Abstract Introduction Portable suction units used by EMS personnel are utilized infrequently and often are powered by batteries. Lack of use and inspection often results in failure of the device when it is needed. The purpose of this study was to examine the incidence of portable suction unit failure in a rural EMS system and to identify the reasons for failures. Methods A convenience sample was obtained through both random inspections by the staff of a regional EMS council and data from twice monthly checks reported by respective EMS agencies following a standard protocol for each unit. A standard protocol was used, including checking the vacuum level on each suction unit and inspecting the tubing, canister, and battery. Each inspector assessed whether the unit was capable of achieving 300 mmHg of suction within four seconds. Also, the unit was inspected for any signs of misalignment or dry rot of the gasket, kinking of suction hose, damage to the suction canister, weak/dead battery, or defective pump. Findings were recorded. Results Over a two-year period, 9,631 suction unit inspections were completed. There were 233 failures (2.4%) noted. The majority (126, 54.1%) were due to battery failure. Seventy-three units failed due to other reasons (not recorded, switch failure, battery not seated). Ten inspections failed due to incorrect assembly. Nineteen inspections failed due to defects with the suction canister. Five inspections failed due to kinked/disconnected suction tubing. Conclusion Only a relatively small percentage of inspections of suction units revealed failures (4.6% Advanced Life Support, 8.6% Basic Life Support) using the above-stated criteria. However, given the importance of airway management and potential complications associated with airway compromise, including aspiration pneumonia, hypoxia, and hemodynamic instability, this is of concern relative to the morbidity and mortality that could be related to airway failure. Due to the relative infrequency of use and the nature of portable suction units, the potential for lack of maintenance and deficiencies in routine inspection may impact the functional status of these devices in EMS agencies. Clearly, improved documentation of battery installation date, charging in accordance with manufacturer recommendations, and thorough inspection of the portable suction unit in its entirety will ensure readiness of these devices. Additionally, more rigorous documentation and analysis of inspections should be a focus of EMS agencies. RisaviBL, SabotchickKJ, HeileCJ. Portable suction unit failure in a rural EMS system. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2013;28(4):1-3.


Title of dissertation: DOMAIN ADAPTIVE OBJECT RECOGNITION AND DETECTION Fatemeh Mirrashed, Doctor of Philosophy, 2013 Dissertation directed by: Professor Larry S. Davis Department of Computer Science Discriminative learning algorithms rely on the assumption that training and test data are drawn from the same marginal probability distribution. In real world applications, however, this assumption is often violated and results in a significant performance drop. We often have sufficient labeled training data from single or multiple "source" domains but wish to learn a classifier which performs well on a "target" domain with a different distribution and no labeled training data. In visual object detection, for example, where the goal is to locate the objects of interest in a given image, it may be infeasible to collect training data to model the enormous variety of possible combinations of pose, background, resolution, and lighting conditions affecting object appearance. Thus, we generally expect to encounter instances or domains at test time for which we have seen little or no training data. To this end, we first propose a framework for domain adaptive object recognition and detection using Transfer Component Analysis, an unsupervised domain adaptation and dimensionality reduction technique. The idea is to obtain a transformation in feature space to a latent subspace that reduces the distance between the source and target data distributions. We evaluate the effectiveness of this approach for vehicle detection using video frames from 50 different surveillance cameras. Next, we explore the problem of extreme class imbalance present when performing fully unsupervised domain adaptation for object detection. The main challenge arises from the fact that images in unconstrained settings are mostly occupied by the background (negative class). Therefore, random sampling will not be effective in obtaining a sufficient number of positive samples from the target domain, which is required by any adaptation method. We propose a variation of co-learning technique that automatically constructs a more balanced set of samples from the target domain. We compare the performance of our technique with other approaches such as unbiased learning from multiple datasets and self-learning. Finally, we propose a novel approach for unsupervised domain adaptation. Our method learns a set of binary attributes for classification that captures the structural information of the data distribution in the target domain itself. The key insight is finding attributes that are discriminative across categories and predictable across domains. We formulate our optimization problem to learn these attributes and the classifier jointly. We evaluate the performance of our method on a wide range of tasks including cross-domain object recognition and sentiment analysis on textual data both in inductive and transductive settings. We achieve a performance that significantly exceeds the state-of-the-art results on standard benchmarks. In many cases we reach the same-domain performance, the upper bound, in unsupervised domain adaptation scenarios. DOMAIN ADAPTIVE OBJECT RECOGNITION AND DETECTION by Fatemeh Mirrashed Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2013 Advisory Committee: Professor Larry S. Davis, Chair/Advisor Professor Min Wu, Dean's Representative Professor David W. Jacobs Professor Ramani Duraiswami Professor Amitabh Varshney c © Copyright by Fatemeh Mirrashed 2013


Following a consideration of the development of regional shopping centres (RSCs) and issues relating to place marketing activities by town centres, this paper details the collective response of a number of town centre management (TCM) schemes in the north west of England to the opening of the Trafford Centre RSC in September 1998. This response incorporated a public relations-led place marketing campaign to promote the advantages of shopping in town centres. The scope of the campaign was later extended to incorporate a more explicit and overt urban regeneration focus. The paper concludes with an evaluation of both elements of the campaign and a discussion of its implications in terms of the role of public relations in place marketing activity, and also in terms of the further development of the concept of town centre management in the North West and more generally.


MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are the class of small non-coding RNAs, about 21-25 nucleotides in length, that play an important role in regulation of transcription. They affect gene expression at post-transcriptional levels through binding to complementary mRNAs and mediate their degradation in RISC complex. Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) is newly discovered class of non-coding RNA. PiRNAs are short single-stranded RNAs with 26-31 nucleotides in length. They are involved in silencing of transposable elements and it is assumed that also participate in sequence-specific chromatin modifications. It was repeatedly shown that piRNAs are present also in somatic cells and are dysregulated in kidney, bladder, gastric, breast, pancreatic and liver cancers. According to small non-coding RNA databases there are about 2600 mature miRNAs and more than 24 000 piRNAs in humans. There were extensive studies aiming to discover miRNAs and to analyze their functions. However, there are only few published studies of miRNA and piRNA profiles in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) using next generation sequencing (NGS) technology. In our study we used the tumor tissue and the paired adjacent non-tumor renal parenchyma of 12 patients (8 males and 4 females) with RCC treated in Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute (Brno, Czech Republic). RNA was isolated with mirVana™ miRNA Isolation Kit. For preparing RNA library was used TruSeq Small RNA Sample Preparation Kit from Illumina and then the miSeq sequencing technology was employed to detect small RNAs. In our 12 paired samples of tumor tissue and the paired adjacent non-tumor renal parenchyma we detected 283 miRNAs with over 1 read in at least 7 samples. Expression levels of 55 miRNAs were significantly different expressed (p In our pilot study we found altered expression patterns of miRNAs and piRNAs in tumor tissue of RCC and paired adjacent non-tumor renal parenchyma. For the first time, we have described piRNAs expression profile in RCC tissue by NGS approach. This work was supported by Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic, grant nr. 15-33158A, 15-34553A, 15-31627A and 15-34678A. All rights reserved. Citation Format: Robert Iliev, Petra Faltejskova-Vychytilova, Zuzana Ozanova, Silvia Rybecka, Jaroslav Juracek, Jitka Mlcochova, Lenka Radova, Michal Stanik, Jan Dolezel, Michal Fedorko, Dalibor Pacik, Ondrej Slaby. MiRNA and piRNA expression profiles in renal cell carcinoma tissue detected by next generation sequencing. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 1953.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of different peri-implantitis treatment methods (Er,Cr:YSGG laser, diode laser, and electrocautery) on various titanium implant surfaces: machined; sandblasted, large-grit, and acid-etched; and femtosecond laser-treated surfaces. Grade 4 titanium (Ti) disks, with a diameter of 10 mm and a thickness of 1 mm, were fabricated and treated using the aforementioned techniques. Subsequently, each treated group of disks underwent different peri-implantitis treatment methods: Er,Cr:YSGG laser (Biolase, Inc., Foothill Ranch, CA, USA), diode laser (Biolase, Inc., Foothill Ranch, CA, USA), and electrocautery (Ellman, Hicksville, NY, USA). Scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and wettability were used to characterize the chemical compositions and surfaces of the treated titanium surfaces. Significant changes in surface roughness were observed in both the electrocautery (Sa value of machined surface = 0.469, SLA surface = 1.569, femtosecond laser surface = 1.741, and p = 0.025) and Er,Cr:YSGG laser (Ra value of machined surface = 1.034, SLA surface = 1.380, femtosecond laser surface = 1.437, and p = 0.025) groups. On femtosecond laser-treated titanium implant surfaces, all three treatment methods significantly reduced the surface contact angle (control = 82.2°, diode laser = 74.3°, Er,Cr:YSGG laser = 73.8°, electrocautery = 76.2°, and p = 0.039). Overall, Er,Cr:YSGG laser and electrocautery treatments significantly altered the surface roughness of titanium implant surfaces. As a result of surface composition after different peri-implantitis treatment methods, relative to the diode laser and electrocautery, the Er,Cr:YSGG laser increased oxygen concentration. The most dramatic change was observed after Er:Cr;YSGG laser treatment, urging caution for clinical applications. Changes in surface composition and wettability were observed but were not statistically significant. Further research is needed to understand the biological implications of these peri-implantitis treatment methods.


Perovskite single phase (Pb,La)(Zr,Ti)O3 (PLZT) (0–22/60/40) thin films with a stoichiometric composition were successfully fabricated on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates at 490°C by the electron cyclotron resonance plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (ECR PECVD). The characteristics of PLZT films for various La concentrations were investigated for the application to the charge storage capacitor of a gigabit-scale dynamic random access memory (DRAM). The La doped films showed paraelectric-like slim loop P–V hysteresis curves and almost no frequency dependence of permittivity. The doping of La caused the film surface to be very smooth. After rapid thermal annealing at 650°C for 1 min, the capacitance as well as the leakage current characteristics of the films were greatly improved. The 50-nm-thick PLZT(5.5/56/44) film had an effective capacitance of 133 fF/mm2 and an SiO2 equivalent thickness of 0.26 nm.


Transcriptional regulation is essential for the correct functioning of cells during development and in postnatal life. The basic Helix-loop-Helix (bHLH) superfamily of transcription factors is well conserved throughout evolution and plays critical roles in tissue development and tissue maintenance. A subgroup of this family, called neural lineage bHLH factors, is critical in the development and function of the central nervous system. In this review, we will focus on the function of one subgroup of neural lineage bHLH factors, the Neurod family. The Neurod family has four members: Neurod1, Neurod2, Neurod4, and Neurod6. Available evidence shows that these four factors are key during the development of the cerebral cortex but also in other regions of the central nervous system, such as the cerebellum, the brainstem, and the spinal cord. We will also discuss recent reports that link the dysfunction of these transcription factors to neurological disorders in humans.


Piezoelectric fiber composites are a new kind of smart materials appropriate for making actuators. In this paper, FEM was employed to study actuating properties of the composite numerically. Then the optimization was presented. Due to the advantage from the IDEs (Interdigitated Electrode), the composite output lager induced displacements and has anisotropic properties obviously. In addition, the application of piezoelectric fiber composite actuators in the flapping wing for the design of the bionic wing was explored. Firstly, the scale effect and unsteady aerodynamic force of the flapping wing structure designed is analyzed and calculated. Then a set of velocity and acceleration equations for this flapping wing were derived. Finally the piezoelectric fiber composite actuators were integrated with the flapping wing for experimental research. Experimental results show this kind of actuator can improve the aerodynamic properties of the flapping wing obviously, which realized the first step of the active control for this bionic wing.


This paper presents a novel rule-based system for thinning. The unique feature that distinguishes our thinning system is that it thins symbols to their central lines. This means that the shape of the symbol is preserved. It also means that the method is rotation invariant. The system has 20 rules in its inference engine. These rules are applied simultaneously to each pixel in the image. Therefore, the system has the advantages of symmetrical thinning and speed. The results show that the system is very efficient in preserving the topology of symbols and letters written in any language.


The hybrid fiber coax (HFC) is a modern broadband access network, providing advanced interactive services such as Internet access, digital interactive television and cable telephony. The edge costs dominate the cost of launching new services, at the time of deployment (CapEx) as well as for maintenance (OpEx). Therefore next-generation edge devices aim at the convergence of these services and their platforms into a single multi-service infrastructure, thus sharing resources and bandwidth. The focus of this paper is on the HFC access network design for bandwidth-intensive TV services, bringing standard as well as switched broadcast technologies into play. Standard broadcast TV service deployments, offered through the digital video broadcast (DVB) platform, require low installation costs, but the bandwidth consumption increases linearly with the number of available TV channels, even for very unpopular channels. Switched broadcast TV channels, offered on the (Euro-) DOCSIS platform together with other interactive unicast services such as video on demand, are only streamed to a node on the HFC access network if they are requested locally, thus limiting bandwidth consumption for less popular channels. We present an access network design tool, based on an analytical TV traffic model, minimizing the installation cost on the edge devices and study the influence of the most important traffic and content parameters.


During intensive chromosome replication in loach (Misgurnus fossilis) embryonic cells a particular class of nucleus-associated polyribosomes has been discovered alongside the free and membranebound polyribosomes. The comparison of the translational patterns of these three polyribosome classes in in vivo and in vitro conditions has proved their metabolic and functional difference. It has been shown that the nucleus-associated polyribosomes comprising over 50 per cent of all the cell polyribosomes in the above-mentioned period produce the bulk of lysine-rich histones on the newly formed mRNAs. Using metabolic inhibitors of DNA, or RNA, or protein synthesis it has been established that the nucleus-associated polyribosome functional activity as differs from that of free and membrane-bound polyribosomes and depends to great degree on the chromosomal DNA replication and the shortliving mRNAs transcription. The data obtained suggest that the chromatin biogenesis control can be achieved by spacial coupling between DNA replication and histone synthesis at the nuclear envelope level.


Sarcoidosis is an idiopathic systemic granulomatous disease. It commonly affects the skin, lungs, kidneys, and central nervous system. In the eyes it primarily affects the uveal tract, conjunctiva, lacrimal glands and optic nerve. Here in we describe the case of a patient with systemic sarcoidosis and asymptomatic eye inflammation.


This paper presents the design of an eight-element 60 GHz phased-array receiver chip with interference mitigation capability, fabricated in 0.25 μm SiGe BiCMOS technology. Each receiver element contains a low noise amplifier (LNA) and a vector-modulator that supports high-resolution amplitude and phase control. A fully differential power combining network follows the eight elements. The chip also includes an active power divider, a down conversion mixer, and fully integrated 48 GHz PLL to demonstrate the IF down-conversion. With LNA, a phase shifter and hybrid active and passive power combining network, each receiver path achieves 18 dB of gain, 360° phase shift in steps less than 3°, 20 dB amplitude control, and 4 GHz 3 dB-bandwidth and input referred 1 dB compression point P1 dB of each element is of −22 dBm. Each receiver element dissipates in total 132 mW. The phased-array receiver shows more than 25 dB of signal to interference noise ratio, by means of amplitude and phase control.


Neuroendocrine (NE) cancers include a diverse spectrum of hormone-secreting neoplasms that arise from the endocrine and nervous systems. Current chemo- and radio- therapies have marginal curative benefits. This study aimed to develop an innovative antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) to effectively treat NE tumors (NETs). We first confirmed that somatostatin receptor 2 (SSTR2) is an ideal surface target by analyzing 38 patient-derived NET tissues, 33 normal organs, and 3 NET cell lines. We then developed a new monoclonal antibody (mAb, IgG1 and kappa) to target two extracellular domains of SSTR2, which showed strong and specific surface binding to NETs. The ADC was constructed by conjugating the anti-SSTR2 mAb and antimitotic monomethyl auristatin E. In vitro evaluations indicated that the ADC can effectively bind, internalize, release payload, and kill NET cells effectively. Finally, the ADC was evaluated in vivo using a NET xenografted mouse model to determine cancer targeting, maximal tolerated dosage, pharmacokinetics, and anti-cancer efficacy. The anti-SSTR2 ADC was able to exclusively target and kill NETs with minimal toxicity and high stability in vivo. This study demonstrates that the anti-SSTR2 mAb-based ADC has high therapeutic values for NET therapy.


This present work was carried out to determine the geotechnical properties of Olokoro lateritic soil. Tests were carried out on the sample soil which includes the Atterberg limit tests, particle size distribution analysis; sedimentation test, compaction test using the West African standard and California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test as specied by the Nigerian General specication (1997). The liquid limit, plastic limit and plasticity index were found to fall into A-2-7 soil of AASTO classication and SP group of Unied Classication. The compaction characteristics of the soil were found to be 1.90mg/m3 and 14.76% for maximum dry density and optimum moisture content respectively on West African Standard. The CBR value was found to be 26%. It was recommended that the soil is good as a lling material in road subgrade and other construction works and require modication to improve its properties for sub-base and road base material. Keywords: olokoro lateritic soil, particle size distribution, compaction test, geophysical properties, california bearing ratio


Aims: to evaluate the effect of different endodontic sealers on the coronal discoloration of the tooth part. Materials and methods: Forty intact human upper incisors and canines free of caries, restorations and coronal discoloration were used in the study. Black rectangular pieces of adhesive tape, with a round opening of 3 mm in diameter was cut to match the size of colorimeter window, the tape was applied to the middle third of the buccul surface of the tooth to facilitate a means of enamel surface standardization for analysis and was further secured to the teeth crowns with cyanoacrylate glue. A colorimeter (Microcolor, Data Station, DeLange, Braive instruments, Leige, Belgium) according to the CIE-L*a*b* color system was used to evaluate the color of enamel in the coronal part before and after instrumentation and obturation of the teeth, employing a repeated measures design (n=5) per sample. Results: There was no statistically significant difference among the levels of time of different materials (p = 0.095). Sealapex was presented significant differences against control group. Conclusion: The selection of endodontic sealers should be based mainly on other criteria (setting time, microleakage and toxicity) and no on the potent ional staining.


Three patients with disabling sequelae of venous obstruction in the upper extremity were treated surgically. In one, direct venous repair was used, whereas in the other two, the internal jugular vein was used to bypass the area of obstruction. Restoration of adequate venous return was associated with permanent symptomatic relief.


We apply the regularized theory of light-cone gauge memberbranes to find the matrix model in the Kaluza-Klein Melvin background. In the static system the Melvin matrix model becomes the BFSS model with two extra mass terms and another term. We solve the equation of motion for simplest N=2 D0 branes system and find that there is a nontrivial configuration. Especially, we also make an ansatz to find the nonstatic solution. The new solution shows that $D_0$ propagating in the magnetic tube field background may expand into a rotating noncommutative ring.


Lanceleaf crotalaria, Crotalaria lanceolata E. Mey (Leguminosae) was found hosting the small green stink bug, Piezodorus guildinii (Westwood), in Parana State, Brazil. In the laboratory, nymphs showed less mortality when fed on immature pods of crotalaria (64%) than when fed on immature pods of soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merrill (88%). From 2nd stadium to adult, nymphs required less time to complete development on crotalaria (mean of females and males = 18.4 days) than on soybean (21.5 days). Fresh body weight at adult emergence was greater on crotalaria (mean of females and males = 51.4 mg) than on soybean (42.2 mg). Adult P. guildinii tended to live longer on crotalaria than on soybean. Mean adult longevity was 34.6 days on crotalaria, and 28.8 days on soybean. However, the reproductive performance of females, although similar on both foods, tended to be greater on soybean. These results indicated that P. guildinii was able to develop and reproduce on the wild host lanceleaf crotalaria. Compared to soybean, this weed plant was more suitable for nymph development, and equally suitable for adult reproduction.


We give a description of -derivations of (n + 1)-dimensional n-ary Filippov algebras and, as a consequence, of simple finite-dimensional Filippov algebras over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero. We also give new examples of non-trivial -derivations of Filippov algebras and show that there are no non-trivial -derivations of the simple ternary Mal'tsev algebra M8.


A 38-year-old male presented with an avulsion fracture of the anterior half of the foramen magnum due to a traffic accident. He had palsy of the bilateral VI, left IX, and left X cranial nerves, weakness of his left upper extremity, and crossed sensory loss. He was treated conservatively and placed in a halo brace for 16 weeks. After immobilization, swallowing, hoarseness, and left upper extremity weakness improved. Hyperextension with a rotatory component probably resulted in strain in the tectorial membrane and alar ligaments, resulting in avulsion fracture at the sites of attachment, the bilateral occipital condyles and the inferior portion of the clivus. Conservative treatment is probably optimum even for this unusual and severe type of occipital condyle fracture.


The cliometric revolution came relatively late to French economic history, but this has provided the interested researcher with some unexpected advantages. Aside from the self-evident point that there is rather more left for the scholar to discover in French economic history than in its counterpart in Britain or the United States, the relatively late arrival of cliometrics has enabled scholars to avoid some of the problems of earlier generations of economic historians. For one thing, there has been rather less of the methodological skirmishing that characterized the earliest work in what was once also known as the ''new economic history,'' particularly with respect to the applicability of economic theory and the usefulness of counterfactual modeling.Undoubtedly, some of the silence on this issue may reflect the hardening of positions on both sides of the question, with proponents and opponents of the use of statistical and economic analysis unable even to approach the bargaining table. But there does seem to be a willingness to grant that all types of historical research have their place.We will not bother to open old wounds, nor rehash thirty-year-old debates. A more concrete benefit of the rather late surge of interest in the aging new economic history has been the de-emphasis by French specialists on the problems of industrialization, often seen as synonymous with growth. Indeed, if there was one issue that almost exclusively defined research in Western economic history over the last half-century, it was the problem of the Industrial Revolution and the extent to which


There are scarce reports on respiratory muscle strength in end-stage liver disease patients. On the other hand, decreased PaCO2 due to hyperventilation is well documented in patients with end-stage liver disease. Chronic dyspnoea is frequently reported by these patients, but it is not known if it is related to respiratory muscle strength and/or hyperventilation. We studied 48 consecutive, ambulatory, Caucasian patients (37 men) with end-stage liver disease, awaiting for liver transplantation. Chronic dyspnoea was rated according to the modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) 6-point scale. Routine lung function tests, maximum static expiratory (Pemax) and inspiratory (Pimax) mouth pressures were measured. Pattern of breathing (VE: minute ventilation; VT: tidal volume; RR: respiratory rate; VT/TI: mean inspiratory flow; TI/TTOT: duty cycle; TI: duration of inspiration) was also measured. Forty-three patients reported some degree of dyspnoea (mean±SD). mMRC was 2±1.1, Pemax%pred was 106±33 and Pimax%pred was 91±28. These pressures were found below the normal limits in 13 and 16 patients, respectively. Furthermore, mMRC was significantly correlated with Pemax and Pimax (r=-0.49, p<0.001; r=-0.41, p<0.01, respectively). VE (11.5±3.4, l), VT (0.770±0.311, l), RR (16±4, bpm) and VT/TI (0.46±0.13, l sec-1) were increased and PaCO2 (33±4, mmHg) was decreased, indicating hyperventilation. In contrast TI/TTOT (0.42±0.05) was normal. Statistically significant correlations were found for mMRC with TI and RR (r=-0.32, p=0.03; r=0.32, p=0.03; respectively). We conclude that in end-stage liver disease, there is an interrelationship between chronic dyspnoea, respiratory muscle strength, and hyperventilation.


Several genetic loci in chromosomes 11 and 15 have recently been associated with non-syndromic autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in populations from North America and Europe. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether such an association exists in a Latvian population. Ninety-five patients with ASD in the age range 3–20 years (mean age 8 years, SD 3.18) participated in the study. The control group consisted of 161 healthy, non-related individuals without ASD randomly selected from the Latvian Genome Database. Four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) — rs11212733, SNP rs1394119, rs2421826, rs1454985 — were genotyped by the TaqMan method. Allele frequency differences between ASD patients and control subjects were compared for each SNP using a standard chi-square test with Bonferroni correction. The level of statistical significance was set at 0.05 for nominal association. Only the genetic marker rs11212733, localised on the long arm of chromosome 11 in locus 22.3, was found to be strongly associated with the ASD patient group (χ² 6.982, Pₐdⱼᵤₛₜₑd 0.033, odds ratio 1.625). Our data demonstrating a significant relationship between the SNP rs11212733 and the development of ASD in a Latvian population suggest that it is not a population-specific relationship. Thus, future studies focusing on the DDX10 gene and related genetic loci are needed.


Union Soldiers and the Northern Home Front: Wartime Experiences, Postwar Adjustments explores the North's Civil War in ways that brings fresh perspectives to our knowledge of the way soldiers and civilians interacted in the Civil War North. Northerners rarely confronted the hardships their southern counterparts faced, but they still found the war a challenging event that to varying degrees would re-shape and transform their old comfortable assumptions about their lives. Having given up their sons to save the Union, they craved information and followed the progress of the companies and regiments that they had sent off to fight. At the same time, their soldier boys never fully severed their ties with home, even as the rigors of war made them rougher versions of their old selves. The home front and the front lines remained intimately connected. This book expands our understanding of those connections.The authors of the essays in this volume bring new and different approaches to some familiar topics while offering answers to some questions that other scholars have ignored for too long. They explore such varied experiences as recruitment, soldiers' motivation, civilian access to the combat experience, wartime correspondence, benevolence and organized relief, race relations, definitions of freedom and citizenship, and ways civilians interacted with soldiers who sojourned in their communities. It is important that they do not stop with the end of the fighting, but also explore such postwar problems as the reintegration of soldiers into northern life and the claims to public memory, including those made by African Americans. Taken as a whole, the essays in Union Soldiers and the Northern Home Front provide a better understanding of the larger scope and depth of wartime events experienced by both civilians and soldiers and of the ways those events nurtured the enduring connections between those who fought and those who remained at home. In that regard, the essays go to the very heart of the Civil War experience.


The purpose of this study was to assess the contribution of CBVs, their categories and their motivation. The state alone cannot achieve MDGs by 2015. Health and development problems cannot be solved simply by external interventions, human connections established by CBV, are necessary. Working with volunteers is not completely without cost, it requires a support system to train and maintain them engaged and motivated. Studies appear to concentrate on Community Based Health Volunteers (CBHV), such as CHWs and TBAs . This study sought to find out the contribution of the different categories of CBV to the health and development work relevant to the achievement of the MDGs, their characteristics and how they are motivated.


Mobile networks are becoming energy hungry, and this trend is expected to continue due to a surge in communication and computation demand. Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC), a key component of 5 𝐺 and 6 𝐺 networks, will entail energy-consuming services and applications, with non-negligible impact in terms of ecological sustainability. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive review of existing approaches to make edge computing networks greener, including but not limited to the exploitation of renewable energy resources, and context-awareness (e.g., user mobility, or dynamics in the traffic), analyzing their pros and cons. We hence provide an updated account of recent developments on MEC from an energetic sustainability perspective, addressing the initial deployment of computing resources, their dynamic (re)allocation (resource scheduling), as well as distributed and federated learning designs. In doing so, we highlight the energy aspects of these algorithms, advocating the need for energy-sustainable edge computing systems that are aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris agreement. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work providing a systematic literature review on the efficient deployment and management of energy harvesting MEC, with special focus on the deployment, provisioning, and scheduling of computing tasks, including federated learning for distributed edge intelligence, toward making edge networks greener and more sustainable. At the end of the paper, open research avenues and challenges are identified for all the surveyed topics.


Toni Rowe* Jungsun (Sunny) Kim The gaming industry, previous to 2007, had experienced a continued increase in revenues and stock prices, but in late 2007, the industry started to be affected by a recession. To have a better understanding of the relationship between this external economic factor (recession) and a gaming company's systematic risk (beta), this study analyzed which financial ratios are significant predictors of beta and evaluated if these financial ratios better predict beta before or during the recession. The financial ratios examined in this study include return on assets, liabilities as a percentage of assets, asset turnover, quick ratio, EBIT growth rate, and market capitalization. The results revealed that market capitalization was the only variable that had significantly positive impact on beta both before and during the recession. Asset turnover was a significant predictor only before the recession while liabilities as a percentage of assets was significant only during the recession.


In this particular contribution, we aim to immobilize a model enzyme such as α-glucosidase onto poly(DMAEMA) [poly(2-dimethyl amino ethyl methacrylate)] brush-modified anisotropic (cup- and disc-shaped) biocompatible polymeric particles. The anisotropic particles comprising a blend of PLA [poly(lactide)] and poly(MMA-co-BEMA) [poly((methyl methacrylate)-co-(2-(2-bromopropionyloxy) ethyl methacrylate)] were acquired by electrospraying, a scalable and convenient technique. We have also demonstrated the role of a swollen polymer brush grafted on the surface of cup-/disc-shaped particles via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization in immobilizing an unprecedentedly high loading of enzyme [441 mg/g (cup)-589 mg/g (disc) of particles, 15-20 times higher than that of the literature-reported system] as compared to non-brush-modified particles. Circular dichroism spectroscopy was used to predict the structural changes of the enzyme upon immobilization onto the carrier particles. An enormously high amount of enzymes with preserved activity (∼85 ± 13% for cups and ∼78 ± 15% for discs) was found to adhere onto brush-modified particles at pH 7 via electrostatic adsorption. These findings were further explored at the atomistic level using a coarse-grained dissipative particle dynamics simulation approach, which exhibited excellent correlation with experimental results. In addition, accelerated particle separation was also achieved via magnetic force-induced aggregation within 20 min (without a centrifuge) by incorporating magnetic nanoparticles into disc-shaped particles while electrojetting. This further strengthens the technical feasibility of the process, which holds immense potential to be applied for various enzymes intended for several applications.


Objective: To present outcomes of expectant management (EM) in HIV-infected pregnancy with preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) at less than 34-week gestation. Case presentation: During January 2008-December 2015, there were 513 HIV-infected pregnant women giving birth at Siriraj Hospital, Thailand. Ten of them presented with PPROM at GA <34 weeks and six women received EM. The deliveries took place at GA 28 2/7 - 33 5/7 weeks. The longest interval of ROM was 15 days and the highest on-admission viral load was 633,000 copies/mL. Three of them had antepartum highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for at least four weeks prior to the delivery. Mode of delivery included 3 vaginal deliveries and 3 caesarean sections. All infants' HIV molecular tests were negative at birth. The longest follow-up interval was 12 months and HIV vertical transmission remained negative. Conclusion: Expectant management in HIV-infected women with PPROM at GA <34 weeks may be sensible because complications of prematurity outweigh the risk of vertical HIV transmission.


The relative differentiation architecture does not require per-flow state at the network core or edges, nor admission control, but it can only provide higher classes with better service than lower classes. A central premise in this context is that users with absolute QoS requirements should search dynamically for an appropriate class. We investigate this dynamic class selection (DCS) framework, and illustrate that, under certain conditions, DCS-capable users can meet absolute QoS requirements, even though the network only offers relative differentiation. For a single link model, we can examine whether it is feasible to satisfy all users, and when this is the case, compute the minimum acceptable class selection for each user. Users converge in a distributed manner to this minimum acceptable class, if the DCS equilibrium is unique. However, suboptimal DCS equilibria may also exist. Simulations of a delay-based DCS algorithm show the relation between class differentiation and DCS, and demonstrate how to control the trade-off between the performance and cost of a flow.


This paper explores school reform in England under the Conservative-led Coalition government, elected in 2010, through a focus on the changing roles and status of Local Authorities (LAs). The Coalition's stated aim was the development of a 'self-improving, school-led' system in which LAs should become 'champions for children'. The paper draws on two locality case studies and a set of future scenarios and policy narratives to analyse the ways in which LAs and school leaders are responding to reform. The paper concludes that the Coalition focused its attention on structural reform, but that this placed an additional onus on leadership agency within local school systems to shape contextually appropriate solutions. The schools in the two areas studied appear to have become more fragmented and yet – paradoxically – more networked; however, they are not yet working in the 'deep partnerships' envisaged by Hargreaves (2010). This has meant that the LAs have needed to sustain their traditional roles (for example, in providing challenge and support to schools), whilst simultaneously evolving new ways of working (for example, providing 'bridging social capital'). These roles may sometimes be in tension, but are driven by different factors: LA-level accountability in the case of challenge and support, and reduced funding in the case of 'bridging social capital'. This suggests that the Coalition's conflicting policy narratives were in tension and that the notion of LAs as 'champions for children' requires review.


The clinical outcome of chronic myeloid leukaemia patients has vastly improved since the introduction of tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment, with a significant proportion of patients able to achieve treatment‐free remission. However, studies have shown that patients with the e13a2 transcript were less likely to achieve major molecular response compared to those with e14a2 transcripts. Most quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays for detection of the BCR–ABL1 fusion gene do not differentiate between the two transcripts and we therefore hypothesised that technical bias linked to the qPCR assay could partially explain the discrepancy in outcomes. We designed an e14a2‐specific assay and identified no difference in results compared to an e13a2 standard assay. We then demonstrated that the commercial e14a2 standards were causing a significant overestimation of the e13a2 transcripts. Finally, we reviewed patient management after the qPCR values were corrected, using our new evaluation. We concluded that despite statistically significant differences in qPCR results, there was no impact on patient management or outcome. We conclude that, at least in our institution, it would be inappropriate to perform separate assays for patients with e13a2 or e14a2.


Capsaicin has been shown to affect lipid metabolism. However, it is currently not known whether capsaicin would lower the intestinal absorption of cholesterol. Thus, this study was conducted to investigate the effect of intraduodenally infused capsaicin on the lymphatic absorption of cholesterol and lipids in rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 300~350 g were starved for 16 hr and the mesenteric lymph duct was cannulated. Each rat was infused at 3.0 mL/hr for 8 hr via the duodenal catheter with a lipid emulsion, which contained 33.3 kBq [ 14 C]-cholesterol, 20.7 μ㏖ cholesterol, 452 μ㏖ triolein, 3.1 μ㏖ α-tocopherol, and 396.0 μ㏖ Na-taurocholate without (control) or with 5.0 ㎎ capsaicin in 24 mL PBS buffer (pH 6.4). Simultaneously, lymph was collected hourly for 8 hr. There was no significant difference in lymph flow between the groups. However, the lymphatic absorption of 14 C-cholesterol for 8 hr was significantly lower in rats infused with capsaicin than in those infused with no capsaicin. Also, the output of oleic acid for 8 hr was significantly decreased by capsaicin. However, the intestinal absorption of α-tocopherol did not differ between the groups. The results indicate that the luminal infusion of capsaicin inhibits the intestinal absorption of cholesterol and lipids in rats.


As a result of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, manufacturers of metered dose inhalers began reformulating their products to use hydrofluoroalkanes (HFAs) as propellants in place of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Although the new products are considered safe and efficacious by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a large number of complaints have been registered via the FDA's Adverse Events Reporting System (FAERS)-more than 7000 as of May 2013. To develop a better understanding of the measurable parameters that may, in part, determine in vitro performance and thus patient compliance, we compared several CFC- and HFA-based products with respect to their aerodynamic performance in response to changes in actuator cleaning interval and interactuation delay interval. Comparison metrics examined in this study were: total drug delivered ex-actuator, fine particle dose (<5 μm), mass median aerodynamic diameter, plume width, plume temperature, plume impaction force, and actuator orifice diameter. Overall, no single metric or test condition distinguishes HFA products from CFC products, but, for individual products tested, there were a combination of metrics that differentiated one from another.


Background & Aim: Laryngeal obstruction due to vocal cord paralysis has been treated in many ways. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the outcomes of posterior cordectomy by co 2 laser and its effects on respiratory complications due to vocal cord paralysis. Patients & Method: In this pre and post-operative clinical trial, we made use of a 2-4 watt co 2 laser which was connected to a laryngeal microscope with an x400 lens. The applied method was slightly different from Dennis and Kashima's usual technique in terms of the application of mithomycin C on the surgical site. Ten cases including 3 females and 7 males underwent posterior cordectomy by co 2 laser. The mean age of the subjects was 34.1 years, ranging from 11 to 60. The duration of follow-up ranged from 5 to 24 months with a mean of 17 months. All the patients were suffering from severe dyspnea before the surgery and 8 of them had tracheotomy for their dyspnea before the surgery. The day after the surgery all the patients got decanulated. The changes of breathing, voice and swallowing conditions were analyzed pre and post-operatively using paired t-test. Results: The mean FEV1/FVC ratio that was 67% preoperatively increased to 80% postoperatively(P<0.8). None of the cases encountered aspiration after the surgery. Four of the cases needed a second surgery due to granulation or fibrosis on the site of the previous operation. Ultimately, the surgery resulted in regular breathing in all the patients. Conclusion: This surgery can decrease respiratory complications caused by vocal cord paralysis.


For the cells of an organism to act in the coordinated fashion necessary for complex functioning, they must be able to receive and transmit information. Information transfer is mediated by molecules released by the cells and may be local, as in the case of neurotransmitters, or long range, as in the case of hormones. It is apparent, however, that irrespective of the range of interaction, a cell must be able to distinguish, with a high degree of precision, the signals relevant to it from an enormous flow of background noise. Molecular recognition at the cell surface is mediated by receptors: cell surface glycoproteins that usually form an integral part of the plasma membrane (see, for example, Cuatrecasas & Greaves, 1978). Typically, receptors bind the ligands they are designed to recognize with affinities of the order of 108 M-1, and they translate that interaction into a sequence of signals that ultimately lead to biological activity.


Carbon emissions trading is essential for reducing carbon emissions, and its role in regional carbon unlocking needs further clarification. This study uses the difference-in-differences (DID) model and synthetic control model (SCM) to evaluate the carbon unlocking effect of China's six pilot carbon trading provinces. This study found that (1) carbon lock-in effects in China are mainly influenced by technology lock-in and fixed input lock-in; (2) each province's overall carbon lock-in level presents a decreasing trend yearly, and the regional distribution presents characteristics of "low in the east and high in the west"; (3) carbon emissions trading pilot policies effectively promote the carbon unlocking effect in pilot regions overall, with Guangdong having the most significant unlocking effect. Conversely, Beijing, Hubei, Chongqing, and Shanghai also had different degrees of carbon unlocking. Finally, (4) an assessment of impact mechanisms indicates that technology and institutions have a significant mediating role in effectively promoting carbon unlocking under the carbon trading policy. Conversely, social behavior has an inverse effect, and fixed assets are not affected by the policy. This study demonstrates the carbon unlocking effect of carbon emissions trading and provides a quantitative reference for implementing carbon emissions trading policies and determining carbon unlocking paths.


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

Apoptosis or programmed cell death is essential for the normal functioning and survival of most multi-cellular organisms. The morphological and biochemical characteristics of apoptosis are highly conserved during the evolution. Therapeutic strategies based on exogenous delivery of the native form of superoxide dismutase (SOD), a free radical scavenger, are limited because of its short half-life (approximately 6 min) in vivo and poor permeability across the blood barrier and cell membrane. In this study, the spectrum of in vivo anti cancer activity of a Streptomyces SOD with a carrier protein designated Kavir-48by apoptotic function was assessed. Two xenograft models including LXFl 529 and LXFL H460 lung cancer cells were used. Purified protein complex was administrated through intra- peritoneal injection (ip) for 4 weeks. The results showed that treatment with 300 mg/kg of kavir-48 significantly reduced the growth of xenografted tumor with a tumor growth inhibition (TGI) of 70 % for LXFI 529 cell line. In addition, no adverse effects were observed based on general appearance, weight loss or reduction in weight gain. Finally, Kavir-48, demonstrated a highly anti-tumor efficacy in vivo and a tolerability profile amenable to intra peritoneal administration. It acts as a promising therapeutic target against cancer.Further analysis on this antitumor metabolite on gene expression profiles involved in regulation of apoptosis and oxidative stress pathways in different cancer cells in progress.

Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting.

Citation Format: Nasrin Moazami, Fatoulah Hakami, Hamideh Ofoghi, Massoud Ghaffarpour. A novel metabolite from an extremophile Streptomyces with apoptosis regulator function. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 5105. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-5105


This research was conducted to determine the effective control methods for the weeds of pastures formed through the destruction of maqui vegetations in the Cukurova region. The experiment was conducted on the rangeland in the Resul Village of Toroslar District of Mersin during the years of 2006-2009. The experiment was designed according to the randomized complete block design with three replications. In the research, six different weed control methods such as cutting, fertilization, application of 2.4-D, Picloram+2.4-D, Paraquat or Glyphosate were studied. Results of the research showed that application of fertilizer increased dry matter yield and digestible dry matter yield of pasture. The highest dry matter yield and digestible dry matter was obtained from fertilizer treatments. Dry matter yields in all treatments were greater as compared to the control. Picloram+2.4-D+fertilization treatment increased ratio of grasses in botanical composition while ratio of legumes decreased compared with the other treatments. Paraquat+fertilization treatment increased ratio of other families. Picloram+2.4-D+fertilization treatment increased NDF% content of the hay. From the results of the research, it was concluded that the weeds, generally from the families with broad leaves, on the pastures formed through degeneration of maqui vegetation in the Cukurova Region can be effectively controlled by the application of herbicide Picloram+2,4-D , and hay yield and quality of those pastures could be increased by the fertilization together with weed control


The secretory capabilities of the serotonergic neuron C1 of cerebral ganglion of Helix pomatia were markedly reduced when it was cultured in contact with the wrong target neuron, C3. When the neuron B2, one of its physiological targets, was micromanipulated within the network made of intermingled neurites originating from the axonal stumps of both C1 and C3 neurons, C1 increased the amount of the evoked transmitter release, which, after 30 min, reached the level observed when cocultured with the appropriate target. The removal of the appropriate target brought C1 back to the low release condition. By imaging C1 neurites with a fluorescent dye, morphological changes involving a local increase in the number of varicosities could be observed as early as 30 min after contact with the appropriate target. Monoclonal antibody 4E8 against apCAM, a family of Aplysia adhesion molecules, recognizes apCAM‐like molecules of the Helix central nervous system on immunocytochemistry and Western blot analysis. The contact with the appropriate target previously incubated in a 4E8 solution, which did not interfere with its capacity to respond to serotonin, failed to increase the transmitter release of C1 cocultured in the presence of the wrong target, C3. These results suggest that the apCAM‐like antigens bound to the target membrane participate in the molecular processes responsible for the assembly of the "release machinery" present in the functional presynaptic structure. J. Neurosci. Res. 65:111–120, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


While large-scale simulation of jet noise is the most thorough technique currently available for jet noise prediction, three-dimensional direct computation of both the near and far field requires prohibitive computational capability. In this work, we propose to limit large-scale simulation to the near field to provide the pressure distribution over a cylindrical surface surrounding the jet. A surface-integral formulation is presented herein in which the calculated pressure on the cylindrical surface is used to obtain the far field sound without the need for the normal derivative of the pressure. The results are compared to that of a direct large-scale simulation and to the zonal approach in which linearized Euler equations are used as an extension tool. (Author)


Computer-aided learning (CAL) offers enormous potential in disseminating oral health care information to patients and caregivers. The effectiveness of CAL, however, remains unclear. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to systematically review published evidence on the effectiveness of CAL in disseminating oral health care information to patients and caregivers. Materials and Methods: A structured comprehensive search was undertaken among 7 electronic databases (PUBMED, CINAHL Plus, EMBASE, SCOPUS, WEB of SCIENCE, the Cochrane Library, and PsycINFO) to identify relevant studies. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies were included in this review. Papers were screened by 2 independent reviewers, and studies that met the inclusion criteria were selected for further assessment. Results: A total of 2915 papers were screened, and full texts of 53 potentially relevant papers (&kgr; = 0.885) were retrieved. A total of 5 studies that met the inclusion criteria (1 RCT, 1 quasi-experimental study, and 3 post-intervention studies) were identified. Outcome measures included knowledge, attitude, behavior, and oral health. Significant improvements in clinical oral health parameters (P < .05) and knowledge/attitudes (P < .001) were reported in 2 of the studies. The 3 remaining studies reported improved oral health behaviors and confidence. Conclusion: There is a limited number of studies which have examined the effectiveness of CAL interventions for oral health care among patients and caregivers. Synthesis of the data suggests that CAL has positive impacts on knowledge, attitude, behavior, and oral health. Further high- quality studies on the effectiveness of CAL in promoting oral health are warranted.


Islam is a religion that brings blessing and prosperity for all the rest of world (rahmatan lil alamin). The moral message of peace and brotherhood is included into a sacred text Al-Quran and embedded into the long history of this religion. The idea of brotherhood is also central for peace building, even among religious believers. The history of religion has showed that every religion reflects double masks of human: peaceful and anger, god and evil. However, such double identity was born from single transcendental vision: getting blessed by God. This study attempts to explore this double mask of religion because of the multi-interpreted sacred texts of any religion in the world. Given the essence of religion for peace of all the rest of world, the believers have to be aware of understanding religion in terms of its humanity, not animality. The implication of this study is to figure out that an attempt of getting Islam back to its vital essence of peace-builder is not being easy, but must be started as Mohammad's moral message of the importance of peace and brotherhood.


Introduction. Solving the problems of stable economic development and improving the welfare of the population in Ukraine is largely determined by the development of rural areas. In our country, for many decades, the main way of developing rural areas was a narrow-branch agrarian approach. This led to one-sided agrarian development of rural areas, often irrational placement of productive forces, underdevelopment of social and household infrastructure, etc. Methods. The following scientific methods and techniques were used in the research process: historical, abstract and logical, systematic, comparative, monographic analysis, analysis and synthesis. The results. The proposed model of rural areas should be based on the following principles: the formation and multiplication of social capital and its basis - human capital, the creation of non-governmental organizations and rural "networks", effective state support for local initiatives, the spread of various forms of diversified activities in the areas where rural residents live etc. Discussion. In the near future, which will be characterized by the post-war revival of the country's economy, in our opinion, there will be significant changes in the views of scientists and government officials on solving the urgent problems of the development of rural areas, in particular, the reproduction of the resource potential of the agricultural sector - the "locomotive" of Ukraine's development.


This paper examines how FinTech can lower investment barriers and help households move toward optimal risk-taking, using a unique account-level data on consumption, investments, and FinTech usage from Ant Group. During our sample period, China experienced a rapid increase in FinTech penetration in the form of offline digital payment, and our measure of FinTech adoption is constructed relative to this fast-developing trend of new technology. Taking advantage of our consumption data, we further infer individuals' risk tolerance from their consumption volatility. We find that, while Fin-Tech adoption improves risk-taking for all, the more risk-tolerant individuals benefit more from FinTech advancement. The magnitude of FinTech improvement is further quantified relative to the optimal alignment of risk-taking and consumption prescribed by Merton (1971). Aggregating to the city-level, we find significant variations in Fin-Tech adoption across cities in China, owing to the gradual spread of the new technology from Hangzhou to inner China. Examining the enhancement in risk-taking across geographical locations, we find that cities with low financial-service coverage benefit the most from FinTech penetration. Overall, our results show that, by unshackling the traditional constraints, FinTech improves risk-taking for individuals who need it the most.


During the study of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria in the oil-contaminated soil of Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, South Korea, a yellow, Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, motile, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain DKC-5-1T, was isolated. This strain was non-sporulating, catalase-negative and oxidase-positive. It was able to grow at 10-33 °C, pH 6.0-8.5 and at an NaCl concentration of 0-1.5 % (w/v). This strain was characterized taxonomically using a polyphasic approach. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, strain DKC-5-1T belongs to the genus Sphingomonas and is closely related to Sphingomonas laterariae LNB2T (96.65 % sequence similarity), Sphingomonas haloaromaticamans A175T (96.63 % sequence similarity), Sphingomonas histidinilytica UM2T (96.63 % sequence similarity), and Sphingomonas wittichii RW1T (96.43 % sequence similarity). The only respiratory quinone was ubiquinone-10 and the major polyamine was homospermidine. The polar lipid profile revealed the presence of phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine, sphingoglycolipid and phosphatidyldimethylethanolamine. The predominant fatty acids of strain DKC-5-1T were summed feature 8 (C18 : 1ω7c and/or C18 : 1ω6c), C16 : 0, C14 : 0 2-OH, summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c), C17 : 1ω6c and C14 : 0. The genomic DNA G+C content of this novel strain was 65.9 mol%. Morphological, physiological, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic analyses clearly distinguished this strain from its closest phylogenetic neighbours. Thus, strain DKC-5-1T represents a novel species of the genus Sphingomonas, for which the name Sphingomonasnaphthae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is DKC-5-1T (=KEMB 9005-380T=KACC 18716T=JCM 31294T).


It is a critical task to keep the ventilation system working in a proper and efficient manner in large multi-storey buildings, and the enthalpy exchanger is becoming an increasingly important part of the ventilation system by playing the function of channeling heat and moisture. We present a computational study on the heat transfer performance of the cross-flow enthalpy exchanger, which is in large use for residential buildings. The ducts are considered whose cross-sectional shapes resemble triangle and longitudinal centerline a cosine wave. It is shown that, as the cross-sectional shape departs from triangle, the heat transfer performance of the duct tends to deteriorate. Also, applying the wave-like shape to the longitudinal centerline of the duct increases the rate of heat transfer and the applied pressure-gradient at the same time. The origin of the performance variations in the cases considered are quantitatively analyzed and discussed.


Packet classification is a fundamental task for network devices such as edge routers, firewalls, and intrusion detection systems. Currently, most vendors use Ternary Content Addressable Memories (TCAMs) to achieve high-performance packet classification. TCAMs use parallel hardware to check all rules simultaneously. Despite their high speed, TCAMs have a problem in dealing with ranges efficiently. Many packet classification rules contain range specifications, each of which needs to be translated into multiple prefixes to store in a TCAM. Such translation may result in an exponential increase in the number of required TCAM entries. In this paper, we propose a bidirectional range extension algorithm to solve this problem. The proposed algorithm uses at most two TCAM entries to represent a range, and can be pipelined to deal with multiple range fields in a packet header. Since this algorithm assumes a non-redundant rule set, i.e., no range overlap between different rules, which can be obtained by applying our previous work on redundancy removal in TCAM using a tree representation of rules. Our experiments show a more than 75% reduction in the number of TCAM entries by applying the bidirectional range extension algorithm to realworld rule sets.


This paper appears in the March, 1972, issue of the Communications of the ACM. Its abstract is reproduced below.
 Formalization of a well-defined synchronization mechanism can be used to prove that concurrently running processes of a system communicate correctly. This is demonstrated for a system consisting of many sending processes which deposit messages in a buffer and many receiving processes which remove messages from that buffer. The formal description makes it very easy to prove that the buffer will neither overflow nor underflow, that senders and receivers will never operate on the same message frame in the buffer nor will they run into a deadlock.


Objective. This study evaluated the long-term clinical and angiographic outcomes of coronary artery reconstruction for a diffusely diseased coronary artery without endarterectomy.Material and Methods. We retrospectively reviewed 660 consecutive patients (mostly men (89.5%), mean age 68.3 ± 7.4 years) who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting in combination with coronary artery reconstruction between 2003 and 2016. 558 operated on patients (84.5%) were followed up for a mean of 94.3 ± 31.2 months.Results. Long-term survival was 83.2% (95% confidence interval: 74.5–89.3); freedom from cardiac death was 97.4 ± 1.2%; and freedom from major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events was 64.7 ± 4.1%. Independent predictors of long-term mortality were age at surgery (< 70 years, p < 0.001), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (p = 0.007), peripheral arterial disease (p = 0.002), diabetes mellitus (p = 0.013) and chronic kidney disease (p = 0.034). The arterial graft patency rate was 95.2%, and the vein graft patency rate was 75.4%.Conclusion. Coronary artery bypass grafting in conjunction with coronary artery reconstruction without endarterectomy confers satisfactory long-term clinical outcomes with high probability of freedom from cardiac death and angina pectoris, good rates of angiographic patency of arterial grafts and favorable rates of vein graft patency.


Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has been used for the study of organic substance and solid state since the first reports of this phenomenon in 1946. Recently, the phenomenon has been utilized for body imaging. General pros and cons of this NMR imaging are discussed followed by the NMR characteristics in the diagnosis of metastatic brain tumors. NMR imaging appeared to be more sensitive than X-ray CT as far as the detection of a lesion including edema, is concerned. Differentiation, however, between a tumor and the edema, or between the viable and necrotic tissues of a tumor is not infrequently difficult.


Narratives about the Garden of Eden from Genesis 2–3 were popular among both early Jewish and Christian interpreters. More than other compositions found at Qumran, 4QInstruction gives sustained attention to these chapters of Genesis when offering instruction. Observations about how creation traditions are used in 4QInstruction provides the opportunity to assess the intense debates about the use of these chapters among both the so-called "proto-orthodox" and "gnostic" Christians of, especially, the second-century CE . These competing interpretations of Genesis 2–3 in early Christianities display continuities with 4QInstruction and these interpretive strands offer perspective on later readers, most notably Augustine of Hippo.


Introduction – Declining Citrus trees (CTD) is a major constraint causing Citrus production depletion in Cameroon. It has been established that some pests and diseases are the major sources of that phenomenon. Improving knowledge of the contributing factors to the occurrence of CTD is key to the control of this. Materials and methods – A study based on the presence of fungal diseases caused by Pseudocercospora angolensis, Elsinoe spp., and Phytophthora spp., was carried out in 39 sites of Citrus producing basins of Cameroon. The aim of the study was to determine environmental factors favouring CTD occurrence in an effort to reducing their devastating effects on three common species of Citrus. Disease symptoms were noticed by examining tree's organs (leaves, fruits, branches, trunk). A regression analysis was applied with the General Linear Model to select the main factors involved in CTD development. The prevalence of CTD was treated as dependent variable. Independent variables were Citrus species, soil texture, vegetation, rainfall, temperature, relative humidity, altitude, observation year, prevalence of PLFSD, Citrus scab and Phytophthora diseases. Results and discussion – CTD was found in all the sites, with a mean prevalence of 25%. Citrus species, soil texture, vegetation, rainfall, Pseudocercospora fruit spot disease, scab, and Phytophthora foot rot disease were the main factors associated with CTD prevalence. Conclusion – The importance of CTD was confirmed. It has been shown that PLFSD and Phytophthora diseases were much more likely to contribute to tree decline contrary to Citrus scab. However, further analysis could pave the way for the development of a risk assessment model for CTD.


A low-volatile organic compound, screen-printable silver ink system capable of also performing as a conductive adhesive was developed for use in advanced microelectronics. Silver flake and micron-sized spherical silver powder were used as the conductive fillers with the binder system consisting of monofunctional liquid acrylate monomers. Because of the thermoplastic nature of the cured binder system, the ink can be softened at elevated temperature even after solidification by polymerization and thus can serve as a conductive adhesive. The ink system was characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, thermomechanical analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. Screen printing was carried out on both rigid FR4 substrates as well as flexible polysulfone sheets. Efficacy of this conductive adhesive was demonstrated by bonding the Ag ink to a copper radio-frequency identification antenna using an Ohashi bonder (T = 140°, P = 40 psi, t = 2 min) where resistance values <; 1 Ω were measured through the adhesive bond and shear tests showed yield strengths on the order of 10 N.


This article examines the processes of transformation of European societies in XXI century, taking into consideration especially factors of post-modernity, globalisation and strong social changes. Post-modernity affects all societies, but particularly those new societies in transition. Authors take the broad concept of 'post-modernity' as being important for all societies that have experienced transformation in  their political, social, cultural, economic, educational and religious spheres following a political shift from socialist to democratic government. The processes of social transformation affect people living in them strongly, in particular in their identity and relationships.


BACKGROUND
There is substantial interindividual variability in the rate and extent of CD4+ T cell recovery after starting combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). The aim of our study was to determine whether mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups are associated with recovery of CD4+ in HIV-infected patients on cART.

METHODS
We carried out a retrospective study on 275 cART-naive patients with CD4+ counts <350 cells/mm(3), who were followed-up during at least 24 months after initiating cART. mtDNA genotyping was performed by Sequenom's MassARRAY platform.

RESULTS
Patients within cluster JT and haplogroup J had a lower chance of achieving a CD4+ count ≥500 cells/mm(3) than patients within cluster HV and haplogroup H [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.68 (P = 0.058) and HR = 0.48 (P = 0.010), respectively]. The time of follow-up during which the CD4+ count was ≥500 cells/mm(3) was longer in haplogroups HV and H than in haplogroups JT and J [20 months versus 6.2 months (P = 0.029) and 20 months versus 0 months (P = 0.024), respectively]. Additionally, haplogroups HV and H had greater chances of achieving a CD4+ count ≥500 cells/mm(3) during at least 12, 36, 48 and 60 months post-cART initiation compared with patients within haplogroups JT and J. Patients within haplogroup T only had a lesser chance of achieving a CD4+ count ≥500 cells/mm(3) during at least 48 months and 60 months post-cART initiation.

CONCLUSION
European mitochondrial haplogroups might influence CD4+ recovery in HIV-infected patients following initiation with cART. Haplogroups J and T appear to be associated with a worse profile of CD4+ recovery, whereas haplogroup H was associated with a better CD4+ reconstitution.


Abstract : We develop and present results of an artificial neural network (ANN) based compensation technique for mismatched classifier training and testing conditions in speaker identification (SID). One ANN per feature per speaker is trained to perform a mapping of that feature from a corrupted condition to an undistorted condition. Therefore, a classifier trained under one condition may be used to classify data collected under a different condition. Speech utterances from 168 speakers, collected in a studio, and also re-recorded after transmission over telephone networks, are used for developing and testing the method. Peak formant resonant frequencies, their bandwidths, and pitch are used as features. These features from the studio speech are used to train Gaussian Mixture Model classifiers. Portions of the studio and telephone speech are used to train the compensation ANNs. In mismatched train and test conditions, features from telephone speech are modified by the trained ANNs and applied to the GMMs trained with features from studio speech. Without compensation, SID accuracy is 6%. The compensation method developed in this work provides mismatch SID accuracy of 58.3%. Previous research on the same data with the commonly used Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients as features and a typical compensation method of Cepstral Mean Subtraction with Band Limiting gives SID accuracy of 27.4% with the same type of classifiers.


In this paper, nonlinear aspects of the control of magnetic bearings are studied. The authors design a nonlinear feedback law for the positioning of a shaft, and study the possibility of avoiding premagnetization currents, usually required when applying tangent linearization techniques. Using the flatness property, they propose simple solutions to the motion planning and stabilization problems according to the current complementarity condition or the current almost complementarity condition, that ensures that only one electromagnet in each actuator works at a time, or that one approaches arbitrarily close to this situation. The feedback synthesis is presented in both current and voltage control cases. In the latter case, a hierarchical control scheme, based on time-scale separation, is proposed, to avoid unbounded voltages at switchings that might result from the voltage linearizing feedback. Some implementation aspects are described and some experiments presented.


Textiles and apparel archaeology is an indispensable part of history and archaeology. As most unearthed textile relics are silk, soft and multi‐layered in nature, their frangibility poses enormous difficulties in their transportation, storage and exhibition. Traditional methods may not be suitable for accurately monitoring their condition under various external situations, due to the particularity of the textile relics. Herein, a smart, flexible, fabric‐based monitoring system, which integrates sensing fibers, textile technology, and traditional silkscreen conservation, is developed for the preservation and conservation of textile relics. The proposed integrated electrochemical fabric bears a high level of flexibility and diversification in structure, and furthermore can act as a protective cover to monitor external environmental impact factors such as pH value, strain, humidity, temperature, and ultraviolet light. The newly developed system can act as a daily monitoring solution to achieve real‐time and prolonged preventative control from various mechanisms of degradation, so as to ultimately support and uphold the conversation and preservation of textile relics.


A multi-electrode grid lead system, suited for the measurement of the total outward electromotive force of the heart expressed as a dipole moment, was tested in 64 subjects without heart disease and in 44 patients with left ventricular overload. The normal group showed the maximum dipole moment to the left (L-MDM) to be proportional to body weight, and by inference to left ventricular weight. For the patients with heart disease, the degree of hypertrophy was assessed in terms of LV weight derived from biplane angiocardiograms; for these patients, L-MDM was found to be proportional to LV weight (r = 0.85). The grid allowed for a more accurate assessment of LV weight than parameters obtained from the Frank lead system in the same patients.A substantially improved estimation of LV weight was achieved with both systems when body weight was considered in addition to the electrocardiographic measurements.Among the reasons for the better performance of the grid system are surface potential integration instead of sampling, consideration of individual torso dimensions, and as a result of distributed multiple electrodes, absence of distortion in the local field.


BACKGROUND
An activation of sympathetic neural influences to the heart and peripheral circulation has been shown to represent a hallmark of the essential hypertensive state, adrenergic neural factors participating together with other variables at the development and progression of the high blood pressure state as well as of the hypertension-related target organ damage. This represents the rationale for employing in hypertension treatment drugs which combine the blood pressure-lowering properties with the modulatory effects on the sympathetic neural function.

METHODS AND RESULTS
Several studies published during the past 40 years have investigated the impact of antihypertensive drugs on the sympathetic target as assessed by indirect and direct approaches. In the present paper, the effects of different monotherapies or combination drug treatment used in hypertension to lower elevated blood pressure values on various adrenergic markers will be examined. This will be followed by a discussion of the (i) hemodynamic and nonhemodynamic consequences of employing antihypertensive drugs with sympathomodulatory or sympathoexcitatory properties and (ii) mechanisms potentially responsible for the adrenergic responses to a given antihypertensive drug. The final part of this review will address the questions still open related to the impact of antihypertensive drug treatment on sympathetic function. Two questions in particular will be examined, i.e., whether antihypertensive drugs with sympathomodulatory properties may be capable to fully restore a "normal" adrenergic drive and how far sympathetic activity should be reduced in hypertensive patients.

CONCLUSION
Future investigations aimed at answering these questions will be needed in order to improve cardiovascular protection in treated hypertensive patients.


OBJECTIVE
Assess impact of nationwide home health quality improvement campaign to reduce acute care hospitalization of home health recipients.

DESIGN
Observational pre-post comparison of self-selected participating and non-participating agencies' quality performance; survey to determine uptake of program materials.

SETTING
US home health care agencies.

PARTICIPANTS
A total of 147 agencies with 147 non-participating agencies matched on patient length of service, pre-intervention hospitalization rate and pre-intervention rate of change in hospitalization rate.

INTERVENTION(S)
Public events; provision of educational packages and technical assistance; quality measure feedback.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S)
Post-intervention difference in risk-adjusted acute care hospitalization rate between participants and non-participants; difference in self-reported campaign material use between agencies whose hospitalization rate declined 2% or more and those whose rates increased by 2% or more.

RESULTS
Hospitalization rate had a negative trend beginning before the campaign. In the matched pairs studied, it did not differ significantly between participants and non-participants, or from pre- to post-intervention period (28% in every case). Agencies that improved were more likely to report activities consistent with the campaign and using campaign interventions than those not improving (P < 0.001), regardless of participation status.

CONCLUSIONS
Merely agreeing to participate in the campaign did not improve performance, but effective participation through adoption of campaign methods did.


Classical variables like RR Lyrae, classical and Type-II Cepheids and Mira variables all follow period-luminosity relations that make them interesting as distance indicators. Especially the RR Lyrae and δ Cepheids are crucial in establishing the distance scale in the Universe, and all classes of variables can be used as tracers of galactic structure. I will present an overview of recent period-luminosity relations and review the work that has been done using the Gaia DR1 data so far, and discuss possibilities for the future.


BACKGROUND
Indirect noninvasive methods, such as the 13C-urea breath test and serology, can be useful for the detection of Helicobacter pylori infection in children. We analyzed retrospectively the diagnostic accuracy of these two methods.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Between September, 1989, and October, 1996, H. pylori status was determined in 139 children by means of culture and histologic study of gastric biopsies. We performed 146 13C-urea breath tests and serologic assays (Cobas core; Roche).

RESULTS
H. pylori infection was detected in 91 of 139 (65%) children. The 13C-urea breath test was discordant with H. pylori status in 4 of 146 tests; serology was discordant in 24 and indeterminate in 7 of 146. The 13C-urea breath test was more sensitive than serology (98% vs. 79%, P < 0.01) but comparable in specificity (96% vs. 92%). The serology yielded false negative results more often in children younger than 5 years of age (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
The 13C-urea breath test is more reliable than serology for the detection of active H. pylori infection in children. Below 10 years of age serology is insufficiently sensitive for clinical purposes, whereas the 13C-urea breath test remains a reliable test.


An analog of electromagnetically induced transparency was revealed in metasurfaces (MSs), composed from identical dielectric resonators of simple cylindrical shapes. It was detected in numerical experiments at optical and microwave frequencies and confirmed by real experiments in the microwave range. The main specific of the observed phenomenon was its appearance at frequencies of electric dipolar resonances (EDRs) in MS elements, when total reflection of incident waves instead of transmission was expected. Investigations of electric field distributions in MSs allowed for detecting several Fano resonances caused by interaction between background radiation defined by incident waves, and radiation produced by oscillations of resonance fields in dielectric particles. The characteristics for EDR changes in phases of resonance oscillations by π radians were found controlling the transitions from constructive to destructive interference between participating wave processes. The onset of destructive interference was marked by sharp jumps by π radians in the spectra of signal phases. Performed analysis revealed that zero signals at Fano resonances, observed in the gaps between resonators, arranged along the electric field direction, could serve as indicators of realizing the conditions necessary for the transparency of MSs. These conditions included the elimination of the presence of background radiation and thus of interaction between trespassing waves and MSs.


Acorn leaves, which possess potential pharmacologic effects, are traditionally consumed as food in China. Phytochemical investigations of acorn leaves yielded one new and 25 known polyphenols, and their structures were identified by extensive spectroscopic analysis. Three antidiabetes assays were conducted. Compound 2 considerably increased the survival of pancreatic beta cells by reducing the production of reactive oxygen species and enhancing the activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione in MIN6 cells damaged by H2O2. The preliminary mechanism by which compound 2 protects pancreatic beta cells was through the nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)/heme oxygenase-1 HO-1 pathway. Most of the tested isolates showed strong inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase and protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B. The IC50 values of most compounds were much lower than those of the positive control. The results suggest that polyphenols from acorn leaves are potential functional food ingredients that can be used as antidiabetic agents.


Diabetic nephropathy is now the number one cause of end stage renal failure in Malaysia. This places a huge burden on patients and the health care system especially in developing countries with limited health care resources, such as in Sarawak in East Malaysia. This study describes the prevalence of proteinuria/microalbuminuria in diabetic patients treated in Klinik Kesihatan Tanah Puteh. Early detection of proteinuria/microalbuminuria allows remedial measures to be taken to retard the progression of nephropathy. Forty-eight percent of the cases had proteinuria and microalbuminuria was found in 16%. Seventy-eight percent of cases with proteinuria were on treatment with angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin-receptor blockers. Seventy-five percent of patients had hypertension but only 6% achieved the targeted BP of < 130/80 mmHg.


The concentrations (micrograms/gram dry wt) of four essential trace metals in various tissues from C57BL/6J lean (+/?) and obese (ob/ob) mice were determined. Lower concentrations of zinc were found in liver, femur, small intestine and muscle from obese mice than in those from lean mice at 22 wk of age. The concentrations of copper in liver, femur, small intestine, muscle and testes, iron in liver, femur, muscle and plasma, and manganese in liver, femur and small intestine from adult obese mice were also significantly below the concentrations present in tissues from age-matched lean mice. Hepatic concentrations of zinc, copper and manganese in obese mice were also lower than those in lean mice when the different amounts of neutral lipid in obese and lean liver were considered. In contrast with the trend towards lower concentrations of trace metals in tissues from adult obese mice, plasma zinc and copper levels and ceruloplasmin activity were higher in adult obese mice than in lean controls. The effect of genetic obesity on tissue trace metals concentrations was similar in male and female mice. Several tissues from young (5-6 wk of age) obese mice also had lower concentrations of the trace metals than age-matched lean mice, although the differences were not as great as in adults. These data demonstrate that chronic obesity in the genetically obese (ob/ob) mouse is associated with lower concentrations, but not necessarily lower total quantities, of several inorganic micronutrients in tissues. The possibility tht chronic obesity alters the nutritional requirements for these trace metals is discussed.


COVID-19 pandemic is an immediate major public health concern. The search for the understanding of the disease spreading made scientists around the world turn their attention to epidemiological studies. An interesting approach in epidemiological modeling nowadays is to use agent-based models, which allow to consider a heterogeneous population and to evaluate the role of superspreaders in this population. In this work, we implemented an agent-based model using probabilistic cellular automata to simulate SIR (Susceptible-Infected-Recovered) dynamics using COVID-19 infection parameters. Differently to the usual studies, we did not define the superspreaders individuals a priori, we only left the agents to execute a random walk along the sites. When two or more agents share the same site, there is a probability to spread the infection if one of them is infected. To evaluate the spreading, we built the transmission network and measured the degree distribution, betweenness, and closeness centrality. The results displayed for different levels of mobility restriction show that the degree reduces as the mobility reduces, but there is an increase of betweenness and closeness for some network nodes. We identified the superspreaders at the end of the simulation, showing the emerging behavior of the model since these individuals were not initially defined. Simulations also showed that the superspreaders are responsible for most of the infection propagation and the impact of personal protective equipment in the spreading of the infection. We believe that this study can bring important insights for the analysis of the disease dynamics and the role of superspreaders, contributing to the understanding of how to manage mobility during a highly infectious pandemic as COVID-19.


Abstract A growing recognition that the cost of transportation should be included in calculations of housing affordability has led to efforts to promote location efficiency (LE) in affordable housing policy. Because the program is responsible for most new affordable housing in the United States, the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program has the potential to be a link between housing affordability and LE. This research analyzes the extent to which LIHTC units built between 2007 and 2011 were in location-efficient places. Ordinary least squares regression analysis was used to test the role of market, policy, developer, and urban form factors in determining state-level LIHTC LE. We find that for the nation as a whole, from a quarter to half of LIHTC units added during this period were in location-efficient places, depending on the LE criteria applied. State-by-state comparisons showed wide variation in both our absolute measures of LIHTC LE and our relative measures of LIHTC LE compared with overall housing in each state. State policy and nonprofit developers were associated with higher LIHTC LE and had a positive effect on a state's ability to outperform its underlying urban form.


Background. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) pretreatment in massive hepatectomy model, a surrogate model of small-for-size graft, using rats. Methods. (Experiment I) Rats were divided into the following four groups: HBO (−), HBO-1D (day), HBO-3D, and HBO-5D. Samples were taken after the completion of HBO pretreatment, and the following parameters were evaluated: reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemical staining for HSP 70 and HO-1; biochemical parameters; and liver weight to body weight ratio (Lw/Bw ratio). (Experiment II) Rats were divided into four groups as follows; 70% hepatectomy (Hx), 70% Hx-HBO, 90% Hx, and 90% Hx-HBO group. Samples were taken 12, 24, 48, and 72 hr after hepatectomy and the following parameters were investigated: biochemical analysis; Lw/Bw ratio; PCNA labeling index; and survival. Results. (Experiment I) The expression of HSP70 mRNA was significantly increased in the HBO-3D group compared with the HBO (−) group (P<0.05). HSP70- and HO-1-positive hepatocytes were significantly increased in the HBO-3D group compared with the HBO (−) group (P<0.05). (Experiment II) Transaminases were significantly decreased in both 70% and 90% Hx-HBO groups compared with Hx alone group (P<0.05). The Lw/Bw ratio and PCNA labeling index of the 90% Hx-HBO group were significantly increased compared with the 90% Hx group, 24, 48 and 72 hr after hepatectomy (P<0.05). The survival rate in the 90% Hx-HBO group was significantly higher than that in the 90% Hx group (P=0.01). Conclusions. HBO pretreatment had beneficial effects in a massive hepatectomy model in rats via the induction of HSP70 and HO-1.


Globalization has been widely linked with an increase in urban inequality, poverty and segregation. The model of the global city in particular has spread the idea that the restructuring of the labor market resulting from the economic globalization process inevitably produces a new type of duality. The cases of Paris and Rio de Janeiro allow a comparison of two cities with deeply unequal labor markets and which have been affected in different ways by economic globalization. What are the trends in the evolution of the social structure of these two cities? To answer this question, changes in their occupational structure and the impact of these changes on urban segregation patterns were systematically compared through the use of recent census data. Several hypotheses are put forward for interpreting the similarities and differences observed between the two cities and the global city model, and for analysis of their relationship to specific forms of global economic restructuring, as well as to specific characteristics of labor relations, social policy, class structure and social stratification.


The increasing consideration of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) has not prevented the use of the k-Nearest Neighbor (kNN) method. In fact, a hybrid CNN-kNN approach is an interesting option in which the network specializes in feature extraction through its activations (Neural Codes), while the kNN has the advantage of performing a retrieval by means of similarity. However, this hybrid approach also has the disadvantages of the kNN search, and especially its high computational cost which is, in principle, undesirable for large-scale data. In this paper, we present the first comprehensive study of efficient kNN search algorithms using this hybrid CNN-kNN approach. This has been done by considering up to 16 different algorithms, each of which is evaluated with a different parametrization, in 7 datasets of heterogeneous composition. Our results show that no single algorithm is capable of covering all aspects, but rather that each family of algorithms is better suited to specific aspects of the problem. This signifies that Fast Similarity Search algorithms maintain their performance, but do not reduce the cost as much as the Data Reduction family does. In turn, the Approximated Similarity Search family is postulated as a good option when attempting to balance accuracy and efficiency. The experiments also suggest that considering statistical transformation algorithms such as Linear Discriminant Analysis might be useful in certain cases.


The dissemination of context information to enable context-awareness in various users, devices, and applications is a focus of current research in mobile network computing. The aim of our overall research is to build a balanced, adaptable, and interoperable overlay-based context dissemination mechanism for next generation networks. Our pure overlay space architecture acts as a base for the development and maintenance of application-layer context-aware dissemination protocols. Our multi-level overlay network based dissemination protocol exhibits dynamic and fair context dissemination. In this paper, we first overview this dasiapure overlaypsila and dasiamulti-level overlaypsila combined context dissemination scheme and discuss its advantages and constraints in autonomous and heterogeneous environments. We then focus on proposing techniques for improving this dissemination scheme towards a practically usable dissemination protocol which satisfies our goals. The proposed optimizations include: proxy overlay mechanism, hybrid agent structure, fault tolerance, and aggregated multiple objects. Alongside the high-level discussion, this conceptualization paper is complemented with an example scenario and simulation study results.


East and Central Java are provinces with vast region in Java Island and high population level, which allow the acculturation to develop, especially Colonial Building, as evidence of Dutch Colonial history relic. One of the famous design style at the moment was indische which is a mixture of Javanese and European culture. Finding similarities and differences that exist in today's church with descriptive comparative method and the selection of buildings based on stratified sampling technique, samples are grouped by function of the building. Writer found that indische design style characteristics in colonial buildings, which is the church in East and Central Java is the plastered wall and white paint. The floor use terrazzo materials and granite with a geometric and tendrils pattern. The wall use thick bricks, painted in plain white. Using hanging accessory on the wall, alternating between windows and walls. It has high ceiling painted in plain white.


Cholelithiasis (gallstone formation) results from a combination of several factors, including super saturation of bile with cholesterol, accelerated nucleation of cholesterol monohydrate in bile, and bile stasis or delayed gallbladder emptying due to impaired gallbladder motility. In India it is more common in women in north, north-east and east as compared to other zones in the country. The disease Gall Stone has not been described directly in Ayurvedic classics. The word Ashmari in Ayurveda stands for stone which is described only in the context of Bastigat Ashmari (urinary calculi). After analyzing the Ayurvedic texts it was found that the bile secreted from gall bladder can be correlated with Accha Pitta mentioned in Ayurveda due to the similarity in location and function. The pathogenesis of the disease occurs due to the abnormal formation of Kapha during the process of digestion and its vitiation due to Vata. The present article deals with description of formation of gall stone from the Ayurvedic perspective. Along with this the specific remedy for gall stone according to Ayurveda is also described.