OBJECTIVE
To study the feasibility of using non-depolarizing relaxant in intraoperative facial nerve monitoring (IFNM) during total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA).

METHODS
Thirty adult patients, aged 37 (20-50), with ASA class I or II, without disorder of facial nerve, underwent IFNM during TIVA, using fentanyl, midazolam, and propofol, to record the compound muscle action potentials (CMAPs) of the facial nerve. Train of four (TOF) pattern was used to evaluate the degree of peripheral neuromuscular blockade. The relationship between the TOF value and CMAP was studied.

RESULTS
When the TOP value was 1 the wave amplitude of the CMAP of facial nerve was 0.19 +/- 0.08 mv, significantly lower than that when no muscle relaxant was used (2.72 +/- 0.34 mv, P < 0.01), however, when the TOF values were > or = 2 there were no statistically significant differences in the amplitude of the CMAP of facial nerve. In addition, clear graph of CMAP could be obtained when the TOF values were > or = 2.

CONCLUSION
IFNM can be safely and efficaciously performed when neuromuscular blockade is monitored carefully during TIVA.


Maternal and child health (MCH) books are simple and effective tools for information, education and communication. Knowledge level of pregnant women about the use of MCH is still lacking and becomes an obstacle in shaping pregnant women's health behavior. The MCH handbook contains health information as a government effort to increase knowledge and healthy behavior of mothers and children if it is used properly by health workers and pregnant women. The aim of the study was to describe the level of knowledge of pregnant women about the use of Maternal and Child Health (MCH) books at the Pengadang Health Center. The method used is descriptive method. The population in this study was pregnant women who came to Pengadang Health Center for ANC examination. The sampling technique used was purposive sampling and the data analysis used was univariate analysis. The results of the research on the knowledge and attitudes of pregnant women regarding the use of maternal and child health (MCH) books showed that the majority of respondents had a lack of knowledge, namely as many as 18 respondents (40%) and most of them have a positive attitude as many as 26 respondents (57.8%) The conclusion of this study is that the majority of pregnant women are in the productive age range with an average high school educational background and the majority are not working or as housewives. Then, the attitudes and behavior of pregnant women are mostly positive towards the utilization of the MCH handbook even though their knowledge is still lacking.


In Thompson v. Bell , 580 F.3d 423 (6th Cir. 2009), Gregory Thompson appealed a Tennessee district court's dismissal of the habeas petition in which he sought to stay his execution by an assertion that he was incompetent to be executed. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reviewed the case.

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The present invention relates to tetrafluorobenzyl (tetrafluorobenzyl) derivatives and cranial nerve and eye diseases for pharmaceutical compositions containing them. By using the tetrafluoro benzyl derivative or salt thereof according to the present invention, Alzheimer's, prevention of ischemic brain diseases such as spastic cerebral nervous system diseases and stroke, such as degenerative nervous system diseases, epilepsy such as Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease and treatment is possible.


The adm inistration said it careful ly w eighed the consequences before adopting a rule in 1981 that perm its radioactive material to be carried in trucks on interstate highways. The risk o f a m ajor disaster is "infinitesimal," T ransporation D epartm ent officials concluded. The court dismissed an appeal by New York City and New York state officials w ho said the Reagan ad m inistration has failed to address adequately the possible "catastrophic" im pact on the en vironm ent of a highway accident involving nuclear waste. Among o ther actions yesterday, the court: — Entered a dispute involving mil lions of dollars in welfare benefits by agreeing to an adm inistration re  quest to review a ruling favoring California recip ients of Aid for De pendent Children. The adm inistra tion says som e 45,000 California families are getting an average $83 m ore p e r m onth than C ongress in tended w hen it cut federal spending in 1981.


Article history: Received 21 May 2017 Received in revised form 17 July 2017 Accepted 2 August 2017 Available online 14 August 2017 Recently, research has been critically focused on finding new compounds with antirepellent activity due to the rising of new types of mosquito-borne diseases. Mosquito repellents are the safer and cleaner alternative to fight the anthropods from bitten human skins, hence reduce the spread of diseases. This study investigated the relationships between biological activity and structure of carboxamides by using Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) analysis. The data set used in this study comprised of 40 carboxamide compounds taken from the literature with their activities expressed as log PT (protection time). These compounds were split into training set for model building and test set for external validation using activity-based ranking method. The training set contained approximately 75% of the compounds while the remaining compounds were then used as the validation set to verify the accuracy of the model. DRAGON software was employed to generate molecular descriptors. The important relevant descriptors were further selected and reduced by using Genetic Algorithm (GA) as variable selection method. Two QSAR models were developed by combining GA method with two different modelling techniques that are multiple linear regressions (MLR) and partial least square (PLS). All the models are robust with good correlation coefficient (r2) greater than 0.6 and external validation r2test more than 0.5. Statistics of the GA-MLR model are r2 = 0.779 and r2test = 0.646. Whereas, the second model generated from GA and PLS shows good r2 with value of 0.775 and r2test = 0.563. These results could be useful in finding new, safe, and more effective repellents against Aedes Aegypti in a short time by providing guidance for further laboratory work as well as prediction of external compounds and help to understand the factors affecting their activity.


Power electronic controllers for a flexible ac transmission system (FACTS) can offer a greater control of power flow, secure loading and damping of power system oscillations. A unified power flow controller (UPFC) is a one of FACTS elements that can provide VAR compensation, line impedance control and phase angle shifting. The UPFC consist of two fully controlled inverters, series inverter is connected in series with the transmission line by series transformer, whereas parallel inverter is connected in parallel with the transmission line by parallel transformer. The real and reactive power flow in the transmission line can be controlled by changing the magnitude and phase angle of the injected voltage produced by the series inverter. The basic function of the parallel inverter is to supply the real power demanded by series inverter through the common dc link. The parallel inverter can also generate or absorb controllable reactive power. This paper offers and discusses most papers that used a UPFC to improving the active and reactive power flow of the power systems.


This paper discusses shared arguments in coordinate structures in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). It assumes that a shared argument between two conjuncts can be a subject or an object. The paper uses the lexical-functional grammar (LFG) framework for analyzing this kind of structure. In LFG, the two possible analyses for similar structures involve analyzing the shared argument as bearing two functions in the two conjuncts. The first analysis is the split analysis, where the shared argument is zipped to both conjuncts by assuming that the verb phrases in both conjuncts are split. The second analysis is function spreading, in which the function of the shared argument is spread from one conjunct to another.  This paper argues that the previous analyses   in LFG have faced some problems in accounting for this phenomenon in MSA. To solve these problems, this paper contributes a new analysis for shared arguments that involves analyzing the missing argument, whether it is a subject or an object, as a null argument.


In India there is increasing awareness of the need to provide adolescent care but no special attention is being paid to the health needs of young people either by the government the national planners health professionals or the youth themselves. It is necessary to help young people to develop responsible attitudes toward relationships in both family and community life to satisfy their sexual emotional and social needs. To realize success in this area several factors must be considered and strengthened. The most imperative and obvious need is to create awareness. The awareness of health professionals with regard to the provision of special health care to young people is low. In fact the services provided fail to deal with important problems of youth such as alcoholism drug addiction and sexually transmitted diseases. The health professionals -- doctors nurses paramedics -- lack the training to tackle interpersonal problems either sexual or otherwise. There also is a great need to bring about an awareness among the young themselves that health is an important part of their lives. The 2nd priority need is to develop relevant educational material. A wide group of people needs to be trained to help youth achieve optimum health -- parents teachers social workers policemen and others. The severe lack of knowledgeable persons is outweighed only by an even greater lack of understanding and empathy. Only a handful of administrators teachers parents and health professionals are available currently to provide such orientation in general and reproductive health to young people. All teachers cannot develop the attributes required but there are many who could be adequately trained and who would be willing to undergo such training. These persons must be identified and trained. Educational institutions must include population family life and sex education in their curricula at all levels. At this time adolescent fertility regulation services have no separate facilities. It is recommended that a special service be developed for young people that counseling services be strengthened and provided on a regular basis and that sex and family life education programs be enhanced. A committee should be formed with representatives from both government and voluntary agencies to formulate policies regarding the health care of adolescents and devising strategies and plans to meet their health needs.


The study examines the effects of the "new" road safety regulations on the operations of PSVs in Nairobi. Specifically, the study sought to a) examine changes in the input and output of PSV in Nairobi, b) establish changes in the working conditions of PSV drivers and conductors, c) assess changes in the quality of service of public transport, and finally, d) examine the challenges and opportunities in implementing and enforcing the"new" regulations. The study was descriptive, comparative and cross sectional in nature whereby only a section of the PSV operators were sampled to participate in the study. Data for this study was collected using structured and un-structured questionnaires, which targeted the PSV owners, drivers/conductors and commuters. Key informants were drawn from Traffic Police, TLB, Ministry of Transport, Local Authority and Matatu welfare associations. A sample size of 120 PSVs was considered. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for data processing and analysis. The data was mainly analyzed using descriptive statistics and the hypotheses were tested using the student t-test. The data was presented using simple tabular comparison of means, graphs, charts and text. The findings indicated that there was a significant change in terms of input cost and output of PSVs (P0.05), minimal changes were observed on the working conditions of the PSV drivers and conductors, the quality of transport service improved after the regulations were implemented and that the key enforcers of the regulations face a lot of challenges in enforcing these regulations. The two null hypotheses (HO) were rejected at P0.05. In general, it can be concluded that the "new" regulations were generally good, however poor implementation and enforcement has hindered its success. Therefore, it is recommended that for these regulations to be sustainable, a strict and consistent implementation and enforcement is needed.


To design a communications switching system which provides a satisfactory grade of service at minimum cost, an understanding of the nature of the offered traffic is necessary.


Korea Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the changes in dorsiflexion and balance following proximal and distal tibiofibular joint manipulation in individuals with a history of lateral ankle sprain (LAS). Methods: Fifteen participants with a history of unilateral LAS, exhibiting a restriction in ankle dorsiflexion were included in this study. LAS ankle received a manipulation to the proximal and distal tibiofibular joint, while the opposite control ankle received no manipulation intervention. The outcome measures included ankle dorsiflexion and balance. Ankle dorsiflexion was measured using weight-bearing lunge test. Static and dynamic balances were measured using the overall, anterioposterior, and mediolateral balance index via the biodex balance system. Measurements were obtained prior to and following manipulation. Results: This study showed that ankle dorsiflexion and dynamic balance were improved following the manipulation compared to those prior to the manipulation (p<0.05). There was no significant change in static balance (p>0.05). Conclusion: The joint manipulation technique applied to the ankle of those with a history of LAS appears to improve ankle dorsiflexion and dynamic balance. This suggest that a manipulation to the proximal and distal tibiofibular joint could be provided as preliminary data regarding the prophylactic effects of recurrent


e15594 Background: We report pathologic characteristics and survival (OS) for women with metastatic or relapsed endometrial cancer (EC).

METHODS
Patients (pts) diagnosed with EC from Jan/2000 to Apr/2010 were identified in the I.O.V. cancer database. Differences between chemotherapy and other characteristics were examined by Chi-square and Fisher's exact test; survival analyses used Kaplan Meier and Long-Rank test. 47 pts, mean age 63 yrs, range 33-70, had radical hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and/or systematic pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy and peritoneal cytology. AJCC staging was: stage I 15 pts, II 8 pts, III 15 pts, IV 8 pts; 1 unstaged; 28 were endometrioid; 19 were other histology. Grade 1, 2, and 3 tumors were seen in 6, 18 and 15 pts respectively; 8 unknown. Receptor status was positive in 15 pts, negative in 4; 28 unknown. 29 pts had radiotherapy and/or brachytherapy adjuvantly, 6 pts as metastatic/relapsed, 12 no therapy. Residuum at relapse was ≤2 cm in 23 pts, >2 cm in 20, and 4 unknown. 7 pts received doxorubicin-cisplatin (doxorubicin 50 mg/m2, cisplatin 50 mg/m2) mean cycles 4 (range 2-6); 17 received taxol-platin (uaxol 175/m2, platin 75/m2) mean 4 cycles (range 2-8) or Jm8-taxol, and 18 taxol-epidoxorubicin-cisplatin (taxol 175 mg/m2, epirubicin 70 mg/m2, cisplatin 50 mg/m2) mean cycles 6 (range 1-9). 24 had extrapelvic metastases; 23 had disease involving adnexa and/or pelvic lymph node (PLN), and para-aortic lymph nodes (PAN).

RESULTS
Differences in chemotherapy cycles administered (+/-4) were not significant. Extrapelvic metastases had a 5-yr OS of 50% vs 47% for pelvic+/-lymph node disease. Multivariate analysis shows stage, intra- vs extrapelvic metastases and diameter of relapsed lesion are not significant for 5-yr OS in EC. We found no difference in OS for therapy with taxol-platinum +/- doxorubicin. 5-yr OS of endometrioid cancer is 127 mo vs 38 mo for other histotypes, long-rank test 9.89 p <0.002; OS of Grade 1 and 2 was 127 mo vs 37 mo for grade 3, long-rank test 3.89 p<0.05.

CONCLUSIONS
We confirm that endometrioid and lower histologic grade has better survival independent of radiotherapy, brachytherapy, chemotherapy or hormone therapy. More intensive therapy combinations do not significantly improve median OS.


Expression of cathepsin K and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase is not confined to osteoclasts but is a general feature of multinucleated giant cells: systematic analysis Abstract Objective. Cathepsin K and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) are two proteins expressed in osteoclastic giant cells. Recently we showed that lesional multinucleated giant cells (MNGs) in pulmonary granulomatosis with polyangiitis expressed these proteins. We aimed to clarify whether the expression of these two proteins has any specificity or is a general feature of MNGs associated with multiple types of granulomatous inflammation. Methods. In total, 7 Crohn's disease (CD), 5 GCA, 5 giant cell myocarditis (GCM), 11 sarcoidosis and 6 tuberculosis cases were examined for expression of cathepsin K and TRAP using immunohistochemistry (IHC). Protein expression was semi-quantitatively classified as none, weak, moderate or strong. In addition , tissue TRAP activity was examined using an enzymatic reaction.


Successful management of fungicide resistance includes many more aspects than just the design of an effective anti-resistance strategy. It involves all social groups engaged in plant disease control including industry, academia, extension and advisory services and, last but not least, the farmer. Various tasks must be carried out by these groups, and all must accept their share of responsibility. Only a comprehensive view of resistance management can help to prolong the useful life of the highly active new fungicides.


Abstract. We approach the problem around several main directions of video temporal segmentation and propose an intensity-based dissolve detection approach that is able to perform on animated video contents. It uses the hypothesis that during a dissolve the amount of fading-out and fading-in pixels should be significant compared with other visual transitions. We use this information as a visual discontinuity function. Instead of just applying a global threshold to filter these values, as most of the existing approaches do, we use a twin-thresholding approach and the shape analysis of the discontinuity measure. This allows us to reduce false detections caused by steep intensity fluctuations as well as to retrieve dissolves caught up in other visual transitions (e.g., caused by movement, color effects, etc.). Experimental tests conducted on more than 452 dissolve transitions show that whether classic approaches tend to fail, the proposed method is able to provide good performance achieving average precision and recall ratios above 94% and 79.6%, respectively.


In the last years the growth of the use of Internet is changing the habits of people's life. As their use has been increased, numerous studies that indicate that a dependence relationship and even an addiction toward the net can be developed have arisen . In this article these investigations on the supposed Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD), the diagnostic criteria that have intended and the possible explanatory mechanisms responsible for their development are analysed.


The presence of granules in the brain has been known f o r some time. A few of the workers in this field have studied the granules which are intracellular. Some of these workers believe that these granules are given off from the cells and thereafter exist as intercellular granules, either furnishing energy for the growth of the nerve fibers or taking part in synapses. There are other writers who do not distinguish between the intercellular and the intracellular granules of the brain. A few years ago we began the study of human brain cells in tissue cultures. The first thing to strike the eye in these cultures was the great mass of fine granules along the edges of the explanted tissue. Usually these granules are not seen in cultures of other tissues. Not all the edges of the transplanted brain had these granules, but many of them did. They were more noticeable in roller tube cultures than in hanging drop cultures. Indeed the granules were so conspicuous and so numerous that we began a study of them to see what we could find out about their origin, structure, function and fate, and which parts of the central nervous system contained them.


Targeting on the problem that the water temperature of 6DL automotive engine is too high in an auto manufacturing factory,the article developed three radiator improvement programs,and conducted the test comparative analysis on the performance between copper radiator with aluminum radiator.The results showed that the aluminum radiator can better solve such common problem of water over-temperature of high-horsepower engines.


Introduction: there are reports of autoimmune disease related to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) such neurological syndromes and hematological syndromes, and more recently autoimmune thyroid dysfunctions have been described. These reports suggest that SARS-CoV-2 acts as a probable trigger for triggering the autoimmunity process. Aim: to evaluate structural similarity between thyroid peroxidase [Homo sapiens] (TPO) and SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein (COVID-19), and to propose this similarity as a likely trigger for autoimmune thyroiditis. Methodology: using bioinformatics tools, we compare the amino acids (AA) sequences between protein structure of TPO and chain A COVID-19, chain B COVID-19, and chain C COVID-19, accessible in the National Center for Biotechnology Information database, by Basic Local Alignment Search Tool in order to locate the homologous regions between the sequences of AA. Results: the homology sequence between the TPO and COVID-19 ranged from 27.0 % (10 identical residues out of 37 AA in the sequence) to 56.0% (5 identical residues out of 9 AA in the sequence). The similar alignments demonstrated relatively high E values in function of short alignment. Conclusion: data suggest a possible pathological link between TPO and COVID-19. The structural similarity of AA sequences between TPO and COVID-19 may present a molecular mimicry suggesting the possibility of antigen crossover between TPO and COVID-19 that might represent an immunological basis for autoimmune thyroiditis associated with COVID-19.


This paper introduces the current teaching and learning strategies in Analog Electronic Circuit in Fudan University, compares the different teaching practices at Fudan University and The University of Sydney, and analyses the problems experienced in the delivery of the course. Strategies for student-centred teaching are reviewed and recommendations are made to improve the quality of teaching and learning.


The purpose of this research study is to develop an approach to research on civic engagement and service learning in Kenya which examines the role of Kenyan Universities in preparing students for civic engagement, active citizenship and leadership. The research seeks to explore historical, political and cultural events, beliefs, attitudes, and policies that have shaped the mission of higher education in Kenya and describes how these influence the perception of role of Kenyan Universities in preparing students for civic engagement, citizenship and leadership through community service. This research is aimed at contributing to knowledge based on the gap identified in the literature review which is characterized by (1) inadequate access to or dissemination of research that addresses concepts of the civic, community service and student leadership in Kenya; (2) limited discourse on the current role of Kenyan Universities in society and (3) limited research on "Kenyan-centric" solutions to social issues. This research thus takes into consideration multiple perspectives of varying University stakeholders and provides an innovative research design to that values the 'voice' of the marginalized and other stakeholders who are to varying extents affected by the functions


AIM: The study was designed to investigate the prognosis and the epidemiologic features of people who was diagnosed having type 2 DM and Applied to the Community Health Center.
METHOD: This study which was carried out at Catak Health Branch of Trabzon Erdoðdu Health Center in April, May, and June in 2008 is a descriptive and cross-sectional field study. All of the patients with Type 2 DM diagnosis who came to the Health Center for routine control (55 people) were involved in the study. The aim of the study was explained to each participant in the study and their oral consent was taken.
As the data collection instrument, diabetes surveillance form which includes of socio-demographic features, risk factors, blood sugar diagnosis criteria, body mass index, chronic complications and foot examination was used. Diabetes surveillance form was shaped by modifying the diabetes diagnosis form which was structured by Erdoðan and Nahcivan (1999). The data obtained were evaluated through number and percentage distribution, mean, chi square test, correlation and variant analyses techniques.
RESULTS: Age mean of the patients was 59.4±10.7 and 85.5% of them was female. Average diagnosis age was 53.2±12.5, average diabetes year was 6,6±6,6. 45.5% of the patients were obese, 12.7% of them morbid obese and diabetes history in the family was about 54.5%. It was found that 56.3% patients had blood glucose level was 140 mg/dl and 54.5% of the patients' HbA1c level were higher than 7%. When lipid parameter levels of the patients were examined, it was seen that HDL cholesterol level was (E


The problem of Moscow city territory development is considered. The author proposes the individual approach for industrial territories reorganizations projects which is based on taking into account business interests, environmental constraints, tourist potential. The experience of geographical analysis of efficiency of Moscow city territory use is useful for other large industrial centers.


When DNA damage is induced by unprogrammed extrinsic events, activating‐cell‐cycle checkpoints delay cell‐cycle progression in the G1 or G2 phases and allow repair of a damaged template. In this study, we evaluated changes in gene expression upon radiation‐induced G2 cell‐cycle arrest using Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. T‐fimbrin, an actin‐binding protein, was overexpressed in CHO cells in which G2 arrest had been induced by X‐radiation. Northern blot analysis revealed that T‐fimbrin gene expression was induced not only by X‐radiation but also by a topoisomerase II inhibitor, etoposide. Transfection of CHO cells with a vector encoding T‐fimbrin antisense RNA demonstrated that reduced T‐fimbrin expression induced alterations in cell‐cycle control; radiation‐induced G2 arrest was short and decreased in cells transfected with antisense T‐fimbrin. Additionally, T‐fimbrin gene expression was suppressed in a human colorectal cancer cell line, SW948, because of promoter‐specific DNA methylation. These results suggest that downregulation of T‐fimbrin may be involved in cancer development through G2/M cell‐cycle control in mammalian cells. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Intrinsic contact sensing is a method of using force sensors for separate tactile sensing without sensors arranged on the outer shell. Although the method is effective in some applications, the method has been limited to a fixed geometric shape. This study therefore proposes a method for movable structures. The contact position is estimated without geometric shape information by utilizing force/torque change over time. Additionally, this paper has proposed a method of eliminating the gravity term, which is a problem when using a structure-variable end effector as an interface. Calibration to decrease the calculation error was also introduced. Experimental evaluation using a wagon with drawers as the structure-variable object was done to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.


This paper presents results of an investigation conducted to estimate the mean and design fatigue lives of self-compacting concrete and self-compacting fibre-reinforced concrete beams containing 0·5% volume fraction of steel fibres. Approximately 19 flexural fatigue tests and 90 complementary static flexural strength tests were conducted on self-compacting concrete and self-compacting fibre-reinforced concrete beam specimens of 100 × 100 × 500 mm size. The distribution of fatigue life of self-compacting concrete and self-compacting fibre-reinforced concrete at different stress levels has been examined and Weibull distribution parameters have been obtained by different methods of analysis, which are subsequently used to estimate the mean and design fatigue lives of self-compacting concrete and self-compacting fibre-reinforced concrete. The performance of self-compacting concrete and self-compacting fibre-reinforced concrete have been found to be better, in terms of reduced variability in the distribution o...


Wireless sensor network (WSN) is an emerging networking paradigm that promises a wide range of potential applications in both civilian and military areas. WSN runs different kinds of applications in a variety of physical environments, which offers many challenges. The main design constraints include energy efficiency, fault tolerence, and security. In this thesis, we investigate the research problems involved in three types of sensor networks including the Under Water Sensor Network (UWSN), the Wireless Terrestrial Sensor Network (WTSN), and the Wireless Multimedia Sensor Network (WMSN). -- We first formulate the node clustering problem into a cluster-centric cost-based optimization problem with an objective to improve the energy efficiency and prolong the network lifetime in UWSN. A novel distributed clustering protocol called minimum-cost clustering protocol (MCCP) is proposed, which selects a set of non-overlapping clusters from all potential clusters based on the cost metric assigned to each potential cluster and attempts to minimize the overall cost of the selected clusters. To provide a robust clustered architecture against cluster-head failures in UWSNs, a dependable clustering protocol is proposed in which two mechanisms are employed: fault prevention clustering and cluster head replication. Fault prevention clustering attempts to select those healthy nodes as cluster heads to prevent cluster head failures, and cluster head replication attempts to select a primary cluster head and a backup cluster head for each cluster member so that the constructed cluster hierarchy can tolerate cluster-head failures. -- The successful working of any fault recovery schemes heavily depends on a proper and efficient fault detection mechanism. Therefore, we propose a cooperative fault detection mechanism, which can accurately and quickly detect the failure of a cluster head through the independent fault status detection from each cluster member and a distributed agreement process for final decision. It runs concurrently with normal network operation at each cluster member and makes use of the data periodically sent by a cluster head as the heartbeats for fault detection. An agreement can be efficiently achieved within two TDM frames in each detection process. To address the energy efficiency problem in WTSN, Slepian-Wolf coding is employed to remove the redundancy caused by the data correlation. We first consider the clustered Slepian-Wolf coding problem, which aims at selecting a set of disjoint potential clusters to cover the whole network such that the global compression gain of Slepian-Wolf coding is maximized, and then propose a distributed optimal-compression clustering protocol to solve the problem. Based on the resulting cluster hierarchy constructed, we study the optimal intra-cluster rate allocation problem to minimize the intra-cluster communication cost and further combine with the explicit entropy coding to minimize the inter-cluster communication cost. -- Furthermore, based on inherent characteristic of Slepian-Wolf coding, we propose a combined data aggregation and encryption scheme, called spatially selective encryption, for efficient and secure data transmission in WTSNs. Using this mechanism, as long as the data of the cluster head (a.k.a. the visual key) is properly protected, the data from all cluster members are secure. This novel approach can significantly reduce the energy consumption for data encryption. An energy-efficient key establishment protocol is also proposed to securely and efficiently establish the key used for encrypting the visual key. -- Finally, we propose a clustered on-demand multi-channel MAC protocol (COM-MAC) to support energy-efficient, high-throughput, and reliable data transmission in WMSNs. A scheduled multi-channel medium access is used within each cluster so that cluster members can operate in a contention-free manner in both time and frequency domains to avoid collision, idle listening and overhearing. A traffic-adaptive and QoS-aware scheduling algorithm is executed to maximize the network throughput. A spectrum-aware ARQ is further incorporated to better exploit the unused spectrum for a balance between reliability and retransmission.


In this paper a reversible watermarking method based on generalized integer transform of a vector with n pixels is presented. This method was firstly introduced by Alattar (called Alattar's method) has been concerned and expanded because it can achieve high embedding capacity without losing the implication of the cover. According to Alattar's method, n-1 bits could be embedded into a vector with n pixels if this vector is expandable. The evaluation of vector expandability has exponential complexity in the length of the vector, so computing time is inversely proportional complexity of the embedding capacity. This is why this method can only use the vector with 3 or 4 pixels in practical. The larger the vector size is, the higher the embedding capacity is, thus, the embedding ability is not gained as mentioned in theoretical analysis. This paper proposes the expandable and changeable criteria for a vector with linear complexity in the length of a vector. Therefore, the embedding capacity of Alattar's method is really obtained as theory indicated. Experimental results show that schemes which use the proposed algorithms to check if a vector is expandable and changeable, are much faster and outperform several widely different (used) schemes in terms of computational complexity. The public key watermarking based on the proposed reversible algorithm is faster and more efficient as well as detecting any modifications of the watermarked image.


This book analyzes the impact of macroeconomic restructuring on the supply and demand of health and education services in Asian transitional economies by using case studies on the PRC, Kazakhstan, and Vietnam, and supporting analyses from Cambodia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Lao PDR, Mongolia, and Myanmar.


According to the outside-wall leakage problems pervasively existed in buildings in Huai'an,from design,construction and other aspects its causing reasons are analyzed;at the same time corresponding resolving measures are proposed in order to eliminate this kind of defect to improve the appearance quality an durability of buildings.


Mild forms of psychosis associated with low estrogen levels during the perimenopause are relatively frequent. There is scarce data on severe forms of psychosis in these conditions. We report the case of a 51-year-old woman with no previous psychiatric history who amputated her hand in a 'psychotiform' state after discontinuation of her contraceptive medication. Having subsequently jumped out of a window, she suffered a fracture of the dens with central spinal cord injury and symptoms of cruciate paralysis. The patient stabilized under a combined therapy with estrogen-progestogen substitution, antipsychotic medication and add-on oxcarbazepine.


The ability to simultaneous localization and mapping is a predetermination of antomomous robots. Now, few approaches can manage the environment with masses of landmarks. The posterior distribution over robot pose and landmark locations was estimated with paticle filter and Kalman Filter respectively. The key idea of the algorithm is factorating of the Bayes filter into an estimation of robot path estimation and an estimation of landmarks. To avoid the depletion problem, the particle population was injected during the update phase with a small number of particles created directly from the sensor data as well as using the weights of the particles to decide which ones were going to be progated forward. Simulation results demonstrate 5000 landmarks with 100 particles can be handled successfully.


The purpose of this study was to develop a simplified design method for Skew Slab Bridges with Integral Slab Abutments (SSBISA) and to use this method for the analysis of the Smith bridge in Chester, Maine. The proposed design method gives coefficients which convert the moments, shears, and deflections obtained from a plane frame analysis to those that would be obtained from a 3-dimensional finite element analysis of the bridge. This document, Volume III of six volumes, describes a PC-based computer program, SKEWSLAB, which replaces the design curves contained in Volume II. SKEWSLAB runs on an IBM PC or a compatible DOS machine.


Based on the domestic and foreign related research methods,the life meteorological index forecasting system of Wuhu City was compiled using database and network as well as computer language. The system realized the automation process for the generation of life index forecasting products from local situation of Wuhu City and forecasting data,which could get the latest service products dispensing with manual intervention. The development of the system not only made the operation process of the life meteorological index of Wuhu City more time-saving and efficient,but also made the results more scientific and rigorous.


The effects of the intramuscular administration of BAL in a Negro harboring the sickle cell trait have been presented. It was observed that the rate of sickling was accelerated and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate was retarded in the presence of BAL both in vitro and apparently in vivo. However, the administration of BAL produced none of the pathologic sequelae characteristic of sickle cell disease.


A set of location and speed detection system based on ground measure applying to track vehicles is developed.The system consists of a tooth-and-slots board,detection submodules distributed along the track and a central processor.The submodule adopts a PIC16C54 as core processor and calculates the moving speed and direction by detecting the shading pulses of the tooth-and-slots board.The central processor adopts a AT89C52 SCM as core processor and calculates the vehicle's speed along the line according to all the outputs of the detection submodules.The working principles of the system,the key technology such as the management of the abnormal states and the choices of the effective submodule and so on are presented.Furthermore,the software and hardware design of the system is introduced,and a sample machine is manufactured successfully and experiments to test function are accomplished and the designed system is applied to a real system for location and speed detection successfully.


Described in this letter is a case of anaphylactic shock that occurred in a 22-year-old British woman immediately following Depo-Provera injection. The woman reported heavy menstrual periods for the three years preceding injection and was obese. She had no history of allergies. Each of her three children was a result of contraceptive failure (IUD condom and oral contraceptives). Immediately following injection of 150 mg of Depo-Provera by a domiciliary family planning nurse the patient collapsed. No radial or carotid pulse was evident and she was non-responsive to stimuli. The woman regained consciousness within one minute of administration of 1.0 adrenaline. Heavy bleeding persisted for three months after the Depo-Provera injection.


Studies have shown that many physics teachers experience feelings of isolation because they are often the only physics teacher in the school. Perhaps you are looking for someone to share your ideas about teaching a particular topic. You need suggestions about how to help students learn a specific concept. Maybe you are looking for instructions about performing a demonstration or experiment, or need some guidance in choosing an approach to a particular concept. You might even have tried an approach that failed miserably and you are looking for guidance from someone with experience. Where do you turn?


ABSTRACT Hot recycling in pavement construction leads to the emission of hazardous compounds when tar-containing recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) is used. This is due to the relatively high content of substances such as phenols and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in tar. The latter are of special interest, because some PAHs have carcinogenic and/or mutagenic properties. High tar content in combination with high pavement temperatures during construction increases the potential health risk for workmen. Switzerland does not currently consider a complete ban of RAP in hot recycling for economical and ecological reasons. Since RAP might always contain some tar, there is a need to fix a scientifically sound limit for the maximum tar content. However, scientific data on the emissions of PAH, as well as the resulting occupational health risk are rare, which motivated the present research. In the laboratory, several parameters, such as temperature, PAH content and viscosity, were varied in an experimental setup to quantify their effect on the resulting emissions. It was shown that temperature is the major factor determining the emissions in the 140 to 240°C range. A PAH content of up to 20000 ppm EPA-PAH in RAP had no significant effect on total particulate matter (TPM) emissions. However, emissions of PAH in the fumes increased proportionally with the PAH concentration in the RAP. Three field tests were carried out with RAP containing up to 5600 ppm EPA-PAH. Occupational health data for the workmen were collected with personal samplers. TPM concentrations were between 2–4 mg/m3, close to the occupational health limit value for bitumen fumes (10 mg/m3). Concentrations of Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), which is often used as a lead compound, were in all cases below the occupational health limit value of 2 μg/m3 by at least a factor of three. This study indicates that the current Swiss recommended maximum value of 5000 ppm for EPA-PAH in the binder of RAP may be considered as adequate. However, conditions in the field trials did not include a worst-case scenario and the margin to occupational health limit values is small.


KAI HAKKARAINEN [1] HANNI MUUKONEN [2] LASSE LIPPONEN [1] LIISA ILOMAKI [1] MARJAANA RAHIKAINEN [3] The purpose of the study was to analyze relations between teachers' skills in using the new information and communication technology (ICT), their pedagogical thinking, and their self-reported practices. About 600 Finnish elementary and high school teachers representing 64.1% of the intended teacher population responded to a self-report questionnaire. The study indicated that only a small percentage of teachers had adequate technical ICT skills although a majority had access to computers either at home or at school. The study furnished evidence that, in the classroom, teachers who actively used ICT emphasized (more than other teachers) the importance of using information technology for supporting a research-like process of inquiry, collaborative learning, learners' active engagement in the knowledge-formation process, and the learnability of intelligence. Further, the results indicated that the discrepancy between teachers' pedagogical principles that commonly emphasized active construction of knowledge, and t heir self-reported pedagogical practices, was lower for teachers who intensively use ICT as compared with other teachers. The educational system in developed countries is facing major challenges as a consequence of the revolution of communication and information technology. Relationships in modem societies are transformed by emerging new means of creating, processing, accessing, and transferring information. Information and communication technologies are dramatically altering many aspects of economic and social life: production systems, working methods, and relations, the organization of companies, and the way people communicate with each other are under-going changes throughout the world. Productive functioning in emerging collaborative learning organizations requires, in adults, new self-regulative skills of controlling and directing one's own thinking processes and knowledge activities (Keating, 1995; 1996). The revolution of information and communication technologies (ICT) is a major challenge for teachers' professional development. They have to learn technical skills adequate to use ICT productively, as well as to instruct and guide the students to use ICT purposefully and generatively. Teachers not only have to become familiar with ICT but also to acquire the pedagogical expertise needed for fruitfully working with new technology-based learning environments. New pedagogical practices have to be explored and developed to facilitate higher-level knowledge acquisition skills the learners need to constructively adapt to the knowledge society. Currently, teachers' lack of technical expertise in ICT appears to significantly constrain possibilities of developing new and innovative computer-supported pedagogical practices. Further, to fully use new pedagogical possibilities offered by ICT, profound changes in teachers' conceptions of learning and knowledge are required. Technical expertise alone is not sufficient for exploiting new pedagogical possibilities provided by ICT; insofar as ICT is used in the educational system as a purely technical innovation, it is not likely that significant pedagogical progress will be achieved. Several cognitive researchers (e.g., Salomon, 1997; Salomon & Perkins, 1996; Scardamalia & Bereiter, 1994) have pointed out that many applications of educational technology support only lower-level processing of knowledge. Yet new pedagogical models of using educational technology, and particularly computer-supported collaborative learning environments, promise to provide new opportunities for solving pedagogical problems in the schools. Scardamalia and Bereiter (1994; in press), and others, have proposed that to meet the future challenges, schools be transformed into communities where productive working for advancing communal knowledge is a primary goal of both students and teachers. …


When Stewart Brand issued his clarion call for technological acceptance in the opening lines of the first Whole Earth Catalog, the American environmental movement was in the middle of significant ideological and political reorientation. Until the mid-196os, most environmental advocacy aimed at preserving American wilderness from industrial development and urban encroachment. Environmental activists from John Muir to Howard Zahniser focused the environmental debate on the problems of industrial technology and constructed a sharp dichotomy between nature and human civilization. In this ideological tradition, wilderness became the ultimate symbol of environmental purity and abundance with the polluted modern technological city its antithesis. This bipolar, often antimodernist, framework served conservation and preservation activists well in early fights to convince the American public of the reality of scarcity and the necessity for preservation of some forestlands and remote natural treasures.' This simple dichotomy was less effective when applied to increasingly complex environmental and social politics after the mid-1g6os. Following the 1964 passage of the Wilderness Act, environmental activism was enmeshed in the social struggles, political upheaval, and cultural tensions of the 1960s. A new generation of counterculture environmentalists struggled to resolve long-standing tensions between the modernist faith in Progressive reform and the antimodernist distrust of technology and desire to return to a simpler time. The success of the wilderness movement created an ideological crisis for environmentalists who found it increasingly difficult to define their movement in terms of progress vs. preservation. The spirit of cooperation that united a diverse coalition of environmental advocates behind the banner of wilderness disintegrated in the years after the passage of the Wilderness Act, and environmental politics became increasingly complicated and the boundaries of the debate harder to define.2 Almost immediately after the successful passage of the Wilderness Act, wilderness ceased to be a defining


Those of you who have ever breastfed a baby will identify with the trials and tribulations of every breastfeeding mother as she grits her teeth in determination and battles on through a litany of setbacks - breast engorgement, attachment problems, cracked nipples, mastitis, thrush, too much milk, not enough milk - so that she can provide her baby with the best start in life. But while breastfeeding is meant to be one of the most natural things on earth, there's a steep learning curve after the first baby arrives! And female doctors, with all their other medical knowledge and skills, have to learn to breastfeed too. (author abstract)


Hamiltonians which are inaccessible in static systems can be engineered in periodically driven many-body systems, i.e., Floquet many-body systems. We propose to use interacting particles in a one-dimensional (1D) harmonic potential with periodic kicking to investigate two-dimensional topological and many-body physics. Depending on the driving parameters, the Floquet Hamiltonian of single kicked harmonic oscillator has various lattice structures in phase space. The noncommutative geometry of phase space gives rise to the topology of the system. We investigate the effective interactions of particles in phase space and find that the point-like contact interaction in quasi-1D real space becomes a long-rang Coulomb-like interaction in phase space, while the hardcore interaction in pure-1D real space becomes a confinement quark-like potential in phase space. We also find that the Floquet exchange interaction does not disappear even in the classical limit, and can be viewed as an effective long-range spin–spin interaction induced by collision. Our proposal may provide platforms to explore new physics and exotic phases by Floquet many-body engineering.


The focus of this article is two significant episodes in British labour politics. The first is the Grunwick strike between 1976 and 1978; the second a dispute at Gate Gourmet that began in 2005. In both disputes, women of South Asian origin were the key actors and their legacy has been constructed through striking imagery as one in which against the odds exotic or passive Others became unexpected heroines of industrial struggle. These representations retained their power, despite significant social, economic and political changes in 'post-Fordist' Britain, including in the political rights of strikers, and in the participation and position of both women and minority workers in the labour force. Drawing on interviews with South Asian women involved in each dispute, this article challenges these representations and their significance in accounts of the action, documenting the complex, multiple motives of South Asian women involved in labour politics in the UK.


Quantum parity gates that use weak nonlinearity between single photons and intense coherent pulses are analyzed using a continuous-time model for cross-phase modulation. An inevitable phase noise is shown to degrade gate fidelity.


In this paper, we examine the impact of aqueous-phase ionic strength and ionic composition on viscoelastic properties of the water–crude oil interfacial film by conducting interfacial shear rheological measurements under controlled water chemistry and aging time. A double-wall ring geometry is used in oscillatory mode to measure the film viscoelastic moduli. To further elucidate mechanisms controlling the kinetics of film formation, temperature-dependent interfacial rheological behavior is investigated as a function of time. Our results reveal that low-ionic-strength conditions are more conducive to film formation and, consequently, engender a more viscoelastic interface. This observation is consistent with our previous results on emulsion stability; i.e., increasing the ionic strength of the aqueous phase leads to the formation of less stable emulsions. On the other hand, the temperature dependence of the viscoelasticity buildup demonstrates that adsorption of polar materials onto the interface can be mo...


Abstract Jails play a vital role in the criminal legal system, with millions of Americans processed through them annually. Jails face numerous exigent challenges and need leaders capable of addressing day-to-day operations and emergent situations. Despite this necessity, jails struggle to identify, fund, and offer leadership development opportunities for their staff. The National Jail Leadership Command Academy (NJLCA), a program designed to prepare emerging leaders for a successful transition into senior leadership positions, was evaluated to assess how the NJLCA impacts its graduates and their agencies. The current study is the first empirical evaluation of a jail leadership development program, using the Kirkpatrick evaluation typology. Structured interviews with 49 jail leaders from 41 agencies across the U.S. produced rich qualitative data for content analysis using the Kirkpatrick evaluation model. Respondents identified numerous examples of how their agencies' NJLCA graduates apply what they learned at the NJLCA to improve their job performance and achieve organizational goals, revealing a positive, multidimensional impact of the NJLCA.


To conduct policy-relevant research that will help us understand atmospheric impacts and potential health effects that may be caused by the use of petroleum-based fuels and alternative transportation fuels from mobile sources.


A vehicle-mounted charging device comprises a charging device body, an external connection module and an electric wire. The charging device body comprises a circuit board, a power plug and a first shell, wherein the circuit board is contained inside the first shell, one end of the power plug is used for being connected with a power socket of a vehicle in a matching mode, and the other end of the power plug is electrically connected with the circuit board. The external connection module comprises a charging plug and a second shell, wherein the charging plug is arranged in the second shell and used for being inserted into a charging interface of a pre-charged electronic device to charge the electronic device. One end of the electric wire is welded to the circuit board in the vehicle-mounted charging device body, and the other end of the electric wire is connected with the external connection module and electrically connected with the charging plug.


Abstract This analysis of Remembrance (2001) shows how this short film displays five distinct features of Canadian national cinema ‐ Canadian setting, the failed male, lack of narrative closure, auteurism and anti-romance. By displaying these characteristics
 found in Canadian feature-length films Remembrance rises above the short film genre.


Coronary arteries present many variation and those variations have been well documented. Some of the variations of these arteries are life threatening since they compromise the myocardial irrigation and also pose challenges in per cutaneous cardiac catheterizations. A rare variation of left coronary artery was noted during routine dissection classes. The left coronary artery had a diameter of 6mm at its origin and after a course of 4mm, it quadrifurcated. Among the four branches, one was anterior interventricular, one was circumflex and the other two were intermediate ventricular branches. The quadrifurcation might be of interest to cardiologists and radiologists.


Using a hydrothermal process in FeCl2 solution, γ-Fe2O3/Ni2O3/FeCl3(FeCl2) composite nanoparticles were obtained from the FeOOH/Ni(OH)2 precursor prepared by coprecipitation. The precursor and the as-prepared nanoparticles were investigated by vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy disperse X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The experimental results showed that the paramagnetic amorphous precursor, in which Ni(OH)2 is formed outside FeOOH, is transformed to ferrimagnetic γ-Fe2O3/Ni2O3 composite when it is processed in FeCl2 solution (0.25, 0.50, 1.00 M) in an autoclave at 100°C for 1 hr. In addition, the dismutation reaction of FeCl2 produces FeCl3 and Fe. Some FeCl3 and little FeCl2 can be absorbed to form γ-Fe2O3/Ni2O3/FeCl3(FeCl2) composite nanoparticles in which Ni2O3 forms outside the γ-Fe2O3 core and the outermost layer is FeCl3 (FeCl2). The content of FeCl3 (FeCl2) in the particles increased, and the magnetization of the particles decreased with the concentration of FeCl2 solution increasing in the hydrothermal process. The FeCl3 (FeCl2) surface is chemically passive and nonmagnetic (paramagnetic). Accordingly, the composite nanoparticles are chemically stable, and their aggregation is prevented. The specific saturation magnetization of such composite nanoparticles can get to 57.4–62.2 emu/g and could be very suitable for synthesizing ferrofluids.


This thesis discusses deposition, self-assembly, polymerisation and covalent bonding of bromine functionalised molecules on Au(111), Ag(111), Cu(111) and Cu(110) metal substrates are investigated. The debromination and subsequent covalent bonding is found to depend heavily on the reactivity of the substrate, the molecular coverage and anneal temperatures. Characterisation was performed using scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and synchrotron based photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) as well as x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS).
Deposition of hexabromotriphenylene (HBTP) on the Au(111), Ag(111) and Cu(111) surfaces resulted in the formation of disordered, covalently bonded nano-networks which remained stable up to a temperature of 300˚C. C-Br bonds of HBTP can cleave at room temperature (RT) on Ag and Cu due to the substrate reactivity allowing new covalent C-C bonds to form. In the case of Cu, disordered networks are observed at RT while in contrast, more ordered networks develop on the Ag and Au substrates after annealing to 150˚C and 200˚C respectively. On the Au(111) surface bromine desorption begins at 250˚C whereas on the Ag(111) and Cu(111) surfaces the atomic bromine remains on the surface and forms a (√3×√3)R30˚ structure.
The formation of atomically precise graphene nanoribbons (GNR) from a 10,10'-dibromo-9,9'-bianthryl (DBBA) precursor molecule was investigated on the Au(111), Ag(111), Cu(111) and Cu(110) surfaces. After deposition, the DBBA molecules undergo two thermally induced chemical changes; (i) a debromination reaction to produce covalently bonded polymerised chains and (ii) a cyclodehydrogenation reaction at higher temperatures to form GNRs. The threshold for the debromination reaction, polymerisation and final cyclodehydrogenation reaction decreases proportionally with the reactivity of the substrate.
Ni(II) 5,15-dibromo-10,20-diphenyl (DBrDPP) was studied on the Cu(110) surface to investigate its suitability for integration into GNRs. Thermally induced covalent bonding of DBrDPP was observed via a C-Cu-C organo-metallic bond while a Ni-Cu ion exchange reaction occurs in the porphyrin macrocycle. At higher anneal temperatures domains of graphene emerge which exhibit a moire pattern with varying periodicities indicating a lattice mismatch between the graphene layer and the underlying copper substrate.


This paper describes the theory and implementation of audio effects such as echo, distortion and pitch-shift in Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). At first the mathematical formulation for generation of such effects is explained and then the algorithm is described for its implementation in FPGA using Very high speed integrated circuit hardware descriptive language (VHDL). The digital system being designed, which is synthesizable and reconfigurable, offers a great flexibility and scalability in designing and prototyping in FPGAs. The system is divided into three HDL blocks, each for echo, distortion, and pitch-shift effect generation, which are multiplexed in order to share the common ADC and DAC. The audio effect generator designed in this paper was successfully implemented in Spartan-3E FPGA utilizing the resources available effectively. There has been tremendous research being carried out in the field of IP core. Efficient IP cores designed to carry out digital signal processing are implemented in every modern device using configurable logics. This trend hasn't yet been realized in Nepal. Through the design and implementation of audio effect generator, this paper also aims at bringing the field of IP core development to limelight among scholars of Nepal. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njst.v15i1.12022 Nepal Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 15, No.1 (2014) 89-98


The influenza A virus genome is segmented into eight viral RNAs (vRNA). Secondary structures on vRNA are thought to be involved in the viral proliferation process, such as intersegment interactions that are necessary for segment bundling. However, the functional RNA structure on vRNA is not well known because the secondary structure of vRNA in virion was partially unwound by binding viral non-specific RNA binding proteins in a sequence-independent manner. Here, we establish the global map of the vRNA secondary structure in virion using the combination of dimethyl sulfate (DMS)-seq and selective 2′-hydroxyl acylation analyzed by primer extension (SHAPE)-seq. By integrating DMS-seq and SHAPE-seq analyses with robust statistical analysis, we inferred quite a few bases paired regions including a pseudoknot structure on segment 5. Notably, when cells were infected with the recombinant virus which had mutations in the pseudoknot structure, the impairment of replication and packaging was observed on the other specific segment. Moreover, we analyzed the comprehensive intersegment RNA interactions in virion by ligation of interacting RNA followed by high-throughput sequencing (LIGR-seq). Our LIGR-seq analysis revealed that the intersegment interactions of the specific segment became less frequent and rearranged in the recombinant virus in concordance with the strength of genome packaging impairment. Our data provide evidence that the functional RNA structure motif on the influenza A virus genome can affect the efficiency of replication and segment bundling through the segment interactions.


SUMMARY In a randomized block 3x2 factorial experiment 72 Large White type and Large White x Landrace pigs were restrictedly fed to 160 lb (72–5 kg) live weight on diets (as wet mashes) containing high levels of maize, wheat or barley in either ground meal or ground flaked forms. A further five groups of six litter-mate Large White type hog pigs per group were used in digestibility and nitrogen balance studies. The diets of meal were formulated to be iso-nitrogenous and to contain similar levels of lysine and for each cereal similar levels of protein and vitamin/mineral supplements were included in the flaked diets. There were no significant cereal x processing interactions for any of the parameters studied. Overall, flaking improved digestibility and this was reflected in a higher (P >0-05) digestible energy content of the flaked diets (3402 kcal/kg air dry weight) compared with the meal diets (3334 kcal/kg air dry weight). The digestible energy contents of the maize, wheat and barley diets were significantly different (P < 0-001) at 3477, 3431 and 3195 kcal/kg air-dry diet respectively. Nitrogen retention, growth rate and efficiency of food conversion were all significantly poorer for the flaked, compared with the meal based diets. The nitrogen retained from the wheat-based diets was significantly lower than that retained from the maize- and barley-based diets. Growth rates of pigs given the wheat- and barley-based diets were similar but taken together were significantly (P < 0-05) better than those obtained from pigs given the maize-based diet. Efficiency of food conversion followed a similar pattern but the differences were not statistically significant.


PbTiO3 nanomaterials with various phase structures were obtained by the hydrothermal method using different mineralizers.PbTiO3 nanostructures with PE phase could be obtained by using NaOH as mineralizers,while PX and PY phase of PbTiO3 can be synthesized when the ethanolamine was used as mineralizer.The microstructural analysis reveals that the diameters of PbTiO3 nanowires with PX phase is about 20 nm with the growth direction,while the nanowires is along direction for PE phase PbTiO3,and branch-like nanostructures is obtained for PY phase PbTiO3.Room temperature Raman spectrum study indicates that peak bands of these three phases were broadened comparing with bulk materials and more phonon vibration mode can be found in PX compare with PE phase.In addition,a blue-green luminescence is observed at room temperature for PbTiO3 nanomaterials with PX phase,which should be relative to the non-uniform band gap structure caused by surface oxygen vacancies.


The remnants of primeval Norway spruce forests in the European temperate zone are crucial for maintaining forest biodiversity in high mountain landscapes. This paper presents results of a multidisciplinary research and evaluation project on the management practices for mountain spruce forests in the Natura 2000 site (National Nature Reserve Serak-Keprnik in the Hruby Jesenik Mountains, the Czech Republic). Results are based on combining research on the historical development of the forest ecosystem and predictions of future dynamics using a forest growth simulation model. The presented results show that a non-intervention management strategy for mountain spruce forest in the next 50 years complies with the Natura 2000 requirement to maintain the existing character of the forest habitat. Thus, the results indicate that the current management plan for the spruce forests does not require significant corrections in the context of its conservation goals (i.e., maintaining biodiversity and current character of the forest ecosystem dominated by Norway spruce). The results of this study suggest that combining the knowledge of historical development with forest inventory data using forest growth simulation represents a suitable support tool for the assessment of management practices for forest habitats in protected areas.


Subjects read narratives describing directions of objects around a standing or reclimng observer, who was periodically reoriented. RTs were measured to identify which object was currently located beyond the observer's head, feet, front, back, fight, and left. When the observer was standing, head/feet RTs were fastest, followed by front/back and then right/left. For the reclining observer, front/back RTs were fastest, followed by head/feet and then right/left. The data support the spatial framework model, according to which space is conceptualized in terms of three axes whose accessibility depends on body asymmetries and the relation of the body to the world. The data allow rejection of the equiavailability model, according to which RTs to all directions are equal, and the mental transformation model, according to which RTs increase with angular disparity from front. Out of the window of the hospital you could see a field with tumbleweed coming out of the snow, and a bare clay butte .... From the other window, if the bed was turned, you could see the town, with a little smoke above it, and the Dawson mountains looking like real mountains with the winter snow on them. Narratives such as this one seem to induce mental pictures in the minds of their readers. Bransford, Barclay, and Franks (1972), Garnham (1981), Johnson-Laird (1983), and van Dijk and Kintsch (1983), among others, proposed that in comprehending such narratives, people retain more than a surface trace or a precise propositional record of the text; people also construct and make use of a mental model of the situation described by the text. Although different authors have proposed different ideas about what these "mental models" or "situation models" consist of, all agree that they represent spatial relations among objects and protagonists and that they, like representations of real-word events, can be updated as those relations change. In support of the proposal that mental models derived from text are similar to representations of real-world experience, several studies have demonstrated that models constructed from descriptions can include information about physical properties, such as the relative positions of objects (Mani & Johnson-Laird, 1982; Perrig & Kintsch, 1985) and the distances between them (Glenberg, Meyer, & Lindem, 1987; Morrow, Greenspan, & Bower, 1987). However, most researchers who have used descriptions for inducing mental models have done so for two-dimensional, rather


Besides safety, the main philosophy of a five-star airport is to ensure the highest achievable level of quality in terms of comfort and passenger transfer efficiency, measured by short paths and low connecting times. In the event of critical connecting times, an optimal assignment of gates may decide whether passengers reach their onward flights or not. In this paper, we address the modeling and solving of the Airport Gate Assignment Problem with a focus on the properties of a five-star hub airport. Besides general ground infrastructure properties, we also discuss the gate assignment under consideration of the aircraft wingspan. Finally, we will use a model of the Terminal 2 at Munich Airport as a basis for case studies. The underlying problem is a binary quadratic optimization problem, and we will discuss techniques for solving the problem by means of fast solution procedures. In the near future, an extension will be introduced that will consider the selection of seats depending on the passenger's preference, the estimated connecting time and the yields generated by reservation fees. Airport Gate Assignment Problem; Quadratic Assignment Problem; Five-Star Airport; Wingspan


ABSTRACT Regeneration of Drosophila imaginal discs, larval precursors to adult tissues, activates a regeneration checkpoint that coordinates regenerative growth with developmental progression. This regeneration checkpoint results from the release of the relaxin-family peptide Dilp8 from regenerating imaginal tissues. Secreted Dilp8 protein is detected within the imaginal disc lumen, in which it is separated from its receptor target Lgr3, which is expressed in the brain and prothoracic gland, by the disc epithelial barrier. Here, we demonstrate that following damage the imaginal disc epithelial barrier limits Dilp8 signaling and the duration of regeneration checkpoint delay. We also find that the barrier becomes increasingly impermeable to the transepithelial diffusion of labeled dextran during the second half of the third instar. This change in barrier permeability is driven by the steroid hormone ecdysone and correlates with changes in localization of Coracle, a component of the septate junctions that is required for the late-larval impermeable epithelial barrier. Based on these observations, we propose that the imaginal disc epithelial barrier regulates the duration of the regenerative checkpoint, providing a mechanism by which tissue function can signal the completion of regeneration. Summary: The Drosophila imaginal disc epithelial barrier matures in response to increasing ecdysone levels and re-localization of Cora along the lateral membrane: this limits Dilp8 signaling and determines the duration of regeneration-induced developmental delay.


In field trials conducted for two years, it was found that two new synthetic pyrethroids viz., cyhalothrin at the rate of 0.025 kg a.i./ha and fluvalinate 0.075 kg a.i./ha were equally effective as fenvalerate 0.075 kg ai./ha against the bollworms on cotton. There was not much difference among the treatments in the yield of seed cotton, though flucythrinate recorded 2033 kg/ha (1985-86) and fenvalerate 1780 kg/ha (1986-87) as against 978 kg/ha in the untreated check respectively.


Abstract:In June 1977, metal unions convened a seminar on the future of Australian manufacturing, bringing together over 1,200 delegates from unions, business and politics. The event is best conceived as an early episode of institutional searching, whereby the state, capital and labour engage in a contradictory and contested process of discovering ways through the crisis of the extant antipodean Fordist model of development. Whereas some prescriptions tended to reinforce the structure and logic of antipodean Fordism, others cut across its grain and evinced radically new modalities of regulating capitalism. Other contributions reflected confusion and an inability to formulate concrete proposals for reform. This article will demonstrate the utility of seeing the 1977 seminar in this way, by focusing on the session dedicated to exploring the role of the Industries Assistance Commission. The analysis will reveal that, whereas the union and employer advocates remained within the ambit of the antipodean Fordist system, the Commission representative delivered proposals fundamentally at odds with its dynamics.


The authors studied the physical characteristics of elite Chinese canoeists and compared them with the medallists at the recent three Olympic canoeing items.There were not differences between the Chinese canoeists and the foreign top ones in height,with the female Chinese canoeists even higher than others.However,weight,fat,limb length,skeletal muscles of the Chinese canoeists were not as good as those of the latter.Their strength and event-related endurance needed to be better developed.


1. Associate Professor in the Department of Radiology of the Fluminense Federal University School of Medicine, Head of the Radiology Department of the Antônio Pedro University Hospital, Niterói, RJ, Brazil. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com. According to the American College of Rheumatology, although rheumatic diseases are rare, one in four American adults has been diagnosed with any of the various types of such diseases. The Centers for Disease Control recently predicted that by the year 2040 approximately 78 million American adults (26% of the population) could be diagnosed with rheumatic disease. Among the rheumatic diseases with central nervous system manifestations, rheumatoid arthritis currently affects about 1.3 million adult Americans and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) affects 200,000–300,000(1). Neuropsychiatric disorders are important clinical manifestations associated with SLE, and the risk of cerebrovascular event is increasing, one of the most serious complications being ischemic stroke, the incidence of which ranges from 3% to 20% in the first five years after the diagnosis of SLE(2). Neurological impairment has a major impact on quality of life and outcomes in patients with SLE, neuroimaging—typically with computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)—being of great importance for the diagnosis and monitoring of ischemic vascular events(3,4). Advances in MRI and the development of various new related techniques have increased the accuracy of assessments of brain structure, perfusion, and metabolism, thus facilitating the detection and monitoring of brain lesions in such patients(5). Rheumatic diseases present diverse neurological clinical conditions, and reversible posterior encephalopathy can occur in patients with SLE, especially in women, the main risk factors being active disease, renal impairment, and systemic arterial hypertension. The most common clinical manifestations are seizures, headache, changes in mental state, cortical blindness, clinical signs of hypertension, vomiting, and neurological deficits. Neuroimaging studies show bilateral involvement, most commonly in the occipital and parietal lobes, requiring monitoring of blood pressure and seizures, and reviews of the literature have shown that immunosuppressive drugs produce satisfactory therapeutic results(6,7). Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic multisystem inflammatory disease with intra-articular and extra-articular manifestations. Craniovertebral dislocations occur in more than 40% of patients with severe rheumatoid arthritis, and its appropriate diagnosis is fundamental because of the significance of the potential neurological complications. Neuroimaging is essential to confirm the diagnosis and to categorize the severity of the injury. When conservative methods such as traction and external immobilization do not resolve the symptoms or are not indicated, surgical treatment can be necessary. Although intracranial manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis are rare, leptomeningitis can occur, MRI evaluation of the brain and histological analysis of a biopsy specimen being fundamental for diagnostic confirmation(8,9). Involvement of the central nervous system in patients with scleroderma, which was considered rare, has been reported with increasing frequency. Seizures, headache, involvement of the cranial nerves, hemiparesis, cognitive disorders, and neuropsychiatric disorders have been reported in such patients. In the localized form of scleroderma, the "en coup de sabre" lesion has been described in the frontoparietal region, and the atrophy of muscle structures, cartilage, and facial bones suggest the possibility of Parry-Romberg syndrome. Cerebral atrophy, intraparenchymal calcifications, and white matter lesions, as identified on MRI scans, have also been described. Involvement of the peripheral nervous system (with myopathy, trigeminal neuropathy, and peripheral polyneuropathy) and autonomic nervous system (affecting the cardiovascular and digestive systems) predominate in systemic scleroderma. The treatment of central nervous system involvement varies on a case-by-case basis, diagnostic suspicion and the use of imaging methods being fundamental(10,11). Behçet's disease is another chronic multisystem inflammatory disorder, and the neurological impairment (referred to as neuro-Behçet's disease) manifests clinically as headache, dysarthria, ataxia, and hemiparesis. Most patients with neuroBehçet's disease present parenchymal involvement affecting the diencephalic region. There is also an extraparenchymal form, with thrombosis of the cerebral venous sinuses and involvement of the spinal cord. Cerebral venous thrombosis


Image is a nuclear conception of imagology in contemporary comparative literature.There is a new explanation for image since the end of 20th century,which believes that imagology should ignore the conception of copy and reappearance and emphasize on the creation and fiction.But this viewpoint is limited because it is in contradiction with practical research.To solve the dilemma of theoretical interpretation rooted in the thinking pattern of dualistic in the west,Chinese ancient theory about image may have some reference.


BV CCD photometry for eleven RR Lyrae variables in the globular cluster M 5 (NGC 5904) is presented. New ephemerides are computed, and V, B, and (B-V) light curves are given. A color-magnitude diagram based on two V and two B short-exposure frames is given, which reaches from the tip of the giant branch to below the main-sequence turnoff. The RRab and RRc variables overlap in mean (B-V) colors, but not in effective temperatures computed using periods, blue amplitudes, and the metallicity of the clusters. This supports a previous claim about the unsuitability of mean (B-V) values to estimate mean or equilibrium temperatures for RR Lyrae stars.


Objective To analyze the relationship between myeloproliferative neoplasm and stroke.Methods 18 myeloproliferative neoplasm patients with stroke were retrospectively analyzed.Results Of the 18 patients,there were 2 cases with cerebral hemorrhage(11.11%),15 cases with cerebral thrombnsis(83.33%) and 1 case with cerebrah hdiorrhagic thrombosic(5.56%).The neurological functions of the patients were improved in different degrees after hematologic remission with low dose hydroxyurea combined with conventional treatient of acute stroke.Conclusion There is close relationship between myeloproliferative neoplasm and stroke.The low dose hydroxyurea combined with the conventional treatment and aspirin is effective for acute stroke.


This article investigates the current and expected impact of automation technology in the well-being of European citizens. First, we explore the technical, social and economic factors that determine technological progress and the implementation of the new technologies. Second, we review the expected impact of automation on employment. Finally, we assess the impact that automation will have on the well-being of European citizens in light of the two first sections. To this end, we draw on the expected asymmetrical impact of automation in people with different education levels and on current inequality trends. Throughout the article, we use a normative approach, prescribing what European policy makers should take into account in light of our findings. We find that it is unclear what the net effect of technology on employment will be, but automation of non-routine manual and cognitive tasks will displace a significant percentage of workers. We find that current trends of increasing inequalities will intensify due to the fact that automation will affect more low-skilled workers. We find that the current institutional design of the European Union is unfit to tackle educational and social protection challenges. We can therefore expect social resistance to technological progress and political instability in the years to come.


This report compiles responses to an online survey of participants in Bothy Project 'live/work' artist residencies at two main sites in Scotland: Inshriach Bothy, in Inshriach Estate in the Cairngorms National Park (operational since October 2012), and Sweeney's Bothy on the Isle of Eigg (up and running from February 2014). In November 2019 a link to the survey was emailed to 165 people listed as doing these residencies (with a reminder in December). Forty-five full responses were received. The majority of respondents (40 of 45) noted a direct beneficial impact on their work or practice from their Bothy Project residency. Undertaking a residency often resulted in tangible artworks and influenced the 'feel' of what was made. Some people changed existing, or adopted new, working practices during their residency. A small group stated that the residency had directly inspired new ways of thinking. Two (of 45) people wrestled with the conditions, making it difficult for them to complete pre-existing projects. Overall, the experiences narrated in this survey support further research into approaches that enable people to make the most of any given residency experience.


Background: Influenza-specific cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTL) have a critical role in clearing the virus from the lungs, but are poorly stimulated by current inactivated influenza vaccines. Our previous work suggests that granzyme B (GrB) activity predicts protection against laboratory-confirmed influenza infection (LCII) in older adults. However, basal GrB (bGrB) activity increases with age and the frequency of GrB+ CTL that do not co-express perforin increases following influenza infection, thereby acting as a potential contributor to immune pathology. Objectives: Using data from a 4-years randomized trial of standard-versus high-dose influenza vaccination, we sought to determine whether measurements of GrB activity alone indicate a protective vs pathologic response to influenza infection. We compared LCII to No-LCII subsets according to: pre-vaccination bGrB activity; and induced GrB activity in ex vivo influenza-challenged peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) at four and 20weeks post-vaccination. Results: Over four influenza seasons (2014–2018), 27 of 608 adult participants aged 65 years and older developed influenza A/H3N2-LCII (n = 18) or B-LCII (n = 9). Pre-vaccination, there was a significant correlation between bGrB and ex vivo GrB activity in each of the H3N2-LCII, B-LCII, and No-LCII subsets. Although pre-vaccination ex vivo GrB activity was significantly higher in B-LCII vs No-LCII with a trend for H3N2-LCII vs No-LCII, there was no difference in the response to vaccination. In contrast, there was a trend toward increased pre-vaccination bGrB activity and LCII: Odds Ratio (OR) (95% confidence intervals) OR = 1.46 (0.94, 2.33). By 20-weeks post-vaccination, there were significant fold-increases in ex vivo GrB activity specific for the infecting subtype in H3N2-LCII: OR = 1.63 (1.35, 2.00) and B-LCII: OR = 1.73 (1.34, 2.23). Conclusions: Our results suggest that the poor GrB responses to influenza vaccination that led to development of LCII can be attributed to inactivated formulations rather than the aging immune system since LCII cases generated robust ex vivo GrB responses following natural infection. Further, we identified bGrB as a biomarker of those who remain at risk for LCII following vaccination. Future studies will focus on understanding the mechanisms responsible for the shift in GrB-mediated protection vs potential immune pathology caused by GrB release.


Pregnancy has so far remained at the testing phase of its life cycle and is yet to be implemented. During the research, it was found that there is an acute shortage of specialist obstetricians in the Reproductive Health Division which implies that there is also scarce expert knowledge on the diagnosis and treatment of Hypertension in Pregnancy, yet the condition continues to kill many women of reproductive age in Kenya, hence the need to develop the Medical Expert System (MES) as an expert knowledge sharing tool to be used by other medical personnel within the Reproductive Health Division who are not specialists in diagnosis and treatment of Hypertension in Pregnancy.


Compact polarimetric (CP) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems are attracting increasing interest as they possess the ability to construct quad-polarimetric information with advantages of simpler system, lower data rate, and wider swath, compared to a fully polarimetric (FP) system. In order to get undistorted polarimetric information, calibration of CP measurements has to be performed. Freeman and Chen both proposed methods for CP SAR calibration using merely calibrators, which require at least three calibrators at a range line and would require many more calibrators when monitoring the change of the system across the swath is necessary. It has been proved that FP SAR calibration methods exploring scattering characteristics of natural distributed targets (DTs) can reduce the requirement of the number of deployed calibrators. However, it is much more complicated in the case of CP SAR calibration, as only two channels of CP measurements are available. This paper proposes a numerical CP calibration method using natural DTs and only one corner reflector (CR) for a reciprocal CP SAR system. The validity of the method for three typical CP modes is confirmed by simulations with Advanced Land Observing Satellite Phased Array L-band SAR data. Through sensitivity analysis, a dihedral at 0° is selected as the best CR for the calibration algorithm.


Abstract It is essential that the experiences of recipients of care and support via personal budgets are understood and that local authorities are able: 'to help people to live as independently as possible for as long as possible, and to provide information, advice and support to people who are struggling to cope with everyday life . . . to ensure that everyone has access to the support services they are entitled to.' Personal budgets were implemented fully across all care groups in Hertfordshire from October 2008. At this time it was agreed to allow a full six months' implementation prior to making any changes followed by a detailed evaluation to ascertain the efficacy of the personal budgets process. The evaluation considered the needs assessment questionnaire, resource allocation system and pricing point, business process and user and carer experience data from the past six months. The majority of people across all groups felt that the concept of personal budgets was excellent and offered the potential...


Blooms of cyanobacteria have occurred in many regions all over the world and produced a number of toxins,including dermatotoxins,neurotoxins and hepatotoxins.Among hepatotoxins,microcystins are the most widespread and found to have more than 75 kinds of structural analogues.The toxic effects of microcystins on animals have been carried out widely.Microcystins could result in the death of invertebrate,fish,birds and other wild and domestic animals.Moreover,the bioaccumulation of microcystins by aquatic organisms including fish,shellfish and zooplankton determines the risk of health problems among animals and people that eat food contaminated by cyanotoxins.It was reported that mcirocystins could inhibit the growth and induce the antioxidant system reaction of plant.However,few studies have been tried to elucidate the possible effect of microcystins on microbes,which are equally important in aquatic ecosystem.Escherichia coli(E.coli) and Bacillus subtilis(B.subtilis) are procaryotic microorganisms and often used to be representative of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria respectively.Moreover,Microcystin-LR,RR and YR are the most common isomers of microcystin.We investigated the effects of microcystin-RR(MC-RR) on the growth and some physio-biochemical characteristics of representative microbial species E.coli and B.subtilis.The results in the present study showed that the growth of E.coli and B.subtilis were significantly prolonged when exposed to microcystin-RR of 10mg/L compared with that of the control group.But the OD600 only showed a slight decrease when E.coli and B.subtilis exposed to microcystin-RR of 5mg/L or below for 1h.The OD600 of the high concentration(10mg/L) toxin-treated group was lower than that of the control group during the experiment.Since toxin-treated E.coli and B.subtilis cells had to consume a lot of endogenous compounds to conjugate or transform this xenobiotic,the growth and reproduction of E.coli and B.subtilis were unavoidable to be prolonged.But the dose of microcystin-RR did not have a lethal effect.E.coli and B.subtilis only showed growth inhibition at the initial growth phase when cells were treated with microcystin-RR.Indeed,the normal rate of growth was gradually re-established and the growth curves of the toxin-treated and untreated bacteria became parallel.The cell viability of E.coli and B.subtilis were also inhibited for a short period compared with that of the control group,which was similar to the growth of bacteria.The contents of protein and soluble sugar in cells increased compared with that of the control group at the beginning of MC-RR exposure,and then gradually decreased.The results showed the stress of MC-RR on E.coli and B.subtlis.The change of protein and soluble sugar made cells suit for the stress of MC-RR gradually.


This paper presents a comparative analysis of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and filterbank multi-carrier (FBMC) transmission schemes for broad band power line communication (BB-PLC). The BB-PLC channel is modeled by a Bernoulli-Gaussian process and the closed-form expressions for average bit error rate (BER) and average channel capacity are derived for the two schemes. Although, the two schemes are identical in-terms of the average BER performance, it is observed from the numerical results that spectral efficiency of FBMC is much superior than that of OFDM. Further, while comparing the two schemes with a single carrier transmission scheme, it is observed that the effect of impulsive noise significantly reduces in FBMC and OFDM. Thus, it is concluded that FBMC is a better choice for the BB-PLC systems.


Correspondence Address: ROSENBERG, KLEIN & LEE (57) ABSTRACT 3458 ELLCOTT CENTER DRIVE-SUTE 101 ELLICOTT CITY, MD 21043 (US) The present invention proposes a field emitting display, wherein a field emitting array is formed on a glass Substrate. The field emitting array comprises a plurality of arrays of thin film transistors and a plurality of carbon nanotubes used as field emitting cathodes. The magnitude and Stability of the field-emitted current of the carbon nanotubes are controlled by using the thin film transistors. The present invention has (51) Int. Cl. ............................... H01J 1/02; H01J 63/04 the characteristics of high quality, large area, and low cost. (21) Appl. No.: 09/846,209


Olefin metathesis is a widely used method for constructing carbon–carbon double bonds. This methodology has broad applications in organic and polymer chemistry, and the continued design of highly efficient catalysts has been critical to the success of this reaction. The main goal of this thesis was to design and synthesize new catalysts for better selectivity and for improved properties for targeted applications, as well as to explore different ligand structures for optimal catalyst performance in olefin metathesis. The application of ruthenium catalysts for the ring-opening metathesis polymerization of challenging monomer 1,5-dimethyl-1,5-cyclooctadiene in the presence of a chain transfer agent is discussed in chapter 2. A variety of complexes were explored to find the ideal catalyst for this transformation, enabling the synthesis of telechelic polyisoprene, which has extensive applications in block copolymerization. Chiral N-alkyl, N-aryl NHC ruthenium catalysts were designed and synthesized to improve the enantioselectivity during asymmetric ring-opening cross-metathesis. Mechanistic studies of these catalysts revealed a preference for methylidene propagation compared to previous NHC catalysts. Chapter 3 describes these studies, in addition to the screening of a variety of chiral ligands for optimal enantioselectivity. Some of these catalysts gave very high enantioselectivity, comparable to the best reported ruthenium catalysts. Insights into the stability of these complexes as a propagating methylidene led to investigating them in applications where propagation as a methylidene is desirable. N-aryl, N-alkyl NHC ruthenium catalysts were designed and synthesized for improved selectivity during ethenolysis reactions, which require a ruthenium methylidene species to react with an internal olefin to yield a terminal olefin and a ruthenium alkylidene species. Subsequent reaction of this ruthenium alkylidene species with ethylene gives the other terminal olefin. This reaction can be applied to the internal olefin of seed oils to generate valuable products that are typically derived from petroleum sources, thus providing an environmentally friendly route to the same products. An important component of ethenolysis catalysts is stability to existing as a methylidene, a property of the N-aryl, N-alkyl NHC ruthenium catalysts described in chapter 4. Chapter 5 describes the design and synthesis of sterically hindered N-aryl, N-alkyl NHC ruthenium catalysts for application in latent metathesis. These complexes also show excellent stability at elevated temperatures for extended periods of time. Appendix A contains NMR spectra for catalysts described in chapter 4, as well as X-ray crystal structures for two of the catalysts. Appendix B contains NMR spectra for catalysts described in chapter 5, as well as X-ray crystal structures for two of those catalysts.


Antibiotic efficacy is threatened by the continual spread of resistance in pathogenic bacteria since exposure to antibiotics may lead to emergence of resistant mutants, as widely demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo 1-3.Since commensal bacteria have been shown to transfer determinants of resistance to pathogens 4, studies on development of resistance should include also commensal bacteria. In this context, the potential for antibiotic resistance transfer in the gastrointestinal tract between probiotics and pathogenic bacteria represents a major area of concern 5. Many studies demonstrated that lactic acid bacteria, including lactobacilli, may act as reservoirs for antibiotic-resistance genes. Genes encoding resistance to various antibiotics have been detected in lactobacilli and lactococci, isolated from food and probiotic products 6-15. Moreover, antibiotic resistance genes can be transferred from lactobacilli to enterococci, especially if such genes are carried on plasmids 6,8,9,16,17. Lactobacillus reuteri is a well known probiotic microorganism which has been extensively studied in humans and animals 18,19. The use of L. reuteri as a probiotic strain has been proven safe in many studies 9. Nevertheless, some L. reuteri strains have been shown to be resistant to commonly used antibiotics and to harbor resistance genes belonging to erm (erythromycin resistance), tet (tetracycline resistance), lnu (lincosamide resistance), cat (chloramphenicol resistance) families 8,10,11,13,20,21. The present study aimed to evaluate the capability of some antibiotics to select for resistant mutants of L. reuteri DSM 17938 and the transferability of resistance to other bacteria. L. reuteri DSM 17938 is a commercial strain which has been derived from ATCC 55730 by the removal of two plasmids harboring potentially transferable resistance genes; the daughter strain has lost resistance to 13-lactams, tetracycline and lincosamide associated with these genes 22. L. reuteri DSM 17938 was isolated from a commercial product (Reuterin, Noos, Rome, Italy). Amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, erythromycin and tetracycline, as representatives of different classes, were tested at twice and four times the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)and at serum peak concentration (Cmax). The choice of antibiotics and