There is limited research on the intake of non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) among preschool-aged children. Canada's Food Guide suggests limiting intake of NNS for all population groups and Health Canada recommends that young children (<2 years) avoid consuming beverages containing NNS. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency and type of non-nutritive sweetener (NNS) intake in preschool-aged children participating in the Guelph Family Health Study pilots. Parents (n = 78 families) completed 3-day food records (n = 112 children; n = 55 females, n = 57 males; 3.6 years ± 1.3). Nineteen children (17%) reported consumption of foods or beverages containing NNS. Food sources with NNS included: freezies, oral nutritional supplements, flavored water, carbonated drinks, sugar free jam and protein powder. The majority of NNS contained in these foods were identified as stevia leaf extract, acesulfame K, sucralose, monk fruit extract and aspartame. Future research should continue to study NNS intake patterns longitudinally in children and examine the association of NNS intake with diet quality and health outcomes.


We have grown and characterized 30 nm thick YBa2Cu3O7−δ (YBCO) films, deposited by pulsed laser deposition on both MgO (110) and SrTiO3 (001) substrates, which induce opposite strain to the superconducting layer. By carefully tuning the in-situ post-annealing oxygen pressure, we achieved, in a reproducible way, films at different oxygen doping, spanning from the slightly overdoped down to the strongly underdoped region of the phase diagram. The transport properties of the films, investigated through resistance versus temperature measurements, are in perfect qualitative agreement with single crystals. Starting from these films, we have also successfully fabricated nanowires with widths down to 65 nm, at different oxygen doping. The nanostructures exhibit characteristic temperatures (as the critical temperature Tc and the pseudogap temperature T ∗) similar to those of the as-grown films and carry critical current densities Jc close to the critical depairing value, limited by vortex entry. This implies that the superconducting and the normal state properties of underdoped YBCO are preserved in our films, and they can be studied as a function of the dimensionality of the system, down to the nanoscale.


As the commercial use of outer space becomes feasible, the nature of possessory rights will potentially emerge as the central focus of future space-related activities. The existing international law relating to outer space does not address in detail the nature of possessory rights in outer space and is subject to multiple interpretations. Alarmingly, the recently adopted space policies and legislations by some States have taken a definitive position regarding the commercial use of natural resources in outer space. In light of India's increasing involvement in outer space, it circulated the Draft Space Activities Bill, 2017, to formulate a national space law. However, the nature of possessory rights in outer space is not addressed in detail in the Draft Space Activities Bill. This study states that on account of recent developments happening elsewhere, it is extremely important for emerging powers like India to take a position on broader issues like the nature of possessory rights in outer space (which includes celestial bodies as well as resources contained therein). Not addressing the issue of possessory rights in outer space could have profound implications at both domestic as well as international levels.


SDRAM (Synchronous DRAM) has become the memory standard in many digital system designs, because of low price and high read/write speed. In this paper, Based on the analysis of the working principle and characteristics of SDRAM, an SDRAM controller design method is proposed based on field programmable logic gate array FPGA. In order to reduce resource consumption and increase the read and write speed of SDRAM, the performance control of SDRAM is further optimized. We designed SDRAM controller by using Verilog HDL and Altera Quartus II 14.1 software, and simulated about this design with Model Sim-Altera 10.3c software. Then we verified this design by using Cyclone V 5CSEMA5F31C6 FPGA in DE1-SoC development board. The verification results show that the SDRAM is initialized successfully, the input and output data are completely consistent, and it has stable refresh and read and write functions. The SDRAM controller design meets the requirements.


In an analysis of the relative income, or relative consumption, hypothesis, it is shown that if the ratio of agent i's consumption to agent j's consumption enters into the utility function, a tax on labor income may increase welfare for all agents. If pre-tax wage inequality is low, all agents will unanimously be in favor of such a tax. Thus there will be a tendency for taxes to be high in societies where pre-tax wage inequality is low.


OBJECTIVES
In humans, fasting leads to elevated serum GH concentrations. Traditionally, changes in hypothalamic GH-releasing hormone and somatostatin release are considered as the main mechanisms that induce this elevated GH secretion during fasting. Ghrelin is an endogenous ligand of the GH secretagogue receptor and is synthesized in the stomach. As ghrelin administration in man stimulates GH release, while serum ghrelin concentrations are elevated during fasting in man, this increase in ghrelin levels might be another mechanism whereby fasting results in stimulation of GH release.

DESIGN AND SUBJECTS
In ten healthy non-obese males we performed a double-blind placebo-controlled crossover study comparing fasting with and fasting without GH receptor blockade. GH, ghrelin, insulin, glucose and free fatty acids were assessed.

RESULTS
While ghrelin levels do not vary considerably in the fed state, fasting rapidly induced a diurnal rhythm in ghrelin concentrations. These changes in serum ghrelin concentrations during fasting were followed by similar, profound changes in serum GH levels. The rapid development of a diurnal ghrelin rhythm could not be explained by changes in insulin, glucose, or free fatty acid levels. Compared with fasting without pegvisomant, fasting with pegvisomant did not change the ghrelin rhythm.

CONCLUSIONS
These data indicate that ghrelin is the main driving force behind the enhanced GH secretion during fasting.


Microalgal biotechnology has attracted considerable interest owing to it is potential to provide renewable energy and its capacity to produce molecules such as pigments, fatty acids and other high value compounds, which can be used in the biomaterials, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. One class of compounds are the terpenoids: a diverse group of molecules derived from C5 isoprene units that are exploited for their aromatic and bioactive properties. Terpenoid production in microalgae offers an alternative to extraction from plant species or chemical synthesis. However, metabolic engineering technology for microalgae is still in its infancy and far from economic viability. Thus, the aim of this study was to develop engineering tools for the industrial algal species Nannochloropsis gaditana, with the goal of manipulating the main terpenoid pathway located in the chloroplast. In parallel, the effects of such manipulation was studied using the laboratory species Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, for which chloroplast genetic engineering is already established. N. gaditana is a robust marine species well suited to industrial scale cultivation. The availability of a draft genomic sequence, nuclear transformation methodology and a high lipid productivity have positioned N. gaditana as a promising oleaginous alga for metabolic engineering. However, to develop it as an industrially relevant platform, further molecular tools are needed; in particular a reliable chloroplast transformation method. Thus, the aim of the first project was to develop chloroplast transformation for the alga. This involved optimizing the cultivation conditions for N. gaditana, evaluating its sensitivity to herbicides and chloroplast specific compounds in order to identify suitable selectable markers, and to construct chloroplast transformation vectors. In addition, the temporary increase in cell size by inhibition of cytokinesis was investigated in order to facilitate the delivery of DNA into the small chloroplast. C. reinhardtii is the most developed algal model with well-established tools for genetic manipulation, and can be used to study the effect of chloroplast metabolic engineering in other species such as Nannochloropsis. Thus, the second project focused on the manipulation of the terpenoid biosynthetic pathway: specifically, the chloroplast-localized methylerythritol phosphate pathway by over-expressing the rate limiting enzyme; 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate synthase (DXS). An additional dxs gene from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis 6803 was introduced into the chloroplast genome in the hope of improving the productivity of downstream terpenoid metabolites. A number of transgenic lines were obtained and the successful integration was confirmed by molecular analysis. The effects of up-regulating DXS enzyme activity on overall algal growth and terpenoid profile are studied.


The aim of this article is to identify the differences between SCM concepts, particularly LeanSCM, AgileSCM, ResilientSCM and GreenSCM. These concepts are commonly considered as SCM paradigms by many SCM academics and professionals. Features of above mentioned concepts are mutually confronted and compared with initial concept mass LogisticsMassSCM, which dominated in the 2nd half of the 20th century. Unfortunately, MassSCM attributes have been inherited and passed on to the current SCM concepts. Particular SCM concepts are analysed and assessed by means of 4 fundamental principles: Management, Productivity, Added value, Cost appraisal. Moreover, the 4 fundamental principles enable not only definition differences between MassSCM, LesanSCM, AgileSCM, ResilientSCM and GreenSCM but also identification of DNA of the 5 SCM paradigms. The importance of transition from MassSCM to other SCM concepts, especially to LeanSCM, is tested by models inspired by Dr. Licker, built in simulation software Witness. The model enables verification of impact of paradigm SCM change on SCM productivity appraise. Without undergoing of proper transition from MassSCM to LeanSCM any tuning of SCM concept regarding turbulent and volatile market since the beginning of 21st century will lead to short term temporary insular outcomes. Hence, such approach contradicts with system theory and holistic view of SCM concept. Moreover, it also hampers achievement of competitive advantage of supply chain in current market conditions.


Background Huntington disease (HD) is characterised by cognitive impairment, motor dysfunction and psychiatric symptoms, the latter presenting as apathy, irritability, outburst, anxiety and depression. To date neuropathological correlates for psychiatric affection have been poorly investigated in HD. In the basal forebrain two systems represent a complex morphological substrate for emotion-associated functions. The ventral striatum integrates emotional, cognitive, sensory and motor information. The extended amygdala is associated with fear, hormonal responses, stress and it is involved in addiction. Methods In order to evaluate their impact for psychiatric affection in HD, we investigated the distribution of huntingtin aggregates and the associated neuropathology in the subareas of both systems in human HD brains by light and electron microscopical EM48-immunohistochemistry. Results Huntingtin aggregates are abundantly patch-like expressed in the nucleus accumbens (with no difference in Calbindin-poor nor Calbindin-rich areas), ventral parts of the caudate and putamen and the olfactory tubercle, all of which areas belonging to the ventral striatum. In contrast, in the dorsal motor-associated striatum, an area exhibiting major atrophy in HD, aggregates are sparse. The subregions of the extended amygdala, the bed nuclei of the stria terminalis, the interstitial nucleus of the posterior part of the anterior commissure and the central amygdaloid nuclei also show prominent huntingtin accumulation. Electron microscopically, the aggregates are mainly detected in the neuropil, whereas intranuclear localisation occurs occasionally. Conclusions Differential affection of the two limbic forebrain systems may help to elucidate emotional regulatory and psychiatric aspects of HD, and it may also yield information on the role of huntingtin aggregates in HD pathogenesis.


The social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) is a technique for assessing social impact and potential impact that aims to evaluate the social and socio-economic aspects of products and their potential for both positive and negative impacts along their life cycle. The lack of a quantitative inventory data for social issues is a weakness of the S-LCA methodology to calculate social impacts. This study aims to establish a social inventory database in Thailand using input–output (IO) modeling. The 2005 economic IO table of Thailand is used in this study. The six different social issues are calculated for both direct and indirect social intensity. The social issues include employment, number of female employees, working hours, wages and salaries, and non-fatal and fatal occupational cases. The results indicate that the primary sector has the highest social intensity in terms of employment, female employment, and working hour intensity. Meanwhile, the secondary sector was higher in non-fatal occupational cases intensity than other sectors. For wages intensity, the results show that the government sector was higher than other sectors, it being labor intensive and of low economic value. In addition, the fatal occupational cases shows the highest intensity in the non-metallic mining, fertilizer and pesticides, and construction sectors. In terms of total social impacts or social footprints, the wholesale and retail trade sector had the highest impact for almost all social issues due to the higher final demand in this sector.


Based on the surmise that a variety of genes might play important roles in embryonic development and tissue differentiation, and that some of them are likely to be expressed in undifferentiated ES cells, we attempted to identify new genes from the ES cell cDNA library. The modified method of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) and the examination of the expression patterns in adult tissues and in vitro differentiated ES cells were utilized in this study. We have isolated and identified several novel cDNA clones with interesting developmental expression pattern. Among the 83 clones randomly chosen, 23 clones (27.7%) have no homology to any sequences in public databases. The rest contain limited or complete sequence homology to the previously reported mammalian genes or ESTs, yet some clones have not been previously identified in the mouse. To examine the expression profile of clones during development and differentiation, sets of slot blots were hybridized with developmental stage specific or tissue specific probes. Out of 40 novel clones tested (21 totally unknown clones and 19 unidentified clones in mouse), most of them were up- or down-regulated as differentiation proceeded, and some clones showed differentiation-stage specific expression profiles. Surprisingly, a majority of genes were also expressed in adult tissues, and some clones even revealed tissue specific expression. These results demonstrate that not only was the strategy we employed in this study quite efficient for screening novel genes, but that the information gained by such studies would also be a useful guide for further analysis of these genes. It also suggests the feasibility of this approach to explore the genomewide network of gene expression during complicated biological processes, such as embryonic development and tissue differentiation.


Perioperative visual loss (POVL), a rare, but devastating complication, can follow non-ocular surgery. Highest rates of visual loss are with cardiac and spine surgery. The main causes of visual loss after non-ocular surgery are retinal vascular occlusion and ischaemic optic neuropathy. This review updates readers on the incidence, suspected risk factors, diagnosis, and treatment of POVL due to these conditions.


This paper presents the research results of the braking characteristics of linear induction motors. The spectrum analysis method of the magnetic fields is used. There were derived the expressions of the elementary components of the continuous spectrum amplitudes of the braking current volumic density and primary magnetic field as well as their characteristics were investigated. The assessment of the elementary components of higher frequency allows the increase of accuracy when calculating the characteristics of braking. For the simulation of the magnetic field of the dynamic braking there was applied the software package Maxwell. The received results indicates that there exist the transversal and longitudinal edge effects which influence the characteristics of braking. Ill. 7, bibl. 5 (in English; abstracts in English and Lithuanian). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eee.118.2.1172


Even though adaptive two-stage designs with unblinded interim analyses are becoming increasingly popular in clinical trial designs, there is a lack of statistical software to make their application more straightforward. The package adoptr fills this gap for the common case of two-stage one- or two-arm trials with (approximately) normally distributed outcomes. In contrast to previous approaches, adoptr optimizes the entire design upfront which allows maximal efficiency. To facilitate experimentation with different objective functions, adoptr supports a flexible way of specifying both (composite) objective scores and (conditional) constraints by the user. Special emphasis was put on providing measures to aid practitioners with the validation process of the package.


The following thesis contains four clinical studies. Study I, II and IV were based on a cross sectional investigation on subjects with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) studying the effect of the disease on CNS function through electrophysiological parameters coupled with neuropsychological tests. Study III was an interventional study investigating the effect of strict glycaemic control on subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Several new techniques were applied to the study of EEG in both studies giving a deeper understanding of the effect of diabetes on the brain. Paper I, II & IV: A cross-sectional study was performed in adult patients (N=150) with T1DM. Factors that are important for cognitive impairment in T1DM were identified. Furthermore, the effects of T1DM on auditory event-related potentials (ERP), spectral properties of resting EEG, connectivity between cortical regions and flow of information across the scalp of resting EEG were studied on a subgroup of 119 patients and compared to healthy controls (N=61). The strongest predictor of cognitive decline was found to be long diabetes duration and young age of diabetes onset, however, body mass index (BMI), height, age and compound muscle action potential (CMAP) were also found to predict cognitive decline. Moreover, patients had a significant decrease in auditory N100 amplitude, which correlated with a decrease in psychomotor speed. Furthermore, connectivity and information flow were reduced for patients as was EEG power. There were no significant correlations between the spectral, connectivity and information flow parameters and cognition. The influence of diabetes duration, BMI, height, age and CMAP may suggest that loss of the neuroprotective effects of insulin or insulin-like growth factors plays a role in the decline of cognitive function. Furthermore, the decline in ERP, connectivity and information flow may suggest conduction defects in the white matter and in the cortex. As the above mentioned parameters only had a partial relationship with each other we conclude that the tests measure different functions and are complementary to the cognitive tests and that several tests need to be performed to monitor the effect of T1DM on brain function. Paper III: The mild cognitive decline associated with T2DM has been suggested to be reversible with improved glycaemic control. In order to characterise this cognitive decline and study the effects of improved glycaemic control patients with T2DM (N=28) and healthy control subjects (N=21) were studied. One group of patients with diabetes (N=15) were given a 2-month treatment of intensified glycaemic control, whereas the other group (N=13) maintained their regular treatment. Cognitive function and electrophysiological variables were studied in the two groups of patients and in healthy control subjects before and after the 2-month trial period. There were significant differences at baseline and the change between 1 and 2 investigation was significantly different in the three groups where patients receiving intensified treatment had an improvement of HbA1c and cerebral function. In conclusion, T2DM had a similar type of effect on brain function as T1DM and intensified therapy improved the function, suggesting that the negative effect of T2DM on the brain is partly reversible.


The phase separation behavior and the morphology of polyetherimide (PEI)-modified diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) epoxy resin were studied using scanning electron microscopy and light scattering. Reaction kinetics, cloud point and onset of gelation were determined by differential scanning calorimeter, optical microscope and physica rheometer, respectively. The mixture of partially cured epoxy and PEI showed bimodal upper critical solution temperature (UCST) behavior. For PEI content smaller than 10 wt%, the blends exhibited a sea-island morphology formed via nucleation and a growth mechanism. Above 25 wt% PEI content, the phase separation proceeded via a spinodal decomposition mechanism and a nodular structure was formed. With PEI content between 15 and 20 wt%, dual phase morphology was observed. This morphology was formed via primary spinodal decomposition and secondary phase separation within the dispersed phases and the matrix phases formed by the primary phase separation. This morphology was presumed to be formed in the reaction-induced phase separation mechanism with the mixture showing bimodal UCST behavior. The curing temperature had an effect on the final morphology, and the modulus of PEI-modified epoxy was influenced by the phase separation.


The recent crisis has led to a thriving academic and policy debate on the future regulation of financial institutions and markets. This paper argues that the objective of securing financial stability should be balanced with the goal of fostering financial deepening and efficiency, especially in emerging markets. This would require a market-harnessing rather than market-restricting approach to regulation; it would imply price-based capital and liquidity regulation, rather than restrictions and prohibitions; it would focus on forcing financial institutions to internalize the external costs of their risk-taking decisions rather than suppressing financial innovation. Beyond changes in the capital and liquidity requirements and corporate governance structures, the overhaul of failure resolution systems should top the reform agenda, to better address incentives problems and impose market discipline, even on large, too-important-to-close financial institutions. Reform areas should include both legal and regulatory frameworks and incentive structures for regulators and supervisors.


MicroRNAs (miRs) are endogenous ≈22-nt non-coding RNAs that participate in the regulation of gene expression at post-transcriptional level. MiR-1 is one of the muscle-specific miRs, aberrant expression of miR-1 plays important roles in many physiological and pathological processes. In this review, we focus on the recent studies about miR-1 in cardiac diseases and cancers. The findings indicate that miR-1 may be a novel, important biomarker, and a potential therapeutic target in cardiac diseases and cancers.


Seismic refraction tomography (SRT) involves more complex mathematic algorithms to fit more flexible model. In the field procedure SRT in generally needs more shot points than standard seismic refraction survey to obtain high resolution profile. In this seismic refraction study, we have used 9 shot-points for inline and 10 shot-points for offset in purpose to obtaine high resolution of seismic refraction tomography. During a recent geophysical test site, the subsurface material was mapped along survey line using seismic refraction method. Analyses of the site investigation data revealed that the studied site was made up of two layers of the subsurface. The upper layer has velocity values with range of 500 m/s to1500 m/s which can be classified as unconsolidated surface deposits and mixtures of unsaturated sands and gravels. Meanwhile the lower layer has velocity values with range of2000 m/s to5500 m/s which is classified as compacted fine's soil due to high pressure of the overburden. Analysis of seismic refraction data demonstrated that refraction tomography software systems are able to reveal subsurface material which represented by their seismic velocity value. Furthermore, the velocity model obtained in this study is agreed with its synthetic modelling result as initial model. This validity and reasonable results was able to assist in interpretation of the seismic refraction method for the environmental study.


The growth of cacao in acid soils is commonly limited by some problems such as low available P and pH, and high Al saturation. Therefore, research is needed to solve the problem of coffee cultivation in acid soil. This study aimed to determine the effect of ameliorant, phosphate solubilizing microbes (PSM), and phosphate fertilizers (P) on the growth and nutrient uptake of cacao seedlings, and some acid soil properties. The study used a randomized block design with 3 factors and 3 replications. The first factor was ameliorant applications (without ameliorant, 10% organic fertilizer, 4% rice husk biochar, 4% rice husk biochar + 10% organic fertilizer). The second factor was PSM applications: without PSM, Burkholderia ambifaria (BPF) inoculants, and Aspergillus niger (FPF) inoculants. The third factor was P fertilizers applications (without Phosphate Rock (PR), 100, 200, and 400 mg P/kg of PR, and 400 mg P/kg of SP-36). The results showed that the applications of 4% rice husk biochar + 10% organic fertilizer + BPF or FPF inoculants increase the number of leaves by 77.9% and 69.2%, respectively, and increase the dry weight of shoot by 93.6 % and 101.9%, respectively. Phosphate rock application in media without organic fertilizer increases dry weight of shoots and roots of cacao seedlings, and the uptake of P, Ca, and Mg in shoots linearly in line with the increase of PR dose to 400 mg P/kg. Application of rice husk biochar significantly increased the acid phosphatase activity of growing media. Meanwhile, organic fertilizer increased the soil pH, acid phosphatase and available P activity, and decreased Al-dd growing media.


Background. Ischemia-reperfusion injury is a major cause of early graft dysfunction after liver transplantation. Tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA), a natural amidated hydrophilic bile salt, protects from cholestasis and hepatocellular damage in a variety of experimental models, as well as from ischemia-reperfusion injury. We investigated in the human liver transplantation setting the effect of the addition of TUDCA at time of liver harvesting and cold storage on the intra- and postoperative enzyme release and liver histopathology at the end of cold storage, at reperfusion, and 7 days after transplantation. Methods. Eighteen patients undergoing elective liver transplantation were studied, including 6 serving as controls. In six patients, TUDCA was added to the University of Wisconsin solution used during harvesting and cold storage, to reach final concentrations of 2 mM. In three of these patients, TUDCA (3 g) was infused in the portal vein of the donor before organ explantation; in the other three cases, TUDCA was given through both routes. Results. The use of TUDCA did not cause adverse events. The release of aspartate aminotransferase in the inferior vena cava blood during liver flushing was significantly lower (P =0.05) in TUDCA-treated than in control grafts, as were cytolytic enzyme levels in peripheral blood during the first postoperative week (P <0.02). At electron microscopy, an overt endothelial damage (cytoplasmic vacuolization, cell leakage, and destruction with exposure of hepatocytes to the sinusoidal lumen) was invariably found in control grafts, both at reperfusion and at day 7 after transplant. These features were significantly ameliorated by TUDCA (P <0.001). Several ultrastructural cytoplasmic abnormalities of hepatocytes were seen. Among these, damage to mitochondria matrix and crystae was significantly reduced in TUDCA-treated versus control grafts (P <0.01). Mild to severe damage of bile canaliculi was a constant feature in control biopsies, with dilatation of canalicular lumen and loss of microvilli. Both these abnormalities were markedly ameliorated (P <0.001 by TUDCA). The best preservation was observed when TUDCA was given through both routes. Conclusions. The use of TUDCA during harvesting and cold storage of human liver is associated with significant protection from ischemia-reperfusion injury. The clinical significance of this findings must be studied.


Recruiting professional developers for studies can be chal-lenging and one major concern for studies examining security development issues is their ecological validity—does the study adequately reflect the real world? Naiakshina et al. [28] examined the ecological validity of a password storage study conducted with students [29,30] by hiring freelancers from Freelancer.com. In the hope of increasing the ecologically validity, Naiakshina et al. used a deception study design wherein freelance developers were hired for a regular job using a company front created for the study, instead of openly telling the freelancers that they were taking part in a study. Based on their results, Naiakshina et al. propose the use of online freelancers to be examined further, to supplement other recruitment channels such as CS students and GitHub users. The deception in their study was used with the aim that results would reflect the real work of online freelancers. However, deception needs to be used with careful consideration, which can entail additional study design work and negotiations with ethical oversight bodies. In this paper, we take a closer look at the deception used in Naiakshina et al.'s study. Therefore, we replicate Naiakshina et al.'s work but announce and run it as a study on Freelancer.com. Our findings suggest that for this password storage study deception did not have a large effect and the open recruitment without deception was a viable recruitment method.


We report on a design-led study of the photographic representation of self and family on Facebook during and after becoming parents for the first time. Our experience-centered, research-through-design study engaged eight participants across five UK homes, in a month-long deployment of a prototype technology -- a design research artifact, Admixed Portrait, that served to prompt participant reflection on first-time parenthood. In addition to pre- and post-deployment interviews, participants kept diaries capturing personal reflections during the deployment, on daily social media use and interactions with Admixed. Our qualitative insights on social media representations of transitional experience and identity for new parents, reveal how their online 'photowork' related to self-expression and social functioning. We contribute design considerations for developing tools to support photographic expression in social media use, and methodological insights about design-led inquiry for understanding transitional experiences.


Abstract. Setiadi AE, Rahayu HM. 2021. Reptiles in the Pontianak and Kubu Raya Residental Area, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 22: 2763-2770. The increase in population is directly proportional to housing needs. Expansion of residential areas can threaten the diversity of reptiles in West Kalimantan. This study aims to inventory and identify the diversity of reptiles in residential areas in Pontianak and Kubu Raya, West Kalimantan province, Indonesia. This research gives a better understanding of reptilian urban species to support monitoring and evaluation of biodiversity in West Kalimantan. This research uses the descriptive exploratory method. Four study areas were selected based on a proportion of impervious surfaces. Data collection used the VES (Visual Encounter Survey). Identification refers to Reptile field guides and identification books. The data were analyzed descriptively qualitatively, the level reptile diversity was analyzed using the Shannon Diversity Index, and the similarities of reptiles between the residential area in Pontianak and Kubu Raya were assessed using the Jaccard similarity coefficient. The results showed, from 50 individual reptiles found in Pontianak and Kubu Raya, there were 13 reptile species from the order Squamata and the order Testudines. The Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index of 2.26 and Jaccard similarity coefficient 0.384, indicating that the level of diversity of reptile species in the two study areas is classified as moderate.


Introduction: Metformin is a widely used antidiabetic drug, which also displays significant growth inhibitory and proapoptotic effects in several cancer models, including lung cancer, alone or in combination with chemotherapeutic drugs. Areas covered: The role of metformin as a chemopreventive drug in lung cancer is still an object of debate as epidemiological studies have shown contrasting results. More preclinical data support its role as an adjuvant drug in the treatment of lung cancer, in combination with chemotherapy or targeted molecular drugs, although the complete mechanism of action of metformin is still unclear, and potentially may exert unexpected effects with contradictory clinical implications. Expert opinion: Future perspective studies are required in nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients to better investigate the effect of metformin action on the RAS/RAF/MAPK pathway and the best context in which to use metformin in combination with molecularly targeted agents.


Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) has been widely used to quantify changes in gene copy numbers after radiation exposure. Here, we show that gamma irradiation ranging from 10 to 100 Gy of cells and cell-free DNA samples significantly affects the measured qPCR yield, due to radiation-induced fragmentation of the DNA template and, therefore, introduces errors into the estimation of gene copy numbers. The radiation-induced DNA fragmentation and, thus, measured qPCR yield varies with temperature not only in living cells, but also in isolated DNA irradiated under cell-free conditions. In summary, the variability in measured qPCR yield from irradiated samples introduces a significant error into the estimation of both mitochondrial and nuclear gene copy numbers and may give spurious evidence for polyploidization.


This paper considered convergence of optimum levels of consumption and investment to a steady state to the case where output or technical progress is a random variable. The objective is the maximization of the expected value of the discounted sum of utilities facing uncertain technology or technological progress and, furthermore, our analysis is conducted in discrete time. Using elementary mathematical technique we established a stochastic analogue of convergence to a steady state-the modified golden rule. The direction we took was to examine steady state or limiting behavior of the optimal control and state variables. The stochastic process (14) converges to 0 or ∞ in probability.


Water is a prominent element in the media of Chinese ink painting and, in the form of clouds, rivers, floods and mist, it is a major subject of Chinese painting. In the culturally distinctive modernist practice of Fu Baoshi (1904–1965), these two identities of water self-consciously encounter one another. The artist's attention to watery themes in his work is unprecedented, and he is one of the first painters to focus on the direct depiction of falling rain. The essay considers Fu's representations of rain, the theme of water in his images of the poet-statesman Qu Yuan and (after the founding of the People's Republic in 1949) in paintings illustrating the poems of Chinese leader Mao Zedong. Fu's water-themed works are examined here with reference to the inherited stock of Chinese cultural meanings as well as to recent artistic practice in the People's Republic and to the Maoist state ideology which informed it. The potential meanings of these water-themed works are considered, and politically subversive connotations are discovered. The essay concludes by reflecting on the theme of water in contemporary practice, particularly in Song Dong's performance art work of 1996, Printing on Water.


With the high data rates and ultra-low latency it provides, millimeter-wave (mmWave) communications will be a key enabler for future vehicular networks. However, due to high penetration losses and high mobility, mmWave links experience frequent blockages. We present an analytical framework to evaluate the performance of vehicular relaying, where vehicles on a highway exchange data with the network, either over direct vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) links with roadside units or a combination of a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) sidelink and a V2I link. Both V2V and V2I line-of-sight links can be blocked by other vehicles. We establish continuous-time Markov chain models of the blockage events that V2I links and vehicular relays experience, and use their steady-state solution to obtain analytical expressions for the blockage probability, average blockage duration and the SINR distribution. We demonstrate through numerical examples that relays are helpful, especially when the traffic density is high, since they can provide intermittent but more frequent connection opportunities and reduce the blockage duration. We show that relays that are far from a vehicle only have a marginal benefit since they are blocked with higher probability, compared to the closer relays. The proposed analytical framework enables fast and accurate assessment of a given deployment scenario, which will benefit researchers exploring mmWave-enabled vehicular networks.


Invasive fungal infections cause high mortality rates in neutropenic patients. We developing an immunotherapy based on activation of HL-60 cells into Activated Targeted Killer (ATAK) cells. We have shown that ATAK cells phagocytize and kill C. albicans in vitro, and protect neutropenic mice from invasive candidiasis and aspergillosis. However, the mechanism by which ATAK cells kill fungi were unclear. Because we have recently found that gp91phox deficient mice were hypersusceptible to invasive candidiasis, we used siRNA to suppress gp91-phox expression in ATAK cells to define impact of suppression of NADPH-superoxide formation on fungal killing. We use a lentivirus to stably transfect a gp91-phox-targeting siRNA construct into HL-60 cells. Stable transfectants had significantly suppressed mRNA level (by RT-PCR) and protein expression (by western blot) of gp91-phox. To confirm functional suppression, we compared the superoxide production in wild-type ATAK cells and gp91-phox-/- cells by DHR123 staining and flow cytometry. We found the gp91-phox -/-cells had markedly reduced superoxide generation. In in vitro killing assays, gp91-phox-/- ATAK cells had marked reductions in their killing of C. albicans relative to wild type cells. Finally, gp91-phox deficient ATAK cells were unable to protect neutropenic mice from invasive candidiasis or invasive aspergillosis. Thus, ATAK cell fungal killing and in vivo efficacy requires intact superoxide production by the NADPH-oxidase system.


Molar incisor hypomineralization (MIH) is defined as the developmentally-derived dental defect that involves 1 to 4 permanent first molars, frequently associated with similarly affected permanent incisors. The prevalence of MIH ranges from 3.6–25%. Several etiological factors are mentioned as the cause of the defect including prenatal, perinatal and childhood medical conditions that affect the developing enamel, while an underlying genetic predisposition could not be excluded. MIH presents as demarcated enamel opacities of different color in the affected teeth that occasionally undergo post eruptive breakdown due to soft and porous enamel, resulting in atypical cavities or even to complete coronal distortion. Accordingly the defect reveals serious clinical management problems attracting the attention of the dental profession. Children with MIH receive much more dental treatment than unaffected children. Affected molars usually require extensive treatment and might create serious problems for both patient and clinician, as they can frequently be difficult to anaesthetize and to restore adequately. Children at risk should be monitored very carefully during the period of eruption of their first permanent molars. Intensive individually prescribed preventive programs may postpone the initiation of the actual restorative treatment and reduce in long-term patient's discomfort. Treatment planning should consider the long-term prognosis of these teeth. Advances in dental materials have provided clinical solutions in cases that were regarded as unrestorable in the past.
In this review we would have a look at etiology, clinical presentation and treatment options of hypomineralized molar and incisor teeth.


Background With the advent of opioid receptors, a variety of opioid agents are added to local anesthetic mixtures used in peripheral blocks to improve the quality and duration of block. In this study, we compared the effect of butorphanol and tramadol as adjuvant agents for orthopedic upper extremity surgery. Patients and methods This study was carried out on 50 patients aged between 18 and 60 years, of American Society of Anesthesiologists grades I and II, of either sexes in each group, undergoing orthopedic upper limb surgeries through axillary brachial plexus block. An injection of butorphanol 2 mg (group B) and that of tramadol 100 mg (group T) were added to local anesthetic mixture. Onset of sensory and motor blockade, extent of blockade, and occurrence of any complications were studied in both groups. All patients were observed for analgesia postoperatively by visual analog scale pain score. Results In our study, the onset time (minutes) of sensory and motor blockade was delayed in group B (8.76±1.0 and 5.86±0.71, respectively) as compared with group T (7.54±0.88 and 4.6±0.73, respectively). In group B, the duration of sensory block (291.24±48.51 min) was longer than group T (160.42±12.66 min). Duration of analgesia postoperatively (first rescue analgesic) was 619.96±26.96 min in group B, whereas it was 290.2±20.38 min in group T. Conclusion Butorphanol is more potent and produces longer duration of postoperative analgesia than tramadol, with an extra advantage of sedation and calmness.


ABSTRACT Given the rapid increase in the consumer use of online services and the increase in competition between firms that compete online, firms are faced with a crucial challenge. Having invested significant resources in transitioning consumers from using offline services to using online services, they now need to understand what drives consumers to choose between competing online services. Our study seeks an exploratory answer to the above challenge. Specifically, we consider, "what role do factors that drive consumers into using online services play in assisting firms better compete in the online space?" This paper explores the above question by quantifying the value that consumers of an online financial service place on having access to in-depth product information, an affordable online service, an easy to use online service, access to offline capabilities, and available marketing promotions. The results reported in this paper are based on a web-based discrete choice experiment in which 2,209 consumers were asked to compare various online financial service offerings, differing from each other in terms of the relative availability of our critical factors. The results demonstrate that consumer preferences (relative utilities) for various factors of an online financial service are different. Our results enable practicing managers to understand the factors that drive consumer choice when faced with competing online services. We believe that these results have both managerial and research implications for design, management and operations strategy formulation for online services.


Introduction National security is one of the main goals political societies and regimes. So to achieve this, various actions must be done. Among these measures are the identification of threats and factors which threaten security. In the contemporary period, the development of the cities, the growth of metropolitan life, the increasing social conflicts and strugglesamong them the urban crimes and incongruitiesare one of the commonest phenomena of human societies. Likewise, Mashad, as the country's second Metropolis has a high share of social and economic inequalities and crime. This paper considers one of the sources that threaten the country's national security with regard to social and economic affairs. So let us first consider the concept of security. Then the concepts of crime-prone locations and civil crimes, deprivation and social inequalities are considered. The measurement of inequality in Mashad's 12 sections with regard to criteria of addiction, lack of chastity, forgery, theft, crimes against public properties constitutes the main core of the research.


Orbitary exenteration for tumor may concern ethmoidal wall, and may create a large communication between the orbital cavity and the cavum. We present the case of a patient scheduled for ocular prosthetic surgery after an unilateral orbitary exenteration. After intravenous induction of the general anaesthesia, anaesthesiologist failed to achieve adequate facial mask ventilation because of a great gas leakage from cavum to orbital cavity. Inserting packing in the orbitary cavity allowed to decrease gas leakage and to get adequate facemask ventilation. We recommend orbitary radiographic and clinical evaluations for patient with orbitary exenteration before general anaesthesia to evaluate the communication between the orbital cavity and the cavum. Such an anatomic communication may result in inefficient facial mask ventilation.


Multiple variations of the branches of abdominal aorta were observed during a routine dissection of the abdominal region in a 60-year-old male cadaver in the Department of Anatomy, Government Medical College, Latur.
In the present case, both inferior phrenic arteries arose from the coeliac trunk, and then coeliac trunk continued as common hepatic artery, after a short course of about 2.5 cm it gave gastric trunk which divided into right and left gastric arteries. Splenic artery arose from the superior mesenteric artery.
Right renal artery arose 1 cm below the left renal artery. Left testicular artery arose from anterolateral aspect of aorta 1 cm below the left renal artery, right testicular artery branched from anterior aspect of aorta 2.5 cm below the left testicular artery.
Inferior mesenteric artery arose from the aorta 7.5 cm below the superior mesenteric artery. Abdominal aorta bifurcated into right and left common iliac arteries at the level of L4 vertebra.
Knowledge of these variations could help surgeons to identify and protect the branches of abdominal aorta during surgery and radiological investigation.


In previous decades, pediatric liver transplantation has become a state-of-the-art operation with excellent success and limited mortality. Graft and patient survival have continued to improve as a result of proper selection criteria for both donors and recipients, improvement in medical, surgical and anesthetic management, organ availability, balanced immunosuppression, and early identification and treatment of postoperative complications. Most of all, refinements of the technique has directly related to good outcome. Therefore rapid establishment of surgical knowhow is mandatory. In pediatric liver transplantation, the utilization of split-liver grafts and grafts for living donors has provided more organs for pediatric patients and has had a significant impact on graft and patient survival. This has been one of the brilliant outcomes of surgical evolution. In addition, new surgical technique of minimal invasive live donor surgery has been recently widening the living donor liver transplantation for children. Although the recent outcome has been rapidly improved and the volume of living donor liver transplantation has been larger and larger in Korea, pediatric liver transplantation has been performed in a very limited large volume centers. Therefore, this review focuses on surgical technique in order to share the experiences and to improve the outcome of pediatric liver transplantation.


Despite considerable effort, practical application of high-energy-density, lithium (Li)- and manganese (Mn)-rich layered cathode materials remains difficult due to the low first cycle efficiency, poor structural stability, and the consequent voltage fading. In the present work, the Li- and Mn-rich layered cathodes of Li[Li0.26Mn0.6−xTixNi0.07Co0.07]O2 (0 < x < 0.1) with various titanium (Ti) compositions were synthesized and their electrochemical properties were evaluated. It was found that Ti substitution greatly improves the structural stability of the Li- and Mn-rich layered cathode materials, extending the cathode's cycle life and mitigating the voltage fading. The present first-principles analyses of the cohesive energy, phonon force constants, and charge density of these materials indicate that Ti substitution increases the stability of the layered structure and prevents Mn ions migration from transitional metal layer to adjacent Li-ion layer. These theoretical analyses coincide with the present experimental results and provide the underlying mechanism behind the improved cycling stability and weakened voltage fading.


Soilless cultivation systems in horticultural production are modern technologies that involve the supply of water and minerals through the nutrient solution and plant growth on media. The soilless cultivation of vegetables ensures higher yields and better quality than with traditional soil crops. When managed in a closed system with irrigation water of good quality soilless cultivation can significantly reduce the environmental impact of nutrient solutions with respect to crops grown in open systems. Compared with drip irrigation, gutter subirrigation simplifies the management of the closed system because disinfection of recirculated nutrient solution and correction of its chemical composition is not necessary. Gutter subirrigation was developed in previous experiments for the cultivation of tomato on fresh substrate. The objective of this work was to evaluate the use of the same substrate after two consecutive crops of tomato and to study the effect of the presence, if any, of previous radical residues with the same cultivar and rootstock. The experiment was conducted in an unheated iron and polycarbonate greenhouse with forced ventilation. Cherry tomato plants were transplanted into pots containing fresh or reused coconut fiber. The following parameters were considered: biomass, production, product quality (electrical conductivity, pH, titratable acidity, dry residue, dissolved solid content) and chemical analysis of recirculated and radical nutrient solution. The results obtained in this experiment reveal no significant differences in production and fruit quality between plants grown on fresh substrate and those grown on reused substrate (marketable yield was 5.4 kg m-2 vs 5.3 kg m-2, respectively).


The COVID-19 outbreak impacted people from all walks of life, with people being urged to self-quarantine in their homes to prevent the virus from spreading. The lockdown had a significant impact on mental health, contributing in psychological issues such as anger, stress, and depression. A study titled 'A Correlational study of impact of COVID-19 on stress was conducted with the aim of studying the impact of COVID-19 on stress. A total of 306 responses were collected using convenient random sampling and a selfadministered questionnaire as data collection tool. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test and ANOVA. The factors selected for the purpose of the study are gender, education level, family size and marital status, the p value of which are 0.025, 0.123, 0.001 and 0.025 respectively. Analysis of assessment of COVID-19 on the basis of gender showed that there is significant difference between the stress level of males and females. Analysis on the basis of education level concluded that education level of people is not significantly associated with COVID-19 and that the size of the family is directly associated with the stress caused due to COVID-19 and the marital status is also significantly associated with stress related to COVID-19. Since this study is new in the context of COVID-19, it holds importance and its results can be generalised. Similar studies in a different geographical setting may be recommended for further studies.


The article reflects on Heidegger's "metaphysical" interpretation of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit. This interpretation is driven by two theses Heidegger holds: (1) that the Phenomenology is a necessary part of Hegel's "system of science" and (2) that the Phenomenology is metaphysics. These two theses contrast with Houlgate's "epistemological" interpretation, which claims that the Phenomenology is not a necessary part of Hegel's system of science and that it is not metaphysics. The article shows that while Heidegger has an argument that establishes, contra Houlgate, his second thesis, this very argument has consequences that undermine his first.


Dispersive soils deflocculate in the presence of relatively pure water to form colloidal suspensions and therefore are highly susceptible to erosion and piping. Such soils contain a higher content of sodium in their pore water than non-dispersive soils. However, there are no significant differences in the clay contents of dispersive and non-dispersive soils. The principal chemical factors influencing dispersive behaviour in a soil are exchangeable sodium and cation exchange capacity. These two parameters are frequently used in South Africa to help distinguish between dispersive and non-dispersive soils. It is recommended that more than one type of test is used to identify these soils. Dispersive soils are widely distributed in South Africa and are derived from a variety of rock types. They are commonly found in regions where the annual rainfall is less than 850 mm. In some parts of South Africa dispersive soils have to be used for the construction of earth dams since no other soil material is available. Several failures of earth dams due to piping have occurred in South Africa, most taking place on first filling of the reservoir. However, if an earth dam containing dispersive soils is properly constructed, with filters, an impervious core and correctly compacted, then it should perform satisfactorily. Dispersive soils sometimes can be stabilized by treatment with lime or gypsum. A case history of a failure of a dam is provided which illustrates some of the points mentioned.


The potential for Islamic Banking in India lies in these two points namely; (a) India could be a significant market for

Islamic Banking Institutions due to its large Muslim population; and (b) However, it is still subject to a favorable change

in regulatory environment and increased awareness among Muslims and India. This paper explores the basic principles

and concepts in Islamic Banking and reviews the potential of Islamic Banking in India. The paper highlights the

financing modes of Islamic Banking and presents the major issues and constraints of Islamic Banking. Many studies

finds that India has the potential of emerging as a significant market for Islamic banking institutions, provided there is a

favorable change in regulatory environment and increased awareness among Muslims and India as a whole. Islamic

banking has unfortunately been misunderstood in India as a religious charitable venture restricted to the country's

poverty-ridden and economically downtrodden Muslim community. Even years of successful Islamic banking operations

and its phenomenal growth around the world have failed to demolish this myth. RBI and the Ministry of Finance should

examine Islamic Banking as a viable alternative to tackle the macro economic problems we are presently confronted

with. Hope the new RBI Governor will consider it to control liquidity and inflation. When Islamic banking reaches

Indian, it will be welcomed as a vibrant, modern and progressive alternate financial system, not as a rudimentary,

indigenous and outdated method of finance. Today, Islamic banking is the buzzword in the global financial world with

all the essential ingredients of modern day banking—sans interest.


Two human lymphoblasts (Raji and EB3) and normal human peripheral lymphocytes were exposed to different concentrations of Concanavalin A and wheat germ agglutinin. The lectin-induced agglutination was determined and correlated with lectin-induced changes in the surface morphology of these cells as studied in a scanning electron microscope. Whenever the lectin induced high agglutinability in a cell type, it also invariably had a smoothing effect on the cell surface. In contrast, when cells did not agglutinate well with a certain lectin, their cell surface remained essentially rough (villous) after addition of the lectin. The correlation found between increased agglutinability and altered cell surface morphology upon treatment with certain lectins suggests that both phenomena result from one and the same process. Additional evidence for this postulate is presented.


Several problem areas associated with air-cooling of small turbine blades and vanes are identified. These problem areas include the leading edge cooling by film and impingement cooling, comparison of several configurations for trailing edge cooling, effects of Mach number on blade surface heat transfer, effects of film cooling on the aerodynamic performances of turbine cascades, the method of data correlation for the application of heat transfer data taken with low temperature, low pressure rig tests to high temperature, high pressure conditions. Experimental data are presented for each discussed area. The description of design and experimental data of one of the experimental cooled blades and vanes are presented.Copyright © 1974 by ASME


An analysis of the interaction of creep and fatigue is made based on the energy expended for the nucleation of damage at the advancing crack front. A rate equation is assumed for the damage nucleation, and the activation energy is taken as a function of the total mechanical energy at the crack tip. The analysis yields a relation in terms of J-integral which is applicable to both crack propagation and final failure. Raw data from various sources have been analyzed for different types of loading and compared with the theoretical prediction. The total energy in tension, which includes the tension-going strain rate, appears to be a good parameter for the prediction of fracture life in creep-fatigue interaction.


It is reported on a rare partial intravesical utriculus cyst in a 72-year-old man. The particularities of the topography and the histological structure of the wall are presented and the diagnostical delimination compared with cysts of other pathogenesis are discussed. Cysts of the Müllerian Duct are deliminated from the utriculus cysts. In the present case of an intramural utriculus cyst a conservative approach (cyst punction) is indicated. A radical removal is impossible, in contrast to the extravesical utriculus cysts. The collapse of the cyst, the absence of subjective trouble, the non-inflammatory altered cyst wall, and the age of the deceased man indicate a favourable prognosis of the utriculus cysts.


Abstract A 31-year-old female presented with asymmetrical fullness in the right breast and was found to have a large span of fibrocystic change and nodular glandular tissue on magnetic resonance imaging. Breast malignancy could not be excluded, and thus excisional biopsy was performed. Histopathology revealed a rare finding of gynaecomastia-like histopathological changes of a female breast. Gynaecomastia is traditionally a clinical condition affecting the male breast and characterized by ductal hyperplasia, periductal fibrosis and oedema of the tissue. We describe the first finding of gynaecomastia-like change with a tri-layer ductal epithelium in a female breast, as previously described in the male breast.


The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published its final report on "Principles for Financial Benchmarks" in July 2013. The IOSCO Principles themselves do not impose a global standard, as their application is proportional to the size and risks posed by the relevant index. However, the IOSCO Principles may be a helpful "best practice" guide for an issuer or any of its affiliates that are index sponsors of a proprietary index. This article discusses how structured products issuers and distributors might respond to the IOSCO Principles.


Currently, it is important to develop strategic frameworks to support the selection of sustainable resource recovery solutions. This study applies a new framework for planning, implementation, and assessment of resource recovery strategies for a full-scale wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in São Paulo megacity. The framework comprises several steps based on case study-specific data and information from current literature. Data were collected from various sources: a survey with a wastewater treatment utility, national and regional databases, and review of local regulations and international literature. Treatment configuration, wastewater and by-products composition, potential demand (for water, energy, and phosphorus), stakeholder identification, and local legislation were thoroughly discussed regarding decision-making on resource recovery. Scenario analysis was used to explore suitable nutrient and energy recovery measures based on indicators. Biogas recovery and sewage sludge composting showed more favorable conditions due to similar experiences in the area and robust legislation. The proposed framework is a simplified tool, and its application can support managers to get information on resource recovery and how to plan such initiatives in easier ways to facilitate wiser decision-making, and better operation and management. The results on framework use and refinement can guide potential applications in other contexts and stimulate public policy formulation and further research.


Student cognition and motivation, as well as institutional policies, determine student course grades and retention in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors. Regarding cognition, study skills relate to course grades, and grades relate to retention in STEM. Several aspects of motivation are related to both grades and retention in STEM: self-efficacy (self-confidence for completing assignments), continuing interest in learning more about the subject, and effort control (remaining focused on classes and studying). Students' cognition and motivation are interdependent, and, furthermore, they play out in the context of multiple institutional policies, such as academic support centers, career counseling, financial aid policies, forced curving of course grades, course timing, and course registration policies. All of these interdependent factors can improve with targeted programs that complement each other. Some challenges for reform include instructor resistance to changing teaching and a lack of coordination, or even competing emphases, among university policies and resources, such as course scheduling, academic support, advising, career counseling, and financial aid.


Over a period of 6 years, 8 patients underwent surgical treatment at our hospital for congenital coronary artery fistula (CAF). The ages of the patients ranged from 4 months to 50 years (mean 22.7 years). Continuous heart murmurs could be heard in all patients, except one. The diagnosis was made by retrograde aortography and/or selective coronary arteriography. Only one patients had associated cardiac disease. All the drainage sites of the CAF were on the right side of the heart (right atrium, right ventricle, pulmonary artery). Two patients had both right and left CAFs. Symptoms due to "coronary steal" by a coronary artery fistula were demonstrated by a nuclear medicine study in one of our patients. Four patients were operated on with the aid of cardiopulmonary bypass. The other 4 patients were treated with suture ligation directly. There was no surgical mortality or morbidity, and the longterm results have been good. Since surgical correction is safe and effective, it would appear desirable for all patients with CAF be operated on. However, surgical intervention is controversial in asymptomatic patients.


Objectives The local care and treatment of liver disease (LOCATE) intervention embedded specialist liver nurses in general practitioner (GP) practices to improve the identification of progressive liver disease, enabling earlier intervention. This current process evaluation examines GP practice staffs' perceptions of the LOCATE intervention, in order to understand any potential barriers to successful implementation in clinical practice. Study design and setting A qualitative process evaluation nested within the LOCATE feasibility trial, using semistructured interviews with practice staff from five GP surgeries in the UK. Participants A purposive sample of 29 interviews with practice staff (GPs, nurses, practice managers). Data collection Interview transcripts were subjected to thematic analysis. Findings The intervention was found to be acceptable to practice staff and a number of barriers and facilitators to the success of the intervention were identified. However, interviews suggested that the intervention did not provide sufficient guidance for clinicians to be able to help patients make the behavioural changes needed to reduce risk factors associated with liver disease. The intervention did appear to improve clinician awareness and knowledge about liver disease, enabling GPs to feel more confident interpreting and managing liver function blood tests in order to identify the early signs of liver disease. Conclusions This study enabled identification of potential barriers to implementation of specialist nurses in primary care to identify progressive liver disease and enable earlier intervention. The next steps are to improve the intervention to make it more feasible to implement in practice and more likely to help patients to make the behavioural changes required to prevent a major liver event. Trial registration number 13/SC/0012; Post-results. Ethics This study was reviewed and approved by NRES Committee South Central—Hampshire A, Bristol Research Ethics Committee Centre, level 3, block B, Whitefriars, Lewins Mead Bristol BS1 2NT.


pain is the second loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) producer in the world. In a survey for postharvest fruit losses, brownish spots located mainly at the stilar end were observed which, at 20oC, expanded rapidly, turning dark brown to black, and developed a compact white mycelium. The potential causal agent (isolate IVIA NiAA-33) was re- covered and identified at the Spanish Type Culture Collec- tion (CECT, UV, Valencia, Spain). The fungus grew fast on potato dextrose and malt extract agar at 26oC covering the entire plate with a velvety white mycelium with numerous black globose acervuli. The plate reverse showed orangish tonalities. Conidia were fusiform (26×8 μm), five-celled, with hyaline apical and basal cells and dark brown median cells, and showed one short basal and 2 to 4 long apical ap- pendages. The identification as Pestalotiposis clavispora (G.F. Atk.) Steyaert was molecularly determined by sequencing the rDNA ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region (GenBank accession No. KC153999) and the D1/D2 region in the 5' end of the 28S rDNA gene (KC154000). BLAST analysis showed in both cases 100% identity with P. clavispora (EU342214 and JN940831). To fulfill Koch's postulates, 5-mm diameter mycelial plugs from 7-day-old colonies were transferred to skin wounds on superficially disinfected loquats cv. Algerie. While all inoculated fruits developed lesions after 14 days at 20oC and P. clavispora was consistently reisolated from these lesions, no infection was observed on wounded but non inoculated control fruits. To our knowledge, this is the first report of P. clavispora causing postharvest fruit rot of loquat in Spain. This fungus was reported as the cause of stem-end rot of avocado (Valencia et al., 2011) and P. guepini as the agent of a loquat disease (Perello and Larran, 1999).


Information extraction (IE) in scientific literature has facilitated many down-stream knowledge-driven tasks. Ope-nIE, which does not require any relation schema but identifies a relational phrase to describe the relationship between a subject and an object, is being a trending topic of IE in sciences. The subjects, objects, and relations are often multiword expressions, which brings challenges for methods to identify the boundaries of the expressions given very limited or even no training data. In this work, we present a set of rules for extracting structured information based on dependency parsing that can be applied to any scientific dataset requiring no expert's annotation. Results on novel datasets show the effectiveness of the proposed method. We discuss negative results as well.


In this paper, we introduce three new implementations of non-native methods for storing RDF data. These methods named RDFSPO, RDFPC and RDFVP, are based respectively on the statement table, property table and vertical partitioning approaches. As important, we consider the issue of how to select the most relevant strategy for storing the RDF data depending on the dataset characteristics. For this, we investigate the balancing between two performance metrics, including load time and query response time. In this context, we provide an empirical comparative study between on one hand the three proposed methods, and on the other hand the proposed methods versus the existing ones by using various publicly available datasets. Finally, in order to further assess where the statistically significant differences appear between studied methods, we have performed a statistical analysis, based on the non-parametric Friedman test followed by a Nemenyi post-hoc test. The obtained results clearly show that the proposed RDFVP method achieves highly competitive computational performance against other state-of-the-art methods in terms of load time and query response time.


BACKGROUND
Parenting programmes are at the heart of intervention strategies for parents of children with emotional and behaviour problems. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials have indicated that such programmes can improve many aspects of family life. However, there is currently a dearth of information concerning what it is that makes parenting programmes meaningful and helpful to parents. The aim of this paper was to examine parents' experience and perceptions of parenting programmes using the meta-ethnographic method, in order to sensitize policymakers and practitioners to the key factors that parents perceive to be of value.

METHODS
Systematic searches of a number of electronic databases were undertaken using key search terms. Critical appraisal of included studies was conducted using standardized criteria, and the reports were synthesized using meta-ethnographic methods.

RESULTS
Six reports were purposefully selected and critically appraised independently by two reviewers. Two were excluded. Based on the remaining four papers, five key concepts were identified as important when planning and delivering parenting programmes. A lines-of-argument synthesis was developed which suggests that the acquisition of knowledge, skills and understanding, together with feelings of acceptance and support from other parents in the parenting group, enabled parents to regain control and feel more able to cope. This led to a reduction in feelings of guilt and social isolation, increased empathy with their children and confidence in dealing with their behaviour.

CONCLUSION
This evaluation provides an indication of the components that parents perceive to be necessary in the provision of parenting programmes, independent of the particular type of programme being provided. It may therefore aid policymakers in decisions about which programmes to provide.


Objective To study the correlation between the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system angiotensinogen (AGT) gene M235T,angiotensin Ⅱ type 1 receptor (AGTR1) gene Al166C,aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2) gene -344C/T polymorphisms and large-artery atherosclerotic (LAA) stroke in a southern Chinese Han population.Methods Polymerase chain reaction and gene sequencing technology were used for the genotyping in patients with LAA and normal controls with AGT gene M235T,AGTR1 gene A1166C,and CYP11B2 gene - 344C/T polymorphisms in a southern Chinese Han population,and to determine the correlation between the 3 gene polymorphisms and LAA by binary logistic regression analysis.Results A total of 107 patients with LAA and 142 healthy controls were included in the study.The frequencies of the AGT gene 253TT genotype (66.36% vs.50.70%,x2 =6.122,P =0.047) and T allele (79.44% vs.70.07% %,x2 =5.581,P =0.018) in the LAA group were significantly higher than those in the control group.The frequencies of the AGTR1 gene 1166CC genotype (0% vs.0%,x2 =1.494,P =0.222) and C allele (7.48% vs.4.93%,x2 =1.399,P =0.237) in the LAA group were no significantly differences with those in the control group.The frequencies of the CYP11B2 gene - 344CC genotype (9.35% vs.4.23%,x2 =3.603,P =0.165) and C allele (27.10% vs.26.06%,x2 =0.069,P =0.793) in the LAA group were no significant differences with those in the control group.Binary logistic regression analysis showed that there was no significant correlation between the three gene polymorphisms and the simple LAA diseases.The frequencies of AGT gene 235TT genotype (68.00% vs.41.90%,x2 =12.446,P =0.002) and T allele (79.33% vs.64.76%,x2 =8.993,P =0.003) in the LAA patients complicated with hypertension were significantly higher than those in the normotensive control group.Logistic regression analysis showed that the odds ratio (OR) exposed to TT genotype was 2.153 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.789-5.872).The OR of T allele was 2.089 (95% CI 1.285-3.396).Conclusions The AGT gene M235T polymorphism is not associated with the simple LAA in the southern Chinese Han population,but it may be associated with the risk of LAA complicated with hypertension;CYP11B2 gene -344C/T polymorphism and AGTR1 gene A1166C polymorphism are not associated with the onset of LAA in the southern Chinese Han population.


Meaning is often viewed as originating within an individual mind and then expressed by a combination of speech and gesture. In this article I present evidence from documented spontaneous interaction that supports the claim that speech and gesture should be viewed as complementary aspects of the on-going incremental determination of dialogic inter-subjective intentionality in communicative interaction. Speech and gesture relate brain with brain to enable meaning and mind. Embodied meaning is enacted through speech and gesture in interaction. Mind is viewed as embodied but distributed and emerges in the field created by interacting brains-and-bodies. An empirical research methodology for the study of speech and gesture in relation to mind and meaning in interaction is presented.


The low temperature cold damage of paddy rice is the major agricultural meteorological disaster in Ningxia.The real-time monitoring and early warning of low temperature cold damage are very important to develop the advantages,avoid the disadvantages and reduce the disaster losses.Based on the prior researches on the low temperature cold damage indexes of paddy rice,we improved the small grid reckoning method of temperature and the reckoning precision with the support of GIS.By using the multitemporal remote sensing data,the paddy rice planting zone was picked.The calculation results of low temperature cold damage monitoring indexes were combined with the paddy rice planting zone,which judged the grade distribution and zone of low temperature cold damage in real time.Meanwhile,the low temperature cold damage of paddy rice was done the early warning,and the automatic monitoring early warning system was developed by using the weather forecast data.This method and system were applied to the business works,and the monitoring and early warning products of paddy rice low temperature cold damage business were made.The monitoring results basically corresponded with the actual situation,and the better monitoring service effect was gained.


The tunneling field effect transistor (TFET) is a quantum-mechanical device which is able to extend the epoch of the standard CMOS process by offering reduced short channel effects and smaller leakage currents. First, the mode of operation of the TFET is presented. Next, the application as photo pixel cell is proposed comprising only one device. A pin diode as light sensor is combined in a single device with a MOS-gate to select a single cell out of a column of a cell array. Additionally, the IT photo pixel can be tuned with respect to sensitivity range and signal amplitude by the biasing parameters.


Transparent nanopaper (T-paper) can be applied in the field of electromagnetic shielding materials, antistatic materials, composite conductive materials, electric pool materials, super capacitors, and thermal management systems. However, this kind of T-paper has not been employed in ultrafast photonics yet. For the first time, to our knowledge, transparent electrical nanopaper is used in fiber lasers, different from the conventional pulsed fiber laser, which operates in the Q-switched regime under low pump power and then in the mode-locked regime under high pump power. Mode-locking is achieved first with a pulse duration of 550 fs under low pump power (166 mW). When further increasing the pump power up to 198 mW, the proposed fiber laser can be converted from a mode-locked to Q-switched state, which is a result of the two-photon absorption effect. The proposed fiber laser based on T-paper can be potentially applied in optical tomography, metrology, spectroscopy, micro-machining technology, and biomedical diagnostics.


The use of functionalized nanomaterials is of high importance in biomedical applications like the efficient targeting of cancer cells. This paper proposes a comparison of different statistical and mechanistic aspects of new QSAR models generated to predict the selective uptake of a library of surface modified nanoparticles tested in different human cell types. Additionally, a new approach based on the combination of multivariate factorial analysis and QSAR is proposed to generate a 2-dimensional map of the selective uptake of the surface modified nanoparticles into multiple cell types. This map offers an immediate view of the uptake of the nanoparticles, distinguishing among those with high or low uptake in one or more of the studied cells. Finally, QSAR models are generated to predict the coordinates of the studied nanoparticles in the 2D map from their molecular structure. This predictive map is useful to screen new and existing surface modified nanoparticles for diagnostic and biomedical uses.


Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy was used to assess the mineral composition of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) as a tool for nutritional diagnosis. One hundred and ninety four (n = 194) samples of alfalfa from different locations representing a wide range of soils were used. Samples were reflectance scanned in a NIRS 6500 (NIRSystems, USA) instrument. The coefficients of determination (R) of the regression estimate of the concentration of nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and sulphur and the errors in cross validation (SECV) were 0.93 (SECV: 1.6), 0.95 (SECV: 1.3), 0.93 (SECV: 1.9), 0.88 (SECV: 2.8), 0.82 (SECV: 1.9) and 0.75 (SECV: 4.7) respectively. The best NIRS predictions were obtained for calcium and nitrogen, meanwhile the poorest was obtained


This simulation study compares different strategies to solve the problem of underestimating standard errors in the Poisson regression model when overdispersion is present. The study analyses the importance of sample size, Poisson distribution mean, and dispersion parameter in choosing the best index or estimate. Results show that standard error (SE) estimates obtained by resampling (nonparametric bootstrap and jackknife) are the least biased, followed by the direct index based on the c², and the so-called robust indexes, in third place. Nevertheless, the inefficiency of resampling estimates is also evident, especially in small samples.


, 2057 (2005); 309  Science et al. Ciro Cecconi Molecule Direct Observation of the Three-State Folding of a Single Protein This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. clicking here. colleagues, clients, or customers by , you can order high-quality copies for your If you wish to distribute this article to others here. following the guidelines can be obtained by Permission to republish or repurpose articles or portions of articles ):  November 10, 2014  www.sciencemag.org (this information is current as of The following resources related to this article are available online at http://www.sciencemag.org/content/309/5743/2057.full.html version of this article at: including high-resolution figures, can be found in the online Updated information and services, http://www.sciencemag.org/content/suppl/2005/09/20/309.5743.2057.DC1.html can be found at: Supporting Online Material http://www.sciencemag.org/content/309/5743/2057.full.html#ref-list-1 , 4 of which can be accessed free: cites 27 articles This article 132 article(s) on the ISI Web of Science cited by This article has been http://www.sciencemag.org/content/309/5743/2057.full.html#related-urls 49 articles hosted by HighWire Press; see: cited by This article has been http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/collection/biochem Biochemistry subject collections: This article appears in the following


The structures of two phases of fluorene-4-carboxylic acid, C14H10O2, from room-temperature growths have been determined. In the alpha phase, O-H...O hydrogen bonding occurs via cyclic dimers about a center of symmetry; in the beta phase, cyclic dimers with O-H...O hydrogen bonds are formed between two crystallographically inequivalent molecules and do not involve a center of symmetry, though centers of symmetry are present in the crystal. The present evidence strongly suggests that the beta phase is metastable with respect to the alpha phase at room temperature, but the regions of stability have not been determined.


INTRODUCTION-AIM: Positive effects of the increase of exercise capacity on daily living activity is one of the biggest targets for COPD patients going on Pulmonary Rehabilitation(PR) programmes. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the relationship between i-BODE index, a multi-scoring system evaluating exercise capacity by Incremental Shuttle Walk Test(ISWT), and London Chest Activity of Daily Living(LCADL) scale which is used for evaluating daily living activities. MATERIALS-METHODS: 38 patients directed for PR programme with COPD diagnosis were evaluated before PR by methods below: Body composition by bioelectrical impedance system,obstruction grading by lung function tests, dyspnea perception by Modfied Medical Research Council(MMRC), exercise capacity by Incremental Shuttle Walk Test(ISWT), daily living activity by London Chest Activity of Daily Living (LCADL) scale. RESULTS: Mean age of the cases were 61.61±6.08 years and 34 were male. Median value for LCADL was found 18.5, ISWT 220 meters(interquartile range: 205 m.), FEV1 %33(interquartile range: %21) and i-BODE index 5. The relationship between total score of daily living activity and MRC, ISWT, FEV1 and i-BODE index was found statistically significant(in order r=0.441 p=0.006, r=-0.557 p DISCUSSION: This study showed that during configuring personal PR programmes in COPD, daily living activities must take part in the initial evaluation with the other compounds.


This article examines Fischl Schneersohn's (1887–1958) "science of man" as a psychotherapeutic approach situated between modern psychology and Chassidic mysticism. While almost forgotten today, Schneersohn was a prolific writer, well-known in Yiddish-speaking circles as a psychologist, educationalist, novelist, and psychotherapist. As a descendant of an important dynasty of Chassidic rebbes, he grew up inside the Chabad movement, but followed a secular career. The first part of this article traces Schneersohn's biography from the outskirts of the Russian empire to Germany, Poland, the United States, and Palestine, and shows how his upbringing and historical experiences shaped his psychological works and his self-understanding as educationalist and psychotherapist. The second part examines Schneersohn's main work, Studies in Psycho-Expedition, which blended Chassidic mysticism and contemporary psychology in a way that was both idiosyncratic and unique. The psycho-sociological "science of man" was a modern psychological and psychotherapeutic approach, using specific methods to gain knowledge about the human mind, and to counteract and treat mental disorders, neuroses, and nervousness. At the same time, however, it was deeply influenced by Chassidic mysticism; revolving around the assumption of a universal human need for spiritual ecstasy. Schneersohn universalised, secularised, and reframed elements of the Kabbalah as a modern psychotherapy. By examining an almost forgotten psychotherapeutic approach outside the mainstream in its specific historical context, this article contributes to the history of the connection between religion and the psy-disciplines, as well as to ongoing debates about the role of spirituality and ecstasy in psychology and psychotherapy.


Hadoop, based on the popular MapReduce framework, is an open‐source distributed computing framework that has been gaining much popularity and usage. It aims to allow programmers to focus on building applications that deals with processing large amount of data, without having to handle other issues when performing parallel computations. However, tuning the performance of Hadoop applications is not an easy task due to the level of abstraction of the framework. In this paper, we present three case studies and some of the challenges and issues that are to be considered in performance tuning when running applications in Hadoop. The focus is mainly on the impact of input data on Hadoop's performance and how they can be tuned. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


CD4 T cell help is critical for the generation of optimal B cell and CD8 T cell responses after immunization or infection. Robust and polyfunctional CD4 T cells are also generated after exposure to antigen, however, the factors that govern the development of potent CD4 T cell immunity are less clear. We demonstrate here that augmenting CD4 T cell help by adoptive transfer of increasing numbers of influenza A virus (IAV)-specific T cell receptor transgenic T cells resulted in enhanced polyclonal IAV-specific CD4 T cell responses after infection. Virus-specific CD4 T cells in mice that received augmented help also exhibited a greater capacity to produce multiple cytokines as compared to controls, indicating that CD4 T cell help is a major factor that dictates CD4 T cell polyfunctionality. Mechanistically, CD154 expression on CD4 T cells and CD40 on dendritic cells (DCs) were both necessary and sufficient to induce optimal CD4 T cell responses after infection, suggesting that helper T cells "license" DCs to enhance CD4 T cell responses. Interestingly, augmenting CD4 T cell help also resulted in enhanced IAV-specific CD4 and CD8 T cell memory responses after secondary infection. Taken together, these data define a CD4 T cell-DC circuit that promotes the priming of robust and polyfunctional CD4 T cell responses. These data also suggest that enhancing CD4 T cell help during vaccination could be used as a therapeutic approach to promote overall T cell immunity.


We prove that every $n$-vertex $K_t$-minor-free graph $G$ of maximum degree $\Delta$ has a set $F$ of $O(t^2(\log t)^{1/4}\sqrt{\Delta n})$ edges such that every component of $G - F$ has at most $n/2$ vertices. This is best possible up to the dependency on $t$ and extends earlier results of Diks, Djidjev, Sýkora, and Vrťo (1993) for planar graphs, and of Sýkora and Vrťo (1993) for bounded-genus graphs. Our result is a consequence of the following more general result: The line graph of $G$ is isomorphic to a subgraph of the strong product $H \boxtimes K_{\lfloor p \rfloor}$ for some graph $H$ with treewidth at most $t-2$ and $p = \sqrt{(t-3)\Delta |E(G)|} + \Delta$.


The durability of natural fibres as reinforcement in geopolymer composites continues to be a matter of concern due to the alkalinity of activators of geopolymer matrices. The alkaline environment is the main reason for natural fibres degradation in cementitious matrices. This paper presents the influence of nano silica (NS) on the durability and mechanical performance of geopolymer composites that are reinforced with flax fabric (FF). The durability investigations were conducted after the storage of samples at ambient temperature for 32 weeks. The study revealed that the addition of nano silica has a positive influence on the physical and mechanical properties of these composites. The presence of NS accelerated the geopolymeric reaction and lowered the alkalinity of the system, thus reducing the degradation of flax fibres.


As we know that wireless technology becomes very famous among all the aspects of different technologies of computer networking of present era, the Wireless networks really provide the convenient and easy approach to communications between different areas. Wi-Fi is commonly called as wireless LAN, it is one of those networks in which high frequency radio waves are required for transmission of data from one place to another. Wi-Fi operates on several hundred feet between two places of data transmission. This technology only works on high frequency radio signals. Nowadays this technology is used as office or home network and in many electronic devices. Wireless LAN or Wi-Fi is divided into three main parts on which its whole working depends and all of its applications depend on these parts such as infrastructure mode and ad hoc mode of networking. However, the important type that plays a vital role almost in application is the Ad Hoc mode of networking. This type of networking is also commonly called as peer-to-peer networking or P2P networking. Mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is an autonomous system of mobile nodes connected by wireless links. There is still ongoing research on mobile ad hoc networks and the research may lead to even better protocols and will probably face new challenges. The current goal is to find an optimal balance between scalable routing and media access control, security, and service management.


By an isotopic equilibrium method turnover rates of rats cholesterol have been determined in 30 various experimental conditions. A deductive analysis of these overall old data discovers that absorption coefficient of dietary cholesterol is a determinative parameter of cholesterol dynamic equilibrium. Synthesis which takes places chiefly in the intestine, fecal external secretion and fecal excretion of cholesterol are linearly increasing when the absorption coefficient is decreasing. Two types of exception have been noted. The most interesting concerns the case where there is a supplementary synthesis. For pregnant of lactating female rats placenta or mammary glands are directly interested. For rats with ligated bile duct or feed with cholestryramine, liver must be incriminated. These two last cases are the alone on 30 where hepatic synthesis play very probably a notable role in the dynamic equilibrium of cholesterol.


No New Year is complete without a thought to introducing some change into our lives ... it might be personal (once again I will try to lose the weight I have already lost several times before) or professional (I will prepare properly for all team meetings and not treat them as an inconvenience to my hectic schedule of assorted crisis management events) or even one that combines the two (I will try to make some time to consider how my own career should develop and not expect my next promotion to be the responsibility of someone else).


Background:Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is over 50% in elderly population and cognitive impairment is a well-known consequence. It has been reported that both oxygen partial pressure (PtO2) and oxidative stress increase during recurrent apneas in brain tissue of young rats(Almendros et al. Sleep, 2011;34:1127–1133). It has also been recently demonstrated a lower mean increase and a decrease in PtO2 swings amplitude during apneas in older rats (ATS,2013), but it is not known whether this pattern translates into brain oxidative stress. Aim: To measure the brain oxidative stress in response to obstructive apneas in young and old rats. Methods: This study was carried out on 40 male Wistar rats: 20 young (12-weeks old) and 20 old (18-months old). The rats were non-invasively subjected to recurrent obstructive apneas (50 apneas/h, 15 s each) over 4 hours. Brain tissue samples were excised for measurement of the content of lipid peroxidation (LPO), using an Assay Kit, and antioxidant enzyme levels were determined by Western Blot. Results: LPO significantly increased after apneas in young (p Conclusion: The results show that, after recurrent apneas mimicking OSA, brain oxidative stress in older rats is lower than in young ones, probably due to increased levels of antioxidants.


Liquid crystalline (LC) polymethacrylates with hexamethylene spacer groups terminated with photoreactive hydrogen (H) bonded 4-oxycinnamic acid (CA) in the side chain were synthesized by reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. The influence of the molecular weight on the thermal property, photoreactivity, and thermally enhanced photoinduced molecular reorientation behavior was investigated. All polymers exhibited a nematic LC phase, and thermally enhanced photoinduced in-plane molecular reorientation was achieved by irradiating with linearly polarized UV light and subsequent annealing. The molecular weight did not affect the photoreactivity and the axis-selectivity of anisotropic photoreaction of thin films, but effective annealing temperature and the maximum thermally enhanced in-plane order decreased as the molecular weight of the polymer decreased.


Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL

Targeting the B-RAF/MEK/ERK pathway has shown promise in the treatment of mutant B-RAF melanomas, but resistance to RAF/MEK-inhibitors has been observed. We have previously shown that the stem cell transcription factor FOXD3 is upregulated in mutant B-RAF melanoma cells upon RAF/MEK-inhibition, but the consequences of FOXD3 upregulation are unclear. Using microarrays and ChIP-sequencing, we identified ERBB3/HER3 as a direct target of FOXD3. FOXD3 enhanced ERBB3 expression and responsiveness to its ligand neuregulin-1 (NRG1). Interestingly, PLX4032 or AZD6244-treated cells displayed enhanced NRG1-dependent ERBB3 phosphorylation and downstream AKT activation. These effects were associated with NRG1 enhanced migration and growth of RAF/MEK-inhibitor treated cells in vitro. Phosphorylation of ERBB3 was found to be dependent on ERBB2/HER2, as NRG1/ERBB3-signaling was inhibited by ERBB2-targeting siRNA, the ERBB2-blocking antibody trastuzumab and the ERBB2-inhibitor lapatinib. Additionally, the combination of lapatinib and PLX4032 was more effective than either alone at inhibiting colony formation in the presence or absence of NRG1. Similarly, we found that combining lapatinib with PLX4720 was more effective than either drug alone at reducing tumor burden in melanoma xenografts. These results suggest that upregulation of ERBB3 by FOXD3 serves as an adaptive response to protect melanoma cells from the effects of RAF/MEK-inhibitors and promotes resistance. In summary, targeting the NRG1/ERBB3 pathway in conjunction with RAF/MEK may provide a clinical benefit.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4838. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-4838