In soils and sediments, poorly-crystalline, short-range order (SRO) iron minerals constitute one of the most abundant and reactive components. With high surface areas, SRO minerals like ferrihydrite (Fe10O14(OH)2+mH2O) influence the biogeochemical cycling of trace elements and nutrients, particularly in redox dynamic environments. While under oxic conditions SRO iron mineral adsorption capacity is high, in the absence of O2, FeIII acts as an electron acceptor during microbial respiration. Electron transfer induces transformations in pure iron minerals, impacting the release and re-distribution of SRO-associated trace elements and nutrients.

In nature, however, pure SRO iron minerals rarely form. Rather, the ubiquitous presence of natural organic matter (OM) in soils and sediments promotes the formation mineral-organic associations. Coprecipitation of ferrihydrite with OM decreases particle size and alters the mineral susceptibility towards microbial reduction. Thus, under reducing conditions, an increased rate and extent of mineral transformation could be expected for OM-associated ferrihydrite. However, in the presence of abiotic reductants, mineral transformation rates and extents in OM-associated ferrihydrite are markedly inhibited when compared to that of a pure ferrihydrite. Using polygalacturonic acid (PGA) as a proxy for acid carbohydrate fraction found in exopolymeric substances, we reacted ferrihydrite-PGA coprecipitates of varying C:Fe molar ratios (0-2.5) with ferrous Fe (Fe(II), 0.5-5.0 mM) at neutral pH for up to 5 weeks. Through a combination of XRD and 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, we showed that at all Fe(II) concentrations, the kinetics and extent of mineral transformation decreased with increasing C content of the coprecipitates. Similarly, ferrihydrite-OM coprecipitates comprising PGA, citric acid (CA), or galacturonic acid (GA) of similar C:Fe molar ratios (~0.6) also showed inhibited mineral transformations compared to a pure ferrihydrite, whereby the extent of inhibition of mineral transformations followed the order GA>>CA>PGA. In addition, electron microscopy imaging showed that the crystal morphology of the secondary mineral phases varied with the varying chemical structure of the coprecipitating organic ligands. Despite this, applications of stable Fe isotope tracers revealed that all OM-associated ferrihydrite actively partook in iron atom exchange, suggesting that the presence of OM inhibited crystal growth of more crystalline phases, therefore again leading to SRO phases during iron atom exchange. Collectively, the stabilization of high surface-area ferrihydrite under reducing conditions via recrystallization has implications for the release and re-distribution of ferrihydrite-associated trace elements and nutrients in redox-dynamic environments.


: Authentic leadership has much consideration in the past few decades. It is a critical sort of leadership to be examined in an organization presently. Now the time has progressed toward becoming to ponder its effect on performance. Authentic leadership is expected to fabricate more healthful workplaces because there is special regard for improving enabling leader-supporter connections. This study was to find out the impact of authentic leadership on job performance. Additionally, the study explores the moderating role of intrinsic motivation. For this study survey was conducted on the organizations located on premises of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Questioners consisting of five points of Likert scale measurement was used to collect data. Correlation and regression statistical tools were tested using SPSS 17.0 for data analysis. 200 respondents from twin cities (Rawalpindi, Islamabad) were used in the study. Results of the study suggested that authentic leadership has a significantly positive impact on job performance. Results also showed that intrinsic motivation has a strong moderating effect between authentic leadership and employee job performance. Authentic leadership can impact positively employee performance and overall organizational performance. The research adds to well being writing by clarifying that in a creating nation like Pakistan where the workforce is all around uneducated, authentic leadership is unquestionably imperative because the workforce requires more direction and persistent security correspondence to guarantee a sheltered work environment.


The paper is a scrutiny of the interface of community participation, empowerment and sustainability of development projects. It problematises the interplay of numerous dynamics which militate against empowerment of participants and beneficiaries in poverty alleviation projects. This analysis proceeded through a juxtaposition of the nature of participation at every level of a development project cycle with the principles of participation in order to identify barriers militating against effective institutionalization of participation for empowerment and sustainability. This endeavor ensued through a multi-case study approach drawn from numerous case scenarios from different development projects. The discussion were guided by the conceptual lens of the People- Centered Development Approach as a framework of analysis and point of departure for the vindication of the deconstruction of the orthodox development paradigms such as the modernisation perspective in their top-down approach which culminated in unintended consequences of massive disempowerment (underdevelopment) of communities due to incompatible prescriptions. This developmental paradox sardonically represents a macrocosm of the microcosm, which if left to proceed unchecked, would erect a bad precedence which reaffirms the futility of effective participation for sustainability of development projects and ultimately empowerment.


The present study tested whether different psychological mechanisms are defending threats to romantic relationships and close same-sex friendships. Depending on condition, the participants first read a scenario that introduced a competitor threatening either a romantic relationship or a close same-sex friendship. Subsequently, the participants rated the competitor with respect to twelve characteristics. Four each of these characteristics referred to dimensions particularly relevant for female romantic, male romantic and friendship competitor derogation. Ratings were made on scales allowing for a derogatory, neutral or favourable portrayal of the competitor. The results showed competitor derogation in the romantic but not in the friendship condition across all characteristics. Overall, men more than women in the romantic condition tended to provide more derogatory competitor ratings. Limitations of the present study and suggestions for future research are discussed. Word count of the Abstract: 132 words


Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of lifelong disability and the most common form of heart disease is ischaemic heart disease, characterized by an imbalance between myocardial oxygen supply and its demand. This can lead to disturbances in impulse formation and conduction in the heart in the form of arrhythmias. During myocardial infarction, a sustained ischaemia leads to irreversible necrosis of the heart muscle and a plethora of stem cell therapies have been investigated to treat cardiovascular disease.1,2 Several studies testing the regenerative potential of stem cells to treat cardiovascular disease in humans have focused on designing the optimal microenvironment for these cells.3 Based on their potency, stem cells of the heart can be divided as: i) totipotent; ii) pluripotent, such as "embryonic stem cells" ("ESCs") and "induced-pluripotent stem cells" ("iPSCs"); iii) multipotent, such as "hematopoietic stem cells" ("HSCs") and "mesenchymal stem cells" ("MSCs"); and iv) unipotent, such as "cardiac stem cells" ("CSCs").3 Lastly, other progenitor cells of the heart can be identified, such as "skeletal myoblasts" (also referred to as "skeletal muscle satellite cells") and "mesodermal VEGFR2+ cardiac progenitor cells".3 For regenerative therapy purposes, several stem cell types and progenies at different developmental stages have been considered for transplantation into the ischemic and hold promise for future studies aiming at regenerate the heart in cardiovascular disease patients as described in this review.


Solid-state energy conversion technologies such as thermoelectric and thermionic refrigeration and power generation require materials with low thermal conductivity but good electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient, which are difficult to realize in bulk semi-conductors. Nanostructures such as superlattices, quantum wires, and quantum dots provide alternative approaches to improve the solid-state energy conversion efficiency through size and interface effects on the electron and phonon transport. In this review, we discuss recent research and progress using nanostructures for solid-state energy converxion. The emphasis is placed on fundamental issues that distinguish energy transport and conversion between nanoscale and macroscale, as well as heat transfer issues related to device development and property characterization.


The present invention relates to deep processing technology of oat, and is especially production process of microwave modified oat fiber powder. The production process includes setting oat bran onto conveyer belt, microwave treatment while conveying and milling into powder, and the technological parameters includes microwave frequency of 2450-2500 MHz, microwave power of 60KW, conveying speed of 2.5-4.0 m/min, and treating period of 2.1-3.6 min. The technological process has the advantages of high safety, complete and homogeneous maturation and easy automation, and the microwave modified oat fiber powder has high water soluble dietary fiber content, good water solubility and improved physical and chemical performance of dietary fiber.


Let $\mathfrak{g}$ be a complex semisimple Lie algebra. The Beilinson-Bernstein localization theorem establishes an equivalence of the category of $\mathfrak{g}$-modules of a fixed infinitesimal character and a category of modules over a twisted sheaf of differential operators on the flag variety of $\mathfrak{g}$. In this expository paper, we give four detailed examples of this theorem when $\mathfrak{g}=\mathfrak{sl}(2,\mathbb{C})$. Specifically, we describe the $\mathcal{D}$-modules associated to finite-dimensional irreducible $\mathfrak{g}$-modules, Verma modules, Whittaker modules, discrete series representations of $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$, and principal series representations of $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$.


After 1990, Japan's economy slowed sharply following decades of strong performance. In response, the Japanese government undertook substantial fiscal stimulus. The evidence suggests that Japan's fiscal policy did provide some short-term macroeconomic support, and in the absence of that stimulus, Japan likely would have experienced an even deeper economic downturn. Nevertheless, since its initial slowdown, the Japanese economy neither recovered its earlier pace of growth nor achieved sustained positive inflation. Some of the failure can be attributed to factors beyond the immediate control of the authorities, including the fallout from the previous "bubble economy," the Asian financial crisis, and population dynamics leading to a slowing of potential output growth. In addition, there were problems with the mix and implementation of the fiscal policies, including the failure to maintain fiscal stimulus on a sustained basis. Finally, and more fundamental to Japan's "lost decade," was the country's inability to quickly address weaknesses in the corporate and banking sectors. Without a pickup in the private sector, fiscal policy was essentially "a bridge to nowhere."


The insufficient understanding and literature on people collaborating in the Architectural-Engineering-Construction (AEC) industry has prompted researchers to investigate this by conducting project-to-project comparisons. A mixed method-based comparison of two construction projects' design teams was made in order to present factors to be considered in fostering a positive collaborative culture. Client knowledge and involvement, existing relationships between teams, stronger informal collaboration, a decentralised leadership style and the adequate monetary motivation to a firm were found to be most critical. The study also assessed whether the use of holistic analysis methods can quantitatively show the differences between the projects; in particular, which project had a more positive collaborative culture. The perception based method used correlated the variance of perception of the teamwork environment and systemic risk to the projects with a more positive collaborative culture; 80% of constructs (some postulated attribute of people assumed, to reflect in test performance) supported the qualitative data. Additionally, assessments of the personalities of respondents from the project with a more collaborative culture also showed higher collective agreeableness. Findings suggest that projects with more changes, more assumptions made and uncertainty in requirements affect the collaborative culture negatively.


Made From: capsules Stability: 90 days Store: refrigerate (preferable) or at room temperature Label: shake well before use, refrigerate Note: In this study, the formulation was stored in plastic prescription bottles. Instructions: Withdraw nifedipine liquid from the capsules using a needle and a syringe. Measure the required amount of liquid and add to a mortar. Add a 1:1 mixture of Ora-Plus and Ora-Sweet in geometric proportions and mix well. Transfer the suspension to a graduate, rinse the mortar with vehicle, transfer to graduate, and qs to 100 mL.


Abstract Forty‐one species (25 Macrodasyida and 16 Chaetonotida) are reported from the coasts of Sicily. Among the Chaetonotida, Chaetonotus sp. 3 Valbonesi & Luporini, 1987 is redescribed and redrawn from specimens collected from sublittoral sediments of Giardini Naxos (Taormina), and is named Chaetonotus luporinii.


In order to further create a good business service environment and improve the service level of industry expansion and installation, the company team created a visual monitoring platform for the industry expansion and installation process by using intelligent technology. This article introduces the platform's hierarchical network format monitoring model, Discusses the creation process of the platform from model creation, platform functions to data acquisition, data release, etc., and introduces the characteristics of the intelligent technology used. Through the creation of a visual monitoring platform for the industry expansion report installation process, the company has achieved business expansion The comprehensive management and control of the packaging process and the sharing of resources within the company greatly improve the efficiency of the process, make the company more accurately serve the demand for power supply services, provide a strong support for the optimization of the company's expansion of the packaging service model, and enhance the company's overall operation Provide services with efficiency and effectiveness.


A recent rather careful inventory of my collection in this family was made the basis of further studies. which seemed of general interest and are presented in this paper.

First a few personal words about my collecting.

I began to collect insects in 1888. In my first two seasons I collected everything without discrimination; but in the spring of 1890 I definitely selected the Diptera as my specialty and began a private collection in them, still for many years continuing to make a general collection for my institution. In the fall of 1890 my attention was directed especially to the Tachinidae through meeting in Washington Mr. C. H. T. Townsend, who was already specializing in them. For several years I sent him material. The appearance of Coquillett's Revision of the Tachinidae in 1897 gave a new impetus to my collecting in the family; within a few years he had named a large number of species for me, by the aid of which I gradually acquired sufficient knowledge of the characters to determine for myself within narrow limits. I mention these beginnings merely to show that I have since possibly tbe first year of the twenty-five paid much more than casual attention to this family.


The principle of a high voltage DC power supply for the electron beam bombarding furnace is reported, and the discharge phenomena which occurs in the electron beam gun are discussed in the paper. A method of limiting the discharging current is also presented.


Two types of thermally unstable U1 centers are created in LiF:Mg,OH crystals by γ−irradiation at low temperatures. One of them is influenced by impurity complexes containing magnesium ions Mg2+. Another type of U1 center is perturbed by impurities of OH¯ ions. Temporal dynamics of conversion of U1 centers and F2+ and F2+** color centers after crystal was heated from temperature of 80 K to 300 K is presented.


Background. The serum kinetics of prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) after radiation therapy for prostate cancer are not well characterized, and the potential prognostic significance of serum half‐lives and of serum doubling times is unclear. This study was designed to address those issues.


It has been suggested (Clark, K. B.; Wayner, D. D. M. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1991, 113, 9363−9365) that C−Br bond dissociation enthalpies (BDEs) in 4-YC6H4CH2-Br decrease as Y becomes more electron-withdrawing because of increasing destabilization of the Cδ+−Brδ- dipole and, furthermore, that the direction and magnitude of the effect of Y on 4-YC6H4Z-X BDEs could be correlated with the sign and magnitude, respectively, of the electronegativity difference between Z and X. The results of density functional theory (DFT) calculations using a locally dense basis set approach with the B3LYP functional and 6-311+G(2d,2p) as the primary basis set on 4-YC6H4CH2-X, for X = H, Br, Cl, and F with Y = NH2, HO, CH3O, CH3, H, CF3, CN, NO2 and BH2, show that the effects of Y on CH2-X BDEs are small (≤2.0 kcal/mol) for all four classes of compounds and are roughly equal for each Y for the three halides. Furthermore, almost all Y's reduce CH2-X BDEs relative to Y = H. Clark and Wayner's intriguing hypothesis that the magnitude ...


Abstract Lotto ‐ a state‐sanctioned lottery in New Zealand ‐ is a pervasive socio‐cultural phenomenon. Every week more than one‐third of the adult population purchase lottery tickets and in doing so replicate the promotion of Lotto as a form of benign gambling which is fun and entertaining to play. Within a model of constructive gambling Lotto may be cast as a site of normative or ideal gambling within the New Zealand context. Moreover, Lotto promotions and participation reaffirms the nationalistic ideals of the New Zealand 'good life', while simultaneously articulating some of the key narratives of transnational economics.


Single‐stranded RNA viruses encompass a broad class of infectious agents and, in their diverse forms, cause the common cold, cancer, AIDS, and many other serious health threats. Viral replication is regulated at many levels, including using essential, conserved genomic RNA structures to exploit and circumvent host biology. However, the vast majority of potential regulatory elements within viral RNA genomes are uncharacterized. We use high‐throughput SHAPE (selective 2′‐hydroxyl acylation analyzed by primer extension) to quantify RNA backbone flexibility at single nucleotide resolution and from which robust structural information can be immediately derived. We detect specific protein‐RNA interactions inside HIV virions and identify three RNA binding functions for the viral nucleocapsid protein. Analysis of the structure of an entire, authentic, ~9,200 nucleotide HIV‐1 genome at single nucleotide resolution reveals that the HIV‐1 genome, and potentially most large coding RNAs, is punctuated by numerous previously unrecognized, but conserved, RNA regulatory motifs. High‐throughput SHAPE reveals a comprehensive view of HIV‐1 RNA genome structure and further application of this technology will make possible newly informative analysis of any RNA in a cellular transcriptome.


The lymphatic vascular system plays important roles in various physiological and pathological processes, and lack of lymphatic or lymphovenous valves always causes lymph or blood reflux, and can lead to lymphedema. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the valve formation is poorly understood. Here we report that the MAPK/Erk signaling needs to be repressed during the valve-forming lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) fate determination, which differs from its positive role in the LECs specification. Up-regulation of MAPK/Erk signaling in ephb4b, efnb2a;efnb2b and rasa1a;rasa1b mutants leads to lymphatic valve defects, whereas simultaneous loss of Erk1 and Erk2 causes valve hyperplasia. Moreover, valve defects in ephb4b or rasa1a;rasa1b mutants are mitigated in the presence of MEK inhibitors, indicating a new function of Efnb2-Ephb4-Rasa1 cassette in lymphatic valve progenitor cells specification by repressing MAPK/Erk activity. Therefore, our findings provide a mechanistic understanding of the lymphatic valve formation and potential drug targets for related lymphatic diseases.


In the present preliminary study, we used a gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) method to identify and quantify steroid hormones, their precursors and metabolites in whole body of red palm weevil (RPW) R. ferrugineus adults. We identified a total of seven steroids by single ion monitoring mode (SIM) analysis and compared them to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) library. The steroids include: dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), estrone, estradiol-17β, testosterone, progesterone, cortisol and cholesterol, whereas pregnenolone, pregnan-20-one-17-hydroxy and corticosterone were not detected. This study shows that some invertebrate groups seem to use partially or totally comparable hormones to vertebrates and produce vertebrate-type steroids with functional roles. However, some steroids of the endocrine system of invertebrates are still lacking or yet to be identified in most phyla.


BACKGROUND
Intramedullary angular and sliding stable interlocking nails are attracting increasing attention in the treatment of fractures of the proximal humerus. This prospective study evaluates the clinical and radiological outcome of the "Varion" nail osteosynthesis system. Additionally we analysed the impact of the postoperative head-shaft angle on the functional outcome.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
We examined 61 patients who were treated with a Varion nail and were re-evaluated after an average follow-up period of 7.1 months. We assessed the pre-trauma DASH score and the Constant score of the non-injured side. We also measured the postoperative radiographic head-shaft angle. At the follow-up exam we determined the DASH and Constant scores of the treated extremity and made control radiographs.

RESULTS
We were able to re-evaluate 54 patients. The DASH score at follow-up averaged 19.3 and the mean postoperative Constant score reached 67.4 points and thus 81.1 % of the score of the non-injured side. The average pain level was 1.3 on the VAS. A high patient satisfaction was obtained. There was a significant correlation between the complexity of the fracture and the clinical outcome. The best functional result was seen when the postoperative head-shaft angle was between 140 and 151°. There were 7 cases of postoperative complications, in 5 of these cases minor revision surgeries were carried out.

CONCLUSION
The "Varion nail" provides safe and effective treatment of even complicated proximal humerus fractures with good clinical and functional results. The optimum angle between head and shaft axis lies between 141 and 150°.


The economic climate of the U.S. power industry has changed since 1968 due to inflation, increased costs of money, higher labor costs, increased prices of fuels, new and unusual environmental demands, and delays in licensing and construction of new plants and transmission lines. For the first time in the history of the industry, additional units of production and transmission cost more than previous units. The industry has changed from a decreasing-incremental-cost industry to an increasing-incremental-cost industry, entering into the greatest period of uncertainty in its history. There is uncertainty as to future load growth, fuel supply, equipment and material deliveries, construction lead times, environmental standards, and licensing and siting regulations. Compounding these uncertainties are the problems associated with rapidly rising costs of materials, labor, fuel, and capital. To provide electricity on demand aggravates these problems. (MCW)


©This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/ license/by-nc/3.0/). The nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptors (NOD-like receptors, NLRs) are intracellular sensors. Most of them positively affect inflammatory responses, particularly the inflammasome forming NLRs. On the other hand, several studies on gene-deficient mice have revealed that several NLRs negatively influence innate immune responses. Some recent studies have identified a novel sub-group of noninflammasome forming NLRs that negatively influence different pathways related to inflammation and carcinogenesis. Cytosolic pattern recognition receptor NRLC3 is a negative regulator of innate immune response. In this review we will discuss finding related with NLRC3 and its mechanism by which it alter cancer pathogenesis. Recently, it has been found that mice deficient in Nlrc3 are hyper-susceptible to colitis and colitis-associated colon carcinogenesis. Oncogenic inhibitory effect of NLRC3 is more dominant in epithelial compartment than hematopoietic compartment. It down regulates mTOR signaling and reduce cell proliferation. NLRC3 interact with PI3Ks and suppress activation of PI3K dependent kinase AKT. Understanding the role of NLRC3 in cancer may facilitate the recognition of new therapeutic strategies.


626 Background: First line of RAS wild-type (WT) unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) can be doublet chemotherapy with an anti-VEGF (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor), or an anti-EGFR (Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor). Waiting for RAS status, many oncologists initiate chemotherapy and add the anti-EGFR secondly. The objective was to compare the delayed introduction of the anti-EGFR to the immediate introduction of the anti-VEGF in first-line treatment of RAS WT mCRC. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort analysis from 2013 to 2016, multicentric with 28 health care centers. We included patients with RAS WT unresectable mCRC treated between 2013 and 2016 by a doublet chemotherapy with the anti-VEGF introduced immediately or with the anti-EGFR introduced at C2 or C3. Progression free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and response rate (RR) for the two cohorts were compared. Hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence interval (95%CI) were estimated with cox regression models weighted on propensity score to deal with potential confounders. Results: A total of 262 patients were included, 129 in the immediate anti-VEGF group and 133 in the delayed anti-EGFR group. Median follow-up was 37.9 months. Ninety-two patients had the anti-EGFR introduced at C2, 40 at C3. The median delay of RAS analysis was 19 days (q1-q3: 13-26). Patients treated with anti-VEGFs were more likely men (68% versus 56%), with more metastatic sites ( > 2 sites: 15% versus 9%). A propensity score including the number of metastatic sites and a possible previous treatment was built. Delayed anti-EGFRs were associated with longer PFS compared to immediate anti-VEGFs: 13.8 versus 11.0 months, p = 0.0244. After weighting, delayed anti-EGFRs were still associated with better PFS: HR 0.74, 95%CI [0.61 – 0.90], p = 0.0024. OS was not different between the two arms (30.5 for anti-VEGF versus 29.9 months, p = 0.3934), even after weighting (HR 0.86, 95%CI [0.69 – 1.08], p = 0.2024). There was a better RR with delayed anti-EGFRs: 66.7% versus 45.6%, p = 0.0007. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that, while waiting for RAS status, the delayed introduction of the anti-EGFR is a valid option, compared to the immediate introduction of the anti-VEGF.


OBJECTIVES
To describe the use of an innovative printed electroceutical dressing (PED) to treat non-healing, infected chronic wounds in one dog and one cat and report outcomes.

ANIMALS
A 4-year-old female spayed Mastiff and a 1-year-old female spayed domestic shorthair cat.

STUDY DESIGN
Short case series.

METHODS
Both cases had chronic wounds (duration: approximately 1 year for the dog and 6 3/4 months for the cat) that remained open and infected despite various wound management strategies. Both animals were treated with the PED. Observations from the records regarding wound size, antimicrobial susceptibility, and the time to healing were recorded.

RESULTS
After 10 days of PED treatment in the dog and 17 days of PED treatment in the cat, the wounds had decreased in size by approximately 4.2 times in the dog and 2.5 times in the cat. Culture of punch biopsies yielded negative results. Wounds were clinically healed at 67 days in the dog and 47 days in the cat. No further treatment of the wounds was required beyond that point.

CONCLUSION
Application of a PED led to closure of two chronic wounds and resolution of their persistent infection.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
PEDs may provide a new treatment modality to mitigate infection and promote healing of chronic wounds.


The orbital instability of standing waves for the Klein‐Gordon‐Zakharov system has been established in two and three space dimensions under radially symmetric condition by Ohta‐Todorova in 2007. In the one space dimensional case, for the nondegenerate situation, we first check that the Klein‐Gordon‐Zakharov system satisfies Grillakis‐Shatah‐Strauss' assumptions on the stability and instability theorems for abstract Hamiltonian systems; see Grillakis‐Shatah‐Strauss (J. Funct. Anal. 1987). As to the degenerate case that the frequency |ω|=1/2 , we follow the recent splendid work of Wu (2017) to prove the instability of the standing waves for the Klein‐Gordon‐Zakharov system, by using the modulation argument combining with the virial identity. For this purpose, we establish a modified virial identity to overcome several troublesome terms left in the traditional virial identity.


Abstract A two-dimensional numerical model of the shallow-water equations, with a modified Orlanski-type radiation boundary condition, is applied to study storm surges and tides on the North Queensland coast. The numerical simulations show that with the tides included in the storm surge model the sea level elevation is generally lower than if we simply add the astronomical tides to the surge. This has been previously observed and has been commonly explained as a nonlinear interaction between the storm surge and the tides. The authors demonstrate that this effect is due to the quadratic bottom friction law. Analysis of the important dynamical processes yields a simple rule to estimate the total sea level due to the combined effects of a storm surge and tide.


There are of course ways in which the blow can be softened. One popular way of doing this would be to ask your payroll to deduct an extra R250.00 per month in tax, so that you can receive the gross amount of your bonus when it is paid.


Three hundred and fifty‐four patients with symmetrical dermatoses took part in a multicentre, double‐blind, half‐side study in order to compare the efficacy of a new topical steroid, diflucortolone valerate 0.3% (Nerisone Forte) against that of an established, potent topical steroid, clobetasol propionate 0.05% (Dermovate).


Introduction. Chapter 1: Post--war Settlements. Chapter 2: The Golden Age?. Chapter 3: Expansion, Experiment, Conflict. Chapter 4: Conservatism -- Triumph and Failure. Chapter 5: New Labour -- The Inheritors. References. Notes


Aim To observe the expression of transforming growth factor β 1 (TGF β 1) of the cartilage cells affected by fibroblast growth factor (FGF). Methods The articular chondrocytes of a one month old rabbit were cultured, while FGF(100ng/ml) was put in the cell culture liquid. After growing in consistently, the chondrocytes were collected. Then the immunohistology of TGF β 1 on the cartilage cells was performed to study the interrelation and interaction of the growth factors. Results The chondrocytes treated with FGF (100ng/ml) were obviously brown, and the membrane was adhesioned by much more grains of colloid gold under electron microscope. Conclusion It indicates that FGF can prompt the expression of TGF β 1 of the cartilage cells.


The basic performance parameters of Local Area Network(LAN) system are summarized as follows: network connectivity, transmission rate, throughout, transmission latency, packet loss rate, link utilization, frame error rate, broadcast frame rate, multicast frame rate and collision rate. The normative test methods are presented for the former parameters. The sampling criteria of links are proposed for acceptance test of LAN systems. Test results validate the applicability and operability of the methods.


This report pertains to technical assistance provided to the Community Partners for Health (CPH) child survival project in Lagos Nigeria during August 1997. The project sought to reduce the number of children with diarrhea dysentery and dehydration and to reduce mortality. The project also aimed to increase measles immunization reduce the incidence of malaria among mothers and children increase demand for and availability of modern child spacing and family planning increase the level of awareness of partner organizations and the community on control of AIDS/HIV improve project sustainability and capacity and strengthen and expand the role of female decision-making among project members and within participating communities. The consultancy aimed to help finalize development of IEC materials facilitate development of an IEC strategy for the CPH project and develop a curriculum for training Master Health Promoters in IEC skills. The consultants were able to develop and pretest the following IEC materials: 4 flipcharts on diarrhea malaria measles immunization and acute respiratory infection (ARI); 4 pamphlets for low literates on diarrhea malaria measles immunization and ARI; 2 posters on diarrhea and immunization; a pictorial on sugar-salt solution mixing instructions; and messages for the 4 common illnesses. Consultants also prepared relevant printing dummies developed an IEC strategy and identified target groups for IEC training. The project was conducted in 6 participating communities: Ajegunle Amukoko Jas Ilasa Makoko Lawanson and Lagos Island. The consulting agency was responsible for production of materials after adjustments were made by artists and editors. An IEC contact person at BASICS/Lagos is needed to be the liaison with the consulting agency. The final typesetting illustrations and color separations need to be sent for high quality printing of correct information.


Deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) has been accelerated in many countries. However, for further deployment of EVs and their contribution to electrical power systems, various new services need to be implemented related to EVs and their charging, called "Place of Use" (PoU) services. The combined menu of the charging services has been proposed which bundles EV charging fees with home electricity bills. Settlement will be needed for such combined menu. This paper proposes the combined menu of EV charging with settlement of electricity. Technical feasibility of the settlement has been tested by EV charging testbed with the IoT-HUB technology. IoT-HUB is the virtual infrastructure which interconnects various connected devices and application by using "drivers" for each device. This paper also proposes a forecast method of EV charging demand for the settlement after the charging starts. The proposed method has reduced the forecast error of total charged energy compared to the simple method, but some of the forecast error has remained because of the variability of the charging time at the final step of state of charge.


In this article we will address remote work (telework), assuming it as a renewed manifestation of work at home. In such sense, the antecedent normative principles of this recent expression of the external labor are reviewed, in order to affirm labor rights. As will be seen in the course of this text, is a necessity to consider explicit protections, to fight the negative effects that this innovation implies, refering to professional isolation and union atomization, since it is a model that could extend beyond the geographic and economic boundaries that today has the traditional work at home.


Advances in the development of largely automated microscopy methods such as MERFISH for imaging cellular structures in mouse brains are providing spatial detection of micron resolution gene expression. While there has been tremendous progress made in the field Computational Anatomy (CA) to perform diffeomorphic mapping technologies at the tissue scales for advanced neuroinformatic studies in common coordinates, integration of molecular- and cellular-scale populations through statistical averaging via common coordinates remains yet unattained. This paper describes the first set of algorithms for calculating geodesics in the space of diffeomorphisms, what we term Image-Varifold LDDMM,extending the family of large deformation diffeomorphic metric mapping (LDDMM) algorithms to accommodate the"copy and paste"varifold action of particles which extends consistently to the tissue scales. We represent the brain data as geometric measures, termed as {\em image varifolds} supported by a large number of unstructured points, % (i.e., not aligned on a 2D or 3D grid), each point representing a small volume in space % (which may be incompletely described) and carrying a list of densities of {\em features} elements of a high-dimensional feature space. The shape of image varifold brain spaces is measured by transforming them by diffeomorphisms. The metric between image varifolds is obtained after embedding these objects in a linear space equipped with the norm, yielding a so-called"chordal metric."


1. Introduction, Roy B. Helfgott Section I. The Early Stages of Welfare Capitalism and the Birth of IRC and Human Resource Management 2. The United States in the 1920s: Breaking with European Traditions, Roy B. Helfgott 3. Industrial Relations Counselors, Inc.: Its History and Significance, Bruce E. Kaufman Section II. History and Development of Human Resource Management 4. The Quest for Cooperation and Unity of Interest in Industry, Bruce E. Kaufman 5. A Century of Human Resource Management, Sanford M. Jacoby 6. Employee Benefits and Social Insurance: The Welfare Side of Employee Relations, John F. Burton, Jr. and Daniel J.B. Mitchell 7. Incentives and Structure: Development of Pay Practices in the Twentieth Century, Daniel J.B. Mitchell 8. Advancing Equal Employment Opportunity, Diversity, and Employee Rights: Good Will, Good Management, and Legal Compulsion, Jonathan S. Leonard 9. Voice in the North American Workplace: From Employee Representation to Employee Involvement, Daphne G. Taras 10. Industrial Relations in the Global Economy, Morley Gunderson and Anil Verma 11. Towards Collaborative Interdependence: A Century of Change in the Organization of Work, Paul S. Adler Section III. Human Resource Management in the Twenty-First Century 12. HR Today and Tomorrow: Organizational Strategy in Global Companies, Richard A. Beaumont, Carlton D. Becker, and Sydney R. Robertson 13. Selected HR Issues, William N. Brown, Geoffrey W. Latta, and Roderick O. Mullett 14. Challenge and Balance, Richard A. Beaumont 15. Concluding Thoughts: Transiting from the Past to the Future, Richard A. Beaumont


In this research, the dynamic stability of the double-bonded annular sandwich microplate is investigated. Face sheets are made from composite materials reinforced by carbon nanotubes in which mechanical properties are obtained by the extended rule of the mixture. Also, the core layer is made from a honeycomb aluminum which is defined by the geometric parameters of the unit cell and mechanical properties of the virgin core material. The equations of motion are derived from Hamilton's principle and solved by the differential quadrature method (DQM) based on higher order shear deformation theory (HSDT) and modified couple stress theory (MCST). The results are compared with the obtained results by the other literature to examine the accuracy of the present formulation. The dynamic stability of the double-bonded annular sandwich microplate with hexagonal honeycomb core including variations of core thickness, inclined angle, and aspect ratio of the unit cell are discussed. Also, the effects of motion direction of the structure, viscoelastic foundation, material length scale parameter, volume fractions of CNTs in face sheets, and the core thickness to total thickness ratio on dynamic instability region are presented.


In this paper, we propose a new reduced reference image quality assessment algorithm based on the recent advances in sparse coding and representation, particularly, the entropy of primitives (EoP). The EoP is defined in terms of the distribution of the primitives, which form an overcomplete dictionary to represent the natural scene by linear combination. Constructively, we develop a reduced reference EoP based distortion metric (EoPM). EoPM has the property that it is nearly invariant to the geometry distortions, which hardly affect the visual quality but are often wrongly predicted by the existing image quality assessment metrics with severe distortion. Experimental results show that the accuracy of EoPM is highly competitive to the popular reduced reference image quality assessment algorithm on the public dataset.


Abstract Christian faith‐based nonprofits should see fundraising not as a necessary evil, but as a positive extension of ministry anchored by giving. Jesus' example and his sacrifice should prompt Christians to support faith‐based projects that serve those in need. Often, the catalyst for this kind of donor response is the fundraiser. Done properly, humanitarian fundraising is not transactional. It is relational, and the depth of the relationship determines the on‐going quality of the ministry. Just as project participants in the developing world need predictable sustainability, donors also need to see predictable sustainability and follow‐up. Relationships demand the same level of organizational commitment as does tracking funds.


Price posting with directed search is a widely used trading mechanism. Coles and Eeckhout showed that if sellers are allowed to post prices contingent on realized demand instead of one price, then there is real market indeterminacy. In this article, we fit this contingent price-posting protocol into a monetary economy. We show that, as long as holding money is costly, there exists a unique equilibrium rather than a continuum. In this equilibrium sellers post a low price for when the buyer is alone, a high price for when several buyers show up, and buyers randomize between sellers and money holdings.


Health Information Technology (HIT) is increasingly implemented to improve healthcare quality and patient safety. However, some usability issues may reduce their impact and even induce new problems (including patient safety issues). To avoid those negative outcomes, amongst other actions, HIT usability must be improved. This action requires applying validated usability knowledge. However, usability knowledge applied to HIT is scattered across several sources, is not structured and is hardly usable. Moreover, its coverage regarding related usability flaws is not known. This work has two aims: (i) to participate in improving the accumulation of usability knowledge for HIT and (ii) to provide synthetic structured easy-to-use HIT usability knowledge with a clear coverage. Those aims are applied to medication alerting systems.Method.Two independent analyses of the literature have been performed. On the one hand, usability flaws and their consequences for the clinicians and the work system have been searched and organized; on the other hand, existing usability design principles specific to medication alerting systems have been synthesized. Results of both analyses have been matched together. Results.A systematic review identified 13 types of usability flaws in medication alerting systems. Consequences on the clinicians and the work system are varied: they greatly impede the clinicians and negatively impact the work system (e.g., alert fatigue, alert misinterpretation). Sixty-three usability design principles dedicated to medication alerting systems are identified. They represent six themes: improve the signal-to-noise ratio, fit clinicians' workflow, support collaborative work, display relevant information, make the system transparent and provide useful tools. The matching between usability flaws and principles is quite good.Discussion.As a result of this work, a list of usability design principles illustrated by actual instances of their violation has been developed. It may help designers and Human Factors experts understand and apply usability design principles when designing and evaluating medication alerting systems. Usability applied to HIT is a recent research field that suffers from a deficit of structured knowledge. This work shows that it is possible to accumulate and structure usability knowledge. It could be carried on by developing a usability knowledge base dedicated to HIT in order to strive towards "evidence-based usability".


This study describes the alien and immigration policy of Germany's Red-Green Alliance(1998-2005) with a critical viewpoint by analyzing related legislation processes and debates among German political parties. In particular, Gruneand SPD's positions on immigration issues and policy intentions are reviewed and compared with those of other parties, and social implications of the immigration law that Red-Green Alliance formulated and enacted are analyzed. In the 1990s, Germany's immigration policy maintained a political rhetoric of not allowing immigration legally and officially. In reality, however, a paradoxical phenomenon happened and various forms of immigration took place. German political parties had difficulty in solving immigration issues rationally and realistically because they used alien issues as political tools to maintain or recover political power. The immigration policy shown in "Immigration Law", which was enacted in 2004, focused on social integration for aliens. Yet it failed to bring a transition of paradigm in the field of labor immigration that could increase new immigrants. Germany's immigration policy allows the influx of alien labor power within limited categories of labor market policy, but it puts policy priority on encouraging aliens to stay in Germany for a short period of time and return to their countries rather than giving them citizenship and allowing them to stay for a long period of time. The German government's social integration policy did not recognize the cultural difference of aliens. It regarded integration as aliens' adjusting to the German culture and value standards. The German government promotes an integration principle of "support and demand" and implements a double strategy of "selecting" or "excluding" aliens.


Giardia intestinalis is the most common intestinal parasite in human worldwide. It can produce a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations. In order to assess the nutritional status of preschool children infected with Giardia intestinalis, a cross sectional study was made in Marvdasht city, Fars Province, Southern Iran. A total of 337 preschool boys and girls aged 3-6 years were randomly selected for stool examination of intestinal parasites as well as measurement of height, weight, head and arm circumferences. A total of 77 individuals were infected with G. intestinalis. Seventy-one individuals who had only G. intestinalis and 229 with no parasitic infections were selected as infected and control groups, respectively. Z-Score of 2SD was used as cut off point of malnutrition. A total of 9 (12.7%) of infected children and 18 (7.9%) of non infected individuals had a height for age Z-score (HAZ) below -2SD. Eight (11.3%) of former group had a weight for age Z-score (WAZ) under-2SD. In control group 4.4% of preschool children had WAZ under-2SD. 4.2% of infected children had a weight for height Z-score (WHZ) under-2SD but none of the controls had it. Statistical analysis showed a significant difference in height, weight, head circumference, HAZ, and WAZ between infected and control children (P<0.05). Also, HAZ and WAZ, was significantly different between these two groups, but not for WHZ. A higher infection with G. intestinalis in the children with lower parents' education was observed. However the distribution of malnutrition was not significantly different between boys and girls. In conclusion the present study indicated that giardiasis retarded growth of preschool children in this region.


This report presents a clinical decision making process guided by the Framework of Clinical Practice including its Evaluation and Intervention Models. A case example of a patient with multiple sclerosis who demonstrates balance impairments and proximal dynamic instability with limitation in ambulation is used to illustrate the application of the examination, evaluation, and intervention process associated with this decision making model. The therapist is guided through a process including: examining the systems encompassed in the Evaluation Model to determine the patient's findings, transposing these findings into the impairment classifications of the Intervention Model, and developing treatment procedures. In addition to exercise procedures other intervention strategies encompassing modifications of the environment, provision of compensatory aids, and education are discussed.


In article little-known details and circumstances of the beginning of "cold war" as which source it is considered to be the well-known speech of the prime minister of Great Britain U. Churchill are considered.


In this paper,the effect of different methods of collecting embryos on the superovulation of mice was studied,and the embryos in the superovulated mice were collected by using the uterus-mincing method and uterus-collecting method respectively.The results showed that the average number of eggs and embryos obtained by the uterus-collecting method were extremely significantly higher(P0.01) than those obtained by the uterus-mincing method,and the average number of usable embryos obtained by the uterus-collecting method was significantly higher(P0.05) than that did by the uterus-mincing method.The average number of unfertilized eggs obtained by these two methods was not significantly different(P0.05).So the superovulation effect of mice was significantly influenced by the method of collecting embryos.The observation results of early embryos development indicated that most of the embryos collected 76 ~79.5 hours after combining cages were at morula stage,while most of the embryos collected 88 ~ 91.5 hours after combining cages were at compacted morula stage and blastocyst stage.It was feasible that the embryos of mice were cultivated in vitro by using the mixed solution of TCM199 and 15% FCS.


PURPOSE: A mobile phone case is provided, which can receive and fix a mobile phone regardless of the size and thickness of the mobile phone and prevent damage by external impact. CONSTITUTION: A mobile phone case comprises a front cover(110) having the size which is a little bigger than the size of the mobile phone or the name card; and a rear cover(120) which is independently separated from the front cover. The front cover and rear cover are formed into the flat square plate shape and are made of leather, synthetic leather, and plastic material. The front cover and rear cover of the independent sheet configuration are formed of a receiving space part(160) receiving the mobile phone(200). The receiving space part is changed in size by elasticity of an elastic band.


In this research, a controller design method based on optimization is proposed that can satisfy constraints on maximum responses of building structures subject to ground excitation modeled by partially stationary stochastic process. The class of controllers to be optimized is restricted to LQR. Weighting matrix on controlled outputs is used as design variable. Objective function, constraint functions and their gradients are computed parameterizing control gain with Riccati matrix. Full state feedback controllers designed by proposed optimization method satisfy various design objectives and their necessary maximum control forces are computed for the production of actuator.


The present thesis titled "Development and integration of new multifunctional materials and techniques in building materials to improve the environmental performance of structures" aims to create and integrate materials in common materials and building elements (coatings, mortars, concrete, etc.) with the ultimate goal of reducing environmental costs by decomposing hazardous pollutants (photocatalysis) and also by binding greenhouse gases (CO2 binding).
Photocatalysis is considered to be an innovative, effective and economical solution to the problem of poor air quality. Furthermore, the proposal aims to improve the ability of building materials to store CO2 during their life cycle. It should be clarified from the outset that the proposals for increased CO2 emissions from the constructions presented in this proposal do not endanger the reinforced concrete by corrosion of its railings due to carbonation.The field of application of photocatalytic technology in gaseous pollutants is a field that is not saturated and open for study, especially in the scale of applications in real conditions. The main purpose of the proposal is that the constructions must now act reciprocally to the environment, replacing as much as possible the damage caused to it.


Investigating causality is one of the most important and challenging missions for researchers in educational and social sciences. Causal analyses often probe "what works" type questions, but increasingly policymakers and researchers are interested in causal explanations that additionally address questions regarding moderation (e.g., "for whom it works and under what conditions it works") and mediation (e.g., "why does it work?"; Weiss, Bloom, & Brock, 2014). Compared to main effects, causal inference regarding moderation and mediation effects has been less studied. Although there have been extensive advances in these areas, there are notably fewer volumes that compile and integrate this work. Hong (2015) takes up these issues in detail while emphasizing through careful consideration and analysis how social settings invite treatment diffusion and spillover concerns that potentially undermine causal explanations and inferences. Causality in a Social World: Moderation, Mediation, And Spill-Over (Hong, 2015) aims to clarify the theoretical concepts of multivalued treatments, moderation, mediation, and spillover effects for applied researchers. It reviews existing methods and introduces a set of innovative statistical approaches to investigating these causal effects. Hong (2015) applies the causal framework of potential outcomes (Neyman, 1923/1990; Rubin, 1980) for identification of causal effects and introduces the propensity score-based nonparametric weighting methods for estimation of causal effects throughout the book. Empirical examples are used for demonstration, and software programs are provided for various analysis (https://voices.uchicago.edu/ghong/test-page/). The book targets graduate and undergraduate education and social science students who are interested in applied research methods in causal inference. Advanced level students with technical interest may also find the derivations Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics 2020, Vol. 45, No. 3, pp. 374–378 DOI: 10.3102/1076998619881791 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions © 2019 AERA. http://jebs.aera.net


Four plastic explosives based on energetic nitramines and a non-energetic binder were prepared and studied. The nitramines were RDX (1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine), HMX (1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazine), BCHMX (cis-1,3,4,6-tetranitro-octahydroimidazo-[4,5-d]imidazole) and HNIW (e-2,4,6,8,10,12-hexanitro-2,4,6,8,10,12-hexaazaisowurtzitane, e-CL-20). The binder was in all cases polyisobutylene (PIB) as in the standard composition C-4. These powerful plastic explosives were compared to standard PETN-based commercially available explosives Semtex 1A and Sprangdeg m/46. The detonation velocities were experimentally measured and compared to the ones calculated by the Kamlet–Jacobs method, CHEETAH and EXPLO5 Codes. The experimental detonation velocities as well as the calculated detonation parameters decrease in the following order: HNIW-PIB>HMX-PIB≥BCHMX-PIB>RDX-PIB>Sprandeg m/46≥Semtex 1A. Urizar coefficients for the various binders were calculated from experimental data.


In response to the burden of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and overwhelmed intensive care unit (ICU) resources, some pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) have had to adapt. The purpose of this study was to assess the criticality, scope of diagnosis, and outcomes of an adult cohort admitted to a Canadian PICU. A retrospective chart review was completed on all patients between 17 and 50 years of age admitted to the PICU between June 2020 and December 2021. Admission data included body mass index (BMI), admission sequential organ failure assessment score (SOFA), COVID-19 status, diagnosis, and comorbidities. The duration of ventilatory support, PICU and hospital admission, and mortality and discharge disposition were assessed. Discrete variables were reported as percentages and continuous data as means with standard deviations or medians with interquartile range. Sixty-five adult patients were admitted to the PICU for a total of 437 days, with a mean SOFA score of 6.6 and the overall mortality rate of 4.6%. Six patients were diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia, were admitted with a mean SOFA score of 11.8 and a BMI of 38.3 kg/m2, and all were discharged to the ward. During the COVID-19 pandemic, pediatric intensivists in a Canadian PICU managed adult patients up to 50 years of age with high criticality and broad-ranging diagnoses with a low mortality rate. PICUs may be a safe critical care decompression option for adult ICUs during future endemics or pandemics.


Objective To analyze the risk factors of in-hospital death after acute stroke among elderly(more than 60 years) patients.Methods The clinical data including clinical manifestations,previous history,and imaging findings of 778 elderly patients with acute stroke in our hospital from January 2009 to December 2010 were retrospectively analyzed.They were divided into death group and survival group based on the death occurred within 30 days after admission.The potential risk factors of death after acute stroke were analyzed using Logistic multiple regression method.Results Compared with the survival group,the stroke pattern,previous histories of diabetes,coronary heart disease,and stroke,NIHSS and Glasgow scores at admission,application of nasogastric tubes,catheter,and central venous catheter,and concurrent lung infection,urinary tract infection,brain-heart syndrome,gastrointestinal bleeding,and deep venous thrombosis of lower limbs showed significantly differences in the death group(all P0.05).After the age,gender were adjusted,the histories of diabetes,coronary heart disease,NIHSS and Glasgow scores at admission,invasive procedures,and concurrent lung infection,urinary tract infection,brain-heart syndrome,and gastrointestinal bleeding were independent risk factors of death after acute stroke in elderly patients.Conclusion In-hospital death after acute stroke among elderly patients have multiple risk factors.The independent risk factors include high Glasgow score at admission,lung infections,brain-heart syndrome,and gastrointestinal bleeding.Therefore,the complications associated with acute stroke should be actively managed.


n 300 B.C., Hippocrates noted that coarse brown bread produced a lot of feces and that this was good for us. Since that time we have accepted that roughage, or fiber in the diet, is important , but have a difficult time defining and measuring fiber. In 2002, the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) for the first time included fiber as a nutrient. 1 Prior to the DRI report, a National Academy of Sciences expert panel was appointed to define fiber. 2 " Dietary fiber " was defined as nondigestible carbohydrates and lignin that are intrinsic and intact in plants. Foods high in dietary fiber include whole grains, legumes, vegetables and fruits. Another class of fiber, " functional fiber " was defined as nondigestible carbohydrates extracted from foods that have beneficial physiological effects in humans. " Total fiber " was then defined as the sum of dietary fiber and functional fiber. Why the new definitions? The physiological effect of fiber in intact foods is often greater than that found with isolated fiber fractions. In epidemi-ologic studies, whole grains, legumes, vegetables and fruits are often more protective against diseases than fiber intake alone. 3 Thus, fiber intake may be a marker of a healthy diet, rather than just a nutrient that can be isolated and added back to foods. Additionally, certain isolated fibers that are chemically measured as dietary fiber, and can make label claims as dietary fiber, have minimal physiological effects. Examples of these would be purified celluloses and other fibers that are not fermented in the large intestine and thus have little effect on gut metabolism. 4 In contrast, non-digestible carbohydrates like inulin and polydextrose have positive physiological effects such as fermentation and enhancement of the gut microflora, but are not considered dietary fibers since the accepted Association of Analytical Chemists fiber methods do not isolate these compounds. 5 Previously, dietary fiber was divided into soluble and insoluble fiber in an attempt to assign physiological effects to chemical types of fiber. The disparities between the amounts of " soluble " and " insoluble " fiber measured chemically and the magnitude of their physiological effects led the dietary fiber panel to recommend that the terms soluble and insoluble fibers gradually be eliminated and be replaced by specific beneficial physiological effects of a fiber, perhaps viscosity and fermentability. Viscosity is an important property of fibers that lower serum lipids and modulate glucose …


Based on analyzing and discussing of structure and working principle of a large mine submersible pump, the main factors of mechanical power loss were set up, causation of each energy loss were proposed, and calculation methods were pointed out. According to example in mine actual operation of submersible pump, the measures were presented to reduce the mechanical power loss of a large mine submersible pump.


The sympathetic preganglionic nerve fibers emerge from the spinal cord in the ventral roots of the thoracic and the rostra1 two or three lumbar spinal nerves. They join the sympathetic trunk through the communicating rami, which also convey afferent nerve fibers. The communicating (white) rami, consequently, are made up of preganglionic and visceral afferent fibers. The sympathetic postganglionic fibers join the spinal nerves through the sympathetic roots (gray communicating rami) which are made up chiefly of postganglionic fibers


This paper is an extension of a previous study which addressed cultural perceptions of first generation Asian-Indians. The current study includes second generation Asian-Indians in the U.S. (The United States of America) and compares their reactions to the first generation subjects regarding Indian magazine advertisements versus American magazine advertisements of the same product class. The results indicate that cultural perceptions of the second generation Asian-Indian are similar to cultural perceptions of first generation Asian-Indians in the earlier study. In general, both generations appear to prefer Indian advertisements more than the corresponding American advertisements. This offers opportunities for U.S. marketers to continue to develop culturally attuned advertising strategies to effectively reach the growing and affluent Asian-Indians in the U.S.


In this paper we present reduced training sequence in a Decision Feedback Equalizer (DFE) with Recursive Least Square (RLS) adaptive algorithm to mitigate the effect of inter-symbol interference (ISI) in an indoor Visible Light Communication (VLC) channel. We have analyzed the performance of the RLS algorithm with the DFE for the improvement of bit error rate (BER) in an indoor channel model. The wireless optical channel model consists of four sources of Light Emitting Diode (LED) transmitters that are used to illuminate the room as well as transmit data. The illumination pattern of the lights in the environment has also been considered. From this analysis, we have proven that with the proposed RLS equalizer, the training sequence can be reduced to allow more data bits to be transmitted for the identical Bit Error Rate (BER) performance.


In the last few years, the topics about the visual performance in mesopic photometry used for road lighting and exterior lighting have occurred in the field of professional debates as well as wide public. These applications are specific by their low levels of illuminance, respectively low level of brightness which the observer is adapted to. The exact determination of photometric characteristics in mesopic perception and methodology itself is difficult. Still there is not general agreement on defining the impact of the whole visual process in mesopic field. This article presents theoretical impact on the energy performance of road lighting in mesopic field.


Metamaterials allow the accurate control of the acoustic scattering using subwavelength thickness panels. In this work, we report the scattering of spiral-shaped metasurfaces with practical application to sound diffusers. We analytically, numerically and experimentally show that bipolar spiral-shaped metasurfaces produce broadband non-specular reflection. We observe that the reflected energy can be scattered at higher diffraction orders and, due to the spiral geometry, the phase of the scattering field rotates producing a vortex in the near field. Thus, the specular component at normal incidence vanish. This produces a perfect correlation-scattering coefficient when comparing to a rigid flat reflector of same dimensions. In particular, the scattering of an Archimedes spiral metasurface is presented. We show that the scattering pattern corresponds to a high-order Bessel beam. The use of binary locally reacting surfaces with chiral geometry produce non-specular reflected patterns, allowing the use of these structures use as sound diffusers.


Hypocretin/orexins (Hcrt) are newly discovered hypothalamic peptides that have aroused interest after two recent reports linking the dysfunction of the Hcrt peptide/receptor system in animal models of narcolepsy.1,2⇓ Subsequently, Nishino et al.3 reported that CSF Hcrt-1/orexin A levels were decreased in idiopathic cases of human narcolepsy. However, the potential role of Hcrt in other sleep disorders remains unknown. Here, we describe a girl with mid- and posterior hypothalamic destruction that resulted in hypersomnolence and decreased CSF Hcrt-1 level.

Discovery of a tumor in a 16-year-old girl with headache prompted a neurosurgical translamina terminalis resection to remove a suprasellar Grade 2 pilocystic astrocytoma. The surgical report described the tumor as an intra-axial, poorly circumscribed lesion arising in the left hypothalamus, occupying both sides of the hypothalamus; the thalamus and other surrounding brain structures were spared. The tumor and its gliotic rim were removed throughout the prechiasmatic cistern, except for the portion adhering to the third ventricle in the upper right hypothalamus. Tumor removal resulted in hypothalamic injury to both sides of the ventromedial, dorsomedial nuclei, and perifornical regions as well as right nucleus of the posterior hypothalamus …


Pulse removal in the SIS epidemic model with vertical transmission is studied in this paper.The existence of infection-free periodic solution is proved.The basic reproductive number of this model is defined and used to determine the threshold of the disease extinction.The theoretical results are finally confirmed by numerical simulations.


This paper starts with a brief review of existing crack models for concrete structures. The performance of fixed and non-fixed crack plane concepts in handling non-coaxiality, which often occurs in case of non-proportional loadings, is demonstrated through a proposed reversed shear-tension problem. For comparison, Willam's test for proportional shear-tension is also included. It is shown that in certain situations, simulation by non-fixed crack concepts may produce incorrect material response upon reversed loading. The consequences thereof are discussed for the case of a wall structure with existing initial cracks due to vertical loading, which is subsequently subjected to settlements.


The use of neural networks for control of temperature in a jacketed back reactor, in which exothermic reactions take place, is discussed. Supervised and unsupervised neural networks were used. The performance of combinations of feedforward neural networks are reported. The first results of the unsupervised networks are very positive, but the simulations are not still completed.<<ETX>>


Mineral powders play positive role in improving the durability of concrete subjected to alkaline and saline corrosion, where sulphate ion and chloride ion coexisted may cause serious deterioration to the reinforced concrete structures. Metakaolin, slag, fly ash and natural zeolite mixed in appropriate proportion were tested in inhibiting the deterioration. It is found that the composite powder might decreased AAR and the charge passed of concrete effectively,the while the 7d and 28d strength of cement and concrete are improved as well.


Working papers of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland are preliminary materials circulated to stimulate discussion and critical comment on research in progress. They may not have been subject to the formal editorial review accorded offi cial Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland publications. The views stated herein are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland or of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. This paper estimates the effect that the closure and demolition of roughly 20,000 units of geographically concentrated high-rise public housing had on crime in Chicago. We estimate local effects of closures on crime in the neighborhoods where high-rises stood and in proximate neighborhoods. We also estimate the impact that households displaced from high-rises had on crime in the neighborhoods to which they moved and neighborhoods close to those. Overall, reductions in violent crime in and near the areas where high-rises were demolished greatly outweighed increases in violent crime associated with the arrival of displaced residents in new neighborhoods.


In the Russia's Scientific R&D Cable Institute (VNIIKP) the 5 m cable core sample was produced and tested as a first prototype in preparation for the production of a proposed 30 m 3-phase cable with a design rating of 2 kArms and planned operating voltage 20 kV. The work is done in the framework of the FGC-VNIIKP Project on R&D of HTS power cables, funded by Russia's Federal Grid Company's (FGC) "United Energy Systems". Before starting the full length cable production the extensive technology studies have been performed. These works permitted to develop the proper former and cabling technologies for the long HTS power cables. To verify the calculations and designing principles the first prototype was heavily instrumented to measure current distribution among layers, voltage-current characteristics and other parameters. The details of the design of the cable model and test results are presented and discussed.


Objective To optimize parameters with double spiral computed tomographic angiography(SCTA) for visualization of portal veins. Methods 4 pig livers were scanned with five different parameters A, B, C, D, E, the pitchcollimation(mm) were 1.02.5, 1.52.5, 2.02.5, 1.05.0, and 1.55.0 respectively. All images were reconstructed with maximum intensity projection(MaxIP). The relationship of visualization of the model vessele branches with the collimation and pitch were analysed. Results (1) In regard to resolution of the constructed SCTA images, both A and B parameter combinations were good and superior to C, D and E. The images quality of E was the worst. (2) The reconstructed vessels were found to be somewhat amplified. Conclusions (1) The optimized collimation is 2.5 mm and pitch is 1.5 for portal vein imaging using SCTA with MaxIP algorithm. (2) The effect of collimation is greater than that of pitch on image quality of SCTA. (3) The main defect of SCTA is overestimation or underestimation of vessel stenosis.


Train operation Parameters were defined by using rough sets theory. The train operation decision table was established on the bases of the real-time data which was acquired from the actual train operation graphs in the train operation dispatching system. The information entropy theory was used in the process of analyzing each object of the decision table, and the function of each condition attribute for reducing decision-making uncertainty was studied. Then, the importance ranking of the train operation attributes were determined. The work can provide a reference to the dispatchers during train operation adjustment.


Through history, ascetics have been understood as people who submit their lives to a voluntary and systematic self-discipline, abstinence and self-denial ordered to achieving higher spiritual state. On the basis of common patterns found among ascetics, Galvin Flood suggested that asceticism is a performance in which the ascetic performs the memory of a given tradition. The performance per se reveals imbedded ambiguities within the memory of the tradition being passed on. As a performer, the ascetic not only receives a tradition, that shapes him or her at the same time as he or she is challenged by its ambiguities. It is by stepping over and beyond the limits imposed by tradition that the ascetic accomplishes his or her self-integration and saves the memory of the tradition wherein he or she has emerged. While the notion of performance does enable a better appreciation of the phenomenon of asceticism, still it overlooks at the ethical tension on which rests ascetic praxis. The very process that leads the ascetic to reverse the process of his bodily constitution and elevates it to a higher and transcendent realm blesses the transgression of commonly agreed upon consensus and claims a bigger space of out-lawfulness and freedom from common law. Asceticism hence challenges the substratum of common ethics in the same way as it does, simplistic understanding of religion. The reason making asceticism fascinating is the very reason that makes some of its manifestations detestable. To unveil the ambivalence and the outcry for the understanding of the ethical tension inherent to ascetic praxis, this study considers suicide attacks as radical ascetic performances. Moreover, it elaborates on hermeneutical and ethical questions rising from this perception.


Decorative wood-based panels,overlayed with metal foil,have become more popular in China due to their appearance and low cost.The authors sought to improve the panel's durability by modifying regular phenol-formaldehyde resin by mixing it with thermoplastic resins and coupling agents to improve the bonding performance between aluminum foil and MDF panels.The results showed that modified phenol-formaldehyde resin improved surface bonding strength and reduced water soakage.Although the modified resin reduced the mechanical properties,they still met the requirement of industry standard LY/T 1983-2011.


We investigate the decidability of termination, reachability, coverability and deadlock-freeness of Petri nets endowed with a hierarchy on places, and with inhibitor arcs, reset arcs and transfer arcs that respect this hierarchy. We also investigate what happens when we have a mix of these special arcs, some of which respect the hierarchy, while others do not. We settle the decidability status of the above four problems for all combinations of hierarchy, inhibitor, reset and transfer arcs, except the termination problem for two combinations. For both these combinations, we show that the termination problem is as hard as deciding positivity for linear recurrent sequences -- a long-standing open problem.


A touch sensitive device is arranged with substantially parallel surfaces which are at least partially transparent to light. A flexible membrane is supported above the top surface of the screen and when the overlay is flexed into contact with the screen, light which had passed through the screen, is trapped between the screen surfaces by total internal reflection. The edges of the screen are fitted with light detectors for gathering the trapped light. Using this arrangement positional determination of one or more screen touches is possible. Ebeling et al. . Mueller . Mathews .


PROTOCOL FOR THE INTERNATIONAL LUNG SCREEN TRIAL (ILST): A COHORT STUDY TO DEFINE LDCT SCREENING SELECTION CRITERIA AND VALIDATE THE PANCAN NODULE MANAGEMENT ALGORITHM KUAN PIN LIM, FRASER BRIMS, ANNETTE MCWILLIAMS, MARTIN TAMMEMÄGI, CHRISTINE BERG, HENRY MARSHALL, EMILY STONE, RENEE MANSER, KAREN CANFELL, LUKE CONNELLY, JOHN YEE, KWUN FONG, STEPHEN LAM Department of Respiratory Medicine, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Nedlands, Australia, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Fiona Stanley Hospital, Murdoch, Australia, Curtin Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Bentley, Australia, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia, Department of Health Services, Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada, Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA, University of Queensland Thoracic Research Centre and Department of Thoracic Medicine, The Prince Charles Hospital, Chermside, Australia, Department of Thoracic Medicine, St. Vincent's Hospital and Kinghorn Cancer Centre, Darlinghurst, Australia, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Australia, Cancer Research Division, Cancer Council New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia, Prince of Wales Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, Australian Centre for Economic Research on Health (ACERH), University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, Centre for National Research on Disability and Rehabilitation Medicine (CONROD), Brisbane, Australia, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Australia, Asian-Pacific Centre of Neuromodulation, Queensland Brain Institute, St. Lucia, Australia, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, Department of Thoracic Surgery, Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, Canada, and British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA), Vancouver, Canada


Introduction: The purposes of this study were to (1) develop a fatigue threshold based on electromyography (EMG) and heart rate (HR) responses for treadmill running from a single incremental test; and (2) propose a new fatigue threshold called the RVEMGFT and RVHRFT. Methods: Eleven men performed incremental treadmill exercise to exhaustion on a single occasion. The RVEMGFT and RVHRFT were defined as the average of the highest velocity that resulted in a nonsignificant slope coefficient for the EMG amplitude versus time relationship and the lowest velocity that resulted in a significant positive slope coefficient. Results: There was a significant (P < 0.05) difference between the 2 thresholds [RVEMGFT = 11.7 ± 0.6 km/h and RVHRFT = 8.3 ± 0.8 km/h]. Conclusions: The fatigue threshold for EMG amplitude and heart rate can be determined from a single incremental treadmill test, but there are differences between cardiac and neuromuscular factors of fatigue. Muscle Nerve 46: 577–581, 2012


ABSTRACT The relationship between Strategic Studies and the American academy has always been a tenuous one. Tolerated when fully funded, the field quickly lost its place on campus when it failed to attract grant money. Only with the support of philanthropic foundations did it manage to gain a foothold in American universities. What emerges from our investigation is how the field has feasted during times when foundation money was available and suffered periods of famine when these funds were withdrawn. In addition, we show that during and immediately after the Cold War, the political interests of philanthropic foundations were broadly balanced. By contrast, over the last two decades, the field has been increasingly linked to financial support provided by politically right-leaning foundations. This is happening while funding from more centrist and left-leaning foundations has become much less prominent. When looking ahead at the field's future health, we cannot but help be concerned about the implications of this development.


Currently, a large percentage of surgical procedures are performed in day-case surgery programs. Postoperative symptoms most often reported by medical literature in ambulatory surgery include pain, nausea, vomiting, drowsiness and irritability. This prospective observational study was done with the purpose of characterizing


The SphinKeeper™ artificial bowel sphincter implant is a relatively new surgical technique for the treatment of refractory faecal incontinence. This study presents the first experience in two UK tertiary centres.


Providing a high voltage generating circuit and said circuit means comprises a flash memory. A high voltage generating circuit comprising: a high voltage generator, configured to generate a high voltage; and a control circuit configured to control the high-voltage generator, in response to a change in peripheral temperature change to a high voltage.


The maximum strain failure criterion is unified with the maximum stress failure criterion, after exploring the implications of two considerations responsible for this: (1) the failure strains for the direct strain components employed in the maximum strain criterion are all defined under uniaxial stress states, not uniaxial strain states, and (2) the contributions to the strain in a direction as a result of the Poisson effect do not contribute to the failure of the material in that direction. Incorporating these considerations into the maximum strain criterion, the maximum stress criterion is reproduced. For 3D stress/strain state applications primarily, the unified maximum stress/strain criterion is then subjected to further rationalization in the context of transversely isotropic materials by eliminating the treatments that undermine the objectivity of the failure criterion. The criterion is then applied based on the maximum and minimum direct stresses, the maximum transverse shear stress and the maximum longitudinal shear stress as the invariants of the stress state, instead of the conventional stress components directly.


In many well-motivated models of the electroweak scale, cascade decays of new particles can result in highly boosted hadronic resonances (e.g. $Z/W/h$). This can make these models rich and promising targets for recently developed resonant anomaly detection methods powered by modern machine learning. We demonstrate this using the state-of-the-art CATHODE method applied to supersymmetry scenarios with gluino pair production. We show that CATHODE, despite being model-agnostic, is nevertheless competitive with dedicated cut-based searches, while simultaneously covering a much wider region of parameter space. The gluino events also populate the tails of the missing energy and $H_T$ distributions, making this a novel combination of resonant and tail-based anomaly detection.


There is a substantial literature in medical journals examining the marketing and promotional efforts of pharmaceutical firms. This literature is generally critical of those efforts, focusing on the negative aspects of promotion. Although the literature is expressed in empirical and scientific terms and makes use of data, it suffers from some weaknesses. If the same methods and level of rigor were used in analyzing another problem in medicine, scientific journals would reject the research and the Food and Drug Administration would not approve the remedy.


This research had the purpose of characterizing and grouping the current production systems and is part of a larger project that deals with the design of improved models. Tornquist, which is situated south of Buenos Aires (Argentina) and has an extension of 418 300 ha with three geomorphologically homogeneous areas, was divided into two, east and west, sectors. The methodological steps were: 1) stratification of farms by area and sampling; 2) personal survey of 97 farms (22% of the total), during the 1989-90 cycle; and 3) characterization and grouping of systems by Indices: general {livestock, mixed and agricultural}; livestock production (beef cattle, mixed and sheep); beef cattle (breeding, B; breeding and production of light steers, BLS; breeding and production of heavy steers, BHS; and fattening, F} and agricultural (winter crops, mixed and summer crops). The results were expressed in terms of percentages of farms engaged in the various activities. The low prevalence of land leasing indicates little influence on the production systems. Three groups of systems were formed in areas 1 and 2 of the east sector and two in area 3, while in the west sector the groups were three and two in areas 1 and 2, respectively. The predominant system was livestock production with 71.8%, followed by mixed and agricultural with 23.9 and 4.3%, respectively. Beef catite predominated in 9 8% of the farms. Subsystem means were: BLS, 51 %; F, 32%; BHS, 1 5%; and B, 2%, with similar values between sectors and small differences among areas. Agriculture was more predominant in the east. Wheat was grown on 83% of the agricultural area and summer crops were concentrated in the east. In each area, agriculture was slightly more ascendant in small farms, probably in response to economic-financial and structural variables. It is concluded that the employed methodology, of easy application, enabled us to achieve the objectives of this research and that characterization studies, even in reduced regions, such as Tornquist, should be conducted on ecologically homogeneous areas.


This paper proposes a new type of Nonsingular Terminal Sliding Mode Controller (NTSMC) based on the current error to overcome the nonlinearities presented in the dynamic model of Boost Converters. The NTSMC also uses a constant switching frequency to reduce the chattering effects which can cause lower control performances. Simulation results are shown to confirm the high performance and robustness of the proposed controller.


This review was part of a Bethesda Conference Task Force Report on the future of cardiology in this country. The summary was divided into sections related to the quantitative approach to the pediatric cardiology work force, the underserved population, the academic health center in pediatric cardiology, partnerships in delivery of pediatric care, pediatric cardiology, pediatrics and adult cardiology, and projection of work force needs.


Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has been implemented as a novel "hemodynamic therapy" for advanced heart failure patients.1 Resynchronizing the mechanical coordination between left and right ventricles with reduction of the inefficient dyssynchronous contractions improves the mechanical efficiency of the chamber contraction-relaxation cycle, leading to a better hemodynamic profile.2 Various randomized trials demonstrated an improvement in symptoms and exercise tolerance in patients with congestive heart failure and cardiac dyssynchrony on top of optimal medical therapy, which translates into better prognosis and improved survival.3–5 Favorable alterations of clinical outcome were consistent across multiple studies, and CRT has evolved into a Class I indication for such patients with broad QRS complex and severely depressed left ventricular function.1

Articles pp 1220 and 1231

The dyssynchronous contractions in heart failure patients with left bundle-branch block morphology represent a specific disease entity, named dyssynchronous heart failure. Besides typical ventricular dilatation and asymmetric hypertrophy, the disease is characterized by regional differences in loading and contractile work, as well as in myocardial blood flow and oxygen consumption. In dyssynchronous hearts, the workload is typically lowest in the septum and highest in the left ventricular lateral wall and is accompanied by regional differences in wall stress.6 This ultimately results in regional differences in wall thickness and chamber remodeling.7 In contrast to other forms of cardiomyopathy where wall thickness is reduced in all regions, cardiomyopathy related to dyssynchronous electrical activation is characterized by regional differences in relative wall thickening with hypertrophy and molecular alterations most pronounced in the late-activated lateral wall.7,8

In addition to differences in chamber mechanics and remodeling, dyssynchronous heart failure is associated with a distinct pattern of the molecular portrait.8 Although the basic …


The purposes of this research are to investigate the implementation of Microteaching lesson study in promoting teaching practice and pedagogical development of the pre-service teachers in English Education Study Program. Method used in this research was case study. This case study involved 9 students of English Education Study Program who take Microteaching class. Data of this research was taken from interview. The finding of this research revealed that microteaching lesson study allowed participative discussion about learning and teaching and opportunities for a collaborative approach in which both lecturer and student-teachers focused on the improvement of pedagogy and teaching practice. It is found that microteaching lesson study leads to the pedagogical development as well as collaborative opportunity to explore the complex system of classroom-oriented processes. Seeing teacher development in relation to an emergent holistic concept of pedagogic development implies a comprehensive dynamic vision of how teaching quality develops. Keywords : microteaching lesson study, pre-service teachers, teaching practice and pedagogical development.


Learning using nearpod can make learning interactive, effective, innovative and besides that it can also increase students' motivation in learning. This study aims to determine the application of nearpod application learning in Civics subjects at MTsN 2 Mataram. This study uses a qualitative approach with descriptive type. Data collection techniques used are interviews, observation, and documentation. Based on the results of the study, it showed that the application of nearpod application learning in Civics subjects was carried out through 3 stages, namely the planning stage, the implementation stage and the evaluation stage. The supporting factors for implementing the nearpod application learning are ready-to-use materials, various features or content, student human resources, and learning motivation. While the inhibiting factors consist of the internet network and the limited number of students.


In her novel Shengsichang,Xiao Hong's complex emotion and her female consciousness are represented by the shape of different female images.But her worship of masculinity,which is embodied in the novel's description of anti-Japanese war,can still be seen.This conflict is due to the social environment of her times and won't influence her status in literature history.


To investigate the effects of dietary vitamin C on growth, flesh quality and antioxidant capacity of juvenile golden pompano Trachinotus ovatus, a 56‐day feeding trial with five graded levels of dietary VC (D1: 11.69, D2: 34.89, D3: 59.10, D4: 114.26 and D5: 227.93 mg VC per kg of diet) was performed on 375 fish (triplicate groups of 25 fish per diet, initial weight 13.57 ± 0.09 g). Results showed that fish of D3 group exhibited the maximum specific growth rate (SGR) and the highest liver enzymatic activities of catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH‐PX), which were consistent with the expression levels of cat and gsh‐px. Besides, the D3 group also showed higher contents of protein and lipid, and lower cooking loss, drip loss and malondialdehyde content in muscle than D1 group. The docosahexaenoic acid proportion in muscle increased with increasing dietary VC levels. Furthermore, the lowest expression levels of carnitine palmitoyltransferase1 (cpt1) and peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor α (pparα) were detected in livers of D3 group. The optimum dietary VC level was 49.73 mg/kg from the broken‐line analysis based on the SGR, in which better growth performance, antioxidative ability and flesh quality were observed in T. ovatus juveniles.


CYP2C9 is an important member of the cytochrome P450 enzyme superfamily with some 12 CYP2C9 alleles (*1-*12) being previously reported. Recently, we identified a new CYP2C9 allele with a Leu90Pro mutation in a Chinese poor metabolizer of lornoxicam [Si D, Guo Y, Zhang Y, Yang L, Zhou H, and Zhong D (2004) Pharmacogenetics 14:465–469]. The new allele, designated CYP2C9*13, was found to occur in approximately 2% of the Chinese population. To examine enzymatic activity of the CYP2C9*13 allele, kinetic parameters for lornoxicam 5 -hydroxylation were determined in COS-7 cells transiently transfected with pcDNA3.1 plasmids carrying wild-type CYP2C9*1, variant CYP2C9*3, and CYP2C9*13 cDNA. The protein levels of cDNA-expressed CYP2C9*3 and *13 in postmitochondrial supernatant (S9) from transfected cells were lower than those from wild-type CYP2C9*1. Mean values of Km and Vmax for CYP2C9*1, *3, and *13 were 1.24, 1.61, and 2.79 M and 0.83, 0.28, and 0.22 pmol/min/pmol, respectively. Intrinsic clearance values (Vmax/Km) for variant CYP2C9*3 and CYP2C9*13 on the basis of CYP2C9 protein levels were separately decreased to 28% and 12% compared with wild type. In a subsequent clinical study, the AUC of lornoxicam was increased by 1.9-fold and its oral clearance (CL/F) decreased by 44% in three CYP2C9*1/*13 subjects, compared with CYP2C9*1/*1 individuals. This suggests that the CYP2C9*13 allele is associated with decreased enzymatic activity both in vitro and in vivo. CYP2C9 constitutes approximately 20% of the cytochrome P450 protein content of human liver microsomes and is responsible for the metabolism of many clinically important drugs. These include drugs with a narrow therapeutic index such as warfarin and phenytoin and other routinely prescribed drugs such as acenocoumarol, tolbutamide, losartan, glipizide, and some nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (Lee et al., 2002). The CYP2C9 gene is highly polymorphic. At least 13 CYP2C9 alleles have been identified to date and most of them are associated with reduced CYP2C9 activity. Among them, CYP2C9*3, with an Ile359Leu mutation, has been most widely studied. In vitro studies show it has significantly impaired catalytic activity to various CYP2C9 substrates relative to the wild type (Takanashi et al., 2000). In vivo investigations show that individuals heterozygous and homozygous for CYP2C9*3 have reduced intrinsic clearance of warfarin, phenytoin, and glipizide and are more at risk of clinical toxicity from these drugs (Aithal et al., 1999; Kidd et al., 1999; Ninomiya et al., 2000). Other CYP2C9 alleles such as CYP2C9*2 (Arg144Cys), CYP2C9*4 (Ile359Thr), CYP2C9*5 (Asp360Glu), CYP2C9*6 (null allele), CYP2C9*11 (Arg335Trp), and CYP2C9*12 (Pro489Ser) also show decreased enzymatic activity in vitro and in vivo (Crespi et al., 1997; Aithal et al., 1999; Imai et al., 2000; Dickmann et al., 2001; Kidd et al., 2001; Kirchheiner et al., 2002; Allabi et al., 2004; Blaisdell et al., 2004). Recently, a new CYP2C9 allele designated CYP2C9*13 has been identified in a Chinese poor metabolizer of lornoxicam. The allele possesses a T269C transversion in exon 2 of CYP2C9 that leads to a Leu90Pro substitution. Frequency analysis shows that approximately 2% of the Chinese populations carry the allele (Si et al., 2004). Genotyping of this poor lornoxicam metabolizer revealed a CYP2C9*3/*13 genotype with the two mutations located on separate alleles. His lornoxicam half-life of about 105 h was markedly longer than that of other CYP2C9*1/*3 and CYP2C9*1/*1 carriers (half-lives of 5.8–8.1 and 3.2–6.3 h, respectively; Zhang et al., 2005), suggesting that the CYP2C9*13 allele has a larger effect on CYP2C9 metabolic capability than other alleles. CYP2C9 has been shown to be the primary enzyme responsible for the biotransformation of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug lornoxicam to its major metabolite, 5 -hydroxylornoxicam, in human liver microsomes (Bonnabry et al., 1996; Kohl et al., 2000). Recently, it was reported that lornoxicam 5 -hydroxylation by the CYP2C9*3 allele was markedly reduced compared with wild type, both in vitro and in vivo (Iida et al., 2004; Zhang et al., 2005). Thus, lornoxicam is an ideal substrate for the study of CYP2C9 enzyme activity. The purpose of this study was to compare the enzymatic activity of CYP2C9*1, CYP2C9*3, and CYP2C9*13 toward lornoxicam both in Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.