The context of the question of the role and relevance of the university is important to foreground. It concerns, firstly, what Philip Altbach1 described as 'the perfect storm of external pressures and internal responses' confronting the modern university. External pressures, he argued, were transforming it 'from a public good to a private good'.1 Behind these pressures were forms of economic and social thinking, essentially those of neoliberal free market thinking, which were shifting the university away from values, commitments and practices informed by public good ideals – ideals which understood and approached the university and its major function of knowledge production as a site for the development of society. In its ideal form, say scholars such as Altbach, the university should seek to produce people whose principal interest is that of working in and for the good of society. That they argue about the meaning and content of the public good is in itself an important stimulus of the social imagination. Bill Readings2(p.5) in his now well-known book, The University in Ruins, argued that the modern university no longer saw itself as needing to participate in 'the historical project for humanity'. Instead, there is occurring what he and others have described as 'the closing of the mind', with the object of the university becoming that of serving the 'private good' – the interests of the individual whose primary interest is that of self-enrichment and self-aggrandisement. What these pressures have done is stimulate responses in the university towards instrumentality – teaching, in almost all of the disciplines, which has in mind the production of self-sufficient competitive human subjects and research, which is focused on the promotion of narrow competitive advantage.


Water soluble yellow dye was extracted from turmeric rhizomes (Curcuma longa L.), collected from Lucknow, Shillong and from local market, through aqueous/solvent extraction procedure using vacuum evaporator and spray drying of aqueous extract. Shillong sample was found to contain higher dye content (21.3-27.6%) followed by Lucknow sample (15.518.9%) and market sample (14.0-18.2%). Shillong sample was also been found to be rich in curcumin (6.6%) with compare to other samples (2.4-2.5%). Dyeing experiments were performed under different conditions of direct dyeing, pre-fixing treatment, mordanting treatment or/and simultaneous mordanting. 2% dyeing at 50-55 o C for 30-60 min was most appropriate to obtain good dyeing results. Numerous shades were obtained with good wash fastness properties. Emphasis has been laid to ensure ecofriendly dyeing profiles using soft or natural mordants and no salt of heavy metals were used.


Based on the investigation of above-ground biomass( Caragana korshinskii as a contranst), the number of species, height, diameter of branches et al. , made a systematical research on growth characteristics of Sophora viciifolia in the hilly and gully region of Loess Plateau in north of Shaanxi Province. The main conclusions can be drawn: the height of S.viciifolia 1.5 m; crown of a tree is 2.0 m×2.0 m;the average branches is 4.45; the above-ground biomass and populations density is 21.0 t/hm~2,10 000 plant/hm~2;27.3 t/hm~2, 4 375 plant/hm~2; 6.8 t/hm~2, 8 750 plant/hm~2 respectively; the new branch grows faster in June, July and August, the order of new branch's length in the whole year is 14'S.6'S.17'S.; The diameter of S.viciifolia ground-branch keeps linear growth with its age, the population is in the stage of blooming; the age of shrub is the main interal reason resulting the difference of the above-ground biomass, the soil water and population is the main extra reason resulting the difference of the above-ground biomass and growth velocity; Compared with the C.korshinskii , the S.viciifolia has the better relationship with the soil water and show the more above-ground biomass and soil water, moreover, its coverage of crow can surpass 50% usually, the author thinks the S.viciifolia should be one optimum choose of forestation trees.


The expected increase of luminosity at HL-LHC by a factor of ten with respect to LHC luminosities has serious consequences for the signal reconstruction, radiation hardness requirements and operations of the ATLAS liquid-argon calorimeters in the endcap, respectively forward region. Small modules of each type of calorimeter have been built and exposed to a high intensity proton beam of 50 GeV at IHEP/Protvino. The beam is extracted via the bent crystal technique, offering the unique opportunity to cover intensities ranging from 106 p/s up to 3 · 1011 p/s. This exceeds the deposited energy per time expected at HL-LHC by more than a factor of 100. The correlation between beam intensity and the read-out signal has been studied. The data show clear indications of pulse shape distortion due to the high ionization build-up, in agreement with MC expectations. This is also confirmed from the dependence of the HV currents on beam intensity.


Six novel dihydrobenzofuran and benzofuran neolignans compounds(1~6) were synthesized by knoevenagel reactiton,esterfication,biomimetic oxidative coupling,DDQ dehydrogenation,reduction and hydrolysis with 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde and malonic acid as starting material.The Ag2O-Catalyzed biomimetic oxidative coupling of methyl 4-hydroxy cinnamate into its dimmer(1) and DDQ dehydregenation reaction were the key steps of the synthetic route.DDQ dehydrogenation reaction made the transformation from dihydrobenzofuran to benzofuran ring structure succesfully.This offered a new method to synthesize benzofuran neolignans compounds.


The longitudinal strength is the most important issue to ensure the safety of ship not only in the intact but also in the damage condition. In this case, when the collision damaged is appeared, the hull girder cross section is analyzed as a bi-axial bending problem even when only the vertical or horizontal bending moment is applied to the cross section. Therefore, the bi-axial bending is investigated in this study taking the single hull bulk carrier as the object of the ship into account. The full model of the hull girder cross section is modeled to know the influence of the rotation of the neutral axis. The collision damaged is assumed to be located asymmetrically on the side of the single hull bulk carrier. The incremental approach is applied to solve the bi-axial bending problem including the effect of the rotation of the neutral axis. The result is shown in term of the interaction between vertical and horizontal bending moment relationship. It is found that the collision damaged has significant influence toward bi-axial bending behavior, also the effect of the rotation of the neutral axis.


We surveyed the fish community of a tropical watershed in the Northern Range Mountains of Trinidad and conducted experiments to test the hypothesis that species interactions structure the fish community. We censused the fish community at 86 sites, measuring each fish collected and recording physical variables for each site (pool size, substrate composition, cover, etc.). One member of the fauna, a killifish, Rivulus hartil, was widely distributed in the drainage, occurring alone in each headwaters but also en- countering other fish species below barrier waterfalls. This pattern allowed us to use Rivulus to test four predictions derived from the species interaction hypothesis: (1) Rivulus density (in grams per square metre) would be depressed at sites with other fish species present, when compared to the density expected from physical characteristics of each site as if Rivulus were alone; (2) Rivulus density would decline at points of contact with the pisciv- orous fish Hoplias inalabaricus; (3) local populations of Rivulus found in pools occupied by the predator would show a smaller maximal size than in pools without the predator; and (4) the growth rate of Rivulus would be lowered in the event of a local invasion by the guppy, Poecilia reticulate, another abundant and sometimes co-occurring species in the watershed. The first three predictions were tested with data from the survey, while the fourth prediction was tested by experiments in a nearby stream. We used a factor analysis to reduce the dimensionality of the physical variables to four factors. A regression analysis of Rivulus density on the four factors, using 43 Rivulus-only pools, was used to predict Rivulus density in nine pools, each in a different tributary, in which Rivulus first encountered a second species after being the only species present up- stream of this pool. The expected density was based solely on the physical characteristics of the pool and represented the expected Rivulus density purely from physical attributes, as if Rivulus were the only species present. Comparison of these expected densities with the actual Rivulus densities revealed a consistent negative impact of the presence of other species on Rivulus density, in support of Prediction 1. Overall, actual Rivulus densities at points of contact with other species were about one-third of the density expected if the other species were absent. The distribution of Rivulus was essentially complementary to that of the piscivorous fish, although only one site provided an unambiguous test of Prediction 2, since Hoplias did not ascend the tributaries in this watershed. The size distribution of Rivulus in pop- ulations occurring in pools with predators was dominated by small individuals, with none larger than the median size of Rivulus in predator-free populations, supporting Prediction 3. Finally, the competition experiments revealed that adult Poecilia depressed the growth rate of young Rivulus. We conclude that interspecific interactions are important in structuring the geographical distribution and abundance of Rivulus throughout this tropical watershed, and suggest that interspecific interactions can fragment Rivulus into local populations.


I know Kazarwa Henry and Nyakahungura Kenneth. I was in Lyantonde that day then around 11 pm, I got a call from Kaguta road Police Post where Ntwale and Bayendeza had reported a case. Police asked me to go because two people were reporting that Kyakabale had been cut. I drove to the Police Post and found there two policemen. I drove to George's place found Nalongo his Wife Nakanjako and Kyakabale in critical condition. By this time Ntwale and Bayendeza had gone to town to look for me. Kyakabale told me that Kazarwa, Tobias and Kenneth are the ones who had cut him. That Kazarwa came from the front and Tobias cut him from behind with a panga.


A novel polymerizable borate ester surfactant(BE)was prepared by N-hydroxymethyl acrylamide,triethyl(borate) and N,N-dihydroxyethyl dodecylamine,and characterized and identified by IR,~1HNMR.The resistance to(hydrolysis),surface activity,homo-polymerization and co-polymerization(with acrylamide)properties of BE were(studied).The results showed that the BE has good resistance to hydrolysis,high surface activity with cmc(0.066 mmol/L) and γ_(cmc) 29.2 mN/m at 25 ℃,pH=7.Also,the BE has good homo-polymerization and co-polymerization properties,and the intrinsic viscosity of the two polymers achieve 24 mL/g and higher than 80 mL/g respectively.The γ_(cmc) are within(31.0 mN/m~)32.4 mN/m,which is similar with surface activity of conventional surfactants with low molecular weight.


Up to the present time, Robert Lawson is the only person who, as author and illustrator of children's books, has won both of these coveted awards. The warm personality, boundless imagination, robust philosophy, and extraordinary humor of this gentle man are evident in some twenty books of his own, over thirty etchings, innumerable magazine illustrations, and the forty or more books which he illustrated for other authors.


The article presents five selected architectural objects of Częstochowa, a city located in the southern part of Poland, known all over the world for the foot pilgrimage, the goal of which is Jasna Góra. It is presented how architects, when designing ingenious and modern buildings, at the same time revitalize the past, creating architectural and landscape places that disseminate and bring humanistic, historical and natural knowledge closer to both the residents and newcomers. The research concerns buildings that, in contrast to various functions, play an educational role. In each of them, the architects maintain the cultural and spatial continuity of the city, which received the town rights in the fourteenth century.


The practical implementation of maximum likelihood detection is limited by its high complexity as well as requiring perfect channel state information. Although conventional blind detection techniques reduce complexity, they degrade performance and require blind channel state information. In this paper (for the first time), a deep learning based blind detection and a joint blind detection-constellation shaping structure are presented (to solve this problem). This paper (deeply) goes through the problem and discusses several (practical) scenarios, including single user, multiuser with resource (channel) allocation, and multiuser without resource allocation (multiuser interference). In order to show the universality of the proposed systems, wide atmospheric turbulence regimes, from weak to strong are considered, and single input single output, as well as multi-input multi-output structures are considered. Results indicate that without channel estimation, a deep learning based (blind) detector (despite its very few complexity, and despite conventional systems require it), could have a very favorable performance at all around. So, it is expected that practical implementations of the proposed structures greatly reduce cost, and processing latency, while maintaining performance close enough to the outstanding conventional systems.


The structural properties of La1-xCaxMnO3 are investigated by employing bulk and surface simulation techniques. The potential parameters reproduce the crystal structures of both end compositions, giving good agreement with experimental data. The calculated variation of the lattice parameters with Ca concentration also agrees with experimental values. Our calculations predict the formation of a solid solution and that, at very low temperatures and near x = 1/2, the cations preferentially order on both A and B sites. The driving mechanism for cation ordering arises from both the coulomb and ion-size terms, with the relative proportions depending on composition. However, at temperatures where high-temperature synthesis normally occurs, the ordering of the cations is random. Surface energies are calculated for (010) and (110) surfaces for the end compositions:  in LaMnO3, Mn-terminated layers are more stable, whereas Ca-terminated layers are found to be more stable for the CaMnO3 system. It is proposed that t...


Stereoscopic video (3D video) has been increasingly applied in industry and entertainment. And the research of stereoscopic video quality assessment (SVQA) has become very important for promoting the development of stereoscopic video system. Many CNN-based models have emerged for SVQA task. However, these methods ignore the significance of the global information of the video frames for quality perception. In this paper, we propose a multi-level feature-fusion model based on Transformer and convolutional neural network (MFFTCNet) to assess the perceptual quality of the stereoscopic video. Firstly, we use global information from Transformer to guide local information from convolutional neural network (CNN). Moreover, we utilize low-level features in the CNN branch to guide high-level features. Besides, considering the binocular rivalry effect in the human vision system (HVS), we use 3D convolution to achieve rivalry fusion of binocular features. The proposed method is tested on two public stereoscopic video quality datasets. The result shows that this method correlates highly with human visual perception and outperforms state-of-the-art (SOTA) methods by a significant margin.


According to the principle of electromagnetic shielding fabric with stainless steel fiber,the effect of content and distribution methods of stainless steel fiber,yarn structure,tightness of the fabric on the electromagnetic shielding effectiveness is studied.The results show that the more stainless steel fibers in the fabric,the better shielding effectiveness;the electromagnetic shielding effectiveness of fabric with core-spun yarn is bigger than fabric with mixed yarn when the contents of stainless steel fibers in the fabric are equal;comparing the fabric with stainless steel fibers in one direction,the fabric with stainless steel fibers both in the warp and weft yarns have better electromagnetic shielding effectiveness;when the contents of stainless steel fibers in the fabric are equal,bigger tightness of the fabric leads to better shielding effectiveness.


Dugesia (Girardia) tigrina is a Nearctic freshwater triclad native to North America, now amply distributed in most European countries as the result of a reportedly unique introduction into north-west Europe early this century and its dispersal southwards and eastwards in the last decades. All European populations described so far are externally spotted, with a pigmented pharynx, and, apart from two sexual populations recently described in England, they are fissiparous. This uniformity contrasts with the variability reported in its native area, thus supporting the hypothesis of a single introduction. However, thorough morphological, karyological and biochemical comparative studies of European populations have never been properly done.

We have undertaken such a study comparing 24 populations present in a restricted area of the western Mediterranean. The results show an unexpectedly ample variation in external and pharyngeal pigmentation patterns, the presence of sexually reproducing populations, and ample variation in their biochemical patterns as revealed by isoelectric-focusing. This is an indication that European Dugesia (G.) tigrina is far more diverse than previously thought, suggesting that several, independent introductions from its native area have recently occurred, and the implications of these findings in biogeographical and taxonomic terms are discussed.


Simple Summary Genome replication, repair, recombination, and the DNA damage response (DDR) rely on a cadre of DNA binding proteins to execute and regulate these critical pathways. There are many structural motifs that support DNA-binding and included in these is the oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide binding fold (OB-fold). OB-folds are found across the tree of life and play critical roles in chromosome maintenance and stability. This paper reviews the current state of knowledge regarding structure, function, and involvement of OB-fold proteins in the DNA damage response, replication, and repair. We highlight a group of OB-fold DNA binding proteins and discuss how disruption of these critical protein–DNA interactions can be exploited in cancer therapy. Abstract Genome stability and maintenance pathways along with their requisite proteins are critical for the accurate duplication of genetic material, mutation avoidance, and suppression of human diseases including cancer. Many of these proteins participate in these pathways by binding directly to DNA, and a subset employ oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide binding folds (OB-fold) to facilitate the protein–DNA interactions. OB-fold motifs allow for sequence independent binding to single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) and can serve to position specific proteins at specific DNA structures and then, via protein–protein interaction motifs, assemble the machinery to catalyze the replication, repair, or recombination of DNA. This review provides an overview of the OB-fold structural organization of some of the most relevant OB-fold containing proteins for oncology and drug discovery. We discuss their individual roles in DNA metabolism, progress toward drugging these motifs and their utility as potential cancer therapeutics. While protein–DNA interactions were initially thought to be undruggable, recent reports of success with molecules targeting OB-fold containing proteins suggest otherwise. The potential for the development of agents targeting OB-folds is in its infancy, but if successful, would expand the opportunities to impinge on genome stability and maintenance pathways for more effective cancer treatment.


Human diversity in colonial contexts represented a fascinating topic of research for scientists and posed challenging administrative issues for colonial bureaucrats. For officials, managing the challenges of colonial administration was often dependent on acquiring data on their subject populations, while, conversely, the scientific pursuit of that data was firmly embedded in colonial rule. For those whose lives became colonial subjects during this time, colonial rule meant, at the very least, being exposed to new kinds of illnesses, expertise and exploitation. It also often meant being counted and categorized in the name of welfare and reform.


BACKGROUND
Naltrexone is an efficacious medication for the treatment of alcohol use disorder in adults. As an opioid receptor antagonist, naltrexone blocks activation of the endogenous opioid system, which is involved in the affectively reinforcing properties of substance use. Few studies, however, have examined the moderating effect of naltrexone on the association of affect and alcohol use. Additionally, most existing research on naltrexone studied adults in the human laboratory.

METHOD
We conducted a secondary analysis of ecological momentary assessment data from a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled cross-over study, comparing naltrexone (50 mg/daily) and placebo in 26 adolescents (15-19 years old) exhibiting problematic drinking patterns. Multilevel models tested whether naltrexone moderated associations of alcohol use with both positive and negative affect (PA, NA).

RESULTS
Results indicated that, during the naltrexone arm, greater estimated blood alcohol concentration (eBAC) levels were associated with greater NA further into drinking episodes. In turn, greater NA after the first drink of an episode was associated with reduced subsequent eBAC values in the naltrexone arm. Low PA was also associated with lower subsequent eBAC levels in the naltrexone condition after the first drink.

CONCLUSIONS
Findings support the idea that naltrexone can disrupt the association of affect and alcohol use, and these effects emerge later in drinking episodes. Greater attention to the effects of naltrexone on affect and reinforcement may help us to better tailor psychotherapy to maximize the benefits of naltrexone. However, as most drink reports were in the first two hours of the drinking episode and participants only reported affect at the first three end-drink reports of a drinking episode (limiting the number of drinks reported), replication of the findings is needed.


Several years ago a friend was anticipat ing her first child. Naturally, an office pool was started to see who could best estimate the baby's birth date. But this was no ordinary office and no ordinary office lottery. This was an office of statisticians, and their definition of the winning, or best, estimate was quite different from the usual one. For them, speci fying a single date was not adequate. Instead, lottery participants would specify an interval of days, and the winning estimate would be the shortest interval of days that included the baby's actual birth date. To win the pool, one needed to specify the actual birth date as well as the shortest interval that included it. Precision in addition to accuracy was required, and new betting strategies were undertaken. Interval estimates along with significance testing are mainstays of a statistician's inferential tool kit. In this article, we discuss the proper interpretation of confidence intervals and offer insight into the construction of confidence intervals for population characteristics other than the mean.


An experimental investigation of the surface runoff and deep flow produced by artificial rainfalls on sloping soil surfaces is presented. Starting from large values of initial moisture content, the relation between these two quantities and slope is examined through 15 experiments carried out using a soil with a sloping surface of 1°, 5° and 10°. A laboratory box 152 cm long, 122 cm wide and 78 cm deep was used. The overland flow was measured in the middle of the flow path, while the deep flow at the slope outlet. The average rainfall rate, r, was generally chosen to be less than the soil saturated hydraulic conductivity, Ks. It was found that for a given rainfall rate greater slopes determine larger surface runoff and smaller deep flow. The observed results are in agreement with those obtained earlier by Essig et al.; however the effect of slope variation appears to be more pronounced because of the different range used for r/Ks and the different soil selected. Current theories and experimental investigations performed by other authors do not explain appropriately the results described in this paper. Lastly, an overall comparison of the results showed here with those presented by Essig et al., obtained by measurements of overland flow at the slope outlet, suggests that the influence of the downstream wall on the amount of surface and deep flow is not significant.


The present invention discloses a method of positioning the image acquisition and image acquisition positioning system, the method comprising: a reference direction acquisition step of acquiring reference direction corresponding to the user; watching confirmation step of confirming the user's eye is looking at the object positioning assistance; object information acquisition step of acquiring position information of the object positioning aid; distance acquisition step of acquiring from a user with respect to the positioning of the auxiliary objects; angle acquisition step of acquiring the user with respect to the angle of the gaze direction reference direction; positioning step, according to the helper object position location information, with respect to the user from the positioning auxiliary objects, the reference direction, and the gaze direction with respect to the user location information of the reference direction of the angle obtained user. The present invention is a positioning aid by obtaining the target user's eye gaze direction relative to the distance between the user and the user's precise position of the positioning to improve the accuracy of positioning the image acquisition.


AS PRISON ACTIVISTS, WE KNOW A LOT ABOUT MEN IN PRISON, BUT MUCH LESS about women. There are far fewer incarcerated women, and they are seldom in the news. My purpose here is to briefly reflect on certain events during three decades of prisoners' rights activism: first, the early days of activism in California, through which I identify seven organizing and unifying principles, and second, more recent activities in Canada. Years ago, I lived, worked, and studied in a variety of countries. Everywhere, I saw criminal justice systems as instruments of injustice. In the United States in the late 1950s, it was Blacks who were getting rounded up. In France in the 1960s, it was North African "gypsies"; in Eritrea it was Muslims. In Jamaica in the 1970s, it was Rastafarians and other anticolonialists. Globally, the patterns have been clear -- the people most likely to be criminalized, incarcerated, and tortured are primarily young men of political minority groups. In the late l960s, the civil rights, black power, antiwar, and women's movements spawned other social movements, such as organized homemakers, midwives, farm workers, welfare recipients, people with physical disabilities, and antiwar Vietnam War veterans. From within this melange of issues, prisoners' rights movement surfaced with a certain clarity and political force that recognized prisons as a key convergence of social injustices. While the prisoners' rights movement was taking shape as an offshoot of antiwar, anti-racism, and socialist movements, academic research and university courses were producing data and critical analyses of carceral enterprises. At the University of California at Santa Cruz, where I was an undergraduate (and later a graduate student), economist John Isbister and psychologist Ted Sarbin were producing empirically grounded critiques of prisons. In the Bay Area, attorney Faye Stender was exposing the lawlessness of prison regimes. The fledgling Crime and Social Justice journal (now Social Justice) became a valued aid in examining the intricacies of punishment as a state enterprise. Prisoners' writings and defense committees, especially those of war resisters and black power figures (particularly George Jackson, Angela Davis, Ericka Huggins, and Huey Newton), were stirring the public consciences of liberals and radicals alike. By the time the FBI went on a shoot-'em-up cross-country rampage against the Black Panthers, political prisoner support groups had been sprouting all over California and throughout the U.S. At U.C. Santa Cruz, we were being influenced by the writings of Richard Quinney, Jessica Mitford, and the Quakers' abolitionist book, Instead of Prisons. Educators such as Rafael Guzman, for whom I worked as a teaching assistant on campus and at Soledad prison, were taking students into prisons and bringing newly released prisoners to the university, three of whom were teaching assistants in his popular on-campus prison course. Prisons and universities represented antithetical institutions, and the contradictions between them exposed fundamental societal inequities and the mechanisms of social tracking. Taking the university into the prison felt like a revolutionary act. I also studied with, and later assisted, Herman Blake in a Black History course, which presented a perspective on the disproportionate numbers of African Americans in prison. These sorts of liberatory educational experiences were not uncommon in the 1970s, when, for example, Women's Studies was in its nascent stage. Benefit concerts, rallies, and grass-roots conferences on prisoners' rights generated extensive networks of activists with a primary focus on prisoners in the hardcore maximum-security men's institutions, such as Soledad, San Quentin, and Folsom. Many women, including self-identified feminists, participated in defense committees and other prison-related work, which most commonly focused on men. In the early 1970s, few people knew anything about women who were locked up. …


This thesis is about information flow and customer service at Besam Production AB´s transport department. The focus of this thesis is to study the daily routines at the transport department regarding information flow and customer service both to the customers and to the forwarder. And how the information flow can be changed to be more efficient, save time and how to make this to an advantage against theirs competitors, is also studied. Like vise the customer service that Besam Production today is offering their customer at the transportation point and witch improvements that can be carried out.In the chapter where the current situation the daily work and situation for the transport department is addressed. Especially the situations regarding information flow to and from the daily used forwarder, Geologistics, and the information flow that today exist between the transport department and daughter-companies/end customers. In this chapter it's also addressed witch kind of customer service that Besam Production AB today offers with their transport and what kind of customer service that Besam Production AB today is receiving bfrom their forwarder.In the literature study different forms of information flow and the importance of the information quality and contains, is studied. In this chapter different forms of customer service and how important the opinion of the customer is, is also studied.The result of the analysis between the chapters, current situation and literature study is for show in the conclusions' chapter. The most important results in this thesis indicate that major improvements can be carried out within the transportation department in both areas. An example of this is that the greatest information flow today is transferred with fax. If the information flow instead was transferred electronically, the time saved could be used for customer service that today is not developed enough.


Diterpenoids are important chemical constituents isolated from the genus Illicium , which possess many pharmacological effects such as anti-inflammatory, antiviral activities, cytotoxicity, and so on. Up to now, 68 diterpenoids have been isolated from the genus Illicium , and they are classified as abietane-type, pimarane-type and podocarpane-type. In this paper, the chemical constituents and bioactivities of the diterpenoids from the genus Illicium are reviewed.


The invention provides a numerical control forming method for an automatically fed-in forge piece, which is characterized by comprising the following steps: firstly, measuring numerical values of the comprehensive rigidity of a helical press machine and a die: inputting the angular velocity omega c of a motor; when the angular velocity value of the motor is equal to the omega c value, striking; according to the pressure value F displayed on a tonnage meter, computing the comprehensive rigidity values C of the helical press machine and the die according to a formula; then, controlling a robot arm by a controller to put a workpiece between dies of the helical press machine by control components and implementing the numerical control forming of the forge piece: (1) inputting the operating data V, A, H0, H, B0, B, sigma s, C, mu and J and computing the stress coefficients according to the formula; (2) feeding in the workpiece by controlling the robot arm according to the B0; (3) computingthe needed motor speed omega according to the formula by utilizing the control components, further controlling actions of the motor; when a motor speed value is detected to be equal to omega, controlling the motor to rotate at the speed of omega; and moving a sliding block downwards to strike. The forge piece which is machined by adopting the method provided by the invention has the advantages ofhigh accuracy, energy conservation, high efficiency and high automaticity.


Herein we present a significant step towards next-generation antibody-based photodynamic therapeutics. Site-selective modification of a clinically relevant monoclonal antibody, with a serum-stable linker bearing a strained alkyne, allows for the controlled Cu-free "click" assembly of an in vitro active antibody-based PDT agent using a water soluble azide porpyhrin.


On 30 November – 1 December 2017, the WHO Strategic Advisory Group on malaria eradication (SAGme) convened for its third meeting in New Delhi, India. The third SAGme meeting included seven committee members, supported by WHO Collaborating Centres and other key stakeholders, including observers from industry (Novartis), other UN agencies (UNICEF) and the WHO Secretariat (Global Malaria Programme [GMP]). The meeting's objectives included reviewing progress on the work packages, providing guidance and course corrections, and determining next steps. Major discussion points included i) understanding key determinants that will lead to malaria eradication; ii) learning from past and present models to improve estimates of the costs to eradicate and how to finance the effort; and iii) identifying the components of community engagement and health systems necessary to form the basis of an eradication effort. The SAGme also discussed the format of the final product that needs to be provided to the Director General (DG) and Executive Board (EB).


The present study investigates the role of salicylic acid (SA) in inducing plant tolerance to salinity. The application of 150, 300 and 450 ppm SA to thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) plants via foliar spraying provided protection against 50, 100 and 150 mM NaCl stress. SA treated plants had greater shoot and root dry weights compared to untreated plants when exposed to salt stress. SA application at 150 ppm significantly increased roots dry weight. Application of SA increased photosynthetic rates, mesophyll efficiency and water use efficiency in salt stressed plants. Transpiration rates and stomatal conductance were also significantly iesser in SA treated plants under saline stress conditions. SA application increased electrolyte leakage compared to untreated plants. Beneficial effects of SA in saline conditions include sustaining the photosynthetic/transpiration activity and consequently growth, and may have contributed to the reduction or total avoidance of necrosis. SA, when used in appropriate concentrations, alleviates salinity stress without compromising the plants ability for growth under a favorable environment.


In the present study,two partial sequences of ccmFN gene encoding N-terminal maturation subunit F of cytochromes c in Psathyrostachys huashanica and Pseudoroegneria strigosa(Poaceae: Triticeae) were reported.Sequence analysis of ccmFN between these two species indicates a comparability ratio of 99%.The comparabilities of 98%,97% and 93% are shown when these two sequences are compared with those of Triticum aestivum,Oryza sativa and Zea mays,respectively.This results are in agreement with previous study whose mitochondrial genes encoding protein are highly conservative.


This article shares a walk with Faye, who was living in a direct access hostel, and Open Clasp women's theatre company, to think through the themes of this special edition: the role of vision and imagery in fostering the imagination, 'creative seeing' and creative knowing. As a participatory, arts-based methodology, walking has much to recommend it, especially when combined with visual and biographical forms of research.


Comparison of the equilibrium basicity of the title sulfone (1) with that of some reference compounds indicates that the ground state of 1 is not affected by intramolecular charge transfer from the donor to the acceptor ring.


Cholinesterases and nonspecific esterases of normal and atrophic (denervated and tenotomized) adult rat gastrocnemius were assayed, the latter 5-45 days after operation. Acetylcholinesterase activity per whole muscle was about 25% of normal 5 days after denervation and, in permanently denervated animals, showed little change thereafter. Tenotomy caused a transient 27% fall. Butyrylcholinesterase was unaffected. Nonspecific esterase activity of denervated gastrocnemius (substrate, α-naphthyl acetate) was normal 30 days after reversible sciatic injury and 50% of normal 45 days after irreversible denervation. Wet weight and total protein fell in approximate parallel. Results of assay and electrophoresis (zymograms) showed that muscle esterase was mainly of B type, although A and C type acetylesterases accounted for about 10% of the free or soluble fraction. An increase in the free esterase activity of the homogenate and an absolute increase in A type esterase accompanied denervation and disuse. Bound esterase was 80% released by Triton X-100 and was entirely B type. Zymograms of neonatal muscle were distinguished by the prominence of A-esterases and the presence of an acetylcholinesterase which was not encountered in adults. Over-all, despite some points of similarity, zymograms of neonatal and atrophic adult muscles were distinctly different.


Total joint arthroplasty has proven to be efficient to relieve pain and regain mobility. In fact, most patients undergoing a total knee arthroplasty (TKA) are satisfied with their surgery (80 to 90%), yet 4 to 7% still complain of unexplainable pain and stiffness. Several authors have proposed that reactivity to the implant could explain this phenomenon. Still, no strong evidence supports this theory as of today. We aimed to determine the prevalence of metal and cement hypersensitivity in a cohort of patients with unexplained pain and stiffness after TKA. We retrieved data for a group of patients presenting unexplained pain and stiffness. We excluded all other potential known causes of pain. All patients were tested with a Lymphocyte Transformation Test from whole blood taps. We analysed data of hypersensitivity to metals (alloy particles of titanium and cobalt, aluminum, cobalt, nickel, zirconium, vanadium, molybdenum, cobalt, chromium and iron) and PMMA cement (bone cement monomer and particles). Fifty-three patients underwent a LTT for unexplained pain and stiffness after total knee arthroplasty between May 2012 and May 2015. The cohort consisted of 26 men and 27 women with a mean age of 66.3(±8.0) years. Six patients had no hypersensitivity (11.3%), leaving 88.7% of the cohort with hypersensitivity to metal and/or cement. Almost half the cohort of patients tested for PMMA was hypersensitive to cement (44.0%). The most common metal hypersensitivity was nickel (69.8%). Twelve patients presented sensitivity to only one metal (22.6%), whereas 35 patients were hypersensitive to more than one metal (66.0%). Eleven patients had revision surgery with a hypoallergenic prosthesis. Patients reported a significant diminution of pain as well as better knee function compared to preoperative status as early as 6 weeks postop, although some reported residual stiffness. The results of this study suggest that metal and/or cement hypersensitivity could play a role in cases of total knee arthroplasty with unexplained pain and stiffness. Randomised controlled clinical trials on the subject will be initiated by our team to further investigate this phenomenon.


Altitudinal zollation of forest vegetation and iしs causal factors 童n To−shjma Island, lzu Islands, Japan were studied . The naturat f{)rest vegetation of the island was classi負ed into Castanopsi ∫ − Persea type (C −Ptype)of the lowland and Eu リ ∫リノ厂ακ type (E−S type)of the highland. As compared to the C −Ptype, the ES [ype had the following characteristics : (1)the canopy エcpresented by the mixture of


Once upon a time… there was a king in a faraway land who ordered the kingdom's cartographers to draw a perfect map with every single topographic detail. Once upon a time… there was Web 2.0, which allowed human beings from all over the world to document and share every single moment of their lives. Once upon a time… there was Participative Interactive Documentary9, a work of art that presents a subjective perspective of reality and introduces an evolving open database in which the users can add their contents and include their points of view to the documentary. We may argue that all interactive documentaries comprehend a participatory approach, in the sense that once the documentary includes interaction and requires a physical action or performance from the audience the users are already participating.


This study aims to determine the increase in learning outcomes of mathematics, the subject of estimation and rounding in IV grade students of SDN  in the 2021/2022 academic year. The method used in this research is Classroom Action Research (CAR) which consists of two cycles and four stages. The data collection technique used was observation while students were participating in the learning process and using tests in the form of questions carried out at the end of the cycle as well as documentation during learning activities.The results of this study indicate that there is an increase in students' mathematics learning outcomes using the Project Based Learning (PjBL) learning model in each cycle. In the first cycle, student learning outcomes reached 53% of 32 students and only 17 students completed. Furthermore, in cycle II there was an increase with learning outcomes reaching 91% completeness and only 3 students who did not complete. The conclusion of this study is that efforts to use the Project Based Learning model can improve mathematics learning outcomes for IV grade students at SDN .


Aeolian sediment transport shapes erodible surfaces and affects the dust cycles and climates of planetary bodies. For the approximately unidirectional near-surface winds often temporarily prevailing in planetary atmospheres, sediment transport approaches an equilibrium state when given enough fetch to adapt. Here, we use grain scale-resolved numerical sediment transport simulations to derive scaling laws for equilibrium transport. The simulations cover seven orders of magnitude in the particle-fluid-density ratio 𝑠 , ranging from water to extremely rarefied air on Pluto. They suggest that the threshold fluid shear velocity needed to sustain aeolian transport exhibits a parabolic dependency on the grain size with a pronounced threshold minimum. We show that this behavior originates from the equations of motion describing quasicontinuous saltation driven by Stokes drag in a hydrodynamically smooth turbulent boundary layer. In particular, the threshold minimum, rescaled using units of particle density, gravity, and dynamic fluid viscosity, scales as 𝑠 1 / 3 , contrary to the 𝑠 1 / 2 scaling measured in nonequilibrium wind tunnel experiments. Furthermore, the simulations suggest that the aeolian transport rate and grain impact energy flux, which drives dust emission into a planetary body's atmosphere, obey scaling laws resembling the classical law by Ungar and Haff ( Sedimentology 34, 289-299, 1987), but with nonconstant scaling coefficients proportional to 𝑠 1 / 3 and 𝑠 1 / 4 , respectively. The simulation-derived semiempirical master curves for the cessation threshold and the threshold-dependent transport rate and impact flux, supported by their agreement with terrestrial measurements in air and water, provide a simple means to make predictions of aeolian processes across a large range of planetary conditions.


It is suggested that the full nucleus-nucleus potential consists of the macroscopic and shell-correction parts. The deep sub-barrier fusion hindrance takes place in a nucleus-nucleus system with a strong negative shell-correction contribution to the full heavy-ion potential, while a strong positive shell-correction contribution to the full potential leads to weak enhancement of the deep sub-barrier fusion cross section.


The design and experimental demonstrations of a microstrip patch antenna for broadband WLAN application are presented. The physical parameters of the antenna, including based on a diamond patch, antenna input impedance, antenna thickness and small parasitic plane as the ground plane dimensions, are studied. The influence of various parameters on antenna characteristics has been investigated using simulation software microwave office (MWO) and experimental results. Comparisons with measured results on fabricated antenna structures are provided for simulation validation. These results are very useful in the design of WLAN operations in the 2.4 GHz bands.


Objective: The host immune response and low vector efficiency have been key impediments to effective cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) gene transfer for cystic fibrosis (CF). An adeno‐associated virus vector (AAV‐CFTR) was used in a phase I dose‐escalation study to transfer CFTR cDNA into respiratory epithelial cells of the maxillary sinus of 10 CF patients. Study Design: A prospective, randomized, unblinded, dose‐escalation, within‐subjects, phase I clinical trial of AAV‐CFTR was conducted. Patients: Ten patients with previous bilateral maxillary antrostomies were treated. Main Outcome Measures: Safety, gene transfer as measured by semiquantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and sinus transepithelial potential difference (TEPD) were measured. Results: The highest level of gene transfer was observed in the range of 0.1–1 AAV‐CFTR vector copy per cell in biopsy specimens obtained 2 weeks after treatment. When tested, persistence was observed in one patient for 41 days and in another for 10 weeks. Dose‐dependent changes in TEPD responses to pharmacologic intervention were observed following treatments. Little or no inflammatory or immune responses were observed. Conclusion: AAV‐CFTR administration to the maxillary sinus results in successful, dose‐dependent gene transfer to the maxillary sinus and alterations in sinus TEPD suggestive of a functional effect, with little or no cytopathic or host immune response. Further study is warranted for AAV vectors as they may prove useful for CFTR gene transfer and other in vivo gene transfer therapies. A prospective, randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, within‐subjects, phase II clinical trial of the effect AAV‐CFTR on clinical recurrence of sinusitis will determine the clinical efficacy of AAV gene therapy for CF.


ABSTRACT Three genes with homology to glycosyl hydrolases were detected on a DNA fragment cloned from a psychrophilic lactic acid bacterium isolate,Carnobacterium piscicola strain BA. A 2.2-kb region corresponding to an α-galactosidase gene, agaA, was followed by two genes in the same orientation, bgaB, encoding a 2-kb β-galactosidase, and bgaC, encoding a structurally distinct 1.76-kb β-galactosidase. This gene arrangement had not been observed in other lactic acid bacteria, including Lactococcus lactis, for which the genome sequence is known. To determine if these sequences encoded enzymes with α- and β-galactosidase activities, we subcloned the genes and examined the enzyme properties. The α-galactosidase, AgaA, hydrolyzespara-nitrophenyl-α-d-galactopyranoside and has optimal activity at 32 to 37°C. The β-galactosidase, BgaC, has an optimal activity at 40°C and a half-life of 15 min at 45°C. The regulation of these enzymes was tested in C. piscicolastrain BA and activity on both α- and β-galactoside substrates decreased for cells grown with added glucose or lactose. Instead, an increase in activity on a phosphorylated β-galactoside substrate was found for the cells supplemented with lactose, suggesting that a phospho-galactosidase functions during lactose utilization. Thus, the two β-galactosidases may act synergistically with the α-galactosidase to degrade other polysaccharides available in the environment.


Abstract : Before proceeding to convergent cathodes, it was modified as indicated. The first portion of this contract concentrated on reproducing the prior art of tungstate cathodes in a planar device. To summarize, while the emission has been reached for a brief period of time, the longer term emission is only about one-half of that expected. A program for improving the emission is still underway. In the meantime, two diodes with curved electrodes have been prepared. Also, a beam tester has been designed and is partially built. (Author)


Wang Guowei is a notable scholar integrating Chinese and western studies,and it is embodied in his literature studies.Among the western esthetics Wang Guowei likes Schopenhauer especially.Thus Schopenhauer's views are inevitably infiltrated in Wang Guowei's Literary studies.This article will make "Ren Jian Ci Hua" as an example and reveal Wang Guowei's learning to Schopenhauer' esthetics in building Chinese poetic theory from three sides:the generation processing,the type of forms and the artistic expressions of the "Jing Jie" theory.


In older adults, the safety and effectiveness of resistance exercise have been established (1-5). However, there is paucity of information pertaining to the application of resistance exercise, specifically high-intensity resistance exercises in very old individuals (100+ years of age). This report presents the case of a 105-year older woman, who completed high-intensity resistance exercises as part of a home-health physiotherapy program.


The genetic transformation system of cucumber 'New Jinchun 4' mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens were studied.The cucumber leaves as explants were pre-cultured on MS+1.0 mg L-1 6-BA+0.15 mg L-1 IAA for 2 days.After infected by Agrobacterium(OD600=0.8,pH=5.7) for 8 min supplemented with 150 μmol/L acetosyringone(AS),the explants were co-cultured on MS + 1.0 mg L-1 6-BA + 0.15 mg L-1 IAA + 500 mg L-1 Carb + 40 mg L-1 Hyg for 2 days.The hpt gene were transformed successfully to regenerated plantlets by gus instantaneous expression and PCR test.


A hypotheses underlying virtual environments have been focused on either a hard animal desire for freedom from the limits of the real world by accepting the digital world. Humans would be able to interact with all of this simulated space in a much more spontaneous manner right then and there, spawning new forms of human communication. Its goal would be to go above the conventional ways of collaboration in which most individuals do on a frequent basis, including the mouse and keyboard. All of that is viewed as an unreal method of operating because it requires individuals to respond to the needs of advanced technologies or is it the other manner only about. A online reality, but at the other hand, has the inverse result. This enables creating opportunities for more direct delve oneself together in visually stunning globe where they can discover using one's sensory perception. The above instinctual type of integration inside this reports indicate leads to innovative channels of information and comprehension.


In the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) wrist pulse diagnosis plays a major role in detecting the health status of an individual. It depends strongly on the doctors' long-term experience as well as on their different inferences. Being subjective and based on long-term experience, pulse detection methods are difficult to standardize. Kim pulse diagnosis (KPD), established by Wei Jin, is an efficient method validated by both traditional Chinese medicine and in recent years also by western medicine. The key step to automatic implementation of KPD, using signal processing and analysis, is the developed KPD signal acquisition device. However, the raw wrist pulse signal acquired from KPD device includes a significant amount of noise. This paper proposes several preprocessing algorithms for pulse diagnosis, that includes wavelet transform and Gaussian filter to remove noise and the iterative sliding window (ISW) algorithm to remove the baseline wander and split the continuous signal into single periods. Experimental results show, that the algorithm for baseline wander removal is efficient and that the segmented signal matches the signal described in KPD.


The plastic regulation of internal energy reserves is acknowledged as the main adaptive response to winter conditions of resident small birds in northern latitudes, a strategy that may be altered whenever human-supple-mented food is available. We investigated the effects of supplementary feeding on the energy management strategy of two wild passerine species, the Willow Tit Poecile montanus and Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleus , wintering in boreal conditions by measuring body mass and the energy cost of living, i.e. basal metabolic rate. Individuals of both species were heavier, larger and exhibited a higher energy cost of living when captured at the feeders than were individuals captured away from feeders. Fed Willow Tits expended more energy in maintenance, although this difference disappeared once mass was accounted for. Conversely, Blue Tits at feeders had higher mass-adjusted energy cost of living, but only at low ambient temperatures. The results indicate that winter feeding has species-speci fi c effects on overall energy management strategy and modi fi es the response to environmental conditions of wintering passerines.


The search for efficient water management options generally overlooks beliefs systems, perception, reality and attitudes. Yet these all play a part in sustainable water management most especially in the less developed countries. The aim of this paper is to see how such cultural issues contend with the formal State initiatives for efficient water resources management in Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria. The study uses key contending State water management principles, namely water rights, cost recovery and environmental sustainability and compared with local practices to see commonalities and differences. Meetings, interviews, observations and focus group discussions were used to collect the data. The ideal points for such data collection were the Cross River Basin Development Authority (CRBDA) projects which served as intersection points between formal, state-based institutions and the informal community-based practices. In the result, it was observed that the key water management principles adopted by the State could not fit well with the prevailing local practices and contexts. Expectedly, the needed cooperation from the locals for those projects was weak and lacking. A number of factors lent explanations and these bordered on the perception and attitudes to water by the locals; and compounded by the hydrological and socio-economic characteristics of the study areas. For instance, the notion of linking water with the supernatural agency stultifies any formal efforts at cost recovery. This is likely going to be so in the nearest future given sufficient water supplies from the natural sources. Since the "scarcity value" has not been appreciated, it is likely that the locals will continue to perceive any formal water management initiatives as financially taxing rather than improving their overall conditions. Consequently, a management option that builds on the views of the locals was recommended.


The optical transition cross the optical window of non-uniform index is recearched,and the wave front chart referencing the OPD obtained by the ray-tracing is drawn.A novel method to correct the wave-front is given,and the blurring of imagery——phase diversity speckle(PDS)is reduced.


Korea and China concluded a new bilateral investment treaty (BIT) in september 2007. It replaces the 1992 BIT between the two countries. The new Korea-China BIT offers investors enhanced protection, as compared to the previous BIT, both in their broad and effective investor- state dispute provisions, and in their developed substantive protections. The new Korea-China BIT is one of the new generation BITs into which China has entered since the late 1990s. China`s new generation BITs breaks with her long-standing reservations towards investor-state dispute settlement and national treatment. China`s new BIT practice may be primarily prompted by the adoption of China`s `Going Abroad` policy encouraging Chinese outbound investment. The change in the China`s BIT practice may also reflects its greater willingness to protect foreign investment to the level of investment protection that prevail in international law and practice. No investor-state arbitrations have been brought as yet against the Chinese Government. Under the new generation BITs, however, the Chinese government is no longer safe from investment claims. To avoid unwelcome disputes, the Chinese government has to further improve foreign investment environment and increase its ability to manage the relationship with foreign investors effectively. Three way negotiations among Korea, China and Japan is ongoing on Trilateral Investment Treaty. Korea and Japan demand that the treaty should contain the same high standards as are seen in the recently concluded investment treaties. But it is not certain whether China will accept a treaty beyond the level of its BITs. A high-standard investment treaty, if successfully concluded, would not only help integrate the economies of the three countries, but also give a fresh boost to the start of FTA negotiations.


The automated keyword extraction task is to define a collection of representative terms for the text. Extracting keywords defines a small collection of terms, key phrases and keywords that define the document's context. Keyword search allows large document collections to be searched effectively. To allocate suitable key-phrases to new documents, text categorization techniques can be applied. A predefined collection of keyphrases from which all key-phrases for new documents are selected is given in the training documents. The training data for each key-phrase describes a collection of documents associated with it. Standard machine learning techniques are used for each key-phrase to construct a "classifier" from the training materials, using those relevant to it as positive examples and the rest as negative examples. Provided a new text, it is processed by the classifier of each key-phrase.


The bending failure stability accrued with the increase of the running load, when the small size casing, which was run into the wellbore under the deep well, encountered the resistance. The casing contacted the wellface and the friction load was increased between the casing and the wellface, because of the casing bends, counteracted some forces, which caused the running loads to decrease at the contact position. According to the typical drilling pipe bend theory and relative experimental results, the calculating model of the running casing encountered the resistance was established, the model is reasonable and reliable by the analysis and example verification, it provided the theoretical supports for the maximum load.


The use of alkaline electrolysis for the production and storage of hydrogen gas is an effective, scalable, and efficient method of storing renewable energy. Optimization of a specific alkaline electrolysis device is achieved by iteratively modifying and improving upon the geometry of the device. Methods to reduce electrolyte leakage from the cell are successfully developed and the performance benefits of reduced cell width investigated. Well-understood electrochemical principles were used to further characterize the performance of the various cell designs investigated. The possibility of further design improvements to the cell are discussed, such as the feasibility of incorporating zero-gap technology into the device. Scale-up to pilot scale systems is also presented demonstrating the linear scal-ability of the design.


Voltage control schemes are being employed to guarantee that the voltage across the grid stays within the predefined boundaries. Growing number of smart PV-based inverters (SPVIs) necessitates cutting-edge control schemes to ensure addressing voltage fluctuations suitably aligned with the existing grid codes. Designing such control schemes for grid clusters with high penetration of SPVIs is complex and depends on various agencies, such as configuration of the clusters and physical limitations of the SPVIs, themselves. This article proposes a multitimescale three-tiered voltage control framework for dispersed SPVIs at the grid edge. The uppermost tier called the long-term supervisory tier oversees the entire grid cluster to make sure that total generation and consumption on the cluster are balanced while power delivery losses are minimized and voltage across the grid is within the permissible boundaries. In short term, the middle tier of the proposed framework called short-term distributed tier ensures cooperative operation of the SPVIs for establishing short-term voltage stability across the cluster in a subsecond timeframe. The undermost tier, called the model-predictive-based local tier, fulfills the operational commands dictated by the upper layers with fast dynamics. By implementing the proposed control framework, the SPVIs will participate in voltage regulation across the grid in occurrence of rapid voltage fluctuations while keeping the entire distribution grid at the optimal operating condition for a long term. The proposed multitimescale three-tiered control framework is verified by simulation.


A novel organic montmorillonite, which could act as both polycondensation catalyst of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and filler of PET/clay nanocomposites, was prepared. Original montmorillonite was first treated with different amounts of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP), and then intercalated by TiO2/SiO2 sol to gain polycondensation catalytic activity. The acquired clay possessed excellent thermal stability and would not degrade during the polycondensation step. PET/clay nanocomposites were prepared via in-situ polymerization using the organo-clay as polycondensation catalysts. The morphologies of the nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscope. The results indicated that the amount of PVP and TiO2/SiO2 sol strongly affected the dispersion state of the clay, and finally, partially exfoliated PET/clay nanocomposites were obtained. The nanocomposites had better properties than pure PET due to the incorporation of the delaminated clay layers. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2009. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers


Abstract Selected high elevation forests and heath balds of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) between Newfound Gap and Thunderhead Mountain were comprehensively sampled for the first time. Thirty-three species including one new species Fumonelix langdoni (Dourson) were documented occurring at elevations between 1,372 m to 2,012 m. Two previous land snail inventories in the park by Thompson (1981) and Dourson (2005) added sixteen species, bringing the total land snail fauna to forty nine species living above 1,372 m within park boundaries. Overall species richness declines with elevation yet numbers of snails appear to change little with increasing altitude. Heath balds were comparably rich sites for gastropods, Vitrinizonites latissimus (Lewis) being the most frequently observed land snail. Mesodon altivagus, (Pilsbry) and Fumonelix jonesiana (Archer) both documented during the survey are of global importance, a result of an exceptionally restricted range within the park. One ambiguous speci...


In the present paper problems of interconnection of the contents of the foundation of exact sciences with the contents of the future occupational teaching are regarded, based on the material of the Phisycs course in the process of pre-profile preparation and profile instruction. An algorythm of selecting information of industrial character, its systematization and inclusion of it into the contents of the school subject as an example of the operation of the scientific laws is provided.


This paper uses a one period model to establish a connection between the complexity of informational environment, market efficiency, and volume. Introducing a high-dimensional estimation problem into a typical trading game, we show why agents may not condition on price in their demand curve submissions, and come to possess heterogeneous models. We define a new equilibrium concept, the "rational statisticians' equilibrium," wherein each agent uses only a ridge regression estimator on her own data to forecast the fundamental's distribution. We derive quantitative properties of price informativeness and volume in these equilibria, introducing the notion of a "regularization externality" in price formation and accounting for volume spikes around earnings. This is a preliminary draft. ∗First version: January 2019. Both authors are affiliated with Stanford Graduate School of Business. We thank Snehal Banerjee, Jeremy Bulow, Michael Celentano, Daniel Chen, Darrell Duffie, Benjamin Hébert, Arvind Krishnamurthy, Michael Ostrovsky, Paul Pfleiderer, Andrzej Skrzypacz, Nilesh Tripuraneni, Robert Wilson, and seminar participants at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University for helpful comments.


A novel acceptor of 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (BT) with diphenylamine-vinylene side chains was firstly designed and synthesized for building efficient low bandgap (LBG) photovoltaic copolymers in this paper. Based on benzo[1,2-b;3,4-b]dithiophene and the designed new BT acceptor, two dimensional (2D) like conjugated copolymers have been prepared by Stille coupling polymerization. The resulting copolymers were characterized by NMR, elemental analysis, gel permeation chromatography, differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis. UV-vis absorption and cyclic voltammetry measurements indicate that these copolymers have good optical and electrochemical properties. A copolymer with thiophene modified benzo[1,2-b;3,4-b]dithiophene exhibits better light harvesting and a smaller bandgap of the two copolymers. The electronic structures of the model compounds were also studied by DFT calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G* level. The polymer solar cells (PSCs) were fabricated and measured with a typical structure of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/copolymer:PCBM/Ca/Al. The primary results showed that the device based on the copolymer with thiophene modified benzo[1,2-b;3,4-b]dithiophene had a higher efficiency of 1.88%, attributed to the smaller bandgap and improved active film morphology. All the prepared copolymers are promising candidates for efficient PSCs with high Voc.


A flourishing and sometimes understaffed writing laboratory program at West Virginia University coupled with the need for undergraduate English Education majors to work with "real students" made it seem natural to utilize the skills of prospective English teachers in our writing laboratory. After our experience in using undergraduates as tutors, we are confident when we say "It is working." As one of the participants wrote, the experience proved to be "an ideal situation in which to learn about the writing process, the problems of writers, and the teaching of writing." Through its Department of English, West Virginia University supports a writing laboratory for basic writers as well as advanced writers. Any student can work in the lab for any number of visits to solve writing problems or to receive help with special writing projects. Most lab students are referred by classroom instructors who indicate to the lab tutor which skills need to be mastered.


During the production of two-way extended polypropylene film, the tube extruder extruded polypropylene tube blank is cooled, set in a preheating extending tower and a high temperature setting tower, and wound in a winding system. The special equipment includes blank tube extruder, preheating extending tower, and corona film edge cutting and winding system as well as high temperature setting towercomprising film bubble stabilizing A-shaped plates, heating mechanism and cooling mechanism. The present invention makes it possible to make both single-layered film and multi-layered film, especially superlow temperature blast material with high quality, no surface damage and good longitudinal performance.


This paper presents the reasons for the development of gas-combined power and heat units and justification for testing the effect of the used gas fuel on the performance of such units. A PBCHP10VB CHP unit driven by a liquidcooled piston combustion engine adapted for feeding with gas fuels is described. The concept is presented for testing the effect of different gas fuel mixtures, including biogas, on this unit's operation, mainly on the obtained electric power from the current generator and the temperature of the liquid cooling the driving engine heating up output water and on the composition of exhaust gas from this engine. A simple device for obtaining gas fuels containing different combustible gas mixtures is presented. The instruments used to check the composition of the obtained gas fuel and check exhaust gas from the engine are briefly described. The paper describes a test stand for testing the effect of different gas fuels on the operation of a PBCHP10VB gas CHP unit manufactured by Power Blessed Co., Ltd registered in Shanghai, constructed at the Department of Mechatronics and Technical and Information Technology Education of the Faculty of Technical Sciences at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn.


Este articulo describe los problemas de Rusia la creacion de infraestructura regional de distribucion de asistencia alimentaria (FAD) para la poblacion en necesidad. Este articulo proporciona un programa , en el ambito del apoyo estatal - garantias estatales de ayuda alimentaria - la formacion de asociaciones publicoprivadas para organizar el funcionamiento de la empresa en los complejos de infraestructura. En el cambio de la tecnologia de venta - el centro de logistica operativa (OLC) introduccion a la cadena alimentaria que permitira a los productores para aumentar el volumen de productos vendibles a traves de redes comerciales en sintonia con los requisitos tecnologicos Abstract. This article describes the problems of Russia and countries wthe state support for domestic producers within the "green box" of the WTO; use of unsuitable land for organic farming, Abstract. This article describes the problems of Russia, ensuring the availability of needy sections of the population to a healthy diet, the state support for domestic producers within the "green box" of the WTO; use of unsuitable land for organic farming, production of ecologically clean food. On the basis of the study the authors propose a program of measures, which are classified according to spheres of influence. In the field of state support - phased expansion of state guarantees. In the area of domestic food aid to the population - the formation of public-private partnership in the creation and organization of functioning of the enterprises infrastructure complex, changing the structure of assets, primarily allocated to direct support for farmers, co-ordination of interaction between participants, members of the industrial, social, credit and financial and trade sphere, functioning settlement and payment system. In the science and technology field - development of infrastructure power industry, technological equipment of the cooking process by eliminating losses in the individual process stages. The resource base of food development - an increase in agricultural production, increasing the production capacity of the processing enterprises, optimize the flow of food in the technological cycle. The changing architecture of the sales process - the introduction of the food production chain and logistics centers (PLC), which will allow manufacturers, bypassing the retail chains, to increase the volume of conditioned food corresponding to the technological requirements


As Buddha rightly announced, all sentient beings are engulfed in the vast ocean of pain worldwide. Strangely, however, no one in world history seems to have squarely stared at pain and deeply meditated on pain itself so important, so essential to living, and so internally ubiquitous. This essay attempts to probe pain, to harvest two surprises so incredible radically negative and radically positive. First, one, I find pain as mine yet not mine so unbearable that I have to wail it out, writ precise and clear on paper to stare at, as I hug my toothache or my heartache, showing my pain to my pals. Then, two, I am astounded to find my pain thus confessed on paper exercises prudence I have found in life, to spread in my life, and to share with my friends socially into cosmopolitanism heartfelt. Thus, three, after a brief comparison of joy with pain, pain is seen as worthy of being praised as an unbearable dynamo of cosmic concord in human greatness.


An elastic floor is disclosed, the floor having a multiplicity of premanufactured installation modules consisting of a floor element and at least one load distribution plate connected thereto. Said installation modules are supplied in the form of a premanufactured unit to the building site.


This work presents a numerical investigation of flow induced noise of a duct propeller. The effect of tip-clearance on the noise generation is studied. The flow field, which is divided into the rotational domain surround the propeller and the exterior non-rotational domain, is computed by Large-eddy simulation (LES) and the sliding mesh technique. Based on the obtained fluctuating pressures on the solid surfaces, the acoustic field is then derived using FW-H acoustic analogy theory. Parametric studies are performed for the ducted propeller model with different tip clearances. The results show that the tip-clearance has a great effects on flow induced noise for ducted propeller but the underwater sound is not always increasing with the increase of tip-clearance sizes. The magnitude of flow induced noise and the amplitude of wall fluctuating pressures at low and medium frequencies are greatly affected by the tip-clearance, but this effects are mainly on the amplitudes rather than frequency characteristics.


OBJECTIVE : To determine is there any increase on foot arch of the right foot, left foot and balace in children aged 4-5 years old with a flat foot after being given the heel raises exersice. SUBJECT : 26 healthy, were divided into two groups. Each group of 13 peoples. The first group get the heel raises exersice treatment and the second group without getting treatment. RESEARCH PLACE : Aisyiyah bustanul athfal 3 kindergarden, Denpasar. RESEARCH TIME : September – October 2014. MEASURING INSTRUMENT : Foot print and One legged stand test. RESEARCH DESIGN : This research used a experimental method, using two design group pre-test and post-test design. RESULTS : Each group were tested for normality by the Shapiro Wilk Test. First group showed the value of arch index p 0.05 it means data's normally distributed. Although the value of the balance for First group and Second group showed p>0.05 it means data's normally distributed. First group and Second group on different test with Mann Whitney U Test showing that both of the left foot's arch index the groups get p value <0.05 and right foot's the groups get p value p<0.05. The value of the balance showing that both of groups get p value <0.05, it means there is a significant difference between the heel raises exercise's group (first group) and second group. In increasing the foot arch and balance. CONCLUSION : Based on the analysis of the research that has done, can be concluded that the application of heel raises exercise can increase the value of foot arch and balance. The application of heel raises exercise can give a significant difference for improving the value of foot arch and balance rather than without getting a treatment.


84 women in perimenopause confirmed by medical history and hormonal status tests participated in the study; control group consisted of 64 patients with first or second degree hypertension and 20 apparently healthy women. Daily monitoring included blood pressure control, assessment of the functional status of sympathetic-adrenal system by the size of β-adrenoreceptors in erythrocyte membranes, test for microalbiminuria and glomerular filtration rate using Cockcroft-Gault formula. Group 1 included patients with first degree hypertension (23 women) which received losartan 50-100 mg/d monotherapy (Losarel, Sаndоz); group 2 patients (43 women) with second degree hypertension received combination therapy: losartan 100 mg/d and Lodoz (bisoporol 5 mg + hydrochlorothiazide 6.25 mg). Treatment lasted 12 weeks; patients were examined before inclusion in the study and after the study. Reduction in blood pressure to the target level was registered in all patients. There were no side or adverse effects. Initially elevated levels of β-adrenoreceptors in erythrocyte membranes significantly decreased in both groups, as a result of improved functional status of sympathetic-adrenal system. Renal excretion of nitrogen evaluated by glomerular filtration rate was not impaired; microalbiminuria increased manifold compared to reference values. After 12 weeks of treatment, microalbiminuria decreased in patients of all groups as a result of nephroprotective effect of antyheprtensive drug therapy.


Since the inception of the Long Term Pavement Performance studies within the United States Strategic Highway Research Program, Canada has been an active international participant with the hope of extracting the benefit of this mammoth effort. Jointly funded on a cooperative basis by the thirteen senior governments of Canada, Canada's reaction has been the establishment of the Canadian Strategic Highway Research Program (C-SHRP) through which individual highway agencies in Canada participate directly in some aspects of the U.S. program while also undertaking separate, complementary efforts within Canada.


Previously, we have shown that the small heat shock protein with apparent molecular mass 27 kDa (Hsp27) does not affect the thermal unfolding of F‐actin, but effectively prevents aggregation of thermally denatured F‐actin [Pivovarova AV, Mikhailova VV, Chernik IS, Chebotareva NA, Levitsky DI & Gusev NB (2005) Biochem Biophys Res Commun331, 1548–1553], and supposed that Hsp27 prevents heat‐induced aggregation of F‐actin by forming soluble complexes with denatured actin. In the present work, we applied dynamic light scattering, analytical ultracentrifugation and size exclusion chromatography to examine the properties of complexes formed by denatured actin with a recombinant human Hsp27 mutant (Hsp27–3D) mimicking the naturally occurring phosphorylation of this protein at Ser15, Ser78, and Ser82. Our results show that formation of these complexes occurs upon heating and accompanies the F‐actin thermal denaturation. All the methods show that the size of actin–Hsp27‐3D complexes decreases with increasing Hsp27‐3D concentration in the incubation mixture and that saturation occurs at approximately equimolar concentrations of Hsp27‐3D and actin. Under these conditions, the complexes exhibit a hydrodynamic radius of ∼ 16 nm, a sedimentation coefficient of 17–20 S, and a molecular mass of about 2 MDa. It is supposed that Hsp27‐3D binds to denatured actin monomers or short oligomers dissociated from actin filaments upon heating and protects them from aggregation by forming relatively small and highly soluble complexes. This mechanism might explain how small heat shock proteins prevent aggregation of denatured actin and by this means protect the cytoskeleton and the whole cell from damage caused by accumulation of large insoluble aggregates under heat shock conditions.


This study is a comparative literary study comparing existentialist view that is used as the background in the previous studies done by Cain (2008) and Witherow (2003) and sangkan paraning dumadi in viewing Newland's motive to keep the engagement and give his wish up to be with Ellen. Through sangkan paraning dumadi, it is concluded that Newland's motive in doing so is good and he has done what he is supposed to do a good man among the society.


PURPOSE: To form patterned metallic layers having distinct boundary areas on the substrate by irradiating a mask placed on the specific metallic org. compd. applied on the substrate with a laser. CONSTITUTION: A soln. 12 of the metallic org. compd. (for example, palladium acetate) is applied on the substrate 10 and is dried to form a coating layer 14. The mask 16 is arranged on this coating layer 14. Next, the surface of the mask 16 is irradiated flatly with the laser 18 from a light source 20. Metal crystal nuclei 22 are formed at the irradiated points to form the patterned metallic layers 22. The unirradiated areas are washed away by a solvent 24 and thereafter, the thick patterned metallic layers 26 are formed to reinforce the crystal nuclei 22. COPYRIGHT: (C)1989,JPO


unexamined assumptions about the process of communication. Replacing these assumptions by a cognitive pragmatic model that problematizes the communication process, she shows that the consequences of a written medium are not absolute, and that the Internet, and computer technology in general, may thus not be seen – as they often are – as replacing the written word but rather as supplanting it. As she puts it, 'You can't surf the Internet if you can't read the commands and other information on the screen.' In other words, many questions asked today about the consequences of new media can be answered by following the Toronto school's directives as long as its incumbents' ideas, which have often been expressed in 'fixed, ungeneralizable, code-specific terms,' are critically examined and innovatively updated. (MICHAEL KEREN)


The "just-so" happy story told by global trade proponents that promised that the loss of manufacturing jobs would be made up by the increase in "service sector" jobs is not supported by the BDS data, and it is just now dawning on state government officials that there is something seriously wrong with their traditional job creation policies based on industrial recruitment. The dirty little secret of job creation and job loss in America is that there are no more big companies to recruit to all the vacant U. S. industrial parks, built on the lure of low cost production and the image of prosperity from the 1950's. Increasing the rate of industrial recruitment tax incentives is not going to change this picture.Understanding the economic malfunction in the American labor markets contains two parts: Why is the rate of job creation in small companies so low and why is the rate of job destruction in older bigger companies so high? Both answers are tied together by a common factor related to how the United States implemented the new global trade policies in the past 20 years.In the absence of economic vitality caused by investments in domestic technology innovation in the formerly integrated national economy, national economic growth strategy shifted to a series of speculative bubbles that did not create the conditions for sustained economic growth for small businesses. Large companies offshored manufacturing production jobs, and small businesses suffered because their regional industrial value chains were destroyed by the way global trade policies offshored the American foundation of innovationAlong with the new innovation park infrastructure, the most important job creation strategy that the EDA could implement is creating the new capital market infrastructure that targets investments to regional innovation opportunities. This is not a task that can be done by the private capital markets themselves because the creation of capital market infrastructure does not generate profits that can be appropriated by private actors.


The use of multidisciplinary clinics (MDCs) for outpatient cancer evaluation is increasing. MDCs may vary in format, and data on whether MDCs change prostate cancer (PCa) care are limited. Here we report on the setup and design of a relatively new PCa MDC clinic. Because MDC evaluation was associated with a comprehensive re‐evaluation of all patients' staging and risk stratification data, we studied the frequency of changes in PCa grade and stage upon MDC evaluation, which provides a unique estimate of the magnitude of pathology, radiology, and exam‐based risk stratification in a modern tertiary setting.


The mining industry is facing declining feed grades which require the mining and processing of larger volumes of material per tonne of product. Pre-concentration aims to remove barren material at as coarse a particle size and as early in the process as possible to reduce processing costs, energy consumption, water losses, and greenhouse gas emissions while increasing production and profitability. This may be achieved using bulk ore sorting—the separation of barren gangue from a fully loaded conveyor belt based on the grade as measured or inferred from a sensor. This paper evaluates the technical and economic viability of bulk ore sorting for the PanAust Phu Kham copper deposit in Lao PDR. Bulk ore sorting technology is described briefly along with discussion of appropriate sensor and diversion systems for the Phu Kham operation. To evaluate the economic implications, the actual mined material and costs from 2014 were used as the base-case. Sampling data was not available; therefore, the ore grade variability that would feed a bulk ore sorter was estimated using geo-statistical tools based on mine grade control data. The sorter performance when treating this material was simulated considering the accuracy of the sensor measurement and errors associated with material diversion. The impact on inferred cash flow was estimated for several different scenarios considering the additional costs for sorter operation and reject handling. The evaluation demonstrated that bulk ore sorting at Phu Kham has the potential to increase the amount of metal in product and/or reduce processing plant throughput (and costs) to improve the annual inferred cash flow for the conditions investigated. The sorter is the gatekeeper – only material above the cut-off grade (value-adding) reports to the processing plant; no waste dilutes the feed. Likewise, above cutoff grade material is not lost to waste; preventing lost revenue.


Objective
To analyze the cause of RhE antigen double group and investigate the effect on immune function in patients with blood transfusion.

Methods
The results of blood group identification were collected from 25 069 cases in Henan Provincial People's Hospital from January 2014 to December 2017. Among them, 2 405 cases were Rh E antigen double group, and the causes of double groups of E antigen were analyzed. Among them. 100 Rh E antigen negative patients were set as group A, and 100 RhE antigen double group patients as group B. The blood donors in both groups were RhE-positive. The incidence of transfusion reaction after blood transfusion in the two groups was tracked. Flow cytometry was used to compare the changes of CD4 + and CD8 + cells before and after transfusion in two the groups.

Results
The proportion of Rh E antigen positive and Rh E antigen negative was almost the same, Rh E antigen double group accounted for 9.5%. The history of blood transfusion was the main reason of double groups of RhE antigen. The relative risk of adverse transfusion reaction in group B was higher than that in group A; CD4+ T cells increased and CD8+ T cells decreased in group A and group B 5 days after transfusion, but CD4 + and CD8 + cells gradually returned to the normal level 10 days after transfusion in group A, and there was no significant difference between 10 days after transfusion and 5 days after transfusion in group B. The number of CD4 + cells in group B was higher than that in group A 5 and 10 days after transfusion, and the number of CD8 + cells was lower than that in group A (all P<0.05).

Conclusions
Patients with Rh E antigen double group should be infused with RhE antigen negative blood as far as possible in transfusion strategy to ensure the safety of blood transfusion.

Key words:
Rh E antigen; Blood transfusion; Immune function


European citizenship poses a theoretical challenge to the paradigmatic understanding of citizenship as congruence between nation, state, and membership rights. This challenge is addressed in this paper by focusing on ideal typical models of the EU polity. Is EU citizenship more nation-based,federal, or cosmopolitan? Utilized heuristically, the models account for different features of European citizenship practice, and the relative weighting between them. Based on this analysis, the main argument of the paper is that despite certain developments towards granting rights based on 'personhood'and not 'nationhood', institutional practices of European citizenship are also heavily dependent on the interface between nation-state and federal arrangements in EU politics. The main reasons for this conclusion are found in the continuing bifurcation of citizenship rights as transnational and supranational in the EU, and the institutionalization of member state nationality as a prerequisite for enjoying such rights. The degree of 'incongruence' or 'de-linkage' is therefore dependent on the mixed nature of EU politics, rather than the effect of postnational projects that address the 'liberation' of citizenship from nationality. The paper is temporarily unavailable.


This study aimed to develop a guidance plan for the STEAM class which applies the unplugged computing teaching and learning method by Professor Tim-bell by selecting the topics of comprehending social issues and exploring their solving methods and to examine its effectiveness. For this purpose, this...


Two isomeric asymmetric thienoacenes are designed and synthesized; the syn-isomer demonstrates both μsat and μlin above 10 cm2 V−1 s−1.


Aberrant immune activation and immune exhaustion are features characteristic of chronic HIV infection. Elevated plasma LPS levels resulting from disruption of gut mucosal integrity during HIV infection have been implicated as a major factor contributing to immune activation. In chronic HIV-1 infection immune exhaustion molecules PD-1 and its ligand PD-L1 negatively regulate the function of exhausted CD8 T cells. The pDC constitute only a minor portion of the PBMC population, but are crucial contributors to the innate as well as adaptive immune response. We have confirmed our previous results that pDC express low levels of TLR4 and respond to LPS. We undertook this study to examine the influence of LPS on virally stimulated pDC maturation and PD-L1 expression and mechanisms thereof. In order to do so we primed pDC with LPS prior to stimulation with HIV. We observed that LPS enhanced HIV-1-induced pDC maturation (CD83 and CD40 expression) and PD-L1 expression. PD-L1 was up-regulated on mature pDC specifically by LPS and HIV combination treatment versus individual treatment with LPS or HIV. The combination treatment specifically induced co-expression of PD-L1 with positive co-stimulatory molecule CD86 but not CD80. Additionally, LPS enhanced CD4 expression on pDC but depressed HIV-1 induced CXCR4 and CCR5 expression. Together, these results indicate that in response to HIV stimulation, pDC adopt a tolerogenic phenotype (i.e. PD-L1-positive) and LPS helps drive this.


The purpose of this paper is to integrate a Marxist critique of subaltern studies with a feminist one, using Partha Chatterjee's formulation of the "nationalist resolution of the women's question" as a reflector for his and other subaltern theorists' position of hegemony and de-colonisation. Such a Marxist feminist perspective, applied to questions of idology and politics, should help to throw light on aspects of cultural nationalism in India as well as in other places, including the west, where mini-nationalism flourish within the small domain of multiculturalism.


The number of patients with sleep apnea (SA), which may cause heart disease or stroke, is increasing worldwide. Polysomnography (PSG) is the most reliable diagnostic method. However, it is expensive, and an accurate diagnosis is difficult because various sensors attached to the body can cause insomnia for sensitive patients. Several home diagnosis methods have been proposed to overcome these problems, but the accuracy is not guaranteed. In this article, we propose a method for diagnosing hypopnea as well as SA comfortably at home using an infrared (IR) camera. The proposed method requires the patients to wear a mask, which enables easy tracking and measurement of breathing even though they are lying on their sides 90° apart from the front. The diagnostic program converts the temperature changes of the mask surface received from the IR camera into the breathing waveform and calculates breathing cycles. Also, it defines five states and six events for state transition and makes the final diagnosis by calculating the duration and occurrence of apnea during the sleep period. As information, including thermal images and/or breathing waveforms, can be transmitted in real time via the Internet, it is also possible to analyze the patient's symptoms in a hospital or specialized care facility. The usefulness of the proposed device is verified by observing the breathing cycle and the duration of apnea according to various situations, including the type of mask, the number of subjects, and the angle and distance between the camera and the subject.


Objectives: To investigate the association of atrophy of retinal layers using Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) with development of whole brain (WB) and gray matter (GM) atrophy in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) over 5years.
Background: Multiple cross-sectional studies have established the association of retinal nerve fiber thickness (RNFLT) with GM atrophy. However, there are limited longitudinal studies investigating a temporal pattern of evolution of global cortical and GM pathology as evidenced by MRI, and retinal layer thinning observed with OCT measures.
Methods: We followed 39 MS patients, categorized as 20 relapsing-remitting (RRMS) and 19 progressive (PMS) patients with a mean follow-up period of 65.5 months. Baseline and follow-up time-points using the same Heidelberg spectral domain OCT scanner and GE-3T scanner were available. Difference in RNFL was calculated using baseline and follow-up eye scans. The percentage change in whole brain, GM and cortical volumes was measured on the 3D-T1 images. T2- and T1-lesion volume (LV) changes were also calculated. We assessed the association of the decline in RNFL with nonconventional MRI measures over 5 years. Analyses were corrected for age, sex, and disease duration.
Results: The mean change in RNFL was -3.2µm (SD=4.94µm) in RRMS versus -2.25µm (SD=5.02µm) in PMS and mean GM volume change was -2.88[percnt] versus -2.97[percnt] (RRMS versus PMS). Using partial correlation analysis, there was a significant correlation between decline in RNFL and GM (r=0.646; p=0.017), RNFL and cortical (r=0.742; p=0.004) and RNFL and WB (r=0.673; p=0.012) volume loss in RRMS patients. However, there was no significant correlation between RNFL and brain volume measures in the PMS group.
Conclusions: In this study, the decline in RNFL correlated with the development of WB and GM atrophy in RRMS patients. Nonetheless, the change in OCT measures were not related to atrophic brain volume changes in the PMS patients. Disclosure: Dr. Gandhi has nothing to disclose. Dr. Hagemeier has nothing to disclose. Dr. Chandra has nothing to disclose. Dr. Sanai has nothing to disclose. Dr. Jakimovski has nothing to disclose. Dr. Ahmed has nothing to disclose. Dr. Ramaswamy has nothing to disclose. Dr. Bergsland has nothing to disclose. Dr. Guttman has received research support from NMSS, NIH, ITN, Teva Neuroscience, Biogen Idec, EMD Serono, Aspreva, Novartis, and Acorda. Dr. Zivadinov has received personal compensation for activities with Teva Neuroscience, Biogen Idec, EMD Serono, Novartis, Claret Medical Inc., and Genzyme Corporation as a speaker and/or consultant.