The adjective "translational" stems from Ancient Latin "translatio" (transfero, carry over). Translational research is the branch of scientific research aimed at transferring discoveries obtained in basic research investigations to the clinical context. Accordingly, in the field of biomedical sciences the concept of translational research relates to the transfer of scientific knowledge into practical clinical applications in order to improve the management and treatment of human diseases.

Medicine in general is particularly fascinated by the translational concept, probably for its peculiar applied scopes, and cardiology is not an exception. In this regard, the International Society for Cardiovascular Translational Research (http://www.isctr.org/) was founded in 2007 with the objective to coordinate and guide basic and clinical researchers, regulatory authorities, and the medical industry to improve the process of transferring new scientific evidence into clinical applications, promote translational research and divulgate new scientific results to the scientific community, and develop guidelines for conducting translational research studies. In addition, the ISCTR and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) collaborative efforts began in 2010 involving education on translational science pathways.

The reason behind the interest for translation research in the cardiovascular field is obvious. Although huge advances in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases have been made during the last decades, the morbidity and mortality associated with heart diseases are still too high [1]. In particular, the incidence of heart failure continues to increase with a progressively higher overload for national health systems and health care providers involved in the management of this chronic and highly disabling disease. For all these reasons, it is crucial to develop new therapeutic strategies for the prevention and treatment of cardiac diseases, with a particular focus on heart failure. However, the only way to be successful in this difficult task is to implement the efforts devoted to translational research.

One important goal of cardiovascular translational research is the discovery of new biomarkers that could be useful for the diagnosis, prognostic stratification, and therapeutic management of specific cardiac diseases [2]. This can be achieved by testing whether factors, which were previously found to be associated with specific cardiovascular disease models in experimental studies, are indeed useful for the clinical management of patients affected by these illnesses. These biomarkers could be circulating humoral factors or specific cellular subtypes, or preclinical markers of organ damage. For example, it is now well established that a reduction of flow-mediated artery dilation in human subjects is a preclinical sign of endothelial dysfunction and an independent predictor of adverse cardiovascular events [3].

Another important interest of translational research is the elucidation of the genetic basis of cardiovascular diseases. In fact, the clarification of the genetic predisposition to cardiovascular illnesses can help to identify those subjects who need a different clinical management. Genome-wide association studies are continuously providing new insights into the gene variants associated with cardiovascular sicknesses [4]. However, case-cohort studies or longitudinal investigations are also brilliantly identifying new polymorphisms linked to an increased incidence of cardiovascular diseases or to a worse prognosis. For example, recent studies demonstrated that T2238C atrial natriuretic peptide gene variant is independently associated with an increased incidence of adverse cardiovascular events [5].

A fundamental field in cardiovascular research is also represented by the study of cardioprotection [6]. In fact, the discovery of new therapies reducing the amount of myocardial death during an acute myocardial infarction would help to significantly reduce the incidence of subsequent cardiac dysfunction and heart failure. This would be possible only if the mechanisms regulating cardiomyocyte survival and death during myocardial ischemia are elucidated so that appropriate therapeutic targets can be identified. Unfortunately, in the last decades only few of the therapeutic interventions effective in the reduction of myocardial infarction and cardiac remodeling in animal models of ischemia, ischemia/reperfusion, and chronic myocardial infarction resulted to be effective also in patients experiencing a real heart attack. This may be due to the fact that the animal models of myocardial ischemia and infarction currently employed in basic experimental studies do not accurately mimic the pathophysiology of a human myocardial infarction [7]. Future efforts of researchers working on cardioprotection should be devoted to the development of more relevant models of cardiac diseases.

Finally, a fascinating and promising field of translational research is represented by cardiac regeneration. The possibility for physicians to repair a failing heart with stem cells or applied tissue-engineered myocardial patches still represents a new frontier for the treatment of heart failure [8]. Unfortunately, as in the field of cardioprotection, most of the attempts to effectively translate the highly promising experimental results obtained in this field into the clinical setting highlighted mixed results with benefits ranging from absent to transient or, at most, marginal [9, 10]. A part of the delay in the therapeutic advancement in the field of stem cells and cardiac regeneration is caused by the fact that little is still known about the mechanisms to increase stem cell survival after in vivo transplantation and to efficiently induce its transdifferentiation into mature cardiomyocytes. These mechanisms need to be urgently elucidated in future investigations. In addition, the standardization of the procedures for isolation, purification, manipulation, and transplantation of human stem cells used for therapeutic purposes needs to be implemented, despite the fact that the standards of safety and quality for stem cell therapeutic uses are currently defined in the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) guidelines (see Eudralex EU guidelines for Good Manufacturing Practice for Medicinal Products for Human and Veterinary Use) [11, 12]. Nonetheless, full compliance with GMP is a mandatory aspect of stem cell-tissue engineering and manufacturing.

The improvement of translational research, however, cannot represent alone the solution for developing new strategies for the cure of cardiovascular diseases. Together with translational research, it would be highly important to implement also clinical and outcome research. These scientific research branches aim to further expand the current knowledge of the prevalence, incidence, impact, and management of cardiovascular abnormal conditions in selected or real-world patients. This would help to identify shortfalls in practice and to develop strategies to improve care. In particular, outcome research is planned to continuously provide new insights into the therapeutic interventions working best for specific types of patients and under specific circumstances.

Given these premises, this special issue aimed at integrating expertise from different disciplines toward the same objective: a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying cardiovascular diseases as well as the development of new therapeutic strategies to prevent or treat cardiovascular diseases. In our opinion the result was notable. Among the accepted manuscripts, some studies developed new methods enhancing the cardiovascular transdifferentiation of stem cells or standardized the procedures for the isolation of bone marrow-derived cellular subtypes for the treatment of refractory ischemia. Other manuscripts dealt with the molecular mechanisms underlying ischemia/reperfusion damage or heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. The biomarkers associated with resistant hypertension or aortic aneurism rupture were also studied. In addition, some epidemiologic studies provided new insights into the factors associated with coronary artery disease or with a worse cardiovascular outcome. Finally, the genetic basis of metabolically unhealthy obesity was also investigated.

The editors really hope that the scientific contributions accepted for this special issue may contribute in some extent to the advance of the current knowledge of the pathophysiology, prognosis, and management of cardiovascular diseases.

Giacomo Frati

Umberto Benedetto

Giuseppe Biondi-Zoccai

Sebastiano Sciarretta


Abstract The European Green Deal sets an ambitious target for Europe to reach climate neutrality by 2050. This commitment will be a challenge, particularly in the context of agriculture, as the sector is responsible for sustainable development and food security. However, one of the primary sources of GHG emissions from the agricultural sector is the treatment of soils using nitrogen fertilizers for crops, especially grain crops. This paper aims to assess the GHG mitigation perspective for soil management in the Baltic States and, in particular, to analyse the grain sector in light of sustainable agriculture and towards climate neutrality. To achieve the aim of the study, the analysis was performed in two parts. Firstly, historical and projected GHG emissions of the Baltic States and mitigation measures on agricultural soil management, including cereal growing were analysed as these emissions show a growing tendency. Thus, the study analyses GHG emission trends, including possible mitigation measures for soil management in the Baltic States. The results indicated that for GHG reduction from agricultural soils, some cost-effective measures could be considered for the future, such as the zero-emissions on-farm machinery and equipment, low or no-tillage, or N-inhibitors on pasture. Secondly, as the GHG emissions from cereals increase, potential alternatives to the use of grain production have been explored to assess the highest possible added value from the product use, thus also contributing to GHG reduction. In this regard, according to scientific literature, a survey was created in the form of a questionnaire based on 32 alternatives, 4 large product groups, and 4 criteria for cereal and straw processing. The respondents were requested to provide an assessment of alternatives, and consequently, a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) was performed using the TOPSIS method. The results reveal the best alternatives from each of the product groups consequently is flour from food products, minerals from a pharmaceutical, biogas from a form of transport and reusable tableware from straw-based products, as a possible cost-effective mitigation measure for soil management from the perspective of the development of sustainable agriculture sector and the transition towards climate neutrality


The balance between preventing water flooding and adequate humidification of the membrane will provide a significant contribution to proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell performance. For this purpose, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a hydrophobic polymer, was added to the catalyst layer of the fuel cell at different amounts including 5, 10, and 20 wt%. The performances of the fuel cells including PDMS were compared with the commercial catalyst. Morphological changes of the gas diffusion electrodes (GDEs) were confirmed by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to determine the functional groups and contact angle measurements were used to determine the hydrophobic characteristics. Cyclic voltammetry (CV), impedance, and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) analysis were performed for electrochemical characterization and degradation behaviors. In situ PEM fuel cell tests were performed in order to define the best catalyst ink combination that include PDMS. The results of the cyclic voltammograms proved that the electrochemical surface area (ECSA) increased with the increasing amount of PDMS. The highest ECSA of 53.84 m2 g−1 was calculated for catalyst ink with 20‐wt% PDMS. The lowest ECSA loss after aging was observed in the catalyst ink with 10‐wt% PDMS. As a result, the catalyst layer having 10‐wt% PDMS showed the best polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) performance.


Purpose: To examine associations between measures of static and dynamic balance and performance of mobility tasks in older adults. Methods: A cross‐sectional analysis from 195 community dwelling participants (mean age 80.9 years, range 65 –103 years). Participants performed tests of static (tandem stance) and dynamic (360° turn) balance and mobility (walking speed and timed chair rise). Associations among balance and mobility measures were examined using correlation and logistic regression. Results: Static and dynamic balance were moderately associated (r = −.462). Relationships between dynamic balance and mobility were stronger than those between static balance and mobility. The association between dynamic balance and walking speed was particularly strong (r = −.701). Using logistic regression, age, and balance performance were significant predictors for outcomes of walking speed (dichotomized to < 1.0 m/s, ≥ 1.0 m/s), and timed chair rise (dichotomized to ≤ 13.6 s, > 13.6 s). Faster 360° turn times were independently associated with faster walking speed and chair rise time. Conclusion: Mobility tasks require both dynamic and static balance. As falls are a major health risk for older adults, including brief assessments of dynamic and static balance in the examination of older adults provides valuable information about physical function and mobility.


Introduction1 This brief presents the findings of a scoping study on index-based crop insurance in East Africa, conducted as a requirement for the Climate Resilient Agribusiness for Tomorrow (CRAFT) Project, under Work Stream 3 on Enabling Environment for Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA). The broad objective was to identify potential for index-based crop insurance, and gaps and barriers to roll-out in the current enabling environment for Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, in order to inform the development of CRAFT's policy influencing and advocacy strategy. It was also meant to identify options to support the creation of an enabling policy environment that is more conducive to engagements and investments in index-based crop insurance.


UNLABELLED
Acetaminophen is found to be potentially hepatotoxic drug. Both, acute acetaminophen intoxication (dose >10 g) and therapeutic dose administration in the case of glutathion depletion (chronic alcohol abuse) hepatotoxic effect may occur. Late N-acetylcysteine (NAC) administration does not prevent liver injury. Molecular Adsorbents Recirculating System (MARS) is useful liver support device based on albumin dialysis for saving time for spontaneous liver regeneration or bridging technique to liver transplantation.

CASE SERIES
Two cases admitted to the Department in 19 and 20 hour post-ingestion of hepatotoxic paracetamol doses as confirmed by toxiocological examination (serum paracetamol concentration). Despite of NAC administration the signs of the liver injury (progressive encephalopathy and jaundice, decreased prothrombin activity) developed. On day four post exposure according to King's College of Medicine London criteria both cases were qualified to MARS therapy. Albumin dialysis of 8 hour duration was performed in both cases and a full recovery with normalization of the liver function was noted. Patient three: patient with the liver and the kidney insufficiency due to alcohol-paracetamol syndrome admitted to the Department of Clinical Toxicology for MARS therapy. Five performed dialysis resulted in the liver function improvement. The patient was disqualified from the liver transplant because of heart failure, pneumonia, hyperthyroidism and alcoholism. Patient died because of heart failure.


The importance of diode edge effects in practical semiconductor devices and in test structures for electrophysical investigations, is discussed. Included in the review are power devices, devices utilising avalanche effects, and radiation detectors. The main effects are on reverse characteristics, introducing premature breakdown or excess currents. The discussion starts with experiments clarifying the role of field distribution and surface treatment of the edge, and the application of simple methods of improvement, such as using overlay electrodes or surface protection.


RapidRT is a tool for statistical response time analysis of Complex Industrial Real-Time Embedded Systems (CIRTES). A key feature of this tool is that it does not require worst-case execution times of tasks to be known for the computation of a probabilistic task worst-case response time estimate. The presented tool is a step towards bridging the gap between academic research and industrial practice.


Quantitative cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an increasingly important diagnostic tool for cardiovascular diseases. Yet, co-registration of all baseline images within the quantitative MRI sequence is essential for the accuracy and precision of quantitative maps. However, co-registering all baseline images from a quantitative cardiac MRI sequence remains a nontrivial task because of the simultaneous changes in intensity and contrast, in combination with cardiac and respiratory motion. To address the challenge, we propose a novel motion correction framework based on robust principle component analysis (rPCA) that decomposes quantitative cardiac MRI into low-rank and sparse components, and we integrate the groupwise CNN-based registration backbone within the rPCA framework. The low-rank component of rPCA corresponds to the quantitative mapping (i.e. limited degree of freedom in variation), while the sparse component corresponds to the residual motion, making it easier to formulate and solve the groupwise registration problem. We evaluated our proposed method on cardiac T1 mapping by the modified Look-Locker inversion recovery (MOLLI) sequence, both before and after the Gadolinium contrast agent administration. Our experiments showed that our method effectively improved registration performance over baseline methods without introducing rPCA, and reduced quantitative mapping error in both in-domain (pre-contrast MOLLI) and out-of-domain (post-contrast MOLLI) inference. The proposed rPCA framework is generic and can be integrated with other registration backbones.


The AEDMI project, carried out in the Bellvitge University Hospital, near Barcelona, is proposed as an example of clinical decision system prototype development. Several difficulties have been encountered to develop this project. One of them was to find the adequate understanding for the project and proper funding for personnel resources. The support by FIS grants and from the hospital structures was essential to the survival of the project; however the resources always have been below the real needs for development. The difficulties with clinical coding systems, the excessive expectancies upon prototypes, and the lack of culture in information methods were other relevant hinders. The complexity of clinical realm, the uncertainty of medical decisions, and the current trends to substitute the clinical information by data obtained from electronic devices, or analytical monitoring of patients, are additional problems for clinical information managing.


Dental caries is a disease in which chronic progressive destruction of the hard dental tissues occurs under the influence of multiple factors, among which, bacterial infection being the most important one. Dental plaque biofilm is a key factor in the pathogenesis of dental caries. Under normal circumstances, microorganisms within the biofilm maintain a dynamic balance through coordination, competition, and antagonism. However, when the environment changes, the balance in the biofilm will be disrupted, and the number of cariogenic bacteria, especially Streptococcus mutans ( S. mutans), will increase significantly, thereby causing the production of large amounts of organic acids on the tooth surface, tooth demineralization, and the formation of dental caries. Therefore, finding ways to restore the dynamic balance of oral microorganisms through selective inhibition of S. mutans is key to the prevention and treatment of dental caries. Herein, we reviewed the research progress of recent years in the development of materials with selective antibacterial effect, intending to provide references for the further development of drugs for the prevention and treatment of dental caries. Future studies should focus on the following aspects, mechanism, clinical efficacy, chemical modification, and safety, to supplement and make improvements on the existing relevant research, and to promote progress in research and development of drugs for the prevention and treatment of dental caries.


Facial makeup enriches the beauty of not only real humans but also virtual characters; therefore, makeup for 3D facial models is highly in demand in productions. However, painting directly on 3D faces and capturing real‐world makeup are costly, and extracting makeup from 2D images often struggles with shading effects and occlusions. This paper presents the first method for extracting makeup for 3D facial models from a single makeup portrait. Our method consists of the following three steps. First, we exploit the strong prior of 3D morphable models via regression‐based inverse rendering to extract coarse materials such as geometry and diffuse/specular albedos that are represented in the UV space. Second, we refine the coarse materials, which may have missing pixels due to occlusions. We apply inpainting and optimization. Finally, we extract the bare skin, makeup, and an alpha matte from the diffuse albedo. Our method offers various applications for not only 3D facial models but also 2D portrait images. The extracted makeup is well‐aligned in the UV space, from which we build a large‐scale makeup dataset and a parametric makeup model for 3D faces. Our disentangled materials also yield robust makeup transfer and illumination‐aware makeup interpolation/removal without a reference image.


There is an increase in the levels in which tropical rainforest and temperate grasslands have become anthropogenically fragmented in recent years. However, an understanding of the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms coupled with conservation biology and biodiversity studies is crucial in explaining habitat fragmentation implications in stable ecosystems (Fahrig, 2003; Henle et al., 2004). The utilization of genetic variability and adaptability can be used as a stepping stone in identifying germplasms that can be used in the search of new ecotypes with novel genes which can be incorporated in crop, fodder and cover tree improvement programs in other similar reclaimable ecological zones. Studies have shown that there is a considerable genetic variability within or between natural populations. This variability provides a genomic flexibility that can be used as a raw material for plant adaptation as pioneer species. There is need to seek for higher genetic variability so as to increase the capacity of an organism to adapt to the ever changing environmental conditions (Ellstrand and Elam, 1993). Low genetic variability has been associated with the inability to cope with abiotic and biotic stresses (Valen, 1965). It is now possible to compare and analyze the pattern and spectrum of genetic variations within or between using molecular genetic tools (Zhang et al., 2009, Madan et al., 2002; Reisch et al., 2005). The amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) is one of the most precise, cost effective polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based ecological tool that has been used for molecular analysis of such population genetic diversity analysis (Vos et al., 1995; Bensch, and Akesson, 2005). It has been shown to be comparatively highly informative, reliable and efficient tool in other grass investigations (Fjellheim and Rognli, 2005). Such tools can be used to determine the correlation between the genetic differentiation and geographic distance among different populations. However, the level of genetic differentiation can be affected by more than one ecological factor in a geographical region, especially environmental heterogeneity (Liu et al., 2004). Other factors could be natural mutation, artificial selection, and combined ecological factors which are instrumental in the differentiation into ecotypes (Liu et al., 2002). Therefore, variations in gene expressions which are caused by abiotic and biotic stresses in the environment trigger epigenetic mechanisms like cytosine DNA methylation which have


In recent years, an increased focus has been placed upon the possibility of the elimination of soil-transmitted helminth (STH) transmission using various interventions including mass drug administration. The primary diagnostic tool recommended by the WHO is the detection of STH eggs in stool using the Kato-Katz (KK) method. However, detecting infected individuals using this method becomes increasingly difficult as the intensity of infection decreases. Newer techniques, such as qPCR, have been shown to have greater sensitivity than KK, especially at low prevalence. However, the impact of using qPCR on elimination thresholds is yet to be investigated. In this paper, we aim to quantify how the sensitivity of these two diagnostic tools affects the optimal prevalence threshold at which to declare the interruption of transmission with a defined level of confidence. A stochastic, individual-based STH transmission model was used in this study to simulate the transmission dynamics of Ascaris and hookworm. Data from a Kenyan deworming study were used to parameterize the diagnostic model which was based on egg detection probabilities. The positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV) were calculated to assess the quality of any given threshold, with the optimal threshold value taken to be that at which both were maximised. The threshold prevalence of infection values for declaring elimination of Ascaris transmission were 6% and 12% for KK and qPCR respectively. For hookworm, these threshold values are lower at 0.5% and 2% respectively. Diagnostic tests with greater sensitivity are becoming increasingly important as we approach the elimination of STH transmission in some regions of the world. For declaring the elimination of transmission, using qPCR to diagnose STH infection results in the definition of a higher prevalence, than when KK is used.


Several studies have sought to explain the possible causal relationship between periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to find evidence that periodontal treatment is associated with changes in lipid levels in patients with cardiovascular disease after a 12-month followup period. Eighty patients were selected and divided into 4 groups of 20 patients each, as follows: 2 groups of patients with cardiovascular disease and conventional periodontal treatment or full-mouth scaling and root planing; and 2 groups of patients without systemic involvement and conventional periodontal treatment or full-mouth scaling and root planing. The patients were evaluated by laboratory examinations and clinically evaluated for 12 months. Improvement in the clinical and lipid parameters in patients with cardiovascular disease was observed. The best results were obtained by mechanical control and full-mouth scaling and root planing. It may be concluded that periodontal treatment contributes to control the lipid levels, particularly in patients with cardiovascular disease.


Recent findings on the mechanism of allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) have revisited the role of immunoglobulin G (IgG) as the development of specific blocking IgG antibodies appeared critical for the successful suppression of T-helper 2 (Th2)-biased allergic responses. Consequently, any form of molecular AIT-promoting potent allergen-specific neutralizing antibodies would be preferred to conventional administration of allergen extracts. The potent immunogenicity of virus-like particles (VLPs) could be harnessed for that purpose. The particle size (20–200 nm) optimizes uptake by antigen-presenting cells as well as lymphatic trafficking. Moreover, the display of antigens in repetitive arrays promotes potent B cell activation for the development of sustained antibody responses. The presentation of self-antigens on the particle surface was even capable to break B cell tolerance. In this review, we describe the immunomodulatory properties of the 3 VLP-based strategies designed so far for the treatment of allergic disease: VLP packaged with CpG motifs as well as chimeric particles displaying pro-Th2/Th2 cytokines or allergens (full-length or B cell epitopes).


Whistleblowers could facilitate the regulation of the environmental sector at little to no cost to the taxpayer. Often, potential whistleblowers have timely access to information that would enable them to avert or minimize environmental damage and to protect our communities. However, existing federal and state regulations fail to adequately protect environmental whistleblowers and to incentivize potential environmental whistleblowers. These failures unjustly penalize whistleblowers and discourage potential whistleblowers. This article uses research findings and a case study to illuminate these failings and to argue for reforms that would better protect and incentivize whistleblowers.


OBJECTIVE
The authors examined the mortality rate in geriatric patients receiving either haloperidol or atypical antipsychotics.

METHODS
Authors tracked mortality over a 2-year period in patients age 65 years or older receiving haloperidol (N=299) or the atypical antipsychotics risperidone or olanzapine (N= 1,254).

RESULTS
Sixty-four patients in the haloperidol group (21.4%) and 61 patients in the atypical group (4.75%) died during the 2-year study period. The difference was statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS
The findings suggest that mortality in elderly patients receiving haloperidol is significantly higher than in those receiving the atypical antipsychotics risperidone or olanzapine. Authors discuss possible causal mechanisms.


The early 1940s marked a period in which the consensus norms of the Supreme Court experienced a radical and apparently permanent change. The consistent pattern of relatively high cohesion characteristic of the Court's earlier years gave way to surging rates of concurring and dissenting opinions. The present research is an examination of the factors possibly contributing to the justices' sharply increasing tendency to express their individual views rather than to defer to the opinion of the Court. Using both historical and quantitative methods, the authors evaluate the impact of the Court's discretionary jurisdiction, changing caseload, associate justice characteristics, and judicial leadership. The evidence presented points to the conclusion that in combination with other factors the leadership style introduced by Harlan Fiske Stone in 1941 had a dramatic effect on the consensus norms of the Court.


Background - The phenotype and biological role of monocytes in B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is not fully understood, however, an increased absolute monocyte count in the peripheral blood of lymphoma patients is associated with a poor prognosis. We have previously reported that monocytes from patients with relapsed B-cell NHL displayed an immunosuppressive CD14 + HLA-DR low/- phenotype that correlated with a poor prognosis. However, the underlying mechanism by which CD14 + HLA-DR low/- monocytes develop in patients with B-cell NHL is unknown. The goal of this study was to determine whether cytokines are responsible for the increased number and phenotype of CD14 + HLA-DR low/- monocytes present in lymphoma patients. Methods – Whole blood from patients with newly diagnosed, untreated B-cell NHL (n=20) and healthy donors (n=20) was stained with a panel of antibodies and analyzed by 10-color flow cytometry. Cytokine levels in serum and culture supernatants were measured by Luminex and ELISA, respectively. Polarization of monocytes from healthy donors was performed by incubating CD14 + cells with specific cytokines or supernatants from B-cell NHL cell lines for 24 hours. Activation and proliferation of CD4 + T cells cocultured with IL-10-pretreated monocytes were measured by flow cytometry. Results – By flow cytometry, we observed that the absolute number of peripheral monocytes was increased in newly-diagnosed lymphoma patients compared to healthy donors. A significant proportion of these monocytes displayed an immunosuppressive CD14 + HLA-DR low/- phenotype and the numbers of CD14 + HLA-DR low/- cells were significantly higher in lymphoma patients than in healthy donors. To identify the underlying mechanism by which CD14 + HLA-DR low/- monocytes develop thereby leading to increased numbers of CD14 + HLA-DR low/- monocytes in B-cell NHL, we tested a panel of cytokines and found that IL-10 played a key role in the process. Firstly, treatment of monocytes with IL-10 in vitro resulted in the generation of CD14 + HLA-DR low/- cells. Second, monocytes co-cultured with IL-10 producing lymphoma B-cells, or treated with supernatants from lymphoma cell cultures, developed a CD14 + HLA-DR low/- phenotype. Thirdly, IL-10 levels were increased in the serum of DLBCL (p + HLA-DR low/- monocytes were significantly immunosuppressive and inhibited the proliferation and activation of CD4 + T cells in co-culture assays. Conclusions- Taken together, our results suggest that IL-10 signaling contributes to the increased numbers of CD14 + HLA-DR low/- monocytes in B-cell NHL. Strategies to inhibit IL-10 production may therefore have therapeutic potential in B-cell NHL. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Empirical research on the benefits of investing in inflation-linked bonds usually relies on a limited number of observations due to the relatively recent introduction of these assets. We estimate models for the break-even inflation rate and use these to create hypothetical inflation-linked bond returns. We compare these with the return on actual inflation-linked bond returns on a recent sample and find that surveys of professional forecasters and moving average models perform best. We confirm these findings for a sample of 19 international inflation-linked bond markets. Using surveys of professional forecasters, we create hypothetical inflation-linked bond return series for 41 countries starting in 1987 or later depending on the availability of nominal bond markets. These simulated series can be used by asset allocation researchers, but an average correlation of 0.7 means that the simulated series are at best reasonable proxies for real data on inflation-linked bond returns. This cautionary note is also relevant to appreciate existing research using simulated inflation-linked bond returns.


Introduction: Excessive alcohol consumption has steadily risen to become the third leading cause of preventable death in the USA. One consequence of heavy alcohol use recently under considerable investigation is alcoholic hepatitis. Although many risk factors for developing alcoholic hepatitis have been documented, our aim in this study was to examine the potential association between sarcopenia and severity, mortality, 30 days readmission rate, complication, infections and length of hospital stay in alcoholic hepatitis patients. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed at a large, academic hospital in 194 alcoholic hepatitis patients aged 18–60 who had cross-sectional computed tomography imaging and met our clinical definition of alcoholic hepatitis. The fifth percentile of the psoas muscle index was used as a cutoff for sarcopenia. Results: One hundred ninety-four patients met the criteria for alcoholic hepatitis and had cross-sectional imaging. Higher Model for End-Stage Liver disease score was found in the sarcopenia group when compared to the non-sarcopenia group (mean Model for End-Stage Liver disease 21.5 and 24.2, respectively, P = 0.03). Sarcopenia also correlated with significantly longer hospital stay; the average length of stay in the sarcopenia group was 17.2 days while the non-sarcopenia patients had an average of 12.4 days. We found higher risk of developing pneumonia, sepsis and hepatic encephalopathy in sarcopenic patients. Conclusion: Alcoholic hepatitis patients with sarcopenia have significantly worse outcomes when compared with the patients without sarcopenia, including a severe form of alcoholic hepatitis, longer hospital stays, higher risk of developing pneumonia, sepsis and hepatic encephalopathy.


The discovery of multitubular 'virus-like' inclusions in renal tissue from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) (Gyorkey, Sinkovics, Min, and Gyorkey, 1972) renewed interest in the hypothesis that this and other connective tissue diseases (CTD) might have a microbial aetiology (Christian, Phillips, and Williams, 1971; Ziff, 1971). Attempts to isolate viruses from SLE have been unsuccessful (Feorino, Hierholzer, and Norton, 1970; Phillips, 1971), but increased antibodies to various viruses have been found (Phillips and Christian, 1970; Hollinger, Sharp, Lidsky, and Rawls, 1971; Hurd, Dowdle, Casey, and Ziff, 1972; Evans, Rothfield, and Niederman, 1971; Kalliomaki and Halonen, 1972). These studies failed to implicate a specific virus as the cause of SLE, but the reason for the antibody elevations was not clear. We found a direct relationship between measles and gamma globulin levels which suggested that the elevated antibody levels in SLE were due to hyperimmunoglobulinaemia (Phillips and Christian, 1972). We report here an analysis of measles, parainfluenza type 1 (Para-1), and adenovirus antibodies in relation to various clinical and laboratory parameters in subjects with SLE, other CTD and other diseases.


To develop an accurate and convenient method for monitoring the production of citrus-derived bioactive 5-demethylnobiletin from the demethylation reaction of nobiletin, we compared surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) methods with a conventional high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. Our results show that both the substrate- and solution-based SERS methods correlated with the HPLC method very well. The solution method produced lower root-mean-square error of calibration and higher correlation coefficient than the substrate method. The solution method used an "affinity chromatography"-like procedure to separate the reactant nobiletin from the product 5-demthylnobiletin based on their different binding affinities to the silver dendrites. The substrate method was found simpler and faster to collect the SERS "fingerprint" spectra of the samples because no incubation between samples and silver was needed and only a trace amount of samples was required. Our results demonstrated that the SERS methods were superior to the HPLC method in conveniently and rapidly characterizing and quantifying 5-demethylnobiletin production.


The resources for electrical energy are depleting and hence the gap between the supply and the demand is continuously increasing. Under such circumstances, the only option left is optimal utilization of available energy resources. The paper presents a generalized mathematical model which gives solution for minimizing the total operating cost of the industry subject to the constraints. The work presented in this paper also gives the results of application of neural network, Demand Side Management (DSM) techniques and batteries applied to a medium scale milk industrial consumer in India. The work also reveals reduction in Maximum Demand (MD), improvement in load factor, and saving in the energy bill.


The paper presents pipe butt welding processes in steam boiler production. Beside conventional MMA (Metal-arc welding with covered electrode) process, automatic TIG (Tungsten inert gas arc welding) process when pipes rotate during the welding (the welding head is motionless), and automatic orbital TIG welding when welding head rotates during the welding (pipes are motionless), are explained. The first described automatic TIG welding process is single pass welding process, and the second is multi pass welding process. Beside cost efficiency observation, examples of successfully applied automatic welding processes of butt tube welding in steam boiler production are given corroborated with the results of the mechanical tests.


Tobacco is the single most important cause of avoidable morbidity and early mortality in many countries. Smoking cessation is associated with a reduction in the prevalence of related symptoms as well as a progressive decrease in the occurrence of related diseases. Thus, there is a rapid decline in the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases in individuals who stop smoking; there is also a decline in the occurrence of lung cancer, although delayed and with a slower decrease rate. This is an important message for physicians and patients: Physicians should systematically offer counselling and information to their patients who smoke. The message should be tailored to the patient's status and must be different for a patient who has already decided to quit than for a patient who is not considering cessation in the near future. To help patients who have decided to stop and incite other patients who smoke to quit, physicians should be aware of the mechanisms involved in acquiring and breaking tobacco dependence (learning pathways, physiological dependence, behavioral analysis). Physicians should be trained to use methods which have proved effective in a physician's practice and to manage difficulties which may arise during cessation (e.g. craving, weight gain), as well as appropriate use of nicotine skin patches or chewing gum. From a public health standpoint, widespread action by physicians to promote smoking cessation among their patients could be one of the most effective clinical preventive measures.


The potential for large-scale use of a sensitive real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was evaluated for the detection of Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) in single and bulked leaf samples by comparing its sensitivity with that of DAS-ELISA. Using total RNA extracted with RNeasy® or leaf soak methods, real time RT-PCR detected TSWV in all infected samples collected from 16 horticultural crop species (including flowers, herbs and vegetables), two arable crop species, and four weed species by both assays. In samples in which DAS-ELISA had previously detected TSWV, real time RT-PCR was effective at detecting it in leaf tissues of all 22 plant species tested at a wide range of concentrations. Bulk samples required more robust and extensive extraction methods with real time RT-PCR, but it generally detected one infected sample in 1000 uninfected ones. By contrast, ELISA was less sensitive when used to test bulked samples, once detecting up to 1 infected in 800 samples with pepper but never detecting more than 1 infected in 200 samples in tomato and lettuce. It was also less reliable than real time RT-PCR when used to test samples from parts of the leaf where the virus concentration was low. The genetic variability among Australian isolates of TSWV was small. Direct sequencing of a 587 bp region of the nucleoprotein gene (S RNA) of 29 isolates from diverse crops and geographical locations yielded a maximum of only 4.3% nucleotide sequence difference. Phylogenetic analysis revealed no obvious groupings of isolates according to geographic origin or host species. TSWV isolates, that break TSWV resistance genes in tomato or pepper did not differ significantly in the N gene region studied, indicating that a different region of the virus genome is responsible for this trait.


The results presented in the report are related to a series of investigations carried out at the Department to Hydro-optics of SOI during a number of years with the aim of development, design and practical employment of optical instruments of measuring the statistical characteristics of turbulent inhomogeneities in sea water. The values if magnitude and characteristics scales of refractive index fluctuations caused by turbulent convection in sea water with temperature and salinity stratification, as well as the presence of suspended hydrosol particles, stipulate the choice of devices based on photoelectrical registration of small-angle scattering of light beam propagating through the volume of analyzed medium. The developed modifications of phase- contrast methods (shadow methods) make it possible to detect the variations of light beam angle-of-arrival at the level of 0.03" - 0.05"; the instrument may be mounted on remotely controlled underwater carrier towed by research vessel with the velocity 4-12 knots at the desired depth in the range from 0 to 300 m. The interpretation of registered signals from photoelectrical output of the optical instrument is based on the connection between the signal correlation function or spectrum and the energetic spectrum of refractive index fluctuations. The corresponding relations are obtained with the help of the theory of light propagation in random media, namely, the closed equations for light field statistical moments in parabolic approximation. The results of theoretical analysis allows the optimization of optical scheme to meet the requirements of linearity of the signal relation to the analyzed fluctuations magnitude, high spatial resolution and low sensitivity threshold, as well as sufficient resistance to vibrations and changes in pressure and temperature. A measurement of optical fluctuations spectrum in turbulent flow behind a heated grating in hydrodynamic tube are shown to demonstrate the designed instruments abilities. Some results of in-situ experiments made in calm waters and in turbulized layer near thermocline are presented.


Abstract Increasing demand for urban agriculture (UA) can be perceived as a global phenomenon. In some parts of the world its main function is to feed the rapidly growing population while in others it is more associated with lifestyle and environmental issues. Undeniably, UA provides opportunities for sustainable city development. UA can support all pillars of sustainable development: ecological, economic, and social. However, depending on existing circumstances certain pillars may be influenced more than others. In this paper we concentrate on urban allotments in Andalusia and take Baeza as an example of a city with an interesting approach to urban gardening. We attempt to answer the question how urban allotments in Baeza affect the city's sustainable development and what remains to be done to make this influence more effective. Our study showed that allotment gardens in Baeza endorsed all three pillars of sustainable city development. However, developing broader community relations on the city scale, revival of declining local grocery market and dissemination of environmental initiatives which allotment gardens may also promote and facilitate was missing.


Anton Makarenko's novel The Pedagogical Poem had been published in 1934–1935; after 20 years it was finally filmed (The Pedagogical Poem by Alexei Maslukov and Mechislava Mayevskaya, 1955). This article is an analysis of a specific relationship between Makarenko's text and the cinematic variant of the "Poem". The nature of transformation of literary text into film text is complex. It requires not only the adaptation of the novel to the linguistic requirements of the movie. The typological distinctions between the language of literary and cinematic Poems concern not only two spheres of the functioning of these works, but also two types of culture in which they were brought to life. The literary Pedagogical Poem was created as an autonomous work against totalitarian discourse, however it still participates in it. The key to its reading (which is specific for totalitarian culture) analyzed in this text results from the main function of narratives of this culture, i.e. the transmission of units of its mythological universe.


A new type of database anomaly is described by addressing the concept of cumulated anomaly in this paper. Dubiety-determining model (DDM), which is a detection model basing on statistical and fuzzy set theories for cumulated anomaly, is proposed. DDM can measure the dubiety degree of each database transaction quantitatively. Software system architecture to support the DDM for monitoring database transactions is designed. We also implemented the system and tested it. Our experimental results show that the DDM method is feasible and effective.


Background: Diabetes is one of the most prevalent diseases worldwide. Self-care practices play an important role in diabetes management and prevention of complications. Demographics, patient knowledge, socioeconomic status, and culture affect self-care practices and, consequently, disease outcomes. This study was conducted to assess self-care practices and determine associations with sociodemographic factors among patients with diabetes.Participants and methods: A purposive sample of 382 patients with type 2 diabetes was assembled for this exploratory study. A semi-structured questionnaire was adapted to serve as a data-gathering tool. Information was collected regarding sociodemographic features, clinical characteristics, and self-care practices related to diabetes management. Continuous variables were analyzed using frequencies and percentages, and categorical variables were analyzed using chi-square tests.Results: In total, 382 questionnaires were completed by 382 patients approached for study enrollment. No standard of diabetes self-care was adhered to by all patients. Indeed, only 28.5% of participants reported receiving a glycated hemoglobin test to inform diabetic treatment planning. Sociodemographic factors of age, sex, marital status, educational level, and monthly household income were associated with adherence to self-care practices among patients with diabetes.Conclusion: Self‑care practices of patients with diabetes are influenced by many sociodemographic factors. Clinically, this information can be applied to design and target education and care planning for patients with type 2 diabetes. Providing special attention to patients with diabetes would allow for the provision of realistic recommendations regarding self-care.


Sonicated cell-free extract proteins of 14 field isolates ofBacillus anthracis from six different endemic areas of Indonesia were analyzed by the use of sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) methods . The protein profiles of each field isolate tested demonstrated slightly different at the protein bands with molecular weights of 18, 37, 52, 65 and 70 kDa, and varied between the field isolates and vaccine strains. The variation could provide clues to the source of anthrax transmission whether it was originated from similar strain or not. Key words : Protein profiles, Bacillus anthracis, SDS-PAGE


The Kondo lattice model, augmented by a Zeeman term, serves as a useful model of a Kondo insulator in an applied magnetic field. A variational mean field analysis of this system on a square lattice, backed up by quantum Monte Carlo calculations, reveals an interesting separation of magnetic field scales. For Zeeman energy comparable to the Kondo energy, the spin gap closes and the system develops transverse staggered magnetic order. The charge gap, however, remains robust up to a higher hybridization energy scale, at which point the canted antiferromagnetism is exponentially suppressed and the system crosses over to a nearly metallic regime. Quantum Monte Carlo simulations support this mean field scenario. An interesting rearrangement of spectral weight with magnetic field is found.


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The administration of ex vivo expanded natural killer (NK) cells as potential antitumor effector cells appears to be suitable for effector cell-based immunotherapies in high-risk cancer patients. However, good manufacturing practice (GMP)-compliant manufacturing of clinical-grade NK cells at sufficiently high numbers represents a great challenge. Therefore, previous expansion protocols for those effector cells were improved and optimized by using newly developed culture medium, interleukin (IL)-21, and autologous feeder cells (FCs). Separation of primary human NK cells (CD56+CD3-) was carried out with the CliniMACS Prodigy® in a single process, starting with approximately 1.2 × 109 leukocytes collected by small-scale lymphapheresis or from buffy coats. Enriched NK cells were adjusted to starting cell concentrations within approximately 1 × 106 effector cells/mL and cultured in comparative expansion experiments for 14 days with IL-2 (1,000 IU/mL) in different GMP-compliant media (X-VIVO™10, CellGro®, TexMACS™, and NK MACS®). After medium optimization, beneficial effects for functionality and phenotype were investigated at the beginning of cell expansion with irradiated (25 Gy) autologous FCs at a ratio of 20:1 (feeder: NK) in the presence or absence of IL-21 (100 ng/mL). Additionally, expanded NK cells were gene modified to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) against CD123, a common marker for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Cytotoxicity, degranulation, and cytokine release of transduced NK cells were determined against KG1a cells in flow cytometric analysis and fluorescent imaging. The Prodigy manufacturing process revealed high target cell viabilities (median 95.4%), adequate NK cell recovery (median 60.4%), and purity of 95.4% in regard to CD56+CD3- target cells. The process in its early phase of development led to a median T-cell depletion of log 3.5 after CD3 depletion and log 3.6 after the whole process, including CD3 depletion and CD56 enrichment steps. Manually performed experiments to test different culture media demonstrated significantly higher NK cell expansion rates and an approximately equal distribution of CD56dimCD16pos and CD56brightCD16dim&neg NK subsets on day 14 with cells cultivated in NK MACS® media. Moreover, effector cell expansion in manually performed experiments with NK MACS® containing IL-2 and irradiated autologous FCs and IL-21, both added at the initiation of the culture, induced an 85-fold NK cell expansion. Compared to freshly isolated NK cells, expanded NK cells expressed significantly higher levels of NKp30, NKp44, NKG2D, TRAIL, FasL, CD69, and CD137, and showed comparable cell viabilities and killing/degranulation activities against tumor and leukemic cell lines in vitro. NK cells used for CAR transduction showed the highest anti-CD123 CAR expression on day 3 after gene modification. These anti-CD123 CAR-engineered NK cells demonstrated improved cytotoxicity against the CD123pos AML cell line KG1a and primary AML blasts. In addition, CAR NK cells showed higher degranulation and enhanced secretion of tumor necrosis factor alpha, interferon gamma, and granzyme A and B. In fluorescence imaging, specific interactions that initiated apoptotic processes in the AML target cells were detected between CAR NK cells and KG1a. After the fully automated NK cell separation process on Prodigy, a new NK cell expansion protocol was generated that resulted in high numbers of NK cells with potent antitumor activity, which could be modified efficiently by novel third-generation, alpha-retroviral SIN vector constructs. Next steps are the integration of the manual expansion procedure in the fully integrated platform for a standardized GMP-compliant overall process in this closed system that also may include gene modification of NK cells to optimize target-specific antitumor activity.


Background Over the years it has become increasingly clear that vascular involvement in giant cell arteritis (GCA) is widespread, that vasculitic changes may become evident many years after onset of the disease, and that these anomalies may not always be symptomatic. Objectives To investigate the cumulative incidence of large vessel involvement (LVI), defined as aneurysm/ectasia/stenosis of the aorta and its main branches, in patients with biopsy-proven GCA, and to describe the distribution of LVI. Furthermore, to identify predictive factors and to evaluate to what extent the presence of LVI is systematically investigated at the time of diagnosis and during follow-up. Methods Patients with biopsy-proven GCA in the region of Kristianstad, the County of Skåne in southern Sweden, diagnosed between 1997 and 2010, were investigated. Patients were identified using the regional register of the Department of Pathology in Skåne as previously described (1). A retrospective review of case records and histopathology reports of all the identified patients was performed. Results A total of 169 patients were identified, of whom 24 (14.2%) had LVI with the following distribution: aortic ectasia n=17 (ascendens n=10, descendens n=3, abdominal n=4), aortic aneurysm n=10 (ascendens n=3, descendens n=2, abdominal n=5), aortic arch branches (cervical and upper-extremities) n=3, visceral arteries (truncus coeliacus, mesenteric arteries, renal arteries) n=5, lower extremity arteries (iliac, femoral, crural) n=10, intracranial vessels n=1. Two patients had concomitant aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection, two had ectasia at several levels of aorta and four had concomitant aortic aneurysm and ectasia. Fourteen (58%) had isolated aortic involvement and six (25%) had concomitant affection of the aorta and its tributaries. There were no major differences between those with LVI and those without regarding sex (71% vs 76% females) or age at diagnosis (mean 76.5 vs 75.8 years). LVI manifestations were initially noted a median of 3.7 years [interquartile range (IQR) 0.7-7.5] after the diagnosis of GCA. Presence of giant cells in the biopsy was significantly less frequent among patients with LVI (23% vs 52%; p=0.01). There was also a trend towards lower levels of CRP [median 75 (IQR 46-111) vs 90 mg/L (IQR 50-146); p=0.31] and ESR [mean 66 (SD 27) vs 75 mm1h (SD 28); p=0.15] at diagnosis among those with LVI, although this did not reach statistical significance. In general, patients were not systematically investigated regarding the presence of LVI at the time of diagnosis or during the course of the disease. Conclusions LVI of a number of different arteries is seen in GCA. The lower proportion with giant cells in the biopsy and the lower initial inflammatory response suggest that this is a subset of GCA with particular characteristics and disease mechanisms. It is likely that the occurrence of LVI in GCA is severely underrated due to lack of physician awareness of such complications. References Mohammad A et al. Ann Rheum Dis 2014; doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2013-204652. Epub Jan 17. Disclosure of Interest None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.2853


The target of rapamycin (TOR) protein phosphorylates its downstream effector p70kDa ribosomal protein S6 kinases (S6K1) for ribosome biogenesis and translation initiation in eukaryotes. However, the molecular mechanism of TOR-S6K1-ribosomal protein (RP) signaling is not well understood in plants. In the present study, we report the transcriptional upregulation of ribosomal protein large and small subunit (RPL and RPS) genes in the previously established TOR overexpressing transgenic lines of rice (in Oryza sativa ssp. indica, variety BPT-5204, TR-2.24 and TR-15.1) and of Arabidopsis thaliana (in Col 0 ecotype, ATR-1.4.27 and ATR-3.7.32). The mRNA levels of RP genes from this study were compared with those previously available in transcriptomic datasets on the expression of RPs in relation to TOR inhibitor and in the TOR-RNAi lines of Arabidopsis thaliana. We further analyzed TOR activity, i.e., S6K1 phosphorylation in SALK lines of Arabidopsis with mutation in rpl6, rpl18, rpl23, rpl24 and rps28C, where the rpl18 mutant showed inactivation of S6K1 phosphorylation. We also predicted similar putative Ser/Thr phosphorylation sites for ribosomal S6 kinases (RSKs) in the RPs of Oryza sativa ssp. indica and Arabidopsis thaliana. The findings of this study indicate that the TOR pathway is possibly interlinked in a cyclic manner via the phosphorylation of S6K1 as a modulatory step for the regulation of RP function to switch 'on'/'off' the translational regulation for balanced plant growth.


The identification and characterization of traffic anomalies on massive road networks is a vital component of traffic monitoring and control. Anomaly identification can be used to reduce congestion, increase safety, and provide transportation engineers with better information for traffic forecasting and road network design. However, because of the size, complexity, and dynamics of transportation networks, automating such a process is challenging. A multidimensional mining framework is proposed; it can be used to identify a concise set of anomalies from massive traffic monitoring data and then overlay, contrast, and explore such anomalies in multidimensional space. The framework is based on the development of two novel methods: (1) efficient anomaly mining stemming from the discovery of the atypical fragment (a compact representation of a set of abnormal traffic patterns happening across a sequence of connected road segments, possibly spanning multiple roads, and occurring at overlapping time intervals) and (2) a multidimensional anomaly overlay model that enables the clustering of multiple atypical fragments according to different criteria (e.g., severity, topology, or spatiotemporal characteristics). The atypical fragment provides a concise, global view of the traffic anomaly situation, whereas the framework for anomaly overlay provides the power of online analytical processing to facilitate the discovery of patterns associated with different anomaly types and the navigation of anomalies at multilevel abstraction.


Introduction: Antibodies to voltage-gated potassium channels have been implicated in causing a host of peripheral and central nervous system disorders. However, the presence of these antibodies has not been previously associated with motor neuropathy. We describe the first case of acquired motor neuron disease associated with voltage-gated potas-sium channel antibodies. Case Report: The patient is an 81-year-old female who developed signs and symptoms of an idiopathic motor neuron disease. The patient was found to have increased antibodies to voltage-gated potassium chan-nels in the absence of a known metastatic or autoimmune process. Magnetic resonance imaging of the cervical spine demonstrated increased signal in the anterior horn regions of the cervical and upper thoracic spinal cord on T2-weighted imaging. The patient's disease progression was refractory to both intravenous immunoglobulin and ster-oid therapy. Conclusion: Voltage-gated potassium channels may be causal or simply associated with motor neuron disease; this relationship needs to be elucidated. Testing for these antibodies may be warranted in cases of idiopathic rapidly progressing motor neuron disease.


We use data from the Austrian Credit Register as well as bank and firm balance sheet data to analyze the effects of the 2008-09 financial crisis on access to credit and the performance of Austrian firms in 2007-2009. We distinguish two important and distinct channels through which the crisis affected bank lending and the real economy: exposure to the interbank market as well as exposure of a bank to the United States via the assets it holds. Controlling for credit demand, we find that firms borrowing from banks that relied more on interbank financing or had more U.S. assets on their balance sheet before the crisis received less bank credit and invested less during the crisis, but did not cut employment by more. Additional results suggest that firms with only one bank relationship before the crisis were more adversely affected by lender health during the crisis in terms of access to credit than firms with multiple


Methotrexate (MTX) is one of the most commonly used medicines in the treatment of psoriatic arthritis. The drug can produce steatosis and cirrhosis. Autoimmune hepatitis is a rare and serious adverse effect. We describe the case of a 53-year-old woman who developed autoimmune hepatitis after a long-term use of MTX for psoriatic arthritis. Hepatitis was completely resolved 4 months after stopping this drug. The pathophysiologic mechanisms of a drug-induced autoimmunity are unclear and complex. This report confirms the need to monitor liver enzymes carefully in patients using long-term treatment with MTX for psoriasis or rheumatoid arthritis.


A space tug vehicle is designed to rendezvous and dock with a space object; make an assessment of its current position, orientation, and operational status; and then either stabilize the object in its current orbit or move the object to a new location with subsequent release. A subset of on-orbit servicing, space tug missions in the geosynchronous belt include stationkeeping of satellites which have lost attitude control and repositioning of satellites. Repositioning of spacecraft may be desirable as a means to rescue satellites launched into incorrect orbits, for the retirement of satellites into "graveyard" orbits, and for on-demand maneuvers that support flexible mission requirements. This paper aims to unify the political, legal, operational, and financial aspects of the space tug concept and highlight the challenges that stand in the way of an operational space tug vehicle. U.S. Space Transportation Policy is reviewed, and a space tug operation is recognized as an enabler of emerging national space transportation requirements. Customary international and United States laws are explored as potential constraining forces on future tug missions. A concept of operations in geosynchronous orbit, including parking orbit selection and approach strategies, is analyzed with emphasis placed on safety and reliability. Potential financing models and the issue of insurance for space tugs are discussed and identified as the principal challenges facing implementation of a space tug system. This paper offers a positive forecast for the future of on-orbit servicing and endorses continued government support for proof-of-concept missions.


Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate, by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), the effect of Ca(OH) 2 dressing on the depth of dentinal tubule sealer penetration and the percentage of sealer-dentin adaptation in the coronal, middle, and apical thirds of teeth filled with methacrylate-based resin sealer (Epiphany). Methods: A total of 30 extracted single-rooted human mandibular incisors were instrumented up to file #40.04 (ProFile), with 1.0% NaOCl as irrigating solution. The teeth were randomly divided into three groups (n = 10): GI = no Ca(OH) 2 dressing (control group); GII = Ca(OH) 2 for 14 days + removal with saline solution and #40 K-file; and GIII = similar to Group II plus 17% EDTA for dressing removal. The Epiphany sealer was labeled with Rhodamine B dye, and all canals were filled with the Epiphany system. Three sections of each tooth were sectioned and viewed under 5X and 40X magnifications. Results: ANOVA and Tukey tests showed significantly lower values of sealer penetration depth in the apical third compared to the middle and coronal thirds (p < 0.05). The deepest sealer penetration was observed in the coronal and middle thirds of Group II. Groups II (93%) and III (86%) had the highest percentage of adaptation compared with Group I (78%) (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Ca(OH) 2 favors the depth of methacrylate-based sealer penetration and the percentage of sealer-dentin adaptation in teeth filled with the Epiphany system.


In 1992, the SEC abandoned its historical stance that executive pay issues relate to the ordinary business of a corporation when it revised its proxy rules and executive compensation reporting requirements. This change in policy allows executive pay issues to be subject to shareholder votes, while the new rules require greater pay disclosure and justification. The SEC argued this was needed to allow more effective monitoring of management by shareholders, which, they asserted, would help to reduce agency costs associated with the separation of firm ownership from control. However, the empirical results indicate shareholders experienced significant wealth losses to announcements concerning the new executive compensation reporting requirements. This suggests that the new rules have subjected boards to pressure about compensation issues from interests whose primary motivation may not be to increase the pay-for-performance sensitivity of executive pay, such as the media, labor unions and political activists.


The photochemical oxidation of gaseous methyl iodide at room temperature was investigated under conditions such that oxygen molecules were competing with iodine molecules and/or iodine atoms for reaction with methyl radicals. The molecular iodine produced in the oxidation was measured by means of its light absorption. A balanced photomultiplier system for the determination of small percentage light absorptions is described. Analysis of the results shows that the contribution of the methyl radical + iodine atom recombination is negligible compared with the methyl radical + iodine molecule reaction for the relative concentrations of iodine atoms and iodine molecules involved. The variation with pressure of the ratio of the rate constant of the methyl radical + iodine molecule reaction to that of the methyl radical + oxygen molecule reaction indicates that the main reaction of methyl radicals with oxygen is a third-order one. This is assumed to be their association to form methylperoxy radicals. Methyl iodide is approximately ten times as efficient as carbon dioxide in acting as a third body for this association. The relative rate of a simultaneous second-order reaction of methyl radicals with oxygen has also been determined. From comparison with other work, the probable orders of magnitude of the rate constants of these elementary reactions of the methyl radical are deduced.


This article describes one of the most effective forms of management of a modern medical institution - a meeting on the organization of management and quality of medical aid. The meeting is held once in a quarter for the improvement of management quality, better continuity between the departments, the organization of the activities of the organization in accordance with the requirements of standards ISO of a series 9001 and is an effective tool for transformation, significantly improves the performance of a medical institution, as well as allow superior integration of the individual processes in a single system.


The mechanism of tailored magnetic anisotropy in amorphous Co68Fe24Zr8 thin films was investigated by ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) on samples deposited without an applied magnetic field, with an out-of-plane field and an in-plane field. Analysis of FMR spectra profiles, high frequency susceptibility calculations, and statistical simulations using a distribution of local uniaxial magnetic anisotropy reveal the presence of atomic configurations with local uniaxial anisotropy, of which the direction can be tailored while the magnitude remains at an intrinsically constant value of 3.0(2) kJ/m3. The in-plane growth field remarkably sharpens the anisotropy distribution and increases the sample homogeneity. The results benefit designing multilayer spintronic devices based on highly homogeneous amorphous layers with tailored magnetic anisotropy.


The study was conducted during the 2014.05 – 2014.06 period.It was questioned respondents 18 years of age. Initially, 450questionnaires were distributed to the registries of the 442 questionnairesreturned (98.2 percent reversibility.). The questionnairewas administered to every tenth referring a patient for the firsttime. More respondents (60.7 percent), with higher / incompletehigher education than respondents (4.4 percent), with incompletesecondary education 21 – 40 years than 41-60 years the respondentsindicated that they were satisfied with the clinic working hours. Thesurveyed patients opinion, clinic reception, to register with a doctorwasted 5 to 10 minutes. Many study participants 21 – 40 years. (47.1percent) and 41 – 60 years. (34.8 percent) reported that with yourfamily doctor's visit had to wait for about 1 – 5 days. The majorityof respondents (66.7 percent) indicated that they adopt a familydoctor within 1 – 5 days were respondents with higher / incompletehigher education, at least as contention was the respondents (5.7percent) with incomplete secondary education. Upon analysis ofthe data showed that 40.6 percent 21 – 40 years respondents tothe doctor's office was called at the scheduled time while 45.2percent. 41 – 60 years age of the respondents said that they hadto wait longer than 30 minutes. More respondents (53.7 percent),with higher / incomplete higher education than respondents (3.3percent) with incomplete secondary education, said the surgery isthat they are reminded of preventive programs.


Silicosis outside the mines in South Africa has received little legislative or public attention. Between 1972 and 1986 217 such cases were seen at the National Centre for Occupational Health clinic, including 46 cases of progressive massive fibrosis. The relatively high proportion of cases of progressive massive fibrosis (21%), of patients less than or equal to 40 years at diagnosis (21% of blacks) and with exposures of less than or equal to 10 years (18%) indicate high silica exposures in industry. Four industries accounted for 83% of the cases--foundries, ceramics factories, refractories, and ore and stone crushing. Radiologically, readings of a mixture of rounded and irregular opacities were not uncommon (14%). Lymphadenopathy was very uncommon (less than 1%), while pleural thickening other than loss of the costophrenic angle was absent. Prevalences of symptoms, signs and lung function abnormality were high, probably owing to a range of factors other than silicosis. Cases of progressive massive fibrosis had significantly higher prevalences of these clinical abnormalities. When two separate lung function prediction equations were applied to the observed values in these cases, the number that met criteria for 'abnormality' differed. This finding has important implications for compensation. Recommendations include control of silica-using industries and careful occupational history-taking by clinicians.


Different subchannel computer codes have been successfully used for the thermal-hydraulic analysis of coolant flow in vertical fuel channels. None of these methods, however, is suitable for two-phase flow in horizontal fuel channels, such as those of the CANDU nuclear reactors, due to the lack of appropriate constitutive relationships that can correctly account for the gravity separation effects. A transverse vapor drift model that accounts for the combined effect of gravity separation and turbulent diffusion has been incorporated into the existing subchannel computer code SAGA. Although the basic structure of the code remains similar to SAGA III, some modifications in both the mathematical formulation and numerical solution have been incorporated. These modifications resulted in significant improvements in the code's ability to model horizontal two-phase subchannel flow. The new version of the code was tested and found to be capable of simulating the complex exchange phenomenon between adjacent horizontal subchannels caused by the interaction of turbulent diffusion, pressure gradient, and gravity-induced cross flows. The code predictions were compared with experimental data obtained from two different sources and showed good agreement.


This paper presents a backpropagation neural network (BPNN) approach based on the sparse autoencoder (SAE) for short-term water demand forecasting. In this method, the SAE is used as a feature learning method to extract useful information from hourly water demand data in an unsupervised manner. After that, the extracted information is employed to optimize the initial weights and thresholds of the BPNN. In addition, to enhance the effectiveness of the proposed method, data reconstruction is implemented to create suitable samples for the BPNN, and the early stopping method is employed to overcome the BPNN overfitting problem. Data collected from a real-world water distribution system are used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, and a comparison with the BPNN and other BPNN-based methods which integrate the BPNN with particle swarm optimization (PSO) and the mind evolutionary algorithm (MEA), respectively, is conducted. The results show that the proposed method can achieve fairly accurate and stable forecasts with a 2.31% mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and 320 m3/h root mean squared error (RMSE). Compared with the BPNN, PSO–BPNN and MEA–BPNN models, the proposed method gains MAPE improvements of 5.80, 3.33 and 3.89%, respectively. In terms of the RMSE, promising improvements (i.e., 5.27, 2.73 and 3.33%, respectively) can be obtained.


Characteristic of lipoprotein spectrum and state of free-radical processes in the animals under action of ionizing radiation and cholesterin diet are comparatively studied. The content of lipids in the blood serum increases on the 5th day after irradiation and then decreases on the 15th and 30th days. Cholesterin diet increases the content of cholesterin under practically unchanged content of triglycerides in the blood serum in all the terms of investigations. Total decrease of the intensity of induced chemiluminescence of the blood serum and erythrocytes after irradiation is shown. Peroral introduction of cholesterin evokes differently directed changes in the light sum of chemiluminescence--a decrease in erythrocytes and increase in the blood serum.


Eighteen wines, varying in ethanol (8%, 11%, 14% v/v), pH (2.9, 3.2, 3.8), and (+) catechin (100 and 1500 mg/ L) were prepared using a dealcoholized white wine concentrate. In a completely randomized design, sourness and bitterness intensities were rated by 20 subjects. Bitterness intensity was increased by the largest magnitude by raising ethanol concentration, whereas lowering the pH produced the biggest increase in sourness. Increasing ethanol from 8 to 11% v/v or 11 to 14% v/v produced 51% or 41% increases in bitterness, whereas addition of 1400 mg catechin raised bitterness only 28%. as pH was raised from 2.9 to 3.2, bitterness was also significantly enhanced, but a further increase from pH 3.2 to pH 3.8 had no significant impact. Sourness decreased with increasing pH and ethanol had no effect on sourness except at pH 3.2, where the increase in ethanol from 8% to 14% diminished sourness significantly. Catechin addition, while increasing bitterness, did not affect sourness.


Pump-controlled single-rod hydraulic actuators have long been the subject of intensive research towards building valve-less, more efficient systems. The main challenge is to deal with the uneven flows into and out of the differential cylinders. Over the past few years, several hydraulic circuits providing flow compensation have been proposed using hydrostatic pumps with identical input and output flows. However, one alternative solution would be to use a pump, whose input/output flow ratio matches the area ratio of the differential cylinder. Typical design and prototyping of the so-called asymmetrical pumps have been well reported previously. In this paper, we theoretically study the flow behaviour in a common design of asymmetrical axial-piston pumps and demonstrate some serious internal flow characteristics that can drastically limit the performance and range of operation of these pumps. Cavitation is the main problem to be addressed, and cannot be overlooked because of the very nature of the pump design.


OBJECTIVE
To study the anatomy of mandibular bone flap pedicled with temporal muscle for midfacial bone defects.

METHODS
The shape and blood supply of the temporal muscle and mandibular ramus, as well as their relationship, were observed and measured in 30 sides of adult head specimens.

RESULTS
The temporal muscle has a fan-shaped main portion, then is scattered into three bundles as anterolateral, anteromedial, posterior bundles, which end respectively at anterior border of ramus, the temporal ridge and posterior portion of coronoid process. Then the muscle goes downward until it reaches the distal side of the third medial surface molar and attaches the 3/4 of medial surface of anterior portion of ramus. The blood supply of temporal muscle includes the medial temporal artery with external diameter of (0.76 +/- 0.20) mm, the anterior deep temporal arteries with external diameter of (0.79 +/- 0.21) mm, posterior deep temporal arteries with external diameter of (0.98 +/- 0.64) mm, the accessory deep temporal artery formed by many little branches. The anterior part of ramus is supplied by the periosteal arteries and the bony perforator of the deep temporal arteries. Rectangular ramus of mandible was divided into anterior portion and posterior portion by the line linking the lowest point of mandibular notch, mandibular foramen and mandibular canal. Anterior portion can supply a bone flap with a size of (46.67 +/- 6.85) mm x (17.98 +/- 2.64) mm x (11.49 +/- 0.99) mm.

CONCLUSIONS
The mandibular bone flap pedicled with temporal muscle has a reliable blood supply and abundant bone volume. It is feasible to design a mandibular bone flap pedicled with temporal muscle for midfacial bone defect.


This Article, presented during a symposium on the sesquicentennial of the Oregon constitution, analyzes the state's system of municipal home rule, which was established by constitutional amendment in 1906, and makes two claims. First, the Article argues that a unique aspect of Oregon's home rule amendment – its presumption against the validity of local criminal laws – offers a functionally sound template for home rule by discouraging a patchwork of criminal ordinances that might ensnare unwitting individuals undeserving of criminal punishment for their conduct. The Article urges Oregon courts to recognize this functional value in clarifying the doctrine in this area, which has focused too much on the search for legislative intent. Second, the Article argues that although Oregon's judiciary has favored local policy innovation on the civil side through its presumption of validity for civil ordinances, the legislature has been too quick to preempt expressly local authority on a wide variety of subjects. This frequent preemption, often undertaken at the behest of well-funded interest groups, has stunted policy experimentation among Oregon municipalities, constituting one possible reason why Oregon cities and counties have not led the nation in enacting trendsetting local ordinances.


Summary: MODexplorer is an integrated tool aimed at exploring the sequence, structural and functional diversity in protein families useful in homology modeling and in analyzing protein families in general. It takes as input either the sequence or the structure of a protein and provides alignments with its homologs along with a variety of structural and functional annotations through an interactive interface. The annotations include sequence conservation, similarity scores, ligand-, DNA- and RNA-binding sites, secondary structure, disorder, crystallographic structure resolution and quality scores of models implied by the alignments to the homologs of known structure. MODexplorer can be used to analyze sequence and structural conservation among the structures of similar proteins, to find structures of homologs solved in different conformational state or with different ligands and to transfer functional annotations. Furthermore, if the structure of the query is not known, MODexplorer can be used to select the modeling templates taking all this information into account and to build a comparative model. Availability and implementation: Freely available on the web at http://modorama.biocomputing.it/modexplorer. Website implemented in HTML and JavaScript with all major browsers supported. Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online


We morphologically studied 300 consecutive and primitive meningiomas surgically treated between march 1997 and april 2002 in order to evaluate the incidence of atypical, anaplastic, and morphologically unusual meningiomas. Two hundred and fifty-five meningiomas (85%) were WHO I, 33 (11%) were WHO II, 9 (3%) were WHO III; the remaining 3 meningiomas (1%) showed clear and diffuse oncocytic differentiation without cytologic or architectural atypia (oncocytic meningiomas). Forty-five of 255 WHO I meningiomas (18%) were infrequent histological subtypes: 18 (7%) psammomatous, 9 (4%) metaplastic, 9 (4%) secretory, 6 (2%) angiomatous, and 3 (1%) microcystic. Thirty of 33 WHO II meningiomas (91%) were atypical, 2 (6%) were clear cell meningiomas, and 1 (3%) was chordoid meningioma. Seven of 9 WHO III meningiomas (78%) were anaplastic and 2 (22%) were papillary. We evidenced the high morphological variability and the discrete occurrence of WHO I and WHO II meningiomas.


Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is the most common form of sleep disordered breathing. Patients who arrive at the dental office with a diagnosis of OSA are often treated with a mandibular advancement device (MAD). A biomimetic oral appliance therapy (BOAT) offers an alternative nonsurgical method, which can putatively resolve OSA by combining maxilla-mandibular correction and addressing craniofacial deficiencies.

 To determine whether maxilla-mandibular correction changes induced by BOAT produce a more favorable upper airway, which might result in a reduction in the severity of OSA.

 Patients who were diagnosed with mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea (OSA, 9 males, 8 females; age, mean (SD): 45.76(10.31), BMI mean (SD): 33.5(13.43), underwent BOAT therapy. Subjects had 2 months of follow-up visits, including examinations for progress and adjustment of the appliances. The mean apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) with no appliance in the mouth prior to BOAT and after treatment was recorded. The mid-palatal screw mechanism of the appliance was advanced once per week. The subjects were asked to wear the appliance for 10-12 hours/day and night. Paired T-Test was used to analyze the results.

 The BOAT treatment enhanced upper airway function as the total AHI was significantly lower after treatment (P=0.019). Parameters that were significantly improved by the end of the treatment period included total AHI/Per hour of sleep (p=0.019), NREM-AHI (p=0.019), desaturation index (p=0.041), average SpO2 (p=0.088), and average O2 while in non-REM (p=0.043). Measurements of jaw changes were all statistically significant except lower 6-6 and lower 7-7. Additionally, a strong negative correlation between AHI and jaw changes was shown for upper 6-6 (p=-0.52), upper 7-7 (p=-0.48), and lower 3-3 (p=-0.42).

 The BOAT provides a useful form of therapy for the resolve of OSA. This study suggests that BOATS may be able to reduce the AHI to within normal limits. Still, long-term follow-up is needed to determine whether these subjects need a maintenance program to retain their initial upper airway improvement.


Plasma-sprayed thermal barrier coatings are highly insulating due to intersplat pores. High-temperature exposure, however, leads to pore healing and a loss of thermal insulating capability. Previous sintering models based on the healing of iso-thick pores cannot explain the ultrafast sintering kinetics observed during the initial sintering stage. To better understand the sintering process and the kinetics of pore healing, a study was conducted on the changes that occur at the interfaces between lamellae at high temperatures. It was found that splat surfaces develop multiscale convexes, forming bridges between adjacent splats that significantly accelerate pore healing. This model explains the fast sintering kinetics of the initial sintering stage and presents new opportunities to further tailor the sintering kinetics of YSZ coatings and thereby improve TBC performance.


Superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) using YBa2Cu3O7 step-edge grain boundary junctions on LaAlO3 substrates were fabricated. The I-V and V-Φ characteristics of these step-junction dc-SQUIDs were studied. A modulation voltage exceeding 16 μV was attained with Ls = 60 pH at 77 K. At 77 K, a square washer configuration with inductance Ls = 150 pH yields flux noise of about 5.08×10-5 Φ0/√ Hz at frequencies above 100 Hz, increasing to 1.1×10-4 Φ0/√Hz below 1 Hz. The corresponding magnetic field and energy resolution were 270 fT/√Hz and 3.68×10-29 J/Hz respectively, above 100 Hz, and increasing to 710 fT√Hz and 1.8×10-28 J/Hz over a signal frequency range to below 1 Hz.


This paper examines house price diffusion across metropolitan areas in the United States. We develop a generalization of the Hamilton and Owyang (2012) Markov-switching model, where we incorporate direct regional spillovers using a spatial weighting matrix. The Markov-switching framework allows consideration for house price movements that occur due to similar timing of downturns across MSAs. The inclusion of the spatial weighting matrix improves fit compared to a standard endogenous clustering model. We find seven clusters of MSAs that experience idiosyncratic recessions plus one distinct national house price cycle. Notably only the housing downturn associated with the Great Recession spread across all of the MSAs in our sample; other house price downturns remained contained to a single cluster. Previous research has found that housing cycles and business cycles are intertwined. To examine this potential relationship we apply our spatial Markov-switching model to employment growth data. We find that house price comovement and employment comovement are distinct across cities.


We report the synthesis of dithienobenzotropone-based conjugated alternating copolymers by direct arylation polycondensation. Postpolymerization modification by hydride reduction yields cross-conjugated, reactive hydroxyl-containing copolymers that undergo phosphorylation and ionization upon exposure to the chemical warfare agent mimic diethylchlorophosphate (DCP). The resulting conjugated, cationic copolymer is highly colored and facilitates the spectroscopic and colorimetric detection of DCP in both solution and thin-film measurements.


Providers with lower costs may be more efficient and, therefore, provide better care than those with higher costs. However, the relationship between risk-adjusted costs (often described as efficiency) and quality is not well understood. We examined the relationship between hospitals' risk-adjusted costs and their structural characteristics, nursing levels, quality of care, and outcomes. U.S. hospitals with low risk-adjusted costs were more likely to be for-profit, treat more Medicare patients, and employ fewer nurses. They provided modestly worse care for acute myocardial infarction and congestive heart failure but had comparable rates of risk-adjusted mortality. We found no evidence that low-cost providers provide better care.


Using the Kauffman-Lomonaco method, some two-qutrits universal quantum gates are derived from the nine-dimensional unitary solutions of the Yang-Baxter equations associated with algebraic structures like the partial transpose operator and the dihedral group, which admit three dimensional representations. The Yang-Baxterization method given by Zhang-Kauffman-Ge is continuously used to obtain two-qutrits quantum gates and certain Hamiltonians for the evolution of the quantum gates are obtained, being such Hamiltonians interpreted as physical Hamiltonians of chain of particles of spin 1. Finally, the generalization for systems of two qudits is presented in the case of Yang-Baxterization of representations of braided monoidal algebra like the BH algebra and the bicolored Birman-Wenzl-Muraki algebra. For these algebras the corresponding two-qudits quantum gates are constructed jointly with the associated Hamiltonians interpreted like physical chains of particles with spin d. It is conjectured that the derived two-qdits quantum gates and the Hamiltonians may be implemented over bi-dimensional lattice systems like anyons systems or more generally over any physical systems ruled by the Yang-Baxter equations.


This paper focuses on the Indian T&A sector and on non-patent IP rights, such as trademarks, industrial designs, copyrights, and geographical indication as well as informal protections to examine whether and to what extent Indian suppliers use some form of IP protection to create and capture value in their nascent brand development and upgrading efforts. Does the shift to own brands and own designs (OBM and ODM manufacturing) demand stronger IP rights? What is the industry's view on this and how does it relate to market access and the industry's upgrading prospects? [ICRIER Working Paper no. 40].


The purpose of this study was to compare shear bond strength (SBS) of bonded and rebonded orthodontic brackets following a variety of commonly used conditioning treatments and using both light-cured and self-cured composite resin systems. Brackets debonded during the initial determination of SBS were rebonded after the removal of residual resin from enamel surfaces using five different treatments: (1) Remove residual resin using a tungsten carbide bur, re-etch enamel surface, then bond a new bracket; (2) Remove resin from the base mesh with micro-etching then rebond the same bracket, (3) Remove residual resin from the enamel surface using resin-removing pliers, recondition the enamel with an air-powder polisher, then bond a new bracket; (4) Remove residual resin using a rubber cup and pumice, then bond a new bracket; (5) Remove residual resin using pliers alone, then bond a new bracket. The results revealed that the light-cured system produced higher shear bond strength in the initial bond than the self-cured system (p<0.005). Reconditioning the enamel surfaces using a tungsten carbide bur and acid-etching gave the highest SBS (difference 5.8 MPa; p<0.01) and clinically favorable fracture characteristics. The data suggest that the optimal procedure for rebonding dislodged orthodontic brackets is to resurface the enamel using a tungsten carbide bur, acid-etch the enamel, and use a new or re-use an old bracket after microetching.


Abstract A drawback to most existing methods of calculating confidence limits on fossil ranges is their assumption that the probability of collecting a taxon through a stratigraphic section is constant. Marshall (1997) described an approach that would circumvent this problem, but it requires knowing the probability of collection as a function of stratigraphic position. Multivariate paleoecological methods, such as detrended correspondence analysis (DCA), offer a means of estimating these probabilities. DCA axis 1 sample scores can be used to quantify facies change through a stratigraphic section, and to calculate the probability of collection of a taxon relative to DCA axis 1. From these two, the probability of collection of each taxon can be estimated for each horizon in the measured section. This approach is applied here to the Upper Ordovician Kope Formation of the Cincinnati, Ohio, area to distinguish between disappearances of taxa that are driven by facies change and taxon rarity and those that represent true regional extinction. This new approach to confidence limits could also be applied to test the synchroneity of extinction or origination at large-scale turnover events, such as mass extinctions and the turnover pulses that bound episodes of faunal stasis.


The effect of varying the size of a meal on plasma insulin was determined in eight normal male adults. The effect of consuming one half of a meal at 0 time and one half at two hours later was also studied. Each subject was studied on four days, one day when he consumed a whole meal (580 calories) of natural foodstuffs; one day, one-half the meal; one day, one quarter of the meal, and one day when he consumed one half the meal at 0 time and the remainder two hours later. When fractions of the meals were ingested, all ingredients were decreased proportionately. As meal size was increased, a log-dose relationship was observed to characterize the comparison of meal size ingested to plasma insulin response. When on the fourth day the subjects consumed the meal in fractions, the mean sum of the plasma insulin responses was identical to that observed when the meal was eaten at one time. The results suggest that over a four-hour period, the plasma insulin response is a function of the magnitude of the load of calories requiring disposition and that the response does not appear to be influenced by the frequency with which the calories are ingested.


The objective of this study was to develop a rapid, economic, and efficient method for simultaneous selective isolation, separation, and purification of cucurbitacin D and I from Ecballium elaterium (L.) A. Rich fruit juice via reversed-phase flash chromatography combined with HPLC. The chloroform extract of the fruit juice was fractionated with flash chromatography using a chloroform, acetone and methanol solvent combination at a 5 ml/min flow rate. Then, a validated HPLC method was utilized for purification of the two targeted cucurbitacins. Cucurbitacin D and I were collected automatically by the fraction collector. The fractions containing the same compounds were pooled and lyophilized. The purified cucurbitacin D and I compounds were identified by NMR, LC-MS, and UV spectra analysis. The results suggest that the applied procedure is simple, quick, and highly efficient. The HPLC method was found to be linear, accurate, precise and rugged for the quantification of the cucurbitacins studied.