The binding of the rigid dopamine analogue [3H]amino-6,7-dihydroxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydronapthalene ([3H]ADTN) to rat striatal membranes was characterized in the presence and absence of purine nucleotides. At 37°, when assays were carried out in the presence of ATP or GTP, the binding of [3H]ADTN increased for approximately 5 min and then progressively declined. However, when assays were carried out at 20°, [3H]ADTN binding reached equilibrium and was stable in both the absence and presence of purine nucleotides. Scatchard analysis of binding isotherms showed that the affinity of the binding sites for [3H]ADTN decreased by approximately 3-fold in the presence of either 0.3 mM ATP or GTP. An unexpected finding was that the density of binding sites increased by approximately 5-fold. In contrast, the nonhydrolyzable purine nucleotide analogues guanylylimidodiphosphate and adenylylimidodiphosphate did not affect the binding of [3H]ADTN. The pharmacological specificity of [3H]ADTN binding, determined either in the absence or presence of ATP or GTP, was characteristic of binding to dopamine receptors in that dopamine, epinine, and (±)-ADTN were more potent than (-)-norepinephrine or (-)-epinephrine in inhibiting [3H]ADTN binding, and binding was inhibited by a variety of neuroleptics including (+)-butaclamol and (α)-flupenthixol. However, there were effects of purine nucleotides on the affinities of the receptor for the partial agonist apomorphine and for a variety of antagonists. In the presence of nucleotides, antagonists were 2 to 10 times less potent in inhibiting [3H]ADTN binding, whereas apomorphine was 300-fold less potent. Exposure of striatal membranes to UV irradiation (λmax = 310 nm) for 30 min reduced [3H]ADTN binding observed in the absence of nucleotide by 60% and eliminated the increase in binding observed in the presence of nucleotide. Neither [3H]spiroperidol binding nor dopamine- or ADTN-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity was affected by this treatment. The results suggest that, in the presence of ATP or GTP, [3H]ADTN binds to a second class of binding sites in the striatum. These additional sites (Bmax ∼ 20 pmoles/mg of protein) are not associated with either [3H]spiroperidol binding or dopamine-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity.


Human IgG of four subclasses, semi‐purified from pooled human serum by a series of DEAE ion exchange and protein A affinity chromatographies, were used as immunogens and initial screening antigens to produce subclass‐specific and ‐restricted monoclonal antibodies (McAbs). These McAbs were bound to CNBr‐activated Sepharose 4B and utilized in immunoaffinity chromatography to prepare four polyclonal human IgG subclasses of satisfactory purities, which were then used as final screening antigens. Subclass‐specific McAbs thus chosen were further evaluated for subclass‐ and especially allotype‐specificity using a panel of monoclonal IgG myeloma proteins with representative Gm markers for each subclass in micro enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A total of 10 clones of subclass‐specific McAbs (one for anti‐IgG1, three anti‐IgG2, two anti‐IgG3, four anti‐IgG4) were established. Among them, IgG2‐specific clones of HG2‐30F and HG2‐56F, IgG3‐specific HG3‐7C and HG3‐32C, and IgG4‐specific HG4‐53G McAbs were superior to the corresponding specificity standard McAbs chosen by the Human Immunoglobulins Subcommittee of the WHO/International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS) in 1985. As allotype‐specific McAbs, HG1‐1E for Glm(az) and HG3‐3B for G3m(b) were obtained. In micro ELISA of this study as well as all protocols of the previous WHO/IUIS collaborative study, antigens (myeloma IgG subclasses) were immobilized or fixed to a solid phase, resulting in possible variations in their epitope expressions. We developed a new assay system, micro radioimmunoassay (RIA), in which reactivities of McAbs against free IgG subclasses in solution can be evaluated. HG2‐30F, having extremely high reactivities to coated IgG2 in micro ELISA, remarkably reduced its reactivities to free IgG2 in solution in micro RIA. Two other clones also showed some different reactivities in micro RIA and micro ELISA. We believe that this micro RIA is valuable for evaluation of McAbs reactivities against native human IgG subclasses in solution.


Using finite difference time domain and band structure computer simulations, we show that it is possible to construct optical cavities and waveguide architectures in hyperuniform disordered photonic solids that are unattainable in photonic crystals. The cavity modes can be classified according to the symmetry (monopole, dipole, quadrupole,etc.) of the confined electromagnetic wave pattern. Owing to the isotropy of the band gaps characteristic of hyperuniform disordered solids, high-quality waveguides with freeform geometries (e.g., arbitrary bending angles) can be constructed that have no analogue in periodic or quasiperiodic solids. These capabilities have implications for many photonic applications.


A diverse elasmobranch fauna was collected from the early Danian Rødvig Formation and the early to middle Danian Stevns Klint Formation at Stevns Klint and from the middle Danian Faxe Formation at Faxe, Denmark. Teeth from 27 species of sharks are described including the earliest records of Chlamydoselachus and Heptranchias howelli from Europe. The fauna collected at the Faxe quarry is rich in large species of shark including Sphenodus lundgreni and Cretalamna appendiculata and includes no fewer than four species of Hexanchiformes. The species collected yield an interesting insight into shark diversity in the Boreal Sea during the earliest Paleogene. The early Danian fauna recorded from the Cerithium Limestone represents an impoverished Maastrichtian fauna, whereas the fauna found in the slightly younger bryozoan limestone is representative of a pronounced cold water fauna. Several species that hitherto have only been known from the Late Cretaceous have been identified, clearly indicating that the K–T boundary was not the end of the Cretaceous fauna; it lingered and survived into the early Danian.


ABSTRACT Insulinoma is a very rare endocrine disorder. 80% of insulinomas result from benign simple adenomas of pancreas and hypoglycemia is the commonest presenting feature. Although seizures as a consequence of insulinoma are well known, yet status epilepticus as the initial presenting feature is a rarity. Here, we report a young female in whom insulinoma masqueraded as status epilepticus.Insulinoma is a very rare endocrine disorder. 80% of insulinomas result from benign simple adenomas of pancreas and hypoglycemia is the commonest presenting feature. Although seizures as a consequence of insulinoma are well known, yet status epilepticus as the initial presenting feature is a rarity. Here, we report a young female in whom insulinoma masqueraded as status epilepticus.


This paper presents a novel approach to determine the steady-state performance of a 3-phase self-excited induction generator (SEIG) feeding balanced static resistive and inductive loads. This method gives a spontaneous understanding of the impact of loading on the steady-state performance (i.e. magnetizing reactance, frequency, terminal voltage, currents) of the SEIG. The steady-state model equations of the SEIG are of higher order non-linear polynomial equations based on per-phase equivalent circuit. The equations are developed using graph theory. These high order non-linear equations are solved by differential evolution (DE) optimization method. Since DE is a metaheuristic algorithm, the results of multiple runs are taken and the statistical variations for magnetizing reactance (Xm) and frequency (a) are shown. The steady-state results are also compared with that of Newton-Raphson method to show the effectiveness of the approach. The proposed algorithm is demonstrated and analyzed on MATLAB platform.


This chapter discusses two processes of the polioviral life cycle that were successfully reproduced in the cell-free system, recombination and complementation. First, recombination, the components of the cell-free recombination system, and the alteration of crossover sites by temperature are discussed, and then the inadvertently discovered phenomenon of complementation are presented. The cell-free system has a limitation in that it works best when either viral RNA (extracted from purified poliovirus particles) or efficiently replicating in vitro-synthesized transcripts are used in conjunction with the HeLa extract. To prove that recombination had indeed occurred in the cell-free system, several controls were used. These experiments showed that only when the two parental RNAs were coreplicated, recombinants were generated. To analyze the recombinants, recombinant plaques were amplified once under the selection conditions and the reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) product sequenced to confirm the presence of the gr mutation and subjected to restriction analysis. To determine the frequency of recombination, it was important to determine the yield of the parental viruses in extracts programmed by the parental RNAs. When guanidine hydrochloride (Gua-HCl) was added to the cell-free recombination reactions, it resulted in a significant reduction of binants (only one out of six reactions gave a single recombinant plaque). This observation is significant because it may provide insights into the mechanism of recombination. Studies involving intertypic poliovirus recombination have suggested a role for RNA secondary structure and a preference for crossover to occur in loop regions of stemloop structures.


Using the data of summer(June—August)precipitation during the period of 1951—1990 in 14 stations over NorthChina,the wetness probability(WP)series based on gamma distribution has been built.Main temporal and spatial char-acteristics for the series of WP in the stations are extracted by using empirical orthogonal functions(EOFs).The spatialpatterns show that the dryness/wetness variations in the stations in the area are consistent with each other and its maincharacteristics can be represented by the WP series in Beijing.Having analysed the WP series of 120 years(1870—1989)in Beijing,the results show that the dry tendency has a re-sponse to the global warming.The variation of the dryness/wetness in the stations is associated with the temperaturevariation in the Northern Hemisphere.Their relation is negative.The degree of the reliance is associated with the centuryvariation of the temperature.


Background and Purpose: Child neglect is associated with negative and long-term consequences in adolescence and adulthood such as internalizing disorders. Identifying the mechanism of the relationship between child neglect and internalizing disorders helps to identify the therapeutic interventions. The aim of this study was to examine the mediating effect of emotion regulation in the relationship between child neglect and internalizing disorders like mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and somatoform disorders. Method: This study was correlational research. The sample of this study consisted of 200 high school female students in Tehran that were selected by multistage random cluster sampling. To collect data, self-reported child abuse, difficulties in emotion regulation scale and youth self-report scale, were used. Correlation and path analysis were used to analyze the data. Results: The results showed that neglect of childhood indirectly and through emotional awareness can predict the symptoms of internalizing disorders in adolescent girls (P=0.001) Conclusion: In sum, results show that part of the common variance between the conceptual models of child neglect and internalizing disorders, is the result of the variability in emotional regulation.


This article is written on behalf of the chairman and members of the pan-specialty recertification project board continuing professional development subgroup. The author would like to thank Professor Graham Layer (chairman), Chris Chilton, Professor Louise Higgins, Patrick Magennis, Professor Peter McCollum, Alan McKay, David Limb, Joe O'Donoghue, Professor John Pepper, Dr Alistair Thomson and David Hanson for their contribution.


Ceramic thermal barrier coatings are currently under active development in the U.S. for both aircraft and industrial/Utility gas turbine operation. These coating systems generally consist of an oxidation-corrosion resistant metal bond coat of the MCrAIY type and either a single thick layer ceramic overcoat or a graded ceramic/MCrAIY overcoat. This paper summarizes studies conducted on the high-temperature corrosion resistance of ZrO 2 • Y 2 0 3 , Zr0 2 • MgO and Ca 2 SiO 4 plasma sprayed coatings that are candidates for use as thermal barrier coatings in gas turbine engines. Coatings were evaluated in both atmospheric burner rig and pressurized passage tests using GT No. 2 fuel and that doped with corrosive im- purities such as sodium, sulfur and vanadium. The test results showed that the coatings perform very well in the clean fuel pressurized passage tests as well as burner rig tests. With impure fuels, it was found that chemical reactions between the ceramic coatings and combustion gases/condensates played the critical role in coating degradation. This work was conducted for NASA and EPRI under contract NAS3-21377. Advanced coating development studies have also been conducted for NASA and DOE under contract DEN3-110.


Climate change is contemporary global threat to the whole world especially in the coastal area like Bangladesh. This study intends to assess the impacts of climate change in livelihoods at Bakergonj Upazila under Barisal district. Questioner survey, Focus Group Discussion (FGD), Key Informant Interview (KII) were used for information collection, cross validation and verifications with secondary sources of information. The study reveals that livelihoods (Farmer, Fisherman, day labor, rickshaw puller, employee, etc.) were seriously affected by natural hazardous events like flood, cyclone, storm surge, densely fog, heavy rainfall and etc. and climate change increase the intensity and frequency of hazards which impacts on people and their livelihoods and beyond what they cannot cope with this harmful situation by their limited capacities. Income level of community people had decreased, so people were separating from their traditional occupation, and they were seeking alternative profession. This study used Leopold matrix to clearly identify climate change impact on livelihoods which is affected by various hazards and it's seen in matrix that average impact value was 2.57483 above 5, but individually farmer, day labor were mostly affected by hazard events. Among all hazards flood, cyclone, storm surge attack more frequently and creates disastrous situation. So, it thus calls for intervention by Government and NGOs to rescue the vulnerable community from climate change impacts.


Objective To evaluate the effects of vitrectomy asssociated with extraction of foreign bodies in eyeball wall. Methods Retrospective analysis was done on clinical records of 21 patients(21 eyes) having undergone vitrectomy complicated with extraction of foreign bodies in eyeball inner wall. Results The foreign bodies were extracted successfully in all cases. Some complications such as corneal laceration,cataract,retinal detachment and endophthalmitis were cured.Postoperation visual acuity was improved in 6 eyes(28.6%) and did not change in 8 eyes(38.1%). Postoperative complications included choroidal detachment in 1 eye and retinal detachment in 1 eye. Conclusion Vitrectomy combined with extraction of intraocular foreign bodies has high achievement ratio and can cure some complications.It is the better selection for treating foreign bodies in eyeball inner wall.


The medieval world-perception was based on the notion of correlation existing between the organization of the creation and the mode of human thinking. It originated the belief in the intelligibility of the world comprehensible to human mind. The world is intelligible for God rationally organized it. At the same time a human being is a part of the creation that embodied His image most directly. A person is endowed with a mind, which in a little degree resembles the Divine Logos. These views creating the metaphysical base for development of symbolism help to understand the functioning of this principle of the medieval perception. The author thinks its functioning was based on two general intellectual techniques: analogy and etymology. The sphere of analogy application was confined with the universe in its natural and social aspects. Etymology was used par excellence for the Scripture explanation. One of the most appreciated objects of etymological analysis was personal names. In the light of the symbolic world-view the connection between the name and the referent does not seem to be conventional. Addressing the human mind open to it, the thing intelligibly penetrates it with its idea, or logos. Owing to it the mind is capable to identify it, as well as to give it a name, which would perfectly fit its nature. It is not only the creation, which a human mind is noetically linked with due to their common belonging to the Divine Word. The mind is also connected with the meaning of the Scripture in whose letters the Creator expressed the same ideas. Therefore similar hermeneutical techniques were prac ticed in both directions of the universe and the text. Used for the needs of biblical exegesis etymology and analogy served as means of maintenance of the medieval theological typology. The intellectual basis of this typology included the following theses. The true author of the Bible is God who revealed Himself to people through it and the creation. So, things and phenomena of the universe are similar to words. They also are signs referring us to their ideal foundations and further to the Creator in whose Logos they constantly reside. Thus, the Scripture content is characterized with parallel plurality of meanings. And the main task of a hermeneutist is to detect and perceive them correctly.


The role of liquid structure in the mixing properties of saturated hydrocarbon polymers was investigated using the intermolecular pair distribution functions obtained by molecular dynamics simulations. A correlation was noted between specific geometric features of the pure component distribution functions and various observations on macroscopic mixing characteristics relative to the solubility parameter formalismregularity, attractive irregularity, repulsive irregularityfound earlier from neutron scattering studies of their blends. Ten component pairs are represented in these comparisons, and without exception they support the correlation. To our knowledge, it is the first relationship that provides an unambiguous connection between the pure component properties of polymers and how they mix.


Public governance must ensure financial sustainability. This investigation aims to assess Portuguese local governments financial sustainability as the ability to service the upcoming obligations in commercial transactions (under the Late Payment Directive framework) and to study if accounting information enables public local governance with greater transparency and accountability about their financial sustainability. The study will focus on the 308 Portuguese local governments from 2009 to 2017. The number of local governments with average payment periods (PMPs) within 30 days had an increasing tendency. However, their adjusted average payment periods greatly exceed the 30 days, which means limited financial sustainability. In 2017, only 29% of the local governments have an adjusted PMP within 30 days against the 63% if it is used the officials PMPs. Therefore, accounting information does not enable public governance with greater transparency and accountability about Portuguese local government financial sustainability.


The design and commissioning of a clean air-conditioning of a draft beer production line is described in terms of its function and parameters control.


Partial operators and functions are ubiquitous in program speciications, designs and arguments about both. There are several ways to ensure that logics can safely handle partiality. This paper identiies the costs associated with each of a variety of approaches to reasoning about partial functions. 1 The problem Much of classical mathematics focuses on total functions where given some function f , one can write an application of that function to a value in its domain and know that f (x) denotes a value of a type xed by the signature of the function. This property is easier to achieve in texts which are concerned with restricted families of functions; for example, a book on number theory would involve natural numbers and a small collection of operators. There are inconveniences such as`division by zero' but, if these are suuciently limited, they can often be handled by textual comments. When writing speciications of computer systems, one is often faced with many diierent types of objects (e.g. sequences, maps, trees). Many of these objects, moreover, have operators which are partial in the sense that a simple notion of type will not prevent the formation of terms which do not {at least in an obvious way{ denote values. For example, if hd yields the rst element of a sequence, there is a question as to what is denoted by hd l when l is the empty sequence. One purpose of writing a formal speciication of a computer system is to reason about it either to derive properties of the speciication itself or to argue that some design satisses the speciication. It is therefore crucial that the presence of partiality does not destroy the formal basis on which proofs are to be based: it is essential that reasoning about partial functions is formally based. If, for example, one can write: 8l 2 X l = ] _ ((hdl] y tll) = l (1) it is necessary to be sure that the formal meaning is clear and {if at all possible{ that meaning coincides with intuition. (Even a consistent formal system might be dangerous to use if it fails to minimise surprises for its user.) Thus one faces ? There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch!


Maternal and perinatal outcomes mentioned in this article 1. were those for severe anaemia. It might be of great interest to know if these maternal and perinatal outcomes were compared with the fi ndings of women with mild/moderate anaemia and with women without anaemia. Th e fi nding that 17 (17.71%) out of 97 women with severe 2. anaemia had gestational hypertension or pre-eclampsia; two (2.08%) had eclampsia, is of great interest. Perhaps this is the fi rst published observation to highlight the prevalence (which may be high) of pre-eclampsia in severely anaemic women. However, it appears probable that a major factor for severe anaemia in these women was malaria. In the tropics, malaria and anaemia are closely related (Adam et al. 2005). Nothing was mentioned concerning malaria among these women. Previous studies have indicated that malaria increases the risk of hypertensive disorder during pregnancy (Ndao et al. 2009).


We analyze the effect of the simultaneous presence of correlated additive and multiplicative noises on the stochastic resonance response of a modulated bistable system. We find that when the correlation parameter is also modulated, the system's response, measured through the output signal-to-noise ratio, becomes largely independent of the additive noise intensity.


Using optical trap-assisted nanopatterning (OTAN), we are able to control the formation of nanocones and nanoholes in Silicon. The effects are described by integrating FDTD and heat transfer modeling to account for the nanoscale features.


This paper investigated the fabrication and design of embedded Ni-chrome thin-film strain gauges as micro-sensors in tool holders to measure the cutting force in machining operations. A Ni-chrome thin film as piezoresistive material sensor device is embedded within a substrate structure through brazing bonding process, which consists of a Ti6Al4V substrate, a Nickel-chromium thin film sensor and an Alumina insulating layer. The thin-films were characterized by 3D Super Depth Digital Microscope, SEM/EDS, Stylus profiler, to study microstructure, material composition, thickness and sheet resistance respectively. The thin-film strain gauges are calibrated in a cantilever beam setup. Accordingly, in-process cutting force measurement systems are established. The results showed that the thin-film sensor had good linearity and more elaborate structure and superior properties.


One Thousand Questions in Javanese, Tamil, and Malay" [PhD diss., University of Michigan, 2006])—because both Sanskrit and Arabic have served, in closely parallel ways, as generative cultural nodes operating historically in conflated multilingual, diglossic, and "hyperglossic" environments. In any case, our debt to Pollock is great. He has pitched the discussion of the role of Sanskrit in large parts of Asia over the longue durée at a level, and an intensity, never before achieved.


What has happened to the village sites visited by Portola and his men? Like so many historical and archaeological sites, they have either been forgotten, destroyed by thoughtless relic collectors, or covered by urban sprawl. After years of farming, grazing, erosion, relic collecting, and construction activities, little is left of the coastal villages of these people, although one, Ystagua, is currently under study for possible preservation. Scattered pot shards, broken trade beads, and shell mounds stand as silent testimony to a way of life which began its end in July, 1769, as another way of life commenced.


Chronic pelvic pain is one of the most significant medical and social problems. The high prevalence of concomitant benign genital diseases in women of reproductive age are genial endometriosis, uterine fibroids, endometrial hyperplasia with common clinical manifestations, namely chronic pelvic pain, abnormal uterine bleeding, impaired reproductive function, and a high frequency of cancer pathology of the reproductive organs in young age that require a holistic approach to patient management and comprehensive problem solving. The objective: to investigate the proliferative and inflammatory activity of the glandular and stromal components of the eutopic endometrium (EE), the presence of nerve fibers in it as mechanisms for the formation of СРР in genital endometriosis in combination with other benign hormonedependent diseases of the genitals Materials and methods. The study involved 85 women with chronic pelvic pain due to genial endometriosis, uterine leiomyoma, endometrial hyperplasia, chronic salpingitis and oophoritis in various combinations, and 35 women by the comparison group with similar gynecological pathology without CPP. In order to objectify pain syndrome, a 10-point visual analogue scale (VAS) was used. Echography of the pelvic organs, the thyroid gland (if necessary) was performed by the Toshiba, Nemio17-pro apparatus. In order to study the molecular mechanisms of the development of CPP, the expression of ER, PGR, KI-67, VEGF, COX-2, NF in the eutopic endometrium was determined by immunohistochemistry. Results. The leading painful role in combined gynecological pathology was assigned to diseases in clinical group 1, which had the most pronounced algogenic anatomical and structural features. Formation of CРР is confirmed by the presence of rank correlations between the level of pain syndrome in VAS and immunohistochemistry characteristics with reliable direct connections of average strength with the ER (Spearman's coefficient of correlation ρ =0.58; p<0.001), with PGR (p=0.42; p=0.021), with Ki-67 (ρ =0.55; p=0.004) and with COX-2 (ρ =0.42; p=0.021). Conclusions. The concept of the pathogenesis of СРР in proliferative genital diseases has been expanded. It is characterized by moderate expression of VEGF, high expression of ER and PGR, Ki-67 and COX-2, with NF in EE; which determines the development of СРР by the criteria being studied, both individually and in combination. Key words: chronic pelvic pain, proliferative diseases of the genitals, morphogenesis markers.


A new species, Cofana trilobata sp. nov., is described and illustrated from Meghalaya, India along with illustrations of Cofana lineata (Distant, 1908) which it closely resembles. Diagnostic characters are given to separate these species, including a modified portion of the key by Krishnankutty & Viraktamath (2008) to Cofana of India


Two thousand RI and 1700 UBV observations have been obtained for stars in northern (Vyssotsky and collaborators) and southern (Upgren and collaborators) spectrophometric surveys for K and M dwarfs. A comparison of the two surveys leads to the conclusion that the northern survey is nearly complete to VE = and for stars redder than (R- I) = + (K4-5) between the equator and the North Celestial Pole. These stars, plus a few supplementary objects mainly too bright for the survey, constitute northern sample I; and, except for a few objects without radial velocity or parallax determinations, the astrometric and photometric data are essentially complete. The southern survey also seems to be complete to VE = for stars with (R- I) between + (K2- 3) and + but there is an increasing deficiency of stars with increasing color. The astrometric data available for the northern sample I permit a distinction between young- and old<lisk-population stars and, although the luminOsity law shows a steep rise in the numbers of old-disk stars with decreasing luminosity, that for the young-disk objects indicates a flatter distribution of stars. A well-defined mass-luminosity relation derived from binaries in both samples gives a total mass density of O.0089. o pc-3 in the solar neighborhood contributed by mainsequence stars in the luminosity range of MB0l = + 6"?5 to + . The lack of halo stars in the sample is discussed in connection with some candidates for inclusion. Key words: luminosity flinction - red dwarf stars - photometry


This paper studies the impacts of state level residential building codes on per capita residential electricity consumption. We construct a timeline of when individual states first implemented residential building codes. Using panel data for 48 US states from 1970-2006, we exploit the temporal and spatial variation of building code implementation and issuance of building permits to identify the effect of the regulation on residential electricity consumption. Controlling for the effect of prices, income, and weather, we show that states that adopted building codes followed by a significant amount of new construction have experienced detectable decreases in per capita residential electricity consumption--ranging from 0.3-5% in the year 2006. Estimates are larger in states where codes are more stringent and more strictly enforced.


Management Sciences for Health (MSH) is one of the partners in the implementation of the USAID/WARP regional project AWARE-RH. In April 2005 the Reproductive and Child Health Program of The Gambia Department of State for Health (RCH -- DoSH) requested the AWARE-RH project for assistance to improve management of Reproductive Health Commodities (RHC). In July 2005 a Baseline Assessment of the Contraceptive Logistics Management System of The Gambia was conducted. Key recommendations following this assessment included: 1. Train midlevel health care providers (health supervisors and storekeepers) in RHCM; 2. Development of a national RHCS plan; 3. Develop a plan for integrating contraceptives into the drug/vaccine supply system; 4. Assess options for improving the reliability/predictability of financing and procurement of contraceptives. The RPM Plus project under MSHs Centre for Pharmaceutical Management (CPM) provided technical support to the AWARE project to achieve the following objectives: Design a tailored curriculum to train mid-level managers (Health supervisors) in; management of RHC Train health supervisors to monitor Reproductive Health Commodities (RHC) supply management; Train storekeepers at Central and Divisional level in RHC Selection Inventory control quantification distribution and use of CMIS of RHC. A four day workshop was organized at the Kairaba Hotel in The Gambia and a total of 28 mid-level Health managers from the health Divisions were trained in management of RHC. Further technical assistance activities under the AWARE-RH project including dissemination of the Baseline assessment results and the development of RHCS plan for The Gambia were planned for the week beginning November 28 2005. (authors)


A new methodwhichallows theenzymatic amplification ofDNA extracted fromwholeblooddried on filter paperdisks ispresented. Themethod was usedtostudyheterogeneity within an erythrocyte-binding antigen (EBA-175) ofPlasmodium falciparum. Bloodspecimens frommalaria-infected patients inSoutheast Asiaand Africa werespotted ontofilter paper,dried, andtransported forprocessing. P.falciparum DNA was extracted byboiling thefilter paperdisks inthepresenceofChelex-100 ion-chelating resin, amplified bythepolymerase chain reaction, andanalyzed forthepresenceofgenetic variation. Inall casesexamined, plasmodial DNA was successfully amplified andcharacterized fromfilter paper disks. Hybridization ofthepolymerase chain reaction products withinternal probes demonstrated simultaneous infection withtwostrains ofP.falciparum intwopatients. Thistechnique represents asensitive andpractical field methodforthedetermination ofgenetic variation within P.falciparum andthestudy ofmolecular epidemiology. Inrecent years,efforts havebeenfocused on thedevelopmentofa vaccine against Plasmodium falciparum as an alternative totheinadequate protection afforded bychemoprophylaxis andvectorcontrol. Manycurrentvaccine candidates arebased on either thepredominant surface protein ofthesporozoite stageor one ofa numberofsurfaceaccessible merozoite antigens (4,11,12,16). Theefficacy of these potential vaccine candidate antigens depends, atleast inpart, on thedegree ofheterogeneity presentwithin protective B-andT-cell epitopes andon whetherimmune pressurepostimmunization will alter these epitopes. While some information aboutepitope conservation can beobtained fromanalysis ofcultured P.falciparum isolates, culture-adapted isolates raised without immunepressure may bearlittle resemblance towildisolates. A practical methodtoassessgenetic variation ofplasmodial isolates associated withnatural infections wouldbeofgreatadvantage. Thedistribution andnatureofvariation within plasmodia can bedetermined directly through genetic analysis ofwild isolates. Thisapproach hasbeenlimited inthepastby difficulties incollecting andtransporting blood samples from thefield andinextracting sufficient DNA fromsuchsamples foranalysis. Ifthepolymerase chain reaction (PCR)isused, amplification ofplasmodial DNA may beinhibited inthe presenceofionsfromwholeblood. Toovercome collection andtransportation problems, some serologic field studies haveutilized finger-stick dried-blood-spotted filter paper disks forthedetection ofantibodies toavariety ofinfectious agents (1,10,13). Thequestion that was raised was whether DNA frominfectious agentscouldbetransported andextracted withsimilar easefromfilter paperdisksimpregnated withwholeblood. Inthis study, we developed arapid methodtoextract and amplify DNA fromwholebloodspotted ontofilter paperand usedittoanalyze wildisolates ofP.falciparum forpolymorphismwithin thegene encoding an erythrocyte-binding


The objective of this paper is to analyze the degree of competitiveness and insertion of Brazilian soy in the foreign market, from 2008 to 2016, through the Symmetric Comparative Advantage Index (IVCRS), the Regional Orientation Index (IOR) and the Constant Market Share method (CMS). The results obtained through the IVCRS revealed that although the United States is the main exporter of the crop, the comparative advantage of Brazil and Argentina is greater today. The CMS model allowed us to identify the main sources of growth of Brazilian exports of the soy agroindustrial complex, where the competitiveness rates obtained significant values, increased from 20.38 to 63.67, indicating that the high rates of Brazilian exports are responsible for the competitiveness. Brazil to produce and export the product. The IOR revealed the main destinations of Brazilian exports of the soy complex. For soybeans, the strong trend of exports to China was remarkable. Soybean meal exports were pulverized and soybean oil exports decreased. It can be concluded that soy complex exports increased significantly due to the Brazilian competitiveness, but with the concentration in only one product, soybeans.
Palavras-chave: IVCRS, IOR, Constant Market Share.


Rigidity theory has recently emerged as an efficient tool in the control field of coordinated multi-agent systems, such as multi-robot formations and UAVs swarms, which are characterized by sensing, communication and movement capabilities. This work aims at describing the rigidity properties for frameworks embedded in the three-dimensional Special Euclidean space SE(3) wherein each agent has 6DoF. In such a scenario, it is assumed that the devices are able to gather bearing measurements w.r.t. their neighbors, expressing them into their own body frame. The goal is then to identify the framework transformations that allow to preserve such measurements maintaining it rigid. Rigidity properties are mathematically formalized in this work which differs from the related literature as it faces the extension in three-dimensional space dealing with the 3D rotations manifold. In particular, the attention is focused on the infinitesimal SE(3)-rigidity for which a necessary and sufficient condition is provided.


A g-s-s catalytic reaction——synthesis of dimethyl dichlorosilane (DDS) from silicon and methane chloride with catalyst CuCl was studied in a f 24 experimental apparatus. The experimental results show that there is an initiation period before the reaction reached steady stage. The synthesis process should be performed below 300℃ in order to get higher reactivity and higher DDS selectivity. The reaction rate can be as high as 70gCH3Cl?kgSi)-1hr-1, and the selectivity of DDS is about 90%. Since the reaction activity and DDS selectivity in the fluidized bed reactor can be higher than that in the fixed bed reactor, the fluidized bed reactor is a suitable reactor type for this process. The SEM picture of silicon surface revealed that silicon has discrete activity sites where silane is produced. Phenomena observed in this experiment can be explained according to the g-s-s catalytic mechanism of this reaction.


ABSTRACT In theory, the encounter group is well suited to addressing the problems of Chinese college students, but in practice, significant conflicts exist between the nature of the encounter group and the internalized beliefs of this group of students. This brief report identifies six areas of notable conflict in the therapeutic process: freedom of expression, belongingness, learning from diversity, impacts of an exam-oriented education, social inequalities, and indirect communication. The advantages for the encounter group members were the opportunities to enjoy self-expression, gain acceptance regardless of social status, learn about differences between themselves and other members, provide nonstandardized answers, increase the level of self-advocacy, and feel safe directly expressing themselves. On the negative side, group members may have felt distressed due to the conflicts between the basic character of the encounter group and their own cultural beliefs. The limitations of this study are found in the sample types, my multiple roles and biases as the author and group leader, and the features of the encounter groups conducted. Nevertheless, this brief report may increase both therapeutic applicability of the encounter group to Chinese college students and the level of cultural competence in group psychotherapists who may use the encounter group or work with this population.


A system for synthesizing speech is described. It consists of an electronic synthesizer controlled by a small digital computer. The computer uses stored rules to convert a phonetic input into the analogue voltages required for driving the synthesizer. It has been found possible to make the system operate in real time so that the acoustic output is generated at normal speaking rates.


We present a general mathematical model that can be used to improve almost all fragment‐based methods for ab initio calculation of total molecular energy. Fragment‐based methods of computing total molecular energy mathematically decompose a molecule into smaller fragments, quantum‐mechanically compute the energies of single and multiple fragments, and then combine the computed fragment energies in some particular way to compute the total molecular energy. Because the kernel energy method (KEM) is a fragment‐based method that has been used with much success on many biological molecules, our model is presented in the context of the KEM in particular. In this generalized model, the total energy is not based on sums of all possible double‐, triple‐, and quadruple‐kernel interactions, but on the interactions of precisely those combinations of kernels that are connected in the mathematical graph that represents the fragmented molecule. This makes it possible to estimate total molecular energy with high accuracy and no superfluous computation and greatly extends the utility of the KEM and other fragment‐based methods. We demonstrate the practicality and effectiveness of our model by presenting how it has been used on the yeast initiator tRNA molecule, ytRN  iMet (1YFG in the Protein Data Bank), with kernel computations using the Hartree‐Fock equations with a limited basis of Gaussian STO‐3G type. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2010


FIELD: information technology. SUBSTANCE: based on the access number to a group switch, a service switching device establishes a connection with a service access device; in relation to the conformity of the service identifier of the terminal with the connection identifier, the service access device searches for a connection identifier which corresponds to the service identifier of the called terminal, and sends the connection identifier of the called terminal to the service switching device; based on the connection identifier of the called terminal, the service switching device establishes a connection between the calling terminal and the called terminal, and the service access device reproduces the response standby group signal in the calling terminal. EFFECT: eliminating the problem of bypassing an audio channel when reproducing a response standby group signal. 17 cl, 5 dwg


The narrow and wide-angle parabolic equations for the quasi-monochromatic sound wave packets propagating in a waveguide with a non-stationary background flow are obtained. The results of numerical simulations are presented.


In the DUV lithographic process, airborne contamination, such as ammonia and 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone, is known to present several processing problems. Presently, these airborne contaminants are effectively controlled using either acid-base or ion-exchange chemistry. However, as lithographic processing moves towards the creation of smaller features using 193 nm and 157 nm technologies, airborne and condensable organic contamination presents an ever-increasing concern. In addition, the wide range of chemical and physical properties of the organic contaminants found in the processing environment, do not lend themselves to effective control using the specific chemisorptive techniques currently applied. In conjunction with our efforts to design improved chemical filters for the effective control of organic airborne contaminants, we have attempted to characterize the organic airborne contamination found in the lithographic processing environment. In addition, we have evaluated the effectiveness of activated carbon filters for their removal. In this report, we will present our current findings and reveal some of the benefits and concerns associated with the use of activated carbon-based chemical filters for the control of organic airborne contamination in present and future processing applications.


In this note, we answer an open problem proposed in Baucells and Sarin (2010, p. 293) to find the optimal consumption sequence when habit formation dominates satiation in an intertemporal choice framework. We find that if consumers do not abstain from consuming goods then, for certain types of S-shaped value functions, consuming the same good in all the periods is optimal. However, if consumers do abstain from consuming goods, that result holds for certain kind of piece-wise linear functions.


ABSTRACT The k-nearest neighbour kernel density estimationmethod is a special type of the kernel density estimation method with the local choice of the bandwidth. An advantage of this estimator is that smoothing varies according to the number of observations in a particular region. The crucial problem is how to estimate the value of the parameter k. In the paper we discuss the problem of choosing the parameter k in a way that minimizes the value of the asymptotic mean integrated square error (AMISE). We define the class of the modified cosine densities that meet the requirements given by the AMISE. The results are compared in a simulation study.


The effect of Cr content on the density,hardness,friction and wear behaviors of powder metallurgy(P/M) cam materials under three states(sintered,high-frequency induction quenched and laser surface hardened) were systematically studied.The experimental results show that surface hardness and wear resistance of Fe matrix P/M cam materials with different Cr content are obviously improved after laser surface hardening more than high-frequency induction quenching.With the increasing of Cr content,the hardness and depth of hardened layer are increased.Wear rate and friction coefficient curves of the cam materials have a nadir at Cr content of 1.0% with the change of Cr content.With the increasing of Cr content,the microstructure of the materials is gradually changed from martensite/bainite duplex microstructure to martensite single microstructure.Martensite/bainite duplex microstructure exhibits better wear resistance because it has more reasonable combination of hard and soft phase.


The reliable characterization of failure mechanisms in polycrystalline materials is of vital importance for their incorporation in advanced engineering applications. This is for instance the case of polycrystalline Silicon semiconductors used in photovoltaic (PV) solar cells embedded in PV laminates. Mechanical degradation in form of cracks and diffuse damage in Silicon leads to a reduction of electrical performance of PV modules, affecting their durability, see recent experimental results in [1-3]. In these polycrystalline materials, two principal failure modes have been experimentally observed in case of bending [2,3]: (i) intergranular cohesive fracture involving crack propagation at the grain boundaries;(ii) transgranular damage and fracture involving cracks travelling through the grains. Recently, an attempt to simulate the interplay between intergranular and transgranular cracking in polycrystalline Silicon for PV applications has been proposed in [4] by considering cohesive interface elements embedded in the finite element mesh and with different properties depending on their position (grain boundary vs. grain interior). This strategy, although computationally robust and of easy implementation, has the drawback of suffering from mesh-size dependency. Corrective techniques to minimize these effects have therefore to be employed [4], which limit the applicability of the approach to large scale problems. . With the advent of the phase field approach to fracture, unprecedented opportunities are now feasible to study diffuse damage, brittle fracture nucleation, and frature propagation [5]. In the present work we explore the combination of the phase field approach to fracture [5] and of interface cohesive crack elements [6] to simulate crack patterns in polycrystalline Silicon solar cells. The former is used to simulate cracks and diffuse damage inside the polycrystalline grains, without the need of re-meshing techniques, whereas the latter is used to depict the phenomenon of fracture along pre-existing interfaces, i.e., along the grain boundaries. Comparisons with experiments are provided.


In order to achieve resilient multipath routing, we introduce the concept of independent directed acyclic graphs (IDAGs) in this paper. Link-independent (node-independent) DAGs satisfy the property that any path from a source to the root on one DAG is link-disjoint (node-disjoint) with any path from the source to the root on the other DAG. Given a network, we develop polynomial-time algorithms to compute link-independent and node-independent DAGs. The algorithm developed in this paper: 1) provides multipath routing; 2) utilizes all possible edges; 3) guarantees recovery from single link failure; and 4) achieves all these with at most one bit per packet as overhead when routing is based on destination address and incoming edge. We show the effectiveness of the proposed IDAGs approach by comparing key performance indices to that of the independent trees and multiple pairs of independent trees techniques through extensive simulations.


Objective To observe the disinfection efficacy of stable chlorine dioxide(SCD) disinfectant on dental gypsum casts contaminated with bacteria.Methods The dental gypsum casts of the artificial contamination were immersed in different concentrations of SCD disinfectant solution and disinfection effects were evaluated.Results The best disinfectant concentration of SCD for staphylococcus bacteria and Bacillus subtilis was 500 mg/L with 10 min immersion.The average inactivating rate of Blastomyces albicans was 100% when immersed in SCD 250 mg/L or 750 mg/L for 5 min,which was only 88.98% when immersed in SCD 500 mg/L for 5 min.Conclusion SCD immersion is effective and quick for gypsum casts disinfection.


The purpose of this research is (1) to know the students who have difficulty to learn to read, (2) to describe the steps of implementation of guidance service, (3) to know the result after giving counseling service, (4) to know the obstacles faced during service implementation guidance, and (5) to find out the solution given in overcoming these obstacles. The type of research used is qualitative research with case study design. Data collection techniques used are interviews, observations and documentation. Data analysis techniques are data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion drawing. Subjects in this study were grade 1 students with dyslexia. The results of this study were as follows: (1) students who experienced dyslexia named Ricky, (2) step implementation of learning guidance services carried out with 7 steps, namely: case identification, problem identification, diagnosis, prognosis, therapy, evaluation, and follow-up 3) the results of this guidance, students have increased in learning to read and write, but for the concentration of children has not succeeded and also still less thorough in reading or writing, (4) obstacles faced by researchers are: lack of motivation from students to learn to read , lack of support from parents,
have never done psychological test and time of execution of study guidance, (5) solution given: giving encouragement and spirit to student, holding meeting and giving input to parent, doing psycholgis test and conducting home study guidance.


Background Plaque protrusion (PP) is sometimes detected by angiography or intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) during carotid artery stenting (CAS). However, the incidence and prognosis of PP are unclear. Purpose: We investigated the incidence and prognosis of PP during CAS. Material and Methods We retrospectively analyzed the case of 292 patients with 308 carotid artery stenoses (252 men; age: 39–97 years [mean: 73.4 years]; symptomatic stenosis: 137 lesions; mean stenosis rate: 78.4%) who underwent CAS and preoperative MR plaque imaging from October 2007 to October 2015. The incidence of plaque protrusion was evaluated by IVUS and angiography. The 30 day prognosis of PP and the incidence of ischemic lesions within 48 h after CAS were assessed using diffusion-weighted images. All CAS was performed using the standard procedure and embolic protection devices. Result PP occurred in eight patients (2.6%). Stroke occurred in four patients (major: 1, minor: 3) (50.0%) in the PP groups. New ischemic lesions were observed in 87.5% (7/8) of the PP group. There were siginificant difference in the frequencies of stroke and ischemic lesions between the PP group and non-PP group. The detection of unstable plaque on MR plaque imaging and the use of open cell stent were significant predictive factors of PP. Conclusion PP during CAS is strongly associated with ischemic complications. PP prevention is necessary to avoid ischemic complications during CAS. Disclosures K. Takayama: 2; C; Medtronic. K. Myouchin: None. T. Wada: None. M. Kotsugi: None. S. Kurokawa: None. K. Kichikawa: None.


ABSTRACT Purpose: To describe an 8-year-old girl with diagnosis of Sturge–Weber syndrome (SWS) presenting with glaucoma, abnormal iris vessels, diffuse choroidal hemangioma, and small white dot-shaped "microdrusen-like" alterations of the retina in the right eye. Patient and methods: Complete ophthalmological examination was performed with slit-lamp anterior segment assessment and fundus ophthalmoscopy. Near infrared reflectance (NIR) and enhanced depth imaging (EDI) spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) were carried out. Results: Microdrusen-like retinal alterations observed with fundus ophthalmoscopy appeared as multiple hyperreflective dots surrounded by a hyporeflective ring on NIR. EDI SD-OCT showed increased choroidal thickness exceeding 1000 μm. B-scan cross-sectional examination on the hyperreflective dots revealed focal alterations of the retinal pigment epithelial (RPE)–photoreceptor layer. Conclusions: The increase of the choroidal thickness due to the diffuse choroidal hemangioma caused alterations of the RPE–photoreceptor layer similar to reticular pseudodrusen or pachychoroid pigment epitheliopathy.


Abstract The activities of endogenous (R-type) and exogenous acting (D-type) protein inhibitors ofalpha-amylase and the activities ofalpha- and total amylase were determined in milling fractions of rye. High D-type amylase inhibitor activities were detected in the embryo (255 IU/g) and in the endosperm fraction (64·9 IU/g), low inhibitor activities were found in the aleurone layer fraction (25·9 IU/g). The highest R-typealpha-amylase inhibitor activity was found in the aleurone layer fraction (32·6 IU/g), and the lowest value in the epidermis containing fraction (5·0 IU/g). The D- and R-typealpha-amylase inhibitor activities varied with growing conditions. D-type amylase inhibitor activities were found to be high in those samples which grew under drought conditions and low in samples cultivated under wet and cool weather. Higher R-typealpha-amylase inhibitor activities were found in rye genotypes cultivated under wet conditions and lower values under dry weather. There were small variations inalpha-amylase inhibitor activities between sprout-stable and sprout-sensitive rye genotypes. The D- and R-typealpha-amylase inhibitor activities of all varieties were stable during 72 h of germination. Similar soil conditions will therefore lead to differentialalpha-amylase inhibitor activities depending on weather conditions during growth.


The detailed analysis pattern is a multi-variable causal pattern in which a couple of variables are used to distinguish,elaborate and reveal the real causal relationship between the original factors.The application of the detailed analysis pattern in educational research can reveal the conditions for the link between the variables and disclose the hidden relationship.Therefore,this pattern should be applied in educational research so that researchers can grasp the nature of educational problems instead of drawing wrong conclusions because of the perceptual cognition of the statistics and thus provide sound foundation for educational decision-making.


This study examined the possible effects of short-term practice during each trial of a digital compensatory control task with and without input preview. The results for 8 subjects showed that the RMS error performance varied substantially between blocks, the extent of which depended on the reference input variance, the autocorrelated nature of the input and on whether or not preview was provided. The only consistent and significant performance improvement due to practice occurred early during the practice period (between Blocks 1 and 2 of the total of five blocks).


The differentce of protein subunits of 112 faba bean was analyzed by SDS-PAGE,in order to find out specific protein subunits.The result showed that:(1)the effective number of albumin and globulin alleles was 1.750 0±0.452 3,1.545 5±0.522 2,and the percentages of polymorphic subunit was 75.00%,54.55%,respectively.(2)It was difference between the albumin and globulin subunit numbers in different genotypes,containing 12 albumin subunits and 10 globulin subunits thereof the specific albumin subunits were 116 kD,96 kD,45 kD and specific globulin subunits are 58 kD,35 kD.42 varieties contain specific albumin subunit,21 varieties contain specific globulin subunit.(3)The lack subunits were 97 kD,63 kD of albumin and 97 kD,56 kD,47 kD of globulin.19 varieties were found with based albumin subunit lack and 21 varieties with globulin subunit lack.In summary,both albumin and globulin subunit numbers are different among different faba bean genotypes.Besides the based subunits,some have specific subunits and some have lack subunit.


A peculiar ion behavior is found in a Si cluster, moving with a speed of ∼ 0.22c(c: speed of light) in a solid Al plasma: the Si ion, moving behind the forward moving Si ion closely in a several Å distance in the cluster, feels the wake field generated by the forward Si. The interaction potential on the rear Si may balance the deceleration backward force by itself with the acceleration forward force by the forward Si in the longitudinal moving direction. The forward Si would be decelerated normally. However, the deceleration of the rear Si, moving behind closely, would be reduced significantly, and the rear Si may catch up and overtake the forward moving Si in the cluster during the Si cluster interaction with the high-density Al plasma.


Summary

Bursaphelenchus mucronatus is closely related to the pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, the causative agent of pine wilt disease. B. xylophilus became a devastating pest when it was introduced in the Far East; however, B. mucronatus is considered to have low virulence. Morphological similarities between B. xylophilus and B. mucronatus make the accurate morphological identification of both species difficult. Thus, it has become important to pay attention towards B. mucronatus impact and the need of discrimination of these two species. To distinguish among the two species, a B. mucronatus-specific sequence-characterized amplified region (SCAR) marker has been developed. The specific Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fragment of B. mucronatus, OPY01-M850 was excised from agarose gels and purified. The gel-purified fragment was cloned into the pGEM®-T Vector and subjected to sequencing. Based on the sequenced RAPD fragments, a number of SCAR primers were designed. It is demonstrated that OPY01-M850 through primers Y01F/R can be transformed into a B. mucronatus-specific SCAR-Y01-M609 marker. Primers set Y01F/R had high specificity that could be used for the discriminative identification of B. mucronatus versus B. xylophilus.


Transmission of Yesinia pestis relies primarily on the bite of flea vectors,which is closely related to the biofilm formation of this pathogen[1].Y.pestis synthesizes heavily the attached biofilms,a population of bacterial colonies embedded in self-produced exopolysaccharide matrix,in the flea proventriculus[1].The biofilm formation leads to the blockage of fleas,making the fleas feel hungry and repeatedly attempt to feed,


We have previously shown that urinary calcium excretion is increased in Dahl salt‐sensitive (DS) rats following a high salt diet and this higher urinary calcium excretion is associated with the elevated blood pressure observed in DS following a high salt diet. The mechanism of the calcium loss following a high salt diet is undefined. In this report we investigate whether the transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 5 (TRPV5), a calcium channel protein expressed on the luminal surface of the thick ascending loop and distal tubule and involved in transcellular calcium reabsorption, expression is altered in DS rats. Dahl DS and salt‐resistant (DR) rats were placed on a high (8%) salt diet for one week. At the end of the treatment period kidneys were collected for performing western analysis for TRPV5 protein expression in renal cortical and medullary tissue. Renal medullary TRPV5 protein levels were higher in DS rats (n=3) compared to DR rats (n=3) (1.4 ± 0.3 vs. 0.03 ± 0.03 arbitrary units; p<0.05). There was no difference in renal cortical TRPV5 expression between DS and DR rats. Higher medullary TRPV5 expression in DS rats on a high salt diet suggests that there is a compensatory attempt to increase calcium reabsorption. However, the compensatory increase in TRPV5 does not appear to prevent the increased urinary calcium excretion in DS rats following a high salt diet. Further studies are needed to investigate other renal calcium transporters involved in calcium reabsorption to explain the urinary calcium loss in hypertensive DS rats.


Knowledge was associated with human in his early beginning and was developed with him as his awareness was deepened till it reached its highest levels. Nonetheless, what is new nowadays is that it affects socioeconomic life as well as lifestyle in general, due to the technological and scientific evolution and the changes resulted in different life aspects. Whereas, the last twenty five years of the twentieth century faced one of the greatest changes in life; it was the third change after the emergence of agriculture and economy. This change is represented in an evolution in science and high- tech in the fields of electronics, nuclear power, physics, biology, and astronomy. Thus Telecommunication evolution had a pioneer cause of this change; where it enabled the human to seize power of nature to the level that knowledge development factor has the greatest effect on life compared to other factors: natural and physical. Information has become a major and significant economic source; it is also the new strategic source in economic life which supplements natural resources. Information technology, currently, forms the basic element in economic growth. With this huge development of information systems, It became one of the most important aspects of the growth of global economy (Diab, 2004).


Legend says that Archimedes remarked, on the discovery of the lever, "Give me a place to stand, and I can move the world." Today, computing pervades all aspects of science and engineering. "Science" and "computational science" have become largely synonymous, and high-performance computing is the intellectual lever that opens the pathway to discovery. One aspect of high-performance computing distinguishes it from other scientific instruments – its universality as an intellectual amplifier. Powerful new telescopes advance astronomy, but not materials science. Powerful new particle accelerators advance high energy physics, but not genetics. In contrast, high-performance computing advances all of science and engineering, because all disciplines benefit from highresolution model predictions, theoretical validations and experimental data analysis. As new scientific discoveries increasingly lie at the interstices of traditional disciplines, computing is also the enabler for a scholarship in the arts, humanities, creative practice and public policy. The term Renaissance Computing, coined by my friend and colleague Donna Cox, is intended to both evoke and capture the breadth of such intellectual activities enriching and empowering human potential, as well as creating intellectual communities that span the sciences and engineering, the arts, the humanities and commerce. This talk will describe emerging opportunities in the arts, humanities, science and engineering where interdisciplinary Renaissance approaches can have profound impact on discovery and creative expression.


Lilium lancifolium is an important edible starch plant that is widely cultivated in China. Bulbs and bulbils are starch storage organs of L. lancifolium found below and above ground. To further utilize lily starch resources, starches were extracted from bulbs and bulbils of L. lancifolium. The morphological, structural, thermal, hydrolytic, and in vitro digestive properties of these starches were systematically investigated and compared. The bulb and bulbil starches differed in their amylose content and granule size, as well as their shape and surface morphologies. Compared with bulbil starch, bulb starch had a relatively higher degree of crystallinity. The ordered structure in the external granule region of bulb starch was similar to that of bulbil starch. In addition, bulb starch demonstrated significantly higher solubility, onset temperature, and gelatinization enthalpy than bulbil starch. When hydrolyzed by α-amylase and hydrochloric acid, bulb starch exhibited stronger resistance to enzymolysis but had a higher degree of acidolysis than bulbil starch. In vitro digestion showed that native and gelatinized bulb starches contained lower slowly digestible starch (SDS) content and higher resistant starch (RS) content than bulbil starch. In retrograded starch, bulbs and bulbils had similar amounts of rapidly digestible starch, SDS, and RS. This study sufficiently described the morphological and physicochemical properties of bulb and bulbil starches from L. lancifolium. This information is crucial to the future application of these starches in the food and nonfood industries.


The advent of check digit methods has aided the detection of errors which are caused by human operations when information is typed wrongly. For instance, errors do often occur when numbers or characters are typed wrongly into a database and this may lead to many unwanted outcomes. Classical check digit system are usually based on basic arithmetic operations such as addition and modulo operation, and some of the classical check digit systems have been shown to be unable to detect certain types of errors. This paper proposes a check digit system based on the concept quasigroup string transformation (QTS). The error detection rate of the proposed check digit system was compared with other systems. The result of 95.56%, 57.78%, 79.67% 96% and 66.8% was obtained for ISBN, Luhn 10, UPC, Modified-UPC and Proposed Method respectively.


Argument This paper traces the changing fortunes of natural theology in two generations of an English family. The group is represented in the first generation by the Unitarian radical, William Frend, and in the second by the spiritualist Sophia Frend De Morgan and her husband, the mathematician Augustus De Morgan. The Frend/DeMorgans were distinguished from the naturalistic Darwins by their commitment to reason; they were a quintessentially urban group whose impulses to natural theology flowed from a God they encountered through their minds. For William Frend, natural theology was rooted in a tightly disciplined, linguistic view of reason that linked theological and mathematical understandings; in the De Morgan's generation, however, understandings of mathematics and of language changed in ways that undercut the power of Frend's reasoned approach. In its rise and fall this family story of reasoned theology is co-temporal with the natural theology that was wrecked on the rocks of Darwinian evolutionary theory.


The invention relates to the field of high-voltage switches, particularly to an isolation grounding switch mechanism, a single-pole component and GIS electrical equipment. The isolation grounding switch mechanism includes a housing and an isolation switch and a grounding switch which are assembled on the housing in L-shaped distribution, the isolation switch includes an isolation switch moving contact and an isolation switch static contact, the grounding switch includes a grounding switch moving contact and a grounding switch static contact, a connection contact seat used for being electrically connected with a voltage transformer is arranged between the isolation switch and the grounding switch, the isolation switch static contact and the grounding switch moving contact are integrated on the connection contact seat, the isolation switch moving contact is electrically connected with a main conductive loop, and the grounding switch moving contact is electrically connected with ground potential. The isolation switch and the grounding switch are combined together, overall components and butting faces are few, and the structure is simple and compact.


Fuzzy aggregation models via fuzzy data envelopment analysis (FDEA) are proposed for ranking entities with multiple attributes and multiple evaluators. Because the weight factors of attributes of entities evaluated in aggregation models are sought by fuzzy data envelopment analysis (FDEA) not predetermined by decision-makers, the proposed aggregation models can be regarded as fair-competition ones so that the inherent preference of evaluators can be objectively reflected.


In this paper, the free vibrations of a cylindrical shell which is symmetric about the cross-section at the center and whose thickness varies quadratically are analyzed by both the classical theory and an improved one. The equations of vibration, like in the previous paper, are solved exactly by a series solution and three boundary conditions are considered, that is, both ends are clamped, simply-supported and free. The effects of the variations of thickness, etc.upon the natural frequencies and the mode shapes are clarified. And at the same time, the improved shell theories are compared with the classical ones.


Objective:To evaluate the diagnosis and management of adrenal myelolipoma.Methods:The clinical data of 25 cases were analyzed retrospectively and the experience of diagnosis and treatment were reviewd.All cases were definitely diagnosed before the operation by ultrasound,CT or MRI.A translumbal approach was taken in 15 patients,thoraco-abdominal incision was used in 4 patients and laparoscopic surgery was taken in 6 patients.Results:All the lesions were excised completely and testified by pathology examination,at the follow up no recurrence could be seen.Conclusion:Adrenal myelolipoma is a rare and benign tumor that can be definitely diagnosed by imaging technology and has a good prognosis after surgery treatment.


Data relating to everyday phenomena can be recorded in the form of time series. Recently, modeling of time-series has become a topic of interest in data mining. Conducting an analysis of multivariate time series effectively is an essential task for decision-making activities in fields such as meteorology, medicine, and finance. Features selection is a key problem in the analysis of multivariate time series. Rainfall prediction, biomedical classification, pattern recognition, sensor network analysis and so on all have different input features. The problem is that these features have interdependencies and time-delay relationships. Currently, research on the selection of input features of these data still depends on whether they are linear or non-linear. In this paper, we propose a new integration strategy between Pearson Correlation and Symmetrical Uncertainty for relevant feature selection based on linear and non-linear relationships for multivariate time-series classification. We evaluated the goodness of fit of feature subsets using merit value. The meteorological data set was used to test the proposed method. The result showed that the method was able to reduce the number of features by 77.9% features and increase their merit value 2.25 times compared to no input features selection.


The introduction of Blockchain Technology in the human world has brought different disruptions to the traditional systems in an aspect to increase efficiency, traceability, transparency, reliability, and so on. Agriculture is one of the main areas where Blockchain has rooted its nerves and giving profound results. Integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the agriculture sector has converted traditional agriculture into E-agriculture helping farmers in managing agriculture-related activities for maximizing gain out of daily agriculture labor. However, current centralized systems have their problems causing farmers to lose their efforts along with the security challenges. Besides, these systems do not show fair trading practices to the consumers because of the middle entities. Hence, this study proposes a new methodology using blockchain as its backbone to fix most of the problems occurring in the current centralized systems. The proposed model has given the focus on farmer's and consumer's benefits by eliminating middle entities with their charges. It aims to increase the transparency, security, trust, in agriculture activities, reliability among agriculture stakeholders, and farmer's income through fair trading of produced agricultural products and promoting their efforts.


Objective To study the sedative effect of Xiaoxianxiong decoction 0n 5-HT and GABA content of blood and brain tissue in rats and mice.Methods 50 KM mice were randomly divided into control group,diapam positive control group and Xiaoxianxiong decoction high-dose group,median-dose group and low-dose group and were gavaged once a day and lasted for 7 days,and the sleeping time in all of them were observed.32 wistar rats were randomly divided into 4 groups as follows: control group,diapam positive control group,Xiaoxianxiong decoction group,Xiaoxianxiong decoction combined with diapam group and were gavaged with different drugs after modeling 7 days and lasted for 8 days,and then,the 5-HT and GABA content of blood and brain tissue were measured after treatment.Results In mice experiment,there were statistical difference in sleep duration between Xiaoxianxiong decoction median-dose group and the blank control group(P0.05).In wistar rats experiment,there were statistical difference in the 5-HT and GABA content of blood and brain tissue between Xiaoxianxiong decoction median-dose and the blank control group.Conclusion Xiaoxianxiong decoction can produce sedative effects in rats and mice,the mechanism may be related to the concentration of 5-HT and GABA in blood and brain tissue.


Abstract Summer offers the opportunity for sustained community engagement through immersions in summer service-learning programs. A group of 16 colleges and universities that sponsor domestic and international summer service initiatives have formed a Summer Service Collaborative (SSC) to enhance preparation, immersion, and follow-up in light of the unique parameters of summer service-learning. SSC members developed a shared assessment rubric and a pre/post-immersion survey for student participants to evaluate what students learn about poverty, diversity, and civic engagement over the course of summer service-learning experiences. Findings suggest three key areas of student learning and indicate that greater length of engagement coupled with reflection elements create perspective transformation on understanding of social justice for participants.


A fundamental result in the theory of convex functions [Bo, p.60] states that any locally bounded above convex function on an open convex set is continuous. Already the closed interval [0,1] shows that this conclusion is not necessarily valid if the convex set is not open. However, it is wellknown [Ro, p. 84] that the interval [0,1], and more generally any closed convex polytope P, has the property that any locally bounded above convex function on P is upper semi-continuous. We came across convex sets with this property in the following way: Let K be any non-empty convex set in a locally convex topological vector space, let e be a point outside the linear subspace generated by the closure of K, let K* be the convex envelope of K and e. Choose x 0 E K and let II(·, x0 ) be the affine projection from K* onto J( which sends e to xo. We ask: When is II(·,xo) an open map whenever x0 E K? Our answer is that this is true if and only if K has the property that any locally bounded above convex function on K is upper semi-continuous. A convex set with this property will be called an excellent convex set. Note, that by the preceding, every open convex set and every closed convex polytope is an excellent set. In fact, we shall prove in section 1 that the closed convex polytopes are the only compact convex sets that are excellent. There is a geometric characterization of this property: A convex set K is excellent if and only if for any x0 E J( and any homothetie h>.(·,x0 ) with center x0 and factor A. E< 0,1 >,the image h>.(K,x0 ) of J( is a neighborhood of x0 in K.(Theorem 1.13). We discovered these two charactrizations of excellent convex sets with the help of a certain function A(·, xo) defined on K by


Thl and Thl‐inducing cytokines and T cell responses were investigated in human salmonellosis. Serum IFN‐γ, IL‐12 and IL‐18 levels were increased significantly in patients with salmonellosis. The increase in serum IL‐15 and IL‐18 levels was more significant and prolonged in patients with the systemic form of salmonellosis than in those with the gastroenteric form. The serum IFN‐γ level was correlated significantly with IL‐12 and IL18 levels, and the IL‐15 level was correlated significantly with IL‐18. Upon stimulation with Salmonella in vitro, mononuclear cells from salmonellosis patients produced significantly higher amounts of IFN‐γ and IL‐12 compared with those from healthy controls. Anti‐IL‐12 moAb or anti‐IL18 MoAb significantly inhibited Salmonella‐induced IFN‐γ production in vitro. γδ T cells expressed significantly higher levels of IFN‐γ mRNA in salmonellosis patients than in healthy controls. The results suggest that Th1‐inducing cytokines appear to be involved in the in vivo response against Salmonella infection, promoting IFN‐γ production by αβ and γδ T cells which plays a protective role against Salmonella.


A hypothesis explaining the diffraction and interference of light from a pure corpuscular point of view was published in 2018. The author developed the idea by a fortunate combination of intuition and statistics but failed to justify it theoretically. This vagueness can be amended by using relativistic invariants. Adapting Dirac's equation to gravitational potentials acting over photons yields most of the properties of light. A complete characterization of the properties of light arriving from distant galaxies was performed by modeling the coherence of light. It was assumed that the coherence of light is generated by two orthogonal potentials. Here an idea explains the cosmological redshift data as is done by the combination of Big-Bang, acceleration, and deceleration trilogy.


The purpose of study is to analyze mechanism with early high portland cement and hardening accelerator. As the result, it was concluded that hardening accelerator makes accelerates appearance of through experiment using TG-DTA when it hydrates with cement. On the result of compressive strength, as increasing the amount of hardening accelerator used, early compressive strength was improved. Also, as a result of hydration heat, hardening accelerator accelerates hydration of that is cement`s component. On the result of XRD`s analyzation, hydration product for each age could be check and it was shown that as increasing the amount of hardening accelerator used, peak point of hydration product was recorded high. As the result of SEM, appearance of C-S-H was shown as the amount of `s appearance and each age according to additive contents of hardening accelerator. Therefore hardening accelerator used on this study is effective on getting early compressive strength.


he current world usage of LNG is about 110 million tons per year and current analysis indicates this growing in the next 10 years by 70 to 100 million tons. This may lead to demand for more than 80 new LNG carriers by 2010, in addition to those already under construction. Traditionally LNG carriers have been propelled by steam turbines, as this has proved to be a simple and reliable solution for these ships. However the relatively low efficiency of the propulsion system (<30%) and possible increased size of future LNG carriers has initiated investigations into utilizing alternative propulsion systems. Electric propulsion has as a result of these investigations been shown to be an attractive alternative with high overall efficiency (~42%). The first three LNG carriers with electric propulsion are now under construction at Chantiers de l'Atlantique in France for the French owner Gaz de France, where ABB is delivering the propulsion system on the second and third vessel, which are the world's first vessels with full size cargo capacity (154,000 m 3 ) utilizing an electric propul


Greenway is the key to the current and future urban ecological construction and sustainable development. Based on the results of excellent greenway practice cases at home and abroad, this article summarizes the main influencing factors of Greenway route selection in Changchun City, including 4 categories factors(natural resources, recreational and cultural resources, slow traffic, basic service facilities) and 36 category II influencing factors, guided by the goals and functions of Changchun City's regional greenway construction, combined with expert investigations, using AHP analytic hierarchy process to compare the weight of each influencing factor. Finally, combining the 6 urban greenways planned in Changchun City, the sum of the weights of various influencing factors of each greenway is obtained, which provides a reference for the deepening of the urban greenway construction.


Two-dimensional entropic segmentation method has been greatly developed because of high segmentation accuracy and good stability, while a hard problem is that it gives rise to the exponential increment of computational time in comparison with the traditional one-dimensional histogram partition technology. To solve this problem, a new kind of image thresholding method is presented based on the combination of the artificial immune algorithm (AIA) and two-dimensional entropy techniques in this paper. This method can effectively improve the computation time and avoid getting into local optimization of the threshold by making use of AIA's characteristics of the intelligent computation, adaptive evolution and globally optimizing. The test results show that the method is effective and practicable


We discuss how to apply the dimer method to Ising models on group lattices having nontrivial topological genus g. We find that the use of group extension and the existence of both external and internal group isomorphisms greatly reduces the number of distinct Pfaffians and leads to explicit topological formulas for their sign and weight in the expansion of the partition function. The complete solution for the Ising model on the Klein lattice group L(2,7) with g=3 is given.


Distributions of ..pi../sup -/-/sup 12/C interactions are presented as functions of the number of charged secondary particles. Events with the total charge Q=-2, -1, 0, +1, +2, +3, +4 of all charged particles (except protons with p/sub lab/< or approx. =0.7 GeV/c) are studied.


Utilizing both qualitative and quantitative data, this study analyzes the nature of group formation and development during a trekking expedition through the Himalayas. Data indicated that the group went through six stages which were similar to those described in previous literature. Despite the similarity in the nature of stages, the sequencing of stages was different. Specifically, group conflict developed much later than that which is experienced in most groups. Reasons for this discrepancy are explored.


The present article examines in a preliminary perspective the Kuntur Wasi Case, which is actually been under an Arbitral Tribunal in ICSID. It is focused in the probable perspectives that the present case may take under an analysis that centres in the Peru-Argentina BIT and its Public International Law norms.


It has been mature for leakage cable plus repeater technique to solve the weak field communication problems of different-frequency duplex and half-duplex communication in tunnels,but this technique does not apply to C mode systems.Weak field relay communication system without leakage cable provides a complete scheme to solve the problem of weak field communication in C-standard wireless dispatching system,which includes relay communication in open area weak field and relay communication in tunnel weak field.The system design and operation principle,site selection,co-channel interference avoidance and the flat panel antenna design in tunnel are described in more details.


Global climate change and local anthropogenic activities are increasing soil salinization with permanent negative effects on agricultural and ecosystem productivity. While salt stress is known to affect plant performance, its effects on the association with key microbial plant symbionts, such as legume-associated nitrogen-fixing rhizobia, are less understood. In this field study conducted in Costa Rica (Puntarenas), we used sympatrically-occurring wild lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus L.) and Bradyrhizobium to quantify biomass production of unfertilized rhizobial (R+) and fertilized rhizobia-free (R-) plants at different levels of experimentally manipulated salinity in native soil. In response to salt stress, nodulation was significantly reduced even at slightly increased salt levels. Plants growing at soil salinity levels of 2, 4, 6, and 8 mS/cm showed a mean reduction of nodules by 60.22, 76.52, 83.98, and 92.5% compared to the controls. Similarly, we also observed a significant decline in plant biomass at elevated salinity. However, biomass accumulation of R- plants was significantly less impacted compared to R+ plants, suggesting that the plant-microbe symbiosis is more salt-sensitive than the plant host itself. We suggest that the search for more salt-tolerant, crop plant-compatible rhizobial strains may provide a sustainable approach to maintain agricultural productivity on low to moderately saline soils.


Radioisotope water tracers were used extensively during a produced-water preflush of the Redwater field hydrocarbon miscible pilot. The results from tracer injections in two zones in the original oil column of the reservoir provides convincing evidence of a preferred flow direction toward the southwest. In addition, they confirm the existence of communication across the shoal margin between foreslope and back reef facies and provide insight into the different flow characteristics inherent to the back reef and shoal margin. Excellent results were obtained with tritiated water (HTO) and cesium (Cs) tracers; cobalt (Co) tracer performance was poor, most likely because the formation retained the tracer. Summaries and discussions of these results, including an assessment of their effects on the pilot, are presented. The paper examines key factors that contribute to a successfully tracing program and describes a wireline tracer injection tool designed specifically for the project. No attempt is made to assess overall pilot performances because this work preceded the miscible flood.


Unmanned Aerial Vehicles are extensively exploited for diverse applications importantly surveillance, reconnaissance, defense and military. Development of unmanned amphibious vehicle with integrating features of multirotor and hovercraft principles to navigate along and above water body, land surface and also flying in air is challenging task. This article presents conceptual design of amphibious vehicle for the payload capacity of 7 kg with an endurance of 20 minutes and provision for mounting water sampler to collect water samples in remote water bodies. Finite element analysis (FEA) is performed to evaluate the structural strength characteristics of each part of amphibious vehicle and integrity of structure is analyzed. FEA results indicated that the designed amphibious vehicle structure is well within the stress limit and minimal displacement is obtained. Based on structural analysis materials for various parts of amphibious vehicle are determined and integrated structure is analyzed with a due consideration of lift carrying capacity, payload, battery and other electronic module weights. Modal analysis predicted the natural frequencies of the structure which are very near to vortex shedding frequency and safe operation speed of propelling the motors is determined. A scaled down model is prototyped and tested for its functionality in land, water and flying in air.


Working alone or in groups of two (dyads) or four (tetrads), undergraduate business students developed a spreadsheet model. This paper discusses the errors that the students made and presents a typology of spreadsheet errors. The paper also discusses the extent to which group spreadsheet development reduced errors.<<ETX>>


The study was conducted to determine the influence of users' participation in the acquisition process on users' satisfaction with information resources in university libraries in South-South zone of Nigeria. The study adopted the survey research method. The population of this study consists of all university library staff and lecturers in government-owned university in the South South zone of Nigeria during the 2012/2013 academic session. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select a sample of 36 library staff and 4627 lecturers from 6 of the universities in the zone. A structured questionnaire entitled: Users' Participation in the Acquisition Process and Users' Satisfaction with Information Resources (UPAPUSIRQ), was used to collect data. Means and standard deviation were used to analyse the data collected for the study while the hypothesis was tested using t-test in IBM SPSS for Window version 20 at p = 0.05 level of significance. The findings reveal among other things that there was significant influence of Users' participation in the acquisition process on users' satisfaction with information resources. It is therefore recommended that librarians should take cognizance of the factor of users' participation in the acquisition process when acquiring information resources for the libraries.


I am pleased to report that the Physics Department continues to move forward on several fronts, in spite of persistent cuts in the departmental budget due to declining state support for higher education. We have taken significant steps to enhance the undergraduate degree program. One of the steps includes awards of the Summer Research Fellowship to the undergraduate students. These awards allow the students to work on the research projects under the supervision of the faculty members. Another step focuses on a smaller class size for the students in the introductory physics courses. These steps have improved the undergraduate retention rate and have also been useful in attracting new majors in to the program. The enrollment of the current freshman class is one of the largest in the past few years. Research is flourishing within the department. Our graduate program has emerged as one of the most productive PhD programs at MTU, accounting for one of nine PhD degrees awarded by the University. Mike Larsen working with Prof. Alex Kostinski and Jacob Fugal working with Prof. Raymond Shaw are the recipients of the DOD and NSF graduate fellowships, respectively. If you have not recently visited us on the Web, I invite you to visit the site for a detailed overview of our research activities: www.phy.mtu.edu Building the department's endowment for summer research experience for undergraduates is now the primary objective of our department. In the past year, we have used income from endowment funds and a generous gift by Frank (BS, 1958) and Shirley Hasted to support the Summer Research Fellowships. Finally, I would like to encourage you to keep us informed about milestones in your career and personal lives. We would like to devote part of each annual newsletter to news about our alumni. This is a good way for all of us to stay in touch. Best wishes for a joyous holiday season and a happy and prosperous New Year. Physics News MICHIGAN TECH PHYSICS DEPARTMENT NEWSLETTER


Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play crucial roles in various biological processes, including prostate cancer (PCa). However, the precise roles and mechanism of circRNAs are complicated. Hence, we studied the function of a circRNA that might be involved in the progression of PCa. In this study, we found that circARHGEF28 was frequently downregulated in PCa tissues and cell lines. Furthermore, gain‐ and loss‐of function experiments in vitro showed that circARHGEF28 inhibited proliferation, migration, and invasion of PCa. Additionally, circARHGEF28 suppressed PCa progression in vivo. Bioinformatics analysis and RNA pull‐down and capture assay found that circARHGEF28 sponged miR‐671‐5p in PCa cells. Importantly, qRT‐PCR and dual luciferase assays found that Lectin galactoside‐binding soluble 3 binding protein (LGALS3BP) was downstream of miR‐671‐5p, and western blot analysis further confirmed that LGALS3BP negatively regulated the nuclear factor kappa‐B (NF‐κB) pathway. These results demonstrated that circARHGEF28 abolished the degradation of LGALS3BP by sponging miR‐671‐5p, thus blocking the activation of the NF‐κB pathway. Our findings revealed that circARHGEF28/miR‐671‐5p/LGALS3BP/NF‐κB may be an important axis that regulates PCa progression.


This paper analyzes the micro mechanism of constructing start-up enterprises' social network from the point of transaction cost and path-dependence, sets up a model of signaling and trial-and-error and obtains the probability of making two types of mistakes. Then this paper sets up a model of evaluating the value of network units and trial-and-error, and obtains the Bayes evaluation and the value of the least loss when the cost of trial-and-error in constructing the social network of start-up enterprises is the lowest.


In November of 2007 a fire sale of Chilean stocks was triggered by a change in the constraints that regulate pension fund portfolios. This regulatory shock provided a cleanly identified fire sale unrelated to fundamentals. Stocks with more selling pressure from pension funds lost approximately 4% in November compared to other stocks. Although the selling pressure was temporary, prices reverted only after four to six months. Pension funds initially mitigated the impact of the fire sale by selling large index stocks in which demanding liquidity was less costly. Coordination across pension funds increased during the fire sale. We find no significant evidence of real effects on firm investment in the quarters after the fire sale. 2016


In the weeks following the break-up and removal of the Sudanese protestors in Mohandiseen on 30 December 2005, the Egyptian government and the Interior Ministry, in particular, came under intense international scrutiny and criticism for the manner in which the situation was handled. Amidst the chaos regarding the actual numbers of the injured, the detained and the dead, both human rights organizations and UN officials accused the Egyptian police of using excessive force against the protestors and called for an independent investigation of the matter. In response, the Interior Ministry released several statements of explanation and justification for the forcible evacuation of the protestors. Of note was the deliberate rhetoric used to characterize the protest as a health hazard, harboring dangerous epidemic diseases alongside allegations of crime and public intoxication among the protestors. This paper proposes an analysis of the events of surrounding the protest at Mostafa Mahmoud Square and its tragic aftermath that looks at the rhetoric of contagion and immorality used by the Egyptian government to characterize the protesters. I will argue that not only 1) did such accusations allow the government to justify its actions to the international world, but 2) the accusations were also aimed at reinforcing certain distinctions between the Sudanese and local Egyptians, who are themselves also frequent victims of police brutality. Doing so would accomplish the threefold function of isolating the protesters, preventing Egyptians from identifying with them, and thereby discouraging the possibility of similar demonstrations being held by Egyptians in the future.


Feminist standpoint theories are seldom used by researchers. One possible reason is the ongoing debate between postmodern theorists and feminine standpoint theorists. The debate has been constructed in bipolar terms such that the issues are perceived as mutually exclusive. However, bipolar assumptions are damaging to women, both in general and in organizations. We contend that feminist standpoint theories should theorize similarities, material reality, and communal agency while being sensitive to differences, multiple realities, and individual agency. A study of academic women is used to illustrate how standpoints can develop around similarities while respecting differences. Using a creative narrative, participants' organizational standpoints were developed around the common experiences of invisibility, overvisibility, isolation, energy dissipation, and a desire for community. Cultural differences, idiosyncratic differences, and differences in the evolution of a consciousness of oppression are discussed.


The goal of this study was to investigate the safety and efficacy in preventing relapse of a mood episode in recently manic or mixed episode patients with bipolar I disorder stabilized with aripiprazole and divalproex combination.


The professional women are new female images which have developed and become mature in the context of postmodern society. The career women not only open up the new chapter in the history of women liberation movement,but also construct new images in the feminism literature. This paper analyzes the reflection of the living conditions of professional women in modern literature and the physical writing tendency of the career women . This article also rethinks the developing course of feminism literature from the angle of male and female culture.