Abstract: In large-scale quantitative proteomic studies, scientists measure the abundance of thousands of proteins from the human proteome in search of novel biomarkers for a given disease. Penalized regression estimators can be used to identify potential biomarkers among a large set of molecular features measured. Yet the performance and statistical properties of these estimators depend on the loss and penalty functions used to define them. Motivated by a real plasma proteomic biomarkers study, we propose a new class of penalized robust estimators based on the elastic net penalty, which can be tuned to keep groups of correlated variables together in the selected model and maintain robustness against possible outliers. We also propose an efficient algorithm to compute our robust penalized estimators and derive a data-driven method to select the penalty term. Our robust penalized estimators have very good robustness properties and are also consistent under certain regularity conditions. Numerical results show that our robust estimators compare favorably to other robust penalized estimators. Using our proposed methodology for the analysis of the proteomics data, we identify new potentially relevant biomarkers of cardiac allograft vasculopathy that are not found with non-robust alternatives. The selected model is validated in a new set of 52 test samples and achieves an area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUC) of 0.85.


The present work focuses on the therapeutic efficacy and the toxicity of alpha interferon in patients younger than age 18 years. 5 patients younger than 18 years were treated and followed up between 1990 and 1999 at the department of haematology (Aziza Othmana Hospital) Hydroxyurea was given as initial treatment to all patients. After a median period of 8 months, these patients received alpha interferon (5 millions units/m2 once). Six months after the beginning of the alpha interferon a complete hematologic response was obtained in all patients. The median overall survival was of 66 months: 3 patients are still alive (2 patients in an advanced stage and one patient in chronic phase) and 2 patients died after transformation. The most common reported side effects of alpha interferon were asthenia, weight loss, fever, myalgia, chills and headaches--these toxic manifestations were mild and were noticed in all our patients. Myelosuppression was noted in two patients. Interferon is well tolerated in patients younger than age years 18 old, with CML. It may offer an alternative to bone marrow transplantation in children in the chronic phase of CML without histocompatible donor. The role of new agents such as STI 571 needs to be evaluated as well.


In the last few years there has been an increasing public pressure in many countries to contain costs in the healthcare sector, leading many national governments to introduce some form of prospective payment system and to reduce the scope for global budgeting. In this paper we investigate whether the different reimbursement systems adopted in the Italian hospital sector affect significantly providers' efficiency. Because of the high variation both in the financing and in the provision of healthcare services among regions and hospitals, Italy represents an interesting case study to test the impact of different financing mechanisms on hospital's performance. To this purpose, we carry out a two-stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), where in the first-stage we estimate the DEA efficiency scores for all Italian hospitals and, then, in the second-stage, we regress the scores on different environmental variables, aiming to capture the role of different reimbursement systems. The results show a significant impact of the use of DRG-based PPS on hospital efficiency level. In particular, we find evidence that hospitals financed through PPS tend on average to be more efficient than those financed through global budget.


The frontiers of solid-state devices and integrated circuits are moving towards higher frequencies, output powers and efficiencies. There is also increasing emphasis on the development of optoelectronic devices. In this endeavour InP-based devices are playing a major role. These devices include TEDs, IMPATTS, MISFETs on the one hand and LED, lasers, solar cells and photodetectors on the other. The latest on the scene are devices based on'heterostructures and two-dimensional transport such as HBTs and HEMTs. This review highlights salient differences between InP and GaAs commencing with crystal growth, defect and surface properties and discusses some recent results on MISFETS, radiation-resistant solar cells, HEMTs and HBTs. The relations between physical properties and device performance as applicable to InP and GaAs are clearly brought out.


Phosphate sol-gel-derived glasses in a P2O5-CaO-Na2O-TiO2 system with a high TiO2 content of up to 50 mol% were synthesized. A sol-gel method was chosen because incorporating a high percentage of titanium into the phosphate network via traditional melt-quench methods is not trivial. The structural and the thermal properties of the obtained stabilized sol-gel glasses were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry. The XRD results confirmed the amorphous and glassy nature of the prepared samples. The FTIR results revealed that, with the addition of TiO2, titanium oxide (TiO6) (which likely acts as a modifier oxide) entered the network. Consequently, the number of terminal oxygen atoms increased, leading to an increase in the number of P-OH bonds. The proton conductivity of the sol-gel glass samples was as high as 0.0102 S·cm−1 at a relative humidity of 100% and a temperature of 100 ◦ C. The FTIR analysis confirmed the presence of (HPO4)2− - and (H2PO4)−-coordinated phosphorous. These functional groups acted as a bridge in the Grotthuss proton-conduction mechanism.


[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] BY 5:01 P.M. on a Tuesday afternoon, Byron High School (MN) math teacher Troy Faulkner has already received five e-mails from his students: "Where's tomorrow's video lesson?" With their laptops, tablets, or smartphones--whatever is convenient--Faulkner's students are waiting to log on to Moodle and watch a YouTube video of him solving quadratic equations. In the classroom the next day, Faulkner will work with students as they demonstrate how well they understand the concepts laid out in the lecture the night before. Welcome to a "flipped classroom" at Byron High School--where the lectures are homework, and problem solving with the teacher is class time. A Cinderella Story According to Superintendent Wendy Shannon, nobody in the Byron Public Schools district set out to flip their classrooms, but necessity became the mother of invention. The district, in suburban Rochester, was due for a math textbook revision. Teachers already knew the old math texts were poor matches for the state's new math standards, and that a curriculum update was needed. But they faced a huge problem. "With two failed operating levy referendum issues and a bad economy, we'd already had to cut $1.2 million from Byron's school budget," Shannon says. "We literally had no money for new textbooks." The teachers came up with a radical idea: They'd create their own math curriculum. Byron High Principal Michael Duffy questioned each teacher privately to make sure they really were up for such an ambitious task. Satisfied that they were, he gave them his blessing. All Byron High School teachers have participated in professional learning communities since 2008, with each department meeting for at least an hour each week, so the math department already was comfortable working as a team. So, starting in January 2010, the math team got together every Monday at 6:45 a.m., tearing apart the math curriculum and rebuilding it from scratch. Middle school math teacher Jeremy Baumbach, who taught an advanced math class to eighth graders, joined the team to assure that his students would have a seamless transition into their high school coursework. The pressure was on: They'd committed to a textbook-free high school math curriculum by the time school started in fall 2010. DIY Curriculum Formation Initially, the teachers thought they could simply pull material from the web, linking to online lessons they found from other math teachers around the country. But it soon became clear that this wasn't going to give them what they needed. According to Faulkner, "We looked at the state standards and areas where there were cracks in our kids' mathematical foundations. Take rational equations. Students should have them down pat by the time they are juniors, but this was something that lots of kids stumbled on in tests. Why not introduce the concept earlier, starting in algebra, again in more depth in geometry, and on through upper-level math classes? It just made sense." Shannon gave the teachers her full support. In the spring of 2010, the team applied for and won a $5,000 grant from the local Byron Fund for Excellence in Education. It provided small stipends for teachers to continue to work together in the summer and paid for the purchase of Kuta, a software program that supports a common framework for generating worksheets. Unable to afford an expensive course management system, they turned to Moodle, a free online learning management system. The district's director of information and learning technology, Jennifer Hegna, helped the teachers create a Moodle course for each class, embedding lessons, homework, quizzes, and answer sheets in each course site. They soon realized they would need to record videos of their individual lectures so that parents and students would have a resource to use when they were at home. At that point, however, they weren't sure of how to do it. …


ABSTRACT The regulation by two transcriptional activators of flagellar expression (FlhD and FlhC) and the chemotaxis methyl-accepting protein Aer was studied with glass slide DNA microarrays. An flhD::Kan insertion and an aer deletion were independently introduced into two Escherichia coli K-12 strains, and the effects upon gene regulation were investigated. Altogether, the flhD::Kan insertion altered the expression of 29 operons of known function. Among them was Aer, which in turn regulated a subset of these operons, namely, the ones involved in anaerobic respiration and the Entner-Doudoroff pathway. In addition, FlhD/FlhC repressed enzymes involved in aerobic respiration and regulated many other metabolic enzymes and transporters in an Aer-independent manner. Expression of 12 genes of uncharacterized function was also affected. FlhD increased gltBD, gcvTHP, and ompT expression. The regulation of half of these genes was subsequently confirmed with reporter gene fusions, enzyme assays, and real-time PCR. Growth phenotypes of flhD and flhC mutants were determined with Phenotype MicroArrays and correlated with gene expression.


Membrane distillation (MD) is a promising technique for water reclamation from hypersaline wastewater. However, fouling and wetting of the hydrophobic membranes are two prominent challenges for the widespread application of MD. Herein, we developed an antiwetting and antifouling Janus membrane comprising a hydrogel-like polyvinyl alcohol/tannic acid (PVA/TA) top layer and a hydrophobic polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane substrate via a facile and benign strategy combining mussel-amine co-deposition with the shrinkage-rehydration process. Interestingly, the vapor flux of the Janus membrane was not compromised, though a microscale PVA/TA layer was introduced, possibly due to the high water uptake and reduced water evaporation enthalpy of the hydrogel-like structure. Moreover, the PVA/TA-PTFE Janus membrane sustained stable MD performance while treating a challenging saline feed containing surfactants and mineral oils. The robust wetting resistance arises from the synergistic effects of the elevated liquid entry pressure (1.01 ± 0.02 MPa) of the membrane and the retardation of surfactant transport to the substrate PTFE layer. Meanwhile, the hydrogel-like PVA/TA layer hinders oil fouling due to its strongly hydrated state. Furthermore, the PVA/TA-PTFE membrane exhibited improved performance in purifying shale gas wastewater and landfill leachate. This study provides new insights into the facile design and fabrication of promising MD membranes for hypersaline wastewater treatment.


A series of experiments were performed to determine the effect of climate, food intake and activity level on the diurnal pattern of rectal temperature (Tr) from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The results indicate that living in diverse climates has little or no effect on the diurnal pattern of Tr. Activity level, when food intake was adequate, did not alter the pattern. Fasting, with no exercise, reduced the diurnal elevation to one-half the 'normal' elevation. During fasting with exercise the rectal temperature at 8 p.m. was the same as the value at 8 a.m. (i.e. no diurnal increase was evident). Thus, the major portion of the diurnal change occurring between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. was associated with the ingestion of food. Submitted on June 19, 1957


The main scope of this paper is to investigate the power quality characteristics of various modern PV inverters installed on small sized rooftop PV stations. For this purpose, seven 3-phase, transformer-less PV inverters with similar electrical characteristics are chosen. Analytical field measurements of 10kWp PV systems, located in different regions of Greece, were performed by means of a Class A Power Analyzer. The data gathered were further analysed in detail and compared in order to identify the main factors affecting important power quality characteristics, including harmonic distortion, voltage fluctuations, as well as power factor and reactive power. The measurements validated some of the inverters' power quality supply characteristics as stated in the datasheets and according to the regulations.


Photodissociation dynamics of the OH bond of phenol is studied with an optimally shaped laser pulse. The theoretical model consists of three electronic states (the ground electronic state, ππ* state, and πσ* state) in two nuclear coordinates (the OH stretching coordinate as a reaction coordinate, r, and the CCOH dihedral angle as a coupling coordinate, θ). The optimal UV laser pulse is designed using the genetic algorithm, which optimizes the total dissociative flux of the wave packet. The latter is calculated in the adiabatic asymptotes of the S0 and S1 electronic states of phenol. The initial state corresponds to the vibrational levels of the electronic ground state and is defined as |nr, nθ⟩, where nr and nθ represent the number of nodes along r and θ, respectively. The optimal UV field excites the system to the optically dark πσ* state predominantly over the optically bright ππ* state with the intensity borrowing effect for the |0, 0⟩ and |0, 1⟩ initial states. For the |0, 0⟩ initial condition, the photodissociation to the S1 asymptotic channel is favored slightly over the S0 asymptotic channel. Addition of one quantum of energy along the coupling coordinate increases the dissociation probability in the S1 channel. This is because the wave packet spreads along the coupling coordinate on the πσ* state and follows the adiabatic path. Hence, the S1 asymptotic channel gets more (∼11%) dissociative flux as compared to the S0 asymptotic channel for the |0, 1⟩ initial condition. The |1, 0⟩ and |1, 1⟩ states are initially excited to both the ππ* and πσ* states in the presence of the optimal UV pulse. For these initial conditions, the S1 channel gets more dissociative flux as compared to the S0 channel. This is because the high energy components of the wave packet readily reach the S1 channel. The central frequency of the optimal UV pulse for the |0, 0⟩ and |0, 1⟩ initial states has a higher value as compared to the |1, 0⟩ and |1, 1⟩ initial states. This is explained with the help of an excitation mechanism of a given initial state in relation to its energy.


The twelfth-century Anglo-Norman poet Marie de France undertook to preserve for posterity the adventures and romances embodied in a vanishing genre, the old Breton lais as she had heard them recounted by minstrels. That she succeeded is evidenced by the popularity of these lais for more than eight hundred years; that she perhaps succeeded too well is suggested by the fact that, within a century of her lifetime, the Breton lais had become exclusively a French form of literature, and whatever might have been the original form, linguistic structure and cultural content in Breton has been relegated to the realm of hypothesis.

 This raises questions about the relationship between translation and cultural autonomy. Marie's purported memorial to the Bretons became instead an institution of French language and culture. Had the Breton features been totally effaced, this could be called assimilation; had they been preserved intact, it would have been literal translation. In fact, Marie's work can be reduced to no such simple binary. Nor can her aims be analyzed through any single lens, whether political, religious, cultural or artistic. Rather, I argue that her unsettling and robust positioning of contradictory elements—sorcery, sensuality, feudality, religion—results from her strategy of adopting the memory of the Bretons: neither glossing over its strangeness nor highlighting it as foreign, but making its distant and exotic characteristics part of her own invented heritage. I conclude that her translation project is more effectively analyzed as an ethical process of incorporation and restitution (Steiner) than as a placement along the spectrum of foreignization versus domestication (Venuti).


In this essay, I review a series of binaries that are examined by Veronique Tadjo's recent narrative about Rwanda and its 1994 genocide, L'Ombre d'Imana (Engl. trans. The Shadow of Imana, 2002), and doubly blurred. These binaries (inside/out, here/there, past/future) and envisaged from two points of view. They are situated first in the dreadful zones of biopolitical indistinction in which the law legalizes its own suspension and renders legal atrocities normally outside the realm of the permissible; and they are re-envisaged in a movement which "turns inside out" (Esposito) these indistinctions to assert an unbroken fabric of life, human or otherwise, which resists even the perversions of the extreme manifestation of biopolitics evinced by genocide. This article shifts its focus away from the customary topic of the relationship between genocide and representation, towards issue of genocide and biopolitics, and to a form of semiois that does not merely "mean", but makes life (continue to) happen. Rwanda may stand, emblematically, for the stamping out of life on the continent, for the existential negativity that African often emblematizes in the global imaginary; by contrast, Tadjo, in her reading of Rwanda, poses to the African continent, not a rhetorical question but a fundamental ontological and existential enquiry: "Comment envisager le futur ici? Quel futur?"(Tadjo 125, "How can you envisage the future here? What future?").


The study investigates how the ethical issues of the "best interests" of a child, end-of-life care and parental responsibility were presented and discursively constructed in the case of Charlie Gard, a young baby suffering from a rare degenerative disease with no known cure. The story of his parents' legal battle against doctors' decisions to withdraw treatment hit the headlines, arousing strong, emotional reactions among the public. The paper investigates the linguistic resources adopted in the presentation of the various arguments of the parties involved. The corpus is therefore made up of two subcorpora, one covering the institutional, specialist discourse of the hospitals and law courts, the other composed of articles published in British quality and popular newspapers. Bearing in mind the heterogeneous nature of the sources, the study primarily adopts a qualitative discourse analysis approach, and in particular Appraisal Theory which offers a wide and flexible range of instruments to find the key to the reading of a text.


Gas condensate compositional simulation studies are conducted to evaluate gas and condensate reserves and make comparisons of production methods for the economic development of a reservoir. The data needed for the evaluation are dew point pressure, gas compressibility factor, liquid volume and produced gas. Hosein and Dawe showed that compositional analysis greater than Single Carbon Number 24 (SCN24) is required for accurate prediction of these data by a tuned Equation of State (EOS). However they did not demonstrate the accuracy of their tuning technique with lumped components which are applied when performing simulation studies to reduce cost and computer time involved.  Simple and complex schemes for lumping of the SCN groups into less than 6 Multiple Carbon Number (MCN) groups have been devised. However there are currently no criteria for selecting the best lumping scheme that will give similar accuracy to using many SCN groups except by trial and error, or by algorithms designed to test a number of schemes and to select the best one. In this paper we have used Whitson's lumping scheme which is in the form of a simple mathematical expression in comparison to other lumping schemes from the open literature. The tuning technique of Hosein and Dawe was applied and differences of less than ±4.0 % from tuned EOS predictions before and after lumping of the SCN groups were obtained. These results indicate that the tuning technique of Hosein and Dawe could be used to perform accurate simulation studies of lean and rich gas condensate systems using MCN groups lumped by the Whitson's lumping scheme. Complex algorithms are not necessary to select an appropriate lumping scheme. Key words: Gas condensate; Equation of state; Predictions; Single carbon number; Lumping


PURPOSE
The objective of this study was to correlate the fluoroscopy time with radiologic outcome in the pneumoreduction of intussusception in children.

METHODS
From September 1995 to December 1997, a prospective analysis of 181 cases of pediatric intussusception with pneumoreduction without sedation was done. A receiver operating characteristic curve of fluoroscopy time was drawn for correlation with radiologic outcome.

RESULTS
The overall success and failure rates of pneumoreduction were 84% and 16%, respectively. Three patients (1.6%) experienced colon perforation. The mean fluoroscopy time was 2.8 +/- 1.7 minutes in successful procedure and 4.9 +/- 2.8 minutes in failed procedures (P < 0.001). Analysis of the receiver operating characteristic curve of fluoroscopy time indicates that 4 minutes fluoroscopy time was a good critical point in differentiating successful and failed cases. In those 18 patients who had successful reduction with fluoroscopy times of more than 4 minutes, 4 patients had clinical symptoms for more than 1 day and 14 patients less than 1 day. One of those 4 patients required operation 1 day later because of peritonitis caused by necrosis of terminal ileum. Two patients had high fever in the next 2 days and recovered after antibiotic treatment.

CONCLUSIONS
Pneumoreduction is a good method in treatment of intussusception with high successful rate. Four minutes is the critical point of procedure. Reduction with greater than 4 minutes in those patients having illness more than 1 day might not benefit and have more complications.


Abstract
We live in organizations addicted to problematic narratives. My purpose is to develop intelligent action understandings of how to care for organizations addicted to problematic elevator pitch narratives and one-sided stories by mapping quantum storytelling "Tamara-Land" forces ignored beneath and between them both (Boje, 1995). Tamara-land is the everyday activity of people in organizations chasing stories spatially distributed in different rooms, hallways, buildings that are temporally simultaneous, with materialities that are agential to the telling. For example, in this conference, the immersive theater into Tamara-Land is done in Steel Case open office spaces, as audience decides which actors to follow as they exit each scene. You cannot chase them all, and cannot be everywhere at once in this spacetimemattering. Quantum storytelling does not search for simple word or text messaging tag lines to explain open offices. Quantum storytelling uncovers deep behavior patterns of the spacetimemattering. "Quantum storytelling includes nondiscursive and behavioral aspects embodied in the storyteller's life, in their living story behavioral-performative agentiality" (Boje, 1995, p. 114) and in nonhuman's materialism featured in Karen Barad's (2007) and Anete Strand's material storytelling work. Quantum storytelling of Tamara-Land mapping at macro scale traces the interplay of people, planet, and profit (aka Triple Bottom Line, 3BL) but does not reduce it to imagined profitability metrics. I will critique 3BL for not proposing any method to measure people and planet first and by default reducing all dimensions to just bottom line profit measures. The consequence is that a runaway, maximizing fractal, known in socioeconomic work as the Taylor–Fayol–Weber rationality or "TFW virus" (Worley, Zardet, Bonnet, & Savall, 2015, pp. 23–24; Savall& Peron, 2015), attains functional structuralism (Alvesson & Spicer, 2012). In quantum storytelling fractal work, it's "TFW fractal" profiteering that is destroying both planet and people, at an ever-accelerating rate (Boje & Henderson, 2014; Boje, 2015; Henderson & Boje, 2015). My contribution is to propose a different fractal pattern, the Mandelbrot fractal that actually sets limits on runaway fractal appetite. Both the 3BL and the VA techno-digital fractal narrative spiral more and more materials, energy, and people into the risk of an addictive TFW virus pattern, without limit.


INTRODUCTION
Reduced estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease among people living with HIV (PLWH). It is unclear whether eGFR equations incorporating cystatin C (CysC) measurements are more predictive of preclinical cardiovascular disease than those using only creatinine (Cr).

OBJECTIVES
The study aimed to determine which of the 3 Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology (CKD-EPI) eGFR equations is most associated with carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) and coronary artery calcium (CAC) score.

METHODS
This cross-sectional analysis of pooled data from 3 large cohorts compared the associations between the 3 CKD-EPI eGFR equations (Cr, CysC, and Cr-CysC) with CIMT and CAC score using multivariable regression analysis. eGFR and CIMT were analyzed as continuous variables. CAC scores were analyzed as a binary variable (detectable calcification versus nondetectable) and as a log10 Agatston score in those with detectable CAC.

RESULTS
Thousand four hundred eighty-seven participants were included, and of these 910 (562 HIV+ and 348 HIV-) had CIMT measurements and 366 (296 HIV+ and 70 HIV-) had CAC measurements available. In HIV- participants, GFR estimated by any CKD-EPI equation did not significantly correlate with CIMT or CAC scores. When PLWH were analyzed separately including HIV-specific factors, only GFR estimated using Cr-Cys C correlated with CIMT [β= -0.90, 95% CI: (-1.67 to -0.13) μm; P = 0.023]. Similarly, eGFR correlated with Agatston scores only when using cystatin C-based eGFR [β= -8.63, 95% CI: (-16.49 to -0.77) HU; P = 0.034]. Associations between other eGFR formulas and CAC did not reach statistical significance.

CONCLUSIONS
In PLWH, preclinical atherosclerosis may be more closely correlated with eGFR using formulae that incorporate CysC measurements than Cr alone.


Six male Wistar rats were exposed to concurrent variable-interval schedules of wheel-running reinforcement. The reinforcer associated with each alternative was the opportunity to run for 15 s, and the duration of the changeover delay was 1 s. Results suggested that time allocation was more sensitive to relative reinforcement rate than was response allocation. For time allocation, the mean slopes and intercepts were 0.82 and 0.008, respectively. In contrast, for response allocation, mean slopes and intercepts were 0.60 and 0.03, respectively. Correction for low response rates and high rates of changing over, however, increased slopes for response allocation to about equal those for time allocation. The results of the present study suggest that the two-operant form of the matching law can be extended to wheel-running reinforcement. 'I'he effects of a low overall response rate, a short Changeover delay, and long postreinforcement pausing on the assessment of matching in the present study are discussed.


Objective The purpose of this study is to identify the significant factors which influence the long-term outcome of spinal cord tumors. Materials and Methods A total of 84 consecutive spinal cord tumor patients who underwent microsurgical excision during April 2003 to 2014 were retrospectively stud-ied. Patients operated after April 2014 were not considered. Ten factors were taken and correlated with the outcome. Multiple regression analysis was used. Patients were periodically evaluated at 1, 6 months, 1, 2, and 5 years. In 72 cases, postoperative MRI scans were performed. The follow-up period ranged between 5 to 15 years. Results In our study, we had 64 extramedullary tumors and 21 intramedullary tumors with varied pathology. Axial location of the tumour (20.294/0.000), extent of the resection of the tumour (13.827/0.001), preoperative Nurick grade (11.349/0.023), and location of the tumour in the spine with respect to vertebral segments (8.151/0.017) were significant predictive factors. We had good outcomes in 65 cases and poor outcomes in 19 cases. results show location of the tumor with respect to axial plane and vertebral segments were the main contributing factors. They influence the extent of excision of the spinal cord tumor. Preoperative neurological status is the fourth factor which independently determines the long-term outcome. It is one of the few papers where patients have been followed-up for a long period ranging from 5 to 15 years. Abstract


Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA

Drug resistance is a major obstacle in overcoming cancer. Understanding the origin, extent and heterogeneity of resistance mechanisms within a patient is crucial to guide treatment and developing drugs/combinations to circumvent resistance. To this end, we studied autopsy samples collected from four EGFR-mutant lung adenocarcinoma patients who developed resistance to EGFR inhibitors. We used whole-exome sequencing to characterize genomic profiles of multiple metastasis tumors within each patient. To address the challenge of non-uniform variant detection power at sequenced genetic loci across multiple samples, we developed a computational framework that tackles variant detection from pooled tumor followed by a genotyping module. After the identification of somatic alterations, we determined the extent of heterogeneity of resistance mechanisms between multiple tumor samples. Our results revealed that multiple metastasis samples in a single patient can potentially use one common resistance mechanism. For example, one patient harbored a resistant EGFR T790M mutation in all 11 metastasis samples with a correlated allele frequency to the original L858R mutation. However, in some other cases, we found heterogeneous resistance mechanisms coexisting in multiple metastasis samples with various allele frequencies. For instance, one patient harbored both the resistance EGFR T790M mutation and an activating PIK3CA E542K mutation that appear with a range of allelic frequencies in multiple metastatic samples. Furthermore, branched evolutionary patterns of tumors were constructed using a phylogenetic approach, which inform resistance in the context of tumor evolution. Our findings are consistent with the model that cells harboring a variety of resistance mechanisms coexist in each metastasis tumor, and those subclones with higher selective advantage outgrow the others.

Citation Format: Xinmeng Jasmine Mu, Eli Van Allen, Nikhil Wagle, Curtis Chong, Mohit Butaney, Deborah Farlow, Gad Getz, Pasi A. Janne, Levi A. Garraway. Heterogeneity of resistance mechanisms in lung adenocarcinoma patients with acquired resistance to EGFR inhibitors. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 2371. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-2371


A selective preparation and the formation mechanism of hexagonal and cubic CoO nanoparticles from the reaction of [Co(acac)(2)] (acac=acetylacetonate) and amine have been investigated. CoO nanoparticles with a hexagonal pyramidal shape were yielded under decomposition conditions with amine. Importantly, the addition of water altered the final phase to cubic and comprehensively changed the reaction mechanism. The average sizes of the hexagonal and cubic CoO nanoparticles could be controlled either by changing the amine concentration or by using different reaction temperatures. Detailed formation mechanisms are proposed on the basis of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry data and color changes of the reaction mixture. The hexagonal CoO phase is obtained through two distinct pathways: solvolysis with C-C bond cleavage and direct condensation by amine. On the other hand, the cubic CoO nanoparticles were synthesized by strong nucleophilic attack of hydroxide ions from water and subsequent C-C bond breaking. The resulting caboxylate ligand can stabilize a cobalt hydroxide intermediate, leading to the generation of a thermodynamically stable CoO phase.


alpha 2-Adrenoceptors mediate a variety of physiological functions in the central nervous system and in peripheral tissues; thus, the use of pharmacological agents either activating or blocking these receptors results in a mixture of responses from several organs and tissues. This may be utilized therapeutically in some situations. In anaesthesiology, alpha 2-adrenergic agonists are already widely used as veterinary sedative-analgesics, and it is now clear that they are also capable of potentiating the effects and reducing the required dosage of other drugs used in anaesthesia (barbiturates, volatile anaesthetics, narcotic analgesics). In addition, they attenuate sympatho-adrenal responses to noxious stimuli encountered during anaesthesia and surgery, providing improved hemodynamic, metabolic and hormonal stability. Recent results from molecular biology, biochemistry and pharmacology point to the existence of distinct alpha 2-adrenoceptor subtypes. The identification of such subpopulations of alpha 2-adrenoceptors may provide new opportunities for the development of subtype-selective pharmacological agents with more specific therapeutic actions.


Abstract Homalodisca vitripennis (Germar) (=H. coagulata [Say]) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) invaded French Polynesia in 1999. A classical biological control program against H. vitripennis was initiated in 2004 aiming to introduce the exotic egg parasitoid Gonatocerus ashmeadi (Girault) (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) to the Society Islands archipelago. Prior to any release, two risks were assessed: (a) continued uncontrolled H. vitripennis spread and proliferation in French Polynesia, and (b) non-target impacts by G. ashmeadi on indigenous French Polynesian cicadellids. The primary risk of H. vitripennis is its potential to vector the lethal plant bacterium, Xylella fastidiosa. While the presence of X. fastidiosa in French Polynesia has not yet been demonstrated, the presence of uncontrolled H. vitripennis greatly elevates the risk of a disease outbreak and thus represents a major threat for numerous plant species. Assessing the risk of G. ashmeadi introduction for native cicadellids first required an inventory of the Cicadellidae of the Society Islands, resulting in at least 14 cicadellid species (nine not previously recorded). The risk to these species of attack by G. ashmeadi was assessed using four criteria: (1) their phylogenetic relationships to known hosts of G. ashmeadi, and their similarity in (2) body size, (3) egg laying biology, and (4) ecology. All indigenous cicadellid species found were considered to be at low risk of attack because they differed greatly from all known hosts for G. ashmeadi: (1) none of the indigenous species are in the tribe Proconiini, (2) all were very small and, when possible to determine, (3) lay tiny single eggs, which (4) are deposited on the undersides of leaves of trees. These results persuaded the French Polynesian Government that the benefits of establishing G. ashmeadi for H. vitripennis control outweighed the serious potential risks associated with either delaying release or not releasing G. ashmeadi in French Polynesia. Releases of G. ashmeadi in Tahiti began in May 2005.


The resource description framework (RDF) is a metadata model and language recommended by the W3C. This paper presents a framework to incorporate temporal reasoning into RDF, yielding temporal RDF graphs. We present a semantics for these kinds of graphs which includes the notion of temporal entailment and a syntax to incorporate this framework into standard RDF graphs, using the RDF vocabulary plus temporal labels. We give a characterization of temporal entailment in terms of RDF entailment and show that the former does not yield extra asymptotic complexity with respect to nontemporal RDF graphs. We also discuss temporal RDF graphs with anonymous timestamps, providing a theoretical framework for the study of temporal anonymity. Finally, we sketch a temporal query language for RDF, along with complexity results for query evaluation that show that the time dimension preserves the tractability of answers


SUMMARY One route to gain insight into the causes and consequences of ecological differentiation is to understand the underlying physiological mechanisms. We explored the relationships between immunological and oxidative status and investigated how birds cope physiologically with the effects of immune-derived oxidative damage. We successively implemented two experimental manipulations to alter physiological status in a model bird species: the homing pigeon (Columba livia). The first manipulation, an immune supplementation, was achieved by oral administration of lysozyme, a naturally occurring and non-specific antimicrobial enzyme. The second manipulation, an immune challenge, took the form of an injection with lipopolysaccharide, a bacterial endotoxin. Between groups of lysozyme-treated and control birds, we compared lipopolysaccharide-induced changes in reactive oxygen metabolites, total antioxidant capacity, haptoglobin, oxygen consumption, body mass and cloacal temperature. Lysozyme supplementation intensified the lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory response and generated short-term oxidative and metabolic costs. We identified significant interactions between immune supplementation and immune challenge in terms of reactive oxygen metabolites, haptoglobin and oxygen consumption. Our study provides alternative interpretations of differences in oxidative and immunological indices and demonstrates that these indices can also fluctuate and interact across very short time scales, reflecting something akin to current 'health status' or 'physiological condition'. These ephemeral effects highlight the need to broadly consider current physiological condition when drawing conclusions that relate physiology to ecology and evolution.


This article investigates contemporary South African Indian fiction in order to examine how this literature gives rise to new ways of thinking about South African culture. The dramatic changes that South Africa has experienced in recent years have prompted fresh ways of understanding its cultural history, which move beyond ideas based on difference, into ideas based on integration. South African Indian fiction offers a different lens through which to view the tangled and complex forms of interdependency that mark both South African and transnational cultures more broadly. I read South African Indian fiction as a model for an intellectually integrated cultural formation. Instead of focusing on ideas of embodiment and difference, South African Indian fiction pivots on the conception of race as a social category shaped by its historical routes. South African Indian fiction explores the movement of Indians to South Africa during the nineteenth century, covering issues of migration, diaspora, transnationalism, hybridity, difference, cultural undecidability, and a blurring of boundaries in the postapartheid fiction of Imraan Coovadia, Achmat Dangor, Farida Karodia, Beverley Naidoo, Shamin Sarif, and Ishtiyaq Shukri. I argue that these narratives focus on the tensions between race, place, and history in a South African and a transnational context in a way that suggests revisions to current postcolonial theory.


An environmental stewardship program, whereby farmers are paid directly for the environmental goods they provide, is developed by combining the microparameter distribution model with mechanism design principles. The program overcomes the information asymmetry between farmers and governments and accounts for the deadweight losses from distortionary taxes. The characteristics of optimal input and payment schedules of the program are derived. These optimal schedules are determined by the tradeoffs between farming profits, environmental benefits, and deadweight losses from taxes, and are second-best except under restrictive conditions on deadweight losses from taxes and on the marginal product of inputs and marginal pollution costs. Copyright 1996, Oxford University Press.


Background Since 2011, a new minimally-invasive treatment for Dupuytren's disease has been available in the form of injectable collagenase (Xiapex®, Pfizer). Purpose Our aim is to report about the results and adverse effects of injectable collagenase for the treatment of Dupuytren's disease in Germany. Patients and Methods We treated 78 patients (61 male, 17 female) with 87 injections in 87 digits (little finger n = 40, ring finger n = 37, middle finger n = 8 and index n = 2). We documented the range of motion before treatment, after 6 weeks and after 6 months. We were able to include 39 patients (32 male, 7 female) in the 6-month follow-up. Results The initial correction in MCP joints (n = 26) was from an average 51° to 0° (p < 0.05). After 6 months there was an average reduction of contracture in MCP joints (n = 16) from 52° to 0° (p < 0.05). The initial correction in PIP joints (n = 28) was from an average of 63° to 15° (p < 0.05). After 6 months, PIP joints (n = 12) exhibited an average correction from 70° auf 40° (p < 0.05). In combined contractures of MCP und PIP joints (n = 33), there was a mean reduction from 96° to 13° (p < 0.05). In the 6-month follow-up, the correction of combined contractures (n = 16) was from 91° to 61° (p < 0.05). Common adverse effects were local oedema (n = 36), followed by haematoma (n = 25), temporary livid discolouration (n = 17) and skin tears (n=16). There were no severe complications such as tendon ruptures, vessel or nerve injuries. The most severe complications comprised 4 little skin defects that healed with conservative wound care. Conclusion Our results are comparable with previous international studies. Very good success has been achieved with single injection treatment for high-grade preoperative contractures in MCP joints, while treatment success for combined contractures of MCP and PIP joints has been satisfactory. There have been no severe complications. Common adverse effects have been similar to previous studies. In our opinion, collagenase injection is a safe and efficient treatment for Dupuytren's disease. Further studies are needed to compare long-term efficacy with percutaneous needle aponeurotomy und partial fasciectomy.


Developing research, teaching and extension in university programs is fundamental to capacitate professionals for the challenging endeavors. Considering the importance of these three university functions as relevant learning practices, the objective of this study was to analyze qualitatively the development of teaching project proposals associated with extension activities, directed to the rural environmental planning in an Agricultural Production Unit, in order to identify the issues and their degree of applicability. Twenty project proposals were developed in the "Rural Environmental Planning" course to plan an Agricultural Production Unit, which were subsequently evaluated by the farmer. This discipline is part of the Bachelor's degree course in Environmental Management and Analysis of the Universidade Federal de São Carlos. The projects followed qualitative research methods using the systemic and participatory approach. At the end of the process the farmer answered an evaluation matrix of the projects. Development of the projects was particularly important for the students and for their knowledge on the various topics covered, which also resulted in factual improvement perspectives in the Agricultural Production Unit. Construction of knowledge was participatory and integrated between the students and farmer.


Background: The usefulness of radial osteotomy for older patients remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical and radiological outcomes of radial osteotomy with volar locking plate between younger and older patients with Kienböck disease stages II to IIIB. Methods: This was a retrospective comparative study of 21 consecutive patients treated at our department. Lichtman's classification was used for staging, and four patients had stage II, six patients had stage IIIA, and 11 patients had stage IIIB disease. We divided them into two groups to compare the radiological and clinical results between younger (younger than 40 years) and older patients. The mean follow-up periods in the younger and older groups were 4 and 3.6 years, respectively. For radiological assessment, we evaluated the carpal height ratio (CHR), Stahl index, and union of the fractured lunate. For clinical assessment, we examined the range of motion of the wrist, grip strength, numeric rating scale (NRS) for pain, and the patient-reported Hand20 score preoperatively and at the final follow-up. Results: There were 12 patients in the younger group with a mean age of 23 years (range, 12-37 years), and 9 in the older group with a mean age of 56 years (range, 40-74 years). There were no intra- and post-operative complications in either group. Radiological improvement, including CHR, Stahl index, and union of the fractured lunate, was more common in the younger group than in the older one, as was the case for clinical improvement. However, even in the older group, significant clinical improvement, including the range of motion of the wrist, NRS for pain, and the Hand20 score, was seen postoperatively. Conclusions: Radial osteotomy appears to be a safe and reliable option in older symptomatic patients with Kienböck disease stages II to IIIB.


K-RAS–mutated lung adenocarcinomas depend on ERBB signaling, and pan-ERBB inhibitors impair K-RAS–driven lung tumorigenesis. A new role for kinase inhibitors The K-RAS oncogene is frequently mutated in a variety of cancer types, including lung cancer. Lung cancers with K-RAS mutations are usually difficult to target, and conventional thinking dictates that these tumors are resistant to receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors because those act upstream of the constitutively active K-RAS protein. However, it appears that receptor tyrosine kinase signaling may have an effect on K-RAS–driven lung tumors after all, by amplifying their growth beyond the effects of K-RAS alone. Kruspig et al. and Moll et al. independently reached this conclusion and identified approved multikinase inhibitors that are effective in the setting of K-RAS–mutant lung cancer in multiple mouse models, suggesting that this may be a potential treatment strategy for human patients as well. On the basis of clinical trials using first-generation epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), it became a doctrine that V-Ki-ras2 Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (K-RAS) mutations drive resistance to EGFR inhibition in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Conversely, we provide evidence that EGFR signaling is engaged in K-RAS–driven lung tumorigenesis in humans and in mice. Specifically, genetic mouse models revealed that deletion of Egfr quenches mutant K-RAS activity and transiently reduces tumor growth. However, EGFR inhibition initiates a rapid resistance mechanism involving non-EGFR ERBB family members. This tumor escape mechanism clarifies the disappointing outcome of first-generation TKIs and suggests high therapeutic potential of pan-ERBB inhibitors. On the basis of various experimental models including genetically engineered mouse models, patient-derived and cell line–derived xenografts, and in vitro experiments, we demonstrate that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved pan-ERBB inhibitor afatinib effectively impairs K-RAS–driven lung tumorigenesis. Our data support reconsidering the use of pan-ERBB inhibition in clinical trials to treat K-RAS–mutated NSCLC.


Diving operations are inherently complex due to navigation and communication limitations. Until recently, fixed-beacon acoustic localization techniques have served as the primary means of improving diver navigation. However, modern artificial intelligence and acoustic modem technologies have enabled accurate relative navigation methods between a diver and an autonomous vehicle. Human-robot collaboration takes advantage of each member's strengths to create the most effective team. This concept proves especially advantageous within the ocean domain, where humans are naturally deficient navigators. Yet humans serve as the team's creative spirit, offering the critical thinking and flexibility needed to succeed in an unpredictable and dynamic environment. Recent underwater human-robot cooperative navigation systems typically rely on autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs), specially designed underwater vehicles, or stereo cameras. This thesis proposes a diver navigation method exhibiting significantly improved accuracy over dead reckoning without relying on a surface presence, cameras, or fixed acoustic beacons. Specifically, we develop and evaluate the communication architecture and autonomous behaviors required to guide a diver to a target location using subsurface humanautonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) teaming with no requirement for ocean current data or exact diver speeds. By depending on acoustic communication and commercial AUV navigation capabilities, our method has increased accessibility, applicability, and robustness over former techniques. We utilize the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Micromodem 2's twoway-travel-time (TWTT) capability to enable range-only single-beacon navigation between two kayaks serving as proxies for the diver and Remote Environmental Monitoring Units (REMUS) 100 AUV. During processing, a nonlinear least-squares (NLS) method, called incremental smoothing and mapping 2 (iSAM2), utilizes odometry and range measurements to provide real-time diver position estimates given unknown ocean currents. Field experiments demonstrate an average online endpoint error of 4.53 meters after transits four hundred meters long. Additionally, simulations test our method's performance in more challenging situations than those experienced in the field. Overall, this research progresses the interoperability of divers and AUVs.


OBJECTIVE
Application of real-time shear wave elastography (SWE) measurement of patients with Chronic severe hepatitis B and liver cirrhosis of the liver stiffness, aimed to explore SWE can evaluate the existence of liver cirrhosis patients with esophageal varices (EV) and its severity.

METHODS
According to the results of gastroscope, 256 cases of patients with chronic liver disease and cirrhosis of the liver can be divided into no EV group,mild EV group,moderate to severe EV group,analysis between groups in patients with liver stiffness, portal vein,spleen vein diameter, the correlation of liver fibrosis indexes and the degree of esophageal varices.Using receives operating characteristic curve (ROC) and area under curve of ROC to evaluate each index prediction ability.

RESULTS
Compare the liver stiffiness, portal vein,spleen vein diameter had statistically significant difference in the no EV group, mild EV group,moderate to severe EV group, (F values are respectively 137.86,44.77,73.88, P < 0.05), Patients age, type IV collagen, larninin, hyaluronic acid had no statistically significant difference in the no EV group and mild EV group (P > 0.05) and had statistically significant difference in the other two groups (P < 0.05). Patients with gender, pro-collagen type III N-terminal peptide (PC III NP) had no statistically significant difference in the three groups (P > 0.05). Correlation analysis showed that portal vein, spleen vein diameter, type IV collagen, laminin, hyaluronic acid showed significant positive correlation (P < 0.05),highest correlation was liver stiffness and the degree of esophageal varices, correlation coefficient of 0.689 (P < 0.01). PC III NP and the degree of esophageal varices, liver stiffness showed no correlation (P > 0.05). Liver stiffness area under the ROC curve is 0.923, with a strong ability to predict than the portal vein and splenic vein diameter, LN, IV-C, HA, PCIII NP. Liver stiffness more than 7.55 kPa, diagnose mild EV sensitivity 90.5%, specificity 60%.Liver stiffness more than 18.85 kPa,the sensitivity of the diagnosis of severe EV 82.4%, specificity of 90.5%.

CONCLUSIONS
SWE liver stiffness measurement was predicted the existence of the EV and the severity of liver disease patients and effective inspection method, can be used as evaluation of liver disease patients with esophageal varices non-invasive indicator of the initial screening.


We introduce the novel concept of composite barycentric mappings and give theoretical conditions under which they are guaranteed to be bijective. We then focus on mean value mappings and derive a simple procedure for computing their Jacobians, leading to an efficient GPU‐assisted implementation for interactively designing composite mean value mappings which are bijective up to pixel resolution. We provide a number of examples of 2D image deformation and an example of 3D shape deformation based on a natural extension of the concept to spatial mappings.


The acceleration of free fall should be realised by students as dependent on one's location rather than as a constant in all locations. Thus, there is no one way of determining g in the laboratory. For ease of science teaching it is important to let students know that one may not need to use small angular displacement of the pendulum bob in order to obtain g to an accuracy of three significant figures, comparable to, for example, the universally acceptable value of g = 9.81 ms-2 in London. A simple mathematical derivation enabled the determination of g = 9.93 ms-2, which was 1.2 % higher than the universally accepted value.


This study examined the utility of cognitive flexibility for the health of college-attending Black young adults facing chronic interpersonal racial discrimination in a sample of 218 healthy students attending a predominantly White university in the southeastern United States. Path and simple slope analysis indicated that cognitive flexibility moderated the association between racial discrimination and waist circumference but not depressive symptoms. At high cognitive flexibility, more experiences of discrimination were significantly associated with larger waist circumference. Findings suggest that cognitive flexibility may be detrimental for physical health and not of paramount importance for mental health of college-attending Black young adults.


This book describes and illustrates the nature of dialectical thinking as a cognitive psychological phenomenon, and makes the case that this form of cognitive organizaton is a possible successor to the adolescent formal operations stage. It uses the idea of dialectical thinking to organize theory and research on adult forms of reasoning about specific kinds of issues into a rich and coherent conceptual framework for the study of adult development. This framework makes feasible an approach to the study of adult development firmly rooted in the genetic epistemological tradition as an alternative to the approaches which currently dominate the field.


Hemolymph is driven through the antennae of Drosophila melanogaster by the rhythmic contraction of muscle 16 (m16), which runs through the brain. Contraction of m16 results in the expansion of an elastic ampulla, opening ostia and filling the ampulla. Relaxation of the ampullary membrane forces hemolymph through vessels into the antennae. We show that m16 is an auto-active rhythmic somatic muscle. The activity of m16 leads to the rapid perfusion of the antenna by hemolymph. In addition, it leads to the rhythmic agitation of the brain, which could be important for clearing the interstitial space.


We have studied the mechanisms of a pulsed laser impact on the magnetization conFigureuration in ferrimagnetic multilayered magnetic nanostructures, specifically, tunneling magnetic junctions. The mechanism of such the laser-induced impact is a complex process of laser-induced thermal demagnetization of magnetic sublattices with subsequent biasing by internal magnetic fields of different nature. Depending on an intensity of laser pulses it can be effective internal magnetic fields of laser irradiation or internal magnetic fields connected with different rates of the heat demagnetization of ferrimagnetic sublattices. It is shown that investigated ferrimagnetic nanostructure are characterized very small times of the laser-induced remagnetization, which can attain subpicosecond scales.


Neural retrievers based on dense representations combined with Approximate Nearest Neighbors search have recently received a lot of attention, owing their success to distillation and/or better sampling of examples for training -- while still relying on the same backbone architecture. In the meantime, sparse representation learning fueled by traditional inverted indexing techniques has seen a growing interest, inheriting from desirable IR priors such as explicit lexical matching. While some architectural variants have been proposed, a lesser effort has been put in the training of such models. In this work, we build on SPLADE -- a sparse expansion-based retriever -- and show to which extent it is able to benefit from the same training improvements as dense models, by studying the effect of distillation, hard-negative mining as well as the Pre-trained Language Model initialization. We furthermore study the link between effectiveness and efficiency, on in-domain and zero-shot settings, leading to state-of-the-art results in both scenarios for sufficiently expressive models.


There are relationships between the general educational level and the extent of dental health knowledge on the one hand, and between the dental health knowledge and the oral hygiene condition on the other hand. A higher educational level is associated with a better dental health knowledge and, in most cases, the latter is connected with a lower oral hygiene index. School education exerts a greater effect on the level of dental health knowledge than higher or technical education. The state of dental health education and information of the population is not sufficient. Merely 25% of the interviewed graduates and 10% of the individuals having gained a school-leaving certificate reached maximum scores though only some few and easy questions (with a choice of incorrect and correct answers) had been put to evaluate dental health knowledge.


This article aims to discuss the presence of the Psychology professional in the area of Public Health which is becoming more common every day. It establishes suggestions based on experiences of work in a Public Mental Health Clinic in the interior of the State of Paraiba in Brazil. It will deal with the use of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as an instrument in the activities of this mental health unit. The positive results of these interventions prove that the Psychologist has an important role to play in the area of Public Health.


Pseudomyxoma Peritonei (PMP) is a rare, chronic, poorly understood disease that is characterized by disseminated mucinous ascitis and peritoneal implants. In order to diagnose PMP, viable epithelial glandular cells must be identified within the mucinous pools by histological analysis. We report here, two male patients and one female patient who presented to our hospital within a span of 4 months. Histopathology records of the last 10years do not reveal any case of PMP. In case1, the diagnosis of PMP was made after laparotomy, as the radiological findings suggested hollow viscus perforation. The case 2 patient had second debulking surgery after 11 years. The case 3 patient developed PMP 3 years after the first surgery. In this patient, preoperative diagnosis was made due to the typical CT findings and appendicial origin was confirmed by CK 7 negativity. All three patients underwent debulking surgery and were referred to the Oncology department for further treament. Histopathology reports of case 1 and case 3 revealed benign epithelium, whereas case 2 had foci of borderline epithelium, indicating disease progression. All three were symptom free after a short follow up of one, two and three months in case 1, 3 and 2, respectively. In all the three cases, PMP was secondary to tumours of the appendix.


Ocular drug delivery is one of the most enthralling as well as challenging field. The delicacies as well as complex anatomical structure of eye posses various limitations and restrictions in development of drug delivery systems for this organ. An effective formulation with minimum discomfort and toxicity is the pre-requisite for ocular drug delivery. The problem of ocular drainage and hence frequent dosing compromises both, effectiveness and comfort for ocular drug delivery systems. A novel nanotechnology tool using the concept of bio-adhesion was purposed for addressing this problem. The results are encouraging in light of the purpose for longer retained sustain effect niosomal vesicles in the present work. The formulation was also associated with the capabilities of low ocular toxicity and deeper penetration.


Recent media coverage focused attention on a perceived "crisis" in Canada's school libraries. Research findings in the U.S. have consistently shown positive relationships between student achievement and the presence of well-staffed and well-stocked school libraries. In Alberta, Canada, the number of qualified teacher-librarians has decreased drastically over the last twenty years. A web-based survey of 170 Alberta elementary teachers, and follow-up telephone interviews with fourteen teachers, revealed that 60% of respondents' schools had no teacher-librarian. As a result, teachers acknowledged a need for increased professional support in selecting materials, planning instructional units, and accessing resources.


Nanocrystalline CeO2 powders were synthesized by two cost-effective methods: the self-propagating room temperature (SPRT) method and the precipitation method. Differently prepared samples exhibited different temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) in the ultraviolet and visible regions. The PL signals originated from different kinds of oxygen-deficient defect centres with or without trapped electrons (F 0 ,F + or F ++ centres). The temperature-dependent PL spectra were measured using different excitation lines, below (457, 488 and 514 nm) or comparable (325 nm) to the ceria optical band gap energy, in order to investigate the positions of intragap localized defect states. Evidence for the presence of F + centres was supported by the signals observed in electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements. Based on PL and EPR measurements it was shown that F + centres dominate in the CeO2 sample synthesized by the SPRT method, whereas F 0 centres are the major defects in the CeO2 sample synthesized by the precipitation method. The luminescence from F ++ states, as shallow trap states, was registered in both samples. Energy level positions of these defect states in the ceria band gap were proposed. (Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)


Introduction Uterine manipulation could be associated with worst outcomes even in endometrial cancer, as suggested recently. In this video we demonstrated simple techniques to overcome the potential tumor spillage during uterine manipulation. Description LAGOH 57 yo had a low differentiated adenocarcinoma involving uterine isthmus with 5,1 x 6,4cm with endometrial, cervical and right parametrial involvement. Pathologic report suggested an endometrial origin of the tumor. We proposed to do a radical hysterectomy and retroperitoneal lymph node dissection Our team offered to the patient minimally invasive surgical approach and regarding the big dimension of the tumor's cervical component we opted to avoid tumor spillage during uterine manipulation with the following measures: we used a big polypropylene graduated cylinder and fixed the device in the 4 cervical quadrants with stiches. For mobilizing uterine corpus, we used an hysterometer involved with bladder catheter placed in the uterus cavity. Radical hysterectomy, para-aortic lymph node dissection and pelvic lymph node debulking were performed uneventfully in 5h 10 min. Pathologic report accused carcinosarcoma with pelvic lymph nodes involvement, parametrial infiltration and free margins (FIGO IIIC). After 6 cycles of carboplatin/paclitaxel and adjuvant radiotherapy, LAGOH maintains one year of outpatient follow-up without evidence of recurrence. Conclusion While data related with the impact of uterine manipulation in endometrial/uterine corpus cancer is still not available in multiple prospective trials, it is rational to develop strategies to optimize safety of the procedure.


Imagine you are sitting in a room with a large number of people attending a conference and the organizers give you and all the other persons in the room a small piece of paper, asking each person to write down a number between 0 and 100. All the numbers will then be collected and a prize will be given to the person who will have written the closest number to half of the average of all the numbers. What number would you write on your piece of paper? Game theory [16] provides a powerful and elegant framework to predict the outcome of situations like the one described above. Intuitively speaking, in order to choose a number to write on her piece of paper, a person in the room could think as follows: Since numbers are constrained to be between 0 and 100, their average will be a number between 0 and 100 as well, so half of the average will be a number between 0 and 50; hence, if I am rational I would definitely not write a number larger than 50. Now, if everyone in the room is rational and writes a number not larger than 50, then the average itself will be not larger than 50 and half of the average will be not larger than 25; so, if I am rational and I believe that all other people in the room are rational, I would not write a number larger than 25. If everyone writes a number not larger than 25, . . . A few more steps of reasoning along the above lines and we have the game theoretic prediction of the outcome: Every person in the room writes 0 on her piece of paper. This is indeed the unique Nash equilibrium [14] of that game. However, if you try it out in any real scenario, you will see by yourself how far from the truth is such a prediction. The main reason is that it relies on the very strong assumption that rationality is common knowledge [6] among the agents (everyone is rational, everyone knows that everyone is rational, everyone knows that everyone knows that everyone is rational, and so forth).


The Kane (Kane B E 1998 Nature 393 133) solid-state quantum computer aims to exploit as qubits an array of31P nuclear spins embedded in a silicon matrix. A proposed scheme for readout of a qubit spin state relies on measurement of the associated spin state of its donor electron, by attempting to induce and detect, using a single-electron transistor (SET), spin-polarized motion of the electron to an adjacent donor site. The sensitivity required of a SET for detection of sub-surface electronic charge motion in a MOS architecture is examined by simulation of the capacitive coupling of the buried charge to the SET device. It is shown that the SET can support readout of the qubit electronic charge states within the appropriate electron spin relaxation time. This paper presents a novel application of Technology Computer Aided Design, which presents itself as a valuable tool for the design of nanoscale device architectures employing precision electrometry for readout of quantum logic states.


BACKGROUND
Lung cancer remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, accounting for more deaths than any other cancer cause.

AIM
The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical profile and the epidemiological trends in lung cancer patients from a single centre with an emphasis on the smoking practices.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
This is a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data of 258 consecutive hospital in-patients with a proven diagnosis of lung cancer at a tertiary care oncology centre between 2003 and 2007.

RESULTS
The median age of patients in our study was 56 years; the male to female ratio was approximately 3.5:1. Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was the predominant histology in 224 patients; the histology in the remaining 34 patients was small-cell carcinoma. Within NSCLC, the most common histology was adenocarcinoma followed by squamous cell carcinoma. One hundred and two patients were never-smokers as compared to 156 patients who were ever-smokers. Among the smokers, the majority of them were found to be cigarette smokers compared to 28.2% bidi smokers. There was a very significant correlation found with adenocarcinoma among nonsmokers, and with squamous cell carcinoma among the smokers compared to non-smokers.

CONCLUSIONS
Our study suggests that the epidemiology of lung cancer in India is possibly changing, with close to 40% of our lung cancer patients being nonsmokers. More importantly, our study reflects the global trend of rise in adenocarcinoma histology. These observations need to be substantiated in similar studies of larger magnitude, preferably population-based.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the efficacy and adverse effects of double-surface intensive phototherapy (DsIPT) and single-surface intensive phototherapy (SsIPT) in term newborn infants with hyperbilirubinemia.

DESIGN
Prospective randomized controlled trial.

MATERIAL AND METHOD
Healthy full-term infants with nonhemolytic hyperbilirubinemia (total serum bilirubin between 13.0 to 19.9 mg/dl) were allocated randomly to two modes of phototherapy. Group 1 infants received single-surface intensive phototherapy. Group 2 infants received double-surface intensive phototherapy Serum bilirubin, body weight, body temperature and number of defecation were measured at 24 and 48 hours after phototherapy.

RESULTS
Sixty infants were studied, 30 in each group. Baseline characteristics were similar in both groups. The initial mean serum bilirubin had no statistically significant difference between SsIPT and the DsIPT groups. After 24 and 48 hours of phototherapy, mean serum bilirubin in the group receiving SsIPT declined 3.5 +/- 1.7 and 6.5 +/- 2.3 mg/dl, while in the DsIPT group, the mean serum bilirubin declined 5.4 +/- 2.0 and 8.4 +/- 2.1 mg/dl respectively. The mean body temperature after 24 hours of phototherapy in the DsIPT group was higher than SsIPT group significantly. The number of defecation in the SsIPT group increased significantly after 24 and 48 hours of phototherapy, but the body weight change in both groups was not statistically significant.

CONCLUSION
DsIPT was significantly more effective in reducing serum bilirubin than SsIPT in the term jaundiced infants after 24 and 48 hours of treatment. The adverse effect of DsIPT found in the present study was the increased of body temperature after 24 hours of phototherapy.


In this paper, we propose a multi-hop multiple input multiple output (MIMO) decode-and-forward relaying protocol in cognitive radio networks. In this protocol, a multi-antenna secondary source attempts to send its data to a multi-antenna secondary destination with assistance of multiple intermediate multi-antenna nodes, in presence of a multi-antenna secondary eavesdropper. A primary network includes a primary transmitter and a primary receiver which are equipped with multiple antennas, and use transmit antenna selection (TAS) and selection combining (SC) to communicate with each other. Operating on the underlay spectrum sharing method, the secondary source and relay nodes have to adjust their transmit power so that the outage performance of the primary network is not harmful and satisfy the quality of service (QoS). Moreover, these secondary nodes also reduce their transmit power so that the intercept probability (IP) at the eavesdropper at each hop is below a desired value. To improve the outage performance of the secondary network under the joint constraint of IP and limited interference, the TAS/SC method is employed to relay the source data hop-by-hop to the destination. We derived exact closed-form expressions of the end-to-end (e2e) outage probability (OP) and IP of the proposed protocol over Rayleigh fading channels. Monte Carlo simulations are then performed to verify the theoretical derivations.


Nowadays, companies around the world have engaged in an increasing number of CSR practices. This tendency is expected to continue growing up, becoming a mainstream global issue more and more relevant to business organizations in forthcoming years due to two main reasons. Companies are pretty concerned about advertising their ethical practices, on one side, in order to consolidate their involvement with collective demands of current societies and send a signal to the various stakeholders with whom they interact, and on the other, to differentiate their product offer and achieve competitive advantage in an increasingly globalized marketplace. In this sense, considering both lines together, customers maybe entail the most important group since they are the only ones to create income for companies. Based on this, this study analyses the importance of CSR for consumers in the food sector in reference to seven major CSR activities envisioned to fulfil seven stakeholders' expectations considering three demographic variables of consumers. For that purpose, it is conducted a survey study with a total sample of 1,752 consumers and a multivariate analysis of variance to perform an intra-group comparison. In general, findings support a moderate impact of CSR over respondents, while some discrepancies can be observed between them within different age groups. Lastly, a final discussion is carried out gathering some interest considerations as direct reflection of results obtained and further lines of future research are indicated.


ABSTRACT Two trilobite faunas of late Ordovician (Sandbian and Katian) age are described from the siliciclastic Karagach Formation, western Tarbagatai Range, eastern Kazakhstan. They comprise 15 families and 24 genera and include the new taxa Agerina acutilimbata sp. nov., Birmanites akchiensis sp. nov., Dulanaspis karagachensis sp. nov. and Kimakaspis kovalevskyi gen. et sp. nov. Most of the Karagach Formation yields graptolites characteristic of the Diplograptus foliaceus [multidens] Biozone, which are associated with the older trilobite fauna; the uppermost part, which is the source of the younger trilobite fauna, contains Orthograptus quadrimucronatus and Dicranograptus hians which suggest a younger age, equating with the lowermost Ensigraptus caudatus Biozone, and the base of the Katian Stage. Most of the trilobite genera in both faunas have a wide geographical distribution in the late Ordovician, although Dulanaspis and Sinocybele are characteristic of low latitude eastern peri-Gondwanan faunas.


The four main components of machinery management are monitoring, protection, machinery analysis and proactive machinery control. Themonitoring system implements the role of monitoring and protecting machinery. However due to its many different forms of communication to outside systems, it provides the data to the systems that can analyse the machinery responses and make decisions to assist the machinery management process. Various transducers translate the mechanical energy into electrical and then transmit them to the monitoring system over the field wiring. The monitoring system accepts the signal and processes it, calculating related quantities, such as the variables amplitude, phase. The monitoring systems also provide access points for the data signal to be provided to other devices. The proximity transducer system is used in the project to obtain the voltage signals and the probe calibration values are found both mathematically and through the use of calibration equipment. The various conditions that led to the use of proximity probes, including probe cable length(s), supply voltages, the types of target materials etc are identified. There are three different software packages which are to be used namely the Rack configuration software for the purpose of configuring the data collector modules.The mathematical model of the individual components are elaborated to analyse vibrations. The mathematical model is based on Finite Element Method. After simulating the dynamic behaviour of the rotor-bearing system with the normal operating conditions, it is possible to predict the stability range based on the variation in values of stiffness and damping coefficients. With the help of the SCILAB code all the direct and cross coupled stiffness and damping coefficients are calculated and their dependencies on the Sommerfeld number are observed using various plots.


Genetic diversity in 82 high sucrose genotypes of sugarcane was estimated using 30 sugarcane specific STMS primers. The overall SI values using three diversity measures viz., Dice, Jaccard's and simple matching methods were 0.69, 0.54 and 0.74 respectively, indicating the existence of moderate diversity among the clones and the scope of improving sucrose content through breeding. The dendrogram analysis among the 82 sugarcane types showed that two pairs of clones (Co 200002 and Co 86005 and, Co 91017 and 89005) were identical. Though the clustering of clones reflected the pedigree relationship between the cultivars, deviations from this were observed and could be attributed to the high heterozygosity and polyploidy of the genus Saccharum that lead to gross differences in phenotype and genotype.The more diverse clones were Co 87009, Co 86002, Co 90006, Co 86014, Co 775, Co 87011 and Co 85037. Out of 3321 possible combinations, 443 combinations were genetically more similar (SI = 0.83) which might not provide incremental gains through hybridization, while 813 combinations (SI= 0.69) were genetically more diverse and 2206 combinations showed moderate diversity (SI = 0.70–0.82). Such diverse clones and combinations have immediate application in breeding for improving efficiency and precision in sugarcane breeding. Based on diversity estimates, hybridization involving four genetically diverse, three genetically similar and three with intermediate similarities were affected and progeny performance correlated with genetic diversity. A strong correlation (−0.7265) between genetic diversity and cross performance and cross selection rate from crosses with high and medium diversity indicated the importance of diversity estimates in the choice of parents and to estimate genetically more similar crosses.


Practical Process Profiles is a process management methodology that uses capability and maturity models, combined with risk and value creation factors analysis, to reduce risk levels. It determines key processes that manage specific industry and project risks, resulting in the need to improve fewer processes to optimize quality.


Understanding of the condensation reactions in bio-oil is the key for efficient conversion into transportation fuel or value-added chemicals. In this study, the roles of the typical compounds representing the sugars, sugar derivatives, and aromatics found in bio-oil were investigated for their contribution to condensation reactions. Glucose played a key role for the polymer formation due to its decomposition to reactive compounds with multiple hydroxyl groups, carbonyl groups or conjugated π bonds. The sugar derivatives, including furfural, hydroxyl aldehyde and hydroxyl acetone, were also found to be reactive toward polymerization. The carboxylic acids were shown to be the catalysts for polymerization and formic acid was much more efficient to catalyze polymerization than acetic acid. The phenolic compounds also promoted the acid-catalyzed reactions. Vanillin contains reactive a carbonyl group, leading to its high tendency toward polymerization. In methanol, various kinds of methanolysis reactions dominated, which significantly suppressed the decomposition of glucose and the polymerization of other compounds. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 888–900, 2013


Training a guide dog is a long and expensive process which involves experts with years of experience. At Guiding Eyes for the Blind, a large national guide dog school, a factor in the decision for whether a dog is suitable to continue training are numeric scores based on a subjective judgement during observation of the dog as it undergoes formal evaluations. As a step towards a more objective system, we outfitted dogs undergoing these evaluations with a data collection system capable of collecting electrocardiography and other data. Using both a prototype network and an optimized network, we show that electrocardiography data can be used to predict 29 behavioral scores with approximately 92% accuracy over 11 distinct tasks during the evaluation. Additionally, we show that each of the 11 tasks can predict any of the scores, indicating that the most predictive features in the data may be task agnostic.


We present a neural model for generating short stories from image sequences, which extends the image description model by Vinyals et al. (Vinyals et al., 2015). This extension relies on an encoder LSTM to compute a context vector of each story from the image sequence. This context vector is used as the first state of multiple independent decoder LSTMs, each of which generates the portion of the story corresponding to each image in the sequence by taking the image embedding as the first input. Our model showed competitive results with the METEOR metric and human ratings in the internal track of the Visual Storytelling Challenge 2018.


Dawkins, Dennett, and Blackmore's theory of memes traditionally depends on understanding cultural transmission as a process of replication similar to what happens in biological evolution. Many criticisms were raised against this theory, one of the best known being by the anthropologist Dan Sperber. For him, different brains can create the same behavior using different rules, so we cannot say that this similarity between behaviors happens because an individual passed a meme to another individual. In this way, memes would not be replicators. However, some answers can be presented. First, empirically we do not yet know how information is stored in brains and passed on to other brains. But more relevant, it is not necessary to understand the micro-processes to use the Memetics models, since its models does not depend on a complete understanding of them


Nine profile soil samples and two sewage water samples were collected from Xiaodian sewage irrigation area in Taiyuan city, concentrations of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were determined by the gas chromatography coupled with electron capture detector (GC-ECD) to analyze the influence of the leakage of sewage water. The result shows that OCPs in sewage water were mainly composed of HCHs. Concentrations of DDTs and other organochlorine pesticides were very low or out of the detection limit. Concentrations of sigmaOCPs and HCHs in eight profiles near irrigation channels to some extend decreased with the increasing of the linear distance off the channel, which shows influences of the leakage of sewage water on the soil nearby. Concentrations of HCHs clearly decreased with the increasing of soil depth in most profile soils. For the horizontal direction, concentrations of HCHs also decreased with the increasing of the linear distance off the channel. The correlation between HCHs and TOC was positive, but no correlation between pH and HCHs was found.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the prevalence of physical and psychological mistreatment of medical students at two medical schools in Finland.

STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING
To enable comparison between Finnish and American students, we used the American Medical Association's Office of Education Research questionnaire.

RESULTS
Three of every four students surveyed reported experiencing some kind of mistreatment during their medical education. Students most commonly reported sexual mistreatment, usually as slurs and sexual discrimination, from classmates, preclinical teachers, clinical teachers, clinicians, nurses, and patients. Other forms of verbal abuse, psychological mistreatment, and physical threats were also reported.

CONCLUSIONS
All forms of mistreatment were reported occurring less frequently than in the United States; still, the level of such behavior was high. The results suggest the need for more international awareness and debate regarding the habits and behavior of teaching staff in medical schools.


Abstract Background and Aims Real-life data on long-term disease activity in Crohn's disease [CD] are scarce. Most studies describe disease course by using proxies, such as drug exposure, need for surgery or hospitalisations, and disease progression. We aimed to describe disease course by long-term disease activity and to identify distinctive disease activity patterns in the population-based IBD South Limburg cohort [IBDSL]. Methods All CD patients in IBDSL with ≥10 years follow-up [n = 432] were included. Disease activity was defined for each yearly quarter by mucosal inflammation on endoscopy or imaging, hospitalisation, surgery, or treatment adjustment for increased symptoms. Six distinct disease activity clusters were defined. Subsequently, the associations between clinical characteristics and the patterns were assessed using multivariable logistic regression models. Results On average, patients experienced 5.44 (standard deviation [SD] 3.96) quarters of disease activity during the first 10 years after diagnosis. Notably, 28.2% of the patients were classified to a quiescent pattern [≤2 active quarters in 10 years], and 89.8% of those never received immunomodulators nor biologics. Surgery at diagnosis (odds ratio [OR] 2.99; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.07–8.34) and higher age [OR 1.03; 95% CI 1.01–1.06] were positively associated with the quiescent pattern, whereas inverse associations were observed for ileocolonic location [OR 0.44; 95% CI 0.19–1.00], smoking [OR 0.43; 95% CI 0.24–0.76] and need for steroids <6 months [OR 0.24; 95% CI 0.11–0.52]. Conclusions Considering long-term disease activity, 28.2% of CD patients were classified to a quiescent cluster. Given the complex risk-benefit balance of immunosuppressive drugs, our findings underline the importance of identifying better predictive markers to prevent both over-treatment and under-treatment.


The goal of the study is to evaluate the liver function tests and histological alterations of the rats liver cells after exposure to mobile phone radiation. To perform the liver function test Aspartate transaminase (AST) U.V kinetic test kit produced by CYPRESS DIAGNOSTICS and spectrophotometer was used. Wistar rats (male, 5 week old, approximate body weight 30-40 g) (N = 12) were exposed to 900 MHz mobile phone radiation of Global System Mobile signal modulation (GSM), whole body average specific absorption rate SAR of 1.090W/kg. Twelve (12) male rats were used for the study divided into 3 groups of 4 rats each. Group B and Group C were exposed to 4 hours/day and 8 hours/day mobile phone radiation during calling mode for 2 months respectively while Group A served as control. There was significant reduction in total protein, globulin, while there was significantly increased in Glutamate Oxalacetate Transaminase (GOT), Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP), Albumin, total bilirubin in the rats (Group B and C) exposed to mobile phone radiation when compared to the control group but there was no histological alteration in the arrangement of cells in both control and exposed group. The results of this study suggest that, under the experimental conditions applied, repeated 900 MHz irradiation could modify liver functions.


The mechanical properties of biomaterials are dictated by the interactions and conformations of their building blocks, typically proteins. Although the macroscopic behaviour of biomaterials is widely studied, our understanding of the underlying molecular properties is generally limited. Among the non-invasive and label-free methods to investigate molecular structures, infrared spectroscopy is one of the most commonly used tools, because the absorption bands of the amide groups strongly depend on protein secondary structure. However, spectral congestion usually complicates the analysis of the amide spectrum. Here, we apply polarized two-dimensional (2D) infrared spectroscopy (IR) to directly identify the protein secondary structures in native silk filks cast from Bombyx mori silk feedstock. Without any additional analysis, such as peak fitting, we find that the initial effect of hydration is an increase of the random-coil content at the expense of the α-helix content, while the β-sheet content is unchanged, and only increases at a later stage. This paper demonstrates that 2D-IR can be a valuable tool for characterizing biomaterials.


UNLABELLED
The existence of Lyme's disease (LD) in Spain has been demonstrated for several years, but the impact that LD may have on the presence of symptomatology associated to this entity has not been evaluated so far in our region. Given the existence of serological false positives and negatives, the usefulness of positive serology as indicative of LD is discussed. In this work, we try to demonstrate the presence of a greater serological positivity for anti-Bb antibodies in patients with clinical signs compatible with Lyme's disease, in order to assess in our environment if positivity of the serological tests used is indicative of infection by Bb.

METHOD
In the Health Center of Pino Montano, we studied a total of 100 patients which could have been in contact with ticks or which presented symptomatology compatible with Lyme's Borreliosis, no other explantation being plausible. Determinations were made using indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) at different dilutions and three commercial ELISA methods in each serum.

RESULTS
Seropositivity for IIF at a dilution 1/128 was of 24%, similar to the one obtained with 3 different ELISA methods. This results were confirmed for each of the risk factors considered. Fever from unknown etiology was present in 33% of the cases and was associated to a higher risk of positive serology. When two systems were affected (probable LD), seropositivity was more frequent than when just one system was affected (possible LD). Advanced age in the study population was not associated to a greater risk of positive serology, the opposite of what happened in the control population.

CONCLUSIONS
The presence of anti-Bb antibodies in a risk population (probable or possible LD) is 24%, much greater than in the control population. Techniques for anti-Bb antibodies detection using ELISA methods show a significant correlation between each other and with IIF at a dilution of 1/128.


A new tribe, Iscini tr. n., comprising the Oriental genera Isca Gillies 1951 and Notophlebia Peters & Edmunds 1970, is established. A new species, Notophlebia ganeshi sp. n., is described based on male and female imagos reared from larvae. The new species markedly differs from N. jobi Sivaramakrishnan & Peters 1984 by its non-specialized larval mouth apparatus. The larva of N. jobi has a highly specialized mouth apparatus of the «Dilatognathus-type»; this type of mouth apparatus has evolved independently in several non-related leptophlebiid taxa.


The present study investigated the effects of murici and tapereba on improving hepatic and inflammatory biomarkers in high-fat-diet rats. Female Wistar rats were divided into five groups (n = 10/group): control (CON), high-fat diet (HF), murici drink + high-fat diet (Mu-HF), tapereba drink + high-fat diet (Tap-HF), and murici and tapereba blend drink + high-fat diet (MT-HF). Drinks were offered daily for 60 days, following which body and liver weights, hepatosomatic indexes, serum parameters, inflammatory profile, and antioxidant activity (DPPH and ORAC) were analyzed. The cell death of hepatic cells was evaluated using flow cytometry. It was observed that weight gain was similar among the groups, while glycemia was lower in the MT-HF group. A high-fat diet increased the concentration of cholesterol total, ALT, IL-1β (in plasma and liver), and TNF-α (in the liver), and this was reduced by treatment with the fruit-based beverages. The other evaluated parameters showed no statistically significant difference. Compared to the CON and HF groups, the groups that received the drinks had higher cellular antioxidant activity and reduced oxidative stress, lipid oxidation, and development of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1β. A high-fat diet induced higher cell death in hepatic tissue, which was prevented by the murici, tapereba, and the fruit-blend drinks. The consumption of murici, tapereba, and fruit-blend-based beverages showed beneficial effects on liver metabolism; therefore, they may serve as a nutritional approach for preventing and treating non-alcoholic liver disease.


Creative Commons (CC) mechanism has been suggested as a potential means to foster a reliable environment for online knowledge sharing activity. This study investigates the role of the CC mechanism in supporting knowledge sharing among a group of university students studying programming from the perspectives of social cognitive and social capital theories. By gathering 40 university students' feedbacks and their behaviors, this study found that, in terms of trust, sharing self-efficacy and outcome expectations, the students had a more positive perception of the CC-integrated platform than that of conventional online sharing. In addition, the students were more likely to favor the CC-integrated sharing platform in which they believed that individual identification and profit were more effectively sustained and protected in the process of knowledge sharing. The students' activities on these platforms and their perception of knowledge sharing also revealed relationships that differed from those found in their performance of programming tasks on other online sharing platforms. This study suggests that the employment of the CC mechanism could be helpful in promoting a more positive perception of and willingness to engage in knowledge sharing, thus ensuring the effectiveness of peer communication and collaboration in stimulating programming performance within the Internet-based collaborative context.


In two of Iran's central provinces, several herbaceous plants showing phytoplasma disease symptoms were collected to detect 'Canididatus Phytoplasma asteris'-related phytoplasmas. Confirmation of an association of phytoplasmas with diseased plants was done using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays having the phytoplasma universal primer pairs P1/P7 followed by R16F2n/ R16R2 in nested PCR. Then, for detection of 'Ca. P. asteris', DNA samples were subjected to amplification of rp and tuf genes using specific primer pairs rp(I)F1A/rp(I)R1A and fTufAy/rTufAy, respectively. Restriction fragment length polymorphism or RFLP analyses of rp gene fragments using Tsp509I restriction enzyme as well as sequence analyses indicated that 'Ca. P. asteris'-related phytoplasmas associated with carrot, niger seed and scallion plants in these regions, belong to the rpI-L subgroup. This research is the first report of carrot, niger seed, and scallion infection with phytoplasmas belonging to the rpI-L subgroup.


Staphylococcal nuclease domain-containing protein 1 (SND1) is a multifunctional oncoprotein overexpressed in breast cancer. Binding of metadherin (MTDH) to SND1 results in the stabilization of SND1 and is important in the initiation and progression of breast cancer. Disruption of such interaction is a potential therapeutic for breast cancer. SN1/2 domain of SND1 was used as bait in a phage display screening to identify a 12-amino acid peptide 4-2. The activity of peptide 4-2 was evaluated by ELISA, coimmunoprecipitation, MTS, Western blot analysis, and xenograft mouse model. Peptide 4-2 could disrupt SND1–MTDH interaction. Cell penetrating derivative of peptide 4–2 (CPP-4–2) could penetrate and kill breast cancer cells by disrupting SND1–MTDH interaction and degrading SND1. Tryptophan 10 (W10) of peptide 4-2 was essential in mediating cytotoxicity, SND1 interaction, SND1–MTDH disruption, and SND1 degradation. CPP-4-2 could inhibit the growth of breast cancer in a xenograft mouse model. The SND1-interacting peptide 4-2 could kill breast cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo by interacting with SND1, disrupting SND1–MTDH interaction, and inducing SND1 degradation. W10 was an essential amino acid in the activity of peptide 4-2.


From the line emission of a pure neon plasma produced in a theta pinch discharge rate coefficients for the excitation of the n = 3 and 4 levels in Ne VIII ions are derived and compared with theoretical calculations and previous measurements. The general agreement between theory and all measurements is rather satisfactory for the excitation to the n = 3 levels, the measured rate coefficients to the 4p and 4d levels, however, being consistently too low.