solar wind speed values, we expect the coronal-jet-produced disturbances to traverse near-perihelion PSP in ≲25 minutes, with a velocity of ∼400 km s−1. To consider further the plausibility of this idea, we show that a previously studied series of equatorial latitude coronal jets, originating from the periphery of an active region, generate white-light jets in the outer corona (seen in STEREO/COR2 coronagraph images; 2.5–15 R⊙), and into the inner heliosphere (seen in Solar-Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO)/Hi1 heliospheric imager images; 15–84 R⊙). Thus it is tenable that disturbances put onto open coronal magnetic field lines by coronal-jet-producing erupting-minifilament flux ropes can propagate out to PSP space and appear as switchbacks.


Although there have been several recent advances in the application of deep learning algorithms to chest x-ray interpretation, we identify three major challenges for the translation of chest x-ray algorithms to the clinical setting. We examine the performance of the top 10 performing models on the CheXpert challenge leaderboard on three tasks: (1) TB detection, (2) pathology detection on photos of chest x-rays, and (3) pathology detection on data from an external institution. First, we find that the top 10 chest x-ray models on the CheXpert competition achieve an average AUC of 0.851 on the task of detecting TB on two public TB datasets without fine-tuning or including the TB labels in training data. Second, we find that the average performance of the models on photos of x-rays (AUC = 0.916) is similar to their performance on the original chest x-ray images (AUC = 0.924). Third, we find that the models tested on an external dataset either perform comparably to or exceed the average performance of radiologists. We believe that our investigation will inform rapid translation of deep learning algorithms to safe and effective clinical decision support tools that can be validated prospectively with large impact studies and clinical trials.


In this paper, the occurrence characteristics of the equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) using OI 630.0 nm all sky imager (ASI) night airglow observations over Kolhapur (16.8o N, 74.2o E, 10.6o dip. Lat.) during the solar cycle-24 are presented. These results are discussed in terms of season, solar and magnetic activity during years 2011 to 2018. The ASI observations were only carried out during January to May and October to December months due to unfavorable weather conditions. The results suggest that while January, February and December are the only months where EPBs were found to occur over Kolhapur in any year, but the percentage of occurrence of EPBs during these months suggests their low occurrence rate during solar minimum. A total of 683 nights of observations were carried, out of which, 93 nights are found to be magnetically disturbed nights having Ap>18. In addition, the ASI observations are also correlated with Pre-Reversal Enhancement of the vertical drift of the evening sector at Tirunelveli on few storm events for comparison. The important findings of this study are: 1) increase in the occurrence of EPBs with respect to the solar activity; 2) suppression of EPBs on 71 disturbed nights, while enhancement of EPBs on 22 nights under magnetic disturbance; 3) EPBs occurrence during equinox months is found to be higher than winter months during ascending phase of solar cycle-24.; and, 4) EPBs are mostly observed in the pre-midnight sector in the high solar activity (HSA) period, while they are seen in the post-midnight to dawn sector during the low solar activity (LSA) period. We also noticed non-occurrence of EPBs during equinox month in the year 2018 which seems to be peculiar and needs further investigations.


There has been a growing interest in recent years in the potential use of product differentiation (through eco-type labelling) as a means of promoting and rewarding the sustainable management and exploitation of fish stocks. This interest is marked by the growing literature on the topic, exploring both the concept and the key issues associated with it. It reflects a frustration among certain groups with the supply-side measures currently employed in fisheries management, which on their own have often proven insufficient to counter the negative incentive structures characterising open-access fisheries. The potential encapsulated by product differentiation has, however, yet to be tested in the market place. One of the debates that continues to accompany the concept is the nature and extent of the response of consumers to the introduction of labelled seafood products. Though differentiated seafood products are starting to come onto the market, we are still essentially dealing with a hypothetical market situation in terms of analysing consumer behaviour. Moving the debate from theoretical extrapolation to one of empirical evidence, this paper presents the empirical results of a study undertaken in the UK. The study aimed, amongst other things. to evaluate whether UK consumers are prepared to pay a premium for seafood products that are differentiated on the grounds that the fish is either of (a) high quality or (b) comes from a sustainably managed fishery. The results are presented in this paper.


Abstract. As practitioners of a historical science, paleontologists and geoscientists are well versed in the idea that the ability to understand and to anticipate the future relies upon our collective knowledge of the past. Despite this understanding, the fundamental role that the history of paleontology and the geosciences plays in shaping the structure and culture of our disciplines is seldom recognized and therefore not acted upon sufficiently. Here, we present a brief review of the history of paleontology and geology in Western countries, with a particular focus on North America since the 1800s. Western paleontology and geology are intertwined with systematic practices of exclusion, oppression, and erasure that arose from their direct participation in the extraction of geological and biological resources at the expense of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Our collective failure to acknowledge this history hinders our ability to address these issues meaningfully and systemically in present-day educational, academic, and professional settings. By discussing these issues and suggesting some ways forward, we intend to promote a deeper reflection upon our collective history and a broader conversation surrounding racism, colonialism, and exclusion within our scientific communities. Ultimately, it is necessary to listen to members of the communities most impacted by these issues to create actionable steps forward while holding ourselves accountable for the past.


This paper is an experience report on the results of an industry-led collaborative project aimed at automating the control of traffic flow within a large city centre. A major focus of the automation was to deal with abnormal or unexpected events such as roadworks, road closures or excessive demand, resulting in periods of saturation of the network within some region of the city. We describe the resulting system which works by sourcing and semantically enriching urban traffic data, and uses the derived knowledge as input to an automated planning component to generate light signal control strategies in real time. This paper reports on the development surrounding the planning component, and in particular the engineering, configuration and validation issues that arose in the application. It discusses a range of lessons learned from the experience of deploying automated planning in the road transport area, under the direction of transport operators and technology developers.


Vegetative propagation experiments were conducted on redbay (Persea borbonia (L.) Spreng. [Lauraceae]) to evaluate disease resistance and to conserve germplasm. We developed a primary framework for redbay vegetative propagation to address limitations of long-term seed storage and the need to preserve and screen putatively laurel wilt-resistant redbays. Healthy/asymptomatic redbay individuals were chosen from 6 field sites with high levels of disease pressure and mortality. These individuals were exposed to various IBA forms, bottom heat, and rooting media mixtures. The use of IBA was required for rooting redbay; however, we found no significant differences among IBA type or bottom heat on rooting success. Parent tree provenance significantly affected root length. A 3:1 (v:v) perlite:vermiculite mixture yielded significantly more cuttings with roots and more roots per cutting. We observed an average rooting percentage of 20 to 37%, and ramets that were still alive after 7 mo averaged 46 to 72% rooting across treatments. Therefore, we recommend treating with a 0.3% IBA gel and striking them in 3:1 (v:v) perlite:vermiculite without bottom heat under intermittent mist.Hughes MA, Smith JA. 2014. Vegetative propagation of putatively laurel wilt-resistant redbay (Persea borbonia). Native Plants Journal 15(1):42–50.


COUNTERVISUALITY AS POLICY FEEDBACK: A CRITICAL POLICY STUDY ON THE SYMBOLIC ROLE OF VISUAL CULTURE IN CONTEMPORARY ANTIRACIST RESISTANCE Lindsay N. Plott-Buckner Old Dominion University, 2018 Director: Dr. Meagan M. Jordan This critical interpretive study explores the relationship between public policy and visual culture. Drawing from five areas of research literature on (1) policy feedback theory, (2) the spectacle, (3) art and visual culture, (4) Black feminist theory, (5) and critical philosophies of resistance, images of contemporary antiracist activism are conceptualized as a form of policy feedback. Photographs of Ieshia Evans, Bree Newsome, and a self-portrait by Nona Faustine are reverse searched through Google Images. Utilizing constructivist grounded theory, a collection of publicly available news articles, blogs, and social media content are analyzed to better understand how mass publics engage with these images online. The findings reveal that a unique form of social learning takes place as publics orient themselves to the images in terms of lived experience, current events, and history; as they make sense of images by connecting novel information to previously learned information; and, as they apply the images in a variety of ways in civil society, politics, and market. This form of extrainstitutional learning appears to be consistent with current literature on public pedagogy. Implications for the field of public policy are discussed.


BACKGROUND
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurological condition of increasing prevalence. Many people living with MS will trial various alternative therapies, including changed patterns of eating, to try to gain control over their condition. New clinical guidelines advise reducing the time between first clinical symptoms and treatment. It is the support of the healthcare team that can empower the person in their healthcare journey.

OBJECTIVE
The aim of this article is to provide insights into the role of diet as an element of lifestyle management of MS and describe the implications of diet as a first-line treatment for MS.

DISCUSSION
Many 'MS diets' have been promoted to persons diagnosed with MS, yet evidence-based advice is necessitated by an expressed need. Although health risks of short-term exploration of specific diets are not likely to cause concern, lifestyle management should be included in communication plans, with referrals to other healthcare professionals as appropriate.


Floodplains and terraces in river valleys play important roles in the transport dynamics of water and sediment. While flat areas in river valleys can be identified from LiDAR data, directly characterizing them as either floodplain or terraces is not yet possible. To address this challenge, we hypothesize that, since geomorphic features are strongly coupled to hydrological and hydraulic dynamics and their associated variability, there exists a return frequency, or possibly a narrow band of return frequencies, of flow that is associated with floodplain formation; and this association can provide a distinctive signature for distinguishing them from terraces. Based on this hypothesis we develop a novel approach for distinguishing between floodplains and terraces that involves transforming the transverse cross‐sectional geometry of a river valley into a curve, named a river valley hypsometric (RVH) curve, and linking hydraulic inundation frequency with the features of this curve. Our approach establishes that the demarcation between floodplains and terraces can be established from the structure of steps and risers in the RVH curves which can be obtained from the DEM data. Further, it shows that these transitions may themselves be shaped by floods with 10‐ to 100‐year recurrence. We additionally show that, when floodplain width and height (above channel bottom) are normalized by bankfull width and depth, the ratio lies in a narrow range independent of the scale of the river valley. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Universities have expanded their public relation (PR) departments in recent years. At the same time, news media have had to cope with reduced resources. This has led scholars to assume a growing influence of university PR on a weakened journalism. However, research on this phenomenon is scarce, and longitudinal research is missing entirely. The study at hand looks at the influence of university PR on science journalism in Switzerland by measuring the effects of media releases on media coverage. It uses large-scale, automated text comparisons combined with manual content analyses. The results show that an increasing amount of media coverage is based on media releases, and that the tone of this portion of media coverage is significantly more positive toward the university. Overall, our findings suggest an increasing influence of university PR on (science) journalism.


Successive reforms on land use rights, mortgage finance and privatisation of the social housing stock to sitting tenants coupled with large scale housing shortage particularly in urban areas due to in-migration and rapidly rising incomes has led to the massive growth of the private housing market in China. As a result between 1999 and 2006 national housing prices have risen by over 50% and about 2.5 billion square metres of housing developments sold in the open market. Available evidence suggests however that this growth is largely concentrated on higher income groups with a large degree of speculative investment due to the rapidly rising prices. Given the rapid decline of social housing provision an important issue for consideration is the impact on the housing position of lower income groups, particularly new migrants to Chinese cities and their adopted housing strategies. The overall conceptual framework for this work draws on the institutional approach to urban analysis. The institutional approach has gained importance for analysing the diversity of economic formations and urban dynamics in different localities in recent years. Utilising this approach, scholars have researched the development of property and housing markets and policy in both developed and transition and developing economies (Keivani, et al, 2001). This approach is particularly suited for examining low income housing provision in developing countries. From the institutional perspective the key to such an analysis lies in the relationships between the interests, strategies and actions of agents involved and the social, economic and regulatory structures governing their decisions. Thus the research will focus on: the impact of institutional reforms, particularly land rights, on the operation and interaction of the main actors involved in the housing market and low income housing provision. >From a policy perspective the publication of World Bank housing policy paper in 1993 provided a sharp focus on enabling private housing markets and the housing sector. This is based on a series of major institutional reforms and withdrawal of public sector from direct provision to one of eradicating market barriers and facilitating efficient market activity. The Chinese context provides an important case of rapid and wide scale reforms for development of housing markets in a major transition economy. This paper draws on the market enabling paradigm to examine a) the degree to which the Chinese experience has followed enabling market policy strategies, and b) what is the potential of such a paradigm for actually addressing low income housing provision.


Herein, a soluble graphene-based material exhibiting the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) feature was prepared for the first time via wet chemistry by the chemical reduction of graphene oxide (GO). Moreover, three conjugated polymers containing tetraphenylethylene, carbazole and phenyl groups were used as stabilizers during the reduction of GO in tetrahydrofuran (THF) solution due to the π–π interaction and polymer wrapping effect; the resultant graphene composites containing different amounts of rGO were soluble in organic solvents. Among the three polymers, P1 exhibits the strongest affinity towards rGO, and rGO–P1 in THF solution is stable for months at the concentration of 1.5 mg mL−1. Furthermore, rGO–P1 is AIE-active and its PL intensity is 6.3-fold that of P1 under the same conditions (THF/H2O = 10/90, v/v). The distinguished optical properties and AIE effect of rGO–P1 allow it to act as a chemosensor for the detection of explosives in both the aggregate and solid state with high sensitivity. In the aggregate state, the detectable concentration is as low as 1.3 ppb and the quenching constant is up to 4.16 × 106 M−1, which enable its trace detection of picric acid.


Like many universities, Kent State University's Stark campus has taken "embracing diversity" as one of its primary initiatives. According to our mission statement, we seek "to prepare students to think and act in a worldwide context of many races, cultures, and political systems." This is particularly challenging at a regional campus like Stark. Unlike the very large, very diverse central Kent campus, less than 8% of Stark's students are minorities. The majority of our students come from local, rural, largely monocultural communities. And for this reason some Stark instructors utilize "contact zone" pedagogies to engage students in multicultural thinking that lies beyond our students' experiences.


Due to the recent prevalence of the Internet, broadcasting continuous media data, e.g., audio and video, on the IP (Internet protocol) networks has attracted great attention. In broadcasting systems, generally, a server broadcasts the same data repetitively. Although the server can deliver the data to many clients concurrently, clients have to wait until their desired data are broadcast. To reduce the waiting time, several researches employ a division based broadcasting system, which reduces the waiting time by dividing the data into several segments and broadcasting precedent segments frequently. These researches often assume that there are many clients and broadcasting delivery is more effective than client-server delivery. However, these researches do not show its concrete availability. In this paper, by designing and implementing a division based broadcasting system called "d-Cast", we discuss the availability for division based broadcasting systems.


In his play Bacchae, Euripides chooses as his central figure the god who crosses the boundaries among god, man, and beast, between reality and imagination, and between art and madness. In so doing, he explores what in tragedy is able to reach beyond the social, ritual, and historical context from which tragedy itself rises. Charles Segal's reading of Euripides' Bacchae builds gradually from concrete details of cult, setting, and imagery to the work's implications for the nature of myth, language, and theater. This volume presents the argument that the Dionysiac poetics of the play characterize a world view and an art form that can admit logical contradictions and hold them in suspension.


The effectiveness of pancuronium (1.0 to 1.5 mg), d-tubocurarine (3 mg), and gallamine (20 mg) administered three minutes before succinylcholine (1 mg/kg) in preventing muscle fasciculations and postoperative muscle pains was compared in 100 patients. Pretreatment with pancuronium abolished fasciculations and produced rapid and excellent muscle relaxation for endotracheal intubation. Both d-tubocurarine (dTc) and gallamine administered prior to succinylcholine (SCh) were inconsistent in prevention fasciculations. Muscle relaxation was significantly delayed in onset, shorter in duration, and was inadequate for intubation in the majority of patients. The 45% incidence of postoperative muscle pains in the control group decreased after pretreatment with gallamine, dTc, and pancuronium to 20%, 15%, and less than 5%, respectively. It was concluded from the present study that pancuronium is superior to dTc and gallamine for preventing SCh-induced fasciculations and postoperative muscle pains without compromising the muscle relaxation for intubation. However, pancuronium administered for pretreatment may significantly prolong the action of succinylcholine and caution is to be exercised in patients having short surgical procedures and when additional doses of muscle relaxants may be required.


The Sixth Edition has been completely updated and includes new Supreme Court decisions on claim construction, injunctions and plant patents. It also includes new en banc decisions of the CAFC. There is also a new Teacher's Manual that includes case outlines, interesting materials, and teaching points. In addition the new edition of the Teacher's Manual includes: Amusing patents and famous patents for teachers to share with students to enrich and inform their study A portion of an oral argument to make a point about always being prepared Detailed case outlines for all of the cases in the book A discussion about critical theory (i.e. text interpretation) as it relates to patent law Writings by judges on the practice of patent law A sample writing assignment Sample final examinations for both 2- and 3-credit hour courses


Objectives: This study was to carry out a prospective study on the patents reports of homeopathic formulations in the brazilian intellectual property bank, the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). Methods: This is a prospective research of patents referring to homeopathy products and medicines carried in May 2020. Searches were made for patents deposited with homeopathic purpose with the terms "homeopathy" and "homeopathic" from the first document until the last one deposited in 2019. We have found thirty-eight deposits with the search terms cited above, after exclusion of duplicates we selected twenty four. Results: Among the 24 patent reports selected, 15 (62.5%) were patents of invention. Among the classification of products, we highlight those of type A61K with 19 (79.1%). Twenty-four deposits were selected with the search terms "homeopathy" and "homeopathic". 20 (83.3 %) deposits with the term "homeopathic" and 4 (16.66%) to the term "homeopathy". Among the reports stand out patents of homeopathic formulations 14 (58.3%). There were a greater number of deposits in the years 2009 and 2013, both with 4 (16.6%) deposits. Conclusion: After analyzing patents on homeopathic products at the intellectual property bank in Brazil, it is concluded that most are related to new formulations. It can be seen that in Brazil the interest in relation to the protection of intellectual property in this topic is still small. Key words: Homeopathy, Homeopathic medicines, Pharmacy, Property Intellectual, Patents.


Background

Cartilage Intermediate Layer Protein 2 (CILP2), a glycoprotein with mutations associated with abnormal blood lipid concentrations in normal and cardiovascular diseases patients, was barely reported with clinical features of tumors. We evaluated the role of CILP2 among all stages and histology in colorectal cancer (CRC) in the Cancer Genome Altas (TCGA), and furtherly verified using immunohistochemistry assay within human CRC tissues.
Materials and methods

Clinical information and RNA-seq data were derived from TCGA colorectal carcinoma cohort. CILP2 expression at mRNA level was estimated by bioinformatical analysis of TCGA cases. Tissue microarray (TMA) was constructed containing paraffin-embedded 64 pairs of CRC and matched adjacent normal tissues. The expression at protein level was detected in 64 pairs of CRC and matched adjacent normal tissues by immunohistochemical analysis. CILP2 expression level and its clinical value were estimated by bioinformatical analysis with linear and logistic regression. Survival analysis was performed between high and low groups of CILP2 expression by Cox regression analysis, and P value was calculated by log-rank test. Kaplan-Meier curves were tested by log-rank test.
Results

CILP2 was significantly higher expressed in the colorectal cancer tissues when compared with paired adjacent normal tissues in TCGA cohort (P < 0.001) and in TMA cohort (P = 0.001). In addition, CILP2 high-expression was strongly correlated with T3/4 stage (P = 0.001), N1/2/3 stage (P = 0.005), M1 stage (P = 0.048), and higher clinical stage (UICC 2010 stage) (P < 0.001) in TCGA cohort, and also positively associated with T3/4 stage (P = 0.022) and higher clinical stage (UICC 2010 stage) (P = 0.03) in TMA cohort. Furthermore, CILP2 overexpression predicted poor prognosis and could be as an independent prognostic factor (P = 0.003).
Conclusion

We revealed that CILP2 is associated with advanced stages and could play a role as an independent predictor of poor survival in colorectal cancer.


This paper explores how business coaches experience the boundary between coaching and therapy in their practice. Using a phenomenological approach, four therapeutically trained and four non-therapeutically trained coaches were asked to describe instances when they felt they were working near the 'boundary'. Findings suggest that issues of a psychological nature are brought into coaching, and that the 'boundary' is largely a function of the willingness and ability of both coach and client to work with personal/psychological material. Differences in working practice were noted between and within the two groups. Findings also give impetus for more rigorous coach training as well as suggesting a potentially fruitful tool for use in coach supervision.


To create a new type of catalytic gas diffusion layer for a high-temperature hydrogen/air polymer-electrolyte membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC), a new electrospun carbon nanofiber (CNF)-based platinized nanocomposite was formed. Its structure was studied by scanning, high resolution transmission and scanning transmission electron microscopy, electron diffraction, EDX analysis, electron tomography and Raman spectroscopy. The temperature dependence of the morphology and structure of carbon nanofibers was investigated: high annealing temperatures (1200 and 2800 °C) led to graphitization with straight graphene layer sets in nanofiber bodies, whereas curly graphene layer sets were observed for Fe-containing annealing. Platinization of CNFs with further heating at elevated temperature (280 °C) led to the formation of spherical nanoparticles of 3.0 nm diameter, while at room temperature "finger"-like nanoparticles with a length up to 20 nm grew along directions. Structural evolution of the nanofibers resulted in an increase of their porosity, electroconductivity and thermal stability, as well as formation of a CNF surface relief providing a smoother and more uniform platinum nanoparticle cover. The most uniform one was obtained on carbon fibers synthesized from a polymer mixture and further graphitization in the presence of iron nanoparticles.


As a result of unequal reduction, the sideways movement of the strip at the entry is occurred in in-plane roll-bending process with conical rollers. This will reduce the shape quality of the formed ring. To control the sideways movement, FE simulations with applying unilateral and bilateral guide planes are carried out by employing ABAQUS/Explicit code. The results show that, the strip moves towards the bottom end and scratches with guide plane at the trailing end if applying unilateral guide plane; the sideways movement can be controlled effectively with circularity of 0.993 and maximum deviation ratio of 12.5% for the formed ring if applying bilateral guide planes.


France lags behind most other Western countries in its degree of ethnic representation, despite the longstanding presence of non-Western minorities in the country. French politicians and the public usually justify this situation by arguing that there are no such things as ethnic minorities in France, and therefore no particular 'ethnic minority' interests. Consequently, there is no need to be concerned about ethnic representation; class representation is enough. More recently, attention has centred on the presence of Islam. This frame biases political attention to religious issues related to ethnic minorities, leaving aside major problems such as racial discrimination. In contrast, this article argues that France is very similar to America when it comes to ethnic politics, particularly when analysing the political orientations of non-Western minorities. Without a proper voice to articulate their claims, ethnic minorities see their interests neglected in favour of other issues.


Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) has been conclusively related to several gastroduodenal diseases. The possible role of the bacterium in the development of extragastric manifestations has been investigated in the past few years. To identify all publications on the association between H. pylori and respiratory diseases, a MEDLINE search of all studies published in English from 1965 to 2013 was conducted. All data are based on case-control studies. Controversial findings of H. pylori seroprevalence have been obtained in patients with bronchial asthma, lung cancer, pulmonary tuberculosis, sarcoidosis, cystic fibrosis, chronic bronchitis and bronchiectasis. At present, on epidemiological bases, there is no definite evidence of a causal relationship between H. pylori infection and respiratory diseases. There is a low consideration of confounding factors as poorer socioeconomic status and tobacco use. The activation of pro-inflammatory cytokines by H. pylori might be a possible pathogenetic mechanism. However, there are no convincing data about the influence of H. pylori on the inflammatory changes of the bronchoepithelium so far. Further studies are needed on the impact of H. pylori eradication, on the prevention, development and natural history of these disorders.


You should read this book —and assign at least part of it in class (the most quotable quotes cluster, usefully, in the gorgeous Prelude)—because there is really nothing else like it. It really is an essay "On the Trinity." And it really does contribute to the sexuality debates without attempting to solve them in their current terms. Meanwhile, the plates alone will justify the price. I find myself reverting to Coakley's view when students ask about the Trinity "why three?"—even when I have set out to say something else. You know how, as a teacher, you watch the students' eyes to see whether they have understood? You hear yourself abandoning the pat answers, the ones you might like for your colleagues to hear, and trying other things, just to get a purchase on that uncomprehending look in students' eyes. The understanding doesn't dawn until you give some version of Coakley's account. And then, whether you like it or not, you have something to defend, modify, or criticize, but in any case, and usually for the first time, you have something from which the students can go on. I say this not from lack of experience, but as someone who has written a whole book on the Holy Spirit.


The nature of science is a prevalent theme across United States national science education standards and frameworks as well as other documents that guide formal and informal science education reform. To support teachers in engaging their students in authentic scientific practices and reformed teaching strategies, research experiences for teachers offered in national laboratories, university research centers, and national field-sites promise opportunities to help teachers update their current understanding of STEM fields and experience firsthand how scientific research is conducted with the end goal of supporting more inquiry-based teaching approaches in their classrooms. This qualitative interpretive study used an adapted Views of Nature of Science and Views on Scientific Inquiry surveys and protocols to investigate changes in 43 practicing teachers understandings about the nature of science and scientific inquiry as a result of participation in one of three summer science research programs. Each program provided participants with research experiences alongside professional researchers as well as activities intended to increase participants abilities to provide inquiry-based science learning activities for their students. Data were collected using open-ended surveys pre-program, post-program and long-term follow-up surveys, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, along with researchers observations and field-notes. Participation in these programs led to small, measurable enhancements in teachers understandings of scientific inquiry and the nature of science. Teachers prior experience with research was found to have the strongest relationship to their knowledge of the nature of science and scientific inquiry. The data in this study provides evidence that research experiences can provide valuable experiences to support teachers improved knowledge of how science is conducted.


My first impression on scanning this book is one of distinct pleasure. Marriott is an entertaining writer and adds a fillip to the teaching of electrocardiography. If one began at the beginning and stayed with this book all the way through, he undoubtedly would have a good introduction to electrocardiography. I noted that this is the fifth edition, and therefore I compared it against the fourth edition. The latter was written in 1968, and therefore I checked to see how much the bibliography has had added to it since 1968. Out of the total of 399 references, there are only 40 since 1968 and 19 of these are in two chapters alone. One wonders if the entire book needs to be rewritten or if the chapters on monitoring of arrhythmias and hemiblocks are the real justifications for the new edition. I realize that books must be reprinted in order to


Non-natural l-nucleoside analogues are increasingly used as therapeutic agents to treat cancer and viral infections. To be active, l-nucleosides need to be phosphorylated to their respective triphosphate metabolites. This stepwise phosphorylation relies on human enzymes capable of processing l-nucleoside enantiomers. We used crystallographic analysis to reveal the molecular basis for the low enantioselectivity and the broad specificity of human 3-phosphoglycerate kinase (hPGK), an enzyme responsible for the last step of phosphorylation of many nucleotide derivatives. Based on structures of hPGK in the absence of nucleotides, and bound to l and d forms of MgADP and MgCDP, we show that a non-specific hydrophobic clamp to the nucleotide base, as well as a water-filled cavity behind it, allows high flexibility in the interaction between PGK and the bases. This, combined with the dispensability of hydrogen bonds to the sugar moiety, and ionic interactions with the phosphate groups, results in the positioning of different nucleotides so to expose their diphosphate group in a position competent for catalysis. Since the third phosphorylation step is often rate limiting, our results are expected to alleviate in silico tailoring of l-type prodrugs to assure their efficient metabolic processing.


Objective: To describe and explore the experiences of hospital employees with the causes of fraud in the health insurance program at the hospitals.
Design And Setting: This research was carried out at government hospitals in the Southeast Sulawesi Province in collaboration with BPJS Health, namely the Bahteramas Regional General Hospital and the Kendari City Regional General Hospital. Triangulation was carried out at BPJS Health, the Center for Health Insurance Financing at the Ministry of Health and the Center for Health Policy and Management at Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta. This research was conducted for one year, namely January 2020 to February 2021qualitative method with a phenomenological approach. Data collection methods were carried out through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and document studies. The number of participants in this study was 44 people consisting of doctors in charge of services, nurses, midwives, and case-mix team including coders who met the inclusion criteria. Data analysis used the Moustakas method.
Result: The causes of health insurance fraud in hospitals financial motives (the desire to get money or material or economic or welfare benefits, get high service services and low employee salaries), behavioral motives (low integrity, lifestyle and employee habits of committing fraud0, and social motives (kinship, humanitarian factors, avoiding conflict, social position, and the existence of pressure), internal controls (a weak monitoring system, poorly enforced regulations, unclear regulations and limited hospitals providing services, no monitoring and evaluation, and there are no sanctions for fraud perpetrators), revenue targets (hospitals income and increasing the number of claims), leadership (leadership style or weak leadership in the hospitals and the absence of transparency), incentive systems (poor distribution of incentives and the absence of transparency of services from hospitals management), National Health Insurance (NHI) regulations (dynamic regulations and the availability of the National Guidelines for Medical Services has not been fulfilled and there is no standard for readmission and fragmentation), the NHI financing system (inconvenience of the financing system and the adequacy of the INA-CBGs tariff calculation), and the BPJS Health system (inconvenience of the BPJS Health system and the BPJS Health system which makes it difficult).
Conclusions: The causes of health insurance fraud in hospitals can be explained by the gear fraud theory that Internal factors are the main cause and external factors predispose to health insurance fraud in hospitals. These internal and external factors interact with each other like the working mechanism of a gear. Understanding the theory of gear fraud will help formulate fraud prevention efforts in health insurance programs in hospitals that are more comprehensive and focus on eliminating the causes of fraud.


The aim of this study was to investigate whether torasemide modifies collagen cross-linking in the failing human heart. We analyzed the degree of cross-linking and the expression of the enzyme lysyl oxidase, which regulates cross-linking, in the myocardium of patients with chronic heart failure at baseline and after 8 months of treatment with either torasemide or furosemide in addition to their standard heart failure therapy. Whereas lysyl oxidase protein expression was very scarce in normal hearts, it was highly expressed in failing hearts. Cross-linking was increased (P<0.001) in heart failure patients compared with normal hearts. These 2 parameters decreased (P=0.021 and P=0.034) in torasemide-treated patients and remained unchanged in furosemide-treated patients. In addition, more (P=0.009) patients showed normalization of left ventricular chamber stiffness in the torasemide subgroup than in the furosemide subgroup after treatment. Lysyl oxidase expression correlated with cross-linking (r=0.661; P<0.001), and cross-linking correlated with left ventricular chamber stiffness (r=0.452; P=0.002) in all patients. These findings show for the first time that lysyl oxidase overexpression is associated with enhanced collagen cross-linking in the failing human heart. In addition, we report that the ability of torasemide to correct both lysyl oxidase overexpression and enhanced collagen cross-linking results in normalization of left ventricular chamber stiffness in patients with heart failure. Lysyl oxidase may thus represent a target for reduction of stiff collagen and improvement of left ventricular mechanical properties in heart failure patients.


SUMMARY: Roper's (1952) technique for the isolation in filamentous fungi of strains carrying in their hyphae diploid nuclei heterozygous for known markers has been applied with minor modifications to a third species: Penicillium chrysogenum. One of these modifications is the use of 'dwarf' (stunted growth) mutants for growing balanced heterokaryons. Heterozygous diploid strains of P. chrysogenum behave like those of the other two species in yielding, vegetatively, new strains with recombined properties. This behaviour can be marshalled for the deliberate breeding of improved industrial strains.


In this paper we propose a modification of the traditional Mundell-Fleming model. The extended model introduces the implications of including the fiscal deficit and international reserves as determinants of the level of country risk. This slight modification of the traditional paradigm leads to radical changes in the effects that fiscal and monetary policies have in economies with high capital mobility under an extreme version of a fixed exchange rate regime (Currency Board). We use the proposed model to evaluate some of the economic policies implemented between December 1999 and March 2001 by the first economic team under the Presidency of Fernando De la Rúa in Argentina. Additionally, we suggest that some of the main results obtained from the model are applicable to other emerging economies.


Industrial estate in Surabaya and its suburban is planned to be developed on the coast area because it is impossible to expand Industrial estate at the Hinterland. This master plan is constrained by ground soil condition at that location. Especially, at Harbor site, it is formed from tickly soft-soil-layer. This type of soil will make a high consolidation if embankment is loaded. This research aims to find a suitable method for soil improvement on area. The method used for soil consolidation is preloading with direct loading. This method was conducted at two phases. Then, Vertical drain system was used to accelerate compaction time. Furthermore, five alternatives of soil consolidation method (i.e. stone columns, geotextile, combination of stone column and geotextile, micropile and combination of micropile and geotextile) were conducted to avoid sliding. The research result concludes that the most suitable method for this area is vertical drain, with combination of geotextile and micropile (alternative 5).


A multi-locus sequence typing scheme was designed for the Corynebacterium diphtheriae group comprising C. diphtheriae, C. ulcerans and C. pseudotuberculosis.
Five MLST genes (atpA, dnaE, fusA, odhA and rpoB) were analysed to resolve the inter-species relationships of the three organisms. No alleles were shared between the species and MLSA analysis indicated that they represent distinct populations with no evidence of recombination between the organisms.
One hundred and fifty four C. diphtheriae isolates were analysed by MLST using the same five loci and two additional genes (dnaK and leuA). The data derived was in concordance with previous ribotyping studies and identified two clonal complexes associated with diphtheria outbreaks. No correlation between ST and toxin production or clinical presentation was observed. In contrast to the biovars gravis, mitis and intermedius the atypical belfanti strains were distinct by phylogenetic analysis. Although two C. diphtheriae cultures isolated from a horse clustered with the human strains four isolates obtained from two cats shared no alleles with the other isolates examined.
MLST analysis of 69 C. ulcerans isolates using the five MLST genes and the virulence determinant phospholipase D (PLD) revealed that veterinary and human isolates were not genetically distinct. As with the C. diphtheriae population recombination was shown to play an important role in the evolution of the organism.
The 73 C. pseudotuberculosis isolates were examined with the five MLST loci, pld and two genes within the Fe acquisition operon; fagCand fagD. The nitrate negative and positive strains were distinguished by MLST but shared ancestry was apparent as the same alleles were identified in two to three of the genes. MLST supported previous studies which indicate that C. pseudotuberculosis biovar ovis is a genetically homogenous species.
This is the first MLST scheme designed for the C. diphtheriae group and the first to encompass multiple species within the Corynebacterium genus. MLST provides a useful tool for the discrimination of the three species and will enable the detection of genetic exchange events between and within the organisms.


The MELiSSA loop, as a regenerative life support system, is designed to allow the recovery of human metabolic needs from the space mission wastes. Within the MELiSSA loop, the waste compartment, ( i.e. C1), is responsible of the primary degradation of the waste material generated by the crew, to shorter molecules, ideally : CO2, NH4+,... In order to respect robustness and safety requirements, the project follows a deterministic engineering approach. The associated approach is only possible through a deep knowledge of each sub-system (e.g. composition, behaviour, metabolism, kinetics, limitation, inhibition, etc..). Due to its complex microbial community, the development of the C1 model requires: (i) the thorough characterization of the microbial community, (ii) the elucidation of a validated metabolic network, (iii) the identification of key microbial species and functions, (iv) the definition of the driving metabolic reactions rates and associated parameters (performed by the key microbial species/functions) and -(v) the integration into a suitable mechanistic dynamic model that describes and predicts the conversion processes. In a preliminary study, multiple "omic" approaches (genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic..) have been applied to characterize the C1 community in terms of taxonomy and functions resulting in the preliminary definition of microbial network. The proposed PhD project shall use meta-omics approaches to validate 1°) this preliminary microbial network, 2°) the corresponding metabolic pathways and 3°) the identified key species/functions/biomarkers of C1. The C1 community metabolic model shall be further studied to allow to link any change in reactor performance and community/functional composition to changes in the C1 metabolome and hence in microbial metabolic pathways. A validated C1 community metabolic model, which indicates the metabolic interactions between species and/or functional groups, will be defined in a view of the future development of the C1 mechanistic model. Impact on MELiSSA: definition of C1 community metabolic model and elaboration of C1 mathematical model equations MELiSSA partners: U Mons (B), SCK.CEN (B), UClermont Auvergne (F), . References: Poughon, L.; Creuly, C.; Farges, B.; Dussap, C. G.; Schiettecatte, W.; Jovetic, S.; De Wever, H. ( 2013) Test of an anaerobic prototype reactor coupled with a filtration unit for production of VFAs, Bioresource Technology, 145, 240-247. Desired knowledge: candidates preferably possess a degree in microbiology and molecular biology. They have to be familiar with anaerobic microbiology and metabolic pathways, bioinformatics and have notions of process engineering.


The United Nations proclaimed the 1990s as the International Decade for Disaster Reduction. This proclamation, and the activities it generates, highlights the necessity of exploring the conceptualization of disasters. We propose that disasters are best conceptualized as nonroutine social problems: social problems because they involve conjunctions of historical conditions and social definitions; nonroutine because they usually are ignored by the public until articulated as dramatic events. We begin by linking the origins of disaster research to social problems theory and, in particular, the functionalist tradition. We explicate how functionalism has provided the implicit assumptions for most sociologically focussed disaster studies, but not an analytical treatment of disasters as social problems. Rather that treatment has been stimulated by the social constructionist tradition within social problems theory. We propose that social constructionism informs rather than undermines the conceptualization of disasters as nonroutine social problems.


The Occam's Razor principle has become the basis for many Machine Learning algorithms, under the interpretation that the classifier should not be more complex than necessary. Recently, this principle has shown to be well suited to associative classifiers, where the number of rules composing the classifier can be substantially reduced by using condensed representations such as maximal or closed rules. While it is shown that such a decrease in the complexity of the classifier (usually) does not compromise its accuracy, the number of remaining rules is still larger than necessary and making it hard for experts to interpret the corresponding classifier. In this paper we propose a much more aggressive filtering strategy, which decreases the number of rules within the classifier dramatically without hurting its accuracy. Our strategy consists in evaluating each rule under different statistical criteria, and filtering only those rules that show a positive balance between all the criteria considered. Specifically, each candidate rule is associated with a point in an n-dimensional scattergram, where each coordinate corresponds to a statistical criterion. Points that are not dominated by any other point in the scattergram compose the {\em Pareto frontier}, and correspond to rules that are optimal in the sense that there is no rule that is better off when all the criteria are taken into account. Finally, rules lying in the Pareto frontier are filtered and compose the classifier. Our Pareto-Optimal filtering strategy may receive as input either the entire set of rules or even a condensed representation (i.e., closed rules). A systematic set of experiments involving benchmark data as well as recent data from actual application scenarios, followed by an extensive set of significance tests, reveal that the proposed strategy decreases the number of rules by up to two orders of magnitude and produces classifiers that are extremely readable (i.e., allow interpretability of the classification results) without hurting accuracy.


A comparative data analysis of the federal statistical survey of social services for the elderly citizens and disabled persons in outpatient departments and day hospitals in Russian Federation was submitted. It included the data on the number of organizations providing social services, the number of individuals served, the number of full-time staff positions for the years 2006-2011. It had been revealed that during this period the number of social rehabilitation centers, health centers and hospices for the elderly citizens were reduced in Russia that in turn caused the significant decrease of hospital beds and persons served per year. The data on the activities of hospitals and residential institutions in social services system for the elderly citizens and disabled persons, as well as the number of persons served over the period of 2009-2011 had been analyzed. Analytical results thus obtained shown that one of the new approaches in solving these sociogerontological problems on system management of outpatient departments, day hospitals and residential institutions in Russia are an optimization of the institutional structure, reorganization of hospital beds capacity, refurbishment of present and construction of new buildings.


We present the concept of runnable virtual nodes (RVNs) as means to achieve predictable integration and temporal error-containment of real-time software components. An RVN exploits the latest techniques for hierarchical scheduling and is intended as a coarse-grained component for single-node deployment, that provides functional and temporal isolations with respect to its environment. It uses a two-level deployment process, i.e. deploying functional entities to RVNs and then deploying RVNs to physical nodes. The two-level deployment process not only gives development benefits with respect to compos ability, system integration, testing, validation and certification but also leverages the hierarchical scheduling to preserve the validity of an RVN's internal temporal behaviour when integrated with other components. We have applied our approach to a simple case study, implemented in the ProCom component-technology executing on top of FreeRTOS-based hierarchical scheduling and present our initial results as a proof-of-concept.


Abstract The paper presents new experimental results from the GOL-3 facility on stabilization of some beam instability modes by controlled conditions at an exit beam receiver. In the experiments the space near the beam collector in the exit expander was filled with krypton. Position and shape of the beam footprint at the exit collector was imaged using the beam bremsstrahlung. The beam shape changes were detected by a set of magnetic probes. Improvement of the beam stability due to krypton puffing was achieved. Possible mechanisms of such stabilization are discussed.


Bacteria are exposed to evolutionary pressure to an extent unlike other organisms. This leads to a high degree of adaptation to its surrounding. This thesis investigates the degree of adaptation towards higher accuracy in the transcription of DNA to RNA in coding sequences in the DNA of the E. coli bacteria. Two coding sequences with different nucleotide contents were investigated. Goodness-of-fit tests were performed but no significant adaptation towards higher transcription accuracy was found in the investigated sequences.


Stem cells have received a lot of attention due to great promises in medical treatment, for example, by replacing lost and sick cells and re-constituting cell populations. There are several classes of stem cells, including embryonic, fetal, and adult tissue specific. More recently, the generation of so-called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from differentiated cells has been established. Common criteria for all types of stem cells include their ability to self-renew and to retain their ability to differentiate in response to specific cues. These characteristics, as well as the instructive steering of the cells into differentiation, are largely dependent on the microenvironment surrounding the cells. Such "stem cell friendly" microenvironments, provided by structural and biochemical components, are often referred to as niches. Biomaterials offer attractive solutions to engineer functional stem cell niches and to steer stem cell state and fate in vitro as well as in vivo . Among materials used so far, promising results have been achieved with low-toxicity and biodegradable polymers, such as polyglycolic acid and related materials, as well as other polymers used as structural "scaffolds" for engineering of extracellular matrix components. To improve the efficiency of stem cell control and the design of the biomaterials, interfaces among stem cell research, developmental biology, regenerative medicine, chemical engineering, and materials research are rapidly developing. Here we provide an introduction to stem cell biology and principles of niche engineering and give an overview of recent advancements in stem cell niche engineering from two stem cell systems—blood and brain.


The search of images on the internet has become a natural process for the
internet surfer. Most of the search engines use complex algorithms to look up
for images but their metadata is mostly ignored, in part because many image
hosting sites remove metadata when the image is uploaded. The JPSearch
standard has been developed to handle interoperability in metadata based
searches, but it seems that the market is not interested on supporting it.
The starting point of this project is a broker based federated search for
image retrieval which was supposed to be the backbone of the nal software.
However, due to out of date state of the previous project a new software has
been developed. The objective of this approach is to support scalability on
an image search system based on querying to the API of well known image
hosting services and providing a tool to analyse images metadata for low level
searches. A design is proposed to dodge the API rate limitations, the actual
major problem regarding scalability, and a working software is developed to
prove its viability. A set of tests are introduced to evaluate the performance
of the approach and its results are interpreted. Finally a future work is
suggested in order to improve the weaknesses.


Despite the fast development of differentiable architecture search (DARTS), it suffers from a standing instability issue regarding searching performance, which extremely limits its application. Existing robustifying methods draw clues from the outcome instead of finding out the causing factor. Various indicators such as Hessian eigenvalues are proposed as a signal of performance collapse, and the searching should be stopped once an indicator reaches a preset threshold. However, these methods tend to easily reject good architectures if thresholds are inappropriately set, let alone the searching is intrinsically noisy. In this paper, we undertake a more subtle and direct approach to resolve the collapse. We first demonstrate that skip connections with a learnable architectural coefficient can easily recover from a disadvantageous state and become dominant. We conjecture that skip connections profit too much from this privilege, hence causing the collapse for the derived model. Therefore, we propose to factor out this benefit with an auxiliary skip connection, ensuring a fairer competition for all operations. Extensive experiments on various datasets verify that our approach can substantially improve the robustness of DARTS.


This chapter evaluated the influence of laser texturing process on the tribological behav - ior of the ISO 5832-1 austenitic stainless steel (SS). The friction coefficient and wear were determined using ball-cratering wear tests. The laser texturing process was carried out with a nanosecond optical fiber ytterbium laser at four different pulse frequencies. Cytotoxicity tests were carried out to determine if laser texturing affects the biomate - rial biocompatibility. For comparison reasons, pristine surfaces were also evaluated. The results indicated that the wear volume and friction coefficient were reduced after laser texturing. The samples were considered noncytotoxic according to the biocompatibility tests as the laser texturing process did not decrease cell's viability.


From face-to-face consultation to medicine at a distance, technology is
changing the way medical services are delivered to the people. We are going into an
era where the information is being digitized to be stored in a database. This is done
in order to reduce information overlap and redundancy that are the main problems
the health care sector are facing right now. More hospitals in other more advanced
countries are going paperless. In order to provide better services to the critically ill
patients in the ICU or CCU, a data acquisition program is developed for the
acquisition of vital signs monitored in the critical care units. This work discusses the
work done in extracting the data and signal from patient monitor BSM 8800 to the
computer. The data are acquired using RS232C Interface Protocol. The vital signs
acquired include oxygen saturation (SaCh), heart rate (HR), electrocardiograph
(ECG) signal, non-invasive blood pressure (NIBP), respiration rate (RR),
temperature (TEMP) and end tidal carbon dioxide (PETCO2 or ETCO2). Ventricular
Premature Contraction (VPC), ST level and arrhythmia information are also acquired
and displayed to provide a more thorough information on the condition of the
patients. Alarm detection is also programmed so that in critical conditions the vital
signs will be displayed in red for extra caution. An ECG user control is designed
and embedded in the web page in order to convert and plot the ECG waveform from
hexadecimal values sent from the bedside monitor. The user control has been tested
its accuracy and proved its validity to reconstruct the original ECG waveform. Basic
patient information can also be seen from the graphical user interface (GUI) that has
been developed. Physicians and medical practitioners have to register with the
system before gaining access to the system and only the physician-in-charge of the
patient can see the more intricate details of the patient.


Recently, deeper understanding of QCD emerges from the study of the AdS/CFT correspondence. New results include the properties of quark-gluon plasma and the confinement/deconfinement phase transition, which are both very important for the scenario of the QCD phase transition in the early universe. In this paper, we study some aspects of how the new results may affect the old calculations of the cosmological QCD phase transition, which are mainly based on the studies of perturbative QCD, lattice QCD, and the MIT bag model.


In the last decade, many single carriageway roads in Sweden have been converted to collision-free roads as a cost-effective alternative to conventional motorways. Investigations have concluded that the road type has been successful in reducing the number of fatal accidents, despite increased operation and maintenance costs. In recent years, the focus has shifted to converting narrower roads which are anticipated to further increase operation and maintenance cost but also complicate traffic management during road works. There are concerns that when life cycle cost is considered in the investment assessment the socioeconomic profitability could be reduced. This article examines this issue by first assessing changes in costs for operation and maintenance using a life cycle cost analysis approach applied on a case study. The results from the analysis were thereafter integrated into a cost–benefit analysis to assess changes in costs in relation to benefits in improved traffic safety and travel time. The analysis indicated profitability even with substantial increase in operation, maintenance and road user work zone costs. Results are discussed from project implementation and road management perspectives.


Objective: To test Antarth, a polyherbal phytomedicine, for its efficacy and safety in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and compared with placebo. Material and Methods: A total of 90 male or female adult patients who were diagnosed clinically and radiologically with OA were recruited in the study. Antarth or placebo was given 2 capsules b.i.d. for 3 months and the patients were assessed every month for its efficacy. Diclofenac sodium was allowed to be taken as rescue medication. Results: After 3 months of treatment, the reduction in severity of pain on Visual Analog Scale (VAS) was more in Antarth group compared to placebo but the difference between the two groups was not significant. However, pain during functioning of disabled joints while walking distance, squatting, sitting cross-legged and climbing steps were significantly reduced in Antarth group compared to placebo (P < 0.05). Reduction in consumption of rescue medication, diclofenac sodium, was more in Antarth than in placebo group. Conclusions: In Patients' Global Assessment, patients treated with Antarth were more satisfied than the ones treated with placebo. Observations were similar in Physicians' Global Assessment too. There were no adverse events in both the groups.


The Panda Workload Management System is designed around the concept of the Pilot Job – a "smart wrapper" for the payload executable that can probe the environment on the remote worker node before pulling down the payload from the server and executing it. Such design allows for improved logging and monitoring capabilities as well as flexibility in Workload Management. In the Grid environment (such as the Open Science Grid), Panda Pilot Jobs are submitted to remote sites via mechanisms that ultimately rely on Condor-G. As our experience has shown, in cases where a large number of Panda jobs are simultaneously routed to a particular remote site, the increased load on the head node of the cluster, which is caused by the Pilot Job submission, may lead to overall lack of scalability. We have developed a Condor-inspired solution to this problem, which is using the schedd-based glidein, whose mission is to redirect pilots to the native batch system. Once a glidein schedd is installed and running, it can be utilized exactly the same way as local schedds and therefore, from the user's perspective, Pilots thus submitted are quite similar to jobs submitted to the local Condor pool.


In this work we show how different use of thermostating devices and modeling of walls influence the mechanical and dynamical properties of confined nanofluids. We consider a two dimensional fluid undergoing Couette flow using nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. Because the system is highly inhomogeneous, the density shows strong fluctuations across the channel. We compare the dynamics produced by applying a thermostating device directly to the fluid with that obtained when the wall is thermostated, considering also the effects of using rigid walls. This comparison involves an analysis of the chaoticity of the fluid and evaluation of mechanical properties across the channel. We look at two thermostating devices with either rigid or vibrating atomic walls and compare them with a system only thermostated by conduction through vibrating atomic walls. Sensitive changes are observed in the xy component of the pressure tensor, streaming velocity, and density across the pore and the Lyapunov localization of the fluid. We also find that the fluid slip can be significantly reduced by rigid walls. Our results suggest caution in interpreting the results of systems in which fluid atoms are thermostated and/or wall atoms are constrained to be rigid, such as, for example, water inside carbon nanotubes.


The Foundation Phase (introduced in 2008) provides a developmentally appropriate experiential curriculum for children aged 3-7 in Wales. The Welsh Government commissioned independent evaluation (led by WISERD) aims to evaluate how well it is being implemented, what impact it has had, and ways in which it can be improved. The
three-year evaluation utilises a range of mixed methods at a national and local scale. This is one of four papers focused on impact. It draws on 239 classroom/setting observations, 357 practitioner interviews, 604 school/setting and 671 Year 2 survey responses, seven Year 2 focus groups, and 37 Local Authority and four non-maintained organisation interviews.


The fixed parameters of the nonlinear mixed effects model and the density of the random effects are estimated jointly by maximum likelihood. The density of the random effects is assumed to be smooth but is otherwise unrestricted. The method uses a series expansion that follows from the smoothness assumption to represent the density and quadrature to compute the likelihood. Standard algorithms are used for optimization. Empirical Bayes estimates of random coefficients are obtained by computing posterior modes. The method is applied to data from pharmacokinetics, and properties of the method are investigated by application to simulated data. Key Words: Maximum likelihood; nonlinear mixed effects models; nonparametric; pharmacokinetics.


Muscular dystrophies are often caused by mutations in cytoskeletal proteins that render cells more susceptible to strain-induced injury in mechanically active tissues such as skeletal or cardiac muscle. In this issue of the JCI, Han et al. report that dysferlin participates in membrane resealing in cardiomyocytes and that exercise results in increased membrane damage and disturbed cardiac function in dysferlin-deficient mice (see the related article beginning on page 1805). Thus, in addition to repetitive membrane damage, inadequate membrane repair may participate in the pathogenesis of muscular dystrophies and cardiomyopathies.


This research presents a Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithm for a solar photovoltaic (PV) power station which is constructed based on modified circuit topology of the Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC). The proposed MPPT is featured with Optimized Finite-Control-Set Model Predictive Control (FCS-MPC) to provide continuous extraction of maximum solar energy. The estimation-based approach allows for elimination of the current sensors in PV panels unlike the well-proven MPPT methods, e.g., perturb and observe (P&O) and ripple-correlation control (RCC), where costly sensing devices are widely deployed. With developed control strategy, fast tracking response for the PV plant along with acceptable control bandwidth under solar irradiation transients and PV panels mismatch are achieved. The introduced circuit of power conversion has led to decreased number of solar cells and a 50% reduction of the energy storage sizing compared to the basic MMC configuration. The effectiveness of the discussed MPPT solution over the solar irradiance variations is compared with the both P&O and RCC methods. The behavior of the studied PV system is also evaluated under different operational scenarios through simulations to confirm the designed concept.


Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common malignant tumor with high morbidity and mortality. This study investigated the role of long non-coding rnas (lncrnas) in glioblastomagenesis progression. using the GSe2223 and GSe59612 datasets, and rna sequencing data of GBM from The cancer Genome atlas, differentially expressed (de) genes including de messenger rnas (demrnas) and delncrnas between GBM and normal controls were identified. Based on the competing endogenous RNA hypothesis, delncrna-micro rna (mirna)-demrna interactions were obtained by target gene prediction. Gene ontology (Go) and Kyoto encyclopedia of Gene and Genomes pathway analysis of demrnas in the delncrna-mirna-demrna network was performed. expression and function analyses of delncrnas were performed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (rT-Pcr) and an established viability assay, respectively. In total, 712 DE genes were identified. Significant upregulation of lncRNA deleted in lymphocytic leukemia 1 (DLEU1) was revealed in GBM and a number of other types of cancer. dleu1 interacted with 315 mirnas and 105 demrnas. The demrnas were mainly enriched in tumorigenesis-associated Go terms (angiogenesis, positive regulation of cell proliferation, positive regulation of fibroblast apoptotic processes and regulation of neutrophil migration) and pathways (Hippo signaling pathway, cancer pathways, and Wnt signaling pathway). correlation analysis revealed that mrna TnF receptor associated factor 4 (TraF4) was associated with dleu1 expression. rT-Pcr demonstrated that the expression levels of dleu1 and TraF4 were increased in GBM tissues. Small interfering rna demonstrated that silencing dleu1 downregulated TraF4. The viability of GBM cells was significantly decreased following RNA interference with dleu1 and TraF4 production. The results demonstrate that dleu1 and TraF4 is highly expressed in GBM tissues and promotes proliferation of GBM cells. it may act as a competing endogenous RNA and influence tumorigenesis of GBM.


In the US, the oil industry produces over 15 billion barrels of wastewater contaminated with crude oil microdroplets annually. Current technologies are unable to remove these microdroplets at different pH conditions. Herein, an innovative surface engineered sponge (SenS) was designed by combining surface chemistry, surface charge, roughness, and surface energy. Under all pH conditions, the SEnS rapidly adsorbed oil microdroplets with 95-99% removal efficiency. The adsorbed oil was recovered at ambient conditions while the cleaned SEnS was reused for five times for crude oil adsorption. Due to the process efficacy, sponge reuse, and oil recovery, this adsorptive-recovery method using SEnS demonstrates great potential for the industrial recovery of oil from wastewater.


Abstract : Contents: General physics--Hydrogen atom addition to solid isobutylene at 77K; Pulsar observations with a swept-frequency local oscillator, Search for the 1.35-cm stratospheric H2O line, Pulsar observations, Ku-band interferometer, Extended bandwidth long baseline interferometry, 60-GHz mixer, Some aspects of high dynamic range amplification, Intermodulation distortion analysis, Experimental investigation of the velocity distribution of hydrogen molecules desorbed from metal surfaces, Ultrasonic dispersion in piezoelectric semiconductors, Nonlinear interaction between a sound field and a liquid surface, Nonlinear wave distortion of acoustic-noise spectrum, Parametric cross-modulation effects in gas lasers, Parametric effects in the helium-neon gas laser, Use of addition theorems for electromagnetic field synthesis on circular cylinders and spheres, Quantization of electromagnetic radiation fields in moving uniaxial media; Plasma cynamics--Anomalous cyclotron radiation, Stability of electron beams with velocity shear; Communication sciences and engineering--Speech and audio computer-aided examination and analysis facility, TASS-another terminal analog speech synthesis system, A facility for studying perception of timing in natural speech, On the inappropriateness of rule features, Moire patterns in sampling halftone pictures, Holography and imaging of three-dimensional objects, Survey of type font usage, Current noise in nerve membrane-some comments on measurement techniques, Comparison of two models relating the resting membrane potential of squid axon to ion concentrations, Alternate route for acoustic stimulation of a lizard inner ear, Automated system to control stimulus.


Gas entrainment (GE) from cover gas, which is an inert gas to cover sodium coolant in a reactor vessel, is one of key issue for Sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs) design to prevent unexpected effects to core reactivity. In this research series, evaluation method has been investigated for surface dimple depth growth of unstable drifting vortex dimples on the liquid surface in the reactor vessel. By using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code, analyses have been conducted to estimate the drifting vortex on water experiments in a circulating water tunnel. The unstable drifting flow vortexes on the water surface were generated as wake vortexes behind a plate obstacle. Downward flow velocity was induced by bottom slit flow pass along the flow channel. In the previous study, the onset conditions of the gas entrainment were evaluated based on existing non-dimensional numbers method by using the STREAM-VIEWER code. However, the CFD predication accuracy of the detail flow field itself was not clear especially for vortex frequency in the wake flow and detail velocity profiles in the flow channel. In this study, to clarify the accuracy of CFD analysis, Strouhal numbers of vortex frequency and detail flow velocity profiles were compared with experimental data which were measured by Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) method. As the results, the Strouhal numbers of the vortex frequency behind the plate obstacle reasonably agreed with experimental data. Prediction accuracy for the velocity profiles in the flow channel were also confirmed by comparisons with measured data by the PIV method.


SUMMARY: Phage-like objects obtained from bacteriocinogenic strains of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Listeria monocytogenes by the differential centrifugation of culture fluids were examined in the electron microscope. Particles with small heads and contractile tails were found associated with strains of E. coli. The three P. aeruginosa strains all produced numerous headless contractile tails in broth cultures together with a very few phage-like objects with flexible non-contractile tails. The headless tails possessed cores which appeared both solid and hollow in the electron microscope, indicating the presence of some unidentified substance, perhaps nucleic acid. The only type of particle found associated with L. monocytogenes was a large bacteriophage with a complex contractile tail. The structure of these particles is described and discussed, and it is concluded that some of them are the bactericidal principles of spontaneously released bacteriocins.


In a series of three papers, Faria and co-authors have presented the application of the theory of mixture with continuous diversity to the creep and recrystallization processes of large polycrystalline masses. In this approach, a material point of the continuum is composed of a huge number of grains defined by their crystallographic orientation. The polycrystal is then seen as a continuous mixture of lattice orientations. All the balance equations are expressed to describe the response of the polycrystal and of a group of crystallites sharing the same lattice orientation (i.e. a species). To go further, Faria and co-authors have to make the hypothesis that the strain rate of every species is equal to the strain rate of the polycrystal, and is therefore independent of its lattice orientation. Furthermore, Faria and co-authors insist on the fact that this hypothesis is negligible and has no relation at all to any kind of Taylor-type constraint on the deformation of individual grains, arguing that in their theory of strain rate inhomogeneities on the grain level are smeared out because each species is composed of a very large number of crystals. In this comment, I show that the results obtained with a full-field model suggest that this hypothesis is not insignificant.


Objective: To assess the relation between socioeconomic factors and the use of physician services among children and whether variations of the level of co-payment are correlated with different levels of inequalities in health services use. Design: Description of the socioeconomic differences in the use of health care using data from countrywide postal surveys to parents. Setting: The five Nordic countries in 1996. Subjects: Samples of 15 000 children aged 2–17 years: 3000 children at random, from the national registry in each country. Main outcome measure: Odds ratios of use of GP, specialist, and hospital services between children according to the educational level of both parents and the disposable income of the family, for all countries together and for each country separately. Odds ratios were adjusted for age, sex, urbanisation grade, and health status. Results: There was little difference in the use of GP services according to socioeconomic factors. Parents from lower socioeconomic groups used telephone services of physicians less than parents from the higher groups and children of lower socioeconomic groups were seen less often by specialists. The reverse was true for hospitalisation of the children. The differential use of those three types of services was more marked in Denmark, Finland and Norway than in Iceland and Sweden. When controlled for other socioeconomic factors, the largest differences were observed according to the education of the mother. Conclusion: The specialist services and use of telephone services for children in the Nordic countries do not meet the criteria of equal use for equal need whereas the GP services and hospital services do to some extent. The education of the mother is a more important determinant than income for the use of each service.


GHSR1α and DRD1 coactivation preserves the integrity of hippocampal synapses in Alzheimer's disease. An appetite for memory The hippocampus serves a critical role in memory formation and cognition. Hippocampal lesions are among the earliest changes in Alzheimer's disease (AD); however, the molecular mechanisms responsible for these alterations remain unclear. By using autoptic brain samples from patients with AD and a mouse model of AD, Tian et al. show that in the hippocampus, pathologic β-amyloid directly binds and inhibits the receptor for the "hunger hormone" ghrelin (GHSR1α). In the animal model, the binding blocked the GHSR1α-mediated dopamine receptor D1 (DRD1) activation, leading to synaptic plasticity impairments and memory loss. Simultaneous pharmacological activation of GHSR1α and DRD1 rescued synaptic plasticity and spatial memory loss in AD mice. Hippocampal lesions are a defining pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the molecular mechanisms that underlie hippocampal synaptic injury in AD have not been fully elucidated. Current therapeutic efforts for AD treatment are not effective in correcting hippocampal synaptic deficits. Growth hormone secretagogue receptor 1α (GHSR1α) is critical for hippocampal synaptic physiology. Here, we report that GHSR1α interaction with β-amyloid (Aβ) suppresses GHSR1α activation, leading to compromised GHSR1α regulation of dopamine receptor D1 (DRD1) in the hippocampus from patients with AD. The simultaneous application of the selective GHSR1α agonist MK0677 with the selective DRD1 agonist SKF81297 rescued Ghsr1α function from Aβ inhibition, mitigating hippocampal synaptic injury and improving spatial memory in an AD mouse model. Our data reveal a mechanism of hippocampal vulnerability in AD and suggest that a combined activation of GHSR1α and DRD1 may be a promising approach for treating AD.


Differences in the early responses of two potato cultivars, Igor and Nadine, to two isolates of Potato virus Y (PVY), the aggressive PVYNTN and the mild PVYN, were monitored. Microarray and quantitative real-time PCR analyses were carried out to identify differentially expressed genes after inoculation with each virus isolate. Additionally, symptom severity and development was observed and the amount of virus isolate accumulated in systemically infected leaves was evaluated, where a significantly higher amount of PVYNTN was detected. Microarray analysis revealed 572, 1288 and 1706 differentially expressed genes at 0·5, 12 and 48 h post-inoculation, respectively in cv. Igor, with a similar pattern observed in cv. Nadine. Microarray and quantitative real-time PCR results implied an earlier accumulation of sugars and lower photosynthesis in leaves inoculated with the aggressive isolate than in leaves inoculated with the mild isolate. The PVYNTN isolate did not activate early differential expression of the Fe-superoxide dismutase and pectin methylesterase inhibitor (PMEI) genes, indicating a delay in plant response relative to that following PVYN inoculation. Differences in the expression of the β-glucanase-I gene were also observed in early plant responses to inoculation with each virus isolate.


Conformational changes occurring upon membrane binding and subsequent insertion of staphylococcal α-toxin were studied using complementary spectroscopic techniques. Experimental conditions were established where binding could be uncoupled from membrane insertion but insertion and channel formation seemed to be concomitant. Binding led to changes in tertiary structure as witnessed by an increase in tryptophan fluorescence, a red shift of the tryptophan maximum emission wavelength, and a change in the near UV CD spectrum. In contrast to what was observed for the soluble form of the toxin, 78% of the tryptophan residues in the membrane-bound form were accessible to the hydrophilic quencher KI. At this stage, the tryptophan residues were not in the immediate vicinity of the lipid bilayer. Upon membrane insertion, a second conformational change occurred resulting in a dramatic drop of the near UV CD signal but an increase of the far UV signal. Tryptophan residues were no longer accessible to KI but could be quenched by brominated lipids. In the light of the available data on channel formation by α-toxin, our results suggest that the tryptophan residues might be dipping into the membrane in order to anchor the extramembranous part of the channel to the lipid bilayer.