The goal of a generative grammar could be regarded as a description of the linguistic competence in a word. There are two types of theory in the generative grammar; the transformational generative grammar(by Chomsky) and the applicative generative grammar(by Saumjan). In this article are these theories contrasted under the point of view of this goal. This contrast show us what is the problem in each theory to attain the goal of generative grammar and how the problem should be modified. This article could be a motive to debate about a contrast between two types in the generative grammar.


Methods are developed for discussing the photon statistics of arbitrary radiation fields in fully quantummechanical terms. In order to keep the classical limit of quantum electrodynamics plainly in view, extensive use is made of the coherent states of the field. These states, which reduce the field correlation functions to factorized forms, are shown to offer a convenient basis for the description of fields of all types. Although they are not orthogonal to one another, the coherent states form a complete set. It is shown that any quantum state of the field may be expanded in terms of them in a unique way. Expansions are also developed for arbitrary operators in terms of products of the coherent state vectors. These expansions are discussed as a general method of representing the density operator for the field. A particular form is exhibited for the density operator which makes it possible to carry out many quantum- mechanical calculations by methods resembling those of classical theory. This representation permits clear insights into the essential distinction between the quantum and classical descriptions of the field. It leads, in addition, to a simple formulation of a superposition law for photon fields. Detailed discussions are given of themore » incoherent fields which are generated by superposing the outputs of many stationary sources. These fields are all shown to have intimately related propenties, some of which have been known for the particular case of blackbody radiation. (auth)« less


Despite machine learning models' state-of-the-art performance in numerous clinical prediction and intervention tasks, their complex black-box processes pose a great barrier to their real-world deployment. Clinical experts must be able to understand the reasons behind a model's recommendation before taking action, as it is crucial to assess for criteria other than accuracy, such as trust, safety, fairness, and robustness. In this work, we enable human inspection of clinical timeseries prediction models by learning concepts , or groupings of features into high-level clinical ideas such as illness severity or kidney function. We also propose an optimization method which then selects the most important features within each concept, learning a collection of sparse prediction models that are sufficiently expressive for examination. On a real-world task of predicting vasopressor onset in ICU units, our algorithm achieves predictive performance comparable to state-of-the-art deep learning models while learning concise groupings conducive for clinical inspection. 1


Despite all efforts in its pharmaceutical treatment, heart failure is still a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide.1 Within the past decade, we have witnessed accumulating evidence that cardiomyocyte apoptosis is part of the phenotype of the failing myocardium.2 Most likely because of differences in the absolute number of cells affected, which have ranged by several orders of magnitude in various studies, the causal role of apoptosis in the pathogenesis of heart failure has been brought into question. Programmed cell death (apoptosis) is an energy-requiring, active form of cell death. As such, it is a fundamental integral part of normal organ development in the first place. Additionally, in all organ systems, apoptosis represents the major mechanism to prevent uncontrolled tumor growth.3 Apoptosis is executed by a family of ubiquitously expressed cysteine proteases termed caspases. Caspases are present in the cell as inactive procaspases that are cleaved and activated in response to apoptotic stimuli. Initial activation of caspases is brought about by at least 2 overlapping signaling pathways. One is characterized by the release of mitochondrial cytochrome c and subsequent activation of caspase-9, whereas the other involves the activation of caspase-8 caused by the transduction of a signal from membrane receptors belonging to the tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNF) family, such as Fas and its ligand FasL.3 Both the mitochondrial4,5 and the "death receptor" pathways6,7 have been shown to exist in the heart.


: Traffic prediction plays an important role in the realization of traffic control and scheduling tasks in intelligent transportation systems. With the diversification of data sources, re asonably using rich traffic data to model the complex spatial-temporal dependence and nonlinear characteristics in traffic flow are the key challenge for intelligent transportation system. In addition, clearly evaluating the importance of spatial-temporal features extracted from different data becomes a challenge. A Double Layer - Spatial Temporal Feature Extraction and Evaluation (DL-STFEE) model is proposed. The lower layer of DL-STFEE is spatial-temporal feature extraction layer. The spatial and temporal features in traffic data are extracted by multi-graph graph convolution and attention mechanism, and different combinations of spatial and temporal features are generated. The upper layer of DL-STFEE is the spatial-temporal feature evaluation layer. Through the attention score matrix generated by the high-dimensional self-attention mechanism, the spatial-temporal features combinations are fused and evaluated, so as to get the impact of different combinations on prediction effect. Three sets of experiments are performed on actual traffic datasets to show that DL-STFEE can effectively capture the spatial-temporal features and evaluate the importance of different spatial-temporal feature combinations.


The article examines security issues of the Transcaucasian region with the focus on nonmilitary and trans-border security threats and a regional security community that also includes non-state security actors of the region, such as not-recognised autonomous entities, nations, ethnic groups, minorities, etc.This approach to regional security shifts the focus of policies from balance of power to closer regional integration and cooperation, as well as joint provision of regional security. Despite many objectives and existing obstacles to this scenario of regional development, the author sees it to be the only way toward a stable and long-term security in the region. The article argues that closer regional cooperation and integration would allow to accommodate interests and security concerns of non-state actors of the region and would bring the fate of regional issues back in the hands of the regional powers and create bases for sustainable and lasting peace in the region.


OBJECTIVE
To acknowledge and address the gaps in health care transition (HCT) in type 1 diabetes (T1D) literature by proposing an expanded model that could guide future research.

METHOD
Topical literature review.

RESULTS
Empirical research examining the outcomes of HCT in T1D is limited by methodological and interpretive problems. The relevant evidence indicates that HCT outcomes are both multi-systemic and multidimensional; the authors propose an expanded model that incorporates multiple stakeholder perspectives of HCT outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS
The development and validation of a standard index of HCT outcomes based on the expanded model of HCT outcomes could provide a means for assessing relations between HCT readiness and outcomes, facilitate the design of longitudinal studies to determine the predictive validity of HCT readiness assessment and the efficacy of HCT interventions, and inform the design and evaluation of appropriate interventions targeting those mechanisms.


Introduction Chromoendoscopy is increasingly being used to detect, localise and characterise mucosal abnormalities, however its role in coeliac disease remains to be established. Endoscopic markers of coeliac disease (reduction of folds, scalloping, mosaic pattern, visible blood vessels and nodularity of the duodenal folds) are often difficult to recognise, therefore many centres take routine duodenal biopsies or have a low threshold for biopsy, ensuring high detection rates. This study evaluates if dye spray can improve identification of endoscopic markers of coeliac disease, potentially leading to a biopsy avoidance strategy. Methods Patients undergoing clinically indicated oesophogastroduodenoscopy (OGD) were prospectively recruited from a single endoscopy list between January 2011 and November 2012. Patients were divided into two groups: patients with no previous history of coeliac disease (Group 1, n = 201) and patients with established coeliac disease (Group 2, n = 24). Eight experienced endoscopists undertook all procedures, with endoscopic findings reported both before and after the use of indigo carmine dye spray. Endoscopic findings were compared using a McNemar test, with p values < 0.05 considered significant. In addition, endoscopic findings were compared to histological findings to determine sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) for differing endoscopic techniques. Results Of the 225 patients recruited, 97 (43%) had positive serology (either endomysial or tissue transglutaminase antibodies). In Group 1, 61(30%) were newly diagnosed coeliac patients with endoscopic markers identified in 44% (27/61). Dye spray use within the duodenum identified a further 5 patients (32/61, 52%), however this improvement in diagnostic yield was not statistically significant (P = 0.63). Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values for standard endoscopy to detect coeliac disease were 44%, 99%, 93%, 80% respectively compared to 52%, 99%, 94%, 83% for chromoendoscopy. In Group 2, 12 patients had persisting Marsh 3 changes at biopsy, however endoscopic markers were identified in only 5 (21%) with dye only increasing yield by a further one patient (6/24, 25%). Conclusion Dye spray is easy to use and inexpensive (<£1/endoscopy), however in our study derived no additional benefit to conventional endoscopy for diagnosing patients with coeliac disease. Given the low sensitivity of endoscopic markers, we advocate duodenal biopsies in all patients where there is a high clinical suspicion of coeliac disease, irrespective of the endoscopic mucosal findings. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


Background and Objective A precise means to cut bone without significant thermal or mechanical injury has thus far remained elusive. A novel non-ionizing ultrafast pulsed picosecond infrared laser (PIRL) may provide the solution. Tissue ablation with the PIRL occurs via a photothermal process with thermal and stress confinement, resulting in efficient material ejection greatly enhanced through front surface spallation photomechanical effects. By comparison, the Er:YAG laser (EYL) ablates via photothermal and cavitation-induced photomechanical effects without thermal or acoustic confinement, leading to significant collateral tissue injury. This study compared PIRL and EYL bone ablation by infrared thermography (IRT), environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM), and histology. Study Design Prospective, comparative, ex vivo animal model. Setting Optics laboratory. Subjects and Methods Ten circular area defects were ablated in ex vivo chicken humeral cortex using PIRL and EYL at similar average power (~70 mW) under IRT. Following fixation, ESEM and undecalcified light microscopy images were obtained and examined for signs of cellular injury. Results Peak rise in surface temperature was negligible and lower for PIRL (1.56°C; 95% CI, 0.762-2.366) compared to EYL ablation (12.99°C; 95% CI, 12.189-13.792) (P < .001). ESEM and light microscopy demonstrated preserved cortical microstructure following PIRL ablation in contrast to diffuse thermal injury seen with EYL ablation. Microfractures were not observed. Conclusion Ablation of cortical bone using the PIRL generates negligible and significantly less heat than EYL ablation while preserving cortical microstructure. This novel laser has great potential in advancing surgical techniques where precision osseous manipulation is required.


The relations between ATP depletion, increased cytosolic free calcium concentration ([Ca;]), contracture development, and lethal myocardial ischemic injury, as evaluated by enzyme release, were examined using 19F nuclear magnetic resonance to measure [CaiJ in 1,2-bis(2amino-5-fluorophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid (5F-BAPTA)-loaded perfused rat hearts. Total ischemia at 370 C was induced in beating hearts, potassium-arrested hearts, magnesium-arrested hearts, and hearts pretreated with 0.9 JAM diltiazem to reduce but not abolish contractility. In the beating hearts, time-averaged [Cai], which is intermediate between the systolic and the basal [Cail, was 544±+74 nM. In contrast, in the potassiumand magnesium-arrested hearts, the time-averaged values are lower than in beating hearts (352+88 nM for potassium arrest, 143+±22 nM for magnesium arrest). During ischemia, ATP depletion, contracture, and a rise in [Cal] are delayed by cardiac arrest, but all occur more rapidly in the potassium-arrested hearts than in the magnesium-arrested hearts. The diltiazem-treated hearts were generally similar to the magnesium-arrested hearts in their response to ischemia. Under all conditions, contracture development was initiated after tissue ATP had fallen to less than 50% of control; invariably, there was a progressive rise in [Cal] during and following contracture development. Reperfusion with oxygenated perfusate shortly after peak contracture development resulted in a return of [Ca1] to its preischemic level, resynthesis of creatine phosphate, no significant enzyme release, and no substantial loss of 5F-BAPTA from the heart. The data demonstrate that an increase in [Ca1] precedes lethal myocardial ischemic injury. This rise in [Cal] may accelerate the depletion of cellular ATP and may directly contribute to the development of lethal ischemic cell injury. (Circulation Research 1990;66:135-146)


The immune system is closely integrated with the neuroendocrine system, and infection-induced increases in cytokines such as IL-1, IL-6 and TNF have numerous effects on the central nervous system. These include stimulation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, as well as of leptin production. The increase in leptin causes loss of appetite, which may be deleterious for children who are living under conditions of poverty, have frequent infections and are often already undernourished. These cytokines may also be involved in problems of obesity, since they activate the HPA-axis and since TNF is produced by fat cells and can cause insulin resistance. The immune system originally developed for hunter-gatherers may not be well adapted to the pathology of poverty or that of excess.


Objective: Observational studies have reported inconsistent results for the relationship between chronic smoking and blood pressure and most of the studies are based on the self-reported smoking status. This study was performed to evaluate the relationship of urinary cotinine or self-reported smoking status with blood pressure in Korean adults. Design and Method: Among individuals enrolled in Kangbuk Samsung Health Study (KSHS) and Kangbuk Samsung Cohort Study (KSCS), 167,868 participants (93,450 men; age 37.5 ± 6.9 years) between 2011 and 2013 who had urinary cotinine measurements were included. Self-reported smoking status was classified as nonsmoker, ex-smoker, and current smoker. Cotinine-verified smoker was defined as urinary cotinine level above 50 ng/mL. Results: The prevalence of hypertension was 10.0% and 2.8% in men and women, respectively. The prevalence of self-reported smoking was 39.8% in men and 2.4% in women, while the prevalence of cotinine-verified smoking was 37.7% in men and 3.9% in women. The degree of agreement between self-reported and cotinine-verified smoking status in men was higher than in women (k = 0.86 in men and 0.62 in women). Multivariate logistic regression model adjusted for age, body mass index, alcohol drinking, exercise, glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, creatinine showed that self-reported current smoking significantly decreased the odds ratio (OR) for hypertension in men compared with nonsmoking (OR [95% CI], 0.80[0.75, 0.86]), but was not in women (1.01 [0.65, 1.56]). These results were similar to those according to cotinine-verified smoking (0.77 [0.73, 0.81] in men and 1.01[0.75, 1.38] in women). Furthermore, log-transformed cotinine level also decreased the OR for hypertension in men (0.92 [0.88, 0.96]), but not women (0.86 [0.68, 1.08]). Conclusions: This large cohort study shows that the degree of agreement between self-reported and cotinine verified smoking status in women is relatively lower than in men, though urinary cotinine is negatively associated with hypertension in men but not in women.


SOA have been deployed as a mean to offer a better flexibility, to increase efficiency through reuse of services and also to improve interoperability by providing new opportunities to connect heterogeneous platforms. However, those benefits make security more difficult to control. Fortunately, new standards are proposed to treat this issue, but their current use makes the architecture much more complex and challenges the characteristics of SOA. In this paper, we address this issue by separating security services from business ones and organizing the architecture referring to the principle of separation of concerns. Next, we propose a new model which consists of three components: business services, security meta-services and an orchestration service. Then, we show that the architecture remains secure while enforcing its flexibility and agility.


Multistate start-up demonstration tests are proposed and analyzed using a Markov Chain approach. The new demonstration tests are generalizations of the CSTF, TSTF, and CSCF start-up demonstration tests discussed in the literature that have the important practical advantage of allowing for early termination when the quality of successful start-ups is exceptional. When the termination results in acceptance of the equipment, the use of a multi-state startup demonstration test results in an increase in the probability of an early termination of as much as. 35 over the optimal binary start-up test in cases studied. The Markov Chains methodology is used in the probabilistic analysis. Practical guidance on choosing tests, estimation, and comparisons of the various criteria are studied. The Markov Chain approach is then extended to study the non-i.i.d. case.


Anorexia nervosa is a serious mental disorder that primarily affects young women, having poor prognosis and high mortality, which reaches 25%. Endocrine, metabolic, immunologic and hematologic medical complications are among the most frequently mentioned in the literature. Pulmonary complications are rare and there is little evidence published. In this article, a case of pulmonary bullae and tension pneumothorax in a patient with anorexia nervosa is described, and a brief discussion on the possible pathophysiology when compared to the few published similar cases is made. (Acta Med Colomb 2014; 39: 288-292).


Regional dropout strategies have been proposed to enhance performance of convolutional neural network classifiers. They have proved to be effective for guiding the model to attend on less discriminative parts of objects (e.g. leg as opposed to head of a person), thereby letting the network generalize better and have better object localization capabilities. On the other hand, current methods for regional dropout removes informative pixels on training images by overlaying a patch of either black pixels or random noise. Such removal is not desirable because it suffers from information loss causing inefficiency in training. We therefore propose the CutMix augmentation strategy: patches are cut and pasted among training images where the ground truth labels are also mixed proportionally to the area of the patches. By making efficient use of training pixels and retaining the regularization effect of regional dropout, CutMix consistently outperforms state-of-the-art augmentation strategies on CIFAR and ImageNet classification tasks, as well as on ImageNet weakly-supervised localization task. Moreover, unlike previous augmentation methods, our CutMix-trained ImageNet classifier, when used as a pretrained model, results in consistent performance gain in Pascal detection and MS-COCO image captioning benchmarks. We also show that CutMix can improve the model robustness against input corruptions and its out-of distribution detection performance.


This article investigates two issues unexplored in studies of the relationship between panel composition and voting on three-judge panels of the Courts of Appeals: how often will panel composition influence case outcomes, and how has the relationship between panel composition and panel voting changed over time? The author shows that while long stretches of single-party control of the presidency in the first half of the twentieth century often produced a high rate of panels with three judges from the same party, frequent turnover of White House control in the past half century has helped ensure that a majority of panels are composed of at least one judge from each party. The author also presents the first systematic longitudinal analysis of panel composition and judicial behavior, showing that the relationship between the two is a relatively recent phenomenon. These findings have important implications for understanding collegial behavior on the Courts of Appeals.


The drugs currently approved for treatment of HBV infections are: interferon alpha2a and alpha2b, pegylated interferon (PeglFN-al-pha2a) natural interferons and nucleos(t)ide analogues (NA): adefovir, entecavir, lamivudine, telbivudine (currently not available in Poland) and tenofovir. The following questions are described: the primary goal of antiviral treatment, criteria in therapeutic decision-making (including extrahepatic manifestations, compensated and decompensated cirrhosis of the liver), treatment failure (including: drug resistance), management of patients with HBV-positive markers, in whom chemotherapy or other immunosuppressive therapy is planned. In treatment-naive patients with chronic hepatitis B the first line therapy should be PeglFN-alpha2a monotherapy, and the first-line should be entecavir or tenofovir (highest potential for HBV replication suppression and high genetic barrier to resistance). In drug resistance the patient should be switched to another, preferably high-potency NA (entecavir or tenofovir) or start PeglFN-alpha2a therapy.


Laser ablation is often explained by a two-temperature model (TTM) with different electron and lattice temperatures. To realize a classical molecular dynamics simulation of the TTM, we propose an extension of the embedded atom method to construct an interatomic potential that is dependent on the electron temperature. This method is applied to copper, and its validity is demonstrated by comparison of several physical properties, such as the energy–volume curve, phonon dispersion, electronic heat capacity, ablation threshold, and mean square displacement of atoms, with those of finite-temperature density functional theory.


The Pebble-Bed Fluoride-Salt Cooled High Temperature Reactor (PB-FHR) is an advanced nuclear reactor concept design that combines high temperature and low pressure fluoride salt coolants with solid fuel elements containing encapsulated TRISO fuel particles. Compared to current commercial nuclear power plants operating with coolant temperature under ~ 400 °C or below, which ends up running steam turbines with cycle efficiency below ~34%, coolant temperature in FHR is in the range of 600 °C – 700 °C with high power conversion efficiency and power peaking capability by using an open-Brayton cycle can be achieved. This design takes advantage of the inherent and passive safety features enabled by heat transfer and chemical properties of fluoride salt and robust particle fuel. Working with fluoride salt has big challenges, such as, fluoride salts exhibit high melting point ~450 °C, salt redox potential shows significant effects on coolant performance (corrosion, neutronic/thermal properties, etc.), interaction between salt and graphite fuel particle tends to affect fuel pebble integrity and potentially change salt redox potential. This article presents the research work pertaining to fluoride salt behavior with application to FHR design in University of Wisconsin-Madison, including a salt freezing experiment to investigate the solidification phenomena of fluoride salts, salt chemistry and electro-chemistry experiment to study applicability of current electrochemistry techniques to high temperature molten fluoride salts, and an experiment to study salt intrusion into graphite under various conditions (pressure, temperature, graphite surface finish). In the end, discussion about how the current research in UW-Madison will contribute to fluoride salt study for FHR design is presented.


This paper presents a novel hybrid Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and extended Ward-type equivalent approach for fast on-line voltage security assessment of power systems. The proposed approach maintains the desirable properties of the Ward equivalent method and can update online the parameters of the equivalent model when the topology of the external system changes. Moreover, fast boundary matching is achieved by using ANN. Test results demonstrate that the new approach is efficient and has good accuracy.


Advances in technology provide valuable opportunities for furthering the goals and methods of education. In this paper, we argue that, unfortunately, many of these opportunities are not seized because of restrictive conceptions of education that constrain teachers to viewing the educational mission primarily in terms of providing instruction. Adopting a pedagogical stance on this issue leads us to a fundamental rethink of how technology can and should be used. From this reconsideration, we conclude that using technology predominantly to provide access to learning content is a misguided use of technology. Technology is rendered more powerful for learning objectives when it is used to support learning‐by‐doing. Technological advancement on its own does not lead to better education. Pedagogical guidance is vital if technology is to be productive for human learning.


Indigenous peoples around the world are increasingly claiming and exercising sovereignty and self-determination. One important method for this is through economic development, but this raises tensions between Indigenous values and those of the market-place. While this tension is real, we argue that economic development which is underpinned by Aboriginal values is an act of prefigurative resistance and helps nations move towards self-determination. Based on ethnographic research with the Gugu Badhun Aboriginal nation, we explore theories of recognition and anticolonialism through economic development processes. The experience of Gugu Badhun indicates that a contemporary Aboriginal economy can have very different values to those of neoliberalism, but also demonstrate that this is a slow process that must be built on a firm cultural foundation. In so doing, Gugu Badhun are navigating the tensions and working through them in a process of self-determination in action.


Thirty-four patients were studied by electrocardiogram for electrical position of the heart, and by x-ray and angiocardiogram for anatomic position of the heart. A significant association between electrocardiographic and anatomic positions of the heart was found insofar as rotation about the anteroposterior and longitudinal axes is concerned. No association between electrocardiographic and anatomic positions was found with regard to rotation about the transverse axis.


Ferroptosis, a relatively recently discovered type of cell death that is iron dependent and nonapoptotic, is involved in the accumulation of lipid reactive oxygen species (ROS), and has been shown to serve a vital role in various pathological processes, including those underlying neurodegeneration, ischemic reperfusion injury, acute organ injury, and in particular, tumor biology. Emerging evidence has highlighted the roles of ferroptosis in the development and resistance to chemoradiotherapy in cancer. Recently, an increasing number of studies have shown that non-coding RNAs modulate the process of ferroptotic cell death, and this has further highlighted the potential of regulation of ferroptosis as a means of cancer management. Although these studies have highlighted the critical role of ferroptosis in cancer therapeutics, the roles of ferroptosis induced by non-coding RNAs in cancer development remain unclear. Herein, the current body of knowledge of ferroptosis in cancer is summarized and an overview of the mechanisms of ferroptosis and the functions of non-coding RNAs in regulating ferroptotic cell death are discussed. The future status of ferroptosis in cancer management is deliberated and strategies for treatment of therapy-resistant cancers are discussed.


Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (DCNN) have been proven to be effective for various computer vision problems. In this work, we demonstrate its effectiveness on a continuous object orientation estimation task, which requires prediction of 0 to 360 degrees orientation of the objects. We do so by proposing and comparing three continuous orientation prediction approaches designed for the DCNNs. The first two approaches work by representing an orientation as a point on a unit circle and minimizing either L2 loss or angular difference loss. The third method works by first converting the continuous orientation estimation task into a set of discrete orientation estimation tasks and then converting the discrete orientation outputs back to the continuous orientation using a mean-shift algorithm. By evaluating on a vehicle orientation estimation task and a pedestrian orientation estimation task, we demonstrate that the discretization-based approach not only works better than the other two approaches but also achieves state-of-the-art performance. We also demonstrate that finding an appropriate feature representation is critical to achieve a good performance when adapting a DCNN trained for an image recognition task.


The paper is focused on the modeling of a partial equilibrium on the beef market in the Czech Republic. The goal of the paper is a construction and a quantification of a partial equilibrium model of mentioned trade, used for simulation purpose and enabling delimitation of main determinants of beef supply and demand. Data was gained from standard statistical reports of the Ministry of Agriculture and from Statistics of Households Accounts from the year 1995 – 2009. Proposed model respects three levels of beef chain – farmer, processer and consumer. Simultaneously, it respects trade flows on an open market. From the functional point of view, it respects nonlinearity of suppose relationships. The model was quantified by OLS with respects of recursive relationship between endogenous variables. The model is robust enough to be used for simulations. The paper resulted from contribution to an institutional research project MSM 6046070906.


Automatic acquisition of aerial threats at thousands of kilometers distance requires high sensitivity to small differences in contrast and high optical quality for subpixel resolution, since targets occupy much less surface area than a single pixel. Targets travel at high speed and break up in the re-entry phase. Target/decoy discrimination at the earliest possible time is imperative. Real time performance requires a multifaceted approach with hyperspectral imaging and analog processing allowing feature extraction in real time. Hyperacuity Systems has developed a prototype chip capable of nonlinear increase in resolution or subpixel resolution far beyond either pixel size or spacing. Performance increase is due to a biomimetic implementation of animal retinas. Photosensitivity is not homogeneous across the sensor surface, allowing pixel parsing. It is remarkably simple to provide this profile to detectors and we showed at least three ways to do so. Individual photoreceptors have a Gaussian sensitivity profile and this nonlinear profile can be exploited to extract high-resolution. Adaptive, analog circuitry provides contrast enhancement, dynamic range setting with offset and gain control. Pixels are processed in parallel within modular elements called cartridges like photo-receptor inputs in fly eyes. These modular elements are connected by a novel function for a cell matrix known as L4. The system is exquisitely sensitive to small target motion and operates with a robust signal under degraded viewing conditions, allowing detection of targets smaller than a single pixel or at greater distance. Therefore, not only is instantaneous feature extraction possible but also subpixel resolution. Analog circuitry increases processing speed with more accurate motion specification for target tracking and identification.


Abstract. Homogeneous reactivity has been extensively studied in recent years through outdoor air-quality simulations. However, indoor atmospheres are known to be largely influenced by another type of chemistry, which is their reactivity with surfaces. Despite progress in the understanding of heterogeneous reactions, such reactions remain barely integrated into numerical models.
In this paper, a room-scale, indoor air-quality (IAQ) model is developed to represent both heterogeneous and homogeneous chemistry.
Thanks to the introduction of sorbed species, deposition and surface reactivity are treated as two separate processes, and desorption reactions are incorporated.
The simulated concentrations of inorganic species are compared with experimental measurements acquired in a real room, thus allowing calibration of the model's undetermined parameters.
For the duration of the experiments, the influence of the simulation's initial conditions is strong.
The model succeeds in simulating the four inorganic species concentrations that were measured, namely NO, NO2, HONO and O3.
Each parameter is then varied to estimate its sensitivity and to identify the most prevailing processes.
The air-mixing velocity and the building filtration factor are uncertain parameters that appear to have a strong influence on deposition and on the control of transport from outdoors, respectively.
As expected, NO2 surface hydrolysis plays a key role in the production of secondary species. The secondary production of NO by the reaction of sorbed HONO with sorbed HNO3 stands as an essential component to integrate into IAQ models.


In a previous paper (Ref. 1), the presence of dark energy in our universe was explained as the fingerprint of a comprehensive, much older and expanding multiverse with positive spatial curvature, whose space–time is spanned by this energy, and which was created out of nothing. This concept is expanded by the addition of a model for explaining the decay of the mass density [Formula: see text] of dark energy from its origin until now by a factor of approximately [Formula: see text]. Elementary particles contain information about which laws of nature they obey, but not what exactly these are. Most likely, the laws are not followed by obedience to a categorical imperative. Rather, it is assumed, that from the very beginning the information about them is coded in submicroscopic patches of the space–time. The initial density [Formula: see text] is supposed to belong to the unimpaired cosmological constant obtained from elementary particle theory. Due to its huge value, it causes an extremely fast spatial expansion by which continuously new space–time elements are created. To them, the information about the physical laws must be transmitted from the already present space–time. This process needs time which with ever-increasing expansion velocity is getting scarcer and scarcer. It is concluded that this impedes the expansion through a friction-like process which can be described by a term proportional to the expansion velocity. This term is subtracted from the expansion acceleration. It is shown that the solutions thus obtained are also solutions of the cosmological standard equations employing a scalar field [Formula: see text]. In consequence, the present model can be considered as a reinterpretation of results which can be obtained with acknowledged methods.


Vocational Education andTraining(VET) in Indonesia shows significant progress in this recent 10 years. Better imaging of VET is influenced by some factors, such as policy shift of improving proportion of SMK students, intense imaging of SMK, improvement of vocational education on university level, establishment of National Competence Framework (KKNI) as well as national economic growth. By having this development, all stake holders of Technology and Vocational Education should always conserve this spirit. Reformulation of VET paradigm should be continually conducted in case of democratic society building, social capital development, and national competitiveness aspect. Those will related to policy development, curriculum restructuring, learning model improvement, program evaluation and proffesional development for teacher education as well as LPTK and DUDI partnership. The strategy of learning development on VET implementation should always be conducted so that the graduates competence fulfilling market demand. The learning process on VET should apply Work Based Learning (WBL) approach and DUDI cooperation. In line with technology development, dynamic of working setting, working context challenge and higher working competence, VET is demanded to be able to anticipate and face this global challenge by utilizing capability and capacity of industrial partnership. WBL is a learning approach that utilizes the work place and its experience to contribute to social context, academic, and learner carrier development as well as the supplement of learning activity. The experience of learning in the working area is applied, smoothed, and expanded either on class or work place. By implementing WBL, learners develop attitude, knowledge, skills, insight, behavior, habits, and associations from the experiences of both places and enabling learning process with real working context. Empirical study development of Ro-Ter model (RollingdanTerpadu/Rolling and integrated) in vocational learning of Automotive Diploma III can be developed on VET implementation especially Automotive Engineering Education in LPTK.


A pan-susceptible Salmonella enterica serovar Worthington isolate was detected in the stool of a man returning from Sri Lanka. Under ceftriaxone treatment, a third-generation cephalosporin (3GC)-resistant Salmonella Worthington was isolated after 8 days. Molecular analyses indicated that the two isolates were identical. However, the latter strain acquired a blaDHA-1-carrying IncFII plasmid probably from a Citrobacter amalonaticus isolate colonizing the gut. ABSTRACT A pan-susceptible Salmonella enterica serovar Worthington isolate was detected in the stool of a man returning from Sri Lanka. Under ceftriaxone treatment, a third-generation cephalosporin (3GC)-resistant Salmonella Worthington was isolated after 8 days. Molecular analyses indicated that the two isolates were identical. However, the latter strain acquired a blaDHA-1-carrying IncFII plasmid probably from a Citrobacter amalonaticus isolate colonizing the gut. This is the first report of in vivo acquisition of plasmid-mediated resistance to 3GCs in S. enterica.


Despite significant advances in cancer research and treatment, therapeutic resistance remains a major obstacle for achieving stable remission in cancer patients. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is no exception, and most AML patients develop resistance to chemotherapy/targeted therapies, which results in disease relapse and progression. Recurrent mutations in the DNA methyltransferase 3A (DNMT3A) gene have been identified in 20-30% of AML cases and are predictive of unfavorable prognosis in patients treated with standard anti-leukemic regimens. In addition, DNMT3A-mutant AMLs appear to be relatively refractory to anthracycline family chemotherapeutics, such as daunorubicin. Half of all DNMT3A mutations affect amino acid residue R882, and recent work has shown that these mutants display decreased enzymatic activity and aberrant binding properties. In addition, previous studies have shown that wild-type DNMT3A functions as a pro-apoptotic switch in response to genotoxic stress induced by another anthracycline doxorubicin. We propose that mutant DNMT3A protects cells from apoptosis in response to DNA damage by altering molecular machinery involved in DNA-damage sensing, response and/or repair, through DNA methylation-dependent or independent mechanisms. Specifically, our data show that mutant DNMT3A affects recruitment of DNA repair proteins to chromatin, including aberrant distribution of homologous recombination marker RAD51. We are currently investigating molecular changes in DNA damage response in DNMT3A-mutant cells in vitro and ex vivo, and leukemogenic potential of the mutant Dnmt3a allele in vivo, whether alone or in combination with other cooperating oncogenes. Citation Format: Olga A. Guryanova, Kaitlyn Shank, Luisa Luciani, Evangelia Loizou, Matthew D. Keller, Abby R. Weinstein, Omar Abdel-Wahab, Siddhartha Mukherjee, Stephen S. Nimer, Ross L. Levine. Leukemia-associated DNMT3A R882 mutations and their role in anthracycline-induced DNA damage response and therapeutic resistance. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Cancer Susceptibility and Cancer Susceptibility Syndromes; Jan 29-Feb 1, 2014; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(23 Suppl):Abstract nr 44. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.CANSUSC14-44


We report the use of a new technique to measure the X-ray detection efficiency of a charge-coupled device (CCD) with subpixel resolution. The new technique makes use of a parallel X-ray beam and metal mesh placed just in front of the CCD. The CCD camera we used is a conventional system using the TC213 (Texas Instrument Japan (TIJ)) whose pixel size is 12 µ m ×12 µ m with one million pixels. The mesh has 4 µm diameter holes spaced at 12 µm intervals. We produced an efficiency map within a typical pixel showing the gate structure in detail: a virtual gate, a clock gate and an antiblooming gate. The gate structure we measured is consistent with the manufacturer's design value. By selecting single pixel events, we detected a pixel boundary. Additional plans for application will also be discussed.


Geometric mean metric learning (GMML) algorithm is a novel metric learning approach proposed recently. It has many advantages such as unconstrained convex objective function, closed form solution, faster computational speed, and interpretability over other existing metric learning technologies. However, addressing the nonlinear problem is not effective enough. The kernel method is an effective method to solve nonlinear problems. Therefore, a kernel geometric mean metric learning (KGMML) algorithm is proposed. The basic idea is to transform the input space into a high-dimensional feature space through nonlinear transformation, and use the integral representation of the weighted geometric mean and the Woodbury matrix identity in new feature space to generalize the analytical solution obtained in the GMML algorithm as a form represented by a kernel matrix, and then the KGMML algorithm is obtained through operations. Experimental results on 15 datasets show that the proposed algorithm can effectively improve the accuracy of the GMML algorithm and other metric algorithms.


Two cases of intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia (IPEH) are described. Each patients was a 49‐year‐old Japanese woman with a tender eruption on the sole. Histologically, the lesions proved to be IPEH. One of them had the typical histological appearance of IPEH, and the other showed a venous thrombus associated with histological manifestations of organization and recanalization. Newly formed vascular channels were seen at the periphery of the thrombus. These findings favored the hypothesis that IPEH usually results from peculiar organization of a thrombus.


This volume is a unique collection of essays by experts from museums and universities which for the first time deals with a variety of new theoretical approaches to the study of textiles. It brings together newly published archival and theoretical research from authors from the UK and the US and opens up textiles to the scrutiny of a number of disciplines, (e.g. economic and social history, oral history, psychoanalysis, architecture, womens' studies, museology) in an international context.
Described by Turney in 'Textile History' (36[1] May 2005) as "an extremely innovative and inclusive text"

Reviewed by Clare Taylor in 'Textile: The Journal of Cloth and Culture' (vol 3 Issue 2 summer 2005) and described as a "stimulating volume… (that) should encourage a more reflexive viewpoint".
Reviewed by Philip Sykas in 'Text' vol33 2005-6 "all the essays stimulate the reader to examine his/her own assumptions about textile history, and encourage the validation of a wider range of approaches".

This self-authored chapter argues for the significance of textiles within modernism, a subject largely ignored by academics. Based on original research which informed the author's exhibition 'Architect of Floors', devoted to the work of Marion Dorn, the essay argues for the importance of textiles in the Modernist interior. The original research was carried out using various company archives, including the Heals Archive at the National Archive of Art & Design, Warner & Sons company archive; Sandersons company archive, and the Donald Brothers archive at the Scottish College of Textiles.


BaCaxTiO3–0.04LiF (0.010 ≤ x ≤ 0.045) ceramics were prepared by normal sintering at 1100 °C in air. A two‐phase coexisted region across orthorhombic and rhombohedral symmetry was designed by refining the components. The detailed phase structure was analyzed quantitatively by the Rietveld refinement. BaCa0.035TiO3–0.04LiF ceramic showed better properties with d33 = 354 pC N−1, kp = 39%, Qm = 314, and TC = 65 °C, in which the relative proportion of rhombohedral symmetry was 74.86%, the grain size was 6.0 µm and the relative density was 91%, indicating that the synergistic effect of the phase structure, fine grain, and relatively high density contributed to the outstanding piezoelectric properties.


A contact microphone using optical fibre Bragg grating has been developed. It enables one to listen and record a human voice and/or breathing by monitoring the vibration generated by the outer wall of the throat during speech. This system can have many applications such as detecting defects in vocal folds, measuring and monitoring the vibration and defection generated by intubations of a patient throat and other voice related problem, low level speaking recording and transmitting is also possible, the microphone can be also used to monitor breathing and the system can be used as a microphone in very harsh environments for example it would allow one to hear the patient during a cat scan.


but a fusion was in the position of maximum reduction. halo-vest was applied. Check radiography caudal and dorsolateral medulla with damage to the nucleus tractus solitarius, vagal motor nucleus, and nucleus ambiguus which may impair cardiovascular reflexes; (2) extension with involvement of the intermedi- ate reticular formation; and (3) ventral and rostral extension to the anterola- teral surface of the rostral medulla, involving vasomotor neurons and central chemorecep- tors. These last two stages may be accompanied by severe respiratory abnormalities and arterial hypotension.


Purpose
Understanding consumer brand relationships from the perspective of the consumer has been a research topic for years. Despite this, there are still various ways in which the construct is interpreted. This paper aims to identify the most typical interpretation of brand relationships by consumers.

Design/methodology/approach
A four-study prototype analysis was conducted, in which a bottom-up approach was applied to identify lay people's conceptualization of consumer brand relationships.

Findings
The prototype analysis generates a comprehensive list of features of consumer brand relationships that provide a nuanced understanding of the concept. The most typical characteristics of a brand relationship according to consumers are quality, bond, value and joy. Comparing this relationship prototype with existing literature shows that there may be a gap between theory and practice regarding the concept of brand relationship.

Originality/value
The prototypical conceptualization of brand relationships shows which aspects play a role in consumers' most common interpretation of the construct. This provides an opportunity to assess the validity of existing conceptualizations of brand relationships. Knowing which aspects are most relevant for consumers' brand relationships allows brands to make adjustments as needed and improve at establishing and maintaining relationships with consumers.


Abstract Although challenging behavior is widely studied, the impact of deinstitutionalization on such behavior remains unclear. This study explored whether institutional downsizing had an effect on injury to self and others among adults with intellectual disability during deinstitutionalization in Ontario (Canada). Longitudinal analyses were conducted using data collected on all persons residing in institutions (n=1012) with the interRAI Intellectual Disability instrument. Approximately 29% engaged in injury to self, 20% in injury to others, and 36% displayed both. Improvements in rates of injury to self and to others were seen over the course of deinstitutionalization, although not in all subtypes of behaviors. Living in the community alone is not sufficient to change challenging behavior; training is needed in institutions to reduce challenging behaviors to improve the person's overall quality of life and facilitate the transition to the community.


We theoretically investigate the thermionic emission from nodal-ring semimetals. The thermionic emission is found to be anisotropic in the x- and y-directions. The anisotropic emission can be enhanced by increasing the radius of nodal-ring b. The main feature of nodal-ring semimetals not only results in anisotropic thermionic emission but also affects the value of thermionic emission current density (TECD). The TECD of the lower branch of the energy–momentum dispersion increases with b, while the TECD of the upper branch decreases with b. Unlike in conventional materials, the TECD in nodal-ring semimetals depends on Fermi energy that is similar to the situation in Dirac semimetals. The underlined reason is that Dirac semimetals and nodal-ring semimetals have a linear or a linear-like energy–momentum dispersion while conventional materials have a parabolic energy–momentum dispersion. The TECD of nodal-ring semimetals depends strongly on work function and temperature.


CASE
Charles is a 10-year-old African-American male who presents to the Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics Clinic for evaluation of his learning. His primary care provider (PCP) was concerned that his developmental delays were negatively affecting his ability to engage in his homeschooling curriculum and also that his mother seemed unaware of the severity of his delays. Neuropsychological evaluation had been recommended by the PCP several times in the past, but the family declined. At one point, the PCP had considered potential child protective services (CPS) referral for medical neglect because of missed appointments and lack of follow-through on recommendations, which motivated the parent to bring him to this appointment.Medical history was significant for failure to thrive and hypotonia in infancy. Charles received physical therapy through early childhood for hypotonia and motor coordination deficits. His mother removed him from public school and initiated homeschooling in kindergarten after he suffered a dental injury at recess of which she was not notified. The current homeschooling (fourth grade) approach was described as "off and on" activities for 3 hours daily. His mother acknowledged that she struggled to get him to participate as he preferred using the computer and tablet rather than doing school work, and they also argued regularly about his impulsive eating. The patient's mother also described her own medical conditions that contributed to a high degree of stress and fatigue, which she felt made homeschooling more difficult.On examination, the patient was obese and had widely set, almond-shaped eyes; a wide-based gait; an immature pencil grasp; and a mild truncal and appendicular hypotonia. Performance on the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test, second edition, was below average for the verbal scale (78) and low average for the nonverbal scale (89). On the Wechsler Individualized Achievement Test, third edition, he was unable to perform any multiplication, could not write his own last name (was practicing tracing at home per maternal report), and read at a below first-grade reading level (standardized scores could not be calculated). His conversations with the examiner were mainly limited to the topic of video games. He spoke in short sentences with approximately 85% intelligibility but with coordinated gaze. He appeared mentally exhausted as testing progressed.Feedback to the parent included concern for a learning disability possibly associated with a genetic condition such as Prader-Willi syndrome (because of the history of hypotonia and impulsive eating), and genetic testing was recommended. Because of Charles' difficulty accessing the homeschool curriculum, a special education evaluation through the local public school district was also recommended, but his mother resisted, stating that she felt public special education "keeps children like him down" by focusing primarily on African-American children and stigmatizing their differences.The mother does not return phone calls made 1 month later to follow-up on considering a special education evaluation, and team members raise concern about medical neglect. What would you do next?


The rates of 3-H-proline incorporation by the rat periodontal ligament, the gingival connective tissue and the dental pulp were studied by autoradiography. The rate of 3-H-proline incorporation by the periodontal ligament was 2.8 times higher than by the gingival connective tissue and 5 times higher than by the dental pulp. These differences were significant (p smaller than 0.01). The pattern of 3-H-proline incorporation by the periodontal ligament was significantly different (p smaller than 0.01) from that by the gingival connective tissue and the dental pulp. The latter two tissues exhibited a similar pattern of 3-H-proline incorporation. The ratio of the rates of 3-H-proline incorporation by the three tissues did not correlate with the ratio of the cellular densities in the same three tissues.


Two new trypsin inhibitors, nostosin A (1) and B (2), were isolated from a hydrophilic extract of Nostoc sp. strain FSN, which was collected from a paddy field in the Golestan Province of Iran. Nostosins A (1) and B (2) are composed of three subunits, 2-hydroxy-4-(4-hydroxyphenyl)butanoic acid (Hhpba), L-Ile, and L-argininal (1) or argininol (2). Nostosins A (1) and B (2) exhibited IC50 values of 0.35 and 55 μM against porcine trypsin, respectively, suggesting that the argininal aldehyde group plays a crucial role in the efficient inhibition of trypsin. Molecular docking of nostosin A (1) (449 Da), leupeptin (426 Da, IC50 0.5 μM), and spumigin E (610 Da, IC50 < 0.1 μM) with trypsin suggested prominent binding similarity between nostosin A (1) and leupeptin but only partial binding similarity with spumigin E. The number of hydrogen bonds between ligands and trypsin increased according to the length and size of the ligand molecule, and the docking affinity values followed the measured IC50 values. Nostosin A (1) is the first highly potent three-subunit trypsin inhibitor with potency comparable to the known commercial trypsin inhibitor leupeptin. These findings expand the known diversity of short-chain linear peptide protease inhibitors produced by cyanobacteria.


In the absence of selective availability, the ionosphere represents the largest source of positioning error for single‐frequency users of the Global Positioning System (GPS). In differential GPS systems such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), vertical ionospheric delays are modeled at regularly spaced intervals in geographic latitude and longitude. The broadcast bound on the error at each of these points is designated the grid ionospheric vertical error (GIVE). Higher performance standards planned for future implementations of WAAS require a reduction in the magnitude of the GIVE broadcast under nominal conditions. Achieving this reduction depends upon a better understanding of the decorrelation of ionospheric delay, in both space and time. In this paper we focus on temporal decorrelation. We report a methodology for assessing the impact on WAAS posed by a sudden increase in the level of ionospheric disturbance. The methodology is based upon forming an estimate of the probability PD that a WAAS user will confront a sudden increase in the level of ionospheric disturbance following a period of relative calm. We have determined a limiting upper bound of PD to be 4 × 10−7, which lies well within the margin needed to meet WAAS integrity requirements.


Abstract A theory of propagation of acoustic-gravity waves in a temperature- and wind-stratified atmosphere is developed. It is shown by using suitable wind structure in a COSPAR standard atmosphere that both the normal dispersion (group velocity increasing with period) and the inverse dispersion (group velocity decreasing as the period increases) of acoustic-gravity waves can be explained. It is found that winds of the order of 100 m sec−1 at about 100 km altitude are needed to account for inverse dispersion in the period range of about 5–15 min.


This ethnographic study aims to shed light on how the services of simultaneous interpreters working during plenary sessions of the European Parliament are perceived and evaluated by the users, i.e. mainly Members of the European Parliament and other European Union officials. The corpus analysed covers all the plenaries in the eight-year period 2005–2012. The aim was to examine references to interpreters and/or their output made by the speakers. A total of 230 relevant excerpts were identified, varying in length. Thematic analysis established that speakers' comments addressed to, or concerning, interpreters were associated with six topics. The most frequent was appreciation of interpreters (almost a third of all items), after which doubts regarding interpretations were only marginally ahead of reminders to speakers about the practical constraints imposed by interpreting (each accounting for almost 20%). Three far less frequent items (about 5–10% each) were criticism, difficulty (of interpreting specific items) and apologies. The study discusses representative occurrences of each topic, also providing an overall breakdown of quantitative trends.


The transmitter-based pre-rake diversity combining technique reduces the complexity, size and cost of the mobile unit (MU), while achieving the same inter symbol interference (ISI) mitigation effects of rake receiver for direct sequence-code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) systems. The technique is based on preprocessing of transmitted signal relying on knowledge of the channel state information (CSI) before transmission. In most of the previous works, this a priori information is either assumed or estimated for the uplink and the same is applied to the downlink in time division duplex (TDD) systems due to channel reciprocity. In this paper, a method for channel prediction to evaluate the pre-rake system using binary phaseshift keying (BPSK) modulation in frequency-division duplex (FDD) through analytical and computer simulations for DS-CDMA downlink has been proposed. The performance of the system was also evaluated under ideal and predicted channel conditions using different spreading codes. The findings will have widespread applications in defence communication equipment. Defence Science Journal, 2010, 60(3), pp.282-289 , DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.60.355


Some guidelines describe combined use of hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir as one of the treatment alternatives for severe COVID-19, yet this treatment is not preferable. It requires careful consideration of possible interactions with other drugs, monitoring of cardiotoxicity (including QT-interval measurement), and hepatotoxicity (measurement of ASAT/ ALAT).


The recognition that biodiversity conservation requires more than a system of reserves has led to the need to consider the outcomes of land management actions, such as timber harvesting, in the matrix land outside reserves. The design of harvesting systems can be guided by the natural disturbance regime, which in Tasmania's lowland wet eucalypt forests is infrequent, intense wildfire. Clearfell, burn and sow silviculture has been used since the 1960s for harvesting these forests but, while this system is practical and effectively regenerates eucalypts in harvested coupes, it is predicted to lead to losses at the coupe level of late-successional species and structures that would survive into stands regenerating following natural wildfire. Variable retention silviculture is thus currently being implemented as an alternative to clearfelling in wet old-growth forest on public land (state forest) in Tasmania. In contrast to clearfelling, variable retention has the explicit ecological goal of maintaining some species, habitats and structural legacies from the pre-harvest forest into the harvested and regenerating stand. This paper synthesises biodiversity findings from the Warra Silvicultural Systems Trial (SST), established in 1997, and demonstrates that aggregated retention is the optimal form of variable retention for ensuring coupe-scale persistence ('lifeboating') of mature-forest biodiversity. In addition to providing retained forest, aggregates are also designed to facilitate recolonisation of harvested areas by mature-forest species ('forest influence'), and to provide connectivity across the forest stand. In the last few years, more than 50 aggregated-retention coupes have been harvested in mature forest across Tasmania. Development and implementation of variable retention in Tasmania is an example of active adaptive management, which we describe in relation to five steps for a formalised adaptive management program, indicating how ecological criteria are incorporated in operational guidelines for implementation of aggregated retention.


Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of dezocine on the prevention of propofol injection pain. Materials and methods We searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of dezocine in preventing propofol injection pain, from inception to April 2016, in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and CNKI. Next, two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data, and assessed quality in accordance with the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Finally, RevMan 5.2 software was used to conduct a meta-analysis. Results Seven RCTs totaling 630 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The meta-analysis study showed: 1) compared with the control group (relative risk [RR] =0.32, 95% CI [0.26, 0.39], P<0.00001), the dezocine group showed a decreasing incidence of propofol injection pain; 2) for severity of propofol injection pain, incidences of mild pain (RR =0.55, 95% CI [0.40, 0.75], P=0.0001), moderate pain (RR =0.28, 95% CI [0.18, 0.43], P<0.00001), and severe pain (RR =0.11, 95% CI [0.06, 0.23], P<0.00001) were considerably lower in the dezocine group than in the control group; 3) when comparing the incidence of propofol injection pain in the dezocine group with that of the lidocaine group, no statistically significant differences were found (RR =0.86, 95% CI [0.66, 1.13], P=0.29); and 4) subgroup analysis indicated a significant reduction in the incidence of propofol injection. Conclusion Dezocine can both prevent propofol injection pain and mitigate its severity, and its efficacy shows no significant difference from that of lidocaine.


Abstract To aid reservoir description a Resistivity At Bit (RAB) tool was run in a series of near-horizontal wells within the Alba Field. The tool characterized lithology types and detailed bed geometry through oriented resistivity images of the borehole. Image quality ranged from good to uninterpretable through zones of image artifact, and image resolution was less than that of conventional resistivity imaging tools. Shale intervals locally display good bedding detail, whereas sandstones display hole spiralling and yield little meaningful information. Shales are conductive, but locally, images show the presence of thin and sharp-based, relatively resistive shale beds that progressively ramp upward into the background shales. These resistivity ramp-defined bedding units may be individual mud-flows, with the resistive beds being possibly coarser grained or cemented. Following correction for structural tilt, bedding surfaces between and within shale successions range from uniform to irregular and possibly indicate some degree of shingling between individual flow units. Tool runs typically encounter long near-uniform sections of sandstones and shales with well defined lithological boundaries. RAB images show that these sandstone-shale transitions are sharp and steep (22°–88°). Such dips imply either steep channel margins, faulted contacts or more likely, the result of borehole bias in horizontal wells drilled into channellized successions. The lateral margins to an individual sandstone body, sampled as entry and exit points along the well path, commonly display discordant strikes, possibly implying lenticular geometries. Sandstone-shale contacts may allow qualitative estimation of the direction of the channel element thickening. Compactional shale drape deformation is often present away from the sandstone masses. Sedimentation is modelled as a two phase system with slope-supplied, mud-dominated gravity-flows temporally disconnected from deposition of shelf-derived turbiditic sandstones. Infrequent depositional events resulted in channels that were infilled with sand from high-density turbidity currents. Fractures and faults are imaged with the RAB tool and indicate a possible topographical control to structural development.


When searching for justification for music education, researchers often make an analytical distinction between ends and means as well as between intrinsic and extrinsic values as related to them. These distinctions are often combined with a view in which ends with stable intrinsic values are seen as above means as extramusical. The article examines how John Dewey's theory of experience and valuation challenges these distinctions by taking use-value and different aspects of quality in experience as part of the process in which valuation is born. Pedagogical actions of the teacher, social interaction between the students, the questions of how, as well as desires and shared interests become constituting elements of valuation in the means-ends continuum of learning music. The article argues that for justifying its practices, the value of music education ought to be more strongly anchored in the learner's experience and the question of how educational practices create the attitude for lifelong learning.


Asenapine is used in the treatment of schizophrenia disease.Asenapine mainly control the psychotic symptoms' mainly antagonist to various receptors like, serotonin (5-HT1A, 5HT1B,5-HT2A,5-HT2B,),histamine, and dopamine(D1,D2,D3,D4) receptors. It is also lower affinity towards muscaranic and acetylcholine receptors. In the present study, simple titrimetric method was developed. Respective quantities of Asenapine were taken in aqueous methanol titrated against 0.1N sodium hydroxide acid and 0.1N potassium hydroxide acid using phenolphthalein as an indicators for neutralization titration. This method were found to be sensitive and inexpensive, do not require any sample processing steps and can be utilized for estimation of asenapine in bulk and formulations.


Several studies have reported an association between caffeine intake and delay to conception. To study this relation further, the authors examined caffeine use in 1,050 women with primary infertility and 3,833 women who had recently given birth during the period 1981-1983 in the United States and Canada. The cases were separated by the cause of their infertility: ovulatory factor, tubal disease, cervical factor, endometriosis, or idiopathic infertility. The relative risks of each type of infertility associated with caffeine were calculated using separate logistic regression models and controlling for relevant confounding factors, such as age, center, cigarette smoking, lifetime number of sexual partners, alcohol consumption, contraception, body mass index, and exercise. A significant increase in the risk of infertility due to tubal disease or endometriosis was observed for the upper levels of caffeine intake, indicating a threshold effect. For tubal infertility, a relative risk of 1.5 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1-2.0) was found in women who consumed more than 7 g of caffeine per month as compared with those who consumed 3 g or less per month. For endometriosis, the relative risk was 1.9 (95% CI 1.2-2.9) in women who consumed 5.1-7 g/month and 1.6 (95% CI 1.1-2.4) in those with an intake of more than 7 g/month. These data suggest that caffeine deserves further study with regard to its effects on the female reproductive system.


Opalinus clay has a high sealing capacity and is therefore considered as viable candidates for hosting radioactive waste in future deep geological repositories. In order to validate and to predict the sealing capacity of the clay and the long-term containment performance of radioactive waste repositories, a comprehensive understanding of transport processes in the clay is necessary. Pore network models are useful for linking material structure to longer length-scale diffusion, but in principle require accurate description of the morphology of real porous media to support model parameterisation, i.e. pore and throat size distribution, connectivity information. Opalinus clay has tight pore spaces and current experimental techniques do not allow for extracting sufficient connectivity data and throat sizes (if at all). This work extends previous works on pore network modelling of porous media with limited structural information. Measured solid phase characteristics balance the insufficient geometrical and topological information for the clay pore systems to construct pore network. The constructed networks are described as mathematical graphs with diffusion modelled as a continuous process in water-saturated bonds. The effects of length scale parameters and shaper factors on effective diffusivities are analyzed in this work. Calculated results are in the range of experimental data in different clay directions. The analyses suggest that the micro-pores, those smaller than 5nm, have major effect on diffusivity. Diffusion of larger complexes can be used for experimental validation of the model. The proposed methodology can be used for any micro and meso-porous material with limited information and be useful for further development of multi-phase and reactive transport.


Abstract Background Facilities enrolled in the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) provide annual information on their antibiotic stewardship programs (ASPs) via a mandatory survey. The survey contains 12 questions that explore uptake of CDC's Core Elements for Hospital ASPs. Respondents (typically Infection Preventionists) are advised to seek input from pharmacist and physician ASP champions, but the professional completing the survey and the extent of input provided by ASP program personnel are unknown. A separate survey provided an opportunity to assess ASP responses reported to NHSN. Methods Individuals from 446 academic and community hospitals participating in the Vizient list-serve were surveyed in March 2016. The Vizient survey included the 12 ASP questions in the 2015 NHSN survey. Vizient responses were compared with NHSN survey responses to assess differences in reported uptake of core elements based on the professional completing the survey. Results 189 of the 211 hospitals completing the Vizient survey were successfully matched to NHSN hospitals. The majority of respondents were pharmacists; 83% were either Directors of Pharmacy or clinical pharmacists of which 48% and 61% reported assisting with the NHSN survey, respectively. Reported implementation of all 7 elements in this subset of 189 hospitals was 58.2% in the Vizient survey compared with 54.5% in NHSN. Results differed by respondent position and core element surveyed. Clinical pharmacists in the Vizient survey reported higher rates of core element adherence than Directors of Pharmacy (Figure 1). The position of survey respondents varied by hospital size. Of hospitals with less than 250 beds, 87.5% of surveys were completed by Directors of Pharmacy, whereas 77.1% of surveys were completed by clinical pharmacists in hospitals with ≥250 beds. Conclusion Overall similarities between NHSN and Vizient survey results indicate that ASP questions based on CDC's Core Elements are interpreted in similar ways and answered consistently when analyzed overall. However, individual core element responses may differ based on position of respondent, ASP familiarity, ASP infrastructure, and/or hospital bed size. CDC is exploring improved wording of the survey questions to help further improve consistency in responses. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.


This paper describes an ongoing research project at TNO in the Netherlands for assessing the safety of road networks using micro-simulation techniques. A benefit of micro-simulation comes from the ability to evaluate the safety of new ITS systems, new infrastructure design, management strategies and different traffic compositions beforehand. The use of surrogate safety measures (SSMs) is crucial to this approach. Part of the research is the development of a new micro-simulation model for intersection traffic, which can generate accurate SSMs. The new model aims to represent driver behaviour on intersections more accurately than the current generation of micro-simulation models.


A report is presented of nine patients who underwent early open mitral valve surgery after arterial embolism had occurred. Five of these patients suffered an early second arterial embolism before their mitral operation, an observation which stresses the risk inherent in delay of mitral valve surgery. The demonstration of atrial thrombi in four illustrates the potential danger of closed valvotomy techniques in such cases. Advanced pathological changes and severe stenosis of the mitral valve were found in all nine patients; valve replacement had to be done in three. All nine patients are alive and well after follow-up from 6 to 42 months. No further thromboembolic events have occurred after mitral valve surgery.


The Post-Cold War period has brought forth new conditions for the dominant European spatialities. First, that period signified a new condition for real estate and land ownership, second a radical transformation and increase of the built environment and third the securitization of a privileged European territory. As the European economy slows and the construction and real estate sectors are further deregulated, together with the promises that the post-Cold War period brought, what we observe coming to the surface in the context of the current refugee crisis is the manifestation of Europe's most ugly and discriminatory spatiality—the preservation at all costs of its border security.


OBJECTIVE
To analyze the changing tendency in the endemic situation of schistosomiasis in the national surveillance sites of Hubei Province, so as to provide the scientific evidence for facilitating the progress towards the elimination of schistosomiasis in the province.

METHODS
According to the National Schistosomiasis Surveillance Scheme (2014 version), a total of 65 national schistosomiasis surveillance sites were assigned in Hubei Province, and the Schistosoma japonicum infections in humans, domestic animals, snails and wild feces were monitored in these national surveillance sites from 2015 to 2019. All data pertaining to the surveillance results were descriptively analyzed.

RESULTS
There were 151 159 person-time local residents and 70 928 person-time mobile populations screened for S. japonicum infections in the 65 national surveillance sites of Hubei Province from 2015 to 2019, and the seroprevalance of S. japonicum infections reduced from 3.45% (1 077/31 197) in 2015 to 1.57% (431/27 371) in 2019 among local residents and from 1.06% (98/9 249) in 2015 to 0.81% (116/14 318) in 2019 among mobile populations. During the period from 2015 through 2019, there were 22 egg-positive local residents and 2 egg-positive mobile populations identified in 2015, with 0.07% and 0.02% prevalence rates of S. japonicum infections, respectively. During the 5-year period, a total of 7 025 herd-time domestic animals examined for S. japonicum infections, with no infections detected, and a total of 2 035 wild feces were tested, with no egg-positives identified in the 65 national surveillance sites of Hubei Province. Snail survey was conducted covering 28 767.35 hm2 during the 5-year period, and the area of snail habitats ranged from 1 609.82 to 2 119.81 hm2. The mean density of living snails and occurrence of frames with snails reduced from 0.360 5 snails/0.1 m2 and 11.26% in 2015 to 0.175 9 snails/0.1 m2 and 8.43% in 2019, respectively, and no S. japonicum infection was found in snails during the 5-year period. In addition, no snails were found in the potential schistosomiasis transmission foci in the two national surveillance sites in the Three Gorges Dam.

CONCLUSIONS
The overall endemic situation of schistosomiasis appears a tendency towards a decline in Hubei Province during the period from 2015 through 2019; however, the schistosomiasis transmission risk remains. Improving the surveillance system of schistosomiasis and increasing the sensitivity and performance of the surveillance system are required to provide insights into the implementation of precision control strategy and interventions in Hubei Province.


Background

Gastric carcinoma still threatens public health with high morbidity and mortality, especially in Eastern Asia. Target therapy possesses a vast value and makes significant progress in cancer treatment, and it is essential to explore more potential target drugs in gastric carcinoma.
Methods

Gene expression data was obtained from TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) and GEO (Gene Expression Omnibus) datasets and the interaction networks of chemical-genes was obtained from CTD (Comparative Toxicogenomics Database). Then, GSEA (Gene Set Enrichment Analysis) was utilized to identify the significant compounds, which related to gene expression in gastric carcinoma. Moreover, PPI (Protein-Protein Interaction) network, screening of hub-genes, KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes), and GO (Gene Ontology) analysis were employed to explore potential mechanisms and potential targets of these compounds. Finally, molecular docking was used to analyze the stable binding between the compounds and target proteins.
Results

Bazedoxifene was selected by integrating datasets and bioinformatics analysis as a potential therapeutic compound. UHRF1, MCM10, HELLS, and DTL with high expression in cancer tissues may be new targets in gastric carcinoma. Furthermore, Bazedoxifene may target UHRF1 and the pathway of ubiquitin-like protein transferase in gastric carcinoma and has potential therapeutic value.
Conclusion

It is infered that Bazedoxifene may target on UHRF1 in gastric carcinoma and has the therapeutic potential.


Abstract Observations are presented to show the occurrence of boundary layer oscillations in the form of widespread and large-scale topographically-induced mountain-plain and plain-mountain winds over the deeply dissected eastern plateau slopes of Natal. By night, extensive northwesterly advection of cool air occurs between the Drakensberg escarpment zone and the coast; by day, the flow is reversed and southeasterly inland advection is characteristic of clear, fine conditions. The distinctive temporal and spatial characteristics of regional winds correspond in a near-ideal manner to those expected in a thermodynamically direct circulation caused by the diurnal cycle of insolation.


Scientific efforts continue to concentrate on elucidating the complex molecular mechanisms underlying traumatic brain injury (TBI), and recent reports suggest that epigenetic regulation including long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) is involved. The present study aimed to investigate the plasma concentration of a long non-coding RNA, named growth arrest-specific 5 (GAS5), in a group of 45 patients with severe TBI (sTBI), and to analyze the correlations of GAS5 with TBI onset, injury severity, systemic inflammation, and early outcome of the patients. It was found that plasma GAS5 levels were substantially increased in sTBI patients compared with the relative controls (p < 0.001). Further, significantly higher expression of plasma GAS5 was observed in patients with a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score of less than five (p = 0.002) or unfavorable outcome at discharge (p < 0.001). Circulating GAS5 expression had a negative correlation with GCS score (r = −0.406, p = 0.006), and positive correlations with white blood cell count (r = 0.473, p = 0.001), neutrophil count (r = 0.502, p < 0.001), and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) (r = 0.398, p = 0.007). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that GCS score (OR = 0.318, 95% CI 0.132–0.767, p = 0.011) and GAS5 (OR = 2.771, 95% CI 1.025–7.494, p = 0.045) were the two independent predictors for early outcome of patients. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves showed good prognostic values of GCS score (AUC = 0.856, 95% CI: 0.719–0.943) and GAS5 expression (AUC = 0.798, 95% CI: 0.651–0.903). Importantly, the combined use of them can improve the prognostic ability of TBI with an AUC of 0.895 (95% CI: 0.767–0.966). Collectively, our study indicated that the levels of lncRNA GAS5 in circulation were elevated following severe TBI and correlated well with injury severity and inflammatory parameters. In addition, GAS5 as well as GCS scores may have the potential to predict the early outcome of TBI patients.


INTRODUCTION
Appendicitis is a global abdominal disease and is often treated by appendectomy. Surgical site infection (SSI) is a common complication after an appendectomy that causes a significant burden on health systems. This study aimed to evaluate the trends and variations in the burden of appendicitis by year, region, socioeconomic status, and health expenditure and to assess associated SSI by appendicitis burden, surgical approach, and type of appendicitis.

METHODOLOGY
Data on Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) and the human development index were collected from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study and the United Nations Development Programme, respectively. Studies on SSI after appendectomy using the uniform definition and published in 1990-2021 were retrieved.

RESULTS
Between 1990 and 2019, the global age-standardized DALY rate of appendicitis decreased by 53.14%, with the highest burdens in Latin America and Africa. The burden of appendicitis was significantly negatively correlated with HDI (r = -0.743, p<0.001) and health expenditure (r = -0.287, p<0.001). Among 320 published studies on SSI after an appendectomy, 78.44% of studies did not report criteria for SSI diagnosis or adopt a uniform definition. In total, 69 studies with uniform SSI definitions were included. Studies with uniform SSI definitions were recorded poorly in regions with a heavy burden of appendicitis. The SSI of appendectomy was positively correlated with open appendectomy and complicated appendicitis.

CONCLUSIONS
Uniform SSI definition, promotion of laparoscopic technology, and establishment of SSI special management are needed to decrease the burden of SSI after an appendectomy, especially in developing countries.


DOCUMENT 6:MEMORANDUM NO. 22THE CONDITION OF SLAVES. AND THE NATIVE LAWREGARDING SLAVERY IN NORTHERN NIGERIAFrederick D. Lugard1. The joint authors of the excellent little treatise, entitled "First steps in Muslim Jurisprudence,"1 point out that the Mohammedan law in operation on the West African Coast, as also over most of the North-West of the Continent, is almost universally founded on the doctrines of the school of Maliki. The Mohammedans of West Africa are exclusively Sunnis, and this sect is divided into four distinct schools or rites, viz., Hanafi, Maliki, Shafii and Hanbali. The Maliki School was founded by Malik of Medina, and a compedium (Mukhtasar) of its tenets is contained in the Risalah of Abu Zayd. Some parts of this have been translated in the little book I have alluded to, but unfortunately "all references to the institution of slavery have been omitted, as being without general utility at the present day in British Colonies or Protectorates." (sic.) Pending a translation of the whole Risalah into English, I had intended to compile a few notes on the interpretation of the Law by the chief Jurists of the Protectorate, and I had hoped, with this end in view, to assemble a Conference of the leading Alkalis. The disturbances at Sokoto in the first place, and the subsequent termination of my own connection with Northern Nigeria in the second place, have frustrated this intention, to my great regret. In default of a more thorough exposition, I have put together in the following notes such rulings by Alkalis of acknowledged authority, as have reached me from Residents of different Provinces in reply to circular questions. This I have done rather as a basis for enquiry and verification by each Resident, than as an authoritative statement, since (as will be seen) the statement of two different Residents from the same Alkali are occasionally divergent, owing probably to inaccurate interpretation, and, as one reliable officer observes, "it is difficult to convince the informants that their information is not wanted in order to incriminate them under the Slavery Proclamation." In consequence their statements may, perhaps, occasionally be guarded and incomplete.2. Captain Ruxton (Gando)2 supplies the following notes:- "(a.) The Bawan Gandu is the slave of the highest rank, often of wealth and influence. He is the headman of his master's other slaves, and has authority over them. He lives in his own house, and, as long as he retains his master's favour, is not interfered with in any way. He enjoys, however, no greater rights than any other slave, his property is his master's, his children by a woman given him by his master or procured by himself are not his own, but form part of his master's estate at death; and if his children are by another master's slave, they belong to that woman's master. Such a slave would not be sold on being inherited by another master, except at his own request; he would then be deprived of all that he had, in much the same way as the estate of an office-holder reverts to the State on his death, in so far as the property was acquired by virtue of the perquisites and the influence that office had brought him. Slaves of this class in Jega do not seem to have special functions beyond those of supervising the work of the other slaves.In the Emir of Gando's household, three of them are in charge of the stores and personal belongings of the Emir. A slave of this class might be appointed guardian to minors, should his master have died leaving no near blood relations.(b.) Bawan gida, "the slave of the house," e.g., domestic slaves, consisting for the most part of women and children.(c.) Bawan gona, farm slaves; this class in Gando comprises almost the entire agricultural community. The farm slave is given a piece of his master's land, from which it may be said in most cases he is by custom inalienable. If he has been manumitted, he is usually allowed to retain his house and crops, though of course they do not legally belong to him. …


With the increasing number of web services, most existing approaches suffer from a concentrated workload which causes response time delays to user's requests. This work proposes a quick service selection approach (QSSA). QSSA adopts particle swarm optimization and fuzzy logic control to support fast and dynamic service selection, assisting users in obtaining most suitable services. Experimental results demonstrate that QSSA can obtain the most suitable composite service with low cost.


In the current work, phenolic acids were analysed and their radical scavenging activity evaluated by CE, including the quantification of overlapping peaks by applying the multivariate curve resolution (MCR) method. To investigate radical scavenging activity, the solution of phenolic acids was treated with a stable free 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl radical of different concentrations and the radical scavenging activity of the reaction mixture was monitored. The radical scavenging reaction was also applied to wheat bran extracts. The overlapping peaks on the electropherograms of both mixtures of standard compounds and extracts of different wheat bran varieties were resolved by using the MCR method, assuming that the overlapping compounds have different UV spectra. MCR enabled the insufficient resolution between syringic and ferulic acids to be effectively resolved.


: In recent years, the monoclonal epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-targeting antibody cetuximab was introduced into systemic therapy of colorectal cancer and gained an established role in the treatment of this disease. Cetuximab was shown to be active as a single agent in chemorefractory metastatic disease as well as in combination with varying chemotherapies. Recently, randomized trials demonstrated the activity of cetuximab combinations in the first-line setting of metastatic colorectal cancer. Interestingly, the activity of cetuximab was restricted to patients with KRAS wildtype tumors, as was seen with panitumumab, another EGFR antibody. While 60%–70% of tumors harbor KRAS wildtype genes, 30%–40% of tumors express oncogenic KRAS with mutations in codons 12 and 13 causing constitutive activation of signaling cascades downstream of EGFR and resistance to EGFR blockade. Since proof of KRAS wildtype status became a prerequisite for cetuximab treatment, KRAS testing is being established throughout the world. Future trials will address the question which part of the KRAS wildtype cohort will benefit from EGFR inhibition and how to identify those patients. Additionally, new strategies for treatment of KRAS mutated tumors are strongly needed. Recent developments and future strategies will be summarized.


Abstract Background  There are few studies on continuous intercostal nerve block after single operation hole thoracoscopic surgery, that is, two-port thoracoscopic surgery. Objective  To evaluate the analgesic effect of continuous intercostal nerve block after thoracoscopic surgery. Methods  A total of 80 patients who underwent single operation hole thoracoscopic surgery in our hospital between September 2020 and June 2021 were enrolled and divided into two groups. Based on basic analgesia, an intercostal catheter was placed during the operation for continuous intercostal block analgesia after the operation in the experimental group (group A, n  = 40). The control group (group B, n  = 40) was treated with sufentanil intravenous analgesia after surgery, which is namely "basic analgesia." The postoperative pain scores, restlessness during the recovery period, effect on reducing opioid use, postoperative chest complications, patient satisfaction, etc., were compared between the two groups. Results  The pain scores of patients in group A were significantly lower compared with those in group B at 12, 24, 36, and 48 hours after surgery (3.325 ± 1.163 vs. 4.550 ± 1.176, 2.650 ± 1.001 vs. 4.000 ± 1.038, 2.325 ± 0.917 vs. 3.700 ± 0.966, and 1.775 ± 1.050 vs. 3.150 ± 1.075, p  < 0.001, respectively). Sufentanil consumption in group A was significantly lower than in group B at 48 hours after surgery (98.625 ± 4.158 vs. 106.000 ± 7.228, p  < 0.001). Conclusion  Multimodal analgesia is ideal for early pain control after thoracotomy. A continuous intercostal nerve block can effectively reduce postoperative pain in patients.


BACKGROUND
As transaxillary (TAx) access has become the most common alternative to transfemoral (TF) transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), there is increasing use of a percutaneous approach.

AIMS
This study sought to determine whether there are differences in outcomes using a percutaneous access versus cutdown for TAx TAVR.

METHODS
Using data from the STS/ACC TVT Registry, consecutive patients undergoing TAx TAVR with balloon-expandable valves between July 2015 and December 2020 were included. Propensity score-based matching was performed to evaluate the association between method of TAx access and outcomes.

RESULTS
Of 4,219 patients, 1,140 (27.0%) underwent percutaneous access and 3,079 (73.0%) had surgical cutdown for TAx TAVR, with the proportion of percutaneous cases increasing over time. After propensity matching, there were no significant baseline differences between patients undergoing TAx access by either approach. At 30 days, there were similar rates of all-cause mortality (4.8% in percutaneous patients vs 4.1% in surgical patients; p=0.40) and stroke (7.7% vs 6.5%; p=0.25). Those undergoing percutaneous TAx access were more likely to receive conscious sedation and have less need for the intensive care unit (ICU). Percutaneous access was associated with a higher rate of major vascular complication (3.0% vs 1.5% in surgical patients; p=0.02) but not life-threatening bleeding (0.3% vs 0.1%; p=0.31).

CONCLUSIONS
This study supports the safety and efficacy of percutaneous TAx TAVR compared to traditional surgical cutdown. Percutaneous access was associated with shorter ICU stay and a higher rate of major vascular complication without an increase in life-threatening bleeding.


This study investigates the types of stressors experienced by first-year college students and compares the stressors, stress levels, and coping strategies of males and females. Three research questions were addressed: (a) Which types of stressors do first-yearcollege males and females face? (b) Are there differences in the levels of stress experienced by males and females? (c) Do males and females use different types of coping strategies? Results suggest that first-year college students experience a number of stressors, mainly ones related to academics, finances, and personal relationships. A differential relationship was found such that females experienced higher levels of stress than males. Female students also reported experiencing significantly more stressors related to academic demands and relationships, whereas males reported experiencing more stressors related to finances. Although females used many of the same coping strategies as males, they differed in the amounts of certain strategies used, mainly emotion-focused ones. Implications are provided for personnel working with first-year college men and women.


The electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR), as an alternative green technology to the Haber-Bosch process, can efficiently synthesize ammonia under ambient conditions and has a reduced carbon footprint. Here we systematically investigate the NRR activity and selectivity of transition metal (TM) single-atom catalyst (SAC) anchored WS2 monolayers (TM@WS2) by means of first-principles calculations and microkinetic modeling. The construction of the reaction activity trend and the identification of an activity descriptor, namely *N2H adsorption energy, facilitate the efficient screening and rational design of SACs with high activity. Manipulating the adsorption strength of the pivotal *N2H intermediate is a potential strategy for enhancing NRR activity. Utilizing the limiting potential difference of NRR and the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) as a selectivity descriptor, we screen three SACs with excellent activity and selectivity toward NRR, i.e., Re@WS2, Os@WS2 and Ir@WS2 with favorable limiting potentials of -0.44 V, -0.38 V and -0.69 V. By using the explicit H9O4+ model, the kinetic barriers of the rate-determining steps (0.47 eV-1.15 eV) of the solvated proton transfer on the screened SACs are found to be moderate, indicative of a kinetically feasible process. Microkinetic modeling shows that the turnover frequencies of N2 reduction to NH3 on Re@WS2, Os@WS2 and Ir@WS2 are 1.52 × 105, 8.21 × 102 and 4.17 × 10-4 per s per site at 400 K, achieving fast reaction rates. The coexistence of empty and occupied 5d orbitals of candidate SACs is beneficial for σ donation and π* backdonation, endowing them with extraordinary N2 adsorption and activation. Moreover, the screened SACs possess good dispersity and thermodynamic stability. Our work provides a promising solution for the efficient screening and rational design of high-performance electrocatalysts toward the NRR.