Peritoneal fluid was collected in the periovulatory phase of the cycle from 25 women undergoing laparoscopy. Endometriosis was diagnosed in 13 patients (AFS score 1, N = 9; AFS score 2, N = 4) and 12 patients without endometriosis served as controls. In endometriosis patients the total peritoneal fluid cell number and cell concentration was significantly higher than in controls, indicating peritoneal irritation by endometrial implants. Peritoneal fluid macrophages in patients with endometriosis showed significantly increased erythrophagocytosis and lower chemiluminescence than in controls, suggesting an advanced differentiation of the macrophages in endometriosis patients. The macrophages in this stage of differentiation may interfere with gametes and embryos and thus contribute to endometriosis-associated subfertility.


The second cervical vertebra can be used to estimate sex with 83% accuracy in unidentified human skeletal remains. Reported here are the necessary statistics, based on 8 dimensions taken from 400 second cervical vertebrae, for the computation of customized discriminant functions. Discriminant function equations developed using variables selected in a stepwise procedure are also presented here as an example of the usefulness of this bone in estimating sex.


We describe a simple protocol for the preparation of F(ab')2 fragments of immunoglobulin G, based upon the known Fc- binding properties of protein A-Sepharose. The fragment preparations of xenogeneic and allogeneic anti-IgG were noncytotoxic to intact target cells, and were able to block the cytotoxicity of intact antibody. This method should therefore be useful for functional studies not requiring biochemical homogeneity.


Extramedullary hematopoiesis (EMH) is the presence of hematopoietic precursors outside the bone marrow. This condition is usually associated with hematologic disorders. Although EMH can be found in almost every site in the body, female genital tract involvement is rare. The authors report EMH in the uterine cervix from a 64-year-old patient following cervical biopsy due to abnormal cervical cytology. Neither neoplasm nor hematologic disorder was detected before the diagnosis and after 1 year of follow up. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of EMH involving the uterine cervix which showed an association with tissue repair.


Whether gene expression is useful in discriminating different atopic phenotypes is unclear. The aim of the study was to evaluate a gene-expression score for the diagnosis of atopy and asthma and to assess disease activity as a guide for therapeutic decisions. Purified mRNA from PBMCs of 18 atopic asthmatic subjects, 8 atopic nonasthmatic subjects, and 14 healthy control subjects was hybridized to cDNA membranes. A composite atopy gene expression (CAGE) score was determined by using 10 genes dysregulated in atopic individuals according to a specific algorithm. The CAGE score was better than total IgE in differentiating atopic from nonatopic subjects (sensitivity, 96%; specificity, 92%). Correlation between the CAGE score and total IgE (P <.001) was found, and there was a trend for correlation with asthma severity (P =.051). The CAGE score was able to quantify phenotype-specific alteration in gene expression of atopic individuals. The CAGE score might be used as a diagnostic tool or to monitor the effects and side effects of therapy.


Present radiated emission standards are developed to protect analog communications services. The issue of finding a new EMI measurement detector, with proper weighting properties for the effect of disturbance on digital communication services, is the key issue in the evolution of present radiated emission standards in order to protect digital communication services. It has recently been shown that the RMS detector has a response that can be correlated to the interference impact on digital communication systems that do not use error-correcting codes or use block codes. In this paper, we show that this conclusion is also valid for systems using convolutional codes. These results form a basis upon which a solution for future radiated emission standards can be built


In 1995 Hyogo-ken Nanbu Earthquake, many rectangular water tanks were damaged. Rectangular water tanks are mainly produced by fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) panels or stainless steel panels in Japan. Though there have been conducted many seismic tests on FRP panel tank, few tests on stainless steel panel tanks. In conjunction with this, the shaking table tests of two different types of stainless steel panel tanks were conducted. One was the column reinforced tank. The other was the tie beam reinforced tank. From the shaking table test results, the column reinforced type tank was found to be superior in the characteristic of self standing than the tie beam type tank, thus the superiority of seismic performance of the column type was shown. The measured water pressure data were compared and discussed with the existing design formula and the potential theory calculation.


Diabetes Mellitus (DM) has been associated with salivary glands dysfunction and disorders. Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) is highly important in the process of wound healing in different parts of the body. The aim of the present study is to investigate the capacity of EGF to reverse the side effects of Streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetes in the submandibular salivary glands of adult Albino male rats, through immunohistochemical localization of cytokeratin in the parenchyma of the glands. Sixty rats were used in this study and were divided into three equal groups, a control group, an STZ induced group and EGF group where STZ induced rats are treated with a daily EGF injection of a dose of 10 μg/Kg body weight for two months. The overall expression of cytokeratin in the submandibular salivary glands of STZ induced rats decreased significantly when compared to the control group. However, in EGF group, cytokeratin expression levels were restored to values that were nearly equal to normal levels. Daily intraperitoneal injection of epidermal growth factor in a dose of 10 μg/Kg body weight for two months, helped reverse the negative side effects of DM in STZ induced rats. However, a small amount of permanent damage was still evident. Future research will be conducted to confirm the above findings through immunohistochemical expression of myosin and E-cadherin as well as ultrastructural examination.


Abstract Individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often exhibit deficits in processing information about time. Most studies, however, have required participants to perform active tasks and consequently it is unclear if performance deficits are due to impaired processing of temporal information, attentional deficits, or to impairments at a later stage of decision-making. This study used mismatch negativity (MMN) to examine automatic processing of temporal information in children with ADHD. The sample consisted of 11 children with typical development (8 boys; mean age/SD = 9.3/0.6 years) and 12 with ADHD (10 boys; mean age/SD = 8.9/0.8 years). Using the MMN paradigm, responses to standards and four deviants (hard/easy frequency, hard/easy duration) were elicited during the same sequence. The children's ability to actively discriminate each deviant was also assessed. Both groups exhibited MMNs to all deviants suggesting successful automatic discrimination. Furthermore, amplitude and latency measures were roughly comparable across groups. No group differences were seen on the active discrimination task, but performance was worse for duration than for frequency deviants. These results suggest that children with ADHD are able to automatically process temporal information, so deficits reported in active discrimination paradigms are likely due to deficits in subjective perception or usage of temporal information. (JINS, 2013, 19, 1–9)


Engineers involved in the design and analysis of complex systems can use computer simulation as a systems analysis and synthesis tool. Discrete-event simulation, coupled with dynamic display while the model runs on the computer, provides new opportunities for insight into complex systems. One higher order simulation language GPSS was used as a foundation upon which were added data bases, human interactivity, and display graphics. Through the use of these additions, the user can dynamically interact with the system being simulated. While the simulation is in progress, a series of pictorial representations of the system are presented. These may be stopped, restarted with new data, or continued at the users command. To extend the simulation capability to include continuous system aspects, GPSS was coupled to a high-order continuous simulation language CSMP.


In this paper I describe a special form of ego-state therapy that integrates writing letters to one's self as an internal therapeutic communication among various ego states previously not fully aware of each other or engaged in destructive power struggles. Expressing one's thoughts, feelings, and urges in writing transforms primary process activities of the self into secondary processes that are more mature and adaptive to healthy functioning in day-to-day living. This method also reinforces the idea of patient empowerment in the form of self-healing and utilizing internal resources in the process of recovery.


SUMMARY A survey of 396 undergraduate and graduate students from 51 countries on 5 continents currently enrolled in Forestry or Related Natural Resource (FRNR) degree programmes was conducted of attendees to the International Union of Forest Research Organizations' (IUFRO) conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, 2014. These perspectives come from some of the most active students in their respective fields. We explored the motivating reasons for enrolling in their current FRNR programme, and conversely why they may have been hesitant to do so. Results indicate that enjoyment of nature was the most important factor on average driving the decision to enroll, closely followed by job satisfaction, concern for the environment, enjoyment of outdoor recreation, being outdoors, and an interest in subject material. Hesitancy factors included earning potential, availability of funding/scholarships, and politically contentious issues. A number of significant differences were found across demographic categories. Of particular note was the greater hesitancy on the part of women and people of color to enroll in FRNR degree programmes compared to their white male counterparts. We discuss the limitations of our study arising from its international scope and imbalance of responses among countries and regions. HIGHLIGHTS Forestry and Related Natural Resources (FRNR) students from 51 countries report that enjoyment of nature was the most important factor driving their decision to enroll. Decision factors that caused hesitation included earning potential, availability of funding, and political issues. Importance factors differed significantly between genders, race/ethnicity, academic standing, world region, and social background (i.e. urban vs rural). Women and people of color from multiple world regions had a greater hesitancy to enroll in an FRNR programme than their white male counterparts. Implications for recruitment and retention include the need for continual diversity and inclusion efforts and a balance between personal preferences and employability.


The attempt was made to evaluate the effect of mosquito repellent i.e. odomos on the development of chick embryo under laboratory conditions. There are several species of insect which cause problem of human health directly and indirectly. It can be controlled by chemical such as DDT,B.H.C etc. In the present endeavour we try to evaluate the effect of N, N Dimethyl benzamide which is component of mosquito repellent .The compound has adverse effect on various stage of chick development. Tachycardia and Micosomia are major deformities observed due to N,N Dimethyl benzamide. The compound was found to certain abnormalities seen in the development of embryo. The characteristics deformities during this study have been co-related with the result which we obtain from current investigation. The continuous use of odomos may lead to undesirable consequence in vertebrates. According to us the best option to get rid of mosquito bite is to use the mosquito net.


The Preventive Care Checklist Form© update by Duerksen et al in the January 2012 issue[1][1] is an excellent summary of preventive care that would be useful for any family physician. One cannot help but notice the paucity of evidence behind many of the actions undertaken at the annual health


A new Late Cretaceous titanosaurian sauropod from the Sierra Barrosa locality (Anacleto Formation, Late Cretaceous, early Campanian) of Neuquen Province, Argentina, Barrosasaurus casamiquelai gen. et sp. nov., is described. The holotype of this species consists of three large and incomplete, although well-preserved, dorsal vertebrae (one probably the third, the next the seventh or eighth, and the last the ninth or tenth). The arrangement of neural arch laminae in the dorsal vertebrae of this titanosaur differs from that present in other genera in the following ways: the spinoprezygapophyseal laminae are well developed in the third vertebra, and relictual in the seventh or eighth vertebra; two spinodiapophyseal laminae are present in the seventh or eighth and in the ninth or tenth vertebrae, the anterior spinodiapophyseal lamina being more strongly developed than the posterior spinodiapophyseal lamina in the ninth or tenth vertebra. These characters, among others, allow the recognition of this individual as a new species of Titanosauria, which increases knowledge of the diversity of titanosaurs in the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia.


Salivary scavenger and agglutinin (SALSA) is a secreted protein with various immunomodulatory roles. In humans, the protein agglutinates and inactivates microorganisms, and inhibits the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Saliva, which is rich in SALSA, accelerates bacterial phagocytosis, but SALSA's contribution is unclear. In horses, the functions of SALSA in inflammation remain undetermined, so they were investigated through phagocytosis and cytokine assays. Equine SALSA was purified from duodenal tissue, which contains abundant SALSA. To assess phagocytosis, fluorescently-labelled bacteria were incubated with 20, 10, 5, or 2.5 μg/mL of SALSA or phosphate buffered saline (PBS), and then incubated at 37°C or on ice with whole blood from seven healthy horses. Fluorescence was measured by gating on neutrophils using a flow cytometer, and compared between groups. To assess effects on cytokine production, alveolar macrophages were isolated from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of five healthy horses and cultured in serum-free media for 24 hours with different concentrations of SALSA plus 1 μg/mL lipopolysaccharide (LPS), only LPS, or only media. Cytokines were measured in supernatant using an equine-specific multiplex bead immunoassay. There was significantly greater phagocytosis in samples incubated at 37°C compared to incubation on ice. Samples incubated with 20 μg/mL of SALSA at 37°C had less phagocytosis compared to samples with 10 or 2.5 μg/mL SALSA, or PBS. Alveolar macrophages incubated with SALSA plus LPS released significantly less CXC motif chemokine ligand 1, interleukin-8, interleukin-10, and tumor necrosis factor α, and more granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), compared to macrophages incubated with LPS alone. These findings indicate anti-inflammatory effects, which may be due to interference with toll-like receptor 4 recognition of LPS or downstream signaling. Increase in G-CSF following incubation with SALSA suggests a novel mechanism for immunoregulation of alveolar macrophages by SALSA, addressing a knowledge gap regarding its functions in horses.


At the dawning of the era of slavery, captured West African peoples in the New World (of North and Latin America and the Caribbean) joined their voices in shouts, moans, and deep groaning of their inner spirit. Calling on God's Spirit to manifest itself, they looked for a release from captivity and bondage. What W. E. B. DuBois called the "spiritual strivings" of black folk were uttered before the master in whispers, subvocalizations of agony, or in the times of gathered worship in what were called "hush harbors." The hush harbors were the secret places where enslaved black folk could experience the Holy Spirit as an enlivening, wondrous, and overwhelming experience. Outside of the seeming omnipresence of the master's ears, these enslaved African peoples forged a relationship with God through their experience of the Holy Spirit. Following DuBois' instructive musings, these enslaved people allowed the Spirit to whip them into the utterly primal, emotional, and effervescent experience of what DuBois called "the Frenzy." This Spirit-induced Frenzy was not always welcomed by all black folk, especially in the early nineteenth century. Eminent Christian physician Martin Delaney derided many black churches for what he believed to be their spirituality of excessive otherworldliness and crude imitation of white church moralism. Episcopal pastor Alexander Crummell sought to de-emphasize what he considered to be the overly zealous spirituality in black churches – calling instead for a this- worldly, tough-minded, and politically activist, theologically informed spirituality.


Previous research has shown that students who use technology in the classroom for non-academic purposes suffer decrements to their academic performance. These findings are consistent with theories and research in cognitive science. However, no current study has examined the sorts of technology that students use in class, their reasons for using it, and whether they feel that it is acceptable to use it. The current study sought to qualitatively explore these questions across a sample ( N = 105) of college students. Results reveal that the most common use of technology in the classroom is text messaging and emailing, and that students regularly use technology for a variety of non-academic reasons. Limitations of this study include the homogeneity of the participant sample.  Future research should determine what factors lead students to use technology for non-academic purposes and also identify effective strategies for preventing or managing students' use of technology for non-academic purposes in the college classroom.


This paper provides an analysis of experimental research and results of investment casting process. Temperature field in a ceramic mold is one of the problems during numerical simulation. Reducing the costs of production in precision casting involves the reduction of scraps, which is one of the fundamental problems of the foundry industry. Reducing these costs is associated with optimization of precision casting technology of aircraft engines critical parts, including control of the solidification front in thin-walled castings of nickel super alloys cast in a vacuum. It is achieved by changing the geometrical characteristics of the ceramic mold. The results of the tests were used to optimize the industrial production of aircraft components in Precision Foundry of WSK Rzeszów. Temperature distribution gained in the conducted tests allowed verification and optimization of computer simulations.


Introduction: Conventional pancreatic resections may be unnecessary for benign tumours or for tumours of low malignant potential located in the neck and body of pancreas. Such extensive resections can place the patient at increased risk of developing postoperative exocrine and endocrine insufficiency. Central pancreatectomy is a plausible surgical option for the management of tumours located in these locations. Laparoscopic approach seems appropriate for such small tumours situated deep in the retroperitoneum. Aims: To assess the technical feasibility, safety and long-term results of laparoscopic central pancreatectomy in patients with benign and low malignant potential tumours involving the neck and body of pancreas. Settings and Design: This study was an observational study which reports a single-centre experience with laparoscopic central pancreatectomy over a 9-year period. Materials and Methods: 14 patients underwent laparoscopic central pancreatectomy from October 2004 to September 2013. These included patients with tumours located in the neck and body of pancreas that were radiologically benign-looking tumours of less than 3 cm in size. Statistical Analysis Used: The statistical analysis was done using GraphPad Prism software. Results: The mean age of patients was 48.93 years. The mean operative time was 239.7 min. Mean blood loss was 153.2 ml. Mean postoperative ICU stay was 1.2 days and overall mean hospital stay was 8.07 days. There were no mortalities and no major postoperative complications. Margins were negative in all cases and with a median follow-up of 44 months, there was no recurrence. Conclusions: Laparoscopic central pancreatectomy is a feasible procedure with acceptable morbidity. In the long term, there were no recurrences and pancreatic function was well preserved.


The problem of the accuracy improving is considered for vortex method. The general Galerkin-type approach is considered for the numerical solution of the boundary integral equation. It is shown that the airfoil surface line representation as a polygon consisting of rectilinear panels can lead to incorrect behavior of the numerical solution of the boundary integral equation with respect to unknown vortex sheet intensity, especially in case of considerably different lengths of the neighboring panels. However, in this case, the exact analytical formulae are derived for the coefficients of the linear algebraic system, which approximate the integral equation. The approach is developed which makes it possible to take into account explicitly the curvature of the airfoil surface line. The approximate analytical formulae are derived for the coefficients of the linear system, which are expressed through the integrals of the fractions, which denominators can be equal to zero. Numerical example is considered for the elliptic airfoil in the incident flow at its essentially non-uniform discretization. The suggested algorithm has acceptable numerical complexity, however it permits to obtain rather good numerical results.


: In the United Kingdom, nurses, and especially family planning nurses, can help families live healthier lives by providing family members with appropriate family planning counseling and education. The provision of family planning education has not kept pace with the expanded availability of contraceptive supplies in the United Kingdom. Free family planning services were made available at all area health authority clinics beginning in 1974. Although contraceptive use increased considerably in the intervening years, the number of unwanted births and aboritons remains unacceptably high. The public is generally not provided with family planning education at an early enough age and family planning education for men is grossly inadequate. Groups in special need of more intensive family planning education are young people, unmarried couples, couples planning the birth of their 1st child, postpartum women, couples with completed families, women who want no more children, handicapped persons, and socially deprived groups. The choice of an appropriate method depends on the characteristics and needs of each couple. Combined oral contraceptives are highly effective and are the preferred method for many women. Natural methods can be effective if couples are willing to adhere conscientiously to all method requirements. Barrier methods, when used correctly, are also highly effective. IUDs have several disadvantages but may be an appropriate method for some women. Couples contemplating sterilization must be counseled carefully to ensure that they understand fully the implications of the methods. The use of postcoital methods, e.g., the morning after pill and IUD insertions, should be viewed only as emergency techniques. In addition to a knowledge of contraceptive methods, nurses must be sensitized to patient's contraceptive attitudes, concerns, and prejudices. Unfortunately, most nursing colleges do not provide sufficient family planning training for their students.


Using the frame formalism we determine some possible metrics and metric-compatible connections on the noncommutative differential geometry of the real quantum plane. By definition, a metric maps the tensor product of two 1-forms into a "function" on the quantum plane. It is symmetric in a modified sense, namely in the definition of symmetry one has to replace the permutator map with a deformed map σ fulfilling some suitable conditions. Correspondingly, also the definition of the Hermitian conjugate of the tensor product of two 1-forms is modified (but reduces to the standard one if σ coincides with the permutator). The metric is real with respect to such modified  * -structure.


We examined the effects of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS; Frost & Bondy, 2002) on the manding (requesting) and speech development of school-aged children with autism. In study 1, two participants, Damian and Bob, were taught PECS within a delayed multiple baseline design. Both participants demonstrated increased levels of manding after implementation of PECS. Only Damian demon- strated any measurable speech during study 1. His speech development occurred primarily during phase IV of PECS. Because of the positive relationship between Phase IV and increased speech for Damian, study 2 was conducted to confirm a functional relationship between phase IV procedures and speech development for an additional participant. Carl received phase IV training procedures in two conditions, administered in an ABAB design. In condition A, no reinforcement was provided for vocalization; in condition B, reinforcement was provided for vocalization after a delay of 3- to 5-s. The vocal reinforcement procedures in phase B differentially increased Carl's speech. Results are discussed in terms of research on augmentative and alternative commu- nication and speech development for children with autism.


50, 92 and 30 samples collected respectively from cases with cysticercosis cellulosae, other parasitic diseases and normal controls were examined with SDS-gradient (5-20%) polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and immunoblot. The results showed that 26 KD protein band of the cysticercus antigen is highly specific for cysticercosis and no cross reaction could be seen in patients with other parasitic diseases, especially hydatid disease, and healthy controls. As we know that the cysticercus antigen usually has a high cross-reaction rate with hydatidosis by ELISA method, the positive rate of this test for cysticercosis is 70% in comparison with 80% and 76% of ELISA and CFT respectively and the difference in the figures of these three tests has no statistical significance. Our study suggested that this method is valuable in clinical diagnosis and epidemiological surveys for research work on cysticercosis cellulosae.


Structures of intragrain defects were investigated by photoluminescence (PL) mapping tomography in multicrystalline silicon wafers for solar cells. PL dark patterns were observed in short minority carrier diffusion length regions, and we confirmed that the patterns came from the intragrain defects. The tomography revealed that the defects have planelike structures extended to the crystal growth direction. We also found that the growth conditions affect the structures of the defects: slower solidification leads to larger defects with lower density. Origins of the defects were analyzed by low-temperature PL spectroscopy, electron backscatter diffraction pattern measurement and etch-pit observation. We concluded that the defects are metal contaminated dislocation clusters which originate from small-angle grain boundaries.


Biliary cysts in adult patients affected by polycystic liver disease are lined by cholangiocytes that proliferate, suggesting that initiation of cyst formation depends on proliferation. Here, we challenge this view by analyzing cyst-lining cell proliferation and differentiation in Cpk mouse embryos and in livers from human fetuses affected by Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease (ARPKD), at early stages of cyst formation. Proliferation of fetal cholangiocyte precursors, measured by immunostaining in human and mouse livers, was low and did not differ between normal and ARPKD or Cpk livers, excluding excessive proliferation as an initiating cause of liver cysts. Instead, our analyses provide evidence that the polycystic livers exhibit increased and accelerated differentiation of hepatoblasts into cholangiocyte precursors, eventually coalescing into large biliary cysts. Lineage tracing experiments, performed in mouse embryos, indicated that the cholangiocyte precursors in Cpk mice generate cholangiocytes and periportal hepatocytes, like in wild-type animals. Therefore, contrary to current belief, cyst formation in polycystic liver disease does not necessarily depend on overproliferation. Combining our prenatal data with available data from adult livers, we propose that polycystic liver can be initiated by proliferation-independent mechanisms at a fetal stage, followed by postnatal proliferation-dependent cyst expansion.


Conventional 3D profilers suffer in their traceability and accuracy from nonlinearities of the 1D sensor (optical or tactile) and different measuring principles in the scanning plane compared to the sensor axis. These problems can be overcome using a traceable calibrated 3D positioning device combined with a probing system of negligible measuring range in compensation method. Drawback: reduced dynamics, because of the necessity of accelerated movement of the object to be measured in z-direction for compensating its varying height. Sensors with negligible measuring range to be used for this approach are an optical fixed focus sensor (SIOS GmbH, Germany) and a self-made scanning tunneling sensor without piezo scanner. The integration into the nanopositioning device is made according to a multisensor CMM with fixed and known positions of the sensors with respect to the machine coordinate system giving the possibility of using one sensor's data for navigating the other one. Main applications can be seen in measurement tasks where outstanding accuracy outrivals the need of high measurement speed, e.g. the calibration of step height and pitch standards for profilometry and also for SPM.


BACKGROUND
Integrase strand transfer inhibitor (InSTI)-based regimens have become the major first-line treatment for HIV-1-infected patients in Taiwan. Transmitted drug resistance (TDR) and several clinical characteristics are associated with time to virological failure or viral suppression; however, these have not been investigated in Taiwan.

OBJECTIVES
To determine the impact of several factors on treatment outcomes in HIV-1-infected patients in Taiwan.

METHODS
The cohort included 164 HIV-1 treatment-naive patients in Taiwan from 2018 to 2020. Blood specimens were collected to determine the genotypic drug resistance using the Stanford University HIV drug resistance database. Cox proportional hazards models were used to identify factors associated with time to virological failure or viral suppression.

RESULTS
The prevalence of TDR in Taiwan was 27.4% and an increasing trend was seen from 2018 to 2020. TDR mutations related to NNRTIs were the most prevalent (21%) while TDR to InSTIs remained at a relatively low level (1.3%). A baseline HIV-1 viral load of ≥100 000 copies/mL was associated with a shorter time to virological failure [multivariate hazard ratio (mHR) 7.84; P = 0.018] and longer time to viral suppression (mHR 0.46; P < 0.001). Time to viral suppression was shorter in patients receiving InSTI-based regimens (mHR 2.18; P = 0.006). Different InSTI-based regimens as initial treatment did not affect the treatment outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS
This study found an increasing trend of HIV-1 TDR prevalence from 2018 to 2020 in Taiwan. Baseline HIV-1 viral load and receiving InSTI-based regimens are important factors associated with time to virological failure or viral suppression.


The ocular flora can be a contributing factor to potentially devastating eye infections, especially under certain conditions such as diabetes. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of diabetes on the bacterial conjunctival flora and to assess its susceptibility to antibiotics. In an analytical cross-sectional study conducted in three hospitals in the department of Nde-Cameroon, we included diabetic and non-diabetic participants. Samples were obtained by swabbing the lower conjunctival fornix. Gram stain and culture were performed and antibiotic sensitivity determined in case of bacterial growth. A positive culture was found in 33/40 (82.5%) diabetic participants and 16/40 (40%) non-diabetic participants. Diabetic participants showed a more frequent positive flora for Staphylococcus epidermidis, Bacillus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, while the majority of non-diabetic patient's flora were Bacillus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Staphylococcus saprophyticus. In diabetics, resistance of Staphyloccocus Coagulase-negative strains was observed in 80-100% of cases for Oxacillin and Trimethoprin-Sulfamethoxy. For Gram-negative strains, resistance was 80-100% for Penicillin, Oxacillin and Cefixime in diabetics. A positive culture was more frequently found in diabetic participants with a difference for the composition and antibiotic susceptibility compared to healthy people. This information may provide a better guideline for the prevention and the management of ocular diseases.© 2019 International Formulae Group. All rights reservedKeywords: Diabetes, ocular flora, bacteria, susceptibility profile, Staphylococcus


P4-ATPases comprise a family of P-type ATPases that actively transport or flip phospholipids across cell membranes. This generates and maintains membrane lipid asymmetry, a property essential for a wide variety of cellular processes such as vesicle budding and trafficking, cell signaling, blood coagulation, apoptosis, bile and cholesterol homeostasis, and neuronal cell survival. Some P4-ATPases transport phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylethanolamine across the plasma membrane or intracellular membranes whereas other P4-ATPases are specific for phosphatidylcholine. The importance of P4-ATPases is highlighted by the finding that genetic defects in two P4-ATPases ATP8A2 and ATP8B1 are associated with severe human disorders. Recent studies have provided insight into how P4-ATPases translocate phospholipids across membranes. P4-ATPases form a phosphorylated intermediate at the aspartate of the P-type ATPase signature sequence, and dephosphorylation is activated by the lipid substrate being flipped from the exoplasmic to the cytoplasmic leaflet similar to the activation of dephosphorylation of Na+/K+-ATPase by exoplasmic K+. How the phospholipid is translocated can be understood in terms of a peripheral hydrophobic gate pathway between transmembrane helices M1, M3, M4, and M6. This pathway, which partially overlaps with the suggested pathway for migration of Ca2+ in the opposite direction in the Ca2+-ATPase, is wider than the latter, thereby accommodating the phospholipid head group. The head group is propelled along against its concentration gradient with the hydrocarbon chains projecting out into the lipid phase by movement of an isoleucine located at the position corresponding to an ion binding glutamate in the Ca2+- and Na+/K+-ATPases. Hence, the P4-ATPase mechanism is quite similar to the mechanism of these ion pumps, where the glutamate translocates the ions by moving like a pump rod. The accessory subunit CDC50 may be located in close association with the exoplasmic entrance of the suggested pathway, and possibly promotes the binding of the lipid substrate. This review focuses on properties of mammalian and yeast P4-ATPases for which most mechanistic insight is available. However, the structure, function and enigmas associated with mammalian and yeast P4-ATPases most likely extend to P4-ATPases of plants and other organisms.


Two nuclear genes, RTG1 and RTG2, which sense the functional state of yeast mitochondria, have been described recently. Yeast strains with null alleles of either of these two genes (delta rtg1, delta rtg2) cannot grow on acetate as the sole carbon source and are auxotrophic for glutamate and aspartate. We report here a series of metabolic experiments and enzyme activity measurements that were made in an attempt to determine the reason for the acetate- phenotype and the glutamate/aspartate auxotrophy. Decreases in the activities (approximately 50%) in mitochondrial citrate synthase (CS1), acetyl-CoA synthetase, NAD isocitrate dehydrogenase, and pyruvate carboxylase were noted. When CS1 was overexpressed in the delta rtg1 and delta rtg2 mutants, these strains could grow on acetate but were still auxotrophic for glutamate/aspartate. We propose that, in the mutant strain, CS1 activity becomes limiting for efficient acetate utilization, but that other complex metabolic interactions are affected, limiting production of intermediates that would allow synthesis of glutamic and aspartic acids.


There are three reports on acute haemorrhagic oedema of the skin of infants, an illness which English-speaking authors do not individualize but only regard as a clinical variety of Henoch-Schönlein purpura. Yet the features of the disease, as described in children under two years of age, are very characteristic. --Clinical feature is the sudden appearance of oedemas on face and limbs and of cocarde-like purpura with an occasional temperature. --Histological feature is the presence of leukocytoclastic vasculitis. --Immunologically the disease is characterized by the deposit of immune complexes. --Ultrastructural examination confirms the presence of leukocytoclastic vasculitis accompanied by deposit of immune complexes and of platelets. These three reports enable the authors to study the nosological aspects of the illness among the varieties of allergic vasculitis.


The experiments were conducted in Wagner's pots on light loamy sand. The largest yields were obtained when moisture content was of 50 and 60 per cent capillary water capacity during the whole growing period. The smallest yields were obtained when the drought of the soil (20 per cent capillary water capacity) was used during the whole growing period or when it was used at the growing time of young bulbs, viz. after flowering time.


Different methods for SAR control (SAR limit, phase-agnostic SAR limit, amplitude limit) are evaluated in a simulation study of parallel transmit (pTx) body coil systems (2,4, or 8 channels) at different B0 (0.5T, 1.5T, 3T). Criteria are the necessary safety factors to accommodate for subject variability, and the resulting mean(B1+). Due to the high safety factor necessary for a phase-based SAR limit, its mean(B1+) performance becomes effectively the same as the much simpler to implement amplitude limit.


Reducing mortality and morbidity in obstetric patients presents challenges at each end of the coagulation spectrum. The greatest cause of maternal mortality worldwide is from hemorrhage, and yet women also die in large numbers from peripartum pulmonary embolism (1). Pharmacologic manipulation of the coagulation cascade, including the use of the antifbrinolytic tranexamic acid, has become an important part of reducing hemorrhage risk in cardiac, trauma, and orthopedic patients (2), and will now likely become a more common practice in obstetric management with the recent publication of the World Maternal Antifibrinolytic (WOMAN) trial (3).


Aim: This study aims to propose the utility of Scintimetric Characterization of the tracer activity uptake in the joints afflicted by Rheumatoid arthritis in the bone scans. Materials and method: Three out of five patients of confirmed Rheumatoid arthritis who had bone scans for Bone and joint pains showed presence of skeletal hot spots in various joints. They were subjected to the scintimetric evaluation of the skeletal hot spots by Dr. V. Siva's retention ratio by repeating the 24 hr delayed bone scans. The 58 skeletal hotspots seen in various joint spaces were subjected to the calculation of maximum counts in 3 hr and 24 hr bone scans. They were tabulated and 3/24 hr Dr. V. Siva's Retention Ratio was calculated and analysed. Results: They showed a mean of 5.91 ± 0.35 and standard error of means as 0.3496. The estimated variance was 8.8408 and the estimated standard deviation was 2.9734. For this sample size the estimated variance was 6.6306 and estimated standard deviation was 2.575 by HOJO's modification. This was unavoidable due to very small size of the Sample population. Conclusion: Thus this study had shown that the scintimetric evaluation of the skeletal hotspots in the Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients showed a definitive benign value. This could provide a firm base line value to assess the response to treatment and progression as well.


This article presents the concept of social metabolism and highlights its use for the analysis of the development of agriculture in Czechia. Similar to the general discipline of geography, social metabolism investigates the interactions between people and nature throughout time and space. In this article, we apply social metabolism methods, such as energy flow analysis (EFA), to investigate the transformation of Czech agriculture during the 1830–2010 period. The article is based on public data, as well as datasets compiled by the authors. The article documents the changes in Czechia's historical development and its effect on land use and agriculture through the observation of several metabolic key indicators within their historical context. It primarily concentrates on changes in crop and livestock production, land use, and associated demographic and societal developments. We conclude that the strategies of all political regimes in the 19th and most of the 20th century increased the socio-metabolic output of agriculture, despite a very different political and economic background. Only the collapse of the Eastern Block resulted in a restructuring of the agricultural sector that produced a visible change in agricultural energy flows trends.


The aim of this study is to evaluate teeth discoloration after the usage of adhesive fluoride release. Material and Method: 80 extracted healthy premolars divided into two groups were used in the study, with metal brackets being bonded in both groups,. The first group universal adhesive was applied (transbond light cure adhesive paste-Transbond XT), whereas in the second group fluoride releasing bonding material was used (opal bond MV composite and opal seal). The measurement of color parameters was performed using the spectrophotometer vita easyshade 4.0 to calculate ΔL, Δa, Δb, and ΔE. Statistical Analysis: 3-way mixed analysis of variances (ANOVA) was used to compare ΔE before using adhesive material and after the procedure. On the other hand, it was used to compare Δa, Δb, and ΔL before and after using adhesive material. The statistical significance level was established at P< 0.05. Boferroni correction was used to create mean differences between the results. Results: The result of this study showed that ΔE* values were increased in all groups. The mean difference of ΔE* value in the first group (3M adhesive material) was 2.54± 1.57. At the same time, the ΔE value in opal adhesive group was 4.43±5.4. These results showed that fluoride seal had direct effect on enamel color after a period of three months teeth storage. Results showed above the normal limit and produced visible color change on the surface of the teeth after finishing procedure. On the other hand, ΔL values were increased in both groups, with a significant difference in the first group (p value 0.04) and with no significant difference in the second group (p value 0.239). Conclusion: The highest color changes were observed after the finishing procedure in opal bond MV composites and the opal seal groups. This was done by increasing ΔE value due to the presence of fluoride release adhesive structure. Transbond light cure adhesive past-Transbond XT had acceptable clinical change after the debonding and finishing procedure by increasing ΔE value.


With the growing demand of instant messaging and presence services for both wireless and wire-line networks, we have seen the emergence of a number of standard protocols for instant messaging and presence such as SIP [M. Handley, et al., (2002)] for instant messaging and presence leveraging (SIMPLE) [J. Rosenberg, et al., (2001)], presence and instant messaging (PRIM), wireless village protocol and vendor dependent protocols (Yahoo!, MSN, etc.). With the advent of these protocols there is also a need to develop standard set of APIs (application programming interface) to enable application developers implement instant messaging (IM) and presence applications on top of these protocols. We address the standardization work being undertaken at the Java/spl trade/ community process (JCP) to build such APIs. Our work at JAIN/spl trade/ forum of JCP will provide a set of standard APIs for instant messaging and presence based on Internet Engineering Task Force's (IETF) standard protocol SIP and its extension SIMPLE (SIP for instant messaging and presence leveraging). The proposed standard will provide a portable and secure interface to exchange instant messages and presence information for SIMPLE protocol based clients on mobile devices such as PDAs, mobile phones etc.


The Propulsion Systems Lab (PSL) does ground testing on full size air breathing engines. These engines range from those on commercial airplanes to fighter jets. At the PSL, engineers receive test requirements from customers and put together the necessary instrumentation, data systems, power requirements, electrical control valves, and engine controls. The engineers are also responsible for facility maintenance, repairs and upgrades. There are four major sections at the PSL; the Test floor, the Data room, the Control room and, the WDPF room. On the test floor are two test cells, cell #3 and cell #4. It is within these cells that the actual engine resides for ground testing. The cells, once sealed and taken up to altitude, are capable of reaching engine inlet temperatures of 1000 F to -90 F, and various atmospheric pressures. The engine, when operational, takes in air and gives out exhaust of up to 2000 F. The exhaust is led to another section of the cell where it is cooled to 150 F before finally redirected to the appropriate disposer. Temperature and pressure transducers detect the conditions within the cell and transmit them to the data room where the results are captured, processed, analyzed, and translated to a more comprehensive language. This is made possible with the aid of several programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and instrumentation and control systems. The translated data is then sent, via the LAN, to the control room where the results can be viewed on monitors by the engineers and customers. From the control room, the test cell conditions can be changed whenever desired. During tests, a lot takes place in the facility. The WDPF control system monitors and controls all facility parameters. This summer, I will assist the engineers; on an upgrade to the facility's distributed control and dynamic data system, in preparation for an engine test that will begin in September, the installation of control systems and various miscellaneous projects around the PSL.


The introduction of industrial intelligent robot using vision sensor has been interested in automated factory. 2D and 3D vision sensors have used to recognize object and to estimate object pose, which is for packaging parts onto a complete whole. But it is not trivial task due to illumination and various types of objects. Object image has distorted due to illumination that has caused low reliability in recognition. In this paper, recognition method of complex shape object has been proposed. An accurate object region has detected from combined binary image, which has achieved using DoG filter and local adaptive binarization. The object has recognized using neural network, which is trained with sub-divided object class according to object type and rotation angle. Predefined shape model of object and maximal slope have used to estimate the pose of object. The performance has evaluated on ETRI database and recognition rate of 96% has obtained.


Technologies used to support group work are based on and contain underlying assumptions regarding how people work together. The appropriateness of such assumptions is an important factor in determining the successful employment of the technology. This paper uses an action research approach to explore the boundaries of effective GSS application by challenging the basic assumptions built into GSS. This exploration is carried out in the context of a particular arena in which groups have to interact to reach a certain goal: inter-organizational policy networks. From 9 cases it appears that GSS are most effective in the orientation phase of inter-organizational policy making, while GSS should be avoided during the separation phase where winners and losers can be identified. During the package deal phase of an inter-organizational policy making process, GSS may have added value to offer, but it should be employed with caution. To this end, a number of meeting design guidelines is presented.


Our laboratory was the first to isolate and purify an intact mammalian cell multiprotein DNA replication complex, termed the synthesome, from a variety of human cell types that was both stable and fully functional. Subsequent work revealed that the synthesome of malignant breast epithelial cells exhibits a more error-prone synthesis process than that of nonmalignant breast epithelial cells. We recently correlated the low replication fidelity of malignant cells was due at least in part to a post-translational modification of a specific protein component of the synthesome: proliferating cell nuclear antigen, or PCNA. Our laboratory developed an antibody (cancer-associated or caPCNAab) specific to the cancer-associated PCNA isoform (cancer-associated or caPCNA), providing hope of an effective diagnostic marker of malignancy. Additionally, peptides were derived from the caPCNA sequence (caPeptides) and these peptides were shown to augment the action of doxorubicin (DOX) in leukemia cells while leaving nonmalignant cells intact. caPeptides may possess anti-cancer therapeutic potential through blocking the association of caPCNA with its binding partners involved in DNA replication and repair. The objective of this study was to determine the mechanism by which caPeptides directed against caPCNA induced cancer cell cytotoxicity. Breast cancer cells from a patient harboring a hereditary mutation in BRCA1, a major component of DNA double strand break repair (HCC1937 cells), were used in this study. As a genetically matched control, the wild-type breast cancer 1 early onset gene (BRCA1) was transduced into HCC1937 cells (referred to as HCC1937 + wild-type BRCA1). MTT [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] assays were conducted with caPeptides at a variety of timepoints both alone and in combination with DNA damaging agent cisplatin in HCC1937 and HCC1937 + wild-type BRCA1 cells. The data suggests cells lacking wild-type BRCA1 show increased sensitivity to caPeptides in comparison to isogenic controls transduced with wild-type BRCA1. We show that caPeptides augment the action of DNA damaging agent cisplatin. Furthermore, caPeptides containing amino acid substitutions in specific sites within the peptide show enhanced cytotoxicity over wild-type caPeptides. This work may provide information useful in a clinical setting as caPeptides could benefit a particular subset of breast cancer patients. Additionally, caPeptide studies may shed light on the deregulated replication and repair processes common in cancer. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 683.


The igneous complex that hosts the Yanbei porphyry tin deposit is situated along the eastern margin of the southeast China Caledonian fold belt. It intrudes a Late Jurassic granitic batholith and was unconformably covered by Late Cretaceous red beds. The complex consists mainly of volcanic (ignimbrites and minor rhyolitic lavas, tuffs, and subvolcanic rhyolite porphyry) and intrusive rocks (topaz-bearing granite porphyry and granite). These rocks are generally peraluminous with F- and VI Al-rich biotite as the main mafic mineral, and F-rich and OH-poor topaz as an accessory mineral in the granite porphyry and granite, and as an essential mineral in the topazite. Topaz in the granites is usually interstitial and crystallized during the late magmatic stage. The volcanic rocks and granites are rich in Si, K, F (SiO 2 > 75 wt %, Na 2 O/K 2 O = 0.03-0.72, F = 0.06-6.48 wt %) and incompatible trace elements (Rb, Zr, Nb, W, Sn ) and poor in Mg, Ti, Ca, P and compatible trace elements (Sr, Eu ). The chondrite-normalized rare earth element (REE) patterns for the granites generally have a distinct V shape, with strong Eu depletion (Eu/Eu (super [whitesunwithrays]) = 0.04-0.20). The main rocks of the complex have low epsilon Nd (T) values (-9.3 to -8.9 for volcanic rocks, -4.0 to -4.8 for granites), and high delta 18 O values of quartz from dacite (9.5ppm) and granites (9.6-10.1ppm). The difference in epsilon Nd (T) between the volcanic rocks and granites indicates that they are not comagmatic. The source of the volcanic rocks probably contains a greater metasedimentary component than that of the granites.The Yanbei porphyry tin deposit is located along the contact zone between topaz-bearing granite porphyry and rhyolite porphyry, and consists principally of one orebody which makes up 99 percent of the total reserves. Of the metallic minerals (5% by volume), cassiterite, pyrite, and chalcopyrite are dominant, sphalerite, wolframite, and galena are less important, and siderite, molybdenite, and stannite are minor. Cassiterite accounts for 96 percent of the total Sn reserves and stannite is the subordinate Sn-bearing mineral that occurs as rims around chalcopyrite. Cassiterite occurs mostly in disseminated form and as veinlets. The wall-rock alteration is intense and can be roughly grouped into three zones spatially arranged around the granite porphyry, namely: topaz-quartz, chloritic, and sericitic zones. Most of the orebody occurs in the topaz-quartz and chloritic zones. Hydrothermal alteration caused a decrease in K and Na and an increase in Al, Fe, Ca, Sn, W, and Cu. The delta 18 O values of quartz and cassiterite from the mineralized zones vary from 6.0 to 11 per mil, and the calculated delta 18 O (sub H 2 O) values of the ore-forming fluid range from 4.2 to 7.8 per mil. The altered rocks have elevated delta 18 O (sub H 2 O) values (14.5-9.7ppm) relative to fresh rocks. The pyrite from the ore has a limited range of delta 34 S values (-0.3-+1.5ppm). These data suggest a magmatic source for the ore-forming hydrothermal fluid.


This study examined the effects of sequencing different types of antismoking threat and efficacy appeals on smoking cessation intentions for smokers with low and high levels of readiness to quit. An experiment was done to test predictions based on Witte's (1992) Extended Parallel Process Model and research by Cho and Salmon (2006). A national probability sample of 555 adult smokers was recruited to take part in this study. Results found a positive two-way interaction effect between message threat and perceived level of message efficacy on intentions to seek help for quitting. A three-way interaction effect was found between message threat, perceived level of message efficacy, and readiness to quit on quitting intentions. Both threat and efficacy were important for smokers with low readiness to quit, whereas efficacy was most important among smokers with high readiness to quit. Implications of the results for antismoking campaigns are discussed along with limitations and future directions.


Habitat preference is determined by complex interactions between biotic and abiotic habitat features and species-specific requirements. In many terrestrial organisms, studies of habitat preference emphasize the role of vegetation. Yet, in land-dwelling ectotherms, an often-overlooked characteristic that may have a strong effect on habitat preference is soil type. We followed 18 Spur-thighed Tortoises (Testudo graeca) mounted with radio transmitters to quantify their seasonal activity patterns, home-range sizes, and preferred habitats, including soil type. We used Maximum Entropy to quantify the spatial distribution of Testudo graeca in the study area based on species occurrence records and nine environmental variables derived from LiDAR. We describe for the first time a strong preference for soil type in Testudo graeca, as well as preference for flat terrain (avoidance of steep slopes). Individuals avoided areas with dense woody vegetation and chose habitats containing heterogeneous vegetation, including isolated trees, shrubs, and open patches. We further found that individuals in the study area do not hibernate but decrease activity in summer-autumn. Finally, home-range size was comparable between the sexes. The overlapping home ranges within and between the sexes throughout the year, including the mating season, suggest that this species is not territorial.


Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) males mature as either tiny precocious parr before seaward migration, or as older and larger anadromous males. Anadromous males dominate the spawning redds and aggressively defend females against parr intrusions. Parr gain fertilizations by sneaking in to ejaculate while anadromous males and females spawn. Such differences in mating advantage generate asymmetries in risk of sperm competition between the male strategies. Theoretical sperm competition models predict that males typically mating in disfavoured roles (here, the parr strategy) should be selected to offset this disadvantage by investing more into spermatogenesis to achieve fertilization success. First, we present a theoretical model which analyses gametic expenditure for salmon parr and anadromous male reproductive strategies. We then use the natural variance in mating pattern within this species to compare empirically how males invest in spermatogenesis. A range of reproductive traits were measured for both male strategies. Absolutely, anadromous males have larger testes and produce greater numbers of sperm than parr males. However, results show that parr invest relatively more heavily into total spermatogenesis, and have a larger gonosomatic index than anadromous males. Relative to body size, parr produced greater numbers of sperm and volumes of stripped ejaculate. There was no difference in sperm length between the two male strategies. However, more sperm were motile in parr ejaculates, and these sperm lived longer than anadromous male sperm. Our findings may explain how male parr, under elevated risks of sperm competition and occupying a disfavoured mating role (parr weigh only 0.15% of the average body mass of anadromous males) achieve disproportionately high fertilization success.


In this paper, we present a pose based approach for locating and recognizing human actions in videos. In our method, human poses are detected and represented based on deformable part model. To our knowledge, this is the first work on exploring the effectiveness of deformable part models in combining human detection and pose estimation into action recognition. Comparing with previous methods, ours have three main advantages. First, our method does not rely on any assumption on video preprocessing quality, such as satisfactory foreground segmentation or reliable tracking; Second, we propose a novel compact representation for human pose which works together with human detection and can well represent the spatial and temporal structures inside an action; Third, with human detection taken into consideration in our framework, our method has the ability to locate and recognize multiple actions in the same scene. Experiments on benchmark datasets and recorded cluttered videos verified the efficacy of our method.


The primary goal of nonoperative treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is to prevent curve progression. The risk of progression and estimation of growth remaining should be performed through a combination of serial X-rays, menarche history, serial height measurement, triradiate cartilage status, Risser grade, and Sanders Skeletal Maturation Stage with a left-hand bone age X-ray. For AIS patients with growth remaining and a curve magnitude between 25 and 45 degrees, conservative treatment with a rigid thoracolumbosacral orthosis (TLSO) is indicated. Rigid TLSOs (e.g., Wilmington, Boston, Rigo-Cheneau) are superior to other brace types, but there is insufficient evidence to recommend a specific type of rigid TLSO. Brace wear for at least 13 hours per day is indicated until skeletal maturity to limit curve progression. Physiotherapeutic scoliosis-specific exercises (PSSE) should be considered in addition to bracing for patients with moderate curves because there is growing evidence that PSSE improve overall patient-perceived back status when used as an adjunct to brace treatment. However, PSSE have not been shown to decrease the likelihood of curve progression for patients with mild curves; therefore, insufficient evidence exists to recommend PSSE for asymptomatic patients with mild curves. The nonoperative treatment of AIS remains an active area of investigation, and further research is needed to better compare brace types, optimize brace weaning, and understand the effectiveness of PSSE.


Recent high oil price results in the development of energy saving technology such as LED lighting system. Street-lighting system using COH LED package can save energy because the heat dissipation through cupper base is better than conventional technology. Studies on manufacturing processes of lighting system are insufficient even though LED package design and its heat analysis have been studied. This study focuses on the problem and solution of manufacturing processes such as LED packaging process, optimized emission angle, and LED bar dimension for mechanical assembly. As a result, we established better manufacturing alternatives of LED packaging and street-lighting system with higher lighting efficiency of 84 lm/W, as well as good illumination intensity of 39.7 lux at 6 m from lighting source.


There are many highly sensitized patients on the kidney waiting lists of organ exchange organizations because it is difficult to find a crossmatch negative cadaver kidney for these patients. Recently, several protocols have been developed to remove the donor-specific human leukocyte antigen (HLA) antibodies from the serum of these patients before transplantation. These approaches, including the use of intravenous immunoglobulins, plasmapheresis and immunoglobulins (plasmapheresis-cytomegalovirus-immunoglobulin), and immunoabsorption, seem to lead to a certain success rate, although the additional immunosuppression necessary to remove and control the production of donor-specific alloantibodies may have its impact on the short-term (infections) and long-term (incidence of cancer) immune surveillance. Furthermore, some of these therapies represent a considerable financial burden for patients and society. In the present report, we advocate selection of crossmatch negative donors on the basis of the Acceptable Mismatch Program, as the first and best option for highly sensitized patients to undergo transplantations. No additional immunosuppression is necessary, and graft survival in this group of "difficult" patients is identical to that of nonsensitized recipients. Because the nature of the HLA polymorphism does not allow all patients to profit from this approach, removal of circulating HLA antibodies can be considered as a rescue therapy for those patients for whom the Acceptable Mismatch Program does not give a solution.


Antibiotic resistant bacteria have become increasingly widespread in environment and their prevalence is a serious problem for health. The rise and spread of this resistance is primarily due to overuse of antibiotics in clinical therapeutics and as growth promoters for livestock. Overuse undermines the usefulness of antibiotics by giving a selective advantage to microbes that are resistant. The problem has been exacerbated by the emergence of bacteria that are resistant to multiple antibiotics, and by the ability of these resistance determinants to spread horizontally between different bacteria via horizontal gene transfer. Such transfer can, for example, take place in the guts of farm animals, which can become reservoirs of multiple antibiotic resistant bacteria (MARB). Antibiotics and MARB enter the environment via wastewater, especially from hospitals and pharmaceutical plants, and through agricultural runoff, leading to contamination of surface and ground water. This is a serious problem in arid regions such as Oman where wastewater is recycled for irrigation and recharging aquifers. Even treatment with chlorine does not completely remove bacteria from wastewater or prevent their re-growth in downstream distribution systems. MARB can reach humans via contaminated food and drinking water, or directly from the environment. Agricultural runoff and sewage, either treated or untreated, are also the main sources of antibiotic resistant bacteria in coastal sea water. It is necessary to use antibiotics more prudently in medicine, treat wastewater more effectively, eliminate the discharge of untreated waste into the environment, and curtail the profligate use of antibiotics as growth promoters for livestock.


The analysis of the total amount of expenses for medical services of an individual during a given year can be divided into two parts: the analysis of the probability of having non-zero expenses, and the analysis of the amount of the non-zero expenses. In this paper we construct a statistical model for the total amount of expenses for medical services. First, we analyse which factors influence the probability of having non-zero expenses on the basis of a logit model. Second, we analyse ten probability distributions that might be used to describe the amount of the non-zero expenses, where we distinguish five categories of non-zero expenses. Third, we examine which factors influence the parameters of the probability distribution of the amount of non-zero expenses of three categories on the basis of a lognormal model. The models are applied to Dutch health insurance data.


" Philosoph y" as a Greek word carries its own cultural connotation. When this word was transliterated into Arabic language as Falsafah , it became loaded in Islamic culture with additional positive connotations and yet became vulnerable to criticism. In this paper, I discuss how the approach of receiving " philosophy " itself has changed in the Islamic culture from that of an intellectual interaction and coexistence, to a negative pursuing of wisdom that was heavily criticized by many Muslim scholars. This paper discusses how Muslim scholars criticized philosophy in its Greek and Islamic manifestations, especially issues related to Metaphysics ( Ilahiyyat ) and Logic ( Mantiq ), in addition to showing how this criticism was presented in the writings of some Muslim scholars such as al-Kindī, al-Ghazālī and Ibn Taymiyya. Key words: Islamic Philosophy, Greek Philosophy, Logic, metaphysics.


The objective was to determine the expected net value of a no-till forage production and grazing system. Reduction in fuel and machinery costs offset the costs of herbicide application. The net value of the no-till system is $31 per acre, and is quite sensitive to relative differences in cattle performance.


Understanding the extent to which specific tumor mutations impact or mediate patient response to particular cancer therapies has become a rapidly increasing area of research. Recent research findings regarding four predominant mutational targets (KRAS, BRAF, EGFR and PIK3CA) show that these tumor mutations have predictive power for identifying which patients are likely to respond to particular therapies, and have prognostic significance irrespective of treatment. However, in this regard, the literature is frequently nuanced and sometimes contradictory. This lack of clarity may be due, at least in part, to the utilization of mutation detection methods with varying sensitivities across studies of different patient populations. Nevertheless, considerable evidence suggests minor tumor subpopulations may be contributing to inappropriate patient stratification, development of resistance to treatment, and the relapse that often follows treatment with molecularly targeted therapies. Consequently, mutant tumor subpopulations need to be considered in order to improve strategies for personalized cancer treatment.


The aim of this work is to nd the optimal sintering parameters of Cr-31.2 mass% Ti alloys and simultaneously investigate the effects of the TiCr2 Laves phases. In this study, Cr-31.2 mass% Ti alloys are fabricated by vacuum hot-press sintering. Different compositions of submicron titanium (760 nm) powders are added to micron chromium (4.66 μm) powders. The experiments utilize various hot-press sintering temperatures (1250, 1300, 1350 and 1400°C) with the pressure maintained at 20 MPa for 1 h, respectively. The experimental results show the optimal parameters of the hot-press sintered Cr-31.2 mass% Ti alloys to be 1400°C at 20 MPa for 1 h. The relative density reaches 99.96% and the hardness and TRS (transverse rupture strength) reach 81.93 HRA and 475.73 MPa, respectively. In addition, the increase in temperature of the hot-press sintering is effectively decreased the Cr3Ti3O and slightly enhanced TiCr2 phases, which will lead to the better mechanical properties. Signi cantly, the optimal hot-press sintered Cr-31.2 mass% Ti alloys possess a dense microstructure, excellent mechanical property and good electrical conductivity value (1.51 × 104 S·cm−1). [doi:10.2320/matertrans.M2017048]


Purpose – This paper aims to uncover the central purposes of institutional repositories, how developments are being affected by policies and researcher behaviour and also what services and approaches are appropriate in supporting repositories from those partners involved in scholarly communication with a particular focus on services that support the publication of research. Design/methodology/approach – The research reviews the literature and current practices within higher education with regard to the core purposes of institutional repositories, the possible causes of low population of repositories in some institutions and subject disciplines, how this is being addressed and likely future developments. A qualitative survey using semi-structured interviews explores current best practices and tests the specific research questions that emerged from the literature review. Findings – The rate at which institutional repositories have grown in number has been very fast in recent years, but the population of repositories with research has been relatively slow. The research identified a number of reasons as to why the population of repositories was likely to accelerate in the future and have a more significant impact on scholarly communication. The main catalysts are: strengthening of national and funder policies that serve to both mandate open access (green or gold) and raise awareness of open access amongst faculty; the alignment of repositories with current research information systems within universities; and the development of metadata and open archives initiative harvesting that will improve discoverability and usage data. Research limitations/implications – As many of the issues around the development of repositories centre on the attitudes of faculty, it would also provide an interesting extension to the research to understand their views of the role of institutional repositories, too. Practical implications – The study presents a number of possible new ways of working by both information professionals and publishers to improve scholarly communication through the inclusion of research within institutional repositories and how perceived barriers could be overcome. Social implications – The study provides guidance on how the communication of scholarly research could be improved and reach a wider audience. This, in turn, will benefit researchers, corporate organisations and the public at large. Originality/value – The paper provides a review of current best practices in managing institutional repositories and identifies new ways of addressing some of the perceived barriers to populating repositories and the benefits for each stakeholder in the scholarly communication process.


Gesture recognition is to recognizing meaningful expressions of motion by a human, involving the hands, arms, face, head, and/or body. Hand Gestures have greater importance in designing an intelligent and efficient human–computer interface. The applications of gesture recognition are manifold, ranging from sign language through medical rehabilitation to virtual reality. In this paper a survey on various recent gesture recognition approaches is provided with particular emphasis on hand gestures. A review of static hand posture methods are explained with different tools and algorithms applied on gesture recognition system, including connectionist models, hidden Markov model, and fuzzy clustering. Challenges and future research directions are also highlighted.


Objectives: Simvastatin has been reported to attenuate the development of pulmonary hypertension through increased apoptosis as well as reduced proliferation of smooth muscle cells in obstructive vascular lesions. Microarray experiment can accomplish many genetic tests in parallel. The purpose of this study is to evaluate altered expressions of gene in rat hearts with monocrotaline (MCT)-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension after simvastatin treatment. Methods: Six-week-old male rats were grouped as follows: control group (C group, saline injection), M group (MCT 60 mg/kg), and S group (MCT 60 mg/kg plus 10 mg/kg/day simvastatin by gavage during 28 days). Body weight, right ventricular pressure and right ventricular/left ventricle+septum ratio in each group were measured. The rats were sacrificed after 28 days. Total RNA was extracted from the rat heart tissue and microarray analysis was performed. Results: Administration of simvastatin significantly inhibited the progression of right ventricular hypertrophy at day 28 in the S group than in the M group. Compared with the C group, MCT was associated with a significant difference in expression of genes related to biosynthesis and with the regulation of heart contraction rate. Simvastatin treatment resulted in a significantly changed expression of genes about the regulation of progression through cell cycle and system development compared to the M group. The expressions of nitric oxide synthase and brain natriuretic peptide were significantly decreased after simvastatin treatment. Conclusion: Administration of simvastatin exerted inhibitory effects on right ventricular hypertrophy during the development of MCT-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension in rats. Simvastatin changes the expression of genes associated with various functions. (Ewha Med J 2018;41(3):53-62) Received April 10, 2018 Revised June 5, 2018 Accepted June 27, 2018


Defects in graphene greatly affect its properties1-3. Radiation induced-defects may reduce the long-term survivability of graphene-based nano-devices. Here, we expose few-layer graphene to extreme ultraviolet (EUV, 13.5nm) radiation and show there is a power-dependent increase in defect density. We also show that exposure to EUV radiation in an H2 background increases graphene's dosage sensitivity. This may be due to reactions caused by the EUV induced hydrogen plasma. The nature of the defects was studied with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), which showed that the sp3 bonded carbon and oxide fractions increase with exposure. The experimental results are important for understanding the defect-creating mechanisms upon photon interaction as well as designing graphene-based components for EUV lithography systems. Graphene samples grown on 25x25mm2 Ni/Si substrate by CVD were obtained from Graphene Laboratories, Inc. Each sample had 1 to 7 layers, with a spatial average of 4. The samples were exposed to EUV, and for comparison purposes, hydrogen radicals, under conditions summarized in table 1. Raman spectroscopy and XPS were used to study the defects in graphene. Fig. 1 shows the Raman spectra of the five samples. The spectrum for the sample exposed to EUV in a hydrogen background (SEUV+H2) has the highest D peak intensity. The spectra for the samples exposed to atomic hydrogen (SH) and EUV irradiation (SEUV) show slightly lower D peak intensities. The pristine sample (Sref), and the one exposed to molecular hydrogen (SH2) have the lowest D peak intensities. An increased D peak intensity indicates increased defect density.


Null hypothesis testing has long since been the ?go-to analytic approach? in quantitative second language (L2) research (Norris, 2015, p. 97). To many, however, years of reliance on this approach has resulted in a crisis of inference across the social and behavioral sciences (e.g., Rouder et al., 2016). As an alternative to the null hypothesis testing approach, many such experts recommend the Bayesian hypothesis testing approach. Adopting an open-science framework, the present study (a) re-evaluates the empirical findings of 418 t-tests from published L2 research using Bayesian hypothesis testing, and (b) compares the Bayesian results with their conventional, null hypothesis testing counterparts as observed in the original reports. The results show that the Bayesian and the null hypothesis testing approaches generally arrive at similar inferential conclusions. However, considerable differences arise in the rejections of the null hypothesis. Notably, in 64.06% of cases when p-values fell between .01 and .05 (i.e., evidence to reject the null), the Bayesian analysis found the evidence in the primary studies to be only at an ?anecdotal? level (i.e., insufficient evidence to reject the null). Practical implications, field-wide recommendations, and an introduction to free online software (https://rnorouzian.shinyapps.io/bayesian-t-tests) for Bayesian hypothesis testing are discussed.


Background . Information on the geographical distribution of different species of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato ( B. burgdorferi s.l.) complex is of great epidemiological importance, since different genospecies are associated with certain clinical manifestations of Lyme borreliosis. Although Almaty region of the Republic of Kazakhstan is considered to be endemic for tick-borne borreliosis, there is still no accurate data on the level of borrelia infection in ticks in the region, including information on the genotypes of circulating borrelia. The aim of this work was to study ticks collected from humans in the Almaty region of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2018. Materials and methods . Ticks were tested for the presence of B. burgdorferi s.l. DNA, genotyping of the identified borrelia was done by sequencing of the fragment of 16S rRNA gene. The analysis of epidemiological data on the incidence of Lyme borreliosis in the Almaty region in 2013–2018 was performed. Results . Rhipicephalus turanicus (116/253), Haemaphysalis punctata (74/253), Dermacentor marginatus (28/253), and Ixodes persulcatus (23/253) were the predominant species of ticks taken from humans. The prevalence of B. burgdorferi s.l. infection in I. persulcatus ticks was 39.13% (9/23) It should be noted that the DNA of B. burgdorferi s.l. was also detected in single individuals of D. marginatus , H. punctata , and R. turanicus , although these species are not considered as competent B. burgdorferi s.l. vectors. Conclusion . As a result of sequencing of the positive homogenates of ticks, two genotypes of B. burgdorferi s.l. were identified: B. afzelii and B. garinii and/or B. bavariensis . Thus, at least two genospecies, B. afzelii and B. garinii and/or B. bavariensis , circulate in the territory of the Almaty region.


There are two different methods to describe membrane (string) fluids, which use different field content. The relation between the methods is clarified by construction of combined method. Dirac membrane field appears naturally in new approach. It provides a possibility to consider new aspects of electrodynamics-type theories with electric and magnetic sources. The membrane fluid models automatically prohibit simulatenos existence of electric and magnetic currents. Possible applications to the dark energy problem are mentioned.


State-of-the-art semantic parsers rely on auto-regressive decoding, emitting one symbol at a time. When tested against complex databases that are unobserved at training time (zero-shot), the parser often struggles to select the correct set of database constants in the new database, due to the local nature of decoding. %since their decisions are based on weak, local information only. In this work, we propose a semantic parser that globally reasons about the structure of the output query to make a more contextually-informed selection of database constants. We use message-passing through a graph neural network to softly select a subset of database constants for the output query, conditioned on the question. Moreover, we train a model to rank queries based on the global alignment of database constants to question words. We apply our techniques to the current state-of-the-art model for Spider, a zero-shot semantic parsing dataset with complex databases, increasing accuracy from 39.4% to 47.4%.


With increased interest in new transit systems for congestion relief, or pollution mitigation and limitations on the amount of funding available, governments and planners are looking at many new ways to finance transit infrastructure. One method being pursued is capturing some of the value conferred to sites when transit is introduced. This paper discusses a proposal to capture that value through a market based bid process, examines means of overcoming several related stakeholder issues, and discusses potential pilot project sites. As early as 1826, German economist Johann Heinrich von Thunen developed a theory that transport adds a measure of accessibility and value to a site. Research has continued for almost two centuries and UC Berkeley professor Robert Cervero has conducted several studies that identified a ten percent premium for locations that have enhanced accessibility due to transit's proximity. Capturing this value, though rare, is typically achieved through standard local finance mechanisms like property tax levies, assessment districts, and TIF. These methods have seen limited implementation as each presents significant issues for policymakers, transit operators, and the public, when compared to alternative grant funds from state or federal transport departments. In hopes of finding a new value capture alternative, this paper explores the possibility of a market-based bid system where property owners volunteer a portion of the anticipated increase in value to deliver the property enhancing transit infrastructure. These "bids" would help determine the optimal location for transit based on a cost/benefit analysis of various route and station alignments. This concept was originally developed in the author's graduate thesis research at the Department of City and Regional Planning. Subsequent coursework outlined the process, identified stakeholders, and proposed techniques to mitigate potential stakeholder concerns. Important conclusions include identifying a need for a non-profit oversight entity to coordinate implementation and a focus on proposed transit systems that do not qualify for federal funding grants.


ABSTRACT Following their introduction into the British Isles by the Normans, rabbits were farmed in manmade warrens called coneygarths, whose so-called pillow mounds encouraged the species to burrow and facilitated their capture. The construction of pillow mounds represents a remarkably long-lived form of animal husbandry, which in some places, notably Dartmoor, remained in use until the early twentieth century. Despite some potential for surviving medieval examples, the vast majority of known pillow mounds are now thought to be post-medieval and consequently the landscapes of extant rabbit warrens are a reflection of the post-medieval warrening experience rather than that of the medieval period. Moreover, although former warrens are geographically widespread across England and Wales, their remains are more prevalent in western upland areas as an intensification of arable practices in eastern England during the postmedieval period likely removed many of that region's former warrens. The study of documents produced by the medieval chancery reveals numerous references to rabbits and rabbit warrens throughout England, of which many have left no archaeological remains. These chancery rolls suggest that in contrast to surviving postmedieval warrens, those of the medieval period were more numerous in eastern England compared to elsewhere. They also imply that the warrens in eastern England were able to produce a surplus of rabbits that supported an export trade and supplied the royal court at Westminster, something that warrens in the remainder of England were less able to do.


This research aims to describe the implementation of madrasah-based management in enhancing students' achievement at Madrasah Aliyah Boarding School Nurul Falah Borongganjeng of Bulukumba Regency, South Sulawesi. This research is a qualitative study through a phenomenological approach. The informants in this study are the headmaster, teachers, education personnel, and learners. The data collection technique used are observations, interviews, and documentation. The information obtained is processed and analyzed through several stages including data reduction, data display, and verification or withdrawal of conclusions. The results showed that the implementation of Madrasah-Based Management (MBM) at Madrasah Aliyah Nurul Falah Borongganjeng can improve students' achievement. Teachers as spearhead education can act autonomously through the application of madrasah-based management by developing approaches, methods, strategies, techniques, media to be used in accordance with the subject matter to be delivered making it easier for learners to understand and ultimately impact on their learning achievements.


Background: Hand hygiene is considered one of the most important infection control measures for preventing health care-associated infections. Although the techniques involved in hand hygiene are simple, compliance with hand hygiene recommendations is poor worldwide. Objectives: We sought to perform a knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) study on hand hygiene among medical residents at Imam Hossein hospital, Tehran, Iran. Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional KAP study was conducted among medical residents in Imam Hossein hospital, Iran, 2013. All medical residents from different wards were invited to participate in this study (270 in total). The world health organization questionnaires and an observational checklist were used to collect data. The χ2 test and the Fisher exact test were utilized to analyze the qualitative variables. Since the quantitative variables had no normal distribution, the Mann-Whitney test and the Kruskal-Wallis method were employed. A P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The data were analyzed using SPSS, version 17. Results: The mean overall score of the residents' knowledge was 14.2 ± 2.6 (mean ± SD). The residents received weak scores in attitudes and practices. Forty-nine percent (n = 124) of the residents responded to the questions on attitudes toward hand hygiene, and only 20.16% (n = 25) managed to identify the correct answer. Moreover, 3.1% (n = 8) of the residents adhered to the 8 standard steps, 12.1% (n = 31) washed their hands for 20 - 30 seconds, and only 2 residents observed the sequences of hand hygiene. Additionally, none of the residents performed hand washing with available means (water and hand-washing liquid) in the morning visit hours. Conclusions: Concerning hand hygiene, the residents had moderate knowledge but overall poor attitudes and practices. The present study underscores the need for further improvement in the existing training programs to address the gaps in KAP regarding hand hygiene.


This report by Dr Shakuntala Banaji is contained in deliverable report no.16 of CIVICWEB Young People, the Internet and Civic Participation, a Project co-funded by the European Commission within the Sixth Framework Programme (2002-2006) Project no. 028357. The report contains reports of focus groups with young people in Europe. Samples of 45-60 young people from seven countries were analysed: Hungary, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom. They included those who used online civic initiatives, young people who were active in offline civic organisations and those who were not engaged in civic organisations online or offline. The section on the UK is pages 127-146.


We examined the effect of glycyrrhetinic acid (Ia) and its derivatives on ear edema induced by topical application of capsaicin in mice. Three dihemiphthalate compounds: di-sodium salt of 18 beta-olean-12-ene-3 beta,30-diol (deoxoglycyrrhetol, IIa) di-O-hemiphthalate (IIb); 18 beta-olean-9(11),12-diene-3 beta, 30-diol di-O-hemiphthalate (IIIa); and olean-11,13(18)-diene-3 beta,30-diol di-O-hemiphthalate (IVa) inhibited capsaicin-induced edema with ED50 values of 52.6, 41.0 and 51.8 mg/kg (p.o.), respectively. However, glycyrrhetinic acid and deoxoglycyrrhetol at a dose of 200 mg/kg (p.o.) had no effect. Compound IIIa (100 mg/kg, p.o.) also inhibited the edema response to capsaicin in mast cell-deficient mice. Furthermore, compounds IIb, IIIa and IVa (25-100 mg/kg, p.o.) prevented ear edema in response to intradermal injection of substance P (SP) and compound 48/80. In addition, these compounds at a high dose of 100 mg/kg (p.o.) produced a significant inhibition of the plasma extravasation in ear skin induced by i.v. administration of SP. The above results suggest that the effect of these compounds on capsaicin-induced ear edema is due at least in part to an inhibition of the increase of vascular permeability induced by vasoactive agents released from mast cells. Moreover, it seems likely that these compounds at a high dose can suppress vasodilatation and plasma extravasation induced by SP involved in capsaicin-induced edema.


Background

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is a high aggressive human cancer which usually diagnosed at advanced stages. Accumulating evidences indicate that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are crucial participants in LUAD progression.
Methods

The mRNA levels of LINC00968, miR-22-5p and cell division cycle 14A (CDC14A) were measured using quantitative real-time PCR. Cell proliferation was evaluated using cell counting kit-8 and flow cytometry. Cell migration and cell invasion were assessed by wound healing and transwell assay, respectively. The interactions between LINC00968 and miR-22-5p were validated by RNA immunoprecipitation, RNA pull down and luciferase reporter assay.
Results

We found that lncRNA LINC00968 was significantly down-regulated in LUAD tissues and cell lines. LINC00968 level was positively correlated to survival rate, and negatively correlated to tumor node metastasis stage, tumor size and lymph node metastasis of LUAD patients. LINC00968 over-expression in LUAD cells inhibited cell proliferation and induced cell cycle arrest at G1 phase. LINC00968 over-expression also suppressed migration, invasion and epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) as evidenced by elevated E-cadherin, decreased N-cadherin, TWIST and SNAIL levels. We further validated that LINC00968 localized in cytoplasma and acted as an upstream of microRNA miR-22-5p, which was up-regulated in LUAD tissues and cell lines. Besides, elevated miR-22-5p expression abolished the effect of LINC00968 over-expression on LUAD progression including in vivo tumor growth. In addition, we first validated that cell division cycle 14A (CDC14A), which was down-regulated in LUAD tissues, was a downstream target of miR-22-5p. We over-expressed CDC14A in LUAD cells and miR-22-5p induced LUAD progression was partially reversed.
Conclusion

our study demonstrated that LINC00968 inhibited proliferation, migration and invasion of LUAD by sponging miR-22-5p and further restoring CDC14A. This novel regulatory network might provide us with promising diagnostic and therapeutic target in LUAD treatment.


Food safety is a global problem with a large impact on human health and a high level of priority for governments. Supply chain traceability is key to enable food safety, since it allows problems to be traced to their source. Moreover, it allows regulatory agencies to understand where risk enters into the supply chain, and offers a major disincentive for upstream agricultural businesses engaging in economically motivated adulteration. Despite its importance, there has been little empirical research on what factors are associated with the adoption of traceability. This paper focuses on the aquatic supply chain in China, and seeks to understand the adoption of supply chain traceability empirically, through the most extensive field survey ever conducted at Chinese wholesale markets. The survey includes 76 managers and 753 vendors, covering all aquatic wholesale markets in Zhejiang and Hunan provinces. The results suggest that adoption of traceability among aquatic wholesale market vendors is significantly associated with inspection intensity, their individual history of food safety problems, and their risk awareness (specifically exposure to quality and safety issues as measured by their involvement in aquatic products associations and social media groups). In addition, a theoretical model of vendor behavior is proposed to explain these observations. The goal is that this paper will offer insights into the current state of traceability in China, as well as hypotheses for how the adoption of traceability can be improved.


Scaffold-guided gene transfer offers strong systems to develop non-invasive, convenient therapeutic options for the treatment of articular cartilage defects, especially when targeting bone marrow aspirates from patients containing chondroregenerative mesenchymal stromal cells in a native microenvironment. In the present study, we examined the feasibility of delivering reporter (RFP, lacZ) rAAV vectors over time to such samples via biocompatible, mechanically stable poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) films grafted with poly(sodium styrene sulfonate) (pNaSS) for improved biological responses as clinically adapted tools for cartilage repair. Effective transgene expression (RFP, lacZ) was noted over time in human bone marrow aspirates using pNaSS-grafted films (up to 90% efficiency for at least 21 days) versus control conditions (ungrafted films, absence of vector coating on the films, free or no vector treatment), without displaying cytotoxic nor detrimental effects on the osteochondrogenic or hypertrophic potential of the samples. These findings demonstrate the potential of directly modifying therapeutic bone marrow from patients by controlled delivery of rAAV using biomaterial-guided procedures as a future, non-invasive strategy for clinical cartilage repair.


A case of catecholamine cardiomyopathy associated with paraganglioma, which was rescued by percutaneous cardiopulmonary support system (PCPS), is presented. Unlike typical apical ballooning, transthoracic echocardiography and left ventriculography revealed severe left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and an abnormal contractile pattern, consisting of akinesis of the basal and midventricular segments and hyperkinesis of the apical segments. Because of the intractable cardiogenic shock, despite conventional treatment, PCPS was performed. The underlying disease was paraganglioma. Catecholamine excess may induce not only transient LV apical ballooning but also atypical LV ballooning without involvement of the LV apex. Early use of PCPS is important for the patient with a catecholamine crisis who is not stabilized by intra-aortic balloon pump as well as infusion of fluid and inotropic agents.


Two-photon lithography technology has revolutionized the fabrication of 3D-structures from photoreactive materials by providing high precision and almost unlimited design freedom. Here, a zirconium-based metal-organic framework (MOF) based on benzophenonedicarboxylate (bzpdc) linker molecules has been micro-structured by a laser-induced chemical modification. Via a post-synthetical loading of the porous crystals with appropriate organic compounds and a subsequent femtosecond laser-induced two-photon absorption (TPA), a cross-linking of organic compounds with MOF's bzpdc-linker is triggered. As a result, a precise functionalization of the material is achieved, leading to a permanent change in properties such as refractive index. With this work a significant step forward for 3D-tailoring material properties and manufacturing tuneable functional optical micro-devices is made.