ErbB2 is amplified in ~30% of breast cancer patients, and its amplification is associated with poor prognosis and worse survival outcome. We examined the synergistic effect of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) with anti-erbB2/neu mAb on erbB2-positive cancer model. IFN-γ showed marginal effects on its own, indicating that immune therapies mediated by this cytokine alone are unlikely to be beneficial. However, we discovered that treatment of the tumors with anti-erbB2/neu mAb concomitant with IFN-γ led to dramatic inhibition of in vivo tumor growth in the syngeneic tumor model and the preventional MMTV-neu transgenic mouse tumor model. We noted an increase of M1 macrophage accumulation in the tumor tissues as well as diminished myeloid derived suppressor cells, and increased CD8+ T cell cytotoxicity against tumor cells in the IFN-γ plus anti-erbB2/neu mAb treated mice. The tumor cells treated with both mAb and IFN-γ underwent changes in tumor stem cell marker ALDH-1, indicating a loss of stem cell-like properties, while mAb treatment alone did not accomplish this phenotypic change. We found that IFN-γ treatment significantly increase tumor PD-L1 expression, so we included anti-PD-1 or PD-L1 antibody with this combination therapy. Interestingly, anti-PD-L1 antibody further reduced tumor growth, while anti-PD-1 did not affect very much. These results indicate that the treatment of IFN-γ can improve targeted therapy, and further induce PD-L1 expression on tumor cells, creating a new target on the tumor cells for anti-PD-L1 therapy.


The emerging field of emotion regulation studies how individuals influence which emotions they have, when they have them, and how they experience and express them. This review takes an evolutionary perspective and characterizes emotion in terms of response tendencies. Emotion regulation is defined and distinguished from coping, mood regulation, defense, and affect regulation. In the increasingly specialized discipline of psychology, the field of emotion regulation cuts across traditional boundaries and provides common ground. According to a process model of emotion regulation, emotion may be regulated at five points in the emotion generative process: (a) selection of the situation, (b) modification of the situation, (c) deployment of attention, (d) change of cognitions, and (e) modulation of responses. The field of emotion regulation promises new insights into age-old questions about how people manage their emotions.


Thermally stable explosives are becoming more and more important nowadays due to their important role in the oil and mining industry. The requirements of these explosives are constantly changing. Picramate‐based compounds are poorly investigated towards their energetic properties as well as sensitivities. In this work, 13 different salts of picramic acid were synthesized as potential energetic materials with high thermal stability in a simple one‐step reaction and compared with commercially used lead picramate. The obtained compounds were extensively characterized by e. g. XRD, IR, EA, DTA, and TGA. In addition, the sensitivities towards impact and friction were determined with the BAM drop hammer and the BAM friction tester. Also, the electrostatic discharge sensitivity was explored. Calculations of the energetic performance of selected compounds were carried out with the current version of EXPLO5 code. Therefore, heats of formation were computed and X‐ray densities were converted to room temperature. Some of the synthesized salts show promising characteristics with high exothermic decomposition temperatures. Especially, the water‐free rubidium, cesium, and barium salts 5 , 6 and 10 with decomposition temperatures of almost 300 °C could be promising candidates for future applications.


Based on empirical research, this article addresses the role of cultural intermediaries in the production, distribution, and reception of independent or "indie" digital games. Festival and showcase curators, local community organizers, co-working space managers, promoters, critics, funders, granting agencies, and other support actors are central to sustaining indie game cultures, but are often overlooked. Our research makes visible the diverse taskscapes of cultural intermediaries; the wide variety of brokering, translating, value-ascribing, connection-making, and care work involved; and the attendant tensions and challenges. We contend that cultural intermediary work in the game industry is characterized by precarity, extensive and largely invisible behind-the-scenes work, complex networks of interdependence and support, blurred boundaries between the personal and the professional, and a delicate balance between autonomy and integration.


Sudden thrombocytopenia that was temporally related to the administration of morphine sulfate developed in a 23-year-old woman. A morphine-dependent platelet antibody was found in her serum by chromic chloride Cr 51 platelet lysis. The antibody was complement dependent, present in the IgG immunoglobulin fraction, and its drug-dependent platelet lytic activity was demonstrable with several narcotic analgesics in addition to morphine. The antibody activity declined over an eight-month period following recovery from thrombocytopenia. To our knowledge, morphine-induced immune thrombocytopenia has not previously been described.


The various isoforms of transforming growth factor-beta (TGFbeta) are growth-inhibiting cytokines for cells of epithelial origin. In malignant thyroid tumors, several studies documented a high expression of TGFbeta in the majority of thyroid follicular cells suggesting a possible role as an inhibitor of cell proliferation. In contrast to this uniform pattern of TGFbeta expression in thyroid cancer, scarce and controversial data have been reported on the expression of TGFbeta in benign multinodular goiter. In the present study, we therefore analyzed the expression of TGFbeta1, TGFbeta2, and TGFbeta3 in normal thyroid tissue, multinodular goiters and papillary thyroid carcinomas by immunohistochemistry. In normal thyroid tissue, expression of the 3 TGFbeta isoforms was barely detectable. However, in the carcinomas, almost all epithelial cells displayed immunoreactivity for the three TGFbeta isoforms. In the nodules from multinodular goiters, all 3 isoforms were found to be expressed although the immunolocalization of the 3 proteins was highly variable. TGFbeta-immunostaining was found in scattered clusters of variable size and, its expression pattern was heterogenous among individual cells within single follicles. TGFbeta-positivity was present in spite of immunostaining for proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), a marker for actively proliferating cells. In conclusion, this study shows that thyroid carcinomas and benign tumors express the TGFbeta1, TGFbeta2, and TGFbeta3 isoforms. In contrast to the abundant and homogeneous expression in differentiated thyroid carcinomas, TGFbeta expression displays a highly variable interfollicular and intrafollicular pattern in multinodular goiters, suggesting an important role of TGFbeta isoforms in tumorigenesis of thyroid cells.


Anterior chamber-associated immune deviation (ACAID) is characterized by the systemic inhibition of delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) reactions to antigens which have previously been placed into the anterior chamber of the eye. Since its initial characterization, ACAID has been elicited to a wide variety of antigens, including alloantigens, and has been shown to be due to the immune deviating effects of factors such as transforming growth factor beta (TGF-ß) in the aqueous humor on ocular antigen-presenting cells (APCs). ACAID can also be induced by injecting animals with nonocular APCs, such as peritoneal exudate cells (PECs), which have been precultured with TGF-ß and antigen in vitro. The objective of this study was to determine whether alloantigenic ACAID can be effective in preventing the rejection of rat islet allografts. The notion that islet allograft rejection can be inhibited by ACAID stems from an early study showing an ACAID-induced delay in the rejection of skin grafts. Furthermore, the immune cells mediating a DTH reaction are similar to those implicated in islet allograft rejection, suggesting that they, too, may be subject to inhibition by ACAID. Our results showed that in spite of successful ACAID induction to islet allografts, recipient rats consistently rejected their grafts. Cytotoxic T cell activity (which is not inhibited by ACAID) directed against donor alloantigens was high in these animals and may have accounted, in part, for graft failure.


The phylogenetic composition of a bacterial community from a hypertrophic freshwater lake in China was investigated by sequencing cloned 16S rRNA genes. Three hundred and thirty-six bacterial clones from four clone libraries in different months (March, May, July and September in 2004) were classified into 142 operational taxonomic units, most of which were affiliated with bacterial divisions commonly found in freshwater ecosystem, e.g. Alpha-, Beta-, Gamma- and Deltaproteobacteria, Bacteriodetes and Actinobacteria. The results showed that the composition of bacterial community in the July library was the most diverse one. Actinobacteria was the most significant lineage in Lake Taihu, with dominant numbers of operational taxonomic units in the May, July and September libraries. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that 53 sequences were grouped into six novel clusters which may represent specific populations indigenous to the environment. Coverage analyses indicated that the clone libraries could provide a fine inventory of bacterial diversity in the lake.


Introduction: DSM-IV and ICD-10 criteria do not allow co-diagnosis of Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), but some researchers have noted that persons with PDD including Asperger's disorder (AS) sometimes have symptoms similar to those of ADHD. The present study evaluated ADHD symptoms in adults with AS using Conner's Adult ADHD Rating Scales screening version (CAARS- S:SV) in a Japanese sample. Methods: The present study evaluated ADHD symptoms in 40 adults with AS and 38 normal adults using CAARS-S:SV, Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ), Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ). The AS and the normal control group did not differ significantly in age, sex ratio, or estimated IQ. Results: Total, Inattention/Memory, and Hyperactivity/Restlessness scores of CAARS-S:SV were significantly higher in persons with AS than those in controls. In persons with AS, there was no significant correlation among three CAARS-S: SV scores and AQ. Discussion: These findings indicated that adults with AS have considerable ADHD symptoms, as well as in childhood and adolescence reported in previous reports. The results that in persons with AS total score of AQ was not correlated with CAARS scores indicated that ASD and ADHD have different pathophysiology.


Abstract Species may reach novel habitats through dispersal but nevertheless be restricted in their establishment at different life history stages by local conditions. However, disturbances may alter local conditions within a habitat and hence change establishment outcomes. We investigated the establishment of two non-native weeds of pastures and roadsides, Carduus nutans and Carduus acanthoides, in three contiguous habitats (abandoned pasture, forest edge, and forest) under three disturbance treatments: no disturbance, initial disturbance only (pulse disturbance; i.e., temporary), and initial disturbance with weeding (press disturbance; i.e., sustained). For both species, establishment was not limited by seedling emergence in any habitat, although emergence in the pasture and forest edge relied heavily on disturbance. Combined emergence and survival in the pasture and forest edge were also significantly increased by disturbance, but disturbance had no effect in the forest, where seedlings were unable to survive. Our results show how the spread of a species into different habitats may be limited at different life history stages under different disturbance regimes.


ABSTRACT Previous research with adults has shown mixed findings regarding the correlation between specificity and detailedness within autobiographical memories, and their associations with depressive symptoms. However, minimal research has tested these links in adolescents, despite the importance of this developmental period. The present investigation examined these associations in a sample of young community adolescents in Spain (N = 768; Mage = 11.04) by replicating methodology of existing studies. Cued recall was measured using the Autobiographical Memory Test and responses were subsequently coded for specificity (whether the memory referred to an event that lasted less than 24 hours) and amount of detail (time, place, sensory-perceptual information, etc.). Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Patient Reported Outcomes Measure Information System (PROMIS) measure. Two linear mixed models showed that young adolescents who retrieved more detail recalled a greater number of specific memories and that specific memories included a greater amount of detail than nonspecific memories. However, neither memory specificity nor detail were associated with depressive symptoms. Our findings suggest that, in a population of young adolescents, memory specificity and detail are distinct, but interrelated, constructs. Further longitudinal research should examine whether specificity and detail predict depressive symptoms differentially over the course of adolescence; possible mediators and moderators within this association should also be investigated.


Stimulation of the posterior tibial nerve has been associated with different somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP) recorded along the spine and thorax. The aim of this study was to register and describe the magnetic fields corresponding to different components of spinal SEP after stimulation of tibial nerves. In nine healthy subjects, right and left posterior tibial nerves were transcutaneously electrostimulated at the ankles. Neuromagnetic fields were registered over a circular 800 cm2 area of the lumbosacral spine using a 61-channel biomagnetometer. Magnetic field maps were constructed and examined visually for dipolar patterns. Equivalent current dipoles (ECD) were calculated for each somatosensory evoked field (SEF) using a least-squares fit in a spherical model. In seven subjects dipolar SEF were detected over the lower back at two separate latencies and locations and propagating ECD could be localized. Both the first and second components found agreed anatomically and functionally with respect to propagation in the underlying nerve fibers. It was possible to record and identify SEF which correspond to the SEP described in the literature. Dipole localization based on an equivalent current dipole model allowed a basic evaluation of the plausibility of the measurements with respect to the processes being examined.


Background. Hypertension is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of hypertension in a population of male bus drivers in North Kerala, India. Methods. The study population included male bus drivers of Corporation Bus stand Kozhikode, Kerala. Blood pressure, height, and weight of subjects were measured, and relevance was obtained using a structured questionnaire. Results. Age varied from 21 to 60 years (mean 36.5 ± 8.4). Among 179 bus drivers studied, 16.8% (30/179) had normal BP, 41.9% (75/179) had prehypertension, and 41.3% (74/179) had hypertension. Isolated systolic HTN was seen in 6.70% (12/179) individuals. Out of 74 hypertensives, 9 (12.1%) were aware of their hypertension, while 3 (4.0%) were medicated and only 1 (1.3%) had BP adequately controlled. Age > 35 years (P = 0.015), BMI ≥ 23 kg/m2 (P = 0.007), supporting more than four family members (P = 0.011), and taking main meals from restaurants on most working days (P = 0.017) were independently associated with HTN in binary logistic regression. Conclusion. Prevalence of hypertension was high among bus drivers. Age > 35 years, elevated BMI, supporting a large family, and dietary habits associated with the job showed significant association with hypertension. Primary and secondary prevention strategies need to be emphasized in this occupational group.


Veganism is the subject of an increasingly diverse body of social scientific research, yet it remains relatively understudied in geography. Meanwhile, contemporary cultural commentaries note how veganism has gone mainstream, with critics warning of veganism's corporate nature – expressed in the rise of what we term 'Big Veganism'. We argue that food geographers are well placed to examine these trends. We first review vegan studies work beyond geography that examines and critiques the mainstreaming of veganism. We focus on literature that explores multiple contested modes of veganism, veganism as praxis in place and the rise of corporate veganism as useful foundations for geographers to build on, particularly in light of currently unfolding developments in vegan cultures and practice. Taking this work forward, we identify four conceptual traditions from research in food geographies – following foodways, alternative food networks and the cultural and material politics of eating – to develop a 'vegan food geographies' programme that aims to advance critical geographic work on veganism and the emerging implications of its contemporary mainstreaming.


Because drug adherence is a crucial determinant in the success or failure of highly active antiretroviral therapies (HAART), this study examined the knowledge and use patterns of some HAART regimens in the management of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease. Randomly selected HAART-experienced people living with HIV presenting at five government hospitals were involved in a non-experimental cross-sectional survey using self-administered questionnaires and structured interviews. About 52 primary healthcare givers were interviewed using structured questions and the generated data were entered into SPSS 10.0 for Windows for statistical analysis. Knowledge of the accurate use of HAART-regimens was low amongst the respondents and healthcare givers. Management of new infections with high viral load, metabolic complications and HAART-failures was poor. Surrogate marker follow-up seemed very low (20%) and respondents' beliefs and knowledge of the disease, socio-demographics and dosage form of antiretrovirals (ARVs) strongly influenced adherence. Problems of mal-dosing/combining of regimens and drug interactions were resolved and some 985(58.49%) respondents were non-adherent. Readiness to initiate HAART was assessed independent of motivation, and the adverse drug events (ADEs) of ARVs were not documented at pharmaco-vigilance centers. The fairly low knowledge of the proper use patterns of HAART-regimens seen in both respondents and healthcare givers calls for better diagnostic and educational tools to prevent further mismanagement of the ARVs, slow viral mutation and halt HAART regimen failures plaguing the Nigerian populace. Keywords: HIV, AIDS, antiretroviral therapy, adherence, adverse drug events, Nigeria International Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences , 6(2): 228-235, 2010


Most rough surfaces found in engineering applications
are irregular and possess features on multiple length scales.
In these respects they differ considerably from standard
roughness models, such as arrays of cubes, used in most
experiments and numerical simulations investigating turbulent
flow over rough surfaces. Results from direct numerical
simulations of turbulent channel flow at Ret = 180
over realistic representations of typical engineering rough
surfaces are presented in this paper. The surface geometries
are based on surface scans of four different materials:
graphite, carbon-carbon composite, shotblasted and ground
steel. The roughness function DU+ shows a strong dependence
on the three-dimensional topography of the surfaces
and is not solely determined by the physical roughness
height. The dependence of the roughness function on various
characteristic topological surface parameters has been
tested. As expected, the roughness function increases with
the surface skewness and the effective slope. It is also found
that the roughness function decreases with increasing surface
bearing index. The surface anisotropy and the texture
direction of the surface with respect to the mean flow direction
has an additional effect on the roughness function.
Of the normal Reynolds stresses, only the streamwise stress
shows a clear correlation to the degree of roughness of the
surface. The spanwise and wall-normal stresses are largely
unaffected by the degree of roughness and the roughness
type outside the roughness sub-layer.


The inclusion complexes of rhodamine-6G (Rh6G) dye within p-sulfonatocalix[4]arene (SCX4), p-sulfonatothiacalix[4]arene (TSCX4), p-sulfonatocalix[6]arene (SCX6) hosts has been characterized using the 1H NMR, 2D NMR NOESY, infrared, fluorescence experiments and scanning electron microscopy analysis. The inclusion complexes show encapsulation of the phenyl ring of the Rh6G guest within the SCXn (n = 4 and 6) or TSCX4, with its ester functionality protruding outside the cavity along the direction bisecting two adjacent sulfonato groups of the macrocyclic host; the inference that has been corroborated through the density functional theory. The aromatic protons of Rh6G confined within the host cavity of the complex reveal shielded signals in the measured NMR spectra. The formation of inclusion complexes has been confirmed through 2D NMR NOESY experiments. Fluorescence experiments demonstrated that the quenching constant of the SCX6 complex was ∼104 times larger than those for the SCX4 and TSCX4 complexes. Biological activity measurements further revealed that the Rh6G⊂SCX4 complex possesses remarkable antiproliferative and antimicrobial activities.


ABSTRACT The blowout on the drilling rig 'Deepwater Horizon' resulted in human fatalities and significant environmental damage; and drew attention to the vulnerabilities in the safety of the vessels and the seafarers operating the vessels in the offshore sector. One of the reasons of the explosion was attributed to the poor risk assessment and management practices. Risk assessment is one of the central tenets of the ISM Code that establishes safety management objectives and requires safety management system (SMS) to be established by ship operators. It is therefore imperative that in order to meet the objectives of the Code and to ensure personal safety, all seafarers should be conversant with the risk management principles and trained in its practical application. However, based on a theoretical analysis of the regulatory requirements of training as well as analysis of past incidents on offshore vessels, this paper highlighted the challenges faced by the offshore sector in the effective training of its seafarers in the process of risk assessment. In doing so, the regulatory requirements for training and its inherent flaws are discussed. The practices and attitudes of the seafarers towards the process of risk assessment is also critiqued.


The optical patterns of a nematic liquid crystal confined to a closed cylindrical cavity are observed through crossed polarizers. This optical pattern exhibits an annular phenomenon when the radius of the cylinder is varied. The minor dependence of the width of the bright annulus on the radius of the cavity is presented. The formation of the disclination ring is numerically studied and found to be the physical mechanism of the annular phenomenon. The characteristic length defined as the distance from the ring defect to the laterally cylindrical boundary is nearly invariant and is characterized to be the width of the bright annulus.


Abstract The association between intrauterine growth restriction and cardiovascular disease (CVD) later in life might be confounded by familial factors. We conducted a binational register-based cohort study to assess associations of birth weight for gestational age (GA), a proxy for intrauterine growth restriction, and GA with CVD risk in early adulthood, before and after addressing familial factors via sibling comparison. We included 3,410,334 live nonmalformed singleton births from Sweden (1973–1996) and Denmark (1978–1998). During a median follow-up period of 10 years from age 18 years onwards, 29,742 individuals developed incident CVD (hypertension, ischemic heart disease, or cerebrovascular disease). Compared with individuals born with appropriate birth weight for GA (AGA; 10th–90th percentiles) or full term (39–40 gestational weeks), individuals born severely small for GA (SGA; ≤3rd percentile) or preterm (22–36 weeks) were at increased risk of CVD (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.38 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.32, 1.45) and HR = 1.31 (95% CI: 1.25, 1.38), respectively). The association was attenuated when comparing individuals born SGA with their AGA siblings (HR = 1.11, 95% CI: 0.99, 1.25) but remained robust when comparing individuals born preterm with their term siblings (HR = 1.21, 95% CI: 1.07, 1.37). Our findings suggest that both SGA and preterm birth are associated with CVD risk in early adulthood, with greater familial confounding noted for SGA birth.


Field experiments were conducted to investigate the refraction and propagation of ocean waves across two coral reef platforms in the Maldives, central Indian Ocean. A total of seven pressure sensors were deployed on each reef to quantify temporal and spatial variations in wave characteristics across the platform surfaces. Directional wave properties were calculated from high frequency (2 Hz) wave and current records obtained at two locations on each reef and corroborate theoretically predicted propagation pathways derived from an analytical wave refraction model. Results demonstrate that reef geometry critically controls the refraction and propagation behaviour of incident swell across the reef structures. Differences in the magnitude of refraction (approximately 57° and 14°) observed on each reef can be attributed to variations in platform shape and orientation to incident waves. Results demonstrate that reef flat wave patterns define the segmentation of platform surfaces into distinctive high and low wave energy zones. Furthermore, wave focussing has been identified as a major mechanism controlling the transformation of wave energy across the reefs. Results provide the first field‐based validation of wave refraction and convergence on coral reefs and have significant implications for sedimentation processes and the formation of platform deposits. Reef configurations which promote marked wave convergence are more likely to retain sediment on the reef surface, whereas platforms that induce less refraction and changes in the direction of incident waves have a higher potential for the off‐reef evacuation of sediment over leeward reef margins. Results of wave measurements substantiate such projections and provide a first order explanation for the existence and absence of a coral cay on the two study reefs. The study presents empirical evidence of wave refraction and convergence on coral reefs and establishes a baseline for future investigations of hydrodynamic process controls on platform sedimentation and island formation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


A ZnO varistor with a breakdown electric field of 180 Vmm-1 in air ambient has been fabricated by cold-pressing of pure ZnO in form of thick film porous semiconductor. The behavior of the varistor at various temperatures was investigated and its non-linear I–V characteristics were recorded. It was shown that the breakdown voltage shifts to a lower electric field with rise of its operating temperature. The higher temperatures causes to higher changes in the breakdown voltage and lower electric field. Also it revealed that the breakdown voltage of the varistor depends on the number of grain boundaries located between two electrodes of the varistor. The breakdown voltage of the varistor can also be affected by the pollutant gases in environment.


A 154 kV class high-temperature superconducting (HTS) power cable system Is developing in Korea. For insulation design of this cable, the grading method of insulating paper is proposed. The electrical insulation material has been used two kind of laminated polypropylene paper (LPP) that has different thickness. The use of graded insulation gives improved mechanical bending properties of the cable. Also, within a HTS cable technology the terminations are important components. A HTS cable termination is energized with the line-to-ground voltage between the coaxial center and outer surrounding conductors, in the axial direction there is a temperature difference from ambient to about 77 K. For insulation design of this termination, the insulation material of the termination body used glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) and the capacitance-graded method is proposed. Therefore, in order to insulating design of a 154 kV class HTS power cable and termination, this paper will report on the experimental investigations in impulse breakdown and surface flashover characteristics of the insulation materials. Based on these experimental data, the electrical insulation design of a 154 kV class HTS power cable and termination were calculated.


ABSTRACT Background Detecting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by naso/oropharyngeal swabbing may expose health-care workers to the virus and is technically challenging. The Salivette® is an alternative saliva-collection device with an oral cotton swab containing citric acid to stimulate saliva production, which may have an unpleasant taste. We present a pilot study comparing the Salivette® Cortisol (SC), which uses a synthetic swab without citric acid, against oropharyngeal swabbing for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Research design and methods Symptomatic SARS-CoV-2-positive patients were sampled at various timepoints. The number of patients positive/negative for SARS-CoV-2 in oropharyngeal swab and SC samples and the percentage of patients testing true positive/true negative for SARS-CoV-2 from SC samples were determined. Positivity was defined by RT-qPCR amplification of 2/3 target SARS-CoV-2 N, ORF1, and S gene sequences. Results SC demonstrated 100% specificity, 52.2% sensitivity, and positive correlation with oropharyngeal swabbing for the detection of the SARS-CoV-2 S gene. In later-stage disease, lower viral load was observed in SC samples compared with oropharyngeal swabs. Conclusions The SC may be an alternative for SARS-CoV-2 detection where naso/oropharyngeal swabbing is not feasible/available. This technique also confirms observations that the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the upper airway may vary due to viral load over the disease course. Trial registration NCT04599959


This case illustrates the valuation issues one faces when valuing a company in an emerging market. It focuses on the decision by a Chinese company on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to participate in an IPO (initial public offering). The case provides background information on the listing of Chinese companies on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It also presents an interesting valuation problem and affords an opportunity for a class discussion on Chinese companies in general and the risks of investing in Chinese companies.


We present the discovery and spectroscopic confirmation with the European Southern Observatory New Technology Telescope (NTT) and Gemini South telescopes of eight new, and the rediscovery of two previously known, 6.0 < z < 6.5 quasars with z_AB < 21.0. These quasars were photometrically selected without any morphological criteria from 1533 deg^2 using spectral energy distribution (SED) model fitting to photometric data from Dark Energy Survey (g, r, i, z, Y), VISTA Hemisphere Survey (J, H, K) and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (W1, W2). The photometric data were fitted with a grid of quasar model SEDs with redshift-dependent Ly α forest absorption and a range of intrinsic reddening as well as a series of low-mass cool star models. Candidates were ranked using an SED-model-based χ^2-statistic, which is extendable to other future imaging surveys (e.g. LSST and Euclid). Our spectral confirmation success rate is 100 per cent without the need for follow-up photometric observations as used in other studies of this type. Combined with automatic removal of the main types of non-astrophysical contaminants, the method allows large data sets to be processed without human intervention and without being overrun by spurious false candidates. We also present a robust parametric redshift estimator that gives comparable accuracy to Mg ii and CO-based redshift estimators. We find two z ∼ 6.2 quasars with H ii near zone sizes ≤3 proper Mpc that could indicate that these quasars may be young with ages ≲ 10^6-10^7 years or lie in over dense regions of the IGM. The z = 6.5 quasar VDES J0224−4711 has J_AB = 19.75 and is the second most luminous quasar known with z ≥ 6.5.


Objective To effectively remove mixed noise from the image of acquisition steel strip in the production field.Methods Combining the advantage of the Shearlet transform which has better properties to sparsely express the characteristics of the images and the total variational anisotropic diffusion,a new image denoising model was proposed. After Shearle transform decomposition,the image was processed by hard thresholding,and then the estimated image was formed after Shearle transform reconstruction. The algorithm used iterative model of minimization of total variation regularization to correct the estimated image. Results The denoised image had good visual effect,and the creation of pseudo Gibbs effect was avoided. The comparison of the new model with wavelet denoising under the strong noise level showed that PSNR was increased by 9 d B and MSE was reduced by 319. Conclusion Numerical examples demonstrated that this method could achieve better PSNR gain,and the results showed that the filters had high fidelity of signal amplitude,and better function in smoothing noise and preserving edges.


Abstract. The residence time of bacterial cells in the atmosphere is predictable by numerical models. However, estimations of their aerial dispersion as living entities are limited by a lack of information concerning survival rates and behavior in relation to atmospheric water. Here we investigate the viability and ice nucleation (IN) activity of typical atmospheric ice nucleation active bacteria (Pseudomonas syringae and P. fluorescens) when airborne in a cloud simulation chamber (AIDA, Karlsruhe, Germany). Cell suspensions were sprayed into the chamber and aerosol samples were collected by impingement at designated times over a total duration of up to 18 h, and at some occasions after dissipation of a cloud formed by depressurization. Aerosol concentration was monitored simultaneously by online instruments. The cultivability of airborne cells decreased exponentially over time with a half-life time of 250 ± 30 min (about 3.5 to 4.5 h). In contrast, IN activity remained unchanged for several hours after aerosolization, demonstrating that IN activity was maintained after cell death. Interestingly, the relative abundance of IN active cells still airborne in the chamber was strongly decreased after cloud formation and dissipation. This illustrates the preferential precipitation of IN active cells by wet processes. Our results indicate that from 106 cells aerosolized from a surface, one would survive the average duration of its atmospheric journey estimated at 3.4 days. Statistically, this corresponds to the emission of 1 cell that achieves dissemination every ~ 33 min m−2 of cultivated crops fields, a strong source of airborne bacteria. Based on the observed survival rates, depending on wind speed, the trajectory endpoint could be situated several hundreds to thousands of kilometers from the emission source. These results should improve the representation of the aerial dissemination of bacteria in numeric models.


OBJECTIVE
To measure anatomic data of spinous process and vertebral plate and evaluate the possibility of fixation of spinous process and vertebral plate.

METHODS
Twenty cadaveric cervibal spines of C3-C7 were dissected to expose vertebral plate and spinous process, and were measured by two methods, one was manual measured using digital caliper and the other was computed tomography scaning. Parameters were measured manually including vertebral plate height and width. The screw was inserted from the boundary of the vertebral plate and spinous process, and gone out from the top of vertebral plate back of opposite side. Then through the CT reconstruction, angle of screw insertion, length of screw trajectory and distance between the screw tip and vertebral artery and spinal cord were measured. Additionally, spinous process width and vertebral plate thickness of 100 patients' CT scans of C3-C7 cervical segment were measured to evaluate possibility of screw insertion at spinous process and vertebral plate.

RESULTS
The screw fixation of lower cervical spinous process and vertebral plate were successfully placed,without impingement of spinal cord and vertebral artery. There was no statistic difference on the data of lamina height and width of 20 cadaver specimens between manual and CT measurements (P>0.05). Height and width of vertebral plate was (12.4 +/- 1.2) to (13.7 +/- 1.3) mm and (4.5 +/- 0.9) to (5.4 +/- 1.1) mm respectively and increased gradually from C3 to C7 (P<0.05). The trajectory length was (13.7 +/- 1.2) to (15.8 +/- 1.8) mm and increased gradually from C3 to C7 (P<0.05). The distance between screw tip and vertebral artery and spinal cord was (20.1 +/- 2.7) to (25.8 +/- 2.9) mm and (4.1 +/- 1.8) to (5.0 +/- 1.2) mm respectively. The angles of screws insertion were (73.0 +/- 9.9) degrees to (85.3 +/- 10.1) degrees in the axial plane (P>0.05). Based on the CT measurements of 100 patients,the data of the spinous process width and lamina thickness varied from a minimum of (8.5 +/- 1.1) mm and (4.3 +/- 0.5) mm for the C4, to a maximum of (14.5 +/- 2.0) mm and (6.0 +/- 1.1) mm for the C7 respectively.

CONCLUSION
Lower cervical spinous process and vertebral plate screw fixation is feasible, which is a safe and stable screw approach for spinous process and vertebral plate fixation.


Abstract

In this study, a method is proposed in order to evaluate the security of a cryptographic system, which besides of its cryptographic algorithm which is embedded into the system, includes other critical individual units and security mechanisms. If some of these security mechanisms are inadequate, they may reduce the initial security of the system which is provided by the strength of its cryptographic algorithm. The evaluation method combines the strength of the system's cryptographic algorithm with the strength of all the other security mechanisms and gives a final assessment for the security grade of the whole system. At the end of the study the necessary conditions are presented, for the validity and the duration of the evaluation, taking into account the expected evolution of technology.

Keywords: Cryptography, Data encryption, Communication security, Computer security, Data security, Information security.


Proper axon pathfinding requires that growth cones execute appropriate turns and branching at particular choice points en route to their synaptic targets. Here we demonstrate that the Drosophila metalloprotease tolloid-related (tlr) is required for proper fasciculation/defasciculation of motor axons in the CNS and for normal guidance of many motor axons enroute to their muscle targets. Tlr belongs to a family of developmentally important proteases that process various extracellular matrix components, as well as several TGF-β inhibitory proteins and pro-peptides. We show that Tlr is a circulating enzyme that processes the pro-domains of three Drosophila TGF-β-type ligands, and, in the case of the Activin-like protein Dawdle (Daw), this processing enhances the signaling activity of the ligand in vitro and in vivo. Null mutants of daw, as well as mutations in its receptor babo and its downstream mediator Smad2, all exhibit axon guidance defects that are similar to but less severe than tlr. We suggest that by activating Daw and perhaps other TGF-β ligands, Tlr provides a permissive signal for axon guidance.


Objective: This study aims to discuss the clinical effect of the combined therapy of nifedipine controlledrelease tablets-valsartan on elderly patients who have Type II Diabetic Nephropathy (T2DN) with Hypertension (HTN).
Methods: We recruited 130 elderly patients who have T2DN with HTN and who were admitted to our hospital over the period of April, 2015 to February, 2017. We divided the patients into the control (n=65) and observation groups (n=65) through the odd-even method. The control group received controlledrelease nifedipine tablets and the observation group received controlled-release nifedipine tablets– valsartan. We compared the blood pressure level, total therapeutic efficiency, treatment satisfaction, and BUN level of the two groups.
Results: The blood pressure level of the observation group significantly improved relative to that of the control group (P<0.05). The total therapeutic efficiency of the control group was 80.00%, which was significantly lower than that of the observation group (98.46%) (P<0.05). The treatment satisfaction of the observation group was 96.92%, which was significantly higher than that of the control group (75.38%) (P<0.05). The BUN level of the observation group was considerably higher than that of the control group (P<0.05).
Conclusions: Elderly patients who received controlled-release nifedipine tablets-valsartan for the clinical treatment of T2DN with HTN exhibited significantly improved blood pressure level, total therapeutic efficiency, treatment satisfaction, and BUN levels. Therefore, the reasonable application of controlled-release nifedipine tablets-valsartan therapy can improve the life quality of elderly patients who have T2DN with HTN.


Recognition of microbial products by members of the Toll-like receptor (TLR) family initiates intracellular signaling cascades that result in NF-κB activation and subsequent production of inflammatory cytokines. We explored the potential roles of microRNAs (miRNAs) in regulating TLR pathways. A target analysis approach to the TLR4 pathway adaptor molecules identified several putative targets of miR-200a, miR-200b and miR-200c. miRNA mimics were co-transfected with a NF-κB activity reporter plasmid into HEK293 cells stably expressing TLR4 (HEK293-TLR4). Mimics of both miR-200b and miR-200c, but not miR-200a, decreased NF-κB reporter activity in either untreated cells or in cells treated with endotoxin:MD2 as a TLR4 agonist. Transfection of HEK293-TLR4 cells with miR-200b or miR-200c significantly decreased expression of MyD88, whereas TLR4, IRAK-1 and TRAF-6 mRNAs were unaffected. When miR-200b or miR-200c mimics were transfected into the differentiated monocytic THP-1 cell line, the abundance of MyD88 transcripts, as well as LPS-induced expression of the pro-inflammatory molecules IL-6, CXCL9 and TNF-α were diminished. These data define miRNAs miR-200b and miR-200c as factors that modify the efficiency of TLR4 signaling through the MyD88-dependent pathway and can thus affect host innate defenses against microbial pathogens.


Image deraining is an important image processing task as rain streaks not only severely degrade the visual quality of images but also significantly affect the performance of high-level vision tasks. Traditional methods progressively remove rain streaks via different recurrent neural networks. However, these methods fail to yield plausible rain-free images in an efficient manner. In this paper, we propose a residual squeeze-and-excitation network called RSEN for fast image deraining as well as superior deraining performance compared with state-of-the-art approaches. Specifically, RSEN adopts a lightweight encoder-decoder architecture to conduct rain removal in one stage. Besides, both encoder and decoder adopt a novel residual squeeze-and-excitation block as the core of feature extraction, which contains a residual block for producing hierarchical features, followed by a squeeze-and-excitation block for channel-wisely enhancing the resulted hierarchical features. Experimental results demonstrate that our method can not only considerably reduce the computational complexity but also significantly improve the deraining performance compared with state-of-the-art methods.


Graph Neural Networks (GNNs), a generalization of deep neural networks on graph data have been widely used in various domains, ranging from drug discovery to recommender systems. However, GNNs on such applications are limited when there are few available samples. Meta-learning has been an important framework to address the lack of samples in machine learning, and in recent years, researchers have started to apply meta-learning to GNNs. In this work, we provide a comprehensive survey of different metalearning approaches involving GNNs on various graph problems showing the power of using these two approaches together. We categorize the literature based on proposed architectures, shared representations, and applications. Finally, we discuss several exciting future research directions and open problems.


The names of places are old topics of interest because most of the names are taken from people's stories, such stories may survive even after the original people have already disappeared or their nature is changed. Names have been given to important place, such as, passage paths, dangerous places, places for boundary symbols, rivers, provinces, districts, sub-districts, blocks, cultivated lands, mountains, valleys and holy places. A large part of the names of different places in the world are the go further back in history than the written documentation on these places. Special cases are those with places where the constructive culture has not been conserved and the written documentation is relatively recent. Place names can offer a way to reach further back to the past, to act as ruins of culture. Names are the part of the immaterial cultural heritage of the community in which they are used. Place names, their history and the stories related to the people who used to live there provide the places with a spiritual foundation, as well as an indigenous local identity. This study investigates the names of provinces in Iraq, where place names, the related cultural heritage, and place-name awareness and knowledge have been changed. The investigated place names represent a view on language that could be labeled as 'geospatial information'. It is showed that there is a history behind all the names given to distinct places.


We have previously studied a large number of histological specimens of biomaterials and found that regions with and without an intervening fibrous membrane coexisted in many specimens. Therefore, it appears necessary to perform an evaluation of the entire specimen when histologically assessing the affinity of bone for a biomaterial. Accordingly, we performed a quantitative histological evaluation of hydroxyapatite (HAP)- and titanium-oxide(TiO2)-coated Ti-6A1-4V and uncoated Ti-6A1-4V (control) by determining the affinity index. This was defined as the length of bone directly opposed to the implant/the total length of the bone-implant interface X 100%. The test materials were inserted into the distal epiphyseal region of the femurs of adult dogs, and follow-up quantitative histological comparisons were performed from 4 weeks to 96 weeks. The HAP-coated implants had the highest affinity index 4 weeks after insertion, and this superiority was maintained up to 96 weeks. There was a significant difference in affinity index between HAP-coated implants and control implants (P less than 0.001), while TiO2-coated implants showed no significant difference in comparison to the control.


Math anxiety is a specific tension, apprehension, or fear surrounding math. Math anxiety is negatively related to math performance, such that those who are highly math anxious show poorer performance in basic numerical processing and perform worse on complex math problems as compared to those who are low in math anxiety. Math anxiety is a trait anxiety, in that some individuals have higher levels of persistent anxiety overall than others, which in this case is specifically related to math. Reductions in working memory,, a limited-capacity executive resource used for the immediate storage, integration and manipulation of information, are seen in math anxious individuals when solving math problems. It is not just trait anxiety that relates to performance. Situational anxiety induced from the environment has also been shown to negatively impact math problem-solving due to the effects of anxiety on working memory resources. Importantly, math problems are often solved in high pressure environments where an individual needs to perform at her best. Little research has explored how situational anxiety induced from the environment may interact with trait math anxiety to impact math performance. In experiment 1 we demonstrate that undergraduate adults who are high in math anxiety show reductions in math performance on high cognitively demanding problems in a low pressure situation, and math performance does not decline further with situational pressure. In experiment 2 we demonstrate that children who are high in math anxiety and high in WM show declines in math performance if they report high levels of state anxiety following a math interaction they completed with their parent. Children who are high in math anxiety and high in WM who report low levels of state anxiety following a math interaction perform similarly to those children who are high in WM and low in math anxiety. Similar effects are seen in high WM children if parents report high levels of state anxiety and math anxiety, though the effects are small and not significant. In experiment 2 we also demonstrate that parents show declines in their own math performance following a math interaction with their child that are modified by the parent's math anxiety and by the situational pressure induced by the interaction. Parent's in the low pressure condition with high math anxiety showed declines in math performance as compared to parents with low math anxiety. In the pressure condition, low math anxious parents perform similarly to high math anxious parents in the low pressure condition. High math anxious parents in the pressure condition show the lowest math performance. Our results in the first experiment do not suggest a compound effect of trait math anxiety and state anxiety/pressure on performance, but this may be due to increased pressure they feel in what we consider a 'low pressure' condition. Our results in experiment 2 demonstrate a compound effect of math anxiety and state anxiety/pressure on math performance in both children and parents. Importantly, when highly math anxious children report low levels of state anxiety following a math interaction completed either under low or high pressure, they perform similarly to low math anxious children. When high math anxious parents report low levels of state anxiety following a low pressure situation, they also performed similarly to low math anxious parents, though this is not significant. Ultimately, the negative effects of math anxiety on math performance may be alleviated if an individual's reported perceptions of their anxiety are low. In order to help improve math performance for math anxious individuals, interventions may focus on off-loading an individual's worries in order to reduce perceptions of anxiety or may focus on helping math anxious individuals reinterpret their anxiety prior to performing math. This may be particularly beneficial for children who are highly math anxious.


BACKGROUND: The evaluation of how air rarefaction can affect a loudspeaker performance at altitude implies the need for characterization of earphones during hypobaric conditions. The aim of this study was phonometric analysis at different altitudes of the acoustic output of a widely used earphone model, along with its consequences on audiological investigations conducted under such environmental conditions.METHODS: The transfer function of a TDH-39P earphone was analyzed with an artificial ear under nine different altitude levels, from sea level up to 35,000 ft, inside a hypobaric chamber. A specific phonometric system not sensitive to environmental pressure changes was used. Other potentially confounding factors, such as environmental temperature and humidity, were continuously monitored.RESULTS: No relevant temperature or humidity changes were detected. The sound pressure level generated by the earphone under hypobaric conditions was found considerably affected by air density changes. These data produced a correction table aiming at recalibrating the earphone's output at each audiometric octave test frequency within the 250-8000 Hz range. Quite different characteristics of response were observed at different audiometric frequencies. Such findings were particularly evident for altitudes exceeding 12,000 ft.DISCUSSION: The development of a frequency-selective and altitude-related correction factor for acoustic stimuli is an essential aspect when hearing threshold measurements in hypobaric environments are performed.Lucertini M, Botti T, Sanjust F, Cerini L, Autore A, Lucertini L, Sisto R. High altitude performance of loudspeakers and potential impact on audiometric findings. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2019; 90(7):655-659.


R&D internationalization has increasingly involved countries outside the developed world. In addition, there has been a growing trend for countries in East Asia to seek to attract the R&D facilities of multinationals (MNCs). For such countries, they are faced with a fundamental question as to what kinds of impact MNCs' offshore R&D facilities will have on their own countries, especially in terms of technological innovation and industrial development. Set against the above backdrop, this paper sets out to examine a relatively new aspect of R&D internationalization related to global innovation networks and to open up the black box of the spillover effect regarding foreign R&D by examining the interplay of foreign R&D and Taiwan's national innovation system. The empirical part of the paper draws mainly upon intensive case studies of four high-profile foreign R&D facilities in the IT industry. The way foreign R&D interplays with Taiwan's NIS is examined in terms of the market & technology linkages.


Abstract: In Acts 2 and 4, the Lukan author summarizes the nature of the Jerusalem church by describing a community of shared material goods. Because the texts are descriptive, rather than prescriptive, it has not been clear whether they should be considered normative for church life. Through analysis of some of the major Acts commentators, this article comprises a Western history of interpretation of these texts from the Reformation to the present, noting the way in which the social and political locations of the interpreters has shaped their understanding of these passages. The essay argues that a social science analysis is essential for an understanding of the normative socioeconomic system of first-century Palestine. Only by recognizing what is unusual about the communal organization of the early church can we decide how to apply these texts to Christian communal life in our culture today. ********** They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47 NRSV) Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. There was a Levite, a native of Cyprus, Joseph, to whom the apostles gave the name Barnabas (which means "son of encouragement"). He sold a field that belonged to him, then brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet. (Acts 4:32-37 NRSV). Luke's second volume begins with a narrative account of the origins of the Christian church in Jerusalem. According to Luke, after Pentecost the believers organized into a tightly knit community that shared property, worship and daily meals. But how are such descriptive texts to be interpreted? As a model for the church to follow? As an impossible ideal? As an experiment that quickly proved impractical? Growing up Mennonite in eastern Pennsylvania, the only sermon I recall from my childhood was one preached on these texts at my grandparents' congregation in the 1950s. Although rural or small-town Mennonites from that time were accustomed to understanding the biblical texts quite literally, in this case the minister made an exception. The texts on communal sharing in Acts, he said, should not be applied literally. In truth, he said, they describe a brief experiment that was impractical and eventually failed. Now, decades later, I do not recall ever hearing another sermon preached on these texts. Instead, the secular, urban world is far more integrated within contemporary Anabaptist groups today than it was half a century ago. We are immersed in capitalism, no doubt watching the stock market's ebb and flow with as much anxiety as our neighbors. Meanwhile, virtually every Mennonite church agency struggles to adjust to staff layoffs and reduced budgets. At the same time, various conference and churchwide publications brim with examples of Mennonite-sponsored projects to help poor and underprivileged people in their own communities and around the world. The percentage of our giving is generally higher than that of mainstream churches. …


Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) play an important role in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), one of the multiple approaches advanced in the last two decades to address the global sustainability crisis. The role of higher education, especially as a main driver of change, in ameliorating the immense sustainability challenges is widely acknowledged. Educators in higher education institutions must strategically engage in profound transformative programmatic, pedagogical and organisational shifts in order to play this role. ICTs are important in enabling educators to make the necessary modifications to effectively promote themes, skills, knowledge, values and attitudes in learners that will foster sustainable development. This study adopted a concurrent mixed strategy to investigate the use of ICT in the implementation of ESD practices by academic staff of Busitema University in Uganda. It sought to find out the dominant ICT activities that staff used for implementing particular ESD practices. The sample consisted of 134 academic staff and students selected using simple random and purposive sampling. The study employed a questionnaire, interview and focus group guides as primary data collection instruments. The results point to a low level of ICT use, with the dominant ICT activities being of communication and sharing information, information creation and management, which did not add much value to the educational experiences of the learners in ESD. The study recommends staff training in ICT skills to address the challenge that comes with the use of new digital technologies, addressing the issues of access to ICTs and internet infrastructure.


A novel and facile method for the synthesis of uniform stoichiometric powder form of non-magnetic iron oxide-hydroxide nanoparticles with spherical morphology and its application for defluoridation of drinking water is reported. X-ray powder diffraction analysis (XRD), BET surface area, FTIR, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images were used to characterize nanoscale iron oxide-hydroxide. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image revealed the formation of iron oxide-hydroxide nanoparticles with spherical morphology. The iron oxide-hydroxide nanoparticles showed an excellent ability to remove fluoride (F-) from contaminated water over a wide range of pH. The influences of temperature, stirring speed, pH, adsorbent dose and contact time were studied. The equilibrium data were tested with various isotherm models and finally, a calculation procedure was reported for the calculation of adsorbent requirement. The fluoride adsorbed nanoparticles was regenerated upto 70% using sodium hydroxide or hydrochloric acid solution. The iron oxide-hydroxide nanoparticles can be used as an effective and replicable adsorbent media for defluoridation of water in presence of competing anions like chloride, iodate, iodide and sulphate.


Chagas disease (CD) mainly conveys stroke risk through structural cardiac disease. However, stroke and cognitive impairment are seen in CD independently of cardiac disease severity. Chronic inflammation may be an explanation for this association, because inflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of acute ischemic stroke and dementia. In the present study, we selected five candidate biomarkers for Chagas disease: interleukin-6, membrane metalloproteinase-9, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP1), orosomucoid, and neprilysin. We sought to determine if mean levels of proinflammatory biomarkers are higher in patients with heart failure (HF) associated with Chagas disease when compared with other etiologies of HF. Patients were consecutively enrolled from subspecialty HF outpatient clinics at two university-based hospitals. Serum biomarker levels from blood samples were analyzed by ELISA. Severity of HF on echocardiography was worse in non-CD when compared with CD patients. No significant difference was observed in the levels of candidate biomarkers between the CD and non-CD groups. We found a significantly 2.2 ng/mL higher level of TIMP1 in CD when compared with non-CD patients with HF after adjustment for age and gender (95% confidence interval = 0.1 to 4.5, P = 0.037). In patients with heart failure, serum TIMP1 is increased in Chagas patients despite a lower myocardial disease severity on echocardiography when compared with non-Chagas patients. TIMP1 is probably one of multiple mediators of inflammatory injury.


Kremens are high-affinity receptors for Dickkopf 1 (Dkk1) and regulate the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway by down-regulating the low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 6 (LRP6). Dkk1 competes with Wnt for binding to LRP6; binding of Dkk1 inhibits canonical signaling through formation of a ternary complex with Kremen. The majority of down-regulated clathrin-mediated endocytic receptors contain short conserved regions that recognize tyrosine or dileucine sorting motifs. In this study, we found that Kremen1 is internalized from the cell surface in a clathrin-dependent manner. Kremen1 contains an atypical dileucine motif with the sequence DXXXLV. Mutation of LV to AA in this motif blocked Kremen1 internalization; as reported previously for other proteins, the aspartic acid residue in Kremen1 is not critical. Inhibition of expression of the adaptor protein 2 (AP-2) or inhibition of clathrin by pitstop 2 also blocked Kremen1 internalization. The novel amino acid sequence identified in Kremen1 is similar to the motif previously identified in hydra, yeast, and other organisms known to signal from the trans-Golgi network to the endosomal compartment.


ABSTRACT A 3-year study (2000–2002) in southeastern Wisconsin was conducted to assess the effects of Bacillus sphaericus applied for mosquito control on nontarget wetland invertebrates. The experimental design consisted of control and treatment sites (that were applied by helicopter with Vectolex® CG), each in 2 vegetation habitat types: reed canary grass marsh (Phalaris arundinacea) and cattail marsh (Typha spp.). In each of these areas, a predetermined number of timed (30-sec) D-frame aquatic net samples containing vegetation, detritus, and invertebrates were collected 1 day before spraying and 72 h after spraying to detect for effects. We examined and compared 5 bioassessment measures to determine if there was an effect of B. sphaericus on nontarget organisms during each of the sampling years. The metrics tested were 1) mean taxa richness (the mean number of all taxa), 2) mean diversity (combines taxa richness and abundances in a summary statistic; i.e., Shannon Index [H′]), 3) Diptera richness (minus mosquitoes) as a proportion of all other taxa richness (Diptera/others richness), 4) Diptera abundance (minus mosquitoes) as a proportion of all other invertebrate abundance (Diptera/others abundance), and 5) functional group changes in percent collector–gatherers, collector–filterers, scrapers, shredders, and predators. When Vectolex was applied during 6 treatments at the labeled dosage rate in the above habitats in Brookfield, WI, no detrimental effects to nontarget organisms could be attributed to this microbial insecticide. Much of the variation in the control vs. treatment and pre vs. post plots was attributed to factors other than the effects of B. sphaericus on nontarget organisms, such as the time of sampling, natural variation that occurs in such diverse habitats as canary grass and cattail marshes, and water depth, which varied among years.


Since the publication of BEAT-ROP in 2011, intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) has become increasingly common for the treatment of posterior type 1 retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). However, long-term data on the safety and efficacy of IVB for ROP are lacking. Vitreous hemorrhage following bevacizumab injections have been rarely reported in infants with ROP, and the need for treatment of these hemorrhages remains in question. Here, the authors report a case of bilateral vitreous hemorrhage in a premature infant within 2 weeks of bilateral intravitreal injections of bevacizumab. These hemorrhages resolved without intervention with regression of ROP in both eyes. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2018;49:893-896.].


Abstract:  The information age witnessed the democratisation of education with an exponential growth in the enrolment of postgraduate students in almost all universities around the world. However, high attrition and low completion rates among students have been an immense threat to the key performance of the university system. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of institutional support, supervisory practices, and students' self-management and research skills on postgraduate students' motivation to graduate on time (GOT). The data were collected from 191 postgraduate students from three universities in Malaysia using a survey questionnaire. The quantitative data were analysed using the PLS-SEM approach. The results revealed that research skills, institutional support and self-management skills significantly influenced the postgraduate students' motivation to GOT. Furthermore, research skills were identified as the strongest predictor of the motivation to GOT. Additionally, research skills mediated the relationships between institutional support, students' self-management skills and postgraduate students' motivation to GOT. However, supervisory practices toward GOT were not supported either by direct or indirect effect. The study has far reaching implications for the postgraduate students, supervisors, and institutions of higher learning.


Abstract  The rates of the accumulated and continuous displacement of solifluction lobes in the Kangchenjunga area, eastern Nepal Himalaya, were determined using glass fiber tubes and a strain probe. Ground temperature, precipitation and soil moisture were monitored at two sites, whose altitude differed by approximately 100 m, to understand the solifluction process. The average movement rate of the glass fiber tubes on a 31° slope at altitudes of 5412–5414 m a.s.l. was approximately 11 mm/year, being almost threefold greater than that observed on a 22° slope at 5322–5325 ma.s.l. There was no significant difference in the depth of displacement at these sites. The continuous displacement measurement near the ground surface at 5414 m showed permanent downslope movement from early July. Such movement may be attributed to additional moisture supply during the monsoon season. The amplitude of the displacement cycle was highest at the ground surface, and decreased to virtually zero at and below 20 cm in depth. Probable factors leading to the relatively slow rates of downslope displacement at the surface and depth at the studied altitudes are the lack of concurrence of the freeze–thaw cycles and the high moisture condition in the soil, and the low moisture retention capacity of the soil because of steep slopes and superficial desiccation. The rate of displacement may be more pronounced at altitudes above 5600 m because of the freeze–thaw cycles during the summer season.


This article analyses the role of the World Heritage Convention in the Arctic, particularly the role of Indigenous people in environmental protection and governance of natural, mixed and transboundary properties. It outlines the Convention in an Arctic context, profiles Arctic properties on the World Heritage List and Tentative List, and considers Arctic properties that may appear on the List of World Heritage in Danger. It gives detailed consideration to examples of Arctic natural, mixed, and potentially transboundary, properties of greatest significance to Indigenous people with reference to their environmental protection and management. In doing so, it reviews and analyses recent high-level critiques of the application of the Convention in the Arctic. Conclusions follow, the most significant of which is that the Convention and its Operational Guidelines must be reformed to be consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.


Improve infrastructure availability and take care of Advanced availability solutions - Monitoring, autonomic, virtualisation, provisioning, workload & system automation with this book. IT Managers are finding it increasingly difficult to meet exacting service-level agreements (SLAs) due to the challenges associated with maintaining a highly available infrastructure. As organisations grow-either organically or through mergers and acquisitions-their IT infrastructures become more complex and stubbornly siloed. The redundant hardware, software and personnel associated with this newly blended infrastructure escalate IT management costs. Businesses require immediate and constant access to their information systems - 90% availability per year would result in a staggering 37 days of downtime. Availability Management allows organizations to sustain the IT service availability in order to support the business at a justifiable cost. The high-level activities are Realize Availability Requirements, Compile Availability Plan, Monitor Availability, and Monitor Maintenance Obligations. The object of Availability Management is to ensure that IT Services and the supporting Infrastructure can be delivered in a cost effective manner, with a sustained level of Availability, in line with your business objectives. Availability Management is a critical ITIL process area and one that delivers measurable benefits. The Availability Management Workbook provides a wide variety of resources to boost your understanding and ability to implement availability management in your organization. Contents include Availability Management Objectives and Goal templates, Capacity Key Performance Indicators, Critical Success Factors and a checklist to help understand just how well Availability Management is performed in your environment. It is tailor-fit for IT managers who need to move towards a services-oriented organization, but they don't have the time or resources at hand to develop the required templates and structure for implementation.


Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) are developed considering the importance of this class of in different fields of biochemical and biomedical applications owing to their distinctive chemical and physical properties. In this work, the preparation of iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs (using Co-precipitation method has been done as the most commonly used wet chemical method of magnetic nanoparticles preparation for biological applications. The SPIONs synthesis was based on sodium hydroxide (NaOH) mediated precipitation of Fe3+ and Fe2+ salts in an aqueous solution using trisodium citrate as surfactant within a closed system. The size and stability of the magnetite nanoparticles were carefully controlled using different chemical and physical parameters in order to obtain the SPIONs with small particle size and distribution that is needed for biomedical applications. The synthesized Fe3O4 nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), and Zeta potential analysis (Zp). XRD pattern showed the presence of peaks corresponding to the phase of magnetite Fe3O4. Moreover, SEM and TEM results revealed spherical particles with a mean diameter of ≥ 5 nm. The monodispersed SPIONs were successfully prepared with a mean hydrodynamic size of 209.32 nm at a stirring speed of 900 rpm and NaOH concentration of 1.2 gm. The results showed that the particle size is considerably dependent on the stirring rate and NaOH concentration. Fe3O4 nanoparticles exhibited superparamagnetic behavior and the saturation magnetization was around 50 emu/g.


ABSTRACT Isolated sellar tuberculoma is a very rare condition and usually presents with headache and decreased vision. It can present with panhypopituitarism with 3rd nerve palsy. Tuberculoma mimics pituitary adenoma clinically as well as radiologically and requires endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery and histopathological examination for the final diagnosis. We present a rare case of a 40-year-old female presented with headache, decreased vision, and unilateral 3rd nerve palsy with panhypopituitarism.


Cushing's [1989] recent analysis of Kuhn's [1970] characterization of the state of crisis within a discipline's research agenda suggests that the accounting discipline is showing symptoms of such a crisis. In this paper, DR Scott's [1931] classical work The Cultural Significance of Accounts is developed in terms of it being one of the earlier and more significant efforts to recognize a pending crisis within the accounting research arena. Scott's work is defined as not only being a precursor to identifying the crisis in accounting research, but also as providing a meaningful basis for addressing the significant issues embedded within the contemporary research crisis. The intellectual underpinnings of DR Scott's work are traced to that of Max Weber, Thorstein Veblen, and other scholars concerned with examining the changing status of society and economic organizations. It is argued that it is this critical appraisal of the relationship between economic organizations and society which drives Scott's concern f...


Background: Zinc oxide Nanoparticles (NPs) present irreversible effects on the nervous system, memory, and learning. Objective: The current study aimed to investigate the effects of pentoxifylline on memory impairments, CA1 hippocampal pyramidal cells, and blood serum antioxidant enzymes in male rats treated with zinc oxide NPs. Methods: Male Wistar rats were divided into the control, zinc oxide NPs (1.25 mg/kg), pentoxifylline (50 mg/kg), and pentoxifylline with zinc oxide NPs groups. In all study groups, saline, zinc oxide NPs, and pentoxifylline were intraperitoneally injected 30 minutes before training. In the co-treatment group, pentoxifylline was injected one hour before injecting Zno NPs. After performing the behavioral test, the tested animals' brains were fixed and the number of healthy neurons in the CA1 region of the hippocampus was counted. In all research groups, malondialdehyde levels, total antioxidant power, superoxide dismutase levels, and glutathione peroxidase in blood serum were measured. Results: Zinc oxide nanoparticles decreased memory and the number of healthy neurons in the CA1 region of the hippocampus and increased oxidative stress in blood serum, compared to the controls. In the co-treatment group, using pentoxifylline improved the above-mentioned factors and reached the level of the control group. Pentoxifylline alone presented no significant effect on the aforementioned characteristics, compared to the control group. Conclusion: ZnO NPs may decrease memory retrieval and cause cell death in the pyramidal neurons of the CA1 region of the hippocampus by increasing oxidative stress. Pentoxifylline, as a potent antioxidant, can prevent the harmful effects of ZnO NPs.


The notion of forms as a way of organizing and presenting data has long been used since the beginning of the WWW. Web-based forms have evolved together with the development of new markup languages (e.g., XML), in which it is possible to provide validation scripts as part of the form code in order to test whether the intended meaning of the form is correct. However, for the form designer, part of this intended meaning involves frequently other features which are not constraints themselves, but rather attributes emerging from the form, which provide plausible conclusions in the context of incomplete and potentially inconsistent information. As the value of such attributes may change in presence of new knowledge, we call them defeasible attributes. In this paper we propose extending traditional web-based forms to incorporate defeasible attributes as part of the knowledge that can be encoded in a form. The proposed extension allows the specification of scripts for reasoning about form fields using a defeasible knowledge base, expressed in terms of a Defeasible Logic Program.


Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been frequently utilized for the construction of diverse colorimetric biosensors. Normally, AuNPs with sharp edges could have better sensitivity. However, the poor monodipersity of AuNPs with sharp edges seriously confines their utility for colorimetric biosensing. Herein, we demonstrate the utility of highly uniform gold nanobipyramids (Au NBPs) for ultrasensitive colorimetric detection of H5N1 virus. The proposed method is based on the fact that alkaline phosphatase (ALP) could catalyze the decomposition of 4-aminophenyl phosphate (4-APP) to generate 4-aminophenol (4-AP), which would then reduce silver nitrate to metal silver and then deposited on Au NBPs. The metal silver shell coated on the Au NBPs changed the refractive index of gold and thus resulted in a blue shift of longitudinal localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and accompanied a vivid color change. This method exhibited a higher sensitivity than that of other Au NPs such as gold nanorods due to the high-index-faceted on the tips of the Au NBPs. This method was used to detect the activity of ALP. It exhibited a linear range of 0.1-5 mU/mL with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.086 mU/mL. Finally, the proposed method was used in immunoassay to detect H5N1 virus. The results showed that the corresponding linear range for the detection of H5N1 virus antigen was 0.001-2.5 ng/mL, and the LOD was determined to be 1 pg/mL, which is more sensitive than those in most of the colorimetric biosensors reported previously.


Abstract The main dynamics that shaped the evolution of the forest surfaces between 1990 and 2012, in the county of Iaşi, are related to the legislative context and to the territorial reforms that affected the district limits. Analyzing these mechanisms in a geographical context shows that these trends are also related to the spatial frame. This study emphasizes that moderate negative coefficients of spatial and territorial autocorrelation can also describe these trends, suggesting that these evolutions are rather chaotic at local scale. This aspect makes us suspect that the loss of forest surfaces in each district is not only dependent on the economic, social and legislative context of the transition period, it is also subject to geographical factors. Analyzing these factors is the main intention of our study because they can provide us a better understanding of the extremely complicated frame of forest dynamics in the study area


This paper introduces new impedance matching technique for via transition of multi-layer PCB based sub-THz antenna-in-package (AiP). In the proposed design, multiple resonating stubs are cascaded in vertical direction along via transition to create multi-stage wideband impedance matching network. The resonating stub employs rectangular ring to reduce the stub length by increasing parasitic capacitance around the ring. The impedance matching technique presented in this paper is demonstrated through design, fabrication, and measurement of subarray for the next generation's sub-THz 6G AiP operating from 136 to 148 GHz. In the subarray design, four antenna elements are combined with 4-way power divider to form 4×1 array. The 4×1 subarray is then connected to the proposed stub-loaded via transition for input impedance matching looking from bump pad of beamforming integrated circuit. This stub-loaded via transition for impedance matching of the 4×1 subarray shows more than 17.6% fractional bandwidth (FBW) with return loss of 10 dB. Since the impedance matching network provides much wider bandwidth than the antenna element and 4-way power divider, it does not limit the 4×1 subarray performance. The designed 4×1 subarray is fabricated with advanced printed circuit board technology using modified semi-additive process. Both simulated and measured FBW of the 4×1 subarray shows more than 13.2% with return loss of 10 dB. The measured gain of the 4×1 subarray is greater than 8.9 dBi within the bandwidth.


Microcirculation and macrocirculation are tightly interconnected into a dangerous cross-link in hypertension. Small artery damage includes functional (vasoconstriction, impaired vasodilatation) and structural abnormalities (mostly inward eutrophic remodeling). These abnormalities are major determinants of the increase in total peripheral resistance and mean blood pressure (BP) in primary hypertension, which in the long term induces large artery stiffening. In turn, large artery stiffening increases central systolic and pulse pressures, which are further augmented by wave reflection in response to the structural alterations in small resistance arteries. Finally, transmission of high BP and flow pulsatility to small resistance arteries further induces functional and structural abnormalities, thus leading to increased total peripheral resistance and mean BP, thus perpetuating the vicious circle. Hyperpulsatility, in addition to higher mean BP, exaggerates cardiac, brain, and kidney damages and leads to cardiovascular, cerebral, and renal complications. The dangerous cross-link between micro and macrocirculation can be reversed into a virtuous one by ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) inhibitors, sartans, and calcium channel blockers. These three pharmacological classes are more potent than β-blockers and diuretics for reducing arterial stiffness and small artery remodeling. The same ranking was observed for their effectiveness at reducing left ventricular hypertrophy, preserving glomerular filtration rate, and preventing dementia, suggesting that they can act beyond brachial BP reduction, by breaking the micro/macrocirculation vicious circle.


Free coloureds and free blacks in Caribbean societies have often been called an 'intermediate group', at times, a 'marginal group'. However, comparative cross-cultural studies caution us of the need to be careful of lumping such a large and multi-faceted section of the population into a 'group'. Biographical and genealogical research has yielded a great deal of evidence that provides greater understanding of the complexities of relationships between the various social fractions. This study provides more information on the lives of the free people of colour of Barbados, predominately those manumitted, and especially the life of London Bourne. London Bourne's life spanned the late slavery and early post-emancipation periods and his family and associates provide a window on complex kin and other relationships, attitudes, life chances and the ideological tendencies of the elite strata of free blacks and free coloureds in Barbados in this era.


We report the observation of vibrational solvatochromism in organic photovoltaic materials. The frequency of the carbonyl (C=O) stretch of the methyl ester group of the functionalized fullerene, PCBM, is sensitive to the local phase separated morphology of polymer blends and bilayers incorporating the fullerene. In particular, PCBM molecules at interfaces with conjugated polymers exhibit higher frequency carbonyl stretch vibrations in comparison to molecules imbedded in the interiors of PCBM clusters/layers. The resulting frequency gradient was recently used to examine the dynamics of charge photogeneration in a blend of the conjugated polymer, CN-MEH-PPV, with PCBM. In this contribution, we explore the origin of the frequency shift and show that it arises from variations in the inhomogeneous solvent environments experienced by PCBM molecules as a result of phase separation in the polymer blend.


Warfare and armed conflict have evolved radically with the advent of technology and perhaps most importantly, with globalization. Unlike the West, which has come to terms with violence through constant memorialization, multidisciplinary discourse and legislature, cities in the developing world lack audible intellectual trajectories. Therefore, studies on the merits of the non-Western conditions of conflict must take into account the complex structures of organization of society, politics, religion and ethnicities, as a result of the globalization of violence. Developing and less politically stable countries like Pakistan, on the other hand, are losing urban space through attacks from the perpetrators and yet more so from the state as the literal subtraction of the public realm gets framed as security measures Whereas international law states that during times of war, civilian rights can be legally suspended - in Pakistan that suspension has shifted into a state of temporariness without prescribed limits. This paper looks at urban space in the developing world as a dual site of the threat and the threatened while questioning the effectivity of security apparatus that have become the foundations for design of the contemporary city.


Scaffold proteins regulate cell signalling by promoting the proximity of putative interaction partners. Although they are frequently applied in cellular settings, fundamental understanding of them in terms of, amongst other factors, quantitative parameters has been lagging behind. Here we present a scaffold protein platform that is based on the native 14‐3‐3 dimeric protein and is controllable through the action of a small‐molecule compound, thus permitting study in an in vitro setting and mathematical description. Robust small‐molecule regulation of caspase‐9 activity through induced dimerisation on the 14‐3‐3 scaffold was demonstrated. The individual parameters of this system were precisely determined and used to develop a mathematical model of the scaffolding concept. This model was used to elucidate the strong cooperativity of the enzyme activation mediated by the 14‐3‐3 scaffold. This work provides an entry point for the long‐needed quantitative insights into scaffold protein functioning and paves the way for the optimal use of reengineered 14‐3‐3 proteins as chemically inducible scaffolds in synthetic systems.


Previous studies have defined sequences that are difficult to replicate and, consequently, are more vulnerable to replication-associated breaks and recombination events. However, many of these sequences have been identified through indirect and biased approaches. To identify genomic sequences that contribute to replication-associated breakpoints, we have performed genome-wide screens to determine the location, sequence, and frequency of replication perturbations within the mammalian genome. To convert these transient pause sites in S phase into longer-lived intermediates, asynchronous ATR-inhibited cells were treated with a low dose of polymerase inhibitor (0.2 μM aphidicolin) to promote selective replication fork collapse at difficult-to-replicate sequences. Affected regions were then isolated by chromatin immunoprecipitation of RPA (RPA-ChIP) and by a recently developed novel DNA breakpoint isolation method. Following deep sequencing, these sites were mapped within 1-5 kb regions and sequences at the center of these peaks were binned to quantify the overall frequency of replication fork collapse at such sites. Surprisingly, sequences that have long been thought to be among the most difficult to replicate, such as CGG repeats, were overshadowed by distinct repetitive sequences that are relatively uncharacterized. These sites were greater than 50-fold enriched over background, and were more common as replication-troubled regions than other well characterized sequences (e.g. triplet repeats, fragile sites, etc). In total, over 100 independently confirmed sites were identified, with most sequences observed in multiple locations across the genome. Notably, common fragile sites, which have been speculated to harbor such replication slow zones, were not observed to be particularly enriched in RPA-ChIP samples, consistent with recent observations that these sites are fragile for reasons other than impeded DNA replication rates. These findings and others indicating a larger role of chromatin structure in common fragile site breakage will be discussed. Citation Format: Yu-Chen Tsai, Nishita Shastri, Kevin D. Smith, Jonathan Schug, Rafael Casellas, Eric J. Brown. Genome-wide identification of replication-associated breakpoints. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1777. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-1777 Note: This abstract was not presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 because the presenter was unable to attend.


This compendium has been designed to support officers responsible for designing nutrition-sensitive food and agriculture investments in selecting appropriate indicators to monitor if these investments are having an impact on nutrition (positive or negative) and if so through which pathways. It provides an overview of indicators that can be relevant as part of a nutrition-sensitive approach together with guidance to inform the selection of indicators. The purpose of this compendium is to provide a current compilation of indicators that may be measured for identified outcomes of nutrition-sensitive investments. This compendium does not provide detailed guidance on how to collect a given indicator but points to relevant guidance materials. This compendium does not represent official FAO recommendations for specific indicators or methodologies. It is intended only to provide information on the indicators methodologies and constructs that may be relevant to consider in the monitoring and evaluation of nutrition-sensitive agriculture investments. It is not envisaged that a single project should collect data on all the indicators presented here. The selection will be informed by the type of intervention implemented the anticipated intermediary outcomes and nutritional outcomes as well as the feasibility of data collection in view of available resources and other constraints. The advice of M&E experts and subject matter specialists should be sought in making the final choice of indicators and in planning the data collection and analysis including sampling and design of questionnaires. This compendium deals with programmes projects and investments. While some indicators may be relevant for routine monitoring at national scale this document does not cover every indicator that would be needed to monitor nutrition sensitivity of policies. (Excerpt)


To synthesize evidence for prefrontal cortex (PFC), quadriceps, and respiratory muscle oxygenation using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) during cycling in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A scoping review was performed searching databases (inception-August 2020): Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Clinical Trials, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus and Pedro. The search focused on COPD, cycling, and NIRS outcomes. 29 studies (541 COPD participants) were included. Compared to healthy individuals (8 studies), COPD patients at lower cycling workloads had more rapid increases in vastus lateralis (VL) deoxygenated hemoglobin (HHb); lower increases in VL total hemoglobin (tHb) and blood flow; and lower muscle tissue saturation (StO2). Heliox and bronchodilators were associated with smaller and slower increases in VL HHb. Heliox increased VL and intercostal blood flow compared to room air and supplemental oxygen in COPD patients (1 study). PFC oxygenated hemoglobin (O2Hb) increased in COPD individuals during cycling in 5 of 8 studies. Individuals with COPD and heart failure demonstrated worse VL and PFC NIRS outcomes compared to patients with only COPD—higher or more rapid increase in VL HHb and no change or decrease in PFC O2Hb. Individuals with COPD present with a mismatch between muscle oxygen delivery and utilization, characterized by more rapid increase in VL HHb, lower muscle O2Hb and lower muscle StO2. PFC O2Hb increases or tends to increase in individuals with COPD during exercise, but this relationship warrants further investigation. NIRS can be used to identify key deoxygenation thresholds during exercise to inform PFC and muscle oxygenation.


The Ylang Ylang (Cananga odorata) plant extract is highly popular among the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI) and is frequently used in local medicine. This can be attributed to its properties as an antiseptic, antidepressant, antiseborrheic, hypotensive, sedative, and nervine substance. It is also used in aromatherapy treatments, perfume, and cosmetic products all over the world. The key chemical constituents of the Ylang Ylang are linalool, germacrene, geranyl acetate, methyl benzoate, and p-cresyl methyl ether, which all contribute to its medicinal effects. With the presence of antibacterial properties, it may be used as an alternative to conventional medicine, but it has yet to be tested. The purpose of this research project is to determine whether the Yang Ylang plant extract does have an effect on the selected bacteria, Staphylococcus Aureus. We hypothesize that the extract will have an effect on the bacteria. In order to test our hypothesis, we will grow Staphylococcus Aureus bacteria in petri dishes. We will test different concentrations of the extract from steam distillation, upon bacterial strains to determine its efficacy, in comparison to a control group. Further research is necessary to discover the benefits of local medicine and suggest an alternative to regular antibiotics.


We describe a new distributed I/O software architecture to support remote applications interacting with local I/O devices based on the concept of a networked device driver. Our goal is both network transparency and high extensibility/ease of customization in support of the vastly different types of applications and devices that can benefit from remote I/O, especially relevant in cloud computing contexts. A networked device driver logically connects a device at one network end-point and an application at another, and allows the I/O stream between them to be modified by a set of pipelined transformation modules. Each transformation module comes in a pair, operating on each side of the network, with one side typically applying some operation and the other side applying a corresponding one (e.g., one that reverses the original transformation). Because of the paired nature of transformation modules, the system is capable of supporting the modification of the I/O stream in a variety of ways to compensate for network issues while remaining transparent to the application, and also results in a high degree of extensibility. This is achieved with a mostly user-level implementation that incurs a relatively low degree of overhead.