Aims: This retrospective study aims to analyze the frequency of tumor hot spot mutations in KRAS, BRAF and Micro Satellite Instability (MSI) status of tumors in Algerian patients with advanced colorectal cancer (CRC), which can predict prognosis and contribute to decisions on treatment strategies.
Colorectal cancer (CRC), also acknowledged as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer of the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Cancer is the abnormal evolution of cells that have the capacity to invade or spread to other parts of the body. Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, changes in stools, weight loss, and feeling permanently tired. Most colorectal cancers are due to aging and lifestyle factors, with only a small number of cases due to underlying genetic disorders. Other risk factors comprise diet, obesity, smoking, and lack of physical activity. Dietary factors that upsurge the risk contain red meat, processed meat, and alcohol. Another risk factor is inflammatory bowel disease, which includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Some of the inherited genetic disorders that can cause colorectal cancer include familial adenomatous polyposis and hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer; however, these represent less than 5% of cases. It usually begins with a benign tumor, often in the form of a polyp, which over time becomes cancerous.
Bowel cancer can be diagnosed by obtaining a sample of the colon during a sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy. This is then trailed by medical imaging to regulate if the disease has spread. Screening is effective in preventing and reducing deaths from colorectal cancer. Screening, by one of the many methods, is recommended from ages 50 to 75. During colonoscopy, small polyps may be removed if they are found. If a large polyp or tumor is found, a biopsy may be done to check if it is cancerous. Aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs lower the risk. Their general use, however, is not recommended for this purpose due to side effects.
Treatments used for colorectal cancer may include a combination of surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy. Cancers confined to the colon wall can be cured with surgery, while cancer that has spread widely is generally not curable, with management geared towards improving quality of life and improving symptoms. . The five-year survival rate in the United States is about 65%. The likelihood of individual survival depends on how advanced the cancer is, whether or not all of the cancer can be removed by surgery, and on the general health of the person. Globally, colorectal cancer is the third most common type of cancer, accounting for about 10% of all cases. In 2018, here remained 1.09 million new cases and 551,000 deaths from the disease. It is more common in developed countries, where more than 65% of cases are detected. It is less common in women than in men.
Inflammatory bowel disease
People with inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease) are at increased risk for colon cancer. The risk increases with the duration of the disease and the severity of the inflammation. In these high risk groups, prevention with aspirin and regular colonoscopies are recommended. Endoscopic surveillance in this high-risk population may reduce the development of colorectal cancer through early diagnosis and may also reduce the risk of dying from colon cancer. People with inflammatory bowel disease account for less than 2% of colon cancer cases each year. [29] In people with Crohn's disease, 2% get colorectal cancer after 10 years, 8% after 20 years and 18% after 30 years. In people with ulcerative colitis, about 16% develop either a precursor to cancer or colon cancer over 30 years.
Genetics
Those with a family history of two or more first-degree relatives (such as a parent or sibling) have two to three times the risk of disease, and this group accounts for about 20% of all cases. A sum of genetic syndromes are also associated with higher rates of colorectal cancer. The most mutual of these is hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC or Lynch syndrome) which is present in about 3% of people with colorectal cancer. Other syndromes that are strongly allied with colorectal cancer include Gardner syndrome and familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). For people with these syndromes, cancer almost always occurs and accounts for 1% of cancer cases. Total proctocolectomy may be endorsed for people with FAP as a preventative measure due to the high risk of malignancy. Colectomy, the removal of the colon, may not be enough as a preventative measure because of the high risk of rectal cancer if the rectum remains. The most common polyposis syndrome affecting the colon is serrated polyposis syndrome, which is associated with a 25-40% risk of CRC. Mutations in the gene pair (POLE and POLD1) have been associated with familial colon cancer. Most colon cancer deaths are associated with metastatic disease. A gene that appears to contribute to the potential for metastatic disease, colon cancer-associated metastasis 1 (MACC1), has been isolated. It is a transcriptional factor that influences the expression of hepatocyte growth factor. This gene is associated with the proliferation, invasion and spread of colon cancer cells in cell culture, as well as tumor growth and metastasis in mice. MACC1 may be a potential target for cancer intervention, but this possibility needs to be confirmed by clinical studies.
Methods: KRAS exon 2, BRAF exon 15 were analyzed by direct sequencing of PCR products amplified in 102 tumor patients with advanced CRC cancer. MSI was determined using a panel of five single nucleotide markers (BAT25, BAT26, NR21, NR22 and NR24).
Results:
BRAF and KRAS mutations were detected in 4.9% and 31.3% of tumor patients, respectively. Activation of mutations in codons 12 and 13 in KRAS was localized in the right colon at 40.6% versus 25% in the left colon. (62.5%) with KRAS mutations are well or abstemiously differentiated. Amino acid changes are more frequently seen in codon 12 (29/32) than in codon 13 (3/32) and G12D (43.8%) is the most common mutation. The BRAF v600E mutation is observed in the proximal colon in 3 of 5 tumors (60%) in patients older> 50 years (53.1%). BRAF wild-type tumors (79%) were associated with MSI-H.
Conclusion: The results of the analysis of KRAS and BRAF mutations could be used in the selection of Algerian patients with CRC for anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (anti-EGFR) treatment and MSI-H status associated with the type wild BRAF (W t) may be suggesting the possible presence of hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer syndrome (HNPCC).


Defects in the specimen of missile engine shell was detected by thermal wave image technology in this paper. In order to gain intuitionistic and accurate space structure image of the detected object, subtracting background and high-frequency emphasized filtering method were used to enhance the image quality. Then the defect was segmented from the background using particle swarm fuzzy clustering algorithm, while the defect size and depth were identified quantitatively. On this basis, 3D reconstruction of the defect by thermal wave image was recognized by Volume Rendering method. The results show that the precision of the defect quantitative identification is higher, and 3D reconstruction result is well, which help us to observe the location and size of defects intuitionisticly.


Ci is a lyric poetry form that follows highly restrictive metrical structures. This makes it challenging for a computer to compose Ci subject to a specified metrical requirement. In this work, we adapt the CVAE framework to automated Ci generation under metrical constraints. Specifically, we present the first neural model that explicitly encodes the designated metrical structure for Ci generation. The proposed model is shown experimentally to generate Ci with nearly perfect metrical structures.


Intercultural communication plays pivotal role in cross-cultural social context. Some scholars argue that the lack of language proficiency and competency may contribute to negative phenomena in the communication setting. However, this research paper argues that the failure to embrace cultural and psychological factors also pose serious cross-cultural problems. The study employed library research to gain evidences for this research. The result shows that insufficient cultural knowledge leads to injured feelings and judgment of impoliteness in cross-cultural setting. In addition, negative ethnocentrism and stereotype are the psychological factors that also triggered the problems. As the solution towards the barriers, this paper also suggests several strategies to establish successful intercultural communication when conducting verbal and non-verbal communication.


A study on green concrete as well as its durability is essential to promote the sustainable development of the concrete industry. Since the majority of concrete deterioration is connected to corrosion of reinforcement due to carbonation or chloride penetration into concrete, the influence of pozzolan through them must be investigated for concrete durability. This paper mainly focuses on the experimental study of the influence of Popa volcanic natural pozzolan on carbonation and chloride penetration process. The experimental tests are made on replacement of natural pozzolan 10%, 20%, 30% instead of cement and analysis show that optimized pozzolan replacement can promote on the mechanical strength of concrete along with time than reference concrete. According to the results, in the CO2 chamber and the natural condition, it contributes negatively to carbonation because the rate of carbonation increased as the amount of pozzolan increased. However, increasing the pozzolan content led to higher resistance of the concrete in chloride ion penetration.


The present chapter deals on the interaction of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), diflunisal, indomethacin, meloxicam, tenoxicam and piroxicam with reactive oxygen species (ROS) photogenerated in aqueous solution by the vitamin riboflavin employed as a dye sensitizer. Simple techniques as substrate and oxygen consumption and more sophisticated time-resolved spectroscopic methods were employed for the kinetic and mechanistic evaluation of the deactivation of the in situ generated ROS singlet molecular oxygen (O 2 ð 1 Δ g Þ ), superoxide radical anion (O (cid:129) − 2 ) and hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 Þ by the mentioned NSAIDs. Results could be prudently extrapolated to a possible action of NSAIDs in the retardation or inhibition of neuroinflammatory disorders, in which oxidative agents such as ROS were found to be upregulated. Despite the potential benefit, some adverse effects in humans reported in relation with high doses of NSAIDs alert about the cares that have to be taken about their use.


In the paper the relative wave motions along the side of a weathervaning FPSO are investigated. In non-collinear directions of wind, waves and current the vessel does not always encounter head waves. With wave headings of typically 15-30 degrees from head waves, the strongly non-linear relative wave motions along the side can come above the freeboard of the vessel and result in greenwater flow onto the deck. At several existing FPSOs this already resulted in damage, typically at midships and further aft. The paper first discusses the background of the occuring phenomena. Then a method for the prediction of the non-linear relative wave motions along the hull is presented. This is necessary to predict the possible freeboard exceedances. Finally a new estimation method for the prediction of the green water loads on slender structures is presented, based on the exceedance of the freeboard on the side.


New, eco-friendly nanocomposite materials have been synthesized from natural rubber (NR) and magnetite nanoparticles for the first time. The poor oil resistance of natural rubber is exploited for the removal of oil spills. Towards this purpose, mildly epoxidized natural rubber (ENR)–magnetite nanoparticle (MN) nanocomposites are prepared and the absorption of petrol (gasoline) is studied. The extent of epoxidation is controlled in such a manner that the NR does not lose its elasticity while retaining to a significant degree its oil absorbing property. Epoxidation also serves as a means for binding sufficient quantity of MNs so that the composite can be recovered using a magnetic field. ENR with 5 mol% of epoxidation served as the best absorbent among all the absorbents studied as it was stable in petrol even after many days of immersion. It is observed that the ENR–MN nanocomposite absorbs 7 g of petrol per gram without any mass loss. The material was reused for several cycles without much loss in the capacity. The petrol uptake of ENR–MN is greater than that of butyl rubber which is the most commercially used rubber for oil spill removal. Porous rubber was also synthesized for the first time as oil uptake is facilitated not only by the hydrophobicity but also by the capillary absorption. Porous ENR absorbed a relatively larger amount of oil and exhibited the highest stability in oil. All the sorbents have quite high absorption capacities to be applied practically with a very low water uptake and a few of the absorbents could be satisfactorily reused. The model studies promise their potential use in the environmental field.


Aims: To categorise the immunostaining heterogeneity of androgen receptors in metastatic carcinoma of the prostate using a pattern oriented approach and to correlate the results with response to hormonal treatment. Methods: Paraffin wax embedded tumour sections from 85 patients with metastatic carcinoma of the prostate were processed for immunocytochemistry and stained for the androgen receptor using antiandrogen receptor antibodies. A computer based image analysis system was used to analyse the pattern of nuclear immunostaining in a minimum of 500 nuclei/slide. Depending on the nuclear receptor content and concentration, receptogram patterns were established for each specimen. The receptogram pattern was correlated with clinical response to hormonal treatment. Results: Clinical response to hormonal treatment was documented using prostate specific antigen as the marker into responders (good, fair, stable) and non-responders. Forty four of 48 patients who responded to hormonal treatment had type 1 (35) or type 3 (nine) receptograms, which are characterised by a unimodal peak or multimodal peaks within a narrow concentration range. Thirteen of the 18 patients who stabilised had type 1 or type 3 receptograms. Seventeen of the 19 patients who did not respond to hormonal treatment had either type 2 or type 4 receptograms, which are characterised by skewed or bimodal androgen receptor distribution. Positive and negative predictive values of receptograms were 96.5% and 63%, respectively. Conclusions: Image analysis of androgen receptor immunostaining with a receptogram oriented approach provides important prognostic information that can be used to predict response to hormone treatment in patients with metastatic carcinoma of the prostate.


The purpose of this action research project is to understand how a coach's own cultural lens impacts his/her coaching. Fourteen internal coaches from a government human resources organization in British Columbia were introduced to Rosinski's Cultural Orientations Framework (COF) through education and self-assessment. Coaches wrote accounts on the role culture played within successful and less successful coaching sessions. Six themes were identified: culture is complex; awareness of the culture of the coaching profession; cultural awareness affects coaching outcomes; similar coachclient orientations makes for more comfortable coaching; the challenge of adapting to the client's orientation; and leveraging possibilities through different orientations.


Gas sensing experiments on hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films have been performed. We show that a-Si:H exhibits a low-temperature gas response that is distinctly different from the more familiar combustive gas response operative on heated metal-oxide surfaces. In particular, we show that at room temperature and above, a-Si:H samples exhibit a dissociative gas response which has first been observed on hydrogenated diamond (HD) samples. Whereas this dissociative gas response disappears at HD surfaces upon evaporation of the adsorbed surface electrolyte layer, a gas response with a similar cross sensitivity profile is observed on a-Si:H surfaces that persists up to the original deposition temperature of the a-Si:H films. We argue that this latter kind of gas response is due to a coordinative gas response that takes place when surface H-atoms of the a-Si:H film enter the coordination sphere of adsorbed analyte gas molecules.


Allotropes of lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, and neodymiumc have been observed at elevated pressures with an x-ray diffraction camera which incorporates a diamondanvil, high-pressure cell. In each case a high-pressure modification was observed which has a face-centered cubic structure. At room temperature the unit cell dimensions (αo) for the high-pressure face-centered cubic structures and approximate pressures at which they were determined are as follows: La, 5.17 A(23 kb); Ce, 4.82 A(15 kb); Pr, 4.88 A(40 kb); and Nd, 4.80 A(50 kb). The unit cell dimensions for the high-pressure forms of La, Pr, and Nd apparently have never been reported.


Gene therapy, because of its aim to eradicate the causes rather than the symptoms of diseases, is believed by many to be the therapy of the future. The problems of developing clinically viable gene therapeutic approaches and designing safe and efficient gene delivery reagents are inseparable: shortcomings in one are going to affect adversely the success of the other. It is generally accepted that the major impediment to the successful application of gene therapy for the treatment of a range of diseases is not a paucity of therapeutic genes, but the lack of efficient non-toxic gene delivery systems. Transfection vectors commonly used in gene therapy are mainly of two types: viral and non-viral. Non-viral gene delivery is currently the subject of increasing attention because of its relative safety and its simplicity of use; however, its use is still far from being ideal due to its comparatively low efficiency. The purpose of this review is to give an overview of the current knowledge concerning the assembly of lipoplexes and the trafficking of lipoplexes into cells, as well as to underscore the advantages and disadvantages of lipidic gene carriers among non-viral gene delivery systems. (Journal of Applied Biomaterials & Biomechanics 2006; 4: 73-9)


OBJECTIVE--To determine whether non-secretion of blood group antigens is associated with respiratory virus diseases. DESIGN--Study of secretor status in patients with respiratory virus diseases determined by an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) developed to identify Lewis (Le) blood group antigen phenotypes (Le(a) non-secretor; Le(b) secretor). SUBJECTS--Patients aged 1 month to 90 years in hospital with respiratory virus diseases (584 nasal specimens). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Criteria for validation of ELISA (congruence between results on ELISA testing of 1155 saliva samples from a previous study and previously established results on haemagglutination inhibition (HAI) testing, proportions of Le(a), Le(b), and Le- phenotypes in 872 samples of nasal washings from a previous study compared with the normal population). Secretor status of patients determined by ELISA and viruses isolated. RESULTS--Agreement between HAI and ELISA for 1155 saliva samples was 97%. Lewis antigens were detected by ELISA in 854 (97.9%) of nasal washings (Le(a) 233 (26.7%), Le(b) 621 (71.2%), and Le- 18 (2.1%)) in proportions predicted for a northern European population. Secretors were significantly overrepresented among patients from whom influenza viruses A and B (55/64, 86%; p less than 0.025), rhinoviruses (63/72, 88%; p less than 0.01), respiratory syncytial virus (97/109, 89%; p less than 0.0005), and echoviruses (44/44, p less than 0.0005) had been isolated compared with the distribution of secretors in the local population. CONCLUSION--Secretion of blood group antigens is associated with respiratory virus diseases.


This paper examines the initiatives of a faith-based, non-governmental learning center set up to teach basic literacy and numeracy skills to a group of Rohingya refugee children in Malaysia. Using the four criteria mentioned in the SAFE Approach; Sequenced, Active, Focused, Explicit, the purpose of the study is to highlight the noteworthy practices of the center as well as to identify what are some essential weaknesses that need to be taken note of in order for sustained teaching and learning to happen. Based on the exploratory nature of the research purpose, face-to-face, in-depth, semi-structured qualitative interviews and observations were used to collect the study data. Findings showed that while good intentions to serve the community seem to drive the initiatives, there is a dire need to see a shift in focus to training and development of human resources, particularly towards the teachers and volunteers who scaffold the children as they begin the challenging process of navigating a new educational environment. Finally, this paper concludes with some recommendations for a more sustainable program; particularly in the area of teacher/volunteer development.


Compact urban development would reduce urban sprawl, leading to shorter driving distances and ultimately less regional air pollution. But it would also mean greater housing density in a given area, potentially increasing the number of residences near major roadways. Given that exposure to traffic emissions near roadways is strongly associated with asthma and related symptoms in children, a new study focuses on how air pollution reduction paired with changes in the proportion of children living near major roadways might affect overall rates of asthma-related outcomes within an urban population [EHP 120(11):1619–1626; Perez et al.].

Traditionally, studies of air pollution and asthma have focused on acute effects—that is, exacerbation of asthma symptoms caused by traffic-related exposure. This work distinguishes between direct effects of regional pollution on asthma symptoms and longer-term effects of living near a roadway on the development of asthma.

Previously collected data were used to estimate the prevalence of asthma and the occurrence of asthma-related outcomes (e.g., bronchitis episodes) in Los Angeles County in 2007. Los Angeles County roadway locations were paired with census and community data to determine the proportion of children living within 75 m of a major roadway. Monitoring stations provided annual average daily concentrations of sample regional traffic-related and secondary pollutants.

Near-roadway housing in Los Angeles, CA

Nearly 18% of Los Angeles County children lived within 75 m of a major roadway. The authors estimated that approximately 27,100 asthma cases (8% of the total reported) could be at least partly attributed to living near a major roadway, whereas the combined effects of traffic proximity and regional nitrogen dioxide explained an estimated 70,200 episodes of bronchitis among children with asthma. If regional pollution were reduced by 20% but 3.6% more children (based on total county population) lived near a major roadway, an estimated 5,900 more cases of asthma would occur; if 3.6% fewer children lived by a major roadway with the same reduction in pollution, the estimated number of cases would drop by 5,900.

Reducing regional pollution by 20% would result in 19,900 fewer episodes of bronchitis, assuming 3.6% fewer children lived close to a major roadway. There would be 15,580 fewer episodes if the 20% decrease in regional pollution was accompanied by a 3.6% increase in proportion of children living near major roadways.

The results underscore the importance of considering near-roadway pollution exposures in urban planning, especially since these exposures may also contribute to atherosclerotic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and adverse childhood neurodevelopmental outcomes. They conclude that compact urban design should be accompanied by strategies to mitigate exposure to near-roadway pollution.


High aspect ratio microstructures (HARMS) are sought in MEMS devices, as they fulfil several criteria such as low driving voltage, increased structural rigidity, higher sensitivity in sensor systems, bigger displacement and greater actuation force in actuator applications, and larger magnetic forces for magnetic MEMS. However, the fabrication of HARMS requires advanced equipment and complicated fabrication procedures, which increase the production cost. Thus, the objective of this project is to explore a fabrication method to produce HARMS, which considers the best compromise between simple production techniques and high device performance. In this research, focused ion beam (FIB) milling was introduced to fabricate high aspect ratio microholes. Nickel nanopowder was chosen as a candidate of metal structural filling for HARMS due to its intrinsic net shaping characteristics and its superior mechanical properties, such as high fracture toughness. Microholes (2.0μm x 17.5μm) with a maximum aspect ratio 8 were achieved using the FIB direct milling technique. The parameters used to obtain this aspect ratio were 500pA for beam current and 100μm for initial milling depth. Milling was done using a beam current of 500pA, which formed the most precise microhole structure with low milling time and an aspect ratio close to 1, compared to the other holes. The aspect ratio of microholes increased with increase of the initial milling depth, Di. The actual depth, Df gained was 17.5μm at Di = 100μm, which is five times less than the initial milling depth. Although FIB milling is less useful in mass production, it is an excellent choice for producing highly precise microholes. However, it is limited by the effects of amorphisation and re-deposition. For the filling process, two different methods were used; magnetic assembly and ultrasonic dispersion followed by annealing at 500°C. The magnetic assembly technique provided better filling behaviour compared to the ultrasonic dispersion method due to the occurrence of agglomeration at the entire sidewall using the magnetic assembly technique. This agglomeration was induced by the magnetic field, which attracted the ferromagnetic nickel into the holes. The filling structure formed after annealing at 900°C is of higher quality with fewer voids than the filling structure formed at 500°C. Only small agglomerations were formed at the entire sidewall, no voids occurred and a higher average thickness of filling structure of 526nm was achieved. Furthermore, the annealing process created bonding between the nickel nanopowder and silicon substrate thus forming a nickel silicide (NiSi) layer. The composition of nickel was higher at 900°C (14.78%) rather than 500°C (4.36%), where in the former case; more nickel nanopowder diffused into the silicon and formed two phases of nickel silicide layer, NiSi and NiSi2. Although the agglomeration occurred at the sidewall of holes, a good formation of microfilling was achieved without cavitations. Thus, from this research, the magnetic assembly technique with annealing temperature of 900°C provides optimal conditions of microfilling using Ni nanopowder.


57 coal miners aged 40-58 years were examined in three groups. Group 1 included 12 practically healthy miners who no contact with industrial dusts. Group 2 consisted of 15 healthy miners (index O) and Group 3-30 miners affected with anthracosilicosis (index 0-1). The phagocytic activities of the alveolar neutrophils and macrophages were studied along with that of the peripheral blood neutrophils. Cytochemical techniques were applied to study the content of general protein, phospholipids, glycogen and the acid phosphatase activity. In Group 2, cellular reactions were marked by a relative content growth of neutrophils and macrophages, and viable cells, against a statistically reliable increase of acid phosphatase activity and phospholipids' content, with concomitant decrease in content of general protein and glycogen. The studies helped to reveal the latent forms of anthracosilicosis at early stages, when morphologic changes could not be traced with ordinary X-ray techniques.


Abstract: Biotextile is an innovation in erosion-resistant growing media technology, made from organic cocopeat supplemented with Legume Cover Crop (LCC) seeds and coated with biofertilizer. In its application, the success of biotextiles is determined, among other things, by the capacity and efficiency of water storage in the media The capacity and water storage efficiency of biotextile media will determine the success of growth in field applications. From field tests conducted on the sloping land of the Ciater reservoir cliffs, South Tangerang, it was shown that on the 4th day the LCC seeds had started to grow, on the 10th day they had grown in all biotextile cells, and at the age of 3 months the LCC plant canopy had covered almost all of the soil surface at the test field. Based on the growth test results, biotextile characterization tests have been carried out, which include measuring water content (KA), water storage capacity (KPA), and water storage efficiency (Es). Based on these test results, a biotextile characteristic test has been carried out which includes water content (KA), water storage capacity (KPA), and water storage efficiency (Es) to find out the characteristics of KPA and Es in evaluating its success and to prove the hypothesis that KPA and biotextile Es support the successful growth of land cover plants (LCC). The measurement of KA biotextile was carried out using the gravimetric method, while KPA and Es were measured using the immersion method, which was carried out in the Serpong laboratory. From the results of laboratory analysis, KA reached a range of values: 40–80%, KPA = 74.41–297.59%, and Es = 21%–75.5%. Apart from the results of plant growth and laboratory results, from a physical perspective, the performance of biotextiles can be seen in reducing the energy of rainwater blows, reducing the flow rate of surface water, and reducing soil erosion.


The chromosome-centric human proteome project aims to systematically map all human proteins, chromosome by chromosome, in a gene-centric manner through dedicated efforts from national and international teams. This mapping will lead to a knowledge-based resource defining the full set of proteins encoded in each chromosome and laying the foundation for the development of a standardized approach to analyze the massive proteomic data sets currently being generated. The neXtProt database lists 946 proteins as the human proteome of chromosome 7. However, 170 (18%) proteins of human chromosome 7 have no evidence at the proteomic, antibody, or structural levels and are considered "missing" in this study as they lack experimental support. We have developed a protocol for the functional annotation of these "missing" proteins by integrating several bioinformatics analysis and annotation tools, sequential BLAST homology searches, protein domain/motif and gene ontology (GO) mapping, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis. Using the BLAST search strategy, homologues for reviewed non-human mammalian proteins with protein evidence were identified for 90 "missing" proteins while another 38 had reviewed non-human mammalian homologues. Putative functional annotations were assigned to 27 of the remaining 43 novel proteins. Proteotypic peptides have been computationally generated to facilitate rapid identification of these proteins. Four of the "missing" chromosome 7 proteins have been substantiated by the ENCODE proteogenomic peptide data.


In recent decades, the electrical power system has evolved into a new phase, in which the renewable energy resources are massively integrated into the grid. This change is mainly inspired by global policies that intend to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and decrease the society's reliance on fossil fuels by replacing them with sustainable energy sources. The good examples are the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) that intends to integrate a high degree of renewables in Europe's energy system, and the West-East Electricity Transmission Project that delivers wind energy from the northwest to the southeast of China. One important technology used to connect renewable energy resources is the high voltage direct current (HVDC) system based on the voltage source converter (VSC). Aside from the simple point-to-point HVDC link, the multi-terminal HVDC (MTDC) system is another option to connect these remote energy resources. In the MTDC system, the generation units are usually unsynchronized turbines that are interfaced with powerelectronic- based converters. As such, the responses of theMTDC system after faults occur are drastically different fromthe conventional AC systems that are based on synchronized generators. Since the development of an MTDC system is an important process, the research on the matter must be carried out. In an electrical power system, the transient events refer to a system's response shortly after disturbances occur, such as the generation loss, the load shedding, the transmission line tripping, and the fault. This thesis focuses on the MTDC system's protection based on the system's transient events after faults. Due to the low impedance of the DC system and the low inertia of the HVDC converter, a fault in the DC system can spread quickly throughout both the DC and AC sides. Usually, the transient behavior of the HVDC system must be observed within severalmilliseconds, and it is a challenge to simulate the transient phenomena of a large HVDC system. The reason is that the accuracy of the electromagnetic transient (EMT) simulation heavily depends on how detailed the modeling system is: an extremely detailed system, such as one based on physical features of the semiconductor, cannot be modeled smoothly in the EMT application, while a too much simplified system cannot ensure accurate simulation results. Therefore, it means that a compromise must be made between modeling efficiency and accuracy. Consequently, this thesis implements an efficient method that ensures the efficient simulation of large-scaleMTDC system and its accurate transient phenomena. By using this method, the responses of an HVDC link after faults occur can be determined. More importantly, they can be classified into different stages, and the thesis explains themechanism of each stage. Furthermore, the thesis discusses the impact of grounding methods on the HVDC converter's post-fault responses.


Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) is the most severe environmental problem facing the mining sector in the current scenario because of low pH and high pollutants concentration. AMD contains a high amount of sulphate viz. pyrite, FeS2, and to a lesser extent pyrrhotite and heavy metal ions, contaminate both surface water and groundwater. To treat AMD, extensive research projects have been initiated by governments, the mining industry, universities, and research establishments. The environmental impact of AMD can be minimized at these basic levels; prevention should be taken to control the infiltration of groundwater to the pollution site and control the acid-generating process. There are some conventional active methods to treat AMD, such as compost reactor and packed bed iron-oxidation bioreactors; however, these methods have associated with costly material and high maintenance cost, which increases the cost of the entire treatment. In an alternative, the use of low-cost materials such as fly ash, metallurgical slag, zero-valent iron (ZVI), cement kiln dust (CKD), and organic waste such as peat humic agent (PHA), rice husk, and eggshell can be a valuable measure for economic viability to treat the metal-rich wastewater.


A technique has been developed for measuring the diffusion coefficients of atoms and other reactive species in gases below atmospheric pressure. The technique consists of measuring the rate of dispersion of a pulse of reactive species in a stream of gas flowing rapidly (ca. 10 m s-1) down a quartz tube. The reactive species are observed and the profile of the pulses measured by using resonance fluorescence. The technique has been used at room temperature, but in principle measurements could be made at elevated temperatures. Measurements have been made of the rates of diffusion of hydrogen atoms in argon and nitrogen, and values for the diffusion coefficients of 1.61 ± 0.04 and 1.35 ± 0.03 cm2 s-1 respectively, at 1 atmosphere (ca. 105 Pa) and 294 K, have been obtained. Incidentally to the primary purpose of the experiment, it was observed that the hydrogen atoms spend a small fraction of their time of passage along the tube reversibly adsorbed on its walls. From the measurements, both the partition coefficient, giving the ratio of hydrogen atoms on the walls to those in the gas phase, and the rates of adsorption and desorption can be obtained. This appears to be the first observation of a chromatographic effect for a highly reactive species.


Abstract We provide an empirical test of contrast effects—a bias where a decision maker perceives information in contrast to what preceded it—in the quasi-experimental context of speed dating decisions. We document that prior partner attractiveness reduces the subsequent likelihood of an affirmative dating decision. This relationship is confined to recent interactions, consistent with a perceptual error, but not learning or the presence of a quota in affirmative responses. The contrast effect is driven almost entirely by male evaluators. Additional evidence documents the effect's linearity with respect to prior partner attractiveness, its amplification for partners of moderate attractiveness, and its partial attenuation with accumulated experience.


In this paper, we propose and analyze zeroth-order stochastic approximation algorithms for nonconvex and convex optimization. Specifically, we propose generalizations of the conditional gradient algorithm achieving rates similar to the standard stochastic gradient algorithm using only zeroth-order information. Furthermore, under a structural sparsity assumption, we first illustrate an implicit regularization phenomenon where the standard stochastic gradient algorithm with zeroth-order information adapts to the sparsity of the problem at hand by just varying the stepsize. Next, we propose a truncated stochastic gradient algorithm with zeroth-order information, whose rate depends only poly-logarithmically on the dimensionality.


Highly active antiretroviral therapy has given the chance to those living with HIV to keep on living, allowing them the opportunity to age and perhaps age successfully. Yet, there are severe challenges to successful aging with HIV, one of which is cognitive deficits. Nearly half of those with HIV experience cognitive deficits that can interfere with everyday functioning, medical decision making, and quality of life. Given that cognitive deficits develop with more frequency and intensity with increasing age, concerns mount that as people age with HIV, they may experience more severe cognitive deficits. These concerns become especially germane given that by 2015, 50% of those with HIV will be 50 and older, and this older cohort of adults is expected to grow. As such, this paper focuses on the etiologies of such cognitive deficits within the context of cognitive reserve and neuroplasticity. From this, evidence-based and hypothetical prevention (i.e., cognitive prescriptions), rehabilitation (i.e., speed of processing training), and mitigation (i.e., spaced retrieval method) strategies are reviewed. Implications for nursing practice and research are posited.


Books listed below that are marked with a t have been selected for review in a future issue, and reviewers have been assigned to each. Authors and publishers who wish their books to be considered for review in Computational Linguistics should send a copy to the book review editor, Graeme Hirst, Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada M5S 1A4. All books received will be listed, but not all can be reviewed. Technical reports and unpublished dissertations will not be listed or reviewed. Readers who wish to review books for the journal should contact the book review editor, outlining their qualifications, by writing to the address above or sending electronic mail to email@example.com. Obviously, we cannot promise the availability of books in anyone's exact area of interest.


Oversampled filter banks have recently been considered for channel coding applications as well as precoders and equaliser, whereby both inter-symbol interference and channel noise can be mitigated by the filter bank design. Existing methods are block-based designs which dedicate degrees of freedom towards cancelling inter-block interference. In this paper, we propose a non-block based OSFB design for precoding and equalisation, which is based on Mertins' extended Wiener solution, whereby polynomial matrices are admitted for precoders and equalisers by applying a recently proposed broadband eigenvalue decomposition (BEVD) algorithm. Some simulation results are provided to highlight the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


The reduction of the surface oxide on Rh(111) by H(2) was observed in situ by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and high-resolution core level spectroscopy (HRCLS). At room temperature, H(2) does not adsorb on the oxide, only in reduced areas. Reduction starts in very few sites, almost exclusively in stepped areas. One can also initiate the reduction process by deliberately creating defects with the STM tip allowing us to examine the reduction kinetics in detail. Depending on the size of the reduced area and the hydrogen pressure, two growth regimes were found. At low H(2) pressures or small reduced areas, the reduction rate is limited by hydrogen adsorption on the reduced area. For large reduced areas, the reduction rate is limited by the processes at the border of the reduced area. Since a near-random distribution of the reduction nuclei was found and the reduction process at defects starts at a random time, one can use Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogoroff (JMAK) theory to describe the process of reduction. The microscopic data from STM agree well with spatially averaged data from HRCLS measurements.


United States higher education involves a span of nearly four centuries stretching back to the first colleges and universities established during the Colonial Era. In focusing on New Public Management (NPM) reforms since 1975, this paper highlights important developments that have impacted decision-making on American college and university campuses in the last four decades. Utilizing de Boer, Enders and Schimank's Governance Equalizer Model for measuring power sharing configurations across five dimensional influences, three main findings are: (1) the rise of outside forces through increased federal regulation and external guidance, (2) internal conflicts resulting from heightened managerial self-governance trading off with academic collegiality, and (3) evolving competition that includes for-profit institutions and digital technologies adding to the challenge of accumulating resources. In following these trends, predictions are offered about how U.S. higher education systems are likely to continue making improvements along NPM lines of efficiency, accountability, and quality assurance as well as the implications this has for future research.


125 years ago, 25 km away from where S.F.O.D.F.'s 76th meeting was taking place, a cave displaying the wonderful art of our distant ancestors was discovered. It completely altered their image that the scientific world had had of them until then. Our ancestors artistic talents as illustrators, painters and sculptors motivated researchers to better understand their 14,000-years old culture. It also caused them to study their morphologic features and their cranio-facial typology. It is amazing to notice that we actually have more similarities with our ancestors than differences.


Nuclear architecture as well as gene nuclear positioning can modulate gene expression. In this work, we have analyzed the nuclear position of the interferon-β (IFN-β) locus, responsible for the establishment of the innate antiviral response, with respect to pericentromeric heterochromatin (PCH) in correlation with virus-induced IFN-β gene expression. Experiments were carried out in two different cell types either non-infected (NI) or during the time course of three different viral infections. In NI cells, we showed a monoallelic IFN-β promoter association with PCH that strongly decreased after viral infection. Dissociation of the IFN-β locus away from these repressive regions preceded strong promoter transcriptional activation and was reversible within 12 h after infection. No dissociation was observed after infection with a virus that abnormally maintained the IFN-β gene in a repressed state. Dissociation induced after virus infection specifically targeted the IFN-β locus without affecting the general structure and nuclear distribution of PCH clusters. Using cell lines stably transfected with wild-type or mutated IFN-β promoters, we identified the proximal region of the IFN-β promoter containing YY1 DNA-binding sites as the region regulating IFN-β promoter association with PCH before as well as during virus infection.


The nexus existing between the growth rate of countries and political instability has been subjected to increasing interest among academic scholars and policymakers in different contexts all around the globe. The current study examined the relationship between political instability and economic growth in both short and long-run, employing the Panel Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (PARDL) model. Through the efforts taken via the study to redefine the political instability and growth nexus in South Asia, it could be stated that despite the insignificant impact of political instability on economic growth in the short run, countries gain the capability in elevating the growth level by maintaining stable political regimes in the long run. The results suggested that there is an overall negative and also a significant linkage between political instability and the long-run growth rate. The holistic analysis highlighted that regulatory quality and civil liberties needed to be well ensured to attain economic growth in the long run as they showed a significant positive relationship with the growth of the South Asian region. The short-run analysis of the variables depicted that there is no strong linkage between the growth and instabilities in the political arena, as the majority of the proxies of political instability exhibited an insignificant relationship with economic growth except regulatory quality.


In 2007 Charogne joined the catalogue of provocative eaux de parfum launched by Etat Libre d'Orange. Self-proclaimed enfants terribles of the industry, the fragrance team takes concept perfumery to new heights, linking each scent to an edgy name (e.g., Delicious Closet Queen; Eloge du traitre; Secretions magnifiques), bolstered by illustrated brochures, revealing the combination of earnestness and humor that have become the company's trademark. In response to the barrage of celebrity perfumes on the market, Etat Libre d'Orange offers alternative alternatives: no Britney Spears; no David Beckham; no J Lo. Instead, the avant garde perfumista may select from Tom of Finland, Rossy de Palma, or the Tilda Swinton perfume, enigmatically called, Like This. Add to the list Charogne, a shocking name that draws upon the infamy and celebrity of the reluctant Prince of Carrion, poet Charles Baudelaire. In a letter to friend and photographer Nadar (14 May 1859) Baudelaire chides, apparently with irony: "Il m'est penible de passer pour le Prince des Charognes. Tu n'as sans doute pas lu une foule de choses de moi, qui ne sont que musc et que roses" (CI 174). (1) That year Nadar had created "Baudelaire a la charogne," (2) a charcoal and gouache caricature of the writer as a bobble-headed, gloved dandy, arms raised in a gesture of mincing awe, his ambiguous gaze (diabolical? appreciative?) directed toward a rotting animal upon which he appears to have nearly stumbled. Without that gaze it would take a moment to find the charogne, so large is the poet's head, so indecipherable, and therefore distracting, the turn of his lip. (3) In the lower left-hand corner of the picture lies the animal carcass, legs in the air, its belly covered in a dense swarm of black blotches--buzzing flies, or wafting fumes, or both--rising up, blending with the dried leaves of spindly shrubs, then metamorphosing into vertical marks. These gradually rejoin to form letters. Death gives birth to life and words, with the figure of the poet positioned between the carrion-etched "FLEURS DU" looming over his right shoulder, and "MAL" under his left hand. These textual flowers frame the portrait of the Prince of Carrion, simultaneously discovering and orchestrating a synesthetic landscape of decaying flora and fauna; refiguring beauty; representing invisible odor in visible words; turning stench into poetry. Almost one hundred and fifty years later, in a provocative gesture of olfactory adaptation, Etat Libre d'Orange translates this poetic stench into perfume. The sample package of Charogne features a rose with a drop of red blood at the center--perhaps a nod to Baudelaire's Flowers of Evil, a recognition of the poem's decomposed metaphorical flower, or a reminder of the theme of death, beauty, and the printed page. According to Etienne de Swardt, the company's founder, "Charogne c'est une histoire de peau d'ins-piration BAUDELAIRIENNE, une dualite malsaine avec le poeme et sa pestilence" (2009). Call this dialogical translation, olfactory adaptation, edgy marketing, voluntary synesthesia, or shock perfumery--a question inevitably emerges: how, if at all, does the fragrance correspond to the poem "Une Charogne?" The perfumer might have opted to compose a literal, scratch-and-sniff translation (perfume that makes its wearer smell like carrion). Or instead, scent notes might have been selected to illustrate textual aspects of "Une Charogne," its rhythm, its structure, the emotions it evokes, other odors suggested by its words, or a scented rendition of the poem's mood, tone, subject, themes, or ideas. Any discussion of Charogne eau de parfum in relation to Baudelaire's "Une Charogne" relates as much to language and reading, as to olfaction, and it reveals the difficulty of communicating about smell in words. This is because, like other forms of aesthetic adaptation, the translation of poetry to fragrance, or fragrance to poetry, entails a process of interpretation: How do we identify or define the scent trail in texts? …


Venous tumor thrombus is a known manifestation of Wilms' tumors in a minority of cases but has not been previously described in association with cystic nephroma. We report an original case of a histologically-benign cystic nephroma presenting with venous tumor thrombus extending to the inferior vena cava. The tumor thrombus was not detected by preoperative Doppler ultrasound. The patient was successfully treated with radical nephrectomy, tumor thrombectomy, and IVC closure. Postoperatively, the patient underwent genetic testing which revealed a DICER1 mutation—known to predispose affected individuals to a variety of benign and malignant tumors—and requires intensive surveillance for associated conditions.


Mycolactone A/B, a complex polyketidic macrolide secreted by Mycobacterium ulcerans, has been synthesized using catalytic and/or asymmetric reactions. Several palladium-catalyzed reactions were investigated for forging key σ-bonds as well as a particularly challenging hydroboration reaction of a functionalized and sterically demanding 1,1-disubstituted exo-alkene. The full account of these investigations is discussed.


Although β-glucans in cereals are desirable as healthy diet components, high levels of β-glucans in malting barley are unacceptable because they can cause unsatisfactory degradation of cell walls during malting. The aim of this study was to investigate the β-glucan content in twelve Croatian and two German barley varieties at three representative locations in Eastern Croatia over three consecutive seasons (2012–2014). Total β-glucan content in barley samples was determined using enzymatic method. Most of the investigated barley varieties had total β-glucan content lower or significantly lower than 4%. Furthermore, a distinct and clear genotype influence was noticed. No significant difference was found between years, but between locations Osijek and Tovarnik.


Abstract.
 Harvester ants are influential in many ecosystems because they distribute and consume seeds, remove vegetation, and redistribute soil particles and nutrients. Understanding the interaction between harvester ants and plant communities is important for management and restoration efforts, particularly in systems altered by fire and invasive species such as the sagebrush-steppe. Our objective was to evaluate how vegetation cover changed as a function of distance from Owyhee harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex salinus) nests within a sagebrush-steppe ecosystem. We sampled 105 harvester ant nests within southern Idaho, USA, that occurred in different habitats: annual grassland, perennial grassland, and native shrubland. The influence of Owyhee harvester ants on vegetation was larger at the edge of ant nests, but the relationship was inconsistent among plant species. Percent cover was positively associated with distance from harvester ant nests for plant species that were considered undesirable food sources and were densely distributed. However, percent cover was negatively associated with distance-from-nests for patchily distributed and desirable plant species. For some plant species, there was no change in cover associated with distance-from-nests. Total vegetation cover was associated with distance-from-nests in the shrubland habitat but not in the 2 grasslands. The dominant plant species in the shrubland habitat was a densely distributed shrub (winterfat, Krascheninnikovia lanata) that was defoliated by harvester ants. Our results suggest that Owyhee harvester ants increase spatial heterogeneity in plant communities through plant clearing, but the direction and magnitude of effect will likely be contingent on the dominant vegetation groups. This information may inform future management and plant restoration efforts in sagebrush-steppe by directly considering the islands of influence associated with harvester ant engineering.


The chemical composition of Thalassia leaves is described. Of the leaf-dry matter, 40.6% consists of soluble nutrients: crude protein, lipids, soluble carbohydrates and ash. Crude protein content was 17% (R = 15.8-18.1 %). Essential nutritive minerals were found in considerable quantities: calcium, 1.32% (R = 1.21-1.47%); phosphorus, .21% (R = .19-.23%); potassium, 3.0% (R = 2.47%-3.30%) and magnesium, 1.26% (R = 1.09%-1.38%). The cell wall or neutral-detergent fiber fraction was 59.4% (R = 46.1-64.6%), of which 19.1% consisted of hemicellulose. The lignin content varied from 22.9% (KMnO.) to 9.1% (H2SO.) depending on whether KMnO. or H2so. was used as an oxidizing agent. The importance of Thalassia leaves as a food source for the seagrass community is described by five major food chains hereby proposed: the large herbivore, the fish herbivore, the gastropod herbivore, the urchin herbivore and the detrital food chains. The potential value of Thalassia as a food source for domestic animals is evaluated on the basis of comparison with forage crops.


Background: Since gastric cancer (GC) is the third prevalence cause of cancer-related death, early diagnosis can improve survival rate. Some studies indicated that loss of tumor suppressor gene (TSG) is a key event in gastric carcinoma. Based on epigenetic alteration each population is valuable to evaluate. So this study investigated the expression rate of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) and a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor of G1 cyclin complexes (CDKN1C) in a population in Iran. Methods: 64 gastric samples (32 tumoral gastric tissues and 32 healthy adjacent tissues) were collected from patients referred to Imam Khomeini Hospital Cancer Institute during 2008-2011. Total RNA was extracted, cDNA was synthesized, and then expression level of PTEN and CDKN1C was detected by Real time-PCR. Results: Our results displayed PTEN and CDKN1C expression significantly decreased in cancerous tissues compared to healthy adjacent tissues (P<0.05). In the case of PTEN, ΔΔCT was calculated 3.04 that showed 8.2 times expression reduction in tumorous tissues. Also, the ΔΔCT of CDKN1C was 2.6 which represents 6.1 times expression reduction in tumorous samples. Furthermore, there is an association between PTEN and CDKN1C expression and vascular invasion. However, the study of parameters such as age, tumor size, sex, ethnicity, and stage were not significantly associated with decreased expression of these TSGs. Conclusion: A significant expression reduction of both TSGs in tumoral tissues compared with healthy adjacent tissues suggest that these genes have an important role in gastric cancer incidence and future researches may reveal their advantage in treatment and diagnosis.


Video Surveillance for multiple object is a challenging areas of research in computer vision. It comprises of two correlated components; object detection and object
tracking which are key requirements in variety of intelligent applications namely, early recognition of on-going abnormal activities, automated surveillance, mobile
robot navigation, advanced driver assistance system, etc. Object detection is to identify the location of object in a scene and tracking is to associate the detected object along a sequence of frames
2D computer vision techniques and the stereo vision based 3D techniques are the two major approaches developed in the last few decades for object detection and tracking. Majority of the these techniques are designed under completely controlled environment and are prone to ine�ciency due to real-time di�culties such as objects count, illumination variations, object orientation, pose, occlusion etc. Even though few stereo vision based 3D techniques have made an attempt to address these di�culties, they failed to achieve good accuracy. Consequently, a solution to the above problems within a single framework is the vital requirement of the present
system.
This research work developed robust object detection and tracking method using stereo vision technique. The major contribution of this research lies in three modules
of stereo vision based object detection and tracking namely, disparity estimation, object detection and object tracking
In the �rst module, stereo matching algorithms are developed for disparity estimation in order to address the real-time di�culties such as depth discontinuity
and radiometric variations. Initially, it developed a stereo matching algorithm using anchor diagonal based shape adaptive local support region to handle depth discontinuities in the stereo image. Developed algorithm is simple in construction and outperforms many local and global stereo algorithms. In addition, two di�erent
stereo energy models are developed for compensating radiometric variations between stereo image. First, a Hybrid Correlation (HC) based stereo energy model is
developed for disparity estimation using two e�cient correlation measures. Developed HC has been extended to introduce a robust stereo energy model known as Correlation Fusion (CF). Developed disparity estimation algorithms are
evaluated using benchmarked stereo data sets with di�erent illumination and exposure conditions and the obtained results show that it outperforms conventional and state-of-the-art techniques.
3D world Euclidean co-ordinate points of the estimated disparities are computed using triangulation and a 3D Region of Interest (ROI) is generated from it. These
3D ROI disparity points are further re�ned and projected onto the groundplane to construct a new plan-view statistics known as Signi�cance map (Smap). This
Signi�cance map can handle multiple object occlusion and uses human biometric information to overcome under and over segmentation problems. Observed features on the Signi�cance map are clustered using connected component based clustering
and the position of the object is detected using depth layering technique. Developed detection algorithm is evaluated using a set of test stereo video sequences and the
evaluation results are compared with the competing method.
Finally, Kalman �lter based multiple object tracking algorithm is developed under continuous detect-and-track framework. It includes an object detection rollback loop
with the tracking algorithm, which enhances both detection and tracking accuracies The developed stereo vision based object detection and tracking method has made an attempt to minimize several primary constraining assumptions such as illumination variation, object occlusion, shadow, etc., in a single framework. It has also minimized some of the secondary constraining assumptions such as object pose, camera height, orientations, rotations, etc. The rigorous evaluation of developed algorithm evidenced its robustness for many real-time conditions. Developed system has opened numerous aspects of potential investigation, which can be drawn-out in numerous ways for further direction of research


ABSTRACT Epidermal growth factor (EGF) regulates various cellular events, including proliferation, differentiation, migration, and tumorigenesis. For the maintenance of homeostasis, EGF signaling should be tightly regulated to prevent the aberrant activation. Smad7 has been known as inhibitory Smad that blocks the signal transduction of transforming growth factor β. In the process of cell proliferation or transformation, Smad7 has been shown the opposite activities as a promoter or suppressor depending on cell types or microenvironments. We found that the overexpression of Smad7 in human HaCaT keratinocyte cells and mouse skin tissues elevated EGF receptor (EGFR) activity by impairing ligand-induced ubiquitination and degradation of activated receptor, which is induced by the E3 ubiquitin ligase c-Cbl. The C-terminal MH2 region but not MH1 region of Smad7 is critical for interaction with c-Cbl to inhibit the ubiquitination of EGFR. Interestingly, wild-type Smad7, but not Smad6 or mutant Smad7, destabilized the EGF-induced complex formation of c-Cbl and EGFR. These data suggest a novel role for Smad7 as a promoter for prolonging the EGFR signal in keratinocyte and skin tissue by reducing its ligand-induced ubiquitination and degradation.


In this introduction, I motivate the project of examining certain resonances between ancient skeptical positions, especially Pyrrhonism, and positions in contemporary epistemology, with special attention to recent work in the epistemology of science. One such resonance concerns the idea of suspension of judgment or belief in certain contexts or domains of inquiry, and the reasons for (or processes eventuating in) suspension. Another concerns the question of whether suspension of belief in such circumstances is voluntary, in any of the senses discussed in current work on voluntarism in epistemology, which informs recent discussions of how voluntarism regarding epistemic stances may shed light on positions like scientific realism and antirealism. The aim of this special issue is thus to explore certain analogies and disanalogies between ancient and contemporary debates about skepticism, and to consider whether and to what extent the former can provide insight into the latter.


Abstract. Measurements of a single, levitated particle in an electrodynamic balance are an established tool for deriving thermodynamic and material data such as density, refractive index and activities of components of an aqueous solution under supersaturated conditions, where bulk measurements are not possible. The retrieval relies on combining mass-to-charge data and size data from light scattering. Here, we use a combination of low- and high-resolution Mie resonance spectroscopy to obtain radius data, enabling an accurate size determination not only when the particle is in equilibrium, but also when it is out of equilibrium due to kinetic limitation of mass transport. With the data measured under non-equilibrium conditions, it is possible to retrieve the water diffusivity. A challenge is that the radius retrieval by comparing measured light scattering with Mie theory requires the knowledge of refractive index as a function of concentration. Here, we show an iterative retrieval of refractive index and size for compounds for which data cannot be obtained in the bulk either due to lack of sufficient amounts of sample or limited solubility. We demonstrate the measurement strategy and the retrieval of water activity, density, refractive index and water diffusivity for aqueous shikimic acid. Water diffusivity in concentrated shikimic acid decreases by 6 orders of magnitude at 250 K compared to that at room temperature.


In this study, pervaporation membranes were prepared from poly( vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with different amounts of cellulose nanocrystals as filler, and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The characterization results demonstrated that cellulose nanocrystal particles dispersed homogeneously within the PVA matrix. Moreover, the pervaporation performance of these membranes was investigated using the separation of ethanol-water mixture as model system. Among all the prepared membranes, PVA/cellulose nanocomposite membrane containing 1 wt% cellulose nanocrystals exhibited the best pervaporation performance, whose averaged permeation flux reduced slightly but separation factor was increased from 83 to 163 for 80% aqueous solution of ethanol at 80 °C respectively.


Abstract: This paer is intened to find the concept of character education, according to Prof. Dr. H. E. Mulyasa thas various books he wrote. Hopefully, this article can serve as guidelines for the parties the manager (manager) schools in practing character education within the scope of the school. From the result of the study can be obtained information that character education is agrowing process of character values, such as conscious, honest, sincere simple, independent, caring, free to act however responsible for his action, careful or conscientious, and commited to doing good. Internalization of character values us carried out through three strategies, namely be a good example for their students, internalize the character values into learning activities, internalize the character values  into the activities of habituation, and then manage the school in favor of the practice providing education character.
Keywords
character, values, strategies, exemplary


Communication and whole-disk cryptosystems are on the verge of becoming mainstream tools for protection of data, both in corporate laptops and private computing equipment. While encryption is a useful tool, it also present new problems for forensic investigators, as clues to their investigation may be undecipherable. However, contrary to popular belief, these systems are not impenetrable. Forensic memory dumping and analysis can pose as ways to recover cryptographic keys that are present in memory due to bad coding practice, operation system quirks or hardware hacks. The volatile nature of physical memory does however challenge the classical principles of digital forensics as its transitory state may disappear at the flick of a switch. In this thesis, we analyze existing and present new cryptographic key search algorithms, together with different confiscation and analysis methods for images of volatile memory. We provide a new proof of concept tool that can analyze memory images and recover cryptographic keys, and use this tool together with a virtualized testbed to simulate and examine the different states of platforms with several separate cryptosystems. Making use of this testbed, we provide experiments to point out how modern day encryption in general are vulnerable to memory disclosure attacks. We show that memory management procedures, coding practice and the overall state of the system has great impact on the amount and quality of data that can be extracted, and present simple statistics of our findings. The discoveries have significant implications for most software encryption vendors and the businesses relying on these for data security. Using our results, we suggest best practices that can help investigators build a more comprehensive data foundation for analysis, by reconstructing virtual memory from RAM images. We also discuss how investigators may reduce the haystack by leveraging memory and process structure on Windows computers. Finally we tie this to current digital forensic procedures, and suggest an optimized way of handling live analysis based on the latest development in the field.


Auditor Changes and Debt Financing: Evidence from China by CHAN Suet Ying Master of Philosophy The role of independent auditors is to ensure the accuracy and the credibility of the financial statements. Independent auditors help in reducing agency costs and serve as a monitoring function for creditors. A change in an auditor–client relationship may provide useful information to creditors. Creditors may consider the signal of auditor changes, which affects information risks, as a factor in determining the terms of debts. After several major audit scandals, awareness of the importance of audit quality has increased. Audit partner changes and audit firm changes have been implemented in some jurisdictions to enhance the audit quality. Since China requires disclosure by signing partners' names on audit reports, audit partner rotations can be identified. The direction of audit firm changes can be downward, lateral, and upward audit firm changes. In this thesis, the effects on debt financing of auditor changes at both audit firm and audit partner levels in different directions are comprehensively investigated. This thesis addresses the importance of understanding the association between audit firm/ partner changes and debt financing. I find that, overall, auditor changes worsen debt financing in various situations. The findings of this thesis should have important implications for investors, corporate financial managers, and regulators.


Kelp systems dominate nearshore marine environments in upwelling zones characterized by cold temperatures and high nutrients. Worldwide, kelp population persistence and recruitment success generally decreases with rising water temperatures coupled with low nutrients, making kelp populations vulnerable to impending warming of the oceans. This response to climate change at a global scale, however, may vary due to regional differences in temperature variability, acclimation, and differential responses of kelp species to changing conditions. Culture experiments were conducted on 12 eastern Pacific kelp taxa across geographic regions (British Columbia, central California, and southern California) under three nitrate levels (1, 5, and 10 μmol/L) and two temperatures (12°C and 18°C) to determine sporophyte production (i.e., recruitment success). For all taxa from all locations, sporophytes were always present in the 12°C treatment and when recruitment failure was observed, it always occurred at 18°C, regardless of nitrate level, indicating that temperature is the driving factor limiting recruitment, not nitrate. Rising ocean temperatures will undoubtedly cause recruitment failure for many kelp species; however, the ability of species to acclimatize or adapt to increased temperatures at the warmer edge of their species range may promote a resiliency of kelp systems to climate change at a global scale.


Hydroelastic effects during slamming of high-speed marine vehicles affect the development of the pressure along their bottom. The aim of this study is to investigate coupling process of a novel CFD method and a FEM structural solver for simulation of hydroelastic slamming. As slamming is characterised by violent and strongly nonlinear fluid–structure interaction, the flow solver is based on a Lagrangian, volume–conservative, second–order accurate method, meshless FDM. Rhoxyz fluid solver is coupled to CalculiX structural solver, through a partitioned bidirectional coupling tool, preCICE. After the validation of coupling using a dam break experiment, the effect of hydroelasticity in slamming is studied by analysing the pressure and deformations of the structure during water entries of a deformable symmetrical wedge with low angle of deadrise.


Data donations represent a user-centered approach to data collection where researchers ask EU participants to exercise their right of access (GDPR) vis-à-vis intermediaries and to donate the digital trace data they receive to academic research. These data donations are often combined with survey data to gain deeper insights into the questions under investigation. Although initially promising, this process is complex for respondents and involves serious methodological, ethical, and legal challenges for researchers. A series of recently developed software solutions facilitate and streamline data donation studies. However, these stand-alone systems work separately from survey software. As a result, respondents typically face two platforms, one for the survey and one for the data donation. To facilitate their combination, we integrated two existing software solutions for online surveys (SoSci Survey) and data donations (OSD2F). We present our integrated solution and report on experiences with the approach from two exemplary studies.


The Sea of Marmara, in Northwest Turkey, is a transition zone where the dextral North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) propagates westward from the Anatolian plate to the Aegean plate. The area is of interest in the context of seismic hazard in the vicinity of Istanbul, a metropolitan area with about 15 million inhabitants. Geophysical observations indicate that 10 the crust is heterogeneous beneath the Marmara Basin, but a detailed characterization of the crustal heterogeneities is still missing. To assess if and how crustal heterogeneities are related to the NAFZ segmentation below the Marmara Sea, we develop a new crustal-scale 3D density model which integrates geological and seismological data and is additionally constrained by 3D gravity modelling considering two different gravity datasets including global satellite data and local marine gravity observation. This model indicates that the observed gravitational anomalies originate from significant density 15 heterogeneities within the crust. Two layers of sediments, one syn-kinematic and one pre-kinematic with respect to the Marmara Sea formation are underlain by a heterogeneous crystalline crust. A felsic upper crystalline crust (average density of 2720 kg.m-3) and an intermediate to mafic lower crystalline crust (average density of 2890 kg.m-3) appear to be crosscut by two large, dome-shaped mafic high-density bodies (density of 2890 to 3150 kg.m-3) of considerable thickness above a rather uniform lithospheric mantle (3300 kg.m-3). The spatial correlation between the bent segments of the fault and the location of 20 the high-density bodies suggests that the distribution of lithological heterogeneities within the crust controls the rheological behaviour along the NAFZ, and consequently, influences fault segmentation and propagation dynamics.


Hollow-structured α-Fe2O3/carbon (HIOC) nanocomposite with a high surface area of around 260 m2 g−1 was synthesized by a one-step, in situ, and industrially-oriented spray pyrolysis method using iron lactate and sucrose solution as the precursors. The small α-Fe2O3 nanocrystals were highly dispersed inside amorphous carbon to form a carbon nanocomposite. Electrochemical measurements showed that the carbon played an important role in affecting both the cycle life and the rate capability of the electrode. The HIOC composites showed the best electrochemical performance in terms of high capacity (1210 mAh g−1 at a current density of 0.1 C), enhanced rate capability and excellent cycle stability (720 mAh g−1 at a current density of 2 C up to 220 cycles). HIOC nanocomposite can also be used in other potential applications, such as in gas sensors, catalysts, and biomedical applications because it is easily dispersed in water and has a high surface area.


In this paper, we analyze Birds of a Feather (BoaF), a solitaire game played with 16 cards. While the large majority of deals are solvable, the set of unsolvable deals share certain characteristics that can be determined from the adjacency matrix of the corresponding "compatibility graph". We create a binary decision tree based on just three variables to predict whether a given deal is solvable. Our predictive model, tested on 30,000 random deals, correctly classifies over 99.9% of our data.


Large plastic deformation and residual stresses exist in mechanical damages to pipelines. If a crack occurs in the damages, residual stresses will affect mechanics behavior of the crack and path independence of the J-integral, and so the J-integral may lose capacity to describe fracture driving force.This paper theoretically investigates basic conditions required for the path independence of the J-integral and major factors affecting the path independence, including the incremental plasticity, finite strains and residual stresses. Residual stress modified J-integrals are then introduced for ensuring the path independence. With use of a notched beam, detailed elastic-plastic finite element analyses are performed in terms of the incremental plasticity for a crack subject to three-point bending. The path dependence of the J-integral due to the three major factors is then evaluated. Numerical results show that the residual stress modified J-integral is path-independent, and able to describe the fracture driving force for ductile cracks in a residual stress field. This provides a new technology to assess pipeline integrity for cracks coupling residual stresses.Copyright © 2017 by ASME


We present an unsupervised non-parallel many-to-many voice conversion (VC) method using a generative adversarial network (GAN) called StarGAN v2. Using a combination of adversarial source classifier loss and perceptual loss, our model significantly outperforms previous VC models. Although our model is trained only with 20 English speakers, it generalizes to a variety of voice conversion tasks, such as any-to-many, cross-lingual, and singing conversion. Using a style encoder, our framework can also convert plain reading speech into stylistic speech, such as emotional and falsetto speech. Subjective and objective evaluation experiments on a non-parallel many-to-many voice conversion task revealed that our model produces natural sounding voices, close to the sound quality of state-of-the-art text-to-speech (TTS) based voice conversion methods without the need for text labels. Moreover, our model is completely convolutional and with a faster-than-real-time vocoder such as Parallel WaveGAN can perform real-time voice conversion.


Understanding the properties of airflow in the nasal cavity is very important in determining the nasal physiology and in diagnosis of various anomalies associated with the nose. This numerical study presents the characteristic flow features inside a female nasal cavity in comparison with the male models developed by other researchers. The study is based on the numerical model obtained from computed tomographic data of a healthy Malaysian subject. A steady state Reynold Averaged Navier-Stokes and continuity equations was solved for both inspiratory and expiratory phase with flow rates of 7.5, 10 and 15 L/min for laminar case and 20, 30 and 40 L/min studies were simulated for turbulent boundary conditions. The differences observed in the flow parameters can be attributed to the anatomical variations that exist between the male and female nasal cavity. It was found that the female models were slightly smaller in length when compared to the male models. The nasal valve region was located about 2.0 cm, 1.65 cm and 2.5 cm from the anterior tip of nose. The value of maximum velocity obtained for the three female models are 3.17, 2.68, and 2.23 m/s respectively as against 4.2 m/s for similar flow rate obtained for the male model. The values of pressure drop for female cases were lower than the male models in the literature. In general, the female model displayed lower values of pressure drop when compared with the male models.


The skin is the primary site of dengue virus (DENV) replication following the bite of an infected mosquito, but the factors that contribute to productive infection in human skin and virus spread out of skin are not understood. We defined the dynamics of DENV infection in human skin explants using quantitative in situ imaging. A transient interferon-α response occurred prior to detectable virus replication, which initially established in cells in the epidermis. DENV infected a wide variety of cell types including Langerhans cells (LC), dermal macrophages (Mϕ), dermal dendritic cells (DC), fibroblasts, mast cells, and lymphatic endothelium, but keratinocytes were the earliest and quantitatively most important target of DENV infection, contributing to 60% of overall infected skin cell over time. DENV infection led to the recruitment and infection of LC, dermal DC, and dermal Mϕ. These immune cells emigrated out of the skin in increased number as a result of infection, presumably leading to dissemination of virus. Infection of keratinocytes led to the abundant production of inflammatory mediators, most significantly IL-1β. Blocking keratinocyte-derived IL-1β reduced the infection of LC, dermal DC, and dermal Mϕ by 75-90% and decreased the total number of infected cells in epidermis and dermis by 33% and 65%, respectively. In the first demonstration of antibody-dependent enhancement of DENV infection in human skin, we showed that the presence of heterotypic DENV-immune serum enhanced the recruitment and infection of dermal Mϕ by 50-70%, and increased emigration of myeloid cells out of skin. Aedes aegypti mosquito salivary gland extract did not impact dermal Mϕ recruitment or infection with DENV, with or without immune serum. Blocking FcγRIa and FcγRIIa inhibited antibody-mediated infection of dermal Mϕ, and decreased the number of cell emigrants, resulting in reduction of the overall number of infected cells in the dermis by 70%, without notable changes in the epidermis. Ethnic differences in skin immune responses to DENV were observed for the first time in our study. In comparison with skin from Caucasians donors, skin from African American donors maintained robust antiviral IFN-α responses for at least 48 hours. This was observed in association with less DENV replication, a reduced production of IL-1β in the epidermis, less recruitment and infection of LC and dermal Mϕ, and less cell emigration out of the skin. These findings suggest that innate immune responses in skin control DENV replication and spread, and equates with epidemiologic data that African ancestry protects against severe dengue. Our findings highlight the importance of skin and the complex interplay between resident and immune skin cell populations in DENV infection and dengue pathogenesis. Defining DENV infection in human skin therefore has considerable public health significance because these data will provide a rationale for exploration of therapeutic strategies through targeting the mechanism DENV exploits skin microenvironment and preventing the risk of systemic infection as well as severe dengue.


This paper presents the idea of learning optimal filters for color image reconstruction based on a novel concept of nonlinear spectral image decompositions recently proposed by Guy Gilboa. We use a multiscale image decomposition approach based on total variation regularization and Bregman iterations to represent the input data as the sum of image layers containing features at different scales. Filtered images can be obtained by weighted linear combinations of the different frequency layers. We introduce the idea of learning optimal filters for the task of image denoising, and propose the idea of mixing high frequency components of different color channels. Our numerical experiments demonstrate that learning the optimal weights can significantly improve the results in comparison to the standard variational approach, and achieves state-of-the-art image denoising results.


Confronted with challenges in promoting fast AlxCly− anion diffusion and intercalation for aluminum ion batteries (AIBs), it is of vital importance to rationally design gradient hetero-interfaces with an ideal built-in interfacial electric potential to enhance charge diffusion and transfer kinetics. Herein, we demonstrate an effective strategy to realize accurate tuning gradient heteroatom N and P doping in MOF-derived porous carbon in C@N-C@N,P-C graded heterostructures. Importantly, gradient N and P doping could modify the electronic structure of MOF-derived carbon as certified by DFT calculations, and lead to charge redistribution to induce graded energy levels and a built-in electric field in the C@N-C@N,P-C graded heteroatomic interface, thus boosting interfacial charge transfer and accelerating reaction kinetics. Furthermore, the large surface area and high porosity of C@N-C@N,P-C graded heterostructures could efficiently absorb electrolyte and enhance anion transport kinetics. As expected, the designed gradiently N,P-doped C@N-C@N,P-C heterostructure with a built-in interfacial electric field could facilitate electron and AlCl4− anion transfer spontaneously between N,P-C, N-C and C gradient components, exhibiting a superior capacity of 98 mA h g−1 at a high current density of 5 A g−1 after 2500 cycles. This strategy reveals new insights about the gradient energy band for designing high-performance electrochemical energy storage devices.


The nine chapters describe current treatment methodology from first-aid at the accident site, through emergency room procedures, to hospital and outpatient care. Detailed operative management is outlined. Special considerations relating to electrical, chemical and radiation burns and child abuse are presented. The emotional care of the burned child and adult is extensively discussed. Emotional management of the bum itself suggests realistic ways of dealing with the special stresses staff experience when treating burn patients. The book concludes with a short chapter on home fire prevention and safety. Bold sub-headings facilitate scanning for specific topics and the bibliography provided is extensive.


By leveraging contrastive learning, clustering, and other pretext tasks, unsupervised methods for learning image representations have reached impressive results on standard benchmarks. The result has been a crowded field - many methods with substantially different implementations yield results that seem nearly identical on popular benchmarks, such as linear evaluation on ImageNet. However, a single result does not tell the whole story. In this paper, we compare methods using performance-based benchmarks such as linear evaluation, nearest neighbor classification, and clustering for several different datasets, demonstrating the lack of a clear front-runner within the current state-of-the-art. In contrast to prior work that performs only supervised vs. unsupervised comparison, we compare several different unsupervised methods against each other. To enrich this comparison, we analyze embeddings with measurements such as uniformity, tolerance, and centered kernel alignment (CKA), and propose two new metrics of our own: nearest neighbor graph similarity and linear prediction overlap. We reveal through our analysis that in isolation, single popular methods should not be treated as though they represent the field as a whole, and that future work ought to consider how to leverage the complimentary nature of these methods. We also leverage CKA to provide a framework to robustly quantify augmentation invariance, and provide a reminder that certain types of invariance will be undesirable for downstream tasks.


Using a general equilibrium model in which both capital productivity and temperature are uncertain, we show that the social discount rate (SDR) will decline from 1% in 2010 to 0.6% in 2300 under the conventional, quadratic specification of the damage function, and to -2.0% under the reactive specification of the damage function. Moreover, interaction between economic and climate risks further lowers this estimate of the SDR by 0.9%. Surprisingly, the decline of the SDR never starts before 2100. We attribute this to the slow response of the earth's climate to increases in radiative forcing, thus highlighting the critical importance of properly taking into account the long-term dynamics of the climate system for the SDR. Interestingly, a substantial part of the decrease in the SDR under the reactive specification can be attributed to the presence of a term premium in long-run bonds.


There now a wealth of national and international evidence and knowledge about carers but it is currently highly fragmented and disparate. As a result it lacks accessibility, utility and coherence which significantly impedes its capacity to both inform research and practice and to generate new knowledge. This paper offers findings from an innovative and timely comprehensive scoping review of carer-related knowledge which will make a significant contribution to addressing this deficit. The review has two complementary purposes. It provides, for the first time, an academically robust and detailed mapping of carer-related evidence and knowledge and underpins a fully accessible web-based resource developed in partnership with, and hosted by, the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE). This resource will form part of SCIE's suite of resources to support the implementation of the Care Act 2014. The paper will outline the way that Arksey and O'Malley (2005) framework for scoping studies guided the methodological approach to this unique scoping review. The key findings about the nature of carer-related knowledge will also be discussed. This will include a description of the major themes identified, their frequencies and how these were organised into four main categories - Carer Variables, Type of Care, Impact of Care Support and Carers. These themes and categories were built into a representational 'map' of existing carer-related knowledge. This map will be presented together with an analysis of the gaps in knowledge that emerged, and reflections on those areas that are well researched, and those others that remain less travelled. At the end of the paper, an overview of the digital resource SCIE is developing for launch in 2017 and an outline of dissemination and impact plans will be provided. Reference
Arksey H. and O'Malley, L. (2005) 'Scoping Studies: Towards a Methodological Framework.' International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 8, 19-32


Time domain correlations of common features among relative paleointensity records from sedimentary cores are invaluable to paleomagnetism and paleoclimatology. Sediments with high accumulation rates might now provide millennial scale correlations of temporal variations in the geomagnetic dipole moment. Errors in the ages of paleomagnetic data samples, however, can make such correlations difficult and unreliable. We use spectral methods to assess the level of coherence expected among individual and stacked high‐resolution simulated paleointensity records for the time interval 0–75 ka. Correlations between individual paleointensity records are systematically degraded with decreased sedimentation rate and increased magnitude of age errors. We find that with optimistic age errors and interpolation of depth sampled data to evenly spaced time series, only short period signal in high‐resolution relative paleointensity is corrupted. For currently available methods of establishing chronologies, we estimate the minimum characteristic timescale of correlative features between pairs of regional stacked records at about 4.5 kyr. From an analysis of NAPIS‐75 and SAPIS data, it appears that the limit is inherent to the regional stacks and not a consequence of comparison of distant, independent data sets. A detailed comparison of the NAPIS‐75 and SAPIS stacks shows that this limit is likely larger, perhaps 6 kyr. At long periods the two regional stacks are more poorly correlated than those from our simulations, suggesting somewhat larger age errors in the individual paleointensity records.


Context: Software decay is a key concern for large, long-lived software projects. Systems degrade over time as design and implementation compromises and exceptions pile up. Goal: Quantify design decay and understand how software projects deal with this issue. Method: We conducted an empirical study on the presence and evolution of code smells, used as an indicator of design degradation in 220 open source projects. Results: The best approach to maintain the quality of a project is to spend time reducing both software defects (bugs) and design issues (refactoring). We found that design issues are frequently ignored in favor of fixing defects. We also found that design issues have a higher chance of being fixed in the early stages of a project, and that efforts to correct these stall as projects mature and the code base grows, leading to a build-up of problems. Conclusions: From studying a large set of open source projects, our research suggests that while core contributors tend to fix design issues more often than non-core contributors, there is no difference once the relative quantity of commits is accounted for. We also show that design issues tend to build up over time.


In the present study, the effects of deformation speeds, sheet thickness, and widths on the springback were investigated experimentally and numerically using a 60o V-shaped bending for DP600 steel. Results reveal that the springback was significantly decreased with increasing thicknesses and deformation speed including 125 mm/min in the range of 5-500 mm/min. The effects of widths on springback were found to be inconsiderable.


We present an analytical (noniterative) method for tracking biaxial magnetic sensors. Low-resolution regions (LRRs) of a biaxial transmitter are determined for the tracking of a triaxial sensor. These regions represent the reciprocal LRRs of a biaxial sensor that is tracked with a triaxial transmitter. The LRRs' configuration suggests that at least four triaxial transmitters should be used to track a biaxial sensor. At least one of the transmitters will always avoid the sensor's reciprocal LRRs. We show, on the other hand, that there are no LRRs for estimations of distance between the transmitter and the sensor. This makes it possible to triangulate a biaxial sensor with a triad of transmitters, instead of four. Thanks to a better distance resolution, compared to the resolution of coordinates, the triangulation provides practically the same location resolution and update rate as those reached by conventional methods of tracking triaxial sensors. This is true despite the need to operate a greater number of transmitting coils.


This article outlines the general principles and approaches that are appropriate elements of process validation for the manufacture of human and animal drug and biological products, including active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs or drug substances), collectively referred to in this article as drugs or products. This article incorporates principles and approaches that all manufacturers can use to validate manufacturing processes and cleaning processes. This article aligns process validation activities with a product lifecycle concept and encourages the use of modern pharmaceutical development concepts, quality risk management, and quality systems at all stages of the manufacturing process lifecycle.


Managed care, which stemmed the annual rise in healthcare costs in the United States from a high of around 18% to something closer to 4%, may be losing steam, as those increases are now back into double digits. An alternative, according to the more than 20 contributors to this book, is prepaid group practice (PGP). A PGP is "an integrated entity that includes both a healthcare delivery system (doctors, other clinicians, laboratories, clinics, and hospitals) and an insurance function (financing arrangements, benefit plans, marketing, and customer service systems) 'under one roof.'" Its main components are professionals from various specialties, a voluntarily enrolled population, comprehensive service, prepayment by people enrolling, and accountability for the …


The serious complications associated with odontectomies include inferior alveolar nerve injury. The position of impacted mandibular third molars, against the mandibular canal must be accurately determined by radiological examination including two dimensional (panoramic radiograph) and three dimensional (CBCT Scans). We evaluated the positions of impacted mandibular third molars proximal to mandibular canal on a panoramic radiograph based on CBCT scan. This study used descriptive analysis of panoramic radiograph and DICOM file CBCT Scans. Subjects meeting inclusion criteria were recruited from several healthcare facilities in Jakarta August 2017 until December 2017. We used a computer equipped with Macinthos or Windows operating system and Planmeca Romexis ® Imaging Software Viewer. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 22 and Chi-Square tests. Our review of 108 patients produced 177 teeth samples and 48 patients data resultant 61 teeth samples met inclusion criteria. The most common positions we observed on panoramic radiography was increasing radiolucency. On CBCT scans, the inferior position was the most commonly observed position. There was a statisticaly significant relationship between panoramic radiography and category of lingual-buccal-inferior positioning on CBCT scan. Our result could be used to evaluate the position of mandibular third molars against the mandibular canal to help reduce risk of inferior alveolar nerve injury during odontectomy. Clinical article (J Int Dent Med Res 2019; 12(2): 591-596)