The FeMo cofactor (FeMoco) of Mo nitrogenase is responsible for reducing dinitrogen to ammonia, but it requires the addition of 3–4 e–/H+ pairs before N2 even binds. A binding site at the Fe2/Fe3/Fe6/Fe7 face of the cofactor has long been suggested based on mutation studies, with Fe2 or Fe6 nowadays being primarily discussed as possibilities. However, the nature of N2 binding to the cofactor is enigmatic as the metal ions are coordinatively saturated in the resting state with no obvious binding site. Furthermore, the cofactor consists of high-spin Fe(II)/Fe(III) ions (antiferromagnetically coupled but also mixed-valence delocalized), which are not known to bind N2. This suggests that an Fe binding site with a different molecular and electronic structure than the resting state must be responsible for the experimentally known N2 binding in the E4 state of FeMoco. We have systematically studied N2 binding to Fe2 and Fe6 sites of FeMoco at the broken-symmetry QM/MM level as a function of the redox-, spin-, and protonation state of the cofactor. The local and global electronic structure changes to the cofactor taking place during redox events, protonation, Fe–S cleavage, hydride formation, and N2 coordination are systematically analyzed. Localized orbital and quasi-restricted orbital analysis via diamagnetic substitution is used to get insights into the local single Fe ion electronic structure in various states of FeMoco. A few factors emerge as essential to N2 binding in the calculations: spin-pairing of dxz and dyz orbitals of the N2-binding Fe ion, a coordination change at the N2-binding Fe ion aided by a hemilabile protonated sulfur, and finally hydride ligation. The results show that N2 binding to E0, E1, and E2 models is generally unfavorable, likely due to the high-energy cost of stabilizing the necessary spin-paired electronic structure of the N2-binding Fe ion in a ligand environment that clearly favors high-spin states. The results for models of E4, however, suggest a feasible model for why N2 binding occurs experimentally in the E4 state. E4 models with two bridging hydrides between Fe2 and Fe6 show much more favorable N2 binding than other models. When two hydrides coordinate to the same Fe ion, an increased ligand-field splitting due to octahedral coordination at either Fe2 or Fe6 is found. This altered ligand field makes it easier for the Fe ion to acquire a spin-paired electronic structure with doubly occupied dxz and dyz orbitals that backbond to a terminal N2 ligand. Within this model for N2 binding, both Fe2 and Fe6 emerge as possible binding site scenarios. Due to steric effects involving the His195 residue, affecting both the N2 ligand and the terminal SH– group, distinguishing between Fe2 and Fe6 is difficult; furthermore, the binding depends on the protonation state of His195.


The single-belt process is a new route to produce steel strips, in which the single-belt caster is directly connected with hot mills. This process should be able to roll strip with thickness 1 mm or below. In hot rolling of the ultra thin strip there are many limitations which are represented by the finishing rolling temperature of the strip, the oxidation of the strip, the overheat of the roll and the maximum rolling speed. In the present paper the possibility of hot rolling ultra thin strip in the single-belt process was investigated. On the basis of mechanical/thermal/metallurgical behavior of the strip a mathematical model of draft schedule was proposed. In terms of different criteria the draft schedule was optimized. The results show that austenitic hot rolling of ultra thin strip in the single-belt process can be carried out like the conventional hot rolling for low carbon steels. With consideration of roll life the maximal roll surface temperature has a large influence on the establishment of the draft schedule for hot rolling of ultra thin strips.


Abstract : Binary diffusion in confined vortices (of the type considered for hydrodynamic containment in a gas-core nuclear rocket) is investigated theoretically and experimentally. An approximate integral solution is presented for the species distribution resulting from the actions of convection, and concentration and pressure diffusion. The flow model includes secondary flows induced by boundary-layer interaction on the end walls of the vortex chamber. The qualitative effect of varying the degree of boundary-layer interaction is demonstrated by a flow-visualization experiment using dye in a water vortex. Quantitative data are obtained from an experiment in which iodine vapor and heated helium are premixed and injected tangentially into a vortex chamber, forming a lowdensity, high-velocity flow field. The resulting radial distribution of iodine concentration is determined optically. Peak density ratios of iodine to helium within the vortex are found to be as much as three times the density ratio of the mixture flowing into the chamber. The experimental data agree favorably with the theoretical predictions and demonstrate that a gas of high molecular weight can be substantially retained in a vortex comprised of a gas of low molecular weight. (Author)


Over-expression of BCL-2 in follicular lymphoma is commonly caused by a t(14;18) chromosomal translocation. Follicular lymphomas that do not carry the t(14;18) translocation but are positive for BCL-2 protein may have other cytogenetic abnormalities, including BCL-2 amplification, reciprocal translocations involving the IGK/IGL loci1 and trisomy 18.2,3

Transformation of follicular lymphoma to diffuse large B cell lymphoma is generally associated with a poorer prognosis.4,5 However, there have been no extensive studies in the literature of the BCL-2 gene and protein status in transformed diffuse large B cell lymphoma arising from BCL-2-positive follicular lymphoma.

We describe a case of follicular lymphoma carrying trisomy 18 (without evidence of translocations involving the BCL-2 locus), associated with strong BCL-2 protein expression. However, the same biopsy sample contained an area of diffuse large B cell lymphoma in which BCL-2 protein was absent despite retaining the same genetic abnormality. As far as we know, there have been no other reports of BCL-2 protein that is expressed in follicular lymphoma but that ceases to be detectable after transformation.

A female patient presented with a localised enlargement of a submental lymph node. No significant abnormalities were detected in her blood count and in the staging investigations.

Excision biopsy revealed an enlarged and effaced lymph node. Three distinct areas, lying adjacent to each other (fig 1A,B), could be identified from their morphology and phenotype. One area comprised a classical follicular lymphoma, where the neoplastic follicles contained an admixture of centrocytes with smaller numbers of centroblasts, consistent with a grade 2 follicular lymphoma. The second area showed larger follicles that were less clearly demarcated, although their cellular composition resembled that seen in the first area. A third smaller area of the tumour consisted of diffuse …


During the Taiping Rebellion, eastern Zhejiang was a key battlefield. Drawing upon fresh data from literati writings, government records, and local gazetteers, this paper explores how different types of local elites in the Ningbo-Shaoxing region acted and how their practices interacted with and gradually changed the local political structure. This paper argues that the Taiping Rebellion was not simply a conflict between rebels on one side, and local elites plus the Qing government on the other. Eastern Zhejiang's Taiping Rebellion was chiefly a civil war between two types of local elites. The suppression of the rebellion cannot be interpreted solely as the Tongzhi restoration policies of the central government; in fact, victory in eastern Zhejiang resulted from the new activism of the Ningbo elites, who applied various resources to ensure the Qing triumph. Finally, patterns of local dominance changed: an independent and separate sphere of local activism emerged, and economic capital became increasingly important compared to cultural capital as a source of power. All of these factors corroded the foundation of the "Confucian" way of dominance and gave rise to the independent authority of the local elite, which set in motion the political transformation that was to come.


During activation of the spliceosome, the U4/U6 snRNA duplex is dissociated, releasing U6 for subsequent base pairing with U2 snRNA. Proteins that directly bind the U4/U6 interaction domain potentially could mediate these structural changes. We thus investigated binding of the human U4/U6‐specific proteins, 15.5K, 61K and the 20/60/90K protein complex, to U4/U6 snRNA in vitro. We demonstrate that protein 15.5K is a nucleation factor for U4/U6 snRNP assembly, mediating the interaction of 61K and 20/60/90K with U4/U6 snRNA. A similar hierarchical assembly pathway is observed for the U4atac/U6atac snRNP. In addition, we show that protein 61K directly contacts the 5′ portion of U4 snRNA via a novel RNA‐binding domain. Furthermore, the 20/60/90K heteromer requires stem II but not stem I of the U4/U6 duplex for binding, and this interaction involves a direct contact between protein 90K and U6. This uneven clustering of the U4/U6 snRNP‐specific proteins on U4/U6 snRNA is consistent with a sequential dissociation of the U4/U6 duplex prior to spliceosome catalysis.


A new modern resource management method based on economic model is proposed. Giving mathematic description about economic model; analysis different resource scheduling methods based on deadline and budget constrained which present by Buyya, point out shortcoming of Buyya's schedule method. Considerate integrate factor of time and budget, by import a weight coefficient named a , puts forward a new resource schedule method named STPP based on economic models of Buyya. Contrast to old schedule strategy of Buyya through analysis and experiments, STPP policy is more flexible, and is easy to import other new QoS parameters.


Until recently, obesity was one of the greatest public health issues. At the moment, the world is counting deaths from COVID-19, and raging obesity pandemic is not in the focus. While the quarantine is the mainstay of COVID-19 prevention, it also opposes obesity prevention. Obesity is a risk factor for severe COVID-19 infection. Treatment of obesity during quarantine is challenging;trying to lose weight without the opportunity for outdoor activity or access to fresh and healthy foods may lead to frustration, depression and overeating. Therefore, we propose that patients should focus on preventing new weight gain instead of losing weight. It can be achieved by practicing indoor physical exercise together with adequate diet. The diet should be opposite from, "Western diet pattern'' and include foods easily obtainable during quarantine;with longer shelf life, but also rich in anti-inflammatory and immune-modulatory bioactive compounds. These characteristics of the diet make it simple to implement during quarantine, it helps in the process maintaing weight and supports immune system-all what is required to possibly reduce the risk of severe COVID-19 infection. The anti-inflammatory properties from given diet have beneficial role, especially in obese patients, as they have low grade chronic inflammation which additionally may worsen clinical course of COVID-19 infection.


Physical activity recognition using wearable sensors has achieved good performance in discriminating heterogeneous activities for health monitoring, but there has been less investigation of sedentary activities, e.g., desk work, which is often physically homogenous, to improve health in office environments. In this study, we explored head movement as a new sensing modality for physical and mental activity analysis. A new algorithm which segments gyroscope signals into atomic head movement events is proposed. Instead of recognizing activities in terms of predefined categories, we recognized four dimensions of task load: cognitive, perceptual, communicative, and physical, analogous to current manual workload assessment methods like NASA-TLX. We collected head movement data from 24 participants who wore a tri-axial inertial sensor at head while performing multiple tasks with varying load levels at office. An average of 70% accuracy was achieved for recognizing cognitive load levels, and more than 80% for the other three load types. The proposed event features outperformed a set of 181 features from previous physical activity recognition studies. We also demonstrated that these atomic event features are diagnostic of different load types in cross-load type classification, showing the promise of physical and mental load monitoring for health.


We investigate the optimal power allocation and optimal precoding for a cluster of two BSs which cooperate to jointly maximize the achievable rate for two users connecting to each BS in a MCP framework. This framework is modeled by a virtual network MIMO channel due to the framework of full cooperation. In particular, due to sharing the CSI and data between the two BSs over the backhaul link. We provide a generalized fixed point equation of the optimal precoder in the asymptotic regimes of the low- and high-snr. We introduce a new iterative approach that leads to a closed-form expression for the optimal precoding matrix in the high-snr regime which is known to be an NP-hard problem. Two MCP distributed algorithms have been introduced, a power allocation algorithm for the UL, and a precoding algorithm for the DL.


This text brings results of a research about the Internet as a virtual learning environment. The studied sample was a group of 80 students from a teacher extension course. We analyzed speeches from the forums, discussion lists and e-mails, in the light of categories from Jean Piaget's studies. Adapted information prevailed - showing interaction among speakers, informing and mutually influencing behavior, collaborating and discussing ideas. These are indispensable attributes for the constitution of "virtual learning communities", as well as the development of competences such as the capacity to think through categories, use new linguistic resources, regulate one's own behavior and learning, potentiate certain cognitive areas, and create new forms of social, emotional and cultural conviviality.


ABSTRACT The Ebola virus (EBOV) VP35 protein antagonizes the early antiviral alpha/beta interferon (IFN-α/β) response. We previously demonstrated that VP35 inhibits the virus-induced activation of the IFN-β promoter by blocking the phosphorylation of IFN-regulatory factor 3 (IRF-3), a transcription factor that is crucial for the induction of IFN-α/β expression. Furthermore, VP35 blocks IFN-β promoter activation induced by any of several components of the retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I)/melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA-5)-activated signaling pathways including RIG-I, IFN-β promoter stimulator 1 (IPS-1), TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK-1), and IκB kinase epsilon (IKKε). These results suggested that VP35 may target the IRF kinases TBK-1 and ΙΚΚε. Coimmunoprecipitation experiments now demonstrate physical interactions of VP35 with ΙΚΚε and TBK-1, and the use of an ΙΚΚε deletion construct further demonstrates that the amino-terminal kinase domain of ΙΚΚε is sufficient for interactions with either IRF-3 or VP35. In vitro, either ΙΚΚε or TBK-1 phosphorylates not only IRF-3 but also VP35. Moreover, VP35 overexpression impairs ΙΚΚε-IRF-3, ΙΚΚε-IRF-7, and ΙΚΚε-IPS-1 interactions. Finally, lysates from cells overexpressing IKKε contain kinase activity that can phosphorylate IRF-3 in vitro. When VP35 is expressed in the IKKε-expressing cells, this kinase activity is suppressed. These data suggest that VP35 exerts its IFN-antagonist function, at least in part, by blocking necessary interactions between the kinases ΙΚΚε and TBK-1 and their normal interaction partners, including their substrates, IRF-3 and IRF-7.


While the increased prevalence of venous thromboembolic events (VTE) is fully recognized in lung cancer, its pathogenesis is not fully understood. Profiling of surrogate markers of thrombosis and inflammation provides an opportunity to understand the pathogenesis of VTE. More recently, ProteinChip Array technology has provided a novel approach to profile unique biomarkers in cancer patients. Protease activation in these patients results in the generation of unique biomarkers, which can be identified and monitored during the course of patient management. In a prospective, randomized, controlled study patients with inoperable lung cancer (n=100) were randomized to receive A) chemotherapy, radiation and warfarin (INR 1.5–2.5) or B) chemotherapy, radiation without warfarin (n=50). Blood samples were drawn prior to and after the second treatment cycle in both groups A and B. All samples were also analyzed for such inflammation markers as the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFa), CD 40 ligand (CD 40L), C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin 1 beta (IL-1B), asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and nitric oxide (NO). In addition, prothrombin fragment F1.2 (F1.2), thrombin antithrombin complex (TAT) and functional microparticles were also measured. Proteomic profiling is widely used to identify unique biomarkers in various hemotologic disorders. Albumin was used as control proteins throughout the study. The baseline blood levels of the inflammatory markers and coagulation activation marker were increased in both the warfarin treated and control group. After the second treatment cycle, the warfarin treated group exhibited varying levels of decrease in all of the surrogate markers of coagulation activation and inflammation (13 – 15%). On the other hand, none of the warfarin treated group showed a marked increase in the TNFα, CD40L, NO, F1.2 and TAT (18–30%). No change in the IL-1B was noted in this group. However, CRP levels were markedly reduced (46%). Most of the baseline samples in both groups showed a unique biomarker peak at 11.9 kDa. The prevalence of this unique biomarker peak was decreased after the second cycle of chemotherapy and after the final course of chemotherapy, it was totally diminished. No significant differences in the down regulation of this unique biomarker were obvious in both groups. Since inflammatory markers showed a decrease (13–50%) in the warfarin treated group, whereas the non-warfarin treated group exhibited an increase (18–30%) in all markers except IL-1B, CRP and ADMA, anticoagulation down regulates these mediators. Markers of thrombin generation were also down regulated in the warfarin treated group. The identification of the unique biomarker at 11.9 kDa in both groups and its gradual down regulation eventually leading to diminution in both groups, suggests that chemotherapy and radiation treatment appear to regulate this biomarker. The levels of various inflammatory markers are upregulated in lung cancer suggesting a pathogenic role of this process in lung cancer. Warfarin down regulated the inflammatory process in contrast to the non-warfarin treated group. However, the unique biomarker at 11.9 kDa appears to be regulated by chemotherapy and radiation. The clinical relevance of these observations requires additional investigations.


Cyclic strata of the Holder Formation (Virgilian, New Mexico) were deposited across a Pennsylvanian shelf-to-basin transition during a time when sea level fluctuated over tens of meters. Cement-stratigraphy studies indicate abundant calcite precipitation from low-temperature fresh water within shelf, shelf-crest, and shelf-edge marine limestones. Freshwater cementation occurred during 15 periods of intraformational subaerial exposure. These early cements are least abundant in basin and lagoon limestones. The distribution of the early cement zones suggests that cementation was controlled by paleotopography, stratigraphic position below subaerial exposure surfaces, lithology, and configuration of the paleoaquifer system. Distribution of early calcite cements provides new data for interpretation of cycles, diagenetic systems, and porosity evolution in petroleum reservoirs. Trace-element analyses support a low-temperature, freshwater origin for the early cements. Cement-stratigraphy studies, fluid-inclusion analyses, and trace-element analyses indicate a later cement that occluded remaining limestone porosity precipitated from a sodium- and calcium-rich brine at a temperature of about 100°C. Stratigraphic reconstruction dates this cementation as Cretaceous or later. Fluorescent, oil-filled fluid inclusions were trapped along fractures in the late cement, indicating oil migration during or after late-stage cementation.


Both experimental and clinical studies showed that muscle flap transposition is a reliable method for treating chronic infections of the bone. Advantages of muscle flaps are: treatment of infection with well perfused autogenous tissue obviating the use of implants, cure of infection usually within four weeks and consequently, short immobilisation time. Disadvantages of muscle flaps are loss of muscle function with possible donor-site morbidity. The first dorsal interosseous muscle and the abductor digiti minimi muscle have been used successfully for the treatment of osteomyelitis of the metacarpals. The second and third dorsal interosseous muscle are presented for the first time. After discussing anatomy, especially vascularisation of these muscles, the operative technique is shown and a case of osteomyelitis of the third metacarpal treated by this new transposition is reported.


The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of materiality in tangible interaction design for children. We specifically target children aged 4 to 6 years old because of societal trend of early exposure to touch screen devices for children. This study compares three types of material (felt, wood, and plastic) for tangibles along with touch-based interaction and how the differences implicate child art creation on an iPad application. Through mixed-methods analysis of twenty-six participants' experiences, we use data sources of video recordings, drawings, and interview. The main finding looked at the hardness of materiality for physical and digital drawing tools and its influence to digital art drawings. The findings from this study may be applied to design tangible user interfaces for young children.


This paper presents findings of a study which aimed at defining effective teaching in the Omani context as it is perceived by teachers (TE), students (ST), and school administrators and supervisors (AS) in government schools in Oman. Three main questions were addressed in this study: How is teaching effectiveness defined in Oman? Do teachers, students and school administrators define it differently? To what extent does the Omani definition differ from that of the other countries? To answer these questions, data were collected using a questionnaire developed by generating a list of effective teacher characteristics from the literature. The items of the questionnaire were piloted. The final version of the instrument comprised 85 items divided into six domains: personality traits, professional characteristics, teaching strategies, implementation skills, academic characteristics, and community relationships. Total reliability coefficient of Cronbach-Alpha, was found to be (0.982) for students and (0.978) for teachers, principals, and supervisors. The sample of the study consisted of a total of 3487 respondents. The overall results indicated that personality traits had the highest mean compared to other domains (3.66) for (AS), (4.06) for (TE), and (3.76) for (ST), while the community relationships domain had the lowest mean for all respondents. ANOVA was used to test if there were significant differences between the groups. Findings revealed significant differences in all domains in favor of (TE) compared to (AS) and (ST). In general the Omani data reveals significant agreements with International findings as they relate to priorities given to characteristics such as teacher personality traits (Rushton et al., 2007), classroom atmosphere (Glanz and Neville,1997) and link between content and real life of students (Kottler and Kottler,2000) among others.


The increasing world population and the development of technology have boosted the demand for electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). Equipment that has completed its life cycle causes serious damage to the environment due to its toxic components. In addition, it contains many more base metals (copper, aluminum, nickel, lead, tin, etc.) and precious metals (silver, gold, palladium, platinum, etc.) compared with a run of mine ore. Recycling these values with an economic and environmental understanding will ensure sustainability and prevent the rapid depletion of natural resources. Specific gravity, magnetic, electrostatic, optical, surface, thermal, and other property differences between particles as well as the shape, size, and distribution of individual particles directly determine the success of the recycling process. By determining the behavior of the particles during enrichment and producing grains suitable for enrichment with better performance in the size reduction stage, the quality of the concentrate to be subjected to the final chemical/metallurgical treatment will be enhanced. The main aim of this study is to reveal the effect of particle size and shape properties on the recovery of valuable metals from two different waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) sources, end-of-life printed circuit boards and waste electric wires, using environmentally friendly, easier-to-use, and cost-effective mechanical, physical, and physiochemical processes. Deciding on the most suitable enrichment process after detailed characterization of the products obtained from different comminution equipment and their particle size and shape directly affected the amount, content, and recovery of the final concentrate.


Until now, proposals for IP accounting management have not exploited the power of programmable networks. Thus, real-time charging and pricing schemes are still regarded as impractical, because the accounting management tasks are executed only at the edges. We introduce the notion of programmable accounting management which is more flexible, efficient and scalable. Specifically, we propose real-time charging and pricing mechanisms using programmable networks. Moreover, we propose a novel programmable accounting architecture for QoS-enabled virtual private networks (VPNs). This architecture gives the flexibility to the providers to employ real-time accounting, and offers an open accounting interface inside the network nodes. This entails that also the VPN subscribers can execute accounting tasks inside the network nodes. For example, they can keep their providers under surveillance, or they can apply their own accounting policies for their users.


Cervical radicular pain is defined as pain perceived as arising in the arm caused by irritation of a cervical spinal nerve or its roots. Approximately 1 person in 1,000 suffers from cervical radicular pain. In the absence of a gold standard, the diagnosis is based on a combination of history, clinical examination, and (potentially) complementary examination. Medical imaging may show abnormalities, but those findings may not correlate with the patient's pain. Electrophysiologic testing may be requested when nerve damage is suspected but will not provide quantitative/qualitative information about the pain. The presumed causative level may be confirmed by means of selective diagnostic blocks. Conservative treatment typically consists of medication and physical therapy. There are no studies assessing the effectiveness of different types of medication specifically in patients suffering cervical radicular pain. Cochrane reviews did not find sufficient proof of efficacy for either education or cervical traction. When conservative treatment fails, interventional treatment may be considered. For subacute cervical radicular pain, the available evidence on efficacy and safety supports a recommendation (2B+) of interlaminar cervical epidural corticosteroid administration. A recent negative randomized controlled trial of transforaminal cervical epidural corticosteroid administration, coupled with an increasing number of reports of serious adverse events, warrants a negative recommendation (2B−). Pulsed radiofrequency treatment adjacent to the cervical dorsal root ganglion is a recommended treatment for chronic cervical radicular pain (1B+). When its effect is insufficient or of short duration, conventional radiofrequency treatment is recommended (2B+). In selected patients with cervical radicular pain, refractory to other treatment options, spinal cord stimulation may be considered. This treatment should be performed in specialized centers, preferentially study related.


Respiratory activity can be substantially affected by perturbations confined to the superficial areas of the ventrolateral surface of the medulla, the putative site of central chemoreceptors. In this study we compared the effect of thermal and pharmacological interventions that are known to alter respiration on the electrical activity of the rib cage muscles, diaphragm, and abdominal muscles. With cooling of the intermediate areas to 20 degrees C, tidal volume decreased 50%. The electrical activity of the diaphragm decreased less than the other muscles (diaphragm less than inspiratory intercostal less than expiratory intercostal). Abdominal muscle activity was depressed as much as expiratory intercostal activity but reappeared with further cooling to 10 degrees C if cooling was prolonged and the vagi were intact. gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) and its agonist muscimol, like cooling, reduced expiratory and inspiratory intercostal activity more than diaphragm activity. Nicotine, a respiratory stimulant, applied to the intermediate areas increased inspiratory intercostal activity more than the diaphragm. The results suggest that under the conditions of the experiments the rib cage musculature, and probably the abdominal muscles as well, are more responsive than the diaphragm to depression or excitation of chemosensitive elements in the superficial regions of the medulla.


Background Prophylaxis is strongly recommended in patients with hematological malignancy who are usually at higher risk for infection and neutropenic fever. It is still unclear whether or not there is a definite need for antimicrobial prophylaxis in intermediate-risk hematology patients such as those with lymphoma. Methods A retrospective analysis was made of patients admitted from January 2009 to December 2017 to the Hematology Department of Diskapi Yildirim Beyazit Training and Research Hospital, a tertiary referral hospital in Ankara, Turkey. The study included patients who were diagnosed with any type of lymphoma and given chemotherapy. Routine antimicrobial prophylaxis was administered to 127 lymphoma patients, and not to 65 lymphoma patients. These two groups were compared in respect of the incidence of total infection episodes (IE), febrile neutropenia episodes, and nonneutropenic clinically documented infection episodes. Results For all patients with lymphoma and subtypes of non-Hodgkin lymphoma or Hodgkin lymphoma, no significant difference was determined between the groups in respect of the total incidence of IE, febrile neutropenia and nonneutropenic clinically documented infection both during the first-line chemotherapy and throughout the total follow-up period (p > 0.05). Patients with prophylaxis had a higher incidence of IE, which was treated with parenteral antibiotics both during the first-line chemotherapy and throughout the total follow-up period (p < 0.05). Conclusion Antimicrobial prophylaxis was seen to have no effect on the total incidence of infection episode and febrile neutropenia. Therefore, the routine use of antimicrobial prophylaxis should not be recommended for patients with lymphoma.


In the chickens with an experimental load of cadmium chloride (CdCl2 x 2.5 H2O) at a rate of 0.3 mg per bird and day the effect was investigated of various forms of sodium humate administration in free and/or liposomal form as exerted on cadmium concentrations in liver, kidneys and muscle. The values of the field below the curve (AUC) showing average cadmium concentrations in the investigated tissues of chickens (liver, kidneys, muscle) in the given time interval of 1-14 days were higher in all cases in the tissues of chickens which received cadmium, that means in the groups K2, P1, P2, P3 and P4 in comparison with the negative control (K1). Statistical significance of differences was demonstrated in liver and kidneys. No statistically significant changes were observed in the muscle. Simultaneous administration of cadmium and HuNa (P1), and also other methods of HuNa administration (P2, P3, P4) reduced cadmium concentrations in liver, kidneys and muscle statistically significantly only in P1 group in liver and kidneys. Cadmium concentrations on days 1, 3, 8 and 14 after termination of experimental treatments were lowest in the liver of the 1st control group (negative control), which received HuNa only (Tab. I). Five-day administration of 0.3 mg cadmium (positive control) influenced its values statistically highly significantly in the liver of all experimental groups in all the investigated time intervals (Tab. I). The first experimental group, which received cadmium simultaneously with HuNa had the statistically significantly lower values on days 3, 8 and 14 in comparison with the positive control. Simultaneous administration of cadmium and HuNa reduces cadmium availability and so its absorption and deposition in liver are lower. Cadmium concentrations on days 1, 3, 8 and 14 after termination of experimental treatments were lowest in the kidneys of chickens of the 1st control group (negative control), which received HuNa only (Tab. II). Five-day cadmium administration (positive control) influenced its values in the kidneys of all experimental groups highly statistically significantly in all the investigated time intervals (Tab. II). The first experimental group which received cadmium simultaneously with HuNa had the statistically significantly lower values on days 3, 8 and 14 in comparison with the positive control. Simultaneous administration of cadmium and HuNa reduced cadmium availability and so its absorption and deposition in liver are lower. Cadmium concentrations in the muscle on days 1, 3, 8 and 14 after termination of experimental treatments were lowest in the 1st control group (negative control), which received HuNa only (Tab. III).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


Root canal treatment in teeth with incomplete root formation is a challenge. A case of maturogenesis in an immature infected tooth along with probable factors needed for success is discussed. Although clinical and radiographic evidence points to healing and root development, the long-term prognosis and the behavior of tissue occupying the canal space needs further investigation before the procedure can be adopted into routine clinical practice.


ABSTRACT Climatic factors such as rainfall and temperature play a vital role in the growth characteristics of vegetation. While the relationship between climate and vegetation growth can be accurately predicted in instances where vegetation is homogenous, this becomes complex to determine in heterogeneous vegetation environments. The aim of this paper was to study the relationship between remotely-sensed monthly vegetation indices (i.e. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and Enhanced Vegetation Index) and climatic variables (temperature and precipitation) using time-series analysis at the biome-level. Specifically, the autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL1 and ARDL2, corresponding respectively to one month and two month lags) and the Koyck-transformed distributed lag model were used to build regression models. All three models estimated NDVI and EVI fairly accurately in all biomes (Relative Root-Mean-Squared-Error (RMSE): 12.0–26.4%). Biomes characterized by relative homogeneity (Grassland, Savanna, Indian Ocean Coastal Belt and Forest Biomes) achieved the most accurate estimates due to the dominance of a few species. Comparisons of lag size (one month compared to two months) generally showed similarities (Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) and log-likelihood) with quite high comparability in certain biomes – this indicates the utility of the ARDL1 and ARDL2 model, depending on the availability of appropriate data. These findings demonstrate the variation in estimation linked to the biome, and thus the validity of biome-level correlation of climatic data and vegetation indices.


This book illuminates the complexity of the changes in commercial shipping in Renaissance Venice. The study of the actors and of their practices reveals the mechanisms, motivations and consequences of the abandonment of the medieval system of the convoys of public galleys.


While there are many studies that have reported methods for tracing the geographical origin of seafoods, most of them have focused on identifying parameters that can be used effectively and not the direct application of these methods. In this study, we attempted to differentiate the geographical origins of the Manila clam R. philippinarum collected from different sites in Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and China using a combination of analyses based on dual-element isotopes, fatty acids (FAs), and compound-specific isotopic analysis of FAs. We hypothesized that a stepwise application of new parameters to unclassified samples could achieve this objective by integrating new information while reducing time and labor. The FA profiles and compound-specific carbon isotopic values of FAs were found to enhance the discrimination power of determining the geographic origin up to 100%. Our findings demonstrate the advantageousness of using several parameters simultaneously over the conventional method of employing individual analytical methods when identifying geographic origins of the Manila clam, which could have implications for tracing the origins of different shellfish species or other food products as well.


Bronchopulmonary sequestration is a rare lesion making up less than 10% of all congenital pulmonary malformations. The two classic types, extralobar and intralobar, can be distinguished by whether or not the sequestered pulmonary tissue is enclosed by a separate visceral pleural lining. A case of intralobar bronchopulmonary sequestration is presented. At present, aortography is necessary to establish the diagnosis, but other imaging modalities including computed tomography, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging offer the potential for additional useful information.


Human post-natal bone marrow contains mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which are capable of giving rise to multiple mesenchymal cell lineages. Large quantities of human MSCs can be readily obtained following a simple bone marrow aspiration procedure and subsequent expansion over a million-fold in culture. This extensive capacity for clinical scale expansion in vitro has facilitated the development of preclinical models as well as clinical studies designed to assess the safety, feasibility, and efficacy of transplanting allogeneic MSCs for a variety of indications. This review focuses on the rationale for performing clinical studies of MSC transplantation and will discuss the potential role that MSCs may have in the field of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation as well as for the repair or regeneration of bone, cartilage, and cardiac tissues.


Diverticulosis of the colon is a very frequent pathology in the western word and is characterised by a high percentage of dangerous complications (10-25%). The most accurate method of staging diverticular disease is by CT scan. The aim of our study was to evaluate the sensitivity of ultrasonography in the evaluation and management of diverticular disease of the colon. We studied 51 patients: the parameters used to assess complicated diverticulosis of the colon were: 1) wall thickness; 2) presence of fluid collections and pericolic abscesses; 3) free liquid collections in the peritoneal cavity; 4) subdiaphragmatic free air; 5) presence of fistula tracts. Ultrasonography showed 66% sensitivity in the assessment of wall thickness and in detecting the presence of diverticula. The sensitivity rate was 100% in the detection of abscess complications, pericolic collections, free air and fistula tracts. False-negatives (5 patients) were all recorded in Hinchey stage I. The overall sensitivity amounted to 91%. In our experience the method is a first level examination in the approach to patients suffering from diverticular disease of the colon and presents high sensitivity and diagnostic accuracy. The method, in expert hands, is suggested as a first step in the clinical-diagnostic approach to patients suffering from acute abdomen due to diverticulitis of the colon.


Newcastle disease (ND) strain I-2 vaccine flakes were formulated by using an amorphous trehalose sugar as a stabilizer and evaluated for long term storage and delivery to chickens. The results showed that the I-2 virus stored in trehalose flakes maintained its infectivity titre at 108.6 EID 50/0.1 mL for 4 weeks at ambient room temperature. The vaccine flakes were stable after storage for 16 weeks while maintaining the infectivity titre of 107.5 EID 50/0.1 mL. The results further indicated that the infectivity titres for ND virus recovered from flakes and liquid vaccine were similar. The findings from the present study showed the vaccine flakes are easily transported and readily released into a fluid phase when mixed with water; they can be administered orally without mixing with feeds and hence suitable for individual or mass vaccination of semi-feral scavenging village chickens. Chickens vaccinated orally with the flakes developed antiviral antibodies and resisted challenge with virulent strain of ND virus. The formulation of trehalose vaccine flakes could be a useful way to store and deliver ND vaccines to village chicken flocks in rural areas, particularly in developing countries if it is optimised.


ROAD HOG, a practical, easy-to-use system for selecting flexible pavement overlay thicknesses, was developed for the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department. ROADHOG is an NDT-based structural design procedure that follows the 1986 AASHTO Guide structural deficiency approach to overlay design with structural capacities expressed as structural numbers (SNs). Major departures from the 1986 AASHTO Guide are the methodologies for determining the effective structural number of the existing pavement (SNett) and for estimating the in situ subgrade resilient modulus (M,). SNeff is determined by a relationship between two falling weight deflectometer (FWD) surface deflections: the deflection at the center of loading and the deflection at a distance fr:om loading equal to the pavement thickness. M, is estimated using a regression algorithm developed from the ILLI-PA VE finite element structural pavement model. ROADHOG is contained in a user friendly, stand-alone (executable) computer program that directly uses the FWD field data files. In addition to determining overlay thicknesses, the program can subdivide a project into statistically similar analysis units on the basis of the overlay thickness required at each NDT test site.


In this well-conceived and well-written volume edited by Manuel Castells and Bernard Lategan with contributions from ten other authors, the seasoned scholars argue that paradoxes resulting from the interface between globalization and identity persist as strong forces continually reshaping the world, primarily on the African continent. National Identity and State Formation in Africa is the product of a three-year research effort of the Institute for Advanced Studies (STIAS) under the distinguished leadership of Castells and Lategan. According to the editors, as the overwhelming factors of economy, technology, and geopolitics act on "the specificity of every human community, tomerge them in a global culture that ultimately rationalizes the domination of certain values, multinational economic actors, and political institutions in an interconnecting network of locals and global hierarchies" (1), the time-honored cultural identities that people depend on to make life meaningful are equally pertinent. Caught in the throes of those global dynamics and largely deprived of their abilities to exercise control, communities across the continent "retreat into their own values, asserting their identity and using whatever means available to them to claim their autonomy" (1). These reactions enable people tomake their lives worthwhile within the prevailing complex global and local interconnections. Identity as a paradigm is rife with conflicts (religious, national, territorial, racial, ethnic, age, gender, sexuality, and ideological, among others), yet according to nearly all the authors who discuss this theme, "failure to recognize the essential role of identity in restructuring social life creates a key epistemological obstacle to understanding our world" (1). In these highly intellectual discussions, national identities—the interrelated cultural attributes that provide larger groups of people whose experiences cut across time and space with meaning and self-recognition—remain quite topical in this book. The core foundations of states, with all their trappings of power, are based on pre-existing people groups. Consequently, the idea of the nationstate produces the citizenship identity, and between the nation and state


There are experiments suggesting that the reliability of future predictions for events is better for real than for hypothetical events. This strange finding, if real, would be an anomaly analogous to Libet's findings about active aspects of consciousness challenging the notion of free will. In this article it is argued that it is difficult to explain the finding in the physicalistic framework, and that the allowance of free will seems only to worsen the situation since precognition of acts of free will does not make sense. In the framework of Topological Geometrodynamics (TGD) zero energy ontology (ZEO) replaces the standard ontology of quantum theory. ZEO predicts that in "big" (ordinary) state function reductions (BSFRs) the arrow of time changes and that the identification of acts of free will identified as BSFRS is not in conflict with the determinism of classical physics as an exact part of quantum TGD. Also Libet's findings can be understood. This suggests a model for the anomaly. The experiment would have already happened as BSFR ("already" is with respect to subjective time to be distinguished from geometric time) for a quantum system associated with the experimenters and participants. The knowledge that the event is actual inspires unconsciously the attempt to "remember" the personal performance in the experiment instead of only imagining it and this would explain the improved future predictions.


Food security, along with growing population and the associated environmental concerns, make food waste and loss a central topic in economic analysis. While food losses occur mostly at the production, postharvest and processing phases of the supply chain, food waste takes place mainly at the end of the chain and therefore concerns primarily the habits and behaviour patterns of retailers and consumers. Many solutions and practices have been proposed and oftentimes implemented in order to "keep food out of landfills", thus reducing food waste at the source. However, little attention has been paid to the possible sharing of consumer-side food surplus. In this context, food sharing could represent an effective way to tackle food waste at the consumers' level, with both environmental and economic potential positive effects. Currently, several initiatives and start-ups are being developed in the US and Europe, involving the collection and use of the excess of food from consumers and retailers and the promotion of collaborative consumption models (e.g. Foodsharing, Growington, Feastly, etc.). Nevertheless, there is still little empirical evidence testing the effectiveness of introducing sharing economy approaches to reduce food waste. This study seeks to fill this gap through a framed field experiment. We run two experimental treatments; in the control treatment students were asked to behave according to their regular food consumption habits, and in the food sharing treatment the same students were instructed to purchase food, cook and consume it collectively. Preliminary results showed that the adoption by households of food sharing practices do not automatically translate into food waste reduction. A number of factors (environmental and economic awareness, domestic skills and collaborative behaviors) might act as 'enablers' to make sharing practices effective.


A novel ultrasonic vibration assisted (UVA) wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) was used  to  fabricate Cu‐8Al‐2Ni‐2Fe‐2Mn  alloy  in  this  study. The  effect  of different  interpass temperatures  with  and  without  ultrasonic  vibration  on  the  microstructural  evolution  and mechanical  properties  of  the  fabricated  part  were  investigated  by  optical  microscope  (OM), scanning  electron microscope  (SEM),  transmission  electron microscope  (TEM), nanoindentation, and mechanical  tensile  testing. The  results  showed  that  reduction  of  the  interpass  temperature without UVA  treatment cannot prevent  the columnar dendrites directionally growing along  the deposition direction. Under the UVA treatment, the coarse columnar dendrites were broken at the interpass temperature of 400 °C, and formed a fine cellular structure with an interpass temperature of 100 °C, owing to the acoustic streaming effect and cavitation effect. In addition, globular κII phase was based on Fe3Al and  lamellar  κIII phase was based on NiAl distributed  in  the  interdendritic region, whereas  κIV phase  (rich‐Fe) were precipitated  in  the  α‐Cu matrix. The  improvement  of microstructural characteristics caused by UVA treatment further  improved the tensile properties and nano‐hardness of WAAM fabricated parts. Eventually, it is experimentally demonstrated that WAAM fabricated Cu‐8Al‐2Ni‐2Mn‐2Fe alloy can obtain high‐performance at UVA process under an interpass temperature of 100 °C.


With growing demand of energy and costs of the fossil fuels, coupled with the environmental concerns have resulted in an increased interest in alternative energy sources. Nuclear hybrid energy systems (NHES) are being considered which incorporates renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy combined with nuclear reactor and energy storage to meet the peak hours demand imposed on the grid, along with providing process heat for other potential industrial applications. This concept could potentially satisfy various energy demands and improve reliability, robustness and resilience for the entire system as a whole, along with economic and net efficiency gains. This paper provides a brief understanding of potential NHES system and architecture along with the challenges


This paper describes the program PolaBer, which calculates atomic polarizability tensors from electric field perturbations of a partitioned electron density distribution. Among many possible partitioning schemes, PolaBer is currently using the quantum theory of atoms in molecules and it is interfaced to programs that apply such a partitioning. The calculation of the atomic tensors follows the idea suggested by Keith [The Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules: From Solid State to DNA and Drug Design, (2007), edited by C. F. Matta & R. J. Boyd. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH], which enables the removal of the intrinsic origin dependence of the atomic charge contributions to the molecular dipole moment. This scheme allows the export, within chemically equivalent functional groups, of properties calculated from atomic dipoles, such as for example the atomic polarizabilities. The software permits visualization of the tensors and calculation of straightforward optical properties of a molecule (like the molar refractive index) or a crystal (assuming the molecule in a given crystal lattice).


Microstructured particles were synthesized by growing colloidal crystals in aqueous droplets suspended on fluorinated oil. The droplets template highly ordered and smooth particle assemblies, which diffract light and have remarkable structural stability. The method allows control of particle size and shape from spheres through ellipsoids to toroids by varying the droplet composition. Cocrystallization in colloidal mixtures yields anisotropic particles of organic and inorganic materials that can, for example, be oriented and turned over by magnetic fields. The results open the way to controllable formation of a wide variety of microstructures.


In this paper, the study of evolution equations with two independent variables which are related to pseudospherical surfaces in �� 3 , is extended to evolution equations with more than two independent variables.


LET US FIRST PRAISE FAMOUS MEN (AND WOMEN!) Specifically, Ben Nemery and his group, long renowned for their epidemiological and other insights. They have recently shown that the successive population interventions to restrict smoking have led to consistent reductions in preterm delivery (BMJ 2013;346: f441). This will likely lead to substantial lifelong improvements in lung function (see Thorax passim). Pity Ben did not publish in Thorax – he could then have had the whole manuscript in the Journal, not the 'one blink and you've missed it' form favoured by our sister periodical, presumably in the belief that their entire readership has an attention span measured in nanoseconds.


Microdialysis was coupled on-line with derivatization by o-phthalaldehyde and beta-mercaptoethanol and optically gated capillary electrophoresis to determine D- and L-aspartate in tissue samples obtained from rats. The microdialysis probe was inserted into a homogenized tissue sample which allowed generation of a continuous sample stream that was filtered and deproteinated. With 7.5 mM beta-cyclodextrin (CD) in the electrophoresis buffer, the enantiomers of interest could be resolved in 3 s with an electric field of 2500 V/cm over a separation length of 15 mm. Values of D- and L-aspartate in different tissues agreed well with those obtained by an HPLC procedure that required protein precipitation, centrifugation, and extraction. The speed and compatibility with automation of the microdialysis/CE method may make it a general approach for a variety of applications involving high-throughput analysis or sensorlike operation.


Magnetization and magnetoresistance (MR) measurements were performed on pyrochlores and . It was shown that both compounds are ferromagnets below with the same alignment of magnetic moments of 4f and 4d ions. The substitution of Mo ions by V leads to the increase of the resistivity without changes in the magnetic state. exhibits a large negative magnetoresistance ratio, especially in the low-magnetic-field regime, which increases strongly with decreasing temperature. In below the magnetoresistance ratio changes from negative to positive with decreasing temperature. These data indicate that the mechanism of the magnetoresistance effect in the molybdates differs markedly from that for manganites studied in detail with perovskite and pyrochlore structures.


A beautiful book in which this remarkable Japanese American craftsman and philosopher impresses us with his devotion to discovering the inherent beauty of wood so that noble trees might have a second life as furniture. The first part of this meditative book reveals the development of Nakashima as a spiritual artist and the influence of life in an Indian ashram in the 1930's. The second reveals the inner truth and nature of the different trees with which he works, while the third explores the skills by which the wood is reborn as furniture.


Japanese pine sawyer beetle, pine shoot beetle, and Formosan subterranean termite were selected to investigate the inhibitory abilities of solid wood and wood-based composites (MDF and WPCs) made with Eucalyptus urograndis and Melaleuca leucadendra. The chemical components in the extractives of the two types of wood were also analyzed by GC-MS. The results indicated that the inhibitory ability can generally be listed in descending order as WPCs, MDF, and solid wood when made by the same wood filler. However, samples in each group made using Melaleuca leucadendra exhibited a higher inhibitory level than samples made using Eucalyptus urograndis. 2,3-dihydro-2,2-dimethyl-3,7-benzofurandiol, which was identified in the extractives of both woods (14.169% in Eucalyptus urograndis and 12.686% in Melaleuca leucadendra), was a significant factor for inhibition due to its high toxicity to insects. The chemical components with greatest potential for inhibition were stigmast-4-en-3-one (8.656%) in Eucalyptus urograndis and both 3-demethyl-colchicine (2.642%) and squalene (1.649%) in Melaleuca leucadendra. Additionally, perlite-based MDF showed the best inhibitory ability, possibly because the alimentary of the insects are prone to injury by perlite. PVC-based WPCs had a greater inhibitory level than HDPE-based WPCs due to the presence of the Cl element in PVC, as well as the addition of calcium zinc stabilizer and inorganic filler.


Dry cask storage systems (DCSS) are widely used worldwide for storage of spent nuclear fuel (SNF). Particularly, in the United States, other than the SNF pools, DCSS are the only means for storage of SNF. In the United States, the DCSS are licensed for an initial 20 years (with a possible extension of 40 years). The absence of a long-term (or permanent) storage facility has brought up concerns regarding the long-term performance of DCSS, which may now have to be used for extended durations reaching over 100 years. The DCSS with an exposed concrete overpack account for approximately 61% of the DCSS inventory in the United States. The corrosion of the steel reinforcing bars (rebar) and the alkali-silica reactivity (ASR) of concrete have been identified as two of the main degradation mechanisms. In this paper, the accelerated aging of reinforced concrete (RC) overpacks of a vertical DCSS is evaluated experimentally at the structural scale. Three 1/3-scale specimens were fabricated. The first specimen was built using a conventional selfconsolidating concrete to serve as a control. The second and third specimens were prepared using special concrete mixtures, designed to accelerate the corrosion of rebar and ASR. All three casks were observed for 2 years for aginginduced deterioration using various non-destructive approaches including visual inspection, half-cell potential, Schmidt hammer, and ultra-sonic pulse velocity (UPV) measurements. The RC overpacks have been observed to exhibit significant distress due to these aging mechanisms. The overall conclusion is that accelerating ASR and corrosion through use of reactive aggregates and/or addition of chemicals (NaOH and CaCl2 in this particular case) is a viable and practical approach for large-scale studies. Although accelerated aging of concrete structures have been extensively studied in the literature, this is one of the first studies on the long-term degradation in DCSS due to corrosion and ASR.


Type 2 diabetes (T2D) carries risks of both cardiovascular (CV) (myocardial infarction, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease) and microvascular (retinopathy/nephropathy/neuropathy) complications. Glucose-lowering is an effective strategy for preventing microvascular complications, but the extent to which it can reduce CV complications is less certain. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists are potent glucose-lowering agents but also have potentially beneficial effects on other traditional (body weight, blood pressure (BP), and LDL cholesterol) and non-traditional risk factors (low grade inflammation and endothelial dysfunction). The results of four large CV outcome trials with GLP-1 agonists are now available. These have compared lixisenatide (ELIXA), liraglutide (LEADER), semaglutide (SUSTAIN-6), and long-acting exenatide (EXSCEL) with placebo and standard of care over 2-4 years; four others (including with dulaglutide and albiglutide) are ongoing. LEADER and SUSTAIN-6 have demonstrated reductions in rates of major adverse CV events with active GLP-1 treatment but ELIXA and EXSCEL have not. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms by which GLP-1 receptor agonists act on the CV system and the design and conduct of these trials. Contrary to the assertions that (a) all GLP-1 agonists reduce CV disease in T2D but to different extents or (b) the magnitude of CV protection is predominantly related to glucose-lowering, we argue that CV benefit is specific to agents that provide longer acting agonism at the GLP-1 receptor. The mechanisms involve reduction in body weight and BP, and lowering of LDL-cholesterol and glucose, but pleiotropic effects-including suppression of low grade inflammation, vasodilation, and natriuresis-are also likely relevant.


The design and implementation of flat optical photonic devices have come to the forefront of ongoing scientific research and technology development. These novel photonic devices use sub-wavelength metal or dielectric resonators spaced on a specific two-dimensional pattern that mimic the phase profile of conventional bulk optical elements. However, most of these structures, known as "metasurfaces", have so far been passive with its optical performance determined only by the spatial configuration of the metasurface constitutive elements. The development of dynamic metasurfaces is currently a growing area of research directed to obtain real-time tunable operation of metasurfaces and new physical phenomena not feasible with static metasurfaces.
In this presentation, I will describe the fundamentals and advantages of incorporating metallic and dielectric metasurfaces onto MEMS devices. The MEMS platform enables electrostatic control of curvature, tilt angle and deformation of metasurfaces, enabling flat and agile optical elements with msec reconfiguration time. Faster reconfigurable metasurfaces can be achieved using MEMS based spatial light modulators in which individual pixels are patterned with nanostructures having different optical response, e.g. we could pre program fixed phase shifts onto each pixel, so the device works as a curved mirror with aberration correction on top. By actuating specific sub-set of pixels, the far-field response of the adaptive metasurfaces can be manipulated. These unique dynamic metasurfaces may provide new opportunities for information optics and imaging by performing complex signal processing directly in the optical domain.


Since the 1990's, intangible assets such as patents have taken on importance in organizations and, as a result, several stakeholders are increasingly concerned about protecting, valuating, commercializing and negotiating technologies developed by patenting processes. This study aims to establish Minimum Qualitative Variables (MQVs) to support the valuation of patents by technology-based firms. The method to determine the MQVs was qualitative and based on a correlation matrix between MQVs identified in the literature and those suggested by experts. The results indicate that identifying such variables, especially the legal kind, is crucial to the valuation process because they suggest the possibility of producing and commercializing the technology in a given geographical context.


Bare soil is a critical element in the urban landscape and plays an essential role in urban environments. Yet, the separation of bare soil and other land cover types using remote sensing techniques remains a significant challenge. There are several remote sensing-based spectral indices for barren detection, but their effectiveness varies depending on land cover patterns and climate conditions. Within this research, we introduced a modified bare soil index (MBI) using shortwave infrared (SWIR) and near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths derived from Landsat 8 (OLI—Operational Land Imager). The proposed bare soil index was tested in two different bare soil patterns in Thailand and Vietnam, where there are large areas of bare soil during the agricultural fallow period, obstructing the separation between bare soil and urban areas. Bare soil extracted from the MBI achieved higher overall accuracy of about 98% and a kappa coefficient over 0.96, compared to bare soil index (BSI), normalized different bare soil index (NDBaI), and dry bare soil index (DBSI). The results also revealed that MBI considerably contributes to the accuracy of land cover classification. We suggest using the MBI for bare soil detection in tropical climatic regions.


Durkheim outlines how workforces become increasingly specialised as society expands, resulting not only in mutual dependence but also in strong social and cultural distinctions between different professional specialisations. Modern studies of crime prevention exemplify this phenomenon. Crime scientists, criminologists and criminal justice practitioners frequently disagree over the differences and utility of their respective disciplines, almost to the point of neglecting their common goal of crime prevention. This article outlines the important distinctions between these three disciplines and seeks to demonstrate how they might work together to yield more effective crime prevention than any one of them accomplishes alone.


Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) is a heterogeneous B-cell malignancy with multiple genetic abnormalities, which have been used to stratify patient's treatments and prognosis. For instance, genetic alterations have been identified in CLL patients, such as SF3B1, Notch1, TP53, and Myd88, and they have been related to prediction of progression and survival. Moreover, mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling is crucial in the pathogenesis of a number of cancers, and it has also showed increased expression in a large subset of CLL patients. In this project, we investigated the sensitivity of five leukaemic cell lines to 22 targeted inhibitors. We found that cells with V600EBRAF mutations showed greater sensitivity to MAPK inhibition, while cells with K601NBRAF mutations were more resistant. Wild type BRAF CLL cells showed varied sensitivity to 16 different inhibitors but not to MAPK inhibitors. Combination of a MAPK inhibitor (Sorafenib) and CUDC-907 (CDK/HDAC inhibitor) showed strong synergism in CLL cells at nanomolar concentration, suggesting a potential therapeutic application of blocking both pathways simultaneously. BRAF exon 15 mutations had low frequencies in our cohort (1.052%), but we also found Notch1 mutations (14.81%), Myd88 (1.35%) and SF3B1 (16.21%, 20.8% of which were first-time reports of non-coding regions). Notch1 mutants were more resistant to pladienolide B and more sensitive to MK-0752. On the other hand Myd88 mutants were more sensitive to IRAK1/4 inhibitors. In conclusion, our results showed that therapies for CLL can be stratified based on in vitro information of drug sensitivity in relation to mutations present in the cells and suggest that inhibiting the MAPK pathway could be an effective approach in combination therapies. These preclinical data could be applied in CLL management in the near future. Dedicated to the loving memory of my father (1944-1984)


Accurate and rapid identification of the severe and non-severe COVID-19 patients is necessary for reducing the risk of overloading the hospitals, effective hospital resource utilization, and minimizing the mortality rate in the pandemic. A conjunctive belief rule-based clinical decision support system is proposed in this paper to identify critical and non-critical COVID-19 patients in hospitals using only three blood test markers. The experts' knowledge of COVID-19 is encoded in the form of belief rules in the proposed method. To fine-tune the initial belief rules provided by COVID-19 experts using the real patient's data, a modified differential evolution algorithm that can solve the constraint optimization problem of the belief rule base is also proposed in this paper. Several experiments are performed using 485 COVID-19 patients' data to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed system. Experimental result shows that, after optimization, the conjunctive belief rule-based system achieved the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of 0.954, 0.923, and 0.959, respectively, while for disjunctive belief rule base, they are 0.927, 0.769, and 0.948. Moreover, with a 98.85% AUC value, our proposed method shows superior performance than the four traditional machine learning algorithms: LR, SVM, DT, and ANN. All these results validate the effectiveness of our proposed method. The proposed system will help the hospital authorities to identify severe and non-severe COVID-19 patients and adopt optimal treatment plans in pandemic situations.


In this paper, two simple structures, i.e., coupled line and T-shaped microstrip structures, are used to construct four types of quasi-reflectionless (QR) filters, including single-and two-port QR bandpass filters (BPFs) and bandstop filters (BSFs). First, the characteristics of the coupled line and T-shaped microstrip structures are analyzed in details using each two electrical parameters. Then, the single-port QR BPF and BSF are designed using duplexer architectures formed by these two simple structures. Subsequently, the two-port QR BPF and BSF are constructed through loading an additional absorption channel near the output port based on the architectures of single-port QR filters. The relations between the fractional bandwidth (FBW) of each type of QR filters and 3-dB FBWs of the two simple structures are provided, which give a guidance of the QR filter design with desired specifications. Moreover, a brief design procedure for the proposed QR filters is summarized. Finally, to validate the feasibility of the proposed approach, two proof-of-concept microstrip prototypes of the two-port QR filters are fabricated, whose simulations and measurements agree well with each other. This work will facilitate the design of QR filters with different desired specifications and simplify their design procedures.


Anti–predator scans by animals occur with very irregular timing, so that the initiation of scans resembles a random, Poisson–like, process. At first sight, this seems both dangerous (predators could exploit the long intervals) and wasteful (scans after very short intervals are relatively uninformative). We explored vigilance timing using a new model that allows both predators and prey to vary their behaviour. Given predators that attack at random with respect to prey behaviour, constant inter–scan intervals minimize predation risk. However, if prey scan regularly to minimize their risk from randomly attacking predators, they become more vulnerable to predators that initiate attacks when the inter–scan intervals begin. If, in order to defeat this tactic, prey choose extremely variable inter–scan intervals, they become more vulnerable to predators who wait for long intervals before launching attacks. Only if predators can monitor the variability of inter–scan intervals and either attack immediately (if variability is too low) or wait for long intervals to attack (if variability is too high) does the empirically observed pattern of Poisson–like scanning become the optimal prey strategy.


Suprahepatic inferior vena caval (IVC) injuries are rare but carry nearly a 100% mortality rate. The main problem with its surgical management is the technical difficulty in draining the IVC during cardiopulmonary bypass. In this report, an efficient method of IVC drainage for repair of the IVC on cardiopulmonary bypass is described.


ABSTRACT The European Union (EU) foreign policy has gone beyond intergovernmentalism. It is largely formulated by (Brussels-based) national officials, in a process characterised by a high number of cooperative practices, diffuse sentiments of group loyalty and possibly argumentative procedures. Yet, in many cases, the most likely output of this process reflects the lowest common denominator of states' positions or the preferences of the biggest states. The article intends to investigate this puzzle. In the first part, it corroborates its existence by using answers from an original database of 138 questionnaires and 37 interviews with EU negotiators. Next, it argues that cooperative practices remain often subordinated to nationally oriented ways of doing things. Consequentialist practices perform an anchoring function, in that they define the parameters around which (social) practices operate. The last section looks more closely at the sites of and meanings attached to EU foreign policy-making. By discussing national diplomats' conspicuous leeway in Brussels, it also argues that negotiating practices are performed through a mix of partial agency and persistence of national dispositions. On the whole, changing practices is difficult, even in dense and largely autonomous settings such as EU foreign policy. The social construction of EU foreign policy occurs only to a partial extent.


Paclitaxel belongs to the taxanes family and it is used, alone or in multidrug regimens, for the therapy of several solid tumours, such as breast-, lung-, head and neck-, and ovarian cancer. Standard dosing of chemotherapy does not take into account the many inter-patient differences that make drug exposure highly variable, thus leading to the insurgence of severe toxicity. This is particularly true for paclitaxel considering that a relationship between haematological toxicity and plasma exposure was found. Therefore, in order to treat patients with the correct dose of paclitaxel, improving the overall benefit–risk ratio, Therapeutic Drug Monitoring is necessary. In order to quantify paclitaxel and its main metabolite, 6α-hydroxy-paclitaxel, in patients' plasma, we developed a new, sensitive and specific HPLC–MS/MS method applicable to all paclitaxel dosages used in clinical routine. The developed method used a small volume of plasma sample and is based on quick protein precipitation. The chromatographic separation of the analytes was achieved with a SunFire™ C18 column (3.5 μM, 92 Å, 2,1 x 150 mm); the mobile phases were 0.1% formic acid/bidistilled water and 0.1% formic acid/acetonitrile. The electrospray ionization source worked in positive ion mode and the mass spectrometer operated in selected reaction monitoring mode. Our bioanalytical method was successfully validated according to the FDA-EMA guidelines on bioanalytical method validation. The calibration curves resulted linear (R2 ≥0.9948) over the concentration ranges (1–10000 ng/mL for paclitaxel and 1–1000 ng/mL for 6α-hydroxy-paclitaxel) and were characterized by a good accuracy and precision. The intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy were determined on three quality control concentrations for paclitaxel and 6α-hydroxy-paclitaxel and resulted respectively <9.9% and within 91.1–114.8%. In addition, to further verify the assay reproducibility, we tested this method by re-analysing the incurred samples. This bioanalytical method was employed with success to a genotype-guided phase Ib study of weekly paclitaxel in ovarian cancer patients treated with a wide range of drug's dosages.


Spectral efficient frequency division multiplexing (SEFDM) can offer a higher spectral efficiency (SE) than orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). In this work, we propose a diversity technique based on SEFDM for beyond 100-Gb/s optical intensity modulation and direct detection (IM/DD) long reach (LR) applications. We mathematically demonstrate that the self-created inter-carrier interference of SEFDM signals can be reused to achieve a diversity gain on each sub-carrier and, in turn, improve the tolerance to power fading induced by chromatic dispersion (CD) in IM/DD LR links. Based on the proposed diversity technique, we further demonstrated a 112-Gb/s SEFDM transmission over 80-km standard single-mode fiber, using only 28-GHz bandwidth and modulation format of up to 16-QAM. Experimental results show that SEFDM with the proposed diversity technique performs robust against CD effects and outperforms the conventional OFDM with adaptive bit and power loading of the same bandwidth and data rate, which validates the superiority of the proposed SEFDM in optical IM/DD LR transmissions.


The burnout is a term variouslly defined. It can mean, at the starting, an illness resulting from big and continous efforts at work. The MBI (Maslach Burnout Inventory) is a very generalized scale to evaluate the level of burnout. It presents three dimensions to be related to burnout term: exhaustion, despersonalization and negative personal acomplishment. Recent works, nevertheless, point out the first of them as the most appropiate. In this paper we have developped a new scale focused in the first dimension and our social and cultural context: the EPB (Escala para la Evaluacion del Burnout Profesional). Early psychometrics analyses support the fitness to concept burnout more currently accepted.


Water harvesting is the collection of water for productive purposes. In regions where crops arc entirely rain-fed, like in most districts in Kenya, a reduction of 50% in the seasonal rainfall may result in a total crop failure, but an efficient water harvesting system can improve crops and reduce food insecurity. It is on this background that water harvesting has been encouraged and promoted in Kenya by the government and other NGOs such as KWAHO. KWAHO has promoted water harvesting in Siaya District since 1996. However, its influence on food security in the region has not been clearly established, yet the area has constantly experienced food insecurity. Over 62.31 % of the population can not afford three meals a day, while only 69.02% can afford two meals a day. Over 78.36% live on less than one 1 USD a day. It was therefore necessary to determine the influence of water harvesting on food security in Siaya District with a view of identifying the appropriate water harvesting strategies for improving food security in the district. The purpose of the study was to determine the influence of water harvesting on food security in Karemo division of Siaya district with the objective of determining the influence of water harvesting on the availability of food, the access to food and the utilization of food by households in Karemo Division. The study was conducted through cross sectional survey on a sample of 100 households selected from 638 households in the Karemo Division in February 2010 using quota sampling procedure. Data was collected by the researcher and 5 research assistants using through questionnaire and interview techniques and analyzed through parentages and ANOVA techniques at a of .05 and presented in tables and figures. The study established that water harvesting influences availability and the utilization of food by households, but does not influence access to food by households. But on the overall analysis, it was noted that water harvesting had a high net influence of food security from the two variables on which it registered a positive result. The study concludes that water harvesting influences food security among households, and the better the water harvesting the higher the food security. This. meant that it is possible to increase the amounts of foods available to households, the capacity of households to access food and the capacity of households to properly utilize foods through encouraging effective water harvesting. The recommends that the government invests in water harvesting as a tool for improving food security; that alternative and compulsory methods of harvesting be introduced in the area; and that that the government constructs trenches and dykes in each location within the division to help tap water which are otherwise going to waste. The government should also educate households at the community levels to properly utilize the


An attempt was made to analyze the quantitative occurrence of chromosome anomalies by the exposure of slightly overripened ova (delayed fertilization) to hypoxic insults in golden hamsters. Three groups were established: (1) a control group (PO2 = 152 mmHg); (2) a 4,500 m altitude group (PO2 = 87 m5 hr post-ovulatory aging revealed no striking effect on reproductive performance, as well as on the production of chromosome aberrations. Nervertheless, even in a slightly overripened condition ovum increased in susceptibility to the production of chromosome anomalies after hypoxic exposure equivalent to 4,500 m altitude. The dose-response relationship between hypoxia and the occurrence of triploidies was particularly distinguished. On the other hand, a similar relationship was not so evident in the production of aneuploidies, especially of trisomies. It can, therefore, be surmised that the change in the cytogenetic milieu at the time of the second polar body extrusion has some quantitative relation to the severity of environmental stressors.


An inverse problem related to the determination of elastoplastic properties of a beam is considered within J2 deformation theory. A new fast algorithm is proposed for the identification of elastoplastic properties of engineering materials. This algorithm is based on finding the three main parameters of the unknown curve g(ξ2) (plasticity function), namely, the elasticity limit , the modulus of rigidity G and the strain hardening exponent κ. The advantage of this algorithm is that only two values of measured output data are required for the reconstruction of the unknown function g(ξ2). Note that all parameterization algorithms use numerous torsional experiments as necessary data for the determination of only some part of the unknown stress–strain curve. Numerical examples related to applicability and high accuracy of the proposed approach are presented for the cases of noise free and noise data.


In this study, we report experimental results on perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions composed of the binary multilayer Co/Pt and Co/Pd with various MgO barrier thicknesses. The coercivities of both Co/Pt and Co/Pd layers varied substantially with the MgO thickness. Very interestingly, the perpendicular anisotropy constant Ku of the Co/Pt multilayer measured by the extraordinary Hall effect oscillated with the MgO thickness, and the period of this oscillation was about 0.3 nm. Furthermore, both the Ku value and the oscillation amplitude decreased after annealing at 150deg C and 200deg C, which suggest that the oscillation may result from the film morphology.


Soft skills are interpersonal, social, and emotional competencies, transversal to various fields of knowledge and life. In the Knowledge Age, soft skills play an essential role in the differentiation of human work. Nevertheless, in design education, there are still few studies on soft skills. This study brings a conceptual map of soft skills in design education. It refers to a mixed-methods research conducted through a survey involving 93 teachers of high education design courses in 26 countries. We combined the survey results with a literature review analysis aimed at defining constructs and identifying their relationship. Finally, we propose a classification for soft skills as being Collective/Individual and Cognitive-Metacognitive/Interpersonal-Social. Our research recognises the connections and interdependence among skills, allowing us to settle different groups and establish relations among other skills. Furthermore, based on literature, we identified a hierarchy of gateways skills and high order skills and pointed out their connections. Additionally, a conceptual map was created, including the 20 primary soft skills in design education, their proposed classification, and the links between the skills. The result can help teachers and students know the primary soft skills in design education and develop teaching-learning approaches to acquire soft skills during their university training.


Ten older (60-71 yr) and nine younger (20-25 yr) active healthy men were exposed to passive heating [by placing the lower legs and feet in a 43 degrees C water bath for 60 min while sitting in a warm (35 degrees C, 45% relative humidity) chamber] in summer and winter. The increase in rectal temperature (Tre) was significantly (P less than 0.05) greater, and mean skin temperature and forearm blood flow were lower, for the older men in both seasons. Total sweating rate was lower in the older men, but significantly (P less than 0.05) so only in the summer. The Tre threshold for sweating was unaffected by either age or site (back vs. thigh). The local sweating rate (msw) on the thigh was significantly lower (P less than 0.05) for the older men throughout the exposure, whereas there were no significant age-related differences for the average or peak values of back msw, although lesser sweating on the back occurred during the first 30 min of exposure. The decreased msw on the thigh was due to a lower sweat output per heat-activated sweat gland rather than from recruitment of fewer glands. It was concluded that regional differences exist in the age-related decrement in sweat gland function. Furthermore, these findings suggest that aging leads to a decreased ability to maintain body temperature with passive heating of the extremities, which may be attributed in part to decreased regional sweat gland function.


The possibility that the extreme refractoriness of the chicken to injected endotoxin would permit the buildup of sufficient free endotoxin in the circulation to immunologically modify the erythrocytes in vivo and thereby cause them to be eliminated from the circulation was investigated. It was shown that a moderately severe immunohaemolytic anaemia accompanied by a mild spenomegaly could be induced in chickens by single (large) or multiple injections of Salmonella gallinarum endotoxin (SgE). Varying degrees of reticulocytosis, with corresponding decreases in haemoglobin and haematocrit values, were observed from the tenth day after the injection of the SgE. All the injected animals also showed significant immune responses to SgE, peak haemagglutinin titres occurring coincidentally with the peaks of the haemolytic episodes. A similar injection schedule in specifically immune chickens also showed the anaemia appearing much earlier, persisting longer and being much more profound in intensity. It is considered that the in vivo erythrocyte sensitization induced by SgE injection initiates the erythrocytic changes observed and that the underlying mechanism responsible for the subsequent development of the haemolytic anaemia is immunologically mediated.


The sex wage gap is widely documented in the literature. Although several theories emerged to explain it, the devaluation and queuing views have been dominant due to women's concentration in lower-paying occupations. They differ in the direction of thecausal effect: while the devaluation theory predicts lower wages for higher occupation's female share, the queuing theory predicts causal effect in the opposite direction. No studies to support these theories have been found for developing countries and this paper aims to test them for Brazil. Using Censuses data, three results emerge: 1) negative correlation between sex composition and wages; 2) no evidence to support neither theory; 3) some evidence to support another view: the theory of equalizing differences. This last theory predicts no causal relationship between the occupational share of females and wages because wage differentials would emerge from human capital differences and the value attributed to jobs' non-monetary advantages.


This Article identifies a new and growing phenomenon in the American legal system. Many leading agendas for gender, racial, and climate justice are centered on emotional trauma as the primary injury of contemporary social injustices. By focusing on three social justice movements, #BlackLivesMatter, #MeToo, and Climate Justice, the Article offers the first comprehensive diagnosis and assessment of how emotional trauma has become an engine for legal and policy social justice reforms. From a nineteenth century psychoanalytic theory about repressed childhood sexual memories that manifest in female hysteria, through extensive medicalization and classification in the twentieth century, emotional trauma has evolved and expanded into its current status at the center of our twenty-first century social justice movements.

The Article reveals how the rhetoric and logic of emotional trauma is increasingly used to articulate legal and policy claims for racial, gender and climate justice, and how the current understanding of trauma is connected to the concept of abuse of power. While recognizing the positive and generative effects of the growing understanding of emotional trauma, the Article explores some hidden costs of the enthusiastic embrace of the "age of trauma" in legal quests for social justice. The Article observes that the prominence of trauma may limit the scope of political and legal claims for gender, racial, and climate justice; and that it may shape and perpetuate wounded identities of those on behalf of whom legal claims for justice are made. As lawmakers and policymakers proceed in engaging the legal and political systems in claims for meaningful social justice, they ought to carefully assess the negative implications of a trauma-centered social justice.


Foodborne diseases (FBDs) remain a serious human health problem, and food safety plays an essential role in addressing this public health issue. This study aimed at evaluating the training of trainers program on food safety and nutrition security using a qualitative descriptive approach. The training exposed the participants to food safety topics in food processing and preservation with an emphasis on the nature of food safety hazards and the personal hygiene of food handlers in food preparation. The new trainers then organized and conducted actual seminar-workshops in their respective communities. The results of the evaluation indicate that the primary driver of the success of the program was institutional support by the local government partners. Overall, the program was able to achieve its ultimate goal of capacitating a group of local trainers on food safety in hopes of addressing the problem of FBDs through a cascade of training.


Summary: Ito cells play a key role in the development of liver fibrosis associated with chronic liver diseases. Both ETA (20%) and ETB (80%) receptors were identified in human Ito cells. ET-1 did not stimulate proliferation of Ito cells. In contrast, ET-1 inhibited DNA synthesis stimulated by serum or PDGF-BB, through an ETB-mediated pathway. The mechanism leading to growth inhibition involved elevation of cAMP leading to inhibition of serum-stimulated MAP kinase and selective reduction of c-jun expression. Finally, ET receptors were upregulated by cAMP, providing a positive feedback loop that would amplify ET-1-induced growth inhibition. We conclude that ET-1 is a potent growth inhibitory peptide and may exert positive or negative control of cell growth, depending on cell type. Moreover, this peptide may play a key role in the negative control of liver fibrogenesis.


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Background: Complete revascularization with routine percutaneous coronary intervention of nonculprit lesions after primary percutaneous coronary intervention improves outcomes in ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction. Whether this benefit is associated with nonculprit lesion vulnerability is unknown. Methods: In a prospective substudy of the COMPLETEs trial (Complete vs Culprit-Only Revascularization to Treat Multi-Vessel Disease After Early PCI for STEMI), we performed optical coherence tomography of at least 2 coronary arteries before nonculprit lesion percutaneous coronary intervention in 93 patients with ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction and multivessel disease; and the ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction culprit vessel if there was unstented segment amenable to imaging. Nonculprit lesions were categorized as obstructive (≥70% stenosis by visual angiographic assessment) or nonobstructive, and as thin-cap fibroatheroma (TCFA) or non-TCFA by optical coherence tomography criteria. TCFA was defined as a lesion with mean fibrous cap thickness <65 μm overlying a lipid arc >90°. Results: On a patient level, at least one obstructive TCFA was observed in 44/93 (47%) of patients. On a lesion level, there were 58 TCFAs among 150 obstructive nonculprit lesions compared with 74 TCFAs among 275 nonculprit lesions (adjusted TCFA prevalence: 35.4% versus 23.2%, P=0.022). Compared with obstructive non-TCFAs, obstructive TCFAs had similar lesion length (23.1 versus 20.8 mm, P=0.16) but higher lipid quadrants (55.2 versus 19.2, P<0.001), greater mean lipid arc (203.8° versus 84.5°, P<0.001), and more macrophages (97.1% versus 54.4%, P<0.001) and cholesterol crystals (85.8% versus 44.3%, P<0.001). For nonobstructive lesions, TCFA lesions had similar lesion length (16.7 versus 14.6 mm, P=0.11), but more lipid quadrants (36.4 versus 13.5, P<0.001), and greater mean lipid arc (191.8° versus 84.2°, P<0.001) compared with non-TCFA. Conclusions: Among patients who underwent optical coherence tomography imaging in the COMPLETE trial, nearly 50% had at least one obstructive nonculprit lesion containing complex vulnerable plaque. Obstructive lesions more commonly harbored vulnerable plaque morphology than nonobstructive lesions. This may help explain the benefit of routine percutaneous coronary intervention of obstructive nonculprit lesions in patients with ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction and multivessel disease. Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01740479s.


The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has recently defined the 6TiSCH architecture to enable the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), i.e., the adoption of the IoT paradigm for industrial applications with stringent requirements, in terms of reliability and timeliness. In 6TiSCH networks, the scheduling of communication resources is of paramount importance to meet the application requirements, and many different Scheduling Functions have been proposed to cope with the needs of various applications. Recently, autonomous scheduling has emerged as an efficient and robust approach, as it allows nodes to allocate communication resources autonomously, i.e., without any negotiation with their neighbors, thus avoiding the related overhead. Typically, this is obtained through static resource-allocation algorithms that are not able to adapt to variations in traffic conditions. In this paper, we consider adaptive autonomous scheduling, and compare the performance of three different algorithms in various IIoT scenarios. We investigate their ability to adapt to traffic changes, and evaluate them in terms of performance, resource consumption, and complexity. Based on the results obtained, we also provide a set of guidelines to select the most appropriate Scheduling Function, and its configuration parameters, depending on the specific use case.


Recent studies have shown the utility of ion projection lithography (IPL) for the manufacturing of integrated circuits. In addition, ion projection direct structuring (IPDS) can be used for resistless, noncontact modification of materials. In cooperation with IBM Storage Technology Division, ion projection patterning of magnetic media layers has been demonstrated. With masked ion beam proximity techniques, unique capabilities for lithography on nonplanar (curved) surfaces are outlined. Designs are presented for a masked ion beam proximity lithography (MIBL) and masked ion beam direct structuring (MIBS) tool with sub-20-nm resolution capability within 88-mm□ exposure fields. The possibility of extremely high reduction ratios (200:1) for high-volume projection maskless lithography (projection-ML2) is discussed. In the case of projection-ML2 there are advantages of using electrons instead of ions. Including gray scaling, an improved concept for a ⩽50-nm projection-ML2 system is presented with the potential to meet a throughput of 20 wafers per hour (300 mm).


Magnetization switching in energy assisted recording is examined using micromagnetic simulations. Heat assisted and microwave assisted recording are compared. The high frequency magnetic field used in microwave assisted recording can be used to reduce the switching field or the switching time, but the optimum frequencies have opposite trends as a function of temperature. In heat assisted recording the switching times at temperatures near to the Curie temperature are about half the room temperature value. In recording simulations heat assisted recording was able to write the highest quality tracks and has the potential to be able to write on media with much higher anisotropy than microwave assisted recording.


The main aim of this work is to investigate the application of the Double-entry Accounting System in the public sector, with particular application to the Greek Municipalities and assessing its usefulness as a tool for transparency, legitimacy, efficiency and governance in the decision-making and accountability of public bodies.
Initially, the transition from the traditional cash accounting system to the public towards the standards of the accrual accounting system was explored. Further, reference is made to its mandatory implementation and to whether users are confident that accounting standardization with the new data enables them to plan their financial policies to monitor the operation of the public entity in order to improve the services, efficient resource management, saving public spending, reducing bureaucracy and increasing accountability and transparency.
From the analytical presentation and the research conducted, it is clear that the accounting cash basis is no longer suitable for the financial management of modern governments. The information extracted from the Double Taxation System and the financial statements can be a tool for effective modern management and knowledge of governments about the economic situation of Local Authorities in the context of the budgetary discipline of our time.
Finally, the need for the transition of other general government entities to the Double Taxation System into accrual standards is ultimately necessary in order to achieve efficient resource management, minimize waste and save government spending.