Molecular dynamics simulations have been performed for a model aqueous solution of mucin. As mucin is a central part of lubricin, a key component of synovial fluid, we investigate its ability to form cross-linked networks. Such network formation could be of major importance for the viscoelastic properties of the soft-matter system and crucial for understanding the lubrication mechanism in articular cartilage. Thus, the inter- and intra-molecular interaction energies between the residues of mucin are analyzed. The results indicate that the mucin concentration significantly impacts its cross-linking behavior. Between 160 g/L and 214 g/L, there seems to be a critical concentration above which crowding begins to alter intermolecular interactions and their energies. This transition is further supported by the mean squared displacement of the molecules. At a high concentration, the system starts to behave subdiffusively due to network development. We also calculate a sample mean squared displacement and p-variation tests to demonstrate how the statistical nature of the dynamics is likewise altered for different concentrations.


Generalized additive models (GAMs) have been widely used. While the procedure for fitting a generalized additive model to independent data has been well established, not as much work has been done when the data are correlated. The currently available methods are not completely satisfactory in practice. A new approach is proposed to fit generalized additive models with spatio-temporal data via the penalized likelihood approach which estimates the smooth functions and covariance parameters by iteratively maximizing the penalized log likelihood. Both maximum likelihood (ML) and restricted maximum likelihood (REML) estimation schemes are developed. Also, conditions for asymptotic posterior normality are investigated for the case of separable spatio-temporal data with fixed spatial covariate structure and no temporal dependence. We propose a new model selection criterion for comparing models with and without spatial correlation. The proposed methods are illustrated by both simulation study and real data analysis.


Managing a new product design project assumes taking into account the consequences of the design decisions on future costs. The purpose of this article is to underlye the methodological problems of choosing a particular set of tools in order to manage the costs commited and the risks involved when designing and developping a new product.


Acoustic plasmons in a two-component degenerate Fermi gas are analysed, using the random-phase approximation dielectric function with exact analytic continuation into the lower half of the complex frequency plane. The acoustic plasmon spectrum, in reduced variables, depends on four parameters-the ratio of Thomas-Fermi screening wavevectors of the two plasmas, the ratio of Fermi velocities, and the densities of the two plasmas. The dependence of the spectrum on these parameters is surveyed. The first two of the above-mentioned parameters are the most important. Acoustic plasmons can exist even when the two plasmas have equal effective mass. The range of parameters giving weakly damped acoustic plasmons is described. The spectrum has an abrupt cut-off (maximum wavevector); this corresponds to the onset of Landau damping in both plasmas. The experimental results of Pinczuk, Shah and Wolff (1981) on acoustic plasmons in the GaAs electron-hole plasma are reanalysed. For this purpose the extension to a three-component plasma is made, since the light holes, although few in number, have a significant effect on the results. In this system the 'upper acoustic plasmon' does not exist, contrary to what is implicitly assumed by Pinczuk, Shah and Wolff in their analysis. The 'lower acoustic plasmon' does exist, and its phase velocity agrees, within the errors of theory and experiment, with their experimental result.


This paper introduces a checksum algorithm that provides a new point in the performance/complexity/effectiveness checksum tradeoff space. It has better fault detection properties than single-sum and dual-sum modular addition checksums. It is also simpler to compute efficiently than a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) due to exploiting commonly available hardware and programming language support for unsigned integer division. The key idea is to compute a single running sum, but introduce a left shift by the size (in bits) of the modulus before performing the modular reduction after each addition step. This approach provides a Hamming Distance of 3 for longer data word lengths than dual-sum approaches such as the Fletcher checksum. Moreover, it provides this capability using a single running sum that is only twice the size of the final computed check value, while providing fault detection capabilities even better than large-block variants of dual-sum approaches that require larger division operations. A variant that includes a parity bit achieves Hamming Distance 4 for the same size check value, approximating the fault detection capabilities of a good CRC for about half the data word length attainable by such a CRC.


International Conference of Intensive Care - Education and Practice was focused modern method of students education, specifically e-learning in intensive care, evaluation of quality education and nursing care in intensive care.


If information technology (IT) is to have a mass impact on those living in rural areas of developing countries, it cannot occur on the basis of ownership (as it does in rich countries). Instead, it is to institutional innovations in and for developing countries, that one needs to look at. Two basic forms of innovation are identified: one which allows use of IT without ownership and the other which permits the benefits of IT to reach those who make no individual use of it. Either way, however, successful institutional innovations require a thicket of interactions between local actors, rather than interventions from foreign agencies (at least in the initial phase). Three case studies were used to illustrate these components of what I feel is an emerging paradigm of IT and rural development.


The symbiotic relationship between gut microbiota and humans has been forged over many millennia. This relationship has evolved to establish an intimate partnership that we are only beginning to understand. Gut microbiota were once considered pathogenic, but the concept of gut microbiota and their influence in human health is undergoing a major paradigm shift, as there is mounting evidence of their impact in the homeostasis of intestinal development, metabolic activities, and the immune system. The disruption of microbiota has been associated with many gastrointestinal and nongastrointestinal diseases, and the reconstitution of balanced microbiota has been postulated as a potential therapeutic strategy. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), a unique method to reestablish a sustained balance in the disrupted microbiota of diseased intestine, has demonstrated great success in the treatment of recurrent Clostridium difficile infection and has gained increasing acceptance in clinical use. The possibility of dysfunctional micro-biota playing a causative role in other gastrointestinal and nongas-trointestinal diseases, therefore, has also been raised, and there are an increasing number of studies supporting this hypothesis. FMT is emerging as a feasible therapeutic option for several diseases; however, its efficacy remains in question, given the lack of clinical trial data. Altering microbiota with FMT holds great promise, but much research is needed to further define FMT's therapeutic role and optimize the microbiota delivery system.


Of professional music therapists in the American Music Therapy Association, 9% report being self-employed or in private practice. The purpose of this paper was to provide initial data concerning music therapists who are in private practice. The researchers successfully sent out 353 surveys and 118 were completed and returned via electronic mail for a response rate of 33.4%. Although general, results indicate that music therapists in private practice are active within the profession, doing presentations and inservices, conducting research, supervising practica students and interns, and keeping current with forthcoming research. Data indicate that most music therapists chose private practice due to a more flexible schedule, increased salary, and the lack of previously established job opportunities. Additionally, 65.8% of respondents reported having a bachelor's degree in music therapy, 29.2% reported having a master's degree, and 5.1 % reported having a doctoral degree. Quantitative results, rationale, and suggestions are included in an attempt to assist music therapists who are interested in starting private practices.


Groups are fundamental objects in mathematics, as they are responsible for the symmetries of any object or system under consideration. The presence of symmetry makes a problem more interesting and, as a general rule, easier to solve. In all cases, it is group action which makes groups useful and important. This is not surprising, since the notion of group was first introduced through group actions as permutation groups on roots of algebraic equations. On the other hand, the single notion of group action includes many different actions arising from various sources.

All of which is amply illustrated by the papers collected in this volume, the fifth Handbook of Group Actions. Topics include: classical geometric groups, geometric group theory, diffeomorphism groups of manifolds, mapping class groups, three-dimensional topology, hyperbolic manifolds, automorphism groups of complex manifolds, dynamics, and number theory.


Previously we presented the purification, biochemical characterization, and cloning of a cationic peroxidase isoenzyme (CysPrx) from artichoke (Cynara cardunculus subsp scolymus (L.) Hegi) leaves. The protein was shown to have some interesting properties, suggesting that CysPrx could be a considered as a potential candidate for industrial application. In addition, from the CysPrx sequence, two full-lengh cDNAs: CysPrx1 and CysPrx2, differing for three amino acids, were isolated. A three-dimensional model was predicted from CysPrx1 by homology modeling, using two different computational tools. Herein we discuss the roles of particular amino acid residues and structural motifs or regions of both deduced sequences with the aim to find new understandings between the new plant peroxidase isoenzymes and their physiological substrates. Additionally, the obtained information may lead to new methods for improving the stability of the enzyme in several processes of biotechnological interest for peroxidase applications.


In experiments carried out in this laboratory several years ago, it was noted that excised leaves of Bryophyllum calycinum collected at daybreak and cultured in water in darkness may increase appreciably in their content of starch (3). Such leaves contain a high proportion of organic acids when picked but undergo a marked loss of acidity when kept in darkness for two or three days. The suggestion was advanced that the newly formed starch may have arisen from organic acids as a result of reversal of the glycolytic reactions. Experiments on the normal diurnal variation respectively of organic acids and starch in Bryophyllum leaves (4, ?) have lent considerable support to the view that such a course of events is possible, and an unpublished experiment carried out by the late Dr. G. W. Pucher shortly before his death in 1947 showed that starch accumulation in leaves cultured in darkness may at times reach considerable proportions. Accordingly, renewed study has been given to this problem. Bryophyllum calycinum leaves collected at daybreak were maintained in a closed dark cabinet under a continuous fine spray of water for several days, individual samples being removed for analysis at appropriate times. The leaves, which contained 3.7 gm. per kilo of initial fresh weight of starch at dawn, contained only 1 gm. after a further seven hours in darkness but then began to accumulate starch so that, after 26 hours, they contained 3 gm. and, after 75 hours, 3.6 gm. An even larger relative increase had been observed in the unpublished experiment of Pucher (see also 3) so that there appears to be no doubt of the capacity of Bryophyllum leaves to behave in this manner, notwithstanding a report to the contrary of Varner and BurRELL (5).


Abstract This paper describes a regular oscillation observed in nighttime drainage airflow in a valley under relatively light upper-level wind conditions. The period of these oscillations is about 20 minutes with at least one harmonic at about 10 minutes. A strong coherence between tributary flow and main valley fluctuations was observed, with the phase of the tributary flow leading the valley oscillation; this indicates the importance of tributaries as major contributors to the dynamics of cold air flow in valleys.


Objective To determine the incidence of skeletal-related events among multiple myeloma patients who received chemotherapy without a bone-modifying agent (zoledronic acid and denosumab) versus those who received chemotherapy with a bone-modifying agent. The secondary objective was to determine the incidence of skeletal-related events in patients without any prior history of skeletal-related events and who were treated with zoledronic acid every four weeks versus those who received zoledronic acid at an extended interval of every twelve weeks. Additional secondary objectives included the incidence of nephrotoxicity, hypocalcemia and osteonecrosis of the jaw in all patients. Methods This institutional review board-approved, retrospective cohort study included patients 18 to 89 years old with a diagnosis of multiple myeloma, who were being treated with chemotherapy between July 1, 2016 and October 31, 2019. Safety and efficacy were assessed through analysis of pertinent data collected: patient demographics, baseline skeletal-related events, development of new skeletal-related events, number and type of bone-modifying agent doses administered, and drug-related toxicities such as nephrotoxicity, hypocalcemia, and osteonecrosis of the jaw. Results A total of 73 patients were included. New skeletal-related events occurred in 12 patients (27%) in the chemotherapy without a bone-modifying agent group and in 5 patients (17%) in the chemotherapy with a bone-modifying agent group (OR = 0.56, 95% CI [0.172–1.8]; P = 0.32). The incidence of skeletal-related events was similar among patients receiving zoledronic acid every four weeks versus every twelve weeks in patients without a prior skeletal-related event (N = 0 vs. N = 2 respectively; P = 0.47). There were no statistically significant differences observed in each of the three secondary safety endpoints: incidence of hypocalcemia, nephrotoxicity and osteonecrosis of the jaw. Conclusion Multiple myeloma patients receiving chemotherapy without a bone-modifying agent had higher rates of skeletal-related events compared to those being treated with chemotherapy and a bonemodifying agent. Our results highlight the benefit of utilizing bonemodifying agents for the prevention of skeletal-related events in all multiple myeloma patients being treated with chemotherapy.


Developmental stages of the gastric parasite, Cryptosporidium muris (strain TS03), were obtained from stomachs and faeces of experimentally inoculated Mastomys coucha. The development of C. muris oocysts was mapped in detail using a combined microscopic approach, supported by freeze etching. Two types of wall forming bodies (WFB) of different electron density occurred in mature macrogamonts and zygotes. The WFB, located beneath the zygote pellicle, disintegrated into small particles and migrated in the space between pellicular membranes. Additional membranes seemed to develop beneath the pellicle so that four or more membranes could be seen enveloping more advanced zygote stages. Developing oocysts were enveloped by a parasitophorous sac and their wall comprised of three layers. The outermost one, considered to be a true oocyst, was very fragile and this could be the reason that it usually remains unnoticed. In endogenous stages, this layer was usually separated from inner two layers and often almost unnoticeable as it was adjacent to the inner membrane of parasitophorous sac. The middle thin and the innermost thick layers, on which the characteristic suture could be seen, form the wall of a sporocyst. Fully sporulated sporocysts, found either in stomach or faeces, were released from parasitophorous sac and frequently lacked the outermost layer (oocyst). Under scanning electron microscope, they exhibited either smooth or wrinkly surface, presumably depending on the wall thickness. Furthermore, due to a high variability in wall thickness, authors call into question the existence of two independent types of oocysts (thin- and thick-walled) in cryptosporidia. Financial support provided by projects No. P506/10/P372 and MUNI/A/0937/2012.


This paper intends to explain key differences between Aristotle's understanding of the relationships between nous, episteme, and the art of syllogistic reasoning (both analytic and dialectical) and the corresponding modern conceptions of intuition, knowledge, and reason. By uncoveringparadoxa that Aristotle's understanding of syllogistic reasoning presents in relation to modern philosophical conceptions of logic and science, I highlight problems of a shift in modern philosophy-a shift that occurs most dramatically in the seventeenth century-toward a project of construction, a pervasive desire for rational certainty, and a general insistence on the reducibility of the sciences. The major motivation of this analysis is my intention to show that modern attempts to reduce science/episteme to a single science/method of inquiry occlude dialectical and ethico-political dimensions of "reason" and, hence, also impoverish philosophy's critical capacities.


The essential aim of a database system is to guarantee database consistency, which means that the data contained in a database is both accurate and valid. Checking the consistency of a database state generally involves the execution of integrity tests (query that returns the value true or false) on the database, which verify whether the database is satisfying its constraints or not. The process of checking integrity constraints has proved to be extremely difficult to implement, particularly in distributed database. This paper proposed a framework for checking integrity constraints in a distributed database by utilizing as much as possible the local information stored at the target site. The proposed framework consists of two main processes, namely: (i) simplify the integrity constraints to produce support tests and integrate them with complete and sufficient tests and (ii) select the most suitable test from several alternative tests when an update operation is submitted to the system. Including these processes in the proposed framework has optimized the process of checking the consistency of the distributed database by reducing the amount of data transferred across the network, the amount of data accessed, the number of sites involved, and the number of integrity constraints to be evaluated.


In the work of the objective examination of the degree views of the students of the profession in the field of information technology (it), as well as their motivation. Using the method of multidimensional scaling systematically reflected levels of each of the students about the most popular professions in the field of it.


Humboldt squids, or 'Red Devils', are the world's largest animal without a backbone. These sometimes dangerous creatures live in the deep waters of the Gulf of California. A researcher and professional diver have come to the Gulf to learn more about them. Will they find any Red Devils? Will they be able to observe them safely?


This study focuses on the design and analysis of a Rotor type magneto-rheological fluid (MR Fluid) brake and clutch. The brake's braking torque and the clutch's torque output can be easily controlled by adjusting the MR fluid and the configuration of Rotor. Electromagnetic finite element analysis(FEA) is performed, using FEMLAB software of the COMSOL Group, to find out the optimization conditions for the design of the Rotor type MR Fluid clutch and brake. In this paper, the design method of the Rotor type MR Fluid brake and clutch is investigated theoretically. The equation of the torque transmitted by the MR fluid within the Rotor type brake and clutch is derived to provide the theoretical foundation in the rotor design of the brake and clutch. The output torque values are recorded for different input velocities and applied magnetic fields, and the experimental results are compared with the theoretical results. Theoretical and experimental analyses have illustrated that this Rotor type MR fluid brake and clutch can transfer high controllable torques with a very fast time response. It was demonstrated that the Rotor type MR fluid clutch and brake have a strong capability of transmitting and isolating the high torque.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which a Brain-Based Teaching Method could correct misconceptions and change eighth grade Jordanian students' understanding of concepts of electricity. The randomly selected sample (N=357) included students from the Bani Kenanah Directorate of Education in Jordan. A brain-based teaching method was used to instruct 183 students (98 male and 85 female), while conventional teaching method was used to instruct 174 students (82 male and 92 female). Two instruments were developed: a multiple-choice test of the misconceptions of electricity commonly held by eighth grade students and an inventory that classified participants based on students' levels of learning process. Data analyses used the SPSS software package to perform a 2-way ANCOVA and post hoc tests with the split file technique at an α level of 0.05. The results indicated that the brain-based teaching method surpassed conventional method in correcting misconceptions and changing students' concepts of electricity. However, the results also demonstrated that meaningful learners outperformed in-between and rote learners with regard to conceptual change and that rote learners exhibited the poorest performance. Study results, which were consistent with earlier findings, suggest that curriculum developers should take characteristics of brain learning into account in developing curricula and textbooks and those instructors should consider brain characteristics when planning science lessons.


Rotorcraft drivelines typically utilize a multi-segmented metallic system to transmit power between the engine and tail rotor. The typical arrangement of metal driveshaft segments, hanger bearings, and flexible couplers contribute to a significant logistical footprint, maintenance downtime, and life-cycle costs. Thus, an innovative flexible matrix composite driveshaft design alternative is presented in this paper, intended to simultaneously reduce the number of couplers and bearings, as well as, provide high fatigue strain capacity. Through reduction in number of parts, the maintenance cost and time as well as weight of the system are reduced. Composite driveshafts, representing those used in utility helicopters, were designed using an optimization process that considers: (1) damping-induced self-heating, (2) whirling stability, (3) torsional buckling stability, and (4) lamina strength. The paper provides a ballistic comparison study between a baseline carbon/epoxy composite and flexible carbon/polyurethane composite driveshaft segments. One driveshaft of each material was torsionally loaded to failure without ballistic impact. Additionally, two driveshafts were impacted obliquely at zero torque with 7.62 and 12.7 mm armor piercing/incendiary (API) rounds. After impact, the driveshafts were loaded in torsion to failure. Residual torsional strengths were 17–21% and 13% of un-impacted strengths for the 7.62 mm and 12.7 mm rounds, respectively. For the small sample size, flexible driveshafts had a marginally higher residual strength compared to the carbon/epoxy counterpart. Residual torsional stiffness values were 83–86% and 52–59% for the 7.62 mm and 12.7 mm rounds, respectively.


In November 2020 a mortality episode (30%) in juvenile Siberian and Russian sturgeons (Acipenser baerii, Brandt, and A. gueldenstaedtii, Brandt & Ratzeburg) and GUBA hybrid sturgeons (A. gueldenstaedtii × A. baerii) occurred in a hatchery in Northern Italy, associated with severe coelomic distension and abnormal reverse surface swimming. The fish were reared in concrete tanks supplied by well water, fed at 0.4% of body weight (b.w.) per day. Thirty sturgeon specimens were collected for necropsy, histological, bacteriological and virological examination. Macroscopic findings included diffuse and severe bloating of gastrointestinal tracts due to foamy contents with thinning and stretching of the gastrointestinal walls. Histological analysis revealed variable degrees of sloughing and necrosis of the intestinal epithelium, and the presence of bacterial aggregates. Anaerobic Gram-positive bacteria were investigated, and Clostridium perfringens was isolated from the gut. Specific PCRs identified the toxinotype A and the β2 toxin gene. The daily feed administration was increased to 1.5% b.w. and after 5 days, the mortality ceased. A new animal cohort from the same groups was examined after 12 weeks, showing neither gut alterations nor isolation of C. perfringens. The imbalance of intestinal microbiota, presumably caused by underfeeding, favoured C. perfringens overgrowth and severe gas formation. The diet increase possibly restored the normal microbiota.


Abstract The response of yam to inoculation with two species of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM), Glomus mosseae and Glomus etunicatum and applications of fertilizer, and manure was investigated. Field experiment was conducted at the research farm of Botany and Microbiology Department, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. The treatments were arranged in a factorial randomized complete block design. There were four levels of VAM inoculation. The yam plants were either inoculated with a VAM fungus or not. Manure and NPK fertilizer were also applied as treatments. Each of the VAM was either combined with manure or NPK fertilizer. Chlorophyll synthesis, relative water content (RWC) and dry matter accumulation were investigated. The results showed that there was enhanced chlorophyll content in yam inoculated with the VAM with G. mosseae being more effective when combined with manure. RWC and yield of yam were also significantly influenced by the treatments. RWC was found to affect the chlorophyll production when water became limited. Chlorophyll content was also found to have effect on yam productivity. Combinations of mycorrhizae with the soil amendments are highly promising for sustainable yam production in degraded soils.


The authors study the ultrasound signs of the adrenal gland based on 5 different types of operated adrenal tumours (a lipoma, an adrenal cortical adenoma, a cyst, a corticoadrenaloma, an adrenal metastasis from a renal cell carcinoma). The ultrasonographic morphological criteria of the normal adrenal gland and each type of tumour are recalled and are illustrated by clinical cases. The value of ultrasonography in the investigation of this organ was evaluated in comparison with other imaging techniques. It constitutes a good first-line diagnostic guiding examination, but needs to be completed by other investigations (computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, etc.). Ultrasonography can also reveal asymptomatic adrenal tumours ("adrenal incidentalomas") in which the therapeutic decision (surveillance or surgery) must be based on criteria of size and appearance after a complete laboratory and morphological assessment.


This qualitative study describes the experience of returning to work and the adaptive strategies used by persons with brain injury living in the Western Cape of South Africa. Nine males and one female participated in the study. Face to face, semi structured individual interviews were conducted and data were analyzed using a qualitative approach to explicate patterns and themes. Four themes emerged: 1) A sense of loss of former self; 2) Uncertainty about the future; 3) The road to self acceptance and self belief; and 4) Participation in occupation enables growth. The findings of the study suggest that people with a brain injury undergo a process of reflection and self acceptance before they are ready to adapt to a worker role, and that self efficacy beliefs are instrumental to occupational adaptation. New occupational patterns or routines are formed, based on the functional capacity of the individual with the brain injury. These findings are relevant to occupational science in that they provide insight int...


Automated license plate recognition can be used for many applications such as detecting traffic light violations, access controlling, calculating parking fee and so on. However, detection and recognition of license plates can be seen as a complex problem. This paper presents an algorithm which can be used in Sri Lanka, for detecting and recognizing license plates automatically using image processing and neural networks techniques. In the proposed algorithm, the license plates are located by analyzing the regions with highest vertical edge density. Hough transformation and the affine transformation techniques are used to handle the skewed license plates. After extracting the license plate characters, a neural network is used to recognize those characters. The experimental results show that the proposed system can successfully detect and recognize all types of license plates in Sri Lanka and is suitable for real time implementation because of the lower execution time.


We present a caching method that significantly reduces the cost of subnetwork evaluation during switchlevel simulation. The method speeds up switch-level simulation by as much as a factor of two while encurring a reasonable space penalty that is linearly related to the netlist size.


Wole Soyinka, best known as a Nigerian writer, playwright and Nobel laureate, has been a staunch supporter of the Nigerian cinema, and one of his plays, Death and the King's horseman, is currently in the process of being adapted to the screen. He embodies the link between the Nigerian society, Yoruba culture and Nollywood. This book of essays in honour of Wole Soyinka's life and works, offered to him on his 80th birthday, brings together a good number of contributions - short paragraphs, long essays, formal interviews, impromptu conversations and poems. The authors of these texts include a former general Commonwealth secretary, university dons from various fields, internationally acclaimed writers such as Ngugi, Aidoo or Mazrui, diplomats and politicians, journalists, students and personal friends.


The phenomenon of a population increasing in response to an increase in its per-capita mortality rate has recently been termed the 'hydra effect'. This article reviews and unifies previous work on this phenomenon. Some discrete models of density-dependent growth were shown to exhibit hydra effects in 1954, but the topic was then ignored for decades. Here the history of research on the hydra effect is reviewed, and the key factors producing it are explored. Mortality that precedes overcompensatory density dependence always has the potential to produce hydra effects. Even when mortality follows density dependence, hydra effects may occur in unstable systems due to changes in the amplitude and/or form of population cycles. An increase in resource productivity due to lower consumption rates following increased consumer mortality can also produce a hydra effect. Lower consumption can come about as the result of increased satiation of the consumers or changes in behaviour of either consumer or resource species that reduce the mean attack rate. Changes in species composition of a resource community may also decrease the average attack rate. Population structure can promote hydra effects by allowing separation of the timing of density dependence and mortality, although stage-specific density dependence usually decreases hydra effects.


Circuit Design for Sensor Detection Signal Conditioner Nitrate Content. Nitrate is one of macro nutrients very important for agriculture. The availability of nitrate in soil is limited because it is very easy to leaching by rain, therefore nitrate could be contaminated ground water by over-process of fertilizer. This process could also produce inefficiency in agriculture if it happened continuesly without pre-analysis of farm field. The answer those problems, it is need to develop the ion sensor system to measure concentrations of nitrat in soil. The system is consist of nitrate ion sensor device, signal conditioning and data acquisition circuit. The design and fabrications of signal conditioning circuit which integrated into ion nitrate sensor system and will apply for agriculture. This sensor has been used amperometric with three electrodes configuration: working, reference and auxiliarry; the ion senstive membrane has use conductive polymer. The screen printing technique has been choosen to fabricate electrodes and deposition technique for ion sensitive membrane is electropolymerization. The characterization of sensor has been conducted using nitrate standard solution with range of concentration between 1 µM–1 mM. The characterization has shown that sensor has a good response with cureent output between 2.8–4.71 µA, liniearity factor is 99.65% and time response 250 second.


Currently, visual field defects are considered as an inevitable consequence of occipital lobe surgery. However, recent advances in neuroimaging techniques, such as diffusion tensor tractography allowing better visualization of optic radiation and its relationship with occipital lobe tumors, as well as intraoperative monitoring of cortical visual evoked potentials (cVEPs) can contribute to correct planning of surgery and minimizing the risk of visual field defects after surgery.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effectiveness of intraoperative monitoring of cVEP in patients with occipital lobe tumors.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Ten patients with occipital lobe tumors have undergone surgery with neurophysiological monitoring since 2020. Mean age of patients was 57 years. There were 6 women and 4 men. In 7 patients, neoplasms were located in the right hemisphere, in 3 patients - in the left hemisphere. According to preoperative automatic perimetry data, 7 patients had various visual field defects, and other ones had intact visual fields. All patients underwent pre- and postoperative MRI for visualization of optic radiation, its relationship with tumor and control of resection quality. Intraoperative monitoring of cVEPs was performed in all patients.

RESULTS
Biopsy verified glioblastoma in 5 cases, metastasis of adenocarcinoma - 2 cases, diffuse glioma - 1 case, ganglioglioma - 1 case, CNS lymphoma - 1 case. Postoperative MRI confirmed total or subtotal resection of tumor in all cases. Enlargement of visual fields occurred in 3 patients after surgery. Two ones had deterioration and/or new homonymous defect. No changes of visual fields was observed in other cases. Analysis of visual field defects after surgery found no correlation with functional state of visual tract according to fractional anisotropy before and after surgery.

CONCLUSION
MR tractography of optic radiation and intraoperative monitoring of cVEP allow choosing the safest approach for resection of occipital tumor and minimizing the risk of damage to visual cortex and optic radiation fibers. In most cases, postoperative visual functions do not worsen after intraoperative mapping of visual cortex and determining the safest trajectory for resection of occipital lobe tumors. Moreover, improvement is observed in some cases.


It was not known how to assess accurately losses in a communications link due to photodetector blocking, a phenomenon wherein a detector is rendered inactive for a short time after the detection of a photon. When used to detect a communications signal, blocking leads to losses relative to an ideal detector, which may be measured as a reduction in the communications rate for a given received signal power, or an increase in the signal power required to support the same communications rate. This work involved characterizing blocking losses for single detectors and arrays of detectors. Blocking may be mitigated by spreading the signal intensity over an array of detectors, reducing the count rate on any one detector. A simple approximation was made to the blocking loss as a function of the probability that a detector is unblocked at a given time, essentially treating the blocking probability as a scaling of the detection efficiency. An exact statistical characterization was derived for a single detector, and an approximation for multiple detectors. This allowed derivation of several accurate approximations to the loss. Methods were also derived to account for a rise time in recovery, and non-uniform illumination due to diffraction and atmospheric distortion of the phase front. It was assumed that the communications signal is intensity modulated and received by an array of photon-counting photodetectors. For the purpose of this analysis, it was assumed that the detectors are ideal, in that they produce a signal that allows one to reproduce the arrival times of electrons, produced either as photoelectrons or from dark noise, exactly. For single detectors, the performance of the maximum-likelihood (ML) receiver in blocking is illustrated, as well as a maximum-count (MC) receiver, that, when receiving a pulse-position-modulated (PPM) signal, selects the symbol corresponding to the slot with the largest electron count. Whereas the MC receiver saturates at high count rates, the ML receiver may not. The loss in capacity, symbol-error-rate (SER), and count-rate were numerically computed. It was shown that the capacity and symbol-error-rate losses track, whereas the count-rate loss does not generally reflect the SER or capacity loss, as the slot-statistics at the detector output are no longer Poisson. It is also shown that the MC receiver loss may be accurately predicted for dead times on the order of a slot.


Unit heaters of the industrial type have been applied for external cooling of transformers and found to be especially useful as a substitute for the original water cooling system or as a supplement to the regular cooling system. Portable substations of smaller size and reduced weight were made possible by the use of these units.


We describe IBM's most recent efforts for speech recognition on a conversational-speech database, the Mandarin Call Home corpus. While it is similar to the well-known Switchboard corpus, the Call Home task addresses several major challenges in the domain of spoken language systems, including spontaneous dialogue with no pre-specified topics, limited-bandwidth telephone signal, and recognition of other languages than English. We particularly describe the methodology used in Mandarin Call Home corpus to address language-specific issues. We also examine and compare our results with those of the English Switchboard corpus. Preliminary experiments show that a 58.7% character error rate can be achieved in the context of April 95 Mandarin Call Home data set. The experimental results are comparable to those of the state-of-the-art IBM Switchboard system with similar amount of training data.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of changes in employment regulation in Spain on individual labour market trajectories. It is well known that the Spanish labour market has been strongly hit by the 2007 recession. Furthermore, after 2010 and in the benchmark of "austerity", several reforms were implemented to further flexibilise employment regulation. At the same time, public sector budgets suffered severe cutbacks, that impacted working conditions and prospects of public sector workers. These reforms were implemented by different governments and substantially changed previous existing patterns of employment. This paper explains how these reforms have reinforced previous existing trends towards greater flexibility and weaker employment protection and how they lead to a shift in the position of work in society.

Design/methodology/approach

The emerging patterns that these changes provoked are illustrated thorough data from narrative biographies of workers affected by a job loss or a downgrading of working conditions. The workers of the sample had relatively stable positions and careers and were affected by changes that substantially modified their paths.

Findings

The paper shows how reforms have expanded work and employment insecurities and have broken career paths. It demonstrates how the reforms have weakened the position of work and organised labour in society and how, when institutional supports are jeopardised, the capacity to plan and act is harassed by the traditional social inequalities.

Originality/value

The paper enhances the knowledge about the impact of institutional changes by analysing their effects in individual working lives by means of narrative biographies.


This paper was studied to investigate and compare the effects of inclined baffle plate on the turbulent flow characteristics of a gun-type gas burner through X-Y plane and Y-Z plane respectively by using X-probe from hot-wire anemometer system. For this purpose, two burner models with a cone-type baffle plate and a flat-type one respectively were used. The fast jet flow spurted from slits plays a role such as an air-curtain because it encircles rotational flow by swirl vanes and drives mixed main flow to axial direction regardless of the inclination of baffle plate. The inclined baffle plate causes axial mean velocity component and turbulent intensities etc. to be greatly concentrated towards the central part of a burner, and its effect especially appears in the range of about X/R


Although infrahyoid muscles show considerable variations in their development, existence of an anomalous digastric muscle in the neck was seldom reported. During dissection of triangles of the neck for medical undergraduate students, we came across an anomalous digastric muscle in the carotid sheath of left side of neck. It was observed in a middle-aged cadaver at College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman. Digastric muscle was located within the carotid sheath between the common and internal carotid arteries and internal jugular vein. It had two bellies; cranial belly and caudal belly which were connected by an intermediate tendon. The cranial belly of the muscle was attached to the petrous part of the temporal bone. The caudal belly extended into the superior mediastinum and merged with the connective tissue around the left brachiocephalic vein. In addition, the caudal belly of the muscle was connected to the lateral margin of the sternothyroid by few muscle fasciculi. The total length of muscle was 15.5 cm and the width of cranial belly, intermediate tendon and caudal belly was found to be 5 mm, 2 mm and 4 mm, respectively. The anomalous muscle reported in the present case might have formed by the abnormal splitting, growth and/or differentiation of lingual-infrahyoid-diaphragmatic band. Due to its close relation, the anomalous muscle may cause compression of vascular structures in the carotid sheath and it may cause confusion during diagnostic imaging of neck soft tissues. The knowledge of reported variation is clinically important while evaluating the compression of internal jugular vein in patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension and during the surgical repair of carotid arteries.D. Retraint, Z. Quadir, W. Xu, L. Waltz, M. Ferry, "Microstructural investigation of roll bonded nanocrystalline stainless steel sheets", The 16th International Conference on the Textures of Materials (ICOTOM 16), Bombay (India), 12-17 December 2011.


Philanthotoxin-433 (PhTX-433) is an active component of the Egyptian solitary digger wasp, Philanthus triangulum, venom which non-selectively inhibits several excitatory ion channels. With the aim of improving potency and selectivity, several synthetic analogues were developed based on the single or multiple modifications in the hydrophilic polyamine tail and hydrophobic aromatic head group of the PhTX.
In the first part of this study, we investigated the pharmacological actions of two synthetic analogues, Philanthotoxin-343 (PhTX-343) and Philanthotoxin-12 (PhTX-12), on mammalian hetero- and homooligomeric nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subunit combinations expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Whole-cell currents in response to application of acetylcholine alone or co-applied with PhTX-analogue were studied electrophysiologically using two-electrode voltage-clamp at three different membrane holding potentials (VH = -60 mV, -80 mV and -100 mV). Concentration-inhibition curves were constructed and IC50 values estimated for each holding potential. The IC50 (95% CI, n=oocytes) values for PhTX-343 inhibition of α3β4, α3β2, α4β2, α4β4, α7, α3β4(F255V), α4β2(V253F) and α1β1δγ peak currents at -100 mV were 0.07 µМ (0.05-0.10 µМ, n=9), 3.20 µМ (1.69-6.26 µМ, n=8), 0.14 µМ (0.09-0.21 µМ, n=7), 0.28 µМ (0.17-0.46 µМ, n=6), 8.7 µМ (6.9-11.0 µМ, n =9), 0.01 µМ (0.01-0.02 µМ, n=8), 0.10 µМ (0.06-0.16 µМ, n=8) and 3.2 µМ (2.5-4.1 µМ, n=9) respectively; for PhTX-12 they were 2.03 µМ (1.22-3.26 µМ, n=8), 74.0 µМ (21-259 µМ, n=10), 1.6 µМ (0.7-3.6 µМ, n=11), 1.82 µМ (0.81-4.11 µМ, n=9), 12.1 µМ (9.0-16.0 µМ, n =10), 1.0 µМ (0.5-2.0 µМ, n=5), 3.4 µМ (1.3-8.7 µМ, n=9) and 5.0 µМ (2.8-8.8 µМ, n=8) respectively; i.e. in contrast to M-nAChR, PhTX-343 was more potent than PhTX-12 in all cases. All IC50s were lower when inhibition was measured after 1 minute of application indicating use dependence. For inhibition of heteromeric nAChRs, the peak potency of PhTX-343 was strongly augmented by holding the cell at more negative VH while this was not the case for PhTX-12 where only weak voltage-dependence was observed. The inhibition of homomeric α7 receptors by PhTX-343 was voltage-independent, whereas the block by PhTX-12 was voltage-dependent. In addition, these two synthetic analogues were different in their recovery rates (PhTX-12 was generally faster than PhTX-343) but they were similar in their mechanism of action, non-competitive inhibition.
In the second part of the project, I explored the structure-activity relations of twenty one synthetic analogues, with a view to improving their activity and selectivity on rat neuronal α4β2 and α3β4 nAChRs at VH = -100 mV. We showed that the presence of positive charge in the polyamine tail of PhTX compounds is essential for nAChR subtype selectivity and its removal made the molecule lose its selectivity. Also, it appears that adding a bulky group to the terminal ammonium drastically reduced activity whereas a similar addition to the head region it increased their potency. In addition, we identified the key regions and substitutions responsible for increasing PhTX activity, cyclohexylalanine in place of tyrosine, and selectivity, phenyl group. Analogues having cyclohexylalanine and a phenolic group in the head region showed IC50 values in the low nano-molar and pico-molar (160-400 pM) range. These data suggest that PhTXs could serve as lead compounds for highly potent and selective inhibitors of N-nAChRs.


Objectives Inspectors from the U.S. OSHA have been collecting industrial hygiene samples since 1972 to verify compliance to permissible exposure limits. Starting in 1979, these measurements have been computerised into the 'integrated management information system' (IMIS). Since 2010, IMIS records from 1984 to 2009 are available directly from the internet. Methods To inform potential users of this dataset, we performed a descriptive analysis of the data and conducted a literature review on previous uses of IMIS in occupational health research. Results The 1 908 374 records in the dataset were reduced to 1 419 764 after removal of analytical blanks and erroneous records. Of these, 82% were concentrated in 30 agents (18 relating to substances labelled at least possibly carcinogenic by IARC) with >10 000 records; 35% of records were labelled as non-detects; and 80% were personal measurements. Other ancillary information includes standardised industry code, date, and analytical method; free-text job descriptions can be requested from OSHA. We found that 19 studies used IMIS data. Of these, 12 examined available determinants of exposure for single substances; 9 examined determinants related to potential biases in IMIS (non-random selection of workplaces and workers) including type and scope of inspection, size of workforce, and union status. One study used the data to develop a job exposure matrix. Conclusions Despite limited ancillary information and potential for bias, IMIS is the biggest source of exposure data in the U.S. and should be considered as a source of information for occupational epidemiology.


Image mining is a growing research focus and is more than just an extension of data mining to image domain but an interdisciplinary endeavor. Very few people have systematically investigated this field. Mining association rules in medical images is an important part in domain- specific application image mining because there are several technical aspects which make this problem challenging. In this paper, we firstly incorporate the domain knowledge into the ROI extraction algorithm and ROI clustering algorithm, then we extend the concept of association rule based on ROI and image in medical images, and propose two algorithms to discover frequent item-sets and mine interesting association rules from medical images. Some interesting results are obtained by our program and we believe many of the problems we come across are likely to appear in other domains.


Mahakala is the core of white national local Lord's faith in Yunnan area. This paper took Yunnan white national Mahakala as its object of research, The author discussed the Jianchuan grottoes of Shizhongshan No. sixteenth shrines of Mahakala relief, and four arms Mahakala statue in Jianchuan cave No. Sixth of Hengduan Mountains of northwestern Yunnan, investigated the daily sacrificial ceremony of local Lord's faith, and the two types of local lord's temple rituals, and Yunnan white national Mahakala faith throughout history. The author also discussed the classic foundation of Mahakala faith, and and pointed out that Mahakala was the incarnation of Esoteric Buddhism's fundamental Buddha Mahavairocana; with the Esoteric Buddhism spread into Cangshan Erhai area, as Mahavairochana incarnation, Mahakala God spread into Yunnan from India, and gradually evolved into the core of the local Lord's faith.


Even though combined anti-retroviral therapy (cART) dramatically improves patient survival, they remain at a higher risk of being afflicted with non-infectious complications such as cardiovascular disease (CVD). This increased risk is linked to persistent inflammation and chronic immune activation. In this study, we assessed whether this complication is related to HIV-derived ssRNAs inducing in macrophages increases in TNFα release through TLR8 activation leading to foam cell formation. HIV ssRNAs induced foam cell formation in monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) in a dose-dependent manner. This response was reduced when either endocytosis or endosomal acidification was inhibited by dynasore or chloroquine, respectively. Using a flow cytometry FRET assay, we demonstrated that ssRNAs bind to TLR8 in HEK cells. In MDMs, ssRNAs triggered a TLR8-mediated inflammatory response that ultimately lead to foam cell formation. Targeted silencing of the TLR8 and MYD88 genes reduced foam cell formation. Furthermore, foam cell formation induced by these ssRNAs was blocked by an anti-TNFα neutralizing antibody. Taken together in MDMs, HIV ssRNAs are internalized; bind TLR8 in the endosome followed by endosomal acidification. TLR8 signaling then triggers TNFα release and ultimately leads to foam cell formation. As this response was inhibited by a blocking anti-TNFα antibody, drug targeting HIV ssRNA-driven TLR8 activation may serve as a potential therapeutic target to reduce chronic immune activation and inflammation leading to CVD in HIV+ patients.


Increasing data from early Korean Palaeolithic assemblages have challenged the validity of traditional paradigms. This article summarizes previous models and addresses recently raised questions regarding the synthesis of early toolkits. Determining chronologies, cultural markers, and regional cultural traits were our primary objectives. The applicability of the traditional Western Palaeolithic chronology (Lower, Middle, Upper) to East Asian contexts has recently been questioned, in conjunction with an effort to identify more discrete chronological changes in East Asia. The discourse related to cultural identities within East Asia has underscored the importance of spatially and temporally differing values. The morphology and metrics of Korean hand axes have not been considered typical Acheulean. In addition, temporal persistence is an issue; it has caused the conventional culture-historical orthodoxy to be questioned. Discourses on expedient lithic reduction and a static lithic sequence have been considered indicative of discrete cultural entities in the Korean Palaeolithic. Oldowan-like simple core and flake assemblages and the sporadic occurrence of hand axe assemblages in East Asia were traditionally regarded to be chronologically and culturally separate entities. The growing body of archaeological data for Korea has allowed analysis of the occupational contemporaneity and cultural subordination and independence of chopping tool and hand axe assemblages. The Korean Early Palaeolithic is not standardized and does not conform to traditional typologies. Consequently, the directional perspectives applied to these assemblages need to be reevaluated.


Polymeric flocculants are widely used throughout the water industry as flocculant aids, they are known to increase floc density and aid settlement in the clarification stage of the water treatment process. In this research, polymeric flocculants were used to improve floc strength prior to filtration on a dissolved air flotation (DAF) plant in an attempt to prevent filter breakthrough. A modified jar test procedure using a PDA (photometric dispersion analyser) optical flocculation monitor was developed in order to evaluate the system floc strength. Filtration trials were carried out on a pilot filter rig situated on a surface water treatment works in Yorkshire. The filter feed originated from the main plant filter channel. Filter performance was assessed by continuous online monitoring of effluent particle counts, turbidity and headloss over the period of the filter run. Results indicated that low doses of polymeric flocculants had a beneficial effect on filtered water quality, as measured by particle counts, turbidity, UV254 absorption and dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Polymeric flocculants also had the effect of extending filter run length. The modified jar test results indicated that the flocculants used improved the floc strength and enhanced reflocculation of the micro flocs present after the flotation process.


BACKGROUND
High blood glucose levels play major roles in the pathogenesis of renal diabetic complications through non-enzymatic glycation. For long-lived molecules this leads to formation of advanced glycation end products (AGE), and the renal extracellular matrix appears to be one of the targets for such processes. Using immunocytochemistry, we studied the appearance and deposition of AGE products in renal tissues from normal and diabetic rats at different ages, to evaluate the effects of aging and hyperglycemia.

METHODS
The streptozotocin-injected rat represented our model of hyperglycaemic condition. The immunogold techniques were applied at the light and electron microscope levels using specific monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies against AGE adducts. The results were analyzed by morphometry.

RESULTS
In normoglycemic animals, significant increases in labeling were detected in tubular basement membranes and mesangial matrix at 12 to 15 months of age. In contrast, in diabetic animals, significant increases in labeling were found for all extracellular matrices as soon as after two months of hyperglycemia. Labelings were also detected in cellular compartments, particularly in nuclei that showed increases in diabetic conditions. The labeling was particularly intense in proximal convoluted tubules and their endosomal compartment, due to the reabsorption of urinary AGE products.

CONCLUSION
The presence of AGE products in the renal extracellular matrix of old normoglycemic animals and their rapid appearance in hyperglycemia, indicate that AGE products may participate in the pathogenesis of renal complications. Furthermore, the non-enzymatic glycation is not restricted to extracellular matrices but also affects cellular proteins.


Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease is a common disorder, primarily characterised by progressive renal enlargement and cyst formation, leading, in the majority of patients, to end stage renal disease. Cyst formation has also been observed in liver and pancreas. Cerebral artery aneurysm has also been reported.1

This disorder is genetically heterogeneous, but about 85% of cases are the result of a mutation in the PKD1 gene, located on the short arm of chromosome 16 (16p13.3). This gene spans about 50 kb of genomic DNA, is composed of 46 exons, and the ORF is 13 kb.2–5

The incidence of PKD1 in the population is about 1/1000 subjects, making it the most common genetic disorder in humans.6 However, routine clinical diagnosis by molecular analysis has not been extensively developed. This is because of two main characteristics of the gene. Firstly, the coding region is large and spans 46 exons. The second and main reason is that sequences homologous to 70% of the coding region are present as nearly identical transcribed copies located closer to the centromere on the short arm of chromosome 16.7,8 Some of these sequences are transcribed.2 This situation has led, until recently, to identification of mutations in only 30% of the non-repeated part of the coding region. Previously, authors have reported RT-PCR based mutation detection, but they only screened the PKD1 gene from exon 16 to exon 46. Recently, two papers have reported different screening strategies for mutation detection in the repeated region of PKD1 .9–11 One involves a long range RT-PCR approach ( PKD1 is expressed in lymphocytes) designed to amplify a 13 kb RT-PCR product.12 This can probably not be used as a routine screening test in a hospital setting. The second approach involves PTT tests and sequencing …


Recently, highly porous metal foams have been used to replace the traditional open‐flow channels to improve gas transport and distribution in the cells. Deformation of flow plate, gas diffusion layer (GDL), and metal foam may occur during assembling. When the cell size is small, the deformation may not be significant. For large area cells, the deformation may become significant to affect the cell performance. In this study, an assembling device that is capable of applying uniform clamping force is built to facilitate fuel cell assembling and alleviate the deformation. A compressing plate that is the same size of the active area is used to apply uniform clamping force before surrounding bolts are fastened. Therefore, bending of the flow plate and deformation of GDL and metal foam can be minimized. Effects of the clamping force on the microstructures of GDL and metal foam, various resistances, pressure drops, and cell performance are investigated. Distribution of the contact pressure between metal foam and GDL is measured by using pressure sensitive films. Field‐emission scanning electron microscope is used to observe the microstructures. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analysis is used measure resistances. The fuel cell performance is measured by using a fuel cell test system. For the cell design used in this study, the optimum clamping force is found to be 200 kgf. Using this optimum clamping force, the cell performance can be enhanced by 50%, as compared with that of the cell assembled without using clamping plates. With appropriate clamping force, the compression force distribution across the entire cell area can approach uniform. This enables uniform flow distribution and reduces mass transfer resistance. Good contact between GDL and metal foam also lowers the interface resistance. All these factors contribute to the enhanced cell performance.


This article initially argues that asceticism and related phenomena in classical India and in Christian antiquity suggest the existence of a universal, shared, innate human predisposition. After providing descriptive data on the widespread belief in a soul distinct from the body, along with cross-cultural accounts of ascetic practices, the article turns to a general reflection concerning the characteristics of an innate disposition termed the 'ascetic instinct' in light of other such dispositions, notably the 'language instinct' hypothesized to exist by some linguists. Further evidence in support of the proposed ascetic instinct, this time drawn mainly from tribal societies, is also presented. The article concludes by drawing on recent research on language and symbolic thinking to propose how this counter-reproductive universal arose and how it has survived in human beings.


A method for the analysis of aliphatic carboxylic acids (ACAs) in nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis (NACE) in conjunction with indirect laser‐induced fluorescence (ILIF) using merocyanine 540 (MC 540) is described. Performing the analysis in organic solvent is advantageous when using MC 540, because of its greater quantum yield in aprotic solvent. To achieve a high dynamic reserve (DR) and optimize resolution, we have tested a number of aqueous mixtures containing alcohols and acetonitrile (ACN). The optimum buffer for the analysis of C2‐C18 ACAs, in terms of sensitivity, resolution, and speed, is an aqueous mixture of 40% ACN, 30% ethanol, and 1 mM Tris at apparent pH 7.4 (adjusted with ascorbic acid). Under this condition, the DR is greater than 1000, thereby the limits of detection for acids are in the range of sub‐νM to νM. Linear plots show that the dynamic ranges for the analysis of ACAs are at least two decades in concentration, with regression coefficients all greater than 0.98. The relative standard deviations of the migration times and peak heights for all ACAs are less than 2.0%. Furthermore, this simple and cost‐effective method has been applied to the analysis of marine lipid concentrate, with the concentrations of 1.67 ± 0.03 and 4.50 plusmn; 0.05 mM (n = 5) for C14 and C16 acids, respectively, in a tablet of marine lipid concentrate sample.


Abstract A major impediment to the development of computer algorithms for the automatic classification of ice particle types found in the atmosphere as measured by a Particle Measuring System two-dimensional probe is the difficulty of obtaining training data. This is especially true when, as is usually the case, the particle shapes do not correspond to any of the pure crystal types found in textbooks. This paper presents the results of testing such a training set. Sources of bias among human observers include the effect of training and previous familiarity with the data, fatigue, and particle orientation, as well as subjective differences among observers. The deviation of individual human observers from the classifications arrived at by consensus indicates an upper bound to the accuracy possible in automated classification schemes.


A High-Performance system-on-chip bus protocol termed the master-slave bus (MSBUS).Reduce the inevitable trade off among area, throughput and energy efficiency. The control bus is developed as a low-cost and lowpower bus, and the data bus is created as a high-throughput full-duplex bus with the feature of block data transfer. To evaluate the bus performance, we create four analytical models including transfer time consumption (TC), wire efficiency (WE), valid data bandwidth (VDB) and dynamic energy efficiency.


Acute neuropsychological changes due to high altitude climbing without supplementary oxygen are well known. However, many climbers report vague symptoms of brain dysfunction after return to sea level suggesting that long‐lasting neuropsychological impairment may ensue even after a single ascent. In this study we evaluated a series of neuropsychological functions in a group of 11 climbers who ascended over 5000 m. Besides memory, also reaction time and concentration were less efficient when the climbers were evaluated 75 days after their return to sea level, confirming that even a single high altitude climb may be harmful for central nervous system functions.


Abstract. Diffuse optical tomography (DOT) has demonstrated huge potential in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment monitoring. DOT image reconstruction guided by ultrasound (US) improves the diffused light localization and lesion reconstruction accuracy. However, DOT reconstruction depends on tumor geometry provided by coregistered US. Experienced operators can manually measure these lesion parameters; however, training and measurement time are needed. The wide clinical use of this technique depends on its robustness and faster imaging reconstruction capability. This article introduces a semiautomated procedure that automatically extracts lesion information from US images and incorporates it into the optical reconstruction. An adaptive threshold-based image segmentation is used to obtain tumor boundaries. For some US images, posterior shadow can extend to the chest wall and make the detection of deeper lesion boundary difficult. This problem can be solved using a Hough transform. The proposed procedure was validated from data of 20 patients. Optical reconstruction results using the proposed procedure were compared with those reconstructed using extracted tumor information from an experienced user. Mean optical absorption obtained from manual measurement was 0.21±0.06  cm−1 for malignant and 0.12±0.06  cm−1 for benign cases, whereas for the proposed method it was 0.24±0.08  cm−1 and 0.12±0.05  cm−1, respectively.


Delivered the subject innovation is for ships to the water treatment system, and in close contact with the electrolytic chamber is divided along the rectifier to the capacitor, effectively the rectifier connected by a bus bar of each electrode, using chilled water or sea water of a ship in the rectifier and a delivery chamber it is an object to to cool. Object of the present invention includes a plurality of the electrolytic electrode module is mounted a chamber, wherein each electrode module, the positive (+), negative each having a (-) in the vessel delivery unit consisting of a rectifier for supplying DC power to the electrode, wherein rectifier configured divided according to the amount of current is set for each electrode module; And the but comprise each rectifier power supply terminals and a bus for connecting the electrode terminals of each of the electrode module bars of each of the rectifier and the printed circuit board and the device is closed circuit, cooling the heat-generating element in the circuit by a water-cooled heat radiating portion is configured to separate, further characterized in that the rectifier is configured such that each is in close contact with the delivery chamber.


Bakhtin's endorsement of literary prose—especially Dostoevsky's—on the grounds of its polyphony and his concomitant critique of poetry on the grounds of its allegedly monologic character have become commonplace in Bakhtin criticism. In this article, I reexamine this view of the respective significance of poetry and prose in Bakhtin's oeuvre. In particular, I argue that far from being relegated to the realm of discursive and, by extension, sociopolitical monologicity, poetry may plausibly be construed as the dialogically and sociopolitically exemplary mode of discourse in


There is a huge quantity of waste tyre tubes generated every year due to the increasing of motorcycle user. Therefore, recycling of the waste tyre tubes is become mandatory. The aim of this research was to study the properties of pervious concrete containing scrap tyre tube (STT) rubber particles with percentages of 3%, 5% and 7% of the cement content. The properties studied are void content, compressive strength measured at 7, 14 and 28 days, flexural strength and flow rate which were determined at 28 day. The experimental results showed that, there were increased in void content and flow rate of pervious concrete containing STT. Both compressive strength and flexural strength of pervious concrete containing STT showed a lower value compared to the control mix without STT. The reductions of the mechanical strengths are likely due to the increase of void content. Overall, pervious concrete which contains 7% STT has shown an increment of mechanical strengths and flow rate compared to other STT pervious concrete. Nonetheless, the results indicate that there are potentials for use of STT in pervious concrete, especially for use in pervious concrete applications such as pavements, driveways and parking lots.


In the absence of a known aetiology the management of recurrent aphthous ulceration is symptomatic with the removal of predisposing factors where possible. Since the severity and duration of ulcers may be increased by bacterial contamination, the effect of chlorhexidine gluconate in mouthwash and gel forms on the natural history of the condition has been studied. The mouthwash study employed a 0.2% chlorhexidine gluconate solution, a 0.5% astringent solution and a control mouthwash. Each mouthwash was used by all of the patients, with 5 ml of each preparation being diluted with 5 ml of water for use three times a day. The gel study employed a 1% chlorhexidine gluconate and a placebo gel with approximately a 1 inch of the gel from the tubes being placed in the mouth three times a day. Both studies were carried out in the double-blind crossover manner with each preparation used for 5 weeks with a 2-week interval between preparations. In the mouthwash trial chlorhexidine gluconate significantly reduced the incidence, duration and severity of ulcers, whereas in the gel trial chlorhexidine significantly reduced the severity and duration but not the incidence of ulceration. Since the dosage regimes for chlorhexidine in the two studies were comparable, the mode of delivery would appear to be important in the therapeutic effectiveness.


Preface vii Contributors ix Part I: Generic Aspects of Crop Nutrition 3 Chapter 1 An Overview of Nutrient Use Effi ciency and Strategies for Crop Improvement 5 Malcolm J. Hawkesford Chapter 2 Crop Root Systems and Nutrient Uptake from Soils 21 Peter J. Gregory Chapter 3 The Role of the Rhizosphere in Nutrient Use Effi ciency in Crops 47 Petra Marschner Chapter 4 Optimizing Canopy Physiology Traits to Improve the Nutrient Utilization Effi ciency of Crops 65 M. John Foulkes and Erik H. Murchie Chapter 5 Senescence and Nutrient Remobilization in Crop Plants 83 Per L. Gregersen Chapter 6 Effects of Nitrogen and Sulfur Nutrition on Grain Composition and Properties of Wheat and Related Cereals 103 Peter R. Shewry Part II: Nitrogen as a Key Driver of Production 121 Chapter 7 Genetic Improvement of Nutrient Use Effi ciency in Wheat 123 Jacques Le Gouis Chapter 8 The Molecular Genetics of Nitrogen Use Effi ciency in Crops 139 Bertrand Hirel and Peter J. Lea Chapter 9 Biotechnological Approaches to Improving Nitrogen Use Effi ciency in Plants: Alanine Aminotransferase as a Case Study 165 Allen G. Good and Perrin H. Beatty Chapter 10 Transporters Involved in Nitrogen Uptake and Movement 193 Anthony J. Miller and Nick Chapman Chapter 11 Crop Improvement for Nitrogen Use Effi ciency in Irrigated Lowland Rice 211 Shaobing Peng Part III: Other Critical Macro- and Micronutrients 227 Chapter 12 Phosphorus as a Critical Macronutrient 229 Carroll P. Vance Chapter 13 Uptake, Distribution, and Physiological Functions of Potassium, Calcium, and Magnesium 265 Frans J.M. Maathuis and Dorina Podar Chapter 14 Sulfur Nutrition in Crop Plants 295 Luit J. De Kok, Ineke Stulen, and Malcolm J. Hawkesford Chapter 15 Iron Nutrition and Implications for Biomass Production and the Nutritional Quality of Plant Products 311 Jean-Francois Briat Chapter 16 Zinc in Soils and Crop Nutrition 335 Behzad Sadeghzadeh and Zed Rengel Chapter 17 Overview of the Acquisition and Utilization of Boron, Chlorine, Copper, Manganese, Molybdenum, and Nickel by Plants and Prospects for Improvement of Micronutrient Use Effi ciency 377 Patrick H. Brown and Elias Bassil Part IV: Specialized Case Studies 429 Chapter 18 Drought and Implications for Nutrition 431 Eric Ober and Martin A.J. Parry Chapter 19 Salt Resistance of Crop Plants: Physiological Characterization of a Multigenic Trait 443 Sven Schubert Chapter 20 Legumes and Nitrogen Fixation: Physiological, Molecular, Evolutionary Perspectives, and Applications 457 Muthusubramanian Venkateshwaran and Jean-Michel Ane Index 491


Highly efficient solar-to-thermal conversion is desired for the renewable energy technologies, such as solar thermo-photovoltaics and solar thermo-electric systems. In order to maximize the energy conversion efficiency, solar-selective absorbers are essential with its absorption characteristics specially tailored for solar applications. Here, we propose a wideband spectral-selective absorber based on three-dimensional (3D) nanostructured hyperbolic metamaterial (HMM), which can realize near-unity absorption across the UV and NIR spectral ranges. Moreover, the optical topological transition (OTT) of iso-frequency surface (IFS) is manipulated to selectively enhance light absorption in the entire solar spectrum, crucial for improved energy utilization. Impressive solar-to-thermal conversion efficiency of 95.5% has been achieved. Particularly, such superior properties can be retained well even over a wide range of incident angles. These findings open new avenues for designing high-performance solar thermal devices, especially in the fields related to solar energy harvesting.


The political nature of man has made stakeholders of small businesses to be involved in one survival strategies or the order which have left the equitable distribution of infrastructure and operations of businesses owners a challenge in these regards. The study tried to identify the various problems as well as solutions to the problems militating against the small-scale business politically. The sample subject of the study is the 10 entrepreneurs and 40 employees of smallscale business. The questionnaire is a major instrument used. Mean and the standard deviation was used to analyse responses The results of the study showed that government have put up a lot of support programme to promote small-enterprise business in the local government area under study but policies, programme application, mismanagement/misappropriation of fund hinders the growth of the smallscale business. It was recommended that government should collaborate with the industrialists of the various small-scale businesses to find out their financial, manpower and infrastructural facilities needs and satisfy them.


Damage to mitochondria induces mitophagy, a cellular process that is gaining interest for its therapeutic relevance to a variety of human diseases. However, the mechanism underlying mitochondrial depolarization and clearance in mitophagy remains poorly understood. We previously reported that mitochondria-induced cell death was caused by knockdown of Neisseria gonorrhoeae opacity-associated-interacting protein 5 in gastric cancer. In this study, we show that Neisseria gonorrhoeae opacity-associated-interacting protein 5 loss and gain of function modulates mitophagy induced by treatment with docetaxel, a chemotherapy drug for gastric cancer. The activation of mitophagy by Neisseria gonorrhoeae opacity-associated-interacting protein 5 overexpression promoted cell survival, preventing docetaxel-induced mitochondrial clearance. Conversely, short interfering RNA–mediated knockdown of Neisseria gonorrhoeae opacity-associated-interacting protein 5 accelerated docetaxel-induced apoptosis while increasing mitochondrial depolarization, reactive oxygen species, and endoplasmic reticulum stress and decreasing adenosine triphosphate production. We also found that the mitochondrial outer membrane proteins mitofusin 2 and phosphatase and tensin homolog–induced putative kinase 1 colocalized with Neisseria gonorrhoeae opacity-associated-interacting protein 5 in mitochondria and that mitofusin 2 knockdown altered Neisseria gonorrhoeae opacity-associated-interacting protein 5 expression. These findings indicate that Neisseria gonorrhoeae opacity-associated-interacting protein 5 modulates docetaxel-induced mitophagic cell death and therefore suggest that this protein comprises a potential therapeutic target for gastric cancer treatment.


A 4–9 GHz wideband high power amplifier is designed and fabricated, which has demonstrated saturated output power of 10 W covering 6–8 GHz band, and above 6 W over the other band. This PA module uses a balance configuration, and presents power gain of 7.3 ± 0.9 dB over the whole 4–9 GHz band and 39% power-added efficiency (PAE) at 8 GHz. Both the input and output VSWR are also excellent, which are bellow −10 dB.


In recent years, deep learning has made remarkable progress in a wide range of domains, with a particularly notable impact on natural language processing tasks. One of the challenges associated with training deep neural networks is the need for large amounts of computational resources and time. In this paper, we present Deep Fusion, an efficient approach to network training that leverages pre-trained initializations of smaller networks. % We show that Deep Fusion accelerates the training process, reduces computational requirements, and leads to improved generalization performance on a variety of NLP tasks and T5 model sizes. % Our experiments demonstrate that Deep Fusion is a practical and effective approach to reduce the training time and resource consumption while maintaining, or even surpassing, the performance of traditional training methods.


Hume's response to his dramatic encounter with skepticism in the Treatise is well known: his skepticism dissipates when he socializes with others in the comparatively amusing sphere of common life. As many commentators have noted, however, this "response" to skepticism is really no response at all. In this paper, I show that the charge that Hume provides a non-response to skepticism at T 22.214.171.124 (SBN 269) is misplaced, for what is standardly interpreted as Hume's skepticism in the preceding paragraph is not skepticism. Instead, I argue, it is the condition of "madness," a disordered mental state in which "every loose fiction" enjoys the same status as a "serious conviction" (T 18.104.22.168; SBN 123). Hume's alleged response to skepticism at T 220.127.116.11 (SBN 269) would indeed be unsatisfying, if he were responding to skepticism. As a response to madness, it is perfectly adequate.


Anticollapsin response mediator protein 5 antibody (anti-CRMP5 antibody, also known as anti-CV2 antibody) is usually associated with small-cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) or thymoma.1 Although optic neuropathy, cerebellar ataxia and chorea are considered typical clinical features of paraneoplastic neurological syndrome (PNS) associated with anti-CRMP5 antibody, the neurological involvement of anti-CRMP5 antibody is broader.1 We report the first known case with anti-CRMP5 antibody-associated PNS presenting with predominant parkinsonism and bilateral signal abnormalities in the caudate and putamen on brain MRI.

A 72-year-old man presented with a 6-month history of ambulatory disturbance. After the patient noticed sialorrhoea in September 2010, he began to develop a stooped posture, and short-stepped and propulsive gait. In January 2011, he noted gradual onset of dysarthria and constipation. His gait instability became severe, and by April 2011, he was only able to walk with assistance. He reported to our hospital in May 2011. On neurological examination, he was alert and communicative. His speech consisted of a low monotonous voice. Although he had marked bradykinesia and exhibited facial masking, no rigidity or tremor was observed. He shuffled when he walked with assistance, had a stooped posture and his arm swing was decreased bilaterally. Severe postural impairment was noted on the pulling test. Brain MRI showed bilateral lesions in the lenticular and caudate nuclei, which were hyperintense on T2-weighted images and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images, and hypointense on T1-weighted images (figure 1A–C).

Figure 1
Axial T1-weighted, T2-weighted and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery image of the brain …


In this Paper, a new concept as PnP (precast Slab& Prestressed Concrete Girder) bridge system which uses precast slabs is suggested. This concept is that prestressed concrete girders have non-composite precast slabs during 2nd-prestressing after then precast slabs composite with prestressed concrete girders. Designed by the proposed design equation of a new shear connection, two span continuous beam (17 m@2=34 m) was fabricated to verify constructability and structural safety. A static test was performed to evaluate continuity at diaphragms and the negative moment region cracking. PnP bridge system show : Does not exceed design stresses during construction staging, confirms full composite action in continuous region and safety of negative crack moment. Fast and easy construction would be achieved using the suggested PnP bridge system


This study investigated the feasibility of using behavioral techniques to integrate an autistic child into a normal public-school class with one teacher and 20 to 30 normal children. The results showed: (1) that during treatment by a therapist in the classroom, the child's appropriate verbal and social behaviors increased, and autistic mannerisms decreased; and (2) training teachers in behavioral techniques was apparently sufficient to maintain the child's appropriate school behaviors throughout kindergarten and the first grade.


Fostering and enabling critical and creative thinking of students is considered an important goal, and it is assumed that in particular, talented students have considerable potential for applying such high-level cognitive processes for learning in classrooms. However, Chinese students are often considered as rote learners, and that learning environments at Chinese schools will not allow thinking critically and creatively. The present exploratory study examines these assumptions with students at top-ranking middle schools in mainland China who have been selected for their high achievement scores in the examinations required for acceptance to such schools. Our findings in eight large mathematics classrooms (n = 381) strongly suggest that it is possible to acquire knowledge by thinking critically and creatively in these traditionally instructed classes, and that higher achieving students use such processes more intensively than lower achieving students. In addition, the study provides pathways for promoting these high-level cognitive processes for learning in particularly with lower achieving students. Finally, the results indicate that the extracurricular activities that are prescribed to all students at Chinese middle schools should be redesigned to offer more opportunities for critical and creative thinking.


Background: It has been recently suggested that hydrogen ingestion into the helium shell of massive stars could lead to high $^{13}\mathrm{C}$ and $^{15}\mathrm{N}$ excesses when the shock of a core-collapse supernova passes through its helium shell. This prediction questions the origin of extremely high $^{13}\mathrm{C}$ and $^{15}\mathrm{N}$ abundances observed in rare presolar SiC grains which is usually attributed to classical novae. In this context the $^{13}\mathrm{N}(\ensuremath{\alpha},p)^{16}\mathrm{O}$ reaction plays an important role since it is in competition with $^{13}\mathrm{N}\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}{\ensuremath{\beta}}^{+}$ decay to $^{13}\mathrm{C}$.Purpose: The $^{13}\mathrm{N}(\ensuremath{\alpha},p)^{16}\mathrm{O}$ reaction rate used in stellar evolution calculations comes from the Caughlan and Fowler compilation with very scarce information on the origin of this rate and with no associated uncertainty. The goal of this work is to provide a recommended $^{13}\mathrm{N}(\ensuremath{\alpha},p)^{16}\mathrm{O}$ reaction rate, based on available experimental data, with a meaningful statistical uncertainty.Method: Unbound nuclear states in the $^{17}\mathrm{F}$ compound nucleus were studied using the spectroscopic information of the analog states in $^{17}\mathrm{O}$ nucleus that were measured at the Tandem-Alto facility using the $^{13}\mathrm{C}(^{7}\mathrm{Li},t)^{17}\mathrm{O}$ $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-particle-transfer reaction. The $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-particle spectroscopic factors were derived using a finite-range distorted-wave Born approximation analysis. This spectroscopic information was used to calculate a recommended $^{13}\mathrm{N}(\ensuremath{\alpha},p)^{16}\mathrm{O}$ reaction rate with meaningful uncertainty using a Monte Carlo approach.Results: The $^{13}\mathrm{N}(\ensuremath{\alpha},p)^{16}\mathrm{O}$ reaction rate from the present work is found to be within a factor of two of the previous evaluation in the temperature range of interest, with a typical uncertainty of a factor $\ensuremath{\approx}2--3$. The source of this uncertainty has been identified to come from the three main contributing resonances at ${E}_{r}^{\mathrm{c}.\mathrm{m}.}=221$, 741, and 959 keV. This new error estimation translates to an overall uncertainty in the $^{13}\mathrm{C}$ production of a factor of 50 when using the lower and upper reaction rates in the conditions relevant for the $^{13}\mathrm{N}(\ensuremath{\alpha},p)^{16}\mathrm{O}$ activation.Conclusions: The main source of uncertainty on the re-evaluated $^{13}\mathrm{N}(\ensuremath{\alpha},p)^{16}\mathrm{O}$ reaction rate currently comes from the uncertain $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-particle width of relevant $^{17}\mathrm{F}$ states.


Objective: The study was aimed at searching the level of health anxiety among mothers with sick children, without chronic illness in an outpatient setting by using Beck anxiety inventory (BAI) and short-health anxiety inventory (HAI) test. Methods: Mothers who brought their ill children to the pediatry unit with acute complains were enrolled in the study as trial group. Mothers with children who had no illness were included in the control group drawn from outof-hospital settings. All subjects took HAI and BAI tests. Results were analysed using SPSS programe. Results: Hundred and twelve trial subjects with average age of 32 ± 8 years old and 97 control subjects with average age of 31 ± 7 years old were included in the study. There wasn't any statistically significance found between groups in respect to age (p=0.483) but average scores of both HAI and BAI of trial groups were significantly higher than those of control group (p values <0.001 and <0.005 respectively). Conclusion: Mothers who brought their children to hospital with acute complaints had higher level of anxiety as well as it was observed that university-graduate subjects yielded higher HAI scores than those of high school and below graduate education.


In this research, the fluorescence excited by same of blood on different basal-slice was investigated. And the light-accumulated and high-sensitivity weak-light CCD camera were used in it. The preliminary results showed that: the different basal-slice and excited light had the different effects on flood fluorescence.


This paper deals with the holistic modeling approach of a combined Photovoltaic, Wind and Fuel Cell power system. The method is using the DK5 modeling / design environment from Mentor Graphics and is based on the new Handel-C programming language. The goal of the work carried out was to achieve an optimized holistic digital control system design, followed by its rapid prototyping into a single Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). This would also enable easy connection (by adapting the model/controller) to the grid. The holistic functional simulation of the system is performed in the same environment as its controller hardware implementation and timing analysis. The controller design was then downloaded in hardware onto a RC10 development board containing a Xilinx Spartan FPGA and was successfully tested experimentally. This approach enables the design and fast hardware implementation of efficient controllers for Distributed Energy Resource (DER) hybrid systems.


The small bent-winged bat Miniopterus australis was studied at low tropical latitudes north of the equator, principally in Subis cave, Niah, Sarawak, East Malaysia. During the course of field-work in 1957–58, most specimens were captured at roost in concavities in the cave ceiling, here termed "cupolas". At all months of observation, roosting groups varied from one to seven bats. Solitary bats were predominantly males, and multiple groups rarely included more than one male. It is suggested that the sexes differ in their response to a potential or familiar roosting site, depending on the prior occupation by other bats. Roosting behaviour did not vary with the progress of the reproductive cycle and seemed to have no epigamic function.

Observations of reproductive biology in 1957–58, supported by specimens captured in 1959–60, demonstrated that the species is monoestrous, with a brief annually recurrent breeding season in November-December. Copulation was observed in early November and preceded ovulation. In unovulated females taken in early December the right uterine horn was distended with spermatozoa. The single embryo subsequently implanted in the right horn, although in the three females examined the fertilized ovum derived from the left ovary.

Parturition occurred in late April and early May after a gestation period of 4 1/2–5 months. This period is considerably longer than the presumed species-specific minimum, observed at latitude 15d S. The prolonged gestation period is regarded as an adaptation to perennially low and variable food resources in an otherwise favourable environment, and there is evidence that the months of gestation and birth coincide with a period of limited seasonal increase in abundance of insect prey.


A study of the mesoscale eddy field in the presence of coherent vortices, by means of Lagrangian trajectories released in a high-resolution ocean model, is presented in this paper. The investigation confirms previous results drawn from real float data statistics (Veneziani et al., 2004) that the eddy field characteristics are due to the superposition of two distinct regimes associated with strong coherent vortices and with a typically more quiescent background eddy flow. The former gives rise to looping trajectories characterized by subdiffusivity properties due to the trapping effect of the vortices, while the latter produces nonlooping floats characterized by simple diffusivity features. Moreover, the present work completes the study by Veneziani et al. (2004) in regard to the nature of the spin parameter , which was used in the Lagrangian stochastic model that best described the observed eddy statistics. The main result is that the spin obtained from the looping trajectories not only represents a good estimate of the relative vorticity of the vortex core in which the loopers are embedded, but it is also able to follow the vortex temporal evolution. The Lagrangian parameter is then directly connected to the underlying Eulerian structure and could be used as a proxy for the relative vorticity field of coherent vortices.


Plant biopotentials can be used to evaluate their functional state and mechanisms for adaptation to changes in external conditions of their cultivation. The paper is devoted to the experimental study of the dynamics of total potential of maize leaves caused by cold and heat stimuli on the background of photopotential during continuous light stimulation. In the experiments, a specially designed stimulator was used that allowed simultaneous exposure of the plant to light and to thermal irritation. Studies have shown that background continuous light stimulation with white light with a brightness of 250 lux results in an increase in the amplitude of total action potentials caused by rhythmic cold stimulation. The amplitudes of "cold" potentials grew synchronously with the growth of the potential of hyperpolarization under the influence of photostimulation. With the termination of light stimulation, the amplitude of "cold" potentials stabilized. It is assumed that this effect is due to an increase in the amplitude of potentials of action, which correspond to the total potential due to the hyperpolarization of the membranes of the cells that generate them. Such hyperpolarization is due to an increase in the active transport of H+ ions through the membrane of cells in the light phase of photosynthesis. It has been shown that during pulsed heat stimulation, the preliminary continuous background light stimulation results in a decrease in the amplitude of "heat" potentials, a reduction in their duration, and the appearance of a short latent hyperpolarization potential in their initial phase. It is established that these changes correlate with the growth of the potential of hyperpolarization caused by background light stimulation. Based on the analysis of the detected changes, it was deduced that an increase in the level of hyperpolarization increases the threshold of excitability of cell membranes generating these potentials. When the photostimulation was switched off, the level of hyperpolarization decreased, but the amplitudes of the "heat" potentials increased. At the same time, the duration of the potentials increased sharply, and the elements characteristic of the variable potentials appeared in them. This may indicate a significant increase in sensitivity to heat irritation with a decrease in the level of hyperpolarization.


Ischemia-reperfusion injury is a serious problem which can occur during lung transplantation. Preservation of pulmonary function by reducing ischemia-reperfusion injury is essential for successful lung transplantation. Although the mechanisms responsible for ischemia-reperfusion lung injury are not clear yet, it is commonly accepted that ischemic time, storage conditions and additive usage of some pharmacologic agents are responsible for the severity of ischemia-reperfusion lung injury. There have been numerous investigations about the effective methods to ameliorate ischemiareperfusion injury. In the present study, we focused on the effectiveness of prostacyclin (PGI2) and lung expansion in reducing pulmonary ischemia-reperfusion injury. The state of inflation of donor lung has been reported to play important role in reducing ischemiareperfusion injury. PGI2, which can be employed with single flush perfusion, has recently been used by many centers and has been proven to provide favorable results. We postulated that the effectiveness of PGI2 would be different according to the application of pulmonary inflation. We evaluated the individual and combined effects of lung expansion and intravenous infusion of PGI2 in warm ischemiareperfusion model. The severity of ischemia-reperfusion injury was assessed by means of pulmonary oxygenation and lung water fraction.


GPs have taken less than half of the seats on the new boards of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in England and in some parts of the country make up just a fifth of boards.

A survey by Pulse magazine shows that GPs are in the minority on the boards of the fledgling CCGs—the organisations that will assume responsibility for commissioning from April 2013.

The survey of 100 CCGs found that in total just under half (49%) of board posts have been filled by GPs. In a handful, GPs make up only one in five members.

The make up of these CCG boards shows that managers and finance officers total 20% of the positions, with the remaining 31% filled …


The Ningaloo Reef provides a unique opportunity to investigate different components of a coral reef ecosystem without the confounding effects of poor water quality and severe overfishing. This research examined a) how macroalgae affects coral recruitment and b) the processes which drive macroalgal abundance. These experiments were conducted in the field using a series of caged, uncaged and partially caged treatments to examine herbivory and control for caging effects. It was identified for the first time, that both the pre- and post- settlement processes of coral recruitment were severely reduced by increased macroalgal biomass. In the presence of macroalgae - for the coral Acropora millepora: larval settlement was reduced by up to 93%, post settlement survival was approximately half and those which did survive were around 80% smaller compared to corals in uncaged plots which contained little macroalgae. This demonstrates that macroalgae can inhibit coral reef recovery by reducing coral recruitment. Bottom up versus top down influences on macroalgal abundance were examined in a multifactorial study using slow release fertilizer and cages to manipulate herbivory. Nubbins of Cyphastrea microphthalma were used as a proxy for coral recruits. Nutrients had no effect on macroalgal biomass and coral calcification. Herbivores on the other hand had a strong overriding effect. The volume of macroalgae was up to 40 times greater in caged versus uncaged plots. Over a nine month period the growth of coral nubbins in cages beneath the macroalgae was reduced by approximately 50% compared to uncaged plots. Through video analysis it was identified that the most important herbivores for controlling macroalgal abundance were large parrot fish, in particular Cholurus sordidus and Scarus schlegeli. These results emphasize the importance of protecting herbivores, in particular larger scarids from overfishing to facilitate coral recruitment and promote coral reef resilience.