This article presents a methodology which draws heavily on the philosophy of the Input-Output models and having been made completely operational has already been used on three occasions in two countries for the purposes of regional development of construction materials industries. This methodology, or more precisely the strictly formalized part of it is an extension of that of rectangular Input-Output models with modifiable coefficients. Thus, not surprisingly, it resembles fairly closely the approach by simulation, although the proposed model contains some simple optimizing sub-models. While obviously normative, these sub-models play a descriptive role in the model as a whole. It is to be noted that the approach presented here can be applied to only one sector of the economy at a time. What is more, although capable of various extensions it will never be more than an auxiliary instrument destined to be used jointly with other analysis and planning instruments. It is vital for any valid regional analysis not to restrict its investigations exclusively to what goes on in the region directly concerned. Even if the objective of the analysis is limited to a single region, one must take into account the interrelations between regions within the national economy and with foreign economies: important feedbacks affecting the region concerned may on occasion travel far beyond its limits before returning. The type of a model presented here, thanks to a great number of interrelations of which it can systematically keep track may turn out to be particularly useful here.


3,4-Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), one of several synthetic cathinones, is a popular constituent of illicit 'bath salts'. In preclinical studies utilizing drug discrimination methods with male rodents, MDPV has been characterized as similar to both cocaine and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-hydrochloride (MDMA). Whereas few drug discrimination studies have utilized female rats, the current study evaluated the discriminative stimulus effects of MDPV in 12 adult female Sprague–Dawley rats trained to discriminate 0.5 mg/kg MDPV from saline under a fixed ratio 20 schedule of food reinforcement. Stimulus substitution was assessed with MDPV and its enantiomers, other synthetic cathinones [alpha pyrrolidinopentiophenone-hydrochloride(α-PVP), 4-methylmethcathinone (4-MMC)], other dopamine agonists (cocaine, [+)-methamphetamine] and serotonin agonists [MDMA, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)] Stimulus antagonism was assessed with the dopamine D1 receptor antagonist, Sch 23390 and the D2 receptor antagonist, haloperidol. Cocaine and (+)-methamphetamine engendered full stimulus generalization to MDPV with minimal effects on response rate. LSD produced partial substitution, whereas MDMA and 4-MMC produced complete substitution, and all these serotonergic compounds produced dose-dependent response suppression. (S)-MDPV and α-PVP engendered full substitution with similar potency to the racemate, while (R)-MDPV failed to substitute up to 5 mg/kg. Both Sch 23390 and haloperidol attenuated the discrimination of low MDPV doses and essentially shifted the dose-response curve to the right but failed to block discrimination of the training dose. These findings are generally consistent with previous reports based exclusively on male rodents. Moreover, they confirm the contribution of dopaminergic mechanisms but do not rule out the possible contribution of other neurotransmitter actions to the interoceptive stimulus effects of MDPV.


Outcrop mapping by close-range photogrammetry was undertaken at three remote sites as part of a study of water resources to improve characterization of glacial sedimentary assemblages and to evaluate the utility of terrestrial remote sensing to supplement routine geologic mapping. Two features were measured from georeferenced stereomodels, clast pavements, and buried channel deposits over a 2-year period along a segment of the Middle Fork of the Vermilion River. Cobble-size clasts, spaced less than 3.28 ft (1 m) apart, form clusters approximately 6.56 to 9.84 ft (2 to 3 m) in length. These clasts compose a semi-continuous pavement between two tills deposited during the Wisconsin Episode. Five of the 26 clusters measured occur within the Tiskilwa Formation. Deposits of coarse- and fine-grained sediments, informally assigned to the Glasford Formation lithostratigraphic unit, fill buried channels that provide an important source of groundwater in east-central Illinois for areas that do not receive water from the Mahomet aquifer. Measurements of buried channels included width, maximum sediment thickness, area, and perimeter. Widths equated to more than half of the outcrop length. Aspect ratios (width: thickness) of the channels are consistent with deltaic distributary systems formed in front of retreating ice margins, and systems having varying interconnectivity. Differences in area: perimeter of the buried channels provide a measure of shape that may partially account for the variation in yields from water wells in this area. Consequently, we postulate that yield could be improved through lateral drilling within the channel or by connecting adjacent channels.


The measured values of the matter energy density and the vacuum energy density are obtained using an adiabatic black hole percolating model at the critical point. The percolation of black holes is related with an expanding isotropic universe filled with the most entropic fluid saturating the holographic bound.


Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL

Background: HER2 overexpression occurs in 20-25% of patients with breast cancer and is associated with aggressive disease and decreased survival. HER2 activates multiple cellular signaling pathways including the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway. The sustained activation of the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway or the activating mutation of PIK3CA (p110α) is one of the major causes of drug resistance including trastuzumab.

Purpose: Inhibitors of mTOR1 have been shown to be active in patients with solid tumors. As the phosphatidylinositol 3-Kianse (PI3K) pathway activates numerous other kinases, transcription factors, and proteins associated with cell growth/survival and apoptosis besides mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), suppression of this pathway upstream of mTOR may be more effective than inhibition of mTOR1 in HER2+ breast cancer models.

Experimental Design: To examine this possibility, the dual pan-PI3K/mTOR inhibitor, BEZ235 was compared with mTOR1 inhibitor, RAD001 in trastuzumab-sensitive HER2+ (BT474 and SKBR3), trastuzumab-resistant (BT474HR), and PIK3CA mutated/HER2+ breast cancer cells (HCC1954 and U893)

Results: Treatment of HER2+ breast cancer cell lines with BEZ235 or RAD001 in vitro showed 1) RAD001 mediated AKT activation was blocked when cells were treated with BEZ235, 2) BEZ235 dose- and time-dependently blocked AKT phosphorylation (both at Ser473 and Thr308), 3) both drugs completely blocked the activation P70S6K, but BEZ235 more efficiently blocked 4EBP1 phosphorylation than RAD001, 4) ERK activation was significantly attenuated by BEZ235, while inhibition of mTOR1 by RAD001 lead to activated ERK, 5) BEZ235 was significantly more effective than RAD001 in reducing HIF1α expression following heregulin stimulation, 6) activation of caspase3 (from the expression level of cleaved caspase3) was also greater following treatment with BEZ235 than RAD001, and 7) integrin-dependent breast tumor cell migration was significantly abrogated with BEZ235 in association with inhibition of RAC1-GTP, but this was not seenwith RAD001.

Conclusion: Our preclinical in vitro data demonstrate that concurrent inhibition of PI3K and mTOR is likely to be a more effective strategy in the treatment of both sensitive and resistant HER2+ breast cancers than the inhibition of mTOR1 alone.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4496. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-4496


In the Dutch Republic slavery was not permitted on its soil in Western Europe. Enslaved people obtained their freedom by setting foot on Dutch soil. In 1776, the scope of this free soil principle was limited by a statute of the States General. From this moment onwards only slaves who remained in the Republic for longer than six months would automatically become free. In the literature, it was hitherto assumed that with the establishment of this statute the first debates about the scope of the free soil principle were initiated. This article demonstrates that this assumption is false. Previously, two court cases from 1735 and 1736, between two enslaved men from Curacao and their masters, had already given rise to discussion. During these court cases, lawyers and judges elaborately debated the boundaries of the free soil principle. Did every enslaved person automatically obtain their freedom, or was, for instance, the permission of the master required to travel to the Dutch Republic? The two court cases give insight into what contemporaries thought about the free soil principle, thus shedding new light on the States General's statute of 1776.


We give a combinatorial definition of the second parameter describing Sturmian words, that we call formal intercept, as an infinite Ostrowski expansion. We recall the well-known properties of Sturmian words, study factors graphs and repetition function, and end with the definition of formal intercepts.


In the past decade, computer games have been gradually seen as one of effective teaching methods and environments, and they have been widely applied in various fields. The purpose of this case study was to investigate the usability of the computer Game, Crazy Machines 2, as a digital game-based learning material through heuristic evaluation to ascertain whether the game conform to interface design principles. Research results indicate that the highest-point indicator is the game interface which provides immediate feedback to solve related missions or problems. The second-highest is game rules which appropriately provide missions or constructive feedback icons to students, enabling them to know what is happening. The lower-point indicator is the social interaction feature, experts consider that if students have different media and the best communication tools, they will achieve the best learning effect. This study recommends future research towards adding the indicators of playfulness and joyfulness into the heuristic evaluation tools.


We construct a homological approximation to the partition complex, and identify it as the Tits building. This gives a homological relationship between the symmetric group and the affine group, leads to a geometric tie between symmetric powers of spheres and the Steinberg idempotent, and allows us to use the self‐duality of the Steinberg module to study layers in the Goodwillie tower of the identity functor. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 55N25, 55S15, 20B30, 55P25.


Halokinetic and slope-instability processes have sculpted numerous morphological features on the flanks of the intraslope basins in the Bryant Canyon area. High-resolution geophysical data and long sediment cores (as much as 20 m [66 ft] long) were used to define the time and spatial evolution of sediment failures and their relationship to halokinetic processes. Two episodes of increased salt-tectonic activity are defined: (1) The first acted at the beginning of interglacial oxygen isotope stage 5 as salt adjusted to the abandoned environments of the Bryant and Eastern Canyon systems, and (2) the second occurred during the last glacial period and is characterized by the seaward propagation of salt masses. Three types of slopes are recognized in the intraslope basins: (1) highly inclined slopes with low-relief morphologic features resulting from shallow, translational slump complexes, (2) highly inclined slopes with high-relief morphologic features resulting from deep, rotational slump complexes, and (3) highly inclined slopes dissected by high-relief canyonlike landslide troughs resulting from channelized rotational slumps. The first two slope types occur mainly on the northern flanks of the basins, whereas the third type occurs on the southern flanks. We propose that the slump complexes on types 1 and 2 slopes were triggered by the oversteepening of the flanks by the seaward mobilization of underlying salt masses. The channelized rotational slumps on type 3 slopes are interpreted to result from the development of salt diapir bulges that lead to locally increased gradients on the basin flanks. Most of the sediment failures have been transformed into debris flows and led to the most recent phase of infilling of the basin floors.


The electricity produced from photovoltaics represents only a small fraction of the total electricity consumption in Sweden, but the installed capacity in Sweden doubled for the fourth year in a row in 2014. If this trend continues it is both interesting and important to discuss where we want to see PV systems in our future society. Looking at the market share of different types of PV systems in other European countries there are great variations from one country to another, and it is obvious that integrating PV in the electricity mix can be done in several ways.
The same PV module can be placed on a roof top or on the ground, but might experience different conditions for producing electricity depending on tilt, azimuth angle and shading of the PV modules. Depending on where a PV system is installed it is also affected in different ways by capital subsidies, tax reductions and feed-in tariffs. By removing these aspects from an economic analysis the performance and cost can be compared between different systems, before other economic systems evens out the difference.
Two types of PV systems have been compared in this study; residential PV systems versus ground mounted PV systems. The objective of the study was to calculate a comparative cost of electricity for these two different ways of installing PV and at the same time briefly address the potential environmental impacts from the space required for solar parks.
The energy output was simulated with the program System Advisor Model. The azimuth angles and tilts of an average residential PV system were based on classifications used in the solar map of Lund. Two land alternatives were studied, forest and agricultural land, both covering large areas in Sweden. To include variations in cost of land and solar irradiation the simulations and calculations were performed for three different parts of Sweden; the southern, central and northern part.
The conclusion from this study is that PV systems should be placed on the ground to produce the most electricity per invested Swedish crown. Agricultural land is the least expensive land type option when compared with forest, since the ground is already flat and no shading forest edge has to be taken into consideration. The irradiation has a larger impact on the cost per produced kWh than the cost of land, making PV in the far north more expensive. The environmental impact from installing PV on the ground is not well known but an installation will result in land use – and land cover change to some extent.


We describe an inexpensive autonomous robot capable of navigating previously unseen data centers and monitoring key metrics such as air temperature1. The robot provides real-time navigation and sensor data to commercial IBM software, thereby enabling real-time generation of the data center layout, a thermal map and other visualizations of energy dynamics. Once it has mapped a data center, the robot can efficiently monitor it for hot spots and other anomalies using intelligent sampling. We demonstrate the robot's effectiveness via experimental studies from two production data centers.


Formulation, Fill & Finish 2003 10 he technologies behind oral drug delivery have emerged from the mainstream pharmaceutical industry and have become influential forces in their own right, as evidenced by the burgeoning "drug delivery companies" that are at the forefront of innovation and hold their own niche market. Drug delivery companies and their pharmaceutical industry partners are poised to reap the rewards of the multibillion-dollar drug delivery market, which is forecast to grow to about $70 billion by 2005 (1). The market for oral controlled drug delivery alone is expected to grow at 9% or more every year through 2007. The driving forces behind this booming market can be divided into two main groups: patient-related factors (see Table I and Figure 1) and market-driven factors.


A new technique for calculating potential anomalies on a sphere due to finite amplitude relief has been developed. We show that by raising the topography to the nth power and expanding this field into spherical harmonics, potential anomalies due to topography on spherical density interfaces can be computed to arbitrary precision. Using a filter for downward continuing the Bouguer anomaly, we have computed a variety of crustal thickness maps for the Moon, assuming both a homogeneous as well as a dual-layered crust. The crustal thickness maps for the homogeneous model give plausible results, but this model is not consistent with the seismic data, petrologic evidence, and geoid to topography ratios, all of which suggest some form of crustal stratification. Several dual-layered models were investigated, and it was found that only models with both upper and lower crustal thickness variations could satisfy the gravity and topography data. These models predict that the entire upper crust has been excavated beneath the major nearside multiring basins. Additionally, significant amounts of lower crustal material was excavated from these basins, especially beneath Crisium. This model also predicts that mantle material should not have been excavated during the South-Pole Aitken basin forming event, and that lower crustal material should be exposed at the surface in this basin.


Cell search and synchronization in the Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long-Term Evolution (LTE) system is performed in each user equipment (UE) by using the primary synchronization signal (PSS) and secondary synchronization signal (SSS). The overall synchronization performance is heavily dominated by robust PSS detection, which can be achieved in the conventional noncoherent detector by exploiting the essential near-perfect autocorrelation and cross-correlation properties of Zadoff-Chu (ZC) sequences. However, a relatively high computational complexity is observed in conventional algorithms. As compared with them, two new detectors, i.e., almost-half-complexity (AHC) and central-self-correlation (CSC) detectors, are proposed in this paper to achieve reliable PSS detection with much lower complexity by exploiting the central-symmetric property of ZC sequences. The complexity of the proposed CSC detector is only 50% that of the AHC detector, which achieves exactly the same PSS detection accuracy as that of the conventional detector with one half of complexity being saved. An improvement of CSC, i.e., CSCIns, is also proposed in this paper to combat the large-frequency offset. The performance of the CSCIns detector is independent of the frequency offset, and numerical results show that the 90% PSS acquisition time of CSCIns can be well within an 80-ms duration, even in a heavy intercell-interference environment with a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of -10 dB.


This paper addresses freight management in large, congested urban settings. Congestion creates a substantial variation in travel time (speeds) during morning peak and evening peak periods. Besides the day-to-day dynamics of traffic conditions, traffic incidents contribute significantly to urban congestion, resulting in unplanned travel delays. Urban route designs that ignore such significant variations are often found to be inefficient or even infeasible (in regard to delivery or pickup time windows) in a congested traffic environment. This limitation may lead to delays, higher operational costs, and inferior customer service. To take the dynamics of traffic conditions into account, the proposed modeling framework includes an underlying dynamic network traffic simulation-assignment model that is able to compute time-dependent shortest paths (TDSPs) and simulate individual vehicles on a realistic representation of urban road network elements, including signalization, ramp metering, and other operational controls. A two-phase set-partitioning–based heuristic approach is proposed to construct freight vehicle routes. No parameter tuning is required. The integrated modeling framework was first tested on a small network, and then the application was demonstrated on a real-world urban network, the Chicago, Illinois, area network, with problem instances of up to 500 customers with TDSPs updated at 10-min intervals.


Tiny ultrasonic linear actuators (TULAs) are used in many industrial applications and a full characterization of their dynamic behavior is needed. This paper presents a detailed theoretical-experimental study of TULAs. The general structure and operation principle of TULAs are introduced. The actuator dynamics is then described using a simple piezoelectric model. In practice, TULAs are most often used as actuators for positioning mechanisms. The proposed model includes electromechanical relations which offer designers a broad range of possibilities for precise positioning and reliable model-based control. TULAs are experimentally investigated to determine the conditions that allow an optimal performance.


These experiments investigated the effects, on memory, of injections of d-amphetamine (10 micrograms/0.5 microliter) administered into the amygdala, hippocampus, or caudate nucleus immediately after training in cued or spatial water-maze tasks. In experiment 1, rats received an eight-trial training session on one of the two tasks followed by injections of d-amphetamine or saline. Retention was tested 24 hr later. On the spatial task, intrahippocampal, but not intracaudate, injections of d-amphetamine facilitated retention. In contrast, on the cued task intracaudate, but not intrahippocampal, injections of d-amphetamine facilitated retention. Posttraining intraamygdala injections of d-amphetamine enhanced retention of both tasks. In experiment 2, lidocaine (2% solution; 1.0 microliter) injected intraamygdally prior to the retention test did not block the memory enhancement induced by posttraining intraamygdala injections of d-amphetamine. The findings (i) provide further evidence of a dissociation between the roles of the hippocampus and caudate nucleus in different forms of memory, (ii) indicate that the modulatory role of the amygdala is not limited to either of the two different forms of memory represented in spatial and cued discriminations in a water maze, and (iii) are consistent with previous findings indicating that amygdala influences on memory storage are not mediated by lasting neural changes located within the amygdala.


In this paper we present SCMS-ER: Small Cell Management System Emergency Recovery. SCMS-ER provides a way of backing up Small Cell Management System critical data across two geographic locations. It also provides a plan for replication of backup data so that the client data is recoverable in the event of a disaster on the main site.


OBJECTIVE
Heterogeneous real-world evidence can complement the more strictly regulated clinical trial data. A benefit of this is the wide range of backgrounds, comorbidities and characteristics that can give additional insights into treatments. Observational, retrospective studies can help to fill in the mosaic that makes up a treatments landscape. Tildrakizumab, an interleukin 23p19 inhibitor, is approved for the treatment of plaque psoriasis and has been shown to be a safe and efficacious therapy in clinical trials and emerging real-world evidence. We aimed at confirming the efficacy of tildrakizumab in patients with plaque psoriasis in a dual center setting and identifying patients' characteristics leading to better treatment response.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, eligible for systemic biological treatment, and treated with tildrakizumab were included in the study and the routine clinical parameters - Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI), Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), and safety - were retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTS
The combined cohorts included 89 patients, of which 64% were naïve to biologic therapies. At the time of analysis efficacy assessment was available for 39 patients after 12 months of treatment, 73 patients after 36 weeks, 79 patients after 16 weeks and 82 patients after 4 weeks. PASI and DLQI decreased significantly over time, with 52/73 (71.2%) patients achieving PASI 100 after 36 weeks. No severe side-effects were recorded in association with tildrakizumab.

CONCLUSIONS
We confirmed the safety and efficacy of tildrakizumab in a real-world clinical setting. A higher proportion of patients naïve to biologics achieved a greater PASI response than patients who had previously been treated with biologics. The same was true for older patients and patients with a shorter history of disease.


Immunoscreening of a Candida albicans cDNA library in the expression vector lambda gt11 with rabbit polyclonal antibodies against the 37 kDa cell surface laminin receptor of C albicans resulted in the isolation of a cDNA clone of 0.9 kb. Sequencing of this clone demonstrated a full length open reading frame encoding the polyubiquitin, which contains three tandem copies, head-to-tail spacerless repeats, of the 228 nucleotides coding for the 76 amino acids of the ubiquitin protein, which is identical to that of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The third copy possesses an extra C-terminal amino acid which is distinct to that found in S. cerevisiae. Northern blot analysis revealed a single mRNA population of about 1 kb present in similar amounts in both yeast and mycelial cells. This indicates that the C. albicans polyubiquitin gene (UBI1) encodes a polyubiquitin precursor protein containing three ubiquitin repeats. Immunofluorescence and Western immunoblotting experiments with polyclonal antibodies against mammalian ubiquitin suggest the presence of ubiquitinated protein moieties in the wall of C. albicans cells.


Background: In children with lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), cancerous metastasis to the central nervous system (CNS) is common, but there is insufficient information on this metastasis and cancer progression process. Further, the role of exosomes on cancer growth and metastasis has been the attention of many studies. Because the astrocytes involve in the blood-brain barrier and stay in contact with peripheral blood , we investigated the effect of exosomes derived Nalm6 cell line on astrocytes from human brain fetal tissue.
Methods: In this in vitro study, exosomes were isolated from the supernatant of Nalm6 cell line by centrifugation and identified by DLS, AFM and FE-SEM methods. Astrocytes were isolated from human fetal brain tissue cells and expanded and identified by GFAP antibody with immunocytochemistry. Astrocytes were treated with different concentrations of exosomes (i.e., 5, 10, 30, and 50 µg/ml),. Proliferation and migration were assessed with Trypan blue staining and scratch methods, respectively. To define tumorogensis changes in astrocytes treated by exosomes, the expression of MMP9, P53, and Cox2 genes were investigated by Real-Time PCR.
Findings: According to the DLS results, the size of exosomes was about 43 nm. AFM and FE-SEM imaging indicated these exosomes have a spherical shape. Our results showed that the proliferation of astrocytes significantly increased when treated with 50 µg/ml of exosomes.Therefore, the concentration of 50 µg/ml was considered for further experiments. Astrocyte migration was significantly increased compared to the control group. Finally, our results showed tumorogenesis changes in astrocytes by increasing the expression of MMP9 and Cox2 and decreasing the expression of p53 at mRNA level.
Conclusion: Based on our in vitro study, exosomes derived from ALL as a peripheral tumor can change the behavior of astrocytes as a target for metastasis. Further investigations on this topic are warranted to shed light on metastatic mechanisms.


The kinetics of colony-forming units (CFU) of the bone marrow in mice were studied using a method involving the suicide of cells in vivo by 3H-TdR or hydroxyurea. After selectively killing cells in S phase, the surviving cells traversed S phase in a cyclic fashion. This enabled the duration of the cycle and of the S phase of CFU to be measured—8 hr and 4 hr, respectively. It was shown that quiescent stem cells pass into the proliferative compartment. A computer model helped to explain the experimental results. The feedback mechanism seemed to be initiated by the depletion of the compartment of maturing cells. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that the CFU response to S-phase cell killing was similar in two strains of mice and was independent of the proportion of CFU in S phase, which was approximately 0% in the C57BI and 20% in the C3H mice.


Abstract Purpose: To describe cytomegalovirus (CMV) end-organ disease (EOD) rate in AIDS patients with low CD4+ cell count despite HAART who were enrolled in a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of preemptive valganciclovir (VGCV) to prevent CMV EOD in those with CMV viremia. Methods: Subjects (N = 338) were HIV-infected with CD4+ count <100 cells/mm3, plasma HIV RNA >400 copies/mL, and on stable or no HAART. All underwent plasma CMV DNA PCR testing every 8 weeks (Step 1); those with detectable CMV DNA were randomized to VGCV or placebo (Step 2). Results: Plasma CMV DNA was detected in 68 (20%), of whom 4 developed CMV EOD. During Step 1, 53 died. Of the 47 who entered Step 2 (24 VGCV, 23 placebo), CMV EOD was diagnosed in 10 (4 VGCV, 6 placebo) and 15 died (7 VGCV, 8 placebo). Of those randomized to placebo, 14% were diagnosed with CMV EOD at 12 months. Conclusions: We observed a lower CMV EOD rate among subjects receiving HAART than predicted based on published literature. However, mortality was high in this study. Our findings suggest that preemptive anti-CMV therapy in patients with persistently low CD4+ cell counts in the current treatment era may not be warranted given the low incidence of CMV EOD and high all-cause mortality observed in this study population.


Purpose: The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the prevalence rate and types of C-shaped roots and C-shaped canal in maxillary molars by analyzing cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) in a Korean population. Materials and Methods: Total of 357 CBCT images of maxillary molars (186 first molar, 171 second molar) were evaluated by two Endodontic specialists. Results: Eight types of C-shaped roots and 5 types of C-shaped canals were founded, the prevalence rate of C-shaped roots and canals were 21.0% and 5.3% respectively. Conclusion: These anatomical variations were more frequent in second molars than the first molars. Clinicians should have anatomical knowledge about various types of C-shaped root and root canal for successful root canal therapy.


Agricultural terraces are a cultivation technique used, since ancient times, in many regions of the world. Terraces are built to reduce slope gradient and increase the infiltration of water; to mitigate soil erosion, collect rainwater run‐off, and concentrate it on a cropped plot; and to support agriculture in difficult environmental conditions (e.g., high‐steep slopes). Poorly designed and maintained terraces can lead to slope failures, often due to walls collapsing, and then large quantities of soil become vulnerable to run‐off erosion. The purpose of this Special Issue is to review the main environmental problems and opportunities that occur in a terraced landscape, explore how to monitor and date a terrace system, and provide useful guidance for landowners and practitioners who deal with terraced landscapes.


— The rapidly developing internet infrastructure together with the advances in software technology has enabled the development of cloud-based modern web applications that are much more responsive, flexible, and reliable compared to traditional monolithic applications. Such modern applications require new software design paradigms and architectures. Microservice-based architecture (MSbA), which aims to create small, isolated, loosely-coupled applications that work in cohesion, becoming widespread as one of these approaches. MSbA allows the developed applications to be deployed and maintained separately, as well as scaled on demand. However, there is no de facto method for the analysis and design of systems for these architectures. In this paper, we compared the usefulness of the object-oriented (OO) and event-oriented (EO) approaches for analyzing and designing MS-based systems. More specifically, we performed an exploratory case study to analyze, design, and implement a software application dealing with the 'application and evaluation process of graduate students at IzTech'. This paper discusses the results of this case study. We observe that the EO approaches have significant advantages with respect to the OO approaches.


An analog neural network VHDL-AMS model is developed to analyze the performances of an IC architecture associated with a learning algorithm. We compare here an electrical simulation of a current mode architecture dedicated to deep submicronics technologies with a formal MATLAB/sup /spl trade// model. This comparison allows researching suitability between architecture and algorithm to optimize the learning speed versus the classification precision. It allows also to study the robustness of architecture versus electrical noise, component dispersions or memory loss and the robustness of an algorithm versus noise in the data's.


The article is devoted to the formulation of prospects for the development of social responsibility of enterprises in modern conditions; rethinking its essence through the inclusion of the uncertainty factor in the theory of sustainable development (basic for social responsibility); substantiation of directions of cooperation between supranational, state bodies, enterprises and academic science in the direction of increase of the efficiency of realization of projects on social responsibility in international and national business; formation of fundamental principles for the creation of uniform standards of social responsibility of international business in the form of methodological recommendations using the coefficient method. The article considers the main approaches to understanding the essence of corporate governance in the field of social responsibility, prerequisites that form the understanding of social responsibility in modern business, among which are: business ethics, ethical behavior, interaction with stakeholders, activities for society, achieving sustainable development. A list of subjective and objective problems that arise today in the implementation of social responsibility projects in international business, namely: individualized understanding of the essence of social responsibility; lack of systematicity and comprehensiveness; lack of consideration of the uncertainty factor when planning social responsibility projects and assessing its significance for the main activity; lack of supranational standards of social responsibility; inviolability of the concept of sustainable development, imperfect regulatory framework, financial capabilities of companies, is offered. Prospects for improving the system of relations in the field of social responsibility at global level and business level are proposed. A method of calculating the coefficient of social responsibility, which includes three main components: the mandatory group of factors, the sectoral part, the variable part, is proposed.


Adult Anopheles darlingi salivary glands are paired organs located on either side of the esophagus. The male glands consist of a single small lobe. The female gland is composed of two lateral lobes, with distinct proximal and distal portions, and a medial lobe. The lobes are acinar structures, organized as a unicellular epithelium that surrounds a salivary canal. The general cellular architecture is similar among the lobes, with secretory material appearing as large masses that push the cellular structures to the periphery of the organ. Cells of the proximal-lateral lobes show asynchronous cycles of secretory activity and contain secretory masses with finely filamentous aspect. In the distal-lateral lobes, cells display synchronous cycles of activity, and have a dense secretory product with mottled pattern. Cells of the medial lobe have secretory masses uniformly stained and highly electrondense. Biochemical analysis of the adult female salivary glands revealed apyrase, alpha-glucosidase and lysozyme activities. Alpha-glucosidase and lysozyme activities are detected mostly in the proximal lobes while apyrase is mainly accumulated in the distal lobes. This differential distribution of the analyzed enzymes reflects a specialization of different regions for sugar and blood feeding. Thus, the morphological differences observed in the lobes correlate with functional ones.


The use and abuse of drugs in American society is recognized as a major issue among those who study youth. This paper addresses an often overlooked area of drug abuse: performance-enhancing drugs in sport. The reasons these vocational drugs are used by athletes are different from those of the recreational drug user. This paper examines the seriousness and prevalence of performance-enhancing drugs and presents the results of a series of interviews with steroid users to determine their attitudes. These attitudes and rationalizations suggest that an expanded view of drugs is required if performance-enhancing drug use is to be understood.


The increasing influence of private interests in public policy has been facilitated by a growth in sources of "alternative" information and expertise. In education, teachers and schools are often the targets of these sources. This has been associated with a new political economy where private interests advance reform agendas largely through funding new information sources that ignore long-standing empirical evidence on factors shaping school outcomes in favor of anecdotes and misunderstandings about issues in education. This manuscript argues "information pollution" relative to U.S. politics and policy is presently at crisis levels, and that it is particularly acute relative to education policy. In this policy area, we show how special interests are using (mis)information strategies to purportedly elevate parent voices but are in effect promoting the interests of private actors and de-professionalizing both expertise and educators. We seek to understand this major issue, placing it within a broader sociopolitical context. The concluding discussion considers what might be required to move in a healthier direction that would bring U.S. education policy and practice into closer alignment with evidence and expertise.


mtDNA D-loop noncoding region 16048-16569 and the following 1-41 (563 bp) in 99 individuals of four Yunnan ethnic minorities (Dai, Wa, Lahu and Tibetan) were sequenced and then a phylogenetic tree was reconstructed by Neighbor-Joining method. These 99 mtDNA lineages were classified into 3 genotype groups in the tree. All lineages with 9 bp deletion in the COII/tRAN(Lys) intergenic region were clustered in group I, some individuals of Dai, Lahu, Wa and only 2 Tibetan individuals clustered in group II, individuals of all four populations were included in group III. A phylogenetic tree of the four populations was constructed by NJ method on the basis of estimate of net genetic distance among them. Our results showed, the genetic distance among Dai, Wa and Lahu is very close, but far from Tibetan, their genetic distance is similar to their geographic distance. Although both as descendants of ancient Di-Qiang tribe in history and speaking similar language, Lahu and Tibetan are not closely related. This result indicates that there are different origins of these two populations.


This thesis examines Chinese metal of the mainland China as a contemporary cultural phenomenon, which consists of seven chapters. It begins with three premise chapters
providing the necessary definitions and terminology about Chinese metal, reviewing
the relevant literature, and explaining the multiple methodologies applied,
respectively. Based on that, the following chapters explore Chinese metal from four
perspectives, including the history, identity, industry, and social meaning. More
specifically, Chapter 4 defines the history of Chinese metal as two waves, the heavy
rock era (1990-1996) and extreme metal era (2000-2013). This overall trajectory had
been moving forward with the country's economic growth, technological progress,
and cultural liberalism, showing a unique U-shape curve: starting in the mainstream
field in the early 1990s, declining in the late 1990s, booming underground in the early
2000s, and rising again in the 2010s. Chapter 5 illustrates that the development of
Chinese metal underwent a tension between globalisation and localisation, which
were reflected in the texts of the music, MV, cover art, and folk metal subgenre.
Particularly, this tension resulted in an identity struggle of the current Chinese metal
musicians, which was realised by a mechanism of original identity suspension, textual
deconstruction, and identity reconstruction. Chapter 6 proposes that the Chinese metal
industries made great progress driven by the country's rapid economic growth and
cultural diversity, and a relatively maturely industrial system with different capitals
and fields had been established by the 2000s, including the sections of labels,
recordings, lives, media, merchandise, and a few peripheral activities. Chapter 7
argues that because of its essence of symbolic transgression, Chinese metal provided
the musicians and audiences with a quasi-ritual catharsis to temporarily escape from
the pressures of the reality. Meanwhile, Chinese metal presented a unique attribute of
"pseudo-evil" as an intentional reaction against the general hypocrisy which is the
most severe social pathology in the contemporary Chinese society.


In a world threatened by increasing perceived corruption, its effects upon the health of nations have been scarcely studied, in spite of the tremendous importance sustained health has held on the European agenda. The purpose of this paper is to determine the impact of corruption upon health outcomes within an environmental performant and urbanised setting. The determinants of health outcomes measured as wellbeing, life expectancy and under-5 child mortality rate are estimated on an unbalanced panel data set covering the 2005–2020-time interval for the 27 member states of the European Union. The resulting econometric models validate the significance of corruption, environmental performance and urbanisation upon health outcomes: subjectively perceived corruption hampers the development of nations' health while a clean environment with an increasing tendency of urbanisation has a positive impact upon the health outcomes of European nations. This study also sketches important policy implications for improving the health status of European countries.


A 50-year-old man had been treated for hemorrhagic duodenal ulcer. Although the patient was treated by proton pump inhibitors (PPI), the ulcer did not show any sign of improvement. Therefore, we also examined the pancreas, and obtained CT findings suggestive of arteriovenous malformation (AVM) from the head to the body of the pancreas. Pancreatic AVM was diagnosed based on angiography. He was readmitted for high fever and abdominal pain. On day 2, CT demonstrated a cystic lesion containing gas at the pancreatic head, and CT showed pneumobilia on day 15. The next day, pancreaticoduodenectomy was carried out and a common bile duct-duodenal fistula was confirmed. This report describes a rare case of pancreatic AVM complicated with a common bile duct-duodenal fistula.


All parasites are thought to have evolved from free-living ancestors. However, the ancestral conditions facilitating the shift to parasitism are unclear, particularly in plants because the phylogenetic position of many parasites is unknown. This is especially true for Rafflesia, an endophytic holoparasite that produces the largest flowers in the world and has defied confident phylogenetic placement since its discovery >180 years ago. Here we present results of a phylogenetic analysis of 95 species of seed plants designed to infer the position of Rafflesia in an evolutionary context using the mitochondrial gene matR (1,806 aligned base pairs). Overall, the estimated phylogenetic tree is highly congruent with independent analyses and provides a strongly supported placement of Rafflesia with the order Malpighiales, which includes poinsettias, violets, and passionflowers. Furthermore, the phylogenetic placement of Mitrastema, another enigmatic, holoparasitic angiosperm with the order Ericales (which includes blueberries and persimmons), was obtained with these data. Although traditionally classified together, Rafflesia and Mitrastema are only distantly related, implying that their endoparasitic habits result from convergent evolution. Our results indicate that the previous significant difficulties associated with phylogenetic placement of holoparasitic plants may be overcome by using mitochondrial DNA so that a broader understanding of the origins and evolution of parasitism may emerge.


The paper deals with the dysfunctions of mobility and the therapeutic modalities that help the elderly in the rehabilitation process, with special emphasis on the benefits that represent for them the physical exercises and on the physiotherapist's role to achieve and maintain the greatest possible independence of these patients.


The relaxation dynamics of water-rich glycerol-water mixtures is studied by broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS) at 173-323 K and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) at 138-313 K. These data indicate the existence of the critical concentration of 40 mol % glycerol. In the studied temperature range for water-rich glycerol mixtures, the two states of water (ice and interfacial water) are observed in addition to water in the mesoscopic 40 mol % glycerol-water domains. The possible kinetics of water exchange between different water states is discussed in order to explain the mechanism of the broad melting behavior observed by DSC.


Brain diseases and their treatment may help or hurt creativity in ways that shape quality of life. Increased creative drive is associated with bipolar disorder, depression, psychosis, temporal lobe epilepsy, frontotemporal dementia, Parkinson disease treatments, and autism. Creativity depends on goal-driven approach motivation from midbrain dopaminergic systems. Fear-driven avoidance motivation is of less aid to creativity. When serotonin and norepinephrine lower motivation and flexible behaviour, they can inhibit creativity. Hemispheric lateralization and frontotemporal connections must interact to create new ideas and conceptual schemes. The right brain and temporal lobe contribute skill in novelty detection, while the left brain and frontal lobe foster approach motivation and more easily generate new patterns of action from the novel perceptions. Genes and phenotypes that increase plasticity and creativity in tolerant environments with relaxed selection pressure may confer risk in rigorous environments. Few papers substantively address this important but fraught topic. Antidepressants (ADs) that inhibit fear-driven motivation, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, sometimes inhibit goal-oriented motivation as well. ADs that boost goal-directed motivation, such as bupropion, may remediate this effect. Benzodiazepines and alcohol may be counterproductive. Although dopaminergic agonists sometimes stimulate creativity, their doing so may inappropriately disinhibit behaviour. Dopamine antagonists may suppress creative motivation; lithium and anticonvulsant mood stabilizers may do so less. Physical exercise and REM sleep may help creativity. Art therapy and psychotherapy are not well studied. Preserving creative motivation can help creativity and other aspects of well-being in all patients, not just artists or researchers.


In classical smoothing splines, the smoothness is controlled by a single smoothing parameter that penalizes the roughness uniformly across the whole do- main. Adaptive smoothing splines extend this framework to allow the smoothing parameter to change in the domain, adapting to the change of roughness. In this article we propose a data driven method to nonparametrically model the penalty function. We propose to approximate the penalty function by a step function whose segmentation is data driven, and to estimate it by maximizing the generalized like- lihood. A complexity penalty is added to the generalized likelihood in selecting the best step function from a collection of candidates. A state space representation for the adaptive smoothing splines is derived to ease the computational demand. To allow for fast search among the candidate models, we impose a binary tree structure on the penalty function and propose an efficient search algorithm. We show the consistency of the final estimate. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the method through simulations and a data example.


Seven patients, four women and three men, with a median age of 64 years (range, 53-74 years) were randomized to treatment with either ketanserin, 40-160 mg daily, or placebo. The study included 13 treatment periods with ketanserin and 13 with placebo. All patients had typical symptoms, with flushing as their main complaint. The diagnosis had been verified histologically. All had elevated excretion of 5-hydroxy-3-indoleacetic acid in urine. During the trial ketanserin reduced the number of flushing attacks in five patients (p less than 0.05). Diarrhoea was reduced in two patients. No side effects were observed. Ketanserin seems valuable for the symptomatic relief in the carcinoid syndrome.


This paper presents further developments of the FRACTA algorithm [1,2] which has been shown to be robust to nonhomogeneous environments containing outliers. The focus here is on the efficient implementation of the FRACTA algorithm. The key development is a censoring stopping mechanism whereby the number of reiterative steps can be minimized and computation is reduced. We introduce a datadependent stopping rule that demonstrates excellent results as evidenced by the detection of targets in the KASSPER challenge data cube. We also present some other enhancements to the FRACTA algorithm that further improve both efficiency and performance.


The contribution of livestock in economic development of a country is vital. Pakistan is blessed with abundant natural resources, especially vast agricultural resources on account of its fertile irrigated land, four seasons and glorious history of old traditions of farming. The iron of the fact is livestock contributes almost 11 percent to GDP and 50 percent to the value addition in agriculture in Pakistan.

Pakistan is ranked as the 4th world's largest milk producer, where formal channels of marketing processed only 3 to 4 percent of milk, while the rest stretched to the consumers through unhygienic control and complex distribution system of middlemen.

The study is designed to analyze the consequences of participation in informal and formal supply chains for small-scale dairy farmers in Pakistan. The study aimed at explaining the costs of the chosen formal versus informal supply channels and their transaction costs, role of the mid-agent opportunistic behaviour in the relative milk supply chain.

The research is based on qualitative approach which includes: interviews and case studies with the aim to understand social aspects and seeks to find answers regarding various questions as how people behave. It is more about their behaviour and attitudes and how they are affected by different events that goes on their surroundings. Theoretical framework of present study consists of general understanding about the various issues related to small scale farmers with particular focus on transaction cost and agency theory. Different studies were reviewed for the deeper understanding of socio economic condition of the small farmer's and its characteristics.

The study shows a lack of coordination among small scale farmers, and associated high transaction costs. The case studies suggest that small scale farmers are illiterate and not properly trained. The way they handle and produce milk shows the dominance of informal mid-chain agents, where producers face high uncertainty caused by the opportunistic behaviour of middlemen.


Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II) and Pd(II) complexes of the Schiff base, 3-(6-methoxypyridin-3-ylimino)methyl)-6-methyl-2H-chromen-4-ol (HL), derived from the condensation of 5-amino-2-methoxypyridine and 6-methyl-3-formylchromone were synthesised and characterised by percentage metal, melting points, solubility, infrared and electronic spectra measurements. Furthermore, the in-vitro antibacterial activities of these complexes against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus mirabilis, Klebsiella oxytoca, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli are reported. Infrared and percentage metal measurements indicated that the ligand coordinated to the metal ions through the imine nitrogen and chromenol oxygen atoms in the ratio 1M:1L, and the complexes analysed as [ML(NO3)] and [M(L)Cl.H2O] respectively. The IR and electronic spectral measurements corroborated the adoption of a 4-coordinate square planar/ tetrahedral geometry for the metal complexes. The Schiff base and its metal complexes were inactive against P. mirabilis and K. oxytoca but exhibited good antibacterial activity against S. aureus and E. coli with inhibitory zones range of 13.0-18.0 and 11.0-13.5 mm respectively. The complex, [Ni(L)Cl.H2O] exhibited a broad-spectrum antibacterial activity against S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, B. subtilis and E. coli with inhibitory zones range of 12.5-17.0.0 mm, proving its potential usefulness as a broad-spectrum antibacterial agent.


&NA; Date Presented 4/1/2017 Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) may pose a significant barrier to timely diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder among U.S. children. By identifying ACEs early in a family's history, occupational therapy practitioners have the opportunity to reduce family stress and support parents in meeting their children's treatment needs. Primary Author and Speaker: Kristin Berg Additional Authors and Speakers: Beth Pfeiffer Contributing Authors: Cheng‐Shi Shiu, Kruti Acharya, Michael Msall, Elizabeth Pfeiffer


Predictions for longitudinal spin asymmetries which single out new polarized nucleon structure functions in deeply inelastic charged current interactions at DESY HERA energies are given, exploiting their interpretation in terms of polarized quark distributions. These asymmetries turn out to be large and allow a measurement of the new polarized structure functions g{sub 1}{sup W} and g{sub 5}{sup W}, which would add valuable tests and information on the spin content of quarks inside a polarized proton. We also show that single-spin asymmetries in neutral current interactions are very small. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}


- For a steel structure with long service period, structural performance can be changed or decreased by corrosion damage occurred under severe corrosion environment condition. In this study, to examine compressive strength and behavior of circular steel member depending on corrosion damage, compressive loading tests were conducted using circular steel member with artificial corrosion damage which was applied by mechanical process and hand drill. From test results, local corrosion area and pattern is related to their structural performance. Their lcoal bucklings were occurred near artificially sectional damaged part. Reduction in compressive strength of circular steel member was also suggested according to their corroded part and damage.


Adrenergic receptors in human liver plasma membranes were characterized by radioligand binding assays. The binding of [3H]dihydroalprenolol [( 3H]DHA) to partially purified membranes was rapid, of high affinity, saturable, and stereospecific. The binding of [125I]iodocyanopindolol to the same membranes was also saturable and stereospecific, but extremely slow, and at 37 C required about 6 h for equilibration. The maximum number of binding sites from six livers determined with these two beta-receptor ligands was 36-83 fmol/mg protein. Catecholaminergic agonists competed for these binding sites in the order typical for beta 2-adrenergic receptors. IPS 339 [(tertiarybutylamino-3-ol-2-propyl)oximino-9-fluorene hydrochloride], a beta 2-selective antagonist, was at least 3 orders of magnitude more potent in inhibiting the binding of [3H]DHA than the beta 1-antagonist, atenolol. Computer-aided analysis of the competition curves as well as Hofstee transformations of the binding data indicated the predominance of the beta 2-subtype. The GTP analog guanyl-5'-yl-imidodiphosphate, decreased the binding affinity of the agonist, l-isoproterenol, indicating the modulation of agonist-promoted coupling of the receptors to guanine nucleotide regulatory proteins. The maximum number of binding sites for the binding of [3H]prazosin and [3H]dihydroergocryptine were the same (60-70 fmol/mg protein), indicating that the majority of the alpha-receptors are of the alpha 1-subtype. Competition experiments with prazosin and yohimbine confirmed the predominance of the alpha 1-receptor subtype, although the presence of alpha 2-receptors cannot be completely ruled out. These results indicate that adrenergic receptors in human liver plasma membranes are predominantly of the beta 2- and alpha 1-subtypes.


The Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) published its first data release (DR1) in 2013, which is currently the largest dataset of stellar spectra in the world. We combine the PASTEL catalog and SIMBAD radial velocities as a testing standard to validate stellar parameters (effective temperature Teff, surface gravity log g, metallicity [Fe/H] and radial velocity Vr) derived from DR1. Through cross-identification of the DR1 catalogs and the PASTEL catalog, we obtain a preliminary sample of 422 stars. After removal of stellar parameter measurements from problematic spectra and applying effective temperature constraints to the sample, we compare the stellar parameters from DR1 with those from PASTEL and SIMBAD to demonstrate that the DR1 results are reliable in restricted ranges of Teff. We derive standard deviations of 110 K, 0.19 dex and 0.11 dex for Teff, log g and [Fe/H] respectively when Teff < 8000 K, and 4.91 km s−1 for Vr when Teff < 10 000 K. Systematic errors are negligible except for those of Vr. In addition, metallicities in DR1 are systematically higher than those in PASTEL, in the range of PASTEL [Fe/H] < −1.5.


Background and aims: Musculoskeletal disorders are increasing all over the world in the last decades. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in the lower limbs in order to achieve perfect results with high statistical power using metaanalysis. Methods: In a systematic review and meta-Analysis work-related musculoskeletal disorders data were investigated. Some keywords were searched through accessible databases including SID, Magiran, Google Scholar, Medlib, IranMedex, and PubMed. In general, 27 articles published from 2001 to 2010 were gathered. 12 indices were used to evaluate heterogeneity of articles and ultimate data were analyzed using random effects models. Results: The total sample size of all studies performed in Iran was 6090 patients with a mean of 225 samples per study. Musculoskeletal disorders were studied at various jobs with confidence level (CL) 95: lower back 50 (42.5-57.5), hips and thighs 20.7 (16.4-25), knees 42.1 (35.1-49.1) and Ankles and feet 27.7 (18.8-36.7), respectively. Conclusion: Work related musculoskeletal disorders in the lower limbs, especially in lower back and knees were more than other limbs in Iran compared to similar studies in other countries. Occupational health and ergonomics training on prevention of these disorders, especially for these limbs among Iranian workers is recommended.


I have several concerns about the "Expert Committee Recommendations for Acne Management,"1 published in Pediatrics in September 2006. First, the 2 authors are both associated with various companies that make acne products, including Galderma (which funded the work). Galderma makes Differin (adapalene), which is prominently and favorably discussed in the article. How were the members of the "expert committee" selected? What role, if any, did the sponsor have in their selection? Second, the recommendations are poorly supported by evidence. The first recommendation listed is: "A topical retinoid should be the foundation of treatment for most patients with acne." I have always started with benzoyl peroxide, which is available over-the-counter and considerably less expensive. However, not one randomized trial comparing topical retinoids to benzoyl peroxide was cited to justify their recommendation. In fact, the few trials I could find that directly compared the two suggested that, if anything, benzoyl peroxide is superior.2–4 Third, the article states that "[s]tudies comparing the potential for cutaneous irritation among topical retinoids have consistently shown that the adapalene molecule is best tolerated of the available retinoids (Fig 7)." Their Fig 7 consists of 2 graphs of "average score" by "measurement points" for 4 topical retinoids and white petrolatum; the legend describes it as: "Tolerability of topical retinoids: 21-day cumulative irritancy study in healthy volunteers." The average score on this graph is completely uninterpretable. What is the significance of a 1.5-point difference? Why study healthy volunteers rather than acne patients? The legend indicates that data for the figure are on file at Galderma Laboratories. In other words, readers of Pediatrics are being asked to recommend this expensive new medication on the basis of uninterpretable results on inappropriate subjects from an industry-sponsored, unpublished, unreviewed study. Finally, the expert committee recommendations include no discussion of medication costs. At this writing (October 2006), Drugstore.com is offering 10% benzoyl peroxide gel (ZapZyt) at $4.99 for 30 g, compared with $99 for 45 g of 0.1% generic tretinoin and $121 for 45 g of 0.1% Differin. This sort of information is extremely relevant to practicing pediatricians and their patients with acne. Why was it omitted? I am accustomed to seeing and discarding drug-promoting, industry-sponsored reviews in throw-away journals or sponsored journal supplements. It was disappointing to see one uncritically published in Pediatrics.


This paper presents the development of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model for absorption process of CO2 gas using monoethanolamine (MEA) as a solvent in a falling film reactor. Although studies on ANN applications in chemical engineering in the literature are more concentrated on utilizing dynamic models, there has been an increasing trend for diverse application of ANN to model steady state systems. The feed-forward artificial neural network was adopted and trained by back-propagation algorithm. In this paper 216 sets of data are used to train and test the network. This study shows that ANN model with one hidden layer and nine neurons in the hidden layer gives a very close estimation of the CO2 conversion and there is high potential for absorption application of ANN model


This study aims to describe the teacher's role in improving the communicative character of the Civics learning process at SDN 03 Pabuaran . Cibinong is a type of qualitative research that uses descriptive methods to describe the teacher's role in instilling communicative values into Civics lessons . To obtain research data, researchers used two sources, namely primary data and secondary data. Primary data sources used by primary information sources are Civics subject teachers . Secondary data in the form of journals and books. Data collection techniques used are observation and interviews. The data analysis technique uses interaction model analysis according to Miles and Huberman , namely data reduction (data reduction ), data representation (data representation) and plotting results ( validation ). The results of this study indicate that the teacher has carried out his role as a learning resource, facilitator, class manager, demostator , mentor, motivator and evaluator both inside and outside of learning. In addition, the teacher always guides and guides students who cannot show communication personality, by always inviting students to participate in discussions, then creating heterogeneous study groups, helping students who have difficulty expressing opinions orally and in writing. As well as reminding students who still do not speak well and politely to teachers and peers


ABSTRACT Background: Retinal neovascularization, which is characterized by the increased proliferation, migration, and tube formation of retinal microvascular endothelial cells (RMECs), contributes to the progression of diabetic retinopathy (DR). MiR-409-5p has been reported to be upregulated in peripheral blood of DR patients and in vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-induced RMECs. However, the role of miR-409-5p in retinal neovascularization of DR remains unelucidated. Method: The expression of miR-409-5p was measured in retinal tissues of streptozocin-induced and db/db diabetic mice, in high glucose-induced mouse RMECs (mRMECs), and in vitreous fluid of proliferative DR patients. Antagomir of miR-409-5p was intravitreally injected into diabetic mice. Proliferation, migration, and tube formation were detected using cell counting kit-8 assay, transwell assay, and microscope observation, respectively. Luciferase reporter assay was used to detect the direct interaction between miR-409-5p and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPARα). Result: MiR-409-5p was upregulated in retinal tissues of diabetic mice, in high glucose-induced mRMECs, and in vitreous fluid of proliferative DR patients. The knockdown of miR-409-5p attenuated retinal neovascularization in vivo. The overexpression of miR-409-5p promotes the proliferation, migration, and tube formation, and increased VEGF expression and secretion, while the knockdown of miR-409-5p suppressed the VEGF-induced retinal neovascularization in vitro. PPARα is a downstream target of miR-409-5p, and PPARα overexpression negated the promotion of miR-409-5p overexpression on the proliferation, migration, and tube formation of mRMECs. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated that miR-409-5p acted as a neovasculogenic factor in DR, and anti-miR-409-5p therapy may provide a novel strategy in treating DR.


Abstract Caires, C. S. & C. E. B. Proença (2015). Typification of two Neotropical names of Loranthus Jacq. (Loranthaceae). Candollea 70: 197–199. In English, English and French abstracts. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15553/c2015v702a3 The original specimens of Loranthus cucullaris Lam. (≡ Psittacanthus cucullaris (Lam.) G. Don) (Loranthaceae), collected by Jean-Baptiste Leblond, were located in P and the former neotypification proposal for this name is thus rejected. The identity and typification of Loranthus bracteatus Rich, are discussed and this name is considered a nomenclatural synonym of Loranthus cucullaris. The holotype of Loranthus florulentus Rich. (≡ Oryctanthus florulentus (Rich.) Tiegh.), also collected by Leblond was found in G.


This paper analyses the impact of farm productivity as well as farm size on deforestation in Brazil. A two step econometric approach is adopted. A bootstrapped translog stochastic frontier that is a posteriori checked for functional consistency is used in order to estimate technical efficiency of which estimates are introduced in a land use model to assess the impact of productivity and farm size on deforestation. Analysis of agricultural census tract data suggests that technical efficiency has a nonlinear (convex) effect: less and more efficient farms use more land for agricultural activities and so they have a positive effect on deforestation. However, the majority of farms are on the ascendant slope so that efficiency implies more deforestation in Brazilian Legal Amazon. Moreover, farm size has a robust negative effect on deforestation. Contrary to many studies, this result suggests that small farms convert more natural (forested) land into agricultural land than large ones.


Metabolic regulation by nucleotides has been examined in several bacteria within the context of the adenylate energy charge (EC) concept. The ECs of bacteria capable of only fermentative metabolism (Streptococcus lactis and the ATPase-less mutant Escherichia coli AN718) fell to less than 0.2 under carbon-limiting conditions, but the bacteria were able to step up the EC to greater than 0.8 upon exposure to nutrient sugars. Similarly, nongrowing E. coli 25922, whose EC had been artificially lowered to less than 0.1 by the addition of the protonophore carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP), was able to immediately step up the EC to 0.8 to 0.9 upon the addition of glucose but was unable to respond to respiratory substrates. The EC of respiring bacteria (E. coli 25922 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa 27853) fell to 0.3 to 0.4 under certain limiting growth conditions, but the bacteria also responded immediately when challenged with succinate to give EC values greater than 0.8. These bacteria could not step up the EC with respiratory substrates in the presence of CCCP. For all bacteria, the loss of the ability to step up the EC was attributable to the loss of nutrient transport function. Mixtures of viable and HOCl-killed E. coli 25922 were able to step up the EC in proportion to the fraction of surviving cells. The data indicate that nucleotide phosphorylation levels are not regulatory in nongrowing bacteria but that the EC step-up achievable upon nutrient addition may be an accurate index of viability.


Objective This study evaluated the effectiveness of a 1-year intervention to assist owners of small collision shops with workplace safety and health improvements. Methods A comprehensive evaluation containing 92 safety-related questions was conducted by an industrial hygienist at baseline and after one year. Questions addressed safety programs and training, fire safety, personal protective equipment, and shop equipment and were assigned one of four priority ratings. After the baseline evaluation, shop owners received a written report and were asked to commit to correcting at least 30% of the problems identified, with emphasis on the highest priority issues. Participants received quarterly phone calls, written reminders, safety newsletters, and had access to online services and in-person assistance with creating safety programs and respirator fit testing. Results Forty-nine shops received baseline assessments and 45 were visited for 1-year follow-up. At baseline, shops had 17–49% of items missing (mean = 34.4% items, SD = 7.5%). After one-year, shops had 7–36% of items missing (mean = 19.8% items, SD = 7.6%). Statistically significant improvements (p < 0.03) were identified in seven of the eight survey sections (safety in the shop and right-to-know training, emergency planning, ergonomics, personal protective equipment, respiratory protection, paint booth and mixing room, electrical and machine safety). Facilities that were working or had worked with a safety consultant had significantly fewer missing items at baseline (p < 0.03), but not at follow-up. On average, shop owners chose to correct 59% of the missing items (SD = 17%) and after one year reported a completion rate of 70% (SD = 28%). One-year assessments indicate that, on average 56% of the items selected for improvement were actually completed (SD = 27%). Conclusions Results indicate that most business owners were able to improve health and safety in the shop if they were provided specific information about hazards and solutions, received regular reminders and utilised tailored technical assistance.


Interpretability methods for image classification assess model trustworthiness by attempting to expose whether the model is systematically biased or attending to the same cues as a human would. Saliency methods for feature attribution dominate the interpretability literature, but these methods do not address semantic concepts such as the textures, colors, or genders of objects within an image. Our proposed Robust Concept Activation Vectors (RCAV) quantifies the effects of semantic concepts on individual model predictions and on model behavior as a whole. RCAV calculates a concept gradient and takes a gradient ascent step to assess model sensitivity to the given concept. By generalizing previous work on concept activation vectors to account for model non-linearity, and by introducing stricter hypothesis testing, we show that RCAV yields interpretations which are both more accurate at the image level and robust at the dataset level. RCAV, like saliency methods, supports the interpretation of individual predictions. To evaluate the practical use of interpretability methods as debugging tools, and the scientific use of interpretability methods for identifying inductive biases (e.g. texture over shape), we construct two datasets and accompanying metrics for realistic benchmarking of semantic interpretability methods. Our benchmarks expose the importance of counterfactual augmentation and negative controls for quantifying the practical usability of interpretability methods.


An example of supply chain coordination is early order commitment, wherein a retailer commits to purchase a fixed-order quantity and delivery time from a manufacturer before the real need takes place. In this paper, an analytical model is developed that quantifies the impact of early order commitment on the performance of a simple two-level supply chain consisting of a single manufacturer and a single retailer. The model reveals that the effect of early order commitment depends on a lot of factors such as the cost structure of the supply chain, the lengths of manufacturing and delivery lead times, and the correlation of the demand over time. This model can be used to evaluate the benefit of early order commitment, to determine the optimal early commitment periods of the supply chain, and to estimate the maximum incentives the manufacturer can provide to encourage the retailer to commit its orders in advance.


We consider the problem of estimating the size of a maximum cut (Max‐Cut problem) in a random Erdős‐Rényi graph on n nodes and ⌊cn⌋ edges. It is shown in Coppersmith et al. that the size of the maximum cut in this graph normalized by the number of nodes belongs to the asymptotic region [c/2+0.37613c,c/2+0.58870c] with high probability (w.h.p.) as n increases, for all sufficiently large c. The upper bound was obtained by application of the first moment method, and the lower bound was obtained by constructing algorithmically a cut which achieves the stated lower bound. In this paper, we improve both upper and lower bounds by introducing a novel bounding technique. Specifically, we establish that the size of the maximum cut normalized by the number of nodes belongs to the interval [c/2+0.47523c,c/2+0.55909c] w.h.p. as n increases, for all sufficiently large c. Instead of considering the expected number of cuts achieving a particular value as is done in the application of the first moment method, we observe that every maximum size cut satisfies a certain local optimality property, and we compute the expected number of cuts with a given value satisfying this local optimality property. Estimating this expectation amounts to solving a rather involved two dimensional large deviations problem. We solve this underlying large deviation problem asymptotically as c increases and use it to obtain an improved upper bound on the Max‐Cut value. The lower bound is obtained by application of the second moment method, coupled with the same local optimality constraint, and is shown to work up to the stated lower bound value c/2+0.47523c . It is worth noting that both bounds are stronger than the ones obtained by standard first and second moment methods. Finally, we also obtain an improved lower bound of 1.36000n on the Max‐Cut for the random cubic graph or any cubic graph with large girth, improving the previous best bound of 1.33773n .


The articles highlighted this week focus on signaling events that control appetite and weight; the effects of Hippo signaling on cell function during cardiac repair; a mechanism that drives cancer drug addiction; inactivation of a kinase complex by structural rearrangement; and the mechanism by which a noncoding viral RNA inhibits host cell apoptosis. The articles highlighted this week focus on signaling events that control appetite and weight; the effects of Hippo signaling on cell function during cardiac repair; a mechanism that drives cancer drug addiction; inactivation of a kinase complex by structural rearrangement; and the mechanism by which a noncoding viral RNA inhibits host cell apoptosis.


The paper argues that if Pakistan is to survive and prosper under the competitive conditions of the new global economy, then it must move away from its overwhelming dependence on "cottonomics" into more technology- and knowledge-based productswhere global growth is concentrated. For this to happen, it must break out of the "lowlevel skills trap", which is the result of the very low levels of education and skills of its work force. It then poses the question whether the development of a well-educated and skilled labour force is sufficient for the country to graduate from labour-intensive to higher value-added, skill-intensive, technologically advanced sectors. The paper argues that while this is essential, the real challenge is to change the mind-set and develop institutions which recognise the value of investing in people and provide dignity, respect, and a fair deal for working men and women.


The probabilistic nature of the propagation of lightning discharges and the consequent bending and branching of lightning leaders have rendered many protection systems ineffective and produced side flashes causing damage to nearby structures. In this paper, the authors discuss the limitations of the current probabilistic model of discharge propagation and the fractal model of the resulting geometry of the lightning cluster. Current simulation works have not selected modeling parameters in a logical manner because of the lack of adequate founding theories. Current works, therefore, have failed to identify the most sensitive parameters resulting in vastly different values for the fractal dimension of the lightning geometry. This paper attempts to remedy the above mentioned weaknesses.


Hydrogenation of TiO2 provides a promising strategy to realize fluorescence imaging. The fluorescence of hydrogenated TiO2 arises from photoluminescence (PL) from the color centers. Color centers changed the surface electronic states to shorten fluorescence lifetimes, to unlock the intrinsic fluorescence of hydrogenated TiO2. Specifically, the formation of color centers and their role in determining electronic states are highly facet-dependent. Color centers corresponding to surface oxygen vacancies (Vo) on {201} and {101} facets, surface Ti3+ on {001} facets, and subsurface Vo on {100} facets were discerned, following distinct Vo formation pathways and diffusion behaviors, as well as electron localization. The electronic states in the color centers are contributed by Ti 3d orbitals with different energy levels. Distinct electronic states on each facet give rise to TiO2 coloration from white to dark gray, and the energy levels in color centers trigger unique PL emissions, enabling dark-gray hydrogenated {201} TiO2 to emit bright intrinsic fluorescence.


Multiple Myeloma (MM) is an incurable malignancy of terminally differentiated B-cells characterized by both de novo and acquired resistance to presently available cytotoxic therapeutic agents. TAE226 (Novartis) is a potent and specific inhibitor of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) phosphorylation that also has the capacity to inhibit IGF1-R at sub-micromolar concentrations. FAK inhibition has been shown to abrogate intra-cellular phosphorylation of both ERK and AKT and to have anti-tumor effects in murine solid-tumor xenografts. Based on these data we have undertaken a pre-clinical evaluation of TAE226 as a potential therapeutic for MM. Eight genetically heterogeneous human myeloma cell lines (HMCL) (KMS11, KMS12, JIM1, LP-1, U266, RPMI8226, NCI H929, OPM2) were evaluated by MTS assay following exposure to TAE226 at various concentrations for 24 to 72 hours. All HMCL displayed reductions in viability (45% to 100% at 72 hours with 10μM) that were dose and time-dependent, with the range of effective TAE226 concentration being 1 – 10μM depending on cell type. Under standard culture conditions 5μM TAE226 was markedly cytostatic with complete inhibition of cellular proliferation observed over a 72 hour time period and with cell viability at 72 hours based on tryphan blue exclusion in the range of 40 – 90%. Four HMCL with modest (KMS11/U266) or high (LP-&, OPM2) TAE226 sensitivity were further using 5μM TAE226 for 48 hours. AnnexinV expression confirmed apoptosis induction while PhosFlow measurement of p44/42 MAPK confirmed abrogation of intra-cellular ERK phosphorylation - relative reduction following TAE226 compared to untreated controls of 11% KMS-11, 13% U266, 35% OPM2 and 64% LP-1. The induction of synergistic killing of NCI H929 was observed by combining TAE226 (1μM) with sub-lethal concentrations of either bortezomib (5nM) (synergism quotient (SQ) = 1.5) or adriamycin (10μg/ml) (SQ = 1.4) with the scheduling of TAE226 prior to drug partner superior to the reverse order (SQ both = 1.2) of administration. Primary MM cells from patients (n = 7) with advanced relapsed disease were treated after appropriate informed consent. Cell killing as determined by propidium iodide expression varied widely but with a clear dose-dependency – 5μM median 11%, range 0% – 47%; 10μM median 14%, range 1% – 61%; and, 20μM median 31%, range 9% – 67%. Finally, we tested TAE226 in the 5T33 murine model of systemic myelomatosis. C57BL/KaLwRiJ hosts were treated with TAE226 30mg/kg (n = 9) or vehicle (n = 9) for 14 days from day +7. Median time to hind limb paralysis post-treatment was prolonged in the TAE226 group compared to vehicle treated animals, 16 days vs 9 days, respectively (p = 0.06, Log Rank). We conclude based on these encouraging preliminary data that TAE226 warrants further evaluation as a potential therapeutic for MM.


Sympathy, empathy and loving concern transform lives. But to be able to care for people in this way means nurses' hearts must be open and healed.


We report the use of bevacizumab (Avastin) as an additional strategy in angle closure glaucoma based on the case of 47 years old male qualified to cataract removal as anti-glaucoma procedure, in whom we observed iris and lens neovascularization. As a first step we administered 1.25 mg of bevacizumab into the anterior chamber. Iris as well as lens neovasularization completely disappeared after 48 hours later. Finally after lens removal we achieved deeper anterior chamber, reduction and stabilization of intraocular pressure without necessity of administration hipotensive agents, and improvement of visual acuity.


An Internet solution for online communication of clinical research data between the investigator, the clinical study monitor, a central laboratory for blood and urine analysis, and Astra Hässle AB was evaluated in two international multicenter studies involving 894 patients from 78 centers in 9 countries across Europe and Canada. For access to the common information space, a security system combining a unique user name and one-time passwords was used. The Internet application allowed investigators to create patient records and enter data for existing patients into the electronic case report form (eCRF). Certain data were checked immediately at data entry, resulting in automatically-generated questions. Additional data checks were also performed on data each night, the results of which were made available for the monitors using the Web application. Thanks to the immediate availability of clinical study data and the data checks, the study monitors were able to monitor the eCRFs and generate questions on unclear or inconsistent data, both immediately after they had been entered at the study site, and within 24 hours after data entry using the data checks. Measures of lead times clearly showed positive effects. The time from last data available to clean file was, on average, six days. The additional workload was considered reasonable, despite the use of a paper workbook as a back-up in these studies. This is the first time this concept and technology has been reported, and it suggests a shift in paradigm. From a scientific, time, resource, and logistic point of view, an approach based on use of the World Wide Web offers advantages to paper-based systems.


ABSTRACT We use remotely sensed ocean colour data to show that Rossby waves are associated with the westward migration of chlorophyll distribution patterns in the southeastern Arabian Sea (SEAS). During the winter monsoon (November–February), the high chlorophyll concentrations observed along the west coast of India and Sri Lanka drifts westwards along with the downwelling Rossby waves. The speed of these chlorophyll signatures is in rough agreement with the expected second baroclinic mode Rossby wave speed. Observations from Ocean Surface Currents Analyses Real-time (OSCAR) suggest that it is the geostrophic currents associated with the Rossby wave propagation that influences the surface chlorophyll concentrations in the SEAS. The westward migration of chlorophyll is weaker during the summer monsoon (June–September) when the upwelling Rossby wave is observed in the sea-level data.


Magnetic and structural properties of pressure‐polymerized fullerenes have been systematically studied by means of magnetometry, electron spin resonance (ESR), X‐ray diffractometry and Raman spectroscopy. For several samples, the magnetization values were higher than those expected from the metallic contamination. We followed in situ the depolymerization process through the temperature dependence of the ESR signal and observed simultaneous changes in the g‐factor, Raman spectra and X‐ray patterns. On cooling, the magnetization values of the depolymerized samples dropped several times. Thus, the magnetic signal is directly connected with the polymerized fullerene phase and cannot be attributed to iron compounds.


A water-bag model is used to discuss the case of a weakly unstable two-stream plasma. A possible saturation mechanism of the linear instability is identified. A method for incorporating, into the theory, a basic feature revealed by numerical simulations, namely that the water-bag contours distort and become multi-valued (overtaking), is discussed.


The sedimentology and mineralogy of a 2.5 m core from a palygorskite deposit of the Miocene Hawthorne Formation, southern Georgia is described. The lithology involves laminated clay-rich sediment composed of ∼90% clay and 10% sand, with six clay-pebble layers present. Sand to pebble-size clasts of phosphate material are common throughout the core. The sand laminations are probably flood-related and the clay-pebble layers are storm deposits, with the pebbles being derived locally from subaerial environments. Phosphate clasts are reworked bone material.The sands are quartz-rich and are subarkosic in composition with average quartz counts of 86.50% and average total feldspar counts of 11.50%. Heavy minerals observed include orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, amphibole, zircon, rutile, garnet, tourmaline, kyanite, muscovite, biotite, spinels and opaques. Palygorskite fibers dominate the clay-size fraction of the samples and comprise ∼80–90% of sample material with smectite comprising the remainder. Hydroxylapatite comprises ∼3% of sediment volume and occurs as individual euhedral hexagonal crystals and as clusters of crystals.Investigation of this core suggests that the palygorskite deposit represents a dynamic system with regular flooding and storm deposition being common. Mineral composition of sands may be useful for stratigraphic correlation of palygorskite deposits in the Apalachicola Embayment. This study supports the general environmental interpretations of previous workers for the palygorskite deposits of southern Georgia, but provides greater detail.


Male-male and male-female interactions, reproductive habitat, and vocalizations of Hyla goiana B. Lutz, 1968 a member of H. polytaenia species group, are described. Three groups of calling males were surveyed along a small stream, at the Estacao de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Ambiental de Galheiro, Perdizes municipality, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The mean distance between the nearest calling neighbors was 2.7 m, in accordance with an uniform distribution. Clutches (mean 180 eggs) were deposited in the stream, submerged and attached to plants. In two observed courtships the female moved towards a calling male that rapidly clasped her. In the male-male interaction, the males emitted advertisement and encounter calls and then engaged in physical combat. The males have a prepollical fang-like spine on each hand and several of them were observed with scratches on dorsum. The advertisement call consists of alternating harsh notes and a trilled of brief notes. The frequency of the call is lower than that of H. aff. polytaenia and H. cipoensis B. Lutz, 1968. The clutch characteristics of H. goiana are similar to those described for H. polytaenia Cope, 1870 and H. cipoensis.


Twenty-five laboratories were sent 2 materials, one an acetone powder of lobster digestive gland, the other, the oil which had been extracted during preparation of the powder. Each laboratory was requested to measure the levels of a suite of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in both materials. The response was poor with only 10 laboratories submitting results. Both intra- and interlaboratory precisions were poor; the interlaboratory error was so great as to preclude statistical analysis of the error. Relative standard deviations for oil results determined by liquid chromatography ranged from 39 to 96%.


Lysosomal storage diseases (LSD) are a group of genetic disorders resulting from defective lysosomal metabolism and subsequent accumulation of substrates. It can be categorised into a group of lipidoses, mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS), cholesterol ester, glycogen and mucolipidoses. In Malaysia, information about the incidence of LSDs is relatively limited. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of LSD in Malaysia and compare them with other countries. A retrospective epidemiological study was conducted by covering the period between 2000 and 2017. The birth prevalence of LSD in Malaysia was calculated based on 83 confirmed cases by enzymatic assay and/or mutation analysis. The combined birth prevalence for all LSD in Malaysia is 0.93 per 100,000 live births compared to the Netherlands (Europe) and United Arab Emirates (Asia) which were 14 and 26.9 per 100,000 live births respectively. Within the group of lipidoses, Gaucher disease is the most frequent LSD with calculated birth prevalence of 0.31 per 100,000. Metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) was diagnosed in 18.07% of all diagnosed cases and the calculated birth prevalence was 0.20 per 100,000 live births. Within the group of MPS, MPS IVA has the highest calculated birth prevalence (12.2% of all cases of MPS diagnosed) of 0.33 per 100,000 live births. The birth prevalence of MPS II was 0.23 per 100,000 live births (0.45 per 100,000 male live births), representing 36.59% of all cases of MPS diagnosed. The combined birth prevalence for all MPS was 0.59 per 100,000 live births. In conclusion, this study revealed that LSD is not rare in Malaysia as compared to other countries; therefore awareness of LSD should be promoted among health care provider in Malaysia since specific therapies are available for most of the cases diagnosed. Keywords: Prevalence; Lysosomal Storage Disease; incidence


A mixture fraction formulation is used to numerically simulate the structure of diluted axisymmetric methane-air nonpremixed counterflow flames. The effects of global strain rate and gravity wert! investigated and results were compared. Fuel of a mixture of 20% methane and 80% nitrogen by volume and oxidizer of pure air at low and moderate global strain rates in normal and zero gravity were computed. It is shown that the numerical method is capable of predicting the structure of counterflow flames in normal and microgravity environments at low and moderate global strain rates.


The high arctic wolf Canis lupus arctos, a white, medium-sized subspecies of the arctic wolf, and a considerable carnivore, ranges over the Queen Elizabeth Islands of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. … With the object of adding to the meagre literature on the high arctic wolf, I present in this paper the results of observations I made on it over a total period of 425 days spent in the field in the Jones Sound region, collecting information on the local wildlife and Inuit. … Little is actually known about the wolf's predatory behaviour in the eastern High Arctic, and much of what is attributed to the high arctic wolf is merely hearsay or speculation. For example, in the Jones Sound region muskox carcasses which bear signs of attention from wolves are usually referred to as wolf-kills. It is possible that some of these carcasses have simply been scavenged by wolves. … Over the years, some of the residents of Grise Fiord have attributed the decline of Peary's caribou Rangifer tarandus pearyi in the region to the predatory habits of wolves, in spite of the absence of any proof that they have a controlling effect upon the size of caribou populations. It appears in actual fact that man has been blaming his competitor, the wolf, for the problems he himself has created. … From data based on reports of members of the Grise Fiord Detachment of the R.C.M.P. I have been able to derive the following average numbers of wolves taken: 1956-57 to 1962-63: 1.7; 1963-64 to 1967-68: 4.4; 1968-69 to 1970-71: 9.6. The sharp increase from 1.7 to 4.4 was a result of the reintroduction in 1964 of bounty payments in the Northwest Territories for the capture of wolves. A hunter receives $40 for each animal captured, as well as the pelt which has a value ranging between $10 and $150. Some pelts are used locally for the trimming of parkas, for which they are however considered inferior to the pelts of dogs or imported wolverine. Most wolves taken up to 1968 were either poisoned, accidentally caught in fox traps, or shot as they approached hunters or their dogs out of curiosity. Since the coming into general use of snowmobiles in the area, however, hunters have usually followed any fresh wolf track in the hope of catching up with one of the animals. The fact that the average number caught over the three years ending in 1971 was as high as 9.6 per year was therefore the result of overhunting by snowmobile, and not of an increase in numbers of the animals. The overhunting which took place over the years 1968-71 is the presumable explanation of the fact that not one wolf was taken during the years 1971-72. … Wolf carcasses are not eaten either by Inuit or their dogs.


Hybrid materials consist of inorganic nanoparticles embedded in polymer matrices. An advantage
of these materials is to combine the unique properties of one or more kinds of inorganic nanoparticles
with the film forming properties of polymers. Most of the polymers can be processed from solution at room
temperature enabling the manufacturing of large area, flexible and light weight devices. To exploit the full
potential for the technological applications of the nanocrystalline materials, it is very important to endow
them with good processing attributes. The surface of the inorganic cluster can be modified during the synthesis
by organic surfactants. The surfactant can alter the dispersion characteristic of the particles by initiating
attractive forces with the polymer chains, in which the particles should be homogenously arranged. In this
review, we present wet chemical methods for the synthesis of nanoparticles, which have been used as photovoltaic
materials in polymer blends. The photovoltaic performance of various inorganic/organic hybrid solar
cells, prepared via spin-coating will be the focus of this contribution.


We report the case of a 66-year-old male patient who presented acute and sub-acute subdural hematomas complicating a grade I meningioma. In the absence of trauma, detection of a subdural hematoma necessitates an etiologic research, in particular the exclusion of a vascular anomaly or a tumour. Subdural bleeding as a complication of a non malignant meningioma is a very rare and threatening situation and requires prompt surgical removal of the tumor.