Within public health, and increasingly other areas of social policy, there are widespread calls to increase or improve the use of evidence for policy-making. Often these calls rest on an assumption that increased evidence utilisation will be a more efficient or effective means of achieving social goals. Yet a clear elucidation of what can be considered "good evidence" for policy is rarely articulated. Many of the current discussions of best practise in the health policy sector derive from the evidence-based medicine (EBM) movement, embracing the "hierarchy of evidence" that places experimental trials as pre-eminent in terms of methodological quality. However, a number of problems arise if these hierarchies are used to rank or prioritise policy relevance. Challenges in applying evidence hierarchies to policy questions arise from the fact that the EBM hierarchies rank evidence of intervention effect on a specified and limited number of outcomes. Previous authors have noted that evidence forms at the top of such hierarchies typically serve the needs and realities of clinical medicine, but not necessarily public policy. We build on past insights by applying three disciplinary perspectives from political science, the philosophy of science and the sociology of knowledge to illustrate the limitations of a single evidence hierarchy to guide health policy choices, while simultaneously providing new conceptualisations suited to achieve health sector goals. In doing so, we provide an alternative approach that re-frames "good" evidence for health policy as a question of appropriateness. Rather than adhering to a single hierarchy of evidence to judge what constitutes "good" evidence for policy, it is more useful to examine evidence through the lens of appropriateness. The form of evidence, the determination of relevant categories and variables, and the weight given to any piece of evidence, must suit the policy needs at hand. A more robust and critical examination of relevant and appropriate evidence can ensure that the best possible evidence of various forms is used to achieve health policy goals.


The usage of T-cell-receptor (TCR) alpha beta variable (V) regions among tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in primary human malignant melanomas was characterized using a method based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A panel of 57 different variable-region primers specific for the TCR V alpha I-29 and V beta I-28 was designed, and a semi-quantitative PCR method applicable to formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues was developed. This semi-quantitative method was demonstrated to be reproducible and to be useful for the assessment of V alpha- and V beta-gene-family usage in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue samples. A total of 9 different histopathologically characterized primary tumors were analyzed in this study. The TILs in these tumors were found to preferentially express certain TCR V alpha and V beta regions. The differential usage of certain V alpha regions was very pronounced as illustrated by V alpha 4, which was highly expressed in 3/8 tumors, and V alpha 22, which was highly expressed in 4/8 tumors. For comparison, specific highly expressed V alpha regions in control samples of peripheral-blood lymphocytes rarely exceeded 10%. The most highly expressed V beta region was V beta 8, which was highly expressed in 2/8 tumors. For the highly expressed V alpha 4 and V alpha 22 and V beta 8 regions, the high levels may be explained by the in situ clonal or oligoclonal expansion of TIL. In one specific case, the high expression of V beta 8 was due to expansion of a single clone of TILs, as evidenced by a fully readable sequence of the CDR3 (V-D-J) region, determined by direct sequencing of the PCR product corresponding to V beta 8. In contrast, sequence analysis of V alpha 22, which was expressed in the same tumor sample at similar levels, demonstrated the simultaneous presence of 3 different CDR3 (V-J) sequences derived from V alpha 22 transcripts of exactly the same length. The observed preferential use of TCR V alpha and V beta regions suggests the in situ clonal expansion of specific populations of T-cells, possibly reactive with melanoma-associated peptides presented by HLA molecules. The preferential use of TCR V alpha and V beta regions may imply the involvement of a limited number of shared melanoma-associated peptides.


Distributed denial of service (DDoS) is a structured network attack coming from various sources and fused to form a large packet stream. DDoS packet stream pattern behaves as normal packet stream pattern and very difficult to distinguish between DDoS and normal packet stream. Network packet classification is one of the network defense system in order to avoid DDoS attacks. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) can be used as an effective tool for network packet classification with the appropriate combination of numbers hidden layer neuron and training functions. This study found the best classification accuracy, 99.6% was given by ANN with hidden layer neuron numbers stated by half of input neuron numbers and twice of input neuron numbers but the number of hidden layers neuron by twice of input neuron numbers gives stable accuracy on all training function. ANN with Quasi-Newton training function doesn't much affected by variation on hidden layer neuron numbers otherwise ANN with Scaled-Conjugate and Resilient-Propagation training function.


In this letter, a wideband antenna for 3 G indoor repeater applications is proposed. A wide impedance bandwidth was achieved using a 3-dB attenuator and mutual coupling between main and parasitic patches. The fabricated antenna has a VSWR below 1.5, a gain over 3.9 dBi, and an isolation between transmitting and receiving antennas higher than 80 dB over the 3 G band from 1.92 to 2.5 GHz.


The Medical Group of the Royal Photographic Society, now nearly 300 strong, provided an admirable stand in the Kelvin Hall on the general theme of the changes in medical photography over the last 100 years. There were a dozen mounted displays comparing the early technical achievements with modern work. The displays dealt with the photography of patients and gross specimens, photomacrography and photomicrography, retinal photographs, and special techniques, such as endoscopic photography. Then came a panel illustrating the work of the hospital photographic department, and others giving details of the apparatus and materials used in medical photography. Commenting on the standard of the early photomicrographs, the Medical Group say that those done in the 1880s were equal in many respects to those taken now. The first reasonable picture of a retina was made as long ago as 1891. This interesting and informative exhibit was the work of Peter Cardew, Peter Hansell, F. E. McAdoo, K. G. Moreman, and R. G. W. Ollerenshaw.


Methicillin was introduced in 1959 to treat penicillin-resistant S. aureus infection, however Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) was reported 2 years later (1). The most common organism identified in acute infective endocarditis (AIE) is still S. aureus associated with increased hospital mortality, morbidity and hospitalization. In Germany the proportion of MRSA among S. aureus microbiologic examinations was 1.1% in 1990 and dramatically increased to 17.5% by 2001 and reached 21.9% in 2009 (2). Due to the biofilm in AIE, adequate treatment is challenging, including appropriate antibiotic therapy. To improve outcome of AIE early adequate antibiotic therapy is needed, however vancomycin has a decrease microbe clearance and poor clinical response compared with β-lactam agents in Methicillin-susceptible S. aureus. Today, several reports on clinical failures in MRSA with vancomycin were documented even at MICs <2.0 μg/ml. Current guidelines recommend higher trough vancomycin of 10-20 μg/ml, which will lead to increase complications such as nephrotoxicity (3). Therefore more effective alternative antibiotic treatment is needed to treat MRSA endocarditis and reach sufficient into the biofilm (4). This overview reports recent developments to improve MRSA endocarditis treatment.


Borrowing Oblinger's assertion, space "whether physical, virtual or mental has an impact on the learning process" [1]. A built pedagogy, or the ability of space to define how one learns, teaches, acts or responds, is a noteworthy but also a much-neglected subject-matter. The models, theories and development of any educational curricula in Higher Education (HE) should also consider the perspective of those who inhabit; design and (re)create the spaces of learning every day. It should take into account the importance our environs and settings have as agents for change, interaction and reflection. This enquiry questions how existing educational facilities facilitate learners' expectations and engagement; how the construction of place enhances the construction of knowledge and meaning; and how (the design of) space influences the activities and principles that assist learning – how the process of learning is built by and into the learning space. This paper presents an enquiry based on a flexible qualitative approach, by highlighting key studies, examples and individual explorations on the topic. Through different techniques of data collection, two main tasks of enquiry were carried out: firstly, the definition of possible scenarios and typologies for two site-specific locations at HE Institutions through literature review and photo-surveys; and secondly, the exploration of personal conceptions regarding typical and desired learning spaces, based on a small set of interviews with HE colleagues, students and educators. The paper concludes with some personal reflections on the relationship between the process of learning per se and the educational space of/for the learning experience.


A flux-step method was used for monitoring the pressure variation in a solids separation membrane at different operating conditions. A submerged membrane bioreactor pilot plant, used during the short-term tests, was used to purify actual restaurant wastewater. The influence of membrane backwash and relaxation on the variation of pressure variation was also evaluated. In order to reduce the deposition of irreversible fouling, the authors modified the literature-supported filtration to backwash cycling with filtration and relaxation cycling. The trials maintained a constant filtration to relaxation ratio that was in line with optimal filtration to backwashing ratios found in the literature. The relaxation cycling between two constant flux-steps effectively counteracted membrane fouling and the excessive decrease in average pressure, and it results in a lower waste of energy and water than a backwashing strategy.


We provide the whole set of Lick indices fromCN1 to TiO2 in the wavelength range 4000≲λ≲6500 A of simple stellar population models with, for the first time, variable element abundance ratios, [α/Fe ]=0.0, 0.3, 0.5, [α/Ca ]=−0.1, 0.0, 0.2, 0.5 and [α/N]=−0.5, 0.0. The models cover ages between 1 and 15 Gyr, metallicities between 1/200 and 3.5 solar. The impact from the element abundance changes on the absorption-line indices are taken from Tripicco & Bell, using an extension of the method introduced by Trager et al. Our models are free from the intrinsic α/Fe bias that was imposed by the Milky Way template stars up to now, hence they reflect well-defined α/Fe ratios at all metallicities. The models are calibrated with Milky Way globular clusters for which metallicities and α/Fe ratios are known from independent spectroscopy of individual stars. The metallicities that we derive from the Lick indices Mgb and Fe5270 are in excellent agreement with the metallicity scale by Zinn & West, and we show that the latter provides total metallicity rather than iron abundance.We can reproduce the relatively strong CN-absorption featuresCN1 andCN2 of galactic globular clusters with models in which nitrogen is enhanced by a factor of 3. An enhancement of carbon, instead,would lead to serious inconsistencies with the indices Mg1 and C24668. The calcium sensitive index Ca4227 of globular clusters is well matched by our models with [Ca/Fe] = 0.3, including the metal-rich bulge clusters NGC 6528 and 6553. From our α/Fe-enhanced models we infer that the index [MgFe] defined by Gonzalez is quite independent of α/Fe but still slightly decreases with increasing α/Fe.We find that the index [MgFe] ≡ √ Mgb(0.72 × Fe5270 + 0.28 × Fe5335), instead, is completely independent of α/Fe and serves best as a tracer of total metallicity. Searching for blue indices that give similar information as Mg b and Fe , we find that CN1 and Fe4383 may be best suited to estimating α/Fe ratios of objects at redshifts z ∼ 1.


Building Information Modeling (BIM) for optimizing the total lifecycle cost of buildings is a challenge even today. Inadequate software interoperability, high costs as a result of the fragmented nature of the building industry, lack of standardization, inconsistent technology adoption among stakeholders are just some of the obstacles that architects and engineers face. However, optimization requires a structured procedure that enables continuous changes in design variables and assessment on energy consumption. A holistic building design and construction are already introduced in Europe through the energy performance of buildings directive (EPBD). The requirements have been strengthened by the EPBD recast for achieving cost optimal building designs for the life cycle of the building, moving towards nearly zero energy buildings by the end of the decade. BIM and intelligent services could play a crucial role in these efforts with improved visualization and productivity due to easy retrieval of information, increased coordination of data and exchange of infor- mation, all leading to a reduced cost for the design of energy efficient buildings. An ongoing European research project aims to contribute to these needs by developing a Virtual Energy Laboratory that will support building energy perform- ance simulations taking into account the stochastic nature of input parameters and processes. This will be supported by in- formation communication technology features utilizing the necessary computational power through cloud computing. This paper presents an overview of the ongoing efforts and focuses on results for assessing the impact of different input weather and climate data that are pertinent in building load and energy performance calculations.


Mammalian RNA interference (RNAi) is often linked to the regulation of gene expression in the cytoplasm. Synthetic RNAs, however, can also act through the RNAi pathway to regulate transcription and splicing. While nuclear regulation by synthetic RNAs can be robust, a critical unanswered question is whether endogenous functions for nuclear RNAi exist in mammalian cells. Using enhanced crosslinking immunoprecipitation (eCLIP) in combination with RNA sequencing (RNAseq) and multiple AGO knockout cell lines, we mapped AGO2 protein binding sites within nuclear RNA. The strongest AGO2 binding sites were mapped to micro RNAs (miRNAs). The most abundant miRNAs were distributed similarly between cytoplasm and nucleus, providing no evidence for mechanisms that facilitate localization of miRNAs in one compartment versus the other. Beyond miRNAs, most statistically-significant AGO2 binding was within introns. Splicing changes were confirmed by RT-PCR and were recapitulated by synthetic duplex RNAs and miRNA mimics complementary to the sites of AGO2 binding. These data support the hypothesis that miRNAs can control gene splicing. While nuclear RNAi proteins have the potential to be a natural regulatory mechanism, careful study will be necessary to identify critical RNA drivers of normal physiology and disease.


Aim. To determine the risk factors for health of infants of the first year of life depending on the type of their families. Materials and methods. So as to reveal the risk factors determining the health of the first-year of life infants depending on the type of their families, perinatal anamnesis of 144 infants from full families, 36 from incomplete families and 73 from multi-child families was studied. The work was conducted on the bases of City Children's Clinical Polyclinic №1of Motovilikhinsky region of the city of Perm. Results. While studying the ambulatory health cards it was detected that risk for occurrence of different pathologies was more often registered in children from incomplete and multi-child families. At present there are 9 risk groups singled out. We analyzed the terms of realization of health risk factors for the first-year of life infants from different types of families. In one-month-old infants of the first year of life from full families, reliably more often the following risk factors are realized: 1 (high risk for ARVI, impaired health status during social adaptation), 3 (risk for rickets, anemia, dystrophy) and 5 (pyo-septic and fetal infections). Beginning from the age of 3 months, infants from incomplete families have risk factor 2 (risk for development of CNS pathology) and in multi-child families there is a great possibility for realization of risk factor 4 (risk for congenital and hereditary pathology). Conclusions. When determining the risk factors for first-year of life infants, it is necessary to take into account the type of a family (full, incomplete, multi-child). The revealed terms of risk factors realization in infants should be the basis for development of individual preventive measures.


Using cultural literacy as your foundation when planing library displays, exhibits, and events can ensure not just education on the topics, but also a deeper understanding of other community members, cultures, and ideas.


This guide provides an overview of Note-taking and Sketching Apps, demonstrates the Jot stylus (in Noteshelf) and provides information on similar products and where to find them.


Government support to banks through the provision of explicit or implicit guarantees affects the willingness of banks to take on risk by reducing market discipline or by increasing charter value. We use an international sample of rated banks and find that government support is associated with more risk taking by banks, especially prior and during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. We also find that restricting banks' range of activities ameliorates the link between government support and bank risk taking. We conclude that strengthening market discipline by reducing bank complexity is needed to address this moral hazard problem.


Division of the ancestral prokaryotic genome into two circular double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecules by genetic recombination, is a basis for the future separate evolution of the nuclear and mitochondrial gene compartment. This suggests monophyletic origin of both mitochondrion and nucleus. Presumed organism which genome undergoes genetic recombination has to be searched among an aerobic, oxygen non-producing archaeon with no rigid cell wall, but a plasma membrane, probably an crenarchaeota containing functional bacteriochlorophyll a synthase gene and histones. In this proposal, origin of eukaryotes occur by a three-steps. First, replication fork pauses and collapses generating a breakage in the genome of archaeal ancestor of eukaryotes. Second, the double-strand break can be repaired intergenomically by complementary strands invasion. Third, this duplicated genome can be fissioned into two compartments by reciprocal genetic recombination. Scenario is accomplished by aberrant fission of the inner membane surrounding separately those two compartments.

 Key words: Origin of nucleus, origin of mitochondrion.


Despite development of new diagnostic and therapeutic methods bleeding from peptic ulcer is still associated with high rate of complications and mortality. Apart from endoscopic therapy, pharmacological treatment is of great importance. Affecting platelet aggregation and fibrin formation low pH level of gastric juice impairs processes of coagulation. The fastest and most stable control of acid secretion is achieved by proton pump inhibitors. In the cases of active bleeding from peptic ulcer or signs of recent bleeding such as visible vessel or adhering clot, administration of high doses of proton pump inhibitors by continuous intravenous infusion significantly reduces bleeding recurrence rate. Among patients with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, eradication of the bacteria after bleeding episode is mandatory.


Background : Shishu Bikash Kendra (SBK or Child Development Center) of the Dhaka Shishu (Children's) Hospital (DSH) has been using a multidisciplinary approach for assessment and management of children with various neurodevelopmental disorders since its establishment in 1991. In the past decade, a major proportion have presented with a range of emotional and behavioural problems. This paper aims to describe the types of child psychiatric disorders and the multidisciplinary team approach used in this centre for diagnosis and management of these children. Patients and Methods : Clinical records of 300 children who were assessed by the Child Mental Health Clinic of SBK during April 2004 to December 2006 were analyzed. These children were among the 1648 children who were referred for behavioural problems after having a General Developmental assessment (GDA). Children received services by a team comprising of child health physicians, child neurologists, child psychologists, developmental therapists and psychosocial counselors and a social worker. Psychiatric conditions were diagnosed using the multi-axial diagnostic guidelines of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). The role of various clinics of the SBK to address specific aspects of a child's mental health condition is described. Results: Of the 300 children seen 55% were of primary school age (ie, between 5-10 years), boys comprising 71%. The majority (94%) could be categorized into a psychiatric condition. Sixty three percent had a developmental problem. In addition, with 44% children having some intellectual deficit. Sixty one percent had an associated neurological or general medical condition. It was important to note also that 54% had some form of psychosocial adversity which needed immediate help. Commonest psychiatric diagnosis was Hyperkinetic Disorders (33%) followed by Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and other Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD) (27%). Conclusion : Psychiatric morbidity is a common presentation among children who come to the child development and neurodisability service. If Child Mental Health professionals work with a multidisciplinary team within a child development service such as SBK, it may best utilize the multiaxial diagnosis system. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjch.v35i3.10385 Bangladesh J Child Health 2011; Vol 35 (3): 84-89


THESIS: Establishment of a Normalcy Index for Gait Patterns in Healthy Adults STUDENT: Jerry Lewis Clark II DEGREE: Master of Science COLLEGE: Physical Education, Sport, & Exercise Science DATE: November, 2010 PAGES: 85 Currently normalcy indices have not been used to evaluate the gait of normal healthy adults. The purpose of this study was to assess the appropriateness of using a normalcy index in assessing gait patterns by investigating normalcy indices of different compositions created from an adult population. Thirty-seven normal and healthy subjects between the ages of nineteen and sixty-six underwent a clinical gait analysis. Ten trials from the left and right sides of the body were averaged. From the averaged data, sixteen kinematic variables were chosen for further analysis. Principal component analysis was applied to the variables and four separate normalcy indices were formed. They consisted of a right side, left side, left and right combined, and average of both sides indices. For the left side index, 23.41% of the variance was accounted for in the principle component. In the right side index, 25.35% of the variance was accounted for. 25.45% and 23.95% of the variance was accounted by the PC in the average of both sides and the left and right combined indices. The mean index scores of the left and right indices are 6.48 and 8.38. Index score for the average of both sides and left-right combined indices is 6.80. A paired samples t-test showed that the left and right indices were significantly different at the .01 level. The mean of the index from both sides and the left-right combined were not significantly different with an alpha of 0.969. The significant difference between the left and right side indices suggests that with further refinement, normalcy indices may possibly be used to assess the symmetry of gait


The authors describe two theoretical checks that can be used to assess the accuracy of MOM (method of moments) code predictions for 3D bodies with coatings modeled by an impedance boundary condition. These are based on Weston's theorem and energy/momentum conservation. As an example of how Weston's theorem can be applied to numerical calculations using the IBC3D code, the authors examine an isotropically coated pyramid. Energy conservation was used to assess the accuracy of surface field prediction for a coated elliptic cylinder.<<ETX>>


The purpose of this paper is to investigate the long run relationship of Industrialization and Economic Growth in Pakistan. The time series data from 1976-2015 is used. The main source of data is World Development Indicator (WDI). Gross Domestic Product is used as dependent variable, while Industrial Output, Foreign Direct Investment, Saving and Inflation are used as the independent variables. The ARDL testing Approach has been applied on the data. After it, the stability of the function was tested by CUSUM. The results of ARDL bound testing reveals the long run association between industrial output and GDP. This study shows that an increase in Industrial Output increases the Gross Domestic Product in Pakistan. In the end, the stability of results is confirmed by CUSUM test.


Logistic regression analysis was performed on data drawn from a clinical trials database for Staphylococcus aureus septicaemia treated with teicoplanin. Variables analysed were age, body weight, mean pre-dose and post-dose serum teicoplanin concentrations, mean dose (mg or mg/kg body weight) and combination versus monotherapy. Only two variables correlated with clinical outcome at a significance level better than 0.05: age (P = 0.012) and mean pre-dose serum concentration (P = 0.010). The probability of successful treatment declined with age and increased with mean pre-dose serum concentration.


Increasing user engagement is constant challenge for Intelligent Tutoring Systems researchers. A current trend in the ITS field is to increase engagement of proven learning systems by integrating them within games, or adding in game like components. Incorporating proven learning methods within a game based environment is expected to add to the overall experience without detracting from the original goals, however, the current study demonstrates two important issues with regard to ITS design. First, effective designs from the physical world do not always translate into the digital world. Second, games do not necessarily improve engagement, and in some cases, they may have the opposite effect. The current study discusses the development and a brief assessment of MiBoard a multiplayer collaborative online board game designed to closely emulate a previously developed physical board game, iSTART: The Board Game.


The relaxation of an electron beam, with thermal spread, entering a partially ionised plasma has been studied taking into account all sorts of binary collisions. The kinetic approach has been used and the problem has been solved as a boundary value problem. It has been found that the relaxation of a beam depends on the relative location of the spectrum of excitation levels in comparison with beam electron energy. Moreover, the collisions with excitation energies much less than the beam energy are mainly responsible for the thermalisation of the beam. Numerical calculations have been done for a mercury discharge.


The ability of NQO2 to increase the production of free radicals under enhanced generation of quinone derivatives of catecholamines is considered to be a component of neurodegenerative disease pathogenesis. The present study aimed to investigate the neuroprotective mechanisms of original NQO2 inhibitor M-11 (2-[2-(3-oxomorpholin-4-il)-ethylthio]-5-ethoxybenzimidazole hydrochloride) in a cellular damage model using NQO2 endogenous substrate adrenochrome (125 µM) and co-substrate BNAH (100 µM). The effects of M-11 (10–100 µM) on the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, apoptosis and lesion of nuclear DNA were evaluated using flow cytometry and single-cell gel electrophoresis assay (comet assay). Results were compared with S29434, the reference inhibitor of NQO2. It was found that treatment of HT-22 cells with M-11 results in a decline of ROS production triggered by incubation of cells with NQO2 substrate and co-substrate. Pre-incubation of HT-22 cells with compounds M-11 or S29434 results in a decrease of DNA damage and late apoptotic cell percentage reduction. The obtained results provide a rationale for further development of the M-11 compound as a potential neuroprotective agent.


Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) is a good choice for UAV navigation when both UAV's position and region map are not known. Due to nonlinearity of kinematic equations of a UAV, Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) and Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) are employed. In this study, EKF and UKF based A-SLAM concepts are discussed in details by presenting the formulations and simulation results. The UAV kinematic model and the state-observation models for EKF and UKF based A-SLAM methods are developed to analyze the filters' consistencies. Analysis during landmark observation exhibits an inconsistency in the form of a jagged UAV trajectory. It has been found that unobservable subspaces and the Jacobien matrices used for linearization are two major sources of the inconsistencies observed. UKF performs better in terms of filter consistency since it does not require the Jacobien matrix linearization.


OBJECTIVES
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines for anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) state that two pre-assessments of Disease Activity Score (DAS28) should be performed a month apart. We performed a retrospective audit of data from six centres to determine the stability of DAS28 between assessments, and the proportion of patients still satisfying eligibility criteria at baseline.

METHODS
All RA patients assessed for anti-TNF from six centres had their pre-assessment DAS28 (DAS-1) compared with their baseline DAS28 (DAS0) using paired t-tests, and a similar analysis for the components of the DAS28. Patients who were no longer eligible for anti-TNF at DAS0 were noted.

RESULTS
Six hundred and seventy-nine RA patients showed no significant change in the DAS28, with a mean DAS-1 of 6.74 and DAS0 of 6.73. (P = 0.86). Of the patients, 97.2% fulfilled the UK eligibility criteria at DAS0. Comparison of the individual components of the DAS28 between the two pre-assessment dates showed that there was no significant difference between either the numbers of swollen joints or the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), but there was a significant increase in the numbers of tender joints of 1.41 (P < 0.001) and in the visual analogue scale (VAS) of 4.22 (P < 0.001).

DISCUSSION
The overwhelming majority of patients who fulfil eligibility criteria for anti-TNF drugs 1 month prior to baseline also fulfil the criteria at baseline. There is no significant change in the DAS28 over the month waiting to go onto anti-TNF therapy. A single assessment of the DAS28 would suffice to enable patients to go on to anti-TNF treatment.


A kind of construction plan of remote monitoring system of mine vehicle based on wireless sensor network is proposed in this paper. Monitoring system uses the sensor nodes deployed on the vehicles, to collect pressure, velocity, mileage, oil level value, and data to the ARM (Advanced RISC Machines) -based information processing terminal, and then from the terminal through the WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) wireless network transmits data real-timely to the monitoring center. Monitoring Center reads, parses, stores data, real-timely monitors and distributes the data to remote users. Anomalies in the data, the system issued a warning exception. System implements real-time monitoring of mine vehicle, Installed and used on the mine vehicle SGA3722 made in Shougang Heavy Vehicle Factory. The system is suitable for mine vehicle of Oil gas suspension fork on front and rear suspension system, helpful to improve the mine vehicles' transportation efficiency and security.


Background and Objectives The American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists has opposed postpartum tubal ligation (PPTL) in patients whose pregnancies have been complicated by a medical condition, including hypertension. A prospective study was conducted to assess the appropriateness of spinal anesthesia for PPTL in patients with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. Methods After institutional review board approval and written informed consent, women scheduled for PPTL were enrolled. The hypertensive group (n = 25) consisted of women whose pregnancies were complicated by gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, or chronic hypertension with superimposed preeclampsia. For each hypertensive patient, a matched control was designated by selecting the next consenting normotensive patient scheduled for PPTL. After an intravenous bolus of lactated ringers solution 500 mL, spinal anesthesia was induced with hyperbaric lidocaine. Hemodynamic measurements were recorded every 2 minutes for 20 minutes after spinal injection. Ephedrine IV was administered for systolic blood pressure ≤90 mm Hg. Results The mean preoperative mean blood pressure (MAP) was 107 ± 17 mm Hg in the hypertensive group and 85 ± 11 mm Hg in the controls, P < .0001. The hypertensive group sustained a more profound percentage decrease in MAP than did their control counterparts during spinal anesthesia (29% ± 12% v 15% ± 8%, P < .0001). However, the lowest intraoperative MAP was similar in both groups. Thirty-five percent of hypertensive patients and 24% of the controls received ephedrine IV. Conclusions PPTL during spinal anesthesia in patients whose pregnancies have been complicated by hypertension had results comparable with patients with uncomplicated pregnancies; however, further studies are needed to ascertain its safety.


anti semitism the road to the holocaust and beyond is available in our book collection an online access to it is set as public so you can download it instantly. Our books collection spans in multiple locations, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Kindly say, the anti semitism the road to the holocaust and beyond is universally compatible with any devices to read.


Diarrhea in foals is a problem of significant clinical and economic consequence, and there are good reasons to believe microbiota manipulation can play an important role in its management. However, given the dynamic development of the foal microbiota and its importance in health and disease, any prophylactic or therapeutic efforts to alter its composition should be evidence based. The few clinical trials of probiotic preparations conducted in foals to date show underwhelming evidence of efficacy and a demonstrated potential to aggravate rather than mitigate diarrhea. Furthermore, recent studies have affirmed that variable but universally inadequate quality control of probiotics enables inadvertent administration of toxin-producing or otherwise pathogenic bacterial strains, as well as strains bearing transferrable antimicrobial resistance genes. Consequently, it seems advisable to approach probiotic therapy in particular with caution for the time being. While prebiotics show initial promise, an even greater scarcity of clinical trials makes it impossible to weigh the pros and cons of their use. Advancing technology will surely continue to enable more detailed and accurate mapping of the equine adult and juvenile microbiota and potentially elucidate the complexities of causation in dysbiosis and disease. In the meantime, fecal microbiota transplantation may be an attractive therapeutic shortcut, allowing practitioners to reconstruct a healthy microbiota even without fully understanding its constitution.


Proceedings: AACR 107th Annual Meeting 2016; April 16-20, 2016; New Orleans, LA

Breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA1 is well known for its function in double strand break (DSB) DNA repair. While BRCA1 is also implicated in transcriptional regulation, the physiological significance remains unclear. Cofactor of BRCA1 (COBRA1) is a BRCA1-binding protein and an important regulator of transcription elongation. Here we used mouse genetics to interrogate functional interaction between BRCA1 and COBRA1 during mammary gland development. Tissue-specific deletion of Cobra1 reduced mammary epithelial compartments and blocked ductal morphogenesis, alveologenesis, and lactogenesis, demonstrating a pivotal role of COBRA1 in adult tissue development. Remarkably, these developmental deficiencies due to Cobra1 knockout were largely rescued by additional loss of full-length Brca1. Furthermore, Brca1/Cobra1 double knockout restored developmental transcription at puberty, altered luminal epithelial homeostasis, yet remained deficient in homologous recombination-based DSB repair. Thus our genetic suppression analysis uncovers a previously unappreciated, DNA repair-independent function of BRCA1 in antagonizing COBRA1-dependent transcription program during mammary gland development.

Citation Format: Xiaowen Zhang, Sreejith J. Nair, Huai-Chin Chiang, Yao Wang, Md Jamiul Jahid, Jianhua Ruan, Victor X. Jin, Yanfen Hu, Rong Li. Genetic suppression reveals DNA repair-independent antagonism between BRCA1 and COBRA1 in mammary gland development. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2874.


The housing market is special in that houses are immobile, costly and durable. In this paper we look at the determinants of prices of the housing market of Almaty. What affects the prices of houses and apartments? How was the housing market developing during the economic boom and after the financial crisis started? The paper starts with a review of the existing models. The theory indicates the size, quality and location as the main determinants. To apply the hedonic model, we collected a random sample of about 2,500 observations on housing units in seven districts of Almaty from newspaper advertisements. Those units were categorized by the number of rooms, quality, district, floor, etc. Some of those characteristics are nonnumerical and require dummy variables. With the data collected, we ran several regressions in Eviews. We have obtained valuation figures for different characteristics of housing units. The data clearly show existence of a bubble during 2006-2007. The regression results revealed the differences between different districts, dependence on the quality and floor. Among unexpected results are the facts that corner apartments and floor level have negative coefficients, perhaps because first-floor apartments are considered as potential commercial property or perhaps lower stories are preferred in general but the first storey is the least preferred. Some questions, such as valuation of luxury apartments or those in the north of the city remain unanswered because of lack of data. It would be also interesting to correlate housing prices with the interest rate on mortgages. A shorter version of this paper has been published as K. T. Mynbaev and S. Ibrayeva, Housing market of Almaty, Herald of the Kazakh-British Technical University, N 2 (17), 2011, 88-93.


Cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases (PDE) represent a superfamily of enzymes specialised in the degradation of cAMP and cGMP. In heart, PDE3 and PDE4 are the two major families involved in the regulation of cAMP levels and the control of inotropism. Both families are encoded by several genes, and the recent analysis of the cardiac phenotype of mice lacking these different genes provided new insights into the way they regulate excitation-contraction coupling (ECC). In particular, these studies emphasize the local character of ECC regulation by PDE, as well as the role of these PDE in maintaining calcium homeostasis and preventing cardiac arrhythmias.


Eight women with deliveries after undergone two and more cesarean section are described. Delivery occurred vaginally in 6 of them, but cesarean section was performed in two of them, whose indications were diagnosed after full dilatation of the cervical canal because of nonadvancement of delivery. A review of literature on this question is presented. Taking into consideration the literary data and their own observations an opinion is expressed that there is basis for a change in the present management of pregnant women with two and more undergone cesarean sections and is proposed to accept the concept for "trial of labor"--evaluation of the cases for vaginal delivery and those for elective cesarean section, taking into consideration criteria for delivery after cesarean section.


This work comprises three different projects dealing with the interplay of cellular locomotion and adhesion to establish a better understanding of the response of cells to their environment. In the first part of this thesis the dependence of migration and adhesion of Xenopus laevis primordial germ cell (PGCs) on E-cadherin expression was investigated. With single cell force spectroscopy (SCFS) different stages during embryogenesis were analyzed. Here we found that the adhesion force between migratory PGCs and the cadherin-coated surface was significantly reduced compared to non-migratory PGCs and reached almost the level of E-cadherin knock down PGCs. Secondly, the influence of the biological process epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) on cellular locomotion and adhesion was investigated. In this project the cell-substrate distance alteration during EMT on mouse breast epithelial cells (NMuMG) was analyzed by metal induced energy transfer (MIET) and electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS). The results demonstrated that in the very first hours of the transition the cell-substrate distance increased and in the course of the transition the distance is reduced again to the level of untreated cells and stayed constant for the mesenchymal state. The last project shed light on the alteration of biochemical properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in response to the knock-out of the surface receptor discoidin domain receptor 2 (DDR2) in mice. Therefore the stiffness of dermal skin was analyzed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and rheometry. Both methods confirmed that in response of the DDR2 knock out the dermis of mice became significantly stiffer than the wild type. This could make the DDR2 knock out mice a suitable model to investigate the mechanobiological effect of the environment during tumor progression.


Abstract Sedimentological data for stochastic modelling purposes consist both of qualitative and of 'hard' numerical data from reservoir-equivalent outcrops. Data requirements are defined prior to collection of the actual field data-base, and standard procedures for the collection and classification of these data are established. Required data are on individual sandbodies, such as genetic type, geometry, palaeoflow and size; and on the 2D and 3D sedimentary architecture (spatial distribution, interconnectedness). Validity of the data-requirement definition, and feasibility of data acquisition for specific stochastic modelling purposes, were tested in reservoir-equivalent outcrops of distal fluvial fan deposits of Tertiary age in the Loranca Basin in central Spain. Several sandbody genetic types were recognized: meander-loop deposits, channel-fill deposits, crevasse-channel and crevasse-splay deposits and deltaic deposits. Statistical processing of the numerical outcrop data showed that meander-loop deposits are thicker, wider and present higher linearinterconnectedness values than channel-fill deposits.


Nafion®-117 was exposed to supercritical fluid (SCF) CO2 and a cation solution using two different approaches: first was processed with SCF CO2, and then exchanged using six different cations: K+1, Ca+2, Ba+2, Cu+2, Fe+3, and Al+3. The second method performed the cation substitution first, followed by the SCF CO2 processing. The resulting composite membranes were characterized using several techniques: thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). These techniques were used to identify the changes in the chemical and thermal properties of the membranes, as well as to evaluate changes in the resulting morphologies and crystallinities. Proton conductivity and methanol permeability were measured to understand how the different approaches promoted or inhibited the transport of certain substances through the membrane. Significant differences in their thermal, physical and transport properties were observed when Nafion® was processed with SCF CO2 and exchanged with cations. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013


ABSTRACT Data from population-based laboratory surveillance were used to examine the epidemiological pattern of campylobacteriosis in a sentinel site, Split-Dalmatia County (SDC),Croatia, from 2007 to 2012, and to evaluate the association between disease incidence and demographic, geographical, climatic, agricultural, and microbiological factors. A total of 2658 laboratory-confirmed Campylobacter infections were recorded. Overall mean incidence was 96/100,000, ranging from 61/100,000 in rural to 131/100,000 in urban areas; rates were highest in the age group 0–4 years. Overall mean and age- and sex-specific incidences were significantly higher in urban versus rural areas (p < 0.01). The number of infections peaked in early summer, and was correlated with higher average monthly temperature (r = 0.58) and lower humidity (r = − 0.27), but not with precipitation. Incidence was not associated with agricultural activities. A distinct campylobacteriosis pattern with consistently higher urban versus rural incidence was observed, which may help formulate further preventive measures.


In a plasma interacting with ultra-short, high-intensity laser pulses, the magnetic part of the Lorentz force on the electrons can become as important as the electric part. In this case, we can expect the magnetic field to change the pattern of the nonlinear laser-pulse - plasma interaction drastically. The relativistic nonlinearities introduced by the magnetic interaction are of general interest in relation to the field of ultra-strong electromagnetic waves propagating in media, high-energy space plasmas and laser - plasma interaction under laboratory conditions. We present a summary of analytical and numerical results concerning the generation of quasi-static magnetic fields by high-intensity laser pulses in underdense plasmas and in thin plasma foils, and discuss the dynamical effects of these fields on the plasma motion and on the pulse propagation. This analysis indicates that phenomena such as current pinching, reconnection of magnetic-field lines and vortex propagation etc, that have been previously discussed in the case of space and laboratory plasmas, are also important for laser - plasma interactions.


Based on the observations in rhodonite (Mn,Ca)s[Si5015], errors in the periodicity of the tetrahedral chains in babingtonite were expected; they are confirmed by high-resolution electron microscopy. These errors are arranged mainly into planar chain periodicity faults (CPF). Deviations of the faults from planarity, such as terminations and alterations of the fault units, have been found. 57Fe M6ssbauer studies show that the frequency of CPF's is not controlled by positional disorder of the cations.


Data on the methods of 2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-pyrido[4,3-b]indoles synthesis has been surveyed. The synthetic accessibility of various derivatives of these heterocycles has been demonstrated. It has been shown that such compounds exhibit a broad spectrum of pharmacological activity and hold interest for medicinal chemistry.


The perovskite La1/3Sr2/3FeO3−δ was investigated by neutron diffraction, magnetic and Mossbauer spectroscopy measurements. La1/3Sr2/3FeO3−δ undergoes magnetic ordering at T = 190–200 K accompanied by charge disproportionation. Magnetic peaks due to charge ordering are observed below 200 K. The charge ordering is gradually developed below 200 K along with a charge disproportionation, 2Fe4+ Fe3+ + Fe5+. La1/3Sr2/3FeO3−δ shows an antiferromagnetic structure at low temperature. Magnetic moments of about 3 and 1.3 μB were obtained from the neutron diffraction data refinement for Fe3+ and Fe5+ at 15 K, respectively, which suggest that both Fe ions are in a low spin state. These values are significantly lower than those reported by Battle et al for La1/3Sr2/3FeO2.98. Mossbauer spectra indicate that full charge ordering might be reached below 20 K with no Fe4+.


The authors describe work-in-progress on a configuration facility for a multi-site software development environment. The environment supports collaboration among geographically-dispersed teams of software developers. Addition and deletion of local subenvironment sites to a global environment is performed interactively inside any one of the existing local subenvironments, with the same user interface normally employed for invoking software development tools. This registration process is defined and executed using the same notation and mechanisms, respectively, as for the software development process. Everything described by the authors has been implemented and is working, but since they are in the midst of experimentation, they do not expect that the "final" system will be exactly as described.<<ETX>>


Bullying as an anti-social behaviour among in-school adolescents have lately become a significant concern for teachers, parents, psychologists and society in general due to the negative consequences these behaviour has on the teachinglearning process. In view of this, the study adopts a descriptive survey research design of ex-post factor type. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 12 local government areas out of 137 local government areas in South West Nigeria, making two each from the six states. Also, simple random sampling technique was used to select 2300 participants for the study from 60 public secondary schools across the 12 local government areas in South Western States used for the study. Five instruments used were Bullying Prevalence Questionnaire (BPQ), Peer Pressure Inventory (PPI), General Self-Efficacy (GSE), Parental Monitoring and Family Parenting Style. Data were analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Multiple Regression. The independent variables made a joint contributive effect of variation in the prediction of perceived bullying among in-school adolescents. Also, there was significant relationship between peer influence and perceived bullying behaviour among in-school adolescents. Likewise, there was significant relationship between self-efficacy and perceived bullying behaviour among in-school adolescents. Similarly, there was significant relationship between parental monitoring and perceived bullying behaviour among in-school adolescents. Furthermore, there was significant relationship between family style and bullying behaviour among in-school adolescents. Therefore, it was recommended that Adolescents should be given appropriate orientation on the danger of negative peer influence on their well-being and the need to avoid the expression of violence in their relationship with their peers. Also, schools should endeavour to organize social reawakening activities that will enable in-school adolescents appreciate the need to develop friendly attitude instead of being a bully.


Management of pain and symptoms extends beyond just physical relief.
Approach requires evaluation, explanation, individualised treatment, supervision and attention to detail.
Causal factors include cancer, treatment, debility and concurrent disorder.
Treatment depends on the underlying pathological mechanism.
Flexibility is key to managing cancer patients.
Morphine is the opioid of choice.
Choose drugs carefully as their side-effects can also compromise quality of life.


The effects of increasing amounts of mineral nitrogen (90, 120, 150 kg·ha-1) liquid (80 t·ha-1) and solid manure (45 t·ha-1) those of inoculation with Azotobacter chroococcum (the strain 84) on the soil proteolytic activity and corn yield grown in monoculture were surveyed over the 3-year-long research work. The research results indicated that proteolytic activity and corn yield depended highly on the fertiliser sorts, amounts and on the research year too. Over the first research year, the highest proteolytic activity was recorded on the variants with organic fertilisers, whereas the fertiliser stimulating effect markedly decreased, particularly with liquid manure over the following two years of the research. Mineral fertilisers were also found to remarkably stimulate the biological parameters we have been concerned above, particularly the mean N amount (120 kg · ha-1). While the highest corn yield could be obtained using 120 kg N · ha-1 throughout all the research years, its insignificant rise and barely altered soil proteolytic activity using corn seed inoculation with 84 Azotobacter chroococcum could be noticed.


This paper studies privacy issues related to epidemiological studies. Epidemiological studies need to preserve the privacy of subjects because they use personal information. Thus, privacy is preserved using a secure scalar product protocol based on a public-key cryptosystem and the secure function evaluation. However, the secure function evaluation has performance limitations in evaluating a product and a squared root. Therefore, this paper proposes a new computationally efficient scheme for privacy-preserving epidemiological analysis. The performance and the security of the proposed scheme are evaluated based on its trial implementation.


A two-sided indefinite interpolation problem in the class of gen- eralized Nevanlinna pairs is considered. In the case where the Pick matrix is nondegenerate a solvability criterion for the problem is given. All solutions of the problem are described as a fractional linear transformations of a parame- ter from a subclass of the Nevanlinna class. The nondegenerate interpolation problem in the generalized Stieltjes class has the same solution matrix and the parameter ranges over a subclass of the Stieltjes class. Sucient condi- tions for the problems to have no excluded parameters are given in terms of the reproducing kernel matrices.


Metamaterials are poised to transform nonlinear optics Nonlinear optics investigates the light-matter interactions in media, in which the dielectric polarization of the medium responds nonlinearly to the electric and/or magnetic field of the light. Materials with the potential for a large, fast, and broadband nonlinear response have been explored for decades; if realized, these would revolutionize nonlinear optics, leading to low-power, compact, and ultrafast applications. However, the materials now available are limited, either by relatively low nonlinear susceptibilities for ultrafast nonlinear processes or by slow response times attributable to photorefractive effect and thermal nonlinear phenomena. Moreover, growing demand for integration of multiple optoelectronic functionalities on a chip calls for nonlinear materials that are compatible with standard fabrication approaches, such as complementary metal-oxide semiconductor technology. Metamaterials have been predicted to enable a plethora of novel light-matter interactions, including magnetic nonlinear response, backward phase-matching, and the nonlinear mirror (1–3). Linear optical properties such as dielectric permittivity, magnetic permeability, and refractive index can be designed to be positive, negative, or even zero by properly tailoring various properties of meta-atoms (the unit cells of metamaterials). Engineering nonlinear properties of metamaterials beyond those available in nature may be feasible by judiciously designing their quantum, geometric, and topological properties (4).


We investigated excitation spectra of the one-dimensional chain compound Sr2CuO3. The small peak at 2.3 eV in the loss function turned out to correspond to the strong charge-transfer transition at 1.8 eV in conductivity. It has the excitonic character expected in one-dimensional extended Hubbard model of the transition from the lower Hubbard band to the Zhang-Rice singlet state. The strongest peak at 2.7 eV in the loss function is attributed to the continuum excitation of the excitonic charge-transfer transition. The spectral weight sum rule is satisfied within these transitions.


Abstract Background Susceptibility of children and adults to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and persistence of antibody response to the virus after infection resolution remain poorly understood, despite their significant public health implications. Methods A prospective cross-sectional seroprevalence study with volunteer families that included at least 1 first-reported adult case positive by SARS-CoV-2 by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and at least 1 child aged <15 years living in the same household under strict home confinement was conducted in the metropolitan Barcelona Health Region, Spain, during the pandemic period 28 April 2020–3 June 2020. All household members were tested at home using a rapid SARS-CoV-2 antibody assay with finger prick–obtained capillary blood. Results A total of 381 family households including 381 first-reported PCR-positive adult cases and 1084 contacts (672 children, 412 adults) were enrolled. SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence rates were 17.6% (118 of 672) in children and 18.7% (77 of 335) in adult contacts (P = .64). Among first-reported cases, seropositivity rates varied from 84.0% in adults previously hospitalized and tested within 6 weeks since the first positive PCR result to 31.5% in those not hospitalized and tested after that lag time (P < .001). Nearly all (99.9%) positive children were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms. Conclusions Children appear to have similar probability as adults to become infected by SARS-CoV-2 in quarantined family households but remain largely asymptomatic. Adult antibody protection against SARS-CoV-2 seems to be weak beyond 6 weeks post-infection confirmation, especially in cases that have experienced mild disease.


Abstract Introduction In tennis, knowledge of the characteristics of different playing styles is essential to achieve the desired results and to improve specialized technical-tactical procedures according to the playing surface on which the match is played, together with the individual and opponents' peculiarities. Purpose Adopting a style of play that is suited to the individual characteristics of the player, the opponent and the characteristics of the playing surface can improve the chances of winning for the player who is mostly on the defensive. This comparative study aims to highlight the differences between the two players in a tournament on a slow surface, using the chosen methods and means. Methods The main research method was the method of analysing the 6 matches using different statistical indices. In doing so, the average results of all 6 matches played by the two players up to the final were compared with the results of the statistical indices of the final match. For this study we have selected the main indices for the topic. Results The results of the study showed that a defensive player spends more time on the court during a tournament. With the help of data analysis and recordings, it can be observed that the offensive or defensive player stands out according to the studied parameters. Some parameters are specific to a style of play. Also, a defensive player with good speed and agility can adapt more easily on a slow surface (clay). Conclusions The playing surface can negatively affect the results obtained in major tournaments if the emphasis in training is not placed on developing a game adapted to individual characteristics. Also, the player who can adapt during the match has a better chance of winning a Grand Slam tournament.


Purpose: Cutis verticis gyrata(CVG) is a morphologic syndrome, typically occurring on the scalp, characterized by varing development of permanent folds and furrows conferring a corrugated or convoluted appearance which resembles the outer surface of the cerebrum. Cutis verticis gyrata can be categorized into primary and secondary types according to various etiologic factors and associated conditions which cause disease process. Methods: We report a case of essential primary cutis verticis gyrata in a 24-year-old male who did not have any other underlying or associated conditions. Results: After we made an incision to the galea aponeurotica of patient's scalp four times under local anesthesia, we dissected along the subapponeurotic layer and adjusted the flaps each other, and then sutured the flap. Conclusion: After the operation, the clear margin disappeared and it did not recur.


Theory of non-adiabatic electron-vibration interactions has been applied to the study of MgB2 superconductivity. It has been shown that at the non-adiabatic conditions when the Born-Oppenheimer approximation is not valid, and electronic motion is dependent not only on the nuclear coordinates but also on the nuclear momenta, the fermionic ground state energy of some systems can be stabilised by electron-phonon interactions at broken translation symmetry and an energy gap in one-particle metalic spectrum can be opened. More over, the new arising state is geometricaly degenerate – i.e., there is an infinite number of different nuclear configurations with the same fermionic ground state enegy. The superconducting state transition can be characterised as a Non-Adiabatic Sudden Increase of the Cooperative Kinetic Effect at Lattice Energy Stabilization (NASICKELES). Comparing to the experiments, the model study of MgB2 yields very good results. Calculated Tc is 39.5 K, and density of states exhibits two-gap character in full agreement with the tunneling spectra. The peaks are at +/-4 meV that is connected to band and at +/-7.6 meV for band


Firms often mindlessly adopt IT due to institutional pressure, which often leads to hastened and irrational decisions. Institutional pressure is therefore often considered as a negative effect on IT adoption. That is because little literature investigates into the adaptation effect after IT adoption due to institutional pressure. We advocate that institutional pressure indeed has a catalyzing effect on IT adoption in general, but firms can still mindfully correct the hastened decisions into a competitive advantage over time. We call this phenomenon dynamic isomorphism, which describes the IT adaptation process after institutional pressure. We propose to investigate in dynamic isomorphism by the use of a cross-case analysis, as it can provide an in-depth explanation of the proposed phenomenon.


Luminescent carbene-metal-amide complexes bearing group 11 metals (Cu, Ag, Au) have recently attracted great attention due to their exceptional emission efficiency and high radiative decay rates (kr). These materials provide a less costly alternative to organic light-emitting diode (OLED) emitters based on more scarce metals, such as Ir and Pt. Herein, a series of eight Cu(I) complexes bearing as yet unexplored 1,3-thiazoline carbenes have been investigated and analyzed with respect to their light emission properties and OLED application. For the first time among the class of copper-based organometallic compounds the formation of efficient electroluminescent excimers is demonstrated. The prevalence of electroluminescence (EL) from either the monomer (bluish green) or the excimer (orange-red) can be adjusted in vacuum-deposited emissive layers by altering the extent of steric encumbrance of the emitter or its concentration. Optimized conditions in terms of the emitter structure and mass fraction allowed a simultaneous EL from the monomer and excimer, which laid the basis for a preparation of a single-emitter white OLED (WOLED) with external quantum efficiency of 16.5% and a maximum luminance of over 40000 cd m-2. Wide overlapping emission bands of the monomer and excimer ensure a device color rendering index (CRI) of above 80. In such a way the prospects of copper complexes as cost-effective materials for lighting devices are demonstrated, offering expense reduction through a cheaper emissive component and a simplified device architecture.


The Bled eConference quite often gets connected to the notion of eRegion. Therefore in this paper we will have a closer look at how the idea of an eRegion has been addressed by the conference over the past. After briefly looking at the emergence of the term eRegion, we summarize the contribution of the Bled eConference to the field of eRegion in the Research Track as well as in the Business Track. Whereas in the Research Track contributions have focused mostly on developing existing regions through ICT means, the Business Track activities tackle especially cross-border challenges between regions.


The densification of CaLa2S4 (CLS) powders prepared by combustion method was investigated by the use of Field‐Assisted Sintering Technique (FAST) and Hot Pressing (HP). CLS powders were sintered using FAST at 1000°C at different pressures and heating rates and sintered by HP under 120 MPa from 800°C to 1100°C for 6 hours with a heating rate of 10°C/min. Comparison of both techniques was further realized by use of the same conditions of pressure, dwell time, and heating rate. Complementary techniques (XRD, SEM‐EDS, density measurements, FTIR spectroscopy) were employed to correlate the sintering processes/parameters to the microstructural/compositional developments and optical transmission of the ceramics. Both sintering techniques produce ceramics with submicrometer grain size and relative density of about 99%. Nevertheless, HP is more suitable to densify CLS ceramics without fragmentation and also reach higher transmission than FAST. Transmission of 40%–45% was measured out of a possible maximum of 69% based on the Fresnel losses in the 8‐14 μm window when HP is applied at 1000°C for 6 hours under 120 MPa. In both techniques, ceramics undergo reduction issues that originate from graphitic sintering atmosphere.


We show how to test hypotheses for coefficient alpha in three different situations: (1) Hypothesis tests of whether coefficient alpha equals a prespecified value. (2) Hypothesis tests involving two statistically independent sample alphas as may arise when testing the equality of coefficient alpha across groups. (3) Hypothesis tests involving two statistically dependent sample alphas as may arise when testing the equality of alpha across time, or when testing the equality of alpha for two test scores within the same sample. We illustrate how these hypotheses may be tested in a structural equation modeling framework under the assumption of normally distributed responses and also under asymptotically distribution free (ADF) assumptions. The formulas for the hypothesis tests and computer code are given for four different applied examples.


We construct a model of offshoring with externalities and firm heterogeneity. Due to the presence of externalities, temporary shocks like the Y2K problem can have permanent effects, i.e., they can permanently raise the extent of offshoring in an industry. Also, the initial advantage of a country as a potential host for outsourcing activities can create a lock in effect, whereby late movers have a comparative disadvantage. Furthermore, the existence of firm heterogeneity along with externalities can help explain the dynamic process of offshoring, where the most productive firms offshore first and the others follow later. Finally, we work out some unexpected welfare implications which show that net industry profits can be lower in an outsourcing equilibrium than in a regime of no outsourcing. Consumer welfare rises, and under fairly plausible conditions this effect can offset the negative impact on profits.


BACKGROUND
The diagnosis of COVID-19 is made by detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Studies have shown a percentage of up to 30 % false negative results.

CASE PRESENTATION
A previously healthy man in his late thirties was admitted to the hospital after 3-5 days of suffering chest pain, dyspnoea and abdominal discomfort. He had hypoxic respiratory failure and required oxygen therapy. The routine nasopharyngeal swab for PCR was negative at days 5 and 7 after onset of symptoms. A specimen obtained from bronchoalveolar lavage on day 8 was positive.

INTERPRETATION
This case report shows us that even in the early course of SARS-Cov-2 infection, when the viral load in the upper respiratory tract has been shown to be at its highest, there might be false negative tests. It also emphasises the importance of including other clinical measures before discontinuation of isolation.


Type IX collagen is a quantitatively minor component of hyaline cartilage that is essential for the normal structural integrity of the tissue. Purification and analysis are difficult because the mature protein is insoluble as a cross-linked integral component of the fibrillar matrix. In order to view a peptide map of the total pool of type IX collagen in a cartilage sample, a selective method based on Western blot analysis was developed for displaying collagen IX peptides in a cyanogen bromide digest of tissue. Digests were partially resolved by reverse-phase HPLC, individual fractions were run on SDS-PAGE and then transblotted to membrane, and the collagen IX fragments were revealed using an anti-collagen IX rabbit antiserum. All major CB-peptides from alpha1(IX), alpha2(IX), and alpha3(IX) chains in the resulting two-dimensional display were identified by amino-terminal sequence analysis. Cross-linked peptides originating from sites of covalent interaction between collagen types IX and II and between IX and IX were also defined. By comparison with an analysis of soluble type IX collagen from chondrocyte culture medium, the results showed that the pool of type IX collagen molecules in fetal and adult human cartilage is extensively cross-linked intermolecularly at sites previously revealed by other methods using purified protein. This sensitive, direct method has the potential to screen for abnormalities in the content and properties of type IX collagen in tissue samples, for example, in the study of heritable chondrodysplasia syndromes and the pathogenesis of cartilage destruction in osteoarthritis.


The determination of a prime mover's characteristics is important in ascertaining its suitability for combined heat and power (CHP) applications. By definition, its operation affects the operation of all heat recovery equipment downstream. The correct balance between component electrical efficiency and waste heat is needed if the electric power producing equipment is to be used in a CHP application in a cost effective manner. Understanding the relationship between electric efficiency and exhaust stream energy content for different prime movers systems is a first step in an overall CHP system optimization. The goals of this work are to determine the potential financial benefit of utilizing waste heat from various prime mover configurations as well as establish the relationship between the two types of energy generation and costs. An economic optimization was performed to determine the system with the lowest average product (electricity and thermal energy) generation cost. The prime mover system was required to meet the electrical load demand of a typical 9290 m2 (100,000 ft2 ) office building in New York, NY, USA. The composition of the most cost effective prime mover system, when considering both electrical and thermal energy generation, was shown to be a single microturbine. When comparing the electrical and thermal energy generation of all systems studied with product generation cost, the more cost effective systems had either high electrical efficiency with a low thermal energy generation or high amounts of waste heat with low electrical efficiency. Each installation site and load demand is unique. The results of this study, along with others, can be used to help determine a cost effective system for a particular application.© 2007 ASME


Background We recently demonstrated forefoot bursae (FFB) are a clinically important feature in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA)1. However, there is a need for an observer-independent, reliable and valid method of characterising FFB. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) allows improved visualisation and characterisation of FFB in multiple imaging planes. Objectives To determine the reliability and validity of a novel MRI-based scoring tool for the evaluation of FFB in patients with RA. Methods A collaborative process of tool design was completed by a team of rheumatologists, radiologists, and podiatrists from centres within the UK & Germany. In an iterative process of tool design, items to be included, grading criteria, overall utility and MRI sequences were determined. The FFB-Score assesses 9 distinct forefoot regions and contains 5 items; lesion presence, shape, enhancement and T1 & T2 characteristics. The final tool was evaluated on 42 consecutive patients with RA, mean(SD) age 62.2(±12) years, disease duration 15.3(±10.3) years, & DAS-28 3.1(±1.4), who were recruited from a UK rheumatology clinic. Images were obtained using a 1.5T whole body scanner and 4-channel flex extremity coil. The MRI protocol included coronal T1 & STIR, coronal & sagittal T1 post-gadolinium, and long axis 3D SPACE sequences. The intra and inter-reader reliability were evaluated using Percentage Exact/Close Agreement (PEA/PCA). Content validity was evaluated using Lawshes' Content Validity Ratio. Discriminant validity, with regards to differentiation between high/low clinical markers of disease activity (DAS-28), MRI-determined disease activity (erosion, bone marrow oedema, synovitis) or foot-related disability (Foot Impact Scale), was evaluated using receiver operator characteristic curves and area under the curve analysis. Results The intra-reader reliability was determined as moderate for intermetatarsal soft tissue lesion shape (PEA:40% PCA:50%) and T1/T2 characteristics (PEA:60% PCA:90%, PEA:30% PCA:80% respectively) and good for all other items (PEA:50-90% PCA:100%). Inter-reader reliability was determined as good for all items (PEA:50-90% PCA:100%). Content validity was determined as good (Lawshes' CVR:0.625). The FFB-score total lesion enhancement grading has good discriminant validity when differentiating between patients with high/low MRI-determined disease activity in the forefoot (erosion:p=0.011, synovitis:p=0.004, oedema:p=0.018). The FFB-score has good discriminant validity for high/low reported foot impairment and activity limitation (p=0.006, p=0.033 respectively). Conclusions The FFB-Score is a viable tool for the detection and evaluation of FFB in patients with RA, which demonstrates satisfactory intra/inter-reader agreement and validation. Further validation, assessment of responsiveness and refinement of the FFB-score is needed in order to maximize the potential utility in clinical trials and epidemiological studies. References Bowen CJ et al. The clinical importance of ultrasound detectable forefoot bursae in rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatol. (Ox.) 2010;59:1:191-2 Disclosure of Interest None Declared


BACKGROUND AND IMPORTANCE
Dabigatran is a direct thrombin inhibitor gaining popularity as a stroke prevention agent in patients with atrial fibrillation. In comparison with warfarin, dabigatran showed superiority in stroke prevention, but lower rates of major hemorrhage and intracerebral hemorrhage. Although warfarin has a well-established reversal strategy, there is far less experience reversing dabigatran.

CLINICAL PRESENTATION
We present our experience with 3 patients who experienced an intracranial hemorrhage either spontaneously or after low-energy cranial trauma and review the available literature describing dabigatran use in patients with traumatic brain injury.

CONCLUSION
Intracranial hemorrhage in patients taking anticoagulants and/or antiplatelets can have either a benign or malignant clinical course. At this time, there is little experience with dabigatran reversal; however, several strategies for rapid reversal have been proposed. All patients with intracranial hemorrhage taking dabigatran should be admitted for close neurological monitoring and serial imaging.


Low-disorder and high-mobility 2D electron (or hole) systems undergo an apparent metal-insulator-transition (MIT) at low temperatures as the carrier density (n) is varied. In some situations, the 2D MIT can be caused at a fixed low carrier density by changing an externally applied in-plane magnetic field parallel to the 2D layer. d\rho/dT changes its sign at some nonuniversal sample-dependent critical carrier density n_c separating an effective 2D metal (d\rho/dT >0) for n>n_c from an effective 2D insulator (d\rho/dT<0) for n<n_c. We study the 2D MIT phenomenon as a possible strong localization induced crossover process controlled by the Ioffe-Regel criterion, k_F l=1. Calculating the quantum mean free path (l) in the effective metallic phase from a realistic transport theory including disorder scattering effects, we solve the integral equation defined by the Ioffe-Regel criterion to obtain the nonuniversal critical density n_c as a function of the applicable physical experimental parameters including disorder strength, in-plane magnetic field, spin and valley degeneracy, background dielectric constant and carrier effective mass, and temperature. The key physics underlying the nonuniversal parameter dependence of the n_c is the temperature and density dependence of the Coulomb disorder. Our calculated results for the crossover n_c appear to be in qualitative and semi-quantitative agreement with the available experimental data in different 2D semiconductor systems lending credence to the possibility that the apparent 2D MIT signals the onset of the strong localization crossover in disordered 2D systems. We provide some results for graphene where a low-temperature 2D MIT becomes possible in the presence of intervalley scattering. We also provide an extensive comparison with the theoretical results obtained on the basis of 2D MIT being considered as a percolation transition.


With the hasty growth of internet contact and voice and information centric communications, many contact technologies have been urbanized to meet the stringent insist of high speed information transmission and viaduct the wide bandwidth gap among ever-increasing high-data-rate core system and bandwidth-hungry end-user complex. To make efficient consumption of the limited bandwidth of obtainable access routes and cope with the difficult channel environment, several standards have been projected for a variety of broadband access scheme over different access situation (twisted pairs, coaxial cables, optical fibers, and unchanging or mobile wireless admittance). These access situations may create dissimilar channel impairments and utter unique sets of signal dispensation algorithms and techniques to combat precise impairments. In the intended and implementation sphere of those systems, many research issues arise. In this paper we present advancements of multi-rate indication processing methodologies that are aggravated by this design trend. The thesis covers the contemporary confirmation of the current literature on intrusion suppression using multi-rate indication in wireless communique networks.


A family of equations (BGK equation) obtained as a linearization of the Boltzmann equation with the collision operator in the BGK form (Bhatnagar-Gross-Krooks) is considered. The kernel is defined as a matrix function depending on a parameter. The exact solution is based on a generalization and modification of the canonical matrix method. Properties of the matrix of canonical solutions are analyzed. A theorem on the completeness of the system of eigenvectors of the characteristic equation is proved. The proof is reduced to solving a vector boundary value Riemann-Hilbert problem with a matrix coefficient whose diagonalizing matrix has branch points in the complex plane.


Background: The prognostic factors for efficacy of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors in ovarian cancer remain unknown. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of PARP inhibitors and to explore their prognostic factors in ovarian cancer. Methods: PubMed, Embase, and conference databases were searched for relevant prospective clinical trials. The primary outcomes included overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and their prognostic factors. Secondary outcomes included PFS2, time to first subsequent therapy (TFST), time to second subsequent therapy (TSST), chemotherapy-free interval (CFI), and their prognostic factors. Hazard ratio (HR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was used as an effect measure. Results: PARP inhibitors significantly prolonged PFS in patients with ovarian cancer regardless of their BRCA and HRD status (HR = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.36–0.55). BRCA mutation, HRD-positive status, and sensitivity to platinum represented effective prognostic factors for PFS (Pinteraction < 0.01 and within-trial interaction HR < 1). Other clinicopathological factors did not predict the benefit of PFS (Pinteraction > 0.10). Moreover, PARP inhibitors significantly increased PFS2, TFST, TSST, and CFI, with significant BRCA-related differences. However, HRD-related differences could not be evaluated due to the lack of eligible studies. Furthermore, PARP inhibitors did not translate into prolonged OS, although there was a benefit associated with OS (HR = 0.84, 95% CI = 0.70–1.02). PARP inhibitors used as maintenance therapy after first or subsequent line therapy improved OS (HR = 0.77, 95% CI = 0.63–0.93). Conclusions: PARP inhibitors can significantly prolong PFS, PFS2, TFST, TSST, and CFI in ovarian cancer patients. BRCA mutation, HRD-positive status, and sensitivity to platinum are effective prognostic factors for the efficacy of PARP inhibitors. However, despite the PFS improvement, this does not translate into prolonged OS for patients.


Background Both dual time-point 99mTc-hexamethylpropylene amine oxime (HMPAO)-leukocyte scintigraphy and dual-tracer 99mTc-HMPAO-leukocyte scintigraphy (with the addition of 99mTc-nanocolloid bone marrow scintigraphy) have been used to diagnose prosthetic joint infection (PJI). A treatment evaluation of persistent PJI using these imaging protocols has yet to be presented. Objective The purpose of this study was to compare the accuracy of dual time-point 99mTc-HMPAO-leukocyte scintigraphy to the dual-tracer alternative of single time-point 99mTc-HMPAO-leukocyte scintigraphy or single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) combined with a 99mTc-nanocolloid bone marrow scintigraphy or SPECT/CT, for treatment evaluation of PJI. Material and methods Thirty-one PJI patients under antibiotic treatment were included in this retrospective study. Examinations were organized into three settings. Setting one used dual time-point approach with delayed (2 h) and late (24 h) planar 99mTc-HMPAO-leukocyte scintigraphy, including both visual and semiquantitative analysis. Setting two used delayed (2 h) planar 99mTc-HMPAO-leukocyte scintigraphy combined with 99mTc-nanocolloid bone marrow scintigraphy and for setting three SPECT/CT replaced planar imaging. Results Accuracy was 0.68 for visual evaluation and 0.55 for semiquantitative evaluation of setting one; 0.71 for setting two; and 0.68 for setting three. Sensitivity was 0.54 for visual evaluation and 0.31 for semiquantitative evaluation of setting one; 0.38 for setting two; and 0.46 for setting three. Specificity was 0.78 for visual evaluation and 0.72 for semiquantitative evaluation of setting one; 0.94 for setting two; and 0.83 for setting three. Conclusion No significant difference in accuracy, sensitivity, or specificity between the approaches for treatment evaluation of suspected persistent PJI in the hip or knee was observed.


Besides control of the fungal plant pathogens, another interesting aspect observed when plants are treated with Trichoderma harzianum include effects such as complete and even stand of plants, improved seed germination, increases in plant height and overall enhanced plant growth. No research has yet been conducted to elucidate the mechanism by which these effects occur. Improved seed germination, in particular, suggest that Trichoderma harzianum produces a metabolite that may mimic the plant growth hormone gibberellic acid. The metabolite gliotoxin, produced by Trichoderma harzianum appear to be structurally most similar to gibberellic acid. In this study, common pharmacophore generation and molecular ligand docking simulations were used to evaluate the molecular similarity between gibberellic acid, specifically GA3, and gliotoxin. For the common pharmacophore evaluation, the structure of various gibberellic acids were used to construct a pharmacophore space to which gliotoxin was aligned, and during the molecular docking simulations the gibberellic acid receptor, GID1, served as ligand target for GA3 and gliotoxin. During the common pharmacophore evaluation, gliotoxin was successfully aligned to the common pharmacophore model constructed from various gibberellic acids. Furthermore, molecular docking simulations of gliotoxin and GA3 into the gibberellic acid receptor (GID1) yielded docking scores of -10.78 kcal/mol for the GA3 molecule from Corina and a docking score of -10.17 kcal/mol for gliotoxin. The docking scores suggest that gliotoxin may be able to competitively occupy the receptor space for gibberellic acid, and as such elicit the similar physiological responses observed in literature.


A number of studies have highlighted the role of sub-clones in tumor progression across multiple cancer types including colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the genetic origin of lymph node (LN) metastasis is not well understood. Given that the prognosis for CRC patients worsens once metastasis occurs, we aimed to better understand the relationship between detected sub-clones in the primary tumor and the LN metastasis. Two or three spatially disparate regions from each of 5 colon cancers were dissected and subjected to next-generation whole exome DNA sequencing (average read depth of 50x) followed by targeted confirmatory deep sequencing (average read depth of 420x). The number of mutations per tumor ranged from 95 to 334 in the 4 non-hypermutated tumors and was 1208 in the single hypermutated tumor. DNA was then isolated from the metastatic areas of two to four matched metastatic LN9s from each tumor. Deep-targeted sequencing was also performed on the LN samples targeting the same somatic variant locations identified in the primary tumors. Affymetrix OncoScan SNP arrays were performed on all primary tumor and LN samples to assess copy number (CN) variation and to permit more accurate inference of the cellular frequency of each somatic variant using the computational method PyClone. The PyClone software implements a probabilistic model to estimate the cellular frequency of each mutation in a population of cells using observed alternate allele frequencies as well as copy number and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) information, resulting in a clustering of variants based on the cellular frequency patterns of variants in each sample. Sub-clones are inferred corresponding to the distinct groupings of variants across all tumor and LN samples from a single patient. Additionally, the Clomial software was utilized to complement and validate PyClone results. Clomial implements an expectation-maximization algorithm to infer, given a count of distinct clones expected in a sample, profiles of the variant genotypes of each sample and sample clonal compositions. Generating Clomial profiles at several possible expected clone counts provides an orthogonal measure of clonal genotypes, as well as generating tumor purity estimates and facilitating phylogenetic profiling of variants and clones. CN and LOH differences were identified between different spatial locations in some individual tumors as well as between different LN9s from the same tumor. Some LN9s contained the same CN changes as a particular spatial region of the matched primary tumor and others contained CN variants that were distinct from the tested regions of the primary tumor. As defined by PyClone, each region in the primary tumor contained multiple (2–13, average 6.1) distinct sub-clones and each LN contained 3 - 13 sub-clones (average 5.9). We demonstrate evidence that individual LN metastasis are comprised of multiple sub-clones from the primary tumor. When there are multiple independent LN metastases in an individual patient, they do not all have the same composition of sub-clones. Some metastatic sub-clones were shared among all of the LN9s from the same tumor but there were also sub-clones that were private to a portion of the tumor and to an individual LN. This may be evidence of individual sub-clones metastasizing at different times to different LN9s. Further study of the origins of metastasis may help elucidate how to better target it therapeutically. This abstract is also being presented as Poster A10. Citation Format: Karin M. Hardiman, Peter J. Ulintz, Joel K. Greenson, Rong Wu, Eric R. Fearon. Complex sub-clonal populations in colorectal cancer lymph node metastasis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Colorectal Cancer: From Initiation to Outcomes; 2016 Sep 17-20; Tampa, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(3 Suppl):Abstract nr PR07.


Microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) is a type of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis linked to myeloperoxidase (MPO), usually accompanied by pulmonary and renal lesions. MPA sometimes causes central nervous system (CNS) involvement such as cerebral infarction. Herein, we report a case of a 72-year-old man with a headache. He had an unknown cause of the elevated inflammatory response. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed multiple cerebral infarctions in the small vessel region in the right basal ganglia with multiple cerebral microbleeds (cMBs). After admission, his left hemiparesis and consciousness disturbance gradually deteriorated. A follow-up MRI on day 18 showed increased multiple cerebral infarctions in small vessel regions with increased cMBs. Additional blood tests revealed positive MPO-ANCA. Although there were no findings suggestive of active renal or pulmonary involvement or peripheral neuropathy, we diagnosed him as having MPA-associated CNS-restricted vasculitis. CNS involvement of MPA is relatively rare but is associated with a high small vessel disease (SVD) burden. In addition to the unknown cause of inflammatory response, the multiple cMBs increase and a short-term recurrence of cerebral infarctions in the bilateral thalamus and basal ganglia was the clue for the diagnosis of CNS-restricted vasculitis. It is difficult to diagnose MPA vasculitis when lesions are restricted to the CNS. In the absence of lesions other than SVD, MPA-associated CNS vasculitis should be suspected in patients with progressive SVD burden and elevated inflammatory response.


The depths and areas of the scour holes around spur dikes are the most concerning issues regarding spur dike design. In this study, using a moving bed experiment, the influence of traditional rock-fill spur dikes and new permeable spur dikes with different permeabilities on riverbed scour under unsteady flow was studied, and the spatial characteristics of scour holes at dike heads were analyzed. The results show that with increases in the permeability coefficient of the spur dike, the depth and area of the scour hole at the dike head gradually decreases; however, when the permeability coefficient is more than 17.6%, the depth and area of the scour hole downstream of the dike body increases with an increase in the permeability coefficient. According to comprehensive evaluation, when the water permeability is 17.6%, the stability of the spur dike is at its best. The maximum depth of the scour hole at the dike head is affected by factors such as the spur dike permeability coefficient, effective scouring time, and width bottom protection structure. On this basis, a new formula for calculating the maximum depth of the scour hole at a dike head is proposed. These research results will be beneficial to the reliability of spur dikes and the sustainability of navigation channels.


Abstract The hierarchical distribution of Cu-rich precipitates (CRPs) and related partitioning and segregation behaviours of solute atoms were investigated in a 1.54 Cu-3.51 Ni (wt.%) low-carbon high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steel after multistage heat treatment by using the combination of electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atom probe tomography (APT). Intercritical tempering at 725 °C of as-quenched lathlike martensitic structure leads to the coprecipitation of CRPs at the periphery of a carbide precipitate which is possibly in its paraequilibrium state due to distinct solute segregation at the interface. The alloyed carbide and CRPs provide constituent elements for each other and make the coprecipitation thermodynamically favourable. Meanwhile, austenite reversion occurs to form fresh secondary martensite (FSM) zone where is rich in Cu and pertinent Ni and Mn atoms, which gives rise to a different distributional morphology of CRPs with large size and high density. In addition, conventional tempering at 500 °C leads to the formation of nanoscale Cu-rich clusters in α-Fe matrix. As a consequence, three populations of CRPs are hierarchically formed around carbide precipitate, at FSM zone and in α-Fe matrix. The formation of different precipitated features can be turned by controlling diffusion pathways of related solute atoms and further to tailor mechanical properties via proper multistage heat treatments.


Osteoarthritis (OA) is associated with cartilage breakdown, brought about by ADAMTS-5 mediated aggrecan degradation followed by MMP-derived aggrecan and type II collagen degradation. We investigated a novel anti-ADAMTS-5 inhibiting Nanobody® (M6495) on cartilage turnover ex vivo. Bovine cartilage (BEX, n = 4), human osteoarthritic - (HEX, n = 8) and healthy—cartilage (hHEX, n = 1) explants and bovine synovium and cartilage were cultured up to 21 days in medium alone (w/o), with pro-inflammatory cytokines (oncostatin M (10 ng/mL) + TNFα (20 ng/mL) (O + T), IL-1α (10 ng/mL) or oncostatin M (50 ng/mL) + IL-1β (10 ng/mL)) with or without M6495 (1000−0.46 nM). Cartilage turnover was assessed in conditioned medium by GAG (glycosaminoglycan) and biomarkers of ADAMTS-5 driven aggrecan degradation (huARGS and exAGNxI) and type II collagen degradation (C2M) and formation (PRO-C2). HuARGS, exAGNxI and GAG peaked within the first culture week in pro-inflammatory stimulated explants. C2M peaked from day 14 by O + T and day 21 in co-culture experiments. M6495 dose dependently decreased huARGS, exAGNxI and GAG after pro-inflammatory stimulation. In HEX C2M was dose-dependently reduced by M6495. M6495 showed no effect on PRO-C2. M6495 showed cartilage protective effects by dose-dependently inhibiting ADAMTS-5 mediated cartilage degradation and inhibiting overall cartilage deterioration in ex vivo cartilage cultures.


Background: The arrival and activity of family Calliphoridae on a deceased corpse indoors can aid in the quantitative measure of the Postmortem Interval. Family Calliphoridae is a group of necrophagous insects that have a proclivity for decomposing corpses and are found worldwide. Their prevalence and activity on a deceased corpse indoors makes it an integral component of estimating the postmortem interval.
Methods: A literary review was performed to support the hypothesis. Case control and retrospective studies were used. Study populations were not restricted to age, sex, or geographical locations. Human studies as well as animal models, due to ethical restrictions, were examined.
Results: Results showed that by paralleling known developmental timelines to Calliphoridae collected from a corpse, investigating pre-arrival interval, understanding external pressures on development, and considering postfeeding behavior can lead to PMI estimated with a higher degree of accuracy.
Conclusion: To disregard the role of Calliphoridae in human decomposition is to renounce a more accurate way of estimating the postmortem interval. More studies should be performed on a variety of Calliphoridae species, pupation in human corpses, and environmental stress on blowfly development to further reduce error in calculating PMI.


This poster shows the application of Differential SAR Interferometry (DInSAR) for monitoring variable ground urban motion (uplift and subsidence) over long periods taking place in Manila (The Philippines). Considering the high deformations rates expected on the area (10-15 cm/yr of maximum deformation) and the fact that we work on a urbanized cover, we use conventional DInSAR with an adapted stacking procedure. The objective is to produce surface deformation rate maps at different periods in order to represent the spatio-temporal evolution of the phenomena. The origin of the surface motion is discussed based on ground based observations. In addition, the ground motions are affecting several geodetic instrument, including a tide gauge with sea level records back to 1902, permanent GPS stations and DORIS instrument. A significant implication of these ground motions is therefore to alter the possibility to use these time series for refining knowledge of sea level rise and variations during the XXth century.