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The phenotypic legacy of admixture between modern humans and Neandertals The legacy of human-Neandertal interbreeding Non-African humans are estimated to have inherited on average 1.5 to 4% of their genomes from Neandertals. However, how this genetic legacy affects human traits is unknown. Simonti et al. combined genotyping data with electronic health records. Individual Neandertal alleles were correlated with clinically relevant phenotypes in individuals of European descent. These archaic genetic variants were associated with medical conditions affecting the skin, the blood, and the risk of depression. Science, this issue p. 737 Genotype-phenotype association analysis of Neandertal alleles in modern humans identifies clinical effects. Many modern human genomes retain DNA inherited from interbreeding with archaic hominins, such as Neandertals, yet the influence of this admixture on human traits is largely unknown. We analyzed the contribution of common Neandertal variants to over 1000 electronic health record (EHR)–derived phenotypes in ~28,000 adults of European ancestry. We discovered and replicated associations of Neandertal alleles with neurological, psychiatric, immunological, and dermatological phenotypes. Neandertal alleles together explained a significant fraction of the variation in risk for depression and skin lesions resulting from sun exposure (actinic keratosis), and individual Neandertal alleles were significantly associated with specific human phenotypes, including hypercoagulation and tobacco use. Our results establish that archaic admixture influences disease risk in modern humans, provide hypotheses about the effects of hundreds of Neandertal haplotypes, and demonstrate the utility of EHR data in evolutionary analyses.

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Organizations with a Buddhist Ethos — A Path to Sustainability? This paper investigates how organisations with a Buddhist ethos make sense of different institutional logics in pursuing sustainability. Interviews and documentary evidence from two not-for-profit and two forprofit organisations in Sri Lanka are analysed. The founders and current leaders of all organisations are found to play a key role in promoting a Buddhist ethos. A more spiritual, systemic, and holistic approach to sustainability was seen in the not-for-profit organisations. The for-profits tended towards a stronger entity focus, evidencing a more managerially-oriented approach with both substantive and symbolic actions. Core practices of the not-for-profit organisations were more aligned with sustainability and were predominantly influenced by a Buddhist logic, in tandem with a community logic. The for-profits manifested a combination of Buddhist, community, and business logics in their sustainability practices. Buddhist logic primarily linked with strategic decisions and community relations, whereas usiness logic influenced ethical business conforming to standards and regulations. Keywords: Buddhist ethos, for-profit organisations, not-for-profit organisations, Sri Lanka, sustainability

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Let's explore with a divided team! The effects of top management team demographic faultlines on technological exploration Research on top management team (TMT) diversity suggests that diverse backgrounds improve technological exploration. However, this diversity may also cause demographic faultlines that break a team into subgroups and undermine team performance, and the status difference between CEO and top managers may change inter-subgroup dynamics. We predicted that TMT faultline had an inverted U-shape relationship with technological exploration. Further, we predicted that the effects of TMT faultline were more prominent when the CEO is in the minority subgroup than when the CEO was in the majority subgroup. Using a longitudinal sample from the US IT services industry, the results found that TMT faultline exhibited an inverted U-shape relationship with technological exploration only when the CEO was in the minority subgroup, and such relationship disappeared when the CEO was in the majority subgroup.

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Chlorpromazine-induced neuroleptic malignant syndrome and its response to diazepam. We have observed two cases of chlorpromazine-induced neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS); both were transiently responsive to intravenous diazepam challenge, but not to blind placebo or amyobarbitol. The interrelationship, via feedback between central dopaminergic and gamma-aminobutyric (GABA) systems is reviewed. A theoretical role for a relative DA-GABA imbalance during NMS and treatment implications are discussed.

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Assessment and acceleration of binding energy calculations for protein–ligand complexes by the fragment molecular orbital method In the field of drug discovery, it is important to accurately predict the binding affinities between target proteins and drug applicant molecules. Many of the computational methods available for evaluating binding affinities have adopted molecular mechanics‐based force fields, although they cannot fully describe protein–ligand interactions. A noteworthy computational method in development involves large‐scale electronic structure calculations. Fragment molecular orbital (FMO) method, which is one of such large‐scale calculation techniques, is applied in this study for calculating the binding energies between proteins and ligands. By testing the effects of specific FMO calculation conditions (including fragmentation size, basis sets, electron correlation, exchange‐correlation functionals, and solvation effects) on the binding energies of the FK506‐binding protein and 10 ligand complex molecule, we have found that the standard FMO calculation condition, FMO2‐MP2/6‐31G(d), is suitable for evaluating the protein–ligand interactions. The correlation coefficient between the binding energies calculated with this FMO calculation condition and experimental values is determined to be R = 0.77. Based on these results, we also propose a practical scheme for predicting binding affinities by combining the FMO method with the quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) model. The results of this combined method can be directly compared with experimental binding affinities. The FMO and QSAR combined scheme shows a higher correlation with experimental data (R = 0.91). Furthermore, we propose an acceleration scheme for the binding energy calculations using a multilayer FMO method focusing on the protein–ligand interaction distance. Our acceleration scheme, which uses

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FMO2‐HF/STO‐3G:MP2/6‐31G(d) at Rint = 7.0 Å, reduces computational costs, while maintaining accuracy in the evaluation of binding energy. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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The Role of Sensor Based Insole as a Rehabilitation Tool in Improving Walking among the Patients with Lower Limb Arthroplasty: A Protocol for Systematic Review Objectives: The purpose of this review protocol is to assess the role of sensor based insole in improving walking in patients with lower limb arthroplasty and to rule out the demand and advantage of sensor based insole in utilizing such types of problems at clinical setup. Methodology: A systematic review will be conducted by two independent reviewers who will search articles using electronic search for publications in seven databases: Google Scholar, Index Copernicus, JSTOR, PubMed/Medline, Science Direct, Scopus and Web of Science. After applying the selection criteria, study papers published between the years 2001 to 2019 will be selected. Studies of human participants of 45-75 years of age having history of lower limb arthroplasty will be Systematic Review Article Raghav et al.; AJMAH, 18(9): 22-27, 2020; Article no.AJMAH.60203 23 eligible. All the study papers will be analyzed using Modified Downs and Black scale and scores will be awarded for the items selected on a 27 point scale. Findings: The findings of this review will be disseminated through presentations and peerreviewed publication. The systematic review will direct the attention of the physiotherapists to assess and evaluate the patient’s walking pattern, as alterations in the biomechanics of joints of lower limb can produce far-reaching effects in the ideal or normal gait. The results of this review will provide evidence regarding changes in gait parameters in patients with lower limb arthroplasty and this information

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will be useful in planning for rehabilitation in improving walking of patients after lower limb arthroplasty. Novelty: Many studies have been carried on sensor insole technology for monitoring gait. However, there is scarcity of literature based on the systematic reviews on the use of smart sensor insole in improving walking among patients with lower limb arthroplasty.

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Dynamic channel selection to reduce computational burden in seizure detection Ambulatory physiological monitoring devices benefit patients, medical staff and hospitals by allowing patients to return home with the devices for monitoring. The main problem associated with designing such devices is that of power consumption. Wireless communications and complex processing are generally part of such devices and are power hungry components. These problems are magnified when dealing with EEG signals, with relatively high data rates, multiple channels, and advanced signal processing techniques required. This paper proposes a method to dynamically select EEG channels in the REACT seizure detection system based on information already available in the system, hence keeping any added computational complexity very low. Using the techniques computational effort can be reduced by up to 65% with no effect on the REACT seizure detection performance.

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A NEW AND IMPROVED DESIGN FOR MULTI-OBJECT ITERATIVE AUCTIONS In this paper we present a new improved design for multi-object auctions and report on the results of tests of that design. We merge the better features of two extant but very different auction processes, the Milgrom FCC design (see Milgrom (1995)) and the Adaptive User Selection Mechanism (AUSM) of Banks et al. (1989)). Then, by adding one crucial new feature, we are able to create a new design, the Resource Allocation Design (RAD) auction process, which performs better than both. We are able to demonstrate, in both simple and complex environments, that the RAD auction achieves higher efficiencies, lower bidder losses, and faster times to completion without increasing the complexity of a bidder’s problem.

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The Social Mechanism of the Functioning of the Institute of Postgraduate Studies in Contemporary Russia The work aims to study the institute of postgraduate studies as a complex social phenomenon. Object: the institute of postgraduate studies as a social phenomenon; subject: the social mechanism of functioning of the institute of postgraduate studies as a composite phenomenon. The paper examines all five elements of the social mechanism of the institute of postgraduate studies; thereby, we are attempting a comprehensive analysis of the behaviour of actors based on the socio-cultural basis and the regulatory framework. The management block provides an analysis of the main functions of the Higher Attestation Commission and determines its role in the functioning of the Institute of Postgraduate Studies. The status block provides a 3-level model of the involvement of various groups of students, scientific and pedagogical personnel and university employees in the institute of postgraduate studies. At the level of perception of postgraduate studies, the author determined its role in the formation of personnel for the labour market. At the level of perception of professional activity, the emphasis is on prestige and economic well-being. And at the level of perception of an academic degree in society, it is necessary to consider the social risks for the holder of an academic degree due to the stereotypes formed in society. The behavioural block provides a comprehensive analysis of the activities of all groups of actors at the three main stages of the postgraduate institute for applicants: educational, individual (plan) and dissertation. In the fifth block

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(consequences), the author considered the results of postgraduate institute reform in 2013. Finally, the author made disappointing conclusions about the reduction in the number of protections, the loss of prestige of postgraduate studies and the strengthening of barriers to the protection of graduate students.

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W band technologies for data collection experiment of the DAVID mission A transmission from coplanar to WR10 waveguide and a polarization chain, working in W band, were designed and measured. A very compact polarizer has been designed and simulated with full 3D electromagnetic software to work in the W band. A prototype has been built using the electroforming technique to evaluate its electrical performances. The coplanar to waveguide transition makes use of the classical 90/spl deg/ mounting schemes of the microstrip to waveguide transition permitting a fully hermetic transition to be realized in W band. A prototype constructed on alumina substrate and WR10 waveguide flange was simulated with a full 3D electromagnetic simulator. A back-to-back transition prototype was constructed and measured to verify the agreement with the simulated results. The results are also compared to those obtained from the commercial electromagnetic software CST microwave studio.

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Close link between breast cancer & apoptosis The mammary gland represents an unique model system to allow investigation of factors that underpin biological initiation of apoptotic processes and related signal transduction pathways. One advantage is that the mammary gland, unlike most other organs, has the capacity to go through many cycles of growth, differentiation and anatomical structural development. Indeed, the mammary gland has evolved highly efficient processes (that straddle both lactation and post-lactational phases) which regulate the balance between cell death and proliferation. This paper will discuss the molecular and cellular aspects of apoptosis in the mammary gland with a particular emphasis on the role of apoptosis in breast cancer development.

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THU0303 The efficacy and safety of ibandronic acid for intravenous administration for treatment of severe systemic osteoporosis in patients with juvenile arthritis Background Juvenile arthritis (JA) is one of the most common and disabling rheumatic disease in children. Severe manifestation of juvenile arthritis is a systemic osteoporosis. There is currently no developed approaches to the treatment of children with systemic osteoporosis. In adult patients with rheumatoid arthritis the first-line treatment drug for osteoporosis is bisphosphonates Objectives To evaluate the efficacy and safety of ibandronic acid for intravenous administration for treatment of severe systemic osteoporosis in patients with juvenile arthritis. Methods The study included 25 patients with juvenile arthritis at the age of 7 to 17 years (10 girls, 15 boys), including 20 patients with systemic arthritis, 3 - with polyarthritis, 2 - with ankylosing spondylitis. The mean age was 12.5 (10.5, 14.0) years. Was allocated to 2 groups: 17 children treated with glucocorticoids (GC) and 8 - not receiving GC.Children of the first group had 12 vertebral fractures and patients of the 2-d group - 1. Ibandronic acid was administered intravenously at a dose of 3 mg every 12 weeks. Evaluation of treatment efficacy was conducted by a combined index of bone mineral density of tissue Z-score, assessing the patient/parent to the severity of pain on a visual analog scale, serum markers of bone resorption C-terminal telopeptide. Results The treatment of ibandronic acid in children of both groups increased the bone mineral density. In patients treated with GC, a statistically significant increase was registered in 76

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weeks of therapy (p<0.01), while the second group of children - through 46 and 76 weeks (p<0.05). Within 6 months of treatment in both groups of ibandronic acid was a statistically significant reduction in pain index (p<0.05), after a year of treatment with this trend persisted (p<0.001). In both groups, reducing the concentration of C-terminal telopeptide in serum were detected through 52 weeks of reatment (p<0.05). After 76 weeks of treatment new vertebral fractures and fractures of the peripheral skeleton are not fixed. Tolerability of therapy ibandronic acid in patients was satisfactory. Conclusions In the course of the study has identified high efficacy and an acceptable tolerability ibandronic acid for treatment of severe systemic osteoporosis in patients with juvenile arthritis Disclosure of Interest None Declared

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Comparative Advantage and Specialization in Bank Lending We develop an empirical approach for identifying comparative advantages in bank lending. Using matched credit-export data from Peru, we first uncover patterns of bank specialization by export market: every country has a subset of banks with an abnormally large loan portfolio exposure to its exports. Using outliers to measure specialization, we use a revealed preference approach to show that bank specialization reflects a comparative advantage in lending. We show, in specifications that saturate all firm-time and bank-time variation, that firms that expand exports to a destination market tend to expand borrowing disproportionately more from banks specialized in that destination market. Bank comparative advantages increase with bank size in the cross section, and in the time series after mergers. Our results challenge the perceived view that, outside relationship lending, banks are perfectly substitutable sources of funding.

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An Inter-Rater Reliability Analysis of Good's Program Summary Analysis Scheme In computer science education and research into the psychology of programming, program summary analysis has been used to characterize mental models of novice and expert programmers and to measure learning outcome of programs and programming concepts. This paper reports an investigation where three raters used Good's program summary analysis scheme consisting of two independent classifications of program summary segments: information types and object description categories. The problems in using the scheme as well as differences between the raters were recorded and analyzed. The findings indicate that by improving the scheme and its documentation, most of the observed inter-rater differences can be avoided. The only open problem concerns making the distinction between descriptions of data and activities in cases where the specific words that are used, or the abstractness of expression may affect raters' interpretation of the information type.

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The effects of load models on power system stabilizers and static VAr compensators for the Taiwan power system The major purpose of this paper is to study the effects of load models on the power system stabilizers and static VAr compensators for the Taiwan power system low-frequency oscillation studies. Frequency domain is used to estimate the impact of load models on the system dynamic performance with and without power system stabilizers and static VAr compensators during a low-frequency oscillation incident in the Taiwan power system. Time domain simulation results are utilized to confirm the validity of the various eigenvalue analysis results. The study results are presented in this paper.

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High Frequency Modeling of a Converter with an RF-EMI Filter Integrated transmission-line filters were previously proposed to attenuate conducted electromagnetic interference (EMI) produced by high-frequency switching power converters. This paper investigates how a filter, fabricated using planar processing technologies, and power converters are modeled to accurately predict the EMI characteristics of the system. Experimental results are provided for the first time with a front-end single-phase power factor correction converter switching at 400 kHz. Simulated models are compared to the measured results where 20-50 dBmuB attenuation was realized between 100 kHz and 100 MHz

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Detection of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli colonization factor antigen I in stool specimens by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was employed to detect and quantitate the fimbrial colonization factor antigen (CFA/I) of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in stool specimens obtained from adult cases of diarrhea in which CFA/I-positive E. coli was the known causative agent. The inhibition method, or blocking technique, was used. In this method, a standardized dilution of human anti-CFA/I serum was preincubated with dilutions of stool extract before transfer to CFA/I-coated microtiter plate wells, and then ELISA was performed with alkaline phosphatase-conjugated anti-human immunoglobulin. CFA/I purified from E. coli strain H-10407 (O78:H11) was used. Acute-phase diarrheal stool specimens were found to contain approximately 3.0 mg of antigen (mean value) per g stool, whereas control (CFA/I-negative) specimens contained insignificant amounts (less than 0.03 mg/g) of antigen. Also, CFA/I was detected in culture fluids of CFA/I positive enterotoxigenic E. coli belonging to a variety of serotypes and was undetectable in similar preparations from P-strains (spontaneous CFA/I-negative derivatives) of the same test cultures. Equivalent results were obtained in ELISA tests by using bacterial cells taken from isolated colonies grown on CFA agar. These results indicate that the ELISA technique will be useful for the diagnosis of diarrhea caused by CFA/I-positive enterotoxigenic E. coli.

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Changing Ladders and Musical Chairs: Ethnicity and Opportunity in Post-Industrial New York An earlier version of this paper was presented at the International Conference on &dquo;Racial Minorities, Economic Restructuring and Urban Decline,&dquo; Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations, University of Warwick. September 1985. Research for this article was funded, in part, by a grant from the CUNY Research Foundation. I am grateful to the editors of Politics & Society for their comments on a previous draft. IF New York City’s brush with fiscal insolvency in the mid-1970s signaled the end for the United States’ urban-industrial economies, its revival in the

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The Magellan UNIX-based SAR processor Through three cycles of radar data collection at Venus that ended in September 1992, the Magellan mission has collected radar image data covering over 99% of the Venusian planet surface. The data reduction process of deriving image data from radar signal data has been performed primarily on the Primary SAR Processor (PSP) at the Magellan Radar Data Processing Facility (MRDPF). The MRDPF is currently scheduled for de-commissioning in September 1993 after completing its third year of SAR data processing operations. The Magellan UNIX-based SAR Processor (USP) was developed with the objective of preserving Magellan data processing capability. The USP development was a clear departure from utilizing custom-built hardware for SAR processor implementation. It followed the current trend in SAR processor development in utilizing commercial concurrent processing technology and parallel computing machinery. The USP development is presented with discussions focused on algorithm enhancements made possible by the removal of hardware constraints and pertinent implementation considerations that affected throughput and image quality.<<ETX>>

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Green Parking Lots for Energy plus Human Settlements Energy is the basic need for any development programme. Growing energy demands are putting the non renewable energy sources at risk of extinction. One of the major energy consuming sector is automobiles, traffic in urban settlements. Now a days battery operated vehicles are on road for public and private transportation which are an alternative to conventional fuel vehicle systems of petrol, diesel, gas oil. But the issue of fuel or we can say charging the battery operated vehicles remains constant and a challenge for urban transportation systems. This paper is focused to design approach of such parking lots and road side parking slots which are not only space for vehicle parking but also charges the vehicle while it is parked. This kind of refueling system will use the idle time of the vehicle and will reduce the requirement of refueling stations. Such system will save the time of the car owner for waiting at refueling or charging station. The methodology of this approach consists of using the renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind energy and distributed energy generation systems so that such systems can be used in designing energy plus human settlements. The distributed energy generation system will reduce the need of major electric substations to handle the generated electricity..

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Fast generation of order statistics Generating a single order statistic without generating the full sample can be an important task for simulations. If the density and the CDF of the distribution are given, then it is no problem to compute the density of the order statistic. In the main theorem it is shown that the concavity properties of that density depend directly on the distribution itself. Especially for log-concave distributions, all order statistics have log-concave distributions themselves. So recently suggested automatic transformed density rejection algorithms can be used to generate single order statistics. This idea leads to very fast generators. For example for the normal and gamma distributions, the suggested new algorithms are between 10 and 60 times faster than the algorithms suggested in the literature.

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COOPERATION IN THE PLAY ACTIVITIES OF OLDER PRESCHOOL CHILDREN AND THE CONDITIONS FOR ITS FORMATION Objective: to theoretically substantiate and experimentally test the pedagogical conditions for the formation of cooperation in children of senior preschool age through construction and constructive games. Methods: the complex diagnostic procedures included tasks designed by G.A. Uruntaeva, J.A. Avancini and focused on assessing the cognitive-communicative component of cooperation; G.A. Zuckerman focused on the assessment of behavioral and emotional components of interaction. Results: the research revealed that the majority of children of senior preschool age are assigned to the average level of cooperation (50% of children in the experimental group and 60% of the control group). We have identified the following features of cooperation between children aged 6-7 years. So, the cognitive component: children actively interact with adults and peers. They feel calm during communication, but they don't stay in game groups for long. They show a culture of communication episodically often when reminded by an adult. The process of nonverbal communication often prevails over verbal communication. Children gesticulate a lot, prefer to show, but not to explain. However, if necessary, children can readily explain. Behavioral component: children can negotiate, build their relationships, and are able to coordinate their actions, opinions, and attitudes with the needs of their fellow communicators at the very beginning of work, but in the process of work they forget about the contract and do not seek to continue the dialogue, so the result is different. At the same time, when evaluating the overall result, the responsibility is

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shifted to each other. Emotional component: children show little sensitivity, responsiveness, empathy for their communication partner. They can not sufficiently evaluate each other's emotional behavior: they hurry and shout, so the positive emotional sphere is not always favorable when interacting. Scientific novelty: in the article uses a complex of psychological and pedagogical methods to identify and characterize the dynamics and conditions for the formation of cooperation in older preschool children. Practical significance: the main provisions and conclusions of the article can be used in scientific and pedagogical activities when considering the issues of the essence and trends in the formation of cooperation in older preschool children.

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Tape closure of skin wounds. To the Editor.—The article by Stillman et al1regarding the advantages of staples over sutures in contaminated wounds also stated that skin tapes should be the preferred method of skin-wound closure. The authors stated that they were reluctant to use tapes routinely because of "variability in their adhesive properties." I have used the microporous tapes (3M Steristrips) since their introduction approximately 20 years ago, in thousands of cases, and can state with conviction that there is very little, if any, variability in their adhesiveness. I can find no statement of variability in adhesiveness of microporous tapes in the report by Edlich et al.2Differences in bacterial growth under cloth-backed tapes have been noted; however, the cloth-backed tapes have never been widely used or accepted. The variability is in the skill and knowledge of the operator using the tapes. While the technique is not particularly difficult, there are

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Functional Characterization of LIPA (Lysosomal Acid Lipase) Variants Associated With Coronary Artery Disease. OBJECTIVE LIPA (lysosomal acid lipase) mediates cholesteryl ester hydrolysis, and patients with rare loss-of-function mutations develop hypercholesterolemia and severe disease. Genome-wide association studies of coronary artery disease have identified several tightly linked, common intronic risk variants in LIPA which unexpectedly associate with increased mRNA expression. However, an exonic variant (rs1051338 resulting in T16P) in linkage with intronic variants lies in the signal peptide region and putatively disrupts trafficking. We sought to functionally investigate the net impact of this locus on LIPA and whether rs1051338 could disrupt LIPA processing and function to explain coronary artery disease risk. Approach and Results: In monocytes isolated from a large cohort of healthy individuals, we demonstrate both exonic and intronic risk variants are associated with increased LIPA enzyme activity coincident with the increased transcript levels. To functionally isolate the impact of rs1051338, we studied several in vitro overexpression systems and consistently observed no differences in LIPA expression, processing, activity, or secretion. Further, we characterized a second common exonic coding variant (rs1051339), which is predicted to alter LIPA signal peptide cleavage similarly to rs1051338, yet is not linked to intronic variants. rs1051339 also does not impact LIPA function in vitro and confers no coronary artery disease risk. CONCLUSIONS Our findings show that common LIPA exonic variants in the signal peptide are of minimal functional significance and suggest coronary artery disease risk is instead associated with increased LIPA function linked to intronic variants. Understanding the mechanisms and cell-specific contexts of

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LIPA function in the plaque is necessary to understand its association with cardiovascular risk.

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Ensuring patient satisfaction in medical groups. Delivering satisfaction to patients has become increasingly important among professionals in the medical community. However, administrators in medical group practices charged with the task of nurturing customer satisfaction are often required to allocate their limited funds across an array of initiatives intended to ensure the delivery of the right amount and types of services to improve satisfaction among their customers. This requires the ability to locate areas that yield the greatest response per unit of investment. This paper shows that the impact of attribute performance on satisfaction is asymmetric. Positive attribute performance is shown to have a smaller impact on satisfaction than negative attribute performance. The paper also discusses how an understanding of this asymmetry will enable administrators to allocate their resources more wisely as they decide whether to maintain or increase attribute-level performance.

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A pharmacophore model of tautomycin, an inhibitor of protein phosphatases 1 and 2A. Over the last decade there has been a growing realization that phosphatases are extremely important in cellular and organismal functions1}. Tautomycin, an inhibitor of protein phosphatases (PP) 1 and 2A, was isolated from a culture broth of Streptomyces spiroverticillatus in 19872). The structure that we established in 19903) showed some similarities with that of okadaic acid, and the target protein of okadaic acid had already been found to be protein phosphatase in 19884). Indeed, it was later found that the target proteins of tautomycin were also protein phosphatases5'6). However, this molecule is not a tumor promoter on mouseskin and in rat glandular stomach7). These differences in biological activities between tautomycin and the okadaic acid class tumor promoters are interesting topics in structural biology. The threedimensional structures of the related compoundacanthifolicin8) and the obromobenzyl ester derivative of

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Development of Operand Desorption Gas Analysis System The Support Laboratory of Nanofabrication of Yamaguchi University is a member of the Nanofabrication Platform Consortium in the Nanotechnology Platform Japan. Our laboratory features the desorption gas analysis of materials and devices based on the original vacuum technology in addition to the nanofabrication. In this paper, an operand desorption gas analysis system (apparatus for dynamic thermal desorption spectroscopy), which is one of our gas analysis systems, is explained. The advantage of this system is that it enables a desorption gas analysis of an operating device under an approximately atmospheric pressure (0.1 to 0.2 MPa) using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, in contrast to a sample placed in a vacuum in a conventional apparatus for thermal desorption spectroscopy. Moreover, two measurement examples (DC electric motor and solar cell) using this operand gas analysis system were described. In the DC motor, the main desorbed gas from the motor behaved similarly to the motor electric power with the occurrence of failure or stop caused by heating. In the solar cell, from the comparison of the temperature dependence between the open circuit voltage and the main desorbed gases from the solar cell, the temperature durability of the sealing part is confirmed to be related to the electron generation efficiency.

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Recent Advances in the Straps/Strips Technique for Out-of-plane Strengthening of Load-bearing Masonry Walls As is well known, the main contribution of the FRP strips to the strength of load-bearing walls is an improvement in the in-plane strength. This paper deals with the possibility of applying the FRP strips in way to modify the strengthening mechanism of the FRP reinforcing system, from an in-plane to an out-of-plane strengthening mechanism. In order to achieve this goal, a second reinforcement system – derived from the CAM system (Active Confinement of Masonry) – provides connections between the FRP strips placed on the opposite sides of the wall. This new strengthening technique – called the straps/strips technique – establishes a stiffness constraint that forces the opposing FRP strips to behave like two flanges of an FRP I-beam embedded in the wall. Consequently, the use of FRP strips also improves the flexural strength of the wall. The present paper briefly summarizes the results obtained in previous works with the straps/strips technique and proposes an improvement of this strengthening technique, based on some weak-points emerged in the early experimentations. The paper also shows the results of a further experimental test, performed with the improved straps/strips technique. Finally, the similarity between FRP strips with transversal connection and concrete wythes of a sandwich panel with flexible connectors leads to interpret the behavior of the ideal I-beam in terms of composite action established between the FRP strips. This paves the way for analytical modeling of the straps/strips technique.

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Mathematics Achievement of Grade VIII Students Based on International Standardized Test (TIMSS) in an Urban Context of Sindh, Pakistan The purpose of the study was to check how students of grade VIII in Urban Sindh, Pakistan performed on mathematics subject based on Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) assessment framework. The study used a descriptive design from quantitative research methods. The data were collected from three different educational sectors of urban Sindh. The study used a mathematics test based on the TIMSS framework and 60 items (44 MCQs & 16 CRQs) were adapted from released items. Purposive sampling was used to select the schools (n=6) and random sampling was followed to recruit the research participants (n=180) from grade VIII. There were 38% female and 62% of male research participants. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistical analyses technique. The results indicate that the research participant’s average score is below 30%, indicating an overall low performance of all schools in mathematics tests based on the TIMSS 2011 assessment framework. Some important recommendations for reducing the gap between the proposed and the achieved expertise level in mathematics are given.

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How to ... Qualitative research is rooted in anthropological and sociological tradition and has as its major tenet the desire to study and make sense of the thoughts, beliefs, actions and activities of informants. Qualitative research is essentially multimethod in its focus, involving an interpretative, naturalistic approach to its subject matter. Therefore researchers are concerned to study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of or interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them. Qualitative researchers make use of a variety of materials in order to explore the lived realities of those they are researching. Qualitative work is interpretative – meanings have much greater significance than frequencies. For qualitative researchers the importance of their studies lies in their ability to address issues of ‘what, why, where and when?’ rather than of ‘how many?’. Critics of the qualitative paradigm constantly raise concerns as to the validity and reliability of the approach. But deciding what is to count as a unit of analysis is fundamentally an issue of interpretation, requiring judgements on significance. Does a study become more reliable if the views of 200 or 2000 people are collected rather than of two? What is validity? Whose version of the truth is represented, and how? We need to remember that in reality ‘facts’ are socially constructed and as such meaning is culturally and somewhat arbitrarily defined. For qualitative researchers the key is never to take things at face value, or unquestioningly to accept data as they are presented. Even the most familiar settings

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– the doctor’s surgery, the hospital ward, the school classroom or the shopping centre – can reveal the unexpected. Researchers need to be constantly checking with those they are researching to ensure that they are correct in their assumptions and interpretations of the various aspects of everyday life. The thick, descriptive narratives which are then produced are the very strength of qualitative research, since they offer a validity to the accounts which quantitative studies could not hope to equal. It is important to acknowledge the existence of the researcher effect. Simply deciding to study a particular setting or group, whether by qualitative or quantitative means, will have an impact (the Hawthorne effect). What qualitative researchers must do is acknowledge, make explicit and reflect upon the ways in which issues of gender, age, ethnicity and power all impact upon the research process and therefore on the data which are generated from it. The distinction between what counts as qualitative research and what is ‘common sense’ is the demand that researchers recognise and acknowledge that they are part of the social world that is being studied. There is a need to appreciate that behaviour and attitudes are not stable across contexts and that no study can be totally free from researcher bias. Data should therefore be regarded as problematic, and should be subjected to rigorous scrutiny and verification through triangulation within and between methods. This method of validation is done by comparing different kinds of data from different sources in order to see if there is corroboration. So

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data that relate to the same phenomenon are compared, but they are derived from different phases of fieldwork, different points in time, different participants or different methods of data collection. See the studies by West which looked at mothers’ criticisms of doctors and Glennerster et al on fundholding in general practice. Respondent validation is another approach and consists of researchers showing their findings to the people studied and seeking verification – the actors recognising a correspondence between the findings and what they, the actors, say and do. This verification becomes largely a matter of authenticity. In his study of specialist doctors Bloor found that sometimes doctors agreed with his description of their practices and at other times they did not. He argues that this becomes a stimulus to generate new data and new paths of analysis. But there are problems with this strategy: Education for Primary Care (2010) 21: 332–3 # 2010 Medical Education @ Cardiff Series

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Isolation and Identification of Bacterial and Fungal Spoilage Organisms in Branded and Unbranded Milk; Consumer Perception of Safety Hazard for Milk Background: This research aims to isolate and identify bacterial and fungal spoilage organisms in branded and unbranded milk, as well as to assess the parameters linked to milk safety risk. A total of 30 samples were collected for laboratory testing. For analysis, the samples were inoculated on several mediums. The bacterial and fungal isolates were identified using Gram staining and biochemical identification methods. Results: According to the findings, Klebsiella spp. and Escherichia coli are the most common bacteria found in isolated organisms from branded and unbranded milk (22.6%). Meanwhile, 8.8% of both Enterococcus faecalis and Streptococcus faecalis were found in the samples. 3.7% of Serratia marcescens and some Streptococcus species were all identified in the samples. At the milk outlets, regularly opening containers to sell milk and predisposing the milk to hand contamination increased the risk of contamination by environmental contaminants. Survey was done with 60 respondents, 37 (61.67%) said they were aware of the health risks associated with milk. Twenty-three people (38.33%) said they knew about diseases linked to drinking contaminated milk. It also discovered that there was no formal food hygiene training for any of the food handlers. However, 11.7% of the workers had advanced training in a variety of fields. Conclusions: The microorganisms associated with milk products' spoilage in this study are of economical and public health significance. Some strains of A. flavus have been reported to produce potent mycotoxins called ochratoxin

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that can be harmful to human beings and animals. Cares should be taken on the handling of milk and milk products. And the improved preservation methods should be suggested to enhance the quality of milk products. The findings of the study provide a foundation for developing better milk policies.

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Choice he hydration structure of dissolved carbon dioxide from X-ray bsorption spectroscopy The dissolution of carbon dioxide in water and its subsequent hydrolysis reactions comprise one of the most central processes in all of science, yet it remains incompletely understood despite enormous vailable online 3 June 2015 effort. We report the detailed characterization of dissolved CO2 gas through the combination of X-ray spectroscopy and first principles theory. The molecule acts as a hydrophobe in water with an average hydrogen bond number of 0.56. The carbon atom interacts weakly with a single water at a distance of >2.67 Å and the carbonyl oxygens serve as weak hydrogen bond acceptors, thus locally enhancing the tetrahedral water hydrogen bonding structure.

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Teaching Internalization to Middle-Level Mental Health Workers in Training 13 trainees enrolled in a process-oriented training program for middle-level mental health workers completed the I-E scale 1 mo. prior to enrollment and again 11 mo. later. Ss participated in 41 90-min. intensive group-counseling sessions which emphasized internalization and actuation of responsible behavior. The results show that, as a group, I-E scores of Ss shifted significantly (p < .02) in the direction of internality, as did their daily behavior.

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Ordered subset expectation maximization algorithm for positron emission tomographic image reconstruction using belief kernels Abstract. The aim of this study is to investigate the benefits of incorporating prior information in list mode, time-of-flight (TOF) positron emission tomography (PET) image reconstruction using the ordered subset expectation maximization (OSEM) algorithm. This investigation consists of an IEC phantom study and a patient study. For the image under reconstruction, the activity profile along a line of response is treated as a priori and is combined with the TOF measurement to define a belief kernel used for forward and backward projections during the OSEM image reconstruction. Activity profiles are smoothed and combined with the TOF kernels to control the adverse impact of noise, and different levels of smoothness are attempted. The standard TOF OSEM reconstruction is used as a baseline for comparison. Image quality is assessed using a combination of visual assessment and quantitative measurement including contrast recovery coefficients (CRC) and background variability. On the IEC phantom study, the reconstruction using belief kernels converges faster and the reconstructed images are more appealing. The CRCs for all sizes of regions of interest on images reconstructed with belief kernels are higher than those of the baseline. The background variability, measured as a coefficient of variation, is generally lower for the images reconstructed using belief kernels. Similar observations occur on the patient study. Particularly, the images reconstructed using belief kernels have better defined lesions, improved contrast, and reduced background noise. OSEM PET image reconstruction using belief kernels that combine the information from prior images

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and TOF measurements seems promising and worth further investigation.

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Blood pressure tracking in adolescents with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Hypertension, one of the most frequent and important complications of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), usually begins in the second decade of the disease and is rare in childhood. We analysed the blood pressure (BP) levels of 106 patients (48 males, 58 females, aged 2-16 years) in relation to sex and age and we studied the modification of BP with years (tracking). BP levels, registered every three to six months, were compared with the local standard levels for age and expressed as standard deviation scores (SDS) of the means. For each subject a regression line describing the change of the SDS over time was calculated by the method of least squares. The slope of this line is called trend and represents the tendency of BP to increase or decrease with time, i.e. to develop (or not) hypertension. All patients, except one 16 year old girl, had normal BP and no microalbuminuria but ten of them presented with mean levels in the upper quartile and/or a constantly upward BP trend and were considered at risk. After a three year follow-up four of these ten patients became frankly hypertensive with increased microalbuminuria. These results agree with previous findings and with the hypothesis that an increase of intraglomerular and/or systemic BP may precede the appearance of (and even could be responsible for) microalbuminuria. The BP tracking study in IDDM children and adolescents could be useful for an early recognition of patients at risk of developing hypertension and diabetic nephropathy.

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Absorption of Hydrogen in the HBond©9000 Metal Hydride Tank The present article describes the measurements of hydrogen absorbed into an intermetallic alloy. The process of hydrogen absorption into a metal hydride tank is accompanied with generating heat that must be removed during the process. If the tank is not cooled, the gas pressure rapidly increases and even with a small amount of the stored hydrogen the pressure exceeds the permissible value. By contrast, during hydrogen desorption it is required to supply the same amount of specific heat to avoid a significant decrease in pressure which would result in a decrease in hydrogen release kinetics.

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Population genomic screening of all young adults in Australia to detect familial hypercholesterolemia: a cost-effectiveness analysis Heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a highly-penetrant, autosomal dominant monogenic disorder that causes elevated plasma low-density cholesterol (LDL-C) levels and risk of premature coronary heart disease (CHD). To date, the cost-effectiveness of the emerging strategy of genomic screening of adult populations for FH has not been investigated. To assess the impact and cost-effectiveness of offering population genomic screening to all young adults in Australia to detect heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). We designed a decision analysis model to compare the current standard of care for heterozygous FH diagnosis in Australia (opportunistic cholesterol screening and genetic cascade testing) with population genomic screening of adults aged 18–40 years to detect pathogenic variants in the LDLR/APOB/PCSK9 genes. The model captured morbidity/mortality due to coronary heart disease (CHD) over a lifetime horizon, from a healthcare perspective. Risk of CHD, treatment effects, prevalence, and healthcare costs were estimated from published studies. Outcomes included quality adjusted life years (QALYs), costs and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER), discounted 5% annually. Sensitivity analyses were undertaken to explore the impact of key input parameters on the robustness of the model. The model structure was designed to be transferable to countries with different healthcare systems. Over the lifetime of the population (4,167,768 men; 4,129,961 women), the model estimated a gain of 62,722 years of life lived and 73,959 QALYs due to CHD prevention. Population genomic screening for FH would be cost-effective from a healthcare perspective if the cost per test was ≤AU$300

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(∼US$233) which would yield an ICER AU$28,000 cost-saving. Based on our model, offering population genomic screening to all young adults to detect FH could be cost-effective in the Australian healthcare system, at testing costs that are currently feasible. Type of funding sources: Foundation. Main funding source(s): This work was supported by the Australian National Heart Foundation and Monash University Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Results from scenario analyses Results from Monte Carlo simulations

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Beginning of the End, 1967 On athletic director Bernie Shively’s death, Harry Lancaster gives up his post as first assistant coach and takes Shively’s job. Coach Rupp has a difficult time without Harry at his side. Joe B. moves up to first assistant coach. This chapter describes Rupp’s many health problems and the stress he experiences regarding his upcoming forced retirement. Joe B. describes his own stress in view of Rupp’s treatment of him.

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Planktonic communities in a small post-peat reservoir (Ustka Forest District, Poland) Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the present state of a small (area of 0.2 ha), shallow (mean depth of 2 m) and approximately 30-year-old post-peat reservoir located in Bruskowskie Bagno, a Baltic raised mire in northern Poland. The study was conducted during all seasons of the year (August 2019–July 2020). The reservoir was characterised by a yellow to brown water colour, low pH (5.4) and quite low conductivity (40.4 μS cm-1), which are the main features of dystrophic water bodies. Similar to natural, dystrophic lakes and ponds, the phytoplankton was mainly composed of mixotrophic species like Dinobryon sp. and Gonyostomum semen. The only numerous non-flagellate group within the phytoplankton was desmids, which indicated that the water was influenced by the mire. The reservoir was characterised by a high abundance of ciliates (annual mean of 55.6 cells ml-1) and a very high abundance of rotifers (annual mean of 3.72 ind. ml-1). Among ciliates, the most important were prostomatids, accounting for 53% of the mean annual ciliate abundance. The results of our study indicate that artificial, approximately 30-year-old, post-peat reservoir resembled a natural dystrophic water body.

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Simultaneous determination of myo‐inositol and scyllo‐inositol by MEKC as a rapid monitoring tool for inositol levels A simple and rapid MEKC method was developed for the simultaneous determination of myo‐inositol, scyllo‐inositol, and glucose. Prior to electrophoretic separation, the nonfluorescent inositols and glucose were derivatized by N‐methylisatoic anhydride at 25°C for 10 min so that they could be detected by a fluorescence detector during separation. The good separation with high efficiency by MEKC was achieved in 13 min with a glycine buffer containing SDS and PEG 4000. Several parameters affecting the separation were studied, including the pH of BGE, the concentrations of glycine, SDS, and PEG 4000, and the applied voltage. Using glycerol as an internal standard, the linear ranges of the method for myo‐inositol, scyllo‐inositol, and glucose were 0.03–10, 0.01–5, and 0.05–20 mM; the concentration LODs of myo‐inositol, scyllo‐inositol, and glucose were 0.020, 0.0078, and 0.026 mM, respectively. The method was applied to analyze extracellular myo‐inositol and glucose in the microdialysates from rat brain cortex of ischemia animal model and intracellular myo‐inositol and scyllo‐inositol in the rat brain extract.

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Handbook of Political Conflict: Theory and Practice With increasing size and differentiation of social units, people will become subject to intensities of social control alien to contemporary life. Gibbs challenges social scientists to question current conceptualizations of norms, deviance, and social control so as to reformulate theories of social control. To the extent that sociological theory addresses it, social control has always been assumed to automatically flow from organizations and institutions. The first half of the book evaluates definitions of norms, deviance, and social control. Gibbs identifies problems which arise when norms are applied, including failure to recognize "that a belief cannot be a norm of a social unit unless it is shared . . . by all members. . . ." (p. 4). No minimum proportion of members subscribing to the belief is stipulated. For decades sociologists defined deviance as behavior contrary to norms. More recently, many have abandoned this normative conception for the labeling perspective, failing to understand that the term deviance denotes not a single argument but three distinct arguments—reactive conception of deviance, theory of secondary deviance, and societal reaction theory. After examining definitions of social control in terms of their answers to six central questions, Gibbs concludes compelling evidence exists to embrace his definition which treats social control as a multityped rather than a unitary phenomenon. The remaining half of the book details and defends "the final definition" and concludes with a theory of social control. The definition's triadic character stipulates that at least three individuals are involved in each of five

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types of social control. The manipulation of the second party's behavior by the first party through a third party distinguishes it from externalistic control. Gibbs challenges other conceptions, especially the "prophylactic conception" which equates social control with the counteraction of deviance. Toward additional theories, Gibbs examines correlates of his five types and conditions under which each will be effective. The most relevant conditions are size of social unit and degree of internal sociocultural differentiation (limited to status differentiation and normative consensus). His table (p. 152) summarizes along two axes (size and sociocultural differentiation) the relations among the types of social units. The frequency of each type of control in a social unit is expressed as a ratio to the frequency of some other type. The order in which the types become frequent is referential, allegative, vicarious, modulative, and prelusive, with each type of control giving way to another as size and differentiation increase. Gibbs concludes with a research strategy which includes testing generalizations through comparisons (1) of different social units at the same point in time and (2) of social units of the same type. The initial importance of the research is more inherent in its demonstration of empirical applications of the conceptualization than in its support of specific generalizations. Although sociological references dominate, Gibbs's conceptualization should attract the interest of political scientists. Far from ignoring differential power, his conceptualization of social control virtually presumes it. For each type of control there is a corresponding type of power. When Gibbs's research strategy compares units of the

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same type, he anticipates that the relations postulated also hold for all types of social units. Despite incisive critiques of current definitions and advancement of alternative conceptualizations of social control for theoretical formulations, it is doubtful the book will attract a wide readership. It might be used as a supplementary text, though probably not as a primary one. Gibbs's final conception is "ponderous" and consists of "very abstract notions" and terms "alien to other definitions of social control" (p. 78). Although he attempts clarification through illustration, the book remains difficult. It would not be suitable for the average undergraduate and perhaps not even for a beginning graduate student. Benefit from this work presumes an appreciation of conceptualizing and theorizing, in contrast to today's vocational training mentality.

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Mapping and Assessment of PM10 and O3 Removal by Woody Vegetation at Urban and Regional Level This study is the follow up of the URBAN-MAES pilot implemented in the framework of the EnRoute project. The study aims at mapping and assessing the process of particulate matter (PM10) and tropospheric ozone (O3) removal by various forest and shrub ecosystems. Different policy levels and environmental contexts were considered, namely the Metropolitan city of Rome and, at a wider level, the Latium region. The approach involves characterization of the main land cover and ecosystems using Sentinel-2 images, enabling a detailed assessment of Ecosystem Service (ES), and monetary valuation based on externality values. The results showed spatial variations in the pattern of PM10 and O3 removal inside the Municipality and in the more rural Latium hinterland, reflecting the spatial dynamics of the two pollutants. Evergreen species displayed higher PM10 removal efficiency, whereas deciduous species showed higher O3 absorption in both rural and urban areas. The overall pollution removal accounted for 5123 and 19,074 Mg of PM10 and O3, respectively, with a relative monetary benefit of 161 and 149 Million Euro for PM10 and O3, respectively. Our results provide spatially explicit evidence that may assist policymakers in land-oriented decisions towards improving Green Infrastructure and maximizing ES provision at different governance levels.

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Composition of ultradeep gas - theoretical and experimental study Increasingly greater numbers of wells are being drilled below 25,000 ft, and considerations of methane stability in the deep subsurface are becoming more important. The authors have calculated equilibrium gas compositions corresponding to conditions down to 40,000 ft for low, average, and high geothermal gradients, for hydrostatic and lithostatic pressures, and with and without graphite. Calculations have been made for sandstone reservoirs with various amounts and combinations of feldspars, clays, carbonate cements, and iron oxides with and without graphite, and for limestone and dolomite reservoirs with various combinations of clays, iron minerals, anhydrite, and sulfur, again with and without graphite. Natural gas shows considerable stability in sandstone reservoirs under most conditions, but its concentration in deep carbonates is much more variable and tends to a H/sub 2/S-CO/sub 2/ mixture except when an appreciable concentration of iron is present.The thermodynamic predictions can (in principle) be checked by direct analysis down to the depth limit of available gas samples. In practice, considerable problems exist due to partial gas loss during sample retrieval. The analysis of gases trapped in fluid inclusions in late-stage cements offers one solution to this problem. This gas is being analyzed by thermally rupturing inclusions in the inlet systemmore » of a fast-scanning, computer-controlled mass spectrometer. Each bursting inclusion is analyzed separately, and several hundred individual inclusions can be analyzed using only 10 mg of sample. A wide variety of compositions, including water-rich, methane-rich, and H/sub 2/S-rich, is found in samples from below 20,000 ft.« less

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[Combined revascularization of coronary and femoral arteries]. A 63-year-old male patient with both coronary artery disease and leg ischemia was successfully treated with a combined procedure. Coronary arteries were bypassed with the saphenous vein graft and in situ left internal mammary artery, and bilateral femoral arteries were bypassed with expanded polytetrafluoroethylene grafts descended from the ascending aorta through the preperitoneal abdominal wall tunnel. After this procedure he experienced neither angina nor claudication.

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New Measurement Method of Broadband Permittivity and Permeability of Non-Solid Materials in Small Quantity Evaluation of permittivity (ε) and permeability (μ) of magnetic/dielectric material in microwave band becomes more important with the rapid expansion of microwave technologies. Transmission/reflection line method is well known as a simultaneous measurement method of ε and μ in the band. However in this method material under test (MUT) is limited to solid state. On the other hand, for measuring liquid material open ended coaxial probe method was proposed. The method is disadvantageous in terms of requiring deciliter volumes of MUT for approximating a semi-space filled by MUT. We propose a new measurement method with the aim of simultaneous measuring both of permittivity and permeability of not only solid material but also a small amount of liquid, powder, and gel state material. A plastic toroidal case was utilized to encapsulate non-solid state MUT and whole the case was evaluated by coaxial line method. In this study the cases were modeled using Acrylic 3-D printer (Stratasys, Objet 260 Connex). An example of the plastic case with a cap fabricated is shown in Fig. 1. Outer and inner diameter (7.00 and 3.00 mm) of the case was designed to fit to a coaxial sample holder (KEAD Inc., CSH2-APC7). The length of the case including a cap thickness measured by digital vernier caliper was 5.00 mm. In the same way, thickness of wall, bottom, and cap was 0.45, 0.50, and 0.50 mm, respectively. Accordingly the volume of MUT required for the case was about 70

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microliters. The specimen which MUT was encapsulated was inserted to the coaxial sample holder and complex scattering (S) parameters from 1–10 GHz were taken using a vector network analyzer (Hewlett-Packard, HP 8720D). S-parameters whose reference planes were both upper and lower surface of the specimen were obtained by shifting reference planes of the measured S-parameters. After that we obtained S-parameters of MUT in numerical calculations mentioned below in order to take away unwanted plastic case portions. The specimen can be divided into three coaxial portions: Inner cylindrical wall, outer cylindrical wall, and middle core including MUT between their walls. From the viewpoint of electric circuit it corresponds to a series connection of the three two-port networks. Impedance (Z) parameters of the middle core were obtained using the relationship: Z-matrix of the specimen equals to the sum of their three Z-matrices. Z-matrix of the specimen was obtained by converting S-matrix of it by a reference impedance. Z-matrix of outer and inner wall was obtained from ε and μ measured in advance using solid specimens of the plastic material and outer and inner diameters of their cylindrical walls. Z-matrix of the middle core was converted S-matrix again. The middle slender core can be divided into three coaxial portions: a part of cap, a part of bottom, and MUT. The core corresponds to a cascaded connection of the three two-port networks. Transfer (T) parameters of MUT were obtained using the relationship: T-matrix of the core equals to the product of their three T-matrices. T-matrix of the core was obtained

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by converting S-matrix of it. T-matrix of a part of bottom and cap was obtained from ε and μ of the plastic material used and bottom and cap thickness. Finally ε and μ of MUT were calculated from S-parameters of it using Nicolson-Ross-Wier algorithm [1, 2]. In this study, the air at the volume was measured as MUT in order to confirm a validity of the proposed method. The dependences of real and imaginary part of relative permittivity of air obtained by this method on frequency were shown in Fig. 2(a) and Fig. 2(b). Although the both values had a margin of error of plus or minus 10% a constant and nearly ideal relative permittivity of air was confirmed in the band measured from these figures. This result indicates that the proposed method is effective for measuring non-solid materials.

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FtsZ Fiber Bundling Is Triggered by a Conformational Change in Bound GTP* Polymer formation by the essential FtsZ protein plays a crucial role in the cytokinesis of most prokaryotes. Lateral associations between these FtsZ polymers to form bundles or sheets are widely predicted to be extremely important for FtsZ function in vivo. We have carried out a study in vitro of FtsZ polymer formation and bundling using linear dichroism (LD) to assess structural properties of the polymers. We demonstrate proof-of-principle experiments to show that LD can be used as a technique to follow FtsZ polymerization, and we present the LD spectra of FtsZ polymers. Our subsequent examination of FtsZ polymer bundling induced by calcium reveals a substantial increase in the LD signal indicative of increased polymer length and rigidity. We also detect a specific conformational change in the guanine moiety associated with bundling, whereas the conformation and configuration of the FtsZ monomers within the polymer remain largely unchanged. We demonstrate that other divalent cations can induce this conformational change in FtsZ-bound GTP coincident with polymer bundling. Therefore, we present “flipping” of the guanine moiety in FtsZ-bound GTP as a mechanism that explains the link between reduced GTPase activity, increased polymer stability, and polymer bundling.

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Bald's Leechbook and the Physica Plinii. The study of the sources of the Anglo-Saxon medical texts began more than a hundred years ago with T.O. Cockayne's monumental edition of most of the medical, magical and herbal material extant in Old English. Cockayne demonstrated that the most significant text in this corpus, the late ninth-century compilation known as Bald's Leechbook, drew on an impressive range of Latin source materials. Recent work by C.H. Talbot and M.L. Cameron has further extended our knowledge of the classical texts which underlie the Leechbook. Among the significant sources is the text known as the Physica Plinii. Although the Physica survives in several recensions, there has as yet been no systematic study of the relationship between these recensions and the version of the Latin text used by the Old English compiler. The present article investigates Bald's Leechbook as a witness to the history of the Physica Plinii, and demonstrates the complexity of the transmission of the latter work.

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Dilated Pupil during Endoscopic Sinus Surgery: What does it Mean? Endoscopic sinus surgery has become the standard of care for the surgical management of chronic sinus disease. Sinus disease and its surgical treatment carry the risk of orbital complications, irrespective of the approach. Orbital complications associated with sinus surgery include nasolacrimal duct damage, extraocular muscle injury, intraorbital hemorrhage/ emphysema, and direct optic nerve damage, resulting in blindness. The finding of an unequal pupil at the end of a procedure would be a cause of considerable concern, but it is most likely due to the topical contamination of the eye with a mydriatic pharmacological agent commonly used in endoscopic sinus surgery.

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Investigating the Impact of Macro Economic Factors on Pakistan Stock Market: An analysis of Pre, Between and Post Financial Crisis Naveed Ul Haq , Waqas Ahmad , Ammar Aftab Raja , Fatima Khalid d a Research Associate, Office of Research Innovation and Commercialization, University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan b MS Finance Scholar, University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan c Assistant Professor, University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan d MS Finance Scholar, University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan * Corresponding Author Email: [email protected] Abstract This study investigates the association between macroeconomic variables for pre, between and post financial crisis for the period from 1999 to 2018. This study is on time series analysis. By unit root test, we evidence to run Johnson co-integration test. The cointegration test reveals that the significant result with stock prices in Pakistan. However, Granger causality test shows indication of bi-direction relation between exchange rate and stock prices in Pakistan and money supply and stock prices in Pakistan and Uni-directional causality between gold prices and stock prices and inflation rate and stock prices in Pakistan for prefinancial crisis 2007-8. The results of between financial crises 2007-8 show Causality between gold prices with stock prices and inflation rate with stock prices in Pakistan. However, we found no causality between variables for post-financial crisis 2007-8 during present study.

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The effects of EF-Ts and bismuth on EF-Tu in Helicobacter pylori: implications for an elegant timing for the introduction of EF-Ts in the elongation and EF-Tu as a potential drug target. Helicobacter pylori is a common human pathogen responsible for various gastric diseases. Bismuth can effectively inhibit the growth of this bacterium and is commonly recommended for the treatment of the related diseases. Translation elongation factors EF-Tu and EF-Ts are two important components of the protein translation system. EF-Ts has inhibitory effects on the GTPase activity of EF-Tu and enhances GDP release, a hint that careful timing for the introduction of EF-Ts in the elongation should be accomplished to prevent the complete inhibition of the elongation process. Bismuth inhibits the chaperone activity of EF-Tu, and has opposite effects on the elongation activity: inhibitory effects on the intrinsic GTPase activity and stimulation of GDP release. The present work deepens our understanding of the bacterial elongation process as mediated by EF-Tu and EF-Ts and extends our knowledge about the inhibitory effects of bismuth-based drugs against Helicobacter pylori.

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T-cell/histiocyte-rich large B-cell lymphoma shows transcriptional features suggestive of a tolerogenic host immune response Background Gene expression profiling has successfully identified the prognostic significance of the host response in lymphomas. The aggressive T-cell/histiocyte-rich large B-cell lymphoma and the indolent nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin’s lymphoma are both characterized by a paucity of tumor cells embedded in an overwhelming background. The tumor cells of both lymphomas share several characteristics, while the cellular composition of their microenvironment is clearly different. Design and Methods We collected 33 cases of T-cell/histiocyte-rich large B-cell lymphoma and 56 cases of nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin’s lymphoma and performed microarray gene expression profiling on ten cases of each lymphoma, to obtain a better understanding of the lymphoma host response. By quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction we verified that these 20 selected cases were representative of the entire population of T-cell/histiocyte-rich large B-cell and nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin’s lymphomas. Results We observed that the microenvironment in nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin’s lymphoma is molecularly very similar to a lymph node characterized by follicular hyperplasia, while the microenvironment in T-cell/histiocyte-rich large B-cell lymphoma is clearly different. The T-cell/histiocyte-rich large B-cell lymphoma signature is hallmarked by up-regulation of CCL8, interferon-γ, indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase, VSIG4 and Toll-like receptors. These features may be responsible for the recruitment and activation of T cells, macrophages and dendritic cells, characterizing the stromal component of this lymphoma, and may point towards innate immunity and a tumor tolerogenic immune response in T-cell/histiocyte-rich large B-cell lymphoma. Conclusions The gene expression profile of T-cell/histiocyte-rich large B-cell lymphoma, in comparison with that

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of nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin’s lymphoma, shows features suggestive of a distinct tolerogenic host immune response that may play a key role in the aggressive behavior of this lymphoma, and that may serve as a potential target for future therapy.

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An Overview of a Versatile Compound: Quercetin Flavonoids are phytochemical compounds found in a variety of plants, fruits, vegetables, leaves, and barks, it offers a wide range of health benefits. Quercetin is a polyphenolic flavonoid that is found in onions, apples, berries, broccoli, grapes, nuts, cherries and many other food products. Pharmacologically, quercetin has been examined for various disorders and is reported to possess the ability to prevent as well as treat them. It possesses anti-oxidant, anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral and anti-cancer activity as well. Developing suitable formulation for the delivery of quercetin to specific site leads to better compliance and effective treatment of the disease. This review article highlights the beneficiary activities exhibited by quercetin along with the mechanism behind its activity, followed by reporting the different quercetin formulations developed in last few years.

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Vissim: A Multi-Parameter Sensitivity Analysis Traffic microsimulation is increasingly a preferred method of traffic analysis for today's transportation professionals. The importance of properly calibrating these traffic simulations is evidenced by the adoption of microsimulation calibration standards by several state and federal transportation authorities. A component of the calibration process is the calibration of the simulation for capacity. Capacity is a high-level measurement that is a function of many lower level user-defined input parameters. VISSIM utilizes psychophysical car-following models that rely on ten user-defined parameters to represent freeway driving behavior. Several VISSIM driver behavior parameters have been shown to have a significant impact on roadway capacity. This paper seeks further understanding of the performance of the VISSIM traffic microsimulator by investigating the impact of driver behavior parameter combinations on a measure of freeway capacity. This paper is intended to provide insight useful for manual calibration of VISSIM microsimulation or the development of calibration algorithms

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Skills and Remittances: The Case of Afghan, Egyptian and Serbian Immigrants in Germany The issue of migration and development became in the last years highly relevant on the global policy agenda. Countries and international organisations increasingly perceive migration as a phenomenon that can positively impact development in both migrant receiving and sending countries, provided that appropriate policies are in place. And one of the central issues within the context of the migration and development nexus is the role of the migrants' remittances as a source of capital and possible engine for economic growth in developing countries. The migrants' remittances gained in importance on the international agenda1 because of the dramatic rise in international flows. Between 2001 and 2005 international migrant remittances' flows increased by 58%, to reach about US$232 billion (The World Bank, 2005). With about US$167 billion, developing countries received the biggest share, while industrial countries in North America and Western Europe are the major sources. However, there is still limited knowledge about the way in which these international transfers effect economic development in the migrant sending counties.

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Anxiety and depression among university students during the lockdown: their protective and risk factors Anxiety and depression among university students were reported to be increased during the outbreak of CoVid-19. Various studies indicated that the phenomenon was triggered by the sudden enforcement of the studying-from-home (SFH) policy. Accordingly, we hypothesized that the students’ online learning efficacy (OLE) predicted the upsurge of the two mental health issues. However, SFH also elevated the students’ inclination towards social media (SM), and it brought further changes in some socio-psychological factors. We recruited 435 university students to respond to demographic items and the scales to measure factors such as perceived social support (PSS), societal mattering, and fear of missing out (FOMO) to test the hypothesis that OLE would no longer be a significant predictor of anxiety and depression when all the aforementioned variables are controlled for. The results of the hierarchical regression analyses supported our hypothesis on anxiety, while in predicting depression, OLE was still significant after controlling for the rest of the predictors. Societal mattering was the strongest protective factor against depression, whereas FOMO was the strongest risk factor of anxiety. Implications, limitations, and suggestions are discussed.

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Numerical Analysis of the Output-Pulse Shaping Capability of Linear Transformer Drivers Output-pulse shaping capability of a linear transformer driver (LTD) module under different conditions is studied, by conducting the whole circuit model simulation by using the PSPICE code. Results indicate that a higher impedance profile of the internal transmission line would lead to a wider adjustment range for the output current rise time and a narrower adjustment range for the current peak. The number of cavities in series has a positive effect on the output-pulse shaping capability of LTD. Such an improvement in the output-pulse shaping capability can primarily be ascribed to the increment in the axial electric length of LTD. For a triggering time interval longer than the time taken by a pulse to propagate through the length of one cavity, the output parameters of LTD could be improved significantly. The present insulating capability of gas switches and other elements in the LTD cavities may only tolerate a slightly longer deviation in the triggering time interval. It is feasible for the LTD module to reduce the output current rise time, though it is not useful to improve the peak power effectively.

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Rectal cancer: the influence of type of operation on local recurrence and survival. OBJECTIVE To assess the results of standardised total mesorectal excision of rectal cancer with particular reference to local recurrence and survival. DESIGN Prospective open study. SETTING Central hospital, Norway. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Local recurrence, survival. RESULTS The resectability rate was 90% (107/118), of whom 81 (76%) underwent curative resection. The overall local recurrence rate in patients who underwent primary resection was 9% with an overall five-year survival rate of 53%. In patients who had had curative operations the local recurrence rate was 4% (3/81), with an overall five year survival of 65% and a cancer specific survival of 85%. None of the patients who had palliative treatment survived five years. In 12 patients whose tumours were thought to be unresectable but who were operated on, of whom nine were given additional radiotherapy (46 Gy), 5 (42%) developed local recurrences and the five year cancer free survival was 25%. CONCLUSION Total mesorectal excision and strict adherence to the surgical principles of anatomical dissection in the pelvis and washing out of the rectal stump before anastomosis reduce local recurrences to a minimum. In patients with locally advanced, fixed cancers, preoperative irradiation with more than 46 Gy must precede operation to achieve local control.

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Immunodeficiency in old age. Aging is a multi-facetted process, but the deterioration of the immune function seems to play a central role in this context. Paradoxically, immune reactivity against exogenous antigens declines during aging while autoimmune reactivity increases. One of the aims of our investigations on the function of the senescent immune system was to define immune parameters of 'normal' aging, i.e. those not dependent on underlying diseases. Specifically, our interest was focused on the possible role of an altered lipid metabolism of cells of the immune system during aging. The known decrease of plasma membrane fluidity of lymphoid cells and monocytes in higher age may be one of the factors responsible for the nonoptimal functioning of the immune system. This property, in turn, seems to be based on an altered lipid metabolism. Specifically, we have evidence that the finely tuned balance between the transport of cholesterol to and from lymphoid cells via the environment and the intracellular cholesterol biosynthesis seems to be disturbed with increasing age. This conclusion is drawn from experiments where low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) receptor activity is assessed using fluorescently labeled lipoproteins in fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) analyses. LDL receptor uptake is unexpectedly increased in the elderly, but LDL receptor regulation, and serum LDL composition itself seem to be normal. Preliminary data point out the possibility that the efflux of cholesterol via HDL may be insufficient. Attempts to modulate plasma membrane fluidity by means of the phospholipid mixture 'active lipid 721' (AL 721) showed that this drug, in contrast

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to literature reports, is not a 'membrane fluidizer' but rather exerts this effect as a nutrient for lymphocytes and monocytes.

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Cost-effectiveness of donepezil in the treatment of mild or moderate Alzheimer’s disease Objective: To demonstrate the use of cost-effectiveness analysis to assess the economic impact of donepezil in the treatment of mild or moderate AD. Background: Cost-effectiveness analyses show the relationship between resources used (costs) and health benefits achieved (effects) for an intervention compared with an alternative strategy. Methods: We developed a model to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness of donepezil compared with no treatment. We determined costs per quality-adjusted life-years gained, a measurement that enhances the comparability of diverse studies. The model projects the progression of AD patients into more severe disease stages and into nursing homes. Data from a randomized clinical trial of donepezil were used to assess the drug’s impact on the 6-week probabilities of progression. Data on the costs and health-related quality of life associated with different disease stages and settings were taken from published estimates and our companion cross-sectional study, respectively. Results: Donepezil costs are partially offset by a reduction in the costs of care due to enhancement in cognitive functioning and the delay to more costly disease stages and settings. The magnitude of this cost offset and of the effect of donepezil on health-related quality of life depends on the model’s assumptions about the duration of the drug effect, where controlled data are lacking. If the drug effect exceeds 2 years, the model predicts that for mild AD the drug would pay for itself in terms of cost offsets. Conclusions: The results of the cost-effectiveness model presented here suggest that donepezil

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may be cost-effective but additional controlled data on long-term drug efficacy are needed.

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Smart Map Augmented: Exploring and Learning Maritime Audio-Tactile Maps without Vision: The Issue of Finger or Marker Tracking Background: When exploring audio-tactile nautical charts without vision, users could trigger vocal announcements of a seamark’s name thanks to video tracking. In a first condition they could simply use a green sticker fastened at the tip of a finger and in a second condition they could handle a small handy green object, called the marker. Methods: In this study, we attempted to compare finger and marker tracking conditions to complete spatial tasks without vision. More precisely, we aimed to better understand which kind of interaction was the most efficient to perform either localization or estimation of distance and direction tasks. Twelve blindfolded participants realized these two spatial tasks on a 3D-printed audio-tactile nautical chart. Results: Results of the localization tasks revealed that in finger condition, participants were faster in finding geographic elements, i.e., seamarks. During estimation tasks, no differences were found between the precision of distances and direction estimations in both conditions. However, spatial reasoning took significantly less time in marker condition. Finally, we discussed the issue of the efficiency of these two interaction conditions depending on the spatial tasks. Conclusions: More experimentation and discussion should be undertaken to identify better modalities for helping visually impaired persons to explore audio-tactile maps and to prepare navigation.

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Studying Crop Yield Response to Supplemental Irrigation and the Spatial Heterogeneity of Soil Physical Attributes in a Humid Region West Tennessee’s supplemental irrigation management at a field level is profoundly affected by the spatial heterogeneity of soil moisture and the temporal variability of weather. The introduction of precision farming techniques has enabled farmers to collect site-specific data that provide valuable quantitative information for effective irrigation management. Consequently, a two-year on-farm irrigation experiment in a 73 ha cotton field in west Tennessee was conducted and a variety of farming data were collected to understand the relationship between crop yields, the spatial heterogeneity of soil water content, and supplemental irrigation management. The soil water content showed higher correlations with soil textural information including sand (r = −0.9), silt (r = 0.85), and clay (r = 0.83) than with soil bulk density (r = −0.27). Spatial statistical analysis of the collected soil samples (i.e., 400 samples: 100 locations at four depths from 0–1 m) showed that soil texture and soil water content had clustered patterns within different depths, but BD mostly had random patterns. ECa maps tended to follow the same general spatial patterns as those for soil texture and water content. Overall, supplemental irrigation improved the cotton lint yield in comparison to rainfed throughout the two-year irrigation study, while the yield response to supplemental irrigation differed across the soil types. The yield increase due to irrigation was more pronounced for coarse-textured soils, while a yield reduction was observed when higher irrigation water was applied to fine-textured soils. In

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addition, in-season rainfall patterns had a profound impact on yield and crop response to supplemental irrigation regimes. The spatial analysis of the multiyear yield data revealed a substantial similarity between yield and plant-available water patterns. Consequently, variable rate irrigation guided with farming data seems to be the ideal management strategy to address field level spatial variability in plant-available water, as well as temporal variability in in-season rainfall patterns.

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Chelation-controlled reduction: stereoselective formation of syn-1,3-diols and synthesis of compactin and mevinolin lactone. Chelation-controlled reduction of chiral beta-alkoxy ketones containing a competing beta'-oxygen functionality has been investigated. Various syn-1,3-diols were prepared conveniently by reduction of beta-alkoxy ketones with LiI/LiAlH(4) (syn:anti selectivity up to >99:1). The corresponding beta-alkoxy ketones were derived from nitro-aldol reactions of chiral alkoxy aldehydes with a series of nitro compounds. This methodology is utilized in a short and efficient synthesis of the delta-lactone moiety of the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors compactin and mevinolin.

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UV and Visible Electroluminescence From a {Sn:Ga}_{2}{O}_{3}/{n}(+}{-Si) Heterojunction by Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition A Sn-doped Ga 2 O 3 thin film was deposited on a n + -Si substrate by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. The Ga 2 O 3 film was found to be amorphous-like and exhibited n-type conduction with Sn doping. Room-temperature electroluminescence was clearly observed from the Sn:Ga 2 O 3 /n + -Si diode, including an ultraviolet (UV) emission at ∼370 nm, a yellow emission at ∼580 nm, and a red emission at ∼680 nm. The UV emission is assigned to the transition from Sn Ga donor to the V Ga acceptor, whereas the visible emissions were assigned to be related to the dangling bond defects.

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Squeezing Properties of Measurement Phase Operatorin the Squeezed Thermal States The squeezing properties in the squeezed thermal states are discussed via the measurement phase operators introduced by Barnett S M and Pegg D T. The results show that there is only a kind of CS squeezing. The squeezing properties are dependent on θ、 the average photon number and the field coefficients and the squeezing properties are weakened gradually along with increase of the average photon number and the field coefficients. It is found that there are not CN and SN squeezing.

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Automated Measurement and Analysis of Sidewall Roughness (SWR) Using 3D-AFM As the semiconductor device architecture develops, from planar field-effect transistor (FET) to FinFET and toward gate all around (GAA), it is more needed to measure 3D structure sidewall precisely. Here, we present a 3D-atomic force microscopy (3D-AFM) by Park Systems Corp., a powerful 3D metrology tool to measure SWR of vertical and undercut structures. First, we measured 3 different dies repeatedly to calculate reproducibility in die level. Reproducible results were derived with relative standard deviation under 2%. Second, we measured 13 different dies, including the center and edge of the wafer, to analyze SWR distribution in wafer level and reliable results were measured. And all analysis was performed using a novel algorithm including auto flattening, sidewall detection, and SWR calculation. In addition, SWR automatic analysis software was implemented to reduce analysis time and to provide standard analysis. The result suggests that our 3D-AFM based on tilted Z scanner enabled an advanced methodology for automated 3D measurement and analysis.

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Hearing loss is associated with gray matter differences in older adults at risk for and with Alzheimer's disease Hearing loss in healthy older adults is associated with accelerated brain volume loss; however, little is known about this association in those with or at risk for dementia. Using data from the COMPASS-ND study we investigated associations between hearing loss and hippocampal volume as well as cortical thickness in older adults with subjective cognitive decline (SCD, N=35), mild cognitive impairment (MCI, N=79), and Alzheimer's dementia (AD, N=21). SCD participants with greater pure-tone hearing loss exhibited lower hippocampal volume, a biomarker of dementia. They also showed more cortical thickness in the left superior temporal gyrus and right pars opercularis, suggesting compensatory cortical changes. No significant associations were found in those with cognitive impairment (MCI or AD) who had greater brain atrophy, suggesting that dementia-related neuropathology may supercede any effects of pure-tone hearing loss on brain volume loss. In contrast, greater speech-in-noise reception thresholds were associated with lower cortical thickness bilaterally across much of the cortex in AD. The AD group also showed worse speech-in-noise thresholds compared to the SCD group, suggesting that strong brain atrophy driven by dementia-related neuropathology in AD is associated with hearing problems in noisy environments.

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Plasma membrane ion permeability induced by mutant α‐synuclein contributes to the degeneration of neural cells Mutations in α‐synuclein cause some cases of familial Parkinson's disease (PD), but the mechanism by which α‐synuclein promotes degeneration of dopamine‐producing neurons is unknown. We report that human neural cells expressing mutant α‐synuclein (A30P and A53T) have higher plasma membrane ion permeability. The higher ion permeability caused by mutant α‐synuclein would be because of relatively large pores through which most cations can pass non‐selectively. Both the basal level of [Ca2+]i and the Ca2+ response to membrane depolarization are greater in cells expressing mutant α‐synuclein. The membrane permeable Ca2+ chelator BAPTA‐AM significantly protected the cells against oxidative stress, whereas neither l‐type (nifedipine) nor N‐type (ω‐conotoxin‐GVIA) Ca2+ channel blockers protected the cells. These findings suggest that the high membrane ion permeability caused by mutant α‐synuclein may contribute to the degeneration of neurons in PD.

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Review on the Pharmacological Properties of Cocos Nucifera Endocarp Fruits of cocos nucifera have long been used in the traditional medicine for the treatment of metabolic disorders. Endocarp of cocos nucifera was supposed to be the hardest part of the its fruit, but ironically r ichest source of phenol ic and f lavanoid content.Scientific data has been found as evident for a n t i o x i d a n t , a n t i m i c r o b i a l , vasorelaxant,antihypertensive and inhibitory effect on oral microflora of cocos nucifera endocarp. Current review article covers the relevancy of cocos nucifera endocarp in the medicinal world.

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Nutrition surveys in Burma and northeast Brazil. Participation of the author in the Interdepartmental Committee on Nutrition for National Defense sponsored nutrition surveys of Burma and northeast Brazil is described. These surveys not only collected important data on nutritional status but also guided the subsequent research interests of the author. The Brazil survey results contributed to the creation of legislation that mandated the addition of water-dispersible vitamin A to skimmed-milk powder products. This additive has greatly diminished the likelihood of vitamin A deficiency syndrome occurring in children after famine relief efforts.

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WebMolCS: A Web-Based Interface for Visualizing Molecules in Three-Dimensional Chemical Spaces The concept of chemical space provides a convenient framework to analyze large collections of molecules by placing them in property spaces where distances represent similarities. Here we report webMolCS, a new type of web-based interface visualizing up to 5000 user-defined molecules in six different three-dimensional (3D) chemical spaces obtained by principal component analysis or similarity mapping of multidimensional property spaces describing composition (MQN: 42D molecular quantum numbers, SMIfp: 34D SMILES fingerprint), shapes and pharmacophores (APfp: 20D atom pair fingerprint, Xfp: 55D category extended atom pair fingerprint), and substructures (Sfp: 1024D binary substructure fingerprint, ECfp4:1024D extended connectivity fingerprint). Each molecule is shown as a sphere, and its structure appears on mouse over. The sphere is color-coded by similarity to the first compound in the list, by the list rank, or by a user-defined value, which reveals the relationship between any property encoded by these values and structural similarities. WebMolCS is freely available at www.gdb.unibe.ch .

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Raised Gilded Adornment of the Cypriot Icons, and the Occurrence of the Technique in the West Artistic contacts between the east and west Mediterranean and areas further north have been studied at the stylistic and iconographic levels. The present paper explores an additional means of documenting connections that operate in channels sometimes independent of the other two criteria. Investigation of a particular technological procedure becomes useful for art historical issues if it is specific enough to warrant a workshop-transmitted know-how for its application, and if it does not become widely enough used to be a general feature. Relief gilt decoration of the halos and background of a group of thirteenth-century icons on Cyprus, and in St. Catherine's monastery at Mount Sinai, was introduced as a cheaper substitute for embossed revetment in precious metals, the earliest examples of which survive in Georgia and then sporadically in the Byzantine sphere. Some patterns are executed free-hand, and others stamped, in both materials -- metal and gesso (pastiglia). Existence of such a decoration on some panel paintings in southern Italy, comparable to that on the icons, points to influence emanating from the east Mediterranean, chiefly Cyprus, where the procedure was firmly established over a period of centuries. Furthermore, morphological similarities on Catalan-Aragonese altar frontals suggest contacts with northern Spain, effected by Crusaders and traders. For other, fourteenth-century instances in England, the Netherlands, and Central Europe, a direct influence is more problematic; and the Neapolitan artistic center may be tentatively proposed as an intermediary for these interrelated northern occurrences.

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Decomposing Workload Bursts for Efficient Storage Resource Management The growing popularity of hosted storage services and shared storage infrastructure in data centers is driving the recent interest in resource management and QoS in storage systems. The bursty nature of storage workloads raises significant performance and provisioning challenges, leading to increased resource requirements, management costs, and energy consumption. We present a novel workload shaping framework to handle bursty workloads, where the arrival stream is dynamically decomposed to isolate its bursts, and then rescheduled to exploit available slack. We show how decomposition reduces the server capacity requirements and power consumption significantly, while affecting QoS guarantees minimally. We present an optimal decomposition algorithm RTT and a recombination algorithm Miser, and show the benefits of the approach by evaluating the performance of several storage workloads using both simulation and Linux implementation.

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Enhancement of the Power Conversion Efficiency in Organic Photovoltaics by Unveiling the Appropriate Polymer Backbone Enlargement Approach Optoelectronic properties, supramolecular assemblies, and morphology variation of polymeric semiconductors are governed by six fundamental chemical features. These features are molecular weight, bond length alternation (BLA), planarity, aromatic resonance energy, substituents, and intermolecular interactions. Of these features the specific role of BLA in determining the performance of a polymeric semiconductor in practical technological applications is so far unknown. This study investigates this question and reports the novel finding that the optoelectronic, microscopic (supramolecular packing), and macroscopic (morphology variation and device performance) properties of model semiconducting polymers depend on the conjugated polymer backbone enlargement, which is directly related to the BLA. Extensive studies are performed in both single‐component polymer films and their blends with fullerene derivatives. Understanding the specific structure‐properties relations will lead to significant advancement in the area of organic electronics, since it will set new design rules toward further optimization of polymer chemical structures to enhance the device performances.

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Nutritional usability of thermal treated white and brown bread in broiler feed In order to facilitate the broilers feed mixture production, it is tends to replace corn component, with a new, cheaper but high quality component. As an alternative, it is possible to use the old bread, which would enable its remediation. Its use in broiler feeding is possible only after thermal treatment. Following this work will include the possibilities of using 5 and 10% of the old white and brown bread share in broilers feed mixture after thermal processing by extrusion. Feeding with both types of old extruded bread proved to be satisfying and did not affect on broilers performance so generaly dried bread can be used in chicken feed by as a partial replacement for maize component. Although both breads have proved good feeding quallity, slightly better results were obtained in feeding with 10% share of brown bread.

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Spontaneous Remission From PTSD Depends on the Number of Traumatic Event Types Experienced As exposure to different types of traumatic stressors increases, the prevalence of PTSD increases. However, little is known about the effects of cumulative exposure to traumatic stress on the maintenance and remission from PTSD. In 2006/2007, we investigated 444 refugees from the 1994 Rwandan genocide, assessing exposure to traumatic events, current and lifetime PTSD, and PTSD symptom severity. Higher trauma exposure was associated with higher prevalence of current and lifetime PTSD, with lower probability of spontaneous remission from PTSD, and with higher current and lifetime PTSD symptom severity in clear dose-response effects. The results suggest traumatic load as a root cause of both PTSD chronicity and symptom severity and support the hypothesis of a neural fear network in the etiology of PTSD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

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Reduction of out-of-band power and peak-to-average power ratio in OFDM-based cognitive radio using alternating projections Non-contiguous OFDM technique can be used for the cognitive radio systems. The sidelobes of the OFDM-modulated tones cause the out-of-band power which can induce large interference to the incumbent communication systems. Another major drawback of OFDM-based systems is the high peak-to-average power ratio. In this paper, we propose a scheme to jointly reduce the out-of-band power and the peak-to-average power ratio of the OFDM transmission. A subset of the frequency tones do not carry any data but are weighted and the time-domain OFDM symbol is expanded at both edges with a few adjusting chips. The joint reduction scheme is developed based on the low-complexity method of alternating projections onto convex sets. In a few iterations, the transmitter removes the large peaks of the time-domain OFDM signal and reduces the out-of-band power. The receiver detects the data on the subcarriers with little performance degradation.

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Detection of feline parvovirus in dying pedigree kittens Feline parvovirus (FPV) was detected in the intestinal tract contents of 13 pedigree kittens which were fading or died suddenly by the use of a new chromatographic test strip for canine parvovirus (cpv) and FPV. The test appeared to be sensitive and specific for the detection of FPV and was a useful diagnostic aid. In three cases in which virus was grown in cell culture, the isolates were characteristic of FPV and not cpv. Cats in the households in which the kittens were reared were regularly immunised with FPv vaccines. The most likely explanation for the occurrence of FPv-associated disease was exposure of the young kittens to large doses of virus contaminating the environment.

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Parallelization of a wave propagation application using a data parallel compiler The paper presents the parallelization process of a wave propagation application using the PANDORE environment. The PANDORE environment has been designed to facilitate the programming of data distributed applications for distributed memory computers or clusters of workstations. The compilation schemes are described and the distribution of the well known Jacobi kernel is detailed. Finally, the different steps of the parallelization of the wave propagation application are described and the results of this experiment are discussed.<<ETX>>

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Perovskite solar cells: from materials to devices. Perovskite solar cells based on organometal halide light absorbers have been considered a promising photovoltaic technology due to their superb power conversion efficiency (PCE) along with very low material costs. Since the first report on a long-term durable solid-state perovskite solar cell with a PCE of 9.7% in 2012, a PCE as high as 19.3% was demonstrated in 2014, and a certified PCE of 17.9% was shown in 2014. Such a high photovoltaic performance is attributed to optically high absorption characteristics and balanced charge transport properties with long diffusion lengths. Nevertheless, there are lots of puzzles to unravel the basis for such high photovoltaic performances. The working principle of perovskite solar cells has not been well established by far, which is the most important thing for understanding perovksite solar cells. In this review, basic fundamentals of perovskite materials including opto-electronic and dielectric properties are described to give a better understanding and insight into high-performing perovskite solar cells. In addition, various fabrication techniques and device structures are described toward the further improvement of perovskite solar cells.

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X-ray diffraction of actively shortening muscle. Low angle x-ray diffraction patterns were obtained from resting and activated frog sartorius muscles by means of a position-sensitive detector. Although the intensity ratio I10/I11 decreased many-fold upon activation, it was nearly the same during isometric and isotonic contraction. Thus, motion has a much smaller effect on the low order equatorial pattern than the transition from rest to activity. Analysis of the 10 and 11 reflections separately showed that I10 and I11 change reciprocally upon activation, and that they both increase by a small amount in the transition from isometric to isotonic contraction. If the intensity ratio can be taken as a measure of cross-bridge number, the results provide evidence that the drop in force in an actively shortening muscle is due primarily to the influence of motion on the configuration, rather than the number, of cross-bridges.

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[Study on relationship of fucosyltransferase gene types in breast cancer with metastasis and prognosis]. OBJECTIVE To assess the association of five types of fucosyltransferase gene (Fuc-T), the important biosynthesis gene of sialylated carbohydrate antigens (Sialyl Lewis A, Sialyl Lewis X), with metastasis and prognosis of breast cancer. METHODS The real-time quantitative PCR of five-type Fuc-T III, IV, V, VI, VII genes was performed in 80 patients with breast cancer. RESULTS The result showed that Fuc-TVII gene had higher gene copy compared to other type of Fuc-T in breast cancer. The grading of Fuc-TVII gene was related to lymph node metastasis and poor disease-free survival. Statistically difference was significant (P < 0.01). Fuc-T III, IV, V, VI gene were not significant relation to the metastasis and prognosis in 80 cases. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that Fuc-TVII gene is a prognostic indicator of breast cancer, and it may be play an important role in the biosynthesis of sialylated carbohydrate antigens in breast cancer.

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