OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study is to document pain scores during withdrawal of abortive medication in patients diagnosed with medication overuse headache.

DESIGN
Cross-sectional study.

SETTING
Children's National Hospital's Headache Program.

SUBJECTS
Patients 6-18 years old who presented to the Headache Clinic at Children's National Hospital with presumed medication overuse headache between March 2017 and March 2019 were consented for participation.

METHODS
Patients were instructed to abruptly discontinue overused medications and record their headache characteristics daily in a diary for eight weeks.

RESULTS
Fourteen diaries were returned and analyzed at a four-week follow-up visit. 93% of patients were females, with a median age of 14.9 years (SD = 2.0). The average headache intensity upon study entry was 4.7 of 10 (SD = 2.5) and was 3.1 (SD = 2.5) upon study completion. 57% had daily headaches upon study entry. 71% of patients had improved pain intensity from the first to last diary entry. 57% had complete headache resolution at an average of 7.6 days from medication discontinuation (SD = 5.1). Ibuprofen was the most overused medication (71%).

CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that medication overuse headache will improve in the majority of pediatric patients who abruptly stop the offending medication(s) in an average of eight days from withdrawal. Average pain intensity was reduced by more than one point among all patients who stopped taking abortive medications. Further larger scale studies on medication withdrawal in pediatric patients with medication overuse headache could help better understand if this management strategy is effective.


Abstract Specific gravity measurement is a common method of estimating egg shell thickness. In Trial 1, alt solutions with specific gravities of 1.075, 1.080, and 1.085 were used to estimate the average specific gravity of eggs from 45 commercial Leghorn flocks. A strong linear relationship (R2=98.8) existed between average specific gravity and the percentage of eggs that would float in a single salt solution with specific gravity of 1.080. In Trial 2, shell thickness was estimated by floating eggs from 24 flocks in a salt solution with 1.080 specific gravity. At 37, 55, and 67 weeks of age, the eggs floating in that solution had three times as many cracks as those not floating. In both young and old flocks, a single salt solution could be used to identify eggs with a low specific gravity and high likelihood of cracking.


This article reviews the present status of the technology and instrumentation for the joint ESA/NASA gravitational wave detector LISA. It briefly describes the measurement principle and the mission architecture including the resulting sensitivity before focussing on a description of the main payload items, such as the interferometric measurement system, comprising the optical system with the optical bench and the telescope, the laser system and the phase measurement system, and the disturbance reduction system with the inertial sensor, the charge control system and the micropropulsion system. The review touches upon the requirements for the different subsystems that need to be fulfilled to obtain the overall sensitivity.


Gel deployments to divert, direct and control fluid flow have been extensively and successfully used in the oil and gas industries for enhanced oil recovery, and for the containment of radioactive and toxic wastes. However, to the best of our knowledge, gels have not been applied to hydrothermal systems to enhance heat extraction. The ability to divert and control fluid flow in the subsurface would be extremely useful to the geothermal industry. Gels may be able to block hydraulic short circuits, minimize losses of injected geothermal fluid to the surrounding formation, and divert working fluids to the hotter regions of a formation. These applications will all in turn maximize heat extraction from a geothermal reservoir and therefore maximize the longevity and the economic potential of the reservoir. Inorganic, non-toxic gels, such as colloidal silica gels, may be ideal blocking agents for geothermal systems if suitable gelation times and control of gelation behavior can be achieved. In the current study, we detail colloidal silica gelation times, behavior, and gel stability as a function of silica concentration, pH, salt concentration, and temperature up to 300 °C. Results indicate that while colloidal silica gels will have limited use in hightemperature geothermal systems (T > 200 °C) due to fast gelation times and lack of long-term thermal stability of silica gels at such high temperatures, colloidal silica gels are generally well-behaved at lower temperatures, with a large range of predictable gel times. Colloidal silica gels may therefore have broad application to lower-temperature (T ≤ 200 °C) geothermal systems and regions of lower temperature within hotter systems.


It is explained how Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) is set to take container crane automation a step further. On the heels of its grab pendulum performance optimizer for bulk cranes, the company is set to introduce a similar system, the Container Positioning and Pendulum Control (CPC) system, for ship to shore gantries. The CPC system moves the container from any position on the quay to a pre-selected position on the ship, or vice versa.


This study uses social cartography to map student perceptions of a co-curricular service-learning project in an impoverished rural community. As a complement to narrative discourse, mapping provides an opportunity to visualize not only the spatial nature of the educational experience but also, in this case, the benefits of civic engagement. The authors suggest that short-term immersion programs can provide students, regardless of their previous experiences with service, with opportunities to develop dispositions for active citizenship. Their maps, which envision a heterotopic space in two dimensions, examine the relationship between thought and action, specifically between empathy and apathy, and illustrate how what the students brought to the experience, in terms of their motivations and inclinations toward service-learning, as well as what they took away, in terms of their likelihood to participate in future service, ultimately led to individual growth and transformation.


Nitrogen, an essential element for life, has for at least ~2 billion years been primarily supplied to the biosphere by nitrogenases, a unique family of multimeric metalloenzymes that fix nitrogen from atmospheric N 2 . Because nitrogen has been a major limiting nutrient for primary productivity over much of Earth history, nitrogenases thus occupy a central role in the evolution of the biosphere. Nevertheless, relatively little is known regarding the origins of nitrogenases, the phenotypic properties of earliest nitrogenase ancestors, and the degree to which environmental geochemistry — namely, the varying concentrations of metals required for nitrogenase activity — have shaped the evolution of this important enzyme family. It is not clear to what extent the features of modern nitrogenases can reliably serve as a proxy for those of their predecessors over billion-year evolutionary timescales. To address this challenge, we have designed an experimental strategy that integrates phylogenetics, synthetic biology, microbiology, and biogeochemistry for the reconstruction of computationally inferred nitrogenase enzymes in the laboratory. Extant genomic data is used to generate an evolutionary model from which the molecular sequences of ancestral nitrogenases can be inferred. We then engineer Azotobacter vinelandii , an aerobic, nitrogen-fixing bacterial model, to express ancestral nitrogenase proteins. We have leveraged this experimental system to investigate the impact of these ancestral enzymes, reconstructed across an age transect of nitrogenase evolutionary history, on Azotobacter physiology and nitrogen fixation, with the potential to link these features with geochemical nitrogen biosignatures preserved in the geologic record. This approach permits the exploration of evolutionarily informed molecular sequence space to investigate the adaptive constraints on nitrogenase function through time. Moreover, the laboratory reconstruction of ancestral nitrogenases provides a novel strategy to integrate both genomic and geologic records of life in understanding the evolution of the nitrogen biogeochemical


Cervical cancer is a malignant disease that attacks the cervix uteri. Before the cancer phase, it will begin with precancerous lesions or Squamous Intraepithelial Lesion (SIL), which often do not cause complaints or symptoms. Therefore, regular screening is needed to detect precancerous lesions. One of the most widely used screening programs is the Pap smear method. The purpose of this study was to determine the clinicopathological characteristics of SIL patients at Sanglah Hospital Denpasar in 2018 - 2019. This study was a descriptive study with a cross sectional study design. Total sampling was carried out by collecting secondary patient data recorded in the form archive and the results of the histopathological examination of uterine cervical biopsy at the Anatomical Pathology Laboratory of Sanglah Hospital Denpasar in 2018 - 2019. The patient data collected were in the form of age, biopsy indications, and the degree of SIL. The samples collected in this study were 177 samples of SIL patients, with the most cases in the 41-50 years age category, namely 73 people (41.2%). The mean age of LSIL patients was 41.5 years and HSIL patients were 39.7 years. The findings of the previous abnormal pap smear results as an indication of a biopsy were found to be the most, namely 73 people (41.3%), and the highest degree of SIL was HSIL as many as 94 people (53.1%).
Keywords: precancerous lesions, cervix, SIL, Sanglah Hospital Denpasar


A systematic account of the Myrangiales known to occur in Indonesia is given. The order is represented by 9 genera containing together 15 species distributed over 5 families. The genus Micularia Boedijn and two species (Micularia merremiae Boedijn, Elsinoe fici Boedijn) are described as new. Additional collections are cited for most of the other species. Agyrona calami (Rac.) Boedijn is a new combination.


Being the main management model of government, engineering project management plays an important role in improving the benefit of investment and ensuring the quality of project, construction process and its safety. The evaluation system for performance of engineering project management (PM) is still new in the domain of engineering PM, in which it evaluates the management process and its service quality, and the management objectives are the contents of the evaluation system. Through analysis of the entire PM Service from these enterprises, the paper proposes an index evaluation system for the performance of engineering PM. Based on the 5-element set pair analysis whose philosophy is "admit objectively, describe systematically, cultivate qualitatively and analyze specifically", it establishes an evaluation pattern for the entire process judgment and finally, combined with the actual cases, and it demonstrates the feasibility and applicability of the system.


Debates concerning "the body," embodiment, and corporeality have become increasingly central to cultural theory in the past decade. This article addresses the question of the "natural body" from the point of view of both traditional social theory (Marcel Mauss) and more recent arguments about the body as a site of enculturation. Why is the natural body preserved as a moral value within the realm of sport, while its limits are also pushed to "unnatural" extremes? By contrasting body building as sport (where anabolic steroid use is condemned) with reproductive body building (pregnancy, where steroid use is increasingly central), the paradoxical dimensions of the "(post)natural" body in sport are examined.


The biological technology is a sword that has double blades,it brings great benefits and a lot of risks for mankind. At present,the safety of livingthings with transferred genes arouses people's special concern.


Abstract Technological progress has brought a large amount of complex machinery into the work processes, which represents a potential source of serious injuries, accidents, or breakdowns. The aim of this paper is to follow new trends in the FMEA and their use in our study. We have chosen the Turning Machine Doosan V-Puma Doosan PUMA V550R Machining Centre with manufacturing diameters and mechanical machining operations. We have created the FMEA team, which participated in the entire evaluation and analysis. We identified possible failures and causes of failures in the given operations. We applied the conventional PFMEA and identified the RPN risk number. We also used DEMATEL model. Using DEMATEL matrices, we identified a binding between the individual failures and the causes of the failures. Some failures will become the main cause of other failures and the causes of the failures; some arise as a result of other failures or causes of failures. Finally, we evaluated the applicability of individual methods and models. By the DEMATEL model we clarified the significance and bindings between individual failures.


A sample of 60 cases operated on by the bimediallobotomy approach was compared with a similar number operated on by the standard bilateral technique. These two groups were stratified in terms of diagnosis and duration of hospitalization before operation. The status of the group for other variables still differed sufficiently to require more refined statistical breakdown of these unstratified variables. The outcome following operation was determined by the use of discharge probabilities up to the period of 4 years and by a classification of adjustment at the time of observation in terms of good, moderate or poor, determined by the score on an objective social rating scale. It was not possible to demonstrate any measurable and consistent statistical difference between the outcome of the following of two lobotomy procedures by the various techniques employed. These results would support the suggestion of Fulton" that the medial aspect of the section is the crucial one physiologically and would not support the suggestion of McLardy and Meyer" that improvement was related to the amount of prefrontal cortex isolated from its white matter. Although this method of comparison shows the outcome by the two techniques to be similar, one technique may be preferred over the other because of other factors not considered in this study. If such is the case, then one can come to this decision with the knowledge that the results in terms of social outcome are identical. Certainly it would appear to the authors that the bimedial approach, producing similar results in terms of social recovery, might well be preferred to the standard procedure on the basis of its more limited destructive nature.


This paper mainly introduced the application of AD7793 chip on the geothermal survey. As a result of four-wire system,multi-channel switch design, the AD7793 can meet the requirements of the temperature measurement of high precision and multi-channel.But there were errors easily happened in the measurement, and relevant methods were put forward like hardware optimization and software design to promote the system. Generally speaking, the system has good measurement accuracy and repeatability.


1) Background: Preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) is one of the most important complications of the pregnancy and cause perinatal morbidity and mortality. History of PPROM is a risk factor of recurrent PPROM. Iron, Folic acid, Vitamin B Complex and Vitamin C plays an important role in collagen metabolism and increases resistance maintenance of the chorioamniotic membranes. 2) Objectives The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of Iron, Folic acid, Vitamin B Complex and Vitamin C for reducing the risk of Pre-mature Ruptures of membrane in pregnancy. 3) Patients and Methods This clinical trial study was performed on 100 pregnant women with the history of PPROM, with singleton pregnancy and gestational age 14 weeks in Upazilla Health complex, Muktagacha during 2015 to 2016. They were randomly divided into two groups: Case and Controls. The case patients received Folvit CI (Iron, Folic acid, Vitamin B Complex and Vitamin C ) daily from 14th weeks of gestation. PPROM occurrence was compared between two groups as an indicator of the protective effect of Iron, Folic acid, Vitamin B Complex and Vitamin C Supplements. 4) Results PPROM occurred in 67% of controls and 33% of cases. Rupture of membranes was significantly decreased in the case group. 5) Conclusions Iron, Folic acid, Vitamin B Complex and Vitamin C .supplementations after 14th weeks of gestation can prevent from PPROM in women with the history of PPROM.


To minimize problems with expansive clays, the Texas Department of Transportation decided to install vertical moisture barriers on a major widening project on IH 45 near Palmer, Texas. This 14 mile project required barriers on each side of the pavement in both directions. To evaluate the effectiveness of the barrier, the variation in moisture content with depth was measured at four locations, with measurements both inside and outside of the barrier. The monitoring was performed with a Troxler AP-200 Sentry gauge. This report describes the gauge, the installation procedures and the measured moisture contents. The barrier seems to be performing as designed at three of the four monitor locations. At these three locations, during wet and dry periods the moisture contents inside the barrier were relatively constant, whereas outside the barrier substantial variations were monitored. At the fourth location very little difference could be detected between the moisture fluctuations inside or outside of the barrier. Concerns were expressed concerning the installation procedure, which requires the cutting of a 250 mm trench, which is backfilled with gravel. This trench appears to trap water, which may have a detrimental impact on long-term barrier performance. Future research work should be directed at "trench-less" barrier installation techniques.


The effect of pentobarbital therapy was studied prospectively in 31 nearly-drowned, severely comatose children in a flaccid state of coma who were randomized into two treatment groups. Group A: 16 children who received hypothermia (H) and i.v. pentobarbital (P) achieving serum levels 25 mcg/cc within 48 hours from admission. Group B: 15 children who received hypothermia but pentobarbital was completely excluded. All patients received "conventional therapy" (i.e., PaCO 20-25 torr, PaO 100 torr, fluid restriction pancuronium bromide, furosemide or mannitol). Analysis of variance failed to detect difference for age, estimated time of submersion, arterial pH, core temperature (T°), cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) and mean intracranial pressure (ICP) among the patients prior to entering pentobarbital therapy.In Group A, 6 patients (37%) had complete recovery (CR) and were neurologically intact, 6 patients (37%) had severe brain damage (BD) and 4 (25%) expired. In Group B, 6 children (40%) had CR, 6 (40%) survived with BD and 3 (20%) expired. Mortality rate, survival with BD and CR were not statistically different between the two groups (P > 0.05 by Chi square analysis).The resull.s of this study support our previous claim that neurological outcome in nearly-drowned, flaccid comatose children is not influenced by pentobarbital therapy, and therefore, current practice of barbiturate therapy in this group of patients may not be justified. In addition, better outcome reported in the literature with pentobarbital combined with hypothermia regimen, may be attributed to the effect of hypothermia alone.


The utility model belongs to the technical field of heating and relates to a heating device for pressurizing equipment, which is matched with pressurizing equipment for use and is used for carrying out hot pressing on planar and curved products. A flexible heating element is fixed between a heat-conducting panel and an insulating material; the heat-conducting panel is fixed on a connecting and fixing device; the connecting and fixing device is fixed on the flexible heating element and is fixedly connected with external pressurizing equipment; a temperature control device is electrically communicated with the flexible heating element to carry out monitoring and controlling; the flexible heating element is designed into multiple structural shapes according to the shapes and the sizes of products, and the applied quantity is combined application of single piece or multiple pieces; a temperature-resistant insulating material is used as the insulating material; the heat-conducting panel is made of metal materials, and the shape of the heat-conducting panel is of a planar or curved structure; and the temperature control device is connected with the flexible heating element by an electric communication mode so as to monitor and control the flexible heating element by a sensor. The heating device is simple in structure, mature in process, low in cost and good in heating efficiency, and can be widely used for heat source devices of various pressure equipment.


The purpose of this study was to analyze the level of income and welfare of business people who have businesses in white sand beach tourism areas. Data obtained from the results of interviews, observations and literature that has been carried out on business people. The results obtained show that the average income of traders from businesses in tourist attractions in Pasir Putih Beach is IDR 41,644,000 per year. Annual per capita income of Rp. 17,196,181 and included in the category of not poor with a score of 4 and per capita expenditure per year Rp. 6,877,790, in this amount categorized as not poor with a score of 4. It is known that the average score of businesses in the tourism area White Sand Beach is 30 which are categorized as high for the level of welfare.


Replying to the criticisms of Lebech, the author tries, regarding the issue of embryo research, to draw a line between what could be an international legal approach and what is a philosophical ontological quest. It is then up to the reader to decide if, and how far, these two different approaches can be complementary.


Matthews [2] presented a note in which he considers Hermite interpolation with the aid of an n-dimensional Haar subspace X of $C^1 [a,b]$ which has an $(n - 1)$-dimensional Haar subspace of $C^0 [a,b]$ as the space of all first derivatives of elements of X. This implies that X contains the constant functions.In this note we assume that X is an n-dimensional Haar subspace of $C^1 [a,b]$, and that the space of all first derivatives of elements of X is either an n-dimensional Haar subspace of $C^0 [a,b]$, too, or an $(n - 1)$-dimensional Haar subspace as in Matthews' note. Thus we can include, for example, Haar subspaces which consist of certain exponential sums.We can show that there exists a unique element $x \in X$ which interpolates a given, $f \in C^1 [a,b]$ and its first derivative at given points of the interval $(a,b)$. In the case that X is obtained as a restriction to $[a,b]$ of an n-dimensional Haar subspace $\tilde X$ of $C^1 [a - \varepsilon ,b + \varepsilon ],\, \varepsilon > 0$, and $\tilde Y$...


'E PIGENETICS' IS BROADLY defined as the study of changes in genes that are mitotically and/or meiotically heritable and that do not involve a change in DNA sequences. In the fields of psychiatry, its importance has been hypothesized since the early days through studies of discordant monozygotic twins. Irving Gottesman, the pioneer of psychiatric epigenetics, suggested that, 'Questions of nature versus nurture are meaningless, and we must turn to epigenetics.' He insisted that, by studying epigenetics, which typically involves the survey of DNA or histone modifications, we might understand the molecular mechanism underlying long-lasting gene expression changes in a given tissue that would have originated from adaptation or maladaptation to intrinsic biological and/or external environmental factors. Now, epigenetics is known to underlie almost all aspects of biological phenomena, including a wide range of neural functions and various diseases. However, some intriguing questions have not yet been clearly answered. For example, what kind of epigenetic changes are primarily important for the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders? What are their pathophysiological roles at the molecular level? More basically, what environmental factors cause certain kinds of epigenetic changes in the brain, and what is their impact on neural functions and behavior? From the pharmaceutical aspect, how might we utilize the epigenetic changes as practical biomarkers or targets of drug development? Recent technical innovations have allowed us to describe and compare epigenetic status at the single base resolutions in a genome-wide manner. Concomitantly, the complex epigenetic architecture, which has as yet been unrecognized, has come to light. A good example is in the case of cytosine modification. Cytosine modification in mammals has long been considered to occur in the form of methylation. However, cytosine modification turns out not to be restricted to methylation, and other modifications, such as hydroxymethylation, carboxylation, and formylation, can be produced through a series of oxidations of methylcytosine. Although their exact roles are yet to be explored, they are considered to play specific regulatory roles in transcription, and to collectively provide the means for demethylation in response to environmental factors. The latter is especially important in the differentiated cells, such as postmitotic neurons. Moreover, it has also been proposed that somatic genomic changes may have important roles in neural development and function. These include somatic mutations occurring at the early developmental stage or mature neurons, chromosomal aneuploidy occurring at the proliferation stage of neurons, and different insertion patterns of retrotransposon LINE-1 in the neural precursor cells. As they are expected to contribute to functional diversity of neural cells by affecting gene expression without changing DNA sequences in germline cells, they could be regarded as epigenetic phenomena in a broader sense. Providing answers for the above questions is, therefore, becoming more difficult; however, these new findings also present us with exciting challenges. Increasingly, we should be turning our attention to epigenetics.


Eucalyptus oil is used in a wide range of medicinal and other uses, and the current study aims to estimate the median lethal dose LD50 of eucalyptus oil of Eucalyptus camaldulensis and estimate the pathological effect of eucalyptus oil in mice. Eucalyptus oil was obtained in the study by extracting the leaves of the plant Eucalyptus camaldulensis using hydrodistillation. Toxicity testing was performed by dividing mice into groups that you treated with different doses of eucalyptus oil 1200, 1600, 2000, and 2400 mg/kg. The current study showed that the average lethal dose, the LD50, was 1820 mg/kg. The study suggested the emergence of clinical signs in mice when consuming eucalyptus oil in high doses, such as slow movement, suffocation, and convulsion, compared with the control group and the group that administered a lower dose, It was observed that high doses of eucalyptus oil could cause damage to the lung, liver, kidneys, and heart, as the lung was the organ most affected by the oil, followed by the liver, kidneys, and then the heart, and it was less affected by eucalyptus oil, and this indicates that eucalyptus oil, when administered orally in high doses, causes clear toxicity effects. Eucalyptus oil is a safe medicine for external use.

Keywords. Eucalyptus oil, LD50; Administrated; Lung; Liver; Heart; Kidney; Mice.


Abstract Generalized linear models are regression-type models for data not normally distributed, appropriately fitted by maximum likelihood rather than least squares. Typical examples are models for binomial or Poisson data, with a linear regression model for a given, ordinarily nonlinear, function of the expected values of the observations. Use of such models has become very common in recent years, and there is a clear need to study the issue of appropriate residuals to be used for diagnostic purposes. Several definitions of residuals are possible for generalized linear models. The statistical package GLIM (Baker and Nelder 1978) routinely prints out residuals , where V(μ) is the function relating the variance to the mean of y and is the maximum likelihood estimate of the ith mean as fitted to the regression model. These residuals are the signed square roots of the contributions to the Pearson goodness-of-fit statistic. Another choice of residual is the signed square root of the contribution to the devia...


SUMMARY Eleven-week-old Mycoplasma-free turkeys were inoculated with Mycoplasma meleagridis via the cloaca and bursa of Fabricius. Samples taken from the vagina 14 weeks after inoculation were negative in females of both groups in which the cloacal-vaginal occluding membrane was still intact, but were positive in those with perforated membranes at 16 and 18 weeks. The results indicate that infection of the oviduct of the virgin female by organisms in the cloaca or bursa of Fabricius is closely correlated with perforation of the occluding membrane at sexual maturity. Furthermore, spermatozoa were not responsible for an ascending infection of the oviduct, since, following vaginal infection, there was no difference between inseminated and uninseminated hens in spread of the organisms to the upper part of the oviduct.


In this work, nanoparticles based on magnetite have been prepared by sol-gel and precipitation methods. In the first case two variants have been applied: by growing of sol starting from nitrate precursor and ethylene glycol as dissolvent and to control the reduction process and force hydrolysis and steric control prepared from ferrum sulfate precursor and sodium citrate. In the second case the starting material was sulfate precursor, amonium hydroxide as precipitaing agent and ethylene glycol as surfactant. The samples have been characterized by X-ray diffraction technique (XRD), adsorption-desorption of N (BET 2 equation model) and Mossbauer spectroscopy. XRD patterns of all samples showed typical peaks of magnetite which were detected in the following positions: 30,06 o, 35,42 o, 62,55 o.


Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is a rare disorder that mainly presents in males in their young age. The majority of cases are caused by three primary maternally inherited mtDNA point mutations (m.3460G > A, m.11778G > A, and m.14484T > C) that affect subunits 4, 6, and 1 of NADH dehydrogenase, respectively. It impairs glutamate transport and increases reactive oxygen species production, leading to apoptosis of ganglion cells, atrophy and demyelination of optic nerves, chiasm and pathways. This leads to visual disturbances such as painless, subacute or acute loss of central vision, initially in one eye and after few weeks or months in the other eye. The clinical expression of LHON depends on the primary mutations. M.3460G > A and m.11778G > A have been reported to have severe visual impairment and poor visual recovery, while m.14484T > C has the best long-term visual outcome with a better partial visual recovery rate. In some cases, it is observed that LHON may also manifest in extraocular symptoms, such as cardiac, skeletal, or neurological abnormalities. Currently, ibedenone is the only approved drug that prevents regression of visual function and improves it. The aim of this article is to discuss etiology and pathogenesis, clinical expression according to mtDNR mutation, treatment, and response to treatment according to mtDNA mutation.


The invention discloses a method for browsing tree-like structural data at multiple views, which comprises the following steps: (1) constructing a main tree of the tree-like structural data by using a tree control and placing a main view corresponding to the main tree into a tress browser; (2) constructing a sub view corresponding a sub tress according to the selected sub tree and placing the subview in the tress browser; (3) switching among the views according to a switch command of a user; and (4) remembering the current browsing state when the tress browser is closed, and restoring the remembered browsing state when the tress browser is reopened. By using the method, the user can be allowed to view the complete tree-like structural data and independently view the cared tree-like branches, and in addition, the user can easily switch among various views and the states of the same data in different views are completely consistent. The user is free from the gradual expansion to find the cared tress nodes or views after opening the structure tress, and the tree browser can be automatically restored to the lastly-closed state, so that the work efficiency of the user is greatly improved.


An estimated 2 to 5% of all individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) have symptom onset before age 16.1,2 The clinical descriptions of these patients rely predominantly on small single center retrospective studies. The most pressing questions regarding diagnosis, prognosis, and optimal treatment for children and adolescents with MS remain unanswered.

The National MS Society (NMSS) estimates that there are 8,000 to 10,000 children and adolescents with MS in the United States and another 10,000 to 15,000 children with other possibly related CNS demyelinating disorders. Pediatricians as well as adult and pediatric neurologists have largely overlooked MS as a possible diagnosis in children. Most physicians are not equipped to handle the distinct challenges in the diagnosis and management of MS in individuals under 18 years of age and few have had adequate experience with this group. In children, the higher frequency of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), a disorder whose symptoms can overlap with MS, and the increased chance of leukodystrophies and metabolic disorders, complicates the differential diagnosis …


Having found myself in Tallin as a school boy, I eagerly awaited a chance to watch TV. For those of us residing in Riga, Estonia was a place where you could catch a glimpse of the TV programing from Finland. Or so the rumor had it. My persistence paid off eventually, and when I had my wish granted I was treated to an excruciatingly boring concert of Finnish folk singing. Not a bit discouraged, I assumed that this first encounter with Europe was a programing fluke and that my curiosity would be rewarded next time. Never did I stop envying those lucky enough to watch broadcasts from the West. The luckiest folks naturally lived in East Berlin. Unable to cope with the competition, the communist authorities built the tallest transmitting tower in Germany that still disfigures Berlin. This trick failed to block the competitor, however. Once that became clear, the Eastern rulers settled on point-by-point rebutting the news reaching its citizens from the West, offering instead a steady diet of Marxist propaganda. The whole operation was as futile as it was expensive – only the news coming from the West was deemed to be trustworthy. It is easy to infer from this that inhabitants of the East German capital were best informed about the Western world. After all, TV is the face of a nation, its national character and ideals splashed all over the TV screen. Sitcoms and advertisements do much better job than sermons and constitutions in getting across a nation's ethos and etiquette, its unwritten yet pervasive laws. I learned that much when I made my way to the United States where I encountered a language of mass culture unfamiliar to me. Such language is essential when it comes to reading subtle cues and hidden citations, understanding jokes and punch lines, and what is equally important – distinguishing kindred people from those of a different kind. Surely, those watching a TV show like 'Rosanne' will vote for different candidates than those favoring 'Seinfeld' or M*A*S*H. This has nothing to do with a political message that the show producers might want to impart – viewers are the ones who attribute meaning to what they observe on the screen. Producers merely tap into their audience's fickle moods. As any market phenomenon, mass culture is a risky investment. Even when pitched to a target audience, its product's impact is hard to calculate. Ever so tentatively, mass culture


In this study, an extreme value distribution of the gust wind speeds is obtained in a large selected area of Iran. The generalized Pareto distribution is used to find out the type of wind speed distribution. The three parameters of the generalized extreme value distribution function are reduced to either type I Gumbel, type II Frechet or type III reverse Weibull distribution function for the annual extreme gust wind speeds. It is obtained that, the annual extreme gust wind speeds at 102 stations have a reverse Weibull function distribution. It is also obtained that, type I Gumbel extreme value function is the best model for many of the studied stations.


It is possible to add interactive functions to 3D printing by embedding capacitive touch sensor. In this paper, we propose a novel placement managing technique of electrodes. Previous works decide the placement only for low resolution touch sensing. In order to realize high resolution, we apply a sensing method to measure electrical capacitance changes of electrodes arranged in a grid pattern. In the automatic placement of the electrodes, we arrange the intersection points of the electrodes spatially uniformly and connect these points by the shortest distance on the object surface in order to enable touch detection in a wide range. Through an experiment, we fabricate a 3D surface and investigate if multi-touch sensing with electrodes whose positions are decided by the proposed technique works.


Published by Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ (UK) and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148 (USA) During its sixty-six-year history, the New Yorkbased Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation has explored many ways of realising its mission of international cultural co-operation around the world: through travelling exhibitions that it has sent to Europe, Asia, Australia; through major loan exhibitions that have brought art treasures from Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America to New York; and through the establishment of new Guggenheim Museums in other countries. It is this last trait that truly distinguishes the Guggenheim from all other arts institutions. With museums in Italy, Germany, and Spain, in addition to the United States, the Guggenheim has made its commitment to internationalism its highest priority.


In this study, chitosan was employed as a novel biomimetic mineralization model to repair damaged enamel to compare its performance with that of bioinspired zinc-doped nanohydroxyapatite. Fifty hum...


In this paper, we intend to use a B-spline quasi-interpolation (BSQI) technique to develop higher order hybrid schemes for conservation laws. As a first step, we develop cubic and quintic B-spline quasi-interpolation based numerical methods for hyperbolic conservation laws in 1 space dimension, and show that they achieve the rate of convergence 4 and 6, respectively. Although the BSQI schemes that we develop are shown to be stable, they produce spurious oscillations in the vicinity of shocks, as expected. In order to suppress the oscillations, we conjugate the BSQI schemes with the fifth order weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO5) scheme. We use a weak local truncation based estimate to detect the high gradient regions of the numerical solution. We use this information to capture shocks using WENO scheme, whereas the BSQI based scheme is used in the smooth regions. For the time discretization, we consider a strong stability preserving (SSP) Runge-Kutta method of order three. At the end, we demonstrate the accuracy and the efficiency of the proposed schemes over the WENO5 scheme through numerical experiments.


A theory is developed for the non-linear or linear analysis of arbitrary composite sections subjected to biaxial loading. The accuracy of the theory is verified by comparison with known uniaxial non-linear analyses of steel wide-flange and channel sections encased in reinforced concrete, with classical linear theory based on principal moments of inertia, and with test results from various authors. Three basic shapes of concrete stress-strain diagram are considered, for two allowable compressive strains and two ultimate strengths. This gives twelve different types of concrete stress distribution which are used to analyse four different composite sections. A comparative study of the results indicates that the factor which most influences ultimate biaxial bending strength and curvature is the allowable concrete compressive strain. The shape of concrete stress distribution has little effect on the section behavior.


The present paper describes research results and lessons learned from a multisensory exhibit held in Gwacheon National Science Museum. We introduced an all-in-one multisensory device that can produce visual, auditory, and vibrotactile stimuli to create a novel sensory experience. Three sensory conditions were considered, and the ways sensory feedback differed under the different conditions were examined. In total, 113 people visited our exhibition. From among these visitors, we carried out self-report questionnaires, interviews, and EDA activities measurement with 60 participants. The results showed that the vibrotactile and auditory stimuli conditions were pleasing and present compared to the condition of only auditory stimulus. When applying vibrotactile stimulus, understanding and developing situational vibrotactile stimulus in response to the auditory sensory stimulus might be effective compared to deploying ambient vibrotactile sensory stimulus. Additional experiments and data analysis are needed. However, we hope that this case study will inspire researchers and curators who are willing to introduce the multisensory experience into the actual museum setting.


The Brazilian state of Amapa=-notable for having 70% of its area consisting of unexplored Amazonian forests-experienced a massive power blackout in November 2020. An internal short-circuit in a transformer led to an explosion followed by a fire at the Macapa substation. This event left about 90% of the Amapa's population without power for several days in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, disrupting the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and raising concerns from several electricity sector stakeholders. This paper discusses select lessons learned from the power blackout and presents future opportunities to improve power system reliability and resilience for the grids in Amapá, and other similar Brazilian states, with a special focus on the increasingly important role of of distributed energy resources and smart grid technologies.


Objective To analyze the changes of visual field in patients with intracranial meningioma in different locations and to provide clinical information for diagnosis and treatment of meningioma.Methods Visual field examinations were taken in 40 cases(80 eyes)of intracranial meningioma and the results were analized retrospectively.Results Among the 40 cases(80 eyes) intracranial meningioma,12 cases(30%) were tuberculum sellae meningiomas mostly with bitemporal hemianopsia,9 cases(22 5%) were parietal lobe meningiomas with homonymous hemianopsia visual field loss of both eyes,7 cases(17 5%) were frontal lobe meningiomas with bisymmetry hemianopsia,4 cases(10%) were occipital lobe meningiomas with omonymous hemianopsia and contralateral inferior visual field loss,4 cases(10%) were temporal lobe meningiomas with superior hemianopia visual field loss of both eyes,2 cases(5%) were sphenoid ridge meningiomas with constriction of temporal visual field,and 1 case(2 5%)was olfactory sulcus meningioma with monocular central scotoma.Conclusions The differences of visual field defects were associated with the intracranial meningioma based on the locations、sizes and their relationships with the visual pathway.


Background : Primary angle closure glaucoma is one of the common causes of blindness in the world and methods of treatment are associated with side effects such as loss of corneal endothelial cells. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects YAG laser peripheral iridotomy on count and morphology of endothelial cells in patients with primary angle closure glaucoma suspects. Methods : In this prospective study, all 34 patients with primary angle closure glaucoma, referring to Poustchi and Motahari Clinics during 2012-13 were exposed to YAG laser peripheral iridotomy. Central count and morphology of endothelial cells were assessed before and 3, 6 and 9 months after YAG laser peripheral iridotomy. Bayesian transition and Bayesian random effects models were used for assessing of count and morphology of endothelial cells. Results : In this longitudinal study, 88.2% (30 patients) of patients were female and 11.8% (4 patients) were male and mean (±sd) of their age were 53.41±7.903 years. None of the variables had significant effect on morphology of endothelial cells and only variable age had significant effect on count of endothelial cells. Conclusion : The results showed that the number and morphology of corneal epithelial cells of primary angle closure glaucoma suspected patients is not affected by YAG laser peripheral iridotomy and thus can be used as a prophylactic procedure with minimal side effects in these patients.


The invention discloses a method for monitoring remote control and servo signals of a four-rotor aircraft. A remote control and servo signal monitoring device (1) performs analysis and processing to four loops of servo signals and four loops of remote control signals, and then servo signals are sent out to control an electronic speed governor to control the flight action of the aircraft; when external burst strong interference occurs, the aircraft enters a signal interference area due to unidirectional continuous flight, losses of remote signals and student increase of servo change are caused due to reasons such as faults of relevant devices and the like or faults such as losses of servo signals occur instantly, the remote control and servo signal monitoring device can send out correction servo signals in real time to enable the aircraft to continuously fly until the aircraft restores to normal flight; when faults such as the losses of the remote control signals, the sudden increase of the servo change, the losses of the servo signals and the like continuously exist and air crash accidents are possibly caused, the four-rotor aircraft is immediately controlled to make a return voyage or perform forced landing, the air crash accidents are greatly reduced and the reliability and the safety of the four-rotor aircraft are improved.


"GRandS rhétoriqueurs" – the term immediately problematizes itself. While henri Guy speaks in 1910 of an "école des rhétoriqueurs,"1 it is clear that the poets associated with this group belong, properly speaking, to no such school at all. Paul Zumthor traces the origin of the term to a reading error committed in 1861 by Charles d'héricault, who should have recognized in the appellation a reference to "les gens de justice" (7). however, one cannot categorically cast this term grands rhétoriqueurs aside as an anachronism or a misnomer without taking into account what François Rigolot has referred to as the "corporatisme artistique" binding this class of poets together and which Florian Preisig explores in his book on Marot and the emergence of the author at the dawn of the sixteenth century.2 that these poets refer to each other and to their common art consciously throughout their works implies, if not a "school," at least an association, a corporatisme, which merits our attention and reduces some of the problematics of the term grands rhétoriqueurs, allowing us to consider without hesitation the question of who may or may not be classed among this group of poets, mislabeled as they might be. that jean Perréal should belong to this association is not, at first blush, entirely clear. a painter known today primarily for his miniature portraits and not for his poetry, Perréal was during his lifetime considered the greatest French painter of his day, and served as the official court painter of Char les Viii, louis Xii, and François i. he was also likely the private painting tutor of the young Margaret of austria, daughter of holy Roman emperor Maximilian i and adoptive mother of the future Charles V, an association that placed Perréal in her service from 1504 to 1512. it was during this period that he interacted frequently with jean lemaire de belges, who is often considered the greatest and the most canonical of the so-called rhétoriqueurs,


Objective: To understand and reveal meanings of the nursing team in a surgical center in their interpersonal relationships with the medical team. Method: Research of a qualitative nature, based on the theoretical, philosophical and methodical reference of the Heideggerian phenomenology. A total of 17 professionals of the nursing team of a surgical center participated in the study, which was carried out between the months of October 2016 to January 2017, using the phenomenological interview guided by the following question: What is the significance of your interpersonal relationships with the medical staff in your job?. Essential structures merged from the testimonies: the construction of the concept of being and the unity of meaning making it possible to unveil the senses of professionals. Outcome: Nursing professionals meant interpersonal relationships with the medical team as good, but with conflicts and disagreements. The senses of being-with, impropriety, inauthenticity, ambiguity and distance were unveiled. Final Considerations: From the unveiled senses, it is considered essential that the established interpersonal relations ought to be harmonious, based on empathy, respect and effective communication in order to guarantee a safe assistance to the patient. Descriptors: Surgicenters; InterpersonalRelations; Nursing,Team.


29 Atmospheric particulate pollution is a significant problem across the EU and there is concern that 30 there may be an increasing contribution from biomass burning, driven by rising fuel prices and an 31 increased interest in the use of renewable energy sources. This study was carried out to assess 32 current levels of biomass burning and their contribution to total PM10 across five sites in North-West 33 Europe; an area which is frequently affected by poor air quality. Biomass burning was quantified by 34 the determination of levoglucosan concentrations from PM10 aerosol filters collected over a 14 35 month period in 2013/2014 and continued for a further 12 months at the UK site in Leicester. 36 Levoglucosan levels indicated a distinct period of increased biomass combustion between November 37 and March. Within this period monthly average concentrations ranged between 23±9.7 and 38 283±163 ng/m 3 , with Lille showing consistently higher levels than the sites in Belgium, the 39 Netherlands and the UK. The estimated contribution to PM10 was, as expected, highest in the winter 40 season where the season average percentage contribution was lowest in Wijk aan Zee at 2.7±1.4 % 41 and again highest in Lille at 11.6±3.8 %, with a PM10 mass concentration from biomass that ranged 42 from 0.56 μg/m 3 in Leicester to 2.08 μg/m 3 in Lille. Overall there was poor correlation between the 43 levoglucosan concentrations measured at the different sites indicating that normally biomass 44 burning would only affect atmospheric particulate pollution in the local area; however, there was 45 evidence that extreme burning events such as the Easter fires traditionally held in parts of North46 West Europe can have far wider ranging effects on air quality. Network validation measurements 47 were also taken using a mobile monitoring station which visited the fixed sites to carry out 48 concurrent collections of aerosol filters; the result of which demonstrated the reliability of both 49 PM10 and levoglucosan measurements. 50 51


Western national music is an importantly manifests of the Chinese minority traditional culture,which is one of Chinese nation outstanding traditional culture.In the context of Western Development Movement,it is especially urgent to protecting and developing western national music.This article elaborated significance of western national music,pointing out the challenge faced,and providing the suggestion for its spread and development.


One hallmark of the rare, monogenic disorder called Fanconi anemia (FA) is an accelerated decline in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) leading to bone marrow (BM) failure. Long-term treatment requires successful bone marrow transplant (BMT) from an unaffected donor. However, BMT success is limited if the donor is not a matched sibling and ~70% of FA patients lack such donors. Gene therapy could be an alternative, correcting the genetic defect in the patient9s own HSCs, and negating the need for a BMT donor. Based on lessons learned in previous FA gene therapy studies, we developed an optimized protocol for lentivirus (LV)-mediated FANCA gene transfer into HSCs from FA-A patients. This phase I clinical trial incorporates vector recommendations from the International FA Gene Therapy Working Group. Two patients have been treated on this trial to date (National Clinical Trials Registry ID: NCT01331018). This protocol harvests BM to collect unmanipulated HSC and does not include conditioning prior to cell infusion. Patient 1 is a 22-year old male with confirmed FA-A resulting from a splice variant in exon 22 of the FANCA gene (c. 1827-1 G>A). Baseline ANC averaged 0.5-1.0 K/mcL and baseline platelet counts averaged 40 K/mcL. A total of 3.2 x 107 CD34+ cells were present in 1.1L of BM, but only 9.4 x 106 total CD34+ cells were successfully isolated by magnetic bead separation, due to low level CD34 expression. LV transduction at 10 infectious units (IU)/cell resulted in a vector copy number (VCN) of 0.33 per cell and 18.4% of colony-forming cells transduced. Patient 2 is a 10-year old male with confirmed FA-A resulting from gross deletion of exons 6-31 of the FANCA gene. Baseline ANC and platelets declined over a 4.5-year interval prior to gene therapy and were 0.67 K/mcL and 82 K/mcL, respectively, in the 6 months prior to treatment. A total of 400mL of BM was collected, containing a total of 30.6 x 106 CD34+ cells. To avoid excessive CD34+ cell loss, the CD34+ cell magnetic bead purification step was omitted and the entire red blood cell depleted BM product was subjected to LV transduction at 10 IU/cell. We observed a VCN of 1.83 per cell and 43% of colony-forming cells transduced, suggesting more efficient transduction of the mixed cell population. Both patients tolerated the harvest and infusion procedures but displayed low and declining levels of transduced cells in peripheral blood after infusion. For future subjects, use of pre-infusion conditioning may be required to achieve long-term engraftment in vivo. Interestingly, both patients have maintained stable blood cell counts since gene therapy. These data demonstrate that LV gene therapy in FA patients is safe and suggest that avoidance of direct CD34 selection is advantageous for transduction and gene transfer. However, one complicating factor is the volume of concentrated LV vector required to transduce the non-purified cell product infused in Patient 2. To address these barriers, we developed a modified clinical protocol which utilizes depletion of mature cell lineages including CD3+, CD14+, CD16+ and CD19+ cells. Using healthy donor bone marrow we demonstrate that this protocol efficiently depletes >85% of cells expressing each lineage marker, reducing the volume of LV vector required for gene transfer by 60-70%. Most importantly, we demonstrate that this protocol preserves >90% of CD34+ cells present in the starting bone marrow product, and that these cells are efficiently transduced and capable of engrafting in a xenotransplant model. This protocol is currently being implemented for subjects in the ongoing phase I trial. Disclosures Adair:Rocket Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy, Equity Ownership. Kiem:Rocket Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy, Equity Ownership, Research Funding.


We present here some original results of quantum conformational analysis (PCILO computations) on Gly-R2-R3 repeating sequences which incorporate one prolyl and one aliphatic residue. These results permit us to discuss.

(1) the correlation between the side-chain and main-chain conformation;

(2) the effect of residue branching on the side-chain mobility;

(3) the influence of the residue location on the intrachain and interchain interactions.

Taking into account contributions from others, our results allow us to propose the following hypothesis.

In the case of γ-branched residues in location R3, a cooperative effect between secondary and tertiary structures may take place. This effect seems to favor the triple helical stereostructure typical of collagenic macromolecules rather than less ordered structures. This hypothesis gives a rational explanation of the specific behavior of the synthetic polytripeptide poly(Gly-Pro-Leu).


Getting Started Social Research, Data Sets and Frequency Distributions Theory and Research The Scientific Method Describing the Sample Culture What Do Americans Value? A Controversy in Values Attitudes about Abortion in 1996/99 Socialization What Kinds of Children Do Americans Want? Crime Fear, Law Enforcement and Punishment Inequality and Social Class in the United States Inequality and Gender Inequality and Race The Family Institution Forms and Functions The Political Institution in the United States Voter Turnout, Presidential Choice and the Gender Gap Appendix A Variable Names, Item Wordings, and Codes for all Data Sets Appendix B SPSS Commands Used in this Book Index / Glossary


This study concentrates on the optimal investment portfolio , which is represents the goal of securities investors , because its achieve the objective of them in maximize the returns and minimize the risks . In this point the study tries to consider the basis of building the optimal investment portfolio by the investors in the Iraqi exchange security market by using simple ranking model .The conclusion of the study proves the highly efficiency of this model in building the optimal investment portfolio in this market , and its ability to choose and form the suitable stocks .


The objectives of the research was to compares the economics of regulated and unregulated fisheries through the estimates of technical, allocative and economic efficiency of micro entrepreneur or artisanal fishers in  the central Nigerian state of Plateau, with a view to examine the economic benefits and sustainability on inland water fisheries as renewable resource in developing economics. Stochastic frontier production and cost functions using the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) technique was used to analysed data collected from, daily fishing observations made for 4 weeks, and through questionnaire from 20 micro entrepreneurs from unregulated lakes of Polmakat, Shimankar, Deben, Janta and 30 micro entrepreneurs from the only regulated Pandam Lake to give a sample size of 110 respondents selected in a multi-stage sampling technique. The mean technical, allocative and economic efficiency of unregulated fishers were 0.83, 0.56 and 0.68 respectively, while, the mean technical, allocative and economic efficiencies of the regulated fishers were 0.91, 0.68 and 0.72 respectively. This study shows higher potential for increase in fishing output at unregulated fisheries through better use of available resources, given the current state of technology. The MLE result suggested that extension contact, age and educational status were major determinants of efficiency in unregulated fishing, meaning that the transformation for effective and sustainable fisheries exploitation requires the involvement of educated fishers, extension education, and redefinition of property rights of unregulated fishery and constraining of inputs at regulated fishery. Keywords: micro entrepreneurs, economic, efficiency, comparative, stochastic, renewable resource


The number of leptospirosis cases in Demak district had a significant increase in 2018 which reached 92 cases with IR = 7.91% and the death of 24 people with CFR = 28.09%. Bonang Subdistrict is a sub-district with a case of the highest leptospirosis in Demak district. The aim of this research is to spatial analyze the environmental factors of leptospirosis in Kecamatan Bonang include flood/rob history, garbage storage, river, paddy field, fishpond, and population density. This type of research is quantitative descriptive with cross sectional design. The samples in this study numbered 24 people. This research was conducted in June 2019 in Bonang Sub-district of Demak Regency. The results showed that the pattern of the leptospirosis case in sub-district Bonang was scattered uneven. In this study can be concluded that the most influential risk factors in the distribution of leptospirosis cases in Bonang sub-district is a bad condition of individual garbage storage and the existence of paddy fields and rivers that are close to the house cases. Keywords: Spatial Analysis, GIS, Leptospirosis


Inappropriate formulations for nuclear level densities, based in part on an assumption of spherical symmetry, have often been employed in statistical model calculations of the competition between decay modes of nuclei at high spin and excitation. We investigate the influence on such calculations of nuclear deformation effects in the level densities, at both the saddle-point shapes relevant to fission and the most probable shapes reached in particle evaporation. The deformation effects are included in a Fermi-gas formalism in two stages, first assuming complete independence of rotational and intrinsic degrees of freedom, and subsequently allowing for a deformation-dependent cutoff with increasing temperature in the collective enhancement of the level densities. The latter effect gives rise, in the absence of shell and pairing corrections, to a progressive increase with increasing temperature in the most probable daughter-nucleus deformation for particle emission. The most significant effects of the deformed-nucleus level densities on calculated decay properties for /sup 6/Li+/sup 197/Au..-->../sup 203/Pb, at several bombarding energies, are an increase in the cross section and a decrease in the anisotropy for fission fragments. Ambiguities in the details of the collective cutoff yield a sizable uncertainty in the quantitative extent of the fission enhancement. Relative measurements for differentmore » entrance channels to the same compound nucleus which may be sensitive to the collective cutoff are illustrated by calculations for /sup 22/Ne+/sup 180/Hf vs /sup 6/Li+/sup 197/Au fusion-fission.« less


Abstract Both fisheries and feminism have been the subject of much research spanning academic disciplines and topics for many years. The papers in this themed issue are considered 'fishy' in the sense that they are both about fisheries and fish in diverse places, but also because they use a feminist lens, and feminism is often taken as something suspicious that can be doubted by virtue of the social bias associated with the term. Feminism has long offered an understanding of how patriarchal frameworks are embedded within larger structures of societies that maintain social inequities. In their various papers, the authors bring critical insight to understanding the significance of feminist research and its potential for understanding the connections between place and the future of our relationship with oceans and marine ecosystems. This themed issue contributes to a hopefully growing interest in feminist insights to fisheries and ocean/maritime spaces, and addresses more broadly, the argument that (feminist) geography has remained 'land-locked'.


For a coherent site we construct a canonically associated enlarged coherent site, such that cohomology of bounded below complexes is preserved by the enlargement. In the topos associated to the enlarged site transfinite compositions of epimorphisms are epimorphisms and a weak analog of the concept of the algebraic closure exists. The construction is a variant of the work of Bhatt and Scholze on the pro-etale topology.


In this work, Ni-doped SnO2@MWCNTs composites were synthesized by a facile one-step hydrothermal method. The morphology and structure of the as-prepared composites were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS, FT-IR and Raman. It was found that the SnO2 nanoparticles were successfully anchored on the MWCNTs with a diameter of 3–5 nm and Ni2+ was successfully doped into the SnO2@MWCNTs. Moreover, the effect of the doped Ni molar percentage on the electromagnetic parameters and microwave absorbing properties of the Ni-doped SnO2@MWCNTs composites was studied in the 2–18 GHz frequency range. The results showed that the composites with 28.2% doped Ni content exhibited the best microwave absorbing properties. The maximum RL reached −39.2 dB at 8.2 GHz with a thickness of 2.5 mm, and the bandwidth of RL lower than −10 dB was 3.6 GHz (from 12.6 to 16.2 GHz) with a thickness of 1.5 mm. The excellent microwave absorbing properties could be attributed to the good impedance match, Debye relaxation, interfacial polarization and high conductivity of the MWCNTs component. It was believed that the Ni-doped SnO2@MWCNTs composites could be used as a new type of microwave absorbing materials against electromagnetic pollution.


The development of sensitive MEMS now requires either high purity inert atmosphere or a vacuum environment. Therefore, encapsulation is mandatory to ensure performances over the projected lifetime of the devices. The knowledge of the behavior of the MEMS components and assembly with respect to vacuum compatibility is therefore of outmost importance, both to understand and reduce the impurities' release mechanisms and to design a suitable solution to the lifetime issue. This solution is based on the use of specific getter materials and configurations to be incorporated into the MEMS cavity. Outgassing and residual gas composition data are necessary to address the choice of the proper getter material and provide information on the design of the getter. Different solutions can be envisaged depending on the type of gas to be sorbed, the process constraints and the operating conditions of each specific device. If moisture is the main gas to be removed from the cavity, the choice is between physical and chemical dryers. In case other species have also to be sorbed, then the choice of a non-evaporable getter (NEG) has to be preferred. The various getter materials and solutions to the vacuum problems in MEMS will be discussed in detail.


In this work, we assessed the reliability of a low-cost psychophysiological system – the James One device – to monitor the electrodermal activity during an emotion induction paradigm. We observed that during emotional expression in response to negative stimuli, participants displayed increased amplitudes of the skin conductance responses, in comparison to the natural observation of neutral pictures and to emotion regulation. These results are in accordance with previous findings obtained with medical-grade devices. Altogether, these results highlight the potential of this system to be implemented in large-scale settings, particularly in psychopathological conditions marked by severely impaired emotion regulation ability, such as depression and anxiety.


The paper first analyzes the development of relations between P. I. Izmailov and the Grand Duke, who became the Emperor Peter Fedorovich. It examines the role of P. I. Izmailov in protecting the interests of the Emperor in a Palace coup on 28 June 1762. On the basis of the factual evidence exploded the long-standing myth, that exists in the historical literature, that Izmailov took an ambiguous part in the June events. It is determined that he was loyal to the Emperor Peter III and had no secret service to Catherine for purposes of her ascension to the throne.


Objective: To investigate the application of antineoplastic drugs in our hospital in 2007.Method: The data of frequency and cost of antineoplastic based on DDDs methods in 2007 were analyzed.Result: The top 3 antineoplastic drugs were traditional Chinese drugs,antineoplastic hormone and other antineoplastic drugs according to DDDs,and the top 3 antineoplastic drugs were plant amedica,other antineoplastic drugs and traditional Chinese drugs according to marketing amount of money.The top 3 antineoplastic drugs were pingxiao capsule,tamoxifen,and the sum was 79.59% in total sum of top 10 antineoplastic drugs according to DDDs.The cost of one day in letrozole was least in the top 10 antineoplastic drugs according to DDDs.Conclusion: The clinical application of antineoplastic drugs should be based on low prices and good effect.Guard against new drugs and medicinal plants-based drug in order to reduce financial burden.


OLEOZON® is an ozonized product that has shown a great effectiveness as germicide. Taking into account the former findings we decided to evaluate the effect ...


The article investigated into the stereoregularity of the polymer synthesized by acrylonitrile(AN) and itaconic acid(IA) in homogeneous phase solution with different dosage of azodiisobutyronitrile(AIBN) which used as initiator.The CH group of polyacrylonitrile copolymer repeat unit gave rise to three well resolved peaks in 13C-NMR spectra,which were used to determine triad tacticity.Meanwhile,the article calculated the number-average sequence length of meso and racemic configuration of polymer with the triad tacticity 13C-NMR spectra dates by Randall′s equations.The intensities of IR spectra at wavenumbers: 1250 cm-1 and 1230 cm-1 were also used to measure the isotacticity percentage of the polymer quantitatively.The results reveal: when dosage of AIBN is increased,the isotacticity of the polymer is enhanced and the number-average sequence length of meso configuration is raised.


Microphytobenthos (MPB) contributes up to half the primary production of estuaries. These microorganisms are sensitive to changes in sediment temperatures, particularly the extreme temperatures during exposure periods. This study investigates the physiological responses of MPB to freezing temperatures at two locations near Hobart, Tasmania during winter. Photosynthetic parameters were measured at 2 mm intervals to a depth of 10 mm. FV/FM values at three different distances from the shoreline at Kings Beach and Browns River in winter were between 0.584 and 0.617. rETRmax values were between 24.696 and 20.773. Maximum α values peaked in the subsurface rather than at the sediment surface. In vitro laboratory experiments (down to −5°C) showed little difference in response between the control and treatment groups, indicating no apparent effects of short term freezing on the MPB. Little change in photosynthetic parameters in response to freezing was probably associated with the resistance of light-harvesting reactions to freezing temperatures, recovery of the plasmalemma integrity or cryoprotection. Sediment composition and species composition were similar at both sampling sites. Therefore, responses of MPB were not due to species and grain size composition.


A compact and high extinction SOI polarization rotator is fabricated and characterized. For TM to TE rotation, a device 37.5 μm in length is demonstrated to have a polarization extinction ratio between 17.8-26 dB from 1525 nm to 1570 nm.


Medical health profession should enhance the consciousness and follow the trend of low-carbon,implement sharing and mutual recognition of inspection results between hospitals,establish the sharing center of medical equipment,develop telemedicine by the development of electronic information technology,establish electronic medical records,perfect two-way referral system,implement sophisticated management,promote the development of medical and health services.Constructing the health service system,management mechanism and operation mechanism which adapt to the requirements of low-carbon economy are the necessary requirement for the development of medical and health services.


Simple Summary Prostate cancer is the principal cause of cancer-related mortality in men. While localized tumors can be successfully treated by orchiectomy or medical castration, most of the patients ultimately progress to the castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) stage, which is incurable at present. Thus, uncovering the underlying mechanisms that cause CRPC could result in promising therapeutics. Our laboratory has identified LIMK2 kinase as an actionable target for CRPC. LIMK2 is vastly expressed in CRPC but minimally in normal prostates. LIMK2 knockout mice are healthy, indicating that LIMK2 inhibition should have minimal toxicity. LIMK2 is also expressed in other aggressive cancers; however, the molecular mechanisms leading to malignancy remain mostly unknown. This study identified that LIMK2 downregulates a prostate-specific tumor suppressor protein-NKX3.1 using two mechanisms. NKX3.1 loss is strongly associated with prostate cancer. Thus, LIMK2 inhibitor provides a powerful opportunity to rescue NKX3.1 loss, thereby preventing and/or delaying prostate cancer progression. Abstract NKX3.1's downregulation is strongly associated with prostate cancer (PCa) initiation, progression, and CRPC development. Nevertheless, a clear disagreement exists between NKX3.1 protein and mRNA levels in PCa tissues, indicating that its regulation at a post-translational level plays a vital role. This study identified a strong negative relationship between NKX3.1 and LIMK2, which is critical in CRPC pathogenesis. We identified that NKX3.1 degradation by direct phosphorylation by LIMK2 is crucial for promoting oncogenicity in CRPC cells and in vivo. LIMK2 also downregulates NKX3.1 mRNA levels. In return, NKX3.1 promotes LIMK2's ubiquitylation. Thus, the negative crosstalk between LIMK2-NKX3.1 regulates AR, ARv7, and AKT signaling, promoting aggressive phenotypes. We also provide a new link between NKX3.1 and PTEN, both of which are downregulated by LIMK2. PTEN loss is strongly linked with NKX3.1 downregulation. As NKX3.1 is a prostate-specific tumor suppressor, preserving its levels by LIMK2 inhibition provides a tremendous opportunity for developing targeted therapy in CRPC. Further, as NKX3.1 downregulates AR transcription and inhibits AKT signaling, restoring its levels by inhibiting LIMK2 is expected to be especially beneficial by co-targeting two driver pathways in tandem, a highly desirable requisite for developing effective PCa therapeutics.


Introduction: We evaluated the association of pre-treatment immunologic biomarkers on the outcomes of early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). Materials and methods: In this retrospective study, all newly diagnosed early-stage NSCLC treated with SBRT between January 2010 and December 2017 were screened and included for further analysis. The pre-treatment neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), monocyte lymphocyte ratio (MLR), and platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) were calculated. Overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were estimated by Kaplan–Meier. Multivariable models were constructed to determine the impact of different biomarkers and the Akaike information criterion (AIC), index of adequacy, and scaled Brier scores were calculated. Results: A total of 72 patients were identified and 61 were included in final analysis. The median neutrophil count at baseline was 5.4 × 109/L (IQR: 4.17–7.05 × 109/L). Median lymphocyte count was 1.63 × 109/L (IQR: 1.29–2.10 × 109/L), median monocyte count was 0.65 × 109/L (IQR: 0.54–0.83 × 109/L), median platelet count was 260.0 × 109/L (IQR: 211.0–302.0 × 109/L). The median NLR was 3.42 (IQR: 2.38–5.04), median MLR was 0.39 (IQR: 0.31–0.53), and median PLR was 156.4 (IQR: 117.2–197.5). On multivariable regression a higher NLR was associated with worse OS (p = 0.01; HR-1.26; 95% CI 1.04–1.53). The delta AIC between the two multivariable models was 3.4, suggesting a moderate impact of NLR on OS. On multivariable analysis, higher NLR was associated with poor RFS (p = 0.001; NLR^1 HR 0.36; 0.17–0.78; NLR^2 HR-1.16; 95% CI 1.06–1.26) with a nonlinear relationship. The delta AIC between the two multivariable models was 16.2, suggesting a strong impact of NLR on RFS. In our cohort, MLR and PLR were not associated with RFS or OS in multivariable models. Conclusions: Our study suggests NLR, as a biomarker of systemic inflammation, is an independent prognostic factor for OS and RFS. The nonlinear relationship with RFS may indicate a suitable immunological environment is needed for optimal SBRT action and tumoricidal mechanisms. These findings require further validation in independent cohorts.


We have recently described a method for investigating glycolysis of red cells by using P8-2 labeled orthophosphate to measure the rate of turnover of various organic phosphate esters (1). Observations on normal cells incubated under various conditions have been made with this method and described in separate reports (2, 3). Because inborn errors of metabolism have been demonstrated in a variety of hereditary diseases, this method has been applied especially to the study of red cells from patients with certain congenital hemolytic disorders. We have focused our attention particularly upon hereditary spherocytosis (to be abbreviated as HS) and will report results obtained from patients with this disorder in this paper. Our findings in other hemolytic states, both congenital and acquired, will be described later.


Each topological group G admits a unique universal minimal dy- namical system (M(G);G). For a locally compact non-compact group this is a nonmetrizable system with a rich structure, on which G acts eectively. However there are topological groups for which M(G) is the trivial one point system (extremely amenable groups), as well as topological groups G for which M(G) is a metrizable space and for which one has an explicit description. In this paper we show that for the topological group G = Homeo(E) of self home- omorphisms of the Cantor set E, with the topology of uniform convergence, the universal minimal system (M(G);G) is isomorphic to Uspenskij's 'max- imal chains' dynamical system (';G) in 22 E . In particular it follows that M(G) is homeomorphic to the Cantor set. Our main tool is the 'dual Ram- sey theorem', a corollary of Graham and Rothschild's Ramsey's theorem for n-parameter sets. This theorem is used to show that every minimal symbolic G-system is a factor of (';G) and then a general procedure for analyzing G- actions of zero dimensional topological groups is used to show that (M(G);G) is isomorphic to (';G).


As terra block was used more and more in the project of the residential,the masonry wall leakage performance was not effective in engineering test. This paper studied the method of mixing untarred jute spun yarn in masonry mortar to improve the block wall of seepage prevention performance,and pointed out the piece of local structure defects and the content of the quality supervision departments need to focus on regulation when it was constructed.


The present invention relates to a method for aging allium vegetables using a supersaturated salt solution. Aged vegetables with increased active ingredients and short aging time can be prepared using the method. The present invention includes a step of preparing a supersaturated salt solution, a step of locating allium vegetables, and a step of aging allium vegetables. [Reference numerals] (AA) Freeze-drying fresh garlic;(BB) Freeze-drying fresh onion (+ shell);(CC) Pulverizing freeze-dried garlic and onion into powder;(DD) Preparing a sealed aging container using NaCI supersaturated solution (RH=75%) KBr supersaturated solution (RH=84%);(EE) Fermenting garlic and onion powder in supersaturated sealing fermenting container;(FF) Black garlic powder;(GG) Black onion powder;(HH) Black garlic, black onion + purified heat water;(II) Centrifugation (3,00 rpm, 30 min);(JJ) Removing precipitate and obtaining supernatant;(KK) Filtering supernatant (wattman No.4);(LL) Black garlic extract (example 7);(MM) Black onion extract (example 3);(NN) Fermenting lactic acid bacteria and Monascus;(OO) Black garlic lactic acid bacteria fermented solution (example 8);(PP) Black garlic lactic acid bacteria fermented solution (example 9);(QQ) Black garlic lactic acid bacteria fermented solution (example 4);(RR) Black garlic lactic acid bacteria fermented solution (example 5)


To construct new rural cooperative medical service system in China,one of the largest agricultural countries with largest population in the world,must combine China's actual conditions with the international experience together.From the macro angle view of drawing on the international experience of medical insurance system construction,the new rural cooperative medical service system established in China during the "Transition Period" falls into the social insurance category with the main responsibilities taken by the State and the society.Its "Primary" and "Transitional states" have decided that the aim of the insurance should focus on the "Serious Diseases" and integrate rural public health system with other medical insurances.Therefore,it is a must to construct rural medical insurance system consisting of multi-level,multi-form medical insurance systems by law.


THIS paper contains the results of an investigation of three derivatives of phenothiazine (phenergan, diparcol, largactil) which are claimed by French workers to potentiate the action of general anmthetics, to combat operative shock by inhibition of the autonomic nervous system, and to prevent vomiting of central origin. Some years ago Laboritl successfully used phenergan and diparcol to reinforce the action of general anaesthetic drugs. He found that smaller quantities of intravenous and volatile anizsthetics were required, while the action of relaxants also was enhanced, e.g., flaxedil when injected intramuscularly in doses of 40-80 mg. gave relaxation which continued for more than an hour, and was of surprising degree. This potentiation or facilitation of hypnotic and relaxant drugs is due to a reduction in basal metabolism, and consequently in tissue respiration and oxygen uptake. An extension of the technique using the same drugs in higher dosage, combined with refrigeration, was used by Laborit and Huguenard* to prevent and combat post-operative shock, and was known as " Artificial Hibernation ". Laborit3 used largactil with success as a sedative and anticonvulsant in eclampsia and Rouchy4 found it successful in treating the intractable vomiting of pregnancy. For these reasons it seemed to us worth while to undertake an independent assessment of the drugs in question.


The dual emission spectra of β-naphthil in two different glasses at 77° K have been resolved to their individual components by a computerized kinetic phosphorescence spectrometry system. Both the time-resolved spectrum which reveals the kinetic behavior of the excited states and the wavelength-resolved spectrum which tells the nature of the emitting species are obtained. Several possible emission mechanisms are discussed based on the informations gathered through the resolution processes. Triplet-triplet annihilation is shown to exist in solutions of benzophenone as well as in solutions of β-naphthil. As concluded from the results of time-resolved study, such kind of interaction is responsible for the non-exponential distorsion of the decays. And according to the wavelength-resolved studies, transoid and cisoid conformational isomers seem to accout for the sources of the dual emission of β-naphthil.


Emerging evidence suggests that veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) benefit from having a service dog. These trained dogs perform


The aza-annulation of β-enamino ester and amide substrates with the mixed anhydride of 2-acetamidoacrylic acid was used for the efficient construction of highly substituted α-acetamido δ-lactam products. With the α-acetamido substituent, lactam functionality, and γ-carboxylate group, these δ-lactam products represent an interesting class of conformationally restricted dipeptide analogs. The framework of this lactam hub is structurally related to that of an α-amino acid coupled with a β-amino acid. When α-amino esters derived from naturally occurring amino acids were used in the enamine formation step, subsequent aza-annulation led to branched peptide surrogates with two C-termini that extended from a common N-terminus. Oxidation of the aza-annulation products resulted in the generation of a planar system with peptide functionality radiating from the 1, 3, and 5 positions of the pyridone hub. Alternatively, pyridone products could be formed directly from the enamino amides by reaction with 2-phenyl-4-(etho...


The biological and logical meanings of plants, which are one of the important woody plants of our ecosystem, are reviewed in this article. Plants are mostly used for timber purposes, but in the present article the utility of plants with respect to their sowing, harvesting, in restoring, environmental use, and their educational and recreational value and bioesthetic planning is described.


Many years ago the late Dr. Samuel Stern brought to my attention an item preserved among the Geniza documents in the Cambridge University Library. I remember that we used it as part of the illustrative material for a joint course of lectures on medieval Islamic administration, during which I, very much the junior partner, benefited greatly from his experience and store of knowledge. Stern himself intended to publish this piece, but had also brought it to the notice of Dr. Hassanein Rabie who used it, not entirely accurately, in his The financial system of Egypt, A.H. 564–741/A.D. 1169–1341 Rabie did not publish the text and, as far as I know, no one else ever has, although Geoffrey Khan has briefly referred to the titulature of the addressee. It seems worthwhile to do so now, after such a long interval, because of the intrinsic interest of this document.


This study aims to develop a performance measurement system for zakat institutions from the perspective of maqashid al-Shariah and Islamic enterprise theory. This study embarks from previous studies focusing on the performance measurement methods applied to the zakat institutions. The understanding of maqashid al-Shariah in this paper refers to the concept formulated by Al Ghazali and Ibn Ashur. The basis of selecting so is their widely known concept in the contemporary research. This paper concludes that the performance measurement based on maqashid al-Shariah for Islamic bank can be adopted in zakat institution by making various adjustments according to the characteristics of the institution. In addition, this study also designed a performance scorecard to assess the performance of zakat institutions based on maqashid al-Sharia and Islamic enterprises theory. This scorecard method can calculate the index of zakat management of the related institution from a broader perspective.


Topical issues of textile yarn breakage in technological processes are considered in the paper. Based on a comparative analysis of cotton yarns specific breaking load with cotton fibre specific breaking load obtained in experiments, it was concluded that when the yarn breaks, the cotton fibres do not. This conclusion contradicts hypothesis of Aleksey Solov'yov that some of the cotton fibres are torn when the yarn is stretched to a break. Experimental results show that when the yarn is stretched to a break, all cotton fibres slip out of the yarn. So, the main force of resistance to external tensile force is the friction force between the fibres in the yarn. These results require the study of internal forces in the yarn at the meso-structural level. Experimental and theoretical studies of the meso-mechanics of cotton yarn can lead to new technologies for producing textile yarns of higher strength.


In this article, we involve three- parameter Mittage -Leffler matrix function for the study of the extended Gamma and Beta matrix functions. Mittage-Leffler matrix function requires for computing the context of Fractional Calculus theory. In this context, we also investigate symmetric relations, integral representations, summation relations, generating relations, and functional relations of these extended matrix functions


When developing control architectures for physical human–robot interaction, it is often necessary to use a model of the human operator. This paper presents a comparative study of both direct and inverse models of the human arm at the elbow joint, relating the force at the hand with the arm angle and vice versa. Specifically, models of integer and fractional (commensurable and non-commensurable) nature are identified from the experiments. Likewise, for comparison purposes, neural networks models are also obtained. Taking into account their parameter variability, it is shown that fractional models are more adequate to describe human arm behaviour; they are simpler, more exact and with less parameter uncertainty.


most importance that this drug, with all of its cardiovascular effects, be used in those diabetic patients with the most serious prognosis," he said in an interview. AHA President Robert H. Eckel, M.D., wasn't prepared to go quite so far as yet. "This is a first observation, and I do think with all first observations that we need validation studies," he told this newspaper. "But I think if glycemic control is not optimal in a patient with type 2 diabetes who is treated with oral agents, the idea of adding a glitazone—specifically, pioglitazone—has merit. The lipid and glucose modifications are favorable, and I myself use glitazones in my practice in such patients," added Dr. Eckel, professor of medicine, physiology, and biophysics at the University of Colorado, Denver. Dr. Erdmann reported on 2,445 PROactive participants with type 2 diabetes and a prior MI who were randomized in a double-blind fashion to 45 mg of pioglitazone once daily or placebo, in addition to optimal background antidiabetic and cardiovascular medications. After 3 years of follow-up, the incidence of fatal or nonfatal recurrent MI was 5.3% in the pioglitazone group and 7.2% with placebo, for a highly significant 28% relative risk reduction. The 2.8% incidence of ACS events in the pioglitazone arm represented an even more robust 37% relative risk reduction. On the basis of these data, treating 1,000 type 2 diabetic patients who had a previous MI with pioglitazone for 3 years would prevent 22 recurrent MIs, Dr. Erdmann added. This was a prespecified subgroup analysis of the larger PROactive study, which involved 5,238 type 2 diabetic patients with macrovascular disease. In the overall study, presented in September at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes and subsequently published (Lancet 2005; 366:1279-89), pioglitazone didn't achieve a significant reduction in the complex and controversial combined primary end point, although there was a significant 16% relative risk reduction in the secondary combined end point of death, nonfatal MI, or stroke. Dr. Erdmann said pioglitazone was well tolerated. Although 92 patients in the pioglitazone arm of the secondary study were hospitalized for heart failure, compared with just 63 control subjects, this appears to be a red herring. Because more than one-third of controls hospitalized for heart failure died during follow-up, compared with less than one-quarter of those on pioglitazone, Dr. Erdmann is convinced the excess hospitalizations in the pioglitazone arm represented misdiagnosis of heart failure in patients who actually had peripheral edema, a known side effect of the drug and one that a skilled clinician can readily differentiate from heart failure through physical examination. Supporting this view was the finding that mortality due to heart failure in the overall pioglitazone arm was 1.8%—virtually identical to the 1.7% rate in the placebo group. Discussant Jorge Plutzky, M.D., agreed with this assessment, noting the glitazones, or thiazolidinediones, aren't known to cause myocardial dysfunction; in fact, animal studies suggest just the opposite— that these drugs improve left ventricular dysfunction in the post-MI setting. As an outsider not involved in PROactive, Dr. Plutzky said he has been surprised by the animated and sometimes heated discussion generated in recent months by the full study's failure to meet its prespecified primary end point. To him, it's obvious the combined primary end point chosen by investigators was flawed and probably unachievable, since it included not only coronary events but lower-leg amputations and leg revascularization procedures. "Peripheral vascular disease and coronary disease are not the same and don't necessarily respond the same to therapy. For example, in the statin trials these same lower limb end points have been quite difficult to prove despite the drugs' efficacy in coronary disease," noted Dr. Plutzky, director of the vascular disease prevention program at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston. The reduction in recurrent MIs seen in the new PROactive analysis was unlikely to be due chiefly to pioglitazone's glucose-lowering effect, which was rather modest: a mere 0.4% lower HbA1c than in controls. As in other studies, pioglitazone improved HDL cholesterol, blood pressure, and triglycerides in PROactive. But whether the reduction in MIs resulted indirectly from these favorable metabolic effects or from pioglitazone's proposed ability as a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)–gamma-activating agent to directly affect inflammatory cells and the arterial wall remains unclear. Either way, PROactive "does support the hypothesis that PPAR-gamma may be a central target in abnormal metabolism that underlies diabetes and cardiovascular complications," Dr. Plutzky said. Dr. Erdmann has received honoraria from Takeda, which together with Eli Lilly funded PROactive. A Takeda official said in an interview that no decision has yet been made as to whether the company will file for a new indication for pioglitazone for the prevention of cardiovascular events in diabetic patients. That will hinge in part on the results of a couple of ongoing clinical studies aimed at demonstrating the specific mechanisms involved in such a benefit. Also, clinical trials of rosiglitazone for cardiovascular protection in high-risk diabetic patients are ongoing. ■ Risk of MI Reduced


This article presents an analysis on the meaning of the year numbering system as the way to mark the passage of nation's history, with focus on the Kong Ziera and the Huang Di era. This article discusses the following issues: the collapse of the Sino-centric world order and a fundamental shift in historical awareness in the late Qing; the ways of the new year numbering system and the wherefores of the Kong Ziera & the Huang Diera's popularity in the late Qing; the revival of the discourse on the Kong Zi era & the Huang Di era in the early 21st century; the differences and the similarities between 20th century & 21st century discourse on the Kong Zi era & the Huang Di era. How the years are counted in China is an important proposition pertaining to its national identity. Reformers and revolutionaries attacked the imperial system of eponymous dating using the reign name and began proposing alternatives in the late Qing. The constitutional reformers advocated the Kong Ziera, while the anti-Manchu revolutionaries advocated the Huang Diera. Today, both Kong Ziand Huang Dienjoy a renaissance with the rise of China in the 21st century. Kong Zi and Huang Di remain the most prominent symbols of the Sino-centric world. The ensuing battle over the Kong Ziera & the Huang Di era as China's own native periodization scheme becomes entangled with many issues concerning the Christian era, cultural identity, nationalism and the national identity. In conclusion, I repeat that the discourse on the year numbering system related to power and hegemony is subject to variation from time to time as the need arises.


It is shown that the following expansion has nonnegative coefficients \[x^p \frac{{P_{(k)}^{(n,p)} (2x^2 - 1)}}{{P_k^{(n,p)} (1)}} = \sum_{x = 0}^{p + 2k} {\alpha _s \frac{{C_s^{(m/2) - 1} (x)}}{C_s^{(m/ 2) - 1} (1)}} \] for $n,m,p = 0,1,2, \cdots $ and $2 \leqq m \leqq n + 2$. The proof involves harmonic analysis on the unitary group.


The effects on agents' welfare of two different policies dealing with undocumented immigrants, amnesties and deportations, are assessed. I develop a two-period overlapping generations model which accounts for the ex-ante production by undocumented workers and their impact on the government budget. Additional channels, such as the discrimination on the labor market and a different productivity of regularized workers are discussed. The impact of a migration policy depends on the wage effects of the legalized/deported workers and their net fiscal contribution. The calibration of the model for the United States in 2014 allows to disentangle the channels at work. Overall, the impact of the two policies on natives' welfare is limited (between −0.1% and +0.15%). Retired agents benefit from an amnesty and are harmed by a deportation. The effect on workers is ambiguous and depends on the wage and fiscal effects in addition to the change in the returns on savings.