Calsequestrins (CSQ) are high capacity, medium affinity, calcium-binding proteins present in the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) of cardiac and skeletal muscles. CSQ sequesters Ca²⁺ during muscle relaxation and increases the Ca²⁺-storage capacity of the SR. Mammalian CSQ has been well studied as a model of human disease, but little is known about the environmental adaptation of CSQ isoforms from poikilothermic organisms. The mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus, is an intertidal fish that experiences significant daily and seasonal environmental fluctuations and is an interesting study system for investigations of adaptation at the protein level. We determined the full-length coding sequence of a CSQ isoform from skeletal muscle of F. heteroclitus (FCSQ) and ch...

Se presenta el caso de una paciente con trastorno mental grave que tras sufrir una hemorragia subaracnoidea comienza a manifestar la idea delirante consistente en que unos dobles usurpan la identidad de personas allegadas a ella -delirio de Capgras-. Se observa a la paciente durante proceso rehabilitador en unidad de media estancia dos anos despues del episodio HSA, donde ingresa por empeoramiento y viraje psicopatologico. Las distintas teorias o modelos que por si solos han intentado dar cuenta de la etiopatogenia del delirio de Capgras no consiguen explicarlo de forma satisfactoria. Aunque algunos enfatizan su origen organico la realidad es que no hay localizacion de un dano comun para todos los casos, y no siempre es posible determinarlo. El interes del c...

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis in the literature that torque resistance of parkinsonian rigidity is the difference between the independent contributions of stretched and shortened muscles. The hypothesis was tested using muscle-specific stretch-shortening (MSSS) EMG ratio in this study. Nineteen patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) and 18 healthy subjects (the mean age comparable to that of patients) participated in this study. The EMG activity was measured in the four muscles involved in wrist joint movement, i.e. flexor carpi radialis, flexor carpi ulnaris, extensor carpi radialis and extensor carpi ulnaris. The passive flexion-extension movement with a range of ±30∘ was applied at wrist joint. Root mean squared (RMS) mean...

P and S wave tomographic models have been developed for the northern Malawi rift and adjacent Rungwe Volcanic Province (RVP) using data from the Study of Extension and maGmatism in Malawi aNd Tanzania project and data from previous networks in the study area. The main features of the models are a low-velocity zone (LVZ) with δVp = ~−1.5–2.0% and δVs = ~−2–3% centered beneath the RVP, a lower-amplitude LVZ (δVp = ~−1.0–1.3% and δVs = ~−0.7–1%) to the southeast of the RVP beneath the center and northeastern side of the northern Malawi rift, a shift of the lower-amplitude anomaly at ~−10° to −11° to the west beneath the central basin and to the western side of the rift, and a fast anomaly at all depths beneath the Bangweulu Craton. The...

As a first step towards a generalization of the Maggi-Rubinowicz theory of the boundary diffraction wave, a new vector potential W(Q,P) is associated with any monochromatic scalar wavefield U(P). This potential has the property that the normal component of its curl, taken with respect to the coordinates of any point Q on a closed surface S surrounding a field point P, is equal to the integrand of the Helmholtz-Kirchhoff integral; that is, curlQW(Q,P)·n=14π{U(Q)∂∂n(exp(iks)s)−exp(iks)s∂∂nU(Q)}.where s is the distance QP and ∂/∂n denotes the differentiation along the inward unit normal n to S.Further it is shown that the vector potential always has singularities at some points Q on S and that the field at P may be rigorously expressed as the su...

Xyloglucan is one of the major components in the primary cell wall of higher plants. It is intimately associated with cellulose chains, forming the load-bearing network of the cell wall. Enzymatic degradation of the xyloglucan polymer by xyloglucanases could potentially improve the overall hydrolysis of lignocellulosic substrates by enabling cellulases to hydrolyze the cellulose polymer more efficiently due to the increased surface area. In order to evaluate the role of xyloglucan in the enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocelluloses, 11 different pretreated cellulosic substrates were hydrolyzed using different combinations of purified cellobiohydrolases I and II, endoglucanase II, xyloglucanases of Trichoderma reesei and Aspergillus β-glucosidase. Xyloglucanase a...

ABSTRACT In all living organisms, secreted proteins play essential roles in different processes. Of special interest is the construction of the fungal cell wall, since this structure is absent from mammalian cells. The identification of the proteins involved in its biogenesis is therefore a primary goal in antifungal research. To perform a systematic identification of such proteins in Candida albicans , we carried out a genetic screening in which in-frame fusions with an intracellular allele of invertase gene SUC2 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae can be used to select and identify putatively exported proteins in the heterologous host S . cerevisiae . Eighty-three clones were selected, including 11 previously identified genes from C . albicans as well as 41 C . al...

Objectives To systematically evaluate the long-term effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of HPV-based primary cervical cancer screening in the German health care context using a decision-analysis approach. Methods A Markov-model for HPV-infection and cervical cancer was developed for the German health care context, and applied to evaluate various screening strategies that differ by screening interval and test algorithms, including HPV-testing alone or in combination with cytology. German clinical, epidemiological, and economic data, and test accuracy data from international meta-analyses were used. Outcomes predicted included the reduction in cervical cancer cases and deaths, life expectancy and discounted incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER). The an...

The effects of varying endogenous aldosterone levels on the passive and active properties of the peritubular membrane were studied. Rabbits that were fed either a low Na+ (normal K+) diet or a high Na+, low K+ diet increased or decreased plasma aldosterone, respectively. Tubules were dissected, filled with oil, and incubated in 0 K+ medium to increase intracellular sodium. Cellular sodium and potassium content was measured by helium-glow photometry. The degree to which cells accumulate sodium and lose potassium is a function not only of time of exposure but also of diet. Tubules from animals on a low Na+ diet are about 6 times more permeable to sodium than those from animals fed a high Na+ diet. When tubules were loaded with sodium and returned to a normal (...

Abstract Charge Transfer molecular complexes of Norfloxacin-[1-ethyl-6-fluoro-1,4-dihydro-4-oxo-7-(1-piperazinyl) 3-quinolone carboxylic acid] with m-dinitrobenzene, picric acid, 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid and 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis as well as different spectroscopic techniques. Spectral characteristics and stability of the complexes are investigated and discussed in terms of donor molecular structure, π-acceptor electron affinity, and solvent polarity. It is deduced that the complexes are mainly of the n–π* and π–π* types. Ionization potential of the donor was estimated from the CT transition energies of their complexes. The potentiality of the electron acceptors as new chromophoric reage...

It has long been recognized that patients with certain types of porphyria are subject to bizarre neurologic episodes or “acute attacks.” This syndrome has captured the imagination of both clinicians and edical historians, the latter debating earnestly and regularly whether porphyria was the cause of George III of Britain's “madness” or Mary, Queen of Scots' abdominal pain and how this may have affected the course of history.1 For individuals affected by either acute intermittent porphyria (AIP), variegate porphyria (VP) or hereditary coproporphyria (HC), the episode is, however, of far greater practical than of philosophical import as it represents perhaps the major determinant of their morbidity and mortality. It was therefore thought pertinent to i...

This paper considers a new framework to detect communities in a graph from the observation of signals at its nodes. We model the observed signals as noisy outputs of an unknown network process, represented as a graph filter that is excited by a set of unknown low-rank inputs/excitations. Application scenarios of this model include diffusion dynamics, pricing experiments, and opinion dynamics. Rather than learning the precise parameters of the graph itself, we aim at retrieving the community structure directly. The paper shows that communities can be detected by applying a spectral method to the covariance matrix of graph signals. Our analysis indicates that the community detection performance depends on a `low-pass' property of the graph filter. We also show...

To evaluate the usefulness of glenohumeral distance (GHD) on axial images of magnetic resonance (MR) arthrography for diagnosis of adhesive capsulitis and to compare this finding with previously reported classic MR arthrographic findings of adhesive capsulitis.Our study was approved by the institutional ethical review board of our institute. We evaluated 41 patients (M-F, 35:6; mean age, 46 years; adhesive capsulitis, 21; no adhesive capsulitis, 20) who underwent MR arthrography. Two radiologists measured GHD, width of the axillary recess, and capsular thickness in consensus. The GHD was measured from the subchondral bone of the glenoid fossa to the subchondral bone of the humeral head at the level of the midline of the humeral head. Glenohumeral distance (a...

The production rate of ionizing photons in young < 8 Myr, unresolved stellar clusters in the nearby irregular galaxy NGC 4214 is probed using multi-wavelength Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 data. We normalize the ionizing photon rate by the cluster mass to investigate the upper end of the stellar initial mass function (IMF). We have found that within the uncertainties the upper end of the stellar IMF appears to be universal in this galaxy, and that deviations from a universal IMF can be attributed to stochastic sampling of stars in clusters with masses < 10^3 M_sun. Furthermore, we have found that there does not seem to be a dependence of the maximum stellar mass on the cluster mass. We have also found that for massive clusters, feedback may cause an underrepre...

Une observation de myosite à staphylocoque doré méthicilline-résistant responsable d'un pyothorax puis d'une ostéomyélite sous-jacente à la myosite est décrite chez une enfant de 3 ans. La guérison a été obtenue par traitement local (lavage antiseptique) et antibiothérapie générale associant fosfomycine/amikacine par voie générale puis relais per os par rifampicine/pristinamycine pendant deux mois. A case of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus myositis following by thoracic empyema and secondarly acute osteomyelitis is described in a three-year-old patient. Osteomyelitis occured just under the myositis localization (tibia). Successfull treatment consisted in local pleural drainage with antiseptic solution and general antibiotherapy us...

To describe the tensions experienced by clinicians and psychosocial professionals that affect communication in pediatric oncology. Ten focus groups with nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians, and psychosocial professionals at 2 US institutions. We analyzed transcripts using thematic analysis, assessing tensions experienced when communicating with parents. We identified 5 themes of tensions, defined as challenges experienced when clinicians and psychosocial professionals are trying to achieve multiple conflicting goals or obligations while communicating: (1) Supporting parental hopes while providing honest opinions and information; (2) disclosing all possible outcomes while avoiding the creation of new worries or uncertainties; (3) building relationships wh...

Motional resistance is one of the most important performance metrics for high quality factor, low power, and complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible capacitively transduced vibrating micromechanical resonators. The motional resistance is primarily set by the electrode-to-resonator air gap that can be formed by deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) process. Although the state-of-the-art DRIE technologies can achieve a narrow capacitive air gap down to 1 μm or less, the effective gap tends to be larger than designed values due to the sidewall roughness known as scalloping. Systematic modifications of all key process parameters are presented in this article for lowering the sidewall roughness to result in an up to 2× reduction of the effective ca...

Exosomes have recently been classified as the newest family members of 'bioactive vesicles' that function to promote intercellular communication. Long ignored and thought to be only a mechanism by which cellular waste is removed, exosomes have garnered a huge amount of interest in recent years as their critical functions in maintaining homeostasis through intercellular communication and also in different types of diseases have been demonstrated. Many groundbreaking studies of exosome functions have been performed in the cancer field and the infectious disease areas of study, revealing the importance and also the fascinating complexity of exosomal packaging, targeting, and functions. Selective packaging of exosomes in response to the type of infection, exosom...

This article applies concepts and ideas from institutional theory to study improvisations in IT and organizational change. Within the information systems (IS) discipline, IT and organizational change models have evolved from early teleological models to more dynamic models which consider the role of IT in organizational change as emergent based on improvisations. Improvisations are regarded as unexpected actions aimed at solving crises and/or exploiting opportunities. However, the sources of these crises or opportunities have not been adequately accounted for - leaving it a fruitful area for research. Applying institutional ideas, we suggest in this article that the sources of these crises/opportunities are the normative, mimetic and coercive prescriptions f...

We present the first overview of the Herschel observations of the nearby high-mass star-forming region NGC 7538, taken as part of the Herschel imaging study of OB Young Stellar objects (HOBYS) Key Programme. These PACS and SPIRE maps cover an approximate area of one square degree at five submillimeter and far-infrared wavebands. We have identified 780 dense sources and classified 224 of those. With the intention of investigating the existence of cold massive starless or class 0-like clumps that would have the potential to form intermediate- to high-mass stars, we further isolate 13 clumps as the most likely candidates for followup studies. These 13 clumps have masses in excess of 40 M_sun and temperatures below 15 K. They range in size from 0.4 pc to 2.5 pc ...

We perform a complete study of prompt double J/ψ hadroproduction at leading order in the nonrelativistic-QCD factorization framework by including all possible pairings of the cc̅ Fock states (1)S(0)([8]), (3)S(1)([1,8]), and (3)P(J)([1,8]) with J=0,1,2. We find that the (1)S(0)([8]) and (3)P(J)([8]) channels of J/ψ and ψ'} production and the (3)P(J)([1]) and (3)S(1)([8]) channels of χ(cJ) production, which have been overlooked so far, greatly dominate at large invariant masses and rapidity separations of the J/ψ pair, and that their inclusion nearly fills the large gap between previous incomplete predictions within the color-singlet model and the recent measurement by the CMS Collaboration at the CERN LHC, leaving room for next-to-leading-order correct...

There is an increasing interest in using graphene(1, 2) for optoelectronic applications.(3-19) However, because graphene is an inherently weak optical absorber (only ≈2.3% absorption), novel concepts need to be developed to increase the absorption and take full advantage of its unique optical properties. We demonstrate that by monolithically integrating graphene with a Fabry-Pérot microcavity, the optical absorption is 26-fold enhanced, reaching values >60%. We present a graphene-based microcavity photodetector with responsivity of 21 mA/W. Our approach can be applied to a variety of other graphene devices, such as electro-absorption modulators, variable optical attenuators, or light emitters, and provides a new route to graphene photonics with the potent...

The commonality of collisionally replenished debris around main-sequence stars suggests that minor bodies are frequent around Sun-like stars. Whether or not debris disks in general are accompanied by planets is yet unknown, but debris disks with large inner cavities—perhaps dynamically cleared—are considered to be prime candidates for hosting large-separation massive giant planets. We present here a high-contrast VLT/NACO angular differential imaging survey for eight such cold debris disks. We investigated the presence of massive giant planets in the range of orbital radii where the inner edge of the dust debris is expected. Our observations are sensitive to planets and brown dwarfs with masses >3-7 Jupiter mass, depending on the age and distance of the ...

To assess perinatal outcome in monochorionic twin pregnancies according to different stages of severe mid-trimester twin-twin transfusion syndrome managed by fetoscopic laser coagulation of the placental vascular anastomoses.In a prospective study fetoscopic laser therapy was performed in 200 consecutive pregnancies with severe mid-trimester twin-twin transfusion syndrome at a median gestational age of 20.7 weeks (range 15.9-25.3 weeks). Outcome data were analyzed for the whole group and separately for each stage according to the Quintero staging system.The overall survival rate was 71.5% (286/400), with survival of both twins in 59.5% (119/200) and survival of at least one of the twins in 83.5% (167/200). The median gestational age at delivery of liveborn n...

The Chicago Target Cities demonstration project was designed to improve the effectiveness and accessibility of substance abuse treatment in large metropolitan areas. The primary interventions included centralized intake (CIU), comprehensive standardized assessment procedures, and management of a centralized wait list. A part of this project, the effectiveness of a case management model implemented through the CIU, was tested. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions, case management (CM) or no case management (No-CM). The primary objectives of the CIU case management model were to improve the show rate to treatment, provide referrals to ancillary services, and to support treatment completion. Participants in both groups could also receive...

Glass vials coated with several technical insecticides were used to determine the contact toxicity of insecticides on adult laboratory-reared and field-collected cotton fleahopper, Pseudatomoscelis seriatus (Reuter). For the 17 insecticides evaluated for laboratory-reared cotton fleahoppers, bifenthrin (pyrethroid), dicrotophos (organophosphate), thiamethoxam (neonicotinoid), and methomyl (carbamate) were the most toxic insecticides in their respective insecticidal classes based on LC50 values. There were significant differences between the LC50 values for the insecticides tested within each of the four insecticidal classes. There were 13-, 46-, 58-, and 31-fold differences between LC50 values for the insecticides within the pyrethroid, organophosphate, neon...

We investigate a new class of topological antiferromagnetic (AF) Chern insulators driven by electronic interactions in two-dimensional systems without inversion symmetry. Despite the absence of a net magnetization, AF Chern insulators (AFCI) possess a nonzero Chern number $C$ and exhibit the quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE). Their existence is guaranteed by the bifurcation of the boundary line of Weyl points between a quantum spin Hall insulator and a topologically trivial phase with the emergence of AF long-range order. As a concrete example, we study the phase structure of the honeycomb lattice Kane-Mele model as a function of the inversion-breaking ionic potential and the Hubbard interaction. We find an easy $z$-axis $C=1$ AFCI phase and a spin-flop t...

To assess whether cyclosporin A has any influence on the bones of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis, bone mineral density, vertebral fractures and biochemical and hormonal parameters of bone mineral metabolism were evaluated in 38 female patients with primary biliary cirrhosis who, 7 to 47 months previously, had been randomized to receive cyclosporin A (n = 18) or placebo (n = 20). Bone mineral density and vertebral fractures were reevaluated after 12 to 47 months in 19 of these patients (ten with cyclosporin and nine with placebo). Serum osteocalcin levels in patients taking cyclosporin (median, range: 7.8, 4.2-16 ng/ml) were similar to healthy female controls (6.0, 4.7-9.5 ng/ml), and significantly higher than in patients receiving placebo (5.4, 1.0-...

In some blood vessels, the alpha 2-adrenergic agonist clonidine simultaneously activates vasoconstrictive alpha-adrenoceptors on smooth muscle cells and endothelial alpha 2-adrenoceptors mediating release of endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF), with the net vascular response representing a balance between these two counteracting pathways. To investigate whether clonidine's modest constrictor effect in human veins is due to simultaneous release of EDRF, the dorsal hand vein compliance technique was used to measure vascular responses in healthy volunteers. Clonidine-induced venoconstriction was not potentiated by methylene blue, an inhibitor of EDRF-mediated relaxation. After preconstriction with angiotensin II, clonidine did not cause venodilation but ...

PEX genes encode proteins (peroxins) that are required for the biogenesis of peroxisomes. One of these peroxins, Pex5p, is the receptor for matrix proteins with a type 1 peroxisomal targeting signal (PTS1), which shuttles newly synthesized proteins from the cytosol into the peroxisome matrix. We observed that in various Saccharomyces cerevisiae pex mutants disturbed in the early stages of PTS1 import, the steady-state levels of Pex5p are enhanced relative to wild type controls. Furthermore, we identified ubiquitinated forms of Pex5p in deletion mutants of those PEX genes that have been implicated in recycling of Pex5p from the peroxisomal membrane into the cytosol. Pex5p ubiquitination required the presence of the ubiquitin-conjugating e...

In this paper, an on-chip dual-band rectangular slot antenna is proposed and demonstrated for a new generation of high data rate, battery free, yet active millimeter-wave identification (MMID) system, which is fully integrated on a single-CMOS die. It, therefore, does not require any external components (padless) nor the traditional packaging. The single-antenna solution proposed in this paper addresses the overall system compactness, the cost, and the underlying technical challenges related to multifrequency reader-tag MMID system, such as the alignment between the reader’s and tag’s antennas (accurate line-of-sight, especially in a short-range communication system). The targeted 24/40-GHz compact antenna is a hybrid structure of a dielectric resonator ...

Impaired abilities in multiple domains is common in children with learning difficulties. Co-occurrence of low reading and mathematical abilities (LRLM) appears in almost every second child with learning difficulties. However, little is known regarding the neural bases of this combination. Leveraging a unique and tightly controlled sample including children with LRLM, isolated low reading ability (LR), and isolated low mathematical ability (LM), we uncover a distinct neural signature in children with co-occurring low reading and mathematical abilities differentiable from LR and LM. Specifically, we show that LRLM is neuroanatomically distinct from both LR and LM based on reduced cortical folding of the right parahippocampal gyrus, a medial temporal lobe regio...

Background: Two of the most consistent anatomic asymmetries found in the human brain are a larger right than left prefrontal and left than right occipital lobe. Reduced or reversed asymmetries of these regions are considered markers of atypical cerebral laterality, and atypical cerebral laterality has been proposed to increase neural risk for developmental stuttering. Objectives: To learn if atypical prefrontal and occipital lobe asymmetries are more common in adults who stutter vs fluent control subjects and to determine whether lobar size or asymmetry patterns are associated with stuttering severity or language abilities. Methods: Adults with persistent developmental stuttering (n = 16) and matched control subjects (n = 16) had language and stuttering asse...

In this work we consider thermodynamic geometries defined as Hessians of different potentials and derive some useful formulae that show their complementary role in the description of thermodynamic systems with two degrees of freedom that show ensemble nonequivalence. From the expressions derived for the metrics, we can obtain the curvature scalars in a very simple and compact form. We explain here the reason why each curvature scalar diverges over the line of divergence of one of the specific heats. This application is of special interest in the study of changes of stability in black holes as defined by Davies. From these results we are able to prove on a general footing a conjecture first formulated by Liu, L\"u, Luo and Shao stating that different Hessian ...

We compute the cosmic microwave background bispectrum arising from the cross-correlation of primordial, lensing, and Rees-Sciama signals. The amplitude of the bispectrum signal is sensitive to the matter density parameter ${\ensuremath{\Omega}}_{0}$ and the equation of state of the dark energy, which we parametrize by ${w}_{Q}.$ We conclude that the data set of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, combined with MAP 2-year data, or the Planck data set alone will allow us to break the degeneracy between ${\ensuremath{\Omega}}_{0}$ and ${w}_{Q}$ that arises from the analysis of the CMB power spectrum. In particular a joint measurement of ${\ensuremath{\Omega}}_{0}$ and ${w}_{Q}$ with 10% and 30% error on the two parameters, respectively, at the 90% confidence level...

The trapping property of nitrogen diffusing in polycrystalline molybdenum has been used to study the distribution of defects generated by 50-400-keV ${\mathrm{H}}^{+}$ and ${\mathrm{He}}^{+}$ bombardment. The nitrogen-implanted samples were annealed at $T=600 \mathrm{and} 750\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}\mathrm{C}$. The defect concentrations were studied with different ${\mathrm{H}}^{+}$ and ${\mathrm{He}}^{+}$ doses ranging from ${10}^{14}$ to ${10}^{18}$ ions/${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$. Increasing the ${\mathrm{H}}^{+}$ and ${\mathrm{He}}^{+}$ prebombardment doses led to a strong increase in the trapping of nitrogen and to the rapid migration of nitrogen atoms to the damaged region before trapping. The nitrogen defect trapping was observed to be very steady...

ADVERTISEMENT RETURN TO ISSUEPREVArticleNEXTReduction of ionic species by fulvic acidR. K. Skogerboe and S. A. WilsonCite this: Anal. Chem. 1981, 53, 2, 228–232Publication Date (Print):February 1, 1981Publication History Published online1 May 2002Published inissue 1 February 1981https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/ac00225a023https://doi.org/10.1021/ac00225a023research-articleACS PublicationsRequest reuse permissionsArticle Views516Altmetric-Citations153LEARN ABOUT THESE METRICSArticle Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.Citations are the number of other articles cit...

Chikungunya is an arboviral disease transmitted by aedes mosquitoes. The virus was first isolated in 1953 in Tanzania. Chikungunya virus is a member of the genus Alphavirus and the family Togaviridae. The disease typically consists of an acute illness characterised by fever, rash, and incapacitating arthralgia. The word chikungunya, used for both the virus and the disease, means “to walk bent over” in some east African languages, and refers to the effect of the joint pains that characterise this dengue-like infection. Chikungunya is a specifically tropical disease, but it is geographically restricted and outbreaks are relatively uncommon. It is only occasionally observed in travellers and military personnel. More than 266 000 people have been infected du...

Long-term treatment with dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitors (DPPIV-I) or glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 analogs may potentially affect intestinal growth by down- or upregulating the intestinotrophic hormone GLP-2. This study compared the intestinotrophic effects of 12-wk administration of vehicle, exendin-4 (Ex-4; 5 nmol/kg bid sc), or DPPIV-I (NN-7201, 10 mg/kg qd orally) in GK rats. Some animals were observed additionally for 9 wk after the end of treatment. Both treatments lowered glycated hemoglobin A1c at wk 12 vs. control (Ex-4, −0.8%; DPPIV-I, −0.4%). Body weight was reduced by Ex-4 compared with control (361 ± 4 vs. 399 ± 5 g; P < 0.001) because of reduced food intake, whereas neither parameter was affected by DPPIV-I. Linear bone growth was ...

The effect of quadrupole vibrations on $l$-forbidden $M1$ transitions is computed using the wave functions resulting from the shell model with a residual pairing plus ${P}^{(2)}$ force. These wave functions for low states of an odd nucleus are a linear combination of a spin $j$ quasiparticle and spin ${j}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ quasiparticles coupled to 2+ phonons to angular momentum $j$. The one-phonon components of the wave functions allow $l$-forbidden $M1$ transitions to proceed both via the single particle and collective $M1$ operators. The calculation shows that this quadrupole coupling can explain most of the observed transition rate in a number of cases, while in a few cases, particularly for the odd-$N$ nuclei fast transitions occur which are still unexp...

Purpose The coronavirus pandemic has created a new wave of first-time online shoppers in both industrialized and emerging countries. More interestingly, scholars and practitioners expect this transition to online shopping to eventually persist in the next few years. The current research study aims to investigate the factors explaining attitudes toward online shopping. The authors propose an integrated model in which trust mediates the effects of relative advantage and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) on attitudes toward online shopping. The moderating effect of gender was also assessed using the multigroup analysis (MGA). Design/methodology/approach Based on data collected from 378 Moroccan online shoppers, the authors empirically tested the hypothesized mode...

Abstract A survey of over 1600 drivers is reported, the results of which are consistent with those reported in an earlier study (Reason et al. 1990), which identified a three-fold typology of aberrant driving behaviours. The first type, lapses, are absent-minded behaviours with consequences mainly for the perpetrator, posing no threat to other road users. The second type, errors, are typically misjudgements and failures of observation that may be hazardous to others. The third type, violations, involve deliberate contraventions of safe driving practice. In the present study the survey instrument used, the Driver Behaviour Questionnaire, was also shown to be reliable over time. Each type of behaviour was found to have different demographic correlates. Most im...

Snakes and spiders constitute fear-relevant stimuli for humans, as many species have deleterious and even fatal effects. However, snakes provoked an older and thus stronger evolutionary pressure than spiders, shaping the vision of earliest primates toward preferential visual processing, mainly in the most complex perceptual conditions. To the best of our knowledge, no study has yet directly assessed the role of ecologically-relevant stimuli in preferentially accessing visual awareness. Using continuous flash suppression (CFS), the present study assessed the role of evolutionary pressure in gaining a preferential access to visual awareness. For this purpose, we measured the time needed for three types of stimuli - snakes, spiders (matched with snakes for rate...

This paper introduces the CommonLit Ease of Readability (CLEAR) corpus, which provides unique readability scores for ~ 5000 text excerpts along with information about the excerpt's year of publishing, genre, and other metadata. The CLEAR corpus will provide researchers interested in discourse processing and reading with a resource from which to develop and test readability metrics and to model text readability. The CLEAR corpus includes a number of improvements in comparison to previous readability corpora including size, breadth of the excerpts available, which cover over 250 years of writing in two different genres, and unique readability criterion provided for each text based on teachers' ratings of text difficulty for student readers. This paper discusse...

Abstract The immune system is highly evolved and can respond to infection throughout the body. Pathogen-specific immune cells are usually generated in secondary lymphoid tissues (e.g., spleen, lymph nodes) and then migrate to sites of infection where their functionality is shaped by the local milieu. Because immune cells are so heavily influenced by the infected tissue in which they reside, it is important that their interactions and dynamics be studied in vivo . Two-photon microscopy is a powerful approach to study host-immune interactions in living tissues, and recent technical advances in the field have enabled researchers to capture movies of immune cells and infectious agents operating in real time. These studies have shed light on pathogen entry and sp...

Hemiparasites are known to influence community structure and ecosystem functioning, but the underlying mechanisms are not well studied. Variation in the impacts of hemiparasites on diversity and production could be due to the difference in the relative strength of two interacting pathways: direct negative effects of parasitism and positive effects on N availability via litter. Strong effects of parasitism should result in substantial changes in diversity and declines in productivity. Conversely, strong litter effects should result in minor changes in diversity and increased productivity. We conducted field-based surveys to determine the association of Castilleja occidentalis with diversity and productivity in the alpine tundra. To examine litter effects, we ...

Cu/Co/M (M=Al, Fe, Cr, NiFe) mixed metal oxides (Cu/Co/M-MMOs) were prepared by calcination of Cu/Co/M layered double hydroxide (Cu/Co/M-LDHs) precursors. Their composition, thermal stability, structure and morphology were characterized by ICP, TGA, XRD, IR, BET and SEM, respectively. The results indicated that all precursor samples show good hydrotalcite structure with carbonate inside the layer, and the carbonate is removed by calcination at 773 K. While the mixed metal oxides have spinel structure with specific areas of 20-110 m2 g−1. Cu/Co/M-MMOs have hexagon structure with particle size in the range of 50-100 nm. The order of catalytic activities of Cu/Co/M-MMOs on selective catalytic reduction of NOx is: Cu/Co-MMOs>Cu/Co/Ni/Fe-MMOs>Cu/Co/Fe-MMOs>Cu/C...

MgO thin films were fabricated by atmospheric metal–organic chemical vapor deposition as a protective layer of AC plasma display panels. The deposition conditions and the discharge properties of the films were evaluated. Among four Mg precursors tested, Mg(C11H19O2)2 [Mg(DPM)2] was the most suitable source material in film growth properties and discharge characteristics. The deposition rate increased with increasing vaporizing temperature and substrate temperature, and the maximum deposition rate reached 3.3 nm/s (5.1 min/µm). The films had (200) main orientations, and highly crystalline square-pyramid structures were observed in high deposition-rate films. Under the high-rate deposition condition, the firing voltage and the discharge delay of the film we...

The performance of reading comprehension, which is a question answering technique, by deep neural networks is now comparable to that of humans. However, there are still problems with the reading comprehension when given ambiguous questions. In this work, we propose a novel task called Specific Question Generation (SQG). SQG specifically revises the input question and suggests several specific question (SQ) candidates so that users can choose the SQ that is closest to their intent and obtain a highly accurate answer from the reading comprehension. We also propose a Specific Question Generation Model (SQGM) for facilitating the SQG. This model is based on an encoder-decoder model and uses two copy mechanisms (question copy and passage copy). The key idea here ...

Chronic heart failure is a progressive, debilitating disease, resulting in a decline in the quality of life of the patient and incurring very high social economic costs. Chronic heart failure is defined as the inability of the heart to meet the demands of oxygen from the peripheral area. It is a multi-aspect complex disease which impacts negatively on all of the body systems. Presently, there are no texts in the modern literature that associate the symptoms of exercise intolerance of the patient with a dysfunction of the fascial system. In the first part of this article, we will discuss the significance of the disease, its causes, and epidemiology. The second part will explain the pathological adaptations of the myofascial system. The last section will outli...

Nous considérons une marche aléatoire dans un milieu stationnaire ergodique sur $\mathbb{Z}$, avec des sauts non bornés. En plus de l’uniforme ellipticité et d’une borne uniforme sur la queue de la loi des sauts, nous supposons une condition de transience forte qui garantit l’absence de “pièges.” Nous montrons la loi des grands nombres avec vitesse strictement positive, ainsi que l’ergodicité de l’environnement vu de la particule. Par ailleurs, nous étudions aussi le billard stochastique de Knudsen avec dérive dans un tube aléatoire dans $\mathbb{R}^{d}$, $d\geq3$, qui constitue l’environnement. Le tube est infini dans la première direction, et, vu comme un processus indéxé par la première coordonnée, il est supposé stationnair...

Deep Inelastic Neutron Scattering (Neutron Compton Scattering), is used to measure the momentum distribution of the protons in water from temperatures slightly below freezing to the supercritical phase. The momentum distribution is determined almost entirely by quantum localization effects, and hence is a sensitive probe of the local environment of the proton. The distribution shows dramatic changes as the hydrogen bond network becomes more disordered. Within a single particle interpretation, the proton moves from an essentially harmonic well in ice to a slightly anharmonic well in room temperature water, to a deeply anharmonic potential in the supercritical phase that is best described by a double well potential with a separation of the wells along the bond...

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of sediment from various sediment core depths on survival and weight gain of larvae of the dipteran midge, Chironomus tentans, during 10-d laboratory exposures. Sediment cores were collected from 12 sites in the Trenton Channel of the Detroit River in 1987 and sectioned into 5-cm intervals to a depth of 25 cm. Percent reductions in larval weight gain, relative to that in control sediment, were calculated for each interval. Two sites were classified as very toxic, three sites as toxic, three sites as slightly toxic, and four sites as good quality benthic habitat. The utility of sediment core toxicity profiling and the C. tentans bioassay for three-dimensional sediment quality assessment are discussed, a...

Abstract Solute hydrogen atoms and lattice defects are known to have strong interactions that significantly weaken the strength of a material. Although molecular dynamics (MD) simulations can treat complicated interactions among various lattice defects, their timescales are insufficient for the treatment of hydrogen diffusion over long distances or cooperative motion of hydrogen atoms and lattice defects at room temperature. Here, we used an interatomic potential for body-centered-cubic iron (bcc Fe) including pseudo-hydrogen effects on the lattice defect energies to perform three kinds of MD simulations: crack growth, nanoindentation, and tensile loading of a polycrystalline nanorod. The simulations show that well-known hydrogen-related phenomena can occur ...

ABSTRACT Representing work still in progress, this paper attempts to demonstrate the value of making a comparative study of inscribed artifacts recovered from individual burials in the same cemetery area; published reports of such sites have, it is suggested, not realized the full potential promised by the evidence. Detailed study of the clan insignia and their graphic elements found in burials at Yin-hsü West, Hsi-pei-kang, Lo-shan-hsien, and Hsiao-t'un (M5), permits speculation about the writing of the archaic graphs, the meaning of abbreviated phrases, and inter-clan associations, as well as about the existence of “calligraphic groups” and possible links between artisan/scribes, vessel types, and foundries. The paper, which is amply illustrated with ...

We propose and theoretically demonstrate the extinction ratio (ER) enhanced all-optical tunable wavelength conversion based on cascaded second-harmonic generation and difference-frequency generation (cSHG/DFG) in a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguide by setting the signal at the quasi-phase matching (QPM) wavelength. The conversion performance including extinction ratio enhancement, conversion efficiency, and tunable bandwidth are analyzed systematically. Both analytical solutions with clear physical insights and detailed simulation results are presented. The proposed cSHG/DFG is compared with the conventional one on the extinction ratio enhancement effect. The analytical expression predicts that the suggested cSHG/DFG can effectively enhance...

In this paper, a new family of resampling-based penalization procedures for model selection is defined in a general framework. It generalizes several methods, including Efron’s bootstrap penalization and the leave-one-out penalization recently proposed by Arlot (2008), to any exchangeable weighted bootstrap resampling scheme. In the heteroscedastic regression framework, assuming the models to have a particular structure, these resampling penalties are proved to satisfy a non-asymptotic oracle inequality with leading constant close to 1. In particular, they are asympotically optimal. Resampling penalties are used for defining an estimator adapting simultaneously to the smoothness of the regression function and to the heteroscedasticity of the noise. This is...

To determine if oxygen free radical scavengers administered before coronary artery reperfusion can limit reperfusion arrhythmias, increase the return of regional function in ischemic myocardium, and reduce tissue necrosis at 1 week after 90-minute coronary artery occlusion and reperfusion, conscious dogs were treated with superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase before and for 1 hour after coronary artery reperfusion. Another group was treated with recombinant SOD (rSOD) because the commercially available SOD and catalase contained endotoxin. The conscious dogs were studied 3-4 weeks after implanting left ventricular pressure gauges, ultrasonic wall thickness gauges in the posterior left ventricular wall, left atrial catheters, and arterial catheters, Doppler...

International Journal of Gynecology & ObstetricsVolume 119, Issue S3 p. S777-S777 Poster presentations W222 CONSERVATIVE MANAGEMENT OF SEVERE PREECLAMPSIA. MATERNAL AND PERINATAL OUTCOME E. Ndoni, E. NdoniSearch for more papers by this author E. Ndoni, E. NdoniSearch for more papers by this author First published: 22 October 2012 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0020-7292(12)61946-8AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of thi...

Ocean turbines are a promising new source of clean energy, but their remote and inhospitable environment (the open ocean) poses reliability challenges. Machine condition monitoring/prognostic health monitoring (MCM/PHM) systems assure the reliability of these turbines by detecting and predicting machine state. These MCM/PHM systems use sensor data (such as vibration information) to determine whether or not the machine is operating properly. However, not all sensor data corresponds to the machine state: some portions of the sensor signal are influenced by certain environmental conditions which do not directly relate to machine health. Therefore, models must be built which can detect system state regardless of these environmental operating conditions. The prop...

Castor oil, produced from castor beans, has long been considered to be of important commercial value primarily for the manufacturing of soaps, lubricants, and coatings, among others. Global castor oil production is concentrated primarily in a small geographic region of Gujarat in Western India. This region is favorable due to its labor-intensive cultivation method and subtropical climate conditions. Entrepreneurs and castor processors in the United States and South America also cultivate castor beans but are faced with the challenge of achieving high castor oil production efficiency, as well as obtaining the desired oil quality. In this manuscript, we provide a detailed analysis of novel processing methods involved in castor oil production. We discuss novel ...

In order to overcome fitting uncertainty, A nonlinear rational parameterized fitting algorithm with keeping endpoints was presented through inverse difference-continued fraction algorithm, the algorithm has property of keeping endpoints, parameterization of middle data points selected. The parameters obtained through minimum error function make fitting functions have much flexibility. Experimental results illustrate that the proposed algorithm may reduce degree of continued fraction interpolation function, numbers of iteration and avoiding non-existence on interpolation function of the continued fraction.The fitting values obtained are more accuracy, the computing efficiency is much more improved,the fitting errors are more stable, approximate effect is bett...

BACKGROUND: Indoor and ambient air pollution exposure is a major risk to respiratory health worldwide, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Interventional trials have mainly focused on alternatives to cooking stoves, with mixed results. Beyond cooking, additional sources of particulate matter also contribute to the burden of air pollution exposure. This review explores evidence from current randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on the clinical effectiveness of interventions to reduce particulate matter in LMICs. METHODS: Twelve databases and the grey literature (e.g., Government reports and policy papers) were searched. Eligible studies were RCTs conducted in LMICs aiming to reduce particulate exposure from any source and reporting on at l...

The introduction of CT imaging in the 1970s revolutionized all aspects of medical care, perhaps nowhere more so than in the evaluation of acutely injured patients. Just as single-slice helical scanning was a great advance over conventional CT, the capabilities of MSCT are proving to be dramatically superior to single-slice methods. Improved contrast bolus imaging, thinner slices, and isotropic voxels should enable the trauma radiologist to identify both major organ system disruption and subtle injuries more promptly. Multiplanar and three-dimensional reconstructions, a forte of MSCT, facilitate rapid communication of disease states with surgeons and others involved in the care of injured patients. In many centers, whole-body CT is beginning to supplant plain...

Congo Red is one of synthetic dyes used in the process of making batik. Batik wastewater which contained Congo red leads to environmental pollution. Fenton reagent can be used to degrade Congo red based on formation of hydroxyl radicals (OH). Hydroxyl radical is able to decompose Congo red compound through oxidation process. Fenton reagent is a mixture from hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) with Fe2+ ions produced from FeSO4 compounds. The function of visible rays in H2O2/Fe2+ system is to accelerate and increase the formation of hydroxyl radicals. The formation of hydroxyl radicals are affected by pH condition in the solution. The purpose from this research is to degrade Congo red in batik wastewater using fenton reagent under visible rays. The parameters varied wer...

The number of proteins encoded in the human genome has been estimated at between 20,000 and 25,000, despite estimates that the entire proteome contains more than a million proteins. One reason for this difference is due to many post-translational modifications of protein that contribute to proteome complexity. Among these, glycosylation is of particular relevance because it serves to modify a large number of cellular proteins. Glycogenomics, glycoproteomics, glycomics, and glycoinformatics are helping to accelerate our understanding of the cellular events involved in generating the glycoproteome, the variety of glycan structures possible, and the importance of roles that glycans play in therapeutics and disease. Indeed, interest in glycosylation has expanded...

Mazeh et al. have presented an approach that can, in principle, use the derived transit timing variation (TTV) of some transiting planets observed by the Kepler mission to distinguish between the prograde and retrograde motion of their orbits with respect to their parent stars' rotation. The approach utilizes TTVs induced by spot-crossing events that occur when the planet moves across a spot on the stellar surface, looking for a correlation between the derived TTVs and the stellar brightness derivatives at the corresponding transits. This can work even in data that cannot temporally resolve the spot-crossing events themselves. Here, we apply this approach to the Kepler KOIs, identifying nine systems where the photometric spot modulation is large enough and t...

The Raman spectra of single crystals of ${\text{NiFe}}_{2}{\text{O}}_{4}$ were studied in various scattering configurations in close comparison with the corresponding spectra of ${\text{Ni}}_{0.7}{\text{Zn}}_{0.3}{\text{Fe}}_{2}{\text{O}}_{4}$ and ${\text{Fe}}_{3}{\text{O}}_{4}$. The number of experimentally observed Raman modes exceeds significantly that expected for a normal spinel structure and the polarization properties of most of the Raman lines provide evidence for a microscopic symmetry lower than that given by the $Fd\overline{3}m$ space group. We argue that the experimental results can be explained by considering the short-range 1:1 ordering of ${\text{Ni}}^{2+}$ and ${\text{Fe}}^{3+}$ at the $B$ sites of inverse spinel structure, most probably of ...

We derive a phenomenological continuum saltation model for aeolian sand transport that can serve as an efficient tool for geomorphological applications. The coupled differential equations for the average density and velocity of sand in the saltation layer reproduce both the known equilibrium relations for the sand flux and the time evolution of the sand flux as predicted by microscopic saltation models. The three phenomenological parameters of the model are a reference height for the grain-air interaction, an effective restitution coefficient for the grain-bed interaction, and a multiplication factor characterizing the chain reaction caused by the impacts leading to a typical time or length scale of the saturation transients. We determine the values of these...