The rapid advancements in wireless sensor network (WSN) technology gave impetus for large-scale deployment of Internet-of-things (IoT) services and applications. One of the envisioned IoT applications is the use of wireless sensor nodes in gas-leakage monitoring and detection applications. Such IoT applications can provide better protection to fire fighters and provide safety and early-warning gas detection alarms within a timely manner for individuals, factories and institutions. In this article, we highlight the unique characteristics of WSNs, discuss the main WSN design requirements associated with gas leakage and monitoring applications, discuss main differences between data collection- and event detection-based WSN solutions and present a detailed overview of the works that have been accomplished on providing WSN solutions for gas leakage detection and monitoring.


This is, of course, in my short experience,an extreme case. But I am remindedof others, less spectacularones,casesof early dementiawhich, in large wards where individual attentionmust necessarily be limited, would gradually and naturally declineinto deeperdementia. I haveseep. such conditions arrested on their downward path and though no treatmentcan replacea nerve cell once destroyed nor cure an established condition of dementia, one must applaud and persist in any course of treatment,which not only tends to prevent a further declination, but enablessome partially dementedperson to use to his ownand his neighbours'sadvantagewhat remainsof his original brain equipment. The more I see ofjudici?usly used"thyreoid treatment,''the moream I convinced of its use and of its applicability to typesof mental diseasenot hitherto consideredsuitable. I have to thank the Inspector-General of Mental Hospitals, Dr. Eric Sinclair, for his permissionto publish the abovenotes basedon casestreatedat Kenmore Mental Hospital. • mtports of セ。sエウN


Many aluminium structures contain welded and bolted connections that are modeled as one or more equivalent T-stubs – also referred to as tension zone components – for the structural assessment. Knowledge on the structural behavior of such T-stubs is thus essential for proper designs. However, this behavior has never been checked for fire conditions. In this paper, the structural behavior of aluminium T-stubs exposed to fire is studied through a combination of tests, finite element simulations, and theoretical models. A safe and conservative assessment procedure is developed for determining the critical temperature, based on the material deterioration as a function of temperature. This enables engineers and practitioners to determine a conservative value of the fire resistance.


A detailed study of the coherent and the incoherent combinations of two-dimensional off-axis Hermite-Gaussian beams with rectangular symmetry is made. The closed-form propagation formulas of the resulting beam are derived, and the resulting beam quality in terms of the M(2) factor and power in the bucket is discussed and compared for the coherent and the incoherent combinations. In addition, it is shown that the resulting astigmatic beam can be symmetrized in the sense of the second-moment definition of beam width. However, the symmetrizing transformation of the resulting astigmatic beams is incomplete, because there exist different irradiance profiles.


The photovoltaic power generation system has a great future as clean energy instead of fossil fuel, which has many environmental problems such as exhausted gas or air pollution. In a utility interactive photovoltaic generation system, a three phase inverter is used for the connection between the photovoltaic array and the utility. This paper presents a three phase inverter for photovoltaic power system with current controller, voltage controller, PLL control system and the phase detector of interactive voltage by using dq transformation. The proposed inverter system provides a sinusoidal ac current for domestic loads and the utility line with unity power factor.


It is well-known that bubble propagation margins for ion-implanted bubble devices depend strongly on ion-implantation conditions. A new ion-implantation method is reported that can significantly improve bubble propagation margins for minor loops with 4 × 4 μm bit cell size. The implantation was done through a Mo thin film layer so that the lattice strain and the anisotropy field change would be more uniform through the depth of the implanted layer. With this method, minor loops can be formed by hydrogen single implantation. Consequently simplification of the implantation process is achieved.


Differential identification of Trichophyton rubrum and Trichophyton mentagrophytes was evaluated by using the standard in vitro hair perforation test as a criterion for identification and comparing its effectiveness with that of nine other tests used to differentiate these two taxa. Correlation and multiple regression analysis showed that no single test or combination of these tests was able to make the differentiation as effectively as the standard in vitro hair perforation test. Using relative error analysis, we suggest an identification scheme based upon selective utilization of potato-carrot agar for sporulation and the standard in vitro hair perforation test. Using potato-carrot agar for development of typical microconidia on each of the nonsporulating primary isolates and subsequently performing the standard in vitro hair perforation test only on those isolates that failed to produce spores on potato-carrot medium, we showed that this combination scheme provides more expedient results, without any sacrifice in reliability, than the standard in vitro hair perforation test alone.


Background: Tumor neovascular vessels are not innervated by perivascular nerves. This study was an investigation of the effects of the nerve growth factor (NGF) on the distribution of perivascular nerves and neovessel formation in tumor tissues. Methods: A gel containing DU145 prostate carcinoma cells or HT1080 fibrosarcoma cells was implanted into mouse corneas. NGF was subcutaneously administered using an osmotic mini-pump. The distribution of perivascular nerves in mouse corneas and densities of CD31-immunopositive neovessels and smooth muscles (α-smooth muscle actin, α-SMA) in tumor tissues were quantified. Summary: Neovessels generated from corneal limber arteries in tumor tissues were observed 4-14 days after the implantation of tumor cells. The density of CD31-immunopositive cells in endothelium increased after the implantation of DU145 or HT1080 cells, while that of α-SMA-immunopositive cells slightly increased. The NGF treatment significantly increased the density of α-SMA- but not that of CD31-immunopositive cells (except for DU145 cells) and resulted in the innervation of perivascular nerves around tumor-derived neovessels, whereas no innervation was observed in the control group. Key Messages: These results suggest that NGF facilitates the innervation of perivascular nerves to regulate blood flow into tumor-derived neovessels.


The proton-catalyzed transformation of 2-thioureidobenzonitriles to 4-acylimino-4H-3,1-benzothiazines was accomplished by treatment with carboxylic anhydrides, acid chlorides or alkyl chloroformates. The reaction involves a cyclization to 4-imino-3,1-benzothiazinium salts, whose thioimidate structure is trapped by a subsequent reaction with the acyl donor. 2-Ureidobenzonitriles do not undergo such an intermolecular tandem reaction. The different reaction behavior of both types of substrates was verified by NMR monitoring and employing 18O-enriched water.


Objective To study the safety and efficacy methods of anesthesia in modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer patients with essential hypertention. Methods From January to July 2012, a total of 60 cases patients in elective modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer with essential hypertention were randomly divided into 1aryngeal mask airway(LMA) group (L group, n=30) and tracheal intubation group (T group, n=30). After rapid induction were inserted into the endotracheal tube or laryngeal mask;mean arterial pressure(MAP), heart rate(HR), pulse oxygen saturation(SpO2), bispectral index(BIS index)etc.were analyzed by statistical anlysis method. Informed consent was obtained from all participants. Results L group homed and pulled out laryngeal mask of MAP and HR had no significant differences (P0.05).Before and after T group tracheal intubation and extubation, MAP and HR were significantly different (P0.05),dosages of anesthetic in L group were less than that in T group (P0.05), postoperative recovery time of L group was much shorter than that in T group (P0.05).Incidences of throat irritation and cough in T group were significantly higher than those in L group (P0.05). Conclusions Effects on the circulation is minimal by LMA anesthesia, with less anesthetic, minimal stimulation of airway damage, which is an ideal breast cancer surgery anesthesia to essential hyperatention patients.


The present study aimed to investigate the intervention mechanisms of Rhizoma Coptidis using spontaneously hypertensive rats. A serum metabolomics analysis was performed with high performance liquid chromatography‑quadrupole/time of flight mass spectrometer in positive mode. The obtained data were further analyzed by principal component and partial least‑squares discriminant analysis to reveal differentiating metabolites. The pattern of metabolites in the serum after Rhizoma Coptidis exhibited distinct alterations. A total of 10 potential biomarkers were significantly altered in the serum and may be associated with the underlying mechanism. Alterations were primarily associated with phospholipid metabolism, fatty acid metabolism, amino acid metabolism and arachidonic acid metabolism. In addition, biochemical alterations in potential biomarkers were associated with inflammation, nitric oxide production, platelet aggregation and endothelial function. By analyzing and verifying the specific biomarkers, metabolomics may be helpful to further understand the underlying therapeutic mechanism of Rhizoma Coptidis. Metabolomics is a powerful tool used to investigate the therapeutic effects of herbal medicine with multiple targets.


Background: Hyperglycemia conditions in diabetes mellitus (DM) can turn on pro-inflammatory cytokines like IL-6 and TNF-α. These cytokines play a role in insulin resistance and the development of DM complications. People in Indonesia have used Phaleria macrocarpa to treat diabetes, but the leaf of this plant has not been studied to see if it can reduce inflammation. Objective: This study aims to analyze the effect of ethanolic extract of Phaleria macrocarpa leaves (EEPML) in serum IL-6 and TNF-α levels of diabetic rats. Methods: This study was an experiment with a post-test-only control group design. Thirty 8-week-old male Wistar rats were used in the study. They were split into six groups: K1 was the normal control group; K2 was the DM control group; K3, K4, and K5 were given EEPML at doses of 125, 250, and 500 mg/KgBW; and K6 was given metformin 45 mg/KgBW orally once a day for 14 days. A high-fat diet and a 30 mg/KgBWi.p injection of streptozotocin were used to make the diabetic rat model. ELISA method for measuring serum IL-6 and TNF-α levels. The Kruskal-Wallis and the Mann-Whitney test were used to examine the differences between the groups. Results: There were significant differences between treatment groups in the mean levels of serum IL-6 (p=0.017), but there were no significant differences in the mean levels of serum TNF-α (p>0.05). Conclusion: Administration of Phaleria macrocarpa leaf ethanol extract 125 mg/KgBW reduced serum IL-6 levels but could not significantly reduce serum TNF-α levels in diabetic rats.


If R is a ring and S is a semigroup, the corresponding semigroup ring is denoted by R[S]. A ring is semiprime if it has no nonzero nilpotent ideals. A semigroup S is a semilattice P of semigroups Sα if there exists a homomorphism φ of S onto the semilattice P such that Sα = αφ−1 for each α ∈ P.


Comparing the results of transport measurements of strongly correlated two-dimensional holes in a GaAs heterojunction-insulated-gate field-effect-transistor obtained before and after a brief photoillumination, the light-induced disorder is found to cause qualitative changes suggesting altered carrier states. For charge concentrations ranging from 3×1010 down to 7×108 cm−2, the post-illumination hole mobility exhibits a severe suppression for charge densities below 2×1010 cm−2 while almost no change for densities above. The long-ranged nature of the disorder is identified. The temperature dependence of the conductivity is also drastically modified by the disorder reconfiguration from being nonactivated to activated.Comparing the results of transport measurements of strongly correlated two-dimensional holes in a GaAs heterojunction-insulated-gate field-effect-transistor obtained before and after a brief photoillumination, the light-induced disorder is found to cause qualitative changes suggesting altered carrier states. For charge concentrations ranging from 3×1010 down to 7×108 cm−2, the post-illumination hole mobility exhibits a severe suppression for charge densities below 2×1010 cm−2 while almost no change for densities above. The long-ranged nature of the disorder is identified. The temperature dependence of the conductivity is also drastically modified by the disorder reconfiguration from being nonactivated to activated.


Target localization and proposal generation are two essential subtasks in generic visual tracking, and it is a challenge to address both the two efficiently. In this paper, we propose an efficient two-stage architecture which makes full use of the complementarity of two subtasks to achieve robust localization and high-quality proposals generation of the target jointly. Specifically, our model performs a novel deformable central correlation operation by an online learning model in both two stages to locate new target centers while generating target proposals in the vicinity of these centers. The proposals are refined in the refinement stage to further improve accuracy and robustness. Moreover, the model benefits from multi-level features aggregation in a neck module and a feature enhancement module. We conduct extensive ablation studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed methods. Our tracker runs at over 30 FPS and sets a new state-ofthe-art on five tracking benchmarks, including LaSOT, VOT2018, TrackingNet, GOT10k, OTB2015.


For the sake of accurate energy resource allocation in smart buildings with hybrid solar energy and main electrical grid, an uncertainty-aware minority-game based energy management system (UAMG-EMS) is introduced in this paper. Multiple agents are deployed in the building, and are able to consider two types of uncertainties: (i) stochastic noise from energy meters/sensors; and (ii) uncertain working behaviors from load side. Firstly, agents can perform Kalman Filter based error-correction algorithm to reduce the stochastic noise coming from energy meters/sensors. Moreover, agents can have supervised learning to predict uncertain energy profiles. Afterwards, agents can play a modified minority game based energy management to allocate the limited solar energy resource. To extend the scalability of agents for the entire building, K-means based classifier is applied to characterize the types of agents and hence can reduce the number of agents for large-scale buildings. Compared with the conventional minority-game based energy management system (MG-EMS) without considering uncertainty, our UAMG-EMS shows about 37% reduction of unbalance in fair solar energy allocation, and also about 23% reduction of noise influence merely based on inaccurate energy meters/sensors.


440 Background: Cancer-related fatigue is one of the most distressing symptoms of cancer patients. Finding a patient's fatigue often requires the use of a subjective assessment scale, such as the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI). There are few objective ways to measure fatigue. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether objective cancer-related fatigue (CRF) diagnostic criteria can differentiate cancer from cancer-free participants and to explore the relationship between subjective and objective fatigue. Methods: In this study, we used a photoplethysmography (PPG) smartband device to collect the PPG information from the patients. During PPG measurements, the heart rate variability (HRV) signal was included in the data collection process for subsequent calculation of the LF/HF ratio. Participants completed a self-report measure to assess demographics, fatigue levels, and brief sleep diaries for the next 7 days. At the same time, the participants wore a wristband to collect HRV signals, which triggered HRV every hour over a 24-hour period for 7 consecutive days. Results: Cancer patients (n = 71) and cancer-free controls (n = 75) were studied. Study participants completed CRF questionnaires and heart rate variability (HRV) records. The smartband can be worn continuously for 120 hours as an objective measure of activity phase, sleep phase and HRV. Compared with controls, cancer patients were more fatigued and were more likely to be disturbed by fatigue (t = -3.73, p < 0.001), especially general activity (t = -2.93, p < 0.001), walking ability (t = -3.6, p < 0.001) and normal work (t = -2.18, p = 0.03). Wearing the bracelet can get the LF/HF value of HRV in the time domain. The LF to HF and LF/HF disorder ratios were further divided into active and sleep phases. During sleep phase, the LF/HF disorder ratio was higher in the cancer group than in the control group regardless of whether fatigue was mild or moderate (t = -2.5, p = 0.01; t = -2.8, p = 0.01, respectively). The LF/HF disorder ratios was higher in cancer patients with mild fatigue than in cancer-free participants during sleep phase (40% vs 20%, respectively). Cancer patients with moderate fatigue had higher incidence of LF/HF disorder ratios than cancer-free participants (50% vs 20%, respectively). Conclusions: It can be concluded that the diagnostic criteria of subjective and objective CRF can distinguish cancer and cancer-free cases. Using this objective fatigue device could provide an indicator for further clinical monitoring. Clinical trial information: NCT04300842.


The efficiency of the different methods used to collect and extract virus-vector nematodes (Longidorus, Paratrichodorus, Trichodorus and Xiphinema) were examined as part of a collaborative assessment by staff at the principal Nematology laboratories in Scotland, of methods for field sampling, handling and excracting these nematodes. Vehicular transportation of soil samples from field to laboratory did not reduce the numbers of nematodes recovered but several short drops did, by up to 39%, largely by soil compaction. The two-flask method was found to be much slower and was less effective than the decanting and sieving method for recovering longidorid nematodes: When using the decanting and sieving method a 200 g soil sample stirred into suspension in a 5 I pail, given a 15 s settling time and the supernatant poured through a sieve with a 150 /-1m aperture mesh held over an empty 5 I pail was found to be satisfactory. This collects the large longidorid nematodes. The residue on the sieve is washed onto a 95 /-1m aperture mesh plastic sieve which is then placed in a water-filled Baermann funnel. Smaller trichodorid nematodes and juvenile longidorids were collected by passing the supernatant collected in the second pail through individual 75 /-1m and 53 /-1m aperture mesh sieves. The residue on both sieves is washed onto a 2-ply tissue supported in a plastic sieve which is placed in a second water filled Baermann funnel. Most longidorids had fallen to the bottom of the funnel after 24 h, but if required for biological studies were collected after 4 to 6 h. Trichodorids took longer and were recovered after 48 h or, 24 h if required for biological studies. Water temperature in the funnels should be maintained at 15 to 20°C.


In many Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries, the army has traditionally been a central pillar of the authoritarian regimes, responsible for the security and integrity of the state and a symbol of national sovereignty and social unity. Nevertheless, the 2011 Arab revolts witnessed stark differences in the response of the armies. This article argues that a relational reading of the Structure of Political Opportunities and Threats, particularly when its dimension of the state's capacity and propensity for repression is informed by a MENA-salient regime feature—army embeddedness—offers a compelling solution to the puzzle. An analysis of the Egyptian, Syrian, and Libyan episodes of contention, based on a comparative method that combines mechanism-based process tracing and typological theorizing, demonstrates the theoretical payoffs of this sensitized dimension. Cross-case similarities underscore the value of thinking about the army as a full-fledge agent embedded within a web of relations with social and political forces. Specifically, findings reveal how army embeddedness shapes the respective operation and effect of the mechanisms "political opportunities" and "political threats," and highlight the importance of differentiating between the state's capacity and the state's propensity for repression. Within-case variations highlight the historically specific development of such embeddedness and how it plays out distinctively in each case, forming different scenarios of high and low capacity and propensity for repression.


The deployment of deep neural networks in real-world applications is mostly restricted by their high inference costs. Extensive efforts have been made to improve the accuracy with expert-designed or algorithm-searched architectures. However, the incremental improvement is typically achieved with increasingly more expensive models that only a small portion of input instances really need. Inference with a static architecture that processes all input instances via the same transformation would thus incur unnecessary computational costs. Therefore, customizing the model capacity in an instance-aware manner is much needed for higher inference efficiency. In this paper, we propose Dynamic Routing Networks (DRNets), which support efficient instance-aware inference by routing the input instance to only necessary transformation branches selected from a candidate set of branches for each connection between transformation nodes. The branch selection is dynamically determined via the corresponding branch importance weights, which are first generated from lightweight hyper-networks (RouterNets) and then recalibrated with Gumbel-Softmax before the selection. Extensive experiments show that DRNets can reduce a substantial amount of parameter size and FLOPs during inference with prediction performance comparable to state-of-the-art architectures.


Objective In previous research, we found that Sestrin2 has a strong association with plasma atherogenicity and combats the progression of atherogenesis by regulating the AMPK-mTOR pathway. Metformin, an activator of AMPK, is widely used as a first-line therapy for diabetes, but its role in preventing atherosclerosis and cardiac outcomes is unclear. Hence, we aimed to assess the effect of metformin on preventing atherosclerosis and its regulatory role in the Sestrin2-AMPK -mTOR pathway in obese/diabetic rats. Methods Animals were fed a high-fat diet to induce obesity, administered streptozotocin to induce diabetes, and then treated with metformin (150 mg/kg body weight) for 14 weeks. Aorta and heart tissues were analyzed for Sestrin2 status by western blotting and immunohistochemistry, AMPK and mTOR activities were investigated using western blotting, and atherogenicity-related events were evaluated using reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction and histology. Results Obese and diabetic rats showed significant decrease in Sestrin2 levels and AMPK activity, accompanied by increased mTOR activity in the heart and aorta tissues. Metformin treatment significantly restored Sestrin2 and AMPK levels, reduced mTOR activity, and restored the altered expression of inflammatory markers and adhesion molecules in obese and diabetic rats to normal levels. A histological analysis of samples from obese and diabetic rats showed atherosclerotic lesions both in aorta and heart tissues. The metformin-treated rats showed a decrease in atherosclerotic lesions, cardiac hypertrophy, and cardiomyocyte degeneration. Conclusion This study presents further insights into the beneficial effects of metformin and its protective role against atherosclerosis through regulation of the Sestrin2-AMPK-mTOR pathway.


Microalgae are studied because of their biotechnological potential. The growth of microalgae aims at obtaining natural compounds. Due to the large amount of accumulated polymer waste, one of the solutions is the use of biodegradable polymers. The objective of this work was to select biopolymer-producing microalgae and to study the cell growth phase in which maximum production occurs. Microalgae Cyanobium sp., Nostoc ellipsosporum, Spirulina sp. LEB 18 and Synechococcus nidulans were studied. The growth was carried out in closed 2 L photobioreactors kept in a chamber thermostated at 30 °C with an illuminance of 41.6 μmolphotons.m -2.s-1 and a 12 h light/dark photoperiod. The biopolymers were extracted at times of 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 d. The microalgae that had the highest yields were Nostoc ellipsosporum and Spirulina sp. LEB 18 with crude biopolymer efficiency of 19.27 and 20.62% in 10 and 15 d, respectively, at the maximum cell growth phase.


In the near future robots will permeate our daily life empowering human beings in several activities of daily living. Particular, service robots could actively support indoor mobility tasks thus to enhance the independent living of citizens. They should be able to provide tailored services to citizens to achieve higher physical human-robot interaction. Too often service robots were designed without taking into account end-users functional requirements, which can change with age and geriatric syndromes. In this paper, we present a robot smart control based on machine learning strategies and adaptable to different handgrip strengths. The smart control was implemented on ASTRO robot conceived to be a companion and to support indoor mobility, among other activities. Particularly, three smart controller strategies were implemented and tested with end users from technical and user point of view. The results show promising results that underline the proposed approach was suitable for the proposed application.


ObjectiveTo describe HIV seroprevalence among non-injecting drug users (non-IDU) entering sentinel drug treatment centers in the United States. DesignAnonymous, blinded (unlinked) HIV seroprevalence surveys. SettingSixty-eight sentinel drug treatment centers in 37 United States metropolitan areas. ParticipantsConsecutive sample of clients admitted to sentinel drug treatment centers from January 1989 through December 1992. Of 84 617 clients, 37 633 (44.5%) had used illicit drugs but reported no injecting drug use since 1978. Main outcome measuresCenter-specific, metropolitan area-specific, and national median HIV seroprevalence rates. ResultsNational median center-specific HIV seroprevalence among non-IDU was 3.2% (range, 0–15.2%). Rates varied widely by geographic area. Median rates were highest in the northeast (5.6%; range, 0–15.2%), intermediate in the south (3.4%; range, 0.6–8.0%), and generally lower throughout the rest of the country: midwest (1.3%; range, 0–3.1 %) and west (1.8%; range, 0–14.5%). When stratified by treatment center, there were few statistically significant differences in seroprevalence among African Americans, Hispanics and whites. The median rate was 3.4% among men and 2.7% among women. Rates among non-IDU were lower than among IDU attending the same drug treatment centers, but consistently higher than among heterosexual patients attending sexually transmitted disease clinics in the same metropolitan areas. ConclusionsHIV seroprevalence among non-IDU entering drug treatment is high in many metropolitan areas. HIV prevention and education efforts in drug treatment centers should target sexual as well as drug-use risk reduction for all clients.


The article aims to describe experimental research into infantry squad pre-combat formations. It focuses on the most used formations, and addresses their advantages and suitability for various tactical situations. A highlighted feature of the experiment is the involvement of units with varying degrees of training as research subjects: from novices through to professional soldiers, from combat squads to instructors of the elite course of the ACR ground forces. The synthesized results can therefore be perceived as having universal validity. For broad-spectrum research of their properties and usability, each formation is evaluated in different terrains and different tactical situations. The presented data are usable in practice for training infantry, motorized airborne units, and in certain cases mechanized forces and combat support units. Research into this area of small-unit tactics is now even more progressive, since a significant number of tasks in conducting combat operations are being transferred to small units. This is at the expense of large troop formations, which are increasingly difficult to use in times of high-precision weapons and hybrid warfare. In certain situations even a small unit can perform tasks with operational ramifications. Moreover, in this area of tactics publications are very rare due to the low scientific interest and the inclusion of information falling under the 'classified information' of individual armies. The data presented in the article are set in their broader context, commented upon by the authors of the training, and described with the intention their inclusion in the training of troops.


Twenty-three cases of Stevens-Johnson syndrome were studied. The study shows a high incidence in young male adults, most of whom had taken some drug, but six of the series denied having taken any medicine prior to the' attack. The disease is relatively benign responding well to steroid treatment and' antibiotics. Death occurred in one patient in the series. Some complications occur, but these are rare.


In cestodiasis, mechanical and molecular contact between the parasite and the host activates the immune response of the host and may result in inflammatory processes, leading to ulceration and intestinal dysfunctions. The aim of the present study was to identify antigenic proteins of the adult cestode Hymenolepis diminuta by subjecting the total protein extracts from adult tapeworms to 2DE immunoblotting (two-dimensional electrophoresis combined with immunoblotting) using sera collected from experimentally infected rats. A total of 36 protein spots cross-reacting with the rat sera were identified using LC-MS/MS. As a result, 68 proteins, including certain structural muscle proteins (actin, myosin, and paramyosin) and moonlighters (heat shock proteins, kinases, phosphatases, and glycolytic enzymes) were identified; most of these were predicted to possess binding and/or catalytic activity required in various metabolic and cellular processes, and reported here as potential antigens of the adult cestode for the first time. As several of these antigens can also be found at the cell surface, the surface-associated proteins were extracted and subjected to in-solution digestion for LC-MS/MS identification (surfaceomics). As a result, a total of 76 proteins were identified, from which 31 proteins, based on 2DE immunoblotting, were predicted to be immunogenic. These included structural proteins actin, myosin and tubulin as well as certain moonlighting proteins (heat-shock chaperones) while enzymes with diverse catalytic activities were found as the most dominating group of proteins. In conclusion, the present study shed new light into the complexity of the enteric cestodiasis by showing that the H. diminuta somatic proteins exposed to the host possess immunomodulatory functions, and that the immune response of the host could be stimulated by diverse mechanisms, involving also those triggering protein export via yet unknown pathways.


The applications of scanning near‐field optical microscopy to biological specimens under physiological conditions have so far been very rare since common techniques for a probe–sample distance control are not as well suited for operation in liquid as under ambient conditions. We have shown previously that our own approach for a distance control, based on a short aperture fibre probe and a tuning fork as force sensor in a tapping mode, works well even on soft material in water. By means of an electronic self‐excitation circuit, which compensates for changes of the resonance frequency due to evaporation of liquid, the stability of the force feedback has now been further improved. We present further evidence for the excellent suitability of the tapping‐mode‐like distance control to an operation in liquid, for example, by force‐imaging of double‐stranded DNA. Moreover, we demonstrate that a nuclear envelope in liquid can be imaged with a high optical resolution of ∼70 nm without affecting its structural integrity. Thereby, single nuclear pores in the nuclear envelope with a nearest neighbour distance of ∼120 nm have been optically resolved for the first time.


Abstract : The purpose of this project was to plant native woody species on a 15.6-acre parcel of land in the Lower Dry Creek area of Beale Air Force Base in Northern California, while simultaneously investigating some factors (plant age, plant protection) that are thought to contribute to efficient riparian restoration and to affect plant performance. The project was funded ($49,500.00) by the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA) for the period from Oct. 1999 to Sept. 2002. None of the factors investigated proved to be consistently associated with high survivorship or favorable plant growth: at one site the least expensive tree protector resulted in highest survivorship, while at the other site, the highest-input protector was most effective. Similarly, the effect of plant age varied from field to field. Not surprisingly, plant growth as measured in height was consistently greater with the taller tree protectors. Valley oak survival rates of 34% were attained in this study; a previous restoration conducted by the author in adjacent fields with similar methodology resulted in valley oak survival rates between 50 and 75%. The low survival rates and highly variable results between fields are attributed largely to herbivory (gophers and field mice) and weather-related effects.


The practical application of PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) analyses begins with a request for the analysis and concludes with provision of the requested analysis. The key to successful execution of this iteration is timely, professional communication between the requester and the analyst. Often PCB analyses are not satisfactorily executed, either because the requester failed to give adequate instructions or because the analyst simply ``did what he/she was told.`` The request for and conduct of a PCB analysis represents a contract for the procurement of a product (information about the sample); if both parties recognize and abide by this contractual relationship, the process generally proceeds smoothly. Requesters may be corporate purchasing agents working from a scope of work, a sample management office, a field team leader, a project manager, a physician`s office, or the analyst himself. The analyst with whom the requester communicates may be a laboratory supervisor, a sample-receiving department, a salesperson for the laboratory, or the analyst himself. The analyst conducting the analysis is often a team, with custody of the sample being passed from sample receiving to the extraction laboratory, to the cleanup laboratory, to the gas chromatography (GC) laboratory, to the data reduction person, to the package preparationmore » person, to the quality control (QC) department for verification, to shipping. Where a team of analysts is involved, the requester needs a central point of contact to minimize confusion and frustration. For the requester-analyst interface to work smoothly, it must function as if it is a one-to-one interaction. This article addresses the pitfalls of the requester-analyst interaction and provides suggestions for improving the quality of the analytical product through the requester-analyst interface.« less


We examined the effects of joint attention for object learning in 5- and 7-month-old infants. Infants interacted with an adult social partner who taught them about a novel toy in two conditions. In the Joint Attention condition, the adult spoke about the toy while alternating gaze between the infant and the toy, while in the Object Only condition, the adult looked to the toy and to a spot on the ceiling, but never at the infant. In the test trials following each social interaction, we presented infants with the 'familiarization' toy and a novel toy, and monitored looking times to each object. We found that 7-month-olds looked significantly longer to the novel toy following the Joint Attention relative to the Object Only condition, while 5-month-old infants did not show a significant difference across conditions. We interpret these results to suggest that joint attention facilitated 7-month-old infants' encoding of information about the familiarization object. Implications for the ontogeny of infant learning in joint attention contexts are discussed. Copyright # 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Two species of demodectic mites were described in the red deer Cervus elaphus, including Demodex kutzeri, which had also been found in other species of the Cervidae family in Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland and North America. Whereas the other species, D. acutipes, had been previously known from only one finding in the Czech Republic. The present research included skin samples taken in winter 2012 from thirty red deer in northern Poland. Demodex acutipes (prevalence 20%, mean intensity 4.5), D. kutzeri (53.3%, 69.8) and fifteen Demodex sp. specimens (6.7%, 7.5), were found. D. acutipes is a new species for the fauna of Poland.


Byron and Hobby-O is about the relationship between Byron and his supposed best friend, John Cam Hobhouse. It is the first full-length biographical study of Hobhouse in over fifty years, and is much franker and more intimate than anything preceding. It shows how, while the two men were initially collaborators and rivals, Byron rapidly outstretched Hobhouse in poetry, while Hobhouse, in the longer term, outstretched Byron in politics. It shows how long acquaintance with the elusive and chameleonic Byron turned Hobhouse into a canter and humbug of the kind Byron hated, and concludes with an account of the first English invasion of Afghanistan, which Hobhouse initiated. The book is based in part on long study of Hobhouse's diary, much of which Peter Cochran has edited.


OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to examined the mediating role of empowerment in relations to job and organizational factors, and job satisfaction and organizational commitment in hospital organizations.

METHODS
Job variety, clarity, significance, and fitness were examined as the job factors, and security, reward justice, and organizational support as the organizational factors. Data were collected from 8 national university hospitals with 1,289 data points used for the final analysis.

RESULTS
All the job factors were found to positively influence empowerment, as were all the organizational factors, with the exception of reward justice. As hypothesiz -ed, empowerment had significant effects on both job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and was the most influential variable of all those examined.

CONCLUSIONS
In the relations to job satisfaction, empowerment completely mediated job significance, security and organizational support, and partially mediated all other variables, with the exception of reward justice. In the relations to organizational commitment, empowerment completely mediated job variety and job fitness, and partially mediated all other variables, with the exception of reward justice. The theoretical and practical implications of these results have been discussed.


In this paper the structure and operational features of C-band, multi-polarization, combined scatterometer-radiometer system and the results of preliminary, spatio-temporally collocated measurements of waved pool water surface microwave reflective (radar backscattering coefficient) and emissive (brightness temperature) characteristics angular dependences at ~5.6GHz are presented.


The study investigated the effect of two variables (parental involvement and communication) on conflicts between parents and adolescents in Yoruba families in Ibadan. Two hundred (200) adolescents (56% females and 44% males) between the age range of 13-16 (66%) and 17-19 (34%) participated through a total enumeration technique. Expert content validation was done on issues checklist of salient issues of conflict between parents and adolescents with Chrobachs' alpha reliability (r=0.71). Findings show that parental involvement in adolescents' issues highly predicts parent and adolescents conflict. Communication also significantly predicts the criterion followed by other salient sources. Based on these findings, the implications of these on education, parental upbringing and counseling practice were discussed in the body of the study.


Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 46, 2005

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Gemcitabine (Gemzar, difluorodeoxycytidine, dFdC) is active against advanced bladder cancer, usually in combination with cisplatin. We have therefore investigated the tolerance of gemcitabine given intravesically. In a phase I study doses were escalated from 500 to 2000 mg per instillation, and treatment was adminsitered weekly for 6 weeks. Pharmacokinetic analysis revealed a very poor absorption of gemcitabine since no gemcitabine could be detected in plasma of these patients, while the metabolite difluorodeoxyuridine (dFdU) was found at much lower concentrations compared to i.v. administrations at these doses. Since only marginal side effects were found at the highest dose we initiated a Phase II study in which administration of Gemcitabine (Gemzar) is being studied for treatment of superficial bladder cancer. We treated patients with intravesical Gemcitabine at a dose of 2000 mg once weekly for six weeks and performed limited pharmacokinetics in these patients. Using HPLC we measured plasma concentrations of difluoro-deoxy-Cytidine (dFdC) and of the inactive metabolite dFdU 2 hours after the instillation. In 22 samples dFdU median concentration was 2.07 μM (st. dev. 0.86 μM). dFdC was only measurable in 3 samples: 0.47; 0.53 and 0.60 μM. These results are in agreement with the absence of systemic side effects observed during treatment. We conclude that the intact bladder wall effectively prevents dFdC diffusion. Due to the toxic effects observed in occasional patients we plan to analyse dFdC concentrations in patients with more advanced bladder carcinoma treated with intravesical Gemcitabine.


A meta-analysis was conducted to assess the effects of biological type (early-moderate or late maturity) and implant status (estrogenic, combination, or nonimplanted; repeats included) on HCW (kg); LM area (cm2); 12th-rib fat thickness (fat thickness, cm); KPH (%), and intramuscular fat (%) at harvest, to provide inputs to an ongoing program for modeling beef cattle growth and carcass quality. Forty-three publications from 1982 to 2004 with consistent intramuscular fat data were evaluated. Two studies were undertaken: 1) with fat thickness as a covariate and 2) with BW as a covariate. The intercept-slope covariance estimate was not statistically different from 0 for LM area (P = 0.11), KPH (P = 0.19), and intramuscular fat (P = 0.74) in study 1, and for LM area (P = 0.44), fat thickness (P = 0.11), KPH (P = 0.19), and intramuscular fat (P = 0.74) in study 2; therefore, a reduced model without a covariance component was fitted for these carcass characteristics. A covariance component was fitted for HCW (P = 0.01, study 1 and P = 0.05, study 2) and for intramuscular fat (P = 0.05, study 2). In study 1, the results for maturity indicated differences between early-moderate and late maturity for HCW (P < 0.01) and LM area (P < 0.01) but no differences for KPH (P = 0.26) and intramuscular fat (P = 0.50); for implant status, an estrogenic or combination implant increased HCW by 2.9% (P = 0.27) or 4.8% (P < 0.01), increased LM area by 3.2% (P = 0.23) or 6.3% (P < 0.01), decreased intramuscular fat by 8.1% (P < 0.01) or 5.4% (P < 0.01), respectively, and decreased KPH by 7.6% (P = 0.34) for estrogenic implants but increased KPH by 1.1% (P = 0.36) for combination implants, compared with nonimplanted steers. In study 2, the results at 600 kg of BW for implant status (implant or nonimplant) indicated no differences for HCW (P = 0.63) and LM area (P = 0.73), but there were differences for fat thickness (P < 0.01), KPH (P < 0.01), and intramuscular fat (P < 0.01); the results for maturity (early-moderate or late maturity) indicated no differences for HCW (P = 0.94), but there were differences for LM area (P < 0.01), fat thickness (P < 0.01), KPH (P < 0.01), and intramuscular fat (P < 0.01). The difference between early-moderate and late maturity (studies 1 and 2) confirmed that frame size accounts for a substantial portion of the variation in carcass composition. Studies 1 and 2 also indicate that implant status had significant effects on carcass quality.


Traumatic spinal injury (TSI) is a devastating event that could lead to serious permanent disability to patients. Therefore, a multidisciplinary team is needed to manage such cases. In the UK, patients with a TSI score a minimum of 16 on the Injury Severity Score (ISS) and are transported to a Major Trauma Centre (MTC). In cases where patients initially present to a none MTC, patients are stabilised and transferred to MTC prominently. Specialised Spinal Cord Units (SCIU) are centres specialised in the definitive management of TSI patients and it is advised that patients get referred to SCIU in a timely manner as studies demonstrate improved patient outcomes. Early transfers are recommended due to the positive impact of early surgical decompression of the injury, which relieves the pressure on the neural tissue. Nevertheless, is this impact still positive if patients are managed conservatively?

 To explore the impact of intermediate interhospital transfers on TSI patients when no surgical intervention is taking place.

 A scoping review is utilised to explore the research question. CINAHL, MEDLINE, Pubmed, Cochrane library and ASSIA were the search engines utilised.

 The search resulted in 4,595 papers. 15 met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and included in the review.

 There are no studies that directly explored the impact of transfer on conservatively managed patients, and most of the studies were of low-quality evidence. Age, length of stay, mechanism of injury and cost were all explored as factors related to patients transfer status.


Introduction A deeper understanding of intratumoral heterogeneity is essential for prognosis prediction or accurate treatment plan decisions in clinical practice. However, due to the cross-links and degradation of biomolecules within formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) specimens, it is challenging to analyze them. In this study, we aimed to optimize the simultaneous extraction of mRNA and DNA from microdissected FFPE tissues (φ = 100 µm) and apply the method to analyze tumor diversity in lung adenocarcinoma before and after erlotinib administration. Method Two magnetic beads were used for the simultaneous extraction of mRNA and DNA. The decross-linking conditions were evaluated for gene mutation and gene expression analyses of microdissected FFPE tissues. Lung lymph nodes before treatment and lung adenocarcinoma after erlotinib administration were collected from the same patient and were preserved as FFPE specimens for 4 years. Gene expression and gene mutations between histologically classified regions of lung adenocarcinoma (pre-treatment tumor in lung lymph node biopsies and post-treatment tumor, normal lung, tumor stroma, and remission stroma, in resected lung tissue) were compared in a microdissection-based approach. Results Using the optimized simultaneous extraction of DNA and mRNA and whole-genome amplification, we detected approximately 4,000–10,000 expressed genes and the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) driver gene mutations from microdissected FFPE tissues. We found the differences in the highly expressed cancer-associated genes and the positive rate of EGFR exon 19 deletions among the tumor before and after treatment and tumor stroma, even though they were collected from tumors of the same patient or close regions of the same specimen. Conclusion Our integrated spatial analysis method would be applied to various FFPE pathology specimens providing area-specific gene expression and gene mutation information.


Background: The ability to predict difficult laryngoscopy preoperatively allows anaesthesiologists to take precautions to reduce the anesthesia-related risks but till now, no single airway test can provide a high index of sensitivity and specificity for prediction of difficult airway. The present analytical study was aimed to correlate the various physical indices with maxillo-pharyngeal angle, measured on lateral cervical radiograph, for preoperative prediction of difficult airway. Subjects and Methods: After approval from Institutional Ethical Committee and written informed consent, 200 patients of ASA physical status I and II, aged between 18 to 58 years of either gender with BMI <25 Kg/m 2 , were studied. Patients with any obvious airway related abnormality, restricted mouth opening, short and thick neck, fixation of the trachea, malformation of the skull, teeth or mandible were excluded. Preoperatively, they were assessed for Modified Mallampati grading, thyromental distance, protrusion of jaw and head-neck movements along with Maxillo-pharyngeal angle, measured on lateral cervical radiograph. These parameters were correlated with Cormack Lehane grading during direct laryngoscopy. The observed data were analyzed by using one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson's correlating co-efficient. Results: Modified Mallampati test sensitivity and specificity was found as 39.29% and 65.12% respectively with accuracy of 61.5%. The sensitivity and specificity of Maxillo- Pharyngeal Angle was 85.71 % and 97.09% respectively with accuracy of 95.50 %. Conclusion: The combination of various physical indices along with maxillo-pharyngeal angle in parallel is more sensitive and specific with clinically relevant higher discriminative power.


A mark-recapture study of filesnakes (Acrochordus arafurae) in freshwater billabongs of northern Australia provided data on >3400 snakes over a four-year period. Population densities were estimated by a modified jackknife technique, and were much higher than in most previously-studied species of snakes, with >400 snakes per hectare surface area (>100 kg ha-1) in the main study billabong. This high biomass can be maintained because of the high abundance of prey (fishes), coupled with the low metabolic requirements (and hence, low feeding rates) of acrochordid snakes. Comparisons of sex ratios in trapped samples and in population estimates showed that male filesnakes were less 'catchable' in our fyke-nets than were females. Sex ratios differed among billabongs, with a trend for more males in broad shallow back-flow billabongs and more females in narrow deep main-channel billabongs. This sex difference mirrors a size-related difference in habitat selection documented in earlier studies of this species. Filesnake populations contain a high proportion of immature snakes, because of delayed maturation in this species, but mortality rates among adult animals (especially, adult females) seem to be low. The size structure (and hence, we infer, age structure) of the population varied considerably from year to year, depending on levels of reproduction and thus, juvenile recruitment. This episodic recruitment means that populations are dominated by particular age classes, and are unlikely to attain stable age distributions.


Dietary fiber has been suggested to suppress colorectal cancer development, although the mechanisms contributing to this beneficial effect remain elusive. Butyrate, a fermentation product of fiber, has been shown to have anti‐proliferative and pro‐apoptotic effects on colorectal cancer cells. The metabolic fate of butyrate in the cell is important in determining whether, it acts as an HDAC inhibitor or is consumed as a short‐chain fatty acid. Non‐cancerous colonocytes utilize butyrate as the primary energy source whereas cancerous colonocytes increase glucose utilization through the Warburg effect. In this study, we show that butyrate oxidation is decreased in cancerous colonocytes compared to non‐cancerous colonocytes. We demonstrate that colorectal cancer cells utilize both a carnitine‐dependent and carnitine‐independent mechanism that contributes to butyrate oxidation. The carnitine‐dependent mechanism is contingent on butyrate concentration. Knockdown of CPT1A in colorectal cancer cells abolishes butyrate oxidation. In terms of selectivity, the carnitine‐dependent mechanism only regulated butyrate oxidation, as acetate and propionate oxidation were carnitine‐independent. Carnitine decreased the action of butyrate as an HDAC inhibitor and suppressed induction of H3 acetylation by butyrate in colorectal cancer cells. Thus, diminished oxidation of butyrate is associated with decreased HDAC inhibition and histone acetylation. In relation to the mechanism, we find that dichloroacetate, which decreases phosphorylation of pyruvate dehydrogenase, increased butyrate oxidation and that this effect was carnitine‐dependent. In conclusion, these data suggest that colorectal cancer cells decrease butyrate oxidation through inhibition of pyruvate dehydrogenase, which is carnitine‐dependent, and provide insight into why butyrate shows selective effects toward colorectal cancer cells. J. Cell. Physiol. 231: 1804–1813, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


division is performed to allow total gut assessment, not in the hope of curing or preventing symptoms. A single tough band like adhesion should, however, be divided to prevent possible strangulation. In my opinion there is no scientifically reliable evidence in man that washing out the peritoneum or instilling antiseptics, anti-inflammatory drugs, or antibiotics reduces adhesion formation. JOHN ALEXANDER-WILLIAMS


Diversification has emerged as a central topic of research in strategic management. Although this topic has been widely and intensively studied by scholars from other areas such as industrial organization economics, financial economics, organization theory, and marketing, a synthesis of these diverse streams of research is lacking. This paper attempts such a synthesis with a view to fostering further strategic management research in this area by taking a multi-disciplinary perspective on diversification. A wide-ranging search of the literature led to the development of an overarching research framework that facilitates the classification of a vast body of literature. Proceeding from the framework, a critique of the literature is performed with a particular emphasis on studies by strategic management researchers. Five key conceptual and methodological problems are identified and discussed. Suggestions are offered for future research on diversification.


Purpose: Adopting exchange theory and social orientation of loyalty, this research investigates the antecedents of customer loyalty consisting of (1) loyalty layers (i.e. personal loyalty, relationship with consumption communities and local network effects) and (2) loyalty expectations (i.e. service quality, reciprocity and firm innovativeness) and how these relationships are moderated by customer knowledge. Design/methodology/approach: The data were collected from 4,208 customers in the mobile services industry using mall intercept technique. Findings: The findings reveal that loyalty layers, including personal loyalty and relationship with consumption communities, can influence customers' expectations of service providers. The degree to which the firm is able to handle and meet customers' expectations over time would result in the strength of customer loyalty. Customer expectations also mediate the relationships between different loyalty layers and customer loyalty. In addition, customer knowledge significantly moderates the effects of loyalty layers and expectations on both attitudinal loyalty and behavioural loyalty. Originality/value: The study extends the current body of knowledge by incorporating a sociological perspective to examine the relationships between loyalty layers and customer expectations and customer loyalty. This research enables service operators to establish strategies to sustain customer loyalty across different customer segments with various levels of knowledge.


The manifestations of hyperthyroidism-related myocardial damage are multitudinous, including arrhythmia, dilated cardiomyopathy, valvular diseases, and even cardiogenic shock. Acute myocarditis induced by thyrotoxicosis had been reported in a few studies. However, attention on its prevalence and underlying mechanisms is sorely lacking. Its long-term harm is often ignored, and it may eventually develop into dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure. We report a case of Graves' disease with a progressive elevation of hypersensitive cardiac troponin-I at several days after discontinuation of the patient's anti-thyroid drugs. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) showed inflammatory edema of some cardiomyocytes (stranded enhanced signals under T2 mapping), myocardial necrosis (scattered enhanced signals under T1 late gadolinium enhancement) in the medial and inferior epicardial wall, with a decreased left ventricular systolic function (48%), which implied a possibility of acute myocarditis induced by thyrotoxicosis. The patient was then given a transient glucocorticoid (GC) treatment and achieved a good curative effect. Inspired by this case, we aim to systematically elaborate the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of hyperthyroidism-induced autoimmune myocarditis. Additionally, we emphasize the importance of CMRI and GC therapy in the diagnosis and treatment of hyperthyroidism-related myocarditis.


A seismic-sedimentologic study was performed to map fourth- and fifth-order systems tracts in Oligocene (Frio) strata in Corpus Christi Bay, south Texas. Guided by third-order sequence-stratigraphic correlations from seismic and wire-line-log data, we prepared stratal slices from a three-dimensional seismic volume to reveal high-resolution (10-m [33-ft] levels) sediment dispersal patterns and associated systems tracts in a relative geologic-time domain. On average, 1200 m (3940 ft) of sediments were deposited in the third-order lowstand expansion cycle, and at least 16 higher order sequences (fourth- and fifth-order sequences) were recognized. Three types of depositional systems were identified in the Frio stratigraphic section: (1) offshelf lowstand slope fans that are best characterized by submarine channel and levee systems inside and outside incised submarine channels and by fan-shaped sand body geometry; (2) lowstand prograding deltaic systems that are composed of strike-oriented and lobate deltaic sand bodies; and (3) highstand systems that are represented by onshelf barrier, lagoon, and deltaic systems. Higher order sequence development was controlled by the interaction of relative sea level change, sediment supply, and gravity tectonics. The top of sediment ridges was eroded or decapitated during many of the higher order sequences. Sand dispersal patterns are primarily controlled by accommodation resulting from rollover topography associated with growth faulting. Between the boundary fault and the hinge line atop rollover structures, strike-oriented sandstone bodies dominate; within submarine channels and incised valleys and beyond the hinge line to the distal basin, dip-oriented sandstone bodies prevail. Sandstone thickness and dispersal patterns can be predicted by integrating wire-line-log measurements and seismic amplitude patterns.


This study was planned to determine the effect of a series of 8-week recreational activities on the personal, social and general adjustment levels and academic success of high school students (between 14-16 years). The data was collected from a total of 36 students, made up two groups each containing 18 members. They were all recruited voluntarily from students in the first year class of the Mugla Mimar Sinan High School. The data collected were analyzed using the SPSS 21 software and complemented by the Mann Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis variance analysis techniques. Significant differences (0.01) were found between the pre-test and post-test scores for anti-social inclinations in the experimental group. Significant differences (0.01) also were found between the post-test scores for anti-social inclinations in the experimental and the control groups. Significant differences (0.05) were found between the pre-test and post-test scores for emotional determinants in the experimental group and the pre-test and post-test scores for social adjustment in the experimental group. No significant difference was found between other parameters among the groups. It was concluded at the end of the study that recreation was effective on the adjustment level of the adolescents and that this effect was also noted to positively affect the academic success of the subjects.


The dual-polarized corporate-feed waveguide slot array antenna is designed for the 60 GHz band. Using the multi-layer structure, we have realized dual-polarization operation. Even though the gain is approximately 1 dB lower than the antenna for the single polarization due to the -15dB cross-polarization level in 8=58°, this antenna still shows very high gain over 32 dBi over the broad bandwidth. This antenna will be fabricated and measured in future.


Machine learning technologies have gained considerable attention for state of health (SOH) estimation of Lithium-ion batteries due to their advantages in learning the behavior of non-linear systems. The mapping between the features and the SOH can be established according to learning and optimization theory. However, the SOH features can become invalid under different conditions as the battery aging process is closely related to the operating conditions. In this work, the fuzzy entropy (FE) of the voltage, extracted from short-term current pulses, is proposed as a feature for support vector machine-based (SVM-based) SOH estimation. The robustness and effectiveness of the proposed methods are verified by extended experiments performed on the three most common Li-ion battery chemistries, i.e., NMC, LFP, and NCA. The obtained Pearson correlation coefficient, relating the FE feature to the SOH, returns values higher than 0.9. Finally, the proposed FE-based SVM model can estimate the SOH of the considered batteries with MAPE below 1.6% when the battery state of charge (SOC) is known and MAPE below 3.4% when the SOC is not known.


With this first supplement to his world bibliography, which was published in 1981, Weinberg continues his efforts to retrieve and provide access to the many invaluable contributions on the subject of educating the world's poor and minority children that are frequently overlooked in the prevailing emphasis on mainstream educational and institutional concerns. Covering the literature that appeared between 1979 and 1985 in some 20,000 entries, this volume offers a detailed introduction to schooling as it is affected by the social, economic, and political forces around it.


Three studies tested the contribution of perceived autonomy support to the prediction of health-related intentions within the theory of planned behavior. Perceived autonomy support refers to the extent to which individuals perceive that significant others encourage choice and participation in decision-making, provide a meaningful rationale, minimize pressure, and acknowledge the individual's feelings and perspectives. Findings from Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated that perceived autonomy support predicted intentions to participate in physical activity behavior directly and indirectly via attitudes. Perceived autonomy support predicted intention even after statistically controlling for the effects from past behavior, descriptive norms, and perceived social support. Study 3 found that persuasive communications influenced perceptions of autonomy support, attitudes, and intentions. Overall, the findings support the incorporation of perceived autonomy support into the theory of planned behavior. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Background: Mindfulness-based interventions have been shown to effectively reduce anxiety, depression and pain in patients with chronic physical illnesses. Objectives: We assessed the potential effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a specially adapted Skype distant-delivered mindfulness intervention, designed to reduce distress for people affected by primary and secondary progressive MS. Methods Forty participants were randomly assigned to the eight-week intervention (n = 19) or a waiting-list control group (n = 21). Participants completed standardised questionnaires to measure mood, impact of MS and symptom severity, quality of life and service costs at baseline, post-intervention and three-month follow-up. Results: Distress scores were lower in the intervention group compared with the control group at post-intervention and follow-up (p < 0.05), effect size −0.67 post-intervention and −0.97 at follow-up. Mean scores for pain, fatigue, anxiety, depression and impact of MS were reduced for the mindfulness group compared with control group at post-therapy and follow-up; effect sizes ranged from −0.27 to −0.99 post-intervention and −0.29 to −1.12 at follow-up. There were no differences in quality-adjusted life years, but an 87.4% probability that the intervention saves on service costs and improves outcome. Conclusions: A mindfulness intervention delivered through Skype video conferences appears accessible, feasible and potentially effective and cost-effective for people with progressive MS.


The use of a microcomputer allows data to be taken easily in many experiments. This is illustrated here for the case of three different bodies rolling down an inclined plane.


The wide spectrum of candidiasis and its clinical importance encourage the research with the purpose of clarifying the mechanisms of pathogenicity and identification of virulence factors of Candida sp. Therefore, the aim of this study was to verify the adhesion capacity, protease activity and genotypic diversity of oral C. albicans and C. tropicalis isolates. The adhesion ability to the extracellular matrix glycoproteins laminin and fibronectin was evaluated using the ELISA technique. The research of proteases was carried out in agar plate containing bovine albumin and through a quantitative method in buffer solution containing haemoglobin. Intra and interspecies polymorphisms was verified through random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique. All C. albicans and C. tropicalis isolates binded to immobilised laminin and fibronectin. Ca33 and Ct13 isolates had relative adhesion index significantly higher than the other isolates for both glycoproteins (P < 0.001). Protease activity was observed in all isolates of C. albicans using either the semi‐quantitative or quantitative assay. The protease activity of C. tropicalis was better detected through the quantitative assay. The genotypic diversity by RAPD revealed a heterogeneous population in both species. Nevertheless, C. tropicalis presented higher genetic variability than C. albicans strains.


Digital rights management broadly refers to a set of policies, techniques and tools that guide the proper use of digital content. A DRM plays important roles in several processes that are involved in the flow of content. The major functionalities of this DRM system are: packaging of the raw content for easy distribution and tracking, content protection for tamper-proof transmission, delivery of content offline on CDs and DVDs and delivering content on-demand over peer-to-peer networks. Thus a set of standards related to various aspects of DRM are practiced in order to ensure fairness, interoperability and also for the consumer confidence.


The degree of curvature of vestibular and oral tooth surfaces is determined by the shape sequence from the tooth crown to the epithelial attachment and the alveolar bone, and directly influences the health of gingiva and the entire tooth support system. The goal of this research was to determine vestibulo-oral planes of upper and lower permanent premolars and molars and the thickness of the associated alveolar osseous wall, and 2,727 measurings were processed using pertinent statistical procedures. The results have shown the degree of curvature of vestibular and oral tooth surfaces to be higher in upper teeth than in lower ones (p > 0.05); vestibular convexities higher than oral ones and especially noticeable at the junction from the meandle to the lower third of the crown. Higher vestibular curvature also entailed thicker osseous wall. All results were higher than the ones found in literature. We consider our results to be relevant for our population. The research on the relationship of teeth and the alveolar bone should be continued by using even more test points and more sophisticated research procedures.


Followed up were the appearance and accumulation of the transmissive gastroenteritis (TGE) virus antigen in infected cells of pig kidney and thyroid. Used were specific conjugates, such introduced by the authors and some imported from Czechoslovakia. The cell cultures were infected with strains of the TGE virus, isolated in Bulgaria or supplied from Czechoslovakia. It was found that the Bulgarian strains were the same as those from Czechoslovakia and the United States. A viral antigen was found as early as the sixth hour following the infection of the cell cultures and it appeared under the form of cytoplasmatic yellow-green fluorescence. By the 12th, and up to the 18th hour the number of the specifically fluorescing cells as well as the intensity of fluorescence itself increased. Highest values in this respect were noticed in the interval between the 36th and 48th hour after the cultures had been infected.


Background: Treatment for type-2 diabetes mellitus focuses on the incretin hormone, Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1). However, it has a short half-life. Inhibition of the enzyme Dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP IV) required maintaining the active form of GLP-1. Based on the previous studies on the highest activity of DPP IV enzyme inhibition of white tea extract, this study conducted on the fraction of white tea extract using rat blood serum (ex vivo). Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the inhibitory activity of fraction from white tea extract. Methods: White tea leaves extracted with ethanol. The inhibitory activity determined by using rat blood serum as DPP IV enzyme source (ex vivo), AMC (7-amino 4-methyl coumarin) as fluorescence substrate of DPP IV and sitagliptin as the standard reference. The the cleavage of fluorescence reaction product observed by a microplate reader with λex = 360 nm and λem=460 nm at 37 oC. Data expressed as mean ± SD and the IC50 value determined by nonlinear regression curve and fit using Prism Graph 7. Result: methanol fraction (250 μg/mL) has the greater inhibition percentage (50.487%), and the fraction of n-hexane and ethyl acetate are 32.417% and 36.541%. The methanol fraction IC50 value is 227 μg /mL. Conclusion: The methanol fraction is the most active to inhibit DPP IV enzyme.


The cGAS-STING pathway plays an important role in pathogen-induced activation of the innate immune response. The 29-kDa amino-terminal fibronectin fragment (29-kDa FN-f) found predominantly in the synovial fluid of osteoarthritis (OA) patients increases the expression of catabolic factors via the toll-like receptor-2 (TLR-2) signaling pathway. In this study, we investigated whether 29-kDa FN-f induces inflammatory responses via the cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS)/stimulator of interferon gene (STING) pathway in human primary chondrocytes. The levels of cGAS and STING were elevated in OA cartilage compared with normal cartilage. Long-term treatment of chondrocytes with 29-kDa FN-f activated the cGAS/STING pathway together with the increased level of gamma-H2AX, a marker of DNA breaks. In addition, the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF/CSF-2), granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF/CSF-3), and type I interferon (IFN-α), was increased more than 100-fold in 29-kDa FN-f-treated chondrocytes. However, knockdown of cGAS and STING suppressed 29-kDa FN-f-induced expression of GM-CSF, G-CSF, and IFN-α together with the decreased activation of TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1), interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3), and inhibitor protein κBα (IκBα). Furthermore, NOD2 or TLR-2 knockdown suppressed the expression of GM-CSF, G-CSF, and IFN-α as well as decreased the activation of the cGAS/STING pathway in 29-kDa FN-f-treated chondrocytes. These data demonstrate that the cGAS/STING/TBK1/IRF3 pathway plays a critical role in 29-kDa FN-f-induced expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines.


A new computable a posteriori error estimator is introduced, which relies on the solution of small discrete problems on stars. It exhibits built-in flux equilibration and is equivalent to the energy error up to data oscillation without any saturation assumption. A simple adaptive strategy is designed, which simultaneously reduces error and data oscillation, and is shown to converge without mesh pre-adaptation nor explicit knowledge of constants. Numerical experiments reveal a competitive performance, show extremely good effectivity indices, and yield quasi-optimal meshes.


We investigate here solution properties of the common polysaccharide dextran (with various molecular weight fractions: T70, T110, T500, and T2000) in aqueous and in formamide solutions at 20°C and 40°C, as obtained from viscosity measurements. Dextran behaves as a random coil in water and formamide solutions on the basis of the Mark-Houwink-Sakurada constant being in the range 0.5< α < 0.8 and the molecular weight dependence of the hydrodynamic coil radius, Rcoil ∼ MW1/2. Dextran segments interact more favorably with the formamide solvent molecules than with water, as attested by higher intrinsic viscosity, Rcoil, and hydrodynamic expansion factor αη values in formamide compared to aqueous solutions. This can be attributed to formamide offering more readily available sites (CO and NH3) to form hydrogen bonds with dextran. Apparently the stronger cohesive forces (reflected in higher surface tension σ and solubility parameter δ values) between water molecules make it harder for dextran to break them, thus the dextran coils swell less in this medium. As the temperature increases from 20°C to 40°C, dextran is driven toward theta conditions in both water and formamide solutions. Upon heating, the polymer segments interact less with the solvent molecules and adopt a less expanded conformation in the solution; the solvent quality decreases, and the coils contract. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012


To elucidate the mechanism of liver mitochondrial dysfunction induced by obstructive jaundice, the following experiments were performed. In vivo study: Using Wistar male rats, bile ducts were ligated, and serum levels of total bilirubin (T-Bil), GOT, GPT, mitochondrial GOT (mGOT) and total bile acids (TBA) were measured at 3 and 7 days after the ligation. Then, the liver was isolated to determine mitochondrial functions and to measure the content of fatty acids in mitochondrial phospholipids by high performance liquid chromatography. The levels of T-Bil, GOT, GPT, mGOT and TBA were elevated by the bile duct ligation. Mitochondrial functions were deteriorated, and contents of arachidonic acid, palmitic acid and stearic acid in mitochondrial phospholipids decreased. Pretreatment with coenzyme Q10 (E-0216, CoQ10), an antidetergent agent, prevented not only the development of mitochondrial dysfunction and the decrease in mitochondrial phospholipids but also the elevation of GOT, GPT, and mGOT although CoQ10 did not prevent the elevation of T-Bil and TBA levels. In vitro study: Using intact rat liver mitochondria, the effect of taurocholic acid (TCA), one of the physiological bile salts, on the mitochondrial function and on mitochondrial phospholipids was examined. Incubation of mitochondria with TCA induced a dose-dependent deterioration of mitochondrial function and the increase in the content of solubilized phospholipids. The protective effect of CoQ10 was also observed in the in vitro study. These results indicate that degradation of mitochondrial phospholipids by bile acids is responsible for the early phase of liver dysfunction induced by obstructive jaundice.


Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate various objective, quantitative, time-resolved fluoroscopic imaging parameters for use in the peri-interventional evaluation of stenotic peripheral arterial disease lesions. Material and Methods. Ten patients (median age, 64; age range, 52 to 79; 8 males, 2 females) with high-grade stenoses of either the superficial femoral or popliteal arteries who underwent endovascular treatment were included. During each intervention, two series of intraprocedural fluoroscopic images were collected, one preintervention and one postintervention. For each imaging series, four regions of interest (ROIs) were defined within the vessel lumen, with two ROIs being proximal (ROIs 1 and 2) and two being distal (ROIs 3 and 4) to the stenosis. The time-density curve (TDC) at each ROI was measured, and the resulting area under the curve (AUC), full width at half maximum (FWHM), and time-to-peak (TTP) were then calculated. Results The analysis of the TDC-derived parameters demonstrated significant differences between pre- and postinterventional flow rates in the ROI placed most distal to the stenosis, ROI 4. The AUC at ROI 4 (reported as a relative percentage of the AUC measured at ROI 1 proximal to the lesion) demonstrated a significant increase in the total flow (mean 67.84% vs. 128.68%, p=0.003). A significant reduction in FWHM at ROI 4 (mean 2.93 s vs. 1.87 s, p=0.003). A significant reduction in FWHM at ROI 4 (mean 2.93 s vs. 1.87 s, p=0.003). A significant reduction in FWHM at ROI 4 (mean 2.93 s vs. 1.87 s, Conclusion AUC, FWHM, and TTP are objective, reproducible, quantifiable tools for the peri-interventional fluoroscopic evaluation of vessel stenoses. When compared to the standard subjective interpretation of fluoroscopic imagery, AUC, FWHM, and TTP offer interventionalists the advantage of having an objective, complementary method of evaluating the success of a procedure, potentially allowing for more precisely targeted and quantitatively determined treatment goals and improved patient outcomes. This retrospective study was approved by the local ethics committee under the Number 372/2018BO2. The trial was registered at the German clinical trials register under the number DRKS00017813.


The conventional means by which a plug-in printed wiring board is electrically connected to its mating backplane connector is by means of patterned and plated fingers at the edge of the printed wiring board (PWB). These fingers are usually an extension of the patterning of the board itself and are plated with a sequence of metallization layers to provide low-contact resistance between the mating parts of the connector over the life of the circuit pack. A conceptually new adhesively bonded finger connector that offers certain technical and economic advantages over the patterned finger connector for all conventional bonded and single sided PWBs is introduced. Two alternative methods are proposed for making connection between the fingers and the circuit pattern. The first, which provides for wave-soldered connection between the fingers and the PWB, handles that class of PWB that has output connections appearing on only one side of the PWB but requires gold edge fingers on both sides of the board. At least two types of PWB have this need. First, there is the bonded composite PWB, our first application. It uses a flexible circuit bonded to one side of a support member. Conventionally, the support member would be patterned only to provide gold fingers, and in addition, a connection means would be required between the support member and the flexible circuit. A second application is the single-sided PWB without plated-through holes that must be patterned on two sides merely to provide fingers on both sides of the PWB. Through-board connection would also be useful on those PWBs designed for a separable connector. While the through-board attachment method required for the above types of PWBs is useful for any PWB, it is probably not the best alternative for that large class of PWB that has been designed for two-sided patterning. For the conventional PWB, refiow soldering is probably the best electrical attachment method, because no PWB design changes are required to implement the proposal. Since the authors had need for gold fingers on both bonded and conventional PWBs, the authors cover both wave and reflow attachments.


Cutaneous collagenous vasculopathy (CCV) is a rare idiopathic microangiopathy affecting superficial dermal blood vessels. It is characterized by asymptomatic, disseminated, telangiectatic macules that typically involve the extremities. We report the case of a 58-year-old woman who presented with widespread telangiectasias of three years' duration on the upper extremities and abdomen. Cutaneous collagenous vasculopathy may be underdiagnosed as it is often mistaken for disorders that are morphologically very similar, including generalized essential telangiectasia, hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, and pigmented purpuric dermatosis. The diagnosis of CCV is made histologically and findings feature dilated superficial dermal vessels with thickened walls containing periodic acid-Schiff-positive eosinophilic hyaline material. Effective treatment options for CCV have yet to be established and given its benign disease course, treatment may not be necessary. Pulsed dye laser can be offered to patients for cosmetic improvement but the extent of the disease makes complete lesion clearance challenging in most cases. Given the lesions were asymptomatic our patient declined all offered treatment modalities.


Soft x-ray Bremsstrahlung emission of suprathermal electrons is commonly used for electron temperature measurements in plasma experiments. A difference between suprathermal and bulk electron distributions results in a discrepancy between the measured and real electron temperatures. This is considered as a diagnostic demerit. On the other hand, this discrepancy carries specific information about factors disturbing the electron distribution. One of them is an electric field driving the electrons along a magnetic field. A way of measuring the longitudinal electric field using suprathermal electron Bremsstrahlung emission has been proposed and analyzed in the article. The plasma current density is found from Ohm's law.


The past decade has seen the restriction of reimbursement and increasing pressures for cost-containment mandate vast improvements in technology assessment. Because no single source of evaluative data exists, individual hospitals must develop their own assessment programs. Medical, monetary, legal and supplier issues must all be considered in response to any request for the acquisition of technology. This can be accomplished through a coordinated effort by a diverse grouping of the medical and technical talent found in any hospital. This paper reviews the important issues described in the literature and offers background and guidance for assessment concerns, in an attempt to assist the individual hospital in becoming a successful technology evaluator.


When conducting in-depth causation studies, it is essential that the analysis method can both define and classify contributing factors and be able to analyse how these factors may interact to produce a critical event. These issues are highly influenced by the underlying theory, e.g. the accident model. Consequently, the first study in this thesis surveyed the characteristics of four general accident models, i.e. sequential models, epidemiological models, energy transfer models and systemic models.

Based on the accident model survey, this thesis investigated the characteristics of accident models applied in five previous accident causation studies, three statistical studies and two case studies. In the investigation, it was found that the statistical studies had not defined an accident model. This together with other methodological deficiencies resulted in the misleading conclusion that human factors are responsible for up to 70-95% of traffic accidents.
 The two case studies defined detailed accident models, forming the base for their causation analysis methods. However, because of an implemented driver model based on the information-processing concept, the accident models received features resembling the disadvantages of sequential accident models. As a result, every accident was analysed and explained always using the same structure of causation. Further, the results in the form of case reports provided limited possibilities to compare similar accidents and see common causation characteristics, e.g. through comparing contributory factors and their interactions.

In the second study of this thesis, a promising method for analysing causation, Driving Reliability and Error Analysis Method (DREAM), was presented and demonstrated in an in-depth investigation of 38 single-vehicle crashes (SVCs). DREAM is based on the principles of systemic accident models. Consequently, DREAM consists of a factor and a linkage structure that is flexible enough to analyse the various types of causation factors that together may contribute to an accident. The result of a DREAM analysis is illustrated as an accident pattern for each accident case.
The individual SVCs were compared to distinguish cases with similar crash circumstances. As a result, causation patterns were combined into four scenarios that demonstrate the most frequently occurring factors and links. The four scenarios described in greater detail the factors that contribute to accidents characterised by road departure, slipperiness, excessive speed or excessive driver manoeuvres.
Because of the flexible structure, the sequence of a DREAM analysis may first appear abstract and therefore difficult to immediately understand. Consequently, there is a risk that analysts with different competence may produce diversified results. However, this risk will likely be reduced with more distinct factor definitions, education and experience.


They come from desert Ethiopia and mid-century America, and end up in the shadows of reggae clubs, reeducation courses, and the IDF. For the darker shades of Jew, settling in a harsh Promised Land is a dramatic leap of faith. Emily Raboteau goes hunting for black folks in Israel.


Recent efforts to improve the vascular and gastrointestinal safety of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have included the addition of a nitric oxide-donating moiety. The ability of the common NSAID naproxen and nitric oxide (NO)-naproxen to inhibit azoxymethane-induced aberrant crypt foci in the rat colon has been demonstrated. However, the chemopreventive activity of these agents against spontaneous colorectal tumors has not been reported. The goal of the present study was to compare the ability of naproxen and NO-naproxen (low- and high-dose molar equivalents) to inhibit colorectal adenomas in a unique strain of mice (Apc +/Min-FCCC ) that spontaneously develops multiple colorectal tumors. Male Apc +/Min-FCCC mice (50 days of age) were randomized (n = 17 per group) to receive control diet or diet supplemented with naproxen (132 or 400 ppm) or NO-naproxen (182 or 550 ppm) for 45 days. Body weights were recorded weekly and did not differ significantly among treatment groups. At sacrifice, small intestinal and colonic tissues were examined grossly and the entire colon was submitted for histopathologic analysis. Low-dose naproxen and low-dose NO-naproxen decreased the multiplicity of gross small intestinal adenomas by 70.3% (mean ± SEM – 9.9 ± 1.45, P = 0.04) and 64.0% (12.0 ± 1.9), respectively, as compared to that of control mice (33.3 ± 14.0). No additional benefit was obtained by administering a higher dose of either agent. Histopathologic analyses revealed that the incidence of colorectal adenomas in mice treated with naproxen (low dose – 70.6%; high dose – 64.7%) was significantly less than that of both control mice (100%) (P = 0.019 and 0.0076, respectively) and mice treated with NO-naproxen (low dose – 88.2% and high dose – 100%). Low-dose naproxen reduced the multiplicity of colorectal adenomas by 41.5% as compared to control (mean ± SEM, 1.8 ± 0.5, 3.1 ± 0.7, respectively), while the efficacy of all other treatments was less. Interestingly, treatment with high-dose naproxen caused a dramatic (89.3%) reduction in the multiplicity of microadenomas as compared to unsupplemented control diet. This study represents the first demonstration that naproxen can inhibit spontaneous colorectal adenomas in a controlled model system. The ability of naproxen to disrupt the formation of colorectal lesions early in the carcinogenesis process (microadenomas) provides strong support for its further development as a regimen for the chemoprevention of colorectal cancer in high-risk individuals. (Supported by NIH N01 CN-43309.) Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-457. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-LB-457


The authors describe two state reduction techniques for finite-state models of security protocols. The techniques exploit certain protocol properties that they have identified as characteristic of security protocols. They prove the soundness of the techniques by demonstrating that any violation of protocol invariants is preserved in the reduced state graph. In addition, they describe an optimization method for evaluating parameterized rule conditions, which are common in models of security protocols. All three techniques have been implemented in the Mur/spl phi/ verifier.


Polymer multimode optical waveguides can enable high-speed short-reach optical interconnection at low cost within high performance electronic systems. The formation of such waveguides on flexible substrates can offer important additional advantages such as light weight, ability to be tightly bent, and reconfigurability which are particularly important in environments where space, weight, and shape conformity are critical, for instance in vehicles and aircraft. The ability of such flexible optical interconnects to be tightly bent and twisted with low excess loss is crucial in enabling their use in systems with limited space and with movable parts. As a result, in this work, we present a new design of such flexible polymer multimode waveguides that achieves improved bending loss performance over the conventional waveguide design. It is experimentally shown that the proposed design achieves a very low excess loss of 0.5 dB for a 3 mm radius bend under a 50 μm MMF launch. In comparison, flexible waveguides with the conventional design exhibit a 2 dB excess loss under the same launch and bend conditions. Additionally, useful rules that associate the twisting loss performance of flexible polymer waveguide samples with their geometric characteristics are derived. It is shown that negligible twisting losses (<0.1 dB for a 50 μm MMF input) can be achieved when the dimensions of the waveguide samples are appropriately selected. The results demonstrate the strong potential of such bend- and twist-insensitive flexible polymer waveguides for use in next-generation vehicles and aircraft.


Interview by Jenaid Rees, commissioning editor. Margaret A Liu is best known for her pioneering work in the area of DNA vaccines. A world renowned scientist, Liu was named one of 'The 50 Most Important Women Scientists' by Discover magazine in 2002. Liu obtained her M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and has held positions at numerous institutions including Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania, UCSF, and the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. In her career she has served as Senior Advisor in Vaccinology at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Executive Vice-Chair of the International Vaccine Institute in Seoul, Korea and worked for companies including Merck, Transgène and Chiron Corporation. Her research achievements have led to her receipt of honorary lectureships, and she has held many board positions throughout her career. Liu currently consults in the fields of vaccines and immunotherapy for companies, universities, and non-governmental and governmental scientific organizations, and is a Foreign Adjunct Professor at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, and an Adjunct Professor at the University of California, San Francisco.


: Vestibular apparatus was investigated in rats subjected to weightlessness for 19.5 days in the satelite "Cosmos-782" and experienced acceleration on launching and landing. Some structural and functional changes were noted. They were seen in otolith clinging to the utricular receptor surface and in the peripheral arrangement of the nucleolus in the nuclei of the receptor cells. It is also possible that increased edema of the vestibular tissue resulted in destruction of some receptor cells, and within the otolith--changes in the form and structure of otoconia. In the horizontal crista the cupula was separated.


Direct chemical analysis of electrode/electrolyte interfaces can provide critical information on surface phenomena that define and control the performance of Li-based battery systems. In this work, we introduce the use of ex situ femtosecond laser induced breakdown spectroscopy to probe compositional variations within the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer. Nanometer-scale depth resolution was achieved for elemental and molecular depth profiling of SEI layers formed on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite electrodes in an organic carbonate-based electrolyte. This work demonstrates the unique ability of ultrafast laser spectroscopy as a highly versatile, light element-sensitive technique for direct chemical analysis of interfacial layers in electrochemical energy storage systems.


Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 5 (IGFBP5) is the highest conserved member of IGFBP family, and has the broad range of biological activities effecting on the cell growth. This study aims to investigate the association between genetic variation in IGFBP5 gene and the growth of striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus). Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were discovered and validated in IGFBP5 gene from two growth-selected populations (fast- and slow- growing fish). For SNP discovery, the fragments of IGFBP5 from sample sets of 10 fast- growing fish and 10 slow- growing fish were directly sequenced by Sanger sequencing. In this stage, 4 exonic SNPs were discovered, including a non-synonymous SNP 525 T>A (p. Val16Glu) in exon 1, and three synonymous SNPs (8859 G>A, 11713 C>A, 11992 T>C) in exon 4. The non-synonymous SNP 525 T>A (p.Val16Glu) was filtered to the next step of SNP validation. For validation, the SNP was individually genotyped in the test populations of 70 fast- growing fish and 70 slow- growing fish by single base extension method. Data analysis from the total SNPs which were collected from 80 fast- growing fish and 80 slow- growing fish indicated that non-synonymous SNP 525 T>A (p.Val16Glu) was significantly associated to the growth of striped catfish (p-value <0.001). Analysis of genetic diversity parameters (PIC, MAF) suggested that this SNP is a common variant, contributes significantly to the genetic variance. The non-synonymous SNP 525 T>A (p.Val16Glu) in IGFBP5 gene would become a SNP marker candidate for marker assisted selection (MAS) that can be used in pangasius breeding.


We give analytical bounds on the Value-at-Risk and on convex risk measures for a portfolio of random variables with fixed marginal distributions under an additional positive dependence structure. We show that assuming positive dependence information in our model leads to reduced dependence uncertainty spreads compared to the case where only marginals information is known. In more detail, we show that in our model the assumption of a positive dependence structure improves the best-possible lower estimate of a risk measure, while leaving unchanged its worst-possible upper risk bounds. In a similar way, we derive for convex risk measures that the assumption of a negative dependence structure leads to improved upper bounds for the risk while it does not help to increase the lower risk bounds in an essential way. As a result we find that additional assumptions on the dependence structure may result in essentially improved risk bounds.