In November 2021, the World Health Assembly (WHA) is hosting a special session to discuss the proposed plans for a pandemic treaty. Despite the fact that there are scant details concerning the treaty, the proposal has gained considerable support in both the academic community, and at the international level. While we agree that in the wake of the numerous governance failures during COVID-19, we need to develop appropriate global solutions to be able to prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from future global health crises—and that such mechanisms should be rooted in global equity—we disagree, however, that this pandemic treaty, currently, is the most appropriate way in which to achieve this. Indeed, notions of global community, solidarity, fairness are far removed from the reality that we have seen unfolding in the actions of states responding to the pandemic. This is the crux of the tension with the proposed treaty: the balance between the ideal cosmopolitan worldview held by those in power in global health, and the practice of national security decision-making witnessed in the last 18 months. Indeed, we do not believe that a pandemic treaty will deliver what is being extolled by its proponents, and it will not solve the multiple problems of global cooperation in global health that supporters believe it will.


In this article, identity theory is applied to a selection of John Chrysostom's homilies in order to investigate the identities being created, negotiated and modified in his commentary on the 'poor'. It is proposed that his discourse on the poor and almsgiving seeks overwhelmingly to negotiate identities for the wealthy within his Christian community, rather than for the poor. These identities are considered through Chrysostom's use of imagery, his commentary on behaviour, and his emphasis on the benefits provided both by the poor and almsgiving. Furthermore, it is argued that in these homilies Chrysostom sought to mediate Christian identities for the wealthy that complemented rather than opposed those operating in the wider non-Christian, Greco-Roman world.


Background and aims – The Congo Basin lowland forest represents one of the largest tropical forest blocks in the world, but its liana assemblage has never been characterized. We evaluate liana floristics, diversity, and structure in the Ituri Forest, and determine the effects of forest structure and edaphic variation on liana species composition. Methods – Two permanent 10-ha plots (200 × 500 m), 500 m apart, were established in mixed forest. All liana individuals = 2 cm dbh were identified, measured, mapped, and marked. For 20 × 20 m subplots we distinguished terra firme and swamp, and we estimated canopy openness. Key results – The combined 20-ha area contains 15,008 lianas (dbh = 2 cm) representing 195 species, 83 genera, and 34 families. Per hectare, species number averaged 64, mean basal area was 0.71 m2 and mean Fisher's alpha, Shannon index, and Simpson diversity index values were 17.9, 3.1 and 11.4, respectively. Ten dominant plant families represented 69% of total species richness, 92% of liana abundance and 92% of basal area, while ten dominant species accounted for 63% of abundance and 59% of basal area. A single species, Manniophyton fulvum, dominated the liana community (22% of all individuals). Forty-one species (21%) had one individual only. Twiners, zoochorous, light-demanding, and meso- or microphyllous species dominated. Liana abundance increased with abundance of medium-sized and large trees but was, surprisingly, independent of small-tree abundance. Canopy openness, habitat type, and tree size were the most important factors influencing abundance and distribution of liana individuals. Conclusions – The Ituri liana assemblage stands out by showing an extreme one-species dominance. Species floristic composition is, however, generally similar to that in other tropical African forests.


Choroid plexus papillomas have been reported in Aicardi syndrome. Management of these tumors is controversial because their natural progression in Aicardi syndrome has only been rarely documented. This report describes the progression of such a tumor over 7 years in a girl with Aicardi syndrome. A magnetic resonance imaging study at 2 months of age demonstrated a right ventricular mass that was consistent with a unilateral choroid plexus papilloma. The mass enlarged over the next 7 years without causing any clinically apparent symptoms, ventricular enlargement, hydrocephalus, or mass effect. The tumor was removed without change in behavior or development. The known cases of Aicardi syndrome associated with choroid plexus papillomas are reviewed. The heterogeneous nature of this lesion is highlighted.


The effect of (+)-cyanidanol-3 (Catergen) monotherapy was examined in 18 patients with alcoholic liver disease and in 12 patients with chronic active hepatitis. During the administration of the drug the majority of complaints diminished or ceased in both groups. In patients with alcoholic liver disease bromsulphalein retention and gamma glutamyl transferase levels decreased, in chronic active hepatitis serum glutaminic pyruvic acid transaminase (SGPT) and alkaline phosphatase levels increased, pseudocholinesterase level decreased. The histological abnormalities of alcoholic liver injury improved in the majority of cases, on the other hand, it was deteriorated in two third of the cases with chronic active hepatitis. In two cases the histological recovery of acute alcoholic hepatitis was observed. On the basis of this results we conclude that Catergen has an excellent therapeutic effect in alcoholic liver injury while in chronic active liver diseases it can be applied only as a part of combined therapy.


The growing acknowledgement of the phenomenon of individuals terminating their pregnancies by obtaining medications necessary for an abortion-what we refer to as "self- sourced and managed medication abortion" (SSMA)- has shed a light on the current contradictions in the world of abortion provision. In this paper, we offer a brief historical overview of the relationship of abortion provision and mainstream medicine, pointing to the various factors that have led to the marginalization of abortion care. We then turn to interviews with 40 physicians who provide abortions about their perspectives on SSMA, and we explore how this group responds to the contradictions presented by SSMA. In doing so, we interrogate the changing meaning of "physician authority" among this subset of physicians. We suggest that these interviewees represent an emergent sensibility among this generation of abortion physicians, a sensibility very tied to a commitment to social justice.


Graphene shows great potential for applications in electronics due to its outstanding physical properties such as extremely high electron mobility, high thermal conductivity, high Young's modulus and very high surface-to-volume ratio. Among these attractive properties, the high intrinsic thermal conductivity is a critical advantage for the application of graphene in electronics to alleviate heat dissipation problems. The work described in this thesis attempts to apply graphene as heat spreader for thermal management in electronic packaging.
To apply graphene as a potential alternative to metals for heat spreading applications, high-quality material and large-area synthesis is required. In the current thesis work, thermal chemical vapor deposition (TCVD), liquid phase exfoliation (LPE) from graphite, and reduction of graphene ox- ide (GO) are used to synthesize graphene, and transfer methods were also demonstrated.
In the TCVD approach, high quality graphene was fabricated over a large- area, controlling the graphene layer thickness. The thermal performance of graphene heat spreaders was evaluated by the temperature drop of the hotspots after the graphene transfer. To further enable the development of graphene heat spreaders, phonon scattering on the graphene-substrate interface, phonon-grain boundary scattering, thermal resistance boundary (TBR), and the effect of the number of graphene layers are discussed.
In the LPE approach, following LPE films were made by two different methods, vacuum filtration and drop coating. Three different methods were combined to evaluate and predict the thermal performance of such graphene- based films. Resistance thermometers were used to monitor the hotspot temperature decrease versus the Joule heat flow as a result of using graphene- based heat spreaders. The 3ω method was used to experimentally deter- mine the in-plane and through-plane thermal conductivities of such films. A finite element (FE) model of the hotspot test structure was setup using the in-plane and through-plane thermal conductivities obtained from the 3ω measurements. Simulations were performed to predict the hotspot temperature decrease with excellent agreement obtained between all methods. The results indicate that the alignment and purity of the graphene-based films, as well as their thermal boundary resistance with respect to the chip, are key parameters when determining the thermal performance of graphene-based heat spreaders.
In the reduction of GO approach, a graphene-based film heat spreader was fabricated from the reduced graphene oxide (RGO). However, these free- standing materials were poorly adhered to the substrate because only weak van der Waals interactions provide any adhesion. The enhanced heat transfer by introducing alternative heat-escaping channels into a graphene-based film bonded to functionalized graphene oxide through amino-silane molecules is demonstrated. Different techniques such as resistance thermometers, IR test, photothermal reflectance and molecular dynamics simulations were employed to reveal that the functionalization mediates heat transport in graphene nanoflakes. These studies suggest a significant package level solution for the thermal management of hotspots in high-power electronics at the micro- and nanometer scale.


Pinus massoniana bark proanthocyanidins (PMBPs), an active component isolated from Pinus massoniana bark, has been reported to possess a wide range of biochemical properties. Here, we investigated the anti-tumor effect of PMBPs on ovarian cancer. The results indicated that PMBPs significantly reduced the growth of ovarian cancer cells and induced dose-dependent apoptosis. The underlying mechanisms involved were elucidated to include the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, down-regulation of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and the activation of Caspase 3/9, suggesting that PMBPs triggered apoptosis through activation of mitochondria-associated apoptotic pathway. In addition, wound healing and transwell chamber assays revealed that PMBPs could suppress migration and invasion of ovarian cancer cells. PMBPs dramatically inhibited MMP-9 activity and expression, blocked the activity of NFκB and the activation of ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK. Our findings suggest that PMBPs has the potential to be developed as an anti-tumor drug for ovarian cancer treatment and/ or disease management.


Stationary fluidized bed combustion (SFBC-400, diameter 400 mm) has been proved to be an effective way of converting biomass wastages (Hemp residues) into clean energy. It has been received wide research attention in terms of its potential as an economic and environmentally acceptable technology for burning biomass and organic wastages. This paper introduces an experimental study of Hemp residues combustion in a SFBC. Experiments on ranges from 80 to 200 kW combustion test facility capacity show that Hemp residue Combustion temperature must be on ranges from 800 to 825° C. Temperature, volume and the concentrations of exhausted emissions (e.g. CO2, O2, CO, NO, NOX, SO2) are measured by dedicated sensors at different profiles inside the combustor, along its height and in the flue gas duct where the emission is exhausted.


Cryptography is a process that converts ordinary text into cipher text and vice-versa. It is not only protecting the data from theft, but can also be used for user authentication. The large number of slices increases the size of devices. In order to reduce the number of slices, lightweight algorithms are used. Achieving high speed and less memory space are the key issues in lightweight devices using conventional cryptographic algorithms. Hence Elliptic Curve Cryptographic Algorithm (ECC) is chosen, as its key size is very less and secure compared to conventional cryptographic algorithms. Elliptic-curve cryptography is a lightweight public-key cryptographic algorithm as it requires smaller keys compared to private-key cryptographic algorithms. In this paper, an ECC algorithm over Galois Field GF (23) for lightweight systems is proposed where the main focus is on reduction in area and the simulation and synthesis results of 8-bit ECC crypto processor are discussed. Therefore, a compact design for ECC crypto processor applicable to lightweight devices can be developed.


Abstract. Dust emissions influence global climate while simultaneously reducing the productive potential and resilience of landscapes to climate stressors, together impacting food security and human health. Vegetation is a major control on dust emission because it extracts momentum from the wind and shelters the soil surface, protecting dry and loose material from erosion by winds. Many of the current dust emission models (TEM) assume that the Earth's land surface is constantly devoid of vegetation, then adjust the dust emission using a vegetation cover reciprocal, and finally calibrate to dust in the atmosphere. We compare this approach with an albedo-based dust emission model (AEM) which calibrates Earth's land surface shadow to shelter depending on wind speed, to represent aerodynamic roughness spatio-temporal variation. We also compare these dust emission models with estimates of dust in the atmosphere using dust optical depth frequency (DOD). Using existing datasets of satellite observed dust emission from dust point sources (DPS), we show that during the same period, DOD frequency exceeds DPS frequency by up to two orders of magnitude (RMSEDOD = 67 days). Relative to DPS frequency, both models over-estimated dust emission frequency by up to one order of magnitude (RMSETEM = 6 days; RMSEAEM = 4 days) but showed strong relations with DPS frequency suitable for calibrating models to observed dust emission. Theoretically, the TEM is incomplete in its formulation, which despite the pragmatic adjustment using the vegetation cover reciprocal, causes dust emission to be highly dependent on wind speed and over-estimates large (> 0.1 kg m−2 a−1) dust emission over vast vegetated areas. Consequently, the TEM produces considerable falsely positive change in dust emission, relative to the AEM. Since the main difference between the dust emission models is the treatment of aerodynamic roughness we conclude that its crude representation in the TEM has caused large, previously unknown, uncertainty in Earth System Models (ESMs). Our results indicate that tuning dust emission models to dust in the atmosphere has hidden for more than two decades, these TEM modelling weaknesses and its poor performance. The AEM overcomes these weaknesses and improves performance without tuning. In ESMs the AEM can be driven by available prognostic albedo to represent the fidelity of drag partition physics to reduce uncertainty of aerosol effects on, and responses to, contemporary and future environmental change.


The papillomavirus E2 proteins regulate the transcription of all papillomavirus genes and are necessary for viral DNA replication. Disruption of the E2 gene is commonly associated with malignancy in cervical carcinoma, indicating that E2 has a role in regulating tumor progression. Although the E2 proteins from all characterized papillomaviruses bind specifically to the same 12-base pair DNA sequence, the cancer-associated human papillomavirus E2 proteins display a unique ability to detect DNA flexibility and intrinsic curvature. To understand the structural basis for this phenomenon, we have determined the crystal structures of the human papillomavirus-18 E2 DNA-binding domain and its complexes with high and low affinity binding sites. The E2 protein is a dimeric β-barrel and the E2-DNA interaction is accompanied by a large deformation of the DNA as it conforms to the E2 surface. DNA conformation and E2-DNA contacts are similar in both high and low affinity complexes. The differences in affinity correlate with the flexibility of the DNA sequence. Preferences of E2 proteins from different papillomavirus strains for flexible or prebent DNA targets correlate with the distribution of positive charge on their DNA interaction surfaces, suggesting a role for electrostatic forces in the recognition of DNA deformability.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Kidney biopsy (KB), to date the only tool for the evaluation of renal fibrosis, carries specific risks, and its relevance is limited by the small size of renal parenchyma assessed. Thus, a noninvasive alternative to KB is required. Collagen type III amino-terminal propeptide (PIIINP) is a degradation product of collagen type III, the increase of which may reflect an ongoing fibrotic process.

DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS
In a prospective study including 199 patients with various stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD), the association between urinary PIIINP/creatinine ratio (UPIIINP/Cr), patients' characteristics, and renal fibrosis was assessed.

RESULTS
A total of 118 of the patients had UPIIINP/Cr measured simultaneously with the performance of a KB. In patients, median UPIIINP/Cr was 290 ng/mmol versus 93.7 ng/mmol in controls. In univariate analysis, UPIIINP/Cr was correlated with serum creatinine, estimated GFR, CKD stage, presence of coronary artery disease, and nephropathy type (glomerulonephritis versus other types). In multivariate analysis, only estimated GFR and nephropathy type were correlated with UPIIINP/Cr. UPIIINP/Cr was closely correlated with the extent of interstitial fibrosis in KB assessed using two different methods. Moreover, UPIIINP/Cr >800 ng/mmol had a negative predictive value of 94% to detect patients in whom KB will eventually prove "noninformative" (KB leading neither to a definite diagnosis of nephropathy nor to specific treatment).

CONCLUSIONS
UPIIINP/Cr is a promising fibro-test for the kidney and may alleviate the need for KB in some patients with CKD. Its predictive value for CKD progression deserves evaluation in prospective studies.


Abstract The structure of the 68 nt sequence with G-quadruplex forming potential within the hTERT promoter is disputed. One model features a structure with three stacked parallel G-quadruplex units, while another features an unusual duplex hairpin structure adjoined to two stacked parallel and antiparallel quadruplexes. We report here the results of an integrated structural biology study designed to distinguish between these possibilities. As part of our study, we designed a sequence with an optimized hairpin structure and show that its biophysical and biochemical properties are inconsistent with the structure formed by the hTERT wild-type sequence. By using circular dichroism, thermal denaturation, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, analytical ultracentrifugation, small-angle X-ray scattering, molecular dynamics simulations and a DNase I cleavage assay we found that the wild type hTERT core promoter folds into a stacked, three-parallel G-quadruplex structure. The hairpin structure is inconsistent with all of our experimental data obtained with the wild-type sequence. All-atom models for both structures were constructed using molecular dynamics simulations. These models accurately predicted the experimental hydrodynamic properties measured for each structure. We found with certainty that the wild-type hTERT promoter sequence does not form a hairpin structure in solution, but rather folds into a compact stacked three-G-quadruplex conformation.


This paper investigates the link between the optimal level of nonfinancial firms' short-term leverage and macroeconomic and idiosyncratic sources of uncertainty. We develop a structural model of a firm's value maximization problem that predicts a negative relationship between uncertainty and optimal levels of borrowing. This proposition is tested using a panel of nonfinancial U.S. firms drawn from the COMPUSTAT quarterly database covering the period 1993–2003. The estimates confirm that as either form of uncertainty increases, firms decrease their levels of short-term leverage. This effect is stronger for macroeconomic uncertainty than for idiosyncratic uncertainty. (JEL C23, D8, D92, G32)


Amplification of Chlamydia trachomatis DNA by polymerase chain reaction was compared with amplification by ligase chain reaction (LCR). Both amplification procedures were able to consistently amplify amounts of DNA equivalent to three C. trachomatis elementary bodies. All 15 C. trachomatis serovars were amplified to detectable levels by LCR, and no DNA from 16 organisms potentially found in clinical specimens or from Chlamydia psittaci and Chlamydia pneumoniae was amplified by LCR.


This study experimentally investigated the flow boiling of HFE-7100 in wavy copper microchannel heat sink (20 mm × 10 mm), which was fabricated with the ultrafast laser micromachining approach, consisting of 20 wavy microchannels with wavelength of 2000 μm and wave amplitude of 100 μm with triangular cross section (200 μm × 573 μm). The experiment was conducted with the mass fluxes of 330.07–550.11 kg/(m2·s) and heat flux of 14.5–411.3 kW/m2 at an inlet temperature of 15°C. Four flow patterns including bubbly flow, slug flow, churn flow and annular flow were captured with the visualization technique. Several confined bubbles with irregular shape were observed. In the low heat flux region, the dominant flow regime of heat transfer in the microchannels is the nucleate boiling and the heat transfer coefficient increases with increasing heat flux. With the nucleate boiling suppressed gradually, the evaporation of thin liquid film begins to dominate and the heat transfer coefficient decreases with the increase of heat flux. The heat flux has a significant effect on heat transfer coefficient compared with the mass flux and vapor quality.


Asbestos is the name of a group of minerals with long and thin fibers that originate naturally in the environment. Asbestos mainly affects lungs and the membrane that surrounds the lungs. In general, PCM (phase contrast microscopy) and PLM (polarized light microscopy) have been used to analyze asbestos fibers. However, these methods have often problems to over-estimate number concentration when counting real asbestos fibers. Moreover, there are many difficulties when separating and identifying various asbestos and non-asbestos fibers. In order to determine quantitative information on fibrous particles, source profiles for asbestos and non-asbestos fibers must be initially developed on the basis of their chemical compositions and physical parameters. In our study, a SEM/EDX was used to develop source profiles from known asbestos samples as reference samples. We could make the source profile matrix consisting of 6 types of asbestos fibers and 2 types of non-asbestos fibers by analyzing 380 fibers. Based on these profiles, a rule building expert system was developed by using the visual basic application (VBA). Various fibers were successfully classified by 2 simple rules in the EXCEL environment based on several visual steps such as inserting data, viewing results, and saving results. For a case study to test the expert system, samples from a construction materials and from various indoor environments such as a residental area, a preschool classroom, and an underground store were collected and analyzed. As a result of the survey, a total of 76 individual test fiber particles was well classified into 5 different types of particle classes; 9.3% of chrysotile, 15.4% of amosite, 0.8 of crocidolite, 4.2% of tremolite, 5.8% glass fiber, 21.1% of other fibers, and 43.5% of unknown fibers in terms of number concentration. Even though unknown portion was high, it will be decreased markedly when expanding fiber source profiles.


When social security charges, as responsible for the poor economic growth and employment, it is wrong in choosing someone to blame. Social security is more a victim than the cause of economic hardship is a fact in all countries. Is it the fault of the Social Security if in most developed countries, technological advances and pressing to increased competition internationally established to take to produce more with less labor, while they work, which is not released as right. Social Security's fault if the transition countries of Central and Eastern Europe generator market economy, inflation and unemployment. Social insurance mistake is when massive capital movements, destabilize the exchange rate. Is the fault of social insurance in the event that the export price in some developing countries is vulnerable to fluctuations in world prices for raw materials. A social security fault if many developing countries are victims of the countries in debt crisis. Is it a sin if social security are increasingly open to international trade which reflects the loss of autonomy of national economic and social policies. Social security needs solidarity only allowing funds better social welfare, but are also less exposed to criticism and serve as an important protection against possible attempts to privatize.


"We believe in God..., Maker of heaven and earth," is a confession of the Christian church. As such, and since its cardinal terms are taken directly from the Old Testament, it invites an immediate investigation of those texts themselves. Such an investigation would seem to be my responsibility in this consultation, and it would certainly be what I am best equipped to do. However, this paper is also to reflect on the relation of biblical and theological studies. Since that relation is so crucial, and in the current situation so unclear, I have found it necessary to devote all my attention to what should be merely prolegomena. Thus, I must begin, in violation of good rhetorical form, with an apology for what I will and will not do: I will not deal with those texts that are, in great measure, the reason for our gathering; and I will engage in what may seem to be nothing more than "the endless methodological foreplay" that Jeffrey Stout sees as the bane of academic theology.1 Even so, I will have nothing to say about method. My aim is simply stated: it is to locate the interpretation of scripture in relation to theology. I will pursue that aim by reflecting on what is entailed in the confession that forms the rubric of this consultation and the title of this paper. The first two sections of the paper represent parallel probes, the first more abstract and the second more concrete, into the same topic.


One of the functions of bird song is its use in species identification, which contributes to the maintenance of reproductive isolation between closely related species (Welty, 1975). For species that can modify their vocalizations, the isolating function of song difference sometimes breaks down. Formerly allopatric Chinese bulbuls (Pycnonotus sinensis) and Styan's bulbuls (P. taivanus) live under similar ecological conditions on Taiwan and have songs that resemble one another. In the 1950s they came into secondary contact and the two species hybridized. This study analyzes the vocalizations of these taxa recorded from both allopatric and sympatric populations, and demonstrates vocal modification in sympatric populations.


We investigate a steady planar flow of an ideal fluid in a bounded simple connected domain and focus on the vortex patch problem with prescribed vorticity strength. There are two methods to deal with the existence of solutions for this problem: the vorticity method and the stream function method. A long standing open problem is whether these two entirely different methods result in the same solution. In this paper, we will give a positive answer to this problem by studying the local uniqueness of the solutions. Another result obtained in this paper is that if the domain is convex, then the vortex patch problem has a unique solution.


Fundraising is an importan activity for a nonprofit institution, because through this activity, the nonprofit organization can runout its program. This is also done by the Lazizmu district Sidoarjo, as an effort to realize its participation in community empowerment, and as to maximize potential social fund in Indonesia. The Study is conducted using a descriptive qualitative method of data collecting technique that are used in interview tevhniques, observation and documentations. The informant in this study is leader of Lazizmu Sidoarjo, chief of fundraising finance manager Sidoarjo, and fundraising volunteers. According to the study, there are 3 alternating strategies employed by Lazizmu Sidoarjo, namely dialogue fundraising involving the advent of fundraising volunteers, incidental ising, and socialization by mubaligh and various event, and than retention & development donor includes magazine management and services hotline and volunteers contact occupational ising after every seedling, and the last one is multichannel fundraising include telefundraising, the supply of cans in the AUM, with KLL at AUM and mosques and the use of social media.


The link between drinking and consequent injuries during job activities has been stresses by the most important international organizations and by ISTAT. Luckily, the low 125/01 has opened to "occupational doctor" the possibility of analysing the alcohol related risks among particular working classes, i.e. hospital workers. Thus, it has been conducted a survey in our Hospital in order to understand the entity of the alcohol related risk. The 32.59 of the sample was classified as teetotallers, 45.81% was in the range of low risk probability, while the 24.58% was in the high risk one. It has also been noticed a significant link between the highest level of risk and male employees, but nothing in relation with age or the type of job. In conclusion, this study has represented the first step for our next training programs to reduce the alcohol related risks and give a support to those workers who have already drinking problems.


Studying the causes of hospitalization prolongation terms in COPD exacerbation may help optimize treatment, reduce expenditures on the patient and avoid episodes relapses. The aim of the work was to determine the factors affecting the length of hospitalization due to COPD exacerbation. A retrospective analysis of medical records of inpatients hospitalized with COPD exacerbation to therapeutic department of CI "Dnipropetrovsk municipal clinical hospital N 6" of "Dnipropetrovsk regional council" during three years was done. It was found that age, height, number of comorbidities, presence of any symptoms or changes in laboratory analyses do not affect the duration of hospitalizations due to COPD exacerbations. Regardless of the frequency of hospital admissions, length of hospitalization moderately positively and reliably correlates with the disease stage (R = 0,516, p <0,001). Decrease of respiratory function indices, especially FEV 1, significantly increases the length of stay in the hospital both in case of one (R = -0,457, p <0.001) or multiple hospitalization during three years (R = -0,512, p <0.001). Reduced body weight and low body mass index during hospitalization are prognostically unfavorable factors, because these parameters, though weakly, but reliably negatively correlate with the number of days spent in the hospital (R = -0,195, p = 0,028 and R = -0,246, respectively, p = 0,005). In the population of patients hospitalized due to COPD exacerbation, moderately positive reliable correlation (R = 0,392, p <0,001) between the length of hospital stay and number of hospitalizations during three years was established. The dependence of hospitalization duration in COPD exacerbations on patient's gender requires further investigation.


The social knowledge of East African vervet monkeys is striking. W ithin a local population the monkeys recognize individuals, and associate each individual with its particular group. W ithin groups, the monkeys recognize dominance relations, rank orders, and matrilineal kinship, and they remember who has behaved affinitively towards them in the past. Outside the social domain, however, vervets appear to know surprisingly little about other aspects of their environment. Although they do distinguish the different alarm calls given by birds, vervets do not seem to recognize the fresh tracks of a python, or indirect evidence that a leopard is nearby. Similarly, although cooperation and reciprocity seem common in social interactions, comparable behaviour has apparently not evolved to deal with ecological problems. Results support the view that primate intelligence has evolved mainly to solve social problems. As a result, vervet monkeys make excellent primatologists but poor naturalists.


The Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) considers the relevance of ethics in a similar context than other countries have developed. According to these considerations, IMSS implemented formally of system of local committees on clinical ethics (CLEC), not only to provide support when ethical dilemmas emerge, but to facilitate the development of an ethics culture among health professionals. The implementation of the CLEC network started in 2004, and since then, its number has increased across the country. Currently IMSS has 78 CLECs. Their number continues to grow due to the level of awareness about the importance of ethics for making medical decisions. In November 2006 the first CLEC national meeting was held and the need to redefine strategies to improve performance of CLECS emerged. This article reports the current situation of the CLECs in Mexico.


Background: Continuous pandemic caused by coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have been associated with high morbidity and mortality. COVID-19 has been linked to a hypercoagulable state that causes cerebrovascular complications. The most common cerebrovascular complication is ischemic stroke. Case Presentations: We report six cases of ischemic stroke with COVID-19, age 51-81 years old, consists of four males and two females. The main risk factors are hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Brain CT scan showed large vessel ischemic stroke in four patients. The patients were treated with Low Molecular Weighted Heparin followed by dual antiplatelet (aspirin and clopidogrel). The outcome was good recovery with minimal sequelae in four patients and death in two patients. Conclusion: Most of the stroke type in COVID-19 is large vessel disease, with main risk factors of hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Treatment with low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) followed by dual antiplatelet showed promising clinical improvement. © 2021, Sanglah General Hospital. All rights reserved.


Although recent years have seen enormous growth in the nature and extent of IT outsourcing, organizations still struggle with factors that contribute to effective outsourcing. Drawing upon two theoretical lenses – formal and informal governance mechanisms and relational exchange theory – this study explores the relationships between four dimensions of governance (contractual governance, structural governance, extra-contractual governance, relational governance), two characteristics of the relational exchange (joint commitment, relationship trust) and four dimensions of IS outsourcing effectiveness (execution-level effectiveness, business benefits, functional benefits, economic benefits). Data collected from a field survey of 141 IS managers from client firms with application outsourcing arrangements are used to test these relationships. Results from PLS SEM analysis indicate that the four dimensions of governance mechanisms have different positive influences on the individual dimensions of outsourcing effectiveness, with joint commitment and relationship trust partially mediating the relationships. By modeling formal and informal governance mechanisms as antecedents to relational exchange, and by disaggregating the effectiveness dimensions, the findings from this study extend prior research and have important implications for researchers and practitioners alike.


The classic work Les jeux et les hommes (2001/1958) by the French sociologist Roger Caillois is put in analytical relation to the fields of narratology and dramaturgy, mainly by a comparison to some thoughts and ideas in Mats Odeen's Dramatiskt berattande (1988). The purpose is to highlight in what way Caillois's theory can be applied to the study of narratives and to identify analogies between narrations and games. The emphasis of the article is on a description of narratives based on Caillois's concept of game. Caillois's six criteria for game and play as process and phenomenon are systematically investigated: voluntarity, separation in time and space from ordinary life, unpredictability, improductivity, regulated by rules, and fictional. The article concludes that these parameters are valid definitional criteria for narratives as well.


This Element introduces and critically reflects on the contribution of implementation science to healthcare improvement efforts. Grounded in several disciplines, implementation science is the study of strategies to promote the uptake of evidence-based interventions into healthcare practice and policy. The field's focus is threefold. First, it encompasses theory and empirical research focused on exploring, identifying, and understanding the systems, behaviours, and practices that influence successful implementation. Second, it examines the evaluation of strategies to address barriers or enablers to implementation in a given context. Last, it increasingly seeks to understand the process of implementation itself: what actually gets implemented, and when, why, and how? Despite the growing body of evidence, challenges remain. Many important messages remain buried in the literature, and their impact on implementation efforts in routine practice may be limited. The challenge is not just to get evidence into practice, but also to get implementation science into practice. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.


SUMMARY To know the types of meningococcal strains in Spain, we serotyped and subtyped 743 Neisseria meningitidis isolates recovered between 1990 and 1992 from patients. A great number of serogroup B, serogroup C and non-groupable meningoccoci reacted with the serotyping reagents while many serogroup C and non-groupable isolates did not react with the serosubtyping reagents (78·2% and 54·8 % respectively); only 8·9 % of serogroup B meningococci were non-subtypeable (NST). Distribution of serotypes was similar in serogroup C and in non-groupable strains. Isolates showed great variability in antigenic phenotypes (71 in serogroup B, 20 in serogroup C and 25 in non-groupable meningococci). The most frequent antigenic combinations were 4:P1. 15 (39·8%) in serogroup B, 2b:NST (55·8%) in serogroup C and 2b:NST (35·6%) in non-groupable meningococci.


Research and therapeutic applications using human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hPSC-CMs) require robust differentiation strategies. Efforts to improve hPSC-CM differentiation have largely overlooked the role of extracellular matrix (ECM). The present study investigates the ability of defined ECM proteins to promote hPSC cardiac differentiation. Fibronectin, laminin-111, and laminin-521 enabled hPSCs to attach and expand; however, fibronectin ECM either endogenously produced or exogenously added promoted, while laminins inhibited, cardiac differentiation in response to growth factors Activin A, BMP4, and bFGF. Inducible shRNA knockdown of fibronectin prevented Brachyury+ mesoderm formation and subsequent hPSC-CM differentiation. Antibodies blocking fibronectin binding to integrin β1, but not α5, inhibited cardiac differentiation. Furthermore, inhibition of integrin-linked kinase blocked cardiac differentiation. These results identify fibronectin, laminin-111 and laminin-521 as defined substrates enabling cardiac differentiation of hPSCs and uncover the essential role of fibronectin and downstream signaling pathways in the early stage of hPSC-CM differentiation.


Dental practice arrangements are changing. There are proportionately fewer solo practices and increasing numbers of practices with many more employees. A review is provided of this evolving world of dentistry-including pediatric dental practice.


Abstract Background: The Eating Disorder Inventory-3 (EDI-3) is designed to assess eating disorder psychopathology and the associated psychological symptoms. The instrument has been revised and has not yet been validated for Swedish conditions in its current form. Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the validity and reliability of this inventory and present national norms for Swedish females. Methods: Data from patients with eating disorders (n = 292), psychiatric outpatients (n = 140) and normal controls (n = 648), all females, were used to study the internal consistency, the discriminative ability, and the sensitivity and specificity of the inventory using preliminary cut-offs for each subscale and diagnosis separately. Swedish norms were compared with those from Denmark, USA, Canada, Europe and Australian samples. Results: The reliability was acceptable for all subscales except Asceticism among normal controls. Analysis of variance showed that the EDI-3 discriminates significantly between eating disorders and normal controls. Anorexia nervosa was significantly discriminated from bulimia nervosa and eating disorder not otherwise specified on the Eating Disorder Risk Scales. Swedish patients scored significantly lower than patients from other countries on the majority of the subscales. Drive for Thinness is the second best predictor for an eating disorder. The best predictor for anorexia nervosa was Interoceptive Deficits and Bulimia for the other diagnoses. Conclusions/clinical implications: The EDI-3 is valid for use with Swedish patients as a clinical assessment tool for the treatment planning and evaluation of patients with eating-related problems. However, it still exist some uncertainty regarding its use as a screening tool.


The extension of least-squares tensor hypercontracted second- and third-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory (LS-THC-MP2 and LS-THC-MP3) to open-shell systems is an important development due to the scaling reduction afforded by THC and the ubiquity of molecular ions, radicals, and other open-shell reactive species. The complexity of wavefunction-based quantum-chemical methods such as Møller-Plesset and coupled cluster theory is reflected in the steep scaling of the computational costs with the molecular size. The least-squares tensor hypercontraction (LS-THC) method is an efficient, single-step factorization for the two-electron integral tensor but can also be used to factorize the double excitation amplitudes, leading to significant scaling reduction. Here we extend this promising method to open-shell variants of LS-THC-MP2 and -MP3 by using diagrammatic techniques and explicit spin summation. The accuracy of the resulting methods for open-shell species is benchmarked on standard test systems such as regular alkanes as well as realistic systems involving bond breaking, radical stabilization, and other effects. We find that open-shell LS-THC-MPn methods exhibit errors highly comparable to those produced by closed-shell LS-THC-MPn and are highly insensitive to particular chemical interactions, geometries, or even moderate spin contamination.


Through an examination of sixteenth-century Ottoman criminal codes pertaining to sexual crimes and their punishment, the article builds on the work of others who have attempted to streamline Islamic legal discourse and new legislation, mainly in the era of Suleyman the Magnificent. An emerging governing elite, recruited through slavery and attached to the sultan's household through marriage and patronage, attempted to create a legal system that, while committed to the tenets of Islamic law, promoted the new values of a dynamic group of people, which differed in many ways from those envisaged by the sharī a . The new legal codes suggest a change in discourse and outlook regarding various aspects of sexuality, gender differences, and concepts of crime and punishment.


We selectively characterized three isolates from Pseudomonas aeruginosa keratitis patients and how glycyrrhizin (GLY) affected them. Type III toxins were determined using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of GLY and assays for its effects on: time kill, bacterial permeability, and biofilm/adhesion were done. In vivo, C57BL/6 (B6) mice were treated topically with GLY after G81007 infection. Clinical score, photography with a slit lamp and RT-PCR were used to assess treatment effects. Isolates expressed exoS and exoT, but not exoU. MIC for all isolates was 40 mg/mL GLY and bacteriostatic effects were seen for G81007 after treatment using time kill assays. From viability testing, GLY treatment significantly increased the number of permeabilized bacteria (live/dead assay). Isolates 070490 and G81007 formed more biofilms compared with R59733 and PAO1 (control). GLY-treated bacteria had diminished biofilm compared with controls for all isolates. GLY reduced adherence of the G81007 isolate to cultured cells and affected specific biofilm associated systems tested by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR). In vivo, after G81007 infection, GLY treatment reduced clinical score and messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of IL-1β, TNF-α, CXCL2 and HMGB1. This study provides evidence that GLY is bacteriostatic for G81007. It also affects biofilm production, adherence to cultured cells, and an improved keratitis outcome.


Core-shell composite magnetic catalysts TiO2@NiFe2O4 with a titania loading of 9–32 wt. % have been synthesised by sol-gel method for direct amide synthesis in a radiofrequency (RF)-heated continuous flow reactor. The catalyst calcination temperature was optimised in the range of 350-500 oC and the highest activity was observed for the catalyst calcined at 500 oC due to conversion of titania into catalytically active anatase phase. No reaction between the magnetic core and the titania shell was observed up to the calcination temperature of 1000 oC and no sintering of titania shell was observed after calcination at 500 oC. The comparison of direct amide synthesis in a continuous flow fixed bed reactor under conventional and RF heating demonstrated that the RF heating mode increased the apparent reaction rate by 60 % and decreased the deactivation rate due to a better temperature uniformity. The titania weight normalised reaction rate in the RF-heated reactor was constant for titania loadings above 17 wt. %, while it decreased by a factor of 3 at lower titania loadings because of interactions between the ferrite core on the thin layer of the catalyst. The catalyst deactivation study showed that the deactivation rate could be accurately described by a first order kinetics and that the main reason of deactivation was coking. The catalyst regeneration via calcination at 400 oC resulted in the catalyst sintering, while a treatment with a hydrogen peroxide solution at 90 oC fully recovered catalytic activity.


Background: With over 13 million cancer survivors in the United States today, second cancers are of rapidly growing importance. However, data on nontreatment risk factors for second cancers are sparse. We explored the feasibility of pooling data from cohort studies of cancer incidence to investigate second cancer etiology. Methods: We combined data from five prospective studies including more than 800,000 individuals. We compared study designs and populations; evaluated availability of and ability to harmonize risk factor data; compared incidence and survival for common first primary malignancies and incidence of second primary malignancies; and estimated sample size requirements. Results: Overall, 96,513 incident, first primary malignancies were diagnosed during 1985 to 2009. Incidence rates and survival following the first primary varied among the cohorts, but most of the heterogeneity could be explained by characteristics of the study populations (age, sex, smoking, and screening rates). A total of 7,890 second primary cancers (excluding original primary site) were identified, yielding sufficient statistical power (≥80%) for detecting modest associations with risk of all second cancers among survivors of common first primary malignancies (e.g., colorectal cancer); however, there were insufficient events for studying survivors of rarer cancers or identifying risk factors for specific second cancers. Conclusions: Pooling data from cohort studies to investigate nontreatment risk factors for second primary cancers seems feasible but there are important methodologic issues—some of which are barriers to specific research questions—that require special attention. Impact: Increased understanding of nontreatment risk factors for second cancers will provide valuable prevention and surveillance information. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 23(8); 1598–608. ©2014 AACR.


The model-based speech enhancement method usually models types of noises in a prior and selects one noise model in the enhancement phase. In this paper, we study the modeling and selection (i.e. noise identification) algorithm for the model-base speech enhancement. For the noise signal features, Mel Frequency Cepstrum Coefficient (MFCC), Liner Prediction Coefficient (LPC), Linear Spectral Frequency (LSF) and Linear Predictive Cepstrum Coefficients (LPCC) are utilized. For the noise model, codebook, Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) and Hidden Markov Model (HMM) are adopted. We couple these features and models and provide a comparative performance analysis of them. In the experiment, we use NOIZEUS database for noise modeling and testing. The experiment results show that MFCC and GMM is an excellent couple for noise identification, and LFS can take the place of LPC in the codebook-based speech enhancement.


Now a day's electronic devices become smaller and lower in power Requirements, and they are less expensive. we have begun to adorn our bodies with personal information and communication appliances. Such devices include cellular phones, pagers and personal digital assistants and many more. But currently there is no such method for these kinds of devices to share data. Networking these kinds of devices can reduce functional I/O redundancies and allow new Conveniences and services. Human society is entering an era of modern computing, when networks are smoothly interconnected. The implementation of ubiquitous services requires three levels of connectivity: Local Area Networks (LAN), Wide Area Networks (WAN), and Human Area Networks (HAN) for connectivity to personal information, share data, media and communication appliances within the much smaller areas for communication. RedTacton is a technology that uses the surface of the human body as a high speed and safe network transmission path. So in this paper we are explaining the unique new functional features and enormous potential of RedTacton as HumanArea Networking technology. Here, the human body acts as a transmission medium supporting half duplex communication at 10Mbit/s.


A constrained iterative method for harmonic source parameter estimation is proposed based on an EM algorithm with intent for harmonic source separation. The problem of coinciding partials and interference among them in general is mitigated by the constraints on the "weak" partials on the stronger ones of the same harmonic source. A useful scheme to determine the weakness of a partial is proposed. The constrained iteration is shown to give more accurate estimates of the sinusoidal parameters, which results in good source separation even in most cases of highly overlapping spectra.


A performance model for wormhole routed interconnection networks is presented and applied to the butterfly fat-tree network. Experimental results agree very closely over a wide range of load rate. Novel aspects of the model, leading to accurate and simple performance predictions, include: (1) use of multiple-server queues, and (2) a general method of correcting queuing results based on Poisson arrivals to apply to wormhole routing. These ideas can also be applied to other networks.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the influence of status quo on information system (IS) adoption. Organizations often substantially allocate resources to leverage existing IT investments. The incumbent system deployment and the institutional environment will exert the influence on the new IS adoption of firms. The findings provide insights for explaining why firms conservatively react toward an emerging IT innovation.

Design/methodology/approach

The research design of the present study is consisted of the following steps. First, the related theoretical foundations of system adoption are reviewed for constructing the research framework. Second, based on the status quo bias theory, this study proposes a conceptual model. Third, the research data set was constructed through collecting manuscripts by conducting journal-by-journal searching in electronic databases. Finally, the protocol proposed by Lipsey and Wilson (2001) was used to conduct the meta-analysis.

Findings

Through a meta-analysis with 34 published studies, this study provides three observations. First, the results provide supports for the magnitude and significance of proposed relationships. Second, the relationships between status quo factors, expectations, and IS adoption are indeed related. Third, the considerable variability across effect sizes can be attributed to the type of adoption, the type of focal system, and the type of institutional pressures.

Research limitations/implications

Although the meta-analytic results provide supports for the significance and magnitude of proposed relationships, the follow-up manuscripts searching and further analyses are needed.

Originality/value

This research presents a collective understanding of systems adoption from status quo bias perspective. The findings provide insights for further researches on IS adoption.


Recent studies have confirmed that radioactive iodine therapy after recombinant human TSH (rhTSH) stimulation effectively ablates the normal thyroid remnant. However, no published study has determined the effectiveness of rhTSH preparations on the important endpoint of disease recurrence. Methods: Disease recurrence was retrospectively assessed a median of 2.5 y after radioiodine remnant ablation (RRA) in 394 consecutive thyroid cancer patients (93% papillary, 71% female, 47 ± 15 y old [mean ± SD], median 131I dose of 3,996 MBq [108 mCi]). Results: Similar rates of clinically evident disease recurrence (4% rhTSH vs. 7% thyroid hormone withdrawal [THW], P = not statistically significant) and residual thyroid bed uptake without other evidence of persistent disease (4% rhTSH vs. 7% THW, P = not statistically significant) were seen in the 320 patients undergoing rhTSH-assisted RRA and the 74 patients prepared for RRA by THW. When the definition of no clinical evidence of disease included a suppressed thyroglobulin level of less than 1 ng/mL and a stimulated thyroglobulin level of less than 2 ng/mL, rhTSH-assisted RRA was associated with significantly higher rates of no clinical evidence of disease (74% rhTSH vs. 55% THW, P = 0.02) and significantly lower rates of persistent disease (19% rhTSH vs. 32% THW, P = 0.02) than was RRA after THW. Patients selected for rhTSH-assisted RRA were older (48 ± 15 vs. 44 ± 15 y, P = 0.03) and received a slightly higher administered activity of 131I (median, 4,033 MBq [109 mCi] vs. 3,811 MBq [103 mCi], P = 0.01) but did not differ with respect to sex, histology, disease stage, or mean time to recurrence (19 ± 9 mo for rhTSH vs. 20 ± 16 mo for THW). Conclusion: rhTSH-assisted RRA is associated with rates of clinically evident disease recurrence and persistent uptake in the thyroid bed that are similar to those for traditional THW.


Abstract Rationale: The targeting of signal transduction through programmed cell death receptor-1 (PD-1) and its ligand programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been widely applied in clinical research. However, the subtypes and treatment patterns that predict responses to PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors are not fully understood. Biomarkers, such as PD-L1 expression, tumor mutation load, and DNA mismatch repair defects, have been used to screen patients who respond to PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors, but the appropriate treatment mode requires further investigation. Immune checkpoint inhibitors combined with radiotherapy provide benefits from remote effects, especially in NSCLC patients with increased PD-L1 expression. Patient concerns: We report a 64-year-old man who presented with left back pain for 40 days. A computed tomography scan showed a mass in the right upper lobe of the lung, with metastases in the right hilar and mediastinal lymph nodes. Diagnosis: NSCLC-not otherwise specified was diagnosed by computed tomography-guided lung biopsy. Interventions: After the failure of first-line chemotherapy, next-generation sequencing was performed for comprehensive gene analysis, and PD-L1 expression levels were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. The patient was treated with toripalimab (a PD-1 inhibitor) concurrently with radiotherapy for bone metastases. Outcomes: The detection results showed a high tumor mutation burden and increased PD-L1 expression. On the basis of these findings, the patient received toripalimab (PD-1 inhibitor) combined with radiotherapy for bone metastases. Partial response was achieved after 3 cycles, and the patient showed stable disease at the end of the sixth and ninth cycles of toripalimab. The patient was followed up for 26 months. At present, the patient is receiving toripalimab maintenance treatment, which has been well-tolerated without adverse events. Lesson: Toripalimab combined with radiotherapy may exert a synergistic anti-tumor effect through remote effects in advanced or metastatic NSCLC with high PD-L1 expression. However, the specific treatment mode requires further confirmation by the investigation of additional cases.


BACKGROUND
Renal services provide resources to support patients in making informed choices about their dialysis modality. Many encourage new patients to talk with those already experiencing dialysis. It is unclear if these stories help or hinder patients' decisions, and few studies have been conducted into their effects. We present two studies comparing the impact of patient and doctor stories on hypothetical dialysis modality choices among an experimental population.

METHODS
In total, 1694 participants viewed online information about haemodialysis and continuous cycling peritoneal dialysis and completed a questionnaire. In Study 1, using actors, treatment information was varied by presenter (Doctor, Patient), order of presenter (Patient first, Doctor first) and mode of delivery (written, video). Information in Study 2 was varied (using actors) by presenter (Doctor, Patient), order of presenter (Patient first, Doctor first), inclusion of a decision table (no table, before story, after story) and sex of the 'patient' (male, female) and 'Doctor' (male, female). Information was controlled to ensure comparable content and comprehensibility.

RESULTS
In both studies, participants were more likely to choose the dialysis modality presented by the patient rather than that presented by the doctor. There was no effect for mode of delivery (video versus written) or inclusion of a decision table.

CONCLUSIONS
As 'new' patients were making choices based on past patient experience of those already on dialysis, we recommend caution to services using patient stories about dialysis to support those new to the dialysis in delivering support to those who are new to the decision making process for dialysis modality.


Dongfeng Village of Linyi City in Shandong Province, PRC, is an immigrant village formed in the 1960s as part of community relocation from Mengyin County of Shandong Province due to the building of a reservoir. This paper first provides a comprehensive description of the sound changes in the Dongfeng dialect, and has identified nine major differences between the Dongfeng dialect and the surrounding local dialect in syllable initials, finals and tones. Drawing on the theory of lexical diffusion, it then explores the pattern of spreading of sound changes from the perspectives of word frequency, competing changes and residues. As a tentative conclusion, it is posited that the sound changes in Dongfeng village over a span of 40 years are the results of the competition of the dual influence from the local dialect and Mandarin. Lexical diffusion of the various types of sound changes is not only related to word frequency, but is also sensitive to word class. The word frequency effects are significant only within word classes.


Purpose: to study the physical state of middle-aged women with long-term experience of regular training of aerobic orientation. Material & Methods: in the work presented results of the study of 2 experimental groups with experience training of aerobic orientation from 3 to 5 years and more than 10 years. The features of physical state were certain. Results: it is set – women with experience of training more than 10 years had significantly lower body weight and body fat percentage, the best power indicators and tolerance to physical activities, higher aerobic possibilities in the absence of sig-nificant differences in the indicators of the respiratory system. Conclusions: the results showed a positive effect on the physical state of middle-aged women with long-term training of aerobic orientation.


Although the study of political behaviour has been traditionally restricted to the social sciences, new advances in political neuroscience and computational cognitive science highlight that the biological sciences can offer crucial insights into the roots of ideological thought and action. Echoing the dazzling diversity of human ideologies, this theme issue seeks to reflect the multiplicity of theoretical and methodological approaches to understanding the nature of the political brain. Cutting-edge research along three thematic strands is presented, including (i) computational approaches that zoom in on fine-grained mechanisms underlying political behaviour, (ii) neurocognitive perspectives that harness neuroimaging and psychophysiological techniques to study ideological processes, and (iii) behavioural studies and policy-minded analyses of such understandings across cultures and across ideological domains. Synthesizing these findings together, the issue elucidates core questions regarding the nature of uncertainty in political cognition, the mechanisms of social influence and the cognitive structure of ideological beliefs. This offers key directions for future biologically grounded research as well as a guiding map for citizens, psychologists and policymakers traversing the uneven landscape of modern polarization, misinformation, intolerance and dogmatism. This article is part of the theme issue 'The political brain: neurocognitive and computational mechanisms'.


OBJECTIVE
To study the anti-tumor effects of combined IL-12 and granalocyte-macrophage-colong scimulating factor (GM-CSF) gene therapy on murine hepatocellular carcinoma.

METHODS
Twenty-four mice received subcutaneous inoculation of 1 x 10(6) BNL hepatoma cells were randomly divided into the following four groups with different cytokine encoding plasmids (6 mice for each group): (1)pXX-GM-CSF 12.5 microg and pXX-IL-12 12.5 microg; (2)pXX-IL-12 25 microg; (3)pXX-GM-CSF 25 microg; (4)pXX-Neo 25 microg. The plasmids were given through tail vein using a versatile hydrodynamics-based DNA delivery method on day 3 and day 6 after tumor challenge. The growth of tumor and cellular immune response were observed intensively. The changes in serum concentration of IL-12, GM-CSF, and IFN-gamma after plasmids injection were also observed.

RESULTS
Co-delivery of IL-12 and GM-CSF could mount stronger anti-tumor effects, longer term enhanced IL-12 expression and lower level of IFN-gamma than did IL-12 alone.

CONCLUSIONS
Combined IL-12 and GM-CSF can render a strong anti-tumor effect as well as a potential to lower the side effects.


Current trends in architectural practice such as an increased focus on sustainable design, integrated design, and the globalization of architecture are increasing the need for practitioners that are skilled in collaboration. Collaboration fosters innovation and creativity. It is a key operating principle for the 21st century and an important skill that an architecture student must be exposed to. The change in knowledge generation and creative problem solving is transforming education towards collaborative learning forcing architecture and engineering schools to address new course structures with "collaborative" aspect. The work presented in this paper draws its base from collaborative design learning. It describes an international collaborative design studio titled "International Design Studio: Green Transformable Buildings" conducted between three institutions, Y_ld_z Technical University (YTU)–Istanbul, University of Twente (TU)-Enschede Engineering Sciences and Industrial Design School, and Architecture Faculty of Sarajevo (AFS).


Photodetachment of electrons from iodide ions produced diiodide anion radicals in ionic liquids containing ammonium, pyrrolidinium, and piperidinium cations. The rates of reaction between diiodide anion radicals in molecular solvents such as H2O, methanol, and ethanol could be estimated by the Debye-Smoluchowski equation, which accounts for electrostatic interactions using dielectric constants for the molecular solvents. In contrast, the rates of reaction between diiodide anion radicals in the ionic liquids were close to the diffusion-limited rates for the neutral molecules, suggesting that electrostatic repulsion between the diiodide anion radicals is weakened by Coulombic shielding in the ionic liquids.


Two new ligands containing a –NN– group, 4-((E)-(4-bromophenyl)diazenyl)-2-((E)-(phenylimino)methyl)phenol (L1H, 2), 4-((E)-(4-bromophenyl)diazenyl)-2-((E)-((4-ethylphenyl)imino)methyl)phenol (L2H, 3) and their metal complexes were synthesized. The synthesized metal complexes were used as catalysts for the chemical fixation of CO2 into cyclic carbonates using epoxides which were used as both substrate and solvent. According to analytical, UV-visible and IR data, the metal complexes are formed by coordination of the N and O atoms of the ligands and the metal : ligand ratio was found to be 1 : 2 for all the complexes. The TG and DTA results showed that these complexes had good thermal stability. The molecular structures of ligand 2 (L1H) and its ZnII complex 4 (Zn(L1)2) were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction studies. After choosing the most active catalyst (Zn(L1)2, 4), optimization studies were performed by changing various parameters. Ionic liquids have been found to have a positive effect and showed the most active performance with (bmim)PF6 + Zn(L1)2 (4) as a binary catalytic system.


The mechanisms for ClO+NO and its reverse reactions were investigated by means of ab initio molecular orbital and statistical theory calculations. The species involved were optimized at the B3LYP/6-311 +G(3df) level, and their energies were refined at the CCSD(T)/6-311+ G(3df)//B3LYP/6-311 + G(3df) level. Five isomers and the transition states among them were located. The relative stability of these isomers is ClNO2 > cis-ClONO > trans-ClONO > cis-OClNO>trans-OClNO. The heats of formation of the three most-stable isomers were predicted using isodesmic reactions by different methods. The predicted bimolecular reaction rate constant shows that, below 100 atm, the formation of Cl+NO2 is dominant and pressure-independent. The total rate constant can be expressed as: k(ClO+NO)= 1.43 x 10(-9)T(-083)exp(92/ T) cm3 molecule(-1)s(-1) in the temperature range of 200-1000 K, in close agreement with experimental data. For the reverse reaction, Cl+NO2-->ClNO2 and ClONO (cis and trans isomers), the sum of the predicted rate constants for the formation of the three isomers and their relative yields also reproduce the experimental data well. The predicted total third-order rate constants in the temperature range of 200-1000 K can be represented by: k0(He) = 4.89 x 10(-6)T(-5.85) exp(-796/T) cm6 molecule(-1)s(-1) and k0(N2) =5.72 x 10(-15)T(-5.80) exp(-814/T) cm6 molecule(-1)s(-1). The predicted high- and low-pressure limit decomposition rates of CINO2 in Ar in the temperature range 400-1500 K can be expressed, respectively, by: k-(ClNO2) = 7.25 x 10(19)T(-1.89) exp(-16875/T) s(-1) and kd(ClNO2) = 2.51 x 10(38)T(-6.8) exp(-18409/T) cm3 molecule(-1) s(-1). The value of k0(ClNO2) is also in reasonable agreement with available experimental data.


We report the case of a 42 years old male, with a bipolar disorder and receiving lithium therapy, valproic acid and clonazepam. Due to an exacerbation of his underlying disease, he was admitted to a psychiatric clinic and received 50 mg of intramuscular chlorpromazine in two occasions. Afterwards, the patient had an alteration of consciousness, fever reaching 39 degrees C and generalized muscular rigidity. Laboratory work-up showed a normal brain CT scan, a diffuse slowness in the EEG and a creatinphosphokinase that reached values of 3.040 U/l. He was transferred to an intensive care unit and treated with sodium dantrolene and bromocriptine, obtaining a good clinical response.


Abstract The paper seeks to identify the lear-ning styles of a group of first-year engineering students, focusing on learning-style differences attributable to demographic variables and the pos-sible relations between learning-style and academic performance. Vermunt's Inventory of Learning Styles (ILS) has been administered to a sample of 420 first-year engineering students of an Argentine technological university. Demographic data have been gathe-red, as well as students' examination marks for the subjects making up the elementary courses. Factor analysis determined the validity of ILS scales, with modifications to the self-regu-lation and learning orientation ones were proved. The reliability test yiel-ded satisfactory results. Second-order factor analysis confirmed the existence of four learning styles, in keeping with Vermunt's findings, except with respect to the reproduction-directed style. Multiple regression bore out the central role of self-regulation in the relations between style components. A distinctive profile of engineering students emerged, with learning-style differences according to age, sex and secondary school. Academic performance differences were found, although ILS is acknowledged to be a weak predictor in this regard. Failure to complete the course in normal time related significantly to surface style, lack of deep processing strategies and low intrinsic motivation.


Estrogens are potent mitogens for some target organs, such as the uterus, and cancers that develop in this organ might be linked to the proliferative action of these hormones. However, the mechanism by which estrogens influence the cell cycle machinery is not known. We found that a null mutation for the insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1, a docking protein that is important for IGF1 signaling, compromised hormone-induced mitosis in the uterine epithelium; BrdU incorporation was not affected. This selective effect on mitosis was associated with a reduction in uterine cyclin B-associated kinase activity; cyclin A-associated kinase activity was not changed. The null mutation also reduced the extent of hormone-induced phosphorylation of endogenous uterine histone H1, as determined with phospho-specific antiserum. Uterine epithelial cyclin dependent kinase (cdk)1 was induced in response to hormone, but the level of the kinase protein, as determined by immunoblotting, was noticeably less in the irs1 null mutant than that in the wild-type (WT) mouse, especially around the time of peak mitosis (24 h). Since IRS-1 binds/activates phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), the absence of this docking protein could impair signaling of a known pathway downstream of AKT that stimulates translation of cell cycle components. Indeed, we found that phosphorylation of uterine AKT (Ser473) in irs1 null mutants was less than that in WTs following treatment. Based on earlier studies, it is also possible that an IGF1/IRS-1/PI3K/AKT pathway regulates posttranslational changes in cdk1. This model may provide insights as to how a growth factor pathway can mediate hormone action on cell proliferation.


Stevioside, the primary sweetener in stevia, is a glycoside with numerous beneficial biological activities. However, its anti-adipogenic effects on tissue differentiation and adipose tissues remain to be thoroughly investigated. In this study, the anti-adipogenic effects of stevioside during the differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells and epididymal adipose tissues of db/db mice were investigated by measuring the lipid droplets stained with Oil Red O and an immunoblot assay. Immunoblot analysis revealed that stevioside downregulated the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARγ), sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c), CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha (C/EBPα), and fatty acid synthase (FAS). Additionally, the protein expression of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT1), silent mating type information regulation 2 homolog 1 (SIRT1), and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1 alpha (PGC-1α) increased following treatment with stevioside. Furthermore, stevioside increased the phosphorylation of adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), both in vitro and in vivo. The activity of AMPK in stevioside-treated 3T3-L1 cells was further confirmed using agonists and antagonists of AMPK signaling. Our data indicate that stevioside ameliorates anti-adipogenic effects and promotes β-oxidation in adipocytes by activating AMPK-mediated signaling. The results of this study clearly demonstrated the inhibitory effect of stevioside on the differentiation of adipocytes and the reduction of lipid accumulation in the epididymal adipose tissues of db/db mice.


Abstract : The automatic synthesis of a hardware description language (HDL) representation of a digital device has been the subject of significant research in the past five years. This thesis explores this topic as it applies to finite state machines and combinational logic expressed in a subset of the IEEE standard language VHDL (VHSIC Hardware Description Language). It describes the subset chosen, and the development of VHDL2PDS, a program which automates the process of translating VHDL to PALASM, a hardware synthesis language. The PALASM description is then directly implemented into a field programmable gate array (FPGA) using the Xilinx logic Cell Array (LCA) development system. Complete examples are provided which illustrate top-down design and testing using VHDL, and the use of software to produce a FPGA. This thesis demonstrates that selected constructs in VHDL can be automatically synthesized with a resulting savings in engineering development time due to the simplicity of this approach and the ease of verifying the correctness of the design.


The purpose of this study was to determine effects of non-genetic factors on milk yield, milk composition and somatic cell count (SCC) of dairy cows. A total of 4891 records of Hungarian Holstein cows raised in a private dairy farm in South Hungary, between 2007 and 2008 were investigated. Fat, protein and lactose were assessed as milk composition parameters. To evaluate milking cows by effective factors; three different stage of lactation (SL) (SL 1= 90d<, SL 2= 91-150d and SL 3=151≤d), five parity, four calving season (CS) and three body condition score (BCS) groups (group1=<3 points; group2=3-3.50 points and group3=>3.50 points) were designed. While fat, protein and lactose decreased, daily milk yield (DMY), 305 daily milk yield (305 DMY) and SCC increased with advanced parity. Fat, protein and SCC increased, but lactose and DMY tended to drop with later SL and BCS. These parameters were highest in cows calved in winter-autumn, summer, winter-spring and winter-autumn, respectively. DMY negatively correlated with investigated parameters except for lactose and 305 DMY. The study revealed that non-genetic factors are associated with milk composition, yield and SCC of milk. Therefore, it is suggested that these factors should primarily be considered to obtain more quality and quantity milk from dairy cows.


Data and tools to realize the data value chain are enablers of digital transformation in all sectors of the economy and society, boosting economic development, increasing the ability to tackle societal challenges and excel in science. To realize this, collaboration, across business sectors, scientific domains and organizational boundaries, countries and continents, is widely seen as essential to innovation, productivity and discovery. Federation of data and services coupled with interoperability frameworks for compliance to federation-level policies, technical standards and service delivery processes, have been successfully adopted in many domains. This paper compares governance, architectures and models of federation for cloud-based data exploitation focusing on two use cases: the European Open Science Cloud and GAIA-X, the Federated Data Infrastructure for Europe.


Electric field modeling performance using finite element method mostly depends on finite element mesh generation and the type of equation system solver. In order to estimate electric field modeling performance, electronic optical system modeling algorithm was modified to include the possibility to analyze mesh spacing and equation system solver influence on electric potential distribution modeling results. Analysis was performed in the model zones at which the biggest change of electric potential is observed. Dense finite clement mesh is not needed when the field gradient is small, and the selection of solver is determined by available computational resources. Created technique and algorithms for estimation of mesh spacing influence on the precision of modeling results and for estimation of solver performance can be applied not only to electronic optical system, but also other electronic devices


INCORPORATING CONTACT NETWORK UNCERTAINTY IN INDIVIDUAL LEVEL MODELS OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE WITHIN A BAYESIAN FRAMEWORK Waleed Almutiry Advisor: University of Guelph, 2018 Rob Deardon & Zeny Feng Individual-level infectious disease models enable the study of transmission mechanisms of infectious disease while accounting for heterogeneity within the population. As well as via covariates, such heterogeneity is often best modelled through a contact network or a series of networks. However, contact network and exact time of infection (and removal) for individuals are often completely or partially unobserved. In this thesis, we account for such data uncertainty through the incorporation of a large amount of missing information (contact network and event times) into a continuous time individual-level modelling framework. The main focus of this thesis is to consider the effect of incorporating contact network uncertainty on the performance of the models within a Bayesian framework. A secondary focus will be on enabling fast inference to fit these models to epidemic data sets with a large amount of missing information. We start by introducing our R package EpiILMCT that allows users to study the spread of infectious disease using spatialor (and) network-based continuous-time ILMs. We then investigate the performance of network-based ILMs in analyzing small epidemic data sets under different levels of contact network uncertainty, along with uncertainty in individuallevel event histories, using data augmented Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC). We also consider the incorporation about global-level contact network information through observation models that are either based upon knowledge about the degree distribution or the total number of connections in the network. Then, we explore the use of approximate Bayesian computation population Monte Carlo (ABC-PMC) methods for fitting such models to both simulated data, and data from the UK 2001 foot-and-mouth disease epidemic. Finally, we introduce an approach to approximate full model inference by partitioning the population into a number of spatial clusters in which the contact network is divided into a series of isolated cluster-constrained sub-networks.


The embedded micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) is a technology that is creating a new era in all fields and especially in the internet of things (IoT) field. MEMS are necessary components for the realization of tiny micro/nano circuits. For this reason, designers are facing many challenges in designing embedded MEMS for achieving efficient products. The pull-in voltage is one of the most important parameters of MEMS design. In this work, we are interested in the analysis of some geometrical and mechanical parameters for the pull-in. The objective is to study of the concept of pull-in voltage in order to reduce it. First, we made a simulation to choose the appropriate material achieving a lower pull-in voltage. Then, we analysed the impact of geometrical parameters on the pull-in voltage. In this work, Finite element method using COMSOL Multiphysics® software is employed to compute the Pull-in voltage and study the behaviour of the MEMS Switch in order to optimize it. Pull-in voltage can be reduced by careful selection of the cantilever material and it can be further reduced by changing the beam parameters.


The study investigated the effect of Parateq on gonad morphology and changes in gonadosomatic index of post fingerlings of Tilapia guineensis exposed to sublethal Parateq concentrations for 12 weeks. Initial short- term static toxicity tests were run to determine 96 hr LC50 of Parateq in T. guineensis which was 5.47%. The Parateq concentrations used were 0.32%, 0.63%, 1.25 % and 2.5% vol/vol parateq/ water. The histological changes noted in the gonads of the exposed fish were inhibition of maturation in oocytes or delay in spermatogenesis which resulted in lack of spawning. In contrary, the four stages of spermatogenesis or oocytogenesis were present in the control and spawning occurred. The increasing degeneration of maturing eggs resulted in complete absence of matured egg in the female gonads of fish exposed to the highest concentration (2.5%) of the drilling fluid. The gonadal somatic index values were recorded in a decreasing order toward the higher tested concentrations. The gonadal somatic index values ranged from 2.34 to 1.25% in the female and from 0.32 to 0.09% in male, whereas in the control, it was 2.85% for female and 0.41% for male. The results revealed that discharge of drilling fluid such as parateq into the environment can lead to impairment in the reproductive success of aquatic organisms in the Niger Delta.


The study of information seeking behavior has over the years attracted the attention of information professionals, resulting in numerous studies conducted with a view to understanding why people seek information, how they seek it, and the problems they encounter. While the information seeking behavior of several professional groups has been studied, an important and influential group of professionals, Muslim clerics ( Ulama ; sing.-- Alim ) has been totally neglected. Thus, the main objective of this study was to investigate the information seeking behavior of the Ulama in a developing country. The study investigated such questions as how do the Ulama in Nigeria seek information to perform their preaching and counseling roles? What search strategies do they deploy? Is there a relationship between demographic factors and information seeking patterns? The study used the survey research method. The target population was made up of 973 Ulama dispersed within twenty-seven Local Government Areas of Borno State in Nigeria. A proportional stratified random sampling technique was used to arrive at the sample size of 281. The study used a questionnaire to collect data which was subjected to both descriptive and inferential statistical analyses. The study found out that the Ulama consult different sources and resources for different roles. For purposes of preaching, the Ulama mostly consult their personal collections to use resources such as the Qur'an, Hadith, and commentaries by other scholars. However, when performing a counseling role, they consult secular resources and informal channels of information such as council of Ulama , colleagues, or friends and relatives. The study also found out that the Ulama deployed different search strategies to identify and locate information when using public and institutional libraries, information and communication technology facilities, or informal channels. The study has also established significant relationships between demographic factors and search strategies adopted. Finally, the study identified the similarities and differences between the information seeking behaviors of the Christian clergy and the Ulama .


[Extract] Family-centred care (FCC) is a well-known concept. Or is it? If one visits just about every children's hospital, child health facility, paediatric health centre and, of late, many adult health services, in just about every country, one will find policy documents, standards, guidelines, all espousing FCC. A trawl through web sites of 15 children's hospitals in several English-speaking countries showed that FCC was weIl known in 13 of them. Policy documents from paediatric health services in non-English-speaking countries will find similar results. Many will agree that FCC is widely recognised and used. But do we really know what FCC is? How is it defined? What does it mean for families? For health professionals? Is it the best model for use with children and their families? Is there an alternative? Does it work in different cultures? And is it ethical for us to continue to use the term so widely if we cannot answer the previous questions adequately? This chapter defines FCC, gives a brief history of its evolution and then examines it using several theories of ethics. The end result is more questions than answers, and a plea for more debate and discussion over a widely applied model for which no real evidence exists.


: Advancement in technology has made regular life more easy and convenient. In every aspect of life, it is essential to be updated that ensures that progress of mass interest. With the growing demand, automated poultry farming has become eminent that contributes enormously in economic growth. Smart poultry farms can emancipate the farmers from the traditionally tedious procedures which were outdated and time consuming. In preliminary stage, a smart poultry farm shows many distinctive features such as, automated food and water supply, egg collection, maintaining precise environmental factors etc. In this paper, Safety measures such as fire protection, anti-thief features which ensures an overall surveillance of the farm has being corporated. Data storage through IoT is another enticing trait of this work which enables the users to figure out the required presets to adopt before any endangerments can occur. The GSM module can also provide a real time protection of the farm by notifying the farmer through an SMS at any alarming situations. All these distinguished features have been realized and observed with very perfection and it can be concluded, with the integration of GSM and IoT the proposed project work has taken the poultry farming into next level of advancement. The paper reduce labour's manual work with labour's cost. It improves the meal production in poultry farm.


The observation that PT-symmetric Hamiltonians can have real-valued energy levels even if they are non-Hermitian has triggered intense activities, with experiments, in particular, focusing on optical systems, where Hermiticity can be broken by absorption and amplification. For classical waves, absorption and amplification are related by time-reversal symmetry. This work shows that microreversibility-breaking quantum noise turns PT-symmetric systems into self-sustained sources of radiation, which distinguishes them from ordinary, Hermitian quantum systems.


PURPOSE
to study plasma renin activity (PRA) as a predictor of antihypertensive response to addition of diuretic to combination of angiotensin- converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) and calcium antagonist (CA).

MATERIAL AND METHODS
The study included 72 patients (39% men, mean age 62.0 ± 8.3 years) with uncontrolled despite use of ACEI and CA arterial hypertension (AH) without overt associated clinical conditions (AH criteria of national guidelines, 2010). After 4 weeks of therapy with ACE inhibitor (quadropril 6 mg/day) and CA (felodipine 5 mg/day) in all patients who did not reach target level of blood pressure (BP) (clinical BP≥140/90 mm Hg, daytime BP according to ambulatory BP monitoring [ABPM] >135/85 mm Hg) indapamide retard (1.5 mg/day) was added to combination therapy for 6 months. Examination included measurement of baseline and on treatment PRA and repetitive ABPM.

RESULTS
More pronounced antihypertensive response was observed in the group of patients with volume dependent AH. Baseline BP was 156.6 ± 14.1/86.7 ± 1.5 and 151.9 ± 17.1/78.0 ± 7.8 mm Hg, on treatment level of clinical BP - 126.2 ± 10.6/72.5 ± 11.6 and 132.2 ± 9.1/71.9 ± 7.2 mm Hg (p<0.05) in patients with volume dependent and renin dependent AH, respectively. Target clinical BP was achieved in 95 and 80% of patients, respectively (χ2= 10.3; p<0.05). According to ABPM both daytime and nighttime on treatment BP was lower in the group of patients with volume dependent AH (130.0 ± 11.0/74.1 ± 9.9 vs. 136.5 ± 7.3/78.8 ± 8.2 mm Hg, p<0.05; and 127.9 ± 15.8/71 ± 13.5 vs. 132.6 ± 13.0/74.5 ± 10.2 mm Hg, p<0.05).

CONCLUSION
PRA is an independent predictor of antihypertensive response to addition of a diuretic to combination therapy with ACEI and CA.


Function of the peroneal nerve should be evaluated in all patients with a history of inversion ankle sprain. Two cases were presented that demonstrated significant involvement of the common peroneal nerve following ankle injury. Manual muscle testing and sensory exams identified the involvement of the peroneal nerve, and electrophysiological testing localized the lesion and provided indications of the severity of the trauma. The importance of routinely performing neurological testing on patients with ankle sprains as part of initial and follow-up evaluations has been demonstrated and is supported in the literature.


The ability to manipulate the composition of semiconductor alloys on-demand and at nanometer-scale resolutions is a powerful tool that could be exploited to tune key properties such as the electronic bandgap, mobility, and refractive index. However, existing methods to modify the composition involve altering the stoichiometry by temporal or spatial modulation of the process parameters during material growth, limiting the scalability and flexibility for device fabrication. Here, we report a laser processing method for localized tailoring of the composition in amorphous silicon-germanium (a-SiGe) nanoscale thin films on silicon substrates, post-deposition, by controlling phase segregation through the scan speed of the laser-induced molten zone. Laser-driven phase segregation at speeds adjustable from 0.1 to 100 mm s-1 allows access to previously unexplored solidification dynamics. The steady-state spatial distribution of the alloy constituents can be tuned directly by setting the constant laser scan speed to achieve indefinitely long Si1-xGex microstructures exhibiting the full range of compositions (0<x<1). To illustrate the potential, we demonstrate a photodetection application by exploiting the laser-written polycrystalline SiGe microstripes, showing tunability of the optical absorption edge over a wavelength range of 200 nm. Our method can be applied to pseudo-binary alloys of ternary semiconductors, metals, ceramics and organic crystals, which have phase diagrams similar to that of SiGe alloys. This study opens a route for direct laser writing of novel devices made of alloy microstructures with tunable composition profiles, including graded-index waveguides and meta-surfaces, multi-spectral photodetectors, full-spectrum solar cells, and lateral heterostructures.


Liquid Cu50Zr50 glass-forming alloy is undercooled by electrostatic levitation up to 311 K below its melting temperature. The dendrite growth velocity is measured as a function of undercooling. A maximum in the velocity-undercooling relation is observed. It is analysed within the dendrite growth theory. The investigations give evidence of a transition from thermally controlled growth at small undercoolings to diffusion-controlled growth at large undercoolings. In the regime where the kinetic interface undercooling dominates, activation energy is determined which is comparable to the activation energy of atomic diffusion. At largest undercoolings deviations from the Arrhenius-like behaviour appear which indicate cooperative atomic diffusion in the temperature range above the glass temperature.


Construction workers and residents live near around construction sites are exposed to noises that might cause hearing loss, high blood pressure, heart disease, sleep disturbance and stress. Regulations has been carried out by national governments to limit the maximum permissible noise levels for construction works. A four-channel active noise control system mounted on the opening of an enclosure is designed to prevent the machinery noise from spreading around and retaining the heat diffusion path. Multi-channel FxLMS algorithm in time domain is implemented on the main controller. A Genelec speaker is placed inside the box as the primary noise source to play back different types of noises. Analyses and experiments are carried out to investigate the controllable frequency range of this ANC system in detail. Considerable noise reduction performance is achieved for different recorded practical construction noises.


The effect of adding nanocrystalline ZrO2 and submicron TiC to ultrafine Al2O3 on mechanical properties and the microstructure of the composites developed by hot pressing was investigated. It was shown that by means of hot pressing in an argon atmosphere at a sintering temperature of 1500 degrees one can obtain the composites Al2O3–ZrO2–TiC with a fine structure and minimal porosity. It has been shown that in material a multi-scale hierarchical structure is formed, which possesses high physical and mechanical properties: the hardness and fracture toughness was 21.5 GPa and 5.2 MPa×m1/2 respectively, the modulus of elasticity was 500 GPa and bending strength was 390 MPa. Tests on composites' cutting properties were carried out on interrupted cutting of hardened steel. All samples had wear of the cutting edge in the form of chips of the grain rear working surface of the tool, but the cutting tool which was made by Al2O3–10% ZrO2–10% TiC had a minimum width of wear.


Abstract Dexamethasone sodium phosphate (Dex-SP) is the most commonly used drug administered via intratympanic injection for the treatment of acute hearing loss, but its penetration efficiency into the inner ear is very low. To address this problem, we evaluated the possibility of administering dexamethasone nanosuspensions via intratympanic injection because hydrophobic drugs might be more effective in penetrating the inner ear. Three types of dexamethasone nanosuspensions were prepared; the dexamethasone nanoparticles in the three nanosuspensions were between approximately 250 and 350 nm in size. To compare the efficiency of Dex-SP and dexamethasone nanosuspension in delivering dexamethasone to the inner ear, the concentrations of dexamethasone in perilymph and cochlear tissues were compared by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. The dexamethasone nanosuspensions resulted in significantly higher drug concentrations in perilymph and cochlear tissues than Dex-SP at 6 h; interestingly, animals treated with nanosuspensions showed a 26-fold higher dexamethasone concentrations in their cochlear tissues than animals treated with Dex-SP. In addition, dexamethasone nanosuspension caused better glucocorticoid receptor phosphorylation than Dex-SP both in vitro and in vivo, and in the ototoxic animal model, the nanosuspension showed a significantly better hearing-protective effect against ototoxic drugs than Dex-SP. In the in vivo safety evaluation, the nanosuspension showed no toxicity at concentrations up to 20 mg/mL. In conclusion, a nanosuspension of dexamethasone was able to deliver dexamethasone to the cochlea very safely and efficiently and showed potential as a formula for intratympanic injection.


The DNA encoding the zinc metalloprotease of Legionella pneumophila Philadelphia 1 has been isolated and expressed in Escherichia coli. This protein, which is 38000 Daltons in size, possesses immunological and biochemical properties identical to those previously described for the purified L. pneumophila protease. Periplasmic extracts of E. coli clones expressing the recombinant protease are also capable of causing the haemolysis of canine erythrocytes and the cytotoxic destruction of CHO cells. Using trans‐poson mutagenesis, it was determined that a maximum of 1.2 kb of DNA encoded all three biological activities. Inactrvation of proteolytic activity by trans‐poson insertion occurred concomitantly with losses of the haemolytic and cytotoxic phenotypes. A putative regulatory sequence approximately 200‐500bp upstream of the gene's coding region was identified. A 4.0 kb fragment encoding these activities hybridized to the chromosomal DNA of the parent strain of L. pneumophila Philadelphia 1 as well as clinical isolates of L. pneumophila.