Recently, many researchers have conducted data mining over medical data to uncover hidden patterns and use them to learn prediction models for clinical decision making and personalized medicine. While such healthcare learning models can achieve encouraging results, they seldom incorporate existing expert knowledge into their frameworks and hence prediction accuracy for individual patients can still be improved. However, expert knowledge spans across various websites and multiple databases with heterogeneous representations and hence is difficult to harness for improving learning models. In addition, patients' queries at medical consult websites are often ambiguous in their specified terms and hence the returned responses may not contain the information they seek. To tackle these problems, we first design a knowledge extraction framework that can generate an aggregated dataset to characterize diseases by integrating heterogeneous medical data sources. Then, based on the integrated dataset, we propose an end-to-end deep learning based medical diagnosis system (DL-MDS) to provide disease diagnosis for authorized users. Evaluations on real-world data demonstrate that our proposed system achieves good performance on diseases diagnosis with a diverse set of patients' queries.


The random Fourier features (RFFs) method is a powerful and popular technique in kernel approximation for scalability of kernel methods. The theoretical foundation of RFFs is based on the Bochner theorem (Bochner, 2005) that relates symmetric, positive definite (PD) functions to probability measures. This condition naturally excludes asymmetric functions with a wide range applications in practice, e.g., directed graphs, conditional probability, and asymmetric kernels. Nevertheless, understanding asymmetric functions (kernels) and its scalability via RFFs is unclear both theoretically and empirically. In this paper, we introduce a complex measure with the real and imaginary parts corresponding to four finite positive measures, which expands the application scope of the Bochner theorem. By doing so, this framework allows for handling classical symmetric, PD kernels via one positive measure; symmetric, non-positive definite kernels via signed measures; and asymmetric kernels via complex measures, thereby unifying them into a general framework by RFFs, named AsK-RFFs. Such approximation scheme via complex measures enjoys theoretical guarantees in the perspective of the uniform convergence. In algorithmic implementation, to speed up the kernel approximation process, which is expensive due total masses on a sub-training set, which enjoys computational efficiency in high dimensions. Our AsK-RFFs method is empirically validated on several typical large-scale datasets and achieves promising kernel approximation performance, which demonstrate the effectiveness of AsK-RFFs.


PROBLEM BEING ADDRESSED
Family medicine training programs are required to teach the four principles of family medicine, two of which deal with community responsibilities. Teachers in the Family Practice Unit at the Centre hospitalier de Québec, pavillon St-François d'Assise (UMF-SFA) have developed a learning activity that introduces residents to community agencies in the area.

OBJECTIVE OF PROGRAM
To introduce family medicine residents to community aspects of the principles of family medicine, to help them identify community resources in the area served by UMF-SFA, to discuss these services so that they can use them effectively, and to offer new residents an opportunity to become better acquainted with these services and with the UMF-SFA team.

MAIN COMPONENTS OF PROGRAM
In early September, a half-day is set aside for a rally during which mixed teams of supervisors and residents (four to eight to a team) visit about 10 community agencies in the vicinity of UMF-SFA. Walking from place to place, the teams spend 15 to 20 minutes with staff or users of each agency. The informal tone of the rally makes it easier for residents to understand these agencies.

CONCLUSION
Each year for the past 10 years, all UMF-SFA members have taken part in a rally that introduces residents to the community-based resources of family medicine.


Erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) have great importance in long-distance communication. It is required to have equal gain for all signals that are transferred and to avoid loss in the receiver of long-distance communication systems. However, temperature dependence changes the output spectrum of the designed gain-flattening systems. In this study, each erbium-doped fiber (EDF) length of a two-stage L-band EDFA has been optimized using a genetic algorithm method; because of the temperature dependence of EDFAs, there is no general rule. Thus, a simple, fast, dynamic, and highly accurate model has been developed and obtained for different EDF lengths that will fix gain along the L-band. The results have been shown to be very compatible with the previously obtained numerical values.


Objectives:Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare disease with variable clinical presentation. In the present study, we report on the effectiveness and clinical complications of radiation therapy in children with LCH. Materials and Methods:We retrospectively reviewed all patients with LCH treated with radiation therapy over a 6-decade period at a single institution. Radiotherapy data, clinical features, radiographic data, and vital status were analyzed. Results:The mean age at diagnosis for 69 patients was 5.3 years (3 mo to 37 y) and the median duration of follow-up was 6 years (7 d to 32 y). Radiation therapy was performed for 169 sites, primarily bone lesions. The median radiotherapy dose was 10 Gy (2.5 to 45 Gy). Radiographic follow-up data were available for 139 of the sites treated and clinical follow-up was available for 156 of sites treated. The radiographic local control was 91.4%, and 13% of lesions showed complete sclerosis or reconstitution of bone. A total of 90.4% of patients reported stabilization or improvement in lesion-related symptoms, most often pain. Twelve patients had diabetes insipidus at diagnosis or during follow-up. Eight of these patients received radiation treatment to the pituitary and none experienced a reduction in desmopressin dosage posttreatment. Radiation complications were few, including femoral neck fracture in 1 patient and facial asymmetry in 3 patients. No secondary malignancies were observed. Conclusions:Radiotherapy for LCH has high rates of local control and symptomatic improvement. Importantly, however, there is evidence of short-term and long-term morbidity when children are treated with low-dose irradiation.


"Commission fines Dutch brewers over €273 million for a beer cartel"* I. Introduction On 18 April 2007, the Commission fined Dutch brewers Heineken, Grolsch and Bavaria a total of €273 783 000…


The Prnd gene encodes a homolog of the cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) called doppel (Dpl). Up-regulation of Prnd mRNA in two distinct lines of PrP gene ablated (Prnp(0/0)) mice, designated Rcm0 and Ngsk, is associated with death of Purkinje cells. Using recombinant Dpl expressed in Escherichia coli and mouse neuroblastoma cells we demonstrate that wild type (wt) Dpl, like PrP(C), adopts a predominantly alpha-helical conformation, forms intramolecular disulfide bonds, has two N-linked oligosaccharides, and is presented on the cell surface via a glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor. Dpl protein was detected in testis of wt mice. Using Triton X-114 phase partitioning to enrich for glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins, Dpl was detected in brain samples from Rcm0 Prnp(0/0) mice but was absent in equivalent samples from wt mice and ZrchI Prnp(0/0) mice, indicating that ectopic expression of this protein may cause cerebellar pathology in Rcm0 mice. Biochemical and structural similarities between PrP(C) and Dpl documented here parallel the observation that ataxic Ngsk Prnp(0/0) mice can be rescued by overexpression of wild-type PrP transgenes, and suggest that cell surface PrP(C) can antagonize the toxic effect of Dpl expressed in the central nervous system.


It is indeed a pleasure to have the opportunity to comment on the article by Adamczyk and colleagues [1] dealing with the association of prostatitis in prostate biopsies and the possible relevance of this histologic finding as it relates to the follow − up and possible treatment of these patients.

Prostate cancer (PC) remains a tremendously interesting topic and we have experienced tremendous shifts in our thinking and understanding of this disease over the past few decades. As I discuss certain aspects of this paper I will take editorial license to comment on other aspects of PC beside the main subject of this article.

The PSA cutoff for a biopsy in the patient population of this article was 4. Subsequent to the data derived from the prostate cancer prevention trial (PCPT) many urologists in the United States have adopted a relative cutoff PSA value of 2.5 as a value to begin discussing the role of a prostate biopsy in the diagnosis of PC. The chance of finding PC relates to a variety of factors such as free and total PSA, PSA velocity, patient's age, rectal exam findings, PSA density, results of prior biopsies, etc. Based in part from the PCPT trial the risk of PC is about 15% for all patients with a PSA between 2.5 and 10. The other parameters can help fine tune the risk but ultimately the patient must decide on whether to proceed with this mildly uncomfortable biopsy procedure. The risk of biopsy related sepsis, although low (about 1 − 2%) is not to be taken lightly. The reason for the recent interest in MRI for diagnosing PC is in part related to the imprecise nature of prostate biopsies and the morbidity associated with the procedure. Although MRI of the prostate is far from perfect, the interest from patients to consider this expensive test is related to the fear of missing PC and the desire to avoid a biopsy.

The authors used only an oral quinolone for antibiotic prophylaxis prior to and following the biopsy. Most of my colleagues in the USA have altered our prophylaxis regimen due to a high rate of resistance to quinolones particularly from E. Coli. My preference is to have patients initiate ciprofloxacin 3 hours before the biopsy and, in addition, I give them one gram of cephalexin intramuscularly just prior to the biopsy. Following the biopsy patients continue with daily oral ciprofloxacin for 3 days. This program has reduced the sepsis rate from 2 − 3% to <1%.

In my view the presence of prostatitis in a prostate biopsy in an asymptomatic patient would not suggest treatment. If a patient had symptoms consistent with "prostatitis" (infrequent in my practice) I would not biopsy them until this was resolved. I rarely, if ever, prescribe antibiotics for a patient with an elevated PSA because of a presumed diagnosis of chronic prostatitis. First of all, the symptoms of perineal discomfort with or without voiding complaints, so called prostatitis or prostadynia infrequently alters the PSA and importantly antibiotics, if prescribed for this entity, will likely lead to antibiotic resistance and, thus a higher chance of biopsy related sepsis.

I note that the average PSA for all patients in this article who underwent a biopsy was 19. In this era of PSA "screening" in the US patients are referred by their primary care doctors, if their PSA is above either 2.5 − 4 or, if there is a change in the PSA velocity. Although the new AUA guidelines as well as the USPTF report will possibly change this practice, the average patient I biopsy because of an elevated PSA, i.e. normal DRE, has a PSA of 5. Interestingly the % of men with a positive biopsy in this article is similar to most US reports, 30%. The authors of the current article do not give the Gleason scores so we can not compare the grade and stage of diagnosed cancers between the 2 countries. One would expect more high grade and higher stage cancers with a mean PSA of 19.

My last point relates to the overemphasis on prostate biopsies and the treatment of prostate cancer. Despite the increasing data that men with low risk PC rarely die of their cancer there is a lot of overtreatment with surgery and radiation. It is not unusual for me to see men over 65 years old who have already had 2 or more negative prostate biopsy sessions because of an "elevated" PSA. Many of these men have several health risk factors, e.g. obesity, hypertension, cardiac and vascular problems, that far outweigh their potential risk of lethal PC. Although I am not an advocate of eliminating PSA for early detection I am concerned about overtreatment. Evidently the task forces assigned to study this issue have also concluded that the risks of biopsies and treatment outweigh the benefits of early detection and the pendulum has swung too far toward trying to find every prostate cancer no matter how small.

In some countries early detection programs are not the norm and they still have too many men with advanced stage PC at presentation. Hopefully they will learn from some of our failings and reach a proper balance between diagnosis and treatment.


The purpose of this investigation was to establish the existence of a calcium-independent mechanism for catecholamine secretion from the adrenal medulla. Concentration-effect curves were obtained using isolated perfused (5 ml/min; 25 degrees C) bovine adrenal medullae stimulated with acetaldehyde (1-64 mM). Catecholamine secretion was the same in presence and in absence of calcium in the perfusion medium and was not diminished by the addition of magnesium (5 X 10-minus 3 M) to the calcium-free medium. Stimulation of 45-Ca-labeled adrenals with 23 mM acetaldehyde evoked secretion of catecholamines but not 45-Ca. Furthermore, examination of the distribution of 45-Ca and catecholamines in subcellular fractions (cytosol, nuclei, microsomes, mitochondria and chromaffin granules) from acetaldehyde-stimulated and nonstimulated glands showed that acetaldehyde stimulation caused no mobilization of 45-Ca from any of the intracellular pools, but significantly decreased the catecholamine content of a chromaffin granule fraction with a concomitant increase of catecholamines in the cytosolic fraction. These results establish an adrenomedullary secretory mechanism independent of both extracellular and intracellular calcium and indicate that acetaldehyde evokes catecholamine secretion by this calcium-independent mechanism, releasing the intragranular hormones into the cytoplasm prior to their extrusion from the chromaffin cell.


This study suggests a methodology for enhancing accuracy in evaluating amenity by the contingent valuation method when household's willingness to pay (WTP) is dependent to its income and the distance between a respondent's residence and the location of a target facility. Using a linear city model, this study demonstrates the influences of income and distance-decay effects on WTP. Simulations are performed to check the validity of the model, as well as to predict consequences when income and distance-decay effects are not properly treated. Finally, the suggested methodology is applied to two real cases. The estimation results from a structural model show that the calculated total benefit varies largely when income and distance-decay effects exist and are ignored. Also, an ad hoc model generates significantly different estimates from the utility difference model this study adopted. The difference in estimates suggests that the total benefit has to be estimated by a structural model.


The information picture book, as a very significant type among picture books, has made early childhood educators and parents always feel difficult for the children to understand due to its language expression, content presentation and the connection with children's life experience. This study has focused on the eye movement level of Chinese children's reading comprehension of information picture books through an eye-tracking study, exploring the visual attention characteristics of Chinese children's reading comprehension, understanding the modes and characteristics of children's endogenous comprehension through their eye movement characteristics. The research mainly answers the following three questions: What do we know about the visual perception of key images in information picture books among children aged 3–5 years? Do children with different levels of reading comprehension have different levels of visual attention characteristics? Is there a correlation between the results of eye movement analysis and the characteristics of children's cognitive science and understanding? Based on a randomized sample of 90 children aged 3–5 years from Xi'an, Shaanxi Province of China, we used an eye movement instrument to record children's eye movement routes when they were reading a selected typical information picture book, and then analyzed the visual attention characteristics of them. Results have shown that there is a high correlation between children's level of cognitive characteristics of scientific phenomena and understanding phenomena, and children's visual cognitive level of key images.


Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) have proven to be especially successful in the area of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Part-Of-Speech (POS) tagging—which is the process of mapping words to their corresponding POS labels depending on the context. Despite recent development of language technologies, low-resourced languages (such as an East African Tigrinya language), have received too little attention. We investigate the effectiveness of Deep Learning (DL) solutions for the low-resourced Tigrinya language of the Northern-Ethiopic branch. We have selected Tigrinya as the testbed example and have tested state-of-the-art DL approaches seeking to build the most accurate POS tagger. We have evaluated DNN classifiers (Feed Forward Neural Network – FFNN, Long Short-Term Memory method – LSTM, Bidirectional LSTM, and Convolutional Neural Network – CNN) on a top of neural word2vec word embeddings with a small training corpus known as Nagaoka Tigrinya Corpus. To determine the best DNN classifier type, its architecture and hyper-parameter set both manual and automatic hyper-parameter tuning has been performed. BiLSTM method was proved to be the most suitable for our solving task: it achieved the highest accuracy equal to 92% that is 65% above the random baseline.


Casticin, a component from Vitex rotundifolia wich was widely used as an anti-inflammatory agent in Chinese traditional medicine, was reported to have anti-tumor activities in lung cancer and breast cancer. There are yet no reports on roles against acute myelocytic leukemia (AML). This study aims to elucidate the anti-leukemic activity of casticin on AML cells. We investigated the efficient efficacy and the mechanisms by which casticin triggers cell death in AML cells by analyzing cell cycle perturbations, apoptosis-related marker expression. Cell viability was measured by MTT method; apoptosis and cell cycle arrest were determined by flow cytometry and AV-PI assay. Western blot was performed to measure the apoptosis-related marker. Concentration-dependant cell deaths were observed in AML cell lines including K562, U937 and THP-1, with IC50 values of 24h (hours) being 47.4μM, 67.8μM and 61.7μM, respectively. Time-dependant cell deaths were also observed. At the concentration of 20μM casticin, 45.7%, 76.1% and 80.9% of K562 cells were inhibited at 24h, 48h and 72h, respectively; 24.7%, 30% and 61% of U937 cells were inhibited at 24h, 48h and 72h, respectively; while for THP-1, 29%, 41.8% and 53.9% were inhibited at 24h, 48h and 72h, respectively. Apoptosis was found using AV-PI staining by flow cytometry analysis. We observed an obvious G2/M phase increase prolongation in casticin treated K562 cells. BThe distribitions of G2/M phase were 2.9%, 33.6%, 75.3%, 54.9%, 29.7% and 27.0% in K562 cells after treated by 20μM casticin for 0h, 6h, 12h, 24h, 36h and 48h, respectively. Furthermore, apoptosis-related proteins, PARP and caspase 3, were cleaved in casticin treated K562 cells. Taken together, these results demonstrated that casticin can induce leukemic cell death through apoptosis, suggesting that casticin could be a promising therapeutic agent against acute myeloid leukemia.


In this paper, we propose a method for optimizing digital signal processing (DSP) systems for both power and circuit area. The optimization involves application of numerical transformations to the matrices of a linear system. A greedy search algorithm is used, along with fast and efficient activity estimator to synthesize low power systems. The method is applicable to bit-serial, nibble-serial as well as fully word-parallel architectures. In this paper we focus primarily on bit-serial architectures and show that up to 35 percent savings in power and hardware may be obtained.


Paul's use of the concept of metaschematism in the First and Second Letter to the Corinthians , and in the Letter to the Philippians can be examined as a significant example of religious transfer in the form of negotiation of schemata on the level of object language that tries to establish a meta-language through negotiation of schemata. By metaschematizing, mental and behavioral dispositions become interfaces linking different systems together, though in an asymmetrical manner. By taking into account the role of metaschematic processes in medicinal and philosophical contexts, the article intends to scrutinize the role of metaschematism in schematic interaction.


Superconductivity in a novel class of layered materials, Ti-based pnictide oxides, was recently discovered. These compounds have attracted interest since they combine features of copper oxide and iron pnictide superconductors. Here the transition metal (titanium) forms two-dimensional Ti2O layers (anti structure to the CuO2 planes), capped by pnictogen ions (similar to Fe2As2 layers). The pnictide oxide compounds show a spin or charge density wave phase which coexists with superconductivity in some members of the family. Unlike the cuprates, but similar to iron pnictides, the parent compounds of pnictide oxides are metals with specific nesting properties of the Fermi surface which leads to the density wave instability. The nature of the superconductivity, coexisting with the density wave order, and the possible competition or mutual interaction between both states is one of the central questions of recent studies. This short review summarizes the current knowledge from an experimental as well as theoretic...


As part of a multiyear research project investigating the affordances of online citizen science (OCS) projects for enhancing school students' learning in relation to science and digital technology, teacher–researchers have designed and implemented classroom interventions incorporating one or more OCS projects. The project is situated in New Zealand, and each intervention has embedded an OCS project within a wider unit of learning focusing on one or more "science capabilities" (Ministry of Education, n.d.). This article presents one of the case studies generated in the wider project. It is of a Year 9 class that engaged with the OCS project Planet Four as part of a wider inquiry unit emphasising the science capability Use evidence: "Can humans live on Mars?" The findings demonstrate that a deliberate focus on using evidence throughout the unit gave students multiple opportunities to practise and develop this science capability within the engaging context of space travel.


Photo-polymerization has been intensively studied for the preparation of hydrogels because of several attractive features, including independent spatial control with photomasks, mild reaction conditions, and a simple procedure. Benzophenone (BP) and its derivatives are representative photoactive materials for the crosslinking of polymer chains; however, the incorporation of BP in a polymer chain results in low solubility in water, low swelling ratio, and slow swelling kinetics of the hydrogels. In this work, we have synthesized photo-crosslinkable copolymers of grafted PNIPAm and a benzophenone moiety. We could fabricate the hydrogels by UV illumination of the synthesized copolymers, and found that the fabricated hydrogels showed enhanced swelling kinetics through free chains of comb-type copolymers. We also demonstrated volume changes of the 3D hydrogel triggered by temperature, suggesting that the prepared copolymers can be applied to the fabrication of stimuli-responsive and fast responding origami patterns, actuators, and so on.


Background: This study aims to research the total current curative expenditure (CCE) of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases (CVDs) and their influencing factors in Xinjiang, China. Methods: Through multistage stratified cluster sampling, the sample information of patients with CVDs in Xinjiang, in 2017, was collected. Under the framework of "System of Health Accounts 2011," the top-down allocation method was used to calculate the CCE of CVDs. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the influencing factors. Results: The CCE of CVDs in Xinjiang was 10.574 billion yuan; 86.81% of the CCE was spent in hospitals, of which 67.22% went to general hospitals. Coronary heart disease, hypertension, and cerebral infarction were the top three diseases among the treatment cost of CVDs, accounting for 74.20% of the total treatment cost. The CCE of older adults aged 65 years and above accounted for 43.51%. The main factors affecting the hospitalization cost were length of stay, grade of the medical institution, operation, age, payment method, and gender. Conclusions: CVDs consume numerous health funds in Xinjiang; prevention and control work focus on older adults. Further, the flow of treatment cost institutions is unreasonable; thus, the role of primary medical institutions in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases should be strengthened. Reducing the length of hospital stay can effectively control the CCE.


Value-added wood products manufacturers serve an important role in the economies of many U.S. regions and are therefore sought after by entities such as economic development agencies. The reasons why certain locations for a prospective production facility would be more attractive to secondary wood industry producers are not clearly understood. Therefore, this research attempts to increase our understanding of why a secondary wood producer would choose to place a production facility in one location versus another. All known value-added wood producers in Texas were surveyed to investigate the importance of 31 factors related to the plant location decision. The most important factors were determined to be property taxes and labor costs. Cost-related factors were ranked as most important when considering a location in a state other than Texas. Significant differences in factor importance were found for respondents who had recently made a location decision versus those planning a future decision. Implications are drawn for policymakers and economic development officials who are seeking to attract more value-added wood producers to a particular area.


Removal of heavy metals from wastewater needs advance chemical technology and is more expensive too. The cheaper alternative for this is the bioremediation using heavy metals resistant microorganisms. In this study, 10 heavy metal resistant bacteria were isolated from oxidation ditch of wastewater treatment plant of Bagmati Area Sewerage Project. These include chromium resistant Staphylococcus spp, Escherichia coli , Klebsiella spp; cadmium resistant Acinetobacter spp, Flavobacterium spp, Citrobacter spp; nickel resistant Staphylococcus spp, Bacillus spp; copper resistant Pseudomonas spp; and cobalt resistant Methylobacterium spp. All the isolates showed high resistance to heavy metals with Minimum Inhibitor Concentration (MIC) for heavy metals ranging from 150 mug/ml to 500 mug/ml. Six resistant isolates showed multiple tolerance to heavy metals. All the 10 isolates also showed antibiotic resistance of which 10% were resistant to single antibiotic and 90% were multi-antibiotic resistant. Heavy metal tolerance test showed maximum microbial tolerance to chromium and minimum tolerance to nickel in mixed liquor sample of oxidation ditch. Keywords: Heavy metal resistant bacteria, multiple tolerance, antibiotic resistance, Guheswori Sewage Treatment Plant doi: 10.3126/on.v6i1.1655 Our Nature (2008)6:52-57


Objective The objective was to evaluate and compare the fracture resistance of human maxillary premolars teeth restored with low shrinkage microhybrid composite Silorane-based; Filtek P90 LS, conventional methacrylate-based nanohybrid composite; Ceram X Mono, and two types of fiber-reinforced composites (FRCs); Alert and XENIUS base, micro glass fibers and short glass fibers, respectively in mesio-occluso-distal cavities. Materials and methods A total of 45 human maxillary premolars were selected. Standardized mesio-occluso-distal cavities were prepared in all teeth. Five prepared teeth received no treatment and served as controls (group 1). A total of 40 teeth were randomly divided into four experimental groups (n = 10); group 2: low shrinkage Silorane-based composite, group 3: nanohybrid resin composite, group 4: microfibers reinforced resin composite, and group 5: short fibers reinforced resin composite. Restorations were done for all groups. After being stored 24 h at 37°C, fracture resistance was measured in a universal Instron testing machine by using a 4 mm diameter steel sphere which was applied on tooth buccal and lingual cusps at a cross-head speed of 2 mm/min until fracture occurred. Statistical analysis One-way analysis of variance and Tukey's post-hoc test. Results Highest mean fracture resistance was observed with FRC, nanohybrid, Silorane and lastly with control respectively. Statistically Significant difference was revealed by analysis of variance (P ≤ 0.0001) and Tukey's post-hoc test (P ≤ 0.0001). Conclusion Among the experimental groups, FRC showed the highest fracture resistance.


Seven olive cultivars 'Nabali', 'Rasiei', 'Nasuhi', 'Shami', 'Kudari', 'Surani' and 'Kaisi' were used to investigate their ability for in vitro callus induction using nodal cuttings. To induce callus from the above mentioned seven olive cultivars, nodal cuttings were used as explants and placed either on gelled Olive Medium (OM) or laid over still liquid OM in the dark. Callus was induced from all olive cultivars both in gelled and liquid media. The callus was initiated and detected at three sites: the proximal ends of explants (most frequent site for all tested cultivars) in both gelled and liquid OM, at the bases of petioles (second most frequent site for all tested cultivars) in both gelled and liquid OM with better growth in liquid OM, and at the distal ends of explants (very rare occurrence) in liquid OM only. 'Rasei' showed the highest callus induction (19%) in gelled medium, while 'Nabali' showed the highest callus induction (16%) in liquid medium. To find out the potential of callus growth, it was subcultured from small callus fragment every 3-4 weeks. 'Kudari' showed the maximum increase in callus weight (4.05 fold) on gelled medium. However, in liquid medium, 0.42 fold increase was recorded in the cultivar 'Shami'.


Abstract : Forklift truck is a very convenient transportation vehicle and widely used in industries. However, a lot of overturn accidents occur during operation because of poor understanding on the stability of forklift trucks. The stability of a forklift is defined by the minimum slope of the ramp where a forklift truck overturns. According to the KS BISO 22915-2 code, the stability is determined from the four kinds of stability tests. The equations for the stability of a forklift truck were proposed already in several published l iteratures and the equations can be used conveniently to estimate the stability and examine the effects of design parameters in forklift trucks. However, because the detail derivation procedure was omitted, it is very difficult to examine the accuracy of the proposed equations and to modify the equations for other types of forklift trucks. In this paper the stability equations were derived again with detail derivati ons for the four kinds of stability tests. And the effects of acceleration or centrifugal forces were also additionally included in the equations and minor corrections were also made.


In this paper, we derive the mean-field limit of a collective dynamics model with time-varying weights, for weight dynamics that preserve the total mass of the system as well as indistinguishability of the agents. The limit equation is a transport equation with source, where the (non-local) transport term corresponds to the position dynamics, and the (non-local) source term comes from the weight redistribution among the agents. We show existence and uniqueness of the solution for both microscopic and macroscopic models and introduce a new empirical measure taking into account the weights. We obtain the convergence of the microscopic model to the macroscopic one by showing continuity of the macroscopic solution with respect to the initial data, in the Wasserstein and Bounded Lipschitz topologies.


The article presents information about the outstanding Italian physician Bernardino Ramazzini and scientist. Considered its contribution to the development of occupational hygiene and occupational diseases as a branch of medicine.


The thesis represents an interesting and original contribution to the study of exact spacetimes within the context of higher dimensional gravity. Its topic naturally fits into the contemporary research in theoretical physics which is motivated by various attempts to generalize and extend Einstein's general relativity, to quantize it or (hopefully) even to unify it with other forces which occur in nature. Apart from these motivations, rigorous investigation of exact solutions of generalized Einstein gravity equations is also important from purely mathematical point of view. It may elucidate in what sense are four-dimensional spacetimes privileged.


According to Levin (1958) negative contraction is much less regular in Anglian dialects of Old English than in West Saxon. More recently, Hogg (2004a) has argued that uncontracted forms were also frequent in at least one variety of West Saxon. Both claims rely on evidence taken from word-by-word glosses of Latin. However, no assessment of the evidence was done in either case to ensure that the observed patterns could not be due wholly or in part to the influence of Latin. The first part of this paper looks in detail at the data from glosses to determine to what extent they can be used as evidence for the behaviour of negative contraction in the varieties of Old English concerned. It will be seen that, despite indications of various degrees of Latin influence, the data from the Anglian glosses give sufficient grounds to support a conclusion that uncontracted forms are indeed more frequent in Anglian than in West Saxon, although some refinements are needed in relation to particular verb forms. In the case of Hogg's claim, on the other hand, it turns out that the observed pattern can be attributed entirely to the effect of Latin influence and/or copying from an exemplar. Since evidence from glosses is not ideal, the second part of this paper explores whether data from prose can provide us with further evidence. The prose data show that there are some factors that promote the use of non-contraction in West Saxon. However, outside of those contexts, uncontracted forms in straightforwardly West Saxon texts are extremely rare, whereas they are not at all uncommon in texts that are thought to derive from an Anglian source, indicating that the uncontracted forms in such texts are almost certainly Anglian in origin.


Herein, a N-rich metal-organic framework (MOF) with four kinds of cages, Zn4(ade)2(TCA)2(H2O) (NENU-1000, Hade = adenine, H3TCA = 4,4',4″-tricarboxytriphenylamine, NENU = Northeast Normal University), was prepared by the mixed-ligand strategy. Cationic dyes can be selectively absorbed by NENU-1000 at proper concentrations, but not neutral and anionic dyes, which perhaps can be assigned to the N-rich neutral framework of NENU-1000. When NENU-1000 was introduced to a relatively lower concentration of cationic dye solutions (e.g., rhodamine B or basic red 2), the colors of these systems faded quickly. Furthermore, the faded solutions can be used for the detection of methanol and other small alcohol molecules with either the naked eye or common UV-vis spectra. The effect of the length of carbon chain, the position of the -OH group, and the number of the hydroxyl group of the alcohols was explored for the color development rate. In addition, the performance of NENU-1000 in iodine sorption and release was also studied.


Growing evidence suggests that inflammation is crucially involved in the pathogenesis of pulmonary hypertension (PH) and consecutive right heart failure. The present study analyzed the inflammatory response in lung and right ventricle in a rat model of PH and evaluated the effects of the dual endothelin receptor antagonist (ERA) Macitentan. PH was induced by monocrotalin (60 mg/kg body weight s.c.) in Sprague-Dawley rats (PH, n = 10) and compared to healthy controls (CON, n = 10) as well as monocrotalin-induced, macitentan-treated rats (THER, n = 10). Detection of Dendritic cells (DCs), regulatory T cells (Tregs) and others as well as RT-PCR based inflammatory gene expression analysis were performed. Circulating DCs and Tregs were quantified by flow cytometry in the rat model and in PH patients (n = 70) compared to controls (n = 52). Inflammatory cells were increased in lung and right ventricular tissue, whereas DCs and Tregs were decreased in blood. Expression of 17 genes in the lung and 20 genes in the right ventricle were relevantly (>2.0 fold) regulated in the PH group. These effects were, at least in part, attenuated in response to Macitentan treatment. In humans as well as rats, immune cells showed significant correlations to clinical, echocardiographic, and haemodynamic parameters. PH is accompanied by a distinct inflammatory response in lung and right but not left ventricular tissue attenuated by Macitentan. Correlations of circulating DCs as well as tissue resident immune cells with parameters reflecting right ventricular function raise the idea of both, promising biomarkers and novel treatment strategies.


The textile and clothing industry, aware of the marketing evolution cannot neglect the requests of comfort, which have been increasing and are actual exigency for clothing goods consumers. There is an urgent need to evaluate and quantify the comfort properties of textile in general. The present work aims to make a study of the different types of lightweight wool fabrics, based on the objective evaluation of thermo and sensorial comfort, according to real preferences, to develop a simple sensorial comfort "predictable model". The approach presented uses a self-organizing map (SOM), this type of neural network perform classification in a non-supervised fashion performing vector quantization and therefore placing similar vectors close together in the two dimensional output space. The unsupervised process leads to the self organization of modelling with no previous knowledge of what is being modelled and therefore it does not model a predetermined environment. Taking the above into account objective properties (physical and mechanical measured parameters) were selected and used to train the neural network to recognize subjective evaluations of sensorial comfort. The methodology applied in this work to develop the model is divided in two parts. In the first part, it was carried out the subjective evaluation of the materials, using a psychophysical methodology that enables the quantification of descriptive aspects of hand sensation (subjective evaluation by a panel of experts). One the other part, studies were conducted on fabric objective measurements: structural, thermal, physical and mechanical properties (KES-FB system). The results of the two parts were correlated by neural network techniques, in order to quantify the comfort, contributing for the definition of comfort sensorial standards for lightweight wool fabrics.


ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to investigate the pharmacokinetics, safety, and tolerability of voriconazole following intravenous-to-oral switch regimens used with immunocompromised Japanese pediatric subjects (age 2 to <15 years) at high risk for systemic fungal infection. Twenty-one patients received intravenous-to-oral switch regimens based on a recent population pharmacokinetic modeling; they were given 9 mg/kg of body weight followed by 8 mg/kg of intravenous (i.v.) voriconazole every 12 h (q12h), and 9 mg/kg (maximum, 350 mg) of oral voriconazole q12h (for patients age 2 to <12 or 12 to <15 years and <50 kg) or 6 mg/kg followed by 4 mg/kg of i.v. voriconazole q12h and 200 mg of oral voriconazole q12h (for patients age 12 to <15 years and ≥50 kg). The steady-state area under the curve over the 12-h dosing interval (AUC0–12,ss) was calculated using the noncompartmental method and compared with the predicted exposures in Western pediatric subjects based on the abovementioned modeling. The geometric mean (coefficient of variation) AUC0–12,ss values for the intravenous and oral regimens were 51.1 μg · h/ml (68%) and 45.8 μg · h/ml (90%), respectively; there was a high correlation between AUC0–12,ss and trough concentration. Although the average exposures were higher in the Japanese patients than those in the Western pediatric subjects, the overall voriconazole exposures were comparable between these two groups due to large interindividual variability. The exposures in the 2 cytochrome P450 2C19 poor metabolizers were among the highest. Voriconazole was well tolerated. The most common treatment-related adverse events were photophobia and abnormal hepatic function. These recommended doses derived from the modeling appear to be appropriate for Japanese pediatric patients, showing no additional safety risks compared to those with adult patients. (This study has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under registration no. NCT01383993.)


The global financial crisis significantly affected the viability of the financial system and the structure of equity markets. In this study, we investigate the phenomenon of family and non-family firms' delisting decisions from the Prime Standard, the highest regulated stock market segment in Germany. We use a sample of 107 family and non-family firms and focus on the delisting decisions for the periods around the financial crises (2003-2015). We use valuation effects as well as logit and firm-fixed effects regressions to provide new evidence why firms leave the highest equity market segments before and subsequent to the crisis. We observe a different behavior for family and non-family firms and the empirical evidence suggests that family firms favor to list in the Prime Standard before the crisis but are more likely to switch to a lower market segment subsequently. We also find that firms changing the market segment underperform prior and subsequent to the crisis, but the order of relative performance between family and non-family firms substantially reverses after the crisis. Firms staying listed on the Prime Standard perform well and possess higher growth opportunities relative to the firms that transfer to a lower market segment. Hence, the firms' cost-benefit considerations are an im-portant explanation for determining the favored stock market segment and the switch to a less regulated market environment. Most importantly, the financial crisis had a significant effect on firms' reassessing their initial listing decisions.


A 5-axis machining method of Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline (NURBS) surface has been proposed in this paper. With the local curvature and the machining error, the step-size was calculated to get the parameter of the next Cutter-Contacting (CC) point. With the method of coordinate transformation, effective machining radius of a flat-end cutter had been deduced and the step-over formed by two adjacent CC paths were implemented. The parameter increment along the CC path interval direction was calculated by using geometric analysis of the local area of CC point. Finally, once all of CC points on the NURBS surface had been obtained, the CC paths for 5-axis surface milling were generated.


CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2008 Abstracts

Abstract #1149

Blockade of estrogen receptor (ERa) by tamoxifen has been considered as a promising therapeutic approach to breast cancer. However, since not all the tumor cells are sensitive to tamoxifen, there is a need for the development of strategies to overcome the tamoxifen-resistance. Recently it has been known that ERa binds to peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) response element and negatively interferes with PPARg signaling in breast cancer cells, whose activation inhibits the growth of various cancer cells. Here we firstly wished to determine whether ERa inhibits PPARg-mediated cell death of human breast cancer cells. Troglitazone, a synthetic PPARg ligand, caused cell death and G1 arrest in both ERa-positive MCF-7 and ERa-negative MDA-MB-231 in a dose-dependent manner, but their degree shows differences between two cells. Troglitazone induced less cell death and G1 cell arrest in ERa-positive MCF-7 than ER-negative MDA-MB-231. The differences were abolished by PPARg knockdown using PPARg specific siRNA, indicating that ER inhibits PPARg-dependent anti-tumor action of PPARg agonist on breast cancer cells. Moreover, troglitazone sensitized breast cancer cells to tamoxifen-induced apoptosis, suggesting that the dose of tamoxifen for breast cancer therapy could be lowered by combination with troglitazone. Our results suggest that ERa-mediated inhibition of PPARg signaling pathways contribute to the growth of breast cancer cell and inhibition of ERa with PPARg activation could be a better approach for ERa-dependent breast cancer.

Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(2 Suppl):Abstract nr 1149.


OBJECTIVE. We examined the association between type of child care, participation in different types of child care in the year before kindergarten and the likelihood of obesity at the start of kindergarten. METHODS. Using a nationally representative sample of 15 691 first-time kindergartners from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort, we used logistic regression to estimate the relationship between type of primary child care arrangement and children's likelihood of being obese at the start of kindergarten. Our models controlled for family and child characteristics associated with obesity and choice of child care. To examine differential effects of child care participation for groups at high risk for obesity, we tested interactions between children's ethnicity and income with primary type of child care. RESULTS. At the start of kindergarten, 12% of the children were obese. Without controlling for other characteristics of children and families, children not in child care were significantly less likely and children in family, friend, and neighbor care were significantly more likely to be obese than children in other primary child care arrangements. White children were significantly less likely and Latino children more likely to be obese than children of other ethnic groups. After controlling for relevant child and family characteristics, children in family, friend, and neighbor care and non-Latino children in Head Start were more likely to be obese than children not in child care. For Latino children, however, participation in some types of nonparental child care had protective effects on their likelihood of being obese. CONCLUSIONS. Primary type of child care is associated with children's obesity. For Latino children, who are at a greater risk of being obese, participation in nonparental child care seems to have a protective effect. These results suggest that child care settings may be an important site for policy intervention during a crucial developmental period. Efforts to help family, friend, and neighbor caregivers support children's physical health may be warranted.


The growing adoption of IT solutions in the healthcare sector is leading to a steady increase in the number of cybersecurity incidents. As a result, organizations worldwide have introduced regulations, standards, and best practices to address cybersecurity and data protection issues in this sector. However, the application of this large corpus of documents presents operational difficulties, and operators continue to lag behind in resilience to cyber attacks. This paper contributes a systematization of the significant cybersecurity documents relevant to the healthcare sector. We collected the 49 most significant documents and used the NIST cybersecurity framework to categorize key information and support the implementation of cybersecurity measures.


Hybrid processing method and apparatus to damage the auxiliary information of the automatic repeat request. The method for a communication system, a receiving terminal, the method comprising the communication system from a transmitting terminal for receiving a first load; and when the receiving terminal can not successfully load the first plurality of information bits successfully decoded when, return a resource metrics to the transmitting terminal to indicate the length of time at a reception of a second load; wherein the transmitter uses a plurality of error correction codes to the encoded information bits for the first load.


ABSTRACT Adamczyk, M.; Giza, A.; Kurylczyk, A.; Terefenko, P., and Zalewski T., 2020. Spatial distribution characteristics of water safety services in Poland. In: Malvárez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 733–737. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that drowning is one of the most common reason of unintentional damage to health or loss of life constituting around 7% of all deaths. Although the problem of drowning has been widely discussed by world literature, no publications for Poland have undertaken research on the correlation between drowning and spatial distribution characteristics of water safety services. In Westpomerania Region (Poland) coastal safety plays important role. Large number of entities attend in the water rescuing activities. In spite of the above-mentioned the existing system does not fulfill perfectly the main aim which is to minimize the risk of drowning mainly due to ineffective spatial distributions of services. To realize appropriate analysis data collected from the Central Statistical Office, drowning reports and the scope of activities have been analyzed. The units were categorized, their operation subjected to the space-time cluster analysis in terms of the range of activities, protected areas and times of reaching the accidents. Those allowed for both, spatial distribution characteristics of water safety services and their evaluation. The results indicate that the current system is ineffective and inefficient in the context of survival of drowning person. The probable explanation is that the services cover too little area, and drowning occurs in places where the time of reaching exceeds 20 minutes. Achieved results enabled to map out new guidelines for drowning prevention strategy for local authorities. The introduction of the developed tools for water safety practice may result in a reduction in the number of drowning in Poland.


We have measured the Zn(d,He)Cu proton pick-up reaction in inverse kinematics at 38 MeV/u. A dedicated set-up was developed to overcome the experimental challenges posed by the low cross section of the reaction and the low energy of the outgoing He particles. The excitation-energy spectrum was reconstructed and spectroscopic factors were obtained after analysis of the angular distributions in the finite-range Distorted-Wave Born Approximation (DWBA). The results show that unlike for the πf5/2 orbital, the πf7/2 singleparticle strength is not appreciably affected by the addition of neutrons beyond N = 40.


Estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer has ability to metastasize to bone in high frequency. Bone is known to be fertile soil for metastasized cancer cells to survive and in turn, metastasized tumor cells alter normally balanced bone environment. Prevention and treatment of bone metastasis is challenging and better understanding why bone metastasis are resistant to current therapies is needed. Aim of the present study was to explore the role of tumor microenvironment and estrogen supplementation on growth of primary breast cancer tumor and bone metastasis to establish predictive ER+ breast cancer models for drug development. ER+ human breast cancer MCF-7 cells were inoculated into mammary fat pad and in the tibia of female athymic nude mice. Mice received either hormonal supplementation (17-beta estradiol pellet, E2) or placebo. Tumor growth was followed for 5 and 9 weeks. From one group, E2 supplementation was removed on study week 5 and tumor growth was followed for 4 weeks. During the study, blood samples were collected for serum steroid concentration measurements and at the end, histopathological evaluation and immunohistochemical (IHC) stainings were performed to examine tumor steroid hormone receptor expression. Orthotopic MCF-7 tumor growth was clearly hormone dependent. E2 supplementation, that increased serum estradiol for app. 3-fold, supported tumor growth and when E2 was removed, tumor size decreased and no tumor growth was observed thereafter. In the full absence of E2 supplement, no orthotopic tumor growth was observed. In contrast, when MCF-7 cells were inoculated into tibia, tumor growth was observed both with and without E2 supplement. IHC stainings confirmed orthotopic tumor to express ER, PR and AR when animals received E2. After E2 removal, orthotopic tumors expressed still ER and AR but no longer PR. Also intratibial tumors expressed ER and PR in the presence of E2, but no PR in the absence of E2 supplement. E2 is needed to support MCF-7 tumor growth when cancer cells are inoculated orthotopically into mammary fat pad. No orthotopic tumor growth is observed in the absence of E2 supplement. In contrast, in the bone microenvironment, MCF-7 cells form tumor even in the absence of E2 supplement. Results highlight importance of tumor microenvironment in the breast cancer progression and also refer why tumor in the different sites may be resistant to therapy. Taking together, when developing new therapies against breast cancer, focus should be addressed not only on primary tumor growth but also on bone metastasis where cancer cells are under influence of bone environment. Citation Format: Jenni Bernoulli, Mari I. Suominen, Tiina Kahkonen, Jenni Maki-Jouppila, Jussi M. Halleen, Riikka Oksala. Importance of tumor microenvironment in the preclinical estrogen receptor positive breast cancer- Primary tumor and bone metastasis models [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4968. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-4968


Animated maps are now technically and economically feasible. Like other forms of cartography, map animation has some unique design considerations, which involve a variety of tradeoffs. Making these tradeoff decisions is easier if we acknowledge that different animation software packages seem to embody a number of different perspectives - a 'flipbook' style of animation, for example, is suited to different tasks than a 'stage-and-actor' or a 'model-and-camera' program. This paper contrasts nine different animation metaphors, with special attention to the degree to which a given tool allows a cartographer to make particular kinds of revisions.


The development of polycystic ovary syndrome and its exact pathophysiological mechanism is still unclear, but environmental and genetic factors likely play a role. Exposition to teratogenic effects during the prenatal development can lead to chronic diseases in the postnatal period. This finding confirms the common familial aggregation as well. A literature search was conducted up to January 1, 2016 for articles dealing with the genetic or epigenetic factors of polycystic ovary syndrome. This review will discuss the current understanding of the genetic basis and clinical presentation of this disease. Orv. Hetil., 2016, 157(32), 1275-1281.


Background: Remote physiological monitoring (RPM) is accessible, convenient, relatively inexpensive, and can improve clinical outcomes. Yet, it is unclear in which clinical setting or target population RPM is maximally effective. Objective: To determine whether patients' demographic characteristics or clinical settings are associated with data transmission and engagement. Methods: This is a prospective cohort study of adults enrolled in a diabetes RPM program for a minimum of 12 months as of April 2020. We developed a multivariable logistic regression model for engagement with age, gender, race, income, and primary care clinic type as variables and a second model to include first-order interactions for all demographic variables by time. The participants included 549 adults (mean age 53 years, 63% female, 54% Black, and 75% very low income) with baseline hemoglobin A1c ≥8.0% and enrolled in a statewide diabetes RPM program. The main measure was the transmission engagement over time, where engagement is defined as a minimum of three distinct days per week in which remote data are transmitted. Results: Significant predictors of transmission engagement included increasing age, academic clinic type, higher annual household income, and shorter time-in-program (p < 0.001 for each). Self-identified race and gender were not significantly associated with transmission engagement (p = 0.729 and 0.237, respectively). Conclusions: RPM appears to be an accessible tool for minority racial groups and for the aging population, yet engagement is impacted by primary care location setting and socioeconomic status. These results should inform implementation of future RPM studies, guide advocacy efforts, and highlight the need to focus efforts on maintaining engagement over time.


Simple Summary Chromosome rearrangements are one of the main etiological factors leading to impaired fertility in the domestic pig. The high prevalence of chromosome rearrangements in swine herds, coupled with the production of significantly lower litter sizes, has led to the implementation of cytogenetics techniques in screening prospective breeding boars for rearrangements. Beginning in the 1960s, classical cytogenetics techniques have been applied in laboratories, resulting in the identification of over 200 distinct chromosome rearrangements in the pig. More recently advances in technology, and the development of molecular cytogenetics and cytogenomics techniques, have enhanced the resolution of rearrangements and advanced diagnostic techniques, allowing for more precise and rapid diagnosis of rearrangements. Abstract The chromosomes of the domestic pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) are known to be prone to reciprocal chromosome translocations and other balanced chromosome rearrangements with concomitant fertility impairment of carriers. In response to the remarkable prevalence of chromosome rearrangements in swine herds, clinical cytogenetics laboratories have been established in several countries in order to screen young boars for chromosome rearrangements prior to service. At present, clinical cytogenetics laboratories typically apply classical cytogenetics techniques such as giemsa-trypsin (GTG)-banding to produce high-quality karyotypes and reveal large-scale chromosome ectopic exchanges. Further refinements to clinical cytogenetics practices have led to the implementation of molecular cytogenetics techniques such as fluorescent in-situ hybridization (FISH), allowing for rearrangements to be visualized and breakpoints refined using fluorescently labelled painting probes. The next-generation of clinical cytogenetics include the implementation of DNA microarrays, and next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies such as DNA sequencing to better explore tentative genome architecture changes. The implementation of these cytogenomics techniques allow the genomes of rearrangement carriers to be deciphered at the highest resolution, allowing rearrangements to be detected; breakpoints to be delineated; and, most importantly, potential gene implications of those chromosome rearrangements to be interrogated. Clinical cytogenetics has become an integral tool in the livestock industry, identifying rearrangements and allowing breeders to make informed breeding decisions.


This report documents the program and the outcomes of Dagstuhl Seminar 17022 "Automated Program Repair". The seminar participants presented and discussed their research through formal and informal presentations. In particular, the seminar covered work related to search-based program repair, semantic program repair, and repair of non-functional properties. As a result of the seminar, several participants plan to launch various follow-up activities, such as a program repair competition, which would help to further establish and guide this young field of research. Seminar January 8–13, 2017 – http://www.dagstuhl.de/17022 1998 ACM Subject Classification D.2 Software Engineering, D.2.5 [Software Engineering] Testing and Debugging


The morphological changes in 64 placentas in toxemia of pregnancy were studied by means of histological (HE, Azan and PAM stains) and morphometrical methods. The author tried to compare these results with inter-typical differences in toxemia classified into H, P and PH type according to the main symptoms, and examined the influence of these results on fetal development. The histological findings were as follows: In comparison with the inter-typical differences, fibrin deposition, damaged basement membrane and swelling of the endothelial cells of villous capillaries were conspicuous in P and PH types. However, prominent syncytial knots, stromal fibrosis and villous atrophies were main findings in H type. The morphometrical findings were as follows: On evaluation of the results of the point count method, both the intervillous space and the volume of the terminal villi decreased in proportion to the degree of toxemia. On evaluation of the results obtained with the Digigramer-G (Mutoh Kohgyo Co. Ltd., Tokyo), the cross-sectional area of terminal villus, the area of the capillary lumina and the number of capillaries per villus showed the same tendency as the results obtained with the point count method. Thus the severity of morphological changes in the toxemic placenta correlated with the extent of fetal development.


The only crystals that could be grown from racemic solutions of the PF6(-) salt of the resolvable cation [Ru(2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline)2(dipyrido[3,2-d:2',3'-f]quinoxaline)](2+) have translational symmetry only (space group P1), contain nine independent sets of ions, and include numerous independent solvent molecules (11 acetone, one diethyl ether and possibly several water molecules). Layers of hydrophobic cations alternate with layers containing most of the anions and solvent molecules. All nine cations have the same basic conformation, which is distorted by the presence of the methyl substituents on the two 1,10-phenanthroline ligands. Four pairs of enantiomeric cations within a layer are related by approximate inversion centers; the ninth cation, which shows no sign of disorder, makes the layer chiral. Within the cation layers stripes parallel to [110] of six cations alternate with stripes of three; the local symmetry and the cation orientations are different in the two stripes. These stripes are reflected in the organization of the anion/solvent layer. The ca 80:20 inversion twinning found indicates that enantiomeric preference is transmitted less perfectly across the anion/solvent layer than within the cation layer. The structure is exceptional in having nine independent formula units and an unbalanced set (ratio 4:5) of resolvable enantiomers. The difficulty in growing crystals of this material is consistent with its structural complexity.


We introduce a type of isomorphism among strategic games that we call local
 isomorphism . Local isomorphisms is a weaker version of the notions of strong
 and weak game isomorphism introduced in [J. Gabarro, A. Garcia and M. Serna,
 Theor. Comput. Sci. 412 (2011) 6675–6695]. In a local
 isomorphism it is required to preserve, for any player, the player's preferences on the
 sets of strategy profiles that differ only in the action selected by this player. We show
 that the game isomorphism problem for local isomorphism is equivalent to the same problem
 for strong or weak isomorphism for strategic games given in: general, extensive and
 formula general form. As a consequence of the results in [J. Gabarro, A. Garcia and M.
 Serna, Theor. Comput. Sci. 412 (2011) 6675–6695] this
 implies that local isomorphism problem for strategic games is equivalent to (a) the
 circuit isomorphism problem for games given in general form, (b) the boolean formula
 isomorphism problem for formula games in general form, and (c) the graph isomorphism
 problem for games given in explicit form.


The purpose of this study was to assess the association of a particular style of music and assertive behavior in middle-school-aged students during exercise. Participants were students enrolled in a public middle school (Grades 6, 7, and 8, N = 502). A statistically significant relationship was found between the number of assertive behaviors occurring while listening to fast tempo music and grades and between difference scores and grades. Difference scores were obtained by subtracting the number of assertive behaviors occurring while listening to fast tempo music from those while listening to slow tempo music. Discriminant function analysis showed the number of assertive behaviors when listening to fast tempo music, and difference scores were predictive of membership by grade. The higher the grade the more assertive behaviors were emitted when listening to fast tempo music.


Abstract A magnetic domain twin consists of two magnetic domains which meet along a planar transition region called a domain wall. The symmetry of a magnetic domain twin consists of those symmetry elements which 1) leave both domains invariant and also leave invariant the normal to the domain wall or 2) interexchange the domains and invert the normal. The magnetic domain symmetry is a magnetic layer group. It is shown how forthcoming tables of the non-magnetic sectional layer groups of non-magnetic crystals (International Tables for Crystallography, Volume E (Kopsky and Litvin)) can be used to determine possible magnetic domain twin symmetry.


Fuxi used to made "the nine needles", "taste hundreds of herbs", who was respectfully named after the ancestor of Chinese medicine. Abundant historical relics and folk culture were preserved in Xinmi, Henan. Compare to other regions in China, Fuxi culture in Xinmi is characterized by primitiveness, individualism, diversity, inheritability and civilite.


Obesity has been demonstrated to be linked to atrial fibrillation (AF) with atrial enlargement and tissue fibrosis. Long-term high calorie intake is the main reason for the prevalence of obesity. To investigate the possible causes of AF, such as chronic high-fat diet (HFD), and to identify the underlying mechanisms, the present study analyzed a variety of structural and gap junctional electrophysiological alterations in the atria of female rats fed an HFD. After consistent HFD feeding of female rats for 12 weeks, hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and Masson's staining, RT-qPCR, western blotting, immunofluorescence and TUNEL staining were performed. In our study, approximately 3/5 of the HFD-fed rats (HFD-OB, n=13) displayed a significant increase in body weight, while the other 2/5 did not (HFD-NOB, n=8). In addition, the atrial weight of the HFD-OB and HFD-NOB rats was markedly heavier, as compared to the rats fed a normal diet (CT, n=20). According to the plasma lipid levels, both HFD-OB and HFD-NOB rats exhibited dyslipidemia. Furthermore, H&E staining revealed broadened interstitial space and myocyte disarray in atria of the HFD-fed rats (i.e., HFD-OB and HFD-NOB rats). Expression levels of atrial fibrosis relevant factors, transforming growth factor-β1 and matrix metalloproteinase-2, were significantly upregulated in the HFD-fed rat atria. In addition, we found a gap junction remodeling with distinct alterations in expression and distribution of connexin 40 (Cx40) and Cx43 in the HFD-fed rat atria. Moreover, a modest increase in apoptotic cell death in both the HFD-OB and HFD-NOB rat atria was detected. Taken together, our findings demonstrated that the impact of chronic HFD on atria displayed in the diet-induced obese rats was observed in HFD-fed rats in the absence of obesity as well.


Likierman's paper is an exemplary demonstration of the exquisite attention to the patient's unconscious that is typical of many of the finest analysts, and of British object relationalists in particular. This attention facilitates the analyst's containment and eventually, interpretation, of the disturbing psychic elements, in the classic Kleinian sequence. Likierman's use of the term intersubjectivity in relation to this process is contrasted with its use in relational theory, where the analyst's active participation is affirmatively stressed along with her more absorbent receptivity. Likierman's own use of Kleinian clinical theory is regarded ambivalently: On one hand, it supports the rigorous pursuit of reflection that is featured in her account; on the other, it carries a tone of severity and unacknowledged self-reproach.


By means of Doppler echocardiography there have been studied disturbances of intracardiac hemodynamics in 44 children aged 8-17 years with chronic rheumatic cardiac disease and developed mitral aortal and combined heart defects, as well as in chronic rheumatic cardiac disease without developed valvar defect. Differential approach has been defined to administration of inhibitors of angiotensin-converting factor in rheumatic heart defects: developed insufficiency of mitral and/or aortal valves II-III stage leads to remodeling of the left heart portions with developing chronic insufficiency of blood circulation, being an index for prolonged, not less than a year usage of the angiotensin-converting factor. In the presence of isolated mitral regurgitation, I stage in children with chronic rheumatic cardiac disease usage of the angiotensin-converting factor may be cancelled due to insignificant disturbances of valvar hemodynamics and a small risk of developing blood circulation insufficiency. Timely sanation of chronic infection foci in nasopharynx (conservative and surgical treatment of chronic tonsillitis, adenoid vegetations, therapy of hemolytic streptococcus presence) decreases risk of developing rheumatic heart defect in children suffered acute rheumatic fever.


Shale rocks are rich in organic minerals, also it contains multi-scale micro-nano pores, making flow mechanism of fracturing fluid in microscopic pores of shale and the interactions between fracturing fluid and shale very complicated. In this study, firstly, the initial microscopic pore structure of shale before hydration was analyzed by field emission electron microscope. Secondly, the dynamic changes of microscopic pore structure in shale hydration was observed at fixed points with the scanning electron microscopy to find out the correlation between induced micro-fractures and mineral components. Finally, the influence of hydration on the changes of shale physical properties was analyzed. The test results of shale sample from Longmaxi formation (LF) in the Sichuan Basin indicate the micro-fractures induced by shale hydration weremainly shale bedding fractures, with obvious directionality. Clay minerals play a leading role in the formation and expansion of induced fractures. After 10 days of hydration, the porosity can be increased by 2.1 times, and the permeability can be increased by 273.7 times. Therefore, an appropriate shut-in treatment can dramatically enhance post-fracturing performance. The research results can guide the optimization of flowback system and provide scientific basis for efficient development of shale gas reservoirs.


Substance P (SP), a putative peptide neurotransmitter, was measured in human lumbar cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) by radioimmunoassay. Substance P-like immunoreactivity (SPLI) was present in the CSF of 18 neurologically normal adults in concentrations ranging from 2.9 to 11.1 fmol per milliliter, with a mean of 7.0 ± 0.6 fmol per milliliter (mean ± SE). Slightly more than half of the CSF-SPLI cochromatographed with synthetic SP on Sephadex G-25. There was no apparent gradient in CSF-SPLI concentration over the first 30 ml of CSF removed by lumbar puncture. Mean concentrations of CSF-SPLI in patients with Huntington disease, parkinsonism, miscellaneous dyskinesias, progressive supranuclear palsy, myopathy, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis did not differ significantly from normal. Patients with neuropathy or multiple-system atrophy (Shy-Drager syndrome) had significantly reduced mean CSF-SPLI concentrations. These observations suggest that lumbar CSF-SPLI arises largely from spinal cord, nerve roots, or dorsal root ganglia, and that pathologic processes affecting these structures may be reflected by reduced levels of CSF-SPLI.


Short-arc quadriceps exercise are commonly prescribed in physical therapy for strengthening knee extensor musculature. Determining the appropriate starting resistance has traditionally been a trial-and-error procedure. Therefore, developing an expedient method of estimating the correct starting resistance may lead to a more accurate exercise prescription. The primary purpose of this study was to establish a technique for predicting an individual's 10 repetition maximum (10 RM) based on hand-held dynamometer (HHD) strength recording and additional anthropometric predictor variables. Fifty healthy subjects (31 males and 19 females), aged 22-53 years, participated in the study. A prediction equation for determining 10 RM using HHD strength recording, weight, gender, and age was developed. By implementing this equation, clinicians can predict a normal, healthy, young to middle-aged adult's 10 RM within +/- 4.17 kg with a 95% confidence level (SEE = 2.13 kg).


Plasmas are examples of non-equilibrium phenomena which are being used increasingly for the synthesis and modification of materials impossible by conventional routes. This paper introduces methods available by describing the construction and characteristics of some equipment used for the production of different types of plasmas and other non-equilibrium phenomena. This includes high energy ion beams. The special features, advantages and disadvantages of the techniques will be described. There are a multitude of potential applications relevant to electronic, metallic, ceramic, and polymeric materials. However, scale-up from the laboratory to production equipment depends on establishing a better understanding of both the physics and chemistry of plasmas as well as plasma-solid interactions. Examples are given of how such an understanding can be gained. The chemical analysis of polymer surfaces undergoing modification by inert gas, hydrogen or oxygen plasmas is shown to give physical information regarding the relative roles of diffusion of active species, and direct and radiative energy transfer from the plasma. Surface modification by plasma depositing a new material onto an existing substrate is discussed with particular reference to the deposition of amorphous carbon films. Applications of the unique properties of these films are outlined together with our current understanding of these properties based on chemical and physical methods of analysis of both the films and the plasmas producing them. Finally, surface modification by ion beams is briefly illustrated using examples from the electronics and metals industries where the modification has had a largely physical rather than chemical effect on the starting material.


Abstract The article describes the impact of the gas turbine engine low-pressure turbine blade shroud shelf on the blade profile stress position. Attention is focused directly on the impact of the location of the gravity centre of the shroud shelf on blade stress distribution at the three most critical points of the profile. The paper describes the details of the calculation and the required expressions provided, as well as the results of the calculation example with clear graphical dependencies.


Ant societies are tractable and malleable, two features that make them ideal models for probing the organization of complex biological systems. The ability to identify specific individuals while they function as part of a colony permits an integrative analysis of social complexity, including self-organizational processes (i.e., how individual-level properties and social interactions give rise to emergent, colony-level attributes such as division of labor and collective decision making). Effects of genotype, nutrition, and physiology on individual behavior and the organization of work also can be investigated in this manner, through correlative and manipulative approaches. Moreover, aspects of colony demography (e.g., colony size, and age and size distributions of workers) can be altered experimentally to examine colony development and regulatory mechanisms underlying colony homeostasis and resiliency. This protocol describes how to sample the behavior of ants living in a colony under laboratory conditions. Specifically, it outlines how to identify and observe individuals within a colony, an approach that can be used to quantify individual- and colony-level patterns of behavior. When a lower-resolution measure of overall group behavior is desired, individual identities might not be required. Given the diversity of ants and their study, this protocol provides a very general methodology; the details can be modified according to the body size, colony size, and ecology of the focal species, as well as to specific research aims. These basic techniques can also be extended to more advanced experimental designs such as manipulation of colony demography and hormone treatment.


Pyruvate decarboxylase (EC 220.127.116.11) was isolated and purified from the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis. The properties of this enzyme relating to the native oligomeric state, the subunit size, the nucleotide sequence of the coding gene(s), the catalytic activity, and protein fluorescence as well as circular dichroism are very similar to those of the well characterized pyruvate decarboxylase species from yeast. Remarkable differences were found in the substrate activation behaviour of the two pyruvate decarboxylases using three independent methods: steady-state kinetics, stopped-flow measurements, and kinetic dilution experiments. The dependence of the observed activation rate constant on the substrate concentration of pyruvate decarboxylase from K. lactis showed a minimum at a pyruvate concentration of 1.5 mm. According to the mechanism of substrate activation suggested this local minimum occurs due to the big ratio of the dissociation constants for the binding of the first (regulatory) and the second (catalytic) substrate molecule. The microscopic rate constants of the substrate activation could be determined by a refined fit procedure. The influence of the artificial activator pyruvamide on the activation of the enzyme was studied.


SUMMARY Epidural abscesses are uncommon forms of spinal infection, presenting severe complications due to its difficult diagnosis and management. Although diagnosis and management have evolved, mortality rates are still high, ranging from 5 to 32% ac- cording to literature. The authors present a case of thoracic spine fracture, evolving with an epidural abscess, in a patient suffering from ankylosing spondylitis, with longstanding steroid therapy. A rapidly progressive neurological deficit developed, which resolved after emergency decompression and fracture fixation. Despite of the long-term antibiotic treatment, the infection recurred, being controlled only after hardware removal. In cases of spine fractures associated to immunossupression, the hypothesis of epidural abscess, especially with intense pain or progressive neurological deficit, must be considered.


Efferent physical therapy holds promise as an adjunct to the combination treatment of femoral fractures in young, working-age individuals. The aim of the study was to investigate the dynamics of bone turnover markers at different stages of femoral fracture consolidation in patients undergoing ozone therapy. The study enrolled 20 men (group 2, 47.8 ± 3.5 years) with a femoral shaft fracture (AO/ASIF 32А, 32В). The control group (group 1, 46.8 ± 3.7 years) comprised 10 healthy males. Subgroup 2a (n = 10) was assigned to receive standard therapy; subgroup 2b (n = 10) was assigned to receive standard therapy complemented by minor autohemotherapy (MAHT) at 20 mg/L ozone concentrations. On days 7, 30 and 90, fracture consolidation was assessed on the RUST scale and blood levels of С-terminal telopeptides of type I collagen (bCTx, pg/ml) and procollagen type I carboxy-terminal propeptide (PICP, ng/ml) were measured. On day 7, the total RUST score in subgroups 2a and 2b was 4 points; on day 30, it was 6.5 and 8.7 points, respectively, and on day 90, it reached 10 and 11.5 points, respectively. Bone mineral density was as high as 90% in the MAHT subgroup vs. 78% in subgroup 2а, indicating faster bone healing. On day 30, bCTx levels in subgroup 2b were higher than in subgroup 2a (2289.4 [2145.3; 2365.4] vs. 1894.6 [1745.3; 2098.2], respectively. On day 7, PICP was significantly elevated in subgroup 2b in comparison with subgroup 2a; its levels peaked on days 30 and 90 (day 30: 268.3 [231.2; 286.3] vs. 183.2 [174.6; 195.6]; day 90: 584.6 [512.3; 589.3] vs. 351.2 [312.3; 369.4]. Thus, MAHT produces a positive effect on the quality and intensity of bone healing in men with isolated closed femoral shaft fractures.


There is very little scientific literature that considers the relationship between religions and an integral concept of Sustainable Development, including its three dimensions (social, economic and environmental), as proposed in the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It was necessary to conduct a study of this kind, with the aim of making visible and show with concrete data, the contribution of religions to the integral sustainability. This paper presents an empirical research in which we intend to make visible the actions performed by religious organizations in Catalonia, that have been contributing to the Sustainable Development. The study is the launching of the Sustainability and Religions Watch. This study about the contribution of religious organizations to the Sustainable Development has been made by a mixed method with two techniques for data collection: firstly, has counted the presence of indicators linked to the priority areas of Sustainable Development, from the analysis of the content of the websites of religious organizations (quantitative analysis). Moreover, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted to representatives of religious organizations (qualitative analysis). The study of the contribution of religions to the Sustainable Development opens new doors to interfaith dialogue because it is based on elements that are common between different beliefs. This dialogue is a path that can effectively contribute to peace.  Key words: Sustainability and Religions; Interfaith dialogue; religions and social peace.


Forty-six unassertive Ss were randomly assigned to assertion training (AT) or waiting-list control conditions. Ss receiving AT showed significantly greater improvements from pretreatment to post-treatment on 8 out of 10 questionnaire measures of assertiveness and 3 out of 5 direct behavioral observation measures compared with the waiting-list group. 27 Ss who had completed the AT program were then randomly assigned to 1 of 3 booster conditions, namely, monthly assertion training boosters (ATB), monthly attention placebo boosters (APB), or no boosters (NB). At the 3-month follow-up there was minimal difference between booster conditions. By the 6-month follow-up the results favored the ATB condition. Although the APB procedure was effective in preventing the relapse shown by the NB subjects, the ATB group actually showed further improvements on some measures of assertiveness during the 6-month follow-up period.


The authors discuss how to control outputs from deep learning models of text corpora so as to create contemporary poetic works. They assess whether these controls are successful in the immediate sense of creating stylometric distinctiveness. The specific context is the authors' piece The Character Thinks Ahead (2016–2017); the potential applications are broad.


While stock options are commonly used in managerial compensation to provide desirable incentives, their adverse effects have not been widely appreciated. We show that a call-type contract creates incentives to distort the choice of investment risk. Relative to the risk level that maximizes firm value, a call option contract can induce too much or too little corporate risk-taking, depending on managerial risk aversion and the underlying investment technology. We show that including additional compensation features of option repricing and/or severance packages has desirable countervailing effects on managerial choice of corporate risk policies. We argue that lookback call options are analogous to the observed practice of option repricing, and put options are analogous to severance packages. Such complex option-like features in managerial contracts can induce risk policies that increase shareholder wealth.


Changes in the composition and abundance of fish larvae in the water column were analyzed throughout an annual cycle (1994-1995) in the southern Gulf of Mexico, in order to establish the difference between the habitat of the larvae and the effect of oceanographic events on larval vertical distribution. The study area comprised the continental shelf off Tabasco and Campeche in the southern Gulf of Mexico. Samples were collected at five water column levels: 0-6, 6-12, 12-18, 45-55 and 95-105 m. A total of 118 taxa were identified, 52 were dominant species, 33 were larvae of neritic parents and 19 were larvae of mesopelagic parents. The results indicate that the water column presented two layers above the 105 m depth: a surface layer (0-18 m) and a deep layer (45-105 m). The greatest density of larval species that inhabit neritic areas as adults was recorded in the surface layer (0-18 m), while larvae of which the parents inhabit mesopelagic areas were found in the deep layer (45-105 m). The mixing of the water column was the most important physical factor regarding the variation in the vertical distribution of the larvae of both groups, particularly in winter. However, the biology of each species and the habit to occupy a particular depth was the most important factor that determined their distribution in the water column.


BACKGROUND
The mechanisms underlying cyclosporine neurotoxicity remain undefined. Particularly, whether cyclosporine (CyA) enters cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or brain tissue is disputed.

METHODS
We analyzed CSF from 17 lumbar punctures performed in 14 liver recipients receiving CyA and experiencing neurological complications, fever of unknown origin, seizures, or altered mental status. Whole blood samples were assayed for CyA and its metabolites. Liver function tests, serum electrolytes, and cholesterol were also analyzed.

RESULTS
Four patients had cyclosporine metabolites in the CSF. These patients had acute renal insufficiency and significantly higher blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and total and direct bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase levels than patients without CyA metabolites in CSF (P < 0.05). Whole blood levels of CyA parent drug were similar between groups. Levels of CyA metabolites in the blood were significantly higher in patients with metabolites in the CSF. CyA parent drug was undetectable in CSF in both groups.

CONCLUSIONS
This is the first prospective report of CyA metabolites in the CSF of transplant recipients. Acute renal insufficiency and high bilirubin levels may be associated with entry of CyA metabolites into the CSF.


"e collection of medals in the National Museum of Banat from Timisoara boasts a silver medal (inv. no. 130) of great artistic, as well as memorialistic value. "e piece recalls the 1875 erection of the monument of Ferdinand Maximilian Josef of Habsburg (1832–1867), Archduke of Austria, Emperor of Mexico (1864–1867), in Trieste, who would remain in the memory of contemporaries due to his tragic fate."e medal was made by Josef Tautenhayn Senior (1837–1911), one of the most important Austrian medalists of the 19th century, a perfectionist of forms, famous for the beauty of his medals. With a diameter of 70.4 mm and a weight of 133.97 grams, the medal was donated to the museum in 1881 by the Minister of War Szende (Frummer) Béla (1823–1882), a native of Banat, along with six other medals.It presents the biography of Maximilian, who had a brilliant career in the Navy, and the special relationship he had with the city of Trieste, chosen as his residence in 1854. Married on July 27th, 1857 to Princess Maria Charlotte of Belgium (1840–1927), the couple would settle in Trieste in 1859, in the splendid Miramare Castle built between 1856–1860 based on the plans of the architect Carl Junker (1827–1882). Here, for several years, Maximilian, who was passionate about natural sciences (especially botany), history, art and literature, devoted himself to travel, scientific and literary pursuits.From here, Maximilian and Carlota will leave on April 14th, 1864 by the frigate Novara for Veracruz, after Maximilian's acceptance of the crown of Mexico, in an attempt doomed to failure from the beginning. After the execution of Maximilian by the republicans on June 19th, 1867, his lifeless body was brought here by the frigate Novara in January 1868, on the way to Vienna.On July 13th, 1867 a Committee was already formed in Trieste for the erection of a monument dedicated to the memory of Maximilian, which brought together personalities of the city and gathered the necessary funds by public subscription. "e monument, made by the German sculptor Johann Schilling (1828–1910) was inaugurated on April 3rd, 1875 in the presence of Emperor Franz Josef in Giuseppina Square, overlooking the harbour. For this festive moment, the medal which is the subject of this article was issued, made of gold, silver and bronze at the Vienna Mint, designed and drawn by Prof. Johann Schilling, the designer of the monument, and engraved by Josef Tautenhayn Senior. It should be noted that on February 27th, 1875, when the foundation of the monument was built, two medals (one silver, one bronze) were deposited in the foundation along with several silver coins circulating at the time and two documents documenting the erection of the monument.In 1921, when the monument was dismantled to be relocated, the medals, coins and documents deposited in the foundation in February 1875 were discovered, were donated to the Museum of History and Arts in Trieste. "e monument was stored behind an annex in the park of Miramare Castle until 1961, when it was placed in a touristic area of the park. In December 2008, the monument was relocated to its original location, Giuseppina Square (now Piazza Venezia), as a sign of acceptance of the past.


Latent factor models for recommender systems represent users and items as low dimensional vectors. Privacy risks of such systems have previously been studied mostly in the context of recovery of personal information in the form of usage records from the training data. However, the user representations themselves may be used together with external data to recover private user information such as gender and age. In this paper we show that user vectors calculated by a common recommender system can be exploited in this way. We propose the privacy-adversarial framework to eliminate such leakage of private information, and study the trade-off between recommender performance and leakage both theoretically and empirically using a benchmark dataset. An advantage of the proposed method is that it also helps guarantee fairness of results, since all implicit knowledge of a set of attributes is scrubbed from the representations used by the model, and thus can't enter into the decision making. We discuss further applications of this method towards the generation of deeper and more insightful recommendations.


Being an organization working and advocating on environment issues, and having been using extensive IT to carry out its operations, projects and programmes, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain development, ICIMOD, www.icimod.org, was keen to measure the carbon footprint of its computing technology out of IT use mainly. There was equally the motivation to go green with IT as the organization looked into reducing operating expenses, be socially responsible by reducing environmental impact and to support the broader scientific consensus on climate change, which is another priority working area of ICIMOD. Thus, in this study focus has been given to calculate total power consumption by users computers, individually and collectively, and the same for the server systems hosted. To calculate carbon footprint, the power consumed figure have been fed into an widely accepted algorithm from AMEE, www.amee.com to take stock of carbon emissions in terms kg of CO2 equivalents. Various other analogies has been drawn from the results obtained ranging from server to distributed PCs ratio of CO2 emission, individual CO2 emission from computer use raising awareness for staff, consideration of other phases of product, besides use, and pretest on response to effect of applying a common power management strategy. The outcome was also compared with the results from similar measurements by a computer product manufacturer, using another approach, thereby corroborating the results. Further, in this phase of the work, key figures and thereby trend has come out to take actions and influence IT asset procurement. This paper therefore highlights the importance of calculating and knowing IT carbon footprint, following which how organizations can reap benefit in reducing costs and environmental impact through green computing, and features experience of a leading-edge, mid-sized organization.


The National Health and Medical Research Council gives no assurance as to the accuracy or relevance of any of the information contained in this rescinded publication. The National Health and Medical Research Council assumes no legal liability or responsibility for errors or omissions contained within this rescinded publication for any loss or damage incurred as a result of reliance on this publication.


Many pulses and beans grown for human comsumption are susceptible to insect attack. Winged bean, a high protein crop of the tropics, yield seeds which appear to be immune to infestation by the storage bruchid Callosobruchus maculatus. In this thesis the biochemical basis of this resisitance was investigated. Insect bio-assays were carried out in which protein fractions from seeds of winged bean were incorporated at a range of concentrations into artificial seeds, and their effects upon the development of C.maculatus determined. Both albumin and globulin fractions were toxic to the developing larvae and their toxicity correlated with their haemagglutination activity. Assay of psophocarpin fractions A, B and C found the fraction psophocarpin B to be most insecticidal. On further purification this fraction yielded two lectin fractions and a protease inhibitor fraction. Purified basic lectin was highly insecticidal to C. maculatus larvae with an LC(_50) value of 0.35%. The physiological level of this protein in winged bean seeds is sufficient to account for their resistance to attack by C maculatus. Winged bean trypsin inhibitor was also purified and tested in artificial seeds against C maculatus. However, even at concentrations in excess of twice the physiological concentration it had no deleterious effects upon development. Winged bean protein fractions, incorporated in artificial diets, proved toxic to the Lepidopteran pests Heliothis virescens and Spodoptera littoralis in bio-assays, but it appeared that the basic lectin was not responsible for toxicity towards these insects. Attempts to clone the gene encoding the winged bean basic lectin were made by constructing cDNA and genomic libraries, and heterologous lectin genes from soybean and Phaseolus were investigated as possible probes for the basic lectin gene. Purification of the basic lectin B3 and sequencing of 44% of its primary protein structure, along with comparisons with other legume lectin sequences allowed the synthesis of oligonucleotide primers for use in polymerase chain reaction experiments. However, all the PGR products obtained were shown to be the result of non-specific amplification. Further work needed to obtain the basic lectin gene is discussed.


A seven-year-old girl developed angioedema and a generalized, erythematous rash several hours after receiving lignocaine with adrenaline reproducible on provocative challenge, confirming the first known case of generalized delayed-type hypersensitivity to local anaesthetics with cross-reactivity to bupivacaine but not chloroprocaine.