PhzM and PhzS are two "core" enzymes that are necessary for conversion of phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (PCA) into pyocyanin (PYO) phenazine in Gram (-) bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Apparently, the raise in copy number of their genes could increase the amount of pyocyanin phenazine in the microbe. In previous research, two genes phzM and phzS originated from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PS39 strain had been inserted into a Pseudomonas – Escherichia coli shutlle vector pUCP24 to generate a plasmid pUCP24-phzMS. The obtained plasmid had been transformed into P. aeruginosa PS39 strain to create the recombinant P. aeruginosa PS39-phzMS strain. In this study, pUCP24-phzMS was sequenced to verify the polycistronic expression cassette containing both phzM and phzS genes. The results demonstrated that the recombinant plasmid comprised the ori of Pseudomonas and E. coli, gentamicin resistance-cassette, and polycistronic expression cassette for expression of PhzM and PhzS. In which, both genes will be transcripted together in one mRNA strand by the regulation of Lac promoter and operator. The translation from the mRNA to the corresponding proteins will be started by binding ribosome into RBS located upstream of each gene. The nucleotide sequence of these genes were completely homologous (100%) to the submitted sequences MF673740 (phzM) and MF770713 (phzS) on the NCBI GenBank database. Result on assessing the synthesis of pyocyanin in the recombinant strain with the presence of pUCP24-phzMS plasmid showed that pyocyanin concentration in the recombinant strain increased significantly over 2 times (31.22 mg/mL) more than that in the wild strain (13.47 mg/mL). The absorbance at 360 nm of PCA from the P. aeruginosa PS39-phzMS (OD367 = 0.03) strain decreased significantly compared to the one from wild type strain (OD367 = 0.39). Therefore, the plasmid with phzM and phzS genes was proved to improve the pyocyanin biosynthesis through a better conversion of PCA phenazine into PYO via PhzM and PhzS enzymes.


Adverse events represent a serious problem in health care in the intensive care unit, directly impacting the length of hospital stay and mortality of patients. Objective: Identify preventive measures related to adverse events in the intensive care unit through literature review Method: Integrative literature review, carried out in the databases: Scientific Eletronic Library Online and Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences and Google academic, published between 2014 to 2020, used the descriptors: Preventive measures, adverse events, intensive care unit and patient safety Results: twelve articles were selected with the following discussion categories: Adverse events with a higher incidence rate in the intensive care unit, factors related to the occurrence of adverse events in the intensive care unit and preventive measures for these adverse events. Conclusion: To prevent adverse events, strategies should be implemented by nursing managers to improve care, reduce work overload for professionals, complete records in electronic medical records, continuing education, effective communication between the multidisciplinary team, establishment of institutional norms and minimization of care failures.


Buoyancy affects the entire flowfield of steady turbulent flames and this aspect of flame buoyancy coupling is largely unexplored by experiments or by theory. Open flames and flames within large confinements are free to expand and interact with the surrounding environment. In addition to fluid and combustion conditions, their aerodynamic flowfields are determined by the flame brush orientation and geometry, wake of the stabilizer, enclosure size, and of course, the gravitational field. Because the flowfield consists mainly of cold reactants (mostly in the nearfield) and hot products (mostly in the farfield), buoyancy effects are manifested in the farfield region. In upward pointing flames, an obvious effect is a favorable axial pressure gradient that accelerates the products thereby increasing the axial aerodynamic stretch rate. Intrinsic to turbulent flows, changes in mean aerodynamic stretch also couple to the fluctuating pressure field. Consequently, buoyancy can influence the turbulence intensities upstream and downstream of the flame. Flame wrinkling process, and heat release rate are also directly affected. This backward coupling mechanism is the so-called elliptic problem. To resolve the field effects of buoyancy would require the solution of three-dimensional non-linear Navier Stokes equations with full specification of the upstream, wall and downstream boundary conditions.


Canolol (4-vinylsyringol, VS), a potent antioxidant and an alkylperoxyl radical scavenger originally discovered in crude canola oil (rapeseed), is produced by decarboxylation of sinapic acid (SA) during canola seed roasting. Chemical syntheses of VS from SA require thermal or microwave induced decarboxylation in the presence of a base. A laboratory-evolved enzyme, designated SA decarboxylase (SAD), was developed in this study. In a biphasic bioreactor system, SAD was shown to produce VS from SA extracts prepared from canola meal with an overall yield of 3.0 mg VS per g of canola meal. In addition, we investigated the application of VS in polymerization to produce polyvinylsyringol (PVS) as a potential biodegradable polymer. The characteristics of PVS determined by thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry and nanoindentation tests are described.


In optical microscopy, as in many fields, it is sometimes necessary to observe and study phenomena that occur over very narrow temperature ranges. For this purpose a temperature controller and heating stage have been developed for use in optical microscopy with an average temperature stability within +or-2 mK. The temperature can be varied from sub-ambient temperatures up to 373 K. The temperature controller is also interfaced to a personal computer via a 16-bit digital to analogue converter which allows remote control and the heating stage to be heated and cooled at predetermined rates.


Harmonization of financial reporting standards reduces information asymmetry and improves the confidence of users of financial information while making decisions .Similarly, corporate governance enhances the transparency of financial information through reducing agency conflicts. Moreover, in order to increase the confidence of investors, attract prospective investors and reduce conflict of interests, Bahrain encourages firms to adhere to both the International Financial Reporting Standards and Bahrain's Code of Corporate Governance. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between corporate governance and the level of compliance by 39 firms listed on Bahrain Bourse with International Accounting Standards (IAS-1). The results indicate that the level of corporate governance applied in Bahrain listed companies was 72.5% and it has a significant relationship with the level of compliance with IAS-1 disclosure. The findings and recommendations presented in this study might support regulatory bodies and standard setters in Bahrain to formulate strategies that would promote compliance with IFRSs by the listed firms. Additionally, the study contributes to financial reporting literature relating to the GCC countries.


IAARD in the Ministry of Agriculture has produced a wide range of technology for site specific nutrient management (SSNM), in form of soil-test kit equipment and software. This paper presents the concept of revitalization the system and direction for an efficient fertilization usage. A more rational use of fertilizers based on a specific locational need is expected in the long term to reduce the amount of fertilizer subsidies, without reducing the rice production. The effect of SSNM had been shown to give opportunities for yield increases per unit of fertilizer, to reduce loss of fertilizer, to improve agronomic efficiency and at the same time had positive influence on the environment. SSNM could be used to develop plan for fertilizer requirement per farmers' group (RDKK) which in reality was often not compiled by field extension in accordance with the area of land and fertilizer needs. Inaccurate RDKK preparation had been causing problem on the distribution of subsidized fertilizer, because it was often showing an overestimate of the amount of fertilizer needed, as compared with the availability of fertilizer. Funds allocated for the preparation of RDKK could be routed to the procurement of hardware such as computers and to train the agricultural extension workers in each Agricultural Extension Center in Indonesia, to be able to access the website-specific nutrient fertilization through the internet. Assessment Institute of Agricultural Technology located in every province could facilitate this technology transfer process.


We propose a touch-based editing method for translation, which is more flexible than traditional keyboard-mouse-based translation postediting. This approach relies on touch actions that users perform to indicate translation errors. We present a dual-encoder model to handle the actions and generate refined translations. To mimic the user feedback, we adopt the TER algorithm comparing between draft translations and references to automatically extract the simulated actions for training data construction. Experiments on translation datasets with simulated editing actions show that our method significantly improves original translation of Transformer (up to 25.31 BLEU) and outperforms existing interactive translation methods (up to 16.64 BLEU). We also conduct experiments on post-editing dataset to further prove the robustness and effectiveness of our method.


In this work, design optimization process of a multiband antenna via the use of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) based surrogate model and meta-heuristic optimizers is studied. For this mean firstly, by using Latin-Hyper cube sampling method a data set based on 3D full wave EM simulator is generated to train an ANN based model. By using the ANN based surrogate model and a meta-heuristic optimizer Invasive Weed Optimization (IWO), design optimization of a multi-band antenna for (I) 2.4-3.6 GHz for ISM, LTE, and 5G sub frequencies, (II) 9–10 GHz for X band applications is aimed. Then the obtained results are compared with the simulated results of 3D EM simulation tool CST. Results show, that the proposed methodology provides a computationally efficient design optimization process for design optimization of multi-band antennas.


Elastic dislocation models of geodetic measurements above subduction zones have led to the identification of MW ≈ 6.0–7.2 slow slip events (SSEs) that release elastic strain over periods of days to months, but great (MW ≥ 8) SSEs have remained unidentified. We extrapolate observations of SSE duration and slip magnitude to show that slip velocity decreases with event magnitude and predict that the slip velocity of MW ≥ 8 SSEs is ≤50 mm/yr. The slip velocity for great SSEs may never exceed the plate convergence rate and thus never produce a reversal in trench perpendicular motion. Instead, geodetically constrained estimates of apparent partial elastic coupling on subduction zone interfaces worldwide may be direct observations of ongoing MW ≥ 8 silent earthquakes with durations of decades to centuries.


Providing a good quality care for Medicaid patients has been a persistent challenge. To evaluate quality of care provided by Medicaid plans in comparison with that of commercial plans, this study used the CAHPS (Consumer Assessment of Health Plan Study) survey, which measured the experiences of patients using frequency report instead of traditional satisfaction measures that are more vulnerable to a response bias. This study found that Medicaid managed care services for children has not yet achieved the goals of providing access to and quality of care equivalent to that of commercial insurance. This study also confirmed potential problems in relying entirely on global ratings or satisfaction measures in assessing quality of care. While global ratings of Medicaid care were as good as and sometimes better than commercial counterparts, Medicaid patients reported worse access to necessary care. Based on the results, implications were drawn for future efforts in assessment and improvement of quality of care for Medicaid patients.


Metal-free 4 and metallophthalocyanines 5, 6 and 7 substituted with four {2-[2-(2-naphthyloxy)ethoxy]ethoxy} functional groups at peripheral positions have been prepared. These new phthalocyanine compounds have been characterized by IR, UV-Vis, 1H-NMR spectroscopy, MS spectra data, and elemental analysis. The aggregation behavior of these compounds was investigated in different concentrations of chloroform. The effect of solvents on the absorption spectra was studied in various solvents.


Pulses (i.e., lentils, chickpeas, beans, peas) are low-glycemic index, high-fiber foods that are beneficial for improving blood lipids. Young soccer players typically have low dietary fiber intake, perhaps because of concerns regarding gastro-intestinal problems during exercise performance. Twenty-seven (17 females) soccer players were randomized to receive a pulse-based diet or their regular diet for four weeks in a cross-over study and evaluated for changes in blood lipids and athletic performance, with 19 (22 ± 6y; 12 females) completing the study (eight participants withdrew because of lack of time). Women increased high density lipoproteins (+0.5 ± 0.7 vs. −0.6 ± 0.3 mmol/L; p < 0.01) and reduced total cholesterol to high density lipoprotein ratio (−2.4 ± 2.9 vs. +2.6 ± 2.2; p < 0.01) on the pulse-based vs. regular diet, respectively, while there were no differences between diet phases in men. Athletic performance assessed by distance covered during games by a global positioning system was not significantly different during the pulse-based vs. regular diet (9180 ± 1618 vs. 8987 ± 1808 m per game; p = 0.35). It is concluded that a pulse-based diet can improve blood lipid profile without affecting athletic performance in soccer players.


The protonation behavior of the iron hydrogenase active-site mimic [Fe2(mu-adt)(CO)4(PMe3)2] (1; adt=N-benzyl-azadithiolate) has been investigated by spectroscopic, electrochemical, and computational methods. The combination of an adt bridge and electron-donating phosphine ligands allows protonation of either the adt nitrogen to give [Fe2(mu-Hadt)(CO)4(PMe3)2]+ ([1 H]+), the Fe-Fe bond to give [Fe2(mu-adt)(mu-H)(CO)4(PMe3)2]+ ([1 Hy]+), or both sites simultaneously to give [Fe2(mu-Hadt)(mu-H)(CO)4(PMe3)2]2+ ([1 HHy]2 +). Complex 1 and its protonation products have been characterized in acetonitrile solution by IR, (1)H, and (31)P NMR spectroscopy. The solution structures of all protonation states feature a basal/basal orientation of the phosphine ligands, which contrasts with the basal/apical structure of 1 in the solid state. Density functional calculations have been performed on all protonation states and a comparison between calculated and experimental spectra confirms the structural assignments. The ligand protonated complex [1 H]+ (pKa=12) is the initial, metastable protonation product while the hydride [1 Hy]+ (pKa=15) is the thermodynamically stable singly protonated form. Tautomerization of cation [1 H]+ to [1 Hy]+ does not occur spontaneously. However, it can be catalyzed by HCl (k=2.2 m(-1) s(-1)), which results in the selective formation of cation [1 Hy]+. The protonations of the two basic sites have strong mutual effects on their basicities such that the hydride (pK(a)=8) and the ammonium proton (pK(a)=5) of the doubly protonated cationic complex [1 HHy]2+ are considerably more acidic than in the singly protonated analogues. The formation of dication [1 HHy]2+ from cation [1 H]+ is exceptionally slow with perchloric or trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (k=0.15 m(-1) s(-1)), while the dication is formed substantially faster (k>10(2) m(-1) s(-1)) with hydrobromic acid. Electrochemically, 1 undergoes irreversible reduction at -2.2 V versus ferrocene, and this potential shifts to -1.6, -1.1, and -1.0 V for the cationic complexes [1 H]+, [1 Hy]+, and [1 HHy]2+, respectively, upon protonation. The doubly protonated form [1 HHy]2+ is reduced at less negative potential than all previously reported hydrogenase models, although catalytic proton reduction at this potential is characterized by slow turnover.


Abstract Ant colony optimization algorithm (ACO) is a soft computing met heuristic that belongs to swarm intelligence methods. ACO has proven a well performance in solving certain NP-hard problems in polynomial time. This paper presents the analysis, design and implementation of ACO as a Parallel Me-heuristics using the Open MP framework. To improve the efficiency of ACO parallelization, different related aspects are examined, including scheduling of threads, race hazards and efficient tuning of the effective number of threads. A case study of solving the traveling salesman problem (TSP) using different con-figurations is presented to evaluate the performance of the proposed approach. Experimental results show a significant speedup in execution time for more than 3 times over the sequential implementation.


This paper describes the findings of the first trial of the Aptus device within the National University of Samoa. The Aptus is a device that enables wireless access to valuable educational resources in the absence of electricity and the Internet. The goals of this research were to explore the acceptance of using the Aptus to access e-resources within the context of education in Samoa, with user acceptance measured by evaluating the ease of use and usefulness of the Aptus. The findings of the trial indicated very positive perceptions of students and teachers at the university in terms of ease of use and usefulness of the Aptus within educational settings. From the results of Phase 1, a strong recommendation is made to adopt the Aptus as a technology for providing access to quality educational resources within the National University of Samoa. The study also recommends the need for training of teachers on the use of the Aptus and its applications, such as Moodle.


Microsurgery involves the dexterous manipulation of delicate tissue or fragile structures such as small blood vessels, nerves, etc., under a microscope. To address the limitation of imprecise manipulation of human hands, robotic systems have been developed to assist surgeons in performing complex microsurgical tasks with greater precision and safety. However, the steep learning curve for robot-assisted microsurgery (RAMS) and the shortage of well-trained surgeons pose significant challenges to the widespread adoption of RAMS. Therefore, the development of a versatile training system for RAMS is necessary, which can bring tangible benefits to both surgeons and patients. In this paper, we present a Tactile Internet-Based Micromanipulation System (TIMS) based on a ROS-Django web-based architecture for microsurgical training. This system can provide tactile feedback to operators via a wearable tactile display (WTD), while real-time data is transmitted through the internet via a ROS-Django framework. In addition, TIMS integrates haptic guidance to `guide' the trainees to follow a desired trajectory provided by expert surgeons. Learning from demonstration based on Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) was used to generate the desired trajectory. User studies were also conducted to verify the effectiveness of our proposed TIMS, comparing users' performance with and without tactile feedback and/or haptic guidance.


Introduction: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of myeloid growth factors in patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer treated with combined modality therapy (CMT). Methods: Patients with stage IIIA/B non-small cell lung cancer, performance status 0 to 1, and forced expiratory volume in 1 second ≥1.5, received cisplatin 75 mg/m2 on day 1 + etoposide 80 mg/m2 on days 1 to 3 every 3 weeks for 2 cycles concurrent with thoracic radiotherapy to 61 Gy. filgrastim 5 mcg/kg/d was administered for 10 days beginning on day 4 of each chemotherapy cycle. Patients without progression received docetaxel 75 mg/m2 every 21 days for 3 cycles with peg-filgrastim 6 mg on day 2. The primary end point was a 50% reduction in the incidence of grade ¾ neutropenia compared with historical controls. Results: A total of 26 eligible patients were enrolled. Median age was 67, 76% were men, and 58% had stage IIIA. Gr3/4 neutropenia during CMT was 19.2% and 3.8%, respectively. There were no episodes of febrile neutropenia. Gr4 thrombocytopenia was 15.4% with 2 patients requiring transfusions. Gr3 esophagitis was noted in 7.7% and Gr ¾ pneumonitis in 21.6% of patients. No patients died of treatment-related toxicities. Dose reductions/delays occurred in 3.8% of patients during CMT. Median progression-free survival and median survival were 10.7 and 27.6 months, respectively. The 1- and 2-year survival rates were 61.5% and 46.2%, respectively. Conclusions: Our data suggest that the addition of filgrastim to CMT is safe and effective. The rate of grade ¾ toxicities, including febrile neutropenia, compares favorably to previous trials using a similar regimen. Dose intensity is maintained. This strategy merits further evaluation.


Background & objectives: social support is predicated to perception of affection and support of family,friends and relatives. This study aimed to compare the social support in the elderly of home and nursing home of Hamedan. Material &Methods: In this cross sectional descriptive-analytic study, 177 elders of nursing home in Hamadan with a similar sample of elders' home who were matched in gender, were compared. To gather the data, Social Support Appraisals Scale was used as well as Demographic Variables Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS 16. Results: 354 subjects participated in the study that consisted of 45.2% male. Results showed mean score of social support has significant difference in the elderly of home and nursing home of Hamadan (P < 0.001). Conclusion: According to the results and the importance of social determinants of health, such as social support, it's necessary to improve the quality of life of the elderly people in nursing homes with development, planning and policy making.


In what sense is it appropriate ... that the professor should be a''public'' figure? (Robin Barrow 2004:223)What is a public intellectual? Does geography have any? And does itmatter? These questions are all pertinent to the three books underreview here. In A Brief History of Neoliberalism (by David Harvey),The Endgame of Globalization (by Neil Smith) and Afflicted Powers(by Retort, a quartet of Bay Area ''antagonists to capital and empire''that includes Michael Watts) there is, I suggest, a deliberate attemptbeing made by the authors to position themselves as public intellec-tuals. Not that any of them would feel comfortable using the term as aself-descriptor: to lay claim to the signifier ''public intellectual'' runsthe risk of sounding insufferably pompous while opening oneself tounfavourable comparison with the ''real'' public intellectuals of yester-year like George Orwell or Jean-Paul Sartre. What's more, evengeographers (never mind the wider ''public'') would find the ideathat they now have several ''PIs'' in their number absurd: for surelythe discipline remains far too marginal to produce figures with theself-confidence and the intellectual capital to intervene authoritativelyin wider public debates (Ward forthcoming). Yet in these threebooks, I want to argue, we see some of human geography's mostinfluential left-wing voices addressing themselves to a far wider audi-ence than the academic one so familiar with their many previouswritings. Neither pompous nor absurd, this trio of attempts to engagea broader readership is important, but not for the parochial reasonthat the books under review might both alter and heighten publicperceptions of what academic geography is about. As I will explain, ABrief History of Neoliberalism, The Endgame of Globalization andAfflicted Powers are ''public'' interventions in a very specific sense(part of this relates to the distinctively American context of their


Reliable spatial data of evapotranspiration (ET) in support of water resources management are limited. ET is a major component of the water balance, in many regions, and therefore it is critical that it be accurately quantified. To identify a product that accurately estimates spatially distributed ET for application in data-scarce regions, an inter-model comparison was conducted between the MOD16 ET dataset and the ET calculated with the calibrated and validated JAMS/J2000 hydrological model in the Sandspruit catchment (South Africa). Annual JAMS-ET and MOD16-ET data were generally consistent. Monthly JAMS-ET and MOD16-ET dynamics are influenced by the response of vegetation to precipitation as well as the atmospheric evaporative demand. The maximum correlation coefficient between JAMS-ET and MOD16-ET was 0.82 and it was evident at Lag 0, showing that both ET estimates are in phase when evaluated at the basin scale. The maximum correlation coefficients between the ET estimators and precipitation were 0.67 and 0.70 for JAMS-ET and MOD16-ET, respectively, and this was evident at Lag 2 (1 lag is 1 month) for both methods. This suggests that there is a 2-month delay in the maximum response of ET to precipitation. The models did not exhibit significant dependence on the seasonal distribution of precipitation. The complementary use of hydrological modelling and satellite-derived data may be greatly advantageous to water resources management, e.g., water allocation studies, ecological reserve determinations and vegetation water use studies. The results of the inter-model comparison also provide motivation for the use of the MOD16 ET dataset to estimate ET in data-scarce regions. Additionally, this study provides evidence for the potential use of validated satellite-based ET data as inputs in hydrological models. This may facilitate a more realistic representation of the catchment hydrological processes.


In order to solve the power distribution problem of detectors in high energy physics experiments, a full on-chip regulator is presented in this paper. It provides the analog power supply for CMOS pixel sensors. The maximum load current is 200 mA. The proposed regulator is stable in the full range of load current by introducing a zero and adapting the locations of poles and zeros. The compensation capacitance and resistance are significantly decreased to achieve low area. The chip area is only 0.044 mm2 excluding the bias and bandgap circuit, which can be shared with the other blocks in CMOS pixel sensors. The experimental results show that the output noise spectral density is less than 340 n VRMS/√Hz and 62 n VRMS/√Hz at 1 kHz and 100 kHz, respectively. The power consumption is 1.04 mW at the voltage of 3.3 V, when the load current is 200 mA.


Screening for disease has become a major activity over the last few decades, and the potential for future growth is almost boundless. However, the necessity for and effectiveness of screening has often been overstated with misused survival statistics. Nevertheless, screening with certain radiologic tests may provide modest benefits at acceptable costs under certain conditions. The challenge for the future is to better identify the tests, populations, and other conditions under which screening is appropriate. Various quantitative techniques for eliciting patient preferences [76] and analyzing benefits, harms, and costs over time [77-80] may help us meet this challenge.


Recent data on the concentrations of the refractory siderophile (metal-loving) elements molybdenum and rhenium confirm that most siderophile elements in lunar crustal rocks and mare basalts have significantly lower concentrations than in the earth's mantle and much lower concentrations compared to chondrite meteorites. The observed depletion of siderophile elements in lunar samples suggests the existence of a metal core. The amount of metal in the core depends on the conditions under which metal segregation occurred. If the moon accreted directly from the solar nebula, with chrondritic abundances of siderophile elements, then 2% to 5.5% metal must have segregated within the moon to form a core. Geophysical techniques constrain the radius of the lunar core to 500 km (5.5 wt%) or less. If the moon formed after the earth, from material out of the earth's mantle, segregation of 0.1% to 1% metal within the moon is required. Less metal is needed for a terrestrial origin because the earth's mantle was already partially depleted in siderophile elements due to formation of the earth's core. The siderophile elements therefore provide strong geochemical evidence for a lunar metal core, but do not rule out either formation of the moon from the earth's mantle or an independent origin by accretion from the solar nebula.


We have studied the effects of electrode fabrication and detector capacitance on the time resolution of large area electronic grade polycrystalline chemical vapour deposited diamond sensors that are suitable for time of flight measurements of heavy ions at relativistic velocities. Sensors were prepared both in house, with Al or Au metal contacts, and commercially fabricated with Au/diamond-like carbon contacts. He, Ar and a mixture of Ne and O beams at 16.3, 33.5 and 21-23 MeV/u, respectively were used on these devices whilst arranged in transmission geometry. Signal processing only began over one meter away from the sensors. The present approach, where we have large-area/large capacitance multi-strip detectors with processing electronics at some distance from the target, is compatible with anticipated space limitations in particle- identification and tracking setups at existing and planned nuclear fragmentation facilities. In a systematic study under these conditions, we demonstrate that the time resolution is limited by detector capacitance and energy deposition in the sensors. An intrinsic time resolution σ = (44±5) ps was achieved for a diamond detector of ∼ 14 pF capacitance. We conclude that, once further refinements are made, a large area time of flight detection system using polycrystalline diamond detectors would be able to provide time resolutions better than 40 ps, approaching the requirement for particle-identification in relativistic fragmentation experiments, such as those at the facility for antiproton and ion research, FAIR. © 2012 IOP Publishing Ltd and Sissa Medialab srl.


Immunocytochemistry (ICC) utilizes antibodies to visualize the localization of specific proteins in cells while in situ hybridization (ISH) is a useful research tool for examining the presence and changes in levels of gene expression in cells. The ability to simultaneously visualize the co-localization of protein and RNA species in individual cells is necessary to address important biological questions. Additionally, studying both protein and RNA can be useful in cases where expression levels vary between mRNA and protein and to detect post-translational modifications. However, a combined technique has proved challenging due to the incompatibility of ICC and ISH protocols. Furthermore, traditional ISH methods have lacked sensitivity to detect low abundance RNA species and have limited multiplexing capability. Here, we describe a novel technique combining ICC staining with RNA ISH (based on the ViewRNA Assay), which utilizes branched DNA signal amplification technology allowing for single copy mRNA sensitivity. We demonstrate the utility and versatility of this technique using a variety of antibody and probe combinations relevant for cancer research. We compared expression of protein and mRNA of HER2, estrogen receptor alpha, and progesterone receptor in several breast cancer cell lines (MCF7, SKBR3, MDA-MB-175, MDA-MB-231, and BT474) known to express differential levels of these targets. We also compared expression of several microRNAs (let-7a, miR-17, miR-30d, miR-107, and miR-93) known to play a role in cancer development in combination with staining for proteins involved in proliferation (Ki-67), anti-apoptosis (survivin), and cell structure (tubulin). We show successful detection of low abundance RNA species together with various protein markers. This novel technique is a valuable tool not only for cancer researchers, but also for investigators across numerous fields in biological research. Citation Format: Lisa J. Ma, Richard T. Frank, Xiaoxiao Li, Steve Lai, Jeanette Schmidt, Peggy Just, Sara Becker-Catania. Single cell detection of protein and RNA: Development of a novel method combining immunocytochemistry and in situ hybridization in breast cancer cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 361.


Global Politics in a Changing World blends conceptual writings on international relations with current events coverage from journalistic sources. Case materials in this reader are drawn from all major geographic regions in order to emphasize the global nature of post-Cold War issues. Each chapter approaches the key topics first from a scholarly/theoretical perspective, then follows with readings that present a news/current events context. The readings provide a stimulus for informed debate and discussion and encourage students to view daily events as part of a larger process of change. This unique reader goes beyond the traditional concept of international relations, defined simply as interactions between states. Covering all players in the modern global political scene, topics in the text range from international companies and intergovernmental organizations to traditional states and terrorist organizations. To discuss these varied influences in world politics, the authors have carefully selected a mix of readings that includes journal articles on current events and classic discussions of international relations.


The underutilization of agriculture in Nigeria with attendant low yield per hectare is generally attributed to lack of innovation to cope with the challenges of climate change and land degradation. In this study, using information from 326 farmers in Southwest Nigeria, we examined the relative impact of cooperative membership compared with the effects of other socio-economic factors on farmers' adoption of technological innovations. Cooperative membership has a high impact compared to other socioeconomic factors such as land access, gender, and educational status. It is recommended that intervention programs in the agricultural sector should focus more attention on strengthening and expanding farmers' cooperatives for better diffusion and use intensity of innovations and better linking social capital with extension agencies, banks, markets, and agricultural value chains.


Background aims. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) are the focus of research in regenerative medicine aiming at the regulatory approval of these cells for specific indications. To cope with the regulatory requirements for somatic cell therapy, novel approaches that do not interfere with the natural behavior of the cells are necessary. In this context in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of labeled MSC could be an appropriate tool. Cell labeling for MRI with a variety of different iron oxide preparations is frequently published. However, most publications lack a comprehensive assessment of the noninterference of the contrast agent with the functionality of the labeled MSC, which is a prerequisite for the validity of cell-tracking via MRI. Methods.We studied the effects of iron oxide-poly(L-lactide) nanoparticles in MSC with flow cytom-etry, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), Prussian blue staining, CyQuant® proliferation testing, colony-forming unit-fibroblast (CFU-F) assays, flow chamber adhesion testing, immuno-logic tests and differentiation tests. Furthermore iron-labeled MSC were studied by MRI in agarose phantoms and Wistar rats. Results. It could be demonstrated that MSC show rapid uptake of nanoparticles and long-lasting intracellular persistence in the endosomal compartment. Labeling of the MSC with these particles has no influence on viability, differentiation, clonogenicity, proliferation, adhesion, phenotype and immunosuppressive properties. They show excellent MRI properties in agarose phantoms and after subcutaneous implantation in rats over several weeks. Conclusions. These particles qualify for studying MSC homing and trafficking via MRI.


This paper studies how endogenous currency exchange arises in a two-country, two-currency monetary search model. Although currency exchange is widely observed in the globalized economy, Zhou (1997) is one of the exceptional studies that adopted a search model to generate currency exchange endogenously. Moreover, in her model, currency exchange occurs only in the case where agents rarely consume foreign goods, which is contrary to the well-known fact that international trade increases the number of currency exchanges. We construct a monetary search model that has a feature that increased international trade increases the volume of currency exchange. We develop a two-country model in which each country has two types of agents: local traders who consume only the goods produced in the home country, and international traders who consume only the goods produced in the foreign country. For international traders, the foreign currency gives more opportunity to obtain the foreign goods than the home currency does. Thus, when an international trader holds the home currency, he has an incentive to exchange the home currency for the foreign currency. Unlike Zhou, the model has a feature that currency exchange is more likely to occur when many agents are engaged in international trade.


Twelve patients meeting DSM-IIIR criteria for mania received verapamil over a 2-week period, with dosing up to 360 mg/day. Severity of mania was measured at baseline and weekly by use of the Young Mania Scale. Plasma calcium and magnesium determinations and an ECG were obtained at baseline and after 2 weeks of treatment. Mean improvement was from a baseline of 32.4 to 12.8, -60.5%. Decreased severity of mania correlated significantly with increased plasma calcium. This result may lend a method for monitoring successful treatment of mania with calcium channel inhibitors.


This article outlines our collaboration with Tireland, in which we conducted research regarding the potential success of selling tire online. We looked into aspects of an online presence that would be positively received by consumers in the tire industry. Our research has included an interview with the decision maker, five in-depth interviews, and an online questionnaire. The aim with these methods was to gain a further understanding of the current online tire industry and the constraints that may be present when implementing an ecommerce sales strategy. The target market we were focused on includes males and females between the ages of twenty to thirty. We received 114 responses to our online survey, of which 103 were part of our target market. The data we aimed to collect helped us compare variables such as level of education, online features, and annual household income with the individual's likelihood to purchase tires online. It is through our SPSS analysis that we were able to gather a better understanding on the statistics surrounding the problem at hand.Our studies offered an insight into the necessary elements to create a successful ecommerce platform. Based on our five research questions, we determined that while variables such as income and education have a minor impact on the likelihood to purchase tires online, other variables such as available online features, tire characteristics, and history of online shopping are significant. Our analyses have led us to recommend that the company should target individuals who already typically shop online. As well, characteristics such as availability, customer service, and price are important to consumers when making a purchase. Finally, consumers are more willing to shop on a website that offers reviews, product information, reminders and an online question service. If these variables are focused upon that will be the greatest way for a company to implement a successful ecommerce platform.


Background Obesity is one of few modifiable important risk factors for osteoarthritis (OA). Body Mass Index (BMI) is frequently used as a measure of obesity, which is often calculated based on self-reported height and weight. However, to what extent self-reported BMI can be trusted in OA studies is unknown. Knowledge of this topic is important for the interpretation of results from existing studies as well as in the design of future epidemiological studies. Objectives To investigate the validity of self-reported BMI in an OA cohort. Methods In a population-based survey, persons aged 40-79 years (n=12155) were sent questionnaires in 2010 (the Musculoskeletal pain in Ullensaker study). Those who answered "yes" to the question "Have you been diagnosed with osteoarthritis in the knee, hip and/or hands by a doctor and/or on radiographs?" were invited to a clinical examination (n=1019), of whom 630 attended. In the analyses we included 449 participants who had clinical OA in the hips, knees and/or hands (according to the American College of Rheumatology criteria). Height and weight were self-reported on the initial questionnaire, and measured at the clinical examination. Results See Table 1. Table 1. Difference between measured and self-reported height and weight according to weight category Women Men Height (cm), Weight (kg), Height (cm), Weight (kg), mean (SD) difference mean (SD) difference mean (SD) difference mean (SD) difference Normal weight <25 kg/m2 −0.87 (1.64) 1.40 (2.41) −1.31 (1.79) −0.17 (2.92) Overweight 25–29.99 kg/m2 −1.44 (2.50) 2.20 (4.65) −1.55 (1.91) 1.74 (4.07) Obese ≥30 kg/m2 −1.73 (2.58) 3.90 (4.70) −1.78 (2.24) 4.30 (5.05) Mean (SD) age was 65 (8.6) years and 129 (28%) were men. Mean (SD) self-reported BMI was 27.0 (4.5) kg/m2, while mean (SD) measured BMI was 28.3 (4.9) kg/m2. There was a dose-response relationship between a higher examined BMI and a greater overreporting of height, underreporting of weight, and consequently a lower reported than measured BMI (Table 1 and figure). Conclusions OA patients with a high BMI were more likely to underreport their BMI compared to OA patients with a normal BMI. The dose-response relationship between actual BMI-category and underreporting of BMI should be taken into account when designing future studies of OA in which BMI is used as a measure of obesity. Disclosure of Interest None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.4040


Oral rehydration solution (ORS) is safe and effective for the prevention and treatment of dehydration in children. It has been commercially available as a small packaging unit that needs to be taken with a specified amount of water. Intake of incorrectly formulated ORS results in side effects, such as electrolyte imbalance and upper gastrointestinal (GI) disturbance. We experienced a case of severe GI hemorrhage from gastric and duodenal ulcers in a previously healthy child following intake of incorrectly formulated ORS. GI hemorrhage in children is often life threatening and reaching a diagnosis may be challenging. Commercially manufactured packets of powdered oral rehydration salts have been widely used and GI hemorrhage associated with an improperly diluted ORS has been rarely reported. Caution and education for proper preparation of ORS are imperative.


Large-scale integration of distributed energy resources into the power grid poses a growing challenge for maintaining a stable, reliable and affordable power supply. The increasing number of grid-connected power plants, which are predominantly interfaced through modern power electronics systems, makes the overall microgrid management more and more challenging due to higher system complexity and uncertainties. Local distributed control systems need to cooperate to achieve a global optimum. With the present development towards strongly networked cyber-physical systems, new opportunities arise to modularly adapt and optimize microgrids. This paper deals with a networked agent- based control approach for distribute power converters to regulate the voltage with optimal reactive power-sharing, whereas local hysteresis-based PI state feedback controller are considered for each converter. In simulation studies the dynamic control performance of the proposed control strategy are investigated.


found to be suffering from defined illness There are grave objections to screening for which there is no really effective treatment a no possible benefit to the patient. It is a gr to inform a person prematurely of the existe for which no treatment can be offered. In M degree these arguments centre around sur conditions as diabetes and hypertension. Allowing for the considerable repetition a rather than the written style, this is a useful views of interest to both clinicians and epid


Background
23G pars plana vitrectomy has been widely applied to treat diabetic retinopathy(OR). Researching the influence of 23G pars plana vitrectomy on corneal endothelium cell has a great clinical significance.

Objective
To observe the influence of 23G pars plana vitrectomy on corneal endothelial cells in phakic eyes of diabetes and non-diabetes patients.

Methods
A retrospective study was designed.One hundred and twenty-four eyes of 124 patients with vitreoretinopathy were included in Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University from August 2012 to June 2013.The patients were assigned to DR group (52 eyes) and non-DR group (72 eyes).23G pars plana vitrectomy was performed on all the patients under their informed consent.Endothelial cell density, corneal thickness(CT), coefficient of variation(CV) of cellular area, standard deviation(SD) of average cellular area and percentage of hexagonal endothelial cells were measured before and 1 day, 3 days, 1 week, 2 week, 1 month and 3 months after surgery with Topcon SP-3000P corneal specular microscope.

Results
No significant differences were found in the central corneal endothelial cell density between the DR group and non-DR group at various time points (Fgroup=2.148, P=0.150; Ftime=0.900, P=0.504). The CV of endothelial cells, SD of endothelial cellular area and CT in the first day after surgery were higher than preoperation (P=0.000, 0.011, 0.033), while the percentage of hexagonal endothelial cells was declined (P=0.001). The CV of endothelial cells and the percentage of hexagonal endothelial cells recovered in postoperative 1 month in the DR group.In the non-DR group, the CV of endothelial cells and CT elevated in postoperative 1 day in comparison with preoperation (P=0.002, 0.003), and the percentage of hexagonal endothelial cells reduced (P=0.000). These abnormalities returned to a preoperative level in a week after surgery.

Conclusions
23G pars plana vitrectomy results in a reversible morphology damage of corneal endothelial cells.These damage may be more severe with a longer duration in DR patients compared with non-DR patients.

Key words:
Vitrectomy/complication; Endothelium, corneal; Diabetic retinopathy/surgery; Retrospective study


Currently, disability studies is starting to apply a life course theory framework to some of its investigations. Given the strengths of each field, life course theory can greatly impact disability studies, and vice versa. For this cross pollination to reach its maximum potential, disability studies researchers need to understand life course methodology and the types of results that arise from these methods, as well as the implications of these results for the field of disability studies. This paper reviews life course methods as they apply to the field of disability studies. More specifically, methodological issues are highlighted through a study of individuals with traumatic brain injuries. The article illustrates the utility of life course theory as a tool to investigate the total life experiences of persons with disabilities and the implications of integrating non normative experiences into life course research.


The results of research on increasing the efficiency of a firing test facility for testing thrusters under high-altitude conditions are presented. The increase in efficiency consists in reducing the expansion pressure generated by the ejector and the flow of the active gas (air) consumed by it. Experimental studies were carried out using three versions of gas generators developed by the author which ensure an increase in the energy of the active gas before it is supplied to the ejector. When using the GG-1 gas generator with working media such as air, kerosene and water, the vacuum of less than 1 mm Hg was achieved with the air mass flow rate of 1.1 kg/s (the ejector provides a vacuum of 13 mm Hg with the cool air flow rate of 2 kg/s). However, the design features of the gas generator led to a cumbersome system of supplying working fluids and a complicated start-up sequence. The GG-2 gas generator with air and kerosene as working media failed to provide the temperature of the active gas below 600°C, therefore, to prevent ejector malfunctioning, GG-2 was turned off when the rarefaction reached 13 mm Hg. The air mass flow rate was 1.1 kg/s. The working media of the GG-3 gas generator are air and kerosene or air and natural gas. The design of the GG-3 makes it possible to regulate the temperature of the produced active gas. When working on kerosene, a vacuum of 4 mmHg was reached with the air mass flow rate of 1.5 kg/s. The studies of GG-3 using natural gas as a fuel are going on.


The aging society could have a greater societal impact than the current financial crisis. The percentage of older adults has increased while the size of the health care workforce has remained constant. Home automation, robotics, assistive technology, geriatric telecare and telemedicine can support independence in older adults and diminish the health care burden. Currently, delivering services through these technologies is accomplished mainly through stand-alone systems. Multiple stand-alone systems in one dwelling become a multidisciplinary technological challenge of risks and benefits. Ideally, only those technology mediated services requested at a particular moment should be provided. This calls for a reduction in the barriers between healthcare and technology disciplines and an intelligent network using software agents supporting optimal integration and interoperability to increase the quality of life of older adults and decrease the healthcare burden in our aging society.


Abstract This paper proposes a set of nine critical elements underpinned by human rights principles to support individuals experiencing a serious crisis related to mental health problems or psychosocial disabilities. These elements are distilled from a range of viable alternatives to traditional community mental health approaches and are linked to a normative human rights framework. We argue that crisis response is one of the areas of mental health care where there is a heightened risk that the rights of service recipients may be infringed. We further make the case that the nine critical elements found in advanced mental health care models should be used as building blocks for designing services and systems that promote effective rights-based care and supports.


2-(3-Aminopropyl-amino) ethaneperthiol (RSSH, the perthiol analogue of the thiol radioprotector, WR-1065) reacts with the alpha-hydroxy alkyl radical (CH3)2C.OH by donating a hydrogen atom as indicated by the characterization of perthiyl radicals (RSS.; lambda max approximately 374 nm, epsilon 374 approximately 1680 +/- 20 dm3 mol-1 cm-1) by pulse radiolysis. The perthiyl radical abstracts a hydrogen from the alcohol to establish a reversible hydrogen-transfer equilibrium. This equilibrium lies predominantly on the side of radical repair since the rate constants for the forward and reverse reactions at pH 4 are: kappa(RSSH+(CH3)2C.OH) = (2.4 +/- 0.1) x 10(9) dm3 mol-1 s-1 and kappa(RSS.+(CH3)2CHOH) = (3.8 +/- 0.3) x 10(3) dm3 mol-1 s-1 respectively. The pKa (RSSH<-->RSS(-)+H+) = 6.2 +/- 0.1 was determined from the pH dependence of the rate of perthiol repair. Identical experiments have been performed with WR-1065 allowing a direct comparison of free-radical repair reactivity to be made with the parthiol analogue. At pH approximately 7.4 the reactivities of the thiol and perthiol were similar, both repairing the alcohol radical with a rate constant of approximately (2.4 +/- 0.1) x 10(8) dm3 mol-1 s-1. However, at pH 5 whilst the hydrogen-donation rate of the thiol was 15-20% higher than at pH 7.4, the perthiol reactivity was over an order of magnitude higher. The thermodynamic driving force for the observed enhanced free-radical repair reactivity of RSSH compared to RSH is attributed to the resonance stabilization energy of 8.8 kJ mol-1 within the RSS. radical. These results indicate a possible application of RSSH/RSS- as DNA-targeted antioxidants or chemoprotectors.


Apples are a significant and popular fruit among t e Australian opulation, and in the case of fresh apples, the domestic market is relatively self-sustaining. Retail and consumer preferences are the driving force for quality standards for apples along the chain, with actors working to provide the best quality selection of produce. In order to meet these high standards, loss and waste occurs in the lower grades which are simply a by-product of first grade production. Globally, loss and waste of fresh produce is amongst the highest of all food groups and from the limited data available, apples appear to be no exception. While there is not accurate specific data regarding loss and waste data of fresh apples in the Australian value chain, reporting is increasing as is awareness of the broader issues of food loss and waste. Following along the value chain, there appear to be discrepancies in quantities of fresh apples available at the various stages, with these variations potentially reflective of loss and waste along the chain. Using best estimates from the literature, the total amount of fresh apples, conservatively, that is potentially diverted from the Australian fresh apple supply chain is around 163,000 tonnes which is about 41 per cent of total production at the farm level. What is also lacking from Australian market data and literature, other than robust primary loss and waste data, is the cost of food loss and waste, and the extent of the externalities that occur due to loss and waste along the value chain. Not only do negative externalities incur costs to the broader society, there are additional costs of intervention, and analysis is required to determine the feasibility and appropriateness of intervention strategies.


Fortran is the oldest high-level programming language that remains in use today and is one of the dominant languages used for compute-intensive scientific and engineering applications. However, Fortran has not kept up with the modern software development practices and tooling in the internet era. As a consequence, the Fortran developer experience has diminished. Specifically, lack of a rich general-purpose library ecosystem, modern tools for building and packaging Fortran libraries and applications, and online learning resources, has made it difficult for Fortran to attract and retain new users. To address this problem, an open source community has formed on GitHub in 2019 and began to work on the initial set of core tools: a standard library, a build system and package manager, and a community-curated website for Fortran. In this paper we report on the progress to date and outline the next steps.


A source of composition-selected multi-element cluster ions has been developed toward investigation of chemical reactivity of the clusters supported on a solid surface. The cluster ions are produced in a gas aggregation cell equipped with several magnetron sputtering devices, and their composition is selected by a quadrupole mass filter. The translational and internal kinetic energies of the single-composition cluster ions are reduced by collision with cold helium to achieve cluster-impact deposition onto the surface at a low collision energy. It has been succeeded to obtain single-composition silver-copper bimetal cluster ions more intense than several tens pA. A typical translational energy width is 0.5 eV per cluster.


This paper presents an one-dimensional isothermal modelling for a CFBMR (H2 permeable). The work has been developed to simulate the SRM to produce H2. The dynamic simulation for molar flow rates of H2 was analyzed in the permeation side and shell side zones at different temperatures at the exit of the proposed system. The model has allowed the validation for the conversion of CH4 by comparing of optimized values. Additionally, the molar flow rates for chemical species CH4, H2O, H2, CO and CO2 were analyzed along of the CFBMR (permeation side and shell side) at different times.


Sphingolipids constitute a broad class of compounds with many biological functions. The sphingolipid metabolites ceramide and sphingosine are potent apoptosis inducers and produce cell cycle arrest, whereas sphingosine-1-phosphate promotes cellular growth and differentiation. Herein, the effects of sphingolipids and their analogs on diverse signaling pathways implicated in the apoptotic process are highlighted. The relatively simple chemical structure of these compounds has led to several strategies for their total synthesis. Those methods have contributed to the development and biological study of several analogs that present diverse degree of modification from the original structure. This article catalogues many of the recently developed synthetic analogs that act on diverse aspects of sphingolipid metabolism. A description of known enzyme inhibitors of the sphigolipids pathway is also given. Finally, diverse new sphingolipid-like antitumor agents isolated from marine sources are presented. This contribution opens the way for future development of new sphingolipid analogs that might be useful in cancer chemotherapy.


The Danish National Partial Oral Treatment of Endocarditis Trial (POET) demonstrated non-inferiority of partly peroral compared to intravenous antibiotic therapy for infective endocarditis (IE) caused by Streptococcus spp, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, or coagulase-negative staphylococci. Identifications by whole genome sequencing (WGS) of available streptococcal strains were related to clinical data. Sequences were obtained using Illumina technology (MiseqÒ) followed by core genome analysis and single-nucleotide polymorphism phylogeny examinations. Average nucleotide identification (ANI) calculated using the tool fastANI. Informations on +/- preexisting valve prosthesis, valve surgery and outcome related to obtained identifications. Streptococcal strains (n=123) from 117 patients were WGS examined. Twelve percent were pyogenic group strains and 88% belonged to viridans groups, mainly mitis and bovis groups. Phylogenetic trees were in accordance regarding species and subspecies identifications. High ANI percentages to type strains were found. Respectively 39, 60 and 16 IE cases involved mitral, aortic or both valves. IE caused by pyogenic group or mitis plus bovis group streptococci most frequent affected, respectively, mitral and aortic valves. Thirty-one patients (26%) had a preexisting prosthesis; notably, in 50% of bovis group IE cases. Fifty-six patients had valve surgery done during the current disease; 8% and 93% of patients having, respectively, pyogenic group and mitis group strains as causative agents. Of patients allocated to intravenous or intravenous followed by peroral antibiotic treatment, respectively 26 and 30 had valve surgery done during the current disease. Composite outcome (all-cause mortality, unplanned cardiac surgery, embolic events, or relapse of bacteremia with the primary pathogen) at five-year follow-up comprised in total 39 events. In conclusion, molecular examinations adds on substantially by detailing species and subspecies affiliations. A broad spectrum of streptococcal species and subspecies causing IE were identified with mitis- and bovis group strains dominating. Relating strain identifications to clinical data can assist in planning and treating confirmed/suspected IE patients. Adding WGS identification of streptococci in selected patients groups (e.g. IE) in order to expand number of cases characterized in detail seems ideal and advocates for centralized registration of results to reveal important clinical relations.


The different type design of sensitive elements for photoconducting (PC) and photoelectromagnetic (PEM) infrared detectors for attention have been offered. For uncooled PC and PEM detectors on the base of HgCdTe by the sensing elements as meander-type have been considered. For PC IR- detectors the construction with two-side metallization of the contact areas of the element are represented. These detectors high sensitivity are demonstrated.


The project that has been developed for this work at the end of degree aims to integrate a series of routines in MATLAB, which allow us to obtain information about the depolarization that atmospheric aerosols produce on the laser signal produced by a multi-wavelength LIDAR. In order to carry out the work, information has been looked for information on how a graphic interface can be created using MATLAB, its internal working and properties, in addition to all the related to exchange data between functions and their representation. The original programs have been adapted to be able to work correctly with the user interfaces. Each operation carried out by means of commands has been programmed so that it can be used in a more friendly and intuitive way, using graphic elements such as buttons, text boxes and graphics for data representation. Each program loads a series of files that contain the data that is used internally to obtain and represent results. Depending of the type of file loaded the application processes the data in one way or another, this is why a small explanation has been made of the content that each type of file has and whether they are raw or processed files. The final result consists of a main menu called Depol Menu, which contains the Calibration and Analysis GUI where the routines used by the original programs are adapted. The present work, apart from the development of the application and the verification of the correct working of it, also has documented a brief introduction of how a LIDAR system works, as well as the system that the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (Campus Nord) has mounted for obtain the measurements that are used by the user interface developed.


Electric Vehicle charging station (Smart Park) when modified as a shunt active power filter(SAF) effectively compensates for active, reactive and harmonic power requirements of the load. Analysis of the Smart Park SAF system equipped at a dc metro traction substation is done here. Smart Park shunt active filter provides the compensation by using Icosφ algorithm. Simulations have been performed in matlab for 750 V DC metro traction nonlinear load. The simulation results substantiate the feasibility of grid support by Smart Park for a metro rail system.


This study investigated the relationship between eye frailty and physical, social, and psychological/cognitive weaknesses among older adults in Japan. The participants were 192 community-dwelling older adult women. We measured handgrip strength, walking speed, and skeletal muscle mass; additionally, their physical, social, and psychological/cognitive frailties were surveyed using questionnaires. Eye frailty self-checks were used to assess eye frailty. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were employed to verify the validity of the eye frailty self-checks. Eye frailty prevalence and related factors were investigated by conducting a binomial logistic regression analysis, with eye frailty as the dependent variable. The factor analysis results showed that a model could be constructed with the two factors of visual acuity or contrast and visual field. The model's goodness of fit was acceptable, supporting the validity of the self-checking construct. The Kihon checklist was the only variable with a significant relationship to eye frailty. Regarding the relationship between eye frailty and subordinate items of the Kihon checklist, social withdrawal [odds ratio (OR) 2.437, 95% confidence interval 1.145–5.188], cognitive function (OR 2.047, 95%CI 1.051–3.984), and depressed mood (OR 1.820, 95%CI 1.163–2.848) were significant. Eye frailty can be considered a factor reflecting the existence of social and psychological/cognitive frailties.


Chemoradiotherapy after intended curative surgery for gastric cancer prolonged survival in patients with an adenocarcinoma of the stomach or gastro-oesophageal junction

The randomised controlled trial reported by MacDonald et al documents an impressive increase in overall survival with postoperative chemoradiotherapy compared with surgical resection of gastric cancer alone (36 months v 27 months). Of equal importance is the finding of a significant reduction in the hazard ratio for relapse (1.52, 95% CI 1.23–1.86; p<0.001). Although not the first randomised controlled trial to document a survival benefit from postoperative adjuvant therapy,1 it is the first to demonstrate a substantial survival advantage due to reduction of locally recurrent disease from postoperative adjuvant orthodox chemoradiation (425 mg fluorouracil/m2 plus 20 mg leucovorin/m2 for five days, followed by 45 000 cGy of radiation over a five week period) and brings hope to a depressing cancer with an unfavourable prognosis unless diagnosed at the T1 stage. Thus this North American randomised controlled trial merits close scrutiny.

The trial has adequate power …


A rigid ellipsoidal inclusion is embedded at arbitrary orientation in a homogeneous, arbitrarily anisotropic, elastic matrix and is translated infinitesimally by an externally imposed force. We find directly the relation between the force and translation vectors, and the stress, strain and rotation concentrations over the ellipsoidal surface, without having to solve the equations of equilibrium in the matrix, or the fundamental ones of a point force. We refer particularly then to a spheroid aligned along the axis of symmetry of a transversely isotropic matrix, and subsequently to the full elastic field of a general ellipsoid in an isotropic matrix.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the serum level of carboxy-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (ICTP) and explore its correlation with MMP-2 and MMP-9 in patients with coronary artery disease (CHD).

METHODS
A total of 103 CHD patients treated in our hospital between October, 2013 and May, 2014 were enrolled, including 39 with stable angina pectoris (SAP), 39 with unstable angina (UA), and 25 with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), with 38 non-CHD volunteers as the control group. The serum levels of ICTP, MMP-2, and MMP-9 were detected in all the subjects using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

RESULTS
No significant difference in serum levels of MMP-2, MMP-9, or ICTP was found between the control and SAP groups or between UA and AMI groups (P>0.05), but the latter two groups had significantly higher serum levels of MMP-2, MMP-9, and ICTP than the former two groups (P<0.05). Serum ICTP level was found to negatively correlated with the fibrotic area and positively with the lipid component in the plaques (P<0.05). Regression analysis revealed significant positive correlations of serum ICTP with MMP-2 and MMP-9 (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION
An elevated serum ICTP level is indicative of the presence of unstable plaques in CHD patients. Serum ICTP is more strongly correlated with MMP-2 than with MMP-9, and can be used as a non-invasive marker for assessing vulnerable plaques in patients with acute coronary syndrome.


Renal vascular esponses to anglotensm II (Ang II) and noiepmephrme (NE) are reported to involve both mobdlzatlon of calcium from intracellular stores and activation of calcmm influx pathways The present study was conducted to determine the contribution of calcium release from mtracellular stores to afferent and efferent arteriolar responses to Ang II and NE Experiments were performed m vitro usmg the blood-perfused, JUXtamedullary nephron technique combmed with vldeomlcroscopy The responses of afferent and efferent arterioles to Ang II and NE were determined before and after depletion of mtracellulal calcium pools with 1 pmol/L thapsigargm Positive control responses were obtamed with 55 mmol/L KC1 Ang II concentrations of 0 1, 1 0, and 10 nmol/L decreased afferent artenolar chameter by 10+4%, 17?4%, and 29?6%, respectively (P< 0.5, n=8) NE also decreased afferent diameter by 5&l%, 132 I%, and 57?9% at concentrations of 10, 100, and 1000 nmol/L, respectively (P< 05, n=6) Thapstgargm treatment shifted the afferent arteriolar concentration-response curve? for both Ang II and NE slgmficantly to the right Nevertheless, KC1 evoked a A fferent and efferent arterioles respond m concert with hormonal and paracrme influences to efficiently regulate renal blood flow and glomerular filtration rate. 1 Elevation of cytosohc calcmm concentration represents an important component m the renal nucrovascular response to vasoconstrictor agonists 1-g Increasmg cytosolic calcium concentration in renal rmcrovascular smooth muscle can occur through activation of calcium influx pathways mvolvmg ion channel activation and/or through moblhzation of calcium release from mtracellular pools 2-g Studies have shown that Ang II stimulates segmentally datmct signal transduction pathways to elicit vasoconstnchon of afferent and efferent arterioles Afferent artenolar vasoconstnctlon relies largely on calcium influx through voltagegated calcium channels, and this response can be blocked by dlhydropyrldme calcium channel antagomsts.3-*s'" In contrast, Ang II vasoconstrlcts efferent arterioles through mechanisms independent of L-type calcmm channel activati0n.4*5S7V11 With the recent development of agents that selectively perturb the fillmg state of intracellular calcium pools, it 1s now possible to manipulate these pools and determine the mfluence of calcium store mtegrlty on microvascular From the Department of Physiology, Tulane Umverslty School of Medlcme, New Orleans, La Correspondence to Edward W Inscho, Departmknt of Physiology, Tulane Uruversity School of Medicme, 1430 Tulane Ave. New Orleans, LA 70112 E-mail emscho@madhost tcs tulane edu


Since the late 1970s, several long‐term ecological studies were conducted to better understand the biogeochemical functioning of Norway spruce stands in the Ardennes as these nutrient‐poor ecosystems were subject to high levels of acid deposition and exhibited symptoms of tree health decline. Between 1978 and 2009, acid deposition declined sharply, especially sulfur and to a lesser extent nitrogen deposition. The aim of this study was (i) to determine if the Norway spruce stands recovered after the reduction of acid deposition and (ii) to explain why such a recovery occurred or not. Therefore, we collected data from different projects carried out in the Ardennes to characterize the long‐term temporal trends in soil solution chemistry, foliar nutrition, and crown condition. In parallel, a model describing the nutrient cycling in forests (NuCM) was calibrated and used to check the consistency of the observed temporal trends and to explain them. The soil solution concentration of most of the elements decreased between 1978 and 2002, which was ascribed to a decrease in atmospheric deposition. For potassium, a decline in the exchangeable pool was also showed based on the simulation carried out with NuCM. As nitrogen (N) deposition remained at an elevated level, Norway spruce stands were progressively saturated in N and mineral nutrition became more and more unbalanced. Except the foliar N and Al concentration that remained constant and increased respectively, the foliar concentration of all other nutrients decreased between 1993 and 2009, which can be explained by the decrease in ion concentration in solution. These nutritional disorders weakened trees and were probably exacerbated during the 2003 summer drought, after which symptoms of vitality loss progressively appeared. In these N‐saturated ecosystems, the N cycle was disrupted by this health decline, which increased NO3− leaching reinforcing soil acidification and risk of aluminum (Al) toxicity.


While many autonomic and metabolic defects associated with genetic obesity in the Zucker rat are corrected by adrenalectomy (Adx), brain adrenoceptor function has not been examined in this context. Here, 3 weeks after Adx or sham surgery, brains of 11 weeks old lean (Fa/Fa) and obese (fa/fa) male Zucker rats were assayed for alpha 1-([3H]prazosin; [3H]PRZ) and alpha 2-adrenoceptor ([3H]paraminoclonidine; [3H]PAC) binding by autoradiography. By genotype, obese rats had 19-256% higher [3H]PRZ binding than lean rats in the amygdala (central [ACN], basolateral [ABL], basomedial [ABM] and medial [MAN] nuclei [n.]), hypothalamus (dorsomedial n. [DMN] and lateral [LH]) and somatosensory cortex. In the ABL and ACN, increased maximal binding (Bmax) in obese rats was associated with decreased affinity (increased Kd). Three weeks after surgery, sham-operated obese rats gained 27% more weight than lean rats but lean and obese Adx rats gained the same amount of weight. Adx reduced [3H]PRZ binding in both lean and obese rats by 37-70% in the amygdala (ABM, ACN, MAN) compared to sham-operated rats. But, Adx selectively reduced [3H]PRZ binding only in lean rats in the ABL, DMN, ventromedial hypothalamic n. (VMN) and ventroposteromedial thalamic n. In most areas, decreases in maximal binding (Bmax) associated with Adx were accompanied by decreases in Kd. Unlike [3H]PRZ binding, there was no consistent genotype difference in [3H]PAC binding although Adx was followed by increased binding in obese and decreased binding in lean rats in the ABL. In only the VMN, obese rats had a 21% higher alpha 2- to alpha 1-adrenoceptor ratio than lean rats.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


The effects of variations in the concentrations of L-cystine (Cys), L-methionine (Met), and L-glutamine (Glu) on the establishment of melanocyte cell lines obtained from a primary tumor and its metastasis in the same patient were studied. The special role of Glu was also studied in 4 lymph node metastases from other patients. Differentiation in vitro was dependent on the culture conditions, as assessed by morphologic and biochemical studies. Karyologic expression, doubling time, cloning efficiency, and tumorigenicity in nude BALB/c mice varied widely among the cell lines. Cys was an indispensable amino acid and Glu was not. Met and Glu were implicated in melanogenesis. From these observations arose the question of the accuracy of comparative results, concerning differentiation and tumorigenicity, that had been collected for cell lines obtained under different culture conditions.


This thesis consists of three essays: Essay Nr. 1 (Kolmogorov-Wiener Filters for Finite Time-Series) describes a framework to implement optimally linear filters in the context of finite time series. The filters under consideration have the property that they minimize the mean squared error compared to some ideal hypothetical filter. It is shown in examples that three commonly used filters, the bandpass filter, the Hodrick-Prescott filter and the digital Butterworth filter need to be adjusted when applied to finite samples of serially correlated or integrated data. An empirical example indicates that the proposed optimal filters improve the end-of-sample performance of standard filters when applied to U.S. GDP data. Essay Nr. 2 (Structural Time-Series Models with Common Trends and Common Cycles) models and estimates the Beveridge-Nelson decomposition of multivariate time series in an unobserved components framework. This is an alternative to standard approaches based on VAR and VECM models. The appeal of this method lies in its transparency and structural character. The basic model parsimoniously nests a large set of common trend and common cycle restrictions. It is found that if the cyclical component has a sufficiently rich serial correlation pattern, all covariance terms of the trend and cycle innovations are identified. Tests for common trends are based on a method developed by Nyblom and Harvey (2000), while hypotheses on common cycles are tested using likelihood ratio statistics with standard distributions. This testing framework is used to assess the implications of common trend-common cycle restrictions for the income-consumption relationship in U.S. data. The presence of a common cyclical component yields a rejection of the permanent income hypothesis, however evidence is found for the stylized fact that permanent shocks play a more important role for consumption than for income. Out-of-sample forecasts show that common trend and common cycle restrictions improve predictive accuracy. Essay Nr. 3 (Codependence in Cointegrated Autoregressive Models) investigates codependent cycles, i.e. transitory components that react to common stimuli in a similar, although not necessarily synchronous fashion. In a multivariate system, codepenii dence corresponds to an impulse response function that is collinear except for a small number of initial periods. This essay shows that the number of cofeature combinations that yield the scalar component models associated with codependence is severely limited by the dimension of a finite-order VAR system. The presence of cointegrating relationships imposes additional cross-equation restrictions and further limits the number of permissible cofeatures. For vector-error correction models the distribution of FIML based LR tests is therefore different than that of the limited information tests proposed by Vahid and Engle (1997). Monte-Carlo simulations indicate that LR tests yield an increase in power relative to the alternative GMM and canonical correlations tests, while maintaining good size properties. An empirical application investigates the presence of codependence among individual components of the U.S. economy.


Tourette's syndrome (TS) is a pediatric onset of neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by motor and vocal tics. First line medication is dopaminergic blocking agents. Yet, these drugs are not effective in all patients and sometimes the side effects are intolerance. Cannabis and its derivatives are to use as an adjuvant treatment. They are used to improve tics in TS patients who failed from the first line treatment. The aim of the present report was to describe the clinical course after using the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) medical cannabis extraction product as an adjuvant treatment in TS patient. Here, the researchers reported a case of a 26-year-old female patient who had TS. She had received sublingual medical cannabis product. The clinical course and disease severity were recorded before and during the administration of the medical cannabis extraction product using several standards severity score: The Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS), Tourette's Syndrome Severity Scale (TSSS), Turette's Disorder Scale (TODS), and quality of life using a standardized measure of health-related quality of life developed by the Euro Quality of life group (EQ-5D-5L). The researchers' observation showed that sublingual administration of medical cannabis extraction product [tetrahydrocannabinol (THC):cannabidiol (CBD) 1:1 and THC enriched] improved both motor and vocal tics without significant adverse effect that came out to be improving the patient's quality of life as a whole.

Keywords: Tourette's Syndrome (TS); The Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO); Medical cannabis extraction product; Cannabidiol; Tetrahydrocannabinol


This paper investigates the application of indepen- dent component analysis (ICA) on multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) wireless communication systems. We present first the ICA based blind equalization for MIMO OFDM systems, where the non- redundant linear precoding is employed to resolve the ambiguity in the ICA equalized signal and reduce peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) of OFDM signal. Then we discuss the application of ICA to the blind compensation for both frequency-dependent and frequency-independent inphase/quadrature (I/Q) imbalance in MIMO OFDM systems. Simulation results show that the ICA based equalization approach provides a much better performance than that of the subspace method with significant PAPR reduc- tion. In addition, the ICA based I/Q compensation approach outperforms not only previous methods, but also the case with perfect channel state information and no I/Q imbalance due to additional frequency diversity gains.


: Effect of adenosine, 2-chloroadenosine (P1-purinoceptor agonists) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP), adenosine-5'-tetraphosphate (P2-purinoceptor agonists) on body temperature was studied in mice. Adenosine (7.5-200 mg/kg) as well as 2-chloroadenosine (0.25-7.5 mg/kg) induced hypothermia in a dose-dependent manner. However, ATP or adenosine-5'-tetraphosphate did not show any effect on body temperature. Caffeine and theophylline, P1-purinoceptor antagonists, blocked the hypothermic response of adenosine and 2-chloroadenosine. Treatment with quinidine or phenoxybenzamine (non-specific P2-purinoceptor antagonists) did not modify the hypothermic response. Similarly, treatment with drugs which modify adrenergic (reserpine, propranolol, labetalol or haloperidol), serotonergic (cyproheptadine) or histaminergic functions failed to block adenosine or 2-chloroadenosine-induced hypothermia. These results demonstrated that P1-purinoceptors mediated the hypothermic response of these purines.


First episode psychosis represents a critical period for intervention to prevent future impairments and to initiate optimal interventions. Using an interpretive interactionist framework, a secondary analysis of interview transcripts was conducted based on the narratives of youth experiences of psychosis. Our goal was to better understand the factors involved in the decision to seek help (or not) from the mental health system. Findings suggest that help seeking is a social process involving a wide range of influences; two such influences are highlighted in this paper, an individual avoidant strategy of ignoring and hiding early symptoms, and the persuasive influence of significant others in the social network.


Centrifugation technique of thrombocytes through silicone oil permits rapid separation of cells from plasma with simultaneous measurement of plasma trapped between the cells in the pellet. This technique was used for determination of 5-HT uptake by turkey thrombocytes. The volume of trapped plasma proportional to the number of thrombocytes was measured using 125I-human serum albumin as a marker. The uptake of 14C-serotonin by thrombocytes was measured as the difference between total radioactivity and that of the trapped plasma. It was shown that turkey thrombocytes like mammalian platelets are able to take up great amounts of serotonin.


Mulberry ( Morus L.) is essential for sericulture industry as the primary source of food for silkworm Bombyx mori L. In India, long tradition of practising sericulture includes the use of a large number of indigenous cultivars. Since knowledge on genetic divergence of these cultivars/varieties is imperative for conservation and gainful utilization, simple sequence repeat (SSR) profiling was employed to assess genetic relatedness among 17 mulberry genotypes maintained in the Germplasm Bank of Temperate Sericulture Institute, SKUAST Kashmir, Mirgund. Six SSR primers were utilised which generates 17 alleles among the genotypes. The polymorphism information content (PIC) value varied from 0.260 (MulSTR3) to 0.623 (MulSTR4), with an average of 0.438 per locus. The highest similarity value of 0.92 was observed between Lemoncina and Kanva-2, as compared to the lowest similarity coefficient of 0.15 was between SKM-48 and Chinese white. Clustering of the genotypes was done with unweight pair group method using arithmetic average (UPGMA) which generates five clusters. Cluster-2 contained maximum (six) genotypes. Keywords: Clustering, genetic relatedness, mulberry, SSR African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(21), pp. 3181-3187


Since 2015, the Innovative Technology for Arctic Exploration (ITAE) program has supported maritime technology development that contributes to economic growth, ocean health, and ocean management in Alaska. The program does this in multiple ways: through public-private partnerships, platform and small-scale sensor design, and research to operations, commercialization, and application of science-driven technologies. ITAE is a high-risk, high-reward research collaborative that provides support and expertise for creative scientists pursuing highly innovative research solutions with the potential for broad impact in US Arctic marine sciences. This program is funded through NOAA to support projects that may be overlooked in the traditional peer-review process because of their inherent risk. However, not all risks lead to success, not every risk leads to failure, and not all failures eliminate success. Development and growth are nurtured by risk and temporary setbacks. The science advanced by these researchers and collaborators forges new paths of discovery. While the Arctic is an excellent testbed, in part, due to its extreme conditions, the technologies and lessons detailed here are transferable to oceanographic research outside of the Arctic. This paper reviews the program as well as the successes and failures of this dedicated Arctic innovation collaborative at the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory.


The article deals with the psychological challenges faced by the leaders of today's organizations. Social context is analyzed through the prism of the changes associated with the development of information technology. With the development of humanistic values human become more freedomin its manifestations. He can choose the behavior, focusing on the environmental situation. But where are uncertain decision-making criteria, there is a problem of choice. It is notes that the features of contemporary social situation are: virtualization, multiple identity and total immersion in the external social and communicative environment. The lack of universal wholes in the modern world leads to a lack of self-identity in humans. Everyday reality contributes to the ease of changing roles and associated identities. Uncertainty avoidance has become an important quality that allows to overcome the "dissociation", "fragmentation" of the social world. As a direction, allowing the leader to effectively adapt to the changes proposed to the development of such personality traits as constructive imagination, over-voluntary attention and controlled will. In a crisis, it is important to update the existing leaderand build a new, more reliable bridge between the past and the future. It is necessary to generate more meaningful, more strategic, more focused, more flexible, more rational and relevant life plans - programs to achieve and avoid. Peculiarities of manifestation of the "leadership vision" in the postcrisis period are presented: self-regulation, the integration of reason and intuition, readiness to choice for equiprobable conditions.


Abstract The lichenicolous fungi growing on Graphidales hosts in Florida are revised, mainly based on collections by the second author (R. C.). Twenty-one species are recognized. The new genus and species Lawreya glyphidiphila is described for a common asexual fungus growing on Glyphis scyphulifera and more rarely Trypethelium eluteriae, characterized by black stromatic conidiomata in which subspherical conidiogenous loculi develop, producing aseptate, subglobose, brown conidia. Nine additional new species are described: Amerosporiopsis phaeographidis (on Phaeographis brasiliensis), Arthonia acanthotheciicola (on Acanthothecis floridensis), A. subgraphidicola (on Graphis assimilis), Hemigrapha graphidicola (on G. assimilis), Skyttea graphidicola (on Graphis spp.), Strigula graphidicola (on G. assimilis), S. perparvula (on Graphidales), Talpapellis graphidis (on Graphis caesiella) and Tremella wedinii (on Glyphis scyphulifera). Phylogenetic placements of Lawreya glyphidiphila, Skyttea graphidicola and Tremella wedinii are presented. Identification keys are given for the species of Cornutispora and Talpapellis, and for the 66 species known to grow on Graphidales hosts worldwide.


Abstract:  Inflammation plays a role in all the phases of atherosclerosis, and increased production of the acute‐phase reactant, C‐reactive protein (CRP), predicts future cardiovascular events. Furthermore, CRP has been claimed to play a role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis; therefore, CRP polymorphisms might be associated with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We have analyzed male patients affected by AMI and healthy age‐related male controls from Sicily for +1059G/C CRP single‐nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). There was a significantly higher frequency of +1059C SNP (P= 0.0008; OR 3.86) in patients compared to controls. CRP serum levels were significantly higher in C+ healthy subjects rather than in C− subjects (P= 0.0075). The results of the present pilot case–control study performed in a homogeneous caucasoid population suggest that +1059C CRP gene SNP is associated with AMI. In any case, the results of the present study should add to the growing body of evidence on the role of pro‐inflammatory genotypes in unsuccessful aging, determining susceptibility to immune‐inflammatory diseases such as coronary heart disease.


Background: Every day, 30,000 to 40,000 ICU patients in the United States are suffering from acute brain dysfunction called delirium. This problem is getting larger every year due to the aging of our population. Delirium is a serious acute medical condition. It has been called a medical emergency. A delirium is a serious, high-frequency complication in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. (Incidence: 40–82%) being defined as a transient organic mental syndrome characterised by a disturbance in awareness, cognition and attention. The aim of this study was a review of the international bibliography in the subject of delirium in ICU. Method and Material: The method of this study included bibliography research from both the review and the research literature. The search was performed using the following key terms: ICU, psychosis, delirium, mortality Results: The nurses should be aware of all the procedures, which reduce the probabilities of the patients , making vulnerable to life delirium. The understanding of the status of the patient with delirium syndrome and the synthesis of all the available data may lead to a global approach and to a proper treatment. It is important for the nurses to learn the tools to stratify the severity of delirium. Conclusions: If tools to stratify the severity of delirium were available, nurses could be better able to "recognize patients who are at the highest risk for negative outcomes". This would enable prevention and early treatment of delirium, avoiding debilitating after-effects in patients and unnecessary strains on hospital resources. The findings of the research reveal that "should stimulate future research in the field of delirium prevention and treatment".


The inhibition effect of 70-30 iibrass using inorganic bismuth (III) Chloride (BiCl3) in 0.1MHCl at 30?C has been assessed byTafel plots, potentiostatic polarization and scanning electronmicroscopy (SEM). The addition of very low concentrations of BiCl3 decreased the cathodic current only which indicate that BiCl3 behaves as cathodic inhibitor. The decrease in the corrosion rate beside the high efficiency achievementwhich reached up to 97.3% was attributed to the deposition of Bi metal at zinc locations on the alloy surface. This deposited film is highly persistence as examined in an acid solution without inhibitor by potentiostatic polarizationmeasurements and consequently its suppress the selective leaching of zinc from the alloy surface.


This paper uses a unique database that provides value-added, employment, and population levels for the entire set of French departments for the years 1860, 1930, and 2000. These data cover three sectors: agriculture, manufacturing, and services. This allows us to study the evolution of spatial inequalities within France and to test the empirical relevance of economic geography predictions over the long run. The evidence confirms the existence of a bell-shaped evolution of the spatial concentration of manufacturing and services. In contrast, labor productivity has been converging across departments. Last, our study also confirms the presence of strong agglomeration economies during the full time-period. Market potential during the first sub-period (1860-1930), and higher education during the second (1930-2000), together with sectoral diversity, account for the spatial distribution of these gains.


Hyperhomocysteinemia, a risk factor for cardiovascular disorder, obesity, and type 2 diabetes, is prevalent among Indians who are at high risk of these metabolic disorders. We evaluated association of common variants of genes involved in homocysteine metabolism or its levels with type 2 diabetes, obesity, and related traits in North Indians. We genotyped 90 variants in initial phase (2.115 subjects) and replicated top signals in an independent sample set (2.085 subjects). The variant MTHFR-rs1801133 was the top signal for association with type 2 diabetes (OR = 0.78 (95%  CI = 0.67–0.92), P = 0.003) and was also associated with 2 h postload plasma glucose (P = 0.04), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P = 0.004), and total cholesterol (P = 0.01) in control subjects. These associations were neither replicated nor significant after meta-analysis. Studies involving a larger study population and different ethnic groups are required before ruling out the role of these important candidate genes in type 2 diabetes, obesity, and related traits.


Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that affects the brain, spinal cord, leptomeninges, and eyes. The clinical presentation and neuroimaging appearance of PCNSL differ in immunocompetent patients and in those with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). A magnetic resonance (MR) image of the brain in immunocompetent patients with PCNSL typically demonstrates one or more homogeneously enhancing lesions located in the periventricular white matter, characteristically spanning the corpus callosum. In patients with AIDS, multiple ring-enhancing lesions are more common. After neuroimages raising the suspicion of PCNSL are obtained, a definitive diagnosis should be established in both immunocompetent and AIDS patients by performing pathological analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), vitreous fluid, or a biopsy specimen. Brain biopsy sampling remains the gold standard for PCNSL diagnosis in all patients, although the possibility of establishing routine, minimally invasive diagnostic procedures in which Epstein-Barr virus polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of the CSF and nuclear imaging are used is currently under investigation in the population of patients with AIDS. At the time of diagnosis, the patient should undergo further evaluation, which should include a physical examination, ophthalmic evaluation with a slit-lamp examination, serum lactate dehydrogenase levels, human immunodeficiency virus testing, computed tomography scans of the chest/abdomen/pelvis, bone marrow biopsy sampling, contrast-enhanced brain MR imaging, and lumbar puncture (LP). Testicular ultrasonography studies should be considered in men. In patients who cannot undergo LP or in those with evidence of spinal cord dysfunction, contrast-enhanced MR imaging of the entire spine should be considered.


Pathogenicity of Pratylenchus thornei at various initial population densities (Pi) and its interaction with Meloidogyne incognita, in concomitant and sequential inoculations, were studied on Mentha arvensis cv. HY77 in a glasshouse pot experiment. Influence of all the Pi of P. thornei and M. incognita on the growth and oil yield of M. arvensis was inversely proportional and highly significant (P =0.01). The influence of M. incognita on plant growth was more severe (P =0.05) than P. thornei at equal Pi. In concomitant and sequential inoculations the greatest reduction in growth of M. arvensis was observed in M. incognita prior + P. thornei post followed by M. incognita+ P. thornei simultaneous, and P. thornei + M. incognita post, respectively. Final nematode population (Pf) of P. thornei and M. incognita increased with the increase of Pi and the reproduction factor (Rf) decreased with the increase of Pi. The influence of all Pi on Pf and Rf of both the nematodes was significant (P =0.05). M. incognita generally produced higher populations (P =0.05) than P. thornei at equal Pi. In concomitant and sequential inoculations of the two nematodes, their sum Pf was less than that of the 5000 P. thornei or M. incognita alone. Twenty days prior inoculations of both the nematodes resulted in higher Pf followed by simultaneous and post inoculations respectively. Root-galling index was significantly (P =0.01) higher (3.8) at 5000 J2 per pot followed by 2500 M. incognita alone (2.8), 2500 M. incognita prior (2), simultaneous (1.8) and post (1.3), respectively.