Abstract Limited uptake and use of developed technologies by older adults have prompted interest in participatory design and related approaches in the gerotechnology field. Despite this, recent systematic reviews suggest that researchers continue to passively engage older adults in research projects, often only providing advice or feedback in the early or later phases of research. A key barrier to more meaningful and active engagement of older adults is a lack of understanding as to how participatory design differs from other participatory approaches, and in particular, participatory action research. We address this gap in understanding by exploring the theoretical similarities and differences of participatory design and participatory action research, including their scope, goals, and the nature of the involvement of older adults in each. We conclude with key barriers that are critical to address in order to achieve greater involvement of older adults in gerotechnology and to broaden and enrich the goals of this field.


The Yunshan Cup 2020 track focused on creating a framework for evaluating different methods of part-of-speech (POS). There were two tasks for this track: (1) POS tagging for the Indonesian language, and (2) POS tagging for the Lao tagging. The Indonesian dataset is comprised of 10000 sentences from Indonesian news within 29 tags. And the Lao dataset consists of 8000 sentences within 27 tags. 25 teams registered for the task. The methods of participants ranged from feature-based to neural networks using either classical machine learning techniques or ensemble methods. The best performing results achieve an accuracy of 95.82% for Indonesian and 93.03%, showing that neural sequence labeling models significantly outperform classic feature-based methods and rule-based methods.


According to first principle simulations, we theoretically predict a type of stable single-layer graphene oxide (C2O). Using density functional theory (DFT), C2O is found to be a direct gap semiconductor. In addition, we obtain the absorption spectra of the periodic structure of C2O, which show optical anisotropy. To study the optical properties of C2O nanostructures, time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) is used. The C2O nanostructure has a strong absorption near 7 eV when the incident light polarizes along the armchair-edge. Besides, we find that the optical properties can be controlled by the edge configuration and the size of the C2O nanostructure. With the elongation strain increasing, the range of light absorption becomes wider and there is a red shift of absorption spectrum.


INTRODUCTION
Calcium deficiency is considered a risk factor for the development of osteoporosis in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients. Various dietary restrictions, including milk products are reported by these patients.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate dairy product and dietary calcium intake by IBD patients.

METHODS
This cross-sectional study enrolled 65 outpatients with IBD recruited from one reference center for IBD. A semi-structured questionnaire (to collect demographic, socioeconomic and clinical data) and a quantitative food frequency questionnaire were administered. With regard to clinical data, we evaluated the anthropometric nutritional status, the disease classification, the disease activity index and the presence of gastrointestinal symptoms. Self-reported modifications in the use of dairy products were evaluated.

RESULTS
The IBD patients' ages ranged from 20-75 years and 67.0% were diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. The majority (64.7%) reported restricting dairy products. The frequency of gastrointestinal symptoms was higher among the Crohn's disease patients who restricted dairy products than among those with no restrictions (100% vs 42.9%; p = 0.013); this result was not observed among the UC (ulcerative colitis) patients. Disease activity was also more frequent in the IBD patients who restricted dairy products than in those with no restrictions (23.8% vs 4.5%; p = 0.031), and among the UC patients, extensive disease was more common in the patients who restricted dairy products than in those with no restrictions (42.9% vs 20.0%; p = 0.03).

CONCLUSION
Restricting dairy products is common among IBD patients, possibly due to disease activity, the presence of gastrointestinal symptoms and the extension of the disease.


The Japanese Islands consist fundamentally of late Paleozoic to Cenozoic accretionary complexes that formed in situ in a subduction zone along the East Asian continental margin, i.e. 2.0 Ga Yangtze craton (South China) and 450 Ma fore-arc ophiolite. Recent research utilizing microfossil and radiometric dating has distinguished several major accretionary complexes, including high-P/T metamorphosed parts, and subordinate ophiolites. In particular, recognition of oceanic plate stratigraphy and age of subduction-related metamorphism for individual accretionary complex allows the geotectonic subdivision of the Japanese Islands be emended with a new definition of geotectonic units and their mutual boundaries. Removing the effect of arcrelated magmatism and secondary tectonic modification by microplate activities such as backarc basin opening, fore-arc sliver movement, and arc-collision, a remarkable oceanward younging polarity is recognized among the accretionary complexes. This polarity in growth is well observed in Southwest Japan where seven distinct units occur, i.e. from the Japan Sea side to the Pacific side: 400-300 Ma high-P/T schists, Permian (250 Ma) accretionary complex, 230-180 Ma high-P/T schists, Jurassic (180-140 Ma) accretionary complex, 100 Ma high-P/T schists, Late Cretaceous (80 Ma) accretionary complex, and Tertiary (50-20 Ma) accretionary complex. The sinuous surface trajectories of these geotectonic boundaries and occurrence of several tectonic outliers and windows indicate that all these complexes, including high-P/T schists, occur as subhorizontal (or gently northward dipping) thin tectonic unit, i. e. nappe. Thus the Japanese Islands form a huge pile of nappes that become younger structurally downward to the modern Nankai accretionary complex. What is remarkable in this subhorizontal orogen is that high-P/T units are tectonically intercalated between low-P units, e. g. the thin nappe of 100 Ma Sanbagawa blueschists between Jurassic and Late Cretaceous accretionary complexes of the prehnite-pumpellyite facies. Uplift of the Sanbagawa high-P/T unit appears to correlate with the arrival of the Kula/Pacific spreading ridge at the trench, suggesting that this high-P/T accretionary complex may have been extruded and uplifted into low-P domain in fore-arc by buoyant subduction of the spreading ridge at the trench. Evidence of ridge subduction at that time is supported by reconstructed paleoplate motion and the coeval climax of arc-related Ry-oke magmatism associated with low-P/T regional metamorphism. Formation of older high-P/T blueschist nappes sandwiched between low-P units can be explained likewise. Subduction of major spreading ridges seems most critical for the episodic oceanward development not only of subhorizontal high-P/T nappes but also of continent side granitic belts.


The efficacy of ACE inhibitors (ACEIs) in the treatment of chronic heart failures is well documented. However, ACEIs may provide incomplete blockade of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) because of the alternative pathways for angiotensin II (All) production. We hypothesized that more complete blockade of RAS by adding an AT1 receptor blocker (ARB) may have greater potential to decrease mortality associated with heart failure and improve cardiac function than monotherapy with ACEIs. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of combined therapy on cardiac functions and survival in cardiomyopathic hamsters. Male cardiomyopathic hamsters (BIO TO2) were administered either placebo (group C), enalapril (30 mg/kg/day) (group E), or enalapril (30 mg/kg/day) + valsartan (500 mg/ kg/day) (group EV), starting at the age of 6 weeks. Kaplan-Meier analysis was performed to assess the differences in survival. Cardiac functions were evaluated by echocardiogram and cardiac catheterization. Group EV showed significant increases in fractional shortening, LV dP/dTmax, and deceleration time, and showed significant decreases in left ventricular diastolic dimension, LV dP/dTmin, and early diastolic mitral velocity/atrial systolic velocity. Treatment with enalapril resulted in longer survival compared with placebo. Moreover, life expectancy (median probability of survival: 433 days) increased significantly in group EV compared with group E (P<0.05) as well as group C (P<0.001). It is concluded that combined therapy improved cardiac function and survival compared to placebo or enalapril monotherapy.


ABSTRACT Metallo-β-lactamases are important determinants of antibacterial resistance. In this study, we investigate the sequence-activity relationship between the closely related enzymes IMP-1, IMP-6, and IMP-25. While IMP-1 is the more efficient enzyme across the overall spectrum of tested β-lactam antibacterial agents, IMP-6 and IMP-25 seem to have evolved to specifically inactivate the newer carbapenem meropenem. Molecular modeling indicates that the G235S mutation distinguishing IMP-25 from IMP-1 and IMP-6 may affect enzyme activity via Asn233.


Muscle fiber distribution and muscle enzyme activity (m. vastus lat.) were investigated in 10 elite sprint cyclists and 12 nonathletes. The ratio of fast to slow muscle fibers was 2:3 in cyclists and 3:2 in nonathletes. The mean diameter of each muscle fiber type was significantly higher in the athletes. The mean enzyme activity values in mu kat X g-1 w.w. for cyclists and nonathletes, respectively, were as follows: triosephosphate dehydrogenase (TPDH), 6.2 and 3.78; lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), 4.4 and 4.59; citrate synthase (CS), 0.154 and 0.13; hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase (HAD), 0.041 and 0.07. The mean difference between groups in TPDH and in (TPDH + LDH)/(CS + HAD) ratio were statistically significant. Maximum voluntary isometric strength (knee extension) was about 17% greater in cyclists than the mean value for Czechoslovakian men of the same age. A strong positive correlation (r = 0.72) between the percent of fast glycolytic fibers (type II B) and isometric strength was observed in the cyclists. Furthermore, mean weight-compensated maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max, ml X kg-1 X min-1) for all subjects (n = 22) was significantly related to percent of slow oxidative fibers (type I) (r = 0.75) and to the mean diameter of type II B (r = 0.58), fast oxidative-glycolytic fibers (type II A) (r = 0.68) and type I fibers (r = 0.59).


Introduction: Hypertension is one of non-communicable disease and this disease also one of leading killer if they did not get early treatment and early prevention. Mostly Hypertension was among elder people, many factors which influence this disease, such as heredity, eating behavior with high salt, obesity and lowest physical activities. Because of that physical activity like regular exercise can prevent of hypertension complication. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of Bamboo Exercise to reducing high blood pressure among elderly in PHC of Cukir, Jombang. Methodology: the methodology of this reseach used pra experimet with pre-post test desain, the population of this reseach was elderly who had hypertention. 124 respondents was selected by using inclusion criteria. The inclusion criteria are elder people who have hypertension at least six months ago, elderly aged 55 years old or more and elderly who did not consume hypertension medition when attanding this reseach. The data analyzed by t-test with α = 0,05. Results and dscussion: the results of this study found that the ages of elederly ranged from 55-75 years old with the mean of 60.3 years and standard deviation of 6.6 years. The majority of elderly were female (74.1%), and almost half of those had elementary school as their highest education (48,4%) and more than half of the participants were not work as their employment (54,1%). Based on t-test found that there is influence of Bamboo Exercise to Reducing High Blood Pressure Among Elder People in Primary Health Care (PHC) of Cukir, Jombang (p-value 0.001 and t=30.0 ; p-value 0.001 and t=3.7). The quality of life and life expectacy of elderly people was special attantion in goverment, because life expectacy is one of indicator for successful national development. Because of that the prevention of degeneratif disease like hypertention is very importance issues among elder people.


Fossil fuel burn releasing 360 billion tonne heart and carbon-dioxide. Burning reaction is reverse reaction of carbon-dioxide assimilation. If we can compensate the generation of carbon-dioxide and heart of burning with the absorption of carbon-dioxide and heart by carbon-dioxide assimilation, global warming will be protected. To promote carbon-dioxide assimilation, supply of nutrient N and P is essential. 14.4 billion tonne NOx is produced when fossil fuel is burned. Many governments are eliminating NOx as pollution gas. Carbon-dioxide assimilation is retarded and 142 billion tonne carbon-dioxides is increasing each year. Large amount of N and P in drainage is eliminated using much electricity. If we stop elimination of NOx and N, P in drainage, 10 billion tonne carbon-dioxide emission will be saved and 142 billion tonne carbon-dioxide can be fixed to protect global warming. NOx in exhaust gas and N, P in drainage should be released as it is. Promotion of carbon-dioxide assimilation is most important subject for protection of global warming. Elimination of law which forced to eliminate nutrient N,P and study on agitation of sea water are important subjects for the protection of global warming.


Thematic indexes that capture themes ranging from lowering carbon emissions to corporate governance have expanded in recent years and have received increasing interest from investors. Gender equality, however, has received relatively little treatment to date, even though evidence shows that firms with higher rates of female participation at the senior manager level have delivered higher return on equity, better corporate governance, and, in some cases, higher returns. Inspired by a need to address gender inequity in the workplace through Environmental, Social, and Governance investing, we researched the viability of creating an index that captures gender diversity. Here, we present our findings on gender diversity characteristics for U.S. large-cap companies and propose a rules-based portfolio construction framework for a gender diversity index.


Swimming pools have the potential to cause health problems if not properly maintained, one of them is by maintaining the swimming pool water pH. pH is very important as a parameter of water quality, the acidity is called neutral if the pH value is 7, the value of pH 7.8 contains bases. therefore designed a pool level pH control tool based on light intensity and rainfall. This tool aims to produce a neutral outdoor swimming pool water pH, able to design water pH measuring devices using light intensity sensors and rainfall sensors based on ATmega32 microcontroller and analyze the effect of swimming pool water quality on health. Tests carried out with aquarium prototype and measurements carried out for 1 day continuously. The test results show that this tool is able to neutralize the pH of swimming pool water by producing pH 6.8 and 7.1.Thus, the tool designed is efficient in providing information on the acidity of swimming pool water pH and can neutralize pH levels. Keywords: Rainfall, Light Intensity, pH Level, ATmega32


The pharmacological activity of bicyclooctane and bicycloheptane analogues of prostacyclin was studied on the rat stomach muscle strip. All the analogues are partial agonists. EC50 of the most active of them, 5E isomer of bicyclooctane analogue, is 2.8.10(-7) M-1.2.10(-7) M. 5E isomers of both bicyclooctane and bicycloheptane analogues with a normal length of alpha-chain are at least by an order of values more active than the corresponding 5Z isomers. At the increase of alpha-chain by one methylene group the activity of 5E and 5Z isomers of bicycloheptane analogue becomes similar.


Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plants are dependent on the organic acids that accumulate overnight in the vacuoles as a source of CO(2) during the daylight deacidification period, when stomata are closed and high irradiances generally prevail. We performed an integrative analysis of diurnal changes in gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence parameters and organic acid decarboxylation to understand the adjustments in photochemical and non-photochemical processes during the different CAM phases in Clusia hilariana Schlecht., a dominant tree species in the sandy coastal plains of southeastern Brazil. A linear relationship was obtained between the quantum yields of photochemical and non-photochemical quenching, irrespective of the CAM phase and prevailing irradiance. Degradation of malic and citric acids during the midday stomatal closure period could lead to potential CO(2) fixation rates of 23 &mgr;mol m(-2) s(-1), whereas CO(2) losses, measured as CO(2) evolution, corresponded to about 3% of this value. Thus, decarboxylation of malate and citrate provided high internal CO(2) concentrations during phase III of CAM, even though the stomata were closed, allowing optimal utilization of light energy, as indicated by the non-saturating electron transport rates (ETR) in the light response curves, with highest rates of ETR occurring at midday in the diurnal curves. At the transition from phase III to IV of CAM, depletion of internal CO(2) sources and low stomatal conductances, which restricted the supply of exogenous CO(2), reduced the demand for photochemical energy to drive carbon assimilation. This was compensated by increases in thermal energy dissipation as indicated by higher rates of non-photochemical quenching, while high irradiances still prevailed. Shifts in the CAM phases and changes in protective thermal dissipation potential allowed C. hilariana to match changes in PPFD patterns for leaves of different orientations. Evidence that most of the decline in photochemical efficiency was probably related to the fast-relaxing component of non-photochemical quenching is provided by the high values of the quantum yield of photosystem II after 20 min of relaxation in darkness, and an almost complete recovery after sunset. These adjustments in photosynthetic machinery minimized the danger of photo-inhibition in C. hilariana, which is commonly found in fully exposed habitats.


The purpose of this research was to explore
portfolio diversification by property type for Korean institutional
investors in the U.S. real estate market. In the process, we
analyzed the rapidly increasing Korean investment in the U.S. real
estate market and identified the points cross-border investors
should consider for proper asset diversification by property type.
One of the main reasons investors make cross-border investments is
to diversify their portfolios. Thus, cross-border investors need to
properly diversify their investments by considering correlations
between foreign and domestic properties. However, Korean
institutional investors have shown an apparent preferential
tendency for the U.S. real estate market, much more than other
cross-border investors, and as such, they risk under-performing
compared to investors with more diversified portfolio strategies.
Therefore, in this research, 12 optimal portfolios were calculated
by applying Markowitz's modem portfolio theory. Following this, the
Sharpe ratios of calculated models without limitations of
investment were compared to investment solely in Korean properties
and U.S. office properties by Korean institutional investors. These
analyses revealed considerable inefficiencies in the current
international investment trend of Korean institutional investors.
In addition, the comparisons of the optimal portfolios with
correlations from more recent market data suggested that if Korean
institutional investors continue investing in only office
properties in the U.S. real estate market, their investment
inefficiencies will become much larger than they currently are.
Thus, we concluded that they should diversify their investment in
U.S. residential, industrial, and retail properties and Korean
properties rather than just investing in U.S. office properties and
Korean properties.


This study explores how new users of mobile devices experience and learn to adapt to the distraction they encounter due to the ubiquitous nature of the devices. After giving young adults mobile tablet devices, this study tracked the changes in uses over the course of one year. A mixed method of online surveys and netnography were conducted on 35 participants in Australia. Participants engaged in continuous access throughout the day, expanding situations of where they engage in multiple tasks. They reported both distraction and productivity gains. During the course of the study, participants negotiated their time and attention that they gave to their devices switching from productive to distractive multitasking. The concept of self regulation emerged from the process of managing the distraction, the main strategies being preventive and pre-emptive use.


Organs of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) are essential for iron metabolism and hematopoiesis regulation. Iron deficiency is accompanied by a large number of diseases of GIT. The article discusses the problem of diagnosis and treatment of anemia, It describes mechanisms of development of anemia associated with bleeding, malabsorption, and chronic inflammation. It provides current data on the use of oral and intravenous iron-containing drugs, discusses advantages of the new oral form of sucrosomial iron for the treatment of anemia associated with GIT diseases.


The vast majority of the studies performed so far and aimed at elucidating DNA repair mechanisms has been performed in mitotic cells, such as transformed or cancer cell lines. Therefore, our understanding of DNA repair mechanisms in post-mitotic cells, such as neurons, remains one of the most exciting areas for future investigations. Markers of DNA damage, particularly oxidative DNA damage, have been largely found in brain regions, peripheral tissues, and biological fluids of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Moreover, recent studies from our and other groups in individuals affected by Mild Cognitive Impairment provided evidence that oxidative DNA damage is one of the earliest detectable events within the progression from a normal brain to dementia. Almost one decade ago a decrease in the DNA base excision repair (BER) activity was observed in post mortem brain regions of AD individuals, leading to the hypothesis that the brain in AD might be subjected to the double insult of increased DNA damage, as well as deficiencies of DNA repair pathways. Subsequent studies have provided accumulating evidence of impaired DNA repair in AD. Moreover, functional variants and polymorphisms of DNA repair genes have been the focus of several cancer association studies, but only in recent years some of them have been investigated as possible AD risk factors. The few studies performed so far suggest that some variants might play a role in AD pathogenesis and deserve further investigations. Here, we summarize the current knowledge of DNA damage and repair in AD pathogenesis.


A longitudinal study, based on interviews with 308 middle-class, preponderantly white mothers, provided an opportunity to evaluate the continuity, predictive factors, and behavioral correlates of sleep problems in young children. When their children were 8 months old, 10% of the mothers reported that their babies woke three or more times per night, 8% reported that the babies took an hour or more to settle after waking, 5% complained that their own sleep was severely disrupted by the child, and 18% reported at least one of these problems. At 3 years of age, 29% of the children had difficulty getting to bed and/or falling asleep or staying asleep. Of children with a sleep problem at 8 months of age, 41% still had a problem at 3 years of age, whereas only 26% of children without a problem at 8 months of age had a problem at 3 years of age (P less than .001). Among children with sleep problems at 8 months of age, mothers' depressed feelings were the only measured demographic or psychosocial factor associated with persistent sleep problems (P = .02). A separate analysis indicated that these depressed feelings did not appear to be a consequence of the child's sleep problem. Future studies should evaluate how maternal depression interacts with other factors to result in persistent sleep problems. Children with persistent sleep problems were more likely to have behavior problems, especially tantrums (P less than .02) and behavior management problems (P less than .01), than were children without persistent sleep problems (P less than .02).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Previously, we found that collaboration of reactive nitrogen intermediates (RNI) and free fatty acids (FFA) plays crucial roles in the expression of macrophage (Mphi) antimicrobial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). Phospholipase A2 (PLA2) families hydrolyze phospholipids and release FFA from their sn-2 position. In the present study, we examined profiles of the mRNA expression of PLA2 families by Mphis stimulated with MTB by using RT-PCR method, and the following results were obtained. First, the expression of type IV cytosolic PLA2 (cPLA2), which is highly specific to arachidnic acid moiety, was significantly up-regulated by MTB stimulation of Mphis. Second, the expression of type IIa secretory PLA2 (sPLA2) was not observed for Mphis with or without MTB stimulation. Third, the profile of mRNA expression of type V sPLA2 was nearly the same as that of type IV cPLA2 for Mphis before and after MTB stimulation. These findings suggest that type IV cPLA2 and type V sPLA2 both play important roles in the FFA-mediated Mphi Cap antimicrobial activity against MTB organisms.


181 March 2014, Vol. 104, No. 3 In South Africa (SA), childhood tuberculosis (TB) still accounts for considerable morbidity and mortality. The incidence of TB disease and risk of progression to severe or disseminated forms are especially high in young children or those with HIV infection. Childhood TB presents most commonly as primary TB, often with non specific signs and symptoms; TB may also present as acute pneumonia. The clinical diagnosis can therefore be challenging. [1] Furthermore, due to difficulty in obtaining goodquality specimens and the paucibacillary nature of childhood TB, microbiological confirmation is only achieved in a minority of children, especially in settings where there is limited capacity for microbiological confirmation. Imaging is a major part of the diagnostic work-up for childhood TB. Chest X-rays are relatively inexpensive and widely available. However, detection of mediastinal and hilar lymphadenopathy – cardinal signs of primary pulmonary TB – is often limited, there is wide inter-observer variability in detection of nodes and pulmonary findings may be non specific. Other imaging modalities such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are capable of demonstrating comprehensively the lungs and the mediastinum, but the radiation dose in CT, the need for sedation in MRI, the costs and limited availability all currently prevent their use in routine management. The merit of ultrasound for detecting features of abdominal, pleural and pericardial TB has long been acknowledged and its application in paediatrics is especially attractive as it does not involve radiation nor require sedation. Furthermore, ultrasound of the mediastinum has been shown to detect lymphadenopathy in TB patients who have a normal chest X-ray. One strategy for improving the diagnosis of childhood TB is the refinement of currently available imaging tools and use of simplified protocols tailored to the detection of TB. Point-of-care ultrasound for extrapulmonary TB (EPTB), mediastinal ultrasound and limited chest MRI are all promising new imaging approaches presently being evaluated in paediatric studies. The increasing availability of digital imaging enables telemedicine, where radiological images can be transmitted anywhere in the world allowing for expert interpretation and opinion.


This evaluation examines the compatibility of coating Instacote with existing High-Level Waste facilities and safety practices. No significant incompatibilities are identified. The following actions need to be completed as indicated when applying Instacote on waste tank tops:(1) Prior to application in ITP facilities, the final product should be tested for chemical resistance to sodium tetraphenylborate solutions or sodium titanate slurries.(2) Any waste contaminated with Part A or B that can not be removed by the vendor such as for radiological contamination, HLW must hold the waste until HLW completes a formal assessment of the waste, disposal criteria, and impact.(3) Prior to the start of any application of the coating, each riser needs to be evaluated for masking and masking applied if needed.(4) At the conclusion of an application actual total weight of material applied to a waste tank needs to documented and sent to the tank top loading files for reference purposes.(5) Verify that the final product contains less than 250 ppm chloride.


Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has reached global epidemic status claiming more than 319K lives and affecting more than 4.81M people and counting worldwide. Considering the severity of the situation and low recovery rate many research institutions and pharmaceutical industries are rushing to learn more about this new virus and the morbid physiology of this disease with effective diagnostic methods, therapeutic agents and vaccines. Various approaches are highlighted for comparing the possible treatment methods available for COVID-19 some of which are BCG vaccination on COVID-19 and Non-pharmaceutical interventions, drug based clinical trials of Hydroxychloroquine-Azithromycin, chloroquine, lopinavir/ritonavir, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, Remdesivir, Stem Cell therapy and mesenchymal stromal cell therapy, etc.


The On-Line Registration of Certificates of Live Births was developed in conjunction with the Ministry of Health of Peru and the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status. It is a free system that registers newborns in the delivery room itself which generates a real time certificate of live birth. This simplifies the procedures required to obtain the birth certificate and the National Identity Document for the newborn. This system has been implemented in 114 health centers in 21 regions from March 2012 to March 2013, and has registered 113,917 live births, providing accurate, timely and quality information about these births. This system is the main cornerstone of the health information system which helps obtain real time statistics for adequate and timely decision making in public health.


This paper provides innovative and effective instruments for the simplified analysis of serviceability limit states for pitched, kinked, and tapered GLT beams. Specifically, formulas for the evaluation of maximal horizontal and vertical displacements are derived from a recently-proposed Timoshenko-like non-prismatic beam model. Thereafter, the paper compares the proposed serviceability analysis formulas with other ones available in literature and with highly-refined 2D FE simulations in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed instruments. The proposed formulas lead to estimations that lie mainly on the conservative side and the errors are smaller than 10% (exceptionally up to 15%) in almost all of the cases of interest for practitioners. Conversely, the accuracy of the proposed formulas decreases for thick and highly-tapered beams since the beam model behind the proposed formulas cannot tackle local effects (like stress concentrations occurring at bearing and beam apex) that significantly influence the beam behavior for such geometries. Finally, the proposed formulas are more accurate than the ones available in literature since the latter ones often provide non-conservative estimations and errors greater than 20% (up to 120%).


For a long time, it was considered that the role of the intestine was limited to food digestion and absorption of nutrients. Numerous scientific works have demonstrated the intestine contribution to the overall metabolic and immunological status of the animal. Administering a well-balanced excellent-quality diet for an animal s category does not guarantee a good development of zootechnic parameters. The digestive tube must be under optimal physiological conditions in order to metabolize the administered nutrients as well as to face the continuous and important income of oral antigens. The proper balance of the intestinal functions represents the key to achieve a good productive performance. Additives are incorporated to feed with the purpose of preventing and/or treating different physio-pathological conditions that adversely affect the gastro-intestinal equilibrium and health. The knowledge of additive's actions and effects is essential for the rational use of them.


To cope up the network security measures with the financial restrictions in the corporate world is still a challenge. At global scenario the tradeoff between the protection of IT infrastructure and the financial boundation for any organization using IT as valuable resource is quite essential. Every organization has different security needs and different budgets for coping with that therefore whether it has to look as single objective or as multiple objectives with fault tolerant feature is a critical issue. In the present paper an attempt has been taken to optimize and analyze the effectiveness of security hardening measures considering attack tree model as base. In short we can say that the main attention in the paper is-to rectify, to describe the notations of the attack tree model and to suggest a model which may be able to quantitatively specify the possible threats as well as cost of the security control while implementing the security hardening measures.


Polybutester (Novafil, Davis & Geck) and expanded polytetrafluoroethylene PTFE (Gore-tex, W L Gore) were compared with nylon (Ethilon, Ethicon UK) for elective inguinal herniorrhaphy. PTFE had the best handling characteristics, but is expensive, and increased wound sepsis attended its use. Polybutester had significantly better handling characteristics, and is an attractive alternative to nylon for hernia repair.


This research aims to develop a simple heat learning media based on microcontroller ATMEGA8535 and examines its effectiveness and feasibility to enhance students' science process skill. This research conducted in three steps i.e., preliminary study, development and examination. Three expert on physics education and 51 students are involved in this study. The instruments used for collecting data are questionnaire and test. The instrument evaluated both quantitatively and qualitatively. Pretest and posttest are evaluated by paired sample t test of pre-experimental one group pretest-posttest. The evaluation of testing data confirms the effectiveness and the feasibility of the heat learning media.


We have transfected the single-stranded DNA form of the simian virus 40 (SV40)-based shuttle vector pZ189 into CV1P simian cells. Although the strand used did not code for the T antigen, we observed its conversion to a double-stranded DNA form. We deduced that the replication step converting a circular single-stranded DNA to a double-stranded one is independent of the SV40 T antigen in simian cells.


Strandings of oceanic-pelagic elasmobranchs in the southeastern Brazil are reported. Data comes from animals observed in the coast of Sao Paulo state, between 1999 and 2012. Nine individuals of two species were recorded: Pteroplatytrygon violacea (n = 5; mostly during the winter) and Isurus oxyrinchus (n = 4; two in the winter and two in the summer). For P. violacea the strandings restricted to the austral winter suggest that the species follows the intrusion of high temperatures water masses recorded in southeastern Brazil during this season, bringing some individuals to shallow waters. For I. oxyrinchus is possible that individuals escaped from hooks of the commercial pelagic longline fishery and suffered injuries in the esophagus and in the gastric wall, stranding due to difficulties in locomotion and feeding. As these stranded sharks were not necropsied and only two animals were observed during the austral summer, we cannot exclude other causes of beaching such diseases or the intrusion of cold water masses in the continental shelf during this season.


Production systems required much information to be properly design. Artificial neural networks seems to be perfect solution for analysis of such amount of data. However to gain useful output from artificial networks data have to be correctly prepared. This article shows a thinking-process of obtaining correct criteria for each step of systems designing process. Research goes through basics of knowledge management in production companies that gives further ideas for criteria prioritizing. Different criteria was dedicated to different management approach based of production unit complexity.


Plasmonic sensors owe their sensitivity to the susceptibility of collective electron modes to tiny changes of the local environment. Simple sensors are based on metal nanoparticles where spectral shifts of the resonance are frequently treated in view of an "effective" dielectric medium surrounding each particle. Using single-object spectroscopy probing a large number of silver particles on Si(111)-(7 × 7) in a photoemission electron microscope (PEEM), we show that this picture breaks down because of the formation of image dipoles in the substrate. Even at particle sizes as small as 10 nm, that is, small compared to the excitation wavelength, the dipole approximation is no longer valid because the system inherently creates higher order multipole modes. To validate this scenario, we compare plasmon energies, lifetimes, and their variability to the case of a surface with lower permittivity. Model calculations based on generalized Mie theory reveal that the formation of multipole modes is extremely sensitive ...


Although mechanical joints are integral parts of most practical structures, their modelling and their effects on structural dynamics are not yet fully understood. This represents a serious impediment to accurate modelling of the dynamics and to the development of reduced-order, finite element models capable of describing the effects of mechanical joints on the dynamics. In this work we provide an experimental study to quantify the non-linear effects of a typical shear lap joint on the dynamics of two structures: a beam with a bolted joint in its center; and a frame with a bolted joint in one of its members. Both structures are subjected to a variety of dynamical tests to determine the non-linear effects of the joints. The tests reveal several important influences on the effective stiffness and damping of the lap joints. The possibility of using Iwan models to represent the experimentally observed joint effects is discussed. r 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


In several verdicts of judicial review, the Constitutional Court formulates a concept of Open Legal Policy. The concept begins from a condition when a norm of law submitted to judicial review by the 1945 Constitution does not have reference in the 1945 Constitution. In other words, the open legal policy is a condition when the Constitutional Court cannot find any reference for the norm submitted to the judicial review. By using a construction method, this present research tries to find the meaning of a concept of open legal policy arranged by the Constitutional Court, then assessing whether the concept is in line with the spirit of judicial review. If the formulation of the concept done by the Constitutional Court has not been ideal, the deconstruction will be conducted toward the meaning that already exists until the open legal policy ideal with the perspective of the constitution is found. In this research, the finding shows different meaning of open legal policy between various verdicts of the Constitutional Court. Moreover, a new meaning is proposed including improvement of criteria of the open legal policy based on the difference between the object of regulation (what) and the content of the regulation (how).


Mixed-simulation tools arise as efficient tools in the design flow of power converter controllers. Nowadays power converters are controlled by digital circuits modeled using hardware description languages. These models are validated by simulation and mixed signal simulators provide a way to simulate the system as a whole. In this work we present the use of these tools in the design and validation of a power measurement system.


The H7 subtype avian influenza viruses, such as H7N2, H7N3, H7N4, H7N7, and H7N9, were documented as being capable of infecting humans, and the H7 subtype low pathogenicity avian influenza viruses are capable of mutating into highly pathogenic avian influenza; therefore, they pose a serious threat to public health. Here, we investigated the evolutionary history, molecular characteristics, and pathogenicity of shorebird-origin influenza A(H7N4) viruses, showing a similar evolutionary trajectory with Jiangsu human A(H7N4) viruses in HA and NA genes. ABSTRACT A 2-year surveillance study of influenza A viruses in migratory birds was conducted to understand the subsequent risk during the migratory seasons in Dandong Yalu River Estuary Coastal Wetland National Nature Reserve, Liaoning Province, China, a major stopover site on the East Asian-Australasian flyway. Overall, we isolated 27 influenza A viruses with multiple subtypes, including H3N8 (n = 2), H4N6 (n = 2), H4N7 (n = 2), H7N4 (n = 9), H7N7 (n = 1), H10N7 (n = 7), and H13N6 (n = 4). Particularly, a novel reassortant influenza A(H7N4) virus was first identified in a woman and her backyard poultry flock in Jiangsu Province, China, posing a serious threat to public health. Here, we describe the genetic characterization and pathogenicity of the nine influenza A(H7N4) isolates. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that complex viral gene flow occurred among Asian countries. We also demonstrated a similar evolutionary trajectory of the surface genes of the A(H7N4) isolates and Jiangsu human-related A(H7N4) viruses. Our A(H7N4) isolates exhibited differing degrees of virulence in mice, suggesting a potential risk to other mammalian species, including humans. We revealed multiple mutations that might affect viral virulence in mice. Our report highlights the importance and need for the long-term surveillance of avian influenza virus in migratory birds combined with domestic poultry surveillance along migratory routes and flyways and, thereby, the development of measures to manage potential health threats. IMPORTANCE The H7 subtype avian influenza viruses, such as H7N2, H7N3, H7N4, H7N7, and H7N9, were documented as being capable of infecting humans, and the H7 subtype low pathogenicity avian influenza viruses are capable of mutating into highly pathogenic avian influenza; therefore, they pose a serious threat to public health. Here, we investigated the evolutionary history, molecular characteristics, and pathogenicity of shorebird-origin influenza A(H7N4) viruses, showing a similar evolutionary trajectory with Jiangsu human A(H7N4) viruses in HA and NA genes. Moreover, our isolates exhibited variable virulence (including moderate virulence) in mice, suggesting a potential risk to other mammalian species, including humans.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the optimal high cell density fermentation conditions of recombinant E.coli BL21/pET- 24a/hVEGF(121) expressing recombinant human vascular endothelial growth factor (rhVEGF(121)).

METHODS
The effects of the composition of the fermentation medium, induction time and fed-batch carbon sources on the expression level of rhVEGF(121) and cell output were analyzed.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION
When cultured in modified M9 medium and induced for 4 h in the presence of 0.5 mmol/L IPTG at 37 degrees celsius; with glycerol as the carbon sources by continuous fed-batch mode, the recombinant E.coli expressed rhVEGF(121) at the level up to 23% of the total proteins and the yield reached 68 g/L. The optimized fermentation condition for recombinant E.coli enables high expression level of rhVEGF(121).


The geologic feature of the northern Fossa Magna region is characterized by a well developed folded belt system. Recent microseismicity over 10 years and historic earthquakes reveal that there are seismic zones pararell to the axes of this structure: Itoigawa-Shizuoka Tectonic Line, the western side of Shinano River, the western margin of the Central Belt of Uplift, and the eastern margin of the Central Belt of Uplift. The last zone was recently recognized by the earthquake sequence with the main shock of M 4.9 in 1986. The fcal mechanism solutions and other geologic and geodetic evidence indicate the region is compressed in the direction perpendicular to the folded belts. We can also find seismic activity lines perpendicular to or oblique to these folding axes: the Chikumagawa Tectonic Line separates the Central Belt of Uplift with a left lateral offset of 10km; the seismic line along the eastern side of the volcanic line of Myoko-san, Kurohime-yama and Iizuna-yama makes the eastern edge of the seismic gap around the northern end of the Itoigawa-Shizuoka Line.A 20-25 years recurrence time is found in the occurrence of the major earthquake events in the central part of the northern Fossa Magna in recent 140 years.Seismic active regions are grouped into some rectangular blocks with their bases being either pararell or perpendicular to the folded belts. The activity in a block became active nearly simultaneously, and it sometimes migrated to other blocks with some delay time. The high activity migrated from the block region around the Chikumagawa Tectonic Line to both the northern activity block around the Japan Sea coast and the active region in the southern Fossa Magna during the period from 1986 to 1987.The migration of the seismic activity along the Fossa Magna region may be due to delayed transmission of the stress field in the viscoelastic or elastoviscous medium. The exponential time dependence of the decay rate of the Matsushiro swarm activity for a long period more than 20 years since 1965 is found to be reasonably interpreted by the relaxation process of stresses within the elastoviscous medium. The viscosity changed from 1.1×1019 poise to 2.7×1020 poise as time elapsed. The first value is comparable with that of a ground surface rock body estimated by secular ground tilts and strains. The latter is the same order of the values obtained in the long period second creep experiments using granite and gabbro. The Matsushiro region is one of the region where the viscosity might have been very low due to numerous micro-cracks.


Metabolic networks have two properties that are generally regarded as unrelated: One, they have metabolic reactions whose single knockout is lethal for the organism, and two, they have correlated sets of reactions forming functional modules. In this review we argue that both essentiality and modularity seem to arise as a consequence of the same structural property: the existence of low degree metabolites. This observation allows a prediction of (a) essential metabolic reactions which are potential drug targets in pathogenic microorganisms and (b) regulatory modules within biological networks, from purely structural information about the metabolic network.


Background:Risk-adjusted mortality rates are commonly used in quality report cards to compare hospital performance. The risk adjustment depends on models that are assessed for goodness-of-fit using various discrimination and calibration measures. However, the relationship between model fit and the accuracy of hospital comparisons is not well characterized. Objectives:To evaluate the impact of imperfect model calibration (miscalibration) on the accuracy of hospital comparisons. Methods:We constructed Monte Carlo simulations where a risk-adjustment model is used in a population with a different mortality distribution than in the original model. We estimated the power of calibration metrics to detect miscalibration. We estimated the sensitivity and specificity of a hospital comparisons method under different imperfect model calibration scenarios using an empirical method. Results:The U-statistics showed the highest power to detect intercept and slope deviations in the calibration curve, followed by the Hosmer-Lemeshow, and the calibration intercept and slope tests. The specificity decreased with increased intercept and slope deviations and with hospital size. The effect of an imperfect model fit on sensitivity is a function of the true standardized mortality ratio, the underlying mortality rate, sample size, and observed intercept and slope deviations. Poorly performing hospitals can appear as good performers and vice versa, depending on the deviation magnitude and direction. Conclusions:Deviations from perfect model calibration have a direct impact on the accuracy of hospital comparisons. Publishing the calibration intercept and slope of risk-adjustment models would allow the users to monitor their performance against the true standard population.


A mathematical model describing the sintering rate of a viscous material powder bed is presented. This model assumes that the powder bed is composed of cubic packed, equal-size spherical particles. The sintering rate equation is derived in terms of a unit cell dimension or the relative density of a powder bed. A mathematical factor, fraction of sintering, is introduced to explain the phenomena of partial sintering.


Given an aerial image, aerial scene parsing (ASP) targets to interpret the semantic structure of the image content, e.g., by assigning a semantic label to every pixel of the image. With the popularization of data-driven methods, the past decades have witnessed promising progress on ASP by approaching the problem with the schemes of tile-level scene classification or segmentation-based image analysis, when using high-resolution aerial images. However, the former scheme often produces results with tile-wise boundaries, while the latter one needs to handle the complex modeling process from pixels to semantics, which often requires large-scale and well-annotated image samples with pixel-wise semantic labels. In this paper, we address these issues in ASP, with perspectives from tile-level scene classification to pixel-wise semantic labeling. Specifically, we first revisit aerial image interpretation by a literature review. We then present a large-scale scene classification dataset that contains one million aerial images termed Million-AID. With the presented dataset, we also report benchmarking experiments using classical convolutional neural networks (CNNs). Finally, we perform ASP by unifying the tile-level scene classification and object-based image analysis to achieve pixel-wise semantic labeling. Intensive experiments show that Million-AID is a challenging yet useful dataset, which can serve as a benchmark for evaluating newly developed algorithms. When transferring knowledge from Million-AID, fine-tuning CNN models pretrained on Million-AID perform consistently better than those pretrained ImageNet for aerial scene classification. Moreover, our designed hierarchical multi-task learning method achieves the state-of-the-art pixel-wise classification on the challenging GID, bridging the tile-level scene classification toward pixel-wise semantic labeling for aerial image interpretation.


This study aimed to examine job strain and family well-being among public health nurses. A total of 239 public health nurses participated in the study. Data were collected using a questionnaire. One-way ANOVA and Pearson's correlation coefficients were used to assess the association of each factor with family well-being. It was found that there was a correlation between job strain and family well-being. Individual and family factors were also associated with family well-being. In all, 67% of nurses had a high rating for family well-being. A large portion of nurses belonged to the category of "active job" (51.5%). More than 50% of nurses were exposed to high "job demand" and 97.5% were in high "job control." The study suggests that nurses should be promoted with the ability to be in authority and display decision-making skills and should receive support and encouragement from supervisors and coworkers in order to improve family well-being.


Energy-aware routing is an effective way to prolong the lifetime of nodes with scarce battery power in ad hoc networks. The proposed energy-aware routing schemes so far do not consider the energy supply of nodes in route selection. They only consider the residual battery capacity of nodes. This paper proposes energy-aware routing algorithms for ad hoc networks with both battery-powered and mains-powered nodes. The proposed algorithms direct the traffic load to mains-powered nodes to avoid using battery-powered nodes as relay. By tuning some tunable coefficients, these algorithms can provide a trade-off between the operational lifetime of the network and the hop count of the selected routes. We compare the performance of the proposed algorithms with other algorithms which do not differentiate explicitly between mains-powered and battery-powered nodes. We show that when most of the nodes in the network are mains-powered, the use of only the type of power supply of nodes in route selection results in a higher network lifetime compared to using the residual battery capacity of nodes. This implies that in such cases, the routing overhead can be reduced, since there is no need to repeatedly propagate the residual battery capacity of nodes (as needed in so-far proposed energy-aware routing algorithms), while even the network lifetime increases.


OBJECTIVES
While in the international literature, research on burnout predictors among correctional officers is well developed, as regards Italy there is a paucity of empirical evidence. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to identify, among various types of psychosocial factors, the burnout (i.e., emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment) predictors in a sample of Italian correctional officers.

METHODS
The study involved 130 correctional officers that filled out a self-reported questionnaire. Multiple linear regressions highlighted as predictors of emotional exhaustion: relational demands, reward and physical demands; depersonalization: role conflict and support from colleagues; personal accomplishment: skill discretion.

RESULTS
Generally speaking, the present study confirms that the three burnout subdimensions were predicted by different psychosocial factors. Moreover, results highlighted that both intrinsic and extrinsic aspects of the job, and social aspects significantly explained burnout among correctional officers.

CONCLUSIONS
Conversely, no organizational factors were found to be burnout predictors. Interventions aimed at preventing burnout among correctional officers may include training programs aimed at developing interpersonal skills. Moreover, the paper argues that both the detention conditions and the quality of work life among correctional officers may benefit from the increasing of the psycho-educational staff within the Italian correctional facilities.


ATLAS, one of the two multi-purpose detectors at the proton-proton collider LHC, will start taking physics data in 2007. The construction of its electromagnetic calorimeter is well advanced and modules of the barrel and end-cap parts have been tested with electron beams at CERN. Results on energy resolution, uniformity of the energy response, position and time resolution are presented.


Traumatic rupture of the diaphragm, particularly of the right hemidiaphragm, may be occult and can be difficult to diagnose if laparotomy is not required for concomitant injury. Missed or delayed diagnosis of such injuries can produce life-threatening complications, such as intestinal herniation, ischemia, and necrosis. We present a case of traumatic rupture of the right hemidiaphragm that demonstrates the typically occult nature of this injury. The majority of right-sided injuries are diagnosed during laparotomy performed for other injuries. In those patients not requiring laparotomy, the diagnosis is usually delayed because this injury seldom produces clinical or radiographic findings that are either sensitive or specific. In this case, intraperitoneal injection of technetium sulfur colloid was used to establish the diagnosis of right diaphragm rupture, and an uncomplicated repair was undertaken.


(1) Background: People with ASD commonly present difficulty performing motor skills and a decline in physical activity (PA) level and low enjoyment of PA. We aimed to evaluate whether longitudinal practice of an activity in virtual and real environments improves motor performance and whether this improvement is transferred to a subsequent practice when changing the environment, promoting PA and providing enjoyment; (2) Methods: People with ASD, aged between 10 and 16 years, were included and distributed randomly into two opposite sequences. The participants performed a 10 session protocol, with five sessions practicing in each environment (virtual or real). Heart rate measurement was carried out and an enjoyment scale was applied; (3) Results: 22 participants concluded the protocol. Sequence A (virtual first) presented an improvement in accuracy and precision and transferred this when changing environment; they also had a greater change in heart rate reserve. The majority of participants reported "fun" and "great fun" levels for enjoyment; (4) Conclusions: The virtual reality activity presented a higher level of difficulty, with greater gains in terms of transference to the real environment. Considering PA, our task provided very light to light activity and the majority of participants enjoyed the task.


We report the photoassisted activation of selected C─H bonds in individual molecules adsorbed on metal surfaces within the junction of a scanning tunneling microscope. Photons can couple to the C─H bond activation of specific hydrocarbons through a resonant photoassisted tunneling process. The molecule to be activated can be selected by positioning the tip with subangstrom resolution. Furthermore, structural tomography of the molecule and its dissociation products are imaged at different heights by the inelastic tunneling probe. The demonstration of single bond dissociation induced by resonant photoassisted tunneling electrons implies the attainment of atomic scale spatial resolution for bond-selected photochemistry.


Background: Leiomyosarcomas of soft tissue are malignant tumours that are not infrequently encountered in clinical medicine and histopathology. Such sarcomas of the eye are, however, a rare occurrence. Purpose: Herein, the histopathological features of a case of conjunctival leiomyosarcoma are described. A 38-year-old HIV-positive male, who was otherwise fit and healthy, presented with redness of his right eye and a mass of the conjunctiva. Clinically, he did not have any soft-tissue masses elsewhere in the body. Method: He underwent monoblock excision of the conjunctival mass which was confirmed histologically to be a leiomyosarcoma. Unfortunately, the patient had not returned for follow-up examination. Conclusion: The differential diagnosis of a conjunctival spindle cell neoplasm is broad. While a spindle cell carcinoma is the most likely tumour, other tumours must be borne in mind so as not to misdiagnose primary sarcomas in this unusual location.


The process modeling challenge provides an opportunity to compare various approaches to multi-level conceptual modeling. In particular, the challenge requests the definition of constructs for designing process models plus the facilities to create process models with these constructs, and to analyze the execution of such processes, all in one multi-level model. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of DeepTelos in solving the challenge. DeepTelos is an extension of the Telos modeling language that adds a small number of rules and constraints to the Telos axioms in order to facilitate multi-level modeling by means of so-called most-general instances, a variant of the powertype pattern. We present the technology behind DeepTelos and address the individual tasks of the process modeling challenge. A critical review discusses strengths and weaknesses exposed by the solution to the challenge.


The objective paper is compare two learning objects in accessible hypermedia comics. It describes each object structure of, as well as compares the form and the division of learning objects. Despite of two objects have the same conceptual base, we observed they present different assessment ways. The first assessment is outside of comics and it influences the story sequence and content viewed by students. The second assessment is inside of the comics, and the student's answers influence the characters actions. The granulation's degree of both objects are similar, although the second object presents more assessments.


Electrooculography are used in various field of analyzing the movements of the eyeball. EOG signals provide information about the movements of the eye through the electrical potential in the eyeball. The detection of eye movements can provide convenience to a lot of studies using today's technology. In this study, two-channel EOG Computer-Based Measurement System Design was performed. Also, various functional movements of the eye through test software is recorded to be evaluated by proposed device.


From of economic, environmental and social aspects in the organizations, emerges a great concern about the level of commitment of rice industries, which is often low and is characterized by a high waste of natural and energy resources. Industries are confronted with a new reality, due to the concern with the transparent and ethical behavior in relation to the environment. Given this reality, industries have been a greater concern related to the concept of environmental responsibility oriented to the standardization, analysis and disclaim of environmental information. In this sense, environmental accounting emerges as an alternative to show environmental facts and events in industry. However, very little is as yet known how environmental accounting is used to show environmental events. Given these gaps, this study intended to verify how environmental accounting could contribute to show environmental responsibility in rice industries. To perform this study, it was developed an exploratory-descriptive study. The methodological procedures held was literature revision and application of a semi-structured query to accountants and managers of rice industries located in the South extreme of Santa Catarina and in Rio Grande do Sul. An analysis of results of exploratory studies pointed out that industries do not use to separate facts and environmental accounting events from traditional accounts and, due to this, there is a lack of clarity and knowledge about the applicability of environmental accounting. In this sense, this study intends to know why environmental account is not included in traditional accounting. The interviews show that it is possible to apply environmental accounting and the main reason that makes industries not to apply environmental accounting is the lack of knowledge and the non-obligation of the current legislation in Brazil. Therefore, faced with the need of showing environmental accounts and disseminate the information that the industry works in a transparent, responsible way, environmental accounting can be seen as a mean that enables the evidence of environmental responsibility of industries.


Mercury (Hg) distribution and migration in different landfill stabilization processes were evaluated in this study. Wide ranges of Hg concentrations were observed because of the heterogeneity and variability of landfill refuse. In addition, temporally variable conditions, including pH, organic matter, and vegetation cover, which influence Hg migration in landfills, may also affect the temporal distribution of Hg in landfill refuse. The main fraction of Hg, elemental Hg, decreased with time, while the stable fractions of Hg increased. The fulvic acid (FA) extracted from the landfill leachate had much lower overall Hg-complexation stability constants, which suggests that organic S groups might have been rapidly saturated by small amounts of Hg while leaving oxygen functional groups, such as carboxylic functional or phenolic groups, acting as the primary binding sites for Hg.


We study a game with asymmetric information to analyze whether an incumbent can improve his reelection prospects using distorted terror alerts. The voters' preferred candidate depends on the true terror threat level, and the voters are rational and therefore aware of the incumbent's incentive to distort alerts. In equilibrium, a moderately "Machiavellian" incumbent reports low and high threat levels truthfully, but issues the same distorted alert for a range of intermediate threat levels. He thereby ensures his reelection for some threat levels at which he would not be reelected under full information.


Endometriosis (E) is an estrogen-dependent inflammatory disorder that is observed in approximately 10% of women in childbearing age, and is the most common benign gynecological disorder requiring hospitalization. In 5% of cases, there is an involvement of the gastrointestinal tract, for the most part of the sigmoid colon and rectum (~ 90%). However intestinal obstruction due to severe stenosis of the sigmoid colon, as in the case described by the authors, is rare. The differential diagnosis should include cancer, inflammatory diseases and actinic colitis which has a similar clinical picture to E. Surgical treatment - resection and anastomosis or conservative procedures - provides better results especially when a multidisciplinary approach is used (colorectal surgeon, gynecologist, urologist). The authors report a case of obstruction of the sigmoid colon due to endometriosis and analyze the pathophysiology, diagnosis and surgical management of this disorder.


PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to determine family characteristics, beliefs, and habits that contribute to early and severe caries in young children in Canada.

METHODS
A survey was administered to: (1) parents of 139 children diagnosed with early childhood caries (ECC) in 5 pediatric dentistry practices in Canada over a 33-month period (group 1); and (2) parents of all normal referrals (carious and noncarious children) in one of the practices over a 3 month period (group 2). Group 2 prevented studying an exclusive or polarized population, and allowed direct comparison between children with decoy and without decoy. The survey responses were compared with caries rates in the children, determined by dental examination, to detect important correlations of family and child factors with the disease level. Chi-square and logistic regression analyses described the strength of the relationships.

RESULTS
Parent responses provided information on: (1) demographics; (2) economic status; (3) birth order; (4) parental education; (5) payment methods; (6) feeding and weaning history; (7) fluoride history; (8) food habits; (9) hygiene; (10) behavior; and (11) medication use. Caries presence and severe caries was linked to: (1) leaving the bottle with a child while sleeping; (2) having problems brushing a child's teeth; (3) prolonged holding of liquids in the mouth; and (4) being Caucasian. The authors did find that bottle use in general and having a difficult child were protective influences against decay.

CONCLUSIONS
The factors providing the most caries risk are: (1) being left with a bottle while sleeping; (2) parents having problems brushing the child's teeth; (3) holding liquids in the mouth for prolonged times; and (4) ethnicity.


Abstract Hypohalous acids (HOX), produced by peroxidase-catalysed reactions of halide and pseudohalide ions with H2O2, play an important role in the human immune system. However, there is compelling evidence that these oxidants also mediate host tissue damage and contribute to the progression of a number of inflammatory diseases. Although it is well established that significant amounts of hypothiocyanous acid (HOSCN) are formed under physiological conditions, the reactions of this oxidant with host biological systems are relatively poorly characterized. It is generally accepted that HOSCN is a mild oxidant that reacts selectively with thiols. However, it is becoming increasingly recognized that this selectivity can result in the induction of significant cellular damage, which may contribute to disease. This review will outline the formation and reactivity of HOSCN and the role of this oxidant in biological systems.


In a two-generation study of dibromoacetic acid (DBA), Crl SD rats (30 rats/sex/group/generation) were provided DBA in drinking water at 0 (reverse osmosis-deionized water), 50,250, and 650 ppm (0,4.4 to 11.6,22.4 to 55.6, and 52.4 to 132.0 mg/kg/day, respectively; human intake approximates 0.1 μg/kg/day [0.0001 mg/kg/day]). Observations included viability, clinical signs, water and feed consumption, body and organ weights, histopathology, and reproductive parameters (mating, fertility, abortions, premature deliveries, durations of gestation, litter sizes, sex ratios and viabilities, maternal behaviors, reproductive organ weights, sperm parameters and implantation sites, sexual maturation). Histopathological evaluations were performed on at least 10 P and F1 rats/sex at 0 and 650 ppm (gross lesions, testes, intact epididymis; 10 F1 dams at 0, 250, and 650 ppm for primordial follicles). Developmental observations included implantations, pup numbers, sexes, viabilities, body weights, morphology, and reproductive performance. At 50 ppm and higher, both sexes and generations had increased absolute and relative liver and kidneys weights, and female rats in both generations had reduced absolute and relative adrenal weights; adrenal changes were probably associated with physiological changes in water balance. The livers and kidneys (10/sex/group/generation) had no histopathological changes. Other minimal effects at 50 ppm were reduced water consumption and a transient reduction in body weight. At 250 and 650 ppm, DBA reduced parental water consumption, body weight gains, body weights, feed consumption, and pup body weights. P and F1 generation male rats at 250 and 650 ppm had altered sperm production (retained step 19 spermatids in stages IX and X tubules sometimes associated with residual bodies) and some epididymal tubule changes (increased amounts of exfoliated spermatogenic cells/residual bodies in epididymal tubules, atrophy, and hypospermia), although inconsistently and at much lower incidences. Unilateral abnormalities of the epididymis (small or absent epididymis) at 650 ppm in four F1 generation male rats were considered reproductive tract malformations. The no-observable-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) and reproductive and developmental NOAELs for DBA were at least 50 ppm (4.5 to 11.6 mg/kg/day), 45,000 to 116,000 times the human adult exposure level. Reproductive and developmental effects did not occur in female rats exposed to DBA concentrations as high as 650 ppm. Based on the high multiples of human exposure required to produce effects in male rats, DBA should not be identified as a human reproductive or developmental risk.


An investigation into the dynamics of the National Curriculum Geography Working Group from its establishment in May 1989 until June 1990 when it was disbanded. The thesis is primarily concerned with the ways in which the Geography Working Group approached its task of devising a National Curriculum for Geography. As such it explores the terms of reference and supplementary guidance given to the Group, the working relationships established both within and beyond the immediate membership of the Group, and their visualisation of the task before them. Inevitably the focus is widened to set the context for the work of the Group. The place of geography as a school subject this century is examined, as well as events immediately following the creation of the Geography National Curriculum by the Group. Consideration is given to the composition and functioning of the Group, the production of an Interim Report (DES 1989) and Final Report (DES 1990) for geography, and the resultant implementation problems caused by the politically altered Statutory Orders (1991), over which the Group had no influence or control. The thesis ends with an analysis of the possible futures for geographical education within state schools in the context of recent developments in academic geography.


Elastic neutron scattering simultaneously probes both the crystal structure and magnetic order in a material. Inelastic neutron scattering measures phonons and magnetic excitations. Here, we review the average composition, crystal structure and magnetic order in the 245 family of Fe-based superconductors and in related insulating compounds from neutron diffraction works. A three-dimensional phase-diagram summarizes various structural, magnetic and electronic properties as a function of the sample composition. A high pressure phase diagram for the superconductor is also provided. Magnetic excitations and the theoretic Heisenberg Hamiltonian are provided for the superconductor. Issues for future works are discussed.


It seems clearly established, on the basis of wide clinical experience, that electroconvulsive therapy is effective in the management of certain psychiatric disorders. Furthermore, it is equally clear that certain risks are involved in administering these treatments, but there seems to be a prevalent opinion that the risks are far outweighed by the potentiality for helping the patient. Various complications associated with electroconvulsive therapy have been discussed adequately by many workers, and we are not attempting here to review the whole subject. This paper has been written only to report three cases in which death occurred very soon after electroconvulsive therapy. We agree heartily with Kalinowsky and Hoch 1 that many important questions might be answered if reports of fatalities included a detailed clinical description of the circumstances in which the fatality occurred, and we therefore feel obliged to report these cases. Because two of the patients were receiving chlorpromazine,


Dermatological disorders account for an estimated 10 to 15 per cent of everyday medical practice. Thus, practically all physicians are confronted with cutaneous problems which afflict their patients, often conspicuously torturing them or ruining their lives. Moreover, cutaneous changes properly detected and interpreted can frequently provide the key to puzzling medical diagnostic problems. It is also significant that 13.8 per cent of the queries in the Questions and Answers section ofThe Journalhave dermatological implications. In sharp contrast to this great need in medical practice for elementary knowledge of dermatology, the curricula of many medical schools even today so neglect cutaneous medical teaching that their graduates are prepared with little more than common lay misconceptions about the skin, its disorders, and the principles of their management or prevention. Sulzberger, 1 a number of years ago, elegantly catalogued, analyzed, and debunked the more common and damaging of the misconceptions about


Inferior turbinate hypertrophy (ITH) is the main cause of nasal obstruction symptom. This study aimed at investigating whether a particular cellular pattern could be a predictive factor for failure of medical treatment for ITH in patients with rhinitis. Globally, 258 patients with chronic nasal obstruction due to ITH were evaluated by: visual analogue scale assessment of symptoms, skin prick tests, fiber-endoscopy, active anterior rhinomanometry, and nasal cytology. All patients were treated with drugs for 3 months and then re-evaluated. The symptom improvement depended on the different cellular pattern. There was improvement in: 54 (51.4%) patients with allergic rhinitis, 72 (69.2%) with non-allergic rhinitis with neutrophils (NARNE), 15 (42.8%) with non-allergic rhinitis with eosinophils (NARES), and 9 (64.3%) with non-allergic rhinitis with mast cells/non-allergic rhinitis with eosinophils and mast cells (NARMA/NARESMA). The non-responders (108; 41.9%) were therefore directed towards surgical treatment. Both patients with allergic rhinitis and patients affected by NARES had a higher failure rate to medical treatment compared with NARMA and NARESMA groups (p<0.01). In conclusion, elevated number of eosinophils, in the nasal secretion of both allergic (allergic rhinitis) and non-allergic (NARES) patients with ITH, can be associated to a higher medical treatment failure rate.


Psoralen is the principal bioactive component in the dried fruits of Cullen corylifolium (L.) Medik (syn. Psoralea corylifolia L), termed "Buguzhi" in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Recent studies have demonstrated that psoralen displays multiple bioactive properties, beneficial for the treatment of osteoporosis, tumors, viruses, bacteria, and inflammation. The present review focuses on the research evidence relating to the properties of psoralen gathered over recent years. Firstly, multiple studies have demonstrated that psoralen exerts strong anti-osteoporotic effects via regulation of osteoblast/osteoclast/chondrocyte differentiation or activation due to the participation in multiple molecular mechanisms of the wnt/β-catenin, bone morphogenetic protein (BMP), inositol-requiring enzyme 1 (IRE1)/apoptosis signaling kinase 1 (ASK1)/c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and the Protein Kinase B(AKT)/activator protein-1 (AP-1) axis, and the expression of miR-488, peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor-gamma (PPARγ), and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). In addition, the antitumor properties of psoralen are associated with the induction of ER stress-related cell death via enhancement of PERK: Pancreatic Endoplasmic Reticulum Kinase (PERK)/activating transcription factor (ATF), 78kD glucose-regulated protein (GRP78)/C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP), and 94kD glucose-regulated protein (GRP94)/CHOP signaling, and inhibition of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) or ATPase that overcomes multidrug resistance. Furthermore, multiple articles have shown that the antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects of psoralen are a result of its interaction with viral polymerase (Pol), destroying the formation of biofilm, and regulating the activation of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β), interleukin 4/5/6/8/12/13 (IL-4/5/6/8/12/13), GATA-3, acetylcholinesterase (AChE), and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Finally, the toxic effects and mechanisms of action of psoralen have also been reviewed.


Increased aerosol or haze is the reason that solar radiation decreases, but there is no evidence to support this theory. This research aims to quantitatively analyze the contribution of air pollution to surface solar radiation (SSR) reduction in Beijing. Because there is no long-term serial ground observational aerosol data, in order to reflect the atmospheric pollution and aerosol levels, we developed an atmospheric turbidity index (ATI).Monthly and annual variations in the ATI are significantly correlated with aerosol optical depth (AOD), and ATI could well reflect the change of air pollution. The ATI and SSR are significantly negatively correlated. The changes in the Beijing SSR presented a clear decreasing trend. From the inter-annual variability, the SSR exhibited a rapidly declining trend from 1960 to approximately1990 and a gradual increasing trend after 1990. The atmosphere turbidity index in the Beijing area was the main factor which indicated the change in SSR.


OBJECTIVE:The mechanisms responsible for the reduction in appetite and slowing of gastric emptying in older persons are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of aging on small intestinal regulation of appetite, GI hormone release, and gastric myoelectrical activity.METHODS:Thirteen older (65–84 yr) and 13 young (18–32 yr) healthy men received isovolumetric, intraduodenal (ID) infusions of saline (control), lipid, and glucose for 120 min, on separate days. The energy content of the lipid and glucose infusions was identical at 2.86 kcal/min. Immediately after the ID infusions, each subject was offered a buffet meal, and ad libitum food intake was quantified. Blood glucose and plasma insulin, glucagon-like peptide 1, and glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide were measured. Gastric myoelectrical activity was measured by surface electrogastrography (EGG).RESULTS:ID lipid suppressed food intake in both the young and older men (p < 0.05), whereas ID glucose suppressed food intake only in the older men (p < 0.05). The blood glucose (p < 0.01) and insulin (p < 0.05) responses to ID glucose were greater in older than young men. However, there were no differences in glucagon-like peptide 1 or glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide responses to any of the infusions. There was a greater increase in the EGG power ratio both during and after ID glucose infusion in the young (p < 0.05) than the older men, and an attenuation of EGG frequency by nutrient infusions in older, but not young, men.CONCLUSIONS:Our findings indicate that aging is associated with nutrient-specific changes in appetite, hormonal, and gastric myoelectrical (EGG) responses to ID nutrients. An enhanced satiating effect of small intestinal carbohydrates may potentially contribute to the anorexia of aging.


OBJECTIVE
To observe the effects of TGF-beta on the expression of connexin43 (Cx43) and Cx43-mediated gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) in rat Leydig cells, and investigate the association of its effects on Leydig cells with its ability of changing GJIC.

METHODS
Primarily cultured purified Leydig cells were divided into a blank control group, a positive control group (treated with the GJIC inhibitor Carbenoxolone), and four TGF-beta1 groups (treated with TGF-beta1 at the concentration of 1, 2, 5 and 10 ng/ml, respectively, for 20 hours). The localization and expression of Cx43 were detected by immunofluorescence and Western blot, and the changes in GJIC analyzed by FRAP assay.

RESULTS
Cx43 was expressed as scattered bright spots in the cytoplasm and membrane of Leydig cells. TGF-beta1 significantly elevated the expression of Cx43 in the cytoplasm, but caused no evident change in the membrane. Western blot showed an evident increase in the phosphorylation of Cx43 with the increased concentration of TGF-beta1 as compared with that of the blank control group (P < 0.05). After 20 hours of treatment with TGF-beta1 at 5 ng/ml, the fluorescence intensity of Leydig cells was markedly reduced (P < 0.01), with a mean fluorescence recovery rate of merely (43.58 +/- 1.87)%.

CONCLUSION
TGF-beta1 could significantly down-regulate GJIC between adjacent Leydig cells, and this inhibitory effect may be achieved by promoting the expression of Cx43 in the cytoplasm and elevating the phosphorylation of Cx43.


Monoclonal antibody (mAb)-based therapeutics often require high-concentration formulations. Unfortunately, highly concentrated antibody solutions often have biophysical properties that are disadvantageous for therapeutic development, such as high viscosity, solubility limitations, precipitation issues, or liquid-liquid phase separation. In this work, we present a computational rational design principle for improving the thermodynamic stability of mAb solutions through targeted point mutations. Two publicly available IgG1 monoclonal antibodies that exhibit high viscosity at high concentrations were used as model systems. Guided by a computationally efficient approach that combines molecular dynamics simulations with three-dimensional reference interaction site model theory, point mutations of charged residues were introduced in the variable Fv regions in such a manner that the hydration free energy was optimized. Two selected point mutants were then produced by transient expression and characterized experimentally. Both engineered mAbs have reduced viscosity at high concentration, less negative second virial coefficient, and improved solubility compared to the respective wild-types. The results obtained with the suggested straightforward design principle underline the relevance of solvation effects for understanding, and ultimately optimizing, the properties of highly concentrated mAb solutions, with possible implications also for other biomolecular systems.


Many studies of the social backgrounds of terrorists have found that they are wealthier and better educated than the population from which they are drawn. However, studies of political behavior have shown that all forms of political involvement are correlated with socioeconomic status. Among those who are politically active, opportunity costs may lead those involved in nonviolent activities to have a higher social status than violent individuals with a similar ideological orientation. This article develops a theory of participation in violence that incorporates both opportunity costs and informational barriers to participation and tests it by comparing violent and nonviolent political activists involved in the anticolonial agitation in Bengal (1906–39) using data from their police files. While the Bengali terrorists are better educated and have higher status jobs than the population average, they are less educated and less wealthy than the nonviolent activists. These results suggest that socioeconomic status may play a substantial negative role in terrorist recruitment within elites.


Background: Poor adherence rates pose a significant challenge to the success of pulmonary rehabilitation programs across the world and more so in the developing countries. Aim: To investigate the reasons and the impact of psychosocial burden of primary caregivers on drop-out from an outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation program in a resource-scarce setting where social security is non-existent. Method: 62 consecutive symptomatic patients on optimal medical treatment with chronic respiratory diseases (COPD, ILD and post-TB sequelae) were enrolled in our 30 session out-patient rehabilitation program (thrice a week, 3 hours duration session which included breathing retraining, endurance and resistance training, stairs practice and self-management education) over last 18 months. Telephonic interview was conducted to document the reasons for drop-out using a structured check-list on the patient and the burden assessment schedule (BAS) on the primary caregiver. Unpaired t-test was used for statistical analysis. Results: 23 out of the 25 patients (40.32%, 2 patients could not be interviewed) dropped out for the following reasons: financial and logistic constraints (72%), other physical illnesses (60%), exacerbation (52%), perception regarding illness as incurable (26.92%) and death (4%). Psychosocial burden of primary caregivers was significantly associated with drop-out (p=0.028); specifically, financial burden (p=0.015) and disruption of routine activities (p=0.025). Conclusion: Psychosocial burden of the care-givers needs to be addressed by service providers to improve success of pulmonary rehabilitation programs, particularly in the developing countries.


Fishing and food production are the primary traditional occupations of the people of the Niger Delta area which is naturally endowed with fertile soil, fresh and salt waterways and abundant aquatic life. The discovery and subsequent exploration of huge oil and gas deposit in this region have produced undesirable impacts on the environment with consequent impacts on means of livelihood of the people. This study therefore, examines the fundamental causes of the collapse of agricultural activities in some selected cities of the Niger delta with a view to provide policy options for their sustainability. Data for the exercise were obtained from a stratified random sampling of 180 respondents including youths and opinion leaders through structured questionnaire. The results showed that environmental degradation and institutional failures are the major constraint to Agricultural development. The theoretical framework and empirical result shows that environmental constraint curve is a reality that has imposed some serious limitations on the production potential of the water biomass the essential resource for open -access fisheries in the Niger delta. All the respondents complained bitterly about oil spillage from exploration companies which reduce their operating capacity on a daily basis. They also affirmed that they could not expand their operations due to environmental degradation. Increase unemployment due to collapse of traditional economic activities and lack of environmental adaptive programme such as investment on fish farms as led to youth restiveness in these areas with agitations for resource control and equitable revenue-sharing formula. All the factors above have negatively impacted the operating capacity of the artisanal fishermen which on average is now very low compared to what it used to be. To obtain optimal production therefore there must be elimination of both environmental degradation and institutional failure. This means that the oil companies must change the technical conditions of their production and federal government must deliberately eliminate state corruption in the various government environmental agencies.


Coloration of fabric is a major process in the production of textile material. In the present study, natural dye was extracted from Spinach leaves by using ethanol as solvent system for extraction. The overall process was carried out by mordanting the fabrics through pre-mordanting and post-mordanting system. It was done by using the natural mordant i.e. pomegranate rind as well as synthetic mordant i.e. stannous chloride and copper sulphate either by individually or in combination in the ratio of 9:1, 7:3 and 5:5 for each fiber and method of mordanting. The Different tone and shades were obtained on wool fibers in control and in combination of mordants such as pomegranate + stannous chloride and pomegranate + copper sulphate. Depending upon the mordants used the colour obtained on textile from Spinach extract may give different shades. The shades generated in natural mordant as well as synthetic mordants were all unique and different than control. The dyes produced were dyed on wool fabric and tested for their color fastness to washing properties


Sea-level rise and sediment supply have influenced coastal morphology and sedimentation on Bangladesh's southwestern Ganges‐Brahmaputra‐Meghna (GBM) delta coast. Satellite images and geological core from the Haringhata coastal region were analyzed to explain the morphological changes and to understand the influences on deposits. The results derived from satellite images indicate that the southern coastline experienced a retreat that ranges between 2.3 and 2.9 km. In contrast, the eastern and western coastline advanced. The erosion and accretion ratio was 0.29 from 1977 to 1989, while the ratio was higher 2.90–4.77 from 1989 to 2020. Two sedimentary facies were identified using 130 cm thick successions. A parallel to wavy laminated bluish gray mud facies of deeper part was deposited in a marine-influenced environment. A planar to hummocky cross stratified, gray to grayish white silty sand facies of storm overwash deposits overlies the mud facies with sharp contacts. Unimodal to bimodal grain distributions of sandy sediments suggest two sources: sand derived from the beach and mud carried by adjacent tidal rivers and resuspended offshore sediment. Coastline dynamics and sedimentation of the area were influenced by inequality of accommodation and sediment supply ratio in the river mouth. This occurs due to sea-level rise and deficit in upstream water and sediment discharge. Morphological change along the southwestern GBM delta coast was not only caused by wave energy, but also by rising sea levels which shifted sediment accommodation space landward.


Low-frequency signal content in seismic data as well as a realistic initial model are key ingredients for robust and efficient full-waveform inversions. However, acquiring low-frequency data is challenging in practice for active seismic surveys. Data-driven solutions show promise to extrapolate low-frequency data given a high-frequency counterpart. While being established for synthetic acoustic examples, the application of bandwidth extrapolation to field datasets remains non-trivial. Rather than aiming to reach superior accuracy in bandwidth extrapolation, we propose to jointly reconstruct low-frequency data and a smooth background subsurface model within a multi-task deep learning framework. We automatically balance data, model and trace-wise correlation loss terms in the objective functional and show that this approach improves the extrapolation capability of the network. We also design a pipeline for generating synthetic data suitable for field data applications. Finally, we apply the same trained network to synthetic and real marine streamer datasets and run an elastic full-waveform inversion from the extrapolated dataset.


Background Several studies have suggested the importance of autophagy during esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) development. This study aimed to explore the autophagy-related genes correlated with overall survival in patients with EAC. Material/Methods The RNA-seq expression profiles and clinical data of patients with EAC were screened using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Screening of autophagy-related genes was conducted using the human autophagy database (HADb). Bioinformatic analysis was conducted and included the following: univariate cox, lasso regression, and multivariate cox regression analysis; building overall survival assessment of the prognosis model; drawing the model of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and determining the area under the curve; and a C-index reliability index assessment model through Kaplan-Meier screening of statistically significant genes in the model. The screening results were verified via Oncomine differential expression analysis. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was further used to analyze the molecular biological functions and related pathways of the gene model. Results Through cox regression and ROC analysis, the model showed that the risk score could accurately and independently predict the prognosis of EAC. The screening identified 4 genes: DAPK1, BECN1, ATG5, and VAMP7. GSEA showed that the high and low expression levels of the 4 genes were mainly enriched in biological functions, such as cell production and regulation, and metabolic pathways that maintain cell activity. Conclusions Our research found that autophagy was involved in the process of EAC development and that several autophagy-related genes may provide prognostic information and clinical application value for patients with EAC.


Arabic gum enhances lectin hemagglutinability. The more glycosylated the lectin, the greater the stimulatory effect of the gum. Evidence presented suggests that the interaction between gum and lectin is of a carbohydrate-carbohydrate nature.


Introduction In 2003, only 18% of Massachusetts adults were aware of all signs and symptoms of stroke, but 80% would call 9-1-1 if they thought someone was having a stroke or heart attack. Because early recognition leads to early treatment and improved clinical outcomes, increasing symptom recognition could have an impact on stroke survival and stroke patients' quality of life. Methods We conducted secondary research to identify messages with evidence-based effectiveness for communicating stroke signs and symptoms. From these results, a Stroke Heroes Act FAST animation was created and concept-tested. Non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black women aged 40 to 64 years received education on stroke signs and symptoms. Knowledge change about stroke signs and symptoms was calculated immediately following and 3 months after the education session. Results Using Stroke Heroes Act FAST educational materials that were developed, 72 women (mean age, 54 years; 15.5% were non-Hispanic blacks) received education about signs and symptoms of stroke and took the pretests and posttests to assess knowledge change. Immediately after the education session, significant increases were seen in the percentage of participants who recognized that facial droop (92% vs 99%, P = .02) and arm weakness or numbness (86% vs 97%, P = .004) were symptoms of stroke. Of the 65 participants who were given the 3-month follow-up survey, 100% remembered slurred speech and facial drooping as symptoms; 98.5% recalled arm weakness or numbness; and 97% would call 9-1-1 if they thought someone was having a stroke. None of these is a significant change from the posttest. Conclusion The Stroke Heroes Act FAST kit may be a useful tool for improving knowledge of stroke signs and symptoms among adults.


Abstract Extraordinarily rare phosphatized embryos liberated from fossiliferous limestone of the Middle Cambrian (about 500 Myr old) Gaotai Formation of Duyun, southern China, are assigned to Markuelia qianensis n. sp. Several specimens with increasing numbers of blastomeres may represent four successive cleavage stages, seemingly exhibiting a radial holoblastic cleavage pattern. No subsequent stages showing gastrulation were observed. However, several specimens are late, pre-hatching stages, each with a vermiform shape coiled in either left- or right-handed directions within the fertilization envelope. These specimens indicate that the intuitively assumed difference in preservation potential between early cleavage and late pre-hatching stages is probably not valid. This new material clarifies the affinity of the first fossilized invertebrate embryos ever described, from the same rocks, which were originally attributed to arthropods, presumably trilobites. Instead, they belong to scalidophorans, and this finding infers likely diversified cleavage patterns for stem members of this group, and yields fresh insight into the embryogenesis of early metazoans as a whole.