Objective. To assess whether abatacept as initial biological DMARD (bDMARD) in the treatment of RA, when compared with other bDMARDs, is associated with an increased risk of cancer overall and by specific cancer sites (breast, lung, lymphoma, melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer). Methods. We performed a population-based cohort study among patients newly treated with bDMARDs within the US-based Truven MarketScan population and Supplemental US Medicare from 2007 to 2014. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios and 95% CIs of any cancer (and specific cancers) associated with initiation of abatacept, compared with initiation of other bDMARDs, adjusted for age and deciles of the propensity score. Results. The cohort included 4328 patients on abatacept and 59 860 on other bDMARDs, of whom 409 and 4197 were diagnosed with any cancer during follow-up (incidence rates 4.76 per 100 per year and 3.41 per 100 per year, respectively). Compared with other bDMARDs, the use of abatacept was associated with an increased incidence of cancer overall (hazard ratioadjusted 1.17; 95% CI 1.06, 1.30). Analyses by specific cancer sites showed a significantly increased incidence of non-melanoma skin cancer (hazard ratioadjusted 1.20; 95% CI 1.03, 1.39), but no significant difference for other specific cancer sites. Conclusion. The use of abatacept as first bDMARD in the treatment of RA was associated with a slight increased risk of cancer overall and particularly non-melanoma skin cancer, compared with other bDMARDs. This potential signal needs to be replicated in other settings.


This article describes a case of a 21-year old man who presented with symptomatic heterotopic ossification of the patellar tendon 3.5 years postinjury. The patient sustained an open tibia fracture during a fall and was treated by reamed intramedullary nailing through a medial paratendinous approach. Radiographic evidence of heterotopic ossification in the patellar tendon was first noted at the 4-week follow-up. He presented at 3.5 years postinjury with new-onset anterior knee pain and reported no interval trauma to the knee. Radiographs revealed a well-circumscribed area of calcification within the patellar tendon, which was excised within 2 weeks. On excision, the patient's symptoms had resolved. This case is unique because the patellar tendon was not violated at initial or subsequent surgeries, and because of the delayed presentation of heterotopic bone within the patellar tendon. To date, there have been only 3 reported cases of heterotopic ossification of the patellar tendon after intramedullary nailing of the tibia. We present a case of late symptomatic heterotopic ossification of the patellar tendon after medial paratendinous intramedullary nailing of an open tibia shaft fracture.


Absorption of therapeutic peptides like glucagon-like peptide or insulin for diabetes therapy upon oral administration is highly restricted by the tight junction (TJ) proteins interconnecting the cells comprising the intestinal epithelium. An approach to improve transepithelial permeation of such biopharmaceuticals via the paracellular pathway is to use functional excipients, which transiently modulate the TJs. Here, we investigated the membrane-interacting peptide, penetramax, and the divalent cation chelator, ethylene glycol tetraacetic acid (EGTA) at different concentrations, to reveal and compare their cellular modes of action when increasing the transepithelial permeation of drug macromolecules. The epithelial integrity was studied in real time along with dextran permeation across differentiated epithelial Caco-2 cell monolayers. TJ protein expression and cytoskeleton organization were investigated during and after exposure to penetramax or EGTA. Based on orthogonal methods, we show that penetramax acts by a mechanism that immediately and transiently widens the paracellular space, resulting in size selective permeant passage and with subsequent reconstitution of the epithelium. At the same time, the expression and organization of different TJ proteins are modulated reversibly. In contrast, the effect of EGTA on modulating the paracellular space is slower and TJ protein unspecific, and without clear permeant size selectivity. Overall, these data provide in-depth insights for understanding intestinal barrier dynamics of importance when evaluating new or existing excipients for oral delivery of biopharmaceuticals, such as peptide therapeutics.


The mesoscale structures of a glacier express the history of flow, temperature, and stress. Thus, in principle, numerical ice dynamics models have sufficient physics to examine the formation and transport of these structures. In this study we use a vertically integrated thermomechanical ice dynamics model to simulate the temporally evolving patterns of surficial moraine, stratification, foliation, and folding of glacier ice, and the density and orientation of traces of former crevasses. The modeled glaciers are simplified versions of Trapridge Glacier in northwest Canada that allow diagnostic modeling of influences on glacier structure and help to clarify the physics and numerics. In the model, surges occur every 50 years in response to a prescribed cyclic change in bed friction. Medial moraine patterns are simulated by tracking the englacial and supraglacial trajectory of debris injected at fixed points in the accumulation region. Stratification is assumed to be associated with isochronal surfaces, and vertical foliation is explained in terms of horizontal flattening of strain ellipsoids. Crevasses form when and where the intensity of tensile stress exceeds a prescribed threshold; crack damage is cumulative so that crevasse traces observed at sampling sites are a superposition of the damage accumulated en route. Folding is parameterized but not resolved. By evaluating the deformation gradient tensor along ice particle trajectories and applying the polar decomposition to this tensor, we isolate the cumulative effects of rotation and stretching by ice flow and calculate strain ellipsoids as well as other practical indicators of deformation.


This study aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between waiters' occupational identity and its antecedents. The consequences of occupational identity on work engagement and employee turnover are explored.

The development of occupational identity includes progressing, transforming, conserving, emphasising or evaluating existing identities; consequently, instead of considering the formation of identity as a simple procedure of accepting a work position, occupational identity is an interactive and problematic procedure. Occupational identity is not a rigid construct but is constantly shaped by engagement with the values of companies and occupational life. Traditionally, research has concentrated on the merely operational aspect of workers' jobs. In contrast, this research aims to concentrate on waiters' sense of self and their identity in the workplace. Additionally, limited studies have focused on the relationship between occupational identity, its antecedents and consequences.

This study applies a mixed-methodology, with predominion of quantitative approach, which is reinforced by understandings from an exploratory process which includes in-depth interiews and focus groups discussions. The conceptual model was created from the existing literature and qualitative study. In the second phase, the same conceptual model was adopted to assess waiters' perceptions in the context of Michelin-starred restaurnats in London. A sample of 398 participants permitted multivariate analysis of data to be undertaken. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed, Cronbach-alpha and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were also performed to guarantee that the scales developed and adapted were strong in terms of reliability and validity. Structural equation modelling (SEM) allowed the hypotheses between constructs to be scrutinised. The model established a good fit to the data, good convergent, discriminant and nomological validity and reliability.

Founded on the statistical outcomes and the qualitative study (in-depth interviews and focus groups and the related literature), this study has found that, apart from employer branding, other antecedent factors, such as passion and authenticity, influence favourably the occupational identity of waiters. Additionally, the relationship between occupational identity and the consequences were assessed; the outcomes of the hypotheses checking established that occupational identity has a better effect on work engagement and turnover. Furthermore, the relationship between occupational identity, work engagement and turnover was confirmed. However, an unforeseen result was that the relationship between extroversion, education, interference and stereotype toward occupation identity were not significant. Overall, this thesis concludes that presenting occupational identity is a complex phenomenon.

This study is one of the pioneers in systematic research which has operationalised and conceptualised the meaning of occupational identity, its antecedents and its consequences. This evaluation is estimated to be valuable in progressing existing understanding by providing theoretic consideration to the literature. The level of measurement and conceptualisation of the theory generalisation and testing theory as a principal influence of this thesis was to present a comprehensive overview of the perspectives of waiters on their occupational identity. Additionally, it is expected that this research will provide a significant contribution to the managerial knowledge and consideration of the policy-makers and employers about the holistic correlation between a positive occupational identity, its antecedents and its principal consequences. A well-defined perception of the magnitudes of the principal meanings would assist employers to contemplate occupational identities which are more likely to develop a favourable occupational identity and consequently to reduce employee turnover.

This thesis has developed knowledge and understanding of the formation of occupational identity and its antecedents and consequences, although the outcomes are not without some limitations in the approach of sampling, analysis, and measurement. Recommendations are provided to stimulate further research to expand the innovative investigations of this study on occupational identity, its antecedents and consequences.


AIM AND OBJECTIVES
To study the effect of two Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) formulae in treating acute upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs), diagnosed by Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), compared to placebo.

DESIGN
Two randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trials nested in a study of 327 patients who were diagnosed with URTIs in Hong Kong. Subjects were classified into one of two TCM syndrome groups by a Chinese medicine practitioner and randomized to receive the corresponding CHM formulae or placebo up to maximum of 10 days. The proportions of patients who had resolution of illness on Days 4 and 7 were the primary outcomes. The duration of symptom resolution, health-related quality of life scores measured by the SF-36 and ChQOL, and adverse effects were secondary outcomes.

RESULTS
There was no statistically significant difference between the treatment and placebo in resolution rates at Day 4 or 7. The mean time of resolution of symptoms was Day 10, for either wind-cold or wind-heat syndrome. Both patients in treatment and placebo had significantly improved in health-related quality of life with time, but patients in wind-cold group had significantly more improvement in the SF-36 general health score (P = 0.01) than placebo.

CONCLUSIONS
Two CHM formulae commonly used for URTIs were not found to be more effective than placebo in either cure or reduction of symptoms of URTIs. However, Jing Fan Bai Du san might be able to improve general health more than placebo for patients with wind-cold syndrome. Both formulae were not associated with any more side effects.


As an important tool for information filtering in the era of socialized web, recommender systems have witnessed rapid development in the last decade. As benefited from the better interpretability, neighborhood-based collaborative filtering techniques, such as item-based collaborative filtering adopted by Amazon, have gained a great success in many practical recommender systems. However, the neighborhood-based collaborative filtering method suffers from the rating bound problem, i.e., the rating on a target item that this method estimates is bounded by the observed ratings of its all neighboring items. Therefore, it cannot accurately estimate the unobserved rating on a target item, if its ground truth rating is actually higher (lower) than the highest (lowest) rating over all items in its neighborhood. In this paper, we address this problem by formalizing rating estimation as a task of recovering a scalar rating function. With a linearity assumption, we infer all the ratings by optimizing the low-order norm, e.g., the $l_1/2$-norm, of the second derivative of the target scalar function, while remaining its observed ratings unchanged. Experimental results on three real datasets, namely Douban, Goodreads and MovieLens, demonstrate that the proposed approach can well overcome the rating bound problem. Particularly, it can significantly improve the accuracy of rating estimation by 37% than the conventional neighborhood-based methods.


We measured the force of free pulling water striders, using a hair attached to their backs and a 3D strain gauge force sensor. We showed the repeatability and accuracy of this method. The error of the method was estimated by comparing the projected angles of the force vector on each plane derived from the force data, with those angles derived from video recordings, and was estimated as 12.4%. Females on average were stronger (1.32 mN) than males (0.87 mN), however the ratio of force/weight was not significantly different. Compared with other lighter species, A. paludum seems to be stronger, but the force/weight ratio is actually lower as expected. A. paludum applies about 0.30–0.40 mN/cm with its mid-legs, thus avoiding penetrating the surface tension while propelling itself rapidly over the water.


IN THIS presentation we will attempt to demonstrate from the clinical and histopathologic standpoint an association between a number of eruptions having in common the element of lichenification. This group includes lichen simplex chronicus and its variants, prurigo nodularis, lichenificatio gigantea, and certain phases of the Sulzberger-Garbe syndrome. We intend, furthermore, to point out that these processes are frequently related to some emotional disturbance. In addition, we shall emphasize that the diagnosis of such psychogenically induced dermatoses often can be made by the clinician on the basis of positive dermatologic and histopathologic findings, rather than by resorting to the negative criterion of exclusion. Without going into a detailed psychiatric explanation, we shall elucidate some psychodynamic mechanisms that may give rise to these cutaneous changes. Emotions are part of the basic hereditary equipment for adaptation. They represent the sensory component of visceral responses (mediated by way of the autonomic and endocrine


This paper presents the MBSE challenges related to the conceptual design of mechatronic systems and especially the need to ensure geometrical knowledge consistency. To tackle this issue, we propose to define an ontology based on the TTRS (Technologically and Topologically Related Surfaces) geometrical modeling. We implement it in the Protege environment and validate it through the modeling process of an Electric Power Train, including many additional geometrical issues related to mechatronic system design, such as physical integration and the related compactness metric and the thermal modeling for multi-physical couplings. Geometrical knowledge consistency has been ensured through a model transformation between SysML and FreeCAD, using Python.


Electrochemical detection is a promising technique for bio-analytes sensing because of rapid analysis, good selectivity, reusability, thermal stability, linearity and relatively low cost. There have been consistent efforts to improve the performance of the electrochemical biosensors which include functionalization of the working electrode surface by polymer or nanomaterials. In this work, a cholesterol sensor is developed based on carbon nanotube electrode with electrochemical polymerized enzyme immobilization First, CNTs are selectively grown on 1 mm2 window of gold coated SiO2/Si substrate by thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) with water-assisted etching. CNTs are then simultaneously functionalized and enzyme immobilized by electrochemical polymerization of polyaniline and cholesterol enzymes. Scanning electron microscopic characterization reveals polymer-enzyme nanoparticle coating on CNT surface. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy is then used to confirm that the coated nanoparticles are polyaniline-cholesterol enzyme composite. The fabricated sensors have been characterized for cholesterol detection in the concentration range between 0 to 300 mg/dl by standard cyclic voltammogram measurement. CV curves show the oxidation and reduction peaks centered around 450 and -220 mV, respectively. In addition, the peaks become clearly pronounced and shifted toward lower voltage as the cholesterol concentration increases. An almost linear relationship between the cholesterol concentration and the response current could be observed in the concentration range of 100-300 mg/dl with good sensitivity. Thus, the fabricated bio probe is effective for cholesterol detection in normal range of cholesterol concentration in human blood.


Purpose: To describe the history and clinical presentation of a case of conjunctival lichen planus simulating ocular surface squamous neoplasia (OSSN). Methods: A 32-year-old Hispanic man presented with a 6-month history of worsening foreign body sensation, localized conjunctival hyperemia, and a progressively enlarging "bump" located in the temporal aspect of his right eye. The patient denied any prior ocular trauma or surgery to the affected eye. Evaluation consisted of slit lamp examination and surgical excision of the mass with histopathologic studies. Results: Slit lamp examination revealed the presence of a 6 × 5 × 1 mm elevated conjunctival fleshy mass that extended into the corneal limbus in the right eye. The lesion exhibited intrinsic pigmentation and vascularization as well as the presence of a dilated feeder vessel. Based on clinical findings, a diagnosis of OSSN was suspected. An excisional biopsy was performed with cryotherapy application to the surgical margins. Histopathologic study of the lesion revealed hyperkeratosis, parakeratosis, irregular acanthosis, and a band-like infiltrate of predominantly lymphocytes hugging the epithelium, consistent with the diagnosis of lichen planus. Conclusion: Ocular lichen can present as a focal conjunctival lesion. Excisional biopsy allowed us to make the diagnosis of this rare entity, which presented as a simulating lesion with clinical features consistent with ocular surface squamous neoplasia.


The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of liquid digestate (produced from anaerobic digestion of organic municipal solid waste) on the population dynamics of selected soil microbial groups during cultivation of maize plants. Maize seeds where subjected to various concentrations (between 0% to 72%) of the digestate with a total of ten (10) runs. One set of experimental runs were treated with one-time application of the corresponding digestate concentration (OTDA). Another set of experimental runs were treated with two-time application of the corresponding digestate concentration (TTDA). The first application of the digestate (for OTDA and TTDA) was conducted two weeks after sowing while the second application (for TTDA alone) was conducted three weeks after the first application. During the growth of maize plants, the populations of soil aerobic bacteria (AEB), strict anaerobic bacteria (SAB), ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB), nitrate reducing bacteria (NRB) and fungi (FUN) where monitored using standard cultural methods. In OTDA and TTDA treatments, the population of soil AEB, SAB, AOB, NRB and FUN ranged from 3.0 × 106 CFU/g to 50.2 × 106 CFU/g and 3.1 × 106 CFU/g to 78.6 × 106 CFU/g; 1.9 × 104 CFU/g to 7.2 × 105 CFU/g and 2.2 × 104 CFU/g to 2.53 × 105 CFU/g; 0MPN/g to 4.3 × 104 MPN/g and 0MPN/g to 3.9 × 105 MPN/g; 0 MPN/g to 4.4 × 105 MPN/g and 0 MPN/g to 1.4 × 105 MPN/g and 1.3 × 103 CFU/g to 2.6 × 104 CFU/g and 1.2 ×103 CFU/g to 9.4 × 103 CFU/g respectively before and 70 days after applying the digestate. Bacteria species isolated appear to belong to genera such as Arthrobacter, Azotobacter, Flavobacterium, Nocardia, Bacillus, Clostridium, Cellulomonas, Micrococcus and Pseudomonas. Fungi species isolated appear to belong to genera such as Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Fusarium, Geotrichum, Penicillium, Rhizopus and Trichoderma. Digestate application appears to have increased the population of soil microbes with time during the cultivation of maize plants.


Intraparenchymal
haemorrhage in a pineal germinoma is a very
rare, though clinically significant event. We report the first case of a
significantly delayed intraparenchymal haemorrhage in a pineal germinoma, 14
days after endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV), causing precipitous patient
deterioration. We discuss potential contributing pathophysiological factors,
and seek to illustrate that knowledge of its occurrence, and associated
morbidity, is clinically significant in managing pineal germinoma patients with
acute deterioration post obstructive hydrocephalus CSF diversion.


The biotin-Streptavidin (STREP) technique for attachment of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) (or other ligand types) on liposome surface offers high attachment yield, however it is time consuming and expensive due to the number of steps used and the consumption of large quantities of STREP. Herein, a simplified, fast and economic technique, by incubating pre-mixed biotin-mAb/STREP with biotin-liposomes, at a 3:1:1 biotin-mAb/STREP/biotin-LIP ratio (mol/mol/mol) was evaluated. The physichochemical properties, final mAb attachment yield and targeting potential of liposomes decorated with an anti-transferrin receptor mAb (TfR-mAb), prepared by the simple method (SM) and the conventional method (CM), were compared. The vesicle uptake by hCMEC/D3 cells (known to overexpress TfR) were considered as a measure of liposome targeting capability. Results show that both targeted liposome types (SM and CM) have small size (mean diameters around 150 nm), low poly-dispersity (approx. 0.20) and similar mAb attachment yield (between 64-88%). However, the uptake of the SM-liposomes is slightly lower compared to CM-LIP (24-30% decrease), suggesting that the modulated conformation of mAbs on the liposome surface (triplets attached to one single STREP molecule) results in decreased targeting capability. Nevertheless, the simpler and faster one-step preparation procedure which has very high lipid recovery (> 95%) compared to the CM (50-60%) and 15-30 times lower consumption of STREP, may be a good alternative for initial screening of various mAbs as ligands for targeted liposomal or other nanotechnologies, during pre-clinical development.


Most of the Netherlands a Quaternary delta, local supplies of natural stone suitable for building are rare. These include: Quaternary bog iron ores used in early medieval times (until c. 1200); erratics, deposited in boulder clay during the Saalian ice age in the northern Netherlands and gravel from the river Meuse; Miocene lithified siliceous sands, Nivelstein sandstone, used in 11th-12th century building and again in the early 20th century; and Maastrichtian deposits in the southern part of Limburg province. These provide the major supply of Dutch natural stone: A chalky limestone, mergel, used since Roman times, but in the 16th century also as far north as the central Netherlands. Maastrichtian cherts have been used very locally. Maastrichtian Kunrade limestone was also used locally and, to limited extent, outside the province of Limburg. Finally, Upper Carboniferous sandstones from the Geulle valley were used locally, mainly for farm houses. © 2006 Taylor & Francis Group.


This paper comes together with growing evidence for power law-type scaling of correlation with time, a concept rooted in the original study by Benoit Mandelbrot on concentration of risk. We complete the cointelation model recently introduced via a statistical test, which uses measured correlation in different time gaps. We also provide an approximation of the expectation in the change in measured correlation via these various time steps and use our findings in order to introduce the concept of inferred correlation and the term structure of correlation. We finally illustrate our findings through the example of the relation between oil and BP, and present a few potential applications in the financial industry.


Applying the basic principles of synthetic biology to plants shows progress The evolution of computers and electronics from bulky room-size devices to the sleek devices of today has relied on a well-honed strategy: Use parts whose behaviors are quantitatively defined and assemble complex systems from simpler modules. Synthetic biology aims to bring this approach to living organisms (1, 2), and it is already starting to happen in plants. A sensor and response system can be designed, sensor proteins programmed in a computer, encoded in a plant, and empowered with such properties as memory and amplification (3). Using genetic information and mathematical analysis allows one to design predictable and quantitative functions in plants, comparable to those of integrated electronic circuits. Just as integrated circuits can be reused in diverse electronic devices, from cell phones to aircraft, synthetic biology components should function predictably in different synthetic circuits and plants.


In the title salt, C14H17N2 +·Cl−, the central N atom is pyramidal (sum of bond angles = 330.9°) and there is a near orthogonal relationship between the benzene rings [dihedral angle = 89.95 (10)°]. The crystal packing features N—H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds, which lead to a supramolecular undulating ribbon along the a axis comprising edge-shared eight-membered {⋯HNH⋯Cl}2 synthons. The chains are connected into layers in the ab plane by C—H⋯π interactions.


Background Activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome by microbial and environmental stimuli enables the caspase -1-dependent processing and secretion of IL-1β. While the inflammasome has traditionally been thought to regulate infection and inflammation, impaired mitochondrial metabolism may mediate this process. Objectives In this study we examined the interplay between the inflammasome and mitochondrial function following TLR2 activation. Methods Mitochondrial mutagenesis was assessed by Random Mutation Capture Assay. Primary RASFC were stimulated with a TLR2 agonist, PAMCSK, in the presence of absence of N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC). IL-1β and IL-18 expression was examined by PCR. Nlrp3 expression was assessed by real-time PCR and Western blot. In parallel the effect of an TLR endogenous ligand, A-SAA, on RASFC function was examined in the presence of a specific neutralising anti-TLR2 mAb (1μg/ml) and matched IgG isotype control Ab (1μg/ml). RASFC proliferation, adhesion, chemokine expression, migration and invasion were assessed by proliferation assays, flow cytometry, Taqman PCR, ELISA, wound repair and transwell assays. Finally to establish whether A-SAA activates TLR2 Human embryonic kidney (HEK) -TLR2 or -TLR4 cells were cultured in the presence of A-SAA and NFκB luciferase activity was examined. Results PAM3CYSK4 and A-SAA significantly induced mitochondrial mutagenesis in RA synovial explants cultures (p<0.05). PAM3CYSK4 and A-SAA significantly induced NLRP3 mRNA and protein expression. TLR2-induced IL-6, IL-8, IL-1, IL-18 expression were significantly inhibited in presence of NAC and ROS inhibitor (all p<0.05). In parallel, A-SAA-induced RASFC proliferation, ICAM-1 expression, invasion and migration was significantly inhibited in the presence of anti-TLR2 (all p<0.05), suggesting its role as an endogenous TLR2 ligand. Finally we demonstrated that A-SAA induced TLR2 mediated NF-κB lucifearse activity (p<0.05), with no effect observed for NFκB in HEK-TLR4 cells. Conclusions This is the first study to demonstrate that mitochondrial dysfunction may be involved in regulation of downstream inflammasome activation. Furthermore we suggest that TLR2 induced pro-inflammatory effects in RA may in part be activated by endogenous secretion of A-SAA from the synovium at the site of inflammation. Disclosure of Interest : M. Connolly: None declared, M. Biniecka: None declared, J. McCormick: None declared, T. McGarry: None declared, D. Veale Grant/research support: AbbVie, Pfizer, MSD, Roche, Consultant for: Pfizer, Roche, Speakers bureau: Pfizer, Roche, MSD, Abbott, U. Fearon: None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.5351


Study of hemodialysis performance and recirculation ratios of subclavian catheter hemodialysis is reported. Data are compared to the results obtained when a conventional intrafistular single-lumen hemodialysis needle is used under similar conditions. Renal blood flow values were slightly but not significantly lower for subclavian hemodialysis. Small molecular extraction ratios were identical. Small molecular clearances were somewhat lower for the subclavian approach, especially at high dialyzer blood flow rates. However, the differences were not significant, and overall extraction ratios, calculated for the entire dialysis period with both access methods in 43 patients, were identical. Recirculation averaged 12.5% for the fistular approach and 20% for the subclavian approach. It is concluded that, as a whole, dialysis performance is somewhat lower with the subclavian vascular access method. This is mainly due to a higher recirculation rate, and in turn to the consequence of the length of the intravascular device. However, this minor differences do not necessitate changes in dialysis schedules.


This paper is on the decision of design magnitude for flood control of urban basin, based on flooding characteristic values. In Korea, a design magnitude for flood control is established based on peak discharge of the outlet of basin. However, this method is inappropriate in an urban basin because sewerage only can flow out as much as it could and other discharge overflow to basin. In order to calculate a design magnitude for flood control of an urban basin, flooding characteristic values (peak discharge of pipe, average flooded depth, maximum flooded depths of an important point, flooded area, flooded volume, flooded time) were used as a tool. Using the Gwanghwamun Square as an example, a methodology was proposed that used XP-SWMM 2010 model as a platform to predict urban flood disaster. It can help other local government and residents to better understand, prepare for and manage a flood in urban environments.


Expression of concern for 'A study on the luminescence properties of gamma-ray-irradiated white light emitting Ca2Al2SiO7:Dy3+ phosphors fabricated using a combustion-assisted method' by Geetanjali Tiwari et al., RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 49317–49327.


This paper is concerned with processes of self-organization which can take place both in the inanimate and animate world. In particular we study the question what physics can contribute to the understanding of these processes. Its traditional disciplines, namely thermodynamics and statistical mechanics which are concerned with the behavior of multi-component systems, require new ideas and concepts in order to cope with self-organizing systems. These concepts were elaborated in the new field of synergetics from the microscopic point of view. The present paper is mainly concerned with a macroscopic approach. In Section 1 we briefly remind the reader of various concepts of entropy and information and we give brief definitions of structure and self-organization. At present there seems to be no satisfactory definition of complexity available. Section 2 provides two examples of self-organizing systems, namely the laser and slime mold. In Section 3 we briefly remind the reader of the microscopic approach used in synergetics. As a new result it is shown that the information of the total system close to instability points is essentially contained in the information in the order parameters for which the specific example of a single order parameter is then treated explicitly. Finally we show how adequate constraints can be found to formulate the maximum information entropy principle for self-organizing systems. Our approach allows one to deduce the order parameters and dominant spatial patterns of a system which undergoes a non-equilibrium phase transition by means of an algorithm rather than by guessing.


Many statistical offices have been moving towards an increased use of administrative data sources for statistical pur- poses, both as a substitute and as a complement to survey data. Moreover, the emergence of big data constitutes a further increase in available sources. As a result, statistical output in official statistics is increasingly based on complex combinations of sources. The quality of such statistics depends on the quality of the primary sources and on the ways they are combined. This paper analyses the appropriateness of the current set of output quality measures for multiple source statistics, it explains the need for improvement and outlines directions for further work. The usual approach for measuring the quality of the statistical output is to assess quality through the measurement of the input and process quality. The paper argues that in multisource production environment this approach is not sufficient. It advocates measuring quality on the basis of the output itself - without analysing the details of the inputs and the production process - and proposes directions for further development.


The authors report their results of refractive surgery with Excimer Laser Panama (Technolas unit) on 711 eyes with refractive errors. An uncorrected visual acuity of 20/30 or better was obtained in 98.9% of myopic patients. In hypermetropic patients they obtained a visual acuity of 20/40 or better in 95.9%. In 94.7% of astigmatics an uncorrected visual acuity of 20/30 or better was achieved. The patients did not complain of disturbances common after other refractive procedures, such as bright radiant spots, blinding glare of fluctuating vision. Secondary effects were minimal and patient satisfaction was very high.


Background Well-differentiated/dedifferentiated liposarcoma (WDLPS/DDLPS) are characterized by a consistent amplification of the MDM2 gene. The PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway has been suggested to play also an important role in their tumorigenesis. Our goal was to determine whether combined MDM2 and PI3K/AKT/mTOR targeting is associated with higher anti-tumor activity than single agent alone in preclinical models of WDLPS/DDLPS. Methods WDLPS/DDLPS cells were exposed to RG7388 (MDM2 antagonist) and BEZ235 (PI3K/mTOR dual inhibitor) after which apoptosis and signaling/survival pathway perturbations were monitored by flow cytometry and Western blot analysis. Xenograft mouse models were used to assess tumor growth and animal survival. Western blotting, histopathology, and tumor volume evolution were used for the assessment of treatment efficacy. Results The PI3K/AKT/mTOR was upregulated in up to 81% of the human WDLPS/DDLPS samples analysed. Treatment with RG7388 and BEZ235 resulted in a greater tumor activity than either drug alone with a significant difference in terms of cell viability after 72h of treatment with RG-73888 alone, BEZ235 alone and a combination of both agents. Consistent with these observations, we found a significant increase in apoptosis with the combination versus the single agent treatment alone. We then analysed the in vivo antitumor activity of RG7388 and BEZ235 in a xenograft model of DDLPS. The combination regimen significantly reduced tumor growth rate in comparison with single agent alone. Conclusions Our results represent the first in vivo evidence of synergy between MDM2 and PI3K/AKT/mTOR antagonists and represent a strong rationale to evaluate the therapeutic potential of such a combination in WDLPS/DDLPS.


While most breast cancers are sporadic, 5-10% are hereditary and attributable to the presence of a mutation in the breast cancer associated gene 1 (BRCA1). The BRCA1 gene encodes a tumour suppressor with several well described roles in maintaining genomic integrity, such as cell cycle checkpoint control and DNA repair. BRCA1 is also known to play a role in the differentiation of breast epithelial cells. Given the high risk of cancer development associated with BRCA1 mutation carriers, it is important that they be identified early and accurately. Previous work in our lab developed a novel functional assay to predict BRCA1 status based on gene expression profiles. That study analyzed EBV-transformed lymphocyte cell lines (LCLs) of BRCA1 mutation carriers (BRCA1 +/− ) and controls (BRCA1 +/+ ) and found that lymphocytes from BRCA1 carriers could be distinguished with high fidelity (∼90% accuracy) from individuals with two wild type copies of the gene. Interestingly, it was found that many of the genes used to distinguish BRCA1 mutation carriers were also markers of differentiation in blood cells. We are now using this information to develop a flow cytometric protein-based biomarker assay. To do this, our transcriptome microarray data was analyzed to identify genes with strong edictability of BRCA1 status, including genes with known roles in lymphocyte differentiation such as TBX21 and CXCR3. These genes were then used to model the assay in-silico using a training set of data comprised of 53 LCLs. The model was designed by selecting genes both up- and down-regulated in BRCA1 carriers, placing them in pairs and looking at the ratio of their expression values. This model was subsequently validated using a test data set comprising 16 LCLs. Overall accuracy of the model was 94%, correctly predicting 54/59 LCLs. Based on in-silico modelling, we chose six antibodies to develop the assay. To identify other candidate proteins, LCL lysates were analyzed by mass spectrometry (MS). The results identified several other candidate proteins for assay development including IgG1, IgD, BCR and MX1. Interestingly, as was the case in our transcriptome analysis, these MS identified proteins also suggested that BRCA1 mutation carriers displayed defects in cellular differentiation. This was indicated by the higher expression of surface markers in responding to less differentiated B-lymphocytes in comparison with controls. Ultimately, the assay will be applied to fresh patient blood samples with the expectation that it will become an assay that can be implemented in a clinical setting to provide accurate identification of BRCA1 mutation carriers and aid in disease management. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 693. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-693


The reliability of NiPtSi/p-poly Si electrical fuses with different programming mechanisms, i.e., electromigration and thermal rupture, was investigated in terms of fuse resistance stability and fuse array functionality for the 65-nm technology node. The resistance of the fuses programmed within the electromigration programming window was found to be very stable; resistance shift was only observed on fuses programmed in the underprogrammed mode, which results in incomplete electromigration. For fuses programmed with the thermal rupture mechanism, both resistance shift and functional sensing fails were observed. Furthermore, a guard band was defined for fuses programmed with an electromigration mechanism to ensure sufficient margins for fuse reliability. However, a guard band cannot be defined for fuses programmed with a rupture mode due to the unpredictable nature of the rupture programming mechanism. The unprogrammed fuse elements were shown to be stable through extensive reliability evaluations.


To test the hypothesis that tRNATyr recognition differs between bacterial and human tyrosyl-tRNA synthetases, we sequenced several clones identified as human tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase cDNAs by the Human Genome Project. We found that human tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase is composed of three domains: 1) an amino-terminal Rossmann fold domain that is responsible for formation of the activated E·Tyr-AMP intermediate and is conserved among bacteria, archeae, and eukaryotes; 2) a tRNA anticodon recognition domain that has not been conserved between bacteria and eukaryotes; and 3) a carboxyl-terminal domain that is unique to the human tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase and whose primary structure is 49% identical to the putative human cytokine endothelial monocyte-activating protein II, 50% identical to the carboxyl-terminal domain of methionyl-tRNA synthetase from Caenorhabditis elegans, and 43% identical to the carboxyl-terminal domain of Arc1p from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The first two domains of the human tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase are 52, 36, and 16% identical to tyrosyl-tRNA synthetases from S. cerevisiae,Methanococcus jannaschii, and Bacillus stearothermophilus, respectively. Nine of fifteen amino acids known to be involved in the formation of the tyrosyl-adenylate complex in B. stearothermophilus are conserved across all of the organisms, whereas amino acids involved in the recognition of tRNATyr are not conserved. Kinetic analyses of recombinant human and B. stearothermophilus tyrosyl-tRNA synthetases expressed in Escherichia coli indicate that human tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase aminoacylates human but not B. stearothermophilus tRNATyr, and vice versa, supporting the original hypothesis. It is proposed that like endothelial monocyte-activating protein II and the carboxyl-terminal domain of Arc1p, the carboxyl-terminal domain of human tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase evolved from gene duplication of the carboxyl-terminal domain of methionyl-tRNA synthetase and may direct tRNA to the active site of the enzyme.


The problem of homogeneous isotropic turbulence (HIT) is revisited within the analytical framework of the Navier–Stokes equations, with a view to assessing rigorously the consequences of the scale invariance (an exact property of the Navier–Stokes equations) for any Reynolds number. The analytical development, which is independent of the 1941 (K41) and 1962 (K62) theories of Kolmogorov for HIT for infinitely large Reynolds number, is applied to the transport equations for the second- and third-order moments of the longitudinal velocity increment, $(\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}u)$ . Once the normalised equations and the constraints required for complying with the scale-invariance property of the equations are presented, results derived from these equations and constraints are discussed and compared with measurements. It is found that the fluid viscosity, $\unicode[STIX]{x1D708}$ , and the mean kinetic energy dissipation rate, $\overline{\unicode[STIX]{x1D716}}$ (the overbar denotes spatial and/or temporal averaging), are the only scaling parameters that make the equations scale-invariant. The analysis further leads to expressions for the distributions of the skewness and the flatness factor of $(\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}u)$ and shows that these distributions must exhibit plateaus (of different magnitudes) in the dissipative and inertial ranges, as the Taylor microscale Reynolds number $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}}$ increases indefinitely. Also, the skewness and flatness factor of the longitudinal velocity derivative become constant as $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}}$ increases; this is supported by experimental data. Further, the analysis, backed up by experimental evidence, shows that, beyond the dissipative range, the behaviour of $\overline{(\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}u)^{n}}$ with $n=2$ , 3 and 4 cannot be represented by a power law of the form $r^{\unicode[STIX]{x1D701}_{n}}$ when the Reynolds number is finite. It is shown that only when $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}}\rightarrow \infty$ can an $n$ -thirds law (i.e. $\overline{(\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}u)^{n}}\sim r^{\unicode[STIX]{x1D701}_{n}}$ , with $\unicode[STIX]{x1D701}_{n}=n/3$ ) emerge, which is consistent with the onset of a scaling range.


The Hepatitis C virus is a positive-stranded RNA virus which is the causal agent for a chronic liver infection afflicting more than 170,000,000 people world-wide. The HCV genome is approximately 9.6 kb in length and the proteome encoded is a polyprotein of a little more than 3000 amino acid residues. This polyprotein is processed by a combination of host and viral proteases into structural and non-structural proteins. The functions of most of these proteins have been established by analogy to other viruses and by sequence homology to known proteins, as well as subsequent biochemical analysis. Two of the non-structural proteins, NS4b and NS5a, are still of unknown function. The development of antivirals for this infectious agent has been hampered by the lack of robust and economical cell culture and animal infection systems. Recent progress in the molecular virology of HCV has come about due to the definition of molecular clones, which are infectious in the chimpanzee, the development of a subgenomic replicon system in Huh7 cells, and the description of a transgenic mouse model for HCV infection. Recent progress in the structural biology of the virus has led to the determination of high resolution three-dimensional structures of a number of the key virally encoded enzymes, including the NS3 protease, NS3 helicase, and NS5b RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. In some cases these structures have been determined in complex with substrates, co-factors (NS4a), and inhibitors. Finally, a variety of techniques have been used to define host factors, which may be required for HCV replication, although this work is just beginning.


Agranulocytosis is one of the most serious side effects to drugs. From January 1991 to June 1996 were diagnosed 19 cases of agranulocytosis associated with drugs at our hospital (incidence rate: 9.4 over million hab. per year). The average age was 62 and 11 cases were women. The drugs most commonly involved were metamizol and ticlopidine. In 15 of the patients fever blew up and 16 presented some infectious location. In 9 of the cases some positive microbiological culture was obtained, gram-negative bacilli being the commonest. G-CSF was used in 13 of the patients, observing a quicker haematological recovery (5.7 days vs 9.1, p = 0.07), though without any difference in mortality, which was of 0%. All this leads to the following conclusions: a high incidence of agranulocytosis in our environment and the important role of metamizol and ticlopidine in its origin.


In order to fully study the electrical, mechanical and aerodynamic aspects of a wind turbine with a doubly-fed induction machine (DFIM), a detailed model that considers all these aspects must be used. In general, however, detailed electrical models are combined with very simple mechanical and aerodynamic models or vice versa, so that the effects of interactions between all three aspects are neglected. In the paper, three simulation programs - TurbSim, FAST, and Simulink - are used to model the wind, mechanical and electrical parts of a wind turbine and its controllers in detail. Simulation results obtained from the model are used to observe the interaction of all three aspects of a wind turbine system


Peptidylprolyl isomerases have been implicated in chromatin regulation through their association with histones, chromatin-modifying enzymes and DNA-binding transcription factors. As with other post-translational modifications to proteins, a mechanistic understanding of the regulation of biological processes is fostered by loss-of-function studies both in vitro and in vivo. For peptidylprolyl isomerases, this can be accomplished with small-molecule inhibitors with high affinity for the isomerase active site or by mutation of amino acid residues that contribute to catalysis. In the present article, we review caveats to each of these approaches, and place emphasis on the thorough characterization of loss-of-function mutations in FKBPs (FK506-binding proteins). Using a case study of mutagenesis of the nuclear FKBP25 peptidylprolyl isomerase enzyme, we demonstrate that certain mutations generate a loss-of-function phenotype because they induce a complete loss of the FKBP domain fold, whereas other mutations are 'surgical' in that they ablate catalytic isomerase activity, while maintaining domain structure. Peptidylprolyl isomerases are thought to have both catalytic and non-catalytic functions, but differentiating between these mechanisms has proved to be challenging. The domain-destabilizing and surgical mutants described will facilitate the characterization of these two reported functions of peptidylprolyl isomerases.


Sapium sebiferum contains a variety of organic acids, flavonoids and phenolic substances, which were linked with the functions of poisoning Oncomelania. Sapium sebiferum is a good plant material of inhibiting Oncomelania. This paper reviews the variety, resources and active ingredients of Sapium sebiferum, and the researches of Sapium sebiferum inhibiting Oncomelania, and forecasts the development of Sapium sebiferum as an inhibiting Oncomelania forest in order to provide the evidence for its penetrating research and development.


AIMS
Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF) are important tools in clinical decision-making. We hypothesized that two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE), three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE), radionucleotide ventriculography (RNV), cardiac computed tomography (CT), gated single-photon emission CT (SPECT), and invasive cardiac cine ventriculography (ICV) provide variable accuracy for LVEF and RVEF when using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a gold standard.

METHODS AND RESULTS
We systematically searched published databases for studies comparing LVEF and RVEF measured by CT, 3DE, 2DE, RNV, ICV, and SPECT compared with MRI. We utilized meta-analytic methods to determine the pooled bias (mean weighted difference), limits of agreement (LOA), and correlation coefficient for each modality. For LVEF, 174 studies (7047 patients) were included. For RVEF, 46 studies (1720 patients) were included. Pooled LOA for LVEF were different between modalities: CT and 3DE had smaller LOA than 2DE, SPECT, ICV, and RNV. 2DE showed the largest LOA and a weaker correlation for LVEF (-13.3 to 12.1%, r = 0.660). For RVEF, CT and 3DE have the best data to support their use with a bias <5% and tight LOA and correlation coefficients with (r) >0.75.

CONCLUSION
For LVEF, CT and 3DE had the lowest bias and the best agreement with MRI. Compared with MRI, CT and 3DE comparably estimate RVEF and have the most evidence to support their use.


The optimum time and space distribution of upper-air observations is considered in connection with the detection and prediction of instability lines-a mesoscale phenomenon. It is shown that the optimum spacing of observational stations is not only a function of the scale of the phenomena to be detected but of observational and analytical errors as well. When these errors are considered the optimum network spacing can be determined with regard to the dimensions of the atmospheric feature requiring detection. Because actual data are lacking, inferences concerning the maximum time and space distribution of upper-air sounding stations suitable for the detection of instability lines ..


The German Army is using the Sikorsky helicopter Typ CH-53 G in the marine version, this means that the tail with the rear rotor can be folded sidewise in order to safe space during storage. During flight the fuselage is locked by two gear racks that slide in the bore hole of an aluminium housing. Due to the high friction during the movement of the steel racks the inner bore surface is damaged of up to 1 mm depth. In this paper the repair of this inner surface of the bore by arc-wire spraying is described. A special gun extension was developed so that the narrow bore (diameter 48 mm; length 400 mm) can be repaired. Preliminary test results with various materials are presented. Paper text in German.


Evolution in finite populations is often modelled using the classical Moran process. Over the last ten years this methodology has been extended to structured populations using evolutionary graph theory. An important question in any such population, is whether a rare mutant has a higher or lower chance of fixating (the fixation probability) than the Moran probability, i.e. that from the original Moran model, which represents an unstructured population. As evolutionary graph theory has developed, different ways of considering the interactions between individuals through a graph and an associated matrix of weights have been considered, as have a number of important dynamics. In this paper we revisit the original paper on evolutionary graph theory in light of these extensions to consider these developments in an integrated way. In particular we find general criteria for when an evolutionary graph with general weights satisfies the Moran probability for the set of six common evolutionary dynamics.


This paper describes our system for monolingual sense alignment across dictionaries. The task of monolingual word sense alignment is presented as a task of predicting the relationship between two senses. We will present two solutions, one based on supervised machine learning, and the other based on pre-trained neural network language model, specifically BERT. Our models perform competitively for binary classification, reporting high scores for almost all languages. This paper presents our submission for the shared task on monolingual word sense alignment across dictionaries as part of the GLOBALEX 2020 – Linked Lexicography workshop at the 12th Language Resources and Evaluation Conference (LREC). Monolingual word sense alignment (MWSA) is the task of aligning word senses across re- sources in the same language. Lexical-semantic resources (LSR) such as dictionaries form valuable foundation of numerous natural language process- ing (NLP) tasks. Since they are created manually by ex- perts, dictionaries can be considered among the resources of highest quality and importance. However, the existing LSRs in machine readable form are small in scope or miss- ing altogether. Thus, it would be extremely beneficial if the existing lexical resources could be connected and ex- panded. Lexical resources display considerable variation in the number of word senses that lexicographers assign to a given entry in a dictionary. This is because the identification and differentiation of word senses is one of the harder tasks that lexicographers face. Hence, the task of combining dictio- naries from different sources is difficult, especially for the case of mapping the senses of entries, which often differ significantly in granularity and coverage. (Ahmadi et al., 2020) There are three different angles from which the problem of word sense alignment can be addressed: approaches based on the similarity of textual descriptions of word senses, ap- proaches based on structural properties of lexical-semantic resources, and a combination of both. (Matuschek, 2014) In this paper we focus on the similarity of textual de- scriptions. This is a common approach as the majority of previous work used some notion of similarity between senses, mostly gloss overlap or semantic relatedness based on glosses. This makes sense, as glosses are a prerequisite for humans to recognize the meaning of an encoded sense, and thus also an intuitive way of judging the similarity of senses. (Matuschek, 2014) The paper is structured as follows: we provide a brief overview of related work in Section 2, and a description of the corpus in Section 3. In Section 4 we explain all impor- tant aspects of our model implementation, while the results are presented in Section 5. Finally, we end the paper with the discussion in Section 6 and conclusion in Section 7.


The purpose of this article was to develop and evaluate evidence for reliability and validity of a multifactor measure of evasive attitudes of sexual orientation across two studies. The Evasive Attitudes of Sexual Orientation Scale (EASOS) was inspired by Neville, Lilly, Duran, Lee, and Browne's (2000) Colorblind Racial Attitudes Scale and existing literature on contemporary homonegativism. In Study 1, data from 221 heterosexual participants were included in an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and resulted in a 3-factor solution: Institutional Heterosexism, Aversive Heterosexism, and Heterosexual Privilege, with 1 global factor of Evasive Attitudes of Sexual Orientation. Correlational analyses with the present sample revealed evidence of convergent validity and a lack of response bias. The sample for Study 2 included 270 heterosexual participants. EFA results from Study 2 confirmed the factor structure found in Study 1. Hierarchical regression was used to assess incremental validity of scores in the newly developed measure. Results indicated that the EASOS explained participants' degree of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender persons (LGBT) allyship better than measures of homonegativity and modern heterosexism could alone. The present findings offer initial evidence for the use of the EASOS and may be valuable for future research on contemporary homonegativism.


. The article presents an analysis on the modern aspects of diagnosis and surgical treatment of cavernous malformations of the brain. The modern approaches to surgical treatment depending on the type of clinical course of cavernous angiomas you can see in this paper.


Little is known about the cytogenetic features and molecular mechanisms behind hairy cell leukaemia (HCL), despite the advances in diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, we used high‐resolution genome‐wide array‐based comparative genomic hybridisation (array‐CGH) and multiplex ligation‐dependent probe amplification (MLPA) to characterise copy number alterations (CNAs) in DNA from 13 cases of HCL. We also summarise CNAs and cytogenetic features in 109 HCL cases comprising our 13 cases and 96 cases from the literature. Genomic array‐CGH revealed imbalances in two out of 13 cases in addition to previously described copy number variants (CNVs) found in healthy individuals. In one case, a 700 kb deletion of 20q11.22 was detected encompassing ten characterised genes, among them the TP53INP2, DNCL2A and ITCH genes. In the second case, trisomy 5, and a deletion of 5p15.2 encompassing a non‐characterised gene AY328033 was found. Altogether only 20/81 (25%) of all cases studied by CGH or gene dose array revealed CNAs. The most common recurrent deletions and breakpoints were 14q22–32 (33%), 6q25 (16%), 2p12 (10%), 22q11 (10%), 17p11–13 (10%), 7q32–36 (9%), 18q11–13 (7%), 1q32–44 (6%), 8p22–23 (6%) and 7q11 (6%). Trisomy 5 occurred in 15%. In addition, several other recurrent breakpoints were identified. Although a number of genomic imbalances were identified in the HCL samples, the genome appeared remarkably stable.


Literature data are analyzed on the possibility of designing vaccines Proteus agents for obtaining specific blood agents. Perspective are designs directed to investigation of the raw material base for obtaining allogenous anti-Proteus blood agents.


ABSTRACT This paper aims to chart the diachronic progression of the English retranslations of Xi You Ji (The Journey to the West) and the intercultural trajectories of this ancient Chinese fictional canon. Empirically informed by WorldCat, the world's largest library catalogue, this study shows that retranslation progressively enables a national literature from a third world to exert a global influence. The century-long retranslation of The Journey to the West has undergone four cohesive phases from religious hybridism, secularisation, religious restoration to multimedia adaptation, registering an enormous proliferation since the twenty-first century. In addition, inter-semiotic translation, in the form of children's books, films, and television products, contributes strikingly to the literary impact of the source text. Reformulation and reinterpretation are also important themes in the process of retranslation, and they can be regarded as an intricate result of the relevant ideology, poetics, patronage and other socio-cultural factors.


Within an extended Su—Schrieffer—Heeger model including impurity interactions, the dynamical process of exciton dissociation in the presence of an external electric field is investigated by using a non-adiabatic evolution method. Under the action of impurities, the stability as well as the effective mass of the exciton is reduced. Our results show that the field required to dissociate the excitons depends sensitively on the strength of the impurity potential. As the impurity potential strength increases, the dissociation field decreases effectively. The theoretical results are expected to provide useful predictions concerning which polymers with properly impurity-assisted interactions are likely to be more suitable for use in organic solar cells.


Quantum tunneling of a black hole into a white hole provides a model for the full life cycle of a black hole. The white hole acts as a long-lived remnant, providing a possible resolution to the information paradox. The remnant solution of the paradox has long been viewed with suspicion, mostly because remnants seemed to be such exotic objects. We point out that (i) established physics includes objects with precisely the required properties for remnants: white holes with small masses but large finite interiors; (ii) non-perturbative quantum gravity indicates that a black hole tunnels precisely into such a white hole, at the end of its evaporation. We address the objections to the existence of white-hole remnants, discuss their stability, and show how the notions of entropy relevant in this context allow them to evade several no-go arguments. A black hole's formation, evaporation, tunneling to a white hole, and final slow decay, form a unitary process that does not violate any known physics.


It has been hypothesized that different life-cycle stages of filarial nematodes induce different host responses. This concept was examined in the Brugia pahangi-jird model of lymphatic filariasis by measuring the kinetics of inflammatory responses to parasite antigens following intraperitoneal inoculation of different life-cycle stages. For this purpose, viable female or male worms, L3, L4, or microfilarial stage, were used. Dead worms served as controls. Worm and microfilarial burdens, pulmonary granulomatous inflammation (PGRN) to soluble adult worm antigen (SAWA)-coated beads, and peritoneal eosinophil and macrophage numbers were assessed at different days post-inoculation. All jirds inoculated with any of these life-cycle stages developed an early PGRN to SAWA which was later significantly reduced. Only viable worms induced down-regulation of the PGRN response. These results indicate that the hyporesponsive state is induced and maintained by all life-cycle stages. Also, the degree of granulomatous response was influenced by worm burden, with larger worm burdens inducing lower initial levels of PGRN to SAWA. Peritoneal inflammatory responses differed from the systemic response in that numbers of macrophages increased with time and microfilarial accumulation. No correlation was observed between peritoneal inflammatory responses measured by eosinophil and macrophage numbers and PGRN to SAWA.


Mental health challenges, substance use disorders, and HIV/AIDS disproportionately affect Black people in correctional settings. Culturally responsive practice and equitable policy is predicated upon research that explores the burden, prevalence, and mortality of these public health concerns on the health and social well-being of African Americans in the correctional setting. This paper has three sections: (1) mental health; (2) substance abuse; and (3) HIV/AIDS. Each section summarizes current treatment issues unique to correctional settings, and provides recommendations for enhancing programs and policy to meet the needs of Black people who have been arrested, detained, incarcerated, paroled, or released. Further, we make recommendations for how interdisciplinary researchers and health care/treatment providers can engage in science-guided advocacy to address these issues and reduce related disparities experienced by people of African ancestry.


In this paper, we propose two novel augmentation methods 1) audio-language MixGen (AL-MixGen) and 2) multi-level test-time augmentation (Multi-TTA) for audio-language learning. Inspired by MixGen, which is originally applied to vision-language learning, we introduce an augmentation method for the audio-language domain. We also explore the impact of test-time augmentations and present Multi-TTA which generalizes test-time augmentation over multiple layers of a deep learning model. Incorporating AL-MixGen and Multi-TTA into the baseline achieves 47.5 SPIDEr on audio captioning, which is an +18.2% over the baseline and outperforms the state-of-the-art approach with a 5x smaller model. In audio-text retrieval, the proposed methods surpass the baseline performance as well.


In the linear induction motor, the original equations of the secondary equivalent circuit quantities derived from the two-dimensional electromagnetic analysis was expressed in combination with hyperbolic function and trigonomet ric function of complex number. In this paper, it has been successfully investigated to deduce the equations for calculation of the secondary resistance and the secondary leakage reactance referred to the primary. These equations are approximated by the Maclaurin's expansion and are expressed by polynomial approximation. This paper also shows the variation of those equivalent circuit parameters with slip and the change of the operating characteristics with various thickness of the secondary conducting plates.


The automotive industry changes rapidly. New players, concepts, and technologies from the Information Technology (IT) domain enter the market and software receives a high priority. Inside the vehicle, the number of components, which consist mostly of software, are increasing and more and more software-based functions are offered. In addition, High Performance Computers (HPCs) are continuing to be integrated into vehicles. These aspects lead to several challenges with current vehicle diagnostics, but also enable new opportunities in that field. However, in the specific area of vehicle diagnostics, there exists only very limited literature that considers current challenges and new possibilities for future vehicle diagnostics. Some literature deals with the general automotive system design or shows results from about five years ago. The viewpoints of an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) are not included there. This paper presents results from an expert survey in order to identify what challenges and new opportunities are currently affecting vehicle diagnostics in the year 2022. The survey was conducted within the publicly-funded project Software-Defined Car (SofDCar), which is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. The survey shows the ongoing state of the vehicle diagnostics in the industry as well as needs and ideas from the perspective of diagnostics experts. In addition, the survey results are compared with respective statements from the academic, scientific area to decrease the gap between the industry and research communities. Therefore, aspects for possible future work in the field of vehicle diagnostics can be identified. Based on that, goals beyond the survey are to think about how a concept for HPC diagnostics could look like and how it might influences an approach for future vehicle diagnostics.


A Review of:
Svab, K. & Žumer, M. (2015). The value of a library catalog for selecting children's picture books. Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, 53(7), 717-737. doi: 10.1080/01639374.2015.1044059

Objective – To determine how parents select picture books for their children, and which bibliographic data are important when selecting a specific version of a title with multiple interpretations.

Design – Qualitative, with interviews and task-based controlled observational studies.

Setting – A public library in Slovenia.

Subjects – 36 parents of children between one and 6 years of age.

Methods – The researchers recruited parents via convenience sampling in non-library, family-oriented locations (parks, playgrounds, beaches, and others). Participants were all interviewed regarding their methods of picture book selection and their use of library catalogues. Participants were then given six print bibliographic records for copies of Cinderella, available in libraries, and asked to select a book for their child based solely on these records. They were then presented with their selection and interviewed regarding their satisfaction with the book selected and their decision-making process. Finally, the researchers presented participants with all six physical copies of the book that had been represented by bibliographic records, and asked participants to select one of the books for their child. The researchers then interviewed participants regarding what information about the physical books should be included in records to assist in their decision-making.

Main Results – Interviews indicated that the majority of participants did not use the library catalogue to select books for their children, and did not expect librarian or bookseller assistance. Many participants expressed browsing behaviours as the primary method of obtaining new picture books, and the strongest criteria for picture book selection among participants were subjective judgements regarding illustrations and content. However, when asked to use just bibliographic records to select a version of Cinderella, most participants selected a title using the author field and year of publication. 67% of participants were then dissatisfied with their selection due to factors such as illustration type, font size, and length or complexity of text. When choosing from all six physical copies, most participants disregarded condition issues and selected the oldest edition, favouring its colourful illustrations and textual length.

Conclusions – The authors concluded that illustrations and book content were more important than other factors, including physical condition of the book, and that existing library catalogues were inadequate for picture book selection. They suggested that library catalogues should include further information about picture books, such as cover images, sample pages, book condition, and information about the type of text (whether it is the original, abridged, or an adaptation). They supported this by explaining that participants used the bibliographic fields already available (author, year of publication) to try and guess at what they actually considered important (the aforementioned suggested fields). In addition, they believed that their study indicated that users require a transparent and systematic way to review and compare versions of a given text. Finally, the authors recommended further study using enriched bibliographic records and additional data collection methods, such as focus groups and questionnaires. The authors have several further studies in this area planned.


i~!ITUDIESOF THE historic U.S-Canada Free Trade Agreement have produced conflicting estimates of its economic effects.1 Not surprisingly, the numerous changes resulting from the Free Trade Agreement will benefit some people and harm others. To summarize the agreement's effects, many studies have estimated the minimum amount that individuals who gain would be willing to accept to forego the changes and the maximum that those who lose would be willing to pay to prevent them.2 Subtracting the value of the losses from the gains produces a measure of net national welfare change. Using such a measure, estimates for Canada, expressed as a percentage of total economic activity, range from large gains to small losses, while estimates for the United States range from small gains to small losses.


Neuroendocrine (NE) cells are present in both benign and malignant human prostate. However, their function is poorly understood, mainly due to the lack of suitable experimental models. The nerve growth factor-beta (NGF-beta) promotes the rat pheochromocytoma cell line PC-12 to differentiate into neuronal like cells. We have studied the effect of NGF-beta on four human prostate cancer cell lines, LNCaP, DU-145, PC-3, and TSU-pr1. NGF-beta stimulates the growth rate in all these cell lines, but does not induce a neuronal phenotype. NE tumour markers (chromogranin A [CgA] and chromogranin B[CgB]) could not be demonstrated by immunocytochemistry (CgA and CgB), Northern blotting (CgA), or ELISA techniques (CgA), neither in control nor in NGF-beta stimulated cells. Consequently, other experimental models have to be sought in the study of NE cells in the human prostate.


The SecY protein and other membrane proteins of Escherichia coli were solubilized by mixed micelles of n-octyl beta-D-glucopyranoside, phospholipids, and glycerol. Proteoliposomes formed from this extract by detergent dialysis supported energy-dependent translocation and processing of pro-OmpA. Translocation required ATP, SecY, and SecA and was stimulated by a proton-motive force. These results provide an important assay for the isolation and identification of membrane components involved in protein translocation.


ABSTRACT Virgibacillus halodenitrificans 1806 is an endospore-forming halophilic bacterium isolated from salterns in Korea. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of V. halodenitrificans 1806, which may reveal the molecular basis of osmoadaptation and insights into carbon and anaerobic metabolism in moderate halophiles.


Upcycling, as a way to reutilise resources, offers a promising alternative to production and consumption based on virgin materials. Despite the growing academic and industrial interest in recent years, there is a lack of large-scale cross-country or cross-regional studies that systematically investigate influencing factors for consumer upcycling behaviour. By drawing on social psychological theories of interpersonal behaviour and planned behaviour, this study investigated predictors of upcycling behaviour in five highly industrialised countries of three continents: Australia, Canada, Germany, UK, and USA. Results showed that intention and perceived behavioural control (confidence in abilities) were the most important factors for upcycling. Theoretical and practical implications from this study are discussed in the context of efforts to scale up global upcycling.


The rapid spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has severely impacted almost all countries around the world. It not only has caused a tremendous burden on health-care providers to bear, but it has also brought severe impacts on the economy and social life. The presence of reliable data and the results of in-depth statistical analyses provide researchers and policymakers with invaluable information to understand this pandemic and its growth pattern more clearly. This paper combines and processes an extensive collection of publicly available datasets to provide a unified information source for representing geographical regions with regards to their pandemic-related behavior. The features are grouped into various categories to account for their impact based on the higher-level concepts associated with them. This work uses several correlation analysis techniques to observe value and order relationships between features, feature groups, and COVID-19 occurrences. Dimensionality reduction techniques and projection methodologies are used to elaborate on individual and group importance of these representative features. A specific RNN-based inference pipeline called DoubleWindowLSTM-CP is proposed in this work for predictive event modeling. It utilizes sequential patterns and enables concise record representation while using but a minimal amount of historical data. The quantitative results of our statistical analytics indicated critical patterns reflecting on many of the expected collective behavior and their associated outcomes. Predictive modeling with DoubleWindowLSTM-CP instance exhibits efficient performance in quantitative and qualitative assessments while reducing the need for extended and reliable historical information on the pandemic.


This paper examines prospective developments for the next 25 years under four headings. I. The Economic Size of Different Countries. We begin by examining the current GDP rankings, and the process whereby various countries have closed the gap in per capital income with the United States over the last 50 years. We then turn to the recent literature on convergence, factor accumulation, and total productivity growth, in explaining the superior record of the East Asian countries (including the Krugman-Young claim that mere factor accumulation explains the entire miracle, and the Summers-Easterly claim that mere chance does), before venturing predictions. II. Increases in International Trade: Will Globalization Continue? Some have concluded that countries are now so open and integrated internationally that such geographical encumbrances as borders and distance no longer play a role. If a level of perfect integration had indeed already been achieved, one might expect that over the next 25 years trade would no longer continue to grow more rapidly than income. Such a conclusion would be incorrect, however. It follows that trade will continue to grow more rapidly than income in the future. The reasons are not only the obvious ones of declining costs of transportation and communication and declining trade barriers, but also rising incomes in formerly-poor countries. III. The Impact of Trade: Will the U.S, and Europe Be Endangered by Widening Deficits? The paper forecasts that the problem of the Japan-U.S. trade imbalance will probably vanish by the year 2020, as the result of financial implications rather than of deliberate trade policies. We then discuss the trend in the trade balances of Europe and the U.S., vs. Developing Countries, and the debate on the causes of stagnation in demand for labor. Trade does not appear to be the major cause of stagnation. IV. Bilateral Patterns: Who Will Trade with Whom? Clearly, trade will grow the most rapidly where economies grow the most rapidly, especially among NICs in East Asia and elsewhere. But we also look at the effects of distances, common languages, political federations and their dissolution, preferential trading arrangements, and currency unions.


The authors study the flow of current in the plasma of the UMIST quadrupole between two Langmuir probes which served as electrodes. For low frequencies (<10 kHz) the impedance to current flow transverse to the magnetic field behaves as a resistance and capacitance in parallel. Experimental results are in good agreement with the theory and allow a determination of the ion-neutral collision frequency and of the ion density, both of which agree well with values determined by independent methods. They suggest that this may be applicable as a new diagnostic method in suitable cases. There is a definite resistive component of the impedance for measurements along the field lines and the channel for current flow is considerably larger than the tube of flux joining the two probe sheaths. Theory suggest that the actual value of this resistance will be determined almost entirely by the transverse flow of current associated with the current channel expansion, and experiment confirms this.


An Andon interface was developed at a level one healthcare system OR department. The interface is a standalone design, which will not require access to the software core, and all clients and data can be added and modified using the UI interface on the cloud. The system is capable of capturing and documenting defects along with the ability to present emergency and urgent situations to members of the management for triage or making final decisions. The Andon system will allow for notification and alarming needed to tackle and resolve all types of problems or incidents using problem swarming. It will also allow for cataloging defects and their severity and indexing that severity based on patient care requirement. The system is able to escalate a low severity index defect to a higher severity index defect based on patient care requirement and the impact on the patient.


The objective of this article is to find out whether strong regional bloc integration of both the Eur opean Union (EU) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will lead to "stumbling stones" or "building blocks" steps in the signing of the long-awaited EU-GCC free trade area agreement (EU-GCC FTA). A qualitative International Political Economy (IPE) comparison between the two blocs is discussed and summarized in a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis framework. Results show that the Marxist school of thought is the most realistic of all schools in terms of explaining economic regional integration and international FTAs. For the GCC, the potential outcomes of an EU-GCC FTA mean an increase in trade creation, economic welfare, and a fulfillment of economic desires. For the EU, the FTA will lead to EU trade diversion and a mild increase in economic welfare; however, it will allow the EU to fulfill its self-interest in maintaining running its global position in world affairs. The EU should outweigh its benefits toward this FTA, understand the strong competitive advantage found in the GCC countries, and try to cooperate with the GCC in an equal way, supporting developing countries and avoiding the unfair effects of external yet influencing factors that affect such a relationship.


An in vivo study of two synergists, that is, Triphenil phosphate -specific esterase inhibitor- and ethacrynic acid -specific gluthation transferase inhibitor- was performed to determine if these enzymes were responsible for pyrethroid resistance of Aedes aegypti. To this end, two insecticide resistant Aedes aegypti strains were used, one strain selected with temephos by six selection generations (SAN-F6) and the other strain with delmamethrin by 12 selection generations (SAN-F12), being both strains resistant to pyrethroid insecticices. Through the use of TPP and EA synergists, it was proved that esterase and gluthation-s-transferase (GST) enzymes were responsible for pryrethroid resistance of these strains. These results showed the existence of cross-resistance and multidrug resistance, which should be taken into account for insecticide use strategies aimed at vector control.


This paper examines the extent to which the Tanzania Energy Policy 2015 aligns to Climate Development pillars. The study adopts an exploratory researchl design where the Tanzania National Energy policy of year 2015 is a major source of data. Content analysis is undertaken using an analytical framework developed after literature review. Findings indicate that the Tanzania national energy policy of year 2015 aligns partially to Climate Compatible Development pillars. The paper therefore calls upon a policy review to attain high alignment to Climate Compatible Development pillars. Key words : Climate compatible development, energy policy, renewable energy resources, adaptation, mitigation and development


The study had the purpose of presenting a profile on physical growth and social-demographic characteristics of 11 to 17 year old students from Florianopolis, SC, Brazil. The sample consisted of 2384 students (1201 girls and 1183 boys). The study variables were social class and body mass and stature for physical growth. Statistical analyses included descriptives, Student's t-test for independent samples and analysis of variance with two factors (age and sex), using level of significance at a=0,05. The results showed that (a) the students belonged to social classes C (33.3%) and B2 (25.5%) according to ANEP (National Association of Research Companies) categories; (b) there were statistical differences for body mass among 15 to 17 year old boys and girls and for stature from 11 to 14 years of age; (c) when stratifying by School system (public or private) and age, it was found that body mass and stature means among boys from the private system were greater for all ages, although significant differences were observed only at 12 and 16 years of age for stature and at 12, and from 14 to 17 years of age for body mass. Girls from the private system were taller than those from the public system and heavier at 16 years of age. It was concluded that boys at the end of adolescence had higher body mass and stature than girls. Both boys and girls from the private system showed a tendency for being taller and heavier than students from the public system.


The analysis of the scientific production of a university is a very complex process and it usually refers to the number of articles published in scientific journals. For most analyses, only a small number of journals is taken into consideration. Usually, there are considered the journals indexed in databases like Science Citation Index (Thompson ISI). However, we consider that for a more complex image of the scientific production of a university, we need to take into consideration several aspects: the development of the scientific production is a fundamental part of the mission of a university; the scientific production represents an integration of knowledge at both tangible and intangible level; at the moment, the evaluation and analysis of the scientific production is made only at the tangible level, the scientific production differs from one domain to another; all the university rankings based on the scientific production are relative.


The authors determined the wear products in tissues following hip prostheses implantations in 40 cases. The interval between prostheses implantation and histochemical examinations varied from 3 weeks to 15 years. The authors found that on the inner layer of the neighbouring joint capsule immediate to the implant a metal-protein layer developed and cobalt, chrom, nickel particles were demonstrated later in the connective and scar tissues as well. In the connective and fat tissues around the hip prostheses (from 4 cm) cobalt and chrom, in the regional lymph nodes cobalt, chrom nickel and in some cases manganese particles were found. Bone cement and plastic materials were found in the joint capsule, in the bone marrow of the distal part of the femur, but they were not present in the lymph nodes.


Chromosome counts are reported for 68 individuals in 64 taxa (including one interspecific hybrid) in 36 genera of 15 families. Of these, 11 taxa are counted for the first time.


There has recently been discussion on the framings and representations of scale, in particular ways in which scales are constructed and used in legitimizing contrasting views. In these debates, scale has been regarded as an epistemological rather than an ontological question. Moreover, scale has been seen as processual instead of regarding it as a pre-given structure. Drawing on the debates on scale framings and the processual ideas of scale, the article focuses on the temporary framings of scale related to occasional events. The interest is in the discursive framings of scale, and also in the ways in which temporary re-scalings are materialized and embodied in urban spaces. This is illustrated with material related to a European Union meeting that took place in the city of Lahti in Finland in 2006. The case demonstrates how scale-thinking occurs within the city and how an event can produce temporary framings of scale. Using newspaper articles, interviews, field notes, and photographs, the article examines which viewpoints on scale were expressed during the EU meeting, and what kinds of scalar strategies were used in legitimizing different views.


The tool and work-piece interactions will be modeled via discontinuous systems to study the effects of work-piece characteristics the on sensitivity of steady state motions. The general model will be presented through the domains of continuous dynamical systems for this machine-tool. The periodic motions of intermittent cutting will be developed and implemented to describe the solution structure. The switching components at the chip/tool friction boundary will be discussed in regard to work-piece characteristics.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


While fluorescence imaging is widely used in ophthalmology, a large field of view (FOV) three-dimensional (3D) fluorescence retinal image is still a big challenge with the state-of-the-art retinal imaging modalities because they would require z-stacking to compile a volumetric dataset. Newer optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography (OCTA) systems overcome these restrictions to provide three-dimensional (3D) anatomical and vascular images, but the dye-free nature of OCT cannot visualize leakage indicative of vascular dysfunction. This protocol describes a novel oblique scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (oSLO) technique that provides 3D volumetric fluorescence retinal imaging. The setup of the imaging system generates the oblique scanning by a dove tail slider and aligns the final imaging system at an angle to detect fluorescent cross-sectional images. The system uses the laser scanning method, and therefore, allows an easy incorporation of OCT as a complementary volumetric structural imaging modality. In vivo imaging on rat retina is demonstrated here. Fluorescein solution is intravenously injected to produce volumetric fluorescein angiography (vFA).


Contents: E.M. Hetherington, P.B. Baltes, Child Psychology and Life-Span Development. R.M. Lerner, Personality and Development: A Life-Span Perspective. J.W. Meyer, The Social Construction of the Psychology of Childhood: Some Contemporary Processes. D.L. Featherman, K.I. Spenner, N. Tsunematsu, Class and the Socialization of Children: Constancy, Change, or Irrelevance? M.E.P. Seligman, L.P. Kamen, S. Nolen-Hoeksema, Explanatory Style Across the Life Span: Achievement and Health. A. Caspi, G.H. Elder Jr, Childhood Precursors of the Life Course: Early Personality and Life Disorganization. J. Dunn, L. Sherrod, Changes in Children's Social Lives and the Development of Social Understanding. R.D. Parke, Families in Life-Span Perspective: A Multilevel Developmental Approach. M. Perlmutter, Cognitive Development in Life-Span Perspective: From Description of Difference to Explanation of Changes. F.E. Weinert, A. Helmke, Individual Differences in Cognitive Development: Does Instruction Make a Difference? H.W. Stevenson, Culture and Schooling: Influences on Cognitive Development. R.J. Sternberg, Lessons from the Life-Span: What Theorists of Intellectual Development Among Children Can Learn from Their Counterparts Studying Adults. O.G. Brim Jr., D.A. Phillips, The Life Span Intervention Cube.


Background: Use of antidepressants is the gold standard therapy for major depression. However, despite the large number of commercially available antidepressant drugs there are several differences among them in efficacy, tolerability, and cost-effectiveness. In addition the optimal augmentation strategy is still not clear when dealing with treatment-resistant depression, a condition that affects 15% to 40% of depressed patients. Methods: We therefore reviewed the main characteristics of these drugs regarding their efficacy, tolerability, side effects and cost-effectiveness, by accessing all meta-analyses and systematic reviews published from 2004 to 2009. In addition, we reviewed the augmentation strategy of associated antidepressants with neurostimulation therapies (such as transcranial magnetic stimulation [TMS] and transcranial direct current stimulation [tDCS]). A search was undertaken in MEDLINE, Web of Science, Cochrane, and Scielo databases. We included: 21 meta-analyses of antidepressant trials, 15 neurostimulation clinical trials and 8 studies of pharmacoeconomics. We then performed a comprehensive review on these articles. Results and Conclusion: Although recent meta-analyses suggest sertraline and escitalopram might have increased efficacy/tolerability, other studies and large pragmatic trials have not found these to be superior to other antidepressant drugs. Also, we did not identify any superior drug in terms of cost-effectiveness due to the different designs observed among pharmacoecomics studies. Side effects such as sexual dysfunction, gastrointestinal problems and weight gain were common causes of discontinuation. Tolerability was an important issue for novel neurostimulation interventions, such as TMS and tDCS. These therapies might be interesting augmentation strategies, considering their benign profile of side effects, if proper safety parameters are adopted.


Is it feasible and what samples should be used?

A great deal has been written about the potential value of human papillomavirus (HPV) testing, particularly in the context of cervical screening programmes. Much of the published literature has focused on the assessment of specific patient groups, particularly women with mildly abnormal cervical smears, in an attempt to identify those women at greatest risk of either possessing or developing a high grade intraepithelial lesion which, according to current guidelines, requires treatment. Much of the value of HPV testing is dependent upon its high sensitivity for the detection of high grade disease and also the high negative predictive value of testing women both with low grade cytological abnormalities and in the context of primary screening.1–4 However, the duration of protection of a negative result is not yet known. These points are among those covered by the systematic review of the role of HPV testing within a cervical screening programme, published in 1999,5 and form the basis of many of the conclusions of that report. One of the other recommendations put forward was that HPV testing could potentially be applied to self collected cervical samples. In particular, this could help to improve coverage of the screened population by encouraging those who do not attend for routine cervical smears to provide samples for testing themselves. This issue is addressed in the study by Nobbenhuis et al in this issue of JCP ,6 in which both a self collected cervicovaginal lavage specimen and a cervical smear were analysed cytologically and by HPV DNA testing. …


The use of picture in teaching writing is essential due to the given material can be easily described and applied to the students. In addition, students are likely interested in learning through pictures. According to Wright, pictures contribute to gain sense of the context of the language, gain interest and stimulus (2004:2). Picture series is one of the alternatives in teaching writing that has many variations for the classroom activity. This study aims to investigate the variations of picture series and the advantages as well as the disadvantages of picture series that are used in teaching writing recount text at "Passio English" course Malang.

This study employed descriptive method. The subject of the study was English teacher of Passio English course Malang. Research instrument that was used in this study was field note that was written during observation and interview guideline. Furthermore, data analysis technique used (1) Data reduction to summarize the research data (2) Data display presented the summarized data into material or table and finally (3) Conclusion drawing or verification of the study can be taken by the researcher.

The finding showed there were 3 variations of picture series that were used in teaching writing recount text at Passio English course Malang. They were Jumbled sentences, Question stories, and Picture guided story. According to interview result, the advantages of Jumbled sentences for teacher were easy to prepare and it had low cost to get. Meanwhile, jumbled sentences could stimulate and guide students to write. Question stories was more likely easy to present and to deliver the material for teacher. In the other hand, students' interest and understanding about the given material could be gained through question stories. The last variation of picture series that was used was Picture guided story which was not so difficult to get the resources and easy to prepare for the activity. Beside those advantages, there were also disadvantages of picture series variation that were used such as teacher that was only focused on structure in jumbled sentences, the class management that was not easy to be handled in question stories and time management that need to be organized in picture guided story. Moreover, students may imitate the structure of jumbled sentences to their writing product without considering the difference of the event. In Question stories, students could spend more time to complete the material and students also needed vocabulary mastery to write the story. Most of the students had similar difficulty in Picture guided story regarding the limited time in exercise and students' vocabulary mastery.


Magnetic biosensing is an emerging technique for ultra-sensitive point-of-care (PoC) biomolecular detection. However, the large baseline-to-signal ratio and sensor-to-sensor mismatch in magnetoresistive (MR) biosensors severely complicates the design of the analog front-end (AFE) due to the high dynamic range (DR) required. The proposed AFE addresses these issues through new architectural and circuit level techniques including fast settling duty-cycle resistors (DCRs) to reduce readout time and a high frequency interference rejection (HFIR) sampling technique embedded in the ADC to relax the DR requirement. The AFE achieves an input-referred noise of 46.4 nT/√Hz, an input-referred baseline of less than 0.235 mT, and a readout time of 11 ms while consuming just 1.39 mW. Implemented in a 0.18 μm CMOS process, this work has state-of-the-art performance with 22.7× faster readout time, >7.8× lower baseline, and 2.3× lower power than previously reported MR sensor AFEs.