Author(s): Ho, Clark Ki Lok | Advisor(s): Dipple, Katrina M | Abstract: Glycerol kinase (GK in humans, Gyk in mice) is an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of glycerol to glycerol 3-phosphate, which is an intermediate useful for both glycolysis and lipid synthesis. Like many other enzymes in the same metabolic pathways, GK is a moonlighting protein with abilities to perform many functions unrelated to its phosphorylative properties. Of particular interest, GK is the ATP-stimulated translocation promoter (ASTP) that interacts with glucocorticoid receptor (GR) by assisting the translocation of activated GR complex into the nucleus and promoting the transactivation of GR responsive genes. In this thesis, I investigated the protein-protein interactions of GK/GR and its contribution to the pathogenesis of isolated glycerol kinase deficiency (GKD), a X-linked inborn error of metabolism due to mutations or deletions of the GK gene.First of all, we characterized our newly developed Gyk liver-specific transgenic mouse strains. Transgenic strains exhibited statistically significant weight gain compared to wild type controls on a high fat diet. Our overall results showed that Gyk transgenic mice became obese and were at risk of developing type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This data is consistent with the GKD human data, showing alterations in GK expression may cause changes in the overall lipid and glucose metabolism in mice.We sought to develop more study models to facilitate our analysis of GKD pathogenesis. A mathematical model of the insulin signal transduction pathway was engineered for predicting insulin sensitivity in the Gyk knock out mice. The model covered all components in the insulin signal transduction pathway and calculated glucose uptake results similar to an actual glucose tolerance test. The model simulations suggested that the knock outs had reduced glucose uptake in response to an insulin stimulation, therefore decreased insulin sensitivity than normal mice.A new gene targeting technology, called CRISPR/Cas9 recombinase system, was incorporated into our cell culture studies to develop a human GK knock out cell line. Preliminary results showed that the knock out cells no longer produced functional GK proteins. Using lentiviral gene transfer, several GK mutants, found in individuals with GKD, were made for analysis in cell culture. Initial GKD mutations analyses in cell culture revealed that GKD mutants had reduced mRNA levels of GR direct target genes, also defined as ASTP activity, which suggests that the protein-protein interaction of GK and GR interaction is important for the pathogenesis of iGKD. We also applied the same strategy to develop site-directed GK mutants with variation in its LXXLL motif and demonstrated that the LXXLL motif in GK is critical for the interaction of GK and GR. Similar to the GKD mutants, mutations were generated in the LXXLL functional motif of GK in the knock out cells. While the enzymatic property of GK is unaffected in the LXXLL mutants, the ASTP activities were significantly reduced compared to normal cells. Overall, these experiments demonstrated GK's moonlighting roles are just as critical to the pathogenesis of iGKD as its enzymatic role.In summary, this thesis examines the role of GK's moonlighting functions in obesity, T2DM, and other phenotypes observed in individuals with GKD. We extensively studied the ASTP activity of GK, specifically the protein-protein interaction of GK and GR. It has become clear that moonlighting functions of GK is just as important as its enzymatic functions in regulating the lipid and carbohydrate metabolism.


It is well known that in printed circuits boards assembled by SMT technology may occur Electrochemical Migration (ECM). This phenomenon appears mainly because the new packaging has the terminals very close. Also the Electrochemical Migration may become a potential reliability problem in electronic soldering when lead free technology is used in soldering electronic devices. Electrochemical Migration is an electrochemical process where metal on an insulating material, in a humid environment and under an applied electric field, leaves its initial location in ionic form and redeposit. In a PCB two adjacent terminals may behave as electrodes so the dendrites grow from cathode to anode. It can show different morphologies with the different migration elements involved depending on the solder paste composition or PCB surface finishing. A structure with a comb shape printed on FR4 substrate was used in the experiments. The distance between the fingers in the structure was 102 or 254 micron, in order to simulate a real distance between dispositive terminals. The factors considered during the experiments were surface finishing (ENIG or HASL), solder paste composition, distance between terminals (102 or 254 micron) and applied voltage (2 or 3 V). Al the experiments were done two times. It was observed that the solder paste and the surface finishing don't influences the ECM process. Tin was the main metal that migrates. All the results obtained in these study agrees with the literature.


The Insular Scandinavian (IS) languages, Icelandic and Faroese, exhibit variation in subject case marking, primarily pertaining to an older idiosyncratic case and an innovative case that instantiates a regular pattern. This variation occurs to a considerable degree at the level of the individual speaker. We argue that this intra-speaker variation in IS involves optionality within one grammar and not competition between two different grammars or dialects in the sense of Kroch (1989, 1994). Mainly on the basis of data from the so-called Dative Substitution (DS) in Icelandic, we show that this variation does not involve any kind of parameter, and that it is not the result of dialect contact, as the grammar competition analysis would entail.


This research study provides an insight into the experiences of dyscalculic students in higher education (HE). It explores the nature of dyscalculia from the student perspective, adopting a theoretical framework of the social model of disability combined with socio-cultural theory. This study was not aimed at understanding the neurological reasons for dyscalculia, but focussed on the social effects of being dyscalculic and how society can help support dyscalculic students within an HE context.
The study s primary data collection method was 14 semi-structured interviews with officially identified dyscalculic students who were currently, or had been recently, studying in higher education in the UK. A participant selection method was utilised using a network of national learning support practitioners due to the limited number of participants available. A secondary data collection method involved reflective learning support sessions with two students.
Data were collected across four research areas: the identification process, HE mathematics, learning support and categorisations of dyscalculia. A fifth area of fitness to practise could not be examined in any depth due to the lack of relevant participants, but the emerging data clearly pinpointed this as a significant area of political importance and identified a need for further research. A framework of five categories of dyscalculic HE student was used for data analysis. Participants who aligned with these categories tended to describe differing experiences or coping behaviours within each of the research areas.
The main findings of the study were the importance of learning support practitioners in tackling mathematical anxiety, the categorisations of dyscalculic higher education students, the differing learning styles of dyscalculic and dyslexic students, and the emergence of four under-researched dyscalculic characteristics: iconicity, time perception, comprehension of the existence of numbers that are not whole and dyscalculic students understanding of non-cardinal numbers.


Role of nitric oxide(NO) and hydrogen peroxide(H2O2) in eATP-inhibited reduction of in vitro pollen germination and tube growth of Paulownia tomentosa Steud. were studied. Results showed that exposure of the pollen to a series of eATP (0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0 mM) concentration for 3h resulted in not only the reduction of pollen germination but also the reduction of tube growth. Also, NOS inhibitor NG-nitro-L-Arg-methyl eater (L-NAME ), NO scavenger 2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3- oxide(c-PTIO) and two scavengers of H2O2, ascorbic acid (ASC) and catalase (CAT) not only largely prevented eATP-inhibited pollen germination but also tube growth. These results indicated that NO and H2O2 are involved in eATP inhibited pollen germination and tube growth.


Objective: To compare the pathological response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in different molecular subtypes of breast cancerStudy Design: Prospective cohort study.Place and Duration of Study: Department of Oncology Liaquat National Hospital Karachi from Jan 2013 to Dec 2014.Material and Methods: A total of 119 patients received neo-adjuvant chemotherapy for locally advanced breast cancer followed by definitive surgery. Demographic, clinical and pathological data of 101 patients were available for analysis. Tumors were divided into different molecular subtypes, luminal A, luminal B human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER 2) was negative, luminal B (HER 2 positive), HER 2 over expressed and triple negative. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was given for total of eight cycles. Primary end point was pathological response [pathological complete response (PCR) versus no PCR] after surgery.Results: A total of 101 patients data were analyzed. Seventeen (16.8%) were luminal A, thirty eight (37.6%) were luminal B, out of 38 luminal B patients, twenty one (55.2%) were HER 2 + and seventeen (44.7%) were HER 2 –ve. Sixteen (15.8%) patients were HER 2 over expressed and thirty (29.7%) were triple negative. Out of 101 patients, twenty eight (27.72%) achieved PCR. A total of 5.9% achieved PCR in luminal A, 4.8% had PCR in luminal B (HER 2 –ve type), 23.5% had in luminal B (HER 2 +ve type), 50% achieved PCR in HER-2 over expressed type and 46.7% had PCR in triple negative subtype, (p=0.001). There was no significant association of PCR with age, tumor size, lymph node status, histology or grade.Conclusion: Molecular subtypes of breast cancer were found to be statistically significant predictor of PCR after neoadjuvant chemotherapy.


Calcified deposits in the intervertebral discs of 35 cadavers microradiographically appeared as linear of flake-like densities composed of calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate (CPPD) crystals and as multiple punctates possibly composed of dicalcium phosphate dihydrate (DCPD) crystals. Calcium deposits were found in 57% of the cadavers by microradiography and 63% by light microscopy, without known metabolic or familial history related to articular chondrocalcinosis. By scanning electron microscopy, CPPD crystals were mainly rod-like, rectangular and cuboid and were about 4 to 10 mu in length while DCPD crystals were prismatic and about 20 to 60 microns in length.


Organotin compounds are anthropogenic metal species with multiple uses as pesticides, preservatives, antifouling agents, biocides, and catalysts. Butyltins are the main organotin compounds found in biota, and the highest levels are found in marine foodstuffs. In this paper, we present the figures of merit for an in-house validated method for routine analysis of butyltins in seafood using GC inductively coupled plasma isotope dilution MS. The working range of the method spanned several orders of magnitude from 3.3-1013, 2.4-785, and 0.3-900 ng Sn/g dry weight for monobutyltin (MBT), dibutyltin (DBT), and tributyltin (TBT), respectively. The trueness of the method was evaluated by analyzing Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) ERM CRM 477 (Mussel Tissue) and NIES CRM 15 (Scallop). Recoveries, with RSD % in parentheses, were 78 (±14), 80 (±6), and 88% (±8%) for MBT, DBT, and TBT in ERM CRM 477 and 96% (±5%) for TBT in NIES CRM 15. Good agreements were found between experimental uncertainties and uncertainties predicted for single-laboratory validated methods calculated from the maximum standard measurement uncertainty function. The method has proven to be robust, and the wide range of seafood validated ensures that the method is applicable for measuring butyltins in marine tissue.


We have compared the activation and trafficking of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) induced by UV light and EGF. Tyrosine phosphorylation of EGFR was not detected in UV-exposed cells by immunoblotting of whole cell lysates or EGFR immunoprecipitates with antibodies specific for each of the five activated autophosphorylation sites of EGFR. In addition, EGFR of UV-irradiated cells did not demonstrate increased (32)P-incorporation. However, UV-exposed cells demonstrated a gel mobility shift of EGFR, which was not abolished by alkaline phosphatase treatment. UV-exposure did not induce dimerisation of EGFR. Furthermore, UV induced internalisation of EGFR without polyubiquitination or degradation. UV-exposed EGFR was transferred to early endosomes and arrested in transferrin-accessible endosomes close to the cell surface. Whereas inhibition of the EGFR tyrosine kinase effectively inhibited tyrosine phosphorylation and internalisation of EGF-activated EGFR, internalisation of UV-exposed EGFR was unaffected. UV induced neither relocalisation of Shc and Grb2 nor activation of Raf, but activation of MEK and MAPK was observed. Our work indicates that UV induces internalisation of EGFR independent of its phosphorylation or receptor tyrosine kinase activation, and altered EGFR trafficking compared with ligand-activated receptor. In addition, MAPK activation by UV does not appear to be mediated by EGFR activation.


Management accounting information system (SIAM) is used as a tool to produce financial and non-financial / management accounting information that is used to assist executive managers or internal parties in planning resource allocation, supervision, evaluation, and performance evaluation, both financial performance and non-financial performance including managerial performance and employee performance. Management accounting information systems refer to normative matters, but when management accounting information systems are implemented it has unexpected or unexpected consequences so that it can affect the satisfaction of users of information systems, this is because in the context of the organization and socially not well understood by users. This research was conducted on general insurance in Bandung where the respondents were operational managers using an explanatory survey method. Testing data using simple regression The results of research on insurance companies in Bandung found that business strategies affect the quality of management accounting information systems


With the increase of life expectancy, more Malaysian will live to old ages. The rapid ageing of the population is leading to an increasing number of disabled older people as disability is associated with increasing age. The study on the prevalence, risk factors for disability and consequences of disability on quality of life is important in the face of the prevailing ageing population.
This study assessed disability prevalence and determined factors that predict disability and quality of life among the older people who lived in the community. In this study, Verbrugge and Jette's model of disablement process has been used as a conceptual frame of reference.
Data from the Mental Health and Quality of Life of Older Malaysians Survey (MHQoLOM) were used in this study, which was a national survey conducted from 2003 through 2005 that employed a cross-sectional design. A multi-stage proportional stratified sample of 2980 older persons living in the community in Malaysia, ranging in age from 60 to 104 years were interviewed in the respondent's home. Statistical procedures for the analyses included descriptive statistics, univariate logistic regression and multivariate logistic regression.
The prevalence of disability in at least one of the activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) items was 22.8 percent. Higher prevalence of disability was observed in older women (31%) compared to older men (14.5%). The predictors for disability in men were age, ethnicity, marital status, self-rated health, heart disease, eye disorder and functional limitation. While age, ethnicity, marital status, smoking, self-rated health, respiratory disorders and functional limitation predicted disability in women. Increasing age, being of the other ethnicity compared with the Malay for men and being of Indian ethnicity compared to the Malay for women, being unmarried, poor self-rated health and functional limitations increased the risk of disability in both men and women.
The predictors of perceived good quality of life for men were ethnicity, education, income, urban/rural residence, physical activity and self-rated health. Among women, ethnicity, self-rated health and functional limitation predicted perceived good quality of life. Being of Indian and Chinese ethnicity compared to the Malay were associated with reduced perceived good quality of life for both men and women, while being of Bumiputera and other ethnicity compared to the Malay increased the odds of perceived good quality of life among men. Very poor self-rated health compared to excellent self-rated health was associated with lower perceived good quality of life in both men and women. These findings confirmed the independent contribution of risk factors, medical conditions or disease, and functional limitation in the disablement process. The examination of perceived quality of life in relation to the disablement process indicated that risk factors and functional limitation contributed to lower perceived good quality of life.
The findings of the study will be relevant for program development to improve functional abilities and to minimize risk factors by early intervention, improve or maintain the quality of life of older people and to promote the use of appropriate health and social resources. Moreover, policy makers and service providers could effectively focus on those factors that are crucial in maintaining functional ability and quality of life of the older Malaysians.


In this paper, a new type of reconfigurable inductor is proposed for mm-waves based on the reconfiguration of slow-wave coplanar waveguide (CPW) lines using multiple-contact switches. It is then employed together with micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) capacitive shunt switches to realize a reconfigurable low-pass filter, where the values of both inductors and capacitors are changed independently to achieve optimum filter characteristics. The measured 3-dB cut-off frequency of the reconfigurable low-pass filter changes from 53 GHz to 20 GHz while maintaining Tchebycheff low-pass prototype characteristics. The out-of-band rejection characteristics are also improved in this way. To our knowledge, this is among the first demonstrations that both types of MEMS contact switches and capacitive switches are used simultaneously to construct a monolithic tunable filter with independent L/C controlling capability.


OPC Unified Architecture (UA) is a powerful and versatile platform for hosting information from a large variety of domains. In some cases, the domain-specific information models provide overlapping information, such as (i) different views on a specific entity or (ii) different levels of detail of a single entity. Emerging from a multi-disciplinary engineering process, these different views can stem from various tools that have been used to deal with that entity, or from different stages in an engineering process, e.g., from requirements engineering over system design and implementation to operations. In this work, we provide a concise but expressive set of OPC UA reference types that unobtrusively allow the persistent instantiation of additional knowledge with respect to relations between OPC UA nodes. We will show the application of these reference types on the basis of a rendezvous of Automation ML and ISA-95 in an OPC UA server.


This paper is devoted to the analysis of a \semi-blind" estimation framework in which the standard input-output (training sequence based) estimation is enhanced by using the statistical structure of the whole observation sequence. More speci cally, we consider the case of a general TDMA frame-based receiver equipped with multiple sensors, and restrict our attention to second-order based subspace methods which are suitable for most standard communication applications due to their moderate computational cost. The channel estimator is obtained as a regularized least-squares solution where the blind subspace criterion plays the role of the regularization constraint. The main contribution of the paper consists in showing by asymptotic analysis how to optimally tune the balance between the blind criterion and the least-squares t depending on the design parameters of the system. Simulations show that the proposed solutions are very e ective and signi cantly improve the e ciency of the equalization.


The purpose of this study was to assess the implementation of Environmental Management Act of 2004 on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process using a case study of accommodation facilities in Dar es Salaam city. This study employed structured interviews and close-ended questionnaires as means of data collection. This study showed a number of important issues alongside the implementation of EMA of 2004 on EIA process to the accommodation facilities that are based in Dar es Salaam. The study revealed that 74% owners are not aware of the EMA of 2004. Also, only 40% accommodation facilities based in Dar es Salaam did EIA and comply with environmental management. This is because they are not aware of the importance of conducting EIA and its process. Furthermore, the study found out that there are several benefits of conducting EIA and these include management of solid and liquid waste (63%), utilities and sewage system facilitates safety and security of the customers and retain customer satisfaction. However, there are several challenges when conducting EIA. Among others, these are expensiveness, time consuming through its process and lack of experts specialized on the specific field. The government of Tanzania should clearly promulgate EIA policies, guidelines and procedures to stakeholders including owners of accommodation facilities so as to increase the level of awareness of EIA requirements. Also educational campaigns such as seminars, workshops and conferences should be increased by NEMC so as to spread awareness among stakeholders. It is hoped that the results of this study shall be of practical use to all stakeholders including owners of accommodation facilities and other governmental and non-governmental organizations that are based in Tanzania.


Phenolic and antioxidant compounds have received considerable attention due to their beneficial effects on human health. The aim of this study is to determine the content of total phenols and antioxidants in fifty-two coffee samples of different origins, purchased from the Jordanian local market, and investigate the effect of the degree of roasting on the levels of these compounds. The coffee samples were extracted using the hot water extraction method, while Folin–Ciocalteu (FC) and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay methods were used to analyze these compounds. The results showed that the highest content of total phenol (16.55 mg/g equivalent to GAE) was found in the medium roasted coffee, and the highest content of antioxidants (1.07 mg/g equivalent to TEAC) content was found in the green coffee. Only light and medium roasted coffee showed a significant correlation (p < 0.05, R2 > 0.95) between the average of total phenolic and antioxidant content. A negative correlation between the antioxidant content and the degree of roasting (p < 0.05, R2 > 0.95) were shown, while it did not correlate with phenolic contents. Previously, a positive correlation between antioxidant and chlorogenic acids content was observed, with no correlation between the origin of coffee samples nor heavy metal content, which was previously determined for the same coffee samples. These findings suggest that the antioxidant content for coffee extracts is largely determined by its chlorogenic acid content, rather than the coffee origin or total phenolic and heavy metals content.


The use of information technology in rural and underserved settings is receiving increasing attention because of the immense potential it brings for improving the quality of life and reducing the digital divide. However, high costs coupled with infrastructure and context‐related inhibitors tend to dilute the advantages that are often taken as a set of givens. In this paper we present a case study of a pioneering experience of information system use in a set of villages in southern India. The research proposition for this study is that social processes can form a viable basis for providing sustainability to information communications technology (ICT) initiatives in rural regions. Theoretical support for this study comes from Habermas' theory of communicative action. Given that such information systems are emancipatory in nature, and given that such information systems face many obstacles, the value added by these systems needs to be assessed in terms of their contribution to social capital in addition to economic value added. Our analysis reveals that social processes can be leveraged to accord viability to ICT setups in rural settings. Many social changes, that may have faced resistance or were unexpected, themselves became the reason for keeping the ICT setup. This is so because these changes form the basis of empowerment and a participatory framework that would have been absent earlier. We provide implications for researchers as well as practitioners.


To improve the ability, power changes (performance) of a motor used for racing most mechanics do modifications to the cylinder volume. When the motor cylinder enlarged, the enlarged combustion volume, so that automatically will increase the compression ratio and compression pressure effect on the combustion pressure rise as well, in order to obtain great power. Bore up is a way to increase the volume of the contents of the cylinder, using a piston that has a larger diameter than the standard. So that the cylinder and piston are enlarged, the fuel and air for combustion in the engine can be more obtainable with high compression ratio that produces greater energy (torque) and a higher engine speed (rpm). In the discussion of this study the author discusses the influence of bore up the engine on the motorcycle supra x-cylinder 125 cc of cylinder diameter 52.4 mm to 54 mm, the things that need to be reviewed in this discussion include: Changes in power (performance), changes in torque before and after the engine in the bore up.


This paper presents an experimental and numerical study on current limiting characteristics of a fault current controller (FCC). The FCC consists of an AC/DC power converter, a superconducting coil, and a control unit. Even though some previous researches proved that the FCC could adjust the fault current level, the current limiting characteristics by the superconducting coil should be investigated for design of the coil. In this paper, four kinds of model coils were tested; 1) air core, 2) iron core without any bias, 3) reversely magnetized core (RMC) using permanent magnets, and 4) RMC using an electromagnet. Based on a comparative study, it is confirmed that a RMC by an electromagnet (EM) could increase the effective inductance of the coil. In this paper, a numerical code to simulate the HTS coil with RMC was developed. This code can be applied to design the HTS coil with active reversely magnetized bias coil.


In the present work Blackadar's concept of nocturnal inertial oscillations is extended. Blackadar's concept describes frictionless inertial oscillations above the nocturnal inversion layer. The current work includes frictional effects within the nocturnal boundary layer. It is shown that the nocturnal wind speed profile describes an oscillation around the nocturnal equilibrium wind vector, rather than around the geostrophic wind vector (as in the Blackadar case). By using this perspective, continuous time-dependent wind profiles are predicted. As such, information on both the height and the magnitude of the nocturnal low-level jet is available as a function of time. Preliminary analysis shows that the proposed extension performs well in comparison with observations when a simple Ekman model is used to represent the equilibrium state in combination with a realistic initial velocity profile. In addition to jet dynamics, backward inertial oscillations are predicted at lower levels close to the surface, which also appear to be present in observations. The backward oscillation forms an important mechanism behind weakening low-level winds during the afternoon transition. Both observational and theoretical modeling studies are needed to explore this phenomenon further.


Microstructure evolution with equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) using route Bc, that is a 90° axial rotation of the billet between passes, up to 8 passes, was investigated by transmission electron microscopy. The study has been focused on the induced development of boundary misorientation and spacing toward microstructure refinement. Cell (low-angle) and grain (high-angle) misorientation and spacing were determined from about 250 boundaries per pass of ECAP, systematically using whether Kikuchi patterns or Moiré fringes, these latter where possible. The average cell size and misorientation saturate within the first two passes. Misorientation and spacing of high-angle boundaries decrease with the number of passes. After 8 passes, mean cell size is ≈ 1.3 µm and the fraction of high-angle boundaries is ≈ 0.7. Differences in rate of grain structure evolution per pass are linked to differences in ability of dislocations introduced in new passes to recombine with the existing ones. As ECAP strain rises, the misorientation distribution develops strong deviations from the MacKenzie distribution for statistical grain orientation. This is interpreted as a result of the tendency to form equiaxed grains in a textured grain structure.


A new detection method for data-dependent superimposed training with equi-spaced amplitude modulation or equi-spaced square quadrature amplitude modulation is presented in this study. Symbol and bit error floor of the proposed detection method is analysed. To remove the error floor, a data coding method is also proposed. Analysis and simulation results show that the proposed detection method outperforms the existing methods, and the data detection performance can be further improved via data coding.


Great advances have often occurred at the intersections of disciplines or in association with literal or metaphorical migrations of practitioners between disciplines. One only needs to look back as far as the explosive development in modern biology that took place when physicists and physical chemists turned their attention and methods to biology. The convergence of three revolutions in science (in molecular biology, bioinformatics and instrumentation) has changed the way biological research is done. Biotechnology is practised at the intersection of these revolutions. It is interdisciplinary and draws on core knowledge and skills in the areas of chemistry, physics, engineering and biology. In biotechnology, interdisciplinarity emerges between the natural sciences which develop knowledge involving biological systems. This is followed by an interprofessional integration of knowledge and skills from the social sciences and from business, to set research priorities, to develop ethical and regulatory frameworks, and to develop the scientific knowledge into products of value. We review and discuss definitions of interdisciplinarity and interprofessionalism, then propose a novel model for the evolution of disciplines (and interdisciplinarity). We consider the challenges posed by interdisciplinarity and interprofessionalism, for the structure of biotechnology programs and their modes of delivery.


French influence on Middle English (1100-1500) has been studied mainly from the point of view of vocabulary influence. French also affected English above word level. The present paper hopes to contribute to the study of Middle English phraseology by comparing a 14th century travel account written in French and its translation into English. The phrases of French origin are grouped into categories on the basis of their grammatical function. At least one sample phrase of every category is collated with the corresponding phrase in the French original. The phrases are also examined in a wider linguistic context.


Photocontrolled organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) containing a hybrid compound of fullerene C60 (nsemiconductor) with spiropyran (electrical conductivity photocontroller) as the active layer were fabricated for the first time. It was found that an OFET based on the hybrid compound, unlike the multilayer transistor (a device based on unmodified fullerene C60 and spiropyran in different layers), has higher transfer characteristics (source-to-drain current), charge carrier mobility in the active layer, and response rate to external influence, which makes them promising materials for the manufacture of optical memory elements.


Abstract. The increasing urbanization and industrialization have led to wetland losses in estuarine area of Mingjiang River over past three decades. There has been increasing attention given to produce wetland inventories using remote sensing and GIS technology. Due to inconsistency training site and training sample, traditionally pixel-based image classification methods can't achieve a comparable result within different organizations. Meanwhile, object-oriented image classification technique shows grate potential to solve this problem and Landsat moderate resolution remote sensing images are widely used to fulfill this requirement. Firstly, the standardized atmospheric correct, spectrally high fidelity texture feature enhancement was conducted before implementing the object-oriented wetland classification method in eCognition. Secondly, we performed the multi-scale segmentation procedure, taking the scale, hue, shape, compactness and smoothness of the image into account to get the appropriate parameters, using the top and down region merge algorithm from single pixel level, the optimal texture segmentation scale for different types of features is confirmed. Then, the segmented object is used as the classification unit to calculate the spectral information such as Mean value, Maximum value, Minimum value, Brightness value and the Normalized value. The Area, length, Tightness and the Shape rule of the image object Spatial features and texture features such as Mean, Variance and Entropy of image objects are used as classification features of training samples. Based on the reference images and the sampling points of on-the-spot investigation, typical training samples are selected uniformly and randomly for each type of ground objects. The spectral, texture and spatial characteristics of each type of feature in each feature layer corresponding to the range of values are used to create the decision tree repository. Finally, with the help of high resolution reference images, the random sampling method is used to conduct the field investigation, achieve an overall accuracy of 90.31 %, and the Kappa coefficient is 0.88. The classification method based on decision tree threshold values and rule set developed by the repository, outperforms the results obtained from the traditional methodology. Our decision tree repository and rule set based object-oriented classification technique was an effective method for producing comparable and consistency wetlands data set.


Modeling and developing different evacuation scenarios gained significant interest in recent years, where the management of the transportation system in support of evacuation efforts proved to be critical in mitigating the impacts of regional emergency events. However, most of the evacuation modeling efforts focused on large urban areas due to the recurrence of the regional emergency event, resources availability, and data availability. For urban areas that are classified as small- and medium-size metropolitan areas, confusion still exists at the metropolitan planning organization (MPO) level on how to develop effective and practical evacuation plans. This study aims to develop a methodology for supporting effective decision making and testing emergency scenarios while taking into account various factors and their effect on public safety. The focus of this study is on developing an evacuation model for urban areas utilizing the resources available to MPOs and obtaining local evacuation data, which include human behavior data from a local household survey. A case study is developed using Fargo-Moorhead Council of Government's travel demand model integrated with DYNASMART-P software. The modeling approach provides direct connectivity with the regional model, and the hybrid model incorporates a traffic generation component into the regional model along with dynamic supply.


We present novel algorithms to control underactuated mechanical systems. For a class of invariant systems on Lie groups, we design iterative small-amplitude control forces to accelerate along, decelerate along, and stabilize relative equilibria. The technical approach is based upon a perturbation analysis and the design of inversion primitives and composition methods. We illustrate the algorithms on an underactuated planar rigid body and on a satellite with two thrusters.


Objective:
 Previously, we showed that inhibition of prolyloligopeptidase eliminated the differences in macrophage TNFα expression and BP response in mice lacking N-domain activity of ACE. Thus, functional studies of BP and inflammatory response in a model lacking prolylendopeptidase activity are performed.

 Results:
 After a 14 day high-dose AngII infusion (980 ng/kg-min), POP-KO(n=12) BP was 130±3 mmHg and 147±4 mmHg for POP-WT(n=12). After 14 days of low-dose AngII infusion(490 ng/kg-min), POP-KO(n=8) BP was 126±4 mmHg and 139±3 mmHg for POP-WT(n=8). To investigate differences in the inflammatory response, we examined peritoneal macrophage cytokine expression in response to AngII. The percentage of F4/80+/TNFαhigh cells vs. total F4/80+ was 17%±4.7% for POP-KO (n=8) and 49%±2.8% for POP-WT (n=8)[p<0.005]. The percentage of F4/80+/IL-6high cells vs. total F4/80+ was 15%±3.2% for POP-KO(n=8) and 39%±4.8% for POP-WT(n=8)[p<0.01]. To investigate whether there were baseline differences, TNFalpha secretion was measured in POP-KO(8%) vs. POP-WT(16%) without AngII stimulation. Baseline bone marrow analysis by flow shows 48% CD11b+Ly6ghi cells in POP-KO (n=6) vs. 39% in POP-WT (n=4). Moreover, F4/80hiLy6cintermediate cells were 1.19% in the POP-KO (n=6) vs. 1.75% in POP-WT(n=4).

 Conclusion:
 Inflammation is an emerging player in hypertension and prolylendopeptidase inhibition may play a role in reducing that inflammation. In the POP-KO mouse model, baseline differences in quantity and quality of inflammatory cells may contribute to the phenotypic differences found
 in vivo
 .


The heart is a dynamic organ, and the cardiac tissue experiences changes in pressure and stretch during the cardiac cycle. Existing cell culture and animal models are limited in their capacity to decouple and tune specific hemodynamic stresses implicated in the development of physiological and pathophysiological cardiac tissue remodeling. This study focused on creating a system to subject engineered cardiac tissue to either pressure or stretch stimuli in isolation and the subsequent evaluation of acute tissue remodeling. We developed a cardiac tissue chip containing three-dimensional (3-D) cell-laden hydrogel constructs and cultured them within systems where we could expose them to either pressure changes or volume changes as seen in the left ventricle. Acute cellular remodeling with each condition was qualitatively and quantitatively assessed using histology, immunohistochemistry, gene expression studies, and soluble factor analysis. Using our unique model system, we isolated the effects of pressure and stretch on engineered cardiac tissue. Our results confirm that both pressure and stretch mediate acute stress responses in the engineered cardiac tissue. However, both experimental conditions elicited a similar acute phase injury response within this timeframe. This study demonstrates our ability to subject engineered cardiac tissue to either pressure or stretch stimuli in isolation, both of which elicited acute tissue remodeling responses.


Cellulose comprise of about 40–50 % of the composition of wood, making it one of the most abundant organic polymers on earth. Cellulose is very versatile in terms of application, with a wide array of products fabricated, including the chemically modified cellulose derivatives. One of the more prominent and multifaceted derivatives is the cellulose acetate, in which have been used predominantly as cigarette filters, membrane filters, and coating. In this study, the intermediate product, Acacia mangium-produced cellulose acetate was modified into lacquer to produce a feasible wood coating product. The lacquer underwent a series of tests such as impact, abrasion, adhesion, and hardness to evaluate its mechanical performance. The results of the coating were compared to a similarly formulated acetate lacquer that was produced using commercial cellulose acetate instead as a control. Based on the result, it is shown that Acacia mangium-produced cellulose acetate lacquer shows a better impact resistance with a rating of 4 as opposed to the commercial cellulose acetate with a rating of 3 with moderate cracking, with an approximate 6% better abrasion resistance and higher hardness rating class. Meanwhile, the commercial cellulose acetate lacquer presents a better adhesion performance with only 5% flaking compared to the 15% flaking of Acacia mangium-produced cellulose acetate lacquer. The Acacia mangium-produced cellulose acetate lacquer indicates a novel benefit from the presence of impurities from the intermediate Acacia mangium-produced cellulose acetate product such as the plasticizing hemicellulose acetate, as well as the hydrophobic lignin.


Abstract The ostracode genus Poseidonamicus has been widespread and abundant in deep-sea sediments since the Eocene. Despite its prominent role in a number of evolutionary studies, species identification in this genus is often difficult and phylogenetic relationships among its species are not well understood. Here I present the findings from a comprehensive study of this genus with the purpose of discovering novel phylogenetic characters and clarifying species relationships. I briefly describe the adult carapace and trace some of the major morphological changes that occur over the last several instars. I focus particular attention on the arrangement of fossae in the reticulate mesh; these features have been shown in other ostracodes to correspond to underlying epidermal cells. I describe the development of fossae in the region posterior to the adductor muscle scars, and hypothesize a sequence of specific cell divisions to account for the addition of fossae over ontogeny. Phylogenetic characters were derived from many different types of characters, including aspects of carapace shape, the presence and location of pores, characteristics of specific ridges and spines, and the relative position of homologous fossae in the reticulum. A parsimony analysis of 42 characters and 40 operational taxonomic units (36 ingroup and four outgroup) resulted in a set of optimal trees whose strict consensus is relatively well resolved, well supported, and generally consistent with the order in which taxa appear in the fossil record. The monophyly of Poseidonamicus is supported, as is the monophyly of all deep-sea members of this genus. Within the clade of deep-sea Poseidonamicus, several subgroups are recovered with varying levels of character support. In addition to providing a general framework for understanding morphological evolution in this genus, the results of this phylogenetic analysis have two specific implications for the evolution of sightedness in this genus. First, because Poseidonamicus ocularis is nested deeply within a clade of entirely deep-sea species, its putatively ocular features are probably not related to vision. Second, there has likely been just a single transition from sighted to blind in Poseidonamicus, coincident with its colonization of the deep sea. No support is found for the recent suggestion that sighted shallow-water dwelling Poseidonamicus species may have evolved from blind deep-sea ancestors, although data from additional taxa will be necessary to test this hypothesis more fully.


It has been found that approximately 45% of all patients who undergo heart surgery suffer a lack of brain oxygenation at some point during the operation. Unfortunately, monitoring cerebral oxygen saturation non-invasively in adults during surgery is extremely difficult. While nearinfrared spectroscopy (NIRS) can be used to monitor cerebral oxygenation in neonates, extending it to adults is challenging due to the increased thickness of the extra-cerebral layers in adult heads. Two potential NIRS methods for monitoring brain oxygen saturation in adults are continuouswave (CW) and time-resolved (TR) NIRS. The primary objective of this project was to investigate which of these two NIRS methods is the best suited for detecting changes in adult cerebral oxygen saturation. This was achieved by i) developing a robust methodology for the segmentation and mesh generation from 3D MRI images of an adult head, ii) simulating CW-NIRS and TR-NIRS light propagation in the generated head mesh, and iii) comparing the sensitivity of both NIRS signals to changes in cerebral oxygenation. More specifically, a volumetric mesh was generated from 3D MRI images which were segmented into 4 tissue-types, consisting of the skin, skull, cerebrospinal fluid, and brain tissue. Photon propagation was simulated in the mesh for wavelengths ranging from 650 nm to 947 nm, using brain oxygen saturation levels ranging from 40% to 70%. These in silico experiments were designed to mimic typical measurements from CW-NIRS and TR-NIRS devices and were analyzed to determine the effectiveness of each modality at monitoring brain oxygen saturation. The greatest difference in the values for the CW-NIRS was found at 696 nm. From the 70% brain oxygenation to the 40%, there was a difference of approximately 3%. A 0.004% difference was found at the isosbestic point (798 nm). For the 696 nm wavelength in the TR-NIRS, there was a difference of approximately 56%, with a maximum difference of 72.6% at 657 nm. Similar to the CW-NIRS, TR-NIRS had a 0% difference at the isosbestic point of 798 nm. Additionally, the TR-NIRS was unaffected by source detector distance, while CW-NIRS signal improved with distance from the source. We found that TR-NIRS is more sensitive to changes in brain oxygen saturation in adults than CW-NIRS. Thus, while CW-NIRS is effective in neonates, the extra-cerebral layers in adults are too thick to make it a viable option. These simulations also suggest that TR-NIRS will be more appropriate than CW-NIRS in monitoring cerebral oxygenation in adult cardiac surgery patients. IN SILICO LIGHT PROPAGATION IN THE ADULT HEAD 3 Table of


Bitiscetin-1 (aka bitiscetin) and bitiscetin-2 are C-type lectin-like proteins purified from the venom of Bitis arietans (puff adder). They bind to von Willebrand factor (VWF) and—at least bitiscetin-1—induce platelet agglutination via enhancement of VWF binding to platelet glycoprotein Ib (GPIb). Bitiscetin-1 and -2 bind the VWF A1 and A3 domains, respectively. The A3 domain includes the major site of VWF for binding collagen, explaining why bitiscetin-2 blocks VWF-to-collagen binding. In the present study, sequences for a novel bitiscetin protein—bitiscetin-3—were identified in cDNA constructed from the B. arietans venom gland. The deduced amino acid sequences of bitiscetin-3 subunits α and β share 79 and 80% identity with those of bitiscetin-1, respectively. Expression vectors for bitiscetin-3α and -3β were co-transfected to 293T cells, producing the heterodimer protein recombinant bitiscetin-3 (rBit-3). Functionally, purified rBit-3 (1) induced platelet agglutination involving VWF and GPIb, (2) did not compete with bitiscetin-1 for binding to VWF, (3) blocked VWF-to-collagen binding, and (4) lost its platelet agglutination inducing ability in the presence of an anti-VWF monoclonal antibody that blocked VWF-to-collagen binding. These combined results suggest that bitiscetin-3 binds to the A3 domain, as does bitiscetin-2. Except for a small N-terminal fragment of a single subunit—which differs from that of both bitiscetin-3 subunits—the sequences of bitiscetin-2 have never been determined. Therefore, by identifying and analyzing bitiscetin-3, the present study is the first to present the full-length α- and β-subunit sequences and recombinant expression of a bitiscetin-family toxin that blocks the binding of VWF to collagen.


In this paper we report on the characteristics of Pd/GaN and Pd/Si Schottky barriers exposed to different gases at various temperature range from 25°C to 500°C. The characteristics of Pd/GaN and Pd/Si Schottky barriers as gas sensors were measured as a function of temperature and ambient. Both types of sensor show changes in forward current upon introduction of different gases (N2, air, H2) into the ambient. The devices can be operated at large forward current, leading to large signal size for current at short response time for switching from one gas ambient to another such as N2 to H2 (2%) in N2. The signal size increases with the increase in measurement temperature due to more efficient cracking of the gas molecules. Both types of devices appear well suited to combustion control and leak detection.


This work aimed to investigate the effect of different sintering routes on properties of Ni-Al2O3 membrane. Alumina powder was mixed with 10 wt% nickel powder by dried ball-milling. Then, the mixture powder was uniaxially pressed to a bar shape and sintered via different sintering conditions. First route, the Ni-Al2O3 specimen was sintered at 1300°C for 2 h under air and then reduced at 900°C for 2 h under H2 atmosphere. Second route, the specimen was sintered at 1300°C for 2 h under argon. After sintering process, the physical and mechanical properties of membrane obtained from two routes were compared and discussed.


SUMMARY Cysteine proteases of pathogenic protozoan parasites play pivotal roles in the life cycle of parasites, but strict regulation of their activities is also essential for maintenance of parasite physiology and interaction with hosts. In this study, we identified and characterized cryptostatin, a novel inhibitor of cysteine protease (ICP) of Cryptosporidium parvum. Cryptostatin showed low sequence identity to other chagasin-family ICPs, but 3 motifs (NPTTG, GXGG, and RPW/F motifs), which are evolutionarily conserved in chagasin-family ICPs, were found in the sequence. The overall structure of cryptostatin consisted of 8 β-strands that progressed in parallel and closely resembled the immunoglobulin fold. Recombinant cryptostatin inhibited various cysteine proteases, including papain, human cathepsin B, human cathepsin L, and cryptopain-1, with Ki's in the picomolar range. Cryptostatin was active over a wide pH range and was highly stable under physiological conditions. The protein was thermostable and retained its inhibitory activity even after incubation at 95°C. Cryptostatin formed tight complexes with cysteine proteases, so the complexes remained intact in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate and β-mercaptoethanol, but they were disassembled by boiling. An immunogold electron microscopy analysis demonstrated diffused localization of cryptostatin within oocystes and meronts, but not within trophozoites, which suggests a possible role for cryptostatin in host cell invasion by C. parvum.


Using data from third round of District Level Household Survey conducted in 2007-08, the study attempts to measure socio-economic inequality by type of maternal care-antenatal care, delivery care and postnatal carein rural Assam, with a focus on inter-district variations. Results indicate that the utilisation of maternal health care in the state is characterised by substantial pro-rich inequalities. The inter-district disparity in socio-economic inequality in maternal health care is also conspicuous. The efforts to increase the average without a component of equity in the programme could actually further aggravate existing pro-rich inequalities. In the light of immenseinter-district variation in the level of socio-economic inequality in maternal health care utilisation, any future efforts by government or any other stakeholders should, not only focus on improving overall utilisation level, but also on reducing inter-district variation in socio-economic inequalities.


: The ability of beta-glucosidase from the fungus Geotrichum candidum 3C to degrade cell oligosaccharides, disaccharides and glycosides was examined. It was demonstrated that the rate of enzymic hydrolysis of cell oligosaccharides depended on the length of the substrate chain. The major product was glucose. The beta-glucosidase purified showed high specificity towards beta-glucopyranosyl and degraded only the glucosides which incorporated beta-glucopyranosyl. The enzyme had a relatively low specificity towards aglycon, and hydrolyzed both disaccharides and aryl-glucosides. The enzyme also showed traansglycosylase activity.


INTRODUCTION – Accurate assessment of extent and location of anatomical brain structures is essential for many imaging and surgical applications. Superb anatomical contrast has already been demonstrated with T2-weighted magnitude [1] and phase imaging [2, 3] as well as quantitative R2 mapping [4] at ultra-high magnetic fields. However, magnitude images are not quantitative, phase images suffer from strong non-local signal contributions and R2 images may be affected at locations of steep phase gradients. In contrast, quantitative magnetic susceptibility mapping (QSM) [5], a novel imaging technique that determines tissue magnetic susceptibility from the phase of complex valued gradient echo (GRE) data, provides quantitative and local anatomical contrast. This study compares quantitative susceptibility maps with conventional GRE imaging approaches (magnitude, phase, R2) with respect to anatomic tissue contrast at 7 T and provides quantitative susceptibility and R2 values. MATERIAL AND METHODS – Data Acquisition: For susceptibility mapping 3D single-echo GRE data sets (TE/TR/ FA/TA=10.5 ms/17ms/8°/16:57min:sec, BW = 140 Hz/px, voxel size=0.4x0.4x0.4mm3) of nine healthy volunteers were acquired on a 7T MR scanner (Magnetom 7T, Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany) at 3 different orientations of the head with respect to B0. Additionally, 3D multi-echo GRE imaging (TE1/TE2/TE3/TE4=5 ms/12.8 ms/20.6 ms/28.4 ms, TR/FA/BW = 34 ms/8°/160 Hz/px, voxel size of 0.8 × 0.8 × 0.8 mm3) was performed in normal position of the head. Data Processing: Single channel magnitude images were combined using the sum-of-squares method [6], whereas single channel phase images were combined according to [7]. For each subject combined magnitude and phase data sets were non-linearly registered to the dataset in normal position. Phase aliasing was resolved by 3D phase unwrapping [8] and background phase contributions were eliminated with the SHARP technique [5]. Background-corrected phase images were used to compute multi-angle (MA) susceptibility maps as described in [5]. Furthermore, backgroundcorrected phase images were divided by 2π·TE to yield frequency maps showing the Larmor frequency variation in Hz. The magnitude signal decay of the 3D multi-echo GRE examination was converted to quantitative R2 maps according to [9]. For direct comparison the R2 images were linearly registered to the susceptibility maps. Data Analysis: Volumes of interest (VOIs) were manually identified for deep gray matter structures (internal globus pallidus (GPi), external globus pallidus (GPe), putamen (Put), caudate nucleus (CN), subthalamic nucleus (STN), red nucleus (RN), substantia nigra (SN)), homogenous white matter structures (frontal and occipital regions) and corticospinal fluid (CSF). Contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was calculated for all image contrasts by calculating the differences in signal intensity between the specific VOI with respect to a VOI in homogeneous white matter in the frontal brain, divided by the noise (standard deviation of the homogeneous white matter VOI). Since noise in MR images scales with MR imaging parameters, e.g., voxel volume and number of averages, the CNR values obtained from susceptibility and R2 data were corrected to yield a similar noise level compared to a single GRE data set of the MA study. RESULTS & DISCUSSION – A comparison of image contrast within thalamic tissue between magnitude, frequency, susceptibility, and R2 images is presented in Figure 1. Magnitude contrast is nearly homogeneous within thalamic tissue and only allows clear identification of the pulvinar (not shown) and venous vessels. Although frequency images provide a heterogeneous signal pattern of thalamic tissue, interpretation is hampered by non-local signal contributions (see black arrow). Susceptibility and R2 images, however, provide a very heterogeneous, locally varying pattern of thalamic tissue that clearly enables identification of sub-regions and nuclei of the thalamus. However, the R2 images do not provide the same level of contrast and detail as the susceptibility images. The CNR values of different deep grey matter structures for the different images are summarized in Table 1, suggesting that deep gray matter structures are delineated best on susceptibility images. Furthermore, susceptibility differences of selected brain structures with respect to CSF as well as R2 values are listed in Table 1. The susceptibility differences are in good agreement with values reported in the literature for 7T [10] and 3T [5, 11]. The R2 values (Tab. 1) of the basal ganglia regions agree excellently with literature findings [4]. Susceptibility images provided an excellent and local contrast between white matter and cortical grey matter (Fig. 2) that was superior to the contrast in magnitude, frequency, and R2 images (Fig. 2e). Susceptibility maps also revealed sub-structures of the midbrain and basal ganglia that were not observed on corresponding magnitude, frequency, and R2 images (not shown). Although QSM based on the MA approach, as presented here, is not applicable in clinical routine, this contribution demonstrates the enormous potential of the susceptibility contrast for structural MRI. QSM may reveal a new contrast for automatic identification of (sub-)structures of the brain. REFERENCES – [1] Li TQ et al. NeuroImage. 2006;32(3):1032-40. [2] Deistung A et al. Magn Reson Med. 2008;60(5):1155-68. [3] Duyn JH et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007;104(28):11796-801. [4] Yao B et al. NeuroImage. 2009;44(4):1259-66. [5] Schweser F et al. NeuroImage. 2011;54(4):2789-807. [6] Roemer PB et al. Magn Reson Med. 1990. 16(2):192-225. [7] Hammond KE et al. NeuroImage. 2008; 39(4):1682-92. [8] Abdul-Rahman HS et al. Appl Opt. 2007;46(26):6623-3. [9] Miller AJ and Joseph PM. Magn Reson Imaging. 1993;11(7):1051-6. [10] Wharton S and Bowtell R. NeuroImage. 2010;53(2), 515-525. [11] Liu T et al. Magn Reson Med. 2011;66(3), 777-83. Figure 1: GRE imaging of the thalamus. Transverse sections of magnitude, frequency, susceptibility, and R2 images are shown in (a), (b), (c), and (d), respectively. The susceptibility image clearly exhibits specific contrast within the thalamus enabling discrimination of subthalamic structures, such as a – internal medullary lamina, b – anterior nuclei group, c – ventral lateral nucleus group, d – lateral posterior nucleus, and e – mediodorsal nucleus. In the frequency image (b) such interpretation is impeded by non-local signal contributions, e.g., close-to veins (black arrow).


A negotiator's own power and their counterpart's emotional reaction to the negotiation both influence the outcome of negotiations. The present research addressed the question of their relative importance. On one hand, social power should be potent regardless of the other's emotions. On the other hand, the counterpart's emotional reactions inform about the ongoing state of the negotiation, and as such are more diagnostic than the more distal power cue. In a simulated computer mediated negotiation, 248 participants assumed the role of a vendor of computerized avionics test equipment and their objective was to negotiate the price, the warranty period, and the number of software updates that the buyer will receive free of charge. Participants negotiated the sale after being primed with either high or low power or not primed at all (control condition). They received information that their counterpart was either happy or angry or emotionally neutral. The findings showed that even though power was an important factor at the start of negotiations, the informative value of emotion information took precedence over time. This implies that emotional information may erase any advantage that counterparts have in a negotiation thanks to their higher social power.


Laser-induced fluorescence measurements of NO in CH(4)-air flames seeded with CH(3)Cl and CH(2)Cl(2) are described. The measurements are perturbed by strong photochemical effects characterized by UV emissions. The contribution of these background emissions is taken into account on the basis of an on-line-off-line resonance procedure. First results indicate an important increase of NO in the presence of chlorinated species. Background emissions observed in the range 220-260 nm and at 278 nm are ascribed, respectively, to electronically excited HCl and CCl photofragments. It is shown that C(2)H(3)Cl and CHCl(2) species are responsible for the formation of HCl and CCl, respectively, and a photolytic mechanism for formation of the photofragments is proposed.


The degradation of diffused SiC PIN diodes during forward-biased operation was studied by first fabricating PIN diodes by diffusion of aluminum or boron into 4H-SiC substrates with n-type 10-15 µm thick epilayers doped by nitrogen up to 5x1015cm-3. The formed diodes were subjected to degradation testing under an applied current density of 200A/cm2 at room temperature. The majority of the Al diffused diodes demonstrated a voltage drift, ΔVf, of more than 2 V, while B-doped diodes showed no significant change in forward voltage. The EBIC mode of SEM was employed to monitor nucleation and expansion of stacking faults.


We have obtained U-band polarimetry of the spatially extended blue optical continuum associated with the FR I radio source PKS 2322-122, located in the Abell 2597 cluster central galaxy. We find a 3 σ upper limit to the degree of optical continuum polarization of less than 6%. The accuracy of the measurement is limited primarily by our ability to measure the amount of diluting galactic starlight. This limit is inconsistent with the blue continuum being primarily scattered light or synchrotron radiation. We can therefore exclude models that attribute the blue continuum to scattered light from an active nucleus that is hidden from direct view. Our result does not support the unification paradigm for BL Lac objects and FR I radio sources. Essentially all of the data pertaining to the blue continuum along the radio source—the "blue lobes"—indicate that they are regions of recent star formation. The spatial coincidence between the blue lobes and disturbances in the radio source suggests that star formation may have been induced by an interaction between the radio source and the cool (less than 104 K) surrounding gas. This result, in addition to the results of a similar study of the A1795 cluster central galaxy, shows that under the appropriate conditions FR I radio sources may be capable of inducing significant episodes of star formation in elliptical galaxies. We compare the rest-frame U-band polarized luminosities and 1.4 GHz radio powers of A2597 and A1795 to those for several high-redshift radio galaxies exhibiting the alignment effect. We find that if the polarized luminosities of radio galaxies scale in proportion to their radio luminosities, we would not have detected a polarized signal in either A2597 or A1795. We suggest that the strength of the active galactic nucleus is the fundamental property distinguishing some powerful high-redshift radio galaxies exhibiting the alignment effect from the lower power FR I radio galaxies in cooling flows that exhibit the blue lobe phenomenon. While both FR I and FR II radio sources seem to be capable of triggering star formation, FR I radio sources seem to be incapable of producing a large enough polarized luminosity to contribute significantly to the aligned continuum radiation.


Forest Notes.-While on a recent trip in the Boston Mountains, I found Acer rubrunn growing several hutndred feet above the drainage of the surrounding country on sandy, dry ridges. It surprised me because I had never found this species growing in the river bottoms of this region where Acer dasycarpum is quite common. I had always thought that Acer rubrum was confined to the low country. I found A. sarcharinum growing in the same situations. Carya mynsticcaformis was found, for the first time in this State, last summer, in the Red River bottom above Fulton, and this summer, it was observed in great abundance in South-Eastern Arkansas, from about Pine Bluff almost to the south boundary, growing with CGazya aquatica in low situations. The nut of this species is ab(ut the size of a pecan, and is edible. It is called swamp hickory by the natives, and in some localities "conscript hickory-nut," by the darkies. Planera aquatica is distributed throughout Eastern and Southern Arkansas. Quercus Michcauxii is the principal species of the white oaks found in Souith-Eastern Arkansas. It assumes majestic proportions, some specimens having a diameter of 19 feet. A specimen of Euonyrnus troplurpureus, 7 inches in diameter, and 30 feet high, was observed in the vicinity of Little Rock. The tree was full of fruit, and the identification thus made easy and certain. We were surp)rised by not seeing any of the Magnolias in SouthEastern Arkansas, as we had expected to find several species. Pinus Tceda grows in Arkansas as far north as Little Rock. This species and P. mittis are the members of this genus we have found in the State. -F. L. HARVEY, Fayel/eville, Ark.


: Over the last six years high-frequency ventilation has been extensively evaluated both in the clinical and laboratory settings. It is now no longer the great mystery it once was, and it is now no longer believed (as many had hoped), that it will solve all the problems associated with mechanical pulmonary ventilation. Although the technique is safe and appears to cause no harm even in the long term, it has not yet been shown to offer any major advantages over conventional mechanical ventilation.


We document a strong and robust positive relationship between real rates and the contemporaneous valuation of volatile stocks, which we contend measures the economy's risk appetite. Our novel proxy for risk appetite explains 41% of the variation in the one-year real rate since 1970, while the valuation of the aggregate stock market explains just 1%. In addition, the real rate forecasts returns on volatile stocks, confirming our interpretation that changes in risk appetite drive the real rate. Increases in our measure of risk appetite are followed by a boom in investment and output.


Double white dwarfs (WDs) are expected to be a source of confusion-limited noise for the future gravitational wave observatory LISA. In a specific frequency range, this "foreground noise" is predicted to rise above the instrumental noise and hinder the detection of other types of signals, e.g., gravitational waves arising from stellar-mass objects inspiraling into massive black holes. In many previous studies, only detached populations of compact object binaries have been considered in estimating the LISA gravitational wave foreground signal. Here, we investigate the influence of compact object detached and Roche-Lobe overflow (RLOF) Galactic binaries on the shape and strength of the LISA signal. Since >99% of remnant binaries that have orbital periods within the LISA sensitivity range are WD binaries, we consider only these binaries when calculating the LISA signal. We find that the contribution of RLOF binaries to the foreground noise is negligible at low frequencies, but becomes significant at higher frequencies, pushing the frequency at which the foreground noise drops below the instrumental noise to >6 mHz. We find that it is important to consider the population of mass-transferring binaries in order to obtain an accurate assessment of the foreground noise on the LISA data stream. However, we estimate that there still exists a sizeable number (∼11,300) of Galactic double WD binaries that will have a signal-to-noise ratio >5, and thus will be potentially resolvable with LISA. We present the LISA gravitational wave signal from the Galactic population of WD binaries, show the most important formation channels contributing to the LISA disk and bulge populations, and discuss the implications of these new findings.


In this patient series, doxorubicin and cycloleucine at a dose of 300 mg/kg both show response rates in the treatment of advanced soft tissue sarcomas of about 15%. Lower doses of cycloleucine (200 mg/kg) yielded less toxicity but were less effective against the sarcomas (6% response rate, three of 51 patients). There were no complete responses with cycloleucine and there were three with doxorubicin. Survival times for patients receiving doxorubicin were significantly longer than those of patients receiving cycloleucine at doses of 300 mg/kg (P less than 0.001) or 200 mg/kg (P = 0.02). The estimated survival times were 29 weeks for doxorubicin and 21 (300 mg/kg) and 18 (200 mg/kg) weeks for cycloleucine. Toxic effects due to cycloleucine were excessive, with severe thrombocytopenia and central nervous system depression being the most prominent.


Tropicana introduced a new package design as part of its advertising and branding campaign, with the theme "Squeeze it's a Natural in January 2009. Sales of the Tropicana Pure Premium line plummeted 20% between the January and February from the same period a year ago. Tropicana had changed its mind and went back to the earlier packaging at the end of February. This study examined the impact of Tropicana's package redesign on the sales of Tropicana orange juice and on the sales of all orange juice. Study results show that the package redesign cost Tropicana an estimated $27 million.


The sixth edition of American National Security has been extensively rewritten to take into account the significant changes in national security policy in the past decade. Thorough revisions reflect a new strategic context and the challenges and opportunities faced by the United States in the early twenty-first century. Highlights include: * An examination of the current international environment and new factors affecting U.S. national security policy making* A discussion of the Department of Homeland Security and changes in the intelligence community* A survey of intelligence and national security, with special focus on security needs post-9/11* A review of economic security, diplomacy, terrorism, conventional warfare, counterinsurgency, military intervention, and nuclear deterrence in the changed international setting* An update of security issues in East Asia, South and Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, Russia and Central Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean* New material on globalization, transnational actors, and human security Previous editions have been widely used in undergraduate and graduate courses.


Abstract Background In people with schizophrenia, self-efficacy (i.e. the belief in one's capability to perform particular tasks/skills) is associated with and motivates performance of social, health and independent living behaviours. Less well known is whether self-efficacy is associated with subjective quality of life (sQoL) or whether psychopathology impacts this relationship. Aims Measure whether greater self-efficacy is associated with greater community functioning and sQoL and whether emotional discomfort mediates this relationship. Method Fifty-two community living people with schizophrenia completed measures of self-efficacy for everyday living and social situations, clinical symptoms, sQoL and community functioning. Results Greater everyday living and social self-efficacy was significantly correlated with greater sQoL and community functioning and lower emotional discomfort (p < 0.05). Only social self-efficacy was correlated with negative symptoms. The relationship between both aspects of self-efficacy and sQoL was, however, mediated by emotional discomfort. Greater confidence in performing social and everyday living behaviours therefore indirectly impacted sQoL through reducing emotional distress. Conclusions Holding negative capability self-beliefs may contribute to poorer outcome for people with schizophrenia. Intervention aimed at facilitating recovery should therefore provide opportunities to develop knowledge and skills required for success in desired life roles and the belief that tasks required for success can be performed.


The desire of geolocation and navigation technologies that provide precise, fast and reliable geo-services has exploded in the recent years, and there is a dramatic increase in the geo-service market varies from mass market applications to the new and innovative applications. The lack of reliable GNSS signals in the NLOS environment confronts many innovative ideas related to mass market location-based applications. But there is an optimized way to provide the ubiquitous geolocation services via exploitation of signals of opportunity (SoOP). The core concept of ubiquitous geolocation and navigation is provide globally available geo-services by giving the mobile terminal the ability to acquire their location information, this technology can be applied at all scales geo-reference by sharing some simple, inexpensive, robust geolocation and navigation algorisms for different technology such as GNSS and other emerging technology, and the goals of the ubiquitous geolocation and navigation service are reliable availability, transparency, seamlessness, awareness, and trustworthiness. SoOP are primarily envisioned to be man-made radio emitters not originally intended for geolocation and navigation, but may be extended to active beacons purposely deployed in an emergency situation, in this paper, we also regarded the signals of different wireless network those defined by the IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.15 and IEEE 802.16 as an important part of SoOP. The use of widely available, powerful, and economically important SoOP in Hong Kong will provide a robust geolocation and navigation capability. We made some initial investigation into the use of the SoOP through feasibility studies and prototype investigations of the use of wireless local area network (WLAN), ultra-wide band (UWB) and ZigBee.


Requests for recommendation can be seen as a form of query for candidate items, ranked by relevance. Users are however often unable to crisply define what they are looking for. One of the core concepts of natural communication for describing and explaining complex information needs in an intuitive fashion are analogies: e.g., "What is to Christopher Nolan as is 2001: A Space Odyssey to Stanley Kubrick?" . Analogies allow users to explore the item space by formulating queries in terms of items rather than explicitly specifying the properties that they find attractive. One of the core challenges which hamper research on analogy-enabled queries is that analogy semantics rely on consensus on human perception, which is not well represented in current benchmark data sets. Therefore, in this paper we introduce a new benchmark dataset focusing on the human aspects for analogy semantics. Furthermore, we evaluate a popular technique for analogy semantics (word2vec neuronal embeddings) using our dataset. The results show that current word embedding approaches are still not not suitable to sufficiently deal with deeper analogy semantics. We discuss future directions includ-ing hybrid algorithms also incorporating structural or crowd-based approaches, and the potential for analogy-based explanations.


The recently-adopted OECD convention outlawing bribery of foreign public officials is welcome evidence of how much progress has been made in the battle against corruption. The financial crisis in East Asia is an indication of how much remains to be done. Corruption is by no means a new issue but it has only recently emerged as a global issue. With the end of the Cold War, the pace and breadth of the trends toward democratization and international economic integration accelerated and expanded globally. Yet corruption could slow or even reverse these trends, potentially threatening economic development and political stability in some countries. * As the global implications of corruption have grown, so has the impetus for international action to combat it. In addition to efforts in the OECD, the Organization of American States, the World Trade Organization, and the United Nations General Assembly, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have both begun to emphasize corruption as an impediment to economic development. * This book includes a chapter by the Chairman of the OECD Working Group on Bribery discussing the evolution of the OECD convention and what is needed to make it effective. Other chapters address the causes and consequences of corruption, including the impact on investment and growth and the role of multinational corporations in discouraging bribery. The final chapter summarizes and also discusses some of the other anticorruption initiatives that either have been or should be adopted by governments, multilateral development banks, and other international organizations.


Abstract Introduction and aims The role of primary care in the provision of cancer care is poorly defined. Practices in are offered a financial incentive to conduct a review with new patients within 6 months of diagnosis, but the extent to which these reviews occur and their scope and perceived usefulness is unknown. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of primary care in caring for and supporting cancer patients and their families. Method Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 38 patients, diagnosed within the last 3 years. Patients were stratified by time since diagnosis, and a maximum variation sampling strategy was employed to achieve heterogeneity in terms of cancer type and socio-demographic variables. We interviewed 19 males and 19 females, with a range of 14 different cancers. Patients were invited to ask their partner/close relative to participate – 24 family members were interviewed. Results Although generally satisfied with their GP practice, most patients were unaware of having had a review or any specific discussion of their cancer-related care, despite records indicating the contrary. Most patients and family members would have welcomed pro-active involvement from their GP practice and felt that a designated review appointment would provide a good opportunity to raise any concerns. Conclusions Although patients and family members see an important role for primary care in cancer follow-up care this is not universally being delivered at present and there is real scope for improving practice in this area.


A dynamic luminescent material that can change its color upon exposure to different photo-stimuli is significantly important and always desirable in color-on-demand applications such as anticounterfeiting and encryption. Herein, a facile approach for the fabrication of full-color dynamic luminescent materials based on trichromacy and dynamical afterglow was reported. Trichromic (green, blue, and red) luminescent materials (SrAl2O4:Eu2+,Dy3+, CaAl2O4:Eu2+,Nd3+ and Ca0.25SrS0.75:Eu2+) were synthesized by a high temperature solid state method. After simply blending them together, a dynamic full range of afterglow was observed after ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) lamp irradiation. The afterglow intensity of mixtures revealed the existence of an interaction impact and energy transfer between components. The emissive colors were tunable in the full-color region simply by adjusting the blending ratio or excitation wavelengths. Moreover, the mixtures revealed the photo-stimuli responsive properties from different excitation sources. Ultimately, a luminescent three-dimensional (3D) code that could be read out by using a smartphone was prepared through this blended trichromic material. As a result, the pattern could only be read out after UV-vis lamp irradiation and could be converted to other information. These results indicate a facile, simple, and effective method for information encryption, conversion, and dynamic anticounterfeiting.


We report a new neural backdoor attack, named Hibernated Backdoor, which is stealthy, aggressive and devastating. The backdoor is planted in a hibernated mode to avoid being detected. Once deployed and fine-tuned on end-devices, the hibernated backdoor turns into the active state that can be exploited by the attacker. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first hibernated neural backdoor attack. It is achieved by maximizing the mutual information (MI) between the gradients of regular and malicious data on the model. We introduce a practical algorithm to achieve MI maximization to effectively plant the hibernated backdoor. To evade adaptive defenses, we further develop a targeted hibernated backdoor, which can only be activated by specific data samples and thus achieves a higher degree of stealthiness. We show the hibernated backdoor is robust and cannot be removed by existing backdoor removal schemes. It has been fully tested on four datasets with two neural network architectures, compared to five existing backdoor attacks, and evaluated using seven backdoor detection schemes. The experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the hibernated backdoor attack under various settings.


The simplification of complex notation presented in aleatoric forms
This project seeks to find solutions to questions of complex musical notation and whether
they can be simplified by using techniques of limited-aleatory. A folio of compositions has
been written, constituting eighty percent of this project. These compositions demonstrate that
by using limited-aleatoric notation developed by Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994), that I can
achieve a complex outcome than if I had used a more complicated rhythmic language. The
exegesis constitutes twenty percent of the thesis with the remaining technique. As the musical
language of composition grew more complex during the 20th century there also developed
the need for ever more complex notational systems. The performers' often-improvisatory
input was abandoned in favour of a strict control from the composer in a hyper-detailed
notation. As notation of melody, harmony and rhythm became more complex, the
performance outcome often sounded as a 'notated improvisation' wherein all sense of metre
and melody seemed to be lost. This led inevitably to aleatoric practices in the 1960s of
notating more simple ideas but arranging them to create more complex outcomes. In my own
composition the need for hyper-notated scores has given way to simpler forms where an
element of chance has been introduced at the point of performance of the score. The
compositions I write do not strictly fall into total forms of chance or indeterminacy as I still
exercise a level of control in the organisation of structure, pitch and time. By allowing a
degree of aleatory or randomness into the score there is a room for a simpler notation
working to achieve a blurring of melody, harmony and rhythm that occurred in many of my
earlier complex scores. In this exegesis I will show how examples of extreme notational
complexity and simpler notation through aleatoric techniques (although at times graphically
experimental) achieve the same ends in compositional and sonic complexity to the performer
and listener.


The role of responsibility in hospitals is undeniable. Although administrative groups are essential to organizational performance, previous group and team studies of responsibility in hospital organizations have concentrated mainly on healthcare teams. This study aims to describe and understand responsibility construction in the social interaction in hospital administrative group meetings, based on observation and analysis of seven administrative group meetings in a Finnish hospital. Categories generated by thematic content analysis were compared with responsibility types. The findings show that responsibility is constructed by creating co-responsibility, taking individual responsibility, and constructing non-responsibility. Action and role and task responsibilities emerged as types from the interaction. To support employee involvement in responsibility processes, they must also be provided with sufficient resources to deal with that responsibility and to manage its different dimensions. These insights can be utilized to improve administrative groups.


. This study describes how we used a prototype e-participation platform as a digital cultural probe to investigate youth motivation and engagement strategies. This is a novel way of considering digital cultural probes which can contribute to the better creation of e-participation platforms. This probe has been conducted as part of the research project STEP which aims at creating an e-participation platform to engage young European Citizens in environmental decision making. Our probe technique has given an insight into the environmental issues concerning young people across Europe as well as possible strategies for encouraging participation. How the e-participation platform can be utilised to support youth engagement through opportunities for social interaction and leadership is discussed. This study leads to a better understanding of how young people can co-operate with each other to provide collective intelli-gence and how this knowledge could contribute to effective e-participation of young people.


Readers of systematic reviews will be used to seeing authors conclude that research conducted to date provides insufficient evidence to guide the management of patients with a particular condition. Such was the case when Hawton and colleagues updated their Cochrane review of interventions following deliberate self-harm (DSH) in 1999.1 The authors added the familiar plea that future studies should recruit larger numbers of participants in order to be sufficiently powered to be able to detect clinically significant differences in outcomes.

The proportion of people who re-present to medical services with repeated self-harm within a year of an initial incident is known to be between 13% and 18%.2 Over 600 people would be needed in a standard "two arm" trial in order to have an 80% chance of demonstrating a clinically significant reduction from 15% to 10% in the level of repetition of self-harm at a 0.05% level. Before the turn of the century, the largest trial that had been conducted involved only 516 people.3 This study examined the impact of adding a home visit to standard care following an episode of self-harm and demonstrated a non-statistically significant trend towards reduced repetition among those who received a visit.

Unlike most other areas of mental health research, recent years have seen the completion of a number of large DSH trials which have been sufficiently powered to detect clinically significant differences in patient outcomes (see table⇓). So what do these studies tell us about the management of patients who self-harm?

View this table:

Findings from recent large randomised trials of intervention following deliberate self-harm

The largest trial conducted to date explored the effects of brief primary care-based intervention.4 In this study general practitioners (GPs) were contacted every time a patient registered with their practice presented to a local emergency department following …


BACKGROUND
Positive-pressure myelogram (PPM) is an emerging radiologic study used to localize spinal dural defects. During PPM, cerebrospinal fluid pressure (CSFp) is increased by injecting saline with contrast into the cerebrospinal fluid. This has the potential to increase intracranial pressure and compromise cerebral perfusion.

METHODS
We performed a retrospective chart review and analysis of 11 patients. The aim was to describe the periprocedural anesthetic management of patients undergoing PPM.

RESULTS
All patients underwent PPM with general anesthesia and intra-arterial blood pressure and near-infrared spectroscopy monitoring of regional cerebral tissue oxygen saturation. Mean±SD maximum lumbar CSFp was 58±12 mm Hg. Upon intrathecal injection, mean systolic blood pressure increased from 115±21 to 142±32 mm Hg (P<0.001), diastolic blood pressure from 68±12 to 80±20 mm Hg (P≤0.001), and mean blood pressure from 87±10 to 98±14 mm Hg (P=0.02). Ten of 11 patients received blood pressure augmentation with phenylephrine to minimize the risk of reduced cerebral perfusion secondary to increased CSFp after intrathecal injection. The mean heart rate before and following injection was similar (68±15 vs. 70±15 bpm, respectively; P=0.16). There was a decrease in regional cerebral oxygen saturation after positioning from supine to prone position (79±10% to 74±9%, P=0.02) and a further decrease upon intrathecal injection (75±10% to 69±9%, P≤0.01).

CONCLUSIONS
Systemic blood pressure increased following intrathecal injection during PPM, possibly due to a physiologic response to intracranial hypertension/reduced cerebral perfusion or administration of phenylephrine. Regional cerebral oxygen saturation decreased with the change to prone position and further decreased upon intrathecal injection. Cerebral near-infrared spectroscopy has a potential role to monitor the adequacy of cerebral perfusion and guide adjustment of systemic blood pressure during PPM.


ABSTRACT To evaluate the presence of contaminating nonhost proteins in commercially prepared rice and maize starch samples, we initiated a direct sequencing mass spectrometric proteomics survey. We discovered nonhost proteins from a variety of species, including Phytophthora cinnamomi, Homarus americanus, and Ovis aries. Our documentation of H. americanus proteins in these starch samples may have food safety implications with regard to shellfish allergies. We hypothesize that these proteins were introduced to the starch samples via process wash water used in the milling and deproteination steps in the commercial preparation of the starches analyzed. The introduction of nonhost proteins during commercial processing of starch samples that are used routinely in analytical studies indicates that these studies are using impure materials. Therefore, further study and documentation of the starch samples is required to ensure that all components of the samples are properly catalogued.


Introduction The Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 estimated the worldwide health burden of 291 diseases and injuries and 67 risk factors by calculating disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Osteoporosis was not considered as a disease, and bone mineral density (BMD) was analysed as a risk factor for fractures, which formed part of the health burden due to falls. Objectives To calculate (1) the global distribution of BMD, (2) its population attributable fraction (PAF) for fractures and subsequently for falls, and (3) the number of DALYs due to BMD. Methods A systematic review was performed seeking population-based studies in which BMD was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at the femoral neck in people aged 50 years and over. Age- and sex-specific mean ± SD BMD values (g/cm2) were extracted from eligible studies. Comparative risk assessment methodology was used to calculate PAFs of BMD for fractures. The theoretical minimum risk exposure distribution was estimated as the age- and sex-specific 90th centile from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). Relative risks of fractures were obtained from a previous meta-analysis. Hospital data were used to calculate the fraction of the health burden of falls that was due to fractures. Results Global deaths and DALYs attributable to low BMD increased from 103 000 and 3 125 000 in 1990 to 188 000 and 5 216 000 in 2010, respectively. The percentage of low BMD in the total global burden almost doubled from 1990 (0.12%) to 2010 (0.21%). Around one-third of falls-related deaths were attributable to low BMD. Conclusions Low BMD is responsible for a growing global health burden, only partially representative of the real burden of osteoporosis.


Abstract Dopamine (DA) is a neurotransmitter in the brain, playing a central role in several disease conditions, including tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) metabolism disorders and Parkinson's disease (PD). BH4 metabolism disorders present a variety of clinical manifestations including motor disturbance via altered DA metabolism, since BH4 is a cofactor for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), a rate-limiting enzyme for DA synthesis. Genetically, BH4 metabolism disorders are, in an autosomal recessive pattern, caused by a variant in genes encoding enzymes for BH4 synthesis or recycling, including 6-pyruvoyltetrahydropterin synthase (PTPS) or dihydropteridine reductase (DHPR), respectively. Although BH4 metabolism disorders and its metabolisms have been studied, it is unclear how gene variants cause aberrant DA synthesis in patient neurons. Here, we generated induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from BH4 metabolism disorder patients with PTPS or DHPR variants, corrected the gene variant in the iPSCs using the CRISPR/Cas9 system, and differentiated the BH4 metabolism disorder patient- and isogenic control iPSCs into midbrain DA neurons. We found that by the gene correction, the BH4 amount, TH protein level and extracellular DA level were restored in DA neuronal culture using PTPS deficiency iPSCs. Furthermore, the pharmacological correction by BH4 precursor sepiapterin treatment also improved the phenotypes of PTPS deficiency. These results suggest that patient iPSCs with BH4 metabolism disorders provide an opportunity for screening substances for treating aberrant DA synthesis-related disorders.


Abstract A detailed deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) study has been carried out on a prominant hole trap at 0.34 eV above the valence band in irradiated p-type silicon. The boron concentration in the float zone and Czochralski-grown samples varied between 1012 and 1016 cm−3, and irradiations with 2.0 MeV electrons have been performed at nominal room temperature to total fluences of 1.0 × 1016 and 1.0 × 1017 e−/cm2. The introduction rate of the trap is strongly boron-dependent, while the oxygen content in the samples does not influence neither the trap production rate nor its observed annealing behaviour. In the light of these observations and other available data on this trap, a boron-carbon pair is here tentatively proposed as the defect identity. A previously unreported hole trap at 0.45 eV above the valence band has also been observed in this work in highly boron-doped material. The isothermal and isochronal annealing characteristics of both traps have been investigated up to 400°C.


Trough is an interesting phenomenon in characterizing the behavior of the ionosphere, especially during disturbed conditions. The subject, which was introduced around the 1970s, is still attracting attention, especially during recent years. In HF communication, in particular, over the midlatitude ionospheric regions the electron density trough exhibits a phenomenon of abrupt gradients of electron densities in space and time which are directly reflected to foF2. Thus the performances of HF communications are directly affected. In this work an attempt has been made for the modeling to quantify the influence of the ionospheric midlatitude electron density trough on the ionospheric critical frequency foF2 by using neural networks. Data sets are used from the ground stations that include observations in the trough region. It has been demonstrated that the neural‐net based approaches are promising in modeling of the ionospheric processes. Data generated by using statistical relationships are used to train the neural network. Then the trained neural network is used to forecast the ionospheric critical frequency, foF2, values 1 hour in advance for the cases when the probability of influence of the trough is high. Preliminary results will be presented to discuss the suitability of the neural‐network‐based approach in the modeling of complex processes such as the influence of the trough on foF2. The basic contributions of this work are 1) generation and organization of significant data for teaching complex processes, 2) neural‐network‐based modeling of a highly complex nonlinear process such as the influence of the trough on foF2 forecasting, and 3) general demonstration of learning capability by calculating cross correlations and general demonstration of reaching a proper operating point by calculating errors (that is, during the optimization process the neural network reaches the global minimum by using the gradient descent method).