An important step in dealing with the mass‐spring loaded cylindrical shell is to evaluate the total shell displacements at the attachment points, which determine the strength of the equivalent forces. Through dynamical balance at such points, these displacements satisfy a system of linear equations whose coefficients involve the shell displacements generated by on‐surface forces of unit strength, a Green's‐function problem with both source and observer located on the shell surface. It is thus evident that flexural waves, though subsonic, must be accounted for in the ray acoustic solution to the latter problem. Numerical examples show that they produce high Q intense resonances because of their extremely small radiation damping, which would be dominated by structural damping for dissipative shell material, imprinting their signature in the far field through radiation of the induced forces and carrying much of the information on the internal load. By including the flexural as well as membrane waves, the ray model accurately predicts the induced forces, the shell displacements, and the surface and far‐zone pressures in the frequency range of interest; 1≤ka≤25 (where k is the fluid acoustic wave number and α is the shell mean radius). [Work supported by ONR.]


Increased accessibility of advanced technology, the targeted use of online learning platforms, student flexible learning expectations and the pressures of faculty budget constraints and priorities have called into question the effectiveness of traditional tertiary teaching and learning models. The tertiary education context must evolve at a pace consistent with the growing expectations and requirements of an innovative society. A teacher-led research project was devised to navigate through some of the complexities and implications associated with necessary pedagogical change in response to the transitioning digital tertiary environment. The development and implementation of blended learning and team teaching strategies were introduced into the pedagogy of a tertiary pre-service teacher education methods class. This paper reports on three sequential years of findings, which will explore student understandings of blended learning and team teaching and the overall impact they had on their learning in this context.


Objectives The Carlos Slim Foundation implemented the Integrated Measurement for Early Detection (MIDO), a screening strategy for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Mexico as part of CASALUD, a portfolio of digital health services focusing on healthcare delivery and prevention/management of NCDs. We investigated the disease profile of the screened population and evaluated MIDO's contribution to the continuum of care of the main NCDs. Design Using data from MIDO and the chronic diseases information system, we quantified the proportion of the population screened and diagnosed with NCDs, and measured care linkage/retention and level of control achieved. We analysed comorbidity patterns and estimated prevalence of predisease stages. Finally, we estimated characteristics associated with unawareness and control of NCDs, and examined efficacy of the CASALUD model in improving NCD control. Setting Public primary health centres in 27/32 Mexican states. Participants Individuals aged ≥20 years lacking healthcare access. Results From 2014 to 2018, 743 000 individuals were screened using MIDO. A predisease or disease condition was detected in ≥70% of the population who were unaware of their NCD status. The screening identified 38 417 new cases of type 2 diabetes, 53 133 new cases of hypertension and 208 627 individuals with obesity. Dyslipidaemia was found in 77.3% of individuals with available blood samples. Comorbidities were highly prevalent, especially in people with obesity. Only 5.47% (n=17 774) of individuals were linked with their corresponding primary health centre. Factors associated with unawareness of and uncontrolled NCDs were sex, age, and social determinants, for example, rural/urban environment, access to healthcare service, and education level. Patients with type 2 diabetes treated at clinics under the CASALUD model were more likely to achieve disease control (OR: 1.32, 95% CI: 1.09 to 1.61). Conclusion Patient-centred screening strategies such as MIDO are urgently needed to improve screening, access, retention and control for patients with NCDs.


Staphylococcus aureus causes serious infections in humans and animals. Controlling of staphylococcal infections is becoming very difficult to due to the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains. Therefore, search for novel antimicrobial alternatives has become of great importance. One of these new approaches is bacteriophage-encoded endolysin enzymes, which have exogenous lytic activity against multiple antibiotic resistant bacteria, especially in Gram positive bacteria. In this study, we described cloning, expression and functional analysis of three endolysins from temperate bacteriophages from three clinical isolates of S. aureus strains. Temperate phages were isolated from the host strains using the mitomycin C induction. The endolysin genes of the phages were amplified using PCR, cloned and over-expressed in E.coli. The lytic activity of endolysins were tested against a wide range of bacterial species using spot-on-lawn assay method. The combination of the three endolysins (LysSA10, LysSA14 and LysSA15) displayed activity against 222 of 239 (93%) of S. aureus strains including 67 MRSA and 6 ATCC type strains. In addition, endolysins showed lytic activity against other Gram positive bacteria including a number of clinical and type strains of S. epidermidis, S. haemolyticus, Enterococcus faecalis, E. faecium, Streptococcus pyogenes, S. pneumoniae, S. intermedius, Bacillus subtilis, and B. atrophaeus.  No lytic activity was observed against 7 Lactobacillus and one Listeria monocytogenes ATCC type strains tested.
Overall, our results showed that the combination of the newly identified three recombinant endolysins exhibited a broad host range against several Gram positive bacteria. Thus, these endolysins are promising antimicrobial agents for combating bacterial pathogens.
Introduction:
Staphylococcus aureus is a coccoid Gram-positive bacterium with a thick peptidoglycan layer (1), otherwise called a murein layer. This murein layer comprises of long ionic polymers involving the substituting amino sugars N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylmuramic corrosive that make up the glycan chains and peptide linkers interfacing these glycan chains to a three-dimensional system. On account of S. aureus, these peptide linkers comprise of monitored stem peptides, which are interconnected through five back to back glycines, the purported pentaglycine connect. Another trademark highlight of S. aureus peptidoglycan is O-acetylation at the C6-OH position of muramic corrosive, rendering the bacterium impervious to lysozyme. Teichoic acids covalently connected to the peptidoglycan work as controllers of cell development, as phage receptors, epitopes, for drawing in cations, and as devices for microbes to speak with the earth. S. aureus is known to be a piece of the ordinary microflora. This bacterium dwells fundamentally on the nares, skin, and mucosal films of people and creatures and represents no danger to the host species under ordinary conditions. The colonization rate in solid grown-ups is somewhere in the range of 5 and 30%, and 10 to 20% of people show changeless colonization. On the other hand, microscopic organisms from solid people can represent a danger of transmission to the immunocompromised populace, yielding unfavorable impacts on those contaminated. An assortment of illnesses can be brought about by staphylococcal strains, running from rather innocuous restricted skin contaminations to fundamental diseases upon the passage of microorganisms into the blood just as intense and interminable diseases of different organs, for example, heart, bones, and lungs. Sepsis, endocarditis, and harmful stun condition are instances of hazardous maladies brought about by S. aureus. One of the basic hazard factors for the advancement of emergency clinic obtained (HA) and network procured (CA) diseases is S. aureus nasal carriage. Expanded colonization rates have been accounted for to prompt expanded disease rates in the network and medical clinics.
Medication opposition in S. aureus can be procured by various components, including flat quality exchange by means of plasmids or other portable hereditary components just as unconstrained changes and determination. This prompted the rise of different strains that show protection from one or a mix of anti-toxins, for example, methicillin-safe S. aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-safe S. aureus (VRSA), and numerous medication safe S. aureus (MDRSA). In the course of recent years, there have been variances in the predominance of MRSA. Albeit by and large paces of S. aureus diseases may have balanced out and the predominance of MRSA is marginally diminishing in some Western nations, numbers are still alarmingly high on an overall scale. As indicated by U.S. what's more, Dutch predominance information, between 2 million and 53 million individuals are minimalistically assessed to convey MRSA around the world.
In spite of the fact that correlation of epidemiological information has demonstrated troublesome on account of contrasts in populaces tested and study structures, nations in North and South America and Asia just as Malta have been accounted for to have the most noteworthy MRSA rates, surpassing half. Particularly high rates have been accounted for Sri Lanka (86.5%), South Korea (77.6%), Vietnam (74.1%), and Taiwan (65.0%). Conversely, India and the Philippines have a lot of lower paces of 22.6% and 38.1%, separately. China, Australia, African nations, and some Southern and Eastern European nations, for example, Portugal, Greece, Italy, and Romania, have middle rates going from 25 to half. MRSA is commonly less predominant in numerous Western and Northern European nations, including The Netherlands and Scandinavian nations.
Anti-microbial of decision for the treatment of S. aureus contaminations at first was penicillin; be that as it may, penicillin opposition is amazingly normal in many nations. Accordingly, a penicillinase-safe β-lactam anti-infection, for example, flucloxacillin or oxacillin is normally utilized for first-line treatment; these anti-microbials have a similar instrument of activity as penicillin. S. aureus strains that are methicillin safe are likewise impervious to other β-lactam anti-infection agents, including penicillins (penicillin V, penicillin G, ampicillin, oxacillin, carbenicillin, and amoxicillin), carbapenems (imipenem-cilastatin [Primaxin]), cephalosporins (cephalothin), and monobactams.
Treatment of genuine contaminations may use blend treatment with different anti-infection agents; in any case, since this technique bears a high danger of harm to the kidneys, its utilization is disputable. Along these lines, meaning to battle MRSA, vancomycin, which is a glycopeptide anti-toxin, is usually utilized. Be that as it may, some treatment disappointments with vancomycin have been accounted for, even in patients contaminated with vancomycin-helpless MRSA. Linezolid, which has a place with the oxazolidinone class of medications, has been accounted for to have bacteriostatic movement against S. aureus. This anti-toxin is endorsed to treat confounded delicate tissue and skin contaminations and furthermore pneumonia in kids and grown-ups. It has oral and parenteral definitions, and its oral bioavailability is acceptable, however S. aureus strains that are impervious to this anti-toxin have been accounted for too.


Multivariate Hawkes Processes (MHPs) are an important class of temporal point processes that have enabled key advances in understanding and predicting social information systems. However, due to their complex modeling of temporal dependencies, MHPs have proven to be notoriously difficult to scale, what has limited their applications to relatively small domains. In this work, we propose a novel model and computational approach to overcome this important limitation. By exploiting a characteristic sparsity pattern in real-world diffusion processes, we show that our approach allows to compute the exact likelihood and gradients of an MHP -- independently of the ambient dimensions of the underlying network. We show on synthetic and real-world datasets that our model does not only achieve state-of-the-art predictive results, but also improves runtime performance by multiple orders of magnitude compared to standard methods on sparse event sequences. In combination with easily interpretable latent variables and influence structures, this allows us to analyze diffusion processes at previously unattainable scale.


Surgeons operate in mentally and physically demanding workspaces where the impact of error is highly consequential. Accurately characterizing the neurophysiology of surgeons during intraoperative error will help guide more accurate performance assessment and precision training for surgeons and other teleoperators. To better understand the neurophysiology of intraoperative error, we build and deploy a system for intraoperative error detection and electroencephalography (EEG) signal synchronization during robot-assisted surgery (RAS). We then examine the association between EEG data and detected errors. Our results suggest that there are significant EEG changes during intraoperative error that are detectable irrespective of surgical experience level.


Proceedings: AACR 104th Annual Meeting 2013; Apr 6-10, 2013; Washington, DC

Telomerase is required for the unlimited lifespan of cancer cells. Pancreatic cancers are almost always positive for telomerase activity and inhibiting telomerase in these cells could limit their lifespan. In this project, we have characterized the biology of telomeres in a panel of 11 pancreatic cancer cell lines and have examined the effects of GRN163L (Imetelstat), a potent telomerase inhibitor, on these cells. GRN163L inhibited telomerase in all 11 pancreatic cancer cell lines, with IC50 ranging from 50 nM to 200 nM. Continuous exposure of AsPC-1, CAPAN1 and CD18 cells to 1 μM GRN163L resulted in telomere shortening, induction of crisis, and loss of the cultures. Crisis In these cells was accompanied by activation of a DNA damage response (γ-H2AX) and evidence of both senescence (SA-β-galactosidase) and apoptosis (Floating cells, sub-G1 DNA content, PARP1 cleavage). In L3.6 cells, continuous GRN163L exposure led to the emergence of a GRN163L-resistant sub-population of cells. Over the last year, these cells have been expanded at successively higher concentrations of GRN163L and are still dividing in the presence of 10 μM GRN163L. To shorten telomeres and limit the lifespan of these cells, an alternate approach was to use inhibitors of poly(ADP-ribose)polymerases (PARP) to block the parsylation of TRF1 and TRF2, thereby enhancing the telomerase-inhibitory activity of the Shelterin complex. Our results show that combining GRN163L with the general PARP inhibitor 3-aminobenzamide (3AB) was sufficient to shorten telomeres and limit the lifespan of the GRN163L-L3.6 resistant cells. These experiments were then repeated in the parental L3.6 cells to determine if 3AB could be used to block the development of GRN163L-resistance. Whereas 3AB alone was not sufficient to induce crisis, 3AB did synergize with GRN163L to accelerate the timing of crisis and block the emergence of GRN163L resistant cells. These results raise the possibility that inhibitors of poly(ADP-ribose)polymerases could be exploited in the clinic to accelerate the effects of anti-telomerase therapies.

Citation Format: Katrina M. Burchett, Michel M. Ouellette. Inhibitors of telomerase and of poly(ADP-Ribose)polymerases synergize to limit the lifespan of pancreatic cancer cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 704. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-704


Background The cardiotoxic effects of doxorubicin, trastuzumab, and other anticancer agents are well known, but molecular genetic testing is lacking for the early identification of patients at risk for therapy-related cardiac toxicity. Methods Using the Agena Bioscience MassARRAY system, we genotyped TRPC6 rs77679196, BRINP1 rs62568637, LDB2 rs55756123, RAB22A rs707557, intergenic rs4305714, LINC01060 rs7698718, and CBR3 rs1056892 (V244M) (previously associated with either doxorubicin or trastuzumab-related cardiotoxicity in the NCCTG N9831 trial of anthracycline-based chemotherapy ± trastuzumab) in 993 patients with HER2+ early breast cancer from the NSABP B-31 trial of adjuvant anthracycline-based chemotherapy ± trastuzumab. Association analyses were performed with outcomes of congestive heart failure (N = 29) and maximum decline in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) using logistic and linear regression models, respectively, under an additive model with age, baseline LVEF, and previous use of hypertensive medications as covariates. Results Associations of maximum decline in LVEF in the NCCTG N9831 patients did not replicate in the NSABP B-31 patients. However, TRPC6 rs77679196 and CBR3 rs1056892 were significantly associated with congestive heart failure, p < 0.05, with stronger associations observed in patients treated with chemotherapy only (no trastuzumab) or in the combined analysis of all patients relative to those patients treated with chemotherapy + trastuzumab. Conclusions TRPC6 rs77679196 and CBR3 rs1056892 (V244M) are associated with doxorubicin-induced cardiac events in both NCCTG N9831 and NSABP B-31. Other variants previously associated with trastuzumab-related decline in LVEF failed to replicate between these studies.


• The potential for β-adrenergic drugs to increase total bilirubin formation via cyclic adenosine monophosphate—mediated stimulation of hepatic microsomal heme oxygenase in the human neonate was evaluated. The pulmonary excretion rate of endogenously produced carbon monoxide (VeCO), an index of total bilirubin formation (TBF), was measured in 18 preterm neonates whose mothers received β-adrenergic drugs for tocolysis and in 18 preterm neonates whose mothers were untreated. The mean VeCO of the neonates in the former group (17.2±7.3 μL/kg/hr) was the same as that in the latter group (17.4±6.2 μL/kg/hr); both values were elevated when compared with the mean VeCO of 20 term newborns (13.9 ± 3.5 μL/kg/hr). Our findings indicate that TBF is not significantly increased in neonates whose mothers received β-adrenergic drugs before delivery. ( Am J Dis Child 1983;137:58-60)


Nagabhasma, a lead-based Ayurvedic medicine is used to treat certain diseases like diabetes and epilepsy. There are many reports to indicate the toxicity of lead used in such Ayurvedic preparations. However, according to Ayurveda, if prepared by following the stringent ancient instructions, during the preparation of Nagabhasma, lead loses its metallic toxicity and gets converted into an organo-metallic compound that is easily acceptable by the human body and carries the medicinal properties. The present study is designed to evaluate the effect of such detoxified lead (organometallic compound) in various stages of authentically prepared Nagabhasma on oxidative stress, liver and kidney functions and to compare the results with the lead acetate treated and commercially available bhasma treated animals. Using the human equivalent doses of Nagabhasma, four stages of its preparation were fed orally for 30 days and 60 days (short term and long term treatment) to Wistar rats. Blood from these animals were subjected to biochemical evaluation for oxidative stress, liver and kidney function tests. The biochemical results of the short term and long term treatments showed a gradual decrease in the toxic effect of lead in the animals treated with Stages 1 to 4 of Nagabhasma preparation when compared to the animals treated with lead acetate and commercially available branded bhasma. This indicates that the lead in the bhasma loses its metallic toxicity as the preparation of bhasma progresses. The results indicate that, following the traditional way of preparation of bhasma using highly toxic substances like lead is necessary to avoid the innate metallic toxicity. The traditional procedures followed during preparation converts the metallic lead into non-toxic and health beneficial organometallic compound. Additionally, this organometallic lead imbibes the medicinal properties of the different herbs and other reagents used during the preparation of the bhasma.


Nowadays manufacturing involves high volume of complex operational processes, distributed resources and international/intersectional collaborations, which cause the evaluation of performance for related engineering projects to become a challenge. The performance of project is a key factor that determines the quality of output, and its temporal changes could reflect the status of project execution at current time, as well as indicate the potential issues for the near future. As a result, monitoring the change of performance is an essential approach to ensure the project execution is on track. It could raise awareness of project participants upon any issue occurs, and enable them to make appropriate decisions on a real-time basis. To facilitate the evaluation of project performance in collaborative environments, this research aims to propose an automatic approach to extracting key performance indicators (KPIs) from project related data, and also to demonstrate how the domain knowledge can facilitate the process of KPIs identification and visualisation.


The thiolase involved in biosynthesis of poly-&hydroxybutyrate in Zoogloea ramigera generates an acetyl-enzyme species during catalysis. Up to 0.86 ['"C] acetyl edsubunit of this homotetrameric enzyme is accumulated by acid precipitation in the presence of [14C]acetyl-CoA. Gel filtration of the same solutions produced only 7% acetyl-enzyme suggesting hydrolytic lability of the acetyl-enzyme during the 10-min isolation at 4 OC. In an effort to identify active site residues which may function as basic groups to deprotonate at C-2 of acetyl-coA to generate the required nucleophilic equivalent in carbon-carbon bond formation, we have prepared and tested haloacetyl-thioesters, oxoesters, and amides in the panthetheine pivalate series (Davis, J. T., Moore, R. N., Imperiali, B., Pratt, A. J., Kobayashi, K., Masamune, S., Sinskey, A. J., and Walsh, C. T. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 82-89). The [I'CIbromoacetyl-oxoester alkylatively inactivates thiolase irreversibly with stoichiometric incorporation of four labels/tetramer. Determination of amino acid composition of the radiolabeled tryptic peptide indicated trapping of Cys-89 (Peoples, 0. P., Masamune, S., Walsh, C. T., and Sinskey, A. J. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 97-102), the same residue modified by iodoacetamide. When the bromoacetyl-thioester was used, inactivation was pH-dependent. The data are consistent with the competition of two processes, acylation, and alkylation. Direct (rather than secondary) alkylation of thiolase by the inactivator accounts for the significant I4C incorporation into thiolase with the thioester labeled with [I4C] in the pantetheine pivalate moiety. It appears likely that the haloacetyl analogs described herein should be generally useful for affinity labeling other enzymes using acetyl-coA as a substrate.


The state of the art in and the future of robotics are discussed. The potential paths to the long-term vision of robots that work alongside people in homes and workplaces as useful, capable collaborators are discussed. Robot manipulation in human environments is expected to grow in the coming years as more researchers seek to create robots that actively help in the daily lives of people


In February 2008, the President of the French Republic, Nicholas Sarkozy, unsatisfied with the present state of statistical information about the economy and the society, asked, Joseph Stiglitz (President of the Commission), Amartya Sen (Advisor) and Jean Paul Fitoussi (Coordinator) to create a Commission, subsequently called "The Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress" (CMEPSP). The Commission's aim has been to identify the limits of GDP as an indicator of economic performance and social progress, including the problems with its measurement, to consider what additional information might be required for the production of more relevant indicators of social progress, to assess the feasibility of alternative measurement tools, and to discuss how to present the statistical information in an appropriate way (...).


With the latest developments in information technology, nonlinear organization and management of information has become easier and more costeffective. This has facilitated the development of nonlinear instruction environments. The potential of such environments is increasingly recognized by many researchers. In this research, we examine the potential of a particular nonlinear environment: hypercourseware. More specifically, this article describes the development of a hypercourseware for an introductory MIS course and discusses the results of an empirical study designed to examine why and when the usage of such a system can enhance student performance. Both observed and perceived effects of the system are examined. The hypercourseware improves significantly student learning as measured by the peiformance of students in exams. Its effect is more significant when it is used in the initial stages of learning to enhance concept formation and understanding. These results are also supported by student perceptions. The hypercourseware is perceived by the students as more efficient and more enjoyable than a strictly linear environment. Furthermore, most students used the system in the initial stages of learning to understand and form new concepts, then relied on lecture notes to review already learned concepts.


Purpose: The purpose of this project was to educate current and future nurse practitioners by offering clarity about the components of scope of practice (SOP) for Family Nurse Practitioners (FNPs) in the state of Montana. Background: It is crucial for FNPs to know where to locate and understand each state's Boards of Nursing (BON) statutes, administrative rules, and Nurse Practice Acts (NPAs) in order to legally practice. Significant liability issues can result if one ventures outside of their scope of practice. The safety of patients is increased when a provider explicitly knows his or her limits. It is also critical that graduate educational programs clearly articulate SOP for Nurse Practitioners (NPs), so that once they begin in clinical practice, they are better informed about their role, SOP and related boundaries. Methods: A quantitative, quasiexperimental design with consecutive sampling was used. Neither randomization nor a control group was employed. The researcher designed and created an evidence-based, recorded YouTube education presentation regarding FNP SOP in Montana, along with pre and post-education questionnaires that were distributed to four cohorts of FNP students at Montana State University College of Nursing. Descriptive statistics and the paired t-test were used to analyze the demographic data and measure gain scores between the pre and post-education questionnaires in order to evaluate if knowledge increased. Results: Results indicate that the YouTube educational presentation is associated with higher post-education scores (p < .001). Seven students fully completed all components of the project for a participation and retention rate of 22%. Conclusions: The results of this study can help guide FNPs who need to clearly understand the components that define NP SOP within their population-focused specialties. It highlights the need for graduate educational programs to clearly articulate the population-focused and specialty NP roles.


OBJECTIVE
To describe the status of palliative care education in the undergraduate medical curriculum and to offer recommendations for improvement.

DATA SOURCES
Review of literature on palliative care and of recently submitted grants on medical education for end-of-life care.

STUDY SELECTION
English-language reports of educational programs targeted toward medical students were examined, as well as surveys of medical schools.

DATA EXTRACTION
Studies were reviewed by the authors to assess the quality of the educational program, evaluation methodology, and conclusions. From over 9000 citations on palliative care and related topics that were retrieved from MEDLINE searches from 1980 through 1995, and from reviewing 14 palliative care journals published from 1985 through 1996, 310 articles were identified that addressed medical education for end-of-life care, and 180 were carefully examined.

DATA SYNTHESIS
While nearly all medical schools offer some formal teaching about end-of-life care, there is considerable evidence that current training is inadequate, most strikingly in the clinical years. Teaching about palliative care is received favorably by students, positively influences student attitudes, and enhances communication skills. However, curricular offerings are not well integrated; the major teaching format is the lecture; formal teaching is predominantly preclinical; clinical experiences are mostly elective; there is little attention to home care, hospice, and nursing home care; role models are few; and students are not encouraged to examine their personal reactions to these clinical experiences.

CONCLUSIONS
The increasing attention to palliative care education has created major opportunities for improving education about care at the end of life. Educational programs should be rigorously evaluated to identify best educational practices.


The role of neuronal noncoding RNAs in energy control of the body is not fully understood. The arcuate nucleus (ARC) of the hypothalamus comprises neurons regulating food intake and body weight. Here we show that Dicer-dependent loss of microRNAs in these neurons of adult (DicerCKO) mice causes chronic overactivation of the signaling pathways involving phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K), Akt, and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and an imbalance in the levels of neuropeptides, resulting in severe hyperphagic obesity. Similarly, the activation of PI3K-Akt-mTOR pathway due to Pten deletion in the adult forebrain leads to comparable weight increase. Conversely, the mTORC1 inhibitor rapamycin normalizes obesity in mice with an inactivated Dicer1 or Pten gene. Importantly, the continuous delivery of oligonucleotides mimicking microRNAs, which are predicted to target PI3K-Akt-mTOR pathway components, to the hypothalamus attenuates adiposity in DicerCKO mice. Furthermore, loss of miR-103 causes strong upregulation of the PI3K-Akt-mTOR pathway in vitro and its application into the ARC of the Dicer-deficient mice both reverses upregulation of Pik3cg, the mRNA encoding the catalytic subunit p110γ of the PI3K complex, and attenuates the hyperphagic obesity. Our data demonstrate in vivo the crucial role of neuronal microRNAs in the control of energy homeostasis.


This study explores relationships between current levels of information technology (IT) sophistication and seven reportable quality measures (QMs) in 210 nursing homes in Missouri. Between December 2006 and August 2007, each nursing home completed a survey providing IT sophistication levels measured within nine subscales. During this same time, nationally reported QMs were collected for each nursing home giving permission (n = 95). The QM data were merged with IT sophistication data, and relationships between the QM variables and IT sophistication subscales were examined. Mean IT sophistication scores were higher in resident care management and administrative processes. Significant relationships were found in nearly all IT sophistication subscales and the QM regarding residents' need for assistance with activities of daily living; another significant relationship occurred with IT sophistication in clinical support and incontinence. Correlating IT sophistication with quality is important to determine whether IT implementation provides clinical benefits to residents.


The U.S. Bureau of Mines constructed a large-scale facility to study the self-heating of a large coal mass under conditions that simulate a gob area of a mine. The insulated coal chamber can hold up to 13 short tons (st) of coal and is provided with a forced ventilation system and computer-controlled temperature and gas measurement systems to monitor the heat and mass transfer phenomena that occur in the coalbed. Three experiments were completed with high-volatile C bituminous coals that exhibited high spontaneous combustion potentials in laboratory-scale tests. In the first two tests, a sustained heating was not achieved. In the third test, temperatures throughout the coalbed increased steadily from the start, with thermal runaway occurring near the center of the coalbed after 23 days. The thermal reaction zone then moved toward the front of the coalbed. The results of these tests showed that the self-heating of a large coal mass depends not just on the reactivity of the coal, but also on the particle size of the coal, the freshness of the coal surfaces, the heat-of-wetting effect, and the availability of O2 at optimum ventilation rates.


Compositing with starch is an effective way to lower the cost of the poly (lactic acid)(PLA)-based biodegradable materials, while the compatibility of these two phases needs to be enhanced. Here reports an improvement based on vacuum heating treatment(VHT), hence a solid-phase esterification between PLA and crosslinked starch(CST) is enhanced. This research also studied the impact by esterified catalysts and starch proportion on thermal stability, surface morphology and mechanical properties of the composite. The result indicated that VHT shows positive effect on all aspects. Especially, sample with 20% CST shows optimized tensile strength of 62.6 MPa, and elongation at break was as high as 69.8%.


The HPLC separation of the R,S and S,R enantiomers of pyrrolidinyl norephedrine on immobilized alpha-1 glycoprotein (AGP) was investigated. Conditions for the separation were varied using a premixed mobile phase containing an ammonium phosphate buffer and an organic modifier. The influence of mobile phase pH, ionic strength, organic modifier composition, modifier type, and temperature on the chiral selectivity and retention were investigated. The presented data demonstrate that independent phenomena govern the enantioselectivity and retention. Retention is a function of both ion exchange equilibria and hydrophobic adsorption. Thermodynamic data derived from van't Hoff plots illustrates that while enantioselectivity is also enthalpically driven, the magnitude of the enthalpy term is governed by pH. Enantioselectivity has little dependence on ionic strength. Hydrophobic interactions appear to foster hydrogen bonding interactions; the two appear to be mutually responsible for chiral selectivity. The chiral selectivity decreases as the pH is decreased and increases with mobile phase buffer strength.


Forensic Interpretation of Glass Evidence begins with a brief overview of the physical properties of glass, methods for glass analysis, classical approaches to the interpretation of forensic glass data, and glass transfer and persistence studies. Building on this foundation, the Bayesian method of interpretation is outlined, and the authors discuss some of the various parameters that may be necessary for a Bayesian analysis. The Bayesian method is a statistical treatment that uses a "continuous approach" to evidence interpretation that abandons the conventional "match/non-match" treatment of the data. The Bayesian method, as presented in this book, uses the likelihood ratio to numerically represent the weight of the evidence. The likelihood ratio is an expression for the relative probabilities of the evidence under competing hypotheses. The significance of a measured parameter, limited in the text to refractive index (RI), is modified by taking into account factors such as the background information (eyewitness statements, previous criminal activity, . . .), presence, transfer, and persistence of glass.


CONTEXT
Although there is now considerable evidence that genetic effects play a critical role in the development of alcohol dependence (AD), theoretical and methodological limitations of this literature require caution in describing the etiology and development of this disorder.

OBJECTIVE
To disentangle genetic and environmental effects on AD by means of the infrequently used, yet potentially powerful, offspring-of-twins design.

DESIGN
Offspring of twins.

PARTICIPANTS
Male monozygotic and dizygotic twins concordant or discordant for AD and control pairs from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry were assessed, as were the offspring of these twins and the mothers of these offspring.

INTERVENTIONS
Structured psychiatric interviews.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Participants' psychiatric, alcohol abuse (AA), and AD histories (DSM-IV).

RESULTS
Offspring of monozygotic and dizygotic twins with a history of AD were significantly more likely to exhibit AA or AD than were offspring of nonalcoholic fathers. Offspring of an alcohol-abusing monozygotic twin whose co-twin was AD were also more likely to exhibit AD than were offspring of nonalcoholic twins. In contrast, offspring of an unaffected (ie, no history of abuse or dependence) monozygotic twin whose co-twin was AD were no more likely to exhibit AA or AD than were offspring of nonalcoholic twins.

CONCLUSIONS
These findings support the hypothesis that family environmental effects do make a difference in accounting for offspring outcomes, in particular, that a low-risk environment (ie, the absence of parental alcoholism) can moderate the impact of high genetic risk regarding offspring for the development of alcohol-use disorders.


Acute leakage after sleeve gastrectomy progresses into chronic leakage by 10–28.1%, which causes the surgeon to be disturbed. The main treatment for chronic leakage is surgery, but the authors report successful care with endoscopic septotomy. Forty-one year old female patient with a BMI of 42.8 (161.6 cm/111.8 kg) underwent a laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy. The leakage of the proximal part of the staple resection line was verified in the abdominal CT on the fourth day after the procedure due to pain in the left shoulder that could not be clarified. After appropriate treatment including stent, the patient ended the acute leakage treatment 150 days after surgery. However, the patient was visited for 10 months after removed percutaneous catheter drainage due to fever and pain in the left shoulder. Afterwards, chronic leakage was confirmed from the CT and endoscopy at POD 15 months. We performed endoscopic treatment in the operating room under general anesthesia. At the gastroesophageal junction, we could find chronic leak orifice and bridging fold between stomach lumen and abscess pocket. Endoscopic septotomy was performed with the endoscopic knife and electrosurgical surgical unit, until the stomach lumen and abscess pockets were fully in communication. After the patient was discharged without any complications and is currently under close observation. Endoscopic septotomy as a treatment for chronic leak is feasible and safe. Herein, we report this case with video clip.


Phylogenetically and metabolically diverse bacterial communities have been found in association with submarine basaltic glass surfaces. The driving forces behind basalt colonization are for the most part unknown. It remains ambiguous if basalt provides ecological advantages beyond representing a substrate for surface colonization, such as supplying nutrients and/or energy. Pseudomonas stutzeri VS-10, a metabolically versatile bacterium isolated from Vailulu'u Seamount, was used as a model organism to investigate the physiological responses observed when biofilms are established on basaltic glasses. In Fe-limited heterotrophic media, P. stutzeri VS-10 exhibited elevated growth in the presence of basaltic glass. Diffusion chamber experiments demonstrated that physical attachment or contact of soluble metabolites such as siderophores with the basaltic glass plays a pivotal role in this process. Electrochemical data indicated that P. stutzeri VS-10 is able to use solid substrates (electrodes) as terminal electron donors and acceptors. Siderophore production and heterotrophic Fe(II) oxidation are discussed as potential mechanisms enhancing growth of P. stutzeri VS-10 on glass surfaces. In correlation with that we discuss the possibility that metabolic versatility could represent a common and beneficial physiological trait in marine microbial communities being subject to oligotrophic and rapidly changing deep-sea conditions.


We estimate the impact of climate change on agricultural production in a panel of 127 countries from 1961 to 2002. In contrast to the existing literature we account for cross-sectional dependence and technology heterogeneity. We find no significant impact of climate change on agricultural production in high income countries, but significant adverse effects in middle and low income countries. These adverse effects include a moderate negative impact of increases in temperature on agricultural output and for low income countries also negative effects of reductions in precipitation and of increases in the frequency of droughts. The latter two effects are particularly strong in Sub-Sahara Africa where low-tech rain-fed agriculture with very limited climate change adjustment capacities dominates. Thus, our findings reinforce the importance of proper adaptation strategies to climate change considering heterogeneous production technologies across countries.


Human speech is often accompanied by body gestures including arm and hand gestures. We present a method that reenacts a high-quality video with gestures matching a target speech audio. The key idea of our method is to split and re-assemble clips from a reference video through a novel video motion graph encoding valid transitions between clips. To seamlessly connect different clips in the reenactment, we propose a pose-aware video blending network which synthesizes video frames around the stitched frames between two clips. Moreover, we developed an audio-based gesture searching algorithm to find the optimal order of the reenacted frames. Our system generates reen-actments that are consistent with both the audio rhythms and the speech content. We evaluate our synthesized video quality quantitatively, qualitatively, and with user studies, demonstrating that our method produces videos of much higher quality and consistency with the target audio compared to previous work and baselines. Our project page https://github.com/yzhou359/vid-reenact includes code and data.


This paper deals with a feasible power loss analysis simulator which can actually estimate the total power losses of three phase voltage source soft-switching inverter as well as hard-switching inverter. To estimate switching power losses and conduction power losses of switching semiconductor power devices - IGBTs, incorporated into the inverters and converters - this practical simulator is based on making use of feasible switching power loss data-based table and conduction power loss table which are accumulated from the measured transient switching operation and periodic steady-state conduction voltage and current operating waveforms of semiconductor switching power devices used in the power converters. The effectiveness of feasible simulation technique and power loss evaluations for power electronic conversion circuits and systems has been confirmed on the basis of simulation and experimental results under the conditions of soft switching and hard switching PWM schemes.


Research: In recent years the concept of crowdfunding, fundraising through social communities, has risen as an alternative for launching new creations and projects. The aim of this study was to explore the non-financial aspects of how interactive value is created through the social networks on a reward-based crowdfunding platform. This was done through investigating how creators on Kickstarter perceive value, approaching the social network from three different levels: the context, structure and practices. This study had a qualitative approach and 13 interviews were performed with key actors on the crowdfunding platform. A secondary study was performed gathering information about Kickstarter through their website.Findings: The result of this study suggests that there are non-financial benefits of being connected with an innovation network. The findings further indicate that the creators are utilizing the digital platforms to gain attention from the crowd and to connect with other networks. The study concludes that collective value is created through interactions on the crowdfunding platform. Further, the general attitude of authenticity within the crowdfunding context implies that the creators' personal values and motives might play role for the rate success rates of new ventures.


Two new routes to substituted aminotetrahydrofuran derivatives have been investigated. Treatment of 3,6-dihydro-2H-1,2-oxazines with hydrochloric acid in the presence of zinc provided 4-benzylamino-5-hydroxy furanose derivatives which contain a quaternary anomeric centre with a vinyl unit. Upon mesylation and subsequent heating in aqueous media 5-hydroxy-3,4,5,6-tetrahydro-1,2-oxazines were converted into novel bicyclic 1,2-oxazines with complete regio- and stereoselectivity. Cleavage of the N―O bond and subsequent debenzylation furnished enantiopure polyhydroxylated aminotetrahydrofuran derivatives which are promising ligands for selectin inhibition studies.


Social networks have been growing at a rapid pace. Social media represent one of the most significant phenomena of today's world and are more and more integrated from the private sphere into the commercial one (e.g. into marketing where social media already play a substantial role). The present paper is aimed at introducing an initial study on the use of social media in agricultural enterprises. The study was thus targeted at agricultural enterprises – both legal entities (public limited companies, limited liability companies and last but not least cooperatives) and natural persons (farmers) that farm the total area of more than 100 hectares (a basic selection criterion of the survey). This interesting study was conducted by means of a questionnaire survey that included information on social media awareness, development and use within the respective group of respondents (bigger agricultural enterprises). The paper deals with social media as such and naturally with the survey results. The data retrieved from the questionnaire were used not only for monitoring social networks integration in the agrarian sector (important factor in rural areas) but as well for exploring the potential of modern information tools in agriculture promotion. The survey has been carried out in mutual cooperation of the Department of Information Technologies with the Information and Consulting Centre, Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague.


We contribute to the normative discussion on sustainability learning and provide a theoretical integrative framework intended to underlie the main components and interrelations of what learning is required for social learning to become sustainability learning. We demonstrate how this framework has been operationalized in a participatory modeling interface to support processes of natural resource integrated assessment and management. The key modeling components of our view are: structure (S), energy and resources (E), information and knowledge (I), social-ecological change (C), and the size, thresholds, and connections of different social-ecological systems. Our approach attempts to overcome many of the cultural dualisms that exist in the way social and ecological systems are perceived and affect many of the most common definitions of sustainability. Our approach also emphasizes the issue of limits within a total socialecological system and takes a multiscale, agent-based perspective. Sustainability learning is different from social learning insofar as not all of the outcomes of social learning processes necessarily improve what we consider as essential for the long-term sustainability of social-ecological systems, namely, the co-adaptive systemic capacity of agents to anticipate and deal with the unintended, undesired, and irreversible negative effects of development. Hence, the main difference of sustainability learning from social learning is the content of what is learned and the criteria used to assess such content; these are necessarily related to increasing the capacity of agents to manage, in an integrative and organic way, the total social–ecological system of which they form a part. The concept of sustainability learning and the SEIC social-ecological framework can be useful to assess and communicate the effectiveness of multiple agents to halt or reverse the destructive trends affecting the life-support systems upon which all humans depend.


In this paper we present a multi-layer mandatory access control mechanism (ACM) for mobile devices based on system virtualization technology. We discuss a detailed threat model to mobile devices in the real world to develop an ACM fitted to mobile devices. Then, we propose a novel multi-layer access control mechanism for mobile devices, which provides strong protection against the identified mobile threats as well as performance efficiency. Our Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM) and secure domain have independent access control modules to effectively control mobile device's resources. Access control module at VMM controls access requests from a domain to physical/virtual resources in order to confine sharing resources among domains for confidentiality. It also protects a mobile device against DoS attacks draining limited system resources such as battery and memory to guarantee availability. In addition, access control at secure domain enforces fine-grained control of resources (e.g., file system access control) in upper layer without degrading performance of a mobile device due to additional hypercall invocations. Furthermore, there is no bypass of our access control since our ACM is placed inside VMM which is simple and small enough to verify its safety and we eliminated the chance of VMM corruption by checking integrity of VMM including ACM during bootstrap time.


A recent paper documents a new method of evaluating bright spots or other direct hydrocarbon indicators (DHIs). The technique involves the qualitative comparison of compressional (P)-wave and shear (S)-wave1 seismic data. In practice, such a comparison offers a viable means of evaluating DHIs previously observed on P-wave data. The application of SH-wave seismic data for evaluation of DHIs was documented with a case study of P- and SH-wave data from the Putah Sink field of central California. As a second case history, this paper presents an interpretation of P- and SH-wave seismic data from the Myrnam field of Alberta. Shear waves differ from compressional waves in both the direction of particle motion relative to the direction of wave propagation and in the rock properties that control the wave velocity. A P-wave is an elastic wave in which the particle motion is perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation. Because of this relationship between P- and S-waves, the velocities of the two are functions of different rock properties. Consideration of the elastic properties that control the velocity of P- and S-waves in a rock indicates that P-waves are sensitive to the type of pore fluid present within a rock whereas S-waves are only affected slightly by changes in fluid type. Thus, if the presence of gas within a reservoir rock gives rise to an anomalous seismic expression on P-wave data, a DHI, there will be no comparable expression on S-wave data. However, a P-wave anomaly generated by a lithologic feature, a false DHI, will have a corresponding S-wave anomaly. One consequence of this relationship is that it is possible to evaluate the potential of P-wave DHIs through a comparison of P- and S-wave seismic data recorded over a prospect. End_of_Article - Last_Page 253------------


Nuttall Construction Ltd, made a planning application to Salford City Council to demolish the farmstead at Chorlton Fold Farm, Chorlton Fold, Eccles, Greater Manchester (SD 7694 0001) prior to the redevelopment of the site. As part of the planning procedure, the council consulted Greater Manchester Archaeology Unit (GMAU), which recommended a building recording programme of English Heritage (2006) Level II standard for the farmhouse and barn. This was to include a rapid desk-based assessment, which would provide an historical background and detail any changes in the development of the buildings. In addition, an extensive site investigation was to be undertaken, comprising written descriptions, as well an extensive photographic record, and site drawings of the floor plans and sections. As the oubuildings and Dutch barn were of less significance, these were to be recorded to a Level I standard only, which was to include general descriptions, sketch drawings and a photographic record.
Following these recommendations, Nuttall Construction Ltd requested that Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) undertake the building investigation, which was duly completed in November 2006. The survey determined that the farmhouse was built during the eighteenth century as a two unit dwelling, which was subsequently expanded with a further bay to the west elevation, followed by a rear wing during the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century. The barn to the north of the farmhouse and the more westerly of the outbuildings to the north-east were also constructed during this original phase of construction. During the nineteenth century, as farming trends shifted from arable farming to dairy farming, a second outbuilding, used as a cattle-shed, was built, as was the Dutch barn to the east of the farmstead. Throughout the twentieth century, the alterations were purely cosmetic repairs and renovations, such as the replacement of the original windows on the farmhouse.


Excerpt] Labour legislation to address working conditions can cover an array of subjects that affect the employment relationship and workers' well-being in the workplace. This report will focus on legislation regarding three important elements: working time (Chapter 1), maternity protection (Chapter 2), and minimum wages (Chapter 3). The material used in this study will be drawn predominantly from the ILO Working Conditions Laws Database, which was most recently updated in 2011-2012 (see Box 1 below). Given that the information in the database covers a vast amount of legal information from over 150 countries, this report will focus on selected essential provisions. The framework for presenting the national legislative information in this publication is based on the structure of the relevant ILO Conventions and Recommendations for each subject, which is meant to help provide a simple method for presentation and comparison. This report builds upon previous editions produced in 2010 and 2008. The reports of 2008 and 2010, which used a similar framework to present the material, were based mainly on regions of the world. However, while the 2008 and 2010 reports disaggregated industrialised countries and CIS and Eastern European countries in Europe, for the 2012 edition a framework is adopted that better reflects the data contained in the Working Conditions Law Database and the working conditions legislation that exists in different regions of the world. Thus, while in the information in all other regions is ordered the same manner, the industrialised countries have been placed in the appropriate regions and the Eastern European countries have been classified with Europe and CIS countries.


The combretastatins are derived from an African medicinal plant Combretum caffrum (Combretaceae). They have previously been shown to be potent inhibitors of microtubule assembly that cause marked haemorrhagic necrosis in murine subcutaneous tumors. Promising clinical trial results with combretastatin A-4 phosphate led to this investigation of the anti-tumor and anti-vascular effects of a close structural analog, combretastatin A-1 phosphate. This compound caused identical disruption of the tubulin cytoskeleton in HUVECs in vitro at similar concentrations and duration of exposure as combretastatin A-4 phosphate. Treatment of a well-vascularised murine colon adenocarcinoma (MAC 29) with an effective dose (150 mg/kg) of combretastatin A-1 phosphate resulted in a dramatic decrease in functional vascular volume 2 hours after administration. Vascular shutdown was complete within 4 hours after treatment apart from in small areas of the tumor periphery. Morphological examination of hepatic deposits of HT29 and DLD-1 human colon tumors in nude mice demonstrated that combretastatin A-1 phosphate displays greater anti-tumor effects than the A-4 analog at the same dose and this order of activity (A-1 > A-4) is mirrored in the subcutaneous site with the same tumor type. In summary, combretastatin A-1 phosphate can exert its anti-tumor action via an anti-vascular mechanism. The results indicate that, despite having similar in vitro anti-tubulin properties, combretastatin A-1 phosphate seems to have greater in vivo anti-tumor activity than combretastatin A-4 phosphate at the same doses and may therefore be more successful in the clinic.


The effect of forest institution connectedness, incentive participation program, and social capital on public participation and welfare as mediators of forest management were conducted in the forest conservation area of Baluran National Park, East Java, Indonesia. The problem facing this area is that the five buffer villages of Wonorejo, Sumber Waru, Sumber Anyar, Bajul Mati, and Watu Kebo exploit the forest?s resources for their own economic reasons. The purposes of this research are to analyze and explain: (1) the effect of the forest institutions connectedness on public participation; (2) how welfare mediates forest institutions connectedness to public participation; (3) the effect of incentive participation programs on public participation; (4) how welfare mediates the effect of incentive participation programs on public participation; (5) the social effect capital on public participation; (6) how welfare mediates social capital?s effect toward public participation; and (7) welfare?s effect on public participation. The survey method and questionnaires were used for a proportional random sampling of 170 respondents. They are 120 households that were members of the forestry community training center and 50 respondents from the staff of Baluran National Park. Validity and reliability testing of instruments and hypothesis were performed using WarpPLS 5.0 software. The results show: (1) forest institutions connectedness to public participation does not contribute positive significant effect; (2) the effect of forest institution that is related to public participation has been fully mediated by welfare; (3) incentive participation programs have a positive significant effect on public participation; (4) welfare partially mediates the effect of incentive participation programs on public participation; (5) social capital has a positive significant effect on public participation; (6) welfare mediates social capital?s effect on public participation; and (7) welfare has a positive significant effect toward optimizing public participation in forest conservation management in the Baluran National Park. Practical implications of this research are: (1) the contribution of nontimber forest products as a proportion of families? income is between 12.99% and 28.46%; and (2) based on the classification of public participation especially in four programs (participation in planning program, implementation, benefit-sharing, and evaluation and monitoring) that are low level at 47.1%, middle level at 33.5%, and high level at 19.4%.


OF THE DISSERTATION Reactive transport and mineral precipitation in variable-aperture fractures: Comparison of a full three-dimensional model to a depth-averaged two-dimensional model By Sixue Wang MASTER OF SCIENCE in Civil Engineering University of California, Irvine, 2017 Associate Professor Russell Detwiler, Chair Calcium carbonate, which is an important mineral in both anthropogenic and biological systems, is a very critical component in nature. Numerous studies have shown that precipitation of calcium carbonate in fractured and porous media influences solute transport. Previous studies have used two-dimensional computational models to mimic the three-dimensional fluid flow and reactive transport of dissolved mineral. With the goal of improving understanding of mineral precipitation and transport process and to test the accuracy of results from the two-dimensional models, a three-dimensional, two-step reactive transport computational model is developed with OpenFOAM, an open source, C++ based CFD toolbox. This thesis presents the processes of customizing OpenFOAM to solve reactive flow and transport in a three-dimensional variable aperture fracture. Several parameters, including resolution in aperture height direction, aperture fields, and relative roughness of fracture surfaces, are modified to assess sources of errors and to test the soundness of the model. Results are then directly compared with those from the two-dimensional model. Also, a comparison view of different discretization schemes for representing advection in the transport model is presented. All together, our research results suggest that even though false diffusion is observed, the upwind scheme is chosen because of its boundedness and stability.


Complex rare-earth zirconates (Gd0.4Sm0.5Yb0.1)2(Zr1-xCex)2O7 (x=0, 0.3, 0.4) powders were synthesized by co-precipitation method. XRD and SEM results revealed that the complex rare-earth zirconates with single pyrochlore structure were prepared and no other phases existed among the grains. The dielectric properties of these compounds were investigated at low and microwave frequencies. It was found that they have intermediate dielectric constants and low dielectric loss in the whole frequency region, and they show the dielectric permittivity with weak frequency dependence. Substituting Zr4+ by Ce4+ leaded to smaller permittivity. Meanwhile, the dielectric contant values increase with increasing in the r(A3+)/r(B4+) value in the pyrochlore-type phase region, which can be explained by the increase in the degree of ordering of oxygen vacancy. This new series of pyrochlore type oxides would be potential candidates for electronic ceramic applications and microwave frequency components.


Abstract. The Lee-Yang property of certain moment generating functions having only pure imaginary zeros is valid for Ising type models with one-component spins and XY models with two-component spins. Villain models and complex Gaussian multiplicative chaos are two-component systems analogous to XY models and related to Gaussian free fields. Although the Lee-Yang property is known to be valid generally in the first case, we show that is not so in the second. Our proof is based on two theorems of general interest relating the Lee-Yang property to distribution tail behavior.


Because of the fact that mobile communication channel changes by time, it is necessary to employ adaptive channel equalizers in order to combat the distorting effects of the channel. Least Mean Squares (LMS) algorithm is one of the most popular channel equalization algorithms and is preferred over other algorithms such as the Recursive Least Squares (RLS) and Maximum Likelihood Sequence Estimation (MLSE) when simplicity is the dominant decision factor. However, LMS algorithm suffers from poor performance and convergence speed within the training period specified by most of the standards. The aim of this study is to improve the convergence speed and performance of the LMS algorithm by adjusting the step size using fuzzy logic. The proposed method is compared with the Channel Matched Filter-Decision Feedback Equalizer (CMF-DFE) [1] which provides multi path propagation diversity by collecting the energy in the channel, Minimum Mean Square Error-Decision Feedback Equalizer (MMSE-DFE) [2] which is one of the most successful equalizers for the data packet transmission, normalized LMS-DFE (N-LMS-DFE) [3], variable step size (VSS) LMS-DFE [4], fuzzy LMS-DFE [5], [6] and RLS-DFE [7]. The obtained simulation results using HIPERLAN/1 standards have demonstrated that the proposed LMS-DFE algorithm based on fuzzy logic has considerably better performance than others.


Mid-infrared laser reflectances of soils containing specific minerals show diagnostic features in the 9-11 /spl mu/m wavelength range, resulting in their suitability for remote sensing of terrestrial lithology. However, the presence of actively growing vegetation can obscure these diagnostic features, in some cases almost completely, so as to make mineral identification virtually impossible. An experimental study was carried out to determine the effects of growing grass on the mid-infrared laser reflectance of bare soil in order to determine the conditions under which the underlying soil reflectance loses its diagnostic features, reflectance ratios (indicative of diagnostic features) were investigated as a function of grass-blade height for different grass densities. It was found that, under specific soil conditions, there appeared a grass-blade height value at which the diagnostic ratios level off to a value of 1.0, thereby masking the underlying soil features. These results are expected to be useful for identifying optimal conditions under which soil mineralogy can be identified under overlying vegetation.


: Balanced sequence, three-dimensional fast imaging employ steady state acquisition (3D-FIESTA) as an example, was often used for colangiopancretography and aortagraphy in the chest and the aorta, and venography in the extremity and other body parts, because this had the high signal to noise ratio and the short acquisition time. 3D-coherent oscillatory state acquisition for the manipulation of image contrast (COSMIC) developed recently is a sequence thought about based on 3D-FIESTA. We investigated the basic property of 3D-COSMIC compared with 3D-FIESTA in phantom and volunteer scan image study. At result, 3D-COSMIC was superior to 3D-FIESTA at signal to noise ratio and contrast on phantom image, contrast and visual evaluation on volunteer scan image of detection of tissue on spinal region. 3D-COSMIC was useful sequence in spinal region.


The last object of this study is to develop standard method for building insulation performance on-site evaluation using Infra-red camera. The goals of this study are 1) to propose the Temperature Difference Ratio (TDR) which is an on-site evaluation index for building thermal performance, 2) to measure thermal condition of the mock-up structure as actual building structure by T-type thermocouple sensor and infrared camera, 3) to perform heat transfer simulation on the mock-up structure by PHYSIBEL simulation program, 4) to analyze measurement and simulation results. The insulation performance evaluation method obtained on the basis of the study will be utilized for evaluation of insulation defects after the completion of the construction of a new building and quantitative evaluation of insulation performance before and after repairs, therein contributing to the improvement of the environment and thermal performance of the building.


AIMS
The objective of this study was to test the accuracy and diagnostic interchangeability of tissue Doppler-based displacement, velocity, strain, and strain rate measurements in commercially used ultrasound (US) systems.

METHODS AND RESULTS
Using an in-house made phantom, four different US scanner models were evaluated. Two different scanners of the same model were tested, and one scanner acquisition was tested twice with two generations of the same workstation giving six test results in total. The scanners were in active clinical use and are subject to regular maintenance checks. There were three displacement and four velocity results that stood out from the rest and could be regarded as accurate and interchangeable. Among the deformation measurements, three acceptable strain results were found while there were no acceptable strain rate results. Furthermore, the study showed that measurements from scanners of the same model, same acquisition post-processed on different workstations and repeated measurements from the same scanner, can yield disparate results.

CONCLUSION
Measurements that are accurate and of interchangeable use can be found for displacement and velocity measurements, but are less likely to be found for strain and strain rate measurements. It is strongly recommended that the ability of each individual US scanner to measure displacement, velocity, strain, and strain rate is evaluated before it is introduced into clinical practice, and it must always be evaluated together with the workstation the scanner is intended to be used in conjunction with.


The European Space Agency's Project for On-Board Autonomy is intended to demonstrate a range of innovations in the design, construction, and operation of small satellites. It carries a number of scientific instruments, the most advanced of which is the Compact High-Resolution Imaging Spectrometer. A typical nadir image is 13 km /spl times/13 km in size and has 18 narrow spectral channels at 17-m spatial resolution. When operated at 34-m spatial resolution, the instrument can capture data in 62, almost contiguous, spectral channels. The platform is highly manoeuvrable: along-track pointing allows a given site to be imaged five times during a single overpass, while across-track pointing ensures that the revisit time for a site of interest is less than a week. This unique combination of spectral and angular sampling provides a rich source of data with which to study environmental processes in the atmosphere and at the Earth's surface.


In the context of a seminar-workshop on parenting styles, the intentionality of parent-participants and student-facilitators was explored over the goal of enhancing the welfare and functioning of children. Student-facilitators conducted learning activities and processed discussions on care and discipline issues. Using the mixed method, quantitative and qualitative analyses were drawn. A Likert scale measured democratic and authoritarian dimensions in parenting style. Through the lens of postmodern paradigm, the hermeneutic-deconstruction analysis illuminated the phenomena on parents' understanding of parenting styles and student-facilitators' learning outcomes based on their reflections. In conclusion, the celebration of special occasions is the 'signified' indicant of parents' nurturing in the family. Responsiveness and communication are 'signifiers' (not emphasized /hidden). Their 'folk belief' concepts are operatives of mental states that reflect an authoritarian parenting style; but group-acknowledgements in discussions can move them to favor the democratic style. Parents value a norm-based rationality on discipline of children. In the deconstruction process unexpected events are laid bare. This contributes an authentic learning opportunity for students to expand a social consciousness that rouses the move for social action. Implications of a postmodern analytical approach to learning intervention for parents, and the pedagogic method of reflective analysis and social action are discussed. Keywords - intentionality, parenting style, hermeneuticalde construction analysis, pedagogy, social action


Abstract This paper offers a practitioner insight into elements of a performance project entitled New Found Lands linking the creative teams from two theatre companies based in rural communities in Newfoundland Canada, and Hampshire England. Exploring the project's aims, objectives and outcomes it presents a reflection on issues of cultural identity, and inter-cultural co-operation.  Sean Aita Sean Aita is a senior lecturer in acting for the Arts University College at Bournemouth. He spent five years as Artistic Director of Forest Forge Theatre Company, where his work was short-listed for the Stage Awards for Achievement in Regional Theatre. He is a regular guest director for Vienna's English Theatre in Austria. Research interests include the cultural implications of performance for L2 (second language) audiences, and rural theatre. Recent publications include; "Performing England: Language and culture in performative praxis" in Research in Drama Education and "An unobscured glow: Towards a definition of rural theatre" in The Journal of Arts and Communities .


Associative relations among words, concepts and percepts are the core building blocks of high-level cognition. When viewing the world 'at a glance', the associative relations between objects in a scene, or between an object and its visual background, are extracted rapidly. The extent to which such relational processing requires attentional capacity, however, has been heavily disputed over the years. In the present manuscript, I review studies investigating scene–object and object–object associative processing. I then present a series of studies in which I assessed the necessity of spatial attention to various types of visual–semantic relations within a scene. Importantly, in all studies, the spatial and temporal aspects of visual attention were tightly controlled in an attempt to minimize unintentional attention shifts from 'attended' to 'unattended' regions. Pairs of stimuli—either objects, scenes or a scene and an object—were briefly presented on each trial, while participants were asked to detect a pre-defined target category (e.g., an animal, a nonsense shape). Response times (RTs) to the target detection task were registered when visual attention spanned both stimuli in a pair vs. when attention was focused on only one of two stimuli. Among non-prioritized stimuli that were not defined as to-be-detected targets, findings consistently demonstrated rapid associative processing when stimuli were fully attended, i.e., shorter RTs to associated than unassociated pairs. Focusing attention on a single stimulus only, however, largely impaired this relational processing. Notably, prioritized targets continued to affect performance even when positioned at an unattended location, and their associative relations with the attended items were well processed and analyzed. Our findings portray an important dissociation between unattended task-irrelevant and task-relevant items: while the former require spatial attentional resources in order to be linked to stimuli positioned inside the attentional focus, the latter may influence high-level recognition and associative processes via feature-based attentional mechanisms that are largely independent of spatial attention.


Conventional cavity designs are coming under increased scrutiny because of an increased emphasis on preservation of tooth substance. The tunnel restoration when used with glass ionomer, may overcome some of the disadvantages of conventional cavity preparations. Justification for the use of the tunnel restoration is from a limited number of short-term clinical observations and destructive laboratory testing of marginal ridge strength. The technique is not without shortcomings. Long-term clinical and nondestructive laboratory trials examining the strength of teeth with tunnel restorations should be undertaken prior to its acceptance as a replacement for techniques in which the marginal ridge is removed.


Plant phenotyping is important for genetic enhancements and plant biology research. There is a lot of work done to improve yield of crop plants, by selecting good genotypes to cross-breed in an effort to curb diseases or genetic deficiencies in these crops. In order to select these genotypes, one would have to perform phenotyping. Currently, plant phenotyping is based on visual assessment, where a breeder or researcher would have to visually inspect each plant and visually rate them. Visual rating is inefficient and can be inconsistent due to intra-rater repeatability or inter-rater reliability issues leading to incorrect visual scores. Not only that, it is also labor intensive and time consuming. Hence, there is a need to develop new tools amenable to high throughput phenotyping (HTP) for large scale plant genotype assessments. This requirement for high throughput phenotyping is applicable in a variety abiotic and biotic stresses. We developed a HTP framework which utilizes digital images in an effort for disease detection. This framework enabled us to accurately assign disease ratings to soybean plants that were affected by iron deficiency chlorosis (IDC). Utilizing image analysis techniques, we successfully extracted features pertaining to IDC and trained classification models on these features. A hierarchical classifier, based on linear discriminant analysis and support vector machine classifiers, produced the highest accuracy of 96%. Also, this framework was successfully implemented as a cellphone app. We envision to utilize hyperspectral imaging in the future for more accurate disease detection, prior to symptoms being visible.


Throughout the Universe many powerful events are driven by strong gravitational effects that require general relativity to fully describe them. These include compact binary mergers, black hole accretion, and stellar collapse, where velocities can approach the speed of light and extreme gravitational fields (ΦNewt/c2≃1) mediate the interactions. Many of these processes trigger emission across a broad range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Compact binaries further source strong gravitational wave emission that could directly be detected in the near future. This feat will open up a gravitational wave window into our Universe and revolutionize our understanding of it. Describing these phenomena requires general relativity, and—where dynamical effects strongly modify gravitational fields—the full Einstein equations coupled to matter sources. Numerical relativity is a field within general relativity concerned with studying such scenarios that cannot be accurately modeled via perturbative or analytical calculati...


Summary The activity of albendazole against gastrointestinal helminths in naturally infected calves in the Netherlands was tested. The calves were in their fist grazing season and kept in two groups of ten. One of these groups was grazed alternately with sheep. Five out of each group were drenched with albendazole (7.5 mg/kg) on the day they were housed (November 1). Before and 2, 14, and 28 days after treatment individual faecal samples were taken from all calves and larval cultures were made. Ten calves, six treated and four untreated, were killed for post mortem studies 14 days after treatment The remaining calves were slaughtered 14 days later. The drug was highly effective in reducing the egg output, measured as the number of larvae cultured per gram of faeces. Compared with the untreated calves, the reduction was more than 99% two days after treatment, 100% at 14 days, and 99% after 28 days. It was shown that egg output 28 days after treatment came from worms which had developed from arrested larvae of Ostertagia ostertagi that had survived treatment. Post mortem results showed an efficacy of 100% against adult O. ostertagi, of almost 100% against Trichostrongylus axei, and 100% against adult and larval Cooperia oncophora. Twenty-eight days after treatment, the reduction of arrested early fourth stages of O. ostertagi was 85% in comparison with the untreated calves. Apparently less effect was found against Trichuris ovis at the given dose rate.


In recent years bonuses tied to performance have become commonplace in banks and other financial institutions; indeed they now constitute a major part of employee compensation. The practice was originally justified by academic work on principal-agent contracts, which argued that performance bonuses would better align the interests of managers and shareholders. In this article we argue that such schemes are not well-suited to aligning these interests in the financial sector. There are two reasons for this failure. First, new financial products make it easy to create the appearance of superior performance over long periods of time even though the outsize returns are merely being driven by hidden tail risk. We show that it is virtually impossible to create performance contracts that get around this problem. Second, the complexity of new products and the size of modern financial institutions make it extremely difficult (and costly) to monitor risky activities directly. As in the first case, compensation schemes, including deferred compensation, are inefficient substitutes because it is easy to escape detection for long periods of time. This opens the door for outright fraud. We argue that a greater emphasis on ethical values, e.g., a duty of care to customers and shareholders, is more likely to produce effective reforms.


Anencephaly is a congenital anomaly in which the neural tube closes improperly, affecting the formation of the cranial vault and much of the brain. Therefore, in anencephaly, the hypothesis of fetal unfeasibility is considered. In cases of unfeasible extra-uterine fetal life or maternal health risk, it is possible to resort to the therapeutic induction of childbirth. This article discusses the ethical implications concerning the authorization of therapeutic induction of childbirth in case of anencephaly, such as: the physician's influence on the patient's decision making; failure to implement the methods of preventing this anomaly; legal differences between abortion and therapeutic induction of childbirth. The latter is a novelty within the legal field in Brazil, since the Penal Code criminalizes abortion, except in cases of life-threatening pregnancy or pregnancy resulting from rape.


Internet-based businesses in China have until now not been required to comply with any comprehensive data privacy law, but from March 15, 2012 business providing 'Internet information services' in China must comply with a much more comprehensive data privacy law, which can be briefly called the Internet Information Services Regulations. 'Internet information service provider' refers to all parties providing information to Internet users over the Internet. The Regulations use a definition that is similar to the definition of personal data used in laws in other countries, and clearly implies that this is broader than information collected from the user, such as information collected from third parties or information generated by the IISP itself from transactions with the user. They are to be enforced by China's various 'Telecommunications Authorities'.The data privacy principles in the Regulations are analyzed here in accordance with the usual division of privacy principles found in such instruments as the OECD Guidelines, and other principles developed since then. They are on the one hand surprisingly comprehensive, but on the other hand have a couple of major omissions. The enforcement methods in the Regulation are diverse, but primarily at the initiative of the Telecommunications Authorities. They do not include civil damages provisions, but these may be provided by other aspects of Chinese law, read in conjunction with these Regulations.Commentators on China's Internet industry expect that these Regulations will be actively enforced, in part as a result of a string of widely publicized unauthorized disclosures of user information by Internet companies in 2011, and that some industry sectors will have considerable compliance problems. The article concludes with reasons for the significance of these Regulations, and how they compare with international standards. The Regulation is a very significant step for China, even if it would be a very limited one in other countries.


This paper investigates the strenght of a conceptual main rotor blade dedicated to an unmanned helicopter. The blade is made of smart materials in order to optimize the efficiency of the aircraft by increasing its aerodynamic performance. This purpose was achieved by performing a series of strength calculations for the blade of a prototype main rotor used in an unmanned helicopter. The calculations were done with the Finite Element Method (FEM) and software like CAE (Computer-Aided Engineering) which uses advanced techniques of computer modeling of load in composite structures. Our analysis included CAD (Computer-Aided Design) modeling the rotor blade, importing the solid model into the CAE software, defining the simulation boundary conditions and performing strength calculations of the blade spar for selected materials used in aviation, i.e. fiberglass and carbon fiber laminate. This paper presents the results and analysis of the numerical calculations.


The rectified surface EMG signal is commonly used as an estimator of the neural drive to muscles and therefore to infer sources of synaptic input to motor neurons. Loss of EMG amplitude due to the overlap of motor unit action potentials (amplitude cancellation), however, may distort the spectrum of the rectified EMG and thereby its correlation with the neural drive. In this study, we investigated the impact of amplitude cancelation on this correlation using analytical derivations and a computational model of motor neuron activity, force, and the EMG signal. First, we demonstrated analytically that an ideal rectified EMG signal without amplitude cancellation (EMGnc) is superior to the actual rectified EMG signal as estimator of the neural drive to muscle. This observation was confirmed by the simulations, as the average coefficient of determination (r2) between the neural drive in the 1–30 Hz band and EMGnc (0.59±0.08) was matched by the correlation between the rectified EMG and the neural drive only when the level of amplitude cancellation was low (<40%) at low contraction levels (<5% of maximum voluntary contraction force; MVC). This correlation, however, decreased linearly with amplitude cancellation (r = -0.83) to values of r2 <0.2 at amplitude cancellation levels >60% (contraction levels >15% MVC). Moreover, the simulations showed that a stronger (i.e. more variable) neural drive implied a stronger correlation between the rectified EMG and the neural drive and that amplitude cancellation distorted this correlation mainly for low-frequency components (<5 Hz) of the neural drive. In conclusion, the results indicate that amplitude cancellation distorts the spectrum of the rectified EMG signal. This implies that valid use of the rectified EMG as an estimator of the neural drive requires low contraction levels and/or strong common synaptic input to the motor neurons.


Abstract. The longitudinal variation of salinity and the maximum salinity intrusion length in an alluvial estuary are important environmental concerns for policy makers and managers since they influence water quality, water utilization and agricultural development in estuarine environments and the potential use of water resources in general. The supermoon total lunar eclipse is a rare event. According to NASA, they have only occurred 5 times in the 1900s – in 1910, 1928, 1946, 1964 and 1982. After the 28 September 2015 total lunar eclipse, a Super Blood Moon eclipse will not recur before 8 October 2033. In this paper, for the first time, the impact of the combination of a supermoon and a total lunar eclipse on the salinity intrusion along an estuary is studied. The 28 September 2015 supermoon total lunar eclipse is the focus of this study and the Sebou river estuary (Morocco) is used as an application area. The Sebou estuary is an area with high agricultural potential, is becoming one of the most important industrial zones in Morocco and it is experiencing a salt intrusion problem. Hydrodynamic equations for tidal wave propagation coupled with the Savenije theory and a numerical salinity transport model (HEC-RAS software "Hydrologic Engineering Center River Analysis System") are applied to study the impact of the supermoon total lunar eclipse on the salinity intrusion. Intensive salinity measurements during this extreme event were recorded along the Sebou estuary. Measurements showed a modification of the shape of axial salinity profiles and a notable water elevation rise, compared with normal situations. The two optimization parameters (Van der Burgh's and dispersion coefficients) of the analytical model are estimated based on the Levenberg–Marquardt's algorithm (i.e., solving nonlinear least-squares problems). The salinity transport model was calibrated and validated using field data. The results show that the two models described very well the salt intrusion during the supermoon total lunar eclipse day. A good fit between computed salinity and measurements is obtained, as verified by statistical performance tests. These two models can give a rapid assessment of salinity distribution and consequently help to ensure the safety of the water supply, even during such infrequent astronomical phenomenon.


Through the desire of understanding the Internet better, we focused our attention on the modelling of the way data move in the Internet. Our main goal here was to give ideas on what does a route followed by packets look like. In most of the simulations, researchers model routes by shortest paths, we try to provide more realistic models to improve simulations accuracy out of concern for keeping it relatively simple. To achieve this study, we used the data from the Skitter network measurement platform that runs about thirty monitors which probe tens of thousands destinations per day around the world in order to collect routes packets have followed with the path forwarding method. It is the largest known effort of route collection and also a mean to get a realistic topology of the Internet. With the help of the Skitter data we pointed out lots of global and local routes characteristics and we have designed some algorithms to generate fake routes that fit the properties observed.


This paper presents two new constructions of two-dimensional (2D) spreading codes, here designated as 2D orthogonal variable spreading factor (OVSF) codes, for multicarrier direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (MC/DS-CDMA) systems. Orthogonality of these spreading codes is employed to improve the bandwidth efficiency and interference rejection capability of the DS-CDMA systems. The 2D OVSF codes are constructed by generalizing one-dimensional (1D) OVSF codes and they possess ideal correlation properties. As illustrated in this paper, these 2D OVSF cods preserve the orthogonality of different spreading factors in an OVSF code tree, supporting multimedia services with a variety of data rates.


This study aimed to measure the effectiveness of gifted students centers in developing geometric thinking. The sample consisted of sixty gifted students. The participants were distributed into two equal groups. The control group composed of thirty students studying at Giftedness Resource Rooms in Najran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), and the experimental group composed of thirty students studying at Gifted Center in Najran. A multiple-choice geometric thinking test was used as pretest and posttest for both groups. Based on the analysis of data, results will be discussed.


Electrical resistivity soundings are ideally suited to map fluids and quantify porosity, and provide important independent constraints that are complimentary to seismic observations. As a result of recent technological advancements in instrumentation and numerical modeling, the controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) method is emerging as a reliable tool for imaging offshore tectonic margins. In 2010, we collected CSEM data along a 280 km profile spanning the incoming plate, trench, and forearc slope offshore of Nicaragua, the first large-scale survey at a subduction zone. The results highlight the utility of CSEM for imaging seafloor gas hydrates, fluid pathways along faults, and subducted sediments marking the plate interface. We used the porosity estimates from the resistivity observations to quantify the fluid budget in the incoming oceanic crust and the outer forearc. The data were highly sensitive to the channel of subducted sediments, allowing us to track the evolution of the fluid budget along the megathrust plate interface in the region that ruptured during the Mw 7.7 1992 tsunami earthquake. SEM19-01 JpGU-AGU Joint Meeting 2017


The Laptev Sea around the Lena River delta in northern Siberia is a very remote area that in-situ measurements are only sparsely available. Polar night and long lasting ice coverage until the end of June makes it difficult to investigate the area all year round. Here satellite investigations of radiances measured e.g. with Envisat MERIS satellite and derived inherent optical properties (IOP) may help to generate a time series of changing water constituents, e.g. chlorophyll and coloured organic matter which can be split further into coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM) and suspended particles (SPM). However, large solar zenith angles as well as thin cloud coverage in summer after ice break-off makes it difficult to investigate this region by remote sensing applications. Therefore modelling approaches seems to be a useful first approximation to identify the feedback to the radiation budget in these remote areas.

With the current studies we investigate the influence of CDOM and SPM on the radiative heat transfer into the shelf regions of the Laptev Sea. As a first step we use the coupled atmosphere-ocean radiative transfer model SCIATRAN to assess energy input into coastal waters of this region dependent on different concentrations of CDOM varying significantly for different times of the year. Low solar elevations and high absorption by water constituents in this area extremely reduces the light penetration depth in the water body. An increased absorption in the surface water leads to higher sea surface temperatures and a high energy release into the atmosphere often occurring in late autumn and consequently influences the ice development process. In the context of climate change and thawing permafrost in Siberia the riverine input of those highly absorbing particles by Lena river may increase in the future. Therefore, a better understanding of these processes is necessary to predict possible future changes for that remote area.


Objective: A systematic review and meta-analysis of the association between alcohol consumption and risk of sleep apnoea in adults. Methods: We searched Medline, EMBASE and Web of Science databases from 1985 to 2015 for comparative epidemiological studies assessing the relation between alcohol consumption and sleep apnoea. Two authors independently screened and extracted data. Random effects meta-analysis was used to estimate pooled effect sizes with 95% con fi dence intervals (CI). Heterogeneity was quanti fi ed using I 2 and explored using subgroup analyses based on study exposure and outcome measures, quality, design, adjustment for confounders and geographical location. Publication bias was assessed using a funnel plot and Egger's test. Results: We identi fi ed 21 studies from which estimates of relative risk could be obtained. Meta-analysis of these estimates demonstrated that higher levels of alcohol consumption increased the risk of sleep apnoea by 25% (RR 1.25, 95%CI 1.13 e 1.38, I 2 ¼ 82%, p < 0.0001). This estimate's differences were robust in alcohol consumption and sleep apnoea de fi nitions, study design, and quality but was greater in Low and Middle Income Country locations. We detected evidence of publication bias (p ¼ 0.001). A further eight included studies reported average alcohol consumption in people with and without sleep apnoea. Meta- analysis revealed that mean alcohol intake was two units/week higher in those with sleep apnoea, but this difference was not statistically signi fi cant (p ¼ 0.41). Conclusion: These fi ndings suggest that alcohol consumption is associated with a higher risk of sleep apnoea, further supporting evidence that reducing alcohol intake is of potential therapeutic and pre- ventive value in this condition.


Continuous monitoring of breast cancer is a vital step in the treatment plan of a breast cancer survivor who has an 11-20% risk of recurrence and a 3×-4× chance of developing breast cancer in a different location within the breast. This study proposes electromagnetic (EM) absorption loss measurements as a cost-effective method which has the potential to replace the rudimentary and inaccurate breast self-examination and complement the traditional X-ray mammography exams, which are cost-prohibitive and carry radiation exposure risk. A breast cancer survivor can continuously monitor the health of her breast by periodically comparing absorption loss measurements to a reference absorption loss measurement taken after a lumpectomy. Results show successful detection of tumors at different locations within the breast with just a 3-element phased array.


Abstract Synthesis and characterization of (E)-4-((5-bromo-2-(λ1-oxidanyl)benzylidene)amino)-N-(5-methyl-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)benzenesulfonamide (1), its substituted phthalonitrile derivative (2), and its tetra substituted zinc(II) phthalocyanine complex (3) were performed. Compounds 1, 2, and 3 were characterized by methods such as elemental analyses, FT-IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR (except for 3), and MALDI-TOF mass spectra. The photophysical and photochemical properties of this substituted zinc(II) phthalocyanine complex aimed to be used as a photosensitizer were investigated in DMSO solution for determination of their photosensitizing abilities in photocatalytic applications such as photodynamic therapy (PDT). The influence of the substituent as a bioactive compound on the phthalocyanine skeleton on spectroscopic, photophysical, and photochemical properties were also determined and compared with unsubstituted zinc(II) phthalocyanine and some zinc(II) phthalocyanines containing different substituents previously studied. According to photophysical and photochemical investigations, 3 has potential as a photosensitizer for PDT.