Substantial progress has been made in identifying genes that raise risk for epilepsy, and genetic testing for some of these genes is increasingly being used in clinical practice. However, almost no empirical data are available from the perspective of people with epilepsy and their family members about the impact of genetic information and potential benefits and harms of genetic testing. To address this gap we conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with 40 individuals (22 with epilepsy, 18 unaffected) in the USA from families containing multiple affected individuals who had participated in epilepsy genetics research. The interviews were coded and analyzed using the principles of grounded theory. Several major themes emerged from these interviews. Participants expressed "personal theories of inheritance" that emphasized commonalities among relatives and the idea that disease risk is most shared by family members who share physical or personality traits. Most participants said they would have genetic testing if it were offered. They cited many potential benefits, including learning what caused epilepsy in their family, being better able to care and advocate for children at risk, reducing guilt and blame, providing an increased sense of control, and relieving anxiety in unaffected individuals who test negative. The influence of genetic information on reproduction was a particularly salient theme. Although respondents believed genetic testing would be useful for informing their reproductive choices, they also expressed fear that it could lead to external pressures to modify these choices. Other concerns about the potential negative impact of genetic information included increased blame and guilt, increased stigma and discrimination in employment and insurance, self-imposed limitations on life goals, and alterations in fundamental conceptions of "what epilepsy is." Consideration of the perspectives of people with epilepsy and their family members is critical to understanding the implications of contemporary epilepsy genetic research and testing. 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


A green supply chain performance measurement system is needed to manage the environmental risks that are often being the major issues of industry. Claim from the government to implement the green supply chain system will certainly be a boost to major industries in Indonesia. As for PT. Elco lndonesia Sejahtera, to create an industry that applies green perspective in the industry, of course PT. EIS requires a model of its own enterprise performance measurement system design. Therefore, this study aims to design a performance measurement system from Green Sales and Distribution in the supply chain of leather tanning industry. The model used as a tool for designing performance measurement systems from the supply chain is Green SCOR model. The conceptual model is designed by involving activities such as stakeholder identification, needs analysis of green stakeholders, green destination identification, and KPI weighting. The supply chain operation reference metric (SCOR) is applied to identify key performance indicators (KPIs). The weight of the KPI is determined using the AHP method. The results of this study are six green objectives and also fifteen Key Performance indicators under it. Green objectives and Key performance can help companies to improve the performance of Green Sales and Distribution in the company.


Purpose In this mixed-methods study, we address two aims. First, we examine the impact of language variation on the ratings of children's narrative language. Second, we identify participants' ideologies related to narrative language and language variation. Method Forty adults listened to and rated six Black second-grade children on the quality of 12 narratives (six fictional, six personal). Adults then completed a quantitative survey and participated in a qualitative interview. Results Findings indicated that adults rated students with less variation from mainstream American English (MAE) more highly than students with greater variation from MAE for fictional narratives, but not for personal narratives. Personal narratives tended to be evaluated more favorably by parents than teachers. Black raters tended to assign higher ratings of narrative quality than did White raters. Thematic analysis and conversation analysis of qualitative interviews supported quantitative findings and provided pertinent information about participants' beliefs. Conclusion Taken together, quantitative and qualitative results point to a shared language ideology among adult raters of variation from MAE being more acceptable in informal contexts, such as telling a story of personal experience, and less acceptable in more formal contexts, such as narrating a fictional story prompted by a picture sequence.


Background Patients with ongoing or expected bleeding require platelet (PLT) transfusions; however, owing to the testing required after a blood donation, manufacturing PLT products may take 1.5–2.0 days after a request is made. This supply-demand mismatch leads clinicians to retain spare PLTs for transfusions, leading to increased PLT discard rates. We developed a PLT inventory management program to supply PLTs more efficiently to patients requiring PLT transfusions within the expiration date, while reducing PLT discard rates. Methods PLT concentrates (58,863 and 58,357 units) and apheresis products (7,905 and 8,441 units) were analyzed from May 2015 to November 2017 and from December 2017 to January 2020, respectively. We developed a program to manage total PLT inventories and prospective PLT transfusion patients based on blood type, blood product, and remaining period of efficacy; the program facilitates PLT preparation transfer to non-designated patients within the remaining period of efficacy. Results The overall PLT concentrate discard rate was 3,254 (2.78%): 1,811 (3.07%) units before and 1,443 units (2.41%) after program application (P<0.001). The discard rate owing to expiration was reduced from 69 units (3.81%) before to two units (0.14%) after program application (P<0.001). Conclusions This program can guide the allocation of PLT preparations based on the remaining period of efficacy, enabling PLT products to be used before their expiration date and reducing PLT product discard rate.


The purpose of this final project is to design hardware, software and know the performance of "Frequency Meter Based ATmega 8" as a tool that can measure the low frequency range 1-100KHz voltage on electronic equipment.
 Frequency Meter design is based ATmega 8, composed of hardware and software. The hardware consists of (1) rectifier diode and Pengeblok using (2) Amplifiers using transistors and resistors mounted attenuator with series (3) Minimum System series ATmega 8 (4) LCD Alphanumeric 16x2 series. Fekuensi meter uses a microcontroller ATmega 8 that the main function to process the incoming pulses through the calculation of an interrupt which is then used as the calculation of the frequency scale. ATmega 8 is also used to run the LCD that delivers the information the end result of the frequency calculations.
 Based on performance testing of frequency-based meter ATmega 8 is capable of reading signals with minimum signal 1 Vpp and the analysis of the maximum signal frequency that can be measured by the frequency meter is 100KHz, while the amplitude can be measured has a range of 1-10.6 Vpp. The largest measurement error means, to reach 1.25% and the frequency of measurement error pengukuranya maximum amplitude reached 15%.
 Kata Kunci : Frekuensi, ATMega 8, interrupt.


Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) was studied on polycrystalline Pd, Pd(poly), decorated by spontaneously deposited Ru nanoislands below full coverage. Surface features of as-prepared bimetallic Ru/Pd(poly) electrodes were explored by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometer. Electrochemical properties and hydrogen evolution activities of obtained electrodes were investigated in an alkaline electrolyte by Cyclic and Linear Sweep Voltammetry, respectively. It was found that the activities of bimetallic Ru/Pd(poly) electrodes for HER significantly exceeded the activity of bare Pd(poly) and approached the activity of Pt, which is the most active material for this reaction. This enhancement was explained by the favorable influence of the electronic interaction between Pd substrate and Ru nanoislands on the adsorption of the reactive H species.


Data Gathering is a fundamental task in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). Data gathering trees capable of performing aggregation operations are also referred to as Data Aggregation Trees (DATs). Currently, most of the existing works focus on constructing DATs according to different user requirements under the Deterministic Network Model (DNM). However, due to the existence of many probabilistic lossy links in WSNs, it is more practical to obtain a DAT under the realistic Probabilistic Network Model (PNM). Moreover, the load-balance factor is neglected when constructing DATs in current literatures. Therefore, in this paper, we focus on constructing a Load-Balanced Data Aggregation Tree (LBDAT) under the PNM. More specifically, three problems are investigated, namely, the Load-Balanced Maximal Independent Set (LBMIS) problem, the Connected Maximal Independent Set (CMIS) problem, and the LBDAT construction problem. LBMIS and CMIS are well-known NP-hard problems and LBDAT is an NP-complete problem. Consequently, approximation algorithms and comprehensive theoretical analysis of the approximation factors are presented in the paper. Finally, our simulation results show that the proposed algorithms outperform the existing state-of-the-art approaches significantly.


Research on the relationship between nonviolent and violent dissent has focused on explicit shifts in organized strategies, disregarding less-organized forms of violence such as riots. Even though disorganized violence is common, we know little about how it influences the onset and fate of antigovernment nonviolent campaigns. Activists frequently argue that nonviolent discipline is essential and disorganized violence is counterproductive for effective large-scale mobilization. However, others emphasize how disorganized violence could have a mobilizing effect on large-scale protest and revitalize a nonviolent campaign. We detail these competing perspectives on how riots can influence the onset and outcomes of nonviolent campaigns. We then evaluate these contending claims empirically by examining how riots affect the initial emergence of nonviolent campaigns and the likelihood that campaigns will terminate. We find that nonviolent mobilization is less likely to emerge after riots, and ongoing campaigns are more likely to collapse under higher rates of rioting.


a prevalence of less than 15%, between 15 and 30% and above 30%. To ascertain statistically significant differences in performance between the types of centers, the AUCs were compared using bootstrapping. The optimal cut-off level per center and type was chosen corresponding to a sensitivity level as high as possible (preferable above 90%) while still keeping a good specificity (80%) as this was considered to be very important in correctly identifying malignant cases. Results: Both LR1 and LR2 performed better, although not statistically significant, in centers with a lower prevalence of malignant cases. The AUC of centers with less than 15% of malignancy was 0.956 and 0.941, for LR1 and LR2 respectively; centers with prevalence between 15 and 30% had an AUC of 0.948 and 0.925, respectively and centers with more than 30% malignancies had an AUC of 0.933 and 0.914, respectively. The optimal cut-off per center varied between 0.05 and 0.20, but the performance in the centers with a higher percentage of malignant cases did not improve by choosing a different cut-off level. Conclusions: The performance of the logistic regression models increases with decreasing prevalence of malignancy. Because new cut-off levels per center would be based on 8 to 253 patients and the cut-off of 0.10 is optimal for all three types of center, it seems reasonable to use this cut-off in all centres.


Abstract:  Sex differences in linear and area dimensions of the foramen ovale and external opening of the carotid canal were analyzed in a documented French sample (35 men and 32 women). The results demonstrated that a low level of sexual dimorphism is present in the cranial base foramina of this sample, with only two‐thirds of the examined variables exhibiting statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) between the sexes. The cross‐validated sex classification accuracy rates obtained for univariate and multivariate discriminant functions ranged from only 54.7 to 72.1%. In addition, measurements of the cranial base foramina were found to be difficult to record with precision, with intra‐observer error percentages ranging from 2.35 to 4.23%. Error rates of this magnitude may result in the misallocation of specimens. Therefore, osteometric analysis of the foramen ovale and carotid canal external opening cannot be recommended as a useful method for cranial sex assessment in this population group.


PURPOSE
Social support (SS) has been shown to moderate the relationship between psychological distress and physical activity (PA) in adults, including those with no history of cancer and cancer survivors (CS). The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between stress and leisure-time PA and test if SS is a moderator of this relationship in rural CS.

METHODS
CS were recruited to Partnering to Prevent and Control Cancer (PPCC) and completed questionnaires assessing sociodemographics, leisure-time PA, perceived stress, and SS. Hierarchical multivariable linear regression was used to assess the moderating role of SS on the association between stress and PA.

FINDINGS
Cancer survivors (N = 219) were in their mid-60s (M age = 64.3 ± 12.5 years) and overweight/obese (M BMI = 29.5 ± 6.8 kg/m2 ); over half were women (60.7%) and insufficiently active (59.4%); and 42.1% reported moderate-to-high perceived stress. Perceived stress was negatively correlated with PA (r = -.183, P = .044) and SS (r = -.470, P < .001), and SS was positively correlated with PA (r = .205, P = .025). However, SS did not moderate the association between stress and PA.

CONCLUSIONS
Rural CS reported higher stress and less PA than previously reported by urban CS, potentially contributing to rural cancer health disparities. Although previous studies have shown success in building SS to reduce stress and promote PA in CS, our results do not support the stress-buffering hypothesis in rural cancer survivors. Further research is needed to understand factors related to PA in rural CS and determine strategies to reduce psychological distress and promote healthy behaviors in an effort to improve cancer survivorship.


In this study, focus was set upon developing new method to produce cutting tool
through the employment of superplastic boronizing and duplex stainless steel, within
which formation of the cutting tool from boronized duplex stainless steel subjected to
superplastic deformation was tested against the determining parameters, strain and
strain rate. As received DSS specimen was thermo-mechanically treated by heating up
to 1537K, holding for one hour, followed by water quenching and then cold rolled to a
plate through a reduction area of 75%. Prior to superplastic forming, treated DSS was
boronized at 1223K for 6 hours, thereafter producing average surface hardness of 2247
HV and layer thickness of 46.3 μm. Then, the specimen was superplastically deformed
into designated cutting tool at 1223K with the strain rate of 1x10-4 and 9x10-5 s-1. Result
showed that the flow stress of the deformed specimen was higher at the faster strain
rate. At slower strain rate and low strain (0.4), no flaws were observed at the surface of
the deformed specimen. However, at faster strain rate and higher strain (0.8 and 1.0)
flaws that lead to surface disintegration were observed. It is very crucial to control these
parameter (strain rate and strain) to avoid any surface flaw (disintegrity) to the
specimen.


Long-chain aliphatic polyester-18,18 (PE-18,18) exhibits high density polyethylene-like material properties and, as opposed to high density polyethylene (HDPE), can be recycled in a closed loop via depolymerization to monomers under mild conditions. Despite the in-chain ester groups, its high crystallinity and hydrophobicity render PE-18,18 stable toward hydrolysis even under acidic conditions for one year. Hydrolytic degradability, however, can be a desirable material property as it can serve as a universal backstop to plastic accumulation in the environment. We present an approach to render PE-18,18 hydrolytically degradable by melt blending with long-chain aliphatic poly(H-phosphonate)s (PP). The blends can be processed via common injection molding and 3D printing and exhibit HDPE-like tensile properties, namely, high stiffness (E = 750–940 MPa) and ductility (εtb = 330–460%) over a wide range of blend ratios (0.5–20 wt % PP content). Likewise, the orthorhombic solid-state structure and crystallinity (χ ≈ 70%) of the blends are similar to HDPE. Under aqueous conditions in phosphate-buffered media at 25 °C, the blends' PP component is hydrolyzed completely to the underlying long-chain diol and phosphorous acid within four months, as evidenced by NMR analyses. Concomitant, the PE-18,18 major blend component is partially hydrolyzed, while neat PE-18,18 is inert under identical conditions. The hydrolysis of the blend components proceeded throughout the bulk of the specimens as confirmed by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) measurements. The significant molar mass reduction upon extended immersion in water (Mn(virgin blends) ≈ 50–70 kg mol–1; Mn(hydrolyzed blends) ≈ 7–11 kg mol–1) resulted in embrittlement and fragmentation of the injection molded specimens. This increases the surface area and is anticipated to promote eventual mineralization by abiotic and biotic pathways of these HDPE-like polyesters in the environment.


There are many problems in the common baiting methods, such as bad cross-section quality, low efficiency and so on. In order to overcome these disadvantages, a new bar cutting technology based on high speed and restrained state is put forward in the paper. The cutting process and cutting mechanics were analyzed. The stressing intensity factor and fracture toughness were introduced to analyze the influence of loading velocity on the cutting surface quality. By means of the dislocation theory, the influence of loading velocity on the fracture process was researched. Numerical simulation and experiments were carried out, and the results were conformed well with the theoretical ones.


Parents of children with autism experience high degrees of stress. Research pertaining to the reduction of parental stress in families with a child with autism is needed. In this study, the relationship between family resilience, parent gender, and parental stress was examined. Seventy-one parents of young children with autism were surveyed. Regression and correlational analyses were performed. Results indicated that the vast majority of respondents reported significantly high levels of stress. Lower degrees of parental stress were correlated with higher degrees of family resilience. Family resiliency factors were significant contributors to the shared variance in parental stress. Mothers of children demonstrated higher levels of stress than fathers. Suggested explanations of these findings are presented and clinical and research implications are provided. The findings of this study provide evidence for the importance of facilitating family resilience for parents of children with autism and affirm differing stress levels between mothers and fathers.


Retraction: The following article from Anaesthesia, 'Physostigmine for the prevention of postanaesthetic shivering following general anaesthesia – a placebo-controlled comparison with nefopam, by Röhm KD, Riechmann J, Boldt J, Schuler S, Suttner SW, Piper SN, published online in Wiley Online Library (http://onlinelibrary. wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2044.2005.04157.x/abstract) on 9 April 2005 and in Volume 60 (2005), Number 5, pages 433–438, has been retracted by agreement between the Journal Editor-in-Chief, Steve Yentis, and Blackwell Publishing Ltd. The retraction is based on the determination by Landesärztekammer Rheinland-Pfalz (the State Medical Association of Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany) that the study did not have ethical approval or advice, as required by law.


Currently, many federal/state/local agencies are providing diverse public transportation service at the historically slow-growth rural areas. The integration of these available rural transit services can be greatly enhanced with the automated demand-responsive transits, and coordinated transit service equipped with the Intelligent Transportation System and Information Technology (ITS/IT) technologies. This paper discusses both the available ITS technologies and existing institution barriers that are essential to improve the quality of life at the rural communities.


Background: Many pregnancy and birth cohort studies investigate the health effects of early-life environmental contaminant exposure. An overview of existing studies and their data is needed to improve collaboration, harmonization, and future project planning. Objectives: Our goal was to create a comprehensive overview of European birth cohorts with environmental exposure data. Methods: Birth cohort studies were included if they a) collected data on at least one environmental exposure, b) started enrollment during pregnancy or at birth, c) included at least one follow-up point after birth, d) included at least 200 mother–child pairs, and e) were based in a European country. A questionnaire collected information on basic protocol details and exposure and health outcome assessments, including specific contaminants, methods and samples, timing, and number of subjects. A full inventory can be searched on www.birthcohortsenrieco.net. Results: Questionnaires were completed by 37 cohort studies of > 350,000 mother–child pairs in 19 European countries. Only three cohorts did not participate. All cohorts collected biological specimens of children or parents. Many cohorts collected information on passive smoking (n = 36), maternal occupation (n = 33), outdoor air pollution (n = 27), and allergens/biological organisms (n = 27). Fewer cohorts (n = 12–19) collected information on water contamination, ionizing or nonionizing radiation exposures, noise, metals, persistent organic pollutants, or other pollutants. All cohorts have information on birth outcomes; nearly all on asthma, allergies, childhood growth and obesity; and 26 collected information on child neurodevelopment. Conclusion: Combining forces in this field will yield more efficient and conclusive studies and ultimately improve causal inference. This impressive resource of existing birth cohort data could form the basis for longer-term and worldwide coordination of research on environment and child health.


Abstract
This chapter explores the theoretical foundations of Hazeen, a Muslim blackened death metal band formed in 2015 by the authors - Safdar Ahmed on guitar and vocals, and Can Yalcinkaya on the drums and darbuka. It provides insights into the musical and performative practices of our band that are informed by traditions of black and death metal, but which also re-interpret them through an engagement with anti-fascist, anti-Islamophobic politics as well as Sufi/batini elements. Hazeen responds to a rising tide of Islamophobia in Australia, using our lyrics and performances to attack racist stereotyping and the dehumanisation of Muslims. In our performances, we dress in black, Islamic attire and apply 'corpse paint' to become the much feared 'other' of the post-9/11 world - the monstrous, rabid, zombie-like Muslim that has haunted the right wing/conservative imagination in the West. Our lyrics address such issues as the inhumane treatment of refugees and asylum seekers in Australia, halal food conspiracies, orientalism and the so-called 'clash of civilisations'. This chapter presents a critical exegesis of Hazeen's output in the form of live gigs, art performances and studio recordings. It seeks to identify Hazeen's place within the broader Australian metal scene, posing questions of authenticity and how metal enables us to question hegemonic notions of identity. Hazeen's use of art spaces as venues of performance and involvement in the indie/zine community highlights an unconventional position within the local metal scene.


Vegetables are the most important source of vitamins, minerals and bioactive compounds to humans. Since the change of nutrient solution composition and electrical conductivity could affect to the quality improvement, the aim of this study was to determine the qualitative properties and mineral content of four tomato cultivars grown at different calcium nitrate concentrations in the nutrient solution. The concentration of calcium nitrate ranged from 0.425 to 1.70 mmol L-1, and the variation began a month after planting. Qualitative traits (dry matter and soluble solids content, pH, total acidity and ascorbic acid content) and mineral content (total nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) were determined periodically, three times during the harvest period. Samples for analysis were consisted from six fruits with uniform size and maturity. Depending on the cultivar and the calcium nitrate concentration, dry matter content varied from 4.74 to 6.27 %, while the soluble solids content was between 4.08 and 5.18 °Brix. During the harvest period pH-value of fruits was decreasing while total acidity was increasing in all cultivars. Significant differences in the amount of vitamin C among the tested cultivars (from 12.41 to 22.95 mg per 100 g fresh weight) were determined. Depending on the applied solution, vitamin C content ranged from 12.68 to 22.69 mg per 100 g fresh weight. The cultivars were significantly different in macroelements content. The lowest nitrogen (2.163 and 2.379 % dry matter) was found in fruits harvested from plants fertigated with lower calcium nitrate concentration, while statistically higher amounts were determined when higher calcium nitrate concentrations than standard were applied. A similar trend was found for phosphorus and potassium. Cultivars 'Fado' and 'Rally' had the highest dry matter and soluble solids content, and the amount of vitamin C. The highest phosphorus and potassium content was determined in 'Rally' and 'Mondial' fruits.


The presence of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae has been established in all suspected cases of pleuropneumonia at several farms that have been included in the research. Equal incidence of pleuropneumonia has been found both among piglets for breeding and for fattening. The health monitoring of herds is extremely important, firstly because of the need for the adequate strategy to be chosen for controlling the Actinobacillus-caused pleuropneumonia and, at the same time, in order to prevent enormous economic losses that this disease may cause. The morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics of isolated strains of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae were completely identical to those of referent strains. It has been found that Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae grows most abundantly on chocolate agar when PolyVitex (bioMerieux) is used as the substrate. Out of 237 samples of altered parts of swine lungs, 13 bacterial species have been found in 193 (81%), and the incidence of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae within this percentage was 33%. Of all bacterial species isolated in pure culture from all investigated specimen the most dominant species were Pasteurella multocida with the incidence of 32.64% and Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae with 29.01%. Their common incidence in all positive findings was 61.65%. If one adds to this their participation in mixed infections (2.59%), this percentage is higher (64.24%). The high percentage of these two bacterial species shows that they are at the same time the most common bacterial pathogens causing pneumonia in pigs. The incidence of other species of bacteria isolated from the lungs of diseased pigs ranged from 0.51 to 10.88%. The sensitivity of isolated strains of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae to the selected range of antibiotics used in clinical veterinary medicine (penicillin, ampicillin, amoxicillin, cephalosporin (III gen.) gentamycin, streptomycin, neomycin, thylosine, enrofloxacin, linkomycin-spectinomycin, tetracycline, florphenycol, trimethoprimsulphomethoxazol and tulatromycin) was tested by the disc-diffusion method, with the implementation of antibiogram tabletes (Torlak) and


BACKGROUND/AIMS
The number of kidney transplantations performed per year is limited due to the availability of donor organs. One possible solution to the organ shortage is the use of renal xenografts. However, the transplantation of xenografts is complicated by rejection.

METHODS
It has been postulated that the host immune response might be attenuated following the transplantation of embryonic kidneys (metanephroi) rather than developed (adult kidneys). Transplanted metanephroi become chimeric organs in that their blood supply originates from the host. It is possible to transplant a developing metanephros, without the use of immunosuppression, from one outbred rat to another.

RESULTS
Transplanted metanephroi grow, develop, become vascularized, and function in host rats. In contrast, developed adult kidneys transplanted from one rat to another undergo rejection within 7 days after transplantation.

CONCLUSIONS
These observations suggest that metanephric tissue may be less immunogenic than adult kidney. Transplantation of metanephroi represents a new development that could lead to a novel therapeutic approach to the treatment of chronic renal failure.


Studies of virtuosity in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries have tended to focus on the piano and the violin. These instruments were obviously virtuosic and lent themselves to visual and aural displays of power, most notably in the case of Liszt and Paganini. These virtuosi crafted spectacles that were often described with metaphors of power and violence. These spectacles came to characterise the virtuosity of the early nineteenth century. However, the guitar has been largely neglected in scholarship dealing with virtuosity from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. This is due, in large part, to the status of the guitar within that period. Though popular as an accompanying instrument and in the home, the guitar struggled to find a secure position as a legitimate solo instrument in the public arena. While guitarists such as Dionisio Aguado and Mauro Giuliani were described as 'virtuosi', their instrument, unlike the piano and the violin, did not give itself to a spectacle that conveyed notions of power and violence. Rather, the guitar is an intimate instrument, quieter than the piano or the violin, and utilising small movements in the hands. These aspects of the instrument, so often perceived as 'limitations' led many writers to dismiss it as an inappropriate instrument for performance in the public spheres occupied by the piano and the violin. Guitarist-composers sought to play to the guitar's strengths in ways that contrasted with the conventional metaphors of power and violence. Some of these attempts rhetorically aligned the guitar with genres and instruments that carried greater cultural capital. Composers used orchestral metaphors and emphasised the guitar's ability to imitate other instruments. Other guitarist-composers sought to create a greater spectacle both in and beyond the music itself by emphasising physical movements within the music and writing extra-musical gestures into the music. The rhetoric of transformation was used either by or about the guitarist-composers Fernando Sor, Dionisio Aguado, Johann Kaspar Mertz, and Giulio Regondi, all of whom this exegesis focuses on, demonstrating a desire to legitimise the guitar at a time when it struggled not only to find traction as a 'serious' classical instrument, but also a place amongst more obviously virtuosic instruments.


ABSTRACT In the humid tropics, deep chemical post-depositional weathering of arkosic materials may promote detectable distortions in the grain-size data. Under such conditions the usual statistical methods for environmental reconstruction based on grain-size parameters fail to give satisfactory results. Mineralogical data provided by the Macacu Formation a Neo-Cenozoic terrigenous non-marine deposit outcropping at the northern edge of Guanabara bay (Brazil) suggest a series of, quantitatively undetermined, post-depositional changes. These changes may be responsible for the differential behaviour of the quartz and feldspar mean content curves. Grain-size frequency distribution curves show a general trend toward bimodality, with a relative lack of silt-sized particles. By the analysis of coarse, well-stratified arkosic materials, one can notice the development of a secondary, argillaceous mode. This bimodality makes the grain-size data not characteristic of processes involved in the sedimentation and provides a gradual particle distribution convergence between such water-laid materials and the Upper Pleistocene-Holocene colluvial mantles. Post-depositional weathering is considered as a possible cause of such distortions of the grain-size data. The present analysis also provides some evidence to question the actual significance of primary structures as an indicator of changing processes of deposition. The great similarities of textural data obtained from the stratified and the structureless sections of single beds suggest that, under particular conditions, lack of structure may be due to very local mechanical deformations in the sedimentary body.


The aim of this study is to compare the employment relationship of temporary agency and permanent workers in two different sectors analyzing the relationship between human resource practices systems and workers' affective commitment and the mediating role of work engagement. The hypotheses were tested with multiple group analysis on two samples: from a call center and from two industrial companies. Results confirm that in both the temporary agency and the permanent subsamples in the two sectors workers' perception of the human resource practices system relates positively with affective commitment toward the organization, and work engagement partially mediates this relationship. Moreover, the study confirms that the relationship between workers' perception of the human resource practices system and affective commitment was stronger for temporary agency than for permanent workers. However, this moderation occurred only in the manufacturing sector. Contrarily, the relationship between workers' perception of the human resource practices system and engagement was stronger for permanent workers than for temporary agency workers (TAWs) in this sector and the relationship between this psychological state and affective commitment was also stronger for permanent than for TAWs, in both sectors (call center and manufacturing).


Cloud-based systems implies to applications, resources or services provided to users as per their requirement through the Internet using a cloud computing provider's server. These clouds triggers alarm events to indicate the health of system. Monitoring these alarms is essential for maintaining the health and continuous functioning of cloud. Because of humungous alarms triggered on daily basis, notifying critical alarms in time and taking required action is quite challenging task. In this paper machine learning model is implemented using decision tree classifier to analyse each alarm and predict if any action required for that alarm or not and also notify the concerned team via creating JIRA tickets.


One of the fundamental issues in the study of speech perception is to model the cognitive process of phonetic judgment and to infer the underlying mechanism. Experimental results on categorical judgment as well as on judgment of typicality do not attest to the existence of a single prototype for each phonetic category, but rather to the existence of a continuum of exemplars, viz., a region of high typicality, whose shape is not necessarily convex, in the multidimensional space of acoustic/phonetic parameters. The neural mechanism for separating such a region from others is based on thresholds (i.e., boundaries), but not on distances from a single point of reference. On the other hand, the production of a specific phone in a given context by a single speaker displays a very sharp distribution, which indicates the existence of a speaker‐specific prototype in speech production. Such an apparent asymmetry of production and perception is shown to exist also in the use of language, and can be explained in the l...


This addition to The Basics of Recharge and Discharge series deals with the surface water balance approaches that form the traditional basis of hydrological investigations. It explores both field methods and modelling methods for measuring or estimating the different parts of the water balance, including rainfall, evaporation, run-off and soil water storage.

The authors discuss the concepts required to understand a surface water balance result or to set up an experiment. As water balance studies can be both time-consuming and expensive, this report will give readers a better understanding of water balance approaches and the considerations before going into a water balance study for the purpose of deep drainage.


This thesis describes the results of sedimentological and near-surface geophysical investigations of the internal structure of late Pleistocene permafrost and glacial ice-related 4 ramparted depressions' in Wales. These data were used to evaluate the possible origins of these landforms, which have previously been interpreted as the remains of open system pingos or lithalsas (mineral palsas). Six sites were investigated: i) Hirwaun valley ii) Llanio Fawr iii) Crychell Moor iv) Cledlyn valley v) Cletwr valley and vi) Llanpumsaint. Each site investigation is presented as an individual case study. The precise origins of these landforms remain uncertain. The density of landforms at all sites however is inconsistent with their interpretation as relict open system pingos. Some sites (Hirwaun valley and Llanio Fawr) are unequivocally glacial in origin, whilst others (e.g. Llanpumsaint) are most probably a type of relict periglacial ground-ice mound, although formation via the grounding of icebergs in a proglacial lake cannot be ruled out. Conversely, the ramparted depressions of the Cledlyn and Cletwr valleys probably formed as a result of the meltout of stagnating glacier ice, although permafrost-related origins are also possible. The investigations of relict landforms are complemented by geophysical investigations (ground penetrating radar and electrical resistivity) of active open system pingos from Svalbard. Data from both the relict and active landforms suggests that groundwater seepage through geological discontinuities is important for ground-ice mound formation, and that there is a continuum of ground-ice mounds, from features cored with lenses of segregation ice (e.g. palsas and lithalsas) to others cored with massive, injection ice (pingos). Transitional forms between these two extremes will contain a mixture of ground-ice types.


PURPOSE
The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the efficacy of a suspension-training movement program to improve muscular- and skill-related fitness and functional movement in children, compared with controls.

METHODS
In total, 28 children [male: 46%; age: 9.3 (1.5) y; body mass index percentile: 68.6 (27.5)] were randomly assigned to intervention (n = 17) or control (n = 11) groups. The intervention group participated in a 6-week suspension-training movement program for two 1-hour sessions per week. Muscular- and skill-related fitness and functional movement assessments were measured at baseline and following the intervention. Analyses of covariance models were used to assess the effects of time and intervention.

RESULTS
The intervention participants achieved greater improvements in Modified Pull-Up performance (P = .01, Cohen's d = 0.54) and Functional Movement Screen score (P < .001, Cohen's d = 1.89), relative to controls.

CONCLUSION
The suspension-training intervention delivered twice a week was beneficial for upper body pulling muscular endurance and the Functional Movement Screen score. Future interventions using this modality in youth would benefit from larger, more diverse samples (through schools or community fitness centers) and a longer intervention length.


The incidence of tuberculosis in Western countries has steadily declined, but this trend is reversing.1 Effective contact tracing and screening remain essential to prevent secondary cases and are especially important for child contacts, given their greater susceptibility to disseminated disease and the difficulty in diagnosis in this age group.

We describe three cases of serious tuberculous disease in children that illustrate their vulnerability to this infection and the problems that can be encountered with apparently straightforward contact tracing procedures.

Tuberculosis is easily missed in children; a combination of contact history, tuberculin testing, and radiology aid diagnosis

A 5 month old Asian girl who had not been vaccinated for tuberculosis was seen as a contact of her grandmother, who had fully sensitive pulmonary tuberculosis. She was well at this time and after one negative result on Heaf testing (grade 0) was given a BCG vaccination and discharged.

Six weeks later she presented to her general practitioner with fever, poor feeding, and vomiting. She was referred to hospital. On examination she was pale and unwell and tachypnoiec, with widespread crepitations on auscultation, but no hepatosplenomegaly. A chest x ray film showed extensive miliary shadowing, with a small opacity in the right mid zone. Miliary tuberculosis was diagnosed. A nine month course of triple antituberculous chemotherapy produced a full recovery.

A 6 year old white girl was screened as a contact of an aunt who had fully sensitive smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis. Two Heaf tests six weeks apart gave negative results, and she was given a BCG vaccination. Two weeks later she presented at her local hospital with a history of cough, headaches, weight loss, and fever. A chest x ray film showed right middle lobe consolidation. The family history of tuberculosis was not volunteered or asked …


Bio-orthogonal click chemistry has become an indispensable part of the biochemist's toolbox. Despite the wide variety of applications that have been developed in recent years, only a limited number of bio-orthogonal click reactions have been discovered so far, most of them based on (substituted) azides. In this work, we present a computational workflow to discover new candidate bio-orthogonal click reactions. Sampling only around 0.05% of an overall search space of over 10,000,000 dipolar cycloadditions, we develop a machine learning model able to predict DFT-computed activation and reaction energies within ∼2-3 kcal/mol across the entire space. Applying this model to screen the full search space through iterative rounds of learning, we identify a broad pool of candidate reactions with rich structural diversity, which can be used as a starting point or source of inspiration for future experimental development of both azide-based and non-azide-based bio-orthogonal click reactions. 1 ar X iv :2 21 2. 07 62 1v 1 [ ph ys ic s. ch em -p h] 1 5 D ec 2 02 2


Focusing on both micro and aggregate U.S. data, we show the existence of a significant link between aggregate uncertainty and reallocation of resources away from R&D-intensive capital. This link is important because a decrease in the aggregate share of R&D-oriented capital forecasts lower medium-term growth. In a multi-sector production economy in which (i) growth is endogenously supported by risky R&D investments, and (ii) the representative agent is volatility-risk averse and has access to other safer technologies that do not support growth, uncertainty shocks have a first-order negative impact on medium-term growth and welfare.


The aim of the research was to quantify 13 macro and trace elements in different oat (Avena sativa L.) genotypes depending on the year of cultivation (2011, 2012 and 2013) and crop management practice (conventional or organic), agronomic practice (different N supply) and evaluate the risks regarding Cd, Pb, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn and Al concentrations and nutritional aspects regarding K, Na, Ca, Mn, Mg, Fe, Cu, Zn and Cr concentrations in oat grain. Elements Cd, Pb, Cr, Ni and Al were detected by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry, and K, Na, Zn, Cu, Ca, Mg, Mn and Fe were analysed by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Cluster analysis showed that genotype and agronomic / crop management practice play an important role in the concentration of macro and trace elements in oat grain. Statistically different concentrations of elements were noticed for Cr, Ni, Zn, K and Mg among the genotypes: for Mn and Fe in grains, grown conventionally or organically, for Cr, Ni, Zn, K and Mg in hulled and naked grain, and for Cd, Pb, Ni, Cu, Al, K, Na and Mg among the study years. The concentrations of potentially hazardous elements were low: Cd 0.008–0.023, Pb 0.014–0.060, Cr 0.117–1.460, Ni 0.447–1.834, Cu 3.2–4.1 and Zn 22.0–32.3 mg kg-1. Oat products can contribute to the consumption of necessary macro and trace elements, especially of Mn, Mg and Fe: 30.0–49.3, 1166–1486 and 33.5–48.9 mg kg-1, respectively, as well as Cr and Zn.


With continuing dimension shrinkage using the TWINSCAN NXT:1950i scanner on the 28nm node and beyond, the imaging depth of focus (DOF) becomes more critical. Focus budget breakdown studies [Ref 2, 5] show that even though the intrafield component stays the same, it becomes a larger relative percentage of the overall DOF. Process induced topography along with reduced Process Window can lead to yield limitations and defectivity issues on the wafer. In a previous paper, the feasibility of anticipating the scanner levelling measurements (Level Sensor, Agile and Topography) has been shown [1]. This model, built using a multiple variable analysis (PLS: Partial Least Square regression) and GDS densities at different layers showed prediction capabilities of the scanner topography readings up to 0.78 Q2 (the equivalent of R2 for expected prediction). Using this model, care areas can be defined as parts of the field that cannot be seen nor corrected by the scanner, which can lead to local DOF shrinkage and printing issues. This paper will investigate the link between the care areas and the intrafield focus that can be seen at the wafer level, using offline topography measurements as a reference. Some improvements made on the model are also presented.


.Adult Tessaratoma papillosa (Drury) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) secreted volatiles from metathoracic glands (MTG). Behavior and olfactory responses of adult bugs to their MTG secretions were tested using a Y-tube olfactometer and an electroantennogram (EAG). The results indicated that males were obviously attracted by female secretions and repelled by male secretions. Secretions of adult males elicited the greatest response of male antennae, whereas the lower response of male antennae to MTG secretions of adult females was recorded. The four compounds, (E)-2-octenal, undecane, dodecane and tridecane were tested for the EAG activity and behavior response with male adults at different concentrations. In EAG assays, the antenna of male T. papillosa showed the highest sensitivity to (E)-2-octenal (10 μL /μL) and the second highest sensitivity to undecane (10 μL /μL), but a similar sensitivity to other stimuli. Unlike EAG results, males were attractive to (E)-2-octenal (10-2 and 10-1 μL /μL) and tridecane (10 μL /μL), and repelled by (E)-2-octenal (10-3, 1, 10 and 102 μL /μL) and tridecane (10-1 μL /μL) in the Y-tube olfactometer. Our data suggested that (E)-2-octenal and tridecane may be part of a complex pheromone system in T. papillosa.


Green composite made from ramie fabric and polypropylene (PP) is a kind of recyclable and environmental friendly material. Ramie fiber tows have relatively good mechanical properties comparing with other bast fibers, and hence the fabric woven by ramie yarn shows excellent in-plane mechanical behaviors. PP can be fully recovered and recycling used for its thermoplastic character. Ramie fabrics reinforced by PP have better shape formability and maintenance. In this paper, we proposed a plain weave in sample dobby loom, and reinforced four laid-layers together by PP particle through hot pressing. The mechanical behaviors of the ramie-PP composite were tested by MTS-810 Material Testing System in weft and warp directions separately which were essential parameters to the following topology optimization in finite element analysis (FEA) software. A body of eco-power automobile consisting of shell and chassis was original designed in Pro/E® Wildfire 5.0. For the chassis is the main bearing structure, it is an important part in the eco-power automobile body and was chosen to be topology optimized. Fiber volume fraction and structure optimization of the chassis model are evaluated and simulated to guide the material formation of manufacture progress.


Background: Youth princess' knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs toward exclusive breastfeeding are still low. Aims: This research would like to develop exclusive breastfeeding modules for princess youth in rural and urban areas. Methodology: This research uses a quasi-experiment design and implemented in urban and rural areas. Each consisted of intervention and control groups with samples (n = 127 and n = 104), while in rural areas (n = 126 and n = 103). The intervention group received learning with the Module plus Lecture Method (MLM), while the control group received the Learning Methods Module (LMM). Intervention was given to each school for 90 min. Knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs on exclusive breastfeeding are measured before and after intervention by questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using paired samples t-test and Friedman test. Results: The participants were aged between 15 and 16 years (67.6%), the birth order in the family was the first to second (61.3%), whereas the number of siblings was three to four (60.9%) and the 74.8% were Bugis. Seen increased knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs on exclusive breastfeeding after the intervention (P < 0.05) in all study groups. There was no difference in the increase in group knowledge in urban areas after the intervention P = 0.738. While rural areas, there is a difference in the increase in knowledge of MLM and LMM group P = 0.000. In addition, there was no difference in the improvement of attitudes and beliefs in all groups in the study area P > 0.05. Conclusions: LMM plus lecture and module learning methods can improve the knowledge, attitude, and belief of adolescent girls to exclusive breastfeeding. There is no visible difference between group receiving modules plus lectures and modules alone in urban areas. For rural areas, the group received a module plus lecture well than the module group alone on knowledge (P < 0.05), while attitudes and beliefs did not differ all groups in the study area.


A nonequilibrium situation governed by kinetic equations with strongly contrasted Knudsen numbers in different subdomains is discussed. We consider a domain decomposition problem for Boltzmann- and Euler equations, establish the correct coupling conditions and prove the validity of the obtained coupled solution . Moreover numerical examples comparing different types of coupling conditions are presented.


published, further investigated the policymaking processes of these plans to determine the value of consumer participation, the degree of participation, and the amount of influence exerted by consumers, physicians and administrators in setting health plan policy. The main findings indicated that the only significant differences between the consumer and physician sponsored plans lay in the greater ability of the latter to attract and provide specialist coverage, and to decide general and health plan policies. On the other hand, consumer plans had more favourable policies in relation to individual enrolment practices, eligibility policies, complaint procedures and extra medical


Background: Apoptotic index (AI) using light microscopy as an indirect measure to assess the significance of apoptosis as a proliferative marker in dysplastic lesions and malignant epithelial lesions of the oral cavity. Aims: (1) To quantify the apoptotic bodies/cells in oral epithelial dysplastic (OED) lesions and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). (2) To measure AI in OED and OSCC. (3) To compare AI in OED and OSCC. Settings and Design: The proposed laboratory-based retrospective study involved the use of hematoxylin and eosin (H and E)-stained slides of previously diagnosed OED lesions and OSCC from institutional archives. Materials and Methods: This study constituted 50 cases, each of H and E-stained slides of previously diagnosed cases of OED and OSCC. AI was calculated as the number of apoptotic bodies/cells expressed as a percentage of the total number of nonapoptotic tumor/dysplastic cells counted in each case. Statistical Analysis Used: Nonparametric tests such as Kruskal–Wallis test and Mann–Whitney test were used. Results: There was a statistically significant increase in AI from OED to OSCC (P = 0.000). Conclusions: Further studies need to be undertaken to detect and understand the apoptotic mechanisms in the progression from OED to OSCC.


Software architecture plays an important part in program comprehension, which is one of the most time consuming tasks in software development. If software developers don't properly share their architectural knowledge with team members, the team will act based on an incomplete or even possibly incorrect view on the code base, and this can lead to architectural degradation. Recently there has been a surge of collaboration, communication and sharing with the advent of Web 2.0 applications. In this thesis we have investigated how Web 2.0 can be used to support software architecture management. In particular in the area of architecture documentation, architecture retrieval, and collaboration. We created an approach which applies Web 2.0 concepts such as traceability, integration, usability, navigability, and user experience, to software architecture management. This approach is supported by a prototype tool called ArchWiki, which has features such as traceability between different artifacts (e.g. source code, architectural diagrams, architectural documentation), context-sensitive views, hyperlinks, notifications, tags, and bookmarks. We performed an initial evaluation study to assess ArchWiki. In this study we found that Web 2.0 has the potential to support software architecture knowledge management.


Introduction: Th e purpose of this study was to compare the outcomes of patients hospitalized for diverticulitis based on hospital location (rural or urban). Methods: We identifi ed discharges from the nationwide inpatient sample with a principal diagnosis of diverticulitis (ICD-9 codes 562.11 and 562.13). Patient and hospital characteristics were summarized by hospital location (rural or urban) and diff erences across hospital location were tested using chi-square tests or t-tests. Outcomes were summarized by hospital location and univariate chi-square tests or t-tests were performed. Th e outcomes were in-hospital mortality, length of stay, and total hospital charges. We used multivariable logistic regression for in-hospital mortality to calculate adjusted odds ratios for hospital location, adjusting for age, sex, race, Elixhauser comorbidity score, hospital teaching status, and hospital region. We used multivariable linear regression for length of stay and total hospital charge, adjusting for the same variables. Length of stay and total charge were log-transformed for analysis as the original values were extremely right skewed. Results: A total of 243,995 discharges were identifi ed with a principal diagnosis of diverticulitis. Among these patients, 15% were in rural hospitals, and 85% were in urban hospitals. In multivariable analysis, inhospital mortality did not diff er signifi cantly by hospital location (p=0.81). Aft er adjusting for covariates in multivariable analysis, length of stay was 8.6% longer in urban than in rural hospitals (p<0.001) and total charges were 73.1% higher in urban than in rural hospitals (p<0.001). If we apply these percentages to the median values of the rural hospitals this equates to a 0.25 day increase and a $9,086 increase in urban hospitals. Conclusion: In an analysis comparing diverticulitis outcomes in rural and urban hospitals, there was no diff erence in mortality. Length of stay was signifi cantly longer in urban hospitals, and total cost was signifi cantly higher in urban hospitals, both adjusting for patient and hospital characteristics. Th ese data prompt us to further examine the diagnostic testing and interventions which are delivered at urban hospitals that increase cost and extend hospitalization without conferring a survival advantage.


Introduction: It has been suggested physical exercise exerts neuroprotection in traumatic brain injury (TBI). However little information is available about the effect of endurance exercise on brain edema, inflammation and oxidant activity in diffuse TBI. Therefore, we investigated the prophylaxis effect of endurance training against oxidative damage, inflammation and brain edema associated to neurologic outcome in diffuse TBI. Materials and Methods: A number of adult male rats of study sustained 8 weeks of treadmill training before TBI induced by Marmarou method. The brain edema (determined by brain water content), inflammation (evaluated by IL-1β level) and oxidative damage (determined by lipid peroxidation) were evaluated in all animals at 24 hours after TBI. Outcome neurologic was determined -1, and 1, 4 and 24 h post-TBI. Results: Animals with previous exercise developed less brain edema than animals without exercise following TBI. A reduction in IL-1β level was shown in group with exercise compared to group without exercise. A defect of neurologic outcome was observed following TBI in all times evaluated. Whereas this defect was not observed in exercised animals in any times. The level of lipid peroxidation was no different between and exercise and no exercise groups. Conclusion: The results of current study indicate the athletes probably have better neurologic outcome than non- athletes following diffuse TBI maybe part because of less development of brain edema and inflammation.


Dust generated during grain handling can pose a safety and health hazard and is an air pollutant. This study was conducted to characterize the particle size distribution (PSD) of dust generated during handling of wheat and shelled corn in the research elevator of the USDA Grain Marketing and Production Research Center and determine the effects of grain lot, repeated transfer, and grain types on the PSD. Dust samples were collected on glass fiber filters with high volume samplers from the lower and upper ducts upstream of the cyclone dust collectors. A laser diffraction analyzer was used to measure the PSD of the collected dust. For wheat, the size distribution of dust from the upper and lower ducts showed similar trends among grain lots but differed between the two ducts. The percentages of particulate matter (PM)-2.5, PM-4, and PM-10 were 5.19%, 9.81%, and 34.1% of the total wheat dust, respectively. The total dust mass flow rate was 0.94 g/s (equivalent to 64.6 g/t of wheat handled). For shelled corn, the size distributions of the dust samples from the upper and lower ducts also showed similar trends among transfers but differed between the two ducts. The percentages of PM-2.5, PM-4, and PM-10 were 7.45%, 9.98%, and 28.8% of the total shelled corn dust, respectively. The total dust mass flow rate was 2.91 g/s (equivalent to 185.1 g/t of corn handled). Overall, the corn and wheat differed significantly in the size distribution and the rate of total dust generated.


Sub irrigation area of Jejeruk Kiri Tambran, physically, has performance degradation due to aging buildings and nature factors. Therefore, performance evaluation of irrigation system is needed as a part of the asset management of irrigation to determine the functioning of the irrigate ion asset. The procedures of performance evaluation refers to Public Works Minister's Regulation No. 32 in 2007, concerning to Operation and Maintenance of Irrigation System, which is consist of 6 main aspects, there are physical infrastructure, productivity of planting, supporting facilities of operation and maintenance, personnel organization, documentation, and water user farmer association. This kind of evaluation contains fuzziness and uncertainty in valuing based on observation dan human opinion. Hence, a method that can accommodate the problem is needed, one of which is fuzzy set theory method. The aim of this research is comparing performance evaluation of irrigation system by using manual method of Bengawan Solo River Basin Agency which is refers to Public Works Minister's Regulation No. 32 in 2007 and fuzzy set theory. The result performance value of irrigation system of sub Jejeruk Kiri Tambran is 77,69% based on manual method and 73,45% based on fuzzy method. By t-test, there is no significant diference between both methods.


One way of studying group involvement is through the paradigm of communities of practice (CofP) (Lave 1988, Lave & Wenger 1991). Students on university campuses are simultaneously members of various CofPs. This article investigates the CofPs Japanese students were involved in while studying in the United States. It found that the whole notion of CofP involvement is framed (Bateson 1972; Tannen & Wallet 1993) differently by Japanese. Specifically, the Japanese frame for attendance obligations and appropriate behavior is tighter (Goffman 1963) than that of their American counterparts. The results of this study suggest that what constitutes good demeanor is different in both societies and highlights the cultural relativity of frames regarding community of practice involvement. (community of practice, frame, obligations, expectations, deference, demeanor, tightness, looseness, giri, ninjo,omote, soto, uchi, ura).


Objective To evaluate the airborne exposure concentrations of total suspended particulate matters (TSPM), repirable suspended particulate matters (RSPM) and silica in brickfields and the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and illnesses among brickfield workers. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in Kathmandu valley targeting all the brickfield workers during February – March 2015. Out of 106 operating brick kilns in Kathmandu Valley, 16 kilns were selected for the study applying multi-stage probability proportionate to size (PPS) sampling technique. A total of 800 participants, 400 brick workers as exposed and 400 grocery workers as referent group were recruited for interviews. Samples for silica, respirable and total particulate were collected following NIOSH methods. One-way ANOVA along with Tukey's test were applied to compare significance of the extent of particulate matters among similar exposure groups (SEGs). Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were carried out to evaluate association between respiratory symptoms/illnesses and participant groups (exposed and referent) and SEGs among brickfield workers. Results Mean results were as follows for the SEGs, respectively for silica, RSPM and TSPM: red brick loading/carrying (RBL/C), 0.388 mg/m3, 17.944 mg/m3, 22.657 mg/m3; green brick stacking (GBS), 0.204 mg/m3, 5.886 mg/m3, 16.271 mg/m3; green brick moulding (GBM), 0.119 mg/m3, 2.193 mg/m3, 4.581 mg/m3; fire master (FM), 0.111 mg/m3, 3.452 mg/m3, 3.435 mg/m3; and for coal crushing/carrying (CCC), 0.098 mg/m3, 7.478 mg/m3, 7.094 mg/m3. One-way ANOVA was conducted for silica, RSPM and TSPM showing significant relationships across the SEGs. The majority (55%) of brick workers complained of coughing during the previous year. The prevalence of chronic cough among this group was 14.3% compared to 6.8% for grocery workers. Brick workers were also significantly more likely to have chronic phlegm production while coughing, chronic bronchitis, wheezing, chest tightness and other chest illnesses. Among SEGs, green brick moulders were nearly six times more likely to experience chronic cough (OR: 5.80; 95% CI: 1.20 to 27.93; p: 0.028) with red brick loaders three times more likely to have chronic bronchitis (OR: 3.08; 95% CI: 1.26 to 7.51; p: 0.013) when compared with workers involved in CCC work. Age and duration of work were significant predictors for chronic cough (p=0.001 each). Age of workers (p=0.003) and smoking habit of workers (p=0.002) were significant predictors for causing chronic bronchitis. Smoking practice of the workers was a significant predictor of wheezing (p=0.018) and asthma (p=0.026) among work groups. Conclusions All of the respiratory symptoms and illnesses were significantly high among brickfield workers. These finding indicate urgent action for protection of workers and prevention of diseases. Furthermore, the symptoms and illnesses are the clear signs that exposure to TSPM, RSPM and silica are affecting the brickfield workers.


: The tissue adhesive butyl-2-cyanoacrylate mixed with lipiodol and tantulum powder is an excellent agent for superselective catheter embolisation of small vessels. The mixture is low viscous and can be injected through fine catheters. Occlusion is independent of blood clotting and is permanent. A coaxial catheter technique is recommended or, in cases of difficulty, a ballon catheter can be floated in. Super-selective embolisation was used in 15 patients, in seven for the kidney in eight for the pelvis. Indications were bleeding from the kidney, partial defunctioning of the kidney, tumours in single kidneys and bleeding from carcinomas in the bladder, prostate or cervix.


In 27 patients brain tumors were misdiagnosed for several years. Most mistakes were due to the incomplete analysis of the patients' complaints, anamnesis and peculiarities of the disease development. Most difficult were identifying the leading neurologic deficit, detecting the adjacent and remote signs. Using full sequence of both simple and sophisticated diagnostic techniques (PET, angiography, CT etc.) one can sharply reduce the incidence of diagnostic errors.


During pregnancy, islets undergo a number of up-regulatory changes to meet the increased need for insulin. One of the most important changes is an increase in glucose-stimulated insulin secretion with a reduction in the glucose-stimulated threshold. Similarly, placental lactogen and PRL induce the same changes in islets as pregnancy. In this study, we examined the effects of pregnancy and PRL treatment of islets in vitro on insulin secretion; glucokinase and hexokinase activities; glucokinase, hexokinase, and glucose transporter 2 protein levels; and rates of glucose utilization and oxidation. Glucokinase activity was 4.9 +/- 0.4 pmol glucose/ng DNA.h in control islets and was significantly increased by 50% in islets on day 15 of pregnancy and by 60% on day 20 of pregnancy. Hexokinase activity was 11.7 +/- 0.9 pmol glucose/ng DNA.h in control islets and was increased by 20% in islets on day 15 of pregnancy and by 90% on day 20 of pregnancy. In the in vitro studies, glucokinase activity was 7.4 +/- 0.89 pmol glucose/ng DNA.h in control islets. PRL treatment of islets in vitro increased glucokinase activity by 60%, an effect similar to that observed in the pregnancy islets. In contrast, hexokinase activity was nearly undetectable in cultured islets, whether control or PRL treated. Quantitative Western blot analysis of glucokinase and hexokinase was performed using equivalent number of protein per lane for all experimental groups. On a protein equivalency basis, glucokinase expression levels were the same in control islets on days 15 and 20 of pregnancy. Likewise, hexokinase levels were not different between control islets and islets on days 15 and 20 of pregnancy. Similarly, Western blot analysis of cultured islets indicated that there were not effect of PRL on glucokinase or hexokinase levels. However, when enzyme levels were normalized on the basis of DNA, the levels of expression appeared to be commensurate with their activities. In cultured islets, the very low level of hexokinase activity corresponded to the low level of hexokinase detected by Western blots. Glucose transporter 2, as determined by Western blot quantification, was increased 2-fold in pregnancy islets on day 15 and increased by 45% in pregnancy islets on day 20. Similar results were observed in cultured islets where glucose transporter 2 was increased 2-fold in PRL-treated islets. Islet glucose utilization and oxidation rates on day 15 of pregnancy were significantly greater than those in control islets at all glucose concentrations examined. This enhanced glucose sensitivity resulted in a shift of the glucose utilization and oxidation response curves to the left. Comparable results were obtained from islets on day 20 of pregnancy. PRL treatment of islets in vitro resulted in the same changes in glucose utilization and oxidation rates that were observed during pregnancy. These results demonstrate changes in glucokinase, hexokinase, and glucose transporter 2 levels and glucose metabolism that occur as islets adapt to an increased need for insulin secretion during pregnancy. The results also indicate that these same changes can be induced by PRL treatment of islets in vitro. This provides further evidence that the long term adaptive changes that occur under the normoglycemic conditions of pregnancy are mediated by lactogen-regulated events.


The thiocarboxyl group reacts with diaryl disulfides to give an unsymmetrical acyl disulfide in dimethylformamide (DMF) and a symmetrical diacyl disulfide in aqueous DMF. Both acyl disulfides react with the alpha-amino group to form the peptide bond. The method was used in a new segment synthesis of alpha-inhibin-92 (alpha-IB-92) with use of 2,2'-dipyridyl disulfide as activator. Thiocarboxyl peptides were synthesized by the solid-phase method on 4-[alpha-(Boc-Gly-S)benzyl]phenoxyacetamidomethyl-resin. The segments alpha-IB-92-(1-34)SH (I), Msc-alpha-IB-92-(35-65)SH (II), Msc-alpha-IB-92(66-92)OH (III), and Msc-alpha-IB-92-(35-92)OH (VI) were prepared in yields of 33, 36, 41, and 25%, respectively, with use of crystalline symmetrical anhydrides in double and triple coupling protocols. Segments I, II, and III were used in a 3-segment synthesis of alpha-IB-92 with an overall yield based on starting resin of about 8% while a 2-segment synthesis using I and IV gave 11%. An all stepwise synthesis of alpha-IB-92 gave 4.5%.


Background: The metabolic syndrome (MetS) was first proposed to predict the occurrence of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. However, it is difficult to identify subjects with MetS early. No previous studies designed to develop a predictive model for MetS in the Chinese population exists; this study was designed to fill that gap. Methods: A middle-aged Chinese cohort of 198 men and 154 women were followed for two years. The binary logistic regression and receiver operation characteristic (ROC) curve were used to develop a predictive model for the future development of MetS. Results: Over two years of follow up, 30 of the 352 subjects (8.52%) without MetS at baseline subsequently developed MetS. Triglycerides (TG) had the highest area under the curve (AUC), while diastolic blood pressure had the lowest. In order to increase the prediction power, MetS components were arranged in the ROC model according to their AUC. After adding waist circumference (WC) to TG (model 1), the AUC was significantly higher than for TG alone. Adding other components into the model did not increase the AUC significantly. A risk score cutoff (0.078) was selected for the best predictive power of model 1 (sensitivity of 76.7%, specificity of 63.4%, with AUC of 76.8%). Conclusions: These results imply that WC and TG are related to the pathophysiologies of MetS, and model 1 could also be used clinically for screening subjects at high risks for MetS.


The pharmacokinetics of tocainide, an experimental antiarrthymic agents, were studied in rats. The concentration of intact drug in plasma and urine samples was determined by an electron capture detector gas chromatographic method. Plasma level and urinary excretion studies revealed the existence of nonlinear kinetics of disposition at and above a 20 mg/kg dose of tocainide. The area under the plasma concentration-time curve increased in a nonlinear fashion with an increase in the dose. Below a 20 mg/kg dose about 19% of the dose was excreted as intact drug in urine while at and above this dose level at least a 100% increase in excretion of intact drug was observed. The extent of inhibition of tocainide metabolism by SKF 525A is more pronounced at a 15 mg/kg dose of tocainide than at 20 mg/kg which suggests that the observed nonlinearity at 20 mg/kg is due to saturation of the metabolism of tocaininde. Study of the effect of route of administration reveals that tocainide is completely absorbed up to a dose of 15 mg/kg, following p.o. or i.p. administration.


Olfaction is one of the most behaviorally important sensory modalities, yet it is one of the least studied. Many organisms rely on olfactory cues as the primary sensory input for decision making. And yet, study of olfactory perception has been hindered by a lack of tools for efficiently delivering diverse odorants as well as an inability to understand the properties of the olfactory space. This thesis will describe several tools developed to provide better control and flexibility over olfactory cues and to to provide improved methods for analyzing and interpreting neural activity data. Odors evoke responses from olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs), which are processed in olfactory glomeruli in a brain region called the antennal lobe in insects and the olfactory bulb in vertebrates. These signals are then relayed by projection neurons (PNs) to higher brain centers, including mushroom body in insects and the piriform cortex in vertebrates. We choose as a model system the Drosophila larva, an organism with a centralized brain and layered neuronal architecture but with significantly lower numerical complexity in comparison with vertebrates and even the adult Drosophila. We describe tools used for analysis of neural calcium imaging data including motion correction of recordings of various regions of the larval brain and semi-automated segmentation of multi-neuronal recordings of dendritic calcium activity. We apply these strategies to the study of larval local neurons that form synapses with ORNs and PNs in the antennal lobe. We measure diverse odorant responses to a population of five local neurons but see no effect of these neurons on the olfactory population code. We describe a model developed to estimate parameters for odorant-ORN dose-response curves that incorporates animal-to-animal variability. Finally, we describe a powerful tool for imprinting arbitrary activity patterns on the ORN population code of the larva. This is achieved by identifying a panel of odorants tuned to activate specific ORNs and developing a microfluidic mixing device that allows for arbitrary mixing of up to ten odorants simultaneously. We demonstrate this method by imaging odorevoked responses of Kenyon cells, neurons that receive olfactory input from PNs and project it to the mushroom body. We are able to identify functional connections of Kenyon cells and can estimate relative connection strengths. We further use the pattern generator to study the Keystone interneuron, another inhibitory antennal lobe


Crohn's disease (CD) is a complex disease where the gut microbiome plays an important role. One of the established treatments in CD is Vedolizumab (VDZ), an alpha(4)beta(7) integrin antibody. Finding biomarkers to predict therapy response is still a clinical unmet need, since this treatment has shown endoscopic remission in only a third of CD patients. Ananthakrishnan et al. demonstrated a strong relationship between microbial metagenomics signature and therapy response to VDZ in CD based on the metagenomics composition of baseline fecal samples. While the majority of studies focus on fecal samples, mucosa-adherent bacterial signature could bring forth stable biomarkers. In this study, we sought to identify the signature of the adherent microbiome in intestinal biopies to differentiate responders (R) from non-responders (NR) to VDZ treatment at baseline.

 We prospectively collected ileal and colonic biopsies from adult CD patients scheduled to start VDZ treatment during baseline- and follow-up (FU) endoscopies. After median 27 weeks of follow-up, patients were classified as either R or NR based on endoscopic response (≥50% reduction in SES-CD score), steroid-free clinical response (≥3 point drop in HBI or HBI ≤4, no systemic steroids) and/or biochemical response (≥50% reduction in C-reactive protein (CRP) and fecal calprotectin or a basal CRP ≤5 g/mL and fecal calprotectin ≤250 µg/g). Microbiome composition of the biopsies was determined using 16S RNA gene V3V4 amplicon sequencing. We measured alpha and beta diversity using Wilcoxon and Adonis metrics.

 In total, 44 CD patients were included in the baseline cohort (28 R and 16 NR) and 53 CD patients were included in the follow up cohort (37 R and 20 NR), for which 21 patients overlap between baseline and follow up. When comparing alpha-diversity between R and NR, we did not find significant differences in ileal (Wilcoxon, p=0.78) and colonic (Wilcoxon, p=0.70) samples at baseline nor at follow up (ileal Wilcoxon, p=0. 27 and colonic Wilcoxon, p=0. 63). Next, comparing the beta-diversity, we demonstrated no significant differences between R and NR in ileal (baseline p=0.96, follow up p=0.11) and colonic (baseline p=0.11, follow up p=0.4). Microbiome profiles did show high inter-individual variation but were highly similar intra-individually both between body site and over time.

 Here, we investigated the microbial signature of VDZ R and NR and demonstrated mucosa-associated microbiome is mostly stable after resolution/non-resolution of inflammation in CD and does not predict response to VDZ therapy. Further analyses on data of infliximab, adalimumab and ustekinumab treated patients, as part of the EPIC Pioneer study, are ongoing.


A new process has been developed to determine the biological activity of an intact layer of lysozyme deposited onto a biomaterial surface. This process is applied to a number of common hydrogel contact lenses. The activity of the surface-adsorbed protein is measured using a standard micrococcal activity assay, with extra steps to distinguish between protein on the surface and protein in solution. This is in contrast to protein extraction work in which the activity of all adsorbed protein is measured. For ionic materials, which are known to deposit large amounts of protein, particularly positively charged proteins such as lysozyme, there is evidence for loosely bound protein re-entering the solution, thus making it impossible to truly separate out the surfaceadsorbed protein. This optimized process provides the first quantification of the biological activity of an intact layer of surface-adsorbed protein at a hydrogel interface. VC 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 00A:000–000, 2012.


We introduce for the first time a within-dog model of Leishmania infection. The model illustrates the dynamics of the parasite on the skin and within the bone marrow, as well as the dynamics of a class of antibodies. Simulations suggest that within-host pathogen persists either in oscillatory regime or at an equilibrium. The model is fitted to within-dog data of these three dynamical variables. Furthermore, we develop a vector-host epidemiological model of population level dynamics of Leishmaniasis in dogs [1]. The within-dog and the population level models are linked through transmission and disease-induced mortality. The newly developed is mathematically well-posed. We compute the epidemiological reproduction number, which depends on the within-host parasite load and immune response. We find that the model has a disease-free equilibrium. We show that it has at least one endemic equilibrium if the reproduction number is above one. If the reproduction number is below one, the model may have no endemic equilibria or it may have even number of endemic equilibria, at least of which is locally stable. Thus, even if the reproduction number is below one, Leishmania can persist in dog populations, if it is introduced at sufficiently high level, meaning that even dog populations with sufficiently high immunity can sustain the disease. [1] M. Gilchrist, A. Sasaki, Modeling Host-–Parasite Coevolution: A Nested Approach Based on Mechanistic Models, Journal of Theoretical Biology 3, p.289--308,  2002


The purpose of this essay is to examine how writing has shaped the nature of the Quarterly over 75 years. Here I explore how stylistic elements have changed over time, how form has interacted with function and content, and how well the resulting text has served the several communities within physical education. I make the following assertions. First, the writing style that has become the model for research reports is needlessly dense and daunting for readers. Second, the desire to maintain a journal that serves both as an interdisciplinary resource for a broad audience of physical educators and as an outlet for reports directed to limited audiences of technical specialists has prevented full performance of either function. Those concerns notwithstanding, I find good cause for celebration—as well as for guarded optimism about the future.


Hearing impairment interferes with normal communication and reduces the quality of life for the affected individual and significant others. In the workplace, noise‐induced hearing loss has been one of the most prevalent work‐related diseases, but both employees and employers have not yet accepted it as a serious health hazard. In order to promote an understanding of the social consequence of hearing loss, establishment of methods for evaluating hearing handicaps and for implementing workplace health promotion are indispensable. For this reason, the Japanese version of the Hearing Disability and Handicap Scale (HDHS) and a questionnaire on the quality life (QOL) were developed. Based on the preliminary results obtained among present and retired workers, the relationship between hearing handicaps and QOL will be discussed.


BACKGROUND & AIMS
Barrett's esophagus (BE) with low-grade dysplasia (LGD) can progress to high-grade dysplasia (HGD) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) has been shown to be an effective treatment for LGD in clinical trials, but its effectiveness in clinical practice is unclear. We compared the rate of progression of LGD after RFA with endoscopic surveillance alone in routine clinical practice.

METHODS
We performed a retrospective study of patients who either underwent RFA (n = 45) or surveillance endoscopy (n = 125) for LGD, confirmed by at least 1 expert pathologist, from October 1992 through December 2013 at 3 medical centers in the United States. Cox regression analysis was used to assess the association between progression and RFA.

RESULTS
Data were collected over median follow-up periods of 889 days (interquartile range, 264-1623 days) after RFA and 848 days (interquartile range, 322-2355 days) after surveillance endoscopy (P = .32). The annual rates of progression to HGD or EAC were 6.6% in the surveillance group and 0.77% in the RFA group. The risk of progression to HGD or EAC was significantly lower among patients who underwent RFA than those who underwent surveillance (adjusted hazard ratio = 0.06; 95% confidence interval: 0.008-0.48).

CONCLUSIONS
Among patients with BE and confirmed LGD, rates of progression to a combined end point of HGD and EAC were lower among those treated with RFA than among untreated patients. Although selection bias cannot be excluded, these findings provide additional evidence for the use of endoscopic ablation therapy for LGD.


This investigation examines experimentally the behavior of swirled jets produced by axial flow fans blowing into a crossflow at low velocity ratios. The main difference with non-swirl cases is an asymmetry of the dominant kidney vortex and a slight distortion of the jet trace downstream of the injection hole. The effect of jet rotation at relatively low swirl numbers and similar velocity ratios is also investigated by a validated computational analysis tool. The numerical results are analyzed by means of various post-processing procedures, aiming to clarify, quantify and analyze the impact of swirl on the characteristics and the flow domain of a jet in crossflow. In general, swirl introduces an asymmetry in all examined quantities and prevents the penetration of the jet into the crossflow, causing the jet to remain closer to the wall surface. The rotation of the injected fluid results in an imparity of the two parts of the Counter Rotating Vortex Pair (CVP) which is no longer symmetric to the axial centerline plane. High swirl numbers result in the destruction of the CVP and the dominant kidney shape vortex is transformed into a comma shape vortex, rotating close to the wall.


Abstract For the exploration of the dominant aerodynamic noise sources, the pressure fluctuations in the exit plane (near field) of the propfan model CRISP (Counter Rotating Integrated Shrouded Propfan) were measured with conventional 1/4 inch microphones. The pressure field of the tone components was resolved into a distribution of duct modes. Knowledge of the dominant modes allows conclusions about the dominant noise generation mechanisms, because the different noise sources inside the propfan create different sets of modes. The CRISP concept is developed by Motoren- und Turbinen-Union Munchen (MTU). The experimental propfan has two counter-rotating rotors of 0·4 m diameter and equal speed. The shroud is supported by seven struts located downstream of the second rotor. Measurements were made with equal (B1=B2=10) as well as unequal (B1/B2=10/12) blade numbers and under different operational conditions. The highest overall harmonic levels were found for the configuration with equal blade numbers. In this case, the blade passing frequency component is generated mainly by the rotor 2/struts interaction, and the higher blade tone harmonics, which dominate the overall tone noise level, are produced by the interaction of the two rotors. In the case of unequal blade numbers, all even harmonics of the shaft frequency (H=2, 4, 6 . . .) can be generated by the rotor 1/rotor 2 interaction. The harmonics belowH=22, however, are excited as non-propagational modes only and were found to have small amplitudes in the exit plane. The rotor 1/rotor 2 interaction is the main noise generation mechanism for the configuration with a short axial distance between the rotors. When the rotor distance is enlarged, the rotor/rotor interaction noise is reduced and, as a consequence, the contributions from the rotor/struts interactions become important. In addition to the experiments, a theoretical method is described for the prediction of the frequencies and azimuthal modes generated by two rotors with arbitrary speeds, directions of rotation and blade numbers. This method is helpful for the design of low noise rotor systems.


The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (formerly the Food Stamp Program) is the Nation's largest nutritional assistance program and the cornerstone of Federal Government efforts to alleviate hunger in the United States and its territories. SNAP benefits are funded by the United States Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). They are issued by individual States and redeemable at any authorized FNS SNAP retailer, which includes an increasing number of farmers markets. SNAP benefits are accessed via an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card that is processed using electronic funds transfer technology. EBT cards look and operate like bank-issued debit cards. SNAP benefits are accessed by swiping the EBT card on a point-of-sale (POS) terminal at an FNS retailer location and entering a personal identification number (PIN). FNS SNAP retailers can either use EBT-only machines, which look like standard commercial POS terminals and are provided for free by FNS, or supply their own terminals. EBT-only machines require electricity and a phone line connection, and accepts only EBT cards. Many FNS SNAP retailers choose to pay for commercial POS terminals that accept EBT, debit, and credit cards on the same machine. Electrical hookups and phone line connections are not available at many farmers market sites, preventing the use of the free EBT-only machines. Even when market managers and vendors are willing and able to invest in wireless POS terminals, the technology can be difficult to manage and promote at farmers markets. Operating an EBT machine requires an FNS license. FNS allows markets to obtain a single FNS license for all eligible vendors at the market. SNAP benefits are redeemed using one centrally located POS terminal; transactions are processed throughout the farmers markets using scrip (paper certificates, tokens, or receipts). SNAP customers redeem their benefits by swiping their EBT cards at the POS terminal in exchange for scrip, which they can use to buy eligible food products. This process is similar to one sometimes used for accepting credit and debit cards at farmers markets. While it is possible for individual vendors to have their own FNS license and POS terminal, scrip projects are the most common way for farmers markets to accept SNAP benefits. This handbook is a how-to guide for accepting SNAP benefits at farmers markets. Topics include why to accept SNAP benefits, how to install EBT systems at farmers markets, how to use scrip projects to accept SNAP benefits at farmers markets, how to become an FNS snap retailer, what equipment is required to accept SNAP benefits at farmers markets, and how to make SNAP EBT succeed at farmers markets.


Background and Hypothesis: Trichloroethylene (TCE) is an industrial solvent used since the 1940s. A known carcinogen, it is found in over half of Superfund sites where levels have reached 12,000 parts per billion (ppb; µg/L), though the US Environmental Protection Agency maximum contaminant level in drinking water is 5 ppb. In this study, the zebrafish model was used to investigate the developmental toxicity of TCE by assessing its effects on metabolism. Preliminary studies have shown a reduction in gene expression of the cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes responsible for breakdown of vitamin D. As a result, we expected to see lower levels of downstream metabolites, namely calcitriol, as detected by an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA).
Experimental Design: At 0-2 hours post fertilization (hpf), embryos were dosed with TCE at either 0 or 10 ppb. At 72 hpf, the larvae were removed from the TCE and prepared for the ELISA procedure.
Results: ELISA revealed similar levels of calcitriol between the control and 10 ppb groups. The difference between the two groups did not show statistical significance (p>0.05).
Conclusion: These results suggest that there may not be a direct relationship between CYP gene expression and certain downstream metabolic effects or that the organism was able to compensate for the biological changes. If the latter, additional time points for TCE exposure could be evaluated. As studies continue, we plan to evaluate CYP gene expression at higher concentrations to correlate with other biological effects and determine if there is consistency with results from lower concentrations.


We consider one kind of uncapacitated facility location problem which we call k-product uncapacitated facility location problem with no-fixed costs(k-PUFLPN). The problem can be defined as follows: There is a set of demand points where clients are located and a set of potential sites where facilities of unlimited capacities can be set up. There are k different kinds of products. Each client needs to be supplied with k kinds of products by a set of k different facilities and each facility can be set up to supply only a distinct product with no fixed cost. There is a non-negative cost of shipping goods between each pair of locations. These costs are assumed to be symmetric and satisfy the triangle inequality. We want to select a set of facilities to be opened and their designated products and to find an assignment for each client to a set of k facilities so as to minimize the sum of the shipping costs. In this paper, we propose an approximation algorithm with a performance guarantee of (3/2) k -1 for the k-PUFLPN. KeywordsApproximation algorithm; Facility location; kproduct


Electrospinning provides a simple robust method to manufacture scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. Though varieties of materials can be used, optimization and biocompatibility tests are required to provide functional tissue regeneration. Moreover, many studies are limited to 2D electrospun constructs rather than 3D templates due to the production of high density packed fibres, which result in poor cell infiltration. Here, we optimised electrospinning parameters for three different polymers: poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL), polylactic acid (PLA) and poly(ethylene oxide terephthalate)/poly(butylene terephthalate) (PA) copolymers. Human mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSCs) were cultured on scaffolds for 14 days to study the scaffolds' biocompatibility and their multi-lineage differentiation potential or maintenance of stemness in the absence of chemical stimuli. For all scaffolds, a high and stable metabolic activity was measured throughout the culture time with a high proliferation rate compared to day 1 (PCL 5.8-, PLA 4-, PA 4.9-fold). The metabolism of hMSCs was also measured through glucose and lactate concentrations, showing no cytotoxic levels up to 14 days. Total glycosaminoglycan (GAG) production was the highest in PA electrospun scaffolds. When normalized to DNA, GAG production was the highest in PLA and PA scaffolds. All scaffolds were prone to differentiate to an osteogenic lineage, with PCL providing the highest alkaline phosphatase and collagen type Ia gene upregulation. As PA had the most stable fibre formation, it was chosen as a template to further incorporate stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), and stimulate higher hMSC infiltration. These scaffolds provided significantly higher hMSC infiltration than normal PA scaffolds. In conclusion, our optimized biocompatible electrospun scaffolds have shown promising regulation of hMSC fate. When combined with migratory stimulating cytokines, these scaffolds may overcome the known challenges of poor cellular infiltration typical of micro- and nano-fibrillary random meshes.


Mental health, or more broadly, social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) is dependent on many factors, both internal and external. The external factors such as socio economic disadvantage are fairly well documented and generally their link to SEWB are fairly easy to understand, although the degree of impact they have may be debated. The internal factors such as motivation are much more difficult to explain. One framework that is still used to explain motivation since it was first published in the 1940s is that of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Put simply this framework suggests that people are motivated by different needs that can be classified in a hierarchy with the lower level needs having to be fulfilled before the higher level needs can be. Better understanding the link between cultural disconnection and SEWB may offer clear solutions to how it can be addressed.
This paper will argue that those higher level needs are closely linked to culture and that consequently any disconnection from culture can impede, if not make impossible, their attainment. If this link can be demonstrated it becomes possible to explain how the SEWB of people who have been disconnected from their culture such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians is at greater risk of impairment.


Oceanic heat transport variations, carried by the northward-flowing Atlantic Water, strongly influence Arctic sea-ice distribution, ocean–atmosphere exchanges, and pan-Arctic temperatures. Palaeoceanographic reconstructions from marine sediments near Fram Strait have documented a dramatic increase in Atlantic Water temperatures over the 20th century, unprecedented in the last millennium. Here we present results from Earth system model simulations that reproduce and explain the reconstructed exceptional Atlantic Water warming in Fram Strait in the 20th century in the context of natural variability during the last millennium. The associated increase in ocean heat transfer to the Arctic can be traced back to changes in the ocean circulation in the subpolar North Atlantic. An interplay between a weakening overturning circulation and a strengthening subpolar gyre as a consequence of 20th-century global warming is identified as the driving mechanism for the pronounced warming along the Atlantic Water path toward the Arctic. Simulations covering the late Holocene provide a reference frame that allows us to conclude that the changes during the last century are unprecedented in the last 1150 years and that they cannot be explained by internal variability or natural forcing alone.


of nature to improve the q uality of lif e" . Under the banner Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen University and the specialised research institutes of the Wageningen Research Foundation have j oined f orces in contributing to inding solutions to important q uestions in the domain of healthy f ood and living environment. With its roughly 30 branches, 5,000 employees and 10,000 students, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. The uniq ue Wageningen approach lies in its integrated approach to issues and the collaboration between dif f erent disciplines. RIKILT Wageningen University & Research P.O. Box 230 6700 AE Wageningen The Netherlands T +31 (0)317 48 02 56 www.wur.eu/rikilt