Price earnings ratio is part of the ratio of markets where corners view more market ratios to investors and is a measure for determine how the market gives value or price to the company. Companies with the possibility of having high growth usually have price earnings big ratio and the other way. The purpose of this research is to knowing the influence of the selection of inventory accounting methods, company size, inventory intensity and variability in cost of goods sold against price earnings ratio to manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange Year 2015-2017. The sample in this study was 66, the sample technique used is purposive sampling. This test uses descriptive statistical tests, classic assumption testing includes normality test, multicollinearity test, autocorrelation test, and heteroscedasticity test. Multiple linear regression analysis and model feasibility test. The results of this study indicate that the variable size of the company positive effect on price earning ratio and method selection variables inventory accounting, inventory intensity and variability in cost of sales does not affect the price earning ratio.
Keywords: selection of inventory accounting methods, company size, inventory intensity, variability in cost of sales and price earning ratio (PER).


B174 Although differences in people9s dietary intake are thought to account for substantial variation in cancer incidence, there has been a consistent lack of effect of diet in cancer clinical trials. These inconsistencies may reflect the multi-factorial and complex nature of cancer and the complex and diverse dietary components that may alter one or more phases of the cancer process. Another potential reason for the failure to find an effect in dietary intervention trials is the variation in adherence among participants. In this analysis of the Polyp Prevention Trial (PPT), we examined the effect on adenoma recurrence of high adherence to a low fat, high fiber, high fruit and vegetable intervention. The most adherent participants were defined as "Super Compliers". These Super Compliers consistently met or exceeded each of the three dietary goals at all four annual visits during the trial. During the four years of the trial, these Super Compliers (n=210) reported consuming 17.2% of energy from fat, 22.9 g fiber/1000kc, and 5.32 servings of fruits & vegetables/1000kc. Dietary adherence was then modeled as a potential predictor of adenoma recurrence using logistic regressions. Super Compliers had a lower adenoma recurrence rate; 31.0% compared to a 39.5% for the control group. In a logistic regression model comparing adenoma recurrence in these Super Compliers to the control group, after adjusting for all significant baseline covariates, the OR= 0.65, 95% CI=0.47-0.92. Further adjustment for forty-two baseline variables known to be associated with adenoma recurrence or colorectal cancer including; NSAIDS use, number of adenomas, villous histology, did not alter the findings. These Super Compliers, compared to the control group, had a significantly reduced OR for the recurrence of either an advancedadenoma or 3 or more adenomas (OR = 0.41; 95% CI, 0.021-0.81). The reduced recurrence rate among super-compliers does suggest that a low-fat, high-fiber, fruit- and vegetable-enhanced eating pattern reduces colorectal adenoma occurrence. This was an 9according to protocol9, as opposed to 9intention to treat9 analysis, however, and it is possible that (unknown or unmeasured) factors associated with adherence, rather than diet per se, are responsible for the change in neoplastic recurrence.


The correct human brain function is dependent on the activity of non‐neuronal cells called astrocytes. The bioelectrical properties of astrocytes in vitro do not closely resemble those displayed in vivo and the former are incapable of generating action potential; thus, reliable approaches in vitro for noninvasive electrophysiological recording of astrocytes remain challenging for biomedical engineering. Here it is found that primary astrocytes grown on a device formed by a forest of randomly oriented gold coated‐silicon nanowires, resembling the complex structural and functional phenotype expressed by astrocytes in vivo. The device enables noninvasive extracellular recording of the slow‐frequency oscillations generated by differentiated astrocytes, while flat electrodes failed on recording signals from undifferentiated cells. Pathophysiological concentrations of extracellular potassium, occurring during epilepsy and spreading depression, modulate the power of slow oscillations generated by astrocytes. A reliable approach to study the role of astrocytes function in brain physiology and pathologies is presented.


A detailed analysis of the institutional system of chambers with the presentation of their essential features is of fundamental importance not only because the introduction of the basic concepts of the institutional system is an integral part of this dissertation but also because contemporary Hun¬garian society has very limited information on the institutional system of cham¬bers. In the present study the Author is attempting to de¬scribe the role of chambers within the institutional system of the organisation of economy and to outline the general philosophy of chambers with pointing out to the difference between chambers and the institutions of the intermediary sphere. The first section is an overview of the different levels of the organisa¬tion of economy and of the relationship between them. This is followed by a review of literature on different groups of economic interest and an introduction of the general features of interest representation and trade associations, and finally a description of the legal status of chambers. The specific features of chambers origi¬nating from their public body and local governmental functions will also be analysed, focussing on their special tasks and roles. Through the examination of the legal status of chambers the Author strives to present a more detailed analysis on a public law based chambers. The final section is a comparison of the two basic - public and civil law - mod¬els of chambers with their characteristic features and a presentation of their advantages, disadvantages and the theoretical and practical problems aris¬ing from their growing discrepancy from the public law model in Hungarian legal regulation.


Background & Aim: Workers of auto parts manufacturing industry expose to the gases, vapors and dust created from devices. This exposure will probably increase the risk of occupational lung diseases. This study aimed to determine the respiratory problems and spirometric parameters of workers in the industry of auto parts. Methods: This is a case-control study in which 48 workers in an auto parts manufacturing industry were selected as case group and 47 administrative staff as control group. Data about the prevalence of respiratory symptoms was collected through the standard questionnaire of respiratory symptoms according to the American Lung Association recommendation. Pulmonary function parameters were measured using a calibrated spirometer. Data were analyzed using SPSS 20 and statistical tests including t-test, Wilcoxon and chi-square. Results: The mean age of participants in the case and control groups was 29.5 and 33.72 respectively. The average concentration of pollutant in the manufacturing unit was 5.51±2.3 mg/m3. In addition, the most and the least respiratory problems were related to dyspnea and cough with sputum, respectively. Furthermore, forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and peak expiratory flow (PEF) were different in various groups (p<0.05). Conclusion: Regarding the frequency of respiratory problems and decrease in spirometric parameters among workers exposed to risk factors, protective measures should be applied against pollutants. Moreover, it is recommended to educate workers about this issue.


When achalasia becomes far advanced and leads to esophageal resection, inflammation of the esophageal mucosa is almost universal. The histology of the esophageal mucosa in less advanced cases of achalasia has not been firmly established. We have studied endoscopic biopsies obtained during evaluation of patients with achalasia. Two to four endoscopic biopsies from the lower esophagus of 26 patients with manometrically verified achalasia were mounted on mesh, serially sectioned, stained, coded and interpreted by two independent observers using recognized criteria. The histological findings were correlated with clinical data. Ten of 26 patients had at least one abnormal biopsy. Five of these 10 patients had a previous Heller myotomy; another patient had several pneumatic dilatations, and two other patients had endoscopically proven candida infections. Of the 16 patients with normal histology, four had prolonged stasis, five had heartburn and one patient had both heartburn and stasis. Unless the patient with achalasia has had a Heller myotomy, balloon dilatation, or a candida infection, the esophageal mucosa on biopsy appears to be within normal limits, even in patients with years of esophageal stasis or complaints of heartburn.


The article highlights ideas on the treatment of MS from the viewpoint of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). According to that viewpoint Multiple Sclerosis is not a nosologic entity, but a peculiar syndrome of atonia and hypertonia of the function of certain internal organs, which need regulation via herbal remedies. The mushroom Hericium Erinaceus, in the West sometimes propagated for use in MS-treatment by alternative healers, has a remarkably different significance in TCM and is not considered to be perfectly suitable for that purpose.


Cores from Ocean Drilling Program Sites 927 and 928, retrieved in water depths of 3315 m and 4012 m on the northern flank of the Ceara Rise, were examined to provide continuous time series of compressional-wave velocity for the Pleistocene (0-1.2 Ma), to evaluate the responses of these records to climate change in the time and frequency domain and to study the effect of carbonate dissolution on P-wave velocity changes. Comparisons with other high-resolution sediment physical property measurements (GRAPE density, magnetic susceptibility) and sedimentological parameters (CaCO 3 content, coarse fraction) demonstrate that velocity changes at Sites 927 and 928 are the result of glacial/interglacial changes in coarse-fraction grain size, with velocity increasing as grain size increases during interglacial periods. The grain-size distribution in turn is controlled by carbonate productivity and dissolution changes. This signals however, is diluted by abundant input of fine-grained terrigenous sediments from the Amazon Fan that contain magnetic minerals and thus lead to an inverse relationship between velocity and magnetic susceptibility. Spectral analysis of P-wave velocity and related parameters reveals that spectral energy is concentrated at orbital frequencies in the precession, obliquity, and eccentricity band, and, therefore, confirms the potential of velocity records as a paleoceanographic tool. Marked differences between variance density spectra of the velocity and preservation index records at Site 927 indicate that velocity changes in sediments deposited well above the present lysodine-apart from the dilution effect-most probably reflect foraminifer productivity changes. At Site 928, enhanced dissolution close to the lysocline affects the velocity time series and leads to maxima of concentration in variance density between obliquity and precessional frequency bands.


The hot spot generation has been considered as the main degradation mechanism in railway brake disc. Therefore, the understanding of hot spots, also called hot judder, which is undesirable low frequency vibrations developed by non-uniform contact area between brake pad material and brake disc, is important for a better understanding of material design as well as enhancement of materials properties in railway brake disc. Also, infrared (IR) thermography is a powerful NDE technique for the characterization of thermal phenomenon in engineering components and/or systems including engineering materials. The high-speed IR camera provides the measurement of temperature change during brake operation as well as the images of temperature contour on the brake disc surface. In this investigation, damage evolution due to generation of hot spots on railway brake disc was investigated using the infrared thermography method. Moreover, based on obtained thermographic images of hot spots, the hot spots and thermal damage of railway brake disc during braking operation were qualitatively analyzed.


Due to multi-faceted pathology of AD; no drug can seize the progress of the disease, whereas only the symptomatic treatment is available at the moment. Several drug classes to treat AD are available in clinical use, AChEIs being the most prescribed. In addition to AChEIs, secretase enzymes and iron chelators have turned out to be the focus of research and the popular targets in drug discovery against AD. The latest approaches such as immunotherapy, multi-targeted drug ligand design, AChE inhibitors, antioxidants, metal chelators, monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors, antiinflammatory drugs, and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) inhibitors are currently in use to cure this disease to some extent. But, there is a certain need to develop new drugs to fight with AD, particularly acting on multi-targets or with dual mechanisms of action. In this review, a particular emphasis will be focused on multitargets aiming at AD to design new drug molecules with respect to treatment strategies and preventive measures. Since the underlying pathogenesis of AD is complicated and still under investigation, the attempts to design highly selective and potent agents to treat AD are quite intensively continuing. In this respect, designing novel drugs with dual/multi-acting mechanisms seems to be more rational.


Faithful chromosome segregation cannot be achieved without correctly aligning each chromosome pair, a process referred to as chromosome biorientation. Disabling the key mitotic kinase Polo like kinase 1 (PLK1) is known to impair multiple aspects of mitosis, particularly chromosome alignment. This is believed primarily due to unstable bipolar spindle-kinetochore attachments. However, contrary to this belief, PLK1 inactivation does not necessarily abolish metaphase establishment. Instead, it is shown to interfere with its long-term maintenance. This study has demonstrated that the failure of chromosome biorientation maintenance is driven by a previously undescribed mechanism that relies on PLK1 activity. Without active PLK1 during mitosis, BLM helicase is illegitimately recruited to and unwinds a specific centromere domain underneath the kinetochores. This recruitment is dependent on PICH translocase and leads to the impairment of centromere configuration and rigidity. Concurrently, bipolar spindle pulling forces enhance this centromere destructive pathway. During an absence of PLK1 activity, but under active spindle pulling forces, the distorted centromeric chromatin is promptly converted into an ultra-fine DNA structure. This has been referred to as 'pre-anaphase DNA threads', in order to distinguish them from the previously identified ultra-fine DNA bridges (UFBs) that form during anaphase. These new fragile DNA thread structures subsequently fail to withstand spindle tension. This results in centromere deformation that displays as whole-chromosome arm splitting, which has been termed as 'centromere dislocation'. This severely damages centromere integrity, whilst also destroying normal metaphase maintenance. Therefore, PLK1 serves as a centromere guardian in order to protect centromeres against deformation, which is driven by a PICH/BLMmediated chromatin unwinding activity.


A series of lanthanide complexes with acetylacetonate and a new asymmetrical 5-[p-(4-fluorobenzoyloxy)-m-ethyloxy]phenyl-10,15,20-triphenylporphyrin were prepared and characterized by elemental analyses, molar conductance, UV-Vis, IR, 1H NMR, luminescence spectra and themal analysis. Quantum yields of Q band fluorescence are in the region 0.073-0.097 at room temperature. Complexes have higher stability (decompose until 211°C). The structure that both the porphyrin behaved as a tetradentate ligand and acetylacetonate as a bidentate ligand are coordinated to a rare earth ion also has been proposed.


A global 'Low Energy Demand' (LED) scenario published in 2018 shows how global warming can be limited to 1.5 °C by transforming the way energy services are provided and con- sumed (Grubler et al. 2018). We follow up this long-range sce- nario study by setting out a wide range of near-term actions for improving energy-service efficiency through a combina- tion of technological, organisational and behavioural innova- tion. We focus on three energy services: heating and cooling in buildings, ownership and use of consumer goods, and pas- senger mobility. We identify a set of 28 actions across these three energy services ranging from multi-functional end-use devices and area-based procurement of whole-home retrofits to shared urban mobility services and open digital platforms. For each action we identify the lead implementation actor, scale of action, and the extent of policy and financing requirements. For selected actions, we also provide examples of best practice from around the world, drawing on both peer-reviewed and grey literature. Finally, we identify six basic strategies which are the means by which our diverse set of actions achieve their goal of transforming energy services: electrification, functional convergence, usership, utilisation rates, efficiency frontier, and user-oriented innovation.


What does it take for an Internet architecture to be evolvable? Despite our ongoing frustration with today's rigid IP-based architecture and the research community's extensive research on clean-slate designs, it remains unclear how to best design for architectural evolvability. We argue here that evolvability is far from mysterious. In fact, we claim that only a few "intelligent" design changes are needed to support evolvability. While these changes are definitely nonincremental (i.e., cannot be deployed in an incremental fashion starting with today's architecture), they follow directly from the well-known engineering principles of indirection, modularity, and extensibility.


The central aim of this paper is to investigate whether the internet accessories like the You Tube can really help in improving the process of teaching English in TESOL settings.This is because we all know that the use of the internet has considerable potential for encouraging learning and teaching with a fun factor away from classical andtraditional teaching. Definitely, we investigate the effect of the You Tube on the speaking and skills-integration. To serve the purpose of this paper, we established two research groups: a control group where traditional teaching was employed and an experimental group where fresh You Tubes clips were employed. The TESOL learners in both groups were then subjected to oral presentations and tests which were compared and contrasted to investigate any significant statistical difference. The tabulation of results revealed that the experimental group where the You Tube clips were used performed better than the control group, developed confidence, used idiomatic English and proper pronunciation, became more fluent and culturally aware. Moreover, the experimental group showed open mindedness of how to use English effectively and managed to make skill-integration which in turn created a classroom language centred approach where the teacher's role was minimized, and the TESOL learner's role was maximized. Our study is concluded with a number of research and practical recommendations related to the use of the You Tube in learning English at home without going to any academic institution as the You Tube enters our houses everyday.


Although apparently dissimilar in both structure and function, the gut and locomotor system are linked by a number of clinical syndromes in which both are involved. In inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal mucosal inflammation is the primary problem, but may be associated with both axial and peripheral arthropathies. In the seronegative spondyloarthropathies the primary problem is in the locomotor system, but intestinal abnormalities may also be present. In addition, non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs used in their treatment, may cause a distinct enteropathy which may be confused with the disease‐related intestinal abnormalities. The clinical, histological and genetic features of these conditions are examined in order to assess their relationship and the central role of the intestinal mucosa in their pathogenesis.


BACKGROUND
After accommodative changes of endocapsular silicone lenses in presenile nonhuman primates had been confirmed by several authors, this pilot study was designed to evaluate the ability of an artificial lens to restore accommodation in the senile eye of a rhesus monkey that had previously lost most of its accommodative capability.

METHODS
An injectable silicone lens was implanted in one eye of six rhesus monkeys who were older than 17 years. Accommodation was documented as the amount of decrease of anterior chamber depth after pilocarpine stimulation.

RESULTS
Four months after surgery, the decrease of anterior chamber depth was higher in the operated eye with the silicone intraocular lens in the two monkeys who had marked presbyopic changes in the natural lens. One monkey was kept for more than 4 years, retaining a decrease of at least 0.5 mm with the silicone lens, whereas the natural lens failed to show any accommodative change.

CONCLUSIONS
These findings support recent reports that presbyopia is primarily a consequence of lenticular aging rather than ciliary muscle factors. A pliable injected lens may therefore have the potential to restore accommodation in the senile primate eye.


High Performance Local Oscillator Design for Next Generation Wireless Communication Tsung-Hao (Jeffrey) Chuang Local Oscillator (LO) is an essential building block in modern wireless radios. In modern wireless radios, LO often serves as a reference of the carrier signal to modulate or demodulate the outgoing or incoming data. The LO signal should be a clean and stable source, such that the frequency or timing information of the carrier reference can be well-defined. However, as radio architecture evolves, the importance of LO path design has become much more important than before. Of late, many radio architecture innovations have exploited sophisticated LO generation schemes to meet the ever-increasing demands of wireless radio performances. The focus of this thesis is to address challenges in the LO path design for next-generation high performance wireless radios. These challenges include (1) Congested spectrum at low radio frequency (RF) below 5GHz (2) Continuing miniaturization of integrated wireless radio, and (3) Fiber-fast (>10Gb/s) mm-wave wireless communication. The thesis begins with a brief introduction of the aforementioned challenges followed by a discussion of the opportunities projected to overcome these challenges. To address the challenge of congested spectrum at frequency below 5GHz, novel radio architectures such as cognitive radio, software-defined radio, and full-duplex radio have drawn significant research interest. Cognitive radio is a radio architecture that opportunistically utilize the unused spectrum in an environment to maximize spectrum usage efficiency. Energy-efficient spectrum sensing is the key to implementing cognitive radio. To enable energy-efficient spectrum sensing, a fast-hopping frequency synthesizer is an essential building block to swiftly sweep the carrier frequency of the radio across the available spectrum. Chapter 2 of this thesis further highlights the challenges and trade-offs of the current LO generation scheme for possible use in sweeping LO-based spectrum analysis. It follows by introduction of the proposed fast-hopping LO architecture, its implementation and measurement results of the validated prototype. Chapter 3 proposes an embedded phase-shifting LO-path design for wideband RF self-interference cancellation for full-duplex radio. It demonstrates a synergistic design between the LO path and signal to perform self-interference cancellation. To address the challenge of continuing miniaturization of integrated wireless radio, ring oscillator-based frequency synthesizer is an attractive candidate due to its compactness. Chapter 4 discussed the difficulty associated with implementing a Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) with ultra-small form-factor. It further proposes the concept sub-sampling PLL with timebased loop filter to address these challenges. A 65nm CMOS prototype and its measurement result are presented for validation of the concept. In shifting from RF to mm-wave frequencies, the performance of wireless communication links is boosted by significant bandwidth and data-rate expansion. However, the demand for data-rate improvement is out-pacing the innovation of radio architectures. A >10Gb/s mm-wave wireless communication at 60GHz is required by emerging applications such as virtual-reality (VR) headsets, inter-rack data transmission at data center, and Ultra-HighDefinition (UHD) TV home entertainment systems. Channel-bonding is considered to be a promising technique for achieving >10Gb/s wireless communication at 60GHz. Chapter 5 discusses the fundamental radio implementation challenges associated with channel-bonding for 60GHz wireless communication and the pros and cons of prior arts that attempted to address these challenges. It is followed by a discussion of the proposed 60GHz channelbonding receiver, which utilizes only a single PLL and enables both contiguous and noncontiguous channel-bonding schemes. Finally, Chapter 6 presents the conclusion of this thesis.


OBJECTIVE: We examined the response given to calls for acute self-poisonings in a French department (Vienne) in order to determine current management practices. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We reviewed retrospectively all calls to the Vienne pre-hospital emergency care center between January 1997 and December 1999 that concerned acute self-poisoning. There were 2,057 calls for 1,312 women and 708 men (mean age 35.3 +/- 13.7 years, age range 8-99 years). RESULTS: The call was made by a private person in 72.1% of the cases, by a physician in 14.4% and by a first-aid worker in 8.4%. The annual incidence was 1.83 calls per 1000 inhabitants. Self-poisoning led to death in 1% of the cases (mean age 40.8 +/- 10.8 years, age range 27-70 years). A total of 3,225 toxic agents were identified, i.e. 1.56 +/- 1 agent per poisoning (range 1-10). Psychotrops predominated and were found in 74.8% of the suicide attempts with drugs. Non-drug poisonings accounted for 2.5% of the cases. The emergency center responded to the call by dispatching an ambulance (56.4%) or a medicalized emergency care unit (22.4%), providing counsel (18.2%), or calling in a physician (1.1%). A mobile hospital unit was dispatched in 58% of the cases judged to involve a life-threatening situation. CONCLUSION: Self-poisoning is one of the most common situations managed by pre-hospital emergency care centers. The response given to emergency calls would appear to be insufficiently medicalized.


This paper addresses the problem of optimal quality of service (QoS), traffic engineering (TE) and failure recovery (FR) in computer networks by introducing novel algorithms that only use source inferrable information. More precisely, optimal data rate adaptation and load balancing laws are provided which are applicable to networks where multiple paths are available and multiple classes of service (CoS) are to be provided. Different types of multiple paths are supported, including point-to-point multiple paths, point-to-multipoint multiple paths, and multicast trees. In particular, it is shown that the algorithms presented only need a minimal amount of information for optimal control, i.e., whether a path is congested or not. Hence, the control laws provided in this paper allow source inferred congestion detection without the need for explicit congestion feedback from the network. The proposed approach is applicable to utility functions of a very general form and endows the network with the important property of robustness with respect to node/link failures; i.e., upon the occurrence of such a failure, the presented control laws reroute traffic away from the inoperative node/link and converge to the optimal allocation for the ldquoreducedrdquo network. The proposed control laws set the foundation for the development of highly scalable feature-rich traffic control protocols at the IP, transport, or higher layers with provable global stability and convergence properties.


The temperature-dependent aggregation and recovery of the copolymer poly(ethylene oxide)22-b-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)29 with a C12 end-cap in aqueous solutions of salts and acids are investigated. Salt solutions affected the critical aggregation temperature of the copolymer in a manner predictable according to the Hofmeister series, with the kosmotropic adipic ion lowering the critical aggregation temperature and the chaotropic iodide raising it. Also, both salts and acids increased the size of copolymer aggregates formed with heating, due to the electrostatic shielding of aggregated structures provided by the electrolytes. Additionally, the presence of ionic additives caused a thermohysteretic increase in the size of copolymer aggregates with temperature cycling. The transitions of polymer structure with increasing temperature were surprisingly sharp with the C12 end-cap present, and particularly broad in samples in which the end cap had been cleaved. This observation suggested that the hydrophobic end group was responsible for imparting some degree of order to the polymer at low temperatures, which allowed for rapid reconfiguration with increasing temperature. Finally, in addition to the transitions expected from the least critical solution temperature behavior of the polymer blocks, we have observed an unexpected additional transition which we attribute to the contraction of the poly(ethylene oxide) chains of the copolymer aggregates at higher temperatures. This work illustrates the importance of considering the environment and composition of thermoresponsive block copolymers in certain applications, particularly in solutions with even modest electrolyte concentrations (1–10 mM), as it can have a profound effect on transition temperatures and morphology. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2014, 52, 507–516


Currently, industrial world is evolving at a rapid speed, where the demands of biofiber
are increasing. The consumptions and needs for bio-fibers are growing at an
exponential growth. Hence, this study focuses on the design and development of a
machine for extracting pineapple leaves fiber to meet the current demand besides
saving the environment. The machine is called Pineapple Leaf Fiber Machine 1 (PALF
M1). The thesis explains gathering reviews and information about such similar design
through patent search, journals, magazines and other information sources. Designs
processes were constructed in ways through task clarification, conceptual design,
embodiment design and finally detail design. Technical drawing of the machine's
designs and a complete simulation analysis were made by using the SolidWork 2013
software. The blueprint technical drawings were sent to fabricator for fabrication. The
machine was evaluated for functional and real tests. The results obtained from the tests
were really encouraging and impressive. The machine capable of surpassing human
labour up to 5 people, and the production rate estimated up to million pieces of
pineapple leaves annually. Through machine experiments and analysis, Josapine leaf,
which has many advantageous attributes and strength shows great promises to be used
for extraction process compared to Moris leaf. Based on the results and finding, PALF
M1 definitely is the future for fiber extraction and can be improved for other bio-fiber
extraction.


The San Juan Mine and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health conducted a study to measure how development mining affected bolt loads. Twelve fully grouted, instrumented roof bolts were installed at two three-way intersections as part of the standard bolting pattern. Newly developed miniature data acquisition systems (MIDAS) were used to measure bolt load changes during initial face advance and cross-cut breakthrough. The effects of cut placement and depth on roof bolt loads were studied. This test showed how bolt loads increased at five positions along the bolt length during initial mining. Both entry advance and crosscut breakthrough produced a similar percentage of increase in bolt loads. Geologic differences between the test sites were probably responsible for the differences in amounts of bolt loading. The test site with more top coal and a higher rock quality designation (RQD) had lower bolt loads.


ABSTRACTClove wood vessels is one of the most damaging diseases of clove plants. This disease is caused by the bacterial Ralstonia Syzygii. the bacterial Rasltonia Syzygii lives in clove wood vessels. The bacterial Ralstonia Syzygii ispread through the Hindola Spp vector. The matemathical model that represents the spread of the disease isdeveloped from the SEI model (Suspectible, Exposed, Infected). The model gives 4 critical points 𝑇1, 𝑇2, 𝑇3 and 𝑇4 exist interaction between bacterial population Ralstonia Syzygii and Hindola Spp vector is less than the level of vulnerable clove recruitman divided by carrying capacity of Ralstonia Syzygii bacterial multiplied by Hindola Spp carrying capacity. The results of system stability analysis at the critical point using linearization give unstable three critical points 𝑇1, 𝑇2, 𝑇3which describes equilibrium conditions and a stable 𝑇4 critical point which describes endemic conditions. Numerical simulations are carried out to describe temporary disease-free conditions, and stable endemic conditionsKeywords  : Clove Wood vessel Disease, Linierization Method, SEI Model


In this paper we extend the work of Smith and Papamichail (1999) and present fast approximate Bayesian algorithms for learning in complex scenarios where at any time frame, the relationships between explanatory state space variables can be described by a Bayesian network that evolve dynamically over time and the observations taken are not necessarily Gaussian. It uses recent developments in approximate Bayesian forecasting methods in combination with more familiar Gaussian propagation algorithms on junction trees. The procedure for learning state parameters from data is given explicitly for common sampling distributions and the methodology is illustrated through a real application. The efficiency of the dynamic approximation is explored by using the Hellinger divergence measure and theoretical bounds for the efficacy of such a procedure are discussed.


This report describes the clinical and haematological findings in three siblings homozygous for G gamma delta beta thalassaemia in an Indian family. There was a mild to moderate anaemia and markedly abnormal red cell morphology. Haemoglobin analysis showed 100% Hb F, solely of the G gamma type, with a pancellular but uneven distribution. Considerable chain imbalance was detectable in globin synthesis studies. In contrast to five previously reported cases, these children were essentially asymptomatic and have never required transfusions.


Ciguatera is a significant food-borne disease caused by potent polyether toxins (ciguatoxins) which accumulate in the flesh of ciguateric reef fish at risk levels > 0.1 ppb for Pacific ciguatoxins. Research on ciguatera has been severely hindered by the lack of analytical methods that detect and characterize low levels of ciguatoxin in crude extracts of fish. Here we report a new procedure for ciguatoxin analysis based on gradient reversed-phase HPLC/tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS/MS). The method gave a linear response to pure Pacific and Caribbean ciguatoxins (P-CTX-1 and C-CTX-1) and the structurally related brevetoxin (PbTx-2) spiked into crude extracts of fish. Levels equivalent to 40 ppt P-CTX-1, 100 ppt C-CTX-1, and 200 ppt PbTx-2 in fish flesh could be detected by HPLC/MS/MS. Using P-CTX-1 as an internal standard, the analysis of extracts of 30 ciguateric fish from the Caribbean Sea (8 toxic, 12 borderline, and 10 nontoxic by mouse bioassay) confirmed the reliability of the method and allowed an estimated risk level of > 0.25 ppb C-CTX-1 to be established. HPLC/MS/MS provides a sensitive analytical approach, not previously available, for the determination of Pacific and Caribbean ciguatoxins at sub-ppb levels in fish flesh.


Brief heating of a number of methyl 8-iodo-5,7-dimethoxy-2-naphthoate derivatives with a variety of added hydroxy-, methoxy-, or acetoxy-substituents in the 4- and 6-positions has been found to result in facile elimination of iodine in certain compounds but not others; subsequent examination of other aspects of the chemistry of the system have suggested this to be a solid state effect. Single crystal X-ray structure determinations have been carried out on a representative selection of compounds, suggesting that in those examples where elimination has been found to occur, intimate charge-transfer interactions between the conjugated systems of adjacent molecules arising from the nature of the crystal packing are responsible; in those compounds which do not eliminate iodine, similar interactions may also be found but are associated with substituent out-of-plane steric interactions which hinder relative movement of the naphthalene moieties in the lattice.


The KLOE collaboration recently reported bounds on the directional dependence of the lifetime of the short-lived neutral kaon K_S with respect to the cosmic microwave background dipole anisotropy. We interpret their results in a general framework developed to probe Lorentz violation in the weak interaction. In this approach a Lorentz-violating tensor \chi_{\mu\nu} is added to the standard propagator of the W boson. We derive the K_S decay rate in a naive tree-level model and calculate the asymmetry for the lifetime. By using the KLOE data the real vector part of \chi_{\mu\nu} is found to be smaller than 10^-2. We briefly discuss the theoretical challenges concerning nonleptonic decays.


This thesis describes the synthesis of coordinatively unsaturated bis- and mono-N-heterocyclic carbenes of Group 10 metal(0) complexes (Ni, Pd, Pt) and the study of their reaction chemistry and catalytic behaviour. Novel coordinatively unsaturated mono-NHC-Pd0 (NHC = N-heterocyclic carbene) complexes stabilised with activated olefin ligands (dimethylfumarate, DMFU and p-benzoquinone, BQ) have been synthesised and characterised, including by X-ray crystallography. The Pd (NHC)(DMFU)2 complexes were found to be the thermodynamic products of an equilibrium between bis- and mono-NHC-Pd (DMFU) species, the equilibrium reaction driven by the formation of an NHC-DMFU coupling product. The Pt (NHC)(DMFU)2 complex was also synthesised. Novel coordinatively unsaturated bis- and mono-NHC-Ni complexes stabilised with DMFU ligands were synthesised and crystallographically characterised. These Ni complexes have a dynamic behaviour in solution, and the same equilibrium observed for palladium between bis- and mono-NHC-M (DMFU) species with formation of an NHC-DMFU coupling product was also demonstrated to occur with nickel. Possible mechanisms for this unusual NHC-DMFU coupling process at these nickel and palladium(O) centres are discussed. The coordinatively unsaturated mono-NHC-Pd (DMFU/BQ) complexes, as well a bis-NHC-Pd complex, were tested as precatalysts in the telomerization of butadiene with methanol. All of these well-defined complexes were found to be extremely active and selective catalysts in the telomerization reaction. The C-H oxidative addition of imidazolium salts/ionic liquids to a coordinatively unsaturated mono-NHC-Pt0 complex and bis-NHC-Ni /Pd complexes was studied. These oxidative addition processes occur quickly under mild conditions and produce the corresponding bis- or tris-NHC-Mn-H complexes as surprisingly stable compounds. X-Ray crystallographic studies of the two tris-NHC-Mn-hydrido complexes (M= Ni, Pd) with the hydride ligands located are reported The combination of the imidazolium C2-H oxidative addition and the NHC-hydrocarbyl reductive elimination processes into a catalytic cycle to form a unique Ni-catalysed imidazo lium-alkene coupling reaction is reported. The scope of this new catalytic transformation that produces 2-alkylimidazolium salts under mild conditions is extended to other types of azolium salts. The implications of these results for NHC chemistry and for the use of imidazo Hum-based ionic liquids as solvents in transition-metal catalysed reactions is discussed.


The current trend toward portable computing systems (e.g., cellular phones, laptop computers) brings with it the need for a new paradigm to facilitate thinking about and designing distributed applications. We use the term mobile to refer to distributed systems that include moving, autonomous agents which loosely cooperate to accomplish a task. The fluid nature of the interconnections among components of a mobile system provides new challenges and opportunities for the research community. While we do not claim to have fully grasped all the issues involved in specifying and modeling such systems, we believe that the notions of place, time, and action will play a central role in any model that is developed. We show that these concepts can be expressed and reasoned about in the UNITY logic with a minimal amount of additional notation. The formal derivation of a control system for a radio-dispatched elevator is used to show how considerations involving place, time, and actions impact the design process, be it formal or semiformal.


Whether seen as a land of opportunity or as paradise lost, the American West took shape in the nation's imagination with the help of those who wrote about it; but two groups who did much to shape that perception are often overlooked today. Promoters trying to lure settlers and investors to the West insisted that the frontier had already been tamed-that the only frontiers remaining were those of opportunity. Through posters, pamphlets, newspaper articles, and other printed pieces, these boosters literally imagined places into existence by depicting backwater areas as settled, culturally developed regions where newcomers would find none of the hardships associated with frontier life. Quick on their heels, some of the West's original settlers had begun publishing their reminiscences in books and periodicals and banding together in pioneer societies to sustain their conception of frontier heritage. Their selective memory focused on the savage wilderness they had tamed, exaggerating the past every bit as much as promoters exaggerated the present. Although they are generally seen today as unscrupulous charlatans and tellers of tall tales, David Wrobel reveals that these promoters and reminiscers were more significant than their detractors have suggested. By exploring the vast literature produced by these individuals from the end of the Civil War through the 1920s, he clarifies the pivotal impact of their works on our vision of both the historic and mythic West. In examining their role in forging both sense of place within the West and the nation's sense of the West as a place, Wrobel shows that these works were vital to the process of identity formation among westerners themselves and to the construction of a "West" in the national imagination. Wrobel also sheds light on the often elitist, sometimes racist legacies of both groups through their characterizations of Native Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Asian Americans. In the era Wrobel examines, promoters painted the future of each western place as if it were already present, while the old-timers preserved the past as if it were still present. But, as he also demonstrates, that West has not really changed much: promoters still tout its promise, while old-timers still try to preserve their selective memories. Even relatively recent western residents still tap into the region's mythic pioneer heritage as they form their attachments to place. "Promised Lands" shows us that the West may well move into the twenty-first century, but our images of it are forever rooted in the nineteenth.


Many of the effects of Ca2+ signaling are mediated through the Ca2+/calmodulin complex and its acceptors, the Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases, including PSKH1. Studies of the proteins involved in the calcium metabolism in oysters will help elucidate the pearl formation mechanism. This paper describes a full-length PSKH1 cDNA isolated from pearl oyster Pinctada fucata. Oyster PSKH1 shares 65% homology with human PSKH1 and 48% similarity with rat CaM kinase I in the amino acid sequence, and contains a calmodulin-binding domain. The results of semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization revealed that oyster PSKH1 mRNA is highly expressed in the outer epithelial cells of the mantle pallial and in the gill epithelial cells. These studies provide important information describing the complex Ca2+ signaling mechanism in oyster calcium metabolism.


Kenya's highly successful mobile payment (m-payment) ecosystem – and in particular its 'star' service 'M-Pesa' – have been investigated in academic works (Foster and Heeks 2013; Jack et al. 2010; Orlikowski and Barrett 2014) and have attracted global media and policy attention. However, research on transferring such success to neighboring countries remains limited. In this paper, we examine m-payment services in Rwanda and compare the country's dominant service offering 'Mobile Money' to its Kenyan role model. Along ten factors suitable for assessing the potential contribution and the adoption of m-payment services in developing countries, we find several anchor points where Rwanda – to the better of its economy and national welfare – could learn from Kenya. Thereupon, we recommend establishing a regulatory framework, promoting adequate electricity as well as telecommunication infrastructures, and requiring – almost imposing – collaboration among stakeholders. Further, we find the need for Rwandan m-payment providers to build comprehensive distribution network of properly incentivized agents, especially in the country's rural areas with 85% of its population live.


Fruit aroma is an important consumer attribute of strawberry varieties. The key volatile compounds of the aromatic complex of strawberry fruit are mesifurane (fruity and caramel aromas) and γ-decalactone (fruity, sweet, or peachy aroma). The mesifurane content in strawberry fruit is controlled by the FaOMT gene, which is mapped to the distal region of the long arm of chromosome VII-F.1. The γ-decalactone content in strawberry fruit is controlled by the FaFAD1 gene, mapped to the distal region of the long arm of chromosome III-2. Identification of forms carrying genes for fruit flavor volatiles is an important step in breeding varieties with fragrant fruit. The use of molecular markers allows highly reliable detection of target gene alleles in a genome at early developmental stages. This study involves molecular genotyping of Fragaria L. varieties for the FaOMT and FaFAD1 genes, analysis of polymorphism of the loci in question, and identification of genotypes valuable for breeding. The objects of our study were wild species of the genus Fragaria L. and strawberry varieties (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) of different ecological and geographic origins. To assess the allelic states of the FaOMT gene, the codominant marker FaOMT-SI/NO was used, and for the FaFAD1 gene, the dominant marker FaFAD1. The functional allele of the FaOMT gene (FaOMT+) in the heterozygous state (FaOMT+FaOMT– genotype) was detected in 34.9 % of the accessions tested. The functional allele of the FaOMT gene in the homozygous state (FaOMT+FaOMT+ genotype) was detected in 51.2 % of the accessions. The homozygous state of the inactive allele (FaOMT–FaOMT– genotype) was detected in 13.9 % of the studied strawberry accessions. The FaFAD1 gene was identified in 25.6 % of the analyzed collection of strawberry genotypes, including the wild species F. orientalis Los., F. moschata Duch., F. ovalis Rydb. The combination of functional alleles of the FaOMT and FaFAD1 genes was detected in 16.3 % of the analyzed forms. The wild species F. orientalis Los. and F. moschata Duch. and strawberry variety Red Gauntlet combine the functional allele of the FaFAD1 gene with the homozygous state of the active allele of the FaOMT gene; therefore, we recommend them as promising sources of high contents of mesifurane and γ-decactone in fruit in breeding programs for fruit aroma.


In this paper we consider two problems regarding the scheduling of available personnel in order to perform a given quantity of work, which can be arbitrarily decomposed into a sequence of activities. We are interested in schedules which minimize the overall dissatisfaction, where each employee's dissatisfaction is modeled as a time-dependent linear function. For the two situations considered we provide a detailed mathematical analysis, as well as efficient algorithms for determining optimal schedules.


The reliability of information collected from at large Internet users by open collaborative wikis such as Wikipedia has been a subject of widespread debate. This paper provides a practical proposal for improving user confidence in wiki information by coloring the text of a wiki article based on the venerability of the text. This proposal relies on the philosophy that bad information is less likely to survive a collaborative editing process over large numbers of edits. Colorization would provide users with a clear visual cue as to the level of confidence that they can place in particular assertions made within a wiki article.


BACKGROUND
Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited disease characterized by both mental and motor dysfunctions. Our previous studies showed that HD mice demonstrate a diminished pain response. However, few studies have focused on the relationship between HD and morphine analgesia. The purpose of this study is to investigate and compare the analgesic effects of morphine in HD and wild-type (WT) mice.

METHODS
We used clinically similar transgenic HD mice (7-10 weeks of age with motor dysfunction at 8-9 months of age) carrying a mutant Huntington CAG trinucleotide repeats in order to evaluate morphine analgesia. The morphine (10 mg/kg sc.) analgesia was evaluated with a tail-flick in hot water (52°C). Mice spinal cords were harvested at the end of the analgesia studies. An immunofluorescence assay and western blotting were used to identify changes in the cells and cytokines.

RESULTS
Our data demonstrate that pre-onset young HD mice exhibited a better analgesic response to morphine than the WT mice. Western blotting and an immunohistological examination of the lumbar spinal cord tissue indicated less activation of glial cells and astrocytes in the HD mice compared to the WT mice. The production levels of tumor necrosis factor α and interleukine-1β were also lower in the young HD mice.

CONCLUSION
Our data demonstrate better morphine analgesic and less pain-related cytokine responses at the spinal cord level for HD mice. Further studies are needed to determine the morphine analgesia mechanism in HD.


The cobalt cubium Co4O4(OAc)4(py)4(ClO4) (1A(+)) containing the mixed valence [Co4O4](5+) core is shown by multiple spectroscopic methods to react with hydroxide (OH(-)) but not with water molecules to produce O2. The yield of reaction products is stoichiometric (>99.5%): 41A(+) + 4OH(-) → O2 + 2H2O + 41A. By contrast, the structurally homologous cubium Co4O4(trans-OAc)2(bpy)4(ClO4)3, 1B(ClO4)3, produces no O2. EPR/NMR spectroscopies show clean conversion to cubane 1A during O2 evolution with no Co(2+) or Co3O4 side products. Mass spectrometry of the reaction between isotopically labeled μ-(16)O(bridging-oxo) 1A(+) and (18)O-bicarbonate/water shows (1) no exchange of (18)O into the bridging oxos of 1A(+), and (2) (36)O2 is the major product, thus requiring two OH(-) in the reactive intermediate. DFT calculations of solvated intermediates suggest that addition of two OH(-) to 1A(+) via OH(-) insertion into Co-OAc bonds is energetically favored, followed by outer-sphere oxidation to intermediate [1A(OH)2](0). The absence of O2 production by cubium 1B(3+) indicates the reactive intermediate derived from 1A(+) requires gem-1,1-dihydoxo stereochemistry to perform O-O bond formation. Outer-sphere oxidation of this intermediate by 2 equiv of 1A(+) accounts for the final stoichiometry. Collectively, these results and recent literature (Faraday Discuss., doi:10.1039/C5FD00076A and J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2015, 137, 12865-12872) validate the [Co4O4](4+/5+) cubane core as an intrinsic catalyst for oxidation of hydroxide by an inner-sphere mechanism.


Measuring rotating tool-tip frequency response functions (FRFs) is difficult because of the fluted tip geometry. The methods based on receptance coupling substructure analysis (RCSA) can obtain rotating tool-tip FRFs with a few tests. Existing RCSA-based methods require at least one smooth rod for measurement and then mathematically calculate the desired rotating tool-tip FRFs. However, involving the inverse of the experimentally obtained FRFs matrix, these methods are susceptible to the measurement noise in the rotating structure. In addition, the inconsistency between the holder–tool and holder–rod connections is another uncertainty which impacts accuracy. This paper presents a robust RCSA-based method to obtain rotating tool-tip FRFs. It is found that tool-tip FRFs can be calculated from another point FRFs on the same assembly. Then, one point on the smooth cylindrical shank of the tool is selected for measurement. The measured FRFs, along with those from the theoretical tool model, calculate the rotating tool-tip FRFs. Compared with the previous methods, the proposed one does not require inverting the measured FRFs matrix, inherently avoiding amplification of measurement noise. Since the tool replacement is no longer required, in situ measurement is achieved to ensure the same holder–tool connection throughout the procedure. The proposed method is first validated in a numerical case and then verified experimentally by a commercial hammer and laser vibrometer. Both results show that the method is insensitive to the measurement noise and can obtain rotating tool-tip FRFs with considerable accuracy.


This study examined the relationship between whistleblowing intention and organizational commitment of commercial bank workers in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. A survey research design was adopted and a purposive sample of two hundred respondents was given copies of the questionnaire, out of which one hundred and ninety-one useful ones were retrieved. STATA statistical software package was used for the data analysis. The descriptive data analysis was carried out using mean and standard deviation, while reliability was tested using cronbach alpha coefficient. Furthermore, correlation and variance inflation factor (VIF) was used to test for multicollinearity among the independent variables. The research hypotheses were tested using multiple regression analysis. The study found a non-significant positive relationship between internal whistleblowing intention and organizational commitment. In addition, a significant positive relationship was found between external whistleblowing intention and organizational commitment. Based on this, the study recommended that commercial bank workers should be encouraged to develop organizational commitment as this would motivate them to blow the whistle when they discover wrongdoing or unethical behavior in their place of work. Future researchers should include other antecedents of whistleblowing as additional explanatory variables.


Raw and processed Beetroot (Beta vulgaris) were assessed for the natural antioxidants; Total phenol, flavonoids, vitamin C using Folin-Ciocalteau, potassium acetate and dinitophenyl hydrazine. The antioxidant radical scavenging abilities were evaluated using 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) [ABTS] and ferric reducing antioxidant property [FRAP] respectively. Raw beetroots and the beetroot juice contained the highest amount of total phenol (98.08. ± 8.16mg/g and 98.08. ± 5.77mg/GAE/g) respectively. Oven dried beetroot have the lowest value for total phenol (94.23 ± 2.72mg/GAE/g. The heat treated beetroot had the highest flavonoids of 96.67±10.10mgGE/g. Flavonoids were lowest for the raw beetroot (63.34±4.72mg/QE/g). Oven dried and Beetroot juice have a total flavonoid value of 83.34 ± 4.471mg/GE/g and 83.34 ± 3.34mg/GE/g respectively. Vitamin C content was highest in Beetroot juice (44.34±2.84mgAAE/g) and lowest in heat treated beetroot (30.18±0.61mgAAE/g). Heat treated Beetroot have the highest value for ABTS scavenging ability. FRAP value (33.33 ±0.00) was highest in oven dried beetroot. Raw Beetroot and its juice possess significant antioxidant and radical scavenging abilities which correlated positively with the natural antioxidants. Heat treatment however, increased the flavonoids present in the beetroot samples with a corresponding increase in the ABTS and FRAP scavenging abilities (19.85± 4.15 and 33.33 ±0.00) respectively. Beetroot in its natural and processed form is a rich source of antioxidants and free antioxidants scavenging abilities


Ribosome biogenesis requires multiple nuclease activities to process pre-rRNA transcripts into mature rRNA species and eliminate defective products of transcription and processing. We find that in mammalian cells, the 5′ exonuclease Xrn2 plays a major role in both maturation of rRNA and degradation of a variety of discarded pre-rRNA species. Precursors of 5.8S and 28S rRNAs containing 5′ extensions accumulate in mouse cells after siRNA-mediated knockdown of Xrn2, indicating similarity in the 5′-end maturation mechanisms between mammals and yeast. Strikingly, degradation of many aberrant pre-rRNA species, attributed mainly to 3′ exonucleases in yeast studies, occurs 5′ to 3′ in mammalian cells and is mediated by Xrn2. Furthermore, depletion of Xrn2 reveals pre-rRNAs derived by cleavage events that deviate from the main processing pathway. We propose that probing of pre-rRNA maturation intermediates by exonucleases serves the dual function of generating mature rRNAs and suppressing suboptimal processing paths during ribosome assembly.


This thesis examines the narrative grammar of Wanwolhyemaengyeon in the point of reading dynamics. Established studies of narrative grammar on river novels focused on 'Work', but this thesis focuses on 'readers'. For this, the thesis examined 'technique of digression', 'technique of correspondence between opening and close', and 'technique of repetition'. Firstly looking at 'technique of digression', the digression among family is activated through insistent appearance of active extras. These digressions make readers meditate existing events, relax, and intervent into the text positively. Looking at 'technique of correspondence between opening and close', the opening of Wanwolhyemaengyeon promotes readers' understanding and interesting, and prepares the heart of fore stories through presenting fore events plainly. On the other side, the close of the Wanwolhyemaengyeon makes readers experience unique completion of the work through the scene of retrospect on Wanwol pavilion. About 'technique of repetition, this thesis examined that Wanwolhyemaengyeon make readers awaken earlier events insistently and feel settled rhythm through repetition of similar events. And this technique gives readers broad view point not burying in the existing one event.


Due to their global presence, persistence, and adverse health effects, perflurinated compounds (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances PFASs) have become major chemical of concern for drinking water supplies worldwide. Presence of these PFCs in various geographical regions and environmental matrices across globe has been well documented in literature. This range from drinking water in New Hampshire, USA to arctic ice to surface waters in Asia, and Europe to aquatic life, and so on. Presence of long chain, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) have received greater attention from the drinking water utilities in recent years in United States. US EPA has recently issued a revised health advisory for PFOA and PFOS concentrations to 70ng/L. Corresponding health advisory for shorter chain (C4-C7) perflurinated compounds is 300-7000ng/L. This widespread nature of these contaminants has made a strong need for identifying appropriate and resilient water treatment technologies that can be incorporated in existing drinking water infrasturecures. Detection and accurately quantifying these chemicals of concern at such low level (ng/L) pose a bigger analytical challenge for researchers. There is a strong need to develop more cost-effective ways to determine such contaminants so that these PFCs can be monitored on a more regular basis. PFOA and PFOS's low volatility and high water solubility makes it harder to effectively and efficiently remove these contaminants using many conventional treatment technologies. This paper outlines major treatment technologies that can be incorporated in existing water infrastructure. Two major such technologies are adsorption (granulated and powdered activated carbon) and membrane filtration (reverse osmosis, nanofiltration etc). Concentrated brine generation during water treatment limits the use of membrane filtration in water scarce areas. Adsorption using activated carbon has proved to be effective in removing these perfluorinated compounds. Presence of such GAC/PAC systems in existing drinking water treatment trains make these technologies more attractive. New advances in carbon materials has further improved the removal efficiencies of PFOA and PFOS. However, disposal of spent media (carbon) may pose a greater threat as incinerating such material requires energy. To make such process energy efficient, more research is required to develop novel sorbents for PFOA and PFOS removal.


Stroke in the cancer patient is most often caused by disorders of coagulation that are induced by the cancer, by cancer metastatic to the central nervous system, or by coagulation disorders or vascular injury induced by cancer therapy. Nonbacterial thrombotic endocarditis with diffuse thrombosis of cerebral vessels is often the cause of cerebral infarction. Venous occlusion is most common in leukemic patients but can also result from growth of solid tumor in the adjacent skull or dura. Chemotherapy administration is associated with a small risk of cerebral arterial or venous thrombosis. Radiation that is administered to the neck can result in delayed carotid atherosclerosis. Tumor embolization to the brain is a rare cause of stroke. Fungal septic cerebral emboli occur most commonly in leukemic patients who have undergone bone marrow transplant. Hemorrhages occur in the brain parenchyma or subdural space and are most commonly caused by acute disseminated intravascular coagulation or metastatic tumor. Hemolysis from chemotherapy administration is a rare cause of brain hemorrhage. Neuroimaging studies, measurement of coagulation function, and echocardiography are the must useful modalities to identify the cause of stroke.


AIM
The aim of this study was to investigate whether COL5A1 rs12722 polymorphism is associated with musculoskeletal injuries in elite soccer players.

METHODS
Fifty-four male professional soccer players of European origin (25.9±4.3 years) were recruited from a team participating at the Official Italian Professional Championship during four consecutive seasons (2009-2013). The incidence and severity of musculoskeletal injuries and its relationship to COL5A1 rs12722 polymorphism were analyzed. DNA was extracted from buccal swab. The cohort was genotyped for the COL5A1 rs12722 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) through PCR and enzyme digestion with BstUI, and musculoskeletal injuries data were collected during the four seasons. Injuries were categorized under 5 degrees of severity based on the number of days' absence, while musculoskeletal injuries incidence was calculated per 1,000 hours of exposure to training and matches ((∑ injuries/∑ exposure hours) x 1000).

RESULTS
No significant differences were found among genotypes for incidence of musculoskeletal injuries (P=0.683). Participants with TT genotype (3.71±0.5, N.=4) showed a trend (P=0.193) versus an higher severity of injuries than individuals with TC (2.98±0.8, N.=10) or CC (2.75±0.95, n=4) genotypes. The COL5A1 rs12722 accounted for 44% of severity of injuries (P=0.002).

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the COL5A1 rs12722 was found to be associated with severity of musculoskeletal injuries but not with incidence of musculoskeletal injuries in top-level soccer players.


Objective: Both social stratification (e.g., social rank) as well as economic resources (e.g., income) are thought to contribute to socioeconomic health disparities. It has been proposed that subjective socioeconomic status (an individual's perception of his or her hierarchical rank) provides increased predictive utility for physical health over and above more traditional, well-researched socioeconomic constructs such as education, occupation, and income. Method: PsycINFO and PubMed databases were systematically searched for studies examining the association of subjective socioeconomic status (SES) and physical health adjusting for at least 1 measure of objective SES. The final sample included 31 studies and 99 unique effects. Meta-analyses were performed to: (a) estimate the overlap among subjective and objective indicators of SES and (b) estimate the cumulative association of subjective SES with physical health adjusting for objective SES. Potential moderators such as race and type of health indicator assessed (global self-reports vs. more specific and biologically based indicators) were also examined. Results: Across samples, subjective SES shows moderate overlap with objective indicators of SES, but associations are much stronger in Whites than Blacks. Subjective SES evidenced a unique cumulative association with physical health in adults, above and beyond traditional objective indicators of SES (Z = .07, SE = .01, p < .05). This association was stronger for self-rated health than for biologically based and symptom-specific measures of health. Almost all available data were cross-sectional and do not allow for strong causal inference. Conclusions: Subjective SES may provide unique information relevant to understanding disparities in health, especially self-rated health.


The study of the sedimentary record of nonmarine aquatic systems (paleolimnology) provides a tool for reconstructing the history of the basins themselves, as well as the history of the atmospheric and terrestrial systems that influence them. Such records allow us to understand environmental dynamics over periods longer than that of recorded history. Among inland aquatic systems, lakes have been studied more extensively; therefore, this review focuses on insights regarding environmental structure and function gained from studying lake sediments. Studies of the lacustrine paleolimnological record have been used to describe patterns of long-term climatic variation and the response of lakes to changes in climate and catchment vegetation and soils. Although ecological literature from the early decades of the twentieth century suggested that lakes became enriched over time (eutrophic), eventually filling with sediment and becoming wetlands, it is now clear that there are multiple developmental pathways for lakes. Some lakes indeed become enriched, whereas others show a long-term decline in nutrient concentrations and pH. Similarly, succession from lake to bog or wetland is not a universal trend. Paleolimnological studies also have been used to reconstruct the recent history of eutrophication, lake acidification, and atmospheric pollution. In these studies, the history archived in lake sediments provides a tool for measuring the magnitude of human impacts on the environment and for evaluating whether twentieth century patterns fall outside the natural range of environmental variation.

Keywords:

paleolimnology;
paleohydrology;
paleoclimate;
limnogeology;
lake sediments;
lake acidification;
eutrophication;
climate change;
atmospheric pollution


We show that the expansion of ejecta in Tycho's supernova remnant (SNR) is consistent with a spherically symmetric shell, based on Suzaku measurements of the Doppler broadened X-ray emission lines. All of the strong Kα line emissions show broader widths at the center than at the rim, while the centroid energies are constant across the remnant (except for Ca). This is the pattern expected for Doppler broadening due to expansion of the SNR ejecta in a spherical shell. To determine the expansion velocities of the ejecta, we applied a model for each emission-line feature having two Gaussian components separately representing red- and blueshifted gas, and inferred the Doppler velocity difference between these two components directly from the fitted centroid energy difference. Taking into account the effect of projecting a three-dimensional shell to the plane of the detector, we derived average spherical expansion velocities independently for the Kα emission of Si, S, Ar, and Fe, and Kβ of Si. We found that the expansion velocities of Si, S, and Ar ejecta of 4700 ± 100 km s−1 are distinctly higher than that obtained from Fe Kα emission, 4000 ± 300 km s−1, which is consistent with segregation of the Fe in the inner ejecta. Combining the observed ejecta velocities with the ejecta proper-motion measurements by Chandra, we derived a distance to Tycho's SNR of 4 ± 1 kpc.


Date Presented 4/19/2018
 This study provides quantitative data showing the functional limitations of deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals in instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) before and after an adapted 8-wk yoga intervention. IADL performance was measured using the Performance Assessment of Self-Care Skills.
 Primary Author and Speaker: Sarah Curtis
 Additional Authors and Speakers: Lisa Leppla
 Contributing Authors: Sarah Dietrich, Grace Hovde, Muhammad Al-Heizan, Kristen Pickett


We proposed a learning algorithm for human to conduct literature and data mining for causal factor discovery. The applicability is to select features for a machine learning prediction model, including but not limited to that using real-world, time-varying data from electronic health records. This protocol is relatively quick to find potentially actionable predictors for a clinical prediction while dealing with high dimensionality in big data. However, this protocol might not find a potentially novel cause, since this only exhaustively examines the existing evidences in a single study. The key stages consisted of systematic human learning, causal diagram construction, data preprocessing, causal inference modeling, and development and validation of a prediction model to describe the explainability.


Abstract We conducted a retrospective study that compared serial α-fetoprotein (AFP) concentrations obtained from 22 children with Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) with levels established for healthy children. The AFP concentration is greater in patients with BWS and declines during the postnatal period at a significantly slower rate than what is reported in healthy children. AFP levels obtained in the course of routine tumor screening in children with BWS should be interpreted with a normal curve established specifically for BWS rather than with previously published data for healthy infants and children. (J Pediatr 2000;137:123-7)


A gravelly sand deposit at 103 m depth on the summit region of Mount Palinuro, a seamount approximately 100 km off the W coast of Italy, is made up of a mixture of manganese and iron micronodules with shallow water shell debris. The manganese-rich micronodules have very high Mn: Fe ratios, they are deficient in minor elements and todorokite is their principal manganese oxide phase. The iron-rich concretions are made up of smectite, probably along with amorphous iron oxides and/or hydroxides. The high degree of partition of manganese and iron and the mineralogical variation suggest that the deposit has a hydrothermal origin. The associated shell debris appears to be entirely of recent origin suggesting that Mount Palinuro has been volcanically active in historical times. This places constraints on models for the tectonism of the southern Tyrrhenian Sea.


The photolabile and fluorescent system 1 was prepared via a convergent route which involved thymidine 3'-functionalized with a proline residue. Photodecomposition of 1 was examined using 360 nm irradiation. Without any additives, 5'-silylated thymidine was not formed, but the Nα-deprotected cyclization precursor II accumulated instead. However, in the presence of ethanolamine, 5'-silylated thymidine formed at a rate which increases with the concentration of ethanolamine.


Reinforced concrete flat plate slabs and slabs with drop panels often exhibit radial cracking in the vicinity of column supports under normal service/construction loading. This behavior has been observed in slabs in which design and/or construction errors have been identified, and in properly designed and constructed slabs. As such, the occurrence of radial cracking is not itself indicative of either design of construction errors, much less unanticipated performance. Negative flexural stresses are typically responsible for a concentration of cracking in the immediate vicinity of the columns, which commonly manifests in a star-burst pattern of radial cracks, interspersed with orthogonal or circumferential cracking. Such cracking can be found in reinforced concrete flat plate slabs in buildings that have been in service for decades, as well as in new buildings shortly after removal of shoring. While this cracking may be of potential concern to building owners, building officials, and design professionals as it may signify high flexural stresses and may result in undesirable exposure of the negative flexural reinforcing to moisture and chlorides, it is normally not indicative of a serious structural problem, and can be readily shown by analysis to occur under normal service conditions. Despite this, radial slab cracking appears to be mistaken as indicative of design or construction errors, structural overload, or punching shear failure nearly as often as it is recognized as normal behavior. Multiple case-study structures in which radial slab cracking has occurred are presented to illustrate typical in-field radial slab cracking conditions, and nonlinear finite element analyses are provided that illustrate the propensity of a variety of slab configurations to develop radial cracking when subjected only to self weight. As the case studies and analyses show, radial slab cracking is not damage at all, but rather is a predictable and expected occurrence that should be anticipated in code-compliant flat plates under service dead load, without any design errors, construction errors, structural overload, or punching shear failures. The purpose of this paper is to provide real-life examples documenting cracking in concrete floor structures, to demonstrate via analysis why the cracking occurred, to identify factors influencing the appearance of the cracks, and to quantify the loading intensities required to form a well-developed system of cracks.


In this paper we describe an integrated approach for assessing the general economic effectiveness, efficiency and impact of public policy actions for large investment programs of the kind implemented over the past fifteen years in EU-aided Structural Fund programmes. Far from being rigid, our modelling philosophy includes both formal tools designed to assess all relevant effects, as well as informal (intuitive) elements to allow for flexible policy design and evaluation. When setting up an integrated micro-macro (IMM) model we are trying to over-come two major shortcomings in actual policy design and analysis: Firstly, to bridge the gap between the scientific requirements of model-based decision making and evaluation and the practical requirement for flexible and easy to use decision support tools that are well suited for day-to-day application. Secondly, to address the observed discrepancy in policy analysis between programme monitoring and evaluation realized at a highly aggregate level using quantitative macromodels (the so called "top down" approach) and the highly disaggregated approach to project evaluation, marked as micro- or "bottom up"-approaches.


The routing problem in wireless sensor networks is one of the most important issues that guarantee the optimum functionality of a sensor network. Due to the energy limitation of each node in a sensor network, routing should be done in a way that the overall network life time will be maximized. In this paper we present an intelligent method based on self organizing neural networks which optimizes the routing according to the amount of energy of each node in the network and its computation power.


A large earthquake can drastically deform the land surface including buildings, roads and slopes, therefore prompt topographic mapping of damaged areas is crucial for identification of those changes just after the earthquake. Photographs or videos taken either on ground or from air often provide great amount of information, but more can be obtained, including three dimensional data, from those datasets. Structure-from-Motion Multi-View Stereo (SfM-MVS) photogrammetry enables to generate three-dimensional topographic data from multiple photographs or video images. Here the author demonstrates prompt 3D mapping of the earthquake-triggered landslide occurred in Minami-Aso, Kumamoto. Several data sources are utilized for the photogrammetric processing, including oblique aerial photographs taken from a manned aircraft, and video images taken by either a manned or unmanned aircraft. The data processing can be carried out remotely, without the necessity to visit the field site if the data sources are provided online. Topographic data, with accuracies on the order of meters, were obtained within tens of minutes after these data sources became available. An example is shown in the figure attached, which was generated from oblique aerial photographs provided by Geospatial Authority of Japan (GSI). During the data processing, setting ground control points (GCPs) was the most time consuming because it requires manual reading of the images. The images of the mapped data (topographic contour lines, hillshade image, and orthorectified photographs) were promptly shared over online social networks including twitter and facebook, as visible jpg or animation gif files, and the data itself including point cloud, digital elevation model and orthorectified image were published in an online data storage system (Hayakawa, 2016). Three-dimensional models (point cloud or TIN) were also shared online to enhance the visibility of the data. These data helped some people particularly in remote places (e.g., university students and overseas researchers) to understand the situation of the landslide area, although limitations exist for the on-site use. For the purpose of enhancing the use of prompt and accurate 3D mapping, the speed of such data processing should be further improved. The exported products should also be in other formats, not only digital ones but also printed paper maps, if they are to be used for on-site rescue purposes. This study is supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grants (25702014). Hayakawa, Yuichi (2016),"Topographic data generated from oblique aerial photos in Minami-Aso, Kumamoto, Japan just after the April 2016 earthquake", Mendeley Data, v1. doi:10.17632/sbxkzhy7h6.1


Many individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) demonstrate some challenges with personal narrative writing. Sentence completion tests (SCT) is a class of semi-structured projective techniques and encourage respondents to disclose their private narratives. Even in SCT, only providing beginning of sentences is inadequate to compensate atypicalities in their creativity and imagination, and self-disclosure is difficult for many individuals with ASD. It is reported that many individuals with ASD often achieve a higher degree of task engagement through interactions with robots and that robotic systems may be useful in eliciting and promoting social communication such as self-disclosure for some individuals with ASD. There is a possibility that exemplification by android robots in place of human interviewers can result in a higher degree of task engagement for individuals with ASD. The objective of this study was to investigate whether additional exemplifications by android robots in the SCT can prompt self-disclosure for individuals with ASD. We compared the difference in disclosure statements and subjective emotion in the testing paper of the SCT in additional exemplification by an android robot and a human interviewer. In addition, we assessed the disclosure statements and subjective emotions in the SCT, for which exemplifications were written on testing paper to make the comparison. Our quantitative data suggested that exemplification by android robot promoted more self-disclosure, especially about the negative topic compared to exemplification by a human interviewer and that written on test paper. In addition, the level of participant embarrassment in response to exemplification by the android robot seemed to be lower compared to that in the human interviewer condition. In the assessment and support for individuals with ASD, eliciting self-disclosure is a pressing issue. It is hoped that the appropriate use of robots will lead to a better understanding and support for their application.


Optimum peace maintenance amongst monitored communities is needed for sustainable and social development of the communities and society. The maintenance of peace with the application of correct strategies should be able to deliver maximum degree of trust and strength of relations among the communities. This study presents STES, an expert system that utilizes a biologically inspired novel optimization technique of semiotics that imitates the behavior of predators in marking their territories with their odours and physical marks, known as territorial predator scent marking strategies (TPSMS), to obtain appropriate strategies for maintenance of peace. The current study presents the use of game theory and deterministic finite automata (DFA) theory to model and design a strategic rule set for the Expert System to take decisions for maintenance of optimum peace amongst the communities. A DFA is obtained using various peace states as the set of states, and the alphabet set is constructed by modelling a two-person Prisoner's Dilemma game over TPSMS.  A context free grammar is then obtained by employing top-down parsing, which would suggest the proper rules to be included in the rule set of the Expert System for the maintenance of peace and bringing out sustainable development. A key objective in such decision making therefore would be to select the semiotical peace maintenance strategy in a manner that their applicability configuration ensures a high degree of cooperation within often intensely conflicting communities, over a long term resource use scenario.

 Key words: Peace, semiotics, prisoner's dilemma game, deterministic finite automata (DFA), context free grammar, top-down parsing, territorial predator scent marking strategy.


Thyroid nodules with best needle aspiration (FNA) cytology categorised as atypia of undetermined significance (AUS) regularly undergo extra diagnostic evaluation with the Afirma Gene Expression Classifier (GEC) which classifies these as both excessive possibility of being benign (GEC-B) or suspicious for malignancy (GEC-S). Our goal become to assess the medical validity and utility of GEC in the evaluation of AUS cytology and compare the overall performance of ultrasonography (USG) for predicting malignancy on this subset.Thyroid nodules are one of the maximum common issues cited the endocrine practice. While four%-7% of the overall adult population has palpable nodules, greater than 50% has thyroid nodules on ultrasonography (USG).Approximately five% of all thyroid nodules are malignant, and the incidence of thyroid carcinoma has been growing in latest years. Therefore, the correct identification of malignant nodules and the avoidance of pointless procedures for benign nodules represent a main clinical and diagnostic venture.USG is an important diagnostic tool in predicting thyroid malignancy and highlighting thyroid nodules that need to be assessedby FNA. Suspicious USG features include marked hypo echogenicity, abnormal borders, micro calcifications and a taller than- huge shape. A combination of those capabilities is thought to offer higher diagnostic accuracy than a single feature by myself.Fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy is a extensively used technique for assessing the malignancy chance of thyroid nodules. In maximum times, the FNA outcomes are both benign or malignant, making an allowance for suitable management while 15% to 30% of cases are considered indeterminate. As in line with the Bethesda device for reporting thyroid cytopathology, indeterminate categories consists of atypia of undetermined significance (AUS)/follicular lesion of undetermined importance (FLUS) and follicular neoplasm or suspicious for follicular neoplasm (FN). The chance of malignancy in indeterminate nodules varies significantly between institutions as does the following method after receiving one of these cytological result.


In this paper, we present a low-voltage tunable active filter for microwave applications. The proposed filter is based on a single-transistor active inductor (AI), that allows the reduction of circuit area and power consumption. The three active-cell bandpass filter has a 1950 MHz center frequency with a -1 dB flat bandwidth of 10 MHz (Q ≈ 200), a shape factor (30–3 dB) of 2.5, and can be tuned in the range 1800–2050 MHz, with constant insertion loss. A dynamic range of about 75 dB is obtained, with a P1dB compression point of -5 dBm. The prototype board, fabricated on a TLX-8 substrate, has a 4 mW power consumption with a 1.2 V power supply voltage.


One of the most challenging tasks in providing water services is proportion of water loss or known as non-revenue water (NRW). NRW is water supplied to the consumer, but it is lost before it reaches the consumer. The losses of NRW is related with water billing and water produced by local agencies such as Air Selangor. One of the ways to overcome NRW is by changing inaccurate or malfunctioned water meter, but the local department's water meter still uses the manual method. An innovative geospatial mobile application for water loss meter tracking system was developed at AIR Selangor s, Shah Alam. The main stages used in this study were identifying the problem, designing the app, developing the app and lastly evaluating the app's performance. Selected officers and contractors of the department agreed with the recommendation made by the authors to develop a digitized system based on the current system. The app has technical capabilities to improve the current system which uses pen and paper to manage water loss via meter system at the site. This geographical information system (GIS)-based application could also update and locate all the coordinates of water meters efficiently so that the contractor can easily find the malfunctioned water meters. The respondents agreed that the design and practical functions developed in the app are relevant in dealing with the water problem.


We calculate effects of an applied helically symmetric potential on the low energy electronic spectrum of a carbon nanotube in the continuum approximation. The spectrum depends on the strength of this potential and on a dimensionless geometrical parameter, P, which is the ratio of the circumference of the nanotube to the pitch of the helix. We find that the minimum band gap of a semiconducting nanotube is reduced by an arbitrarily weak helical potential, and for a given field strength there is an optimal P which produces the biggest change in the band gap. For metallic nanotubes the Fermi velocity is reduced by this potential and for strong fields two small gaps appear at the Fermi surface in addition to the gapless Dirac point. A simple model is developed to estimate the magnitude of the field strength and its effect on DNA-CNT complexes in an aqueous solution. We find that under typical experimental conditions the predicted effects of a helical potential are likely to be small and we discuss several methods for increasing the size of these effects.


A "study in depth" is reported concerning the case of hemolytic disease of a group B infant born to a group O mother, whose group A twin was apparently unaffected. It was shown that the hemolytic disease of the affected infant was due to a specific anti-B antibody. The study included parallel examinations of the antibodies in the sera of the three individuals.

The specificity of the B-anti-B reaction was demonstrated in vitro and in vivo. The powerful anti-B antibody of the mother had no effect on the group A twin, in whose serum anti-B was present in large amounts.

In vitro, studied by the usual technics of cross absorption the maternal and the fetal anti-A and anti-B serum antibodies behaved as if strictly specific. By applying successive absorption, elution and neutralization techniques, however, it was possible to demonstrate additional cross-reacting antibodies in the maternal serum which could be separated from one another and from the specific anti-A and anti-B antibodies. From the erythrocytes of the normal group A twin such cross-reacting antibody could be eluted.

The cross-reacting anti-B antibody, isolated in pure form in eluates, could be shown to be loosely attached to group A erythrocytes without producing visible agglutination reactions while after elution from A cells it did visibly agglutinate group B cells. It could be eluted from A cells, absorbed by fresh A cells and reeluted while retaining its anti-B effect. It was neutralized by group B saliva only. A separate anti-A antibody with similar properties was eluted from B cells and specifically neutralized by group A saliva.

A partial affinity of these antibodies for heterologous erythrocytes but not for specific soluble substances was thus demonstrated. These findings support neither the linkage hypothesis of cross reactions between anti-A and anti-B nor the C-anti-C hypothesis of hemolytic disease. They are in keeping with the view that group O sera contain variable complexes of anti-A and anti-B antibodies, composed of multiple fractions with different partial specificities. It is suggested that the occurrence or non-occurrence of cross-reacting antibodies found in sera of group O mothers whose infants develop hemolytic disease is best explained on this basis. It is further stressed that the demonstration of an antibody in mother or child in ABO hemolytic disease does not necessarily indicate its pathologic significance.


Oceanic archipelagos have long been treated as a Petri dish for studies of evolutionary and ecological processes. Like archipelagos, cities exhibit similar patterns and processes, such as the rapid phenotypic divergence of a species between urban and nonurban environments. However, on a local scale, cities can be highly heterogenous, where geographically close populations can experience dramatically different environmental conditions. Nevertheless, we are yet to understand the evolutionary and ecological implications for populations spread across a heterogenous cityscape. To address this, we compared neutral genetic divergence to quantitative trait divergence within three native riparian and four city park populations of an iconic urban adapter, the eastern water dragon. We demonstrated that selection is likely acting to drive divergence of snout‐vent length and jaw width across native riparian populations that are geographically isolated and across city park populations that are geographically close yet isolated by urbanization. City park populations as close as 0.9 km exhibited signs of selection‐driven divergence to the same extent as native riparian populations isolated by up to 114.5 km. These findings suggest that local adaptation may be occurring over exceptionally small geographic and temporal scales within a single metropolis, demonstrating that city parks can act as archipelagos for the study of rapid evolution.


Mycobacterium species are slow growing bacteria that cause significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Because of the relative rarity of mycobacterial infections, potential for detection of nonpathogenic environmental contaminants, and substantial costs associated with molecular diagnostics, effective screening methods are needed to identify samples most suitable for molecular testing. While anatomic pathology specimens can be utilized to identify characteristic histologic inflammatory patterns and to directly visualize mycobacteria through histochemical (acid fast bacilli [AFB]) stains, the utility of immunohistochemistry (IHC) in this setting is unknown. A cohort of 121 cases previously referred for mycobacterial sequencing, including 12 Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), 42 nontuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM), and 67 cases negative for mycobacteria by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), were stained with an antimycobacteria antibody, and the results were compared with histology, AFB stains, PCR, and cultures. IHC was positive in 50% MTB, 81% NTM, and 49% of cases negative for mycobacteria by sequencing, with excellent (>90%) concordance with AFB stains. Organisms were identifiable by IHC using a 10× objective in the majority of cases. Negative PCR with positive IHC was attributed to paucity of organisms in 30/33 cases, and positive PCR with negative IHC was most often associated with MTB. IHC is highly sensitive for NTM but has a lower sensitivity for MTB, suggesting that cases with a high clinical and histologic suspicion for MTB should be sent for PCR even when AFB and IHC are negative. Incorporation of IHC into a screening algorithm for molecular testing has the potential for significant savings of cost and time.


Ethernet networks rely on the so-called spanning tree protocol (IEEE 802.1d) in order to break cycles, thereby avoiding the possibility of infinitely circulating packets and deadlocks. This protocol imposes a severe penalty on the performance and scalability of large gigabit Ethernet backbones, since it makes inefficient use of expensive fibers and may lead to bottlenecks. We propose a significantly more scalable cycle-breaking approach, based on the novel theory of turn-prohibition. Specifically, we introduce, analyze and evaluate a new algorithm, called tree-based turn-prohibition (TBTP). We show that this polynomial-time algorithm maintains backward-compatibility with the IEEE 802.1d standard and never prohibits more than 1/2 of the turns in the network, for any given graph and any given spanning tree. Through extensive simulations on a variety of graph topologies, we show that it can lead to an order of magnitude improvement over the spanning tree protocol with respect to throughput and end-of-end delay metrics. In addition, we propose and evaluate heuristics to determine the replacement order of legacy switches that results in the fastest performance improvement.


The use of conservation tillage systems for corn (L.) and soybean [ (L.) Merr.] production has increased in recent years because of several factors including their potential to reduce losses or sequester soil organic C (SOC). This study evaluated the effects on SOC of three cropping systems (continuous corn [CC], continuous soybean [CSB], and soybean–corn [SB-C]) in six primary tillage systems (chisel, disk, plow, no-till, ridge-till, and subtill) under rainfed conditions in southeastern Nebraska. Soil samples were collected in depth increments of 0 to 7.5, 7.5 to 15, and 15 to 30 cm in the fall of 1989 and 2004 after harvest and analyzed for SOC. No significant differences in SOC concentrations were obtained among tillage treatments in any depth in a partial sampling of a study that was done in 1989. Tillage treatment and cropping system both significantly affected SOC concentrations and reserves at all depths in 2004, but only bulk density at a few depths. No-till SOC reserves ranged from 4.8 to 11.6 Mg ha greater than SOC reserves in the other tillage treatments in the 0- to 30-cm depth. Similarly, SOC concentrations and reserves were greatest in CC and least in CSB, with intermediate values for SB-C in all tillage systems. Soil organic C levels were maintained or even increased in all tillage systems; however, the greatest increases were obtained in systems with the least amount of soil disturbance, which strongly supports the adoption and use of conservation tillage systems for soil sustainability.


This paper summarises the results of several sessions of measurements executed in the context of the research project named "J-ORTIGIA". The scope of the project was to validate all kinds of hybrid reception supported by the DVB-SH able to counteract fading in satellite and terrestrial environments. The results of the measurements have also contributed to the 2nd issue of the DVB-SH Implementation Guidelines.


Phosphorus is one of the major factor that limits agricultural productivity in most tropical soils. The objective of this study was to assess P transformations and availability in a soil cropped to brachiaria (Urochloa ruziziensis) and white lupin (Lupinus albus L.). The study was carried out in a greenhouse at Botucatu, State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Brachiaria and white lupin were grown in pots with soil fertilized with 0, 20, 40, 60 and 80mg dm-3 P. The plants were grown for 60 days, when they were harvested and the soil was sampled. Dry matter yields of both species were increased with P rates. Soil bioactive P is increased with P fertilization, but is not affected by the plant species. White lupin is more effective in taking up the organic soil P, but Brachiaria was more effective in reducing the soil maximum P adsorption capacity.