Factors Related to the Selection of a Real Estate Agency or Agent

Real estate firms attempting to maintain or increase their market share want to know the characteristics of the firm or individual agents that are important to market participants. A survey of homeowners conducted during August 1987 found the following: 1) the individual agent is more important than the firm itself in the selection of a real estate firm; 2) knowing an agent of the firm was the primary factor considered in the selection of a real estate firm; and 3) agent characteristics of selling ability, competence, integrity, knowledge of the market, and understanding the client's needs and concerns were most important.

Genomic catastrophes frequently arise in esophageal adenocarcinoma and drive tumorigenesis

Oesophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) incidence is rapidly increasing in Western countries. A better understanding of EAC underpins efforts to improve early detection and treatment outcomes. While large EAC exome sequencing efforts to date have found recurrent loss-offunction mutations, oncogenic driving events have been underrepresented. Here we use a combination of whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and single-nucleotide polymorphism-array profiling to show that genomic catastrophes are frequent in EAC, with almost a third (32%, n¼40/123) undergoing chromothriptic events. WGS of 22 EAC cases show that catastrophes may lead to oncogene amplification through chromothripsis-derived double-minute chromosome formation (MYC and MDM2) or breakage-fusion-bridge (KRAS, MDM2 and RFC3). Telomere shortening is more prominent in EACs bearing localized complex rearrangements. Mutational signature analysis also confirms that extreme genomic instability in EAC can be driven by somatic BRCA2 mutations. These findings suggest that genomic catastrophes have a significant role in the malignant transformation of EAC

Amine functionalization of cholecyst-derived extracellular matrix with generation 1 PAMAM dendrimer

This document is the unedited author's version of a Submitted Work that was subsequently accepted for publication in Biomacromolecules, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review. To access the final edited and published work, see http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/bm701055k.A method to functionalize cholecyst-derived extracellular matrix (CEM) with free amine groups was established in an attempt to improve its potential for tethering of bioactive molecules. CEM was incorporated with Generation-1 polyamidoamine (G1 PAMAM) dendrimer by using N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-N′-ethylcarbodiimide and N-hydroxysuccinimide cross-linking system. The nature of incorporation of PAMAM dendrimer was evaluated using shrink temperature measurements, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) assessment, ninhydrin assay, and swellability. The effects of PAMAM incorporation on mechanical and degradation properties of CEM were evaluated using a uniaxial mechanical test and collagenase degradation assay, respectively. Ninhydrin assay and FTIR assessment confirmed the presence of increasing free amine groups with increasing quantity of PAMAM in dendrimer-incorporated CEM (DENCEM) scaffolds. The amount of dendrimer used was found to be critical in controlling scaffold degradation, shrink temperature, and free amine content. Cell culture studies showed that fibroblasts seeded on DENCEM maintained their metabolic activity and ability to proliferate in vitro. In addition, fluorescence cell staining and scanning electron microscopy analysis of cell-seeded DENCEM showed preservation of normal fibroblast morphology and phenotype

Исследование температурного поля пневматического молотка

Представлены результаты экспериментального исследования изменения температуры поверхности рубильного пневматического молотка М-6 по времени при рубке в различных режимах стальной полосы и плиты, чугунной плиты

Faculty Development: Mission and Methods for Practical Integration

This essay proposes a Catholic structure for the intellectual life of faculty that invites participation in ways that honor their diverse backgrounds, even antipathy toward religion, while also demonstrating that identifiable Catholic perspectives, including Catholic social teaching, can provide a useful framework for faculty members to understand their academic roles in support of Catholic identity, no matter their religious background

Robust, gapped, flat bands at half-filling in the minimal model of the superconducting metal-organic framework, Cu-BHT

The superconducting metal-organic framework Cu-BHT forms a kagome lattice with metals at the vertices and ligands along the bonds. We show that a tight-binding model with metal and ligand sites on this lattice yields five flat topological bands (FTBs), three of which are partially occupied at half-filling, with large gaps between them and all other bands. Long-range hopping induces curvature in the FTBs but leaves them flatter and more isolated than those in twisted bilayer graphene. Thus, framework materials are ideal materials for exploring flat band physics at high electronic densities.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Salvageability of renal function following renal revascularisation in children with Takayasu’s arteritis-induced renal artery stenosis

Background. Renal artery revascularisation procedures are usually carried out on children with renal artery stenosis from varied causes, including Takayasu’s   arteritis. Reports on the outcome of such procedures in children usually refer to the improvement in blood pressure, with only minimal mention of effects on renal  function.Objective. Salvageability renal function in children who underw ent renal  revascularisation for Takayasu’s arteritis-induced renal artery stenosis (TARAS) was the focus of this study.Methods. We undertook a retrospective analysis of children aged ≤16 years with angiographically confirmed TARAS who underwent renal artery revascularisation procedures between 1990 and 2010. Outcomes of renal function were studied over a period of 2 years and were defined as: (i) improvement: >20% increase in estimated glomerular filtration rate (e-GFR) from presurgery value; (ii) stabilisation: e-GFR within 20% of presurgery value; and (iii) failure: >20% deterioration in e-GFR from presurgery value. The GFR was estimated using the Schwartz formula.Results. Twenty children (9 males and 11 females, age range 2 - 14 years) had 27 renal artery revascularisation procedures. Thirteen of the patients (65.0%) had bilateral renal artery stenosis. The baseline mean e-GFR was 88.6 (standard deviation (SD) 25.4) mL/min/1.73 m2 and the mean duration of follow-up was 28.80 (SD 25.62) months. All the patients had stable or improved renal function until the 2-year follow-up, when the proportion decreased to 92.3% (12/13), as failure was recorded in one child. Bilateral revascularisation was found to be significantly associated with improvement in renal function in the early postoperative period  (p=0.04).Conclusion. Renal artery revascularisation procedures are successful in salvaging renal function in children with TARA

Dual targeting of p53 and c-MYC selectively eliminates leukaemic stem cells

e Glasgow and Manchester Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres (ECMC), which are funded by CR-UK and the Chief Scientist’s Office (Scotland). We acknowledge the funders who have contributed to this work: MRC stratified medicine infrastructure award (A.D.W.), CR-UK C11074/A11008 (F.P., L.E.M.H., T.L.H., A.D.W.); LLR08071 (S.A.A., E.C.); LLR11017 (M.C.); SCD/04 (M.C.); LLR13035 (S.A.A., K.D., A.D.W., and A.P.); LLR14005 (M.T.S., D.V.); KKL690 (L.E.P.); KKL698 (P.B.); LLR08004 (A.D.W., A.P. and A.J.W.); MRC CiC (M.E.D.); The Howat Foundation (FACS support); Friends of Paul O’Gorman (K.D. and FACS support); ELF 67954 (S.A.A.); BSH start up fund (S.A.A.); MR/K014854/1 (K.D.)

A Multilaboratory Comparison of Calibration Accuracy and the Performance of External References in Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC) is a first principles based method to determine absolute sedimentation coefficients and buoyant molar masses of macromolecules and their complexes, reporting on their size and shape in free solution. The purpose of this multi-laboratory study was to establish the precision and accuracy of basic data dimensions in AUC and validate previously proposed calibration techniques. Three kits of AUC cell assemblies containing radial and temperature calibration tools and a bovine serum albumin (BSA) reference sample were shared among 67 laboratories, generating 129 comprehensive data sets. These allowed for an assessment of many parameters of instrument performance, including accuracy of the reported scan time after the start of centrifugation, the accuracy of the temperature calibration, and the accuracy of the radial magnification. The range of sedimentation coefficients obtained for BSA monomer in different instruments and using different optical systems was from 3.655 S to 4.949 S, with a mean and standard deviation of (4.304 ± 0.188) S (4.4%). After the combined application of correction factors derived from the external calibration references for elapsed time, scan velocity, temperature, and radial magnification, the range of s-values was reduced 7-fold with a mean of 4.325 S and a 6-fold reduced standard deviation of ± 0.030 S (0.7%). In addition, the large data set provided an opportunity to determine the instrument-to-instrument variation of the absolute radial positions reported in the scan files, the precision of photometric or refractometric signal magnitudes, and the precision of the calculated apparent molar mass of BSA monomer and the fraction of BSA dimers. These results highlight the necessity and effectiveness of independent calibration of basic AUC data dimensions for reliable quantitative studies

Photonic quantum signatures of chaos and boson sampling

Boson sampling is a paradigmatic example of a task that can be performed by a quantum photonic computer yet is hard for digital classical computers. In a typical boson sampling experiment, the scattering amplitude is determined by the permanent of a submatrix of a unitary drawn from an ensemble of random matrices. Random matrix theory plays a very important role in quite diverse fields while at the same time being intimately related to quantum signatures of chaos. Within this framework, a chaotic quantum system exhibits level statistics characteristic of ensembles of random matrices. Such quantum signatures are encoded in the unitary evolution and so in this work we combine the dynamics of chaotic systems with boson sampling. One of the key results of our work is that we demonstrate the intimate relation between out-of-time-order correlators and boson sampling. We show that the unitary dynamics of a Floquet system may be exploited to perform sampling tasks with identical particles using single-mode phase shifters and multiport beamsplitters. At the end of our paper propose a photonic implementation of the multiparticle kicked rotor, which provides a concrete example of our general approach.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures. Comments are welcom