We report on the initial characterization of an 84-kDa polypeptide that is differentially expressed in Aedes aegypti during melanotic encapsulation immune reactions against filarial worms. [35S]Methionine-labeled hemolymph from mosquitoes inoculated with saline, parasites that are melanized, or parasites that are not melanized was analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Results show that the level of the 84-kDa polypeptide increases considerably in those mosquitoes undergoing encapsulation reactions against parasites but remains down-regulated in those mosquitoes exposed to parasites that are not melanized or are undergoing wound healing responses (saline-inoculated). Experiments involving glycosidase treatment of hemolymph samples indicate that this polypeptide is not heavily glycosylated. Amino acid microsequencing was performed and two internal sequence fragments (15 continuous amino acids and 12 noncontinuous amino acids) were obtained. Analysis of these sequences to known sequences in a protein database did not yield any conclusive information as to the identify of the 84-kDa polypeptide. Therefore, degenerate oligonucleotide primers were designed, based on the sequence of the 15-amino-acid fragment, and used with the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify from A. aegypti genomic DNA the region between the primers. The PCR product was cloned and sequenced to verify that the nucleic acid sequence matched the known protein sequence. Screening of an A. aegypti cDNA library with this small PCR-generated clone resulted in the selection of an approximately 540-bp clone. Northern analysis with this larger cDNA clone indicates that it hybridizes to an approximately 2.0-kb message that is differentially expressed in mosquitoes undergoing melanotic encapsulation reactions against filarial worms. Furthermore, sequencing of this approximately 540-bp clone showed that it contained the 15-amino-acid sequence that had been used to design the degenerate PCR primers, indicating that an appropriate clone was selected. However, sequence analysis of this clone at the protein and nucleic acid level did not provide any conclusive answers to the identity or function of the 84-kDa polypeptide.


Nowadays to gain a competitive advantage in an organization, knowledge becomes important as an asset that must be managed. The experience possessed by humans is tacit and sometimes difficult to extract into a procedure or standard that can be used in an organization. T University is a private university in Indonesia. At the University of T, there is a laboratory that serves as a provider of practical services for students, one of the laboratory is laboratory X. Laboratory X serves to provide an understanding in the Manufacturer process for mass production. Currently, this laboratory consists of 18 assistant labs and one laboratory staff. This laboratory has one Haas CNC Milling used in labwork activity. To keep the machine in optimum condition, good maintenance management of the facility is required especially preventive maintenance, These activities are conducted based on the experience of laboratory staff in handling Haas CNC Milling machine. The problems occurs when the laboratory staff is entering the retirement period. besides that until now there is no standard operation procedure (SOP) developed by the university about how to do preventive maintenance.This research aims to design preventive maintenance work instruction for CNC Milling Haas machine with SECI (Socialization, Externalization, Combination, and Internalization) methods. Best practice in the form of a work instruction is obtained from the process of knowledge conversion from laboratory staff and head of laboratory. From the exploration result, it is known that preventive maintenance activities for Haas CNC Milling machine consist of spindle cleaning, checking tools, lubrication check and engine coolant, and run test. Brainstorming is done to confirm and select best practices created by both speakers. From the brainstorming result, it is known that the work instructions performed by the laboratory staff are selected by modifying some aspects of checking


Ocular siderosis refers to intraocular iron deposition in ocular tissues caused by the long-time retention of penetrating iron-containing foreign bodies, commonly leading to a series of characteristic alterations and severe disorder of visual function. Ocular siderosis, rarely seen in the clinic, can cause irreversible retinal injuries and visual function damage and can even affect the appearance of the eyeballs. These effects significantly decrease the quality of life of patients and lead to poor prognosis. This study summarizes ocular siderosis with respect to pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment, and sequelae, with the aim of assisting clinicians in the diagnosis and treatment of ocular siderosis.


Molecular (PCR) diagnostic tests for the detection and identification of aquareovirus in general, and Tasmanian Atlantic salmon reovirus (TSRV) specifically, were developed, and their diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were determined and compared with virus isolation in cell culture. Intralaboratory and interlaboratory comparison of PCR (conventional hemi-nested RT-PCR & RT-qPCR) and virus isolation in cell culture using finfish cell lines, CHSE-214 and EPC, was carried out for the detection and identification of TSRV using field samples of farmed Atlantic salmon Salmo salar, L. from various aquaculture sites around Tasmania. The interlaboratory comparison of diagnostic methods was carried out between two laboratories, AAHL-CSIRO and DPIPWE-Tasmania. A total of 144 fish from nine sites (12-33 fish per site) were sampled from two regions of Tasmania (Tamar River estuary in the north and Huon River estuary in the south-east) during late spring to early summer of 2009, and the data were analysed using different statistical approaches. The prevalence of TSRV ranged from 6% to 22% in both regions. All the diagnostic methods (data from both laboratories) had high specificity, while the estimated sensitivity varied between tests with RT-qPCR being the most sensitive (95.2%) method followed by virus isolation and then conventional hemi-nested RT-PCR.


Cooperative Communications (CC) has been one of most critical communication technologies which plays a founding role on Internet of Everything in B5G/6G networks. As 5G communications standard is gradually established recently, core communications technologies with CC are further studied to significantly improve communication quality and develop new communications scenarios for B5G/6G ubiquitous networks. Considering that CC has been regarded as foundation theory which widely exists in future multiple B5G/6G hybrid scenarios, such as, Cognitive Internet of Things (CIOT) networks, UAVs communications, air-space-ground of integrated networks, underwater acoustic communication and so on, besides it is closely combined with other key technologies, for examples, Massive MIMO, NOMA, Full-duplex transmission, Polar code and so on. Hence, in this paper we review foundation of CC for Internet of Everything in B5G/6G multiple heterogeneous CC networks, and compare fundamental CC algorithms to reveal key of performance improvement. Furthermore we propose that collective communications ideology is theory of foundation to realize communications for arbitrary two points as source/destination devices, sensors, relays, IOT nodes and so on in future.


Extraganglionic actions of ganglionic blocking agents were studied in cats by the simultaneous recording of action potentials of the carotid nerve (afferent) and of the preganglionic portion of the greater splanchnic nerve (efferent). Moderately hypotensive doses of hexamethonium, tetraethylammonium, SU-1194 or SU-2704 administered intravenously decreased blood pressure and splanchnic outflow concomitantly. Continuous low-grade activity replaced the synchronized, high-voltage discharge seen prior to drug administration. Larger doses of the blocking agents (2.0 mgm./kgm. or more of hexamethonium) largely or completely abolished splanchnic activity. Carotid nerve activity was not changed significantly. In contrast, hypotension induced by peripheral vasodilators (acetylcholine or histamine) or by Dibenzyline was associated with a marked increase in splanchnic nerve activity. Activity in the splanchnic nerves induced reflexly by excitation of carotid chemoreceptors by either cholinergic or hypoxic (NaCN) stimuli was considerably reduced by the ganglionic blocking agents. The moderate increase in splanchnic activity which often persisted was of the desynchronized type and no high-voltage bursts, which characteristically followed chemoreceptor activation prior to administration of a ganglionic blocking agent, occurred. This mild increase in splanchnic activity did not cause a rise in blood pressure, probably because of an element of true ganglionic blockade peripheral to the point of recording. Ganglionic transmission of maximal stimuli applied to preganglionic cervical sympathetic neurons was unaltered or only minimally decreased by hypotensive doses of the ganglionic blocking agents. However, responses to near-threshold or prolonged stimulation were more effectively inhibited. These observations suggest that the major effect of moderate doses of these agents on ganglia is to impair temporal summation, and that the continuous, low-voltage activity of preganglionic neurons which follows the administration of the blocking agents would be inhibited more readily at peripheral ganglia than would the normal synchronized high-voltage activity. The relative importance of central and ganglionic blockade in determining responses to ganglionic blocking agents in the intact animal cannot be stated definitely, but it appears probable that theformer is of major importance in the response to large doses, and that both actions are involved, the former facilitating the latter, in the response to moderate doses.


Dynamic CMOS circuits are significantly used in high-performance very large-scale integrated (VLSI) systems. However, they suffer from limitations such as noise tolerance, charge leakage, and power consumption. With the escalating impact of process variations on design performance, aggressive technology scaling, noise in dynamic CMOS circuit has become an imperative design challenge. The design performance of dynamic circuits has to be first improved for reliable operation of VLSI systems. Alongside, this impact of process variation is worse in circuits with multiple timing paths such as those used in microprocessors. In this paper, these problems of process variations, timing, noise tolerance, and power are investigated together for performance optimization. We propose a process variation-aware load-balance of multiple paths transistor sizing algorithm to: 1) improve worst-case delay, delay uncertainty, and sensitivity due to process variations in dynamic CMOS circuits, and 2) optimize dynamic CMOS circuits with MOSFET-based keepers to improve the noise tolerance. Implemented using 90-nm CMOS process, the proposed algorithm has demonstrated an average improvement in worst-case delay by 34%, delay uncertainty by 40.3%, delay sensitivity by 25.1%, and noise margins by 19.4% when compared to their initial performances.


When electrons that are trapped by strong electrostatic waves are carried across a magnetic field, the Lorentz force can in principle accelerate them to ultrahigh energies. This wave accelerator known as the electron surfing acceleration is thus a potential generation mechanism for ultrarelativistic electrons at astrophysical shocks. Here, we present for the first time a self-consistent simulation that follows the growth and saturation of strong electrostatic waves that are triggered by proton beams moving at relativistic speeds relative to a background plasma. We find in our simulation that proton beams moving at a Lorentz factor of 7 can accelerate electrons to 1 GeV by means of electron surfing acceleration. Thereafter the wave collapses, and it scatters some electrons to energies in excess of 10 GeV. The plasma charge density modulations give rise to a strong growth of the fast extraordinary (X) wave in frequency intervals for which its group velocity is comparable to the beam speed.


OBJECTIVE: Despite the recent increase in preterm birth in the United States, trends in preterm birth subtypes have not been adequately examined. We examined trends in preterm birth among singletons following ruptured membranes, medical indications, and spontaneous preterm birth and evaluated the impact of these trends on perinatal mortality. METHODS: A population-based, retrospective cohort study comprising 46,375,578 women (16% blacks) who delivered singleton births in the United States, 1989 through 2000, was performed. Rates of preterm birth (< 37 weeks), their subtypes, and associated perinatal mortality (stillbirths at ≥ 22 weeks plus neonatal deaths within 28 days), before and after adjustment for potential confounders, were derived from ecological logistic regression models. RESULTS: Preterm birth rates increased by 14% (95% confidence interval 13–15%) among whites from 8.3% to 9.4% and decreased by 15% (95% confidence interval 14–16%) among blacks from 18.5% to 16.2% between 1989 and 2000. Among whites, preterm birth following ruptured membranes declined by 23%, medically indicated preterm birth increased by 55%, and spontaneous preterm birth increased by 3%. Among blacks, preterm birth following ruptured membranes declined by 37%, medically indicated preterm birth increased by 32%, and spontaneous preterm birth decreased by 27%. The largest decline in perinatal mortality among whites was associated with increases in medically indicated preterm birth, whereas the largest decline in perinatal mortality among blacks was associated with declines in preterm birth following ruptured membranes and spontaneous preterm birth. CONCLUSION: Temporal trends in preterm birth varied substantially based on underlying subtype and maternal race. The recent increase in medically indicated preterm birth was associated with a favorable reduction in perinatal mortality. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II-2


BACKGROUND
Rhinosporidiosis, a fungal infection due to Rhinosporidium seeberi, frequently produces polypoidal lesions in the nose. Sites like the conjunctiva, larynx, trachea, nasopharynx, skin and genitourinary tract are less frequently involved. Generalized rhinosporidiosis with skin and visceral involvement is extremely rare. This report describes the fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of rhinosporidiosis occurring as a solitary lesion with erosion of cortical bone.

CASE REPORT
FNAC of a soft tissue swelling overlying a lytic lesion on the anterior aspect of the tibia was performed in a 40-year-old male. Smears revealed numerous sporangia and spores of R seeberi. There were no mucocutaneous lesions. Histologic examination confirmed the bony involvement.

CONCLUSION
The FNAC diagnosis of rhinosporidiosis is specific. Preoperative diagnosis is possible even in cases with unusual clinical presentations.


Recent work on pulsed cryogenic ion sources at the Tokyo Institute of Technology are reviewed briefly. Surface flashover processes of low-temperature dielectric materials are investigated experimentally in connection with the cryogenic ion sources. Values of dc or pulse breakdown voltage are measured, and fast-frame photographs are taken to observe the luminous surfaces. Characteristics of magnetically insulated cryogenic diodes with externally applied radial fields are clarified as a function of the anode temperature. Hydrogen, nitrogen, or argon ion beam is extracted from each ice on the anode surface of the cryogenic diode.


Manipulation in immersive Virtual Environments (VEs) is often difficult and inaccurate because humans have difficulty in performing precise positioning tasks or in keeping the hand motionless in a particular position without any help of external devices or haptic feedback. To address this problem, we propose a set of four manipulation points attached to objects (called a 3-Point++ tool, including three handle points and their barycenter), by which users can control and adjust the position of objects precisely. By determining the relative position between the 3-Point++ tool and the objects, and by defining different states of each manipulation point (called locked/unlocked or inactive/active), these points can be freely configured to be adaptable and flexible to enable users to manipulate objects of varying sizes in many kinds of positioning scenarios.


achieved administered analyzed assigned attained chaired conceived contracted consolidated coordinated decided delegated developed directed encouraged evaluated executed handled implemented improved incorporated increased inspired launched led managed motivated organized outlined oversaw planned prioritized produced addressed arbitrated arranged authored communicated corresponded counseled developed defined directed drafted edited enlisted formulated influenced interpreted lectured mediated moderated motivated negotiated persuaded promoted publicized reconciled reunited renegotiated reported researched summarized spoke translated wrote clarified collected conceived critiqued detected diagnosed disproved evaluated examined extracted identified inspected interpreted interviewed investigated organized researched reported reviewed searched studied summarized surveyed systematized wrote analyzed assembled built calculated computed designed devised engineered fabricated inspected maintained operated overhauled programmed remodeled repaired solved trained upgraded adapted advised clarified coached communicated coordinated defined developed enabled encouraged evaluated explained facilitated guided informed initiated instructed lectured persuaded presented set goals stimulated taught trained updated


INTRODUCTION
Previous studies have shown that weight gain commonly occurs after liver transplantation (LTx). Few risk factors have been studied.

OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to assess the weight changes and incidence excessive weight up to 3 years after surgery.

METHODS
Post-LTx patients were assessed for their weight changes and incidence of excessive weight before liver disease; on the first outpatient appointment after LTx; 3 and 6 mo after LTx; 1; 2 and 3y after LTx. Demographic, socioeconomic, lifestyle and clinical variables were collected to assess risk factors for weight gain, overweight and obesity using linear and logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS
Eighty patients undergoing LTx between 1997/2006 were assessed. Patients lost an average of 9.1 kg during liver disease. This weight was recovered within 1 year after surgery; after 3 years, patients had gained an average of 11.6 kg. The incidence of excessive weight increased over the years, and 56.4% of patients were overweight in the 3 years after LTx; most of them were obese (30.0%). Risk factors for weight gain on the third year after LTx were greater BMI before liver disease (p < 0.01); former smoker (p < 0.01); family history of overweight (p = 0.04); being hosewife/unemployed/retired (p = 0.08); alcoholic indication for LTx (p = 0.02). Risk factors for incidence of excessive weight on the third year after LTx were being married (RR: 13.13; CI: 1.33-125.0); being former smoker (RR: 4.68; CI: 1.16-18.85); greater age at LTx (RR: 1.1; CI: 1.02-1.20).

CONCLUSIONS
Post-LTx patients experienced weight gain after surgery, mainly during the 1 year after operation and increased progressive incidence up to 3 years, due to different risk factors, some of them can be prevented.


Gradient polymer elution chromatography (GPEC) is rapidly becoming the analytical method of choice for determining the chemical composition distribution (CCD) of synthetic polymers. GPEC can be performed in traditional (strict precipitation-redissolution mechanism) or interactive (normal- and reversed-phase) modes, and results may be qualitative, semi-quantitative, or fully quantitative. Quantitative approaches have thus far relied on colligative or end group techniques for determining the values of standards used in constructing the GPEC calibration curve. While the values obtained from said methods are number-averages, they are assigned to the peak apexes of the standards (i.e. assigned as peak averages). This creates a determinate error in the quantitation, referred to herein as ''moment bias''. In this paper we determine moment bias for a series of styrene-acrylonitrile (SAN) copolymers, where the distribution and averages of the AN% have been measured using normal-phase (NP) GPEC. We also correct for the effect via statistical treatment of the chromatographic data.  2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.


Opinion is divided on whether there is a place for the use of semi-adjustable dental articulators in orthodontics. In this review we explore the validity and reproducibility of the techniques involved in mounting study models on a semi-adjustable dental articulator. We also look at the role of articulated study models in orthodontic diagnosis and treatment planning, in the finishing stages of orthodontics and in planning for orthognathic surgery. We report that each of the many stages involved in mounting study models on a semi-adjustable articulator is a potential source of error and that only if the technique is carried out with a high degree of accuracy is it worth the additional chairside time.


Using the nuclease-dead Cas9 (dCas9), we targeted in cellulo a G-rich sequence, which contains multiple potentially G-quadruplex (GQ) forming sites, within the human tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) promoter. We demonstrate that transcription can be up or down regulated by targeting different parts of this G-rich sequence. Our results suggest that TH transcription levels correlate with stability of different GQs formed by this sequence and targeting them with dCas9 can modulate their stability. Unlike alternative approaches, regulating TH expression by targeting the promoter GQs with dCas9 enables a specific and potentially transient control and does not require mutations in the sequence. We also investigated whether the presence of GQs in target sequences impacts DNA cleavage activity of Cas9. We discovered significant reduction in cleavage activity when the vicinity of a high-stability GQ was targeted. Furthermore, this reduction is significantly more prominent for the G-rich strand compared to the complementary C-rich strand.


Using planar fracture models to match treatment pressure and improve understanding of the fracture geometry generation is not a new concept. Knowledge gained from this exercise has historically been used to improve engineered fracture completions and production, and maximize net present value (NPV); however, at some point during the progression from vertical to horizontal wellbores, many within the industry have forgotten about the learnings that can still be gained from current fracture models. Engineered completions have been largely replaced by spreadsheet efficiencies relevant to operations rather than production in too many cases. Some images of unconventional well stimulation treatments portray fractures growing in every direction, forming patterns that resemble shattered windshields, and have often excluded the known physics related to rock geomechanics, reservoir properties, and geology. Excuses to dismiss modeling are numerous and are gaining the reasoning of conformists.
 Unconventional resource plays might or might not contain large numbers of natural fractures; but, current fracture models can still be used to gain insight into the fracture geometries being generated. While the development of complex fracture models continues to evolve, the industry can still gain insight to fracture geometry and resulting production using current planar fracture modeling. Caveats to this process are that it requires: Valid measured data to establish model constraints.The engineer to understand the basic physics of how fractures are generated and when (and when not) to twist the "knobs" in the model.The engineer to understand which "knobs" should be used based on real diagnostics information.The actual single well production to be an integral part of the process.
 This paper demonstrates the results of honoring data measurements from a multitude of potential sources, including downhole microseismic data, downhole deformation tiltmeters, offset pressure monitoring, DTS, DAS, diagnostic fracture injection test (DFIT) analysis, injection as well as production data with bottomhole pressure measurements, etc., and the resulting observations and conclusions. Several industry examples are discussed to help frame the vast amount of information possible to help engineers do a better job of including more diagnostics into routine operations to provide additional insight and ultimately result in improved models and completion designs.
 This paper is not intended to merely demonstrate the results of the work but to spark an interest in bringing more intense engineering back to fracture stimulation modeling for horizontal completions.


With the very high rate of introducing new designs, the service lives of modern electronic devices have been dramatically shortened. This has created awareness on the implications of disposing electronic wastes with lots of leaded solders. As part of environmental compliance, the industry is now warming up to the use of non-leaded solders that are considered greener. Amongst the common choice is the eutectic of Sn-Ag-Cu (SAC) alloy which has shown great promise. Minor additions to the near eutectic SAC compositions have been used to improve some properties. Here, we have studied the effect of the addition of Bi and other refractory elements to near eutectic SAC. It is shown that minor Bi additions up to less than 2% improved the joint strengths peaking at 50 – 70MPa. EDS studies confirmed that the improvement in strength is attributable to solid solution strengthening. The strengthening effect of Bi diminishes vastly beyond 2% limit and are characterised by brittle failure at higher Bi concentrations. Thermal analyses suggest that compositions beyond 2% Bi had undergone hyper eutectic solidification that would have led to the existence of primary brittle Bi phase in the icrostructure. XRD confirmed the existence of primary Bi phase in higher concentrations.; ;


Тo investigate circadian rhythm of TSH secretion during TSH-suppression therapy. 17 patients taking TSH-suppression therapy, at the age of 18–60 years have been included. Measurements of serum TSH were performed at8.00–9.00h and 14.00–16.00 during the day. The median of TSH concentrations in the morning was 0,016mU/l, at the daytime – 0.015mU/l. The amplitude of TSH circadian variability reached 200% (Me – 19%). At boundary TSH value stability of TSH-suppression can be broken. As specifying action research in similar situations can be measurement of serum TSH in other time.


This article examines cooperative modes of regulation of local economies that in Europe increasingly take the form of concertation (partnership) - i.e. formalized agreement on common goals stated by collective actors with traditionally/potentially contrasting interests. This kind of agreement ('pacts') is increasingly institutionalized; 'institutionalization' being the process through which certain behaviours are steadily promoted, required, even made obligatory, by actors other than those putting them into effect, who demand conformity to their values and beliefs in return for making resources available. The process in question is particularly visible in EU countries, and it can be interpreted both as an opportunity to construct a model of a social Europe and as an opportunity to defend the features of this model that were subject to rapid erosion during the 1990s. Recurrent forms of partnership are: public-private and public-public partnerships; 'regionalized' industrial relations; 'second-generation' industrial districts; urban strategic planning; and territorial pacts. To order them, a typology is proposed on the basis of the dichotomy between exogenous/endogenous actors/resources. Three main constraints to an effective working of local concertation are then discussed: local presence of 'global players'; excessive institutionalization; and lack of adequate implementation structures. Starting from the latter, some working hypotheses are proposed on a new 'organizational population', namely, the organizations of local development. Copyright Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishers Ltd 2002.


An innovative high-precision coarse-fine time-to-digital converter (TDC) is presented. The TDC architecture mainly consists of a coarse counter and a delay-line-based analog-digital hybrid interpolator. In order to improve the precision, the key timing control of the interpolator is provided by a novel customized synchronizer. Comparing to the traditional delay-linebased interpolator, the proposed analog-digital hybrid interpolator using the multi-voltage sampling technique improves the resolution significantly. A prototype chip has been fabricated in a 0.35 μm CMOS process. After the calibration and calculation based on fitting algorithms, the TDC prototype reaches a dynamic range of 512 ns and a single-channel single-shot precision of 6 ps using the external look-up table (LUT) for the interpolator.


ABSTRACT Although studies on gay dating apps have shown the ways through which technical features intervene in sexual sociality, seldom do they shed light on the central feature that undergirds their use ‒ algorithms. This article examines Blued, China's largest gay dating app, aiming to unfold the data structure and algorithms that navigate the use of its two prime functionalities: browsing and live streaming. Rather than seeing users as passive audiences that are subject to being measured and calculated based on algorithmically filtered information, this article argues that users can act on the data they provide to dating apps to influence and shape the algorithmic dating outcomes. For Blued browsing, gay men are datafied with numbers and tags for users to sort and filter. For Blued live, gay men are evaluated by the yanzhi algorithm, which literally means 'value of a person's face', for users to pinpoint dating goals. By gaming the data and shaping their algorithmic outcomes, an algorithmic sociality is animated through the filter browsing and the yanzhi metric. In this way, algorithms have become ritual tools for gay sociality on Blued. This article ends by opening up critiques on the justification of social biases lurking inside this algorithmic sociality.


Learning 3D shape representation with dense correspondence for deformable objects is a fundamental problem in computer vision. Existing approaches often need additional annotations of specific semantic domain, e.g., skeleton poses for human bodies or animals, which require extra annotation effort and suffer from error accumulation, and they are limited to specific domain. In this paper, we propose a novel self-supervised approach to learn neural implicit shape representation for deformable objects, which can represent shapes with a template shape and dense correspondence in 3D. Our method does not require the priors of skeleton and skinning weight, and only requires a collection of shapes represented in signed distance fields. To handle the large deformation, we constrain the learned template shape in the same latent space with the training shapes, design a new formulation of local rigid constraint that enforces rigid transformation in local region and addresses local reflection issue, and present a new hierarchical rigid constraint to reduce the ambiguity due to the joint learning of template shape and correspondences. Extensive experiments show that our model can represent shapes with large deformations. We also show that our shape representation can support two typical applications, such as texture transfer and shape editing, with competitive performance. The code and models are available at https://iscas3dv.github.io/deformshape


Even though the Dutch working week has become shorter and more diverse over the last decades, not all employees weekly working hours preferences are fulfilled. Time and again, cross-sectional studies among employees reveal dissatisfaction with working hours. However, only part of the employees that are dissatisfied with their working hours manage to adjust their hours to their preferences. A wide gap apparently exists between preferring to adjust working hours and actually adjusting them. The gap is widest for employees who would like to reduce their working hours. In this article three questions are addressed. What is the pattern of transition from wanting to adjust working hours to actually doing so? Which categories of employees can be expected to reduce working hours? Which categories of employees can be expected to realise their preference for working fewer hours? We will answer these questions using panel data for the period 1986-1998. We find that for many employees, in spite of the broad acceptance in the Netherlands of part-time employment and the excellent arrangements entailed around it, it is still difficult for employees to realise their preferences. This leaves little optimism for the opportunities of employees in other European countries. In these countries part-time employment is often marginal employment and the labour market is less equipped for it. It will ask a major effort from many European policy makers to offer other European employees at least the same possibilities as are already available to Dutch employees.


Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) is a minimally invasive imaging technique which can be used for characterizing tumor biology and tumor response to radiotherapy. Pharmacokinetic (PK) estimation is widely used for DCE-MRI data analysis to extract quantitative parameters relating to microvascu- lature characteristics of the cancerous tissues. Unavoidable noise corruption during DCE-MRI data acquisition has a large effect on the accuracy of PK estimation. In this paper, we propose a general denoising paradigm called gather- noise attenuation and reduce (GNR) and a novel temporal-spatial collaborative filtering (TSCF) denoising technique for DCE-MRI data. TSCF takes advantage of temporal correlation in DCE-MRI, as well as anatomical spatial similar- ity to collaboratively filter noisy DCE-MRI data. The proposed TSCF denoising algorithm decreases the PK parameter normalized estimation error by 57% and improves the structural similarity of PK parameter estimation by 86% com- pared to baseline without denoising, while being an order of magnitude faster than state-of-the-art denoising methods. TSCF improves the univariate linear regression (ULR) c-statistic value for early prediction of pathologic response up to 18%, and shows complete separation of pathologic complete response (pCR) and non-pCR groups on a challenge dataset.


Macrophages play an important role in a variety of situations, including pathogen elimination, inflammation, and tissue repair. However, these cells are not fully studied in dogs, in part, due to the difficulty of efficiently isolating and culturing them in vitro. In this study, we cultured canine peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with 10 ng/ml of phorbol 12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) for 5 days to obtain macrophages. A high number of round-adherent cells were obtained without the addition of any cytokine. These cells showed active phagocytic activity and a cell surface antigen profile different from dendritic cells. Our method facilitates a high yield of macrophages in a short cultivation period compared with previous studies. This method might be a powerful tool to study macrophage functions in dogs.


The pentanuclear cluster [Au3Cu2(C2Ph)6]– was obtained from the reaction between [{Au(C2Ph)}n] and a mixture of [Au(C2Ph)2]– and [{Cu(C2Ph)}n]. Its structure is described. The same cluster has been synthesized in a stepwise manner starting with [Au(C2Ph)2]– through the binuclear complex [Au2(C2Ph)3]– and the trinuclear cluster [Au2Cu(C2Ph)4]–. The synthesis of the analogous gold–silver cluster [Au3Ag2(C2Ph)6]– was achieved by a slightly modified method.


Using a quantum mechanical calculation, we investigate the fundamental limitations of the Schottky emission (SE) model for its applications to electron injection into dielectrics from a metal or semiconductor electrode. This work covers a wide range of electric fields from 0.01 to 10 MV/cm and a large temperature span with many barrier height values (ΦB). We conclude that the SE model is only applicable for a very small class of dielectrics under 0.1 MV/cm and at high temperatures over ∼330 K. For many defective dielectrics with large barrier heights (ΦB ≥ ∼1.5 eV) in back-of-line/middle-of-line/metal–insulator–metal capacitor applications, the corresponding electric fields for the measurable currents far exceed 0.1 MV/cm, and up to 10 MV/cm, the application of the SE model is likely invalid so that the extracted ΦB values may not be correct. We provide a quantitative guide to avoid future misapplications of the SE model.


The pregnancy-specific glycoproteins (PSGs) of the human placenta are a group of proteins that together with the carcinoembryonic antigens comprise a subfamily within the immunoglobulin superfamily. To study the control of PSG expression, we isolated and characterized PSG genes and identified cis-acting DNA elements in the 5'-flanking gene regions essential for PSG expression. Two overlapping PSG cosmid clones, which contain two allelic variants of a PSG gene (PSG12 and PSG12 psi), were isolated from an unamplified library made from a single individual. Cosmid 1 contains exons 1 (5'/L) and 2 (L/N) of the PSG12 gene located downstream of a previously identified PSG1-I gene. Cosmid 6 contains a portion of the PSG1-I gene lacking exons 1 and 2 upstream of a complete PSG12 psi transcription unit. Sequence comparison indicates that exons 5'/L and L/N in PSG12 and PSG12 psi are 99% identical, except that the L/N exon in the PSG12 psi gene contains a stop codon. Both PSG12 and PSG12 psi transcripts were detected in the human placenta, indicating that both genes are actively transcribed. However, the PSG12 psi gene may represent an allelic pseudogene variant of the PSG12 gene, because all identified PSGs contain a functional N-domain. Primer extension analysis showed that the PSG12 gene starts at a cluster of sites located at -106 to -104 base pairs with respect to the translation start site. In transient transfection assays using a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene, we demonstrated that the -835 to -34 DNA region upstream of the translation start site of PSG12 or PSG12 psi contained both positive and negative elements that control PSG expression. Deletion analysis showed that nucleotides -172 to -34 in the PSG12 gene could function as a promoter. Gel retardation analysis showed that protein factors in human placental cell extract formed four complexes (I, II, IIa, and III) with the PSG12(-172/-34) DNA. Site-directed mutagenesis that prevents protein factor binding to the PSG12 promoter resulted in a marked reduction in transcription activation, locating the core enhancers at nucleotides -148 to -141 and -60 to -55. Mutagenesis studies also showed that the ACAGC repeats at nucleotides -84 to -68 in the PSG12 5'-flanking are essential for expression of the PSG12 gene in human placental cells.


Standards for the height of herbaceous vegetation remaining in meadows at the end of the growing season have been, and continue to be, implemented on public grazing lands throughout the Sierra Nevada. Although supporting research is limited, stubble height standards are intended to benefit riparian resources by limiting grazing pressure. This study illustrates how the timing and intensity of defoliation in mountain meadows can affect the stubble height of herbaceous vegetation at the end of the growing season, and compares these findings with current standards. The research also can help livestock operators and public lands managers develop grazing management strategies to meet stubble height standards and conduct local applied research to evaluate the appropriateness of general stubble height standards.


Monolithic silica / pectin aerogel nanocomposites were synthesized by dissolving a natural polymer, pectin, in an aqueous silicic acid solution, followed by gelation of each component, pectin coagulation, hydrophobization and supercritical drying. Monolithic, lightweight (0.12 - 0.18 g/cm3) and nanostructured aerogels were obtained. These materials displayed versatile morphologies and properties by varying the pH and aliquots of the components. The specific surface area, porosity, microstructural and mechanical properties as well as thermal conductivity and humidity uptake of these acid-catalysed aerogel nanocomposites were systematically studied. They exhibit high plastic deformation region (no rupture until at least within 80% strain) as well as greatly increased yield strength (2-15 MPa versus 0.3 MPa for silica aerogels) and compressive modulus 0.6 - 2.0 MPa. Aerogel composites are highly hydrophobic: their weight increases only by 4-12 % due to water vapor adsorption at 97 % RH and 23±2 °C for 7 days. New organic-inorganic composites are thermal superinsulating materials: their thermal conductivity is 14.2-17.0 mW/(m•K) which is comparable with that of pure silicic acid based aerogels (14.0-15.4 mW/(m•K)).


In the mid-wave infrared (MIR) band, large detector arrays are extremely costly and technically difficult to be manufactured. Thus, it is difficult to obtain high-resolution images for a conventional MIR camera. Spatial compressive imaging can improve resolution. However, system errors due to misalignment or optical aberrations degrade reconstruction quality significantly. Another common issue for compressive imaging is the slow imaging speed, which is caused by slow measurement collection and reconstruction processes. To deal with the two issues, we use an imaging calibration method to improve reconstruction quality and a sliding window measurement collection strategy plus a reconstruction algorithm accelerated by parallel computing to fasten the speed. We build a prototype of a compressive imaging camera with an angular resolution 1.17 lp/mrad. A four-bar target is used as an object. We reconstruct a moving scene of size $1280 \times 1024$ with a frame rate 20 frames per second.


Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a morbid complication of systemic sclerosis (SSc). Management of SSc-PAH remains challenging and mortality is high. The postulated role of B-cells in SSc suggests a role for B-cell depletion in SSc-PAH. Methods: We conducted an NIH-sponsored proof-of-concept multicenter, double-blind, randomized controlled trial of rituximab (Rx) in SSc-PAH on stable PAH therapy. Dosing was two 1000 mg infusions 14 days apart. The primary endpoint was change in 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) at 24 weeks. Secondary endpoints included change in 6MWD at other time points, pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), time to clinical worsening (TTCW), diffusion capacity, and SSc-specific factors. Results: Between 2010–2018, 57 subjects with similar baseline clinical characteristics were randomized 1:1 to Rx or placebo (Pc). Rx was well tolerated without unexpected toxicities. In a longitudinal analysis using data through week 24, 6MWD trended towards improvement after Rx relative to Pc, but did not differ significantly between arms (23.6±11.1m Rx, 0.5±9.7m Pc, p=0.12). A pre-specified secondary analysis using data through week 48 demonstrated improvement at week 24 (25.5±8.8m Rx, 0.4±7.4m Pc, p=0.03) with a loss of effect by week 48 (9.5±12.4m Rx, -7.0±8.6m Pc, p=0.28). Higher proportion of Pc subjects required additional PAH therapies, but changes in PVR and TTCW were not significantly different. Conclusion: Adjunctive B-cell depletion therapy is a safe and potentially effective treatment for SSc-PAH. This is the first controlled trial examining the role of immunotherapy in a serious form of PAH and warrants further study.


Cape Ann, because of its proximity to Boston and many universities, has long been a focus of geologic study. Nineteenth century papers that consider mineralogy or petrology of Cape Ann rocks include Prescott (1839), Nichols (1856), Kimball (1860), Gregory (1862), Mudge (1862), Balch (1864), Cooke (1866, 1867), Knowlton (1867), Hyatt (1869, 1871a,b), Hunt (1871), Wadsworth (1878, 1882a,b, 1885), McDaniel (1884), Sears (1888, 1889, 1890a, 1891a,b, 1893a,b, 1894a,b, 1895, 1898), Shaler (1889), Pearce (1893), Penfield and Forbes (1896), and Washington (1898a,b,c, 1899a,b,c,d). More recent studies of note include Wright (1900), Clapp (1921), Warren and McKinstry (1924), Bowen and Schairer (1935), Palache (1950), Toulmin (1964a,b), Dennen (1976, 1981, 1991a,b, 1992), Zen et al. (1983), Goldsmith (1991), Wones and Goldsmith (1991), Hon et al. (1993), Hepburn et al. (1993, 1998, 2004), and Hepburn and Bailey (1998). With this long history of study, Cape Ann offers an unusual wealth of data and opinion to match the extensive, interesting, and beautiful outcrops that occur there, making it a destination of choice for petrologists.


Abstract. To provide comprehensive information that will assist in making decisions regarding the adoption of LiDAR assisted control (LAC) in wind turbine design, this paper investigates the impact of different turbulence models on the coherence between the rotor effective wind speed and LiDAR measurement. First, the differences between the Kaimal and Mann models are discussed, including the power spectrum and spatial coherence. Next, two types of LiDAR systems are examined to analyze the LiDAR measurement coherence based on commercially available LiDAR scan patterns. Finally, numerical simulations have been performed to compare the LiDAR measurement coherence for different rotor sizes. This work confirms the association between the measurement coherence and the turbulence model. The results indicate that the LiDAR measurement coherence with the Mann turbulence model is lower than that with the Kaimal turbulence model. In other words, the value creation of LAC, evaluated using the Kaimal turbulence model, will be diminished if the Mann turbulence model is used instead. In particular, the difference in coherence is more significant for larger rotors. As a result, this paper suggests that the impacts of different turbulence models should be considered as uncertainties while evaluating the benefits of LAC.


In recent years, large-scale models have demonstrated state-of-the-art performance across various domains. However, training such models requires various techniques to address the problem of limited computing power and memory on devices such as GPUs. Some commonly used techniques include pipeline parallelism, tensor parallelism, and activation checkpointing. While existing works have focused on finding efficient distributed execution plans (Zheng et al. 2022) and activation checkpoint scheduling (Herrmann et al. 2019, Beaumont et al. 2021}, there has been no method proposed to optimize these two plans jointly. Moreover, ahead-of-time compilation relies heavily on accurate memory and computing overhead estimation, which is often time-consuming and misleading. Existing training systems and machine learning pipelines either physically execute each operand or estimate memory usage with a scaled input tensor. To address these challenges, we introduce a system that can jointly optimize distributed execution and gradient checkpointing plans. Additionally, we provide an easy-to-use symbolic profiler that generates memory and computing statistics for any PyTorch model with a minimal time cost. Our approach allows users to parallelize their model training on the given hardware with minimum code change based. The source code is publicly available at Colossal-AI GitHub or https://github.com/hpcaitech/ColossalAI


under the longer tide "Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Research on Teaching." As a result, the introductory pages and many of the illustrations come from educational research. But as a study of the references will indicat<:,the survey. draws from the social sciences m general, and the methodological recommendations are correspondingly broadly appropriate. For the convenience of the user we have added a table of contents, a list of supplementary references, a name index and a subject index.


Objective. In 4–10% of cases of renal cell carcinoma (RCC), involvement of the inferior vena cava (IVC) is present. IVC involvement may be due to either a pure thrombus or tumor extension. This study indicates that there is no significant difference in survival rates between patients with thrombus and those with infiltration of the IVC. Material and methods. The records of 84 patients who presented to our institution with RCC and IVC involvement and received surgical treatment between July 1973 and June 2006 were examined. The postoperative observation period was 120 months. Statistical analysis was performed using the Kaplan–Meier method and the log-rank test. Results. Sixty-one patients demonstrated thrombus involvement of the IVC, while the remaining 23 exhibited infiltration. Over the observation period, an average survival time of 64.0 months was observed. The median survival time was 35.2 months. No significant difference in survival rates was observed between patients with thrombus and those with malignant infiltration of the IVC. Conclusions. It is stated in the contemporary literature that IVC infiltration is an important prognostic factor in cases of RCC. This study indicates that there is no significant difference in survival rates between patients with thrombus and those with infiltration of the IVC. Lymph node metastases and undifferentiated RCC remain the only important prognostic factors that have a significant influence on the general survival of a patient.


Abstract The activity, in terms of speed of action, of three anticestode drugs against Hymenolepis nana, both in vivo and in vitro, was investigated. Praziquantel was most effective in vivo, but had little action on adult worms and cysticercoids in vitro. Niclosamide, the least effective in vivo, was highly toxic in vitro. Compound 77–6 killed adult worms and cysticercoids in vitro in 10 min and 15 min respectively at 1000 μg/ml of drug concentration, but its in viro effect was intermediate between that of praziquantel and niclosamide.


Neutrophil production and traffic in the body compartments is finely controlled, and the strong evidences support the role of CXCL12/CXCR4 pathway on neutrophil trafficking to and from the bone marrow (BM). We recently showed that the glucocorticoid‐regulated protein, Annexin A1 (AnxA1) modulates neutrophil homeostasis and here we address the effects of AnxA1 on steady‐state neutrophil maturation and trafficking. For this purpose, AnxA1−/− and Balb/C wild‐type mice (WT) were donors of BM granulocytes and mesenchymal stem cells and blood neutrophils. In vivo treatments with the pharmacological AnxA1 mimetic peptide (Ac2‐26) or the formyl peptide receptor (FPR) antagonist (Boc‐2) were used to elucidate the pathway of AnxA1 action, and with the cytosolic glucocorticoid antagonist receptor RU 38486. Accelerated maturation of BM granulocytes was detected in AnxA1−/− and Boc2‐treated WT mice, and was reversed by treatment with Ac2‐26 in AnxA1−/− mice. AnxA1 and FPR2 were constitutively expressed in bone marrow granulocytes, and their expressions were reduced by treatment with RU38486. Higher numbers of CXCR4+ neutrophils were detected in the circulation of AnxA1−/− or Boc2‐treated WT mice, and values were rescued in Ac2‐26‐treated AnxA1−/− mice. Although circulating neutrophils of AnxA1−/− animals were CXCR4+, they presented reduced CXCL12‐induced chemotaxis. Moreover, levels of CXCL12 were reduced in the bone marrow perfusate and in the mesenchymal stem cell supernatant from AnxA1−/− mice, and in vivo and in vitro CXCL12 expression was re‐established after Ac2‐26 treatment. Collectively, these data highlight AnxA1 as a novel determinant of neutrophil maturation and the mechanisms behind blood neutrophil homing to BM via the CXCL12/CXCR4 pathway. J. Cell. Physiol. 231: 2418–2427, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


The study analyzes Russian foreign policy discourse on NATO during and after the Georgian war as constructed in news articles from a state-run news agency. The project adopts constructivist and discourse analytical approach. Namely, it is based on the interplay between the three main theoretical pillars: language as constitutive part of social reality; media as a type of discourse; and the constructivist understanding of the foreign policy discourse as being embedded in the domestic social and cultural dimensions.The dissertation focuses on the following questions: What kind of representations of NATO and its role in the Georgian crisis were constructed in the Russian news? How were the relations between Russia and NATO represented in the Russian foreign policy discourse? Did the Russian discourse on NATO draw on the Cold War ideas and stereotypes?


Purpose: This study was conducted to compare health knowledge, health attitude and health behavior of middle school students based on the hours of health educational parameters imparted. Methods: After obtaining informed consent from participants, data were collected from 474 middle school students attending three different schools. The questionnaires were developed based on previous studies and four authorized health textbooks. Data were analyzed using x²-test, t-test, ANOVA and ANCOVA. Results: The scores of 34-hour or 17-hour regular health education group were higher than those of 0-hour regular health education group in the areas of health knowledge and health attitude. In contrast the score of health behavior showed no significant difference among the three groups. Conclusion: The course of regular health education should be included as an essential one rather than as a selective option in the curriculum, and 34-hour regular health education is needed for all primary, middle, and high school students who are about to developing lifelong health habits, in order to have them gradually acquire sound education of health knowledge, health attitude, and health behavior.


The article represents a preliminary and partial analysis of information collected in a comparative project on the adjustment of employment and social policies in twelve advanced capitalist welfare states to changes in the international economic environment since the early 1970s.1 After the post-war decades, when national governments were still able to control their economic boundaries, the first international challenge came in the form of the oil-price crisis of 1973/74, which confronted industrial economies with the double threat of cost-push inflation and demand-gap unemployment. It could be met if countries were able to achieve a form of 'Keynesian concertation' in which expansionary monetary and fiscal policies would defend employment while union wage restraint could be relied on to fight inflation. For this solution, 'corporatist' industrial relations institutions were a necessary but not a sufficient condition. Since the second oil-price crisis of 1979/80 was met by restrictive monetary and expansionary fiscal policies in the United States, the steep increase of real interest rates in the international capital markets forced other central banks to raise interest rates accordingly. As a consequence, employment-creating investments could only be maintained if the share of profits in the national product was significantly increased. Under the pressure of rapidly rising unemployment, unions in most countries were forced to accept this massive redistribution from labour to capital. In the 1990s, finally, the international integration of product and capital markets has been constraining private sector employment as well as the financial viability of the welfare state. But now institutional differences among different types of revenue systems, welfare states and employment systems – Scandinavian, Anglo-Saxon, and Continental – create important differences in vulnerability that can no longer be met by standardized responses. The article concludes with an examination of the specific problems faced by, and the solutions available to, the different countries included in the study.


Istrian sheep is an indigenous endangered breed reared at extensive or semi-extensive farms in Croatia. The number of farms applying machine milking is increasing due to high quality dairy products. The objective of this work was to evaluate morphometry of the udder and milk flow kinetics in the Istrian sheep in Croatia, and to explore possible preferences of udder shape type on farms that apply machine milking. Using Lactocorder© (WMB; Switzerland) we measured milk flow kinetics in five commercial herds. Using digital photographs of the posterior view of the udder and Image Tool software we measured udder height, width, cisternal part below the teat orifice and the angle that teat closes with the vertical axis of the udder in eleven herds. Breeding values were estimated using univariate animal models and REML (Restricted Maximum Likelihood). Istrian sheep breed in Croatia has excellent udder shape for machine milking: desirable angle that teat closes with the vertical axis of the udder, and cisternal height below the teat orifice is small. Ewes that are machine milked have higher udder, lower cisternal part below the teat orifice, and teats are more vertically implanted, which is the udder conformation beneficial for more efficient machine milking. BLUP value differences indicated that machine milked herds tend to have ewes with smaller cisternal part below the teat orifice that are of less udder height in the beginning of lactation and wider at the end of lactation, although there is no official selection of udder shape.


SUMMARY Knowledge management (KM) is receiving increasing attention in the human services such as social work. Social service organizations have started to use information and communication technology for knowledge management purposes with the aim of improving service efficiency and effectiveness. Existing KM studies, particularly in the commercial or industrial sectors, mainly focus on the reductionistic "knowledge-as-object" view, while other perspectives such as "knowledge-as-process" are less discussed. This paper argues that these mainstream conceptions of knowledge in KM do not fully fit with that of social work knowledge, and that a spectrum view may be more useful for future practice and inquiry in the area.


Objectives To study the changes of nitric oxide, angiotensin Ⅱ and superoxide anion in renal artery hypertension pathogenesis. Methods Male Wistar rats weighing 256 -285g were divided into 5 groups randomly, 10 rats of each group. Control group: false operation was made and routine diet was given; Ligature group: left renal artery was ligatured uncompletely and routine diet was given; Ligature + Losartan group: left renal artery was ligatured uneompletely and Losartan 20mg · kg~(-1) · d~(-1) was added in the drinking water; Ligature + L -Arg group: left renal artery was ligatured uncompletely and L -Arg 2g · kg~(-1) · d~(-1) was added in the drinking water; Ligature + L - Arg + Losartan group: left renal artery was ligatured uncompletely and L - Arg 2g· kg~(-1)· d~(-1) and Losartan 20mg · kg~(-1)· d~(-1) was added in the drinking water. Blood pressure and heart rate were measured before and at the end of the experiment. One week after ligature, blood was drawn to determine angiotensin Ⅱ, cGMP, nitric oxide, nitric oxide synthase (NOS), O_2~-, superoxide dismutase (SOD). Results Systolic blood pressure was higher in ligature group than that in control group (p 0.05), systolic blood pressure was much lower in ligature + Losartan group than that in ligature group. Heart rate did not change significantly after experiment (p 0. 05). AngⅡ was higher in ligature group than that in control group, even much higher in ligature + Losartan group (p 0. 01 ). There was no difference of cGMP in each group (p . 05). The concentration of NO was lower in ligature group (p 0.05), NO was higher in ligature + L - Arg + Losartan group than that in ligature group (p 0.05). O_2~- was higher in ligature group and ligature + L - Arg group than that in control group (p 0. 05), O_2~- was lower in ligature + Losartan group than that in ligature group (p 0. 05). The level of SOD was lower in ligature group than that in control group (p 0.05), higher in ligature + L- Arg group and ligature + L - Arg + Losartan group than that in ligature group (p 0. 05). Conclusions AngⅡ,O_2~- and NO imbalance play an important role in hypertension pathogenesis, LArg and losartan may have protective effect.


Identification of cultivars is extremely important both for cultivation and breeding of crop plants. Cultivar identification based on morphological characteristics can be difficult and complicated. Polymerase chain reaction technologies, such as random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis, can readily and quickly identify cultivars using seeds and young leaves. Sixty individuals representing 7 radish cultivars were examined for RAPD marker polymorphism. Based on the polymorphism generated, 5 primers were selected, out of the 14  examined, to fingerprint the cultivars. The 5 primers produced a total of 52 fragments, 6 monomorphic and 46 polymorphic fragments, ranging in size from 206 to 2258 base pairs. A total and mean character difference matrix was calculated based on the RAPD data and a dendrogram was constructed using the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic averages (UPGMA). Three DNA fingerprinting keys were developed for the 7 cultivars and 5 markers derived from 3 primers was the minimum required to distinguish cultivars. Results demonstrated that RAPD markers could be effectively used for the identification of radish cultivars.


Government policies developed after seeing a series of food borne outbreaks caused by pathogenic microorganisms require the meat industry to ensure reduction or elimination of those organisms in meat products. For this, Industry needs to take up an extensive amount of work to generate and accumulate data on behavior of microorganisms in the food product. It is expensive, time consuming and laborious. Predictive microbial modeling is a rapidly emerging food safety engineering technique to model the effects of various environmental conditions in growth or survival of microorganisms during manufacturing of food. This technique can serve better in meat industry for ensuring food safety. In this paper, literature on microbial modeling techniques for meat industry is reviewed and the origin, history and development of various models; the superior performance, advantages and disadvantages of artificial neural network (ANN) based models; necessity of modeling with sufficient data; and necessity of developing tertiary models for industrial applications are outlined.


We investigate how household agricultural involvement affects food consumption and dietary diversity in Malawi. Ceteris paribus, a 10% increase in onfarm income share increases food consumption/capita by 2.9%, calorie intake/person/day by 1.7%, and leads to small improvements in dietary diversity. There are significant differences in the relationship between on-farm income shares and caloric shares: a positive and significant relationship with the shares from energy dense/low protein cereals/grains, but not significant with shares from nuts/pulses and sugars. Negative relationships are found with shares from roots/tubers, vegetables/fruits, oils/fats, and meat/fish/milk. While food consumption and dietary diversity increase with agricultural involvement, the quality of diets is an issue. As purchased calories are associated with richer/high quality diets, particularly protein rich, households with lower dependency on agriculture meet those diets more easily, highlighting the importance of crop and income diversification to dietary diversity. Nutrition education and crop diversification programs can improve food security and nutritional outcomes.


High-frequency performance of a mording-head material can be infend by measuring the frequency dependence ofthe film permeance. We employ a simple technique, using the complex impedance measurement of a sample<ontaining solenoid, to investigate the permeance of NiFe films patterned into stripes as a function of the frequency (up to 500 MHz). the field-excitation amplitude (up to 4 Oe) and the stripe width. Measurement of the large- and the small-signal permeances should be indicative of the material response during the writing and the reading operations. Besides the obvious interest in the frequency roll-off of the permeance, the hquency dependence of the response phe is particularly intercsting because it provides insight into the power-dissipation mchanisms which degrade the flux transpon capability of the material. Stripe-shaped samples facilitate the study of the magnetic film response in a simple enough geometry to permit the analysis without having to consider complications like the non-uniform demagnetizing field distribution present in a real head. At the same time, a stripe exhibits a hysteresis loop which can differ greatly from the loop of the metal film prior to paneming. This can occur because of the stress-anisotropy and the larger domain-wall density in the patterned film. Both factors are also present in heads; therefore, measurement of the frequency-dependent stripe response repments a signifcant step towards improving the understanding of head dynamics.


Femtosecond (fs) laser written fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) are excellent candidates for ultra-high temperature (>800 °C) monitoring. More specifically, Type II modifications in silicate glass fibers, characterized by the formation of self-organized birefringent nanostructures, are known to exhibit remarkable thermal stability around 1000 °C for several hours. However, to date there is no clear understanding on how both laser writing parameters and glass composition impact the overall thermal stability of these fiber-based sensors. In this context, this work investigates thermal stability of Type II modifications in various conventional glass systems (including pure silica glasses with various Cl and OH contents, GeO2-SiO2 binary glasses, TiO2- and B2O3-doped commercial glasses) and with varying laser parameters (writing speed, pulse energy). In order to monitor thermal stability, isochronal annealing experiments (Δt⁓ 30 min, ΔT⁓ 50 °C) up to 1400 °C were performed on the irradiated samples, along with quantitative retardance measurements. Among the findings to highlight, it was established that ppm levels of Cl and OH can drastically reduce thermal stability (by about 200 °C in this study). Moreover, GeO2 doping up to 17 mole% only has a limited impact on thermal stability. Finally, the relationships between glass viscosity, dopants/impurities, and thermal stability, are discussed.


BACKGROUND
Nearly 1 in 5 American children are obese. The primary purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between childhood obesity and perioperative complications, patient-reported outcomes (PRO), and functional recovery after closed reduction and percutaneous pinning (CRPP) of type II and III supracondylar humerus fractures.

METHODS
Retrospective review of patients treated operatively with CRPP of Wilkins modification of the Gartland classification type II and III supracondylar humerus fractures was performed over a 1-year timeframe (July 1, 2016 to July 1, 2017). One hundred forty-four patients under the age of 16 treated were identified. Obesity was defined as body mass index (BMI) at or above the 95th percentile for age. Obesity as a risk factor for poor outcomes was assessed. The primary outcome measure was postoperative PRO [quick-DASH, Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)-UE, PROMIS Global Health, and PROMIS Pain scores].

RESULTS
Mean age at surgery was 5.9 years (SD=2.1, 1.07 to 12.2) and mean age at final follow-up (3.3 y) was 8.8 (SD=2.14, 4 to 16). Mean patient BMI was 17.2 (SD=4.48, 12.4 to 56.2). Sixty-six patients were female (45.8%) and 78 patients were male (54.2%). In all, 31 of 144 patients (21.5%) met criteria for obesity. Obesity (95th percentile for BMI or above) was not associated with a higher rate of complications overall (χ2=1.29, P=0.256), range of motion loss (χ2=0.2, P=0.655) or requirement of postoperative physical therapy (χ2=0.17, P=0.678). Seventy-five patients were available and willing to participate in the outcomes score assessments. Mean follow-up for this cohort of 75 patients was 3.3 years (SD=0.31, 2.85 to 3.88). There were no differences in PROMIS pain, PROMIS upper extremity function, PROMIS general health, or quick-DASH scores when comparing obese with nonobese patients.

CONCLUSIONS
Obesity is a growing concern in the United States and its effect on long-term outcomes after CRPP of supracondylar humerus fractures is unknown. The present study demonstrates no difference in complications or PRO among obese patients compared with nonobese patients.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
Level IV-retrospective cohort study.


This paper focuses on the definition of a conceptual participatory design framework for urban planning. Traditional planning methods can no longer satisfy the growing demands on sustainable urban planning in regard to factors such as complexity, problem size, and level of detail and these limitations make the development of new approaches necessary. Expert knowledge as well as insights from stakeholders and community members needs to take part equally in the decision-making process since they are responsible for a broad understanding and acceptance of final planning decisions. Therefore, a participatory framework is presented in the following, which integrates needs and requirements of stakeholders. In order to enable diverse groups of stakeholders to act conjointly, we propose the application of interactive decision support tools, which will leverage general conclusions especially to solve crucial planning decisions.


Adaptive correction of the excitation coefficients of a phased array achieved through dithering the magnitudes and phases of the element coefficients and sensing the fields through a near-zone probe is demonstrated by considering a linear array. Knowledge of the reference signal generated by the desired array at the near-zone probe is assumed. Deviations in the coefficients of the actual array from the desired array are corrected adaptively and simultaneously by means of a gradient based algorithm. Requirements for the algorithm to converge, its performance with and without a receiver noise and the effect of the dither parameters are studied. The effect of element mutual coupling on the performance of the array is also demonstrated by considering an array of half-wave dipoles.


Angoroside C is a phenylpropanoid glycoside compound isolated from the dried root of Scrophularia ningpoensis Hemsl., which possesses the effects of preventing ventricular remodeling, reducing pulmonary oedema, and reducing blood pressure, as well as having the properties of anti-platelet aggregation, hepatoprotection and anti-nephritis, etc. However, few investigations have been conducted on the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) study of angoroside C. Thus, a fast ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was established for the determination of angoroside C and its metabolite ferulic acid in rat plasma and tissue homogenate. The two analytes were extracted from the biosamples using a simple protein precipitation with acetonitrile. The developed method was validated and successfully applied to the pharmacokinetics, bioavailability and tissue distribution study after the intragastric administration of angoroside C (100 mg/kg) or the intravenous administration of angoroside C (5 mg/kg), respectively. The results showed that angoroside C can be absorbed extremely quickly (Tmax = 15 min), can be eliminated very rapidly (t1/2 = 1.26 h), and its oral bioavailability is only about 2.1%. Furthermore, angoroside C was extensively distributed in all main organs (liver, heart, spleen, lung, kidney, and brain), and the highest concentration was detected in the lung 15 min after oral administration. This paper also indicated that angoroside C could be converted to the active metabolite ferulic acid in vivo. The maximum concentrations of ferulic acid in the kidney occurred at 6 h after oral administration. In summary, this study explored some of the pharmacokinetic characteristics of angoroside C in vivo, and the data produced could provide a basis for the further investigation of angoroside C.


PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between financial development, openness in financial services trade and economic growth in BRICS countries for the period 1990–2012.Design/methodology/approachAn index for financial development has been constructed using principal component analysis technique by including banking sector development, stock market development, bond market development and insurance sector development. For the robustness of the result, the long-run cointegrating relationship amongst the variables has been analyzed.FindingsOverall financial development has a positive and significant impact on economic growth. To take the full advantage of openness in financial services trade, countries need to put more emphasis on the development of their stock markets, bond markets and the insurance sector. The result shows that openness in financial services trade has a positive impact on economic growth when the stock market, bond market and insurance sector are included in the system.Research limitations/implicationsThe policy implication of the findings is that policymakers should focus more on developing all four areas of finance to get the full benefit of the financial system on the process of economic growth.Originality/valueThe authors have constructed the better indicators of financial development in the case of BRICS economies. Most of the studies in BRICS economies have measured the development of the financial sector as either banking sector development or stock market development. However, the present study includes all four areas of finance (banking sector development, stock market development, insurance sector development and bond market development) into account.


The authors investigated barriers for entering a randomized psychosocial intervention study among patients with malignant melanoma. Data on age, sex, prognostic factors, social class, marital status, mood, coping, social relations, and social desirability from participants and non-participants were compared in a regression model. More patients in lower socioeconomic classes declined participation. Non-participation was associated with low levels of distress and adaptive coping and higher levels of empathy and congruence from spouses. The type of intervention offered in this study may have more appeal to patients belonging to higher socioeconomic classes.


The aim of this study is to recognize the obstacles that PE teachers face while training on their jobs, another aim of this study is to clarify any of the differences in some of the variables such as (gender, experience, qualifications) in the obstacles that PE teachers face while on their jobs. The sample in this study was taken from teachers in Gaza Strip. The sample size is 101 male PE teachers and 66 female PE teachers. The researcher used the survey tool. The study concluded that the fields of the survey vary in their strength whereas the average level of agreement on the proposed paragraph from the samples point of view is 173,125. By studying which fields had the most effect, obstacles from the samples point of view are as follow:1) Obstacles related to supervision (72.9%).2) Obstacles related to trainers (71%).3) Obstacles related to the timing of the program –in percentage- (68.5 %).4) Obstacles related to abilities, equipment and training place (67.76%).5) Obstacles related to the timing of the program –in percentage- (56.7 %). There is no statistically significant differences in the obstacles that PE teachers face while training on their job as the significance level is (α ≤ 0.05) regarded to the gender, experience and qualifications variable.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effects of recombinant human granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (rhGM-CSF) on wound healing and microRNA expression in diabetic rats.

METHODS
Eighteen male SD rats of clean grade were used to reproduce diabetes model. Four weeks later, a total of 64 full-thickness skin wounds were created on the back of 16 rats with established diabetes, with 4 wounds on each rat. Two symmetrical wounds on either side of the spine were created as a pair according to paired design. Then the wounds were divided into groups A and B according to the random number table and blind method (red and blue tags on the rhGM-CSF or the gel vehicle), with 32 wounds in each group. The ointment with red tag was applied on the wounds of group A and the blue one on group B. The application was conducted once a day, with a thickness of 3 mm, up to post injury day (PID) 14. Gross observation of wound healing was conducted on PID 3, 7, 14. The wound healing rate was determined on PID 3 and 7. On PID 3, 7, 14, tissues from 2, 4, and 8 wounds were harvested from each group respectively for the observation of the histopathological changes with HE staining, and also for analyzing the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and CD31 with immunohistochemical staining (denoted as absorbance value). On PID 7, tissues from 6 wounds in each group were harvested for microarray gene chip to screen the differentially expressed microRNAs. Enrichment analysis of Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) signaling pathway on the differentially expressed microRNAs were performed after the microRNA screening results were validated by real-time fluorescent quantitative RT-PCR. Data were processed with paired t test or two-sample t test.

RESULTS
(1) On PID 3, the wound area was significantly decreased, and the wound granulation was significantly proliferated in both groups. On PID 7, the wound area was further decreased, and the wound area was almost filled by granulation in both groups; the conditions in group A were better. On PID 14, all the wounds in group A were almost healed, while a small area of raw wound with incrustation still remained in some wounds of group B. On PID 3 and 7, the wound healing rates of group A were (41 ± 5)% and (75 ± 4)%, significantly higher than those of group B [(31 ± 9)% and (71 ± 4)%, with t values respectively 10.13 and 8.06, P values below 0.001]. (2) On PID 3, the epidermal cells, endothelial cells, and Fbs in the wounds of 2 groups were sparse, with heavy infiltration of inflammatory cells. The above condition in the wounds was better in group A than in group B. On PID 7, the epidermal cells, endothelial cells, and Fbs were gradually well arranged in group A; infiltration of inflammatory cells decreased, and the condition was better than that of group B. On PID 14, the wounds of group A were completely covered by epidermis, while infiltration of inflammatory cells still remained in some wounds of group B. (3) On PID 3, 7, 14, the positive expressions of CD31 and PCNA in group A were respectively 0.275 ± 0.018, 0.345 ± 0.034, 0.305 ± 0.023; 0.406 ± 0.063, 0.223 ± 0.011, 0.045 ± 0.022. They were significantly higher than those of group B (0.222 ± 0.020, 0.229 ± 0.018, 0.197 ± 0.015; 0.324 ± 0.039, 0.162 ± 0.012, 0.018 ± 0.020, with t values from 2.281 to 9.652, P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). (4) According to the microRNAs detection and screening, as compared with group B, 18 microRNAs were up-regulated while 13 were down-regulated in the wounds of group A. (5) The results of real-time fluorescent quantitative RT-PCR had good consistency with the results of microRNAs detection. (6) Enrichment analysis of KEGG signaling pathway showed that among the 31 differentially expressed microRNAs, 4 took part in the MAPK signaling pathway, 3 took part in the Wnt signaling pathway, 1 took part in the TGF-β signaling pathway, 3 took part in the epidermal growth factor receptor signaling pathway, 2 took part in the cell cycle pathway, 5 took part in the axon guidance signaling pathway, 6 took part in the focal adhesion pathway, 3 took part in the regulation of actin cytoskeleton pathway, 1 took part in the extracellular cell matrix receptor pathway, 3 took part in the adherens junction pathway, and 1 took part in the cell adhesion molecules pathway. After disclosing the blind, it showed that the ointment with red tag was the rhGM-CSF gel and the blue one was gel vehicle.

CONCLUSIONS
The rhGM-CSF gel can promote wound healing in diabetic rats, producing significant differential microRNA expression in wounds, and they may be the target at gene post-transcriptional level of rhGM-CSF gel in promoting wound healing.


Six months before she was seen by us, the referring physician started her on treatment with Sinemet-plus 125 mg (carbidopa 25 mg, levodopa 100 mg) four times a day with a dramatic initial benefit. Within a few months, however, she noticed wearing off problems with each dose lasting only three hours and the dose was increased to six Sinemet plus a day with one Sinemet CR (carbidopa 50 mg, levodopa 200 mg) at night. The differential diagnosis in this patient was between dopa responsive dystonia and young onset Parkinson's disease. The initial presentation with what seemed to be a spastic paraparesis and the positive family history suggested dopa responsive dystonia. Later evaluation suggested the possibility of young onset Parkinson's disease as she had developed wearing off dose responses early after initiation of treatment with Sinemet.5 By contrast, patients with dopa responsive dystonia are known to have a sustained long term benefit without complications on small doses of levodopa. For purposes of prognosis and further management it was important to distinguish between the two conditions. This was achieved with '8F-dopa PET which showed significantly reduced tracer uptake in the putamen (averaged side to side, Ki values using an occipital reference; patient caudate = 0-0080 (0-0108 ± 0-0017), patient putamen = 0-0034 (0 0099 ± 0-0011)). These findings were suggestive of a diagnosis of young onset Parkinson's disease.3 4 With a diagnosis of young onset Parkinson's disease established the drug therapy was modified by giving her levodopa sparing drugs such as amantadine, dopamine agonists, and anticholinergic drugs to avoid the levodopa induced motor fluctuations for as long as possible. This case shows the part functional imaging can play in selected cases and the prognostic and therapeutic implications made possible by this technique. K P BHATIA N TURJANSKI DJBROOKS C D MARSDEN University Department of Clinical Neurology, Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, and MRC Cyclotron Unit, Hammersmith Hospital, London UK D THRUSH Department of Neurology, Demriford Hospital, Plymouth, UK


A simple mathematical model for the thyroid hormone stimulation in plasma after intravenous administration of pharmacological doses of thyroid hormone binding carrier proteins is described. The model concept is based on the observation of the time course of both radioactive labelled and unlabelled thyroid hormones before and after protein loading in rabbits. All model parameters are derived from experimental measurements in order to guarantee the identifiability with physiological data. The presented initial study could be a theoretical basis for a more effective therapy of thyroid storm by dialysis or plasma exchange methods.


Background Cut-off points for disease activity scores (DAS) using a DAS28-CRP have been reported to be different than for DAS28-ESR in clinical trials and studies of established rheumatoid arthritis (RA)[1]. Objectives We aimed to evaluate the relationship of these in an early RA cohort. Methods We estimated cut-off points for DAS28 using the C-Reactive Protein (CRP) as the acute phase reactant, (where normal CRP is <1.0 mg/dl) that corresponded to the DAS28, usually calculated with the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) for remission (REM), low disease activity (LDA), moderate disease activity (MDA) and high disease activity (HDA). Recent complete data from 882 early RA patients in the Canadian early ArThritis CoHort (CATCH) were used to calculate the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient of DAS28 and DAS28-CRP measures. Receiver Operator Curves (ROC) were constructed to assess cut-off points of DAS28-CRP corresponding to DAS28. Each was calculated based on the best trade-off between sensitivity (sens) and specificity (spec) as (sens+spec)/2 ([1],[2]) and on the Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC). Patients were classified into different disease activity states based on cut-off values for DAS28 and DAS28-CRP. Kappa statistics were calculated to evaluate cut-off points. Statistical significance was defined as p <0.05. Results Mean (SD) age was 53.8 (14.7). Disease duration was 5.9 (3.0) months. 74% were female, 85% Caucasian, and 18% current smokers. Mean (SD) DAS28 and DAS28-CRP scores were 3.0 (1.5) and 2.8 (1.3). A strong linear relationship between DAS28 and DAS28-CRP was seen [Spearman correlation 0.52 (p<0.0001); Pearson's correlation 0.92 (p<0.0001)]. ROC curves were constructed to assess cut-off points of DAS28-CRP for REM, LDAS, MDAS corresponding to DAS28 scores of <2.6, <3.2 and <5.1. Two criteria were used to find the best cut-off points (Table). Higher sens, spec, negative and positivie predictive values were observed using the MCC (Table) and this was chosen as the final model to calculate cut-offs. Best cut-off points based on Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC): Conclusions Given that a MCC accounts for true + false positives and negatives and is regarded as a balanced measure even if classes are of different sizes, we propose cut off points for DAS28-CRP based on real world patient measures to be DAS28-CRP<2.4 (REM), DAS28-CRP<2.9 (LDAS) and DAS28-CRP<4.8 (MDAS) and DAS28-CRP≥4.8 (HDAS) References Inoue E, et al. Ann Rheum Dis 2007; 66:407–9. Aletaha D, et al. Arth & Rheum 2005;52:2625–36. Acknowledgements The CATCH study was designed and implemented by the investigators and financially supported initially by Amgen Canada Inc. and Pfizer Canada Inc. via an unrestricted research grant since inception of CATCH. As of 2011, further support was provided by Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., United Chemicals of Belgium (UCB) Canada Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada Co., Abbvie Inc, and Janssen Biotech Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson Inc.) Disclosure of Interest None Declared


A cDNA clone of the bovine interleukin 2 (IL-2) gene has been isolated and demonstrated to be functional in the production of secreted bovine IL-2 protein when transfected into monkey cells. The bovine IL-2 clone is 791 base pairs in length and contains an open reading frame of 474 base pairs coding for a bovine IL-2 precursor polypeptide of 158 amino acids with an estimated molecular weight of 17,884. The putative hydrophobic leader or signal sequence of the precursor protein is 23 amino acid residues long, suggesting that, after removal by processing, the mature secreted bovine IL-2 protein contains 135 amino acids and has a molecular weight of 15,464. Comparisons of both the nucleotide sequence and the predicted amino acid sequence of bovine IL-2 with those of the human and mouse IL-2 show extensive regions of sequence conservation between the species, interspersed with other regions of less similarity. The 3' untranslated region of the bovine IL-2 gene shares as much, if not greater, sequence homology with the 3' untranslated regions of the human and mouse genes as do the transcribed coding regions of these genes, suggesting an involvement of this region in regulation. In particular, a tandemly repeated sequence, (TATT)n, found in the 3' untranslated tail of the bovine IL-2 clone is also found in the 3' untranslated region of the other known interleukin and interferon genes, as well as in similar regions of many other inducible genes of the lymphoid and immune response systems, suggesting a cell or tissue-specific regulatory function for these evolutionarily conserved sequences.


Aiming at localizing persons in industrial sites is a major concern towards the development of the factory of the future. During the last years, developments have been made in several active research domains targeting the localization problem, among which the vision-based Simultaneous Localization and Mapping paradigm. This has led to the development of multiple algorithms in this field such as ORB-SLAM2 known to be the most complete method as it incorporates the majority of the state-of-the-art techniques. Recently, new commercial and low-cost systems have also emerged in the market that can estimate the 6-DOF motion. In particular, we refer here to the Intel Realsense T265, a standalone 6-DOF tracking sensor that runs a visual-inertial SLAM algorithm and that accurately estimates the 6-DOF motion as claimed by the Intel company. In this paper, we present an evaluation of the Intel T265 tracking camera by comparing its localization performances to the ORB-SLAM2 algorithm. This benchmarking fits within a specific use-case: the person localization in an industrial site. The experiments have been conducted in a platform equipped with a VICON motion capture system, which physical structure is similar to a one that we could find in an industrial site. The Vicon system is made of fifteen high-speedtracking cameras (100 Hz) which provides highly accurate poses that were used as ground truth reference. The sequences have been recorded using both an Intel RealSense D435 camera to use its stereo images with ORB-SLAM2 and the Intel RealSense T265. The two sets of timestamped poses (VICON and the ones provided by the cameras) were aligned then calibrated using the point set registration method. The Absolute Trajectory Error, the Relative Trajectory Error and the Euclidian Distance Error metrics were employed to benchmark the localization accuracy from ORB-SLAM2 and T265. The results show a competitive accuracy of both systems for a handheld camera in an indoor industrial environment with a better reliability with the T265 Tracking system.


A 64 year old woman had been on lithium carbonate for 12 years for manico-depressive psychosis. Mild asthenia leads to the diagnosis of primary hyperparathyroidism based on the findings of hypercalcemia up to 2.85 mmol/l inappropriate levels of parathormone and a non-suppressive rise of nephrogenic cyclic AMP. These symptoms were not relieved by removal of a chief cell adenoma of the left inferior parathyroid; surgical reexploration leads to the removal of an adenoma in a high, ectopic situation. Further venous samplings were collected during cervico mediastinal phlebography because of persistent hypercalcemia: parathormone levels were high in a thymic vein and a new cervicotomy revealed a fifth gland with an adenoma in the high mediastinum. After removal of the third adenoma, the patient became hypocalcemic. Lithium was not discontinued according to the patient's wishes. Eighteen months later she was well and normocalcemic on alfacalcidol therapy. Multiple adenomas of the parathyroids are rare (1.7 p. 100 to 5 p. 100) and the recurrence of an adenoma on a supernumerary gland is exceptional. Eighteen clinical cases of primary hyperparathyroidism under lithium therapy have been reported, but mild asymptomatic hypercalcemia with inappropriate increased parathormone levels seems to be more common. Duration of treatment is very variable: 1 day to 12 years, and serum calcium levels or up to 3.9 mmol have been observed. Ten patients underwent cervicotomy with removal of an adenoma 6 of them remaining under treatment, with 2 recurrences in our case. Five of the 8 non-operated patients remained on lithium therapy and showed mild hypercalcemia.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Haemophilus somnus is an important veterinary pathogen that causes respiratory disease, arthritis, septicaemia and abortion in cattle and sheep. In the present study we investigated the possibility that H. somnus resists killing by bovine neutrophils, by causing the latter to undergo morphological changes consistent with apoptosis. Both serum-sensitive and serum-resistant strains of H. somnus enhanced bovine neutrophil chromatin condensation and shape change (i.e. zeiosis) in vitro, suggesting that the cells were undergoing apoptosis. Heat-killed or formalin-killed H. somnus had less effect than viable H. somnus. Chromatin margination of neutrophils was greater whenH. somnus was opsonized with adult bovine serum, which facilitates phagocytosis of the bacteria. H. somnus culture filtrates did not cause bovine neutrophil chromatin condensation. These findings suggest that direct contact with H. somnus is required for the maximal effect on bovine neutrophils. Apoptosis was confirmed by flow cytometry, using propidium iodide staining to detect DNA fragmentation. These findings suggest that H. somnus can evade killing by bovine neutrophils, in part, by inducing these cells to undergo apoptosis.


This study investigates the unsteady, two-dimensional flow and heat transfer past a sinusoidally rotating circular cylinder, subject to linear shear. A higher order compact (HOC) finite difference scheme is used to solve the governing Navier-Stokes equations coupled with the energy equation on a non-uniform grid in polar coordinates. The hydrodynamic and thermal features of the flow are mainly influenced by the shear rate (K), Reynolds number (Re), Prandtl number (P r) and the cylinder oscillation parameters i.e. maximum angular velocity (am), the frequency ratio (fr). The simulations are performed for Re = 100, P r = 0.5 - 1.0, K ? [0.0, 0.15] and am ? [0.5, 2.0]. The numerical scheme is validated with the existing literature studies. Partial and full vortex suppression is observed for certain values of shear parameter K. The connection between heat transfer and vortex shedding phenomenon is examined where a pronounced increase in the heat transfer is observed for certain values of oscillation parameter, relative to the non-shear flow case.


Purpose: Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7 is gram-negative enteric pathogen producing different types of Shiga toxin. This bacterium is the most corporate cause of haemorrhagic colitis in human. Administration of antibiotics (particularly sulfa drugs) against this pathogen is a debatable topic as this may increase the risk of uremic syndrome; especially in children and aged people. Around the world, microbiologists are in search of alternative therapeutic methods specially probiotics against this pathogen. In the present study, we have focused on the investigation of alternate bio-therapeutics (probiotics) for the treatment of patients infected with E. coli O157:H7. This study is based on the identification of colicin-producing gram-negative bacteria (particularly enterobacteriaceae) which can competently exclude E. coli O157:H7 from the gut of the infected individual. Materials and Methods: Hundred samples from human, animal faeces and septic tank water were analysed for nonpathogenic gram-negative rods (GNRs). Results: Out of these samples, 175 isolates of GNRs were checked for their activity against E. coli O157:H7. Only 47 isolates inhibited the growth of E. coli O157:H7, among which majority were identified as E. coli. These E. coli strains were found to be the efficient producers of colicin. Some of the closely related species i. e., Citrobacter sp, Pantoea sp. and Kluyvera sp. also showed considerable colicinogenic activity. Moreover, colicinogenic species were found to be nonhaemolytic, tolerant to acidic environment (pH 3) and sensitive to commonly used antibiotics. Conclusion: Nonhaemolytic, acid tolerant and sensitive to antibiotics suggests the possible use of these circulating endothelial cells (CEC) as inexpensive and inoffensive therapeutic agent (probiotics) in E. coli O157:H7 infections.


With the advances in the development of mobile payments, a huge amount of payment data are collected by banks. User payment data offer a good dataset to depict customer behavior patterns. A comprehensive understanding of customers' purchase behavior is crucial to developing good marketing strategies, which may trigger much greater purchase amounts. For example, by exploring customer behavior patterns, given a target store, a set of potential customers is able to be identified. In other words, personalized campaigns at the right time and in the right place can be treated as the last stage of consumption. Here we propose a probability graphical model that exploits the payment data to discover customer purchase behavior in the spatial, temporal, payment amount and product category aspects, named STPC-PGM. As a result, the mobility behavior of an individual user could be predicted with a probabilistic graphical model that accounts for all aspects of each customer's relationship with the payment platform. To achieve real time advertising, we then develop an online framework that efficiently computes the prediction results. Our experiment results show that STPC-PGM is effective in discovering customers' profiling features, and outperforms the state-of-the-art methods in purchase behavior prediction. In addition, the prediction results are being deployed in the marketing of real-world credit card users, and have presented a significant growth in the advertising conversion rate.